Michigan State 70 - Tennessee 69 = Lesson #3: Fundamentals are, by definition, fundamental. I was torn when it came to making a pick on this game, as I felt they were so evenly matched. Yet, although I like both Izzo and the Spartans better than I do Pearl and the Volunteers, I felt UT had just the slightest edge in this, so gave them the reluctant nod. This was the only one of the four games I did not successfully predict, but I WOULD have gone four-for-four had THOSE STINKIN' VOLS HIT A FEW OF THEIR STINKIN' FREETHROWS AT THE END!! (Also, if the refs had called that 3-seconds on the Spartans with about 40 ticks left, when that kid drove the lane, got trapped by 3 Vols, and parked there for a week or so . . . but that's another issue, so forget it.) And don't doubt it - that is where the game was won and lost. Both teams went to the line 21 times each. MSU hit 16 from the stripe. UT hit 14 of theirs. There is the flip-flop of the final margin right there. Congratulations to the Spartans for making it back to the Final Four after such a long absence.
And kudos to UT too, for fighting through a difficult season to make it as far as they did.