Only The Strong Survive

Connecticut survived 18 games in the Big East, long regarded as the most physical conference in the country. The Huskies' feistiness originates with coach Jim Calhoun, who will continue to be queried in Detroit about recent allegations of major NCAA recruiting violations. The team's personality is best defined by the bruising Adrien (who says of modern college basketball, in spectacular understatement, "It's a difficult game to referee"), the imposing 7'3" Thabeet and the muscular point guard A.J. Price, who challenges the lane as often as Villanova's guards but shoots more effectively from outside.

It is a Final Four that will resist easy form. Emotional issues are in play for every team, along with the far more pedestrian matter of three-point shooting, on which games can swing wildly. Some players will rise and others will shrink from the stage. Other predictions are more certain: bodies on the floor, fouls on the scoreboard, blood in the air.