(AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
NEW YORK — The Big East has held its annual conference tournament at Madison Square Garden since the early 1980s.
But Friday night's Sweet 16 matchups at MSG have a distinctly more Southern flavor.
Two SEC teams (fourth-seed Florida and seventh-seed South Carolina), plus a Big 12 team from Texas (third-seed Baylor) are among the four teams left in the East Region. Eight-seed Wisconsin is the only school remaining north of the Mason-Dixon line, having upset top-seed Villanova last week in Buffalo.
Florida, South Carolina and Kentucky all will play in the Sweet 16 Friday night, the first time three SEC teams have reached the Sweet 16 since 2014 (Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee) and just the second time since 2007.