Duke has been able to turn things around since the tournament. (0:51) One of the best postseason events in recent history has been offered by the men's NCAA tournament in 2022, with a variety of upsets. The school made the Elite Eight as a 15-seed. Three of the top seeds were eliminated before the second weekend. Three teams from the ACC made it to the Elite Eight. The Big Ten had no. We are left with the blue bloods. Duke, North Carolina, Kansas and Villanova have won seven of the 14 national titles. No matter who wins or loses in the national semifinals on Saturday, we will be in for a great title game. Duke and North Carolina will meet in the NCAA tournament for the first time in NCAA tournament history, weeks after the Tar Heels spoiled Coach K's final regular-season game. Kentucky defeated Kansas in the national championship game a decade ago. The same building is where Bill Self hopes to have luck this time. Jay Wright will chase his third national title in six years as he leads a team that is not at 100 percent. The best teams will play at the Superdome. Let's hope the match ups live up to the hype. The record was 32-6.
Final Four appearances: 17
Championships: 5 (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015)
Coach: Mike Krzyzewski (1,202-367)Duke Blue Devils
Pick the winner of the games in the NCAA tournament from the Sweet 16 to the championship. The tournament challenge had a second chance.
Paolo Banchero was supposed to be a young force who could dominate college basketball in his freshman year. The game has been evolving in real time. His continued development as a player this season has been the key to Duke's run to New Orleans, where the team could send Mike Krzyzewski into retirement with his sixth national championship in a Hollywood finish. The Blue Devil are 13-2 in their past 15 games in recent weeks, thanks to Banchero'sVersatility.
He is a threat to score in the paint, on the perimeter and in the middle. The projected lottery pick has made it difficult for opponents to corral it. The headaches that other teams have been created by the headaches that Banchero has created for them. 42% of his shots have been at the rim, 34% of his field goal attempts have been jump shots, and 26% of his shots have been 3-pointers. Of those shots, Banchero made 65%, 40%, and 33%. In the NCAA tournament, Banchero is 5-for-5 from beyond the line.
Duke will play in New Orleans. During the most critical stage of the season, Banchero has changed the Blue Dukes. If the Blue Dukes win a national title in Krzyzewski's final season, it will be because of the toughest opponent in the Final Four.
The next game is against North Carolina. It is on the TBS
The record was 32-6.
Final Four appearances: 16
Championships: 3 (1952, 1988, 2008)
Coach: Bill Self (760-229)
Kansas will go to New Orleans as the least sexy storyline. The lone 1-seed in the national semifinals is under the radar because of the historic Final Four match-up between Duke and North Carolina next season and the fact that the team without Moore is pushing forward. It seems that there is nothing magical about the Jayhawks achieving what they were supposed to.
They have been the most dominant crew in the NCAA tournament. Kansas is the most complete outfit in the Final Four, because of the performances of Ochai Agbaji and Remy Martin.
There are more stretches of brilliance in the NCAA tournament than any other team. In their first-round win over Texas Southern, the Jayhawks had a 47-19 halftime lead. In the second round, the game was close, but Kansas still managed to score 114 points per 100 possessions against the best defensive team in the Big East. The final five-point margin of victory against Providence masked a 24-12 start and a 12-5 run that helped it regain control after the Friars took a 38-37 lead early in the second half. On Sunday, Kansas defeated Miami 47-15 in the second half to advance to the Final Four.
It makes you wonder why more when the Jayhawks have only allowed opponents to score at a 41.6% clip inside the 3-point line since March 3.
The next game is against Villanova on Saturday at 6:09 p.m. It is on the TBS
The record was 28-9 in the year 2021.
Final Four appearances: 21
Championships: 6 (1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, 2017)
Coach: Hubert Davis (28-9)
In one of the most monumental Final Four matches in history, North Carolina will play Duke on Saturday. The two teams have never played each other. It is too perfect for a Hollywood script to have their first meeting in the Final Four.
The road to this point is important. The Tar Heels are not playing North Carolina basketball. Davis wants versatile big men and believes a guard should be able to play every position. Roy Williams used a different philosophy on his way to three national championships. In his 18 years at North Carolina, Williams had only one team finish outside the top 50 in offensive rebound rate.
Tar Heels are 84th. The team has taken 91 3-pointers through its first three NCAA tournament games, which is an increase from the final season of Williams. After a nine-year stint as an assistant to Roy Williams, Davis has modernized North Carolina basketball in a wild season that will end with a Final Four appearance in his first year as head coach. His system puts Love on the perimeter, R.J. Davis on the perimeter, and Black on the perimeter. All five players are on the perimeter at times. In the last few weeks, there has been a variation in the results. The North Carolina team is difficult to guard.
While the Tar Heels aren't the best team in college basketball, they are making the case that they have made the greatest improvement of any team in New Orleans.
The next game is against Duke on Saturday. It is on the TBS
The record was 30-7 in the year 2021.
Final Four appearances: 7
Championships: 3 (1985, 2016, 2018)
Coach: Jay Wright (642-281)
There has been an unfortunate history of injuries disrupting programs. In the 2000 NCAA tournament, the ceiling of top-ranked Cincinnati was changed by the season-ending injury of Kenyon Martin. The national championship would be won by West Virginia in 2010 after Da&Sean Butler tore his knee in the Final Four. The Kansas player got hurt before the NCAA tournament.
This is the second year in a row that a major injury could change the outcome of the national title game. The NCAA tournament last year was without a player due to a knee injury. The team announced on Sunday that Moore will not be able to play in the Final Four due to a torn Achilles. His teammates consoled him on the sideline after the game. Some of them cried.
Villanova is still a contender even without Moore. One of the top players in the country is Gillespie. Wright has never won a national championship with one player. Those runs were fueled by their depth. Chris Arcidiacono, the brother of Ryan Arcidiacono, and Bryan Antoine will be Wright's replacements. The lineups that Wright has played have moved Daniels to shooting guard. The best free throw-shooting team in America is the Wildcats. They will enter the Final Four with top-20 marks in adjusted defensive and offensive efficiency.
Without Moore, the team is not the same. It shouldn't be counted out in New Orleans.
The next game is against Kansas on Saturday. It is on the TBS
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