Michigan vs Villanova

It's an interesting match-up for the national championship, and there's no doubt who the favorite will be.

Before the NCAA tournament began, few thought Michigan had much of a chance to advance all the way to the title game. Yet they've not only played well, but caught a few breaks along the way to boot.

During the five games they've played to date, UM has faced a #14, #6, #7, #9, and in the semi-final against Loyola/Chicago, a mere #11. So the best they've played so far has only, on paper, been a #6 seed, while being a #3 going in themselves.

On the other hand, UV has faced a #16, #8, #5, #3, and in their semi a #1 in Kansas. They were a #1 seed themselves going in.

Michigan looked rather ordinary in the first half against Sister Jean and her Loyola Ramblers. Indeed, they were down by 10 points well into the second half. But then something clicked either for Mich, or against Loyola, and the Wolverines would pound them by a whopping 22 points for the remainder of the game to win by 12. A comfortable margin, to be sure. But again, that was against an #11 seed.

Meanwhile, Villanova pounded Kansas from start to finish, winning by 15 points. And yet again, the Jayhawks were a #1 seed.

Now instead of Loyola being the "Cinderella", it shifts to Michigan. They'll be heavy underdogs in the championship game, and well they should be. They weren't supposed to get this far, while Villanova has been hailed as an elite team since the season started.

Will the mighty Wildcats come out Monday night and roll all over the upstart Wolverines like they did Kansas?

Maybe. Perhaps even probably.

Or might the "Blue" play like they did in the latter part of the game against Loyola for the WHOLE game against the "bluebloods" and pull off a semi-monumental upset?

The odds will certainly be against it. But ya never know.

Stranger things have happened.

Broadway Joe Namath and the "sissy" NY Jets were supposed to get pounded 270-0 by Johnny Unitas and the mighty Colts in Super Bowl III.

The late Jim Valvano's NC State team was supposed to get blistered by a far super Houston team in the NCAA finals back in 1985.

And no way was the rag-tag US hockey team ever going to defeat the steamroller Soviet Red Army squad in the 1980 Olympics.

But they all happened. Play those games again ten times and the other team probably wins all of them.

And much more recently, the latest Presidential election. Who saw THAT coming? All the "experts" were dead wrong.

In this case, every quantifiable aspect would seem to indicate Villanova will breeze through Michigan to claim another title.

And they just might.

But we'll see.

Hey, Geno's Bambino's at UConn were supposed to roll to another national championship as well. They were undefeated for the entire season. How did that work out?