March Madness. It’s one of the best sporting events and the best sporting event in America. The things that make March Madness so special are the upsets and Cinderella stories.
This year has lacked the upsets. This is the first time since 2007 that no 11 seed or higher made the Sweet 16. Today and Friday, there will be only one double-digit seed playing in the Sweet 16 games and that is 10-seed Arkansas, and they are far from a Cinderella. They are led by college basketball hall of fame coach John Calipari in his first year with the program. This team was pre-season ranked and struggled to find their stride after starting off SEC conference play 0-6. But Calipari has brought this team back and upset 2 seed St. Johns in the round of 32 on Saturday 75-66. St. Johns was a popular final 4 and National Champion pick after going 29-3 and winning both regular and post-season Big East conference titles. All those hopes came to an end with a horrible 3-point shooting performance from St. Johns against Arkansas where they shot 2/22 from 3 and 28% from the field. Arkansas has a tough sweet 16 matchup ahead of them where they will face 3-seed Texas Tech who recently took care of the 11-seed Drake Bulldogs in the round of 32. Arkansas will ride the hot hand and beat Texas Tech tonight.
Since there were not as many upsets there are lots of high-powered matchups in this sweet 16. Just on paper, the 4-seed Maryland Vs 1-seed Florida is the matchup I am looking forward to. Maryland’s starting 5 is nicknamed “the Crab 5.” It is one of few starting lineups in the nation to have all 5 players averaging scoring in double digits. Maryland averages over 81 points per game and is led by freshman Derik Queen. Queen on Sunday night hit a game-winning hook shot to beat 12-seed Colorado and send the Terps to the Sweet 16. this is my favorite matchup is because Florida also averages over 80 points per game. Both teams will feature high-octane offenses. Just like Maryland, Florida had to face a tough test in the reigning national champs, the 8-seeded UConn Huskies. Florida’s all-American Walter Clayton Junior hit a gut-wrenching three with a minute left to play to help lead the Gators to a 77-75 win and a trip to the Sweet 16. The battle between Maryland’s, Queen and Florida’s, Clayton Junior will be an absolute treat to watch. The final score of this game could very well be in the 90s. I think Florida’s offense led by Clayton Junior is just a little bit better and will lead the Flordia Gators to an elite 8 appearance.
The team to beat is 1 seed Duke. Led by future first-overall pick and All-American Cooper Flag, the Blue Devils are ready to make a run for the national championship. After legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski passed the reigns of the storied program to a young former Blue Devil player Jon Scheyer many questioned if he could keep the success going. Well in just his third season as head coach Scheyer has got the team to answer those questions in my opinion.
Duke does have a very tough test tonight in its next game vs 4-seed Arizona. Senior guard and St. Louisain Caleb Love, a former player at the University Of North Carolina has a history vs Duke. In the 2022 final 4, Love and UNC beat the Blue Devils and a couple months prior to that final 4 game, spoiled Coach K’s final home game at Duke.
Love led his Arizona Wildcats past 5 seeded Oregon in its round of 32 game 87-83. He led with a game-high 29 points. Love, as I previously stated, has the tournament experience to help lead this team. In my opinion, even with Love’s experience in beating Duke in the tournament it will not be enough to beat the goliath that is Duke.
The teams that will be in the Elite 8 and win on Thurdsay and Friday are 1 seed Auburn, 2 seed Michigan State, 1 seed Florida, 10 seed Arkansas, 1 seed Duke, 2 seed Alabama, 1 seed Houston and to round out the final 8, 2 seed Tennesse.
Even with minimal to no upsets, the tournament has still been great and this sweet 16 round will be even better because of all the good matchups.
