Big 12 Misses Elite 8 For First Time Since 2015
The Big 12 Conference was officially knocked out of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Friday night after Houston fell to Duke in the Sweet 16. With the loss, there are no Big 12 teams in the Elite 8 for the first time since 2015.
The 2015 Elite 8 included Kentucky, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Arizona, Louisville, Michigan State, Duke and Gonzaga. Duke would end up beating Wisconsin in the National Championship.
For the Big 12, there was a ton of hype heading into March Madness as the perceived best conference in America based on NET, KenPom, and landing eight teams in the NCAA Tournament. But the league did not meet expectations in the Tournament.
While we wondered whether or not the Big 12 had a truly elite team this year, there’s no doubt it had depth. But even that depth wasn’t on display this season.
Only two teams, Iowa State and Houston, reached the Sweet 16, while both ended up losing their match ups. Along with Houston vs. Duke, the Cyclones fell to Illinois on Thursday night.
So now the NCAA Tournament marches ahead with two Elite 8 games on Saturday and two on Sunday. On Saturday, Illinois takes on UConn in the first game at 5:09pm CT on TBS and then it’s Clemson vs. Alabama at 7:49pm CT on TBS. On Sunday, Tennessee plays Purdue at 1:20pm CT on CBS, followed by Duke vs. NC State at 4:05pm CT on CBS.
