With Arizona and Connecticut just about to tip off on CBS, it's time to take a look at what the SB Nation blogs are saying about this key matchup.
First up, The UConn Blog:
But entering the tournament, the Wildcats were under-the-radar - having missed the NCAA Tournament last year, they were at the top of a middling Pac-10 - before pulling off back-to-back last-second wins over Memphis and Texas.
And then Arizona went all explodey over Duke, going from down six at halftime to up 20 in one of the most stunning, entertaining, pants-shittingly scary (if you're a UConn fan) sequences of basketball I've ever seen.
Before Arizona-Duke? Maybe you can imagine UConn sighing in relief that they would avoid the defending champs. After? No chance. They've seen SF/PF/force of nature Derrick Williams make his statement to the world, they've heard the chattering classes proclaim Arizona the new "it" team, a terrifying matchup problem for a team that, surely by now, is at the end of its rope.
Next, we take a look at our friends on AZ Desert Swarm:
Wildcats second-year head coach Sean Miller went toe to toe with arguably the best active college basketball coach in the country in Mike Krzyzewski.
Four national championships meets zero national championships. Three Naismith College Coach of the Year honors versus no such awards. Eight national championship appearances compared to zero.
And Miller didn't flinch.
After Butler stunned Florida to make the Final Four for the second consecutive year, Arizona looks to be the second surprise entrant to the final round in Houston.