Mario's miracle the exception

After a tournament of blow outs and a general lack of drama, the national championship game delivered. We were certainly due, and finally after weeks of mediocre games we got our just dessert.

Memphis' epic collapse was capped off by Mario Chalmers miracle 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining in regulation. Kansas pulled away in overtime, cruising to a 75-68 victory and their first championship title since Danny his bunch of Miracles won 20 years ago. It was a fitting finale for sure.

So as everyone offers up their opinions on this day after, here’s my take on this year's Final Four.

First, for all his psycho-babble Memphis coach John Calipari was flat out wrong, free-throws matter. The Tigers were ranked 339th of the country's 341 teams in free-throw shooting during the regular season. That proved to be their Achilles heel. It was ironic that Memphis crashed with two of their best shooters, Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts, making only one of five from the charity stripe over the last 1:12. Or maybe it was poetic justice since the Tigers had made 50 of their last 59 foul shots entering Monday's final. It sure was not a clutch performance.

Another hot topic today is consideration that Memphis should have fouled Kansas guard Sherron Collins before he could have dished the ball. Those were the apparent instructions from Coach Calipari, but the Memphis players did not execute. Personally, I think the Tigers choose the best strategy. I’m a huge fan of making players take and make the big shots; plus putting a Jayhawk on the line with a stopped clock may have yielded the same result.

Finally, there's been a lot of discussion about UNC coach Roy Williams' 'wardrobe malfunction.' Williams after all wore a big Jayhawk sticker in broad view Monday night. That's after Kansas manhandled his Tar Heels during the semifinals, Jayhawks by 18. SI.com' Ted Keith (a UNC alum) wrote "[Williams] first priority should be to UNC, not Kansas, and there was a way to show his divided loyalty that would have been appropriate. He chose to do it in and with inappropriate fashion." I find the whole situation both humorous and stupid. Come on Roy; don’t wear paraphernalia of a team that just stomped you into oblivion. I would still put this below LeBron (Mr. Cleveland) James’ when he wore a Yankees hat to New York-Cleveland playoff game.

In summary this year's tournament just lacked something. No, the tourney wasn't lacking Arizona State, albeit a whopping majority (three of four) voters in my FPS poll thought they deserved a chance to dance. Villanova proved they belonged. The David verse Goliath drama was lacking. Sure, the slipper fit Davidson, who made a Gonzaga-esque run after knocking the Zags out in round one. But with just three memorable games out of 65, this year’s March wasn’t mad enough.