The four programs even have some history with each other. Kansas and Vilanova played in the NCAA tournament in 2008, 2016 and 2018, with the most recent meeting coming in the Final Four and the winner claiming the national championship in all cases. Duke beat Kansas for Mike Krzyzewski’s first national championship in 1991. Villanova beat Duke on the way to Jay Wright’s first Final Four and then beat North Carolina at the buzzer to claim Wright’s first title with the program. The only programs that do not have a NCAA Tournament history are the two best known: Duke’s Tobacco Road rivals and North Carolina. No. 1 Kansas Seed and No. 2 Villanova Seed will begin the historic process at 6:09 p.m. ET from New Orleans, repeating the national semifinal from San Antonio four years ago. After Game 1, at approximately 8:49 p.m., the No. 2 seed Duke will play the No. 8 seed in North Carolina. Mike Krzyzewski’s departure tour was one of the big draws for sports fans, and now the Blue Devils’ dream season will be in the spotlight against their biggest opponent. If you think about the history of both of these programs in the Final Four and the weight that Duke and North Carolina are in right now – the Blue Devils finished last season of Coach K while North Carolina reached the Final Four last year 1 with Hubert Davis – the scene could not be bigger. You can see why the fans are so excited to watch and stream this Final Four, why this is not half of what you should watch out for on Saturday night. Let’s get to the big stories for the national semifinals this weekend.
Historic scene for the best rivalry in college basketball
Duke and North Carolina have played 257 times but never in the NCAA Tournament, so meeting this not only in the Final Four but throughout this season brings historic weight to the occasion. Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils hoped to end the season here with a talent-rich NBA roster that started the year in the top 10, reached No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll, and won the ACC crown for the first time. regular season of the program since 2010. But on his way to the No. 2 seed, Duke had some setbacks, none more remarkable than North Carolina’s 94-81 victory in Coach K’s last game at the Cameron Indoor Stadium. Publicly, Duke’s players avoided making strong connections between this defeat and Saturday’s national semifinal. It was a very businesslike approach of the Blue Devils – an approach very different from the passion that defined the Duke-North Carolina rivalry during the Coach K era in Durham. North Carolina, which beat Duke in Cameron on March 5, was just the last in a long line of iconic moments – we’ve collected some of our favorites for you before the game – in a competition there with the best of not only in college basketball but all American team sports. They already had other rivalries after their season, but so far, Duke-North Carolina has remained within the friendly limits of the regular ACC season and the conference tournament. It is now happening in the Final Four with a wide audience and a national championship on the line. Whatever happens, Saturday’s game will be a historic moment in the rivalry.
Villanova adjusts after Justin Moore injury
Apart from the four wins, no aspect of the Elite Eight had a greater impact on Saturday’s national semifinals than Justin Moore’s injury in the final minute of Villanova’s 50-44 win over Houston in the South Regional final. Moore was injured by Achilles and ruled out the next day with Wildcats coach Jay Wright, noting the importance of losing a team leader, second scorer and “one of the best rebounds guard” of his time at Villanova. Now that Wright and the Wildcats are in New Orleans, the message is clear: they need to adjust the way they play Moore out of lineup. Villanova already had a fine spin of about six players, so even losing one would mean more responsibility for players who have not been to these places before. Look for Chris Arcidiacano and possibly Bryan Antoine to be X-factors with more minutes, but Wright also had to adjust the many ways Moore plays in off-situation situations, press-breaks and other sets that will be crucial to cross a strong Kansas side.
The only No. 1 seed just below the radar
The Duke-North Carolina match consumes a ton of oxygen for the Final Four and Villanova’s two national championships in the last five tournaments make it easier to focus on the Wildcats and their injury concerns. Somehow, the most winning program in the history of Men’s Basketball Class I is the least talked about participant in the Blue Blood Final Four, and in addition, the Jayhawks are the only No. 1 left in this tournament! But Kansas knows that this is not a popularity contest and that being below the advertising campaign before the Final Four means nothing to its chances of winning a national championship. The oddsmakers have the Jayhawks with the second best chance of winning them all (+180), which is reported by a small margin behind Duke (+155) at the time of writing. Bill Self’s group is experienced – four seniors, a youngster and two sophomores make up the rotation of the seven men – and has its own unique motivations after seeing the NCAA 2020 tournament canceled when Kansas had the best team in the country . With many players from this team here in the Final Four, including the 2022 Big 12 Player of the Year Ocahi Agbaji, there is a chance to win the program’s fourth national championship, an elusive achievement for the Jayhawks over the past decade.
Final Four Program 2022
(1) Kansas vs. (2) Villanova – 6:09 p.m. on TBS (watch live) (2) Duke vs. (8) North Carolina – 8:49 p.m. on TBS (watch live)
