The March Madness Follower Final 4: Breaking Down How The 2020 Final Four Could've Went

I recently put a slew of stories on my instagram (@tgojer) asking my followers their picks for a variety of sports events. The first of the poll results that will be featured is my followers' picks for the final 4, had it happened over the past month. I will personally predict who would win out of the follower selected Final 4 and then simulate the matchups on WhatIfSports.com. Then, I will detail my personal Final 4, how I see it ending, and then another simulation. 

It was incredibly close, but my followers selected a Final 4 of the Kansas Jayhawks, Dayton Flyers, Duke Blue Devils, and San Diego State Aztecs. Dayton, Duke, and SDSU were all tied in votes, so I decided to put SDSU as the "#4 seed" and play Kansas because they had a late surge to enter the top 4. 

How I would predict the Follower Final 4 to go: 

Kansas vs San Diego State

I like Kansas making it to the National Championship, but I think a scrappy San Diego State will push them to the brink. The X-Factor in Kansas' victory will be Udoka Azubuike, I mean no team in the country can fully contain him, let alone an undersized SDSU team that doesn't have an ideal big man to guard him. Malachi Flynn will put on a show and keep the Aztecs in it, but Devon Dotson will seal it in crunch time with some clutch jump shots. 77-72 Kansas

Dayton vs Duke

I had one of this past season's darlings fall in the previous game, but Dayton will prevail on this side. This prediction is largely based off of my gut feeling that Dayton will exceed what we thought was their peak ability. It's simple, Obi Toppin is nearly impossible to stop, and if Duke finds a way to cave in on Toppin, Dayton is a terrific 3-point shooting team and can make it rain from deep. I love Vernon Carey Jr.and Cassius Stanley, heck I really like this Duke team as a whole, but I do not believe they are a National Championship team and I see the road ending here for the Blue Devils. Toppin and co. explode in the second half and coast to a victory that'll put them in their second ever National Championship. 84-69 Dayton

Kansas vs Dayton

Here we have a David vs Goliath type matchup, a perennial powerhouse vs the unquestioned underdog. Two of the best players in the country, the aforementioned Udoka Azubuike and Obi Toppin, lead their squads to battle for CBB supremacy. Dayton fights to the very end, even forcing overtime, but the depth and experience of Kansas aid them in OT. Azubuike punctuates the championship with an emphatic dunk as the clock ticks to 0. 91-85 Kansas

Champions: Kansas Jayhawks

Final Four's Most Outstanding Player: Udoka Azubuike, Kansas

Simulation of the Follower Final 4:

Kansas vs San Diego State

Kansas' defense stifles SDSU and limits them to 64 points. Malachi Flynn leads the Aztecs with 18 points. Dotson and Azubuike both score over 20 (including a double-double for Udoka) en route to an easy victory for Kansas. 83-64 Kansas

Dayton vs Duke

Obi Toppin drops 21 and gets a combined 32 from Jalen Crutcher and Trey Landers, but Duke is able to get double figures out of 6 guys, including a double-double for Vernon Carey Jr. After being down 61-46 at half, Dayton gets back in the game due Tre Jones and Matthew Hurt fouling out early in the second half. It comes down to the wire, but Duke survives. 99-95 Duke

Kansas vs Duke

The two bluebloods bring the nation a true classic National Championship. The game kept going back and forth with Duke leading by 4 at half. The lead kept being traded, but Kansas was able to grab a 5 point lead inside a minute. Duke fails to convert near the 40 second mark, but is able to grab 3 straight offensive boards, leading to Cassius Stanley feeding Matthew Hurt and Hurt banging home a three. Duke fouls Tristan Eruna, a guy that is towards the bottom of Kansas' bench and Eruna makes only 1 of the 2 free throws with 11 seconds left. Matthew Hurt gets a clean look from 3 but it won't go! Vernon Carey gets the rebound and heaves up a 3, trying to send the title game to OT… but it falls short. Kansas is your 2019-20 National Champion. Devon Dotson led the scoring with 26 for the Jayhawks, while Udoka had another double-double. Vernon Carey led Duke in both scoring and rebounds, putting up 19 and 10. 83-80 Kansas

Champions: Kansas Jayhawks

Final Four's MOP: N/A

My Final 4:

March Madness is unpredictable, so I tried to make my picks less based on who are the four best teams and more on what teams can get really hot at the right time. With that being said, my Final 4 consists of the Kansas Jayhawks, Florida State Seminoles, Baylor Bears, and the Louisville Cardinals. Kansas is probably the favorite to win it all, Florida State had an incredible season that went too under the radar, Baylor boasts an elite defense, and Louisville has Jordan Nwora. Since no one has proof my picks are wrong, I am 100% right in my predictions.

Kansas vs Louisville

Louisville has Jordan Nwora, but Kansas has Devon Dotson and Udoka Azubuike. Louisville competes in the first half, but then gets run out of the arena in the second half. Devon doesn't miss and Udoka destroys the paint, leading the way for a big Jayhawk W. 88-72 Kansas

Florida State vs Baylor

This is a matchup of two incredibly deep teams that play good, hard defense. These teams are very similar and I don't necessarily have a key reason to pick one over the other, but I'll say Senior Trent Forrest, who feels like he's been in college forever, makes big plays down the stretch and sends FSU to the natty. 66-62 FSU

Kansas vs Florida State

Both of these teams are oozing with talent, but Kansas is considered to have more pure star  power. However and for whatever reason, I see backup guard Christian Braun leading scoring and being the cog in Kansas winning the National Championship. FSU fights, but KU keeps the lead as the clock expires. 76-69 Kansas

National Championships: Kansas

Final Four's MOP: Christian Braun, Kansas

Simulation of my Final 4:

Kansas vs Louisville

Nwora put up 17, but shot only 6-16 and didn't get much help outside of 11 from David Johnson. Udoka Azubuike had a monster performance, dropping 18 with 16 rebounds to go with it. Three other Jayhawks were in double figures. 78-62 Kansas

Florida State vs Baylor

The Bears and 'Noles were deadlocked at half-time, but Baylor would then take over in the second half. Davion Mitchell went off in the second half, scoring all 15 of his points after the first buzzer. Mitchell's offensive performance coupled with the Bears defense limiting FSU to only 26 second-half points led Baylor to a big win. 82-65 Baylor

Kansas vs Baylor

The all Big 12 National Championship would not disappoint. Kansas was ahead by 7 at half and kept that margin throughout most of the game. Every time Baylor hit a shot, Kansas responded. Down 10 at the 6 minute mark, Baylor went on a 11-0 stretch to take the lead. Down to end, both teams traded buckets back and forth. Knotted at 81, Freddie Gillespie sunk a long two inside 10 seconds to play. It seemed to be the dagger, but Demar Dotson's three point prayer would find the bottom of the net and likely sent the city of Lawrence into hysteria. 84-83 Kansas

In conclusion, my followers like Kansas, I like Kansas, and the computer likes Kansas. Because this is college basketball and all of my parts align with Kansas, Cal probably would've won the Pac-12 tournament and made a run for the title. In the end though, we'll never get clarity on how the 2020 March Madness would've unfolded. So Kansas fans, pop the champagne because your Jayhawks are the consensus National Champions according to "The Redshirt."

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! What do you think of my followers choices? What about my picks? The simulators choices? Who are your personal picks? Let me know in the comments down below!

Cover Photo Credit - The Athletic