Dana Altman celebrates by cutting down the net in Kansas City.

The Oregon basketball program doesn't reach the Final Four very often. When they take the floor versus top-seeded North Carolina on Saturday in Phoenix, it'll be the first time they've done so since 1939.

Needless to say, no one on the current Oregon team has been there before — much less been alive the last time the program has been.

In order to counteract that, Oregon coach Dana Altman has sought council from a few coaches who know about a deep tournament run.

"I was on the phone with Lon Kruger last night trying to get some advice, and Mike Montgomery this morning," Altman said on the NCAA Final Four conference call Monday afternoon. "Two coaches (that have) been to the Final Four, just trying to get some thoughts on what to avoid and what to embrace."

The coach on the opposing bench won't share Altman's unfamiliarity. North Carolina's Roy Williams will be coaching in his ninth Final Four in Phoenix. He reached four at Kansas and is now participating in his ninth with the Tar Heels.

It's not just the coach with experience playing this late into the tournament. Much of the UNC core played and defeated Syracuse in last year's Final Four before losing on Kris Jenkins' buzzer beater to lift Villanova over North Carolina for the national title.

"I think so," Altman said when asked if it gave the Tar Heels an edge. "I think it does. Their players are experienced. They went to the final game last year. Coach Williams has been there, done that. This is a new experience for our players, for our coaching staff.

"Because it is a new experience, like you said, for our coaching staff and players, and we want to try to help our players as much as possible. And make them as comfortable as possible."

Also of concern for Altman is the venue. Just last year the Tar Heels played two games at NRG Stadium, the home of the Houston Texans, with a reported attendance of 74,340 for the championship game.

Oregon's most attended contest this year or last?

19,924.

That was the semifinal of this season's Pac-12 Tournament game with California.

This weekend might triple that. University of Phoenix Stadium holds 63,400 fans.

"This is a bigger stage. Our guys obviously are aware of that. And the crowd's going to be much bigger. Much more open arena. So our guys are going to have to make that adjustment," Altman said.

Rebounding improvement

Oregon was routinely roasted on the glass during the final month of conference play, but suddenly, with the competition stiffening and the stage growing larger, the Ducks have flipped that script.

The Ducks have won the rebound battle in all four of their NCAA Tournament games. They've outrebounded their foes 148-118 in total in those games, for an average advantage of 7.5 per contest.

All of this has been done without Chris Boucher who was the team's second leading rebounder before losing his season due to a knee injury.

"I think all the guys have picked it up a little bit, just knowing that Chris isn't there," Altman said of the leap."We've relied so much on Chris and Jordan to block shots and rebound. So I think our guys are more conscious of it because Chris isn't with us. But we will have our work cut out for us on Saturday."

There's no question about that. The Tar Heels are the country's best in rebounding margin, rebounds per game and offensive rebounding team.

"North Carolina is probably the best rebounding team that we faced all year," Altman said. "And their offensive rebounding gives them an opportunity to score. They score pretty good on the first shot, but offensively their offensive rebounding numbers are off the charts. So we'll have to do a great job on the boards Saturday."

Much of the responsibility there will come down to Jordan Bell. Bell has been a man possessed in the tournament. He's the first player since Hakeem Olajuwon in 1983-84 to grab at least 12 rebounds in five straight tournament games.

"When Chris was out of the lineup, obviously Jordan's picked up his numbers dramatically," Altman said of Bell, who has averaged 12.5 rebounds per contest in the tournament.

Williams-Altman history

Both coaches reminisced of their times coaching against each other in the Big Eight conference in the early 1990s. Altman led the Kansas State Wildcats in those days, while Williams was with the Jayhawks.

"We had some good games back at Kansas, Kansas State," Altman said. "Unfortunately, for me, he won most of them."

Williams went 8-2 in those days as the Jayhawks won the Big Eight three of the four years Altman was in the league.

"He was doing a great job at Kansas. And we upset him a couple times," Altman said.

Wild, Wild, West

Not only does Oregon's berth in the Final Four kill a long drought for the school, but it also ends a near 10 year drought for the conference. No Pac-12 school has played this deep since UCLA in 2008.

"(The conference) needed to get further in the NCAA Tournament," Altman said. "And fortunately we were able to represent the Pac-12 this year."