His Kansas Jayhawks having just won their way to this week’s Final Four by knocking off Duke in the Midwest Regional final Sunday evening, coach Bill Self wrapped up an interview with CBS with the following words: “I’ve called my team soft. There’s nothing soft about them.”
If any single trait runs through each of the four teams competing to be the last program featured in the iconic “One Shining Moment” video next Monday night after the NCAA tournament’s title game, it’s that none of them is soft.
The Jayhawks certainly weren’t soft in their overtime victory over the outrageously talented Blue Devils. Earlier in the day, Villanova wasn’t soft in when it outlasted tenacious Texas Tech in the East Regional final despite hitting but four of the 24 3-pointers it attempted.
Go back to Saturday, and Michigan was anything but soft edging Florida State – arguably the most athletically imposing defensive team in the field – in the West Regional final. Then there’s Loyola-Chicago, which surely silenced whatever few silly critics it might have had left by pummeling Kansas State 78-62 in the South Regional title game inside Atlanta’s Philips Arena.
Said Kansas State coach Bruce Weber, the savvy architect of that stunning Sweet 16 upset of Kentucky two days earlier: “They were better defensively than I even thought, to be honest. I don’t care what league they are (Missouri Valley Conference). To win (32) games, to do what they’ve done, you know, they’re a special group and they’re very driven.”