Win Totals Reactions + Who Wins The CFB March Madness Bracket?

Summary

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Cover 3 College Football Podcast

Episode: Win Totals Reactions + Who Wins The CFB March Madness Bracket?
Date: March 16, 2026
Hosts: Chip Patterson, Tom Fornelli, Bud Elliott

Overview

This episode of the Cover 3 College Football Podcast dives deep into the earliest college football win totals for 2026, offering sharp, data-driven reactions and insight into which teams’ forecasts are spot on—or way off. The crew also embraces March Madness fever by running through the NCAA tournament bracket as if the basketball teams were playing football, injecting some signature Cover 3 fun into the conversation. The hosts respond to listener questions, break down program trajectories based on win totals, and discuss the ongoing power struggle in college sports regulation, ending with playful bracketology.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Early College Football Win Totals Released (Starts ~05:07)

• Series Announcement: Upcoming “If Vegas is Right” win totals deep dives will roll out conference-by-conference, starting with the Big Ten.
• Purpose of Win Totals Analysis:
  • Use win totals to highlight expectations for coaches, programs, and roster outlooks.
  • “If this team hits that number, what does that mean for the coach? What are the implications?” —Chip Patterson [01:40]

Notable Early Totals

• Michigan State Over 3.5 Lock
  • “It's just disgustingly disrespectful to have Sparty that low… That’s a win total lock come late August.”
    —Tom Fornelli [06:01]
• Indiana & Penn State
  • Indiana at 10.5 win total (after going undefeated last year) leads to skepticism.
  • “It’s hard to go 10-2… Penn State at 9.5, that’s a little optimistic… This feels like a reset year.”
    —Tom [08:02-08:52]
• Big Ten, SEC Totals
  • Oregon hung with a 10.5. Ohio State at 9.5 (with a tough schedule). No SEC team >9.5; Georgia at 9.5.

Observations About the Market

• “Nine-and-a-half is the new ten-and-a-half. National title contenders used to have 10.5 or higher…”
  —Tom [06:40]
• “Spread has compressed at the top—harder schedules, more teams in the mix.”
  —Bud [07:02]

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2. Listener Mailbag: Reactions to Specific Teams’ Totals (10:34–19:28)

• Louisville Over 7.5 (-148)
  • "Louisville had an extremely disappointing season... They should’ve been in the mix. This is a call for a bounce back."
    —Bud [10:56]
  • "They can get to 8-4. The juice implies it’s expected, but it's not 'free money.'"
    —Tom [11:51]
  • “Not traveling west helps, but I wouldn’t lay -148.”
    —Bud [13:22]
• Florida Win Total Moving Up
  • Opened at 6.5, jumped to 7.5 after sharp action.
  • “Florida often favored per the point spread, but so many games are toss-ups for John Summerall’s first season.”
    —Bud [16:12]
• Arizona State Over 6.5
  • “Not a tough home slate, relatively — could go undefeated at home.”
    —Tom [17:57]
  • “Getting Dillingham to stay required commitments; not sure if that translates to immediate wins.”
    —Bud [18:28]
• Texas at 9.5, Alabama at 8.5
  • "My gut: for any high SEC win total, take the under. It's a hard league.”
    —Tom [19:28]
  • "If Arch [Manning] is that guy... they could go 11-1, but track record says Texas will lose a few."
    —Bud [20:24-20:36]
  • "Oddly enough, I feel more confident about Bama going over than Texas... Bama’s path is less arduous."
    —Tom [21:16]

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3. Big Picture: Tampering, Power Dynamics, and the Future of College Football (26:40–34:55)

• Big Ten and SEC Unity on Tampering
  • Big Ten formally asks NCAA to pause tampering investigations; SEC’s Sankey calls rules “archaic.”
  • "Tampering’s been happening forever. The game has changed, so the rules need to."
    —Tom [28:19]
  • "The SEC and Big Ten are aligned—on tampering, on TV rights—because they’re prepping to run the sport."
    —Bud [29:37]
  • "Whenever these two agree, bet on their preferred outcome winning. They pull the sport in their direction."
    —Tom [32:26]
• What Would Be Fair Tampering Rules?
  • “Maybe the portal window opens and then you can contact players... Spitballing here.”
    —Tom [33:39]
  • “We won’t get real rules until the Super League split happens.”
    —Tom [34:19]

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4. March Madness Twist: NCAA Bracket as if Each Team Played Football (Various from 36:17 Onward)

Exercise Structure

• Using the actual NCAA men's basketball tournament bracket, hosts debate who would win if the teams faced off as football programs.
• The bracket is filled out region by region, with playful banter, feet-in-both-worlds knowledge, and lively trolling.

Key Games & Quotes

• “Northern Iowa vs. Kansas? That's a game we'd see on September 10th.”
  —Bud [40:30]
• “Congratulations, Purdue. We found a game you can win.”
  —Tom [42:37]
• “Whoever won Texas-Miami was going to win that region anyway.”
  —Bud [44:50]
• “Nebraska’s never won a tournament game, so I don’t trust them!”
  —Tom [46:14]
• “The South Regional is just old-school Outback Bowl.”
  —Tom [47:28]
• “Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee… An all-SEC Sweet 16. Who's got the grit?”
  —Bud [51:54]
• “Until I see Texas beat Georgia, I’m not picking them.”
  —Tom [54:17]

Final Four Results

• Final Four: Ohio State, Texas A&M, Texas, Georgia (none a top seed—a true “Cinderella” field for blue bloods)
• Champion: Ohio State defeats Georgia in the football bracket national title game
  • “Ryan Day leads the Buckeyes to a national championship. From one and done to one shining moment.”
    —Bud [55:00]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the gap between basketball and football upsets:
  “I know it’s fun to pick a 14 over 3, but these days, I’d leave my upsets to maybe the 11s, 10s, and 9s. The power leagues are just pulling away.”
  —Tom [57:46]
• On the compression and uncertainty at the top:
  “Spread’s compressed at the top—harder schedules, more teams in the mix.”
  —Bud [07:02]
• On league politics:
  “Follow the money and you’ll know who’s on what side.”
  —Tom [30:48]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-----------------------------------------------------|----------------| | Intro & Win Totals Series Announcement | 00:55 – 05:07 | | Early Win Total Reactions (Big Ten, SEC, etc.) | 05:07 – 10:34 | | Mailbag: Louisville, Florida, ASU, Texas, Alabama | 10:34 – 21:48 | | March Madness Bracket Chat (Basketball plugs) | 21:48 – 26:40 | | Tampering & Power Dynamics in CFB | 26:40 – 34:55 | | CFB March Madness Bracket (by region) | 36:17 – 56:23 | | Bracket Final Four & National Champion Result | 53:30 – 55:00 | | Final Thoughts on Bracket & Trends | 56:23 – 58:48 |

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Tone & Takeaways

The session balances sharp, insider college football analysis with loose, spirited March Madness banter. The crew alternates between hard-edged win total betting logic and crowd-pleasing jokes about fan expectations, program prestige, and bracket quirks. They demonstrate both statistical acumen and an ability to entertain with showdowns that seamlessly bridge the worlds of basketball and football.

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Closing

The episode wraps with reminders to join the Cover 3 Bracket Challenge, teasing deeper conference breakdowns to come (especially with the “If Vegas is Right” win totals series). The hosts maintain a fun rivalry, sprinkle in audience shoutouts, and prime listeners for a spring loaded with major football storylines and offbeat CFB content.

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For further details and to join the discussion, check out the Cover 3 College Football Podcast on your favorite podcast app or on YouTube.

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Transcript

[Chip Patterson]

Hey, Sal. Hank, what's going on? We haven't worked a case in years. I just bought my car at Carvana and it was so easy.

[Tom Fornelli]

Too easy.

[Chip Patterson]

Think something's up? You tell me. They got thousands of options, found a great car at a great price, and it got delivered the next day. It sounds like Carvana just makes it

[Danny Cannell]

easy to buy your car, Hank.

[Chip Patterson]

Yeah, you're right. Case closed.

[Bud Elliott]

Buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply.

[Chip Patterson]

Welcome Back to the COVID 3 podcast with your hosts, Chip Patterson, Tom Fornelli, Danny Cannell and Bud Elliott. It's your call for the best college football coverage from national signing day to the national championship and everything in between. CBS Sports presents the COVID 3 podcast.

[Bud Elliott]

And welcome back to the COVID 3 podcast here on CBS Sports. That's Tom Fornelli. I'm Chip Patterson coming to you [e-mail] cover3 and everywhere. Get your podcast on demand. Thanks for hanging out. Smash that subscribe, smash that like and come and join us in the chat. AKA the COVID 3 tailgate where Joey is fired up. Came into the tailgate before the show got started and said win totals in March. I love it. Last April, I placed My Mendoza 55 to 1 Heisman. Future value doesn't recognize the calendar. Folks love that. Joey, love your enthusiasm. Yes, as you have noted here in the tailgate and as you at home have seen from the headline of this show, that we are about to kick start a fun portion of the COVID 3 spring schedule because our official win totals selections are going to be part of our season preview. You can find that really getting going in in July leading into August, but those win totals finally started to trickle out and started to get posted across the country. So we are going to begin here later this week. And then over the course of the next couple weeks, a series that we Hear on the COVID 3 podcast call if Vegas is right. The premise of if Vegas is right is taking those win totals and say, okay, if this is the number that ends up happening, if they either go between seven and five or eight and four with a seven and a half, what does that mean for that coach? Coach, what does that mean for that program? How does that happen? It's a discussion based off the win totals. So we are going to begin, if Vegas is right, conference by conference Wednesday we get started with the Big Ten. Today we are going to do just a little bit of a reaction along the way. Also, as you see in the headlines, we're going to play out the March Madness bracket college football style. How are you doing this morning, Tom Fornelli?

[Tom Fornelli]

I want to go back to Joey for a second.

[Bud Elliott]

Sure.

[Tom Fornelli]

Joey placed that 55 to 1 bet on Fernando Mendoza. Perhaps some of his winnings could help offset all the losses that Indiana had on basketball. I don't know if you saw the report because I know Joey's an Indiana fan. That's why he's betting on Mendoza. But our friend Matt Brown released he didn't he foia all the all the expenditures for basketball departments in the fiscal year 25. Indiana spent more money on its basketball program than any other program in the country by more than $9 million. They spent more. They were at 32 million or and University of Tennessee was at 23 in second. And Indiana didn't even make the tournament. But they won college football. So it's football school. Just so.

[Bud Elliott]

Wait, hold on. Was it fiscal year last year for Indiana? So would this be the last year of Woody would have been what this would have accounted for?

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah. I'm saying Indiana is the champions on the football field and in the basketball spreadsheets. They are just it is everything school,

[Bud Elliott]

I tell you what do you know remember when Kevin Willard was talking about, you know, one of the reasons he was leaving and wanting to like stay an extra night around Christmas time in New York City? It's probably because of the coaches calls. He was having conversations with Mike Woodson. He's like, yeah baby, five star resorts. Our team stays everywhere. I need to go through that report with a fine tooth comb, find out what might where Mike Woodson had the Indiana Hoosiers special spending the night on some of these Big Ten road trips. That's too many millions of dollars in excess of the competition compared to the result that was on the court. I will ask Malik Renew who's now starring for Miami, whether or not the experience with the Hurricanes this year and Jay Lucas, how that compares to Indiana along the way.

[Tom Fornelli]

But at least they got those deep tournament runs out of it.

[Bud Elliott]

We are going to be playing out the bracket where of course there's a lot of fun convers about a potential Chip and Tom rivalry in the second round in Greenville.

[Tom Fornelli]

I'm not supposed to talk to you this week.

[Bud Elliott]

We got to wait till it plays out. I want to get you to Greenville, South Carolina. I want to get you to Bon Seco's Wellness arena, you know, and then

[Tom Fornelli]

you can watch Illinois and VCU together.

[Bud Elliott]

Yeah, we'll get to predictions later. At least I think Bill Belichick can get a win in the college football edition of the bracket. Also, before we get into the real bracket busting conversation, a quick look as the Big Ten in the SEC are once again moving a little bit in lockstep this time about tampering. But let's have some fun. Let's keep it to the football side to get us rocking and rolling. Tom, I'll go. I've got a couple circled here. We've got some some tailgate comments as well. If there's a win total that you saw that stood out to you, go ahead and add it to the conversation. The open sort of sort of open floor to get us started. Tom, those win totals came out what, Friday I think we really started to see him. FanDuel Sportsbook I remember is when we got alerted on the group chat what was what surprising, you know, like notable. What was a team or two that that stood out to you?

[Tom Fornelli]

I mean nothing was really completely out of whack with what my expectations were going to be. So I wouldn't say anything truly stood out. The one thing that I saw and this will be him. You know what I'm already saying it win total lock come come the come late August here. Michigan State over three and a half.

[Bud Elliott]

Let's go.

[Tom Fornelli]

Just disgusting. Just disgustingly disrespectful to have sparty that low Pat Fitzgerald in there. Now I know it's it was the interesting thing to me is as far as the high and low ends, right,

[Bud Elliott]

because Texas Tech 11 1/2 is like, oh God, that's what we're doing this year.

[Tom Fornelli]

Okay, so it's and you, you, you used to see a lot more like first of all, yes, that stands out just because there are no other 11 and a half. But you used to see a lot more 10 and a halfs than you did before because when everybody was more spread out and now you're not really seeing like nine and a half is the new ten and a half where it's like the teams that you consider national title contenders typically have win totals of new 9 and a half or above.

[Bud Elliott]

Now Oregon got hung with a 10 and a half. That's another one on the higher end of the spectrum. Along the way, we've discussed here on the COVID 3 podcast that Ohio State faces one of its toughest schedules in a long time. They are one of those nine and a half that you mentioned, though. That one is, as I'm looking at it right now, priced -160 to the over in that way. And that's, you know, kind of the liability here. Let's let's scan on down. Where did Georgia go?

[Tom Fornelli]

I just had nine and a half.

[Bud Elliott]

Yeah, nine.

[Tom Fornelli]

And nobody in the SEC is over nine and a half. There are only two. Georgia, Texas, Alabama A&M and LSU are at eight and a half. Oklahoma and Ole Miss are at seven and a half, but nobody lower than four and a half either.

[Bud Elliott]

So Indiana at ten and a half. How. How'd you respond to that one?

[Tom Fornelli]

Got me leaning under. I know, like, just.

[Bud Elliott]

I don't know.

[Tom Fornelli]

It's, it's hard to go 10 and 2. You know, it's, it's. I know they, they just went undefeated and won a national title, but it's, you know. You know what the biggest surprise, honestly in the Big Ten was? To me, it wasn't Indiana at ten and a half. It's. So it's Penn State at nine and a half. Like, I know that they have a friendly schedule, but it's Iowa State playing a Big Ten schedule now. I just, I feel like that's a little, little optimistic.

[Bud Elliott]

I think that, you know, this is a numbers conversation. Feelings have no room here. But I'm sorry to. I smuggled them in my socks. So here comes some feelings. Feelings from Penn State fans are that they're ready to be mad about 9 and 3. Do you sense that? Like they're like, oh, yeah. I mean, like, I don't think we'll be that good, but look at our schedules. You know, we got to win nine games.

[Tom Fornelli]

I, I feel like this is somewhat of a reset year for Penn State. Like I obviously coming off of last year, they, they, they're going to want better. But if, if Penn State finishes nine and three, I'll be thrilled. If I'm a Penn State fan, I'm looking for 8 and 4. Yep. I just don't think your talent level is the same as it has been in the last few years. I think it's going to take a little time to rebuild things.

[Bud Elliott]

The play, I mean, Rocco Carson, you know, like a lot, a lot of the sort of key sort of stars that came over with Matt Campbell to Penn State while I was State was not playing for the Big 12 title last year. I don't have it pulled up. But they were still a factor. They were still a competitive team in that Big 12 title race. If you are a top tier Big 12 team for the last two years and you make the jump, are you like, what, what is the conversion? What, what's, what's the monetary conversion being top third big 12 team making the jump to the big 10.

[Tom Fornelli]

I mean the big 10 is most or the big 12 is mostly all jumbled together in that the floor, I mean the floor was pretty bad last year with Oklahoma State, let's be blunt. But for the most part, the middle of that league is all very similar. At the Big Ten, yeah, the floor can be bad, but the lower tiers are still kind of on par with the middle tier of the Big 12. So we could talk about how their schedule is easy, but they've still got to play Wisconsin, they still have to play usc, they're still on the road for Michigan, they're still on the road for Washington. Like those are not easy games even if you're regular Penn State.

[Bud Elliott]

All right, little bit of a deeper dive on the Big Ten coming up on Wednesday. Let's take a look at some of your questions. Jim jumped in the tailgate and said Louisville over seven and a half wins at minus 148 is free money.

[Tom Fornelli]

No, it sounds like it's going to cost you a $48 for every dollar.

[Bud Elliott]

I'm trying to be the smart ass here, but inherently, Jim, minus 148 means you are paying for this. But Lincoln Keenholtz believer I tell you what, Louisville had an extremely disappointing season, sneaky disappointing season this past year because four and four in conference play is not to my eyes the standard based on the talent that they have there and the coaching that you get with Jeff Braum. Like it was a team that had flaws, undoubtedly. But man, there were, there were should have been a couple more wins in that spot. They should have been in the mix. I mean, shoot, if six teams are going to tie for second place in the ACC and Louisville ain't one of them, it was not a good season. This is Jim's calling for a bounce back. Do you see it?

[Tom Fornelli]

I mean they can get date 4. I have no question about that. I don't know if I'd call it free money, but it's. I, I would. I mean the way that that is Juice does kind of imply they expect him to be 8 and 4. But like you get Ole Miss to start. Ole Miss was a very good team the last, you know, it made the playoffs last year but we, we don't know what it's going to look like without Lane Kiffin there for the full off season. It'll be Pete Golding's first time in charge first week of the season. Who knows what happens there. But then you've also got smu. You're avoiding Miami and Clemson. That's really what the optimism is built

[Bud Elliott]

on, I mean, based on the way that Brahms had Clemson tied in knots, I think you'd rather have Clemson that gave that series is advantage cards here.

[Tom Fornelli]

Okay, here's what. If you could, if you could have to play one like you dodged two of these three, who would you rather? I mean, obviously Miami, but would you rather have Clemson or Florida State?

[Bud Elliott]

I'd rather have Florida State.

[Tom Fornelli]

There you go. So they have to play Florida State. Poor bastards.

[Bud Elliott]

Yeah, that's. That one's. That one's unfortunately a little bit easy because while the talent level has dropped off, amazingly, the vibes remain. You would not believe this, Tom, but the vibes are still optimistic inside that building. Shout out to culture. Yeah, I think I would not lay 148. I think that this is probably showing that the odds makers throughout the seven and a half. And Jim, a lot of people agree with you on, on being able to bet this thing up.

[Tom Fornelli]

Just looking at this. Another thing that kind of goes in Louisville's favor as far as the schedule because this is one thing you do have to consider now in the acc, they don't have a west coast game. Stanford comes to Louisville. Their road games are all NC State, Syracuse, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Kentucky. So they're not, they're not going west of the Rockies.

[Bud Elliott]

Well, yeah, because they paid for it with the Stanford loss a couple years ago.

[Tom Fornelli]

That's what I'm saying. It's like you can, you can think of Stanford and Cal as wins, but when they're on the road and you have to make that trip, it's a little more difficult.

[Bud Elliott]

Kyle also notes they avoid those ACC powers, Duke and Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the league that is run

[Tom Fornelli]

by Duke over seven and a half. That's free money. I don't know if you've heard.

[Bud Elliott]

I don't know if you've heard. All right, what about this one, Ryan? Did Bud get cash down to move the FanDuel opener from 6 1/2 to the current 7 1/2 after predicting an 8 1/2 line for Florida? Yeah, we did discuss, you know, what would the, the opening line, what would the win total look like for the Florida Gators? I think that Bud, off the top of my head, guessed that. What did he say? Favorite in 10 games. Wasn't that what he said? Yeah. Favorite in 10 games. Yeah. Opened at six and a half over the weekend, already up to seven and a half. What's. Is it still too low for John Summerall's first team?

[Tom Fornelli]

I mean, I Don't too low. What's the juice at like? It's I will say first of all it is possible that our two co hosts are Florida State fans that they are might like to hype up Florida a bit in the off season. They just there might be some kind of motive there for those two to really get the expectations up for the Florida Gators going into any season. Just always keep that in mind. That said, I mean looking at the schedule, Florida Atlantic and Campbell is your openers. They'll be 2 0, Auburn on the road, Ole Miss at home, Missouri on the road. I would probably think they're favored there but they might not be. South Carolina at home they're favored won't be favored on the road at Texas, won't be favored in Jacksonville against Georgia will be favored at home against Oklahoma I think will be favored at Kentucky will be favored at home against Vandy, will probably be favored on the road against Florida State.

[Bud Elliott]

I I will say that obviously do not have the same motivations as a as a Florida State grad might in terms of the influencing the conversation around a chief R. But there is something about when a program especially of the notoriety of Florida escapes from the cloud of hot seat because the cloud of hot seat has been on that program for like two and a half years.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah.

[Bud Elliott]

So it's just you get them out of there and you're like okay, well now they are unshackled, now they are unburdened. Let's see if they see what they can do. Get out there and run. Unfortunately, as you detailed right there, a lot more it's they might be favored in a lot of games according to the point spread but I do not think they are favored by margins which would have me creating the giving them as anything other than toss ups in my classic win loss toss up analysis like very simply sorting a schedule as a whole lot of toss ups for John Summerall's first season.

[Tom Fornelli]

And to the first part of Ryan's question about Bud getting cash down and moving the FanDuel opener. FanDuel can't handle Bud's weight. Hey, they can't deal with the kind of the bets that man's putting down.

[Bud Elliott]

You guys don't know man. But, but, but awake 29 hours a day.

[Tom Fornelli]

The lines Bud's moving are in Costa Rica, my friends, because they're the only people willing to take on that kind of risk.

[Bud Elliott]

That guy is in the prediction markets betting both sides and you don't even know you're losing money. He's up at 4am he's, he's up at 4am trading SEC title futures against himself and he doesn't even know. All right, all right, let's stick with Ryan. One more he said, I took ASU over six and a half. Tough road schedule, but should go undefeated at home. The Sun Devils as they prepare to enter into another year. Kenny Dillingham, hot name on the market when Michigan opened a lot of Photoshops trying to put that man from a, from a black and gold into a maze and blue. You agree with the analysis?

[Tom Fornelli]

I. Yeah, I think it's pretty solid. If you, if you do look at their home schedule, I don't know if they should go undefeated but Morgan State, Kansas, Baylor, Hawaii, Kansas State, Colorado, Oklahoma State. Although I think that Kansas game might be a neutral site. I'm not sure but I don't remember off the top of my head. But like that is not a difficult home slate.

[Bud Elliott]

Yeah.

[Tom Fornelli]

Comparatively to what it could be. And you know, they have to play BYU on the road and Texas Tech on the road, so probably going to lose those games but they should make up for it at all.

[Bud Elliott]

The. I do not think that while we have heard of more commitment, you know, part of the getting Kenny Dillingham to stay is, you know, the promises. Of all the ways that we're going to be able to get you resources, I don't know if that's the kind of turnaround that's going to be able to like just, just snap it right off the mix. Just snap it right into place right away, especially with this team. All right, let's see, what else did we have here? Texas at. Let's actually do these two together. So Nathan jumped in the tailgate and said Texas at nine and a half is interesting. And then the Hammer said Alabama at eight and a half. It's been a while since it's been that low. Let's tackle those 2 secs. And again the SEC specific, if Vegas is right, will be coming up in a little bit. We'll get that series started on Wednesday with the Big Ten, Texas and Alabama. How, how do you see those two totals?

[Tom Fornelli]

Honestly, my, my gut, my gut reaction is anybody that's on the high end of the win totals in the sec, take the under. Just. It's, it's a hard league. So like I see Texas at nine and a half and I'm sitting there thinking nine and three. I mean that's very realistic. They, they have to play Ohio State in the non con like it's at home this year. But it's still going to be a very difficult game. They're on the road for lsu, they're on the road for Tennessee. That makes that game far more difficult. They're on the road for A and M to end the year. A rivalry game, that's always going to be tough. And now you're going to Kyle Field. At home, you've got Oklahoma, Florida. Oklahoma is not at home. It's. It's in Dallas. But Oklahoma, Florida, Ole Miss, these are going to be difficult games. So 9 and 3 to me seems very much like a realistic possibility. I think it's far more likely than 10 and 2, unless Arch truly is the chosen one. If Arch is that guy, then they can go 10 and 2 or better.

[Bud Elliott]

I mean, if Arch is that guy, they can go 11 and 1.

[Tom Fornelli]

You know, like, yeah, him and Cam Coleman to go. Like, if both of those dudes stay healthy and play well, I could see them going undefeated. It's just I think the far more likely outcome is they're going to lose a few games.

[Bud Elliott]

The the Texas offense is video game and the question is whether or not they're going to be able to put it all into place. Because as we're sitting here in middle of March, I'm looking at the depth chart and I'm like, well, this. How are these guys not going to score 43 points a game? You know, like, it's just that. Well, how are they not? Well, there. There have been NFL wide receivers and very, you know, potentially explosive Texas offenses before, but they've got to face a very, very tough schedule, some of the toughest defenses in the entire country, and there's no guarantee that all the pieces are going to click into place. So we'll see. It's been a while since I feel like that group has necessarily always lived up to the way that it's looked on paper. Is that fair?

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah. And oddly enough, like going to Alabama, there are far more questions, I think, about Alabama going into this year and we don't know who the quarterback is yet. But like, schedule wise, I feel more confident about Alabama being over than Texas because like, they don't have Ohio State in the noncon. Their big non con game is Florida State. But Florida State's probably not going to be good. And you go into their conference schedule. Yeah, they're on the road for lsu. They've got Georgia, but other than that, they're missing most of the heavy hitters in the league.

[Bud Elliott]

We will, as I mentioned, be going conference by conference. If Vegas was right, using these win totals as a more team specific conversation but with those getting released on Friday, wanted to get your opinions in the tailgate and so much more. So again Wednesday if Vegas is right, Big Ten edition for a deeper dive there. Well, March Madness brackets are back and you can get into action today with the CBS Sports app. Run men's and women's pools with friends and enter our bracket challenges for your chance to win trips to the 2027 final four. Get the CBS Sports app to start playing now. No purchase necessary. See Terms and Rules for details. I cannot wait to start playing. Tom, One of the things that I love about the Bracket Challenge is that you've got great mobile options to be able to track it along the way. Easy to make your selections. I know you and I always compete against each other. We always compete against the tailgate. We will have a lot more information about the COVID 3 bracket group for you to be able to join and to be able to compete against us. What are you starting to get fired up about for the. For the CBS Sports bracket challenges?

[Tom Fornelli]

I mean, I'm very happy. Like just for the bracket challenge, it's beating all our listeners. That's always fun because it proves that, you know, not only am I the most knowledgeable football mind on this show, but I'm also the most knowledgeable basketball mind on the show. And that's always very important to me. And also just for as far as the actual tournament itself, just, you know, ready to go, ready to beat North Carolina, ready to get to the Elite Eight and take on those SEC merchants, the Florida Gators, and knock their asses out of the tournament. Ready to make that Final Four run.

[Bud Elliott]

Yes, there that you can fill that in. We do have a link to the COVID 3 bracket challenge in the description. We've also got it available on our Twitter page at Cover 3 podcast. And the men's bracket is not the only thing that we offer. There are women's bracket pools as well. You can start your own pool. You can enter in the big bracket challenges and you could win again, a trip to next year's Final Four. Get the CBS Sports app today and be a part of the madness. Well, coming up on the other side as the NCAA and starts to look at whether it will or won't be able to really pursue penalties for tampering, we start to hear from the organizations that are simply running the sport. Big Ten, sec, they're trying to tell the ncaa, Whoa, whoa, whoa, chill out. Do they have something to this and more nukes. You know, mental health can feel like this huge complicated thing because if you hurt your arm, you see a doctor, no problem. But finding the right therapist, suddenly it's confusing, expensive and takes forever. That's why Rula is so great. They make therapy simple, fast and affordable. They accept most major insurance plans and the average session copay is just $15. 15 bucks. That's basically lunch money. But instead of a sandwich, you're investing in your mental well being. And here's the best part. Rula isn't just about matching you with someone. Every therapist is licensed, vetted and picked for their expertise. They actually follow up to make sure you're making progress. You answer a few questions about what matters to you. Pick a time and you could be talking to a therapist as soon as the next day. No waiting, no guessing, no stress. Thousands of guys have already used RULA to finally get the care they needed. Don't keep putting it off. Go to rula.comcover and get started today. That's r u l a.com cover. Take the first step, get connected and take control of your mental health.

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[Tom Fornelli]

Clocks Big Shots, Upsets Aces TGL Playoffs are here. First Atlanta Drive starts their repeat run against Los Angeles Golf Club. Then Rory's Boston Common Golf and Tigers Jupiter Links face off in their playoff debuts. Who will advance? Keep up its playoffs tune in Tuesday, March 17th at 6:30pm and 9:00pm only on ESPN and the ESPN app

[Bud Elliott]

back here on the COVID 3 podcast. The Big Ten got this conversation started with an official request to the NCAA asking them to pause tampering investigations, tampering inquiries so that they can reassess the rules and not pursue penalties given the way that things have changed now. Asked to comment on this at the SEC basketball tournament, Greg Sankey spoke to reporters and while he did not throw any official statement of intent representing the entire league, he did tell reporters that were gathered there that the tampering rules are, quote, archaic and asked them to be willing to look at the way that the modern era with the transfer portal, name, image and likeness, revenue sharing and so much more has changed the modern recruiting process. Of course, hearing that The NCAA is going to be pursuing tampering, tempering penalties, comes in the wake of the. Luke Forelli, the linebacker who was sitting in class at Clemson while he was receiving text messages from Ole Miss and then eventually leaving Clemson to go join the Rebels football team. Several other stories, you know, really, as coaches started to, to be out and put the business on front street. Tom, tampering's happened for a long time in every single sport. What's the motivation here between the Big Ten and the SEC trying to take some of the gas out of the NCAA's tank on this one?

[Tom Fornelli]

Well, first of all, I can't believe the Big Ten and SEC are working together. I mean, I'm always told about how they can't come to an agreement on the, the playoff format. They're, they're, they're so far apart on everything. It's to me, like, whether you want to discuss the merits of what they're arguing. I, I do believe there are merits to their arguments, which is like, listen, sport has changed. Tampering needs to be punished. But we need to come up with some rules that deal with tampering for what it is now. Because there's some stuff that you kind of just have to do with the way that the portal window is. You kind of have to do a little bit of tampering if you're going to have a chance to get a guy.

[Bud Elliott]

It's called homework.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah, exactly. So, like, they need to come up with like, set guidelines for what tampering is. Now in the transfer portal era and in the nil era, you can't really be punishing teams or maybe you shouldn't be punishing teams for rules from 20 years ago with 20, 26, you know, reality. But it's just the SEC and the Big Ten are working together. They are aligned. They have similar interests because they're all kind of pulling in the same direction towards what this sport's going to be in six or seven years, because they're going to be the two running the sport, whatever the hell it's called, whatever the head governing body is, they're going to be running it. So they're pulling it and everybody's just kind of either fighting it or being dragged along. That's really what the next seven years will be.

[Bud Elliott]

Do you, as some, as somebody who is like, intimately passionate about the sport, what's, what do you think is the, the best pivot here? Because I, first of all, I think it's interesting that you mentioned the Big Ten of the SEC not being Able to agree on anything. Because what's the other piece that we've seen them come hand in hand and sing Kumbaya for? It's about pooling media rights, you know, and there are a couple of issues where it's like a stress test for the whole college football system. You know, when we've had those quotes about when we did our super league episode, we said, when is this going to happen? Like, that was the one piece that is the most interesting to me is we hear quotes from athletic directors who indicate that big changes could be happening in the next two to five years, not necessarily waiting all the way to 2030 or 2032, that this could be coming like kind of fast and furious. And I think the urgency is represented with the Big Ten in the SEC in a couple of these issues. Pooling, media rights, tampering. This very, very much is the future of college sports being shaped in real time by all these very, very small pushes one way or the other.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah. Follow the money and then you'll know who is on what side. Because when it comes to the pooling of television rights, who's one of the biggest proponents for it?

[Bud Elliott]

I would say the Big 12. Cody Campbell.

[Tom Fornelli]

Cody Campbell, and he represents Texas Tech, a Big 12 school. The SEC and the Big 10 are kind of against it because. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We're. We're making far more money than. Than the Big 12 in the ACC. Why do we want to take less to help them make more? That does us no good. Comes to tampering. Who's doing the most tampering? Because they're able to go into the Big 12 and ACC and pluck players away because they can afford to pay them more. It's the Big Ten in the sec, so of course they want to slow down what we're doing with tampering until there's more set guidelines. And of course, it's Clemsons like Dabo Swinney complaining about it because his team can't afford to keep his guys because other schools are coming after him. So it's whoever's got the like that that's really what it's going to be. Whatever side of the money that makes sense for the Big Ten in the SEC will be what side they are on. And then the Big 12 and the ACC will be on the other argument when it comes to any discussion over any change in this sport coming forward. Not who's right, who's wrong, but that's just the way it's going to go.

[Bud Elliott]

The current setup of College athletics is great for the Big Ten in the sec. Yeah. I mean, there are things that the Big Ten in the SEC want to change, but they are doing so with the power to change it because of the current state of college athletics, which allows the Big Ten in the SEC to, to work together and have the most power in all of those decision making rooms when it comes to the playoff and things of that nature. Yeah, super, super league is always going to be tough because conference commissioners and conferences are going to have to give up some power for the creation of this new entity.

[Tom Fornelli]

And I would also say, like, if you're betting on who's going to win, I would typically bet on if the Big Ten and the SEC are in agreement that side's going to win.

[Bud Elliott]

What would be fair? Tampering rules?

[Tom Fornelli]

I don't know. I, I mean, like, you think about what the NFL does with their quote unquote legal tampering periods when it comes to free agency. Like, you could just say that maybe the portal window opens on January 15, January 1, you're allowed to start contacting players that aren't on your team. And if you can prove that you were doing something beforehand, then you will get punished. I, I don't. This is just spitballing. I have absolutely no idea. I'm not. I don't know enough to figure this stuff out. I don't know enough to solve it. Not really interested in solving it. That's something that I would imagine is like a blueprint for what it would end up looking like. Like you could start talking to players from other teams on this date and then they can officially sign with you on this date.

[Bud Elliott]

I will not. I think it is an easy way out to just simply blame the agents. Okay. So I'm not going to just throw it right there, but the one story that we have heard, I mean, I think I can say at least a half dozen times was head coach receiving a list of available players from an agent and seeing a player on his team who he did not know was planning to enter the portal. Is that tampering?

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah, I think that agents will have to. You will include guidelines for agents, and if agents are found to be in violation of these guidelines, they might lose their, you know, ability to represent players. But I again certify them.

[Bud Elliott]

Can we certify agents in college football? I guess that would be my, like, I don't know how we do it, but man, that's what I would push towards.

[Tom Fornelli]

I don't think any of these rules will come and be set into place until there is the quote unquote super league. Like when the breakaway finally does happen, that's when we're going to get all these rules. The next five or six years will be just debating what the rules should be.

[Bud Elliott]

Fun. Can't wait.

[Tom Fornelli]

I can't wait either.

[Bud Elliott]

I know it's fantastic.

[Tom Fornelli]

And I know just going from the tailgate, these guys, they love these discussions. They love to think about all this. This is what like losers are thinking of their bracket right now and figuring out what teams they want to have advancing. Winners are trying to figure out tampering. Rules. Rules. Because that's what matters.

[Bud Elliott]

Always interesting what the Big Ten in the SEC will go hand in hand for. Always interesting. All right, speaking of bracket, let's, let's do the the real winning. Let's play out a bracket college football style. Let's put it in the COVID 3 bracket challenge. Let's see how it does. So coming up on the other side, we will do the 20276 NCAA tournament men's bracket, but all of our picks will be as if these are football teams playing. All that and more.

[Tom Fornelli]

Next.

[Bud Elliott]

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[Bud Elliott]

back here on the COVID 3 podcast. Yes, it is that best time.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah.

[Bud Elliott]

NCAA Tournament actions begins this week. You saw the Entire field of 68 revealed on America's most watched network, the Network of Stars. Our annual plug for the eye on college basketball. Our friends over there, Gary Parrish, Matt Norlander. Matt joined us a little while back to be able to help get a set for this most wonderful time of year. But now we're just going to entirely hijack all of the conversation with one of the silliest and most fun exercises that we do in March. Yes.

[Tom Fornelli]

Tom, before we get into this, can I just address a comment?

[Bud Elliott]

Sure.

[Tom Fornelli]

All right. Gator Swag in the chat said that nil has killed college football. Gator swag. It is March 16. You are in the live chat of a college football podcast. If NIL has killed college football, what are you doing here? I think something to ask ourselves. Anyways, on to the discussion.

[Bud Elliott]

I think that we've got just, you know, such a. Such a stellar team right here at the COVID 3 podcast. With our YouTube presence, it is possible, possible that the words March Madness in this headline have slipped us into a lot of jet streams. I don't know if he sought us as much as he has found us, but that is true.

[Tom Fornelli]

Basketball is more likely to draw a Gator fan than football these days.

[Bud Elliott]

Yeah, it's. Let's just stick around. Gator Swag. You're gonna have some fun. Let's. Let's go ahead and get into this. So the Sienna. Will Sienna score more points in football against Manny Diaz's team or basketball against John Shire? Obviously. I think we.

[Tom Fornelli]

We put.

[Bud Elliott]

We push the Blue Devils on, right?

[Tom Fornelli]

I mean, yeah, they've got. John Shire's daughter says they've got the best coach of the sport.

[Bud Elliott]

That's very cute. Ohio State, tcu. Any chance Sonny Dykes pulls off the stunner?

[Tom Fornelli]

Does this look more like Josh Uber anymore?

[Bud Elliott]

Yeah. All right. Ohio State advances. Oh, yikes. St. John's in northern Iowa. You got to give it Northern Iowa.

[Tom Fornelli]

Oh, yeah, the Panthers.

[Bud Elliott]

Panthers at least go test themselves. That's a solid FCS program. And then Kansas over Cal Baptist. Jayhawks needed a bounce back year. Love to see it right there. Louisville, usf. Kind of fun. Jeff Braum, Brian Hartline.

[Tom Fornelli]

Oh, heartlines. It's his first year. He's not ready for this yet in the tournament. He's not. He's not tournament tested. Got to go with Louisville.

[Bud Elliott]

All right. Pat Fitzgerald taking on North Dakota State as the Bison are making their transition to fbs.

[Tom Fornelli]

Bison are moving on. Right now I'm high on Michigan State. This is a tough one, guys. This is. North Dakota State's humming. They're in a better spot. Give me the Bison.

[Bud Elliott]

All right, let's go. North Dakota State advances. Then UCLA against ucf. Bob Chesney against Scott Frost.

[Tom Fornelli]

I mean, this is a coin flip. Truly, it's. Are these games at neutral sites? Are they home?

[Bud Elliott]

We're saying neutral.

[Tom Fornelli]

Okay, so it's not like the first round of the College Football Playoff. Just to say, if this was at the Rose Bowl, I'd give UCLA the edge here. It's still coin flippy to me. I think UCLA simply because ucf, outside of The Bounce House. Last year, anywhere was just not good.

[Bud Elliott]

UCLA advances, let's say, for the purposes of. Oh, would it change your mind if I told you this was in Philadelphia? So if they're playing at. They're playing at the Sixers arena, we'll say they're playing at the Link.

[Tom Fornelli]

No, doesn't change my mind. I think UCLA on like a last second blocked punt return.

[Bud Elliott]

Okay, then Yukon and Furman.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yukon.

[Bud Elliott]

Yukon. All right, let's go. Let's keep it right there in the East Region. We'll play it out. Duke against Ohio State, guys. Northern Iowa against Kansas. Seems like a game we'd see on September 10th.

[Tom Fornelli]

Hell, we might be on September 10th this year. But Kansas is going to get by here.

[Bud Elliott]

Kansas gets by. Louisville against North Dakota State. Bison come to Screeching Hall. Do we want to keep the Cinderella. Oh, oh, let's go. North Dakota State.

[Tom Fornelli]

Cinderella story.

[Bud Elliott]

Cinderella story. UCLA and Yukon.

[Tom Fornelli]

UCLA, okay.

[Bud Elliott]

Moving to Washington, D.C. buckeyes. Jayhawks. Buckeyes. And then North Dakota State. UCLA, bison buys in advance. And then we just hope no one gets hurt on that terrible Turf field in D.C. so that we can send on the champion from the East Regional. Healthy. Ohio State wins the East.

[Tom Fornelli]

They barely, barely survived.

[Bud Elliott]

All right, let's move over to the west. Brent Brennan in Arizona over liu. Though I was. You know, we did see the Sharks against Florida this past year. I just didn't see enough. No Utah State. Broncos. Big bad boys. Come on now.

[Tom Fornelli]

Of course. Come on.

[Bud Elliott]

Wisconsin. High point.

[Tom Fornelli]

High point gives them some trouble, but Wisconsin's four string quarterback, after all the injuries in the first half, somehow gets them home and gets the win.

[Bud Elliott]

Okay, Hawaii against Arkansas. I tell you what, over Allah's back. Hawaii is frisky. They don't have as many teams standing in their way. After all those teams from the top half of the standing left to go to the PAC 12. Hawaii is a Mountain west title contender in 2026.

[Tom Fornelli]

Arkansas.

[Bud Elliott]

Arkansas says Tom. Okay.

[Tom Fornelli]

I appreciate the sell, Jeff.

[Bud Elliott]

All right, Texas, NC State and byu. Who emerges from sort of that? Texas. All right, and then Gonzaga and Kennesaw. Kennesaw.

[Tom Fornelli]

Kennesaw.

[Bud Elliott]

Absolutely. Miami and Missouri.

[Tom Fornelli]

Fun game for Miami fans.

[Bud Elliott]

Miami and then Purdue. Congratulations. We found a game you can win.

[Tom Fornelli]

You won a football game.

[Bud Elliott]

All right, what about Arizona against Broncos? Big bad boys.

[Tom Fornelli]

I want to take Broncos. Big bad boys, but I think Arizona gets through here.

[Bud Elliott]

Noah Fafida advancing to the Sweet 16. And then Arkansas against Wisconsin. Wisconsin.

[Tom Fornelli]

I mean, are you that. Are you that confident in that?

[Bud Elliott]

I think that I'M making life easy on myself with slotting Arkansas at the bottom of the sec. Assuming that just the whole turnover operation, the hire did not light a fire under me in terms of feeling like we're going to see a big bounce back. They won two games last year, so.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah, but I, I mean, how many games did Wisconsin win? Five.

[Bud Elliott]

Right.

[Tom Fornelli]

Are you so like, this is Colton Joseph versus I don't know, who's K.J. jackson? Yeah, I, I mean, I think this game's close. I, I, if you're that confident, Wisconsin, we'll go with the Badgers.

[Bud Elliott]

Okay. Come, come find me.

[Tom Fornelli]

Woo.

[Bud Elliott]

Pig. More of, more of a, more of a Calipari Tyson Chicken guy than I am buying stock in the, buying stock in the football program. Somebody's got to stand up for the voice of Bud Elliott, who is just so out on Arkansas's investment in football, he's basically taking up billboards in Fayetteville.

[Tom Fornelli]

Bud saw that report and how much Arkansas spent on basketball and he's like, see, told you.

[Bud Elliott]

And then he's gonna pull out the baseball.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah.

[Bud Elliott]

Yeah. So Texas over Kennesaw.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah.

[Bud Elliott]

Okay. Miami.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah. I think Miami's got a decent shot of beating Purdue. Yeah.

[Bud Elliott]

So you go. All right, so now we're in San Jose. So I guess we're playing in the Niners stadium. Hopefully no one gets the energy fields from the power station.

[Tom Fornelli]

That's terrible news for Wisconsin. Think of all the injuries they've suffered the last few years. And now they're playing against the tendon ripper machine. Oh, man.

[Bud Elliott]

Protect Arch Manning at all costs. Who gets out of here?

[Tom Fornelli]

Arizona.

[Bud Elliott]

Arizona. And then Miami or Texas?

[Tom Fornelli]

Texas.

[Bud Elliott]

Okay. And then Texas over Arizona. That one feels easy. That's a classic. Whoever won Texas, Miami was going to win the region situation. All right, Florida, you're getting in over Prairie View. And Lehigh. Clemson. Iowa. Hello.

[Tom Fornelli]

I mean, this is a great, this is a classic 8, 9 matchup. Stylistically different. Could go either way. Give me Iowa. I mean, I can't. I, I pronounced Clemson dead on the show last week. I can't really then follow it up by predicting they'd win this game.

[Bud Elliott]

Stylistically in basketball, they are like a claw your eyes out kind of game in terms of, I mean, when I saw those two slotted together, I think they might be two of the lower tempo teams in the whole field according to my numbers. And I was like, okay, let's, let's get out there and do some good execution, boys. Let's see how you guys can guard a Bennett Sturts. Pick and roll for 28 seconds.

[Tom Fornelli]

The mark Gronowski of the Insta play turn.

[Bud Elliott]

People are wondering Vanderbilt against McNeese. Let's go our doors. Nebraska against Troy. No, Brad. Hey, listen.

[Tom Fornelli]

Troy.

[Bud Elliott]

What? No.

[Tom Fornelli]

Brass has never won a tournament game. They got us. I can't just assume they're gonna win this.

[Bud Elliott]

No, they have. Matt Rule has appeared in and won bowl games. Okay, fine.

[Tom Fornelli]

But let the record show I picked Troy and was overruled.

[Bud Elliott]

Yes, you were. I'm taking Nebraska, North Carolina over vcu.

[Tom Fornelli]

North Carolina.

[Bud Elliott]

North Carolina. Then a line I buy a billion.

[Tom Fornelli]

I mean had had Yale held on to beat Pitt and this was Yale and they had they'd called Barton Simmons out of retirement, I'd have said that Yale might have stood a shot. But Penn's got no prayer line in

[Bud Elliott]

on the basketball side. Things that Tom knows that the tailgate might or might not the fighting line. I went 8 and 2 against the spread when favored by more than 15 points. When they had an advantage on somebody, they put them in a da gum locker. Maybe that's why you saw the opener of 21 and a half get bet out by a full possession to 24 and a half on this one. St. Mary's the Texas A and M. Let's go, Aggies.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah.

[Bud Elliott]

And then Houston and Idaho.

[Tom Fornelli]

Houston.

[Bud Elliott]

Houston. Okay. Florida. Iowa.

[Tom Fornelli]

This is. This is an outback bull if I've ever seen one. Yeah.

[Bud Elliott]

Where's Ryan Nanny? In the Blooming Onion costume.

[Tom Fornelli]

He's in the Blooming Onion costume. Iowa.

[Bud Elliott]

Iowa. Then Doors.

[Tom Fornelli]

Vandy.

[Bud Elliott]

Vandy. The Illini.

[Tom Fornelli]

Illinois.

[Bud Elliott]

Yeah.

[Tom Fornelli]

A M. This is. This is the football bracket right here.

[Bud Elliott]

It is.

[Tom Fornelli]

This is the football school bracket. And I mean, no, they don't have Pavi anywhere. I mean you can't. You've got Jared Curtis, right? Freshman. Freshman point guards don't typically do well in the NCAA tournament anymore, do they? Iowa's got.

[Bud Elliott]

They got. I. I think Darius Acuff could.

[Tom Fornelli]

Well, I'm gonna let you pick this one. I don't want my allegiances to be to skew the thought process here.

[Bud Elliott]

Oh, that's great of you, Tom. I do. Doors.

[Tom Fornelli]

Iowa fans. Chip did it, not me. Yeah.

[Bud Elliott]

Let's go, Chip.

[Tom Fornelli]

Iowa beat Vandy in a bowl game just a couple months ago.

[Bud Elliott]

Oh, yeah. I. A m. Wow.

[Tom Fornelli]

Well, I don't even get to say.

[Bud Elliott]

All right, come on, let's hear it.

[Tom Fornelli]

You think Marcel Reese isn't going to turn the ball over seven times against the line either? Running at 3, 3, 5 now Marcel's in deep Doo Doo. Kate and Hauser. Yeah. Okay, fine.

[Bud Elliott]

Yeah. A M. Okay. Iowa and a M. A a M. All right. A and M comes out of the south onto the Midwest. Michigan over UMBC or Howard George Dogs over St. Louis.

[Tom Fornelli]

Wow, what a round of 32 matchup we have. I know.

[Bud Elliott]

Texas Tech. Yeah. Alabama.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah, yeah. Tennessee, Tennessee, Virginia.

[Bud Elliott]

You could talk me into smu, but I'm not gonna fight for it.

[Tom Fornelli]

Kentucky,

[Bud Elliott]

Iowa State.

[Tom Fornelli]

I mean, I don't even know what, I don't even know who's on Iowa State anymore. There's that. That's a fun. You know, how much of a diehard college football fan are you? Name three Iowa State players right now.

[Bud Elliott]

Yeah, I cannot off the top of my head right now. The only thing that's coming to mind is Milan Momcilovich, Joshua Jefferson, Tamen Lipsey.

[Tom Fornelli]

I mean, how many? Like, if we went to Iowa State. I don't know if Isaac's here today, but if we went to like, Iowa State football fans, how many, like, what do you think the average number of current players they would be able to name is? 4. I, I. To be clear for listeners who maybe don't pay attention, you know, Cody Nagel went through and did. Returning starters for next year. Iowa State is one of three teams that doesn't have a single returning starter next year.

[Bud Elliott]

0.

[Tom Fornelli]

When was the last time you saw that?

[Bud Elliott]

Yeah.

[Tom Fornelli]

And there are three teams and you'll be surprised. They are Iowa State, North Texas and Oklahoma State. What do all those teams have in common?

[Bud Elliott]

Their rosters got gutted. Coaches left.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yes.

[Bud Elliott]

Yeah, I don't, I don't know.

[Tom Fornelli]

There.

[Bud Elliott]

All right, Michigan, Georgia. It could be a massive game, but we're getting it in the second round. We're getting it in Buffalo. Oh, these guys.

[Tom Fornelli]

Oh, Georgia's got to head up north. Oh, no. Oh, yeah. Georgia.

[Bud Elliott]

Georgia. Texas Tech, Alabama. This whole little corner is awesome. Texas Tech, Alabama.

[Tom Fornelli]

I'm gonna say Alabama, but what does it say? That I had to think about it is not.

[Bud Elliott]

I mean, we're talking about. There's a three win difference in the win total between these teams. Texas Tech at 11 and a half. Alabama at 8 and a half. But you're going to go with Crimson Tide.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah. What would Texas Tech's win total be in the sec?

[Bud Elliott]

Probably about eight and a half.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah.

[Bud Elliott]

Sorry. Brendan Sorsby is sec. We got to set this thing up. All right. Tennessee and Virginia.

[Tom Fornelli]

Tennessee, Kentucky. We've got it. We've got an All Sec Sweet 16 in, in the, in the Midwest. Sheesh.

[Bud Elliott]

Showing up to Chicago, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky. Who's got the grit, you know, who's got the toughness? What do you think, Dogs?

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah, Stetson hurt, Stetson Gunner, they're all the same Gunner just proves to be the difference here.

[Bud Elliott]

And then I got to go Tennessee over Kentucky. I think Kentucky getting, pushing Kentucky ahead of Iowa State, I'll go with. But there is a lot of turnover for the Wildcats as well.

[Tom Fornelli]

Sweet 16 run in will Stein's first season. He's feeling great. That's, that's a great season for the Wildcats.

[Bud Elliott]

And then Georgia, Tennessee, Georgia, Georgia. All right, so that gives us a Final Four. On one side of the bracket we got the east region champions, Ohio State from the eight line.

[Tom Fornelli]

The.

[Bud Elliott]

The south regional champions, Texas A and m from the 10 line. Then up in the west region, we've got the champions Texas Longhorns making it all the way from the first four to the Final Four. They'll be squaring off against the Midwest regional champion Georgia Bulldogs, who got it done from the nine line. An eight, a nine, a ten and an eleven. My, oh my. Everything about this screams Cinderella. The likes of Ohio State, Texas, Texas A and M, and Georgia programs who have never pursued or even won championships at the highest level. How does this one, how does this one end up playing out in Indianapolis?

[Tom Fornelli]

First of all, with. With like four Cinderellas in the Final Four, I do worry about the television rankings. There are no college basketball blue bloods here. These are just tiny little mid major football schools. So I, I fear for the television ratings and what that means for the sport of college basketball. But as, as a purist, a basketball lover, I think this is great. I love seeing new blood getting a chance to really shine. And I think if it were up to me, just, just my guess is here, I, I think that Ohio State would take out Texas A and M. I do. So I think Bruce Thornton there at quarterback is going to be fantastic. And then, I mean, I'm sorry, Texas, but until I see you beat Georgia, I am not going to pick you to beat Georgia. Arch Manning's college basketball career comes to an end in the Final Four, just one game shy of reaching the title game.

[Bud Elliott]

What no Texas fan wants to hear is that history doesn't always repeat. It rhymes is what they say. Peyton's troubles with Florida might just be Arch's troubles with Georgia.

[Tom Fornelli]

It's true. Yeah. Texas has proven it is great at losing in the Final Four.

[Bud Elliott]

And then Ohio State against Georgia for the national championship game. Who ends up, who ends up Getting it done.

[Tom Fornelli]

Gunner versus Julian, Jeremiah Smith versus. I don't know who George's top receiver will be this year. It's probably a white guy named like Chase or something. Give me the Buckeyes.

[Bud Elliott]

Yeah, Buckeyes. From one and done in the playoff to one shining moment. Ryan Day leads the Buckeyes to a national champion. And oh yeah, over, under in this game, I think we've got to say, what, 56.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah, for sure. 56 and a half.

[Bud Elliott]

56. Yeah.

[Tom Fornelli]

Can't wait to see.

[Bud Elliott]

Yeah, 56. We'll save that one. Can't wait to see how many points this wins.

[Tom Fornelli]

Ryan Day up on that podium dedicating this one to Greg Odin and Mike Conley, Nevin Turner and all those guys saying we, we finally did it for you boys.

[Bud Elliott]

This goes back to the final four appearances and wins in the 60s when Ohio State was running this thing. You know, this is, this is a real heritage right here. That bracket will be entered into the COVID 3 bracket challenge.

[Tom Fornelli]

It will not win.

[Bud Elliott]

No, but listen, we have seen it has been in the lead after like two days, right? Because shocker, if you've got a good football team, you're probably good enough to beat a mid major or win a first round game. Now obviously they've got a lot more work to do, both Ohio State and Georgia, including beating a one seed in the second round. But still a lot of fun to do it. The link to the COVID 3 bracket challenge you can find in the episode description here and elsewhere. A couple minutes left. Any other just general basketball thoughts you want to, you want to put out there into the universe

[Tom Fornelli]

in, in reality, like have you noticed because you mentioned like the Illinois spread got fed up to 24 and a half. I think this is one of the things we've talked about for college football. The way the transfer portal and nil has kind of really shifted the balance between, you know, the power leagues and the other leagues. You look at like the first round of the NCAA tournament and you're starting to see a lot of spreads in those 314, 4, 12 and even 5, 11 games or 512 and 4. You know that kind of look like what the 2 and 15s and 1 and 16s always look like. Like the gap between them is starting to widen pretty good.

[Bud Elliott]

And I can like already just to get ahead of what the counter argument would be like what's the difference between these teams? But a lot of one seeds and mid major conference tournaments lost. So even the team that you are getting from that conference does not necessarily, especially in terms of a power rating, represent the best of that conference. I mean, we love the Idaho story, but Idaho was a seven seed. Right. You know, there's a, there's a couple other examples of that where like, okay, you know, you're trying to figure out how this frisky team from the mid major is going to come in and close the talent gap. It's like, well, they were already at a disadvantage against their own conference. It's just they happen to get the right bounces during the chaos that was conference tournament week.

[Tom Fornelli]

Yeah. So, like when you are filling out your bracket this week, I know that it's always fun to do the 14 over three kind of upset, but I would consider that maybe my, I would leave my upsets to maybe the 1110s and the nines. Even though I think three, three of the nines will be favored over the eights, won't they?

[Bud Elliott]

But I mean, we're talking what, two

[Tom Fornelli]

and a half by a point. Yeah, but I'm saying three of the nines, the last I checked, were favorites.

[Bud Elliott]

Would that be. Was it Iowa?

[Tom Fornelli]

I think Georgia is the only one

[Bud Elliott]

that's favored as a, as an eight

[Tom Fornelli]

or was Georgia at nine?

[Bud Elliott]

Ohio. Ohio State is favored by two and a half over tcu. They are an eight.

[Tom Fornelli]

Okay, so maybe that was it.

[Bud Elliott]

Georgia is favored over St. Louis. They are an 8. But yeah, it'll be interesting. Don't get away.

[Tom Fornelli]

According to a couple of predictive sites. They aren't what, like looking at the predictive sites, the nines, a couple of those nines there should be favored over the 8th, but the name brand recognition is the market and the number next to their name.

[Bud Elliott]

Yeah, yeah, very interesting to see. Come and jump in. Of course, the CBS Sports bracket challenges. You can start your own pool, men's pool, women's pool. You can come and join our competition. The COVID 3 podcast will have many more details as we continue to get you to come and join all the fun with us again. The CBS Sports app is great. They've got a little section for picks, let's say robust section. But at the bottom of the app you can easily get to picks. You can easily manage tracking all the action, your results and get your picks in there. So download the CBS Sports app today and join the March Madness Bracket Challenge. We will be back on Wednesday where, if Vegas is right, begins in earnest. We're going to go through the Big Ten win totals team by team, spotlights on the win total, what it says about the team, what it says about the season ahead. And if Vegas is right, what does it mean for those teams and coaches? And you can follow him on Twitter at Tom Frinelli. You can follow me at Chip underscore Patterson. Gentlemen, thank you very much.

[Tom Fornelli]

Keep shoveling that Runway, Danny.

[Bud Elliott]

I'm back. I'm really back. School Spirits returns.

[Chip Patterson]

Why am I here?

[Tom Fornelli]

Not dead, right? Dis on this campus will not be tolerated. I look crazy.

[Bud Elliott]

It's because that's how I feel.

[Tom Fornelli]

I don't know how to live in two worlds.

[Bud Elliott]

Secrets lurk. There are others beneath the surface. They're not like us.

[Danny Cannell]

We need to get out of here now.

[Tom Fornelli]

School Spirits new season now streaming only on Paramount plus.