No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 5 Northern Iowa

Why Louisville will win: Simply put, Louisville is more talented than Northern Iowa. Forward Montrezl Harrell can be a game changer inside, and guards Quentin Snide, Terry Rozier and Wayne Blackshear can beat just about anyone off the dribble and get to the rim. This is a good defensive team and one that can hit the boards. The key for Louisville will be to focus. The Cardinals overlooked UC Irvine in the second round and were forced to survive, and U of L hasn’t been there mentally for a little while. It’s time to get focused.

Why Northern Iowa will win: There’s something to be said for a team that is playing for respect. Northern Iowa knows there still are a lot of people who don’t believe the Panthers are for real, but they play great defense, they don’t make many mistakes with the ball and have a gutsy scorer in Seth Tuttle who is ready to make a splash on the big stage. This team can shoot, too, and if it gets a lead, it won’t let it go.

What will happen: Northern Iowa is a team on a mission while Louisville has been on cruise control for some time. That’s tough to snap out of on a quick turnaround, and it will be Northern Iowa’s fundamentals overcoming the better size and quickness of Louisville. UNI will go up, and turnover will doom U of L late.

Prediction:Northern Iowa 59, Louisville 55