NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 is Set

 This is officially one of the wildest NCAA Tournaments in recent history. March Madness is almost an understatement at this point, considering how many stunning upsets we’ve already had so far. Now that we’ve concluded the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, some of the dust has settled and we now have Sweet 16 teams who move on to the next stage of the competition. The Sweet 16 games will be played out from March 22-23.

Kansas State finally ended UMBC’s fantastic Cinderella run in the tournament and they are set to move on and face Kentucky on March 22nd.

Loyola-Chicago added another upset to the long list that’s been piling up all tournament long, by downing number three seed in the South, Tennessee. It was a nail-biter with Loyola-Chicago squeezing out a 63-62 win. They’re scheduled to battle another “giant killer” in Nevada which ended Cincinnati’s season with a 75-73 victory of their own.

The most recent number one seed to fall is Xavier, which collapsed under pressure in the fourth quarter and allowed Florida State University to mount a comeback from a 12-point deficit and emerge victorious 75-70. FSU will have their hands full on the 22nd as their next opponent, Gonzaga is not an opponent to be taken lightly. They defeated a formidable Ohio State in Round 2 of the NCAA Tournament 90-84.

Rounding out the matchups in the West bracket, we have Michigan which will have to deal with a surging Texas A&M squad that has gained some momentum after upsetting UNC 86-65.

Heading East, we see that Villanova still remains in the hunt and is now one of the last remaining favorites to win it all. They’re also expected to defeat West Virginia in this next stage. Can they keep their run going?

No more surprises here, as number two seed in the East, Purdue is matched up against Texas Tech on March 23rd.

In the Midwest, we have an interesting game brewing between number one seed Kansas and Clemson. Even with Kansas being favored to advance into the Elite Eight, Clemson is not to be taken lightly. They convincingly crushed Auburn 84-53.

Last but not the least, we have Duke which is set to take on one of the bigger surprises in the NCAA Tournament, Syracuse. They’re coming off two straight upsets and have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Can Duke outlast them and end their streak?

It’s been an amazing tournament so far and yet we have so much more exciting basketball action to watch and enjoy.