Final Four Promises to Be Wild

Shaka Smart and VCU

With Kentucky's victory over North Carolina, the 2011 Final Four has been set and, boy, is it a wild one. There has never been a field like this, without a 1 or 2 seed, and the overall seed number is 26. Two mid-majors will play each other and the other game will feature two traditional powers. The Final Four will be filled with great players and, if the first four rounds have proved anything, the remaining three games should be crazy. Connecticut is entering their third Final Four since 1999 while Kentucky is in their first since 98, the longest draught in school history. Everyone knows the story of Butler from 2010 and here they are again for the second year in a row, something a mid-major hasn't done since UNLV in the early 90's. Perhaps even more surprising than Butler's story is the unbelievable run of VCU. The Rams were blasted when they got an at-large bid because people thought they shouldn't even have made the tournament but, five games later, they have punched their ticket to Houston.

It's an odd bracket because one game is two powerhouse schools who are no stranger to the Final Four. The other game is two mid-majors who have beaten teams from power conferences and proved the talking heads wrong game after game. Kentucky and Connecticut is a game of two very athletic teams with point guards that are playing great at the moment. Kemba Walker has been Top Dog all year for UConn and in tourney time he has flourished, averaging 27 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists. You can go ahead and hand him the Player of the Year award now. Kentucky's point guard is making his name known as well though. Freshman, Brandon Knight, has knocked down two game-winners and dropped 30 points in the Cats win over West Virginia. That will definitely be a matchup to watch. For UConn they will need to keep going to their bread and butter of Walker and freshman, Jeremy Lamb. Those two have combined to score 70 points of the team's points in the last three games. Nobody has stopped them yet but UK has plenty of time to gameplan for them. For Kentucky, they need Knight to have one of his better scoring games and Josh Harrellson to keep playing at the high level he is. The senior had 12 points and 8 rebounds against North Carolina in the Elite 8 and he brings the energy to a young Cat attack.

Butler celebrates

Raise your hand if you had VCU and Butler playing in the Final Four...that's what I thought-not a soul. Who could have predicted this? Both schools took down a number one seed and now they will meet in Houston for the right to go to the championship game. For once, people may pick Butler to win the game but not so fast. Shaka Smart and the Rams aren't just beating people, they are killing them. Every single one of VCU's victories is by double digits except for one. They have won five games so far and have beaten teams from the Pac-10, Big East, Big Ten, ACC and Big 12. Were they to beat Butler and then defeat Kentucky in the championship game that would be seven schools from seven different conferences that they defeated. Yet, the bright lights of the Final Four may be the death of them. It's a hard setting to play in and for a team new to it all it can be hard to compete in that big of an environment. Butler has been there, done that and Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack are playing great at the moment. It's almost strange that Butler isn't the underdog in an NCAA Tournament game. They have been plowing through bigger and better teams for two years now but now they face a team seeded 11th. They have mastered the role of David but how will they be when they have play Goliath?

Can Walker continue his magic?

The best moment caught on camera for this tournament has to be the face of VCU's Jamie Skeen after the final buzzer in the Elite 8 victory over number one Kansas. Skeen is standing there awestruck and can only offer a smile for the camera as he stands there probably pinching himself to make sure it was real. The Rams are the second 11th seed and second Colonial Athletic Association team to qualify for the Final Four since 2006 when George Mason had their incredible run. What's amazing about VCU's path to Houston is that they have looked so dominant. They took it right at Kansas and the Jayhawks played from behind most of the game. Even when KU made a run the Rams didn't falter. They always found a way to pull ahead again and that's the mark of a great team. Their full court press has been deadly for opponents, causing 69 turnovers in five games. Fans may not like that two mid-majors are playing each other in the Final Four but the game promises to be a good one.

Knight and Harrellson

Everyone knew going in that this tournament was going to be unpredictable and if you want proof of how unpredictable it really was then go the NCAA Tournament home page on ESPN.com. Of all the "experts" only Jay Bilas and Jay Williams got a Final Four pick right. Both of them picked UConn. Other than that there were no correct picks. That is why March Madness is, and always will be, the greatest thing sports has. An 11 seed, 8 seed, 4 seed and 3 seed will make their way down to Houston to play in the craziest Final Four in a long time. I'm not going to even attempt to predict who will win these final three games because so far it is just too unpredictable to even make a prediction. However, this much is true, it has been one wild tournament up to this point so the ending should be the wildest of them all.