March Madness coach picks Taylor Swift as his favorite artist – and even names her best five songs… but who did the other 67 select as their top performer ahead of the tournament?
After months of dominating the NFL spotlight, Taylor Swift could become the sound of March Madness over the coming weeks.
Swift was at the front and center of NFL games and TV broadcasts last season because of her high-profile relationship with Travis Kelce – the star tight end of the Kansas City Chiefs.
But her undeniable reach has seemingly filtered out to college basketball as she was named as one of the NCAA Tournament’s coaches’ favorite performs in a poll of their musical tastes.
CBS asked all 68 coaches due to compete to name their favorite band or singer and BYU’s Mark Pope surprisingly named Swift as his top pick, even going on to select his five favorite songs.
The 51-year-old picked out Cornelia Street, New Year’s Day, Karma, All Too Well (specifying the 10-minute version) and Cruel Summer.
Taylor Swift could become the sound of March Madness over the coming weeks
BYU’s Mark Pope surprisingly named Swift as his top pick, even selecting his favorite songs
He revealed Swift is his daughters’ favorite artist and their love for Kelce’s girlfriend has rubbed off on him. They regularly listen to her songs together and that’s led to him becoming a big fan.
Other top artists in the East Region – the only one where every artist was different – included Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs, Billy Currington, Kenny Chesney and Jeremy Camp.
Ed Sheeran got a notable shoutout from T.J. Otzelberger, who admitted he ‘went to multiple shows in various cities last summer. His work on the (guitar) pedals is absolutely outrageous!’
In the South it was extremely varied with the University of Kentucky’s John Calipari, who revealed he listens to very little music, siding with Drake.
Marquette’s Shaka Smart opted for 2Pac while there were some old school picks in the form of Queen and The Beatles. Both Kevin Keatts or North Carolina State and Boise State’s Leon Rice both opted for Michael Jackson.
Jackson was also popular in the Midwest with Akron’s John Groce and Rodney Terry of Texas both picking the King of Pop.
Prince and Earth Wind & Fire were equally as popular while Jay-Z was given the nod by Saint Peter’s Bashir Mason.
The defending champion UConn Huskies earned the top seed in the NCAA Tournament
In the west, Wagner’s Donald Copeland gave Jay-Z the third shout out from 68 while Tom Izzo chose the Jackson Five, giving him the most selections (4) of any individual artist.
The action officially begins on Tuesday night with first four games.
The defending champion UConn Huskies earned the top seed in the NCAA Tournament, joined by Houston, Purdue and North Carolina as No. 1 seeds.
Of those top teams, only UConn heads into the tournament coming off a win. The others lost in their conference tournaments, yet those were hardly the only surprises over the final weekend of hoops before the sport’s main event hits center stage.
UConn (31-3) has lost just once since December 20 and won its first Big East Tournament title since 2011 on Saturday. Then came a No. 1 regional seed in the NCAAs for the first time since a Final Four run in 2009 and sixth time overall.
The Huskies, who top the East Region bracket, are trying to become college basketball’s first repeat champion since Florida in 2006 and 2007.
