The Final Four is finally here in New Orleans in which two teams will punch their tickets to the national championship game on April 4. Both games will bring the fireworks of a memorable and historic Final Four.
Who would’ve thought on Selection Sunday on March 13th that we would have a Blue Blood Final Four of the four prestigious basketball programs in the country? Only 0.1% of brackets picked all four of these teams to make the Final Four, while combined, all four teams have almost 60 Final Four appearances with 17 national championships, and all have at least three national championships.
The story headlining this tournament has been one of the best coaches to ever coach Men’s DI collegiate basketball and a monumental icon across all sports, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. In his 42 seasons at the helm of the Blue Devils, he has become the winningest coach in Men’s DI college basketball with 1,202 wins, 5 national championships and now 13 Final Four appearances, passing the great “Wizard of Westwood” John Wooden for the most appearances in the Final Four.
Duke is not set to fall flat on their face today against their arch nemesis in North Carolina, who stole the fireworks and celebration from Coach K in his last game at Cameron Indoor, winning 94-81. Since Coach K took over the program in 1980, Duke is 50-49 against the Tar Heels.
I know the Cameron Crazies and other Blue Devil fans know he is not looking to relive the remarks of that March 5 loss, after which he said, “Let me just say, it’s unacceptable. Today was unacceptable, but the season has been very acceptable. And I’ll tell you, this season isn’t over, alright?” This is redemption for Duke and the players have only been using that latent memory as fuel to cross the finish line with a national championship for Coach K and confetti falling from the rafters.
North Carolina, though, is looking to put the dagger in the heart of the Blue Devils and stifle their magical run for Coach K. Who would’ve thought North Carolina would be going to their 21st Final Four appearance more than any other program? Their first under first-year head coach Hubert Davis. The one man who had that confidence in Davis was former head Coach Roy Williams.
“He’s doing a marvelous, marvelous job, and it is a hard job,” Williams said of Davis. If North Carolina is going to get a win, they must lock down and limit Paolo Banchero’s offensive production along with Jeremy Roach.
Don’t forget about Kansas and Villanova. Villanova is looking to win their third national championship in six years. In which would be head coach Jay Wright’s third national championship. Villanova is hoping they can shoot the lights out today like they did to Kansas in their last matchup in the Final Four in 2018.
Kansas is looking to win their fourth national championship and their first since 2008, which would also be Bill Self’s second National Championship. Senior Ochai Agbaji is looking to put on the superman cap and bring a championship home to Lawrence for the Jayhawks.
Villanova tips off against Kansas at 5:09 PM CT, and then the night caps off with Duke against North Carolina at 7:49 PM CT. Who will punch their ticket to the National Championship game?
MY PICKS: Kansas beats Villanova: 68-63, Duke beats North Carolina: 85-79