March Sanity?

Well the first two rounds of the NCAA men's basketball tournament are behind us and with everything going pretty much to form (I don't understand the term 'chalk'), it is much less madness and way more sanity.

With almost all the top seeds advancing, this tournament is void of a Cinderella story, unless you can call Arizona the Cinderella. A 12 seed and by most accounts the last team to make the tournament, the Wildcats have impressed with wins over #5 Utah and #13 Cleveland St., who had real Cinderella potential after having the only 'real' upset of the first round against Wake Forest.

So now it is the best of the best remaining, which is probably good for college basketball. Although, the casual fan might like to see an underdog play in the sweet sixteen, it is much better to have the good teams remaining.

So who is the best of the best? UCONN looked extremely tough in their first two games, as have the Orange of Syracuse and Oklahoma. Unfortunately for them they play in the sweet sixteen. The other #1 and #2 seeds have done just enough in their first two games to progress. They have the week to regroup, watch some film, get players healthy and come out swinging for when it matters.

A quick viewing guide for the weekend, just the good match-ups;
Thursday
East: Duke-Villanova - Can the Big East keep everyone alive?

West: UConn-Purdue - A legitimate test for the best team in the tourney so far and another test for the Big East.

Friday
Midwest: Michigan State-Kansas - Will this be the end of the road for the defending champs?

South: UNC-Gonzaga - The original Cinderella, looks to play spoiler again. Ty Lawson better be fully healthy for this affair.
Oklahoma-Syracuse - The best game of the sweet 16 featuring two future NBA players Blake Griffin and Johnny Flynn.