Elite Eight

What a crazy tournament it has been thus far! Plenty of upsets and many are having their brackets busted early in the tournament with teams like Duke, UConn, and USC making early exits. The other side of that is, Cinderella has been all over, but has especially taken form in the way of the Davidson College Wildcats. They have been lead by sharpshooter Stephen Curry who has scored at least 30 points in every tournament game thus far. Unfortunately for the Wildcats though, tonight they run into Kansas (my pick to win the whole thing). Kansas has six or seven players that could lead them in scoring on any given night, and they have elite guards in Brandon Rush, and Mario Chalmers. All of which will lead to the carriage turning back into a pumpkin by the time the last buzzer sounds.
The other team trying to make it to San Antonio as a non traditional powerhouse is the Xavier Musketeers. If they are going to make it, they are going to need to shoot the lights out and play solid defense. Xavier has played excellent defense all the way through the tourney, but they will be facing Kevin Love, Darren Collison and the rest of the UCLA Bruins who have their eye on the national championship. The Musketeers simply don't have the personnel to get past the mighty Bruins, as UCLA will be in the final four.
The upset special of the sweet sixteen was supposed to be Michigan State knocking off Memphis. It was quite the opposite, the Spartans were ran off the floor as the were routed by Memphis. Derrick Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts, and Joey Dorsey were too much, and this game was over not long after it got started. Memphis will be facing the Texas Longhorns in the Elite Eight, and this is where the Tigers' run will end. First off, this is a home game for the Longhorns with the game being played in Austin, Texas. Second, DJ Augustine is the best pure point guard in the country and he will be able to shut down Derrick Rose. Texas also has the defense and athletes to bang with Joey Dorsey, and run with Chris Douglas Roberts. This is going to be a close game, one that is going to be decided at the free throw line, the Tigers' biggest weakness ( they have the worst free throw percentage in the country). This will lead to Memphis exiting the tournament in the elite eight for the third straight year.
This next game is one of teams that have been dominating college basketball for quite some time. Both lead by Hall of Fame coaches, making this the most exciting game of the weekend. The North Carolina Tar Heels, are poised to add another National Title to their list of accolades. The Heels have won 16 conference titles, when they do that they have made it to the Final Four in 11 of those years, a staggering statistic. Although if it comes down to a single play or strategic move, Rick Patino is they guy I want making that call, the Cardinals are still going to have to execute, and they will not be able to do it. David Padgett has been great this season, but how will he match up with possible player of the year Tyler Hansbrough? Louisville will have to out rebound and out hustle North Carolina, but Tar Heels coach Roy Williams will not allow that to happen. North Carolina will squeak out a win in this one, and stamp their ticket to the Final Four.