The Sportsletter - Sweet 16: The Revenge Tour?

BY JEFF YODER

MAR. 25, 2024 | SUBSCRIBE | WEB VIEW

Welcome Back 👋

Bracket busted? Hope not. It’s a chalky Sweet 16 after some wild upsets in Round 1. Zero brackets across the country were perfect by Saturday, but that’s to be expected. The Women’s Sweet 16 is about to reveal itself today. We’ll have full coverage tomorrow before shifting gears between Weeks 1 and 2 of the Madness.

Let’s recap some hoops, shall we?

Letter Rip!

BRACKETS

Bracket Challenge (Leaders)

The leaderboard in our March Madness bracket challenge is loaded at the top. Yours truly tallied 46 points in opening weekend (ranked 111 out of 700-plus). That's solid, but I’m far from the top. A whopping 13 participants tallied 50-or-more points, and all the top contenders have 1-seeds as their champ pick.

Bracket Leaderboard

1. Gwen8262452 (55 points) — UConn

T2. MGettinWs (54 points) — Houston

T2. Mark2753639 (54 points) — Houston

T4. Racquelk305 (53 points) — UNC

T4. RyanMichael (53 points) — Houston

Check Your Bracket

NCAAM

Sweet Sixteen: The Revenge Tour?

Photo: Dylan Buell / Getty Images

#1 Purdue, #1 UConn & Top Seeds Flex Early; #11 NC State Vies for Lone Cinderella Status

From 64 to 16! Just like that, the Men’s NCAA Tournament delivered 48 games in four days to trim the bracket down to the Sweet Sixteen. We now have a picture of the matchups for Week 2. As you can probably guess, the storylines from 48 games are downright impossible for us to capture in full. What we can tell you is a little bit about who fits Cinderella’s slipper, and some of the top teams through two games. We’ve identified three of the top seeds who came ready to play in March. A few others had some statement wins after recent tourney blunders, but these three obliterated opponents all weekend. It's a chalk bracket. Let’s dive in.

The Stalwarts: Purdue, UConn & Duke

While 16 teams are still playing into the second weekend, a trio of top teams looked downright dominant in both of their first two opening-weekend games. UConn (56 points) and Duke (55 points) won both of their first two games by a combined margin of 55-plus (27.5 average margin of victory). And while that's impressive, buckle up. Purdue switched into another gear after two slow starts and blew out both opponents by 67 combined. They paced Grambling on Friday (78-50) and broke the spirits of 8-seed Utah State on Sunday (106-67). No other top teams eclipsed 50 points in total win margin over the first two games. You might remember in 2018 when 1-seed Virginia lost to 16-seed UMBC, then returned to win it all in 2019. Purdue lost to 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson last year. Is the revenge tour for real?

Revenge Tours: The Boilers aren’t the only team playing with a little bit of a vengeance after recent upsets in the Big Dance. Houston (1-seed), Marquette (2-seed), Arizona (2-seed) and Duke (4-seed) are all top seeds coming off recent tournament turmoil, or at least losses that left a sour taste. North Carolina (1-seed) also failed to make the tourney last year, so they have something to prove. Revenge is everywhere in the Sweet 16.

Fun Fact: Zach Edey, Purdue’s 7-foot-4 reigning National Player of the Year, had 53 points and 35 rebounds in his first two games combined (26.5 ppg / 17.5 rpg). He’s just the third player in NCAA history to record 50+ points and 30+ boards in the first two contests of the tourney (Blake Griffin & Antonio McDyess).

Cinderella: 11-Seed NC State

Despite eight double-digit seeds getting past the first round, only one is still standing in the Sweet 16 — 11-seed NC State. The Wolfpack took down 14-seed Oakland in overtime (79-73, OT) to reach the second weekend. They’re the lone Cinderella bid after two 12s (James Madison & Grand Canyon), a 13 (Yale) and a 14 (Oakland) knocked out some top teams in the first round. The next-lowest remaining seed is 6-seed Clemson. Keep in mind: NC State won five games in five days to win the ACC Tournament and steal an automatic bid.

Thrillers: Overtimes & Great Finishes

Three overtime games brought the drama on Saturday and Sunday with Sweet 16 bids on the line. 3-seed Creighton outlasted 11-seed Oregon (my Cinderella pick) in a double-overtime game for the ages (86-73, 2OT). The Blue Jays exploded in the second overtime after arguably the best game of the opening weekend. We already mentioned NC State’s overtime victory to send Oakland packing. And late last night, 1-seed Houston was put to the test after 9-seed Texas A&M went on a 13-3 run to close regulation and hit a buzzer-beater to force OT (86-all). Houston hung together and pulled away in the extra period (100-95, OT).

Round of 32 Highlights (Sunday)

#1 Houston def. #9 Texas A&M (100-95, OT)

#1 UConn def. #9 Northwestern (75-58)

#1 Purdue def. #8 Utah State (106-67)

#2 Marquette def. #10 Colorado (81-77)

#4 Duke def. #12 James Madison (93-55)

#4 Alabama def. #12 Grand Canyon (72-61)

#5 San Diego State def. #13 Yale (85-57)

#6 Clemson def. #3 Baylor (72-64)

Round of 32 Highlights (Saturday)

#1 N. Carolina def. #9 Michigan State (85-69)

#2 Arizona def. #7 Daytona (78-68)

#2 Iowa State def. #7 Washington State (67-56)

#2 Tennessee def. #7 Texas (62-58)

#3 Illinois def. #11 Duquesne (89-63)

#3 Creighton def. #11 Oregon (86-73, 2OT)

#5 Gonzaga def. #4 Kansas (89-68)

#11 NC State def. #14 Oakland (79-73, OT)

Sweet 16 (Remaining Teams By Seed)

1s (4): UConn, Purdue, UNC, Houston

2s (4): Iowa State, Arizona, Marquette, Tennessee

3s (2): Creighton, Illinois

4s (2): Alabama, Duke

5s (2): Gonzaga, San Diego State

6s (1): Clemson

11s (1): NC State

🏀 Men’s NCAA Tournament Bracket

🗓️ Men’s NCAA Tournament Schedule

Sweet 16 Games (Thursday-Friday, Mar. 28-29)

B/R: Creighton’s 2OT Win Over Oregon Hyped as Best Game of March Madness

ESPN: Duke Freshman Jared McCain Cans Eight 3s, Sets Team Mark as Duke Rolls

NCAAW

Women's Tourney: Star Spotlight

Photo: Tim Cowie / Getty Images

Top Seeds Cruise to Women’s Sweet 16 (Half Complete), But 8 More Games on the Way Today

While the Men’s NCAA Tournament got the head start, the women’s bracket will fill out the Sweet 16 after another eight games today. Top seeds are cruising along with the exception of 2-seed Ohio State. The Buckeyes were stunned by sharpshooting 7-seed Duke on Sunday (75-63). Another 2-seed, Stanford, also got a scare from 7-seed Iowa State late last night. The Cardinal needed overtime to outlast the Cyclones (87-81, OT), and Kiki Iriafen (41 points) had the game of the tourney. And before you ask, yes. South Carolina is still perfect. Here’s a look at some of the top stars from Round 2 as well as highlights and today’s schedule.

Star Spotlight

Caitlin Clark (IOWA): 27 pts, 8 rebs, 10 asts

Paige Bueckers (CONN): 28 pts, 11 rebs, 7 asts

Juju Watkins (USC): 23 pts, 5 rebs, 4 blks

Kiki Iriafen (STAN): 41 pts, 16 rebs, 3 blks

Milaysia Fulwiley (SC): 20 pts, 9 rebs, 3 stls

Reigan Richardson (DUKE): 28 pts, 7 rebs

Round of 32 Highlights (Sunday)

#1 S. Carolina def. #8 N. Carolina (88-41)

#1 Texas def. #8 Alabama (65-54)

#2 Stanford def. #7 Iowa State (87-81, OT)

#3 LSU def. #11 Middle Tennessee (83-56)

#3 Oregon State def. #6 Nebraska (61-51)

#5 Colorado def. #4 Kansas State (63-50)

#5 Baylor def. #4 Virginia Tech (75-72)

#7 Duke def. #2 Ohio State (75-63)

Remaining Round of 32 Games (Today)

#7 Ole Miss at #2 Notre Dame (2:00 pm, ESPN)

#6 Tennessee at #3 NC State (4:00 pm, ESPN)

#6 Syracuse at #3 UConn (6:00 pm, ESPN)

#5 Oklahoma at #4 Indiana (6:30 pm, ESPN2)

#8 W. Virginia at #1 Iowa (8:00 pm, ESPN)

#7 Creighton at #2 UCLA (8:30 pm, ESPN2)

#8 Kansas at #1 USC (10:00 pm, ESPN)

#5 Utah at #4 Gonzaga (10:30 pm, ESPN2)

*All Times ET

🏀 Women’s NCAA Tournament Bracket

🗓️ Women’s NCAA Tournament Schedule

ESPN: Women’s March Madness: What We Learned As Duke, Baylor, Colorado Win on Road to Reach Sweet 16

SOCCER

Kings of Concacaf 🇺🇸

Photo: Click Thompson / Getty Images

Tyler Adams’ Screamer Sends USA Past Mexico (2-0) to Win 3rd Straight Concacaf Nations League Title

The 2024 Concacaf Nations League came down to North America’s best regional rivalry on Sunday night — USA and Mexico — and it did not disappoint. A somewhat even match was nil-nil just before halftime until Tyler Adams (45’) delivered an absolute heat-seeker from a mile away. Adams hadn’t started for the USMNT in over a yar, but he made his presence felt with one of the greatest goals in U.S. soccer’s recent memory. This thing was a turn-and-launch from beyond 35 yards. The U.S. struck again in the 63rd minute after Christian Pulisic made an end-line run and Gio Reyna blasted a loose ball from the 18. Mexico had a penalty-kick opportunity waived off by VAR for simulation (flopping) down the stretch, but no amount of regrouping could turn the momentum for El Tri. It’s a three-peat for the USA!

The Rivalry: The USMNT outshot Mexico (11-9, 4-2 on target) and out-possessed El Tri (53-47%) in a tightly contested match that came down to two brilliant moments. They'll play in a pair of friendlies in June before the Copa America competition and Summer Olympics.

Watch: USA def. Mexico (2-0) to Win Concacaf Nations League Title

NBC Sports: WATCH: Tyler Adams Uncorks Venomous Goal to Give USMNT Lead

CBS Sports: Concacaf Nations League Final Stopped Due to Discriminatory Chanting by Mexico Fans

HIGHLIGHTS 🎥

🏀 NBA

Bucks def. Thunder (118-93)

*Giannis Antetokounmpo (30 pts, 19 rebs)

Timberwolves def. Warriors (114-110)

*GSW Lose 3 of 4, in Danger of Missing Playoffs

Lakers def. Pacers (150-145)

*Anthony Davis (36 pts, 16 rebs) Leads Shootout

Celtics def. Bulls (124-113)