Jayhawks and Tar Heels
ZWF #8: Sunday, April 03, 2022
Kansas was able to blow past Villanova, and North Carolina won a classic over rival Duke. The Final Four took place last night in New Orleans, and now we know the teams that will take the court in the final game of the college basketball season on Monday night.
This week on Zander’s Weekend Facts, the Championship game is set and it’s time for a prediction for the college basketball season’s culmination event. Plus, some new developments in Ukraine show how much Russia has overplayed its hand, and a bunch of the top stories you’ll want to know about from the past week.
Also, you should go listen to Episode 58 of the Zander’s Facts Podcast! This week, I made my Final Four picks and broke down the matchups, so you can check out my final game prediction from Wednesday. Plus, a breakdown of the teams who have qualified for the 2022 World Cup, and a quick look at the debate over transgender athletes participating in sports. Download and listen to the Zander’s Facts Podcast wherever you get your podcasts!
The goal of Zander’s Weekend Facts is to give you the facts about what has been going on in the world around us this past week. You’ll just have to read these facts, instead of listening to them on the Zander’s Facts Podcast.
Here are Zander’s Weekend Facts for Sunday, April 03, 2022:
The Championship is set
After last night’s National Semifinal games, the matchup for the 2022 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship is officially set. The Kansas Jayhawks will face off against the North Carolina Tar Heels to determine this season’s champion of college basketball. With only one game left in this college basketball season, here’s a look at the official tournament bracket:
To get to Monday night, Kansas and North Carolina had to win their National Semifinal matchups on Saturday night. Kansas went up against Villanova in the first matchup of the evening in a game that was seemingly decided in the first few minutes. The Jayhawks were up by as much as 19 points in the first half, but the Wildcats cut it close in the second half. Behind 25 points from David McCormack and 21 points for Ochai Agbaji, Kansas was able to beat Villanova and move on to the National Championship game for the first time since 2012.
In the second game on Saturday night, North Carolina met up with rival Duke for the third time this season. Due to this being the first time Carolina and Duke were playing each other in the tournament and it being Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final season, this was one of the most hyped Final Four matchups of all time. The good thing is that the game absolutely lived up to the hype. Unlike the evening’s first matchup, the second matchup was close all the way through the end. However, 28 points from Caleb Love were seemingly enough as the Tar Heels were able to power past the Blue Devils with an 81-77 victory. First-year head coach Hubert Davis now has Carolina in the National Championship. Meanwhile, that game marked the end of the career of Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. This game was the 100th Duke had played Carolina under Krzyzewski, with Duke going 50-50 against the Heels. Krzyzewski’s first loss at Duke was against North Carolina, and now his last loss is as well.
After those two games, we get the matchup of Kansas and North Carolina for the championship tomorrow night. This is Carolina’s first appearance in the final since 2017. They also went in 2016, becoming the first team to reach the final three times in a seven-year span since Kentucky went to three straight from 1996-1998. This game will be a rematch of the 1957 National Championship when North Carolina beat Kansas 54-53 in triple overtime, the only championship game to advance past the first overtime period.
After a blue blood Final Four, this National Championship game will certainly be a clash of blue bloods. Carolina and Kansas are two of the most storied programs in college basketball. North Carolina currently has the third-most National Championships with six, while Kansas is tied for seventh-most with three. Many people expected the Jayhawks to make it this far, but not many believed the same about the Tar Heels. Carolina was an eight seed in this year’s tournament and had a turbulent year under first-year head coach Hubert Davis. Under head coach Bill Self, Kansas has looked like one of the country’s most talented teams all season long.
This game will come down to whether or not Kansas’ offense steps up in the spotlight. In the second half of their Elite Eight matchup against Miami and the first half of Saturday’s matchup with Villanova, the Jayhawks looked unstoppable on offense. The Jayhawks shot 54% from three-point range on Saturday night, taking down a much weaker Villanova offense in the process. North Carolina are no slouches on the offensive end either, scoring 69 or more points in every tournament game they have played in. Armando Bacot collected his 30th double-double of the season, the most in ACC history, surpassing Wake Forest’s Tim Duncan.
In the end, if the Jayhawks can stay efficient for one more game, I can’t see them being beat by anybody, much less North Carolina. I have Kansas beating North Carolina 84-77 and winning their fourth National Championship and first since 2008. You should also go take a look at my bracket because before the tournament started, I did have Kansas winning the National Championship. Just saying. The National Championship game tips off on Monday night at 9:20 pm et on TBS.
Zander’s Facts Sporting Club
The men’s college basketball tournament is not the only basketball tournament taking place. Plus, some interesting NFL offseason news and the World Cup is getting closer. Here are the week’s top headlines from the sporting world:
The NFL owners voted on Tuesday to change the overtime rules in NFL postseason games for this upcoming season. The change in rules will allow both teams in a game the opportunity to possess the ball in overtime, a change from the previous rule which allowed the game to end if the team that first possessed the ball scored a touchdown. The rule will only be in place for the postseason, however, league officials did not rule out expanding the rule to the regular season for future seasons.
In a show that lasted over one and a half hours and could have taken a quarter of the time, FIFA held the 2022 World Cup draw on Friday. 29 national teams and 3 spots held for winners of future playoff matches were drawn into eight groups for this year’s edition of the world’s soccer tournament. The United States was drawn into Group B, along with England, Iran, and the playoff winner of Ukraine, Scotland, and Wales. All three of the USMNT’s group stage matches will take place at 2:00 pm et, with the England match taking place on Black Friday, November 25. Defending champions France were drawn into Group D, along with Denmark, Tunisia, and a playoff winner of either Australia, United Arab Emirates, or Peru. Four out of the five past defending champions have failed to advance past the group stage of the tournament after they won the World Cup, including Germany in 2018. The 2022 World Cup begins on November 21 and will take place in Qatar.
The Men’s college basketball tournament is not the only basketball tournament taking place at the moment. The NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Championship will conclude tonight with Connecticut taking on South Carolina. These two teams met back in November, with the Gamecocks beating the Huskies 73-57. South Carolina defeated Louisville 72-59 and UConn defeated defending champion Stanford 63-58 on Friday night to make it to tonight’s championship game. South Carolina is seeking their first national championship since 2017, their lone national championship in women’s basketball, while UConn is looking for their 12th championship and first since 2016. Zander’s pick: South Carolina wins 65-61. The game tips off tonight at 8:00 pm et on ESPN.
As if the offseason couldn’t get worse for the NFL’s Washington Commanders, a new report on Saturday revealed that the organization may have withheld ticket revenue it was supposed to share with the league. The report from Front Office Sports details that Congress has received information that alleges the organization kept ticket revenue meant to be shared with other teams. Could the new allegations bring changes to the Washington organization? One can only hope.
The UEFA Champions League resumes action this week in Europe with the Quarterfinal round. On Tuesday, the first leg of the matches between Manchester City and Atletico Madrid, along with Benfica and Liverpool take place. On Wednesday, Chelsea and Real Madrid face off along with Villareal and Bayern Munich. The following week, the second leg matches will commence with Real Madrid vs Chelsea and Bayern Munich vs Villareal taking place on Tuesday, April 12, and Atletico Madrid vs Manchester City and Liverpool vs Benfica on Wednesday, April 13. The matches will kick off at 3:00 pm et and can be watched on CBS and Paramount+.
A turning point in Ukraine
As the war in Ukraine drags on, positive news finally appears to be making its way west. On Saturday, Ukrainian officials declared that they have regained control of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv. The development is a major turning point as it appears the Russian military is beginning a retreat in at least the capital region of the country. U.S. intelligence appears to suggest Russia will now focus on liberating eastern areas of the country. While this is a positive, the situation remains grim in Ukraine. Take a look at the latest developments in the war from CNBC:
CNBC - Ukraine claims full control of Kyiv as chances of peace talks advance, says nearly 18,000 Russian military dead
CNBC - Zelenskyy accuses Russia of genocide; missiles slam into port city of Odesa. Follow our live updates
Rapid-fire Facts
A legendary actor stepping away, a historic union vote, and the fallout of the Oscars’ talking point. Here are some of the top stories from the past week:
Actor Bruce Willis announced on Wednesday that he is retiring after he was diagnosed with aphasia. Aphasia, according to the Mayo Clinic, is “a condition that affects your ability to communicate. It can affect your speech, as well as the way you write and understand both spoken and written language.” Willis is best known for starring as John McClain in the “Die Hard” movie franchise, along with featuring in movies such as “The Sixth Sense” and “Pulp Fiction.”
On Friday, results were announced in a vote to unionize at an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, New York. For the first time at the company, workers voted to unionize and be represented by the Amazon Labor Union. The union was started by Christian Smalls, an Amazon worker who was fired by the company in 2020. In a statement recognizing the result, Amazon expressed disappointment in the result. The vote to unionize occurs as momentum grows across the country for workers at Amazon, Starbucks, and other national chains to unionize.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki is reportedly planning to leave her position later this Spring. According to a report on Friday from Axios, Psaki is in talks with cable news network MSNBC on joining the network. The report notes that Psaki and the network are working to not violate any government laws and regulations. White House communication staffers have been known to enter the news media after their time at the White House, with former Bush staffer Nicolle Wallace currently hosting an afternoon program on MSNBC and former Trump press secretary Kayleigh McEnany currently employed by Fox.
Actor Will Smith has resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The resignation comes after Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock on stage during last Sunday night’s Academy Awards after Rock made a joke regarding Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. This is just the latest from the fallout of the incident, which has included Smith apologizing on Monday and a report that Smith refused to leave the ceremony.
Wrapping up the Facts
Before this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts wraps up, here’s another reminder to check out the latest episode of the Zander’s Facts Podcast. Download and listen to Episode 58 wherever you get your podcasts. Check out Zander’s Facts’ Linktree page for more on anything Zander’s Facts related: Zander's Facts on Linktree
Sadly, there will not be a new edition of the Zander’s Facts Podcast this week. This is a great opportunity, however, to go back and check out any episodes of the podcast you may have missed! Plus, a ZF Flashback featuring a segment from a previous episode will be released on the podcast feed this Wednesday.
Do remember to check out the next edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts next Sunday! If you haven’t already, make sure to sign up with the link below to get Zander’s Weekend Facts in your inbox every Sunday so you don’t miss anything!
That’s a wrap on this edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts. The facts in print return on Sunday, April 10, 2022.
