Four teams have punched their ticket to New Orleans, but only one can leave with the title. The city and teams change year by year, but the passion never does. That’s why the Final Four is maybe one of the best sporting events of the entire year. This year is an especially great year. The mix of conferences makes the finals just that much better. If you haven’t noticed, this year’s Final Four features four major teams from four major conferences. I personally love this. The spread gives fans a chance to cheer for their conference and shows us how much parody we have in college basketball. Instead of one conference dominating like football, it is clear that college basketball is thriving all though out the nation.
The other interesting aspect of this Final Four is the fact that there is only one conference champion in the Final Four. Kentucky, Kansas, and Ohio State where hot picks to win their respective conference tournaments, but fell just short in completing the feat. Of the other side, Louisville was a long shot to win the Big East, but went on a marvelous run and won it all. Now the Cardinals come into the Final Four as a long shot. One has to wonder if the underdog attitude will continue to carry the ‘Ville to the promised land.
No matter what happens, the next three basketball games will be incredible. I am positive that we won’t have to suffer through another rim beating like last year’s final between Uconn and Butler. Maybe a buzzer beater? We haven’t had one of those though out the whole tourney. Well my dear friends, the Final Four is upon us, so let’s see who wins!
The first match up this Saturday is maybe the most anticipated. Kentucky Louisville doesn’t only pit two world class coaches together, but two historical programs and one heck of a rivalry. The passion that will be oozing from this game will be extremely intense. Kentucky has been lurking around the top of the rankings all year and have really been in top form as well. They are near the top of the nation in many key stats such as field goal percentage. Over this season, Kentucky has hit almost 49% of their shots. They are extremely efficient when it comes to taking care of the ball as well. Anthony Davis will indeed be the key player for Kentucky as he has been almost all of this season. His presence as a shot blocker will be crucial to stopping a lot of the drives that Louisville will go for. On the offensive end, the Wildcats will be looking for a great performance from their sophomore guard, Doron Lamb. He is the little bump that usually gets Kentucky rolling. If these two guys get started, who knows how much the Wild Cats will win by?
To give the Cardinals all the respect they deserve, they have already out done Kentucky in two ways: 1. Playing in one of the hardest conferences in the country 2. Winning their conference tournament. By no means should the Cards be an underdog. They have been incredibly hot as of late, it is hard to see if they will ever stop. That’s why I have them winning this game. Louisville is the hotter team and they are deadly from the 3 point line. The junior Peyton Silva is on a mission. He has been spreading the ball around with authority and with guys like Kyle Kuric and Russ Smith to receive the ball, Louisville can be unstoppable. I see this game coming down to the wire, but I got Louisville over Kentucky in a thrilling 62-61 game.
Though many people are focusing on the first of the two match ups on Saturday, the one you should really pay attention to is the late game. Kansas and Ohio State; two historical teams who have both been to the Promised Land, now stand in each others way. With Jared Sullinger, the Bucks look to be the favorite in this one. OSU plays in arguably the best conference in college basketball. Achieving a share of the regular season title and making it to the conference championship have both been impressive. If they really want to make a splash for the Big Ten, they will need to win it all. Sullinger is the most important player in the Final Four. Ohio State’s success will almost totally rest on him. Sully’s 17.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game will be the driving force for the Bucks. He will also play a key role on defense as he tries to stop the Jay Hawks huge post men. As for the rest of the Buckeyes, look for Deshaun Thomas to be the other lethal weapon for OSU.
It’s been Rock Chalk for the Jay Hawks so far and if they want to keep it going, they will need to have a big game from Thomas Robinson. Robinson has been on fire for the entire tournament and all year for that matter. He showed the Buckeyes exactly what he could do when he faced them in December scoring 21 points in the Jay Hawk win. The problem for the Hawks is that Jared Sullinger did not play in their first meeting. I think this puts the Bucks over the edge as OSU wins 67-60
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