Semi-Expert Picks – National Championship [LIVE UPDATES]

I realize ten minutes have already gone by and I'm only now posting this, but my car broke down, and I had to make pizza so... call it even? I'll not spend so much time on the build-up and just tell you this before my prediction: Kentucky will win it. Easily. Here's what will happen...

• Kentucky over Kansas 86-69 I predicted this score on the air for Sportsline Live tonight, so don't say this was made after the start of the game. I wrote it down on a sheet of paper somewhere too. Kansas doesn't have the composure to stick with Kentucky for an entire game, and even if they have the drive, heart, or whatever you want to call it to mount a comeback in the second half, they will be down by too many points to win it. Also- I've been praising Tyshawn Taylor throughout the entire tournament as the second best point guard behind Kendall Marshall. Time for me to face reality: he has been playing not good. I see Kansas making mistakes, too many mistakes, and ironically, I see Kentucky (the younger team) playing with composure, and win this one before they all leave to the NBA. [BONUS PREDICTION: Anthony Davis will never shave his Uni-Brow unless he signs a multi-million dollar deal with Barbasol.]
  **Bill Self deserved the coach of the year award- Kansas had no right to make this game competitive, but their defense and clutch shooting got them back into the game in the end. It wasn't enough, because Kentucky was far, far better at pretty much everything. I give great praise to Kansas for their second half resilience, something I undersold in my prediction, but I will also say that Kentucky slowed their pace and didn't put forward their typical offense either. The Wildcats had been going full speed in the first half, getting out after every stop, block or rebound, and blowing away the Jayhawks with offensive possessions that stayed under 15 seconds each. In the second half though, (and again, some of the credit for this goes to Kansas, but very little) Kentucky decided to milk each shot clock to 10 seconds or less and settling for mediocre outside shots. As a result, this game was much closer than it had to be in the very end, but Kentucky was too good, and Kansas made a few costly mistakes when they should not have. That being said- my apologies go out to Tyshawn Taylor who played much better than expected including being the sole reason for Kansas' most exhilarating stretch of the game. This was a game where each team showed tremendous stretches of productivity, yet few of those stretches intertwined- making this game seem streakier than most. I thought Thomas Robinson played tremendously, and it was sad to see him not get the title- but it speaks incredibly of this Kansas team just to get as far as they did- even if they lost. They showed great fight, and that again is something I undersold, but they were a worthy team who were matched up on the most talented team in the country. Kentucky won the National Championship deservedly. Finally- regarding my bonus prediction, only time will tell.**

This concludes my predictions... until next year (hopefully). If you read religiously, you probably need a new religion. If you read for a few laughs and incomparable insight from a brilliant basketball mind, thank you. Stay tuned for a re-hashing of the logistics behind all of these "semi-expert" picks and predictions in the next few days... in the meantime, goodnight, and for the champs, I give you this.