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NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 Preview: Kentucky Looks To Claim Midwest Region

By Nathan Giese

Mar 21, 2015; Louisville, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Aaron Harrison (2) high fives fans after the game against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KFC Yum! Center. Kentucky wins 64-51. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 21, 2015; Louisville, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Aaron Harrison (2) high fives fans after the game against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at KFC Yum! Center. Kentucky wins 64-51. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 22, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard Tarik Phillip (12), guard Daxter Miles Jr. (4), and guard Jevon Carter (2) react after the game against the Maryland Terrapins in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Nationwide Arena. West Virginia won 69-59. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 22, 2015; Columbus, OH, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers guard Tarik Phillip (12), guard Daxter Miles Jr. (4), and guard Jevon Carter (2) react after the game against the Maryland Terrapins in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at Nationwide Arena. West Virginia won 69-59. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports /

The Schedule

No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. No. 7 Wichita State Shockers: 7:15 PM EST, CBS

No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats vs. No. 5 West Virginia Mountaineers: 30 minutes following conclusion of ND-WSU, CBS

How they got here:

* Perhaps the most battle-tested team still remaining in the Midwest region, Notre Dame had each of their last two games come down to the final seconds in regulation with one of them going to overtime. The Fighting Irish overcame a two-point upset bid by Northeastern on Thursday and survived Butler by three on Saturday.

* Wichita State was able to get past Indiana on Friday by five to get to the much-anticipated game against Kansas. The Shockers used a second-half surge and barrage of three-pointers to upend the Jayhawks, earn a win against a blueblood and earn state bragging rights.

* Despite being challenged for most of the game on Saturday, Kentucky still wound up knocking off Cincinnati by double-digits, bringing their streak of consecutive double-digit victories to eight. The Wildcats made easy work of the far overmatched Hampton squad in their first contest.

* Like Notre Dame, West Virginia had to battle for both of their wins, coming out of the Buffalo game with a six-point win after leading by just one with less than a minute to go and pulling away late against Maryland for the 10-point win.

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