← Eye On College Basketball
Eye On College Basketball
EOCBB on CBSSN: No DP? NP. Kansas ends Arizona’s undefeated season; February refresh on top NCAA title contenders, NPOY race and overrated/underrated teams
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- [00:00]
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- [00:34]
Matt Norlander
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- [02:07]
Gary Parrish
Hey there, I am Gary Parish. Welcome back to the Ion College Basketball Podcast here on CBS Sports Network where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, dodo birds and leaky black. Matt Norlander is here with me and we'll both be here with you for the next hour talking college hoops and the place to start obviously is Allen Fieldhouse because that spirit where the game of the night took place last night. Final score number nine Kansas 82 number one Arizona 78. No Darren Peterson. No problem for the Jayhawks. Norlander we will get to the presumed number one pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, missing yet another game under, let's just say, unusual circumstances. But first, let's just spend some time on the scene in Lawrence. Everything about it about as good as it gets between Yukon, St. John's on Friday, Duke North Carolina on Saturday, Michigan, Illinois on Saturday, Kansas, Arizona on Monday. College basketball's on quite a little run here.
- [03:05]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, it's on a heater. And that environment pulsing through the TV screen here in my office last night, I know you're in. You're in the hotel in midtown Manhattan watching that and just incredible environment. You know, Allen Field House is just a place that you need to get to. If you've never been, You've been there, I've been there. It's a phenomenal place. And you're a building truster, obviously, I'm a building lover and I love that building and I love what those buildings can do for this sport in the thick of conference season. And yes, the game going in unexpectedly, like literally less than 30 minutes before tip got a downgrade and a curveball with no Peterson. We'll get there in a second. But even without him on the floor, Kansas showed up in such impressive fashion. Arizona played a nice game until about, I don't know, six and a half to go, when it just, it felt like the. The Fog Allen gods put a lid on that rim. They could not score from close. They missed a ton of bunnies. Mighty impressive by Kansas. And I think my biggest takeaway from the game was in absence of Peterson being available. You saw how well Flori Badunga played again with his double double. Melvin Council junior Although he did not have a nice night shooting from the field, he still had numerous moments in that game where he was propelling Kansas forward to the chance to win the game. Obviously, even Trey Wright, who didn't have a big night hit, had some key foul shots down the stretch. McDowell played well. Bryson Tiller had good moments. To me, it feels like the Kansas win has to be so morale boosting in that locker room. Not that they didn't think they were good. They knew they were good. You had the undefeated number one team at full strength in your building. You took the punches, you were shorthanded, and you won it without Peterson. I think that this win has a shelf life that will last into March. Whenever they get caught in a big moment in the Big 12 semis or the Big 12 title game or in a Sweet 16 matchup, you go back to this specific win. Now, they still got to go to play at Arizona in a couple of weeks, Paris at the end of this month. So who knows how that'll go and if Arizona will exact a damning revenge on the Jayhawks. But whatever. You got that win and you're building and you could see it on Bill Self's face. That was the kind of night where it will probably rank among the 10 or 12 most memorable wins of his entire career, considering the circumstances. And I would be remiss to not mention that the past couple of years, up and down for Kansas standards. A lot of frustration in and around that program by the fan base. And now this team is such a drastic personality change. I loved what I saw on Monday.
- [05:49]
Gary Parrish
And Lawrence, I thought the visuals connected to Bill Self after the game were notable. He's a pretty even kill guy. I've seen him win Final four games and not look that overjoyed. I've seen him win Final Four games and not be that satisfied. And he even said multiple times last night, like, we didn't play well, but what a win. And he did say, I think the quote was this place won the game tonight. Allen Fieldhouse won this game tonight. And it really, it really did feel like that. And because we were active on social media last night, you get a lot of feedback from Kansas fans. And you know, I got some where you could just pick up on the vibes are really good right now. And like you noted, they haven't been that way for at least a few years. The program has dipped. Bill's had his health concerns. The Darren Peterson thing has just been weird. But last night, you know, scrappy, underdog Kansas found a way to win a game. Melvin cancel wasn't efficient, but he was impactful. And the feedback I was getting from Kansas fans is they are falling in love with this team. They are frustrated by the Darren Peterson experience, but they are falling in love with the Melvin Council era of Kansas basketball. And I do think that's notable in the transfer era, where it feels like so many players are just hired guns and they're bouncing from one campus to other. I, I know I've talked to coaches, I'm certain you have, too, who feel like they've lost something connected to their program, that the players don't care about it the way that they wish they would because they're only here for a few months and they weren't here last year and they probably won't be here next year. But just because that, that might be a thing, it doesn't have to be the thing. And Melvin Council is perhaps an example of that. You talk to Bill Self, you listen to anybody around that program. He has immersed himself in that campus, immersed himself in the history, immersed himself in that program. And that logo means something to him. And you know, Book and Fran had the call last night and I think they told the story at one point where he just sort of said somebody's got to lead this team. Nobody seems to be wanting to do it. I guess. I guess I'm gonna make it my team. And it looks like it's his team. Darren Peterson's the star. Sure. But that's Melvin Council's team and it was a. It was a fun outfit. They're on a roll right now.
- [08:23]
Matt Norlander
Yeah. And we'll, you know, just. Just as a. A general reminder for folks that might be thinking like, all right, Council, okay, he came from St. Bonaventure. Is this his last season? No, this is his third year of. Of Division 1 ball. He started at Wagner, then played at Bonaventure. Is now Kansas should be poised to. To log another season next season with. With ku. I believe his eligibility clock still allows for that. So. It was incredible on Arizona. I don't know if I do or don't buy the idea that getting a loss can help you and eliminate some of the pressure. Maybe that is true. I honestly think it depends on the team. It dep. Coach. It depends on the players. If Arizona had won this game and had made a march toward March with an undefeated record, I'm not necessarily convinced that would have been a bad thing or something that would have precluded it from winning a national title. But now that is out of the way and off the table. I do think the loss is not just understandable because of the venue and the opponent and the coach and all of that like all of that is true. But 82, 78 and Arizona was unordinarily inefficient with its shots down the stretch and buckets that normally will fall against really good teams just didn't fall last night. I know there was the free throw disparity as well. You had Arizona take 14, Candace take 25. Tommy Lloyd's not going to have any of that. You know the non travel call which should have been a travel call against Badunga was a big one. He, you know, they. He got the bucket and then Kansas proceed proceeded to. Excuse me proceeded to go on run there. That did swing the. The outcome in Kansas's favor. But Arizona to me still in light of the loss has a case as the Best team in the country. This is a completely understandable loss. Kansas, by nature of winning at gp, has one of the five best wins. You know, it wasn't on the road, but at home, undefeated, number one. That's a, that's a highly ranked win there. So buries I thought was really, really good. He thought he had Badunga on an island and that was a welcome to the big show moment when he swatted that away. And I think the defining play of the night, you needed to see a little more from co op Jaden Bradley only had six points, which I thought was notable. So Arizona is going to be fine. This was way more about Kansas rising to the moment and declaring that with or without Darren Peterson, we can be a final four and arguable national title contender.
- [10:50]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, on the block. That's a layup at Peach Jam. It's a block at Allen Field House. Yeah, that's what that is. As for Arizona, I've talked to coaches, several of them, most notably John Calipari, who have taken a zero in the loss column pretty deep into the season, and about the pressure that comes with that. And reasonable minds can disagree. What they mostly say is you chase perfection while you can, because why not? It's history. When you take the loss, you spin it into a good thing. When you take the loss, you say, hey, this is a reset moment. We needed that. Hey, the pressure's off. Nobody's chasing undefeated anymore. You want to chase it while you can. You don't want to take a loss, but when you do, you spin it into a positive. I imagine that's what Tommy will do here. Let's get to Darren Peterson. As you noted, it was a late scratch. Officially flu like symptoms, but still weird. I'm not going to question the young man's how he felt. I've had the flu. It's not great. But the reason this becomes a bigger thing than it otherwise would be is because he is the presumed number one pick in the draft and because he has missed a lot of games for reasons that are at least unusual. We see players try to fight through cramps. He doesn't appear to. We've seen players play with the flu. There's actually a basketball thing called the flu game. You can Google that He did not try to go through it. What do you make of what we saw last night?
- [12:12]
Matt Norlander
The drama that just will not end. What actually exacerbated the issue was that he was on the floor for warmups. And so then, to the surprise of many, he didn't come Back out with the team as they got the game, got closer, wasn't listed in the starting lineup, which gets distributed in official capacity shortly before the game starts. And so that got to be like, what's going on? And then Kansas made an effort to notify not just the press on hand. I reached out and then they said he's out. Flu like symptoms, can't go. Whatever. I'm not going to get on a podcast on national television, on YouTube and say that Darren Peterson didn't actually have flu like symptoms and wasn't sick. He very well could have, but it's one thing after another. It's why it is why, like you use the phrase presume number one pick. I'm just not presuming that yet. I am so ready to get there when he can play five games in a row at full capacity, 30 plus minutes. It's just he's missed almost half the games this season, you know, just still remain there. I have never seen anything like this before, ever. There's never been a player that is so preternaturally talented that has been less available for more reasons that have brought about curiosity, cynicism, and skepticism than Darren Peterson, I hope. Broken record time, folks. This has got to be the 10th time I've said this on the show this season. I hope that we have talked about Darren Peterson missing playing time for the last time on this podcast.
- [13:48]
Gary Parrish
Oh, I can't wait to do it again next Tuesday. I can't wait to do it again next Tuesday. No, it's. It's a mess. Like, I don't love it. I'm like you, I'm not gonna question. Just like we have seen players play with cramps, we've also seen players be sidelined by cramps. Just like we've seen players play with the flu, we've seen people be sidelined with flu. Like symptoms. Like, this is all real stuff. But maybe I'm projecting here. But if my reputation was already what his reputation is becoming, and quite literally the only reason at this point I think he wouldn't be the number one pick is because of stuff like this. If it's a basketball evaluation, in my eyes, it looks pretty easy. If my reputation were in the place where his is now, again, I know I might be projecting, but I'd like to think at least I'd walk up to my coach at some point and say, coach, I have the flu. I feel terrible, but put me in the starting lineup, I got to give it a go because I need the world to see me look sick as opposed to just hear that I am sick because I don't want what's going to follow. The statement that says he's out again, this time with flu like symptoms, even though his own coaching staff thought he was going to play an hour before tip off. I would just be trying to avoid that. Perhaps it's just performative or optics, but I, I don't love that. Once again he missed a game and the whole world's going, really, man, really? This is the again, perhaps projecting, you'd have to, you'd have to just, you know, come get me off the court. I'm too sick to even walk off.
- [15:16]
Matt Norlander
But I'd have undefeated number one in your building.
- [15:19]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, yeah, I don't miss that. I just, I, I know it's easier to say from this seat than it is from his. I'd have a hard time missing that game. And again, for whatever it's worth, his own coaching staff did not think he was missing that game an hour, an hour before tip off. It's unusual. We'll see where it goes from here. Up next for Arizona, Texas Tech at home on Saturday. Up next for Kansas, Saturday at Iowa State. When we come back, we will acknowledge, make note of the fact that football is now in our rearview mirror. Congratulations to the Seahawks, but the focus is now on hoops. If you've been lacking focus lately, don't worry, we got you covered. We also understand we enjoy football too. But consider what's coming next. Refresher course of source on where we're at in this season right now. That's after this break here on the Ion College Basketball Podcast. You're watching us. We're on CBS Sports Network.
- [16:13]
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- [16:40]
Gary Parrish
Welcome back to the Ion College Basketball Podcast here on CBS Sports Network. Have you been focused on football? All good. We get it. We like football too. But football is over now. It's basketball season fully. And did you realize the three favorites in the betting markets to win the 2026 NCAA tournament right now are Michigan, Arizona and Duke, in that order. So that is three of the top four in the top 25 and one over at CBSSports.com as of this morning. Let's talk through each Michigan now, number one in the top 25 and 122 and one also number one in the net. And Kinpom, would you also, Norlander, have the Wolverines as your favorite to win the national title right now? Ooh.
- [17:23]
Matt Norlander
Good. Q the favorite. I think I'd actually still slightly go Arizona even after the loss. Although I think Michigan, if you really dive into the numbers, I think Michigan has the case now for the number one overall seed again right now we have so much more to figure out, but I would, I would lean narrowly Arizona still primarily because of how strong defensively that team is, how big it is. It's got, you know, a senior point guard and Jaden Bradley. I know Arizona doesn't take a lot of three pointers and it's actually trying to buck conventional history in that regard. You don't really, really have teams that shoot that low of amount of three pointers and win a national title over the past 25 years. But I narrowly still give it to Tommy Lloyd's Wildcats. And I'm, I'm actually really interested to see if the loss to Kansas doesn't push them forward. And if we don't get to the end of the regular season, then that's their only loss. They still got a big one on the road against Houston. That's going to be tough. But I wouldn't be shocked If Arizona has one in the L column by the time the Big 12 tournament tips off.
- [18:20]
Gary Parrish
Just some statistical stuff on Michigan. They are number five in offensive efficiency, number one in adjusted defensive efficiency, number five and effective field goal percentage, number three in offensive two point field goal percentage and number two in defensive two point field goal percentage. So that's the strength. The front court led by Yaxel Lindenborg. Um, they can punish you in a variety of ways, but the strength at Michigan is the front court. And again, they are number one in the net right now. And over at Kim Palm, Arizona, 23 and 1, number 7 in offensive efficiency, number 2 in defensive efficiency. But like you noted, and this is the Achilles to the extent that it could even be one for a team that's sitting here at 23 and one on February 10th. But only 26.5% of their field goal attempts come from beyond the arc. I know without context, that number might not mean anything to most people watching right now. Here's the context. It ranks 363rd out of 365 Division 1 teams in the country. In a time where shooting is prioritized, Arizona just does not do it from the perimeter. And when I was talking to another coach in the past, let's just say couple of weeks about Arizona, like how long can they keep this undefeated season going? Are they a real national championship thread? The thing this one coach said to me who's familiar with the program said at some point somebody's going to make them shoot it and then how are they going to respond to that? Now I want to be clear, I don't really think that's why they lost at Kansas on Monday night because it's not like Kansas killed him from the three point line either. But that is, that is a notable statistical thing connected to an obvious championship contender. Most teams that are trying to win six games in the tournament shoot it more often from three than them and shoot it better.
- [20:09]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, I'm. I will see if they try and deviate or if they're forced to deviate at all. That remains to be seen. But their defensive profile, Arizona is just from Bradley to Pete to Crevis who can really wreck havoc at 7 foot 2. Even Ivan Karchenkov, another freshman, he is one of the better on ball defenders in the country. Toby Walk is a monster around the rim. They might need to rely on an Anthony Del Orso who hit a triple on Monday night has not been as good of a three point shooter this season as they were hoping for. That's been another, another factor there as well. So we see on that real quick on Michigan. Then we let's dive into Duke. You mentioned Michigan's strength. Statistically I think their biggest strength overall is that they have Lenborg, Elliot Cado, Adai, Mara, Merez Johnson, namari Burnett, Trey McKinney, Roddy Gale, L.J. kason and Will Cheddar. Those are all guys that in the final two minutes of a game, Dusty May, depending on the opponent situation he could put any of those guys on the floor. I just think Michigan might have the deepest roster of viable players in a big spot as any team in the country. I think that's going to factor significantly in Michigan's push to get a one seed and a Final Four run. As for Duke, the third team you mentioned that I think is third in the pecking order for national title favorite status here, sitting at 21 and 2. The losses are by 1 on a neutral to Texas Tech and then by 3 in the final second against your blood rival in North Carolina, a game that you led almost the entire way. Cameron Boozer is the front runner for national player of the year. He's still got plenty of space in that race right now. The question for me with with Duke is is it really going to be relying on Boozer way, way more often than not? I think Isaiah Evans needs to pop and be significantly more productive and impactful in the second halves of these games. Damisar had some nice moments there as well. Who is going to be the guy GP that emerges that if for whatever reason Boozer is not clicking or able to produce, which frankly we haven't seen yet, who's going to be the other guy? Evans has had some moments, but now he's shooting 33.3% from three. That's obviously blue one they were expecting there. So Duke third overall for the title odds. I get why that is the case and it's a really, really good team. But I need to see who's going to be the other guy that can supplement Boozer when the pressure is tight in a one possession game with less than three minutes to go against viable teams down the stretch.
- [22:28]
Gary Parrish
Like you said, they've only lost twice. They're top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. They shoot 62% from two. That ranks fourth in the country. A lot of that is Cameron Boozer. Obviously they've got whether you want to call him the best player in the country. He is the leading candidate to be the national player of the year as of this moment. So Michigan, Arizona, Duke are the three favorites in the betting markets right now to win the national championship. When we come back, we're going to set those teams aside. Who else could win this thing? Clearly they're the favorites, but what if one of them doesn't get it done? Who could? I got three. Norlanders got three. We'll share them with you next. I own College Basketball Podcast here on CBS Sports Network. Welcome back to the Ion College Basketball Podcast here on CBS Sports Network. We just ran you through the three favorites to win the 2026 NCAA tournament. In order it is Michigan, Arizona and Duke. Now let's take those three programs, set them aside. Somebody else has got to win this NCAA tournament. It can't be one of them. Who else could it be? Norlander? I got a list of three. I know you got a list of three. I'll let the folks hear yours first.
- [23:36]
Matt Norlander
Okay? We'll give you six different schools here. Let's, let's go over some variety because I also think that the list of schools capable of winning a national title is still in the double digits and that's even in light of some losses here, don't fade in the big picture. If you will, I'll start to me Yukon. I don't think you've got Yukon on your list. The huskies only with two losses to this point. Dan Hurley's got a really strong group A22.2 overall. Yes, you had the loss at St. John's on Friday. I was there at the Garden. Wonderful scene there. But the defense is top five in the country and I and I like between Terrace Reed as a big man who's even better than he was a season ago, you've got Captain America. Alex Caraban, a quintessential Yukon Husky if there ever was one, obviously has won two national titles as a leader. Silas Demery Jr. Turnovers aside in the St. John's game has been such a massive upgrade at point guard for for UConn this season. And then Braylon Mullins is a freshman talent who has had some clutch moments already this season and feels like he might be due for a big moment himself and him teaming up alongside Solo Ball. That's why I've got UConn easily there. Two other teams. I'll give you Iowa State, which feels like it might be hiding in plain sight because it hasn't had a high profile game in a bit here. That's going to change this weekend when none other than Kansas comes to town but Joshua Jefferson is clearly a first team all American. At this point the cyclones are 21 2. The only losses came in back to back fashion on the road against Kansas and then one that you wouldn't that you don't want to have at Cincinnati. But still this is a top 10 team in offensive and defensive efficiency. TJ Altzelberger runs a well oiled machine there and with Lipsey tame and Lipsey running point long time Jefferson and the Milan Momchilovich hitting 53.3% of his three point shots. That's he's the kind of player and that's the kind of stat where we haven't talked a ton about it yet. It's going to matter significantly in March. I've got Iowa State on my list and then I've got the reigning champs Florida, which I did not have them there as recently as two or three weeks ago. But I have to at this point. Gators are 17 and six have won all but one game since January 3rd. We know what the front court's capable of and with that the the defense has been incredible. We just, it's about, it's, it's a lot of it is Xavian Lee and Boogie Flan and what they can do in the backcourt to produce. But those three teams I all believe are capable at this stage with what they've shown, how they're built at full health of winning six in the tournament. Who are your three?
- [25:51]
Gary Parrish
I wouldn't argue against any of those three, especially UConn. The idea of them winning a third national title in a four year span, a third under Dan Hurley. With this roster, it's not hard to imagine that as you know, they've only lost once at full strength and that was, you know, in midtown Manhattan to a red hot St. John's team. So UConn, Florida, Iowa State. Absolutely. I could see any of them winning the national championship. Here's three more for you. I'll start with Houston 21 and 2 right now. Today is February 10th. If you go back to January 10th over at Torvik, run the data there. In that stretch, Houston is 7 and 1 and ranked number one in the country. With the top rated offense in the country. Kingston Flemings has developed into a first team all American option. You know, we still got a little ways to go. Maybe a national player of the year candidate. He's been terrific. Among the surprises of this season, we all knew he was a five star guard. I don't think anybody anticipated him having this kind of impact. Houston's a team I could see winning the national championship. I'll go to Illinois 20 and 4. Lost to Nebraska on December 13th. Since then 12 and 1 second best team in the country according to Torvik. With the top ranked offense in that stretch, Illinois. Obviously you talk about surprising freshmen. There's nobody maybe in the history of the sport more surprising than what Keaton Wagler has done this season for the Illini. After being ranked 150th in his high school class. He has been incredible. Emerged as a top 10 prospect in this draft. Illinois is another team out of the Big Ten. I could see winning the national championship. And then I'll wrap this list with Kansas 19 and 5. Now on an eight game winning streak with wins over Iowa State, BYU and Arizona. The Jayhawks Jayhawks haven't lost in a month and obviously they can't be good without Darren Peterson. But I am anticipating. I don't know why, but I'm anticipating he's going to play in the NCAA tournament. And I've said this a few different places a few different times. That's the way I tend to do things. I said this. I tend to say a few different things.
- [28:03]
Matt Norlander
I feel Like I feel like you talk a lot.
- [28:07]
Gary Parrish
I talk a lot of different places and I tend to use stuff wherever they fit in multiple places. So I've said this. Multiple places. I think it makes sense. I don't know that there will ever be a point in the season where I watch Kansas play and I go that's the best team in the country or that's my pick to win the national championship. But there's not a game they could be in where they have a healthy Darren Peterson and a two time national champion coach on the sideline, Bill Self. There's not a game you could put them in where I'd say, yeah, they're not going to win this one. There's games you can put them in where there'll be underdogs, but I don't think there's a game where I will just rule out. Well, that's where it has to end for them. Darren Peterson is special enough and Bill Self is great enough that they could go on a run and win a national championship. I don't know that I'll predict it but. But don't rule it out because when you have the best, when you have arguably the best coach and arguably the best player and that best player is going to have the ball in his hands all the time, yes, that's a pretty good position to be in.
- [29:07]
Matt Norlander
The one thing I didn't mention in the A block is that with everything that has happened to Kansas this season, like Bill Self had to go to the hospital just for, you know, a heart palpitation, you know, last month there's just been so much. Kansas might be the most compelling team in the sport because on a game by game basis you don't know what is going to happen. I agree with you putting them on the list. Before we get out of here, I want to ask you this. So we have talked about nine teams at this point, the three biggest favors. Then we each pick three. Who do you like most of all the teams that we didn't mention and I'm going to give you the candidates here, and this is in no particular order. We didn't mention Purdue, we didn't mention Michigan State, didn't mention projected to seed to loss, Nebraska. Gonzaga is 23 and 2. It's going to get Braden Huff healthy again. You would think Virginia's 20 and 3. Texas Tech at one time was thought to be pretty good. It's got six losses now. I'm not sure who else I might be forgetting at this point. That was, that's like Legitimately in that conversation. St. John's I'll toss them in there for you, buddy. After they needed overtime at home to escape Xavier on Monday. Who's the team that you like best that we did not mention?
- [30:17]
Gary Parrish
First off, classic letdown situation. You shouldn't come out for weekend getting a upset Yukon. And then you gotta deal with a Monday Xavier game. That's a letdown situation from the Biggie schedule makers. But they got out of it. I would, I would add them to the list. I guess at this point, you know, take the nine. We've already said now we're picking a 10th team. St. John's I think belongs in that conversation. Purdue. Out of respect for Matt Painter, Braden Smith, that program, I'm not going to rule anything out for them. But obviously they have not been playing well lately. And then just Louisville and maybe it's recency bias given what they did Monday night, but you've got the five star freshman lottery picking Mikel Brown Jr. Shooters all over the court. A fun style of play. That's a team that I could see. You look up and you go, oh wow, they're in the elite eight. I could see, I could see them making a run. Sure.
- [31:08]
Matt Norlander
I'll, I'll just say Michigan state. Jeremy Fears Jr. Is. He has made the conversation of who's the best point guard in the country. It's not just him, but that was Braden Smith coming into the season. Braden Smith. Hill has a claim to that, but in the deepest point guard class I can remember in a very long time. Fierce has put Michigan State in a place where it's 20 and 4. It's got a road game against Wisconsin this week. We'll see what happens there a lot happening with the Big Ten. We mentioned Purdue. Oh, by the way, Purdue Nebraska. Tuesday night's a big one. We'll talk about that on the Wednesday morning pod on Ion College Basketball Podcast.
- [31:37]
Gary Parrish
Of course, when we come back, who doesn't love overrated and underrated? What team is overrated by AP voters right now? What team is underrated by AP voters right now? I got one for you on each of those. Norlander does too. We'll do that next. It's the Ion College Basketball podcast. CBS Sports Network.
- [31:56]
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- [32:30]
Gary Parrish
Welcome back. I own college basketball podcast, CBS Sports Network. Everybody loves overrated and underrated. They even chanted at games sometimes. So in the spirit of that, let's take.
- [32:39]
Matt Norlander
Not the only thing they chant at games, by the way, but keep it moving.
- [32:42]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, let's definitely keep it moving. Now let's look at the AP poll. Let's find a team that AP voters have overrated, a team that AP voters have underrated, and then let's make fun of them and question them on a national stage. You go first.
- [32:55]
Matt Norlander
It's the return of poll attacks, folks.
- [32:57]
Gary Parrish
Let's go. Let's go.
- [33:01]
Matt Norlander
You want to go first?
- [33:02]
Gary Parrish
I was going to let you go first, but if you don't mind, I'll start in the spirit of the politics column that I retired many years ago, in the spirit of making people stop thinking I'm just being a jerk to a local beat writer, you know, every Monday afternoon. But I. It doesn't mean. It doesn't mean that they stopped doing nonsensical things. It just means I stopped embarrassing them for it. But here we are again. I'll let the AP voter remain nameless, but in the overrated conversation, Georgia is getting six votes in the AP poll right now. So they're not ranked, but Georgia is getting six votes in the AP poll right now. Georgia is 17 and 6. One AP voter has him 23rd. No computer that exists that I'm aware of has them in the top 35 anywhere. Only one win over a top 30 team in the net. And the AP voter who has Georgia 23rd despite no data to support it whatsoever on his ballot, does not have undefeated Miami, Ohio, and also does not have red hot St. John's coming off of a victory over you.
- [34:06]
Matt Norlander
I mean, you sure you don't want to call this voter out? That's atrocious.
- [34:10]
Gary Parrish
I told.
- [34:10]
Matt Norlander
That is. Hey, Paris. That is derelict of duty.
- [34:14]
Gary Parrish
Not to get too far off track, but the whole premise behind the politics column is one day I noticed something so indefensible that I was just like, I'm gonna write about this. And then people just loved it. I think because people like it when journalists get called dumb. I think that's the country we're living in now. So I was just. The journalist out there called another journalist dumb, and everybody loved it. And I genuinely thought, well, now that all the AP voters know there's a watchdog out there monitoring everything, they'll be careful. They won't make these stupid mistakes again. And every week it was there. It took me two minutes to find it. Every week. Often it was the same people. I don't know what is so difficult about putting something out there once a week that you can just defend. I do it every day. It doesn't mean that I'm right every morning, but I can defend what I do. I can defend what I do. There is no way to defend Georgia being 23rd on a top 25 ballot right now when that ballot does not include Miami, Ohio and or St. John's but here we are. That's my overrated team. Who's yours?
- [35:18]
Matt Norlander
I'm going to pick a team that's in the rankings that I said on HQ on Monday. Sorry, shouldn't be there. Team is sitting at number 22. Team has lost five of its past six games. That is the Brigham Young Cougars, 176 overall, has one win since January 14th. That win was at home against Utah and a bad Utah team. That was the game that the Bonsa went for 43. So for the purposes of the AP poll, BYU is overrated. It does not deserve to be ranked at this point. It is going off of reputation. I think Debons of being on the roster has helped the Cougars case there as we do this show live on a Tuesday afternoon. BYU has what I actually find to be a fairly urgent game on Tuesday night. They have to go play at Baylor, a Baylor team that's not even sniffing the NCAA tournament so far this season. But that's Rob Wright returning to where he played last season. You talk about, you know, things people chant. Scott, you tried to get ahead of that. Hopefully it's all all good natured. But he's not going to have an enjoyable evening from the fan base in Waco on Tuesday. BYU does not deserve to be ranked. It is if it can get a win at Baylor and then win at home over Colorado, then it might have a little bit of a stronger case. But there's a lot to prove and from a seating standpoint it's got a lot of work to do. It's not even sniffing the four line, which is where it was arguably at as recently as a week ago.
- [36:37]
Gary Parrish
I hear everything you're saying with byu. If you were going to try to defend it though, you could at least point to entire body of work and computer numbers and say they haven't been playing well but entire body of work is still top 25 worthy. But yeah, they have not been playing well trending the wrong direction as for underrated, for me, I think it's UConn sitting at sixth in the AP poll. I've got UConn third in the top 25 and 1. They're 22 and 2. The only losses are at home to Arizona while missing two starters, and at St. John's while St. John's is playing like, quite literally one of the best teams in the country. I think if the tournament started today, I would have UConn as a 1 seed. I think UConn should be ranked in the top 5 of the AP poll. That it's not. Not a big deal, not the biggest deal. You know, not going to protest over it, but it seems wrong. It seems off. Yukon seems low.
- [37:31]
Matt Norlander
Interesting. Okay, my second answer is Florida's 14 in the AP poll, and it's a top 10 team. So it's. It's underrated in the context of that. But I'm gonna even give you the team that is just underrated for its ceiling at this point. It's ranked. It's getting some love. St. Louis is sitting there with an 18 next to its name and a 23.1record and has been incredibly effective on both ends of the floor. Has the best margin of victory average in college basketball. This season has been the number one team in effective field goal percentage, offense and defense. It is underrated in this regard. I think that Josh shirts his team now. We would need to get maybe a little bit of help with bracketing.
- [38:10]
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I get that.
- [38:11]
Matt Norlander
But even generally speaking, like, it really might have the capacity to make a Final Four run, and people haven't really talked about that too much yet. It's probably going to have to get out of February with only 1.1L in that loss column for maybe that chatter to kind of amp up. But just keep it in mind. Really good coach, a super deep team. They got like seven guys averaging more than nine and a half points a game at this point, including Robby Avila, who can do so much. So my most underrated team nationally is St. Louis is real threat as a. As a. As a team that can make a deep run. And if they keep this up, you'll hear a lot more about that in a few weeks. This train ain't late. It's early. And I expect more to catch on to this in a few weeks time.
- [38:52]
Gary Parrish
All right, one more block to go before we get out of here. We're going to catch you up on the national player of the year race. You probably know Duke's Cameron Boozer is leading it. Who's chasing him? We'll give you that next. It's the Iowan College Basketball Podcast. We're here on CBS Sports Network. Welcome back to the ion College Basketball Podcast here on CBS Sports Network. Before we get out of here, let's update you on the national player of the year race. Right now, the three leading candidates in order are Cameron Boozer at Duke, Joshua Jefferson at Iowa State and Kingston Flemings at Houston, according to Ken Palm Norlander, would that match your top three right now? And is there any way anybody is going to catch Cameron Boozer?
- [39:35]
Matt Norlander
I still think Boozer can be caught. But real quick, GP do you agree with me that right now, this week it feels like Boozer is further ahead than at any other point in the season?
- [39:48]
Gary Parrish
I think early it felt like he had lapped the field and then Debons had that December and it felt like it got a little closer. But from that point he has separated. I think I would argue early in the season it felt like, oh buddy, nobody's catching this guy. Then debons, that closed the gap but never got there and now he has widened the gap again. I think if I were analyzing it on a month to month basis, that's where we're at.
- [40:09]
Matt Norlander
Boozers numbers right now are 23.3 points a game, 10.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and he's shooting 57.6% from the field. And as a movable big 38 from three Jefferson, I have number two, 17.2 points a game, 7.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 50 from the field, 41 from three. Oh, by the way, a steal and a half. I think he is firmly number two. I do think, and I'm really not going in lockstep with Ken Palm here, I swear. But I do think it's Fleming's, especially after the weekend, 17 points a game, 5.4 dimes, 3.5 rebounds, 1.8 steals at this point, Parrish 52% as a, as a combo lead guard on the floor, I'd have him three. And then even beyond that I'd go debons of four right now. I know BYU's been trending down, but he leads the country in scoring and I do think Jeremy Fierce Jr. Is ahead of Braden Smith. He would be fifth in my pecking order for national player there leads the country in assists and as the, as the lead guard on a, on a top ten team. So that's my top five. What about you?
- [41:05]
Gary Parrish
Well, what I think is interesting, regardless of what the team, the first team All America roster would look like right now, you are leaving awesome players off of it no matter how you do it. So if you go Boozer Jefferson Flemings and then you go Lindenborg Fears, you are leaving off Caleb Wilson, you are leaving off Keaton Wagler, you are leaving off J.T. toppin, you are leading off, leaving off Braden Smith. It's like there's going to be third team All American who in a different season would maybe have the numbers and the team success to be a first team All American. I don't want to keep going back to it over and over again. But what we are watching right now is a great, great top shelf college basketball season. I know people get frustrated with players changing campuses from one season to the next. I know Nil is still weird for some fans. I understand sometimes we spend more time talking about court cases than we do basketball. But the on the court product is been unbelievable this season. Friday night was great. Saturday was great. Sunday we took a break to watch football for the most part. Monday was great. I expect more good stuff tonight. And the national player of the Year race is a reminder of that. Boozer Jefferson Flemings fill out the other, the first team however you want and then you got awesome players right behind. But to circle back to the initial point, I don't think anybody's going to catch Cameron Boozer. I think it could be competitive and I think we can handicap it and, and discuss it. But at the end he's going to have the trophy because he's going to be the best player on one of the best teams and he has great games, sometimes good ones. He didn't really have bad games. That's the other thing. He just doesn't have off nights too much. I think he's going to hold the trophies at the end.
- [42:56]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, the thing about Boozer, that's incredible, kind of tapping into what you just said there, Parrish, he can almost put up like 16 and 8. And it's not that you don't notice it, but it doesn't feel like he's having a great night. And you're like, well, there it is again. Like that is the sign of an extremely good college player. And not everyone can do that obviously. So I lean with you. I think he's going to win it. I don't think it's done. I do not. But his, his lead right now is sizable, which is ironic because we have such an insanely deep class of players that are first, second, third team All American candidates. You would think that the race would be more competitive. It's not at this point. We'll see if anyone can close the gap here over the next couple of weeks.
- [43:33]
Gary Parrish
And it is sort of wild as we are running through these names. We have a National Player of the Year race that for the most part doesn't include the presumed number one pick of the 2020 draft. And that's just because he hasn't been playing very often. So incredible. National Player of the Year race led by Cameron Boozer, but the most talented player in the country. He's probably not a part of it simply because he's missed too many games. Just awesome stuff. Awesome stuff. Hopefully this weekend is just as great as the last. Shouts to Devin Downey shouts to Chester, S.C. terry Teagle. He's a legend. Huck Larnell thank you guys for watching the Ion College Basketball Podcast. We'll be back Wednesday morning Morning live on YouTube.
- [44:22]
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Gary Parrish
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