After three days off, March Madness is back in full swing Thursday with four regional semi-finals. However, fans will have to wait until Friday evening for the matchups in the Midwest Region. No. 3 seed Wisconsin and No. 10 seed Davidson hit the court first, followed by No. 1 seed Kansas and No. 12 seed Villanova.
Davidson's appearance in the Sweet 16 may have busted a few brackets, but, after upsetting both No. 7 seed Gonzaga and No. 2 seed Georgetown, few can argue that the Wildcats do not deserve to be here. Their impressive performances in losses earlier this season against national powerhouses North Carolina (72-68) Duke (79-73) and UCLA (75-63) cannot be ignored, either.
Thus far, sophomore guard Stephen Curry has inspired the nation and carried the team past the first two rounds, putting up 40 points against Gonzaga and 30 points against Georgetown.
As spectacular as Curry's performances have been, he has not won games by himself. Senior guard Jason Richards helped lighten Curry's load by scoring 15 points against Gonzaga and 20 points against Georgetown. Both Curry and Richards must have stellar performances against Wisconsin if Davidson hopes to advance.
However, relying on just two players will make winning very difficult against Wisconsin, who led the nation in scoring defense this year. The Badger's road to the Sweet 16 has not been one of huge upsets, nor of dominating blowouts. Rather, their story is one of consistency.
Quite simply, the Badgers play good basketball. When people talk about Wisconsin, they do not talk about one standout player like Curry. Instead, they talk about the entire team. It could be senior Michael Flowers, sophomore Jason Bohannon, junior Marcus Landry, sophomore Trevon Hughes, senior Brian Butch, junior Joe Krabbenhoft or senior Greg Stiemsma leading the team to victory on any given day.
Against Davidson, keep an eye on three key Wisconsin players. Flowers will be charged with putting out Curry's fire, while Hughes and Stiemsma will both look to light one of their own.
Both Hughes and Stiemsma hope to continue burning up the nets after putting up 25 and 14 points, respectively, against Kansas State.
Perhaps the only team in the Midwest Region that can boast of having a more well-rounded team than Wisconsin is No. 1 seed Kansas, who takes to the court against Villanova on Friday night.
Four of the Jayhawks' five starters averaged more than 10 points per game during the regular season. Despite scoring contributions from eight different players in their last game against UNLV, Kansas has a few players who stand above the rest. Juniors Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers will take care of the shooting from outside, and sophomore Darrell Arthur will compliment them in the paint.
Arthur led the Jayhawks in scoring throughout the regular season and has proved to be difficult for opponents thus far during the tournament. Both Rush and Chalmers are also coming off solid tournament performances.
With Kansas' top guns running on all cylinders, Villanova's chances of dancing their way to the Elite Eight look slim, but anything is possible in March. The Wildcats will depend primarily on their guards, sophomore Scottie Reynolds and freshman Corey Stokes, to shoot them past Kansas. Both are coming off impressive games against Siena. Reynolds scored 25 points, but it was Stokes who put on the real shooting clinic, shooting 8-for-12 and putting up 20 points.
Reynolds and Stokes can shoot all night, but the Wildcats will not come close to beating the Jayhawks unless junior Dante Cunningham has a big night in the paint. Cunningham averages 10.4 points per game, and at 6'8', 230 pounds, he should match up well against either Arthur or senior Darnell Jackson.
