Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Locked On: Bracket Breakdown, your guide to the College Basketball tournament

Episode Date: March 15, 2022

Full breakdown on how to fill out your bracket. From the biggest upsets to the Cinderella story, and all the favorites in the NCAA Tournament. Locked On anchor Kainani Stephens is joined by Locked On SEC’s Chris Gordy, Locked On Bets host Lee Sterling, and Locked On Zags host Andy Patton to break it all down. They also turn to some local experts of the Kentucky Wildcats, Auburn Tigers, Ohio State Buckeyes, Texas Longhorns, Texas Tech Red Raiders, Wisconsin Badgers, and more to help prepare you for March. If you want to join our experts and the Locked On Network hosts, go to RunYourPool.com/LockedOn to join the fun. For more on the biggest stories, upsets, and matchups throughout March Madness, search for and subscribe to the Ultimate College Basketball Tournament Preview 2022 podcast. Presented by Locked On and our partners at Audacy. For all the March Madness coverage, Locked On has you covered, your team, every day. Built Bar Built Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order. BetOnline BetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts! Rock Auto Amazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. RunYourPool If you want to play against us for a shot at a cash prize join us at RunYourPool.com/LockedOn. And while you’re there, create your own pool for your friends and family. Enter ‘PUREMADNESS’ at checkout for $10 off your custom pool. StatHero StatHero is reshaping the way the way you play fantasy sports. Dozens of house based games to play daily. No sharks, no funky props, just your skill vs the lineups you choose. Sign-up today at StatHero.com/LockedOn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome in March Madness is here locked on has you covered for everything you need to know to fill out your bracket I'm your host host, Kainani Stephens. We've got a bunch of experts here today, not just me. Our Locked On SEC host, Chris Gordy. Our Locked On Zags host, Andy Patton. And our Locked On betting expert from Paramount Sports and Locked On Bets, Lee Sterling. So before we get started, we're going to check in with you, Lee, because you're the bracket mastermind here. You've got some tips, what you think people need to know before they even start to fill things out in their bracket. Well, first thing you have to know is you have to know the rules. So, so many times, you know, you have first round might mean only one point. Then it goes all the way up to like 8, 16, 32.

In other brackets and contests you're entering, it might be 1, 2, 4, 8, 16. So you have to know the rules. I've been in many of these from bracket challenges where people have picked three out of four or all four. They're knocked out because they picked 15 or 20 upsets. I also look at good guard play for handling the ball more than anyone. So turnovers are very important. Then also coaching on the stretch the last two minutes, very important. Good coaches can dial up the right play.

Coaches that haven't been there before, teams that are inexperienced, can really alter down the stretch. And veteran status definitely comes in key. And, of course, you want to know the rules because if you pick all these cool upsets, but you don't get any points, then it doesn't really matter, I guess. So if you want to check in with our experts and Locked On Network hosts, you can go to runyourpool.com slash locked on. And that's where our brackets are.

So you can play along with us and see if what we have is going to match what you have. So right now we're going to kick things off in the West region. The number one seed we have there is going to be Gonzaga and Georgia State. Obviously, we've got our Zags host here, but I'm not going to insult you and make you talk about the one and the 16 seeds. So let's just, let's assume the Zags are going to move on from there. We'll move on pretty quickly with that. Number eight, Boise State and number nine, Memphis. Now these seeds are obviously very close together. So those are always something, you know, maybe where you could see an upset. Andy, did you have any insight on this one?

Yeah, I think this is going to be a really interesting matchup. Boise State is a really good team defensively, and they've had a lot of clutch opportunities this year. They've been in a ton of close games, which I always think helps you a little bit down the stretch. In March, Marcus Shaver, really talented young guard, hit a bunch of big shots. They're a well-coached team. Leon Rice, maybe I'm a little biased because he was a Gonzaga assistant for a long time,

but he's done a very good job with the Broncos. But Memphis is an incredibly athletic team. Obviously, they've been in the news a lot this year for being a little bit, for being disappointing from where they were expected to be in the preseason. But they have incredible athletes in Monty Bates, Jalen Duran. I think the athleticism is going to win out here over Boise State. I would take Memphis in this one. I think it's going to be a fairly close game. I think Boise State is going to surprise some people who maybe are expecting Memphis to roll over in this one. But I do think ultimately Memphis is going to be the team we see

in the second round. Okay, so that's certainly something to keep in mind for your brackets there going forward. Now we're going to jump to number five, UConn, and number 12, New Mexico State. Lee, we'll check in with you. I'm going to warn all my UConn fans to cover their ears here because I don't know if they're going to like what you have to say necessarily. Well, this is the first year in probably over a decade I don't see a number 12 seed that I like. And I've been living

off number 12 seeds. They usually make K, but here's the problem. New Mexico State only beat one tourney team all season. It was all the way back in November. It was Davidson. They beat Abilene Christian. I was born in Abilene Christian. I don't see much great basketball played there by Abilene Christian Wildcats. So they beat them in the championship game. Come on, man. Come on. We're going to advance easy here.

Oh, okay. I like that. Andy, you don't agree. Is that correct? Yeah, I like New Mexico State a lot. Obviously, Lee has some good points. Teddy Allen, Serge Ibari-Rice, really talented guards. I think they have a chance to pull this one off,

but I do think that it's going to be a close one. Okay, so that might be one to watch for an upset. Obviously, the 5-12 is always the way it goes, but we'll have to see about that. We're going to check in with No. 4 Arkansas and No. 13 Vermont. The Arkansas Razorbacks, one of the best teams in the SEC this season. What does that mean for the Catamounts? Here's a deeper look at the West's 4-13 matchup.

The Arkansas Razorbacks are officially heading to the NCAA tournament up in Buffalo, New York, all the way up there in the Northeast. They're going to be taking on Vermont in the first round game. It's a four-seed versus a 13-seed, but Vermont is a very dangerous team. We're going to talk about all the March Madness, all the great matchups that Arkansas could potentially have if they continue to advance into the NCAA tournament. And of course, you can catch it all on the Locked On Razorbacks podcast. I'm going to be up there live in Buffalo all week long as well. So I'll give you the great coverage

of everything going on right there in the NCAA tournament. So you will need to subscribe, like, whatever needs to happen to be able to be able to listen to all the coverage of the NCAA tournament on the Locked On Razorbacks podcast. Chris, I'm going to stick with you because Alabama is the next SEC team I have on my list here. Number six, taking on number 11, Notre Dame, Rutgers. What Alabama is obviously kind of very, people feel very strongly about it one way or the other. Where are you kind of landing with them right now? Alabama's a very talented team.

I think Nate Oates is a great coach. They can literally beat any team on any given day. They could also lose to any team on any given day. That's how the season has gone for Alabama. So yeah, I mean, it is Jekyll and Hyde, man. You will roll on the dice if you're riding Alabama to a Sweet 16. Look, if they get there, I'll high-five you and I'll say, congrats, man. You called it. But, man, it is literally a roll of the dice on this Alabama team on finding consistency. Man, Jaden Shackelford, such a good three-point shooter at

times and at other times, absolutely cold. You never know what you're getting from Alabama on any given night. And, man, this playing game is a huge one because, depending on who they get, Notre Dame or Rutgers, I like Notre Dame. If Notre Dame gets in there, I might be taking them to beat Alabama. So that's why it's kind of hard when you're filling out your bracket here. I'm sticking with Alabama. I think they can get the first-round win. But, man, I don't feel comfortable at all about it.

We're going to head now to number three, Texas Tech versus 14 Montana State. The Red Raiders, they're one of the hottest teams in college basketball right now. So here's how Texas Tech can keep that good fortune going. I'm Ray Lydic, co-host of Locked On Texas Tech here, and the Red Raiders come into this tournament as a three seed in the West region playing in San Diego for their first round matchup against Montana State. And this is a place that Texas Tech has been the last couple of tournaments that they've been to. They've been a three seed in 2018 and in 2019. And both of those tournament runs went very well for the Red Raiders, if you recall, including the last one in 2019, going all the way down to the

last Monday night. Being able to be in a region with Duke and Gonzaga obviously isn't ideal. And certainly you would have liked to be in Fort Worth but still this is a spot that Texas Tech can do can make do of and certainly I mean being in the west region you've got some good teams you've got the prestige of playing against a potential matchup with Duke in the sweet 16 as well as a fun potential matchup against Alabama in round two but first they've got to get through a Montana State team that won the Big Sky Conference and has looked pretty good down the stretch of the season on Friday afternoon in San Diego. I think it's fair to say that Texas Tech probably won't have too much trouble right out of the gate, so we'll move on pretty quickly.

We've got Michigan State at number seven and number 10, Davidson. Lee, what do you have on this one? Well, Davidson finished in the bottom half of best defensive efficiency. And I just don't think they have the players that can create off the dribble that can beat a team like Michigan State has faced so many good offensive squads. So I don't think we're going to see an upset here for Davidson or to see it. Steph Curry. I think we're all right. Number two, Duke're going to see it, Steph Curry. I think we're all right.

Number two, Duke, is going to close out the region against number 15, Cal State Fullerton. This is Coach K's, of course, last dance in March. So let's see how the Blue Devils are going to approach their first-round matchup. This is JJ Jackson with Locked On Blue Devils. Duke has earned a two-seat in the NCAA tournament. They will take on Cal State Fullerton in the first round. Duke is in the West region and will play their first and second round games in Greenville, South Carolina.

For Duke to defeat Cal State Fullerton, Duke is going to need to make shots from the outside and play their game. Duke's size and talent alone should be enough to pick up the victory and advance to the round of 32. For more on the Duke Blue Devils, make sure you check out Locked On Blue Devils throughout the entire week. We worked our way through the West in the first round, and now we're going to get, I'm going to ask you guys for your Elite 8 picks coming out of the West. So, Chris, let's start off with you. What are your two teams coming out of the West? Well, I mean, look, I like Gonzaga. i like arkansas i like texas tech i like duke so those are kind of my four on where i came down who be

two i think at the end of the day i think that it's gonzaga i think it's texas tech i just think they're just too both so strong i think they're both going to be there okay andy let's check over with you i i think it's fair to say zag is going to make it who else you got yeah yeah obviously taking the zags there at the top of the region i'm gonna have them play in alabama i talked about how i think that this bama team when they're playing at their best is very good so that's the match up there and if you like some maybe some quirky picks lee i think you have two of them coming up or maybe one but uh who you you got for your two, your two out of the West? Well, I'm going to take a shot here.

And if I win the Arkansas matchup against Gonzaga, just count me as the winner right there and just start handing me the catch. But maybe the pressure is on Gonzaga here and Arkansas, you know, they've had some games where they've just dominated, got off to big leads, get off to an 8, 10, 12 point lead. I don't know if that Gonzaga can catch up to them. And then Texas Tech, I just don't think Duke has seen that kind of defense. So I'm going to go with the anti-Jay Billis picks and go with Arkansas and Texas Tech.

I like it. We always have to have some randoms in there, and I like that. So now we're going to head over to the East region. All right, number one here is Baylor versus number 16 Norfolk State. I know Baylor didn't end their tournament the way they wanted, but I'm going to give them the plus, the pass here. We're going to skip that one over because I think they'll be all right in the first round.

As for the number eight, North Carolina versus number nine, Marquette. The Tar Heels look to continue their late season surge right now against Marquette from the Big East. We're going to take a deeper look at that matchup from a UNC perspective. Hey there, it's Isaac Shade from Locked On Tar Heels. For the second year in a row, North Carolina finds themselves in an 8-9 game in the NCAA tournament. Last year, it turned into the first

first-round loss of Roy Williams' storied career. Now this year, Coach Davis in his first year at the head of the program faces another coach in his first year at a new program as well in Shaka Smart and Marquette. You might recall that the Tar Heels often struggled with Shaka Smart's Texas teams and their relentless pressure. What does that mean for this time around? Well, Caleb Love and RJ Davis are going to have to be incredibly strong with the ball. But if they are, they can get it ahead to Brady Manick and Armando Baycott, who can both have a field day. And the Tar Heels will then be able to move on to the second round.

day and the Tar Heels will then be able to move on to the second round. And boy, wouldn't this one be fun if Marquette transfer Dawson Garcia was still playing for the Tar Heels this year. More on this matchup all this week on Locked on Tar Heels. Good look there of that ACC Big East matchup. Now we're going to move on to number 5, St. Mary's versus number 12, Wyoming or Indiana from the play-in game. Andy, do you have any thoughts on this? I know Wyoming's kind of out that way, but in terms of St. Mary's, if they make it that far, but St. Mary's, what are you seeing in that game? Yeah, St. Mary's is just a

great defensive team. They're kind of a hallmark of Randy Bennett's era. They've always played this really good defense, slow pace. They've been playing really well lately, kind of rough start earlier in the year. I like them in either of these matchups, to be honest. Matthias Toss, really good big man. Tommy Cousy has been playing extraordinarily in the pick and roll. I think they're going to take a win in either of these games. Andy, I'll stick with you for our number four UCLA versus number 13 Akron

because obviously UCLA is always dangerous come March time, it feels like. Do you see them having any issue here in an upset or how far can they go? I think Akron's a fairly dangerous team for them very good outside shooting team really balanced scoring three guys averaging over 13 points per game I think that makes it a little bit challenging but I like UCLA here still they have too much talent with Juzang, Tiger Campbell now that they're all healthy and everybody's ready to roll, I think UCLA is going to take this one.

But I think Akron's a good team, and they could give them a bit of a challenge. All right, now we're going to head over to No. 6 Texas versus No. 11 Virginia Tech. Texas Longhorns have their hands full against – will have their hands full, I should say, against Virginia Tech. We're going to hear from the Longhorns about – Locked On Longhorns about how they can advance in the tournament. Jonathan Davis, the host of Locked On Longhorns, checking in on Selection Sunday. We just saw that the six-seeded Texas Longhorns will face off against

the number 11-seeded Virginia Tech Hokies, who just won the ACC tournament, one of the hottest teams in the country, 13-2 over their last 15 games. This is a really tough draw in the first round for Chris Beard and the Texas Longhorns. I think the key for them is somebody has to be the alpha on offense, whether it's Timmy Allen or Marcus Carr. I think one of those two players has to go for 25-plus and take some of the pressure off of everybody else on the offense, not play hot potato with the basketball. And secondly, they're going to have to run Virginia Tech off the three-point line. This is a team that is shooting 40% from the three-point line over their last 15 games

if they want to have a chance to move to the round of 32. So once again, they need to find that alpha on offense and run Virginia Tech off the three-point line, continue to play that defense that led them to have the best scoring defense in the Big 12. Lee, I'm going to ask your opinion here because I think you have an upset in this one. Alpha, I'm seeing a bunch of Delta and Omicron players for Texas this year. No one stepped forward here. Now they're going to face the Virginia Tech team. After Virginia Tech came to Miami and came back from almost double digits with two minutes left. This team may be the hottest team in the country. I think Virginia Tech is underseeded.

They should be the single-digit seed here. I just don't believe in Texas here. I think Virginia Tech, I think the wrong team's favorite. Fair enough. Number three, Purdue is next up on our list, and then number 14, Yale. So Yale is uh pretty prominent in terms of the Ivy Leagues Lee but I'll come back to you because I know you watch all these different leagues do they have any chance here or is Purdue just gonna go back to the way we

were seeing earlier this season well the biggest problem for this Yale team is they just don't play the class of opponent Purdue faces on a regular basis. And they score in the paint over 52.5% in the paint. They're not going to get those kind of shots off against Edie and Williams and make them. So that's the biggest problem here. You know, unless they can make some shots from the outside and throw a few wrinkles in against Purdue, I don't see it. Purdue will, I think, run away with this game.

Should be okay. And number seven, we have Murray state and number 10, San Francisco. Andy, do you see anything in San Francisco where you might see an upset there? It's pretty close. Yeah,

it really depends, really depends on the health of a big man. You had Missowski. He was hurt towards the end of the year, but if he's healthy, I like the Dawn's here. I think this is a really fun matchup. Both these teams, very good mid-majors. As a mid-major advocate, part of me is sad they got to play each other in the first round because I think they both are the kind of teams that could advance, but I'm also happy we get to see one of

these two teams play Kentucky. I think I like San Francisco here, but I'm happy either way because I like the mid-major programs. Fair enough. Chris, I want to get you in here. I don't foresee that number two Kentucky is going to get upset by St. Peter's, but what do they have to do to kind of get back in the groove here and get things going, get some momentum going in this tournament? How far can they go? Yeah, I think Kentucky is going to be fine. I mean, Oscar Chibwe is going to dominate in this tournament.

He's going to crush the boards. He's going to dominate down low. It's all about the rest of their guys. Ty-Ty Washington, how healthy is he? Can he get the offense going and that sort of thing? But, yeah, I think a lot of Kentucky fans, they've already looked past the first-round opponent, and that's fine. They're eyeing that second round against Murray State,

and, yeah, that 30-2 is eye-popping, and it makes you go, oh, my God, you know, that's a record's incredible. I think a lot of Kentucky fans are saying, look, I think we're going to be all right. We just need to believe in our team. And this may be John Calipari's best team he's had in about five years at Kentucky. I think this team is primed to make a deep run, Kentucky. That's it for the first round matchups there in the East. We are now going to get your Elite Eight picks.

Everybody, see what you got. Lee, we will start off with you. Who do you have coming out of the East there in the Elite Eight? So I'm going to go with UCLA here. I think that Baylor off winning the championship last year. It's tough to come back next year and because of injuries and some up and down play. I'm not a real believer in Baylor this year. I think they're actually the weakest number one seed. So I'll go with UCLA, and I think they're getting healthy and they're best basketball now.

And I like Kentucky. Kentucky, talent-wise, when John Calipari is smiling, he's smiling for a reason. Kentucky, to me, is the strongest team by far in this region. Chris, I know you are full on the Kentucky train as well. Who else you got in your Elite Eight? I'm assuming Kentucky made the cut. Yeah, I mean, I hate to go chalk, but it's Baylor and Kentucky.

I mean, I just feel like they're just two talented teams. I mean, we're going to find out. I know everybody's singing the praises of the underdog and the little dog. I just think this is a year, once we get past the first weekend, the big dogs are going to stand true and stand strong. I think we'll find that with Baylor and Kentucky. They're a mighty day. Andy, do you agree?

You think Baylor's on the right path right now? Yeah, Baylor's just such a well-coached team. I got Baylor in Kentucky as well. I think it's going to go chalked down in the bottom of the east region there. Good. We all agree. That's always nice. So coming up, we are going to break downed down in the bottom of the East region there. Good. We all agree. That's always nice. So coming up, we are going to break down the South and the Midwest regions

where we might see some of those 5-12 upsets that everybody loves so much. But first... March Madness is here. That means you need to start thinking now about where you're going to be running your brackets this year. Are you going for the usual or are you going for the best? We've done our homework here at Locked On and we're running brackets with runyourpool.com. Along with standard brackets, Run Your Pool offers game types like Survivor or Pick X.

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Number one seed over there is Arizona. They're taking on number 16, either Wright State or Bryant. I will give Bryant a shout out because I lived in Rhode Island for a long time and I love them. Congratulations for making the tournament. I don't know if you're going to win the playing game, and I don't think you're going to win anything after that if you do. So we'll move right along to number eight, Seton Hall versus number nine, TCU. Lee, what do you have here?

Because this is always a bit of a toss up with an 8-9. And I don't think anyone wanted to see either of these two teams. I mean, if they were matched up against someone like San Francisco or Murray State, might have had some interest. But TCU is one of the worst nine seeds of all time. They finished fifth in their conference with an 8-10 record. We find historically teams like that will last very long in the tournament. And we just got lucky.

They played a bunch of teams that were playing poorly or who were injured at the time. So I like Seton Hall to advance. Now we're going to head over to number five, Houston versus number 12, UAB. Andy, I think you have some insight here. Those American athletic conference teams always have a little bit of trouble. So do you see an upset? Yeah, I picked UAB here in this one. UAB is playing some really good basketball.

Houston has been very good this year. A lot of their high rankings in some of the analytical models are because of blowing out some not very good teams. They only beat one tournament team, and that was Memphis, and they only beat them once out of three times playing them. I think Houston is a good team, but I think this game is rife for a potential upset, especially because Jordan Walker, one of the best guards in the country that not a lot of people are talking about, he has a good game for UAB. I think this could be an upset. Okay. Over at number four we have illinois number 13 chattanooga a lot of people chatting up about chattanooga possibly an upset lee what is

your insight here for that team is that possible i i don't see it maybe someone else does and the 13 seats have done extremely well over the last couple years, but it's everyone's sexy pick because they won and they got in with a primary toss against Furman, but Furman wasn't much of a competition there. They only played one tournament team in Murray State and they lost a couple

digits. They also lost Virginia Military and Sanford. Not Stanford. Samford, me, uh, Illinois. I don't think they're going to stop here at all. It's, this is an easy double digit win. We're going to move on to another Tennessee team, the Tennessee, the number three seed. They're taking on number 14, Longwood,

the sec tournament champs are being labeled one of the more impressive three seeds out there, possibly have a big run in them. Here's what they need to do against Longwood in the first round. Well, I guess resumes don't matter anymore, right? Many people, myself included, can make the case for Tennessee having the best resume in the country. It has two wins over Kentucky, a win over Arkansas, a win over Auburn, a win over Arizona. It's the SEC tournament champion, but it's a three seed. Its resume laughs in the face of Auburn, of Kentucky, of Duke.

All of those teams ranked or seeded ahead of Tennessee. But nonetheless, University of Tennessee will be a three seed in the South region. We'll take on Longwood Thursday, the winner of that matchup, which should be the Volunteers. We'll take on the winner of Colorado State and Michigan. By the way, Michigan, LOL for getting in the tournament as well. So we'll see what happens. Tennessee's been a three seed before. It was a three seed a couple of years ago back in 2018.

The Volunteers, as hot as anybody in the country, a chance to make a run to the Sweet 16 and to the Elite Eight. Potentially Arizona could stand in the way. Gonzaga at the top will be someone to look forward to, but we'll see what happens. The Volunteers a three seed in the South region, and we'll get going against Longwood on Thursday. Chris, how far, despite the seeding at three, can Tennessee go?

It's tough. I mean, I think they'll beat Longwood, but, man, a road ahead. You could play some teams that have had great success in recent years, like Villanova, like Loyola Chicago. So yeah, it's not going to be easy, but this is the year, you know what, it's about time for Rick Barnes, right? Like every year, he's always got the early eggs and he did it at Texas, he does it at Tennessee. I'm riding with Rick Barnes. I love this team, Kennedy Chandler, Vescovy. Let's go Vols. Love this team, Kennedy Chandler, Vescovy. Let's go Vols. It's time. Let's go. We're going to head over to the number seven, Ohio State,

versus number 10, Loyola Chicago. Ohio State has a tough path in this bracket as well. They'd have to go through Villanova, Tennessee, before they even got to the Elite Eight. But first, they have to face off against another tough one in Loyola Chicago. Hey, what's up, guys? This is Jay Stephens, the host of Locked On Buckeyes, and the selection is in.

Your Ohio State Buckeyes will be facing the Loyola Chicago Ramblers in the first round of the NCAA tournament. But what do the Buckeyes need to do to move on to the second round? Number one, get as healthy as possible. You may say, Jay, that's wishful thinking, but the Buckeyes cannot afford to lose any players. And for players that can get healthy, to not do what they can do to get healthy between now and the start of the NCAA tournament.

Number two, Ohio State needs to eliminate all mental lapses on defense. There have been numerous times the Buckeyes fall asleep on defense, leave guys wide open. Those wide open guys hit open shots. You can't afford that if you want to advance in this tourney. And then number three, don't play down to your opponent. Now, this one is more mental than what happens on the court. Last year, Loyola Chicago in the Sweet 16. This year, they won the Missouri Valley. They won 25 games. This is a good basketball team. You may say, that's a mid-major.

Mid-major is a title that does not describe how you play on the basketball court. These are three things the Buckeyes need to do to move on to the second round of the NCAA tournament. We'll be talking about these things and a whole lot more all week long leading up to this game being played. We're going to head over now to the number two Villanova versus number 15 Delaware. That seems pretty self-explanatory for you there, especially with Villanova's tournament experience. So I'm going to ask everybody for their elite eight, their two picks out of the South region. Chris, who do you have? I think it's fair to say Tennessee might make the call. Cut. Yeah. I mean, I'm taking a little bit upset city. I'm growing with the Vols. I'm putting

Tennessee in here and why not Houston? Kelvin Samp bit of Upset City. I'm growing with the Vols. I'm putting Tennessee in here. And why not Houston? Kelvin Sampson's done a great job. I got Tennessee and Houston. Okay. All right. If you want an upset, let's go with Chris's bracket. Andy, who do you have coming out? Everybody has a little bit of a different look here.

Yeah, I got West Coast flavor on mine here. I got Arizona out of the South, and I also got Colorado State as the matchup there in the Elite Eight. Okay. A lot of different points of view here. I got Arizona out of the South and I also got Colorado state as the matchup there in the early days. Okay. It's a lot of different points of view here. Lee, who are you going with? You're always the upset guy. Well, this is either where I'm going to go with chalk. I think that Houston, Illinois, Colorado state and Tennessee are going to beat up on each other. You know, I think Andy must have a girlfriend somewhere in Colorado for him to pick Colorado State. I think they can win a round, maybe two, but I think it's going to be Arizona and Villanova.

And like I said, those four teams in the middle of the bracket are just going to beat each other up. And Arizona and Villanova are going to swoop in and have, I think, some easy wins headed to the Elite Eight. Just in love with David Rodman, my friend. That's all. Whoever comes out of there is definitely going to have to earn it. That's for sure.

We are now going to head over to the Midwest region. Over there we've got number one Kansas and number 16, either Texas Southern or another Texas team, Texas A&M, Corpus Christi, I believe. I think we can skip that one. That's fair to say. I don't want to insult any of the Kansas fans here. We're going to move on to number eight, San Diego State and number nine, Creighton out of the Big East. Andy, you know a little bit about San Diego State. We've seen them in the tournament before. What do you think this matchup is going to look like? Yeah, it's really going to come down to Matt Bradley for San Diego State. They're a very good defensive team, but they are really reliant on him offensively.

He averages 17 points per game, twice as many as anybody else on his team. I think the lack of Ryan Nembhard for the Creighton Blue Jays is going to be a big problem for them, but they got some size in Ryan Kalkbrenner. I think this is going to be a close game, but I'm rolling with the Aztecs in this one. Next up, we have number five Iowa versus number 12 Richmond. Lee, is this a 5-12 upset or not so much this year? Nope, I told you. I don't see a 12 winning this year for the first time maybe ever.

And here's the problem with Richmond. Richmond got some really favorable calls down the stretch from the officials in their conference championship game. Iowa, I just think they have too much firepower. They might score 85, 90 points in this game. I like the Hawkeyes big. Okay. Now we'll move on to number four, Providence, who won the regular season Big East championship, but didn't do great in the tournament. They're taking on number 13, South Dakota State. Andy, do you see an upset there? Yeah, you know, Providence has been really lucky this year,

and I know that that's kind of been a point that's been beat to death a little bit. The Ken Palm rankings have them as the luckiest team in the country. They've won a lot of very, very close games, but I do think it's going to catch up with them. The South Dakota State team is playing really, really well. Lee talked about how there have been a lot of 13-4 upstates in the last couple of years. This is one that I think has a pretty realistic chance of becoming a reality. All right, at six, we have LSU versus number 11, Iowa State. Chris, do you have any thoughts on this matchup? Is LSU going

to be able to kind of bounce back? As an LSU alum, I have a lot of thoughts on this game, especially the fire control the bull, Wade. I just don't think that this team can sustain. They've got some great talent. Tara Eason has been fantastic for them all year long. I just think that, look, call it an upset. You're playing a team in Iowa State who's still pretty dangerous. They've got a good coach.

They've been a good team most of the year. I feel like LSU is on upset alert in week one. It's just so hard to win without your team. Maybe they come out without your coach. If you come out inspired, play some inspired ball maybe. But I think LSU is on upset alert in round one. Okay, we'll keep an eye on that one for sure. Number three, Wisconsin taking on number 14, Colgate.

The Badgers, one of nine teams from the Big Ten that made the big dance. So let's see what they need to do to advance further in this tournament. Hey, everybody. Welcome to Ryan Herring's Locked On Badgers. This is a locked on moment and we are here. We have made it. March Madness Selection Show. Wisconsin is the three seed in the Midwest playing Colgate, the 14 seed. This is pretty good. First of all, you're in Milwaukee. You have home court advantage. You're playing a team, Colgate, who does one thing exceptionally well. They shoot the ball 40% from three. Incredible shooting team.

That's Wisconsin's defensive prowess, that perimeter defense where one through four they can switch. They are set up perfectly to beat Colgate. I think they're in a bracket that's very winnable. And they're in Milwaukee. They're in their own backyard. This is a perfect, perfect get for Wisconsin. I don't think you could have asked for a better seed, a better matchup for this Wisconsin team that has struggled a little bit of late, and they could use some of this momentum from getting a good seed. This is also an opportunity for Johnny Davis to have that bounce

back moment. He's always been really good this season with the brightest lights, the biggest moments. I think you're going to see him really explode in March. He's going to start getting more calls from the officials, and this is definitely an opportunity for him to really show out coming up for the NBA lottery, where he's almost certainly going to leave early to go join the league. So great, great seating, exciting times. We're going to get onto it all of it and more on Locked on Badgers. Number seven, we have USC and number 10, Miami out of the ACC.

Andy, do you think USC is going to make a little bit of a run this year, or is this possibly where they could get knocked out the first round? This is going to be a really tough one for USC. It's basically a matchup of Isaiah Mobley and USC's bigs versus Miami's guards. USC coach Andy Enfield has really struggled to recruit and develop guard play in USC. Boogie Ellis is going to need to have a big game for them in order to secure victory here. If they don't, I think Miami could win this one, but I have just enough belief that USC is going to be able to pull this one out. Fair enough. Number two in the Midwest is Auburn taking on number 15 Jacksonville State. I think that's fair to say they'll probably advance, but Chris, I just

want to check in with you. Auburn didn't do as well in the tournament as they would have, the SEC tournament as they would have liked. Are they going to be able to bounce back, get that momentum going, and make a big run? Yeah, it's Final Four or bust for Bruce Pearl. I mean, you will never have a talented team like this at Auburn again. I think they win that first round, but, man, dangerous matchup if they're playing Miami or USC in that next round. Something to keep an eye on for sure.

I'm going to get everybody's Elite Eight picks real quick here out of the Midwest region. I think we have pretty much on the same page. Chris, I'll start with you. Yeah, I'm going with Auburn again. I think if they're not there, it's a monster disappointment. So I got Auburn and I got Kansas. Okay. Lee, you don't think Auburn's going to make it there. Who do you got in their place? I think that Wisconsin set up perfectly. They've been pretty much home for advantage. And Johnny Davis, I think, is not going to get held down and fouled on almost every possession.

So I think we're going to see Arizona, Villanova, Kansas, and then Wisconsin on that side. Okay, very good. And then, Andy, who do you have? Yeah, I'm going chalk here as well, Kansas and Auburn for the Elite Eight on that side. Okay, very good. And then Andy, who do you have? Yeah, I'm going chalk here as well. Kansas and Auburn for the Elite Eight on this side. Okay, fair enough. That's where we're at right now. After breaking down all those first round matchups coming up, we'll do the Elite Eight, Final Four, and your championship picks as well. Will there be a consensus from everybody? That would always be nice. But first... There might be less football being played, but BetOnline.net has way more stuff to bet on this playoff season. From scores,

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He's on the move. But the rest of us are still here. We're going to break down our Elite Eight picks into our Final Four. Now, Chris had Texas Tech making it from the West into his Final Four. Lee, you have that as well. Why do you feel like they'll be able to make it to the Final Four this year? The defense and the pressure from both of these two teams, I think, is what stands out. This should be a fun game to watch.

It probably will go down to the last possession. If that's the case, I just think that Texas Tech might get the stop that makes it different. So I'm going to go with Texas Tech and go with the Shocker and predict they go to the final four. If they make the final four and Gonzaga's not there, I've got a chance right there to win my bracket. Absolutely. Obviously, Andy, we know who you're going to pick, but it's not going to be easy for them to get there. What are they going to have to do to get it done? Yeah, you know, I think we need some consistency from the guards, particularly in the outside shooting for Gonzaga. That's been a big issue for them just in terms of consistency throughout the year. I have them playing Alabama in the Elite Eight, which would be obviously a rematch from the battle in Seattle game in December.

But I think I like this bracket enough for the Zags to advance to the Final Four yet again. All right. Now let's check over on the East region. Now, this is where we see some consistency. Everybody's on the same page here, of course. Chris has Kentucky. Andy, why do you have Kentucky going after? Obviously, they've got some great players, but is that what it comes down to for you? Yeah, I think Kentucky's just the best team in the East region this year.

You know, I think there's some games that could give them some challenges. I have them playing Virginia Tech and then Baylor before they advance. Baylor obviously has had some injury issues. I think if this is the road that Kentucky gets, then we're going to see them in the Final Four. Lee, is this where the coaching aspect comes in? I mean, they've been there many times before. Absolutely. I mean, players pretty much take up DNA of their coach, and the coach is relaxed and is able to get his players relaxed like John Calipari has. I think it's a big advantage. Got the Blue Bloods here. UCLA and the history and Kentucky over the last 20, 25 years. So I think it should be a great game. High scoring game, but I think Kentucky in the end is too much. Inside will be the difference. All right, everybody agrees there. So you can definitely have Kentucky going all the way across your board. We also have – we're going to check in now on the south region as well.

Now we know Chris is an SEC guy, so he obviously took Tennessee. But you guys both agree on someone else. Lee, why do you have Arizona going to the Final Four and possibly further? I don't think they have a weakness. I think this team has been so consistent and I just think that some people are discounting them because of the coaching uh just because a coach hasn't been there before doesn't mean not going to be the first time they're not going to go all the way so uh uh this team like i said is consistent um can battle back uh when they're trailing in games and uh uh everyone has this is the seed where probably the number one

seed's going down i don't see it that way. I think Arizona is the best team in the South region, and I think that they're just going to find a way to battle through even some tough times and maybe some deficits and some tough defenses like Houston and Villanova. So I'm going to go with the Wildcats here, and the West Coast is going to place a team in the Final Four. Andy, you're out West. You've seen a lot of them. What makes them so dangerous, especially now in the postseason?

Yeah, they're just so balanced. Lee really nailed it. I mean, this is a team that's got good defense. Christian Coloco, outstanding defensive player. They're a great scoring team. They're fast-paced. You can kind of see them borrowing from Mark Few and Gonzaga. Obviously, Tommy Lloyd was associate head coach there for over a decade. His first year as a head coach, but he's got plenty of experience in the NCAA tournament, been to two national champions in the last four years. I think he's got a great chance to be there again this year. Chris has Kansas going from the Midwest region. You guys both have different opinions. Everybody has a different opinion on this one, it seems like.

Let's check in. Andy, who do you have as your last spot in the Final Four? Yeah, I'm taking Auburn here. I think if they can beat Wisconsin, they've got a good chance of beating Kansas. Obviously, just such a dynamic frontcourt with Walker Kessler, Jabari Smith. The guard plays the question mark, and it is a pretty significant question mark for this team after how they played in the SEC tournament. But if those guards right the ship, Bruce Pearl is going to be going to the Final Four. Lee, you disagree. You're riding that defense, or it looks like. Who do you have in your Final Four for the final spot? Well, defense, and they have that star player. And I think maybe they're under the radar here.

So teams that sometimes lose early in their conference tournament and get healthy and go on that run. So I'm going to ride the Wisconsin Badgers here. It's a shock world and shock Kansas and Auburn, whoever everyone else in the country seems to have. You want a different bracket that'll definitely pay off. So Wisconsin in your final, final four, final spot in your final four. Now we're going to check in with Locked On Kentucky because obviously we've all agreed on that and they have some insight as into what it's going to take for the team

to make a serious run in the tournament. Lance Dogg here with Locked On Kentucky, the Kentucky Wildcats, a two seed in the NCAA tournament taking on St. Peter's in the first round. Honestly, when you look at St. Peter's numbers, it seems like a pretty good matchup for the Wildcats. St. Peter's is relatively undersized. Offensively, they're inept in a lot of different categories, a slower paced team. Defensively, they've got some issues as well, obviously. You would like to think that any given two-seed is going to be favored heavily over a 15-seed, but whenever you dive into St. Peter's numbers a little bit,

it does not really seem like they will be much of a threat to the Wildcats, at least hopefully. Coming up this week, we are going to be previewing that matchup a lot. We're going to be taking a look at some more in-depth statistics. We're going to be talking about some film. We're going to be talking about some of the things that Kentucky needs to do better. Heading into this NCAA tournament, guard play, obviously one of the major concerns for the Tigers right now. All of that and more coming up this week on Locked On Kentucky. Down to the final four.

Going to welcome in Zach Blackerby here from Locked On Auburn. Now, the Auburn choice is very, you know, one side or the other. We have both sides, and then we have, obviously, I'm going to put you in the middle, Zach, because you're kind of just so far into Auburn that I can't say you have a fair one side or the other. So, Lee, you don't have Auburn in your Final Four. What about them worries you in the finals making it that far, if they could? Well, what I've seen is it looks like they're going to have to play

four different style of play teams if they want to get to the Final Four. And I just think that that's going to be tough. If you prepare for a couple different styles it can happen Auburn can win two or three games in a row but I think winning four in a row to get there is going to be tough so I think someone else is going to be there coming from the Midwest. Yeah Lee and you mentioned earlier that that matchup with Wisconsin and that's going to be a tough one and they play a style of basketball that Auburn has not really been able to adjust to. They slow it down a little bit, and Auburn likes to run. Bruce Pearl teams like to run up and down the floor a million times a minute.

But you mentioned Wisconsin having really good defense. Auburn has one of the best defenses in the SEC. And also, you mentioned Wisconsin having a a star player and Auburn has Jabari Smith, who I think a lot of people believe is the best player in this tournament. The NBA sees him as the best player in college basketball, as well as he's probably going to be the number one pick. And I think that's a big part of it. But yeah, guard play is an interesting thing. You guys mentioned that earlier. And so yeah, a lot of question marks still about the guard play for this team. Andy, you're all in on Auburn too. So what about the team made you feel comfortable with that pick? Yeah, the front court is just so dominant. We talked, you know, Zach talked about Jabari Smith, who is one of the best players in college basketball,

obviously been really challenging to handle this year. Walker Kessler has been a tremendous impact player for this team down low. Really big shot blocker, plays phenomenal on both sides of the ball. I think Auburn has a really good chance here. I agree with Lee that it's a tough road for them. They got to play a couple different styles. KD Johnson can't be missing shots the way that he has been up to this point. But if the guards shoot well and play within themselves, don't turn the ball over too much, I think we're definitely going to see Auburn here in the Final Four. Zach, what's the ceiling for them? Is it championship, or do you think Final Four would be maybe as far as you could see them going? I mean, I think if you're an Elite Eight team,

if you're there, you've got a chance at it. You just got to win a few more games. So if they can get to that point, I think the ceiling for them and any other team in the Elite Eight is to win a championship. But, you know, the, you know, Auburn fans are all in on this one. They're all in on wanting to see a run. And so it's going to be interesting to see if this team's able to deliver. If they play like they did in January and February, the ceiling is a championship. Thank you, Zach ceiling is a championship. Thank you, Zach, for the insight. We know that's definitely a pick that many people are going to be watching, so we appreciate the locked-on Auburn point of view on this one.

Thanks, guys. All right, we're back to our two. Andy and Lee, we're going to get Chris's picks. I have those written down as well, but I want to give each of you an opportunity to talk about who you have in your title game and who you have taking home the national championship. Andy, I'm going to start with you. I think I know who you're going to pick, but tell me why. Yeah, I got Gonzaga versus Kentucky. I'm going to take the Zags there. That's going to be a really, really tough game for them. Kentucky, obviously,

very balanced team, big, tough physical team, the kind of team that I think could give Gonzaga some troubles. We obviously have seen them struggle at times, but this is a really young team that seems to be finding their rhythm at the right time, the Zags are. And if Chet Holmgren can continue to be the dominant force that we've seen him be over the last few weeks, Drew Timmy, obviously, a huge piece for them as well.

I like Gonzaga making it to the championship here and I got them playing Arizona. The Wildcats, just such a balanced team. They can score so many different ways. They're good defensively. I like them over Auburn. I think the guard play, it obviously depends on the health of point guard Kirk Risa. If he is healthy, this is one of the best teams, if not the best team in the country. And obviously the West Coast matchup, Gonzaga versus Arizona would be the first time in 20 plus years. You got two West Coast teams in the national championship. And of course, the Mark Few versus Tommy Lloyd would be an incredible storyline for Tommy's first season as a head coach over at Arizona. Lee, who do you have coming out on top? And why do you think they're going to win the national championship?

Well, if Andy's picks for the championship game are right, I think about 80% of the public is probably not going to watch the game. Most of the people live on the East Coast or the Midwest in the South, so they don't get the chance and they don't stay up late and watch these two teams. I'm impressed by both teams, but I think Kentucky will fare on the left side of the bracket well against Texas Tech if they play them. Texas Tech, they're defensively, but just have some moments where they just can't score for five, six, seven minutes, and that could end up hurting them. And on the other side, if Arizona faces Wisconsin, and I think this is one of those

tournaments where really 10 or 12 teams have a chance to win it. I've actually entered a couple of different contests and a couple of different teams to win it all. But I think Arizona is probably a stronger team and the team is more balanced. So I've got my final here, Kentucky and Arizona. If that's the case, I think we're going to see a real high-scoring game. We could have our first, you know, like 94-92 game. I probably would play the over. I think these two teams would run and gun and be able to score on each team

and light it up. So, in the end, I do have actually Arizona winning it all here. I think Arizona will cut down the nets on Monday, April 4th. Very nice. And Chris, who left us a little bit early, he has Kentucky and Kansas in the championship game and he has Kentucky coming out on top. I think a lot of people probably agree with him there. It's a fair bet. I think a lot of people are going to put that on their brackets. If you want to check out his bracket, any of our other host brackets, you can check out runyourpool.com slash locked on to join in. You can check and compare and see what everybody has

put in your own bracket, of course, as well. For more on the biggest stories, upsets, and matchups throughout March Madness, you're going to want to search for and subscribe to Ultimate College Basketball Tournament Preview 2022 podcast. That's presented by Locked On. We're partnering with Odyssey as well. So we will have you covered on absolutely everything. Locked On has the best hosts.

Everybody knows very in-depth versions of everything. We've tried to go over as much as we can here, but we have tons more information for you guys if you want to check that out later as well. Andy, thank you for joining me. Lee, thank you so much for your insight as well today. I think we've covered a lot. Hopefully we've helped some people out with their brackets. For all of your March Madness coverage, make sure you check out Locked On and for your team every single day. I'm Kanani Stephens. Thank you for joining us. you