Another of the upstarts of the NCAA Tournament, the NC State Wolfpack, are going to be squaring off on the Sweet 16 odds on Friday night in St. Louis, when they take on the Kansas Jayhawks.

Sweet 16 Matchup: #11 NC State Wolfpack vs. #2 Kansas Jayhawks
Date: Friday, March 23rd, 10:15 ET
Location: Scottrade Arena, St. Louis, MO
Sweet 16 Odds: Kansas -8
NCAA Tournament TV Schedule: TBS

The Wolfpack and the Jayhawks are both here in the Sweet 16, and they have both had shaky starts to the dance. Kansas hasn’t had to face a team thus far in the tourney that has had better than a No. 10 seed, and the possibility is that it could get all the way to the Final Four without facing a single digit team. NC State has been a bit of the upstart, but even though it is a No. 11 seed, the team was favored against the No. 6 San Diego State Aztecs, and it was considered by many every bit as good as the No. 3 Georgetown Hoyas. This is really the first game that it is going to face in which it is expected to get beaten by the majority of the college basketball betting fans.

CJ Leslie has really reshaped his career, and he could be well on his way to greatness if he can get the Wolfpack into the Elite 8. The much trouble forward still has a tremendous amount of talent, and he is averaging 14.6 points and 7.4 boards per game. He is also good for almost a block and a half and over a steal per game to boot. Scott Wood is a sharpshooter that can literally trump any team in America with his long range shooting, and here in the tourney, that’s what it takes to be able to beat some of the big boys like these Jayhawks.

It hasn’t always been pretty for the Jayhawks, but they have found ways to get the job done down the stretch of games here in the dance. They were able to get huge contributions from Elijah Johnson to beat the Purdue Boilermakers over the weekend, and though neither Thomas Robinson nor Tyshawn Taylor have lived up to their potential thus far in the dance, both have been serviceable and could be Final Four stars if the Jayhawks make it that far. KU shoots the ball quite well at 48.0 percent as a team, and as long as that keeps up and there are some shots that are falling from the outside as well, the Jayhawks should be in good shape.

Here is what really concerns us. This point spread has been right around eight all week long, yet almost two thirds of the bets that are coming in are doing so on the Wolfpack. That’s very, very odd, especially this time of year, and though there aren’t many times when you can say that the favorite is “sharp,” we do think that this is one of these times. This is going to be a decided home court advantage for the Jayhawks, and we think that they are going to just blast and NC State team that, at times this year, has been absolutely atrocious both at home and on the road.

Sweet 16 Free Pick: Kansas Jayhawks -8

Wisconsin vs. Syracuse Projected Final Score: Kansas 90 – NC State 73

There are only eight spots available for the weekend in the NCAA Tournament, and today, we are making our Sweet 16 picks in the duel between the Indiana Hoosiers and the Kentucky Wildcats.

Sweet 16 Matchup: #4 Indiana Hoosiers vs. #1 Kentucky Wildcats
Date: Friday, March 23rd, 9:45 ET
Location: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, GA
Sweet 16 Odds: Kentucky -9
NCAA Tournament TV Schedule: CBS

It has been well documented that the Wildcats have only been beaten twice this year, and it goes without saying that Head Coach John Calipari has been showing his team tape of that game against the Hoosiers all week long trying to get in his team’s head just how dangerous of a squad this is. Of course, there is a big difference between playing here in Atlanta in SEC country and in Bloomington, where IU basketball is king. But, we also can’t forget that these teams are going to look totally different now than they did in December, as there are a heck of a lot more games of experience under the belts of all of the youngsters involved.

That probably means that Kentucky isn’t going to get sucked into the moment of the game. Remember that this team was able to knock off a very veteran North Carolina Tar Heels side earlier this year, though we know that that was a home game. The addition of Cody Zeller to this roster from last year really got it over the top. The frosh has averaged 15.5 points and 6.5 boards per game this year, and he has had big time tourney. Zeller has scored 30 total points, has 19 boards, five assists, a block, and six steals. Christian Watford is the man that hit the big time shot to beat the Wildcats, but we know that he is going to have to be a heck of a lot better than this, knowing that Verdell Jones III is now out of the lineup for the rest of the season.

Kentucky is a team that has definitely done some growing over the course of the last two months or so. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is going to be a superstar in the NBA, as will Anthony Davis. Doron Lamb is the only starter of the bunch that had experience from last year’s Final Four team. The key though, is Marquis Teague. He has had a huge tourney, scoring 36 points with 11 assists and six boards. There is still a question as to whether this frosh is going to be able to get the job done against the big time teams in the tourney, and this is going to be a heck of a lot bigger test than games against the Iowa State Cyclones and the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

We saw Kentucky get the job done for the most part over the course of the season. The team is now in a good place, and it is really destroying teams a heck of a lot more often than not. The Hoosiers are having a great year, and even if they bow out now by 70 points, the season would still be classified as a success. Head Coach Tom Crean will get IU back to a championship level, but this isn’t anywhere near a Final Four team yet.

Sweet 16 Free Pick: Kentucky Wildcats -9

Wisconsin vs. Syracuse Projected Final Score: Kentucky 79 – Indiana 66

Of the 16 teams that are left standing in the field, there are only three that won their conference tournaments. One of the three are in action on Friday night in St. Louis, where we make our Sweet 16 picks in the clash between the Ohio Bobcats and the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Sweet 16 Matchup: #4 Ohio Bobcats vs. #1 North Carolina Tar Heels
Date: Friday, March 23rd, 7:45 ET
Location: Scottrade Arena, St. Louis, MO
Sweet 16 Odds: North Carolina -10.5
NCAA Tournament TV Schedule: TBS

The Bobcats are one of the three double digit seeds that are left in the NCAA Tournament, and they are going to try to do the best they can to take down one of the top teams in the country. Yes, Ohio has taken out a pair of teams that were from the power conferences, but neither one was truly one of the best in their respective conference, especially beating the South Florida Bulls in their third game of the week.

If Ohio is going to pull off the upset, it needs to play like it did at home this year, where it went a whopping 16-1. The team is going to need big time performances out of its guards, Walter Offutt and DJ Cooper. Offutt is coming off of a game against USF in which he scored 21 points on a rock solid 7-of-9 shooting. Cooper put up 19 points, seven helpers, and six boards in the same game, and he now has five straight games with at least 18 points scored. He averages 14.9 points, 5.7 assists, 3.8 rebounds, and 2.3 steals per game, so it is clear that even at 5’11″, Cooper can fill up the stat sheet.

Of course, the big question that we have been asking of the Tar Heels all week long is what their backcourt is going to look like. We know that Tyler Zeller and Harrison Barnes are both tremendous athletes, and now that John Henson is back in the fold, it is clearly one of the best two or three frontcourts in the entire country. However, Dexter Strickland was already lost for the season before coming anywhere near the postseason, and now, Kendall Marshall has a broken wrist that just got out of a cast on Wednesday. Reggie Bullock is probably going to have to step up and do some more of the ball handling duties regardless of whether Marshall plays or not, but if he doesn’t, it is going to be a long game for the UNC guards against a very stingy set of Bobcats guards.

In the end though, the power of the Tar Heels is far going to outweigh the play of Offutt and Cooper. Barnes can handle the ball if need be as well, and as long as the pace of this one keeps up, the Bobcats are going to have no answers for all of the size and athleticism that Carolina has to bring to the table in the paint. The big time rebounding edge is going to go to the Tar Heels, and that is probably going to make all the difference. It has been a nice run for Ohio, but it is a run that is coming to a close on Friday night here in the Sweet 16.

Sweet 16 Free Pick: North Carolina Tar Heels -10.5

Wisconsin vs. Syracuse Projected Final Score: North Carolina 82 – Ohio 68

The Xavier Musketeers and the Baylor Bears analysis starts right here at Cappers Info, and we are taking a look at these two teams and which side has the edge when push comes to shove. Don’t miss out on our Sweet 16 picks for this clash!

Sweet 16 Matchup: #10 Xavier Musketeers vs. #3 Baylor Bears
Date: Friday, March 23rd, 7:15 ET
Location: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, GA
Sweet 16 Odds: Baylor -6
NCAA Tournament TV Schedule: CBS

Just a few weeks ago, Baylor looked like a team that was going to crash out of the NCAA Tournament to a team that it had no business losing to, while Xavier seemed like it was destined to finish on the wrong side of the bubble. It’s amazing what a run to your conference final parlayed with a little bit of luck can do for a team. Now, the X-Men got all the way up to the No. 10 line in the dance and made it here by beating an overrated bunch of Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the No. 15 seed in the bracket, the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. Baylor has had nothing but double digit seeds at this point en route to the Sweet 16, and there is definitely something to be said about the Bears using their momentum from the Big XII Tournament and carrying it into the dance against teams that they should be crushing.

Even odder for the Musketeers is that Mark Lyons really hasn’t done anything in this tournament. He is averaging 15.0 points per game this year, but he only has 15 points in total in the two games. That being said, Tu Holloway has picked up the slack, and when he has needed help, it has been Kenny Frease that has come to the forefront. Frease is coming off of a huge game against Lehigh in which he put up 25 points and 12 boards, raising his season averages up to 9.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.

All of Baylor’s starters are double digit point scorers on a regular basis, and that makes this team an incredibly dangerous one. It is so hard to cover all five men on every possession, especially knowing that any of them can take the final shot from just about anywhere on the court. We haven’t heard much from Perry Jones III yet in this tournament, but this could be the game in which he truly roars and declares his presence. Keep an eye as well on Quincy Miller, who is coming off of just an eight point performance against the Colorado Buffaloes.

The Musketeers have an injury concern in this one, knowing that Dezmine Wells has a toe injury. That being said, we think that we haven’t seen the best out of the X-Men yet in this tournament, and we just don’t trust the inconsistency of the Bears. Baylor might get through, but we really don’t think so. Xavier is a team that has picked up a lot of big wins in the tourney over the years, and this very well could be another one of those victories to get it to the Elite 8. We certainly want the points on our side.

Sweet 16 Free Pick: Xavier Musketeers +6

Xavier vs. Baylor Projected Final Score: Xavier 77 – Baylor 70

The upstarts of the NCAA Tournament, the Florida Gators, are going to be squaring off on the Sweet 16 odds on Thursday night in Phoenix, when they take on the Marquette Golden Eagles.

Sweet 16 Matchup: #7 Florida Gators vs. #3 Marquette Golden Eagles
Date: Thursday, March 22nd, 10:15 ET
Location: US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
Sweet 16 Odds: Marquette -1.5
NCAA Tournament TV Schedule: TBS

When push comes to shove, the onus of this game really doesn’t come down to much of anything that Marquette is going to do. If the Gators are hitting their shots from the outside, they are going to win this game and probably win it quite handily. If they aren’t though, it is going to be a long, uphill battle for them to be able to get the job done when push comes to shove.

UF is going to throw four guards on the court at the same time for virtually the entire game. Ironically, the team is shooting a whopping 76 percent from the floor on two-point shots, but still, it is a team that lives and dies by the three-pointer. The guards can run down rebounds, but as we saw with undersized teams like the Missouri Tigers already in this region, when there are big men that can out-jump the little guys, matters could get sticky if there are going to be a ton of rebounding opportunities. If there is good news for the Gators though, it is that they have a lot of NCAA Tournament experience, and if it comes down to coaching, Billy Donovan should be able to run circles around the fiery Buzz Williams.

Marquette’s ability to win this game might come down to Jae Crowder. There is no doubt that Crowder is a force to be reckoned with, and he is going to be the best rebounder on the court. He has a knack for getting the opposing big men in foul trouble, and if that turns out to be the case, Donovan is going to have to go onto his bench fairly early, which certainly won’t be making him a happy camper, knowing that all of his experience is in his first seven players in the rotation. Crowder has had five straight double-doubles, and he can really dominate in the paint. If he is able to draw plenty of attention, Darius Johnson-Odom, a man who has averaged 18.5 points per game here in the dance and for the season is going to have the ability to light things up as well.

We’re just really concerned with the way that the Gators play basketball, and we know that eventually, they are going to get bitten by it. The problem with Marquette though, is that its offense has tended to go in the tank in the big time games. If the Virginia Cavaliers had any offense whatsoever, UF would have been dismissed in the first round easily. Instead, the Gators are still here. The Golden Eagles just don’t have the tools to get the job done against this team, and we are going to bank on the fact that the sharpshooters for the Gators have more to bring to the table in this game than Crowder and the rest of his Golden Eagles do.

Sweet 16 Free Pick: Florida Gators +1.5

Wisconsin vs. Syracuse Projected Final Score: Florida 70 – Marquette 66

The Wisconsin Badgers and the Syracuse Orange analysis starts right here at Cappers Info, and we are taking a look at these two teams and which side has the edge when push comes to shove. Don’t miss out on our Sweet 16 picks for this clash!

Sweet 16 Matchup: #4 Wisconsin Badgers vs. #1 Syracuse Orange
Date: Thursday, March 22nd, 7:15 ET
Location: TD Garden, Boston, MA
Sweet 16 Odds: Syracuse -3.5
NCAA Tournament TV Schedule: CBS

It is clear that the Badgers are going to provide the toughest challenge to the top seed in the East Region that they have seen this year. Syracuse is a team that many think is going to be down for the count now that it is running into a team that is mentally and physically tough, though we know that this is still a very talented side.

Wisconsin is traditionally a grinding team that is going to get the job done on the defensive end of the court. This is clearly the best defensive team left in this field, as the squad is allowing just 52.9 points per game. Part of that is because of the pace of the games, but we know that Head Coach Bo Ryan is insistent that all of his defenders are always swarming to try to create empty possessions and bad shots.

The problem on the other side of the court is that Wisconsin is going to shoot so many three point baskets. We don’t think of Syracuse as a dynamic defensive team, but we have to remember is that clubs only shot 38.3 percent from the floor this year against it. The Orange played great team defense in the dismissal of the Kansas State Wildcats in the second round, as the Cats shot just 31.3 percent from the floor. The Badgers have already tried to jack up 52 three pointers in this tourney, but even if their shots aren’t falling, they are going to have a shot to get on the offensive glass. KSU had 22 offensive rebounds over the weekend, and it is clear that a number like that again versus the Orange is going to see the top seed in the East knocked out.

In the end, the Badgers are one of the many teams from the Big Ten in this tournament that have proven that they are legit. Jordan Taylor, Jared Berggren, and the crew wouldn’t necessarily beat any team in the nation in this spot, but we think that without Fab Melo, this is a bad, bad spot for the Orange. They just aren’t going to be able to hit the boards hard enough to win this game, and the end result is going to be a lot of second chance buckets. Once the Badgers get in front, they aren’t going to let the Orange get back in it.

Sweet 16 Free Pick: Wisconsin Badgers +3.5

Wisconsin vs. Syracuse Projected Final Score: Wisconsin 66 – Syracuse 63

Of the 16 teams that are left standing in the field, there are only three that won their conference tournaments. Two of the three are in action on Thursday night in Phoenix, where we make our Sweet 16 picks in the clash between the Louisville Cardinals and the Michigan State Spartans.

Sweet 16 Matchup: #4 Louisville Cardinals vs. #1 Michigan State Spartans
Date: Thursday, March 22nd, 7:45 ET
Location: US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
Sweet 16 Odds: Michigan State -5
NCAA Tournament TV Schedule: TBS

There is really only one major difference between these two teams. For Louisville, the only path to winning this game is likely going to be through its defense. This is a team that plays outstanding ball on this side of the court, and the amount of blocked shots that Gorgui Dieng and the crew get are out of this world. That’s why this is the team ranked No. 2 in the nation in opponents’ field goal shooting percentage. Michigan State can lock in the defense or get the job done with its stars taking over games on the offensive end of the court.

Louisville has a great team, as demonstrated by the fact that it won the Big East Tournament, arguably the toughest tournament for a team to win because in this case, the Cards had to win four games in four days at Madison Square Garden. The Cardinals have been winning the tight games as well, something that they didn’t do last year in the NCAA Tournament against the Morehead State Eagles. The team plays its tight defense, but it also likes to play a high octane style, and that is a style that we really might see a lot of in the Sweet 16 with both of these teams having a few days to get their legs back underneath them.

Peyton Siva and Keith Appling are two fantastic guards, and they are going to have to be the ones that get their teams off and running. Both tend to turn the ball over a bit much, but they are both keys for their team. Though Louisville has plenty of players with the potential to get to double digits in scoring, it doesn’t have a man like Draymond Green out there on the court. At just 6’7″, Green plays like a man that is a heck of a lot bigger. He is averaging a double-double per game this year, but he is a great passer as well, averaging just short of four assists per game. He is an asset on both sides of the court, and with one triple-double already in this tourney, Green is one man that can really take this game over all by himself.

We do think that Michigan State is going to find some way to survive this game. The deeper the tourney goes, the more dangerous that the Spartans and their championship winning Head Coach Tom Izzo really are. The Cardinals will stick inside of the number, but we think that that will be their only solace, as they have to head back to Louisville with nothing more than a claim to being in the Sweet 16 in 2012. We just trust that when push comes to shove, Green is going to get the job done for the Spartans, and he’ll make the difference.

Sweet 16 Free Pick: Louisville Cardinals +5

Wisconsin vs. Syracuse Projected Final Score: Michigan State 71 – Louisville 67