NCAA TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP: Here's who the experts are picking in Gonzaga and North Carolina's showdown
This year's championship consists of two No. 1 seeds who beat underdogs in the Final Four to get to the big game.
While UNC is a consistent powerhouse, boasting a few big-name players, Gonzaga is somewhat of a Cinderella team, a mid-major with top talent, benefitting from a potential lottery pick in Zach Collins and some transfer players.
The game figures to be a close one and if it's anything like last year's down-to-the-wire event, we're in for a treat. Vegas Insider's consensus currently has North Carolina at -1.
Here are the BI Sports team's picks:
- Brett LoGiurato: UNC 76, Gonzaga 68
- Cork Gaines: Gonzaga 81, UNC 80
- Emmett Knowlton: Gonzaga 79, UNC 75
- Scott Davis: Gonzaga 72, UNC 71
And to the experts, with picks coming from ESPN, Sports Illustrated, CBS, and Sporting News.
- Jay Bilas, ESPN: UNC
- Fran Faschilla, ESPN: Gonzaga
- Jeff Goodman, ESPN: UNC
- Seth Greenberg, ESPN: UNC
- Dan Dakich, ESPN: UNC
- Andy Katz, ESPN: Gonzaga
- Jay Williams, ESPN: Gonzaga
- Dana O'Neil, ESPN: Gonzaga
- Jeff Borzello, ESPN: UNC
- Seth Davis, SI: Gonzaga
- Bill Reiter, CBS: Gonzaga
- Gary Parrish, CBS: Gonzaga
- Matt Norlander, CBS: Gonzaga
- Chip Patterson, CBS: UNC
- Kyle Boone, CBS: UNC
- Mike DeCourcy, Sporting News: UNC
So, in total, 11 of our experts (including ourselves) have Gonzaga, while nine have UNC. Hopefully the game is as close as the bets.