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Pete Gillen, who coached Providence to the Elite 8 and took Xavier and Virginia to the NCAA Tournament, is a college basketball analyst on CBS Sports Network. Throughout the tournament, he appears on “NCAA March Madness 360” and “NCAA March Madness Bracket Breakdown.” As told to The Post’s Steve Serby:
I visited Madame Zorba again in Brooklyn, and we both agreed that this March Madness will be more maddening than ever.
It won’t be the dream ending for Coach K. You can argue that he’s the greatest coach ever — I still go with John Wooden by an eyelash with 11 championships. I’m tied at the hip with Coach K — when he got into the Naismith Hall of Fame, they sent me a replica trophy because he beat me so much when I was at Virginia. He’ll be missed. He had great players, but he had to go get the great players, and you gotta put ’em together.
Here’s a look at some of the games I am most looking forward to from the First Four to the Final Four:
South
First round
TCU over SETON HALL: Jared Rhoden is terrific but TCU slows him down and wins a squeaker.
LOYOLA CHICAGO over OHIO STATE: Sister Jean isn’t here to hold hands. When she gets to the tournament, she turns into an intense nun.
Regional semifinal
VILLANOVA over TENNESSEE: The Wildcats will carve up Tennessee like a porterhouse steak. Collin Gillespie is a maestro, and the Vols have scoring droughts.
Regional final
ARIZONA over VILLANOVA: Jay Wright’s Achilles’ heel is his inside game, and Arizona has bigger and better athletes. Bennedict Mathurin is a tenacious competitor and a star.
Midwest
Regional semifinal
WISCONSIN over AUBURN: Johnny Davis takes over and the Badgers put the best shot-blocking team in the country to sleep with a slow pace.
Regional final
KANSAS over WISCONSIN: The Badgers run their offense with a sundial; they anesthetize you (I don’t know what the word means but there are smart readers at The Post, so they’ll know). Bill Self has better athletes, and Ochai Agbaji has more experience than Davis.
West
First Four
RUTGERS over NOTRE DAME: St. Patrick’s Day is a big help for the Irish, but I gotta be neutral. Geo Baker and Ron Harper Jr. have been there before. Steve Pikiell is a master builder.
First round
ALABAMA over RUTGERS: Rutgers oughta get some motorcycle helmets.
DAVIDSON over MICHIGAN STATE: Bob McKillop’s team can score from all five positions. Spartans transfer guard Foster Loyer will be juiced. Probably the best transfer in the whole country in my opinion.
Second round
DUKE over DAVIDSON: That game is gonna be played in a library. They’re both cerebral schools — I don’t know what the word cerebral means — but they’re both filled with smart guys.
Regional semifinals
TEXAS TECH over DUKE: The Red Raiders are gonna beat up Duke with their octogenarians. For Duke, Paolo Banchero has more moves than a can of worms when he gets in the lane. I don’t know if he’ll be a superstar in the NBA. It depends on his motor. I haven’t watched him as much. I think AJ Griffin will be a very good pro, I think he’s got the motor, he’s got the toughness, he’s got the grit.
GONZAGA Over UCONN: RJ Cole makes the money shots, but Danny Hurley’s Huskies fall to Gonzaga.
Regional final
GONZAGA over TEXAS TECH: The Red Raiders reloaded. The whole world’s in a transfer portal now — my wife put me in a transfer portal last week but I’m trying to get out. There’s no interest — by any woman alive or yet to be born. Tech doesn’t score enough to beat the Zags.
East
First round
VIRGINIA TECH over TEXAS: The Hokies are on a roll and are a better shooting team.
KENTUCKY over SAINT PETER’S: Shaheen Holloway is destined for a more high-profile job, but he better hope for a power blackout where you can’t see.
Regional semifinals
UCLA over BAYLOR: Scott Drew’s been doing it with mirrors without CJ Cryer (foot). The Bruins’ wings are tough to guard and Tyger Campbell is no longer an offensive question mark.
Regional final
KENTUCKY over UCLA: Oscar Tshiebwe is devastating inside.
Final Four
KENTUCKY over GONZAGA: Tshiebwe is the Player of the Year in my humble opinion. He goes after every rebound. He’ll break Chet Holmgren — who deserves to be the first pick in the draft — in half. Drew Timme’s athleticism is good, but it’s not elite. Kellen Grady can do damage from outside.
ARIZONA over KANSAS: Azuolas Tubelis and Oumar Ballo are more athletic big men than the Jayhawks’ David McCormack, and Kerr Kriisa is getting healthy.
NCAA Championship
ARIZONA over KENTUCKY: Kentucky goes into scoring droughts on occasion. Mathurin is a consistent scorer and Dalen Terry can shoot it. Ballo and Christian Koloko are 7-footers who play above the rim. Tommy Lloyd was with Mark Few in Gonzaga in the vineyard picking the grapes, now he’s drinking some big-time wine.
Arizona 79, Kentucky 77
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