2010 NCAA Tournament: Ranking the Sweet 16, 12-9

We’re back with the second installation of our four-part series ranking the 16 teams left competing for the NCAA Tournament Championship.

Monday, we ranked teams 16-13, and we’ll continue today with teams 12-9. 

Remember, as we get closer to the top ranking, it means we feel the teams have a better chance at the national championship.

Let’s get started.

12. Xavier Musketeers

Seed: No. 6, West Region

How’d They Get Here?: Defeated No. 11 Minnesota 65-54, Defeated No. 3 Pittsburgh 71-68

Outlook: Xavier quietly tied atop a very strong Atlantic 10 Conference in the regular season, and they have continued their strong play through the first two rounds of the Tournament.

They handled Minnesota fairly easily in the first round and found themselves playing an extremely tough Panthers team in the second. They used an 8-of-16 performance from three-point range to advance past Pitt and into the Sweet 16.

They’ll get a tough draw in the red-hot Kansas State Wildcats in their first game in Salt Lake City. 

If Musketeer guards Jordan Crawford and Terrell Holloway can match the production of the Denis Clemente/Jacob Pullen combo from KSU, XU has a decent chance to advance to its second regional final in three years.

Player to Watch: Crawford is most well known for “The Dunk” on LeBron James at a summer basketball camp this past offseason, but he’s really come alive in his second year for XU.

Crawford has put up 28 and 27 in his two tournament games so far and has shown much better range on his jumper than he had all season long. If he gets hot, he can match Pullen shot for shot.

11. Purdue Boilermakers

Seed: No. 4, South Region

How’d They Get Here?: Defeated No. 13 Siena 72-64, Defeated No. 5 Texas A&M 63-61

Outlook: It goes without saying that many thought the Boilermakers were left for dead after forward Robbie Hummel went down for the season with a knee injury, but, well, I just said it anyway.

What people have failed to remember, however, is that Purdue has been a top five team all season long, and eventually that has to be chalked up to more than just one player.

The Boilermakers overcame what many picked as a first-round upset special by knocking off the upstart Saints in the opening round and used some late-game heroics by “glue guy” Chris Kramer to squeak by the Aggies into the Sweet 16.

JaJuan Johnson, E’Twaun Moore, and Kramer have provided the leadership and toughness this team has needed after losing its leading scorer, and it’s time for what’s left of the Boilermakers to stop being overlooked.

I, for one, had Purdue losing in the first round, but I’m no longer discounting their ability to advance. Unfortunately, Purdue has drawn a senior-laden Duke team that won’t be easily stymied by the Boilermakers’ smuggling defensive pressure. They’ll need to keep the Blue Devils cold from outside to get to their first regional final since 2000.

Player to Watch: Johnson, a 6′10″ junior, will really need to dominate the paint against Duke for Purdue to have a chance at advancing. Johnson has really developed a much better offensive game in his junior year, improving his points per game from five as a freshman to over 15 this season. He’s also emerged as Purdue’s leading rebounder.

10. Butler Bulldogs

Seed: No. 5, West Region

How’d They Get Here?: Defeated No. 12 UTEP 77-59, Defeated No. 13 Murray St. 54-52

Outlook: Butler has been a fringe top 10 team all season long, but they haven’t necessarily garnered the national attention or praise that they deserve as a threat. This team has been driven through the first two rounds by a chance to play in hometown Indianapolis if they should eventually make it to the Final Four.

They’ve got all the talent they need in Horizon League Player of the Year Matt Howard and super sophomore Gordon Hayward, but sometimes they still struggle to score the basketball, logging just a 69.8 ppg rate this season.

The Bulldogs had no trouble handling the Miners in the first round, but they really struggled with the perimeter athleticism of the Racers in round two, and some say that they should’ve actually lost the game if not for poor play on the part of Murray State.

They’ll get another strong and athletic perimeter team in the Syracuse Orange on Thursday, and I expect the Bulldogs to struggle mightily to find an offensive rhythm against the region’s top seed. They’ll need to light up SLC from three-point range, or they won’t be able to stay with the Orange.

Player to Watch: Many thought Hayward would step up on a national level this season, but he’s really struggled to find his shot since Horizon League play began. 

He still leads the team in scoring, but his three-point percentage has dipped from 44.8 percent as a freshman to 28.2 this year. He’ll need to regain his form if the Bulldogs want to make it home to Indy.

9. Tennessee Volunteers

Seed: No. 6, Midwest Region

How’d They Get Here?: Defeated No. 11 San Diego St. 62-59, Defeated No. 14 Ohio 83-68

Outlook: While Bruce Pearl’s Volunteers have only faced double-digit seeds thus far in the opening two rounds, they’ve shown that they can be a team to be reckoned with. 

After squeaking by a hot Aztecs team in the first round, Tennessee drew the Bobcats, a team that showed they were no slouch after handling the third-seeded Hoyas. Tennessee’s pressure proved to be too much for Ohio, and Tennessee got to the Sweet 16 for the third time in four years.

The Volunteers looked on shaky ground after Tyler Smith, their best player, was dismissed from the team earlier this season for off-court issues, but this is a Tennessee team that has wins over Kansas and Kentucky this year and has shown it is capable of hanging with anyone.

Tennessee’s athleticism and length on the perimeter with J.P. Prince, Scotty Hopson, and Wayne Chism causes tremendous matchup problems for opponents, as the Volunteers are extremely versatile on the offensive end and with their full-court pressure can stifle any team with no trouble. 

Tennessee has one of the best chances to pull an upset in the Sweet 16, but to do that they’ll need to shut down Ohio State’s All-American Evan Turner. They have the bodies and length to bother Turner, but that’s easier said than done when you’re talking about the National Player of the Year.

Player to Watch: The funny thing about the Vols is that they have four players who average in double figures, so there really isn’t a single player that’s easy to key on. If I were forced to choose one, the outside shooting of Hopson is something I’d be sure to shut down if I were Thad Matta.