Congratulations, Tigers, on a Great Season!

So close...then so far...

Shoulda, woulda, coulda. You can point fingers and blame. You can pick apart the end of the game. You can pick apart the Kansas side of it. Come back? Choke job?

How you look at it depends on your zip code. Personally, I don't care what people think went wrong. To me, the only thing that went wrong was that Kansas won. Memphis lost, and Kansas won. That went wrong, and that's all that matters about what went wrong.

What went right? A lot went right. Memphis was in the NCAA Championship game and despite a lackluster performance was still up by 3 points at the end. John Calipari led this team through an amazing run for the season. 38-2 is nothing to be upset about, even though obviously 39-1 would be that much sweeter. Chris Douglas-Roberts put forth the workhorse effort that Memphis fans have come to expect from him. Derrick Rose took over a stretch during the second half that showed why he may well be the Number 1 pick in the NBA Draft.

The fact that 2 amazing players took center stage on college basketball's largest theater and both had "MEMPHIS" on the front of their jerseys is something to be proud of. Year after year, the Final Four features the elite schools of college basketball. Three of the Four this year were those schools: Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA. And I'll be honest - it was nice to see Memphis included in those historical basketball powerhouses. And not only did Memphis blow out Michigan State and then Texas IN Texas, they also absolutely crushed UCLA. The same way Kansas crushed North Carolina. Last night's game featured two amazing teams, and in the end someone had to lose. It's disappointing that Memphis lost.

But am I going to blame coaching or free throws or use the "C" word? Not at all. I've ripped John Calipari since his arrival in Memphis. But the bottom line is this: This is the second team that he has single-handedly built from basically nothing to a Final Four team. Marcus Camby aside, all of that big talking he did during those first few NIT years about making NCAA Final Fours…has come true.
And I don’t think that he’s gotten credit enough for taking 2 programs that couldn’t have been farther from a Final Four and building them to Final Four caliber programs. He didn’t inherit talent. He didn’t bring in players, but couldn’t get the job done. He recruited his own players and built a second program into a Final Four team. Nice job, Coach Calipari. I was wrong. Not that you really care that I was wrong, or will ever know that I even said it, but for all of the insults and jabs, I owe you the respect you deserve.
Congratulations, Tigers. There can only be one National Champion. But this team will be talked about in Memphis from now on.