NCAA Tournament 2019: Men's Title Game Odds, March Madness Bracket Review

It's been a long road for Virginia and Texas Tech to reach this point, but now, those two schools will play for the national championship in the final game of this year's NCAA men's tournament on Monday night.

As the tournament field has been cut from 68 teams to two, the Cavaliers and Red Raiders are the two teams that have outlasted the rest. And one will end its season by cutting down the nets and celebrating with the national title at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

A lot has happened since the college basketball season began in November, and now, either Virginia or Texas Tech will win the first national title in men's program history.

Bracket

Championship Game Info, Odds

No. 1 Virginia (-1) vs. No. 3 Texas Tech: Monday at 9:20 p.m. ET on CBS

Bracket Review

Virginia

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Last year, Virginia became the first No. 1 seed ever to lose to a No. 16 seed in the NCAA tournament. The Cavaliers are a No. 1 seed again this year, but a monumental upset wasn't an issue this time.

In this year's first round, Virginia opened its March Madness run with a 71-56 win over No. 16 seed Gardner-Webb. It then went on to handily defeat No. 9 seed Oklahoma 63-51 in the second round of the tournament.

After that, the Cavaliers have had more competitive matchups. They pulled out a 53-49 win over No. 12 seed Oregon in the Sweet 16 and then outlasted No. 3 seed Purdue for an 80-75 overtime victory in the Elite Eight.

But Virginia's closest game yet came Saturday night, when it took on No. 5 seed Auburn in the Final Four.

A controversial foul call sent Cavaliers junior guard Kyle Guy to the free-throw line with 0.6 seconds to go. Guy knocked down three free throws to push Virginia to a 63-62 win.

"We struggled from the line, but for him in that setting to do it, yeah, it doesn't get much better than that," Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett told the media Saturday night.

Texas Tech

Hannah Foslien/Getty Images

Texas Tech rolled through the first three rounds of the NCAA tournament, picking up some big victories. The Red Raiders beat No. 14 seed Northern Kentucky 72-57 in the first round and then notched a 78-58 win over No. 6 seed Buffalo in the second round.

In the Sweet 16, Texas Tech notched an impressive 63-44 victory over No. 2 seed Michigan. That game provided a showcase of what the Red Raiders' elite defense is capable of.

Texas Tech has had closer games in the past two rounds, beginning with its 75-69 win over Gonzaga in the Elite Eight. However, that was a big milestone for the Red Raiders, as they knocked off a No. 1 seed to move into the first Final Four in program history.

To make it to the national championship game, Texas Tech had to beat No. 2 seed Michigan State, the program with the most March Madness success among the Final Four teams. However, the Red Raiders came through with another strong defensive showing, beating the Spartans 61-51.

Some may be surprised that Texas Tech is in the national championship game. Red Raiders head coach Chris Beard is not one of them.

"He's a motivational juggernaut," Texas Tech senior center Norense Odiase said, according to CBSSports.com's Kyle Boone. "He's sick in the way he conjures up things to motivate us and get the guys rallying around him and his vision. He's just unique, unlike anyone I've been around. He's infectious with his energy."