Villanova Championship

When watching March Madness, you always expect the unexpected. There were a lot of upsets during the tournament with very few blowouts. Who would have thought that the blow out would come in the final as Villanova destroyed Michigan to win the N.C.A.A. Championship? Even though Villanova was considered a juggernaut team this year it did not look that way on paper due to no superstar caliber player on the roster. History will say otherwise as people will look back at Villanova and their planned supremacy through the six games played during the tournament as a team that was just a couple of steps ahead of the rest of the multiple slackers in Division I, a group that was forced to view revolutionary basketball play out before them.

Villanova did not have to look like the Golden State Warriors hitting eighteen or more three pointers against Michigan. They found other options to get the job done in order to beat the wolverines. Villanova completed the season at the biggest stage blowing past Michigan 79-62 at the Alamodome with an attendance of 67,831. It was the Wildcats’ second national championship in the past three years, which makes it merrier. Even though the team is younger than the one that beat the Tar Heels with a buzzer beater in 2016, it makes it better due to the fact of a repeat at hand. Only three other teams since 1985 have beat their opponents by double digits in the N.C.A.A. tournament.

“This is out of my comprehension.” Coach Jay Wright said of Villanova. Michigan matched up well with the starting five of Villanova but the sixth man, Donte Divincenzo, came off the bench for Villanova to put on a show as he finished the game with 31 points. He started a comeback in the first half and turned it into a circus in the second, making his way to the basket scoring 11 straight points half way through the half to increase Villanova’s lead to 16. Villanova forward Eric Paschall said, “We have so many talented dudes that can just get going. We don’t know who’s going to have a good night. Tonight, it was Donte.”

Through the hardships that happened earlier in the season as the early morning of September 26th, the federal officials publicly disclosed an investigation due to the fact of how Villanova did their recruiting. Ten men were arrested, including four Division I assistant and within days, Rick Pitino, Hall of Fame coach at Louisville, was out of a job. The investigation angered over the rest of the season, but it did not stop them from winning a championship.