US NCAA: Final Four ‘Madness’ unfolds

MANILA, Philippines — All that talent at Arizona and Michigan. All that momentum and good vibes at UConn. And somebody has to play the part of the unheralded “little guy.” At the Final Four, that role belongs, improbably, to Illinois.

In a sign of the times, the Illinii – a Big Ten team with more wins in the conference over the last seven seasons than any other program – will pass for something resembling Cinderella when college basketball’s biggest party kicks off in Indianapolis on Saturday.

The first challenge for coach Brad Underwood’s team will be stopping a hard-charging UConn juggernaut that came from 19 points down and got a game-winner from the logo with 0.4 seconds left from an Indy native – Braylon Mullins – to make its third Final Four in the last four years.

But, in one of a few strange twists on the odds chart, the Wildcats are 1 1/2-point underdogs to Michigan in Saturday night’s marquee semifinal, a matchup of No. 1 seeds.

Illinois is a 1 1/2-point favorite over UConn.