After four days of nonstop action in the first and second rounds of the 2025 NCAA Tournament, only 16 teams remain as the race to the Final Four in San Antonio nears the finish line.The Sweet 16 field is nontraditional from previous years; only four conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC) are represented in the second weekend of the Big Dance. Those teams will play at their regional locations in San Francisco, Atlanta, Indianapolis, and Newark.
The SEC broke the previous record set by the ACC for the most Sweet 16 teams (seven) from a single conference. No. 1 seed Florida, No. 2 seed Alabama and No. 10 seed Arkansas are all in action Thursday during the Sweet 16. Arkansas is the highest remaining seed left in the NCAA Tournament after the first week of play provided minimal seeding upsets.
Thursday night’s action focuses on the regional semifinals in the East and West, set in Newark and San Francisco, respectively. Let’s get into some of the big storylines for the evening, starting with the Crimson Tide eyeing a trip back to the Elite Eight against a BYU team looking to reach that round for the first time since 1981.
NCAA bracket 2025: Printable March Madness bracket, NCAA Tournament predictions, picks, scores, Sweet 16 dates
Matt Norlander
Scoring will be plentiful in BYU vs. Alabama
The are two main storylines in this matchup. This first is the battle between two elite offenses. The Crimson Tide rode their No. 1 ranked scoring offense (90.8 points per game) to another appearance in the Sweet 16. BYU ranks No. 21 in scoring offense (81.2) and will likely have the best NBA Draft prospect on the floor in 6-foot-9 guard Egor Demin. The race to who scores 90 points first might decide the winner.
The second is the recruitment of AJ Dybantsa — the No. 1 ranked player in the 2025 recruiting cycle by 247Sports who also considered Alabama. Dybantsa signed with BYU last winter, less than seven months after the school hired first-year coach Kevin Young to run the program. The returns on Year 1 of the Young era have been overwhelmingly positive. BYU is in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2011, and there is good reason to believe the best days are ahead for the program regardless of the result this weekend.
Love faces Duke (again) in NCAA Tournament
Caleb Love will face a familiar opponent in the Sweet 16. Love, the former North Carolina star who transferred to Arizona in 2023, hit one of the biggest shots in the 2022 NCAA Tournament as a member of the Tar Heels. With UNC leading by one in the final moments, Love’s 3-pointer at the top of the key helped seal a win over Duke and send Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski’s into retirement. Love has faced Duke twice as a member of the Wildcats: Arizona beat Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium in 2023, and the Blue Devils returned the favor with a win over the Wildcats at the McKale Center earlier this season.
This week will mark the 10th time Love has faced Duke. He is averaging 15.9 points and 4.2 assists in the previous nine games against the Blue Devils. Love ended one era of Duke basketball (Coach K) and can again play spoiler by helping his team upset the No. 1 seed in the East, which would likely close the curtains on the Cooper Flagg era.
Can healthy Arkansas continue run to Elite Eight?
Arkansas got some good news on Tuesday when coach John Calipari said on ESPN that star forward Adou Thiero, who missed the last eight games with a knee injury, will be available for the Sweet 16 matchup against Texas Tech and expected to play about 12 to 15 minutes.
The news is perfectly timed with the return of star guard Boogie Fland following a two-month absence because of a thumb injury. Fland came off the bench for Arkansas’ wins over Kansas and St. John’s in the NCAA Tournament. The Razorbacks started SEC play 0-5 before first-year coach John Calipari turned the season around. Standing in Arkansas’ way of an Elite Eight appearance is JT Toppin and No. 3 seed Tech Tech. Toppin, the Big 12 Player of the Year, has been one of the best forwards in the country. The winner of this game faces No. 1 seed Florida or No. 4 seed Maryland on Saturday with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
Check out the full TV and streaming schedule for Thursday’s Sweet 16 games below.
Thursday’s NCAA Tournament streaming schedule
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