Texas Longhorns vs. Purdue Boilmakers: Purdue Boilmakers

Texas definitely has shocked everyone by coming from the first four into the sweet sixteen. However, I think that this will be the end of the road for them. The Longhorns’ defense is great within the paint with their rebounding and blocks, but at the three-point line is where they struggle. The downside for them is that Purdue is ranked in the top 10 for their 3-point percentage. Purdue is also great at adjusting their offense to whatever defense they are given and is able to move the ball around for the best possible shot. If their shots fall and they can manage to not fall apart under the Texas defense, it could lead to the end of Texas’s season. 

St. John’s Red Storm vs. Duke Blue Devils: Duke Blue Devils

This game will come down most likely to whose defense is better. St. John’s recently just had a huge upset against KU, which definitely helps fuel their fire and gives them more of an edge to be the underdog that dismantles the one-seed. However, they are not the most consistent three-point shooting team, and they do not match up with Duke’s athleticism and length, mostly brought by forward Cameron Boozer. While I think that it will be a closer game than expected, Duke will be able to hold them and take the win. 

Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Nebraska Huskers: Nebraska Huskers

Iowa recently just had a huge upset, taking down the previous national champions and one-seed, the Florida Gators. While this could fuel their momentum, they have to be careful not to get too high and forget about what they do best. Nebraska, on the other hand, just got very close to ending its season in their game against Vanderbilt. This could definitely cause them to check themselves and realize what more they need to do and work on in order to have fewer down-to-the-wire games occur. The keys for Nebraska would be for them to keep Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz locked down and hope that Iowa fouls heavily, as they have done previously, and take advantage of this by making free throws. 

Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Michigan Wolverines: Michigan Wolverines

While both teams are strong at the three-point line, Alabama would need to have the best defense of their season in order to stop the Wolverines’ scoring runs, but also continue to drain threes constantly if they want to win. Michigan is not only dominant at the rim with constant blocks and turnovers, but its fast breaks and aggressive offense cause many teams to be unable to keep up. Ultimately, Alabama will end up falling to Michigan.

Tennessee Volunteers vs. Iowa State Cyclones: Tennessee Volunteers

Tennessee recently took down the three-seed Virginia with its dominant defense. In order for Iowa State to hold down the Volunteers, they will have to adjust to Tennessee being able to compete with them player for player and handle the ball well enough to move it and take the best shots. When Iowa can get good ball movement and go from corner to corner, inside-out, they can hit their shots. As well, on defense, when they can steal the ball and get a fast break, they can gain some momentum. However, Tennessee’s lockdown defense, especially on the sharpshooters, and having good performances from their top scorers can allow them to take care of business. 

Michigan State Spartans vs. UConn Huskies: Michigan State Spartans

The Spartans come with lots of experience from their head coach, Tom Izzo, who is able to create game plans that would be able to lock down UConn’s top scoring leaders. As long as they stick to the plan, which would heavily emphasize keeping the Huskies from getting offensive rebounds and second chance shots, as well as hitting shots to extend UConn’s defense, then they will be fine. If the Huskies want to win, they will need to hold up on the defensive side, like they did against UCLA, and also have the whole team as a threat for scoring, so that one man will always be open for a shot. 

Arkansas Razorbacks vs. Arizona Wildcats: Arizona Wildcats

This will definitely be a close game, however, I think the physicality of the Wildcats will allow for them to come out on top. While Arkansas has one of the best players in this tournament, if Arizona can stop him defensively, then they will be good to go to secure the win as long as they still play in their aggressive style. They constantly drive to the rim and get paint, which earns them free throws from fouls. They are also able to shoot deep, so it will come down to whether or not their defense will be able to stop the Razorbacks. If the Razorbacks want to compete with the Wildcats, they will have to create enough open lanes for their point guard to drive in and then kick it out for the shot once he gets defenders drawn to him. They will also have to pedal to the medal the whole game if they want to keep up with Arizona’s fast-paced gameplay. 

Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Houston Cougars: Illinois Fighting Illini

Illinois’ offense is currently ranked best in the country, which can be how they move on to the elite eight. They never stay in a scoring drought for too long and can quickly extend leads when they hit a scoring run. While Houston is an insanely aggressive team on defense and plays hard, they have been inconsistent with scoring this year, falling into some dry spells during the game. If Illinois wants to overcome the physicality of the Cougars defense, they will need to capitalize on the moments when Houston’s shots stop falling. Houston’s chances of winning will have to come from their physicality, which they demonstrated against Texas A&M when they got on the ground for loose balls and were constantly at the rim working for rebounds. They will also need to have consistent shots game round or else Illinois will be the team moving on.