The Sweet 16 is here and after an exciting first 2 rounds, the Sweet 16 is shaping up to be amazing.

I’m going to be going through and previewing the most anticipated games for this round.

Michigan St. (7) vs Kansas St. (3)

This Game looks like it is going to be a good one as 7 seed Michigan State gets ready to face off against 3 seed Kansas State. 

Michigan State is coming into this game after a 9 point win over Marquette. Overall So far, Michigan State has played a very good all around team game with depth scoringing all up and down the lineup. They look very strong with 3 players averaging over 12 points through the first 2 games.

Kansas State has been shocking the world this year after they were expected by many to finish last place in the Big 12. They ended up dominating their competition this year and securing a 3 seed due to the exceptional play of Markquis Nowell and transfer from Florida Keyontae Johnson.

Keyontae Johnson in a game vs Florida St. on December 12, 2020, Johnson collapsed after returning to the court from a timeout. He was placed in a medically induced coma for 3 days.

 He had a very good recovery and then had a huge choice to make. With The NCAA insurance policy after an event like that, he could choose to take a 5 million dollar payout and never be able to play college basketball again, or decline the money and bet on himself for his final year of eligibility, and he choose to bet on himself. 

He then transferred to Kansas State who was expected to not be a good team this season and he excelled. In his senior season at Kansas St, he averaged 17.5 ppg and 7 rebounds. After his amazing season he is now projected to be a 2nd round pick in this year’s NBA draft.  

Gonzaga (3) vs UCLA (2)

Gonzaga vs UCLA is expected to be a high scoring outing as both teams can score at will.

Gonzaga has looked strong as senior Drew Timme has shined. Timme in the first round against GCU had 21 points and 6 rebounds and in their 2nd round matchup against TCU, Timme had 28 points and 8 rebounds.

UCLA has played an amazing team game this season with 4 players averaging more than 10 points a game. Senior Jaime Jaquez Jr. has also had a very strong start to the tournament with 17 and 24 point performances through the first two games as well as having 8 rebounds in both games.

Princeton (15) vs Creighton (6)

Princeton is still alive after upsets against Arizona and Mizzou in their first two games. Senior Ryan Langborg had an outstanding game scoring 22 points in their win vs Missouri. Nobody was expecting Princeton to still be dancing and they hope to keep their cinderella run going against Creighton.

Creighton has looked extremely well during their first two games of the tournament. Creighton has one of the best starting 5 in all of college basketball with all 5 averaging over 11 points per game this season. They will be a hard team to stop as you can’t just focus on one or two guys as everybody on that team can get it done.