GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) – The Latest on the championship game of the NCAA Tournament between North Carolina and Gonzaga (all times local):
3:55 p.m.
About one-fourth of those who filled out brackets on ESPN and Yahoo still have a chance to correctly call the March Madness champion.
About 15 percent of bracketeers on ESPN and 17 percent on ESPN picked North Carolina to win the title before the tournament started, making the Tar Heels the most popular selection for champion in the 68-team field.
Gonzaga is the fifth most popular pick on both platforms as a champ on about 9 percent of brackets.
More popular as title picks than Gonzaga: Villanova, Kansas and Duke.
Not bad for a tournament that wrecked brackets all over the field, especially in the East region where No. 7 seed South Carolina made the Final Four. Far fewer than 1 percent of brackets predicted the Gamecocks to go that far.
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3:30 p.m.
Two of the top teams coming into March Madness are set to settle the title in the 67th game of the NCAA Tournament.
North Carolina and Gonzaga play Monday night at University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals. Tipoff is set for about 6:20 p.m. local time, 9:20 p.m. EDT.
The final pits two of the most elite teams in college hoops against one another: both the Tar Heels and the Bulldogs boast top-level coaches, guards and interior players.
Down low, Gonzaga’s 7-foot-1, 300-pound Przemek Karnowski faces North Carolina’s 6-10, 260-pound Kennedy Meeks. Meeks had a career game in the Final Four against Oregon with 25 points. Gonzaga also has Zach Collins, a 7-foot freshman who could be a one-and-done player.
North Carolina coach Roy Williams is chasing a third title is his fourth championship game. Gonzaga coach Mark Few had never made the Final Four before this season, but has taken the Zags in all 18 years he’s led.
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