The 8th seeded, east regional champions, the North Carolina Tar Heels beat the Duke Blue Devils, 81 to 77 in an instant classic. On the other hand, the 1 seeded, midwest regional champions, the Kansas Jayhawks beat the Villanova Wildcats, 81 to 65 and never being down during the whole game. Kansas head coach Bill Self is coaching in his 3rd national championship and is looking to win his second. North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis has led the Tar Heels to the national championship in his first year with the program. The North Carolina Tar Heels do not have much depth, as all of their starters played at least 33 minutes, and 4 out of 5 of their starters played at least 36 minutes. North Carolina guard Caleb Love has really stepped up in the past three games, averaging 24 points per game, 3.7 rebounds per game, shooting 45.9% from the field. North Carolina forward Armando Bacot put up 21 rebounds against Duke in the final four. Bacot did get slightly injured against Duke, hurting his ankle. One of the main focuses for the Tar Heels is how Armando Bacot will play on his injured ankle. Bacot has a tough task at hand having to guard David McCormack, who has 25 points, 9 rebounds, while making 10 out of his 12 field goal attempts. Kansas’ Ochai Agbaji has been unstoppable over the past 2 games, averaging 19.5 points per game, 3.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 70% from the field. One of the matchups that will be looked at all night is how Agbaji plays against North Carolina's best defender, Leaky Black. One of the main focuses for Kansas should be their rebounding as North Carolina had 50 rebounds versus Duke, and Kansas had 35 rebounds against Villanova.
Prediction: Kansas wins the national championship 85-83