Kentucky, Kansas Join Ohio State, Louisville in Final Four
Buckeyes will get another shot at the Jayhawks after losing at Kansas in December
Two games. Two rematches.
One
Final Four repeat is between Kentucky and Louisville, teams that know
each other all too well. The other has Kansas facing Ohio State, teams
that had more or less been strangers until this season.
Jared
Sullinger got what he wanted when he decided to return to Ohio State
for his sophomore year - a trip to the Final Four. The Buckeyes are
early 2.5-point picks over Kansas in the matchup of No. 2 seeds.
They
finished in a three-way tie for first in the Big Ten, widely viewed as
the toughest conference in basketball this year, but settled for a No.
2 seed in the NCAAs after losing the conference tournament final to
Michigan State. It wasn't the first or last time critics underestimated
Thad Matta's team this season.
"People were asking, are we
mentally tough enough, are we physically tough enough, can we do this,
can we do that?" Sullinger said. "I relayed those questions back to the
team. We did some soul searching, and now we've taken this to a whole
other level."
Sullinger scored 19 points Saturday in Ohio State's 77-70 win over Syracuse to make the Final Four.
Tyshawn
Taylor scored 22 points Sunday in an 80-67 win over North Carolina to
lock in the matchup against the Buckeyes. The Jayhawks reached the
Final Four for the first time since 2008, when they won it all after
rallying from nine points late in the title game to beat Memphis (and
Calipari, before he moved to Kentucky) in overtime.
Taylor finished with 13 assists in the Dec. 10 game against Ohio State despite playing with an ailing knee.
The
Buckeyes, meanwhile, had to do without Sullinger. Playing their first
road game of the season, they lost by 11 to drop to 8-1.
Seems like quite a long time ago.
"We
caught a break the first time when Jared didn't play, and we were kind
of finding ourselves," Self said. "We knew they were a team that could
make a run and win a national championship. They have so many pieces
that are so good. It starts with Jared."
Earlier
in the season, Kentucky beat Louisville 69-62, handing a loss to Rick
Pitino, the coach who once led the Wildcats, but left for the NBA, only
to return down the road to lead their in-state rivals. The stakes are higher this time. The winners of Saturday's semifinals will play for the national title next Monday.
"You
know if you get this far you're going to play a great team, no matter
what," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "And you know what? They're going
to get to play a great team, too. It should be pretty fun."
Absent
from this year's final hoops weekend, taking place at the Superdome in
New Orleans, are the longshots and little guys who have made March
Madness so special over the years. Although there are no Butlers, VCUs
or George Masons, there are plenty of good stories to tell. That list
starts with Pitino vs. his old school.
It was Pitino who
restored Kentucky to its former greatness when he arrived there in 1989
and the Wildcat program was coming off the sting of NCAA violations.
Pitino took the program to three Final Fours and won one championship,
but left in 1997 to take a second shot at the NBA, where he had
previously coached the New York Knicks.
He fared far worse in
four seasons with the Boston Celtics, and when the call back to the
college game came, it was from Louisville, located only 70 miles up the
road from Lexington and very much in the crosshairs of Kentucky fans.
It has been 11 years since his dramatic return, and most of the shock
has worn off from what was once deemed an unforgivable betrayal. But
there's nothing like a Final Four meeting to stir up some old memories.
"It
is in our state. They're a great program. We're in two different
leagues," Kentucky coach John Calipari said after the Wildcats beat
Baylor 82-70 in the South Regional to advance to the Final Four for the
second straight year. "The city of Louisville drives our state. The
University of Louisville drives that city. So it's a very important
thing for our state, and it's important that that school does well."
Maybe just not Saturday.
The
teams play every season, and most recently, they were ranked Nos. 3 and
4 in The Associated Press poll when they met on New Year's Eve.
Kentucky won by seven. Now, it's top-seeded Kentucky against
Louisville, a No. 4 and the worst-seeded team in the Final Four.
"We
think they're excellent. We think they're great. I coached there. It's
great. Great tradition," Pitino said Saturday, after Louisville rallied
for a 72-68 win over Florida that put the Cardinals in the Final Four
for the second time since the coach arrived. "But we want to be
Louisville. We have a different mission. They have a different mission.
But we both want to get to a Final Four and win a championship."
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