By By SCOTT NOVAK and ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - The NCAA mens' basketball tournament gets under way this afternoon and just about everyone has an opinion on just who will win the tournament.
North Carolina seems to be among the favorites, but no one can count out the likes of Illinois, Wake Forest, Duke and Oklahoma State.
Niles girls' basketball coach Jim Arnold has Illinois, Wake Forest, North Carolina and Duke heading to the FinalFour. Arnolds selected North Carolina as the National Champion.
Buchanan boys' basketball coach Reid McBeth has Illinois, Wake Forest, North Carolina and Michigan State going to St. Louis. McBeth selected Wake Forest to win the NCAA championship.
Buchanan athletic director Joe Austin selected Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Oklahoma State as the participants in the Final Four. Austin picked Wake Forest. as the National Champion.
Niles athletic director John Danaher has Illinois, Wake Forest, Kansas and Duke headed to St. Louis with Kansas as the winner.
Niles Daily Star sports writer Erika Pickles picked Duke, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Oklahoma State as the teams headed to St. Louis. Pickles thinks that Wake Forest will win the national title.
Dowagiac athletic director Greg Younger has Illinois, Wake Forest, North Carolina and Duke reaching the Final Four in St. Louis. Younger feels that the Tar Heels will be crowned National Champions.
Katrina Hargreaves-Lee, a former collegiate cager and former Dowagiac varsity girls' basketball coach has Oklahoma State, Gonzaga, North Carolina and Syracuse reaching the Final Four in St. Louis.
Hargreaves-Lee feels that the Tar Heels will be crowned National Champions.
Dowagiac athletic secretary Jodi Badder has Duke, Wake Forest, Kansas and Arizona advancing to St. Louis and to the Final Four.
Badder selected the Blue Devils to win the national crown.
Former Dowagiac softball coach Randy Brooks has Illinois, Wake Forest, Connecticut and Syracuse headed to St. Louis.
Brooks, who was recently named Cassopolis' varsity softball coach, selects Illinois to win the National Championship.
Niles Daily Star sports editor Scott Novak has Illinois, Duke, North Carolina and Texas Tech reaching the Final Four in St. Louis. Novak selected the Tar Heels as National Champions.
Dowagiac junior varsity football coach Jeff Yauchstetter selected Illinois, Duke, Wake Forest and North Carolina as the Final Four participants.
Yauchstetter has North Carolina as the National Champion.
The first games tipped off at 12:20 p.m. with the Kentucky facing Eastern Kentucky and Alabama taking on Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Other top teams in action today are Pittsburgh and Oklahoma.