NCAA March Madness: Florida, Kentucky, UNC and South Carolina fight for a spot in the Final Four

The second weekend of the NCAA Tournament comes to an end on Sunday night with the remaining two spots in the Final Four up for grabs.

All that’s left in the East and South regions are two blue bloods, a true Cinderella and a sleeping giant looking for a return to college basketball’s biggest weekend.

The latter two will face off in the early game (2:20 p.m. ET on CBS) Sunday with No. 7 South Carolina looking to continue it’s improbable run against a No. 4 Florida team coming off the signature game of the tournament thus far.

The Gamecocks are making their first appearance in the Elite Eight — it’s only their second NCAA tournament appearance since 2000 — and the road they took here didn’t offer any favors. After defeating No. 10 Marquette in the first round, South Carolina was charged with taking down No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Baylor just to get to this point.

Frank Martin’s team split its season series with Florida in the SEC this year, beating the Gators 57-53 at home in January before getting blown out in Gainesville, 81-66, in late February. That loss was one of six the Gamecocks suffered in their final nine games of the season — including the SEC tournament.

Florida is making its fourth appearance in the Elite Eight in the last seven years, but the first without Billy Donovan at the helm since 1994. Mike White didn’t arrive to a bare roster when he took over for Donovan, but he’s made this team his own and now has a chance to start building his own legacy with the program.

After taking down No. 13 East Tennessee State, No. 5 Virginia and hitting the shot of the tournament so far against No. 8 Wisconsin for an overtime victory, the Gators enter their matchup with South Carolina having weathered through as much as any team remaining in the tournament.

Shortly after the action concludes in New York City, No. 1 North Carolina and No. 2 Kentucky tipoff in Memphis (5:05 p.m. ET on CBS). Both teams worked past their respective Sweet 16 matchups with relative ease, setting up for an All-Blue Blood meeting with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

This game will feature all the history, star power and big name coaches that the NCAA craves when the bracket comes out. John Calipari and Roy Williams have 14 Final Four appearances between them (including Calipari’s vacated trips), so this stage won’t get the best of either coach.

North Carolina’s quest to avenge their championship game loss to Villanova last year means this is just footnote for the Tar Heels, as well. Roy’s boys have been focused on playing in Phoenix since Kris Jenkins’ buzzer beater fell through the net. After running through Texas Southern, Arkansas and Butler with relative ease, they should be more than ready to take down the uber-athletic roster Calipari has put together at UK.

With De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk and Bam Adebayo on the floor, the Wildcats can beat you in a number of ways, but they matchup extremely well with UNC’s Joel Berry II, Justin Jackson and Kennedy Meeks as well as any team could hope for this late in the tournament.

Time: South Carolina vs. Florida at 2:20 p.m. ET; North Carolina vs. Kentucky at 5:05 p.m. ET.

Where: Madison Square Garden, New York/FedEx Forum, Memphis

TV: CBS

Announcers: Verne Lundquist, Jim Spanarkel, Allie LaForce | Jim Nantz, Grant Hill, Bill Raftery, Tracy Wolfson

Online: NCAA.com