March Madness has lived up to its name this year, providing us with plenty of madness on the road to the Final Four. The slipper fit for the St. Peter’s Peacocks, and their Cinderella run took over social media as they became the first 15 seed to ever reach the Elite Eight. Further, just one 1 seed reached the Elite Eight. There was an 11 seed vs 10 seed matchup in the Sweet 16.

Simply put, it’s been an incredible tournament. Yet, we still end up with 4 of the most dominant college basketball programs over the past 20 years squaring off in the Final Four. These 4 teams in the Final Four have been able to sustain excellence better than anybody else.

Keep reading to see how we believe each game shakes out and which team we believe will eventually be crowned as Kings of the Big Dance!

(2) Villanova Wildcats vs (1) Kansas Jayhawks

6:09pm EST on TBS

Ryan: Villanova was riding high in the final minutes of their elite eight victory over Houston. It was a tough, grind it out game. And as soon as it appeared that Villanova would prevail and reach the Final Four for the 4th time in the past 13 NCAA tournaments, disaster struck. Junior guard Justin Moore went down and grabbed for his calf. An MRI showed a torn Achilles. His season is over. The 2nd leading scorer on the team at 14.8 ppg will be sorely missed. Villanova isn’t a deep team at all, they only play 6 guys for the most part. Now they’re down to 5. Collin Gillespie is going to have to be superman, and he has shown he is capable of being just that. It was just last season that Villanova was getting hot and gearing up for a deep run in March when Gillespie tore his ACL. He rehabbed like a mad man and returned for the start of the 2021-22 season, only about 7 months after he was injured. Gillespie has been the undisputed leader of the wildcats, averaging almost 16 ppg and shooting 41% from deep. He has to bring his A game if Villanova is going to advance.

For Kansas, Remy Martin has returned and been tremendous thus far in the tournament. Their leading scorer, Ochai Agbaji, has not been. But here they are anyways. Look for Agbaji to look for his offense early and get back on track. With Martin back in the mix, Kansas will play 7, and all 7 are so so solid. There’s just too much firepower here for Villanova to overcome the Moore injury. But I do expect Villanova to come out and battle all 40 minutes. They will not make anything easy on Kansas, and they sure as heck will not feel sorry for themselves. Jay Wright will have his squad ready to play.

Score Prediction: Kansas 67, Villanova 64

Ben: Villanova and Kansas are two of the active defensive teams in college basketball, so I predict a low scoring affair which will essentially become a battle of whether Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun of the Jayhawks can outscore Collin Gillespie and Jermain Samuels of the Wildcats. One key factor here is whether Samuels can step up for the injured Justin Moore for Jay Wright’s squad, and this may be an unpopular opinion, but I think Samuels absolutely has what it takes to do it. He’s been phenomenal all tournament for Villanova, and I can see him stepping up to the challenge.

Bill Self may have a great squad, but Jay Wright and his Villanova Wildcats are just too tough to beat.

Score Prediction: Villanova 63, Kansas 59

(8) North Carolina Tarheels vs. (2) Duke Blue Devils

8:49pm EST on TBS

Ryan: Duke vs. UNC in the Final Four. For the first time ever. In fact, it’s the first time these rivals have ever met in March Madness, in any round. And now here they meet at college basketball’s greatest stage with a trip to the national championship game on the line. It’s college basketball’s greatest rivalry at the Final Four. Although it won’t have the crazy fans at Cameron Indoor or in Chapel Hill, the arena will still be absolutely buzzing. And I am sure both student sections will still travel plenty well. This game is going to be epic.

These two teams have met twice this season, like always. In the first meeting, Duke swept North Carolina right off the floor in their own building with a convincing 87-67 win. AJ Griffin poured in 27 for Duke and UNC fell to 16-7 and few saw a glimmer of hope of UNC reaching a Final Four. But then the tides turned for UNC. This loss woke them up. The Tarheels went into Cameron Indoor for the second meeting and returned the favor, coming away with a 94-81 victory. UNC’s top 4 players, Armando Bacot, Caleb Love, RJ Davis, and Brady Manek, all had between 20-23 points. These 4 plus Leaky Black play huge minutes for UNC. There are times where coach Hubert Davis will not use a sub for an entire half. If they don’t have foul trouble, the 5 starters might all play 40 minutes in this one.

There is an immense amount of firepower in this game. Brady Manek is playing some of the best basketball of his life. Jeremy Roach has been incredible off the bench. Mark Williams might be the most underrated center in college basketball. Paolo Banchero is playing his last game or two in college before heading to the NBA Draft where he will be a top-3 draft pick. Oh yeah, and it’s Coach K’s last UNC/Duke ever.

Unlike the first two meetings this season, this game is going to come down to the wire. It’s going to be fast paced with a ton of shot making. The energy is going to be off the charts. It’s going to be one of the most intense Final Four games we have ever seen. Ultimately, the Blue Devils are winning it for Coach K.

Score Prediction: Duke 88, UNC 84

Ben: It’s only fitting that UNC and Duke will play each other in the Final Four during Coach K’s last March Madness run.

The Tar Heels’ high powered offense absolutely destroyed St. Peter’s in the Elite Eight to the dismay of many fans (including myself). RJ Davis, Caleb Love, Brady Manek, and Armando Bacot are a perfectly balanced Fab Four of offensive production. The two guards (Davis and Love) compete aggressively at both ends, they’re quick in transition, and they can also step out and knock down threes too. The two big men (Manek and Bacot) are a classic one-two punch where Manek makes a living from the perimeter as a stretch big while Bacot feasts on post up opportunities around the basket. With the way they’ve been playing under new head coach Hubert Davis, they’re as poised as ever to shock the world as an 8 seed and take down the almighty Duke Blue Devils and Coach K.

However, this Duke team won’t go down without a fight. This is one of the most talented groups that Coach K has had in quite some time, and their impressive win over the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Elite 8 was proof of that. There is a tremendous balance in Duke’s starting lineup. Jeremy Roach and AJ Griffin are two guards who thrive on creating shots for themselves off the dribble, which makes for an interesting forward duo of Wendell Moore Jr. and Paolo Banchero. Moore and Banchero are the two players who create the most opportunities for their teammates, as they are both eager and intelligent passers despite their enormous talent. Moore is a floor-spacing wing who can shoot just as well as he can slash, while Banchero is a jack of all trades for Duke and is widely regarded as a top 3 prospect for the upcoming NBA Draft as a result. Finally, Mark Williams is the man in the middle, a glass cleaning big man who is as lengthy and athletic as a 7 footer can get, making him a matchup nightmare on both ends.

This should be an all-time classic. Regardless, I can’t see Coach K losing to UNC in his last game as Duke’s head coach.

Score Prediction: Duke 82, UNC 81

NCAA National Championship
Monday, April 4, 2022
9:20pm EST on TBS

Ryan: After beating UNC in the Final Four, Coach K will have 1,203 wins in his illustrious career. He’s made 13 Final Four appearances and won 5 National Championships. This year will make 6. And one of the greatest to ever do it will go out on top. It’s a storybook ending. John Wooden, Bobby Knight, Coach K. Those are the 3 greatest coaches in college basketball history. You can argue all you want about the order of these top 3, but not about who belongs in the top 3.

I just don’t see any way that Duke makes it this far and doesn’t win it for Coach K. Sometimes things were just meant to be, and stories write themselves. This is one of those moments. And I think Duke does it in impression fashion.

1,204 wins. 6 National Champions.

Score Prediction: Duke 82, Kansas 71

Final Four Most Outstanding Player: Wendell Moore Jr.

Ben: Coach K and Jay Wright might just be the two best coaches in college basketball right now, and it would be an epic battle of the blue bloods if they were to square off in the National Championship Game this season. In this scenario, I don’t think that Villanova can quite match Duke’s offense, and I particularly doubt that they can contain Paolo Banchero and Mark Williams given the Wildcats’ relative lack of size compared to the two Blue Devils standouts.

Coach K will ride off into the Durham sunset with one final National Championship banner to hang in the rafters of Cameron Indoor.

Score Prediction: Duke 64, Villanova 58

Final Four Most Outstanding Player: Paolo Banchero

Who’s winning The Big Dance? Comment your pick down below!

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Authors: Ben Pawlak and Ryan Macdonald

Published: 4/2/22 at 3:30pm EST

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Sources/Works Cited:

2022 Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings, https://kenpom.com/.

Google Images, Google, https://images.google.com/imghp?hl=en.