The calendar has turned to April which means many things. The sun is shining again and the spring season is officially upon us. Finals week is rapidly approaching, and the greatest tournament in all of sports is coming to an end, but not before one final game.
After a wild NCAA Men’s tournament that saw upsets, last-second shots and a true Cinderella run from NC State, it will be UConn and Purdue facing off Monday night at 9:20 p.m. to put a bow on the 2023-24 college basketball season and crown a champion.
With two No. 1 seeds meeting each other in the championship game, it will surely be a widely-watched spectacle and a great game of basketball. With that being said, here are my cases for both teams and my prediction at the end.
The Huskies have been nothing but dominant all year under head coach Dan Hurley.
Hurley, who has been called a “psycho” head coach, led the Huskies to last year’s national championship and has been on a warpath in March in search of his squad’s second title in a row. They would be the first team to do so since Florida went back-to-back in 2006 and 2007
On the court, the Huskies are spearheaded by second-team all-American Tristan Newton and AP honorable mention Donovan Clingan. UConn also boasts the Big Eastfreshmanof the year in Stephon Castle and the Big East Sixth Man of the Year, Hassan Diarra.
UConn has won every tournament game it has played in by at least double digits with its closest game finishing with a score of 86-72 in a Final Four win against Alabama. This team went on a 30-0 run against Illinois in the Elite Eight en route to a blowout win.
This UConn team has been here before, returning Newton, Clingan and Diarra from last year’s title team. Hurley has been laser-focused in the tournament, establishing himself as the best coach in today’s college basketball landscape. The Big East champs last lost a game on February 20, and have won 12 straight since that date.
The bottom line is UConn is red hot and has not just been beating teams, but blowing them out. Hurley is the best coach in college basketball and Clingan may be the best center in the game if it wasn’t for Zach Edey, the man he will match up with on Monday night.
The Boilermakers title chances start and end with Edey, who is a two-time Naismith National Player of the Year. The towering big man stands at 7 feet, 4 inches tall and uses every inch of that size to expose mismatches and get good looks in the paint. That height also makes him an intimidating player to see on defense as well; Edey controls the paint on defense and averages over two blocks per game.
The role-player trio of Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer and Lance Jones provides Purdue with solid scoring options outside of Edey. Smith serves as the general of Purdue, the main ball handler who can score and set up players like Edey down low, or Loyer outside to shoot a three, a shot that he knocks down more than 40% of the time.
At the helm of Purdue is head coach Matt Painter, a former player for the Boilermakers who was hired as their head coach in 2005. Painter has been in West Lafayette for almost 20 years as Purdue’s head coach and spent most of those years disappointing fans who haven’t seen a national championship appearance since 1969.
Painter’s last couple of tournament berths ended swiftly in the first round, losing to Fairleigh Dickinson in 2023 and North Texas in 2021. In 2022 they lost to 15 seed Saint Peters.
Something worth noting is the first time a No. 1 seed lost to a 16 seed was whenVirginialost to UMBC in 2018. The next season saw a hungry, determined Virginia team looking for something to prove in the 2019 tournament, where they ended up winning the title.
So far in Purdue’s tournament run, that same blueprint has been followed, and a Purdue win on Monday would be the second time a team is victorious in the tournament after losing in the first round as a No. 1 seed.
My prediction is that UConn will come out on top in Phoenix on Monday, capturing back-to-back titles for the first time since 2006-2007, but anything is possible in March Madness.
Charlie Fadel is a freshman studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. Want to share your thoughts? Let Charlie know by emailing or tweeting him at @CharlieFadel or cf111322@ohio.edu.
