We are well underway with March Madness and we feel like those who don’t know or haven’t been able to watch the tournament should be updated. As some of you may know, the tournament is now in the Final Four. The Final Four consists of Kentucky, Kansas, Ohio State and Louisville. These teams have respectively won their regions and earned their spot in the Final Four.
Here is a quick summary of how each team made it to the Final Four:
• Kentucky is the number one overall team in the tournament and was a heavy favorite from the start. Kentucky has faced little opposition in this tournament and looks to continue their winning streak to the Championship. In their first game Kentucky trampled 16th ranked Western Kentucky 81-66. Next Kentucky faced eighth ranked Iowa State with a 16 point victory. Kentucky followed up that win with another double digit victory over Indiana putting up a 102 point game. In the final game of their region Kentucky beat number three Baylor by 12 points to earn a spot in the Final Four.
• Louisville is the number four seed in the Western Region; they are also the lowest ranked team in the Final Four. In the first round they faced a tough Davidson team, pulling out a win by 7. They then moved on to play a very evenly matched game against New Mexico, in which they edged out New Mexico by 3. Their next game was against the top ranked team in the Region, Michigan State. They upset the top seed by a great margin, winning 57-44. The Regional Championship was between them and a somewhat Cinderella story in number 7 Florida. They won the region and moved into the Final Four with a 4 point victory over the Gators.
• Ohio State, although they are ranked number two, they were predicted to topple number one Syracuse and claim the Eastern Region title. In round one Ohio State had an easy win against fifteenth ranked Loyola. In the second round Ohio State found a tough opponent in number seven ranked Gonzaga but narrowed out a seven point victory. Next Ohio State played a fellow Ohio school in the Cincinnati Bearcats and won by 15 points. Like many predicted Ohio State faced a tough Syracuse team, that lacked Sophomore Center Fab Melo and his strong inside presence, which proved to be the difference between the two allowing Ohio State to claim a seven point victory and a spot in the final four.
• Kansas University in recent years has always been a threat to go all the way to the Championship. This year, they were ranked number two in the Midwest behind North Carolina. They started their championship journey with an easy win over number fifteen Detroit. They then faced a team that some considered underranked in Purdue, they defeated the Boilermakers 63-60. In the Sweet Sixteen they faced number eleven NC State, they then won another 3 point ball game, 60-57. In the regional finals, they faced one of the favorites to win the tournament, they simply outplayed an impressive North Carolina team beating them 80-67.
As for our predictions, we unanimously agree with Kentucky, the only number one ranked team left, reigning victorious over fourth ranked Louisville and number two Kansas beating fellow number two Ohio State. Now the NCAA Championship is a strong win for Kentucky as they are the best and overall number one in the tournament. The final four games start on Saturday with the Championship game taking place on Monday, April 2nd to decide the 2012 NCAA Division I National Champions.