Every team in every sports dreams of getting to the championship game. Duke and Wisconsin are the only teams in college basketball that are lucky enough to get to this point. I will break down how these teams matchup, and predict who the winner will be.
Defense
The Badgers have the edge defensively. Bo Ryan has been an excellent defensive basketball coach for years, and he has a group of guys who buy in to his system. His system has paid off, as the Badgers are 12th in the nation in scoring defense. Duke is not great defensively, as they rank 111th in scoring defense. So, the Badgers have a clear edge on the defensive side of the ball.
Edge: Wisconsin
Offense
Duke knows how to score. as 4 of their starters are averaging over 10 points a night(led by Jahlin Okafor's 17.5 PPG). The Blue Devils 4th in the country in Points Per Game, while the Badgers(led by Frank Kaminsky's 18.2 PPG) are 65th in that category. Duke also has a great offensive backcourt, with Tyus Jones, Quinn Cook, Matt Jones and Grayson Allen all being capable of scoring a good amount of points. The Devils have the edge offensively.
Edge: Duke
Coaching
With all do respect to Bo Ryan, who is a excellent general, Coach K is the winningest coach in major college basketball history, and that is not an accident. I think Coach K is the greatest coach in the history of the sport, and that could be discussed in a seprate post.
Edge: Duke
Prediction
This will be a very close, fun and compelling game. I think that the key will be Wisconsin's ability to play defense and keep the ball out of Duke's hands. Anybody who has watched Wisconsin play knows about their ability to make crisp passes and play good, smart basketball and turn the game into a type of chess match. Because of this, I think that Duke's offense will be held down just enough, and Wisconsin will score just enough for their to be a celebration in Madison tonight. Frank Kaminsky will also play at least well enough to earn Final Four MVP. Jump around Badger fans.
