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SEC March Madness: Three SEC Teams Make the Sweet 16

By Matthew Bartlett

Mar 19, 2017; Greenville, SC, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks guard Duane Notice (10) reacts after making a three point basket during the second half against the Duke Blue Devils in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 19, 2017; Greenville, SC, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks guard Duane Notice (10) reacts after making a three point basket during the second half against the Duke Blue Devils in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /
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The SEC doesn’t get much respect as a basketball conference, but they have been well represented in March Madness and will send three teams to the Sweet 16.

Kentucky

2 Seed – South Region. Defeated Wichita State 65-62

The Kentucky Wildcats were supposed to be here. Every year coach John Calipari brings in a new batch of blue chip recruits and turns them into a title contending team. Think Nick Saban and the Alabama football program.

In the First Round the Wildcats dispatched 15 Seed Northern Kentucky 79-70. On Saturday they won a rematch with 10 Seed Wichita State 65-62. Edrice Adebyo had a double-double in the win and freshman Malik Monk scored 14.

In the Sweet 16 they’ll face the winner of either Cincinnati or UCLA. 7.3 percent of ESPN brackets have Kentucky as their champion. That’s slightly below UCLA (7.9 percent) and UNC.

Florida

4 Seed – East Region. Defeated Virginia 65-39

Florida was the most popular upset pick among four seeds in the First Round. Now they’re headed to the Sweet 16. The Gators weren’t playing their best basketball at the end of the regular season. It’s not surprising then that four teams seeded below Florida were picked by more brackets to reach the Sweet 16 than the Gators.

They blew through East Tennessee State in the First Round 80-65. As an encore, they ran the Virginia Cavaliers out of the gym squashing the Hoos 65-39. A potential path to the Elite 8 won’t require them to go through No. 1 overall seed Villanova. They were upset by the Gators Sweet 16 opponent, Wisconsin.

South Carolina

7 Seed – East Region. Defeated Duke 88-81

After Arkansas gave North Carolina a scare it looked like the SEC might have a bit more life in them. It turns out they did as South Carolina became that latest team to upset Duke in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. The Gamecocks led the Blue Devils by double digits with under four minutes to go and everything seed to be going their way. Sindarius Thornwell (24 points, 6 rebounds) was one of five South Carolina players that tallied double digit points in the win.

The Gamecocks blew out 10 Seed Marquette 93-73 in the first round and are white hot headed into the Sweet 16. They’ll face 3 Seed Baylor who squeaked out a win Sunday over 11 Seed USC.

Arkansas

8 Seed – South Region. Eliminated by North Carolina 72-65

Arkansas no points in the final three and a half minutes after leading North Carolina 65-60. The Tar Heels scored 12 straight to sneak past the the Razorbacks and claim a spot in the Sweet 16. There weren’t astronomically high expectations for the Hog. They came within a few better bounces of a Sweet 16 berth. Not too shabby.

Next: Aggie Women Have Historic First Round Comeback

No one would have been shocked if Kentucky was the only SEC team still in the Big Dance when the second weekend started. That’s not going to be the case, and the two “surprise” teams have won both of their games in rather impressive fashion. The SEC will always be football first, but perhaps the conference could be a bit further along in the basketball discussion than might have been previously thought.

***Stats from ESPN***