Teams head to San Antonio for Saturday Match-ups

Despite the huge upsets in the second round of March Madness and everybody's horribly red inked bracket sheets, the Final Four has shaped up just like many imagined. The UConn Huskies and Duke Blue Devils were the preseason number one and two teams and will now meet in one of the national semi-finals.

Another ACC team will be joining the Blue Devils in San Antonio, with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets facing the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Saturday's first semifinal. This was a statement by the ACC, affirming the notion that it is the strongest conference in college basketball by sending two teams to the Final Four.



Oklahoma State vs. Georgia Tech

In the night's first semifinal, Georgia Tech will bring its guard filled offense with Jarret Jack, B.J. Elder (who should be healthy), Ishmael Mohammed, Marvin Lewis, and Will Bynum. The Jackets usually run a three-guard offense with a combination of Anthony McHenry, Clarence Moore and Luke Schenscher on the inside. They are also very deep, playing eight guys 15 minutes or more a night.

The outcome of this game will greatly rest on the condition of Elder's ankle. Georgia Tech better hope that its leading scorer can be a factor on the offensive end by Saturday night. Jarret Jack has been one of the outstanding players in this tournament and must continue that against the Cowboys. It will be interesting to watch the match up between Oklahoma State's John Lucas and Jack and this may be the key to the game.

If anything, Tech should be frightened of Elder's fragile state and the toughness of this Cowboy team. By now you have probably seen the videos of Eddie Sutton's team practicing in full football pads and knocking the crap out of each other. If not, it's incredible. Shooters are hitting threes and then being sacked beyond the three-point line. And that doesn't even begin to describe what goes on inside the paint. The Yellow Jackets should be ready for a physical game.

Oklahoma State is also a great shooting and slashing team with a big time low-post player in Ivan McFarlin. McFarlin isn't as tall as Tech's Schenscher, but he is much more solid and may be able to bump the Aussie around. Lucas, Tony Allen, and Daniel Bobik all shoot over 40 percent from behind the arc and will give the highly touted defense of Georgia Tech a true test. The Cowboys also have age and maturity on their side seeing as their top nine scorers are either juniors or seniors. But does that really matter one year after Carmelo Anthony carried his Syracuse team to a national title as a freshman?



>UConn Huskies vs. Duke Blue Devils

UConn looks to be the team to beat heading after beating its four previous opponents by 17 points or more. Yet, as easily as the Huskies have glided to the Final Four, their opponents have not been all that spectacular (Vermont Catamounts, DePaul Blue Demons, Vanderbilt Commodores, and the Alabama Crimson Tide). This is not to say that UConn should not be the favorite, but highlights that it hasn't had to endure the level of competition that the other three remaining teams have.

Look for Emeka Okafor, who should be healthy by Saturday, to get the ball early down low. The Duke big men have been susceptible to foul trouble in the last few games, and there is no more dominant big man in the college game. Both Shelden Williams and Okafor are atop their conferences and the nation in blocks, so this will be an interesting game on the interior.

Both teams have great outside shooters with J.J. Redick and Daniel Ewing for the Blue Devils and Ben Gordon and Rashad Anderson for the Huskies. If Duke's big men can contain Okafor, Gordon and Anderson will not receive as many open looks from the double-team kickouts. In order for Duke to win, Redick must find his stroke quicker from the start and Shavlik Randolph has to be a legitimate backup to Williams.

Duke's depth may be a problem as long as they survive in the semis. The Blue Devils only go seven deep, with Nick Horvath getting some spot time as a fill-in big man from time to time. But at the same time, UConn really only goes seven deep as well, so this game may turn out to be a war of attrition.

Most people are calling the Duke-UConn match-up the real national championship, with the almost foregone conclusion that the winner of this game will go on to win the final. While the Huskies and the Blue Devils appear to be the two best teams left standing, it's not who has the most talent, but who performs best on the national stage. Tune in Saturday and Monday nights to see our best college players on the biggest stage.