← Eye On College Basketball
Eye On College Basketball
EOCBB on CBSSN: Our fav nat’l title contenders, F4 do-overs + mid-season A-A teams. Plus: Which CBB program is best analog for Indiana🏈
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- [00:00]
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- [00:43]
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- [01:26]
Gary Parrish
Hey there. I am Gary Parish. This is the I Own College Basketball podcast on CBS Sports Network. Matt Noyerlanda is here with me and we're going to be here with you for the next hour talking hoops. I want to start by reminding you if you haven't been paying attention, there are still six undefeated teams remaining in the sport. It's January 6th. This is rare to have this many undefeated teams still alive, but that's where they're at. They are Arizona, Michigan, Iowa State, Nebraska, Vanderbilt and Miami, Ohio. Norlander, good to see you on this Tuesday. I know you don't view all of those teams as legitimate national championship contenders, nor should you, but to the best of your ability, tell me which ones you could actually see winning six games in the NCAA Tournament.
- [02:09]
Matt Norlander
Hi gp it's good to see you again back in the flow of our CBS Sports Network shows. I love this, appreciate everyone tuning in and if you're listening on the podcast version, we appreciate that as well. Let's go. Big picture to start this hour, to start this show because the fact that we even have six still undefeated here on January 6th is uncommon. I'll have more on this and how rare this is in my court Report, which will publish Wednesday@cbs sports.com or on your CBS Sports app. But it, you know, a little teaser here. We almost never get this anymore. This many teams with a bagel still in the L column knocking on the doorstep of the second week of January. I think it's really cool, really awesome. Of those teams you see on your screen right now, Arizona, Michigan, Iowa State, they're at the top of the list. They're on a tier to themselves. Michigan. It could be. You can make the case easily that Michigan is on a tier two itself, unto itself. So those three unquestionably national championship contenders, I'd be interested to see if you actually push back on any of those. I wouldn't think you would, but hold on. We'll wait for GP in just one second. The question then becomes with Vanderbilt, Nebraska. Nebraska, which got another win, to increase the longest win streak in the country on Monday night by, you know, winning on the road, getting another gritty win. Really impressive. Vanderbilt rates better in predictive metrics. And don't worry, before we get out of this a block, I'm going to give some more love to the Redhawks Hawks of Miami, Ohio. Shouts to Wally Zerbiak, a dedicated Eye on college Basketball podcast listener. Obviously we can't put Miami into the national championship contenders just yet. As much as Wally would love that, can't go there yet. But really impressive nonetheless to see what Travis Steele has done. The fact that we have a mid major in the undefeated group in the first week of January is awesome. We'll see if they can keep a pace and truly become the bullies of the mechanic.
- [04:00]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, I'm not going to disagree with you much. Clearly, Arizona, Michigan, undeniably national championship contenders. Whether you look at the record, the accomplishments, the metrics, everything you need is there. They're number one and number two in the AP poll right now. Not separated by much, but it is Arizona 1, Michigan 2 in the top 25 and 1. I've got it. Michigan 1, Arizona 2. Based on the strength of the way the Wolverines are just overwhelming everybody, even other ranked teams, they are quite literally the first team in the history of the AP poll to ever beat three strength opponents by at least 30 points each. So anybody trying to tell you Arizona, Michigan aren't title contenders, they're just being different for the sake of being different. Those teams can clearly win it all. Then we get to Iowa State, third in the AP poll. I'm going to say yes on them too. Like they're undefeated with a win at Purdue A blowout victory at Purdue. They're experienced, they, they're talented. They've got roster continuity year over year. That seems to be helpful. I don't think I'll pick Iowa State to win the national championship, but I do not believe you've got to have the biggest imagination in the world to, to, to imagine them doing it. Which brings us, like you pointed out, to Nebraska, Vandy. And this is where I think we start to get into perhaps a wait and see mode, but. But for different reasons, like, they're both clearly good. Nebraska, like you said, 15 and oh, beat Michigan State. One at Illinois last night, wins at Ohio State. But they do have two, I think, obvious issues if we're talking about a national championship contender. One is the offense. They're 47th in adjusted offensive efficiency at Ken Palm. You typically got to be better offensively to win the whole thing. I'm not talking about be very good, go to a sweet 16, even make a Final Four. Any kind of team can do that kind of thing. But once you get to the Final Four, it goes without saying you got to win two more games to win the national championship, often against two very good teams. And an offense that ranks outside of the top 45 in the country doesn't usually get it done. So that's an issue at Nebraska. The other one is at least the perception of a lack of NBA talent. You go look at your favorite mock drafts right now and you're not going to see a bunch of cornhuskers listed anywhere. Typically, to win the whole thing, you need NBA talent. You can go to a Final Four without it. It's hard to win a championship without it, and I don't know how much of it there is in Lincoln right now, but still, that's one. I'm willing to take a wait and see approach because if you've already beaten Michigan State, you've already won at Illinois, you're clearly very, very good. Vandy, unlike Nebraska, I think, checks all of the metric boxes, you know, 14 and oh, number six at King Palm, top 10 offense, top 15 defense. The issue with them, to the extent that there's an issue, is that they don't have big signature wins quite yet. They can change that. Tomorrow night they get Alabama. But as far as labeling Vandy a true national championship contender, I'd like to see what they do at least in this Alabama game before I make a, a strong proclamation one way or another. And then Miami, Ohio, they're undefeated, so they belong in this conversation. But that's a. Can you get into the tournament and win a game type of situation as opposed to go win six games in the tournament. Borderline top 100 at Ken Palm. Probably not going to, you know, sniff some of the things these other teams have a chance of sniffing, but could go down as the last undefeated team quite reasonably in this season if things play out a certain way. Because the toughest game they have to play in their league would be a game against Akron. They've already played that at home, won it. They don't have to go to Akron. Miami, Ohio, the Redhawks will be favored, at least based on current projections, in every remaining regular season game. So they could have a zero in the loss column a long time even if they linger a bit down in most of the the computer formulas. So we talked through the the undefeated teams. Norlander, let me take you to basically everybody else. Here's what I want from you. If I told you, hey, I can see into the future and I think people know, know that I can't because if I could, I would have never had St. John's preseason number one. But if I told you some reason I can see into the future and none of these undefeated teams are going to win the national championship. They're just not. It's going to be somebody else. I'm going to give you five darts. You can name them, whatever you want, throw them at the board. What darts are you throwing? Name me five teams that have already taken a loss and you got to hit the national champion with one of them.
- [08:35]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, the list is deep. I wrote about this near the end of December where in my estimation this is backed up by some, by some significant data as well. While Michigan has been destroying teams and from an efficiency margin standpoint, Michigan has separated itself just in terms of how it's mutilating its competition. I still think Michigan should be sitting at the table with all the other teams at this stage of the season. And we have a deeper pool of viable, legitimate national championship contenders through the first two plus months of the season. Now, in my opinion, we have the deepest pool in a decade. Plus. So while I've got a list of five, you're going to give your list of five here. I know we're going to cross over on a few teams. It just seems inevitable. I still think there are teams that we won't even mention that I would still have on the list as viable national championship contender. So non undefeated teams that I would put as the five strongest national title contenders here first week of January. I start with UConn at the top of that list. Only one loss at this point. Dan Hurley's squad is all the way back. By far the best team in the Big East. Plays both ways. Got NBA talent, got great defense, really good offense that I think is actually going to get better as the season goes along. Purdue wouldn't be that far behind as the number one offense in the sport with Braden Smith, you know, guiding the way. I'll have more on Braden later on the show, but I have him there. I had Gonzaga and that goes back to when I saw Gonzaga in person in November in Las Vegas at the Players ERA Championship. Gonzaga only has one loss to this point. It almost got picked off Friday night at home against Seattle. You that's actually a quality Seattle U team but Gonzaga was able to pull it out in overtime. The only loss Gonzaga has is to Michigan by 40. But from an efficiency standpoint, top 10 offensive and defensive efficiency at Ken Palm. And not just Ken Palm, other predictive sites as well. I'd have Houston in there. Houston was my preseason pick to win the national championship. Has one loss narrowly in a super physical game. I saw up close and personal against Tennessee at Players era and then I'm going to give you one that I don't know if you'll have on the list, but I saw him play last night. It was a. It was a run of the mill beat down against USC and that's Michigan State 13 and two lost by six at home to Duke. I think Duke's going to be on your list. So I didn't. Duke would also I have on my list. I'm going to push him off. You can talk on the Blue Devils there. And then the. The loss against Nebraska which just happened on the road and Nebraska is a really good team. I think that Michigan State is a viable national championship contender because it has tremendous defense. One of the best point guards in the country and Jeremy Fuse Jr. I don't know if he's second, third, fourth or fifth, but he's top five somewhere in there. Cohen Carr. Elite athlete, good bigs. We'll see if the offense can come along even more so. But I would have Sparty on that list and a group GP that I think is viable national championship contenders. I think you can win six. I think there's a dozen teams in the sport right now that would make my list.
- [11:44]
Gary Parrish
There are teams just like you that I did not put on my list that I absolutely could see winning the national championship. But if you've got to cut it off at 5, then this would be my list of 5, take the undefeated, set them aside. Somebody besides them is going to win the national championship. I get five lottery tickets at it, see if I can cash one. We're going to, we're going to match on three of these and be different on two. The ones we match on for obvious reasons, Purdue, UConn and Houston. I think they would. Those three probably have to be on just about everybody's list. And you know, spoiler alert. I think if the NCAA tournament were starting today, this is not how I would rank teams. It's not how I would see teams. I think I would pick Houston. I just love the way that team is coming together. The Kingston Flemings thing has been a real, I don't know about surprise, but certainly something we didn't anticipate. I don't know that you're going to find a mock draft that had him being selected in the top five two months ago, but they're out there right now. And everything I've heard from talking to NBA personnel front office members over the past month is that he has merged as what seems like a guaranteed top 10 pick. And don't put a ceiling on anything. He could get into the conversation for basically any slot in that draft. So when you combine the Kelvin Sampson effect with the key and experience pieces they brought back from that team that played in the national championship game last season and had a significant lead in the second half, and then you had two five star freshmen, both of whom could go in the lottery and one of them has emerged as, you know, a legitimate All American candidate. That's Kingston Flemings. You got a team that I could easily see winning six games in the NCAA tournament right now. I think with all due respect to everybody else, that would be my pick to win the national championship. So Purdue, UConn, Houston, we match on. And then my other two would be Duke and BYU. And some of it is I just believe they both have players that could just take over a tournament and run you through it the way Carmelo Anthony once did at Syracuse. At Duke, it's Cameron Boozer. @ BYU, it's AJ DeBonsa. Those two guys would be my number one and number two candidates for national Player of the Year right now. And so those teams are good enough with great enough stars to get hot and get going and roll through the NCAA tournament. My list of five, outside of the undefeated Purdue, Yukon, Duke, byu, Houston, which means I'm missing Gonzaga, Michigan State, Illinois, Louisville, Alabama, Florida. And though I'm missing them for a reason, I think less of them than I think of the others to echo what you've suggested. Yeah, I could. I could see them, you know, playing well at the right time and you look up and they're 40 minutes away from a national championship. None of that would be shocking to me. So if you take the three undefeateds that we agree on, plus for Divandi, Nebraska gets you to five, plus our other five and then I've still got an issue. A list of Gonzaga, Illinois, Michigan State, Louisville, Alabama, Florida. I think I just put together a list of 16 teams that it's not crazy to think they could win the national.
- [14:50]
Matt Norlander
Championship. That seems like a bigger list than right.
- [14:53]
Gary Parrish
Now. I don't. I just out of. Out of like, you know, if those guards could ever become what it is they thought they would be when they bought them, then maybe. But if I had to chop one, yeah, I would probably chop it Florida. But either way, real quick before.
- [15:08]
Matt Norlander
We wrap this segment, see, I would be way more likely to put Nebraska and Vanderbilt than Florida on the list at right now. And I think Nebraska and Vanderbilt, understandably so, are suffering from brand name, the lack of history, all of that. I think Vandy can erase this. It's just a matter of when we're doing this show. When they play Bama on Wednesday night could be a very different conversation. But I right now where things stand. I would put Nebraska and Vandy ahead of Florida. Sounds like you've got the Gators, the reigning champs still ahead of those two.
- [15:38]
Gary Parrish
Teams. I wouldn't necessarily think so. No. I was just like extending a list of. Really? I was just making a list of. If I take the undefeated. Set them over here. Take my next five. Set them over here. These are some possibles that I'm leaving off. Florida would be one of them. But if I were ranking them right now, absolutely I would have Vandy and Nebraska ahead of Florida. And if Vandy is able to knock off Alabama, whatever skepticism exists now to any extent probably has to be gone by then. Let's move on. When we come back, the regular season, I count it, it's 18 weeks long. Nine of those weeks are in the book. So we're kind of in the middle of the season. Why not do some mid season all American teams? I've got a point guard from the Big Ten, but I bet he ain't the one you think he is. Leading my first team. We'll dive into that next. It's the Ion College Basketball podcast. We're on CBS Sports Network. Welcome back to the Ion College Basketball podcast on CBS Sports Network. As I noted earlier, the regular season is 18 weeks long. Nine of those weeks are now in the books. That makes this the mid season. So why not some mid season All America teams? Norlander, I put together a list of five. I got a few reserves too. I'll let you go first if you'd like. Give me your all American team if you had to publish one right.
- [17:00]
Matt Norlander
Now. Sure. Before I reveal how. Well, never mind. They're revealing it right.
- [17:06]
Gary Parrish
Now. It's. It is looking at.
- [17:10]
Matt Norlander
It. I've got a question I want to tag on this before we get out of the segment to you though. Braden Smith at Purdue, Joshua Jefferson at Iowa State, AJ DeBance at BYU, Cam Boozer at Duke and Yaksel Lindenborg at Michigan are my five. And you know, right now Boozer is the front runner for National Player of the Year. London Borg and Debance are not that far behind. Braden Smith is pacing to set the all time record for assists in a season for the NCAA and he leads the nation in assists. He plays for a one loss Purdue team that's the best offense in the country in my estimation. He is the best point guard in America. So that's why he's on my first team. Joshua Jefferson I'm going to read off his stat line right now for an undefeated team, okay, 17.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.4 assists. He's shooting almost 55% from the field, 39% from three, and averaging more than a steal and a half per game for an undefeated team. The reason why I think he's not getting as much run as he should is it's Iowa State. He hasn't been a big name player for two or three years. He is unquestionably in my mind one of the five most productive and reliable players in the sport. So I had him on my list narrowly beating Christian Anderson at Texas Tech who is fighting with his own teammate, J.T. toppin. Texas Tech might be the school that winds up with two players on the All America list at the end of the season. Christian Anderson is at more than 20 points, seven and a half assists, 3.7 rebounds as a point guard, shooting 43.5% from the field. Texas Tech has a huge game against Houston looming here this week. We'll see whether it's him and Toppin how they're they're jockeying. But literally in this case it was because of toppins productivity that kept Anderson off my first team list. He is closer than I think a lot of people.
- [18:56]
Gary Parrish
Think. So it's a little bit like trying to make a list of national championship contenders. If you cut it off at undefeated plus five more, you're going to end up leaving off some teams that you're like, I can't believe I'm leaving this team off my list. Similarly, you pick five players to build an All American team. It is I think impossible to not leave off somebody that you can reasonably say, man, that person that deserves it. I don't know how they're not on it because to your point, Joshua Jefferson has been awesome at Iowa State. I did not list him as one of my five Braden Smith on track to maybe become the NCAA's all time leader. I did not put him on my first team. Felt good about.
- [19:43]
Matt Norlander
It. Hold on, hold on. Listen for our TV viewers. They might not be familiar with this. Parish has made a claim particularly the past couple of years. The gauge shifts but it's anywhere between 42% 48% boilermaker yeah, you are running on empty if you're not putting the starting point guard of the best offense and the leading assist player, one of the best, most efficient players in the country as a mid season first team all the if you're not going to do that, I don't want to hear how much Boilermaker you are anymore. And don't try and tell the Purdue fans.
- [20:16]
Gary Parrish
Either. My percentage of bowler maker fluctuates as you know, a little bit like my weight, if we're being honest, fluctuates a little bit and I don't feel good about it. But I went with my point guard being Bennett Sturtz from Iowa. I sort of hinted at this on Sunday's episode of the Iron College Basketball Podcast. I joked that we were going to get to a point where Josh, our producer is making a YouTube graphic that says are we sure? Are we sure Braden Smith's even the best point guard in the Big Ten? And the reason that's not like an outlandish thing to say is because of of Bennett sturts. He's been awesome. 17.8 points, 5.2 assists, 51.6% from the field, 43.4% from three. He is shooting better percentages from the field and from three than Braden Smith. His Iowa team is not as good as that Purdue team, I don't think, but they are better than they were supposed to be. They look like an NCAA tournament team. They are ranked in the top 25 and 1 right now, 17th with a 11 and 2, 12 and 2 record. I got Bennett Sturts right now as a first team all American guard in the backcourt. And this is another one where you got to leave somebody off. I went with LeBaron Filon at Alabama. 21 1/2 points for an Alabama team that I would pick right now to win the SEC. 5.4 assists. He's a career best 53.6% from the field, 38.6% from three. He's been terrific, has had some big, big games. So my starting guards would be Bennett Sturts and LeBaron Phylon, which would have me leaving off Braden Smith, Joshua Jefferson and my other reserve would be Kingston Flemings. I'll get to my other first teamers but right now my reserves would be Braden Smith, Kingston Flemings and Joshua Jefferson with my starting guards being Bennett Sturts, the Baron Phylon. You pick up your team from.
- [22:07]
Matt Norlander
Here. Well, I gave you my full team. The only other reserve that I hadn't mentioned that I'm wondering if you put on your list was Caleb Wilson, who's been tremendous for North Carolina. I think he's knocking on first team status. But I'm guessing you know you're going to have my the same front court like you're going to have Debanta Boozer and Londonborg, right? I mean that's kind of inarguable if you don't have one of those three players on your first team All American list. Like I need to look into some stuff here. I assume we agree on those.
- [22:34]
Gary Parrish
Three. That's right. I forgot we got the graphic of your entire team. So yes, I would close out mine with the Bonsa Boozer and Lindenborg. So five man all American team right now. Sturts, Filon DeBonsa, Boozer, Lindenborg. My reserves, Braden Smith, Kingston Flemings and Joshua Jefferson. But like I don't any of those guys. Obviously Smith and Jefferson could reasonably be called first team All Americans right now. And even though I don't think anybody thought Kingston Flemings would be Houston's best player this season and most probably didn't believe he'd be their best freshman because he wasn't their highest ranked freshman, he has been their best player and has been one of the best players in the country. And I'm at the point where if you told me this was the year of the freshman and it started out as a conversation about AJ DeBont, Darren Peterson, Cameron Boozer, even to a lesser degree, Michael Brown, Nate Ament, Darius Acuff, that when we got to the end of it, the guy who was named the most outstanding player of the final Four was a totally different freshman named Kingston Flemings. Like, that would not be. That would not be crazy to.
- [23:45]
Matt Norlander
Me. Like, what's going on here? I was in on the Kingston, you're taking my Kingston Fleming shine. Like, I was in on this guy weeks ago. And suddenly in the past like 96 hours, it's parish. Out of nowhere, he wants to become this guy's agent. What's going.
- [23:59]
Gary Parrish
On? I would like to become Kingston Fleming's agent. It sounds lucrative. I don't have much experience in the agent business, but I think I could figure it out. I think I could figure it out. We'll just take a max rookie deal. Yes, I would love to be Kingston Fleming's agent. As it is, I'm just sitting here talking to you. We can both be in love with him. I'm willing to share him if you.
- [24:18]
Matt Norlander
Are. I'm willing to share him. And I do think that he is the a very good projected potential first team All American. Who's not there now, who could be there when we're talking about this, if we're talking about at the end of February. But it just reinforces to me the outrageous. That's what I want to get to before we get out of here. The outrageous amount of talent when I was building this out. Parrish, the amount of really good players, not just on good teams, but productivity. Like I mentioned J.T. toppin, he wouldn't be in the conversation for first team all American, but he's gotta be an All American at this point. You run down the list. I felt as though the candidates to be even considered for first team and then into the second team window. We're like 18, 20 players deep. We are not hurting for nominees here. Another sign of what I've been saying and really beating this drum for the past two months. I do genuinely believe we are living in one of the best seasons for this sport in 10 or so years, if not longer. And the talent backs that up. The amount of national championship contenders backs that.
- [25:24]
Gary Parrish
Up. And it is interesting and then we'll move on. But like both of these things can be true at the same time. The largest conversation connected to the sport over the past week or two has been about the chaotic not nature of eligibility decisions, former draft picks coming back to college basketball. What does this mean for the sport? Rick Patino, hall of Famer tweeting things like, the sport I've loved for 40 years is no longer here. And all of that is true to some degree. But like if you just watch the games, the games are awesome. If you just like, if you can just block out the other stuff and just be like, hey, there's a game tonight and these guys are playing. The season has been awesome. There's a lot of stuff outside of the stuff that happens on the court that has made it bumpy on some level, but the actual product that we're watching is top shelf college basketball stuff. And the idea that these this many players could reasonably be called all Americans at this point or have a shot to get there, I think underlines that. By the way, P.J. hagerty, consensus second team all American last season, is statistically awesome. Again this season we haven't even mentioned his name. But like if Kansas State were to get going, he would be a part of that conversation as well. Incredible talent in the sport. A lot of it'll be on display once again later on tonight. Speaking of Louisville, Duke is among the big games on the schedule for Tuesday night. Pat Kelsey, the Louisville coach has already announced his five star freshman Mikel Brown will not be in uniform. He hasn't played in a while since December 13th. It's reportedly a lower back injury. How bad is it? I'm going to ask Norlander that next here on the Ion College Basketball Podcast. We're on CBS Sports Network. Welcome back. I own College Basketball Podcast. We're on CBS Sports Network. Multiple big games on the scheduled tonight. One of them is obviously Duke and Louisville and unfortunately we're not going to see one of the five star freshmen who would otherwise be available. Michael Brown, the fabulous lead guard at Louisville has been ruled out by his coach, Pat Kelsey. He's got a lower back injury. He has not played against anybody since December 13th. Norlander, how big of a deal is this? When will we see Mikel Brown Jr. Back on the.
- [27:51]
Matt Norlander
Court? Sounds like not long. Pat Kelsey did actually break some news on Monday's ACC zoom call with the media saying he's getting closer. He's had some setbacks in, in his rehab. It's a lower back thing and it shouldn't be long. So it is a, it is a downer that he is not available for this game. But they're obviously going to prioritize the health. In fact, it's because he's missed so much time. He's missed four games. Two of those have been Louisville losses. Had he been healthy, there's a chance that Mikel Brown could have been just listed in the segment we just had about all Americans, but he's not been available after. This is a home game against Boston College, which is not good. I know you want to get back on the floor as soon as you're healthy enough. I wonder if they, if they don't sit him one more game just to make sure and then this is just speculation from my end and based off of what Kelsey was saying. Home game Virginia next Tuesday, January 13th I think if you're a Louisville fan, that's your hopeful target. Maybe he feels good enough that he actually gets on the floor for some minutes against Boston College. But lower back. We'll see about that. Brown's been outstanding this season. 16.6 points, 5.1 assists, hasn't been as consistent as a shot maker as I think they were hoping for. I actually think there's a lot of optimism that he can grow into that in the second half of the.
- [29:05]
Mint Mobile Advertiser
Season.
- [29:06]
Matt Norlander
But. GP it is interesting and also understandable with all of the conversation about Darren Peterson. And Kansas has a game on Tuesday night as well against tcu. But the Peterson, when will he play? Will he, won't he. He comes back, he can't finish games. There's been a lot more discussion about that. Meanwhile, Brown's been sitting out for three weeks here and we have been unfortunately because of injuries and different kind of injuries, but injuries nonetheless. Robbed of what I think is objectively two of the five most, maybe two of the four most exciting freshmen to watch. Let like Boozer is an incredible player. He's not more exciting to watch, at least for me, than Brown or, or say Peterson. And now we wait and see when Brown will return. We can talk Peterson here if you, if you like as well. I will note on the Peterson thing, can't the Big 12, you got to put out these injury reports the lead up to it now those things can change. But the most recent one prior to our live time here on CBS Sports Network, G.P. peterson was not listed. So that to me indicates that he should be playing on Tuesday night against tcu. We'll see if that winds up being the case and if it is, we'll see if he's on any kind of minutes restriction in the first half and he can actually play the second half of the game. What are your thoughts on both these players? Brown, Peterson, their respective situations and just, you know, we never want to see injuries, but obviously these the Peterson one, I think has registered as among the four or five biggest stories in the sport over the past two.
- [30:25]
Gary Parrish
Months. Yeah. And it's sort of overshadowed the Mikel Brown thing, perhaps not in the city of Louisville, but certainly nationally. You know, this is just one of the weird things about how this season has unfolded. It is arguably the greatest freshman class we've ever seen, but two of you know, at the very least, top 10 members of it have been injured for a good portion of it. If you just go to our buddy Cal Boone's latest mock draft, cbs sports.com he's got Darren Peterson going one, got Michael Brown Jr going six. So these are two top six draft picks that have had their presumably only seasons of college basketball be derailed just a bit. We know Brown won't play tonight. We think Peterson will. And then the question becomes, when will Brown return to the court? The truth is, in this era of college basketball, whether you like it or not, all of these players have agents now. They all have representation. They all have a very good understanding of how much money they're making and how much money they're worth. And they're just very careful with these things. Maybe not without exception, but primarily across the board. And so hopefully, as I've said, It feels like 50 times over the past month, Darren Peterson takes the court tonight against tcu. Plays well, never has to leave the game for any sort of uncomfortable reason. And this is a story that dominated November, December, and perhaps early January, but never again. And then with Michael Brown, as long as he is back by that Virginia game, I think if you're a Louisville fan, you're happy with that. You just don't want this to linger anymore. Whatever happens tonight, happens tonight. You should be able to handle Boston College without him getting back from Virginia and hopefully the rest of the season is trouble free. When we come back, I want to play off of the Indiana football story, which is just amazing. They hire a 62 year old coach with no Power Conference head coaching experience. He promises, he promises everybody he's going to do big things at a school that's never done big things in this sport. And here he is in year two with the number one ranked team in the country that is favored to win the playoff with the Heisman Trophy winner playing quarterback for him. If it sounds crazy, it's because it is. If it sounds unprecedented, it's because it is. To help people from the basketball world try to understand how crazy this football story is. Why don't we try to figure out exactly what this would look like if it were to be replicated in men's college basketball. So we'll take a shot at that next. It's the Iowan College Basketball Podcast. We're here on CBS Sports.
- [33:00]
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- [33:34]
Gary Parrish
Here. Welcome back to the Ion College Basketball podcast here on CBS Sports Network. The biggest story in college sports right now isn't actually anything going on in college basketball. We'll get there. Give us a second. Right now though, it's still College Football Playoff dominating the headlines. We get the national semifinal later on this week. Ole Miss and Miami, Oregon and Indiana. Simply put, this is not a combination that could have ever happened in any other era of the sport. This is a result, a byproduct of the 12 team College football Playoff. But the idea that Indiana is just like, you know, snuck here or something, that's crazy. This is the number one team in the country, has been the number one team in the country. They are your Big 10 champs despite being traditionally the program many have described as the worst power conference football program in the sport. Now ranked number one, favored to win the championship, Heisman Trophy quarterback, it's in story unlike anything we've ever seen. Hired a 62 year old head coach who came to the press conference and basically told everybody I'm going to win big here. And when they kind of rolled their eyes, he famously settled on the phrase Google me. Now if you google him, you're going to see all sorts of interesting stuff. Norlander, I won't ask you to tell me where this has happened in college basketball because it never has. What would be the equivalent of this? School X hires coach, whatever. And in year two, crazy as it is, based on any sort of tradition, in year two they're two wins away from the national championship and oh, by the way, they're expected to do it. What? Tell me what this looks like in our.
- [35:19]
Matt Norlander
Sport. So statistically and historically, I think there is a team that is by far the number one. And I love this segment idea out of you. I'll have more. This is gonna be my court report too. I'll get this in there just for some more reference with some other teams, but it's Northwestern and it's really not close because Indiana has been described as the worst power conference football program. Historically. They're the worst. You know, you look up over the decades and there was always a zero attached to Indiana's name. It was, you know, Ohio state blanking them 45 nothing or Nebraska up 62, nothing on Indiana. Northwestern's win percentage is comfortably the worst of any high major program in men's college basketball. As a program, Northwestern has only won 42.3% of its games. As a program, it has never finished a season ranked in an AP team. It only has two NCAA tournament wins to its name ever. And they only got those wins within the past decade. Northwestern was one of the five original teams dating back to 1939 to qualify for the NCAA tournament that did not get in until, you know, seven plus decades later. It has never won a conference tournament championship. It only has two conference regular season championships, never made a Final Four, only has three NCAA tournament bits, period. So for as wild as Indiana is right now, it would be like Northwestern entering the NCAA Tournament as the number one overall seed. It is unthinkable that that would ever happen. That's what we have in Indiana football. There's a school that I think is a close number two, but I'll save that. I want to hear what your, what your top list and what you have.
- [37:00]
Gary Parrish
Here. JP okay, so I listed three, and I didn't put Northwestern because, like, I understand the history of Northwestern, but in this era of the sport, it's not crazy for me to imagine them just getting really good if they wanted to, like, you know, with, with Chris Collins or, or somebody else. I mean, we've seen it at Vanderbilt, we've seen it at other prestigious academic schools. If you actually prioritize, prioritize sports and then hire the right people, you can become really good really quickly. So I'm not predicting that from Northwestern. I'm just saying if you're asking why that team didn't make my list despite its lack of history, that would be why I settled on DePaul, Penn State, and Boston College. Because I think those are three places where even if you've got the perfect coach for different reasons, it's just very hard to, to be good. Like Boston College is in a league with Duke in North Carolina, and in a city where nobody cares about what they're doing, that's a hard thing to ever break free of. Penn State is just in the middle of nowhere and they prioritize football over everything else. How is a basketball coach at that school ever supposed to do anything of note on the national level? And then DePaul is DePaul. We don't have to spend any time on that. So as much as it would be hard for me to imagine this type of thing happening anywhere like this, it's easier for me to imagine Happening at a like Northwestern than a place like Penn State at a place like Northwestern than a place like DePaul at a place like Northwestern than a place like Boston College. But just think about this. To hammer it home real quick, imagine if in March, some random afternoon, you and I are covering the NCAA tournament, exhausted, podcasting at 3 in the morning, Boston College calls a press conference for 1pm and they introduce a 62 year old mid major coach who was a Division 2 coach before that. And he's talking about, you know what, really looking forward to the opportunity. North Carolina sucks, Duke sucks, Virginia sucks. We're going to win big here. And people are like, what is this guy talking about? And he's like, google me. And you're like, you're The Boston, you're 62 year old Boston College coach. What are you talking about? And then before year two's even over, he's got the Wooden Award winner, the number one team in the country. He's in the Final Four and expected to win it. That is insanity. But that is the Indiana football story. That's what's happened. Wrap your head around that or go find the 60 Minutes profile of Signetti from a few weeks ago because that'll do a better job than probably what I just did of, of telling you exactly how wild it is this thing is happening in.
- [39:43]
Matt Norlander
Bloomington. Yeah, the only reason like I didn't put DePaul there. DePaul's made two Final Fours. Like DePaul had a, had a, had a stretch where it had Indiana has nothing. So I looked at schools that were like, Indiana never accomplished anything. And I actually could see DePaul. I, I think DePaul is more likely to have a season like this than Northwestern. Personally, Boston College had a stretch. Boston College made the the tournament 18 times. Penn State has been to a Final Four, which is the only reason why I didn't have them in my top three. But I think of the three schools you listed, I'm closest on that. Real quick. Gp, you know, I think it's actually a really close top three candidate. If not in the top three, it's the University of Mississippi has never made a Final Four, has 0 conference tournament championships, 2 conference tournament championships, 0 regular season championships to its name. The University of Mississippi ever only finished in the AP poll three times. Historically, it's got the third worst win percentage of any high major program. It only beats tcu, which is kind of like they became a high major program in the past decade. So it's not exactly apples to apples. Only Northwestern is worse now? Yes. Is it in the sec? Of course. It's now coached by Chris Beard. I'm talking historically, though. Ole Misses men's basketball program breaks amongst the four or five worst out there. And I think even college basketball fans might not realize how poor it is. But if it was actually able to get into a spot where it was number one, we see what the football stuff has done. It's actually been even worse, worse in men's hoops over the years. Again, I'll have more on this.
- [41:08]
Gary Parrish
Wednesday@cbssports.com we don't have to belabor the point, but I just think you and I are talking about this from two totally different angles. You're looking at the history and I'm looking at the future. I don't care what the history is. It is way easier to imagine Ole Miss being awesome at men's basketball than Boston College in the year 2025 or, you know, perhaps even Northwestern. They got a beautiful facility. They're in the best basketball league in the country according to most and some metrics. And there's real money behind it. Like they have real nil at Ole Miss. That's how they're playing in the national semifinals in football and how they built a NCAA tournament team last season. Like Chris Beard can tell every high school player he recruits, if you stay at Ole Miss for four years, I can guarantee you you're a millionaire when you leave here. I don't think you can say that at Boston College, Penn State, DePaul or even Northwestern, but you can say it at Ole Miss. So I think going forward, at least the way I look at it, where are you positioned in the sport now, regardless of what you've been in the past? I'd much rather have Ole Miss future than, say, Penn State's basketball future. But we could argue about that on another episode, another time. Let's move on before we get out of here. Like I said, mid season, let's throw some Final Four picks. Mine are different than they were in the preseason. I promise you that. I'll update them. We'll do it next, then we'll get out of here. It's the Ion College Basketball Podcast. We're on CBS Sports Network. Welcome back. I own college basketball podcast here on CBS Sports Network. We got about three minutes left, and I don't think you can conclude a college basketball show without getting Final Four picks at some point. We haven't done it yet, so we better do them now. Norlander, I know what you had in the preseason. How different is what you got now from.
- [42:54]
Matt Norlander
That. Do you remember what I had in the.
- [42:58]
Gary Parrish
Preseason? No, I was just saying.
- [42:59]
Matt Norlander
That. What if I told you this is a mid season kind of update, right? You know, if you got to change your picks, you got to change your picks. Right? Right. That's. That's what we're looking at. What if I told you that my Final Four picks in the preseason were combined 53 and 2 as we sit here on January.
- [43:20]
Gary Parrish
6Th? I would tell you that's way better than mine. Way better than mine. Because that sounds like. If I could break this down in the simplest way, it sounds like one man had a Final four that included St. John's and another man had a final four that omitted St. John's that is factually.
- [43:39]
Matt Norlander
Accurate. My preseason Final Four is going to remain my in season Final Four. I'm not going to change a thing about it. In the preseason, I had Houston defeating Michigan in the national championship game. With Arizona and Purdue also making it to Indianapolis. You can see the current records of those teams. I don't know what to tell you. Blind squirrel finds a nut. And here we are. So I am not moving a thing. I see the rest of this show entirely to.
- [44:09]
Gary Parrish
You. I have to change something. I mean, even Rick Patino hates his team now, so they'd be nonsensical for me to like it when he doesn't. So St. John's my preseason number one. They've obviously got to go. I really wouldn't change too much, but I would obviously sub out the Johnny's. I had BYU in the preseason. I could keep them right now, very reasonably and almost did. But if I were actually going to update it with a fresh four, I would sub out two. In the preseason, I had UConn and Purdue along with. With. No, I had. I had Purdue, Houston, BYU and St. John's if I were going to update that now, my Final Four would be Michigan, UConn, Purdue, and Houston. I could keep BYU and take one of those four out, but if I were having to bet a paycheck on it, Those are the four schools that I think in this moment are the four most likely to win the national championship. Michigan, UConn, Purdue, Houston. What an incredible Final Four that would be. Four great coaches, all of whom have already coached in a Final Four. Four great programs with an opportunity for three of those guys to win what would be their first national championship of their career. So Michigan, UConn, Purdue and Houston. That's my Final Four. And like I said earlier, if I had to pick just one to win the whole thing. At this moment, I'd go with Kelvin Sampson's Houston Cougars. Shouts to Devin Downey. Shouts to Chester, S.C. shouts to Terry Teagle. He's a legend. Appreciate all you guys for being here with us on CBS Sports Network. We're going to be back next Tuesday, same time, same place, one o' clock Eastern. Till then, take.
- [45:52]
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- [46:23]
Matt Norlander
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