The biggest impact player for every men's Sweet 16 team - ESPN

Welcome to the heavyweight Sweet 16 of 2024. This group of regional semifinalists collectively carries one of the highest average seeds we've seen since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985.

Yes, NC State would appear to be a surprise member of the «second weekend» club as a No. 11 seed. (Still, anyone who saw the Wolfpack defeat No. 1 seed North Carolina in the ACC title game can't be too shocked.) Likewise, Clemson is a No. 6 seed and Gonzaga and San Diego State are No. 5s.

The other 12 teams, however, were all supposed to make it this far.

These mostly high-seeded teams have advanced to the regional semifinals courtesy of some incomparable individual performances. We already highlighted some of these players last week in our piece on the 68 impact players of the tournament.

Now we're down to 16. Some of these names are repeats. Others are new to this high honor. All have played their way onto this list based on winning performances over the past two games. They're very likely to make a difference once again.

Here are the 16 impact players of the 2024 Sweet 16.

Chase Hunter, No. 6 seed Clemson Tigers

Teammate PJ Hall was the choice when we conducted this exercise last week, but since that time Hunter's been the best player for the Tigers. The senior has 41 points and 12 assists to go with four steals in Clemson's wins over New Mexico and Baylor.

With the ball often found in Hunter's capable hands, Brad Brownell's team has committed just 20 total turnovers in 137 tournament possessions. No Sweet 16 team owns a win over an opponent seeded higher than No. 3 Baylor, which fell to the Tigers in the round of 32.

Caleb Love, No. 2 seed Arizona Wildcats

While Love is just 6 of 20 from beyond the arc in the tournament,