In baseball, the NCAA calls the second phase of its tournament a “Super Regional.” No such moniker exists for March Madness, but it would be apt for the men’s basketball drama about to unfold in Washington this weekend.
UConn vs. Michigan State, Duke vs. St. John’s on Friday, the winners play for the East Regional’s portal to the Final Four on Sunday. It doesn’t get much bigger, or better, than this.
“It’s pretty brutal on Twitter,” said UConn coach Dan Hurley, who favors the graphic analogy, after the matchups were set. “And socials between (UConn and St. John’s) fan bases, but I think we have to try to come together Friday night against our opponents so we can have a blood bath on Sunday.”
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If these four teams were in different regionals, they might all be gathering in Indianapolis next week for the Final Four without busting too many brackets, but the metrics dictated this grouping as far as the selection process went. It put St. John’s and UConn, the two best teams in the Big East, already having met three times, in the same bracket. Duke, the No. 1 seed, and Michigan State, No. 3, will have their say in this, but it’s safe to say this quadrant of the country is itching for Coach-a-mania IV between Hurley and Rick Pitino.
In a way, it is vindication for the Big East, which got only three teams in the Field of 68, largely because of out-of-conference performances four months ago. UConn assembled a tough schedule and went 5-1 against nonconference opponents, positioning itself for a No. 2 seed. The Johnnies did not fair well out of conference, but dominated the league, won two of three against the Huskies and were put on the No. 5 line.
“I think it speaks to the quality of what us and St. John’s are this year,” Hurley said. “I think they’re a great team. I think we’re a great team. I think it was much needed. I think with coming off of a three-bid year, obviously, Seton Hall was close. They did their part in the nonconference. Seton Hall got hurt by the overall league this year. I just think us and St. John’s are two of the best teams in the country.”
UConn, after beating Furman and UCLA in its subregional in Philadelphia, and St. John’s, which survived the second round in San Diego with a dramatic, high-degree-of-difficulty winning shot from Dylan Darling to beat Kansas, have major obstacles still separating them. Michigan State, the only program ever to deny UConn at a Final Four, in 2009, have a Hall of Fame coach in Tom Izzo and come out of the formidable Big Ten. Duke, ultimate ACC blue blood and, one might argue, the one school UConn fans love to hate more than any conference rival, stands in Pitino’s way.
St. John’s, despite their seeding, are one of the “it” teams in the field. Pitino, 73, also in the Hall of Fame, has taken Providence, Kentucky and Louisville to Final Fours, winning championships with the latter two, and has few demons left to wrestle. But Duke is one. In 1992, he was knocked out of the Final Four on a game-winning shot by Christian Laettner, two years after Laettner broke UConn’s heart in the school’s first Elite Eight. UConn eventually slayed Duke on the way to championships in 1999 and 2004. So UConn and St. John’s have common ground, hating on Laettner … but then again, didn’t everybody?
Hurley will join Pitino and Izzo in the Hall of Fame one day, as virtually every coach with at least two championships is inducted eventually. This third trip in four years to the Round of 16 only adds to his body of work, but he’s aiming for select company in his quest for three championships, as is captain Alex Karaban, the remaining starter from the 2023 and ’24 champions.
“I definitely don’t want my career to end so doing everything in my power to help lead this team to make sure that happens and get the win,” Karaban said, after scoring his career high 27 points vs. UCLA. “Do anything possible to make sure I get the win. … I don’t go into a game thinking what if we lose? That’s the worst mentality to have. Think about winning nonstop, and just helping this team out.”
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So let’s make the large leap and assume it comes down to UConn vs. St. John’s.
Here’s the storyline: What teams can you remember playing three times in a season with such wildly different results? St. John’s won handily at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 6, and even more handily in the Big East final on March 14, with star center Zuby Ejiofor dominating the Huskies both times. In between, Ejiofor was a nonfactor as UConn won by 32 in Hartford on Feb. 25. Anyone who tries to predict what would happen Sunday, what new wrinkle Pitino might pull out of the sleeve of his fancy suit, what adjustment Hurley and his staff might use to counter the last game, is giving you a snow job. If that’s where we land, let it play out and enjoy it.
The only thing that could make this super regional even more epic would be if Duke were still coached by Mike Krzyzewski, but his replacement, Jon Scheyer, has not gone the way of others who replace such legends. He’s kept Duke, top overall seed, in the national conversation. But no matter how hot St. John’s is, losing to a No.5 won’t sit well in Durham, N.C.
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What we’re about to see are clashes of college basketball’s titans, colorful personalities, personal rivalries, traditional rivalries, conference rivalries, storied programs, drama, pressure, intensity and intrigue — was somebody looking to prevent two Big East teams reaching the Final Four? — and all in one place. It would’ve made a hell of a Final Four, and it’s no garden variety regional. It is, indeed, the super regional.
“It stinks a little bit that they threw us both in the same region,” Hurley said. “It feels like the combination of St. John’s being underseeded, as well as putting us both in same region. It’s probably a little bit early, but obviously, I think we’ve got to … support each other.”
