Sweet 16 Breakdown

Let’s rank out the Sweet 16 by KenPom. It’s a remarkably chalky Sweet 16. In theory, we should get better games, but we shall see.

1. UConn, 1st KP (1-seed East)

2. Houston, 2nd KP (1-seed South)

3. Purdue, 3rd KP (1-seed MW)

4. Arizona, 5th KP (2-seed West)

5. Duke, 6th KP (4-seed South)

6. Iowa State, 7th KP (2-seed East)

7. Tennessee, 8th KP (2-seed MW)

8. UNC, 9th KP (1-seed West)

9. Illinois, 10th KP (3-seed East)

10. Creighton, 11th KP (3-seed MW)

11. Gonzaga, 12th KP (5-seed MW)

12. Marquette, 13th KP (2-seed South)

13. Alabama, 14th KP (4-seed West)

14. San Diego State, 17th KP (5-seed East)

15. Clemson, 23rd KP (6-seed West)

16. NC State, 53rd KP (11-seed South)

Notes:

East is the best region in the bracket. 3 top-10 and SDSU is 17. SDSU is the “underdog” in this group and is 17 in KenPom. Legit Sweet 16 team. Though it is the best region, I have a hard time envisioning any of these teams beating UConn.

Midwest is the next toughest bracket left.  3-top 10 and the Zags at 12 in KenPom. Purdue coasted in rounds 1 and 2. In this regional, they will earn a bid should they make it through. Bet all these games are close.

West and South are weaker with it being a coin flip which is weakest but I’ll say NC State makes the South the weakest. In the west, your top 2-seeds should be solid favorites. Seems like a showdown is brewing between UNC and Zona.

The South pits its 2-best remaining teams against one another in Duke and Houston. Duke rolled to the Sweet 16, Houston survived. Heckuva matchup on Friday. Other than  history long, long ago, NC State and Marquette is the weakest matchup. NC State has won 7 straight and have a history of doing stuff that surprises everyone. Either would be an underdog on Sunday.