Or as they call it in all other sports -- the semi-finals. How it came to be in college basketball that merely reaching the semis is celebrated in much the same fashion as having been truly delivered to the Promised Land, finding that pesky but ever-elusive Holy Grail or, OMG, unearthing a Rosetta Stone that is finally capable of deciphering politicians would seem to be a very good question. The definitive answer? Not a clue, but I'll offer three things as possibilities.
1) Slick marketing, which preys upon....
2) Blind hope, which is only possible if there are millions of...
3) Lemmings, who will always be suckers for -- go back two lines.
Oh, and there's the scads of money to be made by the smart people when the above quite unholy trinity comes together and starts interacting about this time every year. March Madness indeed.
Nevertheless, it is what it is, and the Final Four (though it will officially be April madness by then) looks to feature a couple interesting match-ups.
Florida vs. UConn. The Gators being there is no surprise. After all, they went into the tourney as not only a #1 seed, but also the #1 ranked team in the country. Besides cruising through the first four rounds of the tournament, they've won 30 in a row. Very impressive stuff.
On the other hand, most thought UConn would never get to this point. As a #7 seed, it was understandable they survived their first two games. But knocking off #3 Iowa St. in the Sweet Sixteen was a bit of an eye-opener. And who would have thought they could defeat the likely heavily favored and trendy pick Mich St. Spartans in the Elite 8? Yet they found a way.
Most would think Florida will have it's way as well with UConn, and they might be right. But guess who was the last team to beat the Gators before they started their 30 game winning streak mentioned above? Yep, the very same Huskies, way back on December 2. So UConn already knows they can not only play with Florida, but are capable of beating them. This game might not be the blow-out I dare say so many are expecting, and could well turn out to be very interesting. We'll see.
On the flip side, Wisconsin squares off with Kentucky. Another tough one to figure. Though UK entered the tourney as a #8 seed, they certainly had a tough road to get to the Final Four. Along the way, they knocked off previously undefeated and #1 seed Wichita St., turned around and dispatched #4 seed and defending national champ Louisville, then followed up by defeating #2 seed Michigan. That means they beat three of the four teams in last year's Final Four while, incredibly, starting 5 freshmen. (Yep, the first team to advance this far since the very same Michigan started their own vaunted Fab Five in 1992, way back when a guy named Clinton was first running for President and yours truly had a pony tail instead of a bald spot).
Given how head coach John Calipari's program has become synonymous with the "one and done" thing as his potential sophomores bolt to the NBA year after year, it remains amazing how that program can stay so highly competitive year after year as well, while featuring kids fresh out of high school. But here they are -- again -- and like them or not, you have to give them credit.
Most would likely think the Wildcats will slam dunk Wisconsin, but I wouldn't be so sure about that. The brutes from Cheeserland shouldn't be taken lightly. Sure, they didn't have nearly as tough a path as Kentucky, but let's not forget they weren't supposed to beat the other Wildcats, #1 seed Arizona either. But they did, in convincing fashion, in front of a mostly hostile crowd. To boot, the players that get the majority of the minutes for Wisconsin are predominantly upper-classmen. A couple years older, stronger, and with more experience than the young phenoms from Lexington. This game could get interesting as well. Will the peach-fuzzers run wild putting on a highlight reel? Or will the "old dudes" systematically grind them down and wear them out over the course of the game? Beats me.
Like the immortal Yogi Berra once wisely said -- that's why the fat ladies play the games, and it ain't over until Dick Vitale sings. Or something like that. Close enough.
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