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 one McDonald’s All American.

UCLA has 11 National Championships, the Godfather of contemporary coaches, and about 3/4 of the referees in their corner. They have the experience of three consecutive Final Fours, the talent in Collison, Love, Westbrook, Shipp, Mbah A Moute and an extremely successful coach on the sidelines. They have been my pick to win the whole thing since the preseason. They’re going to have to resort to mucking up their game with Memphis and slowing the clock, as well as creating turnovers if they want to play for title #12.
North Carolina has 4 National Championships, the overall #1 seed, a Hall of Fame coach, the player of the year, and a balanced starting 5. The pressure could be on them as they will venture out of the comfort of home to take on Kansas in Big 12 country. It’s going to be UNC’s offense versus Kansas’ defense, and there haven’t been too many teams this year, capable of slowing down the Tar Heels and putting up enough points to beat them.
Kansas has 2 National Championships, 13 Final Fours, and an up and coming elite coach. They have, possibly, the 2nd most talented starting five in the Final Four, and a lot of big game experience. 5 experienced Seniors, 2 experienced Juniors, and 2 experienced Sophomores will look to “out-athlete” North Carolina. The Jayhawks should be free-rolling into this weekend since they are underdogs for the 1st time this season, according to Vegas.
Memphis blasted their way through the Sweet 16 and Elite 8, displaying a tenacity for thunderous dunks and athletic plays. They will bring a lot of confidence to San Antonio. Unfortunately, they’ll bring a lot of baggage as well. Calipari’s last trip to the Final Four resulted in vacated records and a tainted image. Matters certainly weren’t improved this week as senior backup guard, Andre Allen was suspended from the team and not allowed to attend the Final Four with the squad following a violation of team rules.So now we have 3 experienced and historic programs and one fresh, new, bad boy on the block. It’s always good to have a villain, especially in a play as dramatic as what we should see this weekend.