B (4:48)

Hey there. I am Gary Parish. Welcome back, CBS Sports Eye on College Basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, dodo birds and leaky black. You hear that music? That's March music. That's March Madness music. Matt Norland is here with you. If you watch it on YouTube. It is time to honor Brandon Davies. You need to smash that like button. And if you haven't yet subscribed to the I Own College Basketball podcast. Please also do that wherever you subscribe to pods like Spotify and Apple. Let's get into it. The place to start is the Big Ten, where we are just wrapping up earlier today, a doubleheader on cbs. It's America's most watched network. Network of stars. Purdue, Ohio State. They got us started. We also had Michigan State, Indiana. We're going to get to both of those results in a bit, but we should begin by acknowledging that Michigan has already secured its first outright victon title since 2014. The Wolverines did it by beating Illinois this weekend, 84 70. That was the final. It was in Champaign. So Michigan is now 27 and two overall, 17 and one in the Big Ten. They got a three game lead over second place Nebraska with just two to play. So again already outright champs. Norlander, I know you're not surprised Michigan won the Big Ten, but are you surprised that the Wolverines just kind of ran away with it?

A (6:06)

Of course. Welcome to March, buddy. Great to be here. Look at us. I can't believe how many notes I have for this show.

B (6:16)

There's no way. Oh hey, screen, grab your notes. I could outdo you. You give me, you give me till you get me to like 710 Central, 810 Eastern to get started. Oh buddy, I got so many bullet points.

A (6:29)

So many bullet points. It's wonderful to have March here for anyone. Listen watching on YouTube right now. Audio version first episode of March. I need to direct you to Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you download there you get my soliloquy to enter into the month. It's a joy to do this every single year. Let's flash back to Friday. Yes, because guess what? Wolverines have locked up a one seed. This is not common to have any team period lock up. And gp. You know me, I am a stickler on this. It is true they can lose the rest of the way. They're not going to. But Michigan could quite literally, and they're not the only one could quite literally afford to lose at Iowa, drop a home game against Michigan State and lose their first game in the Big Ten tournament and Michigan would still be a 1 seed on selection Sunday. That's what occurred by nature of the win on the road 8470 at Illinois on Friday night. Getting it definitively handing Illinois its third loss of the season at home. And take it wherever you want to take it here. But as I noted late Friday, I think the most underappreciated thing about Michigan doing This winning the league, a quality league, a league that's going to get its fair share of bids with some real Final Four national title contenders doing it with two games to spare. Standalone period. And it only got to play Illinois once had to go to Illinois's place only had to play Purdue once had to go to Purdue's place has to play Michigan State twice but it had to go on the road first. And when at Michigan State before it gets the return game that that game is now irrelevant to the conference championship because Michigan has it also only gets to play I once has to go on the road to do that also immaterial. So the schedule and the way that it broke for Michigan this year was not in Michigan's favor. In fact, if you really go back to what Purdue was in the preseason and you see that the schedule that Purdue had in the Big Ten and you stack it up to some other teams, Purdue had it laid out for itself and couldn't get it done. We'll get to the Boilermakers in just a second. Another loss. They're really taking on water in some significant ways. Adaimara, You, Jaxa, Londonborg and Merez Johnson scored 54 of the 84 in this game and had 23 of their 34 rebounds this season. That big trio right there. I know Florida has the best front court in the country and I still think that is the fair, accurate state of affairs right now. Michigan's not that far behind. Those three account for 45% of the team's points, more than 50% of the team's rebounds, and almost 90% of the team's blocks. What Michigan is doing with its Big Three is obviously something that has keyed them to to get to this point, and it'll be interesting to see if they can do it. Oh, by the way, we do have the headline attached to this. L.J. cason is done for the year with the torn right. ACL was averaging 12 points a game in the month of February. It was actually his best scoring stretch of his young career. They lose him. Michigan does have some depth. I can't help but wonder if this is actually going to unleash Trey McKinney a little bit more. You know, they don't want to lose anyone, but I wonder how they tweak here and and if we don't see Michigan fall off whatsoever. GP Great job out of the Wolverines. Illinois has now allowed 86.1 points per game in its seven losses this season. That defense remains to be a major bugaboo, major one for the team that has the best offensive efficiency. Give me your thoughts on the game.

B (9:50)

Well, the game was interesting in the sense that hostile environment and then Michigan just goes in there and just handled it way they've handled almost everything. And I know that Duke also got a crazy impressive win this weekend. We'll get to that. The Blue Devils are going to be number one in the AP poll again. They are number one in the top 25 and one. Michigan is the favorite to win the national championship still at FanDuel, and the LJ Kasa news, at least as of this moment, has not impacted that at all. I hate this for LJ Case, just because I mean this. It's a dream season where you could. I mean, you sit around with your grandkids and you talk about this stuff and it's just you don't even get

A (10:31)

the chance to like, who knows if they'll win it or not? Who knows if they'll make the Final Four or not. You've been a contributing factor, Parrish, but he's not going to be on the damn floor in the tournament. Like that's such a dagger for sure.

B (10:40)

It just stinks like he'll still get to have the experiences he'll be on the bench. But it just to have that ripped away from you, the announcement coming on the first day of March that you're not going to be able to play in March Madness when your team is quite literally the favorite to win the whole thing. It just, I don't be hyperbolic, but like on a. On a sports level, heartbreaking stuff. I just feel for that young man I mentioned. Michigan is the favorite at FanDuel. They are plus 300 is the current odds. Duke is then second at plus 350, then Arizona at plus 500, then Florida at plus 750. So those are the four favorites in the betting markets in this order. Michigan, Duke, Arizona, Florida. Those are also the top four. Controversial or not. Those are also the top four in the top 25 and 1. So if you're arguing with me, you're arguing with FanDuel too. Take it up with FanDuel and don't let me bring DraftKings into this. If you're curious, because I know some of you are. UConn actually is tied for sixth for best odds to win the 2026 NCAA tournament. Yukon is listed at FanDuel right now at 1800. The Huskies are behind Michigan, Duke, Arizona, Florida and Houston and tied with Illinois and Iowa State, even though right now CBS Sports bracketology has UConn as the fourth number one seed, I was going to ask you, can Michigan lose out and still get a one? Didn't even have to ask it. You, you answered it. I agree with you at Iowa is Quad one at home against Michigan State is Quad one. So lose them both. If they lost them both, they didn't enter the Big Ten tournament. 274 overall, 11 and 3 in quadrant one. Simply put, I don't know everything that's going to happen between now and Selection Sunday, but I'm pretty certain this is going to happen. There aren't going to be four teams with bodies of work better than Michigan's. So the Wolverines are going to be your outright Big Ten champs and a one seed when Adam Zucker gives us

A (12:41)

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B (14:05)

more at Robert Half.

A (14:07)

We know talent. Visit roberthal.com talent today. Now what about Illinois GP dropped four of six figures to go into the Big Ten tournament with some wind in its sails because the next two obviously manageable home against Oregon at Maryland. Better than 90% to win both of those. Okay, 24 7. Then we see how the bracket breaks in the Big Ten and what Illinois can do. But this team has lost at, at Michigan State and OT lost home against Wisconsin, OT lost at ucla, OT and then not nearly competitive. Just wasn't ready Michigan extremely impressive how Wolverine just showed up on Friday and said nope, we're winning the damn conference regular season title tonight. It's happening in your building. We're going to rip it right here, right now and in the process do some, you know, some additional damage to Illinois's overall tournament resume. I'm about ready to, to break out my teams that can win it all list national championship wise. I'm still going to put Illinois on the list because it's the best offense still in America. But 30th and adjusted defensive efficiency. No team forces turnovers on fewer possessions in the entire sport. 365 teams than Illinois. Just where are you with Brad Underwood's team? As it's. As it's really been obviously undeniably knocked down a peg here over the past three weeks.

B (15:27)

It's. It does rate as the best offense in the country. It's not like they just bury you from the three point line or do some of the other things that you know, we, we typically associate with the most efficient offenses in the country. But like the numbers are the numbers. I'm not going to argue with them

A (15:46)

from the foul line is, is also contributing to that which might wind up being a factor in a Sweet 16 early day game.

B (15:51)

Yes, there you go. The issues are on the other end of the court in this stretch that dates back to I guess the, the six games ago where they're two and four. In this six game stretch they actually still rate as the seventh best team in the country at Torvik despite being two and four. But the glaring thing that stands out, they slipped to 59th in adjusted defensive efficiency in these past six games. In these past six games two and four were with the number one rated offense in the country. Even in this six game stretch. Still rates number one. But the defense has slipped considerably and that's how you end up losing twice as many games as you win in this six game stretch.

A (16:32)

Yeah, that's a problem. We got so much to get to. You want to keep it moving and talk the Big Ten stuff we saw earlier today on cbs.

B (16:38)

Yeah, I still just. If you care, I have Illinois in the top 25 and one at number nine, but they are clearly trending in the wrong direction. Next up for them, Tuesday at home against Oregon. Next up for Michigan again Thursday at Iowa. We had a Big Ten double header on CBS earlier today, so let's talk through that. Big win for the Buckeyes. Ohio State 82, number eight, Purdue 74. The Buckeyes improve to two and 10 in quadrant one. Remember, it was like a week ago, they had zero and then their win over Northwestern flipped to one because of some Northwestern good stuff and then they record the one over Purdue. Then this one's going to hold up through selection Sunday. The buckets are also 6 and 1 in quadrant 2. So they're 8 and 11 in the first two quadrants. Zero additional losses. 10 of the 11 losses are in quadrant 1. I think this is bigger for them than it is devastating for Purdue, but Purdue's the preseason number one. It sure ain't winning a lot anymore.

A (17:33)

It's not. I'll take the Purdue stuff, then we can wrap on on OSU boilers have lost three of four, five and six and starting 17 and one, I think have fallen to the three line as a result of this. And this was a team that just a blink ago was, you know, in contention to steal back that final one seed if it could win out. Not happening there. Braden Smith, run to be the all time assist leader is now getting warped by, by what's, you know, it's just, it's, it's getting somewhat overshadowed because Purdue's not doing what it should be doing. This is the preseason number one team and it's sitting here, you know, dragging its ass into, into March. I, I just didn't, I didn't see this coming. I, I didn't. The T ball score for Purdue is dropping like Illinois has been dropping three of the past four there. You know, the two losses home to Michigan, home to Michigan State, those are good teams. But again, four losses at home this season and then, you know, you watch this game here. I credit Ohio State for showing up and treating the game with the amount of urgency that it need to be treated with. But man, Purdue just couldn't get it done, man. Like in any way. Purdue is eight and seven in quad one games right now.

B (18:45)

Yeah.

A (18:45)

By the way, Ohio State has beaten Purdue three games in a row. So just surprising stuff on that. I'll send it back to you. I want to give something on the bucks, but just the Purdue stuff here. I think the question is, do we have a national title contender? My answer is no. After this. I'm sorry. Like, there's just been too many losses. I don't think it's there. Do we have a Final Four contender? I'm still inclined to say yes because you know me as it. As always, six is not four. Those are very different in that. In that. On that stage in that tournament. But right now, not a lot of confidence. And I haven't broken down all the. All the numbers here, bracketology wise, coming out of the weekend. GP but after this, my instinct tells me produce should probably be on the three line and not the two as a result of this loss.

B (19:22)

I haven't updated the top 25 and one for Monday morning yet, but I had them as a three. I know that's different than CBS Sports bracketology. Were two there this morning. I had him as a three on Sunday morning and I got some pushback on that from Purdue fans, but, like, they don't look the part right now and the resume is getting dinged up. It's not just one and three in the past four, by the way. It's five and six in the past 11.

C (19:45)

Yeah.

B (19:46)

From January 20th through today, basically six weeks of basketball produce five and six. Still ninth in Torvik, which is wild, but 59th in adjusted defense. Defense has been the problem in this stretch. It's been a problem for at least six weeks. It was again against Ohio State. The Buckeyes shot 51% against him from the field. Mobley and Thornton combined for 41 points. And simply put, whether it's Braden Smith, Trey Kaufman, Wren, Matt Painter, I talked to all of them at Big Ten media day. It was striking how comfortable they were talking about their goals. They weren't hiding from anything. We want to win the national championship. That is what we're here to do, to snap this Big Ten streak, to do it for our coach, to do it for our school, to do it for ourselves. We think we're good enough to do it. That is the goal. Anything short will be disappointing. And now it is March 1st, and they don't look like one of the contenders. They just don't. Now, I am never going to say they can't do it as long as they got that coach and that core, because I'm just not going to count them dudes out. They've won too much. I'm not going to. I'm not going to dismiss them. But they have not looked like a true national title contender except for like, little spots here and there. They've had these games where it's like, oh, boy. But then they don't look like that consistently. Like they can't put those games together over a two or three week span. It hasn't looked like anyway. And so I'll just keep it simple. Unless they start guarding better, and notably better, you cannot accomplish the things they want to accomplish guarding this way. You. You. You cannot be rated where they are in defensive efficiency over the past six weeks and actually have realistic goals of winning a national championship. Somebody will shoot 51 against you and. And eliminate you, and your season's done. And guess what? When you guard like this, it ain't even got to be one of the great teams to shoot 51 against you and eliminate you. It could be a bubble team like Ohio State.

A (21:46)

Sorry about that. That was me, dude.

B (21:48)

You had me over here scrambling. I'm like, what? I've unplugging my ifb, thinking I've got a bad connection. I'm over here working like hell, going, I hope he doesn't ask me anything right now. Sorry.

A (22:02)

I actually had a weird connection thing in my ear that I was fixing, so I muted myself when I was doing that and forgot to unmute Josh. I appreciate that.

B (22:10)

I assume. I assume it was my issue because it is almost always my issue. I'm the one. I swear to God. I can sit right here in this chair. All right? This board does not move. This mic does not move. Nothing moves. This is a studio built in a corner of my house. There is no reason for any other human to ever be in here that

A (22:30)

you just assumed it was you.

B (22:33)

And at some point I'll just sit down and it's like, I. I can't hear anything. I don't know why. Everything is exactly the way it's supposed to be, but I can't hear. And then it's like. And then sometimes I can't talk, or sometimes it sounds like I'm underwater. It's just like constant struggle. So I'm sitting there watching it. I'm like, what is going on now? What did I do to deserve this? But it was you. I'm glad it's you. Sometimes.

A (22:54)

That one's on me. That one's on me. What? I was. I'm gonna just start over.

B (22:59)

Just start.

A (23:00)

No, a bridge version. I need to see Purdue make the Big Ten title game to change my opinion. And now they've played themselves out. Dude, I was rolling for like 15 seconds. It had no idea.

B (23:10)

And the whole time I'm like this. I'm like. I'm like, what's going on? I've got My little cord out. I'm trying to plug stuff back in.

A (23:15)

Oh man. I don't even know what we should do in post for that, Josh. Like it's going to be dead air. I almost dropping the. Dropping drop in the spongebob a few moments later or something because we can't have people listening to the show after the fact and just have like 17, 15 seconds of dead air. We can't have that. So we got to tweak that in post. I'm so sorry. But yeah, produce lost out on the, on the triple buy here. They're gonna play on Thursday unless they get some help there. We'll see on that. Ohio State, I don't know where it's going to be in winter bubble coming out of the weekend because it's got a refresh overnight here. I don't think it's going to be top 40 results of this, but it's near that. It's near that cut line and it's either last two in or first two out as a result of this. It has more work to do. But on a weekend where we're, we got so much to get to. A lot of teams, you know, in the vicinity of the cut line did not help themselves and even teams that were like a little bit safe didn't help themselves and took a bad loss and got themselves even closer to that. At least Ohio State won and got it done. Let's go to the other one. Indiana didn't get it done. Michigan State 77, 64. The second game on CBS. Love to hear our our number one team teaming up for the first time this season with Bird, Raph and Tracy and and Sparty had no interest in keeping it close. Indiana Here is 1 in 7 against ranked teams obviously not in the projected field could not do what their counterparts also wearing red were able to do on Sunday. And as a result hoosiers have lost four in a row. 17 and 12. Kind of dying on the vine a little bit here. Have to win at home against Minnesota and then yes at Ohio State in a week for us to have any kind of belief they're going to break into the bracket. Good on Sparty. We had teams sitting on that 2, 3, 4 vicinity. A number of them took losses over the weekend. Not Michigan State. Good job. Out of Tom Izzo's group now 14 and 4 overall. Tied with Nebraska and the league ledger for second. One game ahead of Illinois and two games ahead of Purdue.

B (25:04)

Yeah, I know Indiana's struggling, but like that's still a road game against a big brand to go in there and control it the way they did. I thought that was impressive. The Internet could be not be more out in Bloomington these days. IU was first four out of as of Sunday morning according to CBS Sports. We'll see what that looks like when it updates on Monday. But like you said two and 11 in quadrant one. Michigan State has won five straight now. I had them 10th in the top 25 and one on Sunday morning. That would project as a three seed. That's where they are the CBS Sports bracketology on Sunday morning. So that lines up pretty good. Indiana, if they're going to get to the bracket, they got to get going Wednesday against Minnesota. I would advise you do not drop that one. Next up for Michigan State, Rutgers at home on Thursday. So that five game winning streak, you'd be surprised if that doesn't flip to six game winning streak.

A (25:57)

Yeah. All right, let's keep it moving here. Nebraska wins on the road against usc. I'll let you handle everything, Nebraska because USC is the story. It's a yikes. It's not just a loss at home. I don't know three hours before we went live here. Chad Baker Mazar is no longer on the team. Man, he's not on the team. He was the leading scorer and now USC does not have its two biggest portal gets Rodney Rice and had the shoulder injury. He was the leading scorer when he went out in mid December averaging more than 20 a game. But he's done. And then Baker Mazzara, 18 plus a game. He got hurt trying to get a block on a breakaway, returned to the game, didn't even sit with the team. He was like sitting on the baseline. It was really, really weird. Trojans are on the outside looking in. That's a stained reference. Unintentionally, I'm feeling those lighters, y'. All. But USC has just completely gone sideways here. This is a team. Here comes a trivia time, by the way. Okay, this is a team that started 12:1. It's now 18 and 11. It's not going to make the tournament. Barring just a turnaround that I don't see possible. USC won the Maui Invitational. Trivia time.

B (27:00)

All right.

A (27:02)

Not including usc because they could still make the tournament.

B (27:05)

Sure.

A (27:05)

Maui invitational started in 1984.

C (27:07)

Yeah.

A (27:08)

How many times has a team won Maui and not made that season's NCAA tournament? We are not counting Kansas, which would have obviously made it in 2020. That doesn't count.

B (27:19)

I'm going to assume it's very low. Like Very low. I'm going to say 2.

A (27:23)

It could be 0. It could be 12.

B (27:25)

I was close to about 0, but I'll say 2.

A (27:29)

Give me one more guess. 1. Gone the other way. 3. Providence. The first year it happened Vandy and 86, 87 and the Mike Bray goes topless. Lay around the chest. Notre Dame 18, 19 squad that had Bonz Nelson who got hurt. That really torpedoed Notre Dame season. So only three times you typically you win Maui, you're dancing and often you win Maui like you're a Final Four contender. Not happening with USC this season. That's some, that's some serious Jack stuff, right?

B (28:01)

Josh mentioned the Kansas State and Maui game. Like that's the OB topping game, right? Where he hits the three. It is and turns.

A (28:09)

They lost the game but he turned around, looks at the bench at Kansas and it goes in. That is what launched OBI toppins national player of the year.

B (28:16)

And that is another reason why we've got to get Maui back to where it needs to be. Because I don't remember things that happened in the Final Four when I was sitting on the court looking at them, but I remember I have real Maui memories. I don't know what's going on. I remember. I remember everything that's ever happened in Maui. And so we got to make that right.

A (28:36)

That's all that USC and Eric Musselman unfortunately have right now because this team has gone completely sideways. Congrats to Nebraska. It's done well for itself. Like it's going to get a good seed. It has the most wins in conference play ever in program history this season. Price Sanford's on one. I mean he had his third 30 point plus game of the season. He had 32 here. So good win on the road. Nebraska continues to do well, but USC with Baker Mazara stuff is just the headline stuff coming out.

B (28:58)

I mean Nebraska's 25 4. What are we talking about? I mean they're 14 and four in the Big Ten tied with Michigan State for second in the standings behind Michigan, of course. But Nebraska's 25 and four 11th at Kinpom. I mean just that right there is obviously they are going to be positioned to win a game in the NCAA tournament. And unless Jack Golke comes back and gets them, I think they're going. I think they're going to do it. Some Big Ten bubble stuff. UCLA lost in the central time zone at Minnesota. Iowa lost at Penn State. Iowa's not really on the bubble. UCLA as of this morning, nine seed Iowa, a seven seed ucla.

A (29:40)

Nine seed for ucla.

B (29:41)

That's what CBS Sports bracketology says. I just quote CBS Sports bracketology. I'm tired of these slack fights. I don't need them no more in my life. I don't need to.

A (29:51)

I'm sorry. Whatever. I'll fight the bracketology. I. I don't think that's justifiable. Whatever. Losing out in Minnesota 19 and 10, squarely in the bubble right now. I was more safely in the field. Take a look at that resume when you got some spare time.

B (30:02)

GP I don't have spare time till April. April 8th or something.

A (30:06)

I want to be in a hairy situation going into the Big Ten tournament. It still has room to breathe. Okay. All right, all right. But is there anybody out there? Because it's getting harder and harder to breathe. Shouts to Maroon 5. I'm just unintentionally backing into regrettable late 90s, early 2000s hits here. Iowa has Michigan and Nebraska, and that's a road game at Nebraska to wrap the regular season. It is on the table that that is a 2011 team going into the Big Ten tournament, which even still at that point, have to believe it would be in the projected field. But I would not advise it lose its first Big Ten tournament game if that happens. That's what. That's the position you put yourself in when you go on the road and play a big. An awful Penn State team that's outside the top 125 at Ken Palm and you lose. So I know it kind of really just zipped right under the radar, but sorry, Hawkeyes, you can't lose that game. And now you put yourself in a tighter position than you needed to.

B (30:53)

It's a Q2 loss, but keep an eye on that. Penn State is 126 in the net. They drop out of the top 135. That goes to Q2.3. And obviously that. That looks. That looks worse on your body of work. Hey, you want to do the B block next? We'll come back, we'll turn our attention to the Big 12, where. Let's give credit. Where credit is due. Texas Tech is doing just fine without JT Doppet. I apologize for thinking it might not go so well. That's on me. Hit your button. That's on me. I was wrong. Hold on.

A (31:24)

I gotta get there.

B (31:25)

Hold on, hold on, hold on.

A (31:26)

Before we. Hold on. Is it. Can I get it before Josh drops the. The thing?

B (31:30)

And where is it?

A (31:30)

Well, here it is.

B (31:31)

I was wrong. It says I hit you, but let's get a break. Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start. Thumbtack knows homes, so you don't have to. Don't know the difference between matte paint, finish and satin or what that clunking

A (31:46)

sound from your dryer is.

B (31:48)

With Thumbtack, you don't have to be a home pro, you just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app. Download today. This is Gary Parish from the Ion College Basketball Podcast reminding you that the big college basketball tournament is just right around the corner. Been a great season. Can't wait to cover what will be my 23rd straight tournament. Hand to heart, I'm telling you, there's nothing like being there live. If you can, you should try it. When you do, use Game Time because Game Time has the lowest price guarantee or gametime will credit you 110% of the difference so you can shop and purchase with confidence. You know, my family's coming up to New York to visit me while I'm working. I decided I want to take them to the conference tournament in midtown Manhattan. So I looked at Friday session four, clicked on four tickets. Dozens of options popped up. Found four in the lower level, clicked on that one, click later, I'm paying just like that. We got conference tournament tickets in nyc. It's going to be a blast. Take the guesswork out of buying college basketball tickets with Game time. Download the GameTime app, create an account and use code I for $20 off your first first purchase terms. Apply again, create an account and redeem code EYE for $20 off. Download the Game Time app today. Final score number 16, Texas Tech.

A (33:00)

Did you hear the soundboard through the HQ promo? I heard it. If you didn't, I heard it. I'm just cracking myself up over here. I'll be myself again. Go ahead, GP.

B (33:09)

Final score. Number 16, Texas Tech, 82. Number 4, Iowa State, 73. It happened in Hilton. I don't remember who it was that lost at Hilton the other day last week or the week before or something. And you know, I got called on somewhere and they were like, what do you think of this, gp? And I said, man, it's, it's a loss and it's a missed opportunity. But man, ain't nobody going to win at Hilton this year other than Iowa State, so it ain't that big of a deal. And then here comes the JT topping list, Red Raiders. And they just beat the Brains in too. It was like they stole one. They just beat them for 40 minutes. So they're now 3. 0. Texas Tech is after. Since losing JT Toppin to a torn ACL, I moved the Red Raiders on Sunday morning up to 13th in the top 25 and 1. They shot 58% from the field, 14 of 29 from 3. Like I said, Iowa State was undefeated at home up until this game. Iowa State's another team that's starting to like, you know, take on some losses that you didn't see coming. They're three and three in their past six in the. That stretch that dates back to February 10th. Three and three, 24th at Torbrick. Here's the problem. 70th in adjusted offense. They have been scoring lately.

A (34:16)

They haven't. You are just. I mean, sorting left and right.

B (34:20)

I.

A (34:21)

Buddy man's way. He will not be stopped. He cannot be stopped.

B (34:24)

And we went by. We went. Bike ride. Today we went to. We went to Shelby Farms. I know you people don't know nothing about Shelby Farms, but here in Memphis, Tennessee, we got Shelby Farms. It's one of the largest urban parks in the United States of America. About five times the. The size of Central Park. You're familiar with Central Park? About five times bigger than that. So we went out there, we riding bikes, and then my wife was like, can we go to Trader Joe's? And I said, if I can sit in the car and sort data while you're in there. And so I sat in the parking lot, sorted some data. She went inside. Trader Joe's paid twice as much as you have to pay for stuff.

A (34:58)

Oh, really? Oh, no, up here, by the way, I'm due for a. I haven't hit a Trader Joe's. It's been a hot summer. Six, seven weeks. I'm due to go tomorrow. And depending on which, now up here, Trader Joe's. No, that's a good. That's a good bargain.

B (35:09)

If I. Okay, if I spoke out of turn about Trader Joe, I know there's someplace she goes where I'm like, is that all the groceries? And she's like, yeah, I went to this. Like, there's a new little boutique grocery store that they put it down the strides. Okay, I know about these boutique grocery stores. That's where they charge you four times

A (35:28)

for the exact same idea of a boutique grocery store.

B (35:30)

But by the way, we do.

A (35:31)

We.

B (35:31)

We do. It's brand new. It cost me like 700 last Wednesday. Got four things. Got four things in my fridge. 700. So anyway, I was sorting data in the parking lot for like an hour and a half today. I'm Good, man. What do you want to know? Anything else you need to know?

A (35:47)

I. I got some stuff for you here.

B (35:48)

Okay.

A (35:50)

Iowa State largest halftime deficit at home in this game since 2021. It would. They were down 16. First loss home loss of the season for the Cyclones. Texas Tech has won three times this season against top five programs. That's the most in school history. It's not just that, folks. Iowa State was on the road. Arizona on V day, on the road. Duke at the Garden. Cameron north, basically on the road and with like six guys available, also has a win over top 10 Houston. Four top 10 wins this season. That's a Texas Tech school record. Red Raiders, appropriately so. Sitting on the four line, responding without J.T. toppin having the best four pack of W's of any team in the country. My dumb ass hopped on this podcast on Friday and said something along the lines of and if Nada was still producing, he would have dragged both our asses by this point of this show. Josh, we appreciate this. I said something like, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Texas Tech isn't a better. Isn't a better team without J.T. toppin. I might be. I might be dumb. I might be wrong. Because right now, this team. How about this? They won this game. Christian Anderson had 14 points, six turnovers and four fouls and they still rolled Iowa State. Jalen Petty hit a couple of big time shots when Iowa State was kind of creeping in. Josiah Mosley. Tyree Bryant stepped up and played well. Donovan Atwell 6 of 10 from 3 point range. He is shooting 46% from 3. Massive. Massive game. If you're watching the YouTube version, you saw Josh put up the graphic there on Tech without topping so far. Playing really, really well. Small sample size, whatever. On the road. And weirdly enough, Joshua Jefferson had another great game. He had 22, five, five and five. The five being steals. First Cyclone to do that. At least 25.5 and five in a game since DeAndre Kane in 2014. But all for not credit to Tech. Super impressive. I just did an HQ hit. I was told to pick the biggest riser of and the winner of the week. How can you not go? Texas Tech after that? Come on now. 22. 7. And the future looks bright. Home against TCU is next. You got to figure they're going to get it done there. And maybe it gets a little bit tricky against a desperate BYU team next Saturday in Provo. We'll see. But. But huge stuff. My bigger takeaway was Tech. But if you Want to say Iowa State. I won't necessarily disagree with you. That is yet another team sitting on that 2, 3 line. Couldn't get it done and couldn't get it done at home. Clones have dropped two of their past three and three of the past six.

B (38:10)

No, the bigger story was Texas Tech, if I'm being honest. There was a point last night where I'm like, that's where we're opening. That's a great story.

A (38:17)

I wouldn't have fought you on it.

B (38:19)

But then I was like, we got a Big Ten doubleheader on cbs. Michigan just won the outright. Let's package all that stuff together. It'll have. We'll have the freshest games in the A block, plus Michigan winning the Big Ten outright. So we were always going to get here, though. And I want to echo what you said. I'm a dumbass, too. I'm a dumbass, too. Remember, I'm the. I left them out of the bracket Preview. I got 15 of the 16 right. The only thing I had wrong was I didn't include Texas Tech. And to be clear, I do think that on that Saturday morning, you could make a case to leave Texas Tech out without saying to justify it, they lost JT Top. And I think just based on resume stuff, you could have made a case to leave them out. You could obviously make a case to leave them in, too, but you could make a case to leave them out. But when you factor in, it's like, iffy anyway, with the fact that they lost their best player and one of the best players in the country to a torn acl. I thought it was totally reasonable to just say, okay, you're not one of the 16 best teams in the country anymore. You should not be seated in that way in this television show. Like I said, not a big deal. But I didn't think they should be seated in that way on that television show for reasons I just laid out. And Texas Tech fans, understandably, were like, G.P. we get it. Some of them were mean. Some are like, you look like a penis. And. But then some of them were like, GP I hear you and I got it and I know what's up. But, like, can't you wait to punish us until, like, we start to lose without J.T. toppin? Can't you just wait till you see it to punish us? And I was like, I think I just ignored it. I'm not having conversations with strangers too often. But my thought was I could, but, like, we don't have to be stupid about this. All I'M saying is you're not the same team without J.T. toppin. You think Grant McCassen's even arguing with me? But I was, I was understanding of the point. Hey, let us, let us lose before you punish us for not having our best player and they ain't lost since. And so awesome stuff, tip of the hat and I got you back up safely into what would be my top 16 today, for what it's worth.

A (40:23)

Good stuff. Now as for Iowa State, guess what its next game is? It's against Arizona. And that game is on the road. Speaking of, Arizona gets it done against Kansas. 84 61. We had a fun little moment there where Peterson was starting to warm up and it looked like just, you know, for a good 10 minutes in real time. Okay, is this going to be the performance? Is this is Peterson going to will Kansas to a win on the road against Arizona and by the way in the process of sweep of Arizona and like that shut it down. 19 oh run. I believe they turned a 49, 47 game into a romp, a blowout. It wound up being Arizona's largest win by margin, 23 points against the top 15 team since 1998. I'm loaded up with some, with some stats here, but I'll, I'll throw it back to you before I give you a couple goodies. Your primary takeaway or thoughts off of of Zona just kind of extinguishing all of Kansas's hope there. And it wasn't just shutting off Peterson. I mean Badunga and Tiller combined for four points and I think they had four points and six fouls. So the front court was a non factor whatsoever.

B (41:29)

Not surprised. Arizona one of the McHale Center, I think. Tell me Arizona's playing literally anybody in the McHale center this season. I'll assume they're going to win the game. But I mean we had a few of these this week. I mean like. And we'll get this. I guess we haven't even got to them yet but like Florida did this to. Yeah, you know, Florida did this like just beat their brains in and then Duke did this to Virginia. Just beat their brains in. And so that was surprising that it's a 23 point victory over a Kansas team that's got the presumed number one pick in the draft and a Hall of Fame coach and that has also beaten good teams this season, including that Arizona team. They win a share of the Big 12 title by getting that victory. Barring a surprise, I think they're going to win the Outright. And what it means is that Kansas is not going to get a share for the third straight year and before this three year stretch.

A (42:22)

Trivia, Tammy.

B (42:24)

Okay, here we go. There. There had been 19 in the 19 years prior to this three games. This three year stretch. Let me restart just for, just for the sake of a possible clip, let me restart so I don't, so we don't have to make Josh edit this ridiculously. Let me see if I can say it cleanly like a professional. Before this three year stretch of Kansas finishing in places in the Big 12 that it had literally never finished under big, under Bill self, there were 19 seasons of Big 12 basketball. In those 19 seasons that preceded this three year stretch, how many times the Kansas at least win a share of the Big 12 title?

C (43:13)

18.

A (43:17)

About 19.

B (43:19)

17.

A (43:23)

All right, I'll take it.

B (43:25)

In the previous 19 years, Bill Self had once at least a share of 17 Big 12 titles. Insane.

A (43:34)

All right.

B (43:35)

Had never finished lower than third in the Big 12 in any year since taking over at Kansas. Insane. But then came 20, 23, 24, tied for fifth in the league. 2024, 25, 6 in the league. 2025, 26. Currently tied for fourth, but three games back of first place Arizona. And thus with no chance in the final week of the regular season to get at least a share of the Big 12 title. I always say Kansas problems are smaller than most people's problems. Ask Syracuse how things are going. Ask Memphis how things are going. You know these big brands, they. That have fallen off dramatically. Kansas has fallen off. Clearly not dramatically, but it's hard not to notice.

A (44:17)

It is. And this is my quick thought on Kansas because I do want to give Arizona some love. They're just, it's just, it's a moving target every game. It is a good sign. I actually thought we, I thought we were heading for only the second time. Trivia time.

B (44:31)

Okay, let's go.

A (44:32)

Thought we were only heading for the second time this season that Peterson was going to get 30 points and 30 minutes in the same game. What was the only other game that that happened?

B (44:40)

You got 30 points and 30 minutes?

A (44:42)

Yep.

B (44:43)

I don't know. But it was recently because he never

A (44:45)

played before that it wasn't that recent. Okay, you. Overtime win, 32 minutes, 32 points.

B (44:51)

Oh, yeah. But he needed 45 to play 32. That's. That's a ratio thing. That's a ratio thing.

A (44:56)

He had 24 points in 31 minutes on Saturday. That is now three consecutive games that Darren Peterson has been able to log 30 plus minutes. It's the first time this season that that has happened, so at least you got something there. It's Arizona's home floor. Credit to Arizona. I mentioned it for Michigan. It's also true of Arizona. Your Wildcats are a one seed lock. No one will be or not enough teams will be overtaking them. Regardless, Arizona is 9 and 2 against ranked teams this season. Ties for the most ranked wins in a season in program history. The last time this happened, 2001 and 2002 for your Arizona Wildcats. They are. They're going to be setting some program records here. By the way, that 0102 team did not make. Did not make it past the sweet 16. Was a three seed. That's got Jason Gardner, Luke Walton, Saleem Stoudemire as a freshman, loved Saleem's game. Channing Fry. Channing Fry played on that team. Oh, by the way, good old Channing. Apparently Channing Fry was in the building for this game on Saturday, by the way.

B (45:54)

For the Channing Fry game?

A (45:55)

Yeah, for the.

B (45:56)

Channing Fry was in the building for the game.

A (45:58)

That Memorial sound.

B (46:01)

Yeah, we killed Channing Fry and then he came back to life and he was in inside Channing.

A (46:06)

Kyle Booned.

B (46:07)

Kyle Boone did. Kyle Boone did.

A (46:08)

Kyle Boone did.

B (46:09)

Last thing KB did before he got out of here is kill Channing Fry and drop an F bomb. He was like, nicest guy in the world for all the. Every day that he worked with us. Nicest guy in the world. Most pleasant, delightful teammate. And then like on his way out, he's like, channing Fry's dead. Fuck F everybody. I was like, okay, KB okay, strong Joe.

A (46:31)

Tommy Lloyd has 30 wins against ranked competition in his first five seasons. He needs one more and he's gonna get one more somewhere, some way, somehow to tie izzo, who had 31 in his first five seasons as a head coach. So he's gonna hit that. And. And how about Braden buries? He had 20 points, 12 rebounds, five dimes. I think this is one of like his two best games and he's had some good ones here. Freshmen with at least 20 credit to our research department. I love this nugget. Freshman with at least 20 points, 12 rebounds and five assists against a ranked team in the last 20 years. They wouldn't be names that would spring to you to mind. Joshua Kogi from Georgia Tech did it in 2017. Brandon Miller did it for Bama against Texas A M three years ago. And then Owen Freeman at Iowa did it when Wisconsin was 20th. So kind of a weird one, but Nonetheless, Burry's joins that group and extremely impressive for Arizona. We can keep it moving if you'd like, and stick in the Big 12 because. Yeah, just go ahead.

B (47:22)

Yeah, yeah. Just a few more things in the Big 12, then we'll move on. West Virginia 79, number 19, BYU 71. BYU's 4 and 8 in the past 12. They were 12th at Ken Palm on January 14th with a 16. 1 record. Now they're 20 and 9 and barely in the top 25 at Ken Palm since January 14th. 4 and 8. Data sorting, 59th at Torvik. You ready for this? I like sorting data because it just hits you right in the face, like, hey, so what's the problem with BYU? Give me one second. Let me source some data. 4 and 8 in the past 12. Since January 14th, they rank 196. Than adjusted defensive efficiency. I don't care how great AJ debons is, if you're gonna rank 196 and adjusted defensive efficiency over 12 game span playing a big 12 schedule, you gonna. You're gonna lose more than you win. About twice as much as you win.

A (48:24)

Ross Hodge, good win for your program. Year one, West Virginia, actually in that locker room, they got belief. Hey, we keep going. Maybe we squeak in and make this tournament. Remember, West Virginia unexpectedly was kept out. Although there was a debatable case that led to Darren De being the next coach at Indiana. Here we are. West Virginia's got belief. Hey, we got enough to do here. Great. And. And that's. That's good stuff for the ears. I know Mountaineers fans, you've been waiting on a win or two here just to. Okay, we in the right direction. Year one, you got to win like this. However, the story has to be BYU and no Saunders. I thought that was glaringly obvious. In this one, West Virginia put up 1.25 points per possession. In this one as well, the boss had 20. He had seven rebounds. He had four turnovers. Team high. Rob Wright had 23. Not enough help overall there. And in the. How about this? The splits on BYU for 17 games, they were 16. 1. We're averaging 87 points and allowing 68. Last 12 games, 4 and 8 down to just over 81 a game. Allowing 84.5 points a game in the past 12. This isn't the past 4. This is the past 12. Cougs are 6 and 7 in quad one. Nothing better than a 7 seed right now heading into the final week of the regular season. That's an issue. My only other quick ones here on the Big 12 TC1 at K State. TC's in the field right now I think just to be decent there. And then ucl, ucf, excuse me, lost by one at home to Baylor. I think a win would have locked the Knights into the field. It didn't happen. Gonna probably get there but that's at least notable. We're at the point now inside two weeks of Selection Sunday, every single bubble result is notable. So at least wanted to address that. Should we get to the next team that has logged up a seed and that is obviously Duke and it's winning in the ACC GP over in Virginia.

B (50:00)

We absolutely should Just real quick on the way out I should point out CBS Sports Bracketology Sunday morning. TCU was an 11 seed in the first four, UCF an eight seed. Up next, it's the weekend whip around. We're going to start in the ACC. First, let's get another word from our partners. This episode is brought to you by Progressive. Most of you aren't just listening right now. You're driving, cleaning and even exercising. But what if you could be saving money by switching to Progressive? Drivers who save by switching save nearly $750 on average and auto customers qualify for an average of 7 discounts multitask right now quote today@progressive.com progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates national average 12 month savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and

C (50:52)

situations Spring always gets me in the mood to redo everything new season, new vibe. But every time I start browsing furniture, I'm reminded how fast those redesign costs can stack up. That is, except at Bob's Discount Furniture. If I'm going to refresh my space, I want style and quality without draining my bank account. And Bob's just gets that. Take the Playday Sectional. It's a total space saver with built in bookshelves and charging ports. Perfect for long lazy weekends. There's even a pop up sleeper for overnight guests. That's a lot of bells and whistles and for less than the competition or Bob's best selling Lush mattress. It's got high density Bob O Pedic memory foam and a cooling cover just like the competition. But Bob's cost only $999 and the warranty is 10 years longer. Don't even get me started on the modular Bob's Sectional. Buttery soft upholstery, family proof construction, multiple colors, built in storage, wireless charging, even the Bobo Pedic Memory foam. At only 250 per piece, it's easy to build your dream sectional for hundreds less than the competition. So when you're ready to get going on that long awaited home makeover, know there's a better way to score wow worthy pieces at everyday low prices. Stop into your local bob store or shop online and see for yourself.

A (52:12)

My day kicks off with a refreshing Celsius energy drink. Then straight to the gym pre K pickup back home to meal prep. Time for my fire station shift. One more Celsius. Gotta keep the lights on when the three alarm hits. I'm ready. Celsius Live Fit. Go grab a cold refreshing Celsius at your local retailer or locate now@celsius.com

B (52:34)

the Weekend Whip around is brought to you by Domino's Guys, this is a championship level deal. You can get any pizza with any toppings for just 9.99. It is time for the weekend Whip Around. We're starting the ACC where Duke has secured at least share of an ACC regular season tit title and the number one seed in the ACC tournament, Duke 77. Number 11 Virginia 51. A 26 point victory for the Blue Devils. And sort of the point I made in the top 25 and one I led it with Duke was that, you know, as of still Sunday morning, Virginia's the second highest ranked ACC team, the second highest rated ACC team in the net at Bart Torvik, Kenpom. Most of the computers. Not all, but most. And if I didn't it just, I don't have them in front of me. But it's like it might not be Torvik, but it is Evan. Mia, you got it. It's most of the computers. They're the second best ACC team. And if that's true, then this is also true. Duke has no peer in the ACC for the second straight year. There's nobody, nobody that can compete with them. They're just, they are, they're a notch ahead of everybody else. And here's another thing that I just sort of used to highlight this in the net. There is a 13 spot gap as of this morning, I believe between duke and Virginia. Thirteen gaps, 13 spots. And that's between one and two in a Power Four league. No other Power Four league, the Big 12, Big Ten or SEC has a gap between one and two that large Duke has separated from the league and that's how they wrapped up the number one seed in the ACC tournament with still two games to go.

A (54:18)

Speaking of gaps, the gap between Duke and Virginia and in Net rating at Ken Palm is about a little more than 13 points and change. That's between one and two. That same gap between Virginia. To get the same amount of a gap, you'd have to go all the way down to Virginia tech, which is 57. Right, Ken? Pop, it's, it's outrageous. You said a notch above. I'm about ready to say three notches above for Duke. They took and this is another Duke 1 seed lock. So coming out of the weekend, three of the four 1 seeds are now locked. They were trending that way to begin with, but like they're locked. They cannot, they will not be shifted off that one line. Congrats to all the fans of those three teams as we have a compelling race for the fourth one seed. We'll get there in just a second. Go ahead.

B (55:03)

It was just gonna. We threw with Duke.

A (55:06)

No, I was, I had a couple things here.

B (55:08)

Oh, please go.

A (55:09)

Yeah, yeah. Like the stunning part here. Duke has 10 wins versus ranked opponents this season. GP that's the most in Division 1. It's only the fifth team ever. Now Arizona is going to also join this group. You would think they only need one more. The fifth team ever with at least 10 wins against ranked opponents in a regular season. So before you get to postseason stuff, Indiana did in 92, 93 actually, and Kentucky did an 02 and 03. They had 11 a piece and then Alabama and last season had 10 and Auburn last season had 10. So you don't. Again, just in the regular season, you don't typically get this good on. Good on Duke. And just the fact that they, they made it a laugher after. This was the first time two ACC teams started 25 or 3. 25 and 3 and met. And it wasn't close. It was only the fifth time in the past 20 years where both teams entered the game from an. In an ACC game with 25 plus wins. All the other ones were Carolina, Duke. So Virginia had a chance here to keep it close. My dumbass picked him to cover. Oh, I couldn't have been more wrong. And Duke got it over with early. Virginia had 51 points. They averaged more than 82 going into the game. So it's just one piece of evidence after another after another. Duke is elite. This team is. I know last year's team you can say had more talent. I think that is borderline inarguable at this point. But. But as a collective unit, this team has gotten itself a seat at the table with last year's group and should be considered just as Viable to win a national title as last year's group. That defense has been awesome. It has held all but two teams this season below their scoring average versus what it is when they play the game and the score after that. So just one thing after another. My only thing on Duke is that last year's Duke team In a bad ACC blew away the record for point differential plus 434. That feels like that's never getting broken. But this team is at plus new 290 with two to go and it's going to beat the, oh, 2001 Duke team. It's going to be the 0102 Duke team and it should be top three all time. The 80, 80. Sorry, excuse me. 98 99. Duke team that lost in the title game was second to last year. So one thing after another after another. This Duke team is outrageously good. Boozer's the best player on the team, but it's more than just him. And when you see Evans cash in the way that he does, it's. It's awesome. So sorry for the info dump on you, but I sometimes think we just take Duke a little bit for granted, which is going to make Duke fans say yes. And the people that think this podcast hates Duke be like, what are you talking about? But that just speaks to Duke. Duke inspires so much coping and so much hating and so much loving from people online because it's the most polarizing brand in the sport. You need to. You need to realize just how strong this team is. It's more than just Boozer.

B (57:47)

If you had Cooper, Flag and Con Canymple, you were more talented than this team. I don't know if you've been watching what those guys are doing in the NBA, but they're like the two. They're like the two best rookies. Like, I don't have to sell you on Flag. Knipple has already broken the rookie record for three pointers made in a season. There's like 20 something games left. He's already smashed the record. So I was talking to somebody last week, just about a million different things and it was like, yeah, like, you know, Shire's got. John Shire's got a team that can win the whole thing this year, obviously. But like, if he doesn't get one, I don't mean to put like pressure, but like, if he doesn't get one at some point soon, like in the first five years, six years, something like that, people, it'll become a thing where

A (58:28)

people start to go, yeah, especially you have Back to. Yeah, the national player of the Year. Back to back years. Right. It'll be a little bit of caliper stuff, Al, Obviously one, one. But like there could be something like that.

B (58:36)

Yeah, it'll be, you'll start to hear, how did you have Cooper Flag and Con Canipa not win the whole thing?

A (58:42)

Well, I mean, if, if, like, if those two like Flag, we think he's

C (58:45)

going to do it.

A (58:45)

Canipple's obvious on his way. If they go on to make like, you know, seven, eight, nine all star teams, it'll be, it'll be all the more question for you.

B (58:52)

I mean, I mean, but like that, that exists in college basketball all the time. Like Akeem Olajuan and Clyde Drexer did not win at all. RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson did not win at all. Like there's, there's a, a million of those throughout the history of college sports where it's like, how did those two guys on the same team not get it done? Well, you know, it's hard to win the, it's hard to win a single elimination tournament with 68 teams.

A (59:13)

What do you think is the second most notable result from the ACC over the weekend? Because I have an answer and I wonder if we have the same one.

B (59:22)

Okay, I'll, I'll tell you the one. Okay, this is not the right answer, but I did, I did move Miami into the top 25 and 1. They, they beat Boston College. They're now 23 and 6 overall, 12 and 4 in the ACC alone and third in the league standings, up to number 23 in the top 25 and 1. But I actually. Most interesting result. This is so off most people's radar. I don't even, I don't even know that we should be talking about it, but Cow is in position. Cow is in position to make the NCAA tournament for I think the first time since 2016. Shouts to Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rab and that's right. And they're, they're the, their last four in right now, second to last in the bracket, down to 64 in the net. And the reason is because they took a 16 point Q3 loss at home this weekend to pit. Yuck.

A (60:22)

Get that team out of the tournament, man. 16 point home loss. That is, that is the answer. I know Cal because of the nature of now how the ACC is constructed. It's all the way out on the left coast. It doesn't have any star players, it's not playing and it hasn't been ranked. So it's like way it's about as off the radar for a fringe tournament team as you can possibly get. Can't lose at home by 16 to Pitt. Pitt is awful. Pitt is going to make a coaching change. It's 11 and 18. It's. It's just been spiraling in irrelevancy unfortunately for the majority of the past five, six seasons and it's not a factor this season. And Cal lost at home by 16 to Pitts so it's not the only bad loss from the acc. But I did I, I can't let the Golden Bears out of here without getting a little bit of that. NC State lost at Notre Dame 9690 and Ottoman. NC State is still in the field but that's a woof. Like a lot of these teams that there were a lot of teams that were either bubble teams or like like Iowa. You've got these teams in the 7, 8, 9 seed range and they're playing on the road against terrible competition and they couldn't win over the weekend. And I don't have an answer for it. Like it's not easy to do all the time. Maybe you're just itching to get to the postseason and it's one more road trip and it's one more game and you're not as up for it as as you typically would be. I don't know. You can't give. Louisville doesn't have that excuse. Now Mikel Brown Jr. Wasn't that whole thing GP right. And they've had some injury issues but Clemson ends its stops the bleeding, gets the gets the win. But Louisville, you know Brown had his worst game. He had a season low five points. Didn't hit a three pointer, two of ten from the field. Cards I think have lost three of four here and Clemson really, really, really needed the win. Like had to stop. Stop the skid in a significant way. But I think I mentioned, I can't remember what team I mentioned to you a little while ago I think it was Iowa. I was like look at that resume. You want to take a peek at Louisville 2 and 8 against their 10 toughest teams this season. And the winds are at home against Kentucky and NC State so gonna make the tournament.

B (62:07)

But and also thank God for Darren Peterson or else we might be focused on Michael Brown a little more than we are.

A (62:14)

You've very well could be true. Yes.

B (62:16)

Yeah. You know like we're all over here wondering why Darren Peterson is in and out of the lineup and never quite as 100 as he needs to be. And Louisville's been dealing with it on a slightly less national level. I guess. I'm sure it's all the talk in in the Commonwealth, but it's been less of a national story because of the Darren Peterson before we we got to

A (62:35)

get to the just incredible stuff Saturday night. I will at least mention Carolina got it done against Virginia Tech. Not a notable result other than you avoided a loss like you get it done. Wait on Caleb Wilson return. So at least inject that that result there.

B (62:46)

All right, let's move over to the SEC Final Score Number 7 Florida 111 Number 20 Arkansas 77. I mentioned this one earlier. Florida just dominates some Gators by 34 to secure at least a share of the SEC title. We had a lot of that like power conference is getting wrapped up at least with one team over the weekend. They've now won nine straight games, beat Mississippi State on Tuesday and they will have the outright Southeast and conference championship and they're going to be 20 something point favorites over Mississippi State. So congratulations to Todd Gold in the Gators. They're gonna win this thing solo.

A (63:23)

Solo.

B (63:24)

Solo.

A (63:26)

Dude, this game solo golden and cow with a little bit.

B (63:32)

Oh yeah, they got it. They got into it. It was like a dead boss. It was a dead ball situation. I've seen these things before. Yeah, it sounds like sometime the way these things normally go down. I don't know how exactly how this one down. The way they normally go down is there's a dead ball situation and one of the coaches starts trying to talk to the refs and the other coach says hey, you can't let him talk to you. Come talk to me. And then the other coach says hey, I'm not talking to you. And then they start yelling at each other because they're both mad because they feel like one's getting an advantage with the officials. It seemed like something.

A (64:02)

It was.

B (64:02)

It was at least under that umbrella a little bit.

A (64:05)

Yeah. It was just, you know, Cal also in the midst of tied for his worst loss ever. Paris and I were at the the one that matches this, the 34 point blowout to Duke Zion. Yeah, Duke. Yep. That was.

B (64:18)

I remember. I remember I talked to a. Let's just say somebody on the Kentucky staff.

A (64:27)

You can name him. I'm sure it's fine.

B (64:28)

I'm sure it would be fine too. But it was after the game. You'll know why I won't name them once I tell you what they said, but it was somebody on the Kentucky staff and I sort of bumped into him in the hall after the game, where were we? Like Indianapolis or something. Okay. Like bumped in them in the hall and you know how it is, you bump into a coach they just lost by 30 million. It's like. And I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, hey, what? I'm like, hey, man, that was rough, huh? And he goes, yeah, yeah. And I said, man, I said, man, I picked you guys. And you know, he said, I'll never forget. He goes, you should have called me before you did that. He was like, we, we didn't think this was gonna happen, but we knew we were not in a good place. I was like, I was like, I picked you. He said, you should have called me. I could have told you. Don't do that.

A (65:12)

That's classic. That's very real. Florida got its largest win over a ranked team in the history of the program with that 30.4 point victory. The Gators, the only team in the last 15 years with 110 points and 50 rebounds. 50 plus rebounds. It's just outrageous against a ranked opponent. Surprised? I was surprised by the fact that this is the first at least share of an SEC regular season title for this program since 1314. Did that surprise you when you saw that? Because I was surprised. It's been 12 years since Florida finished a season with a, with a regular season crown in the sec.

B (65:44)

I guess I would have known Todd didn't get one yet. He's one of the rare coaches who gets the national championship before the conference championship. And then I wouldn't have assumed there was one after Billy before Todd. So I guess if I'd have really,

A (65:57)

if I did Mike, I guess, you

B (65:59)

know, Mike Whiteman, if I'd have thought about it, I would have probably said no. I do believe that that makes. That's the way I remember it. But it does sound crazy that a program that has accomplished that much had gone more than a decade plus since, you know, at least sharing their league title.

A (66:12)

Seven players had double figures in this game. Florida hadn't had a game like that by, against any team in nine years. Florida has won nine. Excuse me, Florida has won, yeah, nine straight games in the league by at least nine points. The only other team to do it for a longer streak was that epic 95, 96 Kentucky team that did it 10 times in a row, at least nine points by margin of victory. Every ranked team that Florida has played in the league, it is defeated so far this season. It's the third. How about this one, too? This is just a hell of a Nugget from our crew here. Here's the exact wording they sent along. Florida is the third team in the AP Pole Era that goes back to the 40s folks with 90 plus points in six or more consecutive games in the same season against ranked opponents. It did it.0102. Duke did it 59 60. Ohio State actually only had five Vegas and 8990 did it nine times in a row. Look up the running Rebels, kids. They were really, really good. That team won it all. And then Loyola Mary Mountain 89.90 did as well. They were famously among the most potent scoring teams in the history of the sport. Florida GP. I know you got them fourth ahead of UConn. I wouldn't. But I understand it in terms of quad one wins here. Here we are on Sunday night. Arizona's got 13, Duke's got 12. Michigan, Florida have 11. Those are the only four schools that have double digit quad one W's as of the first day of March.

B (67:33)

UConn has eight if you're interested. I have Florida four, UConn five. Despite UConn winning the head to head matchup against them earlier in the season. I just think I, you know, I've already explained it. I don't need to do it again. I, it's subjective obviously, but I can, I can interpret Florida's body of work as better than UConn's body of work. Florida is fourth in the net behind only Duke, Michigan, Arizona. They are fourth in the betting markets to win the national championship behind only Duke, Arizona and Michigan. So those are my top four. It's the top four in the net. It's the top four in the betting market. At least I have some support. Final score, number 17, Alabama 71. Number 22, Tennessee 69. I don't know if you've noticed in like the ESPN box scores team stats part of it. They've, they've added a new thing in there that I just sort of noticed. Do you, do you know, do you ever look at those?

A (68:30)

I look at it because I've got myself stuff coded for four factors. Thank you. Torvik. You don't know anything about that, do you? Jp, you don't have the Torvic add on, do you?

B (68:39)

I think I did at one. I think, I think I had some add on at one point and I did not. It was like, let me, let me

A (68:45)

bring up this box score here.

B (68:46)

I had a add on from somebody at some point. Perhaps it was Torvik. And then I took it off because I was like, I don't need these numbers as much as I need the other numbers that would be here in this place.

A (68:55)

Fair enough. I'm bringing up the box score specifically. Let me just see what we got here.

B (69:01)

You got to go to the team stats like you know where it's like three point percentage, field goal percentage and then there's something in there that's just new this season.

A (69:09)

How about percent led for the game?

B (69:11)

That's it. That was not there last season but now they have it for every game and it's, it is as it purports to be. And in this game Tennessee led for 92% of the game. It was tied for 7% of the game. Alabama led for 1% of the game at the very end and it was LeBaron Filon making a little jumper to give him a two point advantage. Then Tennessee had like three shots around the riff like within five feet and couldn't get anything to go. So Alabama, I mean that is, that's the definition of stealing one on the road. You are on the road the entire game behind and then in the final 30 seconds you take the lead and then you win it. That's, that's theft.

A (69:59)

That was a theft. It wound up being JP Estrella on an island against Phylon ball and was shaking his head like you're not just. They're not going to put him on me right now. He's a pigeon. That's. That was, that was a heck of a moment and a great, a great one. Out of Bama has won eight in a row to get to 12 and four in the league. A quick refresher on the SEC standings. Florida 14 2, Bama 12 and four. Arkansas by virtue of the loss loss pace with Bama and is 11 and 5 and those, you know, obviously Bama got the win, the huge one over Arkansas. So higher in the pecking order in the seed situation going into one more week to go in the season. But yeah, great, great stuff out of Bama Phylon was that, that, that game winner was awesome. And it's the play like it happened here. So Alabama fans are going to know it and it was a great win. It was a theft. It was. If that exact play happens in the first, second Sweet 16 lead eight of the NCAA tournament like it is one of the five biggest moments of March. He was. That was such a nasty, nasty game winner by a guy who is among the most talented guards in all of college basketball and handed Tennessee its fifth blown lead of 10 points or more this season. Tennessee has just not been able to handle having these big leads more often than not it is a major personality flaw with this group. I give Alabama credit it has it. It shoots the three well at double digits. Threes again right. Cell was really, really good in this game. The guard stepped up and got it done. They Alabama got mauled on the glass and it and it wound up not mattering. Now that's, that's you can't win consistently all the time like that. Tennessee should have had the game. Should have and and and instead Alabama returns the favor because the Vols won on the road what 3, 3, 4 weeks ago I was in Utah when we when that because the Betty Ako was available. That was the first game he played and even with them they wound up losing. Tennessee got the win. So these teams hand each other their their own medicine in the, in the opposing team's venue.

B (72:01)

Kentucky 91, number 25, Vanderbilt 77. We did that one at RUP. Vandy has now dropped three or four and seven of 13 down to a five seed. I've got him down to 22nd in the top 25 and one since January 14th. Just six and seven through 13 games. 26th at Torvik, 30th in offense, 51st in defense. Now on the season they're 15th in offense, 28th in defense. So like they're just a little worse on both sides of the ball. And when the margins are already thin for you, keep in mind this wasn't a team that was supposed to compete with Florida and Arkansas for the SEC title. This was a team that got off to an incredible start but didn't have signature wins. But the efficiency numbers were great and it forced us to pay attention and it started to come back a little bit. They just got a little worse offensively, a little worse defensively and that is enough to make it where they don't win those games they were winning earlier in, in the season. They are what did I say, a five seed. As of Sunday morning. Kentucky with the win is projected as a 6 seed. CBS Sports bracketology as of Sunday morning. And I guess that's a, that's a nice win for Kentucky, but it's a win over because it's a win over ranked opponent. But the truth is Vanderbilt's been been struggling for a little while and frankly even uneven Kentucky is probably supposed to knock that out at home.

A (73:27)

Yeah, I mean Vandy, I was at the game in Nashville and he won 80 to 55 and it was not even close. And in that moment, you know, you kind of think okay, Vandy took the three game losing streak and maybe they're going to be on the right path here. Both these teams like general vibes, like very similar to me and they're. You just said that they're just a C line apart there. Good for Kentucky. Got five wins versus ranked opponents this season and still getting it done. Colin Chandler, if this is going to be part of it, okay, maybe we have something here and maybe we've got a Kentucky team. Get the right kind of matchup. Let's say it ends up on the sixth line, get past the 11, get a good matchup with the three. Depending on who that is, might be able to do it. Vandy also didn't shoot well from three, which was, which was out of character there. Kentucky is 131 this season when it has a halftime lead. It has struggled in a lot of games like BYU has as well. Getting off to a good start that is very, very, very key elsewhere in the sec. I'll tour through it, you tell me what you want to talk about and we can keep it moving here. Missouri just stayed on the right side of things. It got a win at Mississippi State. No messing around. I love to see that. Tigers, you're doing a good job. You're pacing toward it. Texas, similarly, double bubble game at A M. A M is, is really flirting with fire here. You know, it's still got time, but this was a team that got off to a really good start. Things were looking good and now reality is set in Longhorns. They've got some breathing room. I wonder if A M is not like bound ultimately for Dayton. We'll see. A M has lost six of its last eight, Texas one six of its past eight games. And the other one in the SEC is Auburn, 15 and 14. It is out of the bracket. Loses at home to Ole Miss. Bad Ole Miss. And I like, I've seen a few different bracket projections. I think our own model has Auburn like the second team out. I'm sorry, like, if the committee were to meet tonight and build this bracket, Auburn would not be the second team out of the field. Maybe it would be like the, the fourth team, but I don't even think that would be the case. This team has played 29 games and lost 14 of them. Yeah, you get all of those opportunities. You have to show that you can win more than this. So I, I, I mean, I mean it like I push back on this. We can't be giving these high major programs all of these opportunities and be like, well, yeah, they've got the win over St. John's they beat NC State at home, by the way. They've got an amazing win at Florida, I will give you that. But they have lost 14 times this season. How many times you lose matters and the context of how many times you get those opportunities also matters. Auburn has home, LSU at Alabama minimum. Win those two and your first SEC tournament game, then we can talk. But if you get a lot, if you get to 15 losses, period, I would highly, highly advise you to get to a minimum of 18 wins. And I don't think it's going to happen. I think Stephen Pearl misses the tournament in year one.

B (76:06)

We'll get to Miami, Ohio, and I'll make my case for them when we get there. But I will say, to echo what you said, if there is a selection committee in a conference room that reaches a conclusion that you'd rather have a 16 loss, in theory, 16 loss, Auburn over. In theory, let's say, because this is where it would become a conversation, a two loss, Miami University. You have lost the plot. If you think we need shitty Auburn with 16 losses in this bracket instead of what has been for much of this season, the best story in the sport. Like, if you, if you can't, and I understand all the data, numbers and Quad one stuff you can use to support a Indiana or an Auburn in the field over a slip up and lose twice, Miami, Ohio. But I just think if you do that, and I know you can do, I know you can make the numbers work. I got it. But if you do that, you have, you've, you've lost, you, you. Have you voluntarily given up something that makes this thing great?

A (77:14)

I completely agree with you.

B (77:16)

Let me just. A couple of those things. Let me just touch on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Circling back to Missouri. So that's my thing on Ole Miss, Auburn, circling back to Missouri. I do a weekly hit with Seren Petro in Kansas City, and we mostly talk about Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, because that's the market. And so, boy, we've had fun conversations this year. We got Darren Peterson, Jerome Tang, and like Mizzou, living on the bubble. So there's something to talk about every Tuesday. And one of the things I pointed out last Tuesday was that Missouri, according to CBS Sports, was projected in the first four, like right there on the bubble, four regular season games remaining. And at the time, if you went to Ken Palm, they were projected as underdogs in all four. And so it was like, all right, you, you're, you're on the right side of the bubble right now. But if you don't close strong, you will miss this thing. And the most famous computer that does this stuff thinks you're not going to close strong. They're predicting you as underdogs in your four regular season remaining games. And then they went out that night and upset Tennessee 73, 69. I think that performance actually led to them being a slight favorite at Mississippi State when they otherwise weren't projected to as of Tuesday morning. But after what happened Tuesday night, they, they, they flipped to a favorite and then they go down there and knock that out. 88, 64. So that, that's great stuff for Dennis Gates in his program. They had that horrific season. You remember it. But Mizzou decided to live through that. I thought that was smart. That was a guy who had had, you know, consistently been a good college basketball coach at the Division 1 level. And then it just, it flipped on him. He had one bad year and I was like, how do we know that's not just one bad year? Like the, like the Bryce Drew thing kind of looked like it was just one bad year. And so they kept him. And they've been living on the bubble, you know, much of this season and still are, I guess. Definitely. But right now, out of Dayton, projected as a 10 seed. CBS Sports Bracketology. And that's the byproduct of, of this little two game winning streak that they put together this over the past week with Texas A on the first day of February. You remember this, we talked about it. They were 7 and 1 in the ACC alone atop the league standings.

A (79:30)

Well, they were 71 in the SEC. But yes.

B (79:32)

What did I say?

A (79:33)

ACC. Whatever it happened or more than an hour or well over an hour into

B (79:39)

the show, I got to see. Right.

A (79:41)

That's right.

B (79:41)

I got the C. Right. Had to see in the right place. They were 7:1 in the SEC and alone atop the league standings. On the last day of February, they lost to fall to 2 and 6 in their past eight. They are right now tied for seventh in the SEC with Vandy in Texas with a 9 and 7 league record. So February was not good for Texas A and M. February was not a good month for Texas A and M.

A (80:10)

It was not a lot of. Still plenty to be determined in the sec. Let's go over to the Big East. Two notable results. You take it away. What do you want to hit on first?

B (80:20)

I just, I think we could package these together. Yukon. Well, actually, we probably can't. Let's focus on Yukon first. 71, 67 Victory at Seton Hall. We've watched this game a hundred times. I, I, I knew how this game was going to, to end. It's like this one team is up on the road this whole game. Oh, they're up double digits. Oh, they're up eight with like seven to go. There is no way they're holding on to this. And then there was, we got controversy. Like, UConn came, grabbed the lead, took it. They're up three. It's a foul up three situation. They're actually trying to foul up three. Seton hall recognize they're trying to foul up three. So gets blocked, throws it up. You're supposed to hear the whistle. No whistle. Let's just go the other way. Game over. And Shaheen, let him have it a little bit post game. I thought this was kind of wild. I'm not suggesting that if the calls go the other way or, you know, like, whatever, but, but if Seton hall could have figured out a way to win that game and you would have had a player at the free throw line shooting three free throws to maybe, you know, at least get it tied again, that the way the last couple of minutes of that game unfolded, you ready for this? Could cost Seton Hall a trip to the NCAA tournament and St. John's an outright big east title.

A (81:35)

Yes.

B (81:36)

Yeah, that was a big moment.

A (81:38)

Seen all the three players fallout. Had 22 fouls in the game. Yukon was called for 10, gets it done. Shaheen was like sick too. Coaching through it. It's tough, man. It's an early tip in store. Senior day. And just real quick on that. Alex Caravan had 23 points in this game. He had five threes. Every three felt twice its weight, you know, and he got his, he's got his name, his number in the wall of honor and, you know, four year player winning as player. Big day, tight game, emotions running high. Pre game. That can always be a tricky thing. Different coaches have different views. Some think you do it beforehand so the vibes are good no matter what.

B (82:17)

Yes, yes, yes. That's the way.

A (82:19)

I know. But some don't like it because then you look up and you find yourself in a fight for your life with a team.

B (82:24)

That's not because, because you're crying pre. Yes, you're in tears pregame. And then it's hard to recover emotionally and be like, all right, we got to lock in. I get all that. I'm not, I've talked to enough coaches who do it after the game and they explain to you why. And I'm like, who am I to argue with the coach? Who's been through it? All right. Yeah, like, I get it. Who am I to argue with the coach who's actually been through it? Who says GP we used to do it before the game because I thought, just like you. But then I zapped all the energy. Me and my three seniors were all crying and hugging for seven minutes before the game, and we had no. Then we're just knocking it. All right. But I will tell you, I have sat through those after a loss. Senior night after a loss, and it is. It doesn't feel the right way. The players are pissed. You don't feel right holding up your jersey. It's like we just lost by 17 to Purdue. Let's hear it for. Yeah, the Billy Smith. And Billy's, like, holding his jersey up. He just got his ass beat by Trey Kaufman. Wren.

A (83:25)

You'll notice that the Big east try to do UConn. Seton hall projected to be the worst team in the league. Try and get Seton hall on Senior day for UConn. Didn't realize they'd be in a. In a dogfight there.

B (83:34)

So. So here's. So here's. Here's my bottom line on that.

A (83:36)

Yeah.

B (83:38)

Just from a. Hey, I'm not in it. So, like, my emotions aren't caught up on it. I'm just trying to give you the best thing for the players and the best thing for the fans and the best experience. Do it pre game because then it just feels good. Everybody's happy and excited about what's about to maybe happen. You do it after a loss. It. It's not a good memory anymore. It's like I've sat through them at, like, I want to say, North Carolina, where Roy Williams just lost a game and he's trying to celebrate Danny Green or somebody, and it's coming after a loss. I mean, I'm just making this up, but you get that.

A (84:08)

Please. I'm good either way. It was Alex Caraban's day. He made it happen. He deserves this really, really cool story. It's been a. Just a joy to talk to over the years. Really happy for him to have that moment. But, yes, Seton hall, three guys fall out and have more than twice as many fouls as Yukon, and they get it done. St. John's oh, boy. St. John's response, to say the least. Response, to say the least. And almost does the Villanova. What Yukon did to St. John's it wasn't. It wasn't that bad. But a. A very important bounce back for the Johnnies. They beat Villanova 89.57 in the process. Let me make sure I got this right here. St. John's is the first ranked team in at least 23 years to score 40 points or fewer and lose by more than 30 points. And then in the immediate next game, win by at least 30 points. It's just unbelievable. They had more points by like the what, the four minute mark of the first half than they had in the entire game against Yukon. It was Villanova's worst loss. How about this one? Villanova? The last time the program took a loss by at least this margin, 30, 32, whatever it was, was in 1997, and it was against Kentucky. And who coached Kentucky? Rick Patino. How about that? Subi Edge. Yeah, the whole deal.

B (85:37)

Hey, Villanova, shame on you for tricking us into thinking you might be good for a minute. They were winning all these games and I was like, you know what? Villanova might be good. You know, here's what we found out. Villanova is better than all the mediocre slash bad Big east teams. But they're not good because, no, you went 0 and 4 against St. John's and Yukon. You got smacked around this weekend. Shame on you for tricking me and making me pay attention to you.

A (86:09)

Zubi. 16, 12 and 10. By the way, triple double. Second St. John's player this century to have a triple double good by him. Kaderi Richmond, the other one, he just did it a year ago. I know we're running long, but I can't not play the clip. Josh, we've got Kevin Willard post game. I think this is all of maybe 40 seconds. Got asked about Rick Patino coming off the bad lost, and he's on the other end of it. Calvin Willard famously cut his teeth working for under Rick Patino. Here's what he said, just a very tiny snip of it, but here's what he said post game.

B (86:35)

I'm not. I don't have hair. I had a full set of hair

A (86:41)

when I started work for him. Like, it's. It's the most miserable experience in life.

B (86:45)

Like you fear for your life every day and everyone laughs when I say that. But no, you.

A (86:51)

You think you're gonna get fired.

B (86:54)

It's.

A (86:54)

It's miserable. You know, Know, as he's gotten older,

B (86:57)

he's probably become more of a cranky old than he was when I worked. I. I will say Kevin sort of walked back a little bit of that.

A (87:07)

I was like, you didn't need to walk it back, man.

B (87:09)

And you didn't need to walk it

A (87:09)

back Too much of the details of the back and forth. But like unfortunately like Willard is so he's funny, he's self deprecating. Maryland fans hate him. I get it. But like that's like what you just heard with Willard is kind of who he is. I love the fact that he called like him and Patino have a very good relationship. So we called him a cranky old bitch, like funny to me. And it's just like people see only that clip they didn't see the longer and we didn't play the longer one because we're well over, you know, 80 minutes into this point. But he didn't need to do it. I understand why he did it. I thought it was yet another amazing post game quote from these coaches this season.

B (87:42)

Here's the thing. Rick is one of the greatest of all time. I like him a lot. Like I like, I like watching his teams play basketball, but I like just talking to Rick Pitino. I find him a very interesting person and obviously a legend of the sport. But talk to just about anybody who's ever worked for him and they got some wild stories. I mean why, why like it is, it is demanding in a way that you, you would have a hard time imagining and in ways that are like, I mean I've heard things about assistant coaches like hey, you need to go get on the treadmill. I mean you're getting a, you're getting a little heavy. You shouldn't look like that. It's time for you to get on the tribe. Like I've heard all sorts of stories. You've heard those?

A (88:30)

Yeah, Yeah. I think Kenny Johnson like publicly became known of like okay, he needed to shed when he was working for under Patino.

B (88:37)

Right. And, and so he is incredible and accomplished but very demanding as a boss. It has been my understanding not in a way to imply any like over the line stuff or whatever, but like just a very demanding boss who expects certain things every day. And if you're not equipped to handle that, you, you do not need to be in the building.

A (89:02)

Good on St. John's for getting the win. I did write that I wondered if the result from the Yukon game was going to send these two teams as seasons in different directions. An immediate response by the Johnny's. I do want to see just how we get to. We need to see those two teams in the Big east title game. And I think we will, but I just want, I want to see how that carries over. I think there's only a couple more. I know we're running long here. But like there's still I'm sorry folks. This was a huge, huge weekend and want to give every team that's deserving of it some love.

B (89:27)

I'll be honest, as I'm planning this, I'm going is there a better way to do this? Is there a better way than just bouncing through games in leagues? Is there a better way to design conversations around themes to in the spirit of you know, it's 9:35pm Eastern in your house right now.

A (89:45)

It's awesome. But it's the first episode of March. People are pumped. They got the special intro for this one. Just dive all in and correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think we have a Tuesday show this week as well.

B (89:53)

So I hope not.

A (89:54)

I'm make up for make up for lost time there. I'd say we've got three more notable results to get to. I'll just mention quick New Mexico beat San Diego State on our air. That's an important one. New Mexico is in the field as of right now. That's a team to watch for. They got a couple of interesting games this week at least want to mention them? Miami University won Friday night against Western Michigan. I took my oldest to go do some night skiing. We watched the end of that game just going creeping up the the little Connecticut ski hill on on the phone and I was checking in like here or there, like we do a run. Okay, let me check where they're at. The first time I dialed into the game GP on the phone was when Steel was mother bleeping everyone going to halftime. I hadn't seen a wink of the game before that and I'm like what is like? As I literally bring up the game on my phone. Steel is in the midst of just pointing at all the refs and dropping F bombs left and right and I'm like what is like I thought I was going to tune in and I was going to see Miami up by like 10 going into half. So I saw that I was checking in here and there. Didn't have Scaljack their key point guard for the whole game. Suitor fouls up with what set more than seven minutes to go. It really did look like the magical season was going to be extinguished and know got a freshman guard who gets it done and gets it in, keeps it going 290260 against Division 1 teams. So we can just settle here real quick. I did think it was going to end. I'm guessing most people watching thought it was going to end, but this team, it really does have a belief about it and it keeps up the best story in college basketball and that matters. And I think it probably bumps up another another ranking when, when they refresh on on Monday. So real quick back to you. Just thoughts on that game. I don't even know if you were in a position to watch it when it was going down on Friday on our air. By the way, CBS Sports Network, that was the early tip on Friday evening.

B (91:41)

Oh, I was in the best position to watch it.

A (91:43)

There we go.

B (91:44)

I also thought the streak was coming to an end. I also noticed that the group chat got very, very quiet. Oh, Wally's been texting a lot lately.

A (91:56)

It was mia.

B (91:59)

Group takes got real quiet Friday night for a little while.

A (92:02)

It did, yes.

B (92:04)

And then they win the game and so now they're 290 and just bear with me for a second.

A (92:10)

Floor is yours.

B (92:12)

They're 10 in quadrant two. 90 in quadrant three. So 100 in quadrant two and quadrant three combined. 0 in quadrant one because they couldn't get the games. They couldn't get the games in the non league. The Mac doesn't give it give them those types of opportunities. I promise you. Travis still tried to schedule quad one games. He couldn't get them. So this is the schedule they were left to play. It's not a good schedule. Nobody's trying to pretend otherwise. But they are 1 and oh in quadrant 2. 90 in quadrant 3. They are 100 in those two quadrants. Now you mind, Can I name you some teams that are not undefeated in quadrant two and quadrant three? Since everybody thinks it's so easy just to win all the quadrant two and quadrant three games. Let me name, let me name you some teams that are not undefeated in quadrant two and quadrant three. Like Miami. The Redhawks are undefeated in quadrant two and Quadra three. Let's start with Michigan. Quadrant two loss of Wisconsin. They're not undefeated in quadrants.

A (93:18)

That's why quadrants are not built the same. But continue.

B (93:21)

Hey, I've got it. I've got it in my notes right here. I know all quadrant two and quadrant three schedules are not created equally. I got the disclaimer in there, but play along. Michigan is not undefeated in quadrant two and quadrant three. But Miami is. Florida Q2 loss to Auburn. Illinois Q2 lost to Wisconsin. Wisconsin's messing up a lot of people's resumes. Wisconsin just handing out Q2 losses to everybody. You want a Q2 loss? You want a Q2 loss? Michigan, we got one of these for You Hey, Illinois, you want a Q2 loss, we got one for you. Gonzaga Q3 loss to Portland. Miami's 9. 0 in quadrant three. Gonzaga's not undefeated in quadrant three. Yukon Huskies, good, good, good. Quad three lost to Creighton. I mean, Miami's 9. 0 in quadra three. UConn's not undefeated in quadra three. Virginia, Alabama, Kansas, Vanderbilt, Tennessee, St. John's none of them are undefeated in quadrant two and quadrant three. And this is where I get to it. I know all quarter two and quadrant three schedules are not created equally. I know that. I get it. But be a 290 with a strength of record of 21. Strength of record of 21 deserves more credit than it's getting from some. Give Miami a regular season loss and a loss in the conference tournament, two losses on selection Sunday and this is where we're having the conversation. There's a decent chance this is going to be a moot debate.

A (94:52)

We're still not there, which is why I've resisted it. I'm not going there until we get there. And we're not there yet.

B (94:58)

Well, other people are already having the

A (95:00)

argument until it happens though. I'm giving Miami the benefit of the doubt until we get there. So floor is still all yours.

B (95:06)

My point is that this could be a moot debate. It's one of those things. I saw an Instagram story one time. You know what they said? It said on Instagram story? It said 95% of the things you worry about are never going to happen. And I said that's interesting.

A (95:19)

On the pod at some point in

B (95:21)

the past six weeks I said that's interesting. And it did not change my way of thinking at all. I just still worry about everything. But this is one of those things we could worry about. Would they really leave Miami out with two losses and then Miami's gonna have zero losses and an automatic bid to the NCAA tourname. All right, that's probably where we go. Or I doubt we're having a serious debate about a two loss Miami without an auto bid, but we could, we could get there. And if we do, I promise you I will put them in every day over a 16 loss, a theoretical 16 loss, Auburn every day. Here's where I'm at on Miami. Lose once, no issues. None. And anybody who tries to say you should have them, like shame on you, lose three times, leave them out, I'm fine with that. Particularly three times in such a short amount of time. At the end of the season, they're not going to have the numbers to support it. Lose three times from this point forward. I, I, if you leave them out, I'll still go man, but I won't yell about it because hey bro, you just, you just, you just, you tripped over yourself on the way to the finish line. But if Miami loses, say twice, let's say at Ohio and then in the title game of the Mac tournament, I am putting them in over the last power conference at large and feeling good about it, whoever that is. If you leave a two loss Miami out for something like a 16 loss SEC team or a 15 loss Big Ten team, you've lost the plot on what makes this event special. Nobody needs a 16 loss Auburn over a 2 loss Miami. Nobody needs a 1415 loss Indiana over a 2 loss Miami. And I know that you can justify both of those things with the net and Ken Palm and whatever, but, and I also know that if you put Indiana, Auburn, those types of teams on a neutral court with Miami today, they would be favored over Miami. You're not going to be able to get into the chat and tell me something I don't know. I got it, but I don't care. Miami doesn't get the opportunities SEC and Big Ten schools get. They couldn't create them in their non league schedule because people were hesitant to play them. And if you punish them for that with fewer than three losses on their resume on selection Sunday, then you've sacrificed something good, fun, inspiring for a caliber of team its own fans hate. Auburn fans are already trying to figure out who they're going to replace Stephen Pearl with, why you want them in the NCAA tournament. Indiana fans, they hate their team just like always. They're just right back. Doesn't matter like change coaches still hate your team. All right. What do we want them in there for? Why reward mediocrity from a bloated power conference? Auburn and Indiana have had every chance and had every dollar necessary to be good. They're not. It's their fault. Don't reward them at the expense of the greatest story in the sport. Even if the greatest story in the sport happens to stumble a couple of times before Selection Sunday. I'm going to rest my case.

A (98:31)

Your case is rested. I'm saving mine for if it's even necessary. Still going to sit. We're going to keep it moving. One more game to talk about and we have to talk about it. St. Mary's Beach. Gonzaga last game of note on Saturday night. Hans Gonzaga its first double digit loss in four years in league play. The Gales get a share of the WCC for a four. They they finish at the end of the regular season. St. Mary's has a claim to a regular season crown again in the WCC by virtue of the win to get him to 27 4, a 70 to 59 home win. Mikey Lewis was awesome. Career high. 31, 21 of them coming in the second half. He's the first. Gail trivia time. Last time a Gale had 30 points against Gonzaga was who Omar Sam Han. Let's freaking go. Where is the ding? Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.

B (99:32)

The answer to every St. Mary's trivia time is Omar Samhan. I don't even care what the question is. Who is St. Mary's mascot? Omar Samhan. I'm gonna say it every time.

A (99:44)

St. Mary's has defeated Gonzaga five consecutive seasons and this was the fourth win in program history over a team that was ranked in the top 10 the last time four years ago against Gonzaga to wrap the regular season. Incredible scenes as expected in Moraga. This is the end of this rivalry in the regular season. We can only hope we get it once more on the main stage nine days from now. If you're listening to this after the fact, it's going to be eight days from now next Tuesday in the WCC title game in Vegas. And good for good for St. Mary's it is now 27 4, trying to play its way actually out of that 89 game and get on and get into the seven range or better. Let's see what it can do in the WCC tournament to further improve its resume. And this to me, I know you were saying like Gonzaga, it only feels right. No, this felt right. Gonzaga's leaving west for the reborn PAC12. And. And St. Mary's has been the foil with. If you look at what St. Mary's has to operate with, with what Gonzaga has to operate with. I know the teams have been battling for the better part of 10 to 15 years and it's been amazing for that conference. It's not even close. It's not even close in terms of resources. And it was all too fitting and all too appropriate that in Gonzaga's last road trip in this league, it had to go down to that tiny ass gym in Moraga and it got beat. They're both 16 and 2. Gonzaga's technically the one seat, St. Mary's the two. This was the way it needed to end. I watched the entire thing. I love the, you know, I love the fact that you. You had Fleming and Farnham on the call again. Awesome post game interview with Mikey Lewis. I loved everything about it. I'm sorry we took so long into this podcast to get to it, but we weren't going to not acknowledge it. Good on the Gales. That is a team that can do some damage in the NCAA tournament. Oh by the way between Marascus and Lewis who are awesome. Loved all about it. So I just had to had to give the gals her shine and Randy Bennett for getting that win. That is the win. They're going to have pictures blown up across the facility. Who knows when these teams will play again. I hope they find a way to do it. But in this this will resonate for literally years and years and years because it's one of the most important wins in program history.

B (101:44)

I know I said on Friday that it would be fitting if Gonzaga just closes this thing out. Outright WCC title after experiencing the whole thing. I land where you at? That's the way it should go. Co champs once again. Every year this century it was either Gonzaga outright champ, St. Mary's outright champ, or Gonzaga St. Mary's co champs. No exceptions. No exception to that. Every year this century. That's where we were and so that's where we are again as as they now go their separate ways. I don't know, I should have probably asked Mark or somebody about this at some point but like I don't know if they have plans. I would like to see them non league schedule each other.

A (102:26)

So would I. I really hope they do. I won't be surprised if they don't. But man I'd really like to see it. I really would. Like this started off as like real rivalry. Randy and Mark, you know from what I know and what I've been told, like not the best of friends to start. They hate each other but they were real competitors. And then it really grew into this like mutual respect thing over the years. Just an awesome like west coast, you know those two programs and really in many ways like keeping ball out on that side of the country relevant on a yearly basis. I will miss it. I wrote this late to Saturday night on Twitter. But like conference realignment has claimed another victim. Like I'm excited for the PAC12. I think it will be a fun league. I'm genuinely enthused that it's going to come back and it should be a multi bid league but we are losing something here and that just kind of stinks and that's a bummer. I wish it wasn't the case. But so it goes and so it always will be. Conference realignment continues to erode the very fabric of the things that made us love college sports to begin with.

B (103:20)

So now the Zags and the Gales are off until the West Coast Conference tournament semifinals. They get pushed straight into that, as always. That's a week from Monday and they could meet again for a third time this season. They usually play three times in a season. They could meet again a week from Tuesday out in Las Vegas. That was the weekend Whip around brought to you by Domino's. If you're settling in for a full slate of college basketball, it doesn't get better than Domino's. Best deal ever. Any pizza with any toppings for just 9.99. That's what I'm getting for game day. Shout out to Domino's for sponsoring prices higher in some locations. Select this online only offer from 223 to 4. 6 size availability varies by crust type. Max 7 toppings 6 for New York style and pan crust. Stuffed crust is extra. Excludes XL and specialty pizzas. Minimum purchase required for delivery prices, participation, delivery area and charges may vary. Before we get out of here, let's do the AP poll. Look ahead and then we'll tell you what you want.

A (104:19)

I mean, this is, this is a cheap way to get some additional views on breakout videos. If you want to just call it. I'm not saying we got to do it.

B (104:25)

I've already done all the work.

A (104:26)

Okay, you know what? I'm gonna lay back. This one's all you this week.

B (104:30)

I've done all the work. From a trader. From a trader.

A (104:33)

I put in the time. This is going in the show. I don't care.

B (104:37)

If I'm gonna sit in a parking lot and go through this stuff at Trader Joe's, then we're gonna share what I found.

A (104:43)

Okay? All right.

B (104:45)

AP poll. Look ahead. First, let me tell you what the top 10 was this past week or still currently is in this moment. But it will update on Monday. Number one, Duke. Number two, Arizona. Number three, Michigan. Number four, Iowa. State. Number five, Houston. Number six, Yukon. Number seven, Florida. Number eight, Purdue. Number nine, Gonzaga. Number 10, Illinois. Here is my AP poll prediction for the upcoming week. Okay, first, let me take the top 25 and 1. It's 1.

A (105:08)

Duke.

B (105:08)

2. Michigan. 3. Arizona. 4. Florida. 5. Yukon. 6. Houston. 7. Nebraska. 8. Iowa State. 9. Illinois. 10 Michigan. State. So this is going to be different. That's the way I think it should be. This is what I predict AP voters to do. Duke, previous number one on a six game winning streak. They Will maintain their spot in the top of the AP poll. Arizona. Previous number two, two zero over the past week with wins over Baylor and Kansas. Arizona will remain number two. Michigan, Previous number three. Two. And over the past week, wins over Iowa and Michigan State. Michigan will remain number three, of course, at number four. This is where I think UConn lands. Previous. Previous number six, two zero over the past week, huge win over St. John's got out of there with a victory over Seton Hall. You have to remember number four, Iowa State. Number five, Houston. Both lost over the past week. I think UConn goes up to four. I think Florida moves up to five. Previous number seven, two. And over the past week, nine game winning streak. Got wins this past week over Texas and a big one by a big margin over Arkansas. I think Florida's at number six. I think Iowa State drops. I mean, Florida's number five. Now we're at six. I think Iowa State drops to six. Previous number four, one and one over the past week. Lost at Kansas. But a. Oh, no. 1 and 1 over the past week. Win at Utah, lost to Texas Tech at home. That obviously isn't great, but you know, a lot of teams in this range lost this week. There's only so far Iowa State should fall. I think I was lanes at six. Got Houston at seven. Previous number five. One and one over the past week. Lost at Kansas, win over Colorado. I got Nebraska 8. Previous number 12. Jumping up into the top 10. 2 and O over the past week, wins over Maryland and USC. They're now 25 and 4 with eight quadrant one wins, zero losses. Outside of quadrant one, Nebraska's strength of record is 5. 5. I know you might think it looks crazy to have Nebraska 8. No, but this is about. This is where she. This is about where they should be. At number nine. I got Michigan State.

A (107:15)

Agreed.

B (107:16)

Previous number 13, 20 over the past week, beat Purdue and then beat Indiana on the road on Sunday. And then at number 10.

A (107:23)

Let me guess. Here's what I'm saying. Here's what I think it should be.

B (107:25)

Okay, this is not who I have, but this is who I predict.

A (107:28)

I think it should be. I think it will be Texas Tech.

B (107:30)

That's who I have. Previous number 16. 20 over the past week, wins over Cincinnati and at Iowa State. That means I'm predicting Purdue, Gonzaga, Illinois to drop out of the top 10. That means I'm predicting Nebraska, Michigan State, Texas Tech to move into the top 10. I have nine of those 10 in the top 25 and one on Sunday morning. My Only difference is, damn it, I'm doing it again. I've got Illinois in my top 10 and I don't have Texas Tech in my top 10. But I do have the Red Raiders at 13th. I think I said that earlier so you know better than I had them a week ago.

A (108:08)

We've got some, some chaos there in the top 10 going into the final week of the regular season. And with that in mind, let me do this quickly. Monday night, Iowa State at Arizona, 9 Eastern. ESPN is the biggest game for sure. ESPN's got Duke at NC State before that. Keep an eye on that. CBS Sports Network, McNeese at Nichols Tuesday GPM trying to get us out of here as quickly as possible. CBS Sports Network, you will be in studio. Yes, San Diego State of Boise State. Tasty San Diego State on the road bubble situation. Keep an eye that. That's 9 Eastern preceded by George Mason at VCU. That actually has some serious a 10 consequence consequences at 7 Eastern and then the late tip Utah State on the road against UNLV. UNLV has actually kind of been a bit of a carnival in that building this season. So there's going to be a lot to look forward to on Tuesday on CBS Sports Network. Parrish will be up extremely late and we will be.

B (109:00)

I'm not saying I look good right now. I would never say that about myself. I'm not saying I look good right now, but I look so much better right now that I'm going to look on Wednesday morning.

A (109:10)

It's going to be going to be a tough situation on, on, on, on Wednesday morning for sure. Other games of note on Tuesday night you've got Kentucky at A&M7 Eastern. ESPN2 Bama at Georgia. I'm seeing this game 6:30 tip on ESPN News. Don't ask me why. I have no idea. But that's what, that's the listing. I, I'm seeing Bama at Georgia going, maybe they have learned. Maybe they're like, you know what, Forget it. We don't care if it's bumping up. But if we're going to ESPN News right now, right here anyway, the, the same thing happened.

B (109:40)

Oh, that's what I was going to say about. Oh, the big Monday, Iowa State, Arizona. Oh yeah, you're gonna watch that on the espn. You don't watch the first three minutes of that on the ESPN app. Hey, like seriously, CBS Sports, we are the only ones that know how to time games. We will start a game at 1pm Eastern and the next game will start at 3:15pm Eastern. We give you the extra 15 minutes because that's how long it takes to play a college basketball game.

A (110:03)

It's America's most watched network, network of stars. BYU at Cincinnati, 9 Eastern, ESPN2. I mean, that's, that is, that is tune in stuff. Cincinnati is not all the way dead, but that's where you got to win there. And then byu, we just talked about them. Obviously, Nebraska plays at ucla. Guy, my fantasy football league is in a hotel right now. We're in Nebraska saying, that's all I got for you. He texted me during the show. He said Nebraska's. He said out in la. Out in la. And Nebraska basketball is at my hotel. What do I, how do I respond to that?

B (110:30)

Cool. I don't know. That's a thumbs up for me.

A (110:33)

That. You know what? I gotta drop the thumbs up.

B (110:35)

Thumbs up. That's a thumbs up. And I'm gonna see what my wife is doing.

A (110:39)

I don't know what else to say at this point, but that is, that is the case right now. Clemson at Carolina. Keep an eye there. 7 Eastern. Kansas Arizona State. Not in a compelling game, but you're on the road. Kansas just, I don't know, keep an eye out for it. And that's, that's the majority of what to know on Tuesday. This has been a monster marathon game. I will podcast. We also are into postseason play. Like Horizon League gets going on Monday. Conference tournament play is here 14 straight days. I said at the top of the show on the intro, this is why this sport is amazing. And we unintentionally gave you like, it's, it's a joke. We, we, we can't continue to do this. We will, we will tweak. How about you let me do the rundown for Wednesday? You're going to be working late. Let me build it out. We'll get in and out. We'll keep blessing. Yeah. You know, and then you just worry about your studio stuff.

B (111:29)

I'll build. I mean, I wish you thought about this 10 years ago.

A (111:33)

I like your takes. You got your picks. I'll build out Wednesdays. But listen, March is here and just, and we, we appreciate everyone. That is just. If you're just getting back in now, you've been missing a hell of a podcast over the past four months. We're glad you're here. Strap in because we're about to have a phenomenal next four weeks. And with that said, that's a show.

B (111:55)

Shout out to Devin Downey. Shouts to Chester, S.C. terry Teagle. The legend Huck Larnell. Thank you guys once again for watching listening to the Eye on College Basketball Podcast. If you're not subscribed, please go subscribe anyway. Subscribe to Podcast Apple Spotify more of us than there are of them. That needs to be reflected in the comments. So do that and we will talk to you again bright and early on Wednesday. Till then, take care.

A (112:23)

Of.

B (112:31)

Paramount podcasts. It's a season two playoff race with tgl.

A (112:36)

Presented by sofi. Sunday at 9pm eastern jupiter links versus boston common golf Monday at 7pm eastern los angeles golf club versus new york golf club Tuesday at 9pm eastern the bay golf club versus jupiter links. Keep up.

B (112:48)

It's golf watch on espn, espn2 and the espn app.