It's setting up as a David vs. Goliath matchup, with the David's being the small conference teams of VCU and Butler versus the power conference bluebloods of Connecticut and Kentucky.
It's also cool that we'll have that theme going into Monday night's NCAA Championship game as well. VCU and Butler will play one semifinal while UConn and Kentucky will battle in the other game.
And as always in the Final Four, there are the dramatic storylines. VCU won five games to get here with torrid three point shooting and a dynamic young coach in Shaka Smith The Rams are tackling a team in Butler who is not only in their second consecutive Final Four, but narrowly missed winning it all last year against Duke in their Indianapolis backyard when a desperation half court three point prayer at the buzzer rimmed out. Can the Bulldogs get the title they narrowly missed out on?
One of the Goliaths is the Kentucky Wildcats. They are college basketball royalty that hasn't won a NCAA championship since Tubby Smith coached them to their seventh title in 1998. This team wasn't expected to do much after having last year's Elite Eight squad lose five players to the NBA, but has shocked people by making it to Houston.
They also are attempting along with their female counterparts to accomplish a unique double for the second time. Back in 2004 UConn won both the men's and women's NCAA basketball titles in the same year, becoming the first Division I school to accomplish that feat. Can they uphold their end of the deal?
It's also a rematch of a Maui Invitational tournament game that UConn won back in December . But now the rematch takes place with a spot in the championship game on the line and the Huskies and Wildcats playing their best basketball. Who goes home early and who cuts down the nets Monday night?
Should be a lot of fun to watch.
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