Kemba Walker propels UCONN to Final 4

UCONN is hatching yet another new star as it gained another big victory in the 2009 NCAA tournament. NCAA basketball analyst Jay Bilas made the comment during UCONN's game against Missouri that UCONN freshman Kemba Walker came from the Bronx, New York, where some of the roughest streetball is played. That toughness and intensity enabled the young Walker to play a fearless brand of basketball, leading the Huskies to their 3rd final 4 appearance in a span of 10 years. In one play in particular, Walker drove quickly down the court charged into the midst of the Missouri players then flew underneath two defenders with a beautiful scoop shot layup. Perhaps a slight bit of Air Jordan mixed in for good measure.

The game wasn't easy for Connecticut as Missouri played ferociously all game. Bodies hit the floor, hands were contesting every shot, every dribble, every pass. It was perhaps the toughest, swarming defense that UCONN has seen all season long. However, UCONN persevered and outlasted yet another opponent. The end result was an 82-75 win behind Kemba Walker's career high 23 points. The beauty of this UCONN team is there's always a player ready to step up and take the lead, whether it's 7'3 center Hasheem Thabeet blocking shots and scoring inside, or point guard AJ Price draining 3's and driving to the hoop to dish to the open man. The West region's #1 seed UCONN now awaits the winner of Sunday's Louisville versus Michigan State matchup.

In the nightcap game, an all-time tournament classic game was had. The game went right down to the wire between two other Big East opponents UCONN is quite familiar with: #3 seed Villanova and #1 seed Pittsburgh. Pitt had been exhibiting some sloppier play in the NCAA tournament despite looking brilliant during the regular season. That sloppiness was surely exposed Saturday night as a constantly improving Villanova team took advantage and scored a basket with under a second to go, breaking a tied game. The 3/4 court drive by Nova's Reynolds was the deciding factor in a game which featured plenty of grit and an amazing stretch of 21-21 free throw shooting by Villanova. Nova now advances to the Final Four in a run reminiscent of their 1985 run, and will wait to meet the winner of Sunday's UNC vs. Oklahoma winner. This also makes at least 2 of 4 Big East teams in the Final 4, with a potential third coming if Louisville wins its game against Michigan State on Sunday.

Prepare for 2009 March Madness!

Once again that time of year has descended upon the college campuses and states all around the country, March Madness. Die hard fans are preparing all around the US for the NCAA College Basketball tournament. In the 2009 edition, there were 3 conferences with a total of 7 teams sent to the tournament this year: ACC, Big Ten and Big East; displaying the power of these particular conferences. The brackets revealed three #1 seeds this year all from the Big East: Louisville, UCONN and Pittsburgh. The fourth seed will come from the ACC, a team that bounced back and forth at the #1 spot all season long, North Carolina's Tarheels. Here's a quick look at each of the four regions and their top teams.

The Midwest's #1 seed, Louisville finished off their season in impressive style. The Cardinals won the Big East title and then the Big East Tournament as well, defeating a Syracuse team that had showed a ton of heart playing through a total of 7 OT's in 2 games, and logging almost 4 hours playing time on the court by same players through the tourney. Also joining Louisville in their bracket will be the #2 seed Michigan State team who many thought might grab a #1 seed themselves. Fellow Big East team West Virginia grabbed the 6 seed in Lville's bracket. Other top teams include last year's champs the Kansas Jayhawks with a #3 seed, #4 Wake Forest (who was #1 in the country this past season) #5 Utah, and #7 BC.

The West will see the University of Connecticut Huskies as its top seed, despite the team failing to win the Big East and losing in the conference tournament to a lower seeded Syracuse team. The Huskies will have potential spoiler teams in #10 seed Maryland, #3 Missouri, #4 Washington Huskies and at the other end of the brack, the #2 Memphis Tigers, last year's NCAA Championship runner-ups.

In the East, Pittsburgh emerged as the #1 seed. The Panthers failed to capture the Big East tournament after losing to West Virginia this past season, but saw 2 impressive victories over UCONN, the top team in the nation several times. Joining Pitt will be the recent ACC Tourney champs, the Duke Blue Devils who scored a #2 seed. Villanova takes the #3 seed, with Xavier at #4, Florida State at #5 and UCLA at #6.

#1 out in the South, The North Carolina Tarheels were considered one of the top teams at the start of the season and reclaimed that spot again at season's end. A disappointing ACC tournament saw Florida State upset them, but they were without the services of player Ty Law. Law claims he'll be ready when Tournament action starts. Also in the South will be another former #1 this past season in the 2 seed Oklahoma with star powerhouse player, Blake Griffin. The 3 seed will be those pesky Syracuse Orangemen, with Gonzaga at #4. The South may be the region to keep an eye on with all sorts of compelling possible matchups and upsets. Clemson, Michigan State, Butler, Arizona State and Illinois are also in the bracket, hungry to advance to the Final 4.

Play will begin Thursday afternoon with people all over the world betting and filling out their ESPN or office pool brackets frantically over the next several days. Let the madness begin!

View and print out complete 2009 NCAA Tournament brackets here.