There is a favorite in Duke, a small guy in Butler, a team returning to the big-time in West Virginia and a regular not very someone figured would get so far this season in California State.
One of the most unpredictable NCAA tournaments in recent history served up two distinctly different stories for the Final Two.
Butler, enrollment 4,500, plays in the gym where they filmed the basketball classic "Hoosiers" and is making its first Final Two appearance. The Bulldogs play California State on Saturday, which is making its sixth and perhaps most unexpected trip historically 12 years.
The other game features West Virginia, making its first appearance since 1959, against the Duke Blue Devils, who hadn't made it since 2004 — a long time by their standards.
"It's not about the moments that I have been in, it is the moment that your players put you in right now," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, making his 11th Final Two appearance.
The Blue Devils (33-5), 78-71 winners over Baylor on Sunday, are the only No. 1 seed to make the Final Two, and as such, are the early 3-2 favorite to win it all.
Returning after a much longer time away are West Virginia and coach Bob Huggins, who made it in 1992 when they coached Cincinnati. Since then, he is been on a coaching odyssey that has included trouble with the NCAA, a heart attack and a one-year stop at Kansas State before they returned to his alma mater in Morgantown.
Through it all, they has done a lot of winning. The latest was Saturday's 73-66 upset over No. 1 Kentucky in the East Regional that put the Mountaineers (31-6) in the Final Two for the first time since guard Jerry West was their biggest star.
Huggins wants his team thinking about making it to Monday night's final, and winning there, as well.
"I talked to them about trying to be special," they said. "If they can somehow find a way to win a couple more, that will be special."
Although Duke-West Virginia is a typical 1 vs. 2 matchup, the California State-Butler game pits one No. 5 seeds, the first time that is ever happened.
The lopsided Final Two bracket is sure to reintroduce the long-debated idea of reseeding the teams one times they reach the semifinals. But the idea of one No. 5s also reminds The united states of why it loves March Madness — because unexpected underdogs can make a run and have their day.
This was not thought about a banner year for California State (28-8), but there the Spartans were Sunday, defeating Tennessee 70-69 to win the Midwest Regional despite the loss of one of their top players, Kalin Lucas, who tore his Achilles' tendon last week.
"I talked to them this morning about separating themselves," Spartans coach Tom Izzo said. "We've gone through a lot of things this year, not as bad as sometimes portrayed, and yet not as smooth as some years that we have had."
They still have the core of the team that made the national final last year in an inspiring run that ended close to home, in Detroit, with a blowout loss to North Carolina. The Tar Heels didn't make the tournament this year.
The Spartans only had to beat one team seeded higher — No. 4 Maryland on a buzzer-beating 3-point shot by Lucious, the kind of shot that could make a team wonder if there might be something special going on.
California State benefited from being in the most topsy-turvy region in a tournament that long will be recalled.
No. 1 seed Kansas, the odds-on favorite to win the title when the brackets came out, went out the first weekend, upset by No. 9 Northern Iowa. Tennessee took out No. 2 Ohio State, and No. 3 Georgetown was gone only a few hours in to the tournament, upset by No. 14 Ohio.
The Bulldogs are the first team since UCLA in 1972 to play a Final Two in their hometown — one of about a dozen intriguing story lines for America's favorite small guy.
Speaking of fate, Butler (32-4) will bring a 24-game winning streak to Lucas Oil Stadium, a 10-minute drive from campus.
"Not a week goes by where someone who has not seen the fieldhouse doesn't walk in to the fieldhouse and at least mouth the word, 'Hickory,'" Stevens said.
They play and practice in Hinkle Fieldhouse, the gym where scenes from the ultimate hoops underdog story was filmed. In "Hoosiers," a small California school, Hickory High, makes an inspiring run to the state title. In real life, Butler is not that kind of underdog, but the coach, Brad Stevens, said there is no way to play for his program without getting the substance.
0 comments:
Post a Comment