NCAA March Madness College Basketball - Final Four

"I'm Back!!!" That was the last line in the movie, The Color of Money. The Paul Newman character, pool hustler Fast Eddy Felson in this movie was the older version of the same younger character in the first movie, The Hustler.

Last night, the game was men's college basketball -- and the Kentucky Wildcats were saying, "We're Back" as they beat North Carolina to become the final team to make the final four teams left in the tournament. They first won the SEC tournament, then beat Princeton, West Virginia,  and Ohio State prior to the UNC game in the NCAA tournament.

The semi finals will be played in Houston next Saturday with the final championship game on Monday. Butler will Play Virginia Commonwealth, and Kentucky will play UConn.

Kentucky has been to the Final Four more times than the other 3 teams put together, but haven't been to the Final Four in 12 years, so for those of use growing up in Kentucky, it's good to be back. Kentucky plays 3 freshmen in a 6 man rotation and wasn't supposed to get this far -- however, here they are!! UConn is only a 2 point favorite in LV. Ohio State was ranked number one in college basketball all year and UNC was ranked ahead of Kentucky all year, but -- not any more.

Anyway, folks, forgive me -- but since old enough to understand what a basketball was, I have been a devout UK basketball fan. 

Bob,

I understand your feelings and, for that reason, I have to go with UCONN. I even attended UCONN for a semester before deciding the Navy was a better option for one who had a hard time studying. ;D ;D Of course, our favorite team is the UCONN Women! When we lived in CT we were only 20 minutes from the main campus. During our past summers there, UCONN was a great place to get a Starbucks and their dairy makes their own ice cream. Fabulous stuff.

[quote author=Bob Buchanan]
"Kentucky has been to the Final Four more times than the other 3 teams put together"
[/quote]

Bob, unless my math is faulty, it looks like a tie to me.

VCU = 0
Butler = 1
U-Conn = 13 (going on 14)
UK pussycats Wildcats = 14 (going on 15)

I wouldn't call you on this if you hadn't  let the Wilsdcats make the Tar Heels look so bad

Actually, I'm an NC State fan, so I wasn't at all disturbed by the outcome.

Since I have no other horse in this race, GO Wildcats!!

(This was all tongue in cheek, but since I switched to FF-4 I can't add emoticons.)

I just said to Tom last night:  Bob's Buchanan's team is playing Jim Dick's team in the Final Four!  Good luck to both teams!  I especially thought of you, Bob, as Kentucky was victorious over UNC.  I know what a rabid Kentucky fan you've always been.  ;D

Margi

Jim Dick said:

I understand your feelings and, for that reason, I have to go with UCONN.

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Not a problem, Jim.  We could work out a dinner wager when you make it to QZ -- say dinner. Of course, UConn is favored in most sport books -- so how about, if Uconn wins we go to McDonald's and Kentucky wins, we go to Taco Mio??? 

5, 10 years ago I couldn't get excited about watching women's basketball or tennis, whereas am now amazed at the skill level in both sports. I think the UConn women have have won the national championships 6 times now. The other high level women's team comes out of U of Tennessee out of the SEC. Kentucky is in the top ten the past few years and have made it to the tournament the past few years.

Since I had Pitt beating Ohio State in the final, there is nothing constructive I could add to this thread.  ;D

Major UK fan here!!

I BLEED Blue and love my CATS.

The team has come together (finally) and playing their best ball at the right time.  They'll be tough to beat but then so will UConn and it should be another close game.  I'd love to see a huge UK lead so I can relax and not have to work so hard to help them win!  I've had to hang on to the edge of the chair and do a lot of yelling and flailing of arms the past couple of games.

Bob>  Can you believe JOSH??  OMG!  What a wonderful surprise he has been this year.  And Liggins... and Miller and the younguns.  And then we have Coach Cal!  It just doesn't get much better.

FINAL FOUR BAABY!!!  C~A~T~S  CATS! CATS! CATS!

And then there are those of us who grew up in Indiana.........GO BUTLER!!!

Marsha~

aka Porky said:

Bob, unless my math is faulty, it looks like a tie to me.

VCU = 0
Butler = 1
U-Conn = 13 (going on 14)
UK pussycats Wildcats = 14 (going on 15)

I wouldn't call you on this if you hadn't  let the Wilsdcats make the Tar Heels look so bad

Actually, I'm an NC State fan, so I wasn't at all disturbed by the outcome.

Since I have no other horse in this race, GO Wildcats!!

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Actually, Porky, I have a degree in Math -- but have always had a problem with third grade arithmetic.    You "are" correct. Should have written, "as many as", instead. OR, to go at bragging another way, have won the National Championship more than three times as many as the other three put together. (7 vs. 2,0,0). Only UCLA has won the big dance more times (11). 10 by John Wooden.

Ah, NC State. Few have contributed more to college basketball than coach Jimmy V. Will never forget the '83 finals. After beating Houston in the last seconds of the game, will always remember his running across the gym to embrace his players. Or, the speech he gave in the early 90's as he was dying of cancer. An amazing individual.

We appreciate your support!!!

Tom and Margi said:

I just said to Tom last night:  Bob's Buchanan's team is playing Jim Dick's team in the Final Four!  Good luck to both teams!  I especially thought of you, Bob, as Kentucky was victorious over UNC.  I know what a rabid Kentucky fan you've always been.  ;D

Margi

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Thanks, Margi. Glad you remembered!! Not much sweeter to a UK fan than beating UNC or Duke. 

TimeToGetGoing said:

Since I had Pitt beating Ohio State in the final, there is nothing constructive I could add to this thread.  ;D

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I understand, TimeToGetGoing -- most everyone's brackets went down the tubes in this one.    Must admit, KY beating OSU (the number one ranked team in the country and the number one overall seed in the tourny) was the most gratifying game I have every watched KY play. OSU had also just beaten the first two teams in rounds 1 and 2 by over 60 points combined.

KarenS144 said:

Major UK fan here!!

I BLEED Blue and love my CATS.

The team has come together (finally) and playing their best ball at the right time.  They'll be tough to beat but then so will UConn and it should be another close game.  I'd love to see a huge UK lead so I can relax and not have to work so hard to help them win!  I've had to hang on to the edge of the chair and do a lot of yelling and flailing of arms the past couple of games.

Click to expand...

Great, Karen!! Glad to see you here!! Here's a team starting 2 or 3 18 year old kids just out of high school who this time last year were looking forward to senior proms and that kinda stuff -- and are now the subject of sport talk shows around the world. And this time "next" year at least two of them will be 1st round draft picks. Magic Johnson made a statement after the UNC game that he would take Brandon Knight as his 1st pick if he could.

Yep, when UNC tied the score, I had to turn the TV off and let the VCR continue while I walked around the RV a few times. But as they had done the entire second half, each time UNC mounted their come back, KY made a big play. Far cry from the "away" close games that KY could not close. It was then much better to watch coach Williams shed a tear than you or I. 

Bob>  Can you believe JOSH??  OMG!  What a wonderful surprise he has been this year.  And Liggins... and Miller and the younguns.  And then we have Coach Cal!  It just doesn't get much better.

FINAL FOUR BAABY!!!  C~A~T~S  CATS! CATS! CATS!

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An amazing and inspiring story with Josh, Karen. Here's a kid (now 6-11, 275#) that sat on the bench his freshman year and had to deal with Billy Gillespie as a coach. Billy Ball actually made him sit in a bathroom stall during half time of a game vs. with the rest of the team as punishment for a mistake he made. Then last year under coach Cal, he only played 88 minutes the entire season behind freshman and 1st round draft pick DeMarcus Cousins. And now this year, he is considered one of the best centers in college basketball. Did you read that after the UNC game, he received an invite to attend a pre NBA draft workout next month?

Yes, Karen, Kentucky basketball is back!! 

After spending the first 31 years of my life in CT it's gotta be UCONN all the way, especially the women.  I love to see Gino get his little digs in at Pat Summit in interviews.  He makes that a sport all by itself!

Charlie,

I love to see Pat's face when UCONN beats the VOLS. ;D In my opinion, Gino should get more money than Jim Calhoun!!! He has done a terrific job with the women. One used to be able to get tickets to their games easily. Not anymore!! We started watching the women when Jennifer Rizzotti was playing. Now there was a little hustler! She could get around anyone.

Marsha/CA said:

And then there are those of us who grew up in Indiana.........GO BUTLER!!!

Marsha~

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Marsha is not the only one here to grow up in Indiana.  We are likely to hear from others too.

GO BUTLER!!!

Bob Buchanan said:

Not a problem, Jim.  We could work out a dinner wager when you make it to QZ -- say dinner. Of course, UConn is favored in most sport books -- so how about, if Uconn wins we go to McDonald's and Kentucky wins, we go to Taco Mio??? 

5, 10 years ago I couldn't get excited about watching women's basketball or tennis, whereas am now amazed at the skill level in both sports. I think the UConn women have have won the national championships 6 times now. The other high level women's team comes out of U of Tennessee out of the SEC. Kentucky is in the top ten the past few years and have made it to the tournament the past few years.

Click to expand...

Sounds like a pretty good deal.

UCONN Women have been playing great ball since the 1990's. Our favorite game would be UCONN vs. Tenn. That has to be the biggest rivalry in history! One time we were in Nashville and Pat was saying she wished she had a T-shirt that said UCONN so she could wear it. I asked if she really wanted a trip to the hospital.

The UCONN Women have won 6 National Championships, 36 Big East Championships, and been in the Final Four 11 times.

Jim,
    I remember back to the Rebecca Lobo era.  IMHO that is when the whole NCAA women's program took off.  I enjoy watching the women play more than the men.  Even when the so called experts say it will be a growth year, Gino manages to assemble a pretty amazing team.
    Living in NC now I have to be careful about voicing my allegiances too loudly.  Between State, Carolina and Duke it can get pretty dicey sometimes.

My 2 favorite teams are UK (of course) and any team that plays Duke.  I get almost as excited when Duke loses (which unfortunately isn't nearly often enough IMO) as when UK wins.  I'll never EVER forget that Chris Lightner incident and still cannot watch replays of that game. 

I've lived in Indiana for close to 40 years now and can pull for IN teams (as long as UK isn't in the game) but I was raised watching and listening to the UK games and besides that, I was born in Lexington, KY so I am a Big Blue Fan through & through. 

Watching Billy Ball was so very painful and I still can't imagine why he was hired but I guess those few years were worth it since we now have Coach Cal.  I just wish that One & Done option would disappear!  IMO, if a kid is good enough to go to the NBA after his freshman year, then he's good enough to go out of high school.  Let the NBA teams carry him and grow him that year into the player they want rather than take up a scholarship and a year of a coach's time just so the kid can say adios and go off to make millions.  If a kid accepts a scholarship, it should be with a commitment of a minimum of 2 (3 is better) years.  It takes me several weeks to get over Basketball Withdrawal once the season ends.  I can only hope the weather cooperates and we can start camping!  That will help with the symptoms.

BUT until then.... GO BIG BLUE!!~!!

Charlie,

Rebecca was there the same time as Jennifer. I just loved watching Jennifer scoot around that court making almost impossible to stop her.

Too many posts to comment on individually.

I'll still go with UConn men. I would have liked to see Butler and VCU split up in the Final Four, would have made a most interesting championship game against UConn.

Given my druthers, I'd rather watch the UConn women. Its a more interesting game, don't like all the "showtime" in the men's game. The women's game concentrates more on basics, tho the falloff down from the top teams is much more obvious than in the men's.

Sorry we'll miss UConn vs Tenn. Maybe Pat Summit was afraid of losing to Gino again.

Bob, I thought you were coming to Goodyear to see the Reds. We've been at the ballpark 7 games and haven't seen you.