The ‘Madness’ ends as midmajors fall short of Final Four

Since George Mason's epic run to the Final Four in 2006, many midmajors have followed the Patriots' lead, including VCU and Butler twice. This year, however, all four Final Four teams come from powerhouse conferences (photo courtesy Creative Commons, user JMR_Photography).

In what has been one of the wackiest and most unpredictable NCAA Tournaments in history, college basketball has been restored to normalcy, as four perennial powerhouses remain standing.

Kentucky, Louisville, Kansas and Ohio State.

The madness all started with the little-known No. 15 seed Norfolk State and their shocking win over the No. 2 seed Missouri Tigers, a team coming off a strong performance in the Big 12 Championship, and that many predicted to reach the Final Four.

This was the first win by a No. 15 seed over a No. 2 seed in the tournament in 11 years.

But it didn’t happen just once.

Just hours later, college basketball’s crowned jewel, the No. 2 seed Duke Blue Devils, fell to No. 15 seed Lehigh. Yes, Lehigh.

This was perhaps the most shocking loss in NCAA Tournament history. Although No. 15 seeds have taken down No. 2 seeds a handful of times in the past, never has it been a team as well renowned as Duke, a team that is expected to make it to the Final Four every year.

The wackiness did not end there, however.

In the Midwest region, the No. 10, No. 11, No. 12 and No. 13 seeds all moved on to the Round of 32, an extremely rare feat. Then, the No. 13 seed, Ohio University, won another game to earn their spot in the Sweet Sixteen. The No. 11 seed, N.C. State, joined the Bobcats in the Sweet Sixteen after taking down the mighty Georgetown Hoyas, the No. 3 seed.

The CAA’s own VCU Rams also had another solid showing in the tournament, moving on to the Round of 32 as a No. 12 seed before falling in a heartbreaker to the Indiana Hoosiers. Not quite the Final Four run they had one year ago, but a strong representation for the midmajors.

Three double-digit seeds fought their way into the Sweet Sixteen this year: Xavier, Ohio and N.C. State.

Plus, for the first time in NCAA history, four of the Sweet Sixteen squads all came from the same state, Ohio. In addition to Ohio University and Xavier, Ohio State and Cincinnati also earned their spots in the round of 16.

Despite all the turmoil, all the busted brackets and all the madness, the status quo has been restored.

For the first time since 2009, there is no “Cinderella” in the Final Four.

This year’s Final Four consists of four glorified programs each with a rich tradition of winning: Kentucky, Louisville, Kansas and Ohio State.

In the first game on Saturday, you will see the inner-state rivalry of Kentucky against Louisville.

Kentucky is the winningest program in the history of college basketball. They rank first in both NCAA Tournament appearances and wins, and are second to only UCLA in National Championships with seven.

Louisville has won two National Championships and is fifth all time in NCAA Tournament appearances with 38. They are coached by Rick Pitino, the only coach in NCAA history to lead three different teams to the Final Four.

In the night cap on Saturday, you will see Kansas against Ohio State, a rematch of a battle in which KU prevailed earlier in the season, albeit the Buckeyes did not have Jared Sullinger.

Kansas is as much of a super-power program as any team nationwide with the second most wins in school history, only behind Kentucky. They have won three National Championships and their first coach, James Naismith, was the inventor of the game of basketball.

Ohio State has no shortage of rich basketball history, either. Football may reign supreme in the Buckeye state, but the basketball program has now reached the Final Four 11 times and has won the National Championship once. This is also their third consecutive season reaching at least the Sweet Sixteen.

How about that for tradition.

These four squads have combined for 13 National Championships and the two most winningest programs in college basketball history will be represented in New Orleans.

The madness certainly came to a halt.

Last year, not just one but two midmajor programs reached the prestigious plateau of the Final Four: VCU and Butler, marking their second straight appearance.

The year prior, 2010, Butler reached its first Final Four held in its own hometown of Indianapolis, before falling in the final seconds to the Duke Blue Devils in the championship game.

And of course, in 2006, some school by the name of George Mason University stunned the world by reaching the Final Four, taking down mega schools like Michigan State, UNC and UConn.

In the 2012 version of the Big Dance, the slippers did not fit as each Cinderella hopeful was sent home early, well relatively early anyway.

Schools like Norfolk State and Lehigh got the tournament off to a captivating start, and teams like Ohio were on the verge of becoming “this year’s George Mason (or VCU),” but no midmajor squad was able to quite overcome the adversity of March.

Maybe next year.