NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Preview

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Chet Holmgren #34 of the Gonzaga Bulldogs dunks the ball against the BYU Cougars. Chris Gardner/Getty Images/AFP

The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament is officially over. We’ve got plenty of teams in the final 16 that just wasn’t expected before the Tournament began.

West Region  

In the West Region, everything played out accordingly, for the most part, with the one through four seeds making it into the Sweet 16. Those four teams include (1) Gonzaga, (2) Duke, (3) Texas Tech, (4) Arkansas. However, it could’ve easily been the other way around as all four of these teams were tested at one point during the weekend. 

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If you had the top four teams in the West Region, you read that region correctly.  

Gonzaga will now take on Arkansas while Duke will be taking on Texas Tech. The Bulldogs are projected to beat Arkansas by 10 due to their stellar defense this season. The Razorbacks, on the other hand, have played terrific defense this year but the offense has been a bit inconsistent.  

In the 2 and 3 matchup, NCAAB odds are expecting a closer game with Duke projected to win by one point. Texas Tech is a turnover machine on the offensive end, but Duke isn’t a major threat to force turnovers. Meanwhile, Texas Tech is a threat as the Red Raiders force 23.5% turnovers per game. Still, Duke takes care of the basketball, so this will be an interesting matchup for sure.

East Region  

Winners of both games will then compete over the weekend for a spot in the Final Four. In the East Region, there’s much more chaos, making NCAAB picks a bit tricky. 8-seeded North Carolina will take on the 4-seeded UCLA Bruins while the 3-seeded Purdue Boilermakers will take 15-seeded St. Peter’s. 

Yes, St. Peter’s. The St. Peter’s Peacocks knocked off Kentucky and Murray State to now play a Sweet-16 game against Purdue. The height difference is going to be insane in this game. I just don’t see how the Peacocks win this matchup.  

On the other hand, the North Carolina Tar Heels almost blew a 25-point lead against 1-seeded Baylor Bears, but eventually figured it all out in overtime and won. UCLA has looked fine and has done what’s been expected of them so far. I think it’s obvious that Purdue will win but not so obvious who will win between UNC and UCLA.  

On the other side of the bracket, 1-seeded Arizona and 2-seeded Villanova are still both alive and could see each other in the Elite Eight. Arizona will have to fight through a very good Houston team that has many surprised for the second straight season. Meanwhile, Villanova will get to take on an 11-seed in Michigan. But Michigan isn’t just some random 11- seed. The Wolverines have way more talent on their roster than that.  

Arizona had a little bit of a scare against TCU over the weekend but escaped and won. Villanova struggled early in the tournament but seem to have found its composure. I’d expect the top two teams in the South to play in the Elite Eight.

Midwest  

Lastly, we said that the Midwest would be chaos. Now we’re guaranteed to have a 10 or worse seed make the Elite Eight. Kansas will take on Providence at the top of the Midwest bracket, which was expected via seeding. However, nobody expected (10) Miami to take on (11) Iowa State in the Sweet 16.  

Auburn lost to Miami over the weekend, 79-61, and never got in a rhythm. Meanwhile, Iowa State’s defense has held Wisconsin and LSU to under 55 points in the NCAA Tournament. It’s been quite the turnaround for Iowa State and if the Cyclones find a way to get stops against Miami, an Elite Eight matchup against a familiar foe in Kansas would be up next.  

That’s how I think that region will play out. Whoever you choose, make sure to place your bets with one of BMR’s top-rated sportsbooks.