Saturday, March 28, 2015

Which Four Will be the Final Four? Elite 8 Preview, Part 2

By the end of tomorrow the 2015 Final Four will be set and packing their bags for Indianapolis. Can Michigan St. continue their run or will Louisville return to the Final Four for the 3rd time in 4 years? Can Gonzaga break through and get to the promised land? Will Duke return for the first time since they won the national championship in 2010? We honestly can't wait to find out.

2:20PM, CBS - (7) Michigan St. vs. (4) Louisville - This has to be the most unexpected matchup of the Elite 8. Michigan St. was a trendy upset pick, but they had to go through the number 2 and 3 seeds in the bracket just to get to this point. Louisville had struggled down the stretch in the regular season and exited early in the ACC Tournament. They barely got past UC Irvine in their first tournament game, in fact. And yet, here they both are. It really should be no surprise when you look at the sidelines. Tom Izzo and Rick Pitino are not new to this whole March thing. Izzo has mastered the skill of getting his teams playing their best at this time of year, and Pitino's Louisville teams haven't been eliminated before the Sweet 16 since 2011. These two Hall of Famers will have their teams prepared and ready to go, so you know it's going to be a well-played game. 

5:05PM, CBS - (2) Gonzaga vs. (1) Duke - On paper, Gonzaga has the edge here. They have the offensive firepower to score enough to hang with Duke. They have the highest field goal percentage in the country and scored just 1.5 less points per game than Duke this season. But the Zags also have the big men to bother Okafor and force someone else to step up. That, however, might be a problem for Gonzaga. Utah essentially took Okafor out of the game, and Justice Winslow torched them. If Gonzaga can find a way to frustrate Okafor and contain Winslow, they will win. If one of those two goes off for Duke, give the advantage to the Blue Devils. Either way, both of these teams can score efficiently, so it will be a fun game to watch. Will it result in Mark Few breaking through for his first Final Four or will Coach K put the recent early round eliminations behind him?

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