Baylor 1 of 3 schools to have both men’s & women’s hoops reach Sweet 16

Only three schools have both their men’s and women’s basketball programs still going as the Sweet 16 begins: Michigan, Oregon — and Baylor.

The Baylor men, seeded No. 2 overall in this year’s NCAA tournament, looked more and more like their pre-COVID selves as they rolled past Hartford in the first round, 79-55, and then beat Wisconsin 76-63 in the second round on Sunday to reach the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in the last 12 seasons.

Next up for the Bears: 17th-ranked Villanova (Saturday, 4:15 p.m. CT, CBS), the Big East regular season champions. The Wildcats, however, will be without their biggest star in Co-Big East Player of the Year Collin Gillespie, who suffered a torn MCL earlier this month. A win would advance Baylor to the Elite Eight for the third time under head coach Scott Drew, where they would face either Arkansas or tournament darling Oral Roberts, a No. 15 seed coached by former Baylor assistant Paul Mills.

In San Antonio, the Baylor women blew past Jackson State (101-52) and Virginia Tech (90-48) to advance to their 12th straight Sweet 16. Senior Moon Ursin led the Lady Bears in scoring in both games with 24 and 21 points, respectively.

Next up for the defending national champions: 14th-ranked Michigan (Saturday, 2 p.m. CT, ABC). The Wolverines are enjoying the best season in program history, earning their best-seed ever (No. 6) and reaching the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. A win would advance head coach Kim Mulkey’s squad to the Elite Eight for the sixth time in the last seven NCAA tournaments.

Sic ’em, Baylor basketball!