Cinderella’s have long been a staple of Final Fours. Loyola in 2018. VCU in 2011. George Mason in 2006. These are all great stories and fun to root for, but no rational person actually believed any of these teams had a chance to win the whole thing. Sure, this year’s Final Four doesn’t have that true Cinderella team, but what it does have that 99% of past Final Fours didn’t have is a completely wide open field. Truly, any of the four teams left has a realistic chance of cutting down the nets Monday night. There is lots of talk all across the internet about how this Final Four sucks and how we got robbed not having Duke or Carolina in it and that’s all fine and well. Just remember next year, when Duke or UNC is inevitably back in it and more than likely the favorite, how fun it was this year to go into Final Four weekend with not any idea of who is going to win it all.
You take a look at Texas Tech, a team led by the hottest coach in America in Chris Beard, and see lockdown defense and an offense that doesn’t get enough credit. Matt Mooney and Jared Culver will need to keep it rolling and the Red Raider defense is going to have to neutralize Cassius Winston if Texas Tech is going to advance. This is no small feat, but most entirely possible given that the Spartans have shown to be inconsistent at times this year. The real test will be if the lights are too bright for Tech. Their program hasn’t been in this kind of national spotlight before and it’ll be interesting if they let the noise of the week leading up to the game get to them.
On the flip side, Tom Izzo has been in this position countless times but his team surely hasn’t. The only player with Final Four experience is a senior walk-on and they’ll need more than him to step up and be a leader for this team. Matt Mcquaid will have to create his own shot, much like he did against Duke, and Winston is going to have to have to do a little bit of everything, dishing to big men like Nick Ward or creating his own shot. This team goes as far as Winston can take them and they’ve got their work cut out for them with a defense like Tech.
In the other matchup of the night, the nation’s slowest team versus one of the fastest, also known as Virginia and Auburn, are squaring up for one of the most interesting matchups of the whole tournament. Auburn is going to want to get out in the open floor and run while UVA is going to want to slow it down and play for a good shot. Ty Jerome is the focal point of the offense for the Cavaliers and with the ball in his hands almost all the time, it’ll be up to him to get Kyle Guy and DeAndre Hunter going on offense. Hunter spearheads the UVA defense which will have to handle the one-two punch of Bryce Brown and Jared Hunter. These two will get out in the open floor and try to create shots for themselves and if the Cavaliers can slow them down, they should find themselves in Monday’s championship game. Auburn has the pieces to pull off a win but they’ll need to make this game a track meet.
We’re not getting the flashiest teams in this year’s installment of the Final Four by any means, but what we are getting is organized chaos. Every team has a realistic shot to win and every team is completely unique in their own right. Appreciate the chaotic nature of this year because we probably won’t be seeing such a wide open field again for a long, long time.