March Madness at Its Best
Kelvin Masilamani
|
March is almost over, and any college basketball fan knows, that only means one thing: The Final Four. In this yearly event, college basketball teams all around the country battle it out for the chance to cut down that championship net.
Will Stephen Curry, the league leader in points per game take Davidson to the Final Four, or will it be either Blake Griffin or Tyler Hanbrough, two of the more dominant big men in college basketball, be the ones to take Oklahoma and North Carolina to the championship? What kind of madness will March bring this year?
For those who don't really understand how the College Basketball Championship works, here is a quick summary.
The tournament consists of single elimination games. This allows for underdogs to have a chance against higher ranked teams. A total of 65 spots are available in the tournament bracket.
Thirty-one of the spots are automatically given to teams who won their respective conference's post-season tournament.
The remaining 34 spots are chosen by the NCAA Selection Committee. The seeding for the 65 teams as well as where they will be placed in the bracket are also determined by the Committee. The Bracket is split into 4 regions with teams being seeded 1-16 in each one. In each region the 1st seed plays the 16th seed, the 2nd plays the 15th and so on. If you're wondering why there are 65 spots when four regions of 16 teams are only 64 that is where the Play-In Game comes in.
The Play-In Game is prior to the first weekend of the tournament. It is played between the 64th and 65th seeds. The winner is placed in the last spot into one of the regions, given a chance to win the championship.
After the first two rounds of the tournament, the 16 teams that remain are known as the Sweet Sixteen. The 16 teams are usually high ranked teams, but this year, the 12th seed in the Midwest region, Arizona managed to leak into the Sweet Sixteen. Unfortunately for Arizona, they ran into the 1st seeded Louisville. Earl Clark dropped 19 points, leading Louisville over Arizona in a 103-64 blowout.
The other two Midwest teams that made it to the sweet sixteen were the 3rd ranked and former champions, Kansas Jayhawks, and the 2nd ranked Michigan St. Spartans. The Jayhawks jumped out to an early first half lead, going up 13 points. The Spartans came back to tie it with a dunk off and offensive rebound from a free throw, with 1:46 remaining to play.
On their next possession, Michigan St.'s Kalin Lucas was able to complete the conventional three-point play after drawing contact and nailing the shot. This put the Spartans on top for good.
Michigan St. beat Kansas in a 67-62 last minute thriller.
The 1st and 3rd seeds in the West region (Connecticut and Missouri) and the East region (Pittsburg and Villanova) won their games and the South region's 1st seed, North Carolina, and the 2nd seed, Oklahoma, both won their games in blowouts. The eight teams that remain are known as the Elite Eight. This years Elite Eight consisted of all four 1st seeds, two 2nd seed and two 3rd seeds.
In the Midwest Regional Finals, it was the 1st seeded Louisville Cardinals and the 2nd seeded Michigan St. Spartans. The Cardinals scored 103 points in their win the previous game, but were barely able to do half of that against the Spartans' staunch defense. Goran Suton lead the team early with 17 first-half points and Durrell Summers finished it off dropping 10 in the second. The Michigan St. Spartans earned themselves their 5th Final Four appearance in the last 11 years, topping Louisville in a 64-52 victory.
The West Regional Finals turned out a little different in terms of rankings. First seeded Connecticut Huskies faced off against the 3rd seeded Missouri Tigers. The Huskies jumped out to an early 11-point lead, but that didn't stop the Tigers. The Tigers quickly came back and were on the verge of taking over before the Huskies showed everyone why they were the top seed in the West. With the 6'1 freshman, Kemba Walker leading the way with 23 points, the Huskies beat Missouri 82-75, clinching their third Final Four berth.
Up next was the East Regional Finals which involved the possible 1st overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft, Blake Griffin of the 2nd seeded Oklahoma Sooners up against the top seeded North Carolina Tar Heels and their two stars, Ty Lawson and Tyler Hansbrough, another two big names in the upcoming NBA draft. Many people thought it would be a one-on-one match up between the two dominant big men, Griffen and Hansbrough, but in the end, it was the complete team effort that lead the Tar Heels over Griffen and the Sooners in a 72-60 victory.
Tyler Hansbrough got into some early foul trouble and finished with only 8 points whereas his counter part, Blake Griffin had an excellent game dropping 23 points and grabbing 16 rebounds. But Oklahoma's poor three-point shooting paired with balanced scoring of North Carolina, proved to be all the Tar Heels needed to earn themselves a Final Four spot. Ty Lawson lead the team with 19 points, and Danny Green added 18.
Of the 4 regional finals, the East Regional Finals was the closest and the only one to finish in dramatic fashion. The Matchup was between the 1st seed Pittsburg Panthers and the 3rd seed Villanova Wildcats. The game was one of the most defensively physical games in the tournament this year and it was close through out the entire match.
There were a total of 15 lead changes until it was finally tied at 76 with 5.5 seconds left on the clock. The Panthers turned the ball over on the inbound and the Wildcat's Scottie Reynolds made his way down the lane to drop the game winning basket with .5 seconds left in regulation.
Sam Young dropped 28 points for the Panthers but it was in vain as Villanova trumped Pittsburg, 78-76. With the Regional Finals over, and the Final Four determined, it's off to Detroit, Michigan where the semifinals and the championship game will be played. Will it be the two number one seeds in the final game of the season, or will the underdogs pull through and make a run for the championship?

Be the first to comment on this story