After a season in which Kansas and Memphis split first-place votes and instigated bar arguments nationwide over who was truly superior, it seemed only fitting that 40 minutes wouldn’t be enough to separate the two teams in last night’s championship game. And even more fitting was the fact that the Tigers’ free-throw shooting woes were finally their undoing, after they had miraculously disappeared during the post-season just as their coach predicted. But thanks to super-human play by Mario Chalmers and that aforementioned Memphis choke-job at the charity stripe, the Kansas Jayhawks have their first national title 20 years to the day after Danny Manning and the Miracles clinched the title in Kansas City.

So much to talk about, and we’ll get around to more of it later today. For now, the real world and the McJob are calling. In the meantime, we leave you with this year’s “One Shining Moment” montage, which featured Texas Pom, Damion James, A.J. Abrams, and Alexis Wangmene.

The domino rally is underway in the coaching ranks, with Indiana’s huge vacancy being filled yesterday afternoon. But the hiring of Tom Crean in Bloomington means there’s another position open at Marquette, while the resignation of prolific perspirer Sean Sutton means it’s time for another job posting in Stillwater.

Head spinning with all of the coaching changes? Never fear, as LRT is here to keep track of everything for you.

Oklahoma State
Within hours of Sutton’s resignation, both Bill Self of Kansas and Billy Gillispie of Kentucky stated that they had no interest in coaching the Cowboys. Both men’s names had been floated for a few months in online rumors involving the very deep pockets of OSU booster T. Boone Pickens. At this point, brother Scott Sutton would be a reasonable choice to continue the family line, but many feel that Pickens is looking for a big splash with the next hire. Could Kevin O’Neill be in the mix considering that he will not be returning to the Arizona staff?

Rice
One place that Kevin O’Neill has interviewed is Rice University in Houston. While the Owls are certainly not a high profile gig, C-USA is a huge league with a very short list of quality teams. With the right hire, the Owls could quickly make some noise. Athletic Director Chris Del Conte worked in the Arizona athletic department and is apparently keen on the head AD position with the Wildcats in the near future, according to the Houston Chronicle‘s Moisekapenda Bower. This could mean that hiring O’Neill would earn Del Conte some points with the former employers, which might put Olson’s ex-assistant ahead of Belmont’s Rick Byrd and assistants Rodney Terry (Texas) and Mark Montgomery (Michigan State).

Louisiana State
While LSU has had more than an extra month to prepare for their coaching search, the Tigers played things close to the vest through the end of the season. But even with the lack of info coming from official sources, the media seems to be keyed in on three top candidates. Butch Pierre finished the season as interim coach and has expressed interest in the job, although former LSU player Johnny Jones has found a ton of success at North Texas and would love to work in Baton Rouge. Early press reports focused on VCU head man Anthony Grant, but he lacks the ties to the program that Pierre and Jones sport.

Oregon State
There’s nowhere to go but up for Jay John’s successor, thanks to an abysmal 6-26 season including the first 0-17 conference record in Pac-10 history. Interim coach Kevin Mouton was responsible for the last 11 of those losses and is reportedly not a candidate for the job. The Beaver brass seems to be focusing on WCC coaches at the moment, interviewing San Diego’s Bill Grier and expressing interest in St. Mary’s head man Randy Bennett.

California
The other vacancy in the Pac-10 is at Cal’s Berkeley campus, where sights seem to be set quite high…perhaps a little too high. The Bears reportedly want Pitt’s Jamie Dixon and Washington State’s Tony Bennett, although Dixon has spurned those advances. The San Francisco Chronicle and San Jose Mercury-News are offering differing takes on Bennett’s interest in the job, but both agree that Nuggets assistant Mike Dunlap is also a top candidate.

Marquette
With Crean moving on to Indiana today, the newest big-name vacancy on the block is in Milwaukee. As the move will not even be announced until 10 A.M. today in Bloomington, a list of top candidates is still being formulated somewhere in the caverns of the Marquette athletic department. But in a statement released on Monday, the Golden Eagles top staffers believe “a Marquette coaching vacancy will attract many well-qualified candidates.” We’re inclined to agree, and will be eagerly watching the newswire over the next few days to see which names pop up.

Other notable coaching vacancies include those at Kent State, Providence, San Francisco, and Western Kentucky. Kent State lost coach Jim Christian to TCU, while the Hilltoppers were left without a coach on Monday when Darrin Horn departed to fill the South Carolina vacancy following his team’s Sweet 16 run. At San Fran, Eddie Sutton has maintained all season that he was only coaching the Dons on an interim basis, so it will be interesting to see what angle they take in the coming weeks.

We’ll be watching the coaching carousel closely this off-season, so be sure to check back often for the latest updates.

With the quartet of 1-seeds now set for next weekend’s Final Four in San Antonio, attention has turned to breaking down the teams, match-ups, and storylines surrounding Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA, and Memphis. But lost amidst the hype on the Riverwalk are a pair of games being played tonight in New York…games that could offer a glimpse into the future.

Once a proud post-season tournament, the NIT is now something of a March afterthought. But since the NCAA took charge of the tournament in the 2006 season, the “other” Final Four could be seen as a stepping stone to future post-season success. In the two NIT tournaments run by the NCAA, five of the eight semifinalists were selected to the following year’s NCAA tournament. And with the rebuilding Buckeyes and Baby Gators in tonight’s semis, chances are quite good that this group of teams could make some noise next March.

UMass matches up with that young Florida team in tonight’s first semifinal, tipping off at 6 P.M. The Minutemen are the semifinal team that looks least likely to go on to future NCAA success, but their balanced scoring attack means that they might not see too big of a drop-off as they head into the 2008-09 Atlantic 10 season. Both Ricky Harris and Chris Lowe will be returning after a year in which they’ve averaged more than 10 points per game, and the addition of point guard David Gibbs could keep things running smoothly.

While Ole Miss has a fairly large recruiting class, their collection of 3- and 4-star talent ranks that class quite low in the SEC. But with freshman Chris Warren leading the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game, next year’s Rebels could build upon an 07-08 season in which they started with 13 consecutive wins. Sophomores David Huertas and Eniel Polynice should also provide some veteran leadership in next year’s backcourt, but Ole Miss will need to address their issues in the post to parlay this year’s success into future rewards.

The crown jewels in tonight’s semifinals are Ohio State and Florida, the two teams who met in last year’s NCAA championship. With both teams being hit hard by early entries, the 2007-08 year has been something of a rebuilding season. But despite the fact that these two teams have a combined 19 underclassmen on their rosters, both were in bubble discussion until the 11th hour this March.

While coaches Thad Matta and Billy Donovan certainly earned their paychecks by performing admirably with such young teams this year, the future looks even brighter. Florida and Ohio State have incoming recruiting classes that are currently ranked 5th and 6th nationally by Rivals.com, and both are being considered by numerous studs in the 2009 class as well.

So, if you’re not in the mood for baseball quite yet, tune in tonight to catch some quality teams playing for their own post-season glory. There are certainly some future stars in this bunch, and you can get an early glimpse at some teams that will be making noise next year.

Tonight’s NIT schedule:
Massachusetts (24-10) vs. Florida (24-11) – 6 PM CDT, ESPN2
Mississippi (24-10) vs. Ohio State (22-13) – 8 PM CDT, ESPN2

After an incredible season including 31 wins, a conference championship, and a point guard on numerous All-American teams, the Texas Longhorns finally met their match in Houston’s Reliant Stadium. Despite making a valiant effort to come back from an 11-point halftime deficit, Rick Barnes’ club was unable to keep up with Memphis’ length, athleticism, and speed in an 85-67 loss.

Texas shot itself in the foot during a first half that saw eight Longhorn turnovers which led to nine Memphis points. Coming into the game, the Longhorns led the country with less than 10 turnovers per game, but found themselves frustrated against a much taller Tiger team that pressured guards beyond the perimeter and doubled over the Texas ball screens.

With the turnovers and poor shooting scuttling the Texas offense for the first twenty minutes, the Longhorns found themselves down 11 points coming out of the locker room to start the second half. But solid defense and a suddenly assertive Damion James brought Texas within five points after a 12-0 run that spanned both halves. With the strongly partisan burnt orange crowd finally coming alive and making noise in the cavernous football arena, Memphis snapped back to reality and rattled off seven points to kill any chances of a Longhorn comeback.

The win and Final Four appearance seemed only fitting for a Memphis team coming off of back-to-back seasons in which they lost in the Elite Eight. The current Tiger squad is nearly a mirror image of last year’s team, with the key change coming in the form of freshman point guard Derrick Rose, a mortal lock for a top three pick in this summer’s NBA draft.

With three other 1-seeds making up the rest of the final four, Memphis will certainly have its work cut out for it next weekend in San Antonio. But after a march through the South Regional in which the Tigers beat both Texas and Michigan State by 18 points, Coach Cal’s team seems to be peaking at just the right time.

We’ll take another look at this historic season of Texas basketball later this week and preview what could be one of the best Final Fours in recent memory. The “Horns in the League” feature should also soon make a comeback, and we’ll follow the coaching carousel and NBA draft early entries as the April 27th deadline approaches.

Almost as soon as the brackets were unveiled two weeks ago, pundits keyed in on today’s date. It was nearly fated, they all seemed to think. A dream match-up between Memphis and Texas, the 1-seed and the 2-seed. A showdown for D.J. Augustin and Derrick Rose. A battle on the blocks between Joey Dorsey, Robert Dozier, and Damion James. As it turns out, they were right.

This afternoon’s game in Reliant Stadium has all the makings of an exciting shootout between two of the best teams in the country. And although most of the players in today’s game weren’t involved, there is a fair share of recent history between the two schools. During the 2004-05 and 05-06 campaigns, Rick Barnes and John Calipari scheduled a home-and-home which the Longhorns swept. And until Tennessee came into FedEx Forum and knocked off the Tigers last month, the Longhorns were the last team to beat Memphis at home in over two years.

While revenge is always a nice motivating factor, the Final Four is a much larger prize. For Coach Cal and the Tigers, it’s been something of a white whale the last few seasons. This marks the third-straight Elite Eight appearance for Memphis, who has not reached the Final Four since 1985. For Texas, it is their third appearance in the round of eight since 2003, which was also the year of their last Final Four.

The starting five

The newest player on the Tigers is perhaps the biggest star, as freshman Derrick Rose runs the show at the point. Checking in at 6’4″, he’s going to have a few inches on the Texas backcourt, and he’s a physical player that also has a few pounds on the Longhorn guards. He’s incredibly quick off the dribble, which is a necessity in the Memphis offense.

Chris Douglas-Roberts is referred to most often by the acronym CDR, but his game is far too big for just three letters. He’s a 6-7 swingman who is the most consistent long-range shooter for Memphis at 41. But his quickness and length help him get to the rack as well, so teams can’t afford to play him too tightly on the perimeter lest they find themselves watching helplessly as he drives to the hoop.

Another tall guard in the four-out, one-in Memphis look is Antonio Anderson, a 30-minute guy who chips in nine points a game but gives his biggest contribution on the defensive end. He’ll get up in your face — not a tough task against the tiny Texas backcourt — and hustle all over the court. His 3.5 assists per game speak to his great court vision, despite not being the true point guard of the bunch.

Perhaps most famous for his run-in with a girlfriend and the resulting outfit of a UAB fan, Robert Dozier is an intimidating defender who also kills on the glass. His physical style could be a match-up problem for the Longhorns, but with their increasing depth at the post, Texas could afford to attack him and pile up a few fouls.

Joey Dorsey will have some sick dunks in today’s ballgame on what Calipari calls “rim runs,” and he’ll also get a nice share of putbacks waiting on the weak side of the Memphis offense. This man is an absolute beast, so seeing him tangle with James ought to be quite a treat. Texas will need to limit the easy buckets for Dorsey off of Memphis misses, as shutting down offensive rebounding has been a huge struggle as of late for the Horns.

Dribble-drive motion

We’ve alluded to the innovative Memphis offense as we introduced the starters, but now we can fully address “Dribble Drive Motion” (DDM), or “the Princeton offense on steroids,” as Coach Cal has been known to call it. At the core, it’s essentially a drive-and-kick offense based on the Attack-Attack-Skip-Attack-Attack (AASAA) offense of former Pepperdine coach Vance Walberg. Memphis will spread the floor to open driving lanes for their guards, typically moving their big man to the weak side in order to clear even more space for the penetration.

When Walberg was coaching, he would tell his teams to either take threes or take it to the rim. There was practically no mid-range game in the AASAA, which is one key difference between the DDM and its predecessor. Memphis has players who can knock down mid-range jumpers, and they are not afraid to do so if an open opportunity presents itself.

In addition, Walberg was a preacher of full-court, pressure defense, something that Coach Cal is hesitant to use. Calipari still has his players go for steals — particularly on backtipping as opposing players try to drive — but prefers to play lock-down half-court defense.

One big problem that the DDM is going to give Texas — beyond actually stopping it — is fatigue. This wide-open style demands that players continue to attack the basket if open threes aren’t there, causing defenses to have to constantly communicate and rotate. With a thin Texas bench, this could certainly cause some issues late in the game.

As mentioned earlier, the big man in the DDM will shift to the weak side to open up penetration lanes for the Tigers. If Texas elects to help on the driving man, it will open up either a three-point shooter on the wing or that big man on the weak block. One thing Memphis lacks is a roster full of three-point threats, so unless CDR is sitting in the corner, it would be wise for the wing defender to be the one to help. Leaving Dorsey or Dozier alone for easy dunks and lay-ups is not a recipe for success.

Free throw struggles

Both teams are really having a tough time at the line this year, and if this game is as close as many are expecting, it could spell the difference. The Longhorns are only 68% from the charity stripe on the season, and have a nasty habit of missing free throws when the game reaches its final minutes. Memphis is even more abysmal from the line, hitting only 59.8% of their attempts this year.

While Texas can generally rely on Augustin or A.J. Abrams to sink free throws when they are needed, the Memphis struggles extend all the way down the roster. The most consistent free-throw shooter on the team is CDR, who is still hitting at a 69.8% clip.

What to look for

Both of these teams are likely going to score a ton of points today, although a high-tempo game would favor the deeper Memphis roster. If the Longhorns can keep the Tigers in front of them and on the perimeter, the DDM will have a hard time getting started and Texas can keep the score and pace to a more manageable level.

Most teams throw a variety of zone defenses at Memphis to try to stop the DDM, but the Kansas Jayhawks quickly exposed the Longhorn zone in Kansas City two weeks ago. While the Jayhawks have more three-point threats than Memphis, they are the only other team in the country that is as athletic and talented as the Tigers, so it’s still a worrisome point to note.

One interesting thing to keep an eye on is if Dexter Pittman will be able to keep up with the pace of the game and provide any meaningful minutes. The zone defense usually allows him more of a chance to play, but Memphis may just be too quick of a team for the big sophomore.

All told, this is a game that has me very nervous heading into it. Coach Cal has been playing up the “Memphis as underdog” angle, but we all know that Texas fans are generally quiet and fail to adequately support their team. Reliant Stadium might be full of burnt orange, but unless it’s actually loud — something I doubt with the current seating arrangement — there isn’t an intimidating advantage for the Longhorns.

We’ll be back with the post-game later tonight or tomorrow afternoon. And hopefully after that we’ll have some Final Four previewing to do.

Other game previews
Barking Carnival
Burnt Orange Nation
Jim Masilak of Memphis’ Commercial Appeal
Kirk Bohls of the Austin American-Statesman
TexasSports.com