The Men’s March Madness Final Four is set. 

Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, and Villanova are the final teams left in the tournament. Duke and North Carolina will play to decide who gets in the championship on the left side of the bracket, while Kansas and Villanova will play on the right side. 

The tournament has been even more surprising than previous years, with the 15th seed St. Peter’s making it all the way to the Elite Eight and No. 1 seeds Gonzaga, Arizona, and Baylor losing early. 

Out of the Final Four teams, Duke has the most starpower. 

Forward Paolo Banchero is projected to be a top 3 pick in the NBA Draft, and forward AJ Griffin will likely be a top 10 pick in addition. 

Legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski is approaching the end of his 46-year head coaching career, and what a way it would be to end with a national championship. 

North Carolina is the lowest seed in the Final Four at No. 8, and they are prepared to take down the Duke powerhouse.

UNC is led by Caleb Love, who attended CBC High School in St. Louis. He is on a tear in the tournament including 25 points in the 2nd half against UCLA. 

Kansas is the only No. 1 seed left in the tournament, and have a chip on their shoulder.

The team held a No. 1 seed for the 2020 tournament, but it had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 virus. Kansas has unfinished business and is led by Ochai Agbaji, a great scoring guard. 

The final team to talk about is Villanova, who out of the 4 teams has the most recent championship in 2018. 

Villanova doesn’t have any great NBA prospects, but they are a well balanced team coached by one of the best in college basketball, Jay Wright. 

They unfortunately lost their 2nd leading scorer Justin Moore to an ACL tear against Houston, which will have a huge effect on the Villanova offense. 

My personal pick to win the tournament is Duke. They have great top-end talent, and Coach Krzyzewski will be coaching his hardest for his final chance to win another tournament. North Carolina’s offense may slow down, Kansas is a strong team but does not have as much talent, and Villanova is dealing with injury problems. 

I asked senior Clark Sanford his thoughts on who will win the tournament, and he agreed with me. 

He said, “I think Duke will win the championship because they beat one of the best teams, Arkansas, and they have one of the best players in the tournament. I also think they are motivated to win in their coaches last year.”

Sanford originally picked Gonzaga to win the tournament, but they lost to Arkansas in the Sweet 16.

I picked Arizona to win, and they also lost in the Sweet 16 to Houston. 

Each team certainly has a good chance to win it all, and it should be an exciting Final Four.

Championship Score: Duke 79 Kansas 72