March Madness will be coming to an end this week with the culmination of the Final Four. The prestige of being one of the Final Four teams is unlike any other sport. In no other major or college sport is the idea of finishing among the last four teams celebrated as much, but that doesn't mean the remaining players and coaches are resting on their luarels.
In a season where the brackets were dominated by heavy favorites we find ourselves with potetntially the most dominat favorite in history. The reigning champion UConn Huskies were ranked near the top of the rankings all season long, before eventually steamrolling teams in the Big East tournament and eventually continuing that pure dominance in the big dance. UConn has had the best NCAA tournament ove rthe past 10 seasons, and many are saying this could be the best team of all time. Hurley and the Huskies grabbed the #1 overall seed and proceeded to beat 7 teams in a row by double digits, beating the spread in each game. They wont on a 30-0 run against Illinois to get here and are still the clear favorite to win it all.
They will face the Alabama Crimson Tide. Alabama's offense has never been in doubt. All year long this running Tide team have routinely threatened 90 points and they can boast a claim for the best offense in the country. That offense has now had some complimentary defense and their run and gun style gives them just as much of a shot as anyone to take down the big, bad Huskies.
On the other side we have the Purdue Boilermakers and their remarkable season. Matt Painter has finally got the moniker off his back of 'the coach who can't win in the tournament' and much like Virginia they look for a massive rebound. Virginia was the first team to ever lose as a #1 seed to a 16 seed in tournament history and returned the next season to win the championship. Last season Purdue joined that horrible list and they believe they can mimic Virginia's revenge type title run. There is plenty of reason to agree with them but the biggest reason is 7'4" Zach Edey. The nation's top player will be the focus and he will need to be stopped if Purdue will be thwarted in their march for a title.
The only true Cinderella team will have to face Edey in North Carolina State. It is truly remarkable what State has done to get here. They were mere seconds away, and egregious blunders away, from being sent home against the Cavs. Instead they had a miraculous win, then went on to win the ACC tournament, while playing 5 games in 5 days, and then continued to win. NC State has been underdogs in every big game they have played this month, and they have beaten the odds every time. NC State's futures odds since mid February look like the sort of thing a Hollywood movie studio would reject because it was unbelievable. They sat at 300-1 to win it all on February 13th, that went to 350-1 on Febrary 20th and finally 650-1 on March 6th.
It has been a fun March to get to the Final Four teams and the storylines write themselves. We will either have one of the most dominant teams of all time cut down the nets, or maybe it will be one of the most explosive offenses that we have watched in a decade. Perhaps it will be a redemption story for the ages, or a true underdog story come to life. Whoever is left standing when these titans finish their battle, we will have a story to tell.