SARAH MCCAMMON, HOST:
And now it's time for sports.
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MCCAMMON: It's March Madness. How are your brackets looking? The first weekend of the NCAA women's and men's tournaments is here. Also here, Howard Bryant of Meadowlark Media. Good morning, Howard.
HOWARD BRYANT: Good morning. How are you?
MCCAMMON: Good to have you. First, let's take a moment to remember George Foreman, who has died at 76. He was, of course, a two-time heavyweight world champion. That boxing fame led to a pitchman fame, with his smiling face on the boxes of millions of George Foreman grills. I cooked with a lot of those in my 20s, as I recall. How are you going to remember him, Howard?
BRYANT: Well, it's a big loss, obviously. I think you remember George Foreman, for me, at least, is a man of real reinvention. Remember, he fought one of the greatest fights of all time against Muhammad Ali in Zaire in the Rumble in the Jungle in 1974 and came into that fight expecting to destroy Ali. This was expected to be the end of Ali. In fact, it was the beginning of Ali's rebirth, winning the championship after losing it to the federal government in 1967. And it launched Ali's career - his second career - and then sent George Foreman into a deep depression. And he was a villain back then. He was somebody who was really considered somebody who had lost more than just the championship.
And then he came back. He came back and suddenly became two things - he became a champion at 45 years old, which had never happened. And then he also became a sort of Ali-type fun figure with the George Foreman grills, and he had a personality, and people loved him. And the villain of the early - late '60s, early '70s was all gone, and a really wonderful American story. And he'll be missed.
MCCAMMON: On to college basketball, and let's start with the women. South Carolina is the defending champion and a No. 1 seed, although not necessarily a clear favorite. UCLA is the No. 1 ranked team, but there's also USC, and don't sleep on the UConn Huskies. Who has the best shot?
BRYANT: That's a good question. Well, for me, the way I always do this is, if you're the champion, you're the champion until somebody knocks you out. And so South Carolina starts out by winning by 60 yesterday. And so I'm still going to go with Dawn Staley and her group. But UCLA's been the best team this year, and they beat South Carolina, and UConn beat South Carolina. And so - and you've got JuJu Watkins over in USC. And so there's a - there are a bunch of good teams out there. I think what I'm looking for - I think it would be kind of fun - you could get a USC - South Carolina championship, but I think what I'd like to see - would be kind of fun - is a UCLA-USC Final Four could be great to watch, too. A lot of good teams out there. No - you know, no Angel Reese and no Caitlin Clark this year, but you still have Paige Bueckers out there, and you still got JuJu out there. A lot of good players.
MCCAMMON: And in the men's tournament, the UConn Huskies are the two-time defending champions, although, maybe not as strong this year. They're just an 8 seed. They defeated Oklahoma 67-59, moving on to the next round. How are they looking to you?
BRYANT: They survived yesterday. Then they suddenly came back and won. I mean, they have not - I mean, they're coach Dan Hurley - it's been a weird year for them. They are two-time defending champion. He was going to go coach the Lakers, a job that went to JJ Redick instead, after I think he turned down the Lakers and wanted to go for the three-peat, and a lot of his antics this year have sort of overshadowed the team. But they came back and beat Oklahoma yesterday, and they - and they're playing, arguably, the best team in the country next in Florida. So it will be - it can be a very short trip for UConn, but if they get through Florida, then suddenly, once again, you're the champion until somebody knocks you out.
On the other hand, the real story of the college men's side is Cooper Flagg and Duke. Everyone had been waiting for Cooper Flagg to come in. The expectation is he's only going to be here once because he's going to go to the NBA immediately following this. Duke is a terrific team, as well. And so you look at them, and I sort of feel like Duke-Florida is what it's all about, but don't forget Houston's a very good team, and Auburn, as well. I don't trust Auburn, although, people will get mad at me for that because I think they're a little erratic, but I think it's Duke and Florida.
MCCAMMON: That's Howard Bryant of Meadowlark Media. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.
BRYANT: My pleasure. Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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