Final Four Preview

So two weeks and 60 games later we have finally reached the Final Four. Your reward for making the Final Four...a trip to the great city of Detroit! Seriously, can you pick a worse place to have a Final Four? If you are making the trip to follow your team to the motor city, don't spend much time out of being inside Ford Field in the actual city of Detroit. Anyways, this isn't about the city, its about the teams that get to enjoy Detroit.

If you correctly picked the Final Four, congratulations, but I don't believe you. While I knew that Villanova and Michigan St. had a chance to win their regional, I didn't think that chance would become a reality. Lets go regional to regional.

West Regional
We start with the region I got to sit courtside for. I have to mention that it was a blast getting to cover the Missouri Tigers for insidemizzou.com this weekend. The Tigers players, coaches and fans were all class acts and very easy to work with.

The UConn and Purdue game was a very good ballgame to kick off the action in Glendale. Robbie Hummel is a sensational player and kept the Boilermakers around with his shooting, but the Huskies adjusted at the half and shut Hummel down...that meant the end for Purdue. JaJuan Johnson and E'Twaun Moore didn't have the game they needed to, to pull the upset.

Memphis and Missouri was incredibly entertaining. Mizzou did to Memphis which nobody has done in Coach Calipari's tenure, they ran with them, they pressured them, scored on them and beat them at their own game. If Coach Cal takes the job at Kentucky, Missouri will have affectively ended an era in NCAA Basketball.

The UConn/Missouri game was really kept close because Hasheem Thabeet was out most the first half in foul trouble. Once Hash was in, it really wasn't a contest. How about Kemba Walker? We got to hear about what makes a Bronx guard for the hundreth time, but he was the key to UConn holding off the upset.

East Regional
Boston was the scene of some great basketball this past weekend, starting with Xavier and Pitt on Thursday. The Panthers survived the first two rounds and had to have Levance Fields bail them out again to save them from losing to Xavier and advance to their first Elite Eight in 35 years. Isn't that amazing? How good Pitt has been in the regular season the last few years, this was their first Elite Eight in 35 years?!? It was also their first win over a top five seed ever. That is amazing.

There may not team in America hotter than Villanova. I watched them lose to Marquette in Milwaukee and ever since that loss, they have been red hot. I knew the talent they had when I saw that game. They will win the national championship if they are shooting at their peak, which they weren't on Thursday against Duke. They won because Duke's shooting was god awful. Henderson, Scheyer and Singler were a combined 9-45. Typical Duke in the NCAA Tournament. Duke hasn't beat a top four seed since 2001.

What a game was it on Saturday between the two Big East rivals. Physical, full of defense, it was Big East Basketball. There was that horrible home run pass Nova tried to throw that was picked off by Pitt, then the horrible foul they committed to let Fields tie the game up from the line. You know those players that feel like they've been in college forever? Scottie Reynolds is one of them and he's only a junior. He forever cemented himself in NCAA history with that tough floater with 0.5 seconds left to send Nova to their first Final Four since '85. They are the first 3 seed since Florida in 2006 to make the Final Four...Florida went on to win the title....sign?

Midwest Regional
So, Arizona? Good showing. 39 point loss...that is just embarassing. They got the easiest road to the Sweet 16 and had a chance to sort of prove themselves by making a decent showing. It was pretty much a scrimmage for the Cardinals.

As bad as Arizona was, the collapse of Kansas was just as bad. Michigan St. looked done at halftime, but Izzo got his boys to crank up the defense and rode Goran Suton (another player that has been in college forever.) to the Elite Eight.

Just like the second half of the KU game, Michigan St. used Suton and a whole lot of defense to pull off maybe the biggest upset of the Elite Eight. This game featured two coaches that UA fans think they have a realistic chance at landing. Dream on. Izzo isn't going to leave East Lansing where he has now taken Sparty to five Final Fours. Pitino now has gone to two straight Elite Eights and already has a Final Four at Louisville. Neither are leaving. Suton was great, but Michigan St.'s defense was better. That is why Sparty is headed home, but to keep playing.

South Regional
Oklahoma shocked me twice this weekend. First, I didn't think that they would be able to crush Syracuse the way they did. I thought Boomer Sooner wouldn't be able to penetrate the tough zone of the Orange. Cuse really didn't show up. The shots that fell against ASU didn't fall and someone finally disrupted Johnny Flynn by knocking him over. Blake Griffin's foul on Flynn wasn't dirty but changed the game.

UNC is the best team in the country with a healthy Ty Lawson. Lawson scored 17 in the first half on Friday and Gonzaga, one of the most overrated teams in the country every year, never had a chance.

I was surprised by Oklahoma's performance on Sunday. I thought the Heels would win, but not as easy. UNC's game plan let Blake Griffin score, but nobody else. Willie Warren scored...but not it was all when the game was out of hand. There is no doubt that Carolina is the favorite heading into the Final Four

Final Four Preview
We have the three programs that have made the most Final Fours since 1999. MSU 5, UNC 4 and UConn 3. I personally am really excited for these matchups. UConn and Michigan St. will be good, but I think that the Huskies are too big and athletic for Sparty. Unless Suton and Lucas are on fire, Thabeet, Robinson, Adrien will go nuts inside and advance to the title game. Villanova and North Carolina will be interesting. The only way Jay Wright's boys will hang with Carolina is if they are hitting the three ball. If that is the case the game will be close and Nova could win and set up an All-Big East final, but I think Carolina will be too much. To me, UNC has what it takes to ease through this Final Four. I'm taking the Heels to win...easily.