NCAA Tournament schedule: Kentucky is going to the Final Four

Florida, Wisconsin and now the Connecticut Huskies and Kentucky Wildcats have punched their tickets to the 2014 Final Four.

UConn outlasted Michigan State behind a gutsy performance from Shabazz Napier. It was a battle from the opening tip at Madison Square Garden, but Napier sank a couple of key jumpers down the stretch and made three crucial free throws in the final minute to essentially put the nail in the Spartans’ coffin. The senior guard drew comparisons to Kemba Walker from all of the analysts during the second half, and Walker himself chimed in on the performance.

If you ever wondered what an Elite 8 game would look like if filmed by the folks who brought you The Blair Witch Project, now you know.

Enter Dawson, who KenPom ranks as the 53rd best offensive rebounder in the country. In a pool of over 2,000 players, that’s quite the distinction. He has been especially good at cleaning the glass lately, nabbing eight of his 27 total rebounds in the NCAA Tournament off Michigan State misses.

Michigan runs the second-most effective offense in the country, according to KenPom. Stauskas is deadly all over the floor, listed as the 28th-most prolific shooter in college basketball. The Canadian import has unlimited range, but handles the ball well and can score off the dribble. So can Caris LaVert, who has emerged as one of the country’s best rim attackers. Glenn Robinson III excels when he can run the baseline at the rim, using his unique athleticism to attack defenses from a different angle.

In an event with few guarantees, Tom Izzo’s Michigan State teams have been an NCAA Tournament constant. They’re almost always either in the Final Four or a threat to make it there. The “every senior under Izzo has made the Final Four” storyline has been talked and written about enough. We all know it. What’s easy to forget, however, is how far the Spartans have had to come this year to make it back to the brink of the season’s premiere event.

Instead, Michigan State trailed almost the entire second half and turned the ball over 16 times. Harris had 19 points in that game, but no other player was able to tally more than seven.

But there’s no need to fear. Get your updated, printable bracket here, and prepare to make even more wrong predictions for the tournament’s final three rounds.

The fun continues on Sunday when the final two spots in the Final Four will be filled in. First in the East, No. 7 Connecticut and No. 4 Michigan State take the court from Madison Square Garden. UConn is looking for its fifth trip to the Final Four, while Tom Izzo’s crew is gunning for its ninth. After that, in the Midwest, 2012 champion No. 8 Kentucky takes on 2013 runner-up No. 2 Michigan. All four teams in action on Sunday won their Sweet 16 games Friday night by five points or less.

“To be honest, I didn’t watch one game,” Napier said of the 2013 tournament. “I was more into watching River Monsters, stuff like that. I didn’t want to watch because I felt like if I did, I would be aggravated or annoyed with it.”

The stretch that the APR measured was from 2007-08 to 2010-11. But when last year’s ban hit the Huskies, not a single player on the roster had impacted UConn’s score negatively.

In the East, No. 7 Connecticut has won three National Championships, all since 1999. The Huskies draw No. 4 Michigan State, a two-time champ that is looking for its ninth trip to the Final Four. In the Midwest, it’s 2012 champion Kentucky, a No. 8 seed that is now just three wins away from a ninth title. The Wildcats will face last year’s runner-up and No. 2 seed Michigan, back in the Elite Eight for a second straight year for the first time since the early 90s.

East Regional Final (New York, N.Y.): No. 7 Connecticut vs. No. 4 Michigan State

2:20 p.m. ET, CBS