Florida isn’t around to defend its title anymore, but all the other top seeds in this year's NCAA Tournament are still around.
And many of them are winning convincingly.
In the first week of the NCAA Tournament, games were decided by an average of 15.3 points. According to Sportradar, that represents the third-highest average margin of victory through the round of 32 since 1985, when the tournament expanded to 64 teams before eventually getting to its current 68-team format.
The only NCAA Tournaments with higher average victory margin since then came in 1993 (16.1) and 2024 (15.4).
Florida, which lost to Iowa 73-72 on Sunday, is the only team seeded No. 1 or No. 2 that didn't get to the Sweet 16. As the tournament prepares to enter its second week, here's a statistic worth noting for each of the remaining 16 teams.
West
Purdue: The Boilermakers are shooting an NCAA Tournament-leading 57.9% (22 of 38) from 3-point range through the first two rounds. In its 79-69 win over Miami on Sunday, Purdue became the fourth team ever to shoot at least 50% overall, 50% from 3-point range and 95% from the free-throw line in an NCAA Tournament game. The others were Syracuse vs. Montana State in 1996, Marquette vs. Missouri in 2003 and UConn vs. N.C. State in 2022. Next up for Purdue is Texas, a First Four team which has allowed its three NCAA Tournament foes to make just 25.9% of their 3-point attempts.
Texas: Dailyn Swain had five turnovers and just four assists in a First Four victory over N.C. State, but he has totaled 12 assists and one turnover in the two games since.
Arizona: The Wildcats have an NCAA Tournament-leading plus-24.5 rebound margin through their first two games. That statistic’s importance is evident from the fact that six of the top eight Division I teams in rebound margin heading into the NCAA Tournament are still alive: Tennessee, Michigan State, Duke, Arizona, Illinois and Michigan. The two exceptions both made the NCAA Tournament but lost in the opening weekend: Florida and Saint Mary’s.
Arkansas: Darius Acuff’s 60 points are the most by a freshman in the first two rounds of any NCAA Tournament. Nobody else still playing has scored that many points in this NCAA Tournament. Acuff has joined Chris Paul (in 2004 with Wake Forest) and Derrick Rose (in 2008 with Memphis) as the only freshmen to have multiple NCAA Tournament games with at least 20 points and five assists.
South
Nebraska: Although Nebraska had never won an NCAA Tournament game before last week, Florida's loss to Iowa means the Cornhuskers now have the longest postseason win streak (not counting conference tournaments) of any team left in the field. Nebraska won four straight games over Arizona State, Georgetown, Boise State and Central Florida to win the College Basketball Crown last year in Las Vegas.
Iowa: This will be the third time Iowa and Nebraska have faced off this season. The home team won the two previous meetings — a 57-52 Iowa triumph on Feb. 17 and an 84-75 Nebraska overtime victory on March 8. Iowa must take better care of the basketball this time. Iowa totaled 22 assists and 31 turnovers in those two previous meetings with the Cornhuskers.
Houston: The Cougars are in the Sweet 16 for a seventh consecutive time, which represents the longest active streak of any school. Houston still has a way to go to match North Carolina’s record of 13 straight Sweet 16 appearances from 1981-93. Sweet 16 records began in 1975, the first year all teams were required to win at least one game to get to that round.
Illinois: Tomislav Ivisic had 14 points and 11 rebounds in a second-round win over VCU, giving him two double-doubles in four career NCAA Tournament games. The 7-foot-1 center from Croatia also can score from long range. His 101 3-pointers over the last two seasons are the most by any 7-footer during that stretch.
East
Duke: Cameron Boozer is the first Duke player to have double-doubles in each of his first two NCAA Tournament games since Gene Banks and Mike Gminski accomplished the feat in Duke’s 1978 Final Four season. Banks had four straight double-doubles and Gminski had three in a row that year. Boozer is averaging 20.5 points and 12 rebounds in the NCAA Tournament.
St. John's: The Red Storm trailed for only 38 seconds in their 67-65 second-round victory over Kansas, though they needed a layup from Dylan Darling to break a tie at the buzzer. Before that, they had gone four straight games without ever falling behind.
UConn: Alex Karaban already owns program records for career wins (123), starts (146) and games played (147). The 6-foot-8, fifth-year senior is playing his best as his college career draws to a close. Karaban scored a career-high 27 points in a 73-57 win over UCLA on Sunday. The 49 points he has scored thus far in the NCAA Tournament represent the most he's ever compiled in a two-game stretch.
Michigan State: Jeremy Fears' 16 assists in a 77-69 win over Louisville represented the highest NCAA Tournament single-game total in Michigan State history, breaking the record Magic Johnson set by dishing out 14 assists against Western Kentucky in 1978. He has 13.5 assists per game in the NCAA Tournament — four more than any other player in the 68-team field.
Midwest
Michigan: The Wolverines have displayed a knack for winning close games since Dusty May arrived as coach last season. Michigan is 20-5 in games decided by four points or fewer over the last two seasons. That includes a 7-1 mark this year.
Alabama: The Crimson Tide’s 436 3-point baskets this season represents the fifth-highest single-season total in NCAA Division I history. Villanova holds the record with 464 in its 2018 championship season.
Iowa State: Tamin Lipsey is coming off a 26-point, 10-assist performance against Kentucky, and he also has four steals per game in the NCAA Tournament to lead all Sweet 16 performers. Next up is a matchup with Tennessee's Ja'Kobi Gillespie, who has averaged 25 points and 7.5 assists through the first two rounds of this tournament.
Tennessee: The Vols have advanced by producing stretches of defensive dominance in each of their first two NCAA Tournament games. Miami (Ohio) went nearly 6½ minutes without a basket in its 78-56 loss to Tennessee. Virginia went over 5½ minutes without scoring in its 79-72 defeat Sunday. The Vols now face an Iowa State team that scored 108 points in the first round and 82 in the second.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
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