The 2022 NCAA Tournament delivered historic upsets and millions of busted brackets, but there's nothing Cinderella about the programs and matchups in the ...
The Duke-North Carolina showdown is taking up a ton of oxygen heading into the Final Four, and Villanova's two national championships in the last five tournaments makes it easy to focus on the Wildcats and their injury concerns. When you consider the history of both of these programs in the Final Four and the gravity of where both Duke and North Carolina are in this moment -- the Blue Devils finishing out Coach K's last season while North Carolina has made the Final Four in Year 1 with Hubert Davis -- the stage could not be bigger. Now that Wright and the Wildcats are in New Orleans, the message has been clear: they've got to adjust the way they play with Moore out of the lineup. You can see why fans are so excited to watch and stream this Final Four, because that's not half of what you should be on the lookout for on Saturday night. It's a blue-blood Final Four field with programs whose reach and recognition are wide-ranging, making Saturday night one of the most-anticipated evenings in the history of college basketball. For March Madness this year the NCAA Tournament gave college basketball fans around the nation plenty of historic upsets and millions of busted brackets, but there's nothing Cinderella about the blue-blood programs programs and matchups in the Final Four on Saturday night.
You know the teams well, but the storylines of Saturday's national semifinals are unlike anything college basketball has seen.
Don't be fooled by the nine-point outing against Miami in a game that Kansas had well in hand for the balance of the second half. But if we can acknowledge that this North Carolina team is not the same team from a month ago, then I also think it's prudent to recognize the same reality for Duke. The current version of the Blue Devils are confident and they know their roles. Medcalf: I think North Carolina's decision to play like the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors in the second half of that game is the simple answer. The Cats somehow won their Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games with an offensive average of 56.5 PPG. I just don't see a scenario in which that is enough to beat the current iteration of Kansas. But give me the biggest brands in the sport, the biggest coaches in the sport, the best players in the sport on the final weekend of the season. In other words, "historic" is a pretty high bar, and, personally, I want to see the game first before I toss that label around. The college basketball history books will say either "Mike Krzyzewski won his last game" or "lost his last game," not that he won his "next to last" game. Medcalf: I think it's one of the top five moments in the history of the sport. Part of the magic of the NCAA tournament is the idea of Cinderella, the potential for anyone to have a chance to cut down the nets on Monday night. Duke and North Carolina have never squared off in the NCAA tournament, with a chapter set for Saturday that will add another dimension to this most historic of rivalries. I understand the argument about wanting new, fresh teams in the Final Four, but the boredom argument and the "it's basically college football" argument don't make a ton of sense to me. The men's version of the 2022 Final Four brings a heavy dose of the familiar, with just a touch of the unique.
Here's what you need to know to watch both Final Four matchups leading into the 2022 national championship.
North Carolina in particular has fond memories in New Orleans, with the city playing host to two titles in 1982 and 1993. But Hubert Davis, in his first season as UNC head coach, is doing some incredible things for the Tar Heels. Davis is just the ninth coach to make it to the Final Four in his debut season, joining Bill Guthridge (1998) in the North Carolina annals. Cord-cutters have several options to watch the game as well, including NCAA March Madness Live , Paramount+ and Sling TV. The Battle for Tobacco Road is getting its most meaningful entry to date in New Orleans this weekend, as Duke and North Carolina face off in the nightcap. Of these four blue-blood programs, three of them have coaches synonymous with the team. Duke's Mike Krzyzewski is continuing his historic final season, and Saturday is the next step toward him attempting to retire on top
The Final Four round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament takes place on Saturday, April 2, 2022 (4/2/22) at the Caesers Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
But they had their way with Miami in the second half Sunday in Chicago, relying on their superior speed and athleticism to turn a six-point deficit at the break into a 76-50 blowout.Now, the Jayhawks — who earlier in the tournament passed Kentucky as the winningest school in Division I basketball — are back to the Final Four for the 16th time, and Self is two wins away from his elusive second title.“I’m just proud of my team and proud of Coach Self. It’s great for the program and the university,” said Kansas guard Ochai Agbaji, a first-team All-American and the Big 12 player of the year. Wooden with 10, Krzyzewski with five and Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp with four.“It feels great to be going back to the Final Four. It never gets old,” said Wright, whose 2016 team beat Kansas and North Carolina on the way to the title and whose 2018 team beat the Jayhawks again in the Final Four before topping Michigan for the championship. We’ve won a lot in the tournament, and we’ve won a lot of games, but Final Fours are big.”The biggest could be Saturday night.Duke and North Carolina have met 257 times, including in Krzyzewski’s final game coaching at Cameron Indoor Stadium, when the Tar Heels spoiled the night with a victory that has helped to propel them to the Final Four.Yet somehow, the bluest of the bluebloods have never collided in the NCAA Tournament.“I’m not even thinking about that right now,” said Hubert Davis, who played for the Tar Heels in the Final Four and has led them back in his first year as the head coach. The winner gets Kansas or Villanova for the national championship.“I saw something that Bill Self said about the regional championship game,” Krzyzewski said of his Kansas counterpart, “it really is the biggest game a college coach has to coach, because it gets you into the promised land.“For me to have that, I guess it’s 17 times now, that’s a big-time thing for me. “Right now, I’m just so happy for our guys having an opportunity to play in the Final Four. That’s the only thing on my mind.”The Blue Devils locked up their spot Saturday night when Paolo Banchero and Co. used a big run to put away Arkansas and send Krzyzewski’s farewell tour to the Big Easy. It will be his 13th trip to the Final Four, breaking a tie with UCLA’s John Wooden for the most in history, and makes 17 in all for the Duke program.“We knew we were capable of this, and that’s what we’ve worked for since June,” Banchero said. Moore was hurt in the final minute of the win over the Cougars.“This is a tough blow for all of us, not just because of the great player Justin is, but because of what he means to us as teammates and coaches,” Wright said. I’m just proud of the way we came together.”North Carolina will be making its record 21st appearance in the Final Four, and the four teams headed to the Superdome have combined to make it an astounding 61 times. “To finally get to New Orleans and have a chance to play for a national championship is a blessing. It’s the seventh Final Four appearance for the Wildcats, including one from the 1970s that the NCAA forced them to vacate, and gives Jay Wright a chance to join some rare company by winning his third national championship.The list that would stand ahead of him? North Carolina forward Brady Manek (45) and forward Armando Bacot (5) react following a play during the second half of the team's NCAA college basketball game against Duke in Durham, N. C., Saturday, March 5, 2022.APAnd then there were four.The Final Four round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament takes place on Saturday, April 2, 2022 (4/2/22) at the Caesers Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.Here is the schedule for the two games this weekend (tip times are Eastern time):Here is a preview of the Final Four, via the Associated Press:Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski refused to let his players ponder the possibility of facing North Carolina for the first time in the NCAA Tournament after the Blue Devils had punched their Final Four ticket with a win over Arkansas.They have no choice but to think about it now.The Tar Heels took care of the last of the underdogs Sunday by rolling past 15th-seeded Saint Peter’s, setting up a Final Four for the ages in New Orleans: Duke-Carolina for the first time in the tourney, and in retiring Coach K’s final appearance on college basketball’s biggest stage. “It is a dream of every player and coach in college basketball. NewsChevron that denotes content that can open up.
A look at the complete Final Four schedule for the 2022 men's NCAA basketball tournament on Saturday.
Boxing fights, MMA and more If you already have a subscription with a cable provider, you can download the March Madness Live app or sign into the March Madness Live website and stream games live throughout the tournament. • No. 2 seed Duke vs. • No. 1 seed Kansas vs. Currently, the Kansas Jayhawks are the favorites heading into Saturday’s matchup. The 2022 NCAA men’s basketball tournament is heating up as the Final Four tips off this weekend from to decide which two teams will be playing for a championship next week.
The Michigan Wolverines may not be in the 2022 NCAA Tournament anymore, but you cannot deny there are two fantastic matchups ahead of us for the Final Four.
However, I can’t deny the leadup to this game is amazing. That game will be played on TBS at 9:20 p.m. EST. the No. 8 seed North Carolina Tar Heels.
The Final Four of the 2022 NCAA Tournament tips off tonight. Get ready for Kansas vs. Villanova and Duke vs. UNC with this preview, which includes the ...
UNC knocked off Baylor, the defending champions, and UCLA—another reigning Final Four squad—before the Elite 8, where the powerhouse ended a Cinderella run by No. 15 Saint Peter’s. The victory set up a matchup with the Blue Devils, North Carolina’s longtime nemesis. The No. 2 Wildcats breezed through the South region with a dominant run that saw them win all four games by five or more points. While brackets were busted early due to the sheer number of major upsets early in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, the Final Four has a rather blue-blooded look to it this year. Here’s a look at the updated March Madness bracket showing how each of the four national championship contenders—Duke, North Carolina, Villanova and Kansas—reached the Final Four: The final of the 2022 NCAA Tournament will surely be an exciting one, featuring four powerhouse programs that all have a strong chance of cutting down the nets in New Orleans.