Illinois & James Madison: Potential Sleepers to Reach Sweet 16
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:03 - Now let's talk a team that can make a run here
00:05 in the madness, a sweet 16 team, J-Y,
00:09 that catches your eye.
00:10 Maybe not all the way to the final four,
00:11 but at least into the second weekend.
00:13 - You know, it's minus 142,
00:15 so we're not talking value here,
00:17 but I'm gonna go with Illinois.
00:18 I think it's Illinois team.
00:20 Bradenwood can fix the defensive deficiencies,
00:23 I guess I would say.
00:25 They have the offensive capability
00:27 and they have an absolute star, Terry Channing Jr.
00:29 If you saw what he did in the Big Ten tournament,
00:32 I think scoring over 100 points in the three games,
00:34 a little bit, putting the team literally on his back.
00:39 Kind of like I remember another guy that did this,
00:41 took his team on national champion, what's his name?
00:44 Glenn Rice, another Big Ten guy,
00:46 I kind of did that.
00:47 Now I'm not saying you're gonna win
00:48 a national championship here.
00:49 That's high praise, Glenn Rice.
00:52 But to me, I think Illinois actually finds a way
00:54 to go all the way.
00:56 - You leave eight.
00:57 It is interesting when you look at the Illini.
00:59 Under Brad Underwood, there have been some questions
01:02 about their overall outlook.
01:04 Illinois, of course, in the last three NCAA tournaments,
01:07 has not seen the second weekend.
01:09 They have not reached even the Sweet 16.
01:11 The last time Illinois did that was way back in 2005,
01:15 now nearly two decades ago.
01:17 But when you look at the draw for the Illini,
01:19 where they stand in the East region,
01:22 again, that would be on the bottom half of the bracket,
01:25 where Iowa State is that two seed.
01:27 I'm gonna give you not a minus money price
01:30 to reach the Sweet 16,
01:32 but I'm gonna give you a big plus money number.
01:34 At 50 to one, that would be James Madison.
01:38 12 seed in the South region
01:41 of the 2024 Men's NCAA Tournament.
01:44 I think JMU, as a four and a half point dog,
01:47 in its opening round of 64 game against Wisconsin,
01:51 is very live for that money line upset.
01:53 I've talked about how I would put Duke on upset alert
01:56 as well in the 413 matchup,
01:57 the Blue Devils, an 11 and a half point favorite
02:00 against Vermont.
02:01 But the Catamounts have been here time and again.
02:03 If that happens, or even if it is the four seed in Duke, JY,
02:07 I think James Madison can knock 'em off.
02:09 There are two teams in this field of 68
02:11 that will enter having won more than 30 games,
02:14 both with 31.
02:15 That would be the defending champs
02:16 and the number one overall seed in Connecticut,
02:18 and it would be James Madison,
02:20 the champions out of the Sun Belt.
02:22 Only one quad one win for JMU,
02:24 but it came in their season opener
02:26 on the road in East Lansing against Michigan State.
02:29 Not many teams wanted to play the Dukes this year, JY,
02:32 and for good reason.
02:33 Now they have no choice but to see them in the big dance.
02:36 I think James Madison can go on a run 50 to one
02:39 to reach the sweet 16.
02:40 - And the thing that I like about James Madison, Ben,
02:42 is they have depth, right?
02:44 If you look at this team,
02:45 I do think they have like seven or eight guys
02:47 that get you at least six and a half points per game.
02:50 They have all those guys play at least 15 minutes,
02:52 and then you look at, you know,
02:54 obviously a guy like Terrence Edwards at the guards
02:55 might give you 17.4,
02:57 and then kind of the junkyard dog in TJ Bickerstaff
03:01 that does a little bit of everything for this team.
03:04 And if you look at it, you're absolutely right.
03:06 Regardless of, you know,
03:07 I think they win their first round matchup,
03:09 but regardless of who comes out of that Vermont Duke game,
03:13 you gotta think Duke has to be consistent, right?
03:16 And if Duke does lose,
03:18 you still gotta like JMU over a team like UVM.
03:21 So that is a good pick there with James Madison.
03:23 (upbeat music)
03:26 (bells chiming)