Has Boozer 🔒 up NPOY? Kansas 62-0 on Mondays since '01; pay attention to 25-3 Virginia; Tuesday's bubble winners/losers

Summary

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Eye On College Basketball – Episode Summary

Date: February 25, 2026
Hosts: Gary Parrish & Matt Norlander

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Episode Overview

In this lively, insight-packed episode, Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander break down a jam-packed week in college basketball, focusing on the explosive form of Duke, Boozer's National Player of the Year (NPOY) candidacy, Kansas's astonishing "Big Monday" record, Virginia's under-the-radar dominance, and bubble team drama. The show also features lively banter, “coach GOAT” debates, and the weekly Naismith Watch list.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Cameron Boozer's NPOY Trajectory

[02:30 - 05:59]

• Dominant Duke win: Duke beats Notre Dame 100-56; Boozer scores 24 points on just 8 FGAs, gets to the line often.
• John Shire’s Coaching Milestone: Shire is the first ever ACC coach with two 40+ point road conference wins.
  • Notable Stat: Duke’s only other road win of this margin was vs. Virginia in 1999.
• Boozer’s Consistency:

  "Every single game this season, regardless of the opponent, just doesn’t have an off night. ... That’s how hard this is to do." – Matt Norlander [04:27]

• Historical Company: No other player in men’s D-I this century has 28 games of at least 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists.
• Is NPOY Over?

  "Has Boozer locked up Player of the Year? Is this over, February 25th, before we get to March?" – Norlander [05:59]
  "I don’t think it’s over because AJ DeBonsa exists ... but clearly Boozer is the leader." – Gary Parrish [05:59]

• Notable Trend: 18 of the last 20 Naismith winners came from KenPom top 10 teams; Boozer’s Duke fits the mold.

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2. John Shire: Fast Climb Up the Coaching Ranks

[09:03 - 10:46]

• Legend in the Making?

  "Are you comfortable suggesting ... the man who is widely regarded as the GOAT of college basketball coaching is right in front of our eyes?... It’s slipping to the second best coach in Duke history." – Parrish [09:03]

• Comparison to Coach K:

  "Start looking at the first four years of John Shire’s Duke run. Start looking at the first four years of K’s Duke run. They ain’t the same." – Parrish [10:46]

• Norlander: Shire will set record for most wins in first four seasons; not ready to crown him over Cronin, but trend is clear.

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3. Kansas: Monday Night Undefeated Streak

[15:16 - 15:49]

• Kansas beats Houston 69-56 at home; Peterson starts/finishes, big upset.
• Bill Self is now 41-0 at home in Big Monday games;

  "It’s 62-0 since early February of 2001 for that program." – Norlander [15:16]

• Parrish’s Joking Solution:

  "They ought to run a raffle...tonight you get to coach Kansas on big Monday. Let’s see if you can win." [15:24]

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4. Kansas’s Depth and Peterson’s Story

[16:41 - 21:08]

• Kansas is unpredictable but has multiple “best player” options (White, Badunga, Peterson, Counter Jr., Tiller).
• Peterson’s Perception:
  • Not media-friendly but showing team engagement.
  • Concern among NBA scouts about his withdrawn persona, lack of transparency, and effect on draft prospects:

    "The people who run NBA franchises—they are looking at this and going, what is going on?... It is worthy of being questioned." – Parrish [21:09]

• Positive note: Peterson seemed happier and more engaged in recent team celebrations.

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5. Houston's Slide and BYU's Bubble Trouble

[24:04 - 33:03]

• Houston: On a rare 3-game slide but context matters (all losses vs. strong teams). Still a contender for a high seed.
• BYU's Unexpected Loss: Home loss to UCF 97-84 after being favored by 14.
  • Stunning 27-point swing.
  • UCF nails 14/24 threes, Johnny Dawkins praised.
  • BYU has trend of struggling defensively (176th nationally); since Jan 17th, they've gone 4-7.

  "This kind of performance, to me, it kind of just makes me stop in my tracks a little bit." – Norlander [30:17]

  • DeBonsa still putting up huge numbers but faces an uphill battle for postseason success.

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6. Wednesday Whiparound: Other Key Results

[33:03 - 47:13]

• Arizona 87, Baylor 80:
  • Down double digits, Arizona storms back; Jaden Bradley's five 3s are crucial.
• Iowa State 75, Utah 59: ISU stays a top team.
• Texas Tech 80, Cincinnati 68: Tech is 2-0 since losing star JT Toppin.
• UCLA, Missouri, Kentucky:
  • UCLA turning it around; Missouri with a massive bubble-resuscitating win over Tennessee; Kentucky escapes disaster vs. South Carolina.
• Auburn's bubble troubles: Now must win remaining games to feel safe.
• Undefeated Watch: Miami University is now 28-0.
• Dayton 77, St. Louis 62: St. Louis takes surprising loss but stays safely in the field.
• Mountain West Mashup: Nevada defeats New Mexico, intensifying bid confusion.

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7. Under-the-Radar Virginia

[47:13 - 52:27]

• Virginia 90, NC State 61: Virginia is 25-3, on a 9-game win streak. Odom's first year record-breaking.

  "Virginia is a great case of... they have exceeded the expectation unquestionably." – Norlander [48:00]

  • Defensive edge (12 blocks) plus high-octane offense (school record 18 games w/ 10+ threes).
  • Potential two-seed if they win at Duke on Saturday.
  • Odom poised for Coach of the Year conversation.

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8. Naismith Watch (Player of the Year Rankings)

[53:09 - 57:31]

Norlander's Top 5:

1. Cameron Boozer (Duke)
2. AJ DeBonsa (BYU) – Leads nation in scoring as a freshman.
3. Joshua Jefferson
4. Darius Acuff Jr. (Arkansas) – "Outstanding as of late."
5. Yaxel Lindenborg

Parrish’s List (difference in order):

1. Boozer
2. DeBonsa
3. Yaxel Lindenborg (leading scorer/rebounder for a #1 seed team)
4. Keaton Wagler (Illinois)
5. Joshua Jefferson

• They both agree Boozer is a strong favorite, with only DeBonsa having a conceivable shot to catch him.

  "It is good stuff. ... This is better than most." – Parrish [57:31]

• YouTube live poll: Over half see Boozer as a “lock,” large minority as “not a lock lock but close.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Shire's rapid rise:

  "It’s slipping to the second best coach in Duke men’s basketball history." – Parrish [09:03]

• On the perception of NPOY voting:

  “18 of the past 20 Naismith war winners have been from teams that finished in the top 10 at Kenpom. It does not look like BYU is going to finish in the top 10…” – Parrish [05:59]

• On UCF upsetting BYU:

  “The biggest lead in this game was 64 to 28.” – Norlander [30:17]

• Bubble Drama:

  “Missouri was a top three winner... They’ve had reservations for Dayton for it feels like, like a month!” – Parrish [39:39]

• On Virginia’s transformation:

  “Nine game winning streak now for Virginia. Odom has won 25 games in his first season… Virginia has scored 80 or more points 18 times this season, most since 2000-01. ... Odom didn’t even think…they have exceeded the expectation unquestionably.” – Norlander [48:00]

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Humorous/Offbeat Banter

• Parrish offers to coach Kansas on a Big Monday for a win in a raffle (15:24).
• The “down the street from Elvis” running joke culminates in measuring his walk to Graceland—“It would take me 8 hours and 41 minutes to walk to Graceland.” [66:02]
• Commentary on coaches bailing out of Xavier:

  “All they ever do is get coaches who can't wait to leave them!” – Parrish [62:22]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:30] – Duke/Boozer/John Shire discussion starts
• [09:03] – Is John Shire overtaking Coach K?
• [15:16] – Kansas Big Monday home streak
• [21:08] – NBA questions about Peterson, Kansas
• [24:04] – Houston slide/BYU collapse/UCF rise
• [33:03] – Arizona, Baylor, Iowa State, Texas Tech recaps
• [39:39] – SEC/Bubble teams: Missouri, Kentucky, Auburn
• [47:13] – Virginia’s quiet ascent
• [53:09] – Naismith Watch rankings
• [57:31] – Looking ahead: key games, double bubble action
• [62:22] – Banter on Xavier’s coaching carousel
• [66:02] – The Graceland “walk”

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Takeaways For Listeners

• Boozer is (nearly) a NPOY lock, but DeBonsa could challenge with a late surge.
• Kansas’s Big Monday dominance is nearly mythic.
• Virginia and UCF are both quietly building compelling cases—watch their seeding and potential upsets.
• Bubble drama is heating up: Missouri, Kentucky, Auburn, BYU, and others are all in must-win territory.
• Great coaching debates are alive—with Shire, Odom, and more pressing the legends.
• This season’s depth of talent sets up for an electric March.

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The episode ends with the usual banter, but the central message is clear: March is coming, the Player of the Year race is hot, and the bubble is more volatile than ever.

Transcript

[Matt Norlander]

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[Gary Parrish]

This is Gary Parrish from CBS Sports here to tell you that I used to think travel pants meant sacrificing style. Like sure they're comfortable but you'd never actually to wear them anywhere nice. But I don't think that way anymore. And that's because of the jetsetter pants from Jack Archer. These are hands down the easiest pants I own. They're great for my back and forth flights to NYC during the college basketball season. The fabric is wrinkle free and stain resistant which is huge when you're commuting, traveling or just living life. I can wear them all day and they still hold their shape. No sagging, no stretching, no looking sloppy by the end of the day. And they're also the ultimate travel pant. I can pack one pair with, wear them on the plane and show up looking put together without ironing or changing and the fit is fully customizable. You choose your waist, your length and your fit, whether that's athletic, slim or straight, tall guys, short guys, everyone's covered and Somehow they're just $89 which feels like a steal for pants this versatile. Get 15% off your first order with code [e-mail] again that's promo code getjack@jackarcher dot com for 15% off your first order. Foreign. Gary Parrish welcome back CBS Sports. I own College Basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, dodo birds and leaky black. Matt Norlander is here with me. He's in a big star shirt. If you're watching live on YouTube honor Brandon Davies, smash that like button. If you haven't yet subscribed to the I Own College Basketball podcast, please also do that wherever you listen to podcasts like Apple and Spotify. Let's get into it. I want to start with the AP polls number one team and the sports biggest brand. It is the Duke Blue Devils. They won again on Tuesday night. Final score Duke 100, Notre Dame 56. Cameron Boozer finished with 24 points on just eight official field goal attempts. Half his points came for the free throw line and it was one for the history books because Dukes John Shire last night became the first coach in ACC history to record multiple 40 point wins against ACC opposition on the road in the same lifetime, while Notre Dame's Michael Shrewsbury, well, he appears to have ruptured his Achilles. It was a wild night. Norlander, good to see you on this Wednesday morning. Let me ask you this question first. What's wilder? Micah appearing to rupture his Achilles while coaching or John Shire accomplishing something no other ACC coach has ever done? K, Dean, Gary, Jim, you name it. Nobody's ever done what John Shire just did.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, you said lifetime not season, right?

[Gary Parrish]

I think it was lifetime. Right.

[Matt Norlander]

Wow. Okay, that's wild then. That's the answer. Even though shrews.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah. Just to put, just to put some specifics on it, last night win at Notre Dame by 44. And then in January 2023 Duke won at Georgia Tech by 43, making John Shire the only coach in ACC history to have two 40 point wins in conference on the road.

[Matt Norlander]

Crazy. This was the second largest win on the road by margin in Duke history by the way against a league opponent. They won at Virginia by 46 and 99. That's the best. This was second best. And then that Georgia Tech win at by 43 and 23 was number three. Duke has scored 100 points by the way in back to back conference games. You've got the Michigan one in between those but back to back conference games. That hasn't happened since 98 99. And statistically that 9899 team which lost in the title game to Yukon really has a case as the best team to not win a national title in in the 64/team tournament era. So yeah, dominant, minimal takeaways from the game. I got. It's just. They won. They won easy. My bigger thing is Boozer here. And we'll get to our watch list later on the show as we do on every Wednesday. But Boozer in every single game this season, regardless of the opponent, just doesn't have an off night. 14 point, at least. 14 points, at least five rebounds, at least two assists. Those numbers might not pop to you. How about this though? There's not been another player. That's how hard this is to do. Hasn't been another player in men's division one this century. 25 seasons that has done that. 28 games of at least 14, five and two. So my question is, and this can be our poll to lead off the show, has Boozer locked up Player of the year? Is this over? February 25th, before we get to March, is it over?

[Gary Parrish]

GP I don't think it's over because AJ DeBonsa exists and he is putting up some video game numbers. Like I saw somebody run some stuff on him the other day. And you know, it's one of those where you click this, you click that, you click that and then they frame it a very specific way and then it spits out what it spits out. But like what it spit out was like A.J. deBonsa, Oscar Robinson, Jerry west, it was like that kind of stuff. So I'm not going to say it's done on February 25th because that guy, you know, is, is playing at an extremely high level for not. We'll get there for an also good team. Not great. And that's an issue. As I noted last week, 18 of the past 20 Naismith war winners have been from teams that finished in the top 10 at Kinpom. It does not look like BYU is going to finish in the top 10 at Kinpan. So you better be Kevin Durant or Doug McDermott. But he might be Kevin Durant or Doug McDermott. So not over. But clearly Boozer is the leader. And I had this thought last night as I'm doing the top 25 and one, you know, I have to have those little two sentence comments under every team. And I gave up years ago trying to get creative with that.

[Matt Norlander]

Just in the reads like, honestly, it just, it reads like AI at this point.

[Gary Parrish]

I know it does. And sometimes people will, sometimes people will be like, what is this AI? It's, it's. No, it's a man with 50 jobs trying to just get something done. That's what it is. That, that I don't even pretend that it's anything other than that. It is the simplest way to fill that box up and get on.

[Matt Norlander]

I got it.

[Gary Parrish]

I'm just.

[Matt Norlander]

Just having fun with you. It's an early Wednesday morning. My kids are home from school for the third day in a row. We had a delayed opening that turned into an outright school cancellation minutes before they were. They were supposed to be getting ready to go to school. So we've been going through it. Snow again in Connecticut. That's why GP's in Memphis, not New York Studios. How are we doing? The snow won't stop in the northeast.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah. Hey, my. My kids missed a whole week because of ice and snow. All right.

[Matt Norlander]

I will be. I will be at the St. John's Yukon game tonight.

[Gary Parrish]

That is happening. Okay. We went to remote learning while we were at a school for ice. And if I. If I didn't remember from COVID I was reminded that week, oh, we ain't. We ain't a good family for remote learning. We. We. We're good at other things, I think, but we ain't good at remote learning. And so that's. We're trying to pull those grades up. Now. I had this thought as I'm sitting around making these little AI comments for the top 25 and 1. Like, it's like Cameron Boozer finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds. And Dukes, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And it's like 24 points and 13 rebounds. I didn't even blink. I was like, okay, whatever. Yeah, that's amazing. That's a. Those are crazy numbers for a college basketball player. He's averaging 22.7 and 10.1. He just randomly on the road last night. Just no big deal, you know, 24 points, 12 of 14 from the free throw line. 24 points on eight official field goal attempts. Barring a surprise, he's going to be the national player of the year. Let's take it there. Let me ask you this.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

We've done it with Mick Cronin and ucla. Oh, oh. Let me ask you a question.

[Matt Norlander]

Oh, okay.

[Gary Parrish]

Let me ask you a question.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

Are you ready to say, are you comfortable suggesting that maybe, just maybe, the man who is widely regarded as the goat of college basketball coaching is actually. Is actually right in front of our eyes? In real time, if you're paying attention, you might see it happening. The man who is widely recognized as the goat of college basketball coach. And in real time right now, you can kind of see it happen. It's slipping to the Second best coach in Duke men's basketball history. What do you think about that?

[Matt Norlander]

Wow.

[Gary Parrish]

I just told you that no coach in history, including K, had ever won multiple games in the ACC on the road by at least 40 points. Shire knocked that out before he even turned 39.

[Matt Norlander]

Let's go.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay. Did K ever coach back to back Naismith Award winners? Because that's what John Shire is about to do. Actually, he did coach back to back Naismith winners. It was Shane Battier in 2001. It was Shane Battier in 2001 and Jay Williams in 2002. Shouts to Jay Williams, great player, great media personality, great dude. So, yeah, K did do that. But here's my point. It took him 22 years to get back to back Naismith Award winners. Shire's about to knock that out in year four. All right, go compare. I can't tell you what year five is going to be, what year six is going to be. I bet they're going to be great. But I can't promise you that. What? I can't promise you, you start looking at the first four years of John Shire's Duke run. Start looking at the first four years of K's Duke run. They ain't the same. They ain't the same.

[Matt Norlander]

They're not the same. Shire's gonna set the record for most wins in the first four seasons of a head coaching career. Tommy Lloyd's about to do it for the first five seasons. Shire might be done with that a year from now as well. So it's knocking on the door. It's no Cronin yet. Let's just take it easy there, okay?

[Gary Parrish]

Say it if you want to. Say it if you want to.

[Matt Norlander]

I will not.

[Gary Parrish]

I would like to hear it come out of your mouth.

[Matt Norlander]

It's not coming out of my mouth just yet. Duke 26:2. I actually thought by nature of the wind, Duke was going to jump Michigan last night because Michigan got a 10 point win closer than expected at home against the sub 500. Minnesota team did not. The margin is very, very close. Literally 2/100 of a point in net rating at Ken Palm. But Michigan still narrowly holds the one spot at Ken Palm as of this morning. And in fact, across all the team sheets, except for team sheet metrics, except for net, Duke is one of the net and Duke is one in bpi. Michigan has one everywhere else. But yes, the cool thing about Duke, it's actually got a worthy opponent coming to its building this weekend. We'll get to that in just a Few.

[Gary Parrish]

I love when people jump in the comments and like I just glance down there and it says stupid take Gary.

[Matt Norlander]

You don't know the show, you nerd. Casual. You've been exposed.

[Gary Parrish]

I think it's so funny that there's a real person out there who, who decides to type that into a chat on a Wednesday morning.

[Matt Norlander]

They're casual nerds.

[Gary Parrish]

You did that.

[Matt Norlander]

Casual is one step removed from them. Just be aware.

[Gary Parrish]

You, you are bored. You are. You have to be of them. There's no scenario where you're not of them. Up next for Duke. That's Saturday's game with Virginia. It's inside. Cameron up next for Notre Dame. Achilles surgery.

[Matt Norlander]

I guess genuinely it must be like how would he not if he tore it. So I guess to be determined. Although I mean it just doesn't at this point. Notre Dame's lost causes. Yeah, it's a damn shame if I,

[Gary Parrish]

I'd rather have a keyless surgery than keep coaching Notre Dame.

[Matt Norlander]

I, I deal with the coaching honestly.

[Gary Parrish]

I mean they're down two. They're down there like two, two leading scorers.

[Matt Norlander]

Yes, I know the season's over.

[Gary Parrish]

I would take a knife and cut my own Achilles before I would keep coaching the Fighting Irish under these circumstances.

[Matt Norlander]

Getting grizzly on a Wednesday morning here. There's a lot to get to. Let's keep it moving. You want to hey, back to Monday night by the way.

[Gary Parrish]

Hey, when we come back we're gonna prove, you know, we're go prove when we come back we're going to prove we're a college basketball podcast by spending some time debating debating everything about Darren Peterson. He helped Kansas upset Houston the other night. Had some interesting post game comments. We'll discuss it but first let's get a word from our partner. Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start. Thumbtack knows homes so you don't have to. Don't know the difference between matte paint finish and satin or what that clunking sound from your dryer is with thumbtack. You don't have to be a home pro, you just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app download today. All right Norlander, we're settling this right now. We're doing a pizza topping draft.

[Matt Norlander]

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[Gary Parrish]

I am ready GP all right, I'll go first. Let's go. Handmade pan crust pepperonis, extra cheese Jalapenos, onions and garlic parmesan sauce, please.

[Matt Norlander]

Garlic parmesan sauce. Okay, I'm going thin crust, red sauce, spinach. You know what, give me some banana peppers too. Thin crust. It's the four seed of all pizzas. I stand by it.

[Gary Parrish]

See, this is why this deal is perfect. Everyone gets exactly what they want.

[Matt Norlander]

Especially for a watch party. You can build all the large pizzas you need, customize each and every single one and keep the whole crew happy for just 9.99 each.

[Gary Parrish]

Any toppings, any combo. That's why this is Domino's Best deal ever with Domino's Best deliver. You can get any pizza with any toppings for just 9. 99. Prices higher in some locations. Select this online only. Offer from 223 to 4. 6 size. Availability varies by crust type. Max 7 toppings 6 for New York style and pan crust. Stuffed crust is extra. Excludes XL and specialty pizzas. Minimum purchase required for delivery prices, participation, delivery area and charges may vary. Score number 14, Kansas 69. Number 5, Houston 56. Darren Peterson was that the star of the game. But he did start and he did finish and he did help the Jayhawks upset. Yes, technically it was an upset Houston on Monday night and he helped build self improve to 41 and oh, just crazy all time at home in big Monday games. Your thoughts, Norlander?

[Matt Norlander]

I mean it's 62 and oh, since early February of 01 for that program too. So yeah, it's under Self, but it's just Kansas in general. We're at 25 plus years.

[Gary Parrish]

They ought to just let people do wild, man. They ought to run a raffle where you like, you could like, you know, pay five bucks and you get a little ticket and they throw it in a fishbowl. Then they pull a name out and it's like tonight you get to coach Kansas on big Monday. See if you can win to like, let's see. Just if anybody could coach Kansas to a win on a big Monday at

[Matt Norlander]

home just to have some fun with it.

[Gary Parrish]

Why not have some fun with. Let's see. We know Bill Self could do it. We know Roy can do it. Could. Could. Could I do it? That's what we got to figure out. Like, could I do it?

[Matt Norlander]

Of course, I think so. I don't have the number in front of me. But like Kansas, especially on a Monday, should never be an underdog at home like that. I don't care. I don't care if they're playing the Thunder. It should not be a thing. Should not. They were an underdog on Monday and proceeded to win and win in convincing fashion. 69, 56. And in the process, you know, the, the, the big benefit here for Kansas which has been obviously up and down box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get. Quite literally game by game basis with this team. It's now 21 and seven. It's a projected three seed. But Trey White had a good game. This was not his first really good game of the season. This was probably his best overall game of the season. Season high, 23 points, five boards and was the engine. But I have now seen Kansas have Floyd Badunga as by far its best player on a given night. Darren Peterson, obviously it's best player on a given night. Trey White, it's best player on a given night. Melvin Counter Jr. It's best player on a given night. And Bryson Tiller, I don't think he's had it. I don't think Kansas had a game where Taylor's been the best, but damn, there have been a good handful of games where he has clearly been number two or number three. So while the depth is again sort of an issue, like Marco Jackson only logs 16 minutes. Jamari McDowell, who's had some good moments here, like they're good in spot duty, right. But this was only a seven man rotation. Cole Rosario was on the floor for literally one minute there. It, there's still enough there for me to not disregard Kansas as a team that can make the run and go deep in the tournament. But it quite literally is an unpredictable team. You know, this is off of the weird no show loss at home to Cincinnati over the weekend and a good bounce back here. The next one is this weekend against Arizona. We wait and see what happens there. Peterson, yeah, in this game to a certain extent. GP like he produced, he had 14 points, didn't shoot it well, kind of a jag in the game, but that's, you know, it's no major crime. He, he logged 30 minutes and his story kind of continued. He was available for the postgame press conference. You know, he offered up a little bit. Our colleague Isaac Trotter was on hand there, wrote a good story off that was able to text with Daryl Peterson, Darren's father, and he gave him a little bit of a quote. You know, it wasn't too much, but we at least got, we at least got a little more. There's still too much not being said in my opinion that could alleviate the situation. But it has been interesting to see the backlash to the backlash. The Takes on top of the takes. And there's been plenty of, hey, you know, this is, this has been overstated with Darren Peterson. If he really wanted to shut it down, he would have done that. He quite clearly wants to play and I don't even reject any of that. But it's been interesting over the past two weeks, as expected football season is over to see this Peterson story, which has loomed as a top three story in college basketball this season. It has now leveled up to a. It is broken contain. Outside of just, you know, national college basketball media to national media in general that be writers, that be television segments on programs that don't always focus on college basketball. I'm not surprised by it whatsoever. But this is what happens when what happens happened with him in November and December and January. And so here we are but logs, 30 games and hopefully we can continue to see him play on the floor more and more and at least we've heard a little bit something. I could still use a few more words and explanations, but Peterson just doesn't seem that talkative behind a mic at this point. And maybe that'll change eventually. But, but he's, he's fairly tight lipped as is.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, like he's not great at that. I mean we can say that, right? He's just not, he doesn't seem to be great.

[Matt Norlander]

And the interesting thing is we saw him at Big 12 media day and I don't know if you were standing with me or not, but he was getting ready to do some, some CBS network kind of B roll stuff that we rolled, like you'll see it during the tournament kind of deal. And I chatted with them for probably, I don't know, two, two and a half minutes or so and happy go lucky. Good chat. I mean it was all casual, off the record, whatever, but that person that I talked to in October, I've not seen that person in front of a microphone yet this season.

[Gary Parrish]

Right. Like I sat down with him at Big 12 media day and he was polite and interesting and cool, but like, just not very chatty. Like, you know, um, you know, sometimes people just aren't good at that type of thing. It's a person, it can be personality, all sorts of. Derrick Rose was not a good talker when, when he was in college, but like it didn't stop him from being an amazing basketball player. So I, but I agree with you, you know, he's in front of the microphone, he could say whatever he wants. If he wanted to explain this better, more thoroughly, he could. But perhaps again he's just not equipped to do it or comfortable do it, doing it. Like. Like if you watch the Grammys ago, like, Kendrick Lamar gets on stage and he says, hey, I'm not very good at talking about myself. I just sort of express myself through the music like that. That's a real thing. That sometimes people aren't comfortable, you know, in that, whatever. And so maybe that's an explanation. Either way, I do think he could, if he were capable of explaining it better. I would love to hear it. We've gone full circle on this whole thing now. We've reached the point where you got. I don't know, I guess everybody feels like they got to say something. So now you got people like, well, it's reached the point where it's. It's unfair to question Darren Peterson. Like, what? It's not unfair to question that.

[Matt Norlander]

There is stuff out there like that. Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

Which I see that from, like, you know, this draft analyst and this. Whatever it is, it is not unfair to question Darren Peterson. That's just crazy. You know, who's questioning all of this? The people who run NBA franchises. They are looking at this and going, what is going on? And at the very least, I'm a little concerned about it. And even the other night, when he thinks he's helping himself with his words, he's not, because he says stuff like, you know, I've kind of always been a loner, antisocial loner. Well, I don't know that I want to hear that if I'm an NBA general manager. Now, if you're Kawhi Leonard, I guess we can deal with it. But you better be Kawhi Leonard if you're going to be a loner, antisocial type. So it was. There's just like a lot of stuff here, but it is not. That's just where. That's where I'll push back. And you get people, like, inventing counter arguments like, well, it was never the load management. Well, I mean, I know some people were talking about that, but you can go back and listen to these podcasts. The load management thing never made any sense. Why is he load managing and then just playing all his minutes in the first half? Right. Here's the truth. I don't know why he multiple times started games, checked himself out of games, and then didn't look interested at all in trying to get ready to get back into these games. I just know that it's weird and it is worthy of being questioned. And it is the type of thing that makes any conversation about who should be the number one pick in the draft. More complicated than it otherwise would be. We're no longer making just basketball evaluations and I guess we never were. But like, this is going to be a more complex evaluation because you got to know what, what kind of person you're getting, what kind of competitor you're getting, what kind of teammate you're getting. If you're going to not just use the number one pick in the draft on somebody, but if you're going to pass ON Somebody like A.J. debons, if you're going to pass on somebody like Cameron Boozer, if you're going to pass on somebody like Caleb Wilson, if you're going to pass on somebody like Darius Acup, I got to know I'm getting the full package. And it is very reasonable for me, you or anybody to question those types of things as, as we've watched this season unfold. But I will say I thought Monday night was a great night for him. And even though he didn't play that well because it just looked the right way and I don't even mean on the court, I mean post game interview, the whole team gathers around. I guess it was Trey White maybe doing the interview. Whoever was, they all gather around. Darren's in the back and I like just sort of paused it and took a picture and he was smiling. He looked for the first time. Maybe this might be hyperbolic, but you'll get the point. He looked like he was a college basketball player on a college basketball team and he was happy and he was a part of it. And it looked like that picture is what Kansas basketball so supposed to be in this year and maybe from this point going forward that's what it, that's what it will be. But I just thought it was another great big Monday, incredible result and I thought it was a good night for Darren Peterson, even if it wasn't his best basketball performance of the season.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, I'll get to Houston now. I'm worried. Peterson is going to practically still be a weekly thing every week out. So we'll talk about more him more as they go along. They've got a huge game against Arizona on the road this weekend. Houston is now on something it hasn't been on for more than two years and that is a slide. Three in a row is a slide per the podcast parlance. Now, all the losses have been against tough teams and tough situations at Iowa State, home to Zona, at Kansas. So the Cougars now I don't think Houston's chances that are one seed are done. Just I think Houston has to win out from now through the end of the Big 12 tournament in order to get a 1. And keep in mind that one of the regionals this season is in Houston. So there actually is some real. There's always motivation to do so. But you know, you'd like to play in your own city and not hop on a plane. If you can get to the second weekend of the tournament, keep that in mind. Games are home, Baylor, home Colorado. Strike that, reverse it. Home, Colorado, home Baylor at Oklahoma State. Sort of feels like that the Cougars should be going into the Big 12 tournament at 26 and 5. Flemings was contained in this game but. And really the big takeaway from the game was that if you can. Easier said than done. But if you can really mute the impact of Flemings and you're still not getting like, like Sharp and Yuzan are really good players but they haven't had a ton of instances this season where it's like, you know, a watch out because they're going to drop 27. You know, if Fleming's is contained or whatever. There hasn't been a lot of that. So if you can keep a fence around those guards, then you have found a way to, to really get one up on, on the Cougars. I'm still, I'm still considering them a national title contender, but three in a row is three in a row and we don't typically see this has not happened to Houston in fact since 2016. 17. It's been that long since. No, it's been 2016-17 since Houston has I lost the stat here, GP they lost three in row two years ago and they had not lost. Whatever it is, I forgot whatever. It's early again, kids home frying my brain. I'm not off of Houston yet. I don't think they're going to lose again until at least the Big 12 tournament semis at least. And I still think they wind up with probably a two going into the tournament. Three is possible. There's a big, big race for the one seed here. But an understandable loss given the venue was surprised, but it was by 13.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, I, I mean it just got away from them and the whole second half was just like. It felt like we were just running out the clock almost.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

I don't want to say the three game losing streak for Houston is only schedule induced because I don't think it is, but it is mostly schedule induced. I, like you don't have any real major concerns about Houston. Did I think they would lose three straight in this stretch. No. But could I see them enduring this three game losing streak and still winning a national championship? Yes, the talent and the coach is still in place. This is just obviously a rough stretch. Let's do the Wednesday whip around next and let's just. You know what, let's keep it in the Big 12 for now. Final score. This was the most notable result from Tuesday night. UCF 97, number 19, BYU 84. BYU closed is like a 14 point favorite. Lost the game by 13. You don't need a iPhone 17 to know that's a difference of 27 point. Awful performance at home from BYU. DeBonso was good again, but the team wasn't. Congrats to use at UCF though that Johnny Dawkins big win for him.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, I'm gonna do a cleanup on aisle three though here. So Houston had not lost three in a row since 2017. So I was right. I think they had gone two years, two plus years without back to back losses. So that long without Houston, your longest streaks in the country without three in a row. Gonzaga hasn't done it since January 2011. SDSU San Diego State since January 2018, in Arizona since March of 2020. Sorry about that GP. Yeah, this, this game here on Tuesday, a stunner. Let me lean into the positive here and let me just go UCF before we focus in on byu. UCF didn't have Riley Kugel in this game. Second leading scorer. You can make the case he's the team's best player. And to go in to Provo two time zones away, late night tip, body clock past 11, eastern tip. And to get this done, significant, significant win for ucf which is not out of the woods yet. But boy, this was a good one. Now 10 and 7 in quad one in quad two it is now top 25 in every resume resume based metric which is really good for the Knights because predictives still don't love this team. Predictives still don't show this team to be an NCAA tournament worthy kind of team. But the resume is undeniable at this point. UCF sitting at 46 at Ken Palm. The winds of note at Texas A and M. And that's not as good as it was a month ago, but it's still going to be a quad one win that's going to carry some weight. Home against Kansas, a huge one that continues to to rise in value. Home against Texas Tech, a mega one that came on the last day of January and then here against byu. That's what that's what the Knights have been able to do and they took advantage in this one from just a hot, hot, hot night from, from beyond the arc 14 to 24 from 3 point range. Credit to Johnny Dawkins. A year ago, I and most others that are tasked with tracking this kind of stuff in the college basketball media did expect UCF to move on. And whether it was just kind of a, a kind agreement where maybe he retired or stepped away, that was, that was expected, very much expected. It did not happen. And now look at him. He is going to take the Knights to the NCAA tournament for just the second time in his tenure. The first time was 18 19. He has been the coach since 2016-17. So good on, good on him for doing it. I want to send it right back to you before we dive into the BYU end of this, but you know, this is, this is one of the genuine surprises in the sport this season. I don't know if it winds up with an 11, 10, 9, 8 or 7 next to its name by the time we get to selection Sunday. Frankly, it feels like a lot of options are still on the table for this team. But this is not a program, It's a high major program that we don't expect to see and we don't see in the tournament on a year by year basis. And here they have, they have registered to me among the five or so biggest surprises in college basketball this season.

[Gary Parrish]

Johnny's going to go from the hot seat on the verge of getting fired to making the NCAA tournament, getting a five year contract extension. And then he will be fired and bought out for $21 million in two years. I can't wait.

[Matt Norlander]

I guess it's on the table.

[Gary Parrish]

That's the way this is going to go.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

A $21 million buyout in two years after a contract extension for, for losing in Dayton. That's, that's what's coming. They're gonna, they're gonna go to the first four and it's going to cost you CF $21 million.

[Matt Norlander]

I, I'm not going to go that far. But this is, yeah, this is one of the situations where like if you're the ad, like you're having a great season but don't allow yourself to get bullied in negotiations. Like just look at the big picture here, you know, Themis, folks is a nice player. Jordan Burks can really pop both of Those guys at 24 piece last night, by the way, with no kugel. Very impressive and very well done. So good, good on the Knights and, and the team that is, you know, boosted up the Big 12 all the more this season. As for BYU, what the hell, man? The Knights had 1.25 points per possession. BYU made a. Like, was starting to make a surge late in the game, so that it was, you know, for a glimmer, putting it in doubt. And then UCF said, we're not doing this. Final margin is 13. The biggest lead in this game was 64 to 28. 64 to 28 and it got doubled up to the point of 70 to 35 in the second half. Deonta had 29, eight boards, not a single assist. Rob Wright, 20 points, seven assists. You know, Richie Saunders, his absence here was certainly felt, but it was the utter lack of defensive want to. That was stunning and obvious and, and clear to see. I don't know what the hell happened here like this, this kind of performance, to me, it kind of just makes me stop at my tracks a little bit. They get the home win over Iowa State on Saturday, which I honestly did expect. I thought in that spot. Desperate for a real win. Iowa State had done a ton. Human nature going on the road. BYU team, it's got some talent, it's shorthanded. That building will be ready. I think BYU is going to win it. And sure enough, it did, by 10 points. And then you come back three days later. It's a late tip. Your time zone, you're building against the team that's, you know, going into the game. It's, you know, it's a projected tournament team, but not a guaranteed tournament team at that point, and just not a game whatsoever. Just a weird one. And now it's got games on the road against West Virginia and Cincinnati. And BYU is better than both of those teams, but my confidence meter is shaky on that. If they can go 20 in their next two on the road, they wrap up at home against Texas Tech. So keep an eye on the Cougars here. I don't know what quite to make of them. This is a team that started 161 and since then has gone 4 and 7. And it would be a damn shame if AJ DeBonsa effectively is a top three player of the year candidate by the end of the season and his team doesn't even win an NCAA tournament game. Because now, like, we need to be open to the possibility that's going to happen because the possibility that BYU has an 8 or a 7 next to its name, as opposed to a 5 or 6, feels very on the table.

[Gary Parrish]

Starting to look like his freshman season is gonna Look a lot like Kevin

[Matt Norlander]

Durant's first right now. Durant was on a slightly better team, but they didn't make the Sweet 16. They got one win. But you're right, there are some parallels there.

[Gary Parrish]

On BYU. Devonsa last night, 11 to 22 for the field, 29 point was not the problem. Unless you want to say he was still playing defense and defense was the problem. UCF shot 56% from the field. This is trending the wrong direction for BYU for a while. Even before the Richie Saunders. If you go back to January 17th, they lost a Texas Tech that day. Then they played 11 games. They are 4 and 7 in that stretch. Ranked outside of the top 50 at Torvik with a defense that rates 176 nationally. So yeah, they've got some things to, to clean up and we gotta, we gotta, we gotta pick up the pace a little bit. We gotta pick up the pace a little bit. You're gonna be finishing this thing by yourself. Final score, number 287, Baylor 80. The Wildcats were actually down double digits in the second half. Come back, win it. Sometimes they don't even make four three pointers in a game. Jaden Bradley had five last night. Arizona made nine. So they won in a slightly different way, but still did what they do just about every time they play. And that's when a basketball game.

[Matt Norlander]

Can you be, can you be more impressed by a team when it finds itself in a game like this? Because I was. For what you just mentioned, Arizona needed to use the three point shot last night and it did. 9, 21 from 3 got it done. Bradley played really, really well. Bradley and buries combined for 49 points. Buries had a couple of really awesome moments in this game. Those two even you know, Karchenkov on the defensive end and he was a good distributor as well. I thought he played well. They made enough timely baskets. And let's say Cameron Carr. Hello. Like here for the Baylor side. He had himself a hell of a game. Game high 26 and was and was critical to even allowing Baylor to have a shot to, to win this. And yes, it was up 10 in the second half. Baylor had had a real shot. This is a, an average or sub average team that played its best game of the season. But you've got one of the three best teams in the country in your building and their, their B game isn't as good as your A game or sorry, their B game is better than your A game. And that's just a, that's just how it, how it goes. Sometimes. So Baylor couldn't quite get it done. Baylor was outscored in second chance points 2514 in this one. That was another key reason why they couldn't pull it out. And now the Bears have taken on 11 losses in the Big 12 as a result of this this outcome. GP that's the most for the program since 2008. 2009. So something of a lost season for Scott Drew. Hoping you have some magic in the Big 12 tournament, but it's been a minute since that team has had just a win of note. It's dropped 14 in a row when it's played.

[Gary Parrish]

Ranked opponents number four Iowa State 75, Utah 59. The Cyclones win again, remain number four in the top 25 and one one more result out of the Big 12. I want to touch on number 16. Texas Tech 80, Cincinnati 68. The Bearcats coming off that big win over Kansas at Allen Field house lose by 12 to the red Raiders. I bring this up only because, as you know, I had 15 of the 16 teams in the bracket preview correct. My miss was Texas Tech. I had St. John's in Texas Tech out. The committee did it the opposite way despite the fact that Texas Tech's best player, one of the best players in the country, had tore his ACL out for the season four days earlier. I stand by St. John's over Texas Tech. Like I would do it again the exact same way. But I should point out Texas Tech is 2.0with a win over a team that had just, you know, a few days earlier one at Fog Allen. They're two. And oh, since JT Toppin went down. Christian Anderson got 30 points against UC. Special shots to Grant McCassin's team.

[Matt Norlander]

Impressive stuff real quick for me. Cincinnati would have been on the bubble fringe. It had it won. Couldn't get it done. Good on Texas Tech. And then no discussion needed. Just a note. TC1 on our air, CBS Sports Network GP not in studio. They brought in Lap out of the bullpen instead. I thought he made some really amazing points sitting from that chair like it was refreshing. Change of pace unquestioned.

[Gary Parrish]

I text Dove. I text Stove last night I said I'm watching. I see the way you're looking at Lap. I don't think you look at me like that.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, he does not. That's.

[Gary Parrish]

I see the way you're looking at laugh.

[Matt Norlander]

I don't think one single Torvik reference from that chair on Tuesday night, by the way.

[Gary Parrish]

Unbelievable. Nobody said Torvik. Nobody said no Lap would drop a Kinpa. Man. I don't know.

[Matt Norlander]

So often.

[Gary Parrish]

I don't know if Lap's comfortable with Torvik.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, he doesn't. No, no, no, no. He'll be more uncomfortable.

[Gary Parrish]

He'll drop a. He'll drop a. He'll drop a Kimpo. Man, I've heard that one. Let's get on. Let's get over to the big team one.

[Matt Norlander]

I'm just saying. TC1 that's still in the field as a result of winning the game right now. So more work to do. But a bubble team that got it done.

[Gary Parrish]

Let's keep it moving in the Big Ten. Final score, number three, Michigan 77, Minnesota 67. The top four teams of the AP Poll, by the way, they all played on or at least the top four teams in the top 25 and one are all played on.

[Matt Norlander]

Yes, I actually thought it was the top four as well. But it's. But it's not. It was, but it's not anymore.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, it's. But it is in the top 25 and 1. They all play Tuesday night. They all won. UCLA. Hey, they turned this thing around. 8162 winners over USC. So maybe the whole MC Cronin, everything connected to that program. Perhaps it's calmed down a little bit. That's two in a row for them.

[Matt Norlander]

It was the top four teams in the AP poll. Iowa State is four. What the hell is happening here? Yeah, no, Cronin gets the win and. And Donovan Dent playing really, really well and coming around in fine form. Bruins are 19, nine now. Back to back home wins. Illinois and USC shoot themselves into the. Into the field right now. Tyler Billido had himself a good game. Trent Perry 13 points, three boards, four assists and four steals. UCLA was the expected winner here, but it was really the nature in which it got it done. I thought that was a very impressive and important performance. And Donovan Dent, okay, it's taken a minute. He had some injuries earlier in the season, but this was a guy who was off season. Top five portal get has not been an in season. Top five Portal get by any means. But maybe it's. Maybe that cake's about ready to come out of the oven here and he can be a major factor and turn UCLA closer to the team that we thought it would be versus the team that it's been for much of the past two and a half, three months. That being said, still more work to do. But it is a nice. It is a nice plot twist and turns out. And it feels good to talk about the Bruins getting a good win and not necessarily what Mick Cronin said after the game.

[Gary Parrish]

That is right. Let's get to the SEC final score. Missouri 73, number 22, Tennessee 69. Big win for the bubble Tigers. You know, they're like they've been living in the first four. Like they've just been like they've had reservations for Dayton for it feels like, like a month. And then they enter what is the next to last week of the regular season. Four games left, including last night's, two on the road, two at home. And they were projected as underdogs in every one according to Kenpom before tip off last night. So I mean high stakes game, they win it and then they win it convincingly enough that at Ken Palm this morning, they're now favored slightly. 77, 76 at Mississippi State in the next one. And if they get that one, I don't want to say they're good to go because they're probably not. But when you wake up with four games left in your regular season, a computer says you're projected as underdogs in every one and you knock out the first one and it flips it to your favorite of the next one. That's a, that's a good Tuesday night for your program.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, this was a very, very good Tuesday. I'd say Missouri was a top three winner for me on Tuesday night. Tigers had been just 2 and 7 in their last nine games against ranked teams had not shown up that consistently at all under Dennis Gates. I was dialed into this game really impressed with the way that Missouri showed up that, the way that crowd showed up, like big game. Everyone in town knew it and they got, and they got a good competitive run. Unquestionably you knew that, you knew that Tennessee was going to come in and give you a good punch there. Tio Barrett with 28 points and a big time performance from him, I mean career game from him. And then Mark Mitchell as well. It was just, it was mostly like as you watch the game play out, it was those two more than anyone else that were, that were carrying Mizzou to the win here. But it was impressive and they were able to somewhat contain Nate Amen who had a solid game but not a great game at all. Gillespie had 19 and that's a biggie for it for the Tigers here right now. Mizzou is 9 and 9 in Q1 and Q2. Every resume metric is 43 or better. Its predictives aren't as strong. It's in the field right now for sure. There is more work to be done, but we had a just a litany as we're going through them here. We had a litany of of bubble teams that were in action and the bubble's a real thing now. Like for me especially once we get past the in season top 16 reveal like this is really where bubble talk actually matters because the games carry significant weight. We're now down to 3, 4 regular seasons games remaining and then into the conference tournament. So yeah that was, that was a needed and necessary one for the Tigers. We still have more work to do but they got the win and it's Kentucky's not in the same spot. We can hit on them real quick like Kentucky's not a lock for the tournament yet. They probably need one more. But just by they win 7263 on the road against a bad South Carolina team, at least you averted disaster like Kentucky still pacing toward a single digit seed and all that. But a loss there would have been, that would have been dreadful. And for a minute it felt on the table like Kentucky was not sharp whatsoever. But they wind up pulling out the win.

[Gary Parrish]

One more result in the SEC. Oklahoma 91, Auburn 79. So if you thought Auburn was gonna capitalize after that weekend victory over Kentucky Kentucky, think again. Also meantime, yesterday Mark Popa did get fined $25,000 by the SEC, which was

[Matt Norlander]

not honestly not surprising to me. And hot mic or not, you're caught on the mic. You said it like within six seconds of leading the presser. I'm not surprised by that whatsoever on Auburn Parish Tigers right now, not in the field. As far as I'm concerned, two games above.500 does have the the toughest strength of schedule in the country. But you just don't want to flirt with 15 losses and so they spoil the the home win over Kentucky. Oklahoma's not good this year. It was not competitive. It was a convincing Oklahoma home win. That's a team that's 14 and 14 and not been inspiring much of the season. Now Auburn's got home to Ole miss, home to LSU at Alabama. Minimum two wins is mandatory. I would truly advise Auburn to go 30 to close out the regular season. Then you can have some comfort about your tournament resume to a certain extent. But anything shy of that loss count loss volume has to matter. I know the schedule has been really tough but the road one here against Oklahoma or the road one against Mississippi State that came a week ago. There might be some ruing of the day either one of those GP Tigers are in a tough spot and as a complete aside like we're gonna, let's just, let's just invoke Miami University right now. It won, it's still undefeated, it's 28. No, for me personally, if we're talking about an Auburn team that has 15 losses versus a Miami University team that has. I'm not saying one, I'm saying two. I'm taking Miami every single time. You have had all of your opportunities. 15 losses is so many. It's happened before, it's not unprecedented, but in that situation, I don't think we're going to get there. But if you said you have to pick one of these two, I would take Miami every single time given the restrictions it had in scheduling versus all of the opportunities that Auburn had. You lose 15 times before selection Sunday. Sorry, that's one or two too many.

[Gary Parrish]

I'm with you. I would feel bad leaving a one or two loss Miami University out of the bracket. I would not feel bad leaving a 15 loss anybody out of any bracket. Like you know, hey, win some, win some more, win some more. You gotta, you gotta win some more. Miami, as you mentioned, 7464 winner at Eastern Michigan. They're now 28 and oh, from outside of the power conferences. Let's just make one more notable result from last night. You, you, you jinxed them. Dayton 77, number 23, St. Louis 62. Can't wait to watch you on TV tomorrow night. Talk about how you got St. Louis as a dark horse final four continent.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, well, you know what, that's a, that's a teaser. We did it. We pre taped a hat, but I did it knowing that this was on the table.

[Gary Parrish]

Yes, yes.

[Matt Norlander]

I didn't think it was going to be, I didn't think the margin was going to be this big. St. Louis is still just, you know, it's 25 and three. But yes, it got rocked at Dayton. Only 62 points for the Billikens. What's going on here? Still safely in the field but now road lost to Rhode island, road loss to Dayton. Neither Those are top 75 Ken Palm teams. St. Louis I actually thought was going to have a real chance if it got to selection Sunday with say two losses. Like in that scenario I actually thought it was going to be maybe like the last four seed and now it's actually maybe playing itself into the 89 game which will present its own interesting scenarios if that happens in the bracket because the team actually is good enough. Like let's say St. Louis is in the region that has the worst one seed, the non Michigan, Arizona or Duke. One seed like there could be something there. So we'll, we'll wait and see on that. I don't think Slew is going to lose again for the rest of the regular season. Although I will note it does have to play at George Mason to wrap the regular season. Mason's been sliding as of late, but that's not, that's not a gimme. I will say you didn't mention the, the Nevada win. I'm not sure if that's good for the Mountain west or not. But Nevada also got the win over New Mexico on Tuesday night. New Mexico would had a better resume situation. The league right now it's kind of a jumble like Utah State. Yes, it's obviously in the field and then between San Diego State, New Mexico, Nevada, it's kind of a toss up. I feel like it's going to be a multi bit league but that, you know, the, the, the crystal ball got foggier as a result of Nevada taking care of business at home on Tuesday night.

[Gary Parrish]

Just one more result and then we will get to our Naismith Watch. We opened in the ACC with duke winning by 44 at Notre Dame. There was at least one more interesting result from that league on Tuesday night. Number 11 Virginia 90, North Carolina State 61. The Cavaliers are 25 and three like the quietest power conference. 25 and three teams. Certainly that exists right now and one of them, one like, like they're just very quietly 25 and three out of the ACC.

[Matt Norlander]

Well let's, let's bring up the noise here because they have been brought up on the show plenty. But you know they, we haven't opened a podcast about them. I suppose we could have today but obviously Duke is due because they're on TV more than Leave it to Beaver

[Gary Parrish]

reruns and shouts to Coach Pete.

[Matt Norlander]

There we go. NC State not even being competitive in this was a little like. But the story is Virginia, they, they basically wrapped the game as far as I was concerned near the end of the first half 121 run held NC State at that point to a season low. 19 points through the first 20 minutes of a game and it was mighty, mighty impressive. Nine game winning streak now for Virginia. Odom has won 25 games in his first season. That's the most for any coach in his. In their first season in Charlottesville. Virginia has scored 80 or more points 18 times this season. It's the most that Virginia has done that in a season since 2000, 2001. Obviously you know, it's not that they didn't crack 80 under, under Bennett. They just didn't do it that often. It's a whole new style for sure. And Virginia hit 12 triples in this game. It has made at least 10 threes 18 times this season. That is a school record. Virginia is a great case of. When we do these podcasts in the offseason and we talk about the coach that comes in or the roster that's been built and the players that were brought in and what the, the staff thinks that the offense should be. We look at what the players are and, and what they project to be. Virginia has hit it now. They have. They have exceeded the expectation unquestionably. Like Odom didn't even think. There's no chance. Ryan Odom thought they'd be 25 and three through 28 games. He thought they'd be a good team and thought they'd be a top five team in the acc. This no. But when you look at their statistical profile, like this is the optimal outcome, it's really, really cool to see. They've also got some still good, some defensive attributes here. They had 12 blocks in this game against NC's. 12 in a game.

[Gary Parrish]

What?

[Matt Norlander]

So it's a top. It's a top. It's actually rates better on defense than it does on offense, but from the 3.3 point range, like it can be dangerous on a given night and they like to launch it early and often there. So yes, GP a very, very good, very good team out of the acc. And it's knocking on the door of a two seed and it's gonna be there without debate if it can win Saturday at Duke. And Cameron, you do that to get to 26, three and beat Duke. Yeah. Virginia will be on the two line coming out of the weekend, but that's a tall task. We'll preview that game on Friday.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, you. You go win at camera this weekend to improve to 14 and 2 in the ACC. Duke would then drop to 14 and 2 in the ACC. So you'd be coming off of a win at Cameron, tied for first in the league standings with a week left in the regular season. You ain't quiet no more. Now you're probably leading. Sunday's episode of the I Own College Basketball podcast. I guess. Let's just put it out there. Let me ask you a question.

[Matt Norlander]

Oh, boy.

[Gary Parrish]

We've done it with Mick Crono, we've done it with John Shire. Let's see how comfortable you are. Are we watching right now in real time? The greatest coach in Virginia men's basketball history.

[Matt Norlander]

No, I can't go there yet. It's year one.

[Gary Parrish]

It is year one. But he's 25. Three in year one. I don't know if you remember, but the Great Tony Bennett, 15 and 16 in year one. Very Steven Pearl like old Tony Bennett was early at Virginia.

[Matt Norlander]

You got Stephen Pearl winning the title.

[Gary Parrish]

Maybe.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay. Do you, I mean I don't, I don't think that's some great events. Can it happen? Sure. You want to run down every single high major coach and predict if they're going to win a title?

[Gary Parrish]

Yes, that's exactly what I wanted to. That's okay. I'm just putting it out there. Ryan Odom's 25 and three.

[Matt Norlander]

All right.

[Gary Parrish]

Tony Bennett went 15 and 16 in year one.

[Matt Norlander]

Just, it's going amazingly well. He is the, he is the best first year coach hiring from the 25 cycle. Without question at this point.

[Gary Parrish]

I, I, I've said like when that job is open and he, he was the perfect candidate, perfect hire. And then you got to see if, how the job goes and now he's like the perfect coach. It's going incredibly well. He's, he should be on like I don't think we've talked about him this way, but he needs to be on like every national player of the year, our national coach of the year list as well.

[Matt Norlander]

For sure. If, and at this point probably encroaching on top five status unquestionably there. If Virginia can get the win on Saturday. Well, it's just cool to see that there's a Duke Virginia game upcoming. It's been just a quick minute, but not that long. But a quick minute since, since that was Must see tv. And it will be this weekend.

[Gary Parrish]

That's right. All right, we come back, we will do the Naismith Watch segment. It's presented by Jersey Mike's who's gonna join Cameron Boozer in the I'll ask Norlander next. First let's get one. Hey, Sal.

[Matt Norlander]

Hank.

[Gary Parrish]

What's going on?

[Matt Norlander]

We haven't worked a case in years.

[Gary Parrish]

I just bought my car at Carvana and it was so easy.

[Matt Norlander]

Too easy. Think something's up?

[Gary Parrish]

You tell me. They got thousands of options, found a great car at a great price and it got delivered the next day.

[Matt Norlander]

It sounds like Carvana just makes it easy to buy your car, Hank.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, you're right. Case closed.

[Matt Norlander]

Buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply forward from our partners.

[Gary Parrish]

It is time for our weekly Naismith Watch segment. Are your go to game day foods Feeling uninspired Next time skip the usual suspects and order Jersey Mike's. At Jersey Mike's they make every sub to order with premium fresh sliced meat and cheesesteaks are cooked on a flat top grill. Dello they're at for delivery curbside or in store pickup. Jersey Mike's is a proud sponsor of the Naismith Award and a proud maker of a sub above all. Right Norlander. Still a long ways to go. We both agree Cameron Boozer is the leader for national player of the year in this moment. We'd be surprised if he's not holding the Naismith Award at the end. But let's put together a list. Cameron Boozer 1. Where do you go next?

[Matt Norlander]

I go AJ DeBonsa number 2. He leads the country in scoring 25.1 points per game. I don't think he's dropping back below 25. He's going to finish the season as the uncommon person to be a freshman to lead the nation in scoring. So I've got the Bonds of two, I've got Joshua Jefferson three and I, I understand that from a Q rating, star power factor. He's not going to be a guy that everyone still can recognize, but he plays on a really, really good team. Here's a stat line. 16.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 1.5 steals. I think he's the, I think he's the only player in the country that clears those thresholds in every single one of those categories. By the way, shooting better than 36 from 3, reliable from the field, really good defender. Like honestly that's why I put him third as like he's a very reliable defender. So I've got him. 3. I've got Darius Acuff Jr. At Arkansas 4. And the national player of the year standing. He has been outstanding as of late, 22.2 points, 6.2 assists, 3.0 rebounds per game. He had 49 in that epic against Bama last Wednesday and was just outstanding. Played every single minute of that game. So I've got him at four and then I'll go Yaxa Lindenborg at five the finish fleshing out and finishing out that, that fifth spot. The entire season that we've been doing this Parish has been a rotating cast of characters but for now like Yaxel and what he's doing, I think he's earned it. So he's, he's fifth on my list. So where do we, where do we agree? And I, I gotta assume I'm gonna say that we have four of the same players, I'm gonna say you've got at least one different than mine.

[Gary Parrish]

That's exactly right. And we didn't cross check these. We never do. We ain't got time for all that planning. We ain't got time to be planning stuff. We're pretty close. I got Boozer 1. I also put AJ DebonSA at number 2. As I noted, 18 of the past 20 Naismith winners are on teams that finish in the top 10 at Kpom. That's not going to be BYU, so you got to be real special to hold that trophy without a top 10 team connected to you. But Kevin Durant did it once. Doug McDermott did it once. I don't think DeBonta is going to do it because I think Boozer is going to hold the trophy. But if anybody could, it's him. He's been great at three. I went with Yaxel Lindenborg. Just like leading scorer, leading rebounder on a one seed that is number one in the net, number one at Ken Palm, number one in most the computers. Yaxel Lindenborg at number three, at number four. This is where we differ. This is the one name I got you don't. Keaton Wagler at Illinois.

[Matt Norlander]

He was my. He was the sixth guy on my list.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay, well, then I'll go ahead and spoil it. I. My last cut was Darius Acuff. He was sixth. Okay, so we've got the same six players.

[Matt Norlander]

Fears and Smith aren't that far. There's a lot of guys that are running for that fifth spot for me.

[Gary Parrish]

So, yeah, Joshua Jefferson was fit for me. I cut Acuff. So that means our top six are the same, just in a different order. Wagner's at 18.2 points, five rebounds, 4.3 assists for an Illinois team that is 10th in the top 25 and one this morning. So he would. He would meet that threshold of top 10 team, at least relative to the top 25 and one as of this moment. So Boozer, DeBonsa, Lindenberg, Wagner, Jefferson. It's an incredible college basketball season, just in terms of the games we're watching basically every day, but also the talent at the top, how it will translate to the NBA draft. Like, this is just. This is good stuff. I mean, I'm like, I enjoy every college basketball season, but it feels like this is better than most.

[Matt Norlander]

Without a doubt poll for the YouTube live audience. Today is almost a Carlos Boozer Cam Boozer, National Player of the Year. Is he a lock? Is he a lock? But not a Lock, lock but close or can someone catch him? Lock 53 not a lock lock but close to a 38. Only 10 of our live chat thinks that ineffective Bonds or someone else can catch Boozer. That sounds about right. Let's, let's look ahead here and if you may, I'll just jump off immediately because I'm going to be at this game tonight. Rhodes looking out my window here. We've got some blacktop. We should be good to go. We've got a fantastic matchup. Second one here top two teams in the Big East 15th ranked St. John's against sixth rank UConn. Game will be on both NBC Sports Network if you've got YouTube TV or or the if you've got if you've got streaming there 7 Eastern. I wonder I don't think Fanta's on this now. Fanta was in Portland last night so he would not be on this on this call here 22 and 5 for the Johnny's, 25 and 3 for UConn Big east regular season championship in effect on the line here as a result of this, of this matchup. St. John's got the first one. Johnny's are 151 in the league. Yukon is 15 and 2 in the league. If St. John's were to win it then it's going to take home a regular season championship for two consecutive seasons. Excited to be there. Be in the building. This will be in Hartford won't be in stores. Still a good building. Obviously it's not Gample good thing for the media is that press seating is right there on the floor. Whereas Gampel, you're kind of up in the bird's nest there. So excited to see the renovated it's no longer the Excel Center. What is this thing called now? People's Bank Arena. I think it's called something like that. But I'll be there. I'll be on hand and it should be I would think it's going to be a fantastic, fantastic matchup. The first one St. John's was able to win at 81.72 with with some daylight there that was back earlier in February. Quick thoughts on the game before we turn the rest of the night GP

[Gary Parrish]

I mean I, I think it kind of sneaks up. Does the casual college basketball fan know that St. John's can can clinch a Big east regular season title for the second straight year tonight?

[Matt Norlander]

I probably not but that's why you listen to the show.

[Gary Parrish]

That's why you listen to the show. Right. So it's a massive game like, sort of what I've been. It's been nice being home this week. Just as a nice break. I mean, I. I'd love to work. I'm not excited about not working, but just sort of settling in with my boys every night and watching college basketball because we are. I don't know if you heard, but our NBA franchise, we're sort of. We are moving forward. I think that's the term I'm supposed to use. We're not re. We're not. We're not rebuilding. We are moving forward. Okay? So we sit around every night. I'm like, lou, see that guy right there? That's Darren Peterson. He might be your favorite player in a year. Hey, that's. That's Kingston Flemings. He might be your favorite player in a year. And so we just sit around every night watching high stakes bass college basketball games and daydreaming about lottery picks. So it's been a fun week. And we'll do that again tonight. Settle in front of the tv.

[Matt Norlander]

I will note by the. Yeah, I will note. Sorry to jump in here, but you know, I don't want no escalators on your ass. Okay. St. John's could technically win tonight and then lose against Villanova, Georgetown and Seton hall and not win the biggest race that's not going to happen mathematically. It can't 100 clinch so that you don't want no escalators on that ass.

[Gary Parrish]

I know that if, if they win tonight, they're going to be Biggie's champions. That's.

[Matt Norlander]

I know. Just, again, just math. I'm just letting it know. Just I'm protecting you from the, from the UConn fan base that I know adores you so.

[Gary Parrish]

All right, fine. What else we got elsewhere in the sport? Number seven, Florida is at Texas. Texas A and M at Arkansas, Ohio State at Iowa. Really good bubble games tonight. SMU at Cal, good bubble game. Santa Clara at St. Mary's is that. Is that double.

[Matt Norlander]

That's. That's a double bubble situation right there.

[Gary Parrish]

Utah State at San Diego State. Is that a double bubble?

[Matt Norlander]

That's a double bubble situation.

[Gary Parrish]

Do we have three late night double bubbles?

[Matt Norlander]

I think we do. I think that's exactly what we got. Yes, we got some good stuff. Did you say Georgia at Vandy as well?

[Gary Parrish]

No. It's a good one too.

[Matt Norlander]

That's a good one as well. We are. We are. It's actually a pretty solid Wednesday. Tuesdays have been taking a lot of the shine. Like Tuesdays have been more than Monday, more than Wednesday, Thursdays had practically nothing, although we actually have one this week. But yeah, this is a. This is a quality Wednesday night. Worth. Worth a hoop here without it. Without a doubt. We've also got Xavier at Providence, which only gets mildly interesting because Jeff Goodman put it out there on Tuesday that Richard Patino would leave Xavier to go coach of Providence if and when Providence opens. By the way, Richard Patino went to Providence, which is partly why this is out there. But like, he's going into the building now, right now when this is happening. So the timing is just weird.

[Gary Parrish]

Poor Xavier fans, man. All they. All they ever do is get coaches who can't wait to leave them,

[Matt Norlander]

and

[Gary Parrish]

it's like a great program. Coaches can't get out of there enough, quick enough. It's like. But Chris Mack, man, but this is your home. I gotta go. I gotta go.

[Matt Norlander]

Xavier gave Sean Miller a lifeline. He was like, peace.

[Gary Parrish]

I gotta go. That was cute. Thanks for letting me. Thanks for letting me rehab everything up here for. For a year. But now I gotta get. I gotta get out of here. Hey, hire. Hey, I know what you should do. Hire Richard. He'll never leave you.

[Matt Norlander]

That's. That's. That adds to the intrigue, I guess, on.

[Gary Parrish]

On Wednesday night, It's a tough situation. Hey, on Thursday night, there's not much to monitor. We got number 13, Mich State, at number 8, Purdue. Boom.

[Matt Norlander]

Not much. Come on now.

[Gary Parrish]

Well, that's one game.

[Matt Norlander]

That.

[Gary Parrish]

That's by definition is not much. It's one, but. But it's a biggie.

[Matt Norlander]

It's a biggie. I love it.

[Gary Parrish]

The quote was, there's not much to monitor, and I stand by that quote. I might have misspoke on my Big east clinching thing, but I stand by. There's not much to monitor. On Thursday, in addition to Michigan state at Purdue, UMass Lowell will tangle with Vermont inside Patrick gymnasium.

[Matt Norlander]

Hey, gold medal winning goalie Hellebuck. He's a River Hawk.

[Gary Parrish]

He is a River Hawk. A Mississippi. I do that. I started getting tagged on Sunday and I didn't know what was going on.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, neither did I. I was like, what? I was like, well, damn. How about it? This guy went to UMass Lowell. Love to see it. You know what? I'm going to give it to him. The most accomplished and deserving alum he has surpassed Elvis.

[Gary Parrish]

Are you out of your mind? I just. I just. Let me. Hold on a second. Let me show you what I just found this morning. Okay, let me say something. Hold on one second. Here's what Somebody sent me this morning

[Matt Norlander]

as he looks this up, by the way. Michigan State at Purdue, a huge one. It's. It's at Mackie, 8 o', clock, Peacock. Thursday night. Purdue is 22 and 5. 14 of its past 5. Michigan State sitting there at 22 and 5 as well 13 of its past 4. Michigan State has been snake bitten in that in the pit that is Mackie arena for the majority of the past 10 plus seasons. So we'll see if they can end the hex.

[Gary Parrish]

So somebody just sent me this article this morning. It says, here's the headline. America is more obsessed with Elvis now than ever.

[Matt Norlander]

That's definitely not true.

[Gary Parrish]

That's just definitely not true. Like, what are we talking about?

[Matt Norlander]

Remotely true?

[Gary Parrish]

No, it's like America's obsessed with Harry Styles. What are we talking about? No, like I live down the street from Elvis. All right. And I'm just telling you.

[Matt Norlander]

Is that a present? Did you use the present tense there?

[Gary Parrish]

I mean, I do live down the street from Elvis. He's buried down the street from me.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, but he doesn't. Okay.

[Gary Parrish]

I live. I didn't say he lives. He doesn't live down the street. But like, okay, he, he.

[Matt Norlander]

I think when you just say I live down the street from Elvis, that is implying that he is still walking amongst us. That's not.

[Gary Parrish]

I think everybody knows Elvis is not walking anymore. I think everybody knows that's been over for a while. I mean, he barely walked a minute.

[Matt Norlander]

He's been walking in Memphis.

[Gary Parrish]

It's been, it's been a minute since he's been walking in Memphis office. And that sounds crazy because they talk about walking from Union Avenue to the gates of Graceland. And I'm just telling you, you ain't making that walk. 0% chance you get there. All right? That is not a walk you want to be making. Oh, Mark Cohen is crazy. I, I dare Mark Cohen to try to make the walk from Union Avenue to the, to the gates of Graceland. No shot. All right. So Elvis lies down the street from me.

[Matt Norlander]

Yes.

[Gary Parrish]

And I live down the street from him. I stand by what I stand.

[Matt Norlander]

The street is hell. Are you walk. Can you walk? Can you make that walk?

[Gary Parrish]

No, no, no.

[Matt Norlander]

It's not down the street.

[Gary Parrish]

Also not a walk.

[Matt Norlander]

You don't Mark Owen out of your minds right now. You're not down the street then that's. No, no. You got. If you're down the street, you have to be able to walk there under a reasonable amount of time.

[Gary Parrish]

I could walk. Let's See how long it would take me to walk from my house to Graceland.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, let's do it.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay, let's. Because that's what we need to do.

[Matt Norlander]

When I'm without a doubt, this is how we're wrapping the show right now.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay, let's see. I'm going to type in home because my phone knows where I live, you would think. And then I'm going to do Graceland. Should know where that is. Yep.

[Matt Norlander]

Let me guess. I'm going to toss out a guess. Okay. I'm going to say by foot for you. We're looking at 54 minutes.

[Gary Parrish]

It's 18 miles by foot.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay. Not even remotely down the street.

[Gary Parrish]

It's a 25 minute drive.

[Matt Norlander]

25 minute drive. You have overstated the entire situation.

[Gary Parrish]

It's down the street. It's on Elvis Presley Boulevard, which is Highway 51. I live not far off of Highway 51.

[Matt Norlander]

It's down the street. It would take me down the street. Not around the corner, not over the bend. It would take me 8 hours yonder.

[Gary Parrish]

According to my iPhone, it would take me 8 hours and 41 minutes to walk to Graceland.

[Matt Norlander]

You're banned from ever referencing the fact that you live anywhere remotely close to Elvis's estate and where he. Where he lies and may he rest in peace.

[Gary Parrish]

All right, I'm going to move then. I'm going to buy a new house.

[Matt Norlander]

This is supposed to be about Connor Hellebuck, but of course GP Made about Memphis.

[Gary Parrish]

I'm going to. I'm going to buy a house closer to Elvis then. That's next on my thing. I've been looking to invest in real estate, so I'm going to buy a house closer to Graceland just so I could say I live closer to Graceland. I thought I was closer. I didn't think it would take me eight hours to walk. I thought I could knock it out in maybe like 45 minutes or something.

[Matt Norlander]

That's.

[Gary Parrish]

Nope. Nope. Hey, the Riverhawks tonight, the Mississippi Riverhawks, they're trying to avoid proved to 9 and 5 in the America East. Tip is scheduled for 7 o' clock Eastern. That's a show. Shout out to Devin Downey. Shouts to Chester, South Carolina. Shout out to Terry Teagle legend Huck Larnell. Thank you guys once again for watching. Listening to the Ion College basketball podcast. Not subscribed. Please go subscribe anyway. Subscribe to podcasts. Apple, Spotify, more of us than there are of them. Elvis definitely one of us.

[Matt Norlander]

Unquestionably unquestioned. Honor Helle book.

[Gary Parrish]

I think one of us.

[Matt Norlander]

I'm assigning it to him.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, I mean, if he's not, he should be. If he's not, he wasted that celebration party I saw they were having. Okay. All right, we'll talk to you again real soon. Till then, take care. Paramount Podcasts, Monster Energy. Everybody knows White Monster Zero Ultra, that's the OG it kicked off this whole Zero sugar energy drink thing. But Ultra is a whole lineup now. You've got Strawberry Dreams, Blue Hawaiian Sunrise, and Vice Guava. And they all bring the Monster Energy punch. So if you've been living in the

[Matt Norlander]

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[Gary Parrish]

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