The Edge

Coach: Bill Self, five years at school, five years in NCAA Tournament.

How they got here: Automatic bid (Big 12 tournament champions); Midwest first round: def. No. 16 seed Portland State 85-61; Midwest second round: def. No. 8 seed UNLV 75-56; Midwest semifinals: def. No. 12 seed Villanova 72-57; Midwest final: nipped No. 10 seed Davidson 59-57; National semifinals: crushed East No. 1 seed North Carolina 84-66.

They'll win the title if ...: Memphis boasts a bevy of options and lineup choices for John Calipari, but that won't wow the Jayhawks, who are deep and talented. Kansas has seven players averaging more than seven points but none over 13.1 per game. Kansas is capable of disrupting the Tigers with a zone defense. The Jayhawks have enough size and interior depth to cut off penetration from Memphis' Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts and on-ball defenders Mario Chalmers and Brandon Rush have the length to make them work to get free. A zone defense also challenges the patience of Calipari's team, which shot 35.1 percent form 3-point range but was prone to extended cold streaks from the outside during the regular season. KU has some familiarity with the strategy of slowing down the 1-2 punch on offense from meetings with rival Texas. But how the Jayhawks respond to the significant pressure they'll face on the perimeter could become KU's key to the game. Memphis won't slow the pace, but it will change defense and make execution in the halfcourt a challenge.

Memorable moment: Darnell Jackson and Rodrick Stewart played against Oklahoma State despite violent deaths of family members in the days leading up to the game. Jackson's cousin died of gunshot wounds, while Stewart's adopted brother and cousin was murdered. Jackson, a starter, responded with a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds). KU finished the regular season with four straight wins, outscoring opponents by an average of 24.5 points.

Mario Chalmers

Go-to guys: No Kansas player scored more than 25 points in a regular-season game but seven players averaged between 7.3 and 13.4. Brandon Rush, Darrell Arthur, Mario Chalmers and Darnell Jackson are all candidates to lead the team in scoring on a given night.

Strengths: Athleticism, depth and balance. Kansas has skilled individual players capable of scoring 25, but the offensive system is more likely to yield three 15-point men. Darrell Arthur and Mario Chalmers are likely to lead the team in scoring. Do-everything wing Brandon Rush stuffs the stat sheet and contributes without taking 15 shots on most nights. KU doesn't start a true center. That doesn't mean the Jayhawks can't deal with size. Sasha Kaun and Cole Aldrich, who has come on strong since January, give Self the option of attacking teams with great size with this twin-towers approach.

Weaknesses: Rush isn't a prolific scorer, even though he's capable of an explosion if his mid-range shot is falling. But KU has a tendency to go stagnant when the pace slows to a half-court tempo. When Rush is cold, there have been times this season when the Jayhawks stand around and wait for him to create offense. The return of Collins has made the Jayhawks more assertive as a whole, but KU should fret if Rush disappears. Of late -- the NCAA Tournament win over Portland State and in the Big 12 tournament -- Rush has been assertive and the Jayhawks benefit from his confidence. KU relies on a potent perimeter attack and without it, the offense can be stalled. Witness the loss at Oklahoma State, when KU missed 11 of 13 3-point tries. Darrell Arthur has to be guard against being too aggressive on defense. He fouled out in 17 minutes in that OSU loss.

Coach: Bob McKillop, 19th year at school, fifth year in NCAA Tournament.

How they got here: Automatic bid (Southern Conference tournament champion); Midwest first round: rallied past No. 7 seed Gonzaga 82-76; Midwest second round: overcame 16-point deficit to defeat No. 2 seed Georgetown 74-70; Midwest semifinals: def. No. 3 seed Wisconsin 73-56.

They'll keep winning if: Stephen Curry, who has scored 103 points (40 points vs. Gonzaga, 30 vs. Georgetown, 33 vs. Wisconsin) through three rounds, will need to keeping scorching the nets. Even when his shot isn't falling, Curry keeps firing until it does. He managed just 10 points in the first half vs. Gonzaga, five in the first half vs. Georgetown and 11 first-half points vs. Wisconsin. No other player for the Wildcats is averaging more than 12.5 points. Amidst the Curry adulation, it's easy to overlook the job point guard Jason Richards has done, but he has done a terrific job of setting the tempo and driving the offense. Role players such as Andrew Lovedale have quietly gone about their business and taken care of the dirty work. Underrated is Davidson's pesky on-ball defense. The Wildcats play passing lanes extremely well and can deny the entry pass without front-side help, leading to steals against Georgetown and Wisconsin. Worth noting, KU had 19 turnovers in the waltz against Villanova.Andrew Lovedale handled Wisconsin's beef and earlier was up to the challenge of 7-footer Roy Hibbert and Georgetown. A major area of concern is that the Wildcats aren't getting much of anything from their bench. It hasn't managed to hurt them thus far, but they haven't faced a team in the tournament yet with as much depth and athleticism as the Jayhawks.

Memorable moment: Davidson has won 25 consecutive games since a 66-65 loss at N.C. State on Dec. 21. They took down two tournament-tested teams in the first two rounds, staging big rallies on both occasions with Stephen Curry as the catalyst. Curry had 30 second-half points (40 total) in helping Davidson erase an 11-point deficit vs. Gonzaga for its first tournament win since 1969. The Wildcats advanced to the Sweet 16 via 25 second-half points (30 total) from Curry, rallying from 16 points down vs. Big East giant Georgetown.

Stephen Curry

Go-to guys: ACC programs didn't think he was good enough. But all guard Stephen Curry has done so far is become the Southern Conference player of the year. Curry, the son of former NBA standout Dell Curry, has been one of the primary reasons for Davidson's third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament. In the last 37 NCAA Tournaments, only one player has delivered a higher scoring average (minimum three games played) than Curry -- Bo Kimble averaged 35.8 points for 11th-seeded Loyola Marymount in 1990, when LMU missed the Final Four by one victory. Curry leads the SoCon in scoring and ranks fifth nationally with 25.3 points per game. Curry, the five-time SoCon Player of the Week, also ranks eighth nationally in free-throw percentage (.894) and third in both 3-pointers made (125) and 3-pointers per game (4.3). Curry doesn't do this all by himself. His backcourt mate, first-team All-SoCon point guard Jason Richards, scores 13.0 points per game but he also leads the nation with an impressive 8.0 assists per game. Forward Andrew Lovedale, a 6-8, 215-pound junior, has started 17 of the past 18 games and the Wildcats have won all 17 games. Senior forward Boris Meno brings 7.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game off the bench.

Strengths: Any team with good guards has a chance to do some damage in the tournament -- the Wildcats have them. The Wildcats are capable of holding their own inside and getting production off the bench.

Weaknesses: If Curry is off, it's easier to isolate on Richards and slow his penetration. If an opponent can at least contain Curry and Richards to some extent, who can carry the Wildcats?

From frontcourt to backcourt to depth to style, the two championship game foes are about as evenly matched as two teams can be. So why the slight edge for Kansas? Shooting. Though both teams have played magnificently throughout the tournament, the statline for the season shows the Jayhawks shooting 51 percent to 47 percent for Tigers. From 3-point range the gap widens to 40 percent to 35 percent and from the free-throw line it's 70 percent to 61 percent.