The East Region will send its last team to the Elite 8 on Thursday night, and the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Ohio State Buckeyes duke it out for that spot. We’re set to make our Sweet 16 predictions for the clash in Beantown.

2012 Sweet 16 Matchup: #6 Cincinnati Bearcats vs. #2 Ohio State Buckeyes
East Region Location: TD Garden, Boston, MA
Sweet 16 Date/Time: Thursday, March 22nd, 9:45 p.m.
Cincinnati vs. Ohio State Television Coverage: CBS

Key #1: Yancy Gates has to keep up with the Ohio State bigs
We give Yates all the credit in the world for getting to his 10 points and five boards in spite of the fact that he was battling foul trouble and a stout Florida State Seminoles defense. He had a huge impact on the game defensively, but the argument could be made that this is going to be an even tougher task. Deshaun Thomas and Jared Sullinger are both fantastic big men, and they are going to be a heck of a lot tougher of a draw on both sides of the court than Florida State’s big men were. Gates is a big time forward who can come up with that double-double on any given night. It’s not necessarily going to have to show up on the stat sheet, but Gates is going to have to stay out of foul trouble and be a real nuisance to these other two big boys on the other side of the court, or it will be a long game for the Bearcats.

Sweet 16 Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
Cincinnati Bearcats +8
Ohio State Buckeyes -8
Over/Under 129.5
Click Here to Bet Your Sweet 16 Picks!

Key #2: Ohio State has to get out of its mind the struggles of past tourneys
The Buckeyes are going to be thinking all week long about the fact that they were eliminated last year by the Kentucky Wildcats right here at this juncture in the Sweet 16. In both situations, OSU was the team that was expected to advance last year over Kentucky, just as it is expected to do this time around as well. Everyone thought that Sullinger was going to head to the NBA, but he eschewed that opportunity to come back to the NCAA Tournament again with these Buckeyes. This is a team that has a heck of a lot more experience right now, and that could prove to be a real asset. That being said, it is a problem that cannot haunt Head Coach Thad Matta and the gang, as this is a team that always seems to be coming up just short of the ultimate goal.

Key #3: The Buckeyes have to be solid with the basketball
There isn’t a heck of a lot that the Buckeyes could complain over in the first two rounds of their tourney, but if there is a bugaboo, it is that they turn the ball over too much. OSU has 30 turnovers in two games, raising its average up to 11.7 turnovers per game. These Bearcats have been flat out awesome turning other teams over in March Madness. They have 28 turnovers already forced to their credit, and they pick up a lot of steals on a regular basis. Cashmere Wright had five steals on his own against Florida State, and if he and the rest of his teammates can get the job done and frustrate the Buckeyes, just as the Wildcats did last year, the Bearcats are going to have a shot at springing this upset.

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