The most impressive player this far has been Draymond Green of Michigan State. Besides his great leadership and hardworking playing style, Green has lit up the stat box this tournament. In their second round game against LIU-Brooklyn, Green put up a triple double as he dropped 24 points on the Blackbirds along with 12 rebounds and 10 assists. Going into the Sweet Sixteen Green is averaging 20 points, 12.5 rebounds, and 8 assists. What is even more impressive is that Green is shooting well over 50% from the field and is shooting exactly 50% from behind the arc. The Spartans rely on Green heavily and if they make a deep run into the tournament it will be led by Green’s stellar play.

            There have been quite a few surprises so far in this year’s tournament, but one team stands out among the rest: the Xavier Musketeers. The Musketeers won a thriller second round game against a Notre Dame team that proved their worth by being the first team to beat Syracuse this year. Xavier is led by star senior guard Tu Holloway and senior center Kenny Frease.  Add in the team’s strong role players, and they have the talent to advance further in the tournament. Now, many might say it’s not a surprise at all that they are in the Sweet Sixteen as it is their fourth Sweet Sixteen in the past five years, but the surprise comes from an Incident that happened back on December 10 in a game against Cincinnati.  With 10 seconds left and the Musketeers winning comfortably, a violent brawl broke out between the two teams, with many players involved.  Xavier suspended four players - including Holloway.  This incident affected their play and focus as the Musketeers lost 11 of their next 21 after being undefeated following the Cincinnati game.  However, Xavier started winning late in the season and finished second in the A-10 tournament. The fact that they were able to bounce back from such a tough stretch is a credit to the players and coaching staff, and is shocking to many people.

In the South region, Kentucky will advance to the Final Four just off of pure talent.  They’ll beat Indiana and get a chance for revenge for their only regular season loss lead them to a tough matchup against Baylor in the Elite Eight. Even though the Musketeers are hot right now the Baylor Bears are too athletic for Xavier to keep up and they’ll end the Musketeers run. The Wildcats should be able to counter the athleticism of Baylor in the Elite Eight and move one to the final weekend.

In the Midwest region, Michigan State will defeat a Louisville team fresh off a Big East championship, while the Marquette Golden Eagles will handle business against Florida and eventually upset the Spartans to advance to the Final Four.

In the West region, the Syracuse Orange will fall to the Wisconsin Badgers.  I’m sure Kalabe, will say that Syracuse has too much firepower, but there are many reasons for their likely defeat. The Orange relies heavily on forcing turnovers against opposing teams, while the Badgers rarely turn the ball over.  In fact, Badger starting point guard Jordan Taylor leads the nation in assist to turnover ratio. Wisconsin also forces teams to play half-court defense, which Syracuse struggles with – especially since they lost their star center Fab Melo to ineligibility for the entire tournament. The loss of Melo also forces Syracuse to become a jump shooting team.  History shows that a team that relies purely on their shooting ability will never win the dance; you must have an inside game. The Badgers are also a shooting team – a much better one - and will drop three-pointers for days.  They are one of the most lethal teams in the country from behind the arc. Syracuse may have more talent but this is just a bad matchup for the Orange. In the bottom of the region Ohio State will beat Cincinnati and defeat Wisconsin for the third time this season and move on to the Final Four.

Finally, in the East region, the clock will strike midnight for both Ohio and NC State as their Cinderella runs will end on Friday night. The Wolfpack does have a chance against the Jayhawks as Kansas is undisciplined and inconsistent, and is very lucky to have made it to this round. In an exciting Elite Eight matchup, UNC will defeat Kansas even though they will most likely be without point guard Kendell Marshall.  The Jayhawks are not mature enough to beat the Tar Heels and UNC will return to the Final Four after a two year hiatus.