Final Four .. Surprised?

Add it up and the four head coaches in this year’s Final Four, have a combined 9 appearances in the NCAA’s penultimate evening of men’s basketball.

Only thing, all 9 appearances belong to North Carolina’s Roy Williams.

What does this tell you? 

It says, again, there have been upsets during March Madness.

I didn’t say that, after the first round of the Tournament.  Of the 32 first-round games, only 6 were won by the lower seed.  That’s generally not all that many.  But the upsets were soon to come, they always do.

So, this year, we have 2 1’s, a 3, and a 7 still alive for the Championship.  And despite their disparity, each team has a shot to win it all. 

#1 seed North Carolina came out of the South Region, thanks to a last-second shot from Luke Maye that beat Kentucky.  Roy Williams is the most experienced coach in the bunch, by far.  He and the Tar Heels may still have a chip on their shoulder from last year, when they lost to Villanova in the Championship game, on a buzzer-beater.

They go up against #3 seed Oregon out of the Midwest Region.  Dana Altman is coaching in his first Final Four, and he’s had to scramble with his Ducks since they lost big man Chris Boucher to a torn ACL.  But his revamped lineup has forced the opponents to adjust to the unknown.  Can Altman do it two more times in Phoenix?

In Saturday’s first semifinal, it should be no surprise that the West Region #1 seed Gonzaga made it this far.  But it is to a number of the national pundits.  More than one said that Gonzaga was the weakest of the #1 seeds.. and their 36-1 record was the result of a weak schedule in the West Coach conference.  Mark Few, coaching in his first Final Four, has a complete team that is strong defensively, has a pair of excellent 7-footers, and good guard play.

Then, there’s #7 seed South Carolina, a complete surprise emerging as top gun in the East Region.  Frank Martin’s team won it’s first game in the NCAA Tournament, in 44 years, then went on to win 3 more as the underdog.  It’s hard not to like the tough-guy appearance of Martin, who’s resume is long and displays a lot of hard work.  He’s the son of Cuban political exiles and used to be a bouncer in college at Florida International.  He coached at 3 different high schools in Miami.  His team reflects his personality, tough and hard-working, with a stingy defense.

But I’ll take the two #1 seeds to win the semis, Gonzaga and North Carolina.  And Carolina to win it all on Monday night, to avenge that last-second loss to ‘Nova last year.