The craziest college basketball postseason tournament of all time will come to a conclusion next Monday evening with the 2023 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament national championship game. However, the Final Four tips off tonight from Houston.
Two teams that virtually no one saw making it to the national semifinals will match up at 6:09 p.m. ET on CBS: Florida Atlantic University and San Diego State University. The winner of this matchup between teams making their first Final Four appearances in program history, respectively, will face off against the primetime matchup of University of Miami vs. University of Connecticut.
UCONN is no stranger to Final Fours, while Miami, a school with a strong track record sports like football and baseball, will make its first Final Four appearance ever in men’s basketball.
The winners of Saturday night’s Final Four games will face off Monday evening in primetime for the 2023 NCAA Men’s National championship game, again on CBS.
Speaking of iconic tournaments, what does the 2023 TVNewser Bracket Challenge leaderboard look like as we head into Saturday night’s Final Four matchups?
CNBC’s Jim Cramer is currently in the lead with 62 points. He chose the University of Texas to win it all. However, Texas lost to Miami in the Elite 8 round, making Cramer’s route to victory a tough one.
Fox Weather meteorologist Jason Frazer, on the other hand, is in a great position. He’s in second place behind Cramer with 60 points. Frazer’s position is amazing for multiple reasons. First, he was in last place going into the Sweet 16 round. Second, Frazer actually predicted that Miami and UCONN would face off in the Final Four (meteorologists are good at predicting the results of college basketball games, in addition to the weather, it seems).
Frazer predicted UCONN to win the tournament this year and consequently has the inside track to winning this year’s TVNewser Challenge.
PBS NewsHour correspondent Lisa Desjardins currently sits in a third-place tie with NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander. The duo has 57 points. Following are CNBC Last Call host Brian Sullivan with 56 points, Bloomberg Quick and Bloomberg Radio anchor Scarlet Fu, TVNewser senior editor A.J. Katz with 55 points apiece, Fox News White House correspondent Kevin Corke and Bloomberg Markets: The Close co-host Romaine Bostick with 54 points, , with 2021 champion PBS NewsHour svp and general manager Michael Rancillo and CNBC Squawk on the Street co-anchor Sara Eisen currently rounding out the top 10.
Here’s how the standings look going into Saturday night’s Final Four matchups:
Here’s what the 2023 TVNewser Men’s March Madness Bracket Challenge leaderboard looks like going into the Final Four:
2023 Standings (Heading Into Final Four) | ||||||
Rank | Network | Name | Score | Correct | Max Score | Champion |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | CNBC | Jim Cramer | 62 | 37 | 62 | Texas |
2 | Fox Weather | Jason Frazer | 60 | 32 | 108 | UCONN |
3 | PBS NewsHour | Lisa Desjardins | 57 | 32 | 57 | Alabama |
3 | NBC News | Peter Alexander | 57 | 36 | 57 | Purdue |
5 | CNBC | Brian Sullivan | 56 | 31 | 56 | Purdue |
6 | Bloomberg | Scarlet Fu | 55 | 32 | 71 | Alabama |
6 | TVNewser/Adweek | A.J. Katz | 55 | 34 | 55 | Alabama |
8 | Fox News | Kevin Corke | 54 | 38 | 54 | Alabama |
8 | Bloomberg | Romaine Bostick | 54 | 37 | 54 | Houston |
10 | PBS NewsHour | Michael Rancilio | 49 | 31 | 49 | Houston |
10 | CNBC | Sara Eisen | 49 | 36 | 49 | Houston |
13 | Fox News | Todd Piro | 48 | 35 | 48 | Houston |
14 | CBS News Streaming | Darius Walker | 47 | 35 | 47 | Alabama |
14 | NBC News | Janelle Rodriguez | 47 | 34 | 47 | Purdue |
16 | fmr. CNBC | Brian Steel | 46 | 31 | 46 | Houston |
16 | CNN | John Berman | 46 | 33 | 46 | Purdue |
18 | CNBC | Dominic Chu | 45 | 33 | 45 | Alabama |
18 | Bloomberg | Kailey Leinz | 45 | 32 | 45 | Virginia |
18 | CNBC | Seema Mody | 45 | 33 | 45 | Kansas |
21 | CNBC | Anne Tironi | 44 | 34 | 44 | Kansas |
22 | The Weather Channel | Alex Wallace | 43 | 30 | 43 | Alabama |
23 | The Weather Channel | Paul Goodloe | 42 | 29 | 42 | Houston |
23 | CNBC | Tyler Mathisen | 42 | 28 | 42 | Purdue |
25 | Fox News | Joe Concha | 41 | 30 | 41 | UCLA |
25 | CNBC | Matt Quayle | 41 | 30 | 41 | Alabama |
25 | ABC News | Michael Huberman | 41 | 31 | 41 | Houston |
28 | Bloomberg | Jason Kelly | 40 | 32 | 40 | UCLA |
29 | CNBC | Jessica Golden | 40 | 30 | 40 | Alabama |
30 | CNBC | Matt Cuddy | 40 | 29 | 40 | Houston |
31 | Fox News | Abby Hornacek | 37 | 28 | 37 | Marquette |
31 | CNBC | Joe Kernen | 37 | 30 | 37 | UCLA |
31 | CNBC | Matt Rosoff | 37 | 27 | 37 | Houston |
31 | Bloomberg | Tom Keene | 37 | 30 | 37 | Purdue |
35 | CNN | Kasie Hunt | 36 | 28 | 36 | Michigan State |
36 | NBC News | Hallie Jackson | 33 | 27 | 33 | Houston |