Skip Holtz continues to lead Dr. Saturday’s Coaches Bracket Challenge

This is Dr. Saturday’s Coaches Bracket Challenge where three coaches – LSU’s Les Miles, Louisiana Tech’s Skip Holtz and Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy – battle to show they’re more than just football coaches, they’re basketball enthusiasts. Twice a day we give you a recap of the how the coaches brackets are doing an give you an opportunity to test your bracketing skills against theirs.

[Also: NBC to air Jerry Sandusky interview on Monday]

After the first half of games on Thursday, our three coaches were looking good. Skip Holtz had taken a one-point lead over Les Miles and Mike Gundy and grabbed another point by picking Arizona over trendy pick Belmont. But all three coaches took hits thanks to losses by UNLV and New Mexico. Holtz remarked on his bracket that he liked the Lobos because of their ability to shoot the 3-pointer, but the Lobos made just 3 of their 14 attempts against Harvard. All three coaches had New Mexico advancing into the Sweet 16 and that’s especially damaging for Gundy, who has now lost two Sweet 16 teams in Oklahoma State and the Lobos.

Here’s a summary of each coach’s picks after the first half of the first round (the original brackets are on display in the slideshow above).

Skip Holtz
Correct:Michigan State, St. Louis, Oregon, Louisville, Memphis, Gonzaga, Arizona, Michigan, VCU, Butler, Marquette, Syracuse
Incorrect: Missouri, Pitt, New Mexico, UNLV
Total points: 12

Les Miles
Correct: Michigan State, St. Louis, Oregon, Louisville, Gonzaga, Michigan, VCU, Butler, Marquette, Syracuse.
Incorrect: St. Mary’s, Missouri, Pitt, Arizona, New Mexico, UNLV.
Total points: 10

Mike Gundy
Correct: Michigan State, St. Louis, Louisville, Gonzaga, Wichita State, Michigan, VCU, Butler, Marquette, Syracuse
Incorrect: Oklahoma State, St. Mary’s, Missouri, Belmont, New Mexico, UNLV
Total Points: 10

As we continue the first round, the scoring is the same – one point for each correct pick. There are opportunities for Miles and Gundy to make up ground in this round in the Ole Miss-Wisconsin game, Iowa State-Notre Dame game, Oklahoma-San Diego State game, N.C. State-Temple game and Colorado-Illinois game. But Gundy can’t afford to lose another Sweet 16 team.

Here’s a look at the coaches picks for today (you can also check out their brackets above):

We’ll update their progress halfway through the 16 games and provide a full update Saturday morning.

Good luck!

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