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25 things to ponder about the Final Four

SO WHAT IF our brackets, pristine just 2 weeks ago, are now serving as birdcage liner. This NCAA Tournament has been one of the most memorable, especially for most local college hoop fans.

SO WHAT IF our brackets, pristine just 2 weeks ago, are now serving as birdcage liner. This NCAA Tournament has been one of the most memorable, especially for most local college hoop fans.

With three games remaining in the madness, there are more questions than answers. How much of a disadvantage is it to be a Final Four rookie coach? Has anybody been more impressive away from home than Connecticut? And why does Michigan State coach Tom Izzo think the stars are aligned?

Here are 25 things to help survive and advance to Monday night's championship game:

1. Connecticut is the only team whose winning margin has decreased each round. The Huskies beat Chattanooga by 56, Texas A&M by 26, Purdue by 12 and Missouri by 7.

2. Villanova is 8-1 against ranked opponents since closing out the Spectrum with a win over No. 3 Pittsburgh on Jan. 28. UNC is ranked second.

3. North Carolina is trying to avenge an embarrassing loss to Kansas in the 2008 Final Four. "The way last year ended, it hurt everybody," said Deon Thompson, referring to the game in which UNC trailed, 40-12. "To get back there and know that we have a chance to redeem ourselves is a big-time feeling to have."

4. North Carolina thumped Michigan State at Ford Field, 98-63, in December, and Villanova lost a Sweet 16 game there to Kansas last year. UConn has never played there.

5. Following the MSU game, Carolina coach Roy Williams remarked at being uncomfortable with the view from the sidelines caused by the benches being lower than floor level. "It's a great arena," he said, "but I'm not used to looking at my guys' ankles."

6. Villanova coach Jay Wright broke out last year's Kansas tape a few times this season just to remind players how painful that season-ending loss was.

7. Whoever wins the opener between Michigan State and Connecticut will have more wins at Ford Field this sporting year than the Detroit Lions, which lost all eight home games en route to last year's 0-16 disaster.

8. Here's a quick little pronunciation guide for Michigan Staters Marquise Gray (Mar-QWEESE), Kalin Lucas (KAY-lin) and Goran Suton (GORE-on SUE-tahn). And remember, two syllables for North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough (HANDS-bro).

9. Hansbrough needs one point to move past Austin Carr and into 10th place in career NCAA Tournament scoring. Hansbrough has 289 points in 16 career games (18.1 avg.). Christian Laettner's 407 points (23 games, 17.7 avg.) remains the standard.

10. Jim Calhoun and former Indiana coach Branch McCracken are the only coaches with 4-0 records in the Final Four. Calhoun won his titles in 1999 and 2004 and McCracken in 1940 and 1953. John Wooden started 0-2 thanks to a pair of losses at the 1962 Final Four, before winning 21 of his final 22. Amazing.

11. North Carolina is 8-1 in the tournament against the other three remaining teams. The Heels are 4-0 against Michigan State, 1-0 against Connecticut and 3-1 against Villanova. The only loss came in the 1985 Southeast Regional final.

12. UConn's Hasheem Thabeet was the Big East co-player of the year. Michigan State's Kalin Lucas was the Big Ten player of the year. North Carolina's Ty Lawson was the ACC player of the year. No Villanova player even cracked the Big East first team.

13. Jay Wright is making his Final Four debut while colleagues Roy Williams (seven), Tom Izzo (five) and Jim Calhoun (three) have appeared in 15 combined. That novelty, however, didn't seem to affect Kansas coach Bill Self, who outlasted Final Four veterans Williams, John Calipari and Ben Howland last year.

14. The sites for future Final Fours extend beyond nearly two more presidential elections: 2010 Indianapolis; 2011 Houston; 2012 New Orleans; 2013 Atlanta; 2014 North Texas (Cowboys Stadium); 2015 Indianapolis; 2016 Houston.

15. Capacity for hoops at Ford Field is officially 72,000. With Michigan State in the field, there's a good chance the record 64,959 attendance for the 1987 Final Four will be eclipsed.

16. Since we have our nose in the record book, there was 31,765 on hand for Villanova's championship game loss to UCLA at the Astrodome in 1971 and 23,124 at Rupp Arena when the Wildcats beat Georgetown in the 1985 championship. The crowd for that first title game, when Oregon beat Ohio State in Evanston, Ill., was 5,500.

17. At 6-7 and nearly 245 pounds, Connecticut forward Jeff Adrien is a ferocious rebounder and nasty dunker. But he also has a soft side. When mom came up for senior night, Adrien asked her to bring along the family kittens. "The big cat is named Tish, she just had four babies," he explained. "They're all black and white. Actually two of them are just black. They are really little. I really wanted to see them."

18. Before Michigan State this year, only three schools in the last 30 years played in Final Fours in their home states. Duke lost in the final to Arkansas at Charlotte in 1994. Kansas, a six seed, won its 1988 championship in Kansas City. And Purdue lost in the semifinals to UCLA in Indianapolis in 1980.

19. Connecticut is 17-2 in games away from home. One loss was at Pittsburgh, the other came in six overtimes to Syracuse at Madison Square Garden.

20. As it relates to Villanova, four No. 3 seeds have won the tournament since the seeding process began in 1979: Florida in 2006, Syracuse in 2003, Michigan in 1989 and Indiana in 1981.

21. The previous 30 title winners by seed: No. 1 seeds, 16 titles; No. 2 seeds, six titles; No. 3 seeds, four titles; No. 4 seeds, one title (Arizona, 1997); No. 6 seeds, two titles (N.C. State, 1983; Kansas, 1988); No. 8 seeds, one title (Villanova, 1985).

22. Every player who has stayed four seasons during Tom Izzo's 14 years at Michigan State has played in a Final Four.

23. The Spartans hope the anniversary of the historic Magic Johnson-Larry Bird title game win brings good karma. "If you look at the destiny of it, the 30-year reunion, we got all those goofy things on our side," Izzo said.

24. Speaking of Magic, a 6-9 freak of nature as a point guard, his 269 assists that year were well more than the four point guards this season. UNC's Ty Lawson has 216 followed by Michigan State's Kalin Lucas (164), UConn's A.J. Price (163) and Scottie Reynolds (123). The 11 players at this year's Final Four listed at 6-9 or taller combined for 172 assists this season. That's why, kiddies, CBS continues to show reaction shots from the former Michigan State superstar. He was that good.

25. The picks. Going with team Sparty in the opener and not just because of the esoteric factors listed above. Izzo simply gets it done in March and Michigan State is pretty darned good. In the other semifinal, North Carolina has just too much quality at every position and too much depth for Villanova. On Monday, the call here is Carolina. *