Following the typical swath of dramatic upsets and predictable blowouts, only four teams remain in the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament. This year, Loyola University Chicago, University of Michigan, Villanova University, and the University of Kansas have made it to the Final Four. Each team brings unique strategies, stories, strengths, and weaknesses to the court.
Michigan had an unsteady road to the tournament, encountering some bumps and uncertainty early. In January, they lost to Nebraska, a team that didn’t make it to the tournament, by twenty points. However, as their season progressed, the Wolverines found their footing and settled into a winning streak that remains unbroken, thanks to John Beilein’s coaching and their insurmountable defense, which is arguably the best of the Final Four teams. Throughout the tournament, they have kept their opponents low scoring, with only Texas A&M managing to score above seventy; and even then, Michigan put in 99 points in one of the most high scoring games this March. Michigan, a three seed, faces a considerable challenge in defeating either Villanova or Kansas in the championship. First they must face Loyola, and test whether their strong defense can hold out against Loyola’s miraculous stream of upsets, before worrying about the national championship.
On the other side of the bracket, Villanova boasts the best team — at least on paper. The Wildcats are the overall highest ranked team in the tournament, and have shown nothing to contradict this in their stream of dominating victories, winning every game by eleven points or more. Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson are two of the best players in the NCAA, and will undoubtedly lead Villanova to success. It is relatively unlikely that any team could beat the Villanova Wildcats, and if they do, it will surely be a close game. They face Kansas this Saturday, and the winner of the two will go on to face the winner of Loyola versus Michigan in the championship.
The University of Kansas, though not quite as dominant as Villanova, has a number one seeded team that will certainly test Villanova’s meddle. They also have their share of star players — Udoka Azubuike, Devonte’ Graham, and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk — who all will likely have futures in the NBA. They’ve had some close games leading up to the Final Four, most notably against Seton Hall and Duke. Kansas won by only four points against the eight seed Seton Hall, and their starter Azubuike fouled out against Duke and against Clemson in the previous round. A star player fouling out in two out of four games could bode poorly for the team in the future, but if he can play most of the game against Villanova, Kansas has a good chance to advance to the national championship.
The last team to make it to the final four, and certainly the most unlikely, is Loyola University Chicago. They’ve had a miraculous run through the tournament, winning three extraordinarily close upsets in a row, before blowing away Kansas State to reach the final four. They boast an agile and precise offense and a solid team. Coach Porter Moser has played the team’s offensive strength very well, forcing teams to keep up with their volleys of shots, but, ultimately, their success has been very precarious. They won by only one point against Tennessee and Nevada, and if they slip by Michigan, the score will not be nearly as close. That’s not to say that Loyola has won these games merely by luck — Moser, the coaching staff, and the team, closely studied the strategies of the teams they played, and worked around their strengths and played upon their weaknesses. Before their most recent game against Kansas State, the Loyola Ramblers mapped out every one of their opponent’s plays, figuring out counters. This is a fairly common strategy, especially in high-level basketball, but Loyola was able to do it effectively enough so that they could defeat teams that may have had better individual talent or a more skilled team. Nonetheless, at the end of the day, the Ramblers won because they simply played better basketball.
There is a wave of popular support for Loyola — people love underdogs — but also perhaps because of their charming mascot that has captured the hearts of many: Sister Jean. A 98 year-old nun and Loyola’s chaplain, Sister Jean who prays with the team before games and provides support from the sidelines. Though the odds are against the small, Catholic Chicago school, the odds have been against them the whole tournament, but that has not seemed to have hindered them thus far. Whatever the result, the Final Four games and national championship will be exciting and worth watching.
