The opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament has come and gone. While the tournament may have been lacking in madness, there was certainly some drama, as High Point knocked off Wisconsin, Iowa shocked Florida, and Kentucky vs. Santa Clara had one of the greatest finishes to regulation in recent memory.
This leads to a Sweet Sixteen that is lacking a Cinderella, but should provide monster matchups. Will the Big Ten finally win the National Championship? Who will emerge from a loaded East Region? Can
Michigan reach the mountaintop? All these questions and more will be answered in the coming weeks.
But for now, let’s re-rank each of the Sweet Sixteen teams.
1. Arizona Wildcats (1-seed, West Region)
The Wildcats marched through the first weekend with little trouble. Sadly, Long Island’s “Fins Up” chant wasn’t enough to even make it a close game, with the high-flying Wildcats in a 92-58 romp. 9-seed Utah State provided some resistance in the Round of 32, but Arizona pulled away late with relative ease. While Darius Acuff and 4-seed Arkansas will certainly be a test in the Sweet Sixteen, it’s safe to say Arizona is playing as well as any team right now.
2. Michigan Wolverines (1-seed, Midwest Region)
Michigan withstood a torrid shooting performance by 16-seed Howard in the first half before winning by 21. In the second round, the Wolverines easily squashed Robbie Avila and Saint Louis thanks to a dominant effort offensively. Despite L.J. Cason’s injury, Michigan has the depth and talent to play with anyone.
3. Duke Blue Devils (1-seed, East Region)
Duke rightfully earned the overall No. 1 seed. However, things have seemed off for the Blue Devils through their first two games. Siena put a scare into Duke despite not playing a single bench player, and TCU hung around for longer than expected. The Blue Devils are still one of most talented teams in the country, but they certainly aren’t playing their best basketball. I was tempted to drop them even lower than third.
4. Houston Cougars (2-seed, South Region)
Through two games, Houston has yet to play a competitive game. The Cougars whomped Idaho, 78-47, before smashing 10-seed Texas A&M, 88-57. More importantly, Florida’s shocking loss to Iowa paved the way for Houston to be the prohibitive favorites out of the South. The Cougars are two quasi-home games against Big Ten foes away from yet another Final Four. That seems very attainable.
5. Iowa State Cyclones (2-seed, Midwest Region)
Like Houston, Iowa State has yet to play an even remotely close game this March Madness. The Cyclones lost Joshua Jefferson to injury, which could prove fatal later in the tournament. However, so far so good without him. Iowa State beat 15-seed Tennessee State by 34 and 7-seed Kentucky by 19. Neither game was all that close.
6. Illinois Fighting Illini (3-seed, South Region)
14-seed Penn was a popular mid-major team that folks thought could pull off a first-round upset. Those dreams were squashed almost immediately as Illinois smacked Penn, 105-70. The Fighting Illini received a favorable draw that saw them face 11-seed VCU in the Round of 32, and they took care of business. Keaton Wagler and company will face a stiff test in 2-seed Houston on Thursday, but they will be a tough out.
7. UConn Huskies (2-seed, East Region)
Some (myself included) saw UConn as the most vulnerable 2-seed in the tournament on Selection Sunday. Yet here we are again with Dan Hurley and UConn in the Sweet Sixteen. Tarris Reed Jr. put up a monster stat line against 15-seed Furman with 31 points and 27 rebounds. The Huskies then dispatched 7-seed UCLA thanks to a late and lengthy run. UConn has a tossup with Michigan State in the Sweet Sixteen, but the sky is still the limit for the Huskies.
8. Purdue Boilermakers (2-seed, West Region)
The recipients of the best draw in the tournament, the Boilermakers were shockingly granted a 2-seed in the West. They’ve taken advantage of their favorable draw with wins over 15-seed Queens and 7-seed Miami. Next up, they get 11-seed Texas in a game they’ll be highly favored in. No one has had a more favorable path to the Elite Eight. Braden Smith and company have admirably avoided upsets so far, but they don’t feel like a true contender just yet.
9. St. Johns Red Storm (5-seed, East Region)
Rick Pitino is so back. St. Johns was under-seeded as a 5-seed, but it got some revenge. The Red Storm easily handled 12-seed Northern Iowa before knocking off Bill Self and 4-seed Kansas thanks to the tournament’s first true buzzer-beater by Dylan Darling. All eyes will be on Washington D.C. on Friday night, as Duke vs. St. Johns could be the game of the tournament up to this point.
10. Arkansas Razorbacks (4-seed, West Region)
Darius Acuff and Arkansas have proved they can score on anyone. Case in point, the Razorbacks scored 97 points against 13-seed Hawaii and 94 points against 12-seed High Point. While receiving the benefit of playing two lower-seeded teams, Arkansas hasn’t done anything to slow down the hype train. While they’ll certainly be an underdog to 1-seed Arizona in San Jose later this week, it wouldn’t be shocking at all to see the Razorbacks move on to the Elite Eight.
11. Michigan State Spartans (3-seed, East Region)
Much has been made about Michigan State’s inability to shoot the ball. However, things have gone pretty well for the Spartans so far this tournament. In the Round of 32, Michigan State had four players make two or more three-pointers against 6-seed Louisville in Jaxon Kohler, Coen Carr, Kur Teng, and Trey Fort. It would be asking a lot at this point to ask the Spartans to win the National Championship, but UConn better not take Michigan State likely or else they are talented enough to send the Huskies packing.
12. Alabama Crimson Tide (4-seed, Midwest Region)
When the Tide are making their threes, they can be nearly unstoppable. That was the case for poor 5-seed Texas Tech on Sunday night, as the Tide poured in 19 three-pointers on the way to a 90-65 blowout. Alabama’s offensive prowess is well known, but its defense has been rough to say the least this year. If they want to get past 1-seed Michigan on Friday night, the Tide need to come up with a plan to slow down the Wolverine front court.
13. Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-seed, South Region)
Nebraska got the monkey off its back by winning the first NCAA Tournament game in program history against 13-seed Troy, 76-47. A Round of 32 win over Vanderbilt thanks to the basketball gods has Nebraska’s sights set on the next goal: the Final Four. The Cornhuskers are favored in the Sweet Sixteen thanks to 9-seed Iowa knocking off 1-seed Florida. However, anything can happen in rivalry games, especially in the postseason.
14. Tennessee Volunteers (6-seed, Midwest Region)
Rick Barnes’s struggles in March have been well-documented over the years. However, he’s off to a great start in 2026. The Volunteers ended the dreams of 11-seed Miami (OH) fans with a 78-56 win in the Round of 64. They then knocked off 3-seed Virginia in a game that they nearly led wire-to-wire. Tennessee isn’t a serious National Championship contender, but it’s a fun story that could give Iowa State some problems if the Cyclones don’t shoot well.
15. Iowa Hawkeyes (9-seed, South Region)
The fact the Hawkeyes knocked off 1-seed Florida is incredible in and of itself. The fact they did so with do-everything guard Bennett Stirtz going 0-for-9 from three is ludicrous. Stirtz is one of the highest usage players in America and has rarely gotten help all season long. He got help against Florida by way of 20 points from Tavion Banks and an incredible game-winning three by big man Alvaro Folgueiras. Iowa gets to face rival Nebraska in the Sweet Sixteen — no pressure.
16. Texas Longhorns (11-seed, West Region)
Without fail, a First Four team nearly always makes it to the second round. But make no mistake, you can’t consider a program like Texas to be a Cinderella. The Longhorns deserve to be here after wins over 6-seed BYU and 3-seed Gonzaga. It’s all house money at this point for the Longhorns. No one thought they’d be here after losing five of their last six regular season games.
