Can Shelden Williams stay out of foul trouble against the Hall on Saturday? Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Duke's Plan
Coach K is going to have his team go on the attack defensively, and make sure it doesn't give up easy baskets to Seton Hall. The Pirates are a team that sometimes struggles shooting from the outside, so I think Duke is going to try to make them play as much of a perimeter game as possible, with their halfcourt, man-to-man pressure. The Blue Devils will extend the defense and go after Andre Barrett with a few different guys.

Chris Duhon -- although his health is a key -- will be one of the main defenders on Barrett, and Daniel Ewing could also draw the assignment. But something to watch for Saturday is the likelihood that Sean Dockery will play more minutes specifically to keep Barrett in check. Dockery is an excellent defender and if there's a game made for him to help Duke get to the next round, this is the one.

Seton Hall's Plan
Louis Orr's team is going to start out man-to-man, to try to send a message to Duke: We can play with you, and we can beat you. I'm sure the Pirates have seen enough Blue Devils games to know that if you come out and play them tough and tight, you have a chance of pulling off the upset. Also, although a lot of teams don't do it against the Blue Devils, you'll see Seton Hall play some zone and really try to key on Redick. That'll also help keep Kelly Whitney out of foul trouble, because Duke will try to go at him inside.

The Pirates are going to need to be patient and attack Shelden Williams in the lane. They'll try to get the ball in Barrett's hands as much as possible, although Duke will try to deny every pass to the star guard. If the Blue Devils are successful in denying Barrett, it could really disrupt the Pirates' offense by forcing other players, like Marcus Toney-El, to go one-on-one more than coach Orr would like.

Key Matchup
It's going to be in the middle. Seton Hall is going to try to get Williams in foul trouble. Whitney had a monster game -- 24 points, 14 boards -- in the first round, and it's not a secret that if you can get Williams out of the game, you've got a much better chance against Duke. Similar to Arizona, the Pirates' first-round opponent, the Blue Devils don't have a lot of depth inside. The key for them is to keep Williams from racking up fouls, and that's another reason Coach K will extend his defense.

The Pick
Duke. I think it's going to be a competitive game, but because of the scoring difficulties the Hall sometimes has, it really plays into Duke's favor. If the Blue Devils can get by this one, it's going to be tremendous, because Duhon will have another week to get healthy.

Texas Tech needs to contain Delonte West. AP

St. Joe's Plan
Speaking from experience playing against Texas Tech, you have to mix up your defenses. But Bobby Knight's teams are masters against the man, so they'll carve you up. St. Joe's will apply some full-court man-to-man pressure, but you can't play man the whole game, so I look for Martelli to play a significant amount of zone.

The Red Raiders have played against man-to-man all year in the Big 12, so if you can play zone effectively against them, you have a chance to win. But the key is to rebound well out of it -- if the Hawks can play zone and keep Texas Tech from getting multiple shots, they'll have a much better shot at heading to the Sweet 16.

On offense, St. Joe's will need to spread the floor and have its great backcourt of Jameer Nelson and Delonte West penetrate to create help situations for Texas Tech. That'll open up the pass-out and the 3-point shot for the Hawks.

Texas Tech's Plan
The Red Raiders will play the standard halfcourt, Bobby Knight defense and put pressure on the ball. But Knight will be careful not to have his troops play too tight on Nelson and West. Tech needs to contain the dribble and stay between the Hawks' guards and the basket. I think the Red Raiders will use a little less weakside help defense than usual, because of the danger St. Joe's possesses from the 3-point line.

Andre Emmett is going to be the focus of the Hawks' defense, which will be trying to make sure he doesn't have an all-tournament game. St. Joe's will have to make sure the nearest man to Emmett boxes him out -- they might even have two guys boxing Emmett out on some shots.

Key Matchup
Committee vs. Emmett. St. Joe's will probably have two or three guys trying to neutralize him. If I'm Martelli, I'd set a goal that Emmett doesn't get more than 2-4 points on the offensive boards. The Hawks need to make Emmett shoot jump shots and look to draw offensive fouls every time he goes to the basket.

The Pick
I'll take St. Joe's, because I don't want to feel the wrath of Phil Martelli, like Billy Packer.

Syracuse's Plan
When you say Syracuse, you say Jim Boeheim. And when you say Boeheim, you say the 2-3 zone. In a day and age where very few teams shoot the ball, it's understandable why Boeheim keeps winnng 20 games a year with that strategy.

Although the Orangemen switched to a man-to-man against BYU, I don't expect them to play much man-to-man against Maryland, because Maryland is team that loves to play against the man. This is one of those games where you have real contrasting styles -- 'Cuse is a great zone defense team, and Maryland is not a great offensive team against the zone.

Although this isn't one of Boeheim's best teams, I think it's a good matchup for the Orangemen. They're going to need to get scoring inside from Hakim Warrick, which may not be easy because he's not a traditional post player. He has to have a good game if they're going to win. Gerry McNamara isn't going to have the kind of game he had on Thursday, with 43 points -- not just because it's difficult to do that again, but because he'll have to run the team on offense and the Terps will switch on him a lot more than BYU did.

Maryland's Plan
John Gilchrist has really stepped up lately, but it's going to be difficult for him to play against the zone. His strength is penetration rather than the perimeter. Watch for Syracuse to do something similar to Temple -- they'll want Maryland to hit a few 3s early. If the Terps gain confidence and start to think they can hit 3s for the rest of the game -- which is tough -- it could hurt them.

Gary Williams will keep a fresh body on McNamara, and make a point to switch on him. It could be Gilchrist's job early on, but look for D.J. Strawberry and Chris McCray to take the assignment later in the game. The Terps match up will with Warrick, because they have a lot of players -- especially Jamar Smith and Travis Garrison -- that fit that small forward mold. Maryland doesn't have a real inside player in terms of size, but they have inside-outside guys who can guard Warrick, and I think that'll be to their strength.

I wouldn't be surprised if Williams says, "We can put a lot of different bodies on Warrick the whole game." He'll treat it like a fight -- jab Warrick, and keep jabbing him, and try to wear him down as the game goes on.

Key Matchup
Committee vs. McNamara. The game is going to come down to how Maryland defends McNamamara, because as he goes, Syracuse goes. And he's a player who loves the tournament.

The Pick
You've got a team that was not in the top tier of the Big East (Syracuse), and one that wasn't in the top tier of the ACC (Maryland, although they won the tourney). I think Maryland has one more win in it. One of these conferences has to finally lose.

DePaul's Plan
Dave Leitao was once "the apprentice" to Jim Calhoun at UConn. It's obvious Dave has learned well, and has his team playing its best basketball at the right time of year. The Blue Demons are a very dangerous team, and even though they escaped against Dayton in double-OT, they have a chance to give UConn a great game. Plus, DePaul is getting LeVar Seals back from the punching incident -- he's a main contributor. That could be key for Leitao's team, getting a fresh body into the lineup.

I think the Blue Demons will be fine even after playing two OTs on Thursday night. They've had enough time to recover, and I think they needed to win one game to gain the confidence they need to win more in the tournament.

DePaul will need to attack Emeka Okafor on offense for two reasons, 1) to get a couple of fouls on him, and 2) to see how his back is feeling. The Blue Demons will do that early and often with Andre Brown -- he's a guy who will go right at Okafor and won't fade away. On defense, they'll have to make sure they stay close enough to contest 3s by Ben Gordon and Rashad Anderson. Especially Anderson -- he's UConn's silent killer. There isn't a shot he doesn't like.

UConn's Plan
Calhoun's strategy will likely be to run on DePaul. The only way the Huskies can do that is if they defend well and get defensive rebounds. When UConn is at its best, it's running -- especially when they get Taliek Brown in the open court. From end line to end line, he's as quick as anybody in the nation.

The Huskies need to get Okafor involved early and often. He's such an unselfish player who's focused on winning and not the NBA -- like many guys in their last year are -- and he'll pass it outside when he's double-teamed. I wouldn't be surprised to see DePaul double-team Okafor with whoever is covering Taliek Brown. The Blue Demons will probably also mix in some zone, to keep UConn out of rhythm.

Key Matchup
The coaches, Leitao and Cahlhoun. Let's see how much the apprentice has learned. That's the thing Calhoun will be most concerned about -- the fact that Leitao knows more about him than anybody. It'll be interesting to see which coach is more under control. If Leitao can relax early and stay under control, Calhoun might get more involved and vocal than he should. Leitao would send an important message to his team if he stays calm, cool and collected -- they'll believe they can really pull off the upset.

The Pick
UConn. The master, Calhoun, wins out. Experience wins out. And overwhelming talent wins out. That's a good combo to have -- the best horse and best jockey.