Two teams have now punched their ticket to New Orleans and the Final Four of the 2012 NCAA Tournament after two compelling Elite 8 games played on Saturday in the West and East regions.
Rick Pitino's Louisville Cardinals stunned the Florida Gators 72-68 on Saturday in the West regional final, closing the game on a 23-8 run to propel Pitino to his second Final Four appearance at Louisville, and first since 2005. Pitino is now 7-0 against former assistant and protege Billy Donovan, and becomes the first coach to bring three different programs to the Final Four.
In the East region, Syracuse fell 77-70 to the Ohio State Buckeyes behind the play of big men Jared Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas. Sullinger overcame first-half foul trouble to finish with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Thomas chipped in 14 points and nine boards. This will be Ohio State's first Final Four appearance since 2007, when they lost in the championship game to Florida.
There are now just two slots left in the Final Four, determined by the Sunday matchups below:
Sunday:
South: No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats vs. No. 3 Baylor Bears, 2:20 p.m. ET, CBS
Midwest: No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels vs. No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks, 5:05 p.m. ET, CBS
For up-to-the-minute scores on all NCAA Tournament games, please check out SI.com's complete scoreboard.
