After another exciting day of college hoops, the excitement is over and the Final Four have been decided and many brackets ruined (including mine). Congrats to all the teams for making it this far!
1. Louisville Cardinals- Rick Pitino and his team were the first team to advance and they fought hard for their spot. The Florida Gators gave them a tough match up, but the Cardinals never gave up. It was especially tough when Louisville’s best player, Peyton Siva, fouled out early in the second half. Pitino was also hit with a technical after complaining to a ref about Siva picking up his fourth foul. They were always a team to look out for especially after picking up the Big East Championship. Kentucky is going to be the hardest team that they have had to get passed, but can they do it? Crazier things have happened.
2. Ohio State Buckeyes- It looked like it was not going to end well after the first when Ohio State’s superstar Jared Sullinger got into foul trouble. The 6’9″ power forward came back in the second half with a vengeance, scoring 19 and getting 7 rebounds. Syracuse showed how much Fab Melo meant to them with this game. They are a much smaller team without him. However, this game was won on the line. Syracuse head Coach Jim Boeheim was hit with a technical and Syracuse with hit with a total of 29 fouls. The Orange did a great job with their foul shots making 20 out of 25. Ohio State is the lone Big Ten team in the Final Four.
3. Kentucky Wildcats- I am not going to say that I expected them to advance, but I did expect them to advance. Kentucky is an incredibly talented and athletic team. Their only drawback? How young they are, but age is nothing but a number when this level of talent is on the floor. This entire team looks like it is ready to play in the NBA Championship games; of course Michael Kidd-Gilcrest announced he was entering the draft at the end of the tournament. Wouldn’t it be great if he could leave with an NCAA championship under his belt? I think so, but that is because I have them winning in my bracket. Hopefully their confidence does not turn into arrogance because Louisville is going to fight until the last second since everyone is counting them out next weekend.
4. Kansas Jayhawks- This must be crushing for one person. Kendall Marshall. UNC’s point guard had to sit and watch from the bench as his team let the game slip away from them. Marshall broke his wrist in a previous NCAA tournament game. However, it must feel great for Kansas [who I had losing to NC State, but that is another story]. Roy Williams, current UNC head coach, spent 15 years at Kansas, however, he was treated to “Boos” from the Kansas crowd. He led the team to the Final Four twice and to the final game twice. “Too emotional for me. That’s the bottom line,” Williams said, calling Kansas his “second-favorite” team. “I don’t think it’ll ever feel good for me, regardless of the outcome. I don’t think I’ll ever feel comfortable with it.”
