Final Four may hold some surprises

It has been almost a month since Mardi Gras, but the French Quarter will be hopping again on Saturday night as the Final Four starts in New Orleans. The cast of characters set for the national semifinals includes two teams that many expect to contend for the championship in the Kansas Jayhawks and the Texas Longhorns. The other squads, the Marquette Golden Eagles and the Syracuse Orangemen, have seemingly come from nowhere led by a do-it-all player.

Saturday night's first game between Kansas and Marquette, a match up of two teams that love to run, ought to be a high scoring game. The Jayhawks arguably have the most talented starting five in college basketball, but they lack a bench. All-Americans Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich establish the basis of Kansas' inside-outside attack with Keith Langford, Jeff Graves and Aaron Miles as very talented role players with offensive firepower.

Sophomore guard Michael Lee is really the only bench player who has seen significant minutes throughout the tournament and with the loss of starting forward Wayne Simien, there is even less a margin for error.

On the other end of the court, Marquette is led by junior swingman Dwayne Wade. Kansas will have its hands full with Wade, who is capable of taking over a ball game with both his offense and defense. After recording only the third-triple double in NCAA tournament history, Wade looks to lead Marquette to the title game for the first time since 1977 when legend Al McGuire was coach.

Kansas has no answer for Wade, so it must counter with its inside attack of Collison and Graves. Wade and fellow starters Travis Diener, Todd Townsend, Robert Jackson, and Scott Merritt don't match up very well with the Jayhawks on paper. But since games aren't played on paper, these no names could surprise people who have never seen them play before.

The Eagles' bench basically consists of backup center Karon Bradley and 6-10 freshman Steve Novack, who has one of the sweetest three point strokes in college basketball. Novack was five for eight from behind the arc in Marquette's Elite eight win over the Kentucky Wildcats and will quickly come of the bench to provide some instant offense.

While the Eagles' bench might be the key in this game, it may not be as important as everyone may think. Many people believe that a short bench could also lead to fatigue. In the NCAA tournament though, where TV time outs are so long and frequent, players are given more than adequate time to rest during the flow of the game.

In the night's second championship semi-final, Texas will meet Syracuse. Texas is the lone number one seed remaining but once a team gets to the Final Four all seeds are forgotten. T.J. Ford, Texas' All-American point guard, has proven throughout this tournament that he is the best player in America. After leading the nation in assists as a freshman last year, he has greatly improved his offense enough to carry the Longhorns when they need him.

Ford has greatly helped the games of swingman Brandon Mouton, big man James Thomas, and two guard Royal Ivey. Both Sydmill Harris and Brian Boddicker, a 6-8 forward, have provided excellent outside shooting throughout the tournament. If the Orangemen leave either open, they will bang down some big threes.

Carmelo Anthony may be the one player in this game that no one on the Longhorns will be able to contain. He is a slasher with great outside range, and a Scottie Pippen-like wingspan who creates matchup nightmares for coaches. Anthony needs to establish his inside game from the outset to set up the effectiveness of his outside shot.

Freshmen are the key to this team, which could spell trouble for the Orangemen in a pressure situation. Starting point guard Gerry McNamara and key bench player Billy Edelin join a talented fleet of veterans for this title run. Kueth Duany, Hakim Warrick and Craig Forth will also start for Syracuse and play big minutes. Coach Jim Boeheim really only uses seven players in his rotation, so foul trouble could become an issue against a deep team such as Texas. Syracuse's 2-3 zone completely baffled the Oklahoma Sooners in its regional final and look for Texas to have some adjustment problems at the beginning of the game.

These matchups are so good that it would be an insult to even make a prediction. Both Kansas and Texas are better overall teams, but Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony are the kind of players capable of amazing things during March Madness.