Photo by Rob Carr/BIG3/Getty Images.
Now that the NCAA Tournament field is out, everyone’s building their brackets and making their Final Four predictions. Stephen A. Smith is no exception.
On Monday’s edition of First Take, the ESPN pundit made his prediction for the 2023 NCAA Tournament Final Four. He has 1-seeded Alabama in the South, 2-seeded UCLA in West, 4-seeded Indiana in the Midwest and 5-seeded Duke in the East.
Stephen A. stopped short of making his prediction as to who will win the national title. But he was gushing over Alabama and the possibilities of them winning it all as a basketball team playing in a football school.
For once basketball fans are actually praising Stephen A. for his assessment of the NCAA Tournament. Many are giving him props for going with such a reasonable group of picks and showing that he actually knows what’s going on:
Stephen A. making a ton of sense this morning https://t.co/oc47DVOpCC
— Justin Berger (@Justin__Berger) March 13, 2023
So many receipts for UCLA in this thread. Big ups Stephen A for picking the Bruins. That injury excuse is already played out. https://t.co/I7Y6iTn1dm
— Daily Sabonis (@DailySabonis) March 13, 2023
Stephen A….you know ball https://t.co/ZcizaDA9Vs
— Andrew Philpott (@drew_philpott18) March 13, 2023
Oh I like this!!! https://t.co/PPIDxnkB3r
— gabe cupps stan account (@KobeFleming2) March 13, 2023
All four of those teams could conceivably reach the Final Four.
Alabama has consistently been one of the best teams in the country, ranking No. 1 in the nation for a spell earlier this year. Their star point guard Brandon Miller has skyrocketed up the ranks and could be a top three pick in the 2023 NBA Draft when all is said and done.
UCLA has similarly been dominant this season, winning the regular season Pac-12 title before losing the conference title game to rival Arizona.
Indiana has the second-best overall record in the Big Ten and was the only team to sweep Purdue this season. They also boast one of the best duos in the country in Trayce Jackson-Davis and Jalen Hood-Schifino.
Duke showed no decline after transitioning from decades under Coach K to first-year head coach Jon Scheyer, winning the ACC Tournament and beating a number of other NCAA Tournament teams along the way.