2022 NCAA March Madness National Championship Betting Preview, Odds, & Picks

2022 NCAA March Madness National Championship Betting Preview, Odds, & Picks

Ayden Fahlstrom
2 years ago
3 min read
A detail view of the Kansas Jayhawks and NCAA branded bus wrap as the team arrives before the 2022 NCAA men's basketball tournament Final Four in New Orleans, LA.

The NCAA Basketball Tournament has delivered yet again, and it also gave us one of the best set of Final Four teams of all-time. It will be the Kansas Jayhawks taking on the North Carolina Tar Heels on Monday night and a national champion will be crowned.

North Carolina got into the NCAA Tournament as a number eight seed, and it wasn’t a particularly impressive regular season campaign for the Tar Heels. UNC was able to stun Duke on Saturday night to earn the biggest win ever in that rivalry.

Kansas comes into this game with a record of 33-6, and the Jayhawks have been a dominant team all season long. The Jayhawks were a number one seed in the Midwest Region and they have faced little competition during this run. They handled Villanova 81-65 to punch their ticket to the national title game. 

The Kansas Jayhawks are four-point betting favorites over the North Carolina Tar Heels in the championship game on Monday night. 

North Carolina Playing Fast

Most teams that want to speed up the tempo are loaded with depth, but that isn’t the case with North Carolina at all. The Tar Heels got just two points from their bench in the semifinal win, but they are still averaging 78 points per game.

Armando Bacot got all of the recognition during the regular season, but it’s Caleb Love and Brady Manek leading the way not. Love poured in 28 points in beating Duke, and Manek is a lights out shooter. 

The biggest issue for the Tar Heels is that they sometimes struggle to get stops, and that won’t work against Kansas. North Carolina is giving up 68 points per game, and they have to get back in transition on Monday. 

Defense Dominating For Jayhawks

The biggest reason that Kansas has been able to cruise the NCAA Tournament up to this point is that they can really defend. Kansas is holding teams to right around 61 points per game, and they stifle teams on the perimeter. 

The Jayhawks have now won 10 straight games and they are scoring close to 80 points per game. Kansas made 13 three-point shots in the win over Villanova, but they have plenty of size as well.

Ochai Agbaji went six of seven from the three-point line in the win over Villanova, and he is comfortable playing on the big stage. If Kansas continues to shoot the ball well then there won’t be any stopping them. 

Kansas Cruises to Title

North Carolina has been on a remarkable run in March, but Kansas will be the best opponent they have played. The Tar Heels love to pick up the tempo and score early, but that just doesn’t happen against Kansas.

Another big issue for the Tar Heels is the fact that this team just doesn’t have any depth. North Carolina is only going to play 7-8 guys in this matchup, and that just won’t allow them to battle for 40 minutes. 

North Carolina picked up a massive win in the Final Four, but the run ends on Monday night. Bet the Kansas Jayhawks -4.0 as they cruise to a victory over North Carolina and win the national championship. 

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