After Friday’s games, West Virginia, Clemson, Syracuse and Purdue are out.
Clemson might have won if they had played better earlier but Udoka Azubuike presented some real problems inside for the Tigers. They made a nice comeback and cut the lead to four late but couldn’t get any closer.
We didn’t get to watch the Purdue game but we’re sure they miss Isaac Haas. They might have still lost but they’d have their normal rotation.
As for West Virginia, after Villanova’s win you’d have to say they’re the favorite. The Mountaineers were in the game but coach Bob Huggins said fouls slowed his team’s momentum and gave Villanova a chance to pull away.
So the Elite Eight are set :
- Villanova vs. Texas Tech
- Duke vs. Kansas
- Kansas State vs. Loyola
- Michigan vs. Florida State
Loyola and Kansas State is going to be really intriguing. Both play good defense and are gutty, scrappy teams. We’ll go with Loyola here despite the fact that their margin of victory has been really thin in the tournament. (two points, one point and one point victories). They just seem to have a certain indefinable quality.
In the nightcap we expect a very tight game. We’ve said this before and we’ll stick to it: having great games back to back is very rare and Michigan was incredible against Texas A&M. You don't get two.
Florida State is a different issue. FSU can run and jump and they’re deep and like to defend. We’re reasonably sure they’re the deepest team left in the field and they’re playing with confidence and heart.
However, we expect a close game and in a truly tight game, John Beilein will win out the region. He’s always got something up his sleeve.
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