Madness is ending in about five hours and thus begins the most bittersweet sports night of the year. Let's wrap it up here in Atlanta, a wonderful host for this 75th Final Four.
- Worst attire: Michigan fans need to figure out that this is college hoops--football jerseys are not appropriate attire.
- Best fans: The fan count, at least downtown, was as close as the betting line for tonight's game.
- Best exhibit: Bracket Town, the NCAA's fan festival, was open for the last day today and continued to draw great crowds. The LG presence, in particular, was well done with a fan interactive tour through an LG "house," complete with phone, television, washer-dryer and kitchen appliances.
- Worst TV: Speaking of LG, the television section of their exhibit included old models. The 1957 triple overtime thriller, where North Carolina beat Kansas, was showing on one of the old boxes.
- Best song: Michigan's "Hail to the Victors."
- Creepiest mascot: The Wichita State Shocker. Dude...the facial expression.
- Best scheduling: For the first time ever, the championship games of the NCAA Division II and Division III tournaments were held in the same city as the Final Four.
- What's up with the licensing: It's a battle of two Adidas schools here in the final--Michigan and Louisville. But, don't look for the actual sideline wear of either team in your local sporting goods store--they only sell the replica model.
- Worst cheer: "Go Blue." Sure, it's a fine cheer but have you all noticed that your team is wearing neon yellow all the time? (The last time I checked, maize is defined as the color of corn, which is a far more muted yellow.)
- Best coach: Rick Pitino. If Pitino wins this evening, he'll have guided two schools to a national title. And, irony of ironies, those two schools reside in the same state and are bitter rivals.
- Who'll be the X factor tonight: If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on Nik Stauskas of Michigan who will open up the offense by hitting from outside.
- Most obvious quote: Mike Slive, Commissioner of the SEC, in the elevator, "I wish we had a team here." Every coach, every athletics director, and every commissioner who's not involved with these four schools is thinking the same thing.
- And, the winner is: Michigan. Why? Just because...
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