- Once the Final Four was set last weekend, no team had more bets placed on them to win it all than Loyola-Chicago. They had become not only the sentimental darlings of this year's tournament, they had become the most beloved team amongst degenerate gamblers in Vegas. Most "experts" felt like their run would come to an end against an equally hot Michigan team, but those same "experts" thought the Ramblers season was going to be over two weeks ago. As was the case in their regional final win against Kansas State, Loyola-Chicago showed no fear of their opponent from a power conference. After all, they had already defeated a 3-seed in round two. The Ramblers would go through a long scoring drought in the first half, but only found themselves down four points before they started clicking again. The Wolverines, on the other hand, continued to struggle during the opening 20 minutes. They weren't converting on the offensive end and as the half came to a close, they had problems containing Loyola-Chicago big man Cameron Krutwig. The Ramblers pounded the paint and went to the locker room with a 29-22 advantage. Six minutes into the second half, their advantage had grown to 10 points and CBS was getting their Sister Jean promos ready for Monday night. That's when the Ramblers finally cracked. On one possession after another, they were sloppy with the basketball, turning it over before attempting a shot. It's hard to keep a lead when you stop shooting. Michigan has turnover issues in the first half, but they were better with ball security in the second half. Their big man, Moe Wagner, starting hitting threes and grabbing offensive rebounds. The Wolverines would go on a 19-4 run that gave them a 10-point advantage with just over two minutes left. As we've seen so many times in this tournament, a lot of teams do not know how to handle late game situations and the Ramblers didn't know how to mount a comeback of this magnitude. They ran their typical offense despite the fact that the clock was working against them. Their methodical set plays got them 2-point baskets, but all they were doing was trading scores with Michigan. Loyola-Chicago had a remarkable run in this year's tournament, but it comes to an end in the national semifinals. Michigan will play for the title on Monday night.
- The second game of the night was supposed to be a matchup of the titans, with two #1 seeds clashing in Villanova and Kansas. When I watched Kansas play Duke last week, I couldn't figure out how either team would have much of a chance against Villanova because neither team played defense nearly as well as Texas Tech did and neither the Jayhawks nor the Blue Devils would be able to score as much as the Wildcats. Kansas's strategy seemed to be one where they were going to try and outscore Villanova, but that fell apart quickly. Villanova was en fuego from behind the arc, knocking down one three-pointer after another. A lot of the threes were uncontested as the Jayhawks scrambled to play good defense against an unselfish Wildcats team that was always ready to make the extra pass. It was 22-4 in the blink of an eye and the rout was on. Villanova would have 13 three-pointers by halftime, tying the record for most threes in a Final Four game with 20 minutes still to go. They hit 5 more in the second half before cooling off a bit late. Kansas simply couldn't match that firepower as their game was inside the arc. They kept their center on the court for most of the game which may have been a strategic error. Villanova had 5 guys on the court who could hit from long range and there always seemed to be one open because Kansas's center couldn't defend the perimeter. By the time the Jayhawks went small, the game was out of hand. Villanova will move on to face Michigan in the national championship on Monday night after a comprehensive beatdown of Kansas, winning by a score of 95-79.
While the NCAA champion won't be decided until late Monday night, this year's pool winners have already been determined. Scott Brown is champion of the main pool, while Big Nick takes the crown in the gambler's pool. Jimmy O'Connor has captured 2nd place in the gambler's pool, with the other spots still to be determined. In the main pool, it will come down to a tiebreaker if Michigan wins the title, as Jen and Jenn will be tied for the 2nd and 3rd spots. If Villanova wins, Jen will get second with Yarmela a late-charging third. In the gambler's pool, Jenn will get 3rd place with a Michigan victory. If Villanova comes out on top, Jenn and Shaymus will resort to the tiebreaker to see who gets the bronze.
Enjoy the championship game everyone! Full standings before this year's finale can be found here.
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