← Eye On College Basketball
Eye On College Basketball
Michigan is a MACHINE; JT Toppin injury has Texas Tech’s season on edge; Mick Cronin is a (problematic) content factory; Miami U 26-0!
01:08:08
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- [00:00]
Matt Norlander
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- [01:20]
Gary Parrish
Hey Sal.
- [01:21]
Matt Norlander
Hank. What's going on? We haven't worked a case in years.
- [01:24]
Gary Parrish
I just bought my car at Carvana.
- [01:26]
Matt Norlander
And it was so EAS too easy. Think something's up?
- [01:29]
Gary Parrish
You tell me. They got thousands of options, found a great car at a great price and it got delivered the next day.
- [01:37]
Matt Norlander
It sounds like Carvana just makes it easy to buy your car, Hank.
- [01:41]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, you're right. Case closed.
- [01:44]
Matt Norlander
Buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply.
- [02:03]
Gary Parrish
Hey there. I am Gary Parish. Welcome back. CBS Sports I Own College Basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, dodo birds leaky black. The I Own College Basketball podcast is presented by Jersey Mike's, proud sponsor of the Naismith Award. Jersey Mike's would like to offer their congratulations to all of the athletes on the watch list. Per usual, Matt Norlander is here with me. That looks like a hotel room. If you're watching live on YouTube. Honor Brandon Davies. Smash that like button. If you haven't yet subscribed to the I Own College Basketball podcast, please also do that wherever you subscribe to podcasts like Spotify and Apple. Let's get into it. We're going to start with the scene Tuesday night inside Mackie Arena. Top 10 matchup in the Big Ten. It was not a great game but it was super impressive stuff from the nation's top ranked team. Final score number one Michigan 91. Number seven Purdue 80. The Wolverines took a 20 point lead on the road over the Sports preseason number one and won the game by 11. Norlander, good to see you on this Wednesday morning. You were in the building for Michigan's latest beat down. What'd you make of Michigan's 21st double digit victory of this season?
- [03:11]
Matt Norlander
Hello from West Lafayette. That was I think the loudest gym I had ever been in to start a basketball game. Been in louder ones at the end of it. But the crowd was ready to go. Not just because Michigan is number one but also because as I detailed in my column overnight Yaxa Lindenberg like last June. And I talked to him and I talked to Dusty about this. He was at a bar. He, he may have been in bibing and then someone I who, who was a produce fan and some other person approached him and basically just probed him, encouraged him to, to talk on the Michigan Purdue rivalry, whatever you want to call it. And, and he did so authoritatively, enthusiastically. Well that that video never went public until this past weekend. And then of course in Purdue circles it was widely shared. And so there. If you actually counted out and I did not, but if you counted out the number of times 5,000, 6,000, 7,000 deep. The paint crew last night shouted out bleep you Yaxel. It was north of 50 easily. And it was loud, it was intimidating and yet it did not matter. Michigan was able to immediately handle all of that din. Sounded like a jet engine there on Robbie Hummel bobblehead night nonetheless. And they get it done to the tune of a 9180 win. And the reason that 9180 Michigan was basically nursing anywhere between a 15 and a 10 point lead for the majority of the final 10 minutes of the game. They went on a 244 run early in the first half to gain that separation and basically put the lead out of reach. Braden Smith didn't even score a point in the first 20 minutes and he rallied in the second 20. But TKR had 27. They didn't double. He was able to get his and they were totally fine kind of letting TKR get his and try and shut everyone else down. There was a key moment I felt in the second half where Braden Smith had a really nice steal behind the back, save falling out of bounds. Fletcher lawyer gets in transition. If he would hit the three, the building would have popped. They still would have been down a few possessions and instead it's an airball that was deflating. Fletcher Lawyer only ended with 11 points. He was 2 of 5 from deep. Smith, for his part, only made four field goals overall, had four steals, six assists, also three turnovers. They didn't get any help elsewhere. There was it was just not nearly enough. Adai Mara did foul out. Mahrez Johnson did foul out. But Mara's presence was undeniable. And so here Michigan sits at 25 and 1. The preseason number one could not beat the actual number one. Michigan didn't hit number one until this week. For the first time this season. For the first time since 2013, it is now the first Big Ten team to hit 25. One since Ohio State in 2011. It has won six consecutive Big Ten road games by 10 or more points. That's only the second time ever that's happened in that league. The other time was Illinois in the 1950s. The Wolverines have won almost every game this season by double digits. They did it here again, 9180 at Mackie arena on Tuesday night. I remain extremely impressed and as I tagged my column with this morning we you know this is the toughest you can make. This certainly make the case and the Big 12s had some tough back to backs. Don't get me wrong, Iowa State just had to get Kansas and Houston, but both those games are on his home floor. I don't know if there's really a tougher two game stretch in a week than Michigan at Purdue and then on a neutral against Duke on Saturday. If the Wolverines beat Duke, and especially if they beat Duke with some breathing room, they will have separated from the rest of the sport heading into March. Doesn't mean they can't get caught. Doesn't mean they might not get caught. Still in the league here to come. They've got to play at Illinois at the end of the month, but I do think Michigan is one win away this weekend from truly tearing itself out given what it's been able to do so far. The only loss at home by three to Wisconsin and Bucky needed 15 threes in that game to even get the dub. What are your thoughts on what happened where I'm sitting here on Tuesday night.
- [07:27]
Gary Parrish
First, I want to get out in front of this because that Yaxel video was obviously less than ideal. Let he who has never perhaps said something he shouldn't have said, done something he shouldn't have done, after, you know, a drink or two, cast the first stone. But I want to get out in front of this. There's a video like that of me floating around out there. Is there? Yes.
- [07:55]
Matt Norlander
Yes. This is your Streisand affecting yourself right now.
- [08:01]
Gary Parrish
I. It was Elvis week. It was Elvis week. And, you know, I was. I don't know whether I was celebrating or trying to keep my mind off of things. It's always a fine line. And somebody was like, G.P. i was like, what's up? And they had the phone in my face and stuff. And they were like, so what do you think of UMBC? And I was like, FUMBC. FUMBC. Because that I. That's UMass. Lowell's rival in the America East. It was Elvis week. It's his alma mater.
- [08:37]
Matt Norlander
Yeah.
- [08:38]
Gary Parrish
So I understand. Like, I'm not condoning what Yaxel did. I'm just saying I've been there myself. Anyway, he responded brilliantly. The Wolverines responded brilliantly. And now they're 25 and 1, 15 and 1 in the Big Ten 10 in quadrant one. Only power conference, one loss team. They got a 40 point win over Gonzaga, 40 point win over San Diego State, 30 point wins over Auburn and UCLA, 28 point win over Villanova, double digit win at Purdue, and if they beat Duke this weekend and they're not the number one unanimous number one on Monday, then I'm bringing back the poll tax column.
- [09:17]
Matt Norlander
There we go. That's what I want to hear. Thank you. I think one voter did not vote in Michigan, number one.
- [09:22]
Gary Parrish
And I'm not going to put a name on it. I'm not. I'm not here to do that anymore. I'm a different person than I used to be.
- [09:28]
Matt Norlander
You know, it's time to go back to the old me.
- [09:31]
Gary Parrish
I know that video is floating around and it's going to look like I'm still the old me. But that was. That was the old me. It's the old video. It was Elvis week. I'm not who I used to be. But if they beat Duke on Saturday and somebody decides to give a number one vote in the AP poll on Monday to anybody on the planet other than Michigan, the politics column is coming back. When? I don't care how tired I am, I don't care how much I want to sleep on a plane, I don't care who's playing on Big Monday, I'm knocking out a politics column on Monday. If Michigan beats Duke and they're not the unanimous number one in the AP poll, this is how I get. This is how I get loose when it's time to fight.
- [10:13]
Matt Norlander
You are getting loose I do one of these.
- [10:16]
Gary Parrish
I've never fought since fifth grade, but I imagine if I were about to, I'd do something like this. I imagine if Mick Cronin ever talked to me the way he talked to that one dude last night, I'd do something like this.
- [10:25]
Matt Norlander
Oh, yeah, that's. Look at that.
- [10:26]
Gary Parrish
We'll get to that.
- [10:28]
Matt Norlander
By the way, I told these guys, a couple of fellas from the paint crew, they gave us shirts. I said I would wear this on the show if Purdue won. Purdue didn't win. Whose house? Well, apparently Michigan's house, not Purdue's house.
- [10:41]
Gary Parrish
Looks like it's Michigan's house.
- [10:42]
Matt Norlander
Yeah. Appreciate Noah and his buddy for saying hello before the game. I gotta. I got a paint cruise shirt for you. I'll give it to you, I guess, at the Final Four at the latest. So.
- [10:53]
Gary Parrish
All right, I'll wear it to. I'll wear it to St. Elmo.
- [10:55]
Matt Norlander
This one's. This one's yours, buddy. That student section is incredible. It really is. And it is a top five environment in college basketball. It's just inarguable. Weirdly enough, Purdue has dropped three games at home this season, and it was a route at the hands of Iowa State. It was a runaway, essentially, against Michigan, and Keaton Walgreen dropped 46 on their heads in that building. So you don't typically have a season like this where they can't get it done. But that said, you know, Matt Painter told me that we've played good teams. They're the best. They are the best team we have played. He said in the press conference, conference, you know, they will not lose four games because at this point, Purdue is now 21 5. I think he was saying, like, we have four losses, and I think he was trying to, like, going to the game. Purdue had four losses. It has five now. And Michigan being 25 and 1, he's like, they're not losing four games this year. Not gonna happen. And there is something to be said for that. Michigan has also been number one variety of advanced metrics for essentially half or more than half the season. So it took a while to get there in the AP poll. I. I asked Dusty about that as well after the game because he said when they knew they were going to get to number one in the AP poll, they talked about, should we. Should we bring this up with the team? You know, we finally got to this point, and here's what comes next. They actually opted against even bringing it up. And then Dusty told me, like, outside of me, like, seeing it in the media. Like it hasn't come up here. I had someone talk about on the plane. Not on the bus ride, not the huddle, not in the practices, not the walkthroughs, not at the team meals. Hasn't come up at all. It's not going to be a thing. We're just, we're trying to get a Big Ten, you know, championship, which last night, that's the other thing with this. Like Michigan won the Big Ten last night. It's 25 and 1 with a 151 league record. Games remaining. Home Minnesota at Illinois, at Iowa, Home Michigan State. They're still challenging games on that schedule and mathematically this isn't done. But at worst, Michigan will share the Big Ten regular season championship and I think it will win it outright. It has a two game lead on Illinois right now. And the other thing that Painter said in his presser was to be preseason number one. Doesn't mean anything. And I don't disagree. I don't agree with that in full, but I get what he's saying. And he tagged that with when you get to February and you're the number one team in the country, that actually does mean something. They have proven what they are and we've, we've talked so much about Michigan. We'll continue to do so. I'm so impressed with that team. They have all this balance. Yaksel also gave me a great quote. He said something like, well, we're a team that doesn't have a best player. Michigan's best player was telling me it was a team that doesn't have a best player. He's the best player on the team. But they are incredibly balanced. Elliot Godot was terrific. He was fantastic. But I just, if they don't turn the ball over, what's the weakness? And Dusty also said that he's like, we feel we can play any style, any way you want to play. We can adapt. Don't have any holes. Didn't say they're infallible. You can check the quote in the story. Sure, they can be beat. They don't have holes. So that's why they rate as the best team in the country. Last thing for me on Purdue, real quick. This is a 21, 5 team, 114 in the league. The losses are what I just mentioned, the three at home in addition to a two point loss on the road against ucla. Mick Cronin, we are getting to you. Don't worry, buddy. And then by five at Indiana, there's nothing embarrassing about Purdue's resume. It was A projected two seed going into this game. However, if you want to kind of take a step back and say, now wait a minute, this Purdue team was not universal because I did not have a preseason number one, but it was the preseason number one team in the eyes of many and was the official preseason number one in the AP top 25. And it's had great opportunities at home against title contenders Iowa State, Illinois, Michigan. Failed all of them. It has not been able to pull off a real impressive win in a true road environment outside of Bama, which was nice. I'll give them the Nebraska one in overtime. Obviously, that was good and they got right against Iowa, but Iowa's not, not on the level of those teams. So where, where are we with Purdue? What, what is this team? Is it, is it Final Four capable? Are we just gonna say, you know, it's one game result, Michigan's insane. And so let's not, let's not put this as an indictment on the Boilermakers. I, I don't know right now, Parrish. What I do know is that this team overall is not as strong as I expected it to be. Doesn't mean I don't think it can make a Final Four. I think it's still got the coaching and the ability to do that. A lot of people are going to sell on Purdue in general and that. And I, and I understand why, but I'm not going to go that far. But I thought it was all too timely, all too appropriate that the preseason number one hosted the actual number one and its first week with that one next to its name in the AP poll. And it went the way that, frankly, it probably deserved to go because Michigan has shown the entire season why it's at the top of the sport and Purdue has been, you know, just chipping away at that second level.
- [15:42]
Gary Parrish
I think what we saw last night says more about Michigan than it says about Purdue. But it does say something about Purdue. Because if you are, I think, legitimately worthy of the number one you had by your name in the preseason, maybe the Iowa State thing can happen just because it's a thing. Maybe the Michigan thing can happen. Those two things should not happen to you both in the same season. If they do, by definition, it's not a one off. It's like, okay, you're, you're not elite. Because elite teams don't get handled like that at home. Not, not twice in the same season. And I don't even think Matt would argue with that now. It doesn't mean they can't be elite. Or get back to what they were on a night. Because there have been moments in the season where they looked like the best team in the country. They were early, probably, but still. But getting run off the court in front of that fan base in that arena, that was surprising to me. And though it says more about Michigan than it says about Purdue, I do think it says something about Purdue. As for Michigan, like, I went through the record and where they're at now, number one. Also in the net, Kinpom, KPI, Torvik, BPI still has them at number two. I don't know what's going on there. You got to talk to bpi.
- [17:08]
Matt Norlander
I don't need to talk to anyone. That's just how it is. But that's the only one where it's not number one.
- [17:12]
Gary Parrish
So you need to talk. I need you to talk to bpi. If you can get a second.
- [17:18]
Matt Norlander
I'll see Borzella later today. That's.
- [17:20]
Gary Parrish
That's, that's.
- [17:22]
Matt Norlander
That's his department.
- [17:24]
Gary Parrish
Can you get Borzello to fix that? I get mad every time I look at it. I'm like, what are you doing, bpi? I mean, I know you're probably brilliant somehow. I know you're so smart somehow, but you look dumb right now. Next up for Purdue, Friday's game with Indiana. Next up for Michigan, Saturday's game with the Duke Blue Devils. Let's keep it moving. Up next, we'll turn our attention to an unfortunate development in the Big 12. Yuck. J.T. toppin, reigning Big 12 Player of the Year, left Texas Tech's loss late last night on the East Coast. Early this morning, he limped off. It didn't look good. We'll spend some minutes on that next. First, let's get a word from our partners. Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're not sure where to start. Thumbtack knows homes, so you don't have to. Don't know the difference between matte paint finish and satin or what that clunking sound from your dryer is with thumbtack. You don't have to be a home pro. You just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app download today. Late game in Tempe didn't end until after midnight here on the East Coast. Didn't think we were going to be talking about it this early, but, oh, something bad happened. Final score, Arizona State 72, Texas Tech 67. Congrats to Bobby Hurley and the Sun Devils and all that, but that's not the story. The story is that the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year and a legitimate national player of the Year candidate, J.T. toppin, he left the game with what appeared to be a non contact knee injury. Norlander, how concerned should Texas Tech fans be right now?
- [18:58]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, listen, this is, we get a few of these every season where there's something that happens and between the thing that happens and the clarity on the thing that happens, we have to do a show between those two and so right now we sit in limbo. I have not received an update from Texas Tech. We're just after 10am Eastern time on Wednesday here. You would hope that we get some sort of official word from Tech later today and then tomorrow at the absolute latest. I was just wrapping up filing my, my column on the game here in the hotel. You know, turn on the tv. This game is still going on. I turned it on before the injury and I'm like, well, damn, like Texan. A battle against Arizona State. Bobby Hurley playing out the string. What's you just won Tucson three days ago. That's call it. That is college basketball for you. It really, really is. The Texas Tech team that's got the best three wins of any team in the country and ultimately can't pull it out and get it done. In part because Toppen wasn't available for the end of the game. He got, he went down. I'm hoping it is some sort of contusion, bone bruise, mild sprain to this point. You know, we're actually going to do a quick Naismith Player of the Year watch segment before we get out of the show and I'm just gonna like for the purposes of today's show, like I will put top in what, third, fourth on my list here because I don't know if he's done for the season. I'm judging it off of what he's been able to do so far. Point is he has been one of the most valuable and impactful players in the sport and has managed to achieve that title while having Christian Anderson on his team who's been also an all American level player. So we do wait and see. We hope it, you know, for his health but also for the viability of Texas Tech. We want to see the best players in the sport. You know, Caleb Wilson just got hurt. KOA Pete's got a lower leg strain. He's going to miss, you know, at least the next week. You know, you got some stars here that are, that are going down and we're not quite a mass unit in this sport yet. But can we get to March and not have any other like, top 20 talents in the sport go down? Please, Please. So we wait and see if topping is, you know, let's hope this isn't the case. But if, if it's a serious injury that affects toppins availability to play the rest of the season or deep into March, like, it completely changes Texas Tech's outlook like they are. They are not even remotely the same team. Christian Anderson will have to become Superman to even make them a Final four contender for as great as he is, because Texas Tech doesn't have depth to begin with. So insult to injury with the loss on the road to Arizona State. And now we await hopefully good news, but no one really knows at this stage what the status of, of topping in that, you know, leg, knee, lower body injury. We'll see what it is whenever they release word later today or tomorrow.
- [21:42]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, it was one of those games that just served as a reminder of, you know, hey, conference realignment really did some stuff. You don't expect to be watching Texas Tech at 1 o' clock in the morning, you know, so. But there you are. And then that happens and it's just like, because it was otherwise a fun game that got real dumb at the end. I don't know if you saw the final minutes.
- [22:05]
Matt Norlander
It got so stupid. I was like, are they. I was like, is. Is Arizona State gonna blow this?
- [22:11]
Gary Parrish
I mean, my God.
- [22:12]
Matt Norlander
And in the process, will Bobby Hurley actually usurp McCronen on the head coach outrage power ranking going into Wednesday show? He did not. They got the win. 7,000, 267. But they were. They really. They were like, oh, you think we can get dumber? We can't.
- [22:30]
Gary Parrish
Everything. Everything they did was wrong. Everything. Everything they did. Why are you making that pass? Why are you taking that shot? Why are you not just holding the balls?
- [22:40]
Matt Norlander
It was like the topping injury affected Arizona State more than it did Texas.
- [22:44]
Gary Parrish
They were rattled. The Sun Devils were rattled after the top. I mean, that. What I would. What I wish more than anything, I wish we could have had a camera on Dan Hurley watching Bob Hurley's team.
- [22:59]
Matt Norlander
I did. I was like, is Dan up watching this? He may or may not have been. I was like, if he's watching this, he's out of his mind right now.
- [23:04]
Gary Parrish
I would. I would assume he's up watching it. And if he is, he is out of his mind. If you think, if you think you're bothered by the Dan Hurley antics, you have no idea what it would have Looked like last night, him watching his brother' try to close that game out. Either way, they close it out. Congrats to them. You know, Bobby's had a rough go. Everybody understands that. So, genuinely, I was. I liked seeing him have that, have that. That moment, you know, in that arena. He might not ever get another one in that arena like that. Right. So that was nice. And then, you know, he opened his post game talking about J.T. toppin, which I thought was classy, but, you know, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that it didn't go the way it looks like it went. But we've seen, We. We watch basketball every day. We've seen that before. And it's. It's usually bad. It's not always bad. I. I will tell you, I have. I've woke up sometimes or been surprised in the afternoon whenever the news drops and it's like, oh, wow, it wasn't torn. Wow, that's surprising. I've been surprised before. I hope I'm. I hope. I hope I'm surprised here.
- [24:14]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, I hope so, too. All right, there's still. Tuesday was busier than expected. It. It delivered on a number of fronts that we didn't expect. We have to go next to Mick Cronin, who, in the midst of getting routed at. At the Breslin Center, I thought was going to provide us enough fodder to talk about. And then there was something even after the game.
- [24:36]
Gary Parrish
So, final score, number 15, Michigan State 82, UCLA 59. Another rough night in the Eastern time zone for the Bruins. Two viral moments from Mick Cronin in one night. Let's take them in order. After UCLA's A. Stephen Jamerson fouled Carson Cooper and then kind of squared up with him. Mick sent his player to the lot. He ejected. He seems to have been. He might be the first Division 1 men's basketball coach to ever his own player from a game. Josh, if you've got it, let's watch Mick Cronin throw his own player out of a basketball game. I'm here. A change in destination. Playing football in a foul. Cooper's foul from behind. And now Cooper is up and in Jamerson's face.
- [25:18]
Matt Norlander
I didn't realize Spencer was on the call on this.
- [25:22]
Gary Parrish
And remember, this is a different kind of return for Steven Jamerson ii. You gotta go, buddy. Cronin is pointing to the tunnel for him.
- [25:33]
Matt Norlander
I don't know if Cronin was thinking this or not, but we're four days removed, three days removed from the Duncan Powell thing at St. John's and it wasn't the exact same kind of play, but there's some, some shades of that. And, and so the image is just again, Cronin, who's like, you know, 11 inches shorter than his player, he's just like, you're gone. Hit the, hit the showers, buddy. Get out of here. There's no one doing it like Mick Cronin. We got to get to the second part of this, which I'm not nearly as tickled by, but I agree with you. I mean I suppose has happened. I've never, I can't remember it. I. If anyone watching now after the fact comment section hit us up. Last time you can ever remember a head coach throwing his player out of the game, he did not have two technicals. He said, you're done, get out of here. Pointed. He made sure one of the staffers support staff escorted him back to the locker room. The content with this, with this guy never ends. And I think some of it is self aware. There's a little bit of. Of meta about this, but I think it's also just. This is a man who could not get give less of an F. He couldn't. He could not. Jerome Tang got fired for cause three. Three days ago, two days ago. Mick Cronen under those, under those circumstances, under that he could have been fired for cost 73 times at this point at UCLA. It's amazing.
- [26:58]
Gary Parrish
I. I felt like Mick, it was sitting around about 45 minutes before the game started and he was like texting Jerome. He's like, hey, send me Tom Mars number. Text me Tom. Can you. Can you share your Tom Mars contact with me? I might, I might need it. Here I go. I don't like the way he handled that situation in the game, but I can also laugh at it. The next one's less funny. Josh. After the game, Mick was asked a question about one of his players who's a former Michigan State player coming back to the Breslin center and the students not being mean to him, but instead being kind to him. Let's watch this one together. I could give a rat's ass about the other team student section.
- [27:49]
Matt Norlander
I just met the overall the way.
- [27:51]
Gary Parrish
That I would like to give you a kudos for the worst question I've ever been asked. Did you like you should take it the preparation. You really think I care about the other.
- [28:04]
Matt Norlander
No, I don't. I don't think you care about the other.
- [28:06]
Gary Parrish
Are you raising your voice at me?
- [28:07]
Matt Norlander
No, I'm.
- [28:08]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, you are. Yeah, you are. Come on, dude. No reason. Come on. Yes, you were. Everybody's standing here listening to you. Everybody, this is on camera. They can hear you. I answered the question. I could give a rat's ass about the other team student section. I coach ucla. I don't care about Michigan State students. Who cares? I'll give you first crack if you want it.
- [28:30]
Matt Norlander
It's on camera. And everyone can hear you, too, Mick.
- [28:32]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, everybody. Yeah, it is on camera. And it doesn't look good for you, buddy. We all enjoy Mick. We've both known him for a long time. We both like him. I like Mick Cronin even right now. That was weak. That was weak. Yeah, it is on camera. And you. You look like an. It is. It's on camera. And you look like an.
- [28:52]
Matt Norlander
This was, to me, the. The. The ejecting his own player is just continuing in the Cronin theater. But to everyone that's sick of Cronin, like, I don't. I don't reject that opinion whatsoever. I just. I find a lot of what he does as a removed party just objectively funny because of just how he comports himself. But there are times when he's a complete jerk, and. And this is one of those times. I don't get this answer whatsoever. It is entirely reasonable to ask what he thought of the fact, because, remember, before the game, Xavier Booker played at Michigan State, and Tom Izzo made a point before the game to his message to the fans, hey, do not give this guy grief. And this is. This will be a yearly thing in this sport. Too many players transferring to too many schools, too many schools in the same league. It is unavoidable. We're going to get it every year. And so coaches, when they feel it appropriate, and frankly, in most instances, they probably. Excuse me. Should feel it appropriate, should try to be proactive with their student sections to say, you don't need to go over the line. You know, it depends on the player, the situation. But almost every single time, like, you know, if you want to jeer them a little bit, we get that Aberdeen face that at Florida, but it was completely, you know, acceptable. The point is that Izzo had preventative measures. And even still, there was, you know, there was what there was in that building on Tuesday night. Admittedly, I was here in West Lafayette. I wasn't listening to the whole broadcast and all that, so I don't have the exact play by play, but to ask Cronin what he thought of the response from the student section to his player who used to play Michigan State, like, come on, man, you can answer the question and not come off like that. You really can, but he just doesn't care. And there's some. There's some comments in the chat right now about, you know, Cronin, and he's sick of it. Is he, you know, is. Is he done? I. I think we're gonna have this for the next few years. Here, a reminder. Cronin, very quietly, this was never publicized. I reported it in, I think December. He signed a contract extension, like, late last May, early June. If fired with without cause. Let me be clear. April before April one of this year, 22 and a half million. Next year, 18 million. 20, 28, 13 and a half million, 20, 29, 9 million. There is so much money coming to him if UCLA tried to fire him, which it's not going to do. I'm just saying, like, if you think that Cronin is going to separate from this job, I just consider it to be highly unlikely. He has way, way, way too much money coming to him otherwise. Unless, of course, you know, Gene Taylor, the athletic director of Kansas State, wants to give Martin Jarman a call at ucla, that their director, and see if they can find a way to fire him for cause. I say that in jest, but, yeah, like, we can call Cronin out on his bs. This is a lame answer. Some of the time at the podium, like, he gets angry and he's unintentionally funny. This one was just, he looked like a jerk. I would tell him that right now. Call him right now. Say, mick, that was idiotic. You look awful with this. You could have answered it better. You didn't handle yourself well. The question was completely acceptable.
- [32:00]
Gary Parrish
I don't know if it was the best question in the world, but it certainly wasn't the worst. It was totally reasonable and it didn't deserve that kind of response. And when the reporter responded to Mickey saying what he said, I guess if you want to get very specific, his voice was perhaps louder than it previously was. But he didn't raise his voice at Mick Cronin in any way that Mick Cronin was suggesting. Yeah, that was ridiculous. I will laugh at your little temper tantrums up until the point where they involve you treating somebody trying to do their job reasonably, up until it involves you treating that person poorly publicly in a demeaning way. That's not funny to me. I don't try to do that in my day to day life. I'm not trying to make people feel worse. I'm not perfect. But that's not funny to me. I didn't laugh at that at all. I cringed at that. He was out of line and he should apologize. I don't know that he will because, you know, he doesn't seem to care about anything. Or at least he loves to tell you he doesn't. I never seen somebody so eager to tell you how much they don't care about everything. But my experience in life is that people who go out of their way to tell you how much they don't care about anything, they usually the ones most bothered.
- [33:28]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, I was gonna say real quick, UCLA now, as a result of this, again, different time zone. It just doesn't go. I don't have the updated stats for you. When Cronin has to travel. And you see, when UCLA has to travel at least two time zones away under Cronin, their record is abysmal. It's atrocious. Parish, they go to Michigan, they get routed expectedly and then non competitive on the road at Breslin. Losses there. They still got a roadie against Minnesota, and they'll wrap up across town at USC to wrap the regular season. 179 now, best. The metrics actually are not healthy for them. They've got the win over Purdue by two, which is extremely valuable because I'm looking right now, Parrish, other than the Purdue win.
- [34:13]
Gary Parrish
Huh?
- [34:14]
Matt Norlander
I mean, the Washington one on the road is like Quad One, but that's. That's just not a tournament team. So I'm just. I'm scanning over this and, and, and I think, you know, it doesn't absolve Cronin's behavior. It's not an excuse whatsoever. But like 179 preseason top 15 team underachieving. He's pissed off. He's taking it out on the media. And UCLA is in danger of missing the NCAA tournament. Its next game is this weekend at home against the Illinois team that UCLA could get. But Illinois has the number one offense in the country and is obviously quite capable of heading out to Westwood. And I'm picking off not just to win, but winning with some ease.
- [34:52]
Gary Parrish
I'm not blaming the reporter either, because that's a tough spot to be in. You don't expect to be in a confrontation with a Big Ten coach, you know, late at night, but also, like, I would not let a basketball coach talk to me like that on camera, especially not one similarly sized. Like, you can tell me you're going to try to embarrass me, say, I asked the dumbest question, like, at that point. And I'm not saying I would have done this when I was young. I. I'm just telling you I would do it today. You're not talking to me like that. You think I asked the dumbest? Okay. Let me tell you what you've done. Hey, Mick, you got a second? Let's talk. What you've done is you've run a top 12 team in the preseason AP poll straight into the ground, and your own fans are tired of your act. And I bet that's. I tried my best to say this on camera. I bet that's actually why you're acting all weird and goofy. You ain't really mad at me. You're just always angry and it's cute when you're winning. But now you're just getting your brains beat in every night with high price transfers. So. I understand the frustration, Meg, and I apologize for the question. Like, I'm not letting a basketball coach talk to me like that.
- [36:03]
Matt Norlander
Yeah. And I don't know the reporter that asked the question. So I don't know if it's a veteran reporter, if he's there at every game, if he was a local guy. I don't know. So that not knowing that context also factors in. Our poll right now is, do you think UCLA should move on from Conan 80 say yes. I, I never put anything out of the realm of possibility, but just given the status of his contract, I just don't know. But I do understand there is a general like, for. If you're, if you're just kind of watching college basketball here and there and Cronin is popping into your timeline or you're seeing stuff, you see that, see it on television here and there. You're like, this dude just looks miserable. He's got the UCLA job. It's. It's every, it's every week. You might be expecting, is this gonna, like, this is gonna end? Right? I don't think it will because of how much money he is still owed. But I guess never say never. He does not look like a happy human being, that is for sure. Now maybe he is just happy being unhappy. There are definitely coaches. Not in just basketball. They are wired that way. There. There is something with the psychosis where you are not happy unless something is going wrong. And he does genuinely appear to be one of those people.
- [37:11]
Gary Parrish
Yeah. I want to be clear, by the way. I'm not suggesting I would talk tough in that situation because I think I'm tough. I know I'm not tough. But I also would know we're on camera. So nothing's really going to happen, other than we're just talking. And if it does, then fine with me. I'm going to get a beach house out of this thing.
- [37:30]
Matt Norlander
Well, the visual you and Cronin doing it would be the most amazing thing on camera ever.
- [37:35]
Gary Parrish
Saying it could be me and Greg McDermott on camera, somebody very big. Like, I'm just saying, I know nothing's gonna happen other than we're just talking. And if something does happen, other than we're just talking, it ain't gonna be because of me. But then if it happens, I'm gonna buy a beach house with the settlement. So I, I, I'm not pretending I'm tough. I'm, I'm, I'm insisting. I know it ain't going any further than us just going back and forth on camera with words. And I'm very comfortable arguing with a basketball coach. Most basketball coaches on camera, not all. I'm sure I could get outsmarted by some, but not all. I'm pretty comfortable taking my chances. Argued on camera with a basketball coach who is acting weird immediately after getting blown out in his latest trip to the Eastern time zone. I'd be willing to be willing to accept that challenge.
- [38:22]
Matt Norlander
All right, let's keep it moving here, because we got a variety of scores and interesting stuff, and obviously, we're both on a little bit of a time crunch this morning. You want to keep it in.
- [38:29]
Gary Parrish
The Big Ten final score. Iowa 57, number nine, Nebraska 52. I think I saw Fred Hoiberg take a swipe at something or somebody. What was that? Oh, yeah. So at Iowa. At Iowa, they're very fired up. They got Bennett Sturts. They got Ben McCollum. They're very fired up. They beat Nebraska. That's a top 10 win. That's quad one win. They. They stormed the court, and it got a little wild. I mean, you heard what happened to Duke. People almost died at North Carolina a few years, a few weeks ago. You heard about that, right?
- [38:54]
Matt Norlander
I did.
- [38:56]
Gary Parrish
People almost died in Chapel Hill. So this was like, the next version of that. And you Google it. Fred Hoiberg. Somebody's running up to Fred Hoiberg. I don't know. It looked like Fred was like, get that out of my face. If I were trying to tell you what happened, this is the way I would tell you what happened. It looked like Fred Hoiberg said, get that out of my face.
- [39:13]
Matt Norlander
Okay, so some, some overjoyed fan around the floor. Hoiberg's in the crosshairs. Yeah. Fred Hoiberg I haven't seen it.
- [39:21]
Gary Parrish
He's lucky he's not a Duke assistant, I'll tell you that.
- [39:24]
Matt Norlander
Well, there we go. I mean you're entirely entitled to that because you don't need anyone encroaching on your personal space. And this is what, this is what comes with court storming, obviously. And, and I haven't seen it so. But, but good to know. Nebraska takes his fourth loss in the past six games and fourth loss on the season. Those two wins by the way, are at Rutgers, which is awful, and home against Northwestern which isn't that good. So Nebraska gets off to a 200 start and it's just slipping little. We're gonna have the in season top 16 seed reveal on Saturday at 12:30 Eastern on CBS. We'll talk about that more on Friday show. I'll just be intrigued to see what line Nebraska winds up on. It will be somewhere in that. But the, the loss against Iowa is a ding for them and huge for, for the Hawkeyes. It would have been three games in a row for on the losing end after falling at Maryland, getting run by Purdue over the weekend. So good on Ben McCollum's team by the way, storming the floor like again, do what you want to do. I, I really don't care. There are some people that love to invest their takes and, and stances on when it is and isn't appropriate to storm the court. I, I just, it's not my thing anymore. But that being said, Nebraska fans can take some weird solace on the fact that your program is good enough to court storm. On what? I mean, maybe this was, this was corn bragging rights. I don't know. But the fact that they actually, it's not like they ended their undefeated season, you know, it's. I don't get it. But okay, have at Iowa fans. I guess.
- [40:58]
Gary Parrish
You. You're mad. What are you mad about?
- [41:00]
Matt Norlander
I'm mad. I'm just like vexed. I'm like. You stormed the floor against Nebraska.
- [41:05]
Gary Parrish
That's a top 10 team. That's a top 10.
- [41:10]
Matt Norlander
They've been, they've been starving for something.
- [41:12]
Gary Parrish
When I watch that, here's what I see. Here's what I see. I see Fred looking like he took a swipe at something. I don't know what was going on beyond that. Here's what I see. Nebraska has reached a point where it is worthy of being stormed. I like that.
- [41:25]
Matt Norlander
Yes.
- [41:26]
Gary Parrish
That's a, that is a nice compliment to your program.
- [41:28]
Matt Norlander
It is a wonderful compliment for sure.
- [41:30]
Gary Parrish
It's a Nice. It's a nice.
- [41:33]
Matt Norlander
Yeah. And I wasn't the only Big Ten school that got a necessary win on. On Tuesday night for sure.
- [41:39]
Gary Parrish
And I should be clear. I hate Court Stormings. I don't think they should exist, but I'm tired of complaining about them because nobody cares what I say about them. I tried it. I threw that pitch five times over the past 20 years. Nobody ever cared what I thought about Court Storming, so I gave up on it. Now I'm just rooting for chaos. So I can say, I told you so. I told you so. But also not making light of what might have happened in Chapel Hill if somebody was really all that stuff. Like, I'm not making light of that. I'm not disputing it. I was just sort of joking around. It's Wednesday. Final score, Ohio State 86. Number 24, Wisconsin 69. Oh, buddy. It's not a quad one win because even though Wisconsin's 24th in the AP poll, not in the top 30 of the net, but it's. It's a nice win, a quality victory. And it'd been a minute since Jake Deeper had deblirt. Somebody of note, but Greg Garr got debre last night.
- [42:30]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, I was actually talking to Painter for a good 15 minutes as this game was playing out, and he was kind of. We were. We're watching. I think I want to say this. And the Iowa, Iowa, Nebraska game, they were happening at the. At the same time. Always interesting to just. Just kind of talk, have a casual conversation with coaching and that. We're like, we're talking, but we're watching the game. And he's interested. Got teams in his league and all this stuff. Ohio State gp. This is now nine in a row, alternating win, loss, win, loss, win, loss, win, loss, win. Feels like the pattern will continue. Next game is a road game against Michigan State on Sunday for Iowa State. So 17. 9. Very important win for Ohio State's NCAA tournament chances. Plenty of more work to do, but that's a biggie there. And with some of these teams in these leagues, it feels like some of these results are starting to feel a little bit cannibalistic. Like Wisconsin. Take Wisconsin and Texas Tech, for example. Like two teams that have proven they can literally beat the best teams in the country. They are also taking on some losses that are understandable, but the records aren't indicative of their highest highs, I guess. So Bucky goes on the road, takes the L. It's not just that they took the L.86,69. Like this was definitive and a surprising one there. So we wait and see. Wisconsin's going to make the tournament, obviously, but you're able to beat Illinois and you beat Michigan State. You get that done in back to back games, you start thinking, can we go on a roll here and put ourselves in position to be a five, to be a four? Now you know it's a road loss. It's understandable. That's a Quad 1 loss for Wisconsin, but a little stop and start there for the Badgers.
- [44:13]
Gary Parrish
Let's move on to the ACC where a couple of ranked teams lost on the road. Final score NC State 82, number 16, NC 58. Looks like playing without your two best players, it's different. It looks like it's difficult. It looked, it appeared to be difficult last night at least.
- [44:29]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, this was a real boost for NC State. It's. It will not be held against NC State nor shoot it by the selection committee that they got this game on their home floor and Carolina didn't have his top two players. They got the win. The largest margin of victory for NC State over North Carolina since 1962. 24 point margin. So good on Will Wade to get that done. I did see, we don't need to go too deep in, we don't need to go too deep into this. But you know, NC State has UNC transfer Van Allen Lubin in the preseason. Will Wade. It talked about, and I'm going to oversimplify this, all right. But he basically talked about how Van Allen Lubin wasn't perhaps properly deployed by North Carolina last year. Didn't play, you know, 28 plus minutes a game, all that much. And wouldn't you know it then, Alan lubin logged exactly 28 minutes. I refuse to believe that is a coincidence. I absolutely refuse to believe that that is anything but a coincidence. Claudia Copeland had himself one hell of a game as well. And some interesting things to say afterward.
- [45:40]
Gary Parrish
Final score SMU 95. Number 21, Louisville 85. Mikel Brown Jr. Was awesome. He got 29 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 11 of 18 from the field, but his team was less awesome. Specifically, Ryan Conwell. He missed most of the shots he took. Nice win for SMU though.
- [45:58]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, nice win. Admittedly, I didn't see a second of this game, so I can't speak on, on any of the game action, but I will from a resume standpoint, I think SMU if understandably so, they're, they're mostly off the radar. They're. They're kind of the black sheep of the ACC because they're not with the. With the crew out on the west coast. They're nowhere near the east coast. They're just sitting there in the middle. The school isn't even taking, you know, its proper intake from the league as. As means of just getting into the ACC because of football. So with that being said, if smu, and if you're not an SMU fan, if it's not on your radar, I completely understand. Here's a. And oh, by the way, it's like it's a projected nine seed right now. This was a very important win for the Ponies to pace themselves toward being in the big bracket on selection Sunday. Doesn't have a bad loss. Seven and eight over one, and overall in quad one and quad two, it's outside the top 30 in every single team sheet metric. So it hasn't really popped in any significant way, but it's not. It's not on the bubble cut line right now. I thought that was quietly. On a night where there's a lot of interesting results. I actually felt like this one may have been the most quietly significant because you. You had Louisville in your building. That was a getable opponent, and lo and behold, SMU got it done. And. And in the process of. Of being able to do that. Moves to 18. Eight upcoming. Boston College. They got to do the west coast swing. Callan, Stanford home, Miami at Florida State. If I'm an SMU fan, we've got five games to go, right? And we've. And we're seven and six in league. 10 and eight at minimum. But maybe 11. Seven. And I do think this team will be in the NAA tournament.
- [47:36]
Gary Parrish
Let's move to the Big 12. Already discussed Arizona State, Texas Tech, JT Toppins, injury. Final score, Kansas State 90, Baylor 74. The Bears lost by 16 to a school that just fired its coach. That is not the road to joy. That is not. That's the road to hell. How did Scott Drew get on the road to hell?
- [47:59]
Matt Norlander
Well, people listening might. Might. Might say the James Najee choice might. Might have put him on the wrong off ramp. I don't know, but it is crazy.
- [48:10]
Gary Parrish
Is that James Naji? Are you saying James Nadia is like biting the apple?
- [48:16]
Matt Norlander
There we go.
- [48:17]
Gary Parrish
I've been in my scripture a little bit. I heard. I heard about this story. Okay. Okay. I just heard. This is a wild story. I don't know if you've heard this story.
- [48:26]
Matt Norlander
I have. We don't have. We don't need.
- [48:27]
Gary Parrish
There was an apple. We don't need to do this. There was an apple. It was crazy. Crazy. And you're saying that James Najee is the apple?
- [48:38]
Matt Norlander
James Naji had two points in five minutes last night.
- [48:40]
Gary Parrish
Oh my God. Take him to an Alabama courtroom and get this over with. Take him to an Alabama courtroom and end this now. What are we doing? He's the apple. He's the apple. You were on the road to joy. Now you're on the road to hell. The fact that that apple story is crazy.
- [49:05]
Matt Norlander
Agreed.
- [49:05]
Gary Parrish
I don't think it gets enough attention. I don't think the apple story gets.
- [49:08]
Matt Norlander
I, I, I think Adam and Eve have gotten their due.
- [49:11]
Gary Parrish
You think so?
- [49:12]
Matt Norlander
For quite, quite the millennia. Yeah.
- [49:14]
Gary Parrish
AdamandEve.com maybe.
- [49:16]
Matt Norlander
Okay. Eleven and fifteen for Kansas State. They fire Jerome Tang and turn around and win by 16. Yes. All time stuff. It really is. What a fascinating result. That it's not that they won, it's they won by 16 and Baylor's not that good. But other one in the Big 12 UCF beats TCU 8271. That's a double bubble result. I put the UCF 1B to SMU's 1A here. 18 and 7 for the Knights had lost three in a row. They've got roadies upcoming out into the mountainous region of Utah versus the Utes and the Cougars over the next five days. So a significant result for UCF TCU continues to be the weirdest resume in the sport. I think they're fated to be that. The Horned frogs are now 16 and 10 and they've got home games against West Virginia and Arizona State. They'll probably split those as well and continue a pace there. So I didn't see, I wasn't able to see anything of the UCF TCU game, but a a result of consequence as it pertains to the bubble for sure.
- [50:18]
Gary Parrish
We had two ranked teams from outside of the traditional power structure in action on Tuesday night. Final score Rhode Island 81, number 18, St. Louis 76. Lose 18 game winning streak snapped. Robbie Avila had a potential game tying three in the final minute. It miss Q3 loss for the Billikens, who were already a seven seed according to CBS Sports bracketology.
- [50:44]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, that's, that's a stunner. It has not gone well for Archie Miller and Rhode island this year, but also in general 15 and 11. I mean solid enough but was expected to be better in the league. They're still under.500 in the A10 and slew loses for the first time since November. It's got a big home Game Friday against vcu. Someone on this podcast may well be in the building for that one. By the way, it won't be me. I really appreciate St. Louis. I really appreciate. I gotta be honest, I just. I adore the fact that this team was 24:1, decided to take its second loss of the season. Right before. I'm gonna take a drive down there and get down to shave. It's Arena. Yeah.
- [51:24]
Gary Parrish
So on Tuesdays often, CBS Sports network, we have a 10 tip off. Right. Is it leading into an A10 game? So yesterday I opened the. You know, after I do a million things, I opened the rundown that the great Jim Hildebrand sends and it's like, so we have two shows. I was like, two shows. We have two shows. We're talking for an hour. And so we spent the biggest portion of that hour talking about St. Louis is amazing. This St. Louis store is not getting enough attention. I mean, do you realize they're. They're like a missed three pointer against Stanford away from being undefeated. I mean, we were doing it.
- [51:58]
Matt Norlander
Yeah.
- [51:58]
Gary Parrish
And then, you know, and hey, that's why they play the games. I think that's what they said. That's why they play the games. I've been.
- [52:05]
Matt Norlander
Actually, people don't realize that after the apple was bitten, they decided to play the games.
- [52:11]
Gary Parrish
That is a crazy story.
- [52:12]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, I mean, they didn't play the games before that.
- [52:17]
Gary Parrish
Crazy, nutty story. Final score, number 22, Miami University, 86, UMass 77.
- [52:22]
Matt Norlander
We took 51 minutes to get to Miami not having a loss.
- [52:25]
Gary Parrish
Still 26 0. I don't know what else to say about them other than I end up on Instagram. I end up going viral on Instagram every Tuesday night with Wally. That's all. All I know is that I. I'm in a bunch of viral Wally Zorbiak videos every Tuesday night.
- [52:39]
Matt Norlander
Well, I say less because I don't. I don't need to know more than more than that. How about this? Miami University, 26 0. Here are the teams to hit 260 in the past 20 seasons. Gonzaga lost in the title game in 21. San Diego State would have made the title game. There was no 2020 NCAA tournament. Gonzaga, 2017, lost in the title game. Kentucky in 15, lost in the Final Four. Wichita State famously lost in that epic second round to Kentucky in 2014 and 2008. Memphis lost in the title game. Not sitting here saying Miami University is getting to the title game, but it is 26 0. And as I talk to you now, we are about 24 hours away from. I'll be partaking with many other media members on Thursday. Be sure to follow. Follow me on social if you don't already, of course.
- [53:38]
Gary Parrish
Oh, wow.
- [53:38]
Matt Norlander
Please follow. I'm gonna try and get some fire.
- [53:40]
Gary Parrish
Begging for follows on a Wednesday.
- [53:42]
Matt Norlander
Wally Zerbiak will not be involved. I'll do my best. Point is, they want us to broadcast what we're. We're going to build out a mock media NCAA tournament bracket. As if.
- [53:52]
Gary Parrish
I can't wait.
- [53:53]
Matt Norlander
As of Wednesday night.
- [53:54]
Gary Parrish
Oh, I can't wait to see that.
- [53:56]
Matt Norlander
Oh, I can't wait either. It's gonna be a lot of fun.
- [53:58]
Gary Parrish
Oh, the most fun.
- [54:00]
Matt Norlander
David Cobble ain't nothing I love more than a month. Clark Kellogg's gonna be there, man.
- [54:04]
Gary Parrish
It's gonna be great. I can't wait for that.
- [54:05]
Matt Norlander
We got. We got a ton of fun. Going to be awesome. I am curious to see where 260 undefeated Miami gets seated for the media mock. So that stuff will be released either, like super late Thursday. I think super late Thursday is when it'll come out and I'm looking forward to it. But an undefeated. Where should Miami at? Undefeated right now Be seated, you think?
- [54:28]
Gary Parrish
I would say. I'm gonna tell you. I'm gonna tell you right now where I would have him seated. I would have Miami University as a six seed. I'm gonna respect the zero in the lost column.
- [54:42]
Matt Norlander
I would endorse that.
- [54:43]
Gary Parrish
Let me be clear. I know that's not real life. I do. I know that's not real life. But I respect the zero in the lost column. 26 0. They've won four times as an underdog. Yes, they're mostly just winning games. They're supposed to win, but that ain't so easy. St. Louis didn't do it last night. You know.
- [55:05]
Matt Norlander
I'll tell you how not easy it is. Evan Mikawa saw him at the game last night. He'll be at the media mock, he said. I asked him to run the numbers here. He said based on Miami's current record, the probability before the season started that Miami would start 26 0.09%. A 1 in 1134 chance. Just to give you an idea of how difficult it is what Miami has done, I'd be stunned if they get to the 6th line. I would hope the 7 is possible. My guess is they'll be in the 89 game. But we'll see. That stuff will come out on Thursday and I'll write about it for. For dotcom Congress to Miami for getting a win on the road. Conceivably, their toughest remaining game was at UMass. They played him close recently. Didn't run into it there. There we have it. I think that's pretty much everything of note on Tuesday night.
- [55:52]
Gary Parrish
All right then, when we come back, it's time for our Naismith Watch segment presented by Jersey Mike's. Who should join Cameron Boozer in the top five? I'll ask Norlander next. First word partners Ready to relax in your dream bath retreat without the stress of figuring out every detail yourself? At the Home Depot, your bath upgrade is covered shop fully designed rooms and curated bath collections to go from inspiration to transformation fast. Savings of up to 40% will make it easier on your budget and find everything you need from tubs to toilets and haul the table tile in between to bring your vision to life. The Home Depot Dream Baths built here.
- [56:32]
Matt Norlander
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- [57:00]
Gary Parrish
Experian Right now it's time for our weekly Naismith Watch segment. Are your go to game day foods feeling uninspired? Next time skip the usual suspects and order Jersey mics at Jersey Mike's. They make every sub to order with premium fresh sliced meat and cheese steaks are cooked on a flat top grill. Download their app for delivery curbside or in store pickup. Jersey Mike's is a proud sponsor of the Naismith Award and a proud maker of a sub above Norland. There's still a long way to go. Yeah, I acknowledge. But right now give me your top five candidates for the Naismith Award.
- [57:34]
Matt Norlander
Well, I go viral on Instagram with this, as you well know with the CBS Sports CBB official account. Josh is awesome.
- [57:40]
Gary Parrish
I've never seen a man ask for followers right in the middle of a Wednesday whip around. Just. Hey, can we pause from the. Can we pause for the Wednesday whip around so I can beg for followers? That's. That's a new one on me.
- [57:50]
Matt Norlander
I'm breaking the mold. What do you want from me?
- [57:53]
Gary Parrish
I. Oh, you know what?
- [57:54]
Matt Norlander
Josh wants us to ask for more followers for the Ion CBB podcast Twitter account too. So follow that if you don't already.
- [57:59]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, do that.
- [58:00]
Matt Norlander
By the way, people asking people to follow and like stuff on. On podcast. Not exactly a new thing. Paris. This is not. This is hardly uncommon. Okay. No, I think it doesn't happen during a weekend. During your little weekend whip around. But I'm not exactly stepping out of it.
- [58:13]
Gary Parrish
I understand the smash the like button and like, you know, can you subscribed it is but me personally, I have a hard time asking for personal followers. I can't do that. I can't bring myself to that point.
- [58:23]
Matt Norlander
I. I completely understand.
- [58:24]
Gary Parrish
It's fine, go ahead.
- [58:25]
Matt Norlander
The point is this. I get asked to do a weekly Naismith top five watch that goes viral on Instagram. Of course, of course. So I'm gonna give you my five because I already. I supplied it yesterday. Pre top an injury. 1. Cameron Boozer. 2. Joshua Jefferson. And the the results from earlier this week affected this. 3. J.T. toppin. I'm not moving him until I know more about the status of his injury. 4. AJ DeBonsa leads the nation in scoring and it's really going to be on him upcoming. Then five, Darius Acuff Jr. And it's a real race for. For five. I. You dive into what he's been doing in SEC play. I think he's got to be five personally. But I'm gonna guess you don't have Darius Acuff Jr. In the top five because you've always hated him.
- [59:07]
Gary Parrish
I have always hated him. I mean, going back to, I mean, late 90s.
- [59:16]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, he was, but.
- [59:18]
Gary Parrish
Sure, but. But I was hating him. I was. I anticipated the hatred I would have for this young man. No, I don't hate Darius. They cuff. I hope he plays for the Grizzlies next year, okay. I hope he's a Grizzly. I hope we're co workers in less than a year, okay? I don't hate Darius Acuff. But you know what Darius Acuff does not do? He does not play for a top 10 team. And do you know how hard it is to win an A Smith Award if you're not on a top 10 team? This is something I've been saying for a long time. Like, you know, you got to be on a team that wins a certain amount of whatever to be even be considered for national player of the year. But I never went and looked at it. I don't think. But I decided to last night. We had a meal break the past.
- [59:57]
Matt Norlander
Meal break, meal break or meal break.
- [60:01]
Gary Parrish
Meal like food break, dinner break, meal? I'm from Mississippi. What do you mean? You're lucky I can string sentences together.
- [60:11]
Matt Norlander
We're working to double shift down at the factory.
- [60:13]
Gary Parrish
I don't know. I should be working a double shift down at the factory. Given how I. How I was raised. It's a miracle that I'm in. It's a miracle I'm sitting in midtown Manhattan talking to you. I should be at the factory working a double. You have no idea where I'm from. All right.
- [60:32]
Matt Norlander
Anyway, continue.
- [60:34]
Gary Parrish
Very. Even harder than making it to midtown Manhattan out of public school Mississippi. Even harder than that is trying to win the Naismith Award when you're not on a top 10 team. The past 11 Naismith winners were on a team that finished top 10 at KenPom. Doug McDermott won it in 2014 when Creighton was 17th at KenPom. Kevin Durant won it in 2007 when Texas finished 15th at KenPom. But the other 18 Naismith winners from the past 20 years have all been on teams that finish in the top 10 at Kinpan. So each player I have right now is from a team I have in the top 10 of the top 25 and one as of this morning. It starts with Cameron Bruiser at Duke. 22.8 points, 10 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.7 steals. He's clearly the leading candidate on everybody's ballot. Other than that, one AP voter, probably number two. I've got Yaxel Lindenborg out of Michigan, 14.4, 7.7 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, 1.2 steals. Michigan's 25 and 1 ranked number one. For me, this is mostly best player on best team. Number three. I got Joshua Jefferson, 16.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists. He's got Iowa State 23 and three. They're number five in the top 25 and one. Number four, Kingston Flemings. Houston, 16.6 points, 5.3 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals. Houston 23 and three, number six in the top 25 and one. And at number five, Keaton Wagler. 18.5 points, five rebounds, 4.3 assists. Illinois 21 and five, number 10 in the top 25 and one up to number four in the net. Yes, I'm leaving off AJ DeVonta, and I hate that because he's amazing leading the country in scoring. But BYU has lost five eight, and they dropped to 22nd at Ken Palm. Unless you're Kevin Durant. Or Doug McDermott. The past 20 years have said if you are not On a top 10 team, you're not winning the Naismith Award. You could be a first team All American and I think he probably would be. But for this award where his team's at right now, people don't usually win it. Let's move on. Looking ahead to the next two nights. On Wednesday night I'm going to be in studio. CBS Sports Network. Kiana Martin, Wally Zerbiak, Roy hibbert. Call time 4:30 inside college basketball at 6:30.
- [62:56]
Matt Norlander
No one cares when your call time is.
- [62:58]
Gary Parrish
I have to go back and listen to this so I'll remember.
- [63:00]
Matt Norlander
That's how you, that's the only way you know.
- [63:02]
Gary Parrish
Yes, yes. I delete most of my emails so then I forget this is a reminder for me. That was for me.
- [63:08]
Matt Norlander
Okay, what time are you getting lunch today?
- [63:10]
Gary Parrish
I'm probably not gonna have lunch today. I'm probably gonna do another show and then take a nap, honestly. And then wake up. I am probably going to do a whole other show then take a nap. Call time 4:30. Inside college basketball. 6:30. Then we got a triple header. It's going to keep us on TV till about 2am Elsewhere the sport. Number 20 Arkansas and that and that. That Darius A. Cuff fella. Number 20 is Arkansas at number 25 Alabama. Number 8 Kansas at Oklahoma State. Number 19 Vanderbilt at Missouri. Number 10 Illinois at USC. Number 11 Gonzaga at San Francisco and number 23 BYU at number 4 Arizona. No co op but we will get the nation's leading score. That's the game of the night, right?
- [63:56]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, that's the game of the night. There's a lot of tasty stuff here tonight for sure. I think Arkansas on the road at Bama is particularly intriguing. Illinois, usc. USC with a big opportunity at home. Got eyes on that BYU at Zona though. You know we'll see what, what BYU can look like. You know both teams are shorthanded. BYU more so BYU doesn't have a second best player. Co opied has been awesome at times this year but he's not been a top two player on balance for the entirety of the season. So that's a, a big Wednesday. Thursday has essentially nothing. I've got I think a 9:30 call time on Thursday with.
- [64:31]
Gary Parrish
Okay, good, that's good enough.
- [64:32]
Matt Norlander
He'll be with a media gaggle. So we'll see what emanates, what headlines emanate from Charlie Baker, NCAA president's press availability with the media and then got the mock tournament Selection process through the. Through the back half of Thursday. You want me to pass along a message to Zook or Clark Kellogg for you?
- [64:50]
Gary Parrish
No, I see them. I. I don't see Clark as much as I'd like, but I bump into him every once in a while. I see Zook every week.
- [64:57]
Matt Norlander
It feels like you can see Clark Kellogg in the flesh. Is a great day. I'm very much looking forward to seeing him.
- [65:01]
Gary Parrish
The best. The best. I know everybody listening. Been watching Clark Kellogg on television for decades. Just know that he is better than you even imagine. And I know you imagine he's great. Just the best. It is awesome because not everybody's co workers are great. Like we know. We work in media. We know who's great and who's not great. We know who people hate and who they don't hate. Like we have. We're all inside group text with other people in our industry. We know who's the target of them. Right. Clark Kellogg is the best. If you ever get a chance to work with colleagues like Clark Kellogg and Adam Zucker. By the way, let's just throw Zook in there too. Then you're lucky. You're lucky person.
- [65:39]
Matt Norlander
We're lucky people. Yeah, it'll be a very fun time. And again, follow me on social.
- [65:44]
Gary Parrish
Oh, man. Hey, you know what? Follow me on social too.
- [65:47]
Matt Norlander
There we go. But. But you might not want to follow a GP follows on social. That's. That's just keep. Keep an eye out.
- [65:54]
Gary Parrish
No, I. No, you don't make me out like I'm Sharon Moore. I ain't no Sharon.
- [65:59]
Matt Norlander
It's to your. It's to your own admission.
- [66:01]
Gary Parrish
I'm not sure.
- [66:03]
Matt Norlander
What do you want from me?
- [66:04]
Gary Parrish
I don't follow that.
- [66:06]
Matt Norlander
Okay.
- [66:07]
Gary Parrish
I know how to find it, but I don't follow it. You think I'm. You think I'm Sharon Moore?
- [66:11]
Matt Norlander
Hold on. If it finds you, the algorithm knows you. You. You have mentioned this. We are running out of time here. The for you tab. Yeah, things that just auto populate.
- [66:22]
Gary Parrish
I watched so many fist fights, man, they just sent them right at me. Shia LaBeouf. Now, I watched Shia LaBeouf fight the other night. I thought so too. Why is that guy always. Every time I see that guy, he is either fighting Transformers or drunk and fighting humans. Every time I see him, he's either fighting Transformers or he's drunk in a bar, ready to fight a human. Every time. I never see him outside of one of those situations. Anyway, on Thursday, no ranked teams are in action, like Norlander said. But we do get Memphis usf. If you want a more in the Tigers with me, we could use your support. And then also it should be noted, Elvis Aaron Presley's alma mater, UMass Lowell.
- [66:58]
Matt Norlander
They are hosting Thursday nights.
- [67:00]
Gary Parrish
Honestly, they do. They're hosting New Hampshire inside the Kennedy family athletic complex tonight. So we're going to keep an eye on that. And that's a show. Shouts to Devin Downey. Shouts to Chester, South Carolina. Terry Teago's a legend. Huck Larnell. Thank you guys once again for watching. Let's listening to the Ion College Basketball Podcast. You're not subscribed, Please go subscribe anywhere you subscribe to podcasts like Apple and Spotify. There's more of us than there are of them. That should be reflected in the comments. Now I'm gonna go do, I'm gonna go do 20 minutes on Tony Clark. Oh, I'm about to do 20 minutes on Tony Clark. So this is. If you think I've been.
- [67:40]
Matt Norlander
I'm saying nothing. That's just, that's a pivot.
- [67:42]
Gary Parrish
If you think, think I've been having fun, you ain't seen nothing yet. We'll talk to you on Friday. Till then, take care. Paramount Podcasts.
- [68:07]
Matt Norlander
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- [68:08]
Gary Parrish
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- [68:28]
Matt Norlander
Ultra's got a flavor for every vibe.
- [68:30]
Gary Parrish
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