Just a quick recap of what I saw in my Sportz Room -- filled with TVs that I can watch all four games going on at the same time. This one will take the entire Final Four as one day.
GAME OF THE WEEKEND: Wisconsin vs Kentucky. This was what everyone outside of the Bluegrass state wanted. To see Kentucky beaten. Maybe that's a bit drastic, but the SEC wasn't challenging enough for a team of Kentucky's stature, so it would be interesting to see how they'd perform against the best teams in the NCAA. After all, the Wildcats only played one game against teams ranked in the top 14 of the final regular season AP poll. Wisconsin, who clearly had a chip on its shoulder, came in swinging and it paid off.
UPSET OF THE WEEKEND: Wisconsin vs Kentucky. It's hard to call a game featuring two No. 1 seeds as an upset, but Kentucky was undefeated and staring directly into history. Wisconsin, while one of the best teams in the nation, came in with no McDonald's All Americans.
CONFERENCE OF THE WEEKEND: ACC. The ACC won another title. Since 1982, that's 34 years, the ACC has won 11 National Championships (Duke 5, UNC 4, NC State 1, Maryland 1). The ACC finished an amazing 17-5 in the tournament, with five Sweet 16 teams and three Elite 8 teams.
CONFERENCE WITH A BAD WEEKEND: Big Ten. Two Big Ten teams made the Final Four, and both were beaten by Duke. The ACC is now 6-1 against the Big Ten in National Championship games, with a nice six game winning streak (Duke-Michigan, UNC-Michigan, Maryland-Indiana, UNC-Illinois, UNC-Michigan State, Duke-Wisconsin).
DUD OF THE WEEEKEND: Duke vs Michigan State. After the Spartans looked like they were set to give Duke a game, the Blue Devils just owned them. The other two games were tight. This one, not so much.
DOMINANT PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEKEND: Duke. They blew out Michigan State and then toppled Wisconsin and the player of the year, Frank Kaminsky. That is Duke's fifth title in 25 years.
UNDERLYING STORYLINE OF THE WEEKEND: Talent. I've always said that the NCAA tournament is two different tournaments. One is that first weekend where we see those small schools pull off a few upsets and the Georgia State's of the world become darlings of the sports world. Then there is the the Sweet 16 on forward, where the best teams usually do their thing. Look at this Final Four. According to NBADraft.net, there were 9 guys in this Final Four who are projected to be first round draft picks this June -- including six of the top 11 picks. Duke and Kentucky were loaded with one-and-done players.
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