With the final four for both the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments this upcoming weekend, fans will see a combination of powerhouse teams and total newcomers. The men’s tournament has largely been dominated by the upsets, with no top three seeds making the final four for the first time ever. Yet, the women’s side has four teams that are far and away the best four in the country, and each has one star player that will try to help their team win it all. 

Starting with the men’s tournament, the final four consists of: Miami University (FL), University of Connecticut (UCONN), Florida Atlantic University (FAU), and San Diego St. University (SDSU). The route that each team has had to take to get to this point has been very different. Here is a look at how each team got here…

FAU: Coming in the lowest seed at ninth, FAU has done nothing but prove the media and journalists wrong all tournament. They started off their campaign with a great win over a talented Memphis team, followed by an easy win over sixteen seed, Fairleigh Dickinson University. Some questionable sportsmanship at the end of that game had many basketball fans hoping that Tennessee University would take care of FAU in the sweet sixteen, but that would not be the case as FAU were able to win comfortably in that game as well. However, things got tough in the elite eight when Kansas St. had a large comeback led by tournament star, Markquis Nowell, who got bucket after bucket, but still couldn’t lead his team to overcome FAU. Now that they are headed to the final four, they once again aren’t the favorites over SDSU, but it still won’t be a surprise if they were to advance to the championship.

SDSU: After being robbed of a potential final four run in 2020, this fifth seeded SDSU team has looked better and better each game. They had a very easy first two rounds with wins over the College of Charleston and Furman, who had upset Virginia. It was as perfect as it could get for SDSU. However, in the sweet sixteen they were up against the overall tournament one seed, Alabama University. Yet in that game, SDSU showed what they had all season in which they are so difficult to score points on. Their defense is outstanding, and they held some of the best shooters in the country to a limited amount of points. In the elite eight they were able to beat six seed, Creighton University, despite a controversial foul call in the end. Heading into the final four they look to be the favorites against FAU, but as we have clearly seen with this tournament, anyone and everyone can beat anyone. 

Miami (FL): In the other final four matchup, the fifth seeded Hurricanes of Miami will look to take their conference (ACC) back to the finals. Despite being seeded fifth, Miami has looked like a one or two seed with their style of play. Their first round saw them get a comfortable win over Drake, followed by an even more comfortable win over Indiana University. Last season Miami was a ten seed that made the elite eight, and this year proved to be a step up from last year. Being a fifth seed, they were not the favorites against number one Houston, yet they demolished them. That win gave them a huge wave of momentum that helped them get across the finish line against number two Texas, who was looking to be the favorites. However, now they look ahead to the team that has looked the best all tournament long.

UCONN: What UCONN has been able to do this tournament has been nothing short of exceptional. They have obliterated every team they’ve come up against, and they show zero sign of slowing down. They started out crushing Iona followed by another easy win over St. Mary’s. In the Sweet sixteen they would have to come up against an Arkansas team that knocked out Kansas, but Arkansas would prove to be no challenge for the UCONN Huskies. If Arkansas wasn’t a challenge, then Gonzaga must have been a walk in the park. UCONN defeated Gonzaga in one of the largest wins of the tournament so far. No one has even challenged UCONN so far, and it will be interesting to see if Miami is the one that can stop them. 

So that was the recap/preview for the men’s tournament. UCONN is undoubtedly the favorites, but upsets have most definitely occurred, so anything can happen. Now for the women’s side. In perhaps one of the most exciting tournaments ever for the women’s side, the final four will be sure to break tons of records for both attendance and viewership. Each round of the tournament so far, the women’s side is bringing in more viewership than ever. People all over the country are more invested than they ever have been with women’s college basketball, and this final four will be sure to give the fans a huge treat. These final tour teams are: South Carolina University (SC), Louisiana State University (LSU), Virginia Tech University (VT), and Iowa UNiversity. 

South Carolina: The reigning national champions, and only undefeated team left in the country look to continue their dominance in the final four. Led by star player and defensive player of the year, Aliyah Boston, SC will be the favorites for the title no question about that. However, they have yet to face a team as good as Iowa yet. SC defeated Maryland in the elite eight in their closest game of the tournament, despite it being an easy win for them. All eyes will be on their semifinal matchup with Iowa, especially the matchup of Boston versus Caitlin Clark. 

Iowa: Perhaps the most fun team to watch in women’s sports at the moment, Iowa women’s basketball has been the absolute talk of the sports world, well, at least Caitlin Clark is. The recently crowned Player of the Year, has been the talk of the tournament with outstanding performance after outstanding performance. Most recently she achieved a 40-point triple-double, which has never been done in a women’s tournament game before. Iowa has so much momentum on their side that many believe that they could be the ones to take down South Carolina. 

All week many people online, who might have never paid that much attention to the women’s tournament before, have been talking about South Carolina vs Iowa. Many believe that it could break viewership records with the amount of hype this game has heading into it. All over sports posts on social media, the comments have been saying that this is the most exciting match in all of March Madness this year; a groundbreaking tournament for the women. 

LSU: Led by Angel Reese, LSU has that fierce attitude and firepower that helps teams win games. Despite their showmanship at times, LSU has been the breakout team this season. Head coach Kim Mulkey has been key in leading this team into the final four. Though they had a poor elite eight match, LSU will look to put that behind them as they face off against the in-form ACC champions, Virginia Tech. Reese will look to her teammates to win as this match is no doubt the biggest match in program history. 

Virginia Tech: The ACC champions have been smooth sailing all throughout this tournament. While fellow one seeds such as Indiana and Stanford were falling in the second round, Virginia Tech was cruising to the final four. Star player, Georgia Amoore, will try to help her team reach the national championship for the first time in Virginia Tech history. Though they have the more favorable semifinal matchup, Virginia Tech knows that they can’t overlook LSU if they want to see themselves cutting down the net on Sunday night. 

Overall, the final fours for both tournaments will be groundbreaking in their own way, yet for such differing reasons have been why this year is so interesting. For the men, last year was a battle of the blue bloods, but this year is the year of chaos. For the women, this final four will look to solidify the most fun women’s season in recent memory. Below are the start times and channels for which viewers can find these games.

Friday: 

6:00 PM- Virginia Tech vs LSU (ESPN)

8:00 PM- Iowa vs South Carolina (ESPN)

Saturday:

5:10 PM- FAU vs San Diego St. (CBS)

7:50 PM- Miami vs UCONN (CBS)

Sunday:

2:30 PM- Women’s Championship (ABC)

Monday:

8:20 PM- Men’s Championship (CBS)