Male’s NCAA Tournament 2024: Power Ranking the Elite Eight Teams
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Connecticut’s Tristen NewtonBrett Wilhelm/NCAA Photos by means of Getty Images
Adios, Arizona.
Good understanding you, North Carolina.
Hasta la vista, Houston.
Bye-bye, Golden Eagles.
Sayonara, Cyclones.
After an abnormally milky opening weekend that led to every No. 1 and No. 2 seed reaching the Sweet 16, just 3 of those leading teams endured to see the Elite Eight.
It’s still no place near as bonkers as in 2015 when not a single No. 1 seed reached a local last. A minimum of the clear pre-tournament preferred, Connecticut, is still dancing, as is fellow No. 1 seed Purdue. There’s still a possibility we get one heck of a heavyweight bout in the championship game.
Things did lastly get a little March Madness-y in the procedure of whittling the field to single digits.
Now that just 8 stay, how do they accumulate?
One essential thing to note: Difficulty of the course to the championship game has no bearing on this list. Rather, this might be thought about a ranking of how we would reseed the staying 8 groups based upon a mix of regular-season success and how terrific they browsed the very first 3 rounds.
We’ll take a look at how groups have actually played so far, their Most Outstanding Player prospects and what they require to do to win everything.
8. Clemson Tigers
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Clemson’s Chase HunterC. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos by means of Getty Images
What We’ve Learned: There’s still some early-season magic left in Clemson.
Throughout the primarily nonconference part of the season, the Tigers appeared like a genuine title competitor. They started 9-0 with 5 wins over groups that ultimately made the competition. That does not even consist of the roadway win over Pittsburgh, which sufficed to dance if it had actually done anything in the nonconference. Clemson won at Alabama. It ruined Boise State in your home.
For a minute there at the 2023-to-2024 shift, the Tigers remained in the mix for a No. 1 seed.
The wheels fell off. They got burnt out by both Miami and Virginia Tech. They lost in your home to Georgia Tech. And after losses to Notre Dame and Boston College in the very first half of March, Clemson got in the dance as a hot tinker a. 500 record over its previous 20 video games.
Suddenly, however, challengers lost the capability to shoot versus the Tigers.
Georgia Tech made 15 triples in one video game versus this group, however New Mexico, Baylor and Arizona went a combined 14-of-75 (18.7 percent) from downtown versus it.
The UNM part wasn’t a huge surprise. Boundary shooting was a season-long problem for the Lobos. Baylor had the finest three-point portion in the country and Arizona had 4 strong three-point shooters. Didn’t matter. While those groups could not purchase a container, Ian Schieffelin was banking in 3s from the top of the secret.
In some cases it’s much better to be fortunate than excellent.
Many Outstanding Player Candidate: Heading into the competition, the choice here was plainly PJ Hall. How about Chase Hunter’s play hence far? The fifth-year senior combination guard is balancing simply under 20 points and 6 helps per video game in bring this Tigers offense through the very first 3 rounds. When he’s dipping into a high level, Clemson has rather the quartet blazing a trail.
X-Factor: Three-point D. Far, so extremely excellent in this department, however border defense sure looked like Clemson’s clearest weak point heading into the competition. UCLA remained in a comparable boat when it made its surprise go to the Final Four in 2021, and the ultimate go back to normalcy because department consisted of Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs banking because extraordinary game-winner in overtime. Possibly Clemson can prevent that type of regression.
Champion Blueprint: Ride the primary 4, keep Hall out of nasty problem and hope opponents continue to have a hard time from range.
7. Alabama Crimson Tide
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Alabama’s Mark SearsC. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos through Getty Images
What We’ve Learned: By golly, they can beat quality challengers far from home.
Prior to Thursday night, Alabama’s finest win far from home was a video game at Mississippi State more than 2 months back. Beyond that, its second-best win was most likely the second-round triumph over No. 12 seed Grand Canyon.
It’s not like Alabama was some runaway freight train in the house, either. There was no sensation that the Crimson Tide were predestined to lastly get some big wins outside Tuscaloosa. They lost in your home to Tennessee and Clemson, required overtime to beat Florida and directly beat Auburn. (They likewise burnt out both South Carolina and Texas A&M in the house, however, guy, there was no informing which variations of those groups you were going to get on any offered night all season.)
They lastly did it, however, falling No. 1 seed North Carolina in a back-and-forth fight that was every bit the 40-minute adventure trip we dreamed it may be. And they must a minimum of be preferred in their Elite Eight match with Clemson, in spite of the previously mentioned truth that the Tigers went on the roadway to beat Alabama previously this season.
A Lot Of Outstanding Player Candidate: Grant Nelson was the undeniable star of the Sweet 16 video game, however it’s normally Mark Sears blazing a trail for Alabama. The veteran point player had 30 in the opener versus Charleston and was Mr. Everything for the Tide versus Grand Canyon. In opting for 18 points and 2 helps versus UNC, it was the very first time in 2024 that he stopped working to either record a minimum of 20 points or 6 pennies.
X-Factor: Pace of play. On offense, Alabama dips into among the fastest paces in the nation. And where that ends up being an X-factor is when the opposition attempts to do the very same and begins going too quick for its own great. Due to the fact that typically speaking, Alabama’s defense is bad, enabling a minimum of 85 points in majority of its video games played. Both Grand Canyon and North Carolina let themselves get out of control, consistently missing out on shots right at the rim while attempting to run at a breakneck rate.
Champion Blueprint: Try to bury the opposition in an avalanche of points, since Alabama is 18-1 when scoring a minimum of 89 compared to simply 6-10 when disappointing that mark.
6. North Carolina State Wolfpack
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NC State’s DJ HorneAndy Hancock/NCAA Photos/NCAA Photos by means of Getty Images
What We’ve L