"The talk doesn't bother me," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "We approach this game like we do every game. We played the best teams in the country in the Big East, so we're playing another great team. It's like playing at Connecticut, at Georgetown, at Pitt. This is what we do.

"We want our guys to approach the next game like it's the biggest game of the year, no matter what the stakes are. It doesn't matter if it's Kansas or North Carolina; it's as important as if we play at Cincinnati or at Rutgers. We try to do that during the year so we're ready for it now."

Forward Dante Cunningham said he looked at the seeds as determining who wears the home white jerseys.

"Honestly, this is March Madness," he said. "It's crazy. Anything can happen. We're showing it now. We'll go out there, and we'll go battle."

Big-time scorers. The Jayhawks have five double-digit scorers, none averaging more than 13.1 points per game, but coach Bill Self said no one should be fooled.

"In the big games, where guys are playing 30 minutes a game, you usually have certain guys leading us in scoring," Self said yesterday. "We played a lot of games that weren't real close games, so we had different guys every night. But in the games where it's been tight, we usually have the same cast of players up there leading us in points."

When Kansas beat Texas, 88-74, for the Big Twelve title, Mario Chalmers scored 30 points and Brandon Rush 19. In the semifinal against Texas A&M, Rush had 28 points.

"The first time that I ever saw him during individual workouts, I thought he could be as good as anybody I ever coached," Self said of the 6-foot-6 junior guard, who declared for the NBA draft last year but returned to Kansas after suffering a torn ligament in his right knee, requiring surgery in June.

Has Rush lived up to Self's appraisal? "I do believe that is the case," he said. "Not very often do you have that size, that body. He's got great, great touch. He's competitive.

"We wondered if he would try to defend. . . . He's become our best defender. He has a very high ceiling, one that I don't think he's come close to reaching. But he's a lot closer to it than he was a couple of years ago."

Badgers' balance. Wisconsin is another balanced team. Brian Butch, leading the third-seeded Badgers (31-4) at 12.4 points a game, said coach Bo Ryan's swing offense "allows players to be players. I don't think it's one of those things where you're a point guard so you have to be out on the perimeter. If one of your strengths is inside posting up and you're 6 feet, it doesn't matter. You're just allowed to be a player and make plays."

Larry's team? Larry Brown coached Kansas to its most recent national championship, in 1988. The former 76ers coach has watched Villanova practice and play on countless occasions the last two seasons.

Brown certainly would be a big fan of either team, Self said.

"He's been out and seen us practice a couple of days, watched us play," Self said. "I think he likes this team, but he also likes Villanova's team, too. He's seen them a lot more than he's seen us because he lives there in Philly. I think he would like both teams."

Best-dressed. Wright suggested that Self could hold his own in the wardrobe department, but Self said of that competition: "I've heard from several of my so-called friends, 'Don't even try because that's one battle you can't win.' If our team doesn't outperform Villanova, then we will go 0-2 against them 'cause nobody looks sharper than Jay on the sidelines."