In what has been one of the craziest sports years, college basketball fans have witnessed one of the craziest NCAA tournaments in recent memories.
On the first weekend of tourney play, No. 1 seeds Stanford and Kentucky lost in surprising second-round matches against Alabama and University of Alabama-Birmingham, respectively.
On the second weekend, St. Joseph's (Pa.), another No. 1 seed, fell to Oklahoma State in an epic Elite Eight battle.
The craziness of the first two weeks of tourney play have left us with a solid Final Four of No. 1 seed Duke, preseason No. 1 Connecticut, and two dark horses Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech.
Duke vs. Connecticut
UConn has dominated the tournament. Each of its four contests was all but over after the first half.
Junior center Emeka Okafor has shown he deserves to be an All-American, and senior guard Ben Gordon is on fire, hitting for 37 points in the Elite Eight thrashing of Alabama.
Duke has been tested throughout the tournament, barely edging out Xavier by three in the last round. If J.J. Redick and stud freshman Luol Deng are on, the Blue Devils will be tough to beat.
Even though he has come on late in the season, Shelden Williams is no match for Okafor inside, and Redick and Deng aren't consistent enough to hang with the senior leadership and guard play of UConn.
Look for UConn to win handily.
Pick: Connecticut, 84-69
Georgia Tech vs. Oklahoma State
Realistically, neither team deserved to be here. If John Lucas Jr. hadn't hit a clutch three-pointer and if Jeff Graves could hit free throws, this game would be St. Joe's vs. Kansas.
But we have the Yellow Jackets and the Cowboys. The X-factor in this contest is Tech sophomore standout guard Jarrett Jack. He is the engine that drives the Jackets. If he has a big game, watch out.
For the Cowboys, the balanced scoring led by Tony Allen, Lucas and forward Ivan McFarlin is deadly. Eddie Sutton is a great coach, which means the team will be prepared for the up-tempo style of Paul Hewitt's Jackets.
The Jackets rely on the outside shot too much, and Will Bynum has been far too inconsistent this season to think he's going to hit the big shots in the Final Four. Eddie Sutton and the Cowboys are my pick in a close one.
Pick: Oklahoma State, 68-64
Oklahoma State vs. Connecticut
Sadly, this game isn't going to be close. Connecticut is too good to be challenged by an Oklahoma State team that has been playing over its head all season.
Connecticut senior point guard Taliek Brown will run circles around Allen, and Gordon will light the nets on fire. Finally, Okafor will cap off his college career with a domination of McFarlin. Think 30 and 15.
The depth of UConn will make this game real big, real quick. Freshman Charlie Villanueva gives UConn another low-post option, which will be key.
Oklahoma State will have a little run in the second half to cut the lead to single digits, but UConn is just too talented.
Pick: Connecticut, 77-59
