Sweet 16 picks, predictions

The NCAA men's basketball tournament starts with 65 teams in a single-elimination bracket. After a play-in game, 64 teams remain, playing on the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament in first- and second-round games held at eight sites. After these games, 16 teams remain in the tournament, and these teams are called the Sweet Sixteen.

The Sweet 16 teams play in the third round of the NCAA tournament, called the regional semifinals. Some people refer to the third round of the NCAA Tournament as the Sweet 16 Round. Four sites host regional semifinals and regional finals, and these games occur on the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. These regional hosts are sometimes referred to as Sweet Sixteen sites.

The Sweet Sixteen Round matchups are played in prime time on a Thursday and Friday night, allowing for maximum TV exposure. College basketball teams keep track of Sweet 16 appearances, and advancing to the Sweet Sixteen usually is considered a very successful season.

The Sweet Sixteen winners advance to the fourth round of the tournament, called the regional finals or the Elite Eight Round. The winners of the four regional finals games advance to the fifth round of the tournament, also called the Final Four or the national semifinals, played the following weekend.

2012 March Madness Predictions - Friday’s NC State-Kansas game is scheduled to begin at approximately 10:17 p.m. Eastern from St. Louis. The NC State-Kansas game will be preceded by Ohio-North Carolina in St. Louis. The Midwest Region final will be played Sunday in St. Louis.

The Xavier-Baylor game will be the first of two South Region semifinal games Friday in Atlanta, followed by a border battle between Kentucky and Indiana. Xavier-Baylor is set to begin at 7:15 p.m. Eastern.

Baylor reached as highly ranked as #3 in the nation after a 17-0 start, but the Bears couldn’t maintain that hot start, losing four of their next eight games and six of their next 14. Baylor has bounced back in the postseason, though, upsetting fellow Sweet 16 participant Kansas, 81-72, in the semifinals of the Big XII Tournament before losing to Missouri, 90-75, in the Big XII Tournament championship game.

Cincinnati and Ohio State will play in the East Region semifinal from Boston, beginning at approximately 9:45 p.m. Eastern Thursday. It will follow the Syracuse-Wisconsin game from Boston, which begins at 7:15 p.m., making the regional in Boston an all-Big East Conference versus Big Ten Conference affair. Both conferences tied for having the highest number of teams in the Sweet 16. The Big Ten has placed four teams in the Sweet 16 (also Michigan State and Indiana), while the Big East has four teams in the Sweet 16 (also Louisville and Marquette). Michigan State and Louisville will also play in a Sweet 16 game pitting the Big Ten against the Big East.

Thursday’s West Region semifinal game between Louisville and Michigan State is one of three Big East versus Big Ten games set for Thursday’s NCAA Tournament, along with Cincinnati-Ohio State and Syracuse-Wisconsin. This season, the Big Ten holds a 2-1 advantage over the Big East in head-to-head matchups, as Northwestern defeated Seton Hall, 80-73, and Penn State topped South Florida, 53-49, while Marquette defeated Wisconsin, 61-54. Both leagues have qualified four teams for the Sweet 16.

March 24-25th 2011: kansas vs richmond - “David vs. Goliath” matchups are what make the NCAA Tournament into an exciting event, and Friday’s Sweet Sixteen game pitting the Richmond Spiders and Kansas Jayhawks exactly fits that description.

virginia commonwealth vs florida state - Friday’s Virginia Commonwealth-Florida State game will be televised on TBS at 9:57 p.m. Eastern, or about one-half hour after the Richmond-Kansas game. Both games are part of the Southwest Regional in San Antonio’s Alamodome. Friday’s winners will meet in Sunday’s regional final in San Antonio. Florida State is a 4-point favorite over VCU.

marquette vs north carolina - Marquette and North Carolina will play Friday in the East Regional semifinal at Newark, N.J. CBS will televise the Marquette-UNC game at 7:15 p.m. Eastern from the Prudential Center (also known as “The Rock”). North Carolina is a 4.5-point favorite.

kentucky vs ohio state - CBS will televise the Kentucky-Ohio State game from Newark, N.J., in the East Regional semifinal. The Kentucky-Ohio State game will start at 9:45 p.m. Eastern, or one-half hour after the Marquette-North Carolina game. The winners will play Sunday at the Prudential Center in Newark in the Elite Eight. Kentucky is a 5.5-point underdog against Ohio State.

florida vs byu - TBS will televise the Florida-BYU game at 7:27 p.m. Eastern from the Superdome in New Orleans. Florida is a 2.5-point favorite over the Cougars. The winner of the Florida-BYU game will play the winner of the Butler-Wisconsin game for a trip to the Final Four.

san diego state vs uconn - The Aztecs will attempt to take another step toward making that story become a reality with a victory in Thursday’s West Region San Diego State-Connecticut semifinal game at Anaheim, Calif., at the Honda Center. The San Diego State-Connecticut game is rated as a pick’em. CBS will televise the game at 7:15 p.m. Eastern. The SDSU-UConn winner will face the Arizona-Duke winner for a trip to the Final Four.

duke vs arizona - Duke unexpectedly was able to play freshman guard Kyrie Irving in the first two games of the NCAA Tournament. Irving was injured in December after playing just eight games, and he missed the rest of the season. Irving had 14 points in 20 minutes as Duke routed Hampton in its NCAA opener, 87-45. Irving then made Duke’s final field goal, finishing with 11 points in 21 minutes, as Duke edged Michigan, 73-71, in the second round.

butler vs wisconsin - Butler-Wisconsin in the Southeast Regional semifinals from New Orleans Arena in New Orleans. TBS will televise the Butler-Wisconsin game at 9:57 p.m. Eastern, or one-half hour after the BYU-Florida game. Thursday’s winners will meet in the Elite Eight game on Saturday.

Thursday March 26th, TD Banknorth Arena Garden, Boston, Massachusetts: Villanovs vs Duke, Xavier vs Pittsburgh

University Of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona: Purdue vs UCONN, Missouri vs Memphis

Friday March 27th, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana: Arizona vs Louisville, Kansas vs Michigan State

NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 - Picks, Predictions