ESPN Men's Basketball

1. Ohio State and Marquette are in negotiations to play on a naval ship in Charleston, S.C., on or around Veteran’s Day, according to multiple sources familiar with their scheduling. The game would be organized by Morale Entertainment, the same group that set up the USS Carl Vinson game on 11-11-11 between North Carolina and Michigan State. Ohio State’s other marquee games are at Duke in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, while also hosting Kansas in a return game. Marquette is in the Maui Invitational with North Carolina, Texas, Butler, Illinois, Mississippi State, USC and host Chaminade. The Golden Eagles are waiting to see who they will play in the SEC-Big East Challenge. But they have games against LSU in a return situation, host rival Wisconsin, and are at Green Bay in what overall should be the toughest nonconference slate under Buzz Williams.

2. Kansas had struggled to find a quality home game, so the Jayhawks went to an old friend, former player and league rival. Colorado and Tad Boyle, who played at Kansas and coaches Colorado, are finalizing a deal with the Jayhawks to do a two-year home-and-home series, starting in Lawrence. The Buffaloes reached the NCAA tournament third round last season, losing to Baylor in Albuquerque. Kansas had no ill will toward the Buffaloes when they left the Big 12 for the Pac-12, unlike rival Missouri. Re-starting this series is good for both leagues and programs.

3. The A-10 followed the Big East’s lead by declaring during its meetings Thursday that any school that is ineligible for the NCAA postseason cannot participate in its championships. The A-10 doesn’t have any school facing a penalty, but wanted to do this just in case it occurs. The Big East had to make this rule after UConn was banned from the 2013 postseason due to poor APR scores. The same thing is happening in the CAA with Towson and UNCW. The Big East changed its bylaws, preventing a school that is not allowed to go to the postseason to play in its championships. The CAA has the same rule. That means UConn, Towson and UNCW cannot play in the 2013 Big East or CAA, tournaments, respectively.

1. Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said the Irish have extended their commitment to the Crossroads Classic for another two seasons. Brey expects the event to continue and be a fixture on the Irish’s schedule. Notre Dame lost badly to Indiana last season while Butler beat Purdue in thrilling fashion in the first event. Next season, in what will be the second of the initial two-year deal, will pit Notre Dame against Purdue and Indiana against Butler. Brey said the rotation of Notre Dame and Butler alternating with the two in-state Big Ten schools would continue in 2013 and 2014. The coach doesn’t anticipate playing Butler in a separate game since it might be hard to justify playing another in-state school, even one as highly rated and respected as Butler.

2. College basketball is in an era of transfers and another example of this is the attention 5-foot-9 Illinois State freshman Nic Moore is commanding. Moore had a solid freshman season for Tim Jankovich and the Redbirds -- averaging 10 points, 3.9 assists and 2.3 turnovers a game. Jankovich went to SMU to be coach-in-waiting, Vanderbilt assistant Dan Muller was hired, and now Moore wants out. As is the case with every transfer, there are suitors lining up. Notre Dame is in line with Illinois and Purdue for Moore’s services.

3. Davidson got plenty of mileage by beating Kansas in a neutral-site game in Kansas City early last season. Now Wildcats coach Bob McKillop is looking for a similar matchup. He said he called Texas coach Rick Barnes and told him he would love to play the Longhorns in Houston or Dallas at a neutral-but-Texas-leaning game. Davidson is in the Old Spice Classic, is playing Duke in Charlotte on the Bobcats’ home court, and is trying to get a single game at Madison Square Garden. Meanwhile, Kansas is playing Oregon State in the same game in KC that Davidson played last season. The Jayhawks are still desperately seeking a major home game on its schedule.

The last time we checked in on the Border War -- Kansas and Missouri's century-old blood feud, currently cancelled by conference realignment -- it was just two weeks after Kansas's run to the national title game.

The setting: an elementary school in Lee's Summit, Mo., a suburb of Kansas City. The crime: A school administrator played the Kansas fight song on the day of the national title game. The principal may have thought this was a fun and lighthearted activity designed to lighten the mood at the start of another school day, but that principal thought wrong. Missouri fans -- some of which went so far as to accuse the principal of attempted KU "indoctrination" -- were not happy.

Unfortunately, the latest batch of Mizzou-KU-related hatred is not quite as entertaining as that. But give credit to Kansas City Star writer Rustin Dodd, who opens his story on the matter with a truly tremendous lede:

There’s an old saying in college sports: If one school refuses to play you, then you can be darn sure you don’t let that school have specialized license plates in your state.

Wait, what?

As Dodd explains, "word leaked out" last week that the University of Kansas Alumni Association was attempting to get KU-themed vanity license plates approved by Missouri lawmakers. The horror! Naturally, to prevent this egregious crime against humanity, two brave Missouri state senators took time out of their busy schedules to stand up for the rights of Missouri fans everywhere.

“With the long-standing rivalry between Mizzou and KU, I find it appalling that the creation of this license plate would be conceived in the Show-Me State,” Sen. Stouffer said.

Indeed. To be fair to the Missouri folks, Kansas's alumni association has a history of trolling other states for acceptance of the vanity plate. A few years back, it even tried to get one approved in North Carolina, before finding out the state required a presale of at least 1,300 plates before a new one could be approved. The alumni association's director of alumni programs, Danny Lewis, even admitted to the trolling:

“Our group in North Carolina wanted to annoy the Duke and North Carolina grads by getting KU license plates out there,” Lewis said, adding, “We approach everything state by state.”

KU has plates in Maryland and Texas, if that helps, and it does have a rather large alumni base in Missouri, of course ... but, well, yeah: I'm going to go ahead and assume there aren't many Missouri lawmakers who want to be labeled as backstabbing KU-loving traitors, simply because they approved a license-plate plan.

And so the Border War lives on. Unfortunately, these programs won't continue to settle things the good old-fashioned way: on the court. Instead, their fans will have to continue to find other outlets. Message boards, elementary schools, automotive flair -- really, the options are endless. Even if the series itself isn't.

Six weeks after his team finished a somewhat-surprising season with a march to the NCAA title game, Kansas coach Bill Self ducked out of Lawrence last weekend for a vacation with a couple of buddies.

Destination: Cabo San Lucas.

“It wasn’t awful,” Self said of his trip. “I promise you that.”

It was tough for staff members not to be jealous of Self when he returned to work at Allen Fieldhouse Monday, tanned, refreshed and relaxed.

Self is glad he snuck the trip in when he could. The Jayhawks hosted a recruit on Monday and Tuesday, Self’s basketball camps are slated for next month, and most of July will be spent on the road recruiting.

Kansas has won eight straight Big 12 titles and averaged a national-best 33 wins over the past six seasons. As difficult as it’s been to reach that level of excellence, Self knows maintaining it will be even tougher.

“We’ve set the bar pretty high around here,” he said.

Self spent some time Tuesday answering questions from ESPN.com.

What sort of feedback have you received since your march to the NCAA title game?

Bill Self: From recruits, the [response] has been positive. We probably won’t know as much from them until the November signing period, because that’s when we’ll hopefully capitalize on our run to the finals. I think the fans are excited around here. Everyone is disappointed we lost to [Kentucky] but, on the flip side, I think this is a team that really got a lot further than everyone probably anticipated we would have. So with that, everyone thinks it was a great campaign.

You’ve won eight straight Big 12 titles and have been to four Elite Eights and two Final Fours since arriving at Kansas. How confident are you that next season’s team can continue that trend of high-level success?

BS: They told me the other day that we’ve averaged 33 wins over the last six years. So the past teams have set the bar pretty high. I never thought this past year’s team would get to 32 [wins], to be honest -- especially with the way we started. I don’t see how in the world, playing in the Big 12, that next year’s team can get to that level. But players do rise up to the challenge around here. We lost two great players in Thomas [Robinson] and Tyshawn [Taylor]. We’re going to have to have some guys step up and some newcomers step up and be good for us. But I do like our guys. I think we’ll have a chance to be a pretty good team.

Since you mentioned newcomers, Ben McLemore, who redshirted last season, has received a lot of hype of the last 12 months. Is he as good as advertised?

BS: From an athletic standpoint, he’s about as impressive of a kid as we’ve had. He’s got great feet. He could be a good defender. There aren’t too many guys that can score that want to be told they could be a great defender. But he could be. He could be a terrific defender. We think he’s going to be really good. We think Jamari Traylor is going to be really good, too. But these guys don’t know what they’re doing. Even though they’ve been here for a semester practicing with us, it’s still going to be all brand new to them. But they both have a chance to impact this program in a big way, and I would anticipate it being next year.

As good of a season as he had last year, what can center Jeff Withey do to enhance his game even more?

BS: To me, Jeff is a guy that has probably improved about as much during the course of a season as anyone I’ve been around. He goes from being a guy who couldn’t get in the game two years ago to just barely getting in last year to now, he (owns) the all-time record in the NCAA tournament for blocked shots, and there have been some pretty good players in the NCAA tournament. Offensively, he’s got to get stronger. He’s got to get to where he’s the No. 1 option inside, whereas last year he played off of Thomas. I think he’s capable. I just think he’s got to get stronger.

Any early thoughts on the Big 12?

BS: Our league is always going to be good. Adding TCU and West Virginia offsets the loss to Texas A&M and Missouri. It gets us an opportunity to play another game in the [Dallas-Fort Worth] metroplex, and of course we get a personality coming into in the league in Huggs (Bob Huggins). Our league, basketball-wise, will not take a step backward. We’ll take a step sideways because it’s different personnel. But not a step backward. I think we’ll have a great shot to be one of the top three or four leagues in the country, as we have been, for the most part, year in and year out.

Would you like to see the Big 12 add a few more teams, or do you like it at 10?

BS: To be honest with you, I thought nine was the perfect number. Because that way you’re playing 16 league games and, in football, everybody plays eight game. But I understand the reasoning why you’d want to go to 10 or 12. Without question, I understand the reasoning. It gives you more of an appearance of stability and more of a safety net as conference realignment continues to develop. Hopefully the brakes have been put on that, at least for the short term. But I anticipate us expanding. We’ve even heard rumors here recently about a school from the ACC (Florida State) potentially looking to come our way. I think you’ll have more and more of that talk. Because the Big 12, at least from an appearance standpoint, is on the best footing it’s been on in a long time.

The NBA draft is less than two months away. Everyone knows Thomas Robinson will likely be a top five pick, but what about Tyshawn Taylor?

BS: We’ve been in a situation like a lot of schools have, where NBA scouts get a chance to see your guys in practice and in multiple games. There’s no telling how many (NBA) teams watched our last eight or nine games. You come away impressed [with Taylor], but once you see him in person, and in an individual workout, you’ll be even more impressed. He’s a good workout-guy. He’s good technique-wise, he’s got great fundamentals, he’ll show that he can shoot it, because he can. He just didn’t shoot it well in the tournament, but he shot it well for us, for the most part, all season long. He’s definitely a first-round talent. Whether he’s able to get in there ... that remains to be seen because of what certain teams may be looking for. But I’ve had some good players, and he’s definitely a first-round talent.

1. Texas coach Rick Barnes and NC State coach Mark Gottfried confirmed Jimmy V Classic matchups for Tuesday, Dec. 4 at Madison Square Garden. Texas will play Georgetown and NC State will play Connecticut. Texas has a terrific schedule again with an appearance in the Maui Invitational, hosting North Carolina (meaning the Tar Heels and Longhorns will be in opposite brackets in Maui), play UCLA in Houston and traveling to Michigan State. NC State is the headline team in Puerto Rico in November, hosts Stanford and possibly will get Michigan in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on the road. The ACC is going to 18-league games next season, too, which improves the Wolfpack schedule with two games against Duke and Florida State as well as North Carolina.

2. Kansas coach Bill Self said the Jayhawks are desperate for a quality home-and-home series, starting in Lawrence next season. KU originally talked to Indiana but that deal fell through. The Jayhawks are in the CBE Classic with Saint Louis as the other high-profile team. The Jayhawks also have the Champions Classic game against Michigan State in Atlanta, return a game at Ohio State and get Temple at home. That’s still a very strong slate. But Self said the Jayhawks are looking for a new series at home and are struggling to find one.

3. Bruce Weber said when he took the Kansas State job he had to finish the schedule. The Wildcats already had a return game against Florida in Kansas City and are in the NIT Season Tip-Off as one of the four hosts (Pitt, Virginia and Michigan are the other three). Weber finished the marquee portion of the schedule by signing up to play in the Battle of Seattle against Gonzaga. Weber had enjoyed his series with the Zags at Illinois and wanted to continue to challenge the Wildcats. “It’s a fine line,’’ Weber said. “You want to win games early but with a good team you want to make sure you challenge yourself.’’

Because it will make people angry. Really, really angry.

I know this because it happened, and because reporter Rob Roberts, special to the Kansas City Star, was there to tell us about it. Here’s the deal: On April 2, administrators at Trailbridge Elementary School in Lee’s Summit, Mo. -- a medium-sized suburb on the outskirts of Kansas City -- decided to enjoy some typical locally themed festivities. The Kansas Jayhawks were playing the Kentucky Wildcats for the national title, so the administrators “briefly” played KU’s fight song “in support of the Midwest school competing in the national college basketball championship.” Sounds pretty standard, right?

Wrong. Oh, so wrong. The amazing, silly outrage from Missouri fans soon flowed forth -- from a former state representative to parents at elementary school. Seriously, this is brilliant:

“As a parent of two and a taxpaying resident of the Lee’s Summit R–7 School District, I am shocked and disappointed that there was an apparent attempt to indoctrinate Lee’s Summit school children to be KU fans at Trailridge Elementary this week,” said Brian Yates, a former state representative and graduate of the University of Missouri. “Playing the KU fight song or any college fight song over the intercom in a publicly funded elementary school is unacceptable.”

“Indoctrinate.” He actually used the word “indoctrinate!” How great is that? When people get this heated over what is said or not said in public schools, it almost always has to do with religion. But not here. Not in the Border War's DMZ.

No, this is religion, as Trailridge principal Matt Miller learned when he reached out to students and families over the incident. Again from the Star:

A.J. Quigley, another Missouri taxpayer, sent Trailridge Principal Matt Miller an April 2 email decrying the “awful decision to play the fight song today at school.” “I suggest you move to Kansas and get support from those taxpayers,” Quigley wrote as news of the controversy began spreading on MU fan websites.

Miller, who will become the district’s director of student services after the current school year, told Quigley, “We always strive to be sensitive to all diverse viewpoints in our community and appreciate you taking the time to share your position on this matter. It was never our intent to cause an offense.”

Quigley fired back that the response was unacceptable. “You should admit your mistake. … You are paid by the state of Missouri.” Quigley then took his fight to the board of education, telling members April 3 that he was expecting a public apology.

Is it utterly ridiculous to get this mad about the playing of a rival team’s fight song in a public school? Yes. Of course it is. I feel for Miller. He attended Missouri-Kansas City and has no dog in this fight, for one, but more than that, he was clearly trying to provide a relevant and festive atmosphere for his middle-school-aged students, many of who might well be Kansas Jayhawks fans. Nothing more. To start busting out the outrage language, to start making accusations of "indoctrination," to start demanding public apologies from school boards … I mean, really, guys? That’s the example you want to set for your kids? That if something slightly bothers you, all you have to do is throw a fit? Life lessons, kids. Soak 'em up.

But I also feel for those Missouri fans. Think about this season. It was one of the best in Tigers history. The rivalry with Kansas reached a thrilling all-time high as the teams duked it out for Big 12 superiority. Added to that, Missouri’s decision to leave the Big 12 for the SEC put a century-old rivalry at risk, and the finger-pointing and anger came as much off the court as on it. Kansas won the final battle in the rivalry, 87–86 in overtime, a win that sealed the Jayhawks’ eighth-straight Big 12 regular season title. Missouri got the conference tournament title, but it didn't have a shot for rubber-match revenge (Kansas lost to Baylor in the semis). And then, just a few weeks after No. 2-seeded Missouri loses in the first round to Norfolk State, No. 2-seeded Kansas makes it all the way to the national title game?

It doesn’t exactly excuse the over-the-top outrage, of course. But think about it: If you’re a Missouri fan, of any three words in the world, the last three you want to hear on April 2 are “Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk.” The anger might be misguided and over the top. But the anger itself makes sense.

1. Ernie Zeigler told ESPN.com Sunday that his son Trey would sit out next season and then play two seasons at Pitt. But the Panthers will make an attempt to seek a waiver for Zeigler to play next season. Duke was going to seek the same thing had Zeigler chosen the Blue Devils. The premise is that Zeigler had to leave Central Michigan because his father was fired as head coach.

2. Kansas coach Bill Self said Ben McLemore is eligible and ready to go for next season. Self said in the preseason that McLemore might have been the team’s most-ready NBA level talent. That was before Thomas Robinson had a breakthrough season. But if McLemore has the impact projected then the Jayhawks should be in the thick of the title race again next season.

3. San Diego State will play UCLA in the Wooden Classic on Dec. 1 at the Honda Center. Give SDSU coach Steve Fisher credit for constantly trying to upgrade the Aztecs schedule. But these types of games will become even more important once San Diego State moves to the Big West in 2013. The Aztecs will need to secure neutral-site games against top competition due to the lower conference power rating of the Big West compared to the Mountain West. Conversely, this will be a dangerous game for UCLA. SDSU should be the favored team to win in this game.

1. It will be interesting to hear how Trent Johnson explains why he’s leaving LSU for TCU. Comparing these two basketball jobs isn’t close. LSU has a rich history in the sport. TCU does not. LSU plays in the SEC where there is constant stability, access to a wider talent pool, and plenty of money. TCU joins the Big 12 in the fall where the Horned Frogs should feel more at home, but still aren’t close to the top of the pecking order in the state. Johnson was coaching at a high level when he was at Stanford. He took a gamble by leaving his native West for the Southeast but he left too soon. The money was more at LSU and reportedly even more so at TCU. But the best job he had for him was at Stanford.

2. Now LSU athletic director Joe Alleva needs to make the right hire to replace Johnson. North Texas coach Johnny Jones has strong ties to LSU and to the region. Jones tried to get the job before Johnson but to no avail. He has done wonders at North Texas, a school that is consistently in the Sun Belt chase. Alleva went out of region in luring Johnson from Stanford. This time, he should go with someone familiar with the area and especially the SEC. This is a critical time in the league: the addition of Missouri and Texas A&M, Frank Martin now coaching at South Carolina, and an increase to 18 conference games. Not to mention, of course, the dominant teams already at the top of the league led by Kentucky, Florida and Vanderbilt.

3. Thomas Robinson is a great example of a player who maxed out his career in college over a three-year period and is now ready to play in the NBA. He wasn’t a year ago. He had an exemplary season, led Kansas to the national title game, and now enters the NBA as a player who can contribute, not just be a high draft pick.

NEW ORLEANS -- The night before the national championship game, Bruiser Flint joined John Calipari and a few others in a hotel room.

Flint, who worked with Calipari at UMass, got the Kentucky coach to riff on the old days and spin some good tales about recruiting road trips.

When Flint walked into the Mercedes-Benz Superdome to watch the title game, one of the other people from the hotel room pulled the Drexel coach aside.

"He said, 'Man, I'm really glad you were in there. We needed someone to break the ice,'" Flint said. "You know, it was pretty intense in there."

Intense because Kentucky had the best team in the country by a country mile and everyone knew it, especially the people in the Commonwealth who have waited 14 long years for another title.

Longtime basketball writer Dick Jerardi said an hour before the game that he feared this national championship against Kansas could look an awful lot like Secretariat at the 1973 Belmont Stakes, so good were the Wildcats.

He was right. Kentucky is, indeed, a tremendous machine.

And Calipari knew it. He knew he had the best thoroughbreds in the barn, an amalgamation whose talent is only outdone by its unexpected unselfishness.

Yet for a week, at least publicly, the Wildcats coach has stubbornly insisted winning a national championship would do nothing for him, that his first trophy wouldn't rubber stamp a career 30 arduous years in the making.

And when the trophy was his, the nets were cut and the eighth national championship for Kentucky locked up, with a 67-59 win against Kansas, Calipari refused to edit the script.

"I'm glad it's done," he said. "Now I can get about my business of coaching basketball, getting these players to be the best that they can be. I don't have to hear the drama. I can just coach now. I don't have to worry. If you want to know the truth, it's almost like, 'Done. Let me move on.'"

For Dana O'Neil's full story, click here.

NEW ORLEANS -- Tears threatened to smear the blue paint underneath the eyes of a young Kentucky fan who simultaneously screamed and cried after her favorite team won a national title with a 67-59 win over Kansas on Monday night.

Anthony Davis, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2012 NCAA tournament, prompted that basketball bliss for Wildcats supporters worldwide.

John Calipari finally won a ring and now, "I don't have to hear the drama," he said after the game.

Davis took -- swatted -- that monkey off his coach's back.

Darius Miller, a senior who started his career with an NIT bid in his first season, smiled as he carried the national championship trophy through the Superdome's hallways.

Davis helped him end his career on top by leading Kentucky to its eighth national title.

The only-year big man cemented his position as one of greatest players in college basketball history with his performance against the Jayhawks.

And he did it despite missing nine shots.

For Myron Medcalf's full story, click here.

NEW ORLEANS -- On the court and on the bench, they looked defeated and deflated.

The Kansas Jayhawks had spent the previous two hours getting completely manhandled by Kentucky in the NCAA title game. For the most part, these had looked like two different caliber of teams. KU wasn't going to yell "Uncle!" -- but it may have been open to a running clock.

Statisticians on press row even cracked open the record book to look up the most lopsided loss in championship game history.

Just in case.

But then something strange happened. Trailing by 12 points with just under 7 minutes remaining -- the deficit had been as large as 18 -- the Jayhawks rose from their chairs after a timeout, walked onto the Superdome court.

And smiled.

"No one could tell us that we were going to lose except for the scoreboard," guard Elijah Johnson said. "We said, 'If they're going to beat us, they're going to remember us. They're going to feel the last of us.'"

Kentucky certainly did.

For Jason King's full story, click here.

NEW ORLEANS -- How did the Kentucky Wildcats just win the 2012 national title?

"We were the best team this season," coach John Calipari said.

"They were playing with pros," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "That didn't hurt, either."

Simple enough, right? Assemble the best freshman class in the country -- including a star center, Anthony Davis, that changes the game in ways both literal and metaphysical. Get Terrence Jones to decide to eschew a pre-lockout NBA draft and come back for his sophomore season. Keep senior Darius Miller around for leadership and savvy. A few months later, win the national title.

On Monday night, Kentucky made that process look remarkably easy in its 67-59 win over Kansas. It is this team's unique genius that the most difficult accomplishment in college basketball, and one of the most difficult in sports -- win six do-or-die games in a row -- can, once accomplished, seem downright rote.

Kentucky was the best team. It had the best players. Of course it won. Duh.

But that explanation is not sufficient. There's more to it than simply talent.

How did the Wildcats storm the NCAA tournament with a brand of dominance not seen since the 2009 North Carolina Tar Heels, and rarely seen before? How did they end that run by snuffing out an experienced, tough-as-nails Kansas squad, one led by a top-five pick and one of the best coaches in the country? How did Calipari's team go from "wow, these guys look talented" to "NCAA champions" in five short months? Here's how:

Dominant interior defense.

This is no surprise, of course: All season long, the college basketball world has marveled at Davis' shot-blocking and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist's defensive will, and the way this team has made the typically simple act of scoring in the paint a feat akin to a 30-foot 3-point shot. Kentucky opponents ranked last in the country in two-point field goal percentage and overall effective field goal percentage this season.

This ability was rarely more obvious than on Monday night. Davis and Co. held Kansas to 17-of-51 (just 33.3 percent) inside the arc. Robinson and frontcourt mate Jeff Withey combined to go 8-of-25 from the field, all of which were two-point attempts. Davis' six blocks (and Jones' two) had much to do with this, of course.

But it goes far beyond sheer blocks. On Monday night, it was attributable to Davis' sheer presence -- the way he obviously and subtly affects his opponents' psyche with the knowledge that he's always around, somewhere close, waiting to send their shot the other way.

It stemmed from Davis' freakish mix of length, athleticism and agility; we've never seen a player so good at challenging more than one shot on any given possession, and few who can leave their man to contest a penetrating guard or a post move, but still recover quickly enough to grab rebounds and stop second chances. Davis was always hovering near Robinson Monday night, always ready to leap over and challenge the opposite post, while still able to grab 16 rebounds, 12 of them defensive.

And Jones was great in his own right Monday night -- and all season -- too. Charged with battling Robinson for post position, he rarely allowed KU's star to catch the ball cleanly near the rim. Instead, as Kansas swung the ball around the perimeter, Jones shifted with Robinson, moving his body to either side to prevent the post entry and disallow Robinson from sealing him over the top.

It was a clinical post defense performance. Robinson felt its effects -- and Davis' presence, and the sheer combined strength and speed Kentucky has used to dominate opponents around the rim all season -- in a Nov. 15 loss in Madison Square Garden. And he felt it again in the national championship game.

Incredibly balanced, efficient offense.

For all the talk of this defense (and it has dominated the Kentucky discussion for much of the year), the Wildcats' best trait for most of the 2012 season -- particularly during its undefeated SEC regular-season blitzkrieg -- was its offense. Hello, Monday's first half; goodbye, Kansas Jayhawks.

In Monday's first half, Kentucky scored 41 points on 16-of-30 shooting, including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. It bumrushed the Jayhawks in a variety of ways, both in slower half-court sets and fast-break opportunities. Doron Lamb took the lead in the first half as he did throughout the game, scoring 22 points on 7-for-12 from the field, 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and 5-of-6 from the free throw line. When Kansas' defense shaped up in the second half and held Kentucky to just 26 points, Lamb's 10, including two key back-to-back killer 3s to stave off an even earlier Jayhawks push, were absolutely crucial.

But the Wildcats were balanced in their early breakout, too: Jones had six points, Kidd-Gilchrist 11, Teague nine, Miller three and Davis zero. (You don't need to score when you dominate every other facet of the game like Davis did.)

All of which was emblematic of the Wildcats' offensive style this season. As Calipari was fond of touting, no UK player averaged more than 11 shots per game this season. Their usage rates, per KenPom.com, were as follows (in order of highest to lowest):

Terrence Jones: 22.6 percent
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist: 21.7 percent
Marquis Teague: 21.1 percent
Anthony Davis: 19.1 percent
Darius Miller: 18.9 percent
Doron Lamb: 18.1 percent

That is the utter definition of balance, and it's precisely what made this team so good: There was no one option opposing teams could lock in on and stop at all costs, no "if they don't do this, they'll lose" quality available to scouts and assistant coaches. If you stop Davis -- if he shoots 1-for-10 -- well, big whoop. You still had to guard Teague on ball screens, Lamb on off-ball screens (on curls and fades and every manner of creative methods to get easy open shots), Jones in the low block and on the offensive glass, Kidd-Gilchrist in penetration and on the fast break, Miller in the mid-range. There was no way you could do all of it all the time, for a full 40 minutes.

If the Wildcats played well, they would beat you. Now that I think about it, that part really is sort of simple.

The unique nature of this once-in-a-generation group.

Hard-nosed interior defense. Offensive balance between six remarkable, multifaceted talents. These are the two primary qualities the Wildcats brought to the floor for nearly all of 2011-12, and they're why Big Blue Nation got to celebrate the program's eighth national title Monday night. (And Tuesday morning. And probably Tuesday night. And Wednesday. And Thursday ...)

Getting to this point -- to get to the national title, to create this remarkable team -- wasn't merely a matter of recruiting this talent and letting it go do their thing. And voila! National title! That's not how it works. Calipari had to do his finest coaching job of all-time, too. He had to meld these players together into that all-hands-on-deck offensive attack, had to get them to defend every possession like it was their last, and he had to embark on a near-constant process of adjustment and acclimatization.

There are plenty of examples of this in the 2011-12 season, but perhaps the most noteworthy is how much Calipari changed the pace of the Wildcats' attack in SEC play. Kentucky averaged 70.7 possessions per game in nonconference play. This was vintage Cal, vintage Kentucky: Uptempo, utilizing the dribble-drive motion offense, overwhelming opponents with sheer talent until they finally were forced to relent.

But Teague struggled. He was prone to turnovers and forced shots; he was trying to do too much, to be the all-everything point guard he was in high school, when he was the No. 1-ranked player at his position in his recruiting class. So Calipari slowed the Wildcats down. In 16 SEC games, they averaged just 62.6 possessions. The slower pace made the game easier for Teague. He rushed less, controlled more. As a result, his assist-to-turnover ratio skyrocketed. Meanwhile, Kentucky's best defensive trait -- that inside rim-protecting defense -- was allowed to establish itself, as opponents found themselves stuck playing UK in a halfcourt game.

And so it was that the Wildcats were able to enter the tournament as a team capable of playing fast or slow, on the break or in the fray, with a freshman point guard that calmly and coolly worked the Wildcats away from two sets of upset-minded, turnover-forcing guard corps at Louisville and Kansas. Those teams made their late runs. The tension built. But Teague, a world away from November and December, was ready.

These Wildcats won't be easily replicated. There are few players in the world like Davis, who grew to become the nation's most dominant player years after most top prep stars have already been groomed and coddled beyond recognition. There are few top-5 picks like Kidd-Gilchrist, as acutely aware of his strengths and weaknesses -- and as willing to play within the game, to do whatever it takes to win -- as any elite star we've seen in decades. There are few players like Jones, the sophomore big enough to play power forward but skilled enough to plug holes on the perimeter as well.

These players, and their teammates, arrived at this season with both tangible and intangible qualities that primed them for success. Calipari had to find them, first and foremost. But he also had to mold them. They had to trust him, too.

And their willingness to do all of the above -- their special qualities and complementary abilities and sincere care for more than draft hype and touches, but for more lasting glory -- transcended any of the easy labels foist upon them by the outside world.

"What I wanted them to show was that we were not just a talented team," Calipari said, just minutes after cutting down the nets in honor of his first national championship. "We were a defensive team, and we were a team that shared the ball.

"I wanted that. I told them I wanted this to be one for the ages. Go out there and show everyone what kind of team you are, even though we were young. It doesn't matter how young you are. It's how you play together."

That will be the lasting lesson of the 2012 national champion Kentucky Wildcats: Youth only means so much. Talent, too. Greatness requires so much more.

This team had all of it, everything it takes on offense and defense and in the locker room and on the sideline. On Monday night, they made sure we'd remember that more than anything else. And so we will.

Or, at least, we should. Because winning a national title like this team just won a national title is never -- despite appearances to the contrary -- as simple as it looks.

The Kentucky Wildcats outscored the Kansas Jayhawks 20-9 in transition, the sixth straight game Kentucky outscored its opponent in transition and the fifth time in six tournament games it scored 20 transition points.

The win gives the Wildcats their eighth national championship, second only to UCLA (11), and their 38th win of the season, the most ever in men’s Division I basketball. (Memphis went 38-2 in 2008 but later had all its wins vacated because of NCAA violations.)

No. 1 seeds improve to 7-2 against No. 2 seeds in the national title game since seeding began in 1979. Kentucky is the second top overall seed to win the title since the overall seeding began in 2004 (Florida was the first, in 2007).

Anthony Davis finished with 6 points, 16 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 blocks, 3 steals. He’s the first player in NCAA tournament history to reach those marks in a single game.

He’s the fourth freshman to be named most outstanding player in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, and first since Carmelo Anthony in 2003.

He scored just 24 points in the Final Four, the fewest by the Most Outstanding Player since Patrick Ewing scored 18 en route to Georgetown's national title in 1984. Only three other players have scored fewer points in the Final Four and won the award.

Davis blocked six shots and altered two more -- both of them on attempts by Jeff Withey -- tying Joakim Noah in 2006 for the most blocks in a national championship game. He also set the freshman record with 186 blocks in a season.

He blocked or altered 18.2 percent of Kentucky's opponents' 2-point field-goal attempts during the tournament, including 15.7 percent against Kansas on Monday. Davis finished tied for the second-most blocks (29) ever in a single tournament and altered an additional 28 shots.

The Wildcats blocked 11 shots as a team, the most ever in the national championship game. The previous record was 10 by 2011 UConn and 2006 Florida.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the third national title game featuring a rematch between coaches who had previously met in the national title game, and the first in 50 years. John Calipari is the first of the three coaches to lose the first matchup and win the rematch.

Kansas shot a season-worst 33.3 percent on 2-point field goals, including just 11-for-25 on dunks and layups (44 percent). The Jayhawks shot 36.4 percent inside the arc earlier this season against the Wildcats, their second-worst 2-point field goal percentage in a game this season.

Thomas Robinson finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds, just the sixth player in the past 40 years -- and third from Kansas -- to put up a line like that in the title game. Nick Collison, Ed O’Bannon, Danny Manning, Akeem Olajuwon and Bill Walton are the others.

Withey had just 5 points, but added 7 rebounds and 4 blocks, passing Noah for the most blocks in a single NCAA tournament (31).

Kansas lost in the national title game for the sixth time, tied with Duke for the most ever.

Anthony Davis, named the Final Four's most outstanding player, talks about Kentucky's title win over Kansas.

Jay Bilas breaks down Kentucky's win over Kansas.