2023 NCAA Men's Final Four

The 2022-23 season will be remembered as the year March Madness lived up to its name. Purdue became just the second No. 1 seed ever to lose to a No. 16 seed when Fairleigh Dickinson knocked off the Boilermakers in the first round. By the end of the second weekend, every No. 1 seed was gone, and for the first time in tournament history, no team seeded higher than No. 4 made the Final Four. The road ended in Houston at NRG Stadium, and I was there for the national championship game. Five years after my first Final Four in San Antonio, I was back on college basketball’s biggest stage.

The four teams that made it to Houston were a bracket buster’s dream. No. 4 seed UConn rolled through the West Region, winning every game by double digits. No. 5 seed Miami knocked off Houston, the top seed in its region and the hometown favorite, in the Sweet 16. Florida Atlantic, a No. 9 seed, made its first Final Four. San Diego State, a No. 5 seed, beat No. 1 overall seed Alabama in the Sweet 16 and became the first Mountain West team ever to reach the Final Four.

The semifinals on Saturday set up the title game. UConn beat Miami 72-59, and San Diego State won the wildest game of the weekend when Lamont Butler hit a buzzer-beater to beat Florida Atlantic 72-71. That left the Huskies, looking for their fifth national championship, against the Aztecs, playing in their first title game.

Before tipoff, four NASA astronauts were honored at center court, a fitting touch for a Final Four in Space City. Then the game started, and it did not take long for UConn to take control. San Diego State missed 14 straight shots in the first half and went 11 minutes without a field goal, and the Huskies led 36-24 at halftime.

San Diego State never quit. The Aztecs cut the lead to 60-55 late in the second half, and for a moment the crowd of 72,423 thought it had a game on its hands. Then Jordan Hawkins hit a 3-pointer that started a 9-0 run, and that was the end of it. UConn won 76-59.

This night belonged to UConn. Tristen Newton led the Huskies with 19 points and 10 rebounds, Hawkins added 16, and Adama Sanogo had 17 points and 10 rebounds and was named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player. UConn won all six of its tournament games by at least 13 points, and Dan Hurley brought the program its fifth national title. The Huskies are now five for five in championship games.

My seat was in the upper level, and from up there, you get the full picture of what a Final Four in a football stadium really is. More than 72,000 people filled NRG Stadium for a basketball game, and when the confetti came down over the court and the trophy went up on the video board, the whole building felt it. I would give the experience a 10 out of 10. Watching UConn hold up that trophy was the perfect way to close out the season. Two Final Fours down, and I plan to make it to many more.