Oh So Sweet

Oh how quick it goes. Now that the best four day stretch of the year is over, we are now forced to settle with better basketball and less chance of upset. Of the sixteen teams left, it appears to me like six have a realistic shot at winning the national title.

Connecticut
The Huskies seem to be following the same path they went down during their previous two title runs in 1999 and 2004. In both cases, they ran into a far weaker opponent in the elite eight (’99-Gonzaga, ’04-Alabama) and this year will be no different. If they get past Washington on Friday, they’ll meet either Wichita State or George Mason in the regional final. At this point, UConn’s the favorite.

Duke
After basically having a week off, Duke will faces the toughest road of all the No. 1 seeds to make it to the final four. I have thought all year that Duke would have serious match up problems with Connecticut and LSU is the team in the tournament that most resembles the Huskies. I don’t like the Blue Devils to win both games next week, but you can never count them out.

Texas
Like Duke, the Longhorns were flat out better than the teams they played in the first two rounds. If they can get out and defend the perimeter against West Virginia, they’ll get their chance to enact revenge on the Blue Devils. Of course, stopping the Mountaineers from hitting the three is easier said than done.

Memphis
The Tigers will end Bradley’s dream pretty quick next week, setting up a regional final with UCLA. However, we might have a preview of what will happen to this team in Kansas and North Carolina this weekend. Lack of experience will certainly hurt.

Villanova
Boston College is going to kill the Wildcats on the boards but Nova is much quicker. The winner of this game is going to the final four.

UCLA
UCLA impressed me more than any other team this weekend. The game with Alabama was close but the Bruins controlled most of the game. I think they’ll hand it to Gonzaga and the Oakland regional final with Memphis could be for the national title.