Everyone agrees that this MSU team has drastically changed and the partisan Detroit crowd could play a larger role than the fans did in December. Both teams have been tagged as teams of destiny: the Tar Heels for bringing back a group of players determined to win a national title and the Spartans for having a cohesive unit trying to cap a remarkable run in their own backyard.

Frontcourt: Just as soon as senior center Goran Suton’s (who didn’t play against the Tar Heels in December) remarkable hot streak came to a halt, junior forward Raymar Morgan got hot again with 18 points and nine rebounds against Connecticut, his best performance of the tournament. Freshman forward Draymond Green has come on incredibly strong for the Spartans in the last few weeks and is a player the Tar Heels barely saw in December. For the Spartans to outdo All-everything North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough (20.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game), all three will have to have a better-than-average game.

Advantage: North Carolina

Backcourt: For whatever reason, North Carolina guard Ty Lawson’s tremendous scoring ability seems to fly under the radar. His perseverance (playing through a toe injury) and leadership may be unmatched, but when you can orchestrate such a well-balanced attack and manage to put up 20 points, that’s impressive. Lawson has had eight or more assists in 13 games and scored in double digits in all but three of the games he suited up for. MSU has one stopper in senior guard Travis Walton, but if he takes Lawson, who will guard Wayne Ellington, another backcourt threat who averages nearly 16 points per game?

Advantage: North Carolina

Bench: Attention college basketball universe: Now introducing Korie Lucious. Such was the message the freshman guard delivered in the Connecticut national semifinal game, stunning most everyone watching with 11 points off the bench — almost eight points above his season average and only his third double-digit scoring output of the year. On any given night, Lucious, Green and sophomore guards Durrell Summers and Chris Allen can go for double digits. The Tar Heels have the most dangerous starting five in the country, but not the depth MSU boasts.

Advantage: MSU

Coaches: If there was any question about the caliber of coach Tom Izzo heading into the Final Four, those doubts were quickly put to bed. As if the Spartans taking the defending national champs Kansas out of its game and dismantling overall No. 1-seed Louisville wasn’t enough, the UConn game sealed the deal. Izzo is, without a doubt, a Hall of Fame coach who can send a team to battle against the best. Against Louisville and UConn, Izzo outcoached two fellow future Hall of Famers in Rick Pitino and Jim Calhoun. Roy Williams will find himself in that elite class as well. Although Izzo jokes that his coaching staff burned the tape of the December meeting against North Carolina, he will surely have numerous resources at his disposal. And it’s no secret that no one is better in two-day turnarounds than the Spartans’ leader.

Advantage: MSU

Intangibles: Sure, a majority of the tickets sold for the national semifinal game were done in advance before it was even known that MSU would be playing. But the crowd at Ford Field was much greener than everybody expected on Saturday night. The feeling in Detroit was as though there was only one game that mattered and that was the first one. It will be even more pro-MSU tonight, as dejected Villanova and UConn fans will be looking to get rid of their tickets. This is the final stop for a group of North Carolina seniors on a mission to finally bring home a title. On the
other sideline, the Spartans have already knocked off two No. 1 seeds and seem to relish the underdog role in the hometown of some of their key players.

Advantage: MSU

Prediction: North Carolina 86, MSU 79