Final Four

This years tournament has been better than advertised. Double digits seeds upset the major conferences teams and the best was yet to come. For the first time in the history of the tournament there are no No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the Final Four. What we have is two mid-majors in VCU and Butler and two national powers in UConn and Kentucky. The amazing part is VCU was literally the last team to be entered into the tournament and they have beaten every team from the BCS conferences with only the SEC left, is the most amazing story. VCU got slammed for getting into the tournament, and rightfully so, but their run and toppling of the Big Boy schools is nothing short of remarkable. Consider this, the Rams have won their five games by an average of 12 points a game, with their closet being against Florida St. in the Sweet Sixteen. If VCU goes on and wins, I could totally see Hollywood coming in and making a movie about this.

Butler on the other hand has changed from a Cinderella into a national power. Think about this, Butler was 6-5 in the Horizon League in mid February and hasn't lost since. They have won all their games by a margin of 3 points a game. Gordon Heyward, widely considered the Bulldogs best player, was drafted 9Th overall in the NBA, and everyone figured the Bulldogs could win a game or two but not go back to the Final Four. Butler has not only proved that it can beat the BCS schools but now they are the Kings of the mid-majors but they have also dropped the Cinderella label because they are consistent. For all the talk about how strong the Gonzaga program is, the Zags have never made a Final Four. Butler on the other hand has made two. You may not like their style of play, which is gritty, tough and hard on the defensive end with ball movement on the offensive end, They truly do play like the team from the movie "Hoosiers",fundamentally sound which makes them tough to beat.

UConn has been on a mission since the beginning of the month. All this team has done is win 9 games in 19 days. Kemba Walker has led a young team to the Final Four. Not too many people thought the UConn would have the legs left to make it to the Final Four, but this team has proved all the naysayers wrong. Overlooked in the run has been the play of Jeremy Lamb. Lamb is a name people should remember because outside of Walker, he is the best pro prospect on the UConn team. Jim Calhoun has said that for his team to be successful they need Lamb to score along with Kemba. UConn beat Kentucky in Maui earlier this year but this is a different Wildcat team.
This Kentucky squad is not as talented as last year's team which had five first rounders. The biggest difference between this years version of super freshmen and last years is this, these guys listen to their coach. Calipari says last years team with Wall, Cousins and Bledsoe just relied on their talents and not on their coaches instructions. These Baby Cats not only are talented but they are coachable. And being open to coaching and committing to the defensive end has helped this young team reach the Final Four.

Mizzou Thoughts: I wouldn't be surprised if Mizzou AD Mike Alden was replaced. This year Mizzou was thought to be moving to the Big Ten and got shafted by Nebraska. Then Mike Anderson told everyone he wanted to be a Tiger for life only to leave 72 hours later for Arkansas. Next Matt Painter, Purdue coach, flirted with the job only to get more money from his Alma mater. All this was just this year under Alden. You have to take into consideration the Quin Snyder debacle. Alden has upgraded the facilities but has allowed his coaches to flirt with other schools and has not fostered good relationships with them. There is no reason that the Tigers program, which is nestled between two major cities should be treated as a second rate job. Eventually Alden will have to answer for his missteps, sooner rather than later.