Last night's college basketball title game was one of the best championship matches we've seen in a long time. It wasn't a perfect game, but all of the flaws the game had made it almost imperfectly perfect. There was drama, intrigue, good play, bad play, boneheaded mistakes, players throwing up. Everything you could've asked for, this game delivered.
I thought Kansas was destined to win from the opening tip when they went up like 11-3 in the first several minutes. UNC looked flat and mentally worn out from their huge victory against Duke in the final four. It took them a few minutes, but the Tar Heels woke up and took clear control of the game. They had such a vice grip on things that they took a 15 point lead into the break. After a solid start, Kansas looked to be the ones drawing dead, and Bill Self looked ready for another Self-inflicted* embarrassment.
*I'll see myself out.
The Jayhawks came roaring back in the second half, taking the vice off their necks and clamping down on UNC. They looked fresh, while Carolina looked like they had spent everything in their tank in the first half, and the halftime break was too short for them to refuel. But credit to Carolina, despite being absolutely chalked physically, they never quit. They weren't playing their best, but they were fighting. Scrapping for rebounds and loose balls, trying to get the ball up and down the court, doing whatever they could to try and generate points.
Just when Kansas looked destined to win AND cover their -4 spread at the free throw line, they inbound the ball from the sideline in front of UNC's bench, and immediately step on the boundary lines with 4 seconds left to give UNC another shot at a 3 and a tie. It would've felt like a storybook for the shot to be made and the game go into overtime, but it ultimately fell short and Kansas won the title by 3 points.
A lot of people are going to say the game was a disappointment, and that thought was created because of that missed 3 pointer. Those people are idiots. Sure, it was disappointing that the game had a chance to go into OT and it didn't happen, but there was the chance for it to happen and that's more than good enough. We remember teams like the Gordon Hayward Butlers of the world because they had a shot to win it all and even though they failed, they were there right at the end. This game could've been an absolute blowout with how it started. Instead, we got an instant classic that was full of the type of blunders, success, comebacks and blown leads that make for an emotional roller coaster.
This is what college basketball is all about. Revel in what we got last night. I'm not sure we could've asked for anything better.
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