Final Four X 1

This year's NCAA tournament has set a record that can never be broken: the lowest ever sum of seeds for the four teams making the national semifinals. It'll miss by just one day that numerological miracle date: 4/4/08.

It wasn't impossible that we could end up with the four number one seeds, though no one ever bothered to think of it. The women's brackets come pretty close to it, every year (but I frankly don't know if they've ever equalled this year's men's record). Those who blundered into it with their bracket outcomes and just stuck with it were made to feel pretty foolish before. Now, they would seem to have locked up the pointage, whatever happens from here on. Perennial bracket losers who phoned it in rule!

So, let's declare the winners now and throw the thing open to a new competition. Two rounds, for all the marbles.

I don't find it easy to handicap at all. Each is a top team, well-coached, with genuine stars, team play, and few weaknesses. In their four tourney victories, all have overcome some stiff challenges, though the theme has been convincing, even one-sided, wins.

North Carolina has had ridiculous home-crowd advantage up until now, and while it will finally lose it in San Antonio, it will gain psychological advantage in the semis as Roy Williams looks back at his former employers and makes them pay for ever letting him go. The psychological aspect is very important to both of these squads: they rely on having multiple options, which can eventually pick up (break up double teams on) their stars. So, with the psych job Roy'll do on Self I'd give the Tar Heels a significant edge over the Jayhawks.

Memphis and UCLA were the teams I expected to win their divisions (before the draw, I picked them to meet in the finals). The super freshmen, point guard Derrick Rose for Memphis, and Kevin Love for UCLA, have both lived up to major expectations. I don't know the timing of their pro aspirations, but they're both ready and proven. The supporting casts are fully functional. This game could be better than UNC-Louisville, or Davidson-anybody. I'll go narrowly with Memphis in the semis (revenge for 1973!) and then by nine points over North Carolina in the finals.