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SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The Georgia Tech-Connecticut national championship showdown was perhaps the most fitting matchup given the contentiousness between the ACC and the Big East.
The ACC enticed Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College to leave the Big East, setting off lawsuits and more conference musical chairs with the Big East inviting Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette, DePaul and South Florida of Conference USA.
UConn coach Jim Calhoun agreed that backdrop made Monday's game ironic, curious and interesting even though the chaos had to do with "shoulder pads and helmets."
"Right now, it's two basketball teams playing each other (and) conferences are completely out of the picture," he said.
Still, looking ahead to the 2005-06 season, Calhoun said the new Big East might be the toughest basketball league in the nation.
"We're not just adding teams," he said. "DePaul was in first place. Cincinnati was in first place. Louisville with Rick (Pitino) is always going to be good ... Marquette a year ago was in the Final Four. You add those four people, along with South Florida, which has a good chance of being good, you're at 16. I have great faith St. John's will be back. As I keep on saying that, I don't feel that well."
STRANGE SITUATION: UConn forward Ed Nelson, wearing a black coat and shiny black tie, was in an unusual situation. He transferred from Georgia Tech and is sitting out the season.
"Of course it's weird," he said before tipoff as he watched teammates, current and old, warming up. "I'm still close friends with a lot of them. We walked around the river the other day. There's more to life than basketball."
"He came to the hotel for a second and spoke to some of the guys," Tech forward Anthony McHenry said. "This is not our first time seeing Ed on the other team. We saw him when we played in the Preseason NIT. We understand Ed's decision and we're cool with Ed. He's still my friend. I came in with him."
Nelson had to pay his own way to San Antonio and sat in the UConn section. NCAA rules prohibit him from being on the bench during the game.
DID YOU KNOW?: Like last year, the title came down to a No.2 seed, UConn, and a No.3 seed, Georgia Tech. In 2003, No.3 seed Syracuse nipped No.2 Kansas.
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN: He sat in the stands, striking a pose of what could have been for Georgia Tech. Chris Bosh, who was one of the top players in the ACC as a freshman, bolted early for the NBA and was the No.4 pick.
"If Chris were here, would this team be better?" coach Paul Hewitt said. "I think it would be because he's a very unselfish player, both on the offensive and defensive end of the floor. But he made a decision that we all agreed was the best thing for him. We had to move on. Again, it's not like he left us high and dry. We had a good team coming back."
WOODEN AWARD: The finalists for the John R. Wooden award as the nation's top player are Emeka Okafor of Connecticut, Josh Childress of Stanford, Jameer Nelson of Saint Joseph's, Lawrence Roberts of Mississippi State and Chris Duhon of Duke. The winner will be announced Saturday.
AROUND THE NATION: North Carolina recruit JamesOn Curry pleaded guilty to drug charges and was sentenced to three years' probation. He pleaded guilty to six felony counts, all related to marijuana, in Alamance County (N.C.). ... Kerry Rupp won't be retained as coach despite leading the Utes to the NCAA Tournament after taking over midway through the season for an ailing Rick Majerus. ... St. John's interviewed Kansas assistant Norm Roberts for its vacant coaching job. More interviews are expected this week.