Michigan Final Four

The Final Four is set with a collection of schools that almost nobody — literally, almost nobody — projected to spend a weekend in Atlanta together. So this is basically like every other year, you know? (Except for 2008, of course.) And the storylines are obvious: Rick Pitino trying to become the first man to win titles at two different schools. Jim Boeheim trying to get his second at Syracuse. John Beilein trying to get his first after three decades as a head coach. Wichita State trying to … Hold up! What the hell is Wichita State doing here? “We want to one-up everybody,” Shockers coach Gregg Marshall told me late Saturday, and now he’s just two wins from doing it. Wichita State could become the first school from a non-power league to win a title since UNLV in 1990, and the lowest-seeded team to ever do it. So, yeah, the Shockers are in a position to one-up everybody. Can they do it? Will they do it? I’ll address that and more in this Final Four Look Ahead. —– SATURDAY’S SEMIFINALS —– Wichita State (30-8) vs. Louisville (33-5)Tip: 6:09 p.m. ETTV: CBSLine: Louisville -10 Louisville is favored because … the Cardinals are operating at an extremely high level right now — just destroying everybody placed in front of them. Rick Pitino’s team has won 14 consecutive games by an average of 17.3 points, and the past 10 victories have all come at the expense of teams that also played in this NCAA tournament. Only two opponents — Syracuse on March 2 at the Carrier Dome, Oregon on Friday at Lucas Oil Stadium — have avoided a double-digit loss to the Cards. So Louisville is favored big because Louisville should be favored big. The Cardinals are talented, deep, experienced and coached by a man who should be a Hall of Famer next week. So can Wichita State upset Louisville? Yeah, I guess. But it would be a massive upset and huge surprise. Syracuse (30-9) vs. Michigan (30-7)Tip: Approximately 8:49 p.m. ETTV: CBSLine: Michigan -2 Michigan is favored because … the Wolverines are terrific offensively and led by a consensus First Team All-American named Trey Burke. Michigan just eliminated the Big 12 champs (Kansas) and SEC champs (Florida) in a three-day span and looked wonderful while doing it thanks, in part, to the emergence of Mitch McGary, who is averaging 17.5 points and 11.5 rebounds in this NCAA tournament. John Beilein’s team has college basketball’s top-rated offense, according to KenPom.com. So the Wolverines will present a unique (and presumably difficult) challenge for Syracuse’s 2-3 zone. —– FOUR OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THIS FINAL FOUR —– 1. Playing well in February wasn’t a prerequisite: College basketball provides a four-month season filled with ups and downs for most teams, even the great ones. And that’s something we should probably remember before burying schools on Valentine’s Day next year. Louisville was obviously great in February, going 6-1 with the lone loss coming in five overtimes at Notre Dame. But Wichita State was only 5-3, Michigan was only 3-4 and Syracuse was only 4-4 in the lone 28-day month. The lesson? As long as the talented pieces are in place, you don’t really have to be great in January, February or even early March to make a run in the Field of 68. 2. It’s wise to include the Big East tournament champion in your Final Four: Folks get their brackets every Selection Sunday and fill them out millions of different ways because, honestly, there’s no perfect way to do it. But you should always have the...

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