Frank Burlison

Unless you are a fan of the Syracuse or Florida – or both – teams, there isn’t much to gripe about regarding what went on during the two NCAA Tournament regional finals played Saturday.

And the Ohio State and Louisville now make up half the Final Four field that will be on hand in New Orleans next weekend – and both the Buckeyes and Cardinals had to call on the figurative shovels and dig hard to get there Saturday.

The Louisville Cardinals got there by way of a 72-68 win over the Florida Gators.

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Friday we found out that . . .

*The North Carolina Tar Heels could survive with point guard Kendall Marshall in street clothes . . .

*Kansas could hang on and advance while hitting 55 percent of its free throws and knocking in just one more 3-pointer than I converted against North Carolina State . . .

*Kentucky could take one more step toward what many believe is the inevitable – picking up national championship hardware in New Orleans on late-night April 2 . . .

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FRIDAY’S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS

SOUTH/At Atlanta

No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 10 Xavier (7:15 p.m. ET/CBS)

Frank Says: Each of these teams had stretches in which it would have been dicey to project Sweet 16 appearances for either. The Musketeers appear to be playing at “pre-brawl (with Cincinnati) form. And the Bears are now look the part of a team two wins away from a Final Four appearance – in large part because of Southern Idaho transfer point guard Pierre Jackson. To earn a spot in Sunday’s regional final, however, Baylor is going to need a big effort out of Perry Jones III (four of 14 from field/nine points/14 rebounds in two NCAA games) against Xavier’s Kenny Frease (35 points/15 rebounds in same stretch).

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So much for a “chalk” Final Four . . .

The first top seed went by the wayside Thursday night – and in very surprising (relative) one-sided fashion.

And, as startling as it seems, it was Michigan State that was knocked asunder from the Road to New Orleans, as the Spartans’ offense was dismantled by the Louisville combination of defenses en route to the Cardinals’ 57-44 victory.

The Spartans’ jump shooters didn’t get enough clean and uncontested looks and the defensive “length” provided by Gorgui Dieng (seven blocked shots) negated any size/strength/assertiveness advantage Coach Tom Izzo’s team seemingly enjoyed going into the contest.

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THURSDAY’S REGIONAL SEMIFINALS

WEST/At Phoenix

No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 4 Louisville (7:47 p.m. ET, TBS)

Frank Says: Look for something along the lines of the Spartans-Saint Louis (although not quite that methodical). Regardless of what happens in this game (or beyond), this has to be one of Rick Pitino’s finest-ever coaching job. But Tom Izzo – who has also turned in his usual, take-him-for-granted performance – has Draymond Green in a Spartans’ uniform. And that will be the difference. And that’s something that has been said in a lot of MSU games this season.

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