The Sweet 16 is set and it includes some unlikely participants. After a wild first weekend we look forward to what the second weekend has in store for us.
The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament was an absolutely wild one. Of the 11 most popular picks to win the National Championship, six of those teams (UVA, MSU, UNC, Arizona, Xavier and Cincinnati) failed to make it out of the first weekend. This is the first gimd since seeding began in 1979 that no top-four seed in a region advanced to the Sweet 16.
The most inconceivable of those six teams has to be Virginia. The Cavaliers made history by becoming the first No. 1 seed to ever lose to a No. 16 seed. Their loss to UMBC will live forever in NCAA Tournament lore.
Arizona was another team to lose in the first weekend. The fourth-seeded Wildcats fell at the hands of Buffalo who shot 50 percent from 3, and couldn’t seem to miss when the game was on the line.
The Big 12 sent four teams to the Sweet 16, tying a conference record previously set back in 2002. It could have been five teams had Mohamed Bamba not fouled out in Texas’ first round matchup against Nevada who coincidentally is one of the underdogs in the Sweet 16. It’s their first trip since 2004, but they’ve never made the Elite Eight. That could all change on Thursday.
With all of that madness in the books, here are our Sweet 16 prediction.
(No. 9) Kansas State vs (No. 5) Kentucky
The Kansas State Wildcats made it to the Sweet 16 without their best player Dean Wade, who’s been dealing with a foot injury since the Big 12 Tournament. They cruised past former Wildcat Marcus Foster and his Creighton team. Then took on 16-seeded UMBC, and won that game in ugly fashion.
There is a definite talent gap between the two teams. Kentucky, without a doubt is better on paper, but they’re also extremely young. They don’t have a single senior, they start five freshman, bring another one off the bench and they also have a sophomore in their main rotation.
If K-State wants to win this game they are definitely going to need Dean Wade on Thursday. Luckily for them it looks like Wade should be good to go. He has been available in the first two games, but only in emergency situations. It’s unclear how much he’ll play if he does, but just having him on the floor makes all the difference in the world for the K-State.
As for Kentucky they’re on a roll. They won the SEC Tournament, and entered the NCAA Tournament with a two percent chance to advance to the Sweet 16 according the BPI. They’re playing their best basketball at the right time on the back of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who finished their second round game against Buffalo with 27 points, six rebounds and six assists.
This game will be a good one despite what you see on paper. If Kentucky doesn’t let their youth get in their way ,then my money’s on Kentucky’s advancing to the Elite Eight.