April 3, 2005

By Steve Rivera

Special for CSTV.com

Courtesy of The Sports Xchange

ST. LOUIS -- The marquee will read: Best team vs. the best talent.

It's a media-driven neon sign describing Monday's NCAA title game between Illinois (best team) and North Carolina (best talent).

Or so that is how it is perceived.

All parties take exception to the thought. North Carolina says it didn't get to 32-4 by not being a good team; Illinois says it is 37-1 not only because it's a good team, but also because it's very talented.

"I think my team is a team, and they are talented individuals, just like I think Illinois has a big-time team with very talented individuals," said UNC coach Roy Williams.

What's clear is that it is a match made in poll heaven.

They are No. 1 and No. 2 in the final regular season polls, the first time that's happened since 1966. The NCAA made a clarification from an earlier note that said it was the first meeting between No. 1 and No. 2 since 1975, but polls at that time were taken up until the Final Four.

"I think it's a match up that pretty much everybody wanted, everyone anticipated," said Illinois guard Deron Williams. "It's finally here. Now we get to play it out."

Despite Illinois being the top-ranked team for the past 15 weeks, oddsmakers have North Carolina as a 2.5-point favorite.

"We're not surprised," said Illinois guard Luther Head. "People have been saying North Carolina was the better team all year. It's not a surprising thing. We'll see. Everybody will know who the best team is."

This is the first time Illinois has made it to the title game. For North Carolina it would be its first national title since 1993. It would give coach Roy Williams his first title, after 17 years, including two at North Carolina.

"I think they definitely want to prove that they can go out and be the best team," said North Carolina's Rashad McCants. "In the end, I think they just want to win. I hope they think we want to go out and do the same."

The teams have played in each of the past two seasons.

Two years ago, Illinois blasted North Carolina 92-65 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. But times, coaches and players have changed.

North Carolina is now coached by Williams, not Matt Doherty, and Illinois is coached by Bruce Weber, not Bill Self, who replaced Williams at Kansas.

Last year, North Carolina beat the Illini 88-81 in Greensboro, N.C.

This time it's about the teams being more mature and more controlled in the players' biggest stage of their lives.

"Both teams have come so far," Weber said. "It was just kind of the start for both programs (in last year's meeting). It's been a year-and-a-half process of developing, putting your system in, understanding your roles, all those things."

More than 60 games later, the two teams find each other face to face again, although it was hard to imagine that happening two seasons ago.

"We both have great teams, great guards (and) big men who can get the job done," said North Carolina's Raymond Felton. "We both can put a lot of points on the board and we both got great defense. I knew we had a potential to make it this far, but I never really thought we both would meet up."

MAN OF THE MOMENT: Roy Williams. Can he win the big one? This is his fifth Final Four and third national title game appearance, having been to the title game twice at Kansas. He's known as the best college coach never to have won the title. Can Monday night be his One Shining Moment?

KEY MATCHUP: Can Illinois center James Augustine or Roger Powell, Jr., (or any Illinois big man) stop North Carolina's Sean May? Illinois had a tough time against a  legitimate center -- Arizona's Channing Frye -- last week. May might be better, and stronger, than Frye. While everyone is talking about the team's guards, it may come down to the difference being the big men and North Carolina's ability to score near the basket behind May and Jawad Williams or Marvin Williams.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I'm still a freshman and so I have another chance. But I do treat it like it could be a once-in-a-lifetime thing because you don't know when, or if, you'll come back." -- North Carolina freshman Marvin Williams, on being in the title game.