April 5, 2008
The Final Four

American Idol eat your heart out.
The men's NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament is down to its final four teams, and for the first time all four #1 seeds are in the Final Four since the Tournament started seeding in 1979. This should prove to be great ratings for CBS and a great watching experience for all of us.
UCLA Bruins vs Memphis Tigers. Tigers coach John Calipari completely changed his offensive philosophy this past offseason and preaches the dribble-drive offense. That is players penetrate to the post to discover a weakness then either take the low-post shot or pass to the perimeter.
The Bruins on the other hand run the traditional half-court offense that makes you want to scratch your eyes out. Bruins coach Ben Howland preaches that great defense will win championships, and he's proven that by making the Final Four for three consecutive seasons. Memphis' offense will spread defenses out, but UCLA is a great defending team always helping on another.
Bruins defeat Tigers 70-67.
North Carolina Tarheels vs. Kansas Jayhawks Ah the Roy Williams Angst Game. The Kansas folk remember all too well in 2003 when Roy Williams told them he would stay as head coach of Kansas. Within the next month, he was gone to his alma mater North Carolina.
The Tarheels are dominated in the paint by Tyler Hansbrough, AP Player of the Year. Watching him throughout the Tournament has made me change my opinion of how overrated he is. Then they have Ty Lawson who can put a dagger in you. His speed is frustrating to defenses. And let's not even mention how deep their bench is.
The Jayhawks however match the Tarheels. With Hansbrough the Jayhawks counter with Sasha Kaun. With Lawson they have Brandon Rush. And Mario Chalmers.
I give the edge to the Jayhawks on offense and call it even on defense. Jayhawks defeat Tarheels 90-82
AP Photo by Eric Gay


