The Dagger asked an assistant coach whose team faced Syracuse and one whose team faced Butler to provide an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of their former opponent. The coaches were granted anonymity to assure honesty.

An opposing coach on Syracuse:

"When we played against them, we thought that team has as good a chance to get to the championship game and win it as anyone. Obviously the loss of (Arinze) Onuaku hurts, but if they get on a run, that's a team that can make it to Indianapolis ... They're so good at (the 2-3 zone), they're so long and they cover so much ground that it really changes the game. Their length forces you out to the point where your normal step-in threes are three or four feet longer ... (Wesley Johnson's) size, length and skill level makes him a tough matchup. Of all the guys I saw this year, he was one of the most impressive ... Onuaku's physical presence made him the anchor on the back of that zone, and his rebounding is something they miss. When

If West Virginia is going to make its first Final Four in more than five decades, it will have to find a way to get two more wins without its starting point guard.

Sophomore Truck Bryant broke a bone in his right foot in practice on Tuesday, a blow to the Mountaineers at what is already their weakest position. Ultra-tough Joe Mazzulla will start in Bryant's place for the rest of the NCAA tournament, beginning in Thursday's Sweet 16 game against Washington.

Although Mazzulla has actually played more minutes than Bryant in recent weeks, West Virginia now lacks depth behind him at the position. Either Mazzulla will have to play close to 40 minutes for the first time since suffering the shoulder injury that sidelined him nearly all of last season and still hampers his outside shooting or Da'Sean Butler or Devin Ebanks will have to play some point forward.

Any issues at point guard will be highlighted on Thursday against a Washington team that thrives when it pushes the tempo, forces

One weekend into one of the least predictable NCAA tournaments in recent memory, an autistic teen from the Chicago-area has done something virtually impossible.

He hasn't missed a pick.

Alex Herrman, 17, claims he has correctly predicted all 32 first and second round games. Northern Iowa over Kansas? He had it. Ohio over Georgetown? No problem. Saint Mary's, Cornell and Washington to the Sweet 16? Yep.

I'm good at math," Herrman told NBCChicago.com. "I'm kind of good at math and at stats I see on TV during the game."

Herrman entered his bracket via CBSSports.com's bracket manager, which is designed for private groups and does not include any cash prizes for the winner like other online games do. A CBS representative e-mailed Tuesday evening to say that the person who creates the group is able to alter the brackets after the games have started, so CBS doesn't monitor the results.

You can click here to see Herrman's bracket. As much as you hope that Herrman didn't alter his bracket after

Maybe the only flaw in an otherwise electric first weekend of the NCAA tournament was that ever-excitable play-by-play man Gus Johnson was stuck in Buffalo, the one site that lacked any real drama.

For those who agree his trademark enthusiasm was wasted on Syracuse-Vermont or West Virginia-Morgan State, take heart. Behold the Gus Johnson soundboard, a site that provides us a way to incorpate Gus' over-the-top calls into all aspects of our life.

A messy break-up with your girlfriend? "Heartbreak City!" Come up with a snappy one-liner? "What a comeback!" That boss you don't like is approaching your cubicle? "Here comes the pain!"

Even if you just string a few of Gus' catch phrases together, you may end up blowing an entire afternoon in front of your laptop.

My personal favorite so far is "My name is" "Gus Johnson" "And I Get Buckets" "Bam," but "Gus Johnson" "To the Basket" "Here comes the Pain" is a close second.

Moments after his team staved off a frantic comeback from third-seeded Pittsburgh to advance to the Sweet 16, Xavier center Jason Love bristled when a reporter referred to the perennially formidable Musketeers as a mid-major program.

"I don't know a lot of mid-majors that make three consecutive Sweet 16s," Love said. "So you can throw that out the door right now."

In honor of Love's request, the Musketeers will not be included in this look at which of the mid-majors still alive in the NCAA tournament have the best chance to pull a George Mason and advance to the Final Four. Let's instead examine the chances of a Butler team making its third Sweet 16 appearance in eight years and three newcomers to the second week of the NCAA tournament, Saint Mary's, Northern Iowa and Cornell.

Northern Iowa (30-5)

How they got here: Beat UNLV, 69-66, and Kansas, 69-67

Up next: Fifth-seeded Michigan State on Friday in St. Louis

Why they're Final Four-bound: The ninth-seeded Panthers will not face a

The Dagger previews each of the Sweet 16 matchups. Here's our look at Washington-West Virginia

No. 2 West Virginia (29-6) vs. No. 11 Washington (26-9)

Thursday, 7:27 p.m. EDT, Carrier Dome (Syracuse, NY)

How they got here:

West Virginia: d. No. 15 Morgan State, 77-50; d. No. 10 Missouri, 68-59

Washington: d. No. 6 Marquette, 80-68; d. No. 3 New Mexico, 82-64

Last Sweet 16 appearances:

West Virginia: 2008 (Lost to Xavier)

Washington: 2006 (Lost to UConn)

Match-up to watch: Washington F Quincy Pondexter vs. West Virginia F Devin Ebanks

A bit of an enigma the first three years of his career, Pondexter has blossomed into the elite scorer the Huskies hoped he would become as a senior, averaging 19.7 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. West Virginia has several guys it could use to defend Pondexter, but the guess here is that the first crack will go to Ebanks, the Mountaineers' best defender this season. Ebanks has the quickness to stay with small guards like Villanova's Scottie Reynolds yet

The state of Oklahoma's two best college basketball players appear to be leaving school early for the NBA draft.

Oklahoma State's James Anderson has done everything right. Oklahoma's Tommy Mason Griffin is doing everything wrong.

A source close to Mason-Griffin told the Tulsa World that the freshman point guard left Oklahoma during spring break last week with no intention of returning to school. Neither the school nor the player have confirmed anything at this point, but if true, this is a huge mistake for Mason-Griffin and another sign that Oklahoma needs to find some players who want to be there and start over.

Let's look at Mason-Griffin first: He averaged 14.1 points and 5 assists a game as a freshman, good numbers but those don't tell the full story. Mason-Griffin is listed at 5-foot-11, his questionable shot selection contributed to 39.8 percent shooting and several clashes with Oklahoma's Jeff Capel have led to doubts about his willingness to respond to coaching.

DraftExpress'

The Dagger previews each of the Sweet 16 matchups. Here's our look at Kentucky-Cornell.

No. 1 Kentucky (34-2) vs. No. 12 Cornell (29-4)

Thursday, 9:57 p.m. EDT, Carrier Dome (Syracuse, NY)

How they got here:

Kentucky: d. No. 16 East Tennessee State, 100-71; d. No. 9 Wake Forest, 90-60

Cornell: d. No. 5 Temple, 78-65; d. No. 4 Wisconsin, 87-69

Last Sweet 16 appearances:

Kentucky: 2005 (defeated Utah, lost to Michigan State in Elite Eight)

Cornell: N/A

Match-up to watch: Cornell F Ryan Wittman vs. Kentucky F Patrick Patterson

You're probably thinking what about John Wall and Louis Dale or DeMarcus Cousins and Jeff Foote, but allow me to explain. Cornell lacks a second big man besides Foote to defend Patterson in the low post when he plays alongside Cousins, so Wittman must make the Wildcats pay at the other end by running the bigger defender through screens and taking advantage of his quickness edge. If Wittman can force Kentucky to play small and put either Darius Miller or DeAndre