NCAA Tournament 2012: Winners, Losers, Heroes and Goats of Day 7

The 2012 NCAA tournament returned with a bang on Thursday. Four teams—Syracuse and Ohio State in the East Region, Louisville and Florida in the West Region—parlayed strong Sweet 16 efforts into spots in the Elite Eight on Saturday.

Only one of the four games (Syracuse-Wisconsin) came down to the waning moments, with the other three being decided by double-digit margins.

Still, the slate set up a pair of tremendous matchups for the weekend. The East Region final will pit two of the nation's most talented teams in the country against each other, as Syracuse looks to continue its Fab Melo-less run to the Final Four against Jared Sullinger and Ohio State.

Over in Phoenix, Rick Pitino will match wits with Billy Donovan, his former player and pupil, when Louisville and Florida go head-to-head in a game of teams with inordinately bright uniforms.

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Winner: Florida (and by Florida, I Mean the SEC)

Florida has done plenty of damage to the notion that the SEC was a one-team league this season. The seventh-seeded Gators have come together brilliantly in the NCAA tournament, taking all three of their games by double digits on the way to the Elite Eight.

That includes Thursday's 68-58 victory over third-seeded Marquette, during which the Gators out-"small-balled" arguably the best "small-ball" team left in the tournament. 

All of which makes Kentucky's resume that much more impressive, seeing as how the Wildcats won all three of their meetings with the Gators this season.

Not that UK needed any help convincing folks that it's the best team in the nation right now. 

Of course, the fact that Florida is hitting its stride amidst March Madness should come as little surprise to folks back in Gainesville. The Gators showed similar improvement during their back-to-back title runs during the Joakim Noah-Al Horford-Corey Brewer years.

The one constant?

Billy Donovan, who now has the Gators back in the Elite Eight for a fifth time on his watch. Once there, he'll go head-to-head with Rick Pitino, his former coach and mentor, in a Saturday duel with Louisville.

Loser: Big Ten

Ohio State's stellar effort can only partially make up for the disappointment suffered by the Big Ten on Thursday.

Michigan State, the No. 1 seed in the West Region, couldn't buy a bucket against Louisville's smothering defense, which limited the Spartans to 28.6 percent shooting from the field on the way to a 57-44 decision. Draymond Green (13 points, 16 rebounds) and Brandon Wood (14 points, four assists) put forth satisfactory efforts, though their teammates didn't do all that much to help.

As for Wisconsin, it's hard to fault the fourth-seeded Badgers for not pulling out a victory over a talented Syracuse squad in Boston.

They scorched the nets from deep, nailing 14-of-27 three-point shots, but struggled to get a quality look on the last possession. Jordan Taylor (17 points) chucked up a deep three with only a few seconds left, while Jared Berggren (17 points) sat idly by the scorer's table.

All the while, Bo Ryan left the arena with a timeout in his back pocket.

Now, the onus falls on the Buckeyes' shoulders to uphold the Big Ten's honor against top-seeded Syracuse in the Elite Eight on Saturday.  

Hero: Gorgui Dieng

How is it that a player scores all of five points for his team, but comes away with a nifty merit badge?

Well, when those five points are accompanied by nine rebounds, three steals and seven blocks in a dominant defensive effort.

And when your name is Gorgui Dieng.

The 6'11" sophomore from Senegal was a force to be reckoned with in Phoenix on Thursday, swatting shots left and right, and altering many more.

More importantly, Dieng stifled Draymond Green defensively, limiting the Big Ten Player of the Year to 13 points on 5-of-16 shooting (1-of-7 from three) and pushing him into six turnovers.

Dieng will have some room to roam on defense against Florida on Saturday, when he'll serve as an enforcer in the paint amidst the Gators' stellar group of guards.  

Goat: Michigan State's Supporting Cast

Where, oh where, did Michigan State's offense go?

Louisville's smothering defense deserves tremendous credit for holding the Spartans to 28.6 percent shooting from the field, though it's still difficult to ignore just how paltry the contributions were of everyone around Draymond Green and Brandon Wood.

Those two seniors accounted for 27 of MSU's 44 points on the evening, while the rest of the team managed to connect on just 5-of-22 attempts from the field.

Would the presence of Branden Dawson, the freshman phenom who injured his knee in the Big Ten Tournament, have made a difference? We'll never know.  

To be fair, Green and Wood weren't exactly a picture of efficiency themselves (9-of-27), though Green, the Big Ten Player of the Year, can't be held entirely at fault after posting a double-double on the day.

In any case, it's safe to say that this wasn't how Tom Izzo and company had hoped to end what was shaping up to be a magical season.

Hero: Deshaun Thomas

Ohio State went into the halftime break on Thursday with a 12-point lead over Cincinnati—a lead from which they never looked back, thanks in no small part to Deshaun Thomas.

The sensational sophomore exploded for 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field in the first half, just five points fewer than the entire Bearcats team posted in that same span.

Thomas went quiet in the second half, adding six points to his total, though it hardly mattered once Jared Sullinger seized control of the spotlight.

Add that to Thomas' 31-point, 12-rebound bonanza against Loyola (MD) and an 18-point, seven-rebound effort in a Round-of-32 win over Gonzaga, and you've got the makings of a guy with "Most Outstanding Player" written all over him.

Hero: Bradley Beal

Usually, I'd reserve this space for another "goat," but, at the end of the day, I had little choice but to make room for Bradley Beal.

Florida's "Diaper Dandy" poured in a game-high 21 points in Thursday's 68-58 victory over third-seeded Marquette.

On all of 10 shots, mind you.

Beal was a force in just about every phase of the game, adding six rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks to his stat line, all the while outdueling Marquette's Darius Johnson-Odom.

If the freshman continues to play like this, the Gators might be darn near unbeatable from here on out.