Kansas vs. Villanova is overshadowed by Duke vs. UNC at Final Four, but would

NEW ORLEANS – At 9:21 Thursday morning The Old Absinthe House on Bourbon Street was empty, but certainly not closed. This is the French Quarter known for, among other things, bars that never close. 

“We stay open as late as there’s business,” said Trish Wilson, the lone bartender at the establishment at the corner of Bourbon Street and Bienville that has been serving patrons since 1807.

Wilson has been in her current job for 22 years. That would include slinging drinks during two of the five Final Fours played in this town (2003, 2012). She has seen Super Bowls, college bowl games, Mardi Gras and random weekday nights when a carpet salesman from Akron can get blasted in a place that once served pirates. 

Football is more of her thing but at this moment at this place in this city Wilson is as good a person to ask about this Final Four that, in terms of hype, might as well be the Terrific Two.

“I think Duke’s in it,” Wilson guessed when asked. 

Reminded that North Carolina is the opposition Wilson added, “I don’t know the other two … Is there someone from Texas?”

Uh, no. That’s where we are two days from tipoff from one of the most anticipated Final Fours in recent memory. It is at least one of the most royal. Four bluebloods who – to accentuate the point — actually have blue as a team color. 

But to those even slightly aware of the proceedings the Duke-Carolina semifinal resonates. To the point that Saturday’s first semifinal between Villanova and Kansas almost seems like an undercard.

“The undercard here would get more attention than anything we’ve ever had before,” Kansas Coach Bill Self said Thursday. “I don’t look at it that way at all. The majority of the attention and probably rightfully so would be on the second game because it’s Duke-Carolina. Coach K’s last game and all those things. We’re fired up. I don’t think anybody here is flying under any radar.”

Only Duke-Carolina could upstage a national semifinal that features Kansas in its 16th Final Four and Villanova in its seventh. Five of those have come since 1985. Wildcats Coach Jay Wright won two championships in three years (2016, 2018). 

“We never aspire to be one of those programs,” Wright said of Duke and Carolina. “We fight the urge to try to be like them, because we’re just so different. Be the best Villanova we can be. But when people on the outside connect us to them or count us as part of their legacy and tradition, we have a lot of respect for them.” 

Self is already a hall of fame coach coming off his 16th regular-season conference title at Kansas. He started his career at KU as a grad assistant under Larry Brown in 1985 and 1986. 

“I saw first-hand what it could be like there,” Self said. “I’m the caretaker of the most historic program that’s ever been. It does mean something extra when you stop and think about [James] Naismith, [Phog] Allen, [Adolph] Rupp and [Wilt] Chamberlain.”

All of it makes this a Final Four that’s one to drool over. 

“I don’t know that too many people are talking about [Villanova] and Kansas right now,” Self told reporters. “And that’s…