Yes, this is the 2024 Elite Eight field. Yes, Clemson and Alabama will battle on a big stage. In basketball, not football.
But that's not only the interesting storyline of the last set of games before the national semifinals of the men's NCAA tournament. UConn is chasing the first back-to-back national title run in more than 15 years. Can a hot Illinois squad stop the Huskies? Clemson and NC State have had magical runs, too. And Duke hopes to stamp the Jon Scheyer era with a Final Four appearance after taking down 1-seed Houston.
Because we've reached the Elite Eight, we've added more weight to the way teams are playing right now in this reseeding. You might love this order. You might hate it. Either way, thanks for reading.
Check out everything we learned after the Sweet 16.
UConn Huskies
Original seed: No. 1 overall seed (East)
NCAA tournament results: Defeated 16-seed Stetson 91-52; defeated 9-seed Northwestern 75-58; defeated 5-seed San Diego State 82-52
There are things that happen in UConn games -- things that would ruin most teams but don't seem to affect the Huskies. In Thursday's win over San Diego State, a team with a top-10 defensive mark entering the game, the Huskies registered just one field goal for nearly five minutes (7:53 to 3:11) in the first half. They still led by nine points at the break and subsequently toyed with Brian Dutcher's squad the rest of the way.
San Diego State had allowed just 46 points in the paint in its first two tournament games before facing UConn, which amassed 38 points in the paint on Thursday, per ESPN Stats & Information. The Huskies have only trailed for 28 seconds during this year's NCAA tournament; all 28 seconds happened in the first minute against the Aztecs.