Three of the four No. 1 seeds in the men’s NCAA Tournament remain alive heading into the Sweet 16, which begins on Thursday.
Two those three top seeds are in action Thursday night, and ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI) is projecting one will lose. If you’re not familiar, BPI is “a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward.”
The newest BPI projections give Houston, the No. 5 seed in the South, a 59.2% chance of beating Arizona, the No. 1 seed in the region. While this might seem surprising, it shouldn’t be.
After all, BPI has been high on the Cougars for a while now, predicting that Kelvin Sampson’s program would reach its second-straight Final Four before the tournament even began.
Chance to win the national championship, per BPI.
Gonzaga 26%
Houston 18%
Kansas 14%
Purdue 10%
Villanova 9%
Arizona 7%
UCLA 6%
Texas Tech 4%
Duke 4%Every other team under 1%.
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) March 21, 2022
Houston and Arizona are expected to tip off around 10 p.m. ET on Thursday. They will get underway following the conclusion of Villanova-Michigan, which will begin at 7:29 p.m. ET.
Both games will be played in San Antonio, Texas and will be televised on TBS.