Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz, Isis “Ice” Young, Kevin O’Connor and 13-year NBA veteran Marcus Morris discuss the West region of the 2025 NCAA men’s tournament field – including top-seeded Houston.

Video Transcript

It’s Midwest is up next and I’m gonna go back to what I asked you guys at the beginning.

Like to me, when the Midwest was released, I sat there and thought, huh, Houston like Houston just you mentioned it 3rd straight year with the #1 seed at some point.

Houston is not just this fun little cute story.

At some point they’re a perennial contender that always gets the #1 seed because they’re really good, and I feel like in previous years they were one-sided.

Like they, they didn’t do both things this year.

I say can, so I feel like Houston’s being overlooked.

Yeah, how they ran through the Big 12.

You know, we didn’t, we talk about the SEC so much because it was so dominant, but how Houston ran through the Big 12 was impressive to me.

They had battle after battle after battle and beat different teams like Iowa State in a different way, Purdue in a different way.

I really appreciate, I think about Houston.

That their defense is going to dictate for every game, every single game that they play in this tournament, their defense is going to dictate how far they can get.

I have them getting all the way to the Final Four.

I’m not seeing another team other than Tennessee that could possibly ruin that, and it’s a Tennessee team that I love actually very much.

I wish I was wearing orange today for them.

I actually really, really like Tennessee.

They’re the 2 seed in this bracket, but I think I have Houston advancing.

I agree with you.

Houston is the best team.

Um, flying under the radar is is always great coming into the tournament.

But this second round game could be either Gonzaga or Georgia, and I love that because it’s a test now, right?

So now we have a chance to play against some really good competition, uh, to see if we can go to the Sweet 16.

Houston shows up, great coaching, great defense.

They have what it takes to win the national championship.

Georgia hasn’t won a tourney game in 23 years.

I just think about that like 23 years, 4 years that’s what they they said earlier on, on the uh selection show.

OK, what are we doing here?

Me and my walker are gonna have to leave.

I’m just gonna get my get my cane and walking on out.

I’m like, OK, uh, but I, I do like that call.

A lot, uh, Houston, are you, where were you?

I mean, I, I have them winning, winning this uh bracket for sure.

I mean Houston elite defense and we’re seeing the sparks from their offense.

Uzan 20+ point performance, his ability to connect as a playmaker, but also just the scoring ability.

In Oklahoma he was a shaky shooter.

He’s improved in that regard.

I just love him.

I just think Uzan is one of those guys to me he’s a first round pick.

I haven’t ranked in my top 25.

I have a feeling after this tournament a hell of a lot of people are gonna have him there as well.

Just one of those guys who does everything well and is one of the reasons why at the guard spot this Houston defense has absolutely no holes on it.

Yeah, I think you know sometimes in the tournament the main guy is the one who gets all the attention, but it’s Uzan who normally I feel like.

Picks up the slack for Houston when maybe an LJ Cryer isn’t scoring, so I think that he could be due for some big games in the tournament because the focal point is on somebody else’s a spark that’s what that’s what he is with his passing, the clutch shot making, the defensive energy that brings as a playmaker on defense and passing lanes.

He just sparks something for you.

He’s one of those type of guy, one of the best transfer acquisitions by far of the past year.

I, I do think guys, when we look at this bracket overall, it gets interesting to me if we wanna play a little bit of forward looking.

You got Tennessee in a in a pretty good situation.

You got Kentucky in a situation that they feel good about.

You got Illinois taking on possibly a Texas team.

You’ve got in the top half of it.

Georgia taking on Houston as we just mentioned.

If they’re able to advance, this is a very SEC heavy bracket at this point.

Like this, this particular region, you could end up with teams that have seen a lot of each other, seeing each other again in the NCAA tournament in ways that are unprecedented, and this is one of the challenges they had this when you have 14 teams, there’s just no way to spread them out.

It just feels like.

This ends up being the SEC Midwest in a couple of rounds depending on how things play out.

I think that’s kind of wildly cool.

Yeah, I think there’s a great opportunity to see Texas and Kentucky play.

I think Texas has a has a decent chance to beat Xavier and then Illinois, a great offensive scoring team, but when their offense isn’t hitting and it’s not on, they’re nonexistent.

The four of us could beat them.

So I, I feel like Texas could have a really good chance to win two games.

I, I don’t think you’ve seen the two of us.

Like our offense is gonna be very simple.

If either of us get the ball, we’re getting it right to you guys.

So that’s a good plan.

OK, yeah, hopefully don’t turn it over too much like.

That might be the issue in this bracket too, uh, I think we gotta give Clemson some love, right?

I think we just kind of overlooking Clemson.

I know Mick and these state can be there.

You know, the Cinderella team, but Clemson has finished the season really well, 14 and 1 in the last 15.

They also beat Duke.

They lost to Louisville in the tournament, but I, you know, Clemson is a sleeper team.

I think everybody’s overlooking overlooking them.

They’re the only ACC team and, and I think that they have a chance and they got brothers on the team, and I like that.

Ian S Shefflin, good player for them, like a, um, kind of like that garbage like I’m just gonna outwork you, you know, somebody that I don’t wanna see on the floor.

I think what Clemson has going for them is their toughness.

I.

Actually think that the way that they battle on the boards and defensively gives them a chance because they actually play very, very tough basketball and they’ve been the only other team in the ACC that we’ve kept our eye on.

Everyone else has been subpar.

Uh, Kevin player to watch in this whole region who you got your eye on?

Casparros Yakachounas.

You just wanted to say just say Yak is a. player on one hand, you love the fact he’s a creative playmaker.

You see the juices, the way he passes the ball and creates for his teammates.

You see the step back 3s with the way he can generate offense for himself and others, but 9 games this season with more turnovers than made shots, you cannot turn the ball over in part.

You can’t do that.

And so for him is.

A lot to prove from an NBA perspective here.

Can you generate consistent reliable offense?

And then obviously for Illinois, what could be a very tough opening round matchup against Texas or Xavier regardless of who wins that that game as an 11 seed.

I worry about Illinois there, but he’s got a lot to prove, and who knows, maybe he ends up going on a great run, taking care of the ball more like he did at the beginning of the season.

I, I don’t, I don’t have any stat to back this up.

I just don’t feel like from watching.

Uh, turnover prone people get less turnover prone in the tournament.

Like it’s usually not the time you fix your problems.

It’s like, you know, dating a girl that has a million issues and then marrying her.

That’s not, that’s not how you fix any of those issues with those red flags.

I, I was always in my weird dating analogies.

I’m always like, you know what, you don’t.

Marry her and then fix everything.

Got to stop ignoring the red flag.

That’s right.

Uh, OK, uh, give me your pick, Kevin, who do you got in this one?

And I get Houston in the Midwest.

I have Houston.

Marcus Houston.

God, we’re boring.

I have Houston.

How can you not pick him though.

I mean, defense is March.

You need defense.

We’re boring, but I think they’re reliable.

I, I’d love to get cute y’all.

The problem is they clip this off then they put it out in the world.

And so if you’re the person that suddenly picks Clemson to go and, and then you’re wrong, uh, you know, all of a sudden yap yap yap, yep, yap over and over.

So yeah, no, it’s just better to I’ve, I’ve been one for 12, plenty to do it’s OK.

It’s all good trust me it’s a perfect I just wanna say the last thing about this bracket is that 8-9 game between Gonzaga and Georgia is crazy because the Zags normally are an 8 seed that is really uncharacteristic of them to be this slow and they had a tough season, but I think that is an 8 seed that’s probably a 5 seed normally with the rest.

To the teams on this side, so even though we’re going to Houston, they will have a challenge in that second game if Gonzaga is able to survive and advance.

It is interesting how many brands like in college basketball we’re used to being great and this year seemed to be a little bit off and it’s like, does that just smooth out when we get into the tournament because they’ve been there so many times and they have so much knowledge.