North Carolina and Kansas. Both teams have been dancing since Saint Patrick’s Day, and they have danced straight into New Orleans. Both teams have faced different challenges on their path to the title game and let’s take a look at their paths.
North Carolina first toasted 9 seed Marquette 95-63. The game was pretty well over at the break and the Tar Heels comfortably made the second round. Next they faced a daunting 1 seed in Baylor. The Tar Heels took control, leading by as much as 25, before Baylor stormed back into the game to force overtime. The Tar Heels resisted and held off the Bears to win. Next North Carolina faced 4 seed UCLA, this was a tough outing for the Tar Heels, but they prevailed 73-66.
In the Elite Eight, the Tar Heels faced the Cinderella of the tournament, Saint Peter’s. Saint Peter’s won games against Kentucky, Murray State, and Purdue to make it there but struggled against North Carolina. North Carolina dominated and won 69-49. In the Final Four, college basketball’s biggest rivalry took center stage, as Duke faced North Carolina. At the end of the regular season, the Tar Heels dominated Duke en route to a 94-81 win. The Tar Heels, once again knocked off the Blue Devils, 81-77, to make the championship game.
Kansas has had a less documented and less covered route than North Carolina. They easily beat 16 seed Texas Southern 83-56. The next two games they faced fierce competition with a 79-72 win over 9 seed Creighton and a 66-61 win over 4 seed Providence allowing this Jayhawks team to progress to the Elite Eight.
In the Elite Eight, they faced the 10 seed Miami Hurricanes. The Hurricanes defeated the Cyclones in the previous round but were completely outmatched by the Jayhawks. They got torn apart in a 76-50 loss to Kansas. In the Final Four the Jayhawks faced fellow blue bloods Villanova. This on paper is a game nobody would want to miss, but was completely overshadowed by the Duke and North Carolina game. Kansas dominated again as they won 81-65.
We head into this final with a tail of two teams. The 8 seed North Carolina being shown to be a brute force in the tournament and winning the biggest of games. The 1 seed Kansas has been overshadowed by upsets and miracle runs in this tournament as they quietly head towards the championship.
Prediction
Personally, I want North Carolina to stun the world an end a remarkable run they have had on a high note, however, I feel that Kansas will want to prove itself as they have been overshadowed by the larger stories of this tournament. Kansas will dance throughout the night in New Orleans and win another national championship.
Kansas 82 North Carolina 76