{"id":103634,"date":"2016-04-03T21:01:48","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T01:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/?p=103634"},"modified":"2016-04-04T01:20:38","modified_gmt":"2016-04-04T05:20:38","slug":"villanova-wildcats-ncaa-national-championship-team-predictions-odds-and-preview-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/villanova-wildcats-ncaa-national-championship-team-predictions-odds-and-preview-2016.html","title":{"rendered":"Villanova Wildcats \u2013 NCAA National Championship Team Predictions, Odds and Preview 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After putting together arguably the most dominant performance in Final Four history against Oklahoma, is there still any doubt that Villanova is national championship material? The Wildcats have opened as <a href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/sportsbook\/college-basketball\/ncaa-mens\" target=\"_blank\">+2.5<\/a> underdogs against North Carolina, but they have three important tools in their arsenal that will win them that national title over the Tar Heels.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s take a better look at what those three are, and the key stats that will make them so crucial.\u00a0Meanwhile, don&#8217;t forget to check out the other side with our breakdown of the <a href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/north-carolina-tar-heels-ncaa-national-championship-team-predictions-odds-and-preview-2016.html\" target=\"_blank\">North Carolina Tar Heels<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>March Madness News &amp; Predictions<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/2016-ncaa-march-madness-sleepers-and-sleeper-picks.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2016 March Madness Sleepers Predictions and Picks<\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/2016-ncaa-march-madness-longshots-and-best-long-shots-picks.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2016 March Madness Longshots and Best Long Shots Picks and Predictions<\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/2016-ncaa-march-madness-predictions-picks-odds-and-preview.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2016 March Madness Preview<\/a><\/li>\r\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/2016-ncaa-march-madness-expert-predictions-and-picks.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">2016 NCAA March Madness Expert Picks<\/a><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Villanova National Championship Game\u00a0Breakdown<\/h2>\n<h3>Three-Point Shooting<\/h3>\n<p>Nova\u2019s three-point shooting in the tournament has been simply out of this world. The Wildcats have gone a combined 48-98 (49 percent) from beyond the arc through their first five games, quite a step up from the 36 percent they shot during the regular season.<\/p>\n<p><p><a href=\"http:\/\/record.tbaffiliate.com\/_y8k7RB3Ll4xutv7iXV6HvmNd7ZgqdRLk\/14\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-97846 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/March-Madness-News-Banners_250x130_v2.gif\" alt=\"March-Madness---News-Banners_250x130_v2\" width=\"250\" height=\"130\" \/><\/a><\/p>It doesn\u2019t take a rocket scientist to figure out three is greater than two, which is the shot North Carolina relies on. The Tar Heels are virtually nonfactors from beyond the arc, giving Nova a distinct advantage on that part of the game.<\/p>\n<p>Add the Tar Heels\u2019 struggles defending the three-point shot all season\u2014they were ranked in the 200\u2019s on the season in opponents\u2019 three-pointers made and attempted per game, as well as three-point percentage\u2014and the Wildcats should be able to counter UNC\u2019s superior inside presence with their long-range shooting.<\/p>\n<h3>Turnovers<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-103639\" src=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Ryan-Arcidiacono-Buddy-Hield-Final-Four-600x340.jpg\" alt=\"Ryan-Arcidiacono-Buddy-Hield-Final-Four\" width=\"600\" height=\"340\" srcset=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Ryan-Arcidiacono-Buddy-Hield-Final-Four.jpg 600w, http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Ryan-Arcidiacono-Buddy-Hield-Final-Four-250x142.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Wildcats\u2019 swarming defense has been spectacular throughout the tournament. They still haven\u2019t given up 70 or more points in any game (granted, they do play at a slow pace) and held the explosive offenses of Kansas and Oklahoma to a total of 110 points.<\/p>\n<p>A big part of that success on the defensive end has been their ability to simply take the ball away from their opponents. They were one of the best at forcing turnovers during the regular season, but they\u2019ve taken it to an entirely different level in the tourney.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019ve forced three of the most efficient offenses in the country\u2014Miami (FL), KU and OU\u2014to cough the ball up 45 times, which is an incredible rate given the slow pace of their games. If there\u2019s a defense that can get some extra possessions from a very turnover-averse UNC offense, it\u2019s Nova\u2019s.<\/p>\n<h3>Daniel Ochefu<\/h3>\n<p>Ryan Arcidiacono gets the exposure as the face of Villanova while Josh Hart is the high-scoring wing man, but Daniel Ochefu is undoubtedly the team\u2019s most indispensable player. The 6-11 senior is not only one of the team\u2019s leaders, he\u2019s also a consistent post threat, and the anchor of their incredible defense.<\/p>\n<p>Ochefu\u2019s importance in the matchup against UNC cannot be emphasized enough. As the team\u2019s primary big man, it\u2019ll be his responsibility to keep the Tar Heels off the offensive glass, which no team has been able to do in the tournament.<\/p>\n<p>Ochefu tweaked his ankle in their win over Oklahoma, but he hardly showed any ill-effects after returning from a brief exit. Ochefu\u2019s a tough dude, though, certainly tough enough to overcome any lingering injury. He\u2019s also good enough to prevent his team from getting completely smoked on the glass, which is all Nova can realistically ask for against UNC.<\/p>\n<p>Convinced that Villanova&#8217;s three-point shooting can topple the Tar Heels? <a href=\"http:\/\/record.tbaffiliate.com\/_y8k7RB3Ll4xutv7iXV6HvmNd7ZgqdRLk\/6\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"broken_link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Create a betting account now<\/a> and cash in on the Wildcats to win the 2016 national title.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/record.tbaffiliate.com\/_y8k7RB3Ll4xutv7iXV6HvmNd7ZgqdRLk\/14\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-97847 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/topbet.eu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/March-Madness-News-Banners_620x110_v2.gif\" alt=\"March-Madness---News-Banners_620x110_v2\" width=\"620\" height=\"110\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After putting together arguably the most dominant performance in Final Four history against Oklahoma, is there still any doubt that Villanova is national championship material? The Wildcats have opened as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":103640,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[393,70,9416],"tags":[7284,9907,11946,11948,11947,9899,9915,9916,9918,9917,9914,9919,9898,1292,148,9906,9849,9900,835,969,10136,10127,10130,10134,10125,10126,1012,10128,10135,10123,10124,10129,10132],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v16.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>2016 NCAA Final Team Preview \/ Predictions \u2013 Villanova<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An in-depth breakdown of why the Villanova Wildcats will win the 2016 NCAA National Championship, from TopBet online sportsbook.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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