Ohio initially appeared to be the place that represented itself the strongest in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, after the Buckeye State became the very first state to ever produce four Sweet Sixteen teams (Ohio State, Cincinnati, Xavier & Ohio U).  While three of these four schools went down in defeat over the weekend, the lion’s share of college hoops fans in the state are still on top of the world, as Thad Matta’s Ohio State team will be heading to New Orleans, after defeating Syracuse during Saturday’s East Regional Final in Boston.

The state of Ohio has a lot to brag about at the present time, but nothing even close to what the folks across the border in Kentucky are currently experiencing.

With the Kentucky Wildcats’ and Louisville Cardinals’ impressive victories over the week, the basketball-crazy Bluegrass State can lay claim to 50 percent of this weekend’s Final Four. Saturday’s semifinal matchup between the two schools will be the first instate Final Four battle since 1960 and 1961, when ironically Ohio State and Cincinnati faced each other in back-to-back years.

The last time two teams from the same state participated in the same Final Four was back in 1991, when both Duke and North Carolina took to the court in Indianapolis. Prior to ’91, the previous time this anomaly took place was in 1975, when these very same teams from Kentucky fell victim to John Wooden and the UCLA Bruins.

The state of Kentucky’s official slogan is “United we stand, divided we fall.” This long standing ideal will certainly be put to the test come Saturday evening.