Blue-blood bonanza: A look at Monday night’s national title game
Two of college basketball’s bluest blue bloods meet Monday night for the national title. Kansas, the only No. 1 seed at the Final Four, faces off against North Carolina, which is trying to become the second No. 8 seed to win it all, at the Superdome in New Orleans.
It’ll be the second championship game between the Jayhawks and Tar Heels, who have played in a combined 21 title games and won a combined nine national titles. North Carolina upset Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas in 1957 in triple overtime, which was UNC’s first national title.
North Carolina’s Hubert Davis is the 10th coach to reach the Final Four in his first season, and is trying to become the second coach to win it all in his first trip (joining Michigan’s Steve Fisher, in 1989). Jayhawks coach Bill Self is trying to become the 16th coach with at least two national titles. It’s been 14 years since he won his first. Among the coaches who have won at least two, the only longer span between first and second titles is Rick Pitino, at 17 years (1986 at Kentucky, 2013 at Louisville).
This will be the fifth Kansas-North Carolina game in Final Four history, the most of any schools. There was the 1957 title game, as well as semifinal meetings in 1991, 1993 and 2008.
Kansas last won it all in 2008, while UNC is going for its first championship since 2017.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the national title game.
Kansas (33-6) vs. North Carolina (29-9)
Time/TV: 9:20 p.m., TBS (the livestream broadcast is here)
Announcers: Jim Nantz play-by-play, Grant Hill and Bill Raftery analysts
The line: Kansas by 4.5
Final Four appearances: Kansas is making its 16th appearance and its 10th in the national title game; it won titles in 1952, 1988 and 2008, and was runner-up in 1940, 1953, 1957 (to UNC), 1991, 2003 and 2012 (2003 and ’12 were in New Orleans). North Carolina is making its 21st appearance and its 12th in the national title game; it won titles in 1957, 1982, 1993 (1982 and ’93 were in New Orleans), 2005, 2009 and 2017, and was runner-up in 1946, 1968, 1977, 1981 and 2016.
How they got to the national title game: Kansas won the Midwest Region as the No. 1 seed. The Jayhawks def. No. 16 Texas Southern 83-56, def. No. 9 Creighton 79-72, def. No. 4 Providence 66-61, def. No. 10 Miami 76-50 and No. 2 Villanova 81-65. North Carolina won the East Region as the No. 8 seed. The Tar Heels def. No. 9 Marquette 95-63, def. No. 1 Baylor 93-86 (OT), def. No. 4 UCLA 73-66, def. No. 15 Saint Peter’s 69-49 and No. 2 Duke 81-77.
The buzz: Kansas has won each of its past two games by 16 points, but this will be far more difficult. North Carolina’s offense will be the best Kansas has seen in the tournament. The Tar Heels can do damage in the low post with Armando Bacot and from the perimeter with Caleb Love, Brady Manek and R.J. Davis. Bacot is riding a streak of seven consecutive double-doubles and is averaging 16.8 rebounds per game in the NCAA tournament. Love has big-time range and has arrived as a high-level offensive player, and Manek is dangerous from beyond the arc (19-of-40 in the tournament) and in the low post. He can be exploited defensively, but he at least is a willing defender. Manek is an Oklahoma transfer who has played eight games against KU; he averaged 11.8 points and shot 36.6 percent from 3-point range n those contests. Davis has a better than 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio in the tournament (28 assists, nine turnovers), is money from the line and has hit nine 3-pointers as UNC’s third option beyond the arc. UNC’s team defense has improved in the past six weeks, and while any offense Leaky Black provides is gravy, he is a top-flight defender. KU has hit lulls in each of its five tournament games, even the past two, but the opponent has been unable to take advantage. UNC has the offense to do so. But the Jayhawks’ offense is powerful, too. KU shredded a good Villanova defense; the Wildcats are more physical defensively than the Tar Heels, and if KU controls the paint, it will win. Big 12 player of the year Ochai Agbaji has returned to form the past two games and figures to be Black’s defensive assignment. The Bacot-David McCormack battle in the paint will be a good one. Neither team is that deep but Kansas has the better bench, especially if Remy Martin plays like he did early in the tournament. Martin didn’t do much in the past two games, but it didn’t matter because of Ogbaji. Mitch Lightfoot generally provides a frontcourt boost when he comes in, and that’ll be important against Bacot.