Tom Izzo’s team is one with a chip on its shoulder rather than a roster overloaded with blue chip recruits. Travis Trice says it gives them an “us-against-the-world mentality.”(Photo: Dale G. Young/Detroit News)



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Indianapolis — They’ve all been here before.


Not just to a Final Four, either. But to one in Indianapolis.


And now that they’ve all made it back — four elite programs, four coaches with Hall of Fame credentials, and four rabid fan bases, all within driving distance — it begs one question: When was the last time the Final Four had it quite this good?


Not since 2008 — and only five times in history — have three No. 1 seeds made it to the final weekend of the NCAA Tournament. And while that Final Four in San Antonio boasted all four top seeds, not to mention an overtime thriller in the title game between Kansas and Memphis, even it couldn’t match the historic drama threatening to unfold here at Lucas Oil Stadium.


Kentucky’s still chasing perfection, with a 38-0 record and two games to play for Big Blue Nation, beginning with a rematch of last year’s Final Four tilt against Wisconsin. Meanwhile, in the other semifinal, its Duke and Michigan State and two coaches who’ve produced 19 Final Four teams and a mutual respect that’s on full display.


In all, you’ve got 15 national championships and 44 Final Fours represented by this basketball quartet, not to mention Ashley Judd, Aaron Rodgers, Magic Johnson and Ken Jeong, aka “Mr. Chow” from “The Hangover.” Throw in the national player of the year, as many as eight or nine first-round picks in this summer’s NBA draft, and a stadium that’ll hold more than 72,000-plus for Monday night’s championship game.


“I’m like a kid in a candy store here,” Duke senior Quinn Cook said Thursday, marveling at the scene surrounding his first Final Four trip. “These four historic programs here, it’s a dream come true.”


And now that Indiana legislators, under heavy pressure from the NCAA and other powerful corporate interests, have announced revisions to the state’s controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act, that potential nightmare appears to have been boxed out as well.


“We made it very clear we wanted this resolved as quickly as possible,” NCAA president Mark Emmert said at a news conference Thursday.


It’s about the game


Basketball returns to center stage tonight, with the Spartans taking on the Blue Devils in a replay of their mid-November meeting in Indianapolis in the Champions Classic.


Coach Mike Krzyzewski laughed off a question Thursday about his team’s “aura,” insisting the history of success for Duke — Coach K tied UCLA legend John Wooden with his 12th Final Four berth — can do more harm than good. By way of proof, he noted the fact that of Duke’s 58 road losses since 1997, 46 have included court-storming celebrations.


Whatever the case, Michigan State certainly is relishing its party-crashing role here. Not only as a No. 7 seed with a double-digit loss total — 11 of the 18 combined losses here belong to the Spartans — but also as a team with a chip on its shoulder rather than a roster overloaded of blue-chip recruits.


“They definitely have more McDonald’s All-Americans, more star power than we do,” Michigan State senior Travis Trice said of the Blue Devils.


Yet, the Spartans have used that as motivation — “That us-against-the-world mentality, that’s helped us get through the season,” Trice said — and this weekend will be no different.


It can’t be, not with this much at stake and the odds stacked like they are.


“Monday is not a given for either one of us,” Krzyzewski insisted.


Perfection or bust


But it is expected, nonetheless. Especially for Kentucky, the first undefeated team to reach the Final Four since UNLV in 1991. Last year’s national runner-up is this year’s runaway train, rolling through its season without a loss and now within reach of something truly special. College basketball’s last undefeated national champion was Indiana in 1976, and a win Monday night would put the Wildcats among the greatest teams in history.


And yet, there sits Wisconsin, a loosey-goosey bunch that came within a whisker of beating Kentucky in last year’s Final Four and put together a 35-3 record. Coach John Calipari’s team boasts arguably the best defense in history, but the Badgers, led by consensus All-American Frank Kaminsky, have the nation’s most efficient offense. One that’s so good, in fact, that it shot nearly 80 percent in the second half of its West Regional final victory over Arizona, a team that ranked No. 3 in the country in defense this season.


“I would say in this Final Four, having played all the teams within the past year, there’s a little bit of everything here,” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. “And it’s at a very high level.”


It doesn’t get much higher than this, which is a bit of a relief after a winter spent debating what’s wrong in the game, with scoring down and anger rising all over the place. And no matter who comes out on top in Indianapolis, where the intrigue is as undeniable as Kentucky’s talent, collectively speaking, “It’s been good for college basketball.”


“For a few years we’ve gotten to be like the pros where it’s a matchup of individuals,” Krzyzewski said. “This year it’s a renewal of what college basketball should be: It’s about teams.”


Four on the floor here feels just right.


john.niyo@detroitnews.com


twitter.com/JohnNiyo


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