Games of Interest - The Final Four
Mar 31, 2024 20:10:24 GMT -5
hoyasaxa2003 and This Just In like this
Post by njhoya78 on Mar 31, 2024 20:10:24 GMT -5
Down to the last four teams still standing…two #1 seeds (#1 Connecticut and #3 Purdue), a #4 seed (#19 Alabama), and a #11 seed (North Carolina State). The Wolfpack become the fifth school to make the Final Four (joining Louisiana State in 1986, George Mason in 2006, Virginia Commonwealth in 2011, Loyola (Illinois) in 2018 and California Los Angeles in 2021).
Kevin Keatts was widely assumed to be on the way out as head coach at North Carolina State, after the Wolfpack finished the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season on a four-game losing streak (90-83 at Florida State, 79-70 at North Carolina, 79-64 against Duke, and 81-73 at Pittsburgh) to finish a mediocre 9-11 conference schedule. However, NC State found Capital One Arena to their liking, and turned their season around in the space of five days. Wins over Louisville (94-85), Syracuse (83-65), Duke (74-69), Virginia (73-65 in overtime) and North Carolina (84-76) brought the Wolfpack the ACC championship and the automatic bid to March Madness. That championship also brought Keatts some job security, as an automatic two-year contract extension on March 16; two weeks later, after wins over Texas Tech, Oakland, Marquette and Duke yet again, Keatts and the Wolfpack are on the verge of making history.
No #11 seed has ever made it to the National Championship game; the lowest seeds to make it through to the final game are Villanova in 1985, Butler in 2011, Kentucky in 2014 and North Carolina in 2022, all of whom did so as #8 seeds. One of them did win a championship…but we’re not going there now.
Not that I am a betting person…but we’ve all been waiting for a UConn/Purdue showdown, and I have a hard time seeing how that doesn’t happen. And I have a really, really hard time seeing how the Huskies don’t win a second consecutive title. Connecticut ran through the Big East Conference Tournament as if it were running uncontested layup drills, and hasn’t been challenged at all in the NCAA Tournament. Maybe the Boilermakers will make it interesting….
Edit: Eh, not so interesting after the first twelve minutes. Connecticut was relentless, and effectively put Purdue in a hammerlock.
Records of conferences with school having won 2024 National Championship:
Big East Conference: 10-2
Records of other conferences:
America East Conference: 0-1
American Athletic Conference: 0-2
ASUN Conference: 0-1
Atlantic 10 Conference: 2-2
Atlantic Coast Conference: 12-5
Big 12 Conference: 7-8
Big South Conference: 0-1
Big Ten Conference: 11-5
Big West Conference: 0-1
Coastal Athletic Association: 0-1
Horizon League: 1-1
Ivy League: 1-1
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference: 0-1
Mid-American Conference: 0-1
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: 0-1
Missouri Valley Conference: 0-1
Mountain West Conference: 4-6
Northeast Conference: 1-1
Ohio Valley Conference: 0-1
Pacific 12 Conference: 6-4
Patriot League: 0-1
Southeastern Conference: 8-8
Southern Conference: 0-1
Southland Conference: 0-1
Southwest Athletic Conference: 0-1
Summit League: 0-1
Sun Belt Conference: 1-1
West Coast Conference: 2-2
Western Athletic Conference: 1-1
All times listed are Eastern Daylight Time. UPDATED AS OF 11:29 AM ON APRIL 9.
Saturday, April 6
BIG EAST CONFERENCE
#1 Connecticut 86 vs. #19 Alabama 72 in NCAA Final Four semifinal game.
OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
No games scheduled
ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
#3 Purdue 63 vs. North Carolina State 50 in NCAA Final Four semifinal game.
Sunday, April 7
BIG EAST CONFERENCE
No games scheduled
OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
No games scheduled
ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
No games scheduled
Monday, April 8
BIG EAST CONFERENCE
#1 Connecticut 75 vs. #3 Purdue 60 in NCAA Final Four championship game.
OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
No games scheduled
ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
No other games scheduled
FINAL FOUR
All games played at State Farm Stadium, Glendale AZ
Saturday, April 6
Game A— #3 Purdue (Midwest Regionals champion as 1st seeded team; 17-3 in Big Ten Conference; 33-4 overall; 78-50 winner against Grambling State; 106-67 winner against #20 Utah State; 80-68 winner against #18 Gonzaga; 72-66 winner against #6 Tennessee) 63 vs. North Carolina State (South Regionals champions as 11th seeded team; 9-11 in Atlantic Coast Conference; 26-14 overall; 80-67 winner against #22 Texas Tech; 79-73 winner against Oakland in overtime; 67-58 winner against #8 Marquette; 76-64 winner against #13 Duke) 50.
Game B— #1 Connecticut (East Regionals champion as 1st seeded team; 18-2 in Big East Conference; 35-3 overall; 91-52 winner against Stetson; 75-58 winner against Northwestern; 82-52 winner against #24 San Diego State; 77-52 winner against #10 Illinois) 86 vs. #19 Alabama (West Regionals champion as 4th seeded team; 13-5 in Southeastern Conference; 25-11 overall; 109-96 winner against College of Charleston; 72-61 winner against Grand Canyon; 89-87 winner against #5 North Carolina; 89-82 winner against Clemson) 72.
Monday, April 8
Game C—#3 Purdue (Midwest Regionals champion as 1st seeded team; 17-3 in Big Ten Conference; 34-4 overall; 78-50 winner against Grambling State; 106-67 winner against #20 Utah State; 80-68 winner against #18 Gonzaga; 72-66 winner against #6 Tennessee; 63-50 winner against North Carolina State) 60 vs. #1 Connecticut (East Regionals champion as 1st seeded team; 18-2 in Big East Conference; 36-3 overall; 91-52 winner against Stetson; 75-58 winner against Northwestern; 82-52 winner against #24 San Diego State; 77-52 winner against #10 Illinois; 86-72 winner against #19 Alabama) 75.
#1 Connecticut wins National Championship.
Kevin Keatts was widely assumed to be on the way out as head coach at North Carolina State, after the Wolfpack finished the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season on a four-game losing streak (90-83 at Florida State, 79-70 at North Carolina, 79-64 against Duke, and 81-73 at Pittsburgh) to finish a mediocre 9-11 conference schedule. However, NC State found Capital One Arena to their liking, and turned their season around in the space of five days. Wins over Louisville (94-85), Syracuse (83-65), Duke (74-69), Virginia (73-65 in overtime) and North Carolina (84-76) brought the Wolfpack the ACC championship and the automatic bid to March Madness. That championship also brought Keatts some job security, as an automatic two-year contract extension on March 16; two weeks later, after wins over Texas Tech, Oakland, Marquette and Duke yet again, Keatts and the Wolfpack are on the verge of making history.
No #11 seed has ever made it to the National Championship game; the lowest seeds to make it through to the final game are Villanova in 1985, Butler in 2011, Kentucky in 2014 and North Carolina in 2022, all of whom did so as #8 seeds. One of them did win a championship…but we’re not going there now.
Not that I am a betting person…but we’ve all been waiting for a UConn/Purdue showdown, and I have a hard time seeing how that doesn’t happen. And I have a really, really hard time seeing how the Huskies don’t win a second consecutive title. Connecticut ran through the Big East Conference Tournament as if it were running uncontested layup drills, and hasn’t been challenged at all in the NCAA Tournament. Maybe the Boilermakers will make it interesting….
Edit: Eh, not so interesting after the first twelve minutes. Connecticut was relentless, and effectively put Purdue in a hammerlock.
Records of conferences with school having won 2024 National Championship:
Big East Conference: 10-2
Records of other conferences:
America East Conference: 0-1
American Athletic Conference: 0-2
ASUN Conference: 0-1
Atlantic 10 Conference: 2-2
Atlantic Coast Conference: 12-5
Big 12 Conference: 7-8
Big South Conference: 0-1
Big Ten Conference: 11-5
Big West Conference: 0-1
Coastal Athletic Association: 0-1
Horizon League: 1-1
Ivy League: 1-1
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference: 0-1
Mid-American Conference: 0-1
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: 0-1
Missouri Valley Conference: 0-1
Mountain West Conference: 4-6
Northeast Conference: 1-1
Ohio Valley Conference: 0-1
Pacific 12 Conference: 6-4
Patriot League: 0-1
Southeastern Conference: 8-8
Southern Conference: 0-1
Southland Conference: 0-1
Southwest Athletic Conference: 0-1
Summit League: 0-1
Sun Belt Conference: 1-1
West Coast Conference: 2-2
Western Athletic Conference: 1-1
All times listed are Eastern Daylight Time. UPDATED AS OF 11:29 AM ON APRIL 9.
Saturday, April 6
BIG EAST CONFERENCE
#1 Connecticut 86 vs. #19 Alabama 72 in NCAA Final Four semifinal game.
OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
No games scheduled
ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
#3 Purdue 63 vs. North Carolina State 50 in NCAA Final Four semifinal game.
Sunday, April 7
BIG EAST CONFERENCE
No games scheduled
OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
No games scheduled
ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
No games scheduled
Monday, April 8
BIG EAST CONFERENCE
#1 Connecticut 75 vs. #3 Purdue 60 in NCAA Final Four championship game.
OUT-OF-CONFERENCE
No games scheduled
ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
No other games scheduled
FINAL FOUR
All games played at State Farm Stadium, Glendale AZ
Saturday, April 6
Game A— #3 Purdue (Midwest Regionals champion as 1st seeded team; 17-3 in Big Ten Conference; 33-4 overall; 78-50 winner against Grambling State; 106-67 winner against #20 Utah State; 80-68 winner against #18 Gonzaga; 72-66 winner against #6 Tennessee) 63 vs. North Carolina State (South Regionals champions as 11th seeded team; 9-11 in Atlantic Coast Conference; 26-14 overall; 80-67 winner against #22 Texas Tech; 79-73 winner against Oakland in overtime; 67-58 winner against #8 Marquette; 76-64 winner against #13 Duke) 50.
Game B— #1 Connecticut (East Regionals champion as 1st seeded team; 18-2 in Big East Conference; 35-3 overall; 91-52 winner against Stetson; 75-58 winner against Northwestern; 82-52 winner against #24 San Diego State; 77-52 winner against #10 Illinois) 86 vs. #19 Alabama (West Regionals champion as 4th seeded team; 13-5 in Southeastern Conference; 25-11 overall; 109-96 winner against College of Charleston; 72-61 winner against Grand Canyon; 89-87 winner against #5 North Carolina; 89-82 winner against Clemson) 72.
Monday, April 8
Game C—#3 Purdue (Midwest Regionals champion as 1st seeded team; 17-3 in Big Ten Conference; 34-4 overall; 78-50 winner against Grambling State; 106-67 winner against #20 Utah State; 80-68 winner against #18 Gonzaga; 72-66 winner against #6 Tennessee; 63-50 winner against North Carolina State) 60 vs. #1 Connecticut (East Regionals champion as 1st seeded team; 18-2 in Big East Conference; 36-3 overall; 91-52 winner against Stetson; 75-58 winner against Northwestern; 82-52 winner against #24 San Diego State; 77-52 winner against #10 Illinois; 86-72 winner against #19 Alabama) 75.
#1 Connecticut wins National Championship.
