By
Bryan Rosenbaum
Arizona Daily Wildcat
MINNEAPOLIS - Illinois, Michigan State and, now, Duke. Three No. 1 seeds, one defending national champion and the top-ranked team in the nation.
Sound familiar?
In 1997, the Arizona Wildcats became the first and, so far, only team in history to defeat three No. 1 seeds en route to winning the program's first national championship. The 2000-01 Wildcats have the opportunity to add to UA's growing basketball legacy and, at this point, the only team that can stop Arizona is itself.
Sure, Duke has two of the top players in college basketball in Shane Battier and Jason Williams, a supporting cast of Carlos Boozer, Chris Duhon and Mike Dunleavy, and a mastermind coach in Mike Krzyzewski. The Blue Devils have been to the national championship game nine times, winning in 1991 and 1992, and are justifiably the favorites going into tonight's game.
But with the way they are playing now, can Arizona be beaten?
Last weekend, the team kept its composure and wore down a physical Illinois squad, then Saturday night, outhustled and outclassed Michigan State, a team renowned for rebounding, defense and hard work.
The Cats shut down Illinois' Sergio McClain and Frank Williams, then followed up that effort by putting a straitjacket on the Spartans' Jason Richardson and Charlie Bell.
Battier and Williams, not only two of the best players but two of the most likable guys in college athletics, will not be stopped completely tonight. They are just too good. But if Richard Jefferson, Gilbert Arenas and Loren Woods can keep them in check and keep Duke's three-point shooting percentage down, Arizona has an excellent chance to walk out of the Metrodome with its second national title.
In the buildup to Arizona's last two games, much respect has been given to its opponents - perhaps too much. In position-by-position matchups, the edge in many instances went to Illinois and Michigan State.
Could it be that we are not giving enough credit to Arizona, particularly its defense?
"We're playing our best basketball of the season," UA junior forward Michael Wright said. "We've been through so many ups and downs this season, it's been kind of crazy. But I always knew we were going to be here in the Final Four and National Championship game because we had the tools, talent and desire."
Similar to the 1997 championship team, Arizona is playing with an enormous amount of confidence. They know they can beat anybody in the country right now and know that defeating Duke, the best team in college basketball for most of the season, is very possible.
As good as the Blue Devils are, I'm not sure anybody in the country wants to get in Arizona's way now. Like it was supposed to all season, the team's athleticism, quickness, versatility and defense are all clicking at the same time.
There's no reason to think those things will stop tonight, when it means the most.
