Published Mar 25, 2019
U-M Is One Of Just Four Teams To Have Made The Last Three Sweet Sixteens
Austin Fox  •  Maize&BlueReview
Staff Writer
Advertisement

Michigan joined elite college basketball company on Saturday when it took down Florida in the NCAA Tournament's second round to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

The victory marked the school's third consecutive trip to the regional semifinals, a feat that only three other programs in the sport can lay claim to — Gonzaga, Kentucky and Purdue.

Notice that some of basketball's blue bloods are absent from the list, including Duke, Kansas, North Carolina and Villanova.

The Blue Devils are present in this year's Sweet Sixteen and made the Elite Eight last season, but were upset by South Carolina in the second round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament.

Kansas, meanwhile, made the Elite Eight in 2017 and the Final Four last year, but failed to qualify for this list after Saturday night's blowout loss to Auburn in the second round.

North Carolina won the National Title in 2017 and is still alive in this year's Big Dance, but suffered a shocking blowout defeat to 7-seeded Texas A&M in the 2018 second round.

Villanova's results may be the most surprising of all, however — even though the program has won two National Titles since 2016, the Wildcats have actually now been to just one of the last three Sweet Sixteens after Purdue destroyed them on Saturday night (Wisconsin beat them in the second round in 2017).

Gonzaga's NCAA Tournament Results Since 2017
YearResults

2017

First Round: Defeated (16) South Dakota State, 66-46

Second Round: Defeated (8) Northwestern, 79-73

Sweet Sixteen: Defeated (4) West Virginia, 61-58

Elite Eight: Defeated (11) Xavier, 83-59

Final Four: Defeated (7) South Carolina, 77-73

National Championship: Lost to (1) North Carolina, 71-65

2018

First Round: Defeated (13) UNC Greensboro, 68-64

Second Round: Defeated (5) Ohio State, 90-84

Sweet Sixteen: Lost to (9) Florida State, 75-60

2019

First Round: Defeated (16) Fairleigh Dickinson, 87-49

Second Round: Defeated (9) Baylor, 83-71

Sweet Sixteen: ? vs. (4) Florida State

Kentucky's NCAA Tournament Results Since 2017
YearResults

2017

First Round: Defeated (15) Northern Kentucky, 79-70

Second Round: Defeated (10) Wichita State, 65-62

Sweet Sixteen: Defeated (3) UCLA, 86-75

Elite Eight: Lost to (1) North Carolina, 75-73

2018

First Round: Defeated (12) Davidson, 78-73

Second Round: Defeated (13) Buffalo, 95-75

Sweet Sixteen: Lost to (9) Kansas State, 61-58

2019

First Round: Defeated (15) Abilene Christian, 79-44

Second Round: Defeated (7) Wofford, 62-56

Sweet Sixteen: ? vs. (3) Houston

Michigan's NCAA Tournament Results Since 2017
YearResults

2017

First Round: Defeated (10) Oklahoma State, 92-91

Second Round: Defeated (2) Louisville, 73-69

Sweet Sixteen: Lost to (3) Oregon, 69-68

2018

First Round: Defeated (14) Montana, 61-47

Second Round: Defeated (6) Houston, 64-63

Sweet Sixteen: Defeated (7) Texas A&M, 99-72

Elite Eight: Defeated (9) Florida State, 58-54

Final Four: Defeated (11) Loyola-Chicago, 69-57

National Championship: Lost to (1) Villanova, 79-62

2019

First Round: Defeated (15) Montana, 74-55

Second Round: Defeated (10) Florida, 64-49

Sweet Sixteen: ? vs. (3) Texas Tech

Purdue's NCAA Tournament Results Since 2017
YearResults

2017

First Round: Defeated (13) Vermont, 80-70

Second Round: Defeated (5) Iowa State, 80-76

Sweet Sixteen: Lost to (1) Kansas, 98-66

2018

First Round: Defeated (15) Cal State Fullerton, 74-48

Second Round: Defeated (10) Butler, 76-73

Sweet Sixteen: Lost to (3) Texas Tech, 78-65

2019

First Round: Defeated (14) Old Dominion, 61-48

Second Round: Defeated (6) Villanova, 87-61

Sweet Sixteen: ? vs. (2) Tennessee

Believe it or not, Gonzaga is the only team of the four above who has made more than three consecutive Sweet Sixteens.

In fact, the Bulldogs' streak dates all the way back to 2015, a string of five straight regional semifinals.

Michigan, on the other hand, now has 17 Sweet Sixteen appearances all-time, with current head coach John Beilein owning five of them (29 percent).

He had been tied with former head man Steve Fisher (1989-97) for the most regional semifinal appearances by any U-M coach in history, but now has sole possession of first place.

In addition, Saturday's win over the Gators marked just the third time in school history that U-M has made it to three straight Sweet Sixteens, with 1964-66 and 1992-94 being the previous two occurrences.

Michigan has never made four consecutive regional semifinals.

---

• Talk about this article inside The Fort

Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @BSB_Wolverine, @JB_ Wolverine, @AustinFox42, @Balas_Wolverine, @DrewCHallett and @Qb9Adam.

• Like us on Facebook