While the second round of March Madness ended yesterday, we know the posters of the Sweet 16 which will start this Thursday. A Sweet 16 that will be played without the famous universities of Duke, Kentucky, Kansas and North Carolina, the first three having already been eliminated from the tournament while the last had not even managed to qualify.
They are called the “Blue Bloods”. Not because they all play in blue jerseys, but because they are considered elite basketball programs with a tradition, track record and history that backs up that status. The Duke Blue Devils, Kentucky Wildcats, Kansas Jayhawks and North Carolina Tar Heels total:
- 23 national championship titles (Duke 5, Kentucky 8, Kansas 4, North Carolina 6)
- 45 national final appearances (Duke 11, Kentucky 12, Kansas 10, North Carolina 12)
- 71 apparitions au Final Four (Duke 17, Kentucky 17, Kansas 16, North Carolina 21)
But today, they’re all watching March Madness from their sofas.
Indeed, neither Duke, nor Kentucky, nor Kansas, nor North Carolina has managed to qualify for the Sweet 16 (the round of 16 of the NCAA tournament). And that is an event since it never happened only twice in 43 years: this year, and in… 2021. Between 1980 and 2019, at least one of these four major universities had at least reached the Top 16.
Number of Sweet 16’s WITHOUT:
North Carolina, Kentucky, Duke and Kansas
1980-2019 0
2021-2023 2 pic.twitter.com/Hch9sTWTtn— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 19, 2023
Duke, for the first season after Mike Krzyzewski (legendary coach who retired last year), fell to Tennessee in the second round on Saturday. Yesterday, Kentucky cracked at the very end of the game against Kansas State when there was room to pass. As for Kansas, defending champion who dreamed of a double, the disappointment was great after the surprise defeat against Arkansas 72-71. And finally, North Carolina – NCAA runners-up in 2022 – has essentially been conspicuous by its absence this year, with Hubert Davis’ men not even qualifying for March Madness despite being ranked #1 in preseason.
The Sweet 16 program:
- Kansas State #3 – Michigan State #7 (Thursday at 11:30 p.m.)
- UConn #4 – Arkansas #8 (Thursday-Friday night, 12:15 a.m.)
- Tennessee #4 – Florida Atlantic #9 (Thursday to Friday night, 2am)
- UCLA #2 – Gonzaga #3 (Thursday-Friday night, 2:45 a.m.)
- Alabama #1 – San Diego State #5 (Friday at 11:30 p.m.)
- Houston #1 – Miami #5 (Friday to Saturday night, 12:15 a.m.)
- Creighton #6 – Princeton #15 (Friday to Saturday night, 2am)
- Texas #2 – Xavier #3 (Friday to Saturday night, 2:45 a.m.)
The rest of the NCAA tournament will therefore be played without these four monuments of college basketball. And that’s always weird, even if only the University of Kansas was really one of the big favorites.
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Source texte : CBS Sports