← Eye On College Basketball
Eye On College Basketball
Huge Black Friday pod: Cameron Boozer is unstoppable; Michigan is too; Players Era postmortem; big week for B1G; Final Four And 1
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- [00:00]
Josh Gershon
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- [01:30]
Josh Gershon
There.
- [01:30]
Gary Parrish
I am Gary Parish. Welcome back, CBS Sports. I own College basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss Campbell fighting Dodo Birds. Leaky Black Matt Norlander is here with me. If you watch it on YouTube, be Brandon Davies. Smash the like button. If you're one of us, let the world know in the chat and in the comments. And if you haven't already subscribed to the CBS Sports I on College Basketball podcast, please go ahead and do that. Wherever you subscribe to podcasts including Apple and Spotify, let's get into it. I want to start with the CBS Sports the Thanksgiving Classic. Fun way to spend a Thursday night. Final score. Duke 80, Arkansas 71. Let's call it Cameron Boozer's introduction to the nation on America's most watched network. It's the network of stars. 35 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals. And now Duke is eight. No. Norlander, good to see you. It's nice to know that you you made it back from Las Vegas all safe and sound. What'd you make of what Cameron Boozer did on Thanksgiving night?
- [02:26]
Josh Gershon
Yeah, only. Only 50 bucks lighter in the pocket, by the way, from Vegas. We'll get to that in just a little while.
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Gary Parrish
You take that every time?
- [02:32]
Josh Gershon
Every time. No doubt about it, you're right, this was, I mean, you know, Duke had the season opener against Texas, obviously you know, the first week. That's a high profile game. They had Kansas and the Champions Classic, another high profile game. But the numbers aren't in. But it stands to reason that Duke versus Arkansas, because it was on America's most watched network network on Thanksgiving night, will wind up as the most viewed college basketball game of the regular season. And so yes, for a lot of people that maybe had not had a chance to see Cameron Boozer or Duke the season, oh boy, you could not have picked a better spot to have a bigger game. And, and he very, very much did that nine point win for Duke. They get some separation late but with Boozer and what he was able to do just time and time again, it was actually Boozer and then Caleb Foster who really recovered in the second half and wound up with a pretty nice game. Overall he had 15 points and a career high eight assists. But it was only those two that scored for, for the majority of the second half for Duke they had 33 of the team's 39 points. Boozer did a little bit of everything. I mean he had some plays in transition and fully in transition, like 90ft down the floor, hit a couple of threes, obviously used the, used the post. Well, I did notice not to give really too much unnecessary voice to perhaps some begrudged Arkansas fans. I think some folks had some real issues with how Boozers using his body and using the elbow and using the hook to get some separation maybe a little bit, I'll give you a little bit of that. But he was absolutely dominant and to me with this, with this showing ascended to for now the best freshman through the first three and a half weeks in the of the season. You want to say he's the best player. You actually can build that case out right now. He's been incredible. He's the first Duke freshman in the past 35, 30 seasons with it with multiple 35 point games in a season like Cooper Flag last year, Boozers off to the same pace. He leads Duke in every major statistical category. As of this morning he's at 22.9 points, 9.8 boards, 3.8 assists per game. He's the only guy in the country averaging at least 21 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3 and 3.9 or more assists. So he's been terrific. Last night was just an awesome, awesome showing for him in a, in a venue that he'll spend, you know, many, many games and over the course of his NBA career. What was your takeaways on what we saw from the Hogs and the Blue Devils?
- [05:13]
Gary Parrish
I mean, he was, he was incredible and he is incredible. You know, we, we've gone through it before. Two time Gatorade National Player of the Year. Only fourth man to ever win that award twice. He's doing things that no freshman at Duke has done ever or in a long time. And I don't have to remind you, Duke had the best freshman and player in the country just last season. I, I noted the same thing you did. I didn't know this, this time yesterday, but looking at it this morning as I'm updating the top 25 and 1. Yeah, he's, it was a big deal. Like part of the Cooper Flag National Player of the Year campaign was. And he's leading Duke in five major statistical categories. What? Cameron Boozer is doing the exact same thing right now. And at, you know, for whatever it's worth, you know, the Kim Palm Player of the Year standings are, are a thing. I won't pretend to be smart enough to know how they calculate it, but just know that if you look at it, Cameron Boozer is, is like running away with it. Right now he's at 2.382. I don't have any idea what that means, but Joshua Jefferson is second at Iowa State at 1.561. So he is significantly ahead of everybody else. I don't have any idea what it means, but, but, but I know he's one and everybody else is, is below him. And John Shire, young coach, obviously long career ahead of him, but I, I think he's figured out something already. Like if you get the best player every year, that's, that seems smart to me. That seems smart to me to go and just say, you know what? I'm gonna try to have the best player in the country every single season. It doesn't guarantee anything, but it's a great place to start.
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Josh Gershon
It makes you wonder why more coaches don't go and get the best player in the country every season.
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Gary Parrish
Doesn't it does make you, I mean, like, are the rest of these guys just idiots?
- [07:04]
Josh Gershon
I mean, clearly, John, more coaches go and get the best player in the country every season.
- [07:10]
Gary Parrish
It's like John Shire and a bunch of idiots out there. Yeah, they're all, they're all making millions of dollars. You got one guy out there that figured it out and he's like still like among the youngest and he already figured out you got other guys, they're in their 70s. There are guys out there in their 70s never have had the best player in the country.
- [07:26]
Josh Gershon
I don't know what they're doing.
- [07:27]
Gary Parrish
I don't know what they're doing. What do they even pay you for?
- [07:29]
Josh Gershon
Let's go. I tell you what, Boozer, even with my expectation, we talked about this in the preseason a few times, my expectation that Boozer would be a stat monster and he has met that, I'd say he's eclipsed the ball. He's eclipsed the bar through the first eight games of the season. And there were times last night during this game where I was, I was a little surprised that I didn't, that Cal maybe didn't throw some other stuff at Boozer. But even with that, it was, oh, he's just going to will them to this, to this win. This is, you know, he's going to, he's going to make sure that they win the game. I talked about it late night on hq. As we recap the game, it's a really, really positive sign for Duke that you have a freshman like Boozer not even getting into December. High profile game, ranked opponent, super talented opponent. And he just says, guys, I got this one. And he ensures that that's how, that's how it goes down the stretch because remember, Arkansas took the lead. They were up like seven. I think they were up seven with 10 and change to go in the second half. And then from there, Duke surged back. Arkansas couldn't take the lead back. They didn't even score a bucket in the final three minutes of the game. Took a couple of bad shots that had they been better shots, would have, you know, cut it to, to one or two points or tied the game. Couldn't get it done. And then Duke just dominated on the glass once, Once it was 60 to 53, Arkansas. From that point on, Duke got 14 rebounds. Arkansas only got four. Arkansas was a team that came into the night averaging 91 a game. Duke held it to 71. Duke has held every opponent under its scoring average so far this season. We saw that, I believe we saw that with Duke last season. And I don't know if it was every game, but Duke held almost every single one of its opponents. I believe, I believe this is just me trying to pull, pull a thread from a season ago. I think they were the team that, that held almost every opponent that they face under their season scoring average. Duke is now 8, 0 for the first time since 2017. 18. That is not even the Zion here, if you're curious. That is the year Before Zion and RJ and company and yeah, they are, they are a really, really, really good shooting team. They are shooting 65.2% from inside the three point arc. They are highly efficient and we'll get to the results here in a little bit. But there's a, there's a very good conversation that continues to grow around this sport and that is who is the best team. Michigan obviously has a case. We'll get to what I saw with the Wolverines shortly. In addition to Arizona, really good resume. Purdue, we know what it can do and it's probably going to hold that number one spot we think on Monday. But Duke, by nature of how it won on Thanksgiving night gp I think deserves inclusion into this as well. Just really, really solid stuff overall. My last thing on Duke in the game and then take whoever you want to. I don't think that this is the formula. Okay. Every so often if you want to get, you know, a 30 plus 35 point night from Boozer, it's going to be great. You can't say, all right, we need Boozer to be a 2512 and 4 guy for the entire season and that's going to ensure that we're going to get a one seed. They will get more help. This was just a game where he needed to take over, but you're gonna quite clearly have to have nights where it's going to be Isaiah Evans, maybe Caleb Foster gets a little more consistent. Patrick and Gongwa had a couple of nice plays. In fact, he had a swat near the end that kind of sealed it. Sealed it. But I think it's fair to say Cambren Bruiser can be great and that's an awesome thing. But they can't have last night's script be a reliable thing over the course of the season. And obviously Shire and his staff know that.
- [11:21]
Gary Parrish
I don't know that Duke is the best team in the country. They certainly belong in the conversation though, just based off of the roster. The, the record is still undefeated and they've got now a win over a talented Arkansas team and a win over a Kansas team that went undefeated in the Players Era Festival with a victory over over Tennessee. So the resume is, is solid. Obviously the roster is what it is. They're terrific and you know, they've got two interesting games coming up. Florida, we'll get to the Gators because they're in a weird spot already earlier in the season, but they got Florida at home on Tuesday and then a week from tomorrow at Michigan State. And I guess every preseason we Do a little thing right before we get started where we just take a guess at what will be the last undefeated team in the country. If I remember correctly, and I hope that I don't. I think I said ucla. That's not working out.
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Josh Gershon
I think I said Michigan, by the way. Well, I think that. I think that might be working out for me. But we'll save that for a few there.
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Gary Parrish
Yeah, well, the UCLA one, that one's not going so well. But, but Duke is a candidate for that. Now obviously at the Breslin center is difficult, but according to Ken Palm, they should be projected as a favorite in that game. And according to Kinpom, as of this moment, they're not an underdog in any game until they Visit Louisville on January 6th. January 6th. So, you know, they could have a zero in the lost column for quite, for quite some time.
- [13:03]
Josh Gershon
Let's go to Arkansas real quick before we tour through just. I mean it's insane how much hoops we have to get to. Arkansas 5 and 2 has lost its only two games versus high majors this season. Plenty of time they actually play Louisville and now five days, that's going to be a big one. They get that game at home. That game has just immense potential. Again, just great game after great game after great game. Just an awesome start to the season. But they lost by three at Michigan State the first week of the season and then they played Duke, you know, in Chicago last night with a nine point defeat. The good from it, Darius Acuff really comporting himself like a veteran in that spot. He had 21 points, five dimes, one only one turnover, only one foul. He was the most important consistent player on the floor. It can't ask him to do everything. Malik Thomas had a few good buckets. He took a three late that had it gone. I kind of referenced this before. Had that dropped then maybe we've got something cooking there in the final minute or so. But that was a, that that play was a little bit of a disaster overall. Trevin Brazil had 11 boards, 11 points. Really had his hands more than full with Boozer. They did not do him any kind of favors. But, but I thought the Acuff stuff was really inspiring and, and Arkansas fans have known what they have with this guy following, you know, his recruitment the way they did and all the hype coming in. That was a good time. But it's just got to put all the pieces together. I met in the preseason when we talked about this team. I said I was really excited for Acuff to Team up with Thomas and with DJ Wagner. Wagner was a total, a total non factor in this game last night. And when you play a team that's of top five quality like Duke, you're just going to have to have your guards step up in a much bigger way collectively than they did. So Arkansas still has got plenty more time, but you get through the first month of the season, you don't have a good win on the schedule yet. We'll see if they can develop into something a little bit better. I know Arkansas fans harangued you and I both because we didn't think this was a top 10 team going in the season. Well, we'll see what happens over the next three months. But through the first month, it's quite clearly and obviously not a top 10 team.
- [15:05]
Gary Parrish
You might have been harangued. I refuse to be harangued.
- [15:08]
Josh Gershon
You were harangued whether you wanted to or not. Did you have them top 10, yes or no? No.
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Gary Parrish
Okay, you think I was harangued?
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Josh Gershon
I think you were harangued. Yes.
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Gary Parrish
I didn't, I didn't feel harangued. But often I reject her rank haranguing. I, I think her angle.
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Josh Gershon
That's the word you want there.
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Gary Parrish
Yeah, sometimes I reject that. Just, you know, you got to have your boundaries. Everybody needs to have their boundaries. I think Arkansas, if you said give me a one sentence summary, I think they've, they've played games and they've beaten the teams that they're better than and they've lost to the teams they're not as good as.
- [15:41]
Josh Gershon
That's an accurate, succinct assessment through the first three and a half weeks of the season.
- [15:45]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, they've beaten the teams that they're better than and they've lost to a couple of teams that they're not as good as. And I, I think they'll be fine. Like they, wherever, where they're ranked right now, what they are right now, that's about, it's about what I expect them expected them to be. So I certainly wouldn't push any panic buttons. That said, a talented team that I don't think will have the same type of ups and downs that last season's team did, somewhat because of injuries last season. I think this Arkansas team's gonna, gonna be, they'll be fine. And you'll look up and there'll be a, you know, 4, 5, 6 seed in the NCAA tournament with a chance to, to advance to the, the second weekend and perhaps further. You want to go to the Players Air Festival.
- [16:22]
Josh Gershon
Oh, we got so much to get to. Let's get to it.
- [16:25]
Gary Parrish
Michigan. Congratulations to the Wolverines. They won the Players Players Era Festival by just beating everybody's brains in. They went 3.
- [16:32]
Josh Gershon
0.
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Gary Parrish
Kansas also went 3. 0 in Las Vegas finished third. Iowa State also went 3. 0 in Las vegas finished fifth. Like just the goofiest of events, but it did have a bunch of good teams in it. Norlander was there. We'll talk about it from every angle. We'll do that next. First, give me a word from a partner.
- [16:51]
Josh Gershon
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- [18:20]
Gary Parrish
Cmn.com so Michigan won the players Era Festival. The Wolverines were overwhelming. Beat San Diego State by 40, Pete Auburn by 30. Beat Gonzaga before he what even sound real? Northlander, you saw it up close. How good are Dusty's Dusty Mays Wolverines.
- [18:39]
Josh Gershon
I think, I think they're the best team in the country. That's I guess my biggest takeaway. It was cartoonish. To watch a team be that dominant over a three day span. Just outrageous. I did not see the San Diego State game in person. I was at a different game. I was at the Auburn game and then I was at the Gonzaga game. I mean it got out to 20 to 4 to 20 to 5 to start. I talked with Mark Few after and he said we basically had no pushback whatsoever. Like in the huddle on the floor, everything that we had prepped for kind of all just collapsed and fell apart and all of our habits from the season just completely drifted away. And he's not wrong at all. And we get to get the Zagamore in a minute. But credit to Michigan for inducing that. This is horrifying in the best ways. If you're a Michigan fan. I think this is the most dominant three game run in a non conference MTE environment that I've ever seen. Some Purdue fans have pointed out that the Purdue run that I was also at and saw in person at the Phil Knight PK event four years ago where they beat you know, three ranked teams that was very, very good and Purdue was not expected. Purdue wasn't even looked going into that I think quite as high as Michigan which is now by the way I think one at every mainstream metric I believe. But to do this against two ranked teams, to do it against a Gonzaga team that still is a top five level team in advanced analytics, to just strip their soul bare right there on the floor was, was incredible. Dusty May has a group that has real size. I thought it was super inspiring that Elliot Cadot who you're not gonna look to get you 15 or so a night at 13 assists in the game against Gonzaga. Yaxel Lendenborg who's been highly efficient for much of the season, this was, this was the game where he verified his offseason status as arguably the most important transfer in the entire sport. In, in the Gonzaga game alone he had 20 points, 11 boards, four steals, a pair of swats. Not bad for a guy who started his career at the JUCO level. Adai Mara, as I thought might be the case, he's just, he's coming along it due to 7273 and when he really is dialed in and and can be an effective player he is a game changer. He, his, his impact was obviously known even just like Trey McKinney the freshman. He had 17 in this game. Everything possible imaginable was working for Michigan. I've got a, I've got a few stats here that were in my late late overnight column going into, going into Thanksgiving. So strap in. Here's what, here's what Michigan did while it was in Vegas and then I'll let JP talk on the Wolverines. They had 100 points in back to back games for the first time since 1989. They gave Gonzaga its worst loss ever under Mark Few and the worst loss by margin of defeat since 1990. And that was a 144 to 100 loss to the Loyola Marymount team. Famously with Bo Kimball and Hank Gathers. That's the last time Gonzaga lost by this many points. Michigan is 70 for the first time in five seasons. It averaged 99 points at the Players Era Festival and won by an average of 36.7 points. Its win over Gonzaga was the largest ever, ever 40 points over a ranked team in the history of Michigan's program. It has won back to back games. This is the, this is the real stunner. And when I told Dusty his exact quote was shut the up one back to back games against ranked opponents by 30 or more points. That had never happened, not in Michigan history. In the history of the sport no team had ever won two in a row against ranked competition by 30 or more ever. Until Michigan just, just did it. It's only the fourth time in the past I think decade it might be more than that where we've had. No. Yes. The fourth time in a decade or more that we've had a ranked team beat another ranked team by at least 40 points. It's just, it's just outrageous what they were able to pull off. I was in awe of it and I want to stay mostly Michigan centric but we've got the poll right now. Is. Is what. What team do you think is best in the country? Michigan, Arizona, Purdue, Duke. You know who's number one? Really really cool thing for college basketball? That we keep getting this. That we keep getting these dominant performances by these teams. Michigan is leading the poll right now at 37. I think that stands to reason. I know Paris hasn't put him number one in his rankings. I don't think he wants to get himself too caught up in this like every three days. And I get that GP but hard to argue against the idea that no team is operating better right now than Dusty Mays group. It was insanely impressive to see what Michigan did on that Vegas stage. And yeah, a high profile event in the year two for players error.
- [23:51]
Gary Parrish
If you want to call them the best team in the country. I won't argue with you if you want to rank them number one. Certainly there's a lot of tangible reasons to. To do that. It just seemed to me logically inconsistent to move Arizona to number one based off of the idea that Tommy Lloyd's Wildcats have the best body of work in the country and then replace them at number one when they still, as of this moment, I think, have the best resume in the country. They haven't beaten people as badly as Michigan, beat everybody in Las Vegas. But if you're looking for who's got the best collection of wins so far against a zero in the loss column, I still believe that that is Arizona in this moment.
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Josh Gershon
But.
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Gary Parrish
And so I've got it. Arizona 1, Purdue 2, Michigan 3. But you could put those three teams in any order, and anybody trying to argue with you is just eager to argue about things that they probably shouldn't be arguing about. What's interesting about Michigan is, you know, it's not like this was. This is who they've been all season. Like, you know, they struggled to get past Wake Forest. They, they. They only beat TCU by 4, and then they go to Vegas and just bomb, bomb, bomb. So, you know, they flipped some switch or something clicked. But the idea that they've been doing this since November 3rd, that's just. That's just not true. Which is among the more interesting things about them. They didn't look like they were as good as they should be over the first week or two of the season. But, buddy, by the time they got out to Las Vegas, they. They looked better than anybody could have reasonably anticipated.
- [25:30]
Josh Gershon
I asked Dusty about that very thing. I said, you know, what changed here? You won the games, but you narrowly escaped Wake Forest and tcu. And he particularly pointed to the TCU game. And I'm going to paraphrase him here, I don't have the exact quote up on my document. He said, we were not ready or didn't realize, you know, by carrying a ranking, how much we as an opponent meant to TCU to come into that building. And they responded accordingly. And, you know, we were able to escape that, but we needed something needed to change. Now, the staff also told me that having so from TCU is on November 14th. Then they played Middle Tennessee home game. They went easily, you know, nine, 10 days ago, and then they wait a few days to travel out to. To Vegas. That break was actually really good for them. Whatever happened over the course of 10 days, there actually was a Tangible change in the proverbial room with Michigan and they arrive ready to go. And then the exact quote here. I want to give you the exact wording. It's in my column here from.
- [26:35]
Gary Parrish
Well, I sure. I sure hope it has another F word in it. That'd be great.
- [26:38]
Josh Gershon
Does not. It does not. This is from Yaxel. And in the post game press conference he said a lot of the guys on the team felt like we were being disrespected. Today was about putting the world on notice that we're here to be the best team in the nation and we'll continue to do that. Now, I can't sit here and say that was being disrespected. Don't feel like that was the case. Players can do anything they can to motivate themselves. I don't blame Yaxel whatsoever. But today was about putting the world on notice that we're here to be the best team in the nation and we'll continue to do that. A pretty damn good quality quote. And if you happen to hear it or see it, the way he delivered that quote was. Was high conviction. And he had every right to. He had this just huge, huge mvp. It's one of those rings. You got to put it on two fingers. It's so big. That was his. That was his trophy for winning the. The MVP award out there in Players era. Couldn't be more impressed. Honestly, it is impossible for me to be more impressed with Michigan than I. Than I am right now, seeing what they did and the way they vaporized Gonzag. You know, going into that, a lot of media members, as you expect, were on hand there for players era. And we got to talking. Okay, like, what are we. This is, this is a great, great game. In terms of thrill score at Ken Palm, it was the seventh. So going into the game, it was the seventh highest thrill score in the history of Ken Palm's database, which is incredible. Which is incredible. It's just, it's the. It's the potential for the game to be as good as it could possibly be between two highly efficient, really, really good teams. Number one and versus number two going in. I didn't catch your Wednesday show, gp. I'm sure you got into all that stuff, but so with that in mind, you know, I was talking with C.J. moore. I said, I think I'll get Michigan here. Like, I think I said like 84, 78. But should be a really, really awesome game. Just hopefully it can become something that's like one of the better games of the season so far. Well, it wasn't that, but it was as memorable of a game given how incredible it was. And for Gonzaga to be held to 61 points, just taken out of its self entirely. Credit to Michigan, just, just incredible. I don't know, I don't know what, what else we can say about if you got anything else. I got so much to get to for players era, but that was insanely impressive and it's incredible to think where this program was at the very tail end of the Juwan Howard era. And just like that, Dusty Mays got him going. And you know, Dusty May, as I wrote in my story that set up the whole thing earlier this week, Dusty May was the second coach to say yes to this event. Now, he was at FAU at the time and they were desperate for any kind of money. But in the very early stages when players era was coming together, Kelvin Sampson was the first verbal yes. And then the second one, I think it was within 24, 48 hours. It was Dusty May. So only appropriate that, that he and his team now obviously being Michigan, the championship in year two of the event.
- [29:21]
Gary Parrish
If you're wondering where I draw the line, it's at thrill score.
- [29:27]
Josh Gershon
I don't know what to tell you.
- [29:28]
Gary Parrish
I don't talk about thrill scores. That's where I draw a line.
- [29:30]
Josh Gershon
Okay, give it a couple more years once you understand really how to, how and when to sort the data. I mean, you're not even there with wins above bubble because right now Michigan by far has the best resume in the sports, even ahead of Arizona. But you're not. I'll get you.
- [29:46]
Gary Parrish
I see. I would just disagree with that. I, I, I, if you're going to.
- [29:49]
Josh Gershon
Trust Torvix data toward Torvik has them at wins above bubble, clearly ahead of Arizona. So they have the best resume per Torvik. So take it up.
- [29:56]
Gary Parrish
Do, do. I'm not taking it up with anybody. I don't care. But, but do you think the selection committee would view it the same way?
- [30:03]
Josh Gershon
I do.
- [30:04]
Gary Parrish
I'm not sure, but I do, I honestly do.
- [30:07]
Josh Gershon
If you ask me, like right now, if they, if they took both resumes, I think the, I think they would say Michigan has the best resume.
- [30:12]
Gary Parrish
Perhaps, but I don't, I do not believe it's crystal clear. But, but perhaps before we move on to other players ERA stuff the format like over on some level, overshadow the quality of, of what was happening out there. You had boots on the ground. You, you talked to the event organizers. I just, I ridiculed them, but you actually talked to them. How is this thing? There's. Tell me they're smart enough to know that they made a mistake and they'll fix it next season.
- [30:42]
Josh Gershon
I think they're smart enough to admit they made a mistake and they'll fix it next season. So. And I do know that you talked about this a decent amount on Wednesday show. So I'll try not to go too long here. But I'll give you my specifically as it pertains to this. I'll give you it and then we talk teams and I'll give you some more from Vegas. So Seth Berger, who basically created the event as a co founder but it was his idea to start this all together. If you want to know all that again, go to my story. I had a whole bunch of stuff on that. He held a press conference, you know, in effect for the first time had public media availability since this thing started. He's 58 years old. He coaches West Town School outside of Philly. He coached Derek Lively Mo Bamba in high school. He's the guy who created and won as in the N1 mixtape or as in the N1 shirts that I owned in night in the 1990s. He's the guy who created that. Okay. Has a couple of kids who have played low level default and he's got a senior right now at Bucknell. So he had his first media availability at the event and he spoke to a number of things. Has been readily available and willing to talk about this. Just in general has never acted like he's ever had all of the answers. Has just been super excited to put on an event where players can get paid for the name, image and likeness. That's really at the heart of what's driving this entire thing. What driving what drives the event is actually a very well intentioned idea that I think maybe has not even been quite as celebrated as much as it should. But the format has been an issue. Now this is my reading. Seth didn't say this. Kansas was one of the last teams to join for this year when they got Kansas on board. And I think what happened was by the time Kansas might have either been team 17 or 18. Okay, just in terms of the timeline and once Kansas got in, that's obviously a huge coup. I was told Kansas has either a five or a six year deal currently. The playing players there, I think it has the longest deal of any school aside from Houston, which quite literally will be in this event so long as A Sampson is coaching the program. Seth said that to me One on one. They said it again at the press conference, but they got past 16 teams and didn't want to tell anyone. No. Okay. They didn't want to go back on their word, which I, which is obviously admirable. You know, that wouldn't have been. Wouldn't have been a kind thing if it. Even if it would have made a lot more sense to hold a tournament. So they get to 18 teams can't do a bracket with. With 18 schools. So that's when they come up with the format. Okay, listen, in FIFA World cup and soccer at, you know, even in your. Every, every weekend AAU kind of events, you often have point differential be a determining factor beyond record or head to head when it comes to this. That's what we'll do. Well, I think they anticipated that there would be some confusion and there would be a learning curve. They didn't anticipate just how much blowback they would receive for it. And so Seth at his presser then reiterated, hey, listen, we know that there's going to be a bit of a learning curve, but this is different. We're excited that it's different. We don't think it'll take fans that long to really understand the nature of how it all works. Now as all of this was happening, I had talked to Ian Orfis is the other. Other founder of the event. And by Pure coincidence, about 10 minutes before Seth had his press conference, we got to talking about the format and I said, are you, are you 100 doing this for next year with all this? And to Ian's credit, he's like, no, like, we are. We are going to evaluate this. We want to talk to every team, hear from every team afterward, and then we will see. Like, we're pretty committed to the 418 pools for sure. But if that's going to be a bracket or if it's going to be point differential, like, we'll, we'll continue to hear that out. Well, then Seth has his presser re restates that it's going to be point differential. I write a column saying this is the what, like you're getting there. It's year two. Understand you're going to have some, some growing pains and all this stuff. But if you make this four brackets, you really have just tremendous potential to achieve the vision that you want to achieve. Well, from the time he had the presser to the next morning, he called and said, hey, listen, the one thing that I. He's like, I did step in it yesterday. The one thing I should have said That I didn't say, and I want to go on the record with you, is that we are actually open to changing this format for brackets next year. We haven't decided that. I'm not saying it definitely will happen, but it's very much on the table. So my impression, Parrish, is that next year they will have that. But one more thing for me on this, when you do that, just, just to be aware, like they're going to have 32 teams, four 18 pools. The format will be 16 teams go to Vegas one week, 16 more go the next week. And then after the second pair of 16 are done two or three days later, you will have four teams left, the winner from each one and they will play in two games. And those two games will be for the nil money. But within those four brackets you'll have a champion, right? If they do brackets you're still going to have. And personally, I don't mind this. Honestly, this part does not bother me whatsoever. If you have teams that are either have 30 records coming out or everyone will be a 3 0, all the 30 teams will have to be determined by who plays for the most money and who plays for the second most amount of money. Or if you want to make it even, who cares, that's going to have to be point differential. So that element is still going to be in play, I would think, a year from now. But that's, I hope, as distinct as I can make it about where it stood, what they plan to do. And I, I just want to emphasize these, they are, they are not banging their hands on the table saying how we're going to do it is, is the right way, no matter what. They have been super, super open to any kinds of criticism and, and I credit for that because they are, they are creating what is going to be a monster. I mean, this is going to be the biggest deal that we've ever seen from a non conference perspective, from an event perspective. Go ahead, take it away.
- [36:28]
Gary Parrish
I appreciate all of that. Like I don't have any interest ever in piling on somebody who raises their hand and say, hey, you know, you're making a decent point. And I know they're not saying Gary Parrish made a decent point, but they're acknowledging that their format didn't work, didn't connect and that they're open to a bracket style event next year. Good enough for me. I, I like, I immensely respect people who do that who say, okay, I, maybe we got this wrong. As opposed to digging in and acting like, well, you guys just don't get it because I read that one quote that you had overnight, maybe on Tuesday, and it was like, we've got to do a better job of, of, of making people understand what it is we're doing. And I, I understand that there are, there were people who were confused. But the issue here wasn't confusion as much as it was faulty. Like it, this doesn't work because I live the, the, the life that he's talking about in terms of AAU basketball. It's the same thing with youth baseball.
- [37:36]
Josh Gershon
Okay. Exactly. Yeah. So then baseball, you go and then move on based on how, who am I, how many runs and all that stuff. Right.
- [37:42]
Gary Parrish
We do this every weekend. But here, here's the problem where his apples to apples comparison just falls apart. Yes. We're sitting there every Saturday for, feels like 52 weeks a year, and you're playing three pool games on a Saturday. Right. And it does come down to run differential based on where you're seated. So we might go 30 and another team goes 3 0. But we had a run differential of plus 11, they had plus 8. So we're the 1 seed, they're the 2 seed. The problem there, or the problem with trying to compare what they did here with that is that regardless of where you fall in run differential, you're still going to be placed in a bracket with an opportunity to win the tournament. If you go undefeated but are third and run differential, you're the third three seed, but you still are going to have an opportunity to be in a bracket and go win the trophy, win first place. That's every baseball tournament. You know, here you could go undefeated, but based off a point differential, you wouldn't be placed into a bracket. You would just be placed into a consolation game or in the case of Iowa State, into a fifth place game with no opportunity whatsoever to climb to the top to win the actual trophy and in this case, to win a million dollars, that's a problem. Like I said on CBS Sports Network, I guess it was Wednesday night. If you have a tournament, quote tournament, and there are teams in it that can go undefeated but not win it, and in this case not even play for a fourth place, you, you need to start over. You don't really have a tournament. You've just got a collection of games that are being, that are deciding something that nobody thinks is the right way to do this. So I, I don't care what they do next season, as long as if you've got 32 teams and you're going to play three games each over a three day period, then that, that should be four different 18 brackets. Hand out trophies to the winners of each of those. Give me something we can outline on the Sunday before and be like, if this team wins and this team wins and then they play, then they'll play each other. Give it something that, that is. I think Nicole Auerbach said this. I couldn't agree more. No sport in America is more closely associated with brackets than college basketball. If you're going to dominate Thanksgiving week, which has for decades been an important week in this sport, give me an event with brackets. I appreciate that they seem to recognize that rather than dig in and hopefully this is the last we ever talk about it.
- [40:22]
Josh Gershon
Yeah, well, I think we'll talk about it here from now. We'll see. They just. A housekeeping note. This is not a pushback. But they, they very much intentionally did not phrase this year's event as a tournament.
- [40:34]
Gary Parrish
Sure.
- [40:35]
Josh Gershon
Like as a championship. So I. But. And they may continue to do that. I don't know. But you're absolutely right. And for anyone listening or watching, being like, it's 32 teams. Why don't you just have one? Because it's, frankly, it's, it's too, that is too big for a regular season to have 32 teams go to one area, have five games over the course of however long that would be. Logistically, that can't be done. What can be done is to send 16 one week. Those all fly home, 14 of which will not return to Vegas. Two will come back, you know, 10 days later if that. Another 16 come in, 14 fly home, and then the two from that I think will stay in Vegas for two, three more days. Then they'll play their, their next round and it's the four Kings. I say you just make it diamonds, hearts, spades and clubs. Those are the, those are the four brackets. The winners of that they play for, for all the nil money. Go ahead.
- [41:22]
Gary Parrish
Okay, let me ask you just a question from a place of ignorance because I don't know, I'm hoping you do. How does that work scheduling wise? Do you have to leave just like a window open in your schedule?
- [41:32]
Josh Gershon
Like right, this is, this is the other dangling thread with this. Okay. Now this came from a school that wants to play in the event. I think it's uncertain whether it can or will play in it next year, but they told me so there's. Essentially what will happen here is there are 32 teams. Four of them will get the bonus game for all the Nil money. Don't ask me for the answer this, I don't have it yet. But you either have to. Next year we go to 32 game maximum schedule. So you either have to, if you're in this event, you either schedule 31 with the hope you get the 32nd or as this school that's not in it right now said it sounds like if we play in this and we make the extra game then we're going to have to buy out of one of our buy games in the ensuing week or week and a half, which frankly I don't love because then you're, unless the mid major or the low major that you're going to play, you're going to have to pay them anyway. Just not gonna have the game on your schedule anymore. That gets a little logistically complicated in terms of on the ground operations, let alone the team that's waiting to play you. So I don't have, I don't have the answer for that GP but they do have to solve that issue because there will be four teams that go on and get the bonus game and you don't know who that's going to be. So.
- [42:40]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, but like if you're, if you're trying to look for a way that it gets done at a different level of the sport, this isn't too dissimilar from the NBA Cup. It's an in season tournament with teams advancing to Las Vegas to play a semi final and championship.
- [42:55]
Josh Gershon
And also using point differential I think in some of their stuff too.
- [42:59]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, right. And, and, and, but, but, but more than that, my point is like you've gotta, there, there are holes in everybody's schedule and the way they do that is the teams that advance to Vegas advance to Vegas and play each other and then you get games added, you know, like to feel the void lost by not going to Las Vegas. So this is all very complicated stuff. Good luck to the, the doos out there who have to deal with this. But I, I wonder if there isn't a way to, if you sign up for the players era going forward, you actually sign up for five games and three of them will happen on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday of Thanksgiving. And then if you happen to qualify to come back and compete in the semifinals with the opportunity to go to the championship game, great, that's four teams and then the other 28 get paired against each other to, you know, make the schedule whole. But again, very complicated. I'll let other people figure it out.
- [43:55]
Josh Gershon
Someone in the chat's saying, I would prefer that it would be in December on campus with, you know, on campus games. I know that the organizers have looked into that. You get into some extremely complicated. In fact, this is, this is me gleaning from the conversations, not them saying this. I bet you that they would actually prefer to have almost everything on campus and then the title game and, and the runner up in Vegas or in one site. TV rights get super duper complicated. It basically is not doable in our current media rights environment. But for anyone that's hoping for that, I believe a lot of people involved in the event would like that to be the case as well. But it honestly, it can't be done because too many conferences are tied to too many television networks and, and it's not, it's not feasible.
- [44:38]
Gary Parrish
Yeah. And I don't want to spend much more than 30 seconds on this, but it does create another thing where we are robbing the sport of the best thing about the sport and that is on campus basketball games, like you could never match the shot making that the NBA has or the level of play that the NBA has. But the thing that college basketball has over the NBA is it can look and sound different with student sections and everything else. And every game, not on a campus or not in a traditional home road environment is, is something less than it otherwise would be. I do think it's funny sometimes just to get an outsider's perspective. Like my, my wife, like, she doesn't follow college basketball. Like she supports her husband, but she does not follow college basketball. So we get home last night and you know, we got it on CBS and there's Arkansas and Duke playing and she just sort of notices it's not, you know, she sees the Bulls logo, I guess, and she's like, where are they playing this? And I said, Chicago. And she said, why are Duke and Arkansas playing in Chicago? You know, because they're getting paid.
- [45:44]
Josh Gershon
They're getting paid. They're both getting paid money to play the game. That's honestly.
- [45:47]
Gary Parrish
Of course, of course. But like she was like, shouldn't it, wouldn't this be better if you played it? Like, it was just like she couldn't quite understand, like, why, why wouldn't you just do this in Arkansas or at Duke? Would that be better? And I was like, of course, but this is the way we do things. But it is like, you know, that game is awesome last night, but like, imagine it in Cameron indoor Bud Walton. It would just, you know, all these things would be better in a different place.
- [46:09]
Josh Gershon
I hear you. I'll Just segue into just the scene in Vegas. And then I do want to just run down some more teams here. This is just such a loaded show. It's insane how much college basketball we're getting this week. As for having it in Vegas and I, and honestly, I don't want to give this too much oxygen. I know that the players era became like. Frankly, I was watching the games, talking with folks, interviews, pressers, bouncing back and forth. So I was not really that connected to the online conversation. But I do know that the players era for a certain section of people became the spawn of Satan. I know that this became a thing. It's kind of weird to me. I understand that the. And we talked about on our show Sunday, the creation of this event is siphoning off. I don't even deny that your battle for Atlantis and your Mauis. But in this era where players are going to get paid in teams to what we just talked about here, like there was a coach at a, we'll call it a top 20 team that told me this week to play in neutral site games. Now there are event organizers that are creating opportunities where teams can compete 5, 6, $700,000 for a single game that separate entirely from players era is why Maui is getting killed. Is why battle for Atlantis. Because every single team that can't afford to look to get paid to play in November and December is going to do it. That is, that is your big bugaboo beyond just an event in Las Vegas. So I felt like I just had.
- [47:41]
Gary Parrish
To put that and, and the, the problem for Maui going forward and then let's get back to the basketball games. But the schools with the money to, to actually travel to Hawaii the week of Thanksgiving don't want to do it anymore. If players ERA or, or anything better is an option. And by better we mean you could make more money. And then. So you're left with schools that are in some cases are going to say, yeah, I guess we'd love to do that, but we can't afford to do it. So it's like I don't know where you go from here unless you change your entire business model.
- [48:13]
Josh Gershon
Correct. They have to change the business model. This thing with Maui was percolating three, four years ago before players existed. Most people don't realize that. As for the stuff on the ground in Vegas, all the teams stayed at one hotel. The coaches said it felt like the COVID bubble tournament felt like their throwback to the AAU days. I mean I'd get on the elevator, honestly, I got on the elevator. Darren Peterson was on there. I got off the elevator. Miles Usain was waiting outside. That was kind of. That was kind of wild. But it was. I mean, listen, Vegas in November, cozy temperature. It was a really good vibe and environment. This. The problem, I think, for TV was very few people were sitting in the end zone, so to speak, but on either side. And I don't know, I didn't see the games hardly at all on tv. GP they were filled in. The. Most of the games that I went to were filled in actually pretty decently. And for. They probably sold out, I don't know, 40 to 45% of the seats. But the fans that did show up showed up in like, enthusiastically. So, like, there were some pretty good environments overall. But they've got to fix. They've got to fix a way to get more folks in some of this. The problem you just can't overcome. It's, it's, it's.
- [49:14]
Gary Parrish
I, I think that. But I think once you decide to have basketball games all day in Las Vegas, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, the week of Thanksgiving, you are putting yourself in a position where you can't have a full building. Like, I, you know, I'm a basketball fan, but trust me when I tell you I'd go there to watch my team, and then as soon as our game was over, I'd be like, hey, you know, we can watch the rest of this at the sports book. Go get a. Yeah, yeah.
- [49:39]
Josh Gershon
I mean, there was a lot. There were tons. Tons. Might be overstating it. There were a lot of fans on the ground there, and they definitely were, they were taking the opportunity to go see their team play. And you get to go to Vegas. Like the, the, the Vegas is part of the draw. Undeniably so. And then, you know, there were. Brad Stevens is sitting there, Sean Marks is sitting there. I talked with Danny Ainge. You have all of these, you know, just. I don't even know how many executives and scouts are there just loaded up. It was. It's a very, very good event to bring in really, really good teams, hall of Fame coaches, NBA lottery picks, and to, for our purposes, just to get to talk with a variety of different sources. And see, that was the other thing. Like just so many good teams of good players and, and a number of really, really good games. So I, I enjoyed it. I plan to be back next year. Not for the whole thing, there's no way, but for one of the 16 team sessions to see what, see what goes on there. And then last thing for me, I, on The environment. I did go see wizard of Oz at Sphere. It was unreal. I wasn't the whole movie. There were some random things that got like snipped out of it because I was waiting for like the Cowardly Lions big song that never happened. But it was incredible. If you find yourself in Las Vegas and have the time to see it, it's going to, it's going to run you, you know, between the Uber to get there, the concessions and the ticket, it's going to run you probably like 150 or so. I didn't regret it whatsoever. So it was incredible. And I know I mentioned it on the Sunday show. I did said, what the hell, let's go do this. I got it done. A lot of fun. Okay, we are running so long. But I cannot get out of the segment without at least addressing some of the other teams. So let me just go bing bang boom GP and then you respond after I just tour through all this stuff. Gonzaga talk with you after. And he did make a point to mention. And he's right. You know, we reviewed as one of the best teams in the country until his words two hours ago. He's right. Gonzaga still a top 10 team. Their size, their age, it's remarkable. Three point shooting is a concern with them. They're not a proven group from beyond the three point arc, but man, they are so damn old. And I, I. They're going to be a factor. They're going to be a thing. They're overshadowed as a result of Michigan winning the way that it did. I'm still in on Gonzaga. Let's go to Kansas. Remarkable for them to go 30 the way they did. Now the first two opponents weren't good, Notre Dame and Syracuse. They, they did get pushed shouts by the way, to Kansas and Syracuse fans showed up in really big numbers out there, but no Darren Peterson. And then they win 8176 over Tennessee despite Trey White fouling out, Bryson Tiller being in foul trouble. You had Melvin Council and El Marco Jackson coming up big in that game. Self told me afterward that essentially the teamwork and execution was just way better ball movement executing on the scout really staying tough and believing that. And they Self was like, of course it mattered that we got this team less than 24 hours after they had to face Houston. So there might have been a little bit of that as well on Kansas end. But those are big gains. I did ask Self about Peterson. There's, you know, there's no promise. He was hopeful that Peterson would be able to play once in Vegas. That didn't happen. He said that Peterson had his own gym to go and get basketball workout in every day. He wasn't at those. Self wasn't at those workouts, obviously, because he was with the rest of the team. But the reports continue to be good. Peterson just has to be able to get in like a full workout, quasi practice without feeling any resistance, any whatever feeling in that hamstring before they clear him. He wants him to get one full practice before he plays. My. This is. This is not. Self did not tell me this. This is. My guess is because they were hopeful he'd play in Vegas and the workouts have been good. I think Peterson will play for the Yukon game, but we'll see. That's a big opponent to return for. We'll see. That's my. Maybe I'm trying to wish it into existence, keep it going. Iowa State, the other 30 team, they do it without Lipsey. So you have Iowa State and Kansas, two Big 12 teams, don't have their best player. They win it anyway. And that's no shot at Jefferson, who's incredible and may well become Iowa State's best player. And if he's not already there. But TJ Ostelberger has the top 10 team. I think they're five or six at Ken Palm right now. Jefferson is a stud mom. Chilovic has really taken a big jump. And then even Killian Torre, just the Frenchman, just different speed kind of player. He was great. I. I talked to Otzelberger about, you know, the fifth place stuff, and actually when I talked to him, he didn't know he'd be in fifth place. Then I talked to him after they won. He still told me, doesn't matter. We're going up against McDermott 10 out of 10 times. I'm not taking that shot to get the extra two points for the measure. Otzelberger and McDermott are like thickest thieves, man. So was it a little bit of a downer? I'm sure, like, they go 3 0, they win no bonus nil money. That's. That's crappy. But. But as also Burger did tell me, and this is a point worth repeating, a lot of the talk being about who's playing for the championship, who's getting the nil money, like that stuff does matter. But what matters more in the big picture is the fact that Iowa state just went 30 and vastly increased his reputation and his resume in the process. Like, you're going there, as he was telling me, like, we're going here to win the games. Like we want to. We want to play really good teams and we want to go 3 and 0 here. That's the biggest thing about the event. He's absolutely right. Really good on Iowa State. I want to keep it going, but after this team, we're going to stop and pause. St. John's is an. Oh, they're in. Oh, here they go. One and two they go. GP Preseason number one team. They have six guys who play the same position. It's a major issue here. They did beat Baylor and they beat Baylor convincingly. But that was sandwiched between a close but tough loss against Iowa State where they got out, rebounded down the stretch, and then Auburn, who I will get to very briefly, very quickly, very soon. Auburn is able to win 85, 74. But I will take my foot off the gas and hand it back over to GP because the Johnny's are 4 and 3 and they are sitting with two more non conference games of note. They host Ole Miss next week and then they've got Kentucky in the CBS Sports Classic. Biggies has been up and down overall across the board, but Mike is yours. GP what do we make of what St John's is or isn't? Through seven games so far this season.
- [55:30]
Gary Parrish
I have a bone to pick with them. I have a bone to pick with the Red Storm. They have wildly disappointed and they disappointed me. I stood with them. Even against my own instincts, I stood strong. I describe myself as ride or die and they, they have let me down as much as anybody has let me down in the year 2025. I don't try to put a lot of pressure on other people. Try to make me happy. I think your happiness comes from within. If you're relying on other people to make you happy, you're never going to get there. But I would. I wanted St. John's to help me get there and they just keep losing almost every time they play.
- [56:16]
Josh Gershon
Yes.
- [56:17]
Gary Parrish
Why do they do that? How did we go from having the next great St. John's point guard to having zero good ones? They're not good. What do you think happened?
- [56:33]
Josh Gershon
Don't tell me you still have them ranked, by the way.
- [56:36]
Gary Parrish
I got them in there still.
- [56:37]
Josh Gershon
Yeah. He's completely ridiculous.
- [56:39]
Gary Parrish
Like 25 or something. I've got them in there somewhere.
- [56:42]
Josh Gershon
I've got pride. That's called stubbornness.
- [56:46]
Gary Parrish
It's. It's easy to justify. I've got every team. They've lost two ahead of them. They've got to win over Bay. Whatever you can, you can justify. But I don't Feel good about it. And here's the thing, like I, I don't.
- [56:58]
Josh Gershon
Whatever Baylor, whatever they can, they can.
- [57:03]
Gary Parrish
They will get better. But I don't know that they're ever going to get where I hoped they would get when I put a one next to their name. And that's because the roster, like we did say this in the preseason. I just stood by, I just stood by them stupidly, I guess. But we did say in the preseason. It wasn't like, I can't believe this. The roster sloth. And I guess Rick didn't know when he put it together, but he seemed to recognize it once he got it in the gym. And yeah, through. I guess it's seven games now. The. You could reasonably call them the most disappointing team in the country. I mean if we're, if we're throwing around labels like that, it's. I guess it fits.
- [57:40]
Josh Gershon
They're high on the list. Maybe we get through a few more days worth of games and yeah, we addressed that and then in the, in the shows to come, just a few more teams, then we're gonna get. Move it along here. Houston went 2 and 1. Kelvin Sampson said, I'd rather play our worst bath. He said a lot of teams play their best basketball November. I want us to look at our worst in November, you know, because you got so much youth here. Give them time. Kingston Flemings had an awesome game against Tennessee. Looked like a top 10 pick and then he had one point the next night. But that's to be, that's understood to be, you know, you know you're going to have a little bit of growing pains there. But Houston goes two in one. I'm not concerned about Houston whatsoever. Tennessee also went two and one. It's wins coming against Rutgers and Houston. Jacoby Gillespie, as I think anticipated, is the team's most important player. But Nate Amen showed okay for himself there as well. Tennessee just not being able to get it together enough to be able to beat Kansas was to me surprising. But overall, Tennessee, I think you're where. I think Tennessee will wind up in that top 15ish range when we get to March. They look to be that right now. Overall, Alabama, I only saw them against Gonzaga. They had late night games afterward against UNLV in Maryland. So they go 2 and 1. But their big game, they lose and then they win the games they're expected to. To. To win without too much issue there. Alabama schedule, we've talked about it plenty. I think Nate Oates team still has a chance. A chance. A genuine Chance to be the best team in the SEC. And then the rival Auburn goes 2 and 1. Stephen Pearl's team got just demolished. He. After they lost against Michigan, they beat Oregon and they beat St. John's which is, you know what, you go in this event year one as a head coach. Absolutely. You take two and one every single time. But Stephen began his post game press conference after the Michigan one. He just was looking at the pa. He was looking at the post game stat sheet and he just started monologuing. You know, it almost felt like it was not in terms of entertainment value or inside jokes, just like I was hearing a GP podcast because he just started going and the next thing I know is like four and a half minutes. So he hadn't taken a question yet. He was trying to talk himself through what had just happened against Michigan. Stephen, they're just really, really good. Like, you know, what can you do? They absolutely kicked your team's ass. You wind up going to 2 and 1. Anyway, I thought overall on the whole, Auburn did well for itself in the trip to Vegas and anyone that can come out two and one's got to feel good about themselves. Baylor, I think also was the other two in one team. Your OFRA teams, Syracuse, unlv, Oregon, which won the event a year ago, goes owing three here. Oh, and then your one and twos were Creighton, Maryland, San Diego State, Notre Dame. I think we've mentioned everyone that was in players era, maybe all but one. But anyway, that was that very cool event from a coverage perspective. Yeah, it offers a ton of teams and I really, really liked it and hopefully it can be even better next year. That's all I got. We have still so much to get to.
- [60:27]
Gary Parrish
Oh, we got to get moving too.
- [60:28]
Josh Gershon
All right, we got to go.
- [60:29]
Gary Parrish
We gotta, we gotta get moving. A few other things to get to from the past couple days, then we'll get to the final four on one. But we got bills to pay. You know, money doesn't grow on trees. All right, we got bills to pay. Give me a word from our partners. Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start.
- [60:46]
Josh Gershon
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Gary Parrish
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- [61:05]
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- [61:34]
Gary Parrish
A few other things to get to. Let's start with Michigan State 74, NC 58. Tom is those Spartans are 7 and 0 with wins over Kentucky, Arkansas, UNC. I moved Michigan State into the top 10 of the top 25 and 1. I don't know that they got a lottery pick on the roster. I don't know that this is the way other programs are going to be able to successfully build conference championship contenders. But Tom Izzo has made it clear he still prefers to recruit high school players, develop them over years and watch them become the, the type of players that, that he can use to, to try to, you know, continue a streak of NCAA tournament appearances and compete for Big Ten championships. And I don't know that it'll work forever. I don't think Tom knows that it'll work forever. But it looks like it's working right now. One of the neater stories in college basketball, the, you know, 70 year old hall of Famer still doing it his way and, and it's working. It's working remarkably well right now.
- [62:35]
Josh Gershon
Yeah, no, this was, this was a fun little jolt of a game. You know, I had the red eye out of Vegas, barely slept on the plane because that's just how red eyes normally go. And then, you know, get home and then it's Thanksgiving. So I was thankful that operating on essentially two hours of sleep and hopefully I got a decent amount last night. But I think you can still see the, the travel on my face here on today's episode. I was thankful this game was, was this entertaining. I mean Cohen car is, Cohen car is good for three or four. Just like what the hell man plays a game. So thankful for him there. And fears has been awesome. Fears leads the country in assist by the way. He's at 9.7 a game right now. He had 19 points, seven dimes, five boards in this one. This was the third straight year these teams met, by the way. Caroline won in the tournament in 24. I was there. They played an incredible game in Maui. I, I was up against making my flight. It went into overtime Michigan State won that. They won it. I bolted right out of Lahaina and had to drive 40 minutes to get to the airport. They won that one a year ago to the day that they played yesterday. And then Michigan State wins, wins two in a row here. Jackson Kohler had a double double. Michigan State shot 52 from the floor. There's the best shooting performance this season. They are 7 0. I thought I had this. Yeah, they haven't been 70 to start a season since 15, 16. So it's been a full on decade there. That season they started 130 and they got a 2 seed in the tournament. I had Michigan State in my preseason top 25. They were somewhere hovering in that, I think like 20 to 22, 23 range. But this is another team like Gonzaga where everyone underranked them going into the season. We all did. They look really, really good. And I know Michigan got a lot more time and space on this particular episode, but will not overlook just how good MSU looks so far this season. And that is a really, really cool story here. Continuing because they brought some good pieces back, don't get me wrong. But the idea that they would be this good, this quick is a little surprising. And then again, it's time as I'm coaching them. So maybe it's not surprising. And fears growing into we are just Paris. We have so many good point guards in college basketball and fears right now unequivocally is top five. And if you're a Spartans fan, you want to say he's top three. I'm not going to argue with you whatsoever. That's really good stuff there. Carolina, real quick, they had their worst shooting performance. Think of the season, under 40%. A lot of that's Michigan State. They have allowed the past six opponents to be under 40% from the field overall. But it's, it's Carolina's first, you know, notable, notable defeat of the season. No shame in it. You're playing down in Florida and an MSU just, they showed out. Well, you know, there's, you know, you get taken out, whatever you trade that with the home win over Kansas. And now it's going to be Carolina at Kentucky next Tuesday. We'll talk about that on the Sunday show.
- [65:29]
Gary Parrish
TCU 84, Florida 80. So the Gators now, now have two losses and I did not move St. John's out of the top 25 and one, but I did move Florida. I don't know why you would have them in there with no good wins or no great wins. At least no wins over teams that I have in the top 25 and 1. And then in addition to the season opening loss to Arizona, now they've got a loss to to unranked TCU based on body of work. I I got him out of there it looks like. I mean it's never just one thing but they've got a Xavian Lee problem. He looks like a good mid major player who maybe isn't going to be a good SEC player because he struggled again in this one. I think one of six from the field. And buddy, you go look at his percentages and everything about it. It is not every time, you know somebody jumps from one level to another we wonder like is it going to translate? And you know, oftentimes it does but I guess still early. We're in November but it's not translating right now. He is not what they thought he was going to be.
- [66:32]
Josh Gershon
Yeah, it's still early. I give Savion Lee more time to really have some good games and develop. But this is he was the why I was not with everyone else putting Florida in the top five so I didn't have in my top 10 going into the season. They're not a top 10 team. They're not a top 20 team. They probably can and we'll get there. The front court seems too good. Golden's a really good coach but this one not a great, not a great result. TCU weird team. Lost at home to New Orleans. Almost beat Michigan. Now they take out Florida. Don't know what to make of them. Whatsoever result is more about Florida than it is about tcu. TCU plays Wisconsin later on today. We'll see if they can get that win. Okay then maybe they got something there. Florida had 19 turnovers in this game. Not good credit to TCU for its first non con win against a top 10 team since December of 86. It had been a long time since the Horned Frogs took out a reputable opponent. Now Florida is not a top 10 team in essence now but they had a top 10 number next to their name at the time of the game. So TCU gets credit for that good win for them on Thanksgiving.
- [67:31]
Gary Parrish
USC 1, Maui beat Boise State. Seton hall and Arizona State Trojans are now 7 0. Chad Baker Mazzara got 23 points in the title game. I've got Eric Musselman's team in the top 25 and one. It looks like he's about to take a third school to the NCAA tournament.
- [67:47]
Josh Gershon
Yeah I did. I was able to on the computer while I was covering stuff on the ground there in Vegas. Watch a decent amount. You know get some, get some watching in on on Maui. Highly dispiriting that they have moved the Maui championship game to the first tip of the day 9:30am on Wednesday. This thing used to be at 10 o' clock at night and was your way to truly just coast right into Thanksgiving and now they have flipped it entirely. That's a bummer. That's a TV decision. What can you do? I'm blaming our buddy Jan Schulman. I'm sure he, he forced the issue there to make sure that he's got, he's got to get off that damn island and get home in time for Thanksgiving. So we're putting it all on Dan. It's not Bellis. We know that Billis has zero ego. We know it's entirely Shulman. Entirely. Good on, good on USC Chad Maker Bazara wins Maui two years in a row. It was on Auburn last year. No player never won Maui twice. He does it in back to back years. Kind of cool for him and just as like as a he didn't go to USC knowing they were playing in Maui and he could not but that's kind of cool like you get to take back to back trips to Maui and you win the tournament two years in a row. Good on, good on him. Good on USC deservedly in your rankings at this point. That's that's quality quality little run there. It wasn't the strongest Maui field I get all that but Boise State, Seton Hall, Arizona State, their neutral site wins. They're all Q twos at worst. Be will be curious if any of those can move into quad one territory. I'm going to guess no and in the process it'll probably be the first time ever that a Maui champion has not beaten quad one. Wasn't a thing folks in the 80s, 90s, 2000s and even most of the 2000s. But I don't know if there's ever been a Maui champion with a less impressive three game run. And that's not a knock against usc. It's just what the field was this season. Whatever. If you're a trojan fan you're 7 0. You're off to a really good start. You don't have a I guess your next test is or actually Oregon's 80. Oh my God. Oregon is 87 at Ken Palm USA will play at Oregon on Tuesday for their for their next test there was also GP the Iowa won the acrisher championship. I didn't see a wink of that. So I know it's, relatively speaking, good week for the most part for the Big Ten, but I didn't see, Just to let you know, I know that. I know you had a note on it. I didn't see a wink of Iowa winning. But that's. That's good stuff for McCollum.
- [70:04]
Gary Parrish
Yeah. I mean, he's now 38 and 4 as a Division 1 head coach after winning four national championships at the Division 2 level. I've got Iowa in the top 25 and 1. He's just a real difference maker, it looks like. And you. You know, I was trying to think of the note that I had. I don't have it right in front of me, but Iowa won a multi team event, USC won a multi team event, Michigan, Michigan won a multi team event, Purdue won a multi team event, and Michigan State knocked out North Carolina on Thanksgiving. So it has been an awesome run for, for the Big Ten. And, and you know, that streak of no national championships since 2000 is something that gets brought up a lot. But, you know, I don't know that we're ready to put usc, Iowa in that conversation. But clearly right now, Purdue and Michigan are a part of it. And, you know, this could be the year where, where we don't have to talk about that streak anymore. 2026, the Big Ten, it seems obvious, already has multiple teams good enough to win six games in the NCAA tournament.
- [71:11]
Josh Gershon
All right, we are. This is one of those shows where there's just. There's too much basketball and we do have a little bit of a squeeze and we still have to do the Final Four and one and all games are on Friday. So. Gp, I'm gonna pull the ripcord here and say we gotta. For as much as we can still get to, we gotta look ahead and preview some games here. So are you ready for one more word from our partners? Have we taken all the words or can we go right to it? I honestly don't know. I've lost track.
- [71:37]
Gary Parrish
I think I'd like to get one more word from our partner. Hey, I never got an email saying we take too many breaks.
- [71:42]
Josh Gershon
Okay, one more word, partner.
- [71:44]
Gary Parrish
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- [72:15]
Josh Gershon
Okay.
- [72:15]
Gary Parrish
And I, I first, I didn't.
- [72:16]
Josh Gershon
The video teed up. I was like, I don't know if we're going to have something right. This for the live audience afterward, for everyone that's listening on their phones. Like, I understand. Like, that's not an issue. But I didn't know if Josh had something there, so.
- [72:25]
Gary Parrish
Okay. Okay. First things first. Did anybody go 50 last week?
- [72:32]
Josh Gershon
Let's keep it moving.
- [72:34]
Gary Parrish
I think somebody went 50 last week. GP running away with the final four and one. Just like always. I'm like the Michigan of the final four and one. I'm like the Yaxel Lindenborg of the final four and one. All right. I think you got into the podcast document and subbed out one of my games.
- [72:53]
Josh Gershon
Yeah, because you said to do it.
- [72:55]
Gary Parrish
Okay, but you don't.
- [72:57]
Josh Gershon
You hold on, hold on. But you're not prepped for that game, are you?
- [73:00]
Gary Parrish
No, not at all.
- [73:01]
Josh Gershon
Okay. I told Josh this before. I was like, here's what he wrote. I'm changing the game. He might not know it. Let's just go with it.
- [73:10]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, I wrote that in the document. I was like, you can sub out one of these games if you want to. And then I never looked at it again. All right. So you just stop me when I get to a place where we. You need to interject. All right. Game one, game one, Friday, 12:30pm Eastern. It's number five Yukon versus number 13 Illinois inside Roman Reigns Garden in midtown Manhattan. You can watch it on Fox. Yukon minus three and a half.
- [73:38]
Josh Gershon
It's a joke. How many college basketball games are on today that actually matter, are interesting and are good in the midst of a football filled weekend, you will not find me complaining. Wife thought we were maybe going to try and squeak in a little bit of Black Friday shopping. That is not happening. I got my bears at 3 o'. Clock. Probably going to lose the Eagles, but we're going to be dialed in. In addition to so much hoops, I'm not going anywhere today. Yukon, Illinois is the best game of the bunch. This could be the arrival of Braylon Mullins in the season debut. He practiced Terrace Reed had the the ankle issue from the late, late game injury against BYU almost two weeks ago. It feels like not reporting this. I'm saying it feels like both are going to play here against Illinois and if so makes it all the more intriguing. Josh, can we toss up the thing that we have to talk about very quick before we pick this game, though. And that is Brad Underwood winning college basketball Twitter this week. In the off season, when Underwood was bringing in all these players of a certain region. On the right side of your screen, if you're listening, you got to go watch the YouTube version. The right side is AI created. Okay. And I believe that was in the Trilly Donovan discord. All right. On the left. At some point this week, Brad Underwood recreated the. The. The Baltic Brad or whatever. Whatever Comrade Brad meme. With that outfit. Cabby cap and all. This is fu. Nominal. And I texted Underwood, I said, I'm not kidding. I need you to actually coach a game at some point this season in that outfit. I'm not joking. You will melt the Internet if you do it. Please consider it. Underwood is not texting me back, so I don't have an update there, but this is incredible.
- [75:25]
Gary Parrish
He doesn't text American zip codes back anymore.
- [75:28]
Josh Gershon
That's right.
- [75:29]
Gary Parrish
Yeah. No, if you come from American zip code, he sends you straight to you. You remain unread.
- [75:34]
Josh Gershon
You want, it's area codes that are on phone numbers, not zip codes. But I. I feel you. Yeah.
- [75:39]
Gary Parrish
You know what I meant.
- [75:40]
Josh Gershon
Yes, you know.
- [75:41]
Gary Parrish
You know what I meant. This is a start of a tough five game stretch for Illinois. UConn today at MSG. Then Tennessee and Nashville next Saturday. Ohio State and Columbus, Dec. 9. Nebraska in Champaign, Dec. 13. Missouri in St. Louis, Dec. 22. Five straight games against top 40 Kim Pom teams. Only one of them is at home. I'm taking. I'm taking the align I plus the points. No escalators is on my ass, non stop.
- [76:12]
Josh Gershon
All right?
- [76:12]
Gary Parrish
And I need this to balance out a little.
- [76:14]
Josh Gershon
You're not on the Internet. You have no idea what Paris is talking about. Just the phrase, no escalators is on my ass, non stop.
- [76:22]
Gary Parrish
I mean, he's on my throne.
- [76:23]
Josh Gershon
5% of the people listening to the show know what the hell that means.
- [76:26]
Gary Parrish
He's on my throat. All right? So I need this stuff to balance out. If St. John's is going to lose every game I need you kind of lose sometimes. Okay, so give me. Give me Illinois plus the points. I'm gonna go down fighting.
- [76:39]
Josh Gershon
Wow. Okay. Illinois lost four straight versus ranked teams on neutral sites. A line are averaging 94.6 points per game. That's the best average this deep into a season for the Illini.
- [76:49]
Gary Parrish
Didn't you got beat up by 70 last time they played?
- [76:51]
Josh Gershon
I'm getting there. 32 years last time. Illinois average yes. Yukon in Boston. I was there. TD Garden. They went on a 30 to nothing run in an Elite Eight game. Nothing on an Elite Eight stage. UConn did that too. To Illinois actually. For fun. What will, what will UConn's largest run in this game, BGP. What will the, what will the margin be for UConn in their favor? Not necessarily a blank to O run, but just a general run. Yeah, you know, I'm gonna say it's. I'll say they. Their best run in the game is eight points.
- [77:28]
Gary Parrish
I, I could see Yukon very easily going on a 9. 9.90 run.
- [77:32]
Josh Gershon
Okay, so I'm going 8, 0 run. You're going Nino.
- [77:35]
Gary Parrish
I could double down on my anti Yukon rhetoric and say they, they will never have a run. Zero runs in the game. But I don't think that's likely. I'm gonna go nine, nine zero run.
- [77:48]
Josh Gershon
How many points constitute the true start of a run? To me, a run? I, I think you got to go at least 8 points. Like a 7, 0 is not a run. 6, 0 is not a run.
- [77:59]
Gary Parrish
5.
- [77:59]
Josh Gershon
Oh sure as hell isn't a run. I think you got to be at least eight in to call it a run.
- [78:03]
Gary Parrish
I think in the normal context of a game, 80 run is where the, the conversation starts. But can you close a game like final minutes and they close on a 5, 0 run? No, you can't close on a 5, 0 run.
- [78:16]
Josh Gershon
No, I think that's a spurt.
- [78:18]
Gary Parrish
It's 89.89. And then Illinois closed on a 5, 0 run to win at 94.89. The Huskies were held scoreless over the final 1:14. Can't do that.
- [78:27]
Josh Gershon
It's a spurt. The Garrun's got to be 8 deep. Add it to the. Add it to the list. I will take. I'm gonna say Mullins and Reed play. Give me Yukon to cover. What's game time?
- [78:37]
Gary Parrish
All right, game two if. As long as it's still in there. Friday, 2:00 Eastern. Oklahoma versus Marquette inside Cedric Banks Arena. You can watch it on NBC. Oklahoma -1 1/2. Oklahoma -1 1/2. Cedric Banks of course Illinois, Chicago's all time leading scorer. This game will be played on UIC's campus. Cedric Banks was the 2000 Chicago Sun Times Chicago high school player of the year. You might remember that's the year he beat out both Dwyane Wade and Eddie Curry.
- [79:22]
Josh Gershon
Only Cedric Banks's family remembers that. That was the year that happened. You said this game is on UIC's campus.
- [79:29]
Gary Parrish
That's what. That's what I read.
- [79:30]
Josh Gershon
What in the world.
- [79:32]
Gary Parrish
I hope my wife didn't see this. I hope my wife doesn't see this and start asking questions because I'm not going to know what to tell you.
- [79:37]
Josh Gershon
About this one for her. This is Porter Moser's return to Chicago, by the way. Famously coach Loyola Chicago. We don't have time to talk about the Ramblers right now, but what in the world's happening there? Oklahoma has won 19 of its last 21 regular season non con games. Didn't lose a game in non con play last season and it's 32 and three and it's lost 35 overall in the non con. Nigel Pack. I had him on my preseason top 100 list. Some of you did not. He scored at least 15 in all six contests. Leads the team 18.5 points per game. Making more than four threes per game. Him and Xavier Brown combining the average nearly 35 a game. This is a super urgent one for Marquette. A weird story behind the story here. Shaka has this job. Might have always gotten this job. Marquette indicated interest in Porter Moser when he was coaching Loyola Chicago in the bubble. He did not take the interview because they were ongoing. Shaka Smart swooped in there. He has this job. Porter Moser goes to Oklahoma now they play each other.
- [80:37]
Gary Parrish
Lane Kiffin would have taken the interview. Lane Kiffin would have flown his whole family there.
- [80:42]
Josh Gershon
There was not any sort of announcement that we will wait until Loyola Chicago plays its Sweet 16 game to get an update on Porter Mosher's future. That did not happen. Egg bowl is. Egg bowl is today. Right? Right. That's happening.
- [80:54]
Gary Parrish
Oh yeah. It's like kicking off in an hour.
- [80:56]
Josh Gershon
Yeah, Crazy, crazy stuff.
- [80:58]
Gary Parrish
Anyway, it's always a big deal like my. My wife is Ole Miss grad, my brother in law Mississippi State grad. We're split family around here.
- [81:09]
Josh Gershon
With that in mind, I'm going down with the ship. This is your last chance, Marquette. This is your last chance. Gotta get this for good luck too. Okay, let's go. Well, I got two things going I can't do too. Hold on. Here we go. Here we go. Well, I say you're toast if you lose this game. Shock 4 and 3 for Marquette going into this one. I'll take the Golden Eagles to win a cover.
- [81:34]
Gary Parrish
I'm gonna show more faith in Shock is Smart. I'm. I'm gonna show. I. I can't imagine Marquette losing in Cedric Bank's arena.
- [81:46]
Josh Gershon
You can't imagine it.
- [81:47]
Gary Parrish
I can't imagine it. I mean, this is the same guy that beat out Dwyane Wade for high school player of the year in 2000. Chicago Sun Times. And now you're gonna lose in his arena. Absolutely not. Marquette plus the points. Is this game three? Is this where you. Is this where you decided to jump in and screw everything up?
- [82:04]
Josh Gershon
Well, yes, because the game you had was not remotely as good. So. Yes, we had that. We had. What happened here is Paris filled up a document before a bunch of Thursday results were going to give us Friday games. He didn't know what's going to happen. This game. We have to. We have to include this game.
- [82:16]
Gary Parrish
Yes, I had. Just for the record, I had it. Ohio State at Pitt inside Sam Young Event Center.
- [82:23]
Josh Gershon
Okay, that's not. That's now not in the final Four and one it is instead number nine, BYU versus a Dayton team playing for the esp. The Tori's Chocolate. Tony's Chocolate. ESPN events.
- [82:39]
Gary Parrish
I don't know. I only eat.
- [82:41]
Josh Gershon
It's not Willy Wonka.
- [82:42]
Gary Parrish
As much as I don't like that to be the case. I only eat Almond Joys.
- [82:45]
Josh Gershon
That's. That's actually unhinged. You only eat Almond Joys? That's the only chocolate you eat?
- [82:49]
Gary Parrish
No, I mean I'll eat them all, but I love Almond Joys. I don't think they get their due.
- [82:53]
Josh Gershon
They don't. They're solid every. Every now and then. But that's not even a top ten chocolate bar, so. Okay, keep it moving here. BYU minus ten and a half against Dayton. A Dayton Flyer scene by the way that your boy over here picked to be the best in the a 106 and 1 only loss at Cincinnati. They have defeated Marquette in overtime. They defeated George Town in overtime in a really good game last night that was going up against the Thanksgiving classic on CBS Sports. But nonetheless the Flyers get it done. BYU favor ten and a half in this game. Paris. They. They are a five and one team. They're only lost of course by two against UConn. You haven't done any prep for this game whatsoever. So just shoot from the hip. Who you got?
- [83:31]
Gary Parrish
Canard Davis is back.
- [83:33]
Josh Gershon
He is back. He has returned. Yes.
- [83:35]
Gary Parrish
That's interesting.
- [83:37]
Josh Gershon
Have one small on background detail about that. Well, two one and I'm. He was not when he got into the accident that led to his two game suspension. He was the victim in the accident. His car was hit by someone else. 2. He was not found to have been had alcohol in his system at the time. Of the accident. So good that's good for you.
- [83:58]
Gary Parrish
Like, you know, good. Like I don't want to see somebody screw up their life. So happy to see him back. I'll lay the points. I'll lay the points. I've still got B. We BYU in the top five. The top 25 and one. I'll lay the points. What is it, 10 and a half?
- [84:12]
Josh Gershon
Yeah.
- [84:13]
Gary Parrish
BYU minus 10 and a half.
- [84:15]
Josh Gershon
Listen, this could be a situation where DebonSA or Richie Saunders, who's tremendous, goes off in a big way and BYU Cruises again. This is a 9:30 Eastern ESPN tip scheduled here on Friday night, but I will take dayton Inside the 10 and a half Flyers have shown some real good moxie so far this season and if you have not yet given them a real look, they've got, they've got some good dudes. Keonte Jones is a good, is a good wing, a male Latang a very good three point shooter. Javon Bennett has, he's, he's a sprightly little point guard there. They got a little, a good little change of pace this on. In all honesty, this will be a very good test for byu. Three games in three days. Quick turnaround. Dayton is a change of pace team versus essentially every other team that BYU has faced so far this season. I like the Cougars to win, but I like Dayton to be inside that number. What do we got for game four?
- [85:05]
Gary Parrish
Game four, Friday, 7pm Eastern. It's Georgia Tech versus DePaul inside. Chad Baker Mazara Arena. You can watch this one. It's at Northwest Florida State. Chad Baker Mazara is an alum of Northwest Florida State. He was the region player of the year at Northwest Florida State. It's original. It's, it's technically known as Raider Arena. I know because I've been inside Raider Arena. Yeah, I've sat inside Raider Arena. Chad Baker Mazara played there. Now Today it'll be DePaul in Georgia Tech DePaul -1 and I had DePaul favored. How about look at the Paul just being favored day after Thanksgiving.
- [85:47]
Josh Gershon
Niceville, Florida. Yes, this game is on CBS Sports Network, which is why we're including in the Final Four and one. I will take Georgia Tech. I'll take Georgia Tech here to cover this. To cover this one. I mean, we'll see one lost team this honestly, this feels like a massive toss up, but I will go. Georgia Tech probably have the best player on the floor, Bay and Dongo. But yeah, give me the beast.
- [86:13]
Gary Parrish
Me and me and Josh are ride or Die with Chris Holtman.
- [86:16]
Josh Gershon
Okay, that's true.
- [86:18]
Gary Parrish
We're going to Paul minus minus the one.
- [86:20]
Josh Gershon
You're both going to Paul.
- [86:21]
Gary Parrish
I'm sorry.
- [86:22]
Josh Gershon
You're both going to Paul. You don't both get credit for the win. Just so we're clear. Two versus one.
- [86:28]
Gary Parrish
You were so mumbled in my ear I couldn't even understand what you said.
- [86:33]
Josh Gershon
You're both going with the Paul.
- [86:34]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, we're both going with the paw.
- [86:36]
Josh Gershon
Okay. You only get credit for one. Just so we're clear.
- [86:38]
Gary Parrish
I think this is probably the week I will. I'll go six zero.
- [86:42]
Josh Gershon
No, that's definitely not.
- [86:44]
Gary Parrish
All right, give me the A and 1. Let's get out of here. What are we still talking this fall along for? It's so long to be talking.
- [86:50]
Josh Gershon
Well, you didn't miss me.
- [86:52]
Gary Parrish
Not, not, not this much. I mean I missed you a little, but not this much.
- [86:58]
Josh Gershon
And one. Yeah. You ready for it?
- [87:01]
Gary Parrish
I couldn't be more ready.
- [87:03]
Josh Gershon
This game happens in less than two hours. I think there's a game already. Virginia Tech is already playing. By the way, that's not the end one the N1 is Vanderbilt versus St. Mary's one eastern ESPN two battle for Atlantis championship St. Mary's is 80 but 70 against Division 1 competition. It has beaten the likes of North Texas and has already knocked out Wichita State and Virginia Tech. Down there in the Bahamas, Vandy ranked number 24 in the AP poll. Its most notable wins have come against at UCF and then beat Western Kentucky and VCU at this tournament. The line profan duel. It's Vandy minus three and a half. Who you got?
- [87:39]
Gary Parrish
I moved Vanderbilt. I was a little late to the party. My apologies to my friends in Nashville. I was I. But I do I did as of this morning move Vanderbilt into the top 25 and 1. I guess that's the team that replaced Florida being moved down. They don't have that big signature win yet and though they can get a trophy here, I don't know that St. Mary's will qualify as a big signature win. But all of the efficiency numbers or at least most of the efficiency numbers are good. Like they they're strong in the computers and have been have been have been from the jump. So I'll lay the three and a half with Vanderbilt if only because you know that that'll make that give me less work to do with the top 25 and one on Saturday morning.
- [88:21]
Josh Gershon
That should always be your north star.
- [88:23]
Gary Parrish
I'm taking Vanderbilt for purely selfish reasons.
- [88:26]
Josh Gershon
Doors are averaging 98.1 points. That's second in the country to of all teams LSU Vandy 70 for the first time since 0708 and Vandy fans know that was a really really really good team especially by Vanderbilt Sanders here. St. Marius has has looked solid. Mikey Lewis 20 of 40 from three point range through eight games. That's hot. Polyus Moravskis has also been as good as they had hoped. I will go St. Mary's to cover in this one. Underrated going into the season, although not by your boy over here and GP and I will disagree. Give me a chance to hopefully make up some ground on him this week in the final one before we get out of here. Just a few more games to know. Very very quick all on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So much football, college hoops, you really stuff yourself here and then Sunday, whenever you want to go live on the show, I'm good to go because the Bears aren't playing and there's almost no notable games. But here on Friday. SMU at Mississippi State Mississippi State needs this win. That's a big time game now for for that program. I don't know how many basketball fans for that university are going to be dialed in given the Egg bowl, but nonetheless it is a very, very urgent game for them. Ohio State at Pitt. As GP mentioned before, Pitt absolutely needs that game. Gets that one on his home court so he can get it done. TCU plays Wisconsin. Nick Boyd had an awesome game for the Badgers on Thursday. They're going to play that one out down in San Diego. Colorado plays Washington. Those are two teams with better records than you might expect. Winner of that one's going to come out of the month of November feeling pretty good about itself overall, so I wanted to note that. And then for Florida will play against Providence as a result of losing its game down in San Diego. That now turns into a super urgent game for both teams. Frankly, Vandy, St. Mary's is the better games. That's why I made it the N1. But the most urgent I think the most urgent game of Friday is probably Florida versus Providence because the Friars really, really need a win in Florida given its preseason standing there. Yeah, it'd be a very ugly thing if it gets out of San Diego with a win. I don't think that'll happen. I think Florida will get it done. But those are your Friday games to know.
- [90:26]
Gary Parrish
All right, let's get out of here. Shout out to Devin Downey. Shouts to Chester. South Carolina. Shouts to Terry Teagle. He's a legend. Huck Larnell thank you guys once again for watching and listening to the I Own College Basketball podcast. If you're not subscribed, please go subscribe anyway. You subscribe to podcast, Apple, Spotify, more of us than there are of them. That should be reflected in the comments. Do that. We will talk to you again on Sunday. Till then, take care.
- [91:02]
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Josh Gershon
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Gary Parrish
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Gary Parrish
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Josh Gershon
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