BSB Tournament Pick ‘Em: Friday Sweet 16 Preview

Tough to imagine tonight living up to last nights’ games, but here’s hoping.  Jason now has a pretty commanding 13 point lead over 2nd-place Talia, largely thanks to being the only one to hit on Butler last night.  But there are still a lot of points to be had.  The big movers last night were Bry, who moved from 8th to 5th, and Doogan, who dropped from 4th to 7th. 

#6 Tennessee vs. #2 Ohio State:  Two of the better coaches in the country that have both done a great job this season.  Bruce Pearl has his team back in the Sweet 16 despite having to kick his best player off the team earlier in the season.  Thad Matta had to deal with the injury to Evan Turner, and then drastically shortened his rotation down the stretch to have his team playing its best ball at the right time.  Just three players (Talia, Doogan, and Walsh) have Ohio State winning here.  Maureen has Tennessee, in what would be an impressive Elite 8 hit if it comes through, and everybody else had Georgetown. 

#10 Saint Mary’s vs. #3 Baylor:  Two up-and-coming programs that might have a hard time holding on to their coaches this off-season.  Unlike Villanova, Baylor features some big men, like Ekpe Udoh and Quincy Acy, that might be able to slow down Omar Samhan.  Plus, Baylor has two elite guards that will be an interesting match-up against the very skilled St. Mary’s perimeter players.  Probably the best game of the night.  Five players (Jason, Ryan, Bry, Doogan, and Waters) have Baylor here and nobody has St. Mary’s.  Most others had Nova.

#9 Northern Iowa vs. #5 Michigan State:  The second-most intriguing game to me tonight.  The absence of Kalin Lucas takes away from it to some extent but, at the same time, it provides the opportunity to watch Tom Izzo trying to work his coaching magic and get this win.  Meanwhile, Northern Iowa is obviously clicking on all cylinders, and I think they have to be considered the favorites here, but not by much.  Ben has Michigan State here and everybody else had Kansas.

#4 Purdue vs. #1 Duke: It’s tough to imagine Purdue winning here, but it was tough to imagine them reaching the Sweet 16 coming into this tournament.  My guess is that Coach K and his staff have spent a lot of time studying the new-look Boilermakers and how they’ve been able to win games without Hummel.  At the same time, I’m weary of counting out Purdue at this point.  11 of our 13 competitors have Duke in this game.  Weirauch has Purdue and Ben had Siena.