NCAA Tournament Picks: What Teams Will Advance To The Final Four?
By Norm Elrod
(CBS Minnesota/CBS Local) -- The NCAA Tournament rolls into the Sweet 16, with a few questions answered last weekend and many more posed for this coming weekend. Villanova won't be defending last year's title after being squashed by Purdue. Michigan State and an angry Tom Izzo finally made it past the second round. Top scorers like Marquette's Markus Howard and Murray State's Ja Morant lived up to the hype, even if they couldn't carry their teams beyond the first weekend.
Looking ahead, how much further can Duke's talented trio of one-and-dones lead the Blue Devils? Has Virginia finally buried the memory of their 2018 breakdown? Are we destined for a Final Four of number-one seeds, or only ACC teams? These and so many other questions await answers, as the Sweet 16 tips off Thursday from Anaheim and Louisville, and then Friday from Washington, DC and Kansas City.
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To sort through it all and give their Final Four picks, we've once again enlisted the help of sports anchors Ryan Baker at CBS Chicago, Bill Jones at CBS Dallas, Mike Max at CBS Minnesota, and Don Bell at CBS Philadelphia. Many of their picks from the Tournament's opening weekend were spot on. But there isn't much agreement beyond Duke this week.
Below are the teams the experts believe will advance to the Final Four next weekend in Minneapolis. Check out the video above for the reasoning behind these picks.
Bill Jones, CBS Dallas
- Duke
- Gonzaga
- Virginia
- North Carolina
Don Bell, CBS Philadelphia
- Duke
- Michigan
- Purdue
- North Carolina
Mike Max, CBS Minnesota
- Duke
- Michigan
- Tennessee
- Kentucky
Ryan Baker, CBS Chicago
- Duke
- Florida State
- Virginia
- North Carolina