Toucher & Rich: Final Four Preview With Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach
BOSTON (CBS) - After two weekends of upsets, overtimes, and painful analysis by Charles Barkley, four teams remain dancing in the 2015 Men's NCAA College Basketball Tournament.
Kentucky, Duke, Wisconsin, and Michigan State are onto the Final Four in Indianapolis for a chance to play in the National Championship on Monday, April 6th. Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe joined Fred Toucher and Jon Wallach on Toucher & Rich Monday morning to break down this past weekend's Elite 8 action on 98.5 The Sports Hub.
No. 7 seeded Michigan State joins three No. 1 seeds in the Final Four after narrowly escaping No. 4 Louisville in overtime, 76-70. No one expected the 27-11 Spartans to make a deep run into the postseason after going just 2-6 against ranked teams this season, but coach Tom Izzo has worked his March magic once again.
"It seems like every year they're in the Final Four or if not at least the Sweet 16. At this point, how can you count them out? Remember UConn last year?" said Himmelsbach.
Last year the UConn Huskies won the National Championship, also as a No. 7 seed, by beating No. 8 Kentucky.
In a closely contested ball game that included 11 lead changes, Michigan State pulled away from Louisville in the final ticks of overtime when senior forward Branden Dawson grabbed an offensive rebound and bounced it off the glass in mid-air to put the Spartans up 74-70 with 31.7 seconds on the clock.
MSU faces No. 1 Duke in the first Final Four matchup on Saturday at 6:09 pm.
"You can't count them out. They wouldn't be my pick to win it, but nothing would shock me anymore," said Himmelsbach.
Kentucky, meanwhile, survived a 68-66 battle against No. 3 Notre Dame in the Midwest Region Elite 8 matchup en route to their second straight Final Four. Himmelsbach noted that close calls against Ole Miss, LSU, and now Notre Dame should give teams a reason to believe Kentucky is not untouchable.
"Every single time this year they've been in one of those close games they've either blown it open at the end or done just enough at the end to win it," said Himmelsbach.
The undefeated Wildcats take on the winners of the West Region, No. 1 Wisconsin, at 8:49 pm Saturday night for a spot in the National Championship.
"It seems this year when they play games against higher level competition that they get hyped up for, that's when they play their best," said Himmelsbach.
Listen below for the full Final Four preview!
