Men’s NCAA Final Four: How to Watch and What to Expect

NEW ORLEANS — The Men’s Final Four features four blue bloods in the swamp.

Among them, Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, and Villanova have won a total of 17 NCAA Division I men’s basketball championships.

North Carolina plays in its 21st Final Four — the most in any men’s program — with Duke (17) and Kansas (16) among the all-time leaders. Reaching seven Final Fours, Villanova shoots. Third title since 2016 under coach Jay Wright.

Here’s what you need to watch in Saturday’s national semi-finals:

Kansas – Villanova, 18:09 East, TBS

Big things were expected from Remy Martin, who transferred from Arizona State to Kansas in the pre-season.

The 6-metre veteran guard from Burbank, California was named Big 12 preseason player of the year, as he was selected three times in the all-Pac 12 and led the Pac 12 with 19.1 points per game last season. Average 21.5 points per game in conference play.

However, Martin suffered a right knee injury in late December and struggled for most of the season. From the end of December to the beginning of March, he did not reach double digits in scoring in 12 games in a row. He’s healthy again now, and he’s shown it in the prime of the season.

In Kansas’ four NCAA tournament games, Martin is averaging 16.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists. He had 23 points and 7 rebounds in a 66-61 win against Providence in the round of 16.

Coach Bill Self is still planning to lure Martin on the bench and is looking for ways to get him into the attack.

“Now I see and see what his presence can really mean and how he can benefit a team,” Self said on Thursday. “That’s why I give him credit. He’s a great guy.”

Villanova must make up for Moore’s loss.

The Wildcats would have been favorites against Kansas in the national semifinals if Villanova hadn’t lost to young guard Justin Moore due to an Achilles tendon injury in the final seconds of their March 26th win over Houston 50-44.

Heck, they might be the favorite to win their third title since 2016.

But Moore, who averaged 14.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists for the season, and Villanova are the weaker side.

Wright has one week to overhaul his game plan for Kansas and knows he needs to give players like Caleb Daniels, Chris Arcidiacono and Bryan Antoine additional playing time.

“I feel like we’re in a good place with replacing Justin,” Wright said on Friday. “I think I’m watching Kansas more and more and I’ve been impressed with their team speed, their defensive intelligence and their performance in dead ball situations.

“Bill is a Hall of Fame coach,” Wright said of the Kansas coach. “So it’s not a surprise, but it’s still great to watch their execution and their wits. And I think we’re going to have to play extremely smart and hard against them. And I think we’re ready to do that.”

North Carolina spoiled Head coach Mike KrzyzewskiThe Blue Devils were defeated 94-81 in the last home match played at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 5. The performance in front of a crowd of Krzyzewski’s 96 former players prompted the 75-year-old coach to later tell fans that the result was “unacceptable”. Krzyzewski will retire at the end of the season and this was his last game before the fans.

Duke and North Carolina met 257 timesThe Tar Heels lead the 142-115 series. Still, they never met in the NCAA tournament.

Part of Krzyzewski’s legacy in addition to being featured in Monday’s national championship game, the Blue Devils aren’t focusing on revenge for their regular season loss.

“This is just another game for us,” said young forward Wendell Moore Jr. “It doesn’t matter who it is, they’re ahead of us arriving on Monday. That’s how we look at it.”

Second-year center Mark Williams said, “We have the same mentality no matter who we play on Saturday. It’s obviously a national semifinal game. You want to get out there and play your best basketball, play hard, do whatever it takes to win, be it North Carolina or whoever. ”

Krzyzewski was not interested in talking about the endings of the storybook.

“I didn’t do this season to have a storybook,” he said on Thursday. “I did it because I wanted to coach for another year and I wanted to make a backup plan for our program.”

Nine male coaches led their teams to the Final Four in their first years as head coaches, most recently Bill Guthridge in 1998 in North Carolina.

None of them ever won the championship, so Hubert Davis Davis of North Carolina may be the first male coach to win a national championship in his first year as head coach.

Davis, who took over after last season with Roy Williams’ retirement, almost wanted his success this season to come true. In September, he placed a picture of Caesars Superdome in every North Carolina player’s locker.

“He told all parents at the time to book hotels and buy plane tickets to New Orleans, and he was very serious when he said that,” young forward Armando Bacot said this week.

Second-year guard RJ Davis added: “It’s just really crazy that he trusts us so much and believes us earlier in the year. This is definitely something I will remember forever.

“He saw the potential in the team, he saw the courage, he saw the talent we had,” Bacot said. “It was all about putting it together.”

The Tar Heels were considered an NCAA tournament bubble team late in the season, but Davis had his players win at the most crucial time. They have won 10 of their last 11 games and 16 of their last 19 games.

The Tar Heels would score another victory over their most hated opponents, simultaneously ending Krzyzewski’s career and positioning themselves for the program’s seventh title.

“Why not stay positive,” Davis said. “I love these kids. What is there to be negative?”