March Madness: Top takeaways from 2019 NCAA Tournament

By Brian Rauf | Apr 9, 2019

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: De'Andre Hunter #12 of the Virginia Cavaliers celebrates his three point basket basket late in the second half against the Texas Tech Red Raiders during the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – APRIL 08: Matt Mooney #13 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders is defended by Kyle Guy #5 of the Virginia Cavaliers in the first half during the 2019 NCAA men’s Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

1) Texas Tech and Virginia are here to stay

If you were unhappy that Texas Tech and Virginia were facing off in the national championship game because of the style and pace they play, 1) you’re crazy and 2) I have bad news for you.

Neither one of these teams is going away anytime soon.

Tony Bennett has built a sustainable winner at Virginia and knows how to recruit to his program. The Cavaliers have won the ACC regular-season title in four of the last six years, winning at least 30 games in each one of those seasons. Now that they have the validation of experiencing NCAA Tournament success, the momentum of this program should only pick up.

Chris Beard has only been at Texas Tech for three years, but he has taken them to the only two Elite Eight appearances in program history each of the last two years – including an appearance in the national championship game. He has also done it with two completely different groups of players, showing the Red Raiders should be able to maintain their place as one of the country’s best teams.

Will either of these teams win the championship next year? Probably not. But all signs point to them being contenders for the next decade.

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