All Four Number Ones

You might have heard over this past week that all four number one seeds in the men's basketball tournament made the final four. The supposed top four teams in the country made it to the end, just as the selection committee planned. It was the first time this happened. As it turned out, the results of the opening games of the final four were not much different than a number one seed playing a sixteen seed in the opening round. Kansas won by 18 points and, at one point, were up 40 – 12 on North Carolina. Memphis won by 15 over UCLA during which, they essentially rendered Kevin Love and Darren Collison ineffective. So, what exactly does that mean?

It means that the two best teams in the country are playing for the national championship. Right now we all should be extremely excited for the national championship game. The two best teams in the country are going head to head. If both teams play to their potential, we are in for a great game, maybe, one of the all-time best. Kansas put on a clinic against North Carolina in the first half. They out played, out hustled, and out executed the favored Tar Heels. In the other game, Memphis used their size and talent at guard to overwhelm UCLA. The Bruin guards were taken advantage of while playing defense. Offensively, UCLA wasn't much better off. Memphis held two of the three UCLA perimeter players to less than ten points.

Two things stood out to me as I was watching the Memphis/UCLA game. Kevin Love needs to stay in school for at least two more years. His outlet passing is a thing of beauty. I will not argue with that. What the Memphis game showed, was a team full of athletic big men could make Love ineffective, scoring wise. Unfortunately for Love, NBA teams are full of athletic big men. I am not saying that I think Love will be a bad NBA player, but, he should enjoy his time in college and try to win a national championship or two. The other thing that stood out was that Derrick Rose is the real deal. He made one of the country's other top guards, Collison, look ordinary. Strike that, Collison looked extremely pedestrian. If Rose decides to come out early, he sealed the deal as the top guard in the draft. Potentially, the first overall pick. There aren't too many teams that should pass up a point guard with his potential.

Anyway, back to the championship game. This has potential to be one of the best championship games of all time. It doesn't matter that the first two final four games were blowouts. The tournament is played to crown a champion, not to create entertaining national semifinal games, right? Isn't that why we watch? The best teams should be there at the end. And this year, without a doubt, they are.