Get Ready for a Final Four with All the Right Stuff to Live Up to the Hype

INDIANAPOLIS—Chucky Okafor was about 30 seconds into his walk from the Sheraton City Centre to Lucas Oil Stadium Friday when he heard the first honk. Stuck in standstill traffic on Capitol Avenue, two Michigan State fans rolled down their car window and began yelling at Okafor—the father of Duke standout Jahlil Okafor—about Saturday's NCAA semifinal between the Spartans and Blue Devils.

Wearing his son's No. 15 jersey, Okafor fired right back.

"Just some good-natured trash-talking," he chuckled. "All in good fun."

As the walk continued more horns began to blare, with Kentucky and Wisconsin fans getting in on the fun. When Okafor arrived at the arena, he was stunned to see approximately 30,000 people in the stands. Just to watch practice.

"There's an aura in the air," Okafor said. "You can feel it. It's a magical thing, like something special is going to happen this weekend."

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

A sense of excitement surrounds almost every Final Four—but it's been a while since one created a buzz as strong as this. Three of the NCAA tournament's four No. 1 seeds advanced to Saturday's semifinals. That includes Kentucky, which at 38-0, is vying to become the first team to go undefeated since Bob Knight and Indiana did it in 1976.

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Duke's Mike Krzyzewski is in the Hall of Fame and the other three head coaches will be soon. The teams boast a combined nine players who are expected to be first-round selections in this summer's NBA draft. That includes projected top-two picks Karl-Anthony Towns of Kentucky and Okafor of Duke, along with Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky, the Associated Press National Player of the Year.

Not since 2008, when all four No. 1 seeds advanced, has the Final Four generated this much hype. Perhaps it's no surprise that the cheapest three-game ticket package on StubHub.com was $613 as of Friday afternoon.

"It has a Super Bowl vibe," said veteran sportswriter Dick "Hoops" Weiss, who has covered 43 straight Final Fours for various media outlets. "All of these teams are from BCS conferences, and they've all won national titles at some level. And you won't find a better collection of coaches.

"This could very well end up being one of the best Final Fours we've seen in a long time."

The location makes that narrative even stronger. Wisconsin, Michigan State and Kentucky are all within reasonable driving distances from Indianapolis, which is regarded as one of the top cities in the country for college basketball. Whether they're partial to Purdue, Butler, Indiana, Notre Dame or someone else, fans say they're more passionate about the sport than anyone in the nation.

"No question about it," said Rick Ellsworth, a fan from Pendleton, Ind., who had a front row seat at Friday's practices. He cited the state's almost-official basketball motto, which reads "In 49 states, it's just basketball...but this is Indiana."

Especially this year, as the city's host committee has clearly gone above and beyond to make the 2015 Final Four more memorable than ever.

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Rihanna, one of the most popular stars in the music industry, is playing a free outdoor concert within walking distance of Lucas Oil Stadium prior to Saturday's games. The streets outside each team's hotel have been temporarily renamed to match the school's mascot: Wildcat Way, Spartan Way, etc. Thursday night there was an hour wait to get into a few downtown bars and nightclubs after the buildings became filled to capacity.

The most noticeable and impressive ode to Indiana's hoops hysteria is the 44,000-square-foot bracket—that's as big as nine basketball courts—that hangs from the east side of the JW Marriott downtown. The bracket weighs nearly two tons and took 12 days to complete.

Darron Cummings/Associated Press

"Nothing against any other place," Krzyzewski said, "but this is the best place to have it."

Perhaps the best part about the way this year's Final Four unfolded is that it happened at a crucial time.

College basketball has taken countless publicity hits this season, from fans complaining about the ugly, low-scoring games, to off-court issues at tradition-rich programs such as Syracuse, Kansas and Indiana, to the growing trends of players transferring or leaving early for the NBA draft.

"So much of that was overblown," CBS color commentator Clark Kellogg said of media and fan reaction to the issues. "Yes, there are some things that need to be tweaked and changed. But the sport isn't broken. There are still a lot of good elements to college basketball.

"And these four teams embody all of those elements."

Kellogg said it will be impossible for fans tuning in this weekend not to appreciate the way Kentucky's band of nine McDonald's All-Americans plays defense and shares the ball. Perhaps they'll fall in love with Wisconsin's Sam Dekker, Josh Gasser and Kaminsky—juniors and seniors who achieved success the old-school way, by sticking around and developing as players.

Some may be moved by the chemistry and cohesion of a Duke squad that features three freshmen (Okafor, Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow) who played together for years with USA Basketball before arriving in Durham.

The sentimental favorite may be Michigan State and coach Tom Izzo, who said his team is being labeled as the "ugly duckling" because it doesn't boast a No. 1 seed or future NBA lottery picks.

Izzo is competing in his seventh Final Four. Kentucky won the championship in 2012 under John Calipari and lost in the title game last year. Wisconsin is making its second straight appearance under longtime coach Bo Ryan. And Krzyzewski is trying to win his fifth NCAA championship at Duke.

It may make for a good story when schools such as George Mason, Butler and VCU reach the Final Four. But nothing is better than the type of field we'll see this weekend.

"The fact that you have name recognition teams really helps," Weiss said. "If you'd have had a non-BCS team, critics would've used it as ammunition."

Weiss paused.

"The game needed this," he said. "Now let's hope it lives up to the hype."

Jason King covers college basketball for Bleacher Report.