NCAA Tournament: Fresh Faces Dominate 2017 Final Four

With the 2017 Final Four set in stone, three non-traditional programs will be participating.

When the original NCAA Tournament bracket came out, 68 teams all had hopes of earning their way into the Final Four. Now, with only three games remaining in the Big Dance, the Final Four is all set and ready to go.

Normally, the Final Four is chock full of programs that are recognizable to the casual fan. However, this year, the penultimate round is laden with teams who aren’t exactly household names. Geographically speaking, the remaining four teams land in two very different clusters.

Two teams are from the Pacific Northwest and the other two are all the way across the country in the Carolinas.

This season’s Final Four will take place at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. The venue is no stranger to big-time sporting events, having hosted two Super Bowls (XLII and XLIX) and three College Football National Championship games (2007, 2011, and 2016).

The first two games of the Final Four will be played on April 1. Each winning team will meet in the national championship game on April 3rd. All of the games will be broadcast on CBS.

According to ESPN, out of almost 19 million brackets, only 657 correctly picked this year’s Final Four.

Below, we will take a look at all four remaining NCAA Tournament teams. Betting odds are courtesy of Covers.

(Seeding based on the official NCAA Tournament bracket.)

Final Four Participants:

North Carolina is definitely the most recognizable team remaining in the Final Four. In fact, of the four participants this year, the Tar Heels are the only team to have made it this far since 1940.

The Tar Heels also made the Final Four last year, eventually losing in the national championship game to Villanova. Overall, this will be the Tar Heels 20th appearance in the Final Four.

It’s been an impressive journey for UNC this year, overcoming a few real scares in their first four games of the NCAA Tournament.

They rolled through No. 16 Texas Southern in the Round of 64 and No. 4 Butler in the Sweet Sixteen, but had tough games against No. 8 Arkansas in the Round of 32 and No. 2 Kentucky in the Elite Eight.

Against the Razorbacks, the Tar Heels trailed 65-60 with only 3:31 remaining in the game, but eventually triumphed with key defensive stops down the stretch. In the Elite Eight, UNC forward Luke Maye hit a long jumper with 0.3 seconds remaining to sneak by Kentucky 75-73.

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No. 1 North Carolina will play No. 3 Oregon on April 1 at 8:49 p.m. EDT. The Tar Heels enter the game as 4.5-point favorites.

Their last meeting was on Nov. 25, 2008, a 98-69 win by North Carolina.

It’s been a long, winding road for the Bulldogs since establishing themselves in the late ’90s. The ‘Zags had made eight Sweet Sixteens and three Elite Eights on their path, but never the Final Four.

Until now.

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With their blowout win over No. 11 Xavier in the Elite Eight, Gonzaga is finally headed to the promised land. Some people may not agree, but by reaching the Final Four this year, the ‘Zags are officially in the conversation as being an elite college basketball program.

The only scare the Bulldogs had in the NCAA Tournament came in the Sweet Sixteen against West Virginia. Thanks to a historically bad final possession by the Mountaineers, Gonzaga was able to escape with a 61-58 win.

No. 1 Gonzaga will play No. 7 South Carolina on April 1 at 6:09 p.m. EDT. The ‘Zags enter the game as 6.5-point favorites.

Per shrpsports.com, this will be the first meeting between the programs.

Even with the loss of one of their best players, the Ducks defied odds and earned their first Final Four berth since 1939.

Things were not easy, however.

Oregon survived two very real scares along the way and knocked off the tournament’s odds-on favorite. The Ducks narrowly escaped Rhode Island (75-72) in the Round of 32 and inched past Michigan (69-68) in the Sweet Sixteen.

Their best performance came in the Elite Eight, as they trounced No. 1 seed Kansas by 14 points.

As usual, sophomore Tyler Dorsey has played the role of hero for the Ducks. In four NCAA Tournament games, he has scored at least 20 points in each, averaging 24.5 points overall.

Things won’t get any easier for Oregon as they venture towards the national championship. The Ducks will North Carolina on April 1 in the Final Four and like the last few rounds, the Ducks will enter the game as underdogs (+4.5).

Easily the Cinderella story of the Final Four, the Gamecocks are an easy team to root for. They are the epitome of what a college basketball team should be and play a brand of defense that would make even Mike Ditka blush.

Overall, the Gamecocks defense ranks No. 2 in defensive efficiency and is allowing only 64.9 points per game in 36 games.

They’ve pulled three big upsets in a row to get to the Final Four, beating Duke in the Round of 32, Baylor in the Sweet Sixteen and finally Florida in the Elite Eight. In four NCAA Tournament games, Frank Martin’s defense is only allowing 68.5 points per game.

Leading the way on offense is SEC Player of the Year Sindarious ‘Sin’ Thornwell. In four NCAA Tournament games, he is averaging 25.7 points per game. Thornwell has led the Gamecocks in scoring every game since Feb. 28.

Moving forward, the Gamecocks will square off with Gonzaga in the first game of the Final Four on April 1. Tip-off is set for 6:09 p.m. EDT, with South Carolina coming in as 6.5-point underdogs.

All Final Four games will be broadcast nationally on CBS.