When Saturday's two semifinal games are completed, will the NCAA championship game have a Carolina state of mind, or will it be all about the Pacific Northwest?
Of course, regional identity does not have to be the story of the day when South Carolina (26-10) squares off against Gonzaga (36-1), and Oregon (33-5) takes on North Carolina (31-7). It could be one from Column A and the other from Column B, or vice versa.
Either way, the Gonzaga Bulldogs and the North Carolina Tar Heels go into their NCAA tournament semifinal games as clear favorites. Both teams are No. 1 seeds, while the Gamecocks have survived as a No. 7 seed and the Ducks started off as a No. 3 seed.
Gonzaga is a 6.5-point favorite in the first game of the day, while the Tar Heels are 5-point favorites, with both point spreads courtesy of OddsShark.
The Gonzaga-South Carolina game will tip off at 6:09 p.m. ET, while the North Carolina-Oregon is scheduled to begin at 8:49 p.m. Both games will be televised by CBS.
The Bulldogs demonstrated their strength and played a sensational game in their Elite Eight victory over Xavier.
After close wins over Northwestern in the round of 32 and West Virginia in the Sweet 16, Gonzaga put it all together in their 83-59 win over the Musketeers.
They earned their first trip to the Final Four with a sharp offensive game and sensational defense. In years past, the Bulldogs had always fallen short of their Final Four destination, and it was usually the result of a defensive lapse.
Gonzaga has been a sensational defensive team throughout the season, and if they are going to reach the championship game, they will have to turn the heat up on the opportunistic Gamecocks. The Zags are allowing 60.9 points per game, ranking fourth in the nation.
Gonzaga is led by junior guard Nigel Williams-Goss, who is scoring 16.7 points per game and knocking down 49.0 percent of his shots from the field. Big man PrzemekKarnowski is a key factor in the paint, because he scores 12.2 points per night and connects on 60.1 percent of his shots.
Karnowski is a tough interior defender who eats up a lot of space, and Williams-Goss also gets the job done on the defensive side of the ball. The Bulldogs also get double-digit scoring from Jordan Mathews and Johnathan Williams.
South Carolina is clearly the surprise of the tournament, and they opened eyes with their round-of-32 upset victory over Duke. However, head coach Frank Williams and his aggressive team were not satisfied merely by slaying one giant.
They followed with a 70-50 victory over Baylor and then earned their first trip to the Final Four with a gutsy 77-70 victory over Southeastern Conference rival Florida.
Senior guard SindariusThornwell has been on fire throughout the tournament, and he has been a magnificent player all year. He is averaging 21.6 points and contributing 7.2 rebounds per night.
Sophomore guard PJ Dozier is second on the team in scoring with a mark of 13.8 points per night, while Duane Notice and Chris Silva are averaging 10.2 and 10.1 points, respectively.
North Carolina vs. Oregon
The Tar Heels started writing this story a year ago, when they were a split second away from winning the 2016 national championship. They had a late lead on Villanova, but Kris Jenkins of the Wildcats hit the buzzer-beating three-point shot that turned glory into agony for Carolina blue.
Roy Williams and his team have been tested at various points throughout the tournament, including in the round of 32 by Arkansas and the Elite Eight by Kentucky.
North Carolina trailed the Razorbacks by a 65-60 margin with less than three minutes to go, and the Tar Heels used a 12-0 rally to turn a late deficit into a late lead against the Wildcats.
However, Kentucky rallied back to tie, and the Tar Heels needed a Luke Maye jump shot with 0.3 seconds on the clock to survive and advance.
The Tar Heels are big, strong, athletic and highly skilled, and that will be a difficult formula to beat. Junior forward Justin Jackson is perhaps Williams' premier go-to guy, as he is averaging 18.2 points per night.
Guard Joel Berry II is scoring 14.6 points per night and knocking down 80.8 percent of his free throws. North Carolina also gets double-digit scoring from Kennedy Meeks (12.3 points and 9.2 rebounds per night) and Isaiah Hicks (12.1 points per game).
The Ducks may be underdogs in this game, but they are not likely to be intimidated. They whipped the Kansas Jayhawks in the Elite Eight, and Kansas had come off two blowout victories over Michigan State and Purdue before running into Oregon.
The Ducks are led by a pair of high scorers in Dillon Brooks and Tyler Dorsey, who are averaging 16.3 and 14.5 points per game. The former is connecting on 49.6 percent of his shots from the field and 41.0 percent from beyond the arc.
Dorsey is connecting on 47.2 percent of his shots and 42.3 percent from three-point range.
Junior forward Jordan Bell is also a key player for the Ducks, as he had 11 points on razor sharp 5-of-6 shooting against the Jayhawks after scoring 16 points in the Sweet 16 win over Michigan.
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