This year’s Final Four matchups are certainly not what we expected when the tournament began. The overall number one seeded Florida Gators were almost certain to make it, but the rest of the teams were anything but guarantees. This makes for some very interesting matchups and increasingly suspenseful story lines.

Florida has a tough matchup coming up with a seventh seeded University Connecticut Huskies. Florida has had the easiest road to the Final Four by far. The best team they’ve played is a four seed, and they beat UCLA by 11. They’ve had double-digit margin of victories in each all of the games they’ve played. That’s a good sign for their offense, but we’ve yet to see their defense play from behind for an extended period of time.

UConn is one of the minor surprises to make the Final Four. They’ve beaten almost all of the top seeds in the East Region, including #2 Villanova, #3 Iowa St., and #4 Michigan St. They beat each of those teams by an average of 7.67 points, an impressive margin of victory in this tournament. If anyone has proven to be battle-tested and ready for a tough game in the Final Four, it is UConn.

This game is definitely going to be close. It will be a back-and-forth game in the first half, but one team will pull ahead in the second half and go on to win the game by a small margin. There will be points scored in this game, but the key will be defense. The winning team will be the team that can stop the other’s great scoring offense. This team is the University of Connecticut Huskies. UConn has proven throughout the tournament that they have both the talent and the wherewithal to win big games in primetime. My prediction is UConn over Florida, 82-79.

Another top-tier team to make the Final Four is the Wisconsin Badgers. They’ve played plenty of tough games, and they’ve proven that they can handle the pressure against the best teams in the region. They beat the high powered offenses of Oregon and Baylor by 8 and 17, respectively. Wisconsin wasn’t seen as a great scoring team to begin the tournament, but they’ve shown that they’re offense can keep up with the best and their defense is still one of the best.

Facing off against the Wisconsin defense will be the high-octane, shoot-the-lights-out Kentucky Wildcats offense. Kentucky is considered the underdog of the Final Four, but the stats say otherwise. Since the end of the regular season, Kentucky has shot 39.2 percent from behind the three-point arc. That will be a tournament record if they can keep up their shooting from behind the arc against Wisconsin.

This is going to be another close game, but this time it will be against a very good Wisconsin defense and Kentucky’s fast-paced, high-scoring offense. The winner of this game will have to not only accentuate their strengths, but also expose the opponent’s weaknesses. I believe that the winner of this game will be Wisconsin because they have shown that they can score with the best teams in the tournament as a compliment to their stout defense. Wisconsin will win the game 72-67.

Of the two teams that I’ve picked to win their Final Four matchups, only one can advance to win the tournament. Both the Wisconsin Badgers and the University of Connecticut Huskies have proven that they can win in the toughest moments. The difference between these two teams is Wisconsin’s ability to play on both sides of the court, and that is why they will win the championship. UConn has been tough to beat all season, especially in March Madness, but I just don’t believe that they has the strength to win two games of this magnitude in a row. Wisconsin will win the championship over UConn 75-71.

Who do you think will win it all? Leave your opinions below.