Another year, another fantastic March Madness. I do admit, in the true spirit of the event, I was somewhat disappointed to see all four No. 1 seeds prevail. Led by No. 10 seed Davidson's surge into the Elite Eight, the Upset Train eventually jumped the tracks.
Saturday's games were surprising, to say the least. UCLA hung around the entire game, but it was obvious that Memphis was the superior squad. In the end, the Tigers won comfortably and looked every bit like the stellar 35-1 regular season squad that was inexplicably overlooked for the Final Four by most pundits.
Kansas shocked the basketball world, to say nothing of the Tar Heels, by exploding to a 28-point lead during the first half, only to see its lead dwindle to four in the early stages of the second half as a result of uncharacteristically lackadaisical play.
The Jayhawks recovered in time, though, and capped off a victory that showed them to be more than capable of taking on the Tigers on Monday night.
In the end, Hodes's picks and mine had to be guided by our brackets, and the two of us were lucky (note to readers: never chalk up success in a March Madness pool to anything else) enough to pick one or the other to win.
At the beginning of the tourney, I went with Kansas, because I felt the program was, simply put, due. Over the past seven seasons, the Jayhawks have captured six Big 12 titles, and this will be their third trip to the Final Four over that same time span.
As far as No.1 seeds go, Carolina had all of the "mojo" heading into the tourney. Their performance once there did nothing to dispel the widely held view that they were the favorites to win it all. Going into the Final Four game, Kansas was accorded, as any No. 1 seed deserves, a healthy degree of respect.
One would have been hard pressed, however, to find someone who wasn't a Kansas fan picking the Jayhawks. It seemed as though many viewed the Jayhawks as an afterthought -- a team with an outside shot who would put up a fight, but in vain.
The Jayhawks responded in a big way. They out-rebounded the nation's premier team off the glass by nine. They played superb defense (for much of the game, anyway). Their transition game was, at times, unstoppable. Brandon Rush looked like the best player on a court occupied by, among others, Tyler Hansborough.
In short, the Jayhawks effectively disputed their outsider status, and showed they were the best team in the nation on Saturday night.
Will it carry over to tonight? Well, I have to say, the charge of beating John Calipari's squad is a thorny task. The Tigers, too, had something to prove entering the tourney, having themselves been an afterthought for the Final Four when the Madness began.
Memphis responded with its own brand of outstanding play, led by their freshman sensation, Derrick Rose. Rose is one of, if not the, most talented player(s) to grace the courts of college basketball in the new millennium. When you combine his skill set with the remainder of Memphis's back court presence, and their rock-solid, physical front court, you've got a nightmare of an offense.
On paper, I guess I'd give the Tigers the edge, but, folks, we must remember, we're talking about March Madness here. If "paper" analysis dictated the outcome of the tourney, it wouldn't be the nation's most exciting sporting event.
Kansas is the underdog, and I'm willing to bet they relish such a position, given their authoritative dismantling of the team everyone thought was unbeatable. It should be an excellent game. Rock Chalk, Jayhawk.
