March Madness: 16 facts to know for watching the Sweet 16

A No. 9 has only made the Final Four twice.

Wichita State (2013) and Pennsylvania (1979) are the only No. 9 seeds to ever make a trip to the Final Four. This is obviously a rare occurrence but could it happen once again this year. Kansas State and Florida State both remain in the field with plenty of hope for their Big Dance run to continue. The two squads, however, have taken incredibly different paths to this point. While Florida State needed a massive comeback to upset No. 1 seed Xavier, K-State struggled mightily to take down No. 16 UMBC in one of the ugliest games of the tournament.

Jevon Carter already has 10 steals in the NCAA Tournament.

Carter is well-known as the best perimeter defender in college basketball. In the NCAA Tournament, he has lived up that reputation. The West Virginia star has come away with 10 steals in his first two games. He is the spark that lights the way for the Mountaineers on both ends of the floor. If Bob Huggins is going to get back to the Final Four, the senior will need to keep up his torrid pace on defense.

Marvin Bagley III is the leading rebounder left at 11.3 boards per game.

This is the most physically dominating player left in the field. Duke’s Bagley is a force on the offensive end of the floor and snags the top mark among rebounders in the Sweet 16. He can destroy just about any matchup that is thrown his way inside and on the glass. The freshman will be the driving force of a potential national championship run for the Blue Devils.

Loyola-Chicago has won 12 consecutive games.

It has been easy to look over Loyola-Chicago’s talent this season because of their status as a mid-major. However, this is not fair. The Ramblers have taken the country by storm with two incredible victories in the opening weekend of the tournament. They may still be the underdog in their region but this is a scorching hot team. Once a team gets rolling, they can be very hard to stop.