South Carolina takes down Florida. NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 26: Maik Kotsar #21 and Justin McKie #20 of the South Carolina Gamecocks celebrate with their teammates after defeating the Florida Gators with a score of 77 to 70 to win the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament East Regional at Madison Square Garden on March 26, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The Cheat SheetBy Kevin McGuire on

68 teams entered. Now four remain.

Sunday’s NCAA Tournament action was the perfect way to wrap up the regional finals and pave the way to the Final Four this week. But that wasn’t all that caught our attention over the weekend. We had an MVP battle in the NBA and a batch of cranky sportswriters, a sucker punch in the NHL, and it appears Nintendo has found a way to honor comedy legend Robin Williams. You read that correctly. Sportswriters were cranky this weekend.

UNC and South Carolina punch tickets to Final Four, joining Gonzaga and Oregon

The Final Four was set with the best finish of the tournament so far.

A year after losing the national championship game on a shot at the buzzer, North Carolina reversed the script a bit in the South regional final on Sunday. Kentucky and North Carolina lived up to the hype with a true classic. Luke Maye got the last shot and made it count with a game-winning jump shot with a mere .3 seconds left to play. It was quite the flurry at the end of the game…

North Carolina making the Final Four may be the only thing that feels familiar to most casual fans this year in the Final Four. The Tar Heels are making their 20th appearance in the Final Four. Everyone else in the Final Four is a bit of a stranger. Gonzaga finally got over the hurdle of getting this far in the tournament after gradually growing the program from being that old Cinderella story. Gonzaga is no longer a Cinderella after dispatching of Xavier over the weekend. With Gonzaga going to the Final Four, ESPN analyst says he will make good on his promise to grow a beard. The Zags and Tar Heels are the only top seeds from their respective regions to reach this point. What about the two other teams, that are not top seeds?

South Carolina… yes, South Carolina… is heading to its first Final Four in school history after capturing the East Region in a matchup against fellow SEC member Florida. The Gamecocks were thought to be one of the teams that didn’t even deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament in the first place, but once they got their foot through the door they have simply been taking care of business. In a region that included last year’s national champion and top overall seed Villanova, a No. 2 seeded Duke and Big Ten championship tournament runner-up Wisconsin and Big 12 contender Baylor, the East region was not going to be an easy one for South Carolina of all teams to take. But, uh, they did just that.

The Gamecocks took out Duke, did away with Baylor and then came out on top of a good contest against a conference foe, Florida to grab one of the unlikeliest regional championships. A region with two national championship head coaches (Mike Krzyzewski and Jay Wright), it is Frank Martin continuing his redemption story in the Final Four. Remember when Kansas State had enough of him? Look who’s smiling now.

Ha, who am I kidding? Martin doesn’t smile!

There will be another west coast team in the Final Four with Oregon upsetting No. 1 seed Kansas in the Midwest regional. It is Oregon’s first Final Four appearance in 78 years. That sets up the possibility of an all-west coast national championship if Gonzaga and Oregon both win next weekend. I’m sure CBS would be thrilled with that scenario.

Westbrook vs. Harden MVP battle goes to Westbrook on Sunday

One of these guys might be the MVP. Who is your pick?

If the college action wasn’t exciting enough for you on Sunday, then the NBA had you taken care of with a showcase between MVP candidates. James Harden scored 22 points and five rebounds to help the Houston Rockets take down the Oklahoma City Thunder, led by Russell Westbrook. Westbrook had a game-high 39 points in the 137-125 loss to the Thunder. Westbrook also picked up 11 rebounds and had 13 assists for a triple-double. So what is more important in the MVP conversation, individual stats or team result?

https://twitter.com/Jack_of_Harts/status/846205684052099073

 This Weekend in Cranky Sports Reporters

The nation has some big problems on its hand, and changing the TV channel for sportswriters needs to be a priority.

Man, this was a rough weekend for the elitist sportswriter covering the NCAA tournament this weekend. It all started with South Carolina beat reporter David Caraviello taking to Twitter to complain about the pressure of meeting a deadline when a kid reporter representing Sports Illustrated for Kids got a chance to ask a question in a postgame press conference following Florida’s overtime victory over Wisconsin in Madison Square Garden on Friday.

https://twitter.com/dcaraviello/status/845503908944470016

He got ripped to shreds for getting so worked up over a minute to 90 seconds of exchange in a postgame press conference, which is full of awful questions asked by adults anyway. But little did we know this would be the start of a rough weekend for the poor sports reporters covering postseason college basketball.

Sally Jenkins seemed to have a problem with women’s tournament games not being put on the TVs in the press areas at Madison Square Garden during and in between men’s tournament games.

https://twitter.com/sallyjenx/status/846064687225737216

https://twitter.com/sallyjenx/status/846075315629772800

https://twitter.com/sallyjenx/status/846142263038296066

Jenkins’ point was more about the NCAA not promoting the women’s tournament in a way that seems easy to do, but this just comes off a bit whiny. The women’s NCAA tournament was accessible to roughly 99.9% of the nation outside of Madison Square Garden. Just because the national press corps in New York didn’t have access to the game doesn’t mean the game was not being given any attention.

No. 2 seed Stanford edges No. 1 seed Notre Dame, 76-75 in the game Jenkins missed. Also, No. 2 Mississippi State topped No. 1 seed Baylor, 94-85 in overtime. If either beats UConn though, that will be the real story. Here’s your updated women’s tournament bracket…

But wait! There’s more! In the spirit of Dennis Dodd once getting upset over Aaron Rodgers getting access to the court to celebrate a Wisconsin win without having the courtesy of answering questions to the media, apparently, LaVar Ball was given a great seat that seemed to bother Mike Lupica.

As you start your week, please take a moment to think about the sacrifices these sportswriters must make to perform their job.

Quick Hits

It appears Robin Williams is living on in one of the hottest video games on the market. Screenshot via YouTube user Seaniccus.

– Instagram shared the brief story of X Games gold medalist motocross champ Vicki Golden, who says she didn’t have any female riders to look up to in the sport.

– Tom Crean may have been let go by Indiana, but he was still spotted lending his support to the Indiana women’s basketball team during a game on Sunday…

– Pretty sure Michael Haley is going to be suspended for this sucker punch on Calle Jarnkrok…

– Dogs are cool. Dogs playing fetch with a hockey puck on an ice rink may be the coolest.

– There was a public memorial for Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds on Saturday with a festive approach with dancing and musical tributes and special guests like Dan Aykroyd and R2-D2.

– Speaking of celebrities who has passed away, there is growing speculation that there is a tribute to Robin Williams in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Yes, a tribute to Robin Williams in Nintendo’s latest hit. Williams was a fan of the original Legend of Zelda title that he was later inspired to name his daughter Zelda, and he has previously done some promotional work with Nintendo. Take a look and judge for yourself if this is purely a coincidence…

– The creator of NBA Jam may have a version of the game that actually includes Michael Jordan.

– Uber’s executive leaders sure seem like pure scum. Meanwhile, Lyft is letting passengers round up their fare and donate to a charity.

– Turkey is going to make the best chocolate bust of an American President ever. People are gonna love it. Believe me.

– Former Vice President Joe Biden says he would have won the 2016 presidential election if he decided to run for the office. He’s probably right.

– Business analysts aren’t too thrilled with Snapchat’s credit, says Business Insider.

– Paul Reubens is known for his role as Pee-Wee Herman, but you may also remember him as the waiter in The Blues Brothers or Amilyn from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Screen Rant ranked 15 of Reuben’s top non-Pee-Wee roles, including two that Batman fans will be familiar with.

One last gratuitous moment of procrastination

If you somehow missed it over the weekend, there is a new trailer for the upcoming Justice League movie. Maybe I’m naive, but I believe the DC cinematic universe can still survive. This movie will go a long way to determining whether that is true or not. And if you are wondering where your favorite Man of Steel is, I suggest watching Batman v. Superman to understand. But if you were wondering how the Avengers are reacting to their newest superhero rivals on the big screen, wonder no more.

About Kevin McGuire

Contributor to Athlon Sports and The Comeback. Previously contributed to NBCSports.com. Host of the Locked On Nittany Lions Podcast. FWAA member and Philadelphia-area resident.

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