The Sweet 16 and then the Elite 8 will determine who the 2010 Final Four participants in Indianapolis will be. The Sweet 16 begins Thursday, March 25.
One team advancing to the Sweet 16 is No. 6 Tennessee (27-8) who has beaten the top two No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament: Kansas and Kentucky in the regular-season. The wounded Volunteers were without Tyler Smith and three other players when they pulled off one of the bigger shockers all season when they handed top ranked Kansas their first loss of the year.
Despite some marquee wins, Tennessee has also had six defeats of double digits including a loss by 29 to Kentucky in the SEC Tournament. In games decided by five point or less, Tennessee has fared much better with only one defeat in six games. That one loss was to Purdue by one in November.
Tennessee's length and athleticism at every position will present challenges for No. 2 Ohio State (29-7) with an Elite 8 berth on the line. The Buckeyes Evan Turner will face another stiff challenge with the Vols Wayne Chism in St. Louis, Missouri on Friday.
2010 Mid-major Madness
No. 9 Northern Iowa (30-4) shocked the basketball world with their gutsy win over the prohibitive favorite to win March Madness, the overall No. 1 Kansas Jawyhawks (33-3).
The Panthers, who beat No. 8 UNLV (25-9) will need to continue to play with the kind of heart they showed against Kansas to advance to the Elite 8.
No. 5 Michigan State (26-8) is the next potential stumbling block for Northern Iowa who has only given up more than 70 once this season.
The Spartans nearly stumbled against No. 4 Maryland (24-9). After leading by 15 with under eight minutes to go, Michigan State lost the lead twice in the final minute before Korie Lucious' 3-point buzzer-beater sent the Terrapins packing 85-83.
Meanwhile No. 4 Butler (30-4) has only conceded 70 points or more three times this season. All three were against BCS NCAA Tournament teams who all lost in the first round. Conversely, Butler also beat three NCAA Tournament teams in the non-conference including Ohio State and fellow mid-major Xavier (26-8).
The craziness with the Bulldogs doesn't end there as Butler's trailed at the half in their first two tournament games, but have come back to win with excellent defense.
Their latest defensive display of excellency came against No. 13 Murray State (31-5) who they suffocated in the final 15 seconds after a missed free throw leading 54-52. The Racers were unable to get a shot up as Butler's second half defense has been remarkable allowing an average of 26 points each through the first two games.
Butler meets up with offensive juggernaut No. 1 Syracuse (30-4) who destroyed No. 8 Gonzaga (27-7) 87-65 in the second round. The Orange are 12-0 this season when forward Wesley Johnson gets a double double. Syracuse has won their first two tournament games by an average of 22.5 points while scoring 83 points a contest.
The 12-seeded Cornell Big Red (29-4) have posted possibly the best offensive numbers in the tournament as they've torched 5 Temple (29-6) 78-65 and No. 4 Wisconsin (24-9) 87-69. Cornell was 56.3 percent from the floor against the Owls and 61.1 percent against the Badgers. Next up for the Big Red's offense is No.1 Kentucky (34-2).
Kansas State, Kentucky and Duke Dominant in 2010 March Madness
The East Region's top seed Kentucky has had the easiest time in the tournament thus far with demolitions of 16 East Tennessee State (20-15) and No. 9 Wake Forest (20-11). The Wildcats have averaged 95 while only giving up 71 and 60 points in the NCAA Tournament. The best chance for a team to beat them is to slow down the tempo. In their two losses this season they were held to an average of 63.5 points.
Another top seed the Duke Blue Devils (31-5) went inside early and often against No. 8 California (24-11) as they coasted 68-53. Duke's next opponent No. 4 Purdue (29-5) did not concede a point outside the paint in the second half or in overtime against 5 Texas A&M (24-10).
Both defenses have stymied their opponents thus far and this game has all the makings of a game in the low 60s. The five teams that the Blue Devils lost to this season scored more than 70 points.
In speaking of dominating teams, No. 2 Kansas State (28-7) is a team on a mission. The Wildcats have started slow, but finished strong against No. 15 North Texas (24-9) and 7 Brigham Young (30-6). Jacob Pullen's 34 points helped send BYU home. The Wildcats up and down style on offense has led them to average 83 points a game in the NCAA Tournament with 6 Xavier on the horizon.
Kansas State beat Xavier by 15 in December, but this time they'll play in Salt Lake City, Utah instead of Manhattan, Kansas.
2010 NCAA Tournament: West Coast Bias
No. 11 Washington (26-9) whipped 3 New Mexico (30-5) 82-64 after knocking off No. 6 Marquette (22-12) 80-78. Despite media scrutiny about Washington's horrid road troubles, the Huskies were 4-2 against NCAA Tournament teams and after their 0-7 start, Washington ended the season winning seven in a row away from home.
The Pac-10 Tournament Champion Huskies play No. 2 West Virginia (29-6) in the Sweet 16 in Syracuse, New York. Da'Sean Butler and Quincy Pondexter will likely go head-to-head in what could be another break-neck transition game for Washington.
Another West Coast team in the Sweet 16 is No. 10 Saint Mary's (28-5), who has already beaten No. 7 Richmond (26-9) and 2 Villanova (25-8). The Gaels had never won successive NCAA Tournament games until this year.
The Gaels, whose longest winning streak this season is eight, will go for eight in a row and a third March Madness win when they face the No. 3 Baylor Bears (27-7) on Friday in Houston, Texas.
Tyrone Bowman - I'm 25, a recent Journalism graduate of Sacramento State, love the outdoors and am ultra-competitive. I thrive for perfection even though ...
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