In the final game of NCAA's March Madness 2018 , the Villanova Wildcats went up against the Michigan Wolverines. When it was all said and done, Villanova came out as the championship team this year and, to some, it looks like this team is beginning to start a dynasty.
Out of the past three years of NCAA championships, Villanova won two of them, an impressive feat for the college basketball team. In an article by USAToday, Michigan's coach said one of the reasons why this team is so good is the experience everyone has. “When you look at the whole package, they have experience, which is rare in college basketball, shooters at every position, passers at every position and defenders," said Michigan coach John Beilein. “We were trying to find, who’s the weak guy we can pick on? There’s a couple guys that aren’t as strong as others, but it’s a tremendous basketball team. That team could win a lot of Final Fours, not just 2018." At first, the Wildcats were a 'middle-of-the-pack team' in a conference whose very existence felt tenuous. Now, in recent years, they’ve become the undisputed gold standard in men’s college basketball and have the potential to start a dynasty that almost no expert expected, which is saying a lot since there haven't been many college basketball dynasties of late.
Out of all the players, no one is more excited than the new star of the Wildcats: Donte DiVincenozo, also known as "The Michael Jordan of Delaware" by Villanova coach Jay Wright. Despite being the sixth man of the team, DiVincenozo helped his team by coming off the bench and scoring major points when it mattered the most. According to an article from The Kansas City Star, DiVincenzo's scoring total was the most ever in the tournament by a non-starter in a national championship game and the most overall in a title game since Seton Hall’s John Morton scored 35 against Michigan in 1989. "I just try to bring energy," he said. "I try to take the energy to a new level. I try to defend and to rebound to the best of my ability and just try to get it going." According to ESPN statistics, DiVincenzo finished with a career-high 31 points.
This year of March Madness was really a "madness." Many brackets were gone, some barely survived, while others were upset that experts' predictions had gone south. If there's one thing that Villanova can take from this, it is that they won this year. Congrats Villanova Wildcats, you made your city proud. Another interesting piece of news is what happened after this win. Charles Barkley proclaimed, "I’ll make a prediction. The Eagles won. Villanova won. The 76ers are going to win the championship." If the Sixers win this year then the city of Philadelphia will have much to talk about in the upcoming years ahead.
