There is no question about the fact that the Villanova Wildcats have been on a mission. And that mission has been to avoid that sense of emptiness they had last season, when they were eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament by the Wisconsin Badgers. There were high expectations last year, as the Wildcats had come off a national championship and had brought a number of key players back. And they had spent a lot of time in the #1 spot in the polls. But that was not to be, and now they have worked themselves into position to win another national championship. Can they fulfill their quest? We’ll find out, starting at 9:20 PM ET on Monday, as they take on the Michigan Wolverines for the NCAA Championship. The site, of course, is the Alamodome in San Antonio, and TBS televises the game, with VietBet customers able to watch it and place wagers on the action as it is occurring, utilizing the state-of-the-art software from Live Betting Ultra.
2018 NCAA Championship Game Odds – Villanova vs Michigan:
So we are going to explore would Villanova has to do – or rather, keep on doing – to put another national championship trophy on its mantle. In the March Madness betting odds at VietBet, they are indeed favored:
Villanova Wildcats -6.5
Michigan Wolverines +6.5
Over 145 points -110
Under 145 points -110
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2018 NCAA Championship Game Odds: CJ’s Take on Villanova:
Villanova had a great record this season, and currently they are at 35-4 straight-up, with a 27-12 record against the basketball pointspread. They beat Kansas in one of the two national semi-finals, and the 95-79 verdict gave them ten straight victories. They are also 8-1 ATS in their last nine games.
While Villanova plays a very sound defensive game, and is in fact ranked #14 in the country in Adjusted Defensive Efficiency by the people at KenPom.com, what really powers them is their offense. And it can be overpowering at times, as it was against Kansas on Saturday. Villanova exploded for 18 triples and never really let Kansas in the game. The three-pointers were coming from everywhere; even coming from their two big men, as Omari Spellman and Eric P{aschall combined to hit seven of them.
This is a team that definitely has a star; he’s Jalan Brunson, the 6-2 junior guard who was part of that championship team two years ago, and won the AP national player of the year award with averages of 19.2 points and 4.6 assists. He is deadly accurate as a shooter, making a little better than 41% of his three-pointers, 60% of his two-pointers and 80% from the line.
But everybody on this Villanova team can shoot, and they bring more three-point firepower off the bench with Phil Booth (39% from downtown). And because everybody can play on the inside or outside, or so it seems, they are nearly impossible to defend.
We could talk about how the Wildcats are going to defend against Michigan’s more capable players, like Moe Wagner, the 6-11 center who can shoot from the outside, or Charles Matthews, the 6-6 Kentucky transfer who might be the best all-around player on the team. And we are sure that they can do a credible job. After all, they have been able to limit what the likes of Keenan Evans and Malik Newman have been able to do in the last two contests, and it was very admirable that even though they shot 33% against Texas tech, they were able to win the game by 12 points because they took advantage of a lot of offensive rebounding opportunities.
Maybe they can do that with some of their hustle here, but really what Villanova has to do to win this game is be willing to take what Michigan gives them. Villanova is a team that spaces itself out on the floor very, very well, and when you have a team that is third-best inside the arc and 11th-best outside of it, you definitely have a lot of options. Against Kansas their approach in the first half was almost exclusively from the perimeter, and they should expect that Michigan will try to run them off the three-point line. If that happens, Villanova has to be patient enough and willing to make the mid-range shot, or use Paschall, Spellman or Brunson (on the drive) to get something going in the paint. Certainly if they can draw fouls they can convert – they have made 77.9% of their free-throw attempts, after all. And certainly, if they got VERY hot, Michigan wouldn’t be able to keep up with them. But we expect John Beilein to try to shut off one thing or the other. Would Villanova has to do is to excel at the “other,” whatever that may be.
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