National Championship Game Preview

This one is for all the marbles. We started this big dance back on March 13th, with 68 teams all fighting it out to see who will become the best team in Men's College Basketball in 2018. The battle for the biggest prize in college basketball will pit #3 Michigan against #1 Villanova. Michigan has won one National Championship in school history, beating Seaton Hall in 9189. They've also had five national runner-up finishes, although two of those (1992, 1993) have been vacated by the NCAA. As for Villanova, they've won two national titles, beating Georgetown in 1985 and North Carolina in 2016 and have only national runner-up finish (1971) was likewise vacated by the NCAA. So lets start breaking things down for tonight's championship game.

Michigan got here by finishing the regular season going 28–7, earning the #3 seed in the West Regional. Michigan defeated the #14 Montana  in the first round, then beat #6 Houston on a buzzer beater by Jordan Poole. They made it to the Elite Eight by defeating Texas A&M, then followed it up with a huge win over Florida State. Finally, they defeated the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers in the Final Four to reach the National Championship game.

Moritz Wagner is going to be a big factor for Michigan tonight. He's a Second Team All-Big Ten selection and is Michigan’s leader in points and rebounds per game. On Saturday against Loyola he became just the third player in the last 40 years to accumulate at least 20 points, he scored 26, and 15 rebounds in a Final Four game, matching Indiana State’s Larry Bird (1979) and Akeem Olajuwon of Houston (1983). Charles Matthews is also going to be another name to watch for Michigan, as he's the only other Wolverine who finished in double digits in scoring this year. This Wolverine team can score, as they have dropped at least 60 points in every game this year but two, scoring 59 points in a win over Texas back in December and 58 points in the win over Florida State in the Elite Eight.

The Wildcats of Villanova finished the regular season going 30–4, including winning the 2018 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament. That performance was good enough to get the Wildcats the #1 seed in the East Regional. In the first round, Villanova defeated #16 Radford and followed that up with a blow out #9 Alabama in the second round In the Sweet 16, Villanova beat West Virginia Mountaineers, and then beat Texas Tech to make the Final Four. Finally, they defeated Kansas to claim a spot in the National Championship game.

For Villanova to walk away with the title tonight, Jalen Brunson is going to have to play above his current level, which is saying a lot. Brunson was just named the Associated Press Player of the Year and the winner of the Oscar Robertson Trophy as the National Player of the Year. The junior guard leads the Wildcats in points and assists per game, with an impressive 182 assists against just 69 turnovers. He's been the go to guy in the Wildcats offense all season. He's the top scorer and one of six Villanova players to average double digits in scoring this year, along with Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo, Omari Spellman, Eric Paschall, and Phil Booth. It goes to show the scoring depth this team has.

One thing that Michigan is going to have to watch out for is the three ball. Villanova set NCAA records for 3-pointers in a Final Four game with 18, 3-pointers in an NCAA Tournament with 66 and 3-pointers in a single season with 454. It has been the Wildcats bread and butter all season and I don't see it changing at all tonight. That's not to say that Michigan can't hang, because they can. But the Wildcats are the best three point shooting team in the nation. Look at what happened two years ago. It was a game winning three pointer from Kris Jenkins that won them the title. The three ball will get them another title this year.

Prediction: Villanova 89, Michigan 74