(AP) – Years of bracket chaos
have given way to the year of the power conference.
Cinderella is staying home this time.
The Sweet 16, a popular destination for bracket-busting mid-majors, will
be made up entirely of teams from power conferences, a first since the
bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1985.
Not a Saint Peter’s or Loyola Chicago in the bunch. Not even a Butler or
Gonzaga.
The bracket was set up for this following a chalky first round, when the
top four seeds went a combined 16-0 for the sixth time ever. Two No. 12
seeds got through to the second round and one 11.
They all lost.
Highest seed to reach the Sweet 16: No. 10 Arkansas. Everyone else is 6 or
higher, with all four No. 1 seeds and three of the four 2s ( sorry St.
John’s ).
There will be four conferences represented at regional sties in San
Francisco, Newark, Indianapolis and Atlanta. That’s the fewest in NCAA
Tournament history and a far cry from the record of 11 (three times).
Speaking of records, the SEC racked up a trio of ’em.
First, 14 teams made it into the bracket. Record.
Then, six teams lost in the first round. Record.
Now, seven SEC teams are in the Sweet 16. Sweet record.
“We have worked hard as a league to get where we are this year and it’s
always tough,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said. “But I would like to
think even as fans that we would all have each other’s back this time of
year and then we can go back to what we normally do.”
The other conferences — all three — fared fairly well as well.
The Big Ten was the early big bracket winner, becoming the first league to
go 8-0 in the first round and stretched it to 10-0 until BYU knocked off
Wisconsin. Four teams were bumped out in the second round, but Michigan
State, Michigan, Purdue and Maryland are feeling sweet.
The newfangled Big 12 also represented itself well, matching a league
record set in 2002 by landing four teams in the Sweet 16.
Arizona is new to the Big 12 while Houston and BYU joined last year, so
there were better odds than just a few years ago. Even so, four teams —
with Texas Tech — gives the league a chance at three national champions in
the past five years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference, maligned by a rough early March start, has
one Sweet 16er, and it’s a good one.
Duke and fabulous freshman Cooper Flagg were one of the favorites to win
the national championship to open the season and still look that way after
toying with its first two NCAA Tournament opponents.
“For us to win by this margin, I think this speaks to the level of killer
instinct that our guys have, the competitiveness and the connectivity,”
coach Jon Scheyer said after the Blue Devils’ 89-66 win over
once-formidable Baylor.
One thing is for certain: There won’t be a three-peat.
The first repeat champion since Florida in 2006-07, UConn kept the dream
alive with an opening win over Oklahoma. The bid to join John Wooden’s
UCLA teams as college basketball’s only three-peaters came to an emotional
end on Sunday with a 77-75 loss to top-seeded Florida.
“We’re a passionate program,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said, twice stopping
to compose himself. “The players play with it. I coach with it. You’re
always (expletive) drained when it’s over.”
The passion this year has been in the power — conferences.
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