March Madness stage set for Sweet Sixteen

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Author: Zach Heerwagen

March Madness is back with a vengeance and several historic upsets are already in the books after only the first week of play. Even though it might seem as if everyone’s bracket is already doomed, there is still plenty of entertainment left with the Sweet 16 and many other Cinderella stories yet to come. Amid the action, Florida Gulf Coast emerged as the nation’s underdog, Harvard won its first tournament game and Wichita State pulled a shocker by ousting Gonzaga.

The Midwest Region was set up as the toughest in the tournament with juggernauts Louisville, Duke and Michigan State as the top three seeds, respectively. Oregon will join them as a 12-seed that has been propelled to a Pac-12 Championship with upset victories over Kansas State and St. Louis.

Duke and Michigan State will meet on Friday in the most anticipated match-up of the round. Tom Izzo’s 37 tournament victories since 1998 are third only to Roy William’s 38 and Coach K’s 39, and the two legendary coaches are sure to have their teams prepared for a battle. However, Duke has lost just once this season with Ryan Kelly on the floor, and the emergence of first-year guard Rasheed Sulaimon as a scoring threat will be a difference maker as Duke tries to make its way to another Final Four.

The Western Region was the most upset-riddled in the nation this past week, setting up a match-up between number nine Wichita State and 13-seed La Salle. On the other side, two-seed Ohio State will meet six-seed Arizona.

Ohio State has the easiest path to the final four of any team remaining, but the Shockers of Wichita State have already knocked off Associated Press No.1 Gonzaga and are a trendy sleeper pick to make it to Atlanta. In the end, Ohio State’s duo of junior guard Aaron Craft, who is regarded as the best on-ball defender in college basketball, and junior forward Deshaun Thomas is expected to power the Buckeyes through to the Final Four.

The Western Conference semifinals will take place at the Staples Center on Thursday with the championship being played on Saturday.

The South Region has been marked by the stellar play of Michigan, Kansas and Florida, none of whom have won a game by less than ten points. The emergence of Florida Gulf Coast as a true contender and the George Mason of this year’s tournament has also been a focal point. The university opened its doors in 1997 and became a Division I program just last season. But the team wasted little time making a name for itself. Senior forward Sherwood Brown and sophomore guard Bernard Thompson led an Eagles squad that took down heavily favored Georgetown as well as San Diego State and became the first 15-seed to advance to the Sweet 16.

One-seed Kansas should take care of number four Michigan in an intriguing battle between Naismith candidates Ben Mclemore and Trey Burke. Florida has too many scoring options with four players averaging double digit points per game and attempt to hold strong against their in-state challenger in order to meet Kansas on the way to the Final Four.

The Eastern Region has been the least exciting this year and has the one through four seeds pitted against each other this Thursday. Three-seed Marquette has had the most interesting path of the bunch, coming back from being down six with one minute remaining to beat Davidson and then hitting a buzzer beater in its win over Butler.

Sophomore guard Shane Larkin and two-seed Miami are expected to make quick work of Marquette and one-seed Indiana is hoping to escape with a win over four-seed Syracuse in what is slated be a slug fest. In the regional final, the match up between Larkin and junior guard Victor Oladipo, who are two of the more dynamic play makers in the tournament, is likely to be a thriller. Indiana could gain the edge inside with All-American center Cody Zeller tipping the game in their favor.

There’s a lot to look forward to with only two weeks left in an already exhilarating season. The Sweet 16 will take place on March 28-29 with the Elite Eight this weekend March 30-31. The Final Four will be hosted in Atlanta this year with the semifinals on April 3 and the National Championship on April 5.

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