No D-I opponent has committed more than 14 turnovers against Princeton this season, as the Tigers rank 347th in steal rate. It's one thing to keep Drexel, Dartmouth and Delaware from grabbing offensive rebounds, but the Tigers held Arizona and Missouri to just 15 combined for just two second-chance points apiece.Īchilles' Heel: Forcing turnovers. Limiting second-chance opportunities has been a seasonlong strength for the Princeton, and that hasn't changed with the severe uptick in schedule strength. They weren't supposed to be in the Sweet 16, but they're absolutely acting like they belong.īread and Butter: Defensive rebounding. Against Missouri's great turnover-forcing defense, Princeton was unfazed, committing just nine giveaways while owning the game on the glass and from the perimeter. Princeton shut down an elite Arizona offense, forcing the Wildcats to play at the Tigers' preferred pace. Princeton's Tosan Evbuomwan Ezra Shaw/Getty Images This is a straight-up ranking of the 16 remaining teams from worst to best. ![]() Unlike our title-odds piece from earlier in the week, tournament draw holds no sway here. That'll happen when you barely survive your opener. 1 team is still standing, it is no longer No. Xavier also plummeted several spots after needing a miraculous final few minutes to come back against Kennesaw State.Īnd while our pre-tournament No. But teams aren't necessarily in the same order as they were in our pre-tournament power rankings, because a significant amount of consideration was given to how they looked in their first two NCAA tournament games.Ĭase in point: Michigan State has leapfrogged several teams, while UCLA's mounting injury situation was enough for the Bruins to get bypassed by a few teams that were right on their tail in our power rankings from 10 days ago. 15 seed Princeton now has the necessary confidence to perhaps pull off another stunner or two.īut how should the remaining 16 teams be ranked?įor the most part, these rankings are based on how well the teams played during the regular season. ![]() Alabama's Jahvon Quinerly Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesĪfter a jam-packed, upset-filled six days of action, the 2023 men's NCAA tournament's field of 68 has been whittled down to a Sweet 16.Īt this point, seeding is pretty much irrelevant.
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