Simply amazing. This 2014 NCAA Tournament, and Saturday's games are what create basketball fans out of skeptics.
Just five minutes after Aaron Harrison's repeat virtuoso performance to sink the Wisconsin Badgers, and it is time to make some sense out of the absolute Madness that we just witnessed.
What we learned on Saturday:
1. Freshman-U has put it all together, and is a legitimate top-flight team.
Diss John Calipari all you want. Diss Kentucky's modus operandi which churns out one-and-done NBA prospects like Apple does IPads.
Heck, even diss the hide-and-go-seek nature of this Kentucky team, which lost to South Carolina and LSU in SEC play.
However, when it counts, Kentucky has gelled as the perfect balance of athleticism and passion under the tutelage of Calipari - despite what anyone thinks of him personally or his recruiting practices.
2. Aaron Harrison is now the governor of Kentucky. There will not be a vote.
http://youtu.be/qx61TOuviFA
He did it again.
There aren't enough superlatives in the world to quantify just where Aaron Harrison's place in Kentucky basketball lore is right now -- no matter what happens on Monday.
Harrison only scored 8 points on Saturday on 3-of-8 shooting, but it is only the last three that matters. Harrison created history. And, then he did it again.
3. UConn has learned how to play world-class defense under Kevin Ollie.
Don't get me wrong. UConn's total scoring defense was pretty dang good coming into the tournament. The Huskies gave up a to-be-applauded 63.5 points per game this season, good for 36th in the NCAA.
Yet, these last two games against Michigan State and Florida have shown something more in the defensive makeup of this team than maybe even coach Ollie foresaw.
UConn held Michigan State to just 39.1% shooting in the Elite Eight, forcing 16 turnovers to overcome a really poor shooting night of their own (34.7%) to pick up the ticket to the Final Four, 60-54.
The Huskies built on that against the top overall seed Florida Gators, holding them under 40% shooting as well (38.8%), while proceeding to shoot the lights out of AT&T Stadium at a 55.8% clip -- winning 63-53.
Holding two of the most en vogue National Championship picks before the tourney to just 53.5 points per game is something to be applauded via standing ovation.
4. No one saw this coming..and we're all the better for it.
Per Yahoo Sports, only 1.3% of their users picked the Kentucky Wildcats to make the final dance on Monday. Even scarcer, only 0.3% (probably all Huskies faithful) picked UConn to make the National Championship game in North Texas.
However, predictions are just that -- predictions.
These two teams peaked at the right time, coalescing into two of the more fun-to-watch college basketball teams in recent memory.
Shabazz and DeAndre Daniels vs. the Harrison Twins and Julius Randle.
It's like WrestleMania, but real.
Is it Monday yet?