Bill Self reveals pregame message to Kansas, how to stop Villanova in Final Four

If not for Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who led the Blue Devils into the Final Four in the last season of his storied career, perhaps Bill Self would be the headline of the 2022 Final Four, as his No. 1-seeded Kansas Jayhawks are in the Final Four for the fourth time in his tenure.

Kansas, at least prior to tip, is the public favorite to win its Final Four matchup and advance to the national championship game, and all that stands in the way is No. 2-seeded Villanova. Self isn’t taking the Villanova Wildcats lightly, though, and he explained on the TBS pregame show how Kansas plans to exploit a very well-coached Wildcats team.

“First of all, there won’t be as many open-floor plays in this particular game (against Villanova),” Self said to Tracy Wolfson, comparing the upcoming game to Kansas’ 47-15 second-half rout of Miami in the Elite Eight. “We need to be patient, we need to be disciplined, we need to be aggressive in attack mode. But knowing that attack mode might mean attacking in the first 10 seconds, just so you can get a shot in the last 10 seconds. So, Jay (Wright’s) group is so sound. They don’t break down. We’ve got to be patient, but we’ve got to be disciplined on the defensive end.”

Kansas has not won a national championship since 2008, when Self did so with a Jayhawks team led by Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers. He hopes to get to that stage once again with a much different roster, one that relies on experience. As for his pregame message, Self kept it simple; after all, this is exactly what his Kansas players have worked their whole lives for.

“It really wasn’t a big (pregame) message other than the fact that you work your whole life off — and these kids, it has been their whole life thus far — to put themself in a position to be in games of the highest stakes,” Self said. “And you can’t ask for anything more. We don’t want any what-ifs. We just want to go have fun, enjoy the moment, but at the same time know that we are not going to leave anything out there on the court.”

Self and the No. 1-seeded Kansas Jayhawks are favored by four points heading into the Final Four matchup against Villanova, which tips off at 6:00 p.m. ET.