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SEC Leads Way to Sweet 16

The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament is in the books and the Cinderella stories and mid-major teams have all but disappeared.

All four, #1 seeds made it out of the first two rounds and all 16 teams who are remaining are from the Power 4 Conferences. For the first time since 1975, no mid-majors are still alive.

Considering the reshaped landscape of college sports this shouldn't come as any surprise. With NIL money at the forefront and players looking to make more money, the smaller schools in Non-Power conferences are having a hard time to compete with the bigger schools.

For the first time in tournament history, one conference is responsible for seven members of the Sweet 16. The revamped and enhanced SEC has flexed its muscle in making up nearly half of the remaining field. It started with a record 14 teams with all but two of its members being invited to the Big Dance.

Although Florida had a major scare in narrowly getting by Connecticut 77-75, the Gators and the SEC are still chomping. They are joined by Auburn, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and Mississippi.

Rounding out the rest of the remaining field are teams from the other three power conferences. The Big 12 have four of their seven teams left led by Houston who are the hottest team in the nation having won 15 games in a row and 29 of their last 30. They are joined by Texas Tech, Arizona and BYU.

The Big 10 has half of their initial invitations still going with Michigan State, Michigan, Purdue and Maryland. The ACC has only team, but it is Duke. One can make the argument that they are the most complete and best team in the country.

Despite not having any Cinderellas, the tournament is well balanced and still have some amazing stories with the best teams still alive. Noted by the point spreads, the Sweet 16 will have plenty of exciting matchups.

Thursday, March 27th, East Region at Newark

4:09 PM - BYU vs Alabama -5.5

6:39 PM - Arizona vs Duke -8.5

West Region at San Francisco

4:39 PM - Maryland vs Florida -6.5

7:09 PM - Arkansas vs Texas Tech -5.5

Friday, March 28th, South Region at Atlanta

4:09 PM - Ole Miss vs Michigan State -2.5

6:39 PM - Michigan vs Auburn -7.5

Midwest Region at Indianapolis

4:39 PM - Kentucky vs Tennessee -3.5

7:09 PM - Purdue vs Houston -7.5