CBS basketball analyst Doug Gottlieb offered his take on the NCAA tournament bracket, the injustices, his favorite picks, and other hot topics, such as his thoughts on the SEC and ACC. Here are excerpts:
Q: Should Gonzaga have been a No. 1 seed over Miami?
A: Whether it's Miami or Duke, it's really hard to tell. It's like Notre Dame football. They had an undefeated record, but they hadn't played or beaten anybody in the SEC, which everyone deems the best conference in college football. So they had a couple good wins, but are they at the caliber of a Texas A&M in football that had two losses but had played in the SEC and had bigger wins like over Alabama on the road? I think Gonzaga is very good. … I just think if you haven't played anybody who is a 1 , 2 or a 3 seed, and your league only has one other NCAA tournament team (Saint Mary's) and even that team barely got in — it's hard to quantify how good you are nationally. … What would they do in the Mountain West? What would they do in the Big Ten? What would Duke do with their schedule? Probably be close to undefeated with their schedule.
Q: You think Duke deserved that No. 1 seed over Miami?
A: Duke had a better resume. Miami had the ACC Championship and the ACC tournament championship, but some bad, bad losses. The Wake Forest loss, the (Georgia Tech) loss, those will hurt you. That's really what took them off the (No.) 1 line. But they beat Michigan State. They beat Duke by 27. They didn't get the greatest draw in the world. Colorado can beat them. And Illinois can beat them. Illinois has beaten Gonzaga on the road and Indiana at home. They're the only team to beat two No. 1 seeds. Did (Miami) get royally disrespected? No. My point about Gonzaga is we honestly don't know.
Q: By this time last year, it was obvious North Carolina, when healthy, and Kentucky were the teams to beat. Is Louisville that team now?
A: I think Louisville and Indiana are very good and are as likely as anybody to win the tournament. But you talk to anybody who plays or coaches, they'll say the difference is just not that great. A lot of it comes down to match-ups and how you play. I've got a pretty good sense of six, seven, eight teams that can win it, and I think a couple of those teams, like a Louisville, got a really good draw. But outside of that, parity reigns supreme, and an Indiana can be beaten. A Louisville can be beaten. So can a Gonzaga and so can a Kansas. Kansas, shoot, they lost to TCU.
Q: Do you think the Big Ten is overrated?
A: It all depends on what you are considering overrated. Are they overrated in terms of the depth of quality teams? Then no, they're not. Are they overrated in terms of the number of (contenders?) I think they have two teams that have a good shot of getting to the Final Four: Indiana and Michigan State. Then I think they have three or four other teams that have an outside shot. Ohio State's trending the right way. Michigan has got one of the best point guards in the country and plays a hard style to guard against.
Q: What do you think about the ACC (four) and the SEC (three) getting in fewer teams than the Mountain West (five) and Atlantic 10 (five)?
A: The ACC and SEC … were terrible. Mississippi State lost all their good returning players and many of their recruits (to) a coaching change. South Carolina had a coaching change. Vanderbilt lost three guys to the NBA draft. LSU went through a coaching change; they've had a talent void. Alabama was a little disappointing. Tennessee was a little disappointing. Kentucky lost what five, six guys to the NBA draft? This is what happened to the Pac-12. The Pac-12 lost to all these guys to the NBA. Like "Oh, the Pac-12 stinks." It's because you have all this attrition.
Q: What about the ACC?
A: It's been bad for a while. Wake and BC. Virginia Tech lost (recruit) Montrezl Harrell (to Louisville), and they lost (Dorian) Finney-Smith, who is sitting out at Florida. They lost their best incoming recruit, their best returning freshman and their coach. North Carolina lost four guys to the NBA. They were decent because the league stinks and because they have a pretty good coach and pretty good players. N.C. State is probably the disappointing team, but now they get new life and maybe they make a run.
Q: Who do you like Cinderella-wise?
A: I actually like some of these Cinderellas that have been around in the tournament the last couple of years. I think they got better draws this year. I like Davidson. I like Belmont. I think South Dakota State is going to give Michigan a really good game. I thought (Virginia Commonwealth) got a great draw with Akron because Akron lost their point guard. There's one stacked region — Oklahoma State, Oregon, and Saint Louis — those are three really good teams. Whoever comes out of that is going to give Louisville problems.
Q: On a personal note, how big of a rush was your first CBS selection show?
A: Sean McManus is our boss. We were texting back and forth, and I said "Hey, just wanted to tell you that was one of the five best nights of my life." He goes, "Well, you must have had four other good ones." I said "I have three kids, and I've been married. I have twins, so that's one night, not two. (As a player at Oklahoma State) we beat Kansas by 33." He said, "I'm OK with the kids and the marriage, but I think last night was better than beating Kansas by 33." I was like, "We'll agree to disagree." It was neat. Nine years ago, 10 tournaments ago, I was begging to do stuff on ESPN News, and now I'm doing the selection show on CBS.
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