By Aidan Joly
The NCAA Tournament is all the way back, folks. After four days of upsets and stunning endings, the field has been trimmed to 16. We have some of the top teams still alive, but some surprise teams are still hanging around. Now we have to focus on what is to come. That being said, here’s a ranking of the Sweet 16 teams, ranked backwards.
16. Oral Roberts
After pulling off back-to-back stunning upsets of Ohio State and Florida the Golden Eagles are still alive, becoming the second 15-seed in tournament history to reach the Sweet 16. They have gotten big buckets and big stops when they need them. The nation’s leading scorer in Max Abmas and Kevin Obanor have become heroes of the tournament. The defense has been a question mark all year and they will have their hands full with Arkansas, one of the best offensive teams in the country. However, it’s worth noting that they led by 10 at halftime against the Razorbacks in a buy game back in December before collapsing in the second half.
15. Oregon State
If it weren’t for Oral Roberts, the Beavers would be the most surprising Sweet 16 team. Picked last in the Pac-12 preseason poll, they stormed through the league tournament, earned an automatic bid and picked off Tennessee and Oklahoma State in the first two rounds. Including the postseason, it has won eight of its past nine games, Ethan Thompson and Jarod Lucas have been very good in that stretch. They have Loyola Chicago in the Sweet 16. Will the run come to an end? It’s tough to say.
14. UCLA
The Bruins were on the ropes in their First Four matchup with Michigan State, but came back to force overtime and win the game in the extra session. In the main bracket, they pulled off an upset of BYU and blew out 14-seeded Abilene Christian, which stunned Texas in the first round. Johnny Juzang has become one of the most electric players in the tournament, averaging 22.3 PPG in the team’s three tournament games. They will have to find a way to keep their offense up against Alabama, a great defensive team.
13. Syracuse
Well, who would have thought? After backdooring their way into the tournament by playing well at the right time, the Orange are back in the Sweet 16. Buddy Boeheim and Joe Girard III have been dominating from deep and the 2-3 zone is once again proving deadly in March. They have a tough game against a Houston team that has one of the best perimeter defenses in the country and they rebound the ball very well. I personally don’t expect Syracuse to move on, but they’ve surprised me before.
12. USC
The Trojans kicked in the teeth of Kansas on Monday night in the second round, beating them by 34 points, the Jayhawks’ worst loss in any game since 1974(!). Evan Mobley has been a star through the first two games on both sides of the ball. It’s tough to see them shooting as well as they have moving forward, but a matchup with Oregon gives them a real chance to move on.
11. Oregon
Speaking of the Ducks, here they are. Oregon dominated Iowa in the second round on Monday afternoon but that may have had more to do with Iowa’s defense, which was a real issue all year, or Oregon’s offense. Chris Duarte looked great though, scoring 23 points on 9-12 shooting. The Ducks are a big, versatile group with good guards. The lone conference matchup of the Sweet 16, USC beat the Ducks 72-58 back on February 22.
10. Creighton
This group barely survived UC Santa Barbara in the first round but made sure Ohio never had a chance in the second round, beating them 72-58. The Bluejays are a tad inconsistent as they can either look really good and not miss from deep or be the team that lost four games from February 3 on. They need to be able to shoot the lights out in the next round as they face Gonzaga. Marcus Zegarowski will need to have a huge game if they want to have a chance to move on.
9. Villanova
The Wildcats were another team that took advantage of the road it had, beating both Winthrop and North Texas by double digits to get here. The Wildcats have looked better than expected without Collin Gillespie. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl has been the guy that Jay Wright has looked at to fill the void and he has done a good job at doing that. In the next round, they need to play even better as they face Baylor.
8. Houston
The Cougars looked dead in the water in the second round against Rutgers, but a late run put them back in the game and pushed them over the edge to move on. DeJon Jarreau, a senior who dealt with a painful-looking hip pointer, valiantly played through the injury and made big shots late despite being in obvious pain. They obviously want him to be healthy for the next round as they face Syracuse and eventually try to make the Final Four.
7. Florida State
After advancing past UNC Greensboro in the first round the Seminoles took advantage of one of Colorado’s worst offensive games of the season, winning 71-53 and getting back to the Sweet 16 for the third tournament in a row. The issue with the team has been the turnovers, but they play very good defense which helps erase those question marks a little bit. They face Michigan next. They are a good team, but it’s tough to see them being the last team standing, even out of this region.
6. Arkansas
Arkansas is in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1996. After blowing out Colgate, they snuck past Texas Tech in a thrilling finish to get them here. Justin Smith, Jalen Tate and Davonte Davis have all been fantastic through the first two games. They have the most favorable Sweet 16 matchup from anyone left, drawing Oral Roberts. They are young, which may hurt them at some point, but they have a real shot at going to the Final Four.
5. Loyola Chicago
Everyone is finally realizing. Loyola Chicago was the most under-seeded team in this tournament. (How the committee treats mid-majors is another conversation for another day, though). They are a real Final Four threat and they proved that by not only beating Illinois, but looking like the better team the entire 40 minutes. Cameron Krutwig was dominant in the second-round win with 19 points and 12 rebounds. They also boast one of the best defenses in the country. They should be the favorite to get out of the topsy-turvy Midwest region and I’ll even go as far as saying they are a threat to beat any of the teams left.
4. Alabama
The Crimson Tide didn’t look great against Iona but finally found something late and pulled away. Now, after a second-round blowout of Maryland, they look like a Final Four contender. Jaden Shakelford and John Petty Jr. were both making shots from deep, which is what they have gotten all year. They should have enough to get past UCLA with relative ease, but a potential face-off with Michigan looms in the Elite Eight. The program has never been to the Final Four. Could Nate Oats’ group be the first?
3. Michigan
This is the team that stands in Alabama’s way. They have not had Isaiah Livers for the first two games of the tournament but that has not been a problem. In the second-round game, LSU hung around in the first half, but the Wolverines used a strong second half to pull away. This team has stars like Hunter Dickinson, Franz Wagner, Eli Brooks and Chaundee Brown Jr., making them both a Final Four and national championship threat. They are the lone hope for the Big Ten to win a national title, something the league has not done since 2000.
2. Baylor
It looks like the Bears are finally returning to form. The defense lost a step after a COVID pause in February but have seemed to re-gain it, winning by double digits against a Wisconsin team that had just kicked the teeth of North Carolina in. If that holds to form moving forward, that is not good for other title contenders. On offense, the trio Jared Butler, MaCio Teague and Davion Mitchell remains among the scariest in the country. They face Villanova next and look to make the Final Four for the first time since 1950.
- Gonzaga
Stunning, huh? Gonzaga has looked in the tournament like they looked all year, with a 98-55 win in the first round against Norfolk State and then beat Oklahoma by 16 on Monday, despite the Sooners hanging with them for the first 10-15 minutes of the game. The Bulldogs continue to look like the best team in the country and the likes of Drew Timme, Jalen Suggs and Corey Kispert help that notion. Seemingly, the only way to beat the Zags is to wear them down and get them into some foul trouble. No team has been able to successfully do that all year. They are still the favorites to win this tournament and become the first team since Indiana in 1975-76 to be an undefeated national champion.
AJ Hoops 