NCAA will crown men's basketball champion Monday night

The stage is set for Monday night in New Orleans where top-seeded Kentucky and second-seeded Kansas will vie for the right to be a national champion.

It is a rematch of an earlier meeting in mid-November where the Wildcats won 75-65 at Madison Square Garden.

Furthermore, it is also a rematch of coaches Bill Self and John Calipari where four years ago Calipari, then coaching at Memphis, lost in the national championship game to Bill Self's Jayhawks  in overtime.

The road to the Final Four was quite different for both teams. Kentucky basically cruised its way to New Orleans from the South region, with wins over Iowa State, Indiana, Baylor and in-state rival Louisville on Saturday. Also, Kentucky didn't have to worry about playing Duke, who were eliminated by Lehigh in the 2nd round.

Kansas, on the other hand, had to claw its way back from the brink of elimination following its 2nd round win over Detroit with comeback victories over Purdue, NC State, North Carolina and Ohio State.

The keys to victory for Kansas is to bother AP and Naismith Player of the Year Anthony Davis. If the Jayhawks can get the 7'0-plus center in foul trouble, then Thomas Robinson can have a field day in the paint. Also, Tyshawn Taylor and Elijah Johnson must have a great offensive game and be able to finish at the rim.

Kentucky must play it's style of balanced basketball if they want to win and not take quick shots early in the shot clock, otherwise Kansas will turn those misses into fast break points.

The game will be decided by who can make clutch free throws if the game is close.