Who Will Emerge Sweeter Out Of The Final Sixteen In The NCAA Tournament?

Chaos and insanity rule the first week of the NCAA men’s tournament, but oh how sweet it is to still be alive when the sun rises the morning after the second round.

The sweet sixteen is about to commence for the 2011 college basketball season, with a mixed bag of obvious favorites and improbable low seeds moving forward. This year’s tournament is unique in that at least one underdog has emerged from each region. The West is the closest in terms of favorites coming out of the pack (with fifth-seeded Arizona the lowest seed in their bracket), while the Southwest only has one team with a single digit seed (Kansas at number one) in their final four.

Getting to this point in the tournament has been easy for a few, but most kept their fans on pins and needles.

All of the top seeds escaped the first two rounds with double digits wins (except for Pittsburg, who got upset, and Duke, which won their second round game by two points). Arizona won both of their first two games by a total margin of five points, while Butler topped both opponents by a total of three points (including a controversial win over top seed Pittsburg).

The four Cinderella stories left in the tournament created the most buzz of all in the first four days.

Eleventh-seeded Marquette escaped past Xavier in the first round quite easily, but survived an even tougher challenge with a four-point win over third-ranked Syracuse. Florida State, a tenth seed, had a totally opposite first two games of the tournament from Marquette with a tougher challenge against #7 Texas A&M (squeaking by seven in the win) than #2 Notre Dame (a cruising fourteen-point victory).

After twelfth-seeded Richmond shocked Vanderbilt fans with a win by three points, they faced off against another underdog in thirteenth ranked Morehead St. They would come out of that game unscathed by beating down the Eagles by seventeen. VCU’s play has been the most impressive of all; first by winning a play in game against USC for the eleventh-seed, then torching favorites Georgetown and Purdue eighteen a piece en route to the Sweet Sixteen.

Make no mistake though, despite the degree of difficulty on "The Road To The Final Four", the ride only gets bumpier with higher seeds waiting on the horizon and upsets around every corner.

Here’s a look at the storyline for each region:

East Region: Ohio State’s For The Taking

Aside from Marquette, this region has gone according to par and that’s got to be an advantage for Ohio St.

While others will maintain that doesn’t work in their favor, Ohio State will take facing young, inexperienced teams in the next two rounds. Kentucky was a number one seed last year, but the core of that team left for the NBA. Although they were able to reload with talent, with players like G Brandon Knight and F Terrence Jones, the Wildcats don’t have the depth to contend with the Buckeyes nor the size to take on big man Jared Sullinger.

North Carolina is also dealing with experience deficiency within their personnel and will hope to get through Marquette with freshman F Harrison Barnes and Sophomore F John Henson. The Golden Eagles will be ready for the game, having already beaten two higher seeds, and stage an all out war to advance, but the Tar Heels will find a way to prevail forward.

A convincing win might go far for North Carolina, but Ohio State will prove to be too much for Roy Williams’ team and emerge from this division unscathed as a Final Four contestant.

Projected Winner: Ohio State

West Region: Hardest Bracket To Declare A Victory

Both games in the third round can go either way and will be a hard fought battle for all four teams that will only get tougher for the final two.

Duke was lucky in the second round but they will have to play better if they hope to escape. Arizona has already won two close games, showing that they are unafraid to take the game into the last moments of regulation. F Derrick Williams has been impressive by getting to the line 24 times in both games. Yet, the lack of an interior defense may be the Achilles heel of the team with a Blue Devils team that loves to penetrate with G Nolan Smith and G Kyrie Irving.

Kemba Walker has depleted his tank in order to keep his Connecticut team alive. Even after injuring his wrist and hip, the star guard carried his team past Cincinnati. Sadly though, his impressive run will halt at this stage with a more complete squad in San Diego State. The Aztecs have a stronger supporting cast surrounding sophomore sensation Kawhi Leonard.

With Duke and San Diego in the final, expect a close, wire-to-wire championship that may will need extra time to reach completion. When the dust settles, the Aztecs will be the ones on the ladder cutting down the nets.

Projected Winner: San Diego State

Southwest Region: A Favorite Vs Three Cinderellas

Of all the regions, this is the most intriguing.

With Kansas as the only single-seed in the bracket, penciling them into the Final Four appears simple. Their first opponent will be Richmond, a team that is known for knocking off favorites. In order to continue in that tradition, the Spiders will need their stars, G Kevin Anderson and F Justin Harper, to be on their A-game. Yet, the dream will end here for Richmond with a Jayhawk roster that consists of a high level of talent and depth.

It’s been a long week for VCU, who finally got a break after their last win. The team played out of their minds against Purdue, with six players reaching double-digit points and stellar play from their undersized leader, five foot, ten inch G Joey Rodriguez. Florida State won both of their games with strong, team defense (holding both opponents to under 32% from the field). This will be tough for both teams, but VCU will cool down with the long layoff and Florida State comes away victorious with their tough defense.

Kansas will surface as the winners of the Southwest, with a defiant win over Florida State and a berth into the Final Four.

Projected Winner: Kansas

Southeast Region: No Number One To Stand In The Way

With Pittsburg’s demise, this region is up for grabs.

Butler will hope that the win over Pittsburg and last year’s magic is still with them heading into the Sweet Sixteen. It will only get harder when they face off against Wisconsin and their leaders, F Jon Leuer and G Jordan Taylor. Taylor will need to shoot better than he did in the second round if they hope to top F Matt Howard and the Bulldogs. The magic continues to rain down upon Butler, who will knock off another favorite in the Badgers in this game.

BYU will hope that G Jimmer Fredette will continue his magical shooting stroke from all over the floor. The college superstar lit up the first two rounds and will hope he can continue that against second seed Florida. The Gators’ overcame inexperience by riding G Erving Walker’s hot shooting to win the first two games convincingly. Both teams will make this match up a shootout, in which Fredette will stand out above the rest and lead his Cougars to the Southeast championship.

The magic will run out for Butler in the championship game, Fredette’s ability to fill up the stat sheet will be a deficit they cannot overcome. BYU will march forward and be the final team to dance into the Final Four.

Projected Winner: BYU

College Football Kickoff: A New Future Model That Needs More Alteration To Its Engine

Whenever the College Football season is about to start its engine at the beginning of September, the rode ahead always appears wild. That path has reached new heights for the 2010 season as a thrilling drive of unprecedented proportions right before the light turned green to go.

The 2009 college football season may have ended with Alabama defeating Texas for the national title, but the sport remained in ESPN headlines throughout the spring and summer.

First began the issues revolving around the USC Trojans, one of the top programs in college football over the last decade.

The program was dealt a huge blow when they were placed on probation after details broke that former running back Reggie Bush and his family allegedly received gifts from a prospective agent. The aftermath: four years probation, banishment from bowl games for two years, the loss of 30 scholarships for the next three years and exclusion of the wins and titles for USC when Bush was on the team.

These actions prompted other programs to restrict agents around their facilities with fears that interaction with players could lead to sanctions against the schools.

Another headline that college football dealt with during the off-season was teams moving to other divisions.

Over the spring and summer, there were many discussions of how various teams were considering switching divisions. Although the moves wouldn’t occur this season, the revamping of divisions featured big alterations for the future of college football.

One of the most notable changes was the split of the Big Ten into two divisions. The division will be split with six teams in two sub-divisions. Along with Nebraska moving from the Big 12 into the Big Ten modification, the biggest feature of the split will be Michigan in one sub-division and Ohio State in the other.

Although there will be a separation of the two colleges, the Ohio State vs. Michigan rivalry will remain intact as both will be playing each other in season finales for years to come.

Despite the various division changes, USC sanctions and teams banning agents from their facilities, there is still one change that fans are dying to see happen.

A college football playoff.

When the people think of sports, the most enticing attribute about watching them is the post-season. Nothing beat’s watching your favorite team go through playoff series or tournament brackets with hopes of winning to get closer and closer to a title.

A perfect example was watching the mid major Butler Bulldogs rumble through the 2010 March Madness tournament in college basketball. They may have come up short to the power house Duke Blue Devils, but the tournament showcased one certainty: whether you are a heavy favorite like Duke or a Cinderella story like Butler, any team has a chance to become a champion

The bowl season is one of the most confusing and irritating aspects of college football. The use of polls, decisions by committees and analyzing team’s records, strength of schedule, RPI and every other little aspect the team has dealt with is difficult to measure. Certain teams work hard to accomplish great seasons and are graciously rewarded with bowl game invites, but never a chance to win a national title.

The greatest examples of this injustice are teams who have gone undefeated and play in high profile bowl games, but aren’t looked upon as college football champions.

In the 2004 college season, three team finished with undefeated seasons: USC, the Auburn Tigers and the Utah Utes. USC was awarded the opportunity to play in the title game while the Tigers went to the Sugar Bowl and the Utes to the Fiesta Bowl. USC was awarded the national championship, despite all three teams winning their bowl games and ending the season without a loss.

While 2004 was the year of the three who went perfect, the 2006 season had one undefeated team in the end. The Boise State Broncos plays in the WAC conference, which isn’t acknowledged as a big conference like the Pac-10 or SEC. At the time, they became only the second team outside the BCS to play in a BCS bowl game. They would go on to defeat Oklahoma in overtime by one point.

Despite being the only undefeated team from beginning to end, it was the Florida Gators who would be the 2006 National Champions of college football and not Boise State.

With all the movement of teams to new divisions and regulations that teams have undergone in college football this off-season, the sport appears to be headed in a new direction for the future. The 2010 season kicked off on Thursday, September 2nd and the conclusion of it will put the wheels in motion for the new route the sport has prepared for 2011 and beyond.

Ultimately though; until a playoff becomes imminent in college football’s future, the sport will never be heading down the right lane.