Elite 8 on the Line

Following Thursday night's games half of the Elite Eight has been made, those final four spots will be filled tonight. These games feature more of the bracket busters than last night's action did, with four of the eight teams playing tonight being double digit seeds. While the Southwest bracket has three of those teams, and could be called the upset bracket, the East region in Newark is packed with star power, both in terms of players and simply the teams that are there. Real basketball royalty. The games should all be entertaining at this point, and hard fought, but somebody is going to carve their way one step closer to the Final Four in Houston.

11Marquette vs. 2North Carolina

In a game where it became apparent after the games a week ago today that North Carolina was going to play a Big East team, many believed it to be Syracuse that would be joining the Tar Heels, creating an almost mini-Final Four in Newark. Alas, the Golden Eagles were able to take down the Orange with a big late three from the team's leading scorer Darius Johnson-Odom, and a back court violation call that should not have been made, but I digress.

The match up between these two schools is a very intriguing one, as North Carolina has the athletes, the size, the fluidity to their team game (along with the most fluid player in America in my opinion in Harrison Barnes). Then with Marquette you have these guys that will grind out every defensive possession, will never be out hustled by another team, and has a number of players that can take you off the dribble, or let loose from the outside. They really are contrasting styles though.

Though Jimmy Butler will be one of the tougher defenders that Barnes will have faced all year, the trouble for Marquette will come down on the blocks. They have the players and athletes to contend with Dexter Strickland and Kendall Marshall out on the perimeter, but John Henson and Tyler Zeller are too big, athletic, and skilled for the Golden Eagles down low. The two of them were able to score 60 points in their opening round game, and Zeller also followed that up with 23 points against a bigger and more athletic team than Marquette in Washington.

While Marquette will be able to keep the game close with their grind it out defense, and cause problems for the guards and Barnes, the Tar Heels will be able to control the boards and the paint, forcing Marquette into tough outside shots. In the end I see North Carolina making it back to the Elite Eight.

Final: North Carolina 74 Marquette 63

12Richmond vs. 1Kansas

Here is a game that will all depend on the intensity of the Kansas Jayhawks, who can at times sort of sleepwalk their way through games, and most of the time victories. They are playing a team that was able to upset an overrated Vanderbilt team, and then enter a round of 32 game as the favorite despite their 12 seed when they played Morehead St. Now though the Spiders have to go up against a team that has very few weaknesses, and is simply just better and has better athletes.

Richmond thrives off of the play of their two seniors, guard Kevin Anderson and forward Justin Harper. The two took turns last weekend winning the team games, as an incredible second half of basketball by Anderson, he brought the Spiders back from a 48-39 deficit for the eventual win. Not to be excluded from the party Harper led the team to the win over Morehead St. and the Spiders now find themselves facing a favorite to be making it into the national championship game.

Kansas has too much size, power, and speed down low with the Morris twins for Richmond to be able to compete with them. While the talented coach Chris Mooney of the Spiders will draw up something to try and keep the game close for them to have a chance late, I just do not see it happening. The Jayhawks have a platoon of guards to throw at Anderson defensively to slow him down and wear him out, while the Morris twins and Thomas Robinson are defensively ready to slow down Harper. While Richmond may keep it close early, Kansas will run away with this one.

Final: Kansas 81 Richmond 66

4Kentucky vs. 1Ohio St.

This is a game that people look forward to all season, when the brackets come out, and all the way up to tip off. The best team in the nation, going up against maybe the most storied program in the nation. The young guns go up against a team of senior leaders, with a couple fresh faces of their own. This game is the highlight of the Sweet 16 because of all the intangibles that are there before you even get into the nitty gritty of what the actual game play could bring.

The obvious storylines are there, but what will the game bring, who will we see emerge victorious from this one? Kentucky has to look to three guys if they want to win this game, Terrence Jones, Brandon Knight, and DeAndre Liggins. These three guys are what will make or break this game, because while Kentucky center Josh Harrellson has been better than many people expected this year, if you are Kentucky going into this game thinking you need him to stop or really slow down Jerad Sullinger then you might have already lost the game.

Jones is going to have to want the ball, and demand the ball more than he did in the win last round against West Virginia. He will have the advantage on whoever the Buckeyes decide to put on him. If they put Dallas Lauderdale on him he has the advantage on the perimeter with his skill set, they put someone like David Lighty or William Buford on him then he has three inches on them down low. He has to dominate the ball and want to dominate the game.

Knight came into this season as the top point guard in the freshman class, and though it started off rocky, mostly because of the John Wall comparisons that were certain to start off the year, he has shown himself to be worth all the preseason hype. In the game against West Virginia he had a season high 30 points, keeping Kentucky in the game in the first half by himself. Now he goes up against Aaron Craft, a freshman point guard in his own right, and he has to win this match up. If he is unable to take control out top, and control this game, then Kentucky will have a tough time staying in it.

Finally, Liggins will be finding himself guarding either Buford or Lighty. He has to use his defense to take them out of the game. With those two guys doing so much for the Buckeyes taking one of them out would affect their gameplan greatly. John Diebler is going to get his shots, you have to have pressure on him, but to take one of these two away, maybe more importantly Buford, then your chances of beating Ohio St. increase dramatically.

Ultimately though, Ohio St. has just so many weapons, and Sullinger down low is just going to prove to be too much for the Kentucky front court. He will be able to sag off of the center and help out on Jones down low, and Lighty's defense on the perimeter will disrupt the flow for the young wildcats.

Final: Ohio St. 79 Kentucky 71

11VCU vs. 10Florida St.

The game that if you had right on your bracket, chances are you are at the top of the leaderboard. VCU was mentioned on the short list of teams that should not have been considered, let alone in the field. So they went out and won three games last weekend to get to this point. Oh, and they beat the Pac-10, Big East, and Big 10 to get here. Florid St. was part of an ACC conference that was down this year, and was not sure how many teams they would get in. They managed to upset the Big 12 and the Big East in order to make it to this weekend. All things considered, whoever wins this game is going to feel blessed to be one win away from the Final Four, and they are guaranteeing a double digit seed will be 40 minutes away from the Final Four for the first time since George Mason in 2006.

This game comes down to the defense of Florida St. While in their game with Notre Dame they were able to come away with the win, and their defense played great, that game was as much them being inexplicably hot from three point range, and Notre Dame missing a number of open shots. Florida St. will win this game though if they are able to stop the penetration of the guards for VCU coach Shaka Smart, who is proving to be one of the best young coaches in America. Stop their penetration, which Florida St. certainly can do (and will do), and you eliminate the easy buckets and open kick outs that they were getting against the likes of USC, Georgetown, and Purdue.

Final: Florida St. 69 VCU 63