East (Syracuse)
#1 Kentucky vs #12 Cornell
#2 West Virginia vs #11 Washington
Kentucky got good news this week when they learned that potential Elite 8 opponent West Virginia lost starting PG Darryl Bryant. Before they can think about that, they must face Cornell, led by 8 seniors, to go against Kentucky and their fabulous four freshman. Cornell also has the luxury of playing 50 miles from home, but keep in mind, if any team travels well, its Kentucky, and their fans will be at the Carrier Dome in full force. Washington is one of the hottest teams entering the sweet 16, as they have won 9 straight games, including the disposing of #3 seed New Mexico in the second round last weekend. Don't count out Washington in this game; however, regardless of the outcome, I fully expect Kentucky to be heading to Indianapolis at weekend's end.
South (Houston)
#1 Duke vs #4 Purdue
#3 Baylor vs #10 Saint Mary's (CA)
I loved Baylor coming out of this region from the beginning. I thought they had a fairly easy draw in rounds 1 and 2, with having to either deal with an overseeded Notre Dame, or Old Dominion in round 2. Now the Bears head home to Texas to play in Houston for The Sweet 16. While Omar Sahman of Saint Mary's may be one of the tournaments two cinderella players, I don't think he will have as much success this time around, as Baylor has good size to defend him in the post. Saint Mary's will have to shoot the three ball well in order to get to the Elite Eight.
Most people didn't expect Purdue to advance past Siena in round one, let alone Texas A&M in round two, this of course due to the fact that Robbie Hummel is out for the year and Purdue got blown out of The Big Ten tournament by Minnesota. Purdue has shown they are the toughest team in the tournament, and don't count them out against the Dukies. In the end, I expect Baylor to beat Duke on Sunday and head to Indianapolis to take on Kentucky.
West (Salt Lake City)
#1 Syracuse vs #5 Butler
#2 Kansas State vs #6 Xavier
Syracuse will once again be without Arine Onuaku for their game against Butler on Thursday, leaving just 7 guys to fill the 5 spots on the floor. Now, if Wesley Johnson and Andy Rautins shoot tomorrow like they did on Sunday, Butler has no chance. What further hampers Butler (who is not a Cinderella story btw) is that they only shoot 34% as a team from three, and they will need to shoot the three against the Syracuse 2-3 zone. Shelvin Mack and Willie Veasley are the Bulldogs best bet from three.
If you refer to Xavier as a "mid-major", you deserved to get punched in the face. Led by Indiana transfer Jordan Crawford (who dunked over Lebron btw last summer), the Musketeers have not skipped a beat under Craig Mack, who took over for Sean Miller who bolted for Arizona. The obvious keys for Xavier to win this game are to stop Jacob Pullen (34 points against BYU) and Dennis Clemente. In a prediction that will make the stomachs of Kansas fans turn, I fully expect Kansas State to be playing basketball on Saturday afternoon against Syracuse, and I'll take Kansas State and Jacob Pullen and Jamar Samuels ability to shoot the three, to take down Syracuse.
Midwest (Saint Louis)
#9 Northern Iowa vs #4 Michigan State
#6 Tennessee vs #2 Ohio State
Perhaps the most wide open field, despite the fact that Ohio State is led by Junior guard Evan Turner, who at 6-8, is Ohio State's tallest player (that operates as their PG). Tennessee somehow was able to recover during the year after Tyler Smith was kicked off the team for his role in a January 1, 2010, arrest involving four basketball players. 8th year player Wayne Chism (it seems that long anyway) was on the team that blew a 21 point first half lead to Ohio State in the 2007 Regional Semifinals so you know that revenge will be on his mind Friday night. It doesn't matter, too much Evan Turner, and the Buckeyes move on.
As a graduate and season ticket holder to Creighton, I have seen Northern Iowa play many times this year, including once in person. It does not surprise me that they knocked off Kansas; however, i never in my right mind expect it to happen. The theme of Northern Iowa all year was a new player stepping up each game and Ali Farokanamesh certainly did that against Kansas, hitting the shot of the tournament so far to put Northern Iowa up by 4 with 26 seconds left. With Michigan State needing to replace star PG Kalin Lucas, who tore his achillies heel, I would normally go ahead and pick Northern Iowa to win in this case. However, I learned this week that Northern Iowa will be featured on this week's cover of Sports Illustrated. For that sole reason alone, I'll take Michigan State. I'll take Ohio State though come Sunday.
So there you have it. I expect to see Ohio State, Kansas State, Kentucky, and Baylor in Indinapolis next weekend.
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