The stars couldn’t have aligned more perfectly for Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. After spending 42 years as coach of the Blue Devils, not only is ‘Coach K’ two wins away from capturing his sixth NCAA Championship, not only will this be his final run as Duke coach… but he will have the chance to eliminate Duke’s fiercest rival in the process; UNC.
Staggeringly, for the first time ever, North Carolina colleges Duke and the University of North Carolina (UNC) will battle it out in March Madness, in the Final Four phase which will determine who will make it to the final to face the winner of Kansas and Villanova.
In what is to be believed as one of the most anticipated college basketball games of all time, FOXBET’s Jason McIntyre is joined by FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd to breakdown the final two fixtures of the NCAA tournament before the final.
“I think its a competitive game, but I could see Duke winning by eight,” said Cowherd.
“Duke’s the better team. Hubert Davis does not self-promote, very respectful, you can see his respect for Carolina and the players. So those players play really hard for him and I think it’s going to be a reasonably close game.”
“But if you notice what Duke has done, look at what their offence does, they really get the ball into their best players hands and their best players are better than Carolina’s. I think it’s a classic college basketball clash of titans.”
Duke opens as a large favourite over UNC, boasting an impressive roster of potential first-round picks for the upcoming NBA draft in A.J Griffin, Mark Williams and Jeremy Roach. But what pushes Duke over the edge is Paolo Banchero, their 6 f.t 8 forward who is tipped to possibly be the number one pick in this year’s NBA draft.
In the other Final Four matchup, Villanova meets up with Kansas as the Jayhawks look to deliver on their early-backed ‘favourites’ moniker by making this year’s final.
“This feels like a heavy Kansas play,” states Cowherd.
“I think Kansas rolls pretty convincingly here, they convincingly pull away in the second half. (By having more) Depth of talent, more NBA bodies, healthier team… It’s probably the worst spot Villanova’s in. This feels like a Kansas route.”
Villanova will be without starting guard Justin Moore who has averaged 15 points per game this season for ‘Nova’.
Kansas vs Villanova face off this Saturday, followed by Duke vs UNC on Sunday. The final will be contested next Monday with all three fixtures taking place at the Caesars SuperDome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
