Mark Titus

This is finally Virginia's year to win it all

I actually believe in Virginia this time. Honest to God, hand to God... This is their year. No, I don't know if they're going to win. Their offense is better this year than it has been every year.

No Big Ten team is good enough to win the national championship this year

I don't think the Big Ten has a team good enough to win the national championship if they're here. I really don't.

Rick Pitino will get another job but not at a power conference

I think he is going to get a job eventually though... he'll pop up somewhere he's gonna he's gonna go to some tiny ass school and someone's going to write the article, like probably Dickie V, about how Rick Pitino is, you know, he's changing his image.

The Pac-12 is just soft because the weather is too perfect

The Pac-12 is just soft. Their only hope is to like import kids from the East coast... who wants to go to UCLA and like be in a gym all day, every day and work on your game? No, that's not why you go to UCLA.

The Big 12's dominance by Kansas is driven by their home court advantage, not the quality of the team this year

I don't think Kansas wins the Big 12 every year. I think Kansas fans win the Big 12 every year... Phog Allen Fieldhouse wins the Big 12 for Kansas every year. It's impossible to win in there, and so they go into every Big 12 season knowing that they're getting nine free wins. Their team sucks this year. If they had to play in Baylor's arena every single night, they're not winning the Big 12.

People who think Michael Jordan is better than LeBron James have a real basketball mind

people that love Jordan, it makes it obvious that you're just into the memes and that sort of thing. And those are the people that side with LeBron. That's how I know who actually has a basketball mind. Oh, you're going to do that? Like LeBron. Yeah, if you think Jordan's better, that's cool. Listen, you're going to like Jordan. It just tells me where you're at intellectually on a basketball level.

If Kevin Durant and LeBron James switched teams, the Warriors would still sweep the Finals

I think the Warriors win the title and sweep in the finals.

The NBA should abolish the draft and let college players become free agents immediately

Are we sure we need an NBA draft? Why not let the guys just become free agents? Like, they just graduated college, and now they're just free agents out of the gate. And it's like people just try to sign college players. Because it's going to happen anyway.

Luka Doncic is overhyped by 'nerds' and the EuroLeague is a garbage league

The nerds love Doncic, and it almost is offensive to me just how they talk about Doncic. There's like a slant against college basketball in how people talk about Doncic. I'm not going to pretend like I've watched the guy, but my problem is the beef I have is that everyone else is pretending like they've watched the guy... you go look at who's actually won EuroLeague MVPs and what it takes to win a EuroLeague MVP, and you're like, holy shit. That is a garbage league. These are not great players.

Colin Sexton will be a better NBA point guard than Trae Young

It hurts me to say it, but probably Colin Sexton. Just because Colin Sexton, that dude... he has that drive and the intangibles and all that kind of stuff that people go nuts for. Manalytics... Failure is not an option. I really like Trae Young. I hope it works out... but everyone thinks Trae Young is going to be Steph Curry again, and the margin of error is, I don't think you understand how hard it is to be Steph Curry.

Mikal Bridges will be the 'Donovan Mitchell' of the 2018 draft who steps in and doesn't miss a beat

I would say Mikal Bridges is the best that could probably step in and he's not going to be like as good as Jason Tatum or Donovan Mitchell probably. But, uh, I don't know. He can give you something like right away and you can like see, see it right away... that guy could jump on an NBA court right this second and not miss a beat.

The Warriors will win the next three NBA championships

I hate to be that college basketball fan of bitches about the NBA, but they really are just going to win it again. They're going to win the next three.

If the Blazers had drafted Kevin Durant over Greg Oden, they still wouldn't have won any titles and KD would have left anyway

if they take KD [in Portland]... then they don't win any titles, and then he leaves. How is KD's situation in Portland any different than what it was in OKC? It wasn't. He still wouldn't have won any titles. He would have left. That's my two cents on that.

Virginia is the best team in college basketball but losing DeAndre Hunter is a massive blow

I think [Virginia] were definitely the best team in college basketball... But this injury does matter a lot. DeAndre Hunter was one of the guys that made me optimistic about this Virginia team versus their teams of the past. He's by far their most talented player.

Davidson is the perfect team to upset Kentucky

Davidson over Kentucky, even though I really like Kentucky... Davidson's red hot... They feel like the perfect upset kind of team that they have upperclassmen and a lot of different guys who can score.

Xavier is the weakest #1 seed and lucky to be there

Xavier's definitely the weakest one seed. I don't love teams that don't play defense in March... Xavier feels like one of those teams to me that their defense is going to come catch up to them. They're going to look really bad.

North Carolina will win the West Region

I think it's North Carolina's to lose. I think Gonzaga could give them a fun game in the Elite Eight, but I think Carolina's the best team.

Villanova will go to the Final Four if they survive the second round

Villanova got a great draw if they can just get over the second-round hump... If you're asking me, is West Virginia better than Villanova, the answer is clearly no. I think it's Villanova.

2018 is the year a #16 seed finally beats a #1 seed, likely Penn over Kansas

I'm going to say this is the year that a 16 over one happens because why not? ... Penn, Kansas seems to be the one... If Kansas played Penn in a seven-game series, they're obviously going to move on, but it's a one-shot deal.

Duke is going to win the national championship

Duke is winning it all... Them and Michigan State are the only two teams in college basketball that are top ten defense and offense in KenPalm. It just feels like a Duke year.

New Mexico State will upset Clemson in the first round

New Mexico State over Clemson is like the 12-5 I believe in the most... That's my one big upset.

North Carolina is not actually that good and will end up as a 4 or 5 seed

[North Carolina] is like a four or five seed is what they're going to end up being... I didn't think Carolina was that good coming into the year. I feel like they've overachieved at this point. They just have like an obvious lack of talent compared to most really good Carolina teams.

Duke is cheating to land the top recruits in college basketball

I seriously do think Duke is cheating their ass off. It's amazing to me that Coach K has kind of brainwashed the rest of the country that if this happened literally any other school, people would start screaming about how they're cheating... Duke is landing the top three guys, and they're not paying anybody? No.

Jeff Capel will be the 'buffer' coach after Mike Krzyzewski retires and will be fired almost immediately

He's [Jeff Capel] going to get hired after Krzyzewski, and then he's going to get fired almost immediately, and then they're going to bring in the real coach. You've got to have that buffer after a legend.

Oklahoma and Trae Young will not make the Final Four because of their defense

Is Trae Young, like, can Trae Young take Oklahoma to a Final Four? No, I don't think [so]. One, I don't think the defense is good enough... In a single elimination, they just don't play good enough defense.

The Big 12 will struggle in the NCAA Tournament and might only send one team to the Sweet 16

The Big 12 is the best conference in college basketball, but every single team has a fatal flaw. It wouldn't surprise me if they get seven teams into the tournament and get one team to even make the Sweet 16.

Villanova is clearly the best team in the country

I think [Villanova] is clearly the best team in the country, and they have like six guys who would start on virtually any team, which is kind of incredible to think about.

Kentucky stinks and might actually miss the NCAA tournament

Kentucky, hot take. Kentucky might miss the tournament. They stink... Kentucky is terrible, and if they continue on this path they're on, they might fall out of the tournament at the last second.

LeBron James moving to the Lakers is just him copying my move to LA

I love Ohio. A lot of people say that. But when LeBron leaves Ohio for L.A., he's going to be copying me. I'm just getting out ahead of it a little bit. I'm the first person to ever move from the Midwest to Los Angeles for career opportunities.

The FBI investigation caught coaches off guard because they thought they were only breaking NCAA rules

I guarantee none of these coaches realized they were breaking actual laws. They thought they were just dealing in the fantasy land of NCAA fake rules. ... They'd lose a scholarship. I guarantee all these guys that are arrested are like, what the fuck? This is a real law?

Duke is dirty but Mike Krzyzewski is too powerful to be caught

Duke, so here's my fear with Duke. Duke is dirty as hell... Krzyzewski is such a godfather and has this figured out so well. Like, I think it's impossible to get to him. And I'm sort of worried it's impossible they'll ever get to Cal, too.

Jar Jar Binks is actually the ultimate Sith Lord

Jar Jar Binks is actually the ultimate Sith Lord.

Wisconsin being an 8-seed is the worst injustice in college basketball history

This is the worst season of the tournament of my lifetime. This is the worst injustice in college basketball history. Wisconsin swept Minnesota. They finished second in the Big Ten in the regular season, and then they were the runner-ups in the Big Ten tournament. And then Minnesota gets a 5 seed, and Wisconsin got an 8 seed. I don't understand it.

Duke isn't a good team, they just have good players

Duke is back to being back. But we're conveniently ignoring that Duke was down 15 in all these ACC tournament games... Duke is not a good team. They have good players, but they're not actually a good team. And SMU is a good team. So it wouldn't surprise me to see SMU win.

Gonzaga is the best team in the country

I actually like Gonzaga. I think Gonzaga's the best team in the country, and I know that's absolutely insane to say. I don't expect them to win at all, but I do think they're the best team and the most complete team.

Louisville has scored 69 points more than any other program in tournament history

Louisville has scored 69 points in NCAA tournament more than any other program in the country... I swear to God, that's a fact. And then it gets even better... the program that has won the most games in college basketball history that has never scored 69 in the tournament is BYU.

Oklahoma State will beat Michigan

I like how the plane crash... negates like everything else we know about Michigan. This has become the story... Michigan beat some shitty Big Ten teams to win the tournament... and now we're going to pretend like they're actually a good team. I think Oklahoma State's going to win that game.

Rhode Island is the mid-major most likely to make noise in the tournament

I would say Rhode Island [is a team that can make some noise].

Indiana isn't playing NIT games at home because they don't want to show fans booing Tom Crean

The rumor is [Indiana] is not playing in the NIT at home because they don't want people to know that, they don't want to show people booing [Tom] Crean and they don't want to see the empty seats in Assembly Hall and stuff.

Grayson Allen's tripping incidents are victimless pranks that don't actually matter

The thing about Grayson Allen that I absolutely love is that all of this is victimless and it doesn't actually matter. The stakes are non-existent in this story. And we pretend like they are because we just love to hate Duke so much.

Coach K's leave of absence was a PR move to shield Grayson Allen from the headlines

My theory is that the Coach K leave of absence is one to take headlines away from Grayson. Because that's all he was talking about. And K said, if I step away—and by the way, both of these things are happening right after they get smoked at Virginia Tech. That's not a coincidence either.

Coach K gave Jeff Capel the Duke team as a tryout to become the future head coach

Um, that K, this whole Capel thing is a tryout for Capel because K wants Capel to get the job after he leaves. So this is, this is not actually like a, his back doesn't hurt. He's just saying, here you go, Capel. I'm going to give you the most talented team, maybe in college basketball history... prove to everyone that you're a great coach. And then that way, when I retire, you can be like, 'Hey, remember that time that I took 12 McDonald's All-Americans to a 4-0 record?'

I do not trust UCLA because they play no defense whatsoever

I don't trust UCLA. Everyone's really excited that UCLA is back, but they play no defense whatsoever.

LeBron James is the perfect laboratory-engineered basketball player, more so than Jordan

In all seriousness, I think LeBron is... If you had to clone a guy and put five of him on the floor, he's clearly the guy that you would want. If you're making a basketball player in a laboratory from the ground up, you build LeBron James.

The Big Ten hasn't been truly relevant in basketball since 2000

Midwestern people in general, we like to shit on ourselves and our situations... we know we're terrible. We haven't won a title since 2000. Every single program in the Big Ten is lost in the national championship. It's like the most devastating thing.

Tom Izzo is the only blue blood coach who gets a free pass from criticism

He's like the only blue blood coach who gets a free pass by everybody. Like he's just universally beloved. Everyone hates how [Coach K] is stuck up. Bill Self, people think he's a joker. Calipari is a sleazeball. Pitino is a sleazeball... Everyone has shitty things to say about every coach at a big-time program except Izzo.

Syracuse's defense is as unpredictable as a knuckleball pitcher

Syracuse's defense to me is like R.A. Dickey's knuckleball and – when he's got it working, it's unhittable. But then when it's not working, he just gets fucking rocked. Like, that's how I feel about Syracuse. And right now, like, the knuckleball's humming.

Malcolm Brogdon is a top 3 player in the country

He has Malcolm Brogdon, who is... maybe the best player in the country, probably not, but he's certainly one of the top three players in the country.

Buddy Hield is essentially J.J. Redick in the NBA

I think he's going to be a good pro... He can average 15 a game in the league, but... he doesn't seem that much better than J.J. Redick was though. I think Buddy will be good... but I don't know if I'd take him third.

North Carolina is untouchable if they continue to hit three-pointers

UNC, the way to beat them is that they don't make threes, and for some reason they're making threes... if they're shooting like that, yeah, no one's touching them... If they shoot like they are, they're untouchable.