NCAA’s Sweet 16 without a ‘Cinderella,’ top seeds looking strong

• The NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16 is set after a relatively ‘upset-free’ first weekend. Only one double-digit seed made it to the Sweet 16.
• SEC member Arkansas is one of seven teams from that conference that made it to the Sweet 16. The conference got a record 14 teams into the tournament.
• Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils are the odds on favorite to win the title after two easy wins.

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If your NCAA bracket has a few too many misses, you might have leaned on a few too many upsets when picking games. Unlike most years, the upset pick did not really happen in the first two rounds of the 2025 tournament.

How did 10-seed Arkansas advance?

In the first round, favored teams had a record of 25-7 and only one double digit seed made it to the Sweet 16. That team is 10-seed Arkansas coached by John Calipari. The Razorbacks took down Rick Pitino’s 2-seed St. John’s in a matchup of legendary coaches Saturday, March 22. The Razorbacks are in the Sweet 16 for the fourth time in the last five years after holding St. John’s to just 28% shooting. Two freshmen paved the way as Billy Richmond III and Karter Knox combined for 31 points.

“I told them this is as rewarding a year as I’ve had based on the fact of how far we’ve come and that these kids believed in each other. Told them many times you’re never going to disappoint me, just go play we’ll figure stuff out” Calipari said.

Which conference has the most teams in the Sweet 16?

The Razorbacks will take on 3-seed Texas Tech in the Sweet 16. The SEC put a record 14 teams into the NCAA tournament. Including Arkansas, seven of them made it to the Sweet 16. That effectively ends any talk the conference may have been overrated.

The Big Ten had four teams make it to the Sweet 16, including Maryland who needed the tournament’s first buzzer beater, Sunday, March 23, to advance over Colorado State. Freshman Derik Queen, who hit the game winner, was asked why it’s so easy to listen to their head coach Kevin Willard.

“First um he do pay us the money and then we got, so we got to listen to him, and we all trust him cuz he’s like a player coach and then he want nothing but the best for us and he just, he coaches hard he talked to us other than basketball. He’s just always there and just wanted us to win.” Queen said.

How are the No. 1 seeds looking?

Next up for Maryland, is one of those seven SEC schools, the top seed in the West region, Florida. In fact, all four top seeds are looking strong, Florida and Houston were challenged by their second-round opponents for a bit before winning. Auburn and Duke have had it fairly easy. Especially the Blue Devils, who with a healthy Cooper Flagg are the betting favorites to win it all. The issue for opponents is stopping the likely top pick in the NBA draft.

“I think you know just getting downhill getting in the paint is when good things happen all around so whether it’s kicking out for threes, or you know like you said getting fouled. So, that’s definitely something that we emphasize going into every game just getting in the paint trying to make plays.” Flagg said.

The Sweet 16 is completely made up of schools from the power four conferences, so there are no mid-major programs involved this year. That takes the so-called ‘Cinderella’ run out of play, but it also gives fans a different unpredictability with some very even matchups starting Thursday, March 27.