Sweet 16 Preview | The Southwest and the East Regions

Since I am only here to help, I thought it would be so incredibly nice to preview this Thursday and Friday's games. Enjoy.

SOUTHWEST REGION

Richmond Spiders (29-7, 13-3) vs. Kansas Jayhawks(34-2, 14-2)

DETAILS | March 25, 2011 | 6:30 CST | Alamodome, San Antonio, TX
WHO TO WATCH | The Jayhawks are my team to win the whole thing, so I hope like heck that they make it through the weekend.  The Morris twins are so danged tough in the post, led by Marcus Morris (6-9/235 and 17 PPG) and Markieff Morris (6-10/245 and 13 PPG).  They are so dominant and so skilled in the post.  That's a rarity in college basketball and that's what makes them so fun, at least for me, to watch.  The Spiders are led by Justin Harper (6-10/225 and 17 PPG) and Kevin Anderson (6-0/177 and 16 PPG).  These are your leading scores and if I were to try to convince you that I know much about Richmond, I'd be lying.

Va. Commonwealth Rams (26-11, 12-6) vs. Florida St. Seminoles (23-10, 11-5)

DETAILS | March 25, 2011 | 9:00 CST | Alamodome, San Antonio, TX
WHO TO WATCH | Admittedly, I know less about these two teams than the rest of the field (Richmond is the obvious exception).  Florida St. gets it done with balanced scoring as there's only two players that averages double figures, Derwin Kitchen (6-4/204 and 10 PPG) and Chris Singleton (6-9/220 and 13 PPG), but there are a handful of players that average about 8 to 6 points per game.  The Seminoles are another team that plays 10 players who play 10 minutes are more.  VCU's (I'm struggling) Jamie Skeen (6-9/240 and 15 PPG) leads the Rams.  I used to know a "Skeen" when I was in law school and he was from West Virginia.  So that's kinda funny.  Bradford Burgess (6-5/225 and 14 PPG), Brandon Rozzell (6-2/185 and 11 PPG) and Joey Rodriguez (5-10/175 and 10 PPG) round out the top scorers for VCU.

EAST REGION

Marquette Golden Eagles (22-14, 9-9) vs. North Carolina Tar Heels (28-7, 14-2)

DETAILS | March 25, 2011 | 6:15 CST | Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
WHO TO WATCH | Harrison Barnes (6-8/215 and 15 PPG) is the best player on the floor. Or maybe it's better to say that Barnes is the most talented player on the floor. Barnes can take over games and he's really an excellent scorer. A lot of fun to watch. Tyler Zeller (7-0/250 and 15 PPG) is a big part of the frontcourt and scored 55 points last weekend (I think). Marquette is led by Jimmy Butler (6-7/220 15 PPG) and Darius Johnson-Odom (6-2/215 16 PPG). Head coach Buzz Williams might be coaching for another job, or a pay raise, and despite being the last Big East team in the NCAA Tournament, it's his Marquette team and UConn that are in the Sweet 16.

Kentucky Wildcats (27-8, 10-6) vs. Ohio St. Buckeyes (34-2, 16-2)

DETAILS | March 25, 2011 | 8:45 CST | Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
WHO TO WATCH | Ohio St. is such a well-balanced team.  Jared Sullinger (6-9/280 and 17 PPG) leads the team and if you ever wanted to watch a guy that knows how to post up a defender.  He's masterful and positioning, but there's more to this Buckeye team.  William Buford (6-5/205 14 PPG), Jon Diebler (6-6/205 and 12 PPG) and David Lightly (6-5/220 and 12 PPG) all contribute offensively, so this isn't a one-dimensional team.  The Wildcats are so young and thus far in the Calipari era, it's freshmen who lead the team.  Brandon Knight (6-3/185 and 17 PPG), Terrence Jones (6-8/244 and 16 PPG) and Doron Lamb (6-4/195 and 12 PPG) all lead Kentucky in scoring and they are all freshmen.  I can't imagine if these guys all stayed another year.