
Times are set for the Final Four of the NCAA Men’s Tournament, which will be played Saturday at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
The winners of Saturday’s semifinals will face off in the national championship game on Monday, April 4. All games are shown on TBS with Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery and Grant Hill calling the game, while Tracy Wolfson will work as a sideline reporter.
Kansas, the No. 1 seed from the Midwest Region, will face No. 2 Villanova in the first semifinal, which is scheduled for 5:09 p.m. Kansas and Villanova have never met in the NCAA Tournament, but they did meet in the NIT in 1968. The Wildcats are 5-4 in the series.
The second semifinal game will pit Duke, the No. 1 seed in the West Region, against North Carolina, the No. 8 seed in the East Region, at 7:49 p.m. The Blue Devils and Tar Heels meet twice a year in ACC play, and sometimes a third time in ACC Tournament. But it will be the first meeting between the two teams in NCAA tournament history.
It’s one of the richest Final Fours in recent memory.
Villanova makes his seventh Final Four appearance and is aiming for his fourth national title. Two of them came in 2016 and 2018 under current head coach Jay Wright.
Kansas is playing in its 16th Final Four and is aiming for its sixth national championship, but its second under head coach Bill Self. Kansas hasn’t made the Final Four since 2018.
Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski is coaching his final season before retiring, and he hopes to lead Duke to its sixth national championship, but the program’s first since 2015.
North Carolina is playing its first Final Four since 2017, when it won its sixth title. Freshman coach Hubert Davis will be the second person to play and coach in a Final Four. Dick Hart from Kansas is the other.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
