The last time North Carolina won the national championship, the Tar Heels defeated two teams from the same conference at the Final Four in St. Louis in 2005. Starting Saturday in Detroit, UNC may have the chance to it again. Villanova is the first opponent for Roy Williams team in the national semifinal with another Big East team, Connecticut, favored to win the first semifinal. Just like with the Michigan State-Connecticut semifinal, I’m going to analyze Villanova-UNC based on team matchups.

No. 3 Villanova vs. No. 1 North Carolina (8:47 p.m. ET)

Where Villanova can hurt North Carolina: On the offensive glass. Villanova is a balanced team, one that doesn’t excel at any one thing — except perhaps free-throw shooting — and isn’t awful at anything, though the Cats do send their opponents to the line a bit too much. Therefore, pinpointing a distinct Nova stylistic edge isn’t simple, but it may surprise you that it’s on the offensive glass where the Cats should be able to do some damage to North Carolina. Read More »