Michigan guard Trey Burke (3) shoots against Louisville center Gorgui Dieng (10) during the first half of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball championship game Monday, April 8, 2013, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Michigan guard Trey Burke (3) shoots against Louisville center Gorgui Dieng (10) during the first half of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball championship game Monday, April 8, 2013, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
FILE - In this November 1991, file photo, Michigan's Fab Five from left, Jimmy King, Juwan Howard, Chris Webber, Jalen Rose and Ray Jackson pose in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/File)
Michigan players huddle before the first half of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball championship game against the Louisville, Monday, April 8, 2013, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Louisville guard Peyton Siva sits on the floor as Michigan players warm up during the first half of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball championship game Monday, April 8, 2013, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
FILE - In this April 5, 2010, file photo, county music singer Travis Tritt sings the national anthem before a baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and the Chicago Cubs in Atlanta. Tritt will perform the national anthem prior to the NCAA Final Four college basketball championship game between Michigan and Louisville on Monday night, April 8, 2013. (AP Photo/Rich Addicks, File)
ATLANTA (AP) ? Around the Final Four and its host city with journalists from The Associated Press bringing the flavor and details of everything surrounding the games.
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WEBBER SIGHTING
Former five-time NBA All-Star Chris Webber showed up at the Georgia Dome just about the time Michigan's starting lineup was being introduced before the Wolverines squared off against Louisville in Monday's night's national championship game.
CBS-TV showed Webber arriving at the Georgia Dome and exiting his car minutes before the game. He was wearing a UM hat.
Webber played on Michigan's 1992 and 1993 Final Four teams but a federal investigation revealed that a booster gave Webber and three non-Fab Five players more than $600,000 while they were student-athletes. The NCAA forced the school to dissociate from them until this year. The dissociation officially ends in May.
? Charles Odum ? http://twitter.com/@CharlesOdum
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CLEAN PLAY
There haven't been many whistles blown early on in the championship game.
That's a good thing, too.
After a season in which basketball often resembled wrestling, and in which officials often stole the headlines, it was Michigan and Louisville on center stage at the Georgia Dome.
Only two fouls had been called in the first 7 minutes, 11 seconds, as the teams got into an up-and-down affair that finally looked the way basketball was meant to be played.
Both teams were shooting it well, too. Michigan started off 7 of 11 from the field, while Louisville was 5 for 11 as the second media timeout neared.
? Dave Skretta ? http://twitter.com/@APdaveskretta
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BURKE'S FAST START
In less than 3 minutes, Michigan star Trey Burke has matched his points total from the Wolverines' semifinal win over Syracuse.
Burke had only seven points ? 11.5 below his average ? in Michigan's 61-56 win over Syracuse in the Final Four semifinal on Saturday night. The sophomore guard opened Monday night's championship game with a jumper before adding a 3-pointer for a 5-0 lead. He scored on a layup to give him seven points with more than 17 minutes remaining in the opening half.
? Charles Odum
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MAYWEATHER'S PICK
Floyd Mayweather Jr. won't know until halftime which team he'll pick to win the national basketball championship.
Once the undefeated boxing champion figures it out, he is expecting to place a $50,000 bet toward either Michigan or Louisville in the NCAA title game on Monday night. He thinks the Wolverines have a strong chance to come away with the crown if they're able to sustain an early lead against the Cardinals.gg
"I think that if Michigan gets a lead like that, it's going to be kind of hard to come back," said Mayweather, who is an avid sports fan and often bets on games. He probably should wait as long as he can: He had Indiana winning it all in his bracket.
Mayweather was in Atlanta to promote his upcoming fight against Robert Guerrero on May 4 in Las Vegas.
?Jonathan Landrum ? http://twitter.com/@MrLandum31
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WARE CHEERS
Injured Louisville guard Kevin Ware followed his same pregame routine as in the Cardinals' semifinal win over Wichita State.
Ware, on crutches after having surgery to repair his broken right leg, again was cheered when he took his seat by the Louisville bench. Wearing his white No. 5 jersey, Ware sat beside the elevated court, facing the action, where he could prop up his injured leg on another chair. He stood at the end of Saturday's semifinal win over Wichita State and even shocked his teammates by joining a late-game huddle.
His teammates again wore T-shirts over their jerseys in pregame warmups with the words "Ri5e to the Occasion." A fan raised a sign which read "Rise for 5."
Ware played at Rockdale County High School, about 30 miles east of Atlanta.
? Charles Odum
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MICHIGAN's HOMECOURT
Michigan ought to have a homecourt advantage over Louisville on Monday night.
The maple floor that the teams are playing on in the Georgia Dome was made by Connor Sport Court International at its plant in Amasa, Mich., and the lumber for it came from Timber Products Company, which is based in Munising, Mich.
The court is made up of 4-by-7 foot pieces that were sent by truck to Atlanta, where they were fitted together on an elevated platform in time for the Final Four.
Connor Sport Court also made the court for the women's Final Four in New Orleans.
? Dave Skretta
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STARTING LINEUPS
There were no surprises in the starting lineups for the national championship.
Top-seeded Louisville (34-5) went with its customary backcourt of Russ Smith and Peyton Siva, with forwards Wayne Blackshear and Chane Behanan and center Gorgui Dieng.
No. 4 seed Michigan (31-7) is going with is traditional three-guard lineup of Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Nik Stauskas, along with forwards Glenn Robinson III and Mitch McGary.
The officials for the game are John Higgins, John Cahill and Tony Greene, with Mike Eades on standby. Eades is the only one who hasn't worked a previous Final Four.
? Dave Skretta
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TRAVIS TRITT
Country musician Travis Tritt has quite the task ahead of him when he performs the national anthem prior to Monday night's national championship between Michigan and Louisville.
The Georgia native will be following a virtuoso performance by the Ebenezer Baptist Church Choir before Saturday night's national semifinals, a rendition that drew almost universal praise from fans, the media and across social media platforms.
Tritt is no stranger to big sporting events. The two-time Grammy Award-winner has performed at two Super Bowls, a World Series and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and will be performing for the 15th time during Kentucky Derby festivities next month in Louisville, Ky.
? Dave Skretta
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EYE-CATCHING SIGNS
There were plenty of signs popping up all around the Georgia Dome for the national championship.
Some of them witty. Some of them cruel. Most of them funny.
One sign helped up by a Michigan fan featured a picture of Glenn Robinson III, whose father was a star player at Purdue. It was accompanied by the words, "Daddy never did that!" ? as in, the "Big Dog" never played for a national championship with the Boilermakers.
A few sections over, a Louisville fan held up a similar looking sign ? it was on yellow cardstock, too ? with a picture of former Wolverines star Chris Webber. But the words pasted onto it carried a much different tone: "Timeouts left: -1."
Don't get the joke? Ask a Michigan fan.
? Dave Skretta
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TICKET PRICES
Fans waiting until the last minute to buy NCAA championship game tickets are paying a steep price.
The average price for Monday night's game had soared to $720, according to TiqIQ.com, which tracks ticket trends. The company says that is a 140-percent increase over last year's final between Kentucky and Kansas in New Orleans.
At Ticketstub.com, prices for Monday night's game were starting at $330 about three hours before the game.
? Charles Odum
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MICHIGAN'S FAB FIVE
One unanswered question at the Final Four: Will there be a reunion of Michigan's Fab Five?
Twenty years ago, the brash group of Michigan youngsters lost to North Carolina in the NCAA title game. This is Michigan's first trip back to the championship game.
Chris Webber's whereabouts are causing the most commotion. Jalen Rose went on a Grantland.com podcast and encouraged Webber to join him and other Fab Five players at Monday night's title game against Louisville, but it's not clear whether that will happen.
Michigan has been recovering from the fallout after a federal investigation revealed that a booster gave Webber and three non-Fab Five players more than $600,000 while they were student-athletes. The NCAA forced the school to dissociate from them until this year. The dissociation officially ends in May.
On Saturday, Webber tweeted "It's Your Time Now!" ? along with a picture of current Michigan players Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Glenn Robinson III.
? Noah Trister ? http://twitter.com/@noahtrister
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HISTORY FAVORS LOUISVILLE
Recent history favors No. 1 seed Louisville over No. 4 Michigan in Monday night's championship game.
Top seeds have won five of the last six finals against teams seeded fourth or lower. The only upset in that span came in 1997, when No. 4 Arizona beat top seed Kentucky, coached by Rick Pitino.
Older history provides more hope for Michigan. There were three upsets in the 1980s in finals between No. 1 seeds and teams seeded fourth or lower: North Carolina State over Houston in 1983, Villanova over Georgetown in 1985, and Kansas over Oklahoma in 1988.
? Charles Odum
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HAIL TO THE VICTORS
Michigan coach John Beilein attended the Final Four in 1989, when the Wolverines last won a national championship, and remembers one thing sticking out in his mind:
"Hail! to the victors valiant
Hail! to the conqu'ring heroes
Hail! Hail! to Michigan
The leaders and best!"
"I heard 'The Victors.' I heard the best fight song in the world," said Beilein, who was then a coach at Division II Le Moyne, and was attending the Final Four in Seattle with his wife, Kathleen.
"Kathleen and I looked at each other and said, 'This is the best fight song I have ever heard," Beilein recalled this week. "That's why it's so eerie to hear it today, that it ended up being my destination."
? Dave Skretta
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RATINGS BONANZA
CBS is enjoying its best Final Four ratings since 2005.
The network announced it averaged a 9.4 fast-national rating and 15.7 million viewers for the national semifinals on Saturday night. That's an increase of about 4 percent from the 9.0 rating and 15.3 million viewers that watched last year's Final Four in New Orleans.
Wichita State and Louisville earned an 8.7 rating and 14.5 million viewers for their game at the Georgia Dome, while the nightcap recorded a 10.2 rating and 17.1 million viewers.
The Cardinals and Wolverines are playing in the championship game Monday night.
? Dave Skretta
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NCAA Finals Watch follows the Final Four games and all the activities surrounding the event as seen by journalists from The Associated Press from across Atlanta. It will be updated throughout the day with breaking news and other items of interest. Follow AP reporters on Twitter where available.
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