Villanova (1) vs. Jayhawks (1) Odds: March Madness Final Four Prediction
While the left side of the Final Four features a surprise matchup, the right side is chalk with powerhouses and top seeds Villanova and Kansas facing off in the nightcap Saturday night from the Alamodome in San Antonio. The winner this March Madness matchup faces either No. 11 Loyola-Chicago or No. 3 Michigan on Monday night for the national championship.
NCAA Tournament Odds and Betting Analysis
Go look at the NCAA Tournament bracket. The left side, the South and West Regions, were utter chaos. Not a single top-four seed in the South made the Sweet 16, a first for any region in tournament history. No. 11 Loyola-Chicago came out of that. The West lost both its top seeds in the second round, with No. 3 Michigan emerging as the region champion.
On the right side, Villanova’s East Region and Kansas’ Midwest went mostly to form. In reality, this should be the national title game. It’s the second trip to the Final Four in three years for the Wildcats as they of course won the 2016 national title on a 3-point buzzer-beater against North Carolina. Kansas is in the national semifinals for the first time since 2012 when it beat Ohio State but lost to Kentucky in the final. The Jayhawks’ lone title under Coach Bill Self happened to come 10 years ago also in the Alamodome.
Villanova and Kansas have split six all-time meetings. The met in the Elite Eight in 2016 and the second-seeded Wildcats beat the No. 1 Jayhawks 64-59. Villanova’s Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges and Kansas’ Devonte’ Graham all played solid roles in that game and are the current stars of their teams. Villanova is the +100 favourite to cut down the nets Monday with KU at +325 in March Madness betting.
Villanova Wildcats
Villanova (34-4), the Big East Tournament champion, was the nation’s highest-scoring team during the season at 86.6 points per game (also No. 1 in KenPom’s offensive efficiency rating), and it has been the most dominant team in this tournament with double-digit wins over No. 16 Radford, No. 9 Alabama, No. 5 West Virginia and No. 3 Texas Tech. Nova hasn’t lost a game in regulation since Valentine’s Day and all four defeats overall were by single digits.
The Wildcats are seven made 3-pointers from setting an NCAA Tournament record. What should scare Kansas is that Villanova was just 4-for-24 from deep in its win over Texas Tech in the Elite Eight and still won by 12. KU-Nova should be a polar opposite game of Loyola-Michigan from a scoring standpoint. The winner here likely needs to be in the 80s.
Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas (31-7) won the Big 12 regular-season title for an amazing 14th year in a row and then claimed the tournament title. Graham was the Big 12 Player of the Year and is a candidate for national honors. KU has had a tougher road to the Final Four, struggling for a half vs. No. 16 Penn, beating No. 8 Seton Hall and No. 5 Clemson by just four points each and then, as a 3.5-point underdog, upsetting No. 2 Duke 85-81 in overtime Sunday in the Elite Eight.
The best Kansas player against Duke was Malik Newman, who had a career-high 32 points and all 13 of his team’s in OT. The sophomore has really raised his game in the Big Dance, to the point he might now be a first-round NBA draft pick this summer if he declares. Newman has made more 3-pointers in the tournament (13) than any other player in the Final Four. Kansas became the 10th team since 2005 to win its Elite Eight matchup in overtime. Seven of the previous nine lost their next game and none won it all.
