While a Final Four appearance by this year's tournament darlings, the Davidson Wildcats, would have been great to watch, this weekend in San Antonio is strictly for the big boys.
The preseason's top four teams - the UCLA Bruins, Memphis Tigers, UNC Tar Heels and Kansas Jayhawks - have all made their way to the game's biggest stage. And since your bracket pool has probably already been won by the girl who picked only higher seeds throughout, the only logical thing to do is take an in-depth look at Saturday's two excellent matchups.
First on the docket are UCLA and Memphis. Many pundits thought John Calipari's Tigers would falter before reaching San Antonio, but Memphis has played consistently well throughout the tourney. Any doubt about the Tigers was cast aside last Sunday when they demoralized a very good Texas Longhorns team. Like he has all season, junior swingman Chris Douglas-Roberts has led the Tigers through the tournament, averaging more than 22 points a game over the last four games.
If this game becomes a track meet, Memphis will be ready to run. Freshman point guard Derrick Rose has had an excellent tourney as well. His 21-point, nine-assist performance against Texas and fellow standout point guard D.J. Augustin proved that Rose can match up against anyone in the country. On Saturday, though, Rose will contend with one of the best guard trios in the nation: juniors Darren Collison and Josh Shipp and sophomore Russell Westbrook.
Rose will most likely be guarded by Shipp, a tremendous athlete who has racked up 52 steals this year to go with his 12.3 points per game. The freshman will be the most important assignment for UCLA's defense because Douglas-Roberts has been virtually unstoppable all year, while the less experienced Rose has been more inconsistent.
While guard play in this game will be the key, the most intriguing matchup should be in the low post. Bruins center Kevin Love has more than lived up to the hype that greeted his arrival in Westwood this season.
His main adversary down low will be Joey Dorsey, a 6-foot-9 rebounding machine whose 9.6 boards a game rank No. 1 in Conference USA this year. His toughness in the post also led to 70 blocks on the season.
Dorsey is a senior with plenty of postseason experience, while Love is relatively new to big games like this, although he has been his team's best player in the tournament. If the Memphis big man can capitalize on any pre-game jitters that Love might have, and the Tigers play the fast, exciting way they've played all year, look for the edge to go to Memphis. However, if Love dominates like he has all year, look for UCLA's three-pronged backcourt attack to run wild and give the Tigers fits.
On the other side of the bracket, UNC coach Roy Williams faces off against his former squad, Kansas. No disrespect to UCLA, but Kansas has the most impressive collection of guards in the country. Brandon Rush, Sherron Collins and Mario Chalmers all average over nine points per game, while fellow guard Russell Robinson kicks in seven for the Jayhawks' balanced attack.
Fortunately for the Heels, they have some pretty impressive guards as well. Silky-smooth swingman Wayne Ellington has been UNC's biggest threat not named Tyler Hansbrough throughout both the regular season and the tournament. If Ellington and point guard Ty Lawson play at their best, the Jayhawks will be unable to run over the Tar Heels as they have most of their opponents this year.
As for Hansbrough, his performance in the Elite Eight against the Louisville Cardinals - 28 points and 13 rebounds in 38 minutes - was nothing short of legendary. His main obstacle against Kansas will be 6-foot-9 forward Darrell Arthur, who has led the Jayhawks this year with 13.1 points per game. It will be interesting to see not whether Arthur can stop Psycho T, but if he can even slow him down. That alone would be a rare feat this season.
An X-factor in this game will be Kansas center Sasha Kaun, who at 6-foot-11 and 250 pounds at least has the size to body Hansbrough out of position. Don't sleep on Kaun's offensive skills either - his 13 points in the Elite Eight were incredibly clutch in preventing a Davidson upset.
X-factors or not, the key to this game will be whether Kansas can outrun Carolina, and in the process, lessen the inevitable strong showing from Hansbrough. Both teams can run, but because of the big Tar Heel down low, Kansas will need to push the ball at every opportunity.
While it lacks any Cinderella excitement, this year's Final Four will be exactly what it was meant to be: a chance for the four best teams in the country to go at it and determine who is the true No. 1 seed.
