SAN ANTONIO - A coach from Kentucky nicknamed Tubby had a feeling his team might be good enough to get to the national championship game. A tubby coach from Utah didn't think his squad had a chance when the season started.
But Rick Majerus' Utes set up an unlikely final on Saturday night with their stunning 65-59 upset of No. 1 North Carolina.
Utah (30-3) will meet Kentucky and coach Tubby Smith on Monday night. The Wildcats (34-4) beat Stanford 86-85 in overtime to advance.
Kentucky knocked Utah out of the NCAA tournament the previous two years - 72-59 in the West Regional championship last year and in a Midwest semifinal in 1996. In 1993, the Wildcats beat the Utes in the second round.
''It's great to have another chance at them,'' Utah center Michael Doleac said. ''Obviously, we struggled with them the last few years. But it's a new year and we're playing great ball.''
''Kentucky is a great team and I have a lot of respect for them,'' said Majerus, whose team has flourished despite the loss of All-American Keith Van Horn. ''But we came here to win a championship. That was our goal. We didn't come here to prove we could play, we wanted to win.''
Fleet-footed Kentucky made the final for the third consecutive year and will be the favorite, given its experience. But Utah has been making good teams look bad in the NCAA Tournament. The Utes beat defending national champion Arizona 76-51 in the West Regional final last weekend and led the Tar Heels throughout on Saturday night.
In a tournament rife with upsets, North Carolina was the last of the No. 1 seeds standing.
Utah, in the final for the first time since winning the championship in 1944, has won with defense. Its five opponents in the NCAA Tournament are averaging 61.8 points and shooting 39.5 percent from the field. Doleac and guard Andre Miller had 16 points each for the Utes on Saturday. Miller added 14 rebounds.
North Carolina scored its fewest points of the season, outside of a 50-42 victory against Princeton in December.
Smith, in his first season since replacing Rick Pitino at Kentucky, has exceeded all expectations. While the Wildcats returned seven players with Final Four experience, first-round NBA draft picks Ron Mercer and Derek Anderson weren't among them.
Guard Jeff Sheppard scored a career-high 27 points for the Wildcats. ''The national final is everybody's goal,'' he said. ''It's a great feeling to be one of the last two teams standing.''
Kentucky, which has won six NCAA championships, is one of the most pedigreed programs in the college game, along with North Carolina and UCLA. The Wildcats have reached the championship game three years in a row, having won the title in 1996 and finished runner-up to Arizona last year.
The Utes beat Dartmouth to win the NCAA tournament in 1944, when they filled in for an Arkansas team devastated by a car crash.
Utah's most recent Final Four appearance was in 1966, losing to eventual national champion Texas Western, which beat Kentucky in the final game and later changed its name to University of Texas-El Paso.
Today's NCAA coverage
Utah-Kentucky unlikely final
Kentucky 86, Stanford 85
All Stanford was missing was Sheppard Paul Daugherty column
Sheppard saves day for UK
Turner happy to get the win
UK victory thrills fans
UK Notes
Utah 65, North Carolina 59
Miller stops Heels in tracks
Final Four jinx gets Williams
Utah/UNC Notes
NCAA coverage from Associated Press
