triplec2195 wrote:So it will be FAU(9SEED) VS 5 SEED SAN DIEGO STATE who beat COC in their first NCAA tourney game. Miami a 5 seed vs UCONN a 4 seed. UCONN very well may be the favorite to win a national championship. This will be a very interesting Final 4.
UConn is definitely the favorite. They're the highest remaining seed but they're also the only team left that was unchallenged in all four of their wins so far.
The other three all could have lost (FAU could have lost all four times, Miami could have lost twice and probably should have lost those, and SDSU could have lost today). UConn is simply a better basketball team than the other three BUT that doesn't mean they'll beat Miami or will win the title, especially in this crazy year. Was at MSG covering the regionals last night and Thursday night. Was so cool to see what FAU did up close. It was surreal like it wasn't really happening. Can only hope that'll be Hofstra someday. But add FAU to the list for the mids, along with George Mason, Butler twice, VCU, Wichita State, and Loyola Chicago. And if you want to go way back to 1979, can include Penn.
Some interesting things with this tourney now:
* First Final Four ever with no 1-3 seeds after the first Elite 8 ever with no 1 seeds.
* This Final Four has the second-highest combined seed total:
2011 - 26: 3 UConn, 4 Kentucky, 8 Butler, 11 VCU
2023 - 23: 4 UConn, 5 SDSU, 5 Miami, 9 FAU
2000 - 22: 1 Michigan State, 5 Florida, 8 UNC, 8 Wisconsin
1980 - 21: 2 Louisville, 5 Iowa, 6 Purdue, 8 UCLA
2006 - 20: 2 UCLA, 3 Florida, 4 LSU, 11 George Mason
* FAU & Miami are same-state schools making their Final Four debuts in the same Final Four. That's only the second time that's happened and the first since La Salle and Penn State in 1954.
* OF COURSE Larranaga takes Miami to the Final four on this EXACT DATE, March 26... 17 years ago today, on 3/26/06, was Mason's Elite 8 win over UConn.
Laettner: 10/10 fg, 10/10 ft in the famous Elite 8 game in Philly when Duke beat Kentucky, 104-103, in his turnaround shot off of the pass from Grant Hill.
* Miami's Jordan Miller today: 7/7 fg, 13/13 ft
That's it, That's the complete list of perfect shooting games in NCAA tourney history.
The way things are going, I am fully ready for the inevitable Florida Atlantic - Miami championship game.
What a wild tournament this year. Still remains the best sporting even on Earth.