March Madness Elite 8

What a year this has been. Really no way to predict this tournament. First, let's go over what I said last blog and what I got right and wrong.

(2) North Carolina - (4) Kentucky was a well fought game by both teams. I thought it was a toss up and NC would win a tough one, but Kentucky ended up hitting huge shots and draining 3s to kill whatever momentum NC was trying to get. - Wrong

(2) Florida - (8) Butler was said to be a close game. I was right in that regard, but Florida didn't come out on top. I stated that I wanted to predict Butler to win, but I had hyped Florida up too much coming into the came I couldn't turn my back on them. Whatever. I'm saying I was half right on this one.

(3) UConn - (5) Arizona. The Wildcats definitely surprised me this game and had two solid looks at the end to win the game from downtown. I said UConn would "mop the floor" with Arizona. Obviously that didn't happen at all, but at least UConn came out with the W. Half right again.

(1) Kansas vs (11) VCU. Well, I'll say I couldn't have been more wrong here, but let's be serious. Who outside of Richmond, VA, thought VCU was going to win this game, let alone in the style they did it in. Absolutely crushed Kansas. - Wrong. I should get negative points for this one.

Discussion


The lowest seed in the final four is a 3-seed. Unreal tournament. An 8 and 11 facing each other in the Final Four? Who would've guessed. Both teams have been playing great, especially Butler. Lots of people were complaining that VCU was even in the tournament, but they're really showing that when a team gets hot, no matter what team, they're hard to stop. Kansas learned that the hard way, so let's talk about the Jay Hawks for a second. They had perhaps the easiest road to the championship out of any team of all time. Here is a list of seeds they played against: (16), (9), (12), (11). That's an average of a 12-seed. Had they beaten VCU they would've played (8) Butler to earn a spot in the title game. The fact that they couldn't take advantage of having the highest seed played against be (8) is absolutely inexcusable for this team. They really couldn't have asked for an easier path and I'm sure Kansas fans couldn't have been more excited whenever top seeds kept being taken down by these nobodies. They had the easiest road I've ever seen and couldn't even make the Final Four? What a choke by the Jay Hawks. Yes, the teams they faced got that far for a reason, but when you're a 1-seed there is no reason to lose to an 11-seed, especially the way they did. It wasn't close in the slightest. UConn, on the other hand, is still dancing behind Kemba Walker and will test their talents against a young Kentucky squad who has been looking great. The winner of that game will face the winner of (8) Butler and (11) VCU, posting the lowest combined seeding total for a Final Four matchup at 19. Despite the winner, there will be a chance that there will be a team that can potentially lay claim to the lowest seed ever to win the title. (8) Villanova in '85 is currently the lowest seed, and clearly (8) Butler can tie that and (11) VCU will top it.

Final Four


(3) UConn vs (4) Kentucky
(8) Butler vs (11) VCU

UConn and Kentucky is pretty much a toss up again. I feel that Kentucky has a better team, but UConn has the game changer on their side. I believe that in some cases superstars can definitely override a team in college ball, but seeing what Kentucky did today to UNC's  Harrison Barnes and Dexter Strickland, I think they can stop UConn. This call is a brain-heart decision. My brain says Kentucky, but my heart says UConn, who has been streaking since that Big East tournament start. I'm picking UConn, probably because I'm blinded by my desire for them to win, but whatever. I'm sticking with it. It'll definitely be a close game though.

Butler wants to get back to the title game and redeem themselves from their narrow loss to Duke last season. They'll win this one against VCU. It feels like Butler is the heavy favorite in this one since they were runner-ups last season. This has got to be the first time in a long time that Butler feels like the Goliath in a battle of this magnitude. VCU is last season's Butler and Butler is coming into this game as big brother. They've been here before. They wont be caught off guard by the Rams because, in essence, they are the Rams. Butler was in a similar position as them last year so they know that VCU could be the next Butler. Too much determination from the Bulldogs though and they take the game easily. Seems like I just cant give VCU any respect. I don't think it'll even be that close.

Title Game


(3) UConn vs (8) Butler

More to come after the Final Four.