UCONN, North Carolina State, Alabama, and Purdue Reach the Final Four

The Final Four in the men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament is all set, with one team that is very familiar with this stage of the tournament, and three teams that aren’t.

The familiar team is defending champion UCONN. The Huskies have won five national championships since the 1998-99 seasons, and are looking to be the first repeat champion since Florida won it all in 2006 and 2007. The Huskies were the top overall seed in the tournament, and have been dominant throughout. They went into halftime in their Elite Eight matchup with #3 seeded Illinois with a five point lead, and proceeded to reel off a 30-0 run in the second half on the way to a 77-52 victory.

The Huskies’ opponent in their semifinal is the #4 seed out of the West Regional, Alabama. This is the first appearance ever in the Final Four for the Crimson Tide. Alabama hit 16 three pointers to beat #6 Clemson 89-82. Mark Sears led the way for the Tide with 23 points, 21 of which came on seven three point baskets.

The Midwest Regional Final featured a matchup between the #1 and #2 seeds. Top seeded Purdue beat Tennessee 72-66 behind a career high 40 point performance by Zach Edey. The 7’4” center also grabbed 16 rebounds. Dalton Knecht scored 37 for Tennessee. The Boilermakers are making their first trip to the Final Four since 1980, which is also their only other Final Four appearance.

Purdue will face the biggest surprise team of the tournament, North Carolina State. The Wolfpack got here by running the table in the ACC Tournament and winning the South Regional as a #11 seed. NC State beat fellow ACC team Duke 76-64 in the regional championship game. D.J. Burns Jr., the big (and we mean big) 6’ 9” 275 pound forward scored 29 points for the Wolfpack. This is the third trip to the Final Four for North Carolina State, but the others go way back to 1974 and 1983. It should be noted that the Wolfpack won the championship both those years.

The semifinals of this year’s tournament will be played April 6th, with the championship game on April 8th. This year’s Final Four is in Glendale, Arizona.