The 2016 NCAA National Championship tournament started on March 17, with 64 teams. Now, only two of those teams remain.

 

Every season, a large number of people fill out a bracket with their predictions for who will won each game. This year, less than .001 percent of people who filled out a bracket correctly picked the final four teams. Even less picked the championship matchup.

 

After a regular season where there didn’t seem to be any truly dominant teams, two of the higher seeded teams in the tournament managed to make it to the finals. The University of North Carolina as a 1 seed, and Villanova as a 2 seed.

 

North Carolina had to beat a Cinderella team in the Syracuse Orange. Syracuse came into the tournament as a 10 seed, but managed to upset some strong teams on their road to the final four.

 

After Middle Tennessee State pulled off one of the biggest upsets of all time against Michigan State, the team that was picked by more people than any other to win the whole thing, Syracuse beat them by 25 points.

 

Syracuse followed that up by barely squeezing by Gonzaga in the Sweet Sixteen which led them to a matchup with number 1 seed Virginia in the Elite Eight.

 

Virginia looked like they would end Syracuse’s run with a 35-21 lead at halftime, but Syracuse refused to back down. A series of good defensive plays, and strong three-point shooting led Syracuse to the comeback, and they pulled away with the win, 68-62.

 

North Carolina, on the other hand had a series of double-digit wins in their route to the Final Four, beating Notre Dame, Indiana, and Providence by large margins.

 

Despite a slow start from North Carolina from the 3-point line, they held an 11-point lead at the half, and never looked back. Syracuse managed to cut the lead to single digits a few times in the second half, but North Carolina always managed to pull ahead.

 

North Carolina won the game by a score of 83-66.

 

On the other side of the bracket, it looked to be a somewhat evenly matched game. The number 2 seed Villanova up against their fellow number 2 seed Oklahoma.

 

Nobody was surprised to see either of these teams make it this far. Oklahoma had 2 time Big 12 player of the year Buddy Hield, who was a finalist for the NCAA College Basketball Player of the Year Award. Villanova had been on an absolute tear through the tournament beating all of their first three opponents by double digits.

 

What nobody expected, however, was for a game this late in the tournament to be an absolute blowout.

 

Villanova led the game 42-28 at the end of the first half, but Oklahoma managed to storm back and cut the lead to only nine points with 16 and a half minutes to go in the second half.

 

Then, Villanova Junior Josh Hart hit a step back shot over an Oklahoma defender that started off a 25-0 run for Villanova that Oklahoma couldn’t come back from.

Villanova got the easy win with a final score of 95-51.

 

North Carolina and Villanova will play for the NCAA National Championship on Monday.

 

Tip-off for the game will be at 9:19 p.m.

 

Will North Carolina continue their dominance and win as the favored number 1 seed? Or will Villanova cap off their hot streak with a National Championship? Watch the game to find out, and tweet us your thoughts @MCStampede.