2011 Post-Sweet 16 NEM Update
Here are the update combined net efficiency margin (NEM) ratings for the teams that played in the Sweet 16. Results for all teams through the first two rounds can be found here.
Teams are ranked by combined NEM for all games played. Larger numbers are better for total and offensive NEM, and smaller numbers are better for defensive NEM. Shaded teams are still alive going into the Elite 8.
| Seed | Region | Team | Games | Total | Off | Def |
| 1 | E | Ohio St. | 3 | 135.2 | 84.9 | -50.3 |
| 3 | W | Connecticut | 3 | 131.0 | 85.3 | -45.7 |
| 11 | MW | Virginia Commonwealth | 3 | 123.8 | 93.2 | -30.6 |
| 1 | MW | Kansas | 3 | 122.0 | 57.1 | -64.9 |
| 2 | SE | Florida | 3 | 109.1 | 59.2 | -49.9 |
| 5 | W | Arizona | 3 | 96.1 | 75.9 | -20.2 |
| 10 | MW | Florida St. | 3 | 91.9 | 20.3 | -71.6 |
| 8 | SE | Butler | 3 | 90.0 | 35.5 | -54.5 |
| 2 | E | North Carolina | 3 | 88.8 | 45.3 | -43.4 |
| 4 | E | Kentucky | 3 | 88.0 | 47.9 | -40.1 |
| 3 | SE | Brigham Young | 3 | 81.9 | 32.4 | -49.5 |
| 4 | SE | Wisconsin | 3 | 77.3 | 49.4 | -27.9 |
| 2 | W | San Diego St. | 3 | 74.5 | 29.4 | -45.1 |
| 1 | W | Duke | 3 | 74.3 | 72.0 | -2.4 |
| 11 | E | Marquette | 3 | 65.5 | 22.9 | -42.6 |
| 12 | MW | Richmond | 3 | 62.8 | 51.3 | -11.5 |
The Sweet Sixteen games demonstrated just how fickle tournament performance can be. The four lowest teams in total NEM through the first two games (Butler, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Arizona) are still alive, while four of the top seven have gone home.
Also, at this time last year three of the four regions were won by the team with worse NEM tournament performance to date. So Connecticut, VCU, Florida, and North Carolina shouldn't count on their tournament performance so far to carry them to Houston.