SWEET SIXTEEN PICKS - PART I

KANSAS-MICHIGAN STATE
Travis Walton was huge for the Spartans in their 74-69 victory over the Trojans of USC. As the number two seed in the Midwest you expect big things from Tom Izzo’s team but they struggled against the Trojans defensively, narrowly escaping a defeat at the hands of the number ten seed who sent No. 7 Boston College home early. But the Spartans can’t expect to make the same mistakes and win against defending champs Kansas. If Cole Aldrich posts the same impressive numbers he did against Dayton (no pusher mind you), the Jayhawks will walk away victorious. Sherron Collins needs another big day but Tyshawn Taylor will need to step it up just a notch to get through to the next level. Prediction: Kansas by eight

ARIZONA-LOUISVILLE
Arizona embarrassed Utah in the first round, then just went in and did to Cleveland State what Wake Forest was expected to do – torch them. As the lowest seeded team in the Sweet 16 no one expects them to go any further and yet, no one was expecting them to get past Utah. If Arizona can produce the same upset magic that Siena nearly pulled out against Louisville, we may be seeing more of ‘Cats. But like everyone else I have my doubts and the Cardinals have been outstanding all season long. Rick Pitino will count on Terrence Williams to skin the Cats and help diminish Nic Wise’s role and contributions on the court. Prediction: Louisville by 12

UCONN-PURDUE
If you haven’t had a chance to watch the Huskies in action this year, ignoring their first two games of the tournament may have been a mistake because they masterfully and mercilessly mauled Chattanooga (103-47) and Texas A&M (92-66) respectively. The latter put up a fight but in the end UConn had far too much fire power and were determined to put the other teams in the tournament on notice. Purdue on the other hand struggled against Northern Iowa (61-56) and squeaked past Washington in one of the more competitive games of the tournament. UConn is too deep and too experienced for Purdue who rely too heavily on their big three, E’Twaun Moore, JaJuan Johnson and Robbie Hummel. Prediction: UCONN by 16

MEMPHIS-MISSOURI
The Memphis Tigers are getting consistent numbers out of their star Tyreke Evans while Shawn Taggart and Antonio Anderson have really stepped up their game to contribute nicely on the offensive end. Robert Dozier’s numbers have dropped off slightly but he’s still a presence on the boards. But the Tigers had a much easier way to the Sweet-16 overcoming CS-Northridge (81-70) and Maryland (89-70) while the other Tigers from Mizzou battled through Cornell and a very scrappy Marquette team to get here. Missouri is much better team on paper with stability from its starters and its bench players. DeMarre Carroll is as good a player as you’ll find in the entire tournament and Leo Lyons is a great complimentary player to Carroll with an inside-outside touch. Prediction: Mizzou by four

Tomorrow: East and South Regions