All Roads Lead to New Orleans

When I was a young child, I used to get upset when whoever was driving me somewhere didn't take the normal route to wherever we were going. My mom tried sitting me down and explaining to me that there are a lot of different ways to get to the same place, and that not everyone takes the same way to get everywhere. If my mom paid more than passing attention to what is going on in the world of college basketball, she'd see that the teams in this year's Final Four have driven her point home to me once again.

There are some similarities among the four teams still alive for the championship. All four programs have won an NCAA Tournament before. All four started this season ranked highly, the lowest being 13th ranked Kansas. All four spent the entire season, or a considerable part of the season, ranked in the top 20. All four play their bench very little, in comparison to other teams nationally. All four rank near the top of the efficiency rankings among all of major college basketball. Three of the four won or shared their conference regular season title, and the other won their conference tournament. They may have all met up in New Orleans, but the way they each got there couldn't have been more different.

Kentucky

Google Maps estimate: 745 miles, 11 hours 57 minutes
Ideal estimate: 745 miles, 11 hours 57 minutes

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Rupp+Arena&daddr=New+Orleans,+Louisiana+(Louisiana+Superdome)&hl=en&ll=33.027088,-83.452148&spn=18.335764,43.286133&sll=33.999628,-87.291897&sspn=11.647617,23.225098&geocode=Fb-TRAIdspf2-iElFWhSdw-h0SnVmV017URCiDEa2FUY6quccA%3BFVkCyQEd73ah-iGv41kWSks1bg&mra=pd&t=m&z=5

Highway all the way, no side trips, no veering off course. The prohibitive favorite, and for good reason. They've been dominant all season, losing only two games and never being ranked below #3. This team, like all recent John Calipari teams, has been “NCAA Champion or Bust”. If this team loses in the championship game, or worse yet, if they lose to the hated Louisville Cardinals, there will be absolute bedlam in Lexington. While Calipari may have the most talented team in the land, he may have the most pressure on him of any coach in the land. After the smoothest and shortest route any of the remaining teams can brag about, their dominant season, the undefeated SEC regular season, and the home winning streak will mean nothing if they don't drive home with hardware.

Louisville

Google Maps estimate: 981 miles, 16 hours 47 minutes
Ideal estimate: 708 miles, 11 hours 24 minutes

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=KFC+Yum+Center&daddr=34.49593,-84.92102+to:33.53131,-86.73913+to:32.55766,-85.50949+to:New+Orleans,+Louisiana+(Louisiana+Superdome)&hl=en&ll=34.089061,-87.890625&spn=18.115327,43.286133&sll=34.107256,-87.890625&sspn=11.632722,23.225098&geocode=FQzCRwIdnH_j-iHkxgilXvVzRynlpm6IvHJpiDHw6xyTybV2tQ%3BFbpdDgIdRDXw-ilvDq-34P1fiDFKkrxA0stK4g%3BFa6l_wEdRnfU-imLeOrEfRCJiDGXZ8gYm8gGzA%3BFVzK8AEdjjrn-ilhnJdD5fOMiDGgu0KeGfVqzg%3BFVkCyQEd73ah-iGv41kWSks1bg&mra=dvme&mrsp=1&sz=6&via=1,2,3&t=m&z=5

Started out on a major highway, veered off to the side couple times before getting back on track. Louisville may have had the most confusing route of any of the teams still standing. The season started out very well for the Cardinals, winning 12 games in a row including games against Ohio, Long Beach State, Vanderbilt and Memphis. Not even losing players left and right to injury seemed like it would derail this team. Then the road got bumpy when they took an unplanned detour, and they lost 5 of 7 games and eventually dropping from a top 5 team to unranked. Rick Pitino was able to steer back onto the main road, or so it looked, before taking another side trip and losing 4 of 6 to finish the regular season. Just like UConn last year, Louisville swept through the Big East tournament and kept the momentum going all the way to the Final Four. All in all, a masterful job by Pitino getting his guys to believe, even through injury and adversity.

Ohio State

Google Maps estimate: 1,035 miles, 17 hours 5 minutes
Ideal estimate: 914 miles, 14 hours 45 minutes

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Value+City+Arena&daddr=32.40286,-86.33939+to:31.70597,-88.64419+to:31.68876,-89.1203+to:31.315906,-89.3524032+to:Louisiana+Superdome&hl=en&ll=34.994004,-84.902344&spn=17.922547,43.286133&sll=31.409912,-87.039185&sspn=3.000233,5.806274&geocode=Fb54YgIdwiMN-yGG7bAO6EAXWylDjiixmo44iDGT-niiqqvXxQ%3BFaxt7gEdwpDa-ilfN2WpCISOiDHcOiJaTeYiEA%3BFXLL4wEdomW3-ikFPkK65K2EiDF_-L7a7t_lzQ%3BFTiI4wEd1CGw-ilhjwFruTWDiDG4nARPdZ4RvQ%3BFcLX3QEdLZes-ilfnSm4-d6ciDGdRq-8kA5Gog%3BFSgGyQEdj3qh-iEeOkUXuimqPw&mra=dvme&mrsp=3&sz=8&via=1,2,3,4&t=m&z=5

Aside from a short trip through lovely rural Alabama, it was smooth sailing. It’s tough to say that a team in the Final Four, and a team that spent most of the year in the top 5 underachieved, but in this case it might very well be true. Ohio State started the year as one of 3 teams that most everyone had picked to run away with their conference and get to New Orleans. They have All-Everything player Jared Sullinger, and a solid cast of supporting pieces. For some reason though, this team never really became dominant. They didn’t coast through the season, they just simply didn’t floor it. They stayed on their appointed path for the most part, not honking at anyone or making dangerous passes, and then got off track a little before realizing their shortcut was taking them nowhere. Most teams would feel like they’ve proved everything they had to by now, but this team still wants to show a gear that they haven’t shown all year.

Kansas

Google Maps estimate: 863 miles, 15 hours 8 minutes
Ideal estimate: 872 miles, 14 hours 31 minutes

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Allen+Fieldhouse&daddr=38.21472,-95.24875+to:Louisiana+Superdome&hl=en&ll=34.957995,-91.494141&spn=17.930304,43.286133&sll=38.386881,-94.864197&sspn=1.377824,2.903137&geocode=FaBkUgId_o5S-iHMVyIWRXs2HSl7KNxvNG-_hzFUa0V1D1ujsA%3BFUAcRwIdkp5S-inxOKcXar24hzGn9uksigd5QQ%3BFSgGyQEdj3qh-iEeOkUXuimqPw&mra=dpe&mrsp=1&sz=9&via=1&t=m&z=5

Rough road to start, but eventually got on the highway the rest of the way. Kansas wasn’t supposed to be this good. They were picked by many as the 3rd best team in their own conference. They had little in terms of depth. Somehow, someway, Bill Self guided this team back to the Final Four, cementing his legacy as one of the premier coaches in the country. As if he needed more proof, given that Kansas hasn’t lost back to back games in 6 years or so and has won 8 Big XII titles in a row. Once Kansas proved they were for real, they were on the smooth road to New Orleans just like Kentucky and Ohio State. A few speed bumps here and there did nothing to take them off course. Led by All-American Thomas Robinson, the Jayhawks are looking much stronger than anyone thought they were 5 months ago.