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Eye On College Basketball
March Madness 2025 Round 2 Sunday Recap: Maryland buzzer-beater! Florida escapes, Duke, SEC dominate
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- [00:00]
Matt Norlander
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.
- [00:08]
David Cobb
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- [00:40]
Matt Norlander
To you by Progressive Insurance what if comparing car insurance rates was as easy as putting on your favorite podcast with Progressive? It is. Just visit the Progressive website to quote with all the coverages you want. You'll see Progressive's direct rate. Then their tool will provide options from other companies so you can compare. All you need to do is choose the rate and coverage you like. Quote today@progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Comparison rates not available in all states or situations. Prices vary based on how you buy. Welcome into the Ion College Basketball Podcast. I am Matt Norlander and that is David Cobb joining me. So you have gotten the four combinations here. It was Cobb and GP Thursday, me and kb, Kyle Boone on Friday, Kyle Boone and GP late on Saturday and now we have actually technically on the east coast here. Flip from Sunday to Monday night. To anyone who is joining us live on the YouTube show, we appreciate you so much. Please be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel. Ding that bell when we go live. You will get notifications if you so please. And if you have not. I know I'm kind of. I'm like flash floating into GP's opening script here. But do continue to please rate the podcast. I know that people can now offer up some comments on Spotify. I've seen that rate review wherever you listen. We appreciate you so much and you guys have helped just skyrocket our listenership and viewership here more than ever before in this month. We appreciate you so much. The Sweet 16 is set. We're going to talk about every single game that happened on Sunday. But if you were just dialing in live or if you're getting to us early on a Monday morning, be it on a commute or elsewhere, here is your quick reset on the matchups. It is Auburn against Michigan, that's a 15 in the south on the bottom half of that is a six seed Ole Miss and two seed Michigan State. Moving down your bracket in the west it is 1 seed Florida, 4 seed Maryland. Terrapin fans, we are getting to your team with a quickness. Just give us a couple of minutes. Here it is 3 seed Texas Tech and 10 seed Arkansas out there in San Francisco. In the west, scoot over to the bottom right of the bracket. It will be Kentucky and Tennessee playing for the third time this season. That game's going to go down in Indianapolis and then Houston and Purdue. Chalk holds 1, 2, 3 and 4 in the Midwest. And oh, by the way, that is the only region where 1, 2, 3 and 4 held. And then in the east where I will be on Thursday, it's Duke, Arizona in the 14 and then 6 seed BYU against 2 seed Alabama. Down below, we are looking at a sweet 16 that is making some history and I think a lot of people are not overly enthused, but it undeniably is providing some great matchups. We've got seven SEC teams in this sweet 16. That is a record. It broke the record of six set by the ACC which was done nine years ago in 2016. So half the SEC field that got in has survived to the second weekend. The Big 12 and the Big 10 have four teams apiece in the ACC's loan representative is Duke at this point. This is the first sweet 16 since 2007 with no scenes, with no teams seated worse than 10th. It is a rarity that we get that it's only the fifth time since the tournament expanded that that's been the case. It also happened in 95. 2 and 2004 in addition to 07. And this year there's a few other trends that we'll get to later in the show. But we are missing mid majors. We are missing Cinderella. We are. And this was a theme early, obviously by a lack of that on Thursday and Friday. But even the likes of Colorado State and New Mexico and St. Mary's teams from mid major leagues and mid majors themselves, they couldn't break through on Sunday. David Cobb, it's great to be here with you. Before we get into the game by game and we're going to get to Maryland winning an incredible fashion over Colorado State, we're going to pay plenty of attention to that game. Let's at least open up here by, by acknowledging the situation we have with the Sweet 16. Incredible matchups but missing a little bit of flair. I know Cobb, I know it's going to prompt. Is this all nil? What does this mean? Me personally, I am not willing to go there with one tournament. This is a random results generator. And just two years ago we had a Mountain west team in the national title game and we've seen some crazy we've had St. Peter's in the Elite Eight. What are your thoughts on the fact that Cinderella is no longer at the dance? And not just that. We've never had fewer conferences represented. The previous record was seven. There are only four conferences left on the Sweet 16. The previous record was seven. Your thoughts and takeaways on the Sweet 16 as it stands right now, Matt.
- [05:02]
David Cobb
It'S the natural byproduct of conference consolidation because two years ago BYU was in the WCC and Houston was in the American. And so the fact is they're both in the Big 12 now. So it's partly why we get this result. And look, last year the only quote mid major still alive in the Sweet 16 was San Diego State and they were coming from a Mountain west that had six bids. They were coming off of a Final Four appearance and they were number five seed. So yes, factually it is accurate that this is the first sweet 16 with only high major representation. But I view that as largely the byproduct of the conference consolidation that we've seen rather than some overarching indictment on where college basketball is headed in the NIL era. And let me real quick give you a couple things to back that up. 2016, 2017 and 2019, Matt. The only quote mid majors in those sweet 16s, Gonzaga Zags were a number one seed in 2019, a number one seed in 2017. And so yeah, you know, we're, we're missing number 11 seed loyal of Chicago or number 15 seed Oral Roberts. But you know what? When they come back, we'll appreciate them even more for having gone through this sweet 16 when we didn't have them.
- [06:12]
Matt Norlander
I completely agree with your point there. I certainly hope it happens next year personally. And I think most people watching the pod and listening would heavily identify with this. The Sweet 16 just feels more fun with at least one, if not two small guys breaking through. And yes, the big time matchups are awesome. I can't wait to get to Newark. I've got an incredible pair of games there, but it will make us appreciate it more. And for me personally, and I know I, I can almost guarantee you, GP's actually on set right now for CBS Sports Network. That's why he couldn't join me here because he's going to be in the studio until 2am Eastern and we were not making that guy do three shows after well after 2:30 in the morning here. But I can almost guarantee you we'll talk about this. We have a Monday afternoon CBS Sports Network ion college basketball episode. So just another heads up. We will have another episode coming to you Monday and another one on Tuesday. So me and GP are going to finally be able our schedules are going to link up and allow us to do that and we'll get going with that. We'll talk more about this as the as the weeks go on. Let's get into the games and we have to start with Maryland and Colorado State. Of course there have been a couple of good games in the tournament so far. The first four actually gave us probably two of the three or four best ones between St. Francis, Alabama State and then Texas and Xavier. But the best game did have the best ending. Both of these things were true at the same point. Maryland 72, Colorado State 71. I've already hogged up plenty of the mic here. I've got some goodies and stats, but I am sending it right back over to you. Cobb. Your thoughts on the game. Your reaction? Obviously we got to get to the not the the travel call that wasn't but take it wherever you want. I'm I'm just overly joyed that we got a bonafide true Ball is in the air. Horn is off. Buzzer beater. Your thoughts on what went down in Seattle on Sunday night?
- [07:54]
David Cobb
Well, you tipped your hand a little bit, Matt. You think it was a travel, don't you?
- [07:59]
Matt Norlander
I do think it was a travel, but I will get to whether or not it should have been called that and everything surrounding that because that quickly became the discussion point. But I do think that it by the book, yes, it absolutely was a travel. You're not allowed to to gather the NBA interpretation of what's allowed versus the college one. There actually a different there is a differentiation in the rule, Matt.
- [08:17]
David Cobb
It's one of those like what color is the dress sort of situations where some people are going to see it one way, other people are going to see it another way. Nobody's going to agree. People are going to be mad about it. Right. So could they have called a travel? Yeah, absolutely. It clearly looks like he took three steps. Am I also simultaneously glad that they didn't decide the game on a whistle? Yeah, I am. But if they had, man, how different is the narrative tonight? We're trying to cram Colorado State into Cinderella's slippers right now if they called travel on Derek Queen and, and we're not having this discussion about first sweet sixteen with, with, with no mid majors. Right. So it's, it's crazy how much the, the national narrative hinges on one call, not to mention the fates of both Maryland and Colorado State. So yeah, could they have called a travel. Absolutely. If you want to get into the minutiae of like what Gene's territory had to say and like you talked to some, some high level officials, did you not? Who, who had some input on this. You know, we can get into that. Like, I think that's the story of tonight is that buzzer beater won and, and the controversial call that sort of wasn't made.
- [09:21]
Matt Norlander
Well, okay, we will get into that, but first I want to celebrate. I mean this is just the tournament, especially with so much chalk moving on. And I know by nature of the result here you have the favorite team from the power conference moving on. The tournament did need something like this. We just did not have a lot of games with a lot of tension for the better part of two hours. This felt like a first weekend void of more of that than almost any tournament I can remember in the past decade. So to get this and not just to get it, I mean the, you know, Maryland's up 4 with about a minute to go and Jalen Lake shot before the shot, you know, hits A cozy little 17 footer from the wing ties the game. CSU led for a lot of the early part of it. And then the play drawn up, everyone knows it's going to Clifford and it's a beautiful skip pass through a little bit of traffic. Queen's got his. It's. They're late on the recovery, but Queen's got his arm stretched out on Lake and that's borderline NBA range triple. And it caches and I'm, I'm obviously coming to you if you're watching. I'm in, I'm in my typical CBS sports studio podcast booth here. I was in the studio all night and, and so I was downstairs watching. We got this gorgeous like huge HD wall and I'm losing it. I just, it was, it was incredible to see that shot go in. Jalen Lake, he's wet, you know, amazing stuff. And that would have been good enough for me, period. Right? But then you get this moment with a player like Derek Queen and with a team like Maryland and if folks had forgotten and Willard did allude to this immediately on the floor, Andy Katz, my guy ak, you know, it I'm going to text you as well on my ride home. You did a great job post game with Willard and that crew. That was, that was really good stuff, him and Queen. But Maryland had been the victim four times this season. It's four most recent losses at the Horn against Michigan in the Big Ten tourney, the prayer from beyond half court against Michigan State back in late February, the weird loss against Ohio State on the road, and then the, the. I don't want to call it devastating, but you lose to a Northwestern team that doesn't go to the tournament. That was back in mid January. They lost that one. Maryland hadn't lost a game this season by more than six points. And it finally had one go its way. And it was Queen, the star freshman, one of the best freshmen and I mean, at this point he's been a top three, top four, at worst freshman in the country. They put the ball in his hands. You know, when I did the story on Queen earlier this year, I had some stuff in there about how Queen is not afraid to speak his mind, be honest and not have any kind of ego with his coach. And Willard is the exact same way. They have a very unusual coach, freshman dynamic. And there was a time earlier this season in Brooklyn, they were playing. He told me that might have been Nova. They were playing. I can't remember where. He said they were playing. They had a game earlier this season and Queen made a bad play. Willard immediately yanked him out and said, what, what the bleep was that pass. He said, you would have loved that bleep and pass if, because it was an alley oop attempt if it didn't go in. And Willard's whole point to me was he is not afraid to talk to me. Like guys who have known me for 25 years talk to me. And flash forward to Willard in the timeout and Derrick Queen says a phrase that may well be etched inside the Xfinity center outside of it by the end of the week. Something along the lines of just give me the mother bleeping ball. He takes the ball. Tough shot off leg Ethan Morton, arm stretched out, it goes in, it's in the fat, it's a kiss. I mean, that is an all time March Madness highlight. And Maryland now has had buzzer beaters in its history in the tournament from Len Bias, from Drew Nicholas, Uncw, Hanging Arm Cash, and now Derek Queen. So yes, we can get into the traveling stuff just a little bit. But to me, you know, I, I'm, I'm a fan of it looks cool as hell. So let it stand. And that is in any kind of sport. It looks cool as hell. It was close enough. I'm more than okay with the fact that, that the travel wasn't called. And I will say from experiencing this kind of moment, like it happened, I sent the tweet out. I was kind of, I was on the TV desk and enjoying all that, but man, oh man, message to everyone, listening and watching. And most people doing this already live this way. Do not, do not experience for the mo. Like, social media can be a very fun way to experience these huge, big sports moments. It really can. It's enhanced in, in many, many ways. But the amount of this is awful. He traveled. Where's the call versus Shut the hell up. It doesn't matter. That's not a trap. A lot, A lot of that was out there. And you know, I just, I kind of, I closed Twitter for a little bit because I just didn't, I didn't find that to be enhancing my March Madness viewing experience there. That being said, I did reach out to two officiating sources and they both said, no, it's a travel. It's definitely travel. One of them said in real time. He was like, hell of a shot. But I, I turned to my wife and I said, he traveled. He traveled. And it wasn't called. It is a close call. Gene Stereotor went on CBS and explained why it could be interpreted as a non travel there. So, yeah, we get a little bit of controversy, but I got no issue with it overall. It doesn't, doesn't burn me up that the travel wasn't called. I think it was one. It is a close one. We get the March Madness epic moment. I'm willing to trade it. Your thoughts.
- [14:29]
David Cobb
Yeah. So big time that we get a freshman dancing on to the second weekend because a lot of our one and done freshmen, they bowed out this first weekend. So of course you still have Cooper flag in the dance, Jagor Demon, right at byu. But it was nice to see Derek Queen marching on. And how about just the fact that his teammates, his coach, when he comes to them in that huddle and says, give me the ball, right? They're down with that, right? Like you got Rodney Rice, Jacoby Gillespie, Julian Reese, like a lot of veteran players on that team, part of that Crab five and they're rocking with, with Derrick Queen with the game on the line and he delivered, so that was cool. But man, I, I just didn't totally buy the explanation from Staror. He was great, by the way. I mean, the dude has a total marathon weekend again. It's like. It's the dress. You can see it whatever way you want to see it. Right. But the idea that. That it's not a third step because he's only got the ball in one hand. I mean, how often you saw Queen do it? He. He tucks the ball under his shoulder like a football running back. But we're. We're supposed to believe that when you do that, the steps don't count because you haven't gathered. I don't know. I just didn't totally buy the explanation. Again, I love the ending. I'm glad that the referees didn't decide it, but if I'm a Colorado State fan, man, I'm irate. I'm saying I just got robbed of a. This would have been their first Sweet 16 trip in the modern era. Would have been huge for the Mountain West. Right. As a league. I mean, that's the other side of this, is that there's a call that could have been made that wasn't made, and a team's dreams are dashed as a result.
- [15:52]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, if I was at home with my board, I'd be hitting the Eagles 1969. That's the last time Colorado State made what was not called them the sweet 16, but made it that far with only 16 teams remaining. Shouts to the great Debo, who's subbing in for. For producing tonight. Not as had a long weekend, maybe a little bit under the weather. He's running it. He tells me. We have Willard and Katz. And let's hear it. This is. This is Kevin Willard with Andy Katz after Maryland won the game. Go ahead, queue it up. 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 everything. 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. 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And by the way, there's this like increasing trend this season where a coach or a player is doing the postgame and the entire team goes and I just, I love it. I saw it in person with Arkansas on Saturday after they beat St. John's I'm loving that. I'm loving talking to the players going into halftime coming out of it. Just really, really cool stuff that that is upped the television presentation and production. I'm, I'm good with it across the board and that was some. And I was. That was really, really, really fun stuff. I've got a couple notes here on this game. The Crab 5 scored 70 of Maryland 72 points in this game. They are averaging 69 points. Nice. In the tournament. That's also what they're averaging for the season. That's the most of any team starters in all of Division 1. This was the first game winning buzzer beater in the tournament since Lamont Butler in 2023 in the national semis. But it was. How about this? How about this nugget? It was the first buzzer beater and there's been a million things going tonight, but I think this is correct. I've had, you know, being on TV and trying to do the pot and all this. I'm pretty sure that this was the first buzzer beater in which the team that won was down a point when the ball was in the air and then won the game when the, when the ball went in. Since Loyola Chicago did this seven years ago in the second round to Tennessee, Dante Ingram, I think hit that shot. So that's the last time we actually had a true do or die. Ball is in the air. I believe that is the case there because I want to say Butler hit his and the game was tied when that happened. We've had some since then, but in the tournament specifically, Maryland had not a single turnover in the final 18 minutes and 57 seconds of the second half. If you can play a tournament game without a deep bench and not have one giveaway in the final 19 minutes, that's massive. That is absolutely massive. A shout to Nick Clifford, Colorado State's stud, who I when we vote on our all Americans pretty much a week from now, Cobb, he's going to be on my third team. 681 points for the Rams. That is a school record. And great job out of him. Great job out of Nico Medved's. Team. Super, super impressive. I love the, I love the tournament for stuff like this. This was, this was a ton of fun. Any closing thoughts on this game before we get to the rest of what happened on Sunday?
- [21:51]
David Cobb
No. I just realized I've been in person for two of the five or six most recent NCAA tournament buzzer beaters. I was covering Tennessee as a beat writer when Loyola Chicago won that game over the Vols it was 1817. I can't remember. And then I was there in the Final Four two years ago for Lamont Butler shot. And how about the fact that Lamont Butler is still playing college basketball and doing that at a very high level? That's one of my other big takeaways that I'm sure we'll get to here. But yeah, it was great. It was great to have that. We needed it. The first three, three days of this NCAA tournament were good. But, but there was not the drama. There was not the intrigue. There was not the, the, the crazy dramatic endings. Right. And so it was a little bit of a, of a downer from that perspective. And, and Maryland and Derek Queensland delivered not just with the moment, but then what they, how they handled it afterward. Kevin Willard's interview with Cats is, is gold. So shout out to the Terps. Man, that was fun.
- [22:43]
Matt Norlander
Thanks for folks correcting me in real time. Butler shot. They were losing at the time when he hit it. That's good note there again, doing a thousand things. Shouts to Morrison crying. I know he likes to watch every single live show during the tournament. We appreciate you and your support, man. Let's get to plenty more from what went down on Sunday. We're going to get next. We're going to keep it in the west with Florida vs UConn, first game of the day and was not short on any kind of drama there as well. But first we got bills to pay. Deebo, you know about partners. Give me some partners right now. Let's go, guys. Can you feel it?
- [23:17]
David Cobb
Legends were born here.
- [23:18]
Matt Norlander
History was made here. These are hallowed grounds.
- [23:21]
David Cobb
Hallowed grounds. The NCIS Quad Room. Well, I wasn't talking about that.
- [23:26]
Matt Norlander
But, but I was talking about Augusta National. All right. It's finally time for the Masters.
- [23:31]
David Cobb
I hear it's a tradition unlike any other.
- [23:35]
Matt Norlander
Let's keep it moving here. And let's talk West Region with Florida and Yukon, a few things from this game. Okay, so first of all, good to see you. You know, Yukon's quest for a three peat ends here. They gave the Gators a real push, like a very compelling. Two hours of ball. Florida wins 77, 75. There were multiple times in this game where UConn had like a 2, 3 possession lead and then Florida would come pushing back and then UConn wouldn't let him take the lead. And this is a Florida team that was in the recent weeks was just capable of peeling off mega runs. It didn't happen here. Florida finally was able to flip it with about two and change to go. They went on an eight nothing run. There was the big cop. It's been. It feels like this was 24 hours ago. There was the missed free throw. Was it Condon at the line? Elijah Martin got the loose ball. Yukon. They did. They couldn't grab it. They couldn't snare it and corral it. Elijah Martin, look what I found. We're putting it in that wound up being pretty big. And then Clayton, first team all American, no doubt about it. He had a couple big shots, but the shot he hit to put him up six with a little more than a minute to go. Wound up being wound up being the big one there. Florida had 31 points in the first half, 46 in the second half. It was 13 of 24 from the field, including 5 of 8 from 3 point range and only 3 turnovers. The stunning stat for me on UConn is this. And shout out to our CBS Sports research team. Again, just studs. UConn had won. This is unreal. UConn had won 26 consecutive NCAA tournament games when leading at any point in the second half. Any point that UConn had a lead in the past 26 tournament games. It won the last time it. Now it lost. It had a lead in the second half here and it lost. The most recent time that happened was 2009 in the final four against Michigan State. Your thoughts on what we saw with Gators and Huskies?
- [25:33]
David Cobb
Yeah. So GP likes to shout out Jared Burson, but man, our. Our hq.
- [25:38]
Matt Norlander
I know. Listen, Burson does great job. I'm here. I'm here for our people. Okay? Burson does a great job. That's fine. I might even have a bur since that Wayton, our CBS Sports research team is the best.
- [25:48]
David Cobb
Yo, I thought UConn played a phenomenal game. I mean the fact that anybody is hanging with Florida right now, you can. You can't do it unless you got an amazing game plan and you execute it at a high level. These guys are operating on another planet. Florida didn't play its best game today, but it was the old adage, right? That like a Veteran guard, play in March. You know, I mean, it's as cliche as ever, but it was so true today because Elijah Martin, Will Richard, and, of course, Walter Clayton Jr. All had huge moments in this game for Florida. They're the ones who. Who spearheaded this thing. In the first half, it was Elijah Martin. You mentioned the. The second chance dunk that. That kind of helped seal it. Early in the second half, UConn was ahead by six. Will Richard scored about seven straight points for Florida there, and that gets overlooked. Like, everything he does gets overlooked in Florida. Right, because it's like, oh, Walter Clayton Jr. He's our all American. Yes, absolutely. Elijah Martin, he's the. The key transfer who's taking them to the next level. Yes, that's true. And then here, quietly kind of in the shadows as, like, the third member of that trio, you have Will Richard, who just continues to produce at an uber high level. And, oh, by the way, man, Will Richard and Jacoby Gillespie and Malik Dia all played at Belmont together two years ago. I mean, what in the world? I mean, are you serious like that. That honestly just dawned on me as we're talking through this in real time. And here they all are going onward in the NCAA tournament. Great game. I thought it was a great game. I love the. I love the authenticity from Dan Hurley afterwards because, you know, everybody's seen the clip now of him, you know, dropping the F bombs in the tunnel.
- [27:13]
Matt Norlander
Let's get into it.
- [27:14]
David Cobb
But did you see the Tracy Wilson interview? Did you see the podium interview? I mean, I guess I just. You know, people love him or hate him, whatever. I guess I'm kind of in both camps. Like, I. He. You know, he could be too much sometimes, but. But at the same time, he's.
- [27:27]
Matt Norlander
He's.
- [27:28]
David Cobb
There's nobody in the sport who's just so unabashedly authentic, quite like Dan Hurley is. And we just. We saw that today. He had a great game plan, and they came up short. But, no, it was a great game.
- [27:40]
Matt Norlander
Debo's got the clip. Let's. Let's roll Hurley with Tracy Wolfson after the game. And. And, yeah, some of that. This is for. This is not at the deus. This is with Wolfson in the standup. Go ahead. Let's. Let's hear what he had to say.
- [27:54]
David Cobb
Coach, I can see the emotions on your face. I know this was difficult.
- [27:57]
Matt Norlander
1.
- [27:58]
David Cobb
You guys had them. You fought so hard, mucked it up. You said you made it a Big east game. What happened down the stretch?
- [28:05]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, I mean, they showed their quality I mean, you know, I thought we played with tremendous honor. I thought we played with the heart of a championship program and a program that's come back to back and, you know, for. For a team to, you know, to.
- [28:17]
David Cobb
End, you know, what we.
- [28:19]
Matt Norlander
What we really wanted to do, they were going to have to put us down and, you know, obviously, a worthy opponent like that. There's honor. And the way we went out.
- [28:28]
David Cobb
You mentioned that tournament streak, what you guys have been able to do. What did you tell your team in there? Just love them.
- [28:34]
Matt Norlander
I mean, just love them. You know, this year has been. It's been a real battle. We've battled and, you know, we've. We've had to battle and battle and battle and, you know, at times, you know, I don't think we liked each other a whole lot, but some of the things we had to go through together, but. But I don't think I'll ever love a team more than how hard they fought for what we were trying to accomplish and for the honor they played with today.
- [29:00]
David Cobb
Appreciate the time, coach.
- [29:03]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, there was some real authenticity there. Some more emotion at the Deus. UConn finishes its season at 24 and 11. Heck of a year. Florida, great job. But let's just focus on UConn here, because this is a little bit of an obit here. There was before this moment. I guess it encapsulates everything with her. Hurley has set the record for most notable viral clips caught while exiting an arena and going into the vomitorium ever. He will. He saw Baylor getting ready to come out because they had the second game against Duke and says, I hope they don't bleep you. Like, they believed us. And then it's Dan Hurley. This is. Everyone's going to react to it. I. I completely get it. I get you. I'm telling you, the man contains multitudes. I was with this team back in Maui. I was with them in the preseason and all the 3P talk. Yeah, I know a lot of people are happy that UConn is out of this tournament and that Dan Hurley was booted before making the Sweet 16. I get all that. I understand. Like, there's. There's. Because of who Hurley is and. And everything that comes with them. Like, he has become, for many people, like, the. The easiest person to hate in college basketball, which I made the case back in November, and I'll make it again. It's actually a net positive for college basketball to get people to feel some sort of emotion one way or the other for Dan Hurley and Two things can be true in once. Hurley can be pissed that he lost by two to one of the best teams in the tournament, didn't think he got the best whistle and in the heat of the moment decided to stay to the Baylor play. I hope they don't bleep you like they bleeped us. By the way, as most people realize, not the same officiator crew. We're not working a seventh grade Saturday game here back to back. It's different guys working working that thing overall and then he had the emotional moment after we're talking about all this. You know it's going to be interesting to see what the roster looks like. We'll cover that on future podcast. The Portal by the way is I think technically open now. Could not care less about the portal opening and I would love if they can change this again, at least get us after the Elite eight. But this is going to happen here over the next couple of days with a lot of guys hopping into the Portal. Guys that were just playing in the tournament. McNeely obviously an NDA prospect. You figure he's gone Caraban. We wait and see on that. Few other folks on the roster. We wait and see who sticks around. Sampson Johnson I believe graduates and moves on here. Aiden Mahaney, Terrace Reed. What happens there Solo ball if he returns into that Yukon. Solo ball has like all American potential. We'll see on that. But. But yes, the the video cob of Hurley exiting it prompted. It prompted a lot of takes there and some people saw that and then saw him crying and thought that was inauthentic. I'm just telling you I don't find him to be an inauthentic man whatsoever. He's extremely in touch with his emotions and and there are certain people that have made up their mind on Dan Hurley. I completely get it and I totally understand if you think that even a lot of the stuff that he still brings the table is too emotional, too over the top. But this is who he is and and for better or for worse this is. This is what you get and and Yukon will remain compelling and we'll see what what they are moving forward. Any other thoughts on them or Florida? Take it where you want but that was probably the second best game of the day.
- [32:04]
David Cobb
No, I'm just disappointed to hear that you don't care about the Portal. I was really hoping to to get five potential landing spots for Southern Illinois guard Canard Davis from you tonight.
- [32:12]
Matt Norlander
Get him out of here. Not. Not getting into the Portal right now. Yep. No. No Portal Talk. We're done with that on the show.
- [32:17]
David Cobb
No, I thought Hurley, if you go. I did the everything Dan Hurley said post for, for CBS Sports. And as such, I both watched his press conferences and then read through his transcript quite methodically. And he is self aware. And I didn't just come to this realization today, but he, he knows who he is like, he, he knows how people perceive him. And to a certain extent he just can't stop himself or can't help himself. And that's what, that's why he's authentic. Right. He's not trying to put on a show. He's not trying to tailor who he is to satisfy social media or to satisfy the, the regular media. In fact, he had a pretty good comment in there tonight about, or this afternoon about how, you know, I'm not gonna have to throw out first pitches this year. I'm not gonna have to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange. So we didn't win the championship. So it'll be nice just to get back to being a coach again and that'll benefit him. And they'll come back stronger than ever because there's nobody who cares more about winning. There's a lot of really competitive coaches in college basketball. I don't think there's anyone out there who cares more than Dan Hurley does.
- [33:22]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, good fight. It was. I know on a lot of levels that staff and that team, not satisfied with the loss. But they didn't get run, they didn't get run out of the building. And UConn gave him a good, a good fight there. That was, that was the West. Let's move along to the Midwest. The only game from Sunday in the Midwest was Kentucky against Illinois. Because in that region, Purdue, Houston and Tennessee all advanced on Saturday. This game had good potential. It wasn't as good as it should have been. Kentucky wins 84 to 75. Mark Pope moves along and in doing so, we've got a, we've got an interesting trend here. We can talk about the game, but how about this? There are, for the first time in the history of the tournament, this has never happened before. At least four of the Sweet 16 teams or the four of the last 16 teams standing are coached by first year coaches at those schools. And not just that. This is what makes it unprecedented. Every single school the previous year either didn't make the tournament or didn't win a tournament game. That is Michigan under Dusty May. That is John Calipari at Arkansas. That is Kevin Young at byu. And that is Mark Pope. And His Kentucky Wildcats and Kentucky set what I believe is now considered a first. This team didn't return a single point from last year. There has never been a team that made the sweet 16 that did not have at least one point returning from the season before. Mark Pope has done it at Kentucky. That is mighty impressive. What did you make of what the Wildcats did against Brad Underwood's Fighting a Lion Eye?
- [34:58]
David Cobb
Well, what you just laid out is a little something that I call the Jack Golke effect. Right? Because Jack Golke sinks Kentucky in the first round of the 2024 NCAA tournament. As a result, fanfarer in Lexington picks up John Calabarius, starts looking for an exit, he lands at Arkansas, Mark Pope goes from BYU to Kentucky, and then Kevin Young ends up at byu. All three are somehow better off now because Jack Golke had the night of his Life in the first round of the 2024 NCAA tournament. I mean, how amazing is that domino effect? I wrote yesterday that if Kentucky didn't win today in the second round, that John Calipari would have won the breakup, when in reality, I mean, all sides have won this breakup. But if you were looking for a winner and Cal's in the Sweet 16 and Kentucky isn't, then I guess it's Cal. Right? But the fact that that byu, Kentucky and Arkansas are all somehow better off now is, is absolutely wild. And that's probably doesn't happen if Kentucky makes a run last year. So that's. So to see those dominoes is incredible. But the takeaway for me from Kentucky over Illinois is Lamont Butler. His shoulder is never going to be 100, at least not this season. But he looked good. He looked like a player who's learning how to deal with it. He. His shot looked good. He was four or five from the field, four or five from the free throw line, had five assists. If he's getting used to playing with that shoulder injury, it changes the calculus on what Kentucky can accomplish. So they got to get past Tennessee for a third time. But I mean, at this point, right, like they've done it twice, who's to say they can't do it a third time? That, that's my takeaway, man. If Lamont Butler's playing like he played tonight, you can't put a ceiling on this Kentucky team, not with what they've accomplished this season.
- [36:45]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, the, the effect of last year is incredible. And I think it's really, really cool. The fact that Cal, just an all timer leaving Kentucky for Arkansas.
- [36:59]
David Cobb
Like when you got, when you got the wife and Daughter, man. I mean, just incredible. Like, thanks. Just great job, great job.
- [37:06]
Matt Norlander
You know, I think some of it came through in the, in the column. But Ellen, his wife was great. His daughter Megan was a star. Like she was just clear eyed emotional but like in a really good mood. They were caught on camera sobbing. They were awesome. And then, you know, Cal did a number of interviews and then we just walked from the arena all the way out to behind as he was getting ready to take the car service to take him away. And he was, he great. It was, you know, his, his daughter even more than Cal and his wife really humanized the situation and I appreciate that. I, if you haven't read it, feel free to, to seek it out. They were, they were tremendous. But the fact that you had, I think it's just awesome that you have Cal at Arkansas and here he is after everything they went through. You have Kentucky get Pope and he year one hits it like this. I mean it's amazing. And then byu, which hasn't been here since Jimmer, is also there after Pope left byu. That's a really, really cool thing and a fun trigger. And this is going to. As you would probably expect, the fact that we have four schools that can say, look what happened, we got our guy in immediate dividends. There's no guarantee that any of these schools will be in the Sweet 16 next year. They'll make three of the next four or four of the next six with these coaches. We don't even know that. But right away they were able to flip their programs and rejuvenate Michigan as well. Think about Michigan went from eight wins last year into the Sweet 16 and I believe that's the fewest. I think this is the record now. No team had won fewer games in one year, made the Sweet 16 the following year. I think Michigan just set that record as well. Really awesome stuff across the board there. Kentucky, by the way, is now 50 all time against Illinois in the tournament. Yeah, and they, they just, they, they showed up, they were ready to go, they played their style. I sat on hq, you tell Kentucky they can win a game, this is what they want. They want to be in the 80s, keep teams in the 70s, you know, within reason. Obviously. If you could tell them they could keep teams in the 50s, they do it, but that's just not how they play. And, and yeah, Kentucky now gets Tennessee. We'll do more preview stuff looking ahead. But Kentucky is going to try and be just the third team in the past two decades to beat, to beat the same team. Three times in the season and that opponent being ranked in the top 10 every single time they did it. So the previous two wins for Kentucky over Tennessee, you've also in the top 10 and they're still technically in the top 10. As things stand here for Illinois real quick, you know, program finishes 22 and 13, they didn't shoot well here. Brad Underwood still has this program operating on a top 25 level. I know it is frustrating for Illinois fans because, you know, you made the Elite Eight last year, but you know, it's, it's kind of similar in some ways to Maryland, like Elite Eight last year and then prior to that the deepest run was 05. Like it had been a long time. And Underwood's gotten you to the tournament five straight years. It would have been six if we had a tournament in 2020. But you're going to lose Casper's to the draft. You know, Avisich7 one guy, to be frank, right here, right now, don't, don't know what his stock is and, and don't know what his situation is moving forward. You would think they can bring him back enough pieces to be really, really good again. But I know Illinois fans believe we have more than we are showing. From a March perspective, tournament's a beast. It can really bite you and, and we'll see. But Underwood in general has, you're much better now than you were before him. But I know that programs that have big expectations, sometimes you get into this rhythm where it's like, okay, we're good, but can we not be better? Illinois fans, I think, I think brighter days are still ahead. I think you're still in good hands with, with Brad Underwood. Let's keep it moving here. Let's go to the South. Michigan State and New Mexico, Ole Miss and Iowa State, they both, they both got wins. We're going to talk about those after the break and cover the East. This is actually going to be a longer pod than I anticipated, but hell, that's a good sign after what we got through on Sunday. First, one more message from those partners. Let's cue it up. Debo. Robert Half research indicates nine out of 10 hiring managers are having difficulty hiring. If you have open roles, chances are you're feeling this too. That's why you need Robert Half. Our specialized recruiting professionals engage their skills with our award winning AI to connect businesses of all sizes with highly skilled talent in finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal and administrative and customer support. At Robert Half, we know talent, visit roberthal.com today. Wow, what's up. I just bought and financed a car.
- [41:30]
David Cobb
Through Carvana in minutes.
- [41:31]
Matt Norlander
You the person who agonized four weeks over whether to paint your walls eggshell or off white bought and financed a car in minutes. They made it easy, Transparent terms, customizable down monthly. Didn't even have to do any paperwork. Wow. Hey, have you checked out that spreadsheet.
- [41:47]
David Cobb
I sent you for our dinner?
- [41:48]
Matt Norlander
Options finance your car with Carvana and experience total control Financing subject to credit approval. All right, let's keep it moving here. Michigan State beats New Mexico 7163. New Mexico got out early. Donovan Dent was not impactful on the level that he needed to be. In fact, let me bring up this box in real time. Cobb, I think he did not sink a triple in this game. New Mexico, I'm looking right now. I think they held him scoreless from beyond the arc here. Dent went. He didn't. Not only did he not score one, he did not attempt a three pointer. New Mexico goes 4 of 13 from beyond the arc. Den had 14. Nelly Jr. Joseph fouled out. He had 16 in the game. They needed more from him. Jaden Aikens had himself a nice game. Trey Holloman was good off the bench. The entire bench for Michigan State looked was good overall. Typical MSU stuff. They don't shoot well from 3, 4, 15. They win it. Nonetheless, this was the seventh time in the past six or seven weeks that Michigan State has won a game that it was trailing at halftime. No team matches them in the. In the tournament ever this season with that. And yeah, good job out of Sparty, what are your thoughts on. On Tom Izzo making sure that both Patinos failed to advance to the sweet 16.
- [43:00]
David Cobb
So New Mexico had a halftime lead in this game, shot 54% from the field in the second half and still lost. Kind of wild there. And I think this game sort of put to rest a myth with Michigan State, which is that, all right, we know they're a defensive oriented team that doesn't really shoot the three very well, but they get out and run. They got out in transition, and that's kind of what killed New Mexico in this game. So Tom izzo marches on. 30 years at Michigan State, and I can't. I mean, what's this? I can't even begin to tally the number of Sweet 16 appearances. It's insane.
- [43:33]
Matt Norlander
But, my God, he's been tied 16 a piece. They both have been 16 times. That's the most among all active coaches.
- [43:41]
David Cobb
There you go. Yeah. I mean, is those the story Here, right? I mean Richard Patino, good run. Like he's done an amazing job rehabilitating his career at New Mexico. They got ousted in the first round last season. They win a game in the big dance this year. Like he's. That's cool. Like when a guy is able to go not, not succeed at a high major job and then get another chance and really thrive like that, that's. That's a cool sort of subplot to this game. But the story is Tom Izzo in Michigan State going on.
- [44:08]
Matt Norlander
Oh, Ms. Beats. I want to keep it moving here. Not have a stay up too, too late. And I also gotta, I've gotta drive home and it's, it's not, it's not a 10 minute drive, nor a 20 minute drive, nor a 30 minute drive. So let's keep it cruising. Ole miss beats Iowa State 9178. Wow. Not surprised Ole Miss won. Surprised by this being a wire to wire domination. This is the second Sweet 16 ever for this program. The only other one came in 2001. It's the largest margin of victory by Mississippi in the tournament ever in program history. Iowa State had 15 turnovers. No. Keyshawn Gilbert was obviously a major issue here as well. And this obviously contributes to having seven SEC teams into the second weekend. But Chris Beard's team, they do a really good job of taking away your number one feature. Your forte, your dynamic, your go to guy. They get it done here to move along. Malik. Dia had some really awesome and Padula was good as well. But Dia had some really nice flashes in this game for, for the Rebels. Your thoughts on. On one went down. This game was obviously played in Milwaukee.
- [45:06]
David Cobb
Well, first, Matt, you got a long drive ahead of you. Have you busted into that fridge that they have there in. In Stanford that has the Celsius in it? Have you done it?
- [45:15]
Matt Norlander
I, I have. I've never. I've never had a Celsius in my life. I'm not anti. I just haven't tried it yet.
- [45:20]
David Cobb
But March, man, you got to try it. So, so I've told you this. So I recently celebrated my five year anniversary at CBS and I got 100 Paramount points. And so you can go shopping with these Paramount points and buy certain things like Kyle Boone bought luggage with his Paramount points. Gary doesn't have Paramount points.
- [45:40]
Matt Norlander
He's Paramount broke. You hate to see it. He can afford it. I assure you he can afford it.
- [45:45]
David Cobb
So. Well, if anyone needs a luggage, it's Gary. My gosh. But, but no. With my, with My paramount points. I purchased three cases of Celsius. And so my appearance on Thursday and again tonight is brought to you by. By Celsius because there we go. I would be in my bed right now. So my takeaways from. And I would recommend it to you if. If you. If you need a lift for the drive home. Just don't expect to go to sleep if you. If you drink one. But no takeaways here. Similar with Illinois for Iowa State and that it's a season of what could have been because it looks so promising at one point both for the Cyclones and for the Illini. From the Ole Miss perspective, the emergence of Malik Dia is pretty incredible. I mentioned him being at Belmont. He was prior to that at Vanderbilt and couldn't get off the bench under Jerry Stackhouse. Right. And now here he is back in the SEC and just killing folks. I mean he's. He's the best player on that team right now. A big who's mobile, who can shoot, who can defend one through five. There just aren't a lot of players like him. I think he's one of the more underrated players left in this tournament. And then Chris Beard, I mean, what more can you say about the guy? He's. Come NCAA tournament time, he's not somebody that you want to bet against.
- [47:00]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, no. Him getting. This is. This is why you bring them in and they. They push on through and we'll see what. We'll see what awaits here as. As the Rebels. They're gonna pro. They're gonna provide a pretty there. It's a pretty fascinating dynamic with Michigan State. That's a Friday matchup, by the way, on CBS out of Atlanta. Let's keep it moving. Let's go to the East. Arizona wins last game of the night. This. We are on a nice little run here. Like three of the four. For the past five tournaments, the final Sunday night game of the second round has proved to be pretty good. We had Houston A M. We've had Arizona tcu, We had Arizona, Oregon here. I'm gonna give Dave Pass some love because as this game was drawing to a close, he tweeted. I can hear Bill saying, conference of Champions. What a game. What a life. I'm sleeping in the desert. What's your name again? We miss Phil Walton so, so, so much. And it was only appropriate in honor of the late, great Pac12, soon to be revitalized, but not the same ever again. That this game was awesome. Arizona wins 87 to 83. Oregon got out to a 15 point lead early in this one. This was the second biggest comeback in the history of the second round. The only bigger one was the Nevada Cincinnati game. I remember that one. That was back. That was seven years ago. And that was the Wolfpack, coached by one Eric Musselman. That's the only bigger one than what Arizona pulled off here. Caleb Love, after having another nice night here and getting his team to the sweet 16, is now you can believe it. He has more. He probably can. He's been around forever. He has more points in the tournament than any player. He's got 207 after going and dropping 29 in this game. Mark Sears has 204. So those are the two leaders. Arizona fans, if you didn't realize that you're in back to back Sweet 16s for the first time since 1415. So that's some good stuff there. But your thoughts on, on what went down in Seattle and and thrilling fashion to wrap up the first weekend.
- [48:55]
David Cobb
So the fact that we're now going to get Caleb Love against Duke once.
- [48:58]
Matt Norlander
More is give it to me.
- [49:00]
David Cobb
Just an incredible storyline. He ended Coach K's career and now he's got a chance to end the flag era. So good tonight. The Caleb Loves college basketball roller coaster has been amazing. I hate that the last two minutes of that game took about 45 minutes in real time.
- [49:15]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, that was unfortunate.
- [49:16]
David Cobb
The off season, by the way, Van.
- [49:18]
Matt Norlander
Gundy shouts to Sam Van Gundy a million things that I can't remember. But he was like, you know what? I know college basketball fans love right now. I know everyone's loving all of these reviews. That's what we want to see. Stan Van is awesome. I love him on tournament coverage and I hope like moments like that on tv. Cobb, I hope those things can transfer over in about a month and a half when the basketball committees have to meet on rules changes and stuff and we can actually get a change to end of game protocol. We probably need. It's going to hurt, but we probably need like a bad moment in the Final Four, a couple in the Elite Eight to make sure it happens. But good on Stan Van for saying that.
- [49:51]
David Cobb
No, yeah, it was painful to watch the end of that game, but yeah, three Sweet Sixteens in four years now under Tommy Lloyd. So they haven't made that deep run yet. Right. And to do it, they're going to have to get through Duke. So the chances of this being the year seem pretty slim. But just like Caleb Love's career, the Arizona season has been a roller coaster. So I feel like as An Arizona fan. Like at this point, you kind of got to be happy if this is the end like you made the second weekend. You've consistently done that now under Tommy Lloyd. Caleb Love might be able to take you one step further, but you know it's going to take something pretty impressive for them to get past the absolute machine that is Duke right now.
- [50:29]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, no doubt. Oregon finishes its season 25 and 10. Good go of it. Excited to see, I would think Jackson sell stat's gonna. He's gonna be back in college. So I'm excited to see what he does next year. Let's keep it moving. Alabama beats St. Mary's 80 to 66. It's the first time anyone hit 80 on the gales this season. And not just that, they had gone 105 games without allowing 80 points. Man, 105 now. Bama. They got there barely. They hit 80, but they got there nonetheless. Yeah, just with St. Mary's I said it on HQ and I don't say it with any kind of joy. It just kind of is what it is here. They've been to the tournament 11 times. It would have been 12 in 2020, but there was no tournament there. They only have one Sweet 16. And I think that there is a ceiling on this program. It needs the exact kind of right matchup. It's often not, you know, it's not seated third, fourth. It's been a five seat a couple times, but it just can't break through to the second weekend. Now what Randy Ben has done is incredible. Like it really, really is. But when it comes down to March, just way more often than not it can get a game it has. It wins a first round game. But getting two, it's. Well, it's only happened once there ever, so that's. That's a bit of a bummer for, for St. Mary's but for Alabama, Grant Nelson had another terrific dunk. He's having a hell of a run here. And NATO, it gets Alabama back to the sweet 16 again and obviously trying to go for back to back final fours. Something of a nondescript game overall. But any takeaways on. On what played out there between the Tide and the gals?
- [51:58]
David Cobb
Well, Alabama had six guys in double figures, which at least for one night, one game sort of puts to rest this idea that they need Mark Sears to go for 30. Like clearly there are times and moments and games and matchups where they need Mark Sears to look like the guy who a lot of us thought was going to be the preseason, you know, or was going to be the player of the year in college basketball. Like, there's a time and a place for that. But in this game, in this matchup, it was six different guys getting to double figures for Alabama. And now it sets up. Look, I know y'all are going to talk about this in the coming days, but come on. Alabama versus byu. That. That is going to be an absolute offensive fireworks sort of matchup. Just. Just incredible stuff. And one of the upshots of the fact that this sweet 16 is so chalky is that this game, among many others, Alabama, BYU will be just tremendous. With the way BYU's playing, they absolutely have a shot against an Alabama team that, let's be honest, still didn't play a lot of defense. I mean, St. Mary's did not commit a single turnover in the first half. I mean, wrap your mind around that crazy Crimson side for zero turnovers in the first half of that game and still won it fairly comfortably.
- [53:05]
Matt Norlander
How about that? Wow. Yeah. No, I'm gonna be in Newark and very much looking forward to it. That Bama BYU game is the first game that tips off of the Sweet 16. It really might be. I almost feel like we're going to talk about it for four days, so it won't happen. I would love if it was first to 100 wins. That's going to be awesome. Last result. Duke 89, Baylor 66. It's Baylor's largest NCAA tournament loss by margin in program history. Duke, when it's been a one seed, it has never failed to reach the sweet 16. 15 times, it's been a one seed, 15 times, it's made the 16. This game was actually interesting to start. Baylor was up 24, 23, and then Duke went on a 24. 6 run and it was over. It was over there. They shot really, really well. In fact, they were insanely hot. I've got a few notes from our research team. They shot 64.4% in this game. That was their best field goal percentage since the Elite Eight Classic. Maybe the best college basketball game ever played. The late in their shot game against UK and Philly. Back in 92, Duke became the first team ever with 64, shooting, 55 from 3 and 80 from the line in a tournament game. Their 80.7 true shooting percentage was the best of any team since Villanova. I actually remember that they destroyed Oklahoma in the Final Four. So it was the best since then from a true shooting percentage. And I said, I had a burst in stat for you. Here it is. Jared Burson, Tweeted Duke scored 1.50 points per possession, which is hotter. It's hotter than Mercury. And that's the highest PPP by any team in the tournament game since the Nova game versus Oklahoma. Tyrese Proctor. Oh, boy, that was awesome. Shire had a great moment post game. He got emotional and for me, on my end of it, like, I remember talking to Shire in the preseason when I went to Durham and we got to talking about Proctor and what was going to be expected of him. His second season didn't go as expected. This was a guy that was once thought as a one and done player. The Aussie was awesome on Sunday. He is on Fire. His 13 threes through two tournament games are a program record and he is the second player in tournament history with multiple games of six made three pointers and at least 75 shooting from three. Here's the thing, the other guy that did it was Tayshawn Prince. He did it in multiple tournaments. Tyrese Proctor has done those in two games and back to back, albeit one was against a 16 seed. But we haven't seen that before. Duke dominated Cobb. It cruised in his. In the first weekend here, Auburn got a little bit of a push from Creighton. Houston held it against Gonzaga, but Gonzaga made everyone kind of just like, hold on. And then Houston got it done, but there was a little bit of that. And then Florida obviously was in a battle for 40 against UConn. Duke's the only one seed that didn't have any issue whatsoever. Any closing thoughts on what the Blue Devils provided in dominant fashion against Scott Drew's Bears?
- [55:42]
David Cobb
It feels like what UConn did in the first weekend last year, where it's just, I mean, somebody like me who's got a million different things to write and to do, you just don't even dive in that deep because it's so dominant. Right. And so, I mean, that's kind of where Duke is at. You, you brought the goods. You brought the nuggets on that one. Tyrese Proctor was insane. So that's all there is to say about Duke.
- [56:02]
Matt Norlander
Yeah. I will add this. I think the Proctor stuff means something for Duke in this regard. Like flag got like hitting the eye and he was all right, but he was. You could tell it was like a little swollen up a little bit. Teams that win national titles, they normally not explicitly intentionally, but they're looking for moments along the way, be it in their conference tournaments, are really in the tournament. If it's first round, second round, sweet 16, elite, national semis, whatever, where you got a player that you don't expect him to be option A or option B. Maybe he's C, D or E. But they provide you a reason why you won and they didn't like Duke could have won the game without Proctor on the floor. But I actually think that helps their psyche moving forward there. It doesn't guarantee that they're going to be there as on the sweet 16, but I thought that was, I thought that was pretty key and, and pretty good overall. We can wrap the show. That's, that's a look at everything on Sunday. The Sweet 16. Look ahead. We're gonna, we're gonna get to later this week. The matchups are are very intriguing. I'll give you the tip times real quick here as we wrap up Thursday gets going with BYU Bama, that's Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson, Ali Force From Newark on CBS 739 TBS and True TV from San Francisco. That's Maryland versus Florida to start. You got Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, Stan Van Gundy and Lauren Shahadi. Then around 9:39, 49:50, we'll see how it goes. You'll have Arizona versus Duke from Newark on CBS and then the Nightcap on Thursday. We're looking at Arkansas vs Texas Tech on CBS and True TV. The last time San Francisco had a regional final, semifinal and final was Coach Case final year three years ago. Arkansas, Texas Tech were both at that regional and both of them lost at the hands of duke on Friday. 709 CBS from Atlanta. Iron Eagle Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson will give you Ole Miss in Michigan State to start the night on Friday around 7:39. You've got Kentucky versus Tennessee out of Indy on TBS and True TV. Andrew Catalon, Steve Lapis and Evan Washburn shouts to Evan, Andrew and Steve and the crew. Got to say hi and talk to them a bit when I was in Providence. They move along to Indy. They'll do a fantastic job. Evan, keep bringing those Jays. He's wearing his Jays. His kicks. He looks, he looks great while doing so. 9:39 CBS Atlanta, Michigan vs. Auburn, Bird, Raft, Hill and Tracy. And then it wraps up with the Sweet 16 on Friday with Purdue and Houston. Purdue local, local play by the way, there 1009 or thereabouts on TBS True TV with Catalon, Lapis and Washburn. So that is your Sweet 16 schedule. It's a damn strong field. We got some really tasty, enticing matchups, but we've got a couple of days and a couple pods to break all of that down. Any closing thoughts from you on the opening weekend? Cobb, you can take it all the way back to the first four or anything. Thursday, Friday, overarching. Want to give you one last bit of thought here before we wrap up the show.
- [58:35]
David Cobb
No, it's this. Cinderella is not dead. She's just asleep. She will be back. The NIL era has not ruined the NCAA Tournament. I don't believe that for a second. You look at Princeton, you look at St. Peter Peters, you look at Oral Roberts, you look, Those are all 15 seeds that made the sweet 16 in the nil era. Bad year for Cinderella. The ball will bounce her way again sometime in the near future.
- [58:58]
Matt Norlander
I completely agree with you on this, and I think it's in all likelihood going to happen next year. I don't think that nil has been directly responsible for the sweet 16 field that we have, but I do think and almost kind of cringe at it, that this is going to be an overwhelming take. And I just. I'm sorry. I need more tournaments. I need more data before I can go on board with that, I think, and have some sort of level of impact. I get that. But I'm not. I'm not there all the way yet. Thanks to everyone for watching live. We've had a pretty good live crew. Debo, you've been awesome to step in and produce. Cobb, thank you for staying up late here with me as well. Hope everyone enjoyed the recaps for the first weekend. We will continue these obviously through the sweet 16 and the final 4hp and I will be back together on Monday and Tuesday and beyond. But with, you know, travel schedules and late nights and him in the TV studio and me or me at games, we got to rotate the cast. And Chip Patterson will be making his return to the pod very soon as well. So we very much look forward to that. For everyone listening, we appreciate you so much. Get a little bit of rest. Tournament is going to start back up before you know it. Thank you so much and we'll talk to you again on Monday afternoon.
- [59:58]
David Cobb
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