Barnes: ‘Gut’ says Gonzaga wins it all

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes has faced every team in the Final Four and has a prediction regarding a potential championship game matchup.

“I bet you this right now,” Barnes said. “If North Carolina and Gonzaga make it to the championship game, I’ll bet you the bookies will say it’s a pick’em game. If there’s a point (spread), it’s going to be half a point. They’re that close. I believe they are the two best teams that we’ve played.”

Better than Oregon and South Carolina, which North Carolina and Gonzaga must beat, respectively, to advance.

The Volunteers went 0-5 against the Final Four teams and are the first team since the 2004-05 Iowa squad to have played each team in the Final Four during the regular season.

Tennessee lost 69-65 in overtime to Oregon at the Maui Invitational, an event that was won by North Carolina. The Vols led the Tar Heels most of the way before falling 73-71 at North Carolina, which played that game without injured guard Joel Berry II. They lost 86-76 to Gonzaga in Nashville, Tenn. And they were swept by South Carolina, which beat the Vols 70-60 in Knoxville and 82-55 in Columbia .

“My gut feeling is (North) Carolina’s the best team,” Barnes said, “but my gut feeling now tells me I think Gonzaga’s going to win it.”

NCAA women: There were a lot of empty seats at the basketball regionals.

The NCAA saw its lowest attendance for the regionals in 20 years, and there is no change to the format in sight.

An average of 4,719 fans showed up for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in the four neutral-site venues. That’s down 27 percent from last year and nearly 50 percent from 2014, when the games were played on campus sites. In 1997, an average of 4,252 fans came to the regionals.

This year’s numbers were bolstered by the Bridgeport Regional, which sold out both days UConn played there. No other site had a local team playing.

The numbers aren’t all bad. The attendance at the first two rounds of the NCAAs was the third highest in the past 10 years. The Final Four and championship game in Dallas are virtually sold out for the first time since 2014. Moving the Final Four to a Friday-Sunday format this year for the first time since 2002 helped that.

NBA draft: Maryland junior guard Melo Trimble is forgoing his final year of collegiate eligibility to enter the NBA draft and will sign with an agent. He was a three-time All-Big Ten selection and led the team in scoring (16.8 points per game.