2017 NCAA Tournament - Sweet 16 tips off March 23

With the 2017 NCAA Tournament entering the second week of March Madness tonight the ‘Sweet 16’ round tips off.

If you entered a 2017 NCAA Tournament pool odds are your bracket has suffered at least one or two losses. Tonight the final 16 teams standing will begin their odyssey to gain entry to the Elite 8 round this coming weekend.

Without doubt the bracket suffering the greatest upsets was the East where where both top seeds crashed and burned in the round of 32. Shockingly last season’s champion the Villanova Wildcats and the team projected by many to win this year the Duke Blue Devils were bounced from the tournament.

How the Sweet 16 earned their spots:

East Bracket:

Florida (24-8)

Round one beat East Tennessee: 80-65
Round of 32 beat Virginia: 65-39

Wisconsin (25-9):

Round one beat Virginia Tech: 84 – 74
Round of 32 the Badgers pulled off arguably the biggest upset taking out the 2016 NCAA Champions – Villanova by a score of 65-62

Baylor ( 25-7):

Round one beat New Mexico: 91- 73
Round of 32 they beat USC 82-78

South Carolina (22-10):

Round one they trounced Marquette: 93-73
Round of 32 they upset Duke: 88-81

West Bracket:

Gonzaga (32-1):

Round one Gonzaga beat South Dakota State 66-46
In the round of 32 they beat Cinderella squad Northwestern 79-73

West Virgina (26-8):

Round one beat Bucknell 86-80
Although West Virginia were ranked higher the win over Notre Dame (83-71) In the round of 32 was considered something of an upset. Hey, I’m the same person who picked Princeton to upset Notre Dame in the round of 64 ultimately losing by 2 points. Suffice to say, I wasn’t surprised by West Virginia winning in the next round.

Xavier (21-13):

Although ranked lower the win by Xavier over sixth seeded Maryland (76-65) in the opening round wasn’t that surprising.
Beating Florida State (91-66) also wasn’t surprising given the Seminoles record on the road this season.

Arizona (30-4):

Beat North Dakota 100-82 in the opening round
In the round of 32 they beat Saint Mary’s 69-60

MidWest Bracket:

Kansas (28-4):

Beat UC Davis 100-62 to start the tournament
In the round of 32 they beat Michigan State 90-70

Purdue (25-7):

Purdue opened the tournament besting Vermont 80-70
To move into the Sweet 16 they beat Iowa State 80-76 in the round of 32

Oregon (21-5)

They beat Iona 93-77 in the opening round
In a closer than necessary round of 32 they beat Rhode Island 75-72

Michigan (24-11):

In the opening round in a nail biter Michigan beat Oklahoma State by a single point (92-91)
Michigan advanced to the Sweet 16 by upsetting Louisville 73-69 in the round of 32

South Bracket:

North Carolina (27-7):

Beat Texas Southern 23-11 in the first round
In the round of 43 North Carolina beat Arkansas72-65

Butler (23-8):

In the opening round Butler beat Winthrop 76-64
Butler beat Middle Tennessee 74-65 in the round of 32

UCLA (29-4):

Round one beat Kent State 97-80
In the round of 32 UCLA took down Cincinnati 79-67

Kentucky (29-5):

In the opening round Kentucky best Northern Kentucky 79-70
Kentucky advanced to the Sweet 16 round by dispensing of Wichita State 65-62

Sweet 16 Schedule:

Starting tonight eight teams will play with four securing their spots to the Elite 8 this coming weekend. The other 8 squads will play tomorrow to forge their entries. This weekend the eight teams will be narrowed to the Final 4.

Thursday, March 23 games (Sweet 16)

Game 1, Midwest Bracket:

Seed 3 Oregon vs. Seed 7 Michigan, on CBS, at 7:09 p.m. ET in Kansas City, Missouri

Game 2, West Bracket:

Seed 1 Gonzaga vs. Seed 4 West Virginia, on TBS at 7:39 p.m. ET in San Jose, California

Game 3, Midwest Bracket:

Seed 1 Kansas vs. No. 4 Purdue, on CBS (following Oregon/Michigan) projected to be approximately 9:40 p.m. ET in Kansas City, Missouri

Game 4, West Bracket:

Seed 2 Arizona vs. Seed 11 Xavier on TBS (following Gonzaga/West Virginia) projected to start at approximately 10:10 p.m. ET in San Jose, California

Friday, March 24 games (Sweet 16)

Game 1, South Bracket:

Seed 4 Butler vs. Seed 1 North Carolina, on CBS at 7:09 p.m ET in Memphis, Tennessee

Game 2, East Bracket:

Seed 3 Baylor vs. Seed 7 South Carolina, at 7:20 p.m. ET on TBS in New York, N.Y.

Game 1, South Bracket:

Seed 3 UCLA vs. Seed 2 Kentucky, on CBS (following Butler/North Carolina) projected to start at approximately 9:40 p.m. ET in Memphis, Tennessee

Game 4, East Bracket:

Seed 4 Florida vs. Seed 8 Wisconsin, on TBS (following Baylor/South Carolina,) projected to start at approximately 10:00 p.m. ET in New York, N.Y.

More from Thunderous Intentions

Good Luck with your brackets, check back with us prior to the weekend for updates and scheduling on the Elite 8 teams and schedules.

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2017 NCAA Tournament – Sweet 16 tips off March 23

By Tamberlyn Richardson | Mar 23, 2017