An East-West subplot in Final Four
“A lot of people in the East don’t realize what’s going on in the Pac-12 and with West Coast basketball.”
Bill Raftery is an East Coast guy, born in New Jersey, and wielder of a wise-cracking wit that Garden Staters seem to be given in tandem with their birth certificates. But that doesn’t prevent the popular college basketball analyst from recognizing the charms of the West Coast, particularly when it comes to aptitude in his favorite sport.
Gonzaga and Oregon have joined North Carolina and South Carolina in the men’s Final Four, which commences Saturday on CBS. Raftery said that fans who are still underestimating the teams from the Left Coast could be in for a surprise.
“A lot of people in the East don’t realize what’s going on in the Pac-12 and with West Coast basketball,” said Raftery. “UCLA, Arizona, Oregon were terrific basketball teams, and of course Gonzaga, because of the West Coast Conference, a lot of people overlooked them.
Read the complete story at BostonGlobe.com.
Don’t have a Globe subscription? Boston.com readers get a 2-week free trial.
