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The 68 teams have started March Madness and it's time to decide who will make it to the championship game.
Top-seeded Purdue defeated NC State 63-50 on Saturday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, to advance to the NCAA men's championship game.
This is the first time the Boilermakers have advanced to the title game since 1969.
On Monday, Purdue will play either reigning champion and No. 1 seed UW or No. 4 Alabama.
The two teams will face off at 8:49 PM ET and can be viewed on TBS, TNT, and tru TV.
The first game of the day on Saturday pitted the highly-touted No. 1 seed against a plucky underdog riding the wave to the Final Four.
The Purdue Boilermakers bounced back strongly from last year's disappointment, when they suffered a blowout 16-1 loss for only the second time in tournament history.
On Saturday, the Boilermakers were led by star Zach Eady's 20 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.
The Wolfpack, advancing to the Final Four for the first time since 1986, was led by guard DJ Horn, who finished with 20 points.
The team's big wins in the opening two rounds set the tone, followed by impressive wins over No. 5 Gonzaga and No. 2 Tennessee to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 1980.
It's been a heartbreaking 44 years for Purdue, always succumbing to bad luck and shocking losses that fell short of expectations.
Head coach Matt Painter says they had to learn from past experiences to get to this point.
“I thought I needed to acquire more skills,” he said. “That way, not everyone can play the same way or at all. It's hard because they mean a lot to our program and they do really good things. Because you have done a lot for me.”
This time, Purdue has perhaps the single most dominant player in the men's tournament in the form of Eady.
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In his final college season, Eadie became a dominant force for the Purdue Boilermakers.
The 7-foot-4 Canadian center is nearly unstoppable for opposing defenses and also provides a solid last line of defense.
Asked about his thoughts on the possibility of winning the first championship in program history, Eady said it's something the team has been talking about for four years.
“If we accept that challenge, whoever is in the next game is going to be a great team,” Eadie said on the TBS broadcast. “We’re going to stick with our game plan and execute.”
Coming off an impressive season in the last round, the 21-year-old really blossomed in this year's March Madness, scoring 30, 23 and 27 points in the first three games of the tournament.
His best game came when his team needed it most, scoring 40 points and grabbing 16 rebounds to help lead Purdue to an Elite Eight victory over Tennessee.
Meanwhile, DJ Barnes Jr. has been at the forefront of North Carolina State's extraordinary rise, winning the hearts of many androgynous fans with his nimble footwork, deft touch and personality.
Like Eadie, Barnes' most impressive performance came in the Elite Eight, where he scored 29 points and helped the Wolfpack defeat No. 4 Duke and advance to the Final Four for the first time since 1983. That same year, they won their second and final national championship.
Barnes epitomizes the never-give-up attitude NC State has consistently shown in this year's tournament, defeating No. 6 and No. 2 seeds and Duke along the way.
Carmen Mandert/Getty Images
Barnes (left) has been the breakout star of this year's men's March Madness.
“It's a miraculous run, but we're not surprised,” head coach Kevin Keatts said before the team's loss. “We don't come into this tournament saying, let's just work hard to get here. We came (to regionals) to win, and we won. Now we… must move on to the next stage.”
The main storyline of this year's men's NCAA Tournament was, “Can anyone stop UConn?”
The top-seeded Huskies have looked nearly unstoppable, winning every game by wide margins, the closest being a 17-point win over No. 9 seed Northwestern in the second round. Ta.
This year, he lost 28 seconds and has won 10 consecutive tournament games by double digits since last season.
UW also qualified for the Final Four in impressive fashion, posting a 30-0 victory over the University of Illinois in the Elite Eight.
Head coach Dan Hurley credits the success to a team that “plays every possession like it's the end of the world.”
“We have a winner. We have an 'us.' We've also talked about legacy,” Hurley told reporters.
“They're leaving a legacy right now in a place where it's hard to leave a legacy. It's been a historic season in a place where it's hard to make history. They're energized by that. It's special.”
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Tristen Newton (right) is an important player for the University Huskies.
And now, UConn is two wins away from becoming the eighth program to win consecutive titles and the second in more than 30 years.
This is the school's sixth national title, passing Duke University and Indiana State and tying North Carolina State for third place on the all-time list.
The Alabama Crimson Tide, making their first appearance on the Final Four stage, will stand in front of UConn.
Alabama has never won a college basketball national championship and is best known for its football team, but it is breaking new ground.
The University of Alabama advanced to the semifinals thanks to the team's dynamic offense, and averaged 90.6 points per game, leading the nation in scoring.
Senior Mark Sears was the team's leading scorer, averaging 24 points in the tournament. The guard has scored 20 or more points in 25 games this season, breaking a 45-year-old Alabama record.
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Mark Sears (right) was the catalyst for Alabama's offense.
However, during the regular season, the team struggled defensively, hindering their success. They scored 81 points or more in a game seven times this season, but still lost.
So head coach Nate Oats called someone who knows a lot about college sports: former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban. Saban retired earlier this year after winning seven national championships as head coach at Alabama and LSU.
“I called Coach Saban. What do we have to do?” Oats said. “And he gave me the 'next' idea. Next, next, next. Everyone bought in. We can do this. Other teams can do it too. We did it. We have the ability to make it happen.
“We've got to get back to great defense, or we've got to start playing great defense. I don't know if 'back' is the right word.” But we can have the No. 1 offensive power in the country. I spent most of the year doing that. If they put together a top-20 defense, they could make it to the Final Four. And I think we did that. ”
Alabama is aiming to become the first team since UW in 1999 to advance to the Final Four and win a title.
