Basketball blue bloods battle in NCAA Final: Kansas seeks its fourth national crown against six-time champ North Carolina, which can become just the second eighth seed in tourney history to win it all
- The Kansas Jayhawks and North Carolina Tar Heels are set to meet in the NCAA men’s basketball final
- The game is being played at the Superdome in New Orleans, where Michael Jordan famously hit the game-winning shot for North Carolina in the 1982 NCAA championship game against Patrick Ewing and Georgetown
- Kansas and North Carolina have combined to win nine total titles, including three in the last 14 years
- The Tar Heels aim to become just the second eighth seed in tourney history to win after Villanova in 1985
- North Carolina is in its first year under coach Hubert Davis, a former Tar Heels player who made it to the NBA
- Davis replaced Roy Williams, who also coached at Kansas before winning three titles with the Tar Heels
- Kansas opened as a 3.5-point favorite at BetMGM, where the line had moved to +4.5 by Monday morning
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Historically speaking, there’s nothing strange about North Carolina facing off with Kansas in the final of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament in New Orleans on Monday night.
The schools have won a combined nine national titles, including three in the last 14 years (North Carolina in 2017 and 2009, and Kansas in 2008), and rank among the bluest of basketball blue bloods.
North Carolina’s rich history includes none other than Michael Jordan, who nailed the game-winning jumper for Dean Smith’s team against Georgetown in the 1982 Finals at the Superdome, where Monday’s game is being held 40 years later.
Not to be outdone, the Jayhawks boast Dr. James Naismith, the Canadian-born chaplain who literally invented the game in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1891 before serving as the University of Kansas’ athletic director and basketball coach.
But Monday’s final is a peculiar matchup for one major reason: The Tar Heels are a lowly eight-seed playing under a first-year head coach in Hubert Davis.
The UNC alum and former NBA player took over for Roy Williams, who also coached Kansas as well during his Hall-of-Fame career, but the Tar Heels struggled at times this season while finishing 29-9. If they were to upset the favored Jayhawks, a top seed in the Midwest bracket, the Tar Heels would be just the second eighth-seed in NCAA history to win an NCAA title, following the 1985 Villanova Wildcats.
Kansas fans cheer on the Jayhawks before Monday’s game against North Carolina at the Superdome in New Orleans
North Carolina’s rich history includes none other than Michael Jordan, who nailed the game-winning jumper for Dean Smith ‘s team against Georgetown in the 1982 Finals at the Superdome (left), where Monday’s game is being held 40 years later. Not to be outdone, the Jayhawks boast Dr. James Naismith (right), the Canadian-born chaplain who literally invented the game in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1891 before serving as the University of Kansas’ athletic director and basketball coach
Both Kansas coach Bill Self (left) and UNC coach Hubert Davis (right) have ties to legendary Tar Heels coach Dean Smith, who passed away in 2015
Kansas head coach Bill Self, left, and North Carolina head coach Hubert Davis talk during a CBS Sports interview ahead of the Men’s Final Four NCAA basketball tournament final
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