Men’s NCAA Tournament: #8 North Carolina v. #2 Duke

Who will WIN this matchup?

#8 North Carolina Tar Heels (24-9)

#2 Duke Blue Devils (28-6)

North Carolina Tar Heels: (+163)

Duke Blue Devils: (-196)

• The line for this game is Duke by 4 points.

• While Duke (32-6) and coach Mike Krzyzewski are authoring a storybook signoff as West Region champs, archrival North Carolina (28-9), the No. 8 seed in the East Region, crashed the Final Four and stands in the way of any epic sendoff the Blue Devils might have planned Monday night.

• The Tar Heels already spoiled Coach K’s homecourt goodbye in a game coach Hubert Davis believes flipped the switch for what he felt was an underachieving team up to that point. When his group walks into the Superdome in New Orleans for the first time for a practice open to the public on Friday, he hopes they realize the gravity the Tar Heels defied to get here.

• Davis called the last 11-plus months “a wild ride.” Hired to replace retiring Roy Williams and get North Carolina back to where bluebloods belong – the Final Four – Davis has been to the Final Four as a player and coach before. He wants to keep the focus on players and their experience.

• This is the first time the rivals have met in the Final Four. It’s the 258th game between the college basketball behemoths.

• Krzyzewski has five national titles on his resume. To get a sixth, the Blue Devils need to solve what ailed them in the 13-point home loss on March 5.

• Players have clearly been coached to avoid giving the opposition any added motivation for the national semifinal. North Carolina’s Armando Bacot said after the Tar Heels beat Saint Peter’s knowing Duke was up next in the Final Four that Davis would not want him to comment on the game.

• The Tar Heels are in the Final Four for the third time in six NCAA Tournament years – including the 2017 national championship — and 21st overall. UNC lost to Villanova in the national title game in 2016.

• Bacot scored 20 points and grabbed 22 rebounds in the East final against Saint Peter’s after playing big in key moments against UCLA in the semifinal.

• Bacot will contend directly with Duke star freshman Paolo Banchero in the Blue Devils’ 17th Final Four – Coach K’s record 13th — appearance.

• Davis said the likely lottery pick is the key to Duke’s success, including a 13-2 run over the Blue Devils’ past 15 games. But Banchero needed 26 shot attempts to score 23 points in their most recent meeting, a 94-81 North Carolina win.