Sweet Sixteen: The Revenge Tour?

03/25/2024

By: Jeff Yoder

#1 Purdue, #1 UConn & Top Seeds Flex Early; #11 NC State Vies for Lone Cinderella Status

From 64 to 16! Just like that, the Men’s NCAA Tournament delivered 48 games in four days to trim the bracket down to the Sweet Sixteen. We now have a picture of the matchups for Week 2. As you can probably guess, the storylines from 48 games are downright impossible for us to capture in full. What we can tell you is a little bit about who fits Cinderella’s slipper, and some of the top teams through two games. We’ve identified three of the top seeds who came ready to play in March. A few others had some statement wins after recent tourney blunders, but these three obliterated opponents all weekend. It’s a chalk bracket. Let’s dive in.

The Stalwarts: Purdue, UConn & Duke

While 16 teams are still playing into the second weekend, a trio of top teams looked downright dominant in both of their first two opening-weekend games. UConn (56 points) and Duke (55 points) won both of their first two games by a combined margin of 55-plus (27.5 average margin of victory). And while that’s impressive, buckle up. Purdue switched into another gear after two slow starts and blew out both opponents by 67 combined. They paced Grambling on Friday (78-50) and broke the spirits of 8-seed Utah State on Sunday (106-67). No other top teams eclipsed 50 points in total win margin over the first two games. You might remember in 2018 when 1-seed Virginia lost to 16-seed UMBC, then returned to win it all in 2019. Purdue lost to 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson last year. Is the revenge tour for real?

Revenge Tours: The Boilers aren’t the only team playing with a little bit of a vengeance after recent upsets in the Big Dance. Houston (1-seed), Marquette (2-seed), Arizona (2-seed) and Duke (4-seed) are all top seeds coming off recent tournament turmoil, or at least losses that left a sour taste. North Carolina (1-seed) also failed to make the tourney last year, so they have something to prove. Revenge is everywhere in the Sweet 16.

Fun Fact: Zach Edey, Purdue’s 7-foot-4 reigning National Player of the Year, had 53 points and 35 rebounds in his first two games combined (26.5 ppg / 17.5 rpg). He’s just the third player in NCAA history to record 50+ points and 30+ boards in the first two contests of the tourney (Blake Griffin & Antonio McDyess).

Cinderella: 11-Seed NC State

Despite eight double-digit seeds getting past the first round, only one is still standing in the Sweet 16 — 11-seed NC State. The Wolfpack took down 14-seed Oakland in overtime (79-73, OT) to reach the second weekend. They’re the lone Cinderella bid after two 12s (James Madison & Grand Canyon), a 13 (Yale) and a 14 (Oakland) knocked out some top teams in the first round. The next-lowest remaining seed is 6-seed Clemson. Keep in mind: NC State won five games in five days to win the ACC Tournament and steal an automatic bid.

Thrillers: Overtimes & Great Finishes

Three overtime games brought the drama on Saturday and Sunday with Sweet 16 bids on the line. 3-seed Creighton outlasted 11-seed Oregon (my Cinderella pick) in a double-overtime game for the ages (86-73, 2OT). The Blue Jays exploded in the second overtime after arguably the best game of the opening weekend. We already mentioned NC State’s overtime victory to send Oakland packing. And late last night, 1-seed Houston was put to the test after 9-seed Texas A&M went on a 13-3 run to close regulation and hit a buzzer-beater to force OT (86-all). Houston hung together and pulled away in the extra period (100-95, OT).

Round of 32 Highlights (Sunday)

#1 Houston def. #9 Texas A&M (100-95, OT)

#1 UConn def. #9 Northwestern (75-58)

#1 Purdue def. #8 Utah State (106-67)

#2 Marquette def. #10 Colorado (81-77)

#4 Duke def. #12 James Madison (93-55)

#4 Alabama def. #12 Grand Canyon (72-61)

#5 San Diego State def. #13 Yale (85-57)

#6 Clemson def. #3 Baylor (72-64)

Round of 32 Highlights (Saturday)

#1 N. Carolina def. #9 Michigan State (85-69)

#2 Arizona def. #7 Daytona (78-68)