2024 NCAA FINAL FOUR @ Phoenix, Arizona 2nd Final Four (’17) Hosted by Arizona St. U. (Pac 12 Conf) (2nd Final Four)  – The Floor
First Semifinal		Second Semifinal
#11-South (Seed #45, NET #63, AP #29) Dallas, Texas (6th Regional) Hosted by Big 12 Conference	#1-Midwest (Seed #3, NET #3, AP #3) Detroit, Michigan (5th Regional)  –  Hosted by U. of Detroit Mercy and Oakland U.	#4-West (Seed #16, NET #9, AP #19) Los Angeles, California (10th Regional) Hosted by Pepperdine U.	#1-East (Seed #1, NET #2, AP #1) Boston, Massachusets (4th Regional) Hosted by Boston College
North Carolina State University Wolfpack (26-14)	Purdue University Boilermakers (33-4)	University of Alabama Crimson Tide (25-11)	University of Connecticut Huskies (35-3)
Atlantic Coast Conf – Tourney Champs Raleigh, North Carolina 4th Final Four (’50, ’74, ’83) def #6 Texas Tech 80-67 def #14 Oakland 79-73 (OT) def #8 Marquette 67-58 def #4 Duke 76-64	Big Ten Conf – Regular Season Champs West Lafayette, Indiana 3rd Final Four (’69, ’80)  def #16 Grambling State 78-50 def #8 Utah State 106-67 def #5 Gonzaga 80-68 def #2 Tennessee 72-66	Southeastern Conf – 5th Place Tuscaloosa, Alabama 1st Final Four def #13 Charleston 109-96 def #12 Grand Canyon 72-61 def #5 North Carolina 89-87 def #6 Clemson 89-82	Big East Conf – Reg Season & Tourney Champs Storrs, Connecticut 7th Final Four (’99, ’04, ’09, ’11, ’14, ’23) def #16 Stetson 91-52 def #9 Northwestern 75-58 def #5 San Diego State 82-52 def #3 Illinois 77-52

Thursday, April 4, 2024  ***HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD… RIP***  
UCONN AND PURDUE ROLLING OPPONENTS; NC STATE ON A ROLL
At least $477 will be donated to Lymphoma Research Foundation; over $5,168 donated over 14 years

LA MIRADA, CA (smt) – After last year where the top 12 teams (all #1/2/3 seeds) were eliminated before the Final Four, we do have two #1 seeds for the first time since 2021.  The one thing that remains the same is #1W-UConn, who are trying to become the first back-to-back champions since Florida did it in 2007.  #1MW-Purdue will try to do what Virginia did in 2019 and that is lose to a #16 seed the year before and then win the title.  #11S-NC State will try to continue their amazing run, winning 5 games-in-5 days to claim the auto bid for the ACC and then winning the first four games of the tourney including surviving an overtime game vs #14S-Oakland (of Massachusetts, not California).  #4W-Alabama is making its first Final Four and while they have not played a better seed yet, they have eliminated two straight ACC teams.

The first round saw 11 upsets including three #11 seeds, two #12 seeds, and #13E-Yale (who knocked off #4E-Auburn) and #14S-Oakland (who knocked off #3S-Kentucky).  The second round saw just two worse seeds (#6W-Clemson over #3W-Baylor and #5MW-Gonzaga over #4MW-Kansas) win which led to the Sweet 16 netting all the #1 and #2 seeds for the just the fifth time (but saw just 3 of the 8 make the Elite 8).  UConn has built a 30-point lead in all four games and has beaten ten straight tourney opponents by 13 points or more.  Purdue’s only trouble was in their last game against #2MW-Tennessee but with Zach Edey scoring 14 straight points for Purdue, ending up winning by six.