Russell Robinson of Kansas, in our estimation, is the best defensive guard in college hoops. We thought this back in December, when he forced USC’s O.J. Mayo into a 6-for-21 afternoon. Robinson locked up Scottie Reynolds of Villanova (4-for-13) in the regional semifinal, and then did an admirable job against Stephen Curry of Davidson (9-for-25, his worst shooting performance since February) in the regional final. And if you watched that game, you know that Bill Self swapped slow-footed Brandon Rush onto Curry at times, so we’d have to check the tape and find out just how few Curry had on Robinson.

Which leads us to our Final Four question of the day: Can Russell Robinson stop the most vital cog in the powerful UNC offense, Ty Lawson?

Our favorite part of this year’s Final Four are the individual matchups, because there are so many future pros going against each other. We already talked about Dorsey vs. Kevin Love, and there are a few more in Memphis/UCLA we’ll get to tomorrow. But in UNC-Kansas, Robinson vs. Ty Lawson will be our favorite to watch. Not far behind that - Lionel (ED. - where’d that come from?) Mario Chalmers vs. Wayne Ellington, Danny Green vs. Brandon Rush, and the tandem of Kaun and Arthur vs. Tyler Hansbrough. Arthur’s NBA stock hasn’t improved in the last three games, and he appears foul-prone; Kaun was brilliant against Davidson and could have the same impact that Aron Baynes did against Tyler Hansbrough in the first half of Washington State’s Sweet 16 game.

Two last notes on this one, for the stat geeks - two weeks ago, this game would have been a pick’em, but now the Heels are favored by three and everyone likes the Heels, which means a contrarian play is the way to go. (Unless, of course, you tried your hand at those last Thursday-Sunday and lost your shirt, like uh … some people.)