History will be made and dreams will be crushed in the NCAA tournament Sunday, as two teams will book their place in the Final Four.
Reaching the national semifinals is often the standard for success for the biggest programs in the country. Sure, winning national titles is nice, but making it to the Final Four is a pretty solid consolation.
Alas, for fans of two schools, Sunday will offer nothing but heartbreak.
Here's a look at the full tournament bracket after Saturday's games.
Two Elite Eight matchups will be on tap Sunday. The festivities start off with the Michigan State Spartans vs. the Louisville Cardinals at 2:20 p.m. ET, with the Gonzaga Bulldogs vs. Duke Blue Devils to follow at approximately 5:05 p.m. ET.
Both games are airing on CBS, with live stream coverage courtesy of March Madness Live.
The first game will be a battle between two titans of college coaching. Tom Izzo and Rick Pitino have been to a combined 13 Final Fours, quite often despite not having a team considered one of the best in the country. CBS Sports' Matt Norlander doesn't see it as a coincidence that they have so much success in March to their name:
Izzo in particular has made his name taking good teams and turning them into great teams once the Big Dance begins. According to ESPN Stats & Info, no other coach in history has more tourney wins as a lower-seeded team:
Izzo made no secret of the fact that he didn't see this kind of run out of his players, per USA Today's Nicole Auerbach :
Of course, Louisville has had to deal with adversity of its own in the form of Chris Jones' dismissal in February. That was 13.7 points, four rebounds and 3.6 assists a night suddenly going away. The Cardinals went 3-2 to close out the regular season without him on the floor, which led to many questioning their chances in March.
On the contrary, Louisville has thrived without Jones, and NC State's Beejay Anya illustrated the pitfalls in questioning the Cardinals' ability, per Jeff Greer of The Courier-Journal:
The Wolfpack lost to Louisville 75-65 in the Sweet 16, so it might not be a good idea to prod the Cardinals any more. Izzo and the Spartans won't be foolish enough to make the same mistake.
In the other Elite Eight game, the biggest question is whether Gonzaga can finally make the Final Four after years of early exits in March.
The Bulldogs long ago shed the label of plucky underdog. While the Zags don't regularly land McDonald's All-Americans every year, they've established themselves as a major power in college basketball. As Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis argued, the program has spent years building the kind of infrastructure necessary for consistent success:
However, for as much success as Mark Few has brought the school, he's never managed to take a team to the Final Four; this is the first year Gonzaga has made the Elite Eight under Few. This stat from ESPN Stats & Info illustrates how the Bulldogs have yet to truly break through the glass ceiling:
You couldn't have drawn it up much better in terms of narrative. Standing in Gonzaga's way is one of the most storied programs in college basketball history and arguably the greatest head coach in college basketball history.
The Bulldogs would never have to fight for a place at the table again if they can defeat the Blue Devils.
On the other hand, a defeat would simply confirm the suspicions of many critics: Gonzaga is a very good program but can never truly be considered among the elite.
from Bleacher Report http://ift.tt/1El5awJ
via IFTTT March 29, 2015 at 07:00AM
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