Duke-Villanova: 2009 Men's NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Picks ATS, Mar. 26

No. 2 Duke Blue Devils (30-6, 11-5 ACC) vs. No. 3 Villanova Wildcats (28-7, 13-5 Big East)

NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Region
Thursday, Mar. 26—9:57 PM ET on CBS

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Preview

With the talent in the ACC and Big East year-in, year-out, many have called for the reemergence of the ACC-Big East Challenge—here's round one.

The Blue Devils finished the regular season tied for second in the ACC and won the ACC Tournament to secure their place on the dance floor as a two-seed.

They have been as high as the top-ranked team and as low as 10th this season, and they currently sit in the middle at sixth in the AP and fifth in the Coaches.

Villanova finished the season in fourth in the Big East and were knocked out in the semifinals of the conference tournament by the Big East regular season (and eventual tournament) champion Louisville.

The Wildcats have also bounced around the polls this season, hit the 10-spot on a few occasions while also being ranked as low as 25th. They are currently ranked 11th in the AP Poll and 12th in the Coaches.

After struggling against American in the first round, Villanova came out swinging against sixth-seeded UCLA and were up by 17 after 10 minutes. They were up by as many as 25 before winning by 20.

The Wildcats found their early success through tough defense and a strong presence under the basket—UCLA had 20 turnovers in the game, and the Wildcats out-rebounded the Bruins 39-26.

Duke walked a much tougher road to their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2006. In the second round they faced a tough Texas team out to salvage their season. It showed as the Longhorns and Blue Devils were neck-and-neck for the whole game, with Duke eventually getting the five-point victory.

The Blue Devils certainly left the door open for Texas, though, as they only connected on three of their final six free throw attempts. Unfortunately for all of the Texas Exes and other Longhorn faithful, they failed to score in the final minute of play as they missed four shots and let the Blue Devils pick up a steal in the process.

But Duke wasn't only successful because of Texas' shortfalls—they connected on half of their attempts beyond the arc (7-for-14) and shot .857 (18-for-21) from the foul line before their final three attempts. They had four players in double-figure points, including Gerald Henderson's game-high 24.

Thursday's Sweet 16 matchup will be the first time that Villanova and Duke have played each other this season, although they have both seen their fair share of tough opponents within Big East and ACC conference play. Villanova went 7-6 against the RPI Top 50, while Duke was 7-5.

This game should be a great example of how good the reemergence of the Big East/ACC Challenge would be. Hopefully they don't disappoint on one of college basketball's biggest stages.

By the Numbers

	Record	Conf	ATS	RPI	SOS	PF	PA
No. 3 Villanova	28-7	13-5	16-14	13	31	77.0	67.1
No. 2 Duke	30-6	11-5	15-15-1	1	1	78.1	65.6

	FG%	D. FG%	3P%	D. 3P%	FT%	RPG	SPG	APG	TPG	BPG
No. 3 Villanova	45.7	40.6	36.5	33.9	74.6	41.2	8.1	15.0	13.4	3.3
No. 2 Duke	44.9	43.4	35.5	34.2	72.8	39.2	8.4	13.5	12.3	4.0

Stats Leaders

	No. 3 Villanova	No. 2 Duke
PPG	D. Cunningham - 16.3	G. Henderson - 16.8
	S. Reynolds - 15.1	K. Singler - 16.5
	C. Fisher - 10.9	J. Scheyer - 14.9
RPG	D. Cunningham - 7.3	K. Singler - 7.7
APG	S. Reynolds - 3.5	J. Scheyer - 2.8
SPG	S. Reynolds - 1.6	J. Singler - 1.5
BPG	D. Cunningham - 1.3	K. Singler - 1.1

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Prediction

Want to see Ryan's FREE Pick Against the Spread and final analysis? Please head over to The Sports Chat Place and take a look!