The 1957 Final Four had:
1. An undefeated team rated #1 (North Carolina)
2. The #2 team with the most compelling college basketball player for a decade (Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain)
3. The two-time defending NCAA champions (San Francisco)
4. Two triple overtime games, including the final between North Carolina and Kansas
5. A championship game so disappointing and painful to Wilt Chamberlain that he did not return to the University of Kansas for almost fifty years

North Carolina did a very odd thing for the opening tip of the 1957 National Championship game against Wilt Chamberlain and the Kansas Jayhawks. To oppose the 7-foot Chamberlain in the opening tip, Tar Heels' coach Frank McGuire chose 5' 11" Tommy Kearns. It was a surreal, nonsensical strategy that established that this was a game where almost anything could happen.