Four on the Floor

The Final Four.

That's all that's left from the original 48-team draw in the NCAA's basketball tournament. The basketball teams from UCLA, Purdue, Louisville and Iowa are in Indianapolis right now, preparing for tomorrow's semi-finals and--they hope--Monday night's finals.

The feeling here is that Louisville will win. Purdue is the favorite and, surprisingly, Louisville is given the least likelihood of winning it all--but consider the hard facts.

Purdue's 7-ft., 1-in. center Joe Barry Carroll is the top man at his position in the country. He clogs the middle on defense, and when he's hot, he's an almost unstoppable scorer. His rebounding ability varies from game to game, but the motivation of being in the NCAA semi-finals should get him banging the boards. But name any other player on Purdue. I rest my case.

UCLA is just about everyone's sentimental favorite. I don't even think Bruin coach Larry Brown expected to come this far, after the team's terrible start (five losses in January alone). Of course traditions have a way of perpetuating themselves and there is no tradition in college basketball without UCLA.

The Bruins have won the NCAA title 11 times, and names like John Wooden, Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton linger in the team's background. But inexperience (four freshmen play key roles) and the problems that 6-ft., 6-in. center Mike Sanders is going to have with Joe Barry dictate that the Bruins won't get by Purdue.

Iowa has one of the top guards in the country in Ronnie Lester, who has made a strong comeback after knee surgery earlier this season. The Hawkeyes also boast two very tough juniors on the front line, in 6-ft., 5-in. Vince Brookins and 6-ft., 10-in. Steve Waite. They are outstanding free throw shooters as a team and made 71 per cent of their shots from the floor in the second half of their come-from-behind win over Georgetown in the Eastern final. But the Hawkeyes are an injury-prone team. Brookins has spent much of his career watching from the sidelines, and if Lester's knee goes, so goes Iowa.

Then there's Louisville. The one reason why the Cardinals should win it all is because they have college basketball's most exciting player--senior guard Darrell Griffith. Just as Bill Walton, David Thompson and Earvin "Magic" Johnson had to be in there down to the wire, so does the 6-ft., 4-in. Griffith, who with his 48-in. vertical leap and a great outside shot is the premier offensive player in the college ranks.

In the Midwest final against L.S.U., Griffith was only on the floor for 18 of the game's 40 minutes but still led his team in scoring with 17 points and left L.S.U. bleary-eyed with two dazzling dunks.

The Cardinals are not just a one-man team, however. Their balanced attack against L.S.U. included 16 points from Wiley Brown, 13 from Derek Smith and 12 from freshman center Rodney McCray, who seems to get better in every game.

Now, the predictions: In Saturday's semi-finals, Purdue 75, UCLA 68 and Louisville 72, Iowa 71. In Monday night's final, Louisville 81, Purdue 73. Consolation: Iowa 85, UCLA 75.

FINAL FOUR RECORDS

Purdue [Mideast Representative]:

Purdue 90, La Salle 82

Purdue 87, St. John's 72

Purdue 76, Indiana 69

Purdue 68, Duke 60

Iowa [East Representative]:

Iowa 86, Virginia Commonwealth 72

Iowa 77, North Carolina St. 64

Iowa 88, Syracuse 77

Iowa 81, Georgetown 80

UCLA [West Representative]:

UCLA 87, Old Dominion 74

UCLA 77, DePaul 71

UCLA 72, Ohio St. 68

UCLA 85, Clemson 74

Louisville [Midwest Representative]:

Louisville 71, Kansas St. 69

Louisville 66, Texas A & M 55

Louisville 86, Louisiana St. 66

Semi-finals, March 22

Iowa vs. Louisville

Purdue vs. UCLA

Finals, March 24