The city of St. Louis has been preparing for months for the Final Four to come. Hotel accommodations, taxis and restaurants will all be booked to capacity as media and fans pour into town to watch the big dance come to a close. A lot of pressure is riding on St. Louis this week to be an accommodating and welcoming host city to the Final Four. Now St. Louis also has to try and top the excitement of this past weekend’s Elite Eight games.

Four games, four overtimes. That pretty much sums up the Elite Eight action on Saturday and Sunday. For the first time in NCAA history, three of the four regional final match-ups went into overtime, with Michigan State and Kentucky providing a double overtime thriller to close out the weekend.

Saturday was the day of incredible comebacks with Louisville and West Virginia starting things off. Louisville fought back from a 20-point deficit to force overtime, and survived with a 93-85 overtime victory. The next game provided even more excitement when Illinois erased a 15-point deficit, finishing the game on a 20-5 run in the final four minutes to force overtime. Overtime ended in dramatic fashion as well as Hassan Adams could only manage an off-balance three-point attempt and Illinois escaped with a 90-89 thrilling victory.

Sunday’s action started off with a competitive game between North Carolina and Wisconsin. Wisconsin played the Tar Heels tough down the stretch cutting the lead to one with just under nine minutes remaining, but UNC’s superior talent proved to be enough in an 88-82 victory. However, any excitement lacking in Sunday’s first game was compensated for in the later duel between Michigan State and Kentucky. After another competitive game, Kentucky trailed by three with under 20 seconds to go. After two three-point attempts failed, the ball bounced right into the arms of Kentucky’s Patrick Sparks, who jumped into the air, double-clutched and released the ball just beyond the three-point line. The ball bounced several times on the rim before rolling in, sending the Kentucky faithful into a frenzy and the game into overtime. After a low scoring first overtime, Michigan State got the better of the Wildcats in the second, earning their bid as the fourth team to the Final Four.

As the weekend approaches, it is difficult to imagine that this next set of games can top the events of this past weekend. In fact, even in professional sports, it often seems that the semifinal rounds are far more exciting than the final game itself. Many times in football the AFC and NFC Championship games are more exciting than the Super Bowl, partly because the teams are more familiar with each other. In recent years in baseball, the American and National League Championship Series have been exponentially more exciting than the World Series. Over the past two years, both the NLCS and ALCS have gone to seven games both years. The World Series went six games in 2003 and 2004 was a Red Sox sweep. The excitement of the League Championship Series, headlined by the results produced by the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, greatly overshadowed that of the World Series.

Is a trend developing? If so, this means bad news for St. Louis. The city has been promoting the Final Four as if it were the only great thing ever to happen in this town. Hopefully, the games will be just as exciting, if not more, than this weekend’s games, but do not be surprised if all three games are blowouts. Anyway, here are some fast predictions for this weekend’s games.

Illinois vs. Louisville

The Cardinals come into this game still riding their anger from being a No. 4 seed. For a team ranked No. 4 overall in the nation by both the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls, the No. 4 seed placement was taken personally by Louisville and head coach, Rick Pitino. Louisville is no fluke: they can run the floor as well as anyone in the country, and have some sensational guards in Taquan Dean and Francisco Garcia, who can both shoot and penetrate. Illinois is represented well as the top overall seed in the tournament, led by a deadly backcourt trio of Dee Brown, Deron Williams and Luther Head. Illinois runs the floor just as well as Louisville, if not better, and presents superior frontcourt play with James Augustine and Roger Powell Jr. Both teams can score, but this game will come down to which team plays better defense. I believe Bruce Weber has the Illini playing good enough defense to carry them through one more round. Expect a high scoring game, with an exciting ending.

Illinois 86, Louisville 84

North Carolina vs. Michigan State

Michigan State has made a tremendous run. After receiving a break when Syracuse was upset, they upset top-seeded Duke and second-seeded Kentucky. However, neither Duke nor Kentucky possess the level of talent the Tar Heels do. What was once a young, talented, but inexperienced team has developed into a powerhouse of experienced, talented veterans. Raymond Felton, Jawad Williams, Marvin Williams, Sean May and Rashad McCants are all upperclassmen now, and are playing at the top of their game at the right time. When a team has five future pros playing smart and experienced basketball, it is going to take a heck of a lot more than a hot run and an experienced coach to beat them. Congratulations to Michigan State for making the Final Four, but have a safe trip home on Saturday Night.

North Carolina 78, Michigan State 70

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