The UConn Huskies

The Kentucky Wildcats

Everybody who had Kentucky vs. Connecticut in the title game on your NCAA Tournament bracket raise your hand.

Yeah, right.

When the Wildcats and Huskies meet tonight in Texas with the national championship on the line, it will mark the highest combination of seeds ever in tournament final history. In other words, the college basketball experts didn’t expect these squads to be here. They seeded UConn, the third-place team in the first-year American Athletic Conference seventh in its 16-team region. They thought a little less of young Kentucky of the SEC, giving the Wildcats an eight seed.

Neither team played in the NCAA Tournament last season, although both programs have a history of tourney success. It’s Connecticut’s fourth title game since 1985, and Kentucky’s second in three seasons.

UK coach John Calipari’s five freshman starters have grown up in a hurry this tournament, and UConn coach Kevin Ollie’s experienced team looks like a world-beater.

It should be a close and exciting game.

But it’s not what most of America’s bracket pickers envisioned three weeks ago while predicted the tournament’s 63 games.

I’ll be pulling for Connecticut, Syracuse’s big rival all those years in the Big East Conference, including one of the most exciting games I’ve ever watched on TV, the six-overtime thriller won by the Orange 127-117 in the 2009 Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. I also like the fact that former Huskie player Ollie is coaching so well in his second season succeeding veteran Jim Calhoun. (Hey, assistant coach and former Orange player Mike Hopkins has been designated as the coach in waiting for the undefined season that Jim Boeheim decides to retire in Syracuse.)

One last update about the standing of the brackets for my dear wife Karen and myself. Neither of us had either of these two teams in the Final Four. Karen stands at No. 63 of 300, soundly thumping me, at No. 146.

Oh, and one fun fact that I discovered while reading the latest issue of Sports Illustrated magazine:

That billion dollar bracket game putting Warren Buffett’s cash on the line for a perfect 63-game entry was over when the last unblemished entry went up in smoke after game 25. That’s the second day of the first round.

And I must also salute the accomplishment of Breanna Stewart, the sophomore who was named the AP national player of the year has led defending champion Connecticut into Tuesday’s women’s national championship game that will match undefeated UConn with also undefeated Notre Dame. Stewart is a 6-foot-4 forward with a 7-foot wing span with dribbling, passing and shooting skills of a guard. And, she’s a graduate of Cicero-North Syracuse High School.

How did you do with your bracket this year? Which team do you want to win the national title tonight?

Here’s the source for the UConn logo.

Here’s the source for the Kentucky logo.

Here’s the source for the NCAA Final Four logo on my home page.