Tall Final Four task: Beating reigning champion UConn will not be an easy task in the desert

The 2024 version of March Madness has apexed with a trio of streak busters in the desert.

N.C. State is in the Final Four for the first time since Jim Valvano ran around trying to find someone to hug after the 1983 national championship. Purdue and big man Zach Edey will make their first Final Four appearance since Joe Barry Carroll dominated the paint in 1980.

Alabama? Never been.

An angry pack of Huskies awaits them in the Valley of the Sun.