As the NCAA Tournament is approaching, many teams and fans
around the country are gearing up for hopefully another exciting series of
games. Each year another team is crowned champions, but does the National
Championship compare to winning the NBA Finals?
68 teams are going to be selected
to play in the annual NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament to decide who will play
to win the prestigious National Championship trophy. In a single elimination
style of tournament, every team must bring their best effort each game in order
to make it a step further. One mistake could cost not only a game, but also the
entire season. The pressure and intense atmosphere the players and coaches
endure year after year goes to show the hard work put in all year to achieve
their dreams: the National Championship.
The NBA Finals are set up in a
different format with each match-up playing the best out seven. The two
divisions of the NBA are split up into eight different seeds, leading up to one
team from each division to battle for the Championship.
Some of the series are won in a sweep, which means a team
wins four games in a row to “sweep” their opponent. When two evenly matched
teams collide, the series tends to be forced into a game six or a game seven.
These games lead to high emotions and basketball at its greatest.
Heading
into this year’s NCAA Tournament, several teams have already proven their
dominance. Wichita State has the only perfect record after winning the Missouri
Valley Conference Title, finishing the year with a 34-0 record. The last team
to make it to the NCAA Tournament unbeaten was UNLV in 1991.
Amongst the
field of Final Four contenders, many freshmen are leading their teams to
another successful year. Jabari Parker, a 6’8 Forward for Duke, has been a huge
contributor for the Blue Devils. Parker averages 19.2 points, 9 rebounds and
1.3 assists per game. Duke finished the season with a respectable 24-7 record,
and is looking to make another run at the National Championship.
Right in
the middle of tornado valley stands an always-great basketball team in the
Kansas Jayhawks. Talents like Paul Pierce, Mario Chalmers and one of the
basketball greats Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain have left their marks on Jayhawk
history. Freshman Andrew Wiggins is looking to add his name to that historic
list. Coming into the season, Wiggins was compared to basketball players like
Lebron James and Kevin Durant. With comparisons like these lingering around
Wiggins, expectations have been set high. This past season, Wiggins posted a
16.8 points per game and 5.9 rebounds per game. Regardless of the stats, The
Jayhawks are looking to add another banner to their stadium.
On the NBA
side of things, the playoffs are still far away. The playoff frontrunners for
the East are the Heat and Pacers. These two are the probable contenders for the
East Finals, but any team can show up in the playoffs.
The West is
full of playoff contenders this year. The Clippers, Trail Blazers, Thunder,
Spurs, Rockets, Warriors and Suns are all planning to win a championship. With
so many teams able to possibly win a title, it will be fun to watch and see who
will win the conference.
With the way
things are looking today, I predict Syracuse to win the NCAA Championship. Jim
Boheim always has a great team put together and has experience enough to win
the National Championship.
It’s hard
to bet against the Heat, but I think the defending champions will win for a
third time. Lebron will shine in the Finals and lead his team to the victory.
-Nick Weir
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