March Madness 2025 Elite Eight Saturday Recap -- Florida, Duke punch tickets to the Final Four

Summary

Eye On College Basketball Podcast Summary Episode: March Madness 2025 Elite Eight Saturday Recap – Florida, Duke Punch Tickets to the Final Four
Release Date: March 30, 2025
Hosted by: Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander

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Introduction

In this episode of CBS Sports' Eye On College Basketball, hosts Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander dive deep into the thrilling outcomes of the Elite Eight games, where both the Florida Gators and Duke Blue Devils secured their spots in the Final Four. The discussion navigates through game recaps, strategic analyses, coaching prowess, and predictions for the upcoming Final Four matchups.

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Duke vs. Alabama: A Dominant Display

Game Recap:

• Final Score: Duke 85, Alabama 65
• Key Highlights:
  • Cooper Flag from Duke made an early impact by burying a three-pointer just 19 seconds into the game, setting the tone for Duke’s consistent lead throughout.
  • Duke maintained control, leading every second of the game and clinching a 20-point victory over Alabama.

Notable Moments:

• Cooper Flag’s Early Shot:
  [03:02]
  Gary Parish: “Cooper Flag buried a three. 19 seconds after tip off gave the Blue Devils a three-nothing lead...”

• Duke’s Defensive Prowess:
  [05:07]
  Gary Parish: “There’s no question the defense was the strongest point for Duke tonight...”

Analysis:

• Defense Over Offense:

  • Duke's exceptional defense limited Alabama to merely 25% shooting from the three-point line, a stark contrast to their previous 51 attempts against BYU.
  • The length and athleticism of Duke’s players disrupted Alabama’s offensive rhythm, showcasing Duke's ability to adapt and control the game defensively.

• Cooper Flag’s Performance:

  • Despite missing key moments, Flag’s overall contribution was significant, although his shooting efficiency was lower compared to previous games.

Insights:

• John Shire’s Coaching:
  • Shire has effectively stepped up as Duke's head coach, maintaining the program’s high standards and adapting strategies to counter different opponents.
  • [22:18]
    Cooper Flag: “John Shire has imprinted himself on this team... he is on the verge of making college basketball history.”

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Florida vs. Texas Tech: A Clutch Comeback

Game Recap:

• Final Score: Florida 84, Texas Tech 79
• Key Highlights:
  • Texas Tech led early with a score of 75-66, but Florida orchestrated an 18-4 run in the final 251 seconds to overturn the deficit.
  • Walter Clayton emerged as the star, scoring 30 points and hitting crucial free throws that sealed the victory.

Notable Moments:

• "Nut Cutting Time" Performance:
  [33:40]
  Cooper Flag: “...our players stepping up and making the plays when it counts...”

• Clutch Free Throws:
  [39:47]
  Gary Parish: “Walter Clayton had 25 of 27 free throws, giving Florida an 18-point advantage at the line.”

Analysis:

• "Nut Cutting Time" Mentality:

  • Florida demonstrated a clutch mentality, referred to as “nut cutting time,” where players elevated their performance under pressure.
  • The Gators’ ability to execute contested three-pointers and capitalize on free throws was pivotal in their comeback.

• Coaching and Team Dynamics:

  • Todd Golden’s emphasis on player development and readiness paid dividends as Florida navigated high-pressure moments with composure.
  • [43:06]
    Cooper Flag: “Florida is built to be able to win six games in the NCAA tournament.”

Insights:

• Florida’s Rise:
  • Initially overlooked, Florida has emerged as a top-tier team, now considered a favorite to win the national championship.
  • Their strategic build-around players like Walter Clayton showcases their championship pedigree.

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Coaching Excellence: John Shire’s Impact at Duke

• Record-Breaking Wins:

  • In his third year, John Shire has amassed 89 career wins, tying with Brad Stevens and Brad Underwood for the most wins in the first three seasons of a Division I head coaching career.
  • [22:18]
    Cooper Flag: “John Shire is on the verge of making college basketball history...”

• Strategic Recruitment:

  • Shire’s intentional recruitment focuses on building a roster that complements star players like Cooper Flag, emphasizing length and defensive capabilities.
  • The transition from Mike Krzyzewski to John Shire has been seamless, with Shire imprinting his coaching philosophy on the team.

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Predictions and Final Thoughts

Final Four Forecast:

• Advancing Teams:
  • Duke and Florida have secured their Final Four berths, with Houston and Auburn expected to join them, potentially creating an all-number one seed Final Four.

Key Predictions:

• Gary Parish: “I think Auburn is going to win because of the location of the game.”
• Cooper Flag: “Auburn is going to be tougher to beat in Atlanta than Houston will be.”

Final Four Matchups:

• Duke vs. Houston/Auburn:

  • Duke is favored to continue their dominant run, supported by their strong defensive strategies.

• Florida vs. Houston/Auburn:

  • Florida's clutch performances and strategic play make them a formidable contender against other top-seeded teams.

Overall Outlook:

• Both Duke and Florida exhibit characteristics of championship-caliber teams, with strategic coaching, defensive robustness, and clutch performances positioning them as favorites to vie for the national title.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Cooper Flag on Duke’s Defense:
  [04:12]
  “The problem was Alabama was having the same turnovers and Alabama wasn't hitting the threes.”

• Gary Parish on Duke’s Three-Point Attempts:
  [05:28]
  “They went from taking 51 in a 40-minute game against BYU to only getting 32 off in a 40-minute game against Duke.”

• Gary Parish on Final Four Prospects:
  [16:33]
  “They have the most talented roster and it has been reasonable to say they also have the best team.”

• Cooper Flag on Florida’s Clutch Performance:
  [37:25]
  “They really might be the best nut cutting time team in the country.”

• Gary Parish on Florida’s Free Throws:
  [39:47]
  “The free throw line was another real strength for Florida. They were 25 of 27 from the free throw line.”

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Conclusion

The Eye On College Basketball podcast episode provides an insightful and comprehensive recap of the Elite Eight games, highlighting Duke’s defensive mastery and Florida’s clutch performances. With both teams advancing to the Final Four, the hosts offer nuanced analyses, drawing parallels with historical performances and emphasizing the strategic depth of both programs. As the Final Four approaches, the anticipation builds around Duke and Florida’s potential showdown for the national championship, promising an exhilarating continuation of March Madness 2025.

Transcript

[Gary Parish]

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[Gary Parish]

There. Gary Parish welcome back to the CBS Sports I own College Basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, dodo birds and leaky black. Looky there. Chip Patterson's here with me. If you're watching on YouTube, you know what to do to that. Like button shouts to Brandon Davies. And if you haven't yet, subscribe to the CBS Sports college basketball YouTube channel. Also, please do that while you're here. Let's get into it. Two teams have punch tickets to the 2025 Final Four in San Antonio. Congrats to Florida. Congrats to Duke. We are halfway home to possibly having just the second Final Four in history with all four number one seeds. We'll obviously discuss both games before we're out of here tonight, but I do want to Start with the one that just ended. I want to start with the same where Duke has advanced to the final four for the first time under John Shire. Final score, Duke 85, Alabama 65. Our buddy Matt Norland, commander believed, even publicly suggested this could end up being the best game of the entire tournament. Turns out it was not.

[Cooper Flag]

Cooper.

[Gary Parish]

Cooper. Flag buried a three. 19 seconds after tip off gave the Blue Devils a three nothing lead and they led every single second the rest of the way and won the game by 20. Chip Patterson, thanks for being here. Good to see your face. It wasn't the competitive game we wanted, but that was pretty impressive stuff from Duke, wasn't it?

[Cooper Flag]

Yeah, very impressive. I mean it brings about. There was an obvious assumption there would be regression, that you weren't going to go out, you weren't going to be able to attempt 51 threes against Duke's defense, that you weren't going to be able to hit 25 threes against Duke's defense. And so like there, there had to be some sort of, at the risk of being, you know, too, too over the top here in the early minutes of this show, a refractory period. Right. Like, I mean there was just going to be like a little bit of a cooling off that Alabama's offense was going to have. But so much of this comes back to, I think that even we heard in the post game from Nate Oates coming out of Friday night, the way that BYU was guarding Alabama allowed Alabama to be able to get all these shots off. And I think that you might have even said, and certainly I thought the same was, well, there ain't no way Duke's going to be guarding Alabama in the same way, not to mention the same difference in, in length, athleticism, talent and just overall efficiency, the way that this Duke defense has been operating all through the season. So like number one for a, for a Duke team that has been an offensive juggernaut, just like blowing teams out of the water basically since like mid February. Right. I mean the ACC tournament, it looks almost like an anomaly just in terms of just the raw offensive scoring numbers. Everything else has just been like 80s, 90s, throwing up 1/ hundreds and you kind of forgot how good this team can be defensively. That is the story for me for Duke in this game because there were empty possessions for Duke in this game, you know, like some ball control issues. But the problem was Alabama was having the same turnovers and Alabama wasn't hitting the threes. And so 85, 65, you know, Duke puts up a big number Again, but to me, I think it is more about the defensive side of the ball that stands out.

[Gary Parish]

To me, there's no question the defense was the, the, the strongest point for Duke tonight, although they were strong in, in most areas. You're right, I did say that. I, you know, people got so caught up on Alabama making 25 three pointers that I thought the even wilder number was the 51 attempts.

[Cooper Flag]

40 minutes.

[Gary Parish]

He had a 40 minute game. And I, and I just sort of made the point like they're not going to be able to forget making 25 because this is the typical TV stuff, radio stuff, I guess, podcast stuff. People always want to know if something could be replicated. That's like the favorite thing for somebody to ask somebody else, you know, can they replicate that? You know what happens if they replicate that? Well, they're not going to. 25 of 51 is like historically unprecedented. Okay, so they were never going to replicate it. But that didn't mean, I didn't think they couldn't shoot another good percentage, even perhaps go above 40 again. I just didn't think they were going to be able to get the shots off.

[Cooper Flag]

Right.

[Gary Parish]

And that was clear in this game. They go from taking 51 in a 40 minute game against BYU, they only got 32 off in a 40 minute game against Duke.

[Cooper Flag]

They were eight with like a double digit spread, like not double digit spread, double digit margin where it's like, okay, like it's a little bit softer, a little bit more conservative the whole way, right.

[Gary Parish]

And they go, they go from shooting 49 from 3 against BYU to just 25% from 3 against Duke. So the attempts were down, the percentage is down. And I think that's got everything to do with Duke's length. And that's the other thing that we talked about in advance of this game. This to me was I didn't predict Duke was going to win by 20. If I thought it was certainty that Duke was just going to go blow him out, I would have figured out a way to put my 401k on it. And you know, things would have been nice. But if you're sort of hypothesizing how something like this could happen, how it could really get away from him, it would be that the, the size, the length, particularly the length at the 1, 2, 3 was going to be an issue on the offensive end for Alabama because Alabama is going to run out there. Six foot one, Mark Sears, six foot four, LeBaron Filon, six foot four, Chris Youngblood. And Duke's going to counter that with 666667. Tyrese Proctor see on James Concanipple. Well you could even see it like clear as day on television. It is wildly different to be attempting a three point shot when somebody six foot one is running out to contest and somebody six foot seven is running out to contest. You got to release it a different place. It's a different trajectory. There was one shot I think it was Youngblood took but I just noticed he noticeably took like it was a higher shot.

[Cooper Flag]

Launch angle.

[Gary Parish]

Yes. Because he had. It was the only way to get it over an outstretched arm of a 6 foot 6 defender. And so that be that was an obvious potential place of stress for Duke and it ended up being exactly that. And then you know, Kadippo goes out and gets 20 points. Proctor got 17. Cooper flag was only 6 of 16 from the field but he got 16. I, I think this is what you were hitting at earlier. Duke didn't even play what I would consider their a game necessarily turnovers like.

[Cooper Flag]

A little bit of bubble guts with the ball at times in the second half where I was like oh are you going to let them climb back? But they just continually came up with stops forcing turnovers, you know, just imposing their will at the other end. Like I just. And again I, I don't want to get too into this because it is not my bag but one of my greatest resources when I am a hired hand, you know, like to come like help help out during college basketball season. I try to make sure I'm as good as I can get and I've got a lot of good resources on the scouting side and the way that they tuned into the way that BYU defended Alabama's offense and what they did around ball screens and then those same sources reacting to the what Duke was doing. Again, I can't break it down the same way that I can how a robber man coverage might be able to work against the college football quarterback. But at the same time I was like okay, so clearly Duke who is without Jay Lucas, right, supposed defensive, not supposed, but like your defensive leading assistant, your defensive coordinator as they're starting to call him and like he's gone, he's off to Miami, he's working the portal right now. The rest of that staff for John Shire and John Shire obviously stepping up and being like okay, what BYU did did not work at all. Here's what our personnel is different but also here's what we can do to approach this differently. I, I think it was high marks for them on that Side as well.

[Gary Parish]

Well, when you got that kind of length, you can sort of switch everything as well one through four and it just like Alabama two nights after scoring 113 in a 40 minute game against a team that was performing for the previous six weeks like a top five team in the country, byu. I don't know if people understood that. I said it multiple times heading into the game, but I, I don't know that it was flashed on a graphic on television. But before Alabama did what it did to BYU, BYU was 11 and 1 and over the previous six weeks. And if you only lost, right, only lost to Houston. And if you just go back to the day they started that 111 stretch and say we're starting the season here. Now let's run all the numbers. Bart torvik.com tell me who the best teams in the country are for the past six weeks heading into the BYU Alabama game. The top four teams in the country over the previous six weeks at bartorvic.com were Duke, Houston, Florida and BYU. Number five was Auburn. So I know it was just like, yeah, they beat a six seed. They've been a six league that was playing like a one seed for the past six weeks. All right? They scored 113 points against them. I promise there's a point to this. Against Duke, they only got 65. I mean that is outrageous. They nearly cut you in half. You played what was a team performing like a one seed two days ago and put 113 on them. You played another team performing like a one seed tonight and you couldn't get to 66.

[Cooper Flag]

Hey, same rims, all right? It's not like the Devils went in there and started and had to play a hockey game and they had to get the basketball goals out of there. That's the same rims. That's the same floor. I mean, I know they pull the curtain up, right? I, I got, I got my chance to, to get in the building in the first and second round. But like, you know, they put the curtain up on Saturday but, or Friday but you know, the same goal. All right, that's the same rims where they were lights out were not the same results.

[Gary Parish]

So you know what, yeah, same, same goals, same arena, same court, same coaching staff, same players, different opponent. That was the problem. Different opponent, different opponent became the problem.

[Cooper Flag]

All right, so back at you. Like, I mean the, because Duke was the betting favorite for to win the national championship on selection Sunday because they have handled their business as such even here. Has there been anything through four games that has moved you dramatically, one way or the other, as compared to Selection Sunday in terms of what you think Duke is capable of doing?

[Gary Parish]

Oh, no. I always thought Duke was capable of winning the National Championship, and I still. I'm still very certain that they're capable of winning the National Championship. If I'm being completely honest on Selection Sunday when I feel my breath, because I'm not. I'm not always completely honest. Okay? But I'm gonna try to be right now. All right, I'm gonna try to be right now. But being completely honest, on Selection Sunday, I went with Auburn as my national champion just because that would provide me with an opportunity. Not just because, but in part because it would provide me with an opportunity the day after the National Championship game to say, I try to tell you, I know Auburn was struggling towards the end of the regular season, but I kept them number one and told you that was still the best team in the country. And you guys moved off of them, started to ask questions, but now look, there they are. They won six in the tournament. They're national champions. Right? That's just a fun story for me to tell.

[Cooper Flag]

Well, you spend so much time weighing these teams against each other that, like, I. I understand, like, our biases are. Our experience from working. And your experience from working has had you having to defend Auburn being number one in the top 25 and one even after a loss. Sorry, it's still the best resume.

[Gary Parish]

I had to do it three, I think, three different times after a loss. And. And, buddy, your social media mentions get real messed up when you try to do that. And then again, I'll just be honest, if you're even a little bit of human, you do start to have, like a. Okay, I got the whole world or not the whole world. It's just like, you know, 70 idiots. But, like, I got 70 idiots out there calling me an idiot. I'd like to be able to turn around and call them an idiot. So go Tigers. You know, you get a little caught up in that.

[Cooper Flag]

You get.

[Gary Parish]

You get a little caught up in that stuff sometimes. Here's what I'm trying to tell you. That's why if you go look at my bracket, CBSSports.com it has Auburn winning the national championship. And I do believe that Auburn can win the national championship. I could see Auburn beating Duke to win the national championship, but told me right now, all right, gp we ain't just playing for brackets and playing for bragging rights on a podcast, as stupid as that might be. We're putting your house on the Line, you want to keep your house, you better get this right. Who's winning the national championship? I would have a hard time not saying Duke. I would be scared that if I didn't say Duke, Duke would make me homeless.

[Cooper Flag]

If you had to put that. If we were putting mortgages on the line, then I am very terrified that I can Apple and Tyrese Proctor and come on my watch are going to have me. I would. Are going to. Going to have me going around all sorts of ways of northern Mississippi looking for new, new real estate.

[Gary Parish]

I would be, you know, I like, wake up today. I got a, you know, I got a home down south. No, you're. No, you're back.

[Cooper Flag]

You're still in New York City.

[Gary Parish]

This feels like home. Like, I promise you, I stare out at midtown Manhattan in the beautiful skyline way more than I.

[Cooper Flag]

You're not seeing sunrise tonight, ok?

[Gary Parish]

TP I don't think so. Yeah, I don't think I'm gonna get.

[Cooper Flag]

You to bed before sunrise.

[Gary Parish]

I think I'm gonna get to bed before sunrise tonight. But I imagine, like, I wake up today, I got a nice home down south. I got this beautiful hotel. And then con canipple just ends up making me homeless in a couple, like, in a couple of weeks, I'm just out on the streets. I don't want to live like that. Duke, this is one of those things where you're going to say something and everybody just goes, well, of course. But like, in the predictive metrics, it's been true for a while. Duke is performing like the best team in the country. It's matching your eyeballs now, too. What they're doing to people is not. It's not normal. Right? It's. It's like it was easy to get caught up in the ACC portion of the schedule and be like, yeah, well, they're just doing that to the acc. It's becoming increasingly clear they would have done this in any league in the country this season against anybody. I don't know that they'd have the exact same record if they say, played in the SEC or the Big 12, but they would still be probably be the betting favorites to win the national championship. They've always had the most talented roster and it's reasonable and has been for a little while to say they also have the best team.

[Cooper Flag]

I think that they got better. With Cooper flag out for the ACC tournament, two things. Number one, con canipple talked about how with Cooper flag out, he felt like they, the rest of the team learned more things that they could do off the ball offensively as well as had to, like, learn new roles and step up defensively. They, He. He talked a lot about that in some of the availability during the first and second round, about how he was like, yeah, I think that it was good for a lot of us to have to go out there. And they went. And I understand that these are ACC tournament teams that didn't make it to the round of 32, but they, they beat North Carolina and they. They beat Louisville. Those are NCAA tournament teams. You know, they beat NCAA tournament teams without Cooper Flag in the lineup. The second thing is Cooper Flag, freshman year, got a little bit of time off, and I, I think that he probably could have come back earlier than the first round if he was. If he needed to. And he comes back re. Energized. He comes back refocused. And I don't think tonight was his best performance of the tournament at all, but that would clearly be the sweet 16. But I do think that his.

[Gary Parish]

For.

[Cooper Flag]

To have him refreshed, recharged for the tournament run. You would never wish that your star player, national player of the year, front runner, number one pick in the NBA draft is like, you know what would be great is if he goes down with a minor ankle injury in the first game of the ACC tournament and he misses exactly three games, and then he comes back and leads us to a national title. You would never, ever rub a lamp and wish that from a genie. But I do think that Duke has been benefited overall on the court, off the court. All things considered, from. From Cooper Flag, a little bit of a step back. Like, I've been comparing a little bit to the LeBron spring break. You know how LeBron always takes a spring break right before the playoffs?

[Gary Parish]

He just did it. He just did it.

[Cooper Flag]

Yeah. Yeah. It's like Cooper Flag got a little bit of a LeBron spring break, and then they activated him and he was ready to go. And Shire said all their, like, I mean, of course it's. Of course it's Duke because they've got like all, like, oh, we've got you like, 4.7, like, meters per second squared. Like, you got all the force testing or whatever. But, like, all of his testing numbers, they were still able to keep him in the pool. They were still able to, like, keep him ready to go. So he didn't lose any conditioning. They did a good job. And, and now. And now I agree with you. I, I think Duke's going to win the national championship.

[Gary Parish]

So on what you just said, I think it's spot on. And that's a real thing in basketball that isn't necessarily as true in football. Think of it this way. Kansas City Chiefs are headed toward a Super bowl, and Patrick Mahomes has to go, you know, is sidelined for a couple of games. He's coming back. He's signed, like, for a couple of games. Well, what do you really learn while he's out? You know, like, it's. It's.

[Cooper Flag]

Oh, yeah.

[Gary Parish]

Like, what do you really learn? You know, like, it's just like somebody else is going to play this position. We're going to play probably a little more conservatively. We're not going to get out of the pocket as much. And then eventually we're going to have Patrick Mahomes back and we're going to get back to what we were doing. But I don't really know what you gain in that. But in basketball, you know, same thing in football, like with a running back, you lose a running back, put another running back in, you run the ball. In basketball, there's a scenario where you're Duke and it's like, okay, we're what we would normally run for Cooper Flag. Right now. He ain't here. So now we're running this for somebody else. Instead of running this thing, we would run for Cooper Flag in this situation. Now we're going to run this other thing for Con Canipple. Now we're going to run this other thing for Tyrese, whatever. And it just. It. You people can gain confidence. Yes. You can start to see, oh, wow.

[Cooper Flag]

Okay.

[Gary Parish]

He's comfortable doing that. Okay. Okay. Now we got something. Not to make this about my hometown, but last year there's some real thought. And I know things aren't going well with the Grizzlies right now, but there was some real thought last year that with all of the injuries out, all the injured players out, and Jaren Jackson Jr. Mostly healthy, like he had to take on more of a. A scoring role, a playmaking role, and there's some real belief within the organization that the reason he came back this season and was more of an all NBA level guy, made an all star team for the second time, is because he was activated, to use your word, last season, because a lot of stuff, they would run for John Morant or run for Desmond Bain. Well, neither one of those guys are available. All right, well, I guess we're playing through Jaren Jackson now. Well, then you realize you can do that and it changes the dynamics of your team. I think you're right. You never want Cooper flag out of any games and you certainly don't want him out going forward. But can you draw something positive from his absence? Yes, and I, I think they probably did. Before we move on, let me ask you about John Shire. He is now in year three replacing a legend in Mike Krzyzewski. He has won at least 27 games every season. He's now up to 30, 35 wins now he has 89 in his career, which ties him with Brad Stevens and Brad Underwood for the most wins ever in the first three seasons of a Division 1 hit coaching career. Obviously that means he can now break that record, own that record next Saturday down in San Antonio. Obviously you're familiar with the program in the state. What do you make of, of the job John Shire has done since replacing K? I know they squandered a great opportunity last season to get to the Final Four, but here he is now, you know, in the, in the final weekend of the season for the first time in his career at a relatively young age.

[Cooper Flag]

Yeah, I don't think that we can say in college basketball, and I'm more than happy to be corrected either by any of this awesome audience that's joining us live or anybody who would love to reach out to me later. But a legend retiring and then the successor is successful. I don't, we can't count Bill Guthridge coming in and leading a team to the Final Four because there just wasn't longevity. Right. That was like a dean plus when he's able to take that team that still had, you know, Vince Carter, Anton Jameson and everybody else like I, I don't know if we have seen that be successful. The guy after the guy. Oh, you never want to be the guy after the guy. Well, when the guy is Mike Krzyzewski and he tells you that you're the guy, well, you take the job, you say yes and you run with it. I think that the reason why John Shire has been successful has been number one, the environment of college basketball. Shout out to my guy. Joe Gilio being a year to year proposition. Right. You know, you like every year, like that's, that's his buzzword. I swear his, his ears, he's going to hear this and he's going to like put money in a jar. But it is, is a year to year proposition. John Shire has on this team especially like seems to have like imprinted himself on this. Like they receive the message that he gets like that when he sits there he's like, I'm ready to go to war with you guys, you know, like, I'm ready. Okay, I'm ready. This is it. This is when it's what's gonna happen, you know, like when, when he does that, they, they receive it. You know, I, I love the fact that they don't believe that he was a good college basketball player. You know, like, they don't. It blows their mind when people try to tell them was like, hey, Tyrese, you know, you're actually the first Duke player since your coach right there to have five threes and back to back NCAA tournament games. He goes, can you say that again? I want, they don't believe me that I was good, you know, like, I, I, I love all of that, you know, and, and maybe my bias is that he's, he's around my age, right? You know, like I, I graduated from North Carolina in 09. He graduated from Duke in 2010. I'm seeing him be successful and I'm seeing him sort of like, have fun with his guys, with his team. He's fully separated from the transition. The roster has been rebooted. This is like, this is his squad. He is on the verge of making college basketball history in being the guy after the guy and being successful. And if Duke wins the national championship, like you and I both seem to think is very much in the cards as they go to the Final Four, then he would, he would very much be making college basketball history for being able to win a national championship after succeeding one of the greatest coaches in the sports history.

[Gary Parish]

You know, I've known John for a long time, covered him as a player, you know, knew him as an assistant coach. He was always struck me as a, as a smart guy, like just a sharp guy. But he's also, like, shown himself to be an incredibly smart coach in the way that he runs his program. There's a lot of thought behind everything he does. And there was a really good story in the Athletic Slash New York Times a few weeks ago about the emphasis and the deliberate nature with which he built this roster specifically around Cooper Flag and with length in mind. You know, when Jeremy Roach, I guess, gets into the transfer portal and you, you realize that he wasn't running from Duke as much as he was kind of told, you know, you might need to find another place to go. It might just be in everybody's best interest to, to split up here. There was always, there's never one reason for anything. But it should be noted that Jeremy Roach is 6 foot 2. He's, he's a smaller guy. You know, as we talked about earlier, you know, Duke is, is starting, you know, at the 1, 2, 3, 6, 6, 6, 6, six, seven. And as the article illustrated, this is something Brad Stevens, who has sort of become a coaching confidant for John. This is something Brad Stevens emphasized to John, like, you know, you'll never hate having linked at every position. If you look at the Celtics, you know, Jason Tatum's a big guard, Jalen Brown's a big guard, and you know, Duke is in terms of average height, the tallest team in the country. And what I like about all this is that it was just very intentional. I remember the Zion Williamson Duke team and I just remember in real time thinking, how can you recruit Zion Williamson and then not recruit shooters to just have all over the court? Like, how do you get Zion? Like, I'm not saying you don't take RJ Barrett if you have Zion Williamson or vice versa, or Jim Reddish. Yeah, you're right. I'm not. I understand. But like, it just seemed clear to me, instead of going out and getting all the five star prospects, you could pass on one of them maybe and get somebody who fits a need, a very specific need as a college basketball player perfectly. And I never felt that they did that well with that roster, even though that roster was clearly good enough to win a national championship. Just got knocked off in the Elite Eight. But I do like that, you know, years later, as John is now running the program, it's, it's obvious that he didn't just go out and recruit the best players he could recruit the most talented players he could recruit. Yes, he got three lottery picks, but after he got the three lottery picks, he really. Okay, what goes best with them? Specifically go. What goes best with Cooper Flag. And he's clearly built it, I don't know about perfectly, but it's pretty close. It's pretty close. And, and now it's at this point, you know, again, according to the betting markets, it will be anything other than Duke winning two more games and cutting nets will be a surprise.

[Cooper Flag]

Yeah, I asked him about it. He said that, you know, we were looking for guys who weren't going to be about shots and weren't going to be about points. You know, we needed to get guys who understood the fit. And so when you're talking about CEON James, that was somebody who arrived from Tulane. From Tulane. Not Tulane, from Tulane. Yeah, we're talking about somebody who arrived from Tulane and knew who's who, what's what, what my role is. Okay, let's go. And all the pieces that were put around all came in with a very clear understanding. And I think that's again, a credit shire in his communication, you know, with everybody as he put this roster together. It's not just about talent. It's about personality fit. It's about understanding. And that's at the very, very, very highest levels of the sport. If you don't want to rely on bracket luck, if you don't want to like, if you want to say, I don't care who you put in front of us, we're ready to go win, that's what you got to be able to do. Very, very few college basketball programs can do it. Shire Stu program is right now.

[Gary Parish]

So now the Blue Devils advance to San Antonio. They will play the winner of Sunday's Houston, Tennessee game next Saturday in the final four. The Blue Devils now just two more wins away from what would be their six national championship. We'll turn our attention to Florida Texas Tech next. That was obviously the better game. But first, let's get a word from our partners.

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[Gary Parish]

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[Cooper Flag]

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[Cooper Flag]

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[Gary Parish]

A better way to watch whatever you Want to watch? Visit directv.com Internet Connected, Gemini device, separate Netflix membership and additional paid subscriptions required.

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[Cooper Flag]

I recently found out that you can see a personal dietitian covered by insurance.

[Gary Parish]

There's this platform called Nourish that will match you with a dietitian based on whatever your concerns are, whether that's weight loss, eating disorders, autoimmune conditions or something else. They're actually a network with major insurance providers, so Most patients pay $0 out of pocket. 94% of patients pay $0 out of pocket. Find your [e-mail] that's usenourish.com Final Score Florida 84, Texas Tech 79 the Gators are in the Final Four for the first time since 2014 wild game out in San Francisco. Texas Tech was up 7566 with 251 left. From there, Florida outscored the Red Raiders 18 4. The rest of the way won the game by 5. Chip I saw not on the ion College basketball Twitter account asked the following question something along the lines of did Florida come back and take this game or did Texas Tech give it away? How would you answer that question?

[Cooper Flag]

Florida took it. It's I think it is what they are doing right now to which I need to ask you a question. Do you know why we use the term nut cutting time?

[Gary Parish]

There's a few of these little phrases that you just, you know what it's supposed to mean. But you don't know why it means that. Right? I'll give you. I'll give you a nut. No, I don't know what nut cutting time means exactly, except. I know what it means. I know what you mean when you say it, but why do we use that phrase? It's nut cutting time. I don't know why.

[Cooper Flag]

So here's another one.

[Gary Parish]

Here's another one. You ready for this one?

[Cooper Flag]

Yeah.

[Gary Parish]

You hear this all the time? All the time. I don't know why it said, why is this. Why is this a thing? And that's three threes in a row. He has ice water in his veins. What does that mean?

[Cooper Flag]

Shouldn't you want warm. Like, shouldn't you want warm blood?

[Gary Parish]

I want warm blood.

[Cooper Flag]

Forget ice water in my veins.

[Gary Parish]

Yeah. I think anything other than warm blood in your veins is a. Is a bad problem. A bad problem. So what does that mean? Why do people say it?

[Cooper Flag]

So I. My research into this nut cutting could be two things. Number one, the idea that you need to gather your nuts together before predators or the winter comes. So it's like urgency, right? You know, like, now it's time. The money's on the table. Or number two, if things have gotten so bad in mechanics that a nut needs to be cut because no, like, plier, like, no, no. No pliers, no wrenches or anything can get it off. It's been so corroded by rust. It has to be. This is the last ditch effort. We got to get it done. And here's why I bring that up, because I was. I was talking to Todd golden after the Florida UConn game, right? And I'm asking the question. I'm. I'm like, hey, you know, you talked yesterday about how you were expecting that this UConn team did not view themselves as underdogs, that they had won all these games in a row. You were expecting that they were going to bring a certain championship pedigree. The performance out there from the Huskies, you know, did you. Did that meet your expectations? Exceed it, this, that, or the other? And. And Todd goes into, you know, I think it was what we expected, you know, blah, blah, blah. They've won all these games. He gives a shout out to Cariban, Hassan, Diara, and everything else. But then he says, but credit to our players because it was kind of nut. He goes, but credit to our players because it was kind of nut, cutting time. They stepped up and they made big plays. I think it was more about our guys stepping up and winning than UConn not pushing through our guys stepped up and made the plays when it to help us win the game. So nut cutting time has been in my head from Todd golden ever since that Yukon game. 80 run right? Wasn't that it like the 80 run that closed out like the and again Dan Hurley talks about the caravan. No call this that or the other but like Florida and specifically Walter Clayton seem to have that nut cut in time gene. That clutch gene. That money is on the table and we are going to go get it because it is just not smart shots. They are contested fall away three pointers that just like seem to just fall into the basket. I was writing Florida's obituary in this game and to your point about did Texas Tech catch the Arkansas flu? A little bit. They missed the front end of two one and ones coming down stretch. You know like there is a little bit of that but it doesn't happen. The 18 to 4 run does not happen if Florida does not also come up with those big shots. Specifically the ones from Walter Clayton who finishes with 30 points. So my answer is that Florida won it. Was the door left open by Texas Tech? Yes, but the Gators had to walk through it and it reminds me of kind of the way that they have handled business in the last three tournament games.

[Gary Parish]

They really might be the best nut cutting time team in the country. Now this doesn't Duke never has to cut nuts.

[Cooper Flag]

They don't.

[Gary Parish]

Rarely has. Duke doesn't really have to cut nuts. They're in a good position. They're never really in a nut cutting time. Florida has found itself, you know, in some nut cutting situations and, and handled them well lately. I like the way you answered that question. I didn't know if you would answer it that way because I, I, I, I don't think my instincts are to answer it that way just sort of blindly. I think if you're up 9 with 2251 left, you should win that game, period. And if you don't it is usually because you gave it away. It is almost always going to be because you gave it away. Think of it this way. Florida scored 84 in the game, right? That's 2.1 points per game, something like that. I think 2.1 points per minute rather. So if Texas Tech just holds Florida to that average per minute for the final 251, Florida can't even catch them if they never score again. Now I know there's a different sense of urgency in the final 251 when you're down nine. So this isn't quite apples to apples, but. But you get the point. All that said as you're watching it and then you go back to confirm what you think you saw the turnovers that are usually there in a collapse like this, they're just not there. Oh, they didn't give the ball away. They did. They had one turnover in the final 251. But do you know when it was? With three seconds left, after the game was already decided.

[Cooper Flag]

And look, Darion Williams has a shot to tie the game that with what, 16 seconds left or somewhere around there. If, if that. If that shot falls. We don't talk about a collapse. It's. It. It felt more like Florida being walking again. Door was open, but it felt more like about Florida walking through the door.

[Gary Parish]

I agree. Like the. I mean, that's a clean look from three. It's the type of look he knocked down two nights ago. If he knocks that one down here, perhaps there's a different deal. The. The front ends of 21 and ones in the final 251. You're leaving points. Yes, yes. But the most significant part of what happened was that Florida went from 66 points to 78 points in 111 seconds.

[Cooper Flag]

I love the way you put that.

[Gary Parish]

They went from 66 to 78 in 111 seconds. They got three pointers on four straight possessions. 12 to run in 111 seconds. Flipped the game. Texas Tech was up 75, 66 with 251 left. Then 111 seconds later, Texas Tech was down 78, 77. And they never had the lead or even tied the game again. I, I agree with you. I think Florida mostly just took it. Yeah, make a free throw here, make a free throw there. Make that wide open. 3. There were things Texas Tech could have done, but those are kind of normal basketball things. When I usually associate a late game collapse with blaming the collapser, it's like. And Buddy stepped on the line. Turnover over here. Buddy threw it into the crowd. Turn over there. Missed a layup. Oh, no. It wasn't really that. It was Walter Clayton and his teammates just.

[Cooper Flag]

It was not cutting time.

[Gary Parish]

It was not cutting time. And they got to doing what they do in nut cutting time. It's the best nut cutting time team in the country. And they showed it again on, on, on Saturday night. Walter Clayton, let's put some numbers on it. 7 of 14 from the field. 3 of 8 from 3. 13 of 14 for the free throw line. Game high 30 points. He had 8 points and 2 assists in the final 250. So he outscored Texas Tech by himself in that final, you know, 250 stretch of the game. The free throw line was another real strength for Florida. They were 25 of 27 from the free throw line. Texas Tech just 7 of 13. So the Gators had an 18 point advantage at the free throw line and, and win the game. Win the game by five. Just what, broadly speaking, you, you watch Florida have that type of performance. We've known for, I've been saying this for a few days now. Auburn's the number one overall seed in this tournament. Auburn's the outright SEC champs. But if you wanted to make a case that Auburn's not even the best SEC team left in the bracket, there's some data to support that. And you would, you would point to Florida. They look the part. I, I don't want to have revisionist history. If you'd have told me on opening day of the season to name, say, 10 teams I thought could win this national championship, I don't know that I would have gotten to Florida. But throughout the season, even though they weren't getting a lot of big signature wins early, and that's why they kind of stayed off of the national radar for a little while, it became increasingly clear as the SEC schedule unfolded, oh, no, this is top tier in the country type of team. And undeniably that's what they are right now. And, you know, not every team that wins a national championship has to, you know, turn a loss into a win and, you know, get a lucky bounce here or there. UConn really didn't last season. They just ran through everybody. But throughout history, there are times when this team couldn't have cut nets if they wouldn't have had this really special moment in the round of 32 or Sweet 16 or Elite 8 or whatever. And tonight could, could be that, that for Florida. If we end up talking about a Florida national championship, we'll point back to, you know, March 29, 2025, the night they were on the ropes against a good Texas Tech team and somehow came back and got the win.

[Cooper Flag]

I think that they were. I think they are learning how to handle success. I think that because they were off the radar because they weren't Auburn or because they weren't Alabama or Tennessee or because they've slowly risen up into that sort of consciousness, I, I think that they're learning how to deal with expectations. And I say that because the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8 starts the game against Maryland and the game against Texas Tech, it looked Great. I mean, it wasn't awesome starts, right? You know, they weren't just coming out throwing haymakers. They don't, they're one seed and they are, according to the betting markets, I think right behind Duke in terms of being favorites to win the national championship. But it is a slow to warm type dominance that it sometimes takes with the Gators. I mean, sure, well, look, you did it against Norfolk State. Congratulations. But every other game in this tournament has been a little bit of like, okay, we need to get into the battle. Okay, we need to start seeing who's going to, which one of our bigs is going to get in foul trouble and which one of our bigs is going to step up. You know, it takes a little bit for them to get into it. And I think that that was significant because Florida by their own admission was like, look, we hadn't had this kind of attention until we won the SEC tournament. And then all of a sudden on Selection Sunday, every, and this is Todd golden saying this, Every one of ESPN's experts is picking Florida to win the national championship. You know, like, we, we, we are still sort of coming around to this. And I think that that's what I consider in terms of the soft factors and the vibes with, with some of these, these big Games is Sweet 16, it's Elite 8, and you're, everything's going on and, and you've just been in this for so long that it is a team that almost needs to bleed a little bit and then you start to see that championship medal. So yeah, I, I, I think that Florida from a personnel standpoint is built like the kind of team that can win six games in the NCAA tournament. Two examples here. Number one, I, I saw John Henson was up in studio with y'all. Right.

[Gary Parish]

Not tonight, but he has been a long time.

[Cooper Flag]

It was like, so, yeah, like, yeah.

[Gary Parish]

Like a couple weeks ago. He was great. I love John.

[Cooper Flag]

I was with him in conference tournament week in Fort Lauderdale.

[Gary Parish]

Great.

[Cooper Flag]

You know, like, I, I think John's awesome. Like, I, I think John is very, like, he, he's got a good future. I'm pouring gas in his tank. I, I hope that he continues to do more work with us because I enjoyed it. He came with us in the sweat cave. I don't know if you saw that. We had a two hour live stream on two different days, sweating conference tournament bets. He came in, put on a headband. Let's talk about doing live bets on that stuff. Like, I mean, it was, it was great, but John and I Were sitting there talking and we're like, you know what Florida looks like? Looks like one of those old North Carolina teams. Got these veteran guards, you got all these bigs like this. This looks like one of those Roy Williams teams that cuts down nets. Second example, Dan Hurley saying, you know what Florida looks like? Florida looks like one of our UConn teams. You know, Florida looks like when you got Adamant and Donovan and Sampson and Tristan Newton and like all. And Cam Spencer and, you know, he's just you. You start to look and it's like, okay, well, if this team profiles like these, 0509 North Carolina and 2324 UConn. Well, okay, what's the common thread here? They all cut down nets. Florida's built to be able to win this national championship. Now, there are other teams that could stop them from doing that, but I'm glad that they are in the Final Four because I have felt since the beginning of this tournament, since conference tournament week, that they are at least constructed the way that they can contend for national championship.

[Gary Parish]

All right, couple more things for you real quick. And your answers will more or less have to be predictions. Here's the question. We've already got two number one seeds into the Final Four. Are we going to have all four number one seeds at the Final Four in San Antonio?

[Cooper Flag]

No. You want to know why?

[Matt Norlander]

Why?

[Cooper Flag]

Because the Vols ain't losing in Peyton's house.

[Gary Parish]

The Vols won't lose in Peyton's house.

[Cooper Flag]

Listen, you got to walk by a statue of Peyton Manning to get into that stadium. I've been in that. So we had Big Ten media days, Big Ten championship game. I've been in Indy. All right? I've been. I've been. I've been all over Indy over here in the last like eight, nine months or so. Very aware of the Peyton vibes. And they've got him there, too. Oh, no, no, no. Balls ain't losing in Peyton's house.

[Gary Parish]

Okay, next question. We already have one sec team into the Final Four. It sounds like you think we're at least gonna have two. Do you believe we're gonna get three?

[Cooper Flag]

I could see it by. I will say that like if my expert picks prediction is, is that Tom Izzo in Michigan State? Get it done. But I truly believe that all things considered, Auburn. Michigan State is a coin flip type game. What about you?

[Gary Parish]

I. I know Auburn is favored by four and a half. If I were playing the game, I would probably take the points. But keep in mind, my Expert picks are below.500. So you shouldn't pay attention to them. But I like Michigan State has been playing better lately than Auburn has been playing lately. But right, a four plus month season to date, Auburn has been the better team. I, I, I think we're gonna end up with all four number one seats. I think it's going to be Houston, Auburn joining Duke and Florida and all four number one seeds in San Antonio. But I mean I think both the, obviously both these games could go either way. It's, I'll go Houston and Auburn. But you could tell me any combination of, of outcomes and I'd be like, yeah, yeah, I could see that.

[Cooper Flag]

You talk about taking the points. Here's, here's a fun angle here. So Michigan State and Auburn both have been slow starting teams. They have been teams where you take their opponent on the first half spread, right? Because their opponent is going to be like plus two, plus three and a half, plus four on the first half spread sitting on like a four, five, five and a half, six and a half, seven half type spread. So what happens when two slow starting teams play each other? Oh no. Spider man pointing meme. I don't, I don't know what to do here. I, I don't know. I, I, oh and like the way that the, I know that when Kentucky goes to Atlanta we call it Cat Lana Tigers. It's technically Cat Lana because the Tiger is a cat. But the, I've been calling it the Jungle east is the way I've been calling it. When Pettiford was popping off last night and that place was roaring, I was like, oh God, I don't, I think Auburn is going to be real tough to beat. I think Auburn is going to be tougher to beat in Atlanta than Houston will be. Especially after like man, Purdue played that Houston defense about as well as anybody. And I, I gotta think that after getting good performances out of all three of your senior backcourt of Sakai Ziegler and Chaz Lanier and Jordan Ganey that they, they've got to be looking at that like, okay, like we can, we've got more options than Purdue has. Purdue has a two man game that's phenomenal. And they, they still did almost enough to win that game. I've got to think Tennessee looks at that tape on the quick scout and thinks we've got a chance to get to the Final Four for the first time in program history.

[Gary Parish]

And like, you know, it would be an awesome story. Like Tennessee has been ranked number one in the country under multiple coaches Bruce Pearl and Rick Barnes. That program is in recent years, one of the consist biggest consistent winners in the sport. They've accomplished tons of stuff. Had NBA players come through there, hall of Fame level coaches come through there, but nobody's ever actually taken that program to the final Four. And Rick has, you know, one more win to. To become the first man to ever, ever do that. If he gets it, it'd obviously be.

[Cooper Flag]

Like, look, I love Kelvin Lumberton, North Carolina's own Kelvin Sampson. Right? Like I. Like I. For forever. I am team Kel. I know you're team Kelvin. I have team Kelvin Sampson there, too. There's. There's no losers there with two North Carolina natives competing in the Midwest regional final. On my end, in terms of my own biases and emotions, yeah, I. I.

[Gary Parish]

Know all these guys, you know, for a while now, and, you know, I genuinely. I say this as sincerely as I can say it. I. I don't mind seeing any of them do well. I root for people. I don't root against folks. I root for people. I'm happy for people all the time.

[Cooper Flag]

Same.

[Gary Parish]

And. And so I'd be, you know, whatever. I will let this play out, and I'll just keep talking about it until it's over. But I. I think this sentiment is pretty common throughout college basketball, whether you talk about other coaches, people who follow this, follow the sport. I think people like Kelvin Sampson, you know, and he's got this NCAA stuff, you know, a million years ago in his past that is obviously minor relative to other things that have happened. And I guess some people still weirdly hold on to that to use it as a weapon against them, you know.

[Cooper Flag]

Where that wasn't held against anybody. I was at the Will Wade press conference. Okay, I tell you what. I did not hear one bit of. Of sentiment being held against that man in Rebel Coliseum on Tuesday.

[Gary Parish]

Okay, well, then maybe. Maybe. Maybe we're moving away from the nonsense.

[Cooper Flag]

We're moving away.

[Gary Parish]

I guess that's what I'm saying.

[Cooper Flag]

Are you kidding me? Yeah. No way.

[Gary Parish]

There would be a lot of people. Maybe this is the simplest way to put it. There'd be a lot of people who smile if they could watch Kelvin Sampson climb a ladder and cut nets and be a national champion. Yeah, like, there would be a lot of people who would be like, that's. That's a cool thing to see. You know, his. His story is a pretty remarkable story. So it's just gonna. It'll be a fabulous doubleheader on Sunday. Network. Network of stars. But official prediction right now. I think Auburn wins in part because of the location of the game. If you played this game in Detroit tomorrow, I'd probably pick Michigan State.

[Cooper Flag]

Wow.

[Gary Parish]

But we're gonna play.

[Cooper Flag]

They got thumped by the tar heels in 2009, you know, in Detroit. Thomas tried to say it would, like, fix the water crisis if the Michigan State won. And, oh, I'm so sorry about that. But Tyler Hansborough had other plans.

[Gary Parish]

I actually remember Tom before that game, like you're heading in the national championship game. And he had this whole. It was almost like a locker room speech, queued up for press availability. And he was this long thing. At least this is the way I remember it. Keep in mind, it was what, 16 years ago? But I remember some version of this. He was like, listen, playing North Carolina, they're better than us. They just are, right? They got better players, they have a better coach. They're better than us, but we're pretty good at making teams not play as well as they normally play. And so if we can play as well as we can play and then maybe make it where they don't play as well as they normally play, then maybe we can, you know, figure out a way to get this thing done. And then it's like, fast forward to the game. You're down a million. Yeah. And it was. I. I just remember he was, like, trying to talk himself into it, but. But seemingly deep down knowing, oh, buddy, we're up against it against this team. This is. This is gonna be. This is gonna be tough. I'll tell you this. Auburn in Atlanta, much more manageable I. In my head, I think, under these circumstances than North Carolina was on that night back in. In 2009. But as always, we'll see. Prediction. Auburn wins in part because the games played in Atlanta. And Kelvin Sampson wins a close game against Tennessee. And our final four is a one seed against the one seed and a one seed against the one seed.

[Cooper Flag]

Let's go. I mean, yeah, let's go. I'll take it. I've got both twos advancing. I did favorites today, dogs tomorrow. So let's. Let's see if the dogs are barking on Sunday.

[Gary Parish]

All right, let's get out of here. Chip, thank you for being here. I owe you. I don't know how many friends I got that would stay up this late with me on a Saturday night, but I appreciate you being here. Shouts to Devin Downey. Shouts to Chester, S.C. terry Teagle. He's a legend. Hawk Larnell. Thank you guys once again for watching. Listening to the I Own College Basketball Podcast. If you're not subscribed, please go subscribe anywhere. You subscribe to podcasts, Apple, Spotify, there's more of us than there are of them. That's got to be reflected in the comments. So do that. We'll talk to you again real soon. Till then, take care.

[Chip Patterson]

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