I have only double-digit blowouts throughout the Final Four. UConn’s efficiency on both sides of the ball is completely unmatched, leading all of D1 basketball in adjusted efficiency margin (AdjEM). Alabama’s offense should be able to do something against UConn that no other team has during the tournament: score 60+ points. However, the Crimson Tide’s defense is the weakest of any Final Four team, meaning UConn will have a cakewalk to back-to-back National Championship appearances. No need to fluff it up: Purdue and Zach Edey will easily end NC State’s Cinderella run and face UConn in the National Championship. Let’s face it, UConn is destined to repeat. Purdue’s overwhelming need to rely on free throws and Zach Edey’s inconsistent paint shooting makes me concerned that they can’t keep it close with UConn.

I took UConn over Alabama for the sole reason that UConn is the clear cut favorite to win right now. They are the best team and they are too balanced for an Alabama team that can’t play defense. I would love for NC State to defeat Purdue but the team is just too good. Zach Edey and Braden Smith are just too dominant and it will set up an amazing championship game between the two best teams in the country. It may be a dark horse pick but I’m gonna choose Purdue to beat UConn in the national championship. Edey is just an unstoppable force and this year is destined for Purdue.

An all-time Women’s Final Four is on the way with every team having their own worthy story to tell. South Carolina and their unblemished season will take on an NC State team that, similarly to their men’s team, has gone on quite the unprecedented run to make it this far. Also, similarly to their men’s team, that run will run out of fuel. I have the Wolfpack falling at the hands of Kamilla Cardoso and the Gamecocks. Meanwhile, Caitlin Clark’s extreme dominance has overshadowed fellow First-Team All-American Paige Buecker who has single-handedly carried UConn to yet another Final Four. Many believe Clark, the future number-one overall pick in the WNBA draft, is on a collision course with the number-one overall seed in the NCAAW tournament, but not me. I believe Buecker shocks the nation and leads UConn back to the National Championship. Then, South Carolina will handily take care of business to complete a perfect season.

South Carolina is overall the most dominant team in the country having gone undefeated so far this season. They’ll coast past NC State in the final four and then will play versus Iowa in the National Championship. UConn vs Iowa is a highly anticipated matchup featuring one of the best college basketball programs in UConn and the country’s best player Caitlin Clark. In Clark’s revenge game versus LSU in the Elite 8, she dropped 41 points and I expect her to do the same on an even bigger stage. While Caitlin Clark is amazing, I don’t think it’s enough for the Iowa Hawkeyes to take down South Carolina in the National Championship. South Carolina has too deep of a roster and anyone can break out any given game.