Games 598-600: Final four is set

NCAA Tournament regional finals

600 - (3) Texas Tech vs. (1) Villanova
March 25 at TD Garden in Boston, MA
CBS

The Wildcats got to their second final four in three seasons (and third in Jay Wright's 17 seasons) thanks to huge edges in rebounding (51-33) and at the free throw line (29-of-35, Tech attempted 18).

I'd put Villanova as a slight favorite to win the whole thing, though Midwest champion Kansas, its opponent in next week's national semifinals, is just as capable of winning two more games.

599 - (9) Florida State vs. (3) Michigan
March 24 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA
TBS

598 - (11) Loyola-Chicago vs. (9) Kansas State
March 24 at Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA
TNT

Not much more to say about the Missouri Valley Conference champions, which shot 57% from the field, hit half of their 18 three-point attempts and rolled into the program's first final four since winning the title in 1963.

This was actually the first comfortable outcome for the Ramblers, who won by a combined four points in their first three tournament games, but 78-62 on Saturday. This one really wasn't all that close for much of the day. Ben Richardson was fantastic (23 points on 7-of-10 shooting) and his 3-pointer 3 1/2 minutes into the game put Loyola up for good. The lead grew to as much as 61-38 on a Lucas Williamson lay-up with 9:40 to go.

What a run and it continues in the national semifinals, next Saturday against Michigan.