(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
March Madness - who goes on, who goes home - for both men and women in college hoops. Fans fill out their brackets - these days, also, their betting slips. Michele Steele of ESPN joined us. Michele, thanks so much for being with us.
MICHELE STEELE: Sure. Good morning, Scott.
SIMON: Every time I refer to the seeds - who's seeded - I think about a pumpernickel bagel...
STEELE: (Laughter).
SIMON: ...But I digress. We're pretty sure the Southeastern Conference is going to send a record number of teams to the men's tourney. What's their secret sauce?
STEELE: Yeah, they could be sending 14. We'll find out, of course, tomorrow on Selection Sunday. But if they do get those 14 schools in, that would be a record. And, you know, part of the reason for this, you could scratch it up to expansion. Texas joined the conference, and that's bolstered the SEC's basketball bona fides.
But a lot of it has to do with leadership, Scott. You know, they got - the SEC got a new commissioner in 2015, Greg Sankey. He happened to be a former high school basketball coach. And he's really put a lot of resources into turning around the SEC's basketball fortunes, and he's been successful. So forget football for the SEC, Scott. It's a basketball conference now.
SIMON: Listen, Duke's Cooper Flagg - freshman - biggest star in the tourney maybe but he hurt his ankle this week during the ACC Tournament and questionable if he's going to return. Duke was considered by many to be the top seed. Now?
STEELE: Well, you know, they do play Louisville today in the ACC conference championship game, and they should win. But obviously, their flow has been majorly disrupted. You know, Cooper Flagg, Scott, leads the team in - oh, you know - things like points, rebounds...
SIMON: Yeah.
STEELE: ...Assists, blocks, steals. There's obviously other talent on that team, but the focus is going to be on getting him right for the tournament next week.
SIMON: Let me ask you about the women's bracket. Caitlin Clark, of course, is gone from Iowa. But I gather the betters that she helped attract a women's basketball have stuck around.
STEELE: Yeah, you know, not sure if you guys have a brackets' pool at the NPR offices, Scott - just for fun, of course.
SIMON: It's been known. It's been known. Yeah.
STEELE: (Laughter) But March Madness, as we know, it's the biggest gambling event all year round. And the American Gaming Association actually projects that it's getting bigger. There is going to be a 15% increase - they estimate - on betting on March Madness, and a lot of that is fueled by increased betting on the women's game. And, you know, you said it - Caitlin Clark attracted so many new fans to the game last year and the year before. But women's hoops have remained popular. You've got new stars like Juju Watkins and Paige Bueckers who are attracting fans and degenerates, or casual degenerates, alike.
SIMON: John Feinstein, who wrote dozens of books, including real classic, "A Season On The Brink" about Indiana's Bobby Knight, died Thursday. Too young, the age of 69, a regular on Morning Edition for many years, columnist for The Washington Post - quite an impact on sports writing, didn't he?
STEELE: Well, yeah, I'll say. You know, it's appropriate today, where you and I have talked college hoops for this whole segment, that we end on John Feinstein and talking about him a little bit. Because college basketball was really woven into who he was as a writer and a journalist. And Coach K - you know, the former coach of Duke, Mike Krzyzewski - said he was brilliant. He was one of the best writers for sports. He was polarizing, but he didn't care. He wasn't lovable. And he'll be remembered this week, for sure.
SIMON: Yeah. Michele Steele, thanks so much. Talk to you soon.
STEELE: Thanks again. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
