By Taylor McGillis, Online Editor
The field for this weekend’s Final Four in New Orleans has been set after some entertaining games in this past weekend’s Elite Eight. In the West Regional Final Louisville (30-9) knocked off Florida to advance to the Final Four for the ninth time in school history and its first since 2005. The Big East champions have now won eight games in a row with their last loss coming Mar. 3 against Syracuse. Rick Pitino’s squad beat No. 1 seed Michigan State on Mar. 22 to advance to the Elite Eight, then beat the No. 7 seed Florida Gators to earn their trip to the Final Four. The Cardinals will face off against in-state rival Kentucky in the national semi-finals on Mar. 31. The two teams did play each other in Lexington back in December and the Wildcats got the better of that game beating Louisville 69-62.
In the South Region the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, Kentucky (36-2), continued to show their dominance, trouncing Baylor 82-70 in a game that was not as close as the score reveals. Prior to its Elite Eight matchup with Baylor, Kentucky beat Indiana 102-90 (Indiana is one of two teams to beat Kentucky this year). Kentucky has now won all four of their NCAA tournament games this year by double digits, the only team in the tournament to do so thus far. Kentucky is making their 15th Final Four appearance in school history and seeking their first national championship since 1998. Kentucky will face off against Louisville, which the team beat back in December, in the national semi-final.
Ohio State (31-7) beat Syracuse in the East Regional Final to advance to the Final Four for the 12th time in school history and the program’s first since 2007. The No. 2 seeded Buckeyes beat Wisconsin in the Sweet 16 before beating No. 1 seed Syracuse 77-70 to advance to the Final four. The Buckeyes will play Kansas in the national semi-final on Mar. 31 in New Orleans.
In the Midwest Regional Final Kansas upended No. 1 seed North Carolina to advance to their 14th Final Four in school history (their most recent being in 2008 when they won the title). The Jayhawks (31-6) beat North Carolina 80-67 in one of the more entertaining games of the NCAA tournament.
This year’s Final Four in New Orleans consists of four perennial powerhouse programs with a combined 46 Final Four appearances along with four seasoned college basketball coaches, all of whom have experience coaching in the Final Four. Both semi-final matchups will be played on Mar. 31 with Kentucky-Louisville set to tip off at 6:09pm and Kansas-Ohio State set for 8:49pm.
