The annual tradition of catching up on all things March Madness with Dan Shulman is back as the ESPN college basketball broadcaster — and Sportsnet’s Toronto Blue Jays play-by-play man — joined us to talk about the tournament.
With the first four locked in, and the final 64 now ready to play, we asked Shulman for his thoughts on the top seeds and sleepers, which players look the most NBA ready, his Final Four and championship pick, and what being back to arenas means to the Big Dance.
This year will be "normal" compared to last year's bubble tournament, what role does the atmosphere play in a tournament like March Madness?
I think the atmosphere is tremendously important in college basketball, maybe more than any other sport — the only other one I think would compare is college football. I think for all of the teams, for all of the players, it's just a little bit more back to normal and being able to have their own fans in the building.
Last year as you know the whole thing was in the Indianapolis area, so whether you were from Gonzaga or Kentucky or whatever school you went to, it just wasn't the same. But this year, for example, Wisconsin is playing the first two games in Milwaukee, it's only an hour and a half away from Madison, so it's going to be a sea of red to cheer on the Badgers and I think that's great.
The atmosphere will be terrific and people have been waiting for this for three years if you think about it in terms of the NCAA tournament, so I think it's going to be very special.
This year we saw a lot of teams who usually weren't the top teams in their conferences come out and win over the top teams or take conference tournament titles. What team this year surprised you the most?
I would say probably Texas Tech — first year head coach in Mark Adams, lost a lot of players, had to go out and get a lot of transfers and really went out and had a fantastic season. They got a No. 3 seed in the tournament, they beat Kansas during the regular season, they beat Baylor during the regular season, I think Texas Tech was as impressive and surprising to me as any team in the country this season.
Of those teams that house the top talent, in terms of who are going to be the top looks as NBA prospects, who are you most excited to watch in the tournament?
I think Jaden Ivey at Purdue is as exciting a player as there is in the country. I don't know if he's going to get drafted third, fourth, fifth, sixth, but he's somewhere up there, so for NBA fans who haven't watched a lot of college basketball and you want to check out guys you're going to see in the NBA, Ivey at Purdue is definitely one of those guys.
Chet Holmgren at Gonzaga is a really unique player — 7-foot-1, I think he's under 200 pounds, but he's incredibly skilled. He can shoot the three, he can block shots, he's going to be a very high pick as well.
Another guy I think of is a Canadian, Bennedict Mathurin at Arizona, who has worked his way up into the lottery, maybe even the top 10. A spectacular player at 6-foot-6, skilled, physical, tough, can shoot, can drive, can do a lot of different things. Those are three guys that I would look at.
Speaking of Arizona, they're one of the best teams in the country. Do you see any of those top seeds truly having what it takes to win the whole thing?
All the top teams could go all the way but they're all vulnerable too — I know I say this every year but it's not a three out of five or four out of seven, it's one game. If you're only playing one game, the chances for an upset are greater.
Last year, for example, Gonzaga and Baylor appeared to be the two best teams all season long. And they wound up in the final. I don't know that it's that clear cut this year. I definitely think Gonzaga is up there again, but could it be Arizona? Could it be Villanova? Kansas? Duke? It's really wide open, I think we've got a wider variety of teams who could end up in the Final Four this year than last year.
I do think this year we are going to see a lot of upsets that, in my mind, are not really upsets. If that result happened in January we wouldn't really think about it, but when it happens in the Sweet 16 or something it's a big deal. To me, Gonzaga is the best team in the country, but there are no sure things in the NCAA tournament.
Are there any of those mid-seeded that you think are going to surprise everybody and go farther than you think?
I don't usually go with No. 8 or No. 9 seeds because they have to beat the No. 1 seed in the second round, there are some good ones but I am more likely to look at a No. 11 or No. 12. ... I actually think those teams have an easier path to the Sweet 16.
In terms of teams that aren't seeded all that high, Virginia Tech at No. 11, I just saw them in the ACC tournament and they just won the ACC tournament, and they beat Miami, North Carolina and Duke on consecutive nights to do it. I think they are definitely a dangerous team.
A little bit more obscure, Chattanooga, South Dakota State, Vermont — they are all low-to-mid major teams but they're very experienced, they're probably older than a lot of the higher-seeded teams that are going to play and that could be a factor in the tournament. Those three are teams to keep an eye on that may be able to pull off an upset or two.
Now, for the fun part, who do you have as your Final Four?
I have Gonzaga, UCLA, Arizona and Iowa as my Final Four, and I have Gonzaga beating Arizona in the final.
I want to know more about your UCLA pick in that four. They obviously had a great run last year, but this time what stands out about that team in particular?
I think they're better than they've shown this year because for long stretches this year they had a number of injuries, and they're healthier now than they've been and that's a big part of it. That's one of my concerns about Arizona, their point guard (Kerr Kriisa) is out right now, I think he'll be back next week, but to me UCLA is really good.
As you know they went to the Final Four last year and I just think they're healthy now, and when they're healthy they are one of the top teams in the country.
Baylor is the No. 1 seed in that region, I think Baylor is really good but not quite the Baylor team that we saw last year. I think they're a little bit vulnerable and I think UCLA can beat them and I think UCLA can beat Kentucky or Purdue.
I just believe in the tournament experience that UCLA has and that they're finally healthy now.
