NCAA Tournament 2014: Wisconsin reaches Final Four in thriller over Arizona

Top-seeded Arizona’s season ended in something close to an instant classic against No. 2 Wisconsin in the Elite 8 on Saturday night, and Tucson reacted in a way not completely unexpected from a college town. Students flooded into the streets of the second biggest city in Arizona, many possibly intoxicated from a party that probably started hours before the game.

Surprise! Local law enforcement did not appreciate this. The cops lined the streets with a fairly substantial force and told people to leave. When they didn’t, police went to some pretty extreme measures, reportedly using pepper balls, tasers, tear gas and beanbag guns to clear the streets.

The Badgers are going to the Final Four for the first time since 2000. Madison is drinking it in right now, literally.

This bucket tied the game and was the last score of regulation. Does anyone think Nick Johnson meant to pass it?

Wisconsin and Arizona are coming down to the wire in the Elite 8, but you wouldn’t be able to know it looking at this reaction from Bo Ryan. He’s pretty much in this state permanently.

Because we like basketball, we turned on the Division II National Championship when we saw it was on CBS, and saw the Central Missouri Mules go on a 22-12 run to top the West Liberty Hilltoppers 84-77.

Here is what you need to know about this:

The only region featuring a 1 vs. 2 matchup will not be a game of chalk, but of glass. The Wildcats have a team of talented, athletic big men who like to crash the boards and create second-chance opportunities. Arizona is one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the NCAA, whereas Wisconsin is ranked near the bottom.

The Wildcats have some of the best rebounding bigs in the tournament, including Aaron Gordon and 7-foot sophomore center Kaleb Tarczewski. How the fight between Tarczewski and Badgers center Frank Kaminsky plays out will pull rebounding duties for the rest of the Wisconsin players on a string.