After all the hype and hoopla of March Madness, everything comes to a head Monday night as the Louisville Cardinals meet the Michigan Wolverines in the national championship game of the 2013 NCAA tournament.
Louisville coach Rick Pitino, who will be the latest basketball legend to be inducted into basketball's Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame this fall after being announced Monday as part of the incoming Class of 2013, has another chance to make history tonight.
With a win tonight, Pitino has a chance to become the first college hoops coach in NCAA history to win the national title twice with two different schools. He did it the first time in 1996 when he coached the Kentucky Wildcats to the title.
And in addition, injured Louisville guard Kevin Ware will likely be in attendance Monday night, as he was on Saturday when he cheered his team on to a 72-68 win over Syracuse to seal the deal on the Cardinals' date with the national title at stake.
But Michigan, vying for the* national title, could have some star-studded alumni in attendance for them, as Jalen Rose, a former NBA All-Star and member of the famed 1990s Fab Four of Rose, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard and Ray Jackson, is planning to attend the game with other members of Michigan's most famous basketball alumni that led the team to back-to-back NCAA title games in 1992 and 1993.
But one famous alumni of the Fab Four is missing-Webber.
The group's most famous star, the former NBA star has been distancing himself from the Michigan program, possibly due to both the infamous time-out that Webber called in the 1993 title game with less than 20 seconds remaining that cost Michigan the championship. There was also the specter of Webber's alleged involvement with Ed Martin, a late booster for the Michigan squad--where an indictment stated that Webber knowingly took hundreds of thousands of dollars from Martin against NCAA regulations--that led to Michigan forfeiting several wins leading up to their title game appearances.
Rose has issued a public plea for Webber, his old college teammate and friend, to attend Monday's game.
TV Schedule
Monday, April 08, 2013
9:00 p.m. ET
NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Game
Louisville (1) vs. Michigan (4)
TV Channel: CBS
Live Stream: NCAA.com's March Madness Site