Sweet Sixteen Quick Facts

Number of Sweet Sixteen Appearances with Sweet Sixteen Record for this years teams
Kentucky 42 (31-10)
UCLA 33 (21-11)
North Carolina 31 (24-6)
Duke 28 (19-8)
Louisville 28 (13-14)
Michigan State 19 (12-6)
Arizona 18 (10-7)
Notre Dame 16 (5-10)
Utah 16 (5-10)
North Carolina State 13 (5-7)
Oklahoma 10 (5-4)
West Virginia 9 (3-5)
Wisconsin 8 (3-4)
Xavier 7 (2-4)
Wichita State 6 (4-1)
Gonzaga 6 (1-4)
 
Consecutive Sweet Sixteen Appearances
Louisville 4
Michigan State 4
Arizona 3
Kentucky 2
UCLA 2
Wisconsin 2

Sweet Sixteen Droughts Snapped with Last Year in Sweet Sixteen
Notre Dame - 2003
Utah - 2005
Gonzaga - 2009
Oklahoma - 2009
West Virginia - 2010
North Carolina - 2012
North Carolina State - 2012
Xavier - 2012
Duke - 2013
Wichita State - 2013

Longest Sweet Sixteen Streaks Snapped
Florida 4
Michigan 2

Number of Teams by Conference (Record in Parenthesis)
Atlantic Coast 5 (11-1)
Pacific Twelve 3 (7-1)
Big Ten 2 (7-5)
Big Twelve 2 (5-5)
Big East 1(5-5)
Missouri Valley 1 (3-1)
Southeastern 1 (4-4)
West Coast 1 (2-1)

The 5 Sweet Sixteens by the ACC ties the record for the most set by the Big East in 2009.

Number of Teams by State (Record in Parenthesis)
North Carolina 3 (6-1)
Kentucky 2 (4-0)
Arizona 1 (2-0)
California 1 (3-2)
Indiana 1 (3-4)
Kansas 1 (3-1)
Michigan1 (2-0)
Ohio 1 (6-3)
Oklahoma 1 (2-1)
Utah 1 (2-1)
Washington 1 (2-1)
West Virginia 1 (2-0)
Wisconsin 1 (2-0)

Sweet Sixteen Tournament Rematches

Midwest

• Kentucky is 1-1 vs. West Virginia
• West Virginia defeated Kentucky 73-66 in the 2010 Elite Eight
• Kentucky defeated West Virginia 71-63 in the 2011 Round of 32
• Notre Dame and Wichita State have never met in the tournament

West

• North Carolina defeated Wisconsin 88-82 in the 2005 Elite Eight
• Xavier and Arizona have never met in the tournament

East

• North Carolina State and Louisville have never met in the tournament
• Michigan State defeated Oklahoma 54-46 in the 1999 Sweet Sixteen

South

• Duke defeated Utah 79-77 in the 1966 National Third Place Game
• UCLA defeated Gonzaga 73-71 in the 2006 Sweet Sixteen

Tournament Streaks

As Selection Sunday approaches, I thought I would take a look at some active streaks that are in jeopardy.

Consecutive Tournament Appearances:

1. Kansas 23
2. Duke 17
3. Michigan State 15
4. Gonzaga 14
    Texas 14
    Wisconsin 14

Texas' string of appearances will end at 14 while the others are definite locks.

Other streaks in jeopardy:
Xavier - 7
Brigham Young - 6
Purdue - 6
West Virginia - 5

Consecutive At-Large Appearances:
1. Texas 14
2. Marquette 7
3. Brigham Young 6
    Xavier 6
5. Syracuse 4
    Wisconsin 4

Texas, Brigham Young and Xavier will all miss the tournament this year, so Marquette will now have the most consecutive at-large apperances.  Syracuse and Wisconsin are in, but their streaks would be snapped if they win their conference tournaments.

The 14 consecutive at-large bids for Texas is an all-time tournament record.

Consecutive years with at least a Top 4 seed:

1. Kansas 12
2. Duke 5
3. Syracuse 4
4. Kentucky 3
    Ohio State 3
    Wisconsin 3

Kansas, Duke and Ohio State are safely Top 4 seeds. ESPN Bracketology had Syracuse at a 4 in yesterday's bracket, but with their run in the Big East tournament, they will most likely continue that streak.  Wisconsin was on the 5 line, so they are on the borderline of receiving a Top 4 seed.  Kentucky will definitely not be a Top 4 seed and may not even make the tournament.

Consecutive appearances in Round of 32:

1. Kansas 6
    Purdue 6
    Wisconsin 6
4. Gonzaga 4
    Syracuse 4
6. Kansas State 3
    Kentucky 3
    Ohio State 3

For the teams making the tournament, we will have to wait until Thursday or Friday to find out if they continue the streak, but Purdue's streak will come to an end and Kentucky's streak is in serious jeopardy.

Consecutive appearance in Sweet Sixteen:

Kentucky and Ohio State have both been to the last 3 Sweet Sixteens.  Kentucky's streak is most likely to end even if they make the tournament.  Ohio State has a great shot to return.  Five teams (Florida, Kansas, Marquette, North Carolina and Wisconsin) have all been to the Sweet Sixteen the last two years.  All have a legitimate shot of returning with North Carolina projected as the lowest seed (#7) on yesterday's bracketology.

The Big East is Dead, Long Live the Big East

The Big East is Dead:

Syracuse, Louisville put the Big East to bed

Long Live the Big East:

Sources: Big East at 10 for 2013-2014

The question that everyone is asking (ok, maybe only me) is will the new Big East keep the history of the old Big East or will it be considered a completely new conference?  (Will this be like the Baltimore Ravens-Cleveland Browns situation?)

Consecutive Tournament Bids

13 schools have been to the tournament each of the past 5 seasons.  Here is a list of those schools with the longest active tournament streaks along with their RPI as of 1/18/2013

• Kansas 23 (RPI - 2)
• Duke 17 (RPI - 1)
• Michigan State 15 (RPI - 17)
• Gonzaga 14 (RPI - 10)
• Texas 14 (RPI - 144)
• Wisconsin 14 (RPI - 46)
• Marquette 7 (RPI - 16)
• Xavier 7 (RPI - 83)
• Brigham Young 6 (RPI - 47)
• Louisville 6 (RPI - 7)
• Purdue 6 (RPI - 119)
• Temple 5 (RPI - 32)
• West Virginia 5 (RPI - 81)

Wisconsin and Brigham Young's RPI's put them on the bubble.  However, Wisconsin will most likely get in due to the fact that their strength of schedule will increase with playing in the Big Ten.

West Virginia, Xavier, Purdue and Texas will need to improve to be able to continue their string of tournament appearances.

If Texas misses the tournament, it would be the 9th time since 2000 that a double-digit streak has been snapped.

Longest Active Streaks Snapped Each Year
2012 - Pittsburgh 10
2011 - Cornell, Siena 3
2010 - Arizona 25
2009 - Kentucky 17
2008 - Florida 9
2007 - Alabama, Connecticut, NC State 5
2006 - Cincinnati 14
2005 - Maryland 11
2004 - Indiana 18
2003 - UCLA 14
2002 - North Carolina 27 (Longest streak in tournament history)
2001 - Purdue 8
2000 - New Mexico 4
1999 - Massachusetts 7
1998 - Wake Forest 7
1997 - Arkansas 9
1996 - Oklahoma State 5
1995 - Duke 11
1994 - Louisiana State 10
1993 - Georgetown 14
1992 - UNLV 9
1991 - Illinois, Oklahoma 8
1990 - DePaul 6
1989 - Kentucky 9
1988 - UAB 7
1987 - Villanova 7
1986 - Arkansas 9
1985 - Louisville 8
1984 - Iowa, Tennessee 5
1983 - DePaul 5
1982 - UCLA 15
1981 - Marquette 10
1980 - San Francisco, Utah 3
1979 - Kentucky, Providence 2
1978 - Michigan 4
1977 - Alabama, Georgetown, Indiana, Rutgers, San Diego State 2
1976 - Penn 6
1975 - South Carolina 4
1974 - Kentucky, Weber State 6
1973 - Villanova 4
1972 - New Mexico State 5
1971 - Davidson, Santa Clara 3
1970 - North Carolina, St. John's 3
1969 - Houston 4
1968 - Dayton, SMU 3
1967 - Oklahoma City 4
1966 - UCLA 4
1965 - Arizona State, Seattle 4
1964 - Cincinnati 6
1963 - Ohio State 3
1962 - Utah 3
1961 - Idaho State 8
1960 - Kentucky 5
1959 - San Francisco 4
1958 - Oklahoma City 6
1957 - Seattle 4
1956 - Bradley, Colorado, La Salle, Penn State 2
1955 - Santa Clara 3
1954 - Kansas, TCU, Wyoming 2
1953 - NC State 3
1952 - Brigham Young 2
1951 - Baylor, Bradley, CCNY, Holy Cross, Ohio State, UCLA 1
1950 - Wyoming 3
1949 - Holy Cross 2
1948 - CCNY, Navy, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Texas, Wisconsin 1
1947 - Ohio State 3
1946 - Utah 2
1945 - Dartmouth 4
1944 - DePaul, Georgetown, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Washington, Wyoming 1
1943 - Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Penn State, Rice, Stanford 1
1942 - Arkansas, Creighton, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Washington St, Wisconsin, Wyoming 1

1942 was the first year that a team went to consecutive tournaments when Dartmouth did.