NCAA Tournament: Ohio State, Louisville Earn Final Four Berths

Kentucky’s “the best team in the country” with “the most talent in the country,” according to SB Nation’s Nick Fasulo. But the Wildcats’ best weapon might not be Anthony Davis.

For more on the 2012 NCAA Tournament bracket, stay with SB Nation’s Selection Sunday StoryStream, and stick around SB Nation’s NCAA Tournament hub for a complete printable NCAA Tournament bracket and tons of analysis on who was snubbed, who got the best bracket, and who will make it all the way to New Orleans and the Final Four.

For up-to-the-minute scores on all NCAA Tournament games, please check out SI.com’s complete scoreboard.

For more on the 2012 NCAA Tournament bracket, stick around SB Nation’s NCAA Tournament hub. There you’ll find a complete printable NCAA Tournament bracket and tons of analysis on each game as the road to the Final Four continues.

Florida’s Elite Eight matchup with Louisville was billed as both a tussle between master Rick Pitino and student Billy Donovan and a clash between the Gators’ explosive offense and the Cardinals’ stifling defense. Master and defense won out, as the Cardinals ripped off an 18-3 run to finish the game and earn a 72-68 victory.

Louisville moves on to the Final Four, where the Cardinals will play either Kentucky or Baylor. The Gators bowed out in the Elite Eight for the second straight year, with a collapse eerily similar to one that happened in 2011 against Butler.

I don’t know how Karl Hess got an Elite Eight assignment. For the life of me, I can’t figure out whose bright idea this was. Hess is an absolutely terrible official -- say his name to a college basketball fan and you’ll be greeted by groans or worse. He’s that bad.

And this may have been one for the Hess Highlight Reel (tm). Hess actually tech’d Rick Pitino for yelling at his own player.

Oh, and there’s a GIF.

Young is apparently returning to school for his junior year at Florida, so there may be a few more highlights like this in his career in orange and blue.

I love the follow-through with the painted nails.

The first game of the Elite Eight will tip off Saturday afternoon featuring the two lowest-seeded teams remaining in the tournament. But that doesn’t mean when No. 4 seed Louisville squares off against No. 7 seed Florida in the West Region finals that there will be a dearth of NBA-caliber talent on the floor. Seth Pollack of SB Nation Arizona featured two future stars this week from each team.

Louisville’s Gorgui Dieng has really come into his own over the past month, becoming a true difference-maker on the inside. He had an incredible impact in the paint in the Cardinals’ Sweet 16 win over Michigan State. Pollack writes about his unique path to Louisville, which hit a high-point on Thursday night:

SB Nation’s Dan Rubenstein and Matt Ufford are here to break down Saturday’s two Elite Eight games and make their predictions, but they’re not terribly confident in their picks*. In fact, they’re almost certain that they are wrong. If you’re the betting kind of person, you should probably watch this video and then bet your money on the exact opposite of what Dan and Matt say.

↵