Let The Games Begin!
We're down to four. They may not necessarily be the most fantastic four as the teams are a bit unexpected; "final" is a bit more fitting. You have your reliable number one seed in Michigan State, but then you jump all the way to five to get the next highest seed in Florida . With the final teams being rounded out by North Carolina and Wisconsin. Both schools played fairly sub-par during the regular season, but turned up the heat when it counted most.
So lets break down what we have here to work with: if you watched college basketball throughout the regular season, one wouldn't think this is exactly the cream of the crop of the nation's young hoops talent. But that's nothing unusual to this tournament; the sports world's most unpredictable event.
Lets start with the Florida Gators, not exactly a preseason favorite but at the same time, this group of young guns had high expectations after a disappointing one-point loss to Gonzaga in last year's big dance.
But the Final Four, very few experts could have foreseen this, not because of talent or lack there of, but because of youth; their fourth year coach Billy Donovan is the 15th youngest coach in Division I and has only been coaching at this level for six years overall.
The Gator's 14-man roster includes 11 underclassmen (freshmen and sophomores), and four of them start! They certainly have a lot to look forward to next season, win or lose this weekend. Their run-and-gun offense, which led the Southeastern Conference in three-point percentage may be the key that gets them on the court Monday night. They have a tendency to wear teams out and keep games close, win or lose; a third of their losses this season came in overtime. Coach Donovan will have them pumped and ready on Saturday, but their youth and inexperience may be a detriment.
The Gators will go up against the Tarheels of North Carolina, a team that's no stranger to the Final Four. Their senior point guard, Ed Cota, is playing in his third. They averaged a Final Four every other year in the 90's and won the championship in 1993. But this season had been somewhat of a disappointment for the Tar Heels, they were a very mediocre 18-12 during the regular season after being ranked as high as No. 2 earlier in the year.
AP |
| Florida's young guns may have the explosiveness to propel Billy Donovan onto the floor Monday night. |
On the other side of the bracket, number one-seeded Michigan State faces off against Big Ten foe Wisconsin. The Spartans are making a return to the Final Four after losing to Duke in a National semifinal last year. They seem ready and hungry to earn a chance to play Monday night, and with such superstars as Mateen Cleaves, Charlie Bell and Morris Peterson at the helm, the Spartans are chock full of talent.
They came back from a second-half deficit against Iowa State in the regional final with such force that it looks as if they're ready to tear down anything that stands in their way of a national title. They are far and away the favorite on Saturday and will be on Monday if they make it that far. They went undefeated at home during the regular season and won the Big Ten tournament. Coach Tom Izz has his guys focused and they have yet to fold under pressure. At this point it looks as if the only thing that can beat the Spartans are the Spartans.
Lastly and probably least is Wisconsin. Absolutely nobody living outside of Madison expected these guys to be playing in April. After running back Ron Dayne received his Heisman Trophy award, Badger fans ran out of things to cheer about.
Basketball season started and Wisconsin played to expectations. They won 16 games and went .500 in the Big Ten Conference. An above average RPI got them an at-large bid to the tourney and then the defense took over. The Badgers have not let any team they have played in the tournament score more then 60 points, highlighted by a first half defensive stifling of LSU in the Sweet 16.
Coach Dick Bennett and his team finished the regular season off strong, going 4-1 including winning their last game, on senior night, against Indiana. But Saturday's game against Michigan State will probably be their toughest task of the season.
State has already beaten the Badgers three times this season as the Spartans seem to have their number. But Wisconsin has been shocking teams throughout the tournament, including an ousting of number one-seeded Arizona. A win over Michigan State Saturday would not only give them a wicked confidence boost on Monday but it will certainly scare stiff whoever they would play next.
So get ready for the unexpected, as the past two weeks have certainly prepped us for that. We can throw all the predictability we know out the door, the only thing predictable will be excitement and thrills. It's time to find out who wants it most.
Written by John Lehman