March Madness turns wild in the final rounds

Posted by jack bello on Mar 30, 2012 in Telegram Past News

The Final Four is among us and the journey to NCAA glory is almost complete for one of four teams: University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, University of Kansas, or Ohio State University. All four teams have not come this far just because they are lucky. March Madness is the ultimate combination of emotion, great basketball, true heart, and the will to win. It takes a special team to make it through the grand journey of the NCAA tournament, and that special team is the one that cuts the net at the end of the national championship.

The teams that are left are all big and strong with quickness, and always have a team with a heap of talent. But it’s funny how there is always that team that finds a way to counter those obstacles, called the Cinderella. There have been a few of those miracle teams this year like Norfolk State, the unknown New York City University taking out the number two seed, heavily favored Missouri. Though on the score sheet, Norfolk was not nearly as good as Missouri, their heart and soul is what brought them to their victory over the extremely favored team.

Another miracle team was the small school of Leigh, who took on the famous and always favorite Duke. The ultimate David vs. Goliath matchup, Leigh was clearly outmatched, but they found a way to succeed and pull off the miracle win in dramatic style and take out the then second seed Duke.

The tournament has been full of nothing but excitement and great games. This year I feel has been one of greatest years of March Madness basketball because of the tight games and the overall excitement of each game. This tournament has been a true test of wills from each team- each game required so much energy and heart in order to be the team that would move on to the next round of the tournament.

The game that we will see this Saturday will be Kentucky vs. Louisville. This game will be a test of will because both teams have made it based off their talent, but now each team’s talent will not be enough to win. The outcome will be determined on how bad the teams want to get this win. The Kentucky Wildcats will be looking to use their size to overcome the smaller Louisville team, however, Louisville will be looking to use their fantastic guards to out shoot and use their speed to their advantage. This game will be a tough game for both teams, but will decide who goes to the National Championship game.

The other game of the Final Four is Ohio State vs. Kansas. This game will be a game of who will play the most physical of the two teams. Both these teams rely on their size and overpowering dominance in the middle of the key to beat teams. This will be one of the greatest matchups in the tournament due to the tight matchup that these two teams present to one another.

My predictions for the Final Four matchups are simple: Kentucky defeats Louisville and Kansas defeats Ohio State. Kentucky will dominate because of their overwhelming size and strength. Kentucky may not have the better coach of the two teams, but their overwhelming talent will be enough to push them into the National Championship game. Although Kansas and Ohio are both very physical and will hold a great matchup with one another, I think that Kansas’ overwhelming size and power will be the deciding blow in this matchup.

My predictions lead to the National Championship game being between Kansas and Kentucky, which will be a great matchup. Both teams are very big in size and use that to their advantage. However, the team that uses their size to overpower their opponent and have the stronger will to win, will be the team to bask in the glory of the National Championship. The Kansas Jayhawks will win the National Championship and beat Kentucky. The Jayhawks will use their size to be the more physical team in this matchup and pull off the win over the Wildcats.

So let’s enjoy our weekend of great basketball and find out who will finish the journey to the top and win the National Championship.