Personal Items: Few Things You Need to Know About 2019 Final Four Coaches

Did You Know?: Only one of this year's Final Four coaches played major-college basketball (Virginia's Tony Bennett). Naturally, there is a tendency to overindulge at an all-you-can-eat buffet. Anyone digesting the following assortment of did-you-know facts on 2019 Final Four coaches should find that variety is the spice of this smorgasbord:

• Chris Beard (Texas Tech): Served as manager at Texas under Longhorns coach Tom Penders.

• Tony Bennett (Virginia): Son of former Final Four coach (Wisconsin's Dick Bennett) and brother of former Indiana and Illinois State women's coach Kathi Bennett.

• Tom Izzo (Michigan State): Teammate in high school (Iron Mountain, Mich.) and college (Northern Michigan) of former Detroit Lions coach Steve Mariucci. Izzo, a running back,and Mariucci, a quarterback, were the best men in each others' weddings.

• Bruce Pearl (Auburn): As an undergraduate at Boston College, he was Dr. Tom Davis' administrative assistant before serving as an assistant coach under Davis at Stanford and Iowa.

Drawing upon all resources including degrees of success to motivate their teams, following are the educational backgrounds of the Final Four coaches:

Final Four Coach	School	Bachelor's
Chris Beard	Texas Tech	Kinesiology
Tony Bennett	Virginia	Humanities
Tom Izzo	Michigan State	Health & Physical Education
Bruce Pearl	Auburn	Business Administration

Close likely will determine who gets to smoke the victory cigar. Ask Arizona fans if close doesn't count after the Wildcats lost five regional finals from 2003 through 2015 by a total of 14 points. Following is how the Final Four mentors have fared at the major-college level in games decided by fewer than six points: