The two games tonight are a pure example of the unpredictable nature of the tournament. You have 3 Michigan and 11 Loyola-Chicago in one matchup, and 1 Villanova and 1 Kansas in the other one. The seeding didn't hold, but now we are guaranteed the gem of Villanova and Kansas playing each other in the tournament for the second time in three years. With Michigan and Loyola-Chicago, you get the two teams that have the toughest competition to get here. In both cases, neither team had to play a top-2 seed en route to San Antonio. Michigan highest-seeded opponent was 6 Houston. Each side of the bracket, and each matchup at that, tells a different story. Chalk and Chaos.
The Chaos Matchup is our first game tonight: 3 Michigan vs 11 Loyola-Chicago. I picked Michigan to win the whole thing in all my bracket pools, but I also love the hometown Ramblers of Loyola. Still, I lean Michigan in both my fandom and my thoughts. Loyola-Chicago is a great story, but Michigan's defense is unlike anything Loyola-Chicago has seen in the tournament thus far. With the defense and the offense that can go off for 100 in any given game, Michigan is the clear favorite. I still, however, expect Loyola-Chicago to stay in this game to the very end. Clayton Custer and Ben Richardson make up a dynamic duo in the backcourt with Marques Townes and Donte Ingram providing additional scoring. Loyola-Chicago is the best 11 seed to make the Final Four, but I still like Michigan thanks to their perimeter defense and streaky shooting.
The Chalk Side gives us the National Championship before the National Championship. It is widely expected that whoever wins this game will go on to win the whole thing on Monday. I actually haven't heard one person pick Michigan or Loyola-Chicago to win it all on any of the Final Four Preview shows. With the way Kansas and Villanova have been playing, I don't really blame them. Villanova has taken down two straight Big 12 opponents by double digits to get here, while Kansas just knocked off the most talented team in the country in Duke. Both teams have had great tournaments, so we should expect a great game. Kansas's Malik Newman has been the hero in the tournament for the Jayhawks. He hit multiple clutch shots against Duke to seal the Final Four trip for Kansas, and he has finally found his role on this team. For Villanova, it's been a team effort, but Jalen Brunson has been the guiding force behind it all. The AP Player of the Year has averaged 17.5 ppg in four tournament games, including 27 in the West Virginia game. The guards for both teams are what got them to this point, but I think the big guys will be the key aspect of this game. Omari Spellman for Villanova and Udoka Azubuike for Kansas both fill the big guy role, but they do it in opposite ways. Spellman is a lethal 3-point shooter while Azubuike is a traditional powerhouse big. Whoever wins that matchup will win the game for his team. I think Spellman will win it, as Azubuike will struggle guarding outside the paint. As a result, Villanova will win this game.
No matter what happens tonight, we will be seeing a great celebration of college basketball. Given the FBI crap that's been going on, this type of Final Four is needed. We have four great teams and a fantastic location in San Antonio. (I think it might be the coolest Final Four court ever.) College basketball is still the greatest spectator sport in the world, and this Final Four shows why.
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