After the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament gave us a preview of what’s next to come in the tournament. Most expected for the number one seeds of the NCAA tournament to run the table against the lower seeds of the tourney. Most notably many expected defending champion Villanova and favorite Duke to blow past the competition to the Final Four, both teams failed to make it to the Sweet Sixteen after losing to South Carolina and Wisconsin. Also for the 30th time in 32 years, a double digit seed, Xavier, has made the Sweet Sixteen.

The first game slated to kick off the games for the Sweet Sixteen portion of the bracket is between red hot Oregon vs new favorite Michigan. The main story of the match up between these two teams is that the higher seeded team Oregon are 1.5 point underdogs to the lower seeded Michigan. Oregon nearly escaped from an upset against Rhode Island with the help of their two stars , Tyler Dorsey and Dillon Brooks. Michigan is an overall better offensive team that isn’t subjected to relying on a couple of players besides point guard, Derrick Walton Jr.

The next game that has many people in a toss up about the potential winner is between number one seed Gonzaga and number four seed West Virginia. Gonzaga is better known for their rough offense which is centered by Gonzaga’s size in their backcourt and West Virginia is known for the quick defense which gave them the monicker “Press Virginia”. It will be a highly anticipated game to see how West Virginia fares against Gonzaga’s size. If West Virginia were to win, they will easily be thrown into title contention.

The next game for Thursday night is between title favorite, Kansas, and between the most solid team in the tourney, Purdue. The two teams are centered by two of the biggest names in college basketball at the moment which are Kansas’ Frank Mason and Purdue’s Caleb Swanigan. Kansas is a team full of great guards and Purdue is full of great big men who can crash the boards. It will be interesting to see how Purdue tries to slow down Kansas.

The final game of Thursday night is between Pac-12 champion Arizona and the lowest seed in the Sweet Sixteen Xavier. Arizona is a 7.5 point favorite despite Xavier’s last win against number 3 seed FSU with a final score 91-66. Arizona coach, Sean Miller, will be trying to get back to his second Elite Eight in three seasons. Miller will also be coaching against his former team who is looking to upset the star studded Arizona team led by Alonzo Trier.

The first game of Friday night is between number one seed North Carolina who is coming off wins against Arkansas and Texas Southern and underdog Butler. This is the first time in Butler’s school history that they have been ranked so high as a number four seed. UNC is favorited by 7.5 points against the Bulldogs which seems a little unfair especially since they escaped an upset against Arkansas. It will be an interesting how UNC bounces back against a hungry Butler team.

The next game on Friday night is between heavily favorited Baylor and the surprise team in South Carolina. Baylor is back in the Sweet Sixteen for the fourth time in school history all coming after 2010. South Carolina shocked a lot college basketball analysts by upsetting Duke in their last game who was another 2 seed. The Baylor Bears are a 3.5 point favorite against the lowly Gamecocks.

The most anticipated game of the weekend is between the most highly touted programs in the tournament which are number 2 seed Kentucky and number 3 seed Kentucky. Kentucky and UCLA played earlier in the season where UCLA won against the Wildcats in Rupp Arena. The game is set to be filled with potential NBA super stars headlined by Lonzo Ball and TJ Leaf from UCLA. The Bruins are only a half point favorite over the Wildcats which is the slimmest margin between all the Sweet Sixteen teams.

The final game of the Sweet Sixteen is between number four seed Florida and number eight seed Wisconsin. The games is slated to be a defensive battle and the over/under bets for this game has the final score between the two teams to be in the low sixties. Neither coach have been to a Sweet Sixteen and they both have very different styles of coaching. The Gators are a 1.5 point favorite.

It will be interesting to see who comes out on top and makes it to the Elite Eight.