The Final Four is getting underway in both the men's and women's basketball tournaments and a number of teams are looking to make history, including the Louisville Cardinals and the UConn Huskies, while Syracuse and Michigan are both trying to get back to the national title game.
On the men's side, Louisville has put itself in a prime position to make it to the championship and the team will have injured star Kevin Ware in their thoughts as they move on after he suffered one of the most gruesome injuries in live sports against Duke after leaping to block a shot. The team is filled with senior leadership and the play of Russ Smith and Peyton Siva has been key for Rick Pitino.
Wichita State is not a team to take lightly, the Shockers started 15-1 this year and was ranked as high at 15 before making their run to Atlanta. The team will put up a fight, but it will be no match for the defense and speed of Louisville, who have been stellar while defeating Oregon and the Blue Devils. The Shockers took down Gonzaga in the tournament to send a number one seed home, but the Cardinals haven't lost since February.
Syracuse and Michigan is shaping up to be an excellent matchup, as the two teams are determined to make it to the national championship and are tops in defense among the teams left. The wolverines took down Florida in the Elite Eight after going on a 13-0 run and the team has been excellent by Wooden Award winner Trey Burke, who hit a huge shot against Kansas to send the game into overtime.
Michigan took down South Dakota State to start with and has been excellent throughout the tournament, including against VCU and a tough defense. The Orange took down Montana and California on their way to Atlanta and also was able to defeat Indiana, who many had in the national title game, including President Obama.
Syracuse will try to use their zone defense to keep Michigan at bay, but the team has a lot of scores to deal with and if Nik Stauskas can get hot, the Orange will be in trouble. Michael Carter-Williams will be the key for the Orange and Michigan coach John Beilein will do his best to keep him under wraps, along with Brandon Treiche.
All four teams have had tough roads on their way to the championship and apart from Louisville, no number one seed made it, with Indiana, Kansas and Gonzaga all losing early. The women's tournament has some intrigue as well, with UConn and Notre Dame battling again, as well as Louisville and California.
