ALAMO'ST FAMOUS

A few quick facts from reading the pre-game notes. Maybe they won't bore you:

1) Kansas and Memphis both have 12-game win streaks heading into the game and both last lost on the same date: February 23rd. The Jayhawks lost at Oklahoma State, 61-60, on a game on CBS. The Tigers lost at home to Tennessee, 66-62. Wouldn't it be nutty if Self's next game as a head coach after tonight is as the coach of the last team that beat him?

2) Bill Self, with a win percentage of 81.5, is the winningest coach in Kansas history. Pretty impressive when you realize that list includes Hall of Famers James Naismith, Phog Allen, Larry Brown and likely Roy Williams.

3) Today is the fifth anniversary of KU's last championship game appearance, an 81-78 loss to Syracuse. The other constant is that the last two Final Fours in which KU has appeared have had a player named Collison (Nick, of KU, and Darren, of UCLA).

4) Dick Harp of Kansas is the only person to play in the Final Four (1940) and later coach his alma mater in the Final Four (1957).

5) The last time Kansas won the national title, in 1988, the Jayhawks played the first two games of the tourney in Nebraska (Lincoln, as opposed to Omaha) and the next two in Detroit. Just like this year. In '88 the Final Four was staged in Kansas City.

6) San Antonio has to be the largest American city by far that has never been the setting for a major American TV show. Go ahead, name me the next smallest town that hasn't had a show based there.

7) The Jayhawks football and basketball teams are a combined 48-4 this school year, best in the nation. And all four losses have come to different Big 12 members: Missouri, Kansas State, Texas and Oklahoma State.

8) I forgot what eight was for (that's a shout-out for you Violent Femmes fans)

9) Phog Allen was 66 years and four months old when he coached the Jayhawks in the 1952 NCAA championship game. That was and remains the oldest age for the head coach of a championship team in this tournament. Just another reason Bob Knight may think about returning (the top reason being, of course, that Dick and Digger are driving him crazy).

10) Before John Calipari took over in Memphis in 2000, the basketball team's graduation was zero (What do you think of that, Mr. Blutarsky?). Since then, 17 of the 19 players who played all four seasons have graduated. That's 89.5%. Coach Cal may seem a little slick for most of us, but that's something to be proud of.

     What's really wild (or should I say, Van Wilder?) is that Calipari is inviting former Tiger players to return to campus to earn their degrees. Doesn't care how old they are. Andre Turner, the point guard from the '85 Final Four team, is currently taking hours that he needs to graduate.