Final Four 2012 Predictions: Picking Winners for Each National Semifinal Game

The pieces are in place for this to be one of the best Final Fours in recent memory.

The first National Semifinal game on Saturday's docket is between two in-state rivals in Louisville and Kentucky. The Cardinals have gotten to the Final Four by playing outstanding team basketball. The Wildcats have gotten to the Final Four by overpowering the opposition with the sheer talent on their roster.

The second National Semifinal game is between two teams that are fresh off victories over No. 1 seeds. Ohio State knocked off Syracuse, and Kansas handled the Kendall Marshall-less North Carolina Tar Heels with relative ease.

So which teams are going to win? What's the championship matchup going to be?

Here are my picks.

No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 1 Kentucky (Saturday at 6:09 p.m. EST)

Spread: Kentucky -8.5, according to Bovada

I've probably already said this a hundred times this week, but Kentucky has way more collective talent than Louisville. Hands down. It's not even close.

Nevertheless, this will be a tough game for Kentucky because of how well-coached the Cardinals are. Rick Pitino has taken a rabble of misfits and second-rate players and turned them into a Final Four team because he's just plain smarter than anyone else, and that includes Kentucky head coach John Calipari.

Louisville's defensive excellence will be a big key in this game. The Wildcats have a lot of guys who can put the ball in the basket, but Pitino will make sure they have a hard time doing so. Louisville has been able to limit every team it's come across so far in the tournament, and it must be noted that Louisville held Kentucky to 69 points and 29.8 percent shooting way back on New Year's Eve.

As talented as the Wildcats are, their youth and relative inexperience will leave them open to a similar performance. They are not going to run away and hide with this game, as they have with so many others.

But...

The Cardinals will be able to limit Kentucky offensively, but their problem will be scoring enough points of their own against Kentucky's stout defense. We've only seen Kentucky lose two games this season, and it lost those games because it came up against teams that had the shooters to spread the floor and avoid Anthony Davis in the middle.

Louisville doesn't have an abundance of shooters. Because of that, you simply cannot like its chances against Kentucky.

It will be close, but the Wildcats will take this one and end Louisville's run.

Prediction: Kentucky by three

No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Kansas (Saturday at 8:49 p.m. EST)

Spread: Ohio State -2.5, according to Bovada

Now this is a matchup.

The argument can be made that both Ohio State and Kansas are merely lucky to be here, as the Buckeyes faced the Orange without Fab Melo and the Jayhawks took on the Tar Heels without Marshall.

Regardless, both teams are now in the Final Four, and they are going to play a heck of a basketball game on Saturday night.

I'm inclined to give Ohio State the edge. Jared Sullinger has been money in the Big Dance, and he's got a look in his eye that indicates he would very much like to atone for coming up short last season. 

Plus, Sullinger is a guy who will, at the very least, be able to balance out Thomas Robinson. It's impossible to completely hold him down, but the playing field is leveled when Robinson has to work hard for points and rebounds.

The other matchup I like for the Buckeyes is Aaron Craft against Tyshawn Taylor, which is another thing I've talked about a hundred times this week. Taylor is explosive, but he can be held in check more easily than Robinson. Craft is a perfect match for Taylor, and he should be able to limit his offensive output and force him into making crucial turnovers.

For Kansas to win this game, Robinson and Taylor will have to play the games of their lives, and a couple other players will have to step up as well. The odds are better that Ohio State will win the two crucial matchups, and the Buckeyes also have more depth and firepower to work with than Kansas.

In the end, I see Ohio State going back to the championship game for the first time since 2007.

Prediction: Ohio State by five