March Madness: Final Four set with Miami, SDSU, FAU, UConn

March Madness has rounded toward the Final Four and No. 1 seeds are nowhere to be found. Instead, the Final Four will have no team seeded better than No. 4 for the first time since seeding began in 1979.Florida Atlantic became the lowest-ever seed to make the Final Four after beating Kansas State. Miami and San Diego State are in the Final Four for the first time. UConn’s back for the first time in nine years. There have been millions of busted brackets and only three games remain. Here is what to know:GAMES TO WATCHNo. 5 San Diego State (31-6) vs. No. 9 Florida Atlantic (35-3), Saturday, 6:09 p.m. EDT (CBS)The Florida Atlantic Owls — Who? — extended their second appearance in the tournament with a 79-76 victory over Kansas State. The Conference USA champs are the winningest team in Division I and will face San Diego State in the national semifinals. The Aztecs beat Creighton when Darrion Trammell hit the second of two free throws with 1.2 seconds left. The Aztecs are the first Mountain West team to advance this far. The Owls are the lowest seed left in the field.No. 5 Miami (29-7) vs. No. 4 UConn (29-8), Saturday, 8:49 p.m. EDT (CBS)UConn has looked unstoppable since the NCAA Tournament began, winning its four March Madness games by at least 15 points. The Huskies put on a show in Las Vegas in the Elite Eight, overwhelming Gonzaga at both ends in an 82-54 rout. They figure to get a stiffer test against Miami. Jim Larrañaga’s Hurricanes have plenty of experience after playing in the Elite Eight last season and reached the Final Four by beating No. 2 seed Texas 88-81.TOP SEEDSThe top four seeds were Alabama, Houston, Kansas and Purdue. Expectations for a chaotic tournament were met quickly: The Boilermakers were ousted by Fairleigh Dickinson in a first-round stunner and the defending champion Jayhawks lost to Arkansas the next day. Alabama and Houston didn’t survive the second weekend.AWARD SEASONPurdue’s Zach Edey was a near-unanimous choice as The Associated Press men’s college basketball player of the year. The 7-foot-4 Canadian was sixth nationally in scoring at 22.3 points per game and second in rebounding at 12.8.Shaka Smart is the men’s coach of the year after leading Marquette to regular-season and Big East Tournament titles. The Golden Eagles were a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and lost in the second round to Michigan State.You want to know how AP selects the award winners? We got you covered.SHINING MOMENTSPrinceton used a late run to earn its first NCAA Tournament win in 25 years by ousting No. 2 seed Arizona and then beat Missouri to lock in its first Sweet 16 spot in 56 years. For Princeton and other teams, getting this far after pandemic-disrupted seasons was a milestone.Furman celebrated its first tourney appearance since 1980 with a win over No. 4 seed Virginia on a deep 3-pointer by JP Pegues with 2.4 seconds left. Then came 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson’s win over Purdue as the 22 1/2-point underdog. The Knights joined UMBC in the record books as the only 16 seeds to knock out a No. 1.All that happened before the Razorbacks and shirtless coach Eric Musselman celebrated their win over the Jayhawks.BRAGGING RIGHTSThe SEC and Big Ten led the way by placing eight teams each in the 68-team field. The records for major and mid-major conferences through four rounds:Atlantic Coast Conference (5 teams made tourney): 7-4. 1 remaining (Miami).American Athletic (2): 2-2. 0 remaining.Big 12 (7): 9-7. 0 remaining.Big East (5): 10-4. 1 remaining (UConn).Big Ten (8): 6-8. O remaining.Mountain West (4): 4-3. 1 remaining (San Diego State).Pac-12 (4): 3-3. 0 remaining.Southeastern Conference (8): 9-8. 0 remaining.West Coast (2): 4-2. 0 remaining.

Related posts