NCAA Tournament: Breaking Down The Sweet Sixteen By Conference

Taking a look at each conference and how many teams will represent them in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.

The NCAA Tournament is in full swing and now, the first weekend is completely in the books. As usual, the Big Dance has provided many exciting games, as well as numerous storylines as the second weekend approaches.

When the original bracket came out, there were 68 teams all hoping they had enough juice to make a run to the Final Four. However, that number gets trimmed awfully quickly, leaving just 16 teams remaining.

Only three of the original No. 1 seeds remain, as the defending champion Villanova Wildcats made an early exit. In addition, there aren’t a ton of Cinderella teams alive, with only one double-digit seed is in the Sweet Sixteen (No. 11 Xavier).

Below we will take a look at how many representatives each conference has left, with betting odds courtesy of OddsShark.

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Atlantic Coast Conference:

The Tar Heels are the lone ACC team remaining in the Sweet Sixteen. This comes as a huge surprise to college basketball fans, as they put the most entries in the original field of 68 teams.

They will play No. 4 Butler on March 24, with the Tar Heels coming in as heavy favorites (-7).

Big 12 Conference:

The odds-on favorite to win this tournament, the Kansas Jayhawks look to be playing their best basketball at the right time. In their second-round game, they drubbed Tom Izzo’s Michigan State team 90-70.

Kansas will play No. 4 Purdue on March 23, with the Jayhawks coming in as 4.5-point favorites.

Baylor has already beaten two quality teams in the NCAA Tournament, beating New Mexico State and USC.

The Bears will play upstart South Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen, with Baylor coming in as 3.5-point favorites.

West Virginia’s defense looks very good. They beat up Notre Dame 83-71 in the second round, following their opening-round win over No. 13 Bucknell.

The Mountaineers will take on No. 1 seed Gonzaga in the Sweet Sixteen, with West Virginia coming in as three-point underdogs.

Big Ten Conference:

Some say the Boilermakers have the perfect recipe for a Final Four run and they’d be right. Purdue has scored 80 points in each of their games behind a pair of double-doubles by Caleb Swanigan.

Purdue will play No. 1 Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen, with the Boilers coming in as seven-point underdogs.

Michigan is arguably the hottest team in the Big Dance right now. Fresh off a sweep of the Big Ten Tournament, the Wolverines have the team of destiny feel. Their upset of No. 2 Louisville in the second round has many believing they could run the table and make the Final Four.

The Maize and Blue will play No. 3 Oregon in the Sweet Sixteen, with the lower-seeded Wolverines actually favored (-1.5) in the game.

Heavily under-seeded coming into the NCAA Tournament, the Badgers pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament so far. In the second round, they beat No. 1 Villanova by a score of 65-62.

Wisconsin will play No. 4 Florida in the Sweet Sixteen, with the Badgers coming in as slight underdogs (+1.5).

Big East Conference:

One of the most experienced teams remaining, the Bulldogs are no longer an underdog story. They have had a relatively easy path so far, beating two mid-major teams (Winthrop and Middle Tennessee) en route to the Sweet Sixteen.

Butler will play No. 1 seed North Carolina on March 24, with Butler coming in as seven-point underdogs.

An injury to their best player, Edmond Sumner, hasn’t been able to slow down Chris Mack’s team. They knocked off No. 6 Maryland in the first round, followed by a 25-point drubbing of Florida State in the second round.

Xavier will play heavily-favored Arizona in the Sweet Sixteen, as the Musketeers come in as seven-point underdogs.

Pac-12 Conference:

Tons of brackets across America have the ‘Cats in the Final Four and for good reason. They have two NBA prospects, Lauri Markkanen and Allonzo Trier, so they are definitely a real contender.

Arizona will play No. 11 Xavier in the Sweet Sixteen on March 23, with the ‘Cats coming in as seven-point favorites.

Thanks to Lonzo Ball, the Bruins are back on top of the college basketball hierarchy. They handled both of their opponents so far, nailing Kent State by 17 points and Cincinnati by 12.

UCLA will square off with No. 2 Kentucky in the Sweet Sixteen, easily the best matchup of the entire round. The Bruins are slight favorites (-1) over John Calipari and company.

The Ducks got a huge scare from No. 11 Rhode Island in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, narrowly escaping 75-72. With that said, it won’t get much easier for them in the Sweet Sixteen, as they face the red-hot Michigan Wolverines.

Even though they are seeded higher than No. 7 Michigan, the Ducks are slight underdogs (+1.5).

Southeastern Conference:

Everyone’s favorite college basketball team is back in the Sweet Sixteen. They barely outlasted No. 10 Wichita State in the second-round, prevailing by only three points (65-62).

Kentucky will square off with UCLA in the Sweet Sixteen, with the ‘Cats coming in as slight underdogs (+1).

In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Gators made short work of Virginia’s vaunted defense, beating them 65-39. If Florida can continue playing its own stellar defense, this is definitely a team to look out for.

Florida will play one of the biggest surprise teams, No. 8 Wisconsin, in the Sweet Sixteen. The Gators come in as slight favorites (-1.5).

If Wisconsin hadn’t knocked off Villanova, the Gamecocks would have the honor of pulling the tournament’s biggest upset. Playing No. 2 Duke in the second round, South Carolina used their hard-nosed defense to knock off the Blue Devils.

The Gamecocks come in as slight underdogs (+3.5) against No. 3 Baylor in the Sweet Sixteen.

West Coast Conference:

The only mid-major team remaining in the NCAA Tournament, the ‘Zags are playing great behind superstar Nigel Williams-Goss. However, Gonzaga did get a scare from the Cinderella Northwestern Wildcats in the second round, squeaking by 79-73.

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Gonzaga will play No. 4 West Virginia in the Sweet Sixteen, with the ‘Zags coming in as three-point favorites.