March Madness 2015: Final Bracket and Duke vs. Wisconsin Predictions

The Wisconsin Badgers shocked the world on Saturday night, but they must guard against letting their win over the previously undefeated Kentucky Wildcats be their national championship.

After falling to the Wildcats in last year's Final Four, it seemed the Badgers were pining for a second shot at Kentucky. They got it and exacted revenge. Now what?

The Duke Blue Devils await them, and they are playing like a team possessed on the defensive end of the floor. Duke blew out the Michigan State Spartans by 20 points in Saturday's first national semifinal on Saturday. Quite honestly, it was supposed to beat Michigan State. The Spartans were undersized and less talented than Duke, and it showed.

Wisconsin's win was a different story altogether. It knocked off one of the most talented teams college basketball has seen in years. 

Wisconsin defeated Kentucky because of two major factors. First, it killed the Wildcats on the glass with a 34-22 edge in rebounding. The Badgers had 12 offensive rebounds in the game.

Secondly, the Wildcats struggled to get the ball to Karl-Anthony Towns down the stretch. There were key sequences late in the game when Towns should have had it in his hands, but the Wildcats settled for fruitless dribble penetration from Andrew Harrison with the shot clock running down.

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That said, the Blue Devils won't be part of the crowd applauding the Badgers' big win. Don't expect the Blue Devils to have an issue getting their dominant big man the ball.

Darron Cummings/Associated Press

Jahlil Okafor will get his touches, and he'll be the force inside that Towns could've been for Kentucky. Also, the Blue Devils will send Okafor, Justise Winslow, Amile Jefferson and whoever else is needed to the glass to rebound. In short, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski will be well prepared for Wisconsin. To be quite honest, it didn't look as if Kentucky coach John Calipari had his team ready to play.

Michael Pelfrey of WEGL 91.1 FM called this one accurately.

This isn't the first time we've seen a Calipari team fall when he had more talent far and away. The Derrick Rose-led Memphis Tigers fell to the Kansas Jayhawks back in 2008 with a team that looked better on paper. When a more talented team is upset this late in the tournament, it's usually due to a coaching gaffe. When it continuously happens to the same guy, it's hard to ignore the commonality. 

Coach K will have his team defending optimally, and his backcourt is playing smart and aggressive. Most importantly, Duke will play to its strengths. On the other side, it feels as if the Badgers are ripe for a letdown after such an emotional win.

Expect Duke to outlast Wisconsin to deliver Coach K his fifth national championship.

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