How does a buzzer-beater come to be? A little strategy, a lot of luck, and the right player at the right time.

The Elite Eight is set. The Auburn Tigers and Houston Cougars advance with wins over Michigan and Purdue, respectively, which means the four No. 1 seeds make up half of the remaining NCAA tournament field. The 2-seed Tennessee Volunteers and Michigan State Spartans are also moving on as March Madness rolls into its final seven games.

Instead, we have seven teams from the SEC (half of the conference's tourney-record 14 bids), four from the Big Ten, four from the Big 12 and a single program from the ACC. All four 1-seeds remain in the chase for the title too.

The first round of the women's NCAA tournament is complete. Dominating performances from the USC Trojans, UConn Huskies and Texas Longhorns gave notice to the field, while Maryland and NC State fended off would-be upsets.

The Elite Eight is set. And joining Duke, LSU, South Carolina and UCLA in the next round of the women's NCAA tournament are TCU, Texas, UConn and USC.

Which 1-seed got passed by UConn? UCLA or South Carolina for No. 1 overall? We rank the 32 teams that advanced.

UConn, TCU and UCLA Bruins rode big performances by their stars -- Paige Bueckers, Hailey Van Lith and Lauren Betts, respectively. South Carolina, Duke and Texas leaned into defense. USC somehow overcame the loss of star JuJu Watkins. And LSU got production from an unlikely source.

Half the Sweet 16 is set. No. 5 seeds Tennessee, Ole Miss and Kansas State and a pair of 1-seeds won on Day 3.

Watkins, responsible for revitalizing the USC women's basketball program after years of dormancy, had to watch the game from Los Angeles. The national player of the year front-runner sustained a season-ending ACL tear in the Trojans' second-round NCAA tournament game against Mississippi State, sending shockwaves throughout the sports world.

The Duke Blue Devils and Alabama Crimson Tide, who each scored at least 100 points in their wins on Thursday, will face off Saturday. And the Texas Tech Red Raiders mounted the second-biggest comeback in Sweet 16 history for the chance to take on the Florida Gators.

Why might every Sweet 16 team win its regional semifinal matchup in Birmingham and Spokane? We predict the winners.