Men's March Madness 2024: Sweet 16 tournament takeaways - ESPN

It was a bad, bad Sweet 16 for the favorites. Unless of course your name is UConn.

In the West Region, Alabama stayed with No. 1 seed North Carolina all night long, then outscored the Tar Heels 7-2 in the final 1:32. The result was an 89-87 win for the No. 4 seed Crimson Tide. Grant Nelson scored 24 for Alabama, with 19 coming in the second half alone. His old-fashioned 3-point play put the Tide ahead in the final minute. Nelson then sealed the victory with two free throws Nat Oats' team made its share of 3s as usual, going 11-of-26 behind the arc. Perhaps more surprising were the 15 offensive rebounds Alabama pulled down against UNC in the high-scoring affair.

The Tide are going to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2004. They reached the Sweet 16 last year and in 2021. They will face the other team that orchestrated an upset earlier in the evening, No. 6 seed Clemson, which toppled No. 2 seed Arizona.

In the much less dramatic East region, Illinois overcame the stifling defense of Iowa State, and will face UConn on Saturday.

Here, what the first set of regional semifinal games told us about the race for the national championship.

Was that the game of the tournament? Let's all take a deep breath after that one. I guess this is what happens when you pit two of the most explosive offenses in the country against each other: A combined 176 points; one team shooting over 40% from 3; the other holding a 10-point lead only to give it up, and a ridiculous pace of play that made it seem more like a track meet than a basketball game. In a game that went down to the wire, every possession felt like it weighed a ton of bricks. Ultimately, senior Grant Nelson not only led all scorers with 24 points, he added 12 rebounds and