The NCAA's Sour 16- Ain't Nothing Sweet About It: EAST

EAST Region:

Kentucky: In two tournament games so far, Kentucky has beaten Eastern Tennessee State and Wake Forest by 29 and 30 points, respectively. The foursome of John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, and Patrick Patterson have sent the Wildcats cruising into the Sweet 16 with great momentum, and a chance to knock of the Einstein of Cinderellas, Cornell. In the end, I doubt Big Red will have much of an answer to Cousins’s brute force down low, and Wall’s uncanny ability to take anyone off the dribble. Look for Kentucky to make it to AT LEAST the Elite Eight, if not further, with a team consisting of four potential lottery picks in the NBA Draft. John Calipari, exporting superstars once again.

Cornell: Two very impressive wins to open tournament play made Cornell the talk of the sports world this weekend along with fellow bracket buster Northern Iowa. But this is going to be Big Red’s first ever appearance in the Sweet 16, and in going against a Goliath in Kentucky, I wouldn’t expect much. Swingman Ryan Wittman is an amazing shooter, and may eventually get drafted in the second round. And Jeff Foote has an impressive skill set in the paint, but neither player will be able to match the pure talent of John Calipari’s Wildcats. This admirable Ivy League run will end fairly soon.

Washington: As an 11 seed, Washington is definitely viewed as an underdog against #2 West Virginia, but don’t let that double digit number fool you. Despite the fact that the Pac-10 had an off year, sending only two teams to the tournament (California being the other), the Huskies are a talented team from a major conference. The duo of Quincy Pondexter and Isaiah Thomas have established themselves as a force to be reckoned with come tournament time after upsets of Marquette and New Mexico so far. West Virginia better bring its A-game.

West Virginia: The disparity between the college game and pro game is so massive. For proof, all you need to do is look at West Virginia. As a college player, very few others have the ability to take over a game in the closing moments the way Da’Sean Butler does. But, by no means is he the Mountaineer with the best chance of shaking David Stern’s hand come draft night. That honor goes to Devin Ebanks, who despite an up and down sophomore campaign, still projects as a firs tround pick should he declare for the draft this year. Nonetheless, both players will attempt to lead West Virginia to an inevitable Elite Eight showdown with Kentucky—if they can get past Washington. Despite losing starting point guard Darryl "Truck" Bryant for the rest of the tournament to a broken right foot, Bob Huggins has plenty of tricks up his sleeve. With Butler and Ebanks to go along with forwards Deniz Kilicli and Kevin Jones, The Mountaineers look ready for Indianapolis.