- ESPN analysts Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas predicted their favourites for the championship ahead of the start of March Madness
- Insights from Gonzaga’s first team coach and NCAA star athletes as they prepare for the tournament
- Watch all the action between March 18 – April 5 by tuning into ESPN Player using the link https://bit.ly/ESPNSportandoBF
Selection Sunday threw up some interesting debates with ESPN analysts split on their tournament favourites for March Madness. ESPN analysts Seth Greenberg and LaPhonso Ellis favoured a strong Baylor outfit whilst Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas made a strong case for an undefeated Gonzaga team to pick up the title this year.
Vitale and Bilas comments on Gonzaga below:
Dick Vitale: “I like the Zags’ chances. I like them big time… I’ll go on record right now. They are going to pull a Bobby Knight, 1976. They’re going 32-0. They’re going to win this tournament.”
Jay Bilas: “I don’t know that this is the best team Mark Few has ever had. That 2017 team that went to the Finals against North Carolina was more physically imposing. But this is the best offensive team. It’s absolutely a beautiful offensive team. There’s no other team that can match the top three players of Suggs, Kispert and Timme.”
“I love Gonzaga’s draw. This is the first tournament since 1976 without Duke or Kentucky in the field, and that just happened to be the year that Indiana went 32-0, the last undefeated team. And Gonzaga
has a chance to do that in a similar year. Their draw is fantastic. They couldn’t ask for a better draw. If I picked one team that got the worst draw: Oklahoma State.”
Speaking to press ahead of the event; coaches and athletes shared their thoughts on how they were preparing for March Madness tournament with key highlights below:
Gonzaga head coach Mark Few on the significance of this season:
“I don’t know if it’s significant, and I can’t take away from how competitive a group that I coach or how competitive I am…but I think I’m pretty good at perspective. What we’ve been through this year, to have this incredible run, to be undefeated on March 14, it’s crazy. Especially with the preseason we played and even just getting through our league season. We carried the No. 1 target on our shoulders all year, all the way back to November 1. So, I think that’s an incredible accomplishment. That said, heck yeah, we want to win a national championship, but the one thing I know I can give to these guys is the experience of being in this tournament. Every darn game, we have to be ready to go and we have to play really, really well, including this first one. We’re going to celebrate the heck out of each game we get and each one we’re successful in and focus on the day to day. The interesting thing is living in the bubble and doing all that, I think that will be a real mental challenge for all of us involved.”
Baylor guard Jared Butler on preparation for the NCAA Tournament:
“Playing in the Big 12 prepared us extremely well [for the NCAA Tournament], especially during this time of the year. It’s a players’ game and fouls aren’t getting called, and there are a lot of teams that are really good. It’s do or die, win or go home basketball and this is a fun time. There were a lot of battles to get into the tournament, so it should be good.”
Iowa centre Luka Garza on preparation for the postseason:
“I think it’s going to be similar to how we’ve handled things all year, making sure we don’t put ourselves in any situation to get exposed. And we’re going to be locked into our quarantine and start watching some film individually of Grand Canyon, and then we’ll meet up as a team and get ready for them as a group.”
Garza on Iowa’s first round opponents Grand Canyon…
“As soon as their names were called, you could see everyone get on their phones and start looking them up, looking at their stats. Obviously, for them to win the regular season and the postseason of the WAC is very impressive, so we know we’re playing a great team. They beat Nevada, who is a really good team and they pushed Arizona State really early in the year, so we know we’re going against a great team and we’re excited for the opportunity.”
Illinois guard Ayo Dosunmu on the most important thing to get Illinois ready for the NCAA Tournament:
“The most important thing for us to take it one game at a time, not really looking down the bracket or looking at who we might play next. Just focusing on our opponent and not taking [anyone] for granted. We understand that it’s win or go home. I feel like when we have that mindset, we play with so much intensity.”
March Madness finally returns this year after the cancellation of last year’s tournament. Catch Dosunmu and co in the first round fixtures below, the youngsters will be looking to make a big impression as they seek to get drafted into the NBA.
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