Five most important players left in men's March Madness

The Sweet 16 of the 2026 NCAA Tournament in men's college basketball is set, with defending national champion and No. 1 seed Florida no longer in contention to repeat.

Otherwise, there aren't a ton of surprise teams in the regional semifinals; only two double-digit seeds remain, and they're both from power conferences (No. 9 seed Iowa from the Big Ten and No. 11 seed Texas from the Southeastern Conference).

Coming up on Thursday and Friday, there will be a lot of enticing Sweet 16 games to watch, and some of the top players throughout the country this season are still playing in March Madness.

Five most important players left in Big Dance

Darius Acuff Jr., freshman guard at Arkansas
Acuff is one of the highest-scoring players nationwide, and he's backed that up so far in the NCAA Tournament. He's scored a combined 60 points in Arkansas' two Big Dance contests. The No. 4 seed Razorbacks (28-8 overall) will face No. 1 seed Arizona in a Sweet 16 matchup from the West Region. If Arkansas wants to pick off the top-seeded Wildcats, the Razorbacks will need a huge performance from Acuff.

Cameron Boozer, freshman forward at Duke
Boozer is the best player in the country, and he leads the nation's top team. Duke is the No. 1 overall seed in this year's NCAA Tournament, and the Blue Devils (34-2 overall) have a fun Sweet 16 affair against No. 5 seed St. John's in the East Region. Through Duke's first two March Madness games, Boozer is averaging a double-double of 20.5 points and 12.0 rebounds per contest.

Ja'Kobi Gillespie, senior guard at Tennessee
Gillespie has been stellar in leading the Volunteers to the Sweet 16 for the fourth consecutive campaign. He's got 50 points in Tennessee's first two games, and that includes 21 points as the No. 6 seed Vols upset No. 3 seed Virginia in the second round. In a Sweet 16 encounter from the Midwest Region, Gillespie and Tennessee (24-11 overall) will take on No. 2 seed Iowa State.

Tarris Reed Jr., senior center at UConn
Reed was phenomenal for No. 2 seed Connecticut in its first-round victory over No. 15 seed Furman. He finished with 31 points. The Huskies (31-5 overall) have a daunting Sweet 16 contest against No. 3 seed Michigan State in the East Region. If UConn wants to win its third national title in four years, Reed must continue to produce at a high level.

Braden Smith, senior guard at Purdue
Smith, now the NCAA's all-time career assists leader, scored 26 points in Purdue's first game. He's also got eight assists in each of the Boilermakers' first two wins, although Smith did commit eight turnovers when No. 2 seed Purdue defeated No. 7 seed Miami. The Boilermakers (29-8 overall) play No. 11 seed Texas in a West Region Sweet 16 battle. Smith will need to cut down on his turnovers against the Longhorns.