at the start of the tournament<\/a>. Here\u2019s why some of our staff made the predictions they did:<\/p>\nCJ Moore:\u00a0Michigan. Motivated Michigan has been the best team in college basketball this year. When playing with an edge, no one has a better A-game. Arizona is a close second. Winner of that semifinal will likely decide the national champion.<\/p>\n
Brendan Marks:\u00a0Arizona. Jaden Bradley is arguably the best, most accomplished guard left standing, and that\u2019s a huge reason why I\u2019m picking Arizona to win its first national title in almost three decades. With Bradley and Brayden Burries in tow, I\u2019d argue Tommy Lloyd has the most complete (and healthiest) backcourt left standing, including the clutchest guard this season in Bradley. Beyond that, Arizona\u2019s combination of length and depth makes it a matchup nightmare for anyone \u2014 even Michigan. And if the Wildcats knock down a few 3-pointers, as they did against Purdue? Well, good luck stopping them. It might be sacrilegious to pick against Dan Hurley in a national title game, but that\u2019s how much I believe in Lloyd\u2019s roster.<\/p>\n
Lindsay Schnell:\u00a0Arizona. Have you seen the Wildcats play? They love to pound the ball inside, which is likely to be especially helpful in a dome, when teams often shoot poorly. Arizona has been my title pick since December. I\u2019m not abandoning them now.<\/p>\n
Joe Rexrode:\u00a0Arizona. Michigan\u2019s best is better than anyone else\u2019s, but Arizona is more consistent and has more matchup answers for the Wolverines than anyone else. Another win will be required after the headliner semifinal, by the way, and the Wildcats get it over former Arizona guard Kylan Boswell and the Fighting Illini.<\/p>\n
Justin Williams: I\u2019m a \u201cone bracket\u201d believer. I\u2019ll enter multiple bracket pools, but always make the same selections. This year, I\u2019ve got Arizona winning it all \u2014 and if that happens, I\u2019m in good shape to be on the podium in just about every one of the pools I entered. Despite having a front-row view of UConn\u2019s resilience and Michigan\u2019s dominance through the first two weekends of the tournament, I\u2019m sticking with the Wildcats. You say self-serving, I say steadfast, etc.<\/p>\n
Jim Root:\u00a0Michigan and Arizona are essentially equals, but the Wolverines have more of a perimeter alternative to their offense than the Wildcats. And I think Michigan is a tier ahead of UConn in the title game.<\/p>\n
Christopher Kamrani:\u00a0Michigan. It\u2019s the Big Ten\u2019s world, and we\u2019re all just living in it.<\/p>\n
Matthew Ho: Arizona and Michigan have been dominant throughout this regular season and tournament. However, the Wildcats\u2019 depth will put them over the top. They essentially have seven above-average starters who are playing their role. Michigan\u2019s depth is a bit sketchy, especially at guard.<\/p>\n
Jason Kirk:\u00a0UConn. The Huskies have obtained the Mandate of Heaven.<\/p>\n
John Hollinger:\u00a0Michigan. I had Michigan from the word go and am not changing my tune now. I don\u2019t think Arizona can beat it just shooting paint 2s, and I was at the game in Champaign where Yaxel Lendeborg kept Keaton Wagler in check. Anything can happen in single elimination, but these Wolverines are an absolute unit.<\/p>\n
Daniel Shirley:\u00a0UConn. I don\u2019t believe UConn has the best team playing this weekend, but it has the best coaching staff, and I can\u2019t make myself pick against Danny Hurley and his crew.<\/p>\n
Mitch Light: Arizona has been the most consistently elite team this season. At its best, Michigan might be better, but I trust Arizona a bit more.<\/p>\n
Scott Dochterman:\u00a0Michigan. Is this the year the Big Ten finally breaks its 26-year title drought? Michigan finally has the team to end it, although Arizona is formidable. I can make a case for any of the four, but the Wolverines\u2019 elite players at nearly every position and a home-court advantage on Saturday could prove pivotal. If it\u2019s Michigan-Illinois, expect the same type of game we saw in Champaign at the end of the regular season.<\/p>\n
Ralph D. Russo:\u00a0Arizona. I picked Illinois vs. Arizona before the tournament, so why stop now? I also buy the conventional wisdom that Arizona vs. Michigan is the de facto national championship game. I could flip a coin between Wildcats-Wolverines, but I\u2019ll take Arizona\u2019s explosiveness and size. Illini-Wildcats could be a lot fun, too, because it\u2019s not as if Illinois is going to try to muck up the game and try to slow the Arizona freight train. I\u2019ll stick with the team I picked from the start: Bear Down.<\/p>\n
Pete Sampson: Arizona has the size and speed to negate Michigan, something the Wolverines have not faced often this season. UConn is probably the best-coached team in the Final Four, but the Wildcats\u2019 versatility in the frontcourt wins out.<\/p>\n
Chris Vannini:\u00a0Arizona is the deepest and most complete team. Whoever wins that semi will win the title.<\/p>\n
Ira Gorawara:\u00a0UConn. I have realized that I need to believe in all things Dan Hurley.<\/p>\n
Eric Single:\u00a0UConn. I\u2019m done being wrong about the Huskies. (Or am I?) They just beat the No. 1 overall seed despite shooting 22 percent from 3-point range, and they will show up in Indianapolis convinced that no team is battle-tested like they are. The more Silas Demary Jr. gets comfortable with playing through the high ankle sprain that has limited him all tournament, the easier it gets to see UConn grinding out two more wins against the odds.<\/p>\n
Matt Brown:\u00a0Illinois. The sense seems to be that Arizona and Michigan are a step above, perhaps even playing a de facto national title game in the semifinals. I tend to distrust such proclamations and will veer against the grain to the Illini, who beat my original national championship pick, Houston, in the Sweet 16.<\/p>\n
Austin Green:\u00a0Arizona. I tried. I held out as long as I could. But at the risk of Arizona State revoking my graduate degree, I can no longer ignore my eyes and my brain. Arizona has too high a floor and is too well-coached to not cut down the nets in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n
Mark Cooper:\u00a0Michigan. From the time Michigan blew out full-strength Gonzaga by 40 points in November to last week\u2019s 33-point drubbing of Tennessee, it\u2019s felt clear that the Wolverines\u2019 A-game is better than anyone else\u2019s. I\u2019ll guess Dusty May gets the best out of his team two more times.<\/p>\n
David Ubben:\u00a0Arizona. The Wildcats have been the best team for most of the season and spend two nights proving it.<\/p>\n
Austin Meek:\u00a0Michigan. Of the three most dominant teams \u2014 Michigan, Arizona and Duke \u2014 Michigan\u2019s A-game was the best of the bunch. The Wolverines hadn\u2019t played their best since clinching the Big Ten and losing L.J. Cason to a knee injury, but they found their top gear again in the NCAA Tournament. Elliot Cadeau\u2019s play in March has been the X-factor.<\/p>\n
Tobias Bass:\u00a0Arizona wins the first national championship west of Waco since 1997. The Wildcats have been dominant on both ends of the floor.<\/p>\n
Most Outstanding Player predictions<\/p>\n
Naturally, the question of the NCAA Tournament\u2019s Most Outstanding Player is aligned with which team one picks to win the title. So Arizona players garnered more votes than any other school. But because of the Wildcats\u2019 depth and shared star power \u2014 five players average in double figures \u2014 Michigan\u2019s Yaxel Lendeborg prevailed with the most votes:<\/p>\n
PlayerTeamVotes<\/p>\n
Yaxel Lendeborg<\/p>\n
7<\/p>\n
Jaden Bradley<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
Koa Peat<\/p>\n
4<\/p>\n
Brayden Burries<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
Tarris Reed Jr.<\/p>\n
3<\/p>\n
Alex Karaban<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
Motiejus Krivas<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
Keaton Wagler<\/p>\n
1<\/p>\n
Not since Hakeem Olajuwon in 1983 has the MOP come from a team that didn\u2019t win the national title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Is Arizona-Michigan on Saturday the real national championship game? It\u2019s a narrative you\u2019ll hear a lot between now…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":851711,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2283,4706,7,4728,5480,71,49,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-851710","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-arizona-wildcats","9":"tag-connecticut-huskies","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-illinois-fighting-illini","12":"tag-mens-college-basketball","13":"tag-michigan-wolverines","14":"tag-ncaa","15":"tag-ncaa-football"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116342119674664585","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}