Final Forecast: Brat pack predicts championship

SAN ANTONIO -- Finally, it's here.

This long season that began in November will end Monday night, some five months after it tipped off. We have two No. 1 seeds, two talented rosters and two coaches fighting for their first national title. The oddsmakers have Memphis favored by two points over Kansas, and that seems reasonable. But in reality, this is a pick 'em game, one that should be competitive from start to finish.

What should excite you?

John Calipari and Bill Self are both NCAA title-game rookies. (AP)

What should you expect to see? Read the rest of this and then you'll know.

Gregg Doyel, Mike Freeman and Dennis Dodd round out the brat pack here in San Antonio. Check back late Monday night to see just how wrong Doyel was.

The best part of this matchup will be ...

Dodd: Seeing which itch will be scratched. Compared to the game's superpowers, Memphis is off-Broadway -- no national titles (and hasn't played for one in 35 years). For all its fans' bluster, Kansas has only two. The last was 20 years ago.

Doyel: Watching the two best teams in America actually play for the national championship. Nothing about either team being in this game -- not the players, not the coaches -- is a fluke.

Freeman: Watching anything Derrick Rose does.

Parrish: The styles of play. Both Kansas and Memphis are going to get up and down the court in a hurry, meaning this game will be fun to watch, if nothing else.

The best player on the court will be ...

Dodd: There's only one issue in this game too. How Derrick Rose plays will determine who wins. We saw against UCLA, he can take over a game. Will Kansas put up more of a fight?

Doyel: Derrick Rose. He has been the best player the past five times he has stepped onto the court. Won't change tonight.

Freeman: See above.

Parrish: Derrick Rose. He is Memphis' best player, an overwhelming presence at point guard who has destroyed Drew Neitzel, D.J. Augustin and Darren Collison in consecutive outings.

The most overlooked (yet really important) player on the court will be ...

Dodd: Memphis forward Shawn Taggart. The 6-foot-10 sophomore could start elsewhere. At Memphis, he's a valued reserve. When Joey Dorsey got in foul trouble against UCLA, Taggart stepped up. Taggart will have to play well considering Kansas' depth up front.

Doyel: Robert Dozier. He has to stay out of foul trouble and help Joey Dorsey keep Kansas' bigs off the boards.

Freeman: Has to be Memphis' Shawn Taggart. He could probably start for the Knicks yet he's on the Memphis bench.

Parrish: Antonio Anderson, Memphis' other starting guard. Completely overshadowed by his future pro teammates, but Anderson will get the Brandon Rush assignment. If he is effective on defense the Tigers will be effective as a team.

Memphis will win if ...

Dodd: Its guards can offset Kansas' edge up front. Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Antonio Anderson seem to have an edge over Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers and Russell Robinson. For high value, watch Rush vs. Douglas-Roberts.

Doyel: The Tigers play with the composure they used to handle Michigan State, Texas and UCLA. Translation: Protect the ball.

Freeman: Rose has a monster game. Somehow it always comes back to him.

Parrish: Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts play like they have been playing. It's that simple. Those two will be the best two players on the court. If they're good, Memphis wins.

Kansas will win if ...

Dodd: The bigs don't get in foul trouble. The problem is, they always seem to. The over-under on Darrell Arthur getting his first foul is 60 seconds in. Darnell Jackson can be a bit of a hacker as well.

Doyel: They're making their 3-pointers. Memphis doesn't have the offensive firepower to hang with a Kansas team scoring in bigger chunks than ones and twos.

Freeman: Rose stinks. I can see the headline now: "Kansas keeps Rose from blooming."

Parrish: Kansas forces Memphis to take jumpers. Nobody seems to be able to prevent the Tigers from attacking the rim. So the best approach is to sag and make them shoot. If Kansas does that and Memphis misses, Kansas wins.

Final predictions ...