This weekend many sports fans will find themselves glued to television sets across the country watching the college basketball Final Four and Championship game. By now, everyone’s bracket is broken and most likely already in the trash. However, that will not deter people from watching the culmination of March Madness. The Final Four features four teams that have undoubtedly earned their way into the final four, and have all made a case as to why they may even have what it takes to win the 64-team tournament.
Kansas, the national favorite going into the tournament was upset this past weekend. They are back home already, similar to other pre-tourney favorites such as Michigan State, Oregon, Virginia, and Xavier. The tournament has been wild and unpredictable, just as the regular season was, and it will undoubtedly continue its trend during the next three games.
The Final Four will kick off Saturday night with a pair of 2-seeds, Villanova versus Oklahoma. Oklahoma has bullied its way through the tournament riding the coattails of their star — and most likely Wooden Award winner — Buddy Hield. Following his lead Oklahoma has found itself as the first school to have a team play in the Final Four, as well as, the College Football Playoff. Maybe that is all the mojo that they will need to rout ‘Nova and play again on Monday for the National title. Hield, is coming off a 37 point effort in a 12 point victory over 1- seed Oregon. He is averaging 29.2 PPG, shooting an absurd 70 percent from inside the arc and 47 percent from beyond it, in the NCAA tournament. He truly does have the ability to will his team to a championship. Not only does having the best player in the country firing on all cylinders help Oklahoma’s chances at cutting down the nets on Monday night, but defensive stud Khadeem Lattin, as well as, veterans Isaiah Cousins, Jordan Woodward, and Ryan Spangler make this team a scary team if you find yourself matched up against them.
Unfortunately, that team matched up against Oklahoma on Saturday night is Villanova. However, Villanova, I am sure, would make the argument that Oklahoma should be the team that is scared. Villanova is looking to take advantage of Oklahoma’s turnover-prone offense on their way to the National Championship game. Nova sports the best defense of any team remaining in the tournament and as the old saying goes. “Defense wins championships.” The proof of just how good they are can be seen when looking at their scores with some of the best teams and offenses in the country. Just last week Villanova held the Kansas Jayhawks to only 59 points, their lowest output of the season. Not only will their defense be the force to get them to the championship game and come out on top, Nova’s offense can put up points against good teams, as can be seen against Miami when they scored 92.
The second game of the Final Four will be a matchup of 1-seed North Carolina versus 10-seed Syracuse. North Carolina has not necessarily played the most difficult opponents thus far in the tournament, and it would not appear that they are facing that good of a team when they have a 10 before their name for the Final Four, however, the teams that the Tar Heels have beat up to this point were good basketball squads capable of staging an upset. North Carolina has flexed its muscles and dominance throughout the entire tournament, something most teams are not able to say. Their offense has proven that is is a force to reckoned with and is still looking for someone to challenge them. They have averaged winning each of their games so far by 16 points. In the Elite Eight against Notre Dame, North Carolina scored 61.5 percent of their field goal attempts. They score a huge bulk of their points inside the arc by attacking the rim and dominating their opponents with offensive rebounds. Thus, it is no surprise that the Tar Heels own the best offense in the tournament. The bottom line is that this team may be the hottest team in the country. They have not lost since Feb. 27, and Marcus Paige is playing well once again. Teams this weekend will try to slow down the North Carolina offense, but it should be noted that during their current nine-game win streak, four of their games featured fewer than 70 possessions.
The only team that may be able to make a case for hottest team in the country is the Tar Heels’ opponent Syracuse. The Orange are the only team lower than a two seed that will be playing this weekend, and many people did not even have them playing past the first weekend of the tournament. Jim Boeheim has lead an underrated team to the Final Four by upsetting Dayton, then beating Middle Tennessee, the team that ousted Michigan State whom many people picked to win the tourney, beating a red hot Gonzaga team that looked like they were on a rampage this March, and finally 1-seed Virginia after trailing by 16 points in the second half. The ‘Cuse rallied and went on a 38-21 run that resulted in their second trip to the Final Four in the past four years. Closing out the game like they did against Virginia has been their theme so far this tournament and may be what crowns them National Champions this Monday night.
This weekend will follow suit with Murphy's Law, just as it has for the entire tournament so far. Many things will be going wrong for all four teams, but it will be how they handle the adversity that will determine if they find themselves playing Monday night for a national championship, or if they will be joining the rest of the country with their eyes glued to the television screen.
