Wednesday, March 26, 2008

March Madness, Baby!

It's time for a little NCAA Tournament Update on this puppy (even though nobody ever reads it).

After an amazing run into the Sweet 16, including a 74-70 schlacking of second-seeded Georgetown, Davidson has emerged as this year's prime Cinderella-team. Sure, Western Kentucky may have looked worse on paper, etc. with fewers stars and a weaker conference, but nobody can doubt the leadership and presence of G Stephen Curry as the Wildcats have tackled every challenge thrown at them so far.

Davidson will square off against the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region, Wisconsin, Friday at 7 p.m.

The Blue Devils of Duke were shockingly upset last week, as Coach K's boys fell to the Mountaineers of West Virginia, 73-67. The Mountaineers appear to be for real behind the likes of F Joe Alexander, and Xavier better not take them likely if they hope to get their chance at UCLA in the Elite Eight. WVU and the Musketeers will square off Thursday at 7 p.m.

Here are the rest of your Sweet 16 match ups:
East Region
UNC vs. Washington St. Thurs. @ 7:30 p.m.
Louisville vs. Tennessee Thurs. @ 10 p.m.

Midwest Region
Kansas vs. Villanova Fri. @ 9:30 p.m.
Wisconsin vs. Davidson Frid. @ 7 p.m.

South Region
Memphis vs. Michigan State Fri. @ 10 p.m.
Stanford vs. Texas Fri. @ 7:30 p.m.

West Region
UCLA vs. Western Kentucky Thurs. @ 9:40 p.m.
Xavier vs. WVU Thurs. @ 7 p.m.

Expect UNC and UCLA to advance rather steadily, although Wazzu' and WKU aren't going to go down easily. Psycho T and the Tar Heels are definitely going to have to speed it up on offense if they expect to power their way through WSU's pesky D.

Tennessee, Kansas, and Memphis should have little problem advancing to the Elite Eight, although the Spartans of Michigan State may put up a good fight for the Tigers. In the end, be on upset alert with Davidson and West Virginia, and Stanford, if you can still call that an upset; everything else should go according to plan.

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