One of the most intriguing matchups of the 2018 NCAA Tournament is tonight’s Final Four showdown between Kansas and Villanova, a pair of No. 1 seeds that managed to successfully navigate four rounds of wild March Madness upsets to get to the event’s final weekend. The Wildcats have absolutely dominated their competition to get through the East region, winning all four matchups by double-digit margins. The Jayhawks did not make it look as easy, only beating their last three opponents by four points each. They also needed overtime to slip past Duke to cut down the Midwest region nets, getting fortunate that the Blue Devils' last-second shot in regulation hit every part of the rim and went out to bring on extra time.
Because of these relative struggles compared to Villanova, Kansas opened as a five-point underdog in this upcoming Final Four contest. Bettors still liked the Wildcats more at that number, forcing the line up to where it currently stands at NOVA -5.5. Here’s an in-depth look at the betting lines for this matchup, as well as each team’s national championship odds, TV and live stream viewing information, start times and more for every remaining game in the 2018 NCAA Tournament:
2018 Final Four Viewing Info, Odds And Predictions
Time (ET) Matchup (TV) Odds Pick O/U National Title Odds Final Four (Saturday March 31) 6:09 p.m. No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 11 Loyola-Chicago (TBS) UM -5 LCHI 130.5 MICH +230 / LCHI +1000 8:49 p.m. No. 1 Villanova vs. No. 1 Kansas (TBS) NOVA -5.5 NOVA 154.5 NOVA -115 / KU +300 National Championship (Monday April 2) 9:20 p.m. TBD (MICH/LCHI) vs. TBD (NOVA/KU) TBD TBD TBD TBD
Every game can be streamed on March Madness Live
March Madness Odds Courtesy Of BetDSI Sportsbook
2018 NCAA Tournament Bracket
NCAA.com
Latest bracket available here
No. 1 Villanova (E) Vs. No. 1 Kansas (MW) Preview
Betting Trends
Villanova
Villanova is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games
Villanova is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 14 of Villanova's last 19 games
Villanova is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games
Kansas is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Kansas's last 6 games
Kansas is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Villanova
What People Are Saying
Jeff Goodman joked that this game is for the national title, as the winner is sure to be favored on Monday night against No. 3 Michigan or No. 11 Loyola-Chicago:
Kansas vs. Villanova in the national title game. Um, I mean national semifinal game. — Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanESPN) March 25, 2018
RJ Bell pointed out that Final Four games have rarely gone over 155 points during the past decade or so, which is the total Vegas has pegged the over/under at for this matchup:
Only 1 of the last 26 Final Four round games had more than 155 total points scored (via @SleepyJ_Pregame) Over/Under point total for Villanova/Kansas is 155 — RJ Bell (@RJinVegas) March 30, 2018
KenPom tweeted that both the Jayhawks and Wildcats should still be amongst the best in the country next year, even if all their top NBA prospects leave school early:
Here's my computer's top 10 for 2019 assuming everyone in @DraftExpress top 40 leaves: 1) Kansas, 2) Duke, 3) Villanova, 4) Auburn, 5) Kentucky, 6) North Carolina, 7) Nevada, 8) West Virginia, 9) Gonzaga, 10) Virginia, 11) Maryland. — Ken Pomeroy (@kenpomeroy) March 24, 2018
PrepScouting found that Kansas has the most transfers of any Final Four squad on the roster, while Villanova has the least:
How many “Transfers” does each Final 4 Team have on their Roster:
•Loyola (4 Transfers)
•Michigan (3 Transfers)
•Villanova (1 Transfer)
•Kansas (5 Transfers) — PrepScouting (NCAA) (@highmajorscoop) March 26, 2018
NCAA March Madness noted that the Jayhawks and Wildcats each have a 2018 AP All-American in the starting lineup:
2018 AP All-American Team FIRST TEAM
Jalen Brunson - Villanova
Deandre Ayton - Arizona
Trae Young - Oklahoma
Marvin Bagley III - Duke
Devonte' Graham - Kansas Second & Third Team: https://t.co/dzj6VxL6Gg pic.twitter.com/ePtuFMVf6S — NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 27, 2018
Dinos Trigonis is picking ‘Nova to cut down all the nets at the Alamodome:
My Final 4 predictions: Loyola/Chicago over Michigan by 3 pts; Villanova over Kansas by 8 pts Title Game: Villanova over Loyola/Chicago by 5 pts — Dinos Trigonis (@trigonis30) March 31, 2018
Kansas Jayhawks Fans highlighted an interesting bit of history when it comes to their school playing against an AP Player of the Year in a San Antonio-based Final Four:
In 2008, Tyler Hansbrough of UNC won AP Player of the year. KU beat UNC in the Final 4 in San Antonio, then won the National Title. It’s now 2018, and Jalen Brunson of Villanova just won AP Player of the Year. KU is about to play Villanova in the Final 4 in San Antonio Saturday. pic.twitter.com/YH25GBwBCI — Kansas Jayhawk Fans (@FansOfKU) March 30, 2018
ESPN PR congratulated the small fraction of the 17.3 million bracket entrants that had this Final Four correct on their site:
Congratulations to the 550 people who correctly picked Loyola, Michigan, Villanova and Kansas to make the Final Four (17.3 million entries) — ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) March 25, 2018
What The Coaches Are Saying
Jay Wright, Villanova head coach (via CBS Philly):
Our guys all take great pride in representing the university, the whole community and Philadelphia basketball…They’re ready. They’ve had good practices. We get two days down there on the court. So, we still have some work to do but I think they’re ready…There’s nothing like a national championship. Just playing for it is an honor. We’re proud every step of the way…It”s really the greatest challenge. Teams you play are great but there are so many responsibilities and commitments you have down there, especially the players [who are] trying to find a way to stay focus–it’s really difficult. But the other teams are going through it too.
Bill Self, Kansas head coach (via CBS San Antonio):
We're very excited to be back in San Antonio, and certainly we've had an unbelievable experience here before and look forward to the weekend and the opportunity to play probably the best team from start to finish this year in college basketball. So we're very excited to be here looking forward to representing our university.
Pro Prediction
Jon Price of SportsInformationTraders.com has been telling readers to bet Villanova to win it all this year since Selection Sunday, noting that the team had one of the easiest roads to San Antonio through the East region and possessed all the right tools to get the job done once it reached Texas. That hasn’t changed now that the Wildcats are here, especially after they completely obliterated their opponents during the first two weeks of March Madness.
Villanova won their first four games by an average margin of more than 18 points, including a pair of 12-point victories against West Virginia and Texas Tech in the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, respectively. The players have been bombing away from beyond the arc, raining down a borderline ridiculous average of 12 three-point makes per contest. They’ve hoisted up a total of 116 total shots from deep and hit on 48, a connection percentage of more than 41%. The latter number would be far more impressive if the Red Raiders hadn’t held the Wildcats in check last weekend, limiting them to a poor 4-of-24 three-point shooting performance. It was the only game in which ‘Nova didn’t pour in at least 13 treys during this NCAA Tournament.
This offensive explosion shouldn’t surprise anyone who has been paying attention to the Big East champs this season, as they led the nation in the KenPom.com efficiency-adjusted offensive rankings and scored 87.1 points per game, the top mark in Division 1. Defense was the one area where ‘Nova could occasionally be inconsistent—the program still ranked within the top-25 after adjusting for efficiency—but proved that it’s able to step up and play world class basketball on that end of the floor when shots aren’t falling. That’s exactly how the Wildcats handled third-seeded Texas Tech in the Elite Eight, holding their foe to 33.3% field goal shooting to cut down the nets in Boston.
That ranked as the lowest shooting percentage of any Villanova opponent during the Big Dance, as even No. 16 seeded Radford managed to hit home on 33.9% of its shots in the first round. The best outing against the Wildcats was Alabama’s 41.7% from the field in the second round, while none of the teams that matched up with ‘Nova have been able to get much going from beyond the arc.
Here’s a look at three-point shooting numbers for the Wildcats and their opponents during the first four rounds of the 2018 NCAA Tournament:
Villanova Three-Point Shooting and Three-Point Defense During March Madness
Opponent Opp. 3PT Opp. 3PT% Nova 3PT Nova 3PT% Radford 8-24 33.3% 14-27 51.9% Alabama 4-16 25% 17-41 41.5% West Virginia 7-28 25% 13-24 54.2% Texas Tech 5-20 25% 4-24 16.7%
As you can see, no one outside of the Highlanders has been able to hit more than a quarter of its three-point attempts against these Wildcats. Kansas has hit at least 36% of its treys in each of its opening four games, but the Jayhawks are going to struggle to continue that hot shooting in the Final Four. If they can’t keep pace against ‘Nova, this game will get out of hand quickly.
Even if Villanova’s shot isn’t falling, the players have shown they can get to the line and win games by making free throws. This is exactly what happened in the Elite Eight, when they buried 29-of-35 foul shots to grind out a “W” against TTU. There’s just too many ways for the Wildcats to win and Kansas will fall short on Saturday night because of the depth, talent and versatility that head coach Jay Wright’s roster possesses.
Pick: Villanova -5.5
Prediction: Villanova 77 – Kansas 70
The 2018 Final Four will play the semifinals on Saturday, March 31. See the Final Four schedule, dates, times and TV channels for the Saturday NCAA Tournament games below.
Michigan-Loyola (Chicago) start the Final Four games. Later, Villanova plays Kansas. Winners advance to the title game.
2018 Final Four: Schedule, dates for NCAA Tournament games
The 2018 Final Four starts Saturday, March 31. The 2018 National Championship Game is then set for two days later on Monday, April 2.
Dates: Saturday, March 31 for the semifinals and Monday, April 2 for the national championship
Location: The Alamodome in San Antonio
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2018 Final Four: Times for NCAA Tournament games
NATIONAL SEMIFINALS
Saturday, March 31 (in San Antonio)
6:09 p.m. ET — No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 11 Loyola (Chicago) | TBS
8:49 p.m. — No. 1 Villanova vs. No. 1 Kansas | TBS
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NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Monday, April 2 (in San Antonio)
9:20 p.m. ET — Semifinal winners | TBS
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2018 Final Four: TV channels for NCAA Tournament games
The 2018 Final Four is on TBS. Both national semifinal games and the national championship game will be televised by TBS.
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2018 NCAA Tournament: Bracket
Click here for a high-resolution image.
2018 NCAA Tournament: Scores, results
FIRST FOUR (in Dayton, Ohio)
Tuesday, March 13
FINAL: No. 16 Radford 71, No. 16 LIU Brooklyn 61 | Box score
FINAL: No. 11 St. Bonaventure 65, No. 11 UCLA 58 | Box score
Wednesday, March 14
FINAL: No. 16 Texas Southern 64, No. 16 NC Central 46 | Box score
FINAL: No. 11 Syracuse 60, No. 11 Arizona State 56 | Box score
FIRST ROUND
Thursday, March 15
FINAL: No. 7 Rhode Island 83, No. 10 Oklahoma 78 (OT) | Box score
FINAL: No. 3 Tennessee 73, No. 14 Wright State 47 | Box score
FINAL: No. 4 Gonzaga 68, No. 13 UNC Greensboro 64 | Box score
FINAL: No. 1 Kansas 76, No. 16 Penn 60 | Box score
FINAL: No. 2 Duke 89, No. 15 Iona 67 | Box score
FINAL: No. 11 Loyola (Chicago) 64, No. 6 Miami (Fla.) 62 | Box score
FINAL: No. 5 Ohio State 81, No. 12 South Dakota 73 | Box score
FINAL: No. 8 Seton Hall 94, No. 9 N.C. State 83 | Box score
FINAL: No. 1 Villanova 87, No. 16 Radford 61 | Box score
FINAL: No. 5 Kentucky 78, No. 12 Davidson 73 | Box score
FINAL: No. 3 Texas Tech 70, No. 14 Stephen F. Austin 60 | Box score
FINAL: No. 6 Houston 67, No. 11 San Diego State 65 | Box score
FINAL: No. 9 Alabama 86, No. 8 Virginia Tech 83 | Box score
FINAL: No. 13 Buffalo 89, No. 4 Arizona 68 | Box score
FINAL: No. 6 Florida 77, No. 11 St. Bonaventure 62 | Box score
FINAL: No. 3 Michigan 61, No. 14 Montana 47 | Box score
Friday, March 16
FINAL: No. 7 Texas A&M 73, No. 10 Providence 69 | Box score
FINAL: No. 2 Purdue 74, No. 15 CS Fullerton 48 | Box score
FINAL: No. 13 Marshall 81, No. 4 Wichita State 75 | Box score
FINAL: No. 2 Cincinnati 68, No. 15 Georgia State 53 | Box score
FINAL: No. 2 North Carolina 84, No. 15 Lipscomb 66 | Box score
FINAL: No. 10 Butler 79, No. 7 Arkansas 62 | Box score
FINAL: No. 5 West Virginia 85, No. 12 Murray State 68 | Box score
FINAL: No. 7 Nevada 87, No. 10 Texas 83 (OT) | Box score
FINAL: No. 9 Kansas State 69, No. 8 Creighton 59 | Box score
FINAL: No. 3 Michigan State 82, No. 14 Bucknell 78 | Box score
FINAL: No. 4 Auburn 62, No. 13 College of Charleston 58 | Box score
FINAL: No. 1 Xavier 102, No. 16 Texas Southern 83 | Box score
FINAL: No. 16 UMBC 74, No. 1 Virginia 54 | Box score
FINAL: No. 11 Syracuse 57, No. 6 TCU 52 | Box score
FINAL: No. 5 Clemson 79, No. 12 New Mexico State 68 | Box score
FINAL: No. 9 Florida State 67, No. 8 Missouri 54 | Box score
SECOND ROUND
Saturday, March 17
FINAL: No. 1 Villanova 81, No. 9 Alabama 58 | Box score
FINAL: No. 2 Duke 87, No. 7 Rhode Island 62 | Box score
FINAL: No. 5 Kentucky 95, No. 13 Buffalo 75 | Box score
FINAL: No. 11 Loyola (Chicago) 63, No. 3 Tennessee 62 | Box score
FINAL: No. 1 Kansas 83, No. 8 Seton Hall 79 | Box score
FINAL: No. 4 Gonzaga 90, No. 5 Ohio State 84 | Box score
FINAL: No. 3 Texas Tech 69, No. 6 Florida 66 | Box score
FINAL: No. 3 Michigan 64, No. 6 Houston 63 | Box score
Sunday, March 18
FINAL: No. 2 Purdue 76, No. 10 Butler 73 | Box score
FINAL: Syracuse 55, Michigan State 53 | Box score
FINAL: Texas A&M 86, North Carolina 65 | Box score
FINAL: Nevada 75, Cincinnati 73 | Box score
FINAL: Clemson 84, Auburn 53 | Box score
FINAL: Kansas State 50, UMBC 43 | Box score
FINAL: Florida State 75, Xavier 70 | Box score
FINAL: West Virginia 94, Marshall 71 | Box score
SWEET 16
Thursday, March 22
FINAL: No. 11 Loyola (Chicago) 69, No. 7 Nevada 68 | Box score
FINAL: No. 3 Michigan 99, No. 7 Texas A&M 72 | Box score
FINAL: No. 5 Kansas State 61, No. 5 Kentucky 58 | Box score
FINAL: No. 9 Florida State 75, No. 4 Gonzaga 60 | Box score
Friday, March 23
FINAL: No. 1 Kansas 80, No. 5 Clemson 76 | Box score
FINAL: No. 1 Villanova 90, No. 5 West Virginia 78 | Box score
FINAL: No. 2 Duke 69, No. 11 Syracuse 65 | Box score
FINAL: No. 3 Texas Tech 78, No. 2 Purdue 65 | Box score
ELITE EIGHT
Saturday, March 24
FINAL: No. 11 Loyola (Chicago) 78, No. 9 Kansas State 62 | Box score
FINAL: No. 3 Michigan 58, No. 9 Florida State 54 | Box score
Sunday, March 25
FINAL: No. 1 Villanova 71, No. 3 Texas Tech 59 | Box score
FINAL: No. 1 Kansas 85, No. 2 Duke 81 (OT) | Box score
There's still time to win! Pick the Final Four winners in CBS Sports' Round-By-Round game and you could be in attendance next year.
The Final Four is here, finally. Loyola-Chicago, Michigan, Villanova and Kansas are done with practices and ready to figure out who will play Monday for the national championship. Saturday's games are milestones -- Final Four appearances are banner-worthy -- but winning is the real goal.
The NCAA Tournament has been full of surprises thus far, but two No. 1 seeds have actually made the Final Four, along with No. 3 seed Michigan. The biggest surprise, by far, is the No. 11 Loyola-Chicago Ramblers making it all the way to the final weekend. It should be an intriguing set of games, so make sure you know how to watch them.
Below are dates, tip times, and the television schedule for the event, which begins on March 31.
Final Four
When : Saturday, March 31
: Saturday, March 31 TV : TBS
: TBS Streaming : March Madness Live (free with cable account or three-hour trial)
: March Madness Live (free with cable account or three-hour trial) Time : Game 1 (No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 11 Loyola-Chicago) tip: 6:09 p.m. ET | Game 2 (No.1 Villanova vs. No. 1 Kansas) tip: 8:49 p.m. ET
: Game 1 (No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 11 Loyola-Chicago) tip: 6:09 p.m. ET | Game 2 (No.1 Villanova vs. No. 1 Kansas) tip: 8:49 p.m. ET Location: Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
National Championship
SAN ANTONIO -- The eight of them gathered in Porter Moser's spacious suite at the Westin on Wednesday night. Among this motley crew of coaches were middle-aged men you might have never heard of: John Gallagher from Hartford, Mike Martin from Brown, Chris Harriman from New Mexico, Dave Pauley from the University of Sciences in Philly.
A clan of coaching eccentrics from around the country, none of whom has found the kind of mainstream success that college basketball and the month of March sometimes afford for the more fortunate but not always the more deserving. Until two weeks ago, Moser was like them.
In most ways, he still is.
"He's in the Final Four, his pictures are on the wall here ... and a year ago he's trying to win in the (Missouri Valley Conference)," Gallagher said. "Is this actually happening?"
The buddies traded old stories as they swigged beers and munched on wings and calamari. At some point, time had come for a toast. With Moser's Loyola-Chicago team in the midst of an all timer of an NCAA Tournament run, glasses were due to be raised. Moser -- man of the hour, king of the week and coach of the month -- spoke up.
"To David Patrick for getting his first head coaching job," he said.
Steve Shields, an assistant at Southern Miss who's known Moser for almost 30 years, wasn't surprised by Moser's words for Patrick, who just got his gig at UC Riverside earlier this month. Nobody else in the room was either. As he always has, Moser refused to make it about himself.
"Deflecting off his shining moment," Shields said.
To this point, Loyola-Chicago is an amazing story but not a one-of-a-kind story. Moser's path to the Final Four, however, is. We have seen Cinderella teams seeded 11th make it this deep into the NCAAs before (see: George Mason and VCU). Moser, though, has done the unprecedented. Never before had a coach gone so long until making his first NCAA Tournament (14 seasons) and in doing so made the Final Four in his first trip to the Big Dance.
"As the nation's gotten to meet him, that's what we saw when we met him at 18 years old," said Todd Eisner, Winona State coach and a college friend of Moser's. "Outgoing, enthusiastic, passionate. He always played with an edge, but always felt like he belonged. This weekend's the fruition of all those days, months, years of work."
Talk to those who know Moser best and they'll swear he was owed this glory. Talk to those who barely know him at all and they could claim the same. Guys like John Giannini (La Salle), Wes Flanigan (Little Rock) and Scott Cross (UT Arlington): all three were fired this month, two of them within the past week. Moser took the time to get their numbers from other people, call them and spend 15, 20, even 30 minutes on the phone with them (and there may be more), just to send encouragement and reassure them that things can change for the better.
"That's Porter Moser, it's always about someone else," Gallagher said.
Moser knows. He's been there.
In 2007 he was forced out after four uneven years at Illinois State. He went 51-67 there and never finished better than sixth in the Missouri Valley. It was a 180 from Moser's time at Little Rock, when he was hired in 2000 at the age of 29 -- making him the youngest head coach in Division I -- and parlayed three successful (non-NCAA Tournament) seasons there into the ISU job. The ISU flameout hurt him to the point where one athletic director in the MAAC passed on even interviewing him.
Moser worked for years to get to the NCAA Tournament, much less the Final Four. USATSI
"That's about as down as I've ever seen him," Eisner said.
Eisner and Moser arrived together at Creighton in 1986, when Moser -- a walk-on -- had the same spiky hairstyle at 18 he's still sporting at 49. After the Ramblers' win over K-State in the Elite Eight, Eisner and Moser waxed on the past and present from Moser's hotel room on the 16th floor of the Hyatt in downtown Atlanta.
"The best thing that ever happened in your career was getting fired at Illinois State," Eisner told Moser.
"You're 100 percent correct," Moser said.
The Illinois State debacle wound up being the low point of his career that changed his life. Moser never lost his trademark enthusiasm or passion, even when his coaching future seemed bleak.
"Adversity doesn't have to define you," Moser said. "Some of the worst things that's happened in my life, starting at a young age, some of the best things have followed."
What followed was an unexpected opportunity to work for Rick Majerus at Saint Louis in 2007. During those four seasons and beyond, Moser went through what he calls a "competitive reinvention process." Through this, he became a different coach on the floor and an even more connected one in the business. He refused to let failures affect his professional course. Working for Majerus, who could be cantankerous and brutal with his players, only made Moser more affable.
"It's not common for a person to be as well-liked in this profession as Porter is," Harriman said. "A profession full of people who can be cross -- you know how it is with guys and recruiting. I think you'd have a hard time finding anybody that dislikes Porter and doesn't respect him on any level."
Ask those who talk to him even only occasionally, and they'll swear to you this had to happen for Moser. The universe was going to bend his way, and now it has -- fast and deservingly. Harriman is a prime example. Majerus made Harriman endure two five-day interview periods when the then-young assistant was trying to get his first Division I position. He didn't think he had a shot to join a legend. But Moser, who was promoted to associate head coach after one season as an assistant, had Majerus' trust as much as almost anyone who worked for the famously aberrant coach.
I hope there is a great sports bar in heaven and Rick Majerus is watching this incredible coaching display by his apostle Porter Moser. @RamblersMBB @SLU_Billikens pic.twitter.com/mHC44HdTUk — Frank Cusumano (@Frank_Cusumano) March 24, 2018
"Porter's all energy, a guy that had been doing it for a long time and was willing to kind of fight for me to come on staff with him," said Harriman, who became an assistant coach at Nebraska and now New Mexico. "Coach Majerus told me at a later date that Porter was the key thing with hiring me."
Last summer, when Harriman was uncertain of his future at New Mexico after a coaching change, Moser called him daily.
"And now he plays in the Missouri Valley conference championship, they win, I call him 90 minutes after and he picks up the phone, 'Hey, Harri,'" Harriman said. "What? He's oblivious to all that craziness when it comes to people that are close to him. He'll do anything in the world for you. I owe everything I have in this profession to Porter."
There are more similar anecdotes, like this one from Gallagher: "Porter saved our season."
Gallagher coaches at Hartford, a program almost 900 miles from Loyola-Chicago and one that has never made the NCAA Tournament. He's never been on staff with Moser, never worked with him in any capacity. The two got to know each other best while sharing a rental car in Greece a few years ago.
So then there's this.
"We're 3-6, I get a phone call," Gallagher said. "We're dead in the water. It's Porter. He spends two hours on the phone with me. We had lost three of four games in the last 30 seconds, and he just paints a picture like an artist, and I mean it. 'You got this thing right where you want them, man. You're in a perfect spot.' He's got his team, he's trying to coach his team. And I can remember we beat Rutgers at Rutgers. He texted me at 9:01, right after the game, and said, 'That's what I'm talking about.' I said, 'Three weeks ago you gave me the best 90-minute talk anybody's given me.' He replied, 'We need to be here for each other.'"
Hartford went on to win 16 more games and tallied its highest win total in a season since the early 1970s. Gallagher got a contract extension.
Moser and guard Ben Richardson embrace during an NCAA Tournament game. USATSI
While in Atlanta for the regionals, Gallagher, Martin, Eisner and a horde of Moser's friends filled up the seats behind the Ramblers bench. Close to 100 people in the Porter posse. All there to see Porter Moser's moment finally happen.
"I said to Mike Martin, the reason this is a different story is because everybody here feels like they're playing in the Sweet 16," Gallagher said. "And now everyone feels like they're in the Final Four because Porter makes you feel that way. This guy's the connector of all coaches. I've met so many coaches from all over because of Porter."
Harriman introduced Gallagher to Moser at Gibson's Steakhouse in Chicago almost five years ago.
"I feel like I've known him since I was 10 years old," Gallagher said. "And when you meet the Loyola-Chicago coach, no offense, you don't feel like he's one day going to the Final Four. All these coaches that know him well, we've made it with him. For the little guy, for the guy that does it right, that has integrity, that doesn't cut corners, that doesn't do anything shady."
On Friday morning here in San Antonio, Eisner had barely wiped the sleep out of his eyes when he got a call from his old friend. In the years since graduating at Creighton together, Eisner and Moser never wound up sharing a bench. They never coached together. So the Final Four is always their time to catch up. This is the first time in 26 years they didn't attend the Final Four together. Usually the Friday-after call was a catchup on the fogginess from the night before, to recap a night at a hole-in-the-wall bar that set the scene for catching up and having a few few pops. This year, obviously, Moser could not partake.
"He ruined it this year," Eisner joked.
But Moser still made the call, clear-eyed and full of spirit.
"I've coached almost 700 games, and I don't know if I've ever been more excited for a game," Eisner said.
Saturday night will offer up another chance for the NCAA Tournament to give the world of sports one of its best stories ever. But there's never been a story like Porter Moser's. He took the long valley-way here, enduring seven sub-.500 seasons and enduring three rebuilding jobs in the process.
Now he's left the gullies and crawled through the desert of NCAA Tournament shutouts to finally make it after 14 years. Moser's found water, an oasis in the spring heat of southern Texas. Behind him is a village of mostly unknown coaches, and friends and family members, who are rooting for the greatest college basketball ending ever to be authored by a man who'd just as soon give that glory away to someone else.
