The NCAA college basketball season is coming to a close on Monday, April 7th. After the entire season, the conference tournaments, and the March Madness tournament, the National Championship is set. Two number one seeds, Florida and Houston, will face off against each other and try to bring home the hardware. Let’s take a look at the National Championship and the picks I like the most for the game.
College Basketball National Championship Preview & Picks
Why Florida Could Win
Before we make our National Championship picks, let’s take a look at why Florida could win it all. This team battled its way back from behind on Saturday to defeat Auburn and move on. The Gators had a great season, finishing 32-4 on the year.
Very few gave this team a chance coming into the season. However, they showed that they weren’t to be trifled with, beating teams like Kentucky, Auburn, Texas A&M, Missouri, and many others. In the tournament, they beat UConn, Maryland, Texas Tech, and Auburn.
A big part of their success is their guard Walton Clayton, Jr. He’s coming off a 34-point performance against Auburn, where he made five three-pointers. He’s not only a hard player to defend, but he’s also a very smart basketball player who will take advantage of every mistake.
After their comeback win against Auburn, their confidence will be high as they face off against Houston. Walton Clayton, Jr. is the best all-around player that will be on the court Monday night and he’s the reason that Florida could win this game.
Why Houston Could Win
Florida isn’t the only team coming into the National Championship with high confidence to consider in our picks. The Houston Cougars went on a 9-0 run in the last 32 seconds of their game against Duke to pull off a miraculous win. Statistically, they were down to having just an eight percent chance to win. Yet they won the game due to some great shooting.
They finished their season 35-4 and finished the regular season as the second-ranked team in the nation. Many have said that their schedule wasn’t as challenging as Florida’s. It didn’t matter as they powered themselves to 35 wins. In the March Madness tournament, they took care of Duke, Tennessee, Purdue, and Gonzaga. They also won the Big 12 tournament with wins over Arizona and BYU.
Houston’s key to victory is the physicality of their team. They are an aggressive team that wears teams down. They are one of the best defenses in the nation and a lot of that is due to how physical they are and how much they wear teams down.
The key to Houston’s victory is to continue to be physical. They have to wear Florida down and limit Walton Clayton Jr. He just became the second player ever to have over thirty points in the Elite Eight and Final Four. The other was Larry Bird. That’s impressive company to keep. However, if Houston can limit Clayton and wear him and his team down, they can win the National Championship.
National Championship Picks
Florida opens up the National Championship game as one-point favorites on most books. They finished this season 28-11 against the spread (ATS). They were 7-3 straight up on the road this season. Houston has been excellent on the road. They haven’t lost a game on the road. They finished 21-17 ATS overall.
The total is set at 141.5. Florida’s last game against Auburn ended at 142 points while Houston’s against Duke ended at 137. My favorite play of this entire game is to take the under. I think Houston’s physicality will throw off Florida’s rhythm, and 135 feels closer to where this game will end.
Therefore, for my National Championship picks I’m taking the under, and I’m taking Houston. While both teams’ confidence will be sky-high, Houston is the one playing with house money after their 9-0 run against Duke at the end of the game. I picked them as my Champion at the beginning of the tournament and I’m not jumping horses midstream.
