Sweet Delicious 16

Just for some perspective on what occurred last week, about 30 hours into the tournament, the only notable upset was a 12-seed over a 5. Everyone was amazed at how many favorites were winning. Meanwhile, I was running around warning everyone to strap on their seat belt- the last time the tournament lulled everyone into a false sense of security, in 2000, the wheels fell off. TWO 8-seeds went to the Final 4.

Nothing that drastic happened this weekend, but 3 of the 3 seeds fell, and 2 of the 2-seeds were beat to certainly make the first weekend frustrating for many of the office pools.
But, the 1-seeds are all still present. I covered a number of teams and games last weekend, so I’ll try and touch on some different teams this week.

Editor’s note: If you were expecting rules for the Sweet 16, you will be disappointed. There are simply no rules for the Sweet 16. Anything goes, anyone can win at this point.

ACC- Big 10 Challenge
Since both conferences have the most representatives in the Sweet 16 (3 each), it’s only fitting that there’s 2 games where they play each other.

Wisconsin vs. NC State –
For a trip to the Elite 8. Who would have thought that? Then again, these teams reside in the “Region of Doom” where anything is possible. I think of this game as a play-in game for a 1st round draft pick – Wisconsin’s Wilkerson vs. NC State’s Hodge. The winner gets an NBA guaranteed contract for making the Elite 8! NC State has a size disadvantage- Hodge might be their tallest player at 6’7”. Granted, UConn also had a size advantage and it didn’t mean anything simply because UConn’s guards were terrible. The same thing might hold true here.

Duke vs. Michigan St. –
Neither team has looked especially dominant. Also of note, Duke beat Mich St. in the ACC-Big 10 challenge in a real close game earlier this year. Could Michigan St win the rematch? Probably not.

Biggest Underachieving Conference
I would give the award to the SEC, but we already knew that the SEC was weak this year. I think the biggest under-achiever is certainly the Big East. Everyone was raving about the depth of the Big East. Pitt got a terrible draw, losing to Pacific in the 1st round. Meanwhile, Syracuse also bowed out in the 1st round and UConn & BC in the 2nd. The Big East did get some surprise Sweet 16 participants in West Virginia and Villanova.

The patheticness of the Big East only slightly edges out Kansas & their gimpy guard, Langford, and the rest of the Big 12. At least the Big 12 has one of their main teams, Oklahoma St, left to make some noise. The Big 12 also has the eccentric Bobby Knight, a cast of inflatable furniture to throw, and a team of Red Raiders. I'm not expecting much.

Most Intriguing Matchup- (other than last week’s aforementioned Arizona-Oklahoma St)
Washington vs. Louisville –
Honestly, I don’t know much about Washington. I know that they like to shoot 3s, but so does Louisville. Washington may be slightly undersized, giving a rebounding edge to Louisville. What I do know is that the winner of this game better go to the Final 4 – I don’t want to see the winner of Texas Tech-West Virginia in the final 4. Am I biased at all? Yes.

Darling Cinderellas -
Just wanted to say hello to UW-Milwaukee. Congratulations on making the Sweet 16 as a 12-seed.
Also wanted to wish good luck to my Super-Cinderella Final 4 team – Utah. Remember, I’m changing my blog name to Nostradamus if they find a way to beat Kentucky & Duke. If 7-foot tall Bogut keeps showing off Stockton-like passing skills like he did against Oklahoma, there may be a chance.