From The Sports Desk: The 'Final' countdown

College basketballFrom The Sports Desk: The 'Final' countdownThe men’s Final Four features two surprise teams and two No. 1 seeds. Who will prevail?Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Arizona forward Koa Peat dunks during the Elite Eight round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Purdue, March 28, 2026, in San Jose, Calif. Kelley L Cox / APShareAdd NBC News to GoogleApril 3, 2026, 4:00 PM EDTBy Greg Rosenstein and Andrew GreifThree weeks of March Madness has come down to this. Illinois vs. UConn, two teams that no one expected to be here, and Michigan vs. Arizona, which might be the game of the tournament. Which team will cut down the nets? We break down the matchups below.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Final Four weekend starts with the women’s games tonight. We’ll be live-blogging all of the games through the weekend. Follow along at NBC News.Illinois vs. UConnUConn's Tarris Reed drives around Patrick Ngongba of the Duke Blue Devils on March 29, 2026.Emilee Chinn / Getty ImagesThe first game features two teams that no one expected to be here. UConn shocked Duke in the Elite Eight, and Illinois toppled higher-seeded Houston in the Sweet 16. Which of these two teams can keep its March magic going?Key matchup/player: Illinois boasts one of the best offenses in the country, but questions remain on the defensive side of the ball. They’ll need to limit UConn big man Tarris Reed Jr., who has come alive in the NCAA Tournament, to advance to the national title game. The senior center is averaging 21.8 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks a contest in the postseason.Key stat: The Fighting Illini are one of the most balanced teams in the country as five different players — Keaton Wagler, Andrej Stojakovic, David Mirkovic, Kylan Boswell and Tomislav Ivisic — average more than 10 points per game. Without one or two players to key on, UConn could be in for a long nig...