2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament: Five Storylines for the Sweet 16

Mar 24, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Travis Releford (24) and guard Elijah Johnson (15) celebrate in the last seconds of the game as they get the win over the North Carolina Tar Heels during the third round of the NCAA basketball tournament at the Sprint Center. Kansas won 70-58. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

3. One Seeds Proving to Be Weak- When the number one seeds were announced on Selection Sunday, the entire college basketball world sighed in true “ho-hum” fashion. Louisville, Gonzaga, Kansas and Indiana have proven to be less than awe-inspiring with the exception of the Cardinals (we’ll get to them later).

The Zags almost became the first one seed to ever lose to a sixteen seed and, to no one’s surprise, were quickly dispatched in the second (third?) round by a feisty Wichita State team. Kansas looked pedestrian against Western Kentucky and were dominated early by a talented North Carolina team that blew the game in the second half, as they have done all season long. Indiana should have been defeated by Temple, but the Hoosiers are into the Sweet Sixteen for the second straight year and have already made T-Shirts for it as if their ultimate goal has already been accomplished. Does that seem like the mindset of a fan base or a team ready to win it all? No, of course it doesn’t.

There isn’t much arguing against that this may be the weakest group of one seeds ever. Many question whether or not Duke or Miami got the shaft as two seeds; we will find out the answer to that question in the next couple of days.

4. Can Anyone Stop the Louisville Cardinals- I hate to write this. I really, really do, but Louisville looks like a juggernaut at the moment. They are averaging 15.5 steals per tournament game, they out-rebounded the best rebounding team in the country (Colorado State) by three, they are shooting 56.8% from the field and Russ Smith is averaging 25 points per game.

The knock on Louisville all season is that they are a bad shooting team. This still may be true as they get the bulk of their points off of turnovers and fast breaks, it hasn’t presented a problem yet. Add this to the fact that Peyton Siva is being extremely efficient and Gorgui Dieng is playing the best basketball of his career, it looks like Louisville is the only one seed living up to their potential. But can they be stopped?

I don’t think it’s going to be the Oregon Ducks. While they were grossly mis-seeded as #12 and have looked impressive in defeating Oklahoma State (5) and St. Louis (4), the Ducks shot 44.7% from the field this season. They turned the ball over 543 times compared to only having 472 assists. That’s a stat that should have Rick Pitino salivating.

If the Cards make it past the Ducks, either Duke or Michigan State will be waiting in the Elite Eight. The Blue Devils and the Spartans have the talent and the experience to compete with Louisville; but I would give the edge to Duke due to their guard play. I don’t think Michigan State has the guards to hang with the duo of Smith and Siva, while Duke has two mature veterans that could counter their suffocating defensive approach.

If Louisville makes it to the Final Four, I don’t see any other teams from any of the other regions that could stop them from getting their first title since 1986.

5. Will the Overall Play Improve?- The tournament has been exciting but pundits have been blasting the play. Of course, the lions’ share of the blame is going to the one-and-done system as talking heads and fans alike lament the fact that the best players only stick around for one season and then bolt for the NBA. And it doesn’t help that this years’ crop of one-and-doners might be the worst in a long time. There aren’t any players of the caliber of Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, John Wall or Kyrie Irving. What we are stuck with are guys that aren’t good enough to go pro (for the most part) and have stuck around college for years. Some argue that this translates to less than stellar play in the tournament.

While this may be true, the teams that remain have plenty of NBA player power. Indiana boasts two lottery picks with Cody Zeller and Victor Oladipo; Louisville’s Gorgui Dieng is playing himself into the first round; Kansas has a likely one-and-done player with Ben McLemore; Patric Young from Florida could have gone pro last season but elected to stay one more year with the Gators; so, as you can see, there is no lack of talent, just a lack of performance.

The Sweet Sixteen and the Elite Eight should give us a better look of where college basketball is this season as far as talent goes.