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2022 National Championship Odds: Kansas Favored to Beat UNC in Men's CBB Title Game
April 3, 2022
North Carolina has been an underdog for nearly the entire NCAA tournament, and nothing is changing heading into the national championship game.
The Tar Heels are a four-point underdog to Kansas at DraftKings Sportsbook, marking the fourth time in six tournament games the oddsmakers have pegged them to lose. The No. 8 seed has defeated Baylor, UCLA and rival Duke already in this tournament as underdogs.
Caleb Love scored North Carolina's final six points in an 81-77 nail-biter over Duke on Saturday, marking the second time in a month the Tar Heels have ruined coach Mike Krzyzewski's retirement party. North Carolina went into Durham and defeated Duke during the legendary coach's final home game and ruined any chance he had of going out on top thanks to a 47-point second half.
Love finished with a game-high 28 points, while Armando Bacot had 11 points and 21 rebounds. North Carolina is the fourth No. 8 seed to reach the national title game, joining Villanova in 1985, Butler in 2011 and Kentucky in 2014.
Kansas, the lone No. 1 seed to reach the Final Four, looked every bit like a powerhouse in an 81-65 win over Villanova. David McCormack scored a game-high 25 points, and Ochai Agbaji added 21, leading the way for a Jayhawks team that opened the game with a 10-0 run and never trailed.
"Everybody has that (winning it all) mindset," guard Christian Braun told reporters. "That's why everybody is saying 'One more,' and that's before (going through) the tunnel (to the locker room after the semifinal win). On the court, that's what everybody's saying, 'One more.' So everybody has the same mindset."
Kansas and North Carolina have gone head-to-head six times in NCAA tournament history, with the Jayhawks coming out on top four times. Kansas most recently defeated North Carolina in the second round in 2013.