Morning Madness: Wednesday, March 22

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With just one more day until the NCAA tournament revs up again with the Sweet 16, let's look at how this field compares to Sweet 16s of the past. (Very nicely, thank you.)

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How the 2017 Sweet 16 stacks up

This year's Sweet 16 has three 1 seeds and an 11 seed, an average seed of 4.06. Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, only six years have had lower average seeds. The lowest ever was 2009, when every 1, 2, and 3 seed made it, along with two 4 seeds, a 5 seed and a 12 seed, averaging 3.06.

Having three No. 1 seeds still kicking into the Sweet 16 is about average, when you break it down. Since '85, we've had an average of 3.4 1s per tournament.

The seed with the highest number ever to make the Sweet 16? Florida Gulf Coast, a 15-seed, in 2013. This year, it's 11-seed Xavier. An 11-seed has reached the Sweet 16 just 19 times.

Seven schools are in the Sweet 16 for the 10th time or more: UNC is in its 22nd Sweet 16, Kansas its 21st, Kentucky its 20th, Arizona its 17th, UCLA its 14th, Florida its 11th and Wisconsin its 10th. On the flip side, South Carolina is in its first.

Finally, over the past 32 years, the average margin of a Sweet 16 game has been 9.9 points. Some 49 games have been decided by three points or fewer. But the Sweet 16 has had its blowouts, too. Kentucky and Louisville hold the record for the biggest wipeouts, when the 1-seed Wildcats beat 5-seed West Virginia 78-39 in 2015, and the 1-seed Cardinals took down 12-seed Arizona 103-64 in 2009.

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