John Walters

SAN ANTONIO - To paraphrase George Orwell, "All No. 1 seeds are equal, but some No. 1 seeds are more equal than others."

Memphis and Kansas advanced to the NCAA championship on Monday night in San Antonio. These may not be the two schools CBS was hoping for in terms of viewership, but let there be no doubt: the Tigers and Jayhawks are the two best teams in this tournament. And no one from this Final Four but Kansas can hope to equal the Tigers in terms of athleticism, size and depth.

The Tigers are downright frightening. "We knew before the game we were gonna win," Derrick Rose said matter-of-factly after the Tigers pummeled UCLA 78-63.

Rose, who somehow managed not to be named first-team All-American despite being the No. 1 pick in many an NBA mock draft, teamed with backcourt mate Chris Douglas-Roberts, who is a first-team All-American, for 53 points. Meanwhile, power forward Joey Dorsey dominated without scoring a point by grabbing 15 rebounds and turning the Bruins into a jump-shooting team.

Memphis always plays as if it's shirts-versus-skins and the winner keeps the court. There is no tension to this team and their depth of talent compensates for any supposed lack of focus. John Calipari's team has now won 38 games, after all, which is more than anyone else ever has in a season. If you watched the manner in which the Tigers humbled Michigan State, Texas and now UCLA in succession, you have probably concluded that the Grizzlies are the second-best basketball team in Memphis.

Kansas played like a team Saturday night that had spent the past five days exhaling after avoiding the colossal upset to Davidson. The Jayhawks came out and relentlessly ran against the Tar Heels, sprinting to a 40-12 first-half lead. Cole Aldrich, a 6-foot-11 freshman center who had played a total of 11 minutes in the Jayhawks' previous three games, played 13 minutes in the first half and was the most impressive player on the court. He outfought North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough for rebounds, blocked shots — sending one halfway to Laredo —and even called for a towel from his bench just before a free throw so that he could mop a wet spot on the floor. Why not? Aldrich was wiping the floor with everyone else.

No player on either Memphis or Kansas has received the attention that UCLA's Kevin Love or North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough has this season. The pair comprises 40 percent of this year's All-American team and there is little doubt that CBS was hoping to see those two, plus their best-in-show programs, UCLA and North Carolina, playing this Mondey evening.

Which is understandable. Love and Hansbrough are easy to cheer for in an old-school, below-the-rim, no-visible tattoos realm. Both do everything well, just not in a Hot Sauce-from-the-And1-Mixed-Tape-Tour sort of way. Love's area of expertise is the chest pass. Hansbrough is a tireless worker who gets to the foul line … a lot.

Special feature Memphis vs. Kansas: Who has the edge? NBCSports.com breaks down the players, coaches and more in the NCAA title game. You decide who wins. NBCSports.com

Neither was spectacular on Saturday evening, however. Love finished with 12 points and nine rebounds on just 36.4 percent shooting. Hansbrough was more of a factor, finishing with 17 points in North Carolina's 84-66 loss, but he was outplayed in the pivot by Aldrich in the first half and throughout by Kansas' Brandon Rush, who finished with 25 points.

Both Love and Hansbrough, in fact, were involved in their game's respective coup de grace baskets. With 4:52 remaining and Memphis up by 7, Douglas-Roberts went back door along the baseline and received a bounce pass from Rose. It was not Love's fault that Douglas-Roberts had juked Love's teammate, Josh Shipp, but Love would pay the price. Looking to draw a charge, Love held his ground near the block as Douglas-Roberts soared over him for the slam.

Video   Memphis win critical to city April 6: Memphis coach John Calipari thinks his team's win will give hope to the children in Memphis. NBC Sports

Likewise Hansbrough found himself outmanned and without assistance late in Carolina's loss. Rush, a sure-fire NBA first-rounder who was not even first-team All-Big 12 this season, had the ball alone on the left side with Kansas up 69-61. All that stood between him and the basket was Hansbrough. Rush took a dribble toward Hansbrough, the AP's Player of the Year. Hansbrough stepped up to meet him. Rush lobbed the ball over Hansbrough's head to Darnell Jackson for an alley oop slam.

All No. 1 seeds are equal, but some No. 1 seeds are more prestigious than others. Certainly UCLA and North Carolina are bigger brand names than Memphis and even, yes, Kansas. These two last met in a national championship 40 years ago, and certainly CBS would have loved for a reprise.

Love and Hansbrough are both role models and fitting symbols for their programs. Love, the son of former NBA player Stan Love. Hansbrough, the son of an orthopedic surgeon.

Dorsey and Aldrich are far from that. Dorsey is the first person from his family to even graduate high school, much less college. Aldrich, who is from the Twin Cities area, comes from a family that has fallen on difficult financial times. His parents did not make it to the Jayhawks' opening rounds in Omaha — just a drive — and nearly did not come to San Antonio.

"We were able to scrap some money to get them down here," Aldrich said. "They decided to do it at the last second. I just told them that they really should be down here. That this was something they wouldn't want to miss."

The same can be said for Monday night. The biggest names in college basketball may not be taking the stage, but the best teams will.

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