The Final Four field is set with North Carolina, South Carolina, Gonzaga and Oregon vying for the national championship and Twitter is lit.
As a native and resident of Phoenix, Arizona, I would like to offer a personal welcome to the four teams visiting my city this weekend. It’s been quite a ride this March, and while it’s not the one my bracket would have chosen, the country got a tremendously entertaining set of games leading up to what will be a wild Final Four. It’ll be hard to believe these are actually the teams we’re watching even as we’re watching them. I’m excited. So, apparently, is Twitter.
These damn Chickens will not stop:
— Michael Baumann (@MichaelBaumann) March 26, 2017
It’s genuinely cool for Frank Martin to bring basketball success to SEC country down South from two historical powerhouses in North Carolina. Sindarius Thornwell and the Gamecocks have put together an impressive run that has put this program emphatically on the map.
Ditto all of that for Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs, who didn’t need a spot on the map but more a special moment where they get the respect they’ve earned:
Happy for Gonzaga & Mark Few on their 1st final four. Sometimes the best job is the one you have. has built a helluva program
— trey wingo (@wingoz) March 26, 2017
Jubilation. pic.twitter.com/stbO9HefUX
— Jared Diamond (@jareddiamond) March 26, 2017
A few more, because what would Twitter be if not for “jokes: (do you get it?)
THIS ONE'S FOR YOUUUUUU pic.twitter.com/CjKY8lxC5c
— Robby Kalland (@RKalland) March 26, 2017
Then there’s Oregon, maybe the least expected of all due to their less flashy tournament run. They beat a Cinderella-ish Michigan team and a quietly great Kansas squad, going about their work and squelching good teams’ runs, overshadowed by Blue Bloods and over-hyped low seeds.
Now, their come-up:
Quack. Quack.
— Oregon Men's Basketball (@OregonMBB) March 26, 2017
Say goodbye to that drought.
— ESPN (@espn) March 26, 2017
Oregon becomes the first Pac-12 team in the Final Four since Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love and UCLA in 2008. pic.twitter.com/xroxdmyshm
Quick! To Scary Twitter for its input:
#Oregon burning down your bracket like....#Elite8 pic.twitter.com/kMQcfTVkCz
— Stadium (@Stadium) March 26, 2017
Scary Twitter remains victorious.
AND SO DO LUKE MAYE AND THE NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS:
Apparently Columbus, Ohio cut to a black screen. Let’s not let this get lost, because holy crap how much must this suck for basketball fans in Ohio? Yikes.
Shout-out to @10TV for cutting into the end of the game with a black screen. I sure hope nothing crazy happened! pic.twitter.com/CGTGpqtenj
— Mark Titus (@clubtrillion) March 26, 2017
There you go, Columbus. You missed one of the best Final Four endings in recent memory. North Carolina continues to make basketball the most entertaining thing on this Earth. This time, though, they ended up on the right side of that entertainment, thanks to their 6-8 sweet-shooter’s mid-range touch.
With Luke Maye’s blessing, the Final Four is now set:
The #FinalFour pic.twitter.com/vuT5ul4TNp
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 26, 2017
Get into it.