Oklahoma State, the second seed out of the East Rutherford region, had perhaps the most difficult and certainly the most dramatic route to Texas.

After a gritty, physical, and frankly ugly 63-51 win over a defensive-minded Pittsburgh team, the Cowboys faced the top seed St. Joseph’s in what proved to be another nail-biter.

After trailing by six at the half, the Cowboys—particularly point guard John Lucas III—found the shooting touch as the game progressed. Lucas, who had a horrendous first half, scored Oklahoma State’s last five points, including the game winning three-pointer with just over six seconds on the clock.

Lucas finished with 19 for the Cowboys while teammate Joey Graham posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Jameer Nelson finished his last college game with 17 points and eight assists while backcourt mate Delonte West poured in 20 points. Oklahoma State, with its combination of tough defense and athleticism, has shown they can adjust to any game situation or style. The Cowboys’ adaptive nature will undoubtedly serve them well as they look to bring home the championship.

Connecticut cruised out of the Phoenix Region after destroying Vanderbilt and Alabama. Ben Gordon had 36 points and Rashad Anderson had a career high 28 in the Huskies’ Elite Eight victory over Alabama.

Emeka Okafor has also continued to play well despite an ailing back injury that has plagued him all season. However, with the inside punch of Okafor and the Connecticut guards firing away, UConn looks to be the team to beat in this year’s Final Four.

Georgia Tech, perhaps the most surprising team to reach the Alamodome, had to go to overtime to get past a resolute Kansas squad, 79-71. With the Yellow Jackets’ leading scorer in B.J. Elder seeing only limited minutes after badly spraining his ankle against Nevada, Jarrett Jack and the rest of the balanced Georgia Tech squad stepped up.

Jack scored a career high 29 points, grabbed nine boards, and dished out six assists. Jack scored eight in overtime, but it was a three by Will Bynum that broke the 71-71 tie and gave the Yellow Jackets the lead for good. The Yellow Jackets are playing with confidence and earlier in the season knocked off two other Final Four teams in Connecticut and Duke. This selfless group could pose problems for a favored Oklahoma State squad—especially if Elder returns to full strength.

The last, but by no means the least, team to make reservations for San Antonio was the Duke Blue Devils. Duke pounded out a victory against Illinois before finally knocking a pesky and determined Xavier squad out of the tourney with the 66-63 win.

The Musketeers had the lead late in the game but went cold from the field, thanks in part to absence of Anthony Myles, who fouled out with 12 minutes left, and some tough Duke defense. J.J. Redick’s three pointer with three minutes remaining put the Blue Devils up for good in a game that saw 12 lead changes and 11 ties.

Luol Deng led Duke with 19 points and seven boards while Myles posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds in limited action for Xavier. The Musketeers, who had won seven straight dating back to the Altantic-10 tournament, were certainly the biggest surprise of this year’s tournament, nearly becoming the first team since the 1986 LSU squad to knock off the bracket’s three top seeds. Xavier previously beat the No. 2 seed Mississippi State and the No. 3 seed Texas before their tough loss to Duke.

The Final Four match-up between Duke and UConn promises to be intriguing as both teams are very balanced and fighting to overcome serval key injuries.