NCAA Men’s Basketball will see a massive non-tournament clash in the Finals of the 2K Empire Classic Championship. The always dangerous Villanova Wildcats will be taking on the Arizona State Sun Devils in the Final. Villanova had to get a tough win against Boston College to make it to the finals. Meanwhile, the Sun Devils overcame Rhode Island after Baylor dropped out of the tournament.

The Wildcats and Sun Devils never get to play each other. This will be just the team’s second encounter in their college’s history. The first encounter came in 1993 and Arizona State won that by 11 points. Wildcats’ coach Jay Wright won’t be looking to let anything like that happen.

The Associated Press has the Villanova Wildcats as the third-best college basketball team this season. Arizona State comes in at 18th place, but both these teams are top-tier contenders. We are bound to get a high-stakes match right at the opening tip of the college basketball season. But who will win this Finals clash?

NCAA Men’s Basketball: The Wildcats manage to eke a win out?

Considering we just saw the ranked UCLA Bruins fall to San Diego State, Villanova can’t rest on the pre-season projections of greatness. They need to deliver on the court, The Boston College game showed their vulnerabilities. They entered the second half down by 9 points. However, the performance of Jeremiah Robinson-Earl catapulted Villanova to victory.

Robinson-Earl will start against Arizona. The backcourt will be made of Colin Gillespie and Justin Moore. Caleb Daniels and Jermaine Samuels round the team out alongside Jeremiah.

The Sun Devils are one of the most up-tempo teams in college basketball right now, and their success is predicated on whether Villanova can control the tempo. However, their starting lineup with Remy Martin, Alonzo Verge, Josh Christopher, Marcus Bagley, and Jalen Graham will look to impede Villanova from having that success.

This game is hard to call. While Villanova is a better team with a stronger coach, Arizona State’s style will be hard for them to beat. Considering the players are still re-learning a system of play, the run-and-gun approach of the Sun Devils may help them win. However, coach Wright is adept at foiling these schemes. Due to that, we are picking Villanova for the win.

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