With the NCAA tournament coming down to 4 teams it is time to look at the remaining teams and understand their different paths and why they all have a chance of winning. 

Michigan dominated the big ten all year with a team full of transfers. Fully taking advantage of NIL and landing stars across the board including the best known Yaxel Lendeborg they seemingly have played together their entire careers with crisp passing and overall great team defense. Michigan has a great combination of size, skill, and speed which is a matchup nightmare for other teams to handle. Michigan has dominated in the tournament so far scoring at least 90 points in every game so far. Arizona is easily their toughest matchup yet but Michigan should be ready for the heavy weight clash.

Arizona has been at the top of the rankings for the entire year and for good reason. They have a team that spreads the wealth with 5 different players averaging over 10 points a game. They also have 4 different players shooting 40 percent or higher from 3 which makes it extremely difficult on opposing teams to defend inside knowing they have a team full of perimeter shooters. Arizona has also dominated in the tournament, while not having the scoring excellence of Michigan they held Purdue to just 64 points and played excellent team defense all tournament. There aren’t many teams in the country that could hang with MIchigan but Arizona is one of the few teams that could push them to their limits.

Illinois has been an extremely fun team to watch all year with new faces and incredible offensive creativity Illinois has definitely exceeded expectations and while not a Cinderella they definitely were an underdog. Headlined by true freshman standout Keaton Wagler they have been a high scoring offense all season. With wins over Houston and Iowa on their path to the final four Illinois is definitely battle tested and have proven throughout the Big Ten all year that Illinois can hang with anyone and they are dynamic enough offensively to give any team left problems.

Uconn is coming off maybe the greatest comeback win in tournament history and Dan Hurley’s tournament magic seemingly continues. While this Uconn team wasn’t seen heading into the tournament as good as the teams in years past, players like Tarris Reed have stepped up big time in the tournament. Uncons of ball movement and screens is a nightmare for teams to keep up with and if they are hitting their perimeter shots they are up there with the best teams in the country. 

This final four is set to be one of the more competitive ones in recent memory with 4 teams that cause matchup problems in different ways. The tournament has shown some awesome moments this year and the final four hopefully has more in store for us.

Author: Ashton Youngfelt

ashbrooks2307@gmail.com