This year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four Tournament in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was one of the most unique and unexpected ever because none of the great teams who are usually finalists were in the Final Four this year. The reason was that these teams play as a team and don’t have one particular superstar carrying the team the whole way.

First, there will not be two of the same seeded teams for the first time since 2014 and the second time since 2006. In those years, none of the teams were seeded the same, but the big difference in seeding was present, having teams seeded from anywhere from one to even eleven.

Not this year. While the teams weren’t the same seedings, they were really close together. Virginia was a one seed, Michigan State was a two, Texas Tech was a three and Auburn was a five. Just add the seeds together to see how good the teams are. This year it was 11 when you added them up. In 2014 and 2006, they were 18 and 20.

Second of all, there are no teams that would be considered the blue bloods in my opinion. The blue bloods in College Basketball are the teams that are elite and are always in the running for a national title, and most of them happen to be blue. Now the teams that are “blue bloods” commonly are debated but in my opinion the blue bloods are Kentucky, UCLA, Kansas, Duke and UNC — none of which were in this Final Four. Going off of my five blue bloods, this is only the second time none of these teams have been in the final four since 1987.

Lastly, this year’s included teams are some of the most exciting teams to watch in college basketball. They might not be the most flashy, or put up 100 points every game, or have Zion Williamson, but all of these teams put their bodies on the line each and every time they come out on the court. Their fans are something else too. I was watching the Auburn-Kentucky game in the Elite 8 to advance to the Final Four and all of the Auburn fans were up on their feet the whole second half and overtime, while many if not all of the Kentucky fans were sitting in their seats acting like, “We’ve been here, done that.” That’s baloney. Auburn won the game deservedly.

In conclusion, the Final Four games and the championship this year was one for the ages in being different and dissimilar to previous final fours. The teams that were there deserved to be there and are four of the most exciting teams this year.