Sweet 16 Preview: North Carolina vs. Washington State

In this year's east bracket, all of the top seeds have advanced to the sweet 16. That's saying a lot, considering you have teams like Western Kentucky and Villanovia, 12 and 11 seeds respectively, in the sweet sixteen. The matchup with North Carolina and Washington State is one of the most intriguing matchups of the remaining games. Both teams have have strengths and weaknesses that should make for an interesting game.

North Carolina has begun this tournament playing as well as a team could possibly play. The team has two blow out wins in the tournament so far, one over Mt. St. Mary's and one over Arkansas. The team is running the ball effectively and getting everyone involved. Most notably guys like Deon Thompson and Alex Stepheson have really stepped their games up. North Carolina will need these two players to continue to play well against WSU. If the two play solid defense, and provide a little offense, Carolina should be in good shape.

Tempo will be a huge battle in this matchup. Washington State is known for playing a slow pace, often walking the ball up the floor. This will clearly contrast North Carolina who likes to get out and run, often scoring near the century mark. If Washington State is able to slow the tempo of the game down and keep the score in the 60's, they may have a chance to win this game. Also, keep an eye on WSU's big men. The team has good size but the question will be can they keep up with the athletic players of North Carolina like Tyler Hansbrough, Deon Thompson and Alex Stepheson.

So who will win? When it's all said and done, North Carolina takes this game. They have too much talent and they appear determined to make up for last year's regional final loss to Georgetown, a game they let slip away in the final minutes. If Washington State can control the tempo, I think they can stay in the game for a little while, maybe a half. Eventually though, Ty Lawson and North Carolina's ability to push the ball up the floor will be just too much. Sure WSU slowed down Notre Dame in their previous game, but Notre Dame is no North Carolina!

Score Prediction

UNC 91, Washington State 74