EOCBB on CBSSN: SEC sets record w/ 7 in Sweet 16; Calipari’s redemption; Queen’s buzzer-beater; Sean Miller leaves Xavier for Texas

Summary

Eye On College Basketball: SEC Dominance, Calipari’s Redemption, Queen’s Buzzer-Beater, and Coaching Carousel

Episode Overview In this episode of Eye On College Basketball aired on March 24, 2025, CBS Sports' Gary Parish and Matt Norlander delve into the riveting developments of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The discussion highlights the Southeastern Conference's unprecedented performance, John Calipari’s triumphant journey with Arkansas, Derek "Queen" King’s unforgettable buzzer-beater, and significant coaching changes affecting the landscape of college basketball.

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1. SEC’s Historic Sweet 16 Performance

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) has shattered records by sending seven teams to the Sweet 16, making it the first conference ever to achieve such a feat.

Key Points:

• The SEC began the tournament with 14 teams, the highest any conference has ever had in the bracket.
• Seven SEC teams advanced to the Sweet 16, meeting statistical expectations based on seedings.
• Notable teams include Auburn (1 seed), Florida (1 seed), Alabama (2 seed), Tennessee (2 seed), Kentucky (3 seed), Ole Miss (6 seed), and Arkansas (10 seed).
• The conference's dominance has positioned Florida, Auburn, Alabama, and Tennessee among the top contenders for the national championship, with Duke currently favored at +220.

Notable Quotes:

• Matt Norlander (02:50): “I think the SEC has met expectations... history made in consecutive Sundays for the SEC with the most bids and now with the most representation ever in a regional semifinal.”
• Gary Parish (05:48): “This league is performed, Rudy. Well, and still has, you know, I think at least four teams, maybe more, that can have reasonable hopes right now to try to win this national championship.”

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2. John Calipari’s Redemption with Arkansas

John Calipari has led the Arkansas Razorbacks to the Sweet 16, marking his first appearance as a double-digit seed and overcoming significant challenges.

Key Points:

• Arkansas, seeded 10th, eliminated first-seeded St. John’s and Rick Pitino’s team to reach the Sweet 16.
• Matt Norlander highlights the emotional journey, noting the Calipari family's resilience and tribute to their struggles.
• Discussions emphasize Calipari’s reputation as one of the greatest recruiters in college basketball and his ability to lead under pressure.

Notable Quotes:

• Gary Parish (14:21): “John Cinderella in the bracket. Amazing stuff... Caliperi family angle and just Cal in general and credit to them.”
• Matt Norlander (15:00): “He is the greatest recruiter in the history of college basketball... I find him to be continually fascinating.”

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3. Derek "Queen" King’s Memorable Buzzer-Beater

Derek Queen delivered a historic buzzer-beater for Maryland, epitomizing the unpredictable excitement of March Madness.

Key Points:

• Queen’s buzzer-beater against Maryland has sparked debates over a potential traveling violation, though officials remain divided on the call.
• The play is celebrated as the first true buzzer-beater since Lamont Butler’s in the 2023 national semifinals.
• Marylands’ team, known as the Crab Five, has made a significant impact, enhancing their legacy within the tournament.

Notable Quotes:

• Matt Norlander (32:01): “Queen hit that shot high off the glass, off the off foot, highly contested. It was an awesome vintage moment and a reminder of why this tournament is so incredible.”
• Gary Parish (33:15): “Sometimes when you're watching a basketball game and there's this little thing that happens and there's this little unusual looking play... it was very, very close.”

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4. Coaching Carousel: Sean Miller to Texas and Rodney Terry’s Exit

The coaching landscape experiences significant shifts with Sean Miller departing Xavier for Texas and Rodney Terry exiting his position at Texas.

Key Points:

• Rodney Terry, despite leading Texas to three consecutive NCAA tournaments and an Elite Eight appearance, was fired due to the program’s insufficiency in meeting long-term expectations.
• Sean Miller has been hired by Texas to replace Terry, causing frustration among Xavier fans who expected a longer tenure and better stability.
• The move highlights the challenges coaches face in high-stakes programs and the impact of short-term performances on job security.

Notable Quotes:

• Matt Norlander (38:52): “He was never Crystal Gante's guy... it was a short-term arrangement and Texas was just not good enough to hold on to his job.”
• Gary Parish (40:06): “If the goal is to recruit the best players in the country and try to take a shot at Final Fours and National Championships, I think anybody would tell you it’s easier to do that at Texas than it is Xavier.”

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5. Final Four Predictions and Bracket Adjustments

Gary and Matt discuss their Final Four predictions amidst the evolving tournament landscape, considering the SEC's dominance and the potential outcomes of key matchups.

Key Points:

• Both hosts express confidence in Auburn, Houston, Alabama, and Texas Tech advancing to the Final Four.
• They consider the impact of remaining games, including Florida vs. Maryland and Texas Tech vs. Arkansas, in shaping the Final Four.
• The conversation touches on Duke's performance and the potential for league representation to shift depending on game outcomes.

Notable Quotes:

• Matt Norlander (45:05): “I got three of my Final Four. So I have Houston winning the title over Auburn... I will go with Texas Tech over Maryland and the Red Raiders get to the Final Four.”
• Gary Parish (46:10): “Six of my eight elite eight teams in my original bracket are still alive... I already had it decided. Texas Tech.”

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6. Reflections on Conference Representation in the Sweet 16

The hosts analyze the concentration of power conferences in the Sweet 16, debating its implications for the diversity and competitiveness of the tournament.

Key Points:

• The Sweet 16 features seven SEC teams, four Big Ten teams, four Big 12 teams, and one ACC team (Duke).
• They discuss whether this dominance signifies a shift towards power conferences controlling the tournament’s outcomes or if it’s a one-off occurrence.
• Matt Norlander remains skeptical of declaring a trend, suggesting that future tournaments may reveal different dynamics.

Notable Quotes:

• Gary Parish (35:15): “Seven from the SEC, four from the Big Ten, four from the Big 12, Duke from the ACC... is it coincidental or is it something more?”
• Matt Norlander (35:50): “I think next year we could very well have two or three of these teams squeak through the Sweet 16 and a couple ones, twos or threes lose in the first round.”

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7. Closing Thoughts and Future Predictions

As the tournament progresses, the hosts share their anticipation for upcoming games and potential storyline developments, including further coaching changes and final tournament standings.

Key Points:

• Anticipation of Maryland vs. Florida and Texas Tech vs. Arkansas matchups.
• Discussion on the potential for the Big Ten to break its championship drought, with teams like Michigan, Michigan State, Maryland, and Purdue in contention.
• Final reflections on personal bracket adjustments and predictions for the national championship.

Notable Quotes:

• Gary Parish (46:54): “Six of my eight elite eight teams in my original bracket are still alive... I have Texas Tech winning the west and advancing to the Final Four.”
• Matt Norlander (47:11): “It was a tough 24 hours here... the tournament has the ability to bring such awesome narrative power.”

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Conclusion This episode of Eye On College Basketball offers an in-depth analysis of the SEC's record-breaking Sweet 16 presence, John Calipari’s successful tenure with Arkansas, the drama surrounding Derek Queen’s buzzer-beater, and significant coaching movements affecting major programs. Gary Parish and Matt Norlander provide insightful commentary, enriched with notable quotes and statistical insights, making this episode a must-listen for college basketball enthusiasts eager to stay informed on the dynamic progression of the NCAA Tournament.

Transcript

[Gary Parish]

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[Matt Norlander]

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[Gary Parish]

Hey there Gary Parish. Welcome back to the I Own College Basketball podcast on CBS Sports Network where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, Dodo birds and Leaky black. Matt Norlander is here with me and the place to start on this Monday afternoon is with a breakdown of the Sweet 16 of this 2025 NCAA tournament that is filled up pretty good with SEC schools. We started with 14 SEC teams in this bracket. Seven of them remain. Which means the SEC is now officially the first conference ever to put 14 teams in a bracket and also the first conference ever to put seven teams into the Sweet 16. Norlander last night on Inside College Basketball right here on CBS Sports Network, I was asked whether I thought the SEC had met expectations coming in to this NCAA Tournament. I said I think so. How Would you answer that question?

[Matt Norlander]

I think the SEC has met expectations. When you have 14 in, you should from a probability standpoint. You know, considering where some teams are seated and a lot of the SEC teams that didn't advance, they didn't, you know, they didn't exceed seed expectation. But you've got one seed Auburn. They're into the sweet 16. You've got six seat old miss exceeding seed expectations into the sweet 16. You've Got Tennessee and Kentucky, the two and three. They're here as they should be. You've got Bama, a two seed here, as it should be. I think I'm missing one more in there. But regardless, I would say they have met expectations. I would think the expectations were pretty high on the sec. It felt like there was a little bit of schadenfreude that was waiting in the wings because the league got so many teams into the tournament that if, you know, it didn't send at least four or five into the Sweet 16, that it would have fallen on its face. That didn't happen. We now have a record by nature of what we've seen across the board. Mighty impressive. Yeah, you got to get 14 in to have a good chance at 7, but they had 14 into the field. And whether you want to debate On Texas, regardless, 13 were inarguably of NCAA tournament quality from a resume standpoint. And so here we are, history made in consecutive Sundays for the SEC with the most bids and now with the most representation ever in a regional semifinal.

[Gary Parish]

I guess it'd be more impressive if the sec, you know, had won every single game that any of its members had played in this NCAA tournament. But that's obviously not realistic. And so I think it's important to, like, look at the teams that are no longer around. It's Missouri, Oklahoma, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Texas and Texas A and M. Every one of those teams other than Texas A and M were supposed to be gone by now anyway, based on seating. Again, the only SEC team that didn't make the Sweet 16 that was seated in a way that suggested it should make the Sweet 16 is Texas a and M. And that's the Texas A and M team that was a four seed and it was eliminated by a five seed. A five seed that belonged to Michigan that is on a little bit of a streak right now and just, you know, not too long ago won the Big Ten tournament. So one seed Auburn is still alive. One seed Florida is still alive. Two seed Tennessee is still alive. Two seed Alabama is still alive. Seed Kentucky is still alive plus 6 seed Ole Miss and 10 seed Arkansas. And if you just look at the odds to win the 2025 NCAA tournament right now, yeah, Duke is the favorite at plus 220. But of the six schools with the best odds, four of them belong to SEC schools, specifically Florida, Auburn, Alabama and Tennessee. So when you frame it like that, this league is performed, Rudy. Well, and still has, you know, I, I think at least four teams, maybe more. I don't want to sell anybody short, but I think at least four teams that can have reasonable hopes right now to try to win this national championship.

[Matt Norlander]

Hey, GP do you think that this is enough for the SEC to claim greatest single season ever? I don't necessarily think they need a champion, but I do think that the school, that the conference probably needs at least one school to make the Final Four to have some real heft to it. Would you agree? Just, you know, by pure nature of it, you know, you don't get one of into the Final Four minimally to San Antonio. To me, I think if you want to really have a credible claim to that, short of even having a national champion, maybe we get that feels like at least one of these got to break through with two more wins, right?

[Gary Parish]

I think it's too early to write that story right now. We got to see how this thing finishes, you know, but let's just play it out because I think this is maybe not probable, but certainly possible, like totally realistic. They could put two teams in the Final Four, multiple teams in the Final Four and then have the national champion. And I think if as a conference, when this is over, we say the SEC put a record 14 teams in the bracket, put a record seven teams in the Sweet 16, put multiple teams in the Final Four and provided the sport with the national champion. I think it's very easy, very easy then to say that is the best version of a men's basketball conference we have ever seen. But it's going to be a harder thing to sell to the anti SEC people if Duke is the team sitting there holding the trophy at the end or if Houston is the team sitting there holding the trophy at the end.

[Matt Norlander]

At the risk of venturing into too much, you know, I don't know, baseless speculation. Why do you think there is like some anti SEC sentiment? Why is that? Maybe it's just people exist in some part in some portions to just crap on everything. But we had this with the Big 12 and that actually it wasn't just sports fans. That was also ACC coaches a year ago. So it's not like the SEC is alone here. It's just the next one up. It's been the best conference there, but there definitely has been a little bit of that out there. It's, I got no interest in, in involving myself in that. Like, the conference was incredible statistically from a win percentage standpoint. A reminder, if you're just dialed in here in the past month in college hoops, there had never been a league with at least 10 teams in it. At least 10. And the SEC has 16 that had won a higher percentage of its non conference games in the history of the sport than the SEC this year. So the data was in and we saw what they were obviously able to do in the tournament there. Maybe it's just because there's a faction of people that just love to just hop online and hop on and post and hate. But I don't know. It's, it's, to me, it's super weird behavior, but it's undeniably out there. People are, people are preying on the SEC's downfall. I'm not so sure that's going to happen.

[Gary Parish]

Yeah, it's weird behavior. And yeah, if, if, if I'm going to prey on downfalls, maybe not prey on the downfall of a league that's got most of the best coaches and most of the money. That's not a good place to, that's not a good place to be rooting against. But yeah, I think it's a combination of a couple of things. One is people online just like to be negative. I don't know what it is about it. I'm sure we'll study it and get some answers someday. But like to be negative. Like my, my buddy Chris Vernon, who of course hosts an NBA podcast for the Ringer, works with me in Memphis, always uses this, an example. Like you could go on YouTube and find a video of John Cena. Good John Cena. Not he'll turn John Cena, but good John Cena doing make a wish videos with children battling cancer. And it'll have a million thumbs down. Like, who is thumbs downing? A video of John Cena meeting with a cancer patient. Like, what kind of miserable human do you have to be to decide I'm going to post something negative about this sweet moment. But like, there's millions of people out there doing it every single day. And then I think some of it is is us. And I don't mean you and I specifically, but people who don't work in the media love to yell at the media and just tell us we don't know what we're talking about and that we're stupid and that we're wrong. And so there's some of that because you and I and others have since very early in the season been talking about the SEC not only as the best conference in the country, but as the best conference of all time. And Big 12, Big 10, ACC fans, even if it's true, there's some of them who just don't want to hear that. And then they just want the media to be wrong because we now live in a country where too many people are constantly rooting for the, quote, mainstream media to be wrong. But don't get me off on another subject.

[Matt Norlander]

Fair enough. Fair enough. The stories here attached to these seven schools, all of them have their own interesting story points and angles with all of it. I mean, Auburn, you know, has it regathered itself. It got a good push from Creighton. It wound up winning by 12. But Creighton gave Auburn a real, real push there on Saturday with Ole Miss. This is only the second time ever that program has made the sweet 16. The other one happened back in 2001. Chris Beard has been able to do there on a short timeline what people hope that he would be able to do when he was hired there and really made a mess of Iowa State. And Iowa State really fell apart with another bad defensive showing and the Cyclones couldn't get through. No Keyshawn Gilbert. Of course, you go to Alabama over in the East. I'll see them in person on Thursday. They got a real scare from Robert Morrison. That was a very fun game, but they wind up winning that one by 10. And then they become the first team in 105 games to get 80 on St. Mary's and Nate Oats is trying to go to back to back Final Fours. And it's certainly on a trajectory like Wimps. Anderson still got him, you know, in terms of wins and NCAA Tournament wins. But Nate Oats, if he's sticking around there for the long term, he's going to be the greatest coach in that school's history. No doubt about it, getting them there to that point. Kentucky and Tennessee, you know, Kentucky didn't have much issue with Illinois looked really, really good. Mark Pope gets it done in Year one. I had mentioned this on the show Sunday night, GP Maybe we can dive into it tomorrow or Wednesday. We got plenty of podcasts for you before we tip off the Sweet 16 again. But Pope's one of four coaches that is in year one and in the Sweet 16, we've never had this that many in year one in a Sweet 16 occupy and all the schools they didn't make the tournament or win games last year for Kentucky against Tennessee you got the Pope angle. Tennessee is a two seat again with Barnes with that it's just like we're waiting is this guy going to get a final four again. And in some ways I actually think Tennessee is a little bit undervalued but it really didn't have much resistance from UCLA and obviously beat beat Wofford as well. And then I think the only team I've yet to get to and I know we're going to talk them next segment is just Arkansas in general. The Arkansas story, the John Caliper story and the the fact that you know he was able to leave and Kentucky to go to Arkansas because Musk left for USC and that happened. Andy Enfield left for smu. The whole chain on down the line that we have Arkansas and Kentucky and BYU all in the Sweet 16 when those those dots were connected, those dominoes knocked over against each other is pretty incredible. And it was, it was some sort of scene. Parish on Saturday in Providence. You and I have not had a chance to talk about it. I know you talked about it on the Saturday night react show but the Caliperian Arkansas stuff. Yeah this tournament has the ability to bring such awesome narrative power and and what's going on in Fayetteville is pretty cool.

[Gary Parish]

And that's where we will get next. The only double digit seed left in this NCAA tournament is John Caliper. Arkansas Razorbacks. John Cinderella is still in the bracket. Amazing stuff. Like Norlander told you, he was with them in Providence. Got to speak not only with John, but with his wife Ellen, with his younger daughter Megan. I thought the quotes were really, really just perfect. If you're trying to summarize, you know what this family has been dealing with over the past few years. I know they got more money than they know what to do with, but that doesn't always make life easy. Norlander spent real time with the family the Caliparis on Saturday night. We'll get into that next. This is the I Own College Basketball podcast on CBS Sports Network.

[Matt Norlander]

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[Gary Parish]

I own college basketball podcast, CBS Sports Network. Incredibly, the only double digit seed left in this NCAA tournament is John Calipari's Arkansas Razorbacks. John Cinderella in the bracket. This is his 24th appearance in the NCAA tournament, first time he's ever been a double digit seed. And he got to the Sweet 16 by eliminating first Bill Self and then Rick Pitino. Norlander, you were there for both games in Providence. You spent time after the round of 32 victory over St John's with John Caliperi plus his wife Ellen, plus his younger daughter Megan. What'd you take away from those conversations?

[Matt Norlander]

A lot. The scene was incredible. There's just so much surrounding that game. Oh, by the way, and I know you touched on most of the St. John stuff, so we're going to move on from that. But just, just the fact that Patino lost again to Caliperi who has now a four game edge over him head to head all time, including their time in the NBA. And the way it happened, RJ Lewis having a bad game, Caliperi doing it just wild and the athleticism meant, meant a lot there for, for Arkansas and team shot terribly. And at the end of the game, you know where I happened, I was on press row right up on the court. But you know, over my right shoulder all of maybe, maybe 10, 12ft away were Ellen and Megan. And the cameras did catch them for about two or three seconds. I saw the clips that were shared but they were, they were like crying for like a good two, three minutes. Like it was a very, very powerful moment. And in that moment I kind of, I think I got to write the Caliperi family angle and just Cal in general and credit to them. They were wonderful to talk with. Ellen has just as you well know, I mean you've Known her for such a long time, dating back to when you covered Memphis. She has seen everything and gone through everything. Megan actually gave me some really powerful quotes and some of which obviously made the story some. I wound up. She just gave me a lot and there was at a certain point just got a figure out what you're going to put in the story. But one thing that she did say that I didn't have in the story was what you alluded to on the previous, you know, segment here as we were teasing this, this part of the show. And she said, listen, you know, I was so fortunate to be in a position where I grew up privileged. Like, you know, I had a lot of things and it was and it has been amazing. But that doesn't change the fact she had another quote that was similar like this that I put in the story. Doesn't change the fact that, that it's not easy to continually and perpetually see your father mocked. You know, everything that comes with it criticized. Like it just never ends. I, I cannot go and read unless I'm in specifically going to read about my dad and like a game he won or something. Like, I can't avoid it. And so she was the one willing to say this was vindication. She was the one that said those two have a rivalry, referring to Rick Pitino, no matter how much they deny it, is absolutely the case there. And they also revealed that this past season, like, has been just as stressful as anyone before it, which was new information because Caliperi, as we talked about on the show a year ago, when the move became public about him leaving, you know, it had gotten very toxic on the Kentucky side, understandably so a lot of letdowns. He and his former AD Mitch Barnhart were not the best of buds, to put it lightly. And you think, okay, you go to Fayetteville, you get to start over. And there were some good things about it. But, oh, and five in the sec. Caliper told me he went and bought champagne after they won their first SEC game. And I thought he was joking. He was like, no, I, we went and did that. Like, we needed, we needed to have some sort of celebration to indicate that we weren't going to go 0 and 18 and he wins the game at Kentucky when no one thought that was going to happen. And then he gets the win over Rick Patino. It's something, I love your John Cinderella nickname. Let's just, let's stick with that for the rest of this tournament. GP but it is, it's something to see he's got a career, I think big picture takeaway parish. He has got a career that really just does not have a parallel. He's the greatest recruiter in the history of college basketball. He's one of the greatest coaches. And as I wrote in the story, he is not put in the class and on the tier with Rick Pitino. People don't say John Caliperi is one of the three or four or five best coaches in the history of college basketball. They say that about Rick Pitino. And yet here's Caliperi booting Patino out of the tournament. He's the only guy to ever be patino three times in the tournament. He's got 16 sweet 16s tied for Izzo with the most active ever. And some of his downfalls have been of his own doing. But some of his greatest triumphs are because of how he's wired and how he wants to do stuff. I find him to be continually fascinating. He's just an incredible story subject and I had not seen that look on his face and, and that kind of, you know, satisfaction over, like, wow, you know, job's not done. But we're in the sweet 16 after everything we're going to. It was, it was really interesting to see and I was very happy and lucky and fortunate and, and grateful to be on hand to watch Patino and Cal one more time and talk with the family after.

[Gary Parish]

And just a reminder that game was of how this tournament can flip everything. Like for four months, Rick Pitino has been having the time of his life and John Caliperi has been miserable. And because of the outcome of one 40 minute game, now Rick Pitino is miserable and John Caliperi is as happy as I assume he's been in a while. And I know you said you were surprised to hear that this season has been as stressful as previous ones for the, for the family, but that doesn't surprise me at all because when you're 66 years old, you just got pushed out of a place you were certain you were going to retire at and then you were fortunate enough to land the type of job where they can set you up with nil, where you can go buy one of the best rosters and most expensive rosters in the sport and then it gets off to such a bad start, you're 0 and 5 in the SEC, your best NBA prospect is hurt at the time, you think probably for the season it gets really bad. And I bet deep down somewhere, John, I don't think would ever acknowledge this. He's not the type that would acknowledge this. I think you probably start to question yourself a little bit. I bet you start to wonder if what people are saying about you are true. I know that's. I know I would. So maybe I'll just speak for myself. If I was 66 years old, the success I used to have is getting much more difficult to obtain. The place that used to treat me like a God told me to leave and now I'm not doing so well at my new job. What if everybody's right? What if I have lost it? What if I'm not the same guy anymore? What if this has passed me by? A strong minded person maybe doesn't let that seep in, but I don't know how you don't let it get in there somewhere. And so to. To stay in it though and keep fighting and get back to this place is remarkable. I know John Caliperi is not everybody's favorite person, but I like great stories wherever they are. And I loved that you went and found Ellen and found Megan and allowed them to have voices in that column. I thought they provided you with great material and then you knocked it out of the park. Like you said. I've known Ellen for 25 years, you know, been in her home. We're not best friends. We didn't ever go to Starbucks and sit down and have coffee and talk for two hours. But always cordial when we see each other. I've known Megan since she's a little girl. Like literally a little girl. And to see her and Aaron and Bradley, all of them grow up to be just impressive young people. It's been fun watching that family, you know, grow up. And I understood every word Megan said. You know, most of us don't have famous fathers. We don't know what that's like. And I guess when it's good, it's really good. You know, you're on private planes and you courtsided everything. And when it's good, it's good, but when it gets bad, it can. I just don't think most of us understand what that's like. To hear people in your community very loudly scream that your father stinks, that your father doesn't deserve his job, that your father is overpaid. Most of us never have to hear that. Whether our fathers fit any of those categories or not, it's just not something people talk about. But when you're a basketball coach, particularly that basketball coach, it can get really nasty real quick. I'll tell you a story. I went and saw Tom Crean and Joni Crean, when they were still at Indiana. And Joni told me a story one time their daughter was in school at Indiana. This was probably a year, two years before Tom actually got pushed out of Indiana. So he's still the coach. And their daughter was in class at Indiana. And the professor walks in, big auditorium type class and says, hey, just got an announcement to make for anybody who hadn't been following. Check your phones. But Tom Crean has been fired as Indiana's basketball coach. And the entire class like was cheered. Woo hoo. Woo. It was April 1st. The professor said, April fools. Ha ha ha. Well, there's Tom Crean's daughter sitting there having to experience that. Like, what does that do to somebody? So, like, these problems, they're bigger problems in the world. I got it. You know, it's always hard to get people to feel sorry for multimillionaires, but that family has had a. I bet it hadn't been fun the past few years being a part of the Calipari family and to see them be able to share that moment. I know John didn't tear up the way his wife and daughter did, but I bet he felt a similar way.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, he. Yeah. And I was. I happened to be sitting before we go to break here. I was sitting, watching. First of all, I watched D.J. wagner. He's got a great story in and of itself and it was awesome to see him. He was on. I saw him walk into the bus. He was. He was like the last guy out of the. Out of the building and he was on cloud nine. It was awesome to see DJ do. Do what he was able to do there. But Calipari, you know, first made eyes with his wife and daughter and then they come on the court and yeah, just downright, downright beaming. Just. Yeah. And they just. The emotion overcome and the CBS cameras catching that. There was a. There was a lot going on there. Before we go to break gp, I give him a chance here and we're going to Preview More Sweet 16 stuff Tuesday and we're gonna have a. A typical Wednesday show as well. So we have plenty of time. But just real quick, I do give them a chance against Texas Tech and we wait and see. You know, a do Theo. I don't think he was. It was never really truly on the table. He would play this first weekend. But if he can return, you know, don't forget about the fact that they have done this. You know, Boogie Fland hasn't really been an impactful player. He's back but he has after the wrist injury. And no, Theo Tech Stack is really good, but it's going to be what's must watch stuff. That is a late tip, by the way, on Thursday on tbs.

[Gary Parish]

Of course you give him a chance. And I'm glad you mentioned Ado being sidelined because that's another way to frame this. If you just be like SEC school John Calipari in the Sweet sixteen. Whatever. Think of it this way, take John out of it. It's a 10 seed missing its leading score. That's what's happened. It's a 10 seed missing its leading score and it's in the sweet 16. It's an awesome story and obviously you've got to give them a chance. Keep in mind the roster was preseason 16 in the AP poll. That's how good the roster was viewed by AP voters. They were 16th in the preseason AP poll. St. John's by the way, unranked in the preseason AP poll. So Arkansas always had a roster that suggested this type of stuff as possible. It just took him a while to get to this place. But I'll keep this simple and then we'll move on. If you've already eliminated and I know Kansas never really looked like the preseason number one team, but still, what I'm saying is true. If you've already eliminated the preseason number one team and the outright Big east champion, you're not worried about anybody else in front of you. It doesn't mean they'll win another game. In fact, I would predict they probably won't. But in that locker room does. Do the Arkansas players believe that this is over now? No. I guarantee you they think they can win at least a couple of more games and get to a Final Four, which would obviously be an incredible script flip for John Calipari in that staff. When we come back, we'll turn our attention to the Big Ten. They got four teams in the Sweet sixteen Michigan, Michigan State, Maryland, Purdue. Is this the year they can snap that long, ugly streak of no national championships? Last one to do it from the Big Ten, Michigan State in 2000. We'll get into that next. It's the Iowa College Basketball Podcast. We're on CBS Sports Network. Hear that? Spring is here and the Home Depot has great prices on grills to make this season yours. So if you're working on improving your hosting skills, you're going to want the next grill four burner gas grill for $229. And of course pair it with the next grill eight piece grill tool set. Now get outside and show off those new skills. Shop a wide selection of grills under $300 at the Home Depot. So the Big Ten cannot match the SEC team for team in the Sweet 16. But the Big Ten does account for 25% of the Sweet 16. Michigan, Michigan, State, Mar, Maryland, Purdue, all still alive. Norlander, it's the question we ask every year. Is this the year that the Big ten can win a national championship for the first time since 2000? Michigan, Michigan State, Maryland, Purdue. Can you see any of them doing it?

[Matt Norlander]

Well, just. Can I see it? I can. I'm also going to give the Big 12 love immediately here, because in the midst of. I don't know if this has ever happened to you or not on the TV desk at CBS Sports Network, but when it became, you know, official that the Sweet 16 was going to be entirely comprised of nothing but power conference programs, the Big Ten, the ACC, the SEC, and the Big 12, your boy over here accidentally, unintentionally typoed and said the Big east instead of the Big 12, which created a. A cascade of anger direct in my way. So I am here. We're talking Big 10, Big 12 fence. We love you. We got podcasts coming all this week. We will get into some big 12 love as well. The big 12 has just as many schools in the sweet 16 as the big 10. And you can make the argument the big 12 could be just as well positioned as the big 10. I just. I don't think you're aware of that, but I am. I refuse to take down the tweet because it was idiotic and I apologize, but I refuse to delete it. It's my bad. It was a typo. I put. I put four biggie steams into the Sweet 16, and I'm not deleting the tweet. So I'm just. I had to be upfront with you on that. I don't know if you saw that or not.

[Gary Parish]

I did see it. It's. We'll chalk it out to an overworked mistake.

[Matt Norlander]

Correct.

[Gary Parish]

The type of thing that can happen when you're. When you're doing a million things at one time on behalf of the idea.

[Matt Norlander]

That I'm like, nope, I still got St. John's Yukon, Xavier, Marquette. They're all in the Sweet 16. Don't tell me otherwise. Anyway, here's the other thing about that.

[Gary Parish]

Not to. Not to get off on a side thing, but the other thing about that, whenever you see something like that, it is so clearly just a typo like, you cover this Sport for every day for a living. Do you.

[Matt Norlander]

You.

[Gary Parish]

You really the one person out there who thinks there's four Big east teams in the Sweet 16? So it's so clearly a typo. Why are people so enthusiastic about jumping in and calling you an idiot? That does not. That does not mean you're an idiot. You know what it means?

[Matt Norlander]

It means many other things do. But. But yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Gary Parish]

At best, it means you're careless. Probably just means you're, you know, trying to do too many things at once. But to. It goes back to what we were talking about earlier, how people are just eager to be negative about something. When I, like when I see other reporters do things like that, I never get offended or go, well, what an idiot. I must correct this now and shame them. I'm just like, man, I bet that person was probably trying to do too many things at one time and messed it up a little bit. So on behalf of all Big 12 fans everywhere, and I consider myself one, I forgive you. I forgive you for your accidental mistake.

[Matt Norlander]

Having said that, let's talk. Johnny's in the sweet 16. No, I'm kidding. No. Okay.

[Gary Parish]

Having said that. Having said that. Can Creighton. Can Creighton get two more wins in this bracket or not?

[Matt Norlander]

You know, I give him a chance. I really. I really do. Okay. Michigan State getting it done the way that it has again, I think 4:15 from 3 point range. Tom Izzo. This is going to be legendary. If you actually make the final doing this, we'll see if it can get done. Let's get to Maryland. Just one quick second. Purdue gets a de facto home game against Houston, which it might need in order to beat Houston because that game's going to be in Indianapolis and then Michigan. It's got a very interesting roster setup. Don't even get me started on the portal. But they got. They got Justin Pippen hopping in the portal, and meantime, they're trying to prepare to play the number one overall seed. Can we please move the Portal open date back one more week? What are we doing here, Queen? I talked about this to lead the show on Sunday night, but we have not talked about this at all. Gene Steritor was in studio for CBS and gave reasoning as to why the play could be interpreted as a non travel. I reached out to two veteran officiating sources and they both told me that is a clear travel. So we have a disagreement among very intelligent minds. Did you think it was a travel? And two, are you like me? And it was the. It looks cool as hell. Let it stand rule, which should be a rule applied across all of sports. I'm sorry. This queen hit an incredible shot. It wasn't such an egregious travel that I think it needed to be taken off the board, but I do think it was a travel. And had a travel been called, it would have been a bummer, but I wouldn't have been opposed to it. What are your thoughts on what happened there?

[Gary Parish]

I think you'll know what I mean when I put it this way. Sometimes when you're watching a basketball game and there's this little thing that happens and it's so unusual looking that you go, okay, that must have been a carry. And did you actually see a carry? I don't know. But like, it just. Something didn't look right. I watched this stuff non stop for decades and that didn't look right. Watching live, when I saw Derek make that move and finish that play, it didn't look right. It looked unusual. And then you can go back and count it and start using words like gather and this step and super slow moving. And I think, I think you can reasonably argue it either way. Evidence being that you've got two officials you respect telling you it's a travel and we've got Gene Steretor on television saying he doesn't think it is. I'll let the officials argue amongst themselves, but I will say the people who were immediately like, it's not a travel. It's not even close. It was definitely close. It looked unusual. I noticed it in real time. I'll let the officials argue about what it actually should have been. But it was very, very close. And it jumped off the screen as an unusual looking basketball play.

[Matt Norlander]

It did. And it also immediately vaults into the March Madness highlight reel. I mean, that's the first true buzzer beater since Lamont Butler did it in the, in the, in the national semifinals back in 2023. Queen, who's going to be a one and done player and who knows if that's the last win he'll ever experience or he's got two, three or four more in a Maryland uniform. The Crab Five in general, you know, from. For Colorado State fans, it's been a tough 24 hours here. We'll get to some coaching stuff next segment. But you lose a game like this after Jalen Lake hits a gorgeous, gorgeous three pointer and now you're losing your coach to Minnesota. It's a tough scene because he did he objectively, I think he traveled and you lose the game that way. But I Think for, for Maryland and having that crab five, which feels like a nickname that will like well, 10 years from now we'll remember that Maryland had this group called the Crab 5. And I think making the Sweet 16 kind of puts a deeper imprint on their legacy kind of more nationally. And for the average college basketball fan, Maryland fans in general, obviously this team, we'll see what it does from here on out. But having such a big year like this is going to last long and you have Queen. You know he was, he's been an awesome freshman. He's a local kid that is getting this done. I loved everything about it and as I said on the Sunday night reacts pod I think I, I genuinely think the tournament and I, I say needed like I, I do think it needed that kind of moment. The first weekend is always amazing no matter how many win. I'm, I'm down on the fact that we don't have any mid majors. We've got Johnson, Johnny Cinderella and that's about it. And the Hogs. I like having at least one or two teams that are double digit seeds, that are mid majors, that are from single bid conferences. It gives it more flavor, it gives it intrigue. Because you know What? We always GP we always have 10, 11, 12, 13 of those schools from the big time conferences. Anyway. I like having the variety and I think most college basketball fans agree. So in absence of getting that in the first weekend, we really needed a moment to carry us into Monday and Queen hitting that shot high off the glass, off the off foot, highly contested. It was an awesome vintage moment and a reminder of why this tournament is so incredible.

[Gary Parish]

Real quick, you've touched on it. The lack of variety in this sweet 16. Seven from the SEC, four from the Big Ten, four from the Big 12, Duke from the ACC. Does that mean anything to you? That very early in the nil era, in the transfer waiver era, we now have a record low number of conferences represented in the sweet 16. And they are the four, let's just say wealthiest conferences in the sport that happen to have members in the sweet 16. Does that mean something to you or is it just coincidental? Too early to tell.

[Matt Norlander]

I want you. I'm going to send it right back to you because I did say it on the Sunday show. So if you're been listening, you know my feeling on this. It doesn't mean something to me. I need to see more. In my opinion, we could be just as likely next year to have two 14s beat us. We just had Oakland last year and Jack Golke you know, doing what he did to Kentucky, a Kentucky team that rated top 10, top 15, you know, fairly Dickinson. It was two years ago. So I think next year we could very well have two or three of these teams squeak through the Sweet 16 and a couple ones, twos or threes lose in the, in the first round. So I'm not ready to go there yet. I know why there's an impulse to do it, but I'm sorry, I just, all of the evidence is not in yet and the tournament is too much of a random results generator that I think I, I, this might be a one off, but you might disagree. What do you think?

[Gary Parish]

No, we're on the same page. I, I could certainly envision a scenario where we're talking in five years and this has become a trend and we look back and we go, yeah, 20, 25. That's when we first saw it. That's when we, that's where we first saw where this was headed. But it's I think right now too early to, to write that chapter. For instance, if Derek Queen gets called for a travel, we've got five leagues in the Sweet 16 instead of four. Something as simple as that, right? If Rick Patino doesn't bench the biggies player of the year with five minutes to go, we might have five leagues in the Sweet 16 as opposed to, to just four. And if both of those things happen, Derek Queen gets called for a travel and Rick Patino doesn't bitch RJ Lewis, maybe we've got six leagues in the Sweet 16 as opposed to just four. And now we're not really focused too much on these conversations, so could be a sign of things to come. But I think too early to to say that definitively after just one year of of what we see when we come back, let's dive into the coaching carousel. News it's been busy over the past few days. Rodney Terry out at Texas. Sean Miller is the new head coach at Texas. Xavier fans are frustrated. Should they be? We'll talk through it next. I own college basketball podcast CBS Sports Network.

[Matt Norlander]

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Mario's Bistro.

[Gary Parish]

The special tonight is the beef carpaccio.

[Matt Norlander]

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[Gary Parish]

Welcome back to the ION college basketball podcast, CBS Sports Network. The coaching carousel, buddy. It's spinning good. Rodney Terry is out at Texas. Sean Miller is on his way to Austin to replace him. Xavier fans are typing frustrated thoughts on social media. Norlander, before we get to that part of it, but let's start with Rodney Terry. He's been the Coach at Texas three straight marches made the NCAA tournament. Each time took Texas to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2008 few years ago. Why did he lose his job?

[Matt Norlander]

If I were to boil it down and you and I had alluded to this being an inevitability and an unfortunate one for Rodney Terry. He was never Crystal Gante's guy. Crystal Conti hired Chris Beard, who brought Rodney Terry on his staff. Chris Beard was suspended and then fired. And Rodney Terry was able to do a good job that season and get Texas all the way to the elite eight and actually beat Sean Miller Xavier team two years ago in the tournament in the sweet 16 en route to doing it. He did enough to earn the job, but it was a short term arrangement and Texas was just not good enough, you know, in the, in the two year since big picture to, to be enough for him to hold on to his job. And so this was something of an open secret in the sport for the past six to eight weeks that, you know, barring another unthinkable, unthinkably deep run in the tournament, there would probably be a change here. And so it is harsh business, no doubt about it, because Terry was officially informed on Sunday that he was fired. And then things picked up rapid speed with Sean Miller on Sunday. And deep into the night, Xavier fans.

[Gary Parish]

Frustrated, they're now losing Sean Miller for the second time. Should they be, should just leave it there? Should they be frustrated with the way this has unfolded?

[Matt Norlander]

I would say frustrated is putting it lightly and I don't think it's just Xavier fans. My read on the situation at Xavier is there are a lot of angry people right now. The context with a lot of this is Sean Miller, when he, he was fired at Arizona in 21, took a year off from the sport and then it wasn't just Xavier that gave him an opportunity. He actually had sitting offers from South Carolina and Xavier and he chose to go back to Xavier where he had had success before and wanted to go back and coach in the Big East. And so he did. And in doing that, I think a lot of people thought that Sean Miller, if not going to coach there for the rest of his career, like this was going to be at least be something that could be. If it went well, like six, seven, eight years, we'd see. And instead he's gone after three. And Xavier right now, which is a Big east program, is effectively been put in a position where it's like. Like what it used to be in the A10, like what VCU is doing right now as it's trying to land its next coach in the. In the next few hours or I would think by tomorrow at the latest. And so, yeah, now there's. Now there's a scramble on and it's. It'll be interesting for Sean. He could thrive at Texas. You know, I'm told that Texas's infrastructure and the potential to maybe compete more frequently to make the Final Four and win a national title, like, quite clearly, you don't leave a job like Xavier where they welcomed you in. There was a lot of really good stuff going on with Sean there. I'm actually, I have not talked to Sean whatsoever about any of this. I would assume eventually he's going to be willing to open up on some of it. The whole decision process intrigues the hell out of me because I think that he can do well at Texas. But I'm not totally 100 sold that this will actually wind up being the decision that's for the betterment of his career. Maybe it is. Maybe in four years from now, we're talking to Sean Miller at the Final Four, and he's done it. Maybe, maybe that will happen. But I don't think he's an absolute 100. This is going to be a great fit. The great guy with the right personality to run that program. There's a lot of cooks in the kitchen at Texas in general, so that part of it does. It interests me a lot. And what about you, gp? Like, do you. From the outside looking in, does the move make sense to you? Or would he have maybe been bettered by staying at a situation where obviously, you know, he was beloved there and now he, you know, they're just so getting around it. You leave Xavier the way you do, a lot of Xavier fans are never going to forgive you for how you did things.

[Gary Parish]

This Sean should. Should have done whatever he wanted to do. It's his career, not mine. It'll have no impact on my life. But if the goal is to recruit the best players in the country and try to take a shot at Final Fours and National Championships, I think anybody would tell you it's easier to do that at Texas than it is Xavier. It just is. And so I understand it. And if you take both those jobs and put them on the table and I'm unemployed, unless I've got strong Ohio roots or an allegiance to the school, I'm taking the Texas job every time. I do think it complicates things when you are the Xavier coach for the second time. And I don't want to say they threw him a lifeboat, but, you know, they gave him a great job at a time where not a lot of people were lining up to give him a great job. And if I were Sean, I'm speaking for me now, not him, I would have struggled with that. I would have struggled walking away from them under these circumstances. It doesn't mean I wouldn't have done it. I would have sat down and huddled with my family and I'd have, I'd have reached a point where I made a very tough decision one way or another. And that's why I'm not going to scream that I can't believe he would do this. I might have talked myself into doing it as well. But I do know, I do know it'll be hard for me and I understand why Xavier fans are frustrated right now. Real quick, Ben McCollum to Iowa. That didn't take long. On one hand, makes perfect sense. You're a Division 2 coach. A couple of years ago, you don't pass on a Big Ten job. But I did wonder if he might, might wait for the top tier power conference job as opposed to, you know, the Iowa job.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, no doubt about it. And you know, given the restrictions of TV time here, we can, we can address this even later in the week if so. But I think it's a wonderful fit. Iowa, you did a great job. Iowa getting column, Minnesota getting Nico Medved and Virginia getting Ryan Odom. Those are all candidates that were put at the top of their respective list and all have very distinct connections to those states, to those universities. And so all three of those schools, they wind up getting coaches that their fan bases, their athletic directors, their presence they can feel really good about because this is the guy we want in the column. It was like 1A, 1B with Darian DeVries. But again, we gotta, we got a time squeeze here, so maybe tomorrow, Wednesday we can get a little bit more into it. But the carousel continues to spin and I do expect more updates over the next 24 to 48 hours.

[Gary Parish]

One more segment to go. We're going to update our final four picks after this short break, stay on College Basketball Podcast on CBS Sports Network. You don't wake up dreaming of McDonald's fries.

[Matt Norlander]

You wake up dreaming of McDonald's hash browns. McDonald's breakfast comes first.

[Gary Parish]

One more segment to go on the island. College Basketball Podcast, CBS Sports Network. My bracket is all messed up. Shame on you, VCU. Shame on you, St. John's Norlander, how many of your original Final Four picks remain alive?

[Matt Norlander]

I got three of my final Four. So I have Houston winning the title over Auburn. Those teams are still involved. I have Alabama making the Final Four. They're still sticking around. But you and me both, we had, we had, we had the Johnny's making it to San Antonio. That didn't happen. And so now we, we need to figure out who we're going to put there in place. And that's in the West. Out in San Francisco, Florida plays Maryland on Thursday at 7:39 on TBS. And then following that game will be Texas Tech Arkansas on tbs. Coincidentally enough, Texas Tech and Arkansas were both in San Francisco in the regionals three years ago and both of them got knocked out by Duke under Mike Chesky in his final season. I am going to pick, I have Maryland over Florida to begin with. I will go with Texas Tech over Maryland and the Red Raiders get to the Final Four. They get to San Antonio, which would be a huge spicy flavor of Houston and Tech are there. Who's your pick?

[Gary Parish]

Six of my eight elite eight teams in my original bracket are still alive. Like you said, three of my Final four teams, I also went with Texas Tech. I already had it. I already had it decided. Texas tech. Now that St. John's has been removed from the bracket, I've got Texas Tech winning the west and advancing to the Final Four. Then I've got Auburn and Houston in the national championship game and I got Bruce Pearl's Auburn Tigers winning the national championship. But I will say, whoo, buddy, you watch Duke for a few minutes, you start questioning yourself. Are you starting to question yourself about the Blue Devils? Because, because their net rating at Kim Palm now is, is higher than UConn's net rating was last season when UConn ran through the entire NCAA tournament. Won the national championship.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, real quick on that. All, all the other one seeds have faced at least some moment of, of real resistance. Now. Houston happened late against Gonzaga. Duke has not. And so, yes, have I been second guessing myself on some level? Very much so. But that being said, we do have Caleb Love vs. Duke one more time on Thursday.

[Gary Parish]

New shouts to Devin Downey, Chester South Carolina Terry Teagle. He's a legend. Hook and Larnell Appreciate you guys watching the Iowan College Basketball podcast. We'll be back tomorrow, same time, same champ.

[Matt Norlander]

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[Gary Parish]

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[Matt Norlander]

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