Sweet Sweet Sweet Sweet Sweet

As I'm writing this I'm taking in a little stand up comedy in the form of UC v Dayton. Is there anyway that both teams can lose? I say yes, per my boy Ries up in Columbus, "They could have a brawl and both get dq'd with UD getting their ass whooped by Yancy/Cashmere/Lance..." Incredible. If that happened I would be such a happy person. By the way Dayton, what are those uniforms. Last time you wore those in Cincinnati you got Rick Rolled in Cintas Center. You need to start paying attention to the facts and the facts are you can't win in Cincinnati, stay up there in the dump they call Dayton and stop trying to win down in Cincinnati because you just can't. From an equipment manager's perspective, are those black uni's screen printed?! If so, that's whack.

How about that opening weekend for the NCAA Tournament?! Are you kidding me?! I can't remember a first weekend like that to save my life. So many ridiculous things happened I don't even know where to begin. Clearly the upsets and Cinderellas in the mix are the main story lines. In the Sweet 16 you have: 9, 5, 6, 2, 1, 3, 11, and 12 seeds. Absurd. I mean my bracket is completely in shambles with no opportunity to revive it. Down for the count. But, I could care less, I'm all about the great action anyways.

So much for Kansas winning it this year. Northern Iowa said they had enough of the lay down to the master talk and came out and smacked the Jayhawks right in the mouth. I don't know if I've ever seen a dude with more balls than that Ali dude from Northern Iowa. With Norther Iowa up two and Kansas due a possession he pulls up on basically a 1 on 3 break from deep and nails it right in the coffin. Game over. Mouth. See ya Kansas. After beating Kansas anything can happen right? Like I said, they are from the giant killer conference of the MIssouri Valley and clearly aren't afraid of anyone. From the terrific guard play to the scrappy post play they seem to have it clicking on all cylinders. They will be facing off against the always battle tested and deep-run-in-March Michigan State Spartans. How can you not root for Tom Izzo and the Spartans in March. I always have them in the second weekend if not further. Dude just knows how to win in March. Unfortunately they will be without stud and leader Kalin Lucas as he tore his achilles in the first half against Maryland. Thus the question posed is, do they play inspired hoops to get to the Elite 8? Only time will tell. Even without Lucas Michigan State has to be the favorite. Raymar Morgan, Draymon Green, Korie Lucious, Delvon Roe, and company are certainly enough to handle Northern Iowa, but like I said, anything can happen after the magic Norther Iowa pulled off against Kansas. Going with my brain on this one, I like Michigan State to win without Kalin Lucas. Tom Izzo just knows how to win in March. I will point out though with out Lucas Michigan State is 0-1 this year.

The midwest bracket was the most stacked bracket I've ever seen. But now the door is open for Ohio State to not only make the Final Four but make a run at the national title. Ohio State isn't deep at all but the starting five is so tough I wouldn't rule out the possibility of Ohio State taking advantage of the opportunity. First of all they have probably Player of the Year Evan Turner running the show. He doesn't just do one thing great, he does everything great. It is certainly his time to shin on the national stage and show why he's the man. Then there is the long range threat in Jon Diebler. Many believe Ohio State goes as he goes. If he is hitting from deep then they are a very tough team. If not, they then must rely on Turner to really shoulder the burden. David Lighty is not only a lock down defender but he has evolved into an offensive threat who is now stroking from deep as well. William Buford is a young stud too who can fill it up. Dallas Lauderdale is the force down low who really is a true post player. He defends, rebounds, and even does a little scoring. Ohio State is facing off with Tennessee. Tennessee only goes about 6-deep as well so this should make for an interesting match-up. It will be interesting to see if the Bucks slow it down to take Tennessee out of their comfort zone of run and gun or if the Bucks play the up-tempo style of play. I gotta think the Bucks may grind it a little bit but also take their chances to score buckets on the run. I like Ohio State in this match-up.

Butler has shed the Cinderella slipper and is now a well recognized elite squad. They are working with a 22-game win streak at the moment and the best not talked about player is Shelvin Mack. Matt Howard and Gordon Hayward seem to get all the publicity by Mack is the real deal. Butler will be matching up against a tough Syracuse team. Syracuse looked very impressive Sunday afternoon even without Onuaku, the big fella down low. Andy Rautins has been lights out so far in this tournament and Wes Johnson is showing why he is in the mix for POY. Again, I like the favorite in this game. I just think Syracuse is a far superior team with a far superior coach. Don't get me wrong Brad Stevens is obviously one of the best young guys out there, but that's just it, he's young. Jim Boeheim has been around the block a few times and knows what it takes to win in March. I think Syracuse wins the match-ups at every position. I like Syracuse in this game.

Kansas State has basically breezed through this tournament. They really haven't even been challenged yet. Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente are scorching hot right now. Pulled is clearly a big time player and enjoys the spotlight to shine. Frank Martin brings that Bob Huggins style of coaching and it transforms into their play; tough, gritty, nasty, and over-powering. Kansas State hung all year in a tough Big 12 and gave Kansas a run for their money. The interesting part about their match-up against Xavier is that they have met before this season. Kansas State won the match-up in Manhattan back in December. That was a very scary time for X as things could've gone off the deep end if they hadn't pulled together as a team after that loss. Looking at the box score from that game we shot terrible and didn't play well at all. Jordan Crawford and Brad Redford both had 16. It's going to take a much higher level effort to beat Kansas State in Salt Lake City. First of all, Jordan Crawford is playing out of his mind and proving why he is an elite talent. Dude is averaging 27.5 ppg in the tournament all while shooting 50% from the field and 40% from three. Wow. Filthy nasty numbers right there. He has taken over when he has had to take over and played within the team as well. He is scoring from deep, taking it inside, and the mid-range game is wet. Jason Love as been as steady as ever. Just doing what he does, rebound, sky hooks, and go to the line. Dante Jackson has also showed his March veteran leadership by knocking down threes. But Dante, please have some poise when you go to the line in late game situations and just hit your free throws brother. I think the game is going to be a down to the wire game. Xavier is going to need a big time effort defensively to try and cool off Pullen and Clemente. They will also need to crash the glass hard. On the offensive side of things, obviously they will need a heavy dose of Crawford but guys like Holloway, Jackson, and Love will need to be present as well. Brad Redford is healthy and hit a three against Pitt which was nice to see. If they can get some nice minutes from him that will be key. Redford could easily be the X-Factor in this game. My heart says Xavier in this one. You know what, my brain says Xavier. I'll tell you why, they are a much different team than in December right now. I think they have continued to get better and are poised again for another Elite 8. Xavier wins in Salt Lake City.

Time to pimp Xavier with some facts:
1. X and Michigan State are the only two teams to make three straight Sweet 16s
2. Memphis and Xavier are the winningest teams in the NCAA Tournament outside of the Big Six conferences
3. Last time they played in Utah they lost to Gonzaga in a heart breaker
4. Chris Mack is the winningest first year head coach
5. John Calipari and Chris Mack are the only coaches to be in the tournament as coaches in their first year with their respective programs
6. Jordan Crawford is averaging 27.5 ppg (19.7 regular season) shooting 50% (40% regular season) and 40% 3pt (30% regular season) in the tournament

Kentucky has looked as good as ever in the tournament. They certainly look like a team on a mission as they have man handled their opponents so far in this tournament. The young bucks at UK really look like they mean business. John Wall has been solid and Demarcus Cousins is just a hoss. John Calipari certainly has his guys playing at an elite level again in March. They will be matching up with the upstart Cornell Bears. Jay Bilas was all about Cornell before the tournament started and they certainly have made Jay Bilas look like a genius. Their methodical style of play has just flustered opponents and completely embarrassed the Wisconsin Buzz Cuts. Again, I look at this match-up and just see too much fire power in UK for Cornell to handle. I like Kentucky to advance to the Elite 8.

Keeping with the upset special, Washington has come from nowhere and looked good while doing so. The Pac-10 was pretty whack this year which prevented Washington from getting any respect. However, they seemed to have shown why many people saw them as a top 20 team early in the season. Quincy Pondexter is the driving force for this team while Isiah Thomas continues to lead this team to victories. They will be playing West Virginia. Now I have West Virginia in my Final Four. I just think they are really solid at every position. DaSean Butler is a baller. Bob Huggins has done a tremendous job with this team. I think this game will be closer than people think. Washington has earned my respect and I like the way they are playing in this tournament. However, at the end of the day, I like West Virginia to win this one.

The Duke and Purdue game would be so money if Robbie Hummel was healthy. Purdue has been riding the tail of Chris Kramer, E'Twan Moore, and JaJuan Johnson. These guys are trying to make up for the loss of Hummel. However, will that be too much to overcome against the always solid and fundamental Duke team? Certainly Duke is Duke right now. They just do everything right and rarely seem flustered in times of panic. This is Coach K's 19th Sweet 16 I believe. Again, this will be a pretty good game with a lot of interesting match-ups. However, in the end Duke will win. Their road to a possible Final Four berth is the easiest of all favored teams and I think they stay on that road with a win over Purdue.

Finally you have Baylor and St. Mary's. This game is being played in Houston so you have to give the immediate edge to Baylor (Plano, TX). Baylor has a baller point guard in Tweety Carter. When he is hitting from deep he is tough to stop. They then have a stat stuffer Lacedarius Dunn who has inside/outside game of a NBA player. He can hit from deep but also slash to the bucket. Rounding out the necessary entities to be successful in March is Ekpe Udoh. The big man down low alters shots, blocks shots, and can also score down low as he was the only one to show up in Baylor's first round game. St. Mary's is lead by this really annoying big man Omar Samhan. I'll give him his credit, he is a polished block player who can score with both hands. But the guy bumps his gums a little too much. Dude just shut up for once. You're just as annoying as Vasquez from Maryland. Unfortunately, I said St. Mary's wouldn't win a game in this tournament but they have constantly proved me wrong. Again, this match-up will be very interesting. I'm picking Baylor. One reason is that I have Baylor in my Final Four. Another reason, I will be rooting against St. Mary's simply because Samhan is really annoying and everyone seems to be down with him but me. Baylor Bears advance.

So there you have it. I picked mostly favorite teams except for Xavier. Now is the time where you can really tell the men from the boys. Like they say in football, "September is for pretenders and November is for contenders." Well the same goes for the Sweet 16. At this juncture in the tournament, teams seem to separate themselves from each other. You begin to see who the elite squads are while generally the Cinderella runs seem to come to a halt as far superior competition is faced. However, after what Northern Iowa did to Kansas on Saturday, that may not be the case this year. Either way, strap on your seat belts as the wild ride that is March continues. Dayton sucks.

Let's go X!

-'Killa