National Basketball Association

LeBron picks Buckeyes to win it all

Published Mar. 15, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

LeBron James expects his uniforms and sneakers to be on display when the nets are cut down to celebrate this year's NCAA title.

Predictably, James expects Ohio State to win the national title. This should come as no surprise, of course, given that James is from Ohio, is a longtime Buckeyes fan - oh, yeah, and the team wears his apparel.

Equally predictable his Miami Heat teammate Dwyane Wade says Marquette is the last team standing on his bracket. Wade led Marquette to the Final Four in 2003, the year James decided to skip college and go right into the NBA draft, where he was the No. 1 overall pick.

''If I could have not went to school all the way until March and then played in March Madness, then I would have done that. But I have no regrets not going to school,'' James said Tuesday, before turning a bit and looking directly into a long row of television cameras that surrounded him. ''Now, let's play this when the kids are asleep. 'Go to school, guys.' I was just fortunate.''

Wade and James had a playful back-and-forth about the tournament Tuesday, taking a quick break from preparations for Miami's home game against Oklahoma City on Wednesday night.

Wade was asked if he still follows the tournament and fills out a bracket.

''I always follow Marquette,'' Wade said. ''You follow some of the good teams, the good players that are playing in college. But I'm not a guru. I can't break down every (team). I'm like Charles Barkley. I don't know that many of them.''

Chimed in James: ''You're a lot better than him, though.''

Barkley has been one of Miami's biggest critics this season. James took a playful swipe back at him in his ''What should I do?'' commercial last year, biting into a doughnut before saying ''Hi Chuck'' into the camera.

Barkley, a longtime NBA analyst for TNT, will be involved in the joint CBS-Turner Sports coverage of this year's NCAA tournament.

''We've got the No. 1 overall seed in the whole thing,'' James said. ''So I'm looking forward to it.''