This year’s field in the Sweet 16 is going to look a little bit different. For the second time since 1980, the field of 16 won’t feature four mainstays in the tournament. This feat didn’t occur once from 1980 to 2019.
Per a tweet from CBS Sports, much like the 2021 field, it will be missing the [autotag]Duke Blue Devils[/autotag], [autotag]Kansas Jayhawks[/autotag], [autotag]Kentucky Wildcats[/autotag], and North Carolina Tar Heels.
That year the field featured the following teams:
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Arkansas Razorbacks
- Baylor Bears
- Creighton Bluejays
- Florida State Seminoles
- Gonzaga Bulldogs
- Houston Cougars
- Loyola-Chicago Ramblers
- Michigan Wolverines
- Oral Roberts Golden Eagles
- Oregon Ducks
- Oregon State Beavers
- Syracuse Orange
- UCLA Bruins
- USC Trojans
- Villanova Wildcats
This year’s field has some similar names including Alabama, Arkansas, and UCLA already punching their tickets to the Sweet 16. The team that ultimately won the title, Baylor, can add their name to the list with a victory over Creighton on Sunday evening.
Number of Sweet 16's WITHOUT:
North Carolina, Kentucky, Duke and Kansas
1980-2019 0
2021-2023 2 pic.twitter.com/Hch9sTWTtn— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 19, 2023
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