Rob Long: New Blood Vs. Blue Blood
The bad news is that your bracket is trash right about now. I mean you could boast about still having your national champion pick still in the mix but that's a reach.
If you have two out of four teams remaining I commend you.
There are two number one seeds in the Final Four but one is "New Blood" for next weekend's grand finale.
Gonzaga is making its first appearance in the national semi-final game. They will face the lowest seed remaining in the field #7 seed South Carolina Gamecocks.
Frank Martin and the Gamecocks advanced to the Final Four for the first time in school history with a win Sunday over number four seed Florida Gators. The Gamecocks have been underdogs in every game in the tournament and that will not change Saturday in Phoenix, Arizona. One of these teams will make its first appearance in the National Championship game.
The North Carolina Tar Heels lost to the Villanova Wildcats in the championship game last April. Roy Williams and company were determined to get back to the Final Four and that determination helped them while fighting off Kentucky Sunday in the South Regional Finals.
The Tar Heels will face a team in the Oregon Ducks who haven't been to the Final Four since 1939. Dana Altman, like Frank Martin of South Carolina and Mark Few of Gonzaga are all making their first trips as Head Coaches to the Final Four as well. Roy Williams of North Carolina has been there before work both Kansas and North Carolina.
The Gamecocks are a great story but Gonzaga may be the better team. Gamecocks guard Sindarius Thornton had 26 points against Florida and has been hot during the entire tournament. South Carolina boasts an impressive defense but they'll have their hands full defending Johnathan Williams and Nigel Williams-Goss.
In the other matchup Oregon has to matchup against the NBA sizes front court of North Carolina. The Tar Heels turned the ball over 15 times against an incredibly talented Kentucky team but thanks to a slight edge in rebounding and big shots by Luke Maye they were able to return to the National Semi-Finals.
So it's the New Blood versus the Establishment in the desert.
