Do you remember your Sweet 16?

Later this evening, the first half of Sweet 16 action in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament will begin. Let’s take a look at the game-by-game match-ups and predict who will make it to the Elite Eight. (A post will follow Friday, Saturday and Sunday for those games)

(5) Purdue (27-9) vs. (1) UCONN (29-4) 7:10ET Tip

The Huskies of UCONN come into this match-up without being tested in either of the first two rounds, while the Boilermakers of Purdue struggled in both of their previous rounds to get this far. Few would argue that the Big East was a stronger conference this year than the Big Ten and even though UCONN will be playing yet again without Jerome Dyson, they should have little trouble getting past a scrappy Purdue bunch. Expect the bigs from UCONN (Thabeet, Adrien, Robinson) to dominate the Boilermakers down low, and UCONN to be firing on all cylinders, on what should be another easy Husky win.

PREDICTION: UCONN Huskies by 13

(4) Xavier (27-7) vs. (1) Pittsburgh (30-4) 7:25ET Tip

The reverse of the match-up above, it is the #1 seed Pittsburgh that has struggled to reach the sweet 16, while the Musketeers of Xavier have cruised to another Sweet 16 berth. Xavier is a very deep team that has a different high scorer every night, where as you can always expect to see Sam Young or Dejuan Blair at the top of the box score for the Panthers. The depth of the Musketeers will certainly cause problems for Pitt late in the game, so expect this game to come down to the wire. Even though Pitt has always fizzled early in the tournament before they should have, don’t expect it this time around.

PREDICTION: Pittsburgh Panthers by 4

(3) Missouri (30-6) vs. (2) Memphis (33-3) 9:35ET Tip

The symbol of C-USA squares off against the Missouri Tigers in what figures to be a back and forth game from start to finish. Missouri loves to run the tempo, and Memphis doesn’t mind following suit, so I see this game finishing in the 80’s for both teams. Leo Lyons and DeMarre Carroll are the 1-2 punch for Missouri, while Evans and Dozier are Memphis’ go to guys. If the supporting cast for Memphis doesn’t have a spectacular game, I expect to see Missouri pull away late. Memphis is an excellent team but lack of tournament experience for their guards will send them out early this year.

PREDICTION: Tigers by 7 … more specifically, the Missouri Tigers by 7

(3) Villanova (28-7) vs. (2) Duke (30-6) 9:55ET Tip

Villanova looked every bit a Final Four team in their last match-up, running UCLA out of the gym. Their opponent Duke was able to fend off a tough Texas team with the luck of a few missed chippies and some timely rebounds. Both teams had the luxury of playing at home for the first two rounds, so the atmosphere should be a little different this time around. Duke is still a very young team, and I have to say I am very impressed with the development by Coach K thus far. However, if Scottie Reyonlds finally shows up for Villanova, expect Duke to look like a bunch of underclassmen, and Villanova to advance to the Elite 8.

PREDICTION: Villanova Wildcats by 11