Elite Eight Roundup: The Wild Ride Continues

Photo courtesy the Bradenton Herald/Associated Press.

The Elite Eight continued this past weekend, and it didn't disappoint. Another 1 seed fell, two legendary coaches return to the final four, and an underdog returns home playing for the national championship. On Saturday, it was upset central with two major surprises: 5-seed Butler defeated heavily-favored 2-seed Kansas State 63-56 and West Virginia, a 2-seed defeated 1-seed Kentucky, considered by many to be a national title contender, 73-66. On Sunday, it was Michigan State over Tennessee and Duke defeating Baylor, 78-71.

The Butler Bulldogs have had an impressive run in the tourney. First, many considered them ripe for a first-round exit against 12-seed UTEP, but Butler smashed the Miners 77-59. Next, they survived Murray State then pulled off the double upset against the Syracuse Orange and K-State Wildcats. Syracuse was a banged-up 1-seed, so one can make the argument that it was inevitable the Orange would lose, but the K-State win was more of a surprise given the Wildcats' guard tandem of Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente. The duo only shot 11 for 30 combined against the Bulldogs after lighting up Xavier for 53 combined points. Now, the Bulldogs head home to Indianapolis and are set to play powerhouse Michigan State in the Final Four. Butler, led by sophomore stud Gordon Hayward, isn't a surprise to anyone anymore and could give the depleted Spartans of MSU a run for their money. Then again, Tom Izzo isn't a Final Four novice, and he knows hot to motivate his team, even when their best player is injured on the bench. This is Butler's first-ever trip to the Final Four, quite the achievement to have your first be the one on your home court. Here is the recap from the West Regional Final (courtesy CBS):



On a side note, CBS commentator Gus Johnson is a favorite's worst nightmare. He called most of the West Regional for CBS this year, which had a multitude of upsets (Xavier beat Pitt, Butler's upsets). He's called tons of other upsets and his signature calls of "Bam!" and "Oh my goodness!" have earned him some notoriety amongst fans. The website Gus Johnson Gets Buckets provides a fun soundboard of some of Gus' famous calls.

The team that Butler plays in the Final Four, Michigan State, had a thrilling game against the Tennessee Volunteers on Sunday that came down to the last shot. Both the Spartans and the Vols have fought through lots of adversity during the season to reach this point, so kudos to both teams, but they don't call it the Final Four for nothing. Here was the recap of the Midwest Regional Final, courtesy of the Eye Network:



The Kentucky-West Virginia game was intense from start to finish. West Virginia couldn't get a 2-point basket to save its life for most of the first half. 3-point shooting is what saved the Mountaineers, and what killed the Wildcats, as WVU was 10-23 while UK was only 4-32 from behind the arc. West Virginia's Joe Mazzulla and Da'Sean Butler led the team with crucial shots when it counted and the Mountaineers overall had a balanced effort while Kentucky's John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins were the only real offensive options for UK. WVU had four starters with 12 points or more, while UK only had two. This is West Virginia's first Final Four trip since '59, back when they had a player named Jerry West. Here are the highlights, courtesy CBS:



The Duke Blue Devils never seem to have a down season, especially with Coach K at the helm. In recent years, they've been tourney busts, but this year, they're in the Final Four. Baylor gave Duke a hard time for most of the game, but with three minutes to go, the Blue Devils pulled ahead for good. Despite not being in the Final Four, Baylor has had a year of tremendous accomplishment under coach Scott Drew, considering how broken the Baylor basketball program was just a few years ago. The game itself was simply a matter of who would outlast whom and Baylor's shots didn't fall when it counted. Here are the highlights, once again courtesy CBS:



So the Final Four looks like this:

5 Butler vs. 5 Michigan State, Saturday April 3, 6:07pm ET on CBS
1 Duke vs. 2 West Virginia, Saturday April 3, 8:47 ET on CBS