Three reasons the Gonzaga-North Carolina men’s basketball national championship game is worth the hype

Admit it: Outside of the entertainment options, the local enthusiasm for this Final Four took a hit when Arizona lost in the NCAA Tournament regional semifinals. It’s OK. State pride is important.

But there’s something special about Monday’s national championship between Gonzaga and North Carolina. To start, this tournament is so crazy that the two best teams don’t always reach this point. This year, that’s not the case.

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North Carolina was a preseason favorite, while Gonzaga darn-near entered the tournament perfect. The Bulldogs’ only blemish is a late-season home loss to BYU, one a Gonzaga assistant Sunday called a blessing in disguise.

“I think it’s good we have that monkey off our back, so to speak,” Tommy Lloyd said, “and we can just concentrate on winning Monday.”

Three reasons why this game is important:

Death to Cinderella

For most college basketball die hards, this story line is stale, but it’s reality. Much of the general public views this matchup as David vs. Goliath. And in some ways, it makes sense. Despite Gonzaga’s 19th consecutive NCAA Tournament streak, this is the Bulldogs’ first title-game appearance.

This is North Carolina’s 11th.

In fact, the Tar Heels dribbled on this stage just last season, losing in the final second to Villanova, a memory that has fueled them this season. To many, that gives them an advantage. Don’t buy it.

“People talk about their conference (the West Coast), but they’re not 37-1 for no reason,” North Carolina forward Theo Pinson said. “They’re one of the best teams in the nation. They know that, and we know that.”

MORE:National championship scouting report: Gonzaga vs. UNC

Oddsmakers list North Carolina as a slight favorite. Efficiency expert Ken Pomeroy, however, gives Gonzaga a 63 percent chance to win. The Bulldogs already have proved themselves by making the Final Four, but cutting down the nets at University of Phoenix Stadium might silence the doubters once and for all.

“We’ve heard it all year,’’ Gonzaga guard Josh Perkins said. “We weren’t supposed to be here. Weak conference. We can’t win close games. I think we’ve done enough to put that to rest.”

But if you want to play up the underdog label one last time, go ahead. They’re cool with it.

“You said David and Goliath,” Perkins said. “I think we all know what happened at the end of that story.”

The West!

You may have heard of this thing called the “East Coast bias.” It’s not fake news. It’s real. Only issue: When it comes to college basketball, the West doesn’t have much of an argument.

No team west of Kansas has won a national championship since Arizona cut down the nets in 1997. That’s a stunning streak, and it has a chance to end.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few on Sunday was asked about the eastern bias.

“We have a western bias,” he said. “I don’t think you guys know the first thing about fly fishing or getting out and enjoying (the outdoors).”

This was reflected in this week’s media sessions. The Gonzaga players spent a lot of time discussing what attracted them to a place like Spokane, Wash. (Their answers varied from nice lakes to cool sweatshirts, but they usually came around to fan support. “You can’t go nowhere without taking at least one or two pictures or signing autographs,” forward Johnathan Williams said.)

But the bias is reality.

“It’s harder for us to pay attention to the West Coast teams, them being in a different conference,” North Carolina guard Nate Britt said. “We’ve got the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, so we’re paying attention to the Big Ten teams because we know we might have to play them in the future. But me personally, I haven’t seen much of Gonzaga before I started preparing for this game.”

Chase for No. 3

With nine Final Fours, North Carolina coach Roy Williams already is a college basketball legend, but with a third national championship, he has a chance to join an elite fraternity. Only five others (John Wooden, Mike Krzyzewski, Adolph Rupp, Bob Knight and Jim Calhoun) have produced three or more.

Not that this is important to him. Asked what a third ring would mean for Williams, North Carolina assistant coach Hubert Davis said simply, “I think it would make him feel happy for that day.”

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Then, Davis told a story.

“When North Carolina won the national championship in ’82, Coach Williams went up to (former North Carolina) Coach (Dean) Smith and said, ‘Coach, I’m so glad that you won. Now people can’t say anything about you. You’ve been to all these Final Fours, and now you’ve won it. You’re such a great coach, and I’m just happy that you won.’

“And Coach Smith said, ‘You know what, I’m not a different coach than I was two hours earlier.’ And the same thing applies to Coach Williams. I know that’s what he thinks and I know that’s what he feels. If we’re fortunate enough to win (Monday), he’s going to be so happy for his kids. Putting him up on elite status, he doesn’t think about stuff like that.”