Sweet 16 Thursday Primer

Obviously the tourney staggers the start time of games so you can see the end of every game, but it is likely that you will spend the majority of each viewing window watching one game.  Here are the games you should be watching today: 

The tourney is back tonight, and so are we, well at least I am. Milli is off gallivanting on vacation (blame the lack of editing on him).

Without further ado here are the Sweet 16 Games to Watch for Thursday:

Time Slot 1: Notre Dame vs Wichita St         

Notre Dame played two extremely exciting games last weekend and I expect that trend to continue. It is hard to see a scenario where either team is able to run away with this one.  I’m a bit surprised that Wichita State is favored actually - Notre Dame has been red hot (7 game winning streak), has the best player on the floor (Grant) and a clutch sidekick (Connaughton).  Meanwhile Wichita St went down “early” in the tourney last year, and played in a lesser conference.  I expect Notre Dame to keep their magical streak alive and win another nail biter.

Other Games: Wisconsin vs North Carolina (7:47 TBS)

The fact of the matter is that Kennedy Meeks is not healthy.   If he was healthy I think UNC would have an excellent chance of winning this one, and may actually be favored in my book.  I think that Wisconsin has looked relatively flat recently, both last weekend and in the B10 tourney.  I expect this to be a tight game that will ultimately come down to whether Big Frank can keep the UNC front line off of the glass.  When UNC gets going on the offensive boards they are a wrecking crew and tough to beat.  I expect the Badgers to get just enough rebounds, Marcus Paige to turn in yet another disappointing big game performance, and Wisconsin to slip away with the W.

Time Slot 2: Kentucky vs West Virginia

First off – I don’t think WVU has any chance of winning this game.  Yes: Huggins is 8-2 vs Coach Cal. Yes: WVU has some #swag. Yes: Kentucky has not played a team of this style.  But I still just don’t see it.  Even in and up and down, sloppy game I think Big Blue will persevere.  I expect the Harrison twins and Ulis to have few issues with handling the press and I expect the bigs to cash in on transition opportunities.  I think this game will be much like the Cincinnati game: close at first, but ultimately not competitive.  Look for UK to be up about 5 at half and have a double digit lead by the second media timeout in the second half (at which point I will be going to bed).

Other Games: Arizona vs Xavier (10:17 TBS)

This is the least exciting game of the Sweet 16.  Arizona should roll onwards comfortably as Xavier is no match for their athleticism.  I expect Arizona to completely shut Xavier down with their defense and score just enough to win comfortably.