NCAA Tournament 2023: Ranking the 8 matchups in the Sweet 16
By Joey Loose
8. 6 Creighton vs. 15 Princeton
You wouldn’t expect a team that lost to Brown, Dartmouth, Delaware, and Navy to be in this position, but it’s all about playing the best basketball at the right time of the year. Frankly, Princeton is playing their best ball when it matters most, evident in their wins over 2-seed Arizona and 7-seed Missouri, eliminating their fellow Tigers by 15 points in the second round. This is the first Ivy League team to make the Sweet Sixteen in thirteen years, and they’re only here after an impressive performance in the Ivy League Tournament.
On the contrary, Creighton is the team who entered the season with the high expectations. The Bluejays one of the most talented and complete starting lineups in the nation, but mightily struggled earlier in the year without star center Ryan Kalkbrenner. Creighton bounced back after a rough performance in the Big East Tournament to take care of business in 9-point wins over 11-seed NC State and in an upset of 3-seed Baylor. Two different Bluejays have had 30-point efforts already in the Tournament and you never know who’ll beat you on a given night.
Princeton looked quite outmatched against Arizona and was a definite underdog against Missouri, but they’re still dancing a week later. Can they pull off this same type of feat against Creighton? In all likelihood, the Tigers will fall back down to earth against a strong Bluejays team, but this Creighton team is certainly beatable, especially if their starters get into foul trouble. Princeton’s Cinderella run likely ends, especially if the Bluejays show up like they did against Baylor.