The Florida Gators are one of the highest ranked teams left in the NCAA Tournament, and they are going to be putting that on the line when we make our March Madness picks for the Sweet 16 against the Marquette Golden Eagles.

2012 Sweet 16 Matchup: #4 Florida Gators vs. #1 Marquette Golden Eagles
West Region Location: US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
Sweet 16 Date/Time: Thursday, March 22nd, 10:15 p.m.
Wisconsin vs. Marquette Television Coverage: TBS

Key #1: The Gators need to make sure that they get their shots to fall
It’s really hard for the Gators to get the job done when they aren’t hitting their three-point shots, and they are going to have to make sure that they are consistently going to be on from the outside. The team took 28 three-point shots in the win against the Norfolk State Spartans, and they took 23 from long range against the Virginia Cavaliers. The good news for UF is that it was able to finish off Virginia because it had such a terrible shooting game as well. However, if you look at what the Gators are doing from inside of the three-point arc, they are shooting a whopping 76.4 percent. Numbers like that just don’t happen for most teams, and UF won’t be able to stay like that either if it is forced to come inside because those outside shots aren’t falling.

Sweet 16 Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
Florida Gators +1.5
Marquette Golden Eagles -1.5
Over/Under 145.5
Click Here to Bet Your Sweet 16 Picks!

Key #2: Jae Crowder has to be strong in the post
It is going to be really hard for the Gators to stop the Golden Eagles if Crowder is really doing everything that he has the capability to do. Florida just doesn’t have the forwards to be able to take care of Crowder, and if he can get it in foul trouble, Head Coach Billy Donovan is going to have to go really deep on his bench, something that he really isn’t capable of doing. Crowder had 17 points and 13 boards to put aside the Murray State Racers, another team that really didn’t have the forwards to be able to stick with him. This was the fifth straight double-double for Crowder, and he is averaging 17.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game this year. There just isn’t anyone big enough on the Gators to contend with Crowder when he is at his best, especially with Will Yeguete on the shelf for the rest of the season.

Key #3: One of these teams has to really take advantage of its tourney experience
Marquette really learned a lot about the dance last year when it made it into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The offense really didn’t do all that well last year in the entire dance, coming up with no more than 66 points in any of its three games in this tournament. However, this is going to be a very interesting contest though, because the Gators, with the likes of Kenny Boynton are going to be on the other side of the court. Both teams have struggled at this type of juncture in the tourney though, and whichever team is really ready to step up and take the bull by the horns will probably be the one that makes it into the Elite 8.

Click Here to get the best March Madness picks that you’ll find on the internet, including our NCAA Tournament picks and the Sweet 16 picks for the rest of the NCAA Tournament game odds.

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.

Click Here to get the best March Madness picks that you’ll find on the internet, including our NCAA Tournament picks and the Sweet 16 picks for the rest of the NCAA Tournament game odds.

The Big East and Big Ten champs will collide in Phoenix on Thursday night for the second of the Sweet 16 encounters, and we are set to make our Michigan State Spartans vs. Louisville Cardinals picks for the second game on tap.

2012 Sweet 16 Matchup: #4 Louisville Cardinals vs. #1 Michigan State Spartans
West Region Location: US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
Sweet 16 Date/Time: Thursday, March 22nd, 7:45 p.m.
Wisconsin vs. Syracuse Television Coverage: TBS

Key #1: Someone needs to stop Draymond Green
Simply put, Green is a monster. He is capable of going off for a triple-double every single time that he steps on the court, just as he did against the Long Island Blackbirds in the first game of this tournament. This is a man that personifies Michigan State basketball. He just does everything that needs to be done to put his team in a position to win games. Green averaged 16.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game this year, and we are really struggling to find someone that can really guard him in this Louisville lineup. We tend to think that Gorgui Dieng is going to be too slow to keep up with the shifty forward, and pretty much anyone else that tries to guard Green is going to be a bit undersized. It really isn’t a comfortable position for the Cards to be in, but it is a situation that the rest of the teams in the Big Ten have been dealing with for the last four years. Green is the one guy on the court on either side that can win this game by himself.

Sweet 16 Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
Louisville Cardinals +5
Michigan State Spartans -5
Over/Under 125
Click Here to Bet Your Sweet 16 Picks!

Key #2: Louisville can’t lose its cool down the stretch
We have seen the Cardinals play two very close games here in the dance, and there were a number of tight encounters in the Big East Tournament as well. This is a team that really has to be careful though, as it doesn’t have the greatest history in the close games here in the dance. Just look at what the Morehead State Eagles were able to do to the Cardinals last year. It is clear that this is going to be a close game throughout in all likelihood, and the pressure can’t get to this Louisville team. We know that Michigan State has won some tight contests both at home and on the road this year, and with Green on the court, there is going to be no shortage of confidence and leadership on the Michigan State sidelines. Someone has to do that as well for Louisville in what amounts to probably be its toughest game of the year.

Key #3: Foul shooting can’t be the death for either of these teams
The winner of this game might be the team that ends up shooting the ball better from the charity stripe. It really isn’t often that a team can make a deep run in the dance without being a decent foul shooting team, and we know that neither of these squads meet that mold. The Cardinals only shoot 68.7 percent from the line as a team, while the Spartans are just at 69.5 percent. There isn’t a foul shooter on MSU’s roster that shot 80 percent, but we do know that both Green and Keith Appling are going to likely knock down the clutch shots when it is really needed. Kyle Kuric, Russ Smith, and Chris Smith are all at least 75 percent free throw shooters, but if they get into foul trouble themselves and don’t have the ball in their hands, the rest of this Louisville team is absolutely atrocious on free throws.

Click Here to get the best March Madness picks that you’ll find on the internet, including our NCAA Tournament picks and the Sweet 16 picks for the rest of the NCAA Tournament game odds.

Our Sweet 16 predictions kick off on Thursday night in the East Region, where the Syracuse Orange and the Wisconsin Badgers duke it out for the right to go to the Elite 8. Check out our Syracuse vs. Wisconsin keys to the game!

2012 Sweet 16 Matchup: #4 Wisconsin Badgers vs. #1 Syracuse Orange
East Region Location: TD Garden, Boston, MA
Sweet 16 Date/Time: Thursday, March 22nd, 7:15 p.m.
Wisconsin vs. Syracuse Television Coverage: CBS

Key #1: The Badgers have to keep the pace of this game down
We know that Syracuse isn’t going to be all that interested in running this game into the 70s against the Badgers, but it knows that it is going to want to try to get into offensive sets in a hurry to try to avoid settling in against that ferocious Wisconsin defense. These Badgers are simply awesome in transition defense, and there are very few cheap baskets that they allow. The Orange shoot the ball well at 46.6 percent from the floor, but this is a Wisconsin ‘D’ that is holding teams down to just 52.9 points per game and 38.5 percent shooting from the field and 28.8 percent from beyond the arc. The pace has to stay slow though, as the Badgers don’t have the offense to be able to put up 70-75 points against this stout defense, so it is imperative to try to limit the number of possessions in this game.

Sweet 16 Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
Wisconsin Badgers +3.5
Syracuse Orange -3.5
Over/Under 120.5
Click Here to Bet Your Sweet 16 Picks!

Key #2: The Badgers can’t get three point happy
Syracuse has a great perimeter defense, and the way that it is eventually probably going to get beaten in this tournament is by a team that is able to pound the paint and the heart of that patented 2-3 zone, where Fab Melo is no longer standing due to his eligibility concerns. In the dance, Wisconsin has already jacked up a whopping 52 three-point shots, and that just isn’t going to be good enough against a team like this in all likelihood. The Orange have lanky defenders that can really be a pain to the Badgers who are trying to pick up points three at a time instead of two. Sure, if those shots are falling, it’s fantastic. However, it’s really hard against the 2-3 zone to shake loose and get open looks at threes, and if the Badgers just start chucking up contested long range shots, they’re going to get embarrassed in this clash.

Key #3: Syracuse has to keep the Wisconsin bigs off of the glass
We know that Wisconsin is going to take a lot of those long range shots that we mentioned before, and if Head Coach Jim Boeheim has to have a concern, it is about how his team hits the glass. The Kansas State Wildcats had a whopping 22 offensive rebounds against the Orange in the Round of 32, and though the game did end up with a bit of a lopsided score, there has to be a concern that KSU was able to get up 22 more shots than Syracuse did. Without Melo there to clean up the glass, there just aren’t that many players that have the ability to be dynamos on the boards, and if the Badgers are getting second chance buckets, they are going to be able to pull off the upset.

Click Here to get the best March Madness picks that you’ll find on the internet, including our NCAA Tournament picks and the Sweet 16 picks for the rest of the NCAA Tournament game odds.