Champions Classic: Kansas needs Darryn Peterson back ASAP; at Kentucky, the honeymoon phase is over. Mark Pope has his first crisis in Lexington

Summary

Eye On College Basketball Podcast

Episode Summary — Champions Classic Fallout: Kansas Needs Darryn Peterson; Mark Pope's First Crisis at Kentucky

Air Date: November 19, 2025
Hosts: Gary Parrish & Matt Norlander

---

Overview

In this episode, Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander dissect the fallout from the 2025 Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden. Duke's impressive win over shorthanded Kansas, the critical injury absence of Darryn Peterson, and Kentucky's jarring loss to Michigan State — and the resulting crisis for new coach Mark Pope — headline the discussion. The hosts also preview key upcoming games and provide behind-the-scenes insights, with candid, often humorous exchanges throughout.

---

Champions Classic Highlights & Analysis

Duke 78, Kansas 66: Boozer’s Brilliance and Kansas' Depth Problem

[02:45 – 08:44]

• Duke’s Dynamic Performance

  • Norlander notes the significance of Duke reclaiming the top spot in KenPom after five games, praising the depth and versatility of John Shire’s latest roster.
    • “Cameron Boozer, 18 points, 10 rebounds, five assists… did just seem like a casual game for him, which to me is the sign of a truly great player.” (Norlander, 03:29)
  • Cameron Boozer’s steady excellence gets attention: In his first five college games, he’s the only ACC player since Craig Smith (2006) with 100+ points, 50+ rebounds, 20+ assists in any five-game stretch. (Parrish, 05:31)

• NBA Draft Debate

  • Boozer’s future as an NBA prospect is up for debate, with Parrish acknowledging most see A.J. Debansa and Darryn Peterson as favorites, but Boozer's sheer production will force front offices to debate.
    • “Are we sure Boozer is not the best prospect? Not just the best college player... but the actual best NBA prospect of the group.” (Parrish, 07:36)

Kansas’ Crisis: Darryn Peterson’s Injury

[08:44 – 17:09]

• Peterson’s Impact and Recovery Timeline

  • Norlander shares Bill Self’s post-game update:
    • “He's had hamstring tightness… caused by a slight hamstring strain... We feel good about what we're doing, and we don't think it will be long.” (quoting Bill Self, 11:20)
  • Peterson expected to be re-evaluated Thursday or Friday. “Hopeful” to return for at least one game in Las Vegas.
  • Kansas faces a brutal upcoming slate: 7 consecutive games against high-major teams (Duke, Notre Dame, Syracuse, etc.).
  • Both hosts stress the need for patience — there’s no conspiracy about Peterson sitting out, it's a real injury.

• Hamstring Injuries Are No Joke

  • Parrish humorously empathizes with Peterson:
    • “I've lived the life Darryn Peterson is living right now. I've been sidelined by a hamstring injury in the year 2025, exactly like Darryn Peterson.” (Parrish, 16:51)
  • Light banter follows about the relatability of aging sportswriters and elite prospects alike.

---

Kentucky’s Meltdown: Mark Pope’s First Real Crisis

[20:01 – 34:10]

Michigan State 83, Kentucky 66: Spiraling Wildcats

• Pope’s Somber Press Conference

  • Norlander reconstructs Pope’s “shattered, dejected” mood, quoting a remarkable moment from the presser:
    • “If we had built a great organization and a great culture, which I've clearly failed to do up until today. But we won't fail this season. We just have failed up till today… That's my job… I'm doing it poorly. I won't do it poorly for much longer.” (Mark Pope, 20:46)
  • Pope avoids blaming players, repeatedly takes responsibility, admits the team lacks identity, and says “the honeymoon is over.”
  • Noteworthy: Pope stayed to listen quietly as his players answered questions — an “odd, atypical” scene described by Norlander.

• Behind the Scenes

  • Norlander shares pregame conversations with Pope where the coach highlighted his team’s lack of physical edge and anticipation for heavy rotation, all foreshadowing the night’s result.

• The Weight of Kentucky’s Expectations

  • Parrish adds color:
    • “It has been described as the most expensive basketball team in the history of college athletics. And they were favorites at tip off. Down by 17 at the half, lost by 17. And he looks like a man who's starting to feel it a little bit.” (Parrish, 28:17)
  • Connects Pope’s intentional fanbase engagement with the double-edged sword of being “online” — feeling the weight of criticism acutely.

• Fan and Media Reaction

  • Parrish’s wife (a nonfan) captures the mood:
    • “God, that's depressing. She was like, what is—what is going on?” (Parrish quoting, 26:52)

• What's Next for Kentucky?

  • Norlander: “The real drawback to being a team that spends a ton of money on its roster is that if it does not go the way that you want… that's what your identity is.” (30:00)
  • Kentucky’s next high-profile test: two weeks out — can they course-correct?

---

Contrasting Programs: Michigan State’s Cohesion vs. Kentucky’s Disarray

[34:10 – 38:18]

• Program vs. Players

  • Parrish’s central theme: Michigan State, with continuity and “program guys,” easily handled a Kentucky squad that looks like “a bunch of basketball players that still don’t know how to play together and might not really love each other the way that, that you would hope.” (Parrish, 34:42)
  • Tom Izzo’s approach: Sticking to player development and program culture, even if it’s less portal-centric than modern trends.

• Michigan State’s Guard Play

  • Jeremy Fears, F: “the most impactful player on the floor… he controlled the basketball game.” (Parrish, 37:12)
  • Norlander: Michigan State feels better about this year’s team at this stage than last year’s 30-win, Elite Eight squad.

---

Quick Hits & Notable Quotes

Other Key Segments

• Upcoming Games to Watch
  [41:58 – 47:15]
  • Arizona at UConn and Alabama vs. Illinois headline a loaded Wednesday night—
    • Norlander: “A top five game in an on-campus environment in November. Just—I cannot wait.” (42:36)
  • Quick preview of Memphis vs. Purdue at the Bahamar Championship. Parrish jokes: “Just be competitive. Just not get embarrassed against the sports top ranked team.” (46:22)
• Comic Relief
  • Banter about podcast listening speeds; Parrish wryly self-diagnoses:
    • “I might have brain damage. I had a torn hamstring. I don't know if you heard about that.” (48:59)

---

Timestamps for Major Segments

• Duke vs. Kansas/Game Analysis: 02:45 – 08:44
• Darryn Peterson Injury/Implications: 08:44 – 17:09
• Kentucky’s Crisis/Mark Pope Press Conference: 20:01 – 34:10
• Michigan State vs. Kentucky/Program vs. Players: 34:10 – 38:18
• Upcoming Games/Preview: 41:58 – 47:15

---

Memorable Quotes

• On Cameron Boozer's Game:

  • “He put up 18, 10 and 5 last night and it did just seem like a casual game for him, which to me is the sign of a truly great player.” (Norlander, 03:29)

• On Mark Pope’s Accountability:

  • “If we had built a great organization and a great culture, which I've clearly failed to do up until today. But we won't fail this season... I'm doing it poorly. I won't do it poorly for much longer.” (Mark Pope, 20:46)

• On Kentucky’s Program Mood:

  • “God, that's depressing. She was like, what is—what is going on?” (Parrish quoting his wife, 26:52)

• On Portal Roster Construction:

  • “It looked like last night you had a basketball program that beat basketball players.” (Parrish, 34:42)

---

Tone

The episode maintained a lively, thoughtful tone, mixing analytic insights with self-deprecating humor and real concern for program trajectories. Parrish and Norlander balance irreverence (“I tore my hamstring walking up my stairs!”) and seriousness around the weighty expectations on blueblood programs.

---

Conclusion

This episode digs deeply into the Champions Classic’s aftermath, but also delivers broader commentary: the pitfalls of modern roster-building, the pressure on high-profile coaches (especially in Lexington), and the anatomy of successful college programs. Listeners get both sharp hoops analysis and the entertaining, organic rapport that defines this show.

Transcript

[FanDuel Announcer]

FanDuel's got an offer you don't want.

[Gary Parrish]

To miss this NFL season.

[FanDuel Announcer]

New customers can bet just $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. That's right, pick a bet. Bet five bucks and if it wins, you unlock 300 bucks in bonus bets.

[Gary Parrish]

To use all across the app.

[FanDuel Announcer]

You can build parlays, bet player props, ride the live lines. Whatever your style, fanduel has you covered. The NFL season is here. The only question is, are you ready to play? Visit FanDuel.com I that's E Y E to download the FanDuel app today and and get started.

[Commercial Voiceover]

Must be 21 plus and present in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana. Permitted parishes only Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia or Wyoming. FanDuel is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under an agreement with Kansas Star Casino LLC. First online real money wager only $5 first deposit required. Bonus issued is now withdrawable. Bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt restrictions apply. See [e-mail] gambling problem call 1-800- gambler or visit fanduel.com in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia. Call 1-800-Next-Step or text Next Step to 53342 in Arizona 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chadinconnecticut 1-800-9 with it in Indiana, 1-800-522-4700 or visit ksgamblinghelp.com in Kansas, 1-877-770 stop in Louisiana, visit mdghelp.org in Maryland, visit 1-800- gambler. Net in West Virginia or call 1-800-522- 4700 in Wyoming helpline ma.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY in New York or visit OASAS.NY.gov gambling standard text messaging rates apply. Sports betting is void in Georgia, Hawaii, Utah and other states where prohibited.

[FanDuel Announcer]

Hate shopping for pants? You're not alone. Jack Archer's Jet Setter Tech pants are basically the answer to every guy's closet struggles with their customizable fit, wrinkle free fabric sourced from Japan and all day comfort. These pants can take you from work to week without missing a beat. Seriously, these might be the only pants you'll ever need. Style them with the Jetsetter t Legacy button down shirt or the buttery legacy polo sweater. And you've got timeless staples to meet your everyday wardrobe needs. Jack Archer is just better for a limited time. Get 15% off using the code get jack@jack archer.com again that's promo code getjack@jack archer.com for 15% off your entire order.

[Gary Parrish]

Hey there, I'm Gary Parrish. That is Matt Norlander. Welcome back to the CBS Sports I own College Basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, dodo birds and leaky black. If you're watching on YouTube, be Brandon Davies. Smash that like button. If you haven't yet subscribed to the CBS Sports I own College Basketball podcast, please do that wherever you subscribe to podcasts like Apple and Spotify. Let's get into it. Champions Classic was last night inside Madison Square Garden, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Matt Norlander was there for the doubleheader. Why don't we start with Duke 78, Kansas 66, the Blue Devils one by 12. Camera boozer, 18 points, 10 rebounds, five assists. What'd you see from John Shire's program last night in the nyc?

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, that's right. Kentucky fans, you're getting spared for just a few minutes here, but don't worry, we're getting to Mark Pope. But we'll go with the game that ended late first because we actually have some. I got a little bit of news attached to this as well. On the Duke end, they're back to number one in Ken Palm. Not really means anything much right now, but I think like five different teams have been number one in Ken Palm. Gonzaga was number one going into last night and then Duke by function of winning this game by 12 points, bumps up to number one, five zero two major wins. Cameron Boozer was able to put up a, I don't want to call it run of the mill, but he put up 18, 10 and 5 last night and it did just seem like a casual game for him, which to me is the sign of a truly great player. If he can do that and kind of just blend in the environment. Yeah, what, what else do you want? For me, he's, he's been tremendous, but he wasn't my biggest takeaway. Isaiah Evans stepping up the way he did I thought was important. And then Kaden Boozer, he went to the postgame press conference along with Patrick and Gongba. And Gongba had 13 points, seven boards, played well. I thought it was good for Duke to have the kind of all around performance that they had against the Kansas team that was desperately shorthanded. I say desperately Even with one player, because Darren Peterson means that much, we'll get to him in just a second. But you know, through the first five games, Duke has passed the test with flying colors with this new roster losing five starters from a season ago. And Kaden Boozer while still an off the bench player because you've got Caleb Foster starting at the 1. I thought it was a good step forward for him last night and a good sign all around for Duke. They, they thought they got themselves into a game. I think that was closer than most of us expected. In fact, the irony about Tuesday night at the Garden was that the game that people thought would be a runaway was the second game and that wasn't the case. Even though Duke won by 12, they closed it on an 112 run in the Final Four and change. Meanwhile, Kentucky Michigan State was expected to be game that was going to be potentially really, really close. Really, really good. And the Michigan State handled them again. We'll get to that in just a few, but good stuff with Duke there and then we can get into Peterson in just a second. But what were your, what were your takeaways? Gp?

[Gary Parrish]

Well, it's just Boozer again on a big stage. Doesn't even look like he's having some incredible game. And then you just check the box score at the end of it and he fills it up again. That 18 points, 10 rebounds, five assists in 34 minutes. I saw this floating around last night. I guess Duke's social media account tweeted it. But in his first five games, he now has scored at least 100 points, grabbed at least 50 rebounds, and recorded at least 20 assists. And that makes him the first ACC player to do that in a five game span since Craig Smith did it at Boston College back in March of 2006. All right, shouts to Craig Smith. That's a name from the past. So, so now think about this. That's any five game stretch. Yes, this is Cameron Boozer's first five games. He only has one five game stretch to focus on. It's the first five games of his college career. And in those five games he has done something that literally no ACC player has done since 2006. He's incredible. And I know that everybody, or at least most people, have turned the top pick in the NBA draft debate into AJ DeBonsa and Darren Peterson and that might ultimately end up where it's at.

[Matt Norlander]

I think there's a top three for that.

[Gary Parrish]

Most, most people don't put him in the top two. Is that fair?

[Matt Norlander]

Oh, I mean, I talked to an NBA person yesterday who had Boozer even before the game in that conversation. So no, I think he's going to be so dominant. I understand because DeBonsa and Peterson are wing players, have the ball in their hands more. That's why they're considered more likely. But if what you're getting at here is if Boozer's going to continue to be this kind of stat monster, that's what I'm going to force the issue. I think for some folks he's there already. But yeah, it might just take repeat performances like this to just hammer home the point. But for me personally, I definitely, I, I definitely have him in there. In fact, someone I talked to yesterday even was saying it, it could well come down to the team that has the pick. That's a conversation for April. Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

And I, I shouldn't paint with such a, a broad brush. My, my instincts or not my instincts, my understanding of the situation is when you talk to people they mostly say things like Cameron Boozer might be the best college player of the group. But if you're talking NBA prospects, I would probably prefer Peterson or debons. That's the thing I've heard most and I just think we're gonna, we're gonna move away from that a little bit and start going are we sure Boozer is not the best. That's going to be a conversation that happens in NBA front offices. Even if they had Boozer say third on their big board a month ago. At some point you're going to have to sit down and have a conversation and, and the conversations is going to be I know we love Peterson, I know we love Devon. Are we sure Boozer is not the best prospect? Not just the best college player of the group, but the actual best NBA prospect of the group. He's been phenomenal, which shouldn't be a surprise. Again, he's a two time Gatorade national player of the year as you reminded us in a trivia time I think last week only three other men had ever won that award twice. It is LeBron James, Greg, Odin and of course goes without saying. Brandon.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, of course it goes without saying. Now let's get to the other player that's in the conversation for number one that didn't play last night, Darren Peterson. He, his value in, in general I think is, is the most important for any high major team in the country. I had a column slash newser that went up shortly before we went live here on and not having him on the floor. Kansas actually did play Admirably like it was a, it was a good, close competitive game and all transparency. You know, I'm trying to file my Kentucky column and trying to turn that as quickly as possible last night. So I didn't get back out to the floor, I want to say, at the under 8 timeout of the first half. And I didn't know anything about the game at that point. So I'm going out and I'm like, okay, what kind of score am I going to see here? And I think when I went out, Kansas was up one. They were up one or down one. I was like, okay, maybe we, maybe we have a little something. And they got, they got some good play overall. You know, Trey White had 22 points, played well. Melvin Council Jr. Had some, some good moments there. Floyd Badunga as well, but they just didn't have enough. Bill Self did say in the Post game press conference that he wasn't leaving here. This is my word, not his, but he wasn't leaving dispirited, like, he kind of gets the deal. I think they, they fully understood they were up against it and they need a, just a, a humongous performance from everyone to overcome Duke in, in Cameron north with the amount of talent that they have, they couldn't get it done and then they, they lose it late. Now, I spoke, Self spoke at the Post game press conference about Peterson a little bit, went into just a little bit more detail. In fact, I will give you the exact quote here in my story because he had given just a little bit more detail on the nature of what Peterson is dealing with. He said, boom. Sorry, GP just hang with me here, okay? He's had hamstring tightness, which is caused by a slight hamstring strain. So until that subsides, he's not going to be confirmed to play on it, push off and those sorts of things, which has been going on a fairly significant amount of time. We actually feel good about what we're doing. They feel good about it, what we're doing, and we don't think it will be long. End quote. Now, I talked to Self on the walk back to the locker room, and he did tell me that he was hopeful that Peterson will be able to play in Las Vegas next week. Now, hopeful is not. He is. There's a difference. Peterson is either going to get fully evaluated on Thursday or Friday in Kansas, and that evaluation will be a very big next step to determining if he's going to be able to go next week. Players ERA Festival is three games in three days. Obviously, Peterson if he's cleared to play is not going to play three games in three days coming off a hamstring strain. My own subjective analysis of this is if Peterson is cleared for Vegas, we will see him in one game. That is my guess. Two would be great. I'm guessing it's only one. Kansas is in a weird spot right now. They're three and two for the first time in 14 years. They're going to fall out of the AP rankings when they refresh on Monday. They need Peterson. Their first two opponents are Notre Dame and Syracuse which are not projected NCAA tournament teams but they are high major teams in Kansas is in the midst right now. I mentioned this about Bama about a week ago. Parrish about their their stretch of like six, you know high major or borderline high major games because UNLV is in there. Kansas is even more than that. So Kansas right now this might be I mentioned on Bama, Kansas has actually one upped him. They might be, they might be doing something we haven't seen in like a decade or more. So they played Duke. Then they've got Notre Dame, Syracuse and a to be determined high major almost certainly a players era. Then they've got Yukon, Missouri and NC State. So it is almost definitely depending on that third game in Vegas, seven consecutive games against high major opponents. This is a crucial stretch. There's no buy game in there folks. It's, it's from last night against Duke all the way until December 13th against NC State. Nothing but high majors. They need Peterson. But it's this delicate okay, we can't force him back early because it's a nightmare if we force him back and then a game or two later he re enters it, he's out for two months or even worse than that. So I did get to see to talk to Peterson just a little bit in the locker room after the game. Frankly seemed in pretty good spirits. I was at the Kansas shoot around on Tuesday, you know and he seems like he wants to be out there to be ready to go but he's got to get clear they're going to be very particular about it. But if you're a Kansas fan, the good news is if this is trending the way they think it is, he should be able to make a return at some point next week in Vegas.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah and I, I know anytime a elite NBA prospect is sidelined and there's not and you're exactly right, Bill did add more context to the situation last night but prior to that it was like there's limited information available for the fan base. And their minds just go a million different places. Like, is he shutting it down? Is he, like, Darren Peterson was a top three projected draft pick a year ago. If he thought it was in his best interest to not play college basketball in advance of the draft, he'd just not be doing this. He wants to play college basketball. They want him to play college basketball. You know who else wants him to play college basketball? The NBA wants him to play college basketball. College basketball is where you. Where you develop stars, who you can put on billboards, who you can put on NBC. It's wonderful, you know, if Nikola Jokic develops into that after he's in the NBA. But it's even better if, you know, Cooper flag before he gets there. There is nothing the NBA would prefer more than Darren Peterson in a Kansas uniform being awesome and running through the NCAA tournament, because then whoever takes him in the draft can sell tickets off of him. It is in everybody, and I mean everybody's best interest for Darren Peterson to play basketball. He will. It's just that these hamstrings, they're tough. I. I know not everybody is athletic like me and Darren Peterson. So you might not have ever torn your hamstring or had a hamstring issue.

[Matt Norlander]

But reminder, Parish did deal with this. Walking down steps.

[Gary Parrish]

That was actually.

[Matt Norlander]

It was.

[Gary Parrish]

It was actually up the steps.

[Matt Norlander]

It was. Okay, okay.

[Gary Parrish]

It was at the steps. You didn't have to tell the story. This was a perfectly fine story without the context.

[Matt Norlander]

You know what? As. As a reporter committed to factually accurate journalism, and I appreciate the correction. For the record, our listeners deserve the full context of how you're about to go into this, because I do think your experience with your own hamstring issue informs a ton of what awaits for.

[Gary Parrish]

Darren Peterson at the age of 48. I tore my hamstring walking up my.

[Matt Norlander]

Stairs.

[Gary Parrish]

And it hurt bad. I mean, buddy. And it's not even one of those things like, hamstrings are weird in the sense that you can't. This is going to sound so stupid if you clip it. Hamstrings are weird in the sense that you can't. You can't see them. And what I mean is, is like with that, when somebody rolls their ankle, you see that in a basketball game, when somebody tears an acl, you see that in a basketball game, when somebody pulls a hamstring, you just sort of see them go, oh. And you're like, oh, what? What happened? And so then it's like, well, why can't you play I'm just telling you, as a. As a former athlete who has torn a hamstring, it's not even a question of do you want to play or not. It's like you can't move. You can't do it. You can't do it. And you look up a week later and you still can't do it. And you look up a week later and you still can't do it. I enjoy being on the golf course as much as I enjoy being anywhere. I. They don't have to pay me to play. I pay them to let me play. There's nowhere I'd rather be on a Sunday morning than on a golf course. But, like, there were just Sundays, I just could not go. Because you can't do it. You cannot do it. And I've lived the life Darren Peterson is living right now. I've been sidelined by a hamstring injury in the year 2025, exactly like Darren Peterson. And I'm just telling you, KU fans, he's going through it right now. This is a tough type of injury, but my understanding is he will be back hopefully soon and hopefully also without further hamstring irritations. I know what he's going through. That's what I'm trying to tell you.

[Matt Norlander]

Paris, is that meme with the guy pointing into the mirror. Get in there and make it about you.

[Gary Parrish]

I'm just. I feel like I have.

[Matt Norlander]

I'd love to be that on a golf course on a Sunday morning. So just so you guys know, I know Darren Peterson is desperate to be out there, just the way that I wanted to be out there, swinging.

[Gary Parrish]

That's not what I meant. What I. What I meant was that's what I want to do, but I could not do it. All right. Similarly, I'm assuming Darren Peterson wants to play basketball, but he cannot do it. We've gone through various. Darren Peterson and I have lived very similar lives in the year 2025. That's what I'm trying to tell you.

[Matt Norlander]

Ricky. Ricky Mortis in the chat, GP and DP going through it, living the same life in 2025. It's just the facts.

[Gary Parrish]

It's just the facts, you know? And so we connected at Big 12 media day. You saw us sit down. You can find that. You can find that interview on YouTube. But I feel like we should rec. Sometimes it's. It's good to have people in your phone who have been through, you know, the stuff you're going through, and it might be time for DP and Ida to. To reconnect. I know what he's I know his struggles.

[Matt Norlander]

That's 15 minutes on the much less compelling game from Tuesday night. GP's on a very tight time crunch and we have to get to the situation with Kentucky. So gp, feel free to toss it to commercial, but there's plenty to dive into with Mark Pope and his program.

[Gary Parrish]

You know, I've been also sad a little bit in the year 2025, so I can also relate to what Mark Pope is going through because he seemed sad, super sad last night, bordering on depression. Kentucky lost. They seem to have real problems. We'll dive into that next. First, get a word from our partners.

[Matt Norlander]

If you have a family, there's a.

[Ethos Insurance Announcer]

Lot to plan for all the time, even the types of things you'd rather not have to plan for. But in the event of a tragedy, you want to protect your loved ones them cared for. You want to be sure you're covered with life insurance. Looking out for your family's future is about a lot more than just money. It's about peace of mind. And the truth is, getting life insurance doesn't have to be complicated. Ethos is an online platform that makes getting life insurance fast and easy to protect your family's future in minutes, not months. There's no medical exam required. Just answer a few health questions, get a quote in as little as 10 minutes and you can even get same day coverage without ever leaving your house. Some policies start as low as $2 a day and you can get up to $3 million in coverage. Ethos has earned the trust of over 3 million families and Business Insider named them the number one medical exam instant life insurance provider. So protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get your free [e-mail] I that's E T H O S.com Eye application times may vary, Rates may vary.

[Home Depot Announcer]

Black Friday Savings are here at the Home Depot, which means it's time to add new cordless power to your colle. Right now, when you buy a select battery kit from one of our top brands like Ryobi or Milwaukee, you'll get a select tool from that same brand for free. Click into one of our best deals of the season and stock up on tools for all your upcoming projects. Get Black Friday Savings happening now at the Home Depot. Limit 1 per transaction exclusions apply. Full eligible tool list in store and Online.

[Gary Parrish]

Final score Michigan State 83, Kentucky 66 the Spartans handled him no problems in the first half, then continued that in the second half and after the game. One of the more interesting Press conferences you'll ever see. Before I chime in, just you take it because you were in the room. What did you make of Mark Pope after a second loss of the season, expressing real concerns, in his own words, for the basketball team he has put together?

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah. In fact, Josh, if we can. In post, we can't do this for a live audience, but in post, let's maybe drop in the. The Pope clip from the presser so people can really listen and hear more context. We had it on HQ last night as well.

[Mark Pope]

It's not. I think your identity of team is completely separate from any individual player. I actually think that's a. That's a. I'm gonna. I'm gonna temper my words right now. I actually think that. That our identity should be. If you build an organization the right way, then your identity is not about an individual person. Your identity is about a collective group. And so it shouldn't matter if we had built a great organization and a great culture, which I've clearly failed to do up until today. But we won't fail this season. We just have failed up till today. And we will build an organization where it won't be disrupted every time someone steps in and steps out, because it'll actually have a team identity, not an individual identity. Until we get there, we're going to really struggle. That's my job. That's why Mitch brought me here. I'm doing it poorly. I won't do it for. Poorly for much longer.

[Matt Norlander]

Hope was he was shattered, dejected. He was giving short answers to the media, not in a disrespectful way, but almost in a way of like, I need to hold my tongue on some stuff right now. But to his credit, I mean, he, you know, after the press conference was over, he had to do in the hallway, he did, you know, post game radio with Kentucky, did another interview after that. I spoke with him really briefly. It took him almost 50 minutes to get to the post game presser to begin with. That locker room scene must have really been something. I actually, now, as coincidence would have it, I was in the city earlier on Tuesday, so I was able to spend some time with Kentucky in advance of the game. So I was with them for their. For their film review, for the. For the scout there, and then went over to the arena with them. And I actually just. Pope and I got to talking about a few different things. And as we were talking about the. The game ahead and the season so far and the loss to Louisville, this quote, I won't read off it Here, it's in the story. We can link it in the pod in the YouTube description as well. But Pope basically said, our guys don't know how physical they can be yet. They don't know yet what it actually feels like to play your guts out for. He's like, I want to have a rotation of 10, 11 guys, okay? And if that. If we're going to do that, and guys are only going to be asked to play 22, 23 minutes a game, but everyone's going to get a bite of the apple. They need to. They need to just run their guts out, and they don't know how to hit that limit yet. And we're going to play this Michigan State team. Now, Pope had never coached against Izzo, period. That was evident by the first game that he went up against him. But he knew his team was going to need to have a level of physicality for this game. Now, some of it was Michigan State was hot from three. It's not like Michigan State just. It was a team from. It was an izzo team from 2004, and they just dominated the paint, dominant the inside. That's not exactly what it was. Obviously, Michigan State got super hot from three, but it was unintentionally prophetic from Pope to hear him talk about this stuff eight hours before the game was final. And then you fast forward and you see the way that Kentucky lost. He was absolutely right. He took full responsibility. It is rare to see a coach like that after a game in November. It's year two, obviously, this job is one with a ton of challenges. And the one thing I didn't put in the column that I got to talking to Pope about right before the shoot around was he was essentially saying, if you can't have it, if you can't handle everything that comes with this job, then you can't take the job. Like, it's not always going to be roses and rainbows. There's going to be tough moments. And I hope after tonight we're not gonna, you know, we're gonna have met the challenge. Well, that didn't happen. So I credit Pope for facing the criticism. This is his. The honeymoon is over. This is his first actual crisis as the coach of Kentucky. Kentucky fans think the. The rotation is. Is too deep. Even not having Jalen Lowe, which is a massive issue. They don't have their point guard and maybe acquaintance. The best NBA prospect and best NBA prospect. But even as I wrote, even without that Parish, it doesn't excuse the performance that they put on Tuesday night. In midtown Manhattan. It was bizarrely bad. They did cut it to 10, but they cut it to 10. Michigan State, I think either got it to 14 or they got us to 12 on consecutive possessions. And Kentucky spirit was broken in the second half. They weren't going to win the game. They couldn't win the game. There's a, there's a laundry list of issues and just as you know, national pundits in the sport and seeing the fallout in real time following some of the commentary on social media and then, and then afterward, it will be interesting to see how Kentucky pivots to this because there's been a lot of just stuff attached to Kentucky so far this season. They have so much more to go. They don't have a high profile game for about two more weeks. But yeah, the whole scene in the presser was, was interesting. And then Pope actually and Josh, I should have sent you this photo. Pope got done his press conference and then what typically happens is if a coach speaks first and the players are with them, the coach will then leave the room, go back to the locker room and let the players say what they're going to say. Or it's often the reverse angle where the players will go first, they'll leave, then the coach will come in and talk. That didn't happen. Pope got done and then he wanted to hear what his players had to say. So he was standing off, just off to the side while Ortega away took questions. And, and, and it was, yeah, it was, it was an odd, odd scene. Not, I guess oddest is putting it too harshly. It was just, it was atypical. And I know that Pope is wearing that, wearing that loss really hard. Sorry. I know, I know I went long, but there's just, there's actually this game and I'm, and I'm. I want to see if this is going to be the kind of thing that actually like is stuck to the team for the rest of the season because of how Pope reacted or if we're just, okay, it's early, you took a couple losses, we look up in January. UK's doing just fine. And that was just an early bump in the road.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, maybe. But if I were a UK fan, I would be concerned about how my coach looks and sounds because he seems concerned. Nobody should have a better grasp for what this basketball team's going to be or can be or is than Mark Pope. And he seems concerned like, so I was sitting there watching this last night with my wife, with my whole family and my wife has no context for Anything when it comes to college basketball. Like, I could. I could say anything right now, and it's probably not going to get back to her. She doesn't know who Mark Pope is. She doesn't know if he's supposed to have a good team or not. She doesn't. She couldn't probably tell you what NIL is, but she'd watched the press conference and afterwards, like the second he got done talking, you know what she said? I typed it just so I would have it exactly right. God, that's depressing. She was like, what is. What is going on? She's like, what is happening? Tell me what's going on with this guy and his team. And I was like, well, they spent 20 plus million on a roster. It has been described as the most expensive basketball team in the history of college athletics. And they were favorites at tip off. Down by 17 at the half, lost by 17. And he looks like a man who's starting to feel it a little bit. You know, one of the things that I, I think we all learned last season and liked was that he really reconnected with the fan base.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

And with the local media and in a way that John Calperi kind of got away from. Like, John sort of detached from everybody and insulated himself because. I don't know, just. I guess when you have that job that long, anytime you go through a downtime, it's going to get intense and maybe you don't emotionally bounce back from that the way you would hope. But John kind of detached at the end at UK in a variety of ways. And Mark seemed to intentionally reconnect with fans with Kentucky Sports Radio, everything under that umbrella, for sure. Well, the problem with Recon, like, really being online and connecting and like, and having a. A real grasp for what the fan base is saying and thinking and feeling is that when it gets like this, you. You have a real grasp for what they're saying and feeling and you hear it and you're in it. And it looked like that was taking a toll on him last night. It looks like he is very aware that his own fans are saying, did we really pay $20 million for this? And. Or. And. And then that goes to. Well, remember when we hired the guy, we were wondering, should we have done this really? And now you're back in that stuff. And this is, this is hard. This is. I've said this about. There's a handful of jobs like this. The Kentucky job is perhaps the biggest example of it.

[Matt Norlander]

Oh, man.

[Gary Parrish]

There's nothing better when it's going well, but when it's not, I don't know that there's anything worse or tougher to deal with.

[Matt Norlander]

One line from my column last night, this kind of crisis is the exact reason why Kentucky and John Calipari had to split 18 months ago, making way for Pope to restore unbridled optimism at his Alma material. And then another line is essentially, I'm going to paraphrase it here is the real drawback to being a team that spends a ton of money on its roster is that if it does not go the way that you want it to go, then that's the thing that's attached to your team. That's what people reference all the time. That's what, that's what your identity is. And as I wrote, that is Kentucky's identity right now. For now, maybe in a month they can, they can elevate their play. They can establish themselves as a top 10 team and get this done. But for now, this is the team that spent more money in the portal than anyone else, that doesn't have a high major win, that is out of sorts and is going to be referred to as, you know, the biggest overspenders in college basketball. They can move out of that, but in the here and now, that's what they are. Pope, just to reiterate the point, he did, you know, multiple times just take all the blame. Like, even, like there were some questions that were very good questions in the press conference that were trying to get Pope to talk about some things that the players did not do or came up short. And he just very craftily didn't allow the players to take any of the blame on this, even though, quite frankly, a lot of it is on Pope. You, you assemble the roster, you spent all this money and it's not working. But players also didn't play well. They didn't have the physicality. They fell, they fell way short. And on the Michigan State side and Spartans fans, I know you're super excited. We're going to talk about your team as well here. While there is and while you look at Michigan State, you look at Tom Izzo, everything he stands for. He got asked about roster retention in the Portal and he gave, you know, he gave some quotes on that. It's not like Kentucky is entirely a new team. That's not what this is. Kentucky does return pieces that played for this team last year, guys that played real minutes. They just happened to bring on a lot of other pieces that were in the portal. You know, I think what Michigan State might be Returning six players from a season ago. Kentucky is returning four. So it's not like this vast chasm overall, but at the very heart of it, you did have one team on one side. Michigan State, which has a point guard, Jeremy Fears, was awesome. I think he took what, three or four shots, had 13 assists, was the most impactful player on the floor. Very stark to see him doing what he was doing. And Kentucky not having Jalen Lowe. And so Aberdeen's not a point guard, and they, they got to try and figure out what they're going to do between Aberdeen away. Jasper Johnson is not remotely there physically yet, so they got a huge issue there. But for Michigan State to play as connected as it did, Curtang comes off the bench and scores a career high 15. Jackson Kohler, a senior. Just like a typical Izzo guy growing into it, he goes for 20 and you see what Izzo stands for, what he talks about all the time, and how that really coalesced into a win on Tuesday night versus the Mercenary. You know, I'm not saying this is what it is, but you can frame it this way with Kentucky, the Mercenary, the. The guns for hire, the super expensive roster that just, they look like they were still getting to know each other's names on the floor last night. So it's, it's glaring. It doesn't help that this is coming off the Louisville loss where they were competitive, but Louisville just outplayed them in that game as well. And you also got this weird attachment where, like, something happened before the Louisville game in the locker room, and Pope referenced it, but he won't give details and he still hasn't said what it is. I honestly don't really care about this, but Kentucky, it's Kentucky, it's the fan base. It's actually like, it's a weird misstep for Pope because then after the Eastern Illinois game, in the post game, he like, referenced how Taylor Swift likes to leave, you know, her fans, little Easter eggs and stuff. Like, you can't do that stuff and then lose these games. Because the, the. It's not that the fan base is turning on Pope, because it's not. We're still early. But they will. This is Kentucky, man. They will, they will hold you to account immediately with this stuff. And, you know, this is, this is the first true moment. And I, I use the word intentionally like it's a small crisis, but this is a crisis. When you are Kentucky, when this is your alma mater, when you reportedly spend in the neighborhood of $20 million on your roster and you have two high profile flops against and stubborn tournament teams to start the season. Yeah, you got to figure it out quick. Kentucky's only saving grace right now is it's got two weeks before it has another high major opponent. So we'll see if they can, they.

[Gary Parrish]

Can course correct a few more things on Kentucky than on Michigan State. You're right. They bring back, you know, this gets called like a, the most expensive team because of what they spent the transfer portal. But they did bring back like some meaningful players, including the preseason SEC player.

[Matt Norlander]

Of the year who's getting paid a ton. So like that's also where the money's going, obviously.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, right. They, they, you ready for this? They brought back more players this season than they had brought back last season.

[Matt Norlander]

Right.

[Gary Parrish]

Because that was totally fresh last year. So it, it's inaccurate to just say, well, this is what happens when you have a whole new team. Because they don't have a whole new team, but they do have a lot of new players. And I do think this is what can happen when you are more or less getting married after speed dating, because that's what all this stuff is. You, you don't really know the people you're getting any. I hear this from, do you hear this from coaches all the time. I used to know who I was signing. I don't know who I'm signing now. I've got somebody on my staff working in analytics who tells me this is the type of, statistically, this is the type of person we should be looking at. And then I get him on film and I go, okay, I like what I'm seeing here. And then I talk to him on Zoom and then I, and then I, I give him $800,000. That's how this stuff is working. And it looked like last night and maybe it was actually perfect that Kentucky got exposed by Michigan State because it looked like last night you had a basketball program that beat basketball players. That's what I watched. I watched a basketball game in the basketball program beat the team that had just a bunch of basketball players that still don't know how to play together and might not really love each other the way that, that you would hope. Whereas with Tom Issa and I talked to Tom about this in Illinois, you know, in Chicago, Greater Chicago area, Big Ten media day. I, I love the way he talks about this stuff now. He's like, I don't like my profession anymore. He's sort of detached from like trying to change the world. I'm just gonna coach my basketball team, run My basketball program. I'm done with trying to fix everything or, or, or bitching about it. I'm just going to coach my basketball team and run my program. But even he says, like I was talking, he said, listen, I'm not going to sit here and tell you I'm doing it the way it needs to be done. I don't even know if it's the right way to do it anymore. But it's, it's the, it's the way I want to do it. And I wouldn't want to do it the other way. I want to have a locker room of guys who care about Michigan State because they've been here. And I don't want to have guys here for two years and then go sign somebody I met last week in the transfer portal because I couldn't get my guys that I have been living and dying with good enough. I mean, I'm going to do that sometimes because I have to, but that's not the way I want to run my program. I want to have guys who are here for two, three, four years, and that's the way I'm going to go out. And I don't know that it'll work without hiccup. I don't know that it won't get getting caught some year, Shaka might be getting caught by that same sort of mentality right now. But I like it. I like that he sticks to it. I like that he's committed to it. And last night it seemed to pay off that, you know, he's got the, the point guard that he keeps comparing to. Mateen Cleaves. Yeah, he's got, he's got. And he loves Mateen. So if he ever puts your name in that sentence, then, then you are, you are special in his mind. And Jeremy Fears, like you said, I agree. Statistically, perhaps if you just look at points and that kind of stuff, not the most impressive player on the court last night, but he controlled the basketball game. And it's the main reason Michigan State controlled the basketball game from start to finish. I just, I, I don't know that Michigan State's going to win the Big Ten or go to a Final Four with this roster. But they, they, they shot the ball well and looked like a competent Michigan State basketball team last night. And on the other side, it, it just didn't look like that at all.

[Matt Norlander]

I'll tell you this, Michigan State a season ago obviously had a really awesome year. 30 wins. They get a 2 seed, they make it to the Elite. I talked with Someone with Michigan State ahead of last night's game and this is before the Kentucky was decided to remember. They feel better now about this team at this point in the calendar. So you know, four or five games into the season than they did about last season's team. Now last season's team did have that like really ugly the Champions classic game against Kansas a year ago. If you've forgotten about it, it was just, it was not a pretty game whatsoever. So it stands the reason why they might have a little more optimism because keep in mind Michigan State now has defeated two SEC teams, Arkansas and Kentucky. And Izzo actually told me afterward I got about three or four minutes with them before because Pope took forever to get to the post game press conference. It's typically not the case. So I had a little bit of time with them, he said when I was looking at the Laker, when I was looking at the Arkansas tape ahead of that he goes, I told my staff we got the Lakers coming in here. And then he goes, and then we were doing this and I was like, it's the Lakers. Plus well, Kentucky did not look like the Lakers and it didn't look like the G League Lakers. It didn't look like the Minneapolis Lakers from 1947. None of it there credit to Michigan State getting it done. Sparty is going to be next on a high profile stage against North Carolina on Thanksgiving night down in Fort Myers, Florida. But a good start and yes, probably underrated Michigan State heading into the season. The Tom is a guy, certainly, certainly knows how to coach. With Kentucky it's Loyola, Maryland, it's Tennessee Tech and then coincidentally enough their next high profile game is also against North Carolina that will be in rupp arena on December 2nd. We wait to see more there and then last thing and then we can move it on. GP's actually kind of up against it. So I think I'm going to be closing out the show solo here. Jalen Lowe not playing. He still got the shoulder issue. There's no telling when he's coming back. I know you know, some Kentucky faithful believe that he might just not return. I, I don't know if that's the case whatsoever, but two shoulders, same shoulder hurt. Major issues within a month of each other. How bad is it? We still don't know if it requires surgery. If it doesn't. All I know is they don't have anyone remotely like Jalen Lowe on that roster and for all the depth that Kentucky paid for, they did not have a backup plan or could not and it's hard to arrange a backup plan if you're gonna have someone who's goes Jalen Lowe. You're typically not going to have someone that's 85% of Jalen Lowe that's going to come play for your team because they're going to want to get the minutes there. But it is a major issue, and if he does not return for a while or period, then it completely changes the calculus of Kentucky's outlook on this season.

[Gary Parrish]

So let's look ahead to the next couple of days before we get out of here. But first, we got to pay bills. Let's get one more. Can we get one more word from our partners? All right. We'll get through this pretty quickly. In the spirit of full transparency, I've got a flight to catch that leaves.

[Matt Norlander]

I didn't know if you were up against it right now. I mean, you tell me I'm okay.

[Gary Parrish]

For another few minutes.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay?

[Gary Parrish]

Let's not. Let's not push it. I don't usually fly on Wednesday, so when I got these dates, I was just like, I'll take this flight that I always take. And then as it. The date was growing closer, I was like, so Wednesday, that's the day where I have to do the I Own College Basketball podcast and the Gary Paris Show. And there is. It's hard to get all that stuff done before you get on a flight. At the time. I've got to get on a flight. So I've been scrambling this entire. If you want to know how pressed for time I am, notice that I'm working off of AirPods right now. And the reason is because the only way I could make this work is check my bag early. So before I even came to studio this morning, I went to the airport, check my bag, and I had to check all my podcasting equipment.

[Matt Norlander]

And you just. We just lost another minute, by the way.

[Gary Parrish]

It's fine. It's fine. I'm going to be fine. We've got this. I've got this planned out.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay.

[Gary Parrish]

On Wednesday night, we got two top 15 matchups, and one of them is a top five showdown. Number four, Arizona at number three, UConn. It's Inside Gamble. 7 o' clock Eastern. It's on FS1. And then it's not 7 o' clock Eastern.

[Matt Norlander]

Oh, it is seven. They changed it, huh? It was 6:30 before. I'm going to the game. I'll be there. So I've been planning for 6:30 and I just checked this guy. This was. I'm almost positive this was 6:30 at one point. Anyway, it's at 7.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay, okay. You were scaring me. Number 11 Alabama against number 8 Illinois. That's inside Chicago's United Center. That's 9:00 Eastern on FS1. Tell me what you're most interested in. Those two.

[Matt Norlander]

Well, yeah, this is just tremendous. By the way, just as an aside, Dayton plays at Marquette tonight as well on True tv. Just worth keeping an eye on. Like I'll have it on the iPad when I'm at, when I'm at Arizona Yukon, because I want to. Let's see if Marquette cannot mess around here. Dayton could technically be a little bit dangerous. But those, that's the side, side dish. Arizona, Yukon, Arizona, Illinois. The big, the big two games here. A top five game in an on campus environment in November. Just I cannot wait to get up there. Last night the Garden was fine. Like we, we had a big story with Kentucky. Like there was something big that came out of the Garden on Tuesday night and something that really no one saw coming. So I'll take something like that every time for podcast purposes and the like. Here we just got a, an elite, awesome matchup. The losing team. Like, you know, if Arizona loses on the road and you don't get, you know, your door's blown off by 28. Okay, well, you know, you went on the road like they're going to come to your place next year. It's not a bad loss on the resume whatsoever. UConn, you don't want a home loss and you got a team that this is good coming into your building. But it also will almost definitely be a Quad 1 loss on the resume when we get to March. And Arizona has already proven to be a really, really good team so far with wins over Florida and ucla and to get this is tremendous. I know you're tied on time, so I'll try and edit my thoughts a little bit here. But I do want to see if Braden Barisha shows up, period in this game. He hasn't really done anything for Arizona so far and going into the season there was more or his equal amount of hype and buzz about what brewers could be is what co op could be. On the co opit note, how is he going to handle going up against Yukon's front line? Is he in for a big game or not? How will the freshman handle this kind of environment? Because this is not Florida in Vegas, this is not UCLA not in, in Poly Pavilion. You are going into an environment that you have not remotely ever experienced as a player before in Your life. Gampel is going to be on fire. Can't wait to get to that, get to that game tonight and then obviously we'll talk about it on the Friday show and then with the other game. And by the way, I, Braylon Mullins, when can he return? I don't, I would not expect that he'll be playing tonight, But I know UConn fans are eagerly waiting when he can come back. Hurley has given them optimism, saying that his recovery timeline is, is even ahead of the pace that they, they thought it would be. Alabama, Illinois, Illinois is the top five team in the, in some metrics right now. There is a chance that this game could, if they really cut it loose, be another Alabama game where it's first to 90 plus. I really hope that we get there on the Illinois side. David Mirkovich coming off just an awesome, awesome game. But you know, is this going to be a story Akovich night? Are we going to see Keaton Wagler step up and play big? Big Z has had some nice moments there on the Alabama side. They take the loss against Purdue at home. It's been almost a week since that they got the win over St. John's and now they're in this big stretch. As we mentioned previously, I'll see them out in Vegas next week. But are you going to have Phylon and Holloway be able to kind of get where they want to get to against that Illinois defense? It's going to be a huge challenge for the Fighting A Lion in this game. It's such a good game where I'm, I'm so thrilled to go to Arizona. UConn. I cannot wait to be there, but it's like, damn, like I'm gonna miss some of this game by nature of just the job there. So, so I'm super, super pumped for both of these and can't wait to see what, what, what emergence here. What a great thing for college basketball. You got just this double header of just stud games with four Final four contenders as far as I'm concerned.

[Gary Parrish]

Also on Wednesday, CBS Sports Network 7 Eastern. It's Villanova, Lasalle, Norlander and I are going to handle halftime duties for that. Check it out. On Thursday, the Baja Mar Championship is on CBS Sports Network. I will be in studio. It's going to be me, Brent Stover, Wally Zerbiak and do you hear about the new addition to the CBS Sports Network crew?

[Matt Norlander]

I did not.

[Gary Parrish]

Emeka Okafor.

[Matt Norlander]

Oh, whoa, yeah. The big time name.

[Gary Parrish]

All right, so us four will be in studio tomorrow. We got number one Purdue against Memphis. That's going to be at 6:00pm Eastern. Then number 15 Texas Tech against Wake Forest at 8:30pm Eastern. Norlander, quick on this. Can my alma mater be competitive? Just be competitive. Just not get embarrassed against the sports top ranked team.

[Matt Norlander]

Define competitive.

[Gary Parrish]

Like don't, don't, don't have people tweeted me at halftime asking if it's time to fire Penny hard away.

[Matt Norlander]

Can Memphis keep it within 15 against Purdue? Yes or no? 14 and a half.

[Gary Parrish]

I would say no.

[Matt Norlander]

I'm gonna say no as well. Yeah, that's. And that's, that's a problem.

[Gary Parrish]

I barely kept it within 14 against UNLV.

[Matt Norlander]

I think it is exactly 14 by the end of it. But that is 6 Eastern worth tuning in for, frankly. Just to see what kind of Memphis team shows up. Braden Smith, always worth the watch. And then Texas Tech, Wake Forest. Wake Forest has had some opportunities here. See if they can steal it there on Thursday night.

[Ethos Insurance Announcer]

Couple.

[Matt Norlander]

Couple of good. Yeah, a couple, couple good days worth of games here overall. Looking forward to it by the way, ironically enough here. And I know you got to go. You're wearing the hat that I know that I typically have in my back. If you're listening, go over, watch this on YouTube. But I usually have this hat in my background shot. I'm rocking the hat.

[Gary Parrish]

I like that.

[Matt Norlander]

Well, they made this old school CBS sports hat shout out to Audi Joe stuff our boss who hooked me up with this when I went to the office yesterday. They made these for the NFL Today throwback and I saw that he had one a few weeks back. I was like, I absolutely need that hat. I need that. I need the hat. I'm gonna put it in my backdrop. So I wore this one for the first time today and coincidentally enough, you're wearing this very hat here, which is, which is absolutely wild. But. But yeah, no, love the hat. Appreciate you. They appreciate you squeezing this in. I know this is a shorter episode. I'm on like five hours of sleep. Shout to Jeff Borzello, our buddy. He was driving up. He's going to be at the Yukon game. But he drove me home, got me home earlier. Listen to a little rewatchables on on one on one speed. By the way. We got to get out of here. But we had a whole thing about what speed you listen to podcasts on. We had a poll recently. I'm a 1.5 guy. He want to listen at one one speed. I just, I can't live my life like that one listen podcast at one speed is not my style. Is that what you do? Are you a one speeder?

[Gary Parrish]

I'm a one speed guy.

[Matt Norlander]

No, I can't do that. I can't do that. And we heard from people that said I cannot listen to Norlander or Paris at one speed. Like if it sounds like they have brain damage, if I listen to them at regular speed, which to be honest, the speed might have nothing to do with that.

[Gary Parrish]

I might have brain damage. I had a torn hamstring. I don't know if you heard about that.

[Matt Norlander]

I think you might have mentioned it a couple times.

[Gary Parrish]

All right, then, let's get out of here. Shouts to Devin Downey. Shouts to Chester, S.C. shouts to Terry Teagle. He's a legend. Huck Larnell. Thank you guys once again for watching. Listening to the I own college basketball podcast. You're not subscribed. Please go subscribe anywhere. You subscribe to podcasts including Apple and Spotify. More of us than there are of them. That's got to be in the comments. So do that. We will talk to you again on Friday morning. Until then, take. Foreign.

[Matt Norlander]

Cbs.

[Gary Parrish]

Wednesdays I run to the chaos and Survivor is chaos. As a mother of a four year.

[Matt Norlander]

Old, this is vacation. This season they're going back home. It's trial by the elements. Surprise. I'm on Survivor. That's how you do it. Survivor feels like the culmination of my entire life.

[Commercial Voiceover]

Everything has led to this moment.

[Matt Norlander]

Who will have what it takes? Survivor new CBS Wednesdays at 8, 7.

[Commercial Voiceover]

Central and streaming on Paramount.

[Gary Parrish]

Plus.