March Madness 2017: Friday Sweet Sixteen Open Thread

It’s Live Thread time once again!

Tonight, the men’s NCAA Tournament field gets whittled down the the final eight contestants as the South and East Regionals get under way. Our attention early will largely be directed at New York, where a team K-State beat twice this season takes on a coach who used to be K-State’s coach. That’s right, Baylor vs South Carolina is just around the corner, and there’s not much doubt as to whom most of you are going to be pulling for. North Carolina and Butler take up the other early slot.

In comparison, the late games are rather boring from a “root for someone” perspective, as there are good reasons to hate (or at least be utterly apathetic toward) all four teams. On the other hand, if big-time matchups of blue blood programs is your thing, well, pull up a recliner. We’ve got UCLA-Kentucky lined up for you. And if more recent power squads is your thing, you can suffer through Wisconsin-Florida.

Remember, nobody wants to watch Wisconsin.

Except Gracey. She’s weird.

The women swing into Sweet Sixteen action tonight as well, and tonight’s half of the bracket is stacked. None of tonight’s teams are any lower than a five seed. That includes K-State’s final opponent, Stanford, who’ll take on Texas; the Baylor women are also in action.