Men's Basketball National Championship
#4 Michigan Wolverines (31-7, 12-6 BIG 10) vs. #1 Louisville Cardinals (34-5, 14-4 Big East)
The number one overall seed in the tournament has a chance to win the national championship tonight as the #1 seed Louisville Cardinals are playing the #4 Michigan Wolverines at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
The Cardinals are coming into this game on a 15-game win streak including winning the Big East Tournament. Louisville defeated North Carolina A&T, Colorado State, Oregon, Duke and Wichita State on their road to today's championship game.
The Wolverines are coming into this game on a 5-game win streak all of which were in the NCAA Tournament. Their last loss was in the BIG 10 Tournament as they lost to the Wisconsin Badgers in the semifinals. They defeated South Dakota State, Virginia Commonwealth, Kansas, Florida and Syracuse on their road to today's championship game. In my opinion they have had the harder road to the championship.
Mitch McGary has been Michigan's key player in the tournament after not being as much of a factor all season for the Wolverines. In the tournament he has averaged 16 points and 11.6 rebounds per game which is much higher than his season average of 7.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. McGary has been a force inside for the Wolverines after having to rely heavily on their guard play all season long. His added presence has made the team less one-dimensional and he is the main reason that Michigan is playing as well as they have been in the tournament.
Louisville has been playing with the added pressure of trying to win the championship for Kevin Ware. Ware was injured in one of the most freak in-game injuries I have ever seen during the Elite Eight game against Duke. Ware broke his tibia while jumping to block a shot which left most of his teammates and coaches crying after seeing him go down the way he did. Some of his teammates on the bench were even puking due to how bad the injury looked.
Ware wasn't a player that the Cardinals relied on heavily, but the 15 minutes a game he gave his team off the bench allowed Peyton Siva and Russ Smith the chance to rest for a few minutes a game. Ware was wearing his uniform on the bench during the Final Four game against Wichita State.
Due to Ware's injury the Cardinals have had to rely on Siva and Smith for more minutes as they haven't had the option to go to the bench as often. Siva and Smith have been the keys to Louisville's success all season and this game will be riding on their shoulders. The two have combined for about 29 points and 9 assists per game this season.
Michigan will be able to match up well with Louisville's guards as they will be starting Tim Hardaway Jr. and Trey Burke. Burke became the first player in Michigan school history to win the Naismith Trophy for Player of the Year. The two combined for over 33 points and 10 assists a game for the Wolverines. Burke went off during the second half of the Sweet 16 game against Kansas as he absolutely torched the Jayhawks defense. Burke finished the game with 23 points and 10 assists, with a huge three pointer with five seconds left to tie the game and send it into overtime. The Wolverines were then able to defeat the #1 seed Kansas Jayhawks in OT.
Hardaway is the son of former NBA great Tim Hardaway who was one of the best point guards during the 1990s. He is joined by another son of a former NBA great in Glenn Robinson III. His father played around the same time as Tim and was a key player for the Milwaukee Bucks during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Both Hardaway and Robinson are potential first round picks in this year's NBA Draft as well as Burke.
The last key player to watch in this game is Gorgui Dieng. Dieng has played very similarly to that of former UConn player Hasheem Thabeet. He isn't going to give you much on the offensive end, but he will bring you defense and rebounding that will definitely affect the outcome of this game. He will have to shut down McGary if the Cardinals are going to come out victorious tonight.
My Prediction: #4 Michigan Wolverines Win 76-73
Player of the Game: Trey Burke
As good as Louisville has been playing I think Michigan is the hottest team in the NCAA right now. Burke has been unbelievable all year and is the best player in the nation. Him, Hardaway Jr., and Robinson III carried the team all season long and with the now added presence of McGary up front the team has been a force.
Louisville will be able to hang with the Wolverines all game long, but I just don't see them having enough to win it all. For the first time in a long time the Big East wasn't the strongest conference in basketball and Michigan will be looking to show that they were a part of the best conference in the country and that they are this year's best team.
Somewhere Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson, Jimmy King and Chris Webber will all be smiling tonight.
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