It wasn’t a pretty performance, but the University of North Carolina Tar Heels avenged last year’s heartbreaking title game loss and defeated the Gonzaga Bulldogs Monday night 71-65 for the school’s sixth national title in men’s basketball. This is also the third title for coach Roy Williams.
UNC’s victory means that CNBC’s executive vice president of public relations, Brian Steel has been crowned the 2017 TVNewser Bracket Challenge champion, finishing the tournament with a whopping 138 points. Steel was one of four participants who correctly predicted UNC would win it all.
Steel’s CNBC colleague and Squawk Box co-anchor Joe Kernen finished in second place with 114 points, followed by 2016 TVNewser Bracket Challenge champ and HLN meteorologist Bob Van Dillen with 104 points.
Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade and Squawk Box senior executive producer Matt Quayle each earned 103 points.
CNN Early Start co-host Dave Briggs (100), Fox Business Network’s Countdown to the Closing Bell anchor Liz Claman (93), CNBC Closing Bell co-anchor Kelly Evans (86), NBC News national correspondent Peter Alexander (85) and CNBC’s digital editorial director Matt Rosoff (81) round out the top 10.
Thanks to all who participated!
| STANDINGS | ||||||
| RANK | TEAM NAME | SCORE | CORRECT | BEST SCORE | BEST CORRECT | CHAMPION |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brian Steel | 138 | 43 | 138 | 43 | N. Carolina (137) |
| 2 | Joe Kernen | 114 | 42 | 114 | 42 | N. Carolina (139) |
| 3 | Bob Van Dillen | 104 | 35 | 104 | 35 | N. Carolina (123) |
| 4 | Brian Kilmeade | 103 | 39 | 103 | 39 | N. Carolina (149) |
| 5 | Matt Quayle | 103 | 39 | 103 | 39 | Gonzaga (150) |
| 6 | Dave Briggs | 100 | 45 | 100 | 45 | Duke (161) |
| 7 | Liz Claman | 93 | 42 | 93 | 42 | UCLA (126) |
| 8 | Kelly Evans | 86 | 43 | 86 | 43 | UCLA (155) |
| 9 | Peter Alexander | 85 | 41 | 85 | 41 | Gonzaga (147) |
| 10 | Matt Rosoff | 81 | 42 | 81 | 42 | Arizona (128) |
| 11 | Todd Bonin | 78 | 37 | 78 | 37 | Kansas (154) |
| 12 | Jessica Golden | 74 | 41 | 74 | 41 | Duke (158) |
| 13 | Sara Eisen | 73 | 44 | 73 | 44 | Duke (160) |
| 14 | A.J. Katz | 68 | 42 | 68 | 42 | Duke (145) |
| 15 | Kasie Hunt | 68 | 41 | 68 | 41 | Kentucky (150) |
| 16 | Dominic Chu | 66 | 42 | 66 | 42 | Kentucky (129) |
| 17 | Andrew Ross Sorkin | 63 | 39 | 63 | 39 | Villanova (140) |
| 18 | Janelle Rodriguez | 63 | 36 | 63 | 36 | Villanova (186) |
| 19 | Eric Chemi | 58 | 40 | 58 | 40 | UCLA (155) |
| 20 | Blake Burman | 57 | 38 | 57 | 38 | UCLA (152) |
| 21 | Bill Weir | 54 | 37 | 54 | 37 | Kansas (128) |
| 22 | David Westin | 54 | 33 | 54 | 33 | Michigan (167) |
| 23 | Willie Geist | 47 | 29 | 47 | 29 | UCLA (145) |
| 24 | Janice Dean | 42 | 28 | 42 | 28 | Louisville (160) |
| 25 | Steve Kornacki | 38 | 29 | 38 | 29 | Villanova (141) |