For the first time in NCAA men̢۪s basketball history, all four No. 1 seeds reached the Final Four.
Memphis and UCLA faced off on Saturday, with Memphis handily defeating UCLA, 78-63. Memphis set a new college basketball record with 38 wins; one more than previous record holders Duke, Illinois and UNLV.
Guard Chris Douglas-Roberts led the Tigers with 28 points. Tiger guard Derrick Rose had 25 points and 9 rebounds. Rose was feeling sick on Sunday, but will play in tonight̢۪s title game.
UCLA freshman Kevin Love only managed 12 points.
Memphis, a team notorious for poor free-throw shooting this season, was 20-23 against UCLA.
In each of the past two NCAA tournaments, the team that eliminated UCLA went on to win the national championship.
In the second game, the other No. 1 seeds, Kansas and North Carolina, faced off. Kansas won 84-66 to advance to the title game tonight.
At one point, North Carolina was down by 28 points but fought back to within two possessions with nine minutes left in the second half.
Kansas guard Brandon Rush led the Jayhawks with 25 points while Tar Heels forward Tyler Hansbrough led his team with nine rebounds.
Kansas shot 53 percent from the field. North Carolina had 18 turnovers and was limited to 35 percent shooting.
Nearly half of Americans with NCAA tournament brackets had chosen the Tar Heels to win the national championship.
Memphis and Kansas will face off tonight at 6:21 p.m. Kansas has won two national titles, in 1952 and 1988.
Memphis has never won a national title. Memphis and Kansas have not faced off since 1986.
It will be the sixth time ever that two No. 1 seeds have faced off in the championship game since the NCAA began seeding in 1979.
Check Wednesday̢۪s issue of The Collegian for extended analysis of this year̢۪s men̢۪s National Championship Game.
NCAA Basketball
Previous No. 1 Seeds that faced off:
1982: North Carolina defeated Georgetown
1993: North Carolina defeated Michigan
1999: Connecticut defeated Duke
2005: North Carolina defeated Illinois
2007: Florida defeated Ohio State
2008: Kansas versus Memphis