The NCAA Tournament is a fast, frenzied and frantic affair. Every March, the madness begins as the nation’s top 64 teams (play in games don’t count) do battle to be crowned as National Champion. For decades, teams from major conferences dominated the tournament. In recent years though, mid-majors such as Gonzaga, VCU, Butler and Wichita State have crashed the Final Four and handed out slingshots of hope to the multitude of Davids seeking to KO Goliath. The arrival of these smaller schools as legitimate championship contenders has brought a new level of intrigue to the tournament. Entering the tournament, every underdog team had a genuine belief it could be this season’s Cinderella. Too bad Cinderella was left at home this year.
Consider this year’s Final Four is a revenge of the titans, a battle of the big boys. For just the fifth time in NCAA history, at least three top-seeded teams advanced to the Final Four. In the South and West regions, Duke (1) and Wisconsin (1) had to defeat second-seeded teams to advance. In the Midwest, the undefeated, undisputed favorites, the Kentucky Wildcats (1), waltzed through the tourney until a talented Notre Dame (3) team gave them hell for 40 minutes. The Wildcats thrived survived under pressure and escaped Cleveland with its fourth Final Four berth in the past five years. The only non-number one seed remaining is Michigan State (7).
How people continue to sleep on the Spartans is a mystery. The team’s seed matches the amount of times coach Tom Izzo has guided his green machine into the big dance of the Big Dance. Izzo is the NCAA’s version of San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. His team is most dangerous when nobody expects them to be. This season the Spartans don’t have any superstars. The team has a balanced attack and is led by (gasp!) upperclassmen. Travis Trice Jr. has been money during the team’s impressive tournament run and he’ll have to continue playing at an elite level if Michigan State has any hopes of getting Izzo back over the hump to win just his second title despite the vast amount of Final Four trips.
In terms of traditional basketball powers, Wisconsin doesn’t necessarily belong. However, the Badgers boast arguably the best player in the game in Frank “The Tank” Kaminsky. The talented 7’0” post man averages 18.7 points, 8 rebounds and is shooting 41.5% from three-point range. He and Sam Dekker are surefire first-round draft picks. They’re chomping at the bit to get another shot at the Wildcats in the Final Four. Last season, Kentucky buried Wisconsin’s title aspirations with a late, game-winning shot. The loss was a big reason Kamisnsky passed up the big bucks of the NBA last season. He wanted a sweet taste of victory. To fulfill his championship appetite, he’ll need to power his team past a team some are calling the best in decades.
The other side to the best player in college basketball argument is Duke’s Jahlil Okafor. Okafor is Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s latest freshman phenom and is widely expected to be the top pick in this season’s upcoming NBA Draft. Okafor has a huge upside, but upside doesn’t matter right now. What matters is Okafor is coming off two games in which he scored just six and nine points versus Utah and Gonzaga respectively. Luckily for Duke, they have former McDonald’s All-Americans as water boys so other players have stepped up to get Coach K to his 12th career Final Four. If his players want to help him earn his fifth title, Okafor and his underclassmen crew will have to put on their big boy underpants.
Lastly, the big bad Kentucky Wildcats are trying to etch its name in history. As Floyd Mayweather Jr. might say, 38 have tried and 38 have failed. Coach John Calipari’s NBA factory just keeps churning out players. Kentucky’s talented roster of freshmen and sophomores make noise every season. Coming off an epic scare to Notre Dame, the Wildcats will have their hands full with Kaminsky and Co. If Kentucky could barely contain Zach Auguste, how can they expect to potentially deal with Kaminsky and Okafor in back-to-back games? Like Michigan State, Kentucky is a well-balanced team that gets solid production throughout its rotation. Calipari will need all hands on deck in the grudge match with Wisconsin. There’s no doubt the Wildcats are talented enough to do the impossible and finish a perfect 40-0. The question is whether they’re mentally strong enough.
All season long, the burden of expectation has grown. With each win comes more pressure. How the Wildcats handle the pressure will determine whether the team goes down in the history books or just ends up history. The NCAA would love to see Kentucky vs Duke in the championship game. Two of the most revered programs and coaches competing for the title with an undefeated season on the line would be ratings gold. Though there are no Cinderellas, I believe the NCAA will get its storybook ending. Expect the Wildcats vs the Blue Devils to square off next Monday. My pick? Duke is my favorite non-Missouri team and I’m a sucker for underdogs. Picking against Kentucky though would just make me a plain ol’ sucker. I don’t see anybody stopping them from the championship. Still, it’ll be fun to watch teams try.
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