The Sweet 16 is in the books, and it produced one of the most stacked Elite Eights ever. Seven of the top eight seeds in the NCAA Tournament have made it to this stage, with the only outlier being 3-seed Texas Tech in the West Region, who took out 10-seed Arkansas on Thursday night to get through.
The Elite Eight also comprise eight of the top nine teams in the country according to KenPom's rankings, with Gonzaga checking in just ahead of the Red Raiders to prevent a clean sweep in that department. How would the field be re-seeded if the tournament was to start anew?
Elite Eight Power Rankings
1. Duke Blue Devils
The Blue Devils got pushed a little bit by Arizona in the Sweet 16 but advanced thanks to the amazing efforts of Cooper Flagg, who continues to look like the best freshman college basketball has seen since at least Zion Williamson. Flagg stuffed the stat sheet against the Wildcats, racking up 30 points, seven assists, six rebounds, three blocks and a steal to contribute in all facets of the game for Duke.
Saturday night's tilt against Alabama promises to be thrilling, with both teams scoring over 100 points in their Sweet 16 victories. Few teams in the country have clicked at as high a level as Duke has at their peak, however, which keeps them atop the rankings to this point.
2. Florida Gators
The Crab Five did their best to hang with the Gators for about 30 minutes but Florida's superior depth pulled away at the end. The Gators survived an injury scare as Alex Condon went down with an ankle issue in the first half but returned by the end of the game to provide an emotional lift for his team.
Time will tell how this injury will impact Condon, a key glue guy for Florida, going forward in the tournament. While drawing Texas Tech is the best possible situation for any one seed in this round, the Red Raiders still can beat Florida if the Gators take a while to get going again.
3. Tennessee Volunteers
Fewer results were more encouraging in the Sweet 16 than seeing Tennessee absolutely dismantle a Kentucky team that beat them twice during the regular season. The Volunteers essentially put the game away in the first half, building a 15-point lead at the break, and held serve in the second to return to the Elite Eight for the second straight year.
The form that Tennessee has shown in the NCAA Tournament echoes the dominance they displayed in the non-conference portion of the season, when this team was No.1 in the AP Top 25 from December through mid-January. Perhaps getting out of the SEC meat-grinder was what the Volunteers needed to regain their swagger ahead of a winnable Elite Eight matchup with Houston.
4. Auburn Tigers
The SEC's dreams of producing all four Final Four teams remained alive as Auburn withstood a serious challenge from Big Ten champion Michigan to pull away in the second half. Johni Broome was a machine down low for the Tigers, pouring in 22 points and grabbing 16 rebounds to hold his own against the Wolverines' big man duo of Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf, which proved to be the difference here.
The worry for Tigers backers is that the physicality the Wolverines displayed early on appeared to impact them before Auburn's superior depth allowed them to pull away. Getting Michigan State, which isn't as prolific offensively as the Wolverines but is deeper and more rugged, will be a challenging draw for Bruce Pearl's team to get to San Antonio.
5. Alabama Crimson Tide
Fans in Newark on Thursday night got to witness the greatest three-point shooting performance from a team in NCAA Tournament history as Alabama made it rain from deep against poor BYU. The Crimson Tide's 25 3-pointers made shattered the previous record and set them up so well that Alabama could have won this game by just making threes and free throws.
Saturday night's primetime showdown with Duke will be the highlight of the weekend and promises to be another high-scoring thriller between two of the most prolific offenses in the country. If Nate Oats wants his team to get back to the Final Four, they will have to withstand the physicality Duke brings on the defensive end, which was problematic during their losses in SEC play in the regular season.
6. Michigan State Spartans
The script for Michigan State's first three tournament games has echoed that of their season, which featured early struggles before their depth overwhelmed their opponent in the end. The Spartans were down as many as 10 at one point before rallying to top Ole Miss at the end, marking the eighth time this season Michigan State has come back to win after being down double digits.
Playing that kind of game in March is dangerous, however, especially since the Spartans aren't a good three-point shooting team. Having Tom Izzo on their sideline is a critical advantage, especially on the second game of a tournament weekend when he is a master at getting teams ready with limited prep time, and their physical defense is a good counter to Auburn's explosive offense.
7. Houston Cougars
Fewer teams have had a more difficult road to San Antonio than Houston, which had to fight tooth and nail to survive an underseeded Gonzaga side in the Round of 32 before winning what was essentially a true road game against Purdue in the Sweet 16. Kelvin Sampson drew up a brilliant inbounds play in the final seconds to allow the Cougars to snag the lead, but the fact the game was as close as it was against an inferior opponent raises concerns here.
While Tennessee isn't as close to Indianapolis as Purdue is, their fans figure to significantly outnumber Houston's at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Cougars have the talent to top the Volunteers but this could be a second straight road game for Houston, meaning they will have earned their Final Four spot if they get there.
8. Texas Tech Red Raiders
While it is easy to say the Red Raiders are last because they are the only 3- seed, there is also a very reasonable alternate reality where they didn't get through the Sweet 16. Arkansas built a 16-point lead in the second half and choked it away, allowing Texas Tech to storm through the door to get to the Elite Eight after John Calipari left San Francisco with a timeout in his pocket on the final sequence of overtime instead of drawing up a better attempt at a game-tying shot.
Seeing the SEC's champion in Florida isn't a good draw for the Red Raiders, who have a game-wrecker in JT Toppin but the weakest defense left in the tournament (39th in the country per KenPom) that an explosive Gators' offense will exploit. Grant McCasland's team is also tied for the biggest underdog in the round, entering as a 6.5-point underdog, which indicates that the oddsmakers don't have a ton of faith in Texas Tech toppling another SEC team to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2019.