Part of the fun of the NCAA tournament is the sudden-death nature of the event. One and done is the way of the March Madness world. Hot Cinderellas can easily dispatch a super power on a bad day. But for the most part, the NCAAs are the ultimate proving ground where the best teams or the hottest teams end up in the Final Four.

But this is one of those rare Final Fours where, at least going into the weekend, it looks like all teams are created equal. How do you choose between four teams that are so evenly balanced both in talent, depth, experience and coaching?

Izzo is one of my favorite basketball guys. He’s a certifiable hoop junkie and a man of Final Four letters (four trips, one title). He can vividly recite every pitfall or advantage that can come from being a wide-eyed Final Four neophyte or a frustrated veteran of multiple unsuccessful championship trips.

So at the start of the tournament, he thought he had it all figured out.

“I had Kansas and UCLA in the championship because they have the talent, depth, defense and experience,” said Izzo. “Yet as I watched the tournament play out, the two teams who are the hottest and are playing the best are the other two teams, Memphis and North Carolina, so go figure.”

Izzo and nearly all of the other coaches think this is going to be such a dizzy, delicious and competitive Final Four — the sort of championship semifinals and final that will see every game go down to anxious last-second plays. And that’s exactly how I was thinking until I had a brief conversation with Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl. I found Pearl at the Adolph Rupp coach and player of the year presentation as the national coach of the year. He is responsible for the only loss on Memphis’ resume, and also got to see North Carolina up close as the Heels blitzed through the East Regional (UT lost in the Sweet 16 to Louisville).

“I’m not so sure it’s going to be that close,” he said.

Domination and blowouts at this Final Four?

Mike Miller's college hoops blog Five things to watch this week

Could that really be?

“I think there’s a chance that one of these teams could dominate this weekend,” said Pearl. “I don’t know who they are, but there is that chance one of these teams could just flat out take control of this thing and win it easy.”

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