March Madness 2022: How every Final Four team could win it all

The Final Four for the 2022 NCAA Tournament is set. Here’s a look at why each team left standing has a chance to win March Madness.

A crazy NCAA Tournament has ended up with a true blue blood feeling heading to New Orleans. Duke, Villanova, Kansas and North Carolina have advanced to the Final Four, ending the Cinderella story of Saint Peter’s but creating an epic doubleheader on Saturday night headlined by the first-ever NCAA Tournament clash between the Blue Devils and Tar Heels.

Each team has done tremendous work to get here, but what will it take to win it all. Let’s take a look at how each Final Four squad can do what it takes to cut down the nets and win the NCAA Tournament.

Why each Final Four team can win the NCAA Tournament?

The case for the Villanova Wildcats

The Achilles injury to Justin Moore certainly casts a pall over the Wildcats’ chances but Jay Wright has done an excellent coaching job with Villanova this season. Unlike the teams that won it all in 2016 and 2018, Villanova does not have a future NBA player on its roster, relying on a combination of talented guys that work well together as a team and take care of the little things.

Villanova is a tough team that can win games in multiple ways, shooting the lights out against bad defenses or grinding out possessions against slower teams, as evidenced by their 63-55 victory over Michigan in the Sweet 16. The physicality of the Wildcats is also an underrated quality, something Houston learned the hard way as their attempt to bully Villanova in the Elite Eight went nowhere in a 50-44 loss.

One key edge for Villanova is their excellent free throw shooting as the Wildcats lead the nation with a ridiculous 82.3 percent mark from the charity stripe. The Wildcats get to the line a lot by attacking the basket, allowing them to stack up free points that can make the difference in a tight game.

While the talent level on Villanova won’t overwhelm opponents, they can still win by playing excellent defense and executing their sets better than their foes. A title from these Wildcats would qualify as the most impressive of Wright’s national championships.

The case for the Duke Blue Devils

Expectations were high for Duke early in the season thanks to an insanely talented roster that made an early statement by toppling undefeated Gonzaga in Las Vegas to go to No. 1 in the polls. A loss to Ohio State in their next game took the Blue Devils off of that perch and people began to question the program after some questionable losses in ACC play to teams with inferior rosters.

Something clicked for Duke in a late comeback against Michigan State in the Round of 32 as the Blue Devils closed the game on a 20-6 run to ice the win. That toughness and ability to rally in tough situations carried over with wins over Texas Tech and Arkansas that helped Mike Krzyzewski rewrite the record books on his way to New Orleans.

The fact that the Blue Devils have the most talented roster left in the field certainly helps as teams have few answers for Paolo Banchero, who has scored at least 16 points in each of Duke’s four tournament games. The X-factor for Duke is center Mark Williams, who dominates on the interior and is a legitimate rim protector.

Having the best coach left certainly helps as Krzyzewski has forgotten more about basketball than most coaches will ever learn about the game. A talented roster that is peaking at the right time gives the Blue Devils an excellent shot to send Krzyzewski into retirement with a sixth national title.

The case for the Kansas Jayhawks

The lone 1-seed left standing, Kansas has quietly taken care of business throughout the NCAA Tournament. It hasn’t always been easy for the Jayhawks, who won by five against Creighton and Providence to get to the Elite Eight before playing an awful half against Miami.

Trailing the Hurricanes by six at the break, Kansas flipped the script completely by outscoring Miami 47-15 in the second half to cruise to the Final Four. The Jayhawks’ smothering defense took over, forcing the Hurricanes to take contested shots at awkward angles while the offense operated in an extremely crisp fashion.

All of the headlines for Kansas will center on Ochai Agbaji, who is a National Player of the Year candidate, but the best player for the Jayhawks in the NCAA Tournament has been Remy Martin. The former Arizona State star shifted to the bench late in the season and has been tremendous as the sixth man, increasing his scoring output in seven consecutive games prior to the regional final.

The matchup with Villanova is an intriguing one since these teams play very similar styles where the collective whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts. Bill Self has dealt with plenty of March heartache in the past but those experiences will help here as he looks to take Kansas to the top of the mountain for the second time in his career.

The case for the North Carolina Tar Heels

It is incredible to think that this was a bubble team after losing at home to Pittsburgh in February but the Tar Heels deserve tremendous credit for their impressive turnaround. A win over Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium that spoiled Krzyzewski’s final home game has been the turning point for North Carolina, who upset Baylor and UCLA before ending Saint Peter’s Cinderella run to earn their ticket to New Orleans.

The engine for the Tar Heels has been big man Armando Bacot, who averages a double-double and terrorized the Peacocks on the glass. Bacot’s ability to dominate the interior helps suck defenders inside, freeing up North Carolina’s perimeter shooters to drain threes to bury their opponents.

The most exciting player for the Tar Heels in the tournament has been Oklahoma transfer Brady Manek, who has caught fire from deep. Manek’s ejection for a flagrant foul against the Bears preceded a near-epic collapse from North Carolina, showcasing how important he is to the Tar Heels’ attack.

Drawing Duke in the Final Four may actually be an advantage for North Carolina, who will be playing with house money since all the pressure will be on the Blue Devils to win it all for Krzyzewski. That pressure was too much for Duke on March 5 and a repeat effort from the Tar Heels could set the stage for an epic title run of their own.

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