This is the best NCAA tournament I’ve ever seen. The games have been electric. The players have been electric. The drama has been riveting. Now we have four left after some phenomenal sweet 16 and Elite 8 games over the weekend. The Kentucky-Louisville and then Ky-Michigan games were tremendously exciting. The Harrison brothers for the Cats, Andrew and Aaron, are so incredibly clutch. When the Wildcats needed it Friday Night against Louisville, Aaron came through with a massively clutch trifecta. I also thought Pitino blew it by leaving his big man, Montrez Harrell, in the game late in the first half after Harrell committed his second foul. Harrell immediately picked up his third foul and fouled out in the final minutes of the game. Costly.

Then when they needed yesterday against Michigan in the closing seconds, twin brother Andrew came through. They are the epitome of clutch players. They just made themselves both nice contracts in the NBA for next year with their performances in the tournament. Julius Randle, the Wildcats star power forward, hasn’t hurt his cause either. But more importantly in the present, they have a shot of winning a national championship, which would be Kentucky’s ninth national championship of all time. The legendary Adolph Rupp won four. Cal is shooting for his second. Cal gets it done; without a doubt. He recruits better than anybody in the country and gets his young men to buy in as the season progresses, so by the end of the season, his freshmen laden teams are peaking. This group of freshmen he has this year, the Harrisons, Randle, Michael Young and Dakarri Johnson are peaking. What’s interesting to me is Cal has recruited really good kids to come to Lexington the last three or four years. I thought his first class with DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall were a little reckless as individuals. But the group he had two years ago with the awesome Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, which won the national title, and the group he has this year, are solid, excellent kids. The chemistry is right. They are playing sensational basketball right now, especially on the offensive end, but they’re also playing pretty solid defense. But I love their offense.

Florida is playing solid defense, but my question is, can they score enough points to get it done at the end? They’re a little erratic on offense. I know defense wins championships in football, basketball and baseball (along with pitching and timely hitting), but you have to score enough to win as well. I really like Scotty Wilbekin, Florida’s point guard, but he missed some key free throws at the end of the season. I’m not sure I totally trust him at the end. Florida is a low 60 percent free throw shooing team, and while they really get it done on defense and they rebound well and score OK, their free throw shooting concerns me. If they were to face UK in the finals it would be the fourth time they’ve played them. Florida has beaten Ky all three times they’ve played. It’s proven that it is very hard to beat a team three times in a season. Beating a team four times, wow, that’s almost unheard of if the teams are pretty comparable in talent. But with the Gators defense that gives them a chance to win it all. Wisconsin, which plays Kentucky at 8:49 PM ET/7:49 CT  on CBS Saturday night in the second game is an outstanding offensive and solid defensive team. They shoot it really well, they are unbelievable passers, they play really, really solid defense and their big 7 footer Frank Kaminsky is an absolute stud. Kaminsky can score low and he can drain trifectas. UK-Wisconsin should be a classic.

Florida faces the awesome Shabazz Napier and an excellent Connecticut team in the first game at 6:09 PM ET/5:09 CT on CBS. Napier is another guy who epitomizes clutchness. Actually, I’ve never seen anything like it. Napier is a senior and is a carbon copy of what Kemba Walker did at the point guard spot for UConn three years ago when they won it all  in 2011. He’s a dominant player at point guard. If UConn needs a three, he’ll get it; if UConn needs a drive to the rim basket, he’ll get it; and if UConn needs clutch free throws, he will sink them.He was nine-for-nine from the stripe yesterday. He’s an 86 percent free throw shooter. He got fouled shooting a three late in the game against a fantastic Michigan State team and drained all three of them. UConn was 21-of-22 from the line yesterday.  That’s astounding. They are shooting 95 of 107 from the line in their last four games (89%). That’s approximate but right on their percentage.

So Saturday sets up for a classic in the best NCAA tourney I’ve ever seen.

Predictions for the Final Four:

Florida vs .UConn

Cowboys Stadium, North Texas (Jerry loves this and I don’t mean the Sugar Magnolia Jerry; I mean the Willie/Waylon Jerry-Jones).

6:09 PM ET/5:09 CT on CBS

Jim, Greg and Wolf (who else would be on the sidelines?)

I really like this UConn team. I love Napier. He is a game changer at point guard. Their other guard, Ryan Boatright, can light it up when he gets going, and DeAndre Daniels is a hoss inside and outside. He can score in the paint and he can drain threes. Niels Giffey is an excellent complimentary player to those three as he gets key rebounds, sinks key shots, and plays lock down defense. Florida is going to be shaky at the line in this one and I think that’s going to cost them. I like Napier and the Huskies to get this done with their stellar defense and their incredibly clutch free throw shooting.

UConn 72, Florida 69

Kentucky vs. Wisconsin

8:49 PM ET/7:49 CT

CBS

Jerry’s World also

I like the clutchness of this UK team. While I love what the Badgers are doing and think Bo Ryan is an all world coach, the Wildcats are hot, like UConn. The Harrison brothers will come through at crunch time. They’re like having two Kobe Bryants out there with Julius Randle being the Shaq complimentary player. I see UK moving on and facing UConn in the finals. Should be an excellent game as well.

Kentucky 75, Wisconsin 73

PGA inside thoughts:

Not sure what to think of these so called “elite” players in the tour. First, Rory Mcilroy blows a three shot lead on the back nine at the Honda Classic a month ago, then Adam Scott blows an eight shot lead last week at the Arnie. Matt Kuchar, who’s not on those two guys level but is a good player and somewhat elite, catches Stephen Bowdich at -9 yesterday at the Valero Open in San Antonio, but bogeys three of the next five holes to fall out of contention as Bowdich won the Valero. Excellent field this week for the Shell Houston as the players who want to win a green jacket have a solid tune up for Augusta. I like what Phil’s doing; he’s competing. He pulled a muscle in his stomach Saturday, so he’s questionable for the Shell Houston, but a doctor on the Golf Channel said if Phil can do some intensive rehab, he can play this week. Phil prepares. I love that about him. He’s got a shot at Augusta because he has relentlessly prepared for it. He’s 43 and knows that time is running out for him to get another green jacket and win the only major he hasn’t won, the U.S. Open, so he’s doing everything he can to win his fourth Masters and first U.S. The U.S. Open is at Pinehurst No. 2 this year and that’s where Phil lost on the 18th hole in 1999 to Payne Stewart, who sank a clutch 14 foot par putt to win. So Phil had an excellent showing at Pinehurst in ’99. Phil did the smartest thing he could have done last year before the British Open when he played in the Scottish Open the week before. He won the Scottish and then won the British the next week. Just really smart thinking there. Hopefully, he’s OK for this week’s Shell Houston, which has an awesome field. Phil has won three Masters, one British and one PGA. He’s hungry for more. Adam Scott and Brandt Snedeker are not playing this week. Really don’t understand that thinking. This is a good course and has an incredible field with everybody playing except for Scott, Tiger, Snedeker and Jason Day. Day and Woods are injured, but Scott and Snedeker don’t have any excuse not to play.  You need competition to get ready. Who knows what’s going on with Tiger? His back is not good, his Masters status is up in the air, and even if he did play, he’s not playing well enough  to win. He’s got physical issues right now and mentally he’s not getting it done either. Maybe the Nicklaus record is getting harder and harder to live up to. Can Rory or Scott get it done? Possibly, but I didn’t like what I saw in the Honda and the Arnie respectively. Maybe young Jordan Spieth or a Georgian and an excellent young player like Harris English, who has won this year, can win it. If Jason Day gets healthy, he has a shot. Will have full Augusta preview next Wednesday (April 9th). In the meantime, excellent field this weekend at Houston. Will preview on Wednesday.

Baseball thoughts, predictions:

Can the Yankees and Dodgers buy their way to the World Series? They seem to think so, but I don’t agree. I’m going with the more solid organizations that have put their teams together through some free agents, but more through their farm systems with their stellar young pitching, fantastic defense and timely, clutch hitting

I like the Oakland A’s over the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL Championship series;

like the St. Louis Cardinals over the Washington Nationals in the NLCS.

World Series:

A’s over the Cardinals in 7 in the World Series.

Moneyball gets it done. The ability to draft well, develop and

have stellar pitching gets it done this year for the Oakland A’s.

The Yankees and Dodgers will make the playoffs but lose in the second week in October. The Yankees will lose in the second round to the Rays and the Dodgers in the second round to the Nationals.