SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Let the rest of the world use words like "shocking," "surprising" or "unexpected."

They prefer "deserved" and "earned."

The Louisville Cardinals and Michigan State Spartans know most everyone else in the world didn't expect to see them here, 40 minutes away from a Final Four berth in the NCAA tournament.

But they did.

There is no faith like blind faith, the kind that makes you look past the odds -- beyond even the reality -- and see a path no one else does. Michigan State had it, staring at a 15-8 record after a home loss to Illinois; Louisville never relinquished it through a season punctuated with as many valleys as hills.

"It was the minor things we needed to clean up," Michigan State guard Travis Trice said. "We have faith in each other, and we have faith in the coaching staff. We've never lost that since the beginning of the season, even with all the ups and downs. We knew it was just a matter of a couple of minor things we needed to correct, and we could become a great team."

The Spartans' motivation is a year old, born in a locker room at Madison Square Garden last season. There, the current players watched Adreian Payne and Keith Appling become the first four-year players under Tom Izzo to never make the Final Four, losing to Connecticut in the Elite Eight.

"Those guys were crushed, seeing their faces and how they reacted -- it was big for us," Trice said.

As for Louisville, its motivation came from an unlikely source. Richard Pitino, former assistant and son of head coach Rick Pitino, watched the Cardinals practice after they beat UC Irvine in their NCAA tournament opener on March 20.

He then gave them a chewing out that would make papa proud.

"He told us it was the worst practice he'd ever seen," Terry Rozier said. "Nobody was leading, talking. He really challenged us and told us if we were satisfied with that effort, we'd be going home."

Duly inspired and challenged, the two teams now are one game away from Indianapolis, something no one saw coming ... except the Spartans and the Cards.

Key to the game: Presumably Louisville hasn't thrown away its game plan for facing NC State, because really, this is the same thing all over again.

"Limit them to one tough shot. Get our hands up on the 3-point line and rebound as a team," Montrezl Harrell said.

The Cards did all of that against the Wolfpack, which is why they won. Doing it against the Spartans may be tougher.

Michigan State's grinder reputation belies the reality that this team loves to run. With three solid shooters in Trice, Denzel Valentine and Bryn Forbes, the Spartans love nothing more than to launch dagger 3s in transition; Valentine supplied the killer against Oklahoma on Friday night.

Louisville doesn't have three solid shooters. The Cardinals, frankly, don't have one, so they'll need to be selective in their fast-break pushes and more content to sit back in a half-court offense.

The good news: That offense is, in Rick Pitino's estimation, "the best it's been all season."

That plan worked well against the Wolfpack. Louisville all but eliminated Cat Barber, slowing the game to a pace in which his speed was no longer a factor.

Michigan State has proved it can win just about any way; it went with a rock fight against Virginia and freewheeling versus Oklahoma, so imposing a will -- if you will -- won't be nearly as easy.

It's not easy to change up the Cards, either. Between their zone defense -- which Izzo called "crazy" -- and efficient, if not spectacular, offense, they have found a way to play their best ball when it matters most.

"We've got our work cut out for us," Izzo said. "But we've had our work cut out for us all year in different ways."

Player to watch: Branden Dawson. Izzo joked on Saturday that when he showed some Louisville video to his team in the wee hours following its Sweet 16 win against Oklahoma, he made sure Harrell was cut from the package.

"I didn't want them to have nightmares," he said. "We had our video guy cut out anything where he was living with his head and feet at the rim."

The job of erasing the bogeyman permanently falls to Dawson. The senior, who gives up two inches and 15 pounds to Harrell, will no doubt have his hands full. Harrell has raised his game -- and his draft stock -- significantly in this tournament, averaging 15.3 points and 5.7 rebounds, not to mention adding a confident sweet-stroking jumper to his repertoire.

It's not that Dawson doesn't have the strength to keep up. He does.

It's just matching Harrell's motor that could be a problem. The senior's game has a tendency to ebb and flow, sometimes dramatically, over a 40-minute period. He can play with intensity and fire, or he can disappear for stretches.

Harrell was asked whether he thought Dawson could match his vigor.

"I haven't seen too many players with the energy that I play," Harrell said. "I don't take any plays off. If he has as much energy as me, it should be a good game. I don't see him running with as much energy as I have."

But Dawson has been strong for the Spartans lately, answering the challenge Izzo and Trice threw at him: that the seniors would determine Michigan State's fate. He's averaging 11.6 points and more critically, 8.6 rebounds (including 11 against Oklahoma on Friday night) through the Sweet 16.

Dawson didn't play the last time these two teams met in the NCAA tournament, back in 2012. He was sidelined with an injury and forced to watch the game from his dorm room. Former Spartan Draymond Green called Dawson up this weekend to remind him of that.

"He said that if I played in that game, we would have gone to the Final Four," Dawson said. "It was hard, just sitting there, not being able to play. I think, come tomorrow, this will definitely be a man's game. It will be great for me being able to play against these guys for the first time."