The East Region of the Sweet 16 in March Madness

Round 3 of March Madness pits 4 teams against each other in the East Region.

March Madness is upon us. Many have already filled out their brackets and most have at least one defeat which probably ruined the whole outcome. The storied “Sweet 16” is well known in U.S. gambling news as the “darling” group. Traditionally the Sweet 16 has more sentimentality among fans than the elite 8 and the final four. In the 3rd round, 16 teams will compete in 8 games. Among the four regions, Midwest, East, West and South, 4 teams will play per region.

• Four teams will face off in East region of Sweet 16
• East Region 3rd round will be in Syracuse, New York
• March 19-March 20

It doesn’t matter so much the level of seed in this round. In this round, the fans can look and see which teams got to the round because they were good or lucky. The Sweet 16 is the time for us to discover who could get the title of “Cinderella team” or the team who had the heart and the will to defy the odds in the tournament. The East Region competition will be in Syracuse, New York on March 28 and March 29.

North Carolina State and Louisville to meet.

The Wolfpack of North Carolina State, an 8th seed with a 20-13 record, barely got into the tournament. Then they beat Villanova last Saturday and turned heads. Better than lucky, the Wolfpack led the 1st seed team, by 4 points at the half and led by 12 points at about 13 minutes left of the game. Winning as 10-point underdogs put some serious money in peoples pocket according to U.S gambling laws.

The Louisville Cardinals are as dangerous as usual. Former Kentucky Uber-Coach Rick Pitino is leading them to their 19th appearance with a record of 24-8. Leading by 12 points against Northern Iowa at the half last Sunday, Louisville shot 46% and were able to win by a respectable 66-53. They were able to bring their shooting percentage 3% higher than their regular season average.

A major factor in this match-up is that North Carolina State and Louisville University already played each other a few weeks ago. The NC State Wolfpack won 74-65 as 10-point underdogs on the road. The Wolfpack were able to turn the ball over only 8 times against Coach Pitino’s infamous “full-court press.” At the moment though, NC State is the hotter team.

Oklahoma and Michigan State will face off.

University of Oklahoma Sooners are a 3rd seed with an ok 22-10 record. They’ve won 12 of their last 15 games including a 72-66 win over Dayton last Sunday. The Sooners kept the lead throughout the entire game ending in a fabulous 32-17 point run. Making 9 out of 18 three-point shots, 19 of 24 free throws and beating Dayton on the boards gave Oklahoma a dominance that deserves to be recognized.

The 7th seeded Michigan State Spartans had a 23-11 season with the 14th most efficient offense in the country. They’ve won the last 6 out of 7 games. They beat 2nd seeded Virginia last Sunday 60-54 holding the Cavaliers to 30% shooting. Their hot player Travis Trice really came through for them. In their last meeting, the Spartans did beat Oklahoma 87-76 last season.

Both teams are holding opponents to less than 40 points. Michigan State is slightly shooting better from the floor, but Oklahoma’s 74% accuracy from the free throw line is impressive. Oklahoma hasn’t been in the Sweet 16 since 2009 whereas the Spartans have been their four seasons straight. The odds at the moment tend to favor Michigan State making it a pretty steady bet for those interested in mobile betting.