The men’s Final Four is here, as the biggest weekend of the year in college basketball takes shape in Indianapolis.
This year’s Final Four features two of the best teams in the sport all season long in Michigan and Arizona, including viable title threats in UConn (the winner of two of the last three titles) and Illinois, a team filled with international firepower to go along with star freshman Keaton Wagler.
The games ahead should provide college basketball fans with a terrific final weekend of the season. Here are three bold predictions for what's to come in Indianapolis.
Illinois-UConn (not Michigan-Arizona) will be the best game of the Final Four
The Michigan-Arizona Final Four tilt is receiving much-deserved hype as a de facto national championship game. Rightfully so, as these have been two of the three best teams in the country all season long.
I understand the hype, and it should be a great game (I’m really looking forward to taking it in). But we don’t call these bold predictions for nothing.
Illinois-UConn will be a better game than the much-hyped matchup between the Wolverines and the Wildcats.
The battle of the frontcourt between these two teams should be fascinating. UConn’s Tarris Reed Jr. is the best remaining big man in the NCAA tournament. He’s been an absolute beast on the glass and as a rim-runner for the Huskies, providing a steady presence inside that has been a trait of UConn’s two championship runs in the last three years (Donovan Clingan, Adama Sanogo).
Illinois will counter with the Ivišić twins and David Mirković, who has been equally as good on the glass while serving as a stretch four. UConn will need an excellent game from Silas Demary Jr. and Solo Ball to counter the offensive firepower of Wagler and Mirković for the Illini, but Alex Karaban is the x-factor. If he gets going from three, watch out.
I give Illinois the slight edge in the matchup, but this game could go down to the final minutes. The championship pedigree of Dan Hurley cannot be discounted, even if Illinois might have more offensive firepower.
But Michigan-Arizona should be really good, too
Call this a hedge against my first bold prediction if you must, but I do also believe that Michigan-Arizona will largely live up to the hype.
This was the Final Four matchup that diehard college basketball fans were clamoring for when the bracket was released, and both teams have delivered to provide us with a game featuring two of the best teams in basketball with just about everything on the line.
The winner of this game will be the favorite heading into the national championship, and for good reason.
Michigan has the best overall player remaining in the field in Yaxel Lendeborg, a veteran who surprisingly returned to school and as a result has a great chance to capture national player of the year honors. The Wolverines star is averaging 21.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game to go along with reliable defense in the frontcourt.
No team that advanced looked better than Michigan in the Elite Eight, after the Wolverines steamrolled Tennessee to waltz to Indianapolis. The task will get much tougher in the Final Four against the Wildcats, who boast a backcourt of Jaden Bradley and Brayden Burries that’s among the nation’s best. Add in Koa Peat, Motiejus Krivas and Ivan Kharchenkov and it’s tough to find a starting five that’s better than Arizona’s.
The Wolverines will need their backcourt to match Arizona’s, with all eyes on Elliot Cadeau (who was late arriving to Indianapolis after being treated for an allergic reaction) and sixth-year senior Nimari Burnett. Burnett’s defense on Burries in particular could be one of the storylines of the game, especially if Michigan is able to win a matchup between the two heavyweights and advance to the national championship.
This game is expected to go down to the wire, but I like Arizona to pull away late and advance. Too much firepower and too many ways to beat you both offensively and defensively.
Arizona’s Brayden Burries will overcome difficult defensive matchups to become Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player. The Wildcats will win their first national championship since 1997.
Freshman guard Brayden Burries will have a seismic impact in the Final Four and national championship games as Arizona captures its first title in nearly 30 years.
The star guard has emerged as one of the best shooters in the country, a trend that I expect to continue in the final weekend of the season. For my money, the best defender Burries would face is UConn’s Demary in the national championship game, but Tommy Lloyd has found ways to get the ball in Burries’s hands in favorable situations all season long, and I don’t believe a title tilt with UConn would be much different.
Michigan’s Burnett and Illinois’s Wagler both provide size that could make life difficult on Burries, but given the freshman’s offensive track record all season long, and how well he’s played in the NCAA tournament so far, I think he wins Most Outstanding Player as the Wildcats win the national championship. He’s an elite offensive player on the best team in the country, and despite some potentially treacherous defensive matchups, I believe he will help Arizona finish the drill and cut down the nets in Indianapolis.
More March Madness From Sports Illustrated
Listen to SI’s college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on the SI College YouTube channel.
- SI:AM | One Thing to Know About Each Final Four Game
- Paige Bueckers Hypes ‘Basketball Capital of the World’ UConn Ahead of Final Four
- This May Be a Familiar Women’s Final Four, but It’s Not a Rerun of Last Year
- South Carolina vs. UConn Prediction, Odds, Key Player for Women’s NCAA Tournament Final Four
This article was originally published on www.si.com as March Madness: Three Bold Predictions for Men’s Final Four.
