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.

The first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament are in the books and 16 teams are left standing. In a rather unusual occurrence, almost all of the top seeds have made it through. #12 Arizona snuck in along with #5 Purdue, but the remaining teams are all the top seeds from their respective brackets. Some have complained that the lack of "Cinderella" teams has made for a disappointing tournament, while others seem happy that the best teams are still playing basketball at this point. Whichever side of the fence you happen to be on, it's hard to disagree with the fact that we should be seeing some good quality matchups with these next two rounds. Let's break down Thursday's matchups now and we'll take a look at the Friday games later in the week.

Thursday's West Region (Glendale) Games:
(1) Connecticut vs. (5) Purdue, 7:07pm
(2) Memphis vs. (3) Missouri, 9:37pm

Thursday's East Region (Boston) Games:
(1) Pittsburgh vs. (4) Xavier, 7:27pm
(2) Duke vs. (3) Villanova, 9:57pm

Friday's Midwest Region (Indianapolis) Games:
(1) Louisville vs. (12) Arizona, 7:07pm
(2) Michigan St. vs. (3) Kansas, 9:37pm

Friday's South Region (Memphis) Games:
(2) Oklahoma vs. (3) Syracuse, 7:27pm
(1) UNC vs. (4) Gonzaga, 9:57pm

(1) Connecticut vs. (5) Purdue:
It was heavily debated going into selection Sunday as to whether Memphis or UConn deserved the 4th #1 seed, but I think Connecticut has managed to convince everybody they were deserving at this point. They have certainly been the most impressive team of the tournament thus far, winning their 2 games by an average of 41 points. Senior guard A.J. Price has caught fire in the tournament and has scored 47 points in the 2 games so far. Hasheem Thabeet had an extremely quiet outing against Texas A&M in the 2nd round, but his production wasn't needed, so it wasn't a detriment to the Huskies in the least. Don't expect him to stay quiet however.

Purdue's games have been just a bit closer in the tournament so far. They first knocked off Northern Iowa, 61-56, in a game where they had a comfortable lead, but let the Panthers storm back into it late. The Boilermakers shot poorly from 3 pt. land in that game and couldn't seem to ever put the nail in their opponent. They faced 4 seed Washington in the 2nd round and managed to hold off the Huskies, 76-74. Again, Washington surged in the 2nd half to make the game a close one. Purdue's inability to close out leads is not likely going to benefit them too much against UConn. Sophomore forward JaJuan Johnson has been their best player so far, but look for Thabeet to completely neutralize him in this matchup. I think UConn takes this one fairly easily, in the 8-12 point range.

(2) Memphis vs. (3) Missouri:
Memphis has now won 27 games in a row, but still, they weren't overly convincing against Cal State Northridge in the 1st round. It took a career game from a bench player to get the job done and get the Tigers the 81-70 win. However, the 2nd round was a different story as they took care of Maryland with relative ease, 89-70. The Tigers have been shooting the lights out in there 2 games so far, well above 50%. Of particular interest is their 3 point shooting as well, having made almost 47% of their 47 attempts through the first two rounds. The question is, can they keep it up against more talented opposition?

Missouri let Cornell hang around for awhile in the opening round before putting the hammer down and cruising to the 78-59 win. The 2nd round offered a little more of a challenge however, as they beat Marquette in a game that came down to the final seconds. Mizzou lead 81-79 with seconds to go, when Marquette's Lazar Hayward stepped on the baseline while trying to inbound the ball for what would have been the last possession of the game. The Tigers got the ball back and 2 free throws later, had sewn up a trip to the Sweet 16. Missouri is surely going to be the stiffest test that Memphis has faced in quite some time, but in this battle of Tigers, Memphis should come out on top. That is of course, assuming they play like they're capable of and like they played against Maryland. The Memphis/UConn battle that everybody has been hoping for seems like it's destined to happen to me.

(1) Pittsburgh vs. (4) Xavier:
The East Region has come out "chalk" so far. (For the record, I'm SO sick of hearing that phrase this year. I don't recall every hearing it in the past, but you can't go 5 minutes of coverage during this tournament without hearing it.) Pittsburgh hasn't looked particularly dominant in their first two matchups, but have advanced on just the same. Eastern Tennessee St. hung with the Panthers for far longer than anybody could have or should have expected, but Pitt walked away with the 72-62 victory. Turnovers were a big part of the problem in that game, as Pitt with 18, had twice as many as their opposition. DeJuan Blair was a beast as usual though, going for 27 pts and 16 boards. The second round offered up a very talented Oklahoma St. and Pitt was again put to the test. The Panthers got the 84-76 win, but it was a back and forth battle for much of the game. This time around it was Sam Young leading the way for Pittsburgh, dropping 32 points on the Cowboys.

Xavier has been a ranked team for much of the year, but isn't as well known as some of the other remaining teams because they come out of the Atlantic 10 Conference. As an alum of an A-10 school, I know first hand how dominant Xavier has been in that league for the last decade or so. The Musketeers had no real problem with Portland St. in the first round, taking that game 77-59. Xavier dominated the rebounding battle and shot the ball at 54%, with a very balanced scoring attack, on their way to the win. In the second round, Wisconsin put up a little more of a challenge, but Xavier was still up to the task, getting the 11 point victory, 60-49. With the Badgers slow paced offense, this game looked like more of a defensive battle, with neither team shooting above 40%. Most people probably aren't going to figure Xavier has much of a chance against Pitt, but I think they'll keep it fairly close. In the end, the Musketeers won't be able to contain Blair and Young for the whole game, and Pitt should advance on.

(2) Duke vs. (3) Villanova:
I have little doubt that this should be the best matchup of the 3rd round, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a Duke fan. These teams are very similar in terms of style and talent and I think this has all the makings of a classic tournament game. Duke breezed by Binghamton to start off the tournament, taking out the Bearcats, 86-62. 6 players scored in double figures for the Blue Devils and they shot 49% from the field. Duke also made a living at the free throw line, going 21/25 for the game. Texas was a little tougher task for Duke in the 2nd round, as the Blue Devils lead almost the entire game, but it was quite close throughout. The Blue Devils made their foul shots down the stretch and took home the 74-69 win. Gerald Henderson lead the charge, scoring 24, while the team shot 50% from behind the arc.

Villanova had some serious difficulties against American University in their first game, trailing throughout the 2nd half until there were under 8 minutes remaining. The Wildcats never looked back once they got ahead though and went on to the 80-67 victory. Dwayne Anderson and Daunte Cunningham each scored 25 to help propel Villanova past the Eagles. The foul line was also good to 'Nova, as they outscored their opponent, 26-3 from the stripe. When the second round rolled around however, UCLA never really had a chance against Jay Wright's team. The Wildcats took the lead about 5 minutes into the game and never came close to letting it slip, beating the Bruins, 89-69. 6 players got into double figures and Cunningham again lead the way with 18.

Duke and Villanova are both athletic teams that lack a real presence in terms of a big man. The Blue Devil's Kyle Singler and the Wildcats' Cunningham should effectively neutralize each other as they are very similar players who get the job done in a variety of ways. It'll likely come down to whose surrounding cast fairs better and whether or not one team has a poor shooting night. My heart says Duke and my head says Nova, but I like Gerald Henderson to be the difference maker in this one and give Duke the slight advantage.