Bill Self Battles Former Boss Leonard Hamilton to Get to Mythical March Madness Final Four

Two coaches that used to coach together, coach their teams with the hopes of getting to the Mythical March Madness Final Four.

USA Today Sports Images - Scott Sewell

If not for the COVID-19 pandemic they would have been hanging from the rafters in Allen Fieldhouse. No need to beware of the Phog unless it settled down on the floor as nobody was sitting past the bench and scorer's table level. 

This match-up was so very interesting as Kansas Hall of Fame head coach Bill Self was coaching against his former boss at Oklahoma State in Leonard Hamilton. Hamilton had gone on to coach at Miami (Florida) and in the NBA before settling down and having lots of success with the Seminoles. This match-up would play out inside Allen Fieldhouse, but with most of the homecourt advantage absent. 

Publisher's Note: This is our go at Mythical March Madness and now entering the fourth round. The tournament and results are determined using all-time odds for each seed in NCAA Division I Men's Tournament history for advancement in each round. The roll of dice with rolls of six or below representing the higher-seeded team and rolls of seven or greater representing the lower-seeded team determine the results. If the game is written up as close then the roll of the dice went to the eighth, ninth, or tenth roll. If it is written up as a blowout then it was decided with few rolls needed. This is the Sunday action moving the tournament from "Elite Eight" to "Final Four." The final two teams punch their ticket to Kansas City to join Dayton and Gonzaga.

Kansas led this one start to finish and it's hard to put a lot of suspense to it. Florida State came out in a zone defense to keep Udoka Azubuike in check inside along with David McCormick, but that is the beauty of the inside-outside game that Self has the Jayhawks playing. No room inside the ball was kicked outside to Devon Doston along with Ochai Agbaji. 

No. 1 - Kansas  92  No. 3 - Florida State 71: Kansas earns a trip to the Mythical March Madness Final Four in Kansas City.

Dotson scored 11 of the first 20 points on the board for Kansas and Agbaji added five to that. Kansas led 20-8 at that point and Hamilton switched to a man defense coming out of the second media time out with 11:43 left to go. By halftime Kansas led 48-31 and Azubuike had 12 points and McCormick had eight. 

Devin Vassell led the way for Florida State with nine points but it wasn't enough. Kansas had played stout defense in the first half and had out rebounded Florida State 23-14 in the first half. 

The second half was played more evenly, but Florida State needed a massive run that they never got. 

Kansas was too good defensively for the game to get out of their grasp.  

Azubuike finished as the leading scorer with 24 just ahead of Agbaji with 23. Dotson had 19 points. Florida State was led by Vassell, who finished with 18 points.

Florida State sees their season end with a 29-6 record.

Kansas will prepare to play Big 12 rival Baylor (30-4) for the third time this season and the Jayhawks are 32-3. Dayton plays Gonzaga next Saturday in Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium in the other Mythical National Semifinal.