Sweet 16, East & West

#7 West Virginia vs. #3 Xavier- Coach Huggins Mountaineers have played as well as any team in the tournament so far including a big upset of Duke. Xavier on the other hand has gotten off to slow starts and both of their games have still been in serious doubt with ten minutes remaining. However, in both instances Xavier’s depth of talent proved too much for Georgia and Purdue. The Musketeers have 5 guys who average in double figures but down the stretch the ball is going to be in 5th year Senior Drew Lavenders hands and going to Josh Duncan in the low block. The biggest matchup will probably be 6’6 225 lb. CJ Anderson guarding the versatile Joe Alexander. If Anderson can use his strength he can limit Alexander thus slowing down the Mountaineer attack. This game has all the makings of a classic, but again I have Xavier going all the way to San Antonio so I will take the Musketeers here too.


#12 Western Kentucky vs. #1 UCLA- Folks, be in you seats for this one, and don’t blink. Both of these teams averaged over 75 ppg during the season and they love to speed the ball up court and get easy baskets in transition. For UCLA they have the human outlet pass in Kevin Love. He gets the ball out of the net and up to half court better than anyone in the country. As for the Hilltoppers they use the speed of guard Tyrone Brazelton to get the ball down the floor. The key in this game will be as it has for all UCLA games in February and March can they get scoring from Josh Shipp and Russell Westbrook. Also Westbrook will have a tough assignment slowing down Courtney Lee. I just think the Bruins have too much talent to lose, but they cannot get off to a slow start because Western Kentucky will be relentless on offense. Is till think the Bruins will win here, but maybe a little too close for comfort.


#4 Washington State vs. #1 North Carolina- Clearly the biggest obstacle for Washington State will be the partisen crowd in Charlotte. Wazzou has to come clear across the country and basically play a road game. I can tell you this though, the veteran Cougar squad is not nervous. They have a balanced offensive attack with 4 guys (Derrick Low, Kyle Weaver, Taylor Rochestie, & Aron Baynes) in double figures. Their starters consist of 3 seniors and 2 juniors, and the one thing they will do on every possession in guard. North Carolina’s best offensive weapon will be what it always is, the transition game. They do not want to get locked in a battle of half court offense with the Cougars because they are not as good defensively. Also there is the Psycho T factor; can any slow him down from doing whatever he wants? I haven’t seen it yet, so I doubt the Cougars can either. The higher the score the more likely North Carolina will win and I will take the Tar Heels going away in the end.


#3 Louisville vs. #2 Tennessee- Wow this is a game that may be impossible to truly pick. First of all the matchup of what both coach’s might wear could be the most intriguing of the night. The fact is this; Tennessee has basically struggled to win 3 of their last 4 games, all of them being decided in the final two minutes. They have also struggled with point guard play recently, so much so that they didn’t even start a Point Guard against Butler. The Cardinals put great defensive pressure on their opponents with a zone press and a 2-3 zone that plays more like a man defense. Also, with 3-4 days to prepare I have a hard time betting against a Rick Pitino team. I think the Cardinals can turn Tennessee over and cause them to play sloppy offensively and that will take Tennessee out of their rhythm, the difference is Louisville will be able to close the deal unlike American and Butler.