Duke Plays Wisconsin for the National Championship
The NCAA Tournament is down to its final game. On Monday night, the Duke Blue Devils play the Wisconsin Badgers for the national championship from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Duke has played in the shadow of the Kentucky Wildcats all season with all eyes focused on Kentucky. That is a rarity for such a successful program that has superstar freshmen and a record setting head coach.
Duke can thank its opponent on Monday for allowing them to re-enter the limelight. Wisconsin ended Kentucky’s undefeated season in the national semifinal game to set up an intriguing national championship game on Monday.
Duke will be trying to give its legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski his fifth national title while Wisconsin is attempting to win its first national title in 74 years.
Bo Ryan the Wisconsin head coach knows what it is like to win national titles. He won four national Division III titles while coaching Wisconsin-Platteville.
Coach K said that Wisconsin has a great team, but they too played in Kentucky’s shadow until Saturday when the defeated the Wildcats 71-64 in the Final Four.
The Duke head coach said he felt before the start of this season that Wisconsin would be the nation’s best team and he believes they have been but Kentucky remained undefeated the entire season and the attention shifted to them.
Duke has not been too bad themselves. During the tournament, the Blue Devils have used a strong defense and Jahlil Okafor their talented big man to shut opponents down. Duke is allowing only 55 points per game. That is one of the best defensive performances in the history of the tournament.
Okafor and his group of freshmen sensations – Tyus Jones, Justise Winslow and Grayson Allen – have met the challenge of the biggest stage in college basketball.
Quinn Cook, Duke’s senior guard said this team wants the coach to brag about it five or six years from now and that is the motivation for them to be special.
Wisconsin will have something big to say about Duke winning its fifth national title.
The Badgers are led by three great offensive weapons in 7-foot Frank Kaminsky, Sam Dekker and Nigel Hayes. The Badgers have played a tough schedule to get here beating Arizona in the Elite 8 and Kentucky in the Final Four. The Wisconsin offense averages 80 points per game.
These two teams met earlier in the season with Duke winning on the road 80-70. The win was impressive by Duke, but even more so as it was played on Wisconsin’s home court.
Wisconsin is coming off a huge win, but that could work against them. The Badgers collectively looked as if they had won the national title on Saturday following their win over Kentucky. It could be difficult for Ryan to refocus the team for Monday’s matchup.
Prediction: Duke 77-73
