Whether you’re a diehard college basketball fan or you filled out a bracket based on which team has the cuter mascot, you know that this March has been absolutely maddening. (Not sure what March Madness is? Click here for a primer.) The No. 1 seeded Virginia Cavaliers lost to the No. 16 seeded UMBC Retrievers for the biggest upset in March Madness history. (Good boys, Retrievers!) Loyola Chicago was the third No. 11 seed ever to make the Final Four. Xavier, a No. 1 seed, lost in the Round of 32 to a No. 9 seed, Florida State.
But after a thrilling month of unpredictable upsets, we have arrived upon the last day of March Madness: the National Championship game. Today, No. 1 seed Villanova will battle No. 3 seed Michigan for the title of NCAA Men’s Basketball National Champion. Of the millions of brackets that people filled out this year, only 37,356 correctly picked the matchup between Villanova and Michigan. (For the record, I was one of them!)
IT’S CHAMPIONSHIP MONDAY!#NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/g2AYuoyRnp
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) April 2, 2018
Just a few short days ago, Michigan suffered an excruciating game against Loyola Chicago. Michigan was losing the vast majority of the game, and didn’t come up from behind until the very end. By and large, that’s how Michigan has been playing this tournament. Other than an anomaly of a game when they blew Texas A&M out of the water, every single Michigan game this tournament has been a nail-biter. It may be an ugly way to win, but Michigan always manages to win. Every single time.
Villanova, on the other hand, is on an incredibly hot streak. Immediately after Michigan struggled to beat a No. 11 seed, Villanova played on the exact same court and beat No. 1 seed Kansas 79-95. Villanova has beaten every single team it’s played this tournament by double digits. For this reason, almost every single ESPN expert has predicted that Villanova will win. This means it will be the first time in the tournament that Michigan will be the underdog.
The game is tonight at 9:20 ET on CBS. Tune in to find out which team will take home the title of champion!