UConn vs. SDSU men’s national championship game live updates: Who wins it all in NCAA Tournament?
buzzer-beater, go-ahead basket. Will San Diego State’s flare for the dramatic serve them well against UConn?
Follow along for live updates throughout the men’s national title game:
Follow the madness: Latest Men’s NCAA Tournament College Basketball Scores and Schedules
Connecticut or San Diego State? NCAA Tournament men’s title game picks
From 68 to two. That’s what is left of the NCAA men’s tournament field after five rounds of play. Neither Connecticut nor San Diego State were popular picks to win the championship. They were seeded fourth and fifth, respectively.
Wild Final Four sets up underdog San Diego State against four-time titlist UConn
Connecticut and San Diego State will meet Monday night for the national championship.
buzzer-beating epic against No. 9 Florida Atlantic, the Aztecs will look to join UNLV in 1990 as the only current mid-major programs to win the national championship.
Connecticut has won four since 1999, making a case along the way for being counted among the premier brands in the country. Yet the Huskies had made just three tournament appearances and never advanced past the opening weekend since winning the whole thing in 2014.
— Paul Myerberg
What time does men’s national championship game start?
The men’s NCAA Tournament final is slated to begin at 9:20 p.m. ET on Monday and will be broadcast on CBS.
UConn continues March Madness domination, will play SDSU for title
San Diego State’s run has been one of great building projects in college sports
HOUSTON — If your rooting interest in Monday night’s men’s championship game is up for grabs, may I suggest thinking about the poor, downtrodden undergrad of little-known San Diego State who will wake up this week to weather in the mid-60s with an oh-so-frigid low of 54 degrees and clear sunny.
Kidding aside, all of San Diego State’s — let’s call them natural advantages — make what they’ve accomplished there one of the most impressive, organically built powers in college sports.
— Dan Wolken
Nantz told USA TODAY Sports that “gratitude” was his prevailing emotion ahead of Monday’s title game.
MEMORIES:Jim Nantz reflects on his last NCAA men’s basketball championship broadcast: ‘I’m nostalgic’
“This has been such a big part of my life,” Nantz said. “It’s always tough when you know you’re not going to get to go through this again. … I’m nostalgic but it’s not a melancholy feeling right now. It’s appreciation … gratitude.
“And that’s how I’m getting through this weekend with a smile on my face and not weeping.”
— Richard Morin
Opinion: Huskies look unstoppable, inevitable
HOUSTON — The ball was on the baseline, in nearly an impossible spot, the pass needing to be sent through a thicket of bodies out to the perimeter where Alex Karaban had snuck away from everyone. Only UConn’s Tristen Newton knew where the 6-foot-8 sharpshooter was, and even with his lower body inches from going out of bounds, he fired the ball exactly where it had to go.
Swish.
That was how the first half ended in UConn’s 72-59 deconstruction of Miami in Saturday’s second national men’s semifinal, and though the game was not technically over, it might as well have been.
If Miami didn’t know it before, they certainly had to at that moment. UConn just had too many options, too many answers. And with each game on the march to Monday night, the Huskies have proven they’re beyond good.
Inside San Diego State’s buzzer-beater win to advance
HOUSTON — San Diego State coach Brian Dutcher didn’t bother calling a final timeout because he didn’t have a play he wanted to call.
He didn’t need one.
Lamont Butler had already won the Aztecs one game this season on a buzzer-beater, no reason to think he couldn’t do it again. Even if the stakes were just a tad higher than clinching the Mountain West title.
After trailing for the final 27-plus minutes, Butler gave San Diego State the only lead that mattered, draining a pull-up jumper as time expired to stun Florida Atlantic 72-71 in the Final Four on Saturday night.
Devastated Florida Atlantic vows to make Final Four return
HOUSTON — It couldn’t have ended in more heartbreaking fashion, Florida Atlantic falling to San Diego State right at the buzzer Saturday night 72-71.
There’s no doubt that the team and fans will be left frustrated as the Owls held a 14-point lead with under 15 minutes left in the game, all to be shrunken as time went on.
The Aztecs completed the third-largest comeback in national semifinals history and fifth largest in a Final Four.
After San Diego State’s Lamont Butler scored at the buzzer, Owls head coach Dusty May sat with his hands on his knees for an extended period of time.