2009 NCAA Final Four - North Carolina, Connecticut Favored to Win

2009 NCAA Final Four. We're down to the final three games in the NCAA college basket ball season. Pitt and Louisville were not able to survive the Elite Eight with Michigan State and Villanova pulling upsets to make the 2009 NCAA Final Four! The Villanova Wildcats will be trying to upend the red-hot North Carolina Tar Heels tonight while Michigan State looks to try and slug it out with Connecticut to make it to the champion ship game.

2009 NCAA Final Four Game Predictions

2009 NCAA Final Four Game Prediction s - Michigan State vs Connecticut

2 Michigan State (26-6)

1 Connecticut (27-4)

Prediction: UConn - 62-54

UConn has worked out the rust they had at the end of Big East tourney play and has been playing tenacious defense in their last several games. They lead the country with 7.8 blocks per game and are rebounding over 9 more than their opponents on average. The defense is led by Hasheem Thabeet who averages almost 11 rebounds per game and was the Big East defensive player of the year for a second year in a row. The Spartans come in with a stingy defense as well, allowing under 60 points per game over the last 15 games. Expect this game to be low scoring and physical. The Spartans will need to control the transition game for a shot at the win, but UConn will likely prove too deep for them.

2009 NCAA Final Four Game Prediction s - Villanova vs North Carolina

3 Villanova (26-7)

1 North Carolina (28-4)

Prediction: North Carolina 92-84

UNC vs Villanova is going to be an uptempo affair. The Wildcats will need to figure out how to minimize North Carolina guard, Ty Lawson, in order to come out on top in this contest. Lawson is averaging over 20 points per game in the 2009 NCAA tournament after sitting out the first round game to allow his toe injury to heal. North Carolina comes into the game with Danny Green, Tyler Hansbrough, and Wayne Ellington who are all capable of having big scoring games which makes Villanova's defensive task even more challenging. The Tar Heels will be looking to make us all forget last year's Final Four 1^st Half debacle against the Kansas Jayhawks when they got behind 40-12 in the first half! The Wildcats are led by Scottie Reynolds who hit the game winner against Pitt last week and scoring 15.2 points a game with Cunningham leading the team at 16.2 points a game. Villanova will have to get North Carolina out of their comfort zone and control the tempo of the game in order to have a shot at winning.

Refs:
http://www.collegehoopsvideo.com/connecticut-huskies-basketball/
http://www.collegehoopsvideo.com/north-carolina-tar-heels-2/
http://www.collegehoopsvideo.com/michigan-state-spartans-basketball/
http://www.collegehoopsvideo.com/villanova-wildcats/
http://www.collegehoopsvideo.com/louisville-cardinals/