NCAA Tournament Insider: Sweet 16, Crying Piccolo, & March Madness Money
The Sweet 16 is set and everyone’s bracket is looking pretty darn good. Well, 14 brackets out of 11.57 million are looking good. That’s how many people correctly predicted the Sweet 16 correctly.
If you didn’t get them all right (and you didn’t!) there’s no reason to cry about it. Roxanne Chalifoux has cried enough for all of us, and she cried while playing the piccolo for the Villanova band as she watched her team fall to N.C. State. Those tears earned her a gig with The Roots.
Nova fans know deeply that nobody is invincible but you’ll still have a difficult time persuading anyone that Kentucky can be beaten. The Wildcats are even odds in Vegas to win it all while UCLA is the longshot at 100 to 1.
Throw a buck on UCLA. Why not? Even better, maybe all those schools that claimed they lose money on their basketball programs should bet heavy on the Bruins.
The ACC will have some extra loot to bet with. The conference is raking in $28 million from the tournament thanks to an 11-1 showing and five teams in the Sweet 16: Duke, UNC, Notre Dame, Louisville and N.C. State.
Here’s the TV schedule for the Sweet 16:
THURSDAY’S GAMES
(All times Eastern)
Midwest Region, Cleveland
7:15 p.m.: No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 7 Wichita State, CBS
9:45 p.m.: No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 5 West Virginia, CBS
West Region, Los Angeles
7:47 p.m.: No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 4 North Carolina, TBS
10:17 p.m.: No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 6 Xavier, TBS
FRIDAY’S GAMES
South Region, Houston
7:15 p.m.: No. 2 Gonzaga vs. No. 11 UCLA, CBS
9:45 p.m.: No. 1 Duke vs. No. 5 Utah, CBS
East Region, Syracuse
7:37 p.m.: No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 8 NC State, TBS
10:17 p.m.: No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Michigan State, TBS