There were two Elite Eight games on Saturday: Butler vs. Florida for the Southeast Regional and Arizona vs. Connecticut for the West Regional. Keeping with the trend of the 2011 NCAA Tournament, both games came down to the wire.

For the second straight year, Butler is going to the Final Four. The Bulldogs beat Florida in overtime 74-71. Shelvin Mack led Butler with 27 points, despite rolling his ankle in the first half. Matt Howard had 14 points and Khyle Marshall added 10 as the Bulldogs erased an 11-point deficit in the last 9:25 of the second half to send it to overtime. As is the case with nearly all of Butler’s games, Howard was in the picture at the end. He made the tying free throw to send it to overtime and Shelvin Mack scored five points in overtime for the win.

The Bulldogs simply know how to win. They were a 65/1 payout for the start of the Southeast Regional. They are the first team from a mid-major conference to reach consecutive Final Fours since UNLV in 1990-91, and the first to do it that was lower than a No. 1 or 2 seed. Butler is 9-1 in its past 10 tournament games. Six of its last nine games were decided by three points or fewer. This year, the Bulldogs beat three higher seeds from major conferences: No. 1 Pittsburgh, No. 4 Wisconsin and No. 2 Florida. They face No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday in a Final Four battle of mid-majors.

Butler vs. VCU (odds provided by William Hill)

Butler: 20/29

VCU: 5/4

Point Spread: Butler -2.5

Over/Under: 133.5

Connecticut is in its second Final Four in three years after defeating Arizona 65-63. It’s been a grueling run for the Huskies from the Big East Tournament to here with nine wins in 19 days. They were led by Kemba Walker over Arizona with 20 points and seven assists. He is averaging more than 26 points per game in the NCAA Tournament. Arizona’s golden child Derrick Wiliams and Jamelle Horne missed go-ahead 3-pointers in the waning seconds. Williams finished with 20 points but Connecticut freshman Jeremy Lamb scored six of his 19 points down the stretch for the victory.

Both teams missed out on the NCAA Tournament last year. It broke Arizona’s 25-year streak of March Madness appearances. The Wildcats had a chance to go to their first Final Four since 2001. Despite a .500 Big East regular season, Connecticut is perfect in tournament games at 12-0 on the season (3-0 Maui Invitational, 5-0 Big East Tournament, 4-0 NCAA Tournament). Connecticut was a 9/2 payout from the start of the West Regional. The Huskies face No. 4 Kentucky on Saturday in the Final Four.

Connecticut vs. Kentucky (odds provided by William Hill)

Connecticut: 6/5

Kentucky: 5/7

Point Spread: Kentucky -2

Over/Under: 140.5