The Madness Resumes; Thursday’s Sweet 16 Games

Raleigh, North Caroina and Phoenix, Arizona will be rocking tonight as the Sweet 16 gets underway.  Eight teams will take to the court tonight, hoping to inch thier way closer to San Antonio and a trip to the Final Four. 

Let’s take a look at tonight’s action:

7:10, Phoenix Region: (7) West Virginia vs. (3) Xavier- The Muskateers need to jump on this confident West Virginia team early, and bring them back to earth.  The problem?  In thier first two games, they’ve done the exact opposite.  They let Georgia jump to a double-digit lead in the first round, then allowed Purdue to take a 12-2 lead in the second round.   If they make the same mistake tonight, they’ll be packing and the Moutianeers will be playing for a trip to the Final Four.  WVU 74, Xavier 69.

7:27, Raleigh Region: (4) Washington State vs. (1) North Carolina: Nobody played better basketball the first weekend then the Tar Heels, and they’ll play in thier own back yards yet again tonight in Charlotte.  Wazzu, however, has proven to be a tough road team this year, and could actually end up feeding of the energy from the Carolina-blue faithful.  This will be much closer then UNC’s first two contests, but not close enough.  UNC 83, Wazzu 71.

9:40 Phoenix Region: (12) Western Kentucky vs. (1) UCLA:  Suprisingly, both of these teams should consider themselves lucky to be playing on the second weekend.  Home-cooked non-calls at the end of UCLA’s win over Texas A&M got them to the Sweet 16, while WKU needed a Ty Rodgers miracle shot to take out 5th seeded Drake in the opening round.  Now, the two meet, and it should be an interesting battle.  The Hilltoppers size down low doesn’t leave them with as much of a disadvantage vs. Kevin Love, but the guard play will break thier Cinderella dreams.  Tyrone Brazleton and Ty Rodgers are solid on the perimeter, but are far from the class of Collison, Shipp and Roll.  UCLA 85, WKU 69.

9:57 Raleigh Region: (3) Louisville vs. Tennessee (2):  Saving the best for last…The Vols, dispite being seeded higher, enter the game as 3 point dogs to the third seeed Cardinals.  The game promises to be packed full of action and fireworks and action, as both taems will look to push the apce.  In a game as high scoring as this promises to be, Chril Loften’s leg injury looms larger then ever.  Even being slightly off his game could be as a huge disadvantage.  Louisville on the other hand, is healthy and on a roll.  Rick Patino hopes to make his first trip to the final four in red, white and black, and should be one step closer after a classic game tonight.  Louisville 89, Tennessee 87.

My picks from the Sweet 16 to the Championship Game are available here, and my horrendous complete tournament predictions here.