The Year of Goliath: UNC Makes It an Extremely Elite Eight

Gonzaga was Cinderella once. It's been too good for too long to wear that particular dress now, but by late Friday night it was the closest thing this tournament had left. Once Louisville destroyed Arizona in the night's first game, the Zags, a four, were the highest seed left in the field.

And then they were promptly dismantled by a very healthy-looking Ty Lawson and North Carolina.

If Lawson's toe is all better and he can play like this, there may be nothing anybody can do. Remember back in the early part of this season, when North Carolina looked head-and-shoulders better than everybody else in the land? Yeah. That wasn't that long ago, and if you had to make a pick right now because your life depended on it, you'd take the Heels, wouldn't you?

But you're also happy your life doesn't depend on it, because that toe injury is a tricky thing, and Lawson might not feel as good Sunday, after only one day off, as he did Friday after four. And Blake Griffin's Oklahoma Sooners still have something to say about whether UNC makes it to the Final Four, let alone the Final One. And even if the Heels do get past Oklahoma, every other team left in the field is a monster.

Welcome to the Year of Goliath. The year the mid-majors got kicked back down the ladder and the Big Guys duked it out for the title. Twelve of the teams in the Sweet 16 came from the Big East, Big 12, Big Ten or ACC. And the Elite Eight is even more big-conference-heavy: four from the Big East, two from the Big 12, one each from the Big 10 and the ACC, and that's it. These teams are basketball Sasquatches who spend timeouts and off-days picking pieces of the glass slipper out of their massive paws.

Louisville-Michigan State? Good luck taking an uncontested breath.

Pitt-Villanova? A Big East brawl.

UConn-Missouri? A full-court press for the ages against a Big Man who can't be stopped.

North Carolina-Oklahoma? They'll all reminisce together at future NBA All-Star games.

Cinderellas are fun. The great upsets are, to a certain extent, the thing on which this tournament's popularity was built. But when it comes time to settle the question of which team is the best, it's nice to see the big dogs getting together to sort it all out.