Photo courtesy of Cosm
After a wild opening weekend of buzzer-beaters, upsets, and breakout performances, the first two rounds of the NCAA March Madness tournament have officially wrapped up and 16 teams remain. The Sweet 16 is officially set to tip-off this Thursday.
The number one seed Duke Blue Devils look to get revenge on Caleb Love and the number four seed Arizona Wildcats after Love sent them home in 2022 with the North Carolina Tar Heels. These two teams previously met up at the McKale Center in November where Duke took home the road win 69-55. The Wildcats have gotten a lot better since then and Love looks to send Duke home once again in his final year. The Blue Devils will not go down without a fight as they are projected to win it all this year being led by not only the best freshman but arguably the best player in college basketball, Cooper Flagg. Coming off a recent ankle injury, Flagg is looking better than ever putting up exceptional numbers in his first two games of the tournament. Luckily for Flagg he is surrounded by two projected NBA lottery picks in Khaman Maluach and Kon Knueppel, as well as star junior guard Tyrese Proctor who is averaging 22 points per game in the tournament thus far. Both of these teams have a great mixture of young talent and veteran players that will make this game one to watch.
Another highly anticipated matchup is the number one seed Florida Gators as they take on the number four seed Maryland Terrapins. Two teams that have been commonly chosen to appear in the championship but only one has a chance to move on. After missing the tournament last year the Terrapins were looking to make a change. That change has largely been led by freshman Derik Queen who is averaging 16 points and 9 rebounds a game and has solidified himself as one of the top freshmen in the country. The Gators faced heartbreak last year being upset by the twelve seed Colorado Boulders after being hyped up as a potential Cinderella team. This year the Gators are far from a Cinderella as they have established themselves as title contenders. The team is led by star guard Walter Clayton Jr. who has been making some noise on NBA draft boards averaging 17.9 points per game in his final year. The matchup between these two teams will be a must watch as they both have the championship trophy in sights.
A big SEC matchup will force two teams to meet for the third time this year, the number two seed Tennessee Volunteers will take on the number three seed Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky will look to sweep Tennessee this season as they have taken both games so far winning, 75-64 and 78-73. The Wildcats have had a rough stretch losing either first or second round for three straight years but in Mark Pope’s first year as head coach he has finally led the team to its first Sweet 16 since 2019. The Wildcats are looking to lean heavy on star guard Otega Oweh who is averaging 16.3 points per game on the year. The Volunteers do not plan to fall to the Wildcats for their third time this season, Tennessee has made it to three straight Sweet 16’s but this year they don’t expect to fall short of the Elite Eight. The team is led by NBA draft prospect Chaz Lanier and senior guard Zakai Zeigler who is averaging 15 points per game in the two teams matchups this season. With seven SEC teams in the Sweet 16 there is only one SEC team that can advance to the Elite Eight in the south region.
The remaining matchups to tune in to are Alabama vs. BYU, Michigan State vs. Ole Miss, Texas Tech vs. Arkansas, Auburn vs Michigan, and Houston vs. Purdue. Tip-off begins Thursday night 7:10 PM EST. From high-quality NBA talent and underdog grit, the Sweet 16 will be one for the ages. If not already, many brackets will be busted but the excitement will continue as we get closer to seeing who will be crowned the NCAA tournament champion.
