Could This Be The Best Final Four ever?
I have been fortunate to cover 23 NCAA Final Fours so you’ll have to trust me on this: The Saturday session of the Final Four is one of the single greatest days in all of Sport.
Anywhere.
Anytime.
Here’s why:
When Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, and Villanova take the court on Saturday at Caesar’s Superdome in New Orleans, any of the four regional champions has a chance to win it all. All of the hopes and dreams that began with preseason practice last October still have a chance to come true. There will be serious energy in that building.
Come Monday night, one of those four teams will be holding up the NCAA championship Trophy. They’ll play the song “One Shining Moment.” Lives will be changed. Careers will be defined. One career, we already know, will come to an end.
There will be tears of joy and sadness. And all of the drama we just outlined here will be played out when the first of two games (Kansas vs. Villanova) tips just after 6 p.m., ET.
What, you may ask, separates one Final Four from another? Simple. It’s great storylines. That’s why, for my money, this will be the best Final Four since I attended my first in 1982 (North Carolina, Georgetown, Houston, Louisville—also in New Orleans).
Here are just a few of the storylines that could make this Final Four the best ever:
**--Coach K: Back on March 5, when Duke got taken to the woodshed by North Carolina in Mike Krzyzewski’s last game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, it looked like his final season would end on an unhappy note. In what was a surreal post-game environment, he simply said: “The season’s not over yet.”
It's still not over for college basketball’s all-time winner. Duke caught fire in the NCAA Tournament and has taken their coach to his 13th Final Four, surpassing the great John Wooden.
I would maintain that regardless of how it ends for Coack K, his final season has been an unqualified success.
And if he walks away from the game on Monday night with his sixth national championship in hand? Well, then it will be time to figure out who is going to play him in the movie. You can’t make this stuff up.
**--Is this biggest Carolina-Duke game EVER?: The two bitter rivals, located just eight miles apart on North Carolina Highway 15-501, began playing basketball against each other in 1920. North Carolina leads the rivalry 142-115. After seeing about 20 of those in person, I can tell you that nothing is more intense than a Carolina-Duke game with something on the line.
More than once, blood has been shed in this game. Just ask North Carolina’s Eric Montross, who has a scar under his left eye from a game with Duke in 1992. Or Tyler Hansbrough, who got whacked by Duke’s Gerald Henderson in 2007. It resulted in a broken nose for Hansbrough, who had to wear a protective mask in the post-season.
And there’s a helluva lot on the line because while the two teams have met 257 times they have never—EVER—met in the NCAA Tournament where the winner advances and the loser goes home. They have never met in the next-to-last game of a season.
The fact that North Carolina won the last meeting and spoiled Coach K’s farewell game at Cameron Indoor Stadium only adds another layer of intrigue—and pressure—to the outcome.
“If you’re a Carolina fan and you won in Cameron, do you give it all back if you lose in New Orleans?” asked Wes Durham of the ACC Network. “In a way Carolina is playing with house money.
“That’s why some folks have dreaded this day and some have embraced this game,” said Durham, whose late father, Woody, was the voice of the North Carolina Tar Heels for 40 years
So how big is this Carolina-Duke game? So big that country music star Eric Church, a lifelong North Carolina basketball fan, cancelled his scheduled concert in San Antonio Saturday night because it conflicted with the Tar Heels’ game with Duke. He’ll be in New Orleans instead of playing before 18,000 at the AT&T Center. The ticket money will be refunded.
Now that’s a fan.
**--Remember that this almost happened before. In 1991 the Final Four in Indianapolis had North Carolina facing Kansas in the opener and then Duke took on undefeated and No. 1 UNLV.
So there was a chance that Duke and Carolina could meet for the national championship. But Kansas, coached by long-time Dean Smith assistant Roy Williams, beat North Carolina 79-73. Duke then beat UNLV in the other semifinal. The Blue Devils then defeated Kansas 71-65 for the first of Krzyzewski’s five national championships.
Some 12 years later Williams left Kansas to become North Carolina’s head coach. By then Krzyzewski had won three national championships at Duke. Williams retired after last season. He’ll be behind the North Carolina bench on Saturday. Mike Krzyzewski will STILL be coaching Duke.
**--The Blue Blood Final Four: Three of the top four winners in the history of the game will be playing on Saturday in New Orleans. Kansas used this run to pass Kentucky and become the all-time winner with 2,355 victories. North Carolina is third with 2,322 and Duke is fourth with 2,246. Villanova has 1,851 wins.
These four teams have combined for a total of 17 national championships.
North Carolina has six, Duke five (all under Krzyzewski), Kansas has three, and Villanova has three
Another side note: Dean Smith won his first national championship in New Orleans in 1982, when Michael Jordan hit a jumper with seconds left to beat Georgetown 63-62. Eleven years later Smith would win his second and last national championship beating Michigan, also in New Orleans.
**--So before I go I have to ask: Is there a football equivalent to what Duke and North Carolina are doing on Saturday night in New Orleans?
There is really only one. Pretend that at SEC Media Days in July Alabama’s Nick Saban, the best college football coach of all time, announces he will retire at the end of this season. Then pretend that both Alabama and Auburn make the College Football Playoffs. Then further pretend that Alabama and Auburn meet in the CFP semifinals in Atlanta. If Alabama wins it advances for yet another chance at the national championship. If Auburn wins it ends Saban’s career.
That, brothers and sisters would be quite a deal. Paul Finebaum’s callers wouldn’t sleep for a month.