Duke vs. Wisconsin 2015: Predictions for Final Score, Most Outstanding Player

The NCAA tournament was going along as planned for the most part until Saturday night. Three No. 1 seeds advanced to the Final Four, and it appeared the Kentucky Wildcats would cruise to a national championship. The chalk trend ended when the overall top seed fell by the wayside.

The previously undefeated Wildcats bit the dust in losing 71-64 to the Wisconsin Badgers. In the first semifinal game, the Duke Blue Devils easily defeated the Michigan State Spartans 81-61.

Monday night's national championship is an intriguing Big Ten vs. ACC matchup. It's one the Blue Devils should win. Earlier in the season, Duke knocked off the Badgers 80-70. Perhaps, the most impressive aspect of Duke's big win was that it didn't get a monster game from freshman stud Jahlil Okafor.

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Duke's big man had just 13 points and six rebounds in the game. Instead, Tyus Jones—another Duke freshman—led the way with 22 points. Balanced scoring is just one of Duke's prevailing qualities. Perhaps, its biggest positive is the way it locks down on defense.

On Saturday night, the Blue Devils harassed the Spartans into 14 turnovers and 40-percent shooting from the field. Wisconsin's swing offense does present a challenge, as does the versatility of Frank Kaminsky, but Duke's discipline and potency on offense should allow it to score enough points to win. 

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Against Wisconsin, Kentucky's offense was bogged down in the second half. It struggled to get the ball to Karl-Anthony Towns and settled for low-percentage shots in crucial moments. That effectively cost the Wildcats the game.

All season long, Duke has executed its offense well. It looks even more confident heading into the title game.

When the Blue Devils met the Badgers before, they shot 65 percent from the field. They had no problems with Wisconsin's man-to-man defense. Credit that to the general it has on the sidelines.

Duke has the benefit of having a head coach in Mike Krzyzewski, who is capable of making adjustments on the fly.

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That's something Kentucky doesn't have. For as good of a recruiter John Calipari is, he has failed to win national championships with the regularity you'd expect, considering the talent he brings to Lexington. This can seemingly be traced to his inability to adjust in tight, late-game situations.

Coach K won't be out-coached.

Lastly, it seemed as if Wisconsin already felt as if it had won the national championship when it knocked off Kentucky. Ending the Wildcats' perfect season was undoubtedly a huge win but with one game left to win, I doubt Wisconsin has enough in the tank to beat Duke.

As NCAA March Madness pointed out, the Badgers have already had to endure the toughest possible road to this point.

There's only so many times a team can dig deep. Saturday was Wisconsin's title game, whether the team knows it or not.

The Blue Devils will win 77-66 with Okafor cementing himself as the top prospect in college basketball as the Most Outstanding Player in the tournament.

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