’25-26 Best of the Rest Preview: Gonzaga, SDSU …. and who else steps up? A critical season awaits for mid-majors in the NIL/portal era

Summary

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Eye On College Basketball

Episode: ’25-26 Best of the Rest Preview: Gonzaga, SDSU … and who else steps up? A critical season awaits for mid-majors in the NIL/portal era
Date: October 28, 2025
Hosts: Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander

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Main Theme

This episode takes a deep dive into the “Best of the Rest”—college basketball programs outside the traditional power conferences (Power Five + Big East)—with special focus on how the changing landscape of college hoops (NIL, Transfer Portal) is impacting mid-major programs entering the 2025-26 season. Gonzaga, San Diego State, and other notable programs are evaluated for their season prospects, potential NCAA bids, and survival strategies as talent disparities grow.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Gonzaga Spotlight & Tyon Grant Foster Legal Decision

• [00:35] The episode opens with major news: Tyon Grant Foster is cleared to play for Gonzaga after a Spokane judge granted a preliminary injunction against the NCAA’s eligibility decision.
  • Grant Foster’s winding eligibility journey (JUCO, Kansas, DePaul, heart failure and revival, Grand Canyon) and the NCAA’s resistance to grant him a final year.
  • Norlander takes a strong position:
    • [05:16, Norlander]: “The rules as written don’t matter anymore... But if this is the precedent, it’s fine with me. Who wins by telling this young man he doesn’t get to play one more year of college basketball?”
  • Impact: Norlander and Parrish both would have Gonzaga ranked higher had Grant Foster’s eligibility been confirmed earlier.
  • Foster debuts at #70 on CBS’s Top 101 player list.
  • Team outlook:
    • Gonzaga returns two of its top three scorers (including Gramike), adds Grant Foster, and brings in veteran transfers.
    • Still, both hosts stop short of calling them a sure-fire top-10 team, projecting them as a potential 5-6 seed.

2. Mountain West: Last Dance Before Realignment

• [10:37] The Mountain West is about to lose half its heavyweights (Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, SDSU, Utah State) to the Pac-12 after this season.
  • Historic strength: 4.5 NCAA bids per year last four seasons.
  • Norlander predicts a significant drop: possibly just one or two bids.
    • [14:15, Norlander]: “I think [the Mountain West] has a better chance of being a one-bid league than a four-bid league.”
  • San Diego State is labeled league favorite; likely top-25, with elite defense (Bird, Guath, Dixon-Waters return).
  • Other teams (Utah State, Boise, UNLV, Grand Canyon) discussed as possible tournament hopefuls but with lower expectations.

3. The American Conference: Memphis and a Large Gap

• [15:33] The American is now just "The American" (dropping "Athletic").
  • Memphis stands far ahead in KenPom metrics (#52), next closest is North Texas (#88, a 36-spot gap).
  • Norlander: Likely a one-bid league, with Memphis the favorite but not a guarantee; South Florida is "most likely" to be a bubble team, but “does not project as a top-70 team.”
  • GP’s worries: Penny Hardaway has scheduled a tough non-conference—helpful if they win, dooming if they struggle early.
  • By the numbers:
    • [19:46, Norlander]: “The 36-position gap between Memphis and the second-place team ... is the biggest gap between first and second in any of the top eight conferences at KenPom.”

4. Atlantic 10: Still Searching for a Top-Dog

• [20:24] The A-10 hasn’t produced a true top-30 team since Obi Toppin’s Dayton (2020) and hasn’t sent three teams to the tournament since 2018.
  • Norlander’s optimism: Changing thanks to NIL—VCU has outbid high-majors for recruits (Sammy Jackson).
  • This year likely “more of the same” as far as tournament bids and overall league strength.
  • Post-break, Dayton is picked as favorite, with St. Louis and Loyola-Chicago as key challengers. VCU spending big, but coach Phil Martelli Jr. is unproven at this level.

5. Portal Wars & the Great Mid-Major Talent Drain

• [23:31] The core big-picture story: Has the NIL/portal era permanently shifted the landscape, gutting mid-major talent?
  • Convincing evidence of a real divide; not just rhetoric:
    • Recruiting classes: No mid-major team breaks the top 35, compared to Memphis’s #1 class in 2019 and 2021.
    • Transfers: Best non-power-five freshman class is USF at #38; best transfer haul is Grand Canyon at #39.
    • Retention failure: “Memphis… lost its best player to a Big 12 program. Memphis couldn’t even hold on to its best player.” [27:50 - Norlander]
  • The only way this might balance out: enforced salary caps or further disruptions to the current pay-to-play climate.

6. Other Notable Non-Power Programs to Watch

• [30:19+] Hosts run down key “Best of the Rest” teams:
  • WCC: Only Gonzaga and St. Mary’s seen as real tourney threats. St. Mary’s may struggle after losing four of top five scorers.
  • Mountain West: Boise, Utah State, UNLV (new coach Josh Pastner), and Grand Canyon get notice. Utah State cited as having an NBA prospect in Mason Fosslev.
  • A-10: Dayton (favorite), St. Louis (Robbie Avila), Loyola-Chicago (strong bigs, “RIP Sister Jean”), and VCU (optimistic spending/excitement for new coach).
  • Others: Belmont (MVC favorite, 3PT specialist Lumblade), UC Irvine (Big West), South Florida (AAC dark horse), Yale (Ivy), Charleston (CAA; “coach on the climb” Chris Mack), Miami (OH) potential MAC champ.
    • Rotating segment of fun: [46:13] “Do you have a go-to rule on telling if it’s Ian or I-an?” [Both hosts joking about name pronunciations.]

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the Grant Foster court decision:
  • Matt Norlander, [06:02]: “If the clock starts, and before you’re able to finish four years… you have a heart condition that requires you to be resuscitated multiple times, then yeah—come back and finish your eligibility. Who is even arguing the other side?”
• On the growing gulf in mid-major recruiting:
  • Norlander, [25:40]: “Once upon a time the mid-majors could try to offset [high-major recruiting] by retention and development… [now] they’re taking the best young people and the best old people. Everything’s shrinking on the mid-majors right now.”
• On the American’s issues:
  • Parrish, [19:43]: “Memphis is 52nd at KenPom right now. Second in the American is North Texas at 88. That is a 36 spot difference.”
• On the Mountain West’s uncertain future:
  • Norlander, [14:15]: “I think it’s got a better chance to be a one-bid league than a four-bid league.”
  • Parrish, [14:35]: “I think there’s a better chance at four than one… That’s kind of spicy for you, this early, GP.”
• On potential mid-major Cinderellaes:
  • Parrish, [41:41]: “Just a variety of different mid-major teams to keep an eye on. As always, there will be surprises and that’s why we love it.”

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Segment Timestamps

| Time | Topic | |----------|-----------| | 00:35 | Tyon Grant Foster cleared for Gonzaga; eligibility debate | | 05:16 | Norlander argues for Foster’s eligibility, the future of mid-major eligibility fights | | 08:24 | Can Gonzaga re-enter the top 10? Discussing roster depth/transfers | | 10:37 | Mountain West realignment fallout, San Diego State preview | | 13:36 | Norlander: MWC definition, likeliest at-large teams (spoiler: very few) | | 15:33 | The American—Memphis vs. the field; non-league scheduling stakes | | 20:24 | Atlantic 10’s identity crisis; NIL arms race | | 23:31 | Portal & NIL war: Has mid-major talent truly declined? Stats/proof offered | | 30:19 | Team rundown: St. Mary’s, Boise, Utah State, UNLV, Grand Canyon | | 34:06 | A10 deep dive: Dayton, St. Louis, GW, Loyola, VCU | | 41:41 | Sleeper mid-majors: Belmont, UC Irvine, Yale, Charleston, Miami (OH) | | 44:26 | Chris Mack at Charleston; coaching “on the climb” | | 54:25 | Notable new mid-major coaches: Pastner (UNLV), Farokmanesh, Olin, McCaffrey, Bibby, Hodgson, Martelli Jr. | | 55:17 | Josh Pastner at UNLV: Will he get them to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008? |

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Fun/Light Segments & Banter

• [46:13] Norlander and Parrish riff on the pronunciation of “Ian/I-an” and “groin,” leading to a series of tongue-twisters and laughs.
• [47:44] “Soft tissue injury” becomes a running joke, with Norlander unable to pronounce “groin.”

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Predictions & Bracket Talk

• [48:06] Last season, just four at-large bids outside the high majors.

  • Norlander: Predicts under 4.5 this year, only three at-large non-power bids. "That’s depressing as hell."
  • Parrish: Takes the over, tips five bids, with specifics:
    • St. Mary’s (WCC), Boise State and Utah State (MWC), Dayton and St. Louis (A10).

• [51:03] Parrish names his all mid-major first team:

  • Grammy K (Gonzaga), Robbie Avila (St. Louis), Miles Bird (San Diego State), Doug McDaniel (Memphis), Mason Fosslev (Utah State)

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Conclusion

The mid-major landscape for 2025-26 is more polarized than ever. Gonzaga still sits atop the “Best of the Rest,” but with realignment on the horizon and the power conferences draining both high school and transfer talent, the room for upstarts and Cinderellas is shrinking. The Mountain West and A10 face pivotal seasons, while leagues like the American now seem like one-bid situations unless Memphis (or a dark horse) overachieves. Amid these changes, top mid-major coaches, new and old, are adapting—or struggling to keep up.

Memorable closing quote:

• Matt Norlander [49:09]: “We’re going to get an unusually small number of at-larges from the non-Power Fives. And then the Power Fives are going to convince us the best way to fix this is to expand. Then they’ll fill the expanded tournament with their own teams. That’s what’s happening.”

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If you missed this episode:
You’ll come away understanding which programs could still play spoiler in March, why veteran players and the transfer market mean everything now for non-power teams, and which leagues/coaches might be most ready to adapt (or face extinction) as college basketball’s balance of power shifts even further in the years ahead.

Transcript

[Gary Parrish]

Foreign.

[Matt Norlander]

Hey there. I'm Gary Parish. Welcome back, CBS Sports. I own college basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss Campbell Fighting Dodo Birds and leaky black Matt Norlander is here with me. If you're watching on YouTube, you know what to do to the like button shouts to Brandon Davies. And if you haven't yet subscribed to the CBS Sports college basketball YouTube channel, please also do that while you're here. Let's get into it. We have already done previews for the Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, ACC, and the SEC. That's the Power Five in college basketball. Today we're going to turn our attention to some interesting programs from outside of the traditional power structure in Norlander. I want to start with Gonzaga, partly because the Zags are probably the best of the bunch, but also because they got big news yesterday. Tyon Grant Foster was granted a preliminary injunction in the Spokane County Courthouse on Monday. It's going to allow him to play for the Zags this upcoming season. Did Judge Marla Poland get this right, or is this just what happens when you get a Gonzaga case into the Spokane County Courthouse?

[Gary Parrish]

Maybe a little bit of both. GP Good morning. You're looking fresh as a. As a bunny. And I'm trying my best, by the way, made it deep into the night watching game three of the World Series.

[Matt Norlander]

That was something, wasn't it?

[Gary Parrish]

It was something. Did you make it to the very end? I made it to the end. Did you make it to the end or you.

[Matt Norlander]

I made it to. I made it to the 17th inning and my lovely wife woke me up in the 18th inning and said, Freddie Freeman just ended it. You can go back to sleep. She saw the end of it somehow. I don't know.

[Gary Parrish]

I did dialed in, but yeah, I'm doing up. My wife said I don't look too, too tired. So anyway, good morning.

[Matt Norlander]

I got an official diagnosis, by the way.

[Gary Parrish]

Oh, with the shoulder. With. Yeah.

[Matt Norlander]

Which is what you are podcasting right now. I don't know if you know this. You're podcasting right now with a man dealing with what Ortho south has diagnosed as rotator cuff tendonitis.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, that's a problem.

[Matt Norlander]

I've got rotator cups.

[Gary Parrish]

This came up on the pod. I was like, did we talk about this on the show in Kansas City? We did. I hate to see that.

[Matt Norlander]

I'm sorry, but it's not your fault. I don't think it's your fault.

[Gary Parrish]

Well, it's not because I wasn't in the bed with you when it happened. Let the Rehab officially begin. Gonzaga fans, I'm sorry we had to detour real quick there. Obviously significant apologize.

[Matt Norlander]

None of them are awake right now.

[Gary Parrish]

That's true. But they're gonna get to this eventually. Be on YouTube or in their phones there, obviously. Best of the Rest preview this might. I think this is the fifth consecutive year, if longer that we've done this. Best of the Rest and we open talking about the Zags. It stands to reason Gonzaga, every single season is the best programmer at least poised to be the best program outside the power conferences. And yes, there was. We actually, as timing would have it, we have real news connected to this if you really want the real peek behind the scenes. We were going to try and do this podcast on Monday, but then it took way too long to get that resolution from the judge and we weren't going to start the show until we knew Grant Foster's fate. And so here's his fate. He actually went from. He went from the courthouse. He got the preliminary, preliminary injunction. The ncaa, we don't need to litigate this. In retrospect, we actually don't have a lot of time today, but the NCAA basically said, you've exhausted your eligibility. He played two years of junior college, played a year at Kansas, started at DePaul, actually literally had heart failure, died, was brought back to life, and then played two years at Grand Canyon. But he was. The judge looked at everything. We see what's happened with Diego Pavia at Vanderbilt. His JUCO years didn't count against him. Grant Foster's on the court. I happen to side with that of it. That side of it. There has been a little bit of, you know, you know, he's been, he's been enrolled in a collegiate institution dating back to 2018 wins. Enough. Enough. I didn't have an issue with it whatsoever. He goes from the courthouse, shirt and tie, goes into the locker room and his teammates are all like, they're ready to go. Like they're, they're about ready to start their. Their scrimmage versus Western Oregon. They all burst into celebration. Really cool stuff there. And as we talk here on a Tuesday morning, later on Today, our top 101 players list will publish. Tyon Grant Foster has been added to that list at the very last minute. We've slotted him at 70th overall. He was actually a top 50 player for us a year ago. He was a good, good player at Grand Canyon, but he was not as good last season as the year, as the year before. But I think he'll be the number Two scorer, if not the number one score. I do expect Gramike, who is the team's best player overall, to to be the team's best score. But this is, this is a, this is an inclusion. By the way, I checked your rankings late last week, so I didn't consult with him when I was doing my top 101. Trying to be as independent as possible. And to my surprise, we both actually slotted Gonzaga number 21 in each of our respective rankings. Had I known Grant Foster would be able to play, my understanding here is like he's gotten the preliminary injunction and barring some real legal nonsense, he's going to play for Gonzaga this season. I actually would have put Gonzaga higher than that, but I. There was no telling that he was going to be able to play. He was not even on the team's official website as of this hearing yesterday on Monday gp. But yeah, big one there. I want to talk a couple more things with Gonzaga. This is the number one storyline, but your quick I guess take and extension of what we saw happen there Monday.

[Matt Norlander]

In Spokane, I guess I just got out in front of it. I looked at it. I've always had him projected to be on Gonzaga's roster at least always had him projected to be on Gonzaga's roster since he announced a commitment to Gonzaga. And I know that was dicey, but it never made sense to me that he would not be allowed to play. I mean, I understand all the rules as written, but. But I mean, the rules as written don't matter anymore. We got G League players coming to college basketball. Chad Baker Mazzara has played 119 games in college and he gets to play another season. Ty. And Grant Foster is at 83. His teammate Graham Ike is at 115. Yeah, I get it. Your clock stopped. And I guess the initial ruling for the ncaa, or at least the argument for the NCAA was you've had time to play your four years of college basketball at the Division 1 level. Yeah, I guess in theory. But like, you know, two of those years were ripped away by a heart condition. He had multiple heart procedures. So I heard somebody say something like, well, what kind of precedent does this set? I don't care. But if this is the precedent, it's fine with me. If clock starts at a certain time and, and before you're able to finish four years of Division 1 college basketball, you have a heart condition that requires two surgeries and requires you to be resuscitated multiple times, then, yeah, you can come back and finish your eligibility. We don't care how long it takes. That's fine with me. If that's the president, it's fine with me. Who wins by telling this young man you don't get to play one more year of college basketball? Like, who is even arguing the other side?

[Gary Parrish]

The people on retainer. The people on retainer that, that lost this battle yesterday. And it took, geez, I want to say it took close to two and a half hours to really sort this out. And what was planned to be an hour long process, which is why we were actually planning on doing this pod on Monday, didn't go, didn't go that way whatsoever. But, but no, it's, it's, it's good to see him playing. You know, some folks just don't want anyone over the age of 23 in, in college basketball, period. I happen to believe the older the player, the better the basketball. This makes Gonzaga a better team. I would, you know, I'm not going to go and retroactively change my rankings here, but I just didn't know. So I just, I held off not knowing when he was going to be added. I'd have Gonzaga. I don't know exactly, but they'd be in that 14 to 17 range. I think for overall, for me now that he's, that he's good to go there. But for Gonzaga, big picture, you know, the Sweet 16 streak ended last season. It ended last season eight. That Ken Palm, it actually starts this season in that same spot at ken palm at 8. I believe that's the highest. I think that's the highest. You'll find Gonzaga anywhere. Can this team be top 10 again? This is its last season in the WCC. It's going to go off to the Pac 12. We'll have a little more on that in just a second here. But Parrish, will Gonzaga, well, Gonzaga be a number three seed or better on Selection Sunday? That's, you know, one of my storylines here is can they be top 10 again? I would say top 10 means once you get to the, the bracket reveal, you've got one, two or three next to your name.

[Matt Norlander]

Well, based on my rankings, I would, I would just bet no. But certainly they can. Will they? I don't know. I would bet no. But can they? Of, of course they can. They return two of the top three scores. Grammy K, Braden Hoff, you get Grant Foster eligible. They add other notable transfers, one from Virginia, one from Arizona State. It's, it's another quality basketball team that should win the wcc. Oh, by the way, for the first time in like three years because they haven't won it in the past previous two years. But I think St. Mary's and I guess we'll get to them. But I imagine they take a little bit of a step back. They lost a lot, didn't add as much as they lost. And so I think Gonzaga probably does whatever it does in the non league but isn't able to enhance its resume in the conference schedule. And let's settle in and call them something like a, you know, six, seven seat in that range.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay. They have EK mentioned Braden Huff, who's on top.

[Matt Norlander]

Let me rephrase before that gets aggregated. Let's that's because I don't think my math is correct there. Let's do something like a five or a six seat and call it a day.

[Ajad (Counselor of Cash)]

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[Matt Norlander]

Good luck.

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[Gary Parrish]

Your fantasy season doesn't end after your draft. The Fantasy Football Today podcast is going to get you through the season and two to a championship. Fantasy Football Today, part of CBS Sports Podcast Network, has episodes every single day. Waiver wire, trade talk, starter sit, mailbags and more. If you want to win your league, you need to listen to Fantasy Football Today. Download and follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Anywhere Podcasts are found. Fair enough. The details matter. Grammy K Braden Huff, Tyler Grant Foster, all in our top 101 players list, which again is publishing on Tuesday at CBSSports.com or on your CBS Sports app. Steel Venters finally, he's missed the past couple of seasons due to different injuries. He set to play. He was a really good player. He was actually the player that played above Cedric Coward at Eastern Washington. When you get to talking to set again, have him talk a little bit about Steel Venters and how much he he knew he didn't know once he got to Eastern Washington. Now such a coward immediately being one of you know we're two weeks in not even he's but he's been an immediately impactful player down there in GP's backyard and Memphis Steel Venters now with Gonzaga and and knock on wood, hopefully will be a pretty impactful player. And then Braden Smith, the other Braden Smith, B R A E D E N He was actually a really fantastic point guard in the Patriot League at Colgate. He sat out last season with the red shirt season. He's going to play could be one of the more valuable players in the sport. That's just entirely off the radar. We just got to wait and see how impactful he'll be overall. But yeah, a lot of intrigue with Gonzaga. Let's keep it moving here. Number two storyline is the final season of the Mountain west as we know it. The the PAC12 will resuscitate next season and with it it will bring Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State, all from the Mountain West. This league has averaged 4.5 bids over the past four seasons. GP can it get to four in 2026? Mountain west also brings on Grand Canyon this year. You know, they've got I'll just we'll do a quick look at San Diego State and we'll talk some other teams a little later in the show. But for the purposes of this storyline here, the Mountain west what's it going to be in this final, you know, proper year? It's hard to see how the league will ever be as good again after this. I think San Diego State's the best team in the league. I have them in my top 25. And Brian Dutchard's eight seasons, he's only had one bad team. Miles Bird returns. Magoon Guath returns. They're both on our top 101 players list. Reese Waters or Reese Dixon? Waters. Frankly, I'm seeing it both ways. I'm not sure which which way it is, but Reese Dixon Waters, he's also back. Farrell Compton returns. They've got enough back. I, I'd be surprised defensively if this team isn't the best team in the league. There's some other teams that are good. We'll get to them in a few. But your thoughts, I guess broadly speaking, or if you want to get specific on the Aztecs GP on, on what we expect from the Mountain West. This is obviously a conference that you know quite well, near and dear to your heart. Many a late night CBS Sports Network hit coming out of a. A late tip over at somewhere in that league.

[Matt Norlander]

I either stay up to watch Shohei or Fresno State. That's basically, that's. That's if you, if you catch me up too late on a Tuesday night, I'm either watching Shohei or San Diego State. I agree. Aztec's best team in the Mountain West. You noted the Mountain west is average 4 1/2 bids over the past four seasons. I don't think they get that this season. I've got zero Mountain west teams in my top 25 and one, if I were to have one, it would be San Diego State and they are right on the edge. But, but I would call it probably a two bit league. And here's one for you. I think it's got a better chance of being a one bit league than it has of being a four bit league.

[Gary Parrish]

Ooh, interesting take. I will disagree with you. I, I will say it's a better chance of getting four than getting one. That's actually, that's kind of spicy for you this, this early. Gp you really think that there's a better chance that the Mountain west only sends one team than it sends four? It says two years ago.

[Matt Norlander]

I don't think they'll get more than three. I, I think the, the, I think the league is down. And oh, by the way, you just lost one of your best coaches too.

[Gary Parrish]

Correct. Who is it, by the way though, who left?

[Matt Norlander]

Your old buddy Nick. You're old, your old, your nemesis, Nico.

[Gary Parrish]

Nico.

[Matt Norlander]

By the way, I saw Nico at Big Ten media day.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah.

[Matt Norlander]

He said, he, he said, is Norlander here? I said, no. He said, good. Yeah, that was, that was our entire conversation. I said, nico, how you been? He said, is Norlander here? I said, no. He could. He said, good. I was trying to explain. I was like, he's in Amsterdam. He went to the Dutch and good. He just cut me off. He said, good.

[Gary Parrish]

I got to talking to Nico probably like, I don't know, a week and a half or so before my, my top 101 rankings came out and I told him where Minnesota was. I think it's 75th. And he goes how many years in a row is it now where we finish better than where you think we're gonna finish? So we got a nice little.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, he's like the Grant McCaslin of Norlander's rankings. He really is though what Grant McCaslin is to Kinfom, Nico Medved is to.

[Gary Parrish]

Norlander and now he has left the Mountain West. Colorado State Ali Farouk Menashe now takes over there. Obviously March Madness legend. I have the Rams, I know I have the Rams at the tail end, the very end of my top 101 rankings. Let's get to storyline number three is the American is this league. It's no longer the American Athletic Conference, it's just the American Conference. By the way, is it going to just be Memphis and then everyone else? The Tigers were the only team in the tournament last season. South Florida tempting potential contender heading into the season with new coach Brian Hodgson. You've got teams like UAB which I also have right there, Colorado State, UAB are my two final teams in my top 101. You've got Tulane which actually got. I have personally ranked ahead of uab, North Texas, Wichita State, they're a tier below. I tell you what, if you want to be avoided, if you want to avoid getting put in that bucket of being a one bit league and I think for some people the Americans already there but then it's a season like this where you need another two teams outside of Memphis GP to step up and vault into not the top 75. Like to change the discussion. You need three teams in that top 50 conversation. Quite clearly, quite obviously the American does not sit in that position here. As we get ready to to turn to Halloween and get ready to start the season next week, I would 100% agree with you that the American is more likely to have one than it is four. I might say it's more likely to have it is three.

[Matt Norlander]

I would say.

[Gary Parrish]

Well no one or two. If you actually made me pick one or two, I would say two. But I would say more likely one than three. Your thoughts on the American and if you want to use this, let's use this time also to to dive into the Tigers.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, two's always hard because all it takes is you've got your conference champs is at large worthy and then they lose in the conference tournament. Now you're at two. So I, I would, I would say more likely to be One than three. Look, I'm not certain how good Memphis is going to be but outside of Memphis, who is going to be good? And I asked that from an honest place. I'm asking you who is going to be good besides Memphis? If Memphis is good.

[Gary Parrish]

If you're going to say if you're, if we're going to define good in these terms as you are in the bubble conversation at the end of February, I have no confidence that there's going to be a second team there. But, but I'm going to talk on both sides of my mouth. I just think something will break and there will be a second team that's at least within shouting distance. My pick right now is South Florida and that's just Hodgson's a really good coach, did good stuff at Arkansas State and they, you know, for their level they considered to do decently enough in the portal, but that does not project as a top 70 team. So I don't know. I actually didn't see a whiff of it. GP since you're coming, I know you got your show here in a little bit and it's only an exhibition. How did the Tigers look last night at home against Caliparian?

[Matt Norlander]

As Arkansas team they look good for about 25 minutes and then they just got overwhelmed and ran off the court. But they led by as many as 15 early led at the half. Doug McDaniel looked the part but I think what happened last night might be a snapshot of how Memphis season will unfold. Penny has scheduled aggressively in the non league to try to build an at large resume. Almost nobody else in the American even tried. Go look at Tulane schedule like they're not even trying. And so last year it worked. They were excellent in the non league. Not my prediction but my concern for them would be aggressive schedule, non league and they're just not good enough to deal with it. Right. And they come out of, you know, they were like 5 and 5 to start the season, something like that. And, and then they're not going to have a chance to build an at large resume in conference because the league's not good enough and you're just climbing uphill the rest of the way or playing for the conference tournament the rest of the way. That would be my concern. But just to put some numbers on it, Memphis is 52nd at Ken Palm right now. Second in the American is North Texas at 88. That is a 36 spot difference.

[Gary Parrish]

North Texas, you said is second. Interesting.

[Matt Norlander]

That is what I'm North Texas at 88. UAB at 98 South Florida at 104. Okay, so based on that one bid league, that 36, that 36 position gap between Memphis and the second place team in the American is the biggest gap by a big margin between first and second in any of the top eight conferences at Kenpom. So it should be Memphis winning the league again. But how good is Memphis? I think that's a question. Still in need of an answer.

[Gary Parrish]

Well, I do like their core. So Doug McDaniel, we'll talk a little bit more about him before the show's over. I'd like to hear from you that he at least looked the part there. I think he's going to be the most valuable player in the conference this season. So he comes over. This feels like a good fit for him. Aaron Bradshaw, who is, you know, Kentucky, then Ohio State hasn't clicked. Okay. Can he be a rehab project for Penny, obviously a very talented former five star prospect. Now he's at Memphis. Can he make a jump in his career? And then Sincere Harris via McNeese. I actually think that's a wonderful fit alongside Doug McDaniel. I like that. That trio, they've got some other portal pieces we'll just kind of have to wait and see. But I think objectively speaking, when you look at Memphis and you look at, okay, who, who's their two or three best players, how does that stack up to the rest of the league? I think Memphis stands a step above the rest of them. I've got Memphis, number 39 in my top 101 rankings. Let's move along. Number four, Atlantic 10 storyline, best of the rest storylines. Number four, I've got a 10. Is it going to be this one? Does feel like, it feels like a little bit of a broken record here. Is it going to be more of the same as we've seen in recent seasons or can a top 25 team emerge? You know this GP because it's in our, in our pod document. But our listeners and viewers might be surprised to learn, although if you're dialing to the A10, you're not surprised. This league has not produced a. A top 30 team. Not even a top 25 team. A top 30 team in the metrics since they'll be topping in Dayton in 20, 19, 20. That's the last time the Atlantic 10 was able to really produce a high level team. And even it goes even further than that when you're looking at the Atlantic 10 being a true multi bid league with some real heft to it. 28, 17, 18, 2018 and so play tournament was the last time the league was able to produce, you know, three good teams. I'm mildly hopeful that maybe they can stop that streak this season. I get the sense that you are not I'll save some chatter on some of these teams after the break. But you know, as the former MC pre pandemic of 800 immediately for I think it was two years maybe tops. Maybe it was only one.

[Matt Norlander]

I choose to describe it as multiple years. It's multiple years. Master ceremonies a 10 media luncheon pre pandemic Yes. I think it's probably more of the same for now, but it could be on the verge of changing once they are legitimately some of these A10 schools are legitimately in position to outspend lots of power conference schools. That is where we're headed. I wrote about this over the summer at Peach Jam. A Young Man Top 100 prospect turned down scholarship offers from every power conference from from a school in every power conference to sign with VCU in the atn. And there's a lot of reasons he did that but among them is that VCU quite literally offered more money than anybody else. So I don't think we're going to see the benefits of that yet. Like Sammy Jackson is still in high school. But there is a scenario where the A10 gets stronger going forward, but probably not 20, 25, 26.

[Gary Parrish]

I'll mention a few A10 teams after the break. Just want to keep this cruising along. We'll get the storyline number five here and this is a bigger picture thing not to do with any team or any conference and it is something I'm personally Paris is just you know we talk about the sport, you know at least three times a week if not more on the show write about it plenty. This would rank among my five most really five most intriguing storylines of the season even with everything that's on the table and what I think is just I truly it's going to be an outstanding season and if you want more big picture stuff here's a tease GP and I have a CBS Sports Network show later this week on tv. It'll drop into the pod but I'll be you know another big picture reset on on what to prepare for overall. But this is to me is is the Portal wars and the mid majors and has there been a talent has there truly been a talent train? Because right now I would I would say that this is a not just a talking point but a major concern at the mid major level. Are we going to see an obvious and clear line of delineation with the exception of maybe, maybe three or four teams period when it comes to talent, team quality and it's going to be almost all high major teams. Throw in Gonzaga, San Diego State, maybe St. Mary's maybe Memphis and then that's just it. Or is this, I am curious, is this a little bit overblown? Because you know mid major coaches, they get played plenty too mid major players, they're getting paid now too. They want, you know, the other side. They want, they want to do well. We will see good teams. But I am wondering how big the gap is if do we have a major talent train? I, I don't know. But I will say this Parrish, in building out the top 101 teams list and the top 101 players list, maybe it's because it's more at the forefront of my mind because I've just talked about it with more people over the past five, six months in the here and now. It felt as though mid major talent feels as low as it's ever been. But I want to acknowledge this could be. I could be prisoner of the moment. What do you, what say you?

[Matt Norlander]

I don't think you're a prisoner of the moment. I think it is undeniable that there's been a talent drain on mid majors. And and even more than that, let's just say programs outside of the traditional power structure because Memphis isn't going to like me calling it a mid major, but it is a program outside of the traditional power structure. It plays in the American so quick history lesson. In 2019, Memphis had the number one recruiting class in the entire country. Two five star prospects James Wiseman, Precious Achua in 2021 number one recruiting class in the entire Country. Two five star prospects Jalen Duran, Amani Bates. In the year 2025, the best non power five recruiting class of freshmen was USF at number 38 with zero top 150 prospects in the class. According to 247 Sports Memphis best incoming recruit is Doug McDaniel who is at his third school and who was once famously suspended for road games at Michigan because of academics. The best transfer class in the country outside of power fives is Grand Canyon at number 39. Again best freshman class USF at number 38. So what does all this tell us? The power conference programs are still largely getting the best high school players in the country, but once upon a time the mid majors could kind of try to offset that by retention and development. Well now not only are the power conference programs taking the best high school players like they always have, they're now largely taking your best players too. So they're taking the most talented young people and the best old people and building teams with that. Where does that leave you? It. Everything's shrinking on the mid majors right now. Again, if we have legitimate salary caps going forward and people follow the rules, hahaha, then maybe this can balance out a little bit more. But like here's, here's one way to put it. Memphis, which, which used to sign number one recruiting classes, lost its best player to a Big 12 program. Memphis couldn't even hold on to its best player. That's where we are right now.

[Gary Parrish]

But it did get, you know, it did bring in a five star, former five star prospect from a Big Ten program. So there's at least like there's always going to be down transferring, there are going to be players, but that's what.

[Matt Norlander]

That is, that's that Aaron Bradshaw is a down transfer. Correct. He can't play in the Big Ten, he can't play in the sec. So let's try this one.

[Gary Parrish]

Yes. Yeah. So I just, I, you know, I want to at least allow for some room for some down transferring. There are players who had something when they were 17 and now they're 19 or 21 and they're going to go to this level. I'm mostly, you know, that's why I teed it up. That's why I don't think I'm being prisoner at the moment. But I'll be damn interested to see. Are we going to get to a situation here where we look across the top 50 in the sport and there aren't more than three teams outside the high majors populating those rankings. I think it's very possible, I think it's on the table. Don't think it's a great thing for college basketball, but it feels like that's where we are right now. Anything else you want to take our break and then spotlight a few more teams here?

[Matt Norlander]

Let's take a break in Spotlight.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay. Nada. Let's go. Word from our partner.

[John Henson]

Carolina. Basketball isn't just a program, it's a legacy. I'm John Henson and we'll be the host of Tar Heel247, a UNC basketball podcast for fans who bleed Carolina blue. Each week I'll be joined by players, coaches and insiders for real unfiltered conversations about the team, the tradition, maybe some funny stories and everything in between. No fear filters, no fluff, just hoop talk. The Tar Heel way. Subscribe now to Tar Heel 247@ UNC basketball podcast or wherever you get your podcast at. We going to have a good time. Let's get ready to go. What's up? It's Draymond Green. I'm back for my 14th NBA season and my podcast, the Draymond Green show is back too. This season I'm breaking down games, reacting to the biggest NBA stories and sitting down with teammates, rivals and culture shapers. And trust me, I'm not holding back on the court or on the mic. Two new episodes every week, new segments, big conversations, real basketball talk for the real hoop heads. Listen to and follow the Draymond Green show wherever you get your podcast. We're back. We're better. Let's get it.

[Gary Parrish]

It's football season and you gotta keep up with the action. Listen in to Pushing the Pile, part of CBS Sports Podcast Network with Mike Renner, Kyle Long, and now me, Jp Acosta for smart analysis of everything between the lines. With four episodes a week Sunday night recaps, film review, power tiers and weekly previews, you will know ball. Stick with us until one team lists the Lombardi Download and follow Pushing the Pile on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and anywhere podcasts are found.

[Matt Norlander]

Right. Norlander, if you want to take a look at a few more teams outside of traditional power conferences that should be notable this season, I would encourage you to do so now. But I would also request that you keep an eye on the clock.

[Gary Parrish]

I'm keeping an eye, actually. I think we're doing pretty, pretty well here. If you're watching on YouTube. There we go. There he is. GP's got his Memphis show after this. So we are up against the clock. So it goes. St. Mary's we mentioned him but we didn't dive into them. I have St. Mary's in the top 35. Randy Bennett has been, obviously he's been like one of the five or six most reliable coaches in the sport over the past 15 years. They did lose a lot of however, they're clearly number two in the wcc. I think they're gonna get back to the NCAA tournament. Polyus Morowskis, he is a muscular power wing type who I think is going to be a stud. Him and Mikey Lewis are the two big names there. Harry Russell's is also a good spot player. And then they've got a guy, Kevin Gad, which I get Todd Gak vibes from. That's a Seinfeld reference Parish will not get. But Kevin Gad apparently has some, has some Good buzz around him there. I do like SA to make the tournament. I don't know if that'll be because they steal the Autobit in the WCC or they have just enough to, to get in as a, as a 10 seed or an 11 seater, so. But I'll say they get in rapid fire to you. GP gales 20, 26 dancing or no?

[Matt Norlander]

I would say no. And I, I say that with no joy. I say that with sadness in my heart, but I would say no. They lost four of their top five scores and six of their top nine. They're outside of the top 50, both Torvik and Kempom. I think the four year streak of NCAA tournament runs is certainly in jeopardy and I would predict probably over.

[Gary Parrish]

All right, so all the teams I'm gonna hit right now, they're all in my top 80. So in the WCC it's just Gonzaga and St. Mary's and the American. We, we touched on it. It's just Memphis in the Mountain West. We talked about San Diego State. Other Mountain west teams I have in my top 80, Boise State, they've got a, a pair of six, seven upperclassmen back. Javon Buchanan and Andrew Meadow. Dylan. Andrew from UCLA comes aboard. Drew Fielder, a transfer from Georgetown. Leon Rice is, you know, he's, he's like a, he's like, I don't want to say a poor man's Randy Bennett, but he's as, he's almost as consistent now. He hasn't won a tournament game, but they always seem to find a way to finish top three in the Mountain West. I have them top 50 overall and I have Utah State in my top 50 as well. Mason Fosslev, who was on our preseason top 101 players list, averaged 15 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.3 steals and shot 39 from three. He's developed into an NBA draft prospect. He's a really good player. Jerry Calhoun is a solid coach. They actually can have some coaching consistency for now at Utah State. That program, you know, it's kind of one of those good problems, I guess. But they're always so good. Their coaches are candidates to go elsewhere. They're the, the VCU of the, of the Mountain, the Mountain west, the Mountain Range over there. But I like Utah State also in the top. And then two more Mountain west programs that I have in my top 80. UNLV new coach Josh Passner. I like enough the roster to take a swing and say Pastner immediately steps in and at least a relevant team in that Conference and then Grand Canyon, Bryce Drew, they had they just dominated the whack. They make the move over from the whack to the Mountain West. I don't think Grand Canyon will win the Mountain west, but they've got an amazing home court environment. I'd be surprised if they're not in the top six in that league. So Mountain west wise, I'll toss it back over to you, GP before we hit on a few more teams. Those are the teams I have. You agree with me. You have San Diego State 1. I don't know if you've done too too deep of a dive, but if you had to go 2, 3, 4, what's your, what's your Mountain west power ranking heading into the season? And if you had to say what team is second most likely to get into the tournament because you're not going to go with three or four teams, who's who's number two, that's getting into the dance.

[Matt Norlander]

I would go to bid Mountain West Conference and San Diego State and Utah State would be my two.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay, there we go. If you're watching on YouTube, you can see not just put up a graphic. So I've he's tipped my hand a little bit here, but if you're listening, get to find out as I, as I continue to go along here in the Atlantic 10. All right, we'll start with Dayton. I have them as the preseason champion. This is a, this is a zag here because Dayton is not the pick. It's VCU. I don't even have VCU in my in my preseason top four in the A10. I'll get to that in just a second there. Now, Dayton has also been in the news in the past few days because Adam Njai, who was a transfer from Iona, was set to either be like the fifth starter, be the first guy off the bench. He was a quality player at Iona last year. Well, he has been withheld from competition and if you follow how these things go, he's probably never going to play for Dayton. He is under review, purportedly for potential involvement in illegal gambling activity while at Iona. Yeah, so that's, that's a, that's a ding. Dayton hasn't revealed that too much, but Pat, 40, a sports illustrator, first reported it. I checked in with sources who confirmed that as well in the past 36 hours. So they don't have him, but they do have a transfer named Keonte Jones who they got in August, who is going to be who's probably the best player. People don't know about in the A10. He's going to. He could be. He's probably Dayton's best player. He's really good. They bring back Javon Bennett who was a double digit scorer. Amiel Latang has a high ceiling guy as well. He's going to play well. Jake Jacob Connor will start at the 3. Dayton is just one of those programs that yeah, they have some down years and I know the fan base has been a little bit frustrated because they feel as though they get to the end of the season and Anthony Grant probably should have tallied two or three more wins that weren't on the board there. But I'll pick them to win. I'll pick them to win the league narrowly over the likes of St. Louis, which I have number two. They might. St. Louis might have the most talented league. Robbie Avila still in college hoops which is a good thing. I talked to other coaches in the A10 and they say either St. Louis or VCU has the most talent. Avila had a better season than I think people might realize. Now part of this is because Slu didn't hit 20 wins but 17.3 points, 6.9 boards, 4.0 assists, shot 36 from 3. He missed the first part of the last season GP because of injury. But you know, I think he's a dark horse All American, which a year ago he wasn't because there was just so much hype around him. He followed shirts from Indiana State to St. Louis and then they were just, you know, they kind of got lost in the shuffle. They weren't, they weren't a team that was competing for an NCAA tournament bid. I do think they will compete for and actually think they've got a halfway decent shot at getting an NCAA tournament bit. I got a couple more notes on some A10 teams, but any thoughts on Dayton or SLU?

[Matt Norlander]

I think Dayton slew VCU. You could reasonably put in any order. I may give Dayton a slight edge, but I don't think, I think 1, 2, 3 with those three schools in the A10 is, is can be defended. And Avila like it's interesting with him. He like coming off what he did when he was developing like when he was getting nickname one after another attached to him. Yes, he had like all America buzz like you know we're not gonna start talking NBA stuff but this is the classic. Could be a great college player. And he just. When I started doing my top 101 players, I got to a point I was like where is he at? Why have I not thought of him yet it's just he has sort of been out of sight, out of mind a little bit.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, agreed. But, but let me look where he landed real quick here because I had him in my personal. The stats were good enough last season. I had him in my personal top 40. And for a little tip off for our for listeners here, Avila finished. Let's see how we did on him. Where is this dude on the list? He did make the list, right? He had to have made the list. He's just not. I'm looking through here and he's not like top 35. Oh yeah, we got to take it. We're taking it. Oh, 54. Okay. So I think he was like 30, maybe 25 last year. I did think he was getting overrated going into last season because everyone was going nuts with The Larry nerd. Jabbar54 feels about right. He will be potentially the best player in the A10. Couple more teams. If you're watching on the screen, you saw George Washington spent some real money for that level in the portal. Chris Caputo has, as I wrote in my capsule in my top 101. Not many mid majors build their team and their offense through like a true seven foot center. That's going to be the case with Rafael Castro at gw. They gave Georgetown a good game. If you listen to the Ed Cooley interview, he had really good things to say about GW. There a team that I think can win the A10. I don't have them projected to do so, but it's been a decade since George Washington entered a season with this much optimism. I love to see it good to see some, some good, some good stuff emanating there out of the district and Loyola Chicago and VCU are the other two teams in the attend. I actually have Loyola Chicago narrowly at a vcu. It's because they've got Miles Rubin, another really talented big. You know, talk about a guy who could have easily been starting at the high major level, got paid well, stayed there. I don't think we've even brought it up since, since it happened. But RIP Sister Jean. Oh by the way, I've got my sister. The Sister Jean bobblehead will be in my backdrop the entire season. But but I the vibes are going to be too too heavily in Loyalist Chicago's favor for me to project them not to be a top 100 team. Not to be one of like the five best in the A10. Drew Valentine's best team was his first one there, but I think this is his second best one, but, but yeah, I've got them narrowly had a VCU. The only reason I have VCU is where I have it. Well, two reasons. One, they've only had like two down year, not top 75 seasons in the past, you know, 10, 15 years. And those happen to be Will Wade's first season on campus and Mike Rhodes first season on campus. Well Now Phil Martelli Jr. Comes in and they did spend in the portal and they bring in talent. But he has never in his coaching life ever been at a program that's this big. It's always been low major stuff. I just want to see how it, how he enters in. I could, this could be a whiff vc. You could wind up winning the league and all that. But I did intentionally fade them a little bit there. But that being said, I still have them top 75.

[Matt Norlander]

He, you know, I spent some time with him at Peach Jam. He, he sounds the part like he and like obviously brings credentials to the table. I'm optimistic about it. I think he's going to be fine there. You know. Is it going to pop immediately? We'll see. But at least, I mean that's a, I mean that's a great job. I mean look, look at, look at, look at the trampoline. That job has been for one coach after another after another after another. And I suspect he'll, he'll follow the, the same path that, that most of those guys have followed. Except you know, with the, the way the sport is structured now, there may be more incentive to stay at a place like VCU than there is to take a bottom tier power conference job. Shaka obviously was very patient with his career. You know, he turned down a ton of jobs including I believe Marquette.

[Gary Parrish]

Yes, famously, extremely patient. Almost to the point where I don't want to say he was like redefining how coaches approach this stuff. But I'm just telling you until shock is smart, there weren't coaches at mid major gigs that were turning down high major opportunities like four years in a row. That was not, that was almost never happening. And now we see here and there, obviously it's a bit more common.

[Matt Norlander]

There was a time where Shaka and Archie were like the two mid major coaches that were turning down power conference opportunities like man, who's going to be able to finally get them? And you know, then they both went their, their separate ways.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay, a few more notes on some teams. We're making actually a really great time here. I'd love to see it. These are teams not in my top 80 they're all my top 100 teams. Just keep an eye on teams that I think have a good chance not just winning their league. If they get in the tournament, they could be a team that could pick off a game and be a Cinderella candidate. Belmont is my pick in the Missouri Valley. That's actually a contrarian opinion. Illinois State is the is the more common pick there, but they've got a guy named Tyler Lumblade who is maybe the best three point shooter in the country. We'll see if he can replicate. He shot 48 from beyond the arc last season so I don't think he's going to match that again. But I think you know, 43 to 45 should be on the should be on the table. They've got a a stretch four named Sam or me who is also back and also can really shoot. I really like the Bruins there but the Valley should be should be an awesome league race I think by the way the A10 will have the best league race of any conference not in the high major. I neglected to mention that before. I've got UC Irvine winning the Big West a year ago, remember as UC San Diego out of nowhere 30 win program. Eric Olin. He's now at New Mexico. I like UC Irvine to edge out UC Santa Barbara which by the way UC Santa Barbara is now where Aiden Mahaney plays after the Yukon experiment went awry. But give me Russell Turner. They've won it plenty. Jerry and Dixon is a is a sophomore in that league. The reigning Big West Freshman of the year. I do think Irvine will get there and and credit to college basketball analytics for this this nugget which I thought was interesting. Last season UC Irvine won eight games in which it was trailing by at least 10 points. That tied with Michigan State for the most in the country Teams built to know how to come back and win and I like their chances. A few more teams to know South Florida. We mentioned them previously but I just think Hodgson does a good job in year one and I and I I'll buy that. The Bulls when we're around Valentine's Day they won't be in the bracketology forecast but maybe their next four out or the one after that. I'll say the American can can have a team that's relevant and Hodgson obviously a very good coach. Yale should still be at the Class of the ivy 30 minutes up the road for me here. James Jones, one of the longest tenured coaches in the in the country. I'd be surprised if Yale is not the best and this is a Yale team that's lost really good talent recent seasons, but they've got, they've got a good thing cooking there. I think they'll be top 100. Charleston, they've got one of the best names in the sport, Mr. Dean who played, I think he might have played at USC Upstate a season ago. They're going to be a good defensive team. I know Chris Mack is super high on this group. They're my pick in the CAA and I think Mac is the guy. I had a segment in my Best of the Rest written preview where just coaches mid major coaches on the climb or to know or whatever. It feels weird to identify GP Mac as a coach on the climb. But, but you know, he's gotten calls the past few cycles from high major schools and if Charleston wins the league, he's going to get calls again. That's a really good team. I have him like 93 or something in my rankings. This could be too low. I mean they could be a top 75 team but, but that's the deal when you're.

[Matt Norlander]

I would, I would hire him. I like.

[Gary Parrish]

Well, I mean he, you know, I think he was very willing and able and eager to go back to Xavier, make that his forever job. Xavier decided, nope, we're gonna bring on Richard Patino. But I would agree with you particularly like, let's just say that this projection is right. GP let's say Charleston makes the tournament. You know, Mac is what, 55. Like he's still got, he's still young and he's not going to retire at 71. But like I can see him coach another eight to 10 years and he.

[Matt Norlander]

Was great at Xavier and he was like bad for like a half a season at Louisville.

[Gary Parrish]

I know.

[Matt Norlander]

And that got him and that's an exaggeration a little bit. But like that's a good basketball coach who has a good Wikipedia page and the power conference school that gives him his next shot and is able to lure him from Charleston. Will, will, will not regret it. That would be a prediction.

[Gary Parrish]

I agree. Last minute I'll give you is Miami University, Miami of Ohio in the Mac. It's my pick to win the Mac. Akron's the more common pick and John Gross does a good job. He's, you know, that's a classic example of a coach who was awesome at the mid major level, took a high major job and he's just built to be a really great mid major coach. He's got a great thing going at Akron. But I do have, speaking of former Xavier coaches. Travis Steele is the coach at Miami of Ohio. He's just got the best, he's got the best core. He's got Peter Suter who averaged 14 points, five boards, four assists last season. Then Ian Elmer is right there talent wise. That's. By the way, that's Ian E, I a n a good one two combo and they've got a, they've got a good core over there overall. So the Mac has struggled to produce top 100 teams with regularity, but I took a chance on the Redhawks and put them in the back end of the 90s there. So that's just a variety of different mid major teams to keep an eye on. As always, there will be surprises and that's why we, we love it. I wanted to keep up.

[Matt Norlander]

Do you have a go to. Do you have a go to rule on how to tell if you're talking to an Ian or an iron?

[Gary Parrish]

Almost always they're Ian. I think Iron Eagle has, has, has cornered the marketplace on the ions, but it's either Ion college basketball or Iron Eagle. That's it. Because I've never met, I've never met an iron in real life. That's not. I need.

[Matt Norlander]

I struggle with the Ian and Ion and I struggle with a Goldstein and a Goldstein. I don't ever know what to do. I never know what to do.

[Gary Parrish]

What do you struggle with?

[Matt Norlander]

Groin.

[Gary Parrish]

I don't.

[Matt Norlander]

I can't say that word. You're talking to Rotator cuff tendonitis.

[Gary Parrish]

If you had, if you had groin tendinitis, how would you say it?

[Matt Norlander]

Soft tissue injury.

[Gary Parrish]

It's my goal to get you to try and say it one more time on the show this season.

[Matt Norlander]

Let's keep up with word.

[Gary Parrish]

It's really not growing.

[Matt Norlander]

Look at this.

[Gary Parrish]

I'm gonna say it five times in a row. Groin, groin.

[Matt Norlander]

Growing, growing, growing, growing, growing, growing, growing, growing, growing, growing, growing. I can't do it. My, my, my mouth doesn't make that word. How is it possible my mouth can make.

[Gary Parrish]

Hey, YouTube. Hey.

[Matt Norlander]

But I can't say growing.

[Gary Parrish]

Growing. I don't get it.

[Matt Norlander]

I don't understand.

[Gary Parrish]

I mean, amazing content though. I thank you for doing it. I'm gonna put it on the sound.

[Matt Norlander]

It's just a soft tissue injury as far as I'm concerned. You guys can get all technical if you want to. As far as I'm concerned, it's just a soft tissue injury.

[Gary Parrish]

In the power conference previews we talked about and projected how many at large bids, how many overall bids. I'm going to do this for the non power of five leagues. So how many at large bids will we get last season? The year before There were eight last season. Trivia time. Do you know it?

[Matt Norlander]

I'm gonna say there were four last year.

[Gary Parrish]

Bingo, bingo bango. There were four. Three in the Mountain west and one in the wcc. With that in mind, I'm going to set the over under for non high major at large bids only at 4.5. How many get it and what conferences they come from.

[Matt Norlander]

I'm taking the under. I'm gonna go with three.

[Gary Parrish]

Oh man, that's, that's depressing as hell.

[Matt Norlander]

I'm gonna go with three and they're gonna come. Let's two.

[Gary Parrish]

You already got St. Mary's not in the tournament.

[Matt Norlander]

I know. Okay, so I'm gonna go WCC1 bid. I don't even like saying that. I don't even like saying that out loud. I'd rather say growing over and over again than say that again. WCC 1 bid. Let's say Mountain West 3. Or did I already say Mount West 2?

[Gary Parrish]

You did.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah. Okay, so I'm gonna say Mountain west.

[Gary Parrish]

Two, which is three bids total, but two at largest.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay, yeah, yeah. And then just one more somewhere. And here's, here's. Let me tell you exactly how this is going to go. It'll be three at large is outside of the power five. And then we're going to put the committee chair on television and you know what he's going to say? Well, you know, St. Mary's was right there and Boise State. Oh, buddy. Right there. And this is among the arguments for tournament expansion. If you want these schools in and you're telling me that you do, well then the best way to do that is we got to take it up to 76 or whatever they will. We're going to get a unusually small number of at large from the non power fives. And then the power fives are going to convince us that the best way to fix this problem is to expand. And then they're going to fill up the expanded tournament with their own teams. That's what's happening.

[Gary Parrish]

I think you've got a very good chance at that Clip aging well. Against all my wishes and desires, I do think this is very much on the table that we are entering into a season where this is the last season in which teams will compete to make a 68 team field and that we could get to selection Sunday and there is a low number of at large bids from, from non high majors and then that exact Lobbying point is is hammered home. Obviously by the time, if this is true, by the time we get to selection Sunday, we will know the fate of the 2027 NCBA tournament anyway. So we'll see there. I will go over. I will go five. I will say two at largest. From the A10. I know I'm probably just slipping on the banana peel right now with that, But I'll say two from the A10, two from the mountain.

[Matt Norlander]

Somebody's trying to become the master of ceremonies.

[Gary Parrish]

It sounds like two from the A10, two from the Mountain west and then one from the WCC. So I will say, and I'll give you even the teams. I'll say St. Mary's is the at large. From the WCC. I will say Boise State and Utah State join San Diego State in the tournament. From the Mountain West, I'll say Dayton gets in and alongside St. Louis.

[Matt Norlander]

And.

[Gary Parrish]

I mean, what the hell, Give me George Washington. Let me say they break through. But it could be a deal where like Dayton and St. Louis have just enough to get in and VCU wins the league tournament. But I want, I want to, I want to believe. Okay? I want to believe. All right, Call me Mulder. I want to believe. We'll wrap up with this. I did put it together. And all mid major starting five, all mid major first team, if you will. I don't know if nada has that in graphic form. He does. Look at this. All mid major first team here. These are just got the five players who I think are going to be the best at the, at the non high major level. If you're watching, you can see them. If you aren't, I'm going to read them off for you right now. Give me Grammy cake and Zaga. Robbie Avila at St. Louis, Miles Bird at San Diego State, Doug McDaniel at Memphis and then Mason false left at Utah State. The one player not on this list who reasonably actually could crack into it is Ty on Grant Foster at Gonzaga. If he does wind up leading the team in scoring, we'll see on that. But yeah. JP, any thoughts on. On those five and did you vote? All five of those guys were on my preseason top 101 list. You know, I think all five are on our list too. Did you vote for all five on yours?

[Matt Norlander]

You know, Doug, I, I don't think I had a Memphis player on my list. Okay, yeah, but, but like I'm not arguing with your team here, but look at that. That is who you think the best non Power 5 players in the country are going to be and it's a reasonable list. Go back five years and do the same exercise and see what you come up with. It's Drew Timmy. It's Jalen Suggs. It's, it's, let me see here.

[Gary Parrish]

Let's check it out.

[Matt Norlander]

It's Marcus Sasser, Corey Kispert.

[Gary Parrish]

I mean there's a lot of Gonzaga dudes, but yes, yeah, Sasser's fair. They were down in the Big 12. That's true.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, it's just been, we've taken some of our, it's, let's see who played on this team.

[Gary Parrish]

You could have even said like Kendrick Davis was good five years ago. I think I'm like, yeah, you know, that's a little more five years ago.

[Matt Norlander]

But yeah, yeah, but like you asked me earlier, do you think there's been a talent drain on the mid majors? Look at that team. The answer yes.

[Gary Parrish]

But I will also say Avila's on the list now and Cameron Krutwig was Robbie Avila five years ago. So. So yes, but I point. Well, point. We'll take in there, we'll wrap on this, then we'll cut GP loose, we can get ready for his Memphis show. Just a few we always mention if you missed on a few notable coaching hires, here's who I have. Josh Pastner is now at unlv. Ali Farokmanesh is at Colorado State. Eric Olin, not a big name, but he took UC San Diego. What he did at UC San Diego was insane. And so now he goes to New Mexico, which is not going to the PAC 12. New Mexico, generally speaking, is just an interesting situation to me. We'll see what happens in the years to come there. Fran McCaffrey is still coaching, folks. He is now the coach at his alma mater in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania in the Ivy League. Mike Bibby is the coach at Sacramento State. Shaq is labeled as the general manager. Don't get me even started on that. But there's a whole lot of, a whole lot going down at Sacramento State these days. Brian Hodgson, as we mentioned at ucf, one of the most sought after coaches at the mid major level who got a new gig. And then Phil Martelli Jr. As we mentioned at VCU. Those are probably the most notable hirings at that level. Let's just burrow in real quick on Passenger gp. We talked about him a little bit on our coaching carousel recap back at the end of April, but he's someone who I talked to a number of times in the past year and a half. He Was very eager to get back in. Didn't think that he could even get the UNLV job at one point. And then lo and behold, he gets it. It's not. You talk about a change in what it used to be. I mean, UNLV is 20 of what it was when we. When we grew up to love the sport here. But I. I think there's a good chance this can work. And the one thing that surprised me, and I don't know if you had a chance to talk to Josh about yet or not, but he is a guy who was wired to not cheat on a level that really could be matched with anyone. And he has seemingly, like, adapted pretty damn well. He knew what he was stepping into. He understands the change in the landscape, the change of the rules. I don't know if he's going to be an absolute home run, but I wrote it at some point somewhere on the site. I do believe that Josh Pastner will get UNLV to the NCAA tournament. I do believe that Josh Pastor will do more than that. I think that he is going to be responsible. You ready for this? For UNLV's first NCAA tournament win since. I won't even trivia time you. They have not won a game as I program in the tournament since 2008.

[Matt Norlander]

Is that Leon Krueger?

[Gary Parrish]

When they did it, it was Krueger. Yes, Krueger. Dave Rice was the last coach to bring him to the tournament. Krueger in 08 was the last time they won a game. They haven't made the Sweet 16 since 2007. I don't think he wins a game in 2026. I'm not sure he wins a game in 2027. But I will predict that UNLV will be on the better side of an NCAA tournament result before Josh Pastner's time in Vegas is done.

[Matt Norlander]

I hope you're right. I'm glad he got that job. I like Josh being back in coaching. You know, I grew up with unlv, been among the biggest brands in the sport. I mean, that's a brand that was so big at one point that it still gets referenced in rap songs like UNLV and Running Rebels. And so I, I agree with you. I think Josh can get UNLV back to a. A respectable place. And obviously all of that comes with you got to have a commitment from the university and blah, blah, blah. But I'm looking at. He's bringing UNLV back to Memphis and so we had John Calipari back in FedEx forum last night and we'll have Josh pastner Back in FedEx forum in the regular season. So that'll be a cool thing. I look forward to seeing him. He did a, a good job at Memphis. A better than folks realized in real time job at Memphis replacing John Calipari. Then went to Georgia Tech. And that's just a hard job. I mean, go look at the history that that is. That is the job. Everybody says, man, somebody could really win big there. And you're like, who, who? But who has other than Bobby Crimmins a thousand years ago and Paul Hewitt that one time.

[Gary Parrish]

Yep.

[Matt Norlander]

I mean that's really it. And so that's just a hard job. Hopefully he's landed at a place that, you know, where he can, you know, get back to NCAA tournaments consistently.

[Gary Parrish]

That's a show.

[Matt Norlander]

Let's get out of here then. Shouts to Devin Downey. Shouts to Chester, South Carolina, Terry Teagle. He's a legend. Hook Larnell. Thank you guys once again for watching and listening to the Ion College Basketball Podcast. If you're not subscribed, please go subscribe anywhere you subscribe to podcasts, Apple, Spotify, there's more of us than there are of them. That should be reflected in the comments. So do that and we will talk to you again real soon.

[Gary Parrish]

Hey, Thursday, Thursday, CBS Sports Network Big Picture Preview. Yes.

[Matt Norlander]

Is it 1pm Eastern?

[Gary Parrish]

I believe it is 1pm Eastern. Yes. I believe. Don't, don't quote me, but I think so. You told me it was noon. You told me it's two. I'd believe you either way. But I know it's Thursday around lunchtime.

[Matt Norlander]

If there's one thing I know about a television show, it's that I don't really need to know what time it starts until, until the morning of.

[Gary Parrish]

All right. Nada says it's 1pm Eastern. So there we go. 1pm Eastern. CBS Sports Network Big picture season preview show. And then on Sunday night. This is a big heads up. But Sunday night, Sunday night shows are back. We will do our annual prediction shows. I'll remind GP of what we got right, what we did not get right from a year ago. That's always one of my favorite shows to do. So we got some more goodies coming from.

[Matt Norlander]

I think I got everything right last season.

[Gary Parrish]

We're about to find out because I.

[Matt Norlander]

Know I was wrong.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, well, that season I think that's coming.

[Matt Norlander]

I feel like I got everything right last season. But I look forward to if, if you, if you want to counterpoint me, I look forward to that on on Sunday night. So enjoy the rest of your day. Enjoy the rest of your day. We'll talk to you again on Thursday, 1 o' clock Eastern. Till then, take care, Paramount. Paramount Podcasts now streaming on Paramount +.

[Gary Parrish]

Brandon was the full package. I felt like I met my guy. Stop. Stop.

[Matt Norlander]

Stop talking.

[Ryan Wilson]

God.

[Gary Parrish]

But he's not even close to the person that I thought he was. When you do break up with Brandon, that is when stalking begins. I just knew something horrific was about to happen. I saw the devil in his size. We're going to tell everyone what he did.

[Matt Norlander]

Don't date Brandon. Now streaming on Paramount plus.