Underdog team creates a historic upset:
Fairleigh Dickinson University accomplished a significant feat by becoming just the second No. 16 seed in the history of the tournament to defeat a No. 1 seed, resulting in a win against Purdue. This also makes them only the second No. 16 seed to ever win a single game in the Big Dance, despite their overall seed of No. 68. Also, they earned their spot in the field of 64 by winning a "First Four" game.
The top-seeded teams' expected dominance is overturned:
Top 'blue blood' programs like North Carolina, Kansas, Duke, and Kentucky are absent from the Sweet 16 for the second time in three years. This trend aligns with the unpredictable nature of the 2023 tournament, where several underdogs have already defeated favored teams. Out of the eight matchups in this round, only three games align with the NCAA bracket-makers' predictions: No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 3 Gonzaga, and No. 2 Texas vs. No. 3 Xavier.
Princeton tries on the tiara:
Princeton, a No. 15 seed, has become the lowest-ranked team remaining in the tournament. This is a rare occasion where the school has been on the unfavorable side of a statistical discrepancy. In the first round, the Tigers pulled off a stunning upset against No. 2 seed Arizona and continued their impressive run by easily defeating Missouri, 78-63, on Saturday night.
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