After what has been a fantastic season of college basketball and a marvelous 2017 NCAA Tournament throughout, the final game of the season is finally set. The moment everybody has been waiting for, the 2017 NCAA National Championship pits together the two teams that were arguably the two best all season long.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs have been underdogs since this season began, even in what has been the program’s greatest season ever. Gonzaga stands with an incredible 37-1 record. With one more win tonight the Bulldogs would match two different Kentucky teams for the most wins in a single season in NCAA history. It is much more than just records for Gonzaga. However, it’s about proving doubters wrong.
Very few could have imagined the Bulldogs making this kind of run. Similar to Villanova last year most would look to the consecutive tournament letdowns and heartbreaking March defeats that have plagued this Gonzaga program for years, rather than the actual legitimacy of this team. Despite playing in a weaker conference, Gonzaga proved to be one of the best that college basketball had to offer for a good part of the season. They’ve done it through star power, versatility and often in March, willpower.
Their opponents in the title game have quite a different story. Whereas Gonzaga is playing in their first ever Final Four and first ever National Championship, the North Carolina Tar Heels made their way to their 20th Final Four and 11th National Championship Game appearance this year. For the natives of Chapel Hill, it hasn’t been about proving anybody wrong but striving to reclaim what they thought was rightfully theirs.
When Kris Jenkins hit that buzzer beating three to defeat North Carolina in the National Championship last year, it seemed to be the end of a magical era for the Tar Heels. Once again, Roy Williams put together a masterpiece. When two stars in Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson left, two new stars in Joel Berry and Justin Jackson arose. This team has been on a mission to get back to this same point, and here the Blue Bloods are yet again. This time around, they look to seal the deal.
The two teams are meeting in the 2017 NCAA National Championship match up fairly well on paper. Both Gonzaga and North Carolina are deep teams that win games in a variety of ways. Both have proficient size, deadly perimeter shooting, and stars that they can rely on to get them buckets when it’s needed. At the end of the day, this title game should be a slugfest between the two number one seeds.
The Tar Heels have won many games this season with their size down low. The beefy duo of Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks have caused mayhem to opposing front courts by just being bigger than the competition. Meeks has been on new levels of fantastic in the tournament, especially against Kentucky and Oregon. Unfortunately for North Carolina’s big men, their opponents may be bigger.
Gonzaga counters the Tar Heel’s bigs with size beyond what North Carolina has had to play against all year. With a 7’1″ 300 pound bearded Polish wonder in Przemek Karnowski and a potential lottery NBA Draft pick in Zach Collins wrecking havoc down low, there is no real advantage down low to rely on for either team. Considering how important post play is for both of these teams and how both pairs of bigs can sort of cancel each other out, both teams may have to rely heavily on their guard play tonight. Fortunately for both teams, we have an elite point guard matchup at hand.
The matchup of North Carolina’s Joel Berry and Gonzaga’s Nigel Williams-Goss is undoubtedly the biggest matchup of the title game. Both are elite players and power their teams’ offense as floor generals. Berry is a premiere scorer, dominating as a rim attacker and a lethal perimeter shooter. Berry shined in the National Championship last year with 20 points score, so the experience is undoubtedly on his side.
On the other hand you have Nigel Williams-Goss, who has been one of the best players in all of college basketball this season. In his first season at Gonzaga Goss has been the driving motor of this team. Not only is he the undoubted leader on the floor, but the guy simply does everything. Aside from his physical abilities, Williams-Goss is simply a tough player and somebody who doesn’t let the heat of the moment get to him. For Gonzaga to win this game, they will need everything they can get from their star point guard. Odds are Williams-Goss will be able to get it done in the 2017 NCAA National Championship.
Perhaps the biggest X-Factor for either team in the 2017 NCAA National Championship is North Carolina’s Justin Jackson. A top tier scorer in every aspect Jackson has been the guy seemingly being the difference maker each time the Tar Heels touch the floor. He is as good of a jump shooter as you will find in the country and has an elite floater game. With no wings on Gonzaga’s side that can seemingly match up with Jackson’s offensive prowess, this could be the absolute difference maker in this championship game.
You can expect another tightly contested matchup in the 2017 NCAA National Championship with these two teams taking the floor. One side is looking for history; the other is looking for redemption. Both teams are looking to set a legacy for their respective programs. All we can say is that we are in for a dandy.
