A big night for big men
If things keep going the way they are, we are headed for an almighty showdown between two incredibly skilled big men in the national championship game.
Okay, so neither of last night's games proved to be really close in the end. Yes, Louisville made North Carolina sweat a bit, but is anyone really surprised that the Tar Heels pulled away?
If anything, UCLA's domination of Xavier was more surprising given the Bruins' early-game struggles the last few games.
What we do know, though, is that the better team won both games. Should that happen again today, we will have the first ever Final Four with all No. 1 seeds. And if it does, we will surely end up with the best Final Four in history.
How can you not salivate over the prospect of Memphis, UCLA, Kansas and North Carolina facing off in San Antonio. They are the top four teams in the Pomeroy rankings, but our eyes and instincts also tell us that they are the four best teams in the country. And they have been all year, despite the occasional slip-ups that any team is prone to have over a long season.
Combined, the four teams have 141 wins and nine losses. The worst of the latter, by Pomeroy ranking, was Kansas' one-point defeat at No. 58 Oklahoma State.
It now falls to the Jayhawks and Tigers to hold up their ends of things, though our instincts also tell us they are the least likely to do so. Will Bill Self's Final Four jinx continue, not to mention John Calipari's? Will D.J. Augustin or Stephen Curry raise their games and carry their teams to victory again? The answers will come in a few hours.
What we do know is that two extraordinary big men, Kevin Love and Tyler Hansbrough, will be waiting at the Alamodome. The most outstanding player of the regular season and the most outstanding player of the NCAA Tournament (along with Curry) carried their teams to regional finals yesterday.
Let us salute them and the box score lines they posted.