For all the success it has had, the ACC spent much of the year being told it was having a down year and it had lost its place as one of the top conference in college basketball.
But the ACC is reminding everyone which conference claims the most national championships, and it could be adding another to the collection with four of its teams advancing to the NCAA men’s tournament Sweet 16, the most of any conference.
It’s not all that special that North Carolina or Duke made it, but it’s the surprises of the ACC that makes it remarkable. NC State remains the only double-digit seed in the Sweet 16, but Clemson had the most impressive road to the second weekend by beating Mountain West champion New Mexico and a high-powered Baylor team.
Clemson didn’t falter against an offense that averages 80 points a game, blitzing the Bears with its own outstanding offensive performance while holding Baylor off for a majority of the night. Even when Baylor woke up late and went on a run, the Tigers didn’t crack defensively and made its free throws to secure the win.
Despite starting the season 11-1 with some impressive wins, Clemson flew under the radar for most the season. Even though it went 11-9 in conference play, the Tigers were able stay comfortably in the tournament picture, and it didn’t crack against opponents most believed were going to eliminate them. Clemson is the real deal − as well as is the ACC − and that’s why the Tigers lead the winners and losers on the final day of the men’s tournament second round.
WINNERS
No. 1 seeds
No major upsets took place in the first weekend with Connecticut, Houston, Purdue and North Carolina all advancing to the Sweet 16.
It shouldn’t be a surprise for the top seeds in each region to each win their first two games, but what is impressive is that they all have done it in convincing fashion. All No. 1 seeds won by an average of 27.3 points. The closest game was Houston’s five-point win over Texas A&M in overtime in a game where it never trailed after halftime.
No. 1 seeds collectively haven’t done all too well recently, especially when last season was the first time no No. 1 seed made it to the Elite Eight. Now, this is the first time all No. 1 seeds will be in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2019. The power at the top of college basketball has been no joke, and they are playing like we could have an all No. 1 seed Final Four for the first time since 2008.
Duke’s Jared McCain
Give Duke as a whole credit for stomping James Madison, but Jared McCain deserves a special shoutout for what he did against the Dukes.
Entering the tournament, James Madison gave up less than six 3-pointers a game as it was one of the best perimeter defenses in the country. But McCain wasn’t phased as he knocked down eight 3-pointers and had 30 points with five rebounds in what was an outstanding day shooting the ball.
The freshman has shown some leadership so far in the tournament after he led the team with 15-points in the first round win against Vermont. The Blue Devils have veteran leaders on their team, but if freshman like McCain step up and have performances like this, then Duke could be on its way to its first Final Four under Jon Scheyer.
Alabama’s late game execution
Alabama probably plays one of the least sustainable ways of basketball in its fine giving up points at-will since it’s offense will often just outscore opponents.
But on Sunday it was presented with a different challenge in a slugfest with Grand Canyon. But rather than failing to adjust, Nate Oats changed his approach and he put on a near flawless performance in the final minutes to avoid the upset and head back to the Sweet 16. With six minutes to go, Grand Canyon was up 58-55. After that, the Alabama offense found a flow through perfectly executed sets, and believe it or not, its defense stepped up. Grand Canyon didn’t score in the final four minutes as Alabama ended the game on a 17-3 run to win 72-61.
The Crimson Tide play basketball dangerously, and it’s been shown it’s come back to hurt them in the regular season. But credit Oats and his players on making adjustments in what was an ugly and physical game, and doing what it needed to do to advance.
LOSERS
Baylor
Baylor has been a super consistent team ever since it went on its national championship run, with it a top three seed in every tournament the past three seasons. But Baylor has been a disappointment ever since it won that title, as it failed to live up to its seeding and missed the Sweet 16 for the third year in a row.
The Bears had one of the best offenses in the country, including being a top-10 team in 3-point percentage. You couldn’t tell on Sunday though with Baylor’s offense starting off severely cold, which included just one field goal made in the last seven minutes of the first half. Baylor was able to catch up, but then it wasn’t able to make free throws to ever tie the game against Clemson. Baylor finished the day 21-for-54 (38.9%) from the field, 6-for-24 (25%) from 3-point land and 16-for-26 (61.5%) from the foul line.
In the past three tournaments, Baylor has been eliminated by a No. 8 seed and No. 6 seed twice, and it’s proving that it’s not winning games it should be. Now, Baylor is starting to look like the team it was known as before the title: one that keeps on underachieving.
James Madison’s defense
The Dukes showed all season, and especially in the first round win against Wisconsin, how its defense had been the key to its 32-win season.
But it was nonexistent against Duke on Saturday, as it got exposed early and often against Duke in a 93-55 loss, the largest loss of the season for the Dukes.
Duke is a good team offensively, but James Madison had to like its chances given the nightmares it gave Wisconsin two days ago. But one of the best 3-point defenses in the country couldn’t stop Duke from drilling it beyond the arc. The Dukes have held opponents to 29.1% 3-point shooting this season, but the Blue Devils were a 14-of-28 (50%). JMU only gave up an average of 5.9 3-pointers a game, but it didn’t take long for Duke to surpass that mark in the first half.
After Friday’s win, James Madison appeared that it was going to give Duke a competitive game for the chance at its first Sweet 16 in school history. Instead, its remarkable season ends in a horrible defeat.
Upsets
After we were blessed with upsets like Oakland and Yale in the first round, the second round provided no major upsets with the bracket mostly having a chalked Sweet 16. The only lower seeds to win games were No. 5 Gonzaga over No. 4 Kansas − even though the Bulldogs were favored − and No. 6 Clemson over No. 3 Baylor. No. 11 seed NC State is the only double-digit seed in the Sweet 16, but it was expected to beat No. 14 seed Oakland.
A majority of games also weren’t that exciting. Of the 16 second round games, 10 were game decided by double-digits and some of those were complete unwatchable blowouts. What’s nice is that a mostly top seed Sweet 16 means intense good basketball, but the glass slipper didn’t fit for most of the Cinderellas after a promising first round.
Christine Lake is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. With an extensive background in sports journalism, he covers everything from major league championships to grassroots sports events. When she’s not on the field or at the stadium, you’ll find Christine coaching youth sports teams.
