Final Four Archives

And Then There Were Two

From the Final Four to the Final Two. With only one #1 Seed left in the March Madness tournament, the Louisville Cardinals will contend against the 4 Seed Michigan Wolverines on Monday night for the 2012-2013 Men’s Basketball Championship. And what a Final it should be.

In the first game of the evening, #9 Wichita St. gave Louisville all they could handle. With a one point lead at the half, Wichita St. jumped out to a 12-point lead with 13-minutes to go, leading 47-35. Louisville tried to slow the Shockers by trying the half-court press but to no avail. Each time, Wichita St. broke the press and scored with jump shots and easy layups After seeing his first stringers struggling to get a rhythm, Coach Rick Pitino called on his bench to initiate some energy to their flat offensive team. That move proved to be the boost the Cardinals needed.

George Mason transfer Luke Hanson scored 13 points in 12-minutes to help lift Louisville from its shooting slump and provided them with the jump starting motivation needed to overcome what would have been a ‘Shocker’ of an upset. With Kevin Ware – whose season ended last week with the terrible compound fracture to his right leg in the game against Duke – barely able to look on at times on the sidelines, the Louisville Cardinals advanced to the Grand Finale, scheduled for Monday night. They held off Wichita St., 72-68 with clutch free throws in the waning seconds and now move on against the winner of the second game of the night, #4 Seed, Michigan Wolverines.

The Michigan Wolverines and #4 Seed Syracuse Orange was yet another epic game between two feisty and tenacious teams where the Wolverines jumped out to a 36-25 halftime lead. Mitch McGary didn’t lead the Wolverines in scoring but his contributions were gigantic because it helped Michigan overcome a stubborn Syracuse Orange defense by a 61-56.

McGary had just scored 10 points, but pulled down 12 rebounds and dished out a team-best six assists. He’d made shots from the high post and the block. He’s averaging 16 points and 11.6 rebounds a game during the NCAA tournament, and that includes an impressive stat line (25 points, 14 boards) against one of the nation’s best frontcourt player in Jeff Withey at Kansas. Tim Hardaway, Jr. added 13 points in the Wolverines victory. Syracuse was led by C. J. Fair’s 22 points but it wasn’t enough as the Michigan Wolverines punched their ticket for the Final dance of the Season against the Louisville Cardinals.

So the question was posted after the games ended. Can Louisville’s defense stifle the offensive threats of Tim Hardaway Jr., Glenn Robinson III and Mitch McGary?

Well, if the sons of their famous father’s Tim Hardaway and Glenn Robinson can get an early jump on Louisville and McGary has another good night as he did against the Orange, this game could swing in the favor of the Wolverine’s. They look pretty good at times but I still think the Louisville Cardinals are #1 for a reason. This will definitely be a great finish to one of the best March Madness title runs to date.

And with that said, I won’t crown them champions just yet but, it is the #1 Louisville Cardinals that are favored. I’m going with the Favored.

Oops, I guess I just crowned them Champions!

On To The Fantastic Final Four!

The March Madness 2013 has come down to this – The Final Four. Yes, the Final Four teams remaining from the great race that began with 68-teams on March 19^th. Sixty four teams began the quest, the dream, the hustle plays, the blocked shots, big 3-pointers to win and advance and alas, the heartaches and heartbreaks. What a tournament it has been leading up to the Grand Finale which starts off with the Final Four teams on April 6^th.

Representing the Midwest is #1 Seed Louisville Cardinals who survived by defeating #2 Duke Blue Devils on Sunday after a gruesome injury to starting Louisville point guard Kevin Ware who broke his leg in the first half.
Representing the West Region is #9 Wichita St. Shockers that pulled a ‘Shocker’ of a win over #2 Ohio St.
Representing the South Region is #4 Michigan Wolverines who upset 1 Seed Kansas Jayhawks on Friday and 3 Seed Florida on Sunday.
Representing the East Region is #4 Syracuse who knocked off 3 Seed Marquette on Saturday as well.

Wichita St. comes in as the highest seeded team into the Final Four as a 9 Seed and the Louisville Cardinals are the lone survivor as a 1 Seed with Kansas going down in an overtime thriller against a surging #4, Michigan Wolverines.

There have been many games and teams that have caught the eye and the imagination of all March Madness folklore. Probably the most entertaining, loose and highest seed ever to make it into the Sweet 16 was 15 Seed Florida Gulf Coast University who lost to the Florida Gators on Friday. After much hoopla, the ‘Dunk City’ Crew just didn’t have it on Friday evening. FGCU was thumped by 12 and it really was much worse than that but the Eagles of Florida Gulf Coast should hold their heads high for they are now on the Map of the college basketball world. LaSalle is another team that went deep into the tournament, eventually losing to #9 Wichita St. which has a Final Four matchup with #1 Louisville.

With the tournament coming down to the wire, how did your brackets fair? I bombed but I’m not alone for sure. With a lowly 34 out of 60 correct (34-26), I had selected many games that, on paper, should have gone the other way. But, now that we’re in the Finale, it begins afresh. On April 6^th, I have #1 Louisville overwhelming #9 Wichita St and the two #4’s of Michigan and Syracuse is difficult to pick but I’m believing Michigan can keep the ‘Big Mo’ going to lead to a Louisville vs Michigan final on the evening of April 8^th. This will be, if my prediction is correct, Michigan’s first final appearance in 20 years, the last being when the ‘Fab 5’ were dominating the college ranks with Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson.

This should be a one of the greatest Final Four’s of All Times with the Championship game being equally heart pounding. So no matter what your bracket looks like, excitement and anticipation fills the air.

I’m Ready for the Grand Finale! Are You?