Day 2: Sweet 16 Live Blog

Well we have already seen a coach fired today. Last night saw Duke get destroyed, and Pitt's tubby point guard Levance Fields become a hero. But we move on to the next 4 Sweet 16 games, to see who advances to the Elite 8. It should be a fun set of games. As always feel free to leave your comments.

Here is tonight's schedule and announcers, courtesy of Awful Announcing:
Louisville vs. Arizona (Indianapolis, 7pm)- Gus Johnson, Len Elmore
Oklahoma vs. Syracuse (Memphis, 7:30pm)- Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg
Kansas vs. Michigan State (Indianapolis, 9:30pm)- Gus Johnson, Len Elmore
North Carolina vs. Gonzaga (Memphis, 10pm)- Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg

My local affiliate is showing the Arizona, Louisivlle game and the UNC, Gonzaga game. But I am sure I will be flexed sometime during the night. Enjoy the games:

Breakdown of Today's Sweet 16 Games

Last night was an eventful one. Villanova made the whole country proud by giving Duke an ass-kicking. UConn ran away from Purdue. Levance Fields looks like he should be playing at the local YMCA, but he was clutch last night for Pitt. And Missouri's "40 minutes of hell" ran Memphis out of the gym. Today's games should also be as great.

Louisville vs. Arizona
Where/Time: Indianapolis, IN/7PM EST
Announcers: GUJO and Elmore
Cinderella?: I still refuse to call Arizona an Cinderella team. Yes, they are a 12 seed, but they play in a big-time conference in the Pac-10. They underachieved all season long, and they were given a favorable seed in the Midwest.
The Zone is Key: Louisville has to run their zone presser defense perfectly. They rotate four guards in-and-out of the game to keep their players fresh. They will have to keep the presser on Arizona to get the win.
My pick: If Louisville can keep the presser on Arizona guard Nic Wise all game long, they will beat Arizona. The Wildcats offense revolves around Wise and his ability to make plays. If the Cardinals stop Wise they will win.

Oklahoma vs. Syracuse
Where/Time: Memphis, TN/ 7:30PM EST
Announcers: Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg
Can the 2-3 zone stop Griffin?: Syracuse and Jim Boeheim have perfected the 2-3 zone. And it will be key to stop Oklahoma's Blake Griffin. They will have to double-team Griffin and force the other Oklahoma players to make plays.
Warren could be the key: Oklahoma's Willie Warren has to have a major role for the Sooners tonight. He is their best outside threat with the way he can penetrate to the hoop and his outside shot. He will have to keep the presser off of Griffin.
My pick: I like Syracuse in this game. Oklahoma doesn't have a real threat at point. While Syracuse has one of the best point guards in Johnnie Flynn. Syracuse's offense revolves around him and he is the best right now at penetrating to the hoop and kicking the ball out to their great shooters in Andy Ruatins and Eric Devendorf.

Kansas vs. Michigan St.
Where/Time: Indianapolis, IN/9:30PM EST
Announcers: GUJO and Elmore
Sutton vs. Aldrich: We have a classic match up between big men in this game. Kansas' Cole Aldrich versus Michigan St.'s Goran Sutton. Whoever wins the match up between these two, their team will win.
Collins is key: Sherron Collins has to play under control for Kansas. There are times when he plays out of control and Kansas will lose. Their offense revolves around him playing in control and distributing the ball.
My pick: I like Michigan St. in this game. They have more depth that can slow down both Collins and Aldrich. Kalin Lucas and Travis Walton are big time players that will be too much for the Jayhawks to guard.

Gonzaga vs. North Carolina
Where/Time: Memphis, TN/ 10PM EST
Announcers: Nantz and Kellogg
Lawson's big toe?: The health of Ty Lawson is still a huge concern for North Carolina. He was huge for them against LSU, but they will need a healthy Lawson to beat Gonzaga. He will have to defend Jeremy Pargo, who likes to drive down the lane for the basket.
Heytvelt vs. UNC: Whoever is guarding Josh Heytvelt will have a huge challenge. Heytvelt is athletic and strong in the middle for Gonzaga.
My pick: This was the hardest game to choose. Gonzaga has great scorers and UNC has depth. I have to go with UNC because they can bring Ed Davis, Tyler Zeller, and Larry Drew off the bench. UNC's depth will be a huge factor in this game.

All these games have the potential to be great. I expect all these games, except the Arizona, Louisville game, to be close.

It should be a fun night, and once again we will be live blogging the games.

The Mourning After: NCAA Tournament Round 2 Observations

Round 2 finally gave us some excitement. Sure there was really no upsets, and no I won't call Arizona a Cinderella, but there were some edge of your seat finishes.

Like the ending of the Marquette, Missouri game. In the final seconds of the game a Missouri player was fouled which lead to an injury. Missouri used a "pinch" free throw shooter to take the lead.

Then Lazar Hayward became infamous. Down by two with 5.5 seconds left Hayward was in charge of inbounding the ball. Missouri went with their usual full-court press and Hayward hesitated and stepped on the line. He turned the ball over to Missouri erasing Marquette's shot at a last-second shot.

Hayward I am sure is taking a beating from the entire state of Wisconsin right now. But it wasn't all his fault. Missouri was using a stingy full-court defense that wasn't going to allow anything by. Also making a shot in 5.5 seconds is tougher than it looks. For every Christian Laettner and Bryce Drew there is one guy who takes a last-second shot and either airball's it or the ball clanks off the rim. Just ask VCU's Eric Maynor about it.

Hayward did make a crucial mistake, but the odd were against Marquette from even tieing that game.

Here are some more observations:

- Here's an interesting fact. Xavier, who is coached by Sean Miller, will face Pittsburgh in the Sweet 16. Why is this important? Because Miller was the person who passed the ball to Jerome Lane who promptly slammed the ball and broke the backboard. Bill Raftery then unleashed the famous "Send it in, Jerome!"

- The referee's screwed up by not recognizing Western Kentucky coach trying to call a timeout during their game with Gonzaga. The Zags took the lead with 0.9 seconds left, giving the Hilltoppers a chance. W. Kentucky coach Ken McDonald was calling for the timeout but the refs didn't recognize it, and W. Kentucky lost the game. Granted they probably wouldn't have scored 0.9 seconds you have to give them a chance.

- Siena probably put up the toughest fight of the weekend. After beating Ohio St. in two overtimes, they took Louisville down to the wire. If it wasn't for Terrance Williams, Louisville would have lost that game.

- Ty Lawson wins the toughest player of the NCAA tournament so far. Lawson, who is fighting a painful toe injury, was the key reason why the Tar Heels beat LSU on Saturday.

- Why does Oklahoma allow their star player Blake Griffin to get beat up in their games? They allowed Texas to knock him out silly. They allowed a Morgan St. player to give him an armbar. They allowed Michigan players to play Hack-a-Shaq on him. They do nothing about it. I am not saying Griffin needs to respond, because he doesn't. But someone else on that team needs to get some payback for all the cheap shots Griffin has had to take.

- It took almost two games, but Eric Devendorf of Syracuse finally profiled a shot. After Arizona St. was getting closer to Syracuse in the game, Devendorf hit a three to extend the lead. Then Devendorf hit another three to basically put the game out of reach. For his last three Devendorf went all douche with it, and profiled the shot. He can't go the entire tournament without profiling a shot. Wait until he has to face Blake Griffin in the Sweet 16.

- Have to love Duke going crazy after their win over Texas. They realize they play for Duke right? They have been to the Sweet 16 before. But I'd guess I would go crazy too if I haven't been to the Sweet 16 since 2006.

While there really isn't any Cinderella teams in the Sweet 16, and no Arizona doesn't count, there are some great match ups. We should have another fun weekend, with the action kicking off on Thursday.

St. Mary's vs. Gonzaga for the WCC Championship Live Blog

Who: St. Mary's, Gonzaga

Where: Las Vegas

Why: For an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament.

For: The WCC Championship

Announcer's/Network: Terry Gannon, Stephen Bardo, and Steve Lavin/ESPN

My Pick: Gonzaga over St. Mary's

Notes: St. Mary's point gaurd Patty Mills returned from an wrist injury last night and did not fare well. The Gaels still won, but they face a tougher team in Gonzaga tonight. So St. Mary's did a bold move, they scheduled a regular season game Friday before the tournament. They hope to beat up on a team, will get them in the tournament. They should have no problems reaching the tournament anyways.

Also Patty Mils could be this year's Stephen Curry. Mills, who is from Australia, is the sophomore phenom in the Bay Area. We know about him out west, but I think the rest of the country will find out about him once the tournament starts.

Also St. Mary's coach Randy Bennett will likely be a coach next year at a bigger school. His name has risen through the ranks since he has turned around the St. Mary's program.

Enjoy the game which starts at 9PM EST, 6 PM WST. Be sure to join us for the live blog.