NCAA March Madness: Sweet 16 preview

South- Bronwyn Liber

The No. 1 Auburn Tigers face the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line. Auburn guard Tre Donaldson, a former Wolverine, will look to make an impact against his old team.

Auburn’s Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell will have a lot of work for themselves within the paint needing to stop the high offense attack from Michigan.

Auburn has made it this far from their suffocating defense and will make scoring tough for Michigan, especially from beyond the arc.

Auburn is also led by Tahaad Pettiford and Chad Baker-Mazara, both who have the edge over Michigan’s inconsistent shooters, giving the Tigers the upper hand.

On the other end Ole Miss will test Michigan State’s physicality.

Michigan State thrives on pressure and turning opponents over, but Ole Miss has cleaned up its transition defense allowing them this much deeper run than fans expected.

Jaxon Kohler will be crucial for Michigan State, finding and creating mismatches in the paint.

The Spartans' perimeter shooting will need to capitalize on Ole Miss’ in the face defense, and if Michigan State can get to the free-throw line, they’ll have a solid chance to advance.

The green and white hold onto a 78.1% free throw average, so capitalizing once at the line won’t be the issue.

West- Jacob Rudy

The last time a team playing in the west regional was in the Final Four was Texas Tech in 2019, in which they lost to Virginia in an instant classic. For the other three, they’re looking for their first Final Four berth in over 10 years.

Florida came in not just as the favorite to make it out of the region. They were the odds on favorite to win it all after winning the SEC Championship to finish the regular season 30-4, thanks to an offense ranked third in the country in points per game.

They got their first major test of the tournament against two-time reigning champion UConn, but the play of their three starting guards Walter Clayton Jr., Will Richard and Alijah Martin pushed them over the Huskies 77-75.

This is a game that could benefit Florida the rest of this tournament now that they’ve been mentally battle tested.

Their opponent tonight will be Maryland, who is coming off a win over Colorado State on a buzzer beater by big man Derik Queen.

Queen will be the focal point for Maryland as he has averaged near a double-double at 16.1 points and 9.1 rebounds on the year. His matchup with Florida’s Alex Condon will be the one to watch.

The other matchup features Texas Tech and Arkansas, who won two games with a matchup of Hall of Fame coaches last weekend.

Boogie Fland returned for Arkansas but has played off the bench, which still adds depth to the lineup. Johnell Davis is the leading scorer in this tournament for the Razorbacks, and has valuable Final Four experience that could be crucial for his team.

Texas Tech is led by Big 12 Player of the Year JT Toppin, who is averaging a double-double in the tournament. His play combined with the guard play of Chance McMillian makes the Red Raiders a championship contender this season.

Midwest- Jack Harrison

Between the Border Battle taking place in Indianapolis and Houston battling Purdue in a football stadium 75 minutes from campus, the Midwest region of Men’s March Madness is stacked.

The Kentucky Wildcats face off in a heated rivalry against the Tennessee Volunteers. The two have faced off twice this season, with Kentucky taking both. The Wildcats came out of each game scoring 12-for-24 from three.

Kentucky is led by Otega Oweh, who is averaging 16.3 points per game. Keep an eye out not just for him, but for Koby Brea as he has had a hot hand in both games this past weekend.

However, the Vols have Chaz Lanier, who has turned his game up a notch this tournament, scoring at will and getting hot from deep.

After that, Purdue will try to pull off an upset against the Houston Cougars. During their first game against High Point, it felt like the Panthers were in it for most of the game.

During their victory over McNeese, it never felt like the game was in question as Purdue kept draining shot after shot.

The Boilermakers will run into a stifling defense in Houston. The Cougars defend well on all three levels. They have held their opponents to 19.7 field goals made per game, is first in the NCAA this season, as well as 38.4% from the field, fifth in the nation.

They also have an incredible offense, with L.J. Cryer doing much of the scoring while Milos Uzan plays the role of distributor.

This region is filled with teams hungry for blood and eager to claim the title. Only one makes it to San Antonio. - Jack

East- Evan Pochas

And then there were four in the east region: Alabama, Arizona, BYU and Duke.

The only one not expected to be here? BYU. The rest are all pretty much expected to be here, as there were really no upsets outside of the Cougar’s run to the Sweet 16.

Arizona vs. Duke is the marquee matchup and both sides are familiar with each other, as they met earlier this season. The Blue Devils won 69-55.

Both teams are pretty much healthy, Cooper Flagg has looked good in Duke’s two games so far. The only man out for either side is Duke forward Maliq Brown, who was injured in the ACC tournament.

Caleb Love, a former UNC Tarheel, faces his former arch-nemesis after a 29 point night against Oregon.

Alabama vs. BYU looks to be a high-scoring affair, with Alabama being the top scoring team in the country and BYU at 25th.

Richie Saunders has been great for the Cougars, averaging 20.5 points so far in the tournament.

1st Team All-American Mark Sears and senior Grant Nelson look to lead the Crimson Tide back to the Elite Eight for the first time since last season, when they made the Final Four.

Jack Harrison is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jkh6603@psu.edu.

Evan Pochas is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ejp5753@psu.edu.

Bronwyn Liber is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email brl5354@psu.edu.

Jacob Rudy is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jar7371@psu.edu.