The Elite Eight: Sunday

Let's begin by commenting on how classy some Badger fans handled the Diamond Stone news on Friday night. In a nutshell, it was embarrassing, punctuated by Bo Ryan's daughter taking to the tweeter to basically say Stone was too dumb to get into Madison. The biggest fallacy created in the last few years has been this academic barrier at Madison for athletes. To impugn an 18 year-olds academic merits on social media because he spurned your school is sad. The coaches daughter doing the same speaks to the arrogance that emanates from the west. It began with Vander Blue and his recruitment and continues to this date when a player dares follow his own path and not the one set out by St. Bo. It was a shameful display and makes the elitist digs at Marquette laughable. Looking forward to a week of All-American Apple Pie Sociology Majors Do It The White Way taking on the Evil Don't They Know What College Is For narrative.

To the games...

East Region

Michigan State vs. Louisville - Did you know Izzo and Pitino blah, blah, blah. The coaching stroke fest should be vomit inducing on your television today. This game is unwatchable and I'm assuming Michigan State wins simply because it'd be the worst thing next week to hear as nauseum.  The Pick: Michigan State 52 Louisville 50

South Region

Gonzaga vs. Duke - This has been an impressive run by Duke. They play so well on limited depth. Their basketball IQ is through the roof. Their defensive efficiency has skyrocketed the last few weeks. Some of that has been fueled by playing terrible offensive teams. That noted, their offensive efficiency has suffered a touch but not so much it's hurt them. It's still impressive.

On the other side are the Zags who I pegged before the season as a Final Four team. They've been very impressive this March. The big men have been effective and the guards deadly. They didn't shoot well on Friday but Ken Pomeroy has written a blog post pointing out, there's something to the difficulty of shooting at Reliant Stadium and it's probably not random.

If we believe it's hard to shoot at Reliant, which team is more likely to get more second chances? Duke is a better offensive rebounding team but the Zags aren't far behind. The Zags do have a bigger advantage on the defensive glass. Could it be the factor today? Let's keep an eye on second chance opportunities.

This could rival last night's Notre Dame-Kentucky game. I chose both these teams for the Final 4 before the season and it feels like a Final 4 game.  The Pick: Gonzaga 67 Duke 66