MINNEAPOLIS — Somebody asked Lute Olson what Arizona's biggest challenge would be against a Duke team few opponents have stopped this season.
Five minutes later, Olson wrapped up his reply.
Duke's Mike Krzyzewski has a similar laundry list about Arizona's strong points.
Such is life when the two teams considered the best in the country in the preseason actually make it to the NCAA title game.
Sure, there have been good matchups in the past, but the Duke-Arizona final Monday night has been almost universally regarded as one of the most exquisitely balanced championship games anyone can remember.
"I'm sure it's going to be a very interesting 40 minutes for everyone," Olson said.
Arizona was ranked first and Duke second in the preseason poll. The Wildcats had some well-documented problems along the way, while Duke made it through with only four defeats despite the temporary loss of starting center Carlos Boozer to a foot injury.
In the end, however, college basketball will get a true champion — not just a good team on a hot streak — a group good enough to cope with its opponents and great expectations.
"It's fitting that the two best teams are meeting to play for the national championship," Duke All-American Shane Battier said. "That's the way it should be. The true champions should have to beat the best teams."
Speaking of that, Arizona is trying to duplicate its 1997 achievement of beating three top-seeded teams on the way to its title. Those Wildcats are the only team to do that.
The differences between 1997 and this year's team are too numerous to list. Most notable among them are the difficulties this year's team has endured, especially the death of Olson's wife, Bobbi, like a mother to many of these players.
Duke has taken the identical road to this point as it did in 1992 — Greensboro, N.C., Philadelphia, Minneapolis — when it won the second of its back-to-back titles.
Since the UCLA dynasty ended in the 1970s, Duke has established itself as one of the two or three most storied programs in the country. This is its ninth trip to the Final Four since 1986. Two years ago, the Blue Devils were 36-1 and heavy favorites to win the championship, but came up one win short.