Sweet 16 - Day 2 Preview

The South bracket seems a fairly easy one to call, at least tonight's games. I've hammered on Purdue all tournament long, why stop now? I'll give the credit for making it to the Sweet 16 without Hummel in two close victories, but Duke will face another weak opponent on their trip to the Final 4. Duke should win. I hope the Boilermakers prove me wrong, but I doubt it. In the other game, I think St. Mary's run is up. I like the Gaels, but they've played a couple of teams weak inside and I think Baylor will handle them a little better. The Bears and Blue Devils should meet. Baylor is a pretty solid team, but Final 4 material? I don't know. I said at the beginning that the Blue Devils had an easy path through their bracket and it still looks that way to me.

Duke 53%
Baylor 34%
Purdue 8%
St. Mary's 5%

In the Midwest you would have had to be discouraged when the brackets came out if you were a Buckeye fan. You had to figure they would need to beat Georgetown and Kansas to get to the Final 4, which would seem unlikely even to an optimist. As it turns out the Buckeyes just need to beat Tennessee and either Michigan St. (without their best player) or Northern Iowa. How sweet is that? The Buckeyes are solid and are the favorite to make it through, but let's not forget they needed a buzzer beating heave against lowly Michigan in the Big 10 tournament, so let's not advance them so fast. I am not a fan of Rocky Top, so naturally I tend to not give them the credit they deserve. However I would take the winner of the Tennessee vs. Ohio St. game over either of the other two teams. I like the Buckeyes to beat Northern Iowa, who will keep the Cinderella shoes on for one more game. Here are my odds of going to the Final 4.

Ohio St. 39%
Tennessee 24%
Northern Iowa 20%
Michigan St. 17%