Jay Bilas says Alabama, UConn are the most 'intriguing teams' in NCAA Tournament

After starting off with 64 teams on Thursday, the NCAA Tournament is already down to less than 20 as we prepare for the Sweet Sixteen. However, who is the best among who’s left? Well, Jay Bilas shared his thoughts during an appearance on SportsCenter on Monday.

In Bilas’ eyes, No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 UConn are ‘the two most intriguing teams’ left in the field. As far as the Tide’s case, it’s fairly obvious. They came in as the No. 1 overall seed and proved why with their wins over the first weekend. UConn, though, showed him that they’re back to being the team that’s a real threat to come out on top come the Final Four.

“Alabama and UConn, I think, are the two most intriguing teams,” said Bilas. “Alabama’s the best team. They’ve got the best personnel, they’ve got the best player in Brandon Miller.”

“But UConn is playing much like they did early in the season. (That’s) when we thought, ‘Hey, this UConn team can win it all’,” Bilas said. “They went through a rough patch like a number of teams did so their ranking went down. But all their efficiency numbers did not. And with Adama Sanogo? And Donovan Clingan coming off the bench? Their size is impressive. Jordan Hawkins can really shoot it. They’ve got terrific athletes on the wing, especially with Andre Jackson. I think they’re a very real threat as a four-seed to win this whole thing.”

Again, not much needs to be said about Alabama because, once again, they showed off their dominance. They hung nearly 100 on Texas A&M-CC with Miller not scoring a point and then ran away from a decent Maryland team thanks to a 45-point second half.

With that said, the Huskies were equally impressive in the wins that earned them a spot their spot in Las Vegas. First, they stomped Iona in the second half by 26 points to send Rick Pitino and the MAAC Champions home. After that, UConn ended their victory against Saint Mary’s on a 29-15 run to win by 15. Combine the two and they shot 51.3% from the field and 44.8% from deep as a team while Sanogo went off individually for averages of 26 points and 10.5 rebounds.

Things will become more difficult for both teams as they try to survive and earn spots in the Final Four this weekend. Even so, Bilas likes both of their chances to be in Houston come April 1st or to even be playing for the title against one another on April 3rd.