Dan Dakich Sounds Off On NCAA Tournament, Predicts Chalk Title Game

Stumped filling out your March Madness bracket?! Dan Dakich is here to help ... giving us his picks ahead of the NCAA Tourney tip-off -- just don't expect a whole bunch of upsets, or Cinderella runs!

TMZ Sports caught up with the longtime college hoops coach turned host of Outkick's Don't @ Me podcast, who says the tournament feels top-heavy with only a handful of teams that can actually win it all -- and he’s riding with the big dogs.

“I’ll take my chances with Duke and Michigan,” Dakich said, adding Florida’s right there, too. “I think one of those teams wins it.”

Dakich pointed to Michigan’s dominant start as the biggest reason he’s all-in ... saying the Wolverines were blowing out elite teams in a way he’s rarely seen. Even with a loss to Purdue in the Big Ten championship, he thinks it may have helped.

“Maybe they needed to get their ass kicked a little bit,” he said. “Now I like them.”

But Dakich didn’t stop there ... he also unloaded on the bracket, saying St. John’s got completely hosed.

“I think St. John’s got monumentally screwed,” he said. “They should’ve been a two seed … three minimum.”

He even suggested Rick Pitino’s past might’ve factored in.

“Maybe people didn’t like Pitino … maybe they’re punishing him. I don’t know,” Dakich said before adding it probably won’t matter much.

“He’s a freaking master. He’ll have them ready.”

As for teams complaining about being left out? Dakich had zero sympathy -- especially for Indiana, where he spent nearly two decades.

“They didn’t deserve anything,” he said, before dropping the knockout line: “That’s like me announcing I’m not dating Sydney Sweeney. It doesn’t matter.”

Dakich also kept it simple when explaining what decides games in March.

“Make shots, and your best players better be your best players late,” he said. “It comes down to players, not plays.”

He highlighted Duke’s Cam Boozer, Arkansas freshman Darius Acuff Jr. -- who he compared to a modern Allen Iverson -- and Purdue’s Braden Smith as guys who could take over.

Still, Dakich isn’t overthinking his pick ... he’s got Michigan vs. Duke in the title game, with the Wolverines cutting down the nets.

And while March is known for chaos, Dakich isn’t totally sold this year will deliver -- though if the upsets start coming, that “top-heavy” field could flip fast.