March Madness: Storylines to watch about each of the Final Four teams in the men’s field
Arizona, Michigan and Duke had looked like a clear top tier in college basketball as conference play began. All three spent time atop the AP Top 25 and went on to claim a No. 1 seed in March Madness.
Yet only the Wildcats and Wolverines have reached the sport’s biggest stage. The Blue Devils’ stunning loss to UConn on Braylon Mullins’ last-second 3-pointer ended the title push for the tournament’s top overall seed, leaving Arizona and Michigan as the only 1-seeds to reach the Final Four. That comes a year after all four top seeds reached the Final Four for only the second time since seeding began in 1979.
Second-seeded UConn and No. 3 seed Illinois kept this from being an all-chalk Final Four, though it is again a gathering of favorites compared to past years. Before these past two years, the tournament’s final weekend featured at least one team seeded No.
4 or worse every year dating to 2010 — including a team seeded eighth or lower in each of the four Final Fours since the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the 2020 tournament. Here are storylines to watch on each of the teams that will play in the national semifinals in Indianapolis: Arizona The Wildcats (36-2) won the West Region, continuing a dominant fifth year under Tommy Lloyd. They spent nearly half the season at No.
1 in the AP Top 25 (nine of 19 polls), entered the tournament as the second overall seed and have won all four tournament games by 12 or more points. That has reconnected the program with some of its peaks under the late Lute Olson, including the program’s last Final Four appearance in 2001. “His legacy in Tucson is so powerful.
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