MoeJackson

Now it’s on to Atlanta and for four schools, it’s the opportunity to be part of college basketball history. Louisville was a #1 seed and despite being in the toughest region of the tournament, they looked every bit like a top seed the entire way, finishing their journey towards the Final Four by beating Duke. Everyone around the country unfortunately had to witness (if you were watching live) one of the most gruesome injuries that has ever occurred in sports, ever. Louisville player Kevin Ware suffered a compound fracture to his right tibia on what appeared to a routine leap to block a shot but it was just a freak accident, something that no one ever wants to happen to anyone on the court. Fortunately for Ware, he did undergo successful surgery yesterday so we’re all hoping for a speedy recovery and that he returns to playing basketball ever better than before. Louisville’s opponent will be Wichita State, who took their mascot name to the court and shocked the nation as they took down Ohio St to reach the Final Four for the first time in over 50 years. I actually have a personal alliance to the Shockers of Wichita St, as one my best friends went to grad school there and currently teaches there twice a week. Can the Cinderella story continue? It certainly seems that way, the Shockers are the only team of the four left that have taken down a 1 seed and a 2 seed. Their fast start against Ohio State means that Wichita isn’t afraid to trade punches against the big boys and that’s certainly going to be key when going up against a powerhouse like Louisville. It’s going to be a tough game between Louisville and Wichita, both teams have played excellent defense so far and I think the point guard battle will prove to be critical.

The other side of the Final Four includes two teams that were expected to make some noise but I don’t think anyone expected them to make this much noise. Syracuse is a school with plenty of history in college basketball, winning the title a decade ago and looking like a powerhouse once again. Taking down top seeded Indiana was the most notable victory for the Orange but what’s impressed me the most is how great their defense has been and how much it’s improved as the rounds got deeper. Syracuse is very athletic and long at pretty much every position so the result is teams have struggled to score against them throughout the tournament. Their defense something that Syracuse can keep relying on to win games but it’s going to get be the toughest test yet when it goes up against Michigan on Saturday night. In case you haven’t heard, Trey Burke plays for Michigan and he’s been the best player in the country during the tournament. Burke has certainly been the key player for the Wolverines but that’s been underrated is the cast around him, their ability to feed off Burke’s play-making abilities and fill in their own roles. Michigan can simply outscore the other team and it’s carried them to the Final Four but i’m interested to see how effective their offense can do against such a stout defense like Syracuse’s, especially late in games and during critical possessions. This game is a test of two opposite styles of play so I expect an excellent game with lots of fireworks.