Not what was expected in East Regional semifinals

The folks at Madison Square Garden were drooling at the thought of a Duke-Villanova regional final. Two schools that consider the Garden a home away from home in a No. 1 seed vs. No. 2 seed dream matchup that would make MSG the place to be this weekend.

Instead, there are four football schools fighting for a berth in basketball’s Final Four. Tonight, eighth-seeded Wisconsin plays fourth-seeded Florida, while third-seeded Baylor meets seventhseeded South Carolina.

No team left in the NCAA Tournament is as used to being in the Sweet 16 as Wisconsin.

The Badgers are in their fourth straight regional semifinal, a feat no other team can claim.

They have also been in the round 16 six of the last seven years.

Florida is making its fifth straight Sweet 16 appearance, but it’s over a seven-year span. Baylor is making its fourth regional semifinal appearance since 2010.

South Carolina? The Gamecocks won an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since 1973.

Last year, South Carolina was mistakenly told on Selection Sunday that it was in the field.

The Gamecocks came into the NCAA Tournament having lost two straight and five of seven. Now they’re on a roll that includes wins over Marquette and Duke.

Wisconsin, which many felt was underseeded as a No. 8, comes in having just beaten the overall No. 1 seed, Villanova.

“They had a great year. We never talked about in preparation for Villanova about playing the defending national champions,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. “We just talked about playing a really good team and that we were going to have to play really well in order to have a chance in that game.”

And now the Badgers are back in the Sweet 16.

Georgetown fires John Thompson III

John Thompson III was fired as Georgetown’s basketball coach Thursday after two consecutive losing seasons at the school his father led to a national championship.

Thompson said in a statement released by agent David Falk that he was “honored” to have been the Hoyas’ coach and proud of what his players have “accomplished on the court and how they are thriving since leaving Georgetown.”

“Georgetown Basketball has been a part of my life since 1972,” Thompson’s statement said, referring to the year his father took over as the Hoyas’ coach, “which makes this moment even more impactful, but I look forward to my next chapter.”