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1. The Big East and SEC are expected to finalize the pairings for their challenge sometime in the next two weeks. Any speculation (as I did last week) on the pairings is now moot as the conferences try to figure out arena openings and home/road setup. The Big East coaches were told that the event will happen. Politicking has begun for some. Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin wants a marquee home game. The ACC-Big Ten Challenge has matched teams that are supposed to finish in similar positions; this event hasn’t been handled like that overall. Cincinnati played Georgia last season despite the Bearcats being an upper-division Big East team and Georgia picked for the lower level of the SEC. “I don’t know why we wouldn’t rank our teams, too," Cronin said. “I’m asking the league to get us a like opponent. If we’re being picked high then we want the same thing (from the SEC)."

2. Cronin is attempting to upgrade his schedule and has secured a top-25 home-and-home series, which isn’t easy in this era of schools looking for more neutral-site non-conference games. Cronin and New Mexico coach Steve Alford said they will play a home-and-home series next season, to start in Cincinnati. The Bearcats will visit the Pit the following season.

3. Murray State coach Steve Prohm said he has had discussions with Virginia Commonwealth about a home-and-home series but nothing is finalized. The Rams are searching for multiple games after losing Richmond and George Washington from the schedule now that they’re all in the Atlantic 10. VCU also needs two more games, since the A-10 plays 16 games and the CAA played 18. VCU coach Shaka Smart said many possibilities remain, but one certainty is that the Rams will continue the rivalry with Old Dominion, which will be off to Conference USA in 2013. Smart said the home-and-home series will start at ODU in 2012-13.

Officials from Cincinnati and Xavier are not in an easy position.

The great rivalry between Cincinnati's two basketball powers spun wildly out of control last season, when late-game trash talking by Xavier's Tu Holloway escalated an already ugly blowout into empty benches and Cincy center Yancy Gates' haymakers and a bloody mess of XU center Kenny Frease's face.

The melee became an instant national conversation of the kind usually reserved for LeBron James' fourth-quarter performances, and postgame interviews by Xavier players Holloway and guard Mark Lyons and (at the time, anyway) seemingly incoherent suspensions by both coaches only worsened the hit to each school's respective image. It was really bad.

Things have calmed down since, and both schools went on to have successful seasons and runs in the NCAA tournament. But apparently, at least in Cincinnati, the initial hit lingers. The two schools' brass had to do something different, something to show the matter was being taken seriously. According to a report from The Cincinnati Enquirer, what they devised is a neutral-court compromise. From the report:

Based on the alternating site arrangement that has been in effect for years, the game was to be played this season at UC’s Fifth Third Arena, but in the wake of the brawl that erupted with 9.4 seconds left in XU’s 76-53 victory in last year’s game at Xavier’s Cintas Center, officials from the two schools agreed to move it to a neutral court for two years in an attempt to improve the climate surrounding the game. Financial details have not been finalized.

After the two-year trial period, the behavior of players and fans will be re-evaluated, with no guarantee that the series will continue.

At first glance, this seems like the right idea. You can't discontinue the series, or at least neither school wants to. The crosstown rivalry has too much history, means too much to both teams' fan bases, to kill it after one particularly unflattering day. But you also just can't let what happened in December slide, right? Something had to be done.

Which is how we arrive at the Enquirer's report of a move to U.S. Bank Arena, a half-measure that seems to serve little more than to showcase the willingness of both schools to take the incident seriously. As Mike DeCourcy, who is as familiar with the rivalry as any college hoops writer in the country, wrote Tuesday:

Exactly what moving the game off campus will do for the rivalry is hard to imagine. It is possible each school will make less money, because they’ll have to pay rent. It increases the possibility of an incident between fans because there’ll be more from each side in greater proximity to each other. [...] The administrations of each school apparently believed they needed to change something if they wanted to continue playing the game. If the rivalry truly was contaminated, and one could argue it wasn’t in the least, then it needed a cure. What the game didn’t need was botched cosmetic surgery.

DeCourcy begins his story with a discussion of the unique nature of the rivalry at each team's home site: Despite the schools' four-mile proximity, fans from the visiting team rarely found their way into the gym. Each school's fans considered it a point of pride not to sell tickets to the opposition. Now, the game will be crunched into a sterile, neutral arena, attended by fans of both teams, and who knows how that will go?

Odds are it will proceed without incident like most of the fixtures in this series' long and illustrious history. But after last season's chastising mess, that could have been just as true of a game at Cincinnati's home arena or in 2013 at Xavier. And if neither side believed that to be true, something larger needed to be done.

Instead, the two schools nodded toward a problem without doing much to solve it, assuming (perhaps wrongly) that a problem even exists in the first place. Indeed, Cincinnati and Xavier compromised -- in every sense of the term.

Yes, that’s right: After Wednesday’s signing day madness -- Nerlens Noel to Kentucky, Shabazz Muhammad to UCLA, extra extra, read all about it -- we’ve gone and built another extremely early top 25. I know, I know. You’re excited.

The whole “too early” thing isn’t just shtick; it really is way too early to be thinking about next season’s top 25 (as if preseason rankings matter in the first place). This is all just guesswork. Fun, mostly pointless guesswork. But it’s the offseason! What else are we supposed to do?

In any case, you can check out the top 25 here. Not everyone could make the cut, which is where the rest of this post comes in. Here’s a look at some of the best teams that didn’t land in today’s top 25 -- and what they’ll bring to the floor in 2012-13:

VCU: It’s clear the Rams weren’t a one-show pony in 2011; in fact, as coach Shaka Smart is proving, this is a program with staying power. Indeed, with the exception of NCAA tournament play, Smart’s 2011-12 team was considerably better than the one that made 2011’s unlikely run, and that looks likely to be the case again in 2012-13. With star guard Darius Theus alongside returners Briante Weber, Troy Daniels, Rob Brandenberg and Treveon Graham -- and with Bradford Burgess’s little brother Jordan arriving as a freshman in the fall -- this may be the best HAVOC-style defensive team of Smart’s tenure.

Kansas State: The 2012-13 Kansas State Wildcats won’t make any aesthetically inclined fan’s list of must-see teams. With just one player signed for the class of 2012 -- three-star center Laimonas Chatkevicius -- recruiting isn’t going to get anyone all hot and bothered, either. But boring as the Wildcats may seem, their returning solidity will give them a chance to be effective. Those returners include 7-foot forward Jordan Henriquez and veteran backcourt members Will Spradling, Rodney McGruder and Angel Rodriguez, who was inconsistent but promising as a freshman last season. This group wasn’t all that much to look at in 2012, either, but under former coach Frank Martin, it thrived on rebounding, defense and toughness. Newly hired coach Bruce Weber will love to work with this team.

Tennessee: The 2011-12 Tennessee Volunteers were a rebuilding team -- a post-Bruce Pearl mess, which is what they were supposed to be -- until Jan. 21, and no further. That’s when Tennessee took down Connecticut at home and went on to win 10 of its last 13 games and land the No. 2 seed in the SEC tournament, just behind the Kentucky Wildcats. Tennessee’s early season woes prevented the Vols from making the NCAA tournament, but Cuonzo Martin set a clear tone for his new program, one that should carry over -- with a little help from sophomore Jarnell Stokes, whose midseason freshman arrival synced up with the Volunteers’ run -- into his second year in Knoxville.

Saint Louis: Make no mistake: The Billikens will miss Brian Conklin, a 6-foot-6 forward who played more like he was 6-10, with the interior scoring numbers to match. Otherwise, Rick Majerus’ team -- which gave Michigan State a go in the NCAA tournament’s third round -- is back. Kwamain Mitchell, Dwayne Evans, Cody Ellis, Mike McCall and Jordair Jett; these are the players who brought Majerus and SLU back to some measure of national prominence in 2011-12. There’s no reason to expect anything less in the season to come.

Cincinnati: When Yancy Gates faded Xavier center Kenny Frease on Dec. 10, we didn’t know how Cincy’s season would end up. But few would have expected the Bearcats in general -- and Gates specifically -- to so fully turn their fortunes around. Now, Mick Cronin must move on without his powerful senior center. If Cincy lands center Christopher Obekpa, the No. 77 recruit in the ESPNU 100, all the better. (For what it’s worth, many scouts think Obekpa is heading to Providence.) But if not, Cronin can lean on the accomplished veteran backcourt of Sean Kilpatrick, Cashmere Wright and Jaquon Parker.

Five more to watch:

Ohio: The Bobcats lost coach John Groce to Illinois ... and that’s pretty much it. As returning lineups go, you can’t do much better than this. All 10 of Ohio’s rotation players from last season -- which ended in a Sweet 16 finish, lest we forget -- are back in 2012-13, including star guard D.J. Cooper.

Marquette: The Golden Eagles lost their two best players, seniors Darius Johnson-Odom and Jae Crowder, to the inescapable maw of time. But every main contributor around that star duo will be back, including Vander Blue, Davante Gardner, Chris Otule (coming off a December ACL injury), Todd Mayo and Junior Cadougan. This will remain a talented up-tempo team led by one of the nation’s most tireless coaches in Buzz Williams.

Butler: Will the Bulldogs return to prominence in 2012-13? It certainly looks that way. Brad Stevens’ young team will be without senior guard Ronald Nored, but otherwise will be a year older and wiser next season, while its chief deficiency -- shooting, scoring, offense in general -- should be alleviated by the arrival of sharpshooting Arkansas transfer Rotnei Clarke. Butler may not get back to the Final Four, but a return to the top of the Horizon League looks likely.

Miami: The Hurricanes were one of a handful of bubble teams left behind on Selection Sunday; in the end, a win at Duke in ACC play wasn’t enough to make up for an otherwise mediocre résumé. But 2012-13 holds some measure of promise. Star guard Durand Scott returns, as do forwards Reggie Johnson and Kenny Kadji. If the Hurricanes continue to improve under Jim Larranaga, they should be dancing in no time.

Maryland: The Terrapins struggled during the program's first post-Gary Williams season, but the pieces are in place for a step forward in Year 2. Star guard Terrell Stoglin -- one of the ACC's best perimeter scorers -- is back, as is center Alex Len. Meanwhile, coach Mark Turgeon is already reaping the rewards of a renewed focus on elite-level recruiting: ESPNU top 100 players Shaquille Cleare and Jake Layman highlight a solid incoming class that should contribute right away.

Honorable mentions: Alabama, Florida State, Pitt, Murray State, Stanford, Saint Mary’s, Iowa State, Xavier, Nevada.

1. Our Top 25 poll will generate plenty of buzz, but it left out a few teams that deserve mention. Don’t sleep on Murray State, which returns Isaiah Canaan and coach Steve Prohm. I’ll be stunned if Murray doesn’t make its way back into the Top 25. I also really like Minnesota again. The Gophers should be a real tough out with a healthy Trevor Mbakwe, Rodney Williams and a returning perimeter. And Cincinnati should be in the mix in the Big East with a core returning that played exceptionally well down the stretch.

2. SMU athletic director Steve Orsini can now lock in on finding a replacement for Matt Doherty after having to deal with his basketball selection committee responsibilities. Orsini knows that he has to find the right coach, not necessarily the big name. He wants to make sure the Mustangs are competitive in the Big East in 2014. I’m not sure if he has a shot, but Texas ties are important and that’s why Marquette assistant, and former Texas Tech guard, Tony Benford is an intriguing name who can recruit talent from the area.

3. Jim Christian’s move from TCU to Ohio is a classic case of a coach getting ahead before he’s out. Christian had the Horned Frogs extremely competitive in the MWC this season. TCU is now off to the Big 12. Christian returned to the MAC and took the Ohio job, a team that will be the early-season conference favorite despite the coaching change. But now the Horned Frogs have to do what Orsini is doing in the Metroplex, make the right hire for a new conference and necessarily chase the big name. Texas ties will be even more critical with the Big 12 beckoning next fall.

A recap of Thursday's action in the Men's Basketball Championship.

(4) Louisville 57, (1) Michigan St 44
Rick Pitino improves to 10-0 as a coach in the Sweet 16 -- the best mark of any coach in the history of the tournament -- and Tom Izzo loses to a Big East team in the Men's Basketball Championship for the first time in his career (5-1).

Michigan State's 44 points and 28.6 field goal percentage are both its worst in a Men's Basketball Championship game.

Gorgui Dieng blocked seven shots, tying both his career high and the school record for blocks in a Men's Basketball Championship game (Pervis Ellison, 1989), to help Louisville advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2009 and the 12th time in school history.

Draymond Green leads the Spartans with 13 points and 16 rebounds in his final collegiate game.

(1) Syracuse 64, (4) Wisconsin 63
With their victory over Wisconsin, the Orange return to the Elite Eight for the first time since winning the national championship in 2003.

With his 48th tournament victory, Jim Boeheim passes John Wooden for fifth place all-time in tournament wins.

Wisconsin shot 14-for-27 from behind the arc but just 7-for-22 from inside. The 14 3-pointers are the second-most in a tournament game for the Badgers.

The last time Syracuse won a game by one point in the NCAA tournament was the Sweet 16 in 2003, when the Orange beat Auburn 79-78 and went on to win the national championship.

It’s just the fifth time a 1 seed won by just a single point in the Sweet 16.

Wisconsin tried to impose its will in this game, limiting Syracuse to just 52 possessions. That’s the fewest possessions for Syracuse in any game in the past 15 seasons. The previous low was 54, done twice (1999 versus Princeton and 2006 versus West Virginia, both wins).

(7) Florida 68, (3) Marquette 58
Florida reaches the Elite Eight for the fourth time in seven seasons behind one of the best defensive efforts in the shot-clock era.

The Gators have allowed just 153 points through three games in the tournament; only two teams since 1986 have allowed fewer in their first three tournament wins.

The Golden Eagles made 20 field goals, just one more than their season low, but are the first team to top 50 points against Florida in this year’s tournament.

(2) Ohio State 81, (6) Cincinnati 66
Aaron Craft led the defensive effort with six steals, an Ohio State record in a Men's Basketball Championship game. The loss matches Cincinnati's worst in the Sweet 16.

Deshaun Thomas leads all scorers with 26 points (20 in the first half) and adds seven rebounds as Ohio State beats Cincinnati in the Men's Basketball Championship for the first time in school history.

Thomas joins a great list of players in the past five seasons to average at least 25.0 point per game and reach the Elite Eight. The bad news for the Buckeyes is that none of the other three players reached the Final Four.

Dick Vitale breaks down Ohio State's 81-66 victory over Cincinnati.

BOSTON -- A quick look at No. 2 seed Ohio State’s 81-66 win over No. 6 seed Cincinnati in Sweet 16 action in the East Regional at TD Garden on Thursday night:

Overview: Both teams were looking to take advantage of mismatches. Cincinnati hoped its four-guard lineup would cause problems for the bigger Ohio State lineup. Ohio State hoped its size and skill inside would prove overpowering.

Turns out, both teams were right at times.

Deshaun Thomas had scored 30 points in the paint in Ohio State’s first two tourney games, the most in the Dance. So of course the 6-foot-7, 225-pounder took his game outside on Thursday -- hitting 3 of 5 first-half 3-pointers and scoring 20 points in the opening 20 minutes.

But in the second half, the Bearcats turned up the intensity on defense and started hitting shots, their guards using their quickness to cause turnovers and score in transition. Sean Kilpatrick hit a long 2, then a 3, then another 3 and suddenly the 6-seed was back in it.

Turning point: Cincinnati scored the game’s first five points, but Ohio State scored 15 of the next 19 to take control. The Buckeyes led by as many as 13 in the first half and were up a dozen at the break.

Thad Matta’s bunch was 26-1 this season when leading at the half, so this one was in the bag, right?

Cincinnati had other ideas.

The Bearcats used a 14-2 run early in the second half to even the game at 41, then an 8-4 run to take their largest lead since the opening minutes at 49-45 with 12:13 to go.

But after Yancy Gates converted an old-fashioned three-point play to put Cincinnati up 52-48, Ohio State went back to its strength inside. Jared Sullinger got fouled in the paint and hit two free throws, sparking a 17-1 Buckeyes run that essentially ended the drama in this one.

Key player: Jared Sullinger. While Thomas fueled the Buckeyes in the first half, he wasn’t nearly as effective in the second. Luckily for OSU, Sullinger was just as effective in the final 20 minutes as he was in the first 20 minutes.

The sophomore big man followed up a 10-point, nine-rebound first half with a 13-point, 2-rebound second half to post final line of 23 and 11.

Key stats: Second-chance points and free throws.

Ohio State took advantage of its size inside, and its willingness to crash the offensive boards, to compile a 13-5 edge in second-chance points.

And while points in the paint were relatively similar (30 for OSU, 28 for Cincinnati), the Buckeyes’ banging inside helped them get to the line often. Led by Sullinger’s 9-for-10 performance, OSU shot 19-for-27 from the charity stripe on the night.

What’s next: Ohio State moves on to the Elite Eight on Saturday. The Buckeyes will face No. 1 seed Syracuse, which beat No. 4 seed Wisconsin in a thriller 64-63 in the first game Thursday.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

Before the Sweet 16 gets under way, our experts offer their predictions for all four regions:

EAST REGION (Boston)

Jay Bilas: Ohio State over Syracuse
Eamonn Brennan: Ohio State over Wisconsin
Fran Fraschilla: Syracuse over Ohio State
John Gasaway: Ohio State over Syracuse
Doug Gottlieb: Ohio State over Syracuse
Andy Katz: Ohio State over Syracuse
Jason King: Ohio State over Syracuse
Joe Lunardi: Wisconsin over Ohio State
Myron Medcalf: Wisconsin over Cincinnati
Dana O'Neil: Ohio State over Syracuse
Miles Simon: Syracuse over Ohio State
Dick Vitale: Ohio State over Syracuse
Jay Williams: Syracuse over Cincinnati

WEST REGION (Phoenix)

Jay Bilas: Michigan State over Marquette
Eamonn Brennan: Michigan State over Marquette
Fran Fraschilla: Michigan State over Marquette
John Gasaway: Michigan State over Marquette
Doug Gottlieb: Florida over Michigan State
Andy Katz: Michigan State over Marquette
Jason King: Marquette over Michigan State
Joe Lunardi: Michigan State over Marquette
Myron Medcalf: Michigan State over Marquette
Dana O'Neil: Michigan State over Marquette
Miles Simon: Marquette over Michigan State
Dick Vitale: Michigan State over Marquette
Jay Williams: Marquette over Michigan State

SOUTH REGION (Atlanta)

Jay Bilas: Kentucky over Baylor
Eamonn Brennan: Kentucky over Baylor
Fran Fraschilla: Kentucky over Baylor
John Gasaway: Kentucky over Baylor
Doug Gottlieb: Kentucky over Baylor
Andy Katz: Kentucky over Baylor
Jason King: Kentucky over Baylor
Joe Lunardi: Kentucky over Baylor
Myron Medcalf: Kentucky over Xavier
Dana O'Neil: Kentucky over Xavier
Miles Simon: Kentucky over Baylor
Dick Vitale: Kentucky over Baylor
Jay Williams: Kentucky over Baylor

MIDWEST REGION (St. Louis)

Jay Bilas: Kansas over North Carolina
Eamonn Brennan: Kansas over North Carolina
Fran Fraschilla: North Carolina over Kansas
John Gasaway: Kansas over North Carolina
Doug Gottlieb: Kansas over North Carolina
Andy Katz: North Carolina over Kansas
Jason King: North Carolina over Kansas
Joe Lunardi: Kansas over North Carolina
Myron Medcalf: Kansas over North Carolina
Dana O'Neil: Kansas over North Carolina
Miles Simon: Kansas over North Carolina
Dick Vitale: North Carolina over Kansas
Jay Williams: NC State over North Carolina

Doug Gottlieb analyzes whether sixth-seeded Cincinnati can take down Ohio State in Boston on Thursday night.

When North Carolina guard Kendall Marshall fractured his wrist in Sunday's win against Creighton, it was momentarily easy to forget Marshall isn't the most talented or productive player on his team. There's Tyler Zeller and Harrison Barnes and John Henson, and that's just for starters. So why is losing Marshall such a big deal?

Because he is, without question, UNC's most important player. The most efficient? No. The most gifted? Probably not. But there's little question Marshall -- with his visionary, table-setting passing (second nationally in assists), intelligent tempo management and offensive initiation, and the lack of a viable backup -- was/is the most crucial personnel component to Carolina's style, identity and ultimately success.

Which got us thinking: Who is everyone else's Marshall? Who's the most indispensable player on each of the Sweet 16 rosters, the one each team could least afford to lose? Well, we're glad you (OK, we) asked. Here's what we came up with:

South Region

No. 1 Kentucky: Anthony Davis, forward -- No overthinking this one. Sure, there's an argument to be made for Marquis Teague, who appeared for much of the season to be Kentucky's lone potential weakness; Teague's two months of consistently increased success -- culminating in a brilliant performance in a rout of Iowa State -- have cast doubts about whether he could be easily replaced. But one can envision a scenario in which guard Doron Lamb, whose ballhandling is probably slightly underrated at this point, would be able to get UK into its offense. Coach John Calipari would find a way to make it work. Without Davis, the Cats lose a downright transcendent shot-blocking force and the source of countless easy baskets on the other end of the floor, the type of player who opposing coaches frequently say "changes the game." It's Davis, and it's hard to find the counterintuitive argument here.

No. 3 Baylor: Quincy Acy, forward -- While not the most talented big man in Baylor's lineup, Acy's absence would irreparably harm the Bears for two obvious reasons: He scores easy buckets in the low block, and he rebounds. Perry Jones III does some of these same things, too, but hardly to the level Acy does (and not nearly as consistently), and the Bears -- a very good offensive rebounding team that struggles on the defensive glass -- would not be nearly as good on offense were Acy not around to clean up so many misses.

No. 4 Indiana: Cody Zeller, forward -- Again, no use in overthinking this. Zeller is by far IU's leader in offensive efficiency and rebounding, and he has changed the way the Hoosiers -- who were immensely foul-prone the past three years under Tom Crean -- guard the rim and chase down misses. Plus, without him, Indiana's big man rotation would consist of Tom Pritchard and Derek Elston. We've seen that movie before. It was not critically acclaimed.

No. 10 Xavier: Kenny Frease, center -- Sticking with the all-big-men theme here, Frease is the most indispensable player because Xavier really doesn't have another guy who can do what he does, primarily on the glass. If star guard Tu Holloway went missing, the Musketeers would certainly lack for offensive creativity, but they'd have another talented (if mercurial) guard in Mark Lyons, who would no doubt be more than willing to hoist a few extra shots. Without Frease, Chris Mack's team would be in no-man's-land on the low block.

West Region

No. 1 Michigan State: Draymond Green, forward -- When you do this much for your team, your membership on this list requires no explanation. Really, it's not even close.

No. 3 Marquette: Darius Johnson-Odom, guard -- Jae Crowder's breakout senior season has been a huge factor in this team's success, no doubt about it. But DJO's relentless, attacking, bruising style -- not to mention his all-court game, his lockdown perimeter defense and his ability to go end-to-end on the fast break both with rim finishes and pull-up jumpers -- gives this Marquette team its hard-won identity.

No. 4 Louisville: Gorgui Dieng, forward -- I promise, this list isn't all forwards. The obvious answer here is Peyton Siva, but the Cardinals already have a pretty willing on-ball defender and shot-happy penetrator in guard Russ Smith, while Dieng -- a crazy-lanky shot-blocker, rebounder and defensive anchor -- has keyed so much of the Cards' No. 2-ranked per-possession defense this season.

No. 7 Florida: Kenny Boynton, guard -- The original temptation was to go with another big man, in this case Patric Young, but let's be real: The Gators don't use their frontcourt on offense anyway. Which is why Boynton's ability not only to take a lot of long-range jumpers but actually make them at a high rate is so important. That isn't always the case with the rest of this backcourt. Plus, Boynton -- with the possible exception of Bradley Beal -- happens to be Florida's most creative scorer off the dribble, one of the Gators' few players who can do more than chuck long-range shots to fuel this high-powered offense.

Midwest Region

No. 1 North Carolina: Kendall Marshall, guard -- By now, you get the idea.

No. 2 Kansas: Tyshawn Taylor, guard -- The obvious choice is Thomas Robinson and, you know, duh: Dude's a national player of the year candidate for a reason. But at this stage of the season, Kansas' ability to win a national title rests in large part on Taylor's play at the point guard spot. If he is on -- attacking the rim and finding teammates without coughing up turnovers -- he's truly the biggest X factor on Bill Self's team. If he's off, the Jayhawks turn to Elijah Johnson, Travis Releford and ... Conner Teahan? The defense rests.

No. 11 North Carolina State: Lorenzo Brown, guard -- C.J. Leslie has blossomed into this team's most impressive player, but its point guard deserves as much if not more credit for the unlikely late-season Sweet 16 run this Wolfpack team has somehow managed to piece together. On a team with no tournament experience and plenty of young players, Brown's calming influence on the ball is a major asset.

No. 13 Ohio: D.J. Cooper, guard -- Cooper demonstrated his worth with huge shots down the stretch against a South Florida team that prides itself on disallowing exactly the kind of offensive display Cooper generated. For a team with the No. 2-ranked opponents' turnover percentage in the country, Cooper's 4.3 percent steals rate (the 22nd-ranked individual mark in the country) truly makes it go.

East Region

No. 1 Syracuse: C.J. Fair, forward -- It's hard to pick from Syracuse's still-stacked-minus-Fab lineup, but Fair gets the nod. With all due respect to Scoop Jardine, Dion Waiters, Kris Joseph and Brandon Triche, the Orange wouldn't exactly hurt for scoring guards were one of them to suffer an injury. If Fair went down, Jim Boeheim would lose his last truly effective big man, and the only viable interior option this side of Rakeem Christmas and Baye Keita.

No. 2 Ohio State: William Buford, guard -- This is a bit of a tricky one, because there's simply no replacing Jared Sullinger's interior prowess or Aaron Craft's incredible perimeter defense. But if OSU is truly a national title threat -- and it looks the part thus far -- that's because Buford, who struggled with his shot in nearly every Ohio State loss this season, isn't cashing in from the perimeter. Having Buford as a go-to option on the outside only aids Sullinger's load and takes as much pressure off Craft and the rest of the Buckeyes as possible. The senior has to score efficiently for this team to make a run. Simple as that.

No. 4 Wisconsin: Jordan Taylor, guard -- Again: No overthinking required, no explanation needed. May a resounding duh ring forth across the land.

No. 6 Cincinnati: Yancy Gates, forward -- With all due respect to Sean Kilpatrick, who has quietly become one of the stars of the tournament, the Bearcats would be a team full of guards with no interior punch (sorry) were it not for the indomitable Gates. Losing Kilpatrick would be a major blow, but lineup and skill-set facsimiles abound. Not so with Gates. He's crucial.

Teams from the state of Ohio make up one-fourth of the schools in the Sweet 16 this season after Cincinnati and crosstown rival Xavier won their games. The Bearcats and Musketeers join the Ohio Bobcats and Ohio State Buckeyes in the next round.

It's the first time in NCAA tournament history that four schools from a single state have advanced to the Sweet 16 in the same season.

East Region
(6) Cincinnati 62, (3) Florida State 56
The Bearcats will be making their sixth Sweet 16 appearance and first since 2001. Cincinnati went on a 12-6 run over the final minute and a half of the game, which began with a Dion Dixon steal and dunk.

Sean Kilpatrick led the Bearcats with 18 points and Cincinnati recorded 13 steals to just five for Florida State. Florida State fails to reach consecutive Sweet 16s for the first time since 1992-93.

Cincinnati now takes on No. 2 seed Ohio State in the Sweet 16 Thursday. These schools met twice for the National Championship in 1961 and 1962 with the Bearcats winning both times.

South Region
(10) Xavier 70, (15) Lehigh 58
Another team from Cincinnati, Xavier, will be making its sixth Sweet 16 appearance as well. Kenny Frease scored a career-high 25 points shooting 84.6 percent (11-13) from the floor and also grabbed 12 rebounds. He's the first player to record those numbers in a NCAA tournament game since Blake Griffin in 2009.

Lehigh which scored 19 points in transition versus Duke on Friday scored just seven against Xavier. The Mountain Hawks entered the tournament averaging nearly 16 points per game in transition, which ranked in the top 25. Lehigh's loss brings No. 15 seeds to 0-6 all-time in the Round of 32.

Xavier next takes on No. 3 seed Baylor on Friday.

(2) Kansas 63, (10) Purdue 60
After a late scare, Kansas is headed to its 19th Sweet 16 and fifth in its past six seasons. Thomas Robinson scored 11 points and 13 rebounds for his 25th double-double of the season, which ties Drew Gooden's school record in 2002. The Jayhawks scored 17 points in transition including their final six points.

Robbie Hummel ends his Boilermakers career scoring a team-high 26 points as Purdue loses in the Round of 32 for the second straight year.

Kansas faces No. 11 seed North Carolina State on Friday hoping to advance to the Elite Eight for the second straight season. The Wolfpack have not been to the Regional Finals since 1986.

Through the Round of 32, no games in this year's Men's Basketball Championship have gone to overtime. It's the first time since seeding began in 1979 that there hasn't been a single overtime game in the Round of 64 and Round of 32.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Cincinnati’s Mick Cronin wasn’t biting late Sunday night.

His Bearcats had just bulldozed No. 3 seed Florida State 62-56 in the third round of the East Regional at Bridgestone Arena to advance to their first Sweet 16 since 2001.

Up next just happens to be Ohio State, which is about a two-hour drive from Cincinnati’s campus, but might as well be 2,000 miles away when it comes to the schools establishing any semblance of a hoops rivalry.

They’ve played only once since Cincinnati beat Ohio State in the 1962 national championship game, and that was at the Wooden Tradition tournament in Indianapolis in 2006.

Cronin has made it known in the past that he’d love to play Ohio State on a regular basis and that there’s no reason the schools shouldn’t play. The only problem is that Ohio State hasn’t wanted to play, which probably explains Cronin’s answer Sunday when asked about the irony of facing the Buckeyes on such a national stage Thursday in Boston.

“I have great respect for their program,” Cronin said. “Other than that, they’re the next team we play. You know, these guys have a goal. We have a goal, and we got into the tournament to win it. I want my guys thinking that way because I believe in them. It’s important that they know that I believe we’re capable of winning the whole tournament.

“We’re capable of winning any game we play.”

And that includes the No. 2-seed Buckeyes, one of four schools from the state of Ohio to make the Sweet 16.

The Bearcats (26-10) got there with toughness, defense -- and as Cronin reminded everybody Sunday -- a healthy dose of talent, too.

Whether it was Sean Kilpatrick going 4-of-6 from 3-point range, Jaquon Parker yanking down 11 rebounds, or Dion Dixon stealing Luke Loucks' pass out of three-quarter court pressure and sailing in for a tomahawk dunk, Cincinnati made every play it needed to in knocking off the Seminoles. A Florida State team that won the ACC tournament championship this season and beat both Duke and North Carolina twice.

“I think we get a lot of credit for playing hard,” Cronin said. “I think, hopefully, tonight people saw our talent level, to be able to do things some teams in the ACC couldn’t do last week on a neutral court. … I think our talent level is a lot higher than people give us credit for.”

It was the Bearcats’ eighth win this season over a nationally-ranked opponent, and they had that unmistakable look about them when it came time to win or lose the game on Sunday.

Not only did they hit 9-of-10 free throws in the final two minutes, but they made key stops on the defensive end and chased down all the 50-50 balls.

Dixon’s steal and soaring dunk with 1:30 to play swung a back-and-forth game in Cincinnati’s favor for good.

“That kind of sparked us a little bit,” said Dixon, who had 15 points and three steals.

Like their coach, the Cincinnati players also downplayed the fact that it was Ohio State standing in their way next week in Boston.

What they didn’t downplay was where they expect to be when this tournament is over.

“Going to the Sweet 16 is all cool,” Parker said. “But we’re thinking way better than that. We’re trying to get past the Sweet 16 and do bigger and better things.”

The deeper the Bearcats advance, the more people will forget about their ugly brawl with Xavier in December that resulted in multiple suspensions of players.

Cronin said it’s been a fight every step of the way to get out from under that stigma, but he’s proud of the way his players have responded.

“We’ve been on a mission to define what Cincinnati basketball is all about, what our university and city is all about, and the kids have banded together to do that,” Cronin said. “It hasn’t been easy. These guys’ backs have been against the wall since that day, not because of the issue, because we were 5-3 and our RPI was sky-rocketing.

“We were so far away from the NCAA tournament we couldn’t see it with binoculars.”

They can see it now. Matter of fact, they have a front-row seat.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A quick look at No. 6 seed Cincinnati’s 62-56 victory over No. 3 seed Florida State in the third round of the NCAA tournament’s East Regional at Bridgestone Arena:

Overview: It was a physical contest from the outset with both teams looking like two big bulls slamming into each other. Florida State led by one at halftime, and it stayed close throughout the second half.

The two teams traded leads, and neither shot particularly well (38 percent from the field for both teams). What killed the Seminoles were costly turnovers, and the Bearcats capitalized. They outscored the Seminoles 19-6 off turnovers and also had a 13-5 advantage on fast-break points.

And even though Cincinnati was just 5-of-15 from 3-point range, guard Sean Kilpatrick hit back-to-back shots from long distance just inside 4 minutes, and then the Bearcats only missed once from the free-throw line in the final two minutes of the game.

Turning point: The game was tied at 50-50, and Florida State had the ball. But a lazy pass by FSU’s Luke Loucks against Cincinnati's pressure defense was stolen by Dion Dixon, who flew in for a dunk to give the Bearcats a 2-point lead with 1:30 to play. A couple of possessions later, Loucks committed another turnover when he was called for traveling. The Seminoles never got any closer than four points the rest of the way.

Key player: Kilpatrick led the Bearcats with 18 points and was 4-of-6 from behind the 3-point arc. He also had 6 rebounds and 2 steals in 37 minutes.

Key stat: The Bearcats were 9-of-10 from the free-throw line in last two minutes of the game. They only shot 63.7 percent from the line during the season.

Miscellaneous: Even though Cincinnati guard Cashmere Wright shot just 2-of-10 from the field, he dished out 6 assists, collected 5 steals and turned the ball over only twice in 33 minutes. … The Bearcats wore the black version of their new Adidas uniforms on Sunday. Their jerseys were black with fluorescent orange/pink numbers and trim. … Florida State’s leading scorer, Michael Snaer, had another off shooting night. He was 0-of-7 from the floor in the second-round victory over St. Bonaventure and was just 4-of-11 Sunday against Cincinnati.

What’s next: Cincinnati (26-10) will advance to the Sweet 16 to face second-seeded Ohio State on Thursday night in Boston. It's one of those matchups that you wouldn't see during the regular season. Ohio State hasn't been willing to play Cincinnati on a regular basis and has typically wanted to play only if the game were in Columbus.

Slowly but surely -- OK, quickly and furiously -- we've arrived at the final day of the first weekend of the greatest sports competition in the world. (I used to be somewhat sheepish writing that, what with the World Cup and the Olympics and so on, but after this weekend? After two wins for two No. 15 seeds in three hours? I don't feel so sheepish now.)

After an occasionally ugly but universally hard-fought (and almost always exciting) Saturday, we have but eight spots for advancement available for the remaining 16 teams in the tournament.

The math is cruel. Someone has to go home. Let's take a look how that process may unfold:

Midwest Region

No. 3 Georgetown vs. No. 11 NC State, 12:15 p.m. ET, CBS: The Hoyas were a relatively popular upset-pick victim in brackets, but they snuffed out any such notion against the plucky, this-could-be-their-year Belmont Bruins with ease Friday afternoon. How? Defense first. The Hoyas employ a downright stifling zone defense, one that allows the lowest opponent 3-point field goal percentage in the nation.

The Hoyas aren't quite so dominant on offense, but they are effective. Center Henry Sims has developed into a go-to post scorer whose best feature, believe it or not, is his passing, and the Hoyas have mastered John Thompson III's open-air Princeton system. Few teams that play this deliberately slow -- the Hoyas average 63 possessions per game -- are this much fun to watch. (The backcuts, the screens, the pivots, Sims' passing ... it can be downright beautiful.)

The Wolfpack happen to be playing their best basketball of the season -- they scored 1.17 points per trip against No. 6 San Diego State on Friday -- and their size and athleticism, especially that of emerging sophomore forward C.J. Leslie, gives them a chance to hang around by creating second chances on the offensive glass. Georgetown should win this game, sure, but this isn't the same NC State team we saw in the regular season, even down the stretch.

No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 8 Creighton, 5:15 p.m. ET, CBS: You know the deal: Highly touted UNC star Harrison Barnes and long-ignored Creighton forward Doug McDermott both hail from Ames, Iowa, where they starred on the same state-title-winning high school hoops team, before Barnes made the Skype call heard 'round the college hoops world. Since then, McDermott -- who was passed over even by his own father, Greg McDermott, before the coach decided to leave Iowa State and take the vacant gig at Creighton -- has since morphed into a national player of the year candidate while Barnes, still a top NBA lottery prospect, has had two very good but-not-quite-great seasons for the ballyhooed Tar Heels. That matchup is the stuff of storyline legend -- my home state is certainly excited about it -- and it should be a lot of fun.

But there are other concerns here, too. Will Creighton choose to run with the fast-breaking Tar Heels, or try to hash things out in the half court? Can UNC guard Kendall Marshall provide the point of defensive attack required to stop a Bluejays team that enters the game ranked No. 1 in the nation in effective field goal percentage? Will Carolina forward John Henson play? And even if he doesn't, can Creighton -- a very good offensive team plagued by mediocre defense -- survive the Tar Heels onslaught? Signs point to no, but it will be fun to watch McDermott and Co. give it their best shot.

No. 12 South Florida vs. No. 13 Ohio, 7:10 p.m. ET, TBS: You may have picked South Florida to topple Temple. You might have imagined an Ohio upset of Michigan. The odds you picked both are slim. But these teams -- two Friday upset winners lost amidst the mania that rightfully surrounded Norfolk State's and Lehigh's legendary victories -- will hardly mind. USF continues to play its rather ugly brand of basketball, but that slow, defensive style works. It got the Bulls into the tournament, and with Anthony Collins and Augustus Gilchrist leading the way, it remained successful Friday.

Ohio, meanwhile, held a very good Michigan offense in check while scoring 1.14 points per trip in its own right. Last time the Bobcats were here, they upset Georgetown before falling in the second round. This is just South Florida's third appearance in tournament history; Friday was their program's first win. Needless to say, both programs would like to stick around for just a little bit longer.

No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 10 Purdue, 8:40 p.m. ET, TNT: Purdue was excellent down the stretch in Friday's first-round win over Saint Mary's, and Matt Painter has gotten more out of this team -- whose only real "star," Robbie Hummel, made a redemptive return from two straight ACL surgeries this season -- than anyone might have reasonably expected coming into the year. This just in: Painter can really coach.

But, for the record, Bill Self can, too, and his team has a major advantage over the Boilermakers for one obvious and simple reason: The Jayhawks have really, really good big guys. Purdue does not. How do the Boilers, who started essentially a five-guard lineup Friday (with Hummel and D.J. Byrd serving as stretch forwards) stop Thomas Robinson? How does an overmatched big man corps of Sandi Marcius and Travis Carroll give Purdue anything inside with block machine Jeff Withey patrolling the paint? The answer: I don't know. I'd wager a guess Painter doesn't, either.

West Region

No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 9 Saint Louis, 2:45 p.m. ET, CBS: Admit it, the moment you saw Memphis' name pop up next to No. 1 seed Michigan State in the West Region on Sunday's selection show, you thought, "Wow, that's a brutal No. 8 seed for the Spartans." And it was. But as Saint Louis proved, that No. 9 seed was no slouch, either. Rick Majerus' team boasts one of the 10 best defenses in the country, one that held a previously scorching (and immensely talented) Tigers team to just 0.86 points per trip Friday afternoon. For the Spartans to avoid the same fate, they will have to limit turnovers and prove equally stout on their own defensive end (the latter of which just so happens to be a specialty). "Majerus in the tournament" is scary enough, but nothing will come easy against these Billikens.

No. 7 Florida vs. No. 15 Norfolk State, 6:10 p.m. ET, TNT: Can the magic continue? Can tiny Norfolk State take down another high-major heavy? Can forward Kyle O'Quinn -- who, after Friday's shocking upset of No. 2-seeded Missouri, gave one of the greatest on-air postgame interviews in college hoops history and later told reporters "We busted my bracket, too!" -- go to work on the Gators the way he went to work on the Tigers?

The Cinderella optimist would say that Norfolk matches up just as well with Florida as it did with Missouri; the Gators are another guard-oriented, 3-point reliant squad with just one true big man (Patric Young) left to rebound and patrol the paint. The pessimist would say Young is much more of a defensive force than Missouri's Ricardo Ratliffe, and more than athletic enough to contain O'Quinn while the Gators' sharpshooting guards (Kenny Boynton and Bradley Beal, chiefly) go to work on the offensive end.

Still, you have to like Norfolk State's chances. There's something special going on in the Spartans' first NCAA tournament appearance. Could more history -- the first No. 15-seeded insurgent in the Sweet 16 -- be on the horizon?

South Region

No. 10 Xavier vs. No. 15 Lehigh, 7:45 p.m. ET, TruTV: Xavier has made a habit of attending Sweet 16s in recent years -- before last season, the Musketeers had played into the second weekend in three straight seasons -- and thanks to the miracle that was C.J. McCollum's 30-point performance in an upset over Duke, their chances are suddenly looking downright likely. But to make that happen, they'll have to get great perimeter defense from Tu Holloway and Mark Lyons. If McCollum is slicing and dicing the Musketeers like he sliced and diced the Blue Devils, Chris Mack's team may yet be one more victim on McCollum's ride to NCAA tournament immortality. But if he isn't? Xavier might just get into the Sweet 16 again. Given the depths this team experienced this season, the way the Dec. 10 brawl with Cincinnati derailed a once-promising year, that would be an upset in and of itself.

No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 6 Cincinnati, 9:40 p.m. ET: Speaking of Cincinnati, the Bearcats are still here, too, and they've played the best basketball of their season at the best moments. They overcame a weak RPI to seal a tournament bid, then toppled Syracuse in last week's Big East tournament, then handled, in impressively clutch fashion, a better-than-its-seed Texas team that stormed back from a deep deficit in Friday's win. But do they have enough to get past Florida State?

The Seminoles are the Seminoles: They still play one of the toughest, most physical brands of straight-up man-to-man defense in the country. They still occasionally struggle on the offensive end. But FSU's improvement from beyond the arc led to its ACC conference tournament title and, in general, the most successful season of Leonard Hamilton's slow-burn tenure. If FSU is merely good on the offensive end, and its usual self on defense, the Noles should get through to the Sweet 16. But Cincinnati will be the toughest -- with all due respect to Murray State -- sixth-seeded out in the tournament field.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Taking a look at the NCAA tournament third-round games on Sunday at Bridgestone Arena:

No. 12 seed South Florida (22-13) vs. No. 13 seed Ohio University (28-7), 7:10 p.m. ET

The long shots are always the best stories this time of year, the tiny universities that come out of nowhere to make a run in the NCAA tournament.

South Florida’s hardly a tiny university. But when you start thinking hoops and USF in the same breath, and then throw the Big East into the mix, it’s hard to find anybody who really thought the Bulls would be here.

Well, they’re here, and they face Ohio University on Sunday night for a chance to make it to their first Sweet 16.

Not bad for a team that was squarely on the bubble when the NCAA pairings came out and a team that lost to Penn State and Auburn earlier this season.

For that matter, it was hard to see any of this coming before the season. The Bulls finished 10-23 a year ago under Stan Heath, his third losing season at USF, and there were a lot of people wondering if this might be his last season.

The Big East coaches picked USF to finish 14^th out of 16 teams in the preseason.

Heath, who was fired at Arkansas after five seasons, had other ideas, and so did his team.

The Bulls scrapped their way to a 12-6 record in the Big East, their first winning conference record since joining the league in 2005. They squeezed into the NCAA tournament as one of the final teams in, and as a No. 12 seed, had to play in the first round in Dayton, Ohio.

They beat California late Wednesday night, traveled to Nashville on Thursday and then polished off Temple a day later, giving them their first two NCAA tournament wins in the program's history.

Even when their seed came out, the Bulls’ players were oblivious.

The only thing that mattered to them was that they were playing on college basketball’s biggest stage -- and they’re still playing.

“We’re just happy to be here, and we’re going to go out and play basketball, and regardless of what team we have in front of us, whatever the seed may be, that’s just a number,” USF senior forward Ron Anderson Jr. said. “At the end of the day, it’s just five guys going against five guys.”

Heath is no stranger to deep runs in the NCAA tournament. He worked under Tom Izzo at Michigan State and made three Final Four trips with the Spartans. Then as head coach at Kent State, Heath took the Golden Flashes to the Elite Eight in 2002.

That magical run got him the job at Arkansas, but he was ousted after five seasons.

He’s proving now in his fifth season at USF -- with the Bulls’ black-and-blue brand of defense and their unselfishness on offense -- that he hasn’t forgotten how to navigate his way through March.

“The kids are so excited to be here,” Heath said. “They’re so excited to be a part of the NCAA tournament, and now we’re in the third round. I just don’t see them not seizing this moment. I just don’t see it.”

Who to watch: Ohio junior guard D.J. Cooper. You might want to loosen up the old neck muscles, because Cooper is an absolute blur on the basketball court. He’s a 5-11, 165-pound left-hander who can shoot it from deep and beat pretty much anybody he wants off the dribble. When his outside shot is going, he’s almost impossible to defend. He doesn’t shoot a great percentage from the field (35 percent), but he's fearless when it comes to taking the ball to the basket and also knows how to get his teammates involved. If you haven’t had a chance to watch Cooper play much this season, do yourself a favor and keep your eye on No. 5. He’s a treat to watch play.

What to watch: The scoreboard. With the way these two teams play defense, it’s not a stretch to think that the first team to 55 may win. South Florida is big and physical, and the Bulls swarm opponents any time they get close to the paint. They held California to 13 points in the first half of their opening-round game and then suffocated Temple 58-44 on Friday. Ohio doesn’t have South Florida’s size or length, but the Bobcats are one of the best teams in the country at turning teams over. They forced an average of 17.7 turnovers per game during the season and held Michigan to 40.7 percent shooting on Friday in their 65-60 win over the Wolverines.

No. 3 seed Florida State (25-9) vs. No. 6 seed Cincinnati (25-10), 9:40 p.m. ET

One team came within a game of winning its conference tournament.

The other team did win its conference tournament.

Both teams will tell you that they play in the toughest hoops conference in the land.

It’s the ACC versus the Big East on Sunday night in the third round of the East Regional, and while their styles may not be exactly the same, Cincinnati and Florida State have the identical mentality when it comes to living to see another day in the NCAA tournament.

“You’ve got to train your guys to play with tremendous toughness,” Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. “If you let some of these teams run their offense, they’re so good. The coaching is so good. The skill level is so sky-high. You’re going to give up baskets.

“You’ve got to be able to take people out of what they’re doing to try and create some easy baskets for your team, because it’s so hard to score on the other end.”

It’s a way of life in the Big East, according to the Cincinnati players.

“Every game, it’s like you’re playing for your life,” Cincinnati senior guard Dion Dixon said. “That’s why you see so many games come down to the end, and it’s not always pretty.

“But what it does is prepare you for this. One bad game, and you’re gone. Your back’s to the wall as soon as you step onto the court. That’s OK with us because we feel like we’re at our best when our backs are to the wall.”

The Bearcats’ only two losses since the middle of February were to a pair of teams still playing. They lost in the Big East tournament championship game to Louisville (50-44) and at South Florida (46-45) back on Feb. 26.

“You’ve got to be able to grind, and when you get good looks, you’ve got to be able to make clutch shots, especially in the second half,” Dixon said. “We’ve been able to do that.”

As equipped as the Bearcats think they are to advance to the second week of the tournament, the Seminoles are equally nasty on defense and took down both Duke and North Carolina en route to winning the ACC tournament championship.

And consider this: They won their second-round NCAA tournament game on Friday over St. Bonaventure despite their leading scorer, junior guard Michael Snaer, going scoreless for the first time in his career.

“We lean on each other and don’t have to depend on just one player or one aspect of our team,” Florida State senior forward Bernard James said. “That’s something that we’ve emphasized, being able to win games in a lot of different ways. But the constant with us is always going to be our defense.”

Who to watch: Michael Snaer. He was 0-for-7 against St. Bonaventure and didn’t score a point. Snaer averaged 14.5 points during the season and shot 42.1 percent from the 3-point line. The chances of him going scoreless again are about as good as Steve Spurrier showing up behind the Florida State bench with his face painted up in Seminoles colors. Snaer’s too good of a player not to bounce back, but the Bearcats will work hard to keep him from getting into any kind of groove early.

What to watch: The zone. Cincinnati has been able to change up its defenses and again had some success with the 2-3 zone on Friday. Cronin was pleased with the way the Bearcats rebounded out of the zone in their second-round win over Texas. He also thinks the zone helps get senior forward Yancy Gatessome rest. The 6-foot-10 James is Florida State’s main threat inside, but the Seminoles also start 6-11 center Xavier Gibson.