The NCAA men’s basketball championship tournament resumed with the beginning of the Sweet 16 round, and the top overall seed in the tournament showed why many experts and fans believe it will become the national champion.

North Carolina had no problem pulling away early against Washington State, en route to a 68-47 victory in the East Regional semifinal in Charlotte.   Washington State tried to slow down the pace of the game to a crawl, but the Tar Heels would have none of that, en route to a East Regional final against Louisville.   The Cardinals of Louisville flew away from Tennessee in the second half of their regional semifinal, to post a 79-60 victory.   So, North Carolina will play 4^th-seed Louisville tomorrow in the East Regional championship game.

The two semifinals of the West Regional were much more competitive.  3^rd-seed Xavier had problems shaking off a pesky West Virginia squad, and the Musketeers needed overtime to dispatch the 7^th-seeded Mountaineers 79-75.   Xavier got a big boost when Joe Alexander of West Virginia fouled out early in overtime.

Xavier will play UCLA in the West Regional championship game tomorrow.   The top-seeded Bruins had a 21-point lead over Western Kentucky at one point in the game, but someone forgot to tell the 12^th-seeded Hilltoppers to give up.   Western Kentucky cut that big 21-point deficit to 4 points on a couple of occasions late in the 2^nd half…and had a chance to cut that down to a single point with 5:13 left in the game.   UCLA held on from there and won 88-78.

8 more teams play tonight for spots in regional championship games to be played Sunday.  In the Midwest Region, a Cinderella's Ball will be featured.  10th-seed Davidson meets 3rd-seed Wisconsin at 6:10, and 12th-seed Villanova meets top seed Kansas at 8:40.  In the South Region, 2nd-seed Texas meets 3rd-seed Stanford at 6:27 tonight, and top seed Memphis squares off with 5th-seed Michigan State at 8:57.