Final Four
Posted by: Bradley McDonald
With all of the unbelievable games this past weekend, it's hard to see how the Final Four can match the drama. But these four teams are evenly matched, so I'm holding out hope for more excitement. Here's a breakdown of the four teams and how they got here:
Michigan State Spartans
We'll start with the team that's not supposed to be here. The Spartans have been in Illinois' Big Ten shadow all year and even though they only had six losses on the year, they received a 5 seed. The Spartans are in no one's shadow anymore after beating Duke and Kentucky (only two of basketball's most storied programs ever) in back-to-back games to make the Final Four.
They beat Duke by going inside to their big man, 6-11 Paul Davis. They beat Kentucky by sheer determination. After a three pointer from Kentucky's Patrick Sparks rolled around the rim and finally fell in to tie the game in regulation, it looked like the Spartans' luck may have run out. But two overtimes later, the Spartans shed the "underachiever" label that had been given to their group of seniors and crashed the Final Four party that no one thought they had a chance of attending.
North Carolina Tar Heels
It was fairly unanimous pick to have the Tar Heels in the Final Four, but they didn't have an easy road. And if it wouldn't have been for a questionable traveling call against Villanova, they may not have made it. I, for one, thought the call was awfully wrong (and still think that Bill Raftery cannot count).
But UNC won that game by a point and went on to defeat Wisconsin to make it to the Final Four. This game was the only non-overtime game of the Elite Eight, but it was still a battle and the Badgers actually led by 6 in the second half. UNC pulled it out, though, by riding the shoulders of Sean May, who scored 28 points.
Louisville Cardinals
The Cardinals, who seem to be playing with a chip on their shoulder by being given only a 4 seed, ran into West Virginia and one of the most unbelievable shooting performances I've ever seen. I don't think I've ever bellowed the word "wow!" so many times for one game.
The Mountaineers rattled off 18 three-pointers and only missed 9! With that hot shooting, they had Louisville down by 20 points in the second half until the Cardinals mounted a fierce comeback. The amazing thing is that West Virginia never went cold until Louisville finally forced overtime. It still didn't look bright for Louisville in overtime because star player Francisco Garcia fouled out. But it was Louisville's other guards who took over and kept the Cardinals from being "Pitsnogled".
Illinois Fighting Illini
It looked like Illinois' dream season was going to end at the hands of Arizona. The Wildcats played a near perfect game and were up by 15 points with 4 minutes to go in the game. Then something clicked with Illinois. If Louisville's comeback was fierce, then the comeback by the Fighting Illini was flat out ferocious. I've never seen so much hustle and determination from players as I did from Illinois, who just refused to lose. Illinois sent it in to overtime, courtesy of a three pointer by Deron Williams with 38 seconds to play, and squeaked out a 1-point win.
Arizona deserves some kind of an award for an awesome game, even with star Salim Stoudamire struggling.
With all of the unbelievable games this past weekend, it's hard to see how the Final Four can match the drama. But these four teams are evenly matched, so I'm holding out hope for more excitement. Here's a breakdown of the four teams and how they got here:
Michigan State Spartans
We'll start with the team that's not supposed to be here. The Spartans have been in Illinois' Big Ten shadow all year and even though they only had six losses on the year, they received a 5 seed. The Spartans are in no one's shadow anymore after beating Duke and Kentucky (only two of basketball's most storied programs ever) in back-to-back games to make the Final Four.
They beat Duke by going inside to their big man, 6-11 Paul Davis. They beat Kentucky by sheer determination. After a three pointer from Kentucky's Patrick Sparks rolled around the rim and finally fell in to tie the game in regulation, it looked like the Spartans' luck may have run out. But two overtimes later, the Spartans shed the "underachiever" label that had been given to their group of seniors and crashed the Final Four party that no one thought they had a chance of attending.
North Carolina Tar Heels
It was fairly unanimous pick to have the Tar Heels in the Final Four, but they didn't have an easy road. And if it wouldn't have been for a questionable traveling call against Villanova, they may not have made it. I, for one, thought the call was awfully wrong (and still think that Bill Raftery cannot count).
But UNC won that game by a point and went on to defeat Wisconsin to make it to the Final Four. This game was the only non-overtime game of the Elite Eight, but it was still a battle and the Badgers actually led by 6 in the second half. UNC pulled it out, though, by riding the shoulders of Sean May, who scored 28 points.
Louisville Cardinals
The Cardinals, who seem to be playing with a chip on their shoulder by being given only a 4 seed, ran into West Virginia and one of the most unbelievable shooting performances I've ever seen. I don't think I've ever bellowed the word "wow!" so many times for one game.
The Mountaineers rattled off 18 three-pointers and only missed 9! With that hot shooting, they had Louisville down by 20 points in the second half until the Cardinals mounted a fierce comeback. The amazing thing is that West Virginia never went cold until Louisville finally forced overtime. It still didn't look bright for Louisville in overtime because star player Francisco Garcia fouled out. But it was Louisville's other guards who took over and kept the Cardinals from being "Pitsnogled".
Illinois Fighting Illini
It looked like Illinois' dream season was going to end at the hands of Arizona. The Wildcats played a near perfect game and were up by 15 points with 4 minutes to go in the game. Then something clicked with Illinois. If Louisville's comeback was fierce, then the comeback by the Fighting Illini was flat out ferocious. I've never seen so much hustle and determination from players as I did from Illinois, who just refused to lose. Illinois sent it in to overtime, courtesy of a three pointer by Deron Williams with 38 seconds to play, and squeaked out a 1-point win.
Arizona deserves some kind of an award for an awesome game, even with star Salim Stoudamire struggling.
