After the smoke has cleared and the championship teams have been established for the Men's and NCAA tournament, it is now time to make a decision on who will walk away from tonight's game.
In the Men's championship game tonight, the favorite North Carolina Tar Heels will face off against the underdog and surprise finalist, Michigan St. Spartans. North Carolina who beat Villanova 83-69 on Saturday, has underachieved in the last few years but will have the opportunity to live up to the haughty standards that were cast upon them earlier this year. The Tar Heels were picked to go undefeated this season but when Ty Lawson went out with a bad big toe, many thought North Carolina's season was over. However, when Lawson returned, sporting a large amount of tape wrapped securely around his big toe, once again, fans and sports analysts hopped on the Tar Heel bandwagon.
"You saw the articles and heard the talk and the whole bit after the 0-2 start and everybody complaining about [Lawson] wasn't as good," North Carolina Coach Roy Williams said. "He gets a lot of criticism after Tyrese Rice and Jeff Teague, but he doesn't have to take a backseat to anybody. He is tougher now mentally. He is tougher physically."
There is a reason for the rock star-ish hoopla surrounding this team. They bring to the court length, speed, power, athleticism, talent, and most of all, an understanding of the game of basketball. This team understands what they need to do on and off the court to win a championship.
Michigan State on the other hand, was never a favorite to win the NCAA championship. Although they were seeded #2 going into the tournament, their advancement to tonight's game has come as a shock to most. Too bad they won't be an underdog to the large Detroit crowd that will undoubtedly be in attendance at Ford Field in Detroit. Michigan State will need to be running on full cylinders throughout the game as although they are talented, North Carolina did completely tear them apart offensively and defensively in their previous meeting earlier this season. The Spartans lost by 35 points in that Dec. 3rd match up.
In the last few months, Detroit, or rather, the state of Michigan has had very little to celebrate. Their mayor was impeached, their economy has fallen apart due to the loss of automotive jobs, and their crime has skyrocketed. Michigan State is hoping to not only win a championship but to also reenergize a city that has little to smile about.
"I think they kind of forget about the hard times," Walton said after the 82-73 win over Connecticut. "That's one thing we talked about is bringing hope to the city for a whole weekend. For the moment we were on that court and we won that game, people didn't think about what they were going through outside of this. They were just happy that we won and that they can continue to cheer for us on Monday."
Expect to see Michigan State's Ervin "Magic" Johnson screaming his heart out at the game tonight and maybe even North Carolina's Mr. Michael Jordan in attendance as well. Michigan State will definitely require some magic if they hope to get past the Tar Heels tonight. Enjoy the game everyone! That's all for this installment.
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