Rematches aplenty in NCAA tournament, at Final Four

INDIANAPOLIS—This year's NCAA tournament has been deja vu all over again.

Duke's semifinal Saturday against Michigan State is a rematch of the Blue Devils' 10-point win Nov. 18 down the street from Lucas Oil Stadium at BankersLife Fieldhouse. The second game of the night—a battle between top seeds Kentucky and Wisconsin—is a rematch of last year's national semifinal, when Aaron Harrison's 3-pointer in the final seconds carried the Wildcats into the national title game.

It makes sense that this year's Final Four comes down to revenge games and grudge matches—the entire time was filled with them. The Selection Committee maintains that it does not aim to create storylines when it seeds the 68-team field, but there was plenty of writing material when the bracket was released March 15.

Awarded a No. 7 seed, the Spartans drew a likely Round of 32 matchup with No. 2 Virginia, the team they knocked out of the Sweet 16 last March at Madison Square Garden. History repeated itself, as Travis Trice and Tom Izzo kept Michigan State dancing to Syracuse, N.Y., and the East Regional title.

The Spartans were guaranteed to face an ACC team after beating Oklahoma, because Louisville and N.C. State were forced to play in one of the regional semifinals after the Wolfpack shocked top-seeded Villanova. The Cardinals proved that it is very difficult to beat a team twice in a season, avenging their home loss to N.C. State to move to the Elite Eight.

UCLA played three games in the tournament, and two were rematches of early-season games with identical results. The Bruins topped UAB to reach the Sweet 16 before losing to second-seeded Gonzaga.

Out west, Oregon and Oklahoma State renewed acquaintances in the first round in the eight-nine matchup, two years after the Ducks upset the Cowboys in the always-dangerous 5-12 game. Once again, Dana Altman's crew got the job done, eliminating Oklahoma State 79-73.

The teams placed in front of the Badgers on the path to Indianapolis looked incredibly familiar to Frank Kaminsky and company. Wisconsin beat both Oregon and Arizona—who got revenge on Ohio State for its 2013 Sweet 16 loss by knocking out the Buckeyes in the Round of 32—to reach the Final Four last season before falling to Kentucky, and had to go through both Pac-12 schools yet again for a repeat trip to the Final Four.

Now that those wins are again in the past, the Badgers have their hands full with the Wildcats for the second straight year.

"It is a little weird, but I wouldn't have it any other way," Kaminsky said. "How we've fought and come back in games and shown our resiliency throughout this whole tournament, you love to play teams that you've already played and come out on top. In the case of Kentucky, you always want to beat the people who beat you—that's just what any competitor would say."

The trip down memory lane would continue if Wisconsin pulls off the upset Saturday, regardless of what happens in the Duke-Michigan State game. The Badgers won both meetings against the Spartans earlier in the year—including an overtime win in the Big Ten title game—and dropped a home contest to the Blue Devils Dec. 3.

Familiarity does not necessarily breed contempt, but it can breed an advantage in the scouting department.

"If we do end up winning, that'll be great, and whoever we play next, we'll be ready for. Duke [or] Michigan State," Kaminsky said. "Obviously we've seen Michigan State a couple of times already this year, so we have a scouting report—we know what we have to do better."