They’re saying this Final Four repeats the history of 2008, and, by seed, they’re right.
Kansas, UCLA, North Carolina and Memphis populated the Final Four that season, marking the first time four No. 1 seeds seized all the semifinal spots. Never had that feat been repeated until now. Auburn, Florida, Duke and Houston rumble toward San Antonio, which also hosted the 2008 Final Four.
The similarities mostly end there. In so many ways, this Final Four differs from the 2008. Here’s why:
∎ Only one blue blood this time. John Calipari joked in 2008 that if you combined the national championships won by UCLA and Memphis, they’d have 11. The punchline he left unsaid, of course, was that UCLA owns 11 titles and Memphis has none.
UNC and Kansas joined UCLA to supply three Final Four blue bloods. Back then, that trio owned a combined 17 national championships. Kansas and UNC won more titles since then.
Duke, winner of five national championships, supplies the only blue blood within this quartet.
Florida won back-to-back titles under Billy Donovan. Todd Golden joins Donovan and Lon Kruger as coaches to lift Florida to a Final Four.
Bruce Pearl is the only coach to take Auburn to a Final Four. He’s done it twice. Auburn pursues its first national championship.
Kelvin Sampson lifted Houston to heights unseen since coach Guy Lewis and his Phi Slama Jama crew of the 1980s. This marks Sampson’s second Final Four at Houston. Lewis supplied five. The Cougars have never won a national championship.
∎ Polls predicted the 2008 Final Four. The 2008 Final Four reflected preseason projections. The first four teams in the preseason USA TODAY Coaches Poll went like this: North Carolina, UCLA, Memphis and Kansas. The media picked it the same way. None of the four ever slipped outside of the top 10.
The top four of the coaches’ poll this season started with Kansas, Alabama, UConn and Houston. Kansas fizzled and lost in the first round as a No. 7 seed. Eighth-seeded UConn lost a second-round battle with Florida, and No. 2 Alabama succumbed to Duke in the Elite Eight.
Duke ranked No. 5 in the preseason, Auburn checked in at No. 11 and Florida came in at No. 21. You can’t label this Final Four cast underdogs, but they weren’t runaway preseason favorites, either.
∎ More upsets occurred before 2008 ...
