Chaos conquered chalk. It normally does in March.

Even so, this easily is the most surprising collection of Final Four teams since 2011, when Butler and VCU joined Kentucky and eventual champ UConn.

Texas Tech and Auburn have never made it this far.

Virginia hasn’t been here since 1984 — Year 1 After Ralph — and has never won it all.

Michigan State has been here eight times under March Magician Tom Izzo but hasn’t won it all since 2000.

After an electric weekend, here’s 1 question I have about each team that advanced to the Final Four.

Auburn: Do you fully trust Bruce Pearl to outcoach Tony Bennett?

Big picture, Bruce Pearl deserves a lot of credit. He’s built a basketball program at a football school. He’s guided the Tigers to their first Final Four, already setting a program record for victories along the way. Remember, he inherited a program that had 5 consecutive losing seasons before he arrived.

Big picture, he’s been better than anybody could have hoped.

Final minutes of actual games?

I trust Pearl’s guards a lot more to make a play than I do Pearl to actually design one. Pearl didn’t exactly distinguish himself in the final 2 minutes of Auburn’s first-round victory over New Mexico State. Sure, he yucked it up for the cameras afterward, but his Tigers were in complete meltdown mode and he didn’t do anything to improve their situation.

His decision Sunday not to call timeout on Auburn’s final possession in regulation against Kentucky also was, um, questionable. Results trump rhetoric, though. The Tigers still are playing. Will their good fortune continue?

Auburn better be able to run some offense against Bennett’s bunch Saturday. Sure Purdue’s Carsen Edwards had the game of his life and Auburn is potent from 3, too, but relying on hitting 10 25-foot 3s is a dangerous expectation. I’d argue that half of the 3s Carsen made weren’t quality shots, either. They were contested and deep. All credit to him for knocking them down, time and again.

But trying to shoot Virginia out of the gym is not a sustainable game plan.

Auburn averages more than 12 3s a game. Just 3 teams made 12 or more 3s against Virginia this season. Part of that is opportunity. Virginia limits possessions with its patience on offense. The other part of that is the Cavs rotate, deny and close out better than any team in the country. They are the toughest team to score on in the country.

In other words: They are everything UNC is not on defense.

Virginia: How physical will officials allow UVA’s guards to be on the perimeter?

Auburn has a decided quickness advantage in the backcourt. That’s nothing new. UVA typically offsets that advantage with a physical approach to man-to-man defense. They bump low with hands extended high, cutting off drives along the way. It’s all part of their vaunted pack-line approach, which funnels and surrounds everything.

It’s physical, but is it a foul? Depends on who is calling the game, but that certainly will be something to watch Saturday.

Only two Power 5 programs committed fewer fouls than Virginia. Again, pace is part of that, but so is their defensive ability and reputation.

Only 8 opponents attempted more than 20 free throws in a game. Duke did it twice — winning each time. Auburn averages more than 19 attempts per game.

Auburn guards Jared Harper (179 free throws attempted) and Bryce Brown (109) are going to force the issue. There will be contact. This isn’t a conference game with familiar referees. How this game is called could be an underlying, yet critical factor.

Texas Tech: Did anybody see this coming?

No. Which is a bit strange considering Texas Tech won 27 games last year, lost in the Elite Eight to eventual champ Villanova and finished No. 14 in the AP Poll.

Not only were the Red Raiders not ranked this season until Week 4, they received just 6 votes in the preseason poll.

So why did everybody sleep on them early? Primarily because they had to replace multiple players in their rotation, including Keenan Evans, who led them in scoring each of the previous two seasons.

Jarrett Culver has been better than expected, even better than Evans. The sophomore guard leads TTU in scoring (18.9), rebounding (6.4) and assists (3.4).

He’s not really a takeover candidate in the sense Carsen Edwards was, but he is averaging 22.4 points over his past 5 games.

Michigan State: Can Sparty win the Big Ten’s first title since, well, Sparty?

Izzo won it all in 2000. No Big Ten team has cut down the nets since.

This team is built like most of his others, too. Tough, physical with just enough play-makers who will become pros.

Cassius Winston is the most coveted type of high school recruit: A borderline 5-star who doesn’t leave early.

He’s a junior now. He’s not only the Spartans’ best player, he was named the Big Ten’s best player.

All four of these backcourts are outstanding, albeit different. Each does its own thing.

But Winston is the best combo guard still playing. With 10 assists, he accounted for 40 of Michigan State’s 68 points in the win against Duke. That has to be a comforting feeling for the only coach in Minneapolis who actually knows what it takes to win it all.