The National Championship game is set, as the Villanova Wildcats will take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in the second-ever meeting between the two in the NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats are coming off an absolute thrashing of Buddy Hield and the Oklahoma Sooners 95-51, the largest margin of victory in Final Four history. The Tar Heels ended the Syracuse Orange’s Cinderella run, 83-66.
The Wildcats are back in the championship for the first time since 1985 when they defeated the Georgetown Hoyas in one of the biggest upsets in tournament history. That victory remains to be their only national championship win in school history.
The Tar Heels are back in the title game for the 10th time in school history. Their most recent appearance in the title game came back in 2009 when they defeated the Michigan State Spartans for their fifth championship. The Heels have posted a record of 5-4 in the national championship game.
Much scrutiny and criticism has come toward the Tar Heels as many have considered that the team shouldn’t even be in the tournament amid its academic scandal. It appears the school was prolonging any sanctions until after this season was over, due to the chance the team could make a strong tournament run.
The Tar Heels should have followed in the footsteps of the Louisville Cardinals. Due to the ongoing investigation of several allegations against the Louisville men’s basketball program, the Cardinals self-imposed a postseason ban for the 2015–16 season. Despite having a great season and finishing fourth in the ACC, the Cardinals did the honorable thing removing themselves from postseason play.
The Wildcats tend to bust brackets every year. Fans typically choose them to go further when they lose early, or they’re chosen to lose early and they make it further into the tournament than expected.
This year was much the same after their abysmal showing as a No. 1 seed last year in a Round 32 loss to NC State. Many didn’t see the team going far in a stacked region with teams including Kansas, Miami, Maryland and Wichita State.
The Wildcats receive a lot of criticism for playing in a weak conference, in which they finished the regular season with a 27-4 record. But head coach Jay Wright has proved doubters wrong and has this team cruising to the title game beating one, two and three-seeds, respectively.
In their last attempt at a national championship as teammates, UNC seniors Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige will have to control the game if they want to capture their first title. Johnson has been spectacular all season, averaging a double-double with 17.1 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.
Over four years, Johnson has crafted his game to be one of the best big men in the country. He has a strong knack for being active on the boards both offensively and defensively.
His sidekick Paige has highly underachieved his four years with the Tar Heels but has willed his team to win this year. Paige is known in the past for struggling in the first half but exploding in the second. This year, Paige has played both halves more efficiently. He has drilled clutch 3-pointers, and they’ll need many more to contend with the hot offense of Villanova.
Nova senior Daniel Ochefu has had a strong season in protecting the rim with 1.5 blocks per game. He also shoots an astounding 62 percent from the field. Ochefu played under the radar his first two seasons, but like Johnson, has shown strong improvement during the past years.
Junior Josh Hart leads the Wildcats in scoring with 15.3 points per game. Hart was having a tough time in the tournament through the Elite Eight, but he turned up the heat as he annihilated the Oklahoma Sooners’ defense for 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field.
Both teams are offensively gifted and rely on a balanced scoring attack. The Wildcats have four players who average double figures with one just below the mark. The Tar Heels also have four who average double-digits with just two below the mark.
The battle between the two teams may come down to which team can make more stops as it is assumed to be a high-scoring game. Another key factor in the game will be if the Wildcats can control the Tar Heels on the glass. The idea has been pushed around all season by opponents as the Tar Heels typically out rebound their opponents by a significant margin.
One team will be crowned the 2016 national champion, the odds are in the Tar Heels’ favor as they opened a slight two-point favorite over Villanova.
The No. 1 seed has won the tournament 62.5 percent of the time as opposed to the No. 2 seed who has only won 12.5 percent of the time since the tournament expanded in 1985.
The teams battle Monday night in Houston, Texas in the finale to the 2015–16 college basketball season.
