For the first time since 2008, the Men’s Final Four is made up of all four 1-seeds, and it really wasn’t close. I am not ready to dive into the question of whether or not NIL is good for the sport, because it clearly impacted this year’s tournament. But there was almost no madness in this year’s bracket as the best teams have simply dominated from start to finish.
Over the weekend, we saw all four 1-seeds roll into the Final Four with almost no problems whatsoever, setting us up for what hopes to be a thrilling weekend of basketball. Duke continued their tear through the tournament, overpowering a sharp-shooting Alabama team with defense and size. The Houston Cougars put Tennessee behind the eight-ball from the jump, and the Volunteers couldn’t string together enough runs to get back into the ball game. Auburn let Michigan State shoot themselves out of the game with a poor performance outside the arc, and Florida proved they are the real deal by completing the comeback against the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
The only really “exciting” game of the weekend was the last one mentioned, the Red Raiders led by nine points at one point before Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. led the Gators back and past Texas Tech with acrobatic shooting. Everything else was the 1-seeds proving why they were unanimous 1-seeds coming into March.
Final Four:
The Final Four will get underway this Saturday, with the SEC matchup between Florida and Auburn to get things started. The second game of the evening will be Duke and Houston, and I think we will finally get the nailbiter finish we have been waiting for. Duke and Florida have kind of stepped out as the most dominant teams, but this feels about as even of a Final Four as you could ask for.
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