Final Four(s) Preview

April 05, 2024

Final Four(s) Preview

It is a great time of year for sports fans. Baseball is brand new and every team is still in the race. The NBA and NHL are at the critical point of their playoff races. And, we have the college basketball final fours set to start TONIGHT!

Check your local listings before you agree to any other plans. Let's get to it.

NCAA Women's Tournament

Caitlin Clark powered Iowa to the first Final Four slot with a win over the 2023 champions from LSU Monday. In case you have been totally off the grid, Angel Reese and the Tigers beat Clark and the Hawkeyes in the championship game last year. Their rematch in the Elite Eight earlier this week drew 12.3 million viewers - more than any other women's college basketball game ever.

Undefeated South Carolina, UConn and NC State will join Iowa in Cleveland this weekend for the Women's Final Four. Iowa has a tough matchup with UConn and their star, Paige Bueckers. The Athletic is going with Iowa, Fox Sports is picking UConn and the bookies are taking Iowa (-2.5), according to a USAToday article by Elizabeth Flores. Nicole Auerbach of the Athletic reports most experts anticipate the Gamecocks to easily move past the Wolfpack in the first matchup tonight.

Overall #1 ranked South Carolina versus overall #2 ranked Iowa could be a classic final. South Carolina coach Dawn Staley was "rocked" by her team missing out on a second consecutive title last year and her team has been on a revenge tour all year. Don't be surprised when the Gamecocks get back on the championship dais again this year.

LSU Women Absent for National Anthem Prior to Elite Eight Game

Prior to the Elite Eight game between Iowa and LSU, the LSU ladies were absent during the playing of the national anthem while the lady Hawkeyes paid respects on the court. According to Chessa Bouche of BRProudNews, LSU always heads to the locker room after warmups, prior to the anthem, for final preparations and comes back out after the anthem (just like the cherished LSU football team). Their absence was not received well by some.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry called for the LSU leadership to make standing for the national anthem mandatory for scholarship athletes. The staff at the Freedomist want the university leadership arrested due to their clear attempt to "overthrow the American republic." I still think the Freedomist X handle might be a parody account.

Uh, we can see how these recommended responses could be slightly unhelpful and counter to personal freedom, right? Making things mandatory and arresting people for espousing beliefs counter to yours is from the Soviet playbook. There are multiple ideologies and platforms on both sides of the aisle that I find idiotic to abhorrent, but I am not going to start calling for re-education camps.

That's the thing: having to listen to or watch people say or do things you disagree with without resorting to violence or the installation of a totalitarian government is exactly what this whole American experiment is about. And another thing: for many teams, it's standard practice not to be present for the national anthem. Outrage on this topic is ridiculous - identity politics at its worst.

NCAA Men's Tournament

Last year, 4-seed UConn came into the Final Four as the highest seed. They were joined by two 5-seeds (Miami and San Diego State) and 9-seed Florida Atlantic. That was only the fourth time zero No. 1 seeds were in a final weekend, along with 1980, 2006 and 2011.

Things got back to normal this year with East Regional No. 1 UConn, Midwest No. 1 Purdue, West No. 4 Alabama and South No. 11 NC State playing the role of Cinderella. Purdue's last Final Four was one of the "zero No. 1" affairs in 1980. NC State won their first championship 50 years ago in 1974 and they completed maybe the first true Cinderella run to the title in 1983.

Those are all interesting historical facts, but the story this year is once again UConn. Just read what Matt Norlander of CBS Sports says:

"The Huskies, who last year set an NCAA Tournament record by winning six games by 13-plus points and an average of 20.0 points, have beaten four teams in this tournament - in the East region, which was viewed by many as the toughest on Selection Sunday - by an average of 27.8 points and with a +111 points differential though four games."

UConn should defeat Bama and the Boilers should beat the underdog Wolfpack, which would set up what could be the Huskies' toughest test in the last two tournaments. I still see UConn as the 2024 champions no matter who they play. (I placed 49th out of 91 and 13th out of 13 in the two bracket competitions I entered, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt.)

Hoosier Bona Fides Recertification

To maintain our ties to the Hoosier State, we have to take HOTPO staff back to the Heartland to ensure we stay "current and qualified" in our Hoosier status. Recently, I took two of our younger contributors on a pretty extensive tour of Indiana. We stopped in Richmond to see family, Indianapolis to see old friends, and Muncie, Terre Haute and Bloomington to tour Ball State, Indiana State and Indiana University, respectively.

We also enjoyed a Royal Feast at Clara's in Richmond, walked the War Memorial Plaza in Indy and enjoyed time with some long-time HOTPO subscribers in the suburbs of Indy. It was a tremendous spring break of bro hugs and shout-laughs - an absolute blast.

Insanely enough, as we got onto I-70 early one morning to begin our trek back home to the Potomac, I flipped the Audacy app to DC sports radio. As I was piloting the HOTPO mobile into the blinding, rising sun to begin our 10-hours of travel, I hear that Monumental Sports struck a deal with the DC mayor to keep the Capitals and Wizards in the District instead of shoehorning an ill-conceived sports and entertainment monolith into Alexandria, Va. Absolutely excellent news to hear as we headed back to the HOTPO headquarters.

Maybe we will cover that and/or the Pacers and Capitals fight for the playoffs next week.

Enjoy this weekend's potentially classic games.