The Syracuse Orange are off to the Sweet Sixteen and their opponent will be decided when the Vanderbilt Commodores take on the Wisconsin Badgers today at 6:10 p.m. EST.
Wisconsin is coming off its biggest margin of victory ever in a NCAA Tournament game, crushing 13th-seed Montana with a 73-49 victory. Vandy, meanwhile, got a game from 12-seed Harvard Thursday in a 79-70 win.
The Badgers are all about defense and are looking for their sixth trip to the Sweet Sixteen in 15 years. They've been a tourney mainstay in the Bo Ryan era and made it to the round of 16 last season before losing to Butler (sounds familiar...).
Vandy meanwhile is a bit more of a newbie when it comes to this whole dominant play thing. They've been to the Elite Eight once (1965) and the Sweet 16 four times, but not since 2007. Anchor of Gold thinks the key to their victory will be in their rebounding:
To get back to their first Sweet Sixteen since the Derrick Byars era, Vanderbilt is going to have to play like the team that dominated Harvard for most of the second half of yesterday's game. Vandy out-rebounded their smaller opponents and used their speed and size to get open looks at the rim throughout the contest. The 'Dores shot 54% and posted a +13 rebounding advantage to carry them to the win.
Wisconsin's defense was No. 1 in the nation, keeping their opponents to 52.8 points per game. Meanwhile, Vandy features the SEC's top two scorers and likes to run an up-tempo offense.
So which one would you rather face in the Sweet Sixteen?