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Before previewing Friday night's Sweet 16 matchups, here are a few of my highlights from the first weekend of the tournament.
Two most entertaining games
Drake-Western Kentucky: An overtime, buzzer-beater shootout. I never had a chance to see the ABA in its heyday, but this had to be what it looked like. Wide-open, fast-paced 3-point-shot-heavy hoops. Fantastic stuff.
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| Ty Rogers' 3-pointer sank Drake in Round 1, one of this March's top moments. (Getty Images) |
Favorite expression
Not to make light of Trent Johnson's ejection from the Stanford-Marquette overtime thriller, but assistant coach Doug Oliver's immediate "head in his hands" reaction to the ejection was priceless.
Favorite gesture
I'm sure there were some I didn't see, but Marquette's Dominic James going to the Kentucky bench to congratulate Joe Crawford after Crawford scored 35 points in a valiant individual effort was good to see.
Top performances/team
Davidson: Two dramatic second-half comeback wins.
Louisville: Impressive wire-to-wire victories.
North Carolina: Outscored opponents 222-151 in two games.
Washington State: Gave up a total of 81 points for the first weekend.
Top performances/players
A.J. Abrams, Texas: 56 points and 12-for-20 3-point FG.Stephen Curry, Davidson: 55 of his 70 points in the second half.
Brook Lopez, Stanford: 30 points including the game winner vs. Marquette; also 10-for-11 on free throws.
Kevin Love, UCLA 19 points (with two huge hoops late), 11 rebounds, 7 blocked shots vs. Texas A&M.
Now on to Friday's Sweet 16 matchups.
Midwest Region
Kansas vs. Villanova | 
Preview
The Wildcats have advanced to this point with grit and the brilliance of Scottie Reynolds. Plus they got solid peripheral contributions from Corey Fisher and Antonio Pena in Game 1, and in Game 2 it was Corey Stokes and Dante Cunningham.
But this senior-less team goes as Reynolds goes. It relies heavily on pressure defense, dribble penetration and 3-point shooting. For all of that to work well against an excellent defensive and more experienced team like Kansas is a tall order.
Kansas has four of the best perimeter defenders in the country in Mario Chalmers, Sherron Collins, Russell Robinson and Brandon Rush. The defensive prowess of this group gives it a good chance to wear down Reynolds during the course of the game. I anticipate him having to work too hard to be very effective. And if the Jayhawks neutralize him it will be very hard for Villanova to win.
I also think Kansas is a more balanced offensive team than Villanova. The Jayhawks can hurt teams in transition, with half-court offense, inside and outside. Kansas appears to have too much in its arsenal for Villanova to overcome.
Davidson vs. Wisconsin | Preview
The Davidson Wildcats have been the feel-good team of the tournament: fun to watch, well coached, a very good basketball team. The Wildcats average 79 ppg, commit just 12 turnovers per game, typically out-rebound their opponents and play excellent defense. Stephen Curry and Jason Richards are the only players averaging double figures, but five other players average between 5-8 ppg.
Curry is the focal point offensively and he has been fantastic in the tournament. It seems like he made every clutch shot he took last week. He is a special player.
Though Curry is the undisputed star, Richards might be Davidson's most indispensable player. He makes the offense go with his passing and decision making while setting the tone defensively, too.
Wisconsin is very similar to Davidson in efficiency and execution, just bigger -- the Badgers have three players in the rotation who are 6-feet-10 or taller. They don't beat themselves and are very balanced offensively. Six players average between 8-13 points per game and all of them are capable of big scoring games.
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With such balance and firepower on offense, the Badgers seem to always take advantage of whatever the opposing defense is giving up, but it's on defense where Wisconsin will win.
I think the big fellas will clog up the lane, and Michael Flowers, Joe Krabbenhoft and Jason Bohannon will take turns slowing down Curry. The size and physical nature of Wisconsin's perimeter defenders will make it tough for Curry to shine as he did last week, and if he doesn't score big Davidson can't and won't win.
South Region
Memphis vs. Michigan State | Preview
This is the matchup I'm most looking forward to seeing. Both teams are big, deep, athletic and very well-coached.
Michigan State was outstanding defensively last week, allowing just 35 percent in field-goal defense. The frontline play of Drew Naymick, Goran Suton, Raymar Morgan, Marquis Gray and Idong Ibok has been impressive and must continue.
Drew Neitzel and Kalin Lucas will have to carry the offensive load and are very capable; Neitzel with his shooting and Lucas with his speed. However, both are barely 6-feet tall and could be neutralized by the speed and size of the Memphis backcourt.
Derick Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Antonio Anderson, Doneal Mack and Willie Kemp are all between 6-2 and 6-6 and all are very athletic and solid defenders. They also are explosive on offense. I give Memphis a slight advantage on the perimeter because of that.
However, it's the play of the Memphis frontline that could determine the outcome, particularly that of Joey Dorsey and Robert Dozier. Both have shown flashes of shot-blocking and rebounding brilliance but have also been prone to foul trouble and emotional lapses. They need a bunch of the former and none of the latter.
Shawn Taggart has to be a strong contributor as well.
Michigan State has more bodies up front, but if Dorsey and Dozier deliver, Memphis will advance.
Stanford vs. Texas | Preview
This appears to be a contest between Stanford's inside force and Texas' outside brilliance. Both teams are straightforward in what they do.
Stanford is looking to play through Brook and Robin Lopez, the mobile and gifted 7-foot twins. Brook is an uncanny scorer in the low post and Robin is known more for his defense and rebounding, but he's a capable scorer, too.
Texas will play through the ball handling and scoring wizardry of D.J. Augustin. He'll look to set up 3-point marksman A.J. Abrams and others and score himself when necessary.
Both teams have been difficult to score on all season; 39 percent field-goal defense attests to that. Stanford does it with solid man-to-man defense and the Lopez twins anchoring the paint. Texas has done it with a lot of zone and some man-to-man mixed in.
The dilemma for the Longhorns is slowing down the Lopez twins, who account for 40 percent of the Cardinal offense. And though Anthony Goods, Lawrence Hill and Kenny Brown are capable of scoring outbursts, they have not consistently provided double-digit scoring.
I expect to see the Longhorns try to make someone other than Brook Lopez beat them. Texas also must do a solid job on the offensive glass; Stanford averages 13 offensive rebounds per game.
If the Longhorns defend and rebound effectively, I think their offensive firepower will be too much for Stanford to overcome. Augustin and Abrams are the headliners, but Damion James, Conner Atchley and Justin Mason are all capable of big scoring games.
James averages a double-double, and Atchley, at 6-10, is a difficult matchup because of his 3-point shooting range.
Texas will prevail.
