2018-19 NCAA Final

Auburn 62-63 Virginia
Wow, what a game! For the record: I saw the double dribble live! I was yelling at the TV and kinda surprised the announcers didn't say anything (thought it felt like Grant Hill went notably silent there). And: yes, that was a foul of the 3-pointer at the end. But those are just details on a pretty crazy final 5 minutes of action. UVA built up a 10 point lead at the final TV timeout, felt like they were gonna finish it off. Suddenly Auburn starts hitting 3's and then both teams are wildly fouling each other late to stop the clock--but there were so few fouls committed that that strategy seemed to take forever! Amazing roller coaster of a game, Auburn played their guts out and it's a damn shame they didn't get a better result but UVA did the little things down the stretch to take it.

Texas Tech 61-51 Michigan State
Okay, I'm in on Tech, they are for real. I knew they were good but the way they were winning in this tourney was clouding my judgement. But they thoroughly controlled the 2nd half of this game, shot well enough to spook the Spartans and kept Cassius Winston off balance throughout. State had their chances but they just never got hot enough from outside to get back in it. Great W for Tech, they are worthy of the title.


Final:
Texas Tech - Virginia (-1) (o/u 118)
Real b-ball fans will be enthused by this matchup--two virtually identical squads bashing into each other--but the casual fan will probably be pretty bummed by this contest. These two are such great defensive squads that both will control the lane on defense, run down the shot clock and commit no fouls.  So the 1st half will fly by (something like 22-20 at the half), then most of the 2nd half will also fly by...until the last five minutes when it becomes a foul contest (like UVA-Auburn), which will drag out the ending forever. If both teams knock down free throws, the score might balloon late, but likely neither of these teams will get past 60 points (I'd take the under and hope both squads turn cold at the line).  I'll take UVA to finish it off, solely because going from losing to a #16 seed and then winning the championship is as great a redemption story as sports could possibly produce; but Tech is playing as good as UVA right now, so this could go either way. This is as closely matched a combination of teams in a final as I can think of in recent memory. I expect this to be close throughout and be a nail biter right down to the wire and I don't see much scoring happening. I'll take UVA and the under.