Before the Final Four takes over State Farm Stadium this weekend in Glendale, a brief orientation is in order. Like deciding on the most important event to ever happen in the place so far.
Maybe the Super Bowl in 2008, when the New York Giants denied the New England Patriots an unbeaten season. The Patriots later returned to win a different Super Bowl there, and so did the Kansas City Chiefs.
But no, that’s not it.
Or the 2017 Final Four, when North Carolina defeated Gonzaga 71-65 in the title game, making Roy Williams a three-time champion for the Tar Heels, passing Dean Smith. “I don’t think Roy Williams should ever be put in the same sentence with Dean Smith,” Williams said that night.
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Nope, not that either. We’re talking something heard around the planet.
State Farm Stadium — are you ready? — was the site of the opening concert to kickoff the Taylor Swift Eras Tour. Glendale temporarily renamed itself Swift City, Arizona to get with the program. The momentous occasion was March 17, 2023 — the same night Purdue was losing to Fairleigh Dickinson, and from that evening onward, Swift went out into the world to make billions and the Boilermakers began the long road to redemption at this Final Four.
So what memorable moments might happen this weekend? These four teams are no Taylor Swift, but still, consider the possibilities.
UConn could become only the eighth program to repeat as national champion and just the second in more than three decades.
Alabama could become the first team this century to win the title in its maiden voyage to the Final Four. The last to do it was UConn in 1999. That’s the only one in the past 57 years.
NC State could become the first No. 11 seed to ever play in a national championship game.
Purdue could play in only its second national championship game in history. The first was 55 years ago when the Boilermakers lost to UCLA in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s final college game.
UConn could become the first No. 1 ranked team in the final Associated Press poll to end up champion in 12 years.
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Alabama could become the first SEC team to play in a championship game in a decade.
NC State could win the title with 14-season defeats. That would be three more than any other champion in history.
Purdue could be the third team from the state of Indiana to play in a title game in the past 22 tournaments. Butler was there in 2010 and ’11. Indiana was there in 2002.
UConn could win its sixth national championship, which would pass Duke and Indiana, and tie North Carolina for third on the all-time list.
NC State could win its third title, which would tie Villanova for eighth place.
Purdue and Alabama could each win its first title.
Alabama could become the first school to ever clinch a national championship in both football and basketball in the same building. The Tide beat Clemson there in the College Football Playoff title game for the 2015 season.
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NC State could make Kevin Keatts the fifth Black coach to win the national championship and first in a decade, joining John Thompson, Nolan Richardson, Tubby Smith and Kevin Ollie.
Purdue could become the second team to go from losing to a 16 seed in the first round to a national championship in one season. When Virginia did it in 2019, that was considered an amazing, unprecedented turnaround. Now it could happen twice in five years. If the Boilermakers pull it off, imagine the expectation that will surround the next No. 1 seed to lose to a 16.
UConn could give the Big East its fourth national championship since 2016. The Big East would own as many titles in the past eight years as the rest of the nation combined.
Purdue could be the first Big Ten team to win a title in 24 years.
NC State could become the ACC's fourth different school to win the title in the past nine tournaments.
Alabama could be the first SEC team not named Kentucky or Florida to win a national championship in three decades.
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NC State could become the first unranked team in 36 years to win the title. That goes back to Kansas and Danny Manning in 1988.
UConn could continue its tournament love affair with the Phoenix area. Between State Farm Stadium and the former America West Arena — now Footprint Arena — in downtown Phoenix, the Huskies won regionals in 1999, 2004 and 2009. They’re 6-0 in the desert. “We do love coming out here,” coach Jim Calhoun said in 2009. “I’m buying a house. I’ll come out here once every five years.”
Ironic now, some of the Huskies victims back then. Arizona is where Alabama played its first Elite Eight game ever in 2004, losing to... UConn. It's where Matt Painter coached his first Purdue Sweet 16 team in 2009, losing to... UConn. Anyone else spot a trend here?
Purdue could make Painter the fifth man to coach his alma mater to the national championship in 45 years, joining Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, North Carolina’s Roy Williams, UConn's Kevin Ollie and Maryland’s Gary Williams.
Connecticut could add to an already glowing Final Four record. The Huskies are 10-1, the only loss to Michigan State in 2009. That’s the best all-time percentage for any program that has played at least three games.
North Carolina State could win the championship and Connecticut could lose, meaning the Wolfpack would pass the Huskies for the best Final Four record at 7-1.
Purdue could thrive now that UCLA is not in the way. The Boilermakers have played in two Final Fours and lost to the Bruins both times.
UConn and Seton Hall could win and give the Big East the title in both the NCAA and NIT, something no league has accomplished since 2006.
Alabama and Georgia could do the same thing for the SEC.
NC State could win next Monday, and either Indiana State or Seton Hall could win this Thursday, meaning the NCAA national champion would have more losses than the NIT champion.
Zach Edey could win Most Outstanding Player even if Purdue doesn’t end up champion. Imagine if he has two Edey-like games but the Boilers fall short against, say, UConn. It could happen. It hasn’t happened for a non-winning player in 41 years, but it could.
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They will arrive near and far to attend this Final Four. Actually mostly far. Alabama is the closet participating team to Glendale and Tuscaloosa is 1,500 miles away. They're all heading west on the road to State Farm Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals. The facility was once called the University of Phoenix Stadium, which always seemed a little odd. An NFL franchise playing in an arena named after a college that has no football team.
Basketball is the focal point now, to be played on the same site where Anti-Hero was once sung from the stage for the adoring multitudes. The operative song this week is One Shining Moment. The Final Four is coming to Swift City.
