Two of the top teams in the whole NCAA Tournament are going to square off on Thursday night in Beantown, and we are set to make our Elite 8 predictions with our Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Syracuse Orange keys to the game.

2012 Elite 8 Matchup: #2 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. #1 Syracuse Orange
East Region Location: TD Garden, Boston, MA
Elite 8 Date/Time: Saturday, March 24th, 7:05 p.m.
Ohio State vs. Syracuse Television Coverage: CBS

Key #1: Someone is going to have to take over the role of Fab Melo in the middle
Syracuse has been able to use a strong enough defense to get the job done against some of the other teams in this tournament, knowing that none of the three opponents that the team has faced has scored more than 65 points. That being said, there really hasn’t been that dominating big man that would be able to penetrate into the teeth of that 2-3 zone like Jared Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas will likely be able to. It is hard to see how anyone else is going to be able to anchor the middle of this defense for a lineup that is suddenly quite small, and if no one can take to the task at hand, the big boys for the Buckeyes are going to have a field day assuming that the guards take care of the basketball and can work it inside.

Elite 8 Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
Ohio State Buckeyes -3
Syracuse Orange +3
Over/Under 135.5
Click Here to Bet Your Elite 8 Picks!

Key #2: Aaron Craft has to make sure the OSU offense keeps up at a good clip
It’s hard to always identify which one of the Ohio State guards is truly the point guard, but Craft is the man that has to make a lot of the big time passes to get the ball inside in the post. He did a remarkable job of this against the Cincinnati Bearcats, another team from the Big East, and another team that plays a heck of a lot like these Orange do. We know when Sullinger and Thomas get the ball in their hands, they know what they are doing with it. They shot a combined 17-of-30 from the floor and had 49 points between them, and they also had 18 boards. The key is going to be keeping them involved and getting the ball to them in the post as early as possible. If that’s the case, not only will the inside game be working, but the outside game is going to likely get involved as well when the others in the Syracuse backcourt are crashing down to help out and double team.

Key #3: Kris Joseph has to kick his game into gear
Joseph is a man that averaged shooting the ball over 10 times per game in the regular season, and he shot 42.2 percent from the floor and 34.9 percent from downtown. He is the man that is almost certainly going to have to step up and hit the big time shot down the stretch. However, the problem is that he has now had six straight games with 12 points or fewer, and all of those games are below his scoring average, which currently sits at 13.5 points per game. It is going to take senior leadership to get the job done in this one against an Ohio State team that is likely a heck of a lot more talented than the Syracuse team that is going to be on the court.

Click Here to get the best March Madness picks that you’ll find on the internet, including our NCAA Tournament picks and the Elite 8 picks for the rest of the NCAA Tournament game odds.

Either the Florida Gators or the Louisville Cardinals are going to claim the first spot in the Final Four on Saturday, and we are going to try to nail down the winner of this one with our Elite 8 picks to start the weekend.

2012 Elite 8 Matchup: #7 Florida Gators vs. #4 Louisville Cardinals
West Region Location: US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ
Elite 8 Date/Time: Saturday, March 24th, 4:30 p.m.
Wisconsin vs. Louisville Television Coverage: CBS

Key #1: It’s all about the intensity
You aren’t going to find two teams that go at it on either side of the floor with the intensity that the Gators and the Cardinals bring to the table. This is the exact matchup that we were hoping to see, because Head Coaches Billy Donovan and Rick Pitino both get the most out of their players. Are these two teams amongst the most talented eight in the land? Probably not. However, there is no reason to think that either of these teams are going to back down right now. The pressure that is going to be put on both of these teams with full court pressure and the offenses that try to get up and go, and the team that wins this one very well could be the one that has the more intense runs of the two.

Elite 8 Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
Florida Gators -1.5
Louisville Cardinals +1.5
Over/Under 131.5
Click Here to Bet Your Elite 8 Picks!

Key #2: Gorgui Dieng has to have a huge game
What really made the difference in Florida’s win over the Marquette Golden Eagles is that the team found a way to take the Marquette big men out of the equation. It goes without saying that the Gators are a group that love to run and do so with at least three, and usually four guards on the court. Dieng is the big man that can really do a lot on both sides of the court. You might look at the five points that Dieng had against the Michigan State Spartans and think that he had a bad game. Then look closer at the box score. He had nine boards, seven blocks, and three steals and altered a slew of what MSU tried to get done. We know what Florida does; this is a team that loves to drive the ball and kick it out to the perimeter and take three point shots if the layup or short jumper isn’t open. Dieng can change all of that when push comes to shove, and he should be able to throw his body around. If he does that and stays out of foul trouble, UF had better hope that it is hitting its outside shots without all that many difficulties, or it will be in a lot of trouble.

Key #3: It’s time for Kenny Boynton to play like a veteran
Boynton only had 11 points in the Sweet 16 against Marquette, and he has been wildly inconsistent in the postseason. He only had two points against the Kentucky Wildcats in the SEC Tournament Final, and he had just eight against the Virginia Cavaliers. That being said, he also had 20 against the Norfolk State Spartans. This is a man that averages 16.0 points per game and shoots 41.1 percent from beyond the arc. There is a lot of pressure on Boynton, though there has been a heck of a lot of production from Bradley Beal and the others. We just don’t know if that’s going to be able to keep up in the rest of this tournament. The Gators really need their leader to play like one.

Click Here to get the best March Madness picks that you’ll find on the internet, including our NCAA Tournament picks and the Elite 8 picks for the rest of the NCAA Tournament game odds.

Many think that the NC State Wolfpack are going to be the team to get the job done and become that coveted double digit seed to make it to the Elite 8. However, the Kansas Jayhawks are one of the favorites on the March Madness odds, and we know that they aren’t going to go down without a fight. Check out our Sweet 16 predictions for this big time clash!

2012 Sweet 16 Matchup: #4 NC State Wolfpack vs. #1 Kansas Jayhawks
Midwest Region Location: Scottrade Arena, St. Louis, MO
Sweet 16 Date/Time: Friday, March 23rd, 10:15 p.m.
Wisconsin vs. Kansas Television Coverage: TBS

Key #1: The Wolfpack have to play this game loose
It is tough to say that a team from the ACC has to play like it has nothing to lose, knowing that this is a side that has gone up against the likes of the North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils this year. However, what we have found over the course of the last few weeks is that NC State is really playing with a different sort of swagger about it. The team doesn’t feel like it is choking away those pivotal games that it needs to get into the dance, and though it didn’t ultimately make it to the ACC Tournament Final, it sure looked like one of the best teams in the conference. CJ Leslie has to keep his head on straight, and the team has to do whatever it can to get the ball in the hands of Scott Wood from long range. He is an assassin and a veteran, and he is the type of player that can put the whole team on his back and lead the club to a tremendous victory.

Sweet 16 Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
NC State Wolfpack +8
Kansas Jayhawks -8
Over/Under 142.5
Click Here to Bet Your Sweet 16 Picks!

Key #2: The Jayhawks need to dominate in the paint
You read that right: Dominate. This is what the Jayhawks just haven’t been doing in this tournament. There have been too many shots from the outside, and players like Jeff Withey and Thomas Robinson, though are getting their stats, just don’t seem to be anywhere near as dominating as they were at times during the Big XII campaign. This also means that the little guys have to get into the paint and do some slashing, and it almost seems like the moment has been too big for Tyshawn Taylor to withstand even though this is now his second year here in the tourney. Robinson and Withey both have double-double potential, but they are going to have to be imposing to a somewhat undersized Wolfpack outfit that might not be in the greatest of shape coming into this one to compete on the glass.

Key #3: The defensive pressure has to be there for Kansas
This more or less goes right along with the fact that the Jayhawks have to be a dominating team in the paint. Every now and again, you see this defense go to sleep. We saw it at home against the Missouri Tigers when they went on that big time run in the comeback at Allen Fieldhouse, and we saw it in spurts with Robbie Hummel and the Purdue Boilermakers. Still, this is a team that ranks in the Top 50 in basically every major defensive category, and if it is going to play like that team, it is going to take a truly remarkable shooting effort for the Jayhawks to get knocked out. Getting lazy on the defensive end of the court can, and has been this team’s downfall in the past, and we are afraid that the only way that Rock Chalk gets booted here in St. Louis, a de facto home court, is if it doesn’t have the mindset to get the job done.

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 South Region will send its last team to the Elite 8 on Friday night, and the Indiana Hoosiers and the Kentucky Wildcats duke it out for that spot. We’re set to make our Sweet 16 predictions for the clash in Hot ‘Lanta!

2012 Sweet 16 Matchup: #4 Indiana Hoosiers vs. #1 Kentucky Wildcats
South Region Location: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, GA
Sweet 16 Date/Time: Friday, March 23rd, 9:45 p.m.
Indiana vs. Kentucky Television Coverage: CBS

Key #1: Marquis Teague has to keep up with his strong tourney
Teague is still the freshman of the bunch that is under the most pressure. He is the point guard for this team, and he is the catalyst that has to get the job done. It’s not that he has to be a big time scorer, though he clearly was with his 24 points against the Iowa State Cyclones last weekend. However, Teague has to make smart decisions and take care of the basketball, and that is what we are wondering whether an inconsistent freshman is really going to be able to do. Again, it’s important to state, so far, so good for Teague, but we know that things might not stay that way as the competition gets stronger and stronger. You can bet that the Indiana guards are going to be licking their chops at having another shot at Teague in this one.

Sweet 16 Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
Indiana Hoosiers +9
Kentucky Wildcats -9
Over/Under 144
Click Here to Bet Your Sweet 16 Picks!

Key #2: Indiana has to weather the storm and keep its head above water
Remember that for as young as Kentucky is, the Hoosiers aren’t all that much more experienced. Cody Zeller is just a freshman, and there are no Final Four runs for any of these players in the past. It was remarkable to think that Christian Watford was able to get the job done and knock down the biggest shot of his career and arguably the biggest shot that a Hoosier has knocked down in a decade to beat #1 Kentucky. We know that the Wildcats are going to come out angry and looking for revenge, and there are going to be times in this game when their talent takes over and they are able to go on a run. This is where Head Coach Tom Crean has to coach the biggest game of his career. He has to make sure to keep his team grounded during every timeout period and make sure that he uses his stoppages wisely. The Wildcats are beatable when they get frustrated, but if they frustrate the Hoosiers, there is going to be no encore performance out of the boys in red.

Key #3: The Kentucky bigs have to be big
Save for perhaps the North Carolina Tar Heels, there isn’t another team in the nation that can rebound the basketball with as much talent and authority as the Wildcats can. If is very clear that if Anthony Davis, Terrence Jones, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist are all approaching the double-double line, Kentucky is going to be insanely hard to beat. This isn’t a team that takes all that many fouls, and it has to stay that way. Odds have it, a man like Davis and one like Zeller will counter each other. The question is whether Gilchrist-Kidd and Jones are going to be able to really step up and prove that they are the superior athletes in this game. If so, this could be a cakewalk for the boys in blue. If not, it might be Heartbreak Hotel in St. Louis for the Wildcats.

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 lowest rated team left in the dance, the Ohio Bobcats, are going to try to beat the NCAA basketball betting lines for a third time and make for another March Madness odds upset when they take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Gateway to the West.

2012 Sweet 16 Matchup: #13 Ohio Bobcats vs. #1 North Carolina Tar Heels
West Region Location: Scottrade Arena, St. Louis, MO
Sweet 16 Date/Time: Friday, March 23rd, 7:45 p.m.
Wisconsin vs. North Carolina Television Coverage: TBS

Key #1: North Carolina’s guards need to keep the tempo of this game moving
It’s all about the tempo in this one. We already know that the Tar Heels have been slowed down this year by the loss of Dexter Strickland from February, and now, the question is there as to whether or not Kendall Marshall is going to be able to play. Marshall had a screw inserted into his wrist to try to stabilize it, and it is still highly questionable as to whether he is going to be out there or not. Even if he is, there is a real question as to how effective of a player he can be. The Ohio guards tend to play stingy defense, and DJ Cooper, even at just 5’11”, is going to be a nuisance to try to get around. He has quick hands and averages well over a pair of steals per game. If the tempo stays hot like Carolina wants it, it is going to be hard for those guards to be off to the races in transition while the Tar Heels are standing still. This is one of the only ways that we can see the Bobcats even remotely hanging in this one, and if UNC neutralizes it by keeping the ball moving when it is on offense, Ohio won’t be able to keep up.

Sweet 16 Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
Ohio Bobcats +10.5
North Carolina Tar Heels -10.5
Over/Under 143
Click Here to Bet Your Sweet 16 Picks!

Key #2: The Bobcats can’t get killed on the boards
Ohio doesn’t have a player on its team that averages more than 5.0 rebounds per game, and Cooper, which it bears repeating is just 5’11”, is one of the team’s top guys on the glass. John Henson, Harrison Barnes, and Tyler Zeller just love matchups like this one, and when they run into teams that are brutally undersized, it’s almost as if they are all competing with each other to be the first to log a double-double. The Bobcats have to clear the defensive boards, and they can’t let Carolina get all that many second chance points. There is no way, save for some luck, that Ohio outrebounds the Tar Heels, but it can’t just be embarrassed on the boards, or it is going to be far too hard to keep up with the North Carolina offense. Trying to stop this squad once is hard. Twice or more times on the same possession is virtually impossible.

Key #3: Ohio can’t have too many empty possessions
Going against the length of the North Carolina defense is always hard for any team, but particularly one that isn’t all that athletic, big, or quick. That being said, the Bobcats do have some veteran ball handlers that make sure they don’t turn the ball over. It is going to be hard to get anything in terms of offensive rebounds in this one, and that’s part of the reason that we are so insistent that Ohio gets off as many shots as it can on possessions. Having the ball and turning it over is the recipe for a disaster, and the team just cannot get anywhere near its 12.9 turnovers per game, or it is going to take just a phenomenal shooting performance to have a chance of sticking inside of double digits in the Sweet 16.

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 Friday night in the South Region, where the Baylor Bears and the Xavier Musketeers duke it out for the right to go to the Elite 8. Check out our Baylor vs. Xavier keys to the game!

2012 Sweet 16 Matchup: #10 Xavier Musketeers vs. #3 Baylor Bears
East Region Location: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, GA
Sweet 16 Date/Time: Friday, March 23rd, 7:15 p.m.
Xavier vs. Baylor Television Coverage: CBS

Key #1: Mark Lyons has to make an appearance in this game
When Tu Holloway was out of the lineup earlier this year, it was Lyons that really stepped up with some big time games. That being said, we know that even with Holloway on the court, Lyons should be averaging at least 12-14 points per game, if not at least his average of 15.0 points per game. Thus far in the dance though, the X-Men have gotten virtually nothing out of their second leading scorer. Lyons has no choice but to do better in this battle, because these Bears are a heck of a lot better than either the Lehigh Mountain Hawks or the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Scoring seven or eight points as he has in his first two games here in the dance simply isn’t going to cut it whatsoever.

Sweet 16 Odds at Wager Web Sportsbook
Xavier Musketeers +6
Baylor Bears -6
Over/Under 141.5
Click Here to Bet Your Sweet 16 Picks!

Key #2: Xavier absolutely cannot get in foul trouble
We know that Baylor isn’t all that deep of a team, and you would figure that it would go without saying that the Bears have to stay out of foul trouble as well. However, there isn’t a player on the court for Baylor that averages more than a shade above three fouls per game, and it is very rare that any of the starting five really have to spend that much time on the bunch for anything but rest. The X-Men though, are a totally different story. Holloway, Lyons, and especially Kenny Frease have to be careful not to commit too many fouls, not just to keep themselves on the court, but to keep Baylor off of the foul line as well. Save for Perry Jones III, all of the shooters are knocking down at least 76.5 percent of their free throws, and Brady Heslip virtually never misses, hitting 93.8 percent of his attempts at the charity stripe. The Bears make a living at the free throw line because of their aggressiveness, but Xavier has to limit that if it hopes to get to the Elite 8.

Key #3: The Bears can’t get frustrated by the length of the Xavier defense
The one thing that really seemed to frustrate Baylor this year in the games that it lost was going against defenses that are big, long, tall, and athletic. Xavier brings just that to the table, and it is going to be the first time here in the dance that the Bears have had to face something like that. These X-Men average coming up with 6.4 steals and 4.0 blocks per game, and those are the type of stats that lead to them having one of the best shooting percentages allowed in the nation. This is one of the few teams in the land that can boast that opponents are shooting under 40 percent against it, and if Baylor can’t get out of that funk and gets frustrated too much by a rock solid defense, it won’t survive and move on to the weekend.

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 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.