Final Four Fun

From the First Four to the Final Four, this NCAA tournament has been one of the most exciting and unpredictable tournaments in recent memory.  There have been upsets, blowouts, and buzzer-beaters, and VCU has been there all along the way.  All the fun begins to wind down as the Final Four kicks off Saturday night and ends on Monday night with the National Championship Game.  Only 2 brackets out of 5.9 million on ESPN.com correctly predicted the Final Four teams: VCU, Butler, Connecticut (UConn) and Kentucky.  The teams combined to have the highest average seed of Final Four teams in NCAA history: 6.5.  To put it into context, the average seed for all the Final Four teams throughout the years is 2.3 and there has only been one other Final Four with 0 #1 seeds.  But who will come out on top and play for a chance to cut down the nets on Monday?  Here you go:

VCU and Butler continue their Cinderella stories in the Final Four tonight.

VCU vs. Butler
This Cinderella story features the highest sum of seeds (11+8=19) in Final Four history.  Butler brings a coach and a host of players back to the Final Four after a National Championship game loss to Duke last year.  VCU comes with a coach and a team with no fear and sky-high confidence after becoming the first team win 5 straight games and go from the First Four to the Final Four - which is highly unlikely to ever be done again.  Both teams believe they can win and have demonstrated they can win close games in this tournament.  I think the key factor will be VCU's ability to shoot and make the three-point shot.  VCU has shot a Jimmer-like 895 threes as a team this year (almost 30 per game), and if they can shoot 30 against Butler and make at least 12 they will be playing for the National Championship on Monday night.  But I think that will be too difficult of a feat to accomplish against a tough and stingy Butler defense who took the three-point shot out of Florida's arsenal last week in their win against the Gators in the Elite Eight.  I like Butler here - 63-59.

Kemba Walker lifted UConn over Kentucky in November.

Kentucky vs. UConn
Cats versus Dogs.  The Wildcats versus the Huskies.  UConn beat Kentucky way back in November, 84-67, thanks to 29 points by Kemba Walker.  Two legendary, yet highly-controversial, coaches bring their teams and their most recent allegations (John Calipari / Jim Calhoun) into this Final Four.  Calipari, who according to NCAA records, has never technically coached in a Final Four after his 1996 UMass and 2008 Memphis teams both forfeited their games and Final Four appearances after recruiting and eligibility violations were later discovered by the NCAA.  However, his Kentucky team comes in hot after beating the #1 seed Ohio State Buckeyes and #2 seed North Carolina Tar Heels to win the East bracket.  After losing 5 players to the NBA draft in 2010, Kentucky will bring a fantastic point guard in Brandon Knight head-to-head with many experts' national player of the year, UConn's Kemba Walker.  Kentucky used tough defense and big plays down-low to run by the Buckeyes and the Tar Heels, but didn't have to deal with a do-everything player like Kemba Walker.  If Kemba can drive to the basket and create opportunities for his teammates, while still being a potent threat from outside, it will be a long night and a short stay in the Final Four for Kentucky.  If the Wildcats can contain Kemba by holding him to less than 15 points and 5 assists, then the Wildcats should be able to win (let's just hope it stays on the record books this time).  I'm still expecting the Calipari Curse to continue as the Huskies run away from Kentucky in Coach Calipari's "first" appearance in a Final Four - 77-63.

Check in on Monday morning to see the preview of the National Championship game...enjoy the games!

Quick Hits #3

V-C-told-U-so:  VCU has reached the Final Four as an 11 seed after upsetting "power conference" foes USC, Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State, and Kansas along the way.  VCU, George Mason (2006), and LSU (1986) are the only teams to ever advance to the Final Four as an 11 seed.  Incredible.  When the brackets were revealed on Selection Sunday, many experts questioned the Selection Committee's decision to include VCU and UAB in the 68-team field because they felt that many other teams were more deserving based upon their regular season and conference tournament performance.

VCU could be the national champion even though they
should have never been given a shot to get to the Final Four.

VCU's inclusion in the tournament was questioned because they had lost 7 conference games in a sub-par conference, including a home game to lowly James Madison, and had a much lower RPI than other teams that were left out of the tournament.  Many have suggested that because VCU has now made the Final Four, then they must have been deserving of being included in the tournament from the beginning.  I wholeheartedly disagree.  Such a rationale would make no sense given that the Selection Committee's job is to select the tournament teams based upon their resume and previous performance, not to project how a team would perform in the tournament.  Does VCU deserve to be in the tournament simply because they have won 5 games in a row?  Absolutely not.  If that is the case, then teams such as Louisville and Vanderbilt (who both lost their first games to lower-seeded teams) should not have been included in the tournament either.  Good for VCU, but saying that they have validated their inclusion in the tournament would be taking the easy way out.

Let The Jimmer Simmer:  Meanwhile, the debate continues about players that have already exited the tournament - will Jimmer be a good pro?  Many will continue to debate Jimmer's professional abilities leading up to the draft and even throughout Jimmer's career.  But why are so many people so adamant and passionate about this topic?  Because there is no debating the fact that he is one of the best collegiate basketball players in recent memory.  We should all stop being so concerned about how good a pro he may or may not be.

Jimmer Fredette excited the entire college basketball world
this year with his ability to score and lead BYU to wins.

Will his success or failure in the NBA take away from his outstanding college career and all the excitement he created not only at BYU but throughout college basketball?  It shouldn't.  Instead of being so focused on hypothetical situations and what he may not be, let's stop and appreciate some of the fantastic things he accomplished as a collegiate player: Fredette led the nation in scoring with 28.9 points per game, averaged 32.7 points per game in the NCAA tournament, led BYU with 4.3 assists per game, shot 40% from three-point "Jimmer" range, shot 89% from the free throw line, shattered the BYU career scoring mark after scoring a mind-boggling 1,068 points this season.  Even more important:  Jimmer is a winner.  He leaves BYU as the all-time leader in team wins as a player.  Certain writers in the media may not appreciate Jimmer, but he has already been selected by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association as the winner of the Oscar Robertson Trophy which is presented annually to the National Player of the Year as selected by the writers.  By the way, Rick Reilly is not considered a Basketball Writer by the USBWA or Dan Patrick.  That is worth a listen!


Ochocinco Soccer Situation:  With the NFL Lockout now in its third week with no end in sight, it appears that NFL players, including Chad Ochocinco, are bored and need something to do.  Chad Ochocinco, who has successfully kicked an extra point in a recent NFL game, recently went through a five-day tryout with the MLS team, Sporting Kansas City.  Ochocinco, who played soccer in high school, practiced with the team, played in a reserve game this weekend, and has been awarded an honorary reserve spot on the team.  Ochocinco will not be paid for practicing with the team (which is only a little less than what an MLS player actually gets paid), but he is excited about his new-found job:

Ochocinco is just kickin'
it during the NFL lockout.

"This is so awesome I'm an honorary member of SportingKC and can train with the reserve team as long as I want," Ochocinco said in a tweet. "Totally awesome ILuvKC."

Does anyone else now want to see David Beckham take a hit by Baltimore Ravens' linebacker, Ray Lewis, or is that just me?  At least Ochocinco is as they say "staying out of trouble", which is more than can be said for Dallas Cowboys' receiver Dez Bryant.