The SEC champion Kentucky Wildcats and CAA runner-up VCU Rams join Butler and UConn in Houston for the 2011 Final Four, tipping off next weekend. The bracket lined up nicely, with the two power conference champions taking each other on in the late game while the dueling Cinderellas get it on in the early contest.
Kentucky held off a late run by North Carolina, relying on smokin' three-point shooting to keep its postseason charge alive. VCU looked like the team that should've been favored against Kansas, making their struggles with FSU look like a fluke. That's the craziest sentence I've ever typed.
In the other Elite Eight games, Butler held off Florida to reach its second-straight Final Four, and UConn continued its late surge with a win against Arizona.
Updated 2011 Final Four bracket and TV tip time schedule (all times ET, all games at Reliant Stadium in Houston, and all games called by Jim Nantz, Clark Kellogg, and Steve Kerr with sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson):
April 2
No. 11 VCU Rams vs. No. 8 Butler Bulldogs, 6:09 p.m. on CBS
No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats vs. No. 3 UConn Huskies, 8:49 p.m. on CBS
April 4
National Championship, 9 p.m. on CBS
For more on these teams, VCU fans should join SB Nation DC and Mid Major Madness; Butler fans should join SB Nation Indiana and Mid Major Madness; Kentucky fans should join A Sea Of Blue and Team Speed Kills; and UConn fans should join The UConn Blog.
More 2011 March Madness resources: Visit our NCAA Tournament hub for up-to-date news and information ... updated printable NCAA 2011 Tournament bracket.