Earl's thoughts on the NCAA Tournament's first weekend

What a first weekend we had to the NCAA Tournament. It is without question the best time of the year as we watch these teams fight and scratch with all their might to get through to the Sweet 16. As we get ready for the Regional semifinals on Thursday and Friday, here are a few of my thoughts on the first weekend of the tournament.

*Non-BCS programs hit it big: There are five teams from the six non-BCS football conferences who are in the Sweet 16. Xavier, Cornell, St. Mary's, Northern Iowa and Butler are through to the third round. They are not there by accident. They have excellent teams with excellent coaches.

These guys can play. One thing these schools have in common is that they have quality big men, so they can match up with the big boys.

  Xavier's big man up front is 6'9" 265-pound Jason Love, who can score and rebound with power. He teams with 6'8" Jamal McLean and 7'0" Kenny Frease to give the Musketeers plenty of beef up front. Northern Iowa has 7'0" 290-pound senior Jordan Egleseder and 6'9" senior Adam Koch to lead their front line. St. Mary's has a dominant big man in 6'11" senior Omar Samhan (pictured) and 6'11" senior Ben Allen to power their front line while Cornell's great group of 3-point shooters is anchored by 7'0" senior Jeff Foote in the middle. Butler is back in the Sweet 16 with crafty 6'8" Gordon Hayward and versatile 6'9" Matt Howard on the front line.

 Good guard play is the key to postseason success, but when you have quality bigs, you can play with anybody. These teams have them and here they are. If you have aspirations on getting past the Sweet 16 and into the Final Four, these are the gentlemen who have to come up big as well if you’re going to get by the Kentuckys, Syracuses and Dukes of the world to reach the ultimate goal, which is the Final Four.

  *Who would have thought that the Big Ten Conference would have the most teams represented in the Sweet 16. Ohio State, Michigan State and Purdue are still alive. A lot of credit to Michigan State and Purdue, who have battled through some tough injuries to get where they are. Michigan State lost star point guard Kalin Lucas to an injury in the first half of their second-round game against Maryland, but his back-up Korie Lucious hit a dramatic 3-pointer as time expired to give the Spartans the victory. Purdue was left for dead after losing forward Robbie Hummel to a season-ending knee injury in February, but the Boilermakers battled past Siena and Texas A&M in overtime to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16.

  *Former SLU Billiken coaches Lorenzo Romar and Randy Bennett still have their teams alive in the tournament. Romar's Washington Huskies will face West Virginia in the East Regional while Bennett's St. Mary's Gaels will face Baylor in the South Regional. Romar was SLU's head coach and Bennett was his top assistant before moving on to St. Mary's.

   *Local players still left in the tournament include Washington High's Scott Suggs (Washington), Normandy's Anthony James (Northern Iowa) and St. Charles' Josh Harrelson (Kentucky). Also, Lucas O'Rear from nearby Nashville, Ill. is playing for Northern Iowa. 

  *Xavier's Jordan Crawford is putting on a show in the tournament. In the Musketeers' two victories, Crawford has displayed his entire offensive arsenal and it has been spectacular. I've seen it first hand at the Chaifetz Arena against my Billikens. Now, the entire country is watching it. As for Xavier, they are a major league program. Anybody who feels otherwise is not paying attention. The Musketeers advanced to the Elite Eight in 2008. They graduated top players Drew Lavender, Stanley Burrell and Josh Duncan from that team, but went back to the Sweet 16 in 2009. That team lost C.J. Anderson and B.J. Raymond to graduation while top player Derrick Brown turned pro early. Still, the Muskies are back in the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive year. Make no mistake about it. Xavier is a national power in college basketball. The mid-major tag is an insult to their program and they prove it every year in the tournament.

  *Ohio U.'s upset of Georgetown in the first round is one of the biggest upsets in tournament history. Ohio U. finished in ninth place in the Mid-American Conference with a 7-9 league record, yet they throttled the Hoyas, who were the Big East Tournament runners-up.

  *The Wisconsin Badgers have had some bad experiences with mid-major programs over the years in the tournament. In 1999, Missouri State defeated the Badgers in the second round and held Wisconsin to less than 30 points. Two seasons ago, the Badgers were clobbered by Stephen Curry and Davidson in the regional semifinals. Last Sunday, Wisconsin ran into another mid-major buzz-saw in a hot-shooting Cornell team, which resulted in another blowout exit from the tournament. Wisconsin has done some great things in the tournament over the years, but those mid-majors have provided some very unpleasant memories.

   *Congrats to the Mizzou Tigers on a 23-10 season and advancement to the second round of the East Regional. The Tigers' season ended with a hard-fought loss to No. 2 seed to West Virginia. This was a transition year for the Tigers after losing quality bigs DeMarre Carroll and Leo Lyons from last year's Elite Eight team. It was good to see them get a victory in the tournament. Mike Anderson has proven to be an excellent tournament coach at UAB and Mizzou. If the Tigers can obtain a little more quality size to go along with their tremendous array of perimeter players, they will be back in business once again.

  *This weekend's Midwest Regional in St. Louis should be quite interesting with No. 6 seed Tennesse going against No. 2 seed Ohio State, followed by No. 5 Michigan State against No. 9 Northern Iowa, which toppled the overall No. 1 seed Kansas in the second round. The first game with Tennessee and Ohio State should be an entertaining up-tempo affair, while the Michigan State-Northern Iowa game should be an ol' fashioned rugby scrum.