The Final Four is set

By John Chagaris, College AP
March 28, 2005
Hamden, CT - The final four has been set, and nobody predicted that Louisville would face Illinois and that Michigan State would face North Carolina, and if you can honestly tell me that you predicted all four of these teams then allow myself to bow down in front of you.

This weekend may have been the greatest college basketball weekend in the history of college basketball. Three out of four games were decided in overtime. And the Wisconsin v. North Carolina game was tied at 44 at halftime.

Let us begin the Sweet Sixteen recap with the Chicago bracket. Let me be the first to write that it was not fair to allow Illinois to compete in the Chicago bracket. Sure Illinois was the best team in the regular season, then you would think because of that they would face the winner of the play in game instead of the winner of the Northeast Conference. Just like you cannot tell me that you predicted these four teams, you cannot tell me that Illinois would have gone on that 20-5 run to tie the game and then end up beating Arizona if Illinois did not basically have a home court advantage. Arizona did not stand a chance and Illinois should have by my math been in the Syracuse bracket because that is where the play in game took place. It only makes sense that if 1 faces 16 in each bracket than the number one overall should face the worst team in the tourney.

Flying down south to Albuquerque, and this final had all the excitement that you could want. Keep in mind that West Virginia was up by twenty points over Louisville and it took a 33-4 run to get them back in the game.

``I've never abandoned a whole scouting report at halftime,'' Pitino said. ``But it had to be abandoned.''

To add to the incredible run, Larry O'Bannon scored 24 points while Taquan Dean had 23. Pitino also did something that surprised everybody who knows his coaching style as he told his players to no longer play a zone defense, but instead trap and press and to be as aggressive as they can on offense. And because his team followed his advice, Coach Pitino was able to become the first coach in history to coach three different teams to the final four, (Providence, Kentucky, Louisville).

The Syracuse bracket was home to upset city. It all started in the first round when Bucknell upset Kansas, which was the first of many bracket busters during the tournament. And as we now see North Carolina blazed through the tournament and what many people do not remember is that North Carolina should not, I repeat should not have advanced past Villlanova as the whistle was blown with a few seconds remaining after Allan Ray shot, most fans believed that Melvin Scott fouled him but the referee had other plans as he called a traveling which left everybody scratching their heads. Tom O'Neill must have seen something that nobody else in the world must have seen.

The Michigan State v. Kentucky game last night might have been the best basketball game in the history of college basketball. And for a while it looked like it was going to come down to the three pointer from Patrick Sparks and if it was a three. He shot the ball and it bounced three times and then found the whole, but was his foot on the line? After replay after replay and after seeing his foot zoomed in, we still could not tell but since the replay system is like football and there was not enough doubt that his foot was on the line, the points were recorded. My question is, where was the foul? You can clearly tell that Sparks was hacked after his shot yet nothing was called at all. And then I felt as I was watching the Arizona game again as there is not that much time left and Azubuike had the ball and yet he did not shoot the ball which forced the game into a second overtime. Folks, we learned in elementary school that the only way to win ball games is to shoot the basketball.

And now for the picks; Louisville will defeat Illinois. Yes I know that every team that has faced Illinois I have said was going to beat them but I mean it this time. Both of these teams are going to be riding momentum as they both had key come from behind wins but when it comes down to coaching, Petino is just the better coach.

Then how can I pick against UNC, they face Michigan State but I honestly cannot see Michigan State beating UNC because right now I feel that UNC is going to win the whole thing.


Thanks the blog for today, leave it.
~Chag