Sports > April 3, 2008

By Connor Swarbrick | Asst. sports editor

Cinderella may not be making an appearance at this year’s ball, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be special. For the first time in history, all four number one seeds have made it to the Final Four. While some may dismiss this year’s tournament as boring and predictable, a more appropriate response would be to sit back and enjoy this rare alignment of the stars. In San Antonio, home of the Alamo, somebody is about to play Davey Crockett to somebody else’s Santa Anna.

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While the tournament did not have the usual barrage of upsets, Davidson and their 20-year-old superstar Stephen Curry put together a magical run. Curry, deserving of the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award, became only the fourth player to score 30 points in his first four tournament games. He hit big shot after big shot helping his team knock of Gonzaga, Georgetown and Wisconsin.

Memphis, North Carolina, Kansas and UCLA were the top four in the preseason AP and ESPN/USA Today polls, and they did not disappoint. All of them have been dominant throughout the year, going a combined 143-9. That record equals a winning percentage of .941, the highest ever by Final Four teams. They all won their respective regular season conference titles and their conference tournaments. Simply put – this group is impressive.

If there’s a reason to call this season and tournament boring it is because these four teams have been so impressive. They have blown nearly everybody out. Of the 16 tourney games they’ve played so far, only three have been decided by fewer than 10 points – Memphis’ 77-74 second-round win over Mississippi State, UCLA’s 51-49 second-round win over Texas A&M and Kansas’ 59-57 Elite Eight win over Davidson.

Granted the tournaments that included the likes of Bird, Magic and Jordan were special, but relative to the last decade college basketball has improved drastically in the last four years.

Before the NBA instituted their minimum age requirement in 2006 players like Lebron James, Eddie Curry and Dwight Howard never got the chance to experience the madness of March. Now kids that decide to go to school sometimes even end up staying. Florida’s back-to-back national championships (the first in 15 years), Geroge Mason’s cinderalla run to the Final Four and the success of mid-majors like Butler exemplify the improved quality of college basketball.

This year is no different. Players like Derrick Rose, Kevin Love and Michael Beasley have not only become part of a team, but they’ve stood out as superstars. College basketball fans have had the privilege of seeing these guys and players like Greg Oden and Kevin Durant have historic freshman seasons. But it isn’t about these players individually; it is about what they have been able to accomplish with their teams.

Semifinal Saturday is often gone from people’s minds by the time the national championship game roles around on Monday night, but this year has the potential to be different. For just the sixth time in NCAA history a No. 1 seed will take on another No. 1 seed in the championship. The previous six were decided by an average margin of 4.8 points. These four teams spent the season dominating their competition, but it’s unrealistic to think they will do the same to each other. There is only one guarantee − this will not be boring.

UNC-Chapel Hill

The spotlight leading up to the Tar Heels match-up with the Kansas Jay Hawks will be on their head coach Roy Williams. After 19 years as the head coach at Kansas, Williams left to coach his Alma matter UNC. He has restored the school to glory. The Tar Heels won the 2005 national championship with the likes of Raymond Felton and Sean May.

The current Tar Heel team deserves some attention too. They ran through the East region, which some analysts picked to be the most challenging, and had double digit margins of victory in each game. The Tar Heels, lead by unanimous All-American selection and national player of the year Tyler Hansborough, had a school high 36 wins in route to their 17th Final Four.

Their offense is the best in the country and they have showed it in the tournament scoring over the century mark in the first two contests. Hansbrough averaged 23.0 points and 10.4 rebounds for the Heels, with free throw shooting being a big component to his game.

The injury that landed guard Ty Lawson on the bench from Feb. 3 to March 1 may have been a blessing in disguise. The Heels developed backup point guard Quentin Thomas and improved their half court sets. Hansborough excelled while Lawson was away, but now that he is back healthy and rested the Heels are even more dynamic.

UNC advanced to the Final Four with an 83-73 victory over Louisville.

In their match up against Kansas guard play will be the key to victory. Lawson along with Wayne Ellignton and Danny Green will be difficult for Kansas guards Russell Robinson, Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush to handle.

The No. 1 overall seed will have to leave the state of North Carolina for the first time in the tournament and will look to extend their 15 game winning streak and advance to the national championship.

Kansas

Head coach Bill Self knelt to the floor and then gave a sigh of relief and two thumbs up when Davidson’s Jason Richards missed a three at the buzzer that would have sent his team home, again.

But they are not headed home, they are headed to San Antonio. Self has finally shed the “best coach never to make a Final Four” tag and now believes his team can play with more ease.

Self admitted he was rooting for Texas to beat Memphis because he knew that the Memphis win meant his team would have to make history. They did just that by knocking off Stephen Curry and the Cinderella Davidson Wildcats.

The Jay Hawks will be making their 13th trip to the final four after falling short the last several years including last years’ Elite Eight loss to UCLA.

This year Self has an experienced team lead by the backcourt of Rush and Chalmers. They play a stifling defense and it will be interesting to see how that defense handles the best offense in UNC.

Memphis

Head coach John Calipari has used what critics have said to fuel his Tigers. Memphis was the No. 1 seed that analysts picked to lose first. They dominated an uncompetitive Conference USA and struggled all season long from the free throw line.

The Tigers lost only one game all season, but stumbled in a second-round win over Mississippi State. They proceeded to crush Michigan State and Texas in Houston, making it hard not to look at Memphis as a favorite to win the title.

Freshman guard Derrick Rose has been the difference maker for the Tigers. He has given the Tigers a game-changer and scorer to complement All-American Chris Douglas-Roberts.

The Tigers have matured on the court, become much more disciplined with their shot selection and this will be an important role in their match up with UCLA. A key match up in this game will be Joey Dorsey’s sheer force against UCLA’s Kevin Love and his basketball savvy.

After reaching three straight Elite Eights, Calipari’s window for getting a title with this group is likely one and done now with Rose likely gone as one of the top two selections in the draft. Douglas-Roberts is expected to declare as well.

UCLA

UCLA is in their third straight Final Four. They lacked a true low-post threat in losing to Florida in consecutive appearances. Now they have freshman Kevin Love, who has helped transform the Bruins from a predictable offensive team into one that could rely on an anchor in the post. Love also gave UCLA the most talented big-man passer in the post, from midcourt and from an inbounds underneath the opponent’s basket.

UCLA had a number of close games at the end of the regular season against Stanford and California. They also struggled in the Pac-10 tourney against USC and Stanford and had close games in the NCAA tournament against Texas A&M, Western Kentucky and early on against Xavier. However, they won them all and perhaps more importantly they never expected they wouldn’t.

Howland also has a team with a lot of experience but that also means a small window of opportunity considering that Love is likely gone to the draft and could easily be followed by point guard Darren Collison, backup Russell Westbrook and even forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute.

The Bruins don’t want to make it a fourth straight trip to the Final Four without a national championship so they will feed their big man and play tough perimeter defense in an effort to win their first title since 1995.