We’re one step closer to the Final Four, and the final days before the national championship could wind up as unexpected as the entire season.

For the four teams playing for the national semifinals Saturday, defense has led the way. Syracuse shut down Cody Zeller and the Indiana offensive attack, while Miami couldn’t make a shot against Marquette.

Michigan shouldn’t have even been in this position.

The Wolverines were beat -- several times -- against Kansas. But Trey Burke kept Michigan alive.

With a deep three-pointer over the 6-8 Kevin Young, Burke tied a game it hadn’t led since the early minutes against Kansas. A day after LaQuinton Ross hit a game-winning three-pointer for Ohio State, Burke may have upstaged his rival for the shot of the NCAA Tournament.

The Sweet 16, as always, finds a way to capture the imagination.

The NCAA Tournament moves into the second weekend with its share of storylines, even if the biggest one from Dunk City seems to overshadow all.

Few people saw Wichita State, the runner up in the Missouri Valley, advancing this far. And even fewer could have tabbed La Salle to go on a run out of the First Four.

This is your daily link roundup of our favorite sports posts on the web for March 29.

Freshmen have led teams to national championships. They’ve won National Player of the Year honors and Defensive Player of the Year honors. Even more rookies have gone on to be top picks in the NBA Draft.

Kentucky’s Anthony Davis did all those things in a single season in Lexington. That's why he tops our list of the greatest freshman seasons.

Here are Athlon Sports’ picks for the top 10 greatest freshman seasons:

Ohio State has another postseason hero.

After Aaron Craft made the game-winning three-pointer to defeat Iowa State in the round of 32, LaQuinton Ross had a monster second half and the game-winning three-pointer to defeat Arizona 73-70 and move onto the Elite Eight.

Deshaun Thomas led Ohio State in scoring as usual, but Ross had 14 points in the final eight minutes, capped by a three-pointer at NBA range with two seconds remaining.

Like everyone's brackets, some of Athlon Sports' NCAA Tournament picks did not fare so well (Thanks, West region).

That's not going to stop us from giving it another try. Our editorial staff picked every game in the Sweet 16, hopefully with better luck this time around.

The Sweet 16, as always, finds a way to capture the imagination.

The NCAA Tournament moves into the second weekend with its share of storylines, even if the biggest one from Dunk City seems to overshadow all.

Few people saw Wichita State, the runner up in the Missouri Valley, advancing this far. And even fewer could have tabbed La Salle to go on a run out of the First Four.