Michigan vs. Louisville: Cardinals win third national title

Louisville became probably the biggest national story of the tournament, while Michigan was likely the biggest brand name left in the Final Four. That they combined for great ratings is no surprise.

CBS drew a 14.3/23 overnight for the NCAA basketball Championship Game between the Cardinals and Wolverines, up 18 percent from 2012’s title game between Kentucky and Kansas (12.1/19), according to a network press release. The game drew 23.4 million viewers, up 12 percent from 2012 (20.9 million).

ATLANTA -- The groans that echoed throughout the KFC Yum! Center in November weren’t Luke Hancock’s fault, but in hindsight, it’s hard to blame the Louisville fans who were making them either.

Hancock, an unheralded recruit out of high school, made the decision to transfer from George Mason to Louisville following head coach Jim Larranaga’s move to Miami after the 2010-11 season. His respectable averages of 7.7 and 10.9 ppg in two seasons as a Patriot led most to believe that he could serve as a solid role player on a far more talented U of L team.

1. Talent and leadership in the backcourt wins games

2. Beware the high-seeded mid-major

Bench players don’t often win the MOP. Well, actually, they never do. Louisville’s sixth-man shooting specialist is the first non-starter to win it, ever, in the 75 years they’ve been giving it out. Guys on losing teams have won it. Guys on third-place teams have won it, back when they still had a third-place game. But no bench guys.

And guys without a lot of NBA prospects don’t often win the Most Outstanding Player. Every player to win the award since Jeff Sheppard in 1998 has made the NBA, and all but two of those have been first-round draft picks. Only two of the players in that stretch haven’t been first-round picks. You have to really delve deep -- Anderson Hunt in 1990, for example -- to find guys who never made the NBA that beat out NBA-bound teammates for the MOP. And as fun a story as Hancock is, he’s definitely not an NBA player -- just a 6’6 guy who sometimes picks up the hot hand.

Small fires have been spotted in the area, according to AnnArbor.com crime reporter Kyle Feldscher. The suspect is reportedly a “250- to 300-pound” individual, per the Ann Arbor police scanner (via Penn State reporter Ben Jones).

Here’s a video shot by WXYZ TV out of Detroit:

• 10 things to know about Michigan vs. Louisville

• Pitino vs. Beilein: A contrast of styles

Lots of people like to complain about the slow pace of college basketball games. Well those people have nothing to complain about tonight. Michigan vs. Louisville has been played at a torrid pace and it’s making the referees start to dance just a little bit.

Put your cursor over the GIF to animate.

Albrecht is 4-of-4 from the floor and 3-of-3 from deep.

• 10 things to know about Michigan vs. Louisville

In the NCAA Tournament? He’s been absolutely lights out. He’s hit all eight threes he’s attempted, and has already drilled three looks from beyond the arc tonight, including this heat check:

Hover over the image to make it animate.

• 10 things to know about Michigan vs. Louisville

• Pitino vs. Beilein: A contrast of styles

We’d already pointed out that with Chris Webber in attendance, the entire Fab Five would be at Monday night’s national title game between Michigan and Louisville. Well, here’s four of them:

Also, the Fab Five has really AWFUL choices in headgear.

We’re underway in the last college basketball game of the season, and after four minutes, Michigan and Louisville are tied at 7-7.

Here’s a look at Burke’s first three. Move your cursor over the GIF to make it animate.

The Cardinals spent 21 years in the old Metro Conference and established themselves as a powerhouse under coach Denny Crum, winning two national titles and making 13 Sweet 16 appearances. After the 1996 season, the Metro Conference and Great Midwest Conference merged to form Conference USA. The program went into a brief downturn during this time, going four straight years without advancing past the first round in the tournament.

Following Crum’s retirement in 2001, Rick Pitino took over and led the team back to national prominence. During this time, the first wave of conference realignment occurred when Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College left the Big East. Looking for replacements, the Big East invited Louisville, Cincinnati, DePaul, Marquette and South Florida to jump from C-USA to one of the power conferences. All five teams answered the call.

The tip-off marathon, the preseason tournaments, the grind of conference play, the league tournaments, the first three weeks of the big dance -- it’s all led us here to Monday night and Louisville vs. Michigan. Let’s feed your brain before the Cardinals and Wolverines tip this thing off in Atlanta.

1. You’re About To See Some Really Good Guards

To get to the national championship game, Rick Pitino continued the strategy that’s made him a successful coach stop after stop. John Beilein abandoned his.

Styles make fights, and the two coaches have crafted monsters who match up perfectly: Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals are the best defensive team in the country; Beilein’s Michigan Wolverines, the best offensive team.