2009 Final Four Set; Who Will Be Playing for the Championship?

The college basketball season is about to come to its conclusion and we could not have asked for better match-ups to bring us down the home stretch. There have been some mild upsets and the fact that Louisville is gone has shocked the world, but this weekend promises to be very exciting as we wait to see who the champion will finally be.

The first game of the night has Michigan State trying to take down one of the perennial giants in college basketball, Connecticut. They had enough to get past Louisville, but asking them to beat two top 5 teams in a row may be a little more than anyone could hope for. For whatever reason, Louisville played the entire game like they had absolutely no desire to be there and Michigan State took full advantage of that.

They beat Louisville by using their own defensive strategy to perfection. By pressing Louisville and tightening up the inside defense, they forced Louisville to take perimeter shots that they are not accustomed to. This is a team that thrives on chaos and loves to force other teams to play fast and get out of their rhythm. Michigan State constantly beat the press and got off high percentage shots and beat the giant that everyone, including myself, had cutting down the nets.

Connecticut poses a lot of different problems for Michigan State that they probably will not be able to get by this time around. Their guard play is outstanding and Thabeet just poses an ominous presence in the lane. Teams that have given UConn trouble have attacked him early in the game and forced him to the bench. Michigan State has two ways to win this game. Get Thabeet in trouble early and get the local crowd involved.

It is not often that a team can make it to the finals and be playing on what would be considered a home court. If they can somehow manage to get a jump on UConn and get the building shaking, they may just have a chance. This will more than likely be a close game throughout though as the fans will not allow Michigan State to get out of the game. Even if they are getting blown out, the crowd will have the ability to lift them up and get them to give it one last shot. In the end, Connecticut's talent should be enough to win this game. It is not going to be an easy one, but UConn should be able to gut out a win here.

The second game of the night may be the best game we ever see or a complete blow out. Villanova tries to take down North Carolina and Tyler Hansbrough in the quest to send him off with a title. If this game were happening 3 weeks ago, Villanova would probably be about even money here. However, NC is healthy now, and since the return of Lawson, they have once again proven to be just about unbeatable.

Villanova does have a couple of cards up their sleeve, though. The first is that they are the clear underdog here and the Final Four crowds love the underdog. North Carolina has a way of making enemies and this game may be just about as good as playing at home for them. They will have their fair share of backers up in the stands. In college basketball, you can never underestimate the ability of the fans to pull a team back into a game.

The second thing that Villanova has behind it is their ability to make adjustments at the half and dominate the second half of the game. They have proven time and again that if they are close at half time, that Jay Wright and company have the ability to make all the right adjustments and get their team a win. If North Carolina underestimates this team for one second, Villanova will pounce.

Having said all that, Villanova is up against it here. While Villanova is playing their best basketball of the season, North Carolina is playing at a completely different level. Hansbrough is playing like a man possessed and there may not be a better team in college hoops right now. They are finding every weakness that a team has and exploiting it early on. North Carolina is very aware of Villanova's affinity for taking down higher seeds and will come out firing on all cylinders. The quicker they get this team out of the game, they better off they are going to be.

Right now, North Carolina has way too many weapons for Villanova to stop. They are the masters at limiting one or two players from hurting them, but having to deal with Lawson, Hansbrough, Ellington and Green is too much to ask of any team. If Villanova plays the perfect game and Carolina does not show up, Villanova has a shot. However, that is very unlikely and the more likely scenario is that North Carolina comes out with guns blazing and turns this into a very ugly game.