Twisted bracket leads to straight-up Ultimate Game
- Deron Williams vs. UNC. Growing up in Texas, Williams said, his dream was to play for the Tar Heels. The Tar Heels' dream, though, was of another point guard from the high school class of 2002. "They recruited me a little, but I was their second option," Williams said. "To Felton."
- Roy Williams, in his fifth Final Four but his first after returning to his alma mater, trying to shed the label of "best coach without a national championship." No coach has won as many NCAA Tournament games as Williams without winning a title. He's only the third coach to take two teams into the NCAA title game.
- The two most unselfish teams in basketball. UNC leads the country in assists. Illinois leads the country in assist-to-turnover ratio. There's a lesson here for young players everywhere.
- Brown's revenge against the Tar Heels, who held him to 3-for-17 shooting in December 2003. UNC won that ACC/Big Ten Challenge 88-81 in Greensboro, N.C.
- With a victory, Illinois (37-1) would become the first 38-win team in college basketball. Three others -- Duke in 1999, UNLV in '87 and Duke in '86 -- have won 37 games. None won the NCAA title.
- Happy birthday, Sean May. The UNC center turns 21 Monday and says he'd like to give himself a national championship to match the one his father, Scott May, won at Indiana in 1976.
Happy Monday, college basketball fans. The dud factor is always there ... but this might just be the greatest game of our lifetime.
