UConn and Kentucky both advance

Connecticut and Kentucky both entered the Final Four being looked at as teams who did not deserve to be there. The Huskies dominated the Florida Gators and ended up beating them by double digits. The Wildcats were able to pull off a down-to-the-wire victory over the Wisconsin Badgers, and were able to win by just one point. The seven seeded Huskies and the eight seeded Wildcats could only have dreamed of being in this spot entering the tournament, the visualization would have been tough.

When you look upon the championship game tomorrow, think about the all the really good teams from this season, and then look at the two that are still standing. The Big Ten Champions, gone. The Big 12 Champions, gone. The lone undefeated team, gone. Two teams whose regular seasons had been considered a disappointment are the teams who remain. Kentucky started the year as the number one overall ranked team, but quickly fell through the ranks and was not ranked for a large part of the year. Even with those poor regular seasons, the Huskies and the Wildcats found ways to advance throughout the tournament.

For Kentucky, they have been riding on the back of the Harrison twins, and they have stepped up big. Aaron Harrison has it to big game winning shots to eliminate Michigan in the Elite Eight, and Wisconsin in the Final Four. Julius Randle and James Young stepped up against Wisconsin both scoring over 15 points. It seems to be that the Kentucky's five freshman starters are finally starting to play like the team they were expected to be.

UConn did not enter the season with as big of expectations as the Wildcats. The Huskies were expected to be a good team and have a good seed in the tournament. But they were not supposed to be the best team in the country. Their starting point guard, Shabazz Napier was a freshman on the 2011 championship team, so he will lead his Huskies into Monday night with experience. This should be a good game of two teams who have ended up where they wanted to, but with a different path than what was expected.