Elite East--I mean Eight

How scary did Louisville look Friday night? They dropped an NBA-like 103 points on the only wannabe Cinderella remaining, Arizona. Eight teams remaining, four of them in the Big East. It's sort of like we're about to watch another incarnation of the Big East conference tournament. If that's the case, I wouldn't mind seeing another six overtime thriller, though I'd prefer Pitt doesn't suffer the same fate as they did back in mid-March.

My stab at an upset stabbed me right in the back, as Gonzaga was never in it against an upstart Tarheel team. UNC was just two points shy of the century mark, and they now carry the ACC banner into the Elite Eight.

Michigan St. defeated Kansas in what really did become a battle of coaches. There must have been at least four timeouts called in the final two minutes. Whenever a team calls a timeout, much of the responsibility for the ensuing play must be placed on the coach, as he has the opportunity to draw up a play from scratch. In the end, Tom Izzo outscored Bill Self 7-2 in the final 1:48 to net a Spartan victory.

And Blake Griffin continues to raise his potential NBA stock value. He averaged 30.5 points and 15 rebounds in the first two tournament games, and proved he's nothing if not consistent with a 30 and 14 performance against overmatched Syracuse. That's right: a Big East team lost. Weird, I know.

Elite Eight conference breakdown:

Big East: 4
Big 12: 2
ACC: 1
Big Ten: 1