Final Four Standing

Seeding is one of the things that make the NCAA tournament one of the greatest sporting events in the world.

Without those numbers to the side of a team name, Hampton over Iowa State in 2001 would be an upset, sure, but the fact that it was a 15 over 2 made it a historic upset.

These numbers also allow for any number of extremely casual or even non-fans to dive right into filling out a bracket, even if they know nothing about many of the schools or better yet, have not watched a game all season.

You know these people because they were probably the ones who, on Monday morning, were telling you how they got all four Final Four teams right.

When Jason Richards' shot on Sunday evening against Kansas veered a few inches to left of the rim, it ensured a Final Four that will, strictly by seed, be the most pre-ordained ever.

Like many college basketball fans, I did not want the Final Four to have the chalky stain of 1, 1, 1, 1. But with the exception of Davidson being so close to making even a greater Cinderella run than George Mason 2006, I can't say I'd want the Final Four any other way.

Back in October, before a ball had even been released into the air, I made a quick list of my top 10 teams for the upcoming season. Luckily for you, I saved this list on the same MacBook I am writing from. My top five, were, in order, North Carolina, Memphis, Georgetown, Kansas, and UCLA.

So, yes, this Final Four may have been very predictable all the way from October 15 to March 30, but the four teams left standing left minimal doubt along the now-proverbial Road to the Final Four that they were, over the course of the season, the four strongest teams.

While a Davidson/North Carolina Final Four game would have been a dream come true to anyone that has followed the ACC and Southern Conferences and/or lived in the Carolinas, the Kansas/North Carolina Final Four game undoubtedly has more national appeal along with the potential to be one of the best Final Four games in years.

And that's just with the players and the styles of play, and none of the Roy Williams hype that will continue to dominate ESPN and a large part of other coverage as the week goes along.

The other side of things sees the UCLA/Memphis game that, while not as intriguing on the surface as Kansas/UNC, sees a clash of styles and interesting matchups.

But first, I have to get back to some observations on the past weekend of hoops.

The most obvious outcome of the weekend was UCLA getting by Western Kentucky and Xavier in the West. The win over Western Kentucky was tougher than it really should have been for the Bruins, but the dominant win over Xavier was the type of all-cylinders-clicking game that UCLA needed.

Kevin Love was great in the two games, but no one should have been surprised by those performances after the body of work the freshman has put up this season. An overlooked factor in the Xavier game was the performance of Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, who had 14 points and 13 rebounds.

The two crucial frontline players for UCLA dominated the offensive glass, getting 12 of 24 possible offensive rebounds.

North Carolina put on an offensive show for the ages in the first half against Louisville, which was in part made possible by the press-breaking skills of Ty Lawson. Meanwhile, it also looks like this UNC is finally getting some deserved credit for its defense.

Yes, the Tar Heels still allow some easy baskets. However, they force enough turnovers and limit the opponent to one shot with enough regularity to where the defense doesn't have to look as good as Kansas' or UCLA's to be effective.

I really have nothing to say about the two-game Memphis Invitational, which doubled as the South Regional, that hasn't already been said by all the mainstream guys other than that it was in a way, disappointing.

The two Memphis annihilations were disappointing to me, in the hypothetical sense. What if Memphis had even shot 65% from the line for the season? What if they knocked down a bit more than half of their free throws in the loss against Tennessee?

If those things would have happened this season, I have a feeling that the media and fans would be going into this weekend saying the same things that were said about the Patriots right before the Super Bowl.

Going 39-1 and winning the national championship is still a real possibility for Memphis, but if it happens, I don't think I'll be the only one wondering what could have been.

Finally, Kansas. Over the past few years, and even back under Roy Williams, we have all come to expect tight, jittery performances from the Jayhawks under the brightest of lights. Only this time, Kansas won.

And Kansas won this time because of its size. The Jayhawks were +9 on the boards, and their tallest player (Sasha Kaun) had the best offensive game.

Brandon Rush was downright frigid throughout most of the game and Sherron Collins was absolutely nowhere to be found. Mario Chalmers' first-half performance in hitting three threes was absolutely vital towards keeping the Jayhawks' backcourt from having a complete no-show.

Also, I want to take this time to congratulate Davidson for everything they accomplished in their brilliant Elite Eight run. In their four games, they arguably played the nation's top three defenses all in a row, and played a very solid Gonzaga team all the way back in the first round.

Stephen Curry, as one of my friends suggested during the second half of the Wisconsin game, should be named the entire tournament's Most Outstanding Player. I'll stand by that suggestion, barring two straight 25 and 12s by Tyler Hansbrough or Kevin Love (very possible).

After all, one of the things everyone will remember from this tournament 10 years from now is Curry. And hopefully, we'll remember that as well as a Final Four where the best four teams in America put on a show for the ages.

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