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What to Watch For: The Sweet 16

By Saturday, eight teams will be standing. On Thursday, the two SEC teams look to be amongst the ‘Elite.’

NCAA Basketball Tournament - Second Round - Charlotte Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

March Madness continues on Thursday with the Sweet 16’s commencement. CBS will be televising the South Regional Semifinals while TBS will air the West Regional Semis. Both Regions house an SEC team, so Thursday will have to have your undivided attention. Especially so if you are a fan of the Kentucky Wildcats and Texas A&M Aggies.

By now, you know how each team got here. Kentucky roped their way through the Davidson Wildcats and the Buffalo Bulls out in Boise. Texas A&M, meanwhile, took down the Providence Friars and then molly whopped the North Carolina Tar Heels in Charlotte. For Kentucky, this is business as usual. But for Texas A&M, history is on the horizon.

This is just a normal trip to the office for John Calipari. Coach Cal has made it beyond the first weekend in all but one of his years at Kentucky, as long as they’ve been in the NCAA Tournament. They are seeking entry into the Final Four for the first time since 2014. But obviously, that’s typically the expectation in Lexington, anyway. These Wildcats begin their run in Atlanta (read: Cat-lanta) against another pack of Wildcats: Those from Kansas State.

The Aggies have made it to the Sweet 16 six times in program history. Three of those occasions have happened in the last 11 seasons. But they have never made the Elite Eight. Acie Law helped guide them in 2007, but those Aggies lost to the Memphis Tigers, thanks to a pair of free throws in the final seconds. Two years ago, they trudged their way through thanks to Danuel House and Alex Caruso, but those Aggies lost to Buddy Hield and the Oklahoma Sooners.

Now, it’s the combo of Tyler Davis, D.J. Hogg, T.J. Starks and Robert Williams, among others, who have helped lead them to Los Angeles. Round of 32 hero Jordan Poole, Mo Wagner and the Michigan Wolverines are all that’s left standing between the Aggies and history.