Illinois & James Madison: Potential Sleepers to Reach Sweet 16

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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)

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