[THEME MUSIC}

Hello and welcome to University of Phoenix Stadium

here in Glendale for CBN's coverage of the 2017 men's

final four, where Gonzaga, North Carolina, Oregon,

and South Carolina all fought their way,

round after round, to get here to play

for the national championship.

We're talking six rounds.

Beginning with 64 teams, we go from 64 to 32, from 32 to 16,

16 to eight eight to four, and then there

were two, Gonzaga and North Carolina,

who will battle it out for the championship.

Now, all four teams came here with one goal in mind,

to win the trophy.

Now, as you can imagine, there's a lot

of pressure surrounding this event, a lot of pressure

on these guys to win.

At the end of the day, let's face it,

three squads have to lose.

But I got a chance to talk with players from all four teams who

say it's their faith that helps them stay poised and focused

so that they can leave everything

they have on the court.

The Oregon Ducks haven't been to a final four since 1939.

They refused to be denied this season.

Forward Jordan Bell says God used every game

in the tournament to make them stronger.

Though they came up short, God still gets the glory.

It's definitely my main focus, like, God and Jesus Christ,

seeing like I was listening to Kirk Franklin

before you got up here.

And so it's very important to me,

just knowing that none of us would be here without him.

And just him helping us, guide us throughout the ways,

giving us direction and putting certain obstacles

in front of us so we can overcome them and become

stronger.

So I play for Jesus and, you know,

it's knowing that he's-- the Lord has gifted me to play,

and that's what I play for.

(VOICEOVER)- Dylan Ennis missed most of last season due

to a foot injury.

He says it's by God's grace that he made it back

to help his team advance to their first final

four in nearly 80 years.

He's, you know, written this before I even knew.

I had a lot of anxiety, a lot of doubt,

even with my year coming back.

But I went to church with my friend

Casey Benson on the team.

I just strengthened my faith.

No matter what happens, I just have to give the glory to God.

(VOICEOVER)- The Gonzaga Bulldogs are no strangers

to the NCAA tournament.

However, this is their very first final four appearance.

Transfer students Jonathan Williams and Nigel Williams

Goss say they leaned heavily on their faith

in choosing the right school, and it's paid off big.

It feels amazing.

I'm truly blessed.

If it wasn't for him, I don't think

I would even be here right now because it took me

a leap of faith just to like-- do I have to transfer

and actually come to Gonzaga?

And I just want to thank him every single day.

I pray every day for him putting me in this position

to be successful.

I always just follow God's plan and he led me

to the final four, so I'm just walking his path.

He's just leading me in the right directions.

I had to rely so much of my faith.

It's a crazy thing to transfer.

You got so many schools recruiting you,

and you got two months to figure out where you're going to go.

And it's your second go-around, so you've

got to make the right decision.

So, it's really stressful, but like you say,

when you have that faith and you have that higher being

that you can count on, it kind of takes some of that stress

away.

And to be sitting here 36-1 after sitting out and having

surgery, I mean, if that's not a blessing I don't know what is.

(VOICEOVER)- The North Carolina Tar Heels are playing

in their second consecutive final four after an amazing

buzzer beater.

It's meant a lot, you know a lot

of guys who believe and would say

you're in a blessed world at all times.

You know, that's something that they

lead by [INAUDIBLE] and the the rest of us

guys kind of follow it.

(VOICEOVER)- The South Carolina Gamecocks had an impressive run

to their first-ever Final Four.

They beat basketball powerhouses Duke, Baylor, and Florida

to get here.

Sophomore guard Temarcaus Blanton

gives thanks to the Lord for helping

to make it as far as they did.

I believe in my faith heavily.

We definitely disbelieved a lot of doubters that doubted us,

especially in the second half with Duke,

when we scored 65 points straight.

That's when our faith rose even more.

I want to thank the Lord for taking us this far,

and it's a blessing to be here this far

with this team and my brothers right here and the coach.

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