Well, the NCAA Tournament isn’t over yet but March Madness is done. That’s because there are 4 teams left in the Tourney and all of them are the #1 seeds. Despite a couple crazy games and Davidson nearly crashing the party in the Final Four, not that the Final Four is here there are absoluelty no surprises. Memphis, Kansas, UCLA, and North Carolina are the 4 teams who are still alive and they are all #1 seeds.

Really this has been one of the worst years I can remember as far as upsets. Most of the teams that were favored won most of the games and the ultimate result of that is the #1 seeds all advancing. That means there isn’t one team that fans can embrace as the underdog in this tournement. It’s the big boys who are left and everyone else has gone back home.

But what this also means is that we are in for battles the rest of the way. These 4 teams that are left have all looked incredibly good. Perhaps Kansas has looked human at times but UCLA, UNC, and Memphis have been nothing short of awesome in their games. And not all of these teams will collide.

On Saturday the Kansas Jayhawks will battle the North Carolina Tar Heels and the UCLA Bruins will play against the Memphis Tigers. It’s that second game that will be awesome. Memphis and UCLA look to be closely matched. Not that the Kansas and UN game won’t be close but I think UNC is just too good this year. They’ve won all their tournament games by double digits so far and this might be another double digit win for them.

So we’re all set for the Final Four and though they isn’t any underdogs left I think that’s actually a good thing. It will make for great games in the Final Four and it will make for an awesome game on Championship Night.

This week we’ll take a closer look at all these school one by one before getting into a preview of both games.

Half of the Final Four is set and so far the number one seeds are still prevailing. Both North Carolina and UCLA advanced fairly easily. UCLA didn’t have too much trouble against Xavier. They took control in the first half and stayed in control the rest of the game. UCLA had a tougher game but wound-up winning by ten.

As I thought yesterday, the UNC and Louisville game was very exciting. UNC kept trying to pull away but Louisville answered all the challenges and nearly pulled it out. But in the end UNC was just too talented. In fact, the Tar Heels look about as good as any college team I’ve seen in a long time. They have waves of scorers and they just keep coming at their opponent.

Today we’ll see if the other two number one seeds - Memphis and Kansas - can make it to the Final Four. Kansas will be taking on Davidson while Memphis will be playing Texas. I’m not so sure that either of these one seeds will survive today.

Texas is a solid team who might be young but they are very talented. Memphis hasn’t seen too many teams with the talent and athleticism that the Longhorns will throw at them. This is a tough match-up for Memphis.

Kansas should be able to beat Davidson but that’s going to be a lot easier said than done. Davidson has won over 20 games in a row and they aren’t going to go down without a fight.

Kansas coach, Bill Self, hasn’t made a Final Four with Kansas. If he doesn’t make it this year then the fans aren’t going to be happy. Never has a team had a more favorable road the Final Four. So if Kansas doesnt’ make it then Self better look out.

Here we are at the Elite 8 and every team that’s left has a decent shot of winning the entire tournament. There is no weak link.

Some fans might point to Davidson as being a team that is vulnerable but they aren’t. Don’t be fooled by Davidson’s low seed. They are playing great basketball and with All-World player, Stephen Curry, on their team, they can never be counted out.

On the other end of the spectrum, all 4 number 1 seeds are still alive. They are Memphis, Kansas, UCLA, and North Carolina. For the most part none of those teams have even hada worry up until now. But the two that play on Saturday - UCLA and UNC - are going to have to earn their way into the Final Four.

If I had to choose one game that night be lopsided it would be the first game that’s going to be played - UCLA and Xavier. Xavier is a solid team but they have looked the most vulnerable of all the teams that are left. But then again, UCLA has looked the most vulnerable of all the number 1 seeds.

The second match-up of the night - UNC against Louisville - promises to be a classic. These two teams are well-coached and loaded with talent. Not only do they have talent but they also have players who are exciting to watch. This game should be a war from the opening tip until the final buzzer.

Of course the winners of tonight’s games will move on to play each other in the Final Four a week from now. I think that wichever teams wins the later game - UNC or Louisville - needs to be favored to make it to the final regardless whether its Xavier or UCLA that wins the early game.

The ‘Fifa virus’ has hit again and this time it is Atlético Madrid’s turn to be the victim. Portuguese midfielder Simao Sabrosa will miss this vital clash on Sunday owing to a thigh strain he picked up during the Portugal vs. Greece friendly international on Wednesday. He limped off after just fifteen minutes so as not to aggravate the injury, but it seems he hasn’t been able to shake it off in time. This comes as a great disappointment to coach Javier Aguirre, who joins other managers with international players who don’t want these games played at the end of the season when their best players are needed the most.
Villarreal have gone twenty nine games aspiring to get into the Champions league, but now it seems they could be in with a shout of winning the league, too. They play hosts to an in form Atlético Madrid side who last weekend got an impressive (and rather unexpected) win away at Sevilla. A win here for Atlético would narrow the gap between third and fourth places to three points, but if Villarreal take it they could even end the weekend in second place depending on what Barcelona do and come within three points of Real Madrid. So a very important game for both clubs and one that will be very intense form the kick off.
Villarreal coach Pellegrini will not be able to count on Guille Franco, but apart from the Frenchman the rest of the squad is fit. For Atlético Madrid the problem for Javier Aguirre is finding the right replacement for Simao. That will probably fall to ex-Liverpool midfielder Luis Garcia, as it seems Jose Antonio Reyes has less chance of getting a game every week.
I’m going for a draw here as these are two evenly matched sides who never give up trying to score and who have everything to play for.
Prediction: Draw (2-2)

Life is pretty sweet for Almeria fans at the moment. At the beginning of the season they were fearing the worst and most experts had the team as sure candidates for going straight back down to the second division. However, after seven months of competition, Almeria are more than holding their own, and now occupy the relatively safe position of tenth in the league and just six points from a place in the UEFA cup. What’s more, they have lost just two matches from the last twelve, haven’t lost at home since December, and picked up four points from their two – two draw with Barcelona and that memorable win over Real Madrid. This Sunday they play hosts to a Levante side that is sitting at the bottom of the league and thirteen points from salvation, needing nothing less than a miracle to escape certain relegation.
The down side is that Almeria haven’t won a game in five attempts, having drawn three matches they should really have won. Levante are in an even worse state though, having lost their last three matches and even the players as well as the fans know that their fate has been pretty much sealed. The truth is that the Levante players have lost their faith in the team, and have accepted the fact that the club will be relegated. When players aren’t being paid and have problems paying bills doesn’t help much either, and I doubt if any of them really care about the future of Levante.
I would have gone for a home win here but the home side do have some injury problems. Almeria have proved that they are capable of surviving in the top flight of Spanish football, something which cannot be said for Levante. Almeria coach Unai Emery has done a marvelous job in molding his players into a fighting unit, and although they haven’t scored many goals (only Levante have scored less) they really take advantage of the goals they do score (they have conceded twenty eight, the same as Real Madrid). I’m going some a score draw, but don’t expect to see lots of goals here.
Prediction: Draw (1-1)

If any of Friday’s games can live up to the West Virginia and Xavier game then we are in for quite a treat.

On paper it looked like Xavier might be a lot better than West Virginia and for the first 10 minutes or so of the game it looked very much like Xavier might run away with the game. They were absolutely dominating the game. But then West Virginia began to turn things around. The Mountaneers managed to get back to within 7 points heading in halftime.

The teams battled it out in the second half and finished regulation tied. Early in Overtime it looked like West Virginia might pull away. They quickly jumped out to a 6 point lead but then they lost their bect player, Joe Alexander, when he fouled out. From there things fell apart for West Virginia. Xavier stepped up and wound-up winning the game.

But it was a great game to watch and we can only one of the game on Friday night matches that game. Perhaps we can even hve more close games - since Thursday really only had the one close game. Western Kentucky made things interesting against UCLA for awhile but Louisville crushed Tennessee and North Carolina blew out Washington State.

All of the games on Friday night have the potential to be very close, with the exception of perhaps the Villanova and Kansas game. But this game may just wind-up a lot closer than most people expect.

After Friday we’ll be down to the Elite 8. There will be 4 great match-ups this weekend to determine who will go to the Final 4.