Stephen A. Smith picks Texas A&M to reach Final Four
March Madness is here. With that, everyone is filling out brackets and making bold predictions for the Men’s NCAA Tournament. That includes one of ESPN’s biggest personalities, Stephen A. Smith.
In his bracket, Smith made a very bold prediction, picking the Texas A&M Aggies to make a deep run, all the way to the Final Four. If they were to do so, the Aggies would be making that run as a nine-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Smith’s entire bracket is now live and can be seen, here. Within it, there are several Cinderella runs to choose from. However, his prediction that the Aggies make a run to the Final Four is by far the boldest that he made.
Texas A&M will open the Tournament against Nebraska. That’s going to be a storyline-filled game, with athletic director Trev Alberts recently deciding to move on from Nebraska and take over in the same role with Texas A&M. On the court, it’s likely going to be an excellent matchup, where the winner is expected to move on and play Houston, who is the one-seed in the region.
Getting through that Houston game clean is the key to Stephen A. Smith being right about the Aggies making the Final Four. The Cougars are the toughest team Texas A&M is likely to see and games would potentially get easier after that point.
Still, after that, Smith has Texas A&M playing and beating a couple more blue bloods in Duke and Kentucky to make the Final Four. That’s where the Aggies’ run will end, according to Smith, at the hands of another one-seed, Purdue.
Along with Texas A&M, Stephen A. Smith picked several surprising teams to make deep runs in the NCAA Tournament. That includes Grand Canyon and New Mexico playing in the Sweet Sixteen. Meanwhile, he picked UConn to repeat as champions.
Trev Alberts reacts to NCAA Tournament matchups with Texas A&M, Nebraska
Shortly after the NCAA Tournament matchups were announced, athletic director Trev Alberts reacted to both the Texas A&M men’s and women’s teams playing Nebraska.
“I will say that it appears a little too coincidental to me. But no, I’m really happy for Amy Williams; I’m really happy for Fred Hoiberg. I spent three years working with them and just trying to support them. Those basketball programs have achieved some really significant things,” Alberts said.
“I’m also really, really happy for Coach [Joni] Taylor and Buzz Williams, right. I’ve had a chance as I started to look at this job really, dive in; I’ve watched a lot of press conferences. I’ve watched coach Taylor. [I’m] just really impressed. Those are four really outstanding human beings, and four great teams. So it’ll be a little surreal and interesting to watch them compete. But the beauty is I can’t lose.”