NCAA Championship Game 2022: Biggest Storylines for North Carolina vs. Kansas

Two of the winningest programs in men's college basketball with nine titles between them face off in Monday's Division I national championship.

The Kansas Jayhawks have been the lone No. 1 seed left in the NCAA men's basketball tournament for the last three rounds. 

Kansas played like the highest seed remaining in its last three halves of basketball. The Jayhawks are playing at a high quality that will be hard for the North Carolina Tar Heels to slow down on Monday night in New Orleans. 

North Carolina comes into the title clash off an emotional win over the Duke Blue Devils in which Armando Bacot came down with an ankle injury late in the contest. His health will be closely watched as the day goes on. He is UNC's most important player, and even the slightest of hindrances on his play could affect the Tar Heels. 

National Championship Info

Date: Monday, April 4

Start Time: 9:20 p.m. ET

TV: TBS

Live Stream: TBS.com, TBS app and March Madness Live

Biggest Storylines

Can Kansas Continue to Look Dominant? 

Kansas flipped from a No. 1 seed cruising through the NCAA tournament to the best-looking squad in the competition at halftime of its Elite Eight win over the Miami Hurricanes. Kansas reversed a six-point halftime deficit into a 26-point victory. It held Miami to 15 second-half points with fantastic defense. 

The same principles from the second half against Miami carried over into the Final Four clash with the Villanova Wildcats. 

Kansas made every Villanova player feel uncomfortable from the start with its tight defense. That was partnered by fantastic three-point shooting. The Jayhawks shot 54.2 percent from deep on Saturday night. AP first-team All-American Ochai Agbaji hit some big shots, and David McCormack looked like a dominant big man. 

Kansas' defense has held four of its five opponents to 65 points or fewer. 

Another fast start on both ends of the court would benefit Kansas and shift the pressure on to the UNC players. A strong first 10 minutes might be ideal for Kansas since the Tar Heels went through the more draining matchup Saturday. 

If Kansas plays the way it did for the last three halves, it may not matter what version of UNC shows up inside the Superdome. 

Will Armando Bacot's Injury Affect UNC? 

UNC's double-double machine Armando Bacot went down with an apparent ankle injury near the end of Saturday's win over Duke. 

Bacot returned to the floor a few minutes after suffering the injury and then he fouled out shortly after. We did not get to see Bacot on the court for long in his current predicament with his ankle. 

There was no official updated provided on his injury as of Monday morning. A report could come out closer to tipoff.

If Bacot is banged up even a bit, Kansas could control the paint with McCormack. He has been fantastic down low over the next two games, and his moves could put an injured Bacot into foul trouble quicker than usual. 

Bacot could have also used the 48 hours in between games to rest up and heal the ankle so he is as close to 100 percent as possible. 

If the injury is not an issue, UNC could control the glass and take any second-chance opportunities away from Kansas. The Jayhawks had 18 offensive rebounds in the last two games.

Bacot has 30 double-doubles this season. He broke Tim Duncan's ACC single-season double-double record with 11 points and 21 rebounds on Saturday.