Since the middle of March, the general consensus has been that Duke, Syracuse and Virginia were probably the nation's top three teams, in some order or another.
And all along, even someone who disliked Johns Hopkins had to concede the Blue Jays were among the nation's four most talented teams, even if they lost five in a row early in the season.
So it's fitting those teams are the final four, and on their way to Foxboro(Ugh) next weekend.
A glance at Saturday's two semifinals and the history behind them:
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 5 Johns Hopkins
* Hopkins leads series 11-4
* Duke won last meeting 17-6 on April 5 in Durham, N.C.
* Hopkins has won two of three NCAA tournament meetings, including the 2005 and 2007 national title games
No. 2 Virginia vs. No. 3 Syracuse
* Virginia leads series 12-11
* Virginia won last meeting 14-13 in overtime on March 1 in Baltimore
* Virginia leads the teams’ postseason series 4-3. The Cavaliers won three semifinals (1986, 1994 and 2006) and one title game (1999). The Orange won semifinals in 1995 and 2002 and a quarterfinal in 1998.
--- Patrick Stevens
