Winners Club: Kansas and North Carolina Face Off in Blue Blood National Championship Game
North Carolina is playing with house money tonight.
The Tar Heels beat their heated rival, Duke, ending coach Mike Krzyzewski's career Saturday to advance to their 12th national championship game. No. 8 UNC was the first team in the tournament to beat a No. 1 seed (Baylor) and is tied for the lowest seed to ever play in the national championship game.
Kansas, the last standing No. 1 seed and a definitive favorite tonight, is facing a bit more pressure.
The Jayhawks are in their 10th national championship game and first in a decade. KU had the makings of a national title team during the canceled COVID-19 season, then bowed out of the tournament early a season ago. A No. 1 seed in this tournament, Kansas got by its postseason nemesis, Villanova, on Saturday and now has the chance to make up for years of coming up short.
National Championship
There’s way less history and bad blood between North Carolina and Kansas compared with the Duke-UNC rivalry, but the programs are forever linked by Roy Williams, who coached the Jayhawks from 1988-2003 and the Tar Heels from 2003-2021. Williams left the team to Hubert Davis, who has taken North Carolina to the national championship game in his first season at the helm.
Monday 9:20 p.m. ET (TBS): No. 8 North Carolina vs. No. 1 Kansas (-4)
Frankie Taddeo recapped the Final Four and went over both teams’ ATS performances. UNC improved to 5-0 ATS in the tournament and 3-0 as an underdog with its 81-77 against Duke. Kansas, meanwhile, improved to 3-2 ATS after defeating Villanova 81-65.
David J. Phillip/AP
Taddeo also made his pick after presenting the game trends, key matchups, each team’s play style and the series history.
“The matchup between Villanova and Kansas in the Final Four marked the fourth NCAA tournament bout between the two Blue Bloods,” Taddeo writes. “The winner of each of these previous three matchups (2008, 2016, 2018) has eventually emerged as National Champions. Will that trend continue?”
The SI college basketball writers convened to make their picks for the big game. Kansas had a 3-2 edge in the panel. See how our writers think the matchup will go and what their exact score predictions are.
More National Championship Pregame Reading:
Five Matchups that Will Decide the Championship: How will UNC look to defend Ochai Agbaji? And can Kansas contend with Armando Bacot in the rebounding battle? Kevin Sweeney lays out the battles that will matter the most.
Bacot Will Play vs. Kansas: UNC’s ferocious rebounder briefly left Saturday’s game against Duke with an ankle injury before returning to the game, which put his status in doubt for tonight. But he cleared that up: “There’s no way I’m not playing in the national championship game.”
David J. Phillip/AP
The Jayhawks Are on a Mission: KU locked up its spot in the national championship game on Saturday ahead of the main event: Duke-UNC. But despite being the undercard, this Kansas team has shown its strength with back-to-back double-digit wins in the Elite Eight and Final Four, writes Greg Bishop.
South Carolina Beats UConn for National Title
The Gamecocks led the Huskies 22-8 after the first quarter of Sunday night’s women’s national championship game and never relinquished that lead. South Carolina vanquished UConn 69-49 behind a huge game from Destanni Henderson and an Aliyah Boston double-double.
“If this championship could not quite be called inevitable, it felt inescapable,” writes Emma Baccellieri. “The No. 1 team in the polls from wire to wire—October to March—sealed the deal in appropriate fashion. It never trailed against No. 2 seed UConn in the final on Sunday.”
South Carolina, 4.5-point favorites, covered the spread easily and completed its season with a 35-2 record. The Gamecocks won all but one of their March Madness games by double digits and Dawn Staley’s squad took home the title in dominant fashion.
Eric Gay/AP
In Other News
Masters DFS Plays: Looking for some options to fill out your DFS lineup this coming weekend? Shawn Childs has a few top-tier, second-tier and value options to consider at Augusta National.
Mets’ Scherzer Dealing with Hamstring ‘Hiccup’: New York’s rotation already took a hit when Jacob deGrom (shoulder) was ruled out for the start of the season. Now, Max Scherzer’s status is in doubt ahead of Opening Day on Thursday against his former team, the Nationals.
Masters Betting Roundtable: The Morning Read staff picks the sleepers, fades and more for the upcoming tournament. And they address Tiger Woods’s status and whether they’d go anywhere near him at 50-1 to win.
That’s all for today. Follow @SI_Betting for more picks and previews in the leadup to tonight’s national championship game!
