Sweet 16 Match-up: Stanford vs. Texas Prediction

There are two very good match-ups scheduled for the round of 16 this weekend. The first one, between Louisville and Tennessee will be on Thursday. Friday's best match-up will be between the number 2 seeded team of Texas and the number 3 seeded team of Stanford. Both of these teams have the potential to beat whoever wins the Memphis versus Michigan State game to make it to the final four. Mark this game down, it will be a good one. However, to see who is going to win, let's take a look at a couple of key things, their regular season and the tournament games.

Regular Season

During the first half of the season, the Cardinals had to compete without one of their star players Brook Lopez, which cost them a few games during that stretch. However, with his return this Stanford team is a force to be reckoned with. Teamed up with his twin brother, the SEVEN FOOT tall Robin Lopez as well as their point man Mitch Johnson, who protects the ball well, Stanford is going to make a run at the final four. Their only loses came to Siena, Arizona State in overtime, USC and three times to UCLA. One of which was in overtime and another that had some questionable calls in it. The Cardinals ended the season with a 26-7 record and the number 11 ranked team in the nation. This is a strong defensive team that will force a team to make some long shots along the perimeter if they want to be beaten.

Texas seemed to be ready to fall off the map after the departure of the freshman phenom Kevin Durant. However, it turned out that things were not going to be quite as bad as they seemed. Texas finished off the season with a 28-6 record. Three of those loses were to very good teams, including a loss to Michigan State, who is in the Sweet 16; Wisconsin, who is in the Sweet 16; and Kansas, who is also in the Sweet 16. While those three loses are understandable, they also lost games to Missouri, Texas A&M and Texas Tech. Texas A&M was the only participant in the tournament with a win over BYU and a loss to UCLA. It is these loses that are of a major concern because it shows some flaws in this Texas team. The Long Horns biggest problem comes when they have to rely on perimeter shooting, and as we will see, that is what will be their downfall in this game.

The Tournament

Stanford started out with an easy win over Cornell winning by 24 points. Their second round game was a nail-bitter with Stanford pulling out a one-point win over Marquette. This is not a big concern because Marquette was a very talented team that can compete with many teams in this years tournament. What is important is that Stanford, while pushed to the edge, came out with a win that will make them better in the round of 16.

Texas followed a similar path as Stanford. In the first round, they took care of Austin Peay winning by 20 points. However, their second round win was also a little too close for comfort with Miami pushing them to the brink and only pulling out a 3 point win at the end. So both teams, while walking through round 1, were pushed hard in round 2.

Match-up

As stated earlier, the Longhorns biggest problem is when they are forced to shoot a lot from the perimeter. This is what Stanford does best. With the twins in the middle, they force teams to stay on the outside because they are so big and talented in the middle. This will force Texas to go to the outside. Also, their point man D.J. Augustin doesn't have a good backup. This is a grueling tournament. Texas played two games last weekend with a tough match-up in round 2 and players are going to get tired. If Augustin is tired or gets into foul trouble, this could become a rout. However, I see him playing throughout and a close game, but in the end, Stanford's defense is just going to be too strong for Texas to win.

Final Score: Standford 80, Texas 75