A young Darryl Hall once crooned, “So close, yet so far away.” Since he quickly followed that up with, “John shave that cheezy moustache and buy some hair relaxant”, it?s doubtful he was talking about or predicting a 2003 National Championship for either Kansas? Roy Williams or Syracuse?s Jim Boeheim.

So, I?ll put on my Miss Cleo turbin and dust off my crystal ball and be the guy to break it down for ya. But I don?t want anyone to think I?m biased. So there?s some things I need to put on the table. I lived in Lawrence, Kansas for one year. I married a Kansas grad, and my sister graduated a Jayhawk as well. My best friend Chris Mac is a diehard Hawk fan who will be put under suicide-watch if his team is prevented from cutting down the nets tonight. And in a strange twist of fate, a flat tire this morning forced me to drive to work with a ?Kansas Jayhawks ? Rock Chalk? bumper sticker on the back of my ride.

All that said, I?ve gotta go with Syracuse. And yes, I realize that only a handful of pundits are going Orange tonight, CBS? Clark Kellogg included. And no, it?s not a case of me hating on the local team—I?ve actually got some reasons.

-Syracuse owns the Big 12: During the regular season Syracuse took care of the Mizzou Tigers (by the way I ate a 3:00a.m. after-bars breakfast one booth away from Arthur Johnson, Ricky Paulding and Jeffrey Ferguson on Saturday morning—-thought you should know), and during the tournament they?ve disposed of Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Texas.

-Kansas was simply too good for their own good on Saturday: Never has a team winning by more than 14 points in the National Semifinals, gone on to win the Championship. Sure it was fun to watch the Kansas walk-ons share the floor for significant minutes with the game well in hand, but history says the laughs stop there.

-The guy behind the guy: In the majority of this particular tournament?s games, the team with the best player on the court has emerged victorious. I?m sure others, namely Kansas fans, would disagree, but I?d give Carmelo Anthony an oh so slight edge over Nick Collison (I?m confident every NBA scout would agree). But even if you disagree, the guy to watch in this game will be Syracuse sophomore Hakim Warrick, a guy I think is the most underrated player in the nation. He will be the guy that puts Jeff Graves on the bench in early foul trouble, and helps to equalize the front court disparity. (Next guy to watch ? Billy Edelin). Apparently Keith Langford will be the first Jayhawk to get a crack at Anthony. Not only will this take away from his offense, but considering that ?Melo dropped 33 points on the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, Royal Ivey, I think he?s already putting on his smiling game face.

Of course Kansas is the Vegas favorite and for good reason. They?ve completely shot down their opponents best 3-point shooters in Duke?s Redick, Zona?s Stoudamire, and Marquette?s Diener—there?s no reason to think they won?t have similar success against my 2nd favorite player in the nation, Gerry McNamara. Offensively they?ve run teams out of the gym similar to the National Champion Wildcats (both Arizona and Kentucky) of the mid to late 90?s.

They?re also the sentimental favorite. The loser of tonight?s game, Boeheim or Williams, will undisputably carry the ?Best Coach Without a Championship? tag. And even though Boeheim?s been at Syracuse for 27 years (Roy at Kansas for 15 years), more people gravitate to Roy?s shucky-gursh-durnit act, than Boeheim?s perceived whines and complains.

Whether Carmelo enters the NBA Draft after one, albeit impressive, college season, with a team littered with talented freshman and sophomores and with another McD All-American on the way, Boeheim?s easily got a couple more shots with this team. And not only for Roy, but Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison?s decision to turn up their noses at first-round NBA money, for another shot at a Championship should be praised and serve as example to other above average underclassmen. How much more compelling would the South bracket have been if Chris Wilcox was still a Maryland Terrapin and Marcus Taylor a Michigan State Spartan. Taylor?s not even in the league, and Wilcox has seen just a few more minutes of NBA action than I have. Sadly these guys are the rule, while Nick and Kirk are the exception.

Syracuse 81, Kansas 74—and where is John M. when you need him? And by the way, Roy Stays?

Couple of quick notes about my 12-team, NL-only Rotisserie Auction that might be of interest. My guy D.C.?s day, and maybe season, was ruined after going $25 for Ken Griffey, Jr. a couple of hours before the shoulder injury.

I went in with a ?Punt Saves and Nobody Over $30? strategy, and walked away with some modest quality in Luis Gonzalez ($29) and Derek Lee ($28), and two Cubbies- Corey Patterson ($16) and Mark Grudzy ($3—bargain!). I?ve got too much speed and will need to trade it to upgrade a pitching staff that I spent only $50 on. That said, I?ve got a solid starting anchor in A.J. Burnett ($15) but I?ll live and die with San Francisco; Damian Moss ($5), Kurt Ainsworth ($3), Tim Worrell ($9) and Felix Rodriguez ($7). Much more than you wanted to know I?m sure?

Now back to searching for pictures of Tennessee?s Brittany Jackson. Is she really from Tennessee, cuz she?s the Only Ten I See (in the Women?s Final Four)!!!