Elite Eight field: set. Your bracket: a shambles. March: Officially mad.
The NCAA Tournament provided a ton of drama in the lead-up to the Elite Eight as we nailed down the first leg of the second weekend of March Madness. The two No. 1 seeds left standing entering Friday both got bounced, giving us a first-ever Elite Eight without any No. 1 seeds. A No. 9 seed made it to the Elite Eight. Two No. 5 seeds defeated No. 1 seeds on the same day. Like I said: officially mad.
But that was just a sliver of the mayhem that rained down upon us in the Sweet 16. Texas lost its most productive player then proceeded to whip Xavier. Kansas State and Michigan State played to OT in an instant classic inside Madison Square Garden. Gonzaga and UCLA went down to the wire. All the drama!
So before we get ahead of ourselves and look ahead to the Elite Eight, let us first reflect on the wild two days that just passed us by that was the Sweet 16. To do that, we're handing out grades for some of the best (and worst!) teams to take center stage.
Let's dive in.
NCAA Tournament grades: Sweet 16 report card
| Team | Grade | Analysis | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | San Diego State | A+ | I don't hand out A+ grades willy-nilly. SDSU earned this by thoroughly defeating No. 1 overall seed Alabama 71-64 in impressive fashion to play its way to its first-ever Elite Eight for the program and first-ever for the Mountain West. |
 | Texas | A+ | Dylan Disu, who has kicked butt for Texas this NCAA Tournament in leading the team in scoring and rebounding, aggravated an injury early Friday vs. Xavier and did not return. And yet Texas still smoked Xavier 83-71. No team is playing more together as a unit on both ends of the floor than the Longhorns right now. |
 | UConn | A+ | UConn officially achieved what no team in this year's NCAA Tournament has done: win all three of its games by at least 15 points. The Huskies are firing on all cylinders, with their 88-65 blasting of Arkansas just the latest example of their capabilities. |
 | Miami | A | Maybe Houston wasn't the team we thought it was. Maybe, though, Miami is just that good. That appeared to be the case Friday as the Hurricanes dominated in an 89-75 win. Isaiah Wong and Nijel Pack are playing at a high level. |
 | Kansas State | A | The only team to play in an OT game in this year's NCAA Tournament and to come out on the other side is Kansas State. The Wildcats advanced to Saturday's Elite Eight with a 98-93 win over Sparty in the Sweet 16 behind a career day from Markquis Nowell, who set an NCAA Tournament record with 19 assists. |
 | Creighton | B | You can only play the hand you're dealt so it's no fault of Creighton's own doing that its Sweet 16 win had less luster than most. The Bluejays bounced the lowest remaining seed, No. 15 seed Princeton, but didn't blow them away in the way I thought they could or should. Still, hard to count a comfy 86-75 win against them too much with their title hopes still very much alive. |
 | Florida Atlantic | B- | To hold a team to 55 points is an impressive feat, but when you consider the context -- that it was against an offensively challenged Tennessee team -- it's probably not that impressive. Still, the Owls are hooting their way to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history only a week removed from their first NCAA Tournament win. A great story, and the Owls are no Cinderella - they are a legitimate contender. |
 | Gonzaga | C | Gonzaga gets the lowest grade among advancing teams and rightfully so. It couldn't stop UCLA on defense for most of the first half in the Sweet 16, then nearly blew the lead after mounting a big comeback. Zags dancing into the Elite Eight by the hair on Drew Timme's chinny chin chin. |
 | Tennessee | D | Tennessee's fatal flaw all season -- its offense -- proved too much to overcome vs. FAU in the Sweet 16. Without Zakai Zeigler, this Vols team trying to score points was an unwatchable experience. If they had even a competent offense to go with the elite D we'd be talking Tennessee as a possible title favorite. Alas. |
 | Alabama | F | The bracket opened wide for Alabama in the South with the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 seeds all bowing out before the second weekend, but Bama couldn't take advantage. It scored only 64 points and missed 24 of its 27 3-point attempts in a 71-64 Sweet 16 loss. |
 | Houston | F | Miami took it to Houston in a Sweet 16 stunner in which the Hurricanes hung 89 on the doggedly competitive Cougars defense that has all season hung its hat on defense and physicality. Houston kept this to a respectable final score, but the No. 1-seeded Cougars got blown out. Plain and simple. |
