Trav's Thoughts

While all that excitement was happening in the 7 vs 2 games, Western Kentucky was becoming the second 12 seed to advance to the Sweet 16 with a win over 13 San Diego.

Just a short time ago, Dixie's Tennesee Volunteers survived Butler to advance. But Sugarbaby tells me that although she is a Vols fan for football, she's most excited about Memphis in basketball.

The 1 seed Tigers are in action now against 8 seed Mississippi State.

The Bulldogs are hanging tough with Memphis at the moment. In fact, MSU is taking it to Memphis on both ends of the floor. They look well prepared and confident.

The Bulldogs have been able to score inside and battle on the boards. But both teams have tremendous interior defense with outstanding shot blockers.

Both teams counter the strong interior defense by going outside and knocking down threes. But Memphis has been able to control turnovers and score in many different ways. The defense has been strong and the Tigers lead by nine at the half.

In other action, 1 seed North Carolina has Arkansas under control, leading by double digits with about 13 minutes to play in the first half. The Tarheels are playing at their tempo, shooting the ball well and controlling the boards.

North Carolina continues to play fast, going on a run to extend the lead to 22.

Although I'm a Duke guy, I've got North Carolina to reach the Final Four and to win the championship.

It's a bit closer in Birmingham, where 3 seed Louisville leads 6 seed Oklahoma by six with about eight minutes to play in the first half. But now Oklahoma begins to turn the ball over against strong defensive pressure, and Louisville takes advantage to push out to a double digit lead.

My pick here is Louisville, but this part of my bracket is busted because I had Butler advancing and beating Louisville in the next round.

We've been munching on some yummy caramel corn while we've been waiting for the games to get competitive again. We got it yesterday at Target...Archer Farms Butter Toffee Premium Caramel Clusters with almonds and cashews. Yum-OH!

Both Arkansas and Oklahoma are going to have to step up and play much better in the second half of their games if we're going to have fun finishes like in the earlier games.

Memphis is getting in a little bit of foul trouble with their big people inside, but I don't get the sense that Mississippi State is going to be able to do exploit the situation.

Although, MSU is going on a little run now and has closed the gap to three with under 12 minutes to play. The foul trouble and the inability of Memphis to hit its free throws is hurting, as it has all season.

So we'll see how these last three games finish up.