As one of the top 4 in the GuysNation.com bracket on Yahoo, I feel as though I should speak to the NCAA tournament games which are slated for tonight. I couldn’t find the fellows with whom I usually discuss these games, so forgive me if it’s not as intelligent analysis as it could be.
Half of the Sweet 16 games will be played in the next 24 hours, the winners neatly paired up in the next round.
7:07pm EST, #1 Syracuse against #5 Butler
Now that Kansas is gone from the tournament, the people I had talked to are picking Kentucky, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Syracuse in the championship. Were they to beat Butler, which shouldn’t be too much of a stretch for your imagination, they would play the winner of the #6 Xavier vs #2 Kansas St game, which is very likely to be Kansas State.
7:27pm EST, #2 West Virginia against #11 Washington
No matter how tough the Big East was this year, I continue to hear people say that West Virginia is likely to allow Washington to continue its improbable run in this tournament. Not many of them will make those feelings public, however, so I couldn’t get a quote for this article. The winner of this game is very likely to have a tough time in the Elite 8 on Sunday as they would play the winner of Kentucky / Cornell. Don’t expect WVU or Washington to advance to the Final Four.
9:37pm EST, #6 Xavier vs #2 Kansas St
Kansas State has looked hot all tournament, and they should be able to continue tonight and advance to play the winner of Syracuse / Butler in an Elite 8 game I’ll be highly anticipating.
9:57pm EST, #1 Kentucky against #12 Cornell
Kentucky seems to be the new odds-on favorite to win the tournament, but they’re not likely to be prohibitive favorites like Kansas was slated to be prior to the tournament (though, Liz Drabick, how prohibitive were their odds if they didn’t extend past the second round, hmm?). If Cornell can get the right mix, I would very much like to see them give Kentucky a tough run into the late portion of the game, though I believe the power of Ashley Judd will be just too much for the Ivy Leaguers. Kentucky will most likely advance to play the winner of West Virginia / Washington, though were the fellows of Cornell to give Andy Bernard his dreams of advancing to the Elite 8, I could see the Ivy Leaguers making the Final Four with extremely smart play.
