The Final Four is set in the NCAA College Basketball Tournament. Florida, Wisconsin, Connecticut and Kentucky won their respective regions and will go to Arlington, Texas to decide the 2014 National Champion.
Top seeded Florida finally ended the successful run of 11th seeded Dayton in the South region 62-52, on Saturday in Memphis, TN. This was the 30th straight win for the 36-2 Gators, who won all 18 of their conference games in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Dayton Flyers held a 21-19 lead, before Florida went on a 19-3 run to finish the first half, with a 38-24 lead. Scottie Wilbekin led the Gators with 23 points.
It took overtime to decide the West regional winner on Saturday in Anaheim, CA. 2nd seeded Wisconsin eliminated top seed Arizona, as Nick Johnson missed a last chance to win the game for the Wildcats, but it left his hand after the buzzer anyway. This was the 7th overtime game of the tournament, which is a new record. Frank Kaminsky scored 28 points and had 11 rebounds for the victorious Badgers of the Big 10 Conference.
On Sunday in New York, the 7th seeded Connecticut Huskies took down 4th seeded, and most experts’ pick for tournament winner, Michigan State, to win the East region 60-54. Connecticut is only the 2nd #7 seed to ever make the Final 4. This game was decided at the free throw line. The Huskies made 21 of 22 free throws while the Spartans only took 8 free throws, making 7 of them. Connecticut is representing the American Athletic Conference (AAC) in it’s first year, after reorganization as the former Big East Conference.
In the last regional final, the 8th seeded Kentucky Wildcats beat 2nd seed Michigan 75-72 in Indianapolis, IN to win the Midwest region. Aaron Harrison of Kentucky hit a 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds remaining to give the Wildcats their margin of victory. Kentucky was 7 for 11 on 3-pointers. Julius Randle led them with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Kentucky is headed to their 3rd Final Four in the last 4 years, winning the title in 2012.
The Final Four starts on Saturday with Connecticut taking on Florida in their national semifinal meeting. The Huskies were the last team to beat Florida, way back on December 2nd. As good as Connecticut has played, I’m going with Florida to stretch their winning streak to 31 games.
The other semifinal will be Wisconsin against Kentucky. Kentucky was the preseason #1 with all their freshman stars coming in, but they struggled during the season, even dropping out of the Top 25. However, especially after beating defending champion Louisville on Friday, their team is coming together at the right time. So I’m taking Kentucky to win, and face SEC rival Florida to determine the National Champion.
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