Auburn, Michigan State, Texas Tech & Virginia Advance to Final Four

There are always surprises and upsets in the NCAA Basketball Tournament, most of which occur with upsets in the early rounds. While there were some of those this year, arguably the biggest surprise came when the Sweet 16 was whittled down to the Elite Eight and then the Final Four.

In the West Region final, #1 seed Gonzaga had little trouble with its first three opponents, but then, #3 Texas Tech didn’t have any either, pulling off a mild upset of #2 Michigan to advance to the region championship. The Red Raiders used their shut down defense to throttle Gonzaga’s high scoring offense to win 75-69. Texas Tech, which lost in its Elite Eight game last year to eventual champion Villanova, took that next step this year and is in its first ever Final Four.

And speaking of first ever Final Four appearances, #5 seed Auburn beat Midwest #1 North Carolina to advance to that region’s final against #2 Kentucky. The Tigers lost to the Wildcats twice during the SEC regular season, but this time, when it counted the most, Auburn upset the traditional powerhouse 77-71 in overtime. This is Auburn’s first trip to the Final Four.

In another overtime thriller, Virginia turned back #3 Purdue 80-75 in the South Region final, despite a 42 point performance from the Boilermaker’s Carsen Edwards. The #1 seeded Cavaliers, who became infamous last year for being the first #1 seed to lose to a #16, advanced to their first Final Four since 1984, and third overall (1981).

The biggest surprise came in the final of the East Region. The region’s #1 seed–and the top seed overall in the tournament–was Duke, who was considered the prohibitive favorite with Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett, et. al. on the court. But the Blue Devils had escaped with a 77-76 win over Central Florida and a 75-73 win over Virginia Tech, in large degree due to UCF and VT missing last second shots that were in and out of the basket. For a while, it looked like the Blue Devils would escape yet again. But then Michigan State’s Kenny Goins, who had missed his first four three point attempts, sank #5 with 34 seconds left to give the Spartans a 68-66 lead, and then held off Duke for a 68-67 win.

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Michigan State advanced to its 10th Final Four, the last one coming in 2015. The Spartans won it all in 1979 and 2000.

Despite our bracket being crushed, we’re happy to see some new teams in the Final Four. The semi finals will be April 6th, with Michigan State vs. Texas Tech and Virginia taking on Auburn. The championship will be decided April 8th. The Final Four is in Minneapolis this year.