Monday, January 9, 2017

Ranking the Modern Final Fours: 25-21

25. 1990 (Denver): The 1990 tournament was a wild one. Go back and look at the crazy buzzer beaters and high drama. The Final Four did not share those traits.

The '90 Final 4 was a crowning of Jerry Tarkanian's UNLV Runnin' Rebels. The only 1-seed to make the Final 4, the Rebels actually trailed 4-seed Georgia Tech by 7 at halftime but would win easily, 90-81. In the other semi-final, Duke defeated Arkansas who was lead by the May-Day combination of Lee Mayberry and Todd Day, 97-83. Phil Henderson scored 29 for Duke in that game.

The final saw UNLV down Duke 103-73 in a rout. Duke super frosh Bobby Hurley missed most of the game due to illness and the Rebs ran all over Duke. This is the only Final 4 since 1985 where all winning teams scored 90+ points. It's the only one where a team eclipsed 100 and was arguably the end of the offensive era of college hoops.

24. 2007 (Atlanta): 2007 was a Final Four with four real good basketball teams and schools. Florida was back, looking to repeat. Ohio State was lead by Greg Oden and a fellow 1-seed like the Gators. They were joined by 2-seeds Georgetown, returning to a Final 4 for the first time since 1985 and UCLA who was making a second straight appearance.

The games themselves were fine but hardly elicited any great moments. Neither game in the semi's had a team get to 30 in the 1st half and both Ohio State and Florida seemed predestined to meet in the title game.

In the title game, they did meet with Florida winning after building an 11-point halftime lead. The Gators were the first repeat winner since Duke and the last through today.

23. 2014 (Dallas): This Final Four saw a 1-seed Florida team, a 2-seed Wisconsin team, a 7-seed UConn team and an 8-seed Kentucky team who needed a lot of magic to make the Final 4.

The early semi-final saw UConn upset the favored Florida team who had made it back to the Final 4 after a few near misses the previous seasons. UConn slugged their way to a 25-22 halftime lead and eventually won 63-53.

The second game was a classic. The Badgers lead 40-36 at halftime of a well-played game. The second half matched the first with Kentucky winning on a late 3 by freshman Aaron Harrison who had done the same to Michigan a week earlier. While this game is a top semi-final, the rest of this final 4 was a dud.

The final saw the 7-seed UConn upend an 8-seed Kentucky, 60-54 in a game UConn largely controlled. The Huskoes lead at half 35-31 after leading 30-20 at one point. At no point would UConn trail.

While it's arguable that Kentucky team was under seeded, the UConn team was not. This is one of the weakest champions of this era.

22. 2005 (St. Louis): If we remember back, the regional finals included 3 overtime games and one of the wildest comebacks in tournament history. The Final 4 would include 1-seed Illinois, 1-seed UNC, 5-seed Michigan State and 4-seed Louisville. It was a good Final 4 mix.

The games did not match the hype. Illinois playing a virtual home game, beat Louisville by 15. In the other semi-final, UNC throttled Sparty by 16, out scoring them 54-33 in the second half.

North Carolina would win their 4th National Championship 75-70. They built a 40-27 halftime lead and held off two different 2nd half surges by Illinois who managed to tie the game at 70. The final few minutes saw Illinois squander plenty of chances to tie or take the lead and UNC miss a FT to give Illinois one of those chances.

21. 1988 (Kansas City): This Final 4 is the Danny and the Miracles Final 4. The 6th-seeded Jayhawks would deny 1-seed Oklahoma and Billy Tubbs a national championship. Arizona, another 1-seed and Duke, a 2-seed compromised the rest of the field.

In the semi-finals, Kansas jumped Duke to take a 38-27 halftime lead and would win by 7. Oklahoma took a 12-point halftime lead over Arizona and won by 8.

The title game saw Kansas meet Oklahoma for the 3rd time that season. KU had been beaten easily in the previous two games but would prevail 83-79 in this game. Tied at 50 at half, Kansas rode a 31-point, 18-board performance by Danny Manning to a title. Since Larry Brown was the coach, Kansas ended up on probation shortly thereafter.

This could be higher but I dock points for the pending probation.

Next Week: 20-16

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