← Eye On College Basketball
Eye On College Basketball
Finally: AJ Dybantsa vs. Darryn Peterson. Plus: huge Michigan-Michigan St. game; SEC plot thickens; weekend picks
01:08:36
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- [00:00]
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- [00:42]
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- [02:15]
Gary Parish
Hey there, I am Gary Parish. Welcome back to the CBS Sports I Own College Basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, dodo birds and leaky black. Matt Norlander is here with me. If you're watching on YouTube be Brandon Davies Smash. And if you haven't yet, subscribe to the CBS Sports Iowa and College Basketball podcast. Please do that anywhere you subscribe to podcasts like Apple and Spotify. Let's get into it. I want to start, I think, in the sec, which is the top rated conference in the country according to the net, but one that has zero teams in the top 10 of the net and just one team in the top 15 of the AP poll. Norlander. I live in snow covered SEC. Oh, buddy, do I ever. You were just covered SEC country. Tell me how much you enjoyed Nashville and then I'll tell you how difficult it was for me to get home last night. And then we'll try to handicap this SEC race.
- [03:10]
Matt Norlander
Look at the poor guy living in some snow. I'm under a foot of snow up here. Okay, what do you got, 4 or 5 inches? You're gonna be.
- [03:17]
Gary Parish
I don't. I, I. We have ice. We have ice. I walked a half mile back to my house last night upon leaving Memphis International. My Uber could not get into my neighborhood. I walked with. I lugged a suitcase through the ice and snow of my neighborhood. By the time I reached my front door, it felt. I felt. I was like. This must feel like what it felt like to come back home from war. I thought I'd been in war. I was walking through the ice and snow, dragging my suitcase and, oh, by the way, I'm not going to name names because I don't know them. I can't. I don't even know their names. But don't ever let people tell you. You know, folks in the south are the nicest. They do anything for you. They might do anything for you. But let me tell you one thing they apparently will not do for you. Stop and ask if you need a lift to your home. Can you imagine seeing an idiot lugging a suitcase through the ice and snow of his neighborhood and not even stopping to say, man, are you okay? Particularly a guy. Particularly me. Like, look at me.
- [04:18]
Matt Norlander
Your actual neighbors.
- [04:20]
Gary Parish
I mean, I don't know, they drove right past me. I can't name names. I mean, they. I mean, three. Three different cars on my trek back home. Three. This is me last night. This is. This is the front of my neighborhood. This is. Look, look at me. I'm disoriented. My suit. That's a. That's my suitcase. I mean, three different cars drove right past me. Nobody even rolled a window down to be like, hey, buddy, hey, old man.
- [04:51]
Matt Norlander
No plow situation. How do you hate to see it? Did you shovel? Have you shoveled?
- [04:56]
Gary Parish
Shoveled? We don't even own a shovel. What are you talking about driveway. Like right now, my driveway looks exactly like everything else you're looking at. My car has not been out of the garage in a week.
- [05:09]
Matt Norlander
You haven't taken the cybertruck out in more than a week. Wow.
- [05:13]
Gary Parish
I don't have a cyber truck. But we have not taken our vehicle out. Yeah, I mean, everybody's trapped here. And I had. It is. Do you know what it's like to be on the road for 11 straight days, finally get. Look forward to getting back home? And then it's like, I guess I gotta walk home through the ice and snow. I guess I gotta trick a half mile.
- [05:34]
Matt Norlander
Were you rocking out of curiosity, Jordans?
- [05:37]
Gary Parish
What are you talking about?
- [05:38]
Matt Norlander
I just wonder like, what, what was underfoot? Like, you know, how quality was the shoe? Were you mad that it was getting all snowy? Could it handle the traction? You know, all that stuff? A good half mile. The suitcase in the snow is the real issue.
- [05:50]
Gary Parish
I mean, I.
- [05:51]
Matt Norlander
Are you, are you not exaggerating? Was it an actual half mile that you walked and not just past like a couple houses and then you were home?
- [05:59]
Gary Parish
No, I literally google mapped it. It's a half mile. It was, it was 0.5 mile. I was just through the snow. I never felt, I never felt unsafe. Uh, my, my traction was fine. But buddy, that's just not. That's not the way you expect to spend a Thursday night when you get back home.
- [06:18]
Sponsor Voice
That's.
- [06:18]
Matt Norlander
That's tough. But you rallied, got a pod doc prepped and together and, and here we are. I was in extreme. I say I see snow in that video that you posted. I was in iced over Nashville. The damage, and to anyone that's listening, that's in the greater Nashville, Tennessee area. And I think that part of the country in general, I know you got some ice down there in, in Mississippi and as well the damage looks like it will take months to recover from. You got to have the ice melt and then just treat one tree after another after another. Homes were destroyed. I saw on Instagram Jeff Coffin, who plays sax for Dave Matthews Band, he lives in Nashville. He was just going around with the chainsaw, helping all of his neighbors that had trees on their houses around their properties. It looks like a real long term recovery. So it's my first trip ever into Nashville. I was there less than 24 hours. Didn't get to see a whole ton of the city, but to the, you know, saw one of my buddies and to the people there at Vanderbilt, they're like, man, you picked the worst time. The worst time ever. This is not what nationalists. We don't get this. It was a once in a generation kind of ice storm. And I know and a lot of people. The hotel I was staying at, which was a glacier around it in the road surrounding, I mean, you know, cars there was, it was on a little bit of a hill. You had cars trying to get up on just straight up iced over roads and the hotel was fully booked. And I didn't realize this until after I checked in everyone that was staying there. Not everyone. Most everyone. They live in the area. They don't have power. Mark Byington was sleeping in his office. I think Byington, I think he's got power back now. Slept in his office three, four days in a row. Had an air mattress in the whole deal. Two of Vanderbilt's assistant coaches started the game with their homes not having power and then afterward they went and checked their phones to find out that their wives had told them power's back. You know, thankfully they were going back home and I think their kids are getting ready to go back to school. So yeah, the weather has just been havoc across the country. Meantime, there is a bomb cyclone that is apparently about to hit the the east coast again and has affected some games on Saturday and some tip times and all that stuff. Certain parts of the country, in particular around the North Carolina region seem to be getting hit again. Let's dial into the ac, the sec. Excuse me though. Quick, quick recap of Andy and then there's obviously a notable result or two from, from Wednesday and we can talk the league. Overall, that building is awesome. I had never been to Memorial Gym. It was everything I was hoping it would be and more. I'll get to the game in just a quick second too. We don't have to spend too long on it. I know you talked about it on the show on Wednesday, but it is a, it's interesting when you watch a Vandy game on TV and how that Memorial Gym presents itself through the, the lens of a television camera looks different, it feels different. When you're actually in it, it actually looks even bigger. And you know, it was originally built as an opera house. So on the sides of the, of the, of the court as you go up, it's just high, high rising stands and then you know, on either end of the, of the sidelines there, it's more of like a, of a sweeping rising set of seats there. Very, very cool because of the ice storm and I don't think it would have been a sellout anyway. Vandy's been very good Kentucky's been up and down, but I want to say it was still probably 75, maybe 80 filled in the building. But the, the press row or the, the media seating is, is way, way, way high up. I want to give a shout to the Van D. Sid. That was like, if you can get a seat, take a seat, you don't need to go up there. So I did. I had a front row seat literally, you know, directly next to Kentucky's baseline bench, which I also love. I just love the quirkiness of it. I like that Vandy is the only gym in the country where the coaches and the teams are on the baselines, not the sidelines. And you know, the, you know, Buyington and Pope had their tiny, tiny little stool at mid court if they wanted to sit. They obviously never do. I thought that was really, really awesome. It is a different gym. It is a different kind of gym. They've got these four pillars that have these, these great screens now affix them high def screens that really from what people were telling me like it just improves the, the viewing situation there. But I loved it. It was really cool. And then, oh, by the way, I didn't realize this towel was actually on the ground there. The, the gym is right next to the football stadium. So that's, that's pretty cool. You don't get that a lot at the high major level where the, the actual football stadium and the basketball arena are within meters of each other. And then they've got this new facility, three stories. It's a top five facility in the country. It is an elite, elite building there that they've got, they've got going on. So very, very impressed. Thanks to the hospitality from Vandy. Really, really cool. Had a great time there. Wish the weather wasn't so terrible, but it was, it was a lot of fun. Go ahead.
- [11:13]
Gary Parish
No, I was good. Yeah, just continue. Like I've been in Memorial a lot. I think I was there in college. I, I know I. As a beat writer. There was a Memphis Vandy series that took me there. There was a number one versus number no, the, the number one versus number two Memphis Tennessee game in 2008. What followed after Tennessee beat Memphis was a trip to Memorial. Tennessee was now number one playing Vanderbilt. I think Vanderbilt might have beat Tennessee in that game. So you had real quick.
- [11:45]
Matt Norlander
I think you're right about that. I'll look at right now, I want.
- [11:47]
Gary Parish
To say number one, Memphis lost to Tennessee on that Saturday. And then the next week it was number one. Tennessee lost to Vanderbilt.
- [11:55]
Matt Norlander
That is correct. 72 69. That was the Tennessee team with Chris Lofton, Wayne Chisholm, of course JP Prince, etc lost to a Vandy team coached by Kevin Stallings that got a 4 seed that year. AJ Ogilvy, Shane Foster was a real player there. Alex Gordon, good call on that gp. In fact that what that loss was. You know, it was only Tennessee's third of the season to that point. That Tennessee team would go on to lose in the Sweet 16 to Louisville.
- [12:21]
Gary Parish
Yeah, so I just echo everything you said about Memorial. It's, it's one of the unique great places in college basketball. Continue.
- [12:28]
Matt Norlander
It is even just like the stuff where the halftime show was. It was this young woman singer, songwriter, had a guy playing acoustic guitar next to her and they played for like 10 minutes just like you know, country singer song. I'm like you're not getting, you're not, you're not, you're not even getting this in like in Lexington. You're not getting that anywhere else. I thought that was a, a really cool touch and I want to say the building was even 25 to 30 Kentucky fans, which Vandy fans over the years are obviously used to it. So it's typically not that far of a drive and Kentucky fans are going to travel. Kentucky could not get it done. I'll be quick on this and we can talk overall SEC stuff but it was startling how much Kentucky wasn't even in the game. Vandy just wasted no time in particular. Tyler Tanner, he was the the primary focus of my column late overnight Tuesday going into Wednesday had a chance to talk with him. He is an awesome, awesome young man. Three star prospect. Didn't even get recruited by another high major. He said he picked Vandy because it was a high major over Murray State and Belmont who coincidentally enough right now are pretty two pretty good mid major teams. But he grew up 15 minutes away. Said he went to games occasionally but he even admitted like you wouldn't want to go to the games because they would lose a lot. Meaning Vandy. Well he's helped changed a lot of that and I don't know if he's an all American right now. We've got a lot of really good guards in this country but if he can keep this up and by keep this up I mean keep Vandy right there near the top of the the sec. Duke Miles is still hurt. He's got a knee issue. Buyington told me little while longer and then hopefully he'll be able to return. Tanner's got a great chance and you know he's he is the small guard. He's listed at 6ft. And then I was standing next to him, I was like, come on, man, how are you actually? And he had a fun, he had a fun time with it. He's like, no shoes. I swear I just hit 511. I'm like, okay, okay. I said, he's 511, about 168, got great command on the floor, good hops. Just a really talented guard and a great job. And he was recruited to Vandy by Stackhouse. He never decommitted. Stackhouse gets fired. Byington gave me some great stuff in the story about how, you know, he gets the job coming from jmu where it was awesome and you're going over the roster and now in these days, you're going to lose almost your entire roster. And he didn't really give too much thought to this incoming 511, you know, local kid who just, you know, who knows. And then he started to hear like now the Tanner kid, like, he played pickup before, this is before he's in college. He played pickup with the guys on the Vandy team and there would be games where he was the best guy on the floor. And then so Byington gets a little curious. Okay, sure, I guess it sits down and meets with them, is immediately blown away. And then going into his freshman season when he was on the roster and obviously going through summer stuff, he saw it in person. Like he saw the flashes of really how good Tanner could be. And then what I didn't know that, that Byington revealed to me was last season when, when Tanner was a freshman averaging fewer than six points a game. Nobody played more in the final four minutes of games that were close and competitive on the entire roster than Tanner. So he immediately trusted him on a level that is uncommon for a non blue chip level kind of recruit. Now we see the jump here. He's like top three and most points improved per game from freshman to sophomore in the entire country. He's been awesome. Vandy is now 18, 35 and 3 in the league. And if, if I may, GP, I'll toss it back to you and kind of segue, kind of big picture overall. I want to get to a couple things on Wednesday night, but this league has now morphed into what I know we talked about in the preseason, specifically with our SEC preview episode where I had a. I had a wonderment if it was going to be one of the most competitive league races in the country, if not the most competitive league race in the country. And that Is that is bearing out. A M is 6 and 1, Florida is 6 and 2, Arkansas 6 and 2. Then Vandy, Auburn and Kentucky, Bama and Tennessee all have three losses in the league. So I know we've mentioned a little bit. I'm sure you talked about it with KB on the show. Is there a viable national title contender in the group? We think maybe it could be Florida. We like Arkansas's talent. I'm not going to put it out of the question that those two and then Vanderbilt can also be in that. But even just shy of that, if you want to put that to the side, I am. I find myself intrigued by the league because it's got a lot of. It's got a. It's got a whole bunch of good. There's a lot, A lot of good. Is there any great here? I saw that you mentioned on on network earlier this week that it still rates as number one at Ken Palm and the reason why that is is there's just no bad team like the Big Ten and Big 12 have a couple of teams and in the Big Ten's the case it's more than a couple kind of weighing down the bottom. And that's what it is. You're going to rank the league from top to bottom. The bottom teams have to matter as much as the top and that's why you, you and I are on the same page. I don't consider the SEC to be the best league in college basketball this season because it lacks the heft for Final Four contenders, for national champions, viable national championship contenders. Where do you land on this league right now? Who would you pick to to win it and just your your kind of overall thoughts on an SEC that isn't nearly as good as it was a season ago, but does have a variety of teams that are obviously pacing to comfortably make the ncaa.
- [17:30]
Gary Parish
I know it rates as the number one league in the country in the net at Kim Palm just like it did last season. I do not think it's as was last season, particularly at the top. If you're asking who's the best team in that league right now, forget resume rankings just like the best, it's probably Florida. And if you're trying to predict the the conference champ, I think the smart money would probably be on Florida. I didn't fact check this, but I trust that it's true. You could take any of the other power conferences whoever is a top of league standings. We probably spent time in the preseason talking about them at length. We probably have spent time throughout the season Talking about them at length in the sec. It's just not true. I don't know how many words we've said about Texas A and M, but the team at the top of the league standings, at least for now, and perhaps it's schedule induced, but it's true. At 6 and 1, it's Texas a and M unranked. Texas A and M. It is interesting that we're sitting here, you know, last couple of days of January, and the top rated conference in the country, the school atop the league standings is currently, is currently unranked. That's an unusual thing.
- [18:41]
Matt Norlander
Unusual and to the point where it might be near impossible to fact check. It might be unprecedented, honestly. And, and A and M will be. A and M is gonna have a road game against Georgia. We'll talk about the weekend here in just, just a few. A M will be ranked. If it wins against Georgia, that is a mortal lock. It'll be 17 and four at that point, seven and one in the league, though, the Aggies will break through into the top 25. So it's a little bit of function of the schedule and I'm gonna, I promise I'm not gonna make this a thing, but I do want to at least bring some context. In its conference strength, the schedule is last in the league. Tennessee in the inverse, has the toughest to this point. So that has been a factor as well. With the, with the sec from just dial back real quick to, to Wednesday night as we talk about the league. To me, the most compelling game was Tennessee against Georgia. Tennessee gets the win and Tennessee after, I had some real doubts about it's heft, it's. It's viability. It has gone on the road to win two in a row, beating Alabama last weekend in a really, really good game. And obviously Bama with Betty Oko in the mix. And then to go on the road and beat Georgia and kind of got bailed out at the end there because Smurf Melender had a, had a. Oh God bucket. But you got enough time to score like, right. You know, I. There's no guarantee that three would have gone in, but, but he goes for two. They need three. This tickets. You know, the clock's ticking down in OT and Tennessee gets the win as a result. Georgia loses, loses back to back games. It goes from 16 and 3 to 16 and 5. And you know you have the game on your racket at home against a quality team. Mike White's team is still overshot expectations at 16 and 5 this season, but that was A that was a really, it was a really, really good game. And Georgia has just kind of been kind of lingering on the periphery and I understand that wasn't ranked in the preseason. Had Asa Newell a season ago and now you know, he's off with, with the Hawks after, after getting drafted high in, in the 25 draft. And so Georgia just wasn't expected to be a team that was going to be a team that would probably even threaten to, to pop into the rankings this season. I thought it had a really good opportunity there. But credit to Tennessee and Rick Barnes, guys. And now they get the benefit of having won two in a row. Now they get two back at home. That was mighty impressive on on Wednesday night.
- [20:50]
Gary Parish
Circling back to a again 6 and 1 in the league, 16 and 4 overall. That 6 and 1 league record features two quadrant one wins but zero victories over currently ranked teams. The Q1 wins are at Auburn and at Texas. They are 2 and 3 overall in Q1. They got a Q2 loss to Central Florida. If you're wondering why the computer numbers aren't top 25, why they don't have a number next to their name right now, but still, this is a tremendous success story. I mean, Bucky McMillan, for people who aren't that familiar, 42 years old, six years ago he was a high school coach. Think about this. Six years ago he was a high school coach. Right now his team is atop the standings of a league with John Calipari, Todd golden, you know, Nate Oates. I don't have to list all the coaches in the sec, but that's a pretty remarkable story. And don't ever let anybody tell you that it's impossible to do, you know, overhauling the entire roster, it's difficult. I think there's enough evidence just to support that claim. But not impossible. Top six scores at A and M right now, all double digit scores all first year in the program. I believe it's five transfers, one international prospect. So you know, they, they've, they, you know, Bucky, that was a big jump from where he was to where he is. But you know, so far so good it is.
- [22:17]
Matt Norlander
No, he's doing wonderfully well in year one and he's right near the top of the list of best immediately successful hires from the 2025 cycle. Mighty impressive. I wanted to see what our live audience might respond here. You know, poll right here on the show is who's going to win the SEC with the options being Florida, Arkansas, Vandy or other didn't have A M as one of the options there. A M is included in the other and that's just 11. Florida leading the poll 41, then Arkansas 33, Vandy at 16 and then the other 13 teams collectively bringing in 11. It should be a pretty, should be a pretty good race down the stretch. Florida destroyed South Carolina on the road. It was Florida's biggest win by margin ever in league play. And Auburn got a win over Texas. Longhorns just kind of stopping and starting, stopping and starting. They seem like a team that can play a spoiler, but a team that can't really handle a ton of success in, in long stretches there. So plenty to to come with the sec and obviously we'll have more on the league before we get out of the show.
- [23:12]
Gary Parish
Yeah, Florida, like I mentioned earlier in the SEC up to eighth at Ken Palm. The Gators are now projected to win the league at that according to that formula with a 14. 4 record. Arkansas and Vanderbilt now projected to finish second in the league, but two games behind the Gators with a 12 and 6 record. Florida host Alabama on Sunday morning. Arkansas gets Kentucky this weekend. Vanderbilt gets Ole Miss. Let's move on. The CBS Sports Classic is getting a change. Norlander, you had the headline Kansas is in. Dig that. We'll talk about it next. Let's get a word from our partners.
- [23:48]
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- [23:53]
Matt Norlander
That's over 11 hours.
- [23:54]
Sponsor Voice
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- [24:02]
Matt Norlander
And when the game's on, every decision matters. A winning play or the right timeout. Just 60 seconds can flip the entire outcome.
- [24:09]
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- [24:12]
Matt Norlander
We get so caught up in the pregame hype. The food, the drinks, the vibe. And forget the most important part of the day, how you're getting home.
- [24:19]
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- [24:41]
Matt Norlander
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- [24:51]
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- [25:13]
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- [25:29]
Gary Parish
CBS Sports Classic is getting a Change Norlander, you had the headline the next four fields are set next season 121926 Kansas against Ohio State, North Carolina against Kentucky. Four big brands inside MSG. What more can you tell us?
- [25:46]
Matt Norlander
Well, this is a couple things. One, yeah, this is a, this is an upgrade with, you know, St. John's getting Kentucky this season was awesome. He had Ptino going against Pope doing so on the 30 year anniversary of Patino leading Kentucky to the 96 title. And a lot of good stuff there. But Kansas is a blue blood program and this is and initially obviously it was UCLA and the Cronin said thanks but no thanks. I'm, I'm out of here. Unless we're doing the CBS Sports Classic at the Intuit Dome on an annual basis, we don't want in. So Kansas is now replaced on a four year deal. So we have Kentucky, Carolina, Ohio State still in there as they always have been. And now we have a nice four year series for this year. Not this season but this year In December of 26 we will have Kansas versus Ohio State and Carolina versus Kentucky. That that Classic will be at the Garden. It'll be the fourth time the CBS Sports Classic has been in New York City. The third time at the Garden there was one year where it was at Barclays. In 27 it will be Kansas, Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio State and then these are going to rotate. Kansas will play Kentucky in 28 and then Kansas and then the the matchups for 26 will be the same in 29. So great for the CBS Sports Classic. This is the doubleheader that also goes down during the first weekend of the College Football Playoff. It's obviously a tent pole event in December for college hoops. I think it's important for the event. I like the fact that we have Kansas on board. That's tremendous stuff. It also means that Kentucky and Kansas are Guaranteed to face each other two out of every three seasons because they're gonna play. They will not play. If you're curious about this, they're not going to play the CBS Sports Classic against each other in the same years that they will play each other in the Champions Classic. Quite obviously they're non conference opponents and so CBS and ESPN made sure that the, the matchups would not overlap. So no worries on that end here. But yes, Kansas will get Ohio State first and it's a, it's a nice boost. It's a nice bump there for, for ku, Bill Self and his program moving forward. So the next one will be December 19th of this year, six days before Christmas.
- [27:55]
Gary Parish
All right, here's one for you. Over, under how many he coaches in how many of the current coaches at these four schools.
- [28:04]
Matt Norlander
Oh.
- [28:05]
Gary Parish
Will be the coaches in next season? CBS Sports Classic 3.5 next season.
- [28:13]
Matt Norlander
Do it.
- [28:13]
Gary Parish
Let's do a double over under the number 3.5. Over. Under current coaches of those four schools.
- [28:20]
Matt Norlander
Over. But it's a good one. That's a good one. I'm going to say on December 19th. Bill Self is coaching Kansas. Jake Diebler is coaching Ohio State. Hubert Davis is coaching North Carolina. Mark Pope is coaching Kentucky. I will take the over. Will you take the over?
- [28:32]
Gary Parish
I will also take the over. But I think, I mean all of those could be interesting for different reasons, couldn't they?
- [28:40]
Matt Norlander
Of course. Let's, let's count the ways with Kentucky. It's Kentucky. It's always interesting. Mark Pope, if he's off to a slow start again, it will be hot seat time, alum or no alum at that situation. If Kentucky just kind of peters out, makes the tournament one and done or whatever it is, then he goes in the next season. Who knows what the roster will look like and if they don't get off to a good start. Yeah, there's a lot there. Carolina to a similar extent, although Hubert Davis has done a really nice job for the most part this season. We'll see a lot of this will be affected by how these teams frankly, how they play over the next two months heading into next season. Bill Self in Kansas. You know, I think there's just general how much longer will Bill Self coach? Although you know, I'm still going to go by what, what he told us at Big 12 media day off camera like he's, he's really invigorated. I still think, I still think he's, he's still set to coach for another couple years. And then Jake D1 Ohio State, like, might not make the tournament. And there is. I think there's just some, you know, people looking around like, is he going to get a third year if they don't make the tournament this season? If he does, quite obviously a hot seat season. He was promoted from within after they fired Holtman on Valentine's Day. Wow. Almost two years since that happened. So there's a lot. There's a lot attached to all those. And yes, all those coaches in those programs could be facing interesting situations by the time that doubleheader is played on December 19th.
- [29:58]
Gary Parish
All right, so let's move on.
- [29:59]
Matt Norlander
Hold on. Over, under.
- [30:01]
Gary Parish
Okay. Over.
- [30:02]
Matt Norlander
Under. 0.5. Coaches at those programs coaching in the 2029 version of the CBS Sports Classic.
- [30:11]
Gary Parish
29.
- [30:12]
Matt Norlander
Yes. So 0.5. Self of Kansas, Steeler at Ohio State, Popa, Kentucky, Davis at Carolina. 0.5. How many are coaching in the 2029 edition?
- [30:23]
Gary Parish
I'll take the over, but, man, I. I think that. But it could be. It could be zero.
- [30:28]
Matt Norlander
It could be zero. I will take the over at one. I say one manages to get there. I. I would be surprised if it's. It's. I'd be surprised if it's three. Two seems somewhat possible. Like Davis and Pope. Get it figured out. We don't think Self will probably be coaching in 29. Probably not. Although you never know. And then dealer. But yeah, I would take the over at 1. Yeah.
- [30:50]
Gary Parish
Yeah, yeah. All right. Those are good ones. Let's get to the final four. And one. I have no idea what our records are. I. I'm gonna ask you to know.
- [30:57]
Matt Norlander
We don't need to know.
- [30:58]
Gary Parish
I'm gonna. I want Josh to get in my ear. I want to hear about how good I am. I just want to hear the. Whatever the truth is, I want to hear it. But first, let's get one more word from our partners.
- [31:06]
Ad Read Host
Hey, this is Richard Deitch, the host of the sports media podcast.
- [31:09]
Matt Norlander
If you're interested in what's happening with.
- [31:10]
Ad Read Host
All the places where you consume sports, the sports media podcast has you covered.
- [31:14]
Gary Parish
I've been turning down interviews all week.
- [31:16]
Matt Norlander
Kodakopi reached out.
- [31:18]
Gary Parish
Oprah, George Stephanopoulos. So I said no. I was booked on the Deitch podcast before the Taylor Swift with phenomenon. I must live up to my responsibility.
- [31:31]
Ad Read Host
Listen, wherever you get your podcasts.
- [31:36]
Gary Parish
Right, it's time for the final four. And one. Josh, get. Get in my ear. I need to hear, like, tell me how good I am at this.
- [31:47]
Josh
GP it sounds like you. You need somebody to tell you that you're Good at this. Like bad. I mean, after trudging through the snow with the suitcase, that is, this, is, this will be great timing for me to be able to tell you that your lead is growing, but I fear I can't do that.
- [32:03]
Gary Parish
Okay, lie to me. I told you I wanted the truth, but that's, I only wanted the truth if it was good. I would prefer a lie. I would prefer a good lie over bad truth at this point in my life. I've reached the point in my life where I would prefer a good lie over bad. I've had enough bad truths. I'm tired of the truth.
- [32:22]
Josh
So, so next Friday before the show, shoot me a text so that we're on the same page when it comes to that. And I'll, I'll be sure to, I'll, I'll be sure to make that happen.
- [32:32]
Matt Norlander
But I, I wanna, I wanna be clear. I want to be extremely honest and direct and forthright with our audience. So let's, let's, let's, we, we already live in a post fact world. We don't need to contribute to that even more so, Paris, you just gotta accept the harsh truth. All right?
- [32:47]
Gary Parish
Have you seen some of the things people will lie about in this country these days? I'm, I'm extremely, I think I records is like way down low on the list.
- [32:56]
Matt Norlander
A lie is a lie and having another one isn't a good thing. That's, that's just me.
- [33:00]
Gary Parish
That's a, that's a, that's a decent.
- [33:02]
Matt Norlander
That, that being said, like 15 games over 500. Right?
- [33:06]
Josh
Right. Precisely. It's close. GP 29, 31 and 1. Yeah, that doesn't sound great. Norlander. 28, 32 and 1.
- [33:19]
Matt Norlander
I'm nipping.
- [33:20]
Gary Parish
I'm winning. I'm winning, I'm winning.
- [33:22]
Matt Norlander
I'm nipping at the heels.
- [33:23]
Gary Parish
In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king. Is that what they say? Something like that?
- [33:29]
Matt Norlander
I think that's something like that, yes.
- [33:31]
Gary Parish
Okay. I think I'm a one eyed king right now.
- [33:35]
Matt Norlander
Okay.
- [33:35]
Gary Parish
I consider myself a one eyed king right now. Hey Josh, turn your mic back on. Back me up on this because I, I, I worry sometimes. People, you know, from up there, up there, they laugh at me like, you know, walking through the ice and snow like. What are you doing, idiot? Back me up on this. We don't know how to handle ice and snow down here. When we get ice and snow down here, we are at the mercy of the sun. Like until the sun can handle this for us. This is the way we live, it's our. We basically turn into Alaska until the sun takes care of it 100%.
- [34:04]
Josh
The ice is like the snow. You can find ways to push it out of the way, but when it's ice and really anything over a couple of inches, it seriously shuts down everywhere until, until the sun gets rid of it for us. It's pretty true. Like it sounds dramatic, but it's definitely accurate.
- [34:26]
Gary Parish
And coming home from the airport, it was fine for the most part. It was fine until we had to get off the interstate in rural Mississippi. And then. Oh, buddy. Like my Uber driver, like, he tried, he did his best. I mean he gave it his best shot and he was, I mean we were, we did 20 minutes just trying to get up this one little hill. No shot. No shot and 20 minutes. It was about 20 minutes trying to get up the hill. I mean it was a, it was literally a half mile walk. I mean, I didn't want to do this. I didn't want to. I didn't want to walk. And that is.
- [34:56]
Matt Norlander
And we got to get to picking these games here. We've talked plenty about your, your homer esque journey, but, but when you've been gone for a while and you want to get home and you're almost there, I feel you. I, I feel you on that end. I had just, I had a, I had a straight up puddle in my, in my lift. So it snowed and then I got picked up from the airport and I get in the lift at LaGuardia and there is a puddle on the floor. He had one of those waterproof mats, so it was like a full on inch deep. But from other people having taken the lift and having snow on their shoes, it had all melted. And so this puddle is swishing back and forth. I had to sit at a 45 degree angle, legs behind the driver's seat to avoid getting everything wet. So not as bad as riding home. Would you rather sit in a puddle for an hour and a half or walk a half mile in the snow?
- [35:49]
Gary Parish
I would drown myself in that puddle if you gave me a puddle right now. If you would have given me the option to jump into a puddle last night, I would have dove head first and just been like, let's. I'm done with this. I don't care. I don't. I. You. I'm sorry. Hey, sorry about your puddle in your lift. All right. I was out there like Leonardo DiCaprio in that one movie. You know that one movie?
- [36:12]
Matt Norlander
I do. Can you name it?
- [36:14]
Gary Parish
I don't know, but I think you've got inside of a bear skin or something.
- [36:16]
Matt Norlander
Yeah. What's the movie?
- [36:19]
Gary Parish
I can't. Okay, okay, this is funny. I couldn't get the Revenant, but I had the, the sound. And so the word that was popping in my head was severance, but I knew it wasn't severance, but I. I knew it was something that sounded like severance. Anyway, that's what I was doing last night. Sorry about your puddle. Sorry about your little puddle. I was walking around like Leonardo DiCaprio in that one movie that sounds like severance.
- [36:46]
Matt Norlander
What's game one? We already know what game one is. Let's go.
- [36:49]
Gary Parish
Friday, 8pm Eastern. Number three, Michigan State. Number three Michigan at number seven, Michigan State inside Mateen Cleave Center. You could watch it on Fox. Michigan minus one and a half. Oh, that's just not a comb line.
- [37:05]
Matt Norlander
This is we are day of game situation here. A fantastic Friday night affair battle of the top two defenses in the country. Big time stuff. You're both at 1 and 2 at Kenpoman. Defensive efficiency, a real genuine rivalry. This, this one is. This one's good. I saw this game a year ago, the first edition of it, but obviously these things rotate every year. First one was at Chrysler, this one's at Breslin. Both are 9 and 1 in Big Ten play. Michigan has. Michigan State has won four in a row against Michigan and in fact this game's in East Lansing. The Wolverines are 3 and 22 in their past 25 games over in East Lansing. Most recent win for Michigan in that building came in 2018 and ranked on ranked matchups, there have been 18 of them. This will be the 19th time that both these teams playing, both are in the AP top 25. Michigan State is 12 and 6 in those instances. This is the fifth time they've both met in the top 10. And with Michigan being third and Michigan State being seven, that adds up to 10 is the lowest combined ranking for a Michigan. Michigan State game in the history of this series. This is an awesome, terrific battle. Sparty coming off of the Rutgers scare. Jeremy Ferris had a career high 29 in that game. Yeah. Averaging 14.1 points, 8.9 assists. He's obviously the best most important player, but I do wonder if Carson Cooper winds up being an X factor in this. One critical big man. Really has a good knack for playing tough around the rim both ends of the floor. I'm watching out for him in this game. In addition to Fears who's been tremendous and I expect him to be tremendous in this one as well. In fact, I'm interested to see how Michigan chooses to to guard him, if they choose to blitz him and how he handles because he's, he's one of the best point guards in the country. Michigan, of course, coming off the close win over Nebraska, I was able to watch a decent portion of that game because it ended before my Vandy Kentucky game started. So I watched essentially almost all of the final 12 to 14 minutes of that game and it looked like Nebraska was going to win. Michigan trailed for the first 36 minutes of that game. They tied it up in the final what two and change and they get the win. If Michigan wins this game GP it will be 20 and one which will match its best start ever. The Michigan team of 2012, 13 which made the title game and then 2018, 19 also started 21. 20 and 1. Michigan has never been 21 1. And then a couple more notes for you. Adai Mara score double figures five games in a row now shooting 78 in that stretch. He is really come on as of late because he's come on. Morris Johnson Jr. Has been really, really good as well. Jaxson Lindenborg has gone from is he number two for national player of the year to he's fallen back in that race. Still a really good player. Michigan's just had more balance and hasn't relied on Yaxel as much. I wonder when he's going to have. He's going to have another like major pop of the game. Is it this one? Is it sometime soon? Wait and see on all that. A lot of just really intriguing good stuff. And then if you don't remember GP a year ago on this, on this court, this is when the final regular season game is on cbs. You had Michigan players standing on the logo of Michigan State when they like to kiss it for senior day. And that led to a little bit of a a dialogue discussion and near scuffle as well. So plenty going to this one amazing Friday night game to set the tone for the weekend. I think you give you the pick. I will take Mish Michigan as the home dog straight up. I'm, I'm a little surprised. Michigan's favorite give me Sparty to win and cover.
- [40:38]
Gary Parish
Okay. Michigan State as the home underdog. You mentioned Fears. He backs that 1717 game with the 29 point performance, the 8.9 assists. You reference Braden Smith right now 9.0 assists. So Jeremy Fears is going basically assists for assists with possibly the future all time NCAA assist leader. If you care about the Ken Palm Big Ten player of the year race right now. Jeremy Fears is leading, that in order. And this could like be an all American team almost. Jeremy Fears, Braden Smith, Yaxel Lindenberg, Keaton Wagler, Bennett sturts. That's five pretty good ones. Yeah. Michigan State, seven straight wins. That's the 10th longest active streak in the country. Michigan is obviously awesome. You mentioned that front court. Number one in offensive two point field goal percentage, number two in defensive two point field goal percentage. That's the strength of that front court. But I'm a building truster. You know that about me. You know that about me. I'm a building truster. I will also take the home underdog Michigan State. Game 2, Saturday, 1pm Eastern, San Diego State at Utah State State inside the Evelyn Wood spectrum. You can watch it on cbs. It's America's most watched network. Network of stars. Ken Palm has it. Utah State minus six. I see that look on your face. You're, you're puzzled. Who is Evelyn?
- [42:06]
Matt Norlander
I know who Evelyn Wood is.
- [42:08]
Gary Parish
I don't think you do. But you owe her. You owe. You have you.
- [42:12]
Matt Norlander
Let's.
- [42:12]
Gary Parish
You. You owe Evelyn Wood a debt of gratitude.
- [42:16]
Matt Norlander
Oh, okay. Hold on. Did Evelyn would invent something.
- [42:20]
Gary Parish
Yes.
- [42:20]
Matt Norlander
Okay. Was it invented in the past 50 years?
- [42:24]
Gary Parish
I didn't. Probably not. It's probably invented before that. It's probably. She was. She. She left. She left this world in 1995.
- [42:33]
Matt Norlander
Okay. Did she invent something that, that I may use on a daily basis?
- [42:41]
Gary Parish
No, but, but, but we use it. We use it. Your readers use it. Your, your readers use it on a weekly basis.
- [42:49]
Matt Norlander
At least our readers use it on a weekly basis.
- [42:52]
Gary Parish
At least. That's right.
- [42:54]
Matt Norlander
But not a daily basis.
- [42:55]
Gary Parish
I mean. No, not on a daily basis. You ain't that. You ain't. You ain't. You ain't that efficient. But, but certainly on a weekly basis.
- [43:02]
Matt Norlander
Readers use it on a weekly basis. Was invented probably more than 50 years ago.
- [43:07]
Gary Parish
Yeah.
- [43:09]
Matt Norlander
You need your eyes to do it.
- [43:11]
Gary Parish
I think you, I mean you might. I mean I, I prefer.
- [43:16]
Matt Norlander
I was gonna say like. Did she invent like the, like near or far sided lenses for glasses?
- [43:22]
Gary Parish
No, no, no, no. But I think you do. I think. I think if, if I had to put my hand on the good book, I, I. And, and you know, swear in, I would have to say, yeah, you probably need your eyes to do it. At least one. At least one eye.
- [43:37]
Matt Norlander
At least one.
- [43:40]
Gary Parish
You might not even.
- [43:40]
Matt Norlander
I don't know. I. This could take too long. We gotta, we Gotta talk ball here. What did she invent?
- [43:44]
Gary Parish
She invented speed reading. She invented speed reading. Do you have any idea how long she invented.
- [43:50]
Matt Norlander
She invent speed reading.
- [43:52]
Gary Parish
Yes. Yes, you can invent speed reading. She invented speed reading. She's from Logan, Utah and she invented speed reading. Do you have any idea how long it would take us to get through a court report without Evelyn Wood?
- [44:03]
Matt Norlander
Half of what it says on the site. That's all.
- [44:06]
Gary Parish
We would. We would. We would.
- [44:09]
Josh
It.
- [44:09]
Gary Parish
It would take 78 minutes to get through a court report without the great Evelyn Wood and her contribution to this world.
- [44:16]
Matt Norlander
She said you can't invent speed reading. That's. I'm sorry. That's like in saying you invented sprinting. You just do.
- [44:25]
Gary Parish
No, no. Everybody was reading.
- [44:29]
Matt Norlander
That's not an invention.
- [44:30]
Gary Parish
You're not giving her enough.
- [44:31]
Matt Norlander
Everybody is not an invention.
- [44:33]
Gary Parish
Everybody was reading so slow.
- [44:35]
Matt Norlander
That's a discovery, I suppose. It's not an invention. There's a difference.
- [44:39]
Gary Parish
No, you, buddy. Go find you a podcast from like 1931. This is what it sounded like. Game two, Saturday, 1:00pm I'm a podcast from 1931. Yeah, go find a podcast from 1931.
- [44:54]
Matt Norlander
This is what It Sounded Like, a podcast from 2001.
- [44:57]
Gary Parish
No, they're out there. You just got to know where to look. It sounded like this. Game two, Saturday. And then Evelyn Wood came along and she was like, come on, let's pick up the pace. Come on, let's read a little better. And now we're all. Now we're like game two, Saturday, 1:00pm Eastern. That's Evelyn Wood. She did that. This would be a seven hour podcast if not for Evelyn Wood. We'd just be talking so slow.
- [45:21]
Matt Norlander
Aztecs are in first place in the Mountain West. That was obviously the preseason favorite. One game lead over the team pick second, Utah State. So this is, this is a tasty one. I was going to put this in as the N1 if you didn't do it. I appreciate that you that you did this here. Utah State is 8 and 1 at home this season. Average win margin 20.5 points. Only loss came when it blew a 14 point lead to UNLV or earlier this season in the second half. Aggies. Utah State has won 40 of its past 44 games at home. San Diego State's 4 and 1 on the road this season. The only loss was by one at Grand Canyon. These two teams, it should be a good game because they're not just good teams, they bring back a ton. SDSU has 60% of its scoring from a Season to go Utah State 46%. And then as for the scoring part of it, San Diego State's bench 39 points per game that's second in the country to Tarleton State. It's averaging San Diego State 81 a game. It has not averaged better than 80 in a game since 84 85. So not your typical Aztecs team. Miles Bird in the past four games averaging 15 points per game. A couple of 20 point games in there as well. So he's been, he's been, he's been strong. And then Utah State, best mid major scoring duo in the country. MJ Collins at 19 a game at Mason Falseled at 16.3. This team ranks top 10 field goal percentage. I'm going to take San Diego State on the road. Six seems too many. I bet you when the real line comes out, it's less.
- [46:52]
Gary Parish
MJ Collins, transfer from Vandy like you mentioned think about. I mean I know it doesn't work like this, but like that. Vandy team has been one of the stories of college basketball and Utah State's leading scorer was there last season. He's at 19 points per game, 53% from the field, 42% from three, but has not been shooting it well lately. Just 9 of 35 from three past five games. That's 25.7%. I'm a building truster. You're gonna. You're gonna spot a trend. You're gonna spot a pattern in this final four and one. I'm a building truster. I'm taking Utah State game three, 4:30pm Eastern. Number 13, BYU at number 14. Kansas inside Mario Chalmers Fieldhouse. Chalmers for the tie, Dozier for the championship. You can watch it on ESPN. Kim Palm has it.
- [47:41]
Matt Norlander
Kansas -4, Peterson, DeBonsa. It's here. These two have played each other before. Peterson got the better of DebonSA twice at the high school level. Bill Self has made multiple indications that Peterson will play in the this game. He told me last Saturday when it came out that he wasn't going to play that he thought he'd be on track to play in. Knock on wood. Everything looks like he's going to be on the floor for that. And just from DeBont's side, I was obviously in Provo for a few days. Got to talk with AJ A little bit. He wants this matchup. He's looking forward to it. He is a real film junkie. Watches it a ton. In fact, when I was talking to him after the win over Utah on Saturday, I think I might have mentioned this, that night on the show he wanted, he was like, after he was done with me, he was getting back watching the Kansas game, which Peterson obviously wasn't playing in. And then, and then get ready to cash out, go to bed and then wake up and study up on Sunday for the game against Arizona, which wound up being kind of a wild one. This is, this is the kind of game where if it really goes well and if it's really close, like it can be one of the most memorable games of the entire season and we'll see if we can get there. BYU cannot, I want to say cannot. I mean, it has overcome it. Just you go into that building, you can't fall behind by 12 at the under eight of the first half. Like they've had some issues with slow starts this season. I know that's going to be one of the biggest points of emphasis. Without question. They've had a good, they've had a good lead up here to prepare for this game. Kansas has had six days to, to prepare for it, so they've had some real, real time here. I wonder if Canard Davis winds up being a key guy to watch for in this one for BYU. He went 5 of 5 on Monday against Arizona and was kind of quietly like the key guy to even getting BYU back within range other than the officials. And I know Arizona fans were beside themselves because there were a couple of, of shaky calls unquestionably, no doubt about it, like Arizona got out of there, it got the win narrowly. But part of the BYU was, was fighting. But there was a couple of like not so sure about that one. This is just a fabulous, fabulous game. And also smack dab in the middle of the afternoon, like top 15 matchup. I'm actually surprised this isn't in prime time, but whatever, I'll take it whenever you're gonna play the game. How healthy is Peterson? How much of the game becomes about these two players versus, you know, Kansas at home, Top level defense. We've seen Tray White play well. We've seen Melvin Council take over. Is Peterson going to be near 100%? How much of it is can he go? Is he going to be able to finish out the game which is not a joke like we've seen most of the time he hasn't been able to do that. We kind of wait and see on his just overall availability to go for it. Because I guarantee you this debonsa is champing at the bit and looking forward to this matchup in a major way. And he does not even need to be the guy that leads BYU in scoring. He might, we'll see. But Rob Wright or Richie Saunders, Saunders who fouled out on Monday and wasn't even available down in the final minute of that game, which would have been crucial if he was on the floor. Either one of those guys could be the guy that winds up going for 20 plus. I think Rob Wright's just got to pick his spots like he can. Definitely he can catch fire. Good three point shooter. Registers as BYU's best three point shooter, but I think he is at his most dangerous when you know he's capable of giving scoring on a given possession. But it's, it's more setting up, breaking down the defense to, to get debons or Rob or Richie Saunders a shot. And then there's K Bakeda whose defense has been outstanding as of late. I wonder how much of a factor he winds up being in this game, how they deploy him in what ways because he is just a, just a raging rim protector at times and just plays with beautiful violence. I love watching K to play. This has the potential to be an outstanding, fantastic matchup. You said the line was 4. I'm going to try and wish this and talk this into existence. I think Kansas will win, but it will be a one possession ending that gets me BYU to cover.
- [51:46]
Gary Parish
The game will unfold however the game unfolds. But going in, the story is clearly Peterson and debona. I think if you listen to this podcast, podcast or follow college basketball at all, you know that they are perceived to be the two leading candidates, best candidates to be, you know, in the conversation to be the number one pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Cameron Boozer also a part of it. But if you care about the betting markets. I went and checked this this morning. It is Peterson and debona, in that order. Peterson is now minus money to be the number one pick in the draft. After that it's DeBonsa. After that it's Boozer. But the, you know, based on where we're at right now in this Moment, the first two names to be called in the 2026 NBA Draft are expected to be on the court this weekend. Our buddy Sam Pacini had a nice piece on AJ's sort of struggles, relatively speaking against top tier competition so far this season. Like, you know, he's, he's, as Sam points out, he's a top three pick. Whatever concerns there are, they're small concerns. But it is noticeable and notable that he, his shooting percentages and how often he gets to the all that stuff has, it's gone. The numbers are down against the Tip Top competition. So pay attention to that this weekend. As long as we're calling Kansas Tip Top competition. Allen Fieldhouse obviously providing an incredible stage.
- [53:19]
Matt Norlander
I want to follow up just on that a little bit because I did. As the game was playing out Monday and you know, debons in the first half, he loved and there's a reason why he loves it like he is. He just loves the soft mid range jumper. Fade away or if I can make my spot. But he was, he was 6:24 against Arizona. It was. What's interesting is three games ago, Texas Tech 84 to 71, a loss for BYU. DeBonts in that game has only 13 points and he was 6 of 17. From the field, he was even worse. That was his worst game yet. Then he drops 43 on Utah. Got to see that in person and it was an amazing experience just to be able to take that in and being that building and what I thought was just going to be kind of a throwaway game. It turns into what might well be the best game of his college career. And then that's followed up against the worst shooting game. So two of the past three games have been quite literally Devonta's worst games sandwiched around his best game here. How does he respond to that? He's going to nod himself. I was talking with his mother after the Monday night loss real briefly and such a sweet, wonderful woman. And she said, man, you know, he doesn't often have a lot of bad games, but when he does, he is really hard on himself. He's a, he's a big critic for his own play, which you know, you would expect to hear for a player of his talent and capability. Interested to see how he is deployed in this game because talking to Kevin Young about him last week, BYU's coach was just telling me like, you know, we have, we love our roster and our setup and what we're capable of, what we can do offensively and how we can, how we build out, how we, you know, win games and all that. But he said, you know, there are some times where it just feels like because of Kevin Young's experience in coaching at the NBA level, sometimes you just need to absolutely simplify it and trust that your best player is going to be able to do what he needs to do in big moments there. I'm wondering if we get that in this game. How DebonSA gets going, gets started. It's on the road. Kansas. It's not at Kansas. Isn't the upper echelon to your point. GP and what Sam wrote about. We'll try to get to Sam before the end of the show here, of course, but this is, this is if, if it doesn't go that way for him again, then I think we might have a little bit of a something there that we can, that we can dig a bit more into. But to no surprise, Sam's just a little bit ahead of the, ahead of the pack on, on picking up on that trend. I think he'll fare well in this one, but I'm not convinced he'll be the leading scorer. Like I, I. If you told me that Richie shows up again and plays extremely well and Saunders is the guy that leads BYU in scoring one, I think that's possible. And I also don't think it matters who that person is in relation to how BYU gets the win with what the stuff that Kevin runs and how they do their deal. I think there's a variety of options on the table. I'm super excited for that one. That's the, that this game, debons and Peterson, that's just the must watch matchup. I think Michigan, Michigan State's the game that I'm most looking forward to because those are both national title contenders. It's a, it's a, it's a bona fide rivalry. But, but this is, you know, on a weekend where we've got some solid stuff. This isn't the best weekend of the season so far. Not even close. It's really tasty that we have these two, these two matchups to look forward to and there's still even more games to get to. What do we got for game four?
- [56:20]
Gary Parish
Well, you picked byu. I need to get on the record.
- [56:24]
Matt Norlander
Yes.
- [56:25]
Gary Parish
In the, in the spirit of the, of the block. I need to get on the record. I'm a building truster. I'll take Kansas minus the 4. Game 4 Sunday, 4pm Eastern. Number 9, Illinois at number 5. Nebraska in south inside Pinnacle Bank. You don't mess with Pinnacle Bank. You can watch it on FS1. Kim Pom has it. Nebraska minus two.
- [56:45]
Matt Norlander
I'll give the pick and then we'll get into the game. I am, I'm absolutely trusting Fred Hoiberg and those Nebraska Corn Huskers in this game to win into cover. They're going for the sweep of Illinois in the process. I think they're going to get it done coming off of the loss where yes, they, you want to say that they should have won, that this should be a 210 team that we should have three undefeated teams and not just two. You have a very strong case. Credit to Michigan for finding a way to get it done. Nebraska not at full strength. Frager didn't play. Mast was, was sick. And now Mast obviously on pace to return for this one and and welcome Illinois into its joint. Nebraska won against Illinois back on December 13th, 83 to 80 here. Illinois is a top five team at Ken Palm. Nebraska's just outside the top 10 overall. And the rankings, obviously the human rankings, the AP rankings, this is an outstanding top top 10 matchup for Illinois. It won last night 75, 66 over Washington. That game actually had, just from a production standpoint, two of the top 10 freshmen in the country, Hans Steinbach and Washington probably I'd rank him 10th, but he's been productive this season. He went for 15 and 12 in the nine point loss. Washington's just a, it's just an average, it's a run of the mill team there. Unfortunately, despite having A really talented 611 big man, Keaton Wagler followed up his 46 point performance with 22 at home in addition to 8 assists. Played really well. Again, I watched a decent portion of this game. Illinois just always had, excuse me. Illinois had Washington at arm's length for the majority of it. But David Merkavich, who's another freshman, had himself a really nice night. It's. Illinois has, it has the offensive capability. There's no question. It's the, the number one offense in the country and it can stroll in. It can, it can walk into Pinnacle bank and pick off a W. It can. But I'm going to, I'm going to to ride with Nebraska and I've seen a bit of this floating around and I would guess that you agree GP Nebraska playing the way it did, shorthanded, close down to the final minute against Michigan and not going into that building and losing by 14 did wonders for. I think it's just, it's overall national respect and credibility now not on this podcast. Nebraska has been lauded and discussed as a legitimate Final Four team for well over a month. Viewers and listeners to the show know that we have been aboard the Nebraska train, but you know how these things can go. It's just not a program that is accustomed to having tremendous amount of success. It doesn't have all this history. So the general sports public is going to be slow to embrace Nebraska as a viable team the same way that Indiana football a year ago wasn't embraced as a real title contender. And then look what he did in the year we'll see if Fred Hober can write a similar story, tough as that may be. I will take Nebraska to get this done and, and win what I think will be a, frankly, a fairly fantastic game. And our plan here on Sunday is to go live very, very shortly after this one is final. So I'll take it lines. Only two Cornhuskers to win the cup.
- [59:37]
Gary Parish
I will also take Nebraska. I'm a building truster. But Illinois will have the best player on the court in Keaton Wagler, who has gone from a, you know, borderline top 150, top 150 high school senior to a freshman projected to go in the top 20 of the 2026 NBA draft. You're right. I think about Nebraska more respect at 20 and 1 than it had at 20 and 0 because you go to, to Chrysler, to Ann Arbor and you play it to the final horn while missing two of your top three scores. And I even noticed the way they talked about themselves, whether it was Fred or Sam, both of them were like, this proves we could play with anybody in the country. This proves we're a legitimate Final Four contender. I think if I would have asked the question a week ago, just, you know, put it in a poll, can Nebraska win the Big Ten overwhelmingly? People would have just said, no, probably not. It's going to be Michigan or Michigan State or Illinois or you name it. But right now, even after it took its first loss, can Nebraska, Nebraska win the Big Ten? You would get a higher percentage of yeses right now than you would have gotten before the Michigan game. I think that's, I think that's probably true. And if I had to personally answer that question, yes, Nebraska can't win the Big Ten. I don't know that it will, but I believe that it is capable of doing that. It's good enough to do that.
- [60:59]
Matt Norlander
Yeah. Super excited for that game. Again, that one's on Sunday. I've got the N1 and then a quick tour of what to know this weekend elsewhere. And one Saturday six, we had to go with this one. There are a couple of nominees, but it's got to be this one. Saturday 6, 30 Eastern on ESPN. It's Kentucky at number 15 Arkansas on Bobby Cordisport. Ken Palm GP has this line. Pog bugs minus 7 thoughts on the pick. What do you got?
- [61:25]
Gary Parish
I'm a building truster in Kentucky. My God, they just got smacked around real bad at Vanderbilt. I don't know that. I mean, we'll see. But that was. And you saw it in person. But that Was I think when Kentucky starts losing Jalen Lowe, then Jaden Quaintance, the injuries start to stack up. They kept, they kept winning, but it was like, all right, when's it gonna fly? Fall apart? And it looked like it started to happen in Nashville. And if I were a Kentucky fan, I'd be concerned that, that, that it continues in, in Fayetteville.
- [61:57]
Matt Norlander
Yeah. So you're going to take Arkansas to, to cover?
- [62:00]
Gary Parish
Sure.
- [62:00]
Matt Norlander
Okay. Then again, our Ken Palm line here is, is minus seven. We'll see if, if that number is different from the actual line when it pops here later on Friday. Yeah. Kentucky first in Arkansas. For me, Kentucky had won five in a row and it was looking strong. And then, I mean it's just a startling no show. And, and the problem with Kentucky is that there are too many of these games and too many of these performances. I thought it was the second worst showing of the season for the Wildcats. The only one we worse was the vaporization that Gonzaga put on Kentucky, coincidentally enough in Nashville. Unfortunately for UK it's got to go back to that city for the sec. SEC tournament. We'll see if it has any more success once it plays there in, in what, six, six and a half weeks. So we'll see. Jane Quinton's isn't going to play. It's kind of. Pope said publicly what had kind of been expressed to me behind the scenes. He's just not. The knee isn't good enough right now. They are not going to push it. They. He came back on accelerated timeline and now he's, he's sidelined as well. Cam Williams isn't close to coming back. They're hope they're hopeful maybe he can return. You know, end of February, March, we'll see. But they're just, they're not at full strength. Ortega away and Denzel Aberdeen were the only guys that showed up really at all on, on Tuesday night. We'll see if it matters here or not. Arkansas is, is in a bit of a groove. It has taken some losses earlier this month, but if you've watched this team play and Darius Acuff was key again when the Hogs won on Tuesday at Oklahoma. Acuff has been again, you actually task yourself out with ranking the top five freshmen in the country. You're gonna, you want to put nine on the list for the top five I A cuff is in the top five I I inarguable. I'm not, I'm not budging off it to this point. He has been outstanding and one of the best point Guards league guards in the country. He's guiding a team that's super talented. That Caliper's really got clicking and in this spot at home. Remember Cal went into. They only had one game last year and they've only got one game this year. I sure. I sure like to see these teams play twice next year in the SEC rotation the regular season. If we could folks at the office down there in the Southeastern Conference. I think Cal gets it done again. I'm going to say Arkansas wins and covers and whether it's Acuff feels like it might be a Carter Knox kind of moment. Notably for for the hogs. They've got four guys shooting 39 or better from three point range. They've got some real capability from beyond the arc. That has not been the case with some Caliperi teams in recent vintage but they've got it here. Building will be electric. Kentucky's up against it in a really tight spot. If Kentucky can go in and win this game then it's going to be near the top of the list of just the most interesting teams in the country because they're not expected to win the game. Not the way that they no showed at Vandy. We'll see what Pope and his guys can do to rally themselves but that's going to be very hostile. Sellout crowd Bud Walton Arena. That's. That's big time stuff. I will go with. I will go with Arkansas to win a cover and GP you said you're. You're the same.
- [65:00]
Sponsor Voice
Yeah.
- [65:01]
Gary Parish
I will also take the Razorbacks. I'm gonna go five for five trusting buildings in this edition of the final.
- [65:05]
Matt Norlander
Four and one what else is new. Okay, some others to watch real quick. CBS Sports Network tonight eight eastern right alongside Michigan. Michigan State is a two screen Friday folks. Dayton at St. Louis. If St. Louis was on the road in this game this would have been my N1. But St. Louis is going to be favored heavily at home. I think it's going to get it done. SLU has been outstanding. This is a 20 and one team that is a one shot away from being undefeated. Billikens are about to have. It's gonna about to be Billiken February especially if they win this game because they've done outstanding and are helping the A10s prospects of being a multi bit league if they can't get the auto bid in the A10 tournament on Saturday. Other games to know Duke at Virginia Tech at noon on espn. You figure Duke will win. It has been picked off in that building as a really good team in years past. I know Duke and Vatek fans alike know that to be the case. Keep an eye on that boozer still number one for player of the year. Also at noon Texas Tech at UCF ESPN2 at at noon. Just one of those. Keep an eye on it. Get the Saturday rolling here. I'll be at my kiddo's basketball game and we'll have both those games up on the phone. Appreciate YouTube TV allowing for the multi view option on cell phones as well. One Eastern Texas A M takes its best record in the SEC on the road at Georgia on SEC Network. Compelling game. We see if an AM can keep it going. I think that's a pretty big one for Georgia's standing in the league and it's belief that it can finish in the top three in the conference. Get that stuff done at home if you can in Athens. 2 Eastern SM Louisville on ESPN. I just want to see how both these teams play in this spot. Michael Brown Jr. Back in the mix. That one's intriguing to me. And then we've got a little bit of gap for games that weren't in the final four and one A lot of the stuff between two and eight is already occupied and we talked about yukon at Creighton 8 Eastern on Fox. This is, you know what this is GP you know what this is? The return of Yukon at Creighton. Scene of the crime.
- [66:48]
Gary Parish
Two rings.
- [66:49]
Matt Norlander
Two rings Baldi yes, this was the two rings Baldy from a year ago. That was Dan Hurley's only win in Omaha ever. I know we're not going to get two rings. I know we're not going to get that again. And, and trust me, Hurley will be all too aware that he needs to get, as he told me in the preseason, he needs to get from the court to the locker room without incident. I just I can a Creighton fan come up with some sort of creative sign for this and get it on television. There could be some real potential there. Creighton has been just up, up and down, up and down. So we'll wait and see on on all that. Yukon is 20 and 1 and 13 at Ken Palm, which is just wild. But it's got narrow margins in the league. It's just not winning by the the amount that it's expected to to do so at we'll see if it can get it done here on the road or if it or if it kind of gets picked off on the road in the way that the numbers would suggest. GP Just a couple more than you can Chop in and we can end the show. 8:30 Eastern. Auburn at Tennessee on ESPN. Quality game. Good game there. Auburn's been playing well as of late. So is Tennessee. 10:30St. Mary's at Gonzaga on ESPN the final time St. Mary's will play at Gonzaga with both of them being in the WCC because the Zags are going to the reborn Pac 12 next season. And then on Sunday, Purdue at Maryland, 1 Eastern on CBS. Maryland obviously isn't good, but Purdue right now, it's on a slide. It needs to end that and avoid getting four in a row. And then also one Eastern on Sunday is Alabama at Florida on abc. This is famously the game where Todd golden promised that they'd beat Alabama even if it had Charles Bediaco, which, by the way, it still does. That case has been pushed into next week, so that will be a highly intriguing one. On on Sunday, Alabama will have all the motivation in the world to prove Todd golden wrong.
- [68:30]
Gary Parish
Just on Tennessee. Auburn. Another note, it's obviously not just an interesting game between likely and CFA tournament teams. It's Stephen Pearl coaching against his alma mater.
- [68:39]
Matt Norlander
That is that. That. That's a good point there. Yeah, I forgot about that. But yes, that's. That's certainly a note there. And I see someone in the chat wanted this.
- [68:47]
Gary Parish
You're ball.
- [68:48]
Matt Norlander
That is correct. So there we go for Dan Hurley. Not for GP, but for Dan Hurley. And that, my friend, is a show.
- [68:56]
Gary Parish
Shouts to Devin Downey. Shouts to Chester, South Carolina chefs to Terry Teagle, legend Huck Larnell. Thank you guys once again for watching and listening to the Ion College Basketball podcast. You're not subscribed. Please go subscribe anyway. Subscribe to podcast. Apple, Spotify. There's more of us than there are of them. That should be reflected in the comments. So please do that and we'll talk to you again on Sunday. Till then, take care. Paramount Podcast.
- [69:34]
Ad Read Host
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- [69:35]
Matt Norlander
I'm really back.
- [69:36]
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- [69:38]
Gary Parish
Why am I here? Not dead, right?
- [69:40]
Matt Norlander
Disruption on this campus will not be tolerated. I look crazy. It's because that's how I feel. I don't know how to live in two worlds.
- [69:51]
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Secrets lurk.
- [69:52]
Matt Norlander
There are others beneath the surface. They're not like us.
- [69:56]
Gary Parish
We need to get out of here now.
- [69:59]
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