March Madness: 16 facts to know for watching the Sweet 16
13 of the RPI top-25 teams are in the Sweet 16.
The RPI has long been ridiculed as a poor metric for tournament selection. While this may true, it has done a fairly good job of predicting Big Dance success in the past. For this season, 13 of the RPI’s top-25 teams remain in the field after the opening weekend. The only three teams that reside outside of that mark are Syracuse (31), Florida State (38), and Kansas State (43). This is a positive mark considering the AP poll, which takes into account writers and recency bias, only has 10 remaining teams.
The 14 Group 1 wins by Kansas were the most of any team in the country.
This was the inaugural season of the new quadrant system in college basketball. This idea was meant to show the importance of playing away from home. Instead of all top-50 wins being alike, top-30 home games and top-75 road games became more important. The Kansas Jayhawks took advantage of this the most, securing the most Group 1 wins of any team in the country (14). This was a strong indicator of their success against top-level teams and also was a major reason for their selection as a No. 1 seed.
It has been 15 years since Syracuse won a National Championship.
Jim Boeheim has built a powerhouse with Syracuse basketball. Even though the program has been down in the past few regular seasons, the Orange continue to show up in the Big Dance. They made the Final Four just a few years back but are looking to take that next step this time around. If they are to reach San Antonio this season, Syracuse will look to add another championship banner.
Duke won their last meeting against Syracuse by 16 points
Earlier this season, Duke put together one of its best defensive outings in a win over Syracuse. While playing in front of the Cameron Crazies, the Blue Devils held the Orange to just 44 points in the 16-point victory. This was game in which Marvin Bagley III (19 points) and Wendell Carter (16 points, 10 rebounds) absolutely dominated the paint. Will we see more of the same this weekend?
I hope that this helps you all gain a better perspective on the Sweet 16 in the form of random and practically useless bits of information. If your team is still competing, good luck. If they are not, then hopefully your bracket can be salvaged from the depths of the trash can.