Brad Wachtel has been described as the best bracketologist you've never heard of. While he may not yet have the national popularity of others that project the NCAA tournament field, his history of being able to predict the bracket is unmatched. In fact, from 2008 to 2010 he was the most accurate of the 170+ people in the country who attempt to do so according to bracketmatrix.com. From 2010-2016, Wachtel took a hiatus from his bracketology calculus as he joined the men's basketball staff at Rutgers University. He returned to the field in 2017 and now posts his projections on his own free site at factsandbracks.blogspot.com as well as interacting with fans on twitter at @bwachtel23....Also in this episode, host Adam Finkelstein goes to the mailbag to answer questions about Creighton, Boston College, and the potential impact on prep school basketball if the NBA should change their one-and-done rule.

Former Marquette and Indiana head coach Tom Crean is the latest guest on the Upside Podcast. In addition to being one of the most well-known college coaches in the country over the course of the last decade, Crean has also proven to be an exemplary evaluator having identified and recruited the likes of Dwayne Wade, Victor Oladipo, and O.G. Anuby when they were both under-rated and under-recruited. In this interview, Crean talks about what he prioritized in the evaluation process while also detailing some of his skill development programs. He goes on to discuss his relationships with some of his players, his thoughts on shot selection, and how much he has learned this year as an analyst for ESPN.

Micah Shrewsberry has been an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics for the last four seasons. Prior to that he was also by Brad Stevens' side during Butler's consecutive Final Four runs and also spent two years at Purdue. While he has now coached at the very highest levels of both college and professional basketball, Shrewsberry's roots were at the small college level as both a player and young coach. In this wide ranging discussion, we talk about everything from his diverse experiences to how the Celtics teach shot selection to his goal of becoming a head coach.

Xavier assistant coach Luke Murray is the latest guest of the Upside Podcast. Murray speaks candidly about what it was like to grow up as the son of one of the world's most famous actors and how his love for the game and current career is rooted in his childhood in many ways. He also traces back his education and evolution in the game while crediting former bosses like Sean Miller and Dan Hurley and simultaneously recognizing how their upbringings were vastly different than his own. Later in the episode Murray discusses his reputation as a top recruiter, the process of educating fans and recruits on the success of Xavier and the Big East, and aspirations of one day being able to run his own program.

ESPN National Director of Recrutiing Paul Biancardi joins Adam as they discuss Duke's big snag of top recruit Zion Williamson, North Carolina's recruiting class. Plus your Twitter questions and more.

There are few basketball professionals that can come close to duplicating the diverse experiences that Stu Jackson has had over the last 30 years. Currently the Big East's Senior Associate Commissioner for men's basketball, Jackson's career also includes stints as a head coach at both the college and the NBA level. He was named the head coach for the New York Knicks when he was just 33 years old after previously serving as Rick Pitino's Associate Head Coach at Providence College. He returned to the college level in 1992 when he was named head coach at the University of Wisconsin. When the NBA expanded into Canada in 1994, Jackson was the first ever hire of the Vancouver Grizzlies and led that organization's front-office for the next 6 years. In 2007, he was named the Executive Vice-President of Basketball Operations for NBA. That unique combination of experiences has provides Jackson with an almost unmatched insight and perspective that he shares on this podcast.

ESPN Insider Jeff Goodman is the latest guest on the podcast and he checks in directly from Lithuania where he is currently covering the arrival of the LaMelo and LiAngelo Ball, the younger brothers of Los Angeles Lake rookie Lonzo Ball, who arrived this week to begin their professional basketball careers. Goodman addresses some popular misconceptions about the amount of coverage geared towards the Ball family and also speaks with his typical candor about the current state of the college basketball media. He talks about how personal relationships impact so much of the current coverage, why his unique style is considered controversial at times, and some regrets he has from years past. Finally, he gives some of us impressions of the current college season to date.

He's won 3 national championships with the UCONN Huskies. He's in the Naismith Hall of Fame. He's none other than Jim Calhoun. On this very special episode Adam and coach Calhoun take us on his basketball journey, philosophies of coaching young players all the way to his next challenge as he takes over at St. Joseph's in West Hartford.

Michael Peck is currently Associate Head Coach at Texas at San Antonio. Once a head coach at Findlay Prep., Michael then moved up to be a D-League head coach and is now a college coach. Mr. Peck is one of the few people who has coached in the pros, college, and high school all within the last few years and brings a contemporary perspective on player development in today's environment.

ESPN's Jeff Borzello joins Adams Finkelstein on the podcast to discuss national recruiting, college basketball results to date, and much more. Borzello and Finkelstein discuss some of the best recruiting classes in the country to date, whether or not Duke has missed anyone they wanted, if Kentucky's recruiting class might actually be their best in recent years, and how Bryce Drew and Vanderbilt were able to pull off the impossible. Then they dive into the college season and talk about Arizona State's rise to the top of the ESPN power poll, Villanova's unique approach, and the early success of programs including Wichita State and TCU among others.