This is it. The college basketball national championship game is finally upon us.
The Kansas Jayhawks will take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in a battle between blue bloods to cut down the nets. And since it's the last game of the season, our mission is to make the most of it.
So, our staff came through with three player props to bet for Monday's game, including picks for Caleb Love, David McCormack and Christian Braun.
And don't forget to use the Action Network Player Props Tool, which compares our player prop projections to lines posted at a variety of sportsbooks.
Let's take one more trip to Green Dot City. But don't worry — there will be plenty more tickets available in November.
Caleb Love 25+ Points (+500)
It’s the national championship. You’re an 8-seed. You weren’t supposed to be here.
Time to let it all hang out.
Of course, that hasn’t been a problem for the Tar Heel backcourt. Caleb Love and RJ Davis have been given the full green light from Hubert Davis to fire away — from deep, at the rim or from mid-range.
Love took 20 shots against UCLA, 17 shots against Saint Peter’s and 24 against Duke. Some of those shots were putrid bricks. But some were massive, like the late-game 3 he drained to send Mike Krzyzewski into retirement.
Growing up, Caleb Love dreamed of going to Duke and playing for Coach K. But he was never offered a scholarship.
Tonight, Caleb Love hit the biggest shot of his career, sending UNC to the championship game and ending Coach K’s career.
WHAT. A. WORLD.pic.twitter.com/ubg9CsQ6G3
— 24/7 High School Hoops (@247HSHoops) April 3, 2022
The UNC frontcourt is the anchor of the team and one of the strongest frontcourts in the nation, but the Tar Heels got here because of transcendent and fearless backcourt play.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And I know that Davis wants Love to attack Kansas for 40 minutes to try and cut down the nets. I’m expecting Love to take as many shots as humanly possible.
And if he’s hot — and he’s been hot, going over 25 points in two of the last three — he’ll soar past 25 points. It’s totally worth sprinkling this line at 5-1.
Christian Braun Over 12.5 Points (+102)
By Doug Ziefel
The Jayhawks' offense is flying high into this championship matchup off of their impeccable shooting performance against Villanova.
We saw Ochai Agbaji light it up from deep, and David McCormack proved to be a force in the paint. However, there is one man whose performance is being overlooked: Christian Braun.
Braun took a while to join the shooting barrage, but he did it with a bang when he finally took part. He dropped all 10 of his points in the second half and made two crucial 3s down the stretch.
Here against North Carolina, Braun may be the forgotten man. However, he’s more than capable of taking advantage of North Carolina's poor perimeter defense, as he’s a 39% shooter from behind the arc. The junior is even better from inside the arc, making nearly 55% of his 2-point attempts.
This number is also a tad low when you consider Braun's body of work. He averaged 14.2 points per game and has gone over this number in 25-of-39 games played this season.
Braun should become a "secret" weapon for Kansas and produce in a big way.
David McCormack Over 10.5 Points (-125)
North Carolina’s interior defense was nonexistent on Saturday night, as Duke scored 48 points in the paint. The Blue Devils shot 50% on 2-point field goals and highlighted some holes in the Tar Heel defense.
Paolo Banchero took Brady Manek to the hole at will. Mark Williams and Theo John hit 7-of-9 from the field while matching up against Armando Bacot. Bacot injured his ankle in the final minutes of the second half against Duke, and if he isn’t 100%, then we may see a repeat effort by Kansas.
North Carolina’s 2-point defense was mediocre at best, allowing opponents to shoot 48% this season. Now, it will be tasked with slowing down 6-foot-10 David McCormack, who has been dominant of late.
Bill Self has made a point to get him involved in the offense early and often in big games. Over the last two games, the Kansas big man has hit 16-of-19 from the field, scoring 15 and 25 points. McCormack has averaged a dozen points since February, including an 18-point performance in the Big 12 Championship.
I anticipate a similar effort in this matchup with the Jayhawks offense looking to feed McCormick often to test out Bacot’s ankle and get him in foul trouble.
