San Diego State, Miami Provide Historic Year Without a No. 1 seed in Elite Eight

Right as you wondered how much madder the 2023 men's NCAA tournament could get, the Sweet 16 happened.

To begin the second weekend of the Big Dance, ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic made its first-ever Elite Eight, Kansas State won a wild overtime game, and Gonzaga buried a deep three with seven seconds left to advance.

And the second day of the Sweet 16 made history.

San Diego State recovered from a nine-point second-half deficit to eliminate Alabama. As the buzzer sounded on that upset in Louisville, Miami's overwhelming offense put the final touches on a triumph in Kansas City that prevented Houston from a storybook season.

For the first time, the Elite Eight will include zero No. 1 seeds.

This is, officially, the worst tournament for top teams in the 44-year seeded history of this chaotic, beautiful race toward a national title.

The trouble started early for the coveted spot; Fairleigh Dickinson became only the second 16th seed to ever defeat a top team, shockingly sending Purdue to an immediate exit. Then, in the second round, Arkansas took down reigning-champion Kansas with a second-half flurry.

Both of those No. 1 seeds seemed vulnerable entering the Big Dance. Purdue had struggled for six weeks, and we labeled Arkansas a nightmare matchup for Kansas before the bracket even was released.

But the other two No. 1 seeds—top overall seed Alabama and Houston, the latter of which tallied seven weeks atop the AP Top 25 this season—seemed to be on more solid footing for a deep run.

So much for that thought.

Alabama had a miserable night opposite SDSU's nasty defense, hitting just three of its 27 three-point attempts. Plus, the Crimson Tide committed 14 turnovers in a 71-64 loss to the Mountain West champions.

Brandon Miller, a star NBA prospect, finished 3-of-19 with nine misses on his 10 long-range tries. Mark Sears and Noah Clowney—another likely NBA-bound player—misfired on their combined eight triples. Alabama racked up 20 offensive rebounds but turned them into a modest 20 second-chance points.

San Diego State did a stellar job containing Alabama's uptempo offense to secure the program's first-ever Elite Eight trip.

After the game, SDSU coach Brian Dutcher provided a simple explanation for the struggles of top seeds.

Two contributing factors to the increasing parity are the transfer portal and the emerging impact of name, image and likeness deals.

Look no further than Nijel Pack.

Miami's hot-shooting guard has earned every bit of his $400,000 NIL deal. That agreement—a truly uncontroversial arrangement that simply made waves for being publicly announced—has helped the Hurricanes make a return trip to the Elite Eight.

Pack scorched one of the nation's best defenses for seven threes, scoring 26 points in the Hurricanes' impressive 89-75 triumph. Houston hadn't surrendered more than 77 points in any previous game.

Houston put together a dominant year, and the Cougars undoubtedly had their sights set on a hometown championship. The city is preparing to host the Final Four next weekend.

But the 'Canes may crash the party instead.

Unless you're a fan of Purdue, Kansas, Alabama or Houston—in which case, grieve the loss as necessary—it's easy to recognize why this unparalleled year of top-seeded chaos is good for the sport.

The last remaining program in the 2023 tournament with a national championship in its history is Connecticut.

That's it.

Sure, that would've applied when both Alabama and Houston were alive, but the programs stood atop the sport all season. If either team won a national championship, we would nod understandingly.

Meanwhile, SDSU and Miami make every contest a must-watch affair; we can't afford to miss what happens next.

San Diego State entered March Madness with the cloud of the Mountain West losing nine straight NCAA tournament games. Miami, despite its success over the last two seasons, arrived as a popular first-round upset pick and was a second-round underdog. Both teams won a regular-season conference title, but that didn't translate to high expectations.

They are perfect examples of popular mantras "survive and advance" or "all you need is a shot." They are ideal actualizations of our imaginations as the bracket is unveiled on Selection Sunday.

And they are why a 73-year-old dances in the locker room.

Traditionally, top-seeded programs thwart those celebrations and play the final song for upstart teams. These stories—Kansas State, FAU, SDSU, Miami—well, they usually end by now.

But not this season.

Four uncommon losses have placed the NCAA tournament on an unrivaled path of legitimate madness.

We are destined to have a first-time Final Four qualifier and could have as many as three. We are exceedingly likely to celebrate a first-time NCAA champion. And we are definitely headed down the road without a top-seeded program ready to minimize the mayhem.

Goodnight, No. 1 seeds. See you next March.