Another Sweet 16 without blue bloods is rare but not lately
The 2023 NCAA Tournament has already seen its fair share of upsets through the first weekend as it’s been a tournament to remember. And as the weekend closes up and play begins again on Thursday, you wont see four blue bloods in the Sweet 16.
Kansas, Duke, and Kentucky all lost in the second round of the tournament and with North Carolina not making it, the Sweet 16 will not have one of those teams for just the fourth time since the creation of the round in 1951.
The other three years this happened was 1976, 1979 and 2021. It’s the second time in three years that the rare feat has happened as well.
At least one of Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina or Duke made the Sweet 16 for 40 straight years from 1980-2019.
They’ve now all failed to reach the Sweet 16 twice in the last three years.
— Bryan Ives (@awaytoworthy) March 19, 2023
This marks the 4th time since the advent of the Sweet 16 that none of Kentucky, Kansas, Duke or UNC were involved.
The other years: 1976, 1979 and 2021.
h/t @ESPNStatsInfo
— 💫🅰️♈️🆔 (@ADavidHaleJoint) March 19, 2023
The Blue Devils were eliminated on Saturday at the hands of Tennessee and just a few hours later, Arkansas pulled off the upset over No. 1 Kansas. On Sunday, Kansas State used a second-half rally to take down Kentucky.
The closest thing we have to a blue blood program in the Sweet 16 is UCLA who punched its ticket on Saturday night by holding off a late charge from Northwestern.
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