Talking Sweet Sixteen: Thursday, Part I
Somehow the three days to start this week always seem to go faster than the days between the Selection Show and the first round games. That could be due to the two days it took me to recover from a trip to Nashville where I did little other than watching games and watching live bands in bars. Regardless, it’s time for the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament and it promises to be a great one.
(5) Purdue vs. (1) UConn- 7:07 ET
Here are a couple teams that could both be referred to as “hot” but in completely different ways. Purdue barreled through the Big Ten Tournament, then won a couple of very close games in the tournament. UConn lost early in the Big East Tournament (well I guess it had been going on for a few days), but they have looked unbeatable in their two tournament games, winning by a combined 2,035 points.* A.J. Price has quieted most of the talk about missing Dyson, while Thabeet and Adrien are playing great inside.
My favorite part about watching UConn so far was when Texas A&M called a timeout about a minute and a half into the game, down 4-0. Someone who wasn’t paying attention asked me why there was a commercial so soon and I told him a timeout and had to explain how dominant UConn was even though up only four.
Purdue is rugged enough to bang with UConn and athletic enough to keep up with them. Hummel will be the key for the Boilermakers though. UConn has dismantled teams so far, and when things aren’t looking good, you need a playmaker to bring you back into the game. I think Purdue can survive a couple of runs from UConn and make a push at the end if Hummel is on his game. First Team All-Big Ten center JaJuan Johnson could also help out immensely if he could draw a foul or four on Thabeet. The refs owe the Big Ten one after that Michigan-Oklahoma atrocity.
I think the winner of this game will beat Memphis, but this is one that I really struggled to pick. I think I filled out four or five brackets this year and in half I have UConn in the Final Four and in half I have Purdue. The only thing that has changed since then is the performance of UConn in the first two rounds, so I’ll go 76-70 in favor of the Huskies.
*Perhaps an exaggeration.
(4) Xavier vs. (1) Pittsburgh- 7:27 ET
You can definitely spell Sweet 16 without an X, but your bracket better damn well have one in there on a third round line. Xavier brings it year after year to the tournament and were clearly the best team of the four contending for a Sweet 16 appearance in their portion of the bracket. Pittsburgh is the anti-Xavier. Over-achieving in the Big Dance to them is not losing to a directional-state school in the first couple of rounds. This year it was East Tennessee State that gave Pitt trouble, then a nail-biter against Oklahoma State.
While most think the close game against the Cowboys is reason for concern, I think OSU was playing some great basketball coming in and that Pitt took a major step forward in knocking them out. The reasons to like Pitt are still the same as they have been all year. They have a great point guard, a scary post player, and one of the best wings in the game.
Xavier plays great defense and can dominate on the glass. That could be a problem for the Musketeers in tonight’s game though, because I don’t know if they have anyone who can match up with DeJuan Blair on the inside. Their hope has to be to bring more energy to the glass and come with a number of their athletic forwards to get rebounds. B.J Raymond and Derrick Brown, two of those forwards, will need to carry the load offensively, as they have the best match-ups with Pitt’s defenders.
In the end I think Pitt wears Xavier down and Fields leads the Panthers to a win down the stretch. 72-67, Pitt.
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