Final Four

Not often are there two distinct best teams in college basketball, and it is an even rarer occurrence for them to meet for the championship. That is what we will have this year.

The first game featured the two comeback kids from last weekend, Illinois and Louisville. The game had the paradoxical appearance of both teams overmatching the other. Illinois looked intimidated in front of the taller Cardinals, but at the same time, it seemed as if Louisville could not stop the Illini attack.

Following a quick first half, the Reverend Roger Powell Jr. took over the game. After making an uncharacteristic three, he tried another and missed. Trailing his shot, the ball never touched the ground before Powell had dunked home his own mess. Illinois looked like champions tonight. Rick Pitino's record setting season came to an end. He returns home tomorrow to once again pick up his summer job as a mid-level man for the Italian mafia.

In the second game, Michigan State looked outmatched by North Carolina. Of course, I counted Michigan State out in the first round. But the Spartans made a run the way some teams make a run in the tournament: they just scored more points than their opponents. They didn't play better, no stars were born, they never impressed, they simply scored more each game. It was hard to count out Michigan State's heart; that's how they had beaten both Duke and Kentucky.

Michigan State started the game hot. But as with all giants, UNC didn't waver. They stuck to the game plan. They ran. Tom Izzo's plan of switching defenders on Sean May to wear him out was working however. By the end of the first half, UNC was befuddled, Roy Williams had struggled with his substitutions, and Michigan State held a comfortable five-point lead.

What had kept UNC in the game during the opening session was the play of forward Jawad Williams. What would give them an easy victory would be two things. The first happened when the Tar Heels scored the second period's first six points to take the lead. The Spartans were flabbergasted, and never fully recovered. The second thing was Sean May, who turned his night around by dominating the gallant Paul Davis. Nietzel made a couple of stupid decisions that did not make me like him any more than I already didn't. North Carolina was the victor. The stage is set for Roy Williams, the most successful coach in tournament history never to win the championship against Bruce Weber, the man who coaches the team with the best record and lost his mom just one month ago. Should be a dandy.