ESPN Final Four Expert Picks (7 U of M votes for Final Four)

Submitted by True Blue 9 on March 20th, 2019 at 12:40 PM

So, I see that ESPN put up their Final Four picks from their 'experts' this morning. 7 of the 29 of them picked U of M in their Final Four. Andrea, Adelson, Jay Bilas, Adam Rittenberg, Paul Biancardi, David Hale, Alex Scarborough, & Adam Teicher were said 7 voters for anyone interested. None of them have us winning it all. 

Other interesting notes about the predictions:
 

- 4 have MSU in the Final Four and Adam Teicher has them winning it all (barf)

- Brooke Weisbrod (no idea who that is) has Murray State in the Final Four! That's a gutsy pick! LaPhonso Ellis with the 2nd guttiest pick of Buffalo to make the Final Four. 

- All in all, 15 of them have Duke winning it all. Nobody else has more than 5. 

For the record, my Final Four is: Duke, Michigan, Tennessee, and North Carolina. 

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/26310788/2019-ncaa-tournament-final-four-predictions

Go Blue! Beat those Grizzlies! 

northernmich

March 20th, 2019 at 12:53 PM ^

Bilas loves U of M and Sparty. Greenberg might be the biggest idiot out of all the basketball analysts at ESPN. Such an ACC fucktard. I’m pretty sure he said on air that Michigan is the best bet to get upset in the first round. I’d punch his bald ass in the face if I could.

Reggie Dunlop

March 20th, 2019 at 1:41 PM ^

If you were a casual basketball fan who started paying attention after the Super Bowl and just recently started honing in on the tournament teams to see who looks good, then you'd think Michigan was crap too. Every nationally televised game we've played the last few weeks has featured the last 10 minutes of Michigan looking like hell and MSU carving them up on the other end. I'm not surprised he feels that way, and he's definitely not the only one.

(https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2826286-ncaa-brackets-2019-the-chaos-bracket-that-could-actually-happen)

(https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2019/03/20/march-madness-predictions-top-seeds-ncaa-tournament-upsets)

 

(*Edit: I just assumed that was Mike Greenberg. Obviously Seth isn't a casual fan. But the same point stands. Nobody else has been able to do to Michigan what analysts have seen MSU repeatedly do to Michigan. Nobody else has Winston and Tillman and a HOF coach familiar enough to know how to clog Michigan's game, and that is the flaw in their logic.)

MGoStretch

March 20th, 2019 at 9:28 PM ^

I'm not certain Bilas "loves" Michigan, but he's come back to neutral.  There was a pretty wide range of time (that coincidentally happened to follow his pal Amaker getting canned) when he consistently came across as having an axe to grind with UofM.

mGrowOld

March 20th, 2019 at 12:54 PM ^

I have no fucking idea who this guy (Paolo Uggetti) is but The Ringer just posted their writer's respective brackets and CLEARLY this guy is their college basketball savant

SouthOfHeaven

March 20th, 2019 at 4:29 PM ^

I've got Duke, Michigan, Tennessee, and Kentucky, with Duke over Tennessee for the final. I'd love for Beilein to bootyblast my bracket and win it all, though.

 

Sparty won't make it. Izzo has had some damn good runs in his past, but his recent teams have just been flop-n-hack garbage. Think Wisconsin with more glitter sprinkled on it. He also doesn't get the officials' protection in the tournament that he does in the Big Ten, which has led to hilariously embarrassing early exits. I've got Louisville ousting them in the 2nd round.

Murray St. isn't terrible unreasonable. That's a very hot team. I've also seen some put Villanova in the Final Four, which is oddly not that bad of a pick considering how awful the 1 seed in their region performs year after year. I just don't see them beating Tennessee, however.

Michigan Arrogance

March 20th, 2019 at 5:37 PM ^

I actually feel the opposite re: MSU. this is their year IMO. Maybe they got most of their credit from beating M 3 times, but they have been legit all year and have found the ability to defend all offenses and score the ball. Best PG in the league, can shoot the ball, can defend. Can play small or big. Given their losses to IU (?!) they've only lost to 5 teams all year.

Kind of the same for M - the MSU losses suck but only 3 other teams besides MSU have been able to beat M -- all on the road, 2 to tournament teams and the 3rd to a top 75 team during a resurgence in play (PSU).

I think the vegas line would be Duke -4 vs MSU. Zion is a problem for anyone but MSU has depth as well which helps. I wouldn't be totally shocked to see MSU beat Duke and we see them for a 4th time in the FF

Jonesy

March 20th, 2019 at 7:18 PM ^

Agreed, I always pick Michigan to win as long as they have a somewhat reasonable shot. I mean, you're rooting for your bracket, you're rooting for Michigan, they have to match. Sometimes I'll do another pessimistic bracket where I pick them to lose but that's just the hedging bracket.

mfan_in_ohio

March 20th, 2019 at 11:14 PM ^

I made two brackets.  In the one I actually believe, I have Duke over Michigan, Virginia over Iowa State, then Virginia beating Duke.  In my "homer" bracket, I have Louisville upsetting MSU and Va. Tech knocking off Duke, so Michigan knocks off Va. Tech in one Semi, and Iowa State beats Virginia in the other, and Michigan beats Iowa State in the final.