Final Four set for Saturday

Once the final few seconds ran out on the clock in the American Airlines Arena in Rutherford, N.J. — and on the North Carolina Tar Heels in their overtime loss to the Georgetown Hoyas—the Final Four was officially set. Unofficially, the Florida Gators became the immediate favorites to win back-to-back championships.

After defeating the Oregon Ducks 85-77 Sunday, the Gators joined UCLA — which sent No. 1 seed Kansas home packing on Saturday with a 68-55 win — as the first teams since Michigan State in 2003 to make consecutive Final Four trips.

Ohio State became the first Final Four participant with their 92-76 defeat of the Memphis Tigers Saturday afternoon in the South Regional Final. Down the stretch, the Buckeyes made 18 free throws in a row as the Tigers tried to extend the game. Ron Lewis and Mike Conley Jr. led the way for the Buckeyes, with first team All-American Greg Oden spending most of the first half on the bench in foul trouble.

The match-ups are now set for Saturday in Atlanta. It will be Georgetown vs. Ohio State, and then Florida vs. UCLA in a rematch of last year's championship game as the nightcap.

With such a star-studded field of players that includes a starting five for Florida and potentially the first overall pick in Greg Oden, it should be an excellent Final Four.

Kobe Bryant's streak of 50+ point games ends at four

The third most prolific scoring streak in NBA history came to an end on Sunday night when Kobe Bryant failed to reach the 50-point plateau. Prior to scoring just 43 points against the Golden State Warriors in a 115-113 win, Bryant had reeled off four consecutive such performances. Only Wilt Chamberlain of the NBA Hall of Fame has had longer such streaks.

It started with 65 points March 16 in a 116-111 win over Portland, 50 points March 18 against Minnesota and 60 points March 22 in a 121-119 win over Memphis comprised the middle performances of the historic streak. It ended with a 50-point performance March 23 against New Orleans.

To put this into some sort of historical understanding, it should be known that NBA greats such as Oscar Robinson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins and even Allen Iverson never achieved a consecutive scoring streak of that magnitude. And in a time when the players are bigger, faster and more athletic and the defenses are more complex, the streak is as extraordinary as the player.

Bryant and the Lakers have upcoming games against the Memphis Grizzlies Tuesday night and against Houston on Friday night.

Opening day in baseball comes next week

With every team opening up Monday night (the Mets and Cardinals play Sunday night rather than Monday), baseball returns with a brand new season. The 2007 season brings many new and young talented faces, while providing the stage for the old veterans to re-write the record books.

The most notable story, of course, is Barry Bonds' pursuit of Hank Aaron's career homerun record of 755. Bonds re-signed with the Giants in the offseason after there was some doubt if any team actually would sign him. The estranged outfielder continues to battle steroid allegations while the media and fans struggle to accept him as the potential new home run king.

Other notable achievements include four players closing in on the 500-homer club (Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Frank Thomas) and two on 600 homeruns (Sammy Sosa and Ken Griffey Jr.). Of course, Ichiro could potentially threaten the .400 batting average mark, and Chase Utley or Jimmy Rollins could once again make a run at Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hit streak.

One player to watch though, aside from the potential record breakers, is Daisuke (pronounced dice-kay) Matsuzaka, the former Japanese star pitcher who signed with the Red Sox over the winter. It cost Boston $103 million to obtain the pitcher, and soon they will see if he was worth it.

Reporter Anthony Dion at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.