You’re probably hearing a lot about March Madness brackets in sports news right now. You might have noticed that there are many terms and phrases that are unique to this tournament. This week, we decided to highlight one of them: “Sweet Sixteen”
That’s right, Sweet Sixteen is used to describe more than just your daughter’s extravagant birthday party. In March Madness, the phrase refers to the regional semifinal round (AKA the third round) of the tournament, in which sixteen teams remain. In order for a team to make it to this stage, they have to win their first two games (unless they played in the First Four, in which case they have to have won three games). The Sweet Sixteen is special because it marks the halfway point of the tournament, which started with 68 teams. This means that a team only needs to win two more games to make it to the Championship.
The two rounds after the Sweet Sixteen also have catchy names — Elite Eight and Final Four.
The first four teams in the men’s Sweet Sixteen will be facing off tomorrow. Here’s a list of who made it this year:
- Alabama
- San Diego State
- Creighton
- Princeton
- FAU
- Tennessee
- Kansas State
- Michigan State
- Houston
- Miami FL
- Xavier
- Texas
- Arkansas
- UConn
- Gonzaga
- UCLA
The women’s Sweet Sixteen starts Friday. Here’s who made the cut:
- South Carolina
- UCLA
- Miami FL
- Villanova
- Notre Dame
- Maryland
- LSU
- Utah
- Ole Miss
- Louisville
- Virginia Tech
- Tennessee
- Colorado
- Iowa
- Ohio State
- UConn
Whether you’re a casual viewer or a frantic bracket checker, March Madness is very exciting to witness. After watching such a large number of teams randomly face off, defy the most research-backed predictions, and be narrowed down in a sudden-death tournament, you can understand where the “madness” part of the name comes into play. There is also often a lot more emotional connection to the teams compared to pro sports, as college basketball brings back memories for alumni and connects current students across the country. And of course, if you’re building a bracket and betting on the games, you have a much more personal connection to each outcome and just can’t stop talking about it!
If you haven’t tuned in yet to the madness happening this March, we highly recommend you catch one of the Sweet Sixteen games happening this week!
If you’d like to see more of Sugar & Sports’ basketball-related content, check out this article about Steph Curry, or find out who we ranked the top five most influential basketball players here!
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