ST. LOUIS -- They shoot, they score, they pass, they even rebound.

If it seems like guards are everywhere whenever Louisville or Illinois play, it's because they are.

Luther Head, Deron Williams and Dee Brown are the ones who make the Illini tick. Francisco Garcia, Taquan Dean and Larry O'Bannon do the same for the Cardinals.

When the teams face each other in the Final Four at 5:07 p.m. today, all six will be on the court at the same time. Both coaches are expecting matchup problems -- all those various players with all their varying talents.

"It's intriguing matchups," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "I think we'll hold our own. You never know how it's going to pan out with those guys going against each other."

More than a subplot to this guard-centric game is the 3-point shot -- how it has changed college basketball, how it might need to be moved back a bit and, especially, how it helped both the Cardinals (33-4) and Illini (36-1) overcome double-digit deficits in their regional finals to make it here.

Williams and Head combined for six 3-pointers to help Illinois win after being 15 points down with 4 minutes left against Arizona.

Dean shot 7-for-17 behind the arc to lead Lousiville over West Virginia after falling behind 38-18 in the first half.

"To have gone through that experience makes it that much sweeter," O'Bannon said.

With little doubt, the Illinois trio is the better known.

Williams, with his sweet crossover dribble, his unselfishness and his take-it-or-leave-it attitude toward scoring, is looking like an NBA lottery pick. Brown, a magazine cover boy with corn rows, a color-coordinated headband and a bright orange mouthguard, is arguably the most recognizable player in the nation. Head is the team's leading scorer, and Illinois' most improved player this year according to coach Bruce Weber.

But Louisville won't concede this matchup. The Cardinals are used to being overlooked and underestimated -- it started in preseason and kept going right through Selection Sunday, when the committee gave Louisville a No. 4 seed even though the Cards had won 19 of 20 and rolled through the Conference USA tournament.

"We have to overcome that with everyone we play," O'Bannon said. "We do overcome that and show we have a great trio of guards. Not knocking their guards because they have great guard play, but I think we're just as good, too. I think we don't get the credit we deserve."

O'Bannon hit the weight room in the offseason and has prospered. He's averaging 18 points over the last four weeks, and scored 24 in the second half of last week's comeback.

Garcia and Dean are roommmates, best friends whose lives have been steeped as deeply in tragedy as basketball. Garcia's brother was shot to death two years ago in the Bronx. Dean grew up through the passing of his mother, two grandparents and his uncle. Both are juniors now, each having the seasons of their lives -- Dean making 120 3-pointers and Garcia among the conference leaders in six categories.

At 6-foot-7, Garcia is the tallest of the six guards, another sign of the changing nature of college basketball. Big men like Patrick Ewing, Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon once dominated the game. Now, they head off to the NBA early while guards are left to run the show.

Weber has been dealing with that reality for a while now, starting at Southern Illinois, where he coached from 1999 through 2003. When he came aboard with the Illini, he said the three guards came to him and asked if they could play together.

"I didn't even flinch because we had had such success at Southern Illinois, I didn't feel it was going to be a question mark," Weber said. "I'm sure everyone would love to get a big guy, but at the same time you kind of take what's there and make the most of it."

Illinois and Lousiville have both done plenty well despite the lack of height.

Pitino has done another master rebuilding job, bringing a sinking program back to prominence to become the first coach to take three different programs to the Final Four.

The Illini, meanwhile, are trying to write a successful closing chapter to what already is the most successful season in their 100-year history. They've been ranked first since Dec. 6. They were undefeated through March 6. They have ended every practice this season with a huddle and a chant, part of which is "national champion."

"We'll see if that was rhetoric or if it really meant something," Weber said. "We'll see by their actions on the court."