The Sweet Sixteen: Analysis by Conference

After an incredible weekend of March Madness, we’re down to The Sweet Sixteen!

There were plenty of upsets and close games to get excited/worried about, and I was really curious how the reality lined up with expectations. So I took a look at Sweet Sixteen by Conference.

Below, you’ll see each of the main conferences with each of the following:

• Number of teams on Selection Sunday (I left out the 23 1-bid conferences)
• Projected # of teams in the Sweet Sixteen (Assuming the 1 through 4 seeds all made it)
• Actual # of teams in the Sweet Sixteen

Theres a few key insights I took away from this chart.

• The ACC really underperformed. Louisville, Duke, and Florida State were all shocked by upsets in the round of 32. That said, UNC is still alive and kicking as a #1 seed, which means theres a solid chance for the ACC to claim the championship. However, UNC’s region is still stacked with the top 4 seeds: Kentucky, UCLA, and Butler.

• The SEC exceeded expectations. South Carolina really made it?? Not only did they take down a really hot Duke team, before this year the Gamecocks had not won a NCAA tournament game in 44 years. With Kentucky rollin’ forward in the South, and South Carolina/Florida in the East region (which seems wide open) I think there is a really solid chance we’ll see at least 1 SEC team in the Final Four.

• Watch out for the Big Ten. Wisconsin has made some incredible runs the past few years, so maybe it shouldn’t have been as big of a surprise when they (as a #8 seed) knocked off the overall #1 seed, Villanova. Is it ironic that the lowest seeded team to win the NCAA tourney was a #8 seed? And that team was the 1985 Villanova Wildcats? I think so.