The [anticlimactic] Final Four

March Madness is over. Well, all the good parts are. For starters, hello?!?, it's now April. More importantly, we are down to just four teams. The tournament is at its best when there are 65 teams and then 32 teams. When there are 16, it's still fantastic. Even the round of 8 is outstanding.

But the Final Four?!?

Not so much.

It's anticlimactic. It's like watching the BCS National Championship Game in football. It's hard to get excited when you know the end of the season is upon you. And half the time the games aren't any good.

What makes March Madness is not the Final Four. It's the first two rounds when you watch teams you haven't seen all season and players you've never heard of. When we look back at this year's edition of March Madness, we won't remember the Final Four (unless, perhaps, Butler gets to Monday night). No, instead we'll remember guys we somehow ignored all winter. Curtis Kelly (K-State), Ali Farokhmanesh (Northern Iowa), Danero Thomas (Murray State), Jimmer Fredette (BYU), Louis Dale (Cornell) and Jordan Crawford (Xavier).

Alas, we will watch the games tonight -- albeit half-heartedly. We honestly have no idea what to expect. There are cases to be consumed made for all four teams winning. Why would anyone pick against Tom Izzo today?!? Butler is the warm and fuzzy story. But the fact is, they are a really good team. Plus, it's a frigging home game for them! Duke has the best trio on the floor today (Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer). And many "experts" are riding the West Virginia bandwagon.

Us?!?

We'll say Michigan State and Duke.