After two days of Sweet 16 action, the 2017 NCAA Tournament is advancing to the Elite Eight. Who will be playing this weekend?
Now that the Sweet 16 has come to an end, the 2017 NCAA Tournament is moving on to the Elite Eight on Saturday and Sunday. It’s crazy to think that we are about to find out the first set of Final Four teams on Saturday and the entire national semifinal will be set on Sunday evening.
After yet another round of play, who has advanced to the Elite Eight and one step closer to the National Championship?
Thursday’s action started with a matchup between Michigan who had been red-hot and Oregon. However, the Ducks pulled out the win by one, 69-68. Even without Chris Boucher, the Ducks have made their second straight Elite Eight.
Oregon will face Kansas in the Elite Eight. However, the Jayhawks are not a team anyone wants to face right now. In fact, they took down No. 4 seed Purdue on Thursday night by 32 points, just one game after beating Michigan State by 20.
Gonzaga and West Virginia played one of the best games of the tournament thus far. The Bulldogs pulled out a three-point win over the Mountaineers thanks to some late heroics and poor offense by West Virginia in the final seconds.
RELATED: Updated 2017 NCAA Tournament Bracket
The Bulldogs will face the surprise team of the field, Xavier, on Saturday. The Musketeers are the 11-seed in the West Region. However, they pulled off a massive upset over No. 2 Arizona in the Sweet 16, 73-71.
In the first game on Friday, North Carolina took on Butler for a shot to make the South Region finals on Sunday. The Tar Heels rode the strong play of Joel Berry II and Justin Jackson, who combined for 50 points, to top the Bulldogs, 92-80.
North Carolina will face Kentucky in the Elite Eight. It will be one heck of a heavyweight battle in the South Region for a trip to the Final Four after the Wildcats took down UCLA, 86-75.
Next, it was the cinderella Gamecocks of South Carolina taking on the third-seeded Baylor Bears in the East Region. The Gamecocks were playing in their first-ever Sweet 16, but that didn’t stop them as they beat the Bears 70-50 to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history.
Lastly, the Gamecocks will look for their first Final Four trip on Sunday, playing Florida on Sunday. The Gators and Wisconsin Badgers played the most exciting game of the second round and it ended in an 84-83 win for Florida. It’ll be a battle of unpopular picks to make the national semifinal. Who would have thought?