ESPN will have 24-hour tourney talk, which it is marketing as “Tournament Challenge Marathon,” beginning one week from today at 6 p.m. Central with the women’s basketball selection special and ending at 6 p.m. Tuesday with the conclusion of a “Tournament Challenge” special edition designed at helping people fill out their brackets.
Here’s the best part: Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Seth Greenberg and Jay Williams will appear on shows throughout the 24 hours.
“It will be a great challenge to keep Jay, Seth and Jay, who are cranky enough when well-rested, on point when they are sleep deprived,” Davis said.
Bilas sounded well-rested Monday morning on a conference call, when he revealed his pick to win it all.
“I do think North Carolina’s the best team,” Bilas said. “They’ve had some stumbles, but once we get to the tournament, I favor them. When they play their best, they’re the best team.”
Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall won’t mind a bit if the transcript of Bilas’ call finds its way to the email in-boxes of NCAA tournament selection committee members.
“The committee has a wonderful chance to screw this tournament up by misseeding Wichita State because they have the resume of a double-digit seed. This is not a double-digit seed.
This a 5 seed.”
Shockers junior Conner Frankamp, who left Kansas in part because he wanted to play point guard, has played much better since moving back to shooting guard, where KU had him slotted.
Frankamp made 11 of 22 3-point shots in helping Wichita State win the Missouri Valley Conference tournament and scored 18 points in the semifinal victory against Missouri State, 19 in the 20-point victory vs. Illinois State in the title game. He has had double-digit scoring games in 10 fo 12 games. Before that, he reached double figures in 5 of 22 games.
