Sweet 16 Overview Part 1

First lets look at what I thought might happen versus what actually did.

My Sweet 16

East
1 Ohio State vs. 4 Kentucky
3 Syracuse vs. 7 Washington

West
1 Duke vs. 4 Texas
11 Missouri vs. 7 Temple

Southeast
1 Pittsburgh vs. 12 Utah State
6 St. Johns vs. 10 Michigan State

Southwest
1 Kansas vs. 4. Louisville
3 Purdue vs. 10 Florida State


The Real Sweet 16

East
1 Ohio State vs. 4 Kentucky
11 Marquette vs. 2 North Carolina

West
1 Duke vs. 5 Arizona
3 Connecticut vs. 2 San Diego State

Southeast
8 Butler vs. 4 Wisconsin
3 BYU vs. 2 Florida

Southwest
1 Kansas vs. 12 Richmond
11 VCU vs. 10 Florida State


Overall, 5 out of 16. I tried to pick some suprises; however, I chose the wrong teams to pull off those upsets.

With the Sweet 16 on the line, Pitt, Temple, Texas, Washington, and Syracuse games all came down to the wire and I was on the short end of the stick there.

Missouri and St. Johns. What can I say about these? These two came to the Dance, but just sat in the corner no even interested in dancing with anyone at the party. I mean both laid eggs in the Second Round and each lost by 15!

Missouri was a long shot, but still you go over 10 minutes without a field goal? Thought Mizzou had that upbeat, fast pace offense? Not the molasses moving, slow poke that showed up at the Dance.

And St. Johns. A team that was so good against the RPI top 50 and all these upsets in the Big East. This just began all the talk about the Big East turning in the "Big Least" this tournament. Okay, you go and shoot 47% from the field and and 47% from 3. Problem with that is that Gonzaga held a 41-18 rebound advantage over you and they shot 54% from the field and 60%  from 3. Defense wins championships remember?.

Utah State, Michigan State and Louisville actually showed up to the Dance. Unfortunately, clock struck midnight and it was time to head home for these two.

Utah State keep coming at KState, but Cinderella turned into a pumpkin when the final horn sounded.

Michigan State showed up late to the Dance nearly missing the whole thing all together after facing a 42-24 halftime deficit. However, I give those Seniors a lot of credit for making it a great game down the stretch (Outscored UCLA 52-36 in second half). Lost by 2, sorry to say.

Then you have Louisville. Louisville feel stricken to moments that happen every year in the NCAA Tournament. From a star player getting injured to losing on a last second buzzer beater. The 1 point loss to a Cinderella in their own right, Morehead State, is nothing to be ashamed of Cardinal fans. (Interesting fact, Morehead State applications went from 200 before the win to over 2,000 afterwards. Who says the NCAA Tournament isn't more than just basketball?)

Did I expect these things to happen in this year's tournament, well yes and no. I did expect teams to get snakebitten by the so-called "mid-major" teams out there. I didn't expect those teams to be Richmond, VCU and Butler. Really did anyone?

Next step in the process (Part 2) is dissecting the Sweet 16 Matchups. Tomorrow I will look at four matchups that look fairly straightforward to the naked eye and finish up on Wednesday with the four most intriuging matchups of the Sweet 16. All in all this just part of the Journey to the Final Four in Houston.

Happy Spring Everyone!