Two annual powerhouses are in the 2011 Final Four, along with one surprise squad and one Cinderella team. Kentucky is a powerhouse because the team has appeared in 14 Final Fours.
In contrast, Virginia Commonwealth (VCU) has reached its first Final Four, Butler has appeared in 2 Final Fours, and Connecticut has appeared in 4 Final Fours.
The Connecticut vs. Kentucky match-up is between two talented and well-coached teams. Both coaches, John Calipari and Jim Calhoun, have reached the Final Four multiple times. Connecticut has a slight advantage because of the guard play of Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb. Lamb has been a nice compliment to Walker, who is averaging 23.5 points per game on the season. Lamb is able to take the double teams away from Walker and allow him to dominate the game. However, Kentucky has its own dominant player in Brandon Knight, who led his team to victories in many close games thus far in the tournament. Expect Connecticut to move on to the National Championship game because of their national player of the year candidate in Walker.
In the intriguing match-up between VCU and Butler, expect VCU to continue its Cinderella story into the Championship game because of its deadly 3-point shooters. VCU had to win a play in the game against USC and has never looked back, reaching the Final Four. Butler will want to slow down the game, but VCU loves to get out and run the fast break to score many points. The two teams both have star players in Jamie Skeen and Matt Howard. Howard tends to take control of the game late and lead his team to victory, most evidently when he made the game winning shot against Old Dominion and the winning free throw against Pittsburgh. However, Jamie Skeen will be the difference in this game, like he was in the Kansas game. It looks like we will be seeing VCU and Connecticut in the final game. I think Connecticut will win the National Championship and end VCU’s Cinderella story.
