Big 12 LED court glitches out; conference tourney roundup; bubble situation with two days to go; Miami finally loses but WILL dance

Summary

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Eye On College Basketball – March 13, 2026

"Big 12 LED court glitches out; conference tourney roundup; bubble situation with two days to go; Miami finally loses but WILL dance"

Hosts: Gary Parrish & Matt Norlander

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Episode Overview

The hosts break down a wild conference tournament week across college basketball, headlined by the abrupt switch from an experimental LED court back to traditional hardwood in the Big 12. They give inside reporting on that unusual decision, discuss high-stakes matchups, and provide a detailed look at the shifting NCAA Tournament bubble. The show also checks in on key games from the ACC, SEC, Big East, Big Ten, and more, with signature quick wit and deep knowledge. They finish with bracketology updates, stories from the road, and picks for must-watch games as Selection Sunday approaches.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Big 12 LED Court Controversy

[01:40 - 06:53]

• The Situation:
  The Big 12 introduced an LED glass court for the men’s tournament but switched back to hardwood for the semifinals/finals due to concerns about slipperiness and player safety, despite some positive player feedback and scientific claims it was less slippery than wood.
• Matt’s On-Site Reporting:
  • “The court to me looked better in person...but undeniably, it was a little bit slippery no matter what the science suggested.” (Norlander, 02:46)
  • Players and coaches were mixed; a “mental switch” was required to play on it.
  • The league president Brett Yormark gave Norlander a heads-up to break the news but had him hold it until after the Kansas-TCU game.
• Decision-Making Process:
  • After feedback, Yormark “was not too proud to reverse course” for player safety and to refocus attention on the basketball itself (Parrish, 07:21).
  • Notably, the women’s tournament continued on the LED floor without the same concession.

2. Big 12 Tournament Matchups & Star Performers

[06:53 - 13:42]

• Semifinal Pairings:
  Iowa State vs Arizona, Houston vs Kansas, both with major NCAA seeding implications.
• A.J. Dybansa’s Historic Run:
  • Broke Kevin Durant’s Big 12 Tournament scoring record: “His favorite player has always been Kevin Durant...He did it in three games, 93 points. Durant did it in three games, 92 points back in 07.” (Norlander, 08:56)
• Kansas-Houston Star Power:
  Darren Peterson and Kingston Flemings: “Two guys that could go in the top 5 of the 2026 NBA draft.” (Parrish, 07:21)
• Iowa State Fan Takeover:
  Lighthearted moment: Norlander tweets about Cyclones fans “dominating the breakfast buffet” – clarifies on-air it wasn’t body-shaming, just a reflection of their overwhelming presence (13:20–13:29).

3. ACC Takeaways: Duke’s Narrow Escape

[17:42 - 20:37]

• Duke 80, Florida State 79:
  • Duke played shorthanded, missing Caleb Foster and Patrick Gangba (40% of the starting lineup).
  • “What was yesterday more about...Duke finding its footing against a solid team, or Florida State nearly busting into the bubble?” (Norlander, 18:22)
  • Without Foster, Norlander says Duke is “vulnerable to slipping from that ultra top tier.”
  • Big picture: “This is the only time Cameron Boozer will ever wear a Duke uniform.” (Parrish, 20:37)

4. SEC & Bubble Implications

[22:10 - 27:00]

• Auburn’s Case Dismissed:
  • “Auburn doesn’t...have the case to get into the tournament. There’s never been a team with 16 losses...Auburn would need to also be a record breaker.” (Norlander, 22:10)
  • Loss volume is “crucial,” and this year’s bubble is historically weak.
• Oklahoma on the Brink:
  • A loss to Arkansas likely knocks them out: “Even with a win—they’re going to be under .500 in Q1, Q2, Q3...which I don’t think is insignificant.” (Norlander, 25:19)
• Mixture of hope and frustration:
  • Multiple bubble teams have “spoiled their opportunities,” with Miami the one bubble lock due to others’ failures.

5. Big East, Big Ten, and Elsewhere

[27:40 - 34:53]

• Big East Semifinals:
  • St. John’s vs Seton Hall, UConn vs Villanova.
  • “Seton Hall cannot get in without winning the automatic bid.” (Norlander, 28:05)
• Big Ten:
  • All quarterfinal teams are locks–discussion is about seeding.
  • “Ohio State was the rare team...it became a lock because every other team kept losing…” (Norlander, 31:52)
  • Great coaching matchup: UCLA vs Michigan State’s Mick Cronin vs Tom Izzo.
• ACC/Bubble Monitoring:
  • Indiana “has zero case” for the tournament; Iowa should avoid Dayton.

6. MAC: Miami, Ohio’s At-Large Fate

[34:53 - 38:09]

• Redhawks lost to UMass, fall to 31–1, but will absolutely "dance":
  • “There is no scenario where this team is going to get left out of the bracket, period.” (Parrish, 35:26)
  • “This is not subject to debate… There is immense value to that [undefeated regular season].” (Norlander, 35:17)
  • “Anyone arguing against them has no soul.” (Parrish, 36:45)
  • Likely to be a No. 11 seed, not in Dayton.

7. Bubble, Bubble, Who’s in Trouble?

[44:23 - 49:26]

• Deep rundown of bubble teams and “cut line” outlook.
  • New Mexico vs San Diego State is a true “double bubble” elimination game (Norlander, 44:23).
  • Texas is pegged as “the most vulnerable team to missing the tournament that no one is really giving a lot of attention or discussion to.” (Norlander, 47:56)
  • VCU, SMU, Santa Clara, Missouri all on the fence.
• “I can never remember a wider group of teams around the cut line that has lost so many times going into Selection Sunday.” (Norlander, 25:19)

8. Games to Watch – Friday, March 13

[41:51 - 44:23, 49:26]

• Gary Parrish’s pick: Kansas vs Houston, Big 12 semifinal, 9:30p ET, ESPN.
  • “If I could only put my eyeballs on one game today, that is the game I would want to watch.” (Parrish, 41:51)
• Matt Norlander’s pick: New Mexico vs San Diego State, Mountain West semifinals, midnight ET, CBS Sports Network.
  • “Biggest game to know overall bubble situation as we go into this final weekend.” (Norlander, 44:23)
• Other key games:
  • Iowa State vs Arizona, Big 12
  • St. John’s vs Seton Hall, Big East
  • Kentucky vs Florida, SEC
  • Wisconsin vs Illinois, Big Ten

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Brett Yormark’s flexibility:
  “A different person might stick to their guns…but instead, they pivot to get the focus back on the basketball and I think it’s a proper move.”
  — Gary Parrish [07:21]
• On Big 12 tourney chaos:
  “It is outrageous that we are starting the last podcast before we know the bracket regarding the playing surface of a high major basketball tournament. But that is where we are at.”
  — Matt Norlander [02:46]
• On Miami (OH):
  “Anyone suggesting otherwise is wrong. And anybody arguing against them has no soul.”
  — Gary Parrish [36:45]
• On the state of the bubble:
  “I can never remember a wider group of teams around the cut line that has lost so many times going into Selection Sunday.”
  — Matt Norlander [25:19]
• Comic relief:
  “Do I look like an Iowa State fan? You think I can eat all the mozzarella sticks?”
  — Gary Parrish [55:33]

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Road Life/Banter Highlights

[51:39 – end]

• Gary’s Airport Ordeal:
  Parrish recounts being unexpectedly diverted from Memphis to Richmond, VA, dozing off in-flight and waking up confused:
  “I crashed hard on that flight and woke up in Richmond. Had no idea what was going on.” [51:39]
  • Stranded 13 hours, luggage misdirected, eating airport mozzarella sticks (“scale of 1 to 7… 4/7, perfectly reasonable airport mozzarella sticks.”)
  • Banter about clothing, travel, and “body shaming” Iowa State fans recurs.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:40 — LED court discussion & decision to revert to hardwood
• 06:53 — Big 12 Tournament: star performances and matchups
• 13:20 — Iowa State fan invasion story
• 17:42 — ACC check-in: Duke’s close call
• 22:10 — SEC: Auburn’s case, Oklahoma’s fate, bubble updates
• 27:40 — Big East, Big Ten, and other conference check-ins
• 34:53 — MAC: Miami (OH)’s at-large lock status
• 41:51 — Games to watch (Big 12, MWC, others)
• 44:23 — Bubble breakdown and cut line analysis
• 51:39 — Gary’s travel woes (Richmond airport story)
• 55:33 — “Do I look like an Iowa State fan?...” mozzarella sticks callback

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Conclusion

The episode expertly blends insider reporting (especially from Kansas City on the Big 12 scene), deep-dive analysis on the tournament bubble and seeding, and fun behind-the-scenes color. As the hosts gear up for Selection Sunday, they capture the chaos, anticipation, and competitive stakes—making this a must-listen (or must-read summary!) for anyone needing the lay of the land headed into college basketball’s biggest weekend.

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Transcript

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[Gary Parrish]

Connecting homeowners with skilled Pros for over 30 years, Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home [e-mail]. Hey there I am Gary Perish. Welcome back CBS Sports. I own college basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, dodo birds and leaky black. Matt Norlander is here with me from Kansas City. If you're watching on YouTube honor Brandon Davies smash the like button. If you haven't yet subscribed to the Iron College Basketball Podcast, please do that wherever you listen to podcasts like Apple and Spotify. Let's get into it. I want to start in the Big 12 where Norlander is stationed this week. The lad court is no more. Rest in peace. We're going back to hardwood for the semifinals and the final Norlander, let's start there. You saw it up close. A, how cool was the LED court to see in person? B, how dangerous was it for basketball players?

[Matt Norlander]

Good morning, gp. The court to me looked better in person than it does than it was presenting on television. But that being said, I was sitting courtside so I wasn't seeing like the different graphic things that I know if you were in, you know, the 23rd row in the middle of the court, like it was probably looking even better than that. Little warm to the touch. Is an LED corp. And it was glass, but there were tiny, tiny little like nubbins, like millions of them that were. I got a whole story on dotcom. You can go read about it. The science behind it, the NBA looking into it. The science suggests that it's actually less slippery than a hardwood floor. Whatever. Some players didn't mind. AJ DeBonsa told me, I got nothing to say. Negative to say about it. Jaden Bradley, Big 12 Player of the year. Braden Burry said, no, we're cool with the court. This is all good. So there were some players that had no issues with it. Even Christian Anderson, who went down, tweaked his groin yesterday, said, no, I'm, I'm gonna be okay. Like I, I was a little slippery. But he, he could have been more critical of the court than he was and he wasn't. Some players did not like it. A couple, I talked to a couple of coaches on background, didn't exactly love it. Everyone felt undeniably it was a little bit slippery no matter what the science suggested. And what was undeniable was the mental switch to it. It is outrageous that we are starting the last podcast we will do before we know the bracket regarding the playing surface of a high major basketball tournament. But that is where we are at. Little peek behind the curtain here. Brett Yormark was mulling this. I'd say like, he let me go with the news first, which I do appreciate he did. You know, the league came and found me and said, hey, listen, we're gonna let you break this news, but you can't. They decided it before halftime of the Kansas TCU game. And they said, But I was like, okay, so we can go with it. No, no, we're gonna, we're gonna ask you to hold this till after the game. Okay, fair enough. But your mark had been mulling it for about three hours prior, talked with every coach, all the ads. I give him credit for not being too proud about it. Like, right, this was a scenario where he could have said, we can we can just finish it out? There's not enough negative associated with this. There's still players and coaches that have no issue with the tj. Altoberger told me team had gotten used to playing on. It would have been more than okay if we finished out the. He was not looking. He was not pushing for a change. They didn't need a change. Kelvin Sampson was in favor of the hardwood. I think Tommy Lloyd could have gone either way. But if he. If it was his pick, he wanted hardwood and Bill Self, it's got Darren Peterson on his roster. Let's go with hardwood. Not exactly the worst idea in the world. So we do have the most. We have an unprecedented situation. We. We have a tournament that has changed its playing service. In the middle of it, I was told the court will be the same one they used a year ago. But that was only one person that said they believed that was the case. They always had the. They had the backup contingency here. You know, the union, the crew workers to go to do this. They had the court nearby. So they always had this as a break glass in case of emergency. And so. And so here we are. It was obviously a subject of a lot of conversation. I have to note the women did not get the benefit of this. There were some similar critiques and complaints during the women's tournament, but the women had to play it through to the very end, and there was no change. The men get the benefit of switching it out to hardwood. And so this becomes, in the moment, a very, very big story. I think by the time we get to the games. That's what your mark told me last night. He's like, I just want this to be about the teams and the games and the matchups and the floor had become too big of a thing. You could argue it was always going to be that. At least we will have that tonight, by the way. Oh, by the way, we have two phenomenal games. We have Iowa State, Arizona and Houston versus Kansas. I can't wait to be there later on tonight and cover that building. So anyway, that's what I got from that story. It was even wilder on the ground as it was kind of developing as the night went along. Your thoughts on just the. The whole ordeal?

[Gary Parrish]

Well, not surprised to hear that TJ didn't mind the glass court. They're beating everybody by 35 on it.

[Matt Norlander]

I know. Biggest margin. Real quick stat for you. I want to say they. They won by 71 in the first two games. I think our research department showed that that was the largest margin of victory in a two game span in a conference tournament. I think maybe any conference tournament since the mid-90s, which is just stunning to me. But yes, they, they had more than adapted to playing on that surface. Go ahead.

[Gary Parrish]

They look, they look comparable. Yes. Arizona State by 49 and then Texas Tech by 22. I'll echo what you said about Brett. I, I think it, I don't. He's obviously comes from a different background than most conference commissioners or at least traditional conference commissioners. He's full of big ideas. He is not somebody who thinks the way things have been done are the way things should be done. Like, he's not scared to think outside the box, try new things, whether it's media rights, how those are negotiated or playing services. And I can appreciate when somebody says, hey, we tried something here and it's not working the way we anticipated or it's not going as smoothly as we'd hoped. Let's get the focus back on the basketball and away from the playing surface. Let's get hardwood in here for Friday and Saturday. A different person might stick to their guns, so to speak, and say, hey, it's, you know, go ask AJ DeBonsa, he said it was fine. If he says it's fine, it's fine. You could, they could have downplayed it a little bit, but instead they pivot to get the focus back on the basketball and I think it's a proper move. As for the actual basketball, like, if you could only watch one tournament today, would this be the one you want to watch? I think so. Arizona, Iowa State, two top 10 teams. The Cyclones blowing out everybody. Arizona headed for one seed and then you get Houston and Kansas. I mean, that's just terrific. Darren PETERSON, Kingston Flemings, two guys that could go in the top five of the 2026 NBA Draft. I know you're there. I'll have it on TV. Should be a fun night in Kansas City.

[Matt Norlander]

It should be. I'm, I'm really, really, really looking forward to it. This was, I think, the second best combo that you could have asked for. The only one that was bet that would have been better just in terms of appeal is had BYU won and we got debonsa vs peterson in the semis. Obviously that is blockbuster material. Instead, we don't get it. So they will only play each other most likely once in their college careers, barring the tournament. God's bracking breaking the right way in the bracket. But that's obviously extremely and exceedingly unlikely that that would be, that would be the case. There Real quick on the Bonsen before I get to tonight's matchups. Had a chance to talk with him multiple times over the past couple of days. He breaks the record. I mean he broke a number of records. I actually, I, I asked him, I did a video interviewing him. We put on HQ this morning. His favorite player has always been Kevin Durant. So he breaks the scoring record for the Big 12. He did in three games, 93 points. Durant did it in three games, 92 points back in 07. But he also broke Durant's single game scoring record. He put up 40 on the glass floor against the Bad Case State team. And he has the biggest two game margin or, or total for any player in the Big 12 tournament history. So I know that really means something to him. It's pretty cool. Like he's, he's, he's an outright and abashed Kevin Durant fanboy and there are certain elements to his game that are, that are similar. But he continues to keep getting better and better. I just said on HQ before we went on and for anyone watching live on YouTube, appreciate you that. Got bumped back just a little bit. So we started, we started a few minutes later than we, than we had anticipated here. GP and I are both living in a constant state of. Okay, that's going to get delayed. That's going to get delayed. That's going to get delayed, bro.

[Gary Parrish]

I've been in Richmond. I was never supposed to go to Richmond. I was there for 24 hours.

[Matt Norlander]

Correct. If we have time, we are jammed. If we have time. I want a little bit on that because in full transparency we. I've been so busy I haven't heard from Parrish about, about all that stuff. Anyway, the point on Demons is this right now. To me, he is where I believed he would be five months ago. He is the most entertaining and must watch player in college basketball and he is unquestionably a top three player in college basketball ball. We wait to see what will, what BYU will get for an opponent. I think it's going to end up with a six seed and we'll see if they can continue playing. Well, the defense did show up here in Kansas City, which I thought was crucial, vital. We'll see on that. If you don't mind. Just let me keep cooking here on the semifinals and then you can take it away when it comes to Iowa State. The Iowa State Arizona game, which is what we're going to get first tonight. Remember, these two teams did play each other not that long ago. It was Monday, March 2nd time. What does it mean? And Arizona got the, got the win there. Arizona didn't have any issue whatsoever with ucf. Not that you would have expected anything differently, but given the way that Iowa State has played the past two games here against, yes, different level of competition. Texas Tech wasn't able to keep up. No top. And what can you do? We'll see if we get a fantastic, fantastic game in that regard. And then Kansas playing against Houston, you know, those two coaches, two hall of Fame level coaches there. I think this game could be phenomenal. Kansas defeated Houston at home. That was the only win that it got of note over that, you know, three week stretch near the end of the season. And now we get a rematch situation. Kingston Fleming still sticking around. Oh, by the way, he had some nice moments there. So yeah, it's a wonderful one too. I sent this tweet out yesterday morning and it was a little bit misinterpreted. I said, I'll read you the exact words here, gp. I don't know if you saw it or not, but I went down. You know, they got the, they got the old breakfast buffet here at the, at the Marriott that I'm staying at. So I go down there, get a little eggs. They had a nice little like jalapeno muffin kind of thing. I dug it. It was good. But as I'm getting all that stuff, getting my orange juice, I look around and there's like 75, 80 people. It's a pretty big space at this, at this, at this point, at this Marriott. And I'm like, my goodness, almost everyone here is wearing Iowa State gear. Like if there were 80 people, 70 of them were wearing Iowa State stuff. So I tweeted, Iowa State fans just dominating the breakfast buffet area at my hotel. Total takeover. I meant by the number of people. A lot of people were like, New Orleans calling all these people fat. They can't stop eating the breakfast food. That's not what I meant. I meant they're everywhere. Iowa State fans truly take over the city. Extremely impressive. And, and I think almost every single room in this hotel is occupied by an ISU fan.

[Gary Parrish]

You were body shaming the Cyclones.

[Matt Norlander]

Not even close. So I had to clarify for the podcast. Not even close.

[Gary Parrish]

Norlander thinks them Cyclones need a GLP shot.

[Matt Norlander]

Well, well, to be fair, the Iowa State athletics account leaned into it and said, if you're an omelet, your day is done. Or something like that. I was like, yeah, there we go. Yeah, that's right. That day. To be an omelet. In Kansas City or something like that.

[Gary Parrish]

So I, I think I have a memory of Iowa State coming to the Liberty bowl and just being downtown for something and just everywhere you turned, it was just Iowa State. People like, they, I remember going, my God, these people really travel. These people really, they go, they go places. And so now they've, they've landed into Kansas City. Semifinals are tonight. If you need a schedule update, 7 o' clock Eastern Iowa State, Arizona. Then at 9:30 Eastern Kansas and Houston, both of those games. Live from Kansas City. They'll be on espn. When we get back, let's turn our attention to the acc. We'll whip around a little bit. I want to get Norlander's thoughts on Duke minus Caleb Foster barely getting by Florida State. We'll do that next. First, let's get a word from our partners.

[Matt Norlander]

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[Gary Parrish]

This is Gary Parish from the Ion College Basketball Podcast reminding you that the big college basketball tournament is just right around the corner. Been a great season. Can't wait to cover what will be my 23rd straight tournament. Hand to heart, I'm telling you, there's nothing like being there live. If you can, you should try it. When you do use game time, because game time has the lowest price guarantee, or gametime will credit you 110% of the difference so you can shop and purchase with confidence. You know, my family's coming up to New York to visit me while I'm working. I decided I want to take them to the conference tournament in midtown Manhattan. So I looked at Friday session four, clicked on four tickets. Dozens of options popped up. Found four in the lower level. Clicked on that one, click later, I'm paying just like that. We got conference tournament tickets in nyc. It's going to be a blast. Take the guesswork out of buying college basketball tickets with game time. Download the the GameTime app, create an account and use code I for $20 off your first purchase terms. Apply again, create an account and redeem code EYE for $20 off. Download the GameTime app today. Spring is here and there's a whole new way to chai at Starbucks that's

[Matt Norlander]

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[Gary Parrish]

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[Matt Norlander]

Because this season there's endless ways to chai at Starbucks. What was that?

[Gary Parrish]

Hey, that says that's a, I don't know. That's a new thing. I don't know if you know about these mid rolls.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay, anyone listening to the pod? You didn't hear it. It was, it was another, it was more GP with five hour energy. Maybe the audio version is also gonna have it as well. You, I don't know what you said in that, but one of the lines in that copy almost made me spit out my water just the way that you said it. Anyway, let's keep. Let's, we're tight on time. Let's keep.

[Gary Parrish]

Hey, we're getting rich.

[Matt Norlander]

I was used to going to break and you were still on the screen. That's all.

[Gary Parrish]

We're getting rich. All right. I, I, I think I, I told me, okay. I think, I think the way I have CBS is getting rich. All right? Somebody's getting rich off this thing.

[Matt Norlander]

All right, so congratulations, college basketball player in 1997. Good times. Let's go.

[Gary Parrish]

Let's bounce around a little bit. Let's start the ACC. Duke 80, Florida State 79. So the Blue Devils advance in the ACC tournament where they'll face Clemson later on today. That's because Clemson beat North Carolina in Thursday's quarterfinals. Obviously, Duke is great at full strength. We'd known that for a while. But down two starters, they were only one point better than a Florida State team. That, that's been good. 10 and 2. And it's past 12 entering that game, but still will not make the NCAA tournament. Norlander should Duke Fans be concerned that life without Caleb Foster is going to be difficult.

[Matt Norlander]

What was yesterday more about is the question, was it about a Florida State team that had it won the game would have actually busted through like the Kool Aid man into the bubble conversation? That would have been the case if the Noles have been able to do it, couldn't do it, obviously they don't have a chance to, to get into the tournament there. Was it more about that or was it about Duke finding it, finding its footing against a solid team that had been playing in top 25 level over the past, you know, six weeks or so and, and, and you know, being spared by a missed shot at the buzzer. I have to go little column A, column B here. But this obviously is, this is something to take note of. Just undeniably because of Foster's veteran presence, what he gives on a game over game, and I'm not going to overstate it, he is not close to the team's best player. I don't think he's remotely in discussion as the team's second best player. But on given nights he can be extremely valuable and extremely important. And, and, and he is a starting level veteran guard. So yes, the discussion and the framing around Duke for now has shifted undeniably. I don't think that you can, that you can argue otherwise, but we'll see. Like talking here on a Friday morning. They're going to play Clemson later. Clemson beat Carolina. Oh by the way, so we don't get, we don't get Duke, Carolina again. And you know, without Caleb Wilson obviously, maybe Duke beats Clemson by 27 points and it's like okay, maybe they're good, maybe they're gonna figure it out after all. But maybe room for a little bit. As long as the biggest thing is like, and I know Boozer didn't have the greatest of game and I'm, and I was doing the Big 12 stuff. I was watching this game. Internet was like coming in and out which is not ideal, but I was watching. I actually missed the losing shots because the, the, the feed froze. So I was like getting ready to watch it and it just, just stopped. And then the next thing I know they're shaking hands and the game is over. But I watched a highlight after the fact. Of course, as long as Evans can continue to be a guy that you can rely on, game over game to be, you know, give you 15 plus points, be a plus on the floor. Like I still think that they've got enough there. Kate Booster's obviously gotta step up all the more. And his, his production is huge. But yes, there's reason to at least say, okay, is this team vulnerable to slipping from that ultra top tier because it doesn't have Foster? I'm not saying it will, not saying it should, I'm saying now we've seen at least one game where that gives us reason to consider it.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, it was one game against a team that has been playing well with a lot of confidence, but it was one game against a non NCAA tournament team and you know, they barely got past. Just stinks. Anytime something like this happens to a basketball team with legitimate national title aspirations like we talked about before in the NBA you might have an unfortunate injury like this and it could derail where you're headed. But in theory, you know, if players are under contract coming back next season, you can kind of run it back again. In the NBA you can run back basically the same team in back to back years. But in college basketball that's a hard thing to do. And obviously at Duke they're not going to be able to do that. This is the only time Cameron Boozer will ever wear a Duke uniform. This is the only season. And now if he's going to try to win a national championship, hang another banner in Cameron Indoor, you're gonna have to do it without at least one, it appears for a while at least one of his starting teammates and obviously Patrick Gangba also sidelined for, for right now at least. And that's 40% of the Duke starting lineup tonight. Semifinals, Miami, Virginia, 7 o' clock Eastern. And that'll be followed by Clemson, Duke at 9:30 Eastern. Both of those games will be on ESPN2. Let's get over to the SEC final. Tennessee 72, Auburn 62. Stephen Pearl's Tigers, is that going to do it? He made his case after the game, but I don't know how many people are buying it right now.

[Matt Norlander]

It's going to do it. Auburn doesn't, I think, have the case to get into the tournament. There's never been a team with 16 losses that's ever gotten into the tournament as an at large. Auburn would have to be the first. And there's never been a team that has finished the pre Selection Sunday portion of its schedule just one game above.500 and has gotten into the tournament. Auburn would need to also be a record breaker in both of those regards. I just don't feel like that is going to happen. The fascinating thing about Auburn, which does have an interesting resume overall is it's got a really couple really good wins. Overall, but I will note, and I think this needs to be brought up as well. It's not just 7 and 15 in quad one and quad two. Auburn right now is 11 and 16 in the top three quadrants. This team is five games below.500 against Q1, Q2 and Q3 opponents. As we talked this morning, it's 44th in WAB. It's 43rd in strength of record. That's. You're. You're approaching the. That's right. Basically right on the cut line. My guess, and this is going to be dependent on other results and bit thieves and stuff, my guess is Auburn will be the second team out of the field. When we see the teams that just missed the cut on selection Sunday, I think they will just have missed. They won't be the first team. I think they'll be the second team. That's just a guess at this point. Loss volume matters. Longtime listeners know I say those three words every single year. This time of year on the pod you have all of these opportunities. The responsibility that comes with. With great power comes great responsibility. With great scheduling power. With great scheduling opportunity comes great responsibility. Auburn did not win enough games. I'm sorry. You played to this point 33 games and you lost 16 of them. You are not going to the NCAA tournament. You should not go to the NCAA tournament. Even in a year where the bubble is atrocious. And I would. The only argument I would make is the bubble is so bad. And Evan Miyakawa recently did some research that suggested this really is the worst bubble ever made. All the more like he didn't look at the bubble in 1997 or 1988 or 2002. But we didn't have a 68 team field then. So it would stand to reason that it would be more competitive in a 64, 65 team feel. So we really might have the worst bubble ever. Auburn is only benefited of the slightest chance of getting in because the bubble is so terrible. If it was even a little bit better, I think it would be all the. All the less optimistic. I understand Pearl's case, but no, I don't think they're getting it.

[Gary Parrish]

I'm with you. Congrats on an incredible strength of schedule. That's impressive. But you lost 16 times. You only won 17 times. That that should not be good enough. I agree with you. I think they'll be left out. Oklahoma 83, Texas A&M 63. The Sooners getting closer to the right side of the bubble. They play Arkansas in the SEC tournament later today. If they lose that game, they will be 19 and 15. They will be 4 and 10 in quadrant one, 6 and 5 in quadrant two, 10 and 15 in the first two quadrants with no additional losses. That's if they lose to Arkansas today. So I think I can tell by the way you shook your head they better not lose to Arkansas today.

[Matt Norlander]

I don't see a path for Oklahoma with the loss. JP I haven't checked our model this morning. It might have the Sooners as the last team in. The problem is a loss just bumps you out. I don't think it has a case right now. It's 47 and web 44 in strength of record. You just, you said though what the numbers would be with the loss and so even with dude, even with a win they're going to be under.500 in Q1, Q2, Q3, which I don't think is insignificant when you factor in your quad three games which should be games that get you above.500 overall in that Q1.23. It is, it is a damaging data point against your resume now. A win. Yes. And frankly on some level it would be refreshing to see a team actually surge its way into this field because there have been plenty of opportunities to do so. We're going to get to Miami eventually. But all the more reason why that team is in zero and I mean 0.00000 danger is all of the teams that have spoiled their opportunities over the past week. I can never remember a wider group of teams around the cut line that has lost so many times going into Selection Sunday. Oklahoma needs another win. If it does get it, I'm pretty sure it'll be in the field at that point. Maybe subject to bid thievery depending on where it lands. But that's a big one. Obviously. We've got a couple of must see must track games today and Oklahoma and Porter Moser getting it done over A and M. Weird. No show by A and M. You dive into the resume, they're fine. But they have one top 25 win the entire season. It's against like number 23, number 24 Kentucky. And that game was at College Station. It just happened at the end of regular season. So some weird stuff there. Arkansas, Oklahoma going down later today. That'll be a must see in Nashville quarterfinals.

[Gary Parrish]

Kentucky against Florida. Tennessee against Vanderbilt. The winners of those two will play each other tonight.

[Matt Norlander]

Hold on real quick, real quick. If Florida loses and if Florida loses, well we don't know what Yukon's gonna do. Okay, how about this. If Florida loses today we're gonna get to the biggies. But if you if Yukon does not win the Big east tournament and if Houston WINS the Big 12. Houston the final one seed.

[Gary Parrish]

Yes, I think so too.

[Matt Norlander]

Yes.

[Gary Parrish]

I think that's.

[Matt Norlander]

Now they're gonna have a lot of things break their way. It's probably not going to happen. But. But just so as as people watch this. Listen to this as you get ready for the next 48 hours. That's the one path to having the 1:1 seed that hasn't been on the radar a lot that I still can think get there. But they got to get there. It's going to be tough to have everything break their way.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah. So Kentucky, Florida, Tennessee, Vanderbilt winners play each other. Ole Miss, Alabama, Oklahoma, Arkansas. Tonight semifinals winners of those will play each other. Let's get to the Big East. St. John, Seton Hall, Yukon, Villanova. That's the semifinals today at Madison Square Garden. Obviously big opportunity for Seton Hall. Can they secure the Pirates a bid with a victory over St. John? Shaheen Holloway, your reigning Big east coach

[Matt Norlander]

of the year literally moments ago as we even do this by the way, Providence has officially fired Kim English. So just for for official purposes there on the pod it did break in the midst of us doing the show right on time here. Two two bit thieves lurking still. I mean everyone wants expects. I want to say nos but I'll stop short of that that it's going to be Seton Hall Yukon on Saturday night. The Big east tournament every so often will throw you a real curveball. Now the most recent notable one involved who the Hoyas 2021 Covid season no. 1 was in the stands. Patrick Ewing took 8th seeded Georgetown to the NCAA tournament by winning it there which was a nice moment for the program but particularly cruel for Georgetown fans that have been waiting forever to have a moment like that and they could not even go to the arena and watch the games in person. Now we've got Ed Cooley going up against UConn after I did and I'm able to watch some of this stuff. I did not see a wink of Georgetown, Villanova. So I don't understand why Nova was easily handled. Congrats to Cooley and Hoyas fans who must be taken advantage of the mark I would think. You know, I know Johnny's fans, Yukon fans are going to fill up that building. Seton hall, you're there too. You're going to be able to get your fans in. But but Georgetown fans in the greater New York City area, we're not expecting to have Their team play on Friday night. I believe this is the 11 seed. And here you are on a Friday, midtown Manhattan. That's pretty cool. Seton hall cannot get in without winning the automatic bid. In this, in this, in this tournament. Just so people. No, they were kind of flirting on the outskirt of the bubble here. You dive into the numbers and what they have on their. On their resume. It's not enough. They got to get the auto bid here and I give them a chance against St. John's I do. St. John's playing very well. These two teams just played a week ago to wrap the regular season competitive game. St. John's got it done. St. John's won both. But they won both games this season by a combined, what, 12 points. So we'll see. We could have some drama. Everyone wants Johnny's Huskies. I understand that, but Biggie's tournament, man, strange stuff happens. I don't put it out of the realm of possibility that we get. We get a curveball and there. There is a non yukon or non St. John's team playing tomorrow night for the automatic bid.

[Gary Parrish]

You mentioned seton Hall's numbers eight and nine in the first two quadrants with two quadrant three losses. Wins above bubble as of this morning is 54. So, yeah, they got work to do in the Big Ten. The quarterfinals are today. All eight teams playing are expected to make the NCAA tournament. So just seeding stuff in that event. Do you disagree?

[Matt Norlander]

No, I don't disagree. I had. We had this exact same situation yesterday with the Big 12, which was tremendous. I'm just looking at this right now. So. Yeah, we've got Michigan, Illinois, Michigan State, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Purdue. Oh, all. Yeah, Ohio State and ucla. Yep, that's it. Yep. There we are. Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

So the matchups, they get started again.

[Matt Norlander]

It's early. I'm so it all in. And we're. And it's fly by the seat of our pants podcast stuff, which I enjoy. And. And yeah, go ahead, take it, take it away. I've got a couple thoughts.

[Gary Parrish]

It is funny. You were in an arena all day yesterday and I was in an airport all day yesterday. It's not like we were in front of like seven screens, like really consuming this. All of this stuff. I spent 13 hours in the Richmond airport yesterday. It was a. It was a wild situation.

[Matt Norlander]

I want to get there before the end. I do. I do want to give you your. Let's put it at the end, because I have genuine questions, but we'll wait on that.

[Gary Parrish]

It's not a great story. It's Just. I was trapped in Richmond for 24 hours. I was never supposed to be there. The matchups start at noon Eastern. Ohio State, Michigan, followed by Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue, Nebraska, ucla, Michigan State. No matter what happens, all eight of those teams will be in the NCAA tournament. Do you have any thoughts on what's happening in the Big Ten tournament?

[Matt Norlander]

Of course, GP I got thoughts on everyone. Josh, I appreciate you tossing up that bracket, by the way. Ohio State's in. It's a lock. Ohio State was the rare team it was always going to be in, let me be clear about that. But it went a number of days without playing a game and became a lock because every other team kept losing and falling down and into bubble territory. So we'll see if the Buckeyes can do anything. Doesn't matter. They can lose by 150. They're getting in. Bruce Thornton deserves to play in the NCAA Tournament. He will not even be going to Dayton. I love to see that. Good on the Buckeyes for getting that done. Wisconsin, Illinois, to me is the sneaky, most must watch game of the day. Just because I think they're gonna. Bucky's gonna show up ready to play and we'll see if Illinois can run him out of the gym and try and score 100 and make it a runaway. Purdue, Nebraska, very fun. Braden Smith is now second all time in assists. He now needs to log a good. I mean, he needs to log, I think, at least four games at this point to break the record. So some of this is going to be dependent on Purdue advancing in the Big Ten tournament. Well, you got Nebraska here. That's a big one. I'm sure Big Red is going to fill up the United center plenty. Can't help but wonder what Fred Hoiberg might be thinking. He's coached in this building plenty of times before, obviously, but he's never coached with a team this good, seated this well at the place with the franchise that obviously he used to coach out in the United center there. And then ucla, Michigan State. Best combined coaching matchup between the shortest combined height in the entire game with Cronin and Izzo there. Big Ten will be very, very good. Just a couple quick notes on teams no longer playing. I was gonna get in. I will not be stunned. Let me check. All right. I think it'll. I think it'll dodge Dayton. I'm looking at this now. 9 and 10, 2 quad 2 losses. You dive into Iowa's resume and like they're not in danger. I think it's. People might be surprised by how much is lacking on there. They'll dodge Dayton though. I don't know how confident I am at picking Iowa to win a game in the tournament though. I don't know. We'll see there. Indiana's not going to get in. They're 18 and 14. The Hoosiers have an abysmal resume. They are 6 and 14 combining quad one and quad two. Oh, you want to expand that out? Fine. 11 and 14. If you factor in their three quad three wins, they don't have a bad loss. But WAB 53 wins above bubble. Strength of record is 50th, just not there. They. They might find themselves able to be on the first four out when the official list comes out on Sunday. I suppose that wouldn't stun me. Has zero case to be in the tournament. I. Indiana will not be going. If I see Indiana going to Dayton, there needs to be a federal investigation because there's no justification for it whatsoever. And the last thing I have, I didn't see it live but I saw it on, on social media after. Really cool stuff for Northwestern and Nick Martinelli. That's a, that's a bonafide baller. One of the best players in program history. They've had two like all time greats in back to back years. Brooks Barnheiser a year ago. Dude literally willing to give up his teeth playing for Northwestern basketball. Northwestern basketball. And then you got Martinelli who's been the leading scorer in the league. He's been fantastic. So emotional scene there yesterday. I just wanted to give him a hat tip.

[Gary Parrish]

One last conference tournament to touch on before we move on. It's the Mac final. UMass 87, Miami University 83. Our Redhawks are now 31 and 1. Strength of record is 28 wins above bubble as of this morning is 37. Norlander, I'm with you. There is no scenario where this team is going to get left out of the bracket the period.

[Matt Norlander]

Yes, I, I actually, I resist even engaging in that debate. I understand why it's out there. It's just not a debate like I'm not having the conversation. It's going to be in the tournament.

[Gary Parrish]

They're going to be in the first one.

[Matt Norlander]

Hunt, listen to me 100% it will be in the tournament. This is, this is not subject to debate. I understand why we want to speculate. The predictive numbers don't even say this is a top 80 team in the country. I get that. Did not lose a game in the regular season. Right. There is immense value to that and there's also bigger, profound importance to recognizing what it means to do that as a Division 1 team and your placement into the national tournament. It will happen. Miami is going to be on the. On the. On the show on Selection Sunday, and

[Gary Parrish]

no committee member needs to justify it. But if they do, when they're asked, they will point to strength of record. They will point to the undefeated regular season. They will point to one loss total. And the other thing you've got to remember with this, humans are on the selection committee. They create this bracket. And if you leave Miami, Ohio out of this thing, and I'm not saying this is a part of the conversation, I'm just saying these are humans, and this is in their head somewhere. You leave Miami, Ohio out of this thing, and it's the biggest story on Selection Sunday. It overwhelms everything else.

[Matt Norlander]

Oh, undoubtedly, it's a tidal wave, in my opinion. It's a tidal wave that lasts until probably midday Thursday. Keep going. But as you say that. I hadn't thought about that. You're absolutely right. It dominates everything else, and you can't have that.

[Gary Parrish]

The selection committee doesn't want that, period. Like you, these are humans. And at some point, whether they say it out loud or not, somebody's going to go, do we want to. We want to get our brains kicked in by Gary Parish and Matt Norlander and everybody else who talks about this stuff. Hey, guys, you go send me out there to talk to Adam Zucker and Clark Kellogg and try to defend this. We're leaving these guys out. This is the greatest story in college. Everybody loves it, and we're going to leave them out. And I got to go talk about it. No, no, no. Miami Ohio is in. If you want to debate whether they need to go to Dayton or not, I'll listen to that. I'll listen to that. But Miami Ohio will be in this field. Anybody suggesting otherwise is wrong. And anybody arguing against them has no soul.

[Matt Norlander]

We got some. Someone asked in the chat. The Seed. I'm going to say Miami's an 11, but not an 11 going to Dayton. So two of those 11 seeds feed in to Dayton and two do not. So my prediction is the Redhawks will be the 11 not going to Dayton. As of right now. Could it be subject to getting bumped down if there was. If more, you know, more searching from a few remaining teams? I guess, theoretically, yes. That's. That's vulnerable. But that's my guess because it was UMass, which is, you know, it was quad three defeat as a result of this if it's a 10, it will not shock me. I have zero issue with it being a 10, but my guess is an 11 seed non Dayton for, for the Redhawks.

[Gary Parrish]

And I think if, if you're Travis still at this point, anything that keeps you out of in the bracket and out of Dayton, you take that, right? Yeah.

[Matt Norlander]

Yes. Yes.

[Gary Parrish]

Let's get one more word from our partners. This is Gary Parish. I have a confession. That confession is that sometimes, yeah, I hit an afternoon wall. Say in between doing the ion college basketball podcast and, you know, walk into the broadcast center for a night in studio, I realized I probably didn't get enough rest. I need some caffeine. I want something sweet, but not like some big sugary drink. And that's why I'm obsessed with the new fruity rainbow shots. But from five Hour Energy, they seriously taste like a handful of classic rainbow candy. Bright, juicy and fun, but with a caffeine kick built in. It's like caffeine finally got that flavor glow up it always deserved. It was 17 flavors total in the five hour energy lineup. There is something for every mood. But this fruity rainbow launch is all about that bold, sweet, fruity chaos. What do I love most? It's the big flavor in that tiny portable two ounce bottle. I can throw it in my bag, keep one in my car, stash it at my desk. Golf B bag. It's no bulky can, no sticky wrappers, no sugar crash. It's a zero sugar treat. That's totally sweet tooth approved. So it feels indulgent, but it's actually practical. If you're gonna grab caffeine anyway, it might as well taste like candy. Get candy Flavored Chaos with fruity rainbow 5 hour energy shots available online at 5hourenergy.com or Amazon. March is here. And if you've ever followed the tournament, you know one thing, the only predictable thing is the chaos upsets buzzer beaters, Cinderella runs. It's the best kind of unpredictable. And that's exactly why DraftKings Sportsbook, the number one sportsbook for live betting, is built for March. The tournament is unexpected. Rewards are guaranteed. And DraftKings Sportsbook is delivering some of the most generous rewards in the market. What I like about DraftKings, it is the live betting. With DraftKings, the number one sportsbook for live betting, you're not betting on what might happen later. You're betting on what's happening right now. While the game unfolds, momentum shifts, big plays, last second drama. You can get in on the action as it happens, happens. And if you're new to DraftKings, it's the perfect time to jump in. Just bet $5 and get 200 in bonus bets instantly. Download the DraftKings sportsbook app now and use code I. That's code I E, Y E to turn five bucks into 200 in bonus bets instantly in partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800- GAMBLER or 1-800-MY-SET NEW YORK Call 877-8-HOPE NY or text Hope NY Connecticut Call 888-78-977 on behalf of Boot Hill Casino in Kansas. Wager Text Pass through may apply in Illinois 21 plus in most states. Void in Ontario, restrictions apply. Bonus bets expire seven days after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see sportsbook.draftkings.com promos Limited time offer shot clocks big shots, upsets, aces TGL playoffs are here.

[Matt Norlander]

First Atlanta drive starts their repeat run against Los Angeles Golf Club. Then Rory's Boston Common Golf and Tigers

[Gary Parrish]

Jupiter Lynx face off in their playoff debuts.

[Matt Norlander]

Who will advance? Keep up its playoffs tune in Tuesday, March 17 at 6:30pm and 9pm only on ESPN and the ESPN app. Now it's time for Games to Watch brought to you by Sling. And let me tell you, they came up with a game changing way to watch college basketball with a one day pass from Sling. Get instant access to the men's and women's tournaments starting at just $4.99. You can catch all the action on TNT, TBS and more. No overpaying, no over committing. Just tournaments so crazy they'd be crazy to miss. Visit sling.com to learn more. Sling lets you do that.

[Gary Parrish]

If you don't mind, I'm gonna go first. If you don't mind, I'm gonna focus where you're at in Kansas City on Kansas and Houston. The second semifinal tonight in the Big 12 tournament. 9:30pm Eastern. It is on ESPN. Two hall of Fame level coaches, one already in the other, perhaps headed that direction someday. You got two projected top five picks and Darren Peterson and Kingston Flemings. Obviously Houston is the favorite in this game, still in contention theoretically to maybe get the fourth number one seed. But I guess I'd put it this way. If I could only put my eyeballs on one game today, that is the game I would want to watch.

[Matt Norlander]

Kansas and Houston and I'm here. I appreciate that. I'm very excited, looking forward to it. I'm not going to give you the other Big 12 game that's obviously very good, but I want to go outside the realm, but, yeah, I'm pumped. And yeah, between Kansas and Iowa State fans, I got to figure 90% of that building is going to be those fan bases in there. Arizona fans are all about going to San Diego for the tournament next week and then to San Jose and Houston. I think this speaks to what the program was for so long before Kelvin got there. It just doesn't travel well to the Big 12 tournament. And they're, they're banking on going to Houston for the regionals and, and scooping up the tickets there. I'm gonna give you a double bubble game. And I think. GP we got 34 games today. I think we got, yeah, 34 games across D1. I think this is the only double bubble game of the day. It's on our air. And then actually I'll give you a quick overview of the bubble. This is the last time we talk until we know the bracket. So I'll give you a quick. Here's where things stand going into Friday for anyone listening in real time and squeeze it in the pod before we get to ball day ball on Friday afternoon. We know you're eager and we're happy to. To appease. I will go New Mexico vs San Diego State in the Mountain west semis. That's a CBS Sports Network midnight tip. Before I go any further, GP Are you on the shift after this game ends or are you on the earlier shift during the. During the night?

[Gary Parrish]

I am. I'm on the earlier shift. I am. Like, I got 11:30 around their call time. AM. I am in studio today with Zook for Conference USA Semifinals on CBS Sports Network. Louisiana Tech, Missouri State, followed by Sam Houston and Kennesaw State. So we'll be in studio for that. If I can find my clothes, I don't even tell you. I don't have. I don't even have long. I don't have a bag. They lost my suitcase, too.

[Matt Norlander]

We're going to get there. We are getting there. That's good to know.

[Gary Parrish]

I've been wearing this for three days.

[Matt Norlander]

Hold on. Let me get through this. Let me get this. Okay. New Mexico, San Diego State, double bubble game. Loser, I think has to be out. As things stand right now with both of these teams, New Mexico, who 50th and wins above bubble, 54th and strength of record 45th in KPI. That's the other resume based metric. It is 8 and 7 in quad one and quad Tuesdays. You see the things like. And I understand the overall slope of New Mexico schedule. It isn't as difficult as the Power 5 teams but if you account for quite has 2 quad 3 losses but even still with that New Mexico is 139 combined quad 1, 2, 3. We talk about some of the other teams that are that are near the bubble. Four games, three games, five games under.500 in the top three quadrants but I don't think New Mexico can have a case with the loss here. San Diego State is definitely on the outside looking in but fifth 14 and 10 right now top three quadrants. It would get to 500 in quad one, quad two if it beat New Mexico. WAB is 49. I'm not sure a win gets San Diego State and it might. I also won't be remotely shocked if San Diego State goes and wins the auto bid like that. That's the other element to the Mountain west tournament every year and this is the last year of the Mountain west as we know it. It is going to change. It is undeniably going to downgrade. I'm appreciating every minute we have remaining with this conference because be it in the regular season or the tournament and CBS has continued to be obviously a big time media rights partner, it has been reliable. I mean the past few years it was providing the most exciting ball on a weekly basis that you could find. That's an awesome, awesome game and I got a soft spot for the late tips. I guaranteed I will be up. I will be dialed all the way in watching this in New Mexico. San Diego State is my biggest game to know overall bubble situation as we go into this final weekend. Right now I think you've got teams like Anna. These aren't, these are. And I just want to be clear as we're filling out the 10 and 11, the cut line, I wonder if A m remains a 10. UCF, are you still a 10? North Carolina State, are you still a 10? Are any of those dropping down to 11? So right, you know, A M in Central Florida. I don't think any of them are going to Dayton either. But man, it speaks to the weakness of this bubble that those teams are going to probably avoid Dayton and and the resumes are not inspiring whatsoever. Missouri and Dayton wouldn't stun me. Take a look at the resume. Couldn't get it done against Kentucky. We'll see. Santa Clara standing has only improved as far as I'm concerned since it got dropped in in the title game on Tuesday in Vegas. Texas needs to be sweating. You really want to dive into that resume. There's some serious, serious concerns about where the Longhorns are at this point. Sean Miller's team is right on the cut line and wins above bubble and it is a hideous 7 and 13 in quad one and quad two. I think Texas right now is the most vulnerable team to missing the tournament that no one is really giving a lot of attention or discussion to. We'll see. There's no justification for them to be anywhere but Dayton. At best, SMU is vulnerable. I actually got a text from someone right when we were going live. GP BJ Edwards. Here's the, here's the wording. Why wouldn't you do this? BJ Edwards is expected to return to competition and be available for the NCL tournament. SMU posted that earlier this morning. That matters because BJ Edwards is a very, very good player. SSMU has lost five of its last six games. The only win over lowly Syracuse. And even if you want to go back even further, it's lost six of its past nine. I think SMU is dancing on the fence and is a big time cut team to keep an eye out for. I think VCU is in solid standing. It plays its game today. Actually, let me bring that up real quick. That's another game to know. VCU and the Atlantic 10 quarters gets Duquesne. I think if VCU wins that game, it's going to get in. I think you're going to lose. I think personally GP can afford to lose in the A10 semis. It is 10 and 5 in road and neutral games. Again, the overall competition not as, not as difficult as others. I get that. But that is such an impressive record away from home and every other team that is basically a nine or lower does not match VCU's record there. So I think the Rams are in with with a win and then they'll get that done. And then the teams that are kind of populating the other side of the cut line, you're looking at your Auburns, New Mexico, San Diego State, Indiana, Oklahoma. They're surging. That's a general overview of the bubble as we head into Friday. Still some plenty of games that matter and then you got your usual typical array of games that'll that'll just be fun to watch how much they all ultimately matter though. Like I'm talking your Miami versus Virginia's and the acc, Wisconsin versus Illinois. I think Kentucky Florida's got some real stakes to it. But hey, it's very, very fun Friday. Thursday was, was noisy. We didn't have a lot of epic games. Kind of get the feeling that that today is going to give us a better overall outlook on and and results in close games at the end. So anyway, that was my pick. New Mexico versus San Diego State. I just wanted to squeeze in some bubble stuff there as well.

[Gary Parrish]

Mine of course. Kansas and Houston in the Big 12 tournament.

[Matt Norlander]

That was the games to watch brought to you by Sling. And remember, check out passes from Sling so you can watch those big games on TNT, TBS and more starting at just $4.99. No overpaying, no over committing. Just tournaments so crazy they'd be crazy to miss. Visit sling.com to learn more. Sling lets you do that. I would have gotten us out of that quicker if I knew that it needed a tag on the end. Might be. Might be.

[Gary Parrish]

Hey, we're good, we're good, we're good. Look, we got time. We got. What time's your first game tip off today?

[Matt Norlander]

Six local. I got time. I got stuff to do though. We're bracing if and I'll be quick on this. Like did we get word on Pittsburgh today? Yeah, I think we do. I A lot of conflicting thoughts on whether or not Pittsburgh will actually cut bait with Jeff Capel. There's a real belief that it's just going to be too expensive. West, Miller, Cincinnati, more than more people than not think that that is going to be a firing that will happen at some point on Friday. We'll see. I talked with Wes after they lost here in Kansas City and obviously impassioned about why he deserves another year and, and understandably so. So we wait and see on that. So the Casey Alexander was hired late last night. Been told Georgia Tech might be pretty close to done as we talk here. That's not reportable yet but we'll see if that actually pops here later this morning or later today. So carousel stuff also moving in addition to all the games. It's always crazy but it's a good time and here we are and we got plenty of time before we got it bounced. That being said, I want to know, don't make this a 10 minute thing. I just want to fill in a couple, couple holes here. So I've been on the ground in Casey running around and all this stuff and I did not even know. I had no idea what my man over here was going through. Goes to Memphis. My wife did text me yesterday that there was like consistent snow in Connecticut. Now it wasn't sticking but it was like constant. Right. And so I didn't even realize they were getting snow back east. You get diverted to Richmond. I got some friends in Richmond that's a great spot, genuinely. But you were waylaid by a good 24 plus hours. And did I hear you correctly? You were at the Richmond Airport for 13 consecutive hours yesterday?

[Gary Parrish]

Oh, yeah, I had an original departure of Not. So it's supposed to be easy. Just Memphis to LaGuardia, no problem. I crashed hard on that flight and woke up in Richmond. Had no idea what was going on.

[Matt Norlander]

That's amazing, actually.

[Gary Parrish]

Like, I. I stayed up late the night before. Decided not to try to get a nap in, with the idea being, I'm gonna get on that plane, I'm gonna die on that plane, and then I'll be refreshed and everything will be fine. I wake up, I'm in Richmond. I'm like, what is going on? Why are we in Richmond, Buddy? Next to me, he's like, yeah, we circled for like an hour. It's a. I think it was a fuel thing. At some point, like, we got to go get fuel. So we went to Richmond. This has happened to me before. I had to go to Pittsburgh another time. So we go to Richmond, and we're staying at the airport because they think. They think we're gonna be able to get back on the plane and. And get to LaGuardia. No window opened up for us to go. So at some point, they were like, you're spending the night in Richmond, buddy. I said, all right. Or, you know, first world problems and all that. So check into a hotel. Nine o'. Clock. The plate rebooked me on a 9am flight. I said, okay, that's fine. Not gonna be able to do the GP show, but this is fine. Oh, you get to the airport and then they say, nope, we're not leaving at 9. It's gonna be 11. Then they say, no, we're not leaving at 11. We don't know when it's gonna go. Then they say, it's gonna be after 9 o' clock tonight. I mean, I was there all day, and they don't have a sky club at the Richmond Airport, so, I mean, I'm just out there with the peasants. Like, I'm, you know, I'm out there just acting. I just ain't. I ain't used to sitting in the airport out in the open like that. Had a good time. Met a Maryland fan who. She was fired up, okay. You know, she's hopeful that. She's just hopeful. She's just hopeful that Buzz Williams will get this thing turned around. I told her, hey, oh, man, you'd really like Buzz Williams. You got to know him. And she's like, well, I wish he'd win some more basketball. And she didn't say that she was happy. So, anyway, I got. I ended up in random conversations with people I never thought I'd end up.

[Matt Norlander]

Where are your clothes?

[Gary Parrish]

I don't know. La Gordy. I think that's the thing. Finally, they put me on a flight to JFK, but my bags were on a flight to LaGuardia, so my b. My bag's on the other side of the city, I guess. I don't know. So I don't have actual, like, normal people clothes. Yeah, I've had this hoodie on for three days. I do. What do you want me to do? It's tough. I had mozzarella sticks for lunch.

[Matt Norlander]

Everyone in the. Everyone watching live. GP sent this. So Josh and GP Raw on this. This group thread. And I'm trying to, like, file that. Not the story about the Big 12 switching the court. I wrote a big story earlier in the day about just the court in general. If I had known truly four hours later they were going to change the court probably wouldn't have grinded for, like, two straight hours trying to turn that story quickly. I had, like. I talked to, like, 12 people. Anyway, I'm. I'm trying to file this and, And. And I don't care, by the way. I'm just saying bring it into my moment here. I'm head down, trying to get this done. Text everywhere, just flying through, like, computer. Like the text come in at the top right of the screen. And. And there was a back and forth, not just, you know, with our group text. There was this. But there was other stuff that I was getting in the moment. I was like, I gotta file this story. I might need to turn off my capability of having connection to the Internet because this will not stop. My mom's like, where are you sitting, Mom? I'll hit you in two hours.

[Gary Parrish]

Oh, is that. Is that every mom thing? My mom always wants to know where I'm sitting. Back when I used to go to games and stuff, you know, I don't really do that.

[Matt Norlander]

I'm not out in the arena right now. I'm in the bowels. It was. It was. It was a funny sequence where it just all started coming through as I'm trying to file on deadline. And then you said, rate these mozzarella sticks. So if you're watching right now or listening, go find the YouTube version. You said a scale of 1 to 7. This is a scale of 1 to 7. We're rating the mozzarella sticks. I said 5.2, I think. What'd you say? What was your rating?

[Gary Parrish]

I think I did a four. They were good. They were perfectly reasonable Airport mozzarella sticks. But I noticed as soon as I ordered them, when they brought them, I was like, man, does anybody really need this many mozzarella sticks? Do I look like an Iowa State fan? Do I look like an Iowa State fan? You think I can eat all the mozzarella sticks? I did not.

[Matt Norlander]

That's the right amount of mozzarella sticks.

[Gary Parrish]

Seem too much for me. Seemed too much for me. So, anyway, I am in New York City. I am headed to studio. I don't have normal people clothes. I'm hoping to have those at some point. Have no idea where my suits and stuff are. I got kicked out of my dressing room at the broadcast center. I don't know where my stuff is now. So I got a whole. I got a. I got a big mountain to climb before you see me on TV at halftime of the first Conference USA semifinal. All right. But I think I. I think I'm gonna figure it out.

[Matt Norlander]

All right. We can call that a show. No. Just so I'm clear, though, there's no Final Four in one today?

[Gary Parrish]

No, I just. I didn't have it in me.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah. I'm on four hours of sleep. You don't have any clothes. It's fine.

[Gary Parrish]

You. You just hope you just. You. You go, man, it's gonna be a lot. March is gonna be a lot. You just hope it goes smoothly.

[Matt Norlander]

I. I do feel bad for you on this regard. Like, such a busy ass. Past 48 hours. And the idea that you were in purgatory, just stuck in Richmond where it was snowing. It's like, what.

[Gary Parrish]

What? I was. I was like, one more day for moving in with Chris Mooney or something. I don't. I don't know.

[Matt Norlander]

That's. That's. That's tough stuff.

[Gary Parrish]

Anyway. Hey, we'll be all right. We'll be all right. Right?

[Matt Norlander]

That's a show we will be live for. What is always and obviously unexpectedly are by far not even close. Largest live audience every single year. So everyone here on a Friday. Love you. There's gonna be some. SGP would say there's gonna be some goofies in that chat on Sunday. We need everyone that is a regular weekly live viewer. Keep the Ford on lockdown. Okay. Let's have some fun. But it's going to be an absolute spike. We cannot tell you when we will be live. We will be live as soon as both parrish. Is done with his TV studio duties and I am done with my TV studio duties. GP is going to be on CBS Sports Network. Bracket breakdown, all of it. Coaching interviews, et cetera, et cetera. I am going to stump real quick for the CBS Sports HQ product. We're going to have John Henson in studio, Avery Johnson, myself and Hakeem Dermish. All four of us been doing the studio show on Selection Sunday. Geez, I don't know. Seven, eight years at this point. I I'm very proud of the product we put out. If you are all about the bracket breakdown, want to see me make my bracket picks in real time? Tell you about the storylines? Just organic, enthusiastic reaction. CBS Sports hq Once the selection show is done on Sunday, we will be a good three plus hours of coverage there and I will be interviewing the chair of the selection committee as I always do. That will be at 7 Eastern. Just about Keith Gill. I'll talk to him. Let's hope I don't have to ask him anything about Miami, although I probably will regardless when whatever Miami seat is and wherever it is, I'll probably ask him a Miami question just related to that. And then whenever we both get cut loose, I'll do this. I'll do the pod Sunday night from the the HQ studios in Stanford, Connecticut. GP will dip on back to his hotel and we'll give you a fly by the seat of our pants. Every single year we do this. You know, the world's on fire, we've got the bracket, we're all excited. We never find each other beforehand because why should we? We turn on the machines, turn on the mics. Let's just go. There's no plan and I love it that way. I can't wait to talk to you on Sunday night at some point late. I'm guessing it will be after 11pm Eastern if I have my druthers and you do as well. We'll be live by midnight. But we can't promise that. We can just promise you a very fun, entertaining show at some point soon thereafter. We know the full field is succeeding.

[Gary Parrish]

Can't wait. Let's call that a show. Shouts to Devin Downing Chester, South Carolina Terry Teagle Legend Hunk Larnell thank you guys once again for watching Listening to the I Own College Basketball Podcast. If you're not subscribed, please go subscribe anyway. Subscribe to podcast Apple Spotify. There's more of us than there are of them. That should be reflected in the comments. So please do that and we'll talk to you again on Sunday. Until then, take care. Paramount Podcasts

[Matt Norlander]

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[Gary Parrish]

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