SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The NCAA men's basketball championship Monday night will come down to the No. 1 offense -- Villanova -- against the No. 8 defense -- Michigan.
Regardless of the stats involved, the Wolverines know they will have to play their best game tonight if they are to have a chance at being crowned national champions.
Michigan head coach John Beilein admitted to media leading up to the game that his team "has work to do." Michigan junior forward Moritz Wagner added that there is more work to be done and the team "didn't come (to San Antonio) to lose."
Michigan forward Charles Matthews even said the Wolverines have "gone 99 yards" and don't plan on losing the last yard.
That last yard would end up being the Wolverines' 15th straight win. They have not lost since Feb. 6 at Northwestern, and their defense has given up 70 or more points just three times since then.
Villanova, meanwhile, has defeated every opponent in the tournament by double digits and has scored 80 or more in all but one of its five tournament games. The Wildcats put up 95 points on No. 1 seed Kansas and 90 points on No. 5 seed West Virginia. They mean business.
The Wolverines have the confidence, as displayed in those pre-championship interviews, but now they will have to figure out how to translate that confidence into a game plan against their undeniably toughest opponent this season.
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