If you liked the look of last year's Final Four, you will love the 2015 edition.
One game -- Kentucky vs. Wisconsin -- is not only a matchup of two No. 1 seeds, it's a replay of last year's semifinal won by Kentucky, 74-73.
Seventh-seeded Michigan State will face Duke, a four-time national champion led by coach Mike Krzyzewski, who is in his 12th Final Four, tying the legendary John Wooden.
It is the fifth time at least three No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four. The only top-seed sweep was in 2008.
This is the third consecutive year one conference has had two teams in the Final Four with Wisconsin and Michigan State coming from the Big Ten. The SEC did it last year with Kentucky and Florida and the Big East had Louisville and Syracuse in 2013.
MEETING AGAIN
No team has attracted the attention that Kentucky has. The Wildcats (38-0) are two wins away from becoming the first undefeated national champion since Indiana in 1976.
Kentucky survived its toughest test of the tournament in the regional semifinals with a 68-66 victory over Notre Dame that came down to the final possession.
"We figured out a way to win it. We've had other tests, but we have a will to win," Wildcats Coach John Calipari said.
Now they get to face Wisconsin, which like Kentucky, is making its second consecutive Final Four appearance.
Last year's national semifinal came down to a big jumper by Aaron Harrison with 5.7 seconds left.
"That loss left a sour taste in our mouth, so we wanted to get back," Wisconsin's Sam Dekker said of the loss to Kentucky. "As a team we set some goals of what we wanted to do, and now we're two games away from our last goal."
SPARTY PARTY
Of the four teams headed to Indianapolis, only Michigan State didn't have an impressive regular season. The Spartans had 11 losses, four more than the other three teams combined. They were 18th in the AP's preseason poll and were out of the rankings for most of the season, getting back in the final poll at No. 23.
But relying on coach Tom Izzo's trademark offensive rebounding and team defense, Michigan State made the improbable run to the Final Four.
"I'd like to tell you that I thought five different times this year that we were good enough to get to a Final Four, but I'd be lying to you," Izzo said, adding this was the best of his seven regional final victories. The team didn't want to be a group that didn't make it, and that was a "battle cry" all year long, Izzo said.
Sports on 03/30/2015