This year's Final Four features some great teams. Here's a look at the best ever...

1. UCLA 1968
When Kareem Abdul Jabar was Lew Alcindor, UCLA dominated basketball like no college team ever. Kareem was so good that the NCAA banned the dunk. Still he would average more than 26 points and 16 rebounds a game. During Kareem’s reign, the Bruins would lose only two games.

2. 1990 UNLV
The Running Rebels were excellent individual players but also played great as a team. They could probably have beat more than a couple of NBA teams. The UNLV team would dominate the tournament, eventually blowing out the Duke Blue Devils in the finals. UNLV players Larry Johnson, Stacy Augmon and Greg Anthony would all go to respectable NBA careers, while college standout Anderson Hunt never got a chance to play in the NBA.

3. 1992 Duke
The Blue Devils had three excellent players in Grant Hill, Christian Laetner and Bobby Hurley and an excellent coach. They would win the NCAA tournament two years in a row and send three players to the NBA, turning the Duke basketball team into a franchise.

COMPLETE LIST

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THURSDAY, MARCH 24
7:00, CBS, Anaheim – San Diego St vs. Connecticut
7:15, TBS, New Orleans – Florida vs. BYU
9:30, CBS, Anaheim – Duke vs. Arizona
9:55, TBS, New Orleans – Wisconsin vs. Butler

FRIDAY, MARCH 25
7:00, CBS, Newark – North Carolina vs. Marquette
7:15, TBS, San Antonio – Kansas vs. Richmond
9:30, CBS, Newark – Ohio State vs. Kentucky
9:55, TBS, San Antonio – Florida State vs. VCU

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SATURDAY, MARCH 19
12:15, CBS, Tampa – Kentucky vs. West Virginia
2:45, CBS, Tampa – Florida vs. UCLA
5:15, CBS, Denver – Richmond vs. Morehead St
6:10, TNT, Tucson – San Diego St vs. Temple
7:10, TBS, Washington DC – Pittsburgh vs. Butler
7:45, CBS, Denver – BYU vs. Gonzaga
8:40, TNT, Tucson – Wisconsin vs. Kansas State
9:40, TBS, Washington DC – Connecticut vs. Cincinnati

SUNDAY, MARCH 20
12:00, CBS, Charlotte – North Carolina vs. Washington
2:30, CBS, Charlotte – Duke vs. Michigan
5:00, CBS, Cleveland – Ohio State vs. George Mason
6:00, TNT, Tulsa – Texas vs. Arizona
7:00, TBS, Chicago – Purdue vs. VCU
7:30, TruTV, Cleveland – Syracuse vs. Marquette
8:30, TNT, Tulsa – Kansas vs. Illinois
9:30, TBS, Chicago – Notre Dame vs. Florida St

College Hoops 2011 march madness, ncaa tournament, tv schedule, game times

The summary below shows how far 1 thru 4 seeds have made it in the NCAA tournament since 1985:

Number 1 seed NCAA tournament trends:
Lost 0 times in the first round
Lost 12 times in the second round
Lost 15 times in the Sweet 16
Lost 27 times in the Elite 8
Lost 20 times in the Final Four
Lost 8 times in the championship game
Won the national championship 14 times

Number 2 seed NCAA tournament trends:
Lost 4 times in the first round
Lost 33 times in the second round
Lost 16 times in the Sweet 16
Lost 23 times in the Elite 8
Lost 10 times in the Final Four
Lost 7 times in the championship game
Won the national championship 4 times

Number 3 seed NCAA tournament trends:
Lost 15 times in the first round
Lost 32 times in the second round
Lost 26 times in the Sweet 16
Lost 11 times in the Elite 8
Lost 4 times in the Final Four
Lost 5 times in the championship game
Won the national championship 3 times

Number 4 seed NCAA tournament trends:
Lost 20 times in the first round
Lost 35 times in the second round
Lost 27 times in the Sweet 16
Lost 5 times in the Elite 8
Lost 7 times in the Final Four
Lost 1 time in the championship game
Won the national championship 1 time

NCAA tournament trends summary - 1 thru 4 seeds
Almost 82% of number 1 seeds have made it to at least the Elite 8. About 44% of number 1 seeds have made it to the Final Four. 84 of the 96 Final Four teams since 1985 have been 1 through 4 seeds.

When filling out your NCAA tournament bracket the first thing you can do is advance all number 1 and 2 seeds to the second round. Since 3 and 4 seeds win 82% of the time in the first round, it's a good bet to just go ahead and advance them to the second round as well. Chances are you'll end up somewhere between 16-0 and 14-2 on those games alone. Even if a 13 or 14 seed upsets a 3 or 4 seed they rarely go any farther than the second round.

COMPLETE BREAKDOWN (College-Basketball-Rankings.com)

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Here is the TV lineup for the first the first few days of the tournament:

FIRST ROUND GAMES

TUESDAY, MARCH 15 
6:40, truTV, Dayton -- UNC Asheville vs. UALR
9:10, truTV, Dayton -- UAB vs. Clemson

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16 
6:40, truTV, Dayton -- UTSA vs. Alabama St.
9:10, truTV, Dayton -- USC vs. VCU

SECOND ROUND GAMES

THURSDAY, MARCH 17
12:15, CBS, Tampa -- West Virginia vs. UAB/Clemson
12:40, truTV, Wash. D.C. -- Butler vs. Old Dominion
1:40, TBS, Denver--Louisville vs. Morehead St.
2:10, TNT, Tucson -- Temple vs. Penn St.
2:45, CBS, Tampa -- Kentucky vs. Princeton
3:10, truTV, Wash. D.C. -- Pittsburgh vs. Asheville/Ark-LR
4:10, TBS, Denver -- Vanderbilt vs. Richmond
4:40, TNT, Tucson -- San Diego St. vs. Northern Colorado
6:50, TBS, Tampa -- Florida vs. UC Santa Barbara
7:15, CBS, Denver -- BYU vs. Wofford
7:20, TNT, Wash D.C. -- Connecticut vs. Bucknell
7:27, truTV, Tucson -- Wisconsin vs. Belmont
9:20, TBS, Tampa -- UCLA vs. Michigan St.
9:45, CBS, Denver -- St. John’s vs. Gonzaga
9:45, TNT, Wash. D.C. -- Cincinnati vs. Missouri
9:57, truTV, Tucson -- Kansas St. vs. Utah St

FRIDAY, MARCH 18 
12:15, CBS, Tulsa -- Texas vs. Oakland
12:40, truTV, Charlotte -- Michigan vs. Tennessee
1:40, TBS, Chicago -- Notre Dame vs. Akron
2:10, TNT, Cleveland -- George Mason vs. Villanova
2:45, CBS, Tulsa -- Arizona vs. Memphis
3:10, truTV, Charlotte -- Duke vs. Hampton
4:10, TBS, Chicago -- Texas A&M vs. Florida St.
4:40, TNT, Cleveland -- Ohio St. vs. UTSA/Alabama St.
6:50, TBS, Tulsa -- Kansas vs. Boston U.
7:15, CBS, Charlotte -- North Carolina vs. Long Island
7:20, TNT, Chicago -- Purdue vs. St. Peter’s
7:27, truTV, Cleveland --   Xavier vs. Marquette
9:20, TBS, Tulsa -- UNLV vs. Illinois
9:45, CBS, Charlotte -- Washington vs. Georgia
9:50, TNT, Chicago -- Georgetown vs. USC/VCU
9:57, truTV, Cleveland -- Syracuse vs. Indiana St.

College Hoops 2011 march madness, ncaa tournament, tv schedule, game times

Here is the breakdown by conference for teams in this year's NCAA tournament...

Big East - 11
Big Ten - 7
SEC - 5
Big 12 - 5
SEC - 5
ACC - 4
Pac-10 - 4
Atlantic 10 - 3
Colonial - 3
Mountain West - 3
Conference USA - 2

COMPLETE SEEDING

College Hoops 2011 march madness, ncaa tournament, conference breakdown

from ESPN.com...

The NCAA hopes to expand the men's basketball tournament from 65 to 68 teams beginning next year and announced a new, $10.8 billion broadcasting deal with CBS and Turner Broadcasting on Thursday that will allow every game to be shown live for the first time.

The three-team expansion is much more modest than 80- and 96-team proposals the NCAA outlined just a few weeks ago at the Final Four. The move coincides with the new, 14-year broadcasting arrangement that interim NCAA president Jim Isch said will provide an average of $740 million to its conferences and schools each year.

COMPLETE ARTICLE

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Though Jennifer Hudson's version disappointed, the original One Shining Moment is still classic:

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It appears inevitable that the NCAA will expand the men’s basketball tournament to 96 teams in 2011.

Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney went on the record publically on Wednesday saying that the expansion in both “probable” and “likely” for next season.

This is further proof that college sports are indeed about the money. Note to all of you idiots out there that continue to argue topics such as graduation rates, the schedule being too demanding on the student athletes and all the other crap that suggests that college sports is all about the academia.

Here is the fact of the matter - the NCAA can opt out of its current tournament broadcast contract with CBS after this season. It has three years, $2.131 billion remaining of an original 11-year, $6 billion contract. More games equal more money. Who exactly is getting that money?

While college football is in dire need of tweaking its way of determining a champion, the NCAA bracket-style format is perfect for basketball. Adding another 32 teams to the field – is going to diminish the tournament, make the regular season even less meaningful and mess up the way every office pool in America is run.

I have seen poll after poll and talk to hundreds and have yet to find anyone outside of coaches, college presidents, and TV networks that are in favor of this decision.

The problem is we will continue to in. As long as they get our money and the ratings they desire they are in control.

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The Final Four is set for this weekend:

SATURDAY, APR 3
6:07PM - #5 Butler vs. #5 Michigan State
8:47PM - #1 Duke vs. #2 West Virginia

Here's some great reads from around the web:

--Expect Duke To Prevail (Sporting News) - Senior writer Mike DeCourcy breaks down why he thinks Duke is an easy pick.

--A First Look At The Final Four (ESPN) - Andy Katz looks back and ahead with great depth.

--A Final Four Worth Watching, Barely (LA Times) - A look at how Duke and Michigan State saved CBS.

--Huggins Had Cal's Number (Courier Journal) - Rick Bozich talks about how Bob Huggins out coached John Calipari.

--MSU's Most Remarkable Final Four Yet (Detroit News) - .Bob Wojnowski believes this is the most amazing Spartans' run yet.

--Butler's Story More Than Cute (Indianapolis Star) - Bob Kravitz explains this team is far from being a cute story.

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