Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Bracket Breakdown Special: Everything you need for the NCAA Tournament

Episode Date: March 18, 2024

Will UConn, Houston, Purdue and North Carolina hold true to their number one seed in the NCAA Tournament? Can Iowa State, Tennessee, Marquette or Arizona break into the Final Four? Cinderellas, upsets, betting favorites and those 5/12 matchups. Locked On College Basketball hosts, Andy Patton and Isaac Schade join Tenitra Batiste to help walk you through your bracket step by step to help you win your pool.   Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!ManscapedGet 20% Off and Free Shipping with the code LOCKEDON at Manscaped.com.Bettor TogetherDownload the Bettor Together DFS app now from the app store, and sign-up using promocode LOCKEDON for a chance to win your share of over $1,000 in cash prizes. Amazon Fire TVFire TV recently created Fire TV Channels to deliver a constant supply of the latest videos from your favorite sports brands, all for free. That includes all of us at Locked On and most of the big pro leagues and college conferences as well. To Learn More, visit www.amazon.com/LockedOnFireTVNissanOur friends at Nissan have a lineup of SUV’s with the capabilities to take your adventure to the next level. Take the Nissan Rogue, Nissan Pathfinder, or Nissan Armada and go find your next big adventure. Shop NissanUSA.com.LinkedInThese days every new potential hire can feel like a high stakes wager for your small business. That’s why LinkedIn Jobs helps find the right people for your team, faster and for free. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/lockedoncollege. Terms and conditions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelNew customers, join today and you’ll get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS if your first bet of FIVE DOLLARS or more wins. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started. eBay MotorsWith all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to turn your car into the MVP and bring home that win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Locked on Podcast Network presents the 2024 NCAA Bracket Breakdown. Presented by Nissan. Welcome into the 2024 Locked on Bracket Breakdown. I'm your host, Tanitra Batiste. Alongside me and our co-host of Locked On College Basketball, Andy Patton and Isaac Shade. We aren't here just to break down favorites and upsets, although there will be a lot of that.

We're also here to walk you step-by-step through filling out a winning bracket for your office or friend pool. We'll have local insight from across the field of 68, as well as gambling advice from our Locked On Vets insiders. So break out your pencils and paper brackets. It's time for some madness. The 2024 Locked On Bracket Breakdown is brought to you by Nissan.

Are you the kind of driver that likes to push things a little further? Ever wonder what adventure could be around the next corner? Take the Nissan Rogue, Nissan Pathfinder, or Nissan Armada and go find your next big adventure. Check them all out at nissanusa.com. Now let's get to it. Let's get to the brackets starting with the left side. Okay, guys, real talk. We've seen it twice and I sure ain't going to bet on it that we're going to see it again this year. But for kicks and giggles, Isaac, for kicks and giggles, Andy, we'll actually talk about it. The one seed is UConn over in the East bracket.

The 16th seed is Stetson. And let's go ahead and talk about that 8-9 seed as well. Florida Atlantic being in that 8 spot and 9 with Northwestern. I probably am going to get a thumbs up from both you, Andy, and you, Isaac, about that 1-16 and UConn moving on. But just to make sure, tell me your thoughts on the 1-16 as well as the 8-9. Let's put a number on it, Tanitra. One seeds are 150-2 all-time against 16. So, yeah, big thumbs up.

Yep, 100%. UConn's going to advance here. Shout out to Stetson for being in the big dance. It's been a long time since they're here, but, yeah, they're not going to get much of a chance here. Yeah, Andy, I got to agree with you guys on that as well. Andy, what about FAU? You see them advancing, or are you giving that nod to Northwestern? You know, I love Boo Booey at Northwestern.

Really talented guard. I like veteran guard play, but FAU's got a lot of it as well. John L. Davis, Elijah Martin, Dusty May, fantastic coach. To me, give me FAU. Sets up a nice matchup between two teams that were in the Final Four last year between UConn and FAU in that round of 32. Absolutely. Same for me, Tanitra. I love the experience of FAU. Elijah Martin, whom Andy mentioned, is one of my favorite athletes in the tournament. Is this Dusty May maze last ride in Boca Raton? We're going to find out,

but I love getting two of these final four teams from last year, squaring off in round two. All right. So if we're picking Florida Atlantic, Isaac to come out of that eight, nine game, and we obviously all agree it'll be Yukon coming out of that as well. But do we see an eight possibly upsetting a one?

We do see a possibility of it again, because FAU has that experience from last year because everyone came back. Dusty May did a great job keeping this team together. But to Nitra, UConn is the number one overall seed for a reason. These dudes are for real. Tristan Newton, Donovan Klingin, Alex Caraban, Cam Spencer, and on and on. UConn's moving on to the Sweet 16. And Andy, as much as we like the veteran presence that FAU has, like Isaac said, we can't take away the fact that UConn has by far been the most consistent team across college basketball this season.

They're too deep. They're too talented. I love FAU. I think they're going to put up a heck of a fight. But yeah, it's going to be the Huskies in this one. So, hey, I'm going to go ahead and do a cheat code and I'm going to go ahead and put my UConn in because you guys said so. And I'm going to put my FAU in because you guys said so. But then I'm also going to put my UConn in again, because guess what? You guys told me to do it. So I'm doing my bracket and I'm going to definitely come back and circle back. If they're busted, on you guys we'll take all that blame to Nietzsche bring it on bring it all right so let's

make a little jump down uh the bracket and we're going to talk about kind of that other that next space where it always gets tricky you're 512 and you're 4 and 13 so from 512 Andy we got San Diego State and then we've got UAB in that 12 spot. We also have Auburn in at number four over in that east bracket and Yale at 13. Where do you kind of see that playing out as far as the 5-12 and then as far as the 4-13? Tanitra, I typically have quite a few 12-5 upsets or 13-4 upsets, and I got a handful here in this bracket, but I don't have any here. I think San Diego State and Auburn are both going to advance. San Diego State only finished fifth in the Mountain West, which is a little surprising, especially since they earned far and away the best seed

in March Madness here, but UAB barely snuck into the tournament. No disrespect to them, but I just don't see them being able to hang with a team that went all the way to the Final Four last year, and Auburn, very deep team, very talented team. Jani Brome has been playing some just excellent basketball as of late. And while I think Yale is a quality team, they played some good teams in the non-conference, got some nice wins and managed to beat a Princeton team or get past a Princeton team in the Ivy League tournament. And I think they're a solid squad, but yeah, give me Auburn and San Diego State both advancing here. I think the only time in this bracket that I have both the four and the five advancing. Ah, interesting. How about you, Isaac? Interestingly, I am right in line with

Andy on this one. Props to UAB, as he said, for getting here and doing that, knocking off. South Florida doesn't win the AAC, so we have a bid thief situation there. But San Diego State, behind Jaden Lede, who was one of my favorite players in the entire nation, a big dude and absolute stud San Diego state, a third, a third final four competitor from last season, who was in the top half of this East bracket moves on where they will face the Auburn tigers. Bruce Pearl's team is rolling. They just won the sec tournament championship on Sunday, right? Leading just earlier on Sunday afternoon, leading up to the selection show. Great stuff there. Again,

great for Yale getting past Princeton and then beating Brown on a buzzer beater to win the Ivy league championship. So, you know, for all of these schools, it's just an honor to be here, but Auburn is going to take this one and play San Diego state in the second round. I like it. I like it. So it's Auburn and San Diego state in the second round for Isaac. You too, Andy. Yep. Yep. Me too, as well. And I think, uh, I think I'm going to take San Diego state to advance here. Uh, I think to me, it's going to be a Jani versus Jadon matchup, uh, Lede and Brougham and how that kind of shakes out in the front court for those two teams. Auburn, I think, has a lot of depth, but San Diego State has been here before.

A lot of guys back from the team that went all the way to the Final Four. Brian Dutcher is a phenomenal coach. I think the matchup between him and Bruce Pearl is going to be a fun chess match on the sidelines. But give me the Aztecs being able to advance here. Andy, this is where you're so stinking wrong. Auburn moving on past the Aztecs. They can't make it back to the final four this year. Auburn's rolling on.

You talked about how great Jani Broome's playing, and then you poo-pooed it with Jaden Lede. Nah, Jani Broome, Jalen Williams, the Tigers are rolling on where they will face UConn. I know we're not getting there yet, but man, what a fun matchup. That'll be definitely Auburn and not the Aztecs of San Diego State. Interesting. So we finally have some shots fired on our bracket breakdown.

I love it. I absolutely love it. So it's interesting because this is always kind of where things start to separate and where you kind of get those upsets, right? So speaking of that 5-12 upset, for advice on betting those 5-12 upsets, here is our Locked On Bets Insider. This is Lee Sterling with Paramount Sports, your Locked On Bets Insider. Everyone loves to watch and bet the number 5 and 12 seed games. Why? The number 12 seeds have gone 53 and 99, almost 35% since the field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985. My top two number 12 seeds to win

straight up this year, James Madison, Moneyline, plus 175 versus Wisconsin. I think Wisconsin's energy is going to be sapped up after playing Purdue and also Illinois in the last two games, four games straight here. The Dukes 31-3. They average almost 85 points per game. And Grand Canyon Moneyline also plus 175. Bryce Drew's team, third appearance here in 21 and 23. I expect them to perform better and get at least to the second or third round. They're a top 50 scoring defense and offense here. Take a money line. For more insight and game selections, make sure to follow me on social media at Paramount Sports and check out ParamountSports.com. So guys, let's go down the rest of this East bracket and let me see where you kind of land there as well. Another one that oftentimes is an upset special is the 6-11. You got BYU and Duquesne that are going to be duking it out, no pun intended. Andy, which one of those teams are going to come out of that matchup? And then of course, we got the fighting Illini, number three, Illinois at number 14 against number 14, Morehead State.

Who ends up moving on from that Duke out that matchup? I'm just I'm really shocked so far on this bracket. I got I got both BYU and Illinois advancing here. Duquesne kind of like UAB. They snuck into the tournament by winning by stealing a bid. I think they're a good team. They were one of the better teams in the A-10 at the early part of the season. They sort of struggled down the stretch.

Carried some momentum in here, but I think BYU is a bit under-seeded as a sixth seed. I think they're going to roll here. Illinois playing some really good basketball as of late. Really nice run through that Big Ten tournament. Morehead State I don't think is going to be able to hold much of a chance here against Illinois. And I got another chalk matchup here, three versus six in the second round. Yeah, Isaac, it was such a crazy weekend and such a crazy championship week that Illinois Wisconsin game was one of the few I actually got to watch. And I was pretty impressed by what

Illinois was able to do. Oh, that's right. Terrence Shannon Jr. scored a career high 40 points this weekend in one of the big 10 games. Great stuff. They're rolling. He, along with Marcus to mask is just such a dynamic one, two punch for the Illini. Yes, I have them over more head state as well. And then that first game BYU as well. Now, something to keep in mind with BYU, there is a lot of potential back and forth for them because they rely so heavily on the three point shot. When it's going down, it looks good for Mark Pope's team. When it's not, things can be a little bit different,

especially when they're not playing at that elevation like they do at Provo. But shouts to Duquesne. As Andy said, that A-10 was one of the wildest tournaments we had last week where all four of the top four seeds lost in the quarterfinal rounds. But a great run for Duquesne, but it ends here. And then we get BYU and Illinois in the second round.

Andy and I, once again, with the chalk, and we apologize. It's okay. It's fun. It's kind of fun when you guys disagree, but it's kind of cool when you guys agree too because it means that we're kind of locked up in what we see. But now here it comes, and whether or not you're going to agree once again, are we talking Illinois, BYU? Who moves on, which way are we going? I'm going with Illinois. I think

BYU is going to have a tough time defending up against Coleman Hawkins and against the guards, like Isaac mentioned, with Damask and Terrence Shannon Jr. And they're too reliant on three-point shot. I think Illinois has got enough length to be able to slow them down, make life a little bit difficult for the Cougars. I think they'll put up a good fight, but I think Illinois has been playing good basketball as of late, and that'll continue and push them into the Sweet 16. Yeah, I agree, Andy. I think that the Coleman Hawkins-Fusini-Traore matchup

should be a lot of fun inside there. But, man, it's just one of those things where if you're Mark Pope, you look at the scouting report and you're like, man, what if we schemed against Marcus Mask and just shut him down? Well, then here comes Shannon Jr. scoring about 87 points on you and vice versa. So just too much offensive firepower for Illinois. But be advised, folks, Illinois has a terrible defense.

They are 93rd at Ken Palm defensive efficiency. That offense, elite third, but that defense could be their undoing, but I don't think it will be yet. I've got them moving past the Cougars. Indeed. And let's look at the final two matchups in that East region, number seven, Washington State, number 10, Drake, and then number two, Iowa State, number 15, South Dakota State. Andy, you want to talk about some catching fire at the right time and getting hot at the right time. Definitely, we could say that about Iowa State, but first things first, Washington State versus Drake, who you got? Iowa

State versus South Dakota State, who you got? Look, I couldn't go fully chalk for the entire bracket or the entire region here. I like this Drake team a lot. Tucker DeVries is one of the best players in the country that hasn't gotten as much attention. He's sixth in the country in scoring, really talented power forward. His dad, Darian DeVries, is the head coach at Drake. This team took out Indiana State

in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. And Washington State's really good. Kyle Smith is a phenomenal coach, really good X's and O's, does a lot with maybe not as much resources. That's why he's been so successful at Wazoo. But I think it ends here. I think Drake as a 10-7 upset, those don't get as much attention because they're pretty close in the bracket. But I think Drake's going to advance here and get an opportunity to take on an Iowa State team that I fully expect

to advance over South Dakota State. Yep. Agreed, Andy. And the interesting thing here is that these games are in Omaha and Washington State's traveling all the way across the country where Drake's going to be pretty close there. And so in some ways it's one of those geographical bummers for the Cougars who had a shot for a while at either getting the final Pac-12 regular season championship, but just couldn't win enough games down the stretch. I'm right with you for everything you said about Drake. I love DeVries. He is a dynamic score. If you haven't seen him, you need to.

Here's the problem. When they face Iowa State in the second round, Iowa State, by the way, who's going to beat South Dakota State. I just saw this team in person this weekend at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. They are a dominant force on defense where they're the number one team in the nation defensively at Ken Palm. I cannot wait to see that matchup, Andy, of Iowa State's defense against Tucker DeVries.

It could be epic. What do you think? Yeah, I'm with you. I think Iowa State advances there. They're too good. They're too talented defensively, too long, too well coached with TJ Otzelberger. I think Drake's a good team

and I think they have a great chance of being in that round of 32, but I'd be pretty surprised if they find a way to pull off an upset and get into the Sweet 16. Yeah, and that's a great call about location, because when you think about UConn, it's like, yeah, he's going to travel down to Brooklyn, not a big deal. And that's one of the positives and one of the pluses of being that number one seed overall. You kind of put it in position to hopefully get you to the final four. So that'll make for interesting, even if FAU does get there. They're talking about traveling to Brooklyn. And then, of course, you've got the next round, as we called it here,

San Diego State and Auburn will be in Spokane. And then, of course, if it goes BYU or Illinois or however that one goes, we're looking at Omaha. So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see how those locales and those fan bases traveling for support how that could impact how those teams play as well so we'll definitely be taking a look there yeah it's interesting to nature that that whole bottom half of the east is all in Omaha both of those odds together was intriguing too yeah and so they would have already seen you know whoever comes out of those two games, uh,

we'll already know what they have as they head off to, to, um, Boston the next weekend for the East regional. So that's going to be really interesting. Something that we've neglected to mention here so far is that four of the six power conference tournament champions are all in this bracket. As we already talked about three of last year's final four teams are all in this bracket. So a lot of post-season experience going to be really interesting in this this bracket. As we already talked about, three of last year's final four teams are all in this bracket. So a lot of post-season experience going to be really interesting in this East bracket.

We'll see what it means for the reigning national champion, UConn Huskies. So let's go down to the West bracket. Of course, those teams are going to be playing in Charlotte, Spokane, Memphis, and Salt Lake City. And at the top is your one seed in North Carolina that's going to play either Howard or Wagner at the 16. And number eight, Mississippi State takes on number nine, Michigan State. So

Andy, North Carolina has been interesting. So I'm just going to fall back as a North Carolina fan, Isaac, I'm just going to fall back as a North Carolina fan, because sometimes they really traumatize me. And I'm going to let you guys at least make me happy and say they're going to get out of that first matchup against the 16. Yeah, no concern about them not advancing past that first round game. Yeah, I think we're feeling pretty confident about that. In that second game, you got Mississippi State, Michigan State, and it's hard to bet against Tom Izzo in March. This team has been a colossal disappointment. They started the season as the fourth ranked team in the country. They're getting a nine seed. And some people thought that was even more generous than maybe they should have gotten. But that team's

got a lot of depth, a lot of talent. I think they're going to advance past Mississippi State and coach Chris Janz's team, but setting up a North Carolina, Michigan State one nine matchup, kind of interesting to see those seed lines next to those two teams as two of the biggest powerhouses in college basketball. Yeah. Howard and Wagner are the two lowest rated teams in this entire field of 68. Whoever wins, congrats to them. They get some money for their conference, but North Carolina is running over either of them. I've actually gotten Mississippi State moving on past Michigan State. I love Chris Jan's defense. This team, they've got Tolu Smith, who wasn't able to play the beginning of the season with an injury Chris Janz's defense. This team, they've got Tolu Smith,

who wasn't able to play the beginning of the season with an injury. Now he's back. And boy, if that's able to happen, what an interior matchup we would have with he and Armando Baycott in round two. I cannot wait to see the big boys go at it. Interesting, interesting. So out of that, North Carolina, are we talking Andy? North Carolina taking on Mississippi State? And who moves on? Are we that North Carolina, are we talking Andy, North Carolina taking on Mississippi state and who moves on? Are we talking North Carolina, Michigan state who moves on ultimately who comes

out of that matchup? Yeah, it's still Carolina for me over Michigan state. I think Michigan state, if they do advance, I will give North Carolina some trouble just because Tom is, is a fantastic coach and he'll find some, some advantages to mismatches and whatnot, but the targets are just too good, and I think they're going to advance, and they're going to be in the Sweet 16.

Yep. Andy and I chose different teams to come out of that 8-9 game, but the result of the second round is the same. Tar Heels are moving on. They got humbled a little bit in the ACC tournament on Saturday night against NC State. Tanitra's wearing her red glasses to prove it, but North Carolina's going to be locked and loaded. They're moving on to the Sweet 16.

Indeed, indeed. So let's talk about one of the fun ones. At least it's been fun for me. It seems like every time I tune in to watch that now five-seed St. Mary's, they're winning a game. So they've been fun to watch the entire season. And then they'll take on the 12-seed Grand Canyon. Alabama's in that fourth spot and charleston

is the number 13 seed where do we see those two matchups landing isaac well uh you know i went back to the chalk and it's so funny even though we have all these 512s we know we're supposed to pick saint mary's who had a difficult troubling start to the season. Has really figured it out. Ended up winning the West Coast Conference regular and conference tournament championships. And so I know Grand Canyon is a great team with Bryce Drew as the head coach. A man who has one of the single greatest shots in NCAA tournament buzzer beating history. But St. Mary's for me is moving on in this one. Where they will play? The Alabama Crimson Tide. Nate Oates and his team. beating history but St. Mary's for me is moving on in this one where they will play the Alabama

Crimson Tide Nate Oates and his team I love what Charleston brings to the table but but Alabama just too much and so we're going to get St. Mary's and Bama in the second round Isaac it is my turn to chastise you for your picks here I not only didn't go chalk for one of these I didn't go chalk for either of these I got a 12-13 matchup in the second round here. Give me Grand Canyon over St. Mary's. The Gales lost Joshua Jefferson, their starting power forward, about two weeks ago. They did manage to beat Gonzaga once without him,

but they lost badly the other time these two teams played. Mason Forbes has stepped into the starting lineup. He is offensively pretty anemic. Great defender, great rebounder. Doesn't do much offensively. Feels like they're playing four on five. I think Grand Canyon and Bryce Drew can exploit that. Tyon Grant Foster is one of the best mid-major players in the entire country. I think St. Mary's going to have trouble with him. And on the other side here, Alabama just doesn't defend anybody. One of the worst defensive teams at that power six level that we've seen all

year long. Charleston is an incredibly well-coached team. They're a disciplined team. They're a 30-win team last year. I picked Charleston to be a 12-5 upset last year. The team that they played last year was San Diego State, who went to the Final Four. So if I jinxed it and I'm sending Alabama to the Final Four, I apologize, especially to our leader, Zach Blackerby, the host of Locked on Auburn. But we will see if that happens.

But I think we could be seeing a fun mid-major matchup between Grand Canyon and Charleston in the second round there. Andy, how wild would that be if Alabama did that a year after they were the number one overall team and fell off? So that would be pretty crazy. Tanitra, just moving on, I'm actually going to stick with St. Mary's to beat Alabama in this game. I know, as Andy said, they're down a little bit, but it's for me, a rally, the troops circle, the wagons moment. And you talked about Alabama's defense. I mentioned earlier how woeful Illinois is defensively. Alabama is even worse. They can bomb away from three, just like BYU. We talked about earlier, but the defense does not back it

up. St. Mary's going to the sweet 16. Mine would be Grand Canyon. I'm taking Grand Canyon there, a 12 seed over a 13 seed. We've seen that before. Not very often, but it has happened. But I think the Lopes are just again, tie on Grant Foster. I mentioned him already really talented young man. I think Bryce Drew has done a really good job with this program. And I think Drew and Pat Kelsey are two coaches who might end up being at both at different schools next year, especially if this ends up being the matchup. But yeah, give me, give me Grand Canyon advancing the sweet 16. Interesting. Interesting. Interesting.

Now, as far as who could bust up the brackets, like these guys have already started kind of busted up the brackets, but as far as who else could bust up the brackets this year, here's our locked on college basketball and NBA big board contributor. Leaf Tulene of locked on NBA big board and college basketball here and here is the Cinderella candidate I think will fit the slipper and make a run in the big dance coming from the left side of your bracket from the west region. It is the New Mexico Lobos who are among the five bid thieves to get into the tournament. The Lobos are actually

favored by two and a half points in their opener against Clemson who is the sixth seed. That is very rare and indicates value there right off the bat. Secondly, New Mexico is red hot, beating three good Mountain West teams consecutively in a league that got six bids. What is prioritized in March? That's experience and guard play. The Lobos have those in spades, as they are led by a terrific trio of Jalen House, the son of Eddie House, Jamal Mashburn Jr., the son of Jamal Mashburn, and Donovan Dent, all three of whom score 15 points or more per game, and they are joined by a blossoming NBA draft prospect in JT Toppin, who has 13 points per game and nine boards.

The Lobos are favored against Clemson and then would face a susceptible to potent offenses three seed in Baylor, who ranks poorly in the defensive metrics. Ride with the Lobos howling beyond midnight. Enjoy the madness. Ride with the Lobos howling beyond midnight. Enjoy the madness. Ride with the Lobos. I absolutely love that. I absolutely love it. But I got to ask you guys.

So let's talk about where that bracket is. Six seed Clemson, 11 seed New Mexico. The third Baylor, three seed Baylor, 14 is Colgate. Where do you guys see that Clemson-New Mexico matchup, that Baylor-Colgate matchup? Yeah, I'm with Leaf. I'm in lockstep here with Leaf. I got New Mexico advancing here. Clemson had a really strong start to the season, great non-conference, struggled a bit more as they got into conference play. We've seen that from this team in years past. Meanwhile, New Mexico seems to be peaking at the right time. Richard Pitino's group,

as Leaf said, got some really fantastic, talented players in House and Mashburn and Toppin. And I think they got an opportunity. I think this, first of all, I think as a 6-11, I think these two teams are very evenly matched. So if New Mexico does win, I don't consider that like a massive upset necessarily. I think they're two really good teams. And I do think Baylor advances past Colgate. And I think a Baylor-New Mexico matchup could be really intriguing. And I wouldn't be shocked if New Mexico gives

them everything that they got, but I do think that's what we're going to see in the round of 32. How about you? Well, here's the thing. I love leaf and I love my man, Andy, but they're wrong here because the Clemson tigers are going to do work. They've got P.J. Hall, a first-team All-American, the most improved player in the ACC conference, and Ian Shufflin, not to mention Joe Girard, transferring in from Syracuse, wearing a different color of orange now, the best free-throw shooter in the ACC,

and a whole host, Chase Hunter running the show. I know that New Mexico is hot right now, but Clemson, who's Clemson a little bit this year, is going to figure it out right here and bring it home. And they'll be playing Baylor. Now, look, Colgate has been dominant again this season, won their regular season by like six games to nature. Ridiculous stuff.

But Baylor is going to win that basketball game. All right, guys. Well, Cam Stewart with Lockdown Baylor has more on the Bears seeding. The Baylor Bears might have the most uncertain team on the one seed line within their region, but it also might be the toughest region for a three seed to even get to the sweet 16. I'm Cam Stewart from Locked On Baylor. The Bears are the three seed in the West region. They are headed to play the Colgate Raiders in Memphis in the first round. That is Friday that they will be taking on Colgate.

The number one seed is North Carolina, the number two seed Arizona. So those are the two to look out for and nothing to sneeze at Alabama on that four line right behind them. But the Bears got to get past the second round first in order to face one of those two teams. Also in the region, Bryce Drew's Grand Canyon Antelopes as the 12 seed going into this tournament. So potentially a huge storyline there.

So for all the news to keep up with the Bears throughout the NCAA tournament, go ahead and follow Locked on Baylor, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. So that was kind of a positive spin at the end for more coverage on Baylor throughout the tournament. So we're going to go in that. But are we going in that direction as well? I know you guys are kind of on different sides of the fence, whether it's Clemson or it's

New Mexico State. But either one of them, Isaac, does either one of them beat Baylor to move on? I do have Clemson winning this basketball game over Baylor. I enjoy Baylor. I like their team. Jacoby Walters, one of the best freshmen in the entire country, but Clemson just too much, too physical for them. And look, while we've got two Drews in this region, there's only one Patino in the entire NCAA tournament. It is Richard, the son of Rick Patino. St. John's didn't make it. Andy, I don't know.

Is New Mexico going to get on past Baylor here? I don't have New Mexico advancing here. I think Baylor's too good offensively. They have too many different ways to beat you. With Walter, with Ray J. Dennis, Eves Missy has played just incredible basketball for this team, a freshman who's really emerged. And while I like JT Toppin, and I think the Toppin-Missy matchup would be extremely fun if these two teams were to square

off, Baylor's got too many athletes that are extremely well coached with Scott Drew, and I think that they'd be advancing here. Yeah. And then we look to our seven and 10 seeds where you start to see kind of the tightening up, for lack of a better better term of the competition. And then you've got the two 15. Now the seven 10, of course you've got Dayton, that seven seed Nevada, that 10 seed Arizona as your two seed and a long beach state team that still has a coach.

Technically the Monday they cut out, they wouldn't have as a coach number 15, long beach state. All right, guys, Isaac, who comes out of that seven 10 matchup? Who comes out of that two 15 showdownup? Who comes out of that 2-15 showdown?

I actually have Nevada winning this one. Dayton has been a little up and down, weird, topsy-turvy for me. Like as highly rated as they've been in the computer polls, just didn't do enough actually winning basketball games. Dayron Holmes, though, one of the best big men in the entire country, is a lot of fun to watch. But I've got Nevada winning that game. And then Tommy Lloyd's team, yes, Long Beach State,

what a hilarious story with Don Monson getting fired on Monday and winning the conference tournament over the weekend. But Tommy Lloyd's Wildcats, led by Pac-12 Player of the Year Caleb Love, going to get the win there. I am also going with Nevada, which means I realized in this region, I have the 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 seed all advancing. Definitely not chalk in the West region. Nevada's played some great basketball as of late.

I think the Mountain West is a superior conference to the A-10 this year. I think they face better competition. Deron Holmes is fantastic. Nevada's got some really good players as well, And I think they got a chance to pull off the upset here. And I do believe they'll face Arizona. I want to shout out the Gonzaga connection between this Arizona and Long Beach State matchup. Dan Monson was the head coach of the Gonzaga team that went to the Elite Eight in 1999 before Mark Few took over. Tommy Lloyd was an assistant coach shortly after that for 20 years at Gonzaga

before taking that job at Arizona. These two guys have known each other for decades. I think that makes this a very fun, a little bit bittersweet matchup for Dan Munson because a pretty realistic chance this is the last game he coaches as a head coach in college basketball. Yeah, yeah. And it's going to be interesting because, yeah, 18 seasons and who could have kind of saw it ending in this way for him. But like you all said, we look to Arizona to move on and we look to Nevada to move on. When we see that matchup, kind of how do we see that playing out? Well, you know, in that game, I got to go with Arizona. The firepower is just too much.

I know they've lost a couple of times down the stretch here in the Pac-12 semifinals and in the Pac-12 regular season finale at USC, but just too much Arizona, too much firepower. We named Caleb Love, but Umar Balo in the post, Kylan Boswell, Kashad Johnson, who transferred from San Diego State, just a lot there. I disagree. I'm going with Nevada. And Arizona, Tommy Lloyd, certainly they really want to get this monkey off their back of losing early in the NCAA tournament. But I don't think it's going to happen there. I disagree. I'm going with Nevada. And Arizona and Tommy Lloyd, certainly they really want to get this monkey off their back of losing early in the NCAA tournament. But I don't think

it's going to happen there. I think we've seen this team, they lose to Oregon State in the regular season. They give up 100 points to Stanford in the regular season. I think teams have started to figure out how to beat this Arizona team. They have a tremendous amount of talent. They live and die a lot by Caleb Love. And that experiment has not always gone well, even though he has had a phenomenal season away from Chapel Hill. I think Nevada, their top 40 defense, top 40 offense, they slow the pace down. I think if they can dictate pace, force Tommy Lloyd's team to play a little bit outside of their comfort zone as a team that likes to run and gun, I wouldn't be surprised if Nevada, especially if they shoot it well, pulls off a pretty big stunner here and advances to the Sweet 16.

It's going to be interesting to see how this thing goes down. Listen, we are just getting started. The right side of the bracket poses interesting first-round matchups, including Gonzaga getting the dreaded 5-12 matchup. Will they survive and advance? We're going to find out, but first... This week's March Madness bracket highlight is brought to you by our friends at Nissan. Each week, we're picking one team that stands out.

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brought to you by amazon fire tv which is your destination for sports from live games to highlights to in-depth analysis fire tv offers amazing viewing experiences with smart tvs as well as the fire tv stick that you can plug into your existing TV to provide access to millions of movies and TV episodes. I and my house literally have an Amazon fire TV stick on every TV in my house. I love the layout. I love the user experience. I love the little remote that's got buttons for me to go straight to Hulu or Disney plus or Netflix or whatever fire TV recently created Fire TV channels to deliver a constant supply of the latest videos from your favorite sports brands all for free. That includes all of us here at the Locked On Network.

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Time to take it to the South, the Dallas bracket that's ultimately going to land in Dallas, but of course we know first starts in Memphis, Brooklyn, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, which is not really south. But anywho, number one seed there in that bracket is Houston, and they'll be taking on the number 16 seed in Longwood, and then your number eight, Nebraska, against number nine, Texas A&M. Guys, who comes out of those matchups? Isaac, we'll start with you.

Look, Houston, we know what won in 16, so we just thumbs up that and keep moving. Nebraska has been a fun story this year coming out of the Big Ten. But Texas A&M, who just knocked off Kentucky in the SEC tournament, has so much firepower in the backcourt, led by Wade Taylor IV. I got the Aggies. Gig them Take that onto the second round. No, I'm not with you on that one. A&M is far, far too inconsistent. I think they're like a bottom three, bottom 10 team in the country in three point percentage. Look, Wade Taylor is phenomenal. Radford is phenomenal when they're on, but those guys are not on too often for me.

I think Nebraska is a more consistent team. I think they're going to be the team that advances here. Obviously no argument with Houston. And I think, I don't want to speak for Isaac here, but I got Houston. Oh, you can. I got Houston all in this week 16 advancing past either Nebraska or A&M. Give me all that Jamal should, man. Yeah, he's a bad, bad man. So let's just go to our 5-12 and see if we've got any upset specials there. We've got Wisconsin as the number five seed, and we've got James Madison as the number 12. And then we've got the Dukies at number four and number 13, Vermont. Where are we going, Isaac? It's weird.

I keep picking all the chalk in these 5-elves and four thirteens and I'm doing it again. I know how boring of me, but look, Wisconsin who had closed the regular season, losing eight of their final 11 games somewhere finds what they had done prior to the beginning of February and turns it back around in the big 10 tournament, knocking off Purdue as part of it. I've got them upset and upsetting James Madison, even though Big Ten tournament, knocking off Purdue as part of it. I've got them upsetting James Madison, even though James, not upsetting, good grief, beating James Madison. Boy, that would be funny if James Madison was favored.

Beating James Madison, despite the fact that James Madison has had success against the Big Ten, started off the season beating Michigan State, but I got Wisconsin here. And then Duke, while they have had some troubles, just too much for the Vermont team. Yeah, I'm going James Madison. Lee Sterling said that he's got James Madison and Grand Canyon as the two 12 seats to watch. I'm 100% lockstep there as well.

I got the Dukes here moving on. Mark Bionton, a phenomenal coach. I think he's probably coaching his last couple of games at James Madison. I know West Virginia, among other schools, are really eyeballing him as a potential replacement. But I think having said that, this is going to be the trendy, I guarantee you, this is going to be the trendiest 12-5 upset. 100%. Because Wisconsin has struggled. It is very well known that they have struggled. James Madison was immediately in the headlines three days into the college basketball season because they beat Michigan State, because they beat Kent State. So for more casual fans who have kind of just been in and out, they know James Madison has some big upsets. They know Wisconsin struggled. They know 12-5

upsets are the pick. They're going to pick it. I'm going to pick it. But we have seen a lot of years where the most popular trendy 12-5 upset pick is not necessarily the one to go with. Hedging my bet a tiny bit there, but I am going to stick with James Madison and I have them playing. It's going to be the Dukes versus Duke. I want to ask you, how big a factor was that in this upset decision? Dukes versus Duke is definitely a fun storyline that we could roll with there, but no, the Catamounts are a good squad. I think they've won eight straight conference regular season titles.

But Duke's just too good. They're struggling a little bit. I'm not sure they're going to be as dominant of a program in this tournament. But I think they're going to advance here past Vermont. But does it matter, Isaac? Because at the end of the day, are we not still ultimately saying, hey, whichever one of you guys run up on U of H it's going to be a done deal um yeah I mean ultimately I you know I will eventually have Houston moving all the way through we'll talk about that later but I do have Wisconsin beating

Duke here Duke is this more supremely talented team clearly but they have shown youth and inconsistency this year. Wisconsin is a veteran team. They're methodical. They're offense. You know, typically when we think Wisconsin, what do we think? Bo Ryan defense, let's grind to a halt. This Wisconsin team is a good offensive unit. I think they can knock off the blue devils and I have them doing so. You can pat yourself on the back for your bold five seat over a four seat.seat. I'm taking my 12-seat over a four-seat here. No, no, no. Five over four is awesome. Give me James Madison, sweet 16. Give me the Dukes here. I think they can take him. Kyle Filipowski obviously is a huge storyline for Duke if he's playing well, if he's

doing what he's able to do. I think James Madison's going to have a hard time, but they got two really talented, really veteran players. I already mentioned Byington, a phenomenal coach. We saw this team knock off a really good Michigan State team. We've seen them do it time and time again. I think this is an opportunity for another 12 seed to be in the Sweet 16 and setting up a nice matchup between Houston and James Madison. Andy, where do we see it going when we start to look a little bit further down the bracket? You've got Texas Tech as a six seed, NC State as the 11 seed, Kentucky in that three spot, and Oakland at 14. Where do we see those two matchups playing out?

Back to go in chalk here. I got Texas Tech advancing past NC State. Look, what an incredible run from the Wolfpack. They deserve all the golf claps in the world for winning five straight games. They beat five teams who had all won a national championship in the 2000pack. They deserve all the golf claps in the world for winning five straight games. They beat five teams who had all won a national championship in the 2000s. That's an incredible accomplishment, even if Louisville and Syracuse are not exactly at the level they've been in the past, but still a huge run for them. But I think it runs out here. Texas Tech, really well-coached team. Grant McCaslin does an awesome job with that group. I think they advance. I think Kentucky

advances past Oakland here as well. Just too much firepower, too much pure talent on that Wildcats team to not, to suffer a loss here. So I think we look at a 3-6 matchup between the Red Raiders and the Wildcats of Kentucky. Completely agree on the Kentucky side of things, but I have NC State keeping it on. Their ACC team advancing from either. Yeah, you know what, I didn't even really realize that, but here we are. But let me say this, NC State is just the second ever team to win five games in five days to win their conference tournament championship. The other, the Kemba Walker-Yukon Huskies team that went on to also win the NCAA tournament. Now I don't think NC State's about to do that, but I do have them getting past Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are a little bit banged up here. As Andy said, Coach McCaslin has done a great job in his first year in Lubbock, but NC State and their big man inside, DJ Burns,

is a force to be reckoned with. He had seven assists in that ACC championship game. Watch what happens as he is inside with guys like DJ Horn. It's the DJ DJ show for NC State. Give me the Wolfpack moving on to the second round. Gotcha. So if we then look and we're going to stop for a second and kind of hear a little bit more about this, but there are some intriguing matchups to figure out whether or not who those teams are going to meet as well. And that's with our number seven seed in Florida.

And then our number 10 seed in florida and then our number 10 seed there with colorado or boise state number two marquette and number 15 western kentucky but let's hear from our guy brandon olsen with locked on gators he'll have more for us on florida's position in the tournament it turns out going three and one and quad one this weekend and being the sec runner-up means nothing to the NCAA tournament. I'm Brandon Olson with Locked On Gators. The Florida Gators are the seventh seed in the South bracket and will face either the winner of Boise State or Colorado. And then if they win, they will face off with likely Marquette, Kentucky's in the bracket, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Texas A&M, Duke, and Houston.

And the Florida Gators, it's an interesting situation to play the winner of a play-in game on Friday because you don't have all this time to prep. You are coming off a huge injury with Micah Handlockton, who will miss the entire tournament. But the Florida Gators will persevere and show up. And I still don't understand how everybody thought that they'd be a five or six seed going into the SEC tournament. Then they went three and one in quad one games, including a loss to Auburn. And somehow the Florida Gators are a seven seed. For more coverage of the Florida Gators during this entire tournament, check out Locked on Gators, your team, every day.

So Brandon has made his case for his Florida Gators. Like we said, the No. 7 seed versus either Colorado or Boise State at No. 10. Isaac, who do you think is coming out of that matchup? And then, of course, we've got Marquette versus Western Kentucky, the 2-15 seed. Well, Brandon's right. What happens in the SEC tournament often doesn't show much to the selection committee. It seems year after year, I've got the slash, the slash winning this basketball game, whether it's Boise state or Colorado, I think either of them will knock

off the Gators. I hate the loss for Micah hand Logton in the sec championship game. Boise state is underseated. They should have been ranked more highly, as we've said about a couple Mountain West teams. Colorado has so much talent. KJ Simpson, Cody Williams, another one of the best freshmen in America. Tristan Da Silva. This threesome can really put it together. They've struggled with some consistency this year, but I honestly, truly like either of these teams to beat Florida. And then Marquette, Tyler Kolek is ready to go. According to Shaka Smart, we'll see what happens this week, but they're going to beat Western Kentucky. Yeah. I hate what I hate the hand locked in injury for Florida. I I'm curious if that made an impact on them getting seated at

a seven when, yeah, I can totally understand BO's argument for them being a six, maybe even a five seed, but Todd Golden phenomenal coach for the Gators. He's a very analytical mind. I think takes a lot of research. I think the fact that he won't get as much time to prep for his opponent is something that could impact the Gators. I'm with Isaac 100 percent. Boise State or Colorado, whoever wins that game, which is going to be a really fun game,

by the way, that team, I think, advances past Florida. They end up playing Marquette, who even if Kolekk's not at 100%, they're going to advance past Western Kentucky. We'll see if that impacts them a little bit further down the line in this tournament, but I think you're going to see Marquette playing either Boise State or Colorado in that second round. Okay, and when we go to that second round, where do we go from there? Because we're still looking to see who's going to meet the bond at U of H, but where are we going in that second round? Who moves on from there, Andy? I got Marquette moving on. I got Marquette and Kentucky playing each other. Fairly chalk right there, but I think for starters, if that ends up being a matchup, wow,

that's going to be an incredibly fun basketball game. Two high-level offenses, two extremely talented guard rooms. That's a really fun matchup, and I think that's what we're going to end up seeing coming out in the Sweet 16 there. I got the exact same, nothing more to say about it. Love it. Love it. Love it. We are going to keep trucking along. We're headed to the Midwest round one. And of course, Midwest will be in Detroit, but they're going to start off in Indianapolis, Salt Lake city, Pittsburgh, and Charlotte. So let's go up to the top seed in this particular region. We're talking Purdue here. And of course, number 16 will be Grambling or Montana State. And then we look at number eight, Utah State against number nine, TCU. Let's take those matchups first. And guys, let me know where you're

landing. Isaac. I got Purdue. It ain't going to be last year, baby. They're moving on. No sweat, no worries at all. And then Utah State Aggies, man, what a story they have been this year. Great stuff. The eight seed Utah State Aggies moving on to face Purdue. It's not going to be the same story for Purdue. I'm with you. I would love it if Montana State and Utah State advanced because Montana State's coach, Danny Sprinkle, took the job at Utah State last year. That'd be kind of a fun storyline, but it's not going to happen. Purdue is advancing. I do also have Utah State, the Aggies.

I think they were underseeded, like we've talked about, with a handful of Mountain West schools. It's a team that was in first place in the Mountain West for the vast majority of the season. Eight seed felt a little bit disrespectful in my mind. A really talented program there, and I think they advanced past TCU. And do we see Purdue or Utah State coming out of that matchup? Oh, it's going to be Purdue. I love Utah State. I'm excited about the matchup

inside between one of the best names in college basketball, great Asabor, against Purdue's National Player of the Year, presumptive dude, Zach Eadie. But those sophomore guards have grown up. Purdue moves on to the Sweet 16. No, I'm picking a stunner here. I think Utah State would need a great performance from Asabor, but I think they could get it. I think Purdue, I know they're kind of the team that you can dunk on a little bit because of the loss of the 16C last year, but we've seen Purdue be susceptible to some teams that can play the style that Utah State can play. They're a really well-coached team. They can pack it in, force Zachy to get rid of the basketball, force those guards to beat him. I do agree with Isaac. Those guards are vastly improved from where they were last year,

Braden Smith and Fletcher Lawyer. Apologies to the lawyer family. That's right. Yeah. Big apologies this time. I think Utah State is going to send a message that the Mountain West deserves to be a little bit better seated. And I think they're going to advance here and shock the world. And you can't pick all the one seats to be a little bit better seeded. And I think they're going to advance here and shock the world. And you can't pick all the one seeds to be in the Sweet 16 every year. That's no fun. So I think this is the opportunity where Purdue could fall a little early. And certainly that would continue the reputation that Matt Painter has

unfortunately already gained for not being able to win in March. Yeah, and if this is the year where you don't see all the ones get to the Sweet 16, I mean, nobody would be shocked. It's been cray-cray before we even got to March Madness officially, officially. Let's go down to Salt Lake City with the 5-12 matchup between Gonzaga and McNeese and the 4-12 matchup between N13 Kansas and Samford. Andy, where are we going? Yeah, I'm staying chalk here.

Gonzaga versus Kansas in the second round here. McNeese, great story. Will Wade is a phenomenal coach, takes this job over after everything that went down at LSU. Team went on a 10-game winning streak even before he got back from his suspension. But here's the deal. McNeese played one team that made the NCAA tournament, and it was UAB, who only made the tournament on the legitimate last day because they pulled a surprising run in the AAC. This is just not a team that has played enough talented, experienced teams to be able to be as prepared for this game as they need to be. While I like Will Wade as a coach, give me the Zags that outside of that loss to St. Mary's in the WCC Championship, they were red hot for the last six weeks of the season playing some phenomenal basketball. They have enough size, enough experience, guard play with what wayyan nimbart been playing lately i think in zaga advances and

look kansas is susceptible they're susceptible right now if hunter dickinson and and uh if hunter dickinson and kevin mccullar i kept trying to say kj adams if if those two guys are not at 100 even if they play if they're not at 100 there's just no no depth for this Jayhawks team outside of the four key starters, Adams, Dickinson, McCullough, and Juan Harris. They just haven't gotten a lot of other performances. If those two guys are banged up at all, Samford, they play a unique style of basketball. I think there's a chance here. Having said that, I am picking Kansas to advance. I just think that's a game to keep an eye on.

Fair enough. Oh, give me Gonzaga. I thought about some McNeese and Will Wade, but Gonzaga too much been playing so much better lately. And while I've been going a lot of chalk in this bracket, I will not be going with the rock chalk because the Jayhawks are going to lose to Samford Bucky ball, their pressure style. It's going to get to a short-handed potentially but definitely

no depth Kansas team what do you do against pressure which Samford brings literally every possession you need depth Kansas doesn't have it will Hunter Dickinson be full go will Kevin McCuller be full go we don't know but even still the season-long thing has been Kansas struggles at the shooting guard position. Andy and I have talked about that ad infinitum. This is where it comes back to bite them. Bucky Ball's moving on to the second round. Wow.

Well, for more on who could bust up more of the brackets this year, and listen, you guys just heard our guys bust up brackets, but here's Locked on College college basketball and NBA big board contributor. Talk about some bracket busting. Leaf Tulina of locked on NBA big board and locked on college basketball here. And here's the Cinderella candidate. I think we'll fit the slipper and make a run in the big dance coming from the right-hand side of your bracket. This team sports a 30 and three record and have a coach with experience

winning games in the big Dance and Will Wade. They are the McNeese Cowboys. McNeese is led by a former Big 12 transfer and guard, Shahada Wells, who scores 18 points per game, adding 5 assists per game. McNeese shoots a lot of threes, hitting 39% of them, which is good for 7th nationally. And then McNeese also forces a lot of turnovers at a high rate, sporting a steal percentage of 14%, good for sixth nationally. Additionally, this team has wins over the American Conference champion UAB, who has another 12 seed by 21 points, beat Michigan by double digits, along with VCU, who is in the championship game for the A10 by double digits. by double digits they are also well ranked in ken palm and adjusted efficiency on offense and defense ranking ahead of other teams that made the tournament from high majors that's really hard to be and they've done it well mcneese plays a team in gonzaga that was supposedly going to be a six

seed that is a five because byu does not play on sundays so perhaps less warranting the seed line they possess gonzaga is a team that is heavily relying on bigs to score, and McNeese has the ability to disrupt and take the ball away from guards and disrupt the ability to get the ball into the post, which is where Gonzaga makes their hay. And that makes this a very interesting game. The winner then would face either a dilapidated Kansas side that has struggled and could be without their best player in Kevin McCuller should they top the SoCon champs, Samford.

Samford also presses a lot and could beat Kansas, so you could see double upset madness come from this side. Let's see if McNeese can cause chaos and mayhem in Salt Lake City. I'll be at the games expecting to see it. So Leif is thinking he's giving McNeese maybe a little bit more credit than we did, but ultimately speaking, I want to hear what you guys think about who's coming out of that space to ultimately meet Purdue. I know that you guys are a little bit split there, but tell me from where we were before Leaf started to where we're going to be, who's going to meet Purdue? Well, Andy. uh andy samford samford wins this basketball game and why do i have to do this because one of my bold

predictions preseason was that gonzaga's sweet 16 streak would end this year and it happens at the hand of the samford bulldogs i gotta keep my my my bold prediction, and this is how it's going to happen. That's why you have Creighton in the final four, right? Oh, no. We'll get there later. I got Gonzaga advancing here past Kansas in this situation. Again, Kansas is pretty banged up. We'll see how healthy they are. Grammy, KVers, Hunter Dickinson, incredibly fun matchup on the low block.

But I ultimately think the depth issue is going to be a problem for Kansas. I think Gonzaga, the way they've been rolling as of late, will be able to advance here. Again, for me, not playing Purdue, actually playing Utah State in that Sweet 16 matchup would be a really intriguing one. Yeah, interesting, interesting indeed. Let's go to the bottom of that Midwest bracket where we see South Carolina at the sixth seed. We see Oregon in at 11, Creighton at three and Akron at

14. How do we see those playing out, Andy? Yeah, I'm taking South Carolina and Creighton here. I don't think Oregon's very good. Shout out to them for winning the Pac-12 tournament. The final Pac-12 tournament. Yes, the final Pac-12 tournament. I think Dana Altman saved his job. I think if he had lost any of those games that he would be one of the coaches we would hear being on the chopping block. But he managed to find a way to get those Ws and now might get an opportunity if they do pull off a win to play his old school at Creighton. But ultimately, I think Lamont Paris and the Gamecocks are going to advance here. Really good job by him this year.

This team was not expected to be anywhere near this conversation, and yet they are. I don't think Oregon's got the horses to win this one. Akron, funny story that they got into the NCAA tournament. Funny is maybe not the right word, kind of more tragic for Kent State who unfortunately a player made a mistake and committed a foul when he shouldn't have and the team ends up losing because of that. But Creighton is so talented. They got some depth issues that I think could trip them up a little later in this tournament, but I think they advance here and they end up playing South Carolina.

Well, you know, South Carolina, as Andy said, was picked dead last in the SEC preseason poll. They finished tied for second. Great job by Lamont Paris. But I actually have Oregon continuing to ride the wave of their Pac-12 tournament run. And Folly Dante is an absolute dude, 16.2 points per game. Jackson Shelstad is a fantastic freshman for the Ducks an absolute dude 16.2 points per game jackson shelstad is a fantastic freshman for the ducks they're 13.1 points a game so they might not have the horses to win this game but they got the ducks to win this game and they're gonna do it see what i did

there but i'm right with andy on creighton too much firepower from everyone but the guy i call egg all righty so regardless of which one of those teams plays Creighton, whether it is South Carolina or it is Oregon, does Creighton come out of that matchup to move on? I have Creighton coming out. Yeah. I think again, that the top four guys they have in Alexander and Ashworth and Baylor Shireman and Ryan Cockburn are those two that that group is just so, so good. And they're not getting a lot of contributions from anybody else, not from Mason Miller, not from Farabella, like some of the other guys. And I think that could trip them up later,

but I think they're good enough to advance past South Carolina, such a dynamic offense, high-scoring offense, especially when Ashworth is shooting well from deep. So give me the Blue Jays advancing into the Sweet 16. Nothing different from me. Give me the Creighton Blue Jays. I had them, as Andy joked about, as a preseason Final Four team, and I'm not coming off of that in this game.

Well, we will see what Andrew Lyon has to say about that. He is with our Locked On Gamecocks and has more on South Carolina's position in the tournament. The South Carolina Gamecocks are a No. 6 seed, and anything else would have been wrong. I'm Andrew Lyon from Locked On Gamecocks are a number six seed, and anything else would have been wrong. I'm Andrew Lyon from Locked on Gamecocks. For the first time in seven years, South Carolina will be going dancing in March Madness. The Gamecocks are a number six seed in the Midwest region, which I think is a little

bit low. A lot of projections have them as a number five seed going into this bracket, but I don't think it's a bad deal at the end of the day. The big dogs in this region are the Purdue Boilermakers, the Tennessee Volunteers, and the Creighton Blue Jays. The South Carolina Gamecocks will be taking on the number 11 seed Oregon Ducks in the first round. The Oregon Ducks won the Pac-12 Tournament Championship, so they are definitely on a hot streak right now, and they're led by former Gamecock Jermaine Cousinard. For more on the South Carolina Gamecocks, subscribe to Locked On Gamecocks, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

Well, we'll see if Andrew is right on that one, or if you guys are right on the money with South Carolina. But ultimately speaking, let's go a little bit further down the Midwest bracket where we see Texas, the number seven seed taken on either Virginia or Colorado state at number 10. And of course the two seed Tennessee will take on number 15 in St. Peter's. Where do you see those matchups going, Isaac? Well, uh, I took the slashy earlier coming out of the play-in game, and guess what? It's happening all over again. I know Andy gave me a hard time about the ACC earlier, and so let's fix that because I'm going with Colorado State

coming out of that game and beating Texas, who's been underwhelming a year after making it to the Elite Eight. And then, look, St. Peter's won against an SEC team coming out of that 15-2 matchup a couple years ago when they knocked off Kentucky in the 2022 tournament. It ain't happening this year. Too much Dalton Connect. The Vols are moving on to round two.

I'm with you 100% here. I'm also taking this last year between Virginia and Colorado State, picking both opportunities for those 10 seeds in the play-ins to advance, in part because Florida's vulnerable with hand-locked in. And frankly, I think Texas was a bit overseeded as a seventh seed. I don't think they're quite that good. And certainly when they're at full health, they can be really talented. And Dylan D'Souza is a big factor for them.

But ultimately, I'm taking the slash between Colorado State and Virginia. I think ultimately it is going to be Colorado State. Isaiah Stevens is just such a dynamic, talented, all-around guard, one of the better mid-major guards in the country. And I think that's what we're going to see advance there. And I do think that that team, Colorado State, will end up playing Tennessee. Again, love the Peacocks, love the story. It was a phenomenal run a couple of years ago. The fact that they lined them up as a 15 seed against a dominant SEC team once again is pretty entertaining, but Dalton Connect is too good. I think Tennessee advances here.

And Andy, is it Colorado State or Tennessee who moves on? Tennessee. I got to, again, Tennessee is just so good. Rick Barnes has had his issues advancing in the NCAA tournament. There's no secret about that. No surprise there. But what he needed on this roster was a go, a bucket getter type of scorer, along with all the defensive role players that they had around him.

They add Dalton Connect. He's the perfect piece alongside Vescovi and Ziegler and Jonas Adu and everybody else on that roster. And I think we've seen them be susceptible to some losses at times, but ultimately when this team is on, they're really, really good. And I think they're going to find a way to play themselves into the Sweet 16 again. Yeah, shake off the rest of what you saw in the SEC tournament last week. Tennessee wins this game. Colorado State has been just too inconsistent, too up and down this year, particularly in Mountain West play. As great as Isaiah Stevens is, Tennessee has the defense to shut him down

and enough offense to get it done. Move on to the Sweet 16. So what's the highest seed we could see make the Final Four? And which number one seed will fall first? We'll give you our picks. But first. The Bracket Breakdown is brought to you by LinkedIn. When you're hiring for your small business, you want to find quality professionals that are right for the role.

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example, they just launched a feature to help you write your own job descriptions. How great is that? So post your job for free right now at linkedin.com slash locked on college. Again, that's linkedin.com slash locked on college to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Welcome back to the 2024 Locked On Bracket Breakdown presented by Nissan. So guys, it is time to move on through our brackets down to our Sweet 16. Let's take it to the East first. And Andy, I want you to take us through where you landed coming from 68, 60 slash 64 down to our 32 and ultimately to our Sweet 16. Who you got?

Yeah, it's pretty chalky here for me in the East, and it kind of stays that way all the way through. It was 1-2, 3-5 with San Diego State. Beating Auburn is the only upset to happen in this region. So you got UConn versus San Diego State in the Sweet 16. Of course, a rematch of the national championship game from last year. And then you got Iowa State and Illinois, your Big 12 and Big 10 conference tournament champions. Really exciting stuff there. And I got UConn advancing here past San Diego State, just like

they did last year. And I got Iowa State out of the Big 12. They've just been playing some incredible basketball. Elite, elite defensive team for TJ Osselberger. so give me UConn and Iowa State the one versus the two I know it's not very fun but I do think those are the two best teams in the east region I think those are the teams that are advancing and give me the Huskies going back to the final four no team has who has won a national championship has even advanced past the sweet 16 the following year since Florida went back to back in 2007, 2008, but give me Yukon going all the way to the final four out of the East region. Crazy to think it's been 15 years, but yeah, Isaac, you definitely were in the Yukon space, but maybe some of the other teams,

that's where kind of we split and it's not so much chalk. Yes. Well, first, before we get lit up, Florida's back-to-back was 06 and 07. so I don't want Brandon Olsen jumping out at us here. But this is the one region where I do have chalk, 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the Sweet 16. So UConn against Auburn. I'm going with the Huskies, breaking that streak that Andy was just talking about there, making it to the Elite Eight against Iowa State. Look, Illinois is such a good elite offensive basketball team, but Iowa State is the number one defensive team at Ken Palm.

I love this matchup because of that offense-defense. Iowa State too much. We saw that against Houston in the Big 12 championship game. And then this is where I have my first one seed falling. Iowa State is going to knock off the number one overall team in this tournament, the Cyclones, going through the final four with TJ Otzelberger. Whoa, you heard it here first. So let me make sure I make a note that this is where we kind of part the waters

in that eastern region. Well, Mark Zanetto with Locked on UConn has more on the Huskies' attempt to repeat. UConn is the number one overall seed right where they belonged even before the rest of the number ones and their regular season with a loss. Hi, I'm Mark Zanetto, your host of Locked on UConn. The Huskies open up the fence of their national title

in Brooklyn Friday against the Stetson Hatters. The East Bracket has the Big 10 champs, Illinois, the SHC champs, Auburn, the Big 12 champs, Iowa State, the A-10 champs, Duquesne, and the AAC champs, UAB. But let's be honest, the reality is for those teams and every other bracket, it's UConn's dance. No matter how many challenges you put in front of Danny Hurley and his team, nothing is stopping the champs from going back to back in phoenix go check out my show daily on youtube and wherever you get your podcast this will be a fun few weeks as we are in the mix for number six i love it i love it i remember those words as well because i'm interested to see kind of how this plays out

for ucom being the number one seed overall that That said, let's take it down to LA and look at what's going on in our Western bracket. Isaac, we're going to start with you this time. Take us through from where you are seated with the sweet 16 and bring us all the way to your final four. Yeah. My sweet 16 had North Carolina and St. Mary's the one in five seeds and then Clemson and Arizona, the six and the two and North Carolina. Look, St. Mary's Andy talked about earlier, has some injury stuff going on right now. Just too much talent, too much depth and experience for the Tar Heels. RJ Davis, the ACC player of the year, presumptive first team all American takes the Tar Heels to the elite eight where they will face their former teammate

Caleb Love and former assistant coach, Steve Robinson against Tommy Lloyd's team. I love this matchup, the backcourt of RJ Davis and Caleb Love going off against each other. The front court of Armando Baycott and Umar Balo. So much fun stuff. Pella Larson, probably against Harrison Ingram. That should be a blast to former PAC 12 player or one current PAC 12 player and one former PAC 12 player squaring off. I love this matchup, but I have Harrison Ingram, that should be a blast. Two former Pac-12 player, or one current Pac-12 player and one former Pac-12 player squaring off. I love this matchup, but I have the North Carolina Tar Heels moving on to the Final Four.

I love the North Carolina-Arizona matchup. I think it'd be an absolute blast, but I had Nevada upsetting Arizona in that second round. You shouldn't have done that, Andy. You shouldn't have done that. Too late. That's what we got going on. So I have North Carolina taking on Grand Canyon.

I have Baylor taking on Nevada. So that's a one, a three, a 10, and a 12, a very unique bottom half here of the bracket. Again, it has been a season full of parity. So why not toss a couple double-digit seeds into the Sweet 16? I do got the Tar Heels advancing past Grand Canyon. I think just too much firepower for Hubert Davis's team,

too much size in the front court with Baycott and Ingram. And I got Baylor over Nevada for a lot of the same reasons. Baylor's guard room is just so, so good. They have had their struggles at times defensively, but I think they're good enough on that end of the floor, especially with their explosive offense to advance past the Wolfpack. I got Baylor and, excuse me, North Carolina and Baylor in that Elite Eight matchup. And give me the Bears here.

I know that the defense is an issue for them and Carolina has been playing some good defense, especially as of late. But I think there's a really fun, intriguing matchup here between those backcourts of Ray J. Davis and- Ray J. Dennis. Yes, thank you. I was like, I know I have it wrong there.

Dennis and Walter for Baylor, as well as obviously RJ Davis and Cormac Ryan for North Carolina. I think that's a really fun matchup. But give me the Bears advancing here and going into the final four. That'd be a fun rematch of the 2022 second round when Baylor was working to defend their national championship. Interesting. Interesting. So we got a little bit of a dichotomy on who gets out of the

West, who comes out of the West, but which teams are high seeds but maybe bad betting options? Here's our Locked on Bets insider to tell you. This is Lee Sterling with Paramount Sports, your Locked on Bets insider, and these are the three most overrated teams for March Madness. Number one seed, Purdue. They try to feed the ball way too much to Zach Eadie, and they miss a lot of key free throws late in games. Number two seed, Tennessee. They have arguably the best player in the country in Dalton Connect, but their second best three-point shooter hits only 38%,

but only on about 30 regular season attempts. Number two seed Arizona. This Pac-12 team was playing poor opponents all season long. When they played decent rosters like FAU and Washington State, they had trouble. They have played very few quad one opponents for more insight and game selections make sure to follow me on social media at paramount sports and check out paramountsports.com all right guys let's go south and we know that that region is going to land in dallas but want to know where you guys are taking it. I think we saw some agreement at the 32 stage when we talked about U of H, and then it started to kind of go in a different direction. So Andy, I'm going to get you to start us off with where you landed for your Sweet 16 and take

us through your Elite Eight and who you got going to the Final Four. Yeah, another double-digit seed for me in the Sweet 16 in the South region. I got Houston taking on James Madison, the Dukes. I got Houston advancing in that one, though. That team is just too, too good. I think James Madison would be a tremendous story if they got to the Sweet 16, but have a hard time seeing them get past Kelvin Sampson's squad. Then let's chalk after that two versus three, Kentucky, Marquette. I love this matchup. If Tyler Kolak is 100% healthy in a matchup between Shaka Smart and John Calipari, the incredibly talented guard rooms for both these teams, it's going to come down to how

Oso Iguodaro can play for Marquette if he can cause some problems for Kentucky's front court. I think there's a real chance for Marquette to advance. However, I do have Kentucky because we're not sure on the health for Tyler Kolek. We're not sure how that's going to shake out. I think if this Kentucky team gets red hot with the incredible freshman guard trio that they have in Wagner and Shepard and Dillingham, I think they advance to take on Houston. But the Cougs train is going to keep on rolling. I got Houston in the final four.

How about you, Isaac? Yeah, in the Sweet 16, I had Houston the one seed and Wisconsin the five seed. Too much Jamal Shedd. Too much LJ Cryer pouring it in from outside. So Houston moving on to the Elite Eight. And in that Marquette, Kentucky, I actually hedged the other way that Tyler Kolek will be good to go. Shaka Smart had some comments on Sunday night after the bracket reveal that says everything is trending in that direction and assuming he meets all those markers this week he will be back that his pain has recited receded excuse me so I do have Marquette

knocking off Kentucky they are too much of a veteran team I know that they're missing Sean Jones who is one of their burners and athletes that can help with Kentucky's superior athleticism but ultimately shock is smart. I just think back to that team flying around against Kansas back in Maui in November. Andy, you remember that? What a crazy game that was. I see that happening in this game and Marquette's able to move on to the elite eight where they will face Houston, but ultimately too much Kelvin Samson's team, too much defense, but just enough offense to get past Marquette and go to the Final Four in their first season in the Big 12.

Indeed. Did I hear my bracket breakdown team actually come to agreement in one side of the bracket? We did. I love it. I love it. I love it. Let's see what happens in the Midwest, Andy.

Talk us through your Sweet 16 on down through your final four. Yeah, it's a chalk except for one incredibly notable counterexample, I guess two, but certainly Utah State being the upset here, the pick over Purdue, sticking with that. So I'd have them taking on Gonzaga in the Sweet 16. Down at the bottom would be a two versus three matchup, Tennessee versus Creighton. I actually got Creighton coming out of that matchup. I think Tennessee, again, Lee kind of talked about it a little bit, some issues with outside shooting on that team outside of Dalton Connect. We've seen teams, if they can slow him down, or even if he just has an off night,

we've seen Tennessee struggle. We talked about Creighton having some depth issues as well, but they got four guys who can beat you. So even if Dalton Connect, or even if, let's say, Trey Alexander or Baylor Shireman has an off night for the blue Jays, they can still find a way to win. I'm not sure Tennessee can do that.

If Dalton connect has an off night. So give me the blue Jays advancing, give me the Zags over Utah state. I think Grammy UK is going to be too much. He spent some time in the mountain West already was a player of the year candidate at Wyoming. He's going to be ready for this Utah state team. Give me the Zags and Creighton.

Ryan Nembhard battle. Nembhard transferred from Creighton to Gonzaga this last offseason. Really fun kind of rematch there. Gonzaga and Creighton have had some great battles in the past, and I think Creighton's going to take this one, advance themselves into the Final Four as a three seed coming out of this region. I had Purdue, the one seed, and Samford,ford the 13 seed in my sweet 16. Look, one of the bracket things you folks need to know as you fill these out, you'd, you'd take your underdogs for a while, but once we get to the money-making time, you got to go with the favorites Purdue over Samford to get to the elite eight. And I have that same Creighton and Tennessee matchup, but I do have Dalton connect. So Kai Ziegler, Josiah, Jordan, James, Santiago, Vescovi taken over this game. The Creighton starting for the four of the five that always score and do the work, do

it, but it's just not enough. As Andy said, uh, Mason Miller doesn't contribute enough. Farabello doesn't contribute enough. Tennessee going to the elite eight where they will face Purdue and Zach Eady and Tennessee moves on to their first ever Final Four. Whoa. Okay, you called it. You called it.

This will be very, very interesting. Now, if you want to take those bracket busters to the bank, we got somebody to help you do it. Here's our Locked On Bets Insider. This is Lee Sterling with Paramount Sports, your Locked On Bets Insider, and these are my three sleeper teams for March Madness. Number five, Gonzaga. Number one and number two, Purdue and Tennessee are consistent choke artists in this region here. And number four, Kansas is banged up. This team beat Kentucky and St. Mary's on the road. Number 10, Drake, top scorer Tucker DeVries, number 6, scoring in college basketball with over 21 points per game,

had 13 games of 25 points or more, and the team shot over 43% from three-point range in conference tournament. And number 11, Duquesne. The Dukes have won eight straight and they rank number 34 in adjusted defense. The best among mid-major busters here. For more insight and game selections, make sure to follow me on social media at Paramount Sports and check out ParamountSports.com. All right, guys, time to put your money where your mouth is indeed. So let's go back to the Final Four one more time and then tell me who you guys got winning it all. So if I go back to the East, if I have it right, I've got UConn. That's Andy. Did I get that right? Yep. And

I've got Iowa State, Isaac. That's right. All right, boom. Remember we said that. And then we go to the West and I've got Isaac, you're picking UNC coming out of the West. And we've got Andy with Baylor. Yep. And going up top to the South, it's Andy with U of H and Isaac with U of H, right? Agreement. I love it.

I love it. But then we go back to the Midwest and we take it back down to Isaac having Tennessee and let's see, Andy, you got Creighton? Yep. All right. Time to put your money where your mouth really is. Who's going to be hoisting that trophy, cutting those nets in about three weeks from now, Andy, who you got? Give me the Huskies. First time repeat national champion since 2007, not 2008 when Florida did it back-to-back years. This UConn team is so deep. They're so talented.

Danny Hurley has this team absolutely rolling. Even at times this year when they had injuries, they never really wavered. They've had very few ugly losses this year. They lost to Seton Hall in the first game of the Big East. Outside of that, this team has just been tremendously phenomenal. If they can stay healthy, if Klingin doesn't suffer any injuries, his presence down low, Alex Carabin and Cam Spencer providing that floor spacing on the wing, Tristan Newton's one of the top three point guards

in college basketball, and I don't think he's third. He is phenomenal the way that he has played this year. That combined with – I mean, we're four players in. We're not talking about their potential lottery pick combo guards in Stephon Castle. This team is so deep, so talented, so well coached, so experienced. To me, it's really hard to see, especially with the matchups here in this bracket. Baylor does not have the defensive horses to hang with UConn. Houston is a phenomenal, phenomenal defensive team. I think that's your national championship matchup is UConn versus Houston.

But Houston just does not score enough. UConn does not need to score 85 points against Houston. They probably only need to score 65 in order to win that game. It might not be the most fun watch, but I think UConn beats Houston in a low-ish scoring national championship game. Isaac, who cuts down the nets on April 8th in Phoenix? Well, coming out of that left side of the bracket where Iowa State and North Carolina,

I do have the Tar Heels, just that experience that they have, despite the fact that they have a freshman run in the show in Elliott Cadeau. I just rhymed and I didn't even know. But the Tar Heels are bringing it into the national championship game, first time making it back there since two years ago when they fell to Kansas. didn't even know. But the Tar Heels are bringing it into the national championship game. First time making it back there since two years ago when they fell to Kansas. And unfortunately for the Tar Heels, they will fall again to the Houston Cougars who are going to knock off Tennessee. A great

defensive battle, by the way, in that semifinal. Good grief. Looking forward to it. Houston, North Carolina in the championship game with Kelvin Sampson and the Cougars doing it. But what's interesting for me as I look at my final four, it is like six of our top Ken Palm teams in the nation. Iowa State, number one, Houston, number two, Tennessee, number three, and North Carolina, number six. So we could have a defensive-minded final four if it plays out the way I see it. How about you, Andy? We talked about UConn. That's who you're picking to win it all. Isaac, you're picking U of H. But Andy, is there any pick when you look back to how you got to UConn winning it all that you said, man, I hate I went that route? You know, it's funny. I fill these out kind of

quickly and then I go back through and I usually go back through a handful of times. So I'm still kind of working through back through some of the picks that I made here. There's nothing that I vehemently don't like. I kind of wish I'd picked Drake a little bit farther. I just don't like that second round matchup with Iowa state. I think that's a tough one for them. I do think Drake is the kind of team, like the kind of mid-major double digit seed that could advance to the Sweet 16. I just, I have a hard time seeing them do it over Iowa State.

So that's kind of the one that's tough. Obviously, Utah State over Purdue is a Hail Mary pick. I don't regret it because I think there's a real chance that we don't have just a bunch of one seeds in the Sweet 16 Elite Eight. This just has not felt like a year where we're going to see a whole bunch of one seeds and two seeds and three seeds all advancing. I think the data, I don't have the full data. We've talked about it a lot on Locked On College Basketball, but unranked teams beating ranked opponents at home was at a

sky high rate this year. And so I think we're going to see some upsets. We're going to see some parity in college basketball. And so for me, why not pick a mid-major team, a Utah State team to advance here? I know it's a risky pick, but I'm sticking with it. I think there's a chance that we're going to see some Titans fall early in this tournament. Yeah. And Isaac, how about you? You end with U of H cutting the nets on April 8th. But is there, when you look back across the brackets, is there one where you say, oh, I kind of wish I hadn't gone in that direction? Same kind of thing as Andy. I'm looking, as y'all were talking, I'm looking back at my choices.

I don't have really buyer's remorse on anything. I want to keep the house, you know? But there are a couple I could switch around and see like Baylor beating Clemson. You know, maybe one would be this. I picked Oregon over South Carolina. I could see the Gamecocks really taking care of business there, winning as they did. What was that? The 2017 season when they knocked off Duke, they were a seven seed, beat the two seeded Blue Devils. And so there's a couple there, but nothing, obviously Thursday and Friday, I'm going to regret all of this because

it's all going to be dead wrong. As Andy's talking about, there's going to be upsets galore. And that's what makes this the single best time of the year. It is. It's like Christmas for these guys here. Thank you so much for watching the 2024 Locked On Bracket Breakdown presented by Nissan. Don't forget to follow and subscribe to your favorite Locked On show as the NCAA tournament progresses.

And as always, Andy and Isaac will have you covered on Locked On College Basketball, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.