Winners and Losers of Sweet 16 Thursday

Half of the Elite 8 is set. Syracuse, Louisville, Ohio State and Florida advance. Daily Onions was 2-2 last night in our picks (Marquette and Michigan State). Let's see who else were winners and losers last night.

Fair busts out of slump vs. Wisco (pic: syracuse.com)

Winner: Basketball - Seems kind of simple, right? Well the game of basketball was a winner last night with the Syracuse and Wisconsin game. Whether you are a fan of Otto or Bucky, you HAD to enjoy watching that game last night. One of the best all around played games in a while by two teams in the tournament. You had the athleticism, length and uptemponess (new word) of Syracuse, against the smart, patient, sharpshooters from Wisconsin. The Badgers hit 14 3 pointers in the game, including a stretch of six in a row. But every time they made a run, Syracuse was able to bounce back and answer. Eventually, Wisconsin's shots weren't falling, thanks to Syracuse extending the zone and a little regression to the mean. One other note, good to have Brandon Triche and CJ Fair back doing their thing for the 'Cuse.

Loser: That Awful Camera Angle - Note to CBS and TBS, let's try and stay away from the over-the-court angle that makes you feel like you are even further from the action. Keep it simple.

Winner: Coaching Trees - Rick Pitino was one of Jim Boeheim's first assistants. Pitino then went on coach Billy Donovan at Providence (as well as a short stint with the Knicks). After working on Wall Street for a year, Donovan became an assistant for Pitino at Kentucky. Now, all three of these coaches are in the Elite 8, with Pitino and Donovan squaring off against each other in the West Regional Final.

Loser: Lesley Visser's Face in HD - We don't want to be disrespectful, but come on. Her face just isn't normal anymore, and it's actually frightening. I remember watching Visser as a sideline reporter when I was growing up. She was always solid. But I think it's time for her to hang up the microphone.

Louisville in Orange (pic: syracuse.com)

Winner: Orange - Congratulations to all the teams that wore Orange last night, as you were a winner. Syracuse defeated Wisconsin, Florida beat Marquette, and Louisville beat Michigan State.

Winner: Draymond Green - Yes, we know that Michigan State lost, but how can you not like this kid. Everybody loves Draymond. Classy kid on and off the court. Probably came into this season with a ceiling of being a very good college basketball player, and a quick flame out in the NBA. This year though, he led the Spartans from unranked to a number 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Put Draymond Green on a perennial contender in the NBA and I think he becomes a solid contributor. It's been fun watching Green over the past few years. Too bad he didn't go to Duke...then Dick Vitale would have been comparing him to Derek Jeter all year long.

Loser: The State of Wisconsin - It was a rough night for all the cheese heads. Not only did Wisconsin fall to Syracuse in a heartbreaker, but Marquette couldn't hit an open shot and lost to Florida. We really liked Marquette this season, but if you don't make open shots you aren't going to win Sweet 16 games. Actually, if you do make open shots, you still might not win Sweet 16 games (see: Wisconsin).

Winner: Bill Raftery - Last but not least....this is obvious. Raftery was on point during the Syracuse - Wisconsin game. His greatest work came during Syracuse's first half run. There was a little lingerie on the deck after a Dion Waiters spin cycle. Then Waiters hit a high arching jumper, to which Raftery exclaimed, "It came down wet!" He then followed that up with a jab at a round Derrick Coleman (he was available?!) in the stands ("No Church League for that guy!"). See for yourself.