Sweet 16 Day 2

6 Ole Miss vs 2 Michigan State - This game is sneaky good. Ole Miss's magical run faces one of the best coaches in the sport with the deepest team left in the field, led by Jason Richardson's son, Jase Richardson. I think this will end up being a low-scoring dogfight with two teams that excel at the defensive end of the court. My hope is that the referees let them play this game out and don’t call soft fouls, as it would benefit both teams.

3 Kentucky vs 2 Tennessee - This will be the third time they have played this year. Kentucky beat them both times in the regular season, with one of the wins being convincing. However, they find themselves as 5-point underdogs in this game. I would expect everyone in that locker room to come into the game with a chip on their shoulder. Will it be enough to beat a well-coached team for the third time this season? We will find out. I will most likely be staying away from this game.

5 Michigan vs 1 Auburn - I like this spot for Michigan, and I don’t know why. Dusty May is a great coach who has had a week to prepare for Bruce Pearl, who is more of a recruiter and motivator than a pure coach. Michigan has the size to keep Broome at bay. If they can limit him to under 20 points and 10 rebounds, I can see them pulling this game out. It’s up to Wolf and Goldin down low.

4 Purdue vs 1 Houston - Maybe the most complete team in the tournament goes into a Sweet 16 away game vs. Purdue in Lucas Oil Stadium. Houston is the better team on both sides of the court. The only thing that can save Purdue is a legacy game from Braden Smith. This might be the best team that Kelvin Sampson has had during his time at Houston. Even though Purdue plays in the Big Ten, I don’t think they will be physical enough to keep Houston off the glass, which they excel at.