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In This piece We will Review and Preview this years NCAAB Tournament Sweet 16 Games in what has been one of the most competitive tournaments in recent years.
On Thursday the NCAAB Tournament will resume with the Sweet 16 round. This years tournament has featured some of the most unlikely endings with come back wins and enormous blown leads and melt downs. Below is a look at the 8 games on deck.
Miami vs Villanova On Thursday at 7;10 eastern. The Hurricanes are a solid 3 seed here and advanced by beating a hot shooting Wichita St team in their last game. Now they take on the 2 seeded Villanova team that flattened Iowa by 19 points and has looked much better this year than last years team that exited early. This game should be a very competitive game that should get decided late by two teams that are ranked 5 and 9 respectively in the RPI Scale. One of the better matchups in this tournament.
Texas A@M vs Oklahoma Thursday night at 7:35 eastern. This game pits a pair of old school Big 12 Conference rivals. A@M is now in the SEC Conference. In their last game they staged on of the biggest come backs in NCAAB History coming back from down 12 with under 3 minutes to go over Northern Iowa. Oklahoma Edges a better than expected VCU Team. Oklahoma has a better RPI Rank at #6 than A@M Does at #18 but the Aggies have won 5 of 6 vs Top schools and has enough offensive fire power to stay with Oklahoma. Another Solid game.
Maryland vs Kansas at 9:40 eastern on Thursday night. Kansas has coasted like a solid 1 seed in the first 2 rounds. Now they face a game 5 seed in Maryland who was solid in their win over Hawaii, taking over in the 2nd half in a 13 point win. The Terrapins are a bit under rated this year but do have a solid 14 RPI Scale Ranking. This should be a tougher game for the Jayhawks and in what should be a higher scoring game they play solid defense and that could spell trouble for Maryland.
Duke vs Oregon at 10:30 eastern closes out the Thursday night games. Duke survived a 2nd half scare from Yale after opening up a 23 point lead at the half. The defending champs are not close to the level they were at last year as they just do not play enough defense. However, they can score the ball and they will take on an Oregon team that comes in off a come from behind win over St. Joe's. Oregon is the top Pac 12 team this year and is ranked #2 in the RPI Scale behind Kansas and is one of just three other teams with 30 wins. Both teams play up tempo which will help Duke who has had a tougher time with solid defensive teams. They should be able to get out and run with the Ducks in what promises to be an exciting game.
Iowa St vs Virginia the first game of the evening on Friday at 7:10 eastern. Iowa St is ranked 23 in the RPI Scale and is just 8-10 vs top 50 teams and will have their work cut out for them tonight against a tough minded defensive team like the Cavaliers who are 4th ranked in the RPI Scale and has a vast amount of big game experience and has played the 2nd toughest schedule in the country. This will be very tough for the Cyclones who coast past Arkansas Little Rock while Virginia beat a solid Butler team.
Wisconsin vs Notre Dame on Friday at 7:30 eastern. Big 10 vs ACC in this game featuring last years runner up in Wisconsin who was not expected to be here after losing key pieces and their coach. However they upset 2 seeded Xavier on a buzzer beater and will now face a Notre Dame team that broke the 21 game win streak and hearts of Stephen F. Austin with a dramatic 76-75 win after trailing big in the first half. These are the type of unexpected matchups that make this tournament one of the premier events in the country and truly make the phrase March Madness applicable as neither team is ranked in the top 30 of the all important RPI Scale.
Gonzaga vs Syracuse on Friday at 9:40 eastern. Another game where no one expected these 2 schools to be here. Gonzaga is not nearly as talented as last seasons team. Yet here they are and off a blowout win by 20+ points over a solid Utah team as an 11 seed. Syracuse took advantage of getting a game vs Middle Tennessee who knocked off 2 Seed Michigan St as a 17 point dog in one the biggest upsets in tournament history never even losing the lead. Syracuse pulled away big after tightening their zone in the 2nd half and pulling away to a 25 point win. Middle Tennessee coach told the media there was no way to prepare or simulate that Syracuse zone and that he had not seen anything like it before. This is not the best Syracuse team nor the best Gonzaga team. Many still cant fathom that one of these two will be an elite 8 squad this year.
Indiana vs North Carolina in the final sweet 16 game on Friday at 10:0 eastern. North Carolina dispatched a hard fighting although less talented Providence team. The Tar Heels are one of an amazing 6 ACC Teams advancing to the sweet 16 round. They are a 31 win team worthy of a 1 seed. Indiana upset 4 Seeded Kentucky who was not expected to make a big run this year. The Hoosiers are a solid squad who led the Big 10 Conference all season before finishing 2nd to Michigan and somehow would up with a 5 seed. They are 7-3 vs top 50 teams and will be in this game throughout.
In Closing this should be another exciting and unpredictable round, similar to what we have seen last week. Check our page each day for free plays featuring cutting edge data and powerful system plays that wont be seen anywhere else. GC is coming off another big season in College hoops and is tearing up NBA too. Enjoy the games and best of luck. Golden Contender Sports.
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