Avery Johnson has Arizona winning it all, yes, but he's not putting it No. 1 on his momentum list
By Avery Johnson Mar 23, 2026 at 12:55 pm ET • 8 min read 
Not many people can say they've played and coached in both the NCAA Tournament and NBA Finals. CBS Sports HQ analyst Avery Johnson has done it all, from his days as the national assist leader at Southern to being the Spurs' ultimate floor general to guiding the Mavericks and Alabama from the sidelines. He went on CBS Sports HQ on Monday to re-rank the Sweet 16 based on how these teams are performing right now.
16. Michigan State Spartans
There's really no last place. All 16 of these teams are good, and on any given day, one of these teams could be 16 and another day it could be 10. But we're going with Michigan State here. That said, it was a really impressive win over Louisville. Jeremy Fears is playing at a high level, Coen Carr is a great athlete.
15. Arkansas Razorbacks
Darius Acuff has been really impressive, SEC Player of the Year. They had a really tough win against High Point. For them, at the end of the day, it's all about Acuff, who is the first player since Jimmer Fredette to average 30 points and 5 assists in his first two tournament games.
14. Texas Longhorns
What a job Sean Miller has done, to beat NC State in the First Four and then dominate in so many ways against Gonzaga. Size, rebounding, versatility -- this team, I think they're going to make some noise in the Sweet 16, even if they don't beat Purdue.
13. Nebraska Cornhuskers
All their fans are having fun with me on social media because I had them getting upset against No. 13 seed Troy in the first round. But man, what a job Fred Hoiberg is doing. And look at his son! It's a family affair, baby. They're playing in Houston, but they travel extremely well and now face a team they played twice already in Iowa.
12. Purdue Boilermakers
Very impressive team led by Braden Smith, who has the NCAA assist record. What an impressive player he is, a terrific player. He's their leader making passes that remind me of a young Avery Johnson -- and I'm glad to see them marching on.
11. Iowa Hawkeyes
Florida had zero inside game going yesterday, and you've got to give Iowa credit. Star Bennett Stirtz and coach Ben McCollum have gone from DII to Drake to the Sweet 16. Obviously Florida was out of position on that key final sequence, and they made a lot of mistakes because the plan wasn't constructed properly. But give Iowa credit.
10. Tennessee Volunteers
Rick Barnes, I coached against him when I was in the SEC (at Alabama). Terrific coach. Their freshman, Nate Ament, made some bonehead plays trying to inbound the ball against Virginia. But their defense is hard-nosed, and they play the right way and used that to beat a very good Virginia team.
9. Illinois Fighting Illini
One of the most dominating performances of the round. They have terrific size, including freshman sensation Keaton Wagler, who is going to hear his name called early in the NBA Draft whenever he decides to come out.
8. UConn Huskies
After UConn's Round of 32 win, UCLA coach Mick Cronin said, "I need five more million. I need $5 million to compete and really take my team to the next level." But fifth-year Huskies forward Alex Karaban was outstanding and led the team with 27 points. So this isn't about the transfers. This team plays the right way. Coach Dan Hurley said is that his fan base is going to be cheering for St. John's and he hopes the Johnnies are cheering for his team because he wants a Big East "blood bath" rematch in the Elite 8. We'll see what happens, but this is a terrific team, and they're marching on to the Sweet 16.
7. St. John's Red Storm
The Johnnies are back in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999. They started off this game against Kansas really hot from the 3-point line, then got 3-point happy and started shooting blanks. But in the end? They got it. I texted the No. 1 booster for St. John's at halftime, "Please tell Dylan Darling to cut to the basket or drive to the basket when he catches the ball and stops settling for 3s." And at the end of the game, Darling scores on a daring drive to the basket. That booster texted me and said, "I delivered the message."
That's part of St. John's team's story. Darling was struggling the entire game but had the mental tenacity and confidence to want the ball. He asked Rick Pitino to run that play for him. And man, St. John's had an incredible following from their fan base, from New York to San Diego. That was very impressive. Now you get an easier trip to Washington D.C. to face Duke, and that's going to be must-see TV. Ejiofor vs. Boozer. All of the boys stay home because this going to be a grown man's game.
6. Alabama Crimson Tide
Yes, Texas Tech was down its best player, but the Crimson Tide were missing one of their stars, too. And Alabama was lights out from 3. They made 19 in that dominant win. If Alabama is making 3s like this, you can basically just go home. They made 25 last year against BYU in the Sweet 16.
5. Michigan Wolverines
This team is really scary, really complete, especially when they're defending the 3-point line. They're an elite all-around team both offensively and defensively, that's somehow 10th in Division I in scoring, excellent on the boards and giving up no easy looks inside. None. Yaxel Lendeborg is a terrific star. But the backcourt is the key. Defend the 3 and make more. I'm excited to see if Nimari Burnett can make some 3s on the backside.
Michigan could easily be higher than this. It's a crapshoot at this point with these top five teams. I just want to see them get consistent stops on the perimeter, too, and I want to see how they handle close games because they had a lot of blowouts in the regular season. But Dusty May does a terrific job, and they can do that in the tournament, too. So watch out.
4. Iowa State Cyclones
What was more impressive than the Cyclones, without Joshua Jefferson, just dominating a Kentucky team that had one of the most expensive rosters in all of basketball? And they did it by only shooting like 12% in the first half from the 3-point line. Their defense is extraordinary. Tamin Lipsey — what a point guard — his defense on Otega Oweh basically took him out of the game after his monster game against Santa Clara.
TJ Otzelberger has this team playing at extremely high level. We'll see if Jefferson can get back. If so, I've got Iowa State in the Final Four. I want to see them in Indianapolis, but we'll see with the treatment this week if they can get Jefferson back on the court. Winning the Midwest without him will be tough.
3. Arizona Wildcats
They just win in so many different ways. This team has five starters who all average double figures. Two players off the bench that average nine points. And they won a game ugly against Utah State. They dominated from the free-throw line. This team is the most complete team in basketball. I'm not going to say this is the Arizona Invitational, but I think this is their tournament to lose. They're extremely well coached and have the best seven-man rotation in basketball.
And that's big for the Sweet 16 matchup against Arkansas. They're one of the few teams that can make Darius Acuff play defense. You're always trying to slow down a terrific guard like Acuff, to we take the ball out of his hands? But they know Jaden Bradley is going to keep that pressure on him throughout the game. And we know Bradley -- if it's a close game, he's a big-time player.
2. Duke Blue Devils
They rebounded from that first-round matchup where they weren't very impressive against that zone against Siena. Cameron Boozer was terrific against TCU, and they dominated with their inside-outside game. Isaiah Evans was terrific on the offensive end. He just knocks down timely 3s. Plus they got the big fella, Patrick Ngongba, back off the bench.
This is a great team. That said, before the tournament, I did have them as the No. 1. Now I have them as the No. 2. The injuries are part of that. Cayden Boozer, he's going have to play at a high level alongside his brother. Cam is a 25 and 12 guy, but Cayden has to be a 20 points, five assists, five rebounds guy, too, for them to make the Final Four.
Yes, I had them as overall No. 1 pick and No. 1 team, but as we are re-ranking these teams based on what they did in their whole overall body of work, I think Duke is deserving of No. 2.
1. Houston Cougars
This team has been dominant. They've won both of their games by an average of 31 points and pretty much just destroyed this Texas A&M team, who you thought could put up a fight after beating St. Mary's.
Houston's backcourt is electric. They had Milos Uzan and Emanuel Sharp last year, then add Kingston Flemings, who is going to be a top 10 pick. They don't turn the ball over, even against a Texas A&M team that forces a lot of turnovers. They took great care of the ball and were just a much better offensive team.
Plus, they've developed that bench with Mercy Miller specifically. Kelvin Samson has this team ready. They're playing in Houston for the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 at the Toyota Center just come across town from campus. They're going to dominate in terms of fans at the Toyota Center. So, the Houston Cougars are marching into the Sweet 16, and I think this is a great opportunity for them to go to back-to back final fours, especially with the Florida Gators getting knocked out of the bracket.
So Houston is the hottest, best team right now. They're the team with momentum and the team that has all the pieces set. That said, I still have Arizona cutting down nets in Indianapolis. They have the depth, and they've beat Houston before.
This is a crapshoot, as I said before. Any team can do it, especially in that top five. That's why we play the games.
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