The last time the city of Houston hosted a Final Four in 2016, it was, from a college sports perspective, pretty spectacular. It pitted a pair of one seeds and a pair of two seeds with the championship game between Villanova and North Carolina featuring a buzzer-beating thriller. Compare that to 2011 when the last four games of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament was here. That year, featured three, four, eight and 11 seeded teams. UConn, the highest seed in the group, beat Butler in an absolutely miserable final, 53-41.
Unfortunately, this year feels a bit like a bracket busting repeat of 2011, at least in terms of the featured teams with one four seed — welcome back, UConn — two fives in San Diego State and Miami, and ninth seeded Florida Atlantic University. No one, two or three seeds including the favored-by-many University of Houston Cougars (downed in the sweet 16 by Miami) or the two seed UT Longhorns, who fell in the elite eight — also to Miami.
Who is going to show up at NRG Stadium?
No offense to these final teams, but not only are there a pair of barely known schools in the tourney, but also two teams that aren’t likely to travel well. For football, sure “the U” would fill up NRG Stadium, but Miami isn’t a hotbed of basketball. And Connecticut, we’ll believe it when we see it. It does probably mean there will be plenty of good seats and college basketball at this level is still incredible, even if it is between teams you don’t know…like, at all.
UConn and Miami would be a fun final, except…
Honestly, a Husky-Hurricane final would probably be a blast. UConn has absolutely obliterated its last few opponents including the team many picked to win it all in Gonzaga. And Miami has mopped the floor with both UH and UT. Unfortunately, they are on the same side of the bracket, so it’s a very real possibility that the semifinal will be the title game. As great a Cinderella story as it is for FAU and SDSU, it is unlikely either will match up with either team from the other side of the bracket. But, they have made it this far.
Having no Texas teams is super disappointing.
Houston, UT Austin and Baylor were one, two and three in their seedings. If there was ever a year when a Texas college made the Final Four, this seemed like it. But, the Cougars, at least partially hobbled by injury, just didn’t have it in the tournament. Baylor was ousted early and the Longhorns got taken out by Miami over the weekend. We fully admit to having dreams of UH finally getting a title in their home town with former Cougar Jim Nantz on the call — his final call after 40 years of doing the tournament. Instead, we get California, Connecticut and Florida.
Hopefully, we’ll have some last-minute heroics.
A final between the two Florida schools could be fun just for them. Maybe Ron DeSantis would show up and cause a ruckus. But, the best we can really hope for are three very good games that go down to the wire. A sensational final game would be a joy to watch and help salvage a tournament that has lost most of its casual fans.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
