The Candy 16 is ready.
And it comes with an surprising shock from the ACC. The convention boasts 1 / 4 of the remaining discipline within the males’s NCAA match, sending 4 groups to the second weekend.
Clemson fended off Baylor and Duke steamrolled James Madison on Sunday evening to safe their spots within the last 16. They’re going to be a part of No. 1 seed North Carolina and No. 11 seed NC State, who each superior to the Candy 16 with wins on Saturday. That is 4 out of 5 ACC groups that made the match which might be nonetheless dancing after No. 10 seed Virginia misplaced within the play-in spherical.
Dismissed all through the season as shallow and fewer aggressive than its Huge 12, Huge Ten and SEC counterparts, the ACC has extra groups within the second weekend of the match than some other convention.
The Huge 12 produced eight NCAA match groups and has two within the Candy 16 — Houston and Iowa State. Identical for the SEC, which noticed Alabama and Tennessee advance after the league secured eight bids. The convention’s poor exhibiting included one other early exit from marquee program Kentucky. It drew ridicule directed at commissioner Greg Sankey, who beforehand recommended that the SEC and different energy convention aren’t pretty represented within the match discipline.
The Huge Ten, in the meantime, produced two Candy 16 groups out of six within the NCAA discipline. No. 1 seed Purdue and No. 3 Illinois have superior to the second weekend.
So what does this imply for the ACC that it has outperformed its power-conference counterparts? Did it deserve to put extra groups into the match? That is a stretch.
Virginia was one of many worst-performing groups within the match. Bubble groups that missed the lower — Pitt and Wake Forest — did not make a robust sufficient case to make the sector. However the ACC’s efficiency reinforces that the metrics used to find out the sector aren’t essentially the very best predictors of which conferences are strongest on the prime.
The Huge East nonetheless hasn’t misplaced
The Huge East in all probability nonetheless has the strongest gripe with the choice committee.
After fielding six groups that made circumstances for the NCAA match, solely three have been introduced on Choice Sunday — No. 1 seed UConn, No. 2 seed Marquette and No. 3 seed Creighton. Donovan Clingan and UConn dominated Northwestern for a straightforward win on Sunday, and Tyler Kolek led Marquette to a slim win over Colorado to kick off the day.
They’re all nonetheless dancing. The Huskies, Golden Eagles and Bluejays are all able to slicing down the nets in Phoenix. The Huskies stay favorites to take action.
In the meantime, St. John’s, Seton Corridor and Windfall have watched the match from house. They, together with different bubble groups, fell sufferer to a chaotic convention match weekend that noticed a number of bids stolen by surprising computerized qualifiers. St. John’s in all probability belonged within the discipline. Watching the remainder of the Huge East’s success from afar absolutely makes the snubs that rather more painful.
Houston hangs on in OT thriller to succeed in Candy 16
It practically slipped away within the last minutes, however the Cougars are headed to the Candy 16.
Houston held on late to beat No. 9 Texas A&M 100-95 in time beyond regulation of their second-round matchup on Sunday evening. That despatched the Cougars again to the Candy 16 for the fourth straight season. Jamal Shead led the Cougars with 21 factors and 10 assists. He had a ridiculous put-back dunk within the second half that left his household shook within the stands.
Houston held a 12-point lead with about two minutes to go, and appeared prefer it might hold on for a straightforward win. But the Aggies flew again into it and made it a recreation. They lower it to a single possession with simply greater than a minute to go, after which Andersson Garcia drilled a wild buzzer-beater to drive time beyond regulation.
The Cougars, regardless of having 4 starters foul out, managed to hold on in time beyond regulation to seize the five-point win. That sends them to Dallas, the place No. 4 Duke can be ready for them within the Candy 16. It wasn’t as dominant as some others within the day, however the Cougars are nonetheless simply as able to making it to Phoenix as anybody.
Alabama ends Grand Canyon’s run
Grand Canyon’s run got here to a crashing finish Sunday evening.
The Antelopes, recent off their first NCAA match win on Friday, fell in an extremely chaotic battle with Alabama. The competition felt far more like a random AAU matchup than an NCAA match recreation.
The Crimson Tide ended the sport on a 17-3 push to sneak out of Spokane with a 72-61 win. That gave Alabama its second consecutive Candy 16 berth, one thing it hasn’t executed in additional than 20 years.
A lot of Grand Canyon’s points have been self-inflicted. Tyon Grant-Foster put up 29 factors and had eight rebounds, however he was the one Lope to hit double figures and was the one participant to make a 3-pointer. The Lopes went 2-of-20 from behind the arc they usually missed 14 free throws as a crew.
It took Alabama too lengthy to take benefit, however the Tide bought it executed ultimately. They’ll now tackle top-seeded North Carolina within the Candy 16 in Los Angeles subsequent weekend. As a way to pull off that upset, although, they will have some work to do to reset within the coming days.
SDSU units up rematch with UConn
San Diego State had no subject getting previous Yale on Sunday evening to shut out the primary weekend of play.
The Aztecs flew to a straightforward 85-57 win over the Ivy League champs in Spokane, Washington, which punched their second straight ticket to the Candy 16. They led the complete approach and Yale, which surprised Auburn in its opening spherical recreation, couldn’t get a lot of something going offensively.
The Aztecs will now head to Boston to tackle top-seeded UConn within the Candy 16 on Thursday evening, which can present followers with an early rematch of final season’s nationwide championship recreation. SDSU will get an ideal likelihood at revenge after falling by 17 within the title recreation final spring — which might not solely present them a little bit of closure however would additionally utterly open up the remainder of the match.