NCAA News and Updates: Kentucky Favored Winner Among Final Four?
After winning against Notre Dame and entering the Final Four, Kentucky is now considered to be the favorite "to win it all" in the NCAA championship games against Wisconsin, Michigan State and Duke.
It was noted in a Business Insider report that Kentucky remains undefeated and has a 69 percent chance of beating Wisconsin in the national semifinal and a 53 percent chance of winning it all as per statistician Nate Silver's calculations.
"Duke has a 22% chance, Wisconsin 17%, and Michigan State 7%," Business Insider added, quoting Silver's numbers.
If they win the game, the Kentucky Wildcats will reportedly be the first team to maintain their winning streak since Indiana went undefeated in 1976. Business Insider noted that the last team who made it to the Final Four was UNLV in 1991 but they lost to Duke during the semifinals.
A similar ESPN report added that Kentucky is indeed "an odds-on favorite to cap an undefeated season with a national championship." It explained that the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas "made Kentucky a minus-120 favorite to win the national title" right after the Final Four teams were finalized.
According to Badge of Honor, Kentucky will be carrying its good track record in its effort to win the title, noting the following achievements:
- Kentucky has top-25 wins over No. 5 Kansas 72-40 (Nov. 18), No. 6 Texas 63-51 (Dec. 5), No. 21 North Carolina 84-70 (Dec. 13), No. 4 Louisville 58-50 (Dec. 27), No. 18 Arkansas 84-67 (Feb. 28) and No. 21 Arkansas 78-63 (March 15).
- Kentucky defeated (16) Hampton 79-56, (8) Cincinnati 64-51, (5) West Virginia 78-39, and (3) Notre Dame 68-66 to earn a spot in the Final Four.
The same report said it will also use the skills and abilities of its top players which include Aaron Harrison, Devin Booker, Karl Anthony Towns, Andrew Harrison, Willie Cauley-Stein, Trey Lyles and Tyler Ulis.
Rant Sports added that with the Wildcats facing the Wisconsin Badgers on Sunday at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indiana, it will be a tough match especially for the latter in going against an undefeated team. The report predicted that Kentucky is a clear winner for this match since it is currently "the best team in the country."
"Dekker and Kaminsky are playing with some serious swag right now, but the Wildcats are on a completely different level, and will hand the Badgers a loss in the Final Four for the second year in a row," Rant Sports added.
College basketball fans are now excited to see how the finals games will turn up and if indeed Kentucky will live up to the expectations of the people and remain undefeated until the end of the competition. There is still so much to look forward to with the upcoming games of the Final Four teams and they are all bent on proving their worth in the NCAA championship.