The Sweet 16 begins today and will continue on Friday.
The lowest seed making it to the Sweet 16 is UNLV at No. 7. All four No. 1 seeds – Kansas, UNC, Florida and Ohio State – made it. In the West region, the top four seeds made it to the finals of the regional.
Of the 16 teams, North Carolina seems to have had the easiest trail through the first two rounds, beating its opponents by 21 points and 15 points. Ohio State had the biggest scare with a seven-point overtime win against Xavier.
The biggest upset going into the Sweet 16 belongs to UNLV, who defeated Big 10 giant and No. 2 seed Wisconsin in the second round.
But by the end of the night on Friday, these 16 teams will turn into eight teams as the NCAA Tournament reaches the Elite Eight.
The first game is Friday night at 6:10, pitting the No. 1 seed Kansas Jayhawks against the No. 4 seed Southern Illinois Salukis. Each team won its second-round game by double digits, with Kansas beating Kentucky by 12 and SIU defeating Virginia Tech by 15.
The Jayhawk offense is what puts them in the win column. Kansas has five players who average double digits a game. In the first round the Jayhawks defeated Niagara 107-67.
Southern Illinois is the pride of the mid-majors along with Memphis, a team who is in the Sweet 16 and deserves to be there. Don’t let the untouted Missouri Valley Conference fool you. The Salukis defeated Virginia Tech and fellow Sweet 16 member Butler during the regular season and have only lost two games since Jan. 10. But SIU doesn’t put up the offensive numbers that the Jayhawks do, averaging just 64 points a game.
The Salukis could be the team to knock off a No. 1 seed this round, but the lack of offense could be a roadblock. If SIU can shut down the Kansas offense and score some points they have a chance, but look for Kansas to ease into the Elite Eight.
The second mid-major team out to prove a point tips off just 17 minutes later at 6:27 p.m. when the Memphis Tigers play the Texas A&M Aggies.
A&M lost just three games in the regular season in the Big 12 conference, twice to Texas Tech and once against Texas in Austin. The good news is that both of those teams have been eliminated from the tournament; the bad news is that they will be facing the longest winning streak in the nation. The Aggies will have to continue what they’ve done all season long: rely on Acie Law IV. Law averages 18.2 rebounds a game and 5.1 assists.
The Tigers haven’t lost a game since Dec. 20 against the then 9th-ranked Arizona Wildcats. The only downside to the 24-game win streak is that until reaching the tournament, Memphis had not played great competition. But, with the exception of only beating SMU by three points in the season finale, the Tigers have beaten the weaker competition easily.
This will be the first real test that Memphis has had in months, and it couldn’t come at a worse time. Look for A&M to show the difference between the Big 12 and Conference USA.
Pittsburg and UCLA will begin play at 8:40 p.m. as the second game in the West region.
UCLA is playing like a team that wants to get back to the championship game again this season. After losing to Florida in the final, the Bruins have turned in a 28-win season and are looking to win another. UCLA defeated nine top 25 teams during the regular season, and will look to make it number 10 against Pitt.
The Panthers have only had to face double digit-seeded teams in No. 14 Wright State and No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth. So tonight’s match-up against No. 2 UCLA could be a wake-up call.
While the Panthers earned their No. 3 seed, the Bruins earned the No. 2 spot and should continue on to the Elite Eight.
Ending the Thursday night games is Tennessee and Ohio State at 8:57.
Ohio State put up gaudy numbers all season long, losing just three games, all on the road, and all against top 10 teams. Freshman Greg Oden is the leader of the team with over 15 points and nine rebounds a game, but the seven-foot freshman scored just 14 points in the narrow overtime win against Xavier.
The Volunteers came back down to earth a little bit after defeating first round opponent Long Beach State by 35 points and scoring 121 points in the game against Virginia in the second round. Chris Lofton is the backbone of the team averaging 20.7 points a game. The big win for the Volunteers came on Feb. 27 when they defeated the Florida Gators. Tennessee will need another big game to take down the Buckeyes.
Look for Ohio State to rebound after a less-than-stellar outing against Xavier, the Buckeyes should move on to the Elite Eight.
As good as the four games tonight are, there are four more coming up tomorrow. And the games will keep getting better as the tournament continues.
