Armour

“We’re a little more loose with it, and I think it’s because we’ve been here before,” Meeks said. “We’ve seen these type of things, and we know what it takes to get to that championship game.”

Those who have never been to a Final Four will say these are games like any other, that the key is to maintain the same approach and not do anything different. But that’s not quite true.

Between media requirements, practices and pep rallies, the teams will be operating on schedules not of their own making. The spotlight will be unlike anything they’ve ever seen, with more people at Friday’s open practices than they see at some of their home games. Even when they’re on lockdown in the team hotels, they’ll be surrounded by fans and hangers on.

“There’s an advantage (for North Carolina) with the whole process,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few acknowledged Monday. “The general distraction meter is going to go out the roof. Obviously the Carolina kids have dealt with that and managed it great.”

It’s not just the kids who will have to adapt. Few, Oregon coach Dana Altman and South Carolina coach Frank Martin have never been to a Final Four, either. Even as assistants. And regardless of how good a coach you are, there’s going to be something — probably more than one thing — that will take you by surprise.

Martin told the story last weekend of how, when he took Kansas State on its Elite Eight run in 2010, he botched the turnaround after the Sweet 16.

K-State had the late game in the Sweet 16, which went to double overtime. Naturally, the Wildcats then drew the early game in the regional final. In between, K-State was given the choice of an earlier practice or a later one at a different facility. Martin chose the early slot, but opted for a walk-through rather than a true practice.

“We slept-walked the whole first half,” Martin said of the regional final, which K-State lost to Butler 63-56.

A lesson learned, but only through experience.

There’s one last wrinkle: The stadium.

As in recent years, the Final four is at a domed, football stadium. The ceiling height, the size of the seating areas around the court, the depth perception — it’s all going to be different than what players are used to.

And unlike previous years, none of the earlier rounds were played in domes. Which means there’s one more thing North Carolina has some familiarity with that the other three teams don’t.

Small things, to be sure. But any advantage helps, and North Carolina’s experience gives the Tar Heels a big one.