March Madness 2023: Top Storylines and Expert Picks for Men's Sweet 16 Bracket
The Gonzaga Bulldogs and UCLA Bruins have a brief, but memorable, head-to-head history in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
Thursday's Sweet 16 meeting in Las Vegas occurs 17 years to the date of their first NCAA tournament battle in which UCLA rallied from a 17-point deficit to eliminate Adam Morrison and the Zags.
Gonzaga has been on the winning side in the two other NCAA tournament matchups, including Jalen Suggs' game-winning shot in overtime in the Final Four two years ago.
The 2023 edition of the March Madness battle between west coast powers features some of the most experienced players in men's college basketball. Gonzaga's Drew Timme is trying to finish his career with a title. The same can be said about UCLA's Tyger Campbell and Jaime Jaquez.
Thursday's nightcap has the potential to be a national championship-caliber contest, and it could be the game of the Sweet 16, which offers plenty of other intriguing storylines.
The Cinderella run of the Princeton Tigers continues on Friday in Louisville, but the story that could develop from Friday's quartet of games may be the dominance of the Alabama Crimson Tide and Houston Cougars, the two No. 1 seeds left in the bracket.
Gonzaga-UCLA Renew West Coast Rivalry
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Gonzaga and UCLA will play in a defacto west coast championship game on Thursday night in Las Vegas.
They are two of three programs in the Sweet 16 that reside in the Pacific time zone. The Bulldogs and Bruins have been the most dominant programs in that part of the country for the last decade.
Gonzaga is still in search of its first national title under Mark Few. The Zags came close two years ago, but after they beat UCLA in the Final Four, they fell short against the Baylor Bears in the national championship.
Timme is once again the driving force of the Zags. On Sunday, he became the seventh player to record nine 20-point games in the NCAA tournament.
Timme has consistently shined in the Big Dance, and he needs to defeat UCLA to have a chance of advancing to another Final Four.
Gonzaga possesses the best scoring offense in Division I with 87.3 points per game. UCLA has the sixth-best scoring defense that allows 60.2 points per game.
Timme had 18 and 25 points in his last two meetings with UCLA. The Zags beat the Bruins in a regular-season game last year.
Campbell and Jaquez have been at the top of the Bruins' scoring charts against Gonzaga as well. They have 66 combined points in the last two games against the Zags.
All three players carry a ton of experience, and they possess the same motivation of trying to get back to the Final Four. UCLA has been eliminated by the NCAA tournament runner-up in the last two seasons. Campbell and Jaquez are trying to bring the Bruins back to the Final Four for the second time in three years.
You could drive up the narrative even more by calling this a legacy-defining game for Timme, Campbell and Jaquez.
A win will not even guarantee a trip to Houston for the Final Four, but in the moment, the Gonzaga-UCLA battle could have the feel of a national championship because of the high quality of the star players on each side.
Can Princeton Extend Cinderella Run?
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Princeton is one win away from putting a No. 15 seed in the Elite Eight for the second straight season.
The Tigers followed in the footsteps of their fellow New Jersey school, the St. Peter's Peacocks, by advancing to the Sweet 16 as a No. 15 seed.
Princeton faces a similar challenge against the Creighton Bluejays, as St. Peter's did last year against the Purdue Boilermakers.
The Ivy League side has to figure out how to stop a seven-footer in Ryan Kalkbrenner as well as slow down a talented collection of guards.
Princeton does not have the height to go head-to-head with Kalkbrenner, but head coach Mitch Henderson could draw up a similar game plan from the first-round upset over the Arizona Wildcats in which Oumar Bello and Azuolas Tubelis were double-teamed in the paint on almost every touch on the block.
However, if Creighton plays at its highest level, Princeton may not be able to match it.
The Bluejays scored 85 points and shot over 45 percent from the field and three-point range in their second-round win over the Baylor Bears. They also went 22-for-22 from the free-throw line.
Another efficient offensive performance would help the Bluejays avoid an upset and put them into a potential regional final battle with Alabama.
Will The Two Remaining No. 1 Seeds Survive?
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Alabama and Houston were the two No. 1 seeds left standing after the opening weekend carnage.
The Crimson Tide and Cougars each found an extra gear in the second half of their second-round games to reach the Sweet 16.
Alabama outscored the Maryland Terrapins by 17 points in the second half, while Houston reversed a 10-point halftime deficit to beat the Auburn Tigers by 17.
If those versions of Alabama and Houston show up this weekend, they will cruise into the Final Four and be on a collision course for the national championship.
Both No. 1 seeds face potentially tricky matchups in the Sweet 16, but it may be hard to make cases that the San Diego State Aztecs and Miami Hurricanes, respectively, win those games.
San Diego State held its two opponents under 60 points last weekend, but it did not face the same length issues that Brandon Miller, Noah Clowney and the Crimson Tide present. The Aztecs beat two double-digit seeds from the mid-major ranks.
Miami has a tremendous set of guards, led by Isaiah Wong and Nijel Pack, but the positional advantage it has against most teams could be neutralized by Houston's Marcus Sasser and Jamal Shead.
Houston's length on the glass could be a problem for Miami. The Cougars rank 15th in offensive boards per game. Miami ranks 160th in rebounding per game.
Alabama can also take advantage of its rebounding edge. The Crimson Tide lead Division I with 44.4 rebounds per game, which is three boards better than the next-best team.
The two remaining No. 1 seeds proved they were on a different level in the second round, and if the same dominant sides appear in the Sweet 16, they could move one step closer to the Final Four.
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Expert Picks
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Most experts believe Alabama and Houston will move one step closer to the national title game.
All of ESPN.com's experts predicted the Crimson Tide and Cougars would advance to the Elite Eight.
CBSSports.com's expert panel also predicted that Alabama and Houston would move on with victories in their revised bracket projections.
In fact, there were few disagreements among experts at both sites as to which teams would advance. ESPN's Jeff Borzello was the only member of his panel to pick the Michigan State Spartans to beat the Kansas State Wildcats. ESPN's Myron Medcalf had the Xavier Musketeers beating the Texas Longhorns.
The only way some of these predictions may not come to fruition is on the point spread. The Athletic's Seth Davis believes the Florida Atlantic Owls and Miami will cover the spread in tight losses to the Tennessee Volunteers and Houston.
There are few upset picks among these experts, which means we could see four Elite Eight games between the best teams in the country on Saturday and Sunday.
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