Villanova is huge favorite over Michigan in National Championship
By Staff
The Villanova Wildcats crushed the Kansas Jayhawks on Saturday night, and now see themselves one win away from a second title in three years.
Going into the men’s basketball tournament, many believed that the Villanova Wildcats were the favorite to cut down the nets come April 2. It appears that sentiment hasn’t changed over the past few weeks.
After trouncing the Kansas Jayhawks in a game some saw as the de facto National Championship game, Villanova now takes on the Michigan Wolverines. Michigan has gone virtually unchallenged to the Final, not having to play a seed higher than the No. 6 Houston Cougars in the Round of 32, who they beat by a single point.
With all that in mind, Villanova is laying 6.5 points, the largest line for a championship game since the Duke Blue Devils were favored to beat up on the Butler Bulldogs. Of course, we all know how that ended, with Gordon Hayward heaving a prayer from half court that almost turned the moment into a real-life Hoosiers.
It’s hard to see the Wildcats losing this game. Michigan plays a slow pace that relies heavily on defense and timely shooting. Villanova is also one of the better defensive teams in the nation, but can score with anybody, something evidenced by its 95 points against Kansas.
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If the Wolverines are to pull off the upset, they will likely need another huge performance from Moe Wagner, who notched 24 points and 15 rebounds in their national semifinal win over the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers. If Wagner can control the paint and Michigan shoots well from the outside, maybe we see a terrific upset.