16 things you need to know about the Sweet 16
1 Villanova (7-2) is the favorite to win the NCAA Tournament, followed by Duke (4-1), Kansas (6-1), Kentucky (7-1) and Michigan (7-1).
2 Loyola- Chicago’s 98-yearold team chaplain Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt — the tournament sensation, who has been with the team since 1994 — needs to pray. The Ramblers (100-1) have the worst title odds. 3 The
combined seed number of the remaining teams is 85, the highest total since 2000. 4 The
regular-season conference champions of the seven top leagues (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12, SEC, AAC) have been eliminated, except for Kansas. 5 There
is still dominance among the upsets. No. 1 Villanova and No. 2 Duke won their first two games by a combined average of 24 points per game. 6 The
South region is the first in NCAA Tournament history without of any of the top-four seeds in the Sweet 16. 7 For
the 11th straight year, the defending national champion did not get past the Sweet 16. 8 For
the first time since 2004, multiple No. 1 seeds (Virginia, Xavier) didn’t reach the Sweet 16. 9 No.
2 Duke and No. 11 Syracuse’s matchup pits the two winningest coaches of alltime against each other, with Mike Krzyzewski holding 1,099 wins, and Jim Boeheim next (926), despite having 101 wins vacated.
10 Five
of the remaining coaches have at least one national championship (Krzyzewski, Boeheim, Bill Self, John Calipari, Jay Wright), while another three have made the Final Four (Bob Huggins, John Beilein, Mark Few) 11 If
No. 5 Kentucky reaches the Final Four, it would be the first team in 10 years (Kansas) to advance without facing a top-six seed. 12 No.
11 Loyola is in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1985, with droughts also ended by Clemson (1997), Nevada (2004) and Texas Tech (2005). 13 Half
of the Wooden Award finalists have been eliminated, and the only projected remaining NBA lottery picks belong to Duke, Villanova and Kentucky. 14 In
the past five years, a seven-seed or lower has reached the Final Four. Six still remain. 15 Four
teams left have never made the Final Four (Nevada, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Clemson) while Purdue (1980), Kansas State (1964), LoyolaChicago (1963) have gone the longest since last going. 16 For
the first time since 2004 — and the second time since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985 — three teams in one region come from the same conference, with Duke, Syracuse and Clemson in the Midwest.