The field of 68 teams that kicked off the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament is down to four teams that will compete for a chance to go to the championship game and be last team standing.
How to Watch: Coverage of the games during the tournament was split between Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA)(NASDAQ:PARAA) and AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T).
AT&T's TBS unit is the exclusive home for the Final Four this year and the Championship Game.
The two Final Four games will both air on TBS:
- Villanova vs. Kansas: Saturday, April 2, 6:09 p.m. EDT
- Duke vs. North Carolina: Saturday, April 2, 8:49 p.m. EDT
Villanova vs Kansas Preview: Draftkings Inc (NASDAQ:DKNG) lists Kansas as a four-point favorite over Villanova with a straight bet on Villanova paying +165 and a straight bet on Kansas paying -195.
Villanova got to the Final Four with wins of 80-60 over No. 15 seed Delaware, 71-61 over No. 7 seed Ohio State, 63-55 over No. 11 seed Michigan and 50-44 over No. 4 seed Houston. It’s worth noting that Villanova may have gotten lucky against a Houston team that shot 29.8% from the field including going one for 20 (5%) on three-point shots.
The trend doesn’t look great for the team with points declining in each matchup. And when with a handful of injuries, the game could go south real fast.
Villanova lost second-leading scorer Justin Moore to injury in the win against Houston, in addition to Jordan Logino's injury in a previous tournament game, which will have the team short-handed. Villanova played only seven players in their last game including one who played two minutes.
Moore played 33, 29, 39 and 37 minutes in the team’s four tournament games, respectively, and scored eight or more points in each contest.
Villanova averaged 71.9 points per game during the season, ranking 167th in the country and that was with no major injuries. The team also didn’t rank in the top 150 in both rebounds and assists, compared to a Kansas team that ranked in the top 50 in points per game (78.3) and assists (15.4) and ranked 67th in rebounds per game (38).
If Villanova can pull the upset, it will be relying heavily on Collin Gillespie who averaged 15.6 points per game during the season.
Kansas got to the Final Four with wins of 83-56 over No.16 seed Texas Southern, 79-72 over No. 9 seed Creighton, 66-61 over No. 4 seed Providence and 76-50 over No. 10 seed Miami.
Kansas is led by Ochai Agbaji who averages 18.9 points per game and has 11, 15, 5 and 18 points in the four tournament games. The team is balanced with four players averaging 10 or more points a contest and six players averaging 10 minutes or more of playing time.
Jalen Wilson averaged 11 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game. In the tournament, Wilson has put up point totals of 11, 14, 16 and 5 while also turning in rebound totals of 6, 14, 11 and 11.
Remy Martin has been a spark off the bench with point totals of 15, 20 and 23 in the first three contests and 9 points against Miami.
Picks: Kansas -4, Remy Martin over 11.5 points, Jalen Wilson over 7.5 rebounds
Related Link: Country Music Superstar Cancels Concert To Watch Duke Vs UNC
Duke vs. UNC Preview: North Carolina and Duke are conference and in-state rivals, making this one of the most talked-about tournament games in some time. There’s also the elephant in the room of any potential loss by Duke being the last game ever coached by Mike Krzyzewski.
North Carolina played spoiler-beating Duke 94-81 on March 5 in the last home game ever for Coach K. It’s hard to imagine, but not impossible, that North Carolina will get to play spoiler with Coach K once again.
DraftKings has Duke as a four-point favorite in the matchup with a straight bet on North Carolina paying +160 and a straight bet on Duke paying -190.
North Carolina has looked impressive in the tournament scoring more than 90 points in both its first two tournament games including 93 against the No. 1 seed and last year’s champion, Baylor.
North Carolina averaged 78.1 points per game and 40.6 rebounds per game during the season, ranking 31st and 18th respectively.
North Carolina is led by Armando Bacot who averaged 16.5 points and 12.8 rebounds per game during the season. In the tournament, Bacot has four straight double-doubles including a 20 point/22 rebound performance against St. Peter’s.
North Carolina also has Caleb Love, who averages 1.51 points and had point totals of 23, 5, 30 and 14 in the four tournament games.
Brady Manek averaged 15.2 points per game in the season and was impressive in the first three games with 28, 26 and 13 points before a bit of a drop to five points in the last contest.
Duke went 16-4 in ACC play and is 32-6 overall now heading into the Final Four. The team suffered losses to Ohio State, Miami, Florida State and Virginia by a total of 9 points. The team’s worst two losses were to North Carolina by 7 and Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament Final by 15. In the season, Duke beat Kentucky and Gonzaga, two of the favorites to win the NCAA Tournament.
Duke is led by Paolo Banchero who averages 17.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per contest. Banchero has point totals of 17, 19, 22 and 16 in the tournament.
Duke has five players who average 10 points or more a contest including Wendell Moore Jr. who averages 13.5.
Duke and North Carolina split their two regular-season games with Duke winning 87-67 in February and North Carolina winning 94-81 in March.
North Carolina has been one of the most impressive teams in the tournament and if the team was playing anyone else, I would be all over. Given the significance of the rivalry and what Coach K’s last game ever being a loss to North Carolina, I just see Duke putting up the biggest fight to win but also wouldn’t be touching the four points.
Picks: Duke straight up -190, Manek over 16.5 points, Banchero over 17.5 points, Manek over 2.5 three points made, UNC over 73.5 points, Bacot 20+points and 10+ rebounds (+260).
See also: NCAA Final Four In New Orleans: An Insider's Guide To Dining, Partying And More
