March Madness: Here’s a Storyline to Watch About Each of the Final Four Teams in the Men’s Field

Arizona, Michigan and Duke had looked like a clear top tier in college basketball as conference play began. All three spent time atop the AP Top 25 and went on to claim a No. 1 seed in March Madness.

Yet only the Wildcats and Wolverines have reached the sport’s biggest stage.

The Blue Devils’ stunning loss to UConn on Braylon Mullins’ last-second 3-pointer ended the title push for the tournament’s top overall seed, leaving Arizona and Michigan as the only 1-seeds to reach the Final Four.

That comes a year after all four top seeds reached the Final Four for only the second time since seeding began in 1979. Second-seeded UConn and No.

3 seed Illinois kept this from being an all-chalk Final Four, though it is again a gathering of favorites compared to past years. Before these past two years, the tournament’s final weekend featured at least one team seeded No.

4 or worse every year dating to 2010 — including a team seeded eighth or lower in each of the four Final Fours since the COVID-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the 2020 tournament.

Here are storylines to watch on each of the teams that will play in Saturday’s national semifinals in Indianapolis: The Wildcats (36-2) won the West Region, continuing a dominant fifth year under Tommy Lloyd. They spent nearly half the season at No.

1 in the AP Top 25 (nine of 19 polls), entered the tournament as the second overall seed and have won all four tournament games by 12 or more points.