NCAA Tournament 2023: Ranking the 8 matchups in the Sweet 16

2. 2 Texas vs. 3. Xavier

After twelve seasons at Arizona and a year out of the game, Sean Miller is back for round two leading the Musketeers and has picked up right where he’s left off. Xavier is in the Big Dance for the first time in five years and have already made quite the run. After an impressive run through the regular season and Big East play, the Musketeers survived a valiant effort from 14-seed Kennesaw State before taking care of 11-seed Pittsburgh to get here to the Sweet Sixteen. The Musketeers could’ve easily been upset very easily; can they take advantage of their chance here?

Texas has their fair share of surprises. Nobody expected Chris Beard to be dismissed from the program, nor for interim coach Rodney Terry to guide them into this position. The Longhorns had some great performances down the stretch and won the Big 12 Tournament, getting two impressive wins over Kansas in early March. They then made quick work of 15-seed Colgate before hanging on against a hungry 10-seed in Penn State back on Saturday night. Dylan Disu was unstoppable, but who will be the hero this time for the Longhorns?

There’s so much talent on both of these teams it feels unfair to not name every starter. Souley Boum has had a terrific season with the Musketeers, but now faces his former college coach, having played two seasons under Terry at UTEP. Sir’Jabari Rice has really found his role with the Longhorns, who have looked like the better team so far in the Tournament. However, we’re hitting the rest button this weekend and the team that shoots the ball better from long range might take this own; both teams have had horrific performances from beyond the arc in games this postseason already.