Sweet 16? It is if you are one of the teams remaining. It’s not so sweet if you were a preseason Top 10 team or won your conference and are now spending time cleaning out your locker.

I mean Duke has to be thinking, wow, if we don’t win it this year it’s just not made to be.

Actually, Michigan State is probably sitting the prettiest, playing the next two games in their home state.

Four of the 16 teams remaining have losses in the double figures, while two others have nine.

Gone from the scene are the likes of Connecticut, Cincinnati, Stanford, Ohio State, Kentucky and Temple.

It makes you wonder how a team like Notre Dame or Virginia would have done if they would have selected.

In the East Regional, Duke (29-4) meets Florida (26-7), while Seton Hall (22-9) takes on Oklahoma State (26-6).

It reminds me of those quizzes we used to get in grade school -&160;What doesn’t belong in this group?

The answer would probably be everyone but Duke in this case. They certainly look like the cream of the crop there.

Over in the South, Tulsa (31-4) meets Miami (23-10), while North Carolina (20-13) faces Tennessee (26-6).

Trinity’s Bobby Craig likes North Carolina and they certainly seem to logical pick, although Tulsa has a lot of tradition dating back to when Nolan Richardson coached there from 1981-85, winning the NIT in 1981 and advancing to the NCAA three other years.

In the Midwest, Michigan State (28-7) meets Syracuse (26-5) and Iowa State (31-4) takes on UCLA (21-11).

Michigan State takes UCLA to advance to the Final Four.

In the West, Gonzaga (26-8) takes on Purdue (23-9), while upstart Wisconsin (20-13) meets surprising LSU (28-5).

Look for LSU and Purdue to advance.

Gene Keady will certainly remember back to 1986 when LSU defeated Purdue 94-87 in two overtimes in a first round NCAA game. Derrick Taylor, who was known more for playing Pac-Man, stole a pass to force the second overtime.

According to a published report, LSU had voted to boycott that game if the NCAA had found Jose Vargas ineligible to play because of reports he played in a summer league in the Dominican Republic.

Vargas was cleared to play 48 hours before the game.

The NCAA has seemingly held a grudge since. Actually, they never liked Dale Brown because he exposed their iniquities. Unfortunately they took their anger out on John Brady when they finally uncovered some dirt.

You have to feel a lot of LSU people wanted Kansas to beat Duke to set up the possibility of the Tigers meeting Kansas in the finals. Kansas is where Lester Earl ended up after taking the money and running from LSU. But not before spilling the beans to NCAA officials.

Getting back to 1986, after beating Purdue, LSU then defeated Memphis State 83-81 the following week when Anthony Wilson banked in a shot with one second remaining. Memphis State had a talented team of William Bedford, Andre Turner and Baskerville Holmes.

LSU would then beat Georgia Tech and Kentucky to reach the Big Dance in Dallas, falling to Louisville in the semifinals.

The Tigers make an improbable return back 24 years later, and Keady is disappointed again.

If LSU does make it to the Final Four, it will mark the ninth time out of the last 15 years that a Southeastern Conference team has made it to the Final Four, including 1996 when Mississippi State and Kentucky both advanced. That’s quite a feat in itself.

Joey Martin is sports editor of The Democrat. He can be reached by calling 446-5172 ext. 232 or at joey.martin@natchezdemocrat.com.