1. Frank Kaminsky showed why he's the national player of the year: The 7-footer did his best work against the biggest front line in college basketball and at times made things look easy. Blessed with an unreal skill set for a big guy and the type of foot work that would make a ballet dancer envious, Kaminsky sliced up Kentucky to finish with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks in Wisconsin's 71-64 win over Kentucky in the national semifinals. Most big men don't have a vast array of moves to score the ball from all aspects of the court, but then again most big men aren't Kaminsky. He's been the best player in college basketball and he showed it again against Kentucky.

2. Duke has become an elite defensive team in the NCAA Tournament: The Blue Devils surrendered a combined 177 points in back-to-back losses to NC State and Miami in early January and were an absolute mess on the defensive side of the floor. Now they're the complete opposite. Duke is only giving up an average of 55.0 points in five NCAA Tournament games and completely locked up Michigan State in Saturday night's 81-61 win in the national semifinals. After falling behind 14-6 early, the Blue Devils tightened their half-court defense and used a steady blend of man-to-man and zone to keep the Spartans at bay.

3. Kentucky feels the 1991 UNLV Runnin Rebels: I wrote this week about how Wisconsin was in almost the exact same spot as the 1991 Duke team that beat Jerry Tarkanian's squad 24 years ago in Indianapolis when it entered the Final Four on a 45-game winning streak. It appears history has repeated itself. Just like UNLV 24 years ago, Kentucky entered the Final Four undefeated, but ultimately came up short in its quest of winning a national championship. John Calipari said last week after the Wildcats barely edged Notre Dame that the Wildcats were "undefeated, but not perfect," and he was right. A 38-1 record is one heck of an accomplishment, but it's not a national title.

4. Duke's bench quietly had a big hand in Saturday's win over Michigan State: Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow and Quinn Cook combined for 54 of the Blue Devils' 81 points Saturday against the Spartans, but Duke's reserves also had a hand in this team's victory in the national semifinals. Marshall Plumlee, Amile Jefferson and Grayson Allen all made several non-scoring big plays all while still combining for 11 points and 15 rebounds in reserve. Mike Krzyzewski's team only features eight scholarship players after the midseason dismissal of Rasheed Sulaimon, and it needed all eight to get by Michigan State and advance to Monday's title game.

Frank Kaminsky scores 20 points with 11 boards to help Wisconsin reach the NCAA championship game. (Getty)
Frank Kaminsky scores 20 points with 11 boards to help Wisconsin reach the NCAA title game. (Getty)

5. Wisconsin's effort on the boards against Kentucky was off the charts: Nobody beats up the the Wildcats like this on the glass -- nobody. Kentucky has been bigger, stronger and longer than all of its opponents this season, but Wisconsin stuck to its game plan and outrebounded Kentucky 34-22 all while only allowing six offensive rebounds. It's no secret that Bo Ryan's teams are always well schooled and fundamentally sound, but the Badgers' effort on the backboards reiterates how well prepared this team was to execute its game plan against a team that was 38-0.