Coaches don't look at previous title meeting

NEW ORLEANS — Kentucky coach John Calipari and his Kansas counterpart Bill Self were each asked if they had watched the tape of the 2008 national championship game in which Self’s Jayhawks rallied late to beat Calipari’s Memphis team in overtime.

“That tape was flung out the door of the bus as we were going to the plane,’’ Calipari said. “So I have never looked at that tape, nor will I.’’

Self, of course, has seen it — a lot.

“I’m not a big workout guy, but doing my little elliptical every day, I watched the game every day,’’ Self said. “I worked out 50 straight days or something like that. I could go over a few possessions with you, if you want.’’

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* Calipari has turned to great coaches outside of his sport to get better at his craft. That includes former Giants and Jets coach Bill Parcells.

“I went to one of his practices,’’ Calipari said. “He knew what all 22 guys were doing. He stopped practice and talked to four guys on offense on one possession and three guys on the defense.

“Larry Brown is like that as a basketball coach,’’ he added. “He knows what all 10 are doing. When I watch him coach, watch how his teams play, I’m just blown away by their excellence, their decision making, their play under pressure. I’ve talked to them. Back and forth, I’ll call him [and say] tell me what you’re doing here.’’

* Self said he thinks Kentucky and Kansas, the two winningest programs in college basketball, meeting in the championship game is cool.

“I dreamed about it as soon as I saw the brackets,’’ he said. “You look at the brackets, you look at your region, you say, ‘OK, first game, who do we have to beat to get to the Sweet 16? Who is a potential matchup? How do we match up?’ You look at your region.

“I did look,’’ he added. “ I said, ‘How cool would it be to play Kentucky in the finals?’ ’’

* If Kentucky wins tonight, it could be a good omen for the Yankees and their fans. The Wildcats have won titles in 1948, ’49, ’51, ’58, ’78, ’96 and ’98. The Yankees have followed the last six Kentucky titles with World Series wins the same year.

NEW ORLEANS — Kentucky coach John Calipari, national championship game, Bill Self, Calipari, tape, championship game, Kentucky, Kansas, Larry Brown

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