GAME PREVIEWS:
LOUISVILLe (1) vs WICHITA STATE (9) Satuday April 6, @ 6pm on CBS
The 2013 Final Four is locked in. In another mad March, only a single No. 1 seed is heading to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta for the national semifinals on April 6, 2013. Top overall seed Louisville will take on No. 9 Wichita State Shockers with a spot in the national championship on the line. Who had that in their bracket?
After witnessing the devastating injury to their back-up point guard, Kevin Ware, the Cardinals blew past Duke in the midwest finals to advance. Head coach Rick Petino will surely have his squad ready to go Saturday, especially with the extra motivation from their fallen comrade.
The closest thing to a Cinderella Story this year, the Shockers took advantage of a shaky Ohio State Buckeyes Squad to advance to the Final Four. I believe the road ends there for the Shockers, as the Cardinals will likely prove to strong to hold off.
MICHIGAN (4) vs SYRACUSE (4) Saturday April 6, @ the end of the previous game on CBS
In this final four matchup features two teams who have been atop the coaches top 25 poll all year. Syracuse had little difficulty getting to the final four by giving an old beat down on Marquette and Indiana, who were heavily favored in those games. Before that though, they easily defeated Montana and California to reach the sweet sixteen. It seems that Syracuse’s zone infamous zone defense has found its groove.
Michigan on the other hand has had some tighter games to reach the big dance. After having a little bit of trouble with S.D. State, they easily destroyed VCU. But here comes the trouble with Michigan. They started off real slow against Kansas, only to be saved by desperation three to tie the game at the end of regulation. They would go on to win the game but it brought out many skeptics against the team. But after the beat down of a veteran Florida team, those skeptics went away. Michigan enters the final four as the hottest team left in the tournament.
Expect an absolute dog fight between two teams that have the experience and leadership to bring their A games. Michigan’s Trey Burke should look to take over the game very early if they want to have a chance at beating Syracuse. I see Syracuse winning very easily in this game because of their huge height and length advantage. Syracuse should expect to see the number one-seeded Louisville team in the finals.
FAVORITE MOMENT OF THE TOURNAMENT:
Florida Gulf Coast University (15)
Before the tournament, I had no idea who this team was. But after a successful run in the tournament they captured everyone’s hearts and became the team everyone wanted to see advance. This team became known for their viscous dunks and hilarious dance moves on the side lines after it. Maybe we all rooted for them because of the coaches supermodel wife…. well at least I did. But a majority of people just wanted to see the big time schools lose. Every year it seems that the competition gets better and better. Sooner or later we will see a 16 seeded team beat a 1 seeded team.
