Final Four

You know that the Final Four is here because we are listening to talks about Tiger and the Masters, the baseball season is starting to get going, and the sun is out...wait that's only in Florida! I am very, very excited for tonight's Final Four games with all #1 seeds still in it and you ask ask for anything better when it comes to the programs, the coaches, and the marque players taking the floor tonight. Drama galour, let's get right to my previews!

MEMPHIS/UCLA, 6:07 - Let's get right into the first game. Two of the very best freshmen in the country will be on the floor for maybe their final collegiate weekend in Derrick Rose of Memphis and Kevin Love of UCLA. I have heard talks all week for who would you pick of the two? You'd have to go with Rose even though I have some love for Love. Rose is a playmaking point guard that you only can enjoy having bring the ball up on each possession. This goes without saying whoever dictates the flow of the game should win in my book, but I think that UCLA can handle scoring in the 70s, it just will be more difficult to keep up down the stretch. The marque matchup that I am really looking forward to watch is Joey Dorsey and Love battling it out under the boards, should be really fun to watch. My only concern will the referees get too involved and keep one or both off the floor, like when UCONN's run to the title in 2004 when they kept the country's best big men at that time in Omeka Okafor and Sheldon Williams off the floor for most of their game. The Memphis Tigers out of all four teams has to be the scariest with UCLA the most experienced. I like UCLA to get the aggressive Tigers in foul trouble early which will allow them to set the pace of the offense and defensively slow down the dangerous Rose. Like i said in Thursday blog, any of the four teams can win this thing just a matter of who makes fewer mistakes and this game is the game that the team with the fewer mistakes wins.

UNC/KANSAS, 8:47 - Everybody's matchup of the night, hence the game time. Roy Williams playing the program he once took to the Final Four on a few occasions with no success. Now with the Tarheels and a NCAA title under his belt I am sure that his emotions will be running crazy before gametime. The Tarheels road to San Antonio was much more difficult than the Jayhawks, with the 'hawks facing no lower than an 8 seed to the Final Four. While, the 'heels have had to go through a 4 and 3 seed. This up and down game is going to come down to the Jayhawks bigmen stopping AP Player of the Year, Tyler Hansbourgh, in the paint. On the UNC side of it they are going to have to cut down on their force shots and turnovers, other than that I think this game is going to be all about what Kansas can do, and some, to win this game. If I was betting on the games this weekend I would put the house on the Tarheels to win this game today. I just don't think that Kansas doesn't have enough threats in the paint to slow down a great Tarheel front court. The Tarheels are too good, though I do like Kansas I would be surprised if they have the lead at any point under 10 minutes to go in the second half.