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Eye On College Basketball
March Madness 2025 National Championship Game Preview --Who Will Emerge As Champion?
00:47:36
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- [00:00]
Gary Parish
This episode of I Own College Basketball is presented by Travis Matthew. Apparel designed for confidence and comfort no matter where the day takes you.
- [00:10]
Matt Norlander
It's that time of year again. My schedule is packed with bracket busting, three point shooting, non stop basketball action. I don't want to miss a second of it and I find myself staying up late to catch all the action I can't be dragging the next morning. That's why I go for a five hour energy shot. They're perfect for my days packed with back to back games or when my favorite team is playing late. With over 15 flavors to choose from like watermelon, Tropical Burst, blue, raspberry, peach, mango and more, there's a flavor for everyone on their website. You have the option to build your own 12 pack or 24 pack and have it delivered right to your door. And if you're out and about, you can always pick up a five hour Energy shot at your local grocery or convenience store. They're everywhere. Five Hour Energy keeps me going during the broadcast and the next morning when I need to get myself up and work. Visit 5hourenergy.com for great deals and to stock up before the next tip off.
- [01:21]
Gary Parish
Hey there, I'm Gary Parish. Welcome back to the CBS Sports I Own College Basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, dodo birds and leaky black. Matt Norlander is here with me. If you're watching on YouTube, 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. Shame on you. Tired of asking you to do it. You should have already done it. Let's get into it. National title game. As you know, it's set. All of the pregame pressers are done. So now it's time for Houston and Florida for the championship. These are the teams ranked second and third at Ken Palm, second and third at Evan Mia, and first and fourth at Bartorvic will these two teams are going to meet night at 7:50 Central inside the Alamo Dome. It's going to be here in San Antonio. You can watch it on cbs, America's most watched network. It's the network of stars. Florida is listed as a 1 1/2 point favorite. So Norlander, let's stop here for a second. According to Kim Palm, Houston is a projected 7271 winner. In other words, Kim Palm has Houston as a one point favorite. But the betting markets have flipped it and made Florida a 1 1/2 point favorite in this game. I noticed it found it interesting Are you surprised to see Florida favored against the Houston team that won 8 street 18 straight games and just beat Kim Palm's number one team in the national semifinals?
- [02:40]
Adi Joseph
A little bit. By the way, real quick for our listeners and viewers you did not miss here. GP if you are not up to date on this 750 local 850 eastern tip for the title game on Monday, that is the earliest it has been in about three decades at least. So plan accordingly. This used to be a 9:20 tip. It is a full 30 minutes earlier. 8:50 Eastern 7:50 Central 550 out on the West Coast. I am surprised by the number Houston these are pair of 35 and four teams. Florida's got the second best offense in the country per possession. Houston's got the best defense. Both these teams are top 10 now they're kind of flipped on the other side. Houston ranks 10 in offensive efficiency, Florida ninth and defensive efficiency. Just so happened coincidentally enough to be talking about this with our with our top editorial boss Adi Joseph as we left the Alamo dome all of 30 minutes ago before doing this pod and we got to talking about this exact thing and and Adi, who may well actually be watching us right now, he said he might tune in to stream so hi boss. He thinks that largely stems from the fact that the public is dismissing Houston for whatever reason. It's just not as you know, if I'm not saying this is how it should be. But you know, Florida big SEC program has won national titles and for whatever reason people are just going to be more in on them. They played in a tougher conference generally speaking than than the than the Big 12, although the Big 12 has actually won a higher percentage of his games in the tournament. Didn't have as many teams. So I think that's that's accounting for it. It's counting for public money probably that's coming in on it and the lines are probably reflective of that. But Houston rates ahead of Florida and most metrics and shouts to Bart Torvik, by the way, as you well know, he has had Houston atop his ranking system for for many, many weeks now, even in in the face of Duke's dominance. So the Cougars get to get to Monday night and yeah, I mean I do think it's a pretty it's going to be a pretty close game. It's an awesome matchup. I mean 11th time we've ever had one versus one in the national final. Seating goes back to the late 70s and we're treated with this one after thinking, you know, Duke or Auburn, Shirley One of them would break through. At least one of them. No, not that way at all. It's going to be Houston and Florida. You know, the line is mildly intriguing. It's. You don't usually get this where you have one team that's ahead of the other from a rating standpoint, but it's the other thing that is actually favorite. But that is indeed where we have it with Florida.
- [04:57]
Gary Parish
Yeah. Bartorvic.com by the way, has Houston projected to win the game? 7167. So the point spread is interesting as it has established itself in the betting markets. And I, I guess adi's explanation is as good as any other one. It just runs counter to what I assume the public would do. I assume the public, the public would get caught up in the second game of the national semifinals and they just watched Houston knock off Duke and Cooper flag and like, oh, now I can bet on that team at even money against a team that didn't even win its conference. And it's Kelvin Sampson and they've won 18 straight and they're going to have a home court advantage because they're only playing three hours. I thought the public would be all over Houston, as always. We'll see. But it is interesting at least that Florida is listed as a one and a half point favorite. This is a Florida team that was never ranked number one in the country. This is a Florida team that's never been number one in any of the predictive metrics. This is a Florida team that did. It did not win it's its conference, but a Florida team that is still favored in the national title game over a fellow number one seed. That's just. Everything I just said is unusual.
- [06:03]
Adi Joseph
Yeah, not only that, both these teams are obviously blazing hot coming in for the most part from a winning streak standpoint. But Houston has won more games in a row than Florida has. You go back and check here. The, the Cougars last lost their game on February 1st. Meantime, the Gators, they're combined 35 and 1 over the past 36 games. But the Gators last loss on on February 25th. So it's not even like Houston has the longer winning streak coming into the game. But regardless of who's favorite or not, whatever this is, this is, this is an awesome, awesome, awesome national semifinal or excuse me, national final for a number of reasons. I'll have a story go up on Monday. I think the coaching matchup is super intriguing. You've got Kelvin Sampson at 69 versus Todd Golden. It's the second largest trivia time second between two head coaches in a national final. Do you know the largest?
- [06:56]
Gary Parish
Nope.
- [06:57]
Adi Joseph
It happened in this state in the past 20 years.
- [07:00]
Gary Parish
I would assume Mike Krzyzewski was involved.
- [07:03]
Adi Joseph
You would assume incorrectly. You want one more guess?
- [07:06]
Gary Parish
I was actually going to go Mike Krzyzewski. Brad Stevens. Is that not good?
- [07:10]
Adi Joseph
It is not good enough. It is just. It is Jim Calhoun, Brad Stevens, 68 and 34. That is the largest age gap ever between two coaches in a national final. Off by one year. Fair enough. That was back in Houston in 2011. My first final Four. And now you've got Sampson at 69 going up against Kel, going up against Golden. Kelvin Sampson got the first win of his career on November 13, 1981 in Bismarck, North Dakota. He will get win number 800 on the button in his career. If his Houston Cougars can win on Monday night, it will also be his 300th. Exactly. Win at Houston. If Houston can win for Todd golden, you know, he's. We have, we have a bit of a juxtaposition overall. Todd golden, you know, has, has not nearly the experience. Doesn't mean he can't win, obviously, but this is just year six for him as a head coach. He's logged what, a little more than 100 wins overall? This is by far the best team he's ever had. Prior to this, Todd golden had never coached a team to an NCAA tournament victory at all. And now he's gotten five in a row and getting his team to the national title game. So before we get into the player stuff, GP I do find one coach versus the other to be pretty interesting. Golden obviously has been well known for a long time as just being at the forefront or as willing to look into any kind of analytic, no matter what it is, explore it, can it help us? What can we do? Get any kind of edge through conventional and non conventional means. And it's helped him to get to where he is. Samson is not exactly a dinosaur, folks. You know, 15 years ago, a different situation. But having gone to the NBA, which we've talked about on the show, first with a quick stint in San Antonio, coincidentally enough, and then moving along to be with what, the Magic and then ultimately the Bucks for a number of years and then the Rockets, I guess I should say that really opened up his eyes even more. And so now he's, he's certainly analytic, analytically savvy. I did check in today, like, you know, he has a Ken Palm login. He uses all that kind of stuff, but it does from the outside looking in kind of look seem like maybe an analytics versus man analytics kind of match up there. Your thoughts on, on Samson vs Golden. You know, no matter who wins, it's going to be a national championship for the first time for, for either of these coaches at two very distinctly different points in their career. And oh, by the way, you know, as you know, GP oftentimes coaches for any number of reasons, they just, they, they have ties that bind. They have connections. Oh, you know, I know him because of this guy. And then this guy is actually a rare instance where because they are so far apart in age, golden and Sampson really just, they don't have, they don't have a lot of familiarity with each other. This will be the first time they square off.
- [09:47]
Gary Parish
So we just finished a television show that's airing right now on CBS Sports Network. That's the magic of pre tape. So if we got the podcast here live now, the television show on CBS sports network from 5:30 Central to 7:00 Central. I was asked at one point about the coaching matchup and I sort of, this is the way I put it. Every once in a while you'll see these graphics, whether they're on websites or television sets, and it's like, you know, who has the edge? And it'll be like back court. And you'll put a check mark next to one team and it'll say food. Front court edge. And you'll say, oh, I give the front court edge to this other team. So check mark over here. And then it'll be like, you know, bench. And you say, oh, I think it's this team check mark over here. Coaching matchup. You say, put the check mark over here. If we were doing that with Houston and Florida and you got to the coaching matchup, you would have to, and I think Todd golden might even agree with you, you would have to just say it. I guess we're giving it to Kelvin Sampson because I know he's not already in the Naismith Memorial hall of Fame, but he has already done enough in his career to be in the Naismith Memorial hall of Fame. And I believe if he retired Tuesday, regardless of what happens on Monday night, he would one day be in the Naismith Memorial hall of Fame. So let's, for the sake of the conversation, give the quote, coaching edge to Kelvin Sampson. But to act or even suggest like Todd Gold is going to be at some wild disadvantage or in over his head, that just seems silly to me given what this guy's already done throughout his career, particularly this season. I don't know if he can beat Kelvin Sampson on Monday night or let me put it more accurately, if his team can beat Kelvin Sampson's team on Monday night. But you know, he has already this season beaten John Caliper's team and Nate Oats team and Rick Barnes team and Bruce Pearl's team twice and Porter Moer's team and Kevin Willard's team and Grant McCassin's team and Danny Hurley's team. He's been in a bunch of coaching matchups this season. He's won almost all of them. So is Kelvin unbelievable. And the other guys got an entire career in front of him to, to prove that he also is over an extended period of time. Yes, all of that stuff is true. But Todd golden is, he is running one of the best basketball programs in the country right now. Strictly talking within the line stuff that's happening on the court. I don't want to get all that mixed up. And he's got, let's just keep it factual. He has a team that is favored to win the national championship even though the team on the other side has won 18 straight, 13 of those against NCAA tournament teams and is coached by Kelvin Sampson. I'm not worried about Todd Gold.
- [12:31]
Adi Joseph
Yeah. And not only that, with Houston, the program has one loss in regulation this season. Golden got asked about Sampson stuff earlier today at his press conference and he said, quote, a little underrated, as hard as that might be to believe. And then he continued, he's been at it a little longer than I have. It's going to be a huge challenge for me to compete against him tomorrow night. He was, he was very, very complimentary of, of Sampson. And it went kind of, it went both ways there. He even joked golden did about how practicing in football pads here on Sunday might not be the worst thing to, to prepare for against Houston. And I think, you know, I don't think they're actually going to bust those out, but I do think there is a, there is something, something to that. As for the player matchups with everything here, you know, I talked to Walter Clayton Jr. And John Roberts, both of them, one on one for CBS Sports HQ at the Alamo Dome earlier in the day. It could be a game that's decided by the guard play entirely. We really have a chance. We'll see how this goes. In terms of Houston's defense versus Florida's offense, this is actually the first time since 74 and that was NC State and Marquette in the final. I believe that we've had one team average 85 plus heading into a title game, and another team allowing 60 or fewer heading into a title game. You know, it is on the table that one side maybe handles the other and we don't have a close one, but, man, does it feel like a close one. And if it is, I do think we've got a fantastic chance of having a really entertaining championship game because L.J. crier, he had some. Just, some really, really tough shots. Like, a part of me is still reeling from what Houston did to, to find a way to beat Duke in that game. Like, it really is just. It's just one of the more memorable national semifinals ever. And we, we went into that in plenty of detail on the late, late, Late show on, on Saturday. But it's not just Crier. Like, Crier's gonna have to step up and be really good again, and he's going to be trying to become the first player to win two national championships with two programs. But, you know, Milos USAN is a really solid player, and I think that he'll be the one that is actually assigned initially to be head to head with Walter Clayton Jr. We know what he can do. Elijah Martin, not going to shy away from the moment. Will Richard a really good guard. You've got Emmanuel Sharp for Houston. There have been plenty of title games and final four matchups with. With good guard matchups, but, you know, typically, for the most part, those would be, you know, maybe two on two kind of setups here. I just think that both of these deployments balance out so well with each other, with. With the roles that they play. And it's not to say that the bigs can't have a impact. They absolutely can. I mean, JoJo Tugler, if he can avoid foul trouble, is. Is literally capable of guarding Walter Clayton Jr. If that's what they ask of him. I don't think that's what they're going to do because they don't want him to get in file trouble. Between Tugler and Juwan Roberts, of course, who is just, you know, he's nails man, totally Javier Francis and what he can bring to the table. And then Malik Wilson has another guard off the bench for. For Houston. They've just. They've got so much going for them on the offensive end. I'm interested to see how Alex Condon has a big. And Thomas Hauck is a big. How do these guys, you know, Micah Handlogden's now involved as well. How does Florida's defense offset what Houston can do offensively? Because I, I do Expect after Houston, as you noted on the show, had, it just was, you know, it was, had so much, so many issues hidden from the field, hidden from the inside the three point arc and then finally just it had just enough to beat Duke. I wouldn't expect it to have back to back really rocky games as a shooting team. And so where does, where does Florida win on the boards? Can its guards be, can, can they match Houston's toughness? I mean it really is a pretty fascinating head to head. Florida's capable of peeling off some big runs. I get all that and it's a really, really, really good offense. It's actually not that far off from what Duke is. I'm going to say I'm not going to expect Florida to go through a situation where it has one field goal over 10 minutes span. But against Houston, I guess you never really know. I know this is a national final that people going into the Final Four again it was probably considered to be the least likely because people would have thought well Duke will win probably and if not that like Auburn will probably get it done because it's been a really, really good team and you got the two top national player of the year candidates. But just because we don't have Duke here and just because we don't have Auburn here, Florida has been the better team in the SEC over the, the final six weeks or so. We talked about that on the show and I really, really like our chance to have a pretty awesome final form when all is said and done. Paris, we're going to pick the games in just a few minutes after a break or two. But I will say this, I do love the chance for this Final Four to have three games decided by single digits. Auburn lost by six points, Houston was able to beat Duke by three. And if this game was also decided by three, four, five, six points, it wouldn't surprise me whatsoever. And it would be fitting for this kind of tournament. Four needs to get three really, really good games. I, I think we are headed for that.
- [17:35]
Gary Parish
I hope so because the national semifinals were terrific and were the most watched since we had since the the 2017 final four. 15.3 million viewers on CBS. The coverage peaked at 20.4 million viewers and the numbers are expected to increase when the final data is available on Tuesday. And I quote tweeted this earlier just you know, sarcastically, but I thought nil and transfer waivers and a lack of Cinderella stories were killing Bass College basketball in the NCAA tournament. It's just not true. I get the frustration among fans with nil and transfer waivers and, you know, players bouncing from here or there, players being bought from one campus to the other. I get it, I understand it. I'm not dismissive of it. I'm just trying to tell you there's literally no evidence that it's quote, killing anything. This is just something people say, but there's nothing to actually support it. Nothing is, is being killed. And the television audience that we saw on Saturday night is an, you know, an illustration of that. There are things we need to fix in this sport. But if you are somebody who thinks the best thing the NCAA tournament can do is deliver Cinderella stories, you don't understand how television audiences work at all. Television, this is, it's one of those things like people like to say they love Cinderellas, but there's no evidence that people love to watch them. People say they like to, but there's no evidence to actually support it. It's like you meet somebody and they're like, my favorite thing to do is go to museums. Okay, cool. When's the last time you went to a museum? Maybe four years ago. Like what? You love to go to museums but you never go. I don't believe you. I think you're just saying it. Same thing with Cinderella stories. I love Cinderella stories. Well, you and enough people don't watch them. You know what you do watch? Big brands, awesome basketball teams. And that's what we had in San Antonio without exception. And we got two more awesome ones playing each other on Monday night. I expect the numbers to be terrific. Not what they would have been if Duke were involved and Cooper Flag were involved. But they're still going to be very, very good, I would assume. Let me ask you about Walter Clayton Jr. Real quick because we've been talking about him for a while, of how he has emerged as, you know, if we had turned this into a two player national player of the year race between Cooper Flag and Janai Broom, Walter Clayton would be the third guy in that race if we decided to put a third guy in it, but we never really did. He was a consensus first team all American and is obviously awesome and has been the star of this NCAA tournament so far. But it just, I'm in my own world here. I'm just talking all day going non stop. I, I haven't been able, had the time to consume much of what other people are saying or writing or whatever. I can't wait to dive on, dive into all that stuff when I can. But so help me, here are people talking about this this way. If Walter Clayton Jr. And Florida finish this off tomorrow and he goes big again. He not only goes down as the most outstanding player of the 2025 in Final Four, he will go down as one of the greatest March Madness performers. Performers we have quite literally ever seen. Do people know that?
- [20:54]
Adi Joseph
I think we got really close to that acknowledgment and understanding of it as a, as a sports community by nature of what he was able to do. I mean, you know, him going just incandescently hot against Auburn and, and helping lift. It wasn't all him. Like, you know, Elijah Martin had the dunkerd around the world, but I think that did go a long way toward it. Now you got to get one more win. And his averages right now are 18 and a half points, 4.1 assists, 3.7 rebounds. He's a 39 shooter from beyond the arc. If he can hit those numbers in Florida wins, yes, he'll, he will. In my estimation, he will wind up putting himself into the annals of the NCAA tournament's history in terms of. We will wind up remembering this tournament for a few things in this scenario, if Florida does win, I think, you know, this is the kind of tournament where we will remember that there were four 1 seats to a Final Four. Because that has always been something, you know, the 2008 tournament right now I say that. What do you think about Chalmers for the tie, Dozier for the championship? No. Kansas wins and there were 41 seeds in San Antonio. I think in this tournament because of how great Duke was, because Cooper flag was involved, you will be. It will be remembered for either Houston. Well, let's do both ends of it. Houston winning the national championship. We don't know what we're going to get on Monday night, but if Houston wins in casual fashion, we may well remember the win over Duke in the semis just as much if not more so than what they do against Florida. Now. If Florida wins, the tournament will be remembered for the Gators doing it with Walter Clayton Jr. In a Kemba esque. Carmelo s kind of role. In addition to the fact that we had four 1 seeds and Houston beat Duke in one of the all time comebacks in Final Four history maybe 10 years from now. There's also a little bit of like, remember that was the tournament that had like no Cinderellas. There could also be that as well. But I do think he is, he's well on his way there. Got to see what he can do in this spot. He is not shy on confidence, not, not even close. Houston as a defensive menace is a different team than. Than Florida's face. The entire season he's played some really, really good teams. So I think that he's got a chance to show up, play really, really well. He's unafraid, he gets big shots. But ultimately, Houston was able to take the best player in the sport and ensure that he was shut down late. Now, he did get two baskets Cooper flagged in the final 10 and a half minutes, but other than that, no. And he didn't get the exact shot that he wanted with the game on the line. Now, can it do it with a different kind of player with an even better, more consistent deep range and Walter Clayton. That's why I'm super psyched for this matchup, man. I am very interested to see what Houston does to try and contain Clayton and if it can have some success there, who will become the guy for Florida? Do we have someone in the. In the front court that winds up stepping up? Do we have Elijah Martin stepping up into a starring role with his. With his opportunity there after having obviously a really good Saturday night. So to your broader question, I think people are kind of there, but it will only materialize if Florida wins and he gets really, really hot again and he'll rightfully have earned legendary status. About happening.
- [23:54]
Gary Parish
People don't talk about Derrick Rose's run through the NCAA tournament, as incredible as it was because it fell short of a national championship. So if Walter Clayton falls short of a national championship, it'll be just like the Derrick Rose run. People like me will be like, man, I don't know if you remember, but Walter Clayton was wild. Just didn't get it done on Monday night. That's the Derrick Rose story. But when we start talking about, let's just say guards that took over NCAA tournaments and just got on heaters and ran their teams to a national championship, there's two from UConn that pop out right. Kimball Walker, Shabazz Napier. Walter Clayton's better numbers than both of them so far. You quoted his season numbers. Do you know what it is during the tournament? In this tournament, it's 24.6 points per game, 50 shooting from the field, 48.7 shooting from three. Kimball Walker did not score that many points, shoot that well from the field or that well from three. Shabazz Napier did not score that many points, shoot that well from the field and shoot that well from three. Anthony Davis did not do this. Like, this is all time great stuff. All time great stuff.
- [25:01]
Adi Joseph
Gotta win one more, though.
- [25:03]
Gary Parish
I know. Gotta win one more but man, if he does it by going for 30 again, he really does go down as a March Madness legend forever. When you start, you know how social media is now, everybody, somebody's always walking up to you saying, who are your five favorite NCAA tournament runs of all time? Like when we, when we're doing those seven years from now, if Walter Clayton is able to to put this together one more time, you will not be able to throw a list together without putting this Florida team and that Florida player on it really, really high.
- [25:31]
Adi Joseph
And I will say this, then we can move on. They got to get the win. But if it does happen, he is going to be Now, Janai Broom won Sporting News national player of the Year and Flag won the rest of them. But Clayton will have a place because he's going to have the hardware that they wanted and they couldn't get and they couldn't even get to Monday night to have a chance at it. If he wins, they win the championship, he's almost certainly going to be the mop and he will have earned a place level, literally level with those two other guys by nature of having won a national championship. But you got to get through Houston. So let's see what happens.
- [26:00]
Gary Parish
First, like Norlander said, we are going to pick the game. We'll do that in just a bit. But before we do that, we're going to do the flashback segment brought to you by Travis Smith. Matthew, we'll do that next. First, let's get a word from our partners.
- [26:12]
Adi Joseph
Okay. Let's talk about clothes that feel just right. You know those pants, you wear them once and suddenly they're your go to for. That's Travis Matthew. And this episode is presented by Travis Matthew. Apparel designed for confidence and comfort no matter where the day takes you. Travis Matthew has so many instant classics. Tees, shoes, outerwear, pants, and a customer favorite, the quarter zips. I have to speak up on the jeans. I have a pair. They're the most comfortable jeans I've ever worn in my life. They are stretchy, soft, durable, can wear them out with my wife, can wear them to cover a basketball game, can wear them around the house. Excellent, excellent pair of jeans. Highly, highly recommend. So a big thanks to Travis Matthew for creating apparel that keeps up with everything my day throws at me. This apparel is designed for confidence, comfort, really, no matter where the day takes you. So go ahead, treat yourself right now, visit travismathu.com that's Matthew with one T. New customers get 20% off their first purchase and rewards members, free shipping and returns are all yours. Don't miss out.
- [27:14]
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- [28:14]
Gary Parish
Now it's time for the Flashback segment brought to you by Travis Matthew. What up, Travis Matthew Apparel designed for confidence and comfort no matter where the day takes you. Today, Norlando, we are flashing back to the last time we had a national title game here inside the Alamo Dome in San Antonio. It was April 2, 2018, which made me realize that if this were 2018, we'd already be back at home in our beds with tee times locked in. How'd our season get five days longer?
- [28:43]
Adi Joseph
What happened? It's, it's, it's just called, it's the annual calendar. Man. I, I, I'm not going to get into why different, different seasons started, whatever the calendar. I hear you, but we got two more days gp and then we got two more days and then we're done before. Hold on, I'm going to jump you on this. I want to talk about the title game. Yeah, that, that might not be what I associate most with the 2018 Final Four. Do you know what I associate with the 2018 Final Four?
- [29:13]
Gary Parish
You go ahead and tell me.
- [29:15]
Adi Joseph
Okay, so we're coming off this, you know, Cooper flag mania, Duke, all this tons of hype. Nothing, nothing compared to the international media incident that was Sister Jean's Thursday media availability at the Alamo Dome in 2018. I have never seen or experienced anything like it in my life. Loyola made the Final Four that season. It was an incredible story. Sister Jean was a sprightly young, 97, 98 years old, something like that. She gets wheeled in. It was an army of cameras. They had to, they had to literally they had these things called breakout rooms where players go and get interviewed. They had to double the size of a breakout room, if not triple the size, to accommodate everyone in there. Loyal, obviously, was made it as a Cinderella and then it got knocked out in the Final Four that season and did so against, against Michigan, which played Villanova in the title game. But that was something that I have a very fond memory of and having had a chance to cover that run, but also just her. And it spoke to just, you know, the power of sports tournament, college basketball. No other sport would provide that kind of thing. So I know we're going to get to the title game. Just a second here as a look back, but the Sister Gene experience, I can honestly say, was a bigger national and truly international deal on a, on a media level than any other thing I have ever seen in college basketball since I started covering the sport at the end of the 2000s.
- [30:46]
Gary Parish
And then she lost by 12. And then she lost by 12.
- [30:49]
Adi Joseph
Well, you know what? She had. She. To, to be fair, to be fair, Xavier Simpson was just all over her and she could not get any kind of freedom. It was a problem. He was a. He was a ferocious defender. And I don't, I don't put the loss on her. It was much more and much more to do with Clayton Custer and the like.
- [31:12]
Gary Parish
If you're going to give Sister Gene all the credit for getting them there, I think she has to take some responsibility for losing by 12.
- [31:18]
Adi Joseph
That loss was on Cameron Krutwig, and you can't convince me otherwise.
- [31:23]
Gary Parish
If John Shire has to walk around carrying this Houston loss with him for the rest of his life, I think Sister Jean should have to carry around that for the rest of her life. All right. Anyway, the title game ended up being Villanova, Michigan, Jay Wright, John Beeline, two men who have since left the sport. One of them is now a star at cbs. Proven to be just as great at this as he was at the other thing. Final score in the title game. Villanova 79, Michigan 62. Norlander, what do you rem about that night here in San Antonio?
- [31:53]
Adi Joseph
I remember the night well, a couple things.
- [31:58]
Gary Parish
It.
- [31:58]
Adi Joseph
It capped off a 36 win season for Villanova. This was a Nova team that stormed through the bracket, destroyed Radford, beat Alabama in the second round. It wasn't close. Beat West Virginia by double digits, beat Texas Tech by double digits, rolled over Kansas in the semis, and then beats Michigan 79, 62. And we talked about it on the pod probably that very night. And I remember writing about It. That team was the best team on offense that season. It was extremely good, both from two and three point range. It had Jalen Brunson, who was national player of the year, Mikhail Bridges, Omari Spellman, Eric Pascal, you just. Dante G. Vincenzo, obviously, you know, he had this magnificent moment here on this stage and. And propelled himself into. Into the NBA draft way ahead of schedule. And to see that team be that dominant. 2016 is more memorable because Chris Jenkins, it's. It's the buzzer beater. 2018 team was better. And one. I was telling someone this today because I was in the same exact hallway in the Alamo Dome. Villanova wins on court, celebration, all that good stuff. Eventually, I. Jay had done his postgame press conference. He'd gone back in the locker room. I can't remember the cadence or why any of this happened, but the whole media throng was on the other end of the hallway. Double doors open up. Jay comes out, he's soaked, and he leans against the wall. And I just happened to be there. And I said, congrats, man. How do you feel? And I remember him telling me with a smile, he goes, I'm so tired, man. I'm like, well, you know what? It was ultimately all worth it. And I was like, you see those people? You see all that? You see those folks right down there? It's like 30, 30 cameras deep. I was like, they're going to realize in about 10 seconds that you're standing here and you're going to have to do this all over again one more time. He goes, I know. So we talked a little bit there, and sure enough, they caught it. And I remember standing right next to him, and it was actually, as someone who's on the other side of that every time, obviously, I was like, you know what I want to experience what it feels like to be a head coach in this moment. So we were leaning against the wall, and then they all come on over and they all crowd around us in a semicircle. And I was. I wasn't shoulder to shoulder with Jay, but I was basically, you know, at a. At a. At a perpendicular angle. And I saw boom, boom. All the lights shoot on, cameras go, microphones in his face. And I was like, this really is something, man. You know, just one question after another. Eventually, I slinked out of there. But that was a. That was a very, very fun final four to cover. An incredible Villanova team that I maintain is among the five or six best teams I've seen in this sport over the past 15 or 20 years.
- [34:32]
Gary Parish
Sounds like you have a future as a sports information director if you want it.
- [34:36]
Adi Joseph
No, I do not.
- [34:38]
Gary Parish
I do not either. Villanova that year finished 36. 4. They were 312 with Phil Booth in the lineup. I don't know what that means exactly, but it's a fact he missed some games.
- [34:48]
Adi Joseph
Is that a shot at Phil Booth?
- [34:49]
Gary Parish
I mean, shouts to Phil Booth. That's what I'm just trying to tell you. They didn't win the Big east that year. Xavier did in Chris Mack's final year at the school. But they did win the national title by winning six straight games in the NCAA tournament by an average of 17.7 points. All six wins by at least 12 points. Jalen Brunson, Mikhail Bridges, Dante Divincenso, Colin Gillespie are all still in the NBA. Eric Pascal, Amari Spellman, Jermaine Samuels all played in the NBA. So there were seven future NBA players on Villanova's roster. Michigan had Mo Wagner in the starting lineup, Jordan Poole and Duckin Robinson both coming off the bench. All those guys are still in the NBA. That was a good team that went 33. Eight on the season, but no match for that Villanova team on that Monday night in San Antonio. That was the flashback segment brought to you by Travis Matthew apparel design for confidence and comfort no matter where the day takes you. Appreciate Travis Matthew for being a part of the Ion college basketball podcast. I brought my whole Travis Matthew assortment to San Antonio not knowing whether I would need it or not. You need it in San Antonio. One day you are sweating through a T shirt and the next day you are shivering outside. It is so cold. I've never seen more bipolar weather than this. I am not lying or even exaggerating. On Friday, we wore T shirts under suit coats on set outside because it was so hot. And we still sweat through all of that. And Saturday night on set, it was as cold as I have ever been doing a television show.
- [36:32]
Adi Joseph
Ridiculous comment, by the way. I. I don't think that's true.
- [36:36]
Gary Parish
I don't remember ever being colder doing a television show, and I've done them in Minneapolis after the Final Four.
- [36:42]
Adi Joseph
But it was. It was a massive, major change. Yeah, I mean, there has been. I think it got as hot as 95 here in San Antonio. And then in the past 24 hours, I think it's been. At certain points, it's been like, you know, 45, 46, 47 degrees out.
- [36:56]
Gary Parish
It. The wind. It was the wind last night that was getting you. We're sitting up on that stage and it's like legit Shivering, like shaking. Yeah, like this. This is the way I did a whole show. I was like, kelvin Sampson is amazing. And can you believe Walter Clayton? And I was just shaking like this.
- [37:09]
Adi Joseph
Can you believe what Eclipse. Yeah. Teeth chattering.
- [37:12]
Gary Parish
Can you, can you believe how great Thomas Hauck is? He's been amazing coming off the bench. I was just shaking the whole time, but it was fun. Appreciate Travis Matthew. Keeping me cool when I need to be cool. Keeping me warm when I need to be warm. Great clothes, great quality. I'm wearing it right now.
- [37:27]
Tracy Wolfson
Bombas makes the most comfortable socks, underwear and T shirts.
- [37:31]
Gary Parish
Warning, Bombas are so absurdly comfortable, you may throw out all your other clothes.
- [37:35]
Tracy Wolfson
Sorry, do we legally have to say that?
- [37:37]
Gary Parish
No, this is just how I talk.
- [37:38]
Adi Joseph
And I really love my Bombas.
- [37:40]
Gary Parish
They do feel that good. And they do good too.
- [37:42]
Tracy Wolfson
One out of purchased equals one item donated.
- [37:44]
Gary Parish
To feel good and do good, go to bombas.com cozy and use code cozy for 20% off your first purchase. That's B O M B-A-S.com cozy and use code cozy at checkout.
- [37:57]
Adi Joseph
I've been counted out, dismissed, passed over, told I'd never be a golfer with just one arm.
- [38:04]
Gary Parish
But the only thing that feels better.
- [38:05]
Adi Joseph
Than proving people wrong is out driving them. I'm 14 year old golfer Tommy Morrissey.
- [38:11]
Gary Parish
And I want to be remembered for.
- [38:12]
Adi Joseph
My ability as a champion partner of the Masters.
- [38:15]
Tracy Wolfson
Bank of America supports everyone determined to.
- [38:17]
Gary Parish
Find out what's possible in golf and in life.
- [38:20]
Adi Joseph
What would you like the power to do?
- [38:22]
Gary Parish
Bank of America bank of America NA Member FDIC Corporate 2025 bank of America Corporation.
- [38:26]
Adi Joseph
All rights reserved.
- [38:27]
Gary Parish
D block or C block. I don't even know what blocks we're doing now.
- [38:31]
Adi Joseph
Letters, how do they work?
- [38:32]
Gary Parish
Whatever they are, let's do last block. Let's call it last block and let's get out of here. We gotta go see Dennis Dodd. Dennis Dodd is. Is retiring. We got to go see Dennis Dodd and play around with him.
- [38:42]
Adi Joseph
We are late for dinner, by the way, but we're doing it just for you.
- [38:45]
Gary Parish
Yes.
- [38:46]
Adi Joseph
Yes.
- [38:46]
Gary Parish
All right, let's. Let's pick the game. It's Florida and it's Houston. It's Monday night inside the Alamodome. Florida, as we talked about, has opened and is still listed as a 1 1/2 point favorite in the game. Norlander, how you see this going down?
- [39:02]
Adi Joseph
I see it going down in compelling fashion. I think Houston's going to get off to a better start against Florida than it did against Duke. I think Florida is going to make a couple of good pushes. And by that I mean, you know, something along the lines of an 8, no 12 to 144 kind of run. We'll have Florida, we'll have a couple moments there, but it will not come at the expense of some long dry spells with Houston. I took the Cougars on selection Sunday. I'm going to stick with that, man. Just, you know, I always want. We always want the best game possible for the national title game. Sometimes it works that way, sometimes it doesn't. I think we're way more likely to have it work this way to the way that we want to see it. So I will go. Houston wins. Let's GP let's go. Let's. How about this? Let's go. Let's pick a score, a winner, and then let's pick our predictions for the final point total for each team's leading score. So I will go first. I will say Houston wins. I'll say 70, 76, 72. Houston beats Florida. Clayton finishes with. You said he was at 24 and a half in the tournament. I'll have him. I'll have him at 22. And I will say. You know what I'll say. I'll say Emmanuel Sharp leads the team in scoring for Houston in the title game. Give me Sharp with. Sharp leads all scores in Houston with say 19 points. What's your guess?
- [40:24]
Gary Parish
Okay. Okay. Todd golden, if you're watching, clip this, you're going to use this tomorrow. All right?
- [40:29]
Adi Joseph
If you wanted already again saw me today and said he was on the cart and he pointed at me, he said, don't do it. Don't do it. I said, I'm not picking you. I got Houston. Don't worry. They're all too aware of what's going on.
- [40:41]
Gary Parish
Okay, Todd, this is for you. All right? This is for you doing this for you.
- [40:46]
Adi Joseph
I've now picked against Florida four games in a row.
- [40:49]
Gary Parish
I think I've picked against some 11,000.
- [40:51]
Adi Joseph
To be fair. I had him getting past the first weekend. I had him over. I had him over Yukon just super.
- [40:58]
Gary Parish
Clear my national title game in my bracket. You okay?
- [41:04]
Adi Joseph
Yeah, I just. There's a part of this I didn't know what was going on with it. I don't even know, like, what you put in here. I don't know what this is about.
- [41:09]
Gary Parish
Let me tell you about the. Let me tell you about the funniest thing about our hotel. We are staying in the nicest, weird hotel I've ever seen. The beautiful hotel the walls are razor thin. Like, in the room next to me is Chris Walker, CBS Sports Network. And all I do all night long is just listen to him talk on the phone. He's just talking to coaches and talking outside. I can hear every word he says. He came to me the other day. He was like, GP I heard every word you said this morning. I said, bro, I even said it. I didn't even get on the phone. He said, no. I listened to you do a whole show this morning. You can hear every. Everything in between the wall. So that's what we. So like last night, I was as we're doing the show at 2 in the morning. I'm aware, like the people on both sides of me. I'm 100 sure I woke everybody up. I apologize if you happen to be.
- [41:58]
Adi Joseph
They were subscribers without even being subscribers to the pod.
- [42:01]
Gary Parish
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey, you either subscribe or get a room next to me at this hotel in San Antonio. You get the same audio quality either way. Ty golden clip this. I'm doing this for you. My initial bracket had Auburn and Houston playing in the title game with Auburn over Houston. I'm going to keep Houston advancing. I guess there's no one nowhere left to advance. I guess this is kind of it, right? All right, let's start this over. Take two. Ty golden clip this. I'm doing this for you. I've had Houston and Auburn in the title game on my bracket. I'm not moving off of Houston now. I think even though Florida is undeniably great and has the best player left in this tournament, I believe that Houston's the better team. I'll just keep it as simple as that. Not by much. I think Houston's better. His team that's won 18 straight games, 13 of them against NCAA tournament teams. You know, Calvin Sampson flexed a little bit in his post game with Tracy Wolfson. Yeah, everybody was talking about us in the toy poodle league. That's the aac, by the way. But we're pretty good in the Big 12, too, you know, and we've been saying this for a couple years now. Kelvin Sampson did what he did to the AAC and then went to the Big 12 and treated them just the same. I know the competition got incredibly more difficult. I'm not trying to suggest there's no difference between the AAC and the Big 12. That's stupid. But there's no difference in the way Houston really performed against the ACC or the Big 12. I think Houston's the best basketball team left. Plan. I think Houston will have a. Something close to a home court advantage inside the Alamodome. As we talked about late Saturday, when Auburn. There will be plenty of Auburn fans and, and, and Duke fans in the Alamodon because people buy plane tickets and you don't change them and you're just going home on Tuesday no matter what, and you might as well go to the national championship game. But a lot of people do sell their tickets. A lot of people sell their tickets and they are mostly going to be consumed by Houston fans who can honestly wake up tomorrow, go to work and take off a few hours early and drive over. It's about a three hour drive and so I think they'll. I just think it's set up for, for Houston to win this. It doesn't mean that I guarantee it or you're stupid to pick Florida. You might be smart to pick Florida. They're actually favored in the game. I could see it going either way, but I believe the night will end with Kelvin Sampson at the age of 69, standing on top of a ladder cutting a net and holding it up to literally tears in the eyes of Houston fans who have been honestly expecting this for more than 40 years. Houston should have won a national championship in college basketball 40 years ago. They should not have had to wait till 2025 to get one. But I don't think they're going to have to wait any longer than Monday. I think they'll have a national championship come late Monday night.
- [45:04]
Adi Joseph
Can't wait to see what develops. There will be a podcast late Monday night. Are waiting for you early Tuesday morning per usual. We will have a recap episode and looking forward to seeing what, what plays out there. Now time to go live it up and toast to the Doddfather, the great Dennis Dodd. So close this podcast GP and you and I gotta go meet up at a restaurant right now.
- [45:27]
Gary Parish
How are we dressing? How are we dressing?
- [45:30]
Adi Joseph
I'm going jeans.
- [45:31]
Gary Parish
Just tell me where we're going. Are we going to a nice restaurant or somewhere? You can wear jeans.
- [45:35]
Adi Joseph
You're solid. Just make sure you're not gonna be cold. All right? Wear three layers.
- [45:39]
Gary Parish
Okay. More three legs. All right, I'll see you in a minute. Shouts to Devin Downey. Shouts to Chester, South Carolina. Hey, text me where we're going. I have no idea. Shout out to Terry Tigo. He's a legend. Huck Larnell. Thank you guys for watching and listening to the Ion College Basketball podcast. If you're not subscribed, please go subscribe any way you subscribe to podcasts, Apple and Spotify. There's more of us than there are of them, Norlander can confirm. Today, Kelvin Sampson is a us. I always. I always assumed as much. I always assumed as much. But it's still nice to get confirmation. Still nice to hear it from, you know, from his own mouth. So if you're not subscribed, please go subscribe and we will talk to you again Monday night after the national championship game. Till then, take care, Paramount Podcast and.
- [46:32]
Adi Joseph
Now, two pigeons who can't believe how good humans have it with DirecTV.
- [46:36]
Gary Parish
These humans are hopping from streaming apps.
- [46:38]
Adi Joseph
To live sports without batting a wing. All from the DirecTV home screen.
- [46:42]
Gary Parish
With just one click, you could be.
- [46:44]
Adi Joseph
Watching a baseball game, a movie on Netflix, or a critically acclaimed documentary.
- [46:48]
Gary Parish
You watch documentaries?
- [46:49]
Adi Joseph
I love the ones that leave you with a question. What exactly? Directv A better way to watch whatever.
- [46:55]
Gary Parish
You want to watch.
- [46:56]
Adi Joseph
Visit directtv.com Internet connected Gemini device, separate.
- [46:59]
Gary Parish
Netflix membership and additional paid subscriptions required.
- [47:01]
Adi Joseph
For third party apps.