It's why you picked up your high school yearbook: Senior superlatives. Who's the most admirable, most likely to succeed, most wise? Well, college basketball teams can do that too in the form of the Sweet Sixteen. Here are the 2016 NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen superlatives.
Most Likely To Succeed: Kansas
Despite all the talk of parity in college basketball, this is Kansas' tournament to lose. The Jayhawks spent the entire season in the top seven of the AP poll, including 11 out of 19 weeks at No. 1 or No. 2. Kansas has an experienced coach in Bill Self and a veteran core of Perry Ellis, Wayne Selden, Jr. and Frank Mason III. The Jayhawks have not lost since Jan. 25 and, on paper, should run the table.
Most Unpredictable: Maryland
The Terps lost to Minnesota and beat Wisconsin in Madison this season. They peaked at No. 2 in the country and proceeded to lose two straight games. Maryland has dropped all the way to No. 18, but after getting past South Dakota State and Hawaii, Mark Turgeon is in his first Sweet Sixteen. With Melo Trimble, Diamond Stone, Rasheed Sulaimon and Jake Layman, the talent is there to compete with Kansas. Not to get too far ahead, but could a Final Four reunion with Duke be looming?
Most Likable: Miami
Remember how much fun it was to root for the U in the early 2000s? This feels similar, but without the NCAA violations. Jim Larranaga runs an exciting, loose ship in Coral Gables. His star, Angel Rodriguez, is a former Kansas State Wildcat, who has reinvented himself as a Hurricane. Miami has the speed to compete with anyone, and, at this point, is playing with nothing to lose.
Most Anxious: Villanova
It has gotten to the point where we all watch Villanova and just expect it to screw up. After losing in the second round as No. 2 and No. 1 seeds the previous two seasons, the No. 2 Wildcats finally reached the second weekend this year. But Jay Wright still has to prove he is more than a regular-season coach. Anything short of the Final Four will feel like another lost season in Philly.
Most Stylish: Oregon
As we highlight in our "Ranking 2016's Sweet Sixteen By Jersey," Oregon has the flashiest uniforms in the tournament thanks to Phil Knight. But the Ducks also play a high-flying, high-paced, high-scoring offense. They have averaged 83.1 points since starting a 10-game winning streak on Feb. 20. It has all added up to a No. 1 seed while showing everyone just how fun the Ducks can be.
Most Popular: Duke
Duke is the alpha dog of college basketball, as it has been since the Christian Laettner Era. There are obvious haters, jealous of Duke's popularity, who will cheer loudly on Twitter against the Blue Devils. If Duke loses, these people will publicly rejoice. Deep down though, everyone wants Duke, the popular kid, to succeed as long as possible and then have the most devastating fall (in the national championship game). And Grayson Allen is becoming public enemy No. 1 in college basketball.
Most Perseverant: Texas A&M
We can bash Northern Iowa all we want, but how about the Aggies? Never for a moment did they think they were out of that basketball game. On TV, it looked cute that Texas A&M was putting up an effort until the buzzer. On the court, Billy Kennedy's team never stopped believing. Now, they have new life with former Big 12 foe Oklahoma on the horizon.
Most Determined: Oklahoma
Buddy Hield scored six points in Oklahoma's Big 12 Tournament semifinal loss to West Virginia. His half-court buzzer beater would have made it nine, but he was one-tenth of a second late. Hield has been on point this NCAA tournament, scoring 27 and 36 points on 19-34 shooting. The potential Naismith Award winner seems to always show up for big games, as seen by his 46 and 24-point efforts in Oklahoma's two games against Kansas. The Sooners have are hungry for a third meeting with the Jayhawks in the national semifinal, and Hield and his teammates are showing the grit to get there.
Most Wise: North Carolina
Even in the one-and-done era, the Tar Heels are making a national championship run with two senior stars, Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson, and Roy Williams has been a Division I coach since 1988. This is by no means the most NBA talent-laden roster in Chapel Hill, but the team's experience is making it look like one of Williams' best ever.
Most Admirable: Indiana
Indiana finished the Big Ten season on a five-game winning streak to win the regular-season conference title. Then, after a buzzer-beater loss to Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament and a draw that lined up Kentucky in the second round, the Hoosiers were figuratively killed off. But Tom Crean, who has not gotten past the Sweet Sixteen since making the Final Four with Dwyane Wade and Marquette in 2003, locked in his team for a 73-67 upset of the Wildcats. Senior Yogi Ferrell is playing for his NBA aspirations, and Indiana is looking like that team that thrived in Big Ten play.
Most Lucky: Notre Dame
Has the luck of the Irish ever been more real in basketball than it was last week in Brooklyn? Notre Dame was down and out and somehow knocked off Stephen F. Austin on a third-chance effort. After dodging No. 3 West Virginia in the second round, Notre Dame now misses No. 2 Xavier for a date with No. 7 Wisconsin.
Most Improved: Wisconsin
After a 64-49 win on Dec. 15 against Texas A&M in Corpus Christi, Bo Ryan announced his immediate retirement. The Badgers were 7-5, with losses at home to Western Illinois, Milwaukee and Marquette, on the road at Oklahoma and at a neutral site versus Georgetown. Greg Gard was hired as interim coach. After beating Green Bay, he lost four of his first five Big Ten games, capped off by a 70-65 loss at Northwestern. But then something snapped in Madison. Wisconsin upset then-No. 4 Michigan State and won 11 of 12 games. In this NCAA tournament, Wisconsin has played traditional Bo Ryan basketball, slogging through 47-43 and 66-63 defensive grinds over Pitt and Xavier. Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig have come into their own as Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker's replacements. Wisconsin is figuring things out at a dangerous time for the rest of the Sweet Sixteen.
Class Flirt: Virginia
Like Villanova, UVA has teased us before. The Cavaliers were a No. 1 seed in 2014 and reached the Sweet Sixteen last year before bowing out in the second round as a No. 2. This year, again a No. 1, the Cavaliers dodge a third consecutive Michigan State exit thanks to Middle Tennessee. However, Tony Bennett still has a lot to prove for a team that has not reached the Elite Eight since 1995. With a loss to Iowa State, it will be another good regular season good crumbling into postseason sorrow .
Most Friendly: Iowa State
For better or for worse, the Cyclones seem like one of the less feared opponents left in the field. Iowa State technically finished sixth in the Big 12 and has not won three straight games since January. First-year coach Steve Prohm has perhaps overachieved with a roster led by Georges Niang. Iowa State is not being labeled as a title contender, but all the Cyclones need is a good bounce against Virginia and they could be favored against Syracuse or Gonzaga in the Elite Eight.
Undercover Player: Gonzaga
The Bulldogs were supposed to be in rebuilding mode all season and did not truly solidify Mark Few's 17th NCAA tournament berth (in 17 seasons) until winning the WCC Tournament. Since then, Gonzaga has been a menace. The No. 11 Bulldogs crushed No. 6 Seton Hall, 68-52, before throttling No. 3 Utah, 82-59. With Gonzaga's lowest-seeded opponent coming up, No. 10 Syracuse, the Elite Eight is a real possibility. Domantas Sabonis and the Zags have been quietly waiting to make their move all season.
Class Clown: Syracuse
How did this happen? Syracuse was a joke two weeks ago. The Orange lost five of its past six games to drop to 19-13 (9-10 against the ACC). It lost to Georgetown, St. John's, Clemson and Florida State (and Pitt three times) with quality ACC wins against only Duke and Notre Dame. Cuse was written off nearly every NCAA tournament projection, yet the Orange jumped the First Four as a No. 10 seed. Now, thanks to the disappearance of Michigan State, Utah and Seton Hall, Syracuse will wear white for a Sweet Sixteen game against No. 11 Gonzaga. After all that clowning around during the regular season, Syracuse is a few bounces away from going to the Final Four.
-- Follow Jeffrey Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband.
