Final Four in New Orleans

9 years ago, my wife and I had been lucky winners of the NCAA ticket lottery for the Final Four, which ironically enough was in New Orleans. We saw Syracuse beat Kansas for the title following the great play of Carmelo Anthony. After the game, my wife and I walked from the Superdome through Bourbon Street and into the Syracuse team hotel, where we met Jim Boeheim. That was one happy man that night.

Today, we have the Final Four back in New Orelans. The first matchup is between Kentucky and Louisville, 2 teams whose fanbases hate the other ones. Growing up with family in Kentucky, I can honestly say that this is probably the nastiest rivalry between two fanbases in basketball, and only the Auburn-Alabama rivalry compares to it in football. Read this article to fully understand the hatred. Kentucky beat Louisville 69-62 earlier in the year.

Don’t forget to apply for tickets to next year’s Final Four in Atlanta. Wouldn’t it be great if there was be a Triangle team playing that weekend that wears red and white.

The second game is a rematch between Kansas and Ohio State. Kansas won the first game 78-67 as Ohio State played without Jared Sullinger. What will happen today with a healthy Sullinger?

My picks are Kentucky and Kansas.

Who do you have?

About ruffles31

1996 NC State graduate who is still waiting on his first ACC conference championship in any of the four main revenue sports (football, men's basketball, women's basketball, and baseball) since enrolling. All I want is a ACC Champions t-shirt.

College Basketball

34 Responses to Final Four in New Orleans

  1. BJD95 03/31/2012 at 4:04 PM #

    Kentucky by a medium margin (8-12) over Louisville. Ohio State narrowly over Kansas. Then Kentucky beats the shit out of Ohio State.

  2. Tampa-Pack 03/31/2012 at 4:53 PM #

    Kentucky over Louisville, and Kansas over OSU. Kentucky over Kansas, Calapari to the NBA, and National Championship vacated in about 2 years. lol.

  3. PoppaJohn 03/31/2012 at 5:21 PM #

    bjd got it right

  4. BJD95 03/31/2012 at 5:51 PM #

    I would say the Cats are focused and motivated tonight. The John Calipari Invitational indeed.

    Off topic, but today’s paper gives Wolfpackers everywhere yet another reason to detest Bill Friday (he was the driving force behind killing the Dixie Classic).
    d

  5. Wufpacker 03/31/2012 at 6:26 PM #

    But BJD…Dr. Friday is a selfless soul who only wants what’s best for the student athletes. (/sarcasm)

    Re: final four picks, I’m pulling for Louisville, as they are the only team left standing that I can stand. Cerebral picks, on the other hand, are Kentucky and Ohio State. The Buckeyes receive the honor of getting disemboweled Monday in primetime.

  6. BJD95 03/31/2012 at 7:42 PM #

    Louisville has been plucky, but that’s not enough at the JCI.

  7. Wufpacker 03/31/2012 at 7:56 PM #

    Yup. ‘Ville hung tough, did better than I thought they would in fact. But Kentucky barely broke a sweat and were still never in any real danger, even when Louisville tied it up late.

  8. Rick 03/31/2012 at 8:00 PM #

    I wonder how many years before Cal has to vacate this championship.

  9. Wufpacker 03/31/2012 at 8:01 PM #

    UVa has just tied the game on a 2 run homer in the top 7th. Rodon had been cruising up until that point with a 2 hitter thru 6.

  10. wufpup76 03/31/2012 at 8:03 PM #

    Why are they making Jim Nantz wear beads? I know it’s New Orleans, but …

    It’s like Gminski’s earring.

  11. BJD95 03/31/2012 at 8:08 PM #

    What separates this UK team from past editions is that they don’t get rattled. Louisville had a great gameplan, and they executed it well. But they couldn’t win unless the Cats gave them a little help. They didn’t.

  12. Wufpacker 03/31/2012 at 8:11 PM #

    Anybody catch the final four preview/prediction show hosted by Gottfried? Fraschilla and a couple others co-hosted with him, but he was pretty much the moderator. Love seeing him keep the ESPN fires burning. He comes across so well in that environment and it definitely gets “NC State” in kids’ heads a little bit more with that kind of exposure.

  13. 61Packer 03/31/2012 at 8:21 PM #

    Somehow I just don’t see UK winning this thing. They were sloppy with the ball tonight and seem content to make the contest a game of street ball. It worked well against a smaller opponent, but on Monday night they’re going to run into a team that will be able to match their size plus a team with more muscle and experience than this Louisville squad. And whether or not it’ll be OSU or KU, Kentucky will not be allowed to set the tempo for Monday’s title game.

    I really like OSU’s chances tonight, and if they make it to Monday night, their Big Ten wars this season are going to give them an important edge against a talented but inexperienced UK team that waltzed through a mediocre basketball conference this season. There’s a lot more to playing defense than simply blocking shots.

  14. packattack13 03/31/2012 at 9:46 PM #

    Hey thought some of y’all might be interested. Just read on espn that former tarheel Brendan Haywood punched Dwight Howard multiple times in the back during the mavericks magic game. The magic coach says he has film that shows it. Is this the “Carolina way” we here so much about?

  15. BJD95 03/31/2012 at 10:39 PM #

    Watching the late game, I stand by my prediction that Kentucky will whip some ass Monday night.

  16. wufpup76 03/31/2012 at 10:48 PM #

    ACC ref Jamie Lucky with that fantastic (non-existent) travel call against Withey, folks.

    If only Hansjobbrough had such scrutiny when he was playing.

  17. old13 03/31/2012 at 10:59 PM #

    ^ How Lucky and Fuhr Hess get to call tournament games – any tournament – is beyond me. They are both more interested in being seen than calling the game before them! That call was as bad as the no-call at the end of our game against UNC-CHeat in the ACCT!

  18. mak4dpak 04/01/2012 at 4:20 AM #

    Now Kansas in the championship game, and to think we had a chance to beat them with about a minute to go. Who knows what could have been?

  19. BJD95 04/01/2012 at 1:54 PM #

    A solid reason to hope for a Wildcat rout. I don’t want to think of what could have been!

    Of course, it would be some solace for the Holes to writhe in agony thinking the same thing…

  20. tuckerdorm1983 04/01/2012 at 6:21 PM #

    I want Kansas to win. I want to have lost to the best team. I don’t think Kansas will win and the odds maker have the spread at 6 points and they don’t think Kansas will win. Nobody thinks they will win and therefore, they will.

  21. mak4dpak 04/01/2012 at 7:42 PM #

    Still cheering for Kansas, and then if they win I will be reminded of them being up by one point, with a little over a minute, and Scott Wood taking that stupid 3 pointer. What was he thinking?

  22. choppack1 04/01/2012 at 9:03 PM #

    You mean that stupid 3 pointer that Gott drew up after the time-out? That designed 3 pointer? That designed 3 pointer that just missed?

    Geez, I hope that comment was made in jest because it was a lot more stupid than Wood’s shot.

  23. wufpup76 04/01/2012 at 9:20 PM #

    ^Yes, designed play.

  24. 61Packer 04/01/2012 at 9:29 PM #

    With the exception of Kentucky fans, I can’t imagine any college basketball fan in America who’d be pulling for the Wildcats except maybe K-State or Missouri fans. Why would anyone root for John Calipari?

    He is a modern-day Jerry Tarkanian who cares only about winning, not about building a program. Look at KU’s lineup tomorrow night, with 4 juniors and one senior, and then look at UK’s underclassmen lineup.

    The players who go through the Calipari experience couldn’t care less about their school or their fans. Just show them the money.

    Rock, chalk, Jayhawk. I hope Kansas socks it to the arrogant Cal and his ‘Cats. Nothing could be finer.

  25. choppack1 04/01/2012 at 10:24 PM #

    Kansas is a great defensive team, but so is Kentucky…and Kentucky is much better offensively. It is only 40 minutes so anything can happen.

    Kentucky was the only team in the tourney I didn’t think we could beat (after marshall’s injury.)

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