What We Learned from Elite 8 Action

As this weekend's Elite Eight showed us, while the NCAA tournament is an event filled with magic and heroes and all sorts of amazing, those on the wrong side of history will always find it to be cruel and cold.

Notre Dame nearly snatched immortality away from the still-perfect (38-0) Kentucky Wildcats, but a closing-minute knockout punch from the Harrison twins spoiled the Irish's spoiler bid.

Gonzaga's Mark Few and his all-senior backcourt were denied the distinction of being the first Bulldogs squad to make it to the Final Four.

Arizona did not get the fitting sports movie revenge it so desperately wanted against Bo Ryan and Wisconsin, who defeated these Wildcats in the Elite Eight for the second consecutive season.

And two Hall of Fame coaches needed five extra minutes to decide who would earn the right to play for a title. Tom Izzo now finds himself in his seventh Final Four with Michigan State, while Rick Pitino and Louisville head home to dwell on all the could haves and should haves of the contest.

Now, with all eyes turned to Indianapolis to witness how one of the most intriguing Final Fours in recent memory will play out, here's a look at what we learned about each team that will play a key role in its pursuit of a national championship.

Kentucky: The Wildcats Can Be Beaten

The Fighting Irish more than lived up to their namesake. They fought and fought, but in the end, it wasn't enough, as Kentucky escaped, 68-66.

The Harrisons were clutch once more. Karl-Anthony Towns made yet another statement for his possible selection as No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. Calipari wrung every last bit of effort from his squad.

Despite the loss, the Irish provided Wisconsin with a blueprint to derail the perfect college basketball beast. They kept the rebounding battle close, losing just 28-25—miraculously, Notre Dame won the offensive rebounding battle, 10-9—and only turned the ball over six times against KenPom's No. 1 defense.

"

Karl-Anthony Towns shot chart from 2nd Half against Notre Dame #collegehoops http://t.co/gRzD5eAXfg

— Reddit Sports (@redditsportsbot) March 29, 2015"

Towns (25 pts, 10-13 FG) was unstoppable in the paint, using his superior size and strength and a deft touch around the hoop to bully the smaller Notre Dame defenders. The rest of Kentucky, however, was off for most of the game.

Kentucky's four other starters combined for just 28 points on 9-of-24 shooting. The Harrison twins, despite their late game heroics, never got into a real rhythm.

"We didn't play very well, and Notre Dame, I thought, controlled the whole thing, but we made the plays," Kentucky coach John Calipari told Tom Withers of the Associated Press after the game. "We figured out a way to win it. We've had other tests, but we have a will to win."

Notre Dame's 6'10” Zach Auguste (20 pts, 10-13 FG, 9 reb) was able to provide some hope for Bo Ryan that 6'11” Frank Kaminsky, 6'9” Sam Dekker and 6'8” Nigel Hayes can have some success in the interior against the Wildcats' massive frontcourt.

The Nation's No. 1 offense per KenPom's ratings system, Wisconsin should feel confident in its chances to deny Kentucky its second title since 2012.

Wisconsin: Dekker, Not Kaminsky, the Key

Kaminsky is the face of Wisconsin. He's the unanimous All-American with funky, awkward, endearing dance moves. But 6'9” junior forward Sam Dekker has been Wisconsin's best and most important player throughout the NCAA tournament.

Dekker's shooting had been rocky all season. The Wisconsin swingman shot just 30.4 percent on threes in Big Ten play, per sports-reference.com.

That's all changed this postseason. Dekker is 13-of-27 from three (48.1 percent) in Wisconsin's four NCAA tournament wins. The five he hit against Arizona in the Elite Eight is the most he's had in a game all season.

With his stroke back, Dekker's unique combination of size, athleticism and shooting prowess has made him nearly unguardable.

Arizona coach Sean Miller knows first hand the type of menace Dekker can be, especially when Wisconsin's other talented big man is hitting on all cylinders.

"When Sam Dekker does what he did, and I think some of the shots were very well defended...when he does that with Kaminsky, maybe Kentucky is that school that can beat them,” Miller told the Journal Sentinel's Jeff Potrykus following Arizona's 85-78 loss to Wisconsin.

"But I'm telling you, I don't know if there is another one out there when they're clicking with that one-two punch."

Arizona, with its defensive intensity and surplus of athletes, was picked by many to be the greatest challenge to Kentucky. Wisconsin and Dekker disproved that notion by shooting 55.6 percent against the No. 3 defense in the nation, per KenPom's rating system.

Dekker and Kaminsky combined for 56 points against Arizona, but against Kentucky, they'll see even more size and athleticism. Even so, Dekker has proven he can step up and handle the spotlight in the most pressure-packed situations.

Bleacher Report's C.J. Moore captured earlier today just what Dekker means to this team against Kentucky.

Duke-Michigan State: What Will this Rematch Bring?

Duke and Michigan State have already had one meeting in Indiana this year. Though that was over four months ago, we can still glean some important facts from the initial confrontation.

Duke had four starters (Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones, Quinn Cook and Justise Winslow) score over 15 points. Duke lost the rebounding battle, 35-25, but excelled in getting to the line. The Blue Devils shot 26 free throws to Michigan State's 10. If that happens again, Duke's fans can count on a season sweep of the Spartans.

Denzel Valentine, Brandon Trice, Branden Dawson and Matt Costello all racked up three or more fouls. The size, athleticism and offensive fluidity of Duke's starting lineup gave the Spartans fits all game.

And now, months later, the Blue Devils are even better.

Jahlil Okafor. Justise Winslow. Tyus Jones. Those are three first round picks who, if they're playing their best basketball at the same time, might combine to create an even more unstoppable force than Kentucky.

It's one thing to stop one star, but stopping three might just be impossible, even for Tom Izzo.

This is Coach K's 12^th Final Four appearance, and despite the relative youth of his team, the winningest coach in men's Division I basketball history will extract every single piece of potential from his best players.

Jones has totaled 30 points and 9 assists with just three turnovers over his last two games. Winslow is looking like Duke's new Grant Hill, averaging 14 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.5 steals per game. And Okafor is still the most offensively dominant post presence left in the tournament, despite two consecutive lackluster (7.5 pts, 7-16 FG, 1-4 FT) performances.

KenPom has Duke rated as the No. 3 offense in the NCAA, but it's difficult to envision a more daunting offensive team remaining in the tournament than Duke.

And if Matt Jones is stroking threes like he was against Gonzaga, this game might get out of hand.

None of this is to say Michigan State doesn't have a shot. This is Tom Izzo's seventh Final Four, and he's always had a unique ability to get the most mileage out of even substandard makes.

Michigan State is older, craftier and fully determined to continue defying expectations.

They don't lack for stars either, even if they're not household names or future first-round draft picks.

 C.J. Moore called senior guard Brandon Trice “the biggest shot-maker in this tournament.”

Trice, Valentine and Dawson—the Three Amigos, as some have come to call them—might not have the NBA upside of Okafor and Winslow, but they're older, wiser and have learned from what has been a trying season.

According to Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press, the first thing Izzo did before Monday's practice was present each player with a copy of the poem "One Possession," which is “an ode to the magnitude of March basketball in that the margins for error shrink now more than during the regular season.”

That might be the kind of Phil Jackson “Zenmaster” strategy that gets a team like these Spartans to continue their overachieving ways.

Final Four: What to Expect

As we've come to learn, anything can happen in the NCAA tournament, but there appear to be two superior teams left standing in the Final Four.

Wisconsin has the tools to become the "1" in Kentucky's loss column, but following the scare against Notre Dame and the realization of how fleeting their perfection can be, I expect the Wildcats to topple the Badgers and advance to the title game.

Waiting to meet them will be Coach K and Duke. It'll be K vs. Cal. Title No. 5 vs. the ultimate college basketball season. The two best teams in the nation, with possibly the two best coaches and the two best players.

In a wild postseason that usually defies all reason and expectation, this might be the best result anyone could have hoped for.