In the East Region on Thursday night Washington State clashes with North Carolina and Louisville takes on Tennessee, with a trip to the Elite 8 on the line.

Washington State (4) vs. North Carolina (1)

The Cougars advanced to the Sweet 16 after dominating Notre Dame 61-41 as a 2.5-point favorite in the second round. Derrick Low led Washington State with 18 points and Kyle Weaver added 15 points and nine rebounds, but it was the Cougars’ defense that really shone in the win. Washington State’s shutdown defense iced all of Notre Dame’s big shooters and limited the Fighting Irish to a ridiculously low 24 percent shooting from the floor. That included hitting only 3-of-17 shots from three-point range.

The Tar Heels’ offense may be too much for even the Cougars to handle after they unloaded in their 108-77 win over Arkansas as a 10-point favorite. All of North Carolina’s big guns came out firing in the win, as Wayne Ellington scored a game-high 20 points and Ty Lawson had 19 points and seven assists. Tyler Hansbrough added 17 points and 10 rebounds and Deon Thompson netted 16 points.

The Tar Heels are an 8.5-point favorite in this game at .

Louisville (3) vs. Tennessee (2)

The Cardinals showed how deep their roster really is last week in their 78-48 rout of Oklahoma in the second round. Louisville was a 7-point favorite in the game and easily covered the point spread. Seven different Cardinals’ players scored at least seven points in the win, with Earl Clark leading Louisville with 14 points. Terrence Williams had a solid all-round game for the Cards with seven points, eight rebounds and five assists in the rout.

The Volunteers were almost shown the door in the second round before getting past Butler 76-72 in overtime as a 4.5-point favorite. Wayne Chism led the Vols with 16 points and Tyler Smith poured in 15 points and grabbed eight boards. For the second straight game Tennessee leading scorer Chris Lofton put up disappointing numbers. Lofton has combined for only 14 points on 4-of-18 shooting in the first two Tournament games. Lofton’s problems may only get worse after he suffered a leg injury against Butler, and while he is expected to play on Thursday he won’t be 100 percent.

The Cardinals may be the lower seed, but they’re a 2.5-point favorite in this game at .