Texas may be the only No. 1 seed left, but Rick Barnes is coaching in the Final Four for the first time. (Dave Martin -- For The Washington Post)

By Jim O'Connell
Associated Press
Thursday, April 3, 2003; 8:35 p.m. EST

NEW ORLEANS -- What chance does a Final Four rookie coach have to win it all? Does a team with three freshmen in the rotation really have a shot at the national title? Can a star carry his team alone on the season's final weekend?

These questions and another 1,000 or so will be answered with three games in the Louisiana Superdome, starting with the national semifinals Saturday: Marquette vs. Kansas and Syracuse vs. Texas.

In the days leading up to the games, questions about matchups, defenses and experience dominate the college basketball world. Maybe there's an answer or two in this closer look at the Final Four.

Marquette vs. Kansas
• UP FRONT  • BACKCOURT  • BENCH  • COACHING  • INTANGIBLES  • THE WINNER IS ...

Up Front: Marquette's marquee big man is senior Robert Jackson. The 6-foot-10, 260-pound forward/center was second on the team in scoring (15.4) and led it in rebounding (7.5) in his only season since transferring from Mississippi State.

Kansas' Nick Collison has been one of the nation's top big men in his four-year career with the Jayhawks. The 6-9, 255-pound forward led the team with 18.6 points and 9.6 rebounds, a number even more impressive because he didn't get help from forward Wayne Simien, who missed most of the season with a shoulder injury.

In the bulk matchup up front, Jackson will go against 6-9 Jeff Graves, whose weight loss was as closely followed early in the season as the team's won-loss record. (He started the season listed at 275 pounds.)

Both big men are coming off tremendous performances. Jackson scored 24 points and had 15 rebounds against Kentucky, and Graves had 13 points and 15 rebounds in the regional final against Arizona. As is often the case with big big men, foul trouble could be the key.

Scott Merritt will be the player who has to chase Collison, who can run the floor as well as any big man in recent times. This matchup could be where Marquette's deeper bench comes into play.

Backcourt: Dwyane Wade's triple-double in the win over Kentucky turned him into the star of stars entering the Final Four. Consider this: In wins over Pittsburgh and Kentucky … two of the best defensive teams in the country … Wade had 51 points, 14 rebounds and 15 assists. Playmaker Travis Diener averages 5.7 assists and can hit from long range. He had consecutive games with five three-pointers in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament.

Kirk Hinrich has had an up-and-down NCAA tournament, but his 28 points in the regional final against Arizona helped pick up a foul-troubled Collison. Speedy sophomores Keith Langford and Aaron Miles make the Jayhawks one of the best transition teams in the country.

Bench: Both teams play seven-man rotations for the most part, but Marquette's bench has been more of a factor with freshman Steve Novak providing offense from the outside.

Coaching: Roy Williams put Kansas in the Final Four for the fourth time, and he is still looking for his first title. Tom Crean is in the Final Four as a head coach for the first time, but as Williams did with North Carolina, Crean picked up some experience in the final weekend as an assistant (Michigan State).

Intangibles: You can't think of Marquette being this close to a national title without thinking of Al McGuire, one of the sport's true characters. He led the team to the championship in 1977 in his last game as a coach. A lot of people wearing blue and gold on Saturday will swear McGuire will have something to do with the outcome.

Kansas has the most Final Four experience. The Jayhawks are back for a second straight year and Collison and Hinrich will be playing in their 15th NCAA tournament game. The players will also have to deal with the constant talk about their coach possibly moving to North Carolina.

The Winner Is ... : Experience on the court and in front of the bench should be the difference for Kansas in a game where both sides of the scoreboard will probably be in the 80s.

Texas vs. Syracuse
• UP FRONT  • BACKCOURT  • BENCH  • COACHING  • INTANGIBLES  • THE WINNER IS ...

Up Front: Syracuse freshman Carmelo Anthony is one of the toughest matchups in the country because of his ability to go inside or outside, hitting 3-pointers at a 32 percent clip. He averaged 22 points and 9.6 rebounds this season. Hakim Warrick, whose averages are up to 15.0 points and 8.7 rebounds, is almost as athletic as Anthony, while the middle will be manned by 7-footer Craig Forth or shotblocker Jeremy McNeil.

James Thomas handles things inside for the Longhorns with averages of 11.1 in scoring and rebounding, and forward Brad Buckman is second in rebounding at 5.4 a game.

Backcourt: Texas' three-guard lineup is what makes the Longhorns go, and they do in the open court. T.J. Ford averages 15.1 points, 7.5 assists and a bundle of big plays, while Brandon Mouton and Royal Ivey combined to average better than 20 points.

Senior Kueth Duany and freshman Gerry McNamara averaged double figures for the Orangemen, with McNamara the team's three-point threat.

Bench: Texas is the deepest team at the Final Four. Ten players average 10 minutes a game and seven average 6.3 points or more.

Syracuse got strong play in the tournament from its reserves, especially McNeil defensively in the middle and freshman guard Billy Edelin, who is second in scoring in the tournament to Anthony, with a 12.3 average.

Coaching: Jim Boeheim has not only been to the Final Four before, he's been to the Final Four in New Orleans before. The Orangemen lost to Indiana in the 1987 championship game in the Superdome. Like Crean, Rick Barnes is coaching in the Final Four for the first time.

Intangibles: Texas hasn't been to the Final Four since 1947, and the Longhorns were the only No. 1 seed to get this far. Syracuse, which has never won it all, plays a 2-3 zone defense that has made the Orangemen a tough opponent, especially for those teams that don't see much zone in their conferences.

The Winner Is ... : Even though Texas will have had a few extra days to prepare for the zone defense, Syracuse is so good at it that it should be the difference. Anthony and his fellow freshmen have gone deeper in the tournament than young players are supposed to.

Jim O'Connell has covered college basketball for The Associated Press since 1987. He was presented the Curt Gowdy Media Award by the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2002.