You'd think that this would be a matchup of contrasting styles, Kansas and Memphis.
After all, one team hails from a big city, sharing an arena with a NBA franchise. The other sits in a sleepy college town, playing in an arena where most of the seats are bleachers.
One team has had some tradition, but yearns to become a perennial basketball name. The other school is steeped in tradition, so much so that the founder of basketball itself is buried at a local cemetery.
How funny is it then, that Kansas, one of the greatest basketball programs in history, and Memphis, the up-and-coming team of the future, meet in San Antonio with teams that are strangely similar.
Both teams are built on speed, featuring benches deep in talented guards who are aggressive on defense and deadly shooters from anywhere on the court. Both feature inside presences that are unafraid of going strong to the hoop, and even less afraid of defending their basket. Both are directed by coaches who are hungry for a title; among the few named the best to never claim a championship.
This is not your typical showdown. This isn't a matchup of young vs. old, size vs. speed, or up-tempo vs. half-court. This is as rare a showdown as they get: two teams who practically mirror each other.
And the winner of this game: college basketball itself.
In all reality, you couldn't ask for a better matchup to come out of this Final Four. This title game has the makings of a classic. Forget the boring, slow-down, yawn at every break kind of title bout. This is going to be an edge-of-your seat thriller that should be unforgettable.
I expect it to be a game of runs ... big runs. When Memphis usually goes on a run, they build up leads that are simply insurmountable. However, when Kansas is playing their best, as we've seen many a time this year, they are practically unstoppable.
I just love it. I can't get over the fact that it's Kansas and Memphis in this title game. Granted, the one thing that we can be assured of is that next year, there will be a lot of teams that jump into this flying frenzy of an attack on the courts, which should make for a lot of fun games. But come Monday, just sit back, relax, and really enjoy what you're going to be watching.
It'll be basketball at its absolute finest.
Enjoy!
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