← Eye On College Basketball
Eye On College Basketball
Cooper Flagg’s ankle becomes THE story; Texas pushing to get 14 SEC teams; Thursday recap; Friday lookahead + F4+1; R.I.P. to the great John Feinstein
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- [00:00]
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- [02:00]
Matt Norlander
Hey there Gary Parish. Welcome back CBS Sports. I own College Basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss Camel fighting Dodo Birds Leaky Black. The Iron College Basketball Podcast is presented by Jersey Mike's sub above. Matt Orlando is here with me. If you're watching on YouTube, you know what to do to that. Like button shouts to Brandon Davies. And if you haven't yet subscribed to the CBS Sports college basketball YouTube channel, please also do that while you're here. Let's get into it. And the place to start I think is Charlotte, North Carolina where The story of championship week is unfolding. Duke star Cooper Flag, he left Thursday's win over Georgia Tech in the ACC tournament. Got a left ankle sprain. X rays were negative. That's the good. But a sprained ankle can be rough for a basketball player, so this is not ideal. Norlander, what's the latest on Cooper Flag sprain? Lift ankle. And there's no way you expect them to play tonight when the Blue Devils meet North Carolina in the ACC tournament semifinals.
- [02:56]
Gary Parrish
Is there a shot? And not only do I not expect it, I think it would be completely needless and honestly terrible judgment to do so. Now we don't know as we pod here Friday morning. Good morning. You're in New York City, I'm in New York City this Friday show. Every year is always, it's always something, man, because we're about to have an insane in insane slate of games today. There's no point in putting in putting Cooper Flag on the floor. Shire called it a long shot. What we don't know at this hour is the severity of the injury. Obviously a high ankle versus low ankle sprain can be a very major difference in discrepancy. High ankle being the one that can keep you out longer overall. But but no point here. I think Duke by nature of beating Georgia Tech just erased all doubt. It's now it's a onesie lock and most many people thought it was probably a 1C luck. Regardless, I think it is now that there's no question there will be an intriguing wait and see with Duke in terms of how it handles announcing and diagnosing Cooper Flag and his timeline. It's probably going to be and should be as vague as possible because I guess theoret, if you were to say Cooper Flag has suffered a high ankle sprain and he's expected to be out a number of weeks and you had a situation where Houston, Michigan State, when the conference tournaments, Florida, you know, wins the SEC tournament, Auburn's going to be a one seed and then the committee could say well if they don't have a full health, fully healthy Cooper Flag and we don't know if he's going to be available at all. Can we, should we bump him down? I don't think we're getting to that reality and if I was Duke I would understandably try and keep that and keep that away as far as possible. But yeah, I'll tell you what, this, the images of Cooper Flag in the wheelchair early on Thursday, the photos, the videos all of was certainly surreal. And then Malik, oh by the way Malik Brown got hurt again, but yeah, kind of a wild start to to what was a pretty awesome Thursday overall in college hoops.
- [04:49]
Matt Norlander
I don't believe they'll say much more than they've already said about Cooper Flag's left ankle sprain. They've already said X rays are negative. That's good. The next thing you'll hear is he's not playing tonight. And the next thing you'll hear will be he's day to day and we're monitoring it. He's getting treatment every day and we're monitoring it and he's treatment every day. And they'll never say he's not playing in the ACC tournament because he can't. They'll say we're just weighing all the pros and cons of everything and we just think this is the smartest way to do it. For the same reasons the Kansas City Chiefs might sit Patrick Mahomes in the last game of the regular season, we're gonna. Well, not for the same reasons, but you get the point. We're going to set down Cooper Flag until the NCAA tournament and they'll keep it there. The interesting thing will be to see how they handle the NCAA tournament. Obviously if he heals remarkably well and he's 100 then like this is not even a conversation. But on the, let's just say more realistic chance that he's not 100 by the day Duke opens the 2025 NCAA tournament, I think you can reasonably make an argument there that you just tell the rest of your team if you guys can't get past the 16C without Cooper flag, then like shame on you. But that's what we're going to try to do. Keep in mind Duke probably starts in Raleigh. Raleigh is a Friday Sunday location that gives them an extra day. Theoretically you could have, you could have between the day. Let's just say if Cooper Flag doesn't play again until the NCAA tournament, between the day he sprained his ankle and the day he would have to play again, you could have nine full days. And if you push it to the round of 32 because you trust con canipple can get you past the 16 seed right then you get nine full days in between injured ankle and it's time to play. And I I don't like like I said last night on Inside College Basketball, I work for an NBA franchise. I'm telling you if that exact same thing happened to Jaren Jackson Jr. Desmond Bain, John Morant, anybody on the roster last night there are the status report today is will be evaluated on a week to week basis. I mean, they wouldn't even look at tonight or tomorrow and it would probably be multiple weeks. They would probably already decide it's multiple weeks. Obviously Duke's working on a different timetable, but there's a totally reasonable way to have nine full days in between the moment it happened and the moment you need to play again. And hopefully, just for all of us, for college basketball fans who want to see this go through wherever it goes, I would hate for this to result in one of the all time what if stories of college basketball. What if Cooper Flag never sprains his ankle in Charlotte on a Thursday of championship week? I don't want to have to have that conversation. So I hope he heals up and is as healthy as can be by the time we start this big bracket.
- [07:38]
Gary Parrish
Nana, just slip on your mic real quick. I do want your, your input real quick. Nada was in the building. Nada lives in Charlotte. The SEC tournament is in Charlotte. So he was actually there to see all of this. So not to give us a good, a good recap of just where you were and what, what the scene was like at the, what I believe is called the Spectrum Center. So Spectrum went dead silent. I've never heard it go just immediately silent. That's how big the flag injury was.
- [08:04]
Matt Norlander
And then on top of that, watching.
- [08:06]
Gary Parrish
Every working media member try to get.
- [08:08]
Matt Norlander
A flag like video of him in.
- [08:11]
Gary Parrish
The wheelchair was utterly hilarious. The, the wheelchair video was Parrish. It was, it was surreal. Like once they started getting the timeline, like it, it was, I was like. Because he's such a dominating great player. Yeah. And he's reduced to sitting in a wheelchair getting rolled back to the X ray room and the X rays were negative and all that.
- [08:32]
Matt Norlander
It was, it was a weird visual. And I saw some people goofing on it because then he's walking, you know, post game, he's sort of. And like, whatever. It's a weird visual and it'll be a visual you'll see forever. He's like, you know, like when he gets hurt in his third season in the NBA, that that's going to pop back up. Okay.
- [08:51]
Gary Parrish
Right.
- [08:52]
Matt Norlander
Practically speaking, that is the best way to move him from one place to another in that moment. That's the best way to do it for him.
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Gary Parrish
You have to.
- [09:01]
Matt Norlander
Yeah. So it's a weird visual, but like I, it, like that is the most sensible thing you could do with a 6 foot 9 man who needs to be taken from one place to another and has a bad Ankle, just sit down and we'll roll you. That's the way to do that. And so it created this weird visual, but it's like that's just the way to handle that situation. I didn't chuckle about it as much as everybody else.
- [09:21]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, yeah, no, I hear you. As for the schedule, we're gonna do Final Four and one. It's a Friday. We got Carolina place.
- [09:27]
Matt Norlander
Expert picks.
- [09:28]
Gary Parrish
Expert picks. They're coming. Carolina. Duke is. Is a 7 eastern tip. And what is an insane after dinner winnow tonight. We'll get to that in a little bit here. But Duke has as the Tar Heels. Tar Heels need to. Need to win that game probably to get in. But we can save the quick look ahead stuff for a little bit later since we're talking flag. The game is tonight at 7 Eastern. That will be the first game and then Clemson will play Louisville in the second game and Chucky Hepburn won it late. So some good drama there in, in Charlotte, the ACC tournament. I'm glad nada got to see that up close and, and in person. But yes, flag status, you know, it jumps to essentially the top of the board. How healthy is he? When will he return and how does this impact the team that has been rated as the best in the sport? Yeah, it's a, it's a hell of a plot twist now. Hopefully he's okay. Hopefully this is lower ankle injury and we can get to see him playing the NCAA tournament for his one and only season in college. And we can see Duke out close to full strength. Wait on the Malik Brown stuff as well. They've, you know, they've kind of taken on some stuff here. They're not the only one. I mean, you know Kentucky, by the way, Otega away hurt again. Like Kentucky's been a MASH unit. It wins insanely dramatically on Thursday night by Ortega away beating his former school again. So other schools have, have dealt with this as well, but not with players on the level of flag. The fact that he. I think he moused like, I'll be okay. I think he said, I'll be okay. We'll see tomorrow or something like that. There was so much going on. I was at the Garden trying to keep track of all of it. Just to put a button on it. This dude should not be allowed to step on a basketball court and compete until the NCB tournament at minimum. I don't care if he wakes up today and feels like he can bound between buildings. You don't chance that. Wait for the biggest one, the ones he's all taken care of.
- [11:07]
Matt Norlander
And John Shire more or less said that yesterday post game, he was like, I'm going to walk back there in a minute. And it would take everybody in the room convincing me he needs to play for me to decide he's going to play. Like you're going to have a hard time convincing me he needs to play again in Charlotte, is what John seemed to be implying, which makes the most sense to me. I don't like to say things don't matter because, like, anytime you're playing for something, I'd like to think that it matters. Right. I watch Canadian and American hockey players play for a trophy they invented a few months ago, and it mattered to them. I like it when things matter. So I don't like it when people say things like ACC tournament doesn't matter, the SEC tournament doesn't matter. But for what Duke is chasing, it matters significantly less. And it's not worth putting him on the court to. Even if he could play, which he probably couldn't, let's just say that he probably couldn't even play today if he wanted to. This is probably not even a conversation. But even if he wanted to, I just say, calm down, watch your teammates. They're going to try to cut nets without you. And either way, we'll have a one next to our name on Sunday. And then let's figure out what to do next. I suspect that's the way it goes. As for North Carolina, for whatever it's worth, Jerry Palm still has them outside of the field, first four out. That suggests they need to be Duke today to get on the right side of the bubble. And I. I'm always. I think this is important to point out. I promise I'll try not to point it out every time, but I do think it's just for the record when we say things like north Carolina must win today. You'll hear people say that on TV today. I might say it on TV today.
- [12:37]
Gary Parrish
You better say it on T today.
- [12:39]
Matt Norlander
Okay, I will make a point to say it during the halftime of a Conference USA game. Yes, I'm gonna. I'm gonna say North Carolina. I'm gonna say, North Carolina must win today. And then I'll probably transition to something about the Indiana fan base. Yes, I'll transition to something about the Indiana fan base after that. But I'll start on North Carolina must win. It's important to note we don't really know if North Carolina must win today. It's just according to Jerry Palm. What if the committee's, like, quietly got them in the field and it's like they're good, you know.
- [13:11]
Gary Parrish
We just don't know for the sake of the discussion. That is funny. But just for clarity for people that might not be aware, they we they're not in the field. The committee, you know what I mean, moving down the list and they have not gotten to the point of the cut line. So that's going to continue to happen. But not even the committee knows. Again, I know it's my own personal rule. They have one quad one win. I don't want to see Carolina. I don't want to see any power conference team. No matter how down or how great your league is. You have one quad one win from a high major on selection Sunday. Get out of my tournament.
- [13:37]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, I, I they're 1 and 11 in quadrant one. I don't need them in with that resume. The interesting thing will be let's just say they they upset Duke and then you know what people say. But it was without Cooper Flag that.
- [13:49]
Gary Parrish
Will and and no by the way, nor should it. Duke is still a Quad 1 opponent without Cooper Flag. On the without Cooper Flag, Duke is arguably still like a top six seven team in the country. I agree doesn't matter. Won't register whatsoever if he's on the floor. Carolina will have earned it if it can beat Duke on Friday.
- [14:03]
Matt Norlander
I don't want to say doesn't matter but I agree with you. It's it will be a Quadrant 1 win over a quality basketball team. Auburn was still very good without Deny Broom and I think Duke could still be very good without Cooper Flag. Maybe not as good, but but but but good. So we'll see massive game in Charlotte, North Carolina and Duke ACC Tournament semifinals. Let's move on. Rodney Terry spent Thursday keeping Texas NCAA Tournament hopes alive, not to mention his job. Fun stuff in the SEC tournament. We'll go there next. First though, let's get a word from our partner.
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- [17:18]
Matt Norlander
All right, for what it's worth, Jerry Palm still has Texas first four out. That suggests they need another win at least. But they did get a big one on Thursday. Double overtime, 94, 89 victory over Texas A. And that's quadrant one. This is just sort of an interesting thing that's developing because anytime there's a game involving a bubble team and the perception of it at least is win it and you keep your hopes alive. Lose it and you're dead. That's big time, that's fun, that's high stakes stuff. This has another element to it because like we've touched on previously, there's a prevailing thought in the industry that the Texas job could be up in the air. And so what we are watching now in real time is a man try to get his team to the NCAA tournament. Sure. But maybe try to, you know, just keep, keep his office. Maybe just also try to keep his office. And I'm always fascinated by these types of things because that's a, that must be an incredible amount of pressure to be walking around with.
- [18:14]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, two angles here. Let's go to the Terry stuff and then quickly look at Texas's prospects here. I would say the prevailing thought is even GP might have been being a little diplomatic there. The prevailing thought is that Texas will open and Rodney Terry would need another huge run in the N subway tournament in order to reverse that impending decision. And so, yes, for him, you know, I don't want to see Rodney Terry lose his job overall. If you look at how much he's won versus some other coaches that have been other high majors over the past three years, like he's one at a higher rate, made the tournament last year. But you know, I don't, I don't work at Texas. I'm not the athletic director, I'm not the president, I'm not a major influential booster there. These are, these are things happening on the ground in and around Austin. And obviously, you know, people in that program understand what the situation is. And now here we have Texas that has been able to build up a resume that is very debatable now whether it should get into the tournament. It's won three of its past four and all three wins have come against tournament teams on the road in overtime against Mississippi state about what, 10 days ago and then the Vandy win on, on Wednesday, which was a, which was a definitive win. Like that was a. Came out scouted better, played better, we won. And then the A and M, which is also, you add in the factor that it's double ot, which is just great stuff. I was watching on Prestro at the Garden and it was just, it was a joy to keep up with that game. And you're doing it against A and M, Texas A and M, you know the not Oklahoma, not your biggest rival but that, that rivalry, no matter what teams are playing in that state. I know that means a lot to a lot of people and to get in under those circumstances is certainly interesting. I'll take the bubble stuff and then GP you can go where you want with the Texas right now as we speak this morning is 19 and 14. It's got Tennessee later today. If it were to lose to Tennessee, that's a 19 and 15 team. Fifteen losses would be the most for any team that is in the bubble discussion. I don't know what the hell you do with Texas. It has right now seven quad one wins overall with a loss. It will be 10 and 15 in Q1 and Q2 and it will be 12 and 15 in the top three quadrants. It is hard. I don't want to say it's impossible but if you are under 500 in the top three quadrants that's, that's a tough thing to sell. Its resume metrics average right now is 48.3. To me just as a general guide post it's not, it's not a hard and fast rule. You want to be 45th or better in, in your KPIs wins above bubble strength. The record doesn't mean you can't get if you're outside of it. But man you'd feel more comfortable if you're 45. Certainly if you're 40 or better. Texas isn't going to get there. If it beats Tennessee, I don't think there's any argument to keep them out personally. But I think it, I think it needs to win. When it comes to specifically what wins does it have in the non conference it's, it's aching. That is what is holding Texas back. The best win in non con play is against St. Joe's and the next one is at NC State. Not good stuff. It's on all of its damage and league play and it has wins over tournament teams because damn well look at the whole league practically is in the tournament. So you've got, you've got Mizzou, you've got at Oklahoma, you've got Kentucky at home, you've got Mississippi State, Bandy and Texas A and M. So they've done a lot. If you really start to burrow in and dig in on other teams that are on the cut line, it Gets really compelling because there's a lot of teams with a lot of different looking resumes and it's going to be really intriguing. My one thing to keep in mind for our viewers and listeners here, just remember this. When the teams that get into the field get in, it is 12 members that are voting. They all individually vote privately. No one else can see what they vote except the chair, Bubba Cunningham at the end gets to see Dan Gavitt, who oversees this whole damn thing but doesn't vote and doesn't tell team, you know, tell the people what they should. But he's just, he's just, he runs the tournament so he gets to see it as well. They will all submit everything and it becomes a, a voting and you know, almost like a ranked choice voting kind of deal here. So you very well could have a situation win or lose for Texas on on Friday where three, four, five people on the committee might have Texas in the field with three or four spots to spare. And you could have five, six, seven people on the committee that have Texas two, three, four spots outside the field and that could out that could outweigh it. Just keep that in mind when we get to the bracket. There's not universal agreement on this. It is a voting process and Texas's case is going to be as intriguing as anyone if it does not beat Tennessee. I could buy putting them in. I could buy not putting them in. My last thing. Parrish. I know I'm going a little long here, but I have to bring this up. The committee does not take into account what league you are in when it does this. And I know some people might say roll their eyes at it. Having gone through the mock exercise, I'm almost positive parish to this, all this all these years ago as well. It is, it is very easy to not let league affiliation play a role because of what you're looking at. The amount of different teams you're looking at home record. You know, now you're looking at wins of bubble, when's above bubble. You're looking at predictive metrics. You're looking at the teams that they have beaten and all that stuff. It's really not that hard if you actually go through it to do that. However, that being said, I think on some sort of level, maybe subconsciously, maybe consciously, and it won't even be spoken in the room. I do wonder, I do wonder when we're getting to the final two three teams that are in the field and the final two, three teams that are not in the field. I'm not saying it's right. And I'm not saying it's going to win the day. Will some committee members on some level be like, am I going to put the 14th team in the SEC out of this other team here? Are we going to do a 14th team? I just. I think that is going to at least. How could it not stir in the brain? GP I don't know if it'll have any impact whatsoever on Texas getting in or not, but I. The unprecedented nature of the SEC this year leads me to believe that is an unavoidable thing in terms of the deliberation process internally for every committee member, I would have Texas out of the field right now. If it beats Tennessee, I would have them in.
- [23:50]
Matt Norlander
As somebody who used to put together a bracket, I mean, computer screen out the whole deal. What you learn pretty quickly is the biggest misconception fans have about assembling a bracket is that you see or even think about number of teams from conferences. I would literally get through every time and I'd go, all right, I'll add it up. Yeah, that's the way it should be. That's the way I think it will be. And I would be disappointed if it's not at the end of it. If you've got three teams, you're looking at Texas plus two more. Just evaluate the resumes. Compare, contrast. Do it however you do it, but don't get caught up in any conversation about, this is the 14th team from the SEC, this is the fourth team from the ACC, this is the whatever team from the Big East. We're not thinking in those terms. You shouldn't be. I agree with you.
- [24:43]
Gary Parrish
But do you agree that it almost feels like it's impossible for it not to be part of the thought process because it's so many teams and the SEC has been so good and it's been such a dominant league this season? Parish. I just don't see how it doesn't enter in willingly or not into the thought process for maybe a few of the voters.
- [24:58]
Matt Norlander
Humans are humans. You got 12 of them making decisions. I would assume that 12 of them, that some of them might have that seep into their head. I just hope that they would stop themselves. How about this? It would pop into your head, perhaps, and then you should stop yourself and say, that's not what I'm here to do. All right? I'm here to evaluate this. At this point in the process, I'm. I'm evaluating this team against this team, this team, and I don't care where they're from nor should I that that's what I hope happens. Beyond that looks like today we get to see how big of a heart Rick Barnes has collusion. Let's see how big of a heart Rick Barnes really has.
- [25:36]
Gary Parrish
There's so much going on that I hadn't even thought about that.
- [25:40]
Matt Norlander
Everybody loves to tell you how great of a man Rick Barnes is. And from my personal experience, I co sign it. I love Rick Barnes. Let's see how big his heart is. Hey, Rick. I sounded like Sage Rick. Hey, Rick. Your former assistant and very close friend might need a win today to keep his job. How big's your heart? How big's your heart?
- [26:03]
Gary Parrish
I think you might want that one seed more.
- [26:04]
Matt Norlander
So we're about to see how big somebody's heart is. Texas, Tennessee is one of the SEC tournament quarterfinals. We're also going to get Auburn, Ole Miss today, Florida, Missouri today, Alabama, Kentucky today. And we will get Alabama Kentucky because you touched on it. Let's just. I just wanted to one more time. Just killing his former school 27 more last night. He got 28 on him the first time. Two wins. So that's wild. And now if it plays to seed today and who knows if it will but if it plays to see today. Saturday's SEC tournament semifinals could be number one Auburn versus number eight Tennessee and number four Florida versus number five Alabama. Relative to the AP poll, we might not have a Final Four with four teams that good.
- [26:55]
Gary Parrish
I know. It's really true. It's just awesome. By the way, the sec I am sure you if folks didn't catch on to this. Four games on Wednesday, four games on Thursday, four games on Friday. Like for the media folks that are actually there and doing like God bless you. That is my buddy Stephen Hartzell down there. He's doing that. That is just insane. The SEC and in general, again I'm today Parrish. Today could be the best day we have in the entire year. It's loaded. The SEC has incredible potential. Big time. We'll get that in a few but the sec. Yes. The semifinals of the sec and I would take the bet and I know you agree with me that right. What's going to be. How about this. When you add up the Ken Palm rankings of the four teams in the SEC semis, will that number be lower than the Ken Palm rankings at the time when we get to the Final Four? Yes. The SEC wins that I would say yes.
- [27:49]
Matt Norlander
Yes. Relative to computers, the SEC tournament semifinals I think are more likely to have four better teams collectively than the four teams that end up in San Antonio, which would just be another perfect little bullet point to have when we are looking back on the 20, 24, 25 SEC season and you're trying to think of all these ways to frame its dominance. That would be another little bullet point that would look neat on the page. Let's turn it to the Big 12 tournament semifinals are tonight. Houston, BYU, Texas Tech, Arizona. Cooper flags ankle injury got all the attention. Houston's Juwan Roberts also left Thursday's game with a spring ankle just 18 minutes in. It's a right ankle sprain. He's Houston's third leading score, leading rebounder, 11.1, 6.4 boards. He's not Cooper flag, but. But he matters to them. Last season, Houston loses Jamal Shed in the NCAA tournament. We'll see what happens with Roberts. But it just sort of. I realized yesterday I have, you know, because I got a million TVs on and it's. You can't look at a screen without seeing Cooper flag in a wheelchair. And I'm like, they, they're barely showing us Juwan Roberts. But that's a, that's a projected one seed that might have just lost a player too.
- [29:01]
Gary Parrish
Well, to that point, Paris, and some of this is I'm, I'm at the Garden for four games and there's a lot going on and I got the iPad out. I'm trying to go quad box on YouTube and it was actually pretty good. But there were some situations where there was a game that I wanted to watch and you couldn't quad box it and then you got to decide to punt on all that stuff. I knew that Roberts got hurt. I didn't see it happen in real time. I didn't, I didn't know what was going on there. So to your point, like it does. It actually does matter for him specifically Houston, Colorado is just not a game that's going to hit the radar overall and, and yeah, we wait and see. He's a very, very good player and that he means a ton to Houston. So that's a, that's a good point by you that you bring up, that you bring up there. Houston, I feel like, is locked. I want to say it's locked into the one. I just don't, I don't, I don't see how that's going to not be the case. The BYU game is fascinating. We can wait on this because, you know, GP doesn't think, I don't think he realizes this because I updated the doc since we started the show. But Houston, BYU Will be the and one of the final four and one. So we'll save that once we get there. Other Big 12 semi going down is Arizona versus Texas Tech. Arizona boots Kansas out of the field for the Big 12 tournament. Excuse me, on, on Thursday. And that's, you know, that's a quality game. These teams have met previously with Arizona beating Texas tech back on February 8th. That was a pretty, pretty definitive win. Prior to that Texas Tech won definitively as well. When it was on when or when. Yeah, when was it? Flip. No, I guess both teams won at home. Arizona won at home in Tucson. Texas Tech 1 at home in Lubbock. And now we get the rubber match here. That's a quality pair of semifinals on, on a Friday night in the Big 12 there. And you know, can make a case really. I mean, Parrish, I, I honestly believe this. Like you can make a case for any four of these teams that can wind up being the Big 12 tournament champion with what they have and how they've been playing. Arizona has not been consistent, obviously. I actually thought beating Kansas after, you know, it played Kansas back to back it lost at Fog Allen, then it gets the Jayhawks and was able to run away with them. But, but it's Tommy Lloyd. They got a good, they got a good squad and that's a, that's a quality, you know, pair of semi final games there out in KC I got.
- [31:09]
Matt Norlander
Some more BYU stuff. I'll just save it for the top 25 and 1. Let's keep it moving. Let's go to the Big Ten quarterfinals are today. Oregon, Michigan State, Wisconsin, UCLA, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Purdue. You didn't hear me say Indiana in the quarterfinals and that's because the Hoosiers were eliminated by Oregon. On you might remember a few weeks back, Purdue coach Matt Painter had some strong opinions about the, let's just say, toxic nature of a certain portion of the Indiana fan base. Last night, Omabalo, the transfer from Arizona who has enrolled at Indiana, had some similar comments about a certain segment of the Indiana fan base. Not all of it, just a part of it that has Twitter accounts and you know, just a part of it and nada. I think you've got it. Let's listen to what Balo had to say last night.
- [32:07]
Umar Balo
Let us down as a whole unit because we come here every single day. All we're trying to do is win for these people. But we lose one game, two games. The next thing you know your DM is crazy. You know, like deaf wishes, like death threats and stuff like that. Like nobody Want to live like that, you know, And I hope people like, they change stuff like that because this is not helping anybody.
- [32:32]
Matt Norlander
That was kind of some of the.
- [32:34]
Umar Balo
Vibe that you got this year. At the end of the day, we are human being. We have feelings, you know, just like you, you wake up, go to work and someone is wishing nothing by the words to you and your work, you know, it's mental draining and nobody want to deal with that for a whole five month season. It's too much to take in for players and for coaches. And I hope, man, they change, man, because it's time. Like they're not helping us. They're not helping anybody. Are you talking about IU fans, IU nation? I'm not talking about the true fans because I know they had our back. But the people who pretend to be fans and want nothing but the words for the team, I'm talking about those people. If you're not cheering for us, just leave us alone because at some point you have life, you know, go take care of that and let us handle our words.
- [33:24]
Matt Norlander
No later. Just what do you make of what Omar Balo said last night?
- [33:29]
Gary Parrish
It was, it was humanizing and you know, there was also. Coleman Hawkins was even more. This is a couple days ago when Kansas State lost in the big. Coleman Hawkins was inconsolable as he talked through the media. I actually really respect Coleman for being that emotional. He, Colin Hawkins is more like, I let the team down and I wanted to be better. But he did have, you know, allusions to what he actually mentioned earlier this year where he had been on the wrong end of a lot of really just abhorrent behavior online. And, and you see here from Umar Balo, which, you know, that's, that might be the first real quote clip from Balo in his long college career that, that really got serious traction and rightfully so. You know, kind of two things happening once here, Indiana's tournament resume, you really dive into it. And Hoosiers, there's just a few teams that I don't, that I don't feel particularly confident on either side of this debate. And I actually think Indiana is in that group right now. And then that's tied to the fact that it was a disappointing season this season and the fans are going to be the fans, at least, you know, the ones that like to claim their fans. But they're, you know, way over the top and completely out of bounds and, and the things that they're saying. And you know, I get it, you want fans to be passionate, to be invested but there's always going to be a fringe group. There just always is. And yeah, it's stuck to hear Balo kind of lay that, lay out the realities of, of what he and his teammates, you know, went through for the majority of the season.
- [34:54]
Matt Norlander
This can happen anywhere. I think it does happen lots of places. I believe NIL plays a major role in it.
- [35:02]
Gary Parrish
It's. It's only worsening it. Yes, yes. Which we said on this show and was completely predictable.
- [35:09]
Matt Norlander
Oh, yeah. I live in a city where Chandler Parsons got a 90 million dollar contract and was hurt the whole time. And every time you heard a fan complain about Chandler Parsons, the 90 million dollar figure was always a part of it. Always. And Coleman Hawkins had to deal with that all season. Two years ago, if Coleman Hawkins sucked, you know what people said about it? He sucks. You know what they said about him this year? Every day, he sucks. And he's making $2 million. He's the most overpaid player in college basketball. You don't deserve anything. You should pay us. You should pay us like we said in studio on CBS Sports Network. And people would make jokes about it and I would laugh. I don't want to act like I'm above it. You know, if, if things are funny, I'll laugh at them. But that's hard to deal with, man. And you saw it a couple nights ago, that young man came over him. And just if you're one of those people who are out there sending those tweets like that, just think about that's what you're doing to those people. That, that's what, that's how you're making them feel. You comfortable with that. As for the Indiana thing, the same way some Indiana fans scream, Matt Painter doesn't know what he's talking about, will now just scream. Paulo doesn't know what he's talking about because nobody ever knows what they're talking about except them. Right? And as I've acknowledged, this can happen anywhere, this type of stuff, and I think it does happen lots of places. But if you can tell me the other place in the entire country where in recent weeks the most accomplished college coach in your state was asked, just sort of open ended, what you, and what do you make of all this? And the main thing he said was your fans have to chill. Your fans are too much. This is your rivals, coach. Even he feels sorry for your coaches. All right? Most rivals hate the other coach. They hate their rival, the guy who coaches that. Here's, here's the Purdue coach saying, man, I Feel bad for the Indiana coaches. You know, I've. Where else is that happening? And then weeks later a player says the exact same thing. Like, do you realize you could ask former Indiana coaches, the current Indiana coach, media members, opposing coaches, rival coaches, current Indiana players, and they all have the same opinion about a certain segment and very loud portion of the Indiana fan base. So you can keep yelling that everybody who says you're crazy is actually the people who are crazy, or you could maybe realize that everybody but you has a similar opinion about you. Up to you. It's always up to you. You can do whatever you want. But go look at the Indiana basketball Wikipedia page and pick the accomplishments and tell me if you think it's going okay. If you, if you like what you're getting, keep doing what you're doing. But before you keep doing what you're doing, you, you better be sure you like what you're getting. And I can't imagine they like where this program has been for longer than it should have been.
- [38:20]
Gary Parrish
Well said, GP I know we got to keep it moving here. But real quick on Indiana, we mentioned it in the preseason, the non conference was an issue and now it's rearing its head. Indiana doesn't have a notable win outside of Big Ten play, period. And so all of its damage that was done was in the league. And if you're looking at the best wins right now at Michigan State, good. Home against Purdue, good. Then you're looking at what at Ohio State not going to be in the tournament. At Penn State, nowhere near the tournament. The resume metrics this morning with Indiana bringing it up here right now, 54 in the net average at 43 in resume metrics. So it's 35 at KPI 48 and strength of record 46 and wins above bubble. It's 8 and 13 overall in Q1 and it's 5 games sub 500 in Q1, Q2. It is a major sweat between now and 6 o'clock on Sunday for, for the Indiana Hoosiers. I'm not going to predict if they're in or out. In fact, I need to, I need to, I need to wait and see what we get here with the likes of Boise State on Friday, you know, Colorado State, which I think needs to win the Mountain west, but could, it could, could be a bit thief situation, that kind of spot there. Just gotta wait and see. One more win would have done it. But yeah, you're sitting, you're sitting there waiting and, and sweating. No doubt about it, you're out. Oregon is in Oregon. Michigan State is as a game to know. In fact let me, let's just. I know you were setting the table but I'll just run with it here because we do not have a Big Ten turn. Oh we do have. We have Maryland, Illinois, final four and one. So that's gonna be in the final four and one. But the bracket in the Big Ten is chalk 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 seats all move along to the Friday quarterfinals. You got green on green getting going first at noon here. Shortly after we're done wrapping up the show with Sparty and Oregon. Purdue and Michigan will be the late game. That'll bookend it. And then UCLA and Wisconsin get going approximately around 2:30 Eastern for the Big Ten. That's, that's, you know Illinois or Oregon doesn't, you know, whatever. Either way, Indiana's got the bigger fan base in that, in that region overall. But, but you get your top eight season. That's a, that's a really fun thing. By the way, on Oregon, if you had not been keeping track, this team has not lost in more than a month. It's now riding what I think is an eight game winning streak heading into its game against Michigan State.
- [40:34]
Matt Norlander
Indiana is last four in right now according to Jerry Palm and if you go look at his latest bracket it would have a matched up against the team you just mentioned, Boise State. According to Jerry Palm's latest bracket. First four in Dayton. Indiana against Boise State. Which will be an amazing opportunity for Boise state. Imagine being 0 and 10 all time in the NCAA tournament but then being able to get your first NCAA tournament victory against a blue blood program like Indiana. Wouldn't that be something we'll see.
- [41:01]
Gary Parrish
But yes, that is. Boise State has more appearances. One is the note they don't have a win. They've done something. Maybe they're in a multi bid league and they have more appearances ought to win than anyone. But yeah they got, they got to get off the shot.
- [41:14]
Matt Norlander
Got to get them one.
- [41:15]
Gary Parrish
But you gotta win. You gotta win the game. You gotta win. You have to win this game here. Yeah. Gotta win the game.
- [41:19]
Matt Norlander
All right, you ready to get to the final form one real quick?
- [41:23]
Gary Parrish
Actually before we do that, just Big Ten. We don't have to go crazy on carousel stuff. I do think before we preview I am anticipating movement here today. I keep an eye on Iowa, I keep an eye on Villanova. Minnesota fired Ben Johnson. So that job is already open there. NC State continues to look at its situation. It actually NC State's athletic Director flew to Houston to meet with Will Wade on Thursday. To be determined at this hour if he's like in the out and out front runner, if he's just, you know, one of two or three serious candidates that they're looking at. So as always, every single year we get to Thursday, Friday of conference tournament week, I'm most excited, invested and care about the games on the court. But the carousel stuff is GP's done plenty obviously before as well. He knows all too well that we've got, we've got a lot going on there, but now we are anticipating some, like we should have some openings happen here today. And with that, you know, it just creates a separate, it creates a new cycle kind of over here on the side. And I'm actually kind of surprised as we do this. We're approaching 10:30am and either on my phone or in my timeline, I don't think we have an update just yet. But I, you know, I think UCF has a real chance of opening as well. Maybe one or two of these coaches can, can stave it off and get another year. But there is an expectation that we are going to have multiple power conference jobs open today. And, and you know, that could obviously continue into the weekend in the Big Ten.
- [42:51]
Matt Norlander
Minnesota has opened just to connect a bunch of schools we've been talking about in recent minutes. Colorado State coach Nico Medved is from Minneapolis.
- [43:00]
Gary Parrish
Yep. So I don't know if he'll get the job. I think he is probably considered the most likely. But just keep an eye Ben McCollum who is, you know, I, we talked about on the show, we did the stair hit. Like I think he's, I think he's most likely. But you know, if Iowa opens, I think I was going to try hard against with him. Darren De Vries, he's from Iowa. Keep an eye on that. Maybe Minnesota tries to get like Ben McCollum whose team isn't playing right now because Drake's already in the tournament. Just one to keep an eye on and, and we'll see. We'll see the situation there. I actually think maybe Indiana's flirted with De Vries a little bit more than people might realize as well. But, but he's also had a, he's had a good job with a really good fan base and, and West Virginia, by the way. West Virginia is another team. West Virginian and Baylor, I think they're in. But like you start looking at that line and you look at the resume like there's a lot to pick from here and There, anyway, that's a whole different thing from the carousel. But, yeah, semi surprising fashion, but nonetheless, it is open. And I would think Nico Medved is the most likely candidate. But even saying that Parish, I'm saying, like, he's 45 and the rest of the field is 55. It's like, by no means do I think that's a foregone conclusion.
- [44:03]
Matt Norlander
He said, you never know how these things will go. There have been hires, I question that have turned out great. Hires I thought would be great, that turned out not so great. But he's the type of hire, from my perspective, you just go ahead and go A plus and move on. Like, that makes. So it makes perfect sense to me. One last thing, and then I promise we'll move on. And because I had somebody ask me this last night after the Balo clip went viral and I mentioned the Matt Painter thing and somebody asked on X like, can this impact a coaching search? Oh, yes. And it does. And I only bring this up because you mentioned Ben McCollum. Ben McCallum might be somebody who is literally picking between Indiana and Iowa the same way Dusty may got to pick Ben. Ben might get to pick. I don't know, but we'll see. He might get to pick. And on a very surface level, you just pick Indiana every time. Right. That's the bigger job. That's. It's Indiana. What are we talking about? But there is a certain type of person who would say, I don't want to deal with that. I don't want my kids to have to deal with that. I don't want my wife to have to deal with that. That's a real thing that these people do consider. And it doesn't mean it will prevent Indiana from hiring exactly who Indiana want, whatever. But it is something people talk about. If you don't think what Matt Painter said about being the coach at Indiana and what Ballo said about what it's like being a player at Indiana, if you don't think that is heard by Indiana candidates and considered to some degree, you're out of your mind. It is something they talk about.
- [45:37]
Gary Parrish
Oh, yeah, yeah. No, that's. Again, it's not gonna prevent anyone. But this is. It's 100. I mean, in years past, literally, this thing has come up when I've. When I've talked and checked in on coaches that are, you know, what do you think about this job? And what do you think about, you know, the situation that. But with either fan support or potential fan toxicity with multiple spot this 100. It's you know, it might be, you know, 8% of the equation just this much of what they're doing, but it 100 is. Is a thing not with every guy, but with plenty of them. Keep an eye on all of that and. And see what emerges. I guess I'll also add this. Villanova lost to. To Yukon in the Big east and we'll think a little bit to more of that when we get the final four and one, but you know, Nova lost. I happened to be talking with Hurley afterwards, so I actually had to leave Neptune's press conference. My understanding was he was asked about his job, but he more or less said and if it wasn't the presser, I think one of the beat writers got him one on one leaving. And I'm going off our buddy Jeff Borzello who told me after the fact he might have said, you know, can't really talk about that like we just lost the game. Non answer, essentially. But yeah, my understanding is that. That that search has not begun, but it is expected to initiate.
- [46:52]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, that's got to be over. I mean. Yeah. I don't say purposes.
- [46:56]
Gary Parrish
I think it initiates over the weekend and it is a matter of when they want to put out this release.
- [47:00]
Matt Norlander
That's right. I mean, I like Kyle. I was hoping this would go well. Honestly hoping it would just go well because I bet this hurts Jay. Right. On some level.
- [47:09]
Gary Parrish
I haven't talked to Jay about it. Knowing Jay. You knowing Jay.
- [47:12]
Matt Norlander
Yeah.
- [47:12]
Gary Parrish
I have to imagine he is seriously busted up because he wanted Kyle Neptune to be the coach of. For 20 years. And that's just not going to be the case. And. And that is not an easy thing by any means.
- [47:21]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, no, like when you. What you're hoping is you are Gene Katie and he is Matt Painter, you know.
- [47:27]
Gary Parrish
Yes. Right.
- [47:29]
Matt Norlander
You get the point. And it just. It's. It just hasn't worked. And it's. It's. That is the most obvious place where you. You don't have to be angry about it. You don't have to yell and scream. You just say, hey, man, this has not worked and we got to do something different. And that. That's. That's what's gonna. That's what's gonna happen there. You ready to provide some expert picks?
- [47:49]
Gary Parrish
Let's. Let's do it. I don't even want to talk about what happened last weekend. I don't know the records. I don't need to know the records. Let's pick some games. Friday's gonna be phenomenal. Let's go first.
- [47:58]
Matt Norlander
Let's get a word from our partners.
- [47:59]
Gary Parrish
You know partners. Let's go.
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Gary Parrish
Okay.
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- [49:01]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, sure thing. Hey, you sold that car yet?
- [49:05]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, sold it to Carvana. Oh, I thought you were selling to that guy. The guy who wanted to pay me in foreign currency, no interest over 36 months. Yeah, no. Carvana gave me an offer in minutes, picked it up and paid me on the spot. It was so convenient.
- [49:21]
Matt Norlander
Just like that.
- [49:22]
Gary Parrish
Yeah. No hassle? None. That is super convenient. Sell your car to Carvana and swap. Hassle for convenience.
- [49:29]
American Express Representative
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- [49:31]
Matt Norlander
And now it's time for the final 401 presented by FanDuel Sportsbook. Make every moment more. I won't tell you the records, but we had the same record last week.
- [49:40]
Gary Parrish
Okay? You and I don't even want to know. It could be 4,04 and 1,5,02 and 3.
- [49:46]
Matt Norlander
None of that. It wasn't any of those, okay? It wasn't any of those. The record wasn't any of those. But we did have the same records, which means I remain, I believe, four games behind you. Game one, Friday, 1pm Eastern. It's number three, Auburn versus Ole Miss inside Dolly Parton Arena. You can watch it on ESPN. Auburn -11 and a half. Bruce Pearls. Tigers, of course, on a two game losing streak. Do they have to win today to secure the number one overall suit?
- [50:17]
Gary Parrish
This isn't a complaint. This is just an accounting matter. I think this is now the fourth straight show.
- [50:22]
Matt Norlander
11Th straight show. It's the 11th straight show. I have asked you because Auburn need to win.
- [50:27]
Gary Parrish
I mean I, I think they probably have it. Regardless. If you're wondering if these team. What happened previously when these teams met, I think they, they played twice. Auburn won both of them and won both of them. One of the. Oh yeah. Remember one of them was. Was the mutilation. It was like a 30 point win. Yeah. You said 11 and a half.
- [50:44]
Matt Norlander
11 and a half.
- [50:45]
Gary Parrish
I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna be consistent. Probably be consistently wrong. You know, I'm going back to my old ways. Lord forgive me for I'm about to go back to the old me. You know the bug is funny the meme and that by that I mean I'm, I'm riding with Auburn. I think they are going to really show up and show out and be awesome here over the next three days. I think they have one. I think they get two comfortable double digit wins and one one fight. I don't think the fight happens here against Ole Miss. I like Auburn to win, Auburn to cover.
- [51:17]
Matt Norlander
Fight could happen on the flight home from the SEC tournament between teammates.
- [51:21]
Gary Parrish
That'd be. You know what, that'd be a hell of a way to come full circle before the NCAA tour tournament. Maybe just for all time's sake. Really? If they lose it. Maybe if they lose to the Rebels, they're like we gotta, we gotta get that spirit back in. Someone hit someone please. That. Yeah. Although it's Nashville. Yeah. That's a flight. They definitely flew. That's too far to drive. No doubt.
- [51:37]
Matt Norlander
Yeah. You sound like a man who doesn't respect Sean Padula.
- [51:41]
Gary Parrish
Dude. Big time shot kind of lost in the shuffle of a very awesome Thursday. Padula who does not shy from the moment. He is that guy. That was some good stuff.
- [51:52]
Matt Norlander
Made the shot. Ole Miss into the. I'm from the sip. All right. I, I'm. I'm operating as a. At a four game deficit and I'm from the sip. So you know what I have to do. I've got to take the Rebels plus 11 and a half. Game 2 Friday 6:30pm Eastern. St. John's vs. Marquette inside Rick Patino arena in midtown Manhattan. You can watch it on Fox. St. John's minus four and a half.
- [52:25]
Gary Parrish
Big east was a lot of fun on Thursday. I'll pick the Game. But let me at least invoke this. DePaul got Creighton to double OT. Also blew like a 14 point or 17 point lead, whatever it was. Biggest lead of the season. DePaul has never made the Friday semifinals. Paris, when you're sitting in studio and I was, you know, what, 20 blocks south of you or whatever, were we thinking the same thing? DePaul's actually going to do this. I thought, I really thought it was like the leads big enough, they're going to get, they're going to get this done. I thought they were going to be in the semis on Friday. Did you think that too?
- [52:59]
Matt Norlander
Well, of course. Like when you're, when one basketball team's up 17 on the other one, I assume that, like, all right, we'll get this done. Unless, you know, the other one's got Steph Curry or something like that. So, Yeah, I thought DePaul was doing it and we were going to get to have fun with that. And yeah, now look, and now look.
- [53:14]
Gary Parrish
Well, you know what, though? I did, I did, I did get some, some good chat with, with Holtman after and you know, big, big jumper to Paul. We'll move on to the teams that matter. But just if people aren't aware they were three or nine at Ken Palm last year as we speak here this morning, let me bring up the exact. DePaul is ranked. DePaul at KenPom is 117. So, you know, that's 190 jump year over year. So some good gains there for Holtman. Good job in year one and see if they can, you know, if the goal isn't to be a 14 and 19 team, the goal is to get above.500 and get to the tournament and all that kind of stuff. But that was Crane. DePaul was not an appealing matchup whatsoever. And it wound up being the most exciting and fun of the four games that I experienced there. St. John's Butler was nothing. Xavier, Marquette, Xavier lost. Talk to Sean Miller after. Let me just shoehorn a couple things in here because we're not going to talk again until after the bracket comes out. Xavier has two Quad one wins that refreshed overnight. I don't know if you saw that Parrish. So it's not, it's, it's now different from Carolina in that regard. And keep in mind, and I do wonder if this will play a factor or not, they did not have Fremantle in a two point loss to Marquette and in like a four or five point loss against UConn. That was in overtime. They didn't have them in those games. And I don't know if it will be a deciding factor. But Xavier's. Xavier's yet another. You look at the resume, there's no bad losses. There are one or two games under.500 in Q1, Q2. There's a lot going on there. They blew the lead. You know, unfortunately this has been a thing all season long because I'm talking with Sean about it where they just in park as a point guard play and some other stuff. They just have not been able to sustain big leagues and it really folded on him. Conwell had 38 and almost carried this team to a win. But credit to Marquette and Shaka. Smart. Cam Jones is awesome. There's a whole. There's a whole list of reasons why that was a lot of fun. Four or five game. Marquette moves along here. I don't know if Xavier will be in or not or not. It will not surprise me if they're in the field. But that's yet another team. Seems hard to read overall. So. So you had that UConn one. We'll have UConn play against Crazy Friday night in the second game. Looking forward to that A ton. And then to this pick here. And then it's all you to comment. GP 4 and a half. I will go with the Johnny's. And I and I. The fan base in this building is going to be like they were just okay yesterday because it was Butler. Boy oh boy. Friday night double header Garden goosebumps right now. This is going to be awesome. Marquette can win the game. No doubt. No doubt on that. But I will take St. John's to continue its strut here throughout the league. And, and you say four and a half. That's if literally GP if it was five and a half, I'd probably take Marquette. But. But what the hell. I'll be wrong again. Give me the Johnny's to win and cover.
- [55:57]
Matt Norlander
We just did this. We just did this last. We did this last Saturday.
- [56:03]
Gary Parrish
I'll tell you real quick. Shaka mentioned that it was kind of a cool moment. Oh and I actually, I forgot to mention something else too. Side note. I did an hq. I did an HQ hit in the Marquette locker room because they had left and it was the changeover. It was the second game. So there was no one coming in. There was no one soon to get there. And so there's this. There's a security guard. I was like, hey listen, I've done some, some hits for TV before in here. Can I just Can I dip in? And he said, yeah, that's fine. I was like, just don't let anyone come in. I'll be out in like nine minutes. You were on the desk in New York, so you didn't see it. Dude, I'm doing this Marquette hit, talking about Xavier on the bubble and a janitor comes in, right? The door is right behind me. The janitor comes in. Parrish, I'm talking to you like this. He's right here. There's a garbage can right next to me. Like I'm talking like this. Going, I'm going all the way in on Xavier's resume. And this dude could not give less of a damn.
- [56:56]
Matt Norlander
No, they don't care.
- [56:57]
Gary Parrish
They don't even know garbage right next to me. And I, and I side eyed him. I'm not kidding when I tell you I was a half second away of just like, like really rolling with it and being like, hey buddy musketeers, what have you got on Xavier? I really almost went there. I got really close. He's got the, he's got the garbage can on wheels. Rolling it behind me. And Chris Hassell was hosting the segment. It was incredible. Like it made for a funny moment and it didn't train wreck the segment. But I asked the security guard outside the door, I was like, we're good, right? Like, just don't let anyone come in. And. And lo and behold, like eight minutes later, this guy comes just stroll. It was, it was incredible him.
- [57:32]
Matt Norlander
So I, I was hoping you were going to say it was Dwyane Wade.
- [57:34]
Gary Parrish
That would have been. Oh, that would have been incred. That would have been even better if it was, if it was Dwyane Wade. I had another thought that I've completely sidetracked on. Oh, Cam Jones. In the post game you talked about the St. John's rematch. Shocker. Smart reference. Didn't call it. You know, that was their senior night. But you know what? We can make the senior month. But as Shock is talking, Jones is to his right. And just like the memory of like the St. John's ending in the game, he's there and he goes, damn. He's just sitting there, just like screams it to himself. Like, I can't believe we lost that game. Like he was like, it was like half serious, half joking. Love Cam Jones, man. Like awesome, awesome player. They will be ready for this game. Has awesome potential. I'm already half regretting picking the Johnny's, but. But I'll stick with the minus four and a half. Go ahead.
- [58:18]
Matt Norlander
Cam Jones is My little homie from Memphis. What do you want me to do?
- [58:21]
Gary Parrish
He's awesome.
- [58:23]
Matt Norlander
Before that story, I was just gonna ride with Rick Patino because that seems like I've been doing that for a little while. All right, but then you tell me a story about my little homie from Memphis. What am I supposed to do? Marquette plus four and a half. Oh, with St. John's by the way.
- [58:38]
Gary Parrish
Yeah.
- [58:38]
Matt Norlander
Four and four in quadrant one right now. We had Dan Gavin on Inside College Basketball last night and I asked him specifically about Saint Giants because I do think this is interesting. Four and four in quadrant one. That that's not going to measure up to any of the other elite schools. It's just not like Auburn, Houston, Duke. You can't touch it with that.
- [58:57]
Gary Parrish
Yeah.
- [58:58]
Matt Norlander
And they can't get there. They can add some good stuff but they're never going to be able to get there from a two more. But the thing we reference more often than anything else is quadrant one. And their quadrant one is never going to be as good as the other great teams. But they only have four losses by a total of seven points. They're the outright Biggies champs. They could be Biggie's tournament champs. They've got an all time great coach. The biggies player of the year. Like what do you do with. What do you do with that? Because you could. It is more believable to me that this is one of the four best teams in the country than it is that this is a team that should be a 3 seed on selection Sunday.
- [59:34]
Gary Parrish
There's. I'll rant about it Sunday. If St. John's wins the Big east tournament isn't on the two line. I will rant. There will be no justification for keeping off the two line for. Because again how many games you win should matter and how few losses you have. Should that. That should. That should win out. Out. I want to have faith in the committee even with some really good teams on that two line. And if like you know, Texas Tech is better than people realize more from a resume perspective. I don't care if St. John's double sweeps the Big east. And even if it's only a 4 bid, Big east in that situation, Xavier doesn't get in. I don't want to hear it should be on the two line in that situation with again four losses, seven points. Now you lose a Marquette, conversation's over. I get it. But they haven't lost the Marquette yet. So let's see what happens.
- [60:13]
Matt Norlander
Right? Yeah. Like at some point if you don't if they win the Big east tournament, you don't at least get them up to a two at some point. You're just penalizing them because Seton hall had no nil. And other things like that, that had nothing to do with St. John's or Rick Patino. I, I would think that that would feel wrong to me. We'll see where it goes tonight. Marquette plus four and a half. For no other reason than Norlander told me a neat story about Cam Jones. Game 3, Friday, 6:30pm Eastern. Maryland against Illinois inside Caitlin Clark fieldhouse. You can watch it on a Big Ten network. Maryland minus one and a half. The Terps are seven and one in their past eight.
- [60:53]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, that's just it. I thought you had another thought there.
- [60:58]
Matt Norlander
No, I'm looking at the clock. We gotta get going, baby.
- [61:00]
Gary Parrish
Okay. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Illinois look good. Grab five. I think Maryland can actually win this, this conference tournament here. Here. Yeah, we do need to get going. Illinois was Illinois yesterday. From. From. They win 106.94. They beat Iowa. I'm just checking the three point shooting here because I know they were. They were spicy. Yet again they go 12 of 26 from 46. Man, tough game. This is one of the games where both teams are usually in the field. Like does it. Does the loser like get affected one bit by the sea line? I actually don't think whatsoever. What the hell. I'll take Maryland.
- [61:41]
Matt Norlander
I'm also a Terrapin. Maryland minus one and a half. Game 4, Friday, 9:30pm Eastern. Boise State against New Mexico inside the Greg Maddox Center. You can watch it on CBS Sports Network. New Mexico minus one and a half. Boise State safe or you better win one more.
- [62:03]
Gary Parrish
I don't think they have a chance if they lose. They have a. They have a quad four and a quad three loss. They have a, they have a win and a loss in all four quadrants. Resume metrics average outside the top 50. I. I think it is mandatory that Boise State wins this game. New Mexico is safe. We'll see if Richard Patino wants to invoke himself in some. Some league bid collusion here. Quality game. CBS Sports Network. I will have this on the iPad 100 as I'm. As I'm there at the Big east tournament. New Mexico has been really, really good. That line is tight. I will. I will take Donovan Dent has another awesome. I'll take Lobos to win. I know you and your Boise State Bronco shorts you want the. The other outcome there to maximize on on Mountain west.
- [62:44]
Matt Norlander
But I will go Richard Patino, you mentioned Donovan Dent. Mountain West Conference player of the year, awesome story, goes to New Mexico. I, I said this the other night on Inside College Basketball. We have transfer waivers. We have nil. Players should do whatever they want, move whenever they want. I don't care. But I do like the stories that are more traditional college basketball stories. And Donovan Dent's got one of those, goes to New Mexico, you know, averages five points a game as a freshman. I'm sure he didn't love his role, but, you know, he came back for sophomore year, third leading score last year, watches, you know, JT Toppin go off to Texas Tech and comes back and now he's a leading scorer on a very good team, going to the NCAA tournament, Mountain West Conference player of the year. Just awesome stuff from him. You work CBS Sports Network. You're going to watch a lot of New Mexico games late at night on a Tuesday or Wednesday or whenever. He's been terrific all season. Fun team. But I do have Boise State shorts. What do you may say? Top three shorts. I think my top three shorts are Mets shorts, Boise State shorts, and North Carolina Central shorts. I'm rocking North Carolina Central shorts right now.
- [63:50]
Gary Parrish
There we go. There we go.
- [63:52]
Matt Norlander
I'm going. I'm taking Boise State. Boise State wins today. Punches a ticket. Big picture, probably good for the Mountain West.
- [63:59]
Gary Parrish
Yes, for sure. Okay, I got the N1 before. Just real quick. Today's, Today's slate is insane. I think that today has the potential to be the best day of the entire season. Tournament's great, great. But the amount of teams playing today and the quality of the matchups, the schedule is insane. Starting with VCU in the A10 tournament at 11:30. Going all the way to the late tip. Utah State, Colorado State. That's a, that's an approximately midnight Eastern tip on CBS Sports Network. You gonna be in studio that late, GP or no?
- [64:29]
Matt Norlander
No, I got a day shift. I'm like, if you're wondering why we're on a clock, I've got call time in about 14 minutes.
- [64:35]
Gary Parrish
Okay, we're almost done. We're almost done. Hey, listen, for the podcast. They'll understand. Well, but we're going to hustle here. The. The biggest window, though, is your dinner time. Post dinner time window. Illinois, Maryland, Marquette, St. John's Carolina, Duke, Missouri, Florida, BYU, Houston, which we're going to get to, amongst plenty of others. GP I'm just geeked about this day. This is, this is absolutely loaded. I. In fact, I can't remember a fright. Friday is always fun. This Feels like the most stacked Friday I can remember in conference tournament season. BYU, Houston is the N1 game game. It is Houston -7 as we speak here. I'll be quick on this. Houston. I know you have some stuff on byu. I will take the Cougars inside that number. Houston. Houston's been awesome, but I will ride the momentum here. And I like BYU to keep this a close game, if not win outright.
- [65:23]
Matt Norlander
Byu. I mentioned earlier I had some stuff on them. They won nine straight. Started six and six of the Big 12. Now 14 and six since February 11th. BYU is nine zero. Number one in adjusted offense, 54 in adjusted defense. The top five@bartorvic.com since February 11th. Are these teams in this order? Number one, Duke. Number two, BYU. Number three, Houston. Number four, Auburn, and number five, Florida Cougs.
- [66:04]
Gary Parrish
Then more of them.
- [66:06]
Matt Norlander
All right. Okay. Oh, this might be a. This could be a moment. This could be a moment. This could be a moment. In the podcast, are we both going to identify as them?
- [66:15]
Gary Parrish
Well, I'm taking. I'm taking the Cougs to cover.
- [66:21]
Matt Norlander
I've spent the overwhelming more majority of my life being an us. I don't even know what it's like to think about being a them. It never even occurred to me to try it. For as long as I can remember, I was trying to be a us. I won't say I was successful initially, but I got there. All I ever wanted to be was a us. That's all I ever wanted to be. Could I try to be a them today? Yeah, let's do it.
- [66:48]
Gary Parrish
Let's do it.
- [66:49]
Matt Norlander
Give me byu. I'm gonna be a them today. How do you even do it? How do you do it? What should I do the rest of the day?
- [66:55]
Gary Parrish
I don't think you can drink hot liquid. Hot liquids. I think that's part of it. Something like that.
- [67:03]
Matt Norlander
Ice lattes, no problem.
- [67:04]
Gary Parrish
Okay. There you go, BYU fans. You got. You got some good stuff. We have to get out of here. But I have to mention two things before we go. Number one, John Paquette is retiring from the Big East. He is the comms director, has been there for 35 years.
- [67:17]
Matt Norlander
Legend.
- [67:18]
Gary Parrish
I'm so sad to see him go. Every single coach is giving him love. The first thing that these coaches are saying at the post game practice conference is addressing Paquette, who's on the dais there, and he's getting his flowers. It's incredible. A real quick story. Before I got to CBS in 2009, I ran college Hoops Journal, which was an independent website. And I was, you know, I was on the grind. I was a sports editor of two different weekly newspapers in Connecticut. I was doing, I think at this time actually I don't even know if I was part time at Yahoo yet. I applied for a Big east credential. I got rejected because this was just about the last phase of like independent websites and blogs not getting credential for this kind of stuff. And thankfully we were quickly out of that era, literally within a year or two. But I got denied. However, one of my great all time friends who lives in New York City, who I went to college with, she said, you know what, you can come down, you can stay with me. Because I said I'm going to go anyway. I'm going to go to the Garden, I'm going to show up and still try and get a credential. So I go to the Garden, I take the train in at like 7:30. I just want to get in the building because I had experienced this a couple times before. Long story short, happened to know someone who knew someone who was the head doctor of msg. So in like 0506 like I actually went and got like this special tiny credential that I still have that allowed me. I didn't have a seat, but I went backstage and I remember asking Jim Boeheim a question at the press conference after like the 2006 Biggies tournament, all this kind kind of stuff. So I'd been there and I wanted to experience it properly with the credential. I get to the Garden and it's Jean Paquette who is all of 5 1, 52 and if you don't his natural like, his natural like he can have like a little bit of a, of a serious face. I don't want to say a scout, but if you don't know. So I get there, I say, hey, my name is Matt Norlander, I run College Hoops Journal. I applied for credential. I'm not sure if it went through or not, but yeah, if it's possible I would love to just have the opportunity to cover the Biggies tournament today. And he goes, he looks at me, he goes, Norlander, yeah, I remember you. You were a no. And I was like, okay, there's not any possibilities like sorry, we can't help you. So tail between my legs, I turn around and I leave. That was the day that Syracuse and UConn played six overtimes. That was the day. And I wound up watching that game next door to the Garden with one of my buddies who went to Syracuse which was another fun all time memory. But the point is this impression of John Paquette was like here's a guy who's 5:1 and I am terrified of this dude. He told me he is in all these years he is phenomenal. He is incredible. He is widely respected. I am so bummed that he is leaving. I. I know we're up against the clock GP I had to give him his flowers and my first impression. Sometimes I say first impressions make a lasting one. Not with Paquette. I've told him this story a couple of times. He deserves every bit of love. I There is something about hearing his voice. Yukon's on its way after the press conference, giving the stats before everything. Man, he's awesome. He's earned retirement. But I'm sad to have him leaving. One more thing then it's you and you can close it up. We lost John Feinstein unexpectedly on Thursday. He is one of the most influential and important sports journalists his country has ever had. He had an a deep, deep, deep, deep devotion to college basketball on a level that I very much identify with because of how much he loved the mid major game. He has been the author of some of the most important sports books period ever. He unexpectedly died. Hoops Weiss is here in New York. One of his close friends. I got to talk with Hoops a little bit. Brendan Quinn wrote a story that I haven't yet read but I know is going to be phenomenal because BQ is phenomenal. And this has really made major and understandably like huge ripple effects around the sports world and college basketball. The fact that it like this is his time and, and losing Feinstein period at this, at this time is any time is depressing. But like three days before Selection Sunday apparently it might have been a heart issue. Happened unexpectedly on Thursday. He was supposed to speak at a coaches versus cancer saying in Philly on Monday with Dana O'Neill, our friend who is here. So very sad somber day. I can't believe Feinstein's gone. He was a huge bulldog champion for media on a lot of stuff that a lot of people don't realize. He stood on what he believed in. He wrote a seminal book on Bob Knight. If you know anything about college basketball and you're over the age of 30, you know who John Feinstein was. So I know we're up against the clock here GP But I could not get out of this show today because next one's gonna be Selection Sunday. You know John Feinstein legend gonna be dearly missed and I and it truly breaks My heart and a lot of people are rattled by this. Coaches, everyone. I Talked with Ian O'Connor last night, who said he got into book writing because of John Feinstein, you know, Connors incredible author and Paquette retiring. So, you know, I know that's a little bit of long speech for me, but I had to give people their flowers and, yeah, we've got. We've got all these great games, but there's a lot of. A lot of twisted and torn emotions with a lot of stuff here.
- [72:03]
Matt Norlander
When I saw the Feinstein stuff pop across the timeline, yeah, I was like, what? Like, it was like, what? Yeah, like, I didn't even know how to.
- [72:10]
Gary Parrish
Dana O'Neill came up to me and Borzella and was like, hey, listen, like, Hoops just told me, like, I think Feinstein died. And I'm like, what? Like getting it in person from someone when it hadn't yet been official. It was. It was. It was between games, and it was definitely rattling.
- [72:25]
Matt Norlander
Yeah. Like, I had this memory yesterday. You know, you get hired at CBS Sports from a newspaper, you feel like that. You feel like you accomplished something, right? And I got hired in July 2006. Literally. My first assignment was to go to Sonny Vaccaro's ABCD camp in Teaneck, New Jersey. I got hired in July, like, July 1st, and I took off to Sonny's camp and, you know, flew in, got the rental car, whole thing, park it at the gym, and coincidentally, two spots over parking at the exact same time. John Fonstein. I don't normally do this because I'm. I just don't normally introduce myself to people, but I felt, why not? Mr. Feinstein. Gary Paris, CBS. Boy, he couldn't have been nicer. We go inside and I just. I have this memory. My first ever day actually working for CBS Sports. I sat next to John Feinstein and watched grassroots basketball games and at Sonny's ABCD camp. Right. I have that. And then subsequently, I would do radio with him sometimes. He would do radio with me sometimes. I don't ever want to suggest, like, we were best friends, but we. I did spend time with him and just an incredible, incredible talent. As for John Paquette at the Commercial Appeal realignments happening. This is like 2003. This is two more than two decades ago. I go to the biggie spring meetings, guys running the whole thing, John. And it's like. And so you are Gary Parrish, from where? Commercial, Pill, Newspaper. Memphis. So. So what? What are you here for? I have been trying to get Memphis into a different conference for two decades. And it started, started in Florida at the biggest meetings that John was there and he's been tremendous. Like I'm sort of trying to picture him talking to you outside the garden today. I could, I could, I could see it being something like this. Yeah, we, we can't help you. You're gonna need to get on your way. You're gonna need, you need to go. You're gonna need to get on your way, fella.
- [74:21]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, yeah, it was. And you know what?
- [74:23]
Matt Norlander
I knew that was like a legend, a real legend.
- [74:25]
Gary Parrish
I had to try and, and he's just, he's incredible and, and there's a lot of great people that do stuff like, like him, but he is on the short list of all time greats and everything you see here, read about John Paquette. It's all accurate and yeah. So anyway, I know we're running late. You got your call time at AT network. But thanks for, you know, indulging. And folks, read up on both those guys. One of us, one of them.
- [74:47]
Matt Norlander
Who is unfortunately no longer shots to Devin Downey. Shots just to South Carolina Terry Teagle legend Huck 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 podcasts, Apple, Spotify, more of us than there are of them. We'll talk to you again real soon. I guess we'll have a bracket next time we talk.
- [75:06]
Gary Parrish
Selection Sunday, late Sunday, get ready live show. We'll have you covered as always. I can't wait for it, Parish.
- [75:13]
Matt Norlander
Can't wait. See you later. Till then, take care.
- [75:21]
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- [75:24]
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