We’re down to about 48 hours to the Sweet 16, and today, we take a peek at the Midwest. Yesterday was the South.

1. Kansas vs. 12. Villanova, Friday, 9:40 pm, Gus Johnson and Len Elmore

Best way to beat the Jayhawks? Get them at home. Kansas has three losses this season – at Kansas St, Texas and Oklahoma St. The other good strategy might be by playing really, really good defense (how novel!). What’s that? Villanova has good defenders? Scottie Reynolds could lock up Super Nintendo Chalmers? Dante Cunningham could frustrate Brandon Rush? The problem for the Wildcats is that with 6-foot-10 center Casiem Drummond out with a broken ankle, Villanova’s frontline is Stephen Curry-thin. The ‘Cats will struggle to bang and rebound with Jackson and Arthur and Kahn. We’d go Kansas, but 11.5 seems like a lot, especially against a team that has had a recently history of strong second halves (Syracuse in the Big East tourney and Clemson last weekend).

3. Wisconsin vs. 10 Davidson, Friday, 7:10 pm, Johnson and Elmore

Read into this what you will – the line opened Sunday with the Badgers favored by four; by Monday morning, it shot up to five. Now, it is back down to 4.5. We are in lust with Stephen Curry, and it should be noted that Georgetown shot over 60 percent Sunday, held Curry to five points in the first half, and still lost. Davidson is the Cloverfield monster – impervious to whatever you want to throw at it, and as relentless as Travis Henry’s desire to field a football team full of his offspring. Wisconsin has two first-team all Big 10 defenders? So what. The Badgers have held all five postseason opponents (three in the Big 10 tourney, and two in the NCAA tourney) under 43 percent shooting? Big whoop. For the third game in a row, though, we’ll be going against Davidson. But oddly, if Curry gets hot again, we’ll be rooting for the guy.