Ed Hightower did his best to overshadow the National Championship game. Standing over every call he whistled for a good 15 seconds as he made his customary poses and predicted calls, he could do nothing to prevent the University of Kansas from winning their 5th National Championship, and first since 1988. Brandon Rush missed a wide open layup with a couple of minutes to go in overtime, but got his own, wide open rebound and put it back to seal the deal for KU, and Mario Chalmers hit a miraculous, game tying shot in regulation, forcing Memphis to rely on a 6th man substitute in place of the fouled out Joey Dorsey, to try and stop the mighty Jayhawks in the extra frame.

Continue reading this post…

The coasts and all of their media donkeys are upset. Basketball purists and those “in the know”, predicted it. After a lackluster effort from UCLA, and a throttling of North Carolina, Memphis and Kansas will battle for the NCAA Championship tonight, a little after 9pm EST. Here is my final “Breakdown and Prediction” for the 2007-2008 college basketball season. It’s been fun, but never forget the creed; always pick the opposite!

Memphis vs Kansas
(9:21pm EST/8:21 San Antonio)

Tale Of The Tape Continue reading this post…

You know what’s great about this Final Four? Even better than any Final Four in recent memory? Well, lots of things, but I’m going to start with the general assumption that this Final Four has so much parity. When asked about the best backcourt, anyone can argue for each of the four teams and be right. Frontcourt? Any of them and yes, you’d be correct, too. Bench? Well, all four teams are very talented in that area, maybe some more than others. Coaching? Yep, each coach has a right to be considered the best at certain areas and whatnot. Roy Williams may have the most experience at this stage, but he does have his downfalls. John Calipari has been around the block a few times, and in the NBA, he could lay claim to the best of the bunch. Bill Self has been all quality in the last decade or so, and Ben Howland has been to 3 straight Final Fours. Maybe he’s the one you want heading up your team. One thing is for sure, there are 300 and some-odd programs in America that would switch places with the four programs currently at the mountaintop this weekend and those 300+ teams would, no doubt, trade places with these Continue reading this post…

Here is the 2nd installment of the Final Four Semi-Final breakdown and predictions. This will, no doubt be the marquee game of the tournament, possibly outshining the Final on Monday due to the history and parallels of the two programs. Remember back in January when I pit UNC and KU head to head to see who was the superior program. UNC was, and is, but if KU is to make a significant challenge, Saturday would be a good time to start. Don’t forget the Golden Rule; always choose the opposite.

North Carolina vs Kansas
(8:47pm EST/7:47 San Antonio)

Tale of the Tape

Record:
North Carolina=36-2
Kansas=35-3
Advantage=North Carolina

PPG:
North Carolina=89.2
Kansas= 80.6
Advantage=North Carolina

OPP PPG:
North Carolina=72.9
Kansas=61.4
Advantage=Kansas

APG:
North Carolina=17.1
Kansas=18.2
Advantage=Kansas

RPG:
North Carolina=43.7
Kansas=38.6
Advantage=North Carolina

SPG:
North Carolina=8.2
Kansas=8.8
Advantage=Kansas Continue reading this post…

I’m going to break down both games as much as I possibly can with as much information as I possibly can, knowing that numbers only tell part of the story. At the end of each breakdown, I will give my synopsis and predictions. Best thing for you to do is to pick the opposite. Always pick the opposite.

UCLA vs Memphis
(6:07pm EST/5:07 San Antonio)

Tale of the Tape

Record:
UCLA=35-3
Memphis=37-1
Advantage=Memphis

PPG:
UCLA=73.8
Memphis=80.3
Advantage=Memphis

OPP PPG:
UCLA=58.0
Memphis=61.0
Advantage=UCLA

APG:
UCLA=14.6
Memphis=16.1
Advantage=Memphis

RPG:
UCLA=36.7
Memphis=40.8
Advantage=Memphis

SPG:
UCLA=7.3
Memphis=8.4
Advantage=Memphis Continue reading this post…

The 2008 Final Four, possibly the greatest Final Four since 1993 when we had Kansas, North Carolina, Kentucky and Michigan. That year had the 3 winningest programs plus the Fab Five. This year has 2 of the winningest programs in UNC and KU, the program with the most National Championships in UCLA, and the upstart Memphis Tigers, probably the most talented of the qualifiers, and that’s saying something. Steve Greenberg, from The Sporting News, lists this year as the 4th best NCAA Final Four of all time.

North Carolina has the Player of the Year and a total of 5 McDonald’s All Americans on their roster. Memphis has the Ben Wallace of college in Joey Dorsey and one McDonald’s AA in freshman point, Derrick Rose. UCLA has the West’s best in freshman stud, Kevin Love, while James Keefe has been an unsung hero and the only other McD’s AA. Kansas has been the best of the Midwest all season. The Jayhawks have 4 McDonald’s All Americans in Mario Chalmers, Sherron Collins, Darrell Arthur and Cole Aldrich. Needless to say, it takes talent to get in the Final Four. Every year except 1978 (Kentucky) and 2002 (Maryland) has seen the National Champion contain at least Continue reading this post…

Being that we are in the midst of a booming “media age”, where today’s newspaper is yesterday’s news, and the cliche that compares hind parts to opinions, (you know how it goes; everybody has one and they all stink), the expectations for coaches and athletes to perform at an unreasonable level is at an all time high. It will probably continue to get worse, maybe never easier, but the fact that so many columnists write about the same thing, it becomes excruciatingly painful to ignore the tidal wave of those opinions when all the ants are marching to the same beat.

As it is, this week, and for that matter, the last 5 years, have brought the zombie writers out of the woodwork, talking about how Kansas Head Coach, Bill Self has the weight of the college basketball world thrust on his shoulders. Writers claim they need something to talk about, and bad news for us is good news for them. Writers that seldomly form their own opinion, no matter how good it can be, will piggyback others who negatively Continue reading this post…

For the first time in history, all four #1 seeds made the Final Four. These four teams, North Carolina, Memphis, Kansas, and UCLA were the four best teams throughout the entire season. All four were preseason picks to win their conference titles. All four won their conference titles. All four won their conference tournament title, as well.

North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA, and Memphis went a combined 143-9 on the season. Each team may be at their season’s peak and each team certainly earned the right to play in San Antonio. Memphis really turned on the heat in their last two games. UCLA had little trouble, except for the Texas A&M game. UNC rolled through Continue reading this post…