Definition: In NCAA Tournament lingo, the "Sweet Sixteen" can refer to either the last sixteen teams remaining in the tournament, or to the third round of the tournament -- which is when those sixteen teams meet.
The NCAA Tournament starts with 65 teams. An Opening Round game narrows the field to 64. The first round halves the field to 32, and then those 32 teams meet and 16 advance.
The winners in the round of 16 are the "Elite Eight," and the winners in the Elite Eight are the "Final Four."
Examples:
"Duke hasn't made the Sweet Sixteen in two years.""It's hard to imagine a Tom Izzo team getting knocked out before the Sweet Sixteen."
