The biggest surprise so far in this year’s men’s NCAA tournament isn’t the first-round upsets suffered by Auburn and Kentucky.
It’s that so few other highly seeded heavyweights also went home early.
Every top-two seed advanced to the NCAA tournament’s second weekend for only the fifth time since the bracket expanded to 64 teams in 1985. All but two remaining teams rank in the top 17 in Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency rankings.
The only downside is that this Sweet 16 lacks any semblance of the little guys that makes the NCAA tournament unique. Gonzaga and San Diego State are the only remaining programs from outside college basketball’s power conferences.