NCAA Basketball: Ranking the Elite 8 teams in 2022 NCAA Tournament

Mar 24, 2022; San Francisco, CA, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Wendell Moore Jr. (center) and forward AJ Griffin (right) reacts after a play against the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the second half in the semifinals of the West regional of the men's college basketball NCAA Tournament at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /

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Miami Hurricanes NCAA Tournament Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /

7. Miami Hurricanes

The Hurricanes aren’t a true “Cinderella”, thanks to the existence of Saint Peter’s in this NCAA Tournament. It also helps that they benefitted from being a betting favorite against 11 seed Iowa State in the Sweet 16, a game in which they were able to pull away in the second half for a 70-56 win. Kameron McGusty had 27 points to lead the way, offsetting a rate off-game from both Charlie Moore and Isaiah Wong.

Those two certainly weren’t against Auburn, which was the biggest moment in program history. They defeated the Tigers to help set up their first-ever Elite 8 appearance. The backcourt trio of McGusty, Wong, and Moore is one of the best in the country, and whenever they get any production from Sam Waardenburg and Jordan Miller (combined for 29 points in the Iowa State victory), Miami is a very difficult team to stop.

The concern with this Hurricane squad is that they aren’t the greatest defensive unit and can be exposed against the right matchup. That very well could be Kansas, the last No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and has five players all capable of going for 20+ points. They’ll need all three guards to have a great game just to have a chance in the Elite 8 battle.

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