Rooting for the story at Final Four title games | Mike Kern

Writers root for the best stories. It doesn't always work out, but you can hope. Most of the time that's our lone horse in the race.

At this time last year, a bunch of us were in Houston with Villanova's basketball team. It already was a good story that the Wildcats had reached the Final Four by beating No. 1 seed Kansas in a regional final. Wonder if we knew it was only going to get way better.

First, they beat Oklahoma by 44. And it could have been 144 if Jay Wright didn't have a heart. Then it was on to North Carolina, which had been the top seed in the Philadelphia regional that Villanova, for whatever reason, didn't get to play in. It would have been a memorable Elite Eight game. It turned into an historic title game, the finish of which will be replayed for as long as there's March Madness. And from where I was sitting at midcourt, I had the perfect angle to watch Kris Jenkins' three-pointer for the championship find nothing but immortality. I mean, who needed overtime on deadline anyway?

You couldn't make it up. And it wasn't an indelible story because it was the team we were covering. Unless you were pulling for the Tar Heels, it was right up there with Christian Laettner in South Philly in 1992. And that's a pretty short list to be identified with.

So how do you possibly follow that? Well, maybe you don't. At least not in the very next chance. But that's what Gonzaga and, yes, North Carolina, are going to try and pull off Monday night in Phoenix. Not that either will care how they win, just that they do. Because either way, it's another keeper of a storyline. Not that we in the media are selfish/greedy or anything. Hey, we've all had to write our share of snoozers before too. Part of the job description.

Then again, in the last decade how many dogs have we had to endure? OK, there was UNC over Michigan State by 17 in 2009, which was the last time the Heels hoisted the trophy. Other than that, there's only been one game decided by double digits: Connecticut-Butler in 2011, when the Huskies won by a dozen. Yet it still very much had two worthy storylines. Win-win. And the Butler-Duke matchup the year before that was nearly an all-timer. If only that last-second half-court shot that almost banked in had fallen, it would have out-Jenkins Jenkins.

There was also the Kansas-Memphis overtimer in 2008, when coach Cal chose not to foul at the end of regulation and got burned to give new Hall of Famer Bill Self his only title. Of course, Memphis would have had to vacate anyway. Funny how that stuff works.

Which brings us to the last two standing this year, both No. 1 seeds. UNC has obviously been here before. It's new ground for the Zags (and by the way, their real nickname is the Bulldogs), who've been chipping away at this thing for two decades and finally showed they officially belong. I got an email from a reader before the tournament telling me how this team didn't deserve to be any more than a middle of the bracket seed, because the West Coast Conference was weak, which it was, and on and on. Remarkably, I haven't heard from that emailer lately. Guess the early wins over Florida, Iowa State and Arizona might have meant something after all.

This is a seriously good team. Whether it has enough to beat another seriously good opponent we'll soon find out. Since 1999 only one team has made it to the last game with just one loss like Gonzaga. That was Illinois in 2005, which lost to UNC. The last one-loss team to win the title was UCLA, which beat defending national champ Arkansas in 1995 (and by the way the loss was at Oregon in early January). Hey, a little history never gets in the way.

I stopped filling out a bracket sheet many years ago. I can make myself look like an idiot without getting most of my Final Four picks toasted in the opening weekend. But I did like the Heels before the Selection Committee ever released the field, just because. First I thought they were strong enough, and second I figured they might have some motivation from the Jenkins thing. I took a shot. It's not like I was the only one. They were the chalk (Gonzaga was listed fourth by the oddsmakers, at 10-1). So far I've been right, which doesn't happen all that often. Gonzaga might have a lot to say about that. They're probably a little motivated too. That might make for another can't-turn-away ending, like each of Saturday's semifinals.

And did I mention that UNC is the first runner-up to make it back to the scene of the crime since the Tar Heels did it in 1981 and '82. Lost to Indiana right here on the day President Reagan almost died from an assassination attempt, beat Georgetown 12 months later by one on a wing jump by some freshman named Jordan. Of course, they still needed an errant turnover by Fred Brown to secure the victory. The Hoyas would cut down the nets two years later with Brown as a senior, which made for a nice story. Except for Houston, which had lost in the finals the year before and the semis the year before that. I'm sure everyone managed to get that into their sidebars. Those need storylines too.