I'm not sure that I can recall a set of Sweet 16 games with so many blowouts, but that's what we've seen so far this year. With the exception of one game last night, there was little drama to be found. The trend of top seeds continued on as well as both the 1's and 2's advanced on Friday. With those things in mind, let's take a look at Sunday's Elite 8 matchups to determine the remaining Final Four participants.

(1) Louisville vs. (2) Michigan St.: CBS - 2:20pm
Speaking of lack of drama, it was most apparent when Louisville faced off with Arizona in Indianapolis. Rick Pitino moved to 9-0 all time as a coach in the Sweet 16 round as the Cardinals simply dismantled the Wildcats, winning the game 104-64. The Cardinals never trailed in the game and continually expanded their lead throughout, never letting off the gas pedal. Louisville put 5 players in double figures while shooting nearly 58% from the field. Earl Clark's 19 points and 9 rebounds lead the way, but this was a full team effort without a doubt. All 13 Louisville players found their way to the score sheet and the celebrating came early in this one. The Cards are leaving little doubt in anybody's mind as to why they were named the top overall seed in the tournament.

Michigan St. did not have quite as easy of a night on Friday, battling Kansas until the very end. Down by as much as 13 late in the first half, the Spartans battled their way back and edged ahead for good in the final minute, winning the game 67-62. Big Ten player of the year Kalin Lucas struggled for most of the game, but in crunch time, his star shined brightest. He scored 7 points in the last 49 seconds to advance Tom Izzo's squad to the Elite 8. Lucas finished with 18 points and 7 assists, while center Goran Suton was the only other player in double figures with 20 points and 9 rebounds. Suton was battling head to head with Cole Aldrich and effectively counter balanced him. The Spartans didn't shoot particularly well as a team, but their defense made up for it, forcing 19 Kansas turnovers, including 13 steals for Michigan St.. The Spartans remained undefeated in the NCAA tournament as a 2 seed.

I've been reluctant to give Michigan St. much credit up until this point, but they proved they belong by holding off Kansas last night. However, they know face a buzzsaw in the Louisville Cardinals. Pitino is a master at having his teams ready for March, and this year has proved no exception. A brief moment of doubt against Siena is about the only adversity the Cardinals have faced thus far, but the Spartans will certainly be the highest quality opponent Louisville has seen in this tournament. Still, the Cardinals are battle tested after winning the Big East which has proved how good it is by placing 4 teams in the Elite 8. The Spartans will surely keep it closer than Arizona could manage, but in the end, I think Louisville's full court pressure and endless bench is going to prove more than Izzo's bunch can handle.

(1) UNC vs. (2) Oklahoma: CBS - 5:05pm
North Carolina has had a very similar tournament to Louisville thus far, with only a momentary concern in the 2nd round slowing them down up to this point. Friday night was more of the same for the Tar Heels as they faced Gonzaga in Memphis. Ty Lawson again proved he was healthy enough to contribute as he scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half and propelled Carolina to an 11 point lead at the break. The game never got any closer than that margin in the 2nd half as UNC pulled away to the 98-77 win. Lawson also had 9 assists and just on turnover in his 27 minutes of action. Tyler Hansbrough was solid as usual, contributing 24 points and 10 boards to the effort. The Tar Heels out rebounded Gonzaga 40-28 and has 23 assists compared to the Bulldogs 10. North Carolina will be looking for it's 100th tournament win on Sunday when they face off with Oklahoma.

Blake Griffin continues to be a tour de force in his effort to get Oklahoma a National Championship. Friday night was more of the same as Syracuse, like so many before them, had no answer for the soon to be Naismith Award winner. On this night, it was 30 points and 15 rebounds on 12/15 shooting. Jim Boeheim was denied his 800th career victory and will have to wait until next season to join that club now, as the Sooners knocked off the Orange, 84-71. Griffin didn't do it all by himself however, junior guard Tony Crocker chipped in 28 points including 6 baskets from beyond the arc. Syracuse on the other hand was stone cold from 3 point land, missing it's first 10 attempts and finishing 7/24. The Orange never lead in this one and the Sooners enjoyed a margin as large as 27 points in the 2nd half before sealing the deal and moving to the Elite 8.

Oklahoma vs. North Carolina was one of the first potential matchups of the tournament that I noticed and anticipated. A classic "irresistible force meets immovable object" matchup, although perhaps both qualify as irresistible forces in this instance. Last year's Player of the Year, Tyler Hansbrough will do battle with this year's soon to be award winner Blake Griffin, and it should be an entertaining matchup. Carolina is averaging over 94 points per game so far in the tournament, just about their average for the year at 90.5. Griffin on the other hand is yet to have a game under 25 points and 15 rebounds. Blake Griffin is likely going to get his numbers yet again, despite Carolina's ability to throw multiple, talented big men at him, but the question falls on the supporting cast. Oklahoma will need Tony Crocker to keep up his hot shooting if they want to hang with the likes of Ty Lawson's dynamic point guard play and talented swingman Wayne Ellington's ability to get to the basket and score. This will likely be a very offensive based game and I think in the end, the Tar Heels simply have more weapons to rely on. This should be a fun one to watch, but I think in the end, Carolina advances to the Final 4 next weekend.

So the first half of the Sweet 16 has concluded, and while the winners may not necessarily be so surprising, the methods in which they won could be. The Big East continued to show it's dominance and Memphis became the "Paper Tigers" many thought they might be. This weekend will get us down to the illustrious Final Four, so let's take a look at the matchups for Saturday's Elite 8 games.

(1) UConn vs. (3) Missouri: CBS - 4:40pm
Connecticut lead Purdue wire to wire, and while the Boilermakers kept it close for awhile, UConn pulled away in the second half. The Huskies took the game 72-60, in large part thanks to their 7'3" star Hasheem Thabeet. Thabeet had been mostly quiet through the first two games, but he was clearly the difference on Thursday night. His 15 points, 15 rebounds, and 4 block shots were great, but it was his pure physical presence in the pain that keyed Jim Calhoun's team. Connecticut was able to force Purdue to be a jump shooting team, which didn't fare well for them on this night, connecting on less than 30% of their jumpers. Both the rebounding (48-33) and the foul margin (12-26) were heavily in Connecticut's favor as well, as the Huskies moved on to the West Regional Final.

Missouri is known for their "Fastest 40 Minutes" in basketball and it was fully on display in Glendale on Thursday night. The game started out as a back and forth battle as Memphis kept paced offensively, while neither team's defense looked too great. However, Mizzou started to stretch the lead heading towards the half and a 3/4 court shot Marcus Denmon at the buzzer might have been the nail in the Memphis coffin. Missouri's offense made the vaunted Memphis defense look silly as they continually got the basket for what seemed like layup after layup, pushing the lead to as many as 24 in the second half. Memphis point guard Tyreke Evans had a fantastic game, scoring 33 and helping to close the gap to just 6 points with a little over 2 minutes left, but Mizzou was able to close out the game at the foul line and get the win, 102-91. All 5 Tigers from Missouri scored in double figures and T.J. Tiller lead them with 23.

Many peopled clamored to see UConn/Memphis in the final for this regional, but as I've mentioned before, Memphis' lack of competition in conference play was destined to bite them come tourney time, and that showed up last night. The Missouri Tigers fast paced play and ability to get the basket (and the free throw line as a result) are a tough matchup for anybody. UConn's main weakness this year has been Thabeet getting into foul trouble, and if Missouri keeps pressuring the lane, that might be the result on Saturday. It's going to be difficult for Thabeet to aggressively deny Missouri inside while keeping himself on the court at the same time. Lucky for UConn though, they have some pretty good talent surrounding him. A.J. Price and Jeff Adrien helped them get this far, and they'll need to step it up for the Huskies to make the Final Four. Adrien in particular had a rough night against Purdue, so look for him to bounce back on Saturday. I picked the Huskies to come out of this region in most of my brackets, and I'm not going to change my mind now.

(1) Pittsburgh vs. (3) Villanova: CBS - 7:05pm
Pitt hasn't made it look easy any step of the way so far, and Thursday night's matchup with Xavier was no exception. Pittsburgh's largest lead in a very back and forth game was also the final margin, 60-55 in their favor. It was a gritty game where neither team shot well, but the Panthers were able to rely on their star point guard, Levance Fields down the stretch, who scored two buckets in the final minute to help propel Pitt to the Elite 8. A place they haven't been for the past 35 years. Sam Young chipped in 19 points and DeJuan Blair was a beast as usual, scoring 10, but grabbing 17 rebounds. Jamie Dixon's squad has looked less than impressive so far, but they are also still to play the type of basketball they are capable of.

Villanova flat out embarrassed Duke en route to a 77-54 win in Boston. Their defense keyed them through the first half as Duke remained close, but had a very difficult time getting into the flow of their offense. The 2nd half was all in the favor of the Wildcats as they continued to force poor attempts by the Blue Devils while getting relatively easy baskets of their own. Duke went a paltry 16-60 from the field for the game, including 5-27 beyond the arc. Nova also managed to out rebound the Blue Devils by a 46-32 margin and kept Duke stars Gerald Henderson (1/14) and John Scheyer (3/18) completely in check. For the Wildcats, Scottie Reynolds had 16 points while Dante Cunningham added 14 along with 11 rebounds. The game was marred by a combined 47 fouls, but it was Jay Wright's squad that seemed to be able to stay in rhythm, advancing on to the East Regional Final.

This game is a rematch from late January when Villanova beat Pitt by 10 at home. The Big East rivals should provide a great contest to see who moves on to the Final 4. That first matchup saw Nova come from behind in the 2nd half and pull ahead when Pitt went ice cold down the stretch. DeJuan Blair was rendered mostly ineffective in that matchup due to foul trouble throughout. Junior guard Reggie Redding had his best game as a Wildcat, scoring a career high 18 points, including 10/10 from the foul line. As I mentioned before, Pitt is yet to play the type of basketball it's capable of in this tournament, and they didn't show it in the first matchup in Philly either. If they play to their potential, their size and strength could be too much for a Villanova team built on finesse to handle. That's a big "if" of course. The Wildcats come into this game looking extremely impressive so far through 3 rounds, and this is a team known for upsets. It ultimately boils down to can Nova stay hot or can Pittsburgh finally play to their capabilities. I picked Pittsburgh in my bracket and I can't bail on them now. Jamie Dixon finds a way to get his team to play their best, and the Panthers win a close one.