The national championship would pit the most dominant team in the tournament (Villanova) versus the hottest team in college basketball (Michigan). The Wolverines were winners of 14 in a row coming into the title game, having stormed through the Big 10 tournament before rattling off five straight wins to reach Monday's final. Villanova didn't care about win streaks. They had dominated their competition, only receiving brief challenges from West Virginia and Texas Tech along the way. It was clear that the only way to stop the Wildcats was by showing up with a strong defensive effort combined with a decent offensive game plan.
Early on in the title game, it looked like the Wolverines might be the right matchup to give this Villanova squad fits. The Wildcats jumped out to a huge lead against Kansas by hitting a ton of uncontested three-pointers. Michigan was not going to let Villanova have the same freedom from beyond the arc. The Wildcats were still hoisting up threes, but there was always a hand in their face when they attempted those shots. As a result, their three-pointers were not falling. At the other end, Michigan was getting the ball in the hands of their best player, Moe Wagner, and getting out of his way. He had 11 points early and the Wolverines jumped out to a 21-14 lead.
Michigan had put the clamps down on Villanova's starting five, but they were not prepared for the firepower of the Big East's Sixth Man of the Year. Donte DiVincenzo came into the game and let everyone know that he could not be contained. He didn't need any set plays to get open. He could create shots at will, whether they were dagger three-pointers from deep or slicing drives into the lane. Villanova's offense went from stagnant to in rhythm. The Wildcats ended the half on a 23-7 run and you got the sense that Michigan had let the game get away from them.
It was imperative for the Wolverines to put a stop to Villanova's momentum early on in the second half, but the Wildcats had gotten their swagger back at the end of the first half. They jumped on Michigan with a 14-5 run to open the second half and suddenly the outcome was no longer in doubt. The Wolverines could not get closer than 12 down the rest of the way. In a season ruled by parity, Villanova made it clear in March who the best team in the nation was. And it wasn't even close. Villanova wins their second national championship in three years with a 79-62 victory over Michigan.
The Villanova victory was a popular one in both pools. The top three in the main pool all had Villanova as their national champion. Scott Brown ended up on top, one point ahead of Jen Shields and three points ahead of Yarmela Pavlovic. In the gamblers pool, Nick Moreno correctly predicted Villanova's win over Michigan in the title game, leading him to an easy victory over the field. Jimmy O'Connor held on to second place, seven points behind Nick. It was another seven points back to my better half. Jenn Nichols won the tiebreaker over Shaymus Schweitzer to get third place. Jenn chose Virginia to win it all, so her 3rd place in the gamblers pool (along with her 4th place in the main pool) was remarkable given that her top team was bounced in round 1. The rest of her bracket was very strong.
To see the final standings, click here.
That's it for March Madness 2018. Thank you all for participating. I look forward to doing it again next March!
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