Greatest Memphis basketball team tournament: Final 4

Before we get to the results of the first round games of the 8 best teams, we need to address why the '72-'73 team was not listed as one of the 8 best teams in Memphis' history.

They were considered and we used WhatIfSports to determine the outcome. All games were neutral site games. The 8th seeded '12-'13 team defeated the '72-'73 team 85-75.

WhatIFSports was used for all the games we could. Some Memphis teams were not available so we used our Twitter fan as well as out staff to determine the winner.

Now, on to the first round of the games.

In the first game of the day the 1-seed '07-'08 team had to work for it. The '12-'13 team fought hard and was only down 35-34 at the half. The '07-'08 team came out in the 2nd half on a 12-1 run but the '07-'08 team wouldn't go away. They fought back to take a 70-69 lead with 4:19 left to play on a Geron Johnson 3-pointer.

That was the last bucket of the game for the '12-'13 team as they went 0-5 shooting the rest of the game. The '07-'08 team finished on a 11-0 run to defeat the '12-'13 team 80-70. Geron Johnson from the '12-'13 team led all scoring with 17 points.

BOX SCORE, 1st half Play-by-play, 2nd half Play-by-play, (WhatIfSports)

These teams were not in WhatIfSports database so we used our Twitter fan poll and our staff to determine the winner. The fan poll had Keith Lee and the '81-'82 team winning. Our staff agrees. Elliot Perry's '88-'89 team did score more on average (79.5) but they also gave up a lot (72.5). Lee's team only gave up 66.4 points per game.

These teams were not in WhatIfSports database so we used our Twitter fan poll and our staff to determine the winner. The fan poll had the '84-'85 team winning. We had a tough time with this game. Keith Lee's '84-'85 team had a stout defense only giving up 63.7 points per game. Penny Hardaway's '91-'92 team averaged 74.3 points per game. Penny and David Vaughn would have given the Lee defense fits but Lee's defense would have been up to the challenge. Lee's '84-'85 team shut down #1 Oklahoma 63-61. Sooner star Wayman Tisdale averaged 25.2 points that year but the Tigers held him to 11 points. We feel Lee's defensive team have the edge over Penny's offense.

These teams were not in WhatIfSports database so we used our Twitter fan poll and our staff to determine the winner. The fan poll had the '05-'06 team winning in a blow out. Lorenzen Wright, Cedric Wilson, and Mingo Johnson had the Tiger offense rolling and the '95-'96 team averaged 73.5 points per game. The '05-'06 team was more lethal offensively averaging 80 points per game. They win this one easily.

Who will win the Final Four match-ups? You can help decide. Vote for it on our Twitter page