As sweet as it gets

From 68 to 16 teams, the first weekend of the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships included exciting results in front of record-breaking crowds.

The remaining fields offer plenty of excitement, including schools with teams in both brackets, programs extending impressive Sweet 16 streaks, a national championship rematch and a diverse conference representation.

Below are a few notable storylines to follow as teams play for a chance to reach their respective Final Four:

RECORD-BREAKING ATTENDANCE

For the third consecutive year, the Division I Women’s Basketball Championship has set a first- and second-round attendance record. A total of 292,456 fans came through the turnstiles to watch first- and second-round games, an increase of 60,779 fans over 2023. Iowa City, Iowa, topped all hosting sites, welcoming sellout crowds totaling 28,764 fans for the first and second rounds, marking three straight years of sellouts at Carver Hawkeye Arena.

Attendance at the opening rounds also helped to push the all-time NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship attendance over the 9 million mark, with 9,290,650 fans attending thus far in the 42 years of the championship.

No. 1 overall seed South Carolina extended its program record with the Gamecocks’ 59th straight win at home in their final game of the season at Colonial Life Arena, where they averaged an NCAA-best 16,489 fans.

Heavy interest continued for the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, as almost 260,000 attended first-round games. Seven of the eight sites sold from 95% to 100% of their tickets for the Thursday and Friday games. Second-round games on Saturday and Sunday also were well-attended, with 131,073 fans buying from 97% to 100% of the available tickets at seven of the eight sites. 

Attendance topped 24,000 at the First Four, played Tuesday and Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio. Fans there witnessed three games decided by single digits, including an overtime win by Grambling. 

SHOWER TIME

SO SWEET WE DID IT TWICE

Fans of Duke, Gonzaga, NC State and UConn might have a sugar rush as all four schools have teams in the Sweet 16 of both the men’s and women’s tournaments.

With an impressive 93-55 victory over No. 12 seed James Madison, the fourth-seeded Duke men’s team advanced to the Sweet 16 for a matchup against top seed Houston. The Blue Devils women’s team knocked off No. 2 Ohio State on its home court, 75-63, to advance to Saturday’s Sweet 16 contest against No. 3 seed UConn.

The UConn women advanced with a 72-64 win over No. 6 seed Syracuse. On the men’s side, the Huskies advanced one game closer to their national title defense with a 75-58 result over No. 9 Northwestern. The Huskies’ Sweet 16 opponent? No. 5 San Diego State — an 85-57 winner over No. 13 Yale and the school UConn defeated in last year’s national championship final, 76-59.

The fifth-seeded Gonzaga men’s team is set to face No. 1 Purdue in the Sweet 16, following an 89-68 victory over No. 4 Kansas in the second round. The No. 4 Zags women’s team, a 77-66 winner over No. 5 Utah, battles top seed Texas on Friday.

No. 3 NC State takes on No. 2 Stanford in the women’s Sweet 16 on Friday after the Wolfpack knocked off No. 6 Tennessee, 79-72. The men’s team continues its impressive month of March as the No. 11 seed scored a 79-73 victory over 14th-seeded Oakland to earn a Sweet 16 matchup against No. 2 Marquette.

PUT YOUR NAME ON IT

SWEET 16 (AGAIN)

For a few of the teams remaining after the first weekend of the Division I men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, reaching the Sweet 16 is a regular occurrence.

The UConn women’s team extended its NCAA record of consecutive Sweet 16 appearances to 30 dating  to the 1994 tournament, when the bracket expanded to 64 teams. South Carolina now holds the second-longest active streak with 10 Sweet 16 appearances. Baylor’s trip to the Sweet 16 is the 13th in 15 years and 16th in program history, which is the third-most in the past two decades behind only UConn and Stanford. Speaking of Stanford, the Cardinal are back after reaching 14 straight Sweet 16s before last year’s exit.  Duke and Texas earned their 18th Sweet 16 appearance in their respective program’s history, while NC State punched its Sweet 16 ticket for the 16th time. 

 On the men’s side, Gonzaga earned its ninth straight trip to the Sweet 16, the longest active streak. The streak ranks tied with Duke (1998-2006) as the second-longest since 1975 — the first year that all teams in the tournament were required to win at least one game to advance to the Sweet 16. North Carolina, which is back for the 31st time since the Sweet 16 was first recognized in 1975, owns the record with 13 in a row from 1981-93. Houston is making its fifth straight Sweet 16. Overall, Marquette is making its ninth trip since 1975, and Alabama is set to compete for the 10th time.

CONFERENCE REPRESENTATION

In the men’s bracket, eight conferences are represented between the 16 teams remaining. The league breakdown includes the Atlantic Coast Conference (North Carolina, Clemson, Duke, NC State), Big East Conference (Creighton, Marquette, UConn), Big 12 Conference (Iowa State, Houston), Big Ten Conference (Purdue, Illinois), Southeastern Conference (Alabama, Tennessee), Mountain West Conference (San Diego State), Pac-12 Conference (Arizona) and West Coast Conference (Gonzaga). 

On the women’s side, the 16 teams remaining represent seven conferences. The Pac-12 (Stanford, Southern California, Oregon State, Colorado, UCLA) leads the way with five teams, followed by the Atlantic Coast (NC State, Notre Dame, Duke), Big Ten (Iowa, Indiana), Big 12 (Texas, Baylor), SEC (South Carolina, LSU), Big East (UConn) and West Coast (Gonzaga). 

VIEW FROM THE TOP

In both the men’s and women’s brackets, it’s good to be a higher seed. 

In the men’s, all No. 1 and No. 2 seeds are powering through the tournament. It’s only the fifth time in tournament history (1989, 1995, 2009, 2019) that all No. 1 and 2 seeds are in the Sweet 16. Two No. 3 seeds and two No. 4 seeds remain, as well. 

The combined seed total of 53 is only four away from a tournament low record of 49 for Sweet 16 teams. 

In the women’s, all No. 1 seeds advanced to the Sweet 16. Last year was the only instance since 2009 that all No. 1 seeds did not make the Sweet 16. Three of four No. 2 seeds and all four No. 3 seeds advanced to the second weekend of the tournament. No. 5 seeds Colorado and Baylor and No. 7 seed Duke prevented the Sweet 16 from being chalk. 

ANOTHER RECORD BITES THE DUST

CONTINUE THE MADNESS

Photos courtesy of NCAA Photos/Getty Images and participating institutions.