Current:Home > InvestWhat Final Four games are today? Breaking down the NCAA Tournament semifinals of March Madness-InfoLens
What Final Four games are today? Breaking down the NCAA Tournament semifinals of March Madness
View Date:2024-12-23 18:47:06
The Final Four is here, and each member of the quartet that will compete for the NCAA men’s basketball title in Glendale, Ariz., has its own story.
There is the rookie, the first-time semifinalist representing a school best known for its prowess in another sport. Then there’s the power conference program looking to replicate its unlikely underdog run to a championship from nearly half a century ago. Next is the team seeking to tread the same path of redemption as the last 16-seed upset victim. Finally, there’s the program in search of the first back-to-back crowns in nearly two decades.
Whichever team prevails, we as spectators hope for compelling theater and entertaining basketball. Here are the matchups.
No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 11 North Carolina State, 6:09 p.m. ET, TBS
Perhaps nothing illustrates the ridiculous unpredictability of college basketball better than the Wolfpack, a team that entered the ACC tournament as the No. 10 seed with 14 losses on its ledger, being in the national semifinals. The Boilermakers, though once again a top seed, know a little something about that unpredictability after last season’s untimely exit from the March stage at the hands of Fairleigh Dickinson. Purdue has handled this year’s tourney in more businesslike fashion, but the result here is anything but guaranteed. The marquee matchup pits Boilermakers big man Zach Edey, the repeat national player of the year, against N.C. State’s overnight sensation D.J. Burns. Burns will be giving up seven inches to Edey but has demonstrated deft footwork and quickness that might allow him to get his shots up despite being challenged. He might do better, however, to pass out of the post and hope D.J. Horne, Casey Morsell and Michael O’Connell continue to knock down treys. Edey is also an accomplished passer when teams frequently elect to double team him, and Fletcher Loyer and Lance Jones have also been hitting from long range. But it is Braden Smith that holds the whole operation together for Purdue. In his sophomore campaign he has increased his assist average to 7.5 a game while cutting down on turnovers. N.C. State will have to bother his entry passes enough to limit Edey’s touches as much as possible.
FOLLOW THE MADNESS: NCAA basketball bracket, scores, schedules, teams and more.
No. 1 Connecticut vs. No. 4 Alabama, 8:49 p.m. ET, TBS
The Huskies’ trip to the desert proved more of a challenge off the court than on it, but now that they’ve arrived their bid to go back-to-back continues. The Crimson Tide, regular playoff participants in football, hope to make their first Final Four experience last a couple extra days. UConn’s M.O. was on devastating display in its regional final triumph against Illinois, using its lock-down defense to keep the game in hand until its offense started working. Alabama can generate points in a variety of ways, but its driving game might not be as reliable with UConn’s big Donovan Clingan manning the paint. It will therefore be incumbent upon Mark Sears and Rylan Griffen to find their touch from the arc quickly. But the Huskies also have shooters like Cam Spencer and Alex Karaban who can get hot at any time. About the only thing we don’t know about UConn is if it can execute its end game when it’s close, something it hasn’t needed to do since the Big East tournament semifinal.
veryGood! (3121)
Related
- Ford agrees to pay up to $165 million penalty to US government for moving too slowly on recalls
- Polish opposition head Donald Tusk leads march to boost chances to unseat conservatives in election
- Week 5 college football winners, losers: Bowers powers Georgia; Central Florida melts down
- Watch every touchdown from Bills' win over Dolphins and Cowboys' victory over Patriots
- Georgia's humbling loss to Mississippi leads college football winners and losers for Week 11
- Maldives opposition candidate Mohamed Muiz wins the presidential runoff, local media say
- Seaplane hits power line, crashes into Ohio river; 2 taken to hospital with minor injuries
- Miguel Cabrera gets emotional sendoff from Detroit Tigers in final career game
- Sister Wives’ Meri Brown Shares Hysterical Farmers Only Dating Profile Video After Kody Split
- 7 sets of remains exhumed, 59 graves found after latest search for remains of the Tulsa Race Massacre victims
Ranking
- Incredible animal moments: Watch farmer miraculously revive ailing chick, doctor saves shelter dogs
- Simone Biles soars despite having weight of history on her at worlds
- Simone Biles soars despite having weight of history on her at worlds
- Why former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald was at the Iowa-Michigan State game
- RHOBH's Kyle Richards Shares Reaction to BFF Teddi Mellencamp's Divorce
- AL West title, playoff seeds, saying goodbye: What to watch on MLB's final day of season
- Tim Wakefield, longtime Boston Red Sox knuckleball pitcher, dies at 57
- South Korean golfers Sungjae Im & Si Woo Kim team for win, exemption from military service
Recommendation
-
Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger welcome their first son together
-
Celtics acquire All-Star guard Jrue Holiday in deal with Trail Blazers
-
Man convicted of killing ex-girlfriend, well-known sex therapist in 2020
-
Trump expected to attend opening of his civil fraud trial in New York on Monday
-
5-year-old boy who went missing while parent was napping is found dead near Oregon home, officials say
-
Donald Trump says he will be in courtroom for New York trial scrutinizing his business practices
-
Donald Trump expects to attend start of New York civil trial Monday
-
The Supreme Court’s new term starts Monday. Here’s what you need to know