Robert Willett / Associated Press

Michael Jordan, far left, and Dean Smith, far right, are just two of the many names which make North Carolina's Final Four history so rich in tradition.

John Walters

Very rarely does history provide a means for a confluence of greatness, of true brilliance, to come about. One thinks of the statesmen at the Second Continental Congress. The scientists who comprised the Manhattan Project. Pittsburgh (wait, that would be a confluence of rivers). The supermodels in George Michael's "Freedom '90" video.

And now comes the 2008 men's Final Four. Forget the fact that this is the first time all four No. 1 seeds have advanced to the national semi-finals. Look at this lineup: UCLA, North Carolina, Kansas ... and Memphis.

This is like watching the Carnegies play the Rockefellers on "Family Feud", with the winner taking on the Hapsburgs ... or Memphis. Consider, for instance, the coaching lineage: North Carolina's former coach, Dean Smith, retired as the NCAA's all-time leader in victories with 879 (Bob Knight surpassed him two years ago). Oh, yeah? UCLA's former coach, John Wooden, won 10 national championships in 12 seasons and also compiled 88- and 47-game win streaks.

Oh, yeah? Kansas' former basketball coach, James Naismith, invented the game. Top that.

The player legacy is similar. The Bruins' Lew Alcindor was the most dominant college basketball player ever. The Jayhawks' Wilt Chamberlain was the most dominant NBA player ever. The Tar Heels' Michael Jordan is considered the most gifted (and competitive) all-around player ever.

These are not just schools; this is the college hoops firmament. UCLA has more national titles (11) and Final Four appearances (18) than anyone else. North Carolina, which has four national titles, has the second-most Final Four appearances (17) and has been the preeminent program in the game since Wooden retired following the 1975 season.

The Jayhawks are just a notch below, but Kansas played in the second NCAA championship game in 1940 (losing to Indiana) and was the first of these three to win a national championship. In 1952 the Jayhawks beat St. John's, 80-63, under the coach for whom their fieldhouse is now named (Phog Allen) and  behind national player of the year Clyde Lovellette, who would also help the U.S. win a gold medal at the Olympics that summer.

A player from Kansas has won the Wooden award. A player from UCLA has won the Naismith award. And more than one player from Carolina (Michael Jordan, Antawn Jamison) has won both.

Saturday's Final Four contests will pit Kansas against North Carolina and UCLA against Memphis. Not only are these two games the first pair of No. 1 seed match-ups in a single Final Four, they are each a reprise of a classic national championship contest. In 1957 the Tar Heels, coached by Frank McGuire, defeated a Kansas team that had the seemingly indomitable Wilt Chamberlain in Kansas City and in triple-overtime, 54-53. One night earlier the Tar Heels had outlasted Michigan State in three overtimes to advance to the title game.

Sixteen years later, in 1973, UCLA center Bill Walton put on the greatest offensive performance in championship game history. Big Red converted 21 of 22 field-goal attempts and finished with 44 points as UCLA beat Memphis State (as the school was then known) 87-66 for the Bruins' seventh consecutive national title. No other school has ever won more than two titles consecutively.

About Walton's lone miss that evening? He grabbed the board and scored the put-back.

The coach for Memphis State that night was Gene Bartow. Three years later Bartow returned to the Final Four, but this time as the successor to John Wooden at UCLA ... an undertaking, at least in Los Angeles, that only Jay Leno may be able to appreciate. Bartow is just one of three men who has been a head coach at two of this year's Final Four programs. The others are Larry Brown (UCLA and Kansas) and Roy Williams (Kansas and North Carolina). All three guided both of their schools to at least the Final Four.

Memphis State's 1973 appearance was its first Final Four and still the only one officially recognized by the NCAA. The Tigers had to "vacate" their 1985 Final Four appearance due to player ineligibility ... but it really did happen; the Final Four is not Newhart.

Memphis enters Saturday, despite its 37-1 record and having been ranked No. 1 most of the season, as the uncouth interloper amongst this hoops aristocracy. The Tigers are the only school not to have won a national championship and their three first-team All-Americans (Keith Lee, Anfernee Hardaway and now Derrick Rose) pale in comparison to, say, North Carolina, which has had more than twice that many National Players of the Year.

Then again, no team looked more dominant last weekend. This coming weekend, amidst a trio of teams so steeped in history, do not be surprised if Memphis makes some history of its own.

More news

Terry Gilliam / AP

Spartans take big step forward

Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.

Terry Gilliam / AP

Arc: No. 3 Ohio State's 39-game home streak ends

Beyond the Arc: No. 11 Michigan State ends No. 3 Ohio State's 39-game home winning streak with a 58-48 victory.

Headlines

• Label

No. 15 Florida State edges Miami 64-59

No. 24 Louisville rallies to beat WVU 77-74

Calipari on birthday: 2 years were vacated, I'm 51

Battle-tested Buckeyes set for date with Spartans

Judge: Laurie Fine's past not relevant in suit

Faster, stronger: Metamorphosis of the big man

Arc: History doesn't bode well for Murray State

Gillispie OK with 0-11 Big 12 record; likes effort