NCAA Tournament Bracket Challenge - Sweet 16, Day 2 Update

Friday had another action-packed night of basketball as eight teams attempted to secure the four remaining spots in the Elite Eight.

We started with a shocking wire-to-wire upset from (11) NC State over (2) Marquette in the first game of the evening.  NC State took advantage of an abysmal shooting night from the Golden Eagles to continue their magical March run.

At the same time, (1) Purdue was able to pull away from (5) Gonzaga in the second half to overcome a closely contested first half and cruise to a 12-point victory.  The Boilermakers have looked as good as any team through this point in the tournament.

After a heartbreaking ankle injury to (1) Houston's star guard Jamal Shead in the first half, the top-seeded Cougars did not have enough firepower to handle 4-seeded Duke.  In a close game throughout, Duke managed to hang on at the end to pull off the upset.  After facing a 13 seed, a 12 seed, and a 1 seed without its best player for a majority of the game, the Blue Devils will face an 11-seeded in-state conference rival for a spot in the Final Four.

In the final game of the Sweet 16, (2) Tennessee used an 18-0 run in the second half against (3) Creighton to pull away and never look back.  It was a battle between leading scorers Dalton Knecht of the Vols and Baylor Scheierman of the Blue Jays, but Tennessee utilized their stifling defense and multitude of scoring options to prove to be too much for Creighton in the end.

The Elite Eight is now officially set, and the BSSR Mega March Madness Matchup Monstrosity has intensified again.  From my calculations, there are only four or five brackets that could still mathematically win.  But we'll have a much clearer picture after the remaining games this weekend. 

With just eight teams still alive, here's our MMMMM leaderboard:

1. McInItToWinIt (680 points)

• Points Remaining: 880
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Duke, Purdue, Arizona

2. Go Vols? (660 points)

• Points Remaining: 880
• Champion: Tennessee
• Final Four: UConn, Marquette, Tennessee, Alabama

T3. CM's picks (620 points)

• Points Remaining: 800
• Champion: Tennessee
• Final Four: UConn, Marquette, Tennessee, Arizona

T3. Pre-Wife Power (620 points)

• Points Remaining: 800
• Champion: Tennessee
• Final Four: UConn, Houston, Tennessee, Baylor

5. ajk1 (610 points)

• Points Remaining: 800
• Champion: Houston
• Final Four: UConn, Houston, Tennessee, Arizona

T6. Trizzy Tre (600 points)

• Points Remaining: 640
• Champion: Tennessee
• Final Four: Illinois, Houston, Tennessee, North Carolina

T6. WhoisMicah? (600 points)

• Points Remaining: 560
• Champion: Purdue
• Final Four: Auburn, Houston, Purdue, North Carolina

8. Drew's (590 points)

• Points Remaining: 0
• Champion: Houston
• Final Four: Iowa State, Houston, Creighton, North Carolina

9. LOVER BOY (570 points)

• Points Remaining: 560
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Houston, Creighton, Baylor

10. okaymason (560 points)

• Points Remaining: 560
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Marquette, Creighton, North Carolina

11. Free money (520 points)

• Points Remaining: 560
• Champion: Purdue
• Final Four: Auburn, Kentucky, Purdue, North Carolina

12. Barbie Dream Bracket (510 points)

• Points Remaining: 640
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Houston, Tennessee, North Carolina

T13. Tip in (490 points)

• Points Remaining: 800
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina

T13. Andrew's 2 Time Champ (490 points)

• Points Remaining: 80
• Champion: North Carolina
• Final Four: Iowa State, Marquette, Purdue, North Carolina

15. The Feminist Movement (470 points)

• Points Remaining: 560
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Texas Tech, Gonzaga, Baylor

16. Lincoln Bernhard (450 points)

• Points Remaining: 560
• Champion: UConn
• Final Four: UConn, Duke, Creighton, Arizona

17. Swatson (440 points)

• Points Remaining: 0
• Champion: Auburn
• Final Four: Auburn, Houston, Creighton, Arizona

18. Scorched Earth Theory (380 points)

• Points Remaining: 240
• Champion: Houston
• Final Four: UConn, Houston, Creighton, Michigan State

T19. Bad Logos (250 points)

• Points Remaining: 320
• Champion: Washington State
• Final Four: Washington State, Duke, TCU, Clemson

T19. Natasha (250 points)

• Points Remaining: 0
• Champion: UAB
• Final Four: UAB, Kentucky, Texas, Wagner

Here's the schedule for the four Elite Eight games on Saturday and Sunday:

Saturday

• (3) Illinois vs. (1) UConn (6:09pm EST on TBS)
• (6) Clemson vs. (4) Alabama (8:49pm EST on TBS)

Sunday

• (2) Tennessee vs. (1) Purdue (2:20pm EST on CBS)
• (11) NC State vs. (4) Duke (5:05pm EST on CBS)

I'll follow up tomorrow to report the updated leaderboard after the first two Elite Eight games are played.

Written by Nick Swatson