College Hoops Notes: Sweet Sixteen Preview

By Matt Smith

A couple of No. 12 seeds, a 10 seed and a seven seed have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, which is going to make it a very interesting weekend as one or more of these lower seeds look to continue crashing the party as they look to advance to the Elite Eight.

Thursday
No. 7 West Virginia vs. No. 3 Xavier
The Mountaineers have beaten two very athletic teams that lack a very dominant inside game to get to this point and they are now matching up with another team that is very similar to Duke and Arizona. The difference with Xavier is that its big men, Josh Duncan and Derrick Brown, are more active. This will be a good matchup inside with Joe Alexander and Da’Sean Butler, with West Virginia have a slight edge. This game could be won with guard play, and if the forwards play like they have been and the guards continue contributing, this could be another Mountaineer upset.
Prediction: West Virginia 74, Xavier 70

No. 4 Washington State vs. No. 1 North Carolina
Finally, a team in this tournament that will keep North Carolina from scoring 100 points, but in the end it won’t matter. I expect Washington State to remain in striking distance for most of the game, but when it comes down to it, it won’t be able to get the buckets when it needs it and North Carolina will. It will be interesting to see if the Cougars are disciplined enough to stay within their style of play or if they will get sucked into the Heels up and down style.
Prediction: North Carolina 78, Washington State 66

No. 12 Western Kentucky vs. No. 1 UCLA
Western Kentucky is quick and athletic and creates match-up problems for most teams. Well, UCLA isn’t one of those teams. The Toppers won’t be able to match the Bruins’ experience, discipline or their size advantage inside and since UCLA is nearly as quick and athletic in the backcourt, the advantage heavily favors a UCLA team that knows how to win close games.
Prediction: UCLA 71, Western Kentucky 62

No. 3 Louisville vs. No. 2 Tennessee
Chris Lofton is banged up and Tennessee has had to squeak out wins against American and Butler while Louisville has destroyed Boise State and Oklahoma on its way to the Sweet Sixteen. Conventional wisdom says that Louisville should run away from the Vols, but that won’t happen. This game will be fought tooth and nail from beginning to end as both teams are very similar. The guards are athletic and fast while the big men are multi-talented. The biggest question is how will the Vols handled the Cardinal press.
Prediction: Louisville 85, Tennessee 81

Friday
No. 10 Davidsion vs. No. 3 Wisconsin
Davidson has beaten two very good teams with a lot of tournament experience in Gonzaga and Georgetown while Wisconsin pulled away late from Fullerton and topped a very inept (except for two players) Kansas State. The Badgers won’t shoot the way they did against Kansas State and Stephen Curry will continue to shoot the way he has in the first two games. Davidson is talented, fast and unafraid and as well as Wisconsin seems to be playing, the Wildcats are playing better.
Prediction: Davidson 71, Wisconsin 66

No. 3 Stanford vs. No. 2 Texas
The Longhorns will be able to matchup fairly well inside with Stanford and are head and shoulders better outside, giving Texas a big advantage in speed, meaning it will probably beat Stanford in transition to win this game. Stanford is a gutsy team, and if the Longhorns bigs can just keep the Lopez twins from going off, Rick Barnes’ club has a good chance.
Prediction: Texas 74, Stanford 67

No. 12 Villanova vs. No. 1 Kansas
Villanova has been a great story in this tournament, being the last team in and winning two games. Still, Kansas is too much. The Jayhawks will overwhelm them inside and can match them step for step outside, meaning the Wildcats run is likely over.
Prediction: Kansas 79, Villanova 68

No. 5 Michigan State vs. No. 1 Memphis
If Tom Izzo saw any of the Tigers’ game against Mississippi State, then the Spartans should be able to keep this close. Expect Michigan State to pound the ball inside, drawing fouls on the very aggressive Joey Dorsey and Robert Dozier. Also, the Spartans should foul liberally if it looks like Memphis is going to get an easy bucket after watching the Tigers shoot under 50 percent against the Bulldogs. Kalin Lucas, Drew Neitzel, Raymar Morgan and Chris Allen are going to have to hit open shots to pull off the upset, but in the end the athleticism of Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts will be too much.
Prediction: Memphis 76, Michigan State 71

And the best conference is.....: All year I have been singing the praise of the Big East, and why not? It got eight teams in the tournament and it has been well represented. But, has it had the best showing?
That is debatable.
So far the Big East is 9-5 in the tournament, which is very good and it has three teams in the Sweet Sixteen, but some other conferences might want to argue for supremecy.
Namely the Big 12, which has gone 7-4, a record that was almost bettered by Texas A&M’s near upset of UCLA. Texas and Kansas are still alive as the only team to not win a game was Baylor.
The Pac-10 has had a great run as well, going 6-3 with Stanford, Washington State and UCLA still alive. This weekend will tell a lot.
The SEC has gone 4-5 so far and has just one team left while the ACC has gone 4-3 and boasts the tourney’s most disappointing team in Duke. The Big Ten, which got very little respect heading into the NCAA’s, has gone 5-2 and has two teams left, giving it an argument with the rest of the big conferences.