March Madness 2022: Fran Fraschilla’s must-watch Sweet 16 matchups, Final Four predictions

March Madness fans are gearing up to watch college basketball’s finest as this week’s Sweet 16 matchups kick off on Thursday night, with last year’s runner-up, Gonzaga, taking on the Arkansas Razorbacks.

With eight games to watch, legendary college basketball coach and analyst Fran Fraschilla predicts what games fans just can’t miss.

Fraschilla, who coached the Manhattan Jaspers to two NCAA and two NIT appearances from 1992-96 and then led the 1998 St. John’s Red Storm to its first NCAA Championship in five years, spoke with Fox News Digital about his Final Four predictions and his must-watch matchup for this weekend.

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“Houston vs. Arizona is a great story because Houston went to the Final Four last year, lost their top seven scorers, including their two leading scorers this season, who were injured during the same week in December and are out for the year,” Fraschilla said of the Thursday night matchup.

“To lose your two leading scorers this season and reinvent yourself and all of a sudden be back in the Sweet 16 is remarkable,” Fraschilla said, “but it’s not remarkable when you think of their coach, Kelvin Sampson, who at 67 is trying to bring two Houston teams to back-to-back Final Fours.”

Sophomore guard Tramon Mark underwent season-ending shoulder surgery after sustaining an injury in December. Not long after, junior Marcus Sasser was also ruled out for the remainder of the season with a fractured left foot.

But Fraschilla isn’t counting out Houston just yet.

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“This is the greatest Renaissance of Cougar basketball since Phi Slama Jama in the early 80s,” he said, referring to the legendary Houston teams of 1982 to 1984.

Fraschilla, whose bracket is still intact, predicts Kansas, UCLA, Arizona, and Gonzaga will reach the Final Four and anticipates the Bruins winning it all.

“I’ve seen Kansas all year so I know how good they are. Their bracket has opened up. No region left is an easy one, but I think Kansas has a reasonably easier road simply because if they can beat Providence, they’ll play an 11 or 12 seed, and they’ve already beaten Iowa State twice. So I like their chances of getting to the championship game,” he said.

“UCLA is a little undervalued because they have essentially the same team back that went to the Final Four last year and they have a region that’s very winnable for them. I have both those teams advancing to the finals in New Orleans with UCLA cutting down the nets.”

Fraschilla previously told Fox News Digital that he appreciates Saint Peter’s Cinderella run and sees them as a “tough” and “gritty” team, led by a “tough” and “gritty” coach – Shaheen Holloway.

He seems to find those same qualities in UCLA.

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“The theme for me is tough and gritty, in our conversation here, and I think the theme for this tournament is tough and gritty, and I like their toughness and grittiness,” Fraschilla said, referring to the Bruins.

“It emanates from their coach, Mick Cronin, and they have a lot of experienced guys who were heartbroken last year when Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs hit the impossible shot to knock them out of the semifinals.”

With the best March Madness has to offer still underway, Fraschilla has partnered up with On Location to help bring fans the ultimate NCAA experience, including unique ticket packages and exclusive opportunities that include meet and greets with NCAA legends and even a chance for fans to get their hands on the NCAA championship trophy.

“Well, I’m a certified basketball junkie, I have been my whole life. I’ve never worked a whole day in my life. So I have bridged my career from 23 years as a coach to 19 more years as a broadcaster and I love the game, particularly the college game,” he said. “Now I get to host people who love the game like I do.”