2019 gave us one of the most straightforward “chalk” Sweet 16s in history, as all the 1, 2, and 3 seeds reached the third round. With the year away and the weird season, 2021 has delivered the highest aggregate seed total in history, creating the most unexpected Sweet 16 field of all time.

The carnage of the Second Round was also felt in our Survivor Pool, as we are left with just 13 entries alive (12%). For reference, in 2019 we entered the Sweet 16 with 36% of entries still fighting for the crown.

The Oral Roberts Cinderella run continued to wreak havoc, as the 15-seed Golden Eagles outlasted Florida, eliminating 8 entries from contention (including myself...). The other major blow was Oregon State continuing its Kemba Walker UConn impression and sending Cade Cunningham to prepare for the NBA Draft early - the Oklahoma State loss also tossed 8 entries from the field. West Virginia falling victim to Syracuse, 1-seed Illinois losing to Loyola Chicago, and Iowa getting smashed by Oregon further diminished our field.

Our survivors now turn their attention to the games of the Sweet 16 - what will be their strategy for surviving into the Elite 8 and beyond? Would you take the double-digit favorites or save the best teams to take you to the finish line? A reminder that these entries cannot select any team that they have previously chosen, so some may be backed into a corner, left to take less desirable options.

Entry Form - Sweet 16:

For those of you still alive, get your pick submitted for the Sweet 16 games of Saturday and Sunday in the form below or click here if your browser doesn’t show the form. The form this week includes tiebreaker fields in case all entries are eliminated in this round. Tiebreaker 2 would only apply if applicable entries are still tied after Tiebreaker 1. Picks are due by 1:40 PM Central on Saturday, ahead of the Oregon State-Loyola Chicago tip-off. Good Luck!