The sweet 16 of the 2011 NCAA tournament started last night with three upsets, with Florida being the only favorite to advance. Check out our recaps of Butler beating Wisconsin, Derrick Williams going off as Arizona knocked off Duke, Jimmer Fredette's BYU career coming to end as they fell to Florida, and Kemba Walker leading UConn over San Diego State.
Tonight seems more likely to go by the chalk as the favorites are much less vulnerable in the Southwest and East regions. Marquette has beaten two really good teams so far in Xavier and Syracuse, so their run is no fluke... but North Carolina's big men will be a challenge they haven't really had to deal with yet. For more on this game check our East region picks.
Richmond has led somewhat of a charmed life in the tourney so far drawing the weakest #5 seed in round one and lucked into a matchup with #13 Morehead St in the round of 32. They'll get no such luck this round with one of the tournament favorites, Kansas. We've got more on this one in our Southwest region picks.
Ohio State vs Kentucky is probably the best matchup in terms of talent in the entire round. Kentucky is stocked with future NBA players, but they're young. Ohio State has plenty of talent themselves, but they've got tournament experience.
The Cinderella matchup of the round is #10 Florida State vs #11 VCU. This is a classic good defensive team (Florida St.) vs a good offensive team (VCU) contest.
Friday, March 25
7:15 p.m. CBS: North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Marquette Golden Eagles
7:27 p.m., TBS: Kansas Jayhawks vs. Richmond Spiders
9:45 p.m., CBS: Ohio St. Buckeyes vs. Kentucky Wildcats
9:57 p.m., TBS: Florida St. Seminoles vs. VCU Rams
Be sure to check out our Sweet 16 predictions stream.
Pick up an updated Printable NCAA Tournament Bracket.