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Late in the game, Bill Self actually used the phrase: You just got to believe. It doesn't get any cornier than that, but damn if it doesn't fit the script.
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If it weren't for the masonry and cement-ship of the Memphis Tigers, who's AND 1 style finally met its match, this game would've been practically perfect.
As it was, it was better than this year's Super Bowl, NBA Finals or World Series. It was a splendid piece of entertainment.
Who knows what will happen to the Kansas program form this point forward. Self is probably done as coach and will likely leave town with a truckload full of cash. Kansas might lose a slew of players to the NBA. The Jayhawks might never get here again, I don't know.
What I do know is that during the Final Four the Jayhawks stood for everything I like about college basketball. They played hard, they didn't whine and they respected one of the core principles of the sport: You must make your free throws in big spots.
On television, the poor Memphis foul shooting and the offensive lapse by Kansas in the second half may have made the game appear less spectacular than it was.
At the game, with 43,257 people screaming at the top of their lungs, at times it was like watching a street fight, in other moments the two offenses stormed back and forth.
Over the next few days and weeks there will be debates over where this game figures historically. Is it among the top 10 or five or even much higher?
For my money, I'd stick this right in the top three.
What a game.
What an all-time game.
