On Monday night, a new national champion will be crowned. Or maybe last year's champion will be crowned again.
The defending champion UConn Huskies will look to repeat that as they take on the Purdue Boilermakers in the national title game.
The Huskies are favored by sportsbooks across the country, but Perdue and Zach Eady, who was recently named the Naismith Men's Collegiate Player of the Year for the second year in a row, will be among the spoilers.
FOX Sports Betting Analyst Jason McIntyre has been as invested in this tournament as anyone.
In response, McIntyre commented ahead of Monday night's season finale:
I have small prospects for each – Purdue +765 since the beginning of February, UConn +348 just before the tournament – but I'm still going to work on the game because it's clear that UConn is on my side.
I took Juice -5 (-121) as soon as the line came out. It doesn't matter if it's 6 o'clock. Yes, KenPom's game showed it was only UConn, 75-72, but the numbers don't fully explain how dominant the Huskies are.
This is the most dominant college hoops team since UNLV in the early 1990s.
please think about it. Alabama, the No. 2 offensive team in the nation, shot 47% from three in the Final Four, but he still couldn't cover that number against UConn.
Alabama brought its A game, but still lost by 14 points and couldn't cover the double-digit spread.
Purdue is an elite team in 3-point shooting (No. 2 in the country), but is that because they have better shooters? Or is it because they rank 6th in offensive rebounds thanks to the 7-foot-4 Eady that the Boilers Is it because they are making a profit from it? What about second and third chances? Or is it because the team has to double up on Edie to pick up poison from around her?
The university has 7-foot-2 Donovan Clingan, who should be able to compete with Eadie on the inside. So now shooters are being held, and Purdue also has a height disadvantage at every position except Eadie vs. Clingan. And last weekend, we saw what happened in that scenario: a coin toss against Tennessee.
Purdue made 3 of 15 3-pointers in the win, but to advance they needed Eadie to play 39 minutes, collect 40 points, 16 rebounds, and sink 14 free throws. there were.
The game was down by one point with 3 minutes and 30 seconds left.
The Huskies have too many weapons on offense, so defensively, unless Clingan gets into major foul trouble, the college competition should be a success.
The underside is also slightly sloped. If Purdue turns the ball over 16 times like it did against NC State's troublesome defense, it could be a long night for the Boilers.
Pick: UConn (-5) wins by at least 5 points.
Jason McIntyre is a FOX Sports Betting Analyst and also writes about the NFL and NBA Draft. Before joining FOX, he created the website The Big Lead. Follow him on Twitter @Jason RMcIntyre.
Let's enjoy college basketball even more Follow your favorites to stay informed about games, news and more
