College Basketball
WhatIfSports 2015 National Championship Prediction
College Basketball

WhatIfSports 2015 National Championship Prediction

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:24 p.m. ET

Wisconsin and Duke will square off for the right to cut down the nets in Indianapolis. If Wisconsin prevails, it will be the school's first national title since 1941. If Duke wins, Mike Krzyzewski will add a fifth banner to the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium, all since 1991.

We used our college basketball simulation engine to play Wisconsin vs. Duke 1,001 times. The computer favors the Blue Devils, with Coach K's squad winning 66 percent of simulations by an average score of 76-71. Check out the sample box score or simulate the matchup yourself:

2015 National Championship Prediction
Matchup Win % Avg. Score  
Wisconsin Badgers 34.0 71.2 Sample Boxscore
vs. Duke Blue Devils 66.0 75.7 Simulate Title Game

We selected a sample box score from our 1,001 simulations. In the sample game, Duke came out on top 72-70. The Blue Devils were led by Justise Winslow (15 points, seven rebounds, 6-for-8 shooting) and Quinn Cook (15 points, three assists). Jahlil Okafor was limited to 10 points and nine rebounds, but held Frank Kaminsky to an inefficient 3-for-10 performance. Kaminsky still managed 13 points and nine boards, but was 1-for-6 from behind the arc. Okafor also got the best of Kaminsky on the game's most critical play, rejecting Kaminsky's buzzer-beater that would have sent the game to OT.

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The Badgers received another great outing from Sam Dekker, as the forward tallied 21 points and seven rebounds.

For the game, Duke shot 53.1 percent from the field, including 8-for-18 from downtown. The team struggled at the charity stripe though, making just 12 of 19 attempts. Conversely, Wisconsin made the most of free throws, connecting on 16 of 20 tries, but shot just 39.7 percent from the field and 8-for-23 from three-point range.

In simulations that Duke wins
Team FGM FG% 3PM 3P% FTM FT%
Wisconsin 25.1 44.3 6.6 33.6 12.4 74.4
Duke 29.0 51.6 7.9 44.1 13.3 72.8

 

In simulations that Wisconsin wins
Team FGM FG% 3PM 3P% FTM FT%
Wisconsin 27.9 49.8 7.5 41.7 16.2 77.7
Duke 26.9 46.2 7.2 36.0 10.8 69.7

You can simulate the 2015 NCAA National Championship as many times as you want for FREE using our SimMatchup tool.

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