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McDonald's Nuggets: An idea for postseason; UCLA; more

Mick Cronin and UCLA are on a roll.
Mick Cronin and UCLA are on a roll. (AP Images)

Dan McDonald is back with his weekend primer, McDonald's Nuggets. This week’s edition offers an idea for an alternative postseason, another update on an available forward in Georgia, the Team of the Week and more gambling picks.

MORE: Three-Point Play on underrated prospects | Early leaders for Coach of the Year honors

2020 Rankings: Rivals150 | Team | Position

2021 Rankings: Rivals150 | Position

2022 Rankings: Top 75



WHAT’S ON MY MIND: An alternative postseason for this year

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If you have been watching a good amount of college basketball this year, you have probably seen some less-than-impressive games. You have probably struggled to figure out if your team is any good, even if they are ranked in the Top 25. It’s not a great year for the sport, and there isn’t the star power like last year with Zion Williamson.

All that is why I’m proposing an alternative postseason this year. There are only a handful of really good teams this year as we sit here about a month from Selection Sunday. Therefore, instead of 68 teams getting the chance to play for a national championship over three weekends, we’re going to chop that number down to just eight teams.

Instead of a win-or-go-home tournament that leads to a ton of upsets, those eight teams will play three rounds of a best-of-3 format. The first two rounds will be at the higher seed’s home court and the championship round will be played in Atlanta in place of the Final Four. What happens to the remaining 60 teams? Put them in the NIT and make that a bigger tournament. This model gets us three weekends of better basketball and what I think is a more legitimate champion.

RECRUITING NOTE: Another update on an available big man out of Georgia

I often brag about the benefits of living in a city like Atlanta with so much talent. It allows me to see so many different top prospects without doing too much traveling. On Wednesday, I went to check in on Jalen Deloach, an unsigned senior big man at Berkmar High School who has had some high-major attention over the past year.

I’m convinced he needs to be a high-major target over the next couple months for teams that need a forward. Granted, he played against a team that didn’t challenge him much with size, but the 6-foot-8 forward played exactly the way he should have and dominated the paint on both ends. Beyond that, he’s a really fluid athlete that is really comfortable handling the ball and is a really good passer. I’m not sure he could ever lead a team in scoring, but he could be an important piece on a good team.

George Mason had an assistant watching him Wednesday. Clemson and Georgia have been the two high-major schools showing the most interest.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: UCLA

Jaylen Clark
Jaylen Clark (https://rivals.com)

If you’ve read my column every week since I started last January, you might remember that I went against what most people in the basketball media said about UCLA’s coaching search last year. It wasn’t ideal to be turned down publicly by several candidates, but the result of the search was a better coach, so I consider that a win.

I still feel that way. Coming off an impressive home stand during which the Bruins beat Colorado and Utah, Mick Cronin and his staff added another talented 2020 prospect to the fold. Four-star small forward Jaylen Clark ended his recruitment in favor of the Bruins this week after four-star shooting guard Will McClendon did the same last month to get the 2021 class started off right. The Bruins remain in the mix for five-star shooting guard Josh Christopher and already have five-star point guard Daishen Nix signed. It appears UCLA is trending upward as Cronin wraps up his first year in Westwood.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS WITH UCLA FANS AT BRUINBLITZ.COM

WAGERS OF THE WEEK 

Not a bad night last Friday (3-3), but not good enough. Today’s slate of games isn’t deep, but as always, there is an opportunity to make you some money (please bet responsibly).

Let’s start with an early tip-off and take Harvard (+6.5) at Yale. Harvard has dropped two in a row, but both have been close losses. This is a good team being undervalued. I also like the over of 136.5 here, as these are two teams that can score at a pretty good rate.

Staying in the Ivy League, let’s take Brown (-4.5) at home against Dartmouth. Brown is coming off two wins and is a much better team here.

Let’s slide over to the A-10 and take VCU (-9.5) against Davidson. That’s a lot of points to swallow, but this is a really good VCU team and that’s a tough place to play. This ain’t Steph Curry’s Davidson team, either.

And lastly, let’s go to the MAC and take Northern Illinois (+1.5) against Kent State. The Huskies won the first game on the road by seven and are an underdog at home now? That doesn’t make sense. This is the lock of the week.

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