The NCAA Championship Game is set. It’s the 5th-seeded San Diego State Aztecs and 4th-seeded UConn Huskies taking center stage Monday night in Houston to play for all the marbles.
If you’re fortunate enough to still have one or both of them eligible for the USA TODAY’s NCAA Men’s Tournament Survivor Pool contest and you haven’t been eliminated, which team do you pick?
Only 24 entries remain out 8,109 entrants, but only 3 can even make a pick since 21 of those remaining already picked the Aztecs or Huskies along the way.
I would have been eliminated in the 1st round with my pick of No. 2 seed Arizona, which was knocked out by 15th-seeded Princeton. My 2nd-round picks also would have sent me packing as I selected 13th-seeded Furman, which lost to San Diego State, and 9th-seeded Auburn, which lost to a No. 1 seed in Houston.
At least I bounced back with No. 6 seeded Creighton defeating Princeton in the 3rd round, and with 5th-seeded Miami topping No. 2 seed Texas in the 4th round. Unfortunately, I would have lost in the 5th round on No. 9 seed FAU’s buzzer-beater loss to San Diego State.
SDSU is playing for its 1st national title in program history; UConn is playing for its 5th and will be making its 6th Final Four appearance.
If I were still alive in the Men’s Basketball Tournament Survivor Pool, here’s my strategy.
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National Championship pick
UCONN HUSKIES (30-8)
Who they play: San Diego State Aztecs (32-6)
When: Monday, 9:20 p.m. ET (CBS)
Where: NRG Stadium, Houston
UConn (-7.5) is a nice-sized favorite against San Diego State, per BetMGM Sportsbook. As mentioned, I picked against the Aztecs twice in this contest, using Furman in the 2nd-round in what I hoped would be a points grab (it wasn’t), and taking FAU in the 1-point semifinal loss.
The Huskies steamrolled the Miami Hurricanes in the other semifinal game, winning 72-59. It was actually a lot worse at one point as UConn led by 20 points early in the second half before Miami made it somewhat respectable.
Still, UConn has looked the part of national champion from the jump. There’s a reason the sportsbooks installed the Huskies as 7.5-point favorites.
If the Huskies win Monday, it’s thanks in large part to F Adama Sanogo. He posted 21 points (9-for-11 from the field) with 10 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in Saturday’s win over the Hurricanes. He also hit 2 of 3 behind the 3-point line. If there was anything for the critics to pick on, it’s the fact he was 1-for-4 from the free-throw line. I imagine coach Dan Hurley and Huskies fans will give Sanogo a pass.
The good news for the Huskies is that G Jordan Hawkins, who blamed calamari for food poisoning prior to Saturday’s game, was able to fight through and play against Miami. He hit just 3 of 8 from the field, but all 3 makes were from the perimeter. He ended up with 13 points, 3 boards and a blocked shot.
I expect UConn to win its 5th title Monday. The Huskies have a thing about playing and winning title games in Texas, where they’ve won 3 of their 4 championships.
They last won in 2014 under then-coach Kevin Ollie with the game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Jim Calhoun was the coach of the Huskies’ previous 3 titles. One was in 2011 in this same building, then known as Reliant Stadium. In 2004, UConn won in the Alamodome in San Antonio. Their other title came in 1999, won at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The point is: Roll with UConn Monday, and don’t look back.
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