Virginia is the lone remaining 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and the South Region champion Cavaliers will take on SEC Tournament and Midwest Region champ Auburn Saturday at 6:09 p.m. ET in Minneapolis, the site of this year’s Final Four.

Chances are that if you are well-read or a movie buff, then you’re probably familiar with “The Horse Whisperer.”The novel by Nicholas Evans, and the film by Robert Redford, portrays a legendary horse trainer with a remarkable gift for understanding horses. His voice could calm wild horses and his touch could heal broken spirits.

When the clock struck zero and sent all of Virginia into a Final Fourgasm, Kyle Guy, in all the euphoria, flashed back to a darker time last March.

No. 1 Virginia survived an overtime thriller against No. 3 Purdue Saturday for the South Region championship, 80-75, at the KFC Yum! Center to advance to the Final Four.

It was inevitable that at some point this weekend the question would be raised about Tony Bennett having never taken a team to the Final Four.

Almost every time Tony Bennett is asked about his smallest player, the Virginia coach has this twinkle in his eyes.At 5-foot-9, Kihei Clark is not an imposing figure in a library, let alone on a basketball court where he is towered over by most everyone else. The smallest man on the floor produced some of the biggest numbers in the Cavaliers win over Oregon in their Sweet Sixteen matchup Thursday night.

Virginia will square off against No. 3 seed Purdue at approximately 8:49 p.m. Saturday night in the South Region final for a spot in next week’s Final Four in Minneapolis. The Cavaliers (32-3) will try to get over the hump and into the final weekend for the third time in school history and first time since 1984.

When Tony Bennett called time out with 4:42 remaining in Thursday night’s — or rather Friday morning’s — Sweet Sixteen matchup against Oregon, Virginia had the Ducks exactly where it wanted them.

Virginia head coach Tony Bennett described Thursday night’s Sweet Sixteen battle with 12th-seeded Oregon as a “knuckle buster.” His top-seeded Cavaliers survived a valiant effort from one of the nation’s hottest teams, 53-49, to move onto the South Region championship game against No. 3 seed Purdue on Saturday at 8:49 p.m.

Virginia will look to take one step closer to its ultimate goal Thursday night in Louisville, as the top-seeded Cavaliers go up against No. 12 Oregon — one of the hottest teams in the country — in the South Region semifinals (tipoff approximately 10 p.m., TBS).

Oregon hasn’t lost a basketball game since Feb. 23, the last of a three-game, road losing streak when the Ducks admittedly played “bad,” according to coach Dana Altman.

Virginia arrived in Derby Town energized and loose for the challenge of the Sweet Sixteen.

When the confetti-covered Cavaliers were climbing the ladder to cut down the nets at Barclays Center in Brooklyn last March, the expanded Virginia basketball family was there to celebrate another ACC Tournament championship.

No team in college basketball history had endured what Virginia lived through the past 12 months, and that showed Friday night when the Cavaliers struggled for a half before taking care of business against yet another No. 16 seed, Gardner-Webb.

It’s on to the Sweet 16 as No. 1 Virginia got a huge spark on both ends of the floor from junior forward Mamadi Diakite as the Cavaliers built a comfortable lead in the first half and kept it up in the second to eliminate No. 9 Oklahoma, 63-51, in the NCAA Tournament’s South Region second round Sunday at Colonial Life Arena.