By ADAM ZAGORIA
Jay Bilas and the ESPN GameDay crew were in Storrs, Conn., on Saturday for the first time in 13 years, and Bilas immediately made friends with his proclamation on the state of college basketball.
“I think UConn’s the best team this year,” Bilas said ahead of No. 1 UConn’s 78-54 rout of Villanova on Saturday.
“Are they invincible? No, nobody is. But if you’re picking one team to win it, you’re picking UConn. Now if you’re laying a bet down and you’re saying UConn [vs] the field, I’m sure there are a lot of people in Vegas who would say the odds say you take the field in the NCAA Tournament.
“But when you do your bracket, you can only pick team to win it and UConn is the team….They have all the pieces even with what they lost last year. They’re ahead of where they were last year relative to the field and I think they’re continuing to get better. Their defense is improved a great deal from December until now. They’re trending to a Top-10 defensive level and I think they’re a top-2 offensive team, so you combine those two things, who else do you take?” ESPN’s Seth Greenberg, meantime, said Purdue is in the conversation but has to prove it can get past the first round after having multiple early exits in recent years, including last year to No. 16 FDU in the first round. “If they get past the first game, Purdue will be in the Final Four,” Greenberg said. Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter Follow ZAGSBLOGHoops on Instagram And Like ZAGS on Facebook‘If you’re picking one team to win it, you pick @UConnMBB ‘@JayBilas https://t.co/ViVMBFavfV
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) February 24, 2024
