The four battles this weekend were the best series of Elite 8 games ever, so while Andrew Bogut, Salim Stoudamire, Kevin Pittsnogle and Ashley Judd will not be present, Sean May, Shannon Brown, Larry O?Bannon and Bill Murray will be in the center of all things at the Edward Jones Dome as Ben Gordon and Emeka Okafor were during last season?s Final Four.

From The Rafters is on its way to St. Louis for the Final Four and so are Illinois, Louisville, North Carolina and Michigan State.  

Lazarus Saturday

Louisville and Illinois were dead and buried by West Virginia and Arizona, but both teams kept fighting.

The Mountaineers were on fire from 3-point land, making 18 of 27 attempts.  As the game wound down and Kevin Pittsnogle continued to make almost every 3-point shot he attempted, you would look at the score and wonder how the Cardinals were still within striking distance.  And then with 4:02 left in the game, Francisco Gacia fouled out, and with their top scorer on the bench nobody thought that Rick Pitino had enough firepower to cut the West Virginia lead, but Larry O?Bannon battled through cramps and wore John Beilein?s team down in the overtime frame.

In an even more ridiculous comeback, Arizona played a passive game during the final minutes, allowing Deron Williams to lead Illinois to the Final Four.  The Illini were down 15 points with four minutes remaining, but went on a 20-5 run to force overtime.  In the overtime period, similar to the earlier game, the comeback kids had the momentum, but Arizona was down by just one point in the closing seconds and had an opportunity to win the game.  The Wildcats threw up a prayer from the top of the key on a broken play to cap the meltdown.

Instant Classic Sunday

Wisconsin was overmatched, but playing that gritty Big 10 style of basketball, they hung around long enough to make Roy Williams remember some of the Tournament disappointments he experienced while at Kansas.  All day long the Badgers did not have a single answer for Sean May, who was the rock of the Tar Heels, scoring 29 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.  His touch and size will give UNC an advantage in the frontcourt versus Michigan State, but they will have to get big games from one of the two Williams? who scored only 6 points apiece on Sunday.

The finale of the Elite 8, when it looked like the games couldn?t get any better, Michigan State and Kentucky somehow managed to give the Tourney it?s most thrilling game to date.  These two schools have been Final Four staples over the last decade and with the taste of the Final Four still fresh on their tongues, they battled through two overtimes to see who would go.  Despite the Robert Horry-style heroics of Patrick Sparks, the Spartans will return to the Final Four for the fourth time in seven seasons.  Tom Izzo?s club was only a five-seed, but with the play of Shannon Brown and Maurice Ager, they are every bit as talented as number-one seeds North Carolina and Illinois.

The columnist may be reached via email, Christopher.Reina@realGM.com