Final Four Takes Shape, Includes Three No. 1 Seeds

There’s always a nagging voice in the back of the collective minds of those filling out their March Madness brackets telling them not to pick the no. 1 seeds to make it to the Final Four. This year, that voice was stifled with three no. 1 picks from four regions making it to the Final Four.

This year, the overall no. 1 ranked and undefeated Kentucky Wildcats will take on no. 1 seed Wisconsin Badgers for the right to play for the National Championship, while the no. 1 Duke Blue Devils will play the no. 7 Michigan State Spartans.

March Madness NCAA Basketball Final Four Betting Odds

Kentucky versus Wisconsin will be a repeat of one of 2014’s Final Four match-ups that will draw plenty of attention as Kentucky barely edged Wisconsin 74-73 last year in the tournament. Both teams took every last second to earn their Final Four berth as Kentucky held on in the closing seconds to defeat no. 3 seed Notre Dame and Wisconsin managed to hold Arizona off to keep their National Championship hopes alive.

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski will make his 12th appearance in the Final Four and will take on Michigan State, a team that has played the underdog throughout the entire tournament. On their way to the Final Four, the Spartans have defeated no. 2 Virginia, no. 3 Oklahoma and no. 4 Louisville as the no. 7 seed.

Michigan State may have the underdog appeal, but Duke has defeated some of the country’s best teams, beating no. 2 seed Gonzaga by 14 points and never really sweating out a victory the way the Spartans have on their way to the Final Four.

The looming finale of the NCAA tournament will have plenty of draw; four of college basketball’s best coaches will go head-to-head, Kentucky will attempt to go undefeated since the UCLA Bruins accomplished the feat during the 1971-72 season and Wisconsin and Michigan State could face each other in an all Big 10 National Championship game.