Bonnie Bernstein has covered everyone from the Bulls during the Michael Jordan era, to Tom Brady at the height of the New England Patriots title runs. Not to mention, years in the game as a sideline reporter covering NCAA Mens National Tournament. With that kind of resume, it seemed only right to catch up with her for a little insight on March Madness this year for her thoughts on everything from which teams are sure to burst some brackets to whether Andrew Wiggins can handle the biggest stage of his career.
VIBE: Which No.1 seed has the most likely chance to make the Final Four?
It’s open this year, but if you look at the brackets you have to think Wichita St. has the toughest road and Florida has the easiest. I don’t want to discredit UCLA and I love seeing a 6-foot-9 Kyle Anderson out there running point guard, but I don’t think the Bruins have enough defense to stop Florida. Syracuse makes it tough too, but, even though they had such a great start at 25-0, we don’t know which Syracuse team we’ll see.
Out of Virginia and Wichita St., who goes down first and in what round?
Well I think Wichita St. is going to go out in the third round. I don’t want to to discount a team that made history and went 32-0 on the season and I think that Gregg Marshall has done a masterful job at creating bulletin board material for his team and making his kids mentally tougher. It’s not about the quality of the competition, but the mental strength it takes to never play down to lesser competition. We don’t talk enough about that, being able to play at such a high level night in and night out. With that said, they get Kentucky next and while the Wildcats are young and inconsistent, they were a different team down the stretch of that SEC tournament. I felt like we watched them grow up.
Calipari says he’s simplified things in the offense for them and it seems to be working. When I look at them in that round I se Kentucky knocking off Wichita St. The Shockers have depth and rebound the ball well, but don’t know how they’ll match up with Kentucky’s talent.
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Image Credit: Getty Images Every year there are teams that have a shot at making the tournament but don’t get in. I’m not sue anyone though SMU was a bubble team. How do they not get in?
So we’re going to have the North Carolina State/SMU argument, huh? (Laughs) I sort of think NC State got in because of TJ Warren and because the committee ignored that the ACC had a down year.
Who are your sleeper teams in the tournament?
I had Harvard beating Cincinnati. With the history of at least one 12 always beating a five, they have so much depth and are battle tested. Head coach Tommy Amaker has done a great job with them. New Mexico has one of the best post scorers in the country in Cameron Bairstow and a great pick and pop shooter in Alex Kirk. Then you add that to reigning Mountain West Player of the Year, Kendall Williams. I don’t think Kansas will be able to withstand the Lobos without Joel Embiid. and even if he does play, a back injury is so tough to overcome. I’m going with New Mexico.
I’m with you on Embiid, but I think him being out sort of sets the stage for Andrew Wiggins to be superman. No discredit to Bill Self, who’s one of the best coaches come March, but I felt his system stifled Wiggins a little bit.
There were a couple games where Wiggins shot was struggling and I thought, for a second, maybe he’s not up for the spotlight. The thing with him is he’s very coachable. Observing him in practice and reading his body language, he’s always mentally checked in to what his coaches are saying, he wants to get better and they love that about him. We know the consensus is that he’s a one and done after this year, but he doesn’t function as if he’s checked out.
His shooting percentage has gone up and I think he’s really ready to shine. That said, he’s still a guard and there’s only so much he can do without Embiid in the front court.
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Image Credit: Getty Images True, but I mean he’s not a small guard (laughs). I know the bodies are bigger, but I watched him guard Kentucky’s Julius Randle in AAU basketball and if you can guard Randle, you can guard any big in the country. That and Kansas still has Perry Ellis.
I think it was Bruce Weber (Kansas St. head coach) who said Perry Ellis deserved Big 12 Player of the Year and he might have been right. I don’t wan’t to discredit Ellis, I think he’s great and one of the most consistent players in college basketball.
I understand though, it’s like which team will we see. I’m a UNC fan, so I know how you never know which team will show up. I think our only chance is if Marcus Paige plays well.
Well they lost their best player in PJ Hairston and then they had to figure out who they were as a team. Of all the high profile teams, we don’t know which UNC team we’ll see. To your point, it’s all the more reason to be baffled. On one hand they’re getting it handed to them some games and then it’s like a switch turns on and they make great comebacks and you’re watching like ‘which team are we looking at?’
Right. Tough being a Tar Heel fan this year, but that’s my team. I’m riding with them. Tell me more about Campus Insiders and “The 68 in 60.”
It was a great concept that I thought was a good idea, but my minor concern was that it was an ambitious turnaround. If you click on any team on our live bracket, there’s an editorial and a one minute video about the team. Seth and I did a video on bracket busters, easiest road to the Final Four and more. In about 11 hours, we pushed out 73 videos. The whole crew pulled an all nighter to get it done. We have a very small staff, but the dedication I saw from the team in the middle of the night was equally as impressive as the content produced in such a small amount of time. I can’t think of a time I’ve been more proud of a team I’ve worked with.
That’s awesome. To do that in just about 24 hours is amazing considering how many teams there are and not knowing exactly who’s in until Selection Sunday. Finally, tell us your Final Four picks?
I have Florida and Michigan St., which I know is very original (laughs). Kentucky in the Midwest region and I was back and forth between Arizona and Wisconsin, but I’m going with Wisconsin. Michigan St. against Kentucky in the championship game, with Michigan St. winning it all.