Day at a Glance

In the final analysis, the title game comes down to ...

Click here for more on this story

Posted: Monday April 03, 2000 01:12 PM

Storylines        Dunks & Bricks        The Bottom Line

By John Donovan, CNNSI.com

Who is that guy?     These guys aren't huge stars, but they could make a huge difference in Monday's championship game.     Michigan State's Charlie Bell, although he's a starter, is an X factor for the Spartans. He's been hurt and has been struggling a bit, but I look for him to really have a breakout game Monday night.     He's a slasher, he runs the court really well and he's a great defender. He's also the secondary ballhandler and backup point guard, so it will be important for him to play well when Mateen Cleaves is getting his rest.     For Florida, I look for two guys: Kenyon Weaks and Brent Wright. Weaks shoots the ball well, and he is a senior, so he's a guy the Gators will look to for those reasons.     Wright is just a tough kid inside. He's a great offensive rebounder, and a great defender inside. Those are two things the Gators will need against Michigan State, a team that can kill you on the boards. -- Northwestern coach Kevin O'Neill analyzes the Final Four for CNNSI.com

INDIANAPOLIS -- And now, this break for some pop analysis:

Rebounding. Michigan State will beat Florida for the national championship Monday night because of superior rebounding.

Talk: "We've been doing a pretty good job of getting to the glass," Florida's Udonis Haslem said Sunday. "I don't see why it should be any different against Michigan State."

Truth: Michigan State has wiped people out on the boards, leading the nation in rebounding margin by better than 12 a game. Florida has been pretty good. The Spartans have been great.

Florida will wear down Michigan State in the NCAA title game with superior depth and an unrelenting press.

Talk: "It seems like one guy comes in and replaces another guy and it's the same guy with a different number on his jersey," Spartans coach Tom Izzo said. "A shooter comes in for a shooter, an athlete comes in for an athlete. A strongman comes in for a strongman."

Truth: The Gators go 10 deep, and that depth, along with the press, has made a difference. But, as Florida coach Billy Donovan points out, Michigan State is deeper than most. "I don't know if we can wear Michigan State down," Donovan said.

Michigan State, losers in a national semifinal game last season, will use its experience and senior depth to quash the baby Gators.

Talk: "This is our last go-round," Spartans senior Mateen Cleaves said. "We don't have another chance. If [Florida] doesn't win ... they have another chance."

More Talk: "I don't think experience is any kind of an issue, to tell you the truth," Florida sophomore Teddy Dupay said.

Yet More Talk: "Yes, we have the experience from last year," MSU's Izzo said. "I think that helped us early. I'm not sure now it matters any because we're in foreign territory too."

Truth: It matters. Always has, always will.

The national championship game will be a running affair, much more enjoyable to watch than the Big Ten semifinal that Michigan State and Wisconsin waged.

Talk: "Both teams like going up and down," Dupay said. "I think it's going to be fun to watch."

More Talk: "They want up-tempo. We want up-tempo," Izzo said.

Truth: Compared to Wisconsin-Michigan State, this will be a flat-out track meet. But, compared to that, so is an Atlanta rush hour.

On to the Final Four Day at a Glance, which asks the only question that needs to be asked on the final day of the Final Four: So ....?

The answer: You figure it out.

Billy Ball Monday night, Florida's Billy Donovan arrives, officially, as the next great young coach in America. Following in the footsteps forged by Rick Pitino, the slick-haired 34-year-old Donovan is officially the hottest coach in the land.

The seniors Mateen Cleaves, Morris Peterson, A.J. Granger ... the Michigan State seniors have carried the Spartans to the brink of their first national championship since 1979. All they have to do to finish the journey is get past a group of talented, young, well-coached Gators. A big group.

Tubing Television ratings for the NCAA tournament are down some 3 percent this season. Before all is said and counted, the Final Four may be hurt by the lack of schools from big-time markets. It may be hurt by the lack of the so-called marquee schools (say, Duke). Whatever, CBS says it's not worried. But if we paid $6 billion for this thing ...

Can anyone here shoot? Well, no. In the semifinals, none of the four teams shot better than 40 percent from the field. MSU and Wisconsin shot just under 35 percent each, Carolina checked in at just over 35 percent and Florida took home the shooting honors at a robust 39.1 percent. Will it be that bad in the championship game? Probably not. But don't expect Villanova numbers. The Wildcats shot 78.6 percent in their win over Georgetown in 1985.

Dunk -- The game People may not be tuning in, but this game has some intrigue. It'll be fairly loosey-goosey at times, thanks to Billy Donovan's brand of ball. But it should be entertaining.

Brick -- The setup You know what'd make a college Final Four truly college-like? Making it more like the better college arenas -- or at least as much as you can in these cavernous domes the NCAA tournaments now call home. Pull all those reporters and writers off the sideline press tables and put them up in the stands. Bring students, if you can find any at this corporate back-slapping, down closer to the floor. Worry less about advertisers and more about fans. Just a thought.

Dunk -- The weekend If college hoops is your thing, you need to spend one weekend of your life at the Final Four. Especially if it's in a digestible city like Indianapolis. It's not so much all-out excitement -- that definitely dies down on the off-day between the semis and the title game -- but just for being in a place where everyone is talking basketball all the time.

Brick -- Schedules We know we've done this before. We won't harp on the late-night aspect of it this time. But what if we want to watch the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in their season opener at Minnesota? The NCAA title game has made baseball's opening day a second thought. Can't we all get along here?

Dunk -- Ken Griffey Jr.! He's back in Cincinnati, the Reds are a threat and ... wait a minute. Sorry. Thought we were on the Baseball Week at a Glance for a moment.

We're a little over-analyzed. How about you? So here, as they say, is the bottom line. Florida can run, but so can Michigan State. Florida goes deeper into its bench than Michigan State, but not by much. Florida has a bunch of freshmen and sophomores, and Michigan State has a trio of starting seniors. Florida has a few guys who could hurt you. Michigan State has one guy, Morris Peterson, who will hurt you. For sure. Still can't figure it out? Watch the game, already.

Copyright © 2000 CNN/Sports Illustrated An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.