4 Tickets to Houston Please.

3-4-8-11. Huskies-Wildcats-Bulldogs-Rams. Connecticut-Kentucky-Butler-VCU. Calhoun-Calipari-Stevens-Smart. Walker-Knight-Howard-Rodriguez. No matter the way you look at it, this is NOT the Final Four than anyone predicted. Well everyone except for the 2 people on ESPN's Tournament Bracket Challenge who have these teams. I would like to speak with them and find how they picked those 4. The final test before heading to Houston wasn't easy for any of these teams, but they prevailed and deservingly got their tickets booked for the trip of a lifetime.

#8 Butler vs. #2 Florida 74-71 (F/OT)

Thanks to the man pictured above, Shelvin Mack, 26 point game the Butler Bulldogs are back in familiar territory. They are the first team since UNLV in 1990-91 to make it to back to back Final Fours from a Mid Major conference (Horizon League). They have fought and scrapped their way back to this point and they have the most experience of the other 3 candidates. 5 of their players returned from last year's squad so they know the intensity and the pressure to play at this level (UConn is a distant 2nd experience wise with only 2, Kemba Walker and Donell Beverly). This Butler team has won against the likes of Old Dominion, a team no one thought they could even get past, the #1 seed PITT on a last second foul by Robinson, the Wisconsin Badgers who possibly played worse than their loss against Penn State in the Big Ten championship, and the Florida Gators who seemed to have everything pointed in their favor going into that game. Head Coach Brad Stevens and his Bulldogs are in a position this year unlike last year, they aren't the underdogs, they actually are among the favorites in this group of 4. Will they prevail this year, maybe on a buzzer beater that instead of last year bounces off the rim, finds nothing but net?

#5 Arizona vs. #3 Connecticut 63-65

This game was probably the toughest match-up between the 8 teams. Both programs have been exceptional in the final stretches of the season, Arizona surging to what some people thought was going to be a serious National Championship contender and UConn on a current win streak of 8 in a row. Kemba Walker and Derrick Williams were the players to watch, the stars who were leading their teams to victories that people thought weren't possible. Both coming off big wins against Duke and San Diego State, the game was going to come down to the wire. Arizona got off to a hot start but once Williams picked up his 3rd foul in the 1st half, it was UConn's turn taking an 18-7 run, which ultimately won them the game. For the Huskies it wasn't the fire of Walker than won them the game, it was the quiet freshman Jeremy Lamb who seemingly couldn't miss a shot. A few unbelievable 3's, some base line jumpers and big steal for a dunk added up to his 19 points. Kemba knew he wasn't playing well and told Calhoun "Lets give it to Jeremy, he's on fire" and he couldn't have been more right. With 1:43 left Walker made a fade away jumper to but the Huskies up by 5 but Arizona followed suit and brought it within 3. The final possession belonged to the Wildcats. Williams went up for a 3, missed. Rebounded by Arizona, kicked out to Hune with 3 seconds left. Miss. Huddled under the basket both the Huskies and Wildcats went up for the ball, but it was too late. Game over. UConn wins. The last times UConn has made it to the final four they have come out of the West playing in Anaheim. There is something they love about that region. Can they finally come out on top after 7 years without a championship? All signs point to yes right now. Walker is on a mission to end his career on top and he's not stopping until he does.

#11 VCU vs. #1 Kansas 71-61

The Cinderella story isn't over yet. Since 2006 it's always been "Who is going to be this year's George Mason?" after this tournament it's going to be "Who is going to be this year's VCU?" This incredible run has been nothing short of... well... incredible. Critics, announcers, and fans alike thought they were done with Kansas. Of course the players on Kansas even thought they were going to win. They were so confident even that one of the Morris twins told Joey Rodriguez at the pregame captains meeting "The run ends here." Rodriguez thought otherwise; "We'll see". The game started off in the Jayhawks favor as expected, but then the VCU spark was ignited and they went on a run to put them 18 up over Kansas. Was this really going to happen? At the start of the 2nd half the Rams still lead by 14, but Kansas proved why they were a #1 seed. They brought the score to 46-44 but then a 9-2 run by VCU punched the 3rd ticket to Houston. That was it. All the #1 seeds are gone before the Final Four for only the 3rd time in NCAA history. Going from barely on the bubble, to the first four, to the final four. Can they do the impossible and win it all? At this point I'm not counting any team out. Yes they may have the least experience playing at this level but the Rams have proved that they aren't to be underestimated anymore.

#4 Kentucky vs. #2 UNC 76-59

The final spot in Houston was up for grabs. Historic NCAA teams going up against each other, it was bound to be a blood fest. Going into this game both teams had 105 NCAA tournament wins. Who was going to take the lead? Roy Williams vs. John Calipari. Wildcats vs. Tar Heels. The game remained close until the Wildcats took a commanding 11 point lead but only went into the half up by 6. 20 more minutes. Who would last? Kentucky relied once again on the shoulders of freshman Brandon Knight who throughout the tournament has been beyond clutch. The Tar Heels made a surge in the 2nd half to what it seemed like would be yet another NCAA victory. The Wildcats held off UNC for their 106 NCAA tournament victory, one more than UNC. Tyler Zeller and Harrison Barnes put all they could on the court with 21 and 18 points respectively but it wasn't enough for the phenomenal rebounding of Kentucky's Harrelson. By the end of the game it seemed to be a somewhat new rivalry has been created. The NCAA tournament will do that to you. Can Kentucky keep this hot streak going and hold up the trophy in one week?

So there we have it, the 2011 Final Four. Saturday #11 VCU will play #8 Butler in the first game and #4 Kentucky will play #3 Connecticut in the second. Will this finally be the year a Cinderella team wins the Big Dance? Will the storied program in Kentucky return to the top? Does Kemba Walker have what it takes to carry his team to the Championship? Can Butler make one more buzzer beater to win it all this year? Will VCU be the first team to take home the National Championship after starting from the play in game? In one week we'll have our answer. 40 minutes stands between these 4 teams and their goal to get to the championship. 80 minutes will stand between 2 of these teams before they can cut down the net. Like the rest of this tournament, nothing is impossible. Nothing.

The Sweet down to The Elite

We went from 64 to 32 to 16 in one weekend. As many as 16 games per day so with only 4 games Thursday and Friday it was depressing to go through Mon-Wed with no basketball whatsoever. No matter what channel you were watching or where you were, once 12/11c came around, there was basketball on somewhere. Well at least on TBS/ESPN/CBS/TruTv. Once we got through those opening rounds, we weeded out the teams that weren't worthy, the ones who didn't show up to play and the ones who maybe were wrongfully booted from the tournament. Down to the Sweet 16 teams returned back to their respective campuses for a day or two before heading back into battle. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday seemed to take forever... and finally Thursday was upon us.

#3 UConn vs. #2 San Diego St 74-67

San Diego State had a very big advantage over UConn in this game. Not only were they a bigger team with a dominant front court under the basket, but they were playing in Anaheim, CA. A mere 100 miles from campus. Meanwhile the Huskies had to travel nearly 2,800 miles across the country from Storrs, CT. But that's how UConn likes it. The West region has been very good to UConn in the past, however in playing teams in their home state UConn was 0-7. Was it time to steer the boat in the other direction? Indeed it was. A close game through much of the first half kept everyone on their toes until Kemba Walker came a live and UConn closed on a 19-5 run. Coming back out in the 2nd half, San Diego State wasn't going to go down easily. That is until Jeremy Lamb decided it was time to break out. Combined Walker and Lamb scored 60 of the teams 74 points (Walker: 36 pts, Lamb: 24 pts). This UConn team is on a mission to get to Houston and bring the trophy back to Storrs. They're not going to let anything get in their way. When Walker is on fire, the rest of the team feeds off of him. Right now, there is no stopping this train. U! C! O! N! N! UCONN! UCONN! UCONN!

#3 BYU vs. #2 Florida 83-74 (F/OT)

Florida/BYU First Round 2010... BYU sent the Gators home with a 99-92 2OT victory. Florida was back this year and out for blood. They weren't going down easily. The entire game was a battle. Jimmer Fredette didn't disappoint anyone with his 32 point showing, but it wasn't enough. Tied at 36 at the half it was anyone's game. Bucket after bucket dropped for each team. With less than a minute left BYU was sent to the line. Making the first of 2 free throws game was tied at 68. Regulation over. Into OT we go. Florida came out swinging and never let up. They weren't going to have a repeat of last year. There was nothing the Cougars could do. They were out played 15-6 in OT. Fredette's phenomenal season is now over. Florida advances to play Butler on Saturday.

#5 Arizona vs. #1 Duke 93-77

Were we going to see another #1 seed go down Thursday? It was possible, especially after Duke's narrow escape from Michigan in the round of 32 but many believed Duke was better, more experienced, and would come out on top. If you picked Duke, you thought wrong. Arizona went into halftime 6 points down. 20 minutes is a lot of basketball to play but Duke is one of the best 2nd half teams in the country. Arizona had an uphill climb if they wanted to win. Not only did they climb, they destroyed the Blue Devil's mountain. The Wildcat's 55 point 2nd half might be one of the best 2nd half performances in college basketball history. They seemingly did nothing wrong behind the lead of Derrick Williams. Once they started climbing, Duke wasn't going to catch up. As the minutes ticked down, Duke found themselves in unfamiliar NCAA territory, on the losing side. Defending champions were gone and another #1 is sent home empty handed. Who's next? The Wildcats face the Huskies on Saturday.

#8 Butler vs. #4 Wisconsin 61-54

4 words can sum up this game for Wisconsin: Too little too late. Jordan Taylor dropped a few 3 pointers and got the Badger bench pumped up in the last minutes, but there wasn't enough time. Wisconsin was down by as much as 20 at one point, and Butler seemed as though they weren't letting up anytime soon. Nothing seemed to be going right for the Badgers last night, they weren't making shots, making stupid errors and all around just playing sloppy basketball. But that's what this tournament is about, it's not the regular season. If you don't show up for 40 minutes, or even just a few minutes, you might be gone. So with that, Butler continues their march to the Final Four, while Duke was stopped short. Could this be Butler's year to win it all?

#11 Marquette vs. #2 UNC 81-63

Well that was completely un-entertaining. Nothing about this game made me want to keep watching. UNC showed that they are clearly the superior team without question. They were exceptional. Despite Marquette's fighting in the 2nd half, there is only so far you can go after you've already dug yourself into that deep of a hole. With less than 2 minutes to play "Blue Steel" comes in. UNC rolls their way once again to the Elite 8. Hats off to Marquette though for not giving up, they still came out to play in the 2nd half. Mad props.

#12 Richmond vs. #1 Kansas 77-57

The Jayhawks and the Morris twins... did we expect anything less than a complete dominance over Richmond. While the Cinderella story for the Spiders was fun to watch leading up to this match-up, going into a game against this Kansas team, it's hard not to think it's an automatic loss. Kansas took control from tip-off and never slowed down. They're a very fast team and if they go on a run it's hard to stop them. Richmond never stood a chance.

#4 Kentucky vs #1 Ohio State 62-60

This match-up was about as close of a true "neutral" field. Both schools are similar in distance (Ohio State a little bit closer) so fans despite having to drive some ways are willing to make the trip. You could hear in the arena there seemed to me more Ohio State fans with the near constant "O-H! I-O!" chant through out the game. After a quick pull away by the Buckeyes in the opening minutes, Kentucky fought back bringing the 1st half to a close tied 30-30. Anyone's game. Starting off the 2nd half, same deal, back and forth, back and forth. D. Lighty from 3 is like a cobra striking a victim, you're doomed no matter what. Something mentally with Kentucky clicked in the 2nd half, they started making plays both offensively and defensively, making the Buckeyes really focus. Neither team let up. It was going to come down to the end. Big night from non-star players were going to be deciding factors as players like JD Sullinger seemed to start to crack. 2 minutes, Kentucky down by 1. This is why we love NCAA basketball. Under a minute, Kentucky up by 1. Up by 3. Diebler for 3. Tied. Up 2. And that's the game. Kentucky wins. Down goes another #1.

#11 VCU vs. #10 Florida State 72-71 (F/OT)

Now this was a match-up that few people could have predicted. #11 play in seeded team VCU against the #10 Florida St Seminoles in the Sweet 16? It wasn't surprising to see these teams go point for point in the first half. They were very evenly matched teams, it was going to come down to who could play the whole 40 minutes. Going into the half, VCU seemed to be in control. Despite going into the half down, FSU came out ready for another 20 minutes and quickly took control of the game and the lead. But VCU ain't going down w/o a fight. They're run in this tournament will be talked about for years. Just over 4:00 left FSU has pulled within 3. Is the Cinderella story over for VCU? Will the more experienced Seminoles come out on top? I said it would come down to who would play for 40 minutes. Well with :20 they're tied at 65. And we're going into OT. Unlike the Florida/BYU OT this one isn't over in the first 2 minutes. with 1:30 left VCU is only up by 1 70-69. Here come the Seminoles but VCU wasn't going to let it happen. Buzzer beater lifted the Rams over the Seminoles continuing them on their incredible run starting from the play in game. Can they beat Kansas? Anything is possible at this point in the tournament.

With the Elite 8 finally set to go tomorrow, it's going to be a battle for blood. Some teams with nothing to lose while others have everything to prove. This tournament has proved that seeds don't always matter, it's about what teams show up for the whole 40 minutes. Like VCU who had to play just to GET IN to the tournament and here they are on their way to the Elite 8. Who will be in Houston next weekend? It's up to each coach, each player, each team to decide their destiny. How will your team (if they're still standing) fare?

Onwards to the Sweet 16...

What a weekend... let me say it again... what a weekend. Going into the first rounds I felt pretty confident about my bracket, I had a good amount of upsets and a few of the clear top teams to make it through this weekend. Some match ups went the way most of the sports world predicted however some upsets, no one really saw coming. Once one upset occurred it seemed like all the other teams saw the light and realized it was their time to shine. Let's go day by day and recap just exactly what happened. Despite what the NCAA and the rest of the t.v stations are saying the first 4 play in games ARE NOT round 1. If there were a full field of games those days then yes, that's round 1 but 4 games does not constitute as round 1 of tournament play. Therefore we begin with Thursday.

Round of 64 Day 1: Thursday 3/17

A common theme of the first 16 games seemed to be "Winning by less that 3 points." 5 of the games were decided within the last minute of regulation. The biggest upset of the day came when Morehead St defeated Louisville 62-61 with a late 3 pointer. Very few people expected Louisville to make it to the championship but to lose in the 1st round, that was a shocker to say the least. The 8/9 match-up of Butler and Old Dominion provided entertainment to say the least with Howard last second layup to win. The Princeton Tigers fought ti'll the end against Kentucky and the Temple Owls flew over the Penn State Nittany Lions in the final seconds of a buzzer beater. UCLA somehow managed to hold off Michigan State in the final seconds to advance. While there were a handful of heart attack games the rest were what was expected. UConn dominated Bucknell, Pitt cruised past UNC Asheville as did San Diego St and Florida over Northern Colorado and U.C Santa Barbara respectively. But the big upsets, other than Morehead St came from Gonzaga over the injured St. John's and Richmond over Vanderbilt.

Round of 64 Day 2: Friday 3/18

Nothing short of exciting from the 2nd day of 16 games. More upsets, more heartbreaks and more domination. Continuing the fall of the Big East, Villanova lost to George Mason and Georgetown lost to VCU, but Syracuse and Notre Dame won as well as Marquette with the upset over Xavier. Top teams Duke, UNC, Ohio State, Kansas and Purdue proved why they were in the tournament. However, Texas narrowly escaped Oakland 85-81 as well as Washington edging out Georgia 68-65. The 30 point domination of Michigan over Tennessee was a shocker but then again Bruce Pearl decided to provide enough distraction for the team to lose their focus on what was important, winning. Arizona narrowly escaped Memphis while Florida State upset the Aggies from Texas A&M. All in all a good day in baseketball. And so we move on to the weekend.

Round of 32 Day 1: Saturday 3/19

First games of the day almost seem like nothing compared to the excitement of the last 4 games. Kentucky while trailing most the game came through to beat West Virginia, Florida escaped UCLA, Richmond ended the Cinderella story of Morehead St, and San Diego St survived Temple in Double OT. All pretty standard, but then came the prime time games. Then came Butler/Pitt, many of which expected a Pitt dominance. You thought wrong. The Bulldogs fought until the end keeping the game from going into OT. Matt Howard rebounded the ball with .8 left on the clock and would take the final heave down the court hoping for a miracle. As he throws up the ball he's fouled by Robinson as he admits "it was all my fault" The ball more than likely was going nowhere near the rim forcing overtime but instead sending one of Butler's best to the free throw line to potentially win the game. Makes the first, misses the 2nd but with .8 on the clock not even the best players could make a shot like that happen. With that our first #1 seed is gone. BYU cruised past Gonzaga and Connecticut lead by who else, Kemba Walker, showed why they deserve to be in this tournament ousting Cincinnati in the last 1:35 of regulation. And then the Badgers can thank Jordan Taylor for blocking Kansas State's last 3 point attempt to tie the game to force overtime.

Round of 32 Day 2: Sunday 3/20

The final day of the opening rounds came upon us and it seemed like an eternity before it was over for some teams at least. #1 seed Duke got a scare from Michigan a game in which everyone expected to be a blowout and #2 UNC barely escaped Isiah Thomas and the Washington Huskies on what many are arguing was the officials fault for not blowing the whistle or reviewing the play clock at the end of the game as well as not calling the goal tending on Thomas' last shot, while it was only a 2, it's the principal of the matter. Ohio State and Kansas sent George Mason and Illinois home packing. However, the rest of the games weren't so easy. Arizona squeaked by Texas as they seemed to completely deteriorate at the end allowing the Cats to capitalize and win 70-69. 11th Big East ranked Marquette took control of the game at the end to close the chapter on Syracuse 66-62. A game most thought was pretty much given to the Orange. No we're not done yet. Cinderella team VCU, who had to play in one of the 4 games just to make it to the tournament was up against Purdue. It's about to strike midnight, oh wait, not just yet. Not only did VCU beat Purdue, they dominated the entire game. Never letting up keeping their game plan and making baskets. Say goodbye to another top team. But it didn't stop there, 10 seeded Florida State man handled 2 seed Notre Dame, a team many thought was headed to the Elite 8 at least.

Thus concludes the opening weekend of the 2011 tournament. We have an 8/4 (Butler/Wisconsin) 11/2 (Marquette/UNC), 12/1 (Richmond/Kansas) and an 11/10 (VCU/Florida St). This is why they call it March Madness. If the top teams always won and there were no upsets it wouldn't be as exciting. No one expected to see a double digit team guaranteed to the elite 8 but either VCU or Florida St will be there. Despite the dismal showing of the 11 Big East teams, 2 remain: UConn and Marquette. No they're not the 1 and 2 teams from the big east, not even in the top 5. They are the 9th and 11th teams from that conference. UConn has won 7 in a row, they're not ready to lose just yet. Marquette has got nothing everything to gain but nothing to lose. If they lose to UNC, it's expected, if they win, it's just yet another bracket buster. Some of the top favorites in Kansas, Duke, Ohio St, UNC, and Kansas are still in the running, but this year more than ever, no one is safe. The only team who seems to be on an unstoppable track is Ohio State, but even their team is vulnerable. Teams now have 3-4 days to travel to their designated regional locations, practice, devise game plans and prepare for the biggest games of the season. You lose, you go home. You win, you advance. It's not just about the skill anymore, it's about who wants it more. Which team can show up and play better for a minimum of 160 more minutes. Who wants to hold that trophy in Houston on April 4th.