NCAA Tournament Sweet 16: 5 strongest national title contenders

COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 22: Coby White #2 and Nassir Little #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels share a laugh as they take on the Iona Gaels during the second half of the game in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Nationwide Arena on March 22, 2019 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

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Now that the Sweet 16 is set, let’s take a look at the field and shine the spotlight on the five most likely teams to cut down the nets in Minneapolis in two weeks.

The Sweet 16 matchups are loaded with top seeds, so hoops fans are in store for a ton of quality basketball over the next week. Not all top seeds are created equal, and even though a lot of brackets are still alive math says that many will bust over the course of the next two rounds. Let’s go through the five most likely teams to win the title at this point, starting with a 4-seed in Florida State.

5. Florida State

The Seminoles were one of the most impressive teams in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. After surviving a pesky Vermont squad in the first round, the Seminoles completely dominated Murray State to advance to the Sweet 16.

All eyes were on Ja Morant after his triple-double in the Racers’ win over Marquette, but the Seminoles used their superior depth and athleticism to frustrate Morant and shut down his teammates. As a result, Florida State is now heading to Anaheim for a rematch with Gonzaga.

These two squads met a year ago in this very round, and Florida State upset the Zags to face off with Michigan in the Elite Eight. The Wolverines won that one, but Florida State is peaking right now and there is every reason to believe they can not only get to the Final Four but win the entire tournament.

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