After an incredible buzzer-beater which propelled No. 4 seed Florida to an overtime win over No. 8 Wisconsin at Madison Square Garden, the NCAA tournament regional final matchups are now all set. The action tips off this evening at 6:09 p.m. ET on TBS with No. 11 Xavier taking No. 1 Gonzaga in the West final from San Jose. The Midwest region (Kansas City) gets the prime time slot, with No. 3 Oregon versus No. 1 Kansas. Tipoff for that is 8:49 p.m. ET on TBS.
In more important news, the 2017 TVNewser Bracket Challenge field remains wide open.
One of the newest members of the CNN family, Early Start co-host Dave Briggs, now finds himself in a 1st place tie with a certain co-editor. Both have 68 points. Perhaps Briggs’s sports television background (he was most recently at NBCSN) is coming in handy. Both Briggs and yours truly were tied for 5th place going into the Sweet 16.
CNBC reporter Dominic Chu, (the 2011 TVNewser Bracket Challenge winner) is right behind them with 66 points. He and his colleague Closing Bell co-anchor Kelly Evans (62 points) were tied for first going into the Sweet 16.
CNBC Squawk on the Street and Worldwide Exchange co-anchor Sara Eisen held the No. 1 spot after the first round of action, and now sits in 4th place.
Fox Business Network’s Countdown to the Closing Bell anchor Liz Claman made perhaps the most impressive leap over these past two days. She was tied for 11th going into the Sweet 16, and now finds herself at No. 6.
Out of the TV newsers in the top 10, Chu, NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Kasie Hunt, CNBC Squawk Box co-anchor Joe Kernen, and CNBC’s head of communications Brian Steel have their selection for tournament champion still in the field.
The 2016 TVNewser Bracket Challenge winner, HLN meteorologist Bob Van Dillen, currently sits in 20th place. With that in mind, we may have a new champion this year. But you never know!
Enjoy the games.
| STANDINGS | ||||||
| RANK | NAME | SCORE | CORRECT | BEST SCORE | BEST CORRECT | CHAMPION |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dave Briggs | 68 | 42 | 100 | 45 | Duke (161) |
| 1 | A.J. Katz | 68 | 42 | 100 | 45 | Duke (145) |
| 3 | Dominic Chu | 66 | 42 | 122 | 45 | Kentucky (129) |
| 4 | Sara Eisen | 65 | 43 | 81 | 45 | Duke (160) |
| 5 | Kelly Evans | 62 | 41 | 94 | 44 | UCLA (155) |
| 6 | Liz Claman | 61 | 39 | 93 | 42 | UCLA (126) |
| 7 | Kasie Hunt | 60 | 40 | 124 | 44 | Kentucky (150) |
| 8 | Brian Steel | 58 | 38 | 146 | 44 | N. Carolina (137) |
| 8 | Eric Chemi | 58 | 40 | 66 | 41 | UCLA (155) |
| 8 | Jessica Golden | 58 | 39 | 98 | 43 | Duke (158) |
| 8 | Joe Kernen | 58 | 39 | 122 | 43 | N. Carolina (139) |
| 12 | Blake Burman | 57 | 38 | 65 | 39 | UCLA (152) |
| 12 | Matt Rosoff | 57 | 40 | 81 | 42 | Arizona (128) |
| 14 | Andrew Ross Sorkin | 55 | 38 | 71 | 40 | Villanova (140) |
| 14 | Janelle Rodriguez | 55 | 35 | 87 | 38 | Villanova (186) |
| 14 | Matt Quayle | 55 | 35 | 135 | 40 | Gonzaga (150) |
| 17 | Bill Weir | 54 | 37 | 114 | 41 | Kansas (128) |
| 17 | Todd Bonin | 54 | 35 | 142 | 41 | Kansas (154) |
| 19 | PETER ALEXANDER | 53 | 38 | 117 | 42 | Gonzaga (147) |
| 20 | Bob Van Dillen | 48 | 32 | 104 | 35 | N. Carolina (123) |
| 21 | Brian Kilmeade | 47 | 36 | 103 | 39 | N. Carolina (149) |
| 22 | David Westin | 46 | 32 | 54 | 33 | Michigan (167) |
| 23 | Willie Geist | 39 | 28 | 47 | 29 | UCLA (145) |
| 24 | Steve Kornacki | 38 | 29 | 38 | 29 | Villanova (141) |
| 25 | Janice Dean | 34 | 27 | 42 | 28 | Louisville (160) |