In the 2008 NCAA tournament, despite a valiant effort from number-ten seed Davidson, the four number-one seeds all survived to make it to the Final Four. This year, the expectation was for more upsets, leading to a wide open tournament. But on Sunday, all eight higher ranked schools defeated the lower ranked seeds. The Sweet Sixteen is composed of all the teams that were expected to make it this far, save for the number-five Purdue Boilermakers instead of the number-four Washington Huskies, along with the number-twelve Arizona Wildcats displacing the number-four Wake Forest Demon Deacons. All of the number one, two, and three seeds remain. This could mean that the best teams are left to duke it out. Here are the eight teams that held court on Sunday and make up the second half of the Sweet Sixteen.
Midwest Regional
Louisville Cardinals
Louisville haven’t exactly played like the number-one overall seed, leading Morehead State by only two in their first half of game one, with more than their share of difficulty with the Siena Saints in game two. Louisville struggled in the early part of the season, before dominating Big East play and winning the conference tournament. Besides, it would be difficult to brush off a team featuring Terrence Williams, an athlete described as “freakish” by his coach. Williams can pretty much do it all: monstrous dunks, unselfish assists, controlling the boards, hustling back to play tight defence, and draining three pointers. Coach Rick Pitino has won an NCAA Championship with the rival Kentucky Wildcats, and is credited with revolutionizing the use of the three pointer in college ball. Although Louisville are not winning big, they might just be warming up.
Famous Alumni: Johnny Unitas, but only because Notre Dame and Indiana turned him down
Arizona Wildcats
The conventional thinking amongst college basketball experts was that history allowed Arizona to slide into this year’s tournament. Arizona finished with a record of 19-13, and perhaps the fact that they had made the tournament for the past twenty-four years earned them invitation number twenty-five. But then Arizona went out and upset Utah, and easily handled a dangerous Cleveland State team to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. Though Arizona will be hard pressed to get by Louisville, they do boast two solid, NBA ready players. Forward Jordan Hill is an extremely powerful inside presence, and tweener Chase Budinger has lightning quick hands. Interim coach Russ Pennell hopes to ensure that Arizona doesn’t go searching for a new leader.
Famous Alumni: Greg Kinnear, Caroline Rhea, Geraldo Rivera, Nicole Richie, Craig T. Nelson, and Jerry Bruckheimer
Kansas Jayhawks
The 2008 Jayhawks saw most of the players from their championship team go to the pros. This year was expected to be a transition year, until the Jayhawks went out and dominated Big 12 conference play. They did so by going big and going small. The big was represented by holdover Cole Aldrich, who against Dayton recorded the first triple double in the NCAA tournament since Dwayne Wade. Of course, Aldrich decided to do it the hard way, reaching double figures in points, rebounds, and blocks. The small is point guard Sherron Collins, who, while listed at 5’11,” controls the flow of the offense for the Jayhawks. The big and small of it is that the Jayhawks could defend their championship.
Famous Alumni: Bob Dole, Don Johnson, and Mandy Patinkin
Michigan State Spartans
The finale of the 2009 Tournament will be played in Detroit, Michigan and will honour the 1979 final, when Magic Johnson’s Michigan State team defeated Larry Bird’s surprising Illinois State squad. So naturally, the best venue in Detroit to host the finale was Ford Field. Yes, the same Ford Field that is usually a football stadium and can hold up to 80,000 fans. Unless another school plans to send busloads of students, it makes sense for the sort-of home team, the Michigan State Spartans, to play in the final. The Spartans actually have a chance of making it to the championship, as coach Tom Izzo has a fantastic history of success. The Spartans’ balanced attack and strong defensive play present a glorious opportunity for a Michigan-based team to win a game at Ford Field this year.
Famous Alumni: To Catch a Predator’s Chris Hansen, Bob Guiney from The Bachelor, and James P. Hoffa.
West Regional
Missouri Tigers
A controversial game has overshadowed a shockingly successful season for Mizzou. In the game against Marquette, the Golden Eagles had close plays on a shot clock violation and a player stepping on the line go against them. But what most incensed Marquette was that with five and a half seconds left, Tiger J.T. Tiller suffered a wrist injury driving to the basket. Instead of shooting the foul shots, bench player Kim English came in and drained both shots. Fans were irritated by coach Mike Anderson’s actions, believing that Tiller was faking his injury. But since English actually shot worse for the season at the free throw line than Tiller, Anderson should be exonerated. It will be interesting to see what happens if a surprising Missouri team, led by Anderson’s nephew (transfer DeMarre Carroll), makes a deep run.
Famous Alumni: Sheryl Crow, Tom Berenger, and Ian Kinsler
East Regional
Pittsburgh Panthers
Pittsburgh seemed to have it all coming into the tournament: a number-one seed for the first time in the school’s history, two hard-fought wins over rival Connecticut Huskies, a local talent in the ferocious Dejuan Blair, veteran leadership with point guard Levance Fields, and leading scorer Sam Young, and a first-class coach in Jamie Dixon, who has led Pitt to the NCAA Tournament every year. Then they went out and nearly lost to number-sixteen East Tennessee State. In that game, CBS was repeatedly airing the
“No number-one seed has ever lost to sixteen-seed” graphic, as it looked like Pittsburgh might have been the first. The eventual ten point victory made the game’s result look less close than it actually was. Pittsburgh also had trouble dispatching Oklahoma State. Are these games a sign of trouble, or has Dixon righted the ship?
Famous Alumni: Larry Fitzgerald Jr. and Michael Chabon
Xavier Musketeers
Most teams left come from “power conferences.” These schools normally receive the lion’s share of “at large” bids. This year, non-power conference teams received a measly four at large bids. Two teams from non-power conferences, the ‘Zags and Memphis, won their conference tournaments, and went in automatically. The Xavier Musketeers, from the Atlantic 10, received one of the scarce at large bids, and were given a strong number-four seed. Unlike some of the more powerful schools, Xavier breezed through their opening two games. The Xavier Musketeers are based in Cincinnati, feature a balanced attack, commiting few turnovers. They face a powerful team in Pittsburgh, coach Sean Miller’s alma mater. For fans of the underdog, Xavier might be the best hope for a small school to X out the big guys.
Famous Alumni: Baseball Hall of Famer turned U.S. senator Jim Bunning, and doctor Henry Heimlich, famous for his “maneuver,” is a former faculty member
South Regional
Syracuse Orange
Regardless of what happens during the NCAA Tournament, the Syracuse Orange will have played in two of the most exciting games of the season. Early on, Syracuse was stunned by sixty foot shot at the buzzer in a major upset by, of all teams, Cleveland State. Later, in the Big East tournament, the Orange defeated the favored Connecticut Huskies in overtime. But not just one or two overtimes—six overtimes. Then for good measure, they won in overtime the next day against West Virginia. But the Orange still have juice. Coach Jim Boeheim has led them to their first Sweet Sixteen since they won the NCAA Championship in 2003, in what was Carmelo Anthony’s only season with the team. This season’s edition features the leadership of point guard Jonny Flynn, and sees Andy Rautins, the son of Leo Rautins, playing in a reserve role. The Orange are hoping that the roller coaster season continues all the way to the finals.
Famous Alumni: Running back turned actor Jim Brown, Vanessa Williams, and Jerry Stiller
