I will not hide my feelings that I think this is the best Final 4 ever in the history of college basketball. We have 4 number 1 seeds and among them 4 teams who spent time at the number 1 spot in the rankings for a time this season. Most of the time a team on a hot streak rides its way and favorable matchups to the Final 4, but these teams are all playing well and it should be awesome.
I’ve been off and on the Memphis bandwagon all year long and they are a great matchup with UCLA because of the contrast in styles. I think Joey Dorsey will give Kevin Love all he can handle but Love is a great player who could get Dorsey in foul trouble. Against Texas we saw a team that relished the fact that many people in the country, myself included, were picking them to lose. It wasn’t even a close game. I left watching wondering what players, if any, from Texas could play at Memphis. Derrick Rose outplayed Dj Augustin from the opening tip and really showed that he’s ready for the next level. He’ll be a triple double waiting to happen in the pros and will be a top 5 pick easily.
UCLA is a great team with great depth that plays incredible team defense. They have a point guard who is seasoned in Final 4’s and a team for that matter who has been here before. UCLA is an athletic team but they aren’t in Memphis’ category but not a lot of teams are. They need a big game from Josh Shipp and I don’t think they are going to get it. Shipp needs to score 15-20 or Darren Collison needs to have a big game for UCLA to advance. I think this game will be a great game and not as high scoring as some would think. UCLA has a tendancy to play to the level of their opponents so it will be very close but I like Memphis to move on and Kevin Love to move on to the NBA.
On the other side we have North Carolina versus Kansas. I’m very torn here because I have to not like Bill Self because he left Illinois and I have to not like North Carolina because they beat Illinois in 2005 in the title game. But objectively this game and the other one could be the National Championship. Kansas is full of athletes and plays great pressure defense. They have size inside and love to run. I love the fact that their guards play very good defense and they have depth at the position. Kansas has Sherron Collins coming off the bench when if he would’ve gone to Illinois he’d be a household name by now.
North Carolina is peaking right now and playing very well. Hansbrough is a great college player that I’m really starting to appreciate. I honestly never saw it before but he gets every loose ball and never stands still. His knees are always bent and he’s always moving. I respect him as a player but it has taken a few years. I love the matchup of Ellington and Rush because i see them as very similar players and that will be fun to watch. Carolina has size inside and can run the floor as well as, if not better than, Kansas can.
Where I see this game coming down to is guard play like most tourney games. Ty Lawson going against Russell Robinson is going to be very fun to watch. Lawson stirs the drink for the Tarheels but not much behind him. If Lawson gets in foul trouble the Tarheels will lose because Quentin Thomas just can’t cut it. But my wild guard is Green for North Carolina. He’s a kid that would start at 98% of the colleges in the country and an argument is made for him starting at Carolina. He can guard and score and rebound and he never quits on either end.
I think it will be a great game but I see Kansas taking it for some reason. I believe that Kansas will have that game where it comes together for them on the big stage and they get the win.
Based on my latest predictions, it looks like a UCLA vs NOrth Carolina final…
