Sunday’s Elite Eight Rundown

The intensity and surprises of March Madness continued in the Sweet 16. Now we wonder if they will persist in the Elite Eight on Sunday, in the last two of the four regional finals. First, it’s the Midwest Regional final in Chicago, followed by the East Regional final in Philadelphia. Neither matchup was predicted in the run-up to the NCAA Tournament, but two blue-blood teams will be favored to go to the Final Four. Let’s look at these two games.

Midwest Regional Final:

(10) Miami Hurricanes vs. (1) Kansas Jayhawks

The first of the two regional finals on Sunday offers a callback to 2006. Jim Larranaga was coaching a double-digit seed in a regional final against a No. 1 seed which was a blue-blood and a college basketball national powerhouse. In 2006, Larranaga’s double-digit seed was No. 11 George Mason going up against No. 1 seed Connecticut, a program which had won two national championships the previous seven years. Larranaga coached George Mason to a remarkable upset over the powerful, tall, supremely talented Huskies. He guided Cinderella to the Final Four and made history. The George Mason win led to more Final Fours for mid-major programs such as Butler and VCU and Wichita State in the next several years. The result was a revolutionary one.

Now Larranaga is coaching a double-digit seed again in an Elite Eight game. This time, the No. 1 seed is Kansas, which shared the Big 12 championship with Baylor and won the Big 12 Tournament. Miami has a tremendous backcourt which will need to hit 3-point shots and force turnovers which Miami can use to burn Kansas in transition and get baskets on the break before the Jayhawks can establish their halfcourt defense. Kansas will want to pound the ball inside in this game and feature David McCormack, who is tougher and more powerful than his Miami counterpart, Sam Waardenburg. Kansas is getting blended and balanced production from its roster. The Jayhawks have not overwhelmed their opponents this March, but they have consistently beaten them. Kansas hasn’t lost a game since March 1 against TCU.

East Regional Final:

(15) Saint Peter’s Peacocks vs. (8) North Carolina Tar Heels

The Saint Peter’s Peacocks have done it. They have become the first No. 15 seed to make the Elite Eight in the history of the NCAA Tournament. No team seeded lower than 12 had ever made the Elite Eight before. No team seeded 13 or 14 had gotten this far in the bracket. Amazingly, a 15 seed was the first seed lower than 12 to earn a one-game shot at the Final Four. Saint Peter’s used its signature defense to hold down a potent Purdue offense. Saint Peter’s challenged shots and battled well against Purdue’s size and brawn. The Peacocks earned and made a lot of free throws in the final two and a half minutes of regulation to scratch out a 67-64 win which made history in March Madness.

The team which gets to play Saint Peter’s in the Elite Eight is a No. 8 seed, the North Carolina Tar Heels. First-year coach Hubert Davis struggled with this team through mid-February, but then the Tar Heels began to play their best basketball of the season, especially the blowout win at Duke on March 5. This is a team on a mission. It just defeated UCLA several days after beating defending national champion Baylor. Caleb Love and R.J. Davis are on fire in the UNC backcourt. This will be a very tough assignment for Saint Peter’s, but the Peacocks will have a big New Jersey crowd on hand in nearby Philadelphia for this game.