A League of Its Own

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Thursday's final four:

1. Two words, my friends: Big East. Instead of wondering if there will be four No. 1 seeds in the Final Four for the second straight year, we probably should wonder if one conference will capture all four spots for the first time ever.

2. How 'bout Mizzou? Or maybe a better question is this: How the hell did the Tigers get trounced by Illinois back in December? DeMarre Carroll just might be the best player most of America doesn't know. As usual, the kid was everywhere for Missouri in its impressive win over Memphis to reach the Elite Eight. It's hard to imagine the Tigers taking out UConn in the West final, but they've done a pretty good job smacking around doubters - and opponents - so far.

3. In Villanova, Duke ran into a faster, stronger, defensively superior version of itself. The result was so predictable ... I'm mad as hell I didn't predict it.

4. Hey, look at those oft-maligned (quite oft by me) Chicago Bulls! They're playing so well lately, they probably could win a couple of NCAA tourney games.