NCAA Championship Game 2015: Odds, Predictions for Duke vs. Wisconsin

Duke and Wisconsin are 40 minutes away from completing their dream seasons. The Blue Devils and Badgers got past the Michigan State Spartans and Kentucky Wildcats, respectively, Saturday night and will go head-to-head Monday in a battle of national powers.

Jahlil Okafor, Justise Winslow and Quinn Cook each scored in double figures as the Blue Devils scored an 81-61 win over Michigan State in the evening's first game. Mike Krzyzewski's team has seen internal tumult all year—highlighted by the dismissal of Rasheed Sulaimon—but managed to peak on both ends of the floor in March. Ascendant through its run through the South Region, Duke is playing more than well enough to hand Coach K his fifth national title.

On the other side, Wisconsin put Kentucky's pursuit of perfection to bed. Frank Kaminsky scored 20 points and had 11 rebounds to lead the Badgers over a Wildcats team that appears to get a little tight down the stretch. Sam Dekker, who had 16 points, will look to help Bo Ryan capture his first national title and the school's first in more than 70 years (1941).

With that in mind, let's take a quick look at what to expect Monday night from Indianapolis.

Matchup	Spread	Time (ET)	Watch
Duke vs. Kentucky	PK	9:18 p.m.	CBS

Game Preview

Mike McGinnis/Getty Images

How much of a difference can four months make? That's the question that'll likely get answered Monday night.

In December, Duke went to Madison as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Blue Devils shot 65.2 percent, never trailed by more than four points and pulled away in the second half for an 80-70 victory. Tyus Jones scored 22 points, Okafor made six of his eight shots and Dekker was held to a five-point evening in what was an impressive early-season win for Duke.

Thrown on a neutral floor that will probably seat more Blue Devils fans than Badgers fans for the title game, it only makes a certain amount of sense that Duke opens as the favorite—well, except for the whole Wisconsin-taking-down-Kentucky thing.

That puts a damper on everything. While it's not an upset of Chaminade proportions, Wisconsin going head-to-head in a heavyweight brawl with the Wildcats was impressive nonetheless. Wisconsin held on despite Kentucky shooting a solid 48.1 percent from the field and doing nearly everything it set out to do offensively until the final five minutes.

The Badgers, led by Kaminsky and Dekker, dominated the nation's best defense by following the same blueprint they had all season. They knocked down seven three-pointers, got a critical 22-10 edge in free-throw attempts and kept their heads composed in crunch time. Opinions will differ on how much Wisconsin's defense truly stepped up and how much Kentucky's offense choked down the stretch—it was a little of both—but the fact remains that John Calipari's team was held to one field goal in the final six minutes.

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Credit goes to Bo Ryan and Co. all the way for making that happen. The question is whether the Badgers can continue that trend against a Duke squad that's playing off-the-charts two-way basketball.

Heading into the tournament, defense had been the Blue Devils' Achilles' heel all year long. They were barely a top-100 defensive team during the regular season. After a brilliant tournament-long run, the Blue Devils have ascended into the top 20 and were among the finest teams overall over the last few weeks.

"We knew we had the tools and the togetherness to be a really good defensive team," Amile Jefferson said, per Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports. "We had lapses during the season when our defense wasn't where we wanted it to be, but we've fixed it. Our coaches do an amazing job of scouting and giving us a really good game plan. With our defensive versatility on the perimeter and Jahlil Okafor in the middle, we're really good on defense right now."

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Duke's halfcourt defense is fantastic. #FinalFour

— Mike Greenberg (@Espngreeny) April 4, 2015"

Wisconsin hasn't had quite the same renaissance on that end. North Carolina, Arizona and Kentucky, all teams with so-so outside shooting, each managed to penetrate the Badgers defense and force close games. If Calipari had a go-to scorer on his roster rather than what appeared to be an amalgam of non-alphas, it's likely that the Wildcats would be in the title game.

Predicting the outcome realistically comes down to whether Wisconsin's world-beating offense can keep pummeling its way through opposing defenses. The team that showed up Saturday would seem to indicate that the answer is yes. Despite being at a length and talent disadvantage at nearly every position, Wisconsin held a composed disposition and consistently got good shots against what had been the nation's best defense all year.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

"We consider ourselves to have a really good offense," Bronson Koenig said, per Steve Jones of The Courier-Journal. "One guy can have a bad shooting night or a couple guys can have a bad shooting night, but I feel like all throughout the season it's been pretty consistent with five guys getting in double figures. Anybody can go off on any given night."

If those players are able to go off Monday, Wisconsin will hoist its first national championship since the world was at war. After what we saw against Kentucky, I have a tough time believing that won't happen.

Score Prediction: Wisconsin 70, Duke 68

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.

All stats via KenPom.com