The greatest Final Four ever? Maybe. Finish of March Madness better than its start, this year.
No. 1 seeds became story of the tournament. That, and the constant rallies by Florida and star Walter Clayton Jr.
Florida downed Texas Tech in one of this NCAA Tournament’s great games. Then, Houston raised the stakes by stunning Duke.
Cinderella got sleepy quickly in this men’s NCAA Tournament, but those who stayed late into the party put on quite a show.
This will be remembered as the March Madness when the No. 1 seeds struck back, when second-half comebacks became the winning formula, when no lead was safe, even in the hands of a blue blood, and when Florida star Walter Clayton Jr. made sure the Gator boys kept winning until no more opponents remained.
The greatest rendition of this tournament, it was not. I could go for a bit more bite from underdogs and a few more buzzer-beaters.
The greatest Final Four ever? Maybe. The tournament improved as it progressed. The semifinal games in San Antonio staged magnificent theater.
Here are my round-by-round grades.
First round: C-
The opening round spoiled us the past few years, with hardly imaginable upsets like Saint Peter’s shocking Kentucky, Princeton toppling Arizona and Fairleigh freakin’ Dickinson, a school most of us couldn’t place on a map, taming Zach Edey and Purdue.
Just last year, three No. 11 seeds won in the first round, plus two No. 12s, a No. 13 and No. 14 Oakland shocked Kentucky on the shooting stroke of a 24-year-old bench player.
So, yeah, the first-round bar had been set high. This year’s rendition couldn’t meet it. We settled for No. 11 Drake upsetting Missouri, plus a pair of No. 12 seeds — Colorado State and McNeese State — winning.
Second round: C
Most of the favorites kept winning, but not as easily. Florida supplied the first of its four comebacks needed to win a national championship by rallying past Connecticut.
Maryland’s Derick Queen banked home the buzzer-beater we craved, but it came at the expense of Colorado State reaching the Sweet 16.
Brigham Young beating Wisconsin proved good to the last drop.
John Calipari vs. Rick Pitino made for the perfect start to a second-round Saturday, even if Arkansas beating St. John’s felt only like a modest upset.
Sweet 16: B
Now, we’re cooking. This round endured its share of blowouts, like Alabama smashing BYU with a record-setting 3-point performance, but it offset those games with some of the tournament’s most memorable finishes.
Finally, the tournament served an overtime game after Texas Tech’s Darrion Williams drilled a 3-pointer to erase the last of Arkansas’ 16-point lead. The Red Raiders won in overtime. Houston coach Kelvin Sampson showed off his X’s and O’s with a beautiful inbounds play that resulted in the inbounds passer scoring the winning bucket against Purdue.
Cooper Flagg’s dynamite all-around performance against Arizona showed why the Duke freshman won the Wooden Award. He allowed the Blue Devils to survive Caleb Love’s 35 points. Michigan State-Mississippi delivered, too.
Elite Eight: C
No underdogs in the Elite Eight. Instead, a true assembly of the nation’s eight best teams. That should yield four elite games, right? Maybe, I expected too much. Houston trounced Tennessee. Duke pummeled Alabama. So much for four thrillers.
Florida-Texas Tech saved this round. It also gave us this tournament’s lasting moment: Clayton passed up a 5-footer that would have tied the game, dribbled to the top of the key and sank a 3-pointer to put the Gators ahead by a point with a minute to play. That wiped out the last of Texas Tech’s nine-point lead with less than three minutes remaining. Clayton spurred an absolute blur of buckets in the closing, and, with 34 points, he tipped his hand that he’d be named the tournament’s most outstanding player.
A good Auburn-Michigan State game propped up this round, too, complete with Johni Broome’s 3-pointer with an injured elbow.
Final Four: A+
The only other time four No. 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four, in 2008, the semifinals underwhelmed. Not this time.
Saturday served the best day of the tournament. Never mind that there were only two games. They brought together the best teams, the biggest stars, premier coaches, and they produced thrilling finishes.
Clayton and his cardiac Gators maintained their highwire act, engineering another rally, this time with Auburn falling victim. You thought that rally was good? That was nothing compared to what unfolded in the nightcap.
Houston cranked up the heat to melt Duke in the final 75 seconds to produce a stunning comeback. J’Wan Roberts, the Cougars’ sixth-year senior who’s a mediocre free-throw shooter, swished two strokes from the line to secure a one-point victory.
Duke’s win probability stood at more than 92% with less than a minute remaining, according to ESPN metrics. March Madness disrespects win probably rates, though, and Houston — like Florida — kept showing that second-half deficits were a path to victory.
National championship: B
It’s fitting the national championship ended with a Houston turnover. A beauty contest, this game was not, but it concluded with the best team from the nation’s best conference hoisting the trophy, following Florida’s 65-63 victory.
Florida used yet another second-half rally – of course, right? – to prevail.
The number of missed shots made this game an eyesore, at times, and this won’t rank as an all-time conclusion. But, the game stayed close, and the outcome hung in the balance until the buzzer sounded. That’s more than you can say for the past two championship games.
Overall March Madness grade: B
I could have gone for an extra upset or two or three early in the tournament, but I relished the Final Four, plus a few Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games. The tournament delivered in the end. It usually does.
Blake Toppmeyer is a columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer. Subscribe to read all of his columns.