The second and final ticket to the NCAA Tournament finale will be handed out on Saturday night at the Georgia Dome. For the first time ever, a pair of No. 4 seeds are going to be meeting each other in the Final Four, as the Syracuse Orange and the Michigan Wolverines do battle. This is a bit of a surprising matchup to see on the Final Four odds, knowing that both of these teams had to go through some rough and rocky roads to reach Atlanta, but they’re both here and are ready to give it a go at winning the National Championship.

March Madness: Michigan Wolverines vs. Syracuse Orange
Michigan vs. Syracuse Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA
Michigan vs. Syracuse Date/Time: Sunday, April 6th, 8:49 p.m. ET
March Madness Television Coverage: CBS

Key #1: The Wolverines have to capitalize on second chance opportunities
Obviously, the 2-3 zone for the Orange has been great over the course of this tournament. Teams are shooting an incredibly low percentage against them, and there just aren’t all that many opportunities that clubs have had to score against this unit. If there is one knock against Syracuse though, it is that it just hasn’t hit the defensive boards all that hard. It’s not that the team is a bad rebounding team, and it isn’t that those rebounds aren’t being contested, but in the end, the Orange have allowed 11.0 offensive rebounds per game here in the dance, including at least 10 in each of the last three rounds. The Wolverines have the bigs on the inside to take advantage of this, and when they get those offensive rebounds, they’re going to have to ultimately finish the job if they are going to have a shot to get into the NCAA Tournament final.

Michigan vs. Syracuse Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
#4 Michigan Wolverines -2
#4 Syracuse Orange -2
Over/Under 131
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Key #2: The Orange are going to need to knock down some shots from the outside
Head Coach Jim Boeheim has preached that this is a defensive team that is finally playing defensive basketball down the stretch of the season. However, Michigan has a heck of a lot better defense than most figure. The Orange haven’t hit more than 21 shots from the field in a game since the opening round of the tournament, and we aren’t all that sure that they are going to be able to do that once again and still win this game. We have an appreciation for the fact that the guards are getting into the paint and are really killing opponents by getting them into foul trouble, but we also know that the point is going to come when someone is going to have to hit that big shot to sway the tide of the game. Is anyone going to be able to do it when push comes to shove? That’s perhaps the biggest question that the Orange have to answer when they come into this game.

Key #3: The Wolverines have to be prepared to win a game in the 60s
The Wolverines have done well over the course of the last several games when they have had the ability to score in the 70s. In fact, getting into the 70s is generally the key to victory. Unfortunately, scoring beyond about 65 or so on the Orange is virtually impossible. There aren’t many wins this season when the team has scored in the 50s or the low 60s though, and there are a lot of losses against very similar teams. For example, in the Big Ten Tournament, the Wisconsin Badgers held down Michigan to just 59 points and won by nine. In the regular season, we saw the Michigan State Spartans blow out the Wolverines by 23 in a game in which Big Blue just didn’t have anything going, and we saw those same Badgers win 65-62 at the Kohl Center as well. Can Michigan play like a team that can win a gritty game played in the 50s or 60s? It might have to if it is going to ultimately end up playing for all of the marbles on Monday night.

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With all of the talk of just how good the Big Ten was all season long, it is the Big East that is going to be showcased on the road to the Final Four on Saturday, when the #3 Marquette Golden Eagles and the #4 Syracuse Orange do battle in what will likely be the last time we ever see a pair of current Big East teams play against each other. Don’t miss our Marquette vs. Syracuse predictions and keys to the game for what should be an exciting encounter to start the weekend.

March Madness: Syracuse Orange vs. Marquette Golden Eagles
Syracuse vs. Marquette Location: Verizon Center, Washington DC
Syracuse vs. Marquette Date/Time: Saturday, March 30th, 4:30 p.m. (ET)
2013 March Madness On TV: CBS

Key #1: The Orange have to stay out of foul trouble this time around
Syracuse hasn’t had any issues here in the dance whatsoever, but it did lose the first time that it faced Marquette earlier this season. The game in Milwaukee basically ensured that the Golden Eagles would have a shot at a share of the Big East title, while it also proved to be a game that kept the Orange on the wrong side of the equation. In that game, G Brandon Triche ultimately fouled out, while F James Southerland ended with four fouls. The end result saw Marquette take a whopping 35 free throws in comparison to just seven for the Orange. Blind aggression has really been what has led Syracuse here to the Elite Eight, and it is going to be that blind aggression that will lead the team in this one when push comes to shove as well if it is given the opportunity to do so. The Orange don’t have the depth to ultimately be in a lot of foul trouble though, and it is key for them to stay out of it against Marquette.

Elite Eight Odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook
#4 Syracuse Orange -3.5
#3 Marquette Golden Eagles +3.5
Over/Under 128
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Key #2: The lengthy Golden Eagles have to continue playing defense in the half court
What we love about Big East basketball is that a lot of the teams play very similar styles, and it isn’t all that often that a team wins a game and the casual observer is left to wonder why. For anyone that has watched the three games that Marquette has played here in March Madness, the equation has been particularly simple: The Golden Eagles have to force the game into the half court, and from there, they have to let their athleticism take over. Marquette only allowed 62.8 points per game this season, so perhaps we shouldn’t be all that shocked that it has had three very good defensive games in the dance. However, the three clubs that have faced Marquette have combined to shoot under 40 percent from the floor, and that’s the type of number that can really stun some neutral observers. Syracuse has made a habit of forcing teams into bad shots, but the Golden Eagles have been pulling off that same stunt as well in the second season.

Key #3: Three-Pointers have to fly in for Golden Eagles
Marquette is a team that loves to get inside the paint and try to get things to happen. The first time that these two met this year, they only took 26 shots from inside the arc for the whole game, as opposed to 21 that came from the outside. What nearly cost the Golden Eagles that game is the fact that they shot just 5-of-21, 23.8 percent from three-point land. For the season, they’re only just barely shooting over 30% from long range, but here in the dance, they are knocking down a much more respectable 36.4 percent from downtown. It doesn’t take all that many threes to win a game, but the ones that are taken are going to have to be hit. Syracuse is just too good in the 2-3 zone to ultimately allow gobs of points in the paint. Just look back at the game against Indiana. The Orange literally had a block party against the Hoosiers, swatting away a stunning 11-of-47 shot attempts. Marquette won’t be able to challenge on the inside, so it has to take the game outside and be effective out there as a result.

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The 2013 NCAA Tournament continues on Thursday night from the East Region, where the top seeded Indiana Hoosiers are going to hope to take care of one of the upstarts of this tournament, the Syracuse Orange in a building that the Big East reps have historically played relatively well in, the Verizon Center in Washington DC.

March Madness: Syracuse Orange vs. Indiana Hoosiers
Syracuse vs. Indiana Location: Verizon Center, Washington DC
Syracuse vs. Indiana Date/Time: Thursday, March 28th, 9:45 p.m. ET
March Madness Television Coverage: CBS

Key #1: The Orange have to continue to attack and get to the foul line
The uglier the Orange can make this game, the better shape that they are going to be in. Their run in the Big East Tournament to the finale of the event and the fact that they are here in the Sweet 16 can be attributed to the fact that they are attacking the basket from all over the court, and they are doing so both in transition and in the half-court game. In the first two rounds of this tourney, Syracuse has taken a total of 72 free throws, more than any team in the dance, and it has forced opponents to take a whopping 23.0 personal fouls per game. The Hoosiers are a solid team, and they don’t often get into foul trouble, but if they do, they, just like any other solid team in America, could really be tested with their depth issues. If Syracuse doesn’t get to the line at least 20 times in this game, we don’t think that it is going to have the horses to be able to keep up with one of the best teams in America.

Syracuse vs. Indiana Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
#4 Syracuse Orange +5.5
#1 Indiana Hoosiers -5.5
Over/Under 136
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Key #2: The Hoosiers have to keep the basketball moving against the 2-3 zone
The key to beating the 2-3 zone is good, crisp passing to keep everyone moving. If the Hoosiers throw it around like they did against the Temple Owls last week in the Round of 32 though, they could ultimately be in a boatload of trouble. Indiana only had nine assists on 19 made field goals in that game, and it turned the ball over 12 times. That ratio has to at least be flipped for this to be a successful offensive effort as well. We know that IU has a ton of players that can pick up a half dozen assists on any given night, as we saw it night in and night out in the Big Ten campaign against some of the best defenses in America. However, we also saw this unit really struggle against Temple over the weekend, and there were just too many sloppy possessions and too much time spent dribbling and holding onto the basketball. If that’s how Thursday night plays out, the top seed in the East is going to be in a lot of trouble, because the Orange are going to be all over the place defensively in the half-court.

Key #3: The time is here for James Southerland to come alive
It’s tough to admit if you’re a Syracuse fan, but your Orange aren’t the more talented team on the court. Don’t feel bad though, as the Hoosiers might be the most talented team in America this season. The great equalizer to that talent though, is the ability to shoot the ball from long range. There aren’t many that are truly proficient at this for the Orange, but Southerland is the man that really could be the one to turn the tide. Thus far in this tournament though, the embattled senior only has three triples, and he’s going to need at least that many this time around in all likelihood for Syracuse to live another day. Southerland knocked down 79 threes this year, and he has shot a whopping 40.3 percent from long range. When the ball comes his way, he’s going to have to rip it, grip it, and score it. That’s the best opportunity for Syracuse to get points in bunches, and as we have seen several times before, regardless of the foe, Southerland has the ability to be a real game changer all by himself.

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The 2012 Pinstripe Bowl picks are going to be difficult to make, as the West Virginia Mountaineers and Syracuse Orange are set to do battle with one another in a Big XII vs. Big East battle. Check out our Pinstripe Bowl predictions and the keys to the game for West Virginia vs. Syracuse.

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2012 Pinstripe Bowl: West Virginia Mountaineers vs. Syracuse Orange
2012 Pinstripe Bowl Location: New Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
2012 Pinstripe Bowl Date/Time: Saturday, December 29th, 3:15 p.m. (ET)
2012 Pinstripe Bowl Television Coverage: ESPN, Watch ESPN

Key #1: These two teams have to weather the weather
We’ve always wondered if this was going to turn out to be the case in a bowl game here at Yankee Stadium, and we’re going to be getting some awfully fun weather as a result. It’s going to be snowy and cold in the Bronx, and the team that is going to win this game is going to be the one that adapts better to the conditions. Even though Syracuse is a team that plays its ball further north than this, it does take to games in the Carrier Dome, where it is always 72 degrees. West Virginia has already had a few games in which it has had to bare the elements, namely in a 59-10 win over the Kansas Jayhawks in Morgantown. Receivers have to make sure that they are wearing the right cleats and have the proper gloves on, and both quarterbacks are going to have to make sure that they keep a good grasp on the football, and whichever team executes that facet of the game better is going to be the one that ultimately goes on to win the Pinstripe Bowl in all likelihood.

Pinstripe Bowl Odds at Diamond Sportsbook
West Virginia Mountaineers -3.5
Syracuse Orange +3.5
Over/Under 72.5
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Key #2: The Syracuse secondary has to be ready for a war
It’s not so much that the West Virginia wide receivers have to be stopped, because there is just no way to actually stop both WR Tavon Austin and WR Stedman Bailey. The trick is figuring out how to contain them and to try to make someone else beat you if you’re the Orange. Syracuse’s secondary isn’t all that bad, as this unit ranked a modest 65th in the country against the pass this year, allowing 236.9 yards per game. The problem that we see though, is the fact that some of the best receivers in the nation have blown this secondary up. WR Robert Woods and WR Marqise Lee combined for 21 catches, 159 yards, and five TDs when the USC Trojans came to town earlier this year in the most comparable game. Stopping Bailey and Austin is just impossible, knowing that the two men combined this year to average the following stat line: 17.9 receptions, 230.6 receiving yards, 49.8 rushing yards, 85.9 return yards, and a total of 3.3 touchdowns per game. Those are numbers that are just out of this world for sure, and these two make up the best tandem of receivers this side of Woods and Lee in the nation.

Key #3: Ryan Nassib has to be prepared to throw for four bills
QB Ryan Nassib threw for 3,607 yards this year to go with 24 TDs, but he has to be prepared to really slug it out with QB Geno Smith and the West Virginia offense. This defense has shown its ability to give up points in bunches this year, and the team did allow just slews of points to teams with significantly less talented offenses. Nassib is going to have a lot on his shoulders in this one, as he is not only carrying the weight of his team, but he is also trying to impress the NFL scouts that think that he could be a first round NFL Draft pick this year. Nassib threw for 470 yards in the opening game of the season against the Northwestern Wildcats, and he had five other games this year in which he threw for at least 325 yards. He’s going to have to do that once again in this one in all likelihood if the Orange really have a chance of keeping up, and doing so in the snow is going to be all the more difficult to do.

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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.

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
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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.

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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.