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The men’s and women’s college basketball season will end in just a few days.
The women’s Final Four happens in Tampa, Florida on Friday night. A winner will emerge late Sunday afternoon.
The men’s Final Four will take place in San Antonio, Texas on Saturday evening with the championship game on Monday night.
There are eight teams remaining.
An incredible seven of those eight teams were ranked as a #1 seed before March Madness began.
Only Connecticut, the #2 women’s seed, has been able to crash this party of basketball elites.
The #1 seed USC Trojans lost All-American guard JuJu Watkins to a knee injury in Round 2. Without Watkins’ 24 points per game scoring, USC lost to #2 seed UConn 78-64 in the Elite Eight round on Monday night.
News Flash – SwampSwami still has a 25% chance for his first men’s champion
Before we review this weekend’s final games, let’s check to see how ol’ SwampSwami has performed in the CBSSports.com bracket selections.
Coming into the final weekend, both my men’s and women’s selections have been “OK” but nothing special.
My predicted men’s winner selection (University of Houston) is still alive.
The defensive-minded #1 Midwest seed Cougars will face the high scoring #1 East seed Duke in Saturday night’s semifinal match-up.
In addition to #1 seeds Houston and Duke, I also picked #1 seed Florida to make the men’s Final Four.
Auburn (another #1 seed) made the weekend party, but I had Auburn losing to #2 seed Michigan State in the Elite Eight. The Tigers prevailed 70-64 and sent Sparty back home to Michigan.
On the women’s side, my upset pick to win it all was #3 seed LSU.
That pick is toast.
The Tigers lost in the Elite Eight to #1 seed UCLA 72-65. As in many games this season, LSU coach Kim Mulkey’s team lacked solid production from the point guard position.
It’s hard to believe that Mulkey (an All-American point guard at Louisiana Tech) was unable to get better play from that critical position for LSU this season.
In addition to losing LSU from my women’s Final Four, Notre Dame (another #3 seed) lost in the Sweet 16.
I still have two remaining Final Four teams (#1 seed South Carolina and #2 seed UConn) joining #1 seeds Texas and UCLA and Texas in the semifinals in Tampa Friday night.
Men’s Final Four in San Antonio – what to look for
Game 1 – #1 West seed Florida (34-4) vs. #1 South seed Auburn (32-5)
Tip-off: Saturday, 5:09PM CDT on CBS
The Florida Gators posted a 90-81 win at Auburn on February 9.
Guard Walter Clayton, Jr. led the way with 19 points and 9 assists. The Gators had five players score in double-figures in their lone meeting with Auburn.
During that game, Auburn missed nine free throws and connected on six fewer 3-point shots than Florida.
Auburn’s All-American big man Johni Broome injured his right elbow last weekend in the Tigers’ Elite Eight win over Michigan State. Fortunately, Broome shoots left handed.
He was quoted today as saying his elbow is quite improved. Johni Broome expects to be at 100% for Saturday’s rematch against Florida.
I still think Auburn relies too much on its star player for scoring, so expect Florida to emerge from this all-SEC semifinal game on Saturday.
Florida 82, Auburn 74
Game 2 – #1 Midwest seed Houston (34-4) vs. #1 East seed Duke (35-3)
Tip-off: 30 minutes following Game 1 – likely around 7:50PM on CBS
The Houston Cougars have been knocking on the door of an NCAA men’s title for five straight years.
Coach Kelvin Sampson’s team has advanced to at least the Sweet Sixteen round in each of those years.
Is this the Cougars year?
Defensive pressure and balanced scoring have been the hallmark of Coach Sampson’s teams. This season, Houston has been the nation’s leading defensive team and allows just over 58 points per game.
Offensively, Houston has four starters scoring ten or more points per game. The Cougars have seen a different player step-up with a hot hand during each March Madness game.
After obliterating its Big 12 competitors by winning their final 13 games, Houston has added four more wins in March Madness. Rolling into Saturday with a 17-game winning streak, the Coogs will have their hands full with East #1 seed, Duke.
The nation’s 8th scoring offense, Duke relies heavily on freshman All-American forward Cooper Flagg.
The 6′ 9” Flagg reminds me of former Boston Celtics teammates Kevin McHale and Larry Bird. He averages 19 points per game while adding eight rebounds and four assists per game.
Duke is on a 15-game winning streak entering Saturday’s game with Houston. If Duke’s four other starters step-up their game and pour in the points, the Blue Devils may waltz into Monday night’s final game.
I expect Houston to keep this game relatively low-scoring. Houston’s experienced starting five will prevail coming down the stretch over Duke’s suddenly nervous five freshmen starters.
Houston 71, Duke 68
The two men’s winners play for the title Monday at 7:50PM CDT on CBS.
Women’s Final Four in Tampa – what to look for
Game 1 – #1 regional seed Texas (35-3) vs. #1 regional seed South Carolina (34-3)
Tip-off: Friday 6PM (CDT) on ESPN
All 20,000 seats in Tampa are sold for this Friday’s national semifinal games for the NCAA women’s college basketball title. Scalpers are asking for nearly $150 for tickets to the Friday night session.
Every year under 5th year Texas Coach Vic Schaefer, the Longhorns’ women’s basketball team has improved.
After reaching the Elite Eight last season, Texas is looking for its second women’s title after winning the top prize back in 1986.
Texas scores 78 points per game but its defense allows only 56 per outing. Sophomore forward Madison Booker leads the Longhorns in scoring with nearly 17 points per game.
Nearly a mirror image of Texas, South Carolina averaged 79 points per game on offense while allowing just 57.
The two-time defending national champions rotate nine players in and out of the line-up to maximize the team’s defensive effort and intensity.
Highly recruited 6’3” freshman Joyce Edwards leads the Gamecocks in scoring at 13 points per game.
It’s going to be difficult for Texas to handle the pressure. South Carolina’s experience in big game situations should prevail in this semifinal.
South Carolina 74, Texas 66
Game 2 – #1 regional seed UCLA (34-2) vs. #2 regional seed Connecticut (35-3)
Tip-off: 30 minutes following Game 1 – likely around 8:20 PM on ESPN
This is the first time in program history that UCLA has reached the NCAA Women’s Final Four.
The Bruins defeated a talented and well-coached LSU team in the Elite Eight to reach this milestone.
UCLA moved into the Big Ten Conference this year. If the Bruins had not played and lost both of its Big Ten games to crosstown rival USC, UCLA would be undefeated coming into Friday night’s game with Uconn.
Two names to watch for UCLA are 6’7” giant center Lauren Betts and crafty guard Kiki Rice.
Betts is nearly unstoppable when she is within a few feet of the basket.
She tallies 20 points per game.
Guard Kiki Rice leads UCLA in assists and steals while averaging nearly 13 points on offense, too.
The Connecticut Huskies went a perfect 18-0 in the Big East Conference this season.
UConn holds the NCAA women’s basketball record with eleven national championships as they dominated the sport between 1995 and 2016.
The Huskies are now quite hungry to add #12 to the school’s trophy case this season.
UConn Coach Gino Auriemma has two of the nation’s top players in guard Paige Bueckers and forward Sarah Strong.
The tandem scores nearly half of the Huskies’ 80 points per game.
The big-game experience of UConn when the pressure is rising should be the difference in this semifinal.
Connecticut 78, UCLA 68
Friday night’s winners will play for the women’s title Sunday at 2PM CDT on ESPN.
Expect some fantastic finishes from two incredible Final Fours!