Brendan Darr's Blog
We are about four hours away from the tonight's National Championship Game between Louisville and Michigan. It's not quite the match-up many envisioned on Selection Sunday, but given how wild the tournament was, a team like Michigan making it to the final isn't so far out of the question.
We all expected the Cardinals to be in this position, and if not for a late comeback against Wichita State they may not be here. However, they had the resolve to come back against the pesky Shockers and took care of business.
Michigan was able to hold off Syracuse and the Orange's highly-touted 2-3 zone all night on Saturday.
Michigan Wins If...
The Wolverines win if they are able to control the pace of the game and break the Louisville press. We all saw the way Michigan handled VCU's HAVOC in the round of 32, so it's not out of the question with the talent Michigan has that they can pull this off.
Mitch McGary will need to continue his excellent run of form and play a big role with a double-double.
Louisville Wins If...
The Cardinals are able to hurt Michigan with the press and force an otherwise steady Trey Burke in to uncharacteristic mistakes. Remember, Burke had seven turnovers against the HAVOC of VCU, if Louisville hopes to avoid the same fate the Rams had, they'll need to pressure Burke all night.
Louisville has a huge emotional edge playing for Kevin Ware and his teammates will continue to fight for him after his devastatingly brutal injury.
X-Factors:
Michigan: F Mitch McGary
McGary is averaging 16 points and 11.6 rebounds in the tournament. Pretty remarkable for a guy who didn't even crack 20 minutes per game this season. McGary's emergence is the key to this Michigan run to the title game and another big game for the big man would go a long way towards upsetting the Cardinals.
Louisville: G/F Luke Hancock
The transfer from George Mason has had back-to-back impressive performances and will need to continue to impress without Kevin Ware. The sixth man had his best game in a Louisville jersey against the Shockers. With Michigan's ability to connect from deep, another big outing from Hancock is a must for the Cardinals.
Final Score: Louisville 69, Michigan 67
I don't think it will be the high-scoring affair some see, but it will be a very entertaining match-up for sure. What are your predictions? Leave them in the comment section below or hit me up on twitter: @BrendanDarr
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