March Madness, the Division 1 men’s college basketball tournament, brings together 68 teams in a single-elimination tournament to determine the National Champion. The annual tournament sweeps the country as one of the biggest sporting events within the United States. Known for upsets of favored teams and “Cinderella Runs”, basketball fans revel in the excitement, drama, and unpredictability that define this iconic tournament. The tournament consists of seven rounds, with teams broken up into four regions. The first two rounds are where the biggest upsets happen and what March Madness is all about. This year, we saw small-town, 16-seed Oakland University take down 1-seed, basketball powerhouse, Kentucky and the Ivy-League Yale Bulldogs defeat SEC Tournament Champion, Auburn Tigers. The third round, the Sweet 16, is the regional semifinals where only 16 teams remain and kick off the second weekend of March Madness. Keep reading for a preview of the first night of this year’s Sweet 16 matchups.
(6) Clemson vs. (1) Arizona
In the first matchup of the Sweet 16, the sixth-seed Clemson Tigers faced off against 1-seed Arizona Wildcats.
Clemson is coming off one of the tournament’s biggest stuns after defeating 3-seed Baylor, where only 15% of brackets predicted the upset. This is only the second Sweet 16 appearance in program history for the Tiger’s.
After their first-round exit last year, Arizona is back looking for more victories with hope to advance to the Elite 8 for the first time since 2001. Coming on as the top-seed, the Wildcats haven’t been tested as much as they will be tonight.
Coming in with a chip on their shoulder, Arizona’s offense has successfully dominated the tournament thus far, with several standout players, but if Clemson can pick up its defense and defend the paint, it’s anybody’s game.
Arizona is favored by 7.5 points and a win predictability of 79.4%, according to ESPN.
OUR PICK: Arizona
(5) San Diego State vs. (1) UConn
Fifth-seed San Diego State Aztecs will face one-seed University of Connecticut Huskies in the second game of the Sweet 16.
A rematch of last year’s national title game, the Huskies are looking to claim back-to-back titles for the first time since Florida did it in 2006/2007.
While the Huskies are consistent on both sides of the court, with some of the best shooters in the country, while also managing to give up an average of 63.9 points a game, leading their powerhouse conference, Big East and 12th in the nation.
While Arizona is routinely dominating the paint, SDSU, undoubtedly, has one of the best defenses in the country. Led by guard Lamont Butler, who is fifth in the country in steals, tonight’s matchup will be one for the memories regardless of the outcome.
UConn is favored by 11.5 points with a win predictability of 86.6%, according to ESPN.
OUR PICK: UConn
(4) Alabama vs. (1) North Carolina
Fourth-seed Alabama Crimson Tide will square off against one-seed North Carolina Tar Heels.
Tar Heels are making their 31st appearance in the Sweet 16, the most of any school program while the Crimson Tide are looking out for their first Elite 8 visit since 2004 and only the second in program history.
The pair faced each other last year during the PK80 Invitational tournament where the Crimson Tide eventually took down the Tar Heels in a 4OT nail-biter.
When you think about college basketball powerhouses, you think of North Carolina, but Alabama is slowly making a name for its program with its third Sweet 16 appearance in four years. This year, the Tide has the best offense in the country with 11 100+ point games and lead the country in PPG, all lead by first-team all conference, Mark Sears.
Despite their strong presence on the offense, Bama heavily lacks defending their own rim, which is not the best case scenario when going up against ACC Player of the year, RJ Davis and the rest of the Tar Heels. On average, the Crimson Tide are giving up 80.9 PPG which will be a cake walk for UNC if they bring their A-game.
North Carolina is favored by 4.5 points with a win probability of 50.3%, according to ESPN.
OUR PICK: Alabama
(3) Illinois vs. (2) Iowa State
Three-seed Illinois Fighting Illini will tip off against two-seed Iowa State Cyclones in the final match up of part one of the Sweet 16
Both teams are looking to prove their strength with Illinois making its first Sweet 16 appearance since 2005 and Iowa State back for its fourth visit after having a first-round exit in last year’s tournament.
What makes the Cyclones a strong contender in this year’s bracket, is the range of talent they have, especially on the offense. Iowa State had four players score in double digits in its previous two matches and senior forward Hason Ward scoring 10 points off the bench.
So far, Illinois has an average shooting percentage of 56.8% and consistently has phenomenal ball handling skills. At their core, the Fighting Illini are solid in all aspects of the game, and if they continue to dominate the field, they’ll be able to pull off the win.
Iowa State is favored by 1.5 points with a win predictability of 58.1%
OUR PICK: Iowa State
