TAHLEQUAH DAILY PRESS — When the brackets were first released a few weeks back, I immediately was drawn to the South Region and who Oklahoma would have to get past to make a run at the Final Four.

I will be the first to admit that though I thought the Sooners would cruise past their first two opponents, which they did, I figured they would hit a big speed bump against the Orange of Syracuse.

I did not think OU and their lack of consistent guard play would be able to hit outside shots or make good passes against the daunted 2-3 zone of Syracuse.

Well, I’ve been wrong before and I was wrong in a big way Friday when Tony Crocker put on a 3-point shooting display to lead OU to a 13-point win over the Orange.

Crocker hit 6-11 3-pointers which forced Syracuse to abandon their “blitz Blake” gameplan they had going into the game.

In the end, Oklahoma won by 13 and Griffin had 30 points and 14 rebounds and Crocker had 28 points.

The Sooners looked like a team to be reckoned with and one that could possibly challenge North Carolina Sunday.

The matchup with the Tarheels is one that could be the best game of the weekend.

It will be one of the few times in history that the players of the year from consecutive seasons have squared off so late in the season, Tyler Hansbrough and Griffin.

Though this matchup will gain much of the publicity, the one that will decide the game is who will guard Ty Lawson and how effective they are. Senior point guard Austin Johnson figures to get the assignment at the beginning.

If Johnson is up the task and can at least slow down the UNC catalyst, then the Sooners will have a good chance to come away with a win.

Another key in the game will be how good the Sooners transition defense is against a fast-paced UNC team scored 98 points against Gonzaga in the previous round.

The Tarheels have scored 100 or more points in nine games this season, which is the most in the country.

The team that gave the Tarheels the best challenge of the tournament so far, LSU in the second round, did a decent job of containing the UNC fast break, but could not keep it up all 40 minutes and lost by 14.

OU will have to do this to have a chance. I think they are capable because all of their players run the court well, even their center Griffin.

All things considered I see the game being a back-and-forth affair, but I think in the end the Sooners will surprise everyone with a narrow victory over UNC to head to Detroit for the Final Four.

I predict the final score to be 83-79 in favor of OU.

If Oklahoma can beat UNC, then the team would be just two games from something no OU team has done, winning a national championship.