And then, there were Four.
Written by The Go-To-Man Mattie T. on March 30, 2009
The field is set for Saturday’s Final Four action at Ford Field in Detroit, MI!
The biggest surprise team that’s still remaining is #3 seed Villanova from the East region, who beat top-seeded Pittsburgh in an absolute Elite 8 Thriller on Saturday night.
Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds became the hero after he was able to manuever his way to the basket with great body control & scored the game-winning basket with five-tenths of a second left.
For the Wildcats, it will be their first Final Four appearence since 1985. That’s the year when Villanova upset Patrick Ewing’s heavily favored Georgetown Hoyas under head coach Rollie Massimino.
Their opponent on Saturday will be the top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels, who are in the Final Four for a NCAA-record 19th time in school history after knocking off #2 seed Oklahoma.
It will be unfinished business for Roy Williams’ team, as North Carolina has suffered two heartbreaking losses in each of the past 2 seasons to Georgetown (2007 Elite 8) and Kansas (2008 Final Four).
The Tarheels’ margin of victory in the tournament so far has been by 25 points, so we’ll see if Villanova’s defense will test them in Detroit.
#2 seed Michigan State is comin’ back home!
The Spartans put on an impressive display during their 64-52 win over top-seeded Louisville on Sunday.
Michigan State will become the first team in 15 years to play a Final Four game in its’ own homestate. The 1994 Duke Blue Devils last accomplished this feat at the old Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, NC.
Duke was able to beat Florida in the National Semifinal game but fell 76-72 to Arkansas in the National Championship Game.
This will be the fifth Final Four appearence for head coach Tom Izzo, who might have some history on his side.
The last time Michigan State (34-6 this season) won 30 games or more, it resulted in a National Championship win in 2000 over Florida.
Connecticut also has some history on its’ side, since they have won National Championships in their previous two Final Four trips in 1999 & 2004.
The Huskies have gotten to Detroit without the services of guard Jerome Dyson, who was the team’s 4th leading scorer (13.2 points per game) & one of their top perimeter defenders (led team with 1.8 steals per game).
In related news, the Kentucky Wildcats are close to a multi-year agreement with John Calipari that would put him past Billy Donovan as college basketball’s highest-paid coach.
In Calipari’s 17 collegiate head coaching seasons, his teams have made 11 appearences in the NCAA Tournament with two Final Four appearences in 1996 with UMass & 2008 with Memphis.
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