Game 772 - (5) Auburn vs. (1) Virginia

NCAA Tournament national semifinals
April 6 at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, MN
CBS

Virginia is one win away from its first national title after a crazy ending Saturday.

Kyle Guy was fouled (?) by Samir Doughty on a three-point attempt with no time on the clock and knocked down all three free throws to secure the Cavaliers' 63-62 victory. Guy finished with 15 points and those were his only free throw attempts. Ty Jerome was great for the Cavaliers, scoring 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting.

No field goals were made after Bryce Brown's three with 1:56 left gave Auburn a 59-57 cushion. Brown hit four threes, but he and Jared Harper were just 8-of-22 combined from the floor to help send the Tigers home.

The Cavaliers, now 34-3, advance to the title game after losses in the 1981 and 1984 final four.

Virginia was also the first No. 1 seed to lose to a 16 in the opening round as Maryland-Baltimore County got the Cavs in last year's tournament. 

Game 607: Villanova

NCAA Tournament national championship game
(3) Michigan vs. (1) Villanova
April 1 at Alamodome in San Antonio, TX
TBS

There were a ton of great stories in this NCAA Tournament:

* Maryland Baltimore County becoming the first No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed, stunning the top overall seed Virginia 74-54 in the South Region.

* Also in the South - No. 14 seed Buffalo blew out No. 3 Arizona in the first round and Loyola-Chicago went from a No. 11 seed to the final four.

* Syracuse does what Syracuse apparently does all the time now - win tournament games as a low seed, this time taking a No. 11 and winning a first four game, then upsetting sixth-seeded TCU and third-seeded Michigan State to get to the Sweet 16. The Orangemen lost to No. 2 seed Duke by just four.

* Michigan got hot at the right time, winning the Big 10 Tournament, then reaching the national title game with a five-game run in the NCAAs, which included a buzzer-beater over No. 6 seed Houston in the round of 32.....

....but there was one great team - Villanova, which won its second national championship in three years with a convincing, 79-62 victory over the Wolverines on Monday.

Game 213 - (7) Washington women vs. (4) Syracuse

NCAA Tournament national semifinals
April 3 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN
ESPN2

Game 212: (2) Oregon state women vs. (1) Connecticut

NCAA national semifinals
April 3 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN
ESPN

One win to go for the Huskies, who cruised past another opponent (80-51) and are now just a Tuesday victory from a fourth consecutive national title and 11th overall.

It is an absolute pleasure to watch Connecticut play basketball, and not just the stars. You can see the future of Connecticut basketball every single game because 1. plenty of underclassmen contribute; 2. plenty of 9th/10th/11th-players get their 5, 6 minutes at the ends of these routs & 3. Geno Auriemma is the best womens basketball coach of all time.

Of course, the stars are a joy to watch as well.

* Morgan Tuck is just a junior, but knowing very little about scouting or what WNBA teams currently need I would still expect her to forgo her senior year and be a first round pick.

With Breanna Stewart at two fouls just 2:05 in, Tuck took over, and honestly, this semifinal felt one-sided earlier than I expected.

* Stewart is so good that she had those two fouls and was held to just two first-half points, yet still finished with 16 points and only one more foul committed. And she played until a minute remained in the opening quarter.

I'm more impressed with Stewart each time I see her play.

* And I haven't even mentioned Moriah Jefferson, who is a phenomenal point guard with quickness and a pretty mid-range jump shot and who I expect will be an all star at the next level.

Connecticut is bad for womens basketball? No, all of the idiots who have said that, especially that one idiot.

Connecticut is a phenomenal team that wins a lot.

That's just GOOD.

Games 210 & 211 - Two remain

NCAA national semifinals
211 - (10) Syracuse vs. (1) North Carolina
210 - (2) Oklahoma vs. (2) Villanova
April 2 at NRG Stadium in Houston, TX
TBS

When the first of the following phrases were said by the announcing team:

* Grant Hill's first time calling Bill Raftery "Coach" - 14:21 left in first half

* Jay Wright dresses well. The reason I know this is because the announcers mention it EVERY SINGLE TIME VILLANOVA PLAYS. Hill invented yet another GQ/Jay Wright nickname and it was "JQ" (9:15 left in first)

* "Blow by" - 1:10 in first

* "Dribble drive" - 18:52 in second half

Some other made-up nonsense:

"Post rubs" (said twice)
"Space dribble (2)
"Trying to body search"
"Value the ball"
"Pick and pop" (2)

* And finally, Raftery said "they gotta get into the game a little bit, Oklahoma, the sooner the better" and "a little ricochet romance!", so he wasn't getting away with either of those things.