The 2008 NCAA Tournament final will be remembered as one of the best final games in recent memory. The Kansas Jayhawks came back from the dead in the final minutes after falling behind by nine points with 2:12 remaining. Mario Chalmers delivered a clutch three-pointer with two seconds left on the clock to send the game into overtime. In OT, the Jayhawks dominated and posted a 75-68 win as a 2-point underdog.

Chalmers finished the game with 18 points and four steals to cap off the tournament with the Most Outstanding Player Award. Darrell Arthur netted a team-high 20 points for Kansas, while Brandon Rush added 12 points and is likely now thankful for a knee injury that kept him out of last year’s NBA Draft.

The Tigers looked like they had the game in hand, but had to settle for runner-up laurels. Chris Douglas-Roberts dropped in 22 points for Memphis, while Derrick Rose had 18 points on a disappointing 7-of-17 shooting. The Tigers’ Achilles heel in the loss was free throws, as they shot only 63 percent from the charity stripe.

There are going to be some very, very good college basketball teams not making the Final Four this year. But who?

Naming the four No. 1 seeds going into the Tournament was easy. But we’ve yet to see all four make it to the semifinals under the current 64/65 team format. UCLA has a relatively easy path through Western Kentucky and maybe Xavier. Everyone else has some work to do.

Kansas shouldn’t be bothered by Villanova in the Sweet 16, but a potential matchup with Wisconsin’s top-ranked defense could gum up the works. I’d still take the Jayhawks straight up in that one. And I suppose the Heels are the right pick, but it won’t be easy for them against Washington State and especially Louisville, should the Cards advance. And they should.

Forcing the trend to work by excluding Memphis doesn’t make sense, but the way the Tigers are playing, I’ll take Texas anyway to win the South.

Here we are again. It’s the first round of the men’s college basketball Tournament, which invariably means some unfortunate favorite – like Duke last year – is going to get the heave-ho. Millions of brackets will be busted instantly.

Keeping your bracket intact is more than just an exercise in deciding which No. 13 seed is going to advance to the second round. The point is to find which matchups fit the upset profile. Competent low-major champions often get seeded No. 13, and vulnerable big-time programs often fall to the 4-seed. But what about Winthrop-Washington State? I personally don’t see the Cougars (No. 11 in efficiency) in danger of falling to the Eagles (No. 109).

Don’t get too hung up on the low-major thing, either. I’m looking at Kansas State (No. 15 in efficiency) and marveling at how the Wildcats are 11-seeds against USC (No. 20). And they’re playing in Omaha, just up the road from Kansas in America’s heartland.

Everyone’s got a gimmick. Some are right there in your face, like Pamela Anderson’s. Others are less obvious.

My gimmick for filling out my 2008 March Madness bracket is to give added weight to those teams with the most motivation to play well. Not that I’m throwing solid analytical number-crunching out the window. That’s the basis for any sharp bracket. But to separate my bracket from the crowd (and thus have a better chance at winning), I need a gimmick. I need to get emotional.

So who wants it more? Which players are bursting with pride when they slip on their colors? The Memphis Tigers have something to prove coming out of Conference USA. The UCLA Bruins are loaded for bear after two consecutive Final Four appearances. The Duke Blue Devils would love to erase last year’s embarrassing first-round exit. And surely the Wisconsin Badgers are tired of being treated like second-class Big 10 citizens. There’s my Final Four.

Tennessee’s stay atop the college basketball rankings lasted exactly one week. Since beating previously undefeated Memphis as 6.5-point road dogs, the Vols are 0-2 ATS, losing at Vanderbilt and barely squeaking past Kentucky. That was more than enough to knock Tennessee down to No. 2 in the rankings.

Meet the new boss – same as the old boss. The North Carolina Tar Heels have regained their No. 1 spot at a commanding 27-2 SU and 19-7 ATS. But why the Tar Heels? They lost at home to Maryland and Duke and sit in sixth place in team efficiency. Memphis (13-14-2 ATS) still has just the one loss and is third in efficiency.

Not that handicappers care too much about the injustice of the polls – other than profiting from it, of course. Taking back first place should make the Heels that much more fadeable when they play Duke this Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

That No. 1 spot in the college rankings is proving to be just as slippery for basketball players as it was for their football counterparts. Tennessee beats Memphis (-6.5), then loses to Vanderbilt (+2)? Inconceivable.

Actually, this is what you get when there are so many outstanding basketball programs at the top of the Division I food chain. Sorting out which teams to support and fade during March Madness is going to be a little more difficult this year. Time to get to work.

If you haven’t done so already, parcel some time out of your schedule to get up to speed on the 2007-08 season. Arrange your workspace efficiently in order to pack in as much study as possible; the Internet is, quite frankly, a godsend for research of any kind. But you still have to use it properly. Consider investing in some of those pay services like ESPN Insider; you’re very much in their demographic.

Bobby Knight has moved on. So have six other Division I men’s basketball coaches this season. Kelvin Sampson may be next; at press time, Indiana was reportedly on the verge of purging Sampson over allegations of improper recruiting.

Then you have Tim Welsh. Chances are Welsh will be looking for a new employer soon; his Providence Friars are near the bottom of the Big East standings at 4-10 (13-13 overall, 10-14 ATS), and everyone from the local papers to Athletic Director Bob Driscoll is preparing a pink slip for Welsh after a decade at PC.

Welsh first head coaching gig was at Iona, where he took over for his father, Jerry. That was a successful transition; the same cannot be said in Stillwater, where Sean Sutton’s OSU Cowboys are 13-12 (7-10 ATS) and going nowhere since the living legend Eddie Sutton “retired” two years ago. Let’s hope things work out better for Pat Knight at Texas Tech.

There are three undefeated teams in college basketball: North Carolina, Memphis and Kansas. That probably won’t last long; the Tar Heels (ACC) and the Jayhawks (Big 12) simply have too many quality opponents on the horizon to expect perfection. Mere dominance will do.

Kansas is 11-4 ATS, No. 3 in the polls and No. 1 in efficiency. Memphis hasn’t been the same moneymaker at 8-5-2 ATS, but Tigers supporters will take their profits. And North Carolina is blowing the doors off opponents at 12-2 ATS. The Tar Heels’ reputation, cemented by “Psycho T” Tyler Hansbrough, gives them the added fear factor you expect from a truly dominant club – and the No. 1 spot in the polls.

It’s tempting even at this early stage to add the UCLA Bruins into the mix and crown our inevitable Final Four. The Bruins are that good at 16-1 SU and 9-5-2 ATS. That loss to Texas seems more like a mosquito bite.

Kenny George isn’t exactly your “average” college student. He plays basketball for the University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNCA) and leads the nation in most blocked shots per game (5.4). But what really makes this guy stand out is…well, his height. George is 7′7″, weighs 360 pounds and wears a shoe size 25. (To give you some idea as to how big that actually is — Shaquille O’Neal wears a 22.) He is the tallest player to ever suit up for the UNCA Bulldogs and the tallest player to ever suit up for the Big South Conference.

One would expect a guy that tall to take up basketball early on in life but as it happens George didn’t start playing b-ball until he was well into middle school. And when asked if he didn’t make the pros George said he’d also like to pursue his other interests, which include graphic design, animation, comic books and cartoons.

George’s high school coach Dave VanderMeulen remembers how well George fit in with the team, despite the odd questions coming from other people: “His physical presence is always noticed, so he cherishes moments of not having that,” Dave VanderMeulen said. “Our team tried to allow him time away from people asking if they can put their hand against his hand or how big his feet are.”

And what do his UNCA teammates think of him?

“When he got here, he wasn’t having too much fun,” his teammate Bryan Smithson said. “But since he’s gotten healthy, he is. It’s great to see, because while he’s a great player, he’s also a great person.”

Although doctors haven’t confirmed George’s present condition, it is believed that he suffers from Gigantism (or acromegaly), a condition triggered by a tumor on the pituitary gland that causes an over secretion of growth hormone.

“There are basketball players out there who clearly have had acromegaly at some point, but if it’s controlled and treated, they can play and have a normal life expectancy,” said Dr. Dave Thorner, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Virginia.

The Bulldogs are 11-3 and have won five of their last six games…no doubt with the help of the big guy himself…Kenny George.

The New Year marks the end of college basketball’s so-called preseason. Now it’s up to us bettors to take what we’ve seen in non-conference games and apply it to the regular season. The efficiency stats and the early ATS results suggest these five teams will be hitting the pay window hard in 2008.

New Mexico (12-2 SU, 11-2 ATS): Outplaying Mountain West rivals UNLV.

Drake (10-1 SU, 7-0 ATS): Not the team we expected to come out of the Missouri Valley. Upset Wichita State on the road.

Northern Colorado (6-7 SU, 9-2-1 ATS): Team rebounding and the fine work of JUCO transfer Jabril Banks holding things together in Tad Boyle’s second year as coach.

Marquette (10-1 SU, 4-2 ATS): Upset Wisconsin and nearly beat Duke. Third in Pomeroy rankings, but just No. 11 in the polls.

North Carolina (13-0 SU, 10-1 ATS): Watch out for a chalk avalanche; otherwise, the Heels could be scary good.