Stephen A. Smith Picks Indiana to Final Four; Jay Bilas Likes Kent State's Upset Chances

Stephen A. Smith picked Alabama, UCLA, Indiana and Duke to reach the Final Four on Monday's episode of "First Take" on ESPN, but college basketball analyst and former Duke player Jay Bilas believes a Kent State upset over Indiana is possible in the Round of 64.

Tori Lynn Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK

Stephen A. Smith appeared on the ESPN show "First Take" on Monday to give his NCAA Tournament picks.

His Final Four included Alabama, UCLA, Indiana and Duke, and he picked the Crimson Tide to win their first National Championship in program history.

Seth Greenberg offered some rebuttal to these picks. He recognized the talent of Trayce Jackson-Davis and said he's a fan of Mike Woodson, but he's worried about Indiana's inconsistent play. Greenberg called it a reach to pick Indiana to the Final Four, and said Smith might need to give the Hoosiers a pep talk about showing up every night. 

"I am giving them a pep talk," Smith said. "You want to go home early, or do you want to handle your business? Mike Woodson is a damn good coach. I love the fact that he's got them in the NCAA Tournament. They've got the pieces. I've had questions about their point guard play in the past, myself, but the bottom line is this. They can get it done, and I believe they're going to go to the Final Four. That's what I'm picking."

Smith reveals his Final Four predictions at the 4:34 mark of this video.

While Smith believes Indiana can make a deep run in this year's tournament, college basketball analyst Jay Bilas thinks the Hoosiers will be challenged in the first round.

In a video on Twitter, Bilas called the Indiana versus Kent State game his most anticipated matchup of the Round of 64 in this year's NCAA Tournament. 

"Kent State is a really good basketball team," Bilas said. "It's coached by a guy named Rob Senderoff, who has done a great job at Kent State. And Kent State has played some of the best teams in the country early on in the season, and they played 'em really tough. It's not like they had a bunch of wins against those top-ranked teams, but you put them in tournament play – their best player is Sincere Carry. He had 35 against Akron, 26 against Toledo and he's scored 20 or more in four of the last five games. Kent State has three players that have made 50 or more threes. 

But early in the season they played Charleston, they played Houston to a two or three-point game, they played Gonzaga really tough. They're excellent defensively, and when you've got a player as good as Sincere Carry, you can certainly win a game, so I wouldn't be surprised. I mean, Trayce Jackson-Davis is going to be a handful, and he's one of the five best players in the country. Jalen Hood-Schifino is playing great, he's matured into an NBA player in my view. But I think Kent State is going to be very difficult for Indiana to beat, and that's a potential upset in that 4-13 game."

This is my most anticipated matchup in the Round of 64 of the NCAA Tournament... pic.twitter.com/VzgBmbGsF4

— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) March 13, 2023

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