2023 March Madness Sweet 16 bracket breakdown
No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 5 San Diego State聽
Anyone that picked Alabama to win it all before March Madness is definitely feeling confident heading into the Sweet 16. The Crimson Tide did exactly what they were supposed to do in their first two games and won them both by at least 20 points. After being non-existent in Alabama鈥檚 first round matchup against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Brandon Miller bounced back with 19 points, seven rebounds and a block against Maryland. However, the Tide have not really needed him to take over like everyone knows he can. Alabama is playing its best basketball and the only competition the team has had so far in the tournament was Maryland in the first half of that game before the Tide ran away with it.聽
San Diego State ended the recent struggles of the Mountain West Conference in March Madness and took care of business by playing its brand of basketball. Defense has led the Aztecs to a Sweet 16 berth. SDSU held Charleston to just 32.1% shooting from the field and 20.8% from three. The game was still relatively close but senior guard Matt Bradley鈥檚 17 points made sure the Aztecs would move on to the second round where they ended the Cinderella run of Furman very quickly. This is a veteran, physical, defensive-minded SDSU team and they will need all of that if the Aztecs want a chance against Alabama.聽
The problem is Alabama can match the intensity of defense and is clearly the better offensive team. The Crimson Tide should win this game to head to their second ever Elite Eight appearance ever and first since 2004.
