Bracket Busters With Weeds & Mack

About This Podcast:

PodTopics Chattanooga, working in collaboration with the Chattanoogan.com, produced a special limited-run podcast series that focused on exploring all the happenings with the 2023 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Our podcast series featured Mark Wiedmer, a member of the Tennessee Sports Writers Hall of Fame, and Mack McCarthy, the legendary former men’s basketball coach at UT Chattanooga who led the Mocs to their 1997 appearance in the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16 Round.

Episode 1: Reviewing The Seedings & Early-Round Predictions

In the debut episode, Weeds and Mack review the seedings for this year’s tournament, discussing the teams that were chosen and examining the first-round games as well as the potential second-round match-ups.

This episode also features an interesting discussion focusing on coaches from mid-major programs and the life-changing opportunities the tournament can present. The podcast takes a moment to recall the run Mack made with his ’97 UTC team to the Sweet 16 by knocking out Georgia and Illinois in the first and second rounds of the tournament that year. As part of that conversation, Mack and Weeds spend a moment discussing the teams from this year’s field that could be capable of doing some bracket busting in the tournament. Listeners to the podcast will also hear predictions from Weeds and Mack for their Final Four bracket and the team that they each believe will win this year’s NCAA title.

Episode 2: Reviewing Opening Rounds & Previewing The Sweet 16

With our second episode of Bracket Busters, Weeds and Mack review the first two rounds of the tournament, discussing the memorable performances, the upsets and other March Madness moments. Weeds and Mack also look ahead to this week’s Sweet 16 and Elite 8 rounds of the tournament, providing takes on which teams will be playing in the Final Four.

Episode 3: Looking At How The Field Got Down To The Final Four

As they have done in the previous two episodes of this limited-run series, Weeds and Mack offer analysis and share their observations on this year’s edition of March Madness, which has made history with the number of lower-seeded teams reaching the Final Four. During this edition of the podcast, Weeds and Mack will look back at what took place in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 rounds of the tournament. They will also look ahead to this Saturday’s Final Four and the National Championship game on April 3.

Episode 4: Crowning Champions & Looking Back At The Men’s & Women’s Tournaments

Weeds and Mack conclude our limited run series with an episode that looks back at the Final Four results from both the men’s and women’s tournaments. In addition to discussing the national semifinals and the NCAA championships that were crowned through the men’s and women’s tournaments, Weeds and Mack broadened their discussion to explore a number of topics related to March Madness and college sports. Listeners will hear Weeds and Mack weigh the pros and cons of tournament expansion as well as the impact of the transfer portal, NIL deals for athletes and the extension of eligibility with the COVID exception.

With Connecticut’s fifth title on the men’s side of the tournament, Weeds and Mack debate look at the Husky’s program and where it now ranks among the elite in the history of college basketball. Greg Thompson from PodTopics Chattanooga, the producer of Bracket Busters, joins the final portion of the podcast, which asks Weeds and Mack to come up with who they consider as the most outstanding players in the NCAA Men’s tournament during the past 30 years.

The podcast also discusses the departure of Jim Nantz from his role as the lead play-by-play announcer for the tournament, prompting Weeds and Mack to consider which announcer they believe could carry out the assignment of calling the Final Four and The Masters in the same week. At the end of the podcast, the topic turns back to The Masters, with Weeds and Mack giving their predictions on who they believe will win this weekend at Augusta.