Three of Final Four finalists worthy of attention, two have never been there



… and forget about the fourth spot 

The great part of the 2017 Final Four field is that three of the teams -- and I am writing before knowing the fourth -- have spent little or no time in that hallowed location.

Gonzaga and South Carolina have never been there, and Oregon was there only once, in the first Final Four when the founder of basketball, James Naismith, attended. That was way back in 1939.

That makes it enticing, and it means that I will never root for the winner of the last game -- North Carolina and Kentucky, two programs who have been there many times but have rather sleazy reputations.

Zags

Enough of that. Let's talk about who we can root for. Coach Mark Few has finally led the Gonzaga Zags to the Final Four, and they are my hope to win it all. Gonzaga has just over 5,000 students, and is a good academic institution, a Jesuit school.

The Zags have lost only one game this year, and they were the number one seed in the West. The are big and strong, and they play with a great deal of intensity.

Gamecocks

They will face South Carolina, which is also in its first Final Four. What makes the Gamecocks interesting is that they are a seven seed but have surprised many people in a bracket that was replete with upsets. The East lost number 1 Villanova and number 2 Duke early, and number 3 SC disposed of number 3 Baylor by 20 points.

In short, the Gamecocks could win it all, too. Should make for an interesting game with the Zags.

Ducks

The other very interesting team to advance is the Oregon Ducks, which surprised everyone -- except themselves and their fans -- by summarily disposing of top-seeded Kansas in the Midwest final. That was very impressive, though the Ducks were the number 3 seed in that bracket.

Since they have not been to the FF in 78 years, they are also a sentimental favorite. They lost a key player earlier in the year, but the team has rallied and played well down the stretch.

I would love to see a final of Gonzaga vs. Oregon.

Regardless of who wins that last berth.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering the toughest loss I ever experienced in approximately a quarter-century of coaching football. George Pasierb was a great coaching adversary.

Image
R.I.P. George Pasierb, 1946-2020 Shade-Central City High School football coach Photo: Tribune-Democrat No high school football fan could ask for anything better than this. On a beautiful sunny, warm afternoon on Saturday, October 30, 1982, in Nanty Glory, Pa., the battle featured a clash of two undefeated titans of the Appalachian Conference.  One was the preseason unanimous favorite to win the title, the other a veritable surprise that season, one that had built an 8-0 record entering that game.  This battle lived up to the pre-game hype, ending in a one-point decision that was not certain until the final play of the game.  I thought of this because the coach of the powerful Shade-Central City High School Panthers, George Pasierb, passed away earlier this week. He coached the Panthers for 20 years, but his best team was arguably that 1982 team that battled the Blacklick Valley Vikings on that Saturday afternoon before more than 3,000 ebullient fans.  And, the one-po...
Read more

Why did Tennessee-Chattanooga hire trainer Tim Bream despite his role in the alcohol-induced death of Tim Piazza at a Penn State frat?

Image
… was a live-in advisor at the fraternity On paper, Tim Bream has an impressive resume. Actually, very impressive — up to a point. That seems to be when Bream’s life appears to careen out of control. Bream, who resigned as Penn State trainer in Feb.,  was a graduate of Penn State with a bachelor’s degree in physical education, specializing in athletic training. He then attended West Virginia as a grad assistant trainer, where he received a master’s degree in Physical Education with an emphasis on Sports Science. All of this information is from his bio on the Penn State athletic site. He then worked his way up the ladder impressively, working at Syracuse, Vanderbilt, and finally at the University of Richmond, where he was the Director of Sports Medicine and Head Athletic Trainer. Then he received his big break, being name as Assistant Athletic Trainer for the Chicago Bears in 1993, and four years later, Head Athletic Trainer. He was with the Bears for 19 years when inexplicably,...
Read more

Why did Mike Tomlin start hiring black coaches after 15 years?

Image
Brian Flores … hiring Flores probably rankled Goodell To place this into context, understand that the only reason that the Steelers hired Mike Tomlin 15 years ago is because he was black.  Why? He had never even been a coordinator anywhere, never in the NFL. The only reason that he was interviewed was because of the “Rooney Rule.” That rule is one named after the late Dan Rooney who led the effort to force every NFL team to interview at least one black coach when it had head coaching openings.  The Steelers had focused their coaching search after Bill Cowher left on Ron Rivera, then a defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears. Their interview with Tomlin was a peremptory one, something to satisfy the smell test.  After all, why interview a guy who was just a defensive coach? Coordinators are the people who are hired for the big gig.  Tomlin, though, is a great talker, and he wooed Dan Rooney so much that he was hired for the position.  Which begs the q...
Read more