The last 16 teams remaining in the 2024 men's NCAA tournament are among a special group of squads. Starting Thursday, they will try to will themselves to the Final Four and possibly, a national championship. They all have rich histories -- and great players that have played a role in building those legacies.
As we head into the second weekend of the tournament, we decided to acknowledge the past a little. Here is our look at the greatest duos of all time for the teams currently in the Sweet 16.
We already hear your arguments. But remember, some of the greatest teams for these schools had three or more players who were pivotal to what they achieved. Our goal here was to try to find the best duos.
We did our best but figure you'll either love it or hate it. Hopefully, it's the former.
North Carolina Tar Heels
Michael Jordan and James Worthy
The Dean Smith Center, North Carolina's home arena, is like a museum full of names and numbers in the rafters, featuring the greatest players from this storied program. Among them, a duo who, during the 1981-82 season, joined Sam Perkins to help the Tar Heels soar on the sport's biggest stage. Jordan hit the game-winner in the national title game, while Worthy would become the No. 1 pick in the 1982 NBA draft.
Two years later, Jordan (19.6 PPG) got even better, and led the Heels to an undefeated season in the ACC and a top seed in the 1984 NCAA tournament before he became an NBA superstar.
UConn Huskies
Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon
The Connecticut Huskies, who have won five national titles since 1999, have an abundance of stars worthy of this list. But Okafor (17.6 PPG, 11.5 RPG, 4.1 BPG in 2003-04) and Gordon (18.75 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 4.5 APG, 43% from beyond the arc in 2003-04) are the program's best duo. Together they led UConn to 33 wins and the 2004 national championship. Okafor, who won the Wooden Award that year, was the No. 2 pick in that year's NBA draft, while Gordon, the No. 3 pick, was the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
Houston Cougars
Elvin Hayes and Don Chaney
Overall, these two helped the Cougars win 81 games in three years under Guy Lewis. But the 1967-68 season was particularly special for the program. Hayes (36.8 PPG, 18.9 RPG in 1967-68), the AP national player of the year in 1968, scored 39 points and Chaney (13.0 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 3.8 APG) had 11 points in "The Game of the Century," Houston's 71-69 win over Lew Alcindor and UCLA that changed the entire sport as the first major televised college basketball game on national TV.
Duke Blue Devils
Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley
It's difficult to pick a duo in Duke basketball history because the Blue Devils have had so many elite tandems. Jay Williams and Shane Battier. Elton Brand and Trajan Langdon. Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett. Standing above them all, we'd argue, is the 1992 combination of Laettner (21.5 PPG) and Hurley (13.2 PPG, 7.6 APG, 42% from 3) that led Duke to its second consecutive national title. The stacked team also included a young, spectacular Grant Hill.
Tennessee Volunteers
Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King
This duo was so good a 30 for 30 documentary was made about their run with the Vols. "The Ernie and Bernie Show" couldn't lead Tennessee beyond the NCAA tournament's first round, but college basketball has few duos that were more prolific offensively than Grunfeld (22.3 PPG) and King (25.8 PPG, 13.2 RPG in career) in the 1970s. Tennessee has developed a number of talented players over the years, but none surpass this crew, whose jerseys were the first of the program to be retired.
Purdue Boilermakers
Cuonzo Martin and 'Big Dog' Glenn Robinson
The candidates here are numerous, too. But Robinson (30.3 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 38% from beyond the arc in 1993-94), the No. 1 pick in the 1994 NBA draft, remains one of the greatest scorers in college basketball history. Along with Martin (16.3 PPG, 45% from the 3-point line), who was recently named head coach at Missouri State for the second time, the Boilermakers won the Big Ten, earned a No. 1 seed in the 1994 NCAA tournament and reached the Elite Eight.
Arizona Wildcats
Mike Bibby and Miles Simon
The 1997 national title team was stacked. There were six players who averaged at least 8.1 PPG, and five who would go on to play in the NBA. But Bibby and Simon were the biggest stars when it mattered. The duo combined to score 44 points in a Final Four victory over a North Carolina squad led by Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison. In the NCAA tournament title win over Kentucky, the defending national champion at the time, Simon (30 points) and Bibby (19 points) again led the way.
Iowa State Cyclones
Marcus Fizer and Jamaal Tinsley
Over the past decade, the Cyclones have produced multiple first-round picks, including Georges Niang, Monte Morris and Tyrese Haliburton. But you'd have to go back a few more years to find the program's most impactful duo. In a Sweet 16 victory over UCLA in 2000, Tinsley -- a future second-team AP All-American -- finished with 14 points, 11 assists and four steals, while Fizer added 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. The Cyclones lost in the Elite Eight but it was the most memorable run in school history. The duo also won back-to-back Big 12 player of the year awards in 2000 (Fizer) and 2001 (Tinsley).
Marquette Golden Eagles
Dwyane Wade and Travis Diener
In 1977, Marquette won the national title over Phil Ford and North Carolina. That team is the best the program has had. In 2003, however, Wade led the most magical ride in recent memory and Diener was right next to him. Before he won three NBA titles in his Hall of Fame career, Wade averaged 21.5 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 4.4 APG and 2.2 SPG as he led the Golden Eagles to the Final Four. Diener finished with 11.8 PPG and 5.6 APG that season.
San Diego State Aztecs
Kawhi Leonard and Malcolm Thomas
From 2009 to 2011, Leonard -- who would go on to win NBA titles with both the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors -- and Thomas led San Diego State to 59 wins. During the 2011 NCAA tournament, they joined forces to carry SDSU to the Sweet 16. In the second round in a 71-64 win over Temple, Leonard finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Thomas finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.
Alabama Crimson Tide
Latrell Sprewell and Robert Horry
Horry and Sprewell were first-round picks in the 1992 NBA draft (11th and 24th, respectively) after leading the Tide -- along with James Robinson -- to the second round of the NCAA tournament. That season, Sprewell averaged 17.8 PPG and made 40% of his 3-point attempts. Horry averaged 15.8 PPG, 8.5 RPG and 3.5 BPG. The team didn't go as far as it had hoped in the NCAA tournament but won 26 games and finished 13th in the final AP Top 25 poll.
NC State Wolfpack
David Thompson and Tom Burleson
While the 1983 run to the national championship by Jim Valvano & Co. was more memorable, Thompson (26.0 PPG, 7.9 RPG in 1973-74), the greatest player in school history, led NC State to its first national title in 1974. Burleson, a 7-foot-2 center, was also a force that season. He averaged 18.1 PPG and 12.2 RPG for the best team in America.
Clemson Tigers
Elden Campbell and Dale Davis
Before their lengthy NBA careers, this pair of big men led Clemson to the Sweet 16 in 1990. It led to a sore memory for fans after the Tigers lost on a buzzer-beater to UConn. But Campbell (16.4 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 2.8 BPG in 1989-90) and Davis (15.3 PPG, 11.3 RPG) were two of the best players in America that season.
Gonzaga Bulldogs
Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme
Calm down, Gonzaga fans. If we gave the nod here to Timme and Jalen Suggs, who collectively helped the program reach the national title game in 2021, we'd be ignoring Corey Kispert's impact. But a year later, Mark Few unleashed Holmgren (14.1 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 3.7 BPG) and Timme (18.4 PPG, 6.8 RPG), a multiyear All-American, in a wild 2021-22 season that ended with a Sweet 16 run. They constituted one of the most dominant frontcourts we've seen in recent years.
Illinois Fighting Illini
Dee Brown and Deron Williams
With apologies to the Flying Illini, the great Illinois squad of the late 1980s, there were too many great players to pick two. Even with this duo, it feels like Luther Head deserves a mention, too. But Brown (13.3 PPG, 4.5 APG in 2004-05) and Williams (12.5 PPG, 6.8 APG in 2004-05) first helped Illinois emerge from a 15-point deficit against Arizona in the Elite Eight before guiding the program to the national championship game against North Carolina. Two of the greatest players in school history nearly helped the team cut the nets down.
Creighton Bluejays
Paul Silas and Chuck Officer
Doug McDermott, Kyle Korver and even this season's trio -- Baylor Scheierman, Ryan Kalkbrenner, Trey Alexander -- will all be mentioned among Creighton's greats. But Silas (18.5 PPG, 21.8 RPG in 1963-64) was the original Bluejays star who led the program to a pair of Sweet 16 runs in two of three seasons. He played a smaller role in 1961-62 before he averaged 13.1 PPG during the 1963-64 season. Together, he and Officer helped build the foundation of Creighton basketball.