2011 NCAA Tournament - Elite 8

We are deep into our second weekend of the 2011 NCAA Tournament and only one of the number 1 seeds remain. Duke and Ohio St. were the next victims. That leaves Kansas as the overwhelming favorite to cut down the nets in Houston. But as we have seen through the Sweet 16, anything is possible.

2 Florida -4 vs. 8 Butler

How they got here:

Florida beat - UC-Santa Barbara 79-51, UCLA 73-65, BYU 83-74 OT
Butler beat - Old Dominion 60-58, Pittsburgh 71-70, Wisconsin 61-54

Players to watch:

Florida - F, Alex Tyus will need to continue his strong play and be a presence down low
Butler - G, Shelvin Mack needs to be equally impressive on both ends of the floor

The Gators were my pick to come out of this region from the beginning. I am sticking with that. Alex Tyus and Vernon Macklin have been beasts down low. They will continue their stellar play and get contributions from SEC Player of the Year Chandler Parsons and leading scorer Erving Walker.

Prediction - Florida 72 Butler 63

3 UConn -2.5 vs. 5 Arizona

How they got here:

UConn beat - Bucknell 81-52, Cincinnati 69-58, San Diego St. 74-67
Arizona beat - Memphis 79-77, Texas 70-69, Duke 93-77

Players to watch:

UConn - G/F Jeremy Lamb is the most versatile and important player on this team not named Kemba
Arizona - G Momo Jones needs another performance like the one on Thursday; no turnovers

UConn is on a mission. They are 11-0 in games played in tournaments this year. They won the Maui Invitational, the Big East Championship, and are on the verge of the Final Four. Kemba Walker will continue his epic run throughout March and lead the Huskies past Arizona.

Prediction - UConn 83 Arizona 74

1 Kansas -11 vs. 11 VCU

How they got here:

Kansas beat - Boston U. 72-53, Illinois 73-59, Richmond 77-57
VCU beat - USC 59-46, Georgetown 74-56, Purdue 94-76, Florida St. 72-71 OT

Players to watch:

Kansas - F Marcus Morris is the best player for Kansas and nobody from VCU will be able to stop him
VCU - G Joey Rodriguez will have to limit his turnovers and control the pace of this game

Kansas appears to be on the fast track to Houston. VCU's Cinderella story stops one game away from repeating the George Mason run. Kansas has a tendency to let less talented teams hang around in games. VCU will do the same, but the Jayhawks get one step closer to the ultimate goal.

Prediction - Kansas 75 VCU 69

2 North Carolina +1.5 vs. 4 Kentucky

How they got here:

North Carolina beat - Long Island 102-87, Washington 86-83, Marquette 81-63
Kentucky beat - Princeton 59-57, West Virginia 71-63, Ohio St. 62-60

Players to watch:

North Carolina - F Tyler Zeller will use his length and athleticism to get his points
Kentucky - C Josh Harrelson will use his muscle to offset some of the athleticism of UNC's bigs

Talk about tradition. You couldn't ask for more tradition than North Carolina and Kentucky. I think this is going to be a fantastic game. Both teams are loaded with young talent, length, and athleticism. The team that wins will be the team that imposes their will down on the blocks. I think that Tyler Zeller and Jon Henson will get the best of Terrance Jones and Josh Harrelson.

Prediction - North Carolina 82 Kentucky 74

Ringer's NCAA Tournament Record
ATS: 31-29
SU: 41-19