Men's March Madness Elite Eight power rankings: Top seeds tested but still standing tall
Editor's note: This article is part of the Bracket Central series, an inside look at the run-up to the men's & women's NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.
With so much chalk in the NCAA Tournament's opening weekend, we had high hopes for great games in the Sweet 16. The round delivered for the most part; even Alabama's blowout of BYU produced a record-setting offensive display.
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Thursday's nightcaps were fantastic, featuring an all-around virtuoso performance from Duke's Cooper Flagg and a furious comeback by Texas Tech that resulted in the tournament's first overtime. The Blue Devils needed every bit of their star freshman's power, as Arizona's Caleb Love turned in one last scoring explosion in his final college game. The Red Raiders, meanwhile, trailed by as many as 16 and were down 13 with just over four minutes left, but they cobbled together just enough key buckets and defensive stops to topple John Calipari's Razorbacks after five extra minutes.
Friday offered more drama in Atlanta, with Michigan State battling back against Ole Miss to squeak by late. Coen Carr had some momentum-changing plays, and freshman Jase Richardson (20 points on 8-of-12 shooting) asserted himself when the Spartans needed it most. Auburn had to rally against Michigan (and rally it did), and then Houston capped off an outstanding night of hoops with a masterful out-of-bounds play to beat Purdue just before the final buzzer.
All of that action sets up a star-studded Elite Eight featuring all four No. 1 seeds, three No. 2 seeds and the de facto Cinderella, No. 3 seed Texas Tech. An elite weekend awaits!
Cooper Flagg is already the best player in college basketball, and he somehow continues to improve. Thursday night was his Mona Lisa (so far), a completely unprecedented performance in the college game.
That, plus some dead-eye shooting from Kon Knueppel, Sion James and Duke's bench, was enough to survive a game effort from Caleb Love and the Wildcats. The stage is now set for a showdown with Mark Sears and Alabama, participants in last year's Final Four. The No. 1 priority for Duke is obvious: Find a way to limit Alabama's absurd perimeter weaponry, which buried an NCAA Tournament record 25 3s against BYU.
Florida took some serious punches from both Maryland and the injury bug on Thursday night, but the Gators came out the other side looking as impressive as ever. Head coach Todd Golden called his team's second-half performance 'elite' in the postgame news conference, and it is hard to disagree with him. Despite an ankle injury that limited starting big man Alex Condon, Golden's Gators outscored the Terps 47-33 in the second 20 minutes, forcing Maryland into a 'sub out the starters' surrender with over two minutes left in the game. Florida now faces a tough-as-nails Texas Tech team for a trip to the Final Four.
The Cougars led for nearly the entire second half against Purdue on Friday night. But a game effort from the Boilermakers — led by a masterful point guard performance from Braden Smith (15 assists) — tied the game up with just over 30 seconds left. A missed Milos Uzan jumper and a tip out of bounds set the stage for a massive inbound with 2.8 seconds left. Houston executed a dandy, getting the inbounder, Uzan, a layup just before time ran out. Smith's final heave sailed wide right, and the Cougars advanced to the Elite Eight. Sunday afternoon's clash with Tennessee is sure to be a brutal battle.
For the second straight round, Auburn looked incredibly mortal for a large portion of the game. And just like last Saturday against Creighton, the Tigers found the gas pedal in the second half and won by double-digits. Johni Broome carried the Tigers for the first 30 or so minutes against Michigan, and reinforcements finally arrived in the form of Tahaad Pettiford and Denver Jones. The two guards fueled a massive scoring run, erasing a 48-39 deficit in an instant while the Tigers' defense clamped down on the other end. Auburn will get the South Region's No. 2 seed Michigan State on Sunday with a chance to clinch a Final Four trip in front of a friendly Atlanta crowd.
The Crimson Tide's shooting explosion on Thursday night sent a message: 2024's last remaining Final Four participant wants to play in another one. Despite an impressive offensive performance from BYU, Alabama led comfortably for the entire second half thanks to a NCAA Tournament-record 25 made 3s. That mark completely obliterated the previous high of 21 by Loyola Marymount in 1991. All-American Mark Sears led the way with 34 points (including 10 3s) and eight assists, setting the tone early with a scorching start from beyond the arc. Alabama showed its ceiling, and it will need to access that level again to take down the juggernaut that is No. 1 seed Duke.
A win is a win, especially on this stage. Things looked ugly for Texas Tech as it trailed Arkansas for nearly the entire game, but the Red Raiders never quit, fighting through a frigid shooting night to hang around with the hot-shooting Razorbacks. Like the rest of his team, Darrion Williams struggled for most of the night, but he hit multiple huge buckets — including the game-tying triple to end regulation and the go-ahead bucket late in overtime — to lead Grant McCasland's squad to the Elite Eight. Long-range threat Chance McMillian's status is key on Saturday: His oblique injury held him out again on Thursday, but he is getting closer and closer to a return. Texas Tech will need him against Florida.
Tennessee manhandled Kentucky for 40 minutes, exacting revenge against a team that swept the Vols during the regular season. Tennessee owned the paint, and most importantly, it held the Wildcats' potent offense to a season-low 15 3-point attempts. By turning the game into a physical brawl, Tennessee brought high-scoring Kentucky into a style in which it was far more comfortable. Zakai Zeigler continued his stellar postseason, racking up 18 points and 10 assists while controlling the pace of the game. Tennessee now faces Houston, which needed every last second to survive a game effort from Purdue.
It looked dire for Michigan State for most of the first half on Friday. Ole Miss outplayed the Spartans, winning the rebounding battle — which was supposed to be Michigan State's biggest advantage. MSU ended up getting crushed in the shot volume battle (Ole Miss attempted 64 field goals compared to Michigan State's 48), but the Spartans' terrific free-throw shooting and interior scoring saved the day. Jase Richardson's efficient 20 points led the way, but Coen Carr's immense day (15 points, including a rim-rattling transition dunk late in the game) helped spark the comeback. Tom Izzo's team now awaits Auburn after the No. 1 seed Tigers stormed back against Michigan in the nightcap.
The Bracket Central series is sponsored by E*Trade from Morgan Stanley.
The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Sponsors have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.
(Illustration: Will Tullos / The Athletic; Photos: Patrick Smith, C. Morgan Engel, Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
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Tacario Davis, Washington via Arizona (No. 32 transfer, No. 2 CB) This is a reunion between Davis, who began his career at Arizona, and Jedd Fisch, the head coach he originally signed with coming out of high school. Davis was a three-star prospect and the No. 107 cornerback in the country for the 2022 recruiting cycle when he first enrolled at Arizona to play for Fisch, the Wildcats' head coach from 2021-23. A reserve role in his freshman season gave way to a starting job in his second and final year under Fisch as Davis blossomed into a second-team All-Pac-12 performer by leading the conference with 15 pass breakups, a byproduct of his 6-4 frame that is unusually tall for the cornerback position. Davis remained at Arizona for the 2024 campaign when Fisch left to become the head coach at Washington, once again garnering second-team all-conference honors amid the Wildcats' first year in the Big 12. 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None of those players are still on the roster entering the 2025 campaign, which made the appeal of immediate playing time quite obvious for someone like Johnson, a redshirt senior with limited eligibility remaining. Originally a three-star recruit, Johnson signed with Northwestern over additional scholarship offers from Notre Dame and Cincinnati. He spent two seasons in a reserve role before developing into a starting corner in 2023 and 2024, logging more than 1,300 snaps during that span. Johnson finished his Northwestern career with three interceptions, including one that was returned for a touchdown, and 15 pass breakups. His tally of eight pass breakups in 2024 was tied for 24th nationally and fourth among Big Ten cornerbacks behind Muhammad (10), Thaddeus Dixon of Washington (10) and Robert Longerbeam of Rutgers (nine). Safety Dillon Thieneman, Oregon via Purdue (No. 11 transfer, No. 1 safety) As important as Northwestern transfer Theran Johnson will be for Oregon's secondary this fall, the addition of former Purdue safety Dillon Thieneman was the capstone of a portal class that ranked fifth in the country behind LSU, Texas Tech, Miami and Ole Miss. Now a junior, Thieneman was the most coveted safety in the transfer market following two standout seasons for the Boilermakers. In 2023, during his true freshman campaign, Thieneman was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and a third-team All-American by the Associated Press when he led the team with 106 tackles and ranked third nationally with six interceptions — all despite entering college as a three-star recruit and the No. 988 overall prospect in the country. Thieneman followed up with a strong individual performance during his sophomore season for a team that failed to win a single conference game. He led all Big Ten defensive backs with 104 tackles, which included the first sack of his collegiate career, and proved tidy on the back end by recording six pass breakups without a single penalty. His positional versatility over the last two seasons included 1,152 snaps at free safety, 298 snaps in the box and 118 snaps in the slot. Oregon will be counting on him to anchor a secondary that is short on experience and in need of cohesion. Cole Wisniewski, Texas Tech via North Dakota State (No. 155 transfer, No. 5 safety) Most college football fans probably aren't familiar with Wisniewski, a former zero-star recruit from the western side of Wisconsin whose only FBS scholarship offers came from Air Force, Navy, Northern Illinois and Wyoming. Wisniewski spurned all of them and spent the last five seasons at North Dakota State, an FCS school with rich tradition that won two national championships during his time on the roster. A 6-4, 220-pound safety, Wisniewski converted from linebacker following the 2022 season and was promptly named a consensus first-team FCS All-American in 2023 when he tied both the school and conference single-season record for interceptions (eight), while also leading the Bison with 92 total tackles and five pass breakups. A foot injury that required surgery eventually sidelined Wisniewski for the entire 2024 campaign before he entered the transfer portal last December, ultimately joining a portal class that now ranks second in the nation behind LSU. Wisniewski, who has one season of eligibility remaining, is expected to become the starting strong safety for a unit that brought in high-level transfers at all three levels after finishing 127th in total defense (460.2 yards per game) and 122nd in scoring defense (34.8 points per game) last fall. Michael Cohen covers college football and college basketball for FOX Sports. Follow him at @Michael_Cohen13. 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