ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Blue Monday?
It's anything but.
You -- and CBS -- couldn't have asked for a better finish to the college basketball season than tonight's NCAA tournament championship pairing between No. 1 Duke and No. 3 Connecticut. They are the only teams that have been atop the rankings this season, two photogenic programs that recruit nationally and push the pace.
Sure, defending champion Kentucky would have dredged up an unpleasant memory at Tropicana Field and the revenge motive for the Blue Devils. In the Huskies, however, they get the one team that came closest to matching their season-long excellence.
"Clearly, Duke has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that they're the best team in the country," Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said. "Clearly, I think we've become the second-best team. They're the best. We would like to try to be the best. We want that opportunity. We talked about that opportunity."
Duke-Connecticut is the first final between two No. 1 seeds since North Carolina beat Michigan in 1993, but don't expect any Chris Webber-caliber blunders to decide this one. It's believed to be the first championship game between teams who were the sole owners of the No. 1 ranking, and there have been few slip-ups between them.
The Huskies (33-2) owned the top spot for 10 weeks in the middle of the season, until they lost at Syracuse when All-America forward Richard Hamilton and center Jake Voskuhl were on the injured list. The Blue Devils (37-1) promptly resumed the position they vacated after a Nov. 28 loss to Cincinnati.
Shortly after that bracing experience at the Great Alaska Shootout, coach Mike Krzyzewski had a serious sit-down with Elton Brand.
If Brand hadn't been recovering from a broken foot, it's doubtful that the Blue Devils would have blown a 17-point lead to Kentucky in the South final here last year. Brand still wasn't himself in November, when his fitness level was lacking.
"I was receiving all of these accolades," Brand recalled. "I was preseason All-American, preseason ACC Player of the Year. I had played three ACC games in my career. Coach let me know I hadn't accomplished anything."
Brand delivered on his potential, and the National Player of the Year is the main reason that Duke is a 9 1/2-point favorite tonight, why the Blue Devils are expected to become the only program with three titles in the 1990s and the first Division I team to post 38 victories.
In Ricky Moore and Khalid El-Amin, Connecticut has a backcourt that can stay with Trajan Langdon and William Avery. All-America forward Hamilton will test all of the defensive ability of Chris Carrawell, who worries that Shane Battier is going to have his hands full with Kevin Freeman.
Duke, however, has a decided edge at center, where Voskuhl, 6 feet 11, just doesn't stack up with Brand.
"With Elton, we really feel that he becomes the center in all senses of what they do offensively and many times defensively," said Calhoun, who made a visit to Brand's Peekskill, N.Y., home to recruit him. "Right now, he's the most valuable player in college basketball. It comes down to double teams, who that comes from.
"There are plenty of decisions for us to make."
Voskuhl hopes he makes the right ones.
"It's very important for me to be out there," said Voskuhl, who played 19 foul-troubled minutes in Saturday's semifinal win over Ohio State. "I have to be smarter, and just play solid. He's proven he can score on anybody in the country. Elton Brand is Elton Brand. There are not a lot of players like him. He's kind of like the heart of their team."
Brand is a sturdy engine for an outfit that has won 32 straight games and been behind for less than three minutes during the NCAA tournament. The Blue Devils were held to a season scoring low in their 68-62 semifinal win over Michigan State, but the nation's highest-scoring team put a positive spin on that development.
"Connecticut's been in a lot of tough games," Brand said. "We hadn't. We showed we could win a tough, grind-it-out game."
For all of their accomplishments, the Blue Devils are hardly a seasoned team. Langdon is the only senior and Carrawell the only junior in an eight-man rotation.
"We've not really had a bad practice this year, and I think that's where the youth of the team helps," Krzyzewski said. "William Avery is a better player than he was a month ago. Shane Battier is better than a month ago. Corey Maggette is a lot better than he was a month ago."
Perimeter players made clutch shots in both semifinals, Avery and Langdon for Duke, Hamilton and El-Amin for Connecticut. The Huskies have nearly as much talent as the Blue Devils, but it's still unfamiliar turf for them.
"It's funny," Hamilton said, "because we have always been on the other end, we have always been the favorites. Everyone has been telling us all that we are going to win by such and such, and all of a sudden we're getting questions about being underdogs."
Connecticut ruled the three-deep Big East Conference, while Duke waltzed unbeaten through the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Huskies shut down Ohio State's Scoonie Penn on Saturday. Do they consider stopping Brand the key to slaying the Duke dragon?
"I don't think it's the head on the dragon," Freeman said, who took a different mythological tack. "I think it's like a big Cyclops. You've got to take the eye out of him and beat them, beat the entire team. You can't just take the head off."
FINAL 4 FACTORS
Connecticut (33-2) vs. Duke (37-1)
Connecticut
1. The Huskies need to get some help for Jake Voskuhl, the junior center who had two points and five rebounds in the semifinals.
2. Connecticut wants to push the pace, since Duke, the nation's highest-scoring team, took a pounding against Michigan State.
3. A big point total from All-American forward Richard Hamilton would help. It's been done on Duke. Remember Bootsy Thornton?
4. Khalid El-Amin cannot afford another 0-for-12 nightmare like he had in the West Region final. Strong play at the point is imperative.
Duke
1. Lean on Player of the Year Elton Brand. The sophomore center has made 65.3 percent of his shots in the NCAA tournament.
2. Trajan langdon needs to get untracked. He shot 3-for-9 against Michigan State, and the Huskies will be watching him too.
3. The Blue Devils are coming off their worst free-throw shooting game of the season. They must do better than 11-for-24 in the second half.
4. Listen to the coach. Mike Krzyzewski can become the first man with three titles in a decade since John Wooden in the 1970s.
Men's NCAA tournament
At St. Petersburg, Fla.
Championship
Connecticut (33-2) vs.
Duke (37-1)
When: Tonight, 9: 18 TV: Chs. 13, 9
Line: Duke by 9 1/2
Pub Date: 3/29/99