NEW ORLEANS -- Until a game is played, the Final Four will be about coach Roy Williams and whether he will stay at Kansas or go to North Carolina.

But when the games begin Saturday, Williams, and Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim say the focus should be off of them and their long-time hunts to win a national title in a city and building that has become all too familiar to them.

The Williams Final Four File

1991: Williams got the Jayhawks to the Final Four in only his third season. His reward was a North Carolina reunion. The student, former Tar Heel assistant Roy Williams, beat the mentor, North Carolina legend Dean Smith, 79-73 in the semifinal. Kansas, led by Mark Randall and Adonis Jordan, lost to Bobby Hurley and Christian Laettner of Duke 72-65 as coach Mike Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils claimed their first national title. 1993: Williams and the Jayhawks tangled with UNC again in '93. The teacher got the better of the pupil this time. The Tar Heels fueled by Donald Williams sunk Rex Walters and the Jayhawks 78-68 in the national semifinal. 2002: After a nine-year dry spell, Williams and the Jayhawks returned to the Final Four in '02. But like '93, it was one and done, but this time another ACC team did the honors -- Maryland. Juan Dixon and the Terps held off KU 97-88. Roy Williams' Kansas teams have lost to the eventual national champion in each of its three Final Four visits.

They could meet in the title game if Kansas gets by Marquette and Syracuse beats Texas in Saturday's national semifinals at the Superdome.

Williams is coaching in his fourth Final Four as a head coach. He was here, in New Orleans, as an assistant with North Carolina when the Tar Heels beat Georgetown in 1982. He lost in 1991 as Kansas' head coach to Duke in the title game. He lost in '93 in the national semifinal to his mentor Dean Smith and North Carolina in New Orleans.

Last season, he got beat by Maryland in the national semifinal. It marked the third time Williams has lost to the eventual national champion.

Boeheim has been chasing the title longer as a head coach but has missed out on two chances. Syracuse was one possession away from beating Indiana before Keith Smart buried a corner shot to beat the Orangemen in New Orleans in the 1987 title game. Boeheim's Orangemen lost to Kentucky in the 1996 championship game at the Meadowlands.

Both coaches say they're more at peace with their careers after having gone to the Final Four a few times. They both say that -- this time -- they are relishing the accomplishment more for their players than themselves.

"I'm happier now for the players,'' Boeheim said. "The first few of those I was happy for myself, especially the first one. Every trip to the Final Four is special and this was a fun team to coach.''

Williams said he couldn't fathom how hard getting to the Final Four was for a head coach after getting to the prestigious event in his third and fifth seasons at Kansas.

"I thought we would do this a lot,'' Williams said. "I was naïve at the time. We went nine seasons without going. Last year, I had the feeling that I had been here before and had good teams that didn't go so I really wanted to make sure the kids enjoyed it.''

Williams said he plans on coaching for many years to come and sees himself getting to the Final Four again (though whether it's with Kansas or maybe North Carolina is sure to be a question this weekend). For that reason, he's trying to remind his players how rare the trip is and how much they should value the appearance.

But getting past the pleasantries, both coaches would love to finally win a title. Neither will be judged too harshly if they don't win the national title -- college basketball coaches haven't traditionally been defined by winning at the Final Four.

Examples? Former Princeton coach Pete Carrill is looked at as one of the best coaches of all time and yet he never won a title. Purdue's Gene Keady and Temple's John Chaney are viewed in a similar light and they haven't been to the Final Four. Their careers won't be diminished if they don't win a title before they retire.

But they certainly would be enhanced. Same with Williams and Boeheim. Both have defined their two respected, and storied programs. Kansas and Syracuse have had a successful history in the NCAA Tournament, but neither school has had as dominant a personality as they do now.

But, like it or not, the NCAA Tournament does matter when it comes to grading a career. The great ones have a title. For some coaches, just getting into the tournament sometimes is enough. For others, reaching the Final Four is what's needed for validation.

Claiming the title is an even loftier goal that so few have achieved. Williams and Boeheim, even if they won't say it, know it.

"I appreciate college athletics maybe more than anybody,'' Williams said. "College basketball is about the full arenas, Kansas versus Missouri, Kentucky versus Louisville, Georgetown versus Syracuse. I always would want college basketball to be about that.

The Boeheim Final Four File

1987: Derrick Coleman, Sherman Douglas and Rony Seikaly were the backbone of Boeheim's first Final Four team. The Orangemen drew a semifinal meeting with Rick Pitino's upstart Providence squad. The No. 2 seeded Orangemen controlled the boards and won 77-63. Syracuse led Indiana 73-70 in the title game with under a minute left, when Howard Triche missed the back end of a one-and-one. With no 'Cuse players on the foul line, IU's Keith Smart grabbed the board, raced down court and hit a layup. Then Derrick Coleman missed the front end of a one-and-one with 28 seconds left, and Smart hit a baseline jumper to give Indiana a 74-73 lead with five seconds left. Syracuse didn't get a timeout called until one second remained. Smart intercepted Syracuse's three-quarter length inbounds pass to seal the win. 1996: Only a No. 4 seed in '96, Syracuse star John Wallace combined with Otis Hill and Todd Burgan to lead the Orange to the Final Four. Boeheim's national semifinal record improve to 2-0 with a 77-69 win over Mississippi State at the Meadowlands. The reward was a meeting with top-seeded Kentucky -- now coached by Rick Pitino, Boeheim's '94 semifinal counterpart. Syracuse lost 76-67 in the title game, but the 14-point underdog Orangemen never trailed by that much during the game.

"Yet the tournament gets so much attention and that's why getting to the Final Four is such an accomplishment,'' Williams said. "But if you're not that last team standing then there is an empty feeling.''

Williams doesn't hide from the fact that winning the title is one of his dreams, but said it's not what "drives" him.

"It's not something that I stay awake at night and think about,'' Williams said. "There's something on my desk that I talked about one time -- 'Statistics are important but relationships last forever.' I decided many years ago that I wanted to be a college coach because I could have some influence on young people's lives just like my coaches did on me.

"My high school coach never won a state championship and I still love him to death and still talk to him all the time and still hold him on the highest esteem that you can possibly hold anybody.''

Following the 1982 title game when both were at North Carolina, the legendary Smith told Williams that he wasn't a better coach for having won the title.

"With me, I do have that dream," Williams said. "I have a passion for it, but it's not something that I'm going to look back on and say, 'Boy, you would have been successful if you had done that.' That's just not going to happen with me,'' Williams said. "As long as my players feel like that I am giving them everything that I have and the people that I work for appreciate how hard I tried, I'm going to feel good about that."

While Williams doesn't say that he has to win the title to gain even more credibility in the sport, he's not about to downplay the reality of Kansas' chances. He doesn't want his players to be satisfied with simply reaching New Orleans. He knows he's got the potential favorite in the field, and two senior All-Americans in Kirk Hinrich and Nick Collison who have no reason to be distracted by talk about their coach.

Anything to do with Williams and North Carolina and whether Williams feels the pressure to win the title should have no bearing on two senior starters who want to go out with a championship.

"I've always felt we could win it when we've been here,'' Williams said. "In 1991, we were all of the sudden playing Duke in the title game and I knew we could win it. But we didn't.''

Because this team has been to the Final Four, Williams is more at ease. He doesn't have to worry about the Jayhawks getting overrun with the pressure of the event or being wrapped up in any distractions in New Orleans.

Boeheim isn't worried, either, but could have some concern with a team dominated by freshmen Carmelo Anthony, Billy Edelin and Gerry McNamara. He went to the Final Four in '87 and '96 with veteran teams.

"This group will play with more maturity than people expect,'' Boeheim said. "These guys have played well all year in big games. We'll just go play and give it a good shot and see what happens.''

Williams doesn't have any bad feelings about New Orleans, even though he's 1-1 as a bench coach in the building.

"It's a great place to have the Final Four,'' Williams said. "I love having it in a warm enough climate so everyone can walk around. That's why I like San Antonio, too (site of the 2004 Final Four).''

Boeheim doesn't harbor any ill feelings toward New Orleans, even though the Orangemen were a few seconds away from winning the title in '87 against Indiana, when Keith Smart's jumper beat the Orangemen, who were led by Sherman Douglas, Rony Seikaly and Derrick Coleman.

"Mostly all my memories are good except for the last five seconds,'' Boeheim said. "That's all I can remember. It was a great game.''

One thing is for certain: the title will go to a coach who wins it for the first time. Texas' Rick Barnes and Marquette's Tom Crean are making their debuts in the Final Four.

Everyone has their own approach to the event; Williams and Boeheim, at least, have the practice of being here before and that means they won't stray from their routines. Williams' approach is to be very scripted. He orchestrated the cutting of the net in Anaheim last Saturday, down to the final trim being saved for Collison. He knows the drill of media obligations and how to keep his players in check.

So, too, does Boeheim. But he's so relaxed that he spent Sunday night just hanging out at home, a few hours after the Orangemen had won the East Regional in nearby Albany. He sounded a bit ho-hum Monday morning as he prepared for the Final Four. But don't get fooled by his demeanor. He wants the title just as bad as Williams, Barnes or Crean.

But, like Williams at least, he's not about to show that failing to win it again will weigh on him until his next trip to the Final Four.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.