Must-see 1st rd games: Best matchups, upset alerts, Cinderellas in the wings and stats/facts to know before finishing your bracket

Summary

Eye On College Basketball Podcast: Must-See 1st Round Games, Upset Alerts, Cinderellas & Bracket Stats

Date: March 17, 2026
Hosts: Gary Parrish & Matt Norlander
Episode Focus: Detailed preview of the must-watch first round NCAA tournament games—including best matchups, upset alerts, Cinderella candidates—and all the stats/facts you need before finalizing your bracket.

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Episode Overview

This episode is a comprehensive, energetic breakdown of the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander trade analysis, stats, predictions, banter, and the quirkiest storylines, helping listeners find must-see games, spot potential upsets, and maybe even pick the right Cinderella. Expect rich insights, data nuggets, and high-level bracket talk, all in the classic, humorous "Eye On" style.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Previewing Top Thursday Matchups

Ohio State (8) vs TCU (9)

[05:55]

• Why Watch: Classic 8 vs 9 showdown, set to tip at 12:15pm on CBS. “This is just a vintage 8-9 game…between Ohio State’s and Thornton’s—terrific. He’s the star, the stud.” (Norlander, 05:55)
• Notables: Ohio State's Bruce Thornton—top scorer finally gets his tournament shot. TCU, defensive, trending up, “6–1 in their last 7, 9–2 in their last 11” (Norlander, 08:48).
• Historical Note: Last met in 1969! Ohio State: first NCAA appearance since 2022; TCU: four tournaments in five years.

North Carolina (6) vs VCU (11)

[09:40]

• Upset Watch: "Very trendy 11 over 6. Do we agree, we both have VCU in this one, right?" (Parrish, 09:40)
• VCU’s X-Factor: Terence Hill Jr., “leads the team in scoring off the bench—most in D1, speaks to their culture” (Parrish, 10:02).
• Stat Trends: Since Jan 14, VCU is 16-1, UNC is 5-3 without Caleb Wilson. Both teams’ recent metrics are similar.

Georgia (8) vs St. Louis (9)

[14:30]

• Expect Fireworks: “Race to 100. This could be the most combined points per game between two tournament teams in the last 20 seasons.” (Parrish, 14:30)
• Georgia's History: First back-to-back tournaments in 20+ years; last NCAA win in 2002.

Nebraska (4) vs Troy (13)

[18:16]

• Bracket History: Nebraska is seeking its 1st NCAA tournament win ever. “By sunset on Thursday, I predict college basketball will feature zero power conference programs with zero wins…” (Parrish, 19:08).
• First-round oddity: “First time in 15 years…both teams have zero tourney wins. So someone gets off the schneide.” (Parrish, 19:48)

Arkansas (4) vs Hawaii (13)

[24:10]

• Player to Watch: Darius Acuff Jr., Norlander’s “favorite college basketball player to watch” (25:02).
• Arkansas’ Narrative: Calipari could become first coach to lose three straight first rounds as a 4-seed or better if upset.
• Hawaii: Veteran-laden, six appearances ever, but only one win (over Cal in 2016).

2. Top Friday Games

Kentucky (7) vs Santa Clara (10)

[31:43]

• Danger Zone: “All eyes will be on it…do people still enjoy watching Kentucky lose to a traditional non-power? Yes, it’s Kentucky, BBN…” (Parrish & Norlander, 34:34–34:59)
• Santa Clara’s Vibe: First dance since Steve Nash days (1996). Norlander picks Santa Clara for the win: “This feels 50-50 to me. I still have Santa Clara winning.” (35:29)

Texas Tech (5) vs Akron (12)

[36:49]

• Upset Alert: “Really fun 12 over 5 possibility…this is among my top five gotta-watch games.” (Parrish, 38:54)
• Akron: Best season ever (29 wins); top-20 in minutes continuity; never won dance game (0-7).

Connecticut (2) vs Furman (15)

[39:41]

• Late-Night Swerve: “I want to see how sharp UConn looks…do they rip Furman apart, or is there a scare?” (Parrish, 40:19)
• Furman Upset Memories: Pulled a first-round upset as a 13-seed recently.

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3. Notable Quotes & Fun Moments

• On Kentucky’s potential upset:
  “Do people still enjoy watching Kentucky lose to a traditional non power or was that more of a Caliperi thing?”
  —Norlander, [34:34]

• On Nebraska’s pursuit of history:
  “I refuse to acknowledge it is possible Nebraska is still sitting on zero NCAA tournament wins when this thing is over.”
  —Parrish, [19:41]

• On Darius Acuff Jr.:
  “The Darius Acuff show is the best thing going. Appointment television might be overused, but not here.”
  —Norlander, [24:10]

• On Arizona's chance to win without hoisting threes:
  “I fundamentally believe a team playing this way [no reliance on threes] can do it. I assume you do as well.”
  —Parrish, [47:15]

• Comedic banter:
  “If Jerry McNamara coaches the Saints to a 16 over 1, he gets the Duke job; Shire goes to Syracuse.”
  —Norlander, [22:18]
  “You got to live that Red Autry life. Good luck.”
  —Parrish, [22:47]

• On upset pick methodology:
  “Ten over seven is an upset. Give me Herb Sendek. Give me Santa Clara. Kentucky, you have been placed on upset alert.”
  —Norlander, [60:08]

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4. Upset Alerts Section [58:12]

• Santa Clara (10) over Kentucky (7)
  • “Ten over seven is an upset…Santa Clara, Kentucky, you have been placed on upset alert.” —Norlander, [60:08]
• South Florida (11) over Louisville (6)
  • “Very, very trendy eleven over six here…USF has won 25 games this year.” —Parrish, [62:49]

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5. Games to Watch (Sling's Game to Watch Segment) [66:02]

• Miami (OH) vs SMU, First Four
  • “The most must-see, can't-miss game of the opening rounds. Miami, first MAC at-large since Wally Zerbiak, has been the story all season…can the RedHawks validate with a win over a power conference team?” (Parrish & Norlander, [66:02–69:14])

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6. Rapid-fire: Extra Intriguing Games

• Wisconsin-High Point (5/12)
• St. John's-Northern Iowa (5/12):
  “Let-down spot—after Madison Square Garden heroics, will St. John’s come out flat against a slow, efficient Northern Iowa?”
  —Norlander [73:18]
• UCLA-UCF (7/10)
• Miami (MO)-Missouri (7/10)
• Clemson (8/9)
• Villanova-Utah State (8/9)

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7. Essential Stats & Trends for Bracket Building [74:55]

• Since 2004:
  Every champ has been in the Week 6 AP top-12. This year’s pool: Alabama, Louisville, BYU, Michigan St., Gonzaga, Houston, Purdue, UConn, Iowa St., Duke, Michigan, Arizona (No. 1 at week 6) [76:13].
• Never:
  No team has lost its first league tournament game and then won the national title. (Top-4 seeds at risk: Illinois, Michigan State, Nebraska, Alabama.)
• Ones to Fours:
  Only three years since 1985 have all advanced in round one: 2007, 2017, 2023. All 5-seeds are at least 8-point favorites over 12s for first time ever.
• Cinderella Watch:
  In 12 of 14 tournaments, a 7-seed or worse has made the Elite Eight.
• Bracket Building Tip:
  “Top-3 seeds have won 24 of last 26 titles; two exceptions: UConn as a 7 (2014), UConn as a 4 (2023).”
• BYU:
  33rd appearance, more than any team without a Final Four.

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8. Hosts' (and Producer's) Final Four & Title Picks [83:35]

• Matt, Gary, and Josh’s Picks:
  • All three pick Houston to win the national title—possible “jinx.”
  • Other Final Four selections include: Duke, Purdue, Iowa State (Josh); Michigan, Arizona, UConn (others).
  • Note: Discussion on the controversial seeding/location of Houston, and home advantage debates.

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Introduction & Show Structure: [01:56–05:55]
• Top Thursday Games: [05:55–27:24]
• Friday's Most Intriguing Games: [31:43–43:56]
• Arizona Style/Stats Chat: [44:35–47:29]
• Key Stats & Bracket Trends: [74:55–81:40]
• Final Four Picks: [83:35–89:19]
• First Four Must-Watch Game (Miami OH): [66:02–69:14]
• Cinderella & Upset Alerts: [58:12–62:49]

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Tone & Takeaways

The show is as lively, stat-packed, and opinionated as always. The hosts mix sharp analytics with fun banter, trivia, and rapid-fire facts to preview every angle of the first round. They offer just enough betting and bracket wisdom, but mostly frame the games in terms of storylines, pressure, and historic potential. The tone is humorous, passionate, and geared toward die-hard fans looking for an edge (or just some laughs) before tip-off.

“This is an episode for listeners who want more than just picks—they want the stories, the context, and the weirdness that makes March special.”

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For Those Filling Out Brackets

• Watch for: Bluebloods like Kentucky & Carolina in legit upset trouble; 8-9s and 7-10s are especially juice-filled this year.
• Cinderella Potential: VCU, Santa Clara, Akron among hosts' favorites to pull a 1st round shock.
• Don't Ignore: High-scoring Georgia–St. Louis, must-see Miami (OH) First Four, and the first ever Nebraska tourney win watch.

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For more, including up-to-the-minute analysis and stats, catch Eye On College Basketball’s nightly recap pods all tournament long!

Transcript

[Gary Parrish]

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[Matt Norlander]

Foreign. I am Gary Parish. Welcome back CBS Sports. I own college basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss Campbell Fighting Dodo Birds and Leaky Black. Matt Norlander is here with me. If you're watching on YouTube, honor Brandon Davies appropriately smash that like button. And if you haven't yet subscribed to the I Own College Basketball podcast, please also do that wherever you listen to podcasts like Apple and Spot Spotify. Let's get into it. Today is Tuesday, which means the NCAA tournament starts tonight. 6:40pm Eastern. UMBC Howard on True TV 9:15 Eastern Texas NC State on True TV. Norlander. It's Sean Miller and Will Wade inside UD Arena. Oh, should we tap it? Should we tap it? Should UD arena be wiretapped tonight. That's the first question.

[Gary Parrish]

It's Christian Dawkins arena, not a Final Four one pick. But we know what the deal is, right? We know. We know what the deal is. How about that? Sean Miller, by the way, a little. I'm going to have nuggets sprinkled throughout this episode. Sean Miller, first ever coach, back to back years, Final Four with two different teams. How about that? First four. First four. I say Final Four.

[Matt Norlander]

Yes. I was like. I was like, hold on. How did I miss this? My head was going, man. I was like, hold on. Like, I'm not. I'm not insisting I always play. Paid completely close attention to what you're saying, but even I heard that, and I was like, hold on. That doesn't. That doesn't sound right. First four.

[Gary Parrish]

First four. I'll have some. Also have some stats and stuff at the end of the show, but we've got a first round to preview now. We're not going. Listen, we're not going chest deep, let alone ankle deep, on Arizona, Liu, Houston, Idaho, Iowa State, Tennessee.

[Matt Norlander]

But we got to speak for yourself.

[Gary Parrish]

Oh, you are.

[Matt Norlander]

Let's have it.

[Gary Parrish]

Come on. Give me everything you got on UConn Furman right now.

[Matt Norlander]

You know how I feel about Bob Ritchie.

[Gary Parrish]

How do you feel about Dan Hurley?

[Matt Norlander]

I like Dan Hurley. You know, I like. I like Dan Hurley. I actually think that's the thing you get. I. You get in this situation where it's your job to talk about things, and. And then suddenly people are like, well, you must not like this guy, because I said, I. I didn't think that the way he did this one thing, this one time was appropriate. It means you don't like this guy here. Like, I thought about this the other day. As I've been going through what I've been going through, every Memphis coach that I. That has ever had the job since I've had my career has hated me at some point. Every single one. The coach at my alma mater. Because it is my job to talk about these things. But the truth is, I. I'm not sideways with any of them in real life. I could talk to. Well, maybe there's one that wouldn't be the nicest to me, but I could talk to pretty much any former Memphis coach and it would be fine. And I think if I bump into Dan Hurley, it would be fine. I like Dan Hurley fine. But you know how I feel about Bob Richie.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay, you want to dive into that? What else we got?

[Matt Norlander]

Here's what I want to do. Here's what I want to. Here's what I want to do. I want to tell people what we're actually going to do this afternoon. All right. I asked Norlander last night, I said send me three games from Thursday and three games from Friday. Yeah, that you want to talk about in any form. It doesn't have to be the best games, the most exciting games. Just send me a list of three games from Thursday, three games from Friday. Then I'll look at your list and then I'll pick three games from Thursday and I'll pick three games from Friday and then we'll talk about them. And that's how you do a podcast. So, Norlander, let's start. Let's start with the game. You picked the game that, that will get things going. Thursday at 12:15pm Eastern on CBS. That's America's most watched network. It's the network of stars. It's a 89 game in the east location. Greenville, South Carolina. Ohio State is the 8. TCU is the 9. The Buckeyes are listed as 2 1/2 point favorites. Why are you looking forward to this one? Is it because you have Bruce Thornton fever?

[Gary Parrish]

I have I. And yes. And I've got David Touch fever as well. By the way, this is an Iron Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, Tracy Wolfson special. I love an 89 to get us going on Thursday. That's how we do on cbs. That's going to be a good one. Greenville, good spot. I was there four years ago on the Coach K farewell tour. Duke played in Greenville in 2022. Now it's back in the rotation as a city four years later. A lot of appeal to the game. I think it is the, the second best 89 matchup. I've got another game we'll get to here, but between Ohio State's and Thornton's terrific. He's, he's the star, he's the stud. No doubt about it. Ohio State's the top 20 offense in the country, but Mobley shoots 42 from three. You've got Devin Royal as a good wing there, Tilly as well and Jake Diebler getting his team into some good form. They've won four their past five. This is a just a vintage 89 game. This was one of the first. This was literally the second matchup we saw on Selection Sunday as they went down the East Region. And I thought when I popped up I said that makes perfect sense because Ohio State is an 8. TCU is a 9. TCU is more defensive leaning. I mentioned Punch before. He is a terrific sophomore and interestingly enough, I think he's going to be a guy who can potentially make a name for himself all the more in the tournament if they can win the game. And I want to be clear about this, I am not trying to get him out of TCU whatsoever. I hope they're able to retain him like that. I'll just tell you, when I was at the Big 12 tournament, there was one other coach that was like, come, how much do we think he's going for in the portal? He has a very, very good reputation as a guy who's already established, but can be an even bigger breakout player as a junior next year, ideally, hopefully in Fort Worth. So a wonderful 8 9. We get to see if Bruce Thornton can really shine on that stage. I'll give you a couple nuggets on the matchup. Overall, these two teams have met four times in their history, but none since. Since when? When's the last time these teams met? GP when do you think it was?

[Matt Norlander]

Oh, shoot. I'd probably say it felt like 2002. Oh, wow.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah. 1969 Ohio State 40 all time against TCU. This is Ohio State's first tournament appearance, by the way, since 2022. They're averaging 79.8 points a game this season. That's the most the Buckeyes have averaged since 9192 when they were a tick over 80 points per game. TCU is in its fourth tournament the past five years. For the first time, it's won a game in the tournament of the past three times and it has has been able to win 11 games in league play that hadn't happened as a program since 98 HP. So they're a team that can turn you over. I think it's a wonderful matchup. Punch leads the team in scoring and in rebounding and they've got a good point guard and Proc Harding. So this is just a tasty, tasty matchup to get the gate going. I love this one. It feels like it's faded to be close with with, you know, under two to go. I certainly hope that's the case. Yeah.

[Matt Norlander]

If you care about momentum heading into the NCAA tournament. And I'm not sure that you should, but if you do, you know, TCU is like 6 and 1 past 7, 9 and 2 past 11. Been playing well. Ohio State, Bruce Thornton all time leading scorer. There was some thought like middle of the season. Is he really going to go down as OSU's leading scorer all time and never participate in the NCAA tournament? We got our answer. He's in eight, nine game to kick things off on CBS. Looking forward to that one. The second game you selected it tips Thursday 6:50pm Eastern on TNT. It's a 611 game in the south location. Greenville, South Carolina, North Carolina is the six. VCU is the 11. UNC is a two and a half point favorite. Why are you looking forward to this one? Is it because you have Seth Trimble fever?

[Gary Parrish]

No, could never had Seth Trimble fever. Great player, but I don't, I don't. I don't have that fever. I don't have a fever. And there is no prescription for any more Trimble. This is a very trendy 11 over 6. Do we agree we both have VCU in this one, right? You have VCU or no?

[Matt Norlander]

I picked VCU. As a former master of ceremonies. 18 media day, pre pandemic. I felt obligated to go with the Rams.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay, winner of this is going to play the winner of Illinois, Penn. If you're listening and trying to remember where this is in your bracket, we're going into the lower left in the south region. And yes, he said Greenville tnt. You know, I like to give you the broadcasters here. This is a TNT game. And this is Eagle Raffery, same deal. Greenville, same crew. We're not flying in a different crew for the night game. They're going to be on all four calls. No Caleb Wilson. How much is that a factor? A lot. I was actually, I was just talking to a coach less than an hour ago and he had brought up. We were talking about a variety of different things, but just by pure coincidence, this game did get brought up because we're talking about mid majors and what ones could or might make some do some damage here. And I was like, I've got vcu. I don't know, man. Like, they've lost once. I. I like the capability from beyond three and he's like, that's the one thing. Like they. If you told me VCU dropped, you know, eight second half, three pointers on Carolina, like, I believe that's on the table. I believe that's possible. So we'll see. Carolina's 5 and 3 without Wilson in the lineup. It's coming off of two understandable losses, but two losses, none the same. We'll see if they can reverse course there' and what they can do on that end. VCU, obviously a tournament mainstay, 21st appearance in program history. They've been here three of the past four seasons. They're 16.1record since January 14th with the only loss on the road at Slew. I, I take real stocking. Like I do think there's something to be said for how well they have looked and how strong they've played and, and the, the Factoid here on VCU and I think I had this in my 1 to 68 rankings as well. Terence Hill Jr. He comes off the bench and leads the team in scoring. He has 462 points off the bench. That's the most in all of D1. You just don't typically see this and it speaks to VCU's. I'm going to use that, you know, tried and true and a bit cliche word, but it's true. Like if you've got a culture where the guy who's coming off the bench leads your team and scoring, that's a really good sign that you've got something healthy going on there. It's not just, it's not just him. They've got. We've got a Djokovic situation in college hoops as well. And Lazar Djokovic at vcu, he's great at drawing fouls. He's a high energy guy. He can really like. He's a little bit streaky, but he's really. I like his game. I think he can be a factor here as well. Carolina obviously capable of winning the game. Seth Trimble is going to show up there as ready as anyone else. Vasar's going to be a matchup nightmare for VCU unquestionably. But I'm, I'm super intrigued. Like this is top five Thursday or Friday GP VCU uncle. That is a top five. See a game. I also have to note the location Carolina fans can get there. Guess what? So can VCU fans. Okay. You don't want to go to war with the Rams. They are going to drive there and get there in droves. And I would imagine VCU fans are going to scoop up tickets as much as possible for that nice session.

[Matt Norlander]

VCU, you mentioned 16:1 in the past 17. That stretch dates back to January 14th. You know, I'm a data sorter. If you started at January 14, run it through today. Where do you think VCU is with that 161 record at Torvik?

[Gary Parrish]

I'm gonna say 25th.

[Matt Norlander]

The answer is 39th lower than I thought.

[Gary Parrish]

I bet you they're better than Carolina since then though. I, I can tell you sort it right now. I would venture they're close.

[Matt Norlander]

I. I'm thinking you're probably Carolina's 31st. Oh, in that Stretch.

[Gary Parrish]

The Duke win bumped him. Okay, good.

[Matt Norlander]

So VCU in North Carolina since January 14th, which is when VCU started this run of a 161 stretch. They're both in the 30s so the point spread it, you know, makes sense this their VCU is the underdog. But this will not be a crazy upset. Even if it will be, you know, a big brand from a power four league against a sizable like a significant and notable college basketball brand. But like one of these is North Carolina, one of these is vcu. But the caliber of basketball teams, particularly when you remove Caleb Wilson from the situation, the caliber of basketball teams is not that different. And that's been true for for more than two months now. All right, the third game you picked for Thursday tips at 9:45pm Eastern. It is on CBS, America's most watched network. Network of stars. Eight nine game in the Midwest location Buffalo. Georgia's the eight. St. Louis is the nine. Georgia two and a half point favorite. Why are you looking forward to this one? Is it because you have Jeremiah Wilkinson fever?

[Gary Parrish]

The bit can end after the commercial break by the way. I'm more than okay with that. If I have fever for anyone, it's Robbie Avila. Come on now. Come on. 89 first of 100. This is big time stuff here. Your Buffalo and this is another Thursday game. As a reminder, everyone think every game I'm giving you is a Thursday game. And when this one tips, this is this has a chance to be the best game to finish off the night. This is Brian Anderson. Jim Jackson shouts to Ali Laforce. I think this could be a race to 100. You've got a Georgia team that's got real dudes, real athletes. Back to back tournaments for Georgia for the first time in more than two decades this is the most combined points per game between two teams entering any NCAA tournament matchup period in the last 20 seasons. Both these teams get up and down the floor and love to score. I mentioned I think on Sunday night maybe, I don't know, I've forgotten what I've said, where I've said it, when I've said it. St. Louis is a terrific second half team. I think it is top five in the country at this point because I think it used to be number one. So if it's not top five it's top 10 in point margin after the halftime break. They've taken on some losses as of late. I get that. But George has a program is trying to snap a drought of events that play tournament which trivia time.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay.

[Gary Parrish]

Last year Georgia won An NCAA tournament game.

[Matt Norlander]

Oh, man. I know Anthony Edwards didn't get it done.

[Gary Parrish]

He did not. He did not get it done.

[Matt Norlander]

That was disappointing.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, give me.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay, I'm gonna give you a year. I'm gonna say 2002. Oh my gosh, look at this.

[Gary Parrish]

You're grossed up and you're grossed up and you're grossed up. 2002 is accurate. That's the last time the dogs got a dub in the Big Dance. See if they can get this done here. In an 89 game team broke into the rankings plenty this season. Mike White done a good job there. I love Canon Catchings. I think he's got, you know, I think he's got potential to be an even bigger player next season. But he jumped from 7.2 to 12 points a game this season. And I'm looking at my notes. Josh's. Did you see it on the screen?

[Matt Norlander]

I, I, you.

[Gary Parrish]

This is going to serve as evidence on the screen.

[Matt Norlander]

This is going to serve as evidence that I did not see the answer in advance because what I did is something I often do. Sometimes you ask me a question and I'll just say umass loyal over and over again. Earlier you asked me a question. I think I said 2002. I really just repeated the same answer from the previous question.

[Gary Parrish]

If you did, I wrong. I don't remember you saying that. Regardless, between Kenneth Catchings, Jeremiah Wilkinson, fun, fun player and Blue Cane, they've got the Newton in Santo C roll as among the better defenders in the country there. So there's, there's a lot of, there's a lot of reasons to believe that George is going to be able to get this done. But I just give us a game that goes into the 90s. Please give us Robbie Avila just bombing shots from 25ft out. It's not just him. They've got, they've got a whole variety of guys. I think they got like six or seven guys averaging north of nine points a game this season. It's one after another after another. Josh Shirt's going for his first NC tournament win. This is his first NCAA tournament appearance there. It'll be interesting to see if St. Louis can match up with George's physicality. The Dogs are high flyers teams with the most dunks in college basketball this season. Arkansas's first. Georgia's second 198 dunks for the Bulldogs this year. This, this, this better be a damn good game. But the nature of the way both teams play, you're also at risk of this going late into the evening on Thursday night and maybe one team pulls away and wins, say 99, 85. But I'm hoping we get a 40 minute, just absolute inferno.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay, so that's Norlander's three games from Thursday to keep an eye on. Are you ready for my three games from Thursday to keep an eye on? Because I got three games too. All right. I could. I get to pick games too sometimes. Game one, Thursday. My list, my slide. My list starts at 12:40pm Eastern. It's on True TV. It's a 413 game in the south location, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Nebraska is the four. Troy is the 13. The Cornhuskers are 13 and a half point favorites. Norlander. By sunset on Thursday, I predict college basketball will feature zero power conference programs with zero wins in the history of the NCAA tournament. That's because Nebraska, by sunset on Thursday is going to record its first NCAA tournament victory in history. Do you agree?

[Gary Parrish]

I do agree. But throw a percentage on there that Troy wins this game.

[Matt Norlander]

No, I'm not even. No, I don't. I'm not putting that out in the world. I'm not putting that out in the world.

[Gary Parrish]

In the world. So what is your poor. You're part of it.

[Matt Norlander]

Hey, I know sometimes people throw trash off the side of the highway, but that don't mean I need to throw trash off the side of the highway. All right? Just because everybody, everybody else is putting it out in the world don't mean I got to put it out in the world. I. I refuse to acknowledge it is possible. Nebraska is still sitting on zero NCAA tournament wins when this thing is over. I refuse to even think about it.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay? Both of these teams, too much respect

[Matt Norlander]

for the Hoiberg family to even think about something like that.

[Gary Parrish]

This is the first time in 15 years that the NCAA tournament features a first round game. So a game, period by nature of being a first round game where both teams going into it have zero NCAA tournament wins. So someone's going to get off the schneide here. It'll just be Nebraska or it will be Troy. Nebraska is.08 all time in the. In the tournament. It's the second most losses without a win by any school. I think. Who's the most. I know. This is it. Iona. I know you don't know. I'm thinking out loud. It used to be Iona.

[Matt Norlander]

2002 is my answer. I'm gonna go with 2002.

[Gary Parrish]

This is the best seed for Nebraska since 91. And when it was a three, it's obviously sitting there at a four. I do think Nebraska is going to get this done. I think Troy is a little bit of a trendy pick. I think some folks are looking for a 13 to beat a four one way or another. I get that. But I, I. Between Sanford Rink Mast. Among the more underappreciated players outside that state in college basketball. Really, really good player, Sam Hoiberg, fantastic defender in his own right. I, I think Nebraska gets it done, but I will be, I will be keyed in on this game. This is a Brandon Godden, Chris Weber, Andy Katz, Announcer situation.

[Matt Norlander]

Oh, by the way, second Thursday game tips at 2:50pm Eastern on CBS. It's a 1:16 game in the east location. Greenville, South Carolina. Duke is the one. Sienna is the six. Duke is a 28 and a half.

[Gary Parrish]

I just gotta take this real quick. Keep going.

[Matt Norlander]

28 and a half point four. They're 28 and a half point favorite, obviously in this one. We talked about it on a previous episode. Episode 2. Coaches. Norlander, be ready, be careful. We got lip readers out there. They'll know everything you're saying. If you're talking bad about Bob Richie on this phone call right now, we're going to have lip readers that pick up on this stuff. Duke, 28 1/2 point favorite. Two coaches have both won national championships as players this century. And if Siena pulls off the historic upset, Jerry McNamara is offered the Syracuse job by midnight. Those are the stakes. That's what I think should happen. If Jerry Magna upsets Duke and John Shire in the round of 64, he gets the Syracuse job before midnight.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay.

[Matt Norlander]

That's where I'm at on this. Do you think that's fair?

[Gary Parrish]

It is fair. Like in all seriousness and honesty, if Jerry McNamara coaches.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah. No, no, no, no, no, no, no,

[Gary Parrish]

no, no, no, no, no. He gets the Duke job.

[Matt Norlander]

He gets to take the Duke job. And Shire's got to go coach Syracuse. Yes. With limited resources. Oh, let's see how good you are. With limited resources. John Shire. Let's see you try to fill up a dome. Oh, it's pretty easy to fill up your little Cameron indoor. Oh, your little Cameron indoor. So cute. Sure, anybody can fill that up. Let's see you fill up a dome. John Shire lose this first round game. Magna Mara to Duke. Shire to Syracuse. Limited resources, trying to fill up a dome.

[Gary Parrish]

Good luck.

[Matt Norlander]

You got to live that red Autry life. Good luck.

[Gary Parrish]

I love that we have, we've invented the stakes around this.

[Matt Norlander]

Yes.

[Gary Parrish]

Oh, my gosh.

[Matt Norlander]

Oh, let's see how good John Shire is when he doesn't have the best player in the country every year. Take it easy.

[Gary Parrish]

I apologize again.

[Matt Norlander]

Again.

[Gary Parrish]

You got a little hot there. Little loud. Little loud, buddy.

[Matt Norlander]

This is.

[Gary Parrish]

See if I can give you here. Okay, how about this? Man, oh man. This game right here, Duke, Sienna is. What's the line? Do we have the line here? I'm trying.

[Matt Norlander]

I already told it. You don't listen.

[Gary Parrish]

Hey, one more time.

[Matt Norlander]

28 and a half. I think I said it four times.

[Gary Parrish]

Sienna is the worst three point shooting team in the field. 30.4%.

[Matt Norlander]

Your mom's the worst three point shooting team in THE field?

[Gary Parrish]

Sure, man. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. There are eight dogs by more than 20 points going in and then we'll still have two. There'll be ten total 20 point dogs in the first round of the tournament. I believe that will be a record or tie a record. Sienna will be in that group with Duke. It feels like a pick your number situation. But if Jerry McNamara coaches the Saints to a 16 over one, he gets the Duke job. Shire goes to Syracuse.

[Matt Norlander]

It's been established. Get that. I've been living that coach K life. Now you're gonna get to live that red ary life. If you screw this thing up, that's a different life. That's a different life. But yeah, Duke probably wins even if it's not competitive. You get to watch the future. CBS Sports national player of the year, Cameron Boozer. So either way, either way it's worth getting your eyes on it. My third game on my Thursday list. It takes it 4:25pm Eastern. It's on TBS. 4:13 game in the west location. Portland, Oregon. Arkansas is the 4. Hawaii is the 13. Arkansas 15 1/2 point favorite. The Darius Auff show is the best thing going. I think the phrase appointment television is often overused, but I. I'm okay with it being used and connected to Acuff. He is my favorite college basketball player. Like I'm not saying the best. Really?

[Gary Parrish]

He's your favorite?

[Matt Norlander]

I think he's my favorite to watch. Just like I enjoy watching.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, he.

[Matt Norlander]

I like. Hey, hey boys, gather around. Let's watch this guy play basketball tonight. Darius A. Cup junior has become my favorite college basketball player. I'm ready to have his mail forwarded to 191 Bill Street, Memphis 10 38103. Norlander, what is Darius Acuff Jr. Rank on your list of favorite college basketball players as of March 17, 2026?

[Gary Parrish]

He's top five for sure. I'd have to think on that list. Him and debons are just watching them play is great. I gotta think more on that. But, but both those are in the top five. This is the Tweener game, by the way. And by that, this is the last tip on Thursday that kind of floats into that, you know, dinner hour on the east coast. But you actually have real draw here. It's, it's the last one because the fact that it's played out in Portland. This will be Brad Nester, Wally Zerbiak, Jared Greenberg on the call. John Caliperi is trying to avoid and I think that he will. But nonetheless, there's never been a coach to lose three straight first round games as a four seed or better. If Hawaii wins, he will become the first. I don't think that will, I don't think that will happen. He didn't have the situation last year because he was a, he was a 10 and faced, faced a seven. So it didn't apply when he won. But this goes back to when he was a three at Kentucky and they lost to Oakland the year before they were two. And the loss to St. Peter's this is the sixth appearance for Hawaii in school history. It is one in five. It won as a 13 seed over Cal in 2016. Cal the school, not Cal the coach. But, but nevertheless it has done this. It is a veteran laden team. 94 of Hawaii's points come from its upperclassmen. That's the second most of any team in the field. It's top eight scores are all juniors or seniors. Arkansas has incredible talent across the board. Strength, size, the whole deal. Fascinating situation with this game. I think Arkansas should win with ease. But if you told me that this, you know, this game just found a way to be close with five minutes to go. CP we're not going to be stunned by that. Right?

[Matt Norlander]

I don't, I mean if we weren't stunned by St. Peter's and we weren't stunned by Oakland, I don't think we're in position to be stunned by Hawaii. But I think Arkansas will be fine.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay, there we go. That's our, that's our Thursday ones to know.

[Matt Norlander]

All right.

[Gary Parrish]

Most intriguing ones. Yes.

[Matt Norlander]

All right. And, and you know what comes after Thursday? Thursday night, not technically Friday. I know the way that works is Thursday. Friday follows Thursday and guess what? We did. Oh man. We picked three more games each from Friday and we'll run through them next. But first, let's get a word. Let's pay some bills. Let's get rich partners.

[Gary Parrish]

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[Matt Norlander]

All right Norlander, we're settling this right now. We're doing a pizza topping draft, a

[Gary Parrish]

full on pizza draft, two loaded pizza builds just nine 99 each with Domino's. Best deal ever.

[Matt Norlander]

I am ready GP all right, I'll go first. Let's go. Handmade pan crust, pepperonis, extra cheese jalapenos, onions and garlic parmesan sauce please.

[Gary Parrish]

Garlic parmesan sauce. Okay, I'm going thin crust, red sauce, spinach. You know what, give me some banana peppers too thin crust. It's the four seed of all pizzas. I stand by it.

[Matt Norlander]

See, this is why this deal is perfect. Everyone gets exactly what they want.

[Gary Parrish]

Especially for a watch party. You can build all the large pizzas you need, customize each and every single one and keep the whole crew happy for just 9.99 each.

[Matt Norlander]

Any toppings, any combo. That's why this is Domino's. Best deal ever with Domino's Best delivery. You can get any pizza with any toppings for just 9. 99. Prices higher in some locations. Select this online only offer from 223 to 4. 6 size availability varies by crust type. Max 7 toppings 6 for New York style and pan crust. Stuffed crust is extra. Excludes XL and specialty pizzas. Minimum purchase required for delivery prices, participation, delivery area and charges may vary. All right Norlander, I also asked you to send me three Friday games you want to talk about. You were nice enough to do it. You started your list with a game that scheduled the tip 12:15pm Eastern. It's on CBS 710 game in the Midwest location St. Louis, Missouri. Kentucky's the 7. Santa Clara is the 10. The Wildcats are three and a half point favorites. Why are you looking forward to this one? Is it because you have Alan Graves fever? Do you have Alan Graves fever?

[Gary Parrish]

This is also the first game getting us going on Friday. So I love we got two tasty ones here. This is a spear, Adidas, Jim Sparkle, John Rothstein call out of St. Louis on CBS. As you said here, plenty of mystery surrounding this one. Is Kentucky going to show up and dominate? Is Kentucky going to show up and flop? Will they get off to a slow start? Santa Clara's only notable wins came against St. Mary's what can it do once it gets another opportunity here in what will be unquestionably a road environment when Kentucky fans take over that building to start that day. So you're going with a team that has made 64 tournament appearances. That's the most ever in history. And Santa Clara is here for the first time since 1996 in the days of Steve Nash. I I find this matchup to be outstanding. I I think that Santa Clara and Herb Sendek and the way that those guys play been a top 40 team for most of the season. Run some really good offense, they can get inside, they can score. Christian Hammond can kind of change the pace, shoot well from deep. Alan Graves, I don't have the fever. He's also a good counter as a stretch four type to get it done. They've got some good stuff there. Jake Ensminger Jr. Six, nine. Another guy that can step out and shoot. Doesn't do it a ton but he can get it done. One of the more effective players in the country. If you go by o Reading and then is Ortega away going to be the guy that carries Kentucky in the situation. Malachi Marino's had some really fun spots and some big moments there. Denzel Aberdeen has national title experience. I don't know. To me Colin Shannon is, is the skeleton key for Kentucky, what he can do for them. He is their only true reliable shooter. From distance, Kentucky finds itself in a spot. This has been a pedestrian three point team. Not terrible but not great. Not even top 150 in the country. If they find themselves in a spot with Santa Clara where they're in a real boxing match with five minutes to go, are they going to need to rely on the three and is it going to come through or is that going to be something that really. It's a major factor because Santa Clara, you know, they, they can race with Kentucky as much as you want them to race. This isn't a team that is slow and plotting. They're not blitzing up and down the floor but they, they like to get out and run. And I find this to be a terrific, terrific matchup.

[Matt Norlander]

So let me ask you a question because I do think that the, the timing of this game like plays a role in how it will be perceived. Like it's going to be the first one that starts on Friday and so all eyes will be on it. And I remember when the Peacocks got up on the Wildcats that was like a thing and it felt like the whole world was doing peacock sounds. And then Jack Kolke happened and that was like, oh man, the whole world's like Jack. Like I remember Jack. I don't know all my cousins names, all right, But I remember Jack Golke forever. And so here's my question. Do people still enjoy watching Kentucky lose to a traditional non power or was that more of a John Caliperi thing?

[Gary Parrish]

No, it's, it's Kentucky, It's Kentucky. It's, it's Big Blue Nation.

[Matt Norlander]

That's right.

[Gary Parrish]

It's one of the three most prominent programs in the history of the sport. Getting, getting knocked out by a bunch of Peacocks. Like there was a, it was probably 80, 20 Kentucky and Cal. Cal had a little bit of that. This team isn't, this team isn't a 2 seed but this team does have a reported $22 million attached to its roster price. And so that all the more will, will feed into it.

[Matt Norlander]

That's right.

[Gary Parrish]

If it is indeed a close game late and you got and by the way, with Santa Clara, you just we're going to see Steve Nash on our televisions and the flashbacks to their tournament trips. Santa Clara famously beating Arizona in a game when it was a much bigger underdog back in 93 when Nash was a freshman. So there's a lot that'll feed into that for sure. But, but we'll see. I, I have not moved off my position on this game. It feels 50, 50 to me. I still have Santa Clara winning. I, I don't have any confidence whatsoever. I'm just excited to, to open the door, walk in and see what's waiting inside once this game gets going.

[Matt Norlander]

I think Cal's presence played a role in the way those upsets were perceived. But Kentucky, you're right, is still Kentucky. It's Big Blue Nation. It's a big brand. The 22 million, whether it's real or otherwise, like it's out there and it's the one everybody references. And I know that, you know, some of those players have been injured much, if not nearly all of this season, but still, that will be the graphic that's flying around social media on Friday. If this thing goes a certain way, it'll be little old Santa Clara. And oh, remember Herb Sendek? He used to be in the ACC and now he's running, I guess the third best team in the wcc and here they are with a fraction. We'll have the numbers on it. Santa Clara only spent this much and Kentucky spent this much and the Broncos get the win. And that'll be the story of the early part of Friday if Kentucky doesn't win this game. There is a tremendous amount of pressure on Mark Pope to win this game just so he can avoid all of that stuff.

[Gary Parrish]

And just real quick we can move on to the next one. All time tally NCAA tournament wins Most ever Kentucky 134 North Carolina 134 we see if they remain tied or if one takes one leg up on the other in a matter of a couple days.

[Matt Norlander]

Second Friday game you selected tips at 12:40pm Eastern. It's on True TV. It's a 512 game in the Midwest location. Tampa, Florida. Texas Tech is the 5, Akron is the 12. Texas Tech eight and a half point favorite. Why are you looking forward to this one?

[Gary Parrish]

Well, come on now.

[Matt Norlander]

Is it because you have Christian Anderson fever?

[Gary Parrish]

Yes, if I, if I got fever,

[Matt Norlander]

you have Christian Anderson fever.

[Gary Parrish]

No, it's Jama Scott fever. After that Shot. He hit. Scott. Scott shot. Come on, now. All right, I did. Since we talked yesterday, I made a few changes to the bracket, but I think we're. I think we're all set. I do have Akron winning the game now. So I no longer have. I no longer have. Do I have Akron winning the game? Hold on. I can't remember. I tell you this. I don't have Alabama in the Elite Eight anymore. I don't have that. Made that pick on Sunday night. That has been changed.

[Matt Norlander]

They're facing legal problems. Yeah, The Cryptic Tide are facing legal problems.

[Gary Parrish]

They are. They are. We'll get to that game before we get out of here. Yeah, I think. I think I'm gonna put Akron in the Sweet 16 GP. So the first game here, though, with. With Texas Tech. No JT Toppin. Akron school record 29 wins this season. Third straight tournament appearance. You've got guys who are on this team, obviously, the coaching staff have this experience in recent years getting to the tournament. Akron is. Never won a game in the tournament. Oh, and seven. But it's won 19 of its past 20 games. It's averaging 88.4 points a game. They really can score. Scott's a tremendous player. Tavare Johnson led the Mac at 20 points a game this season. They, to me, have the experience. Like, the collective experience. In fact. Let me pull this up. I think I saw this earlier that I want to say. Akron is top five in experience in college hoops, per Ken Palm. Minutes continuity is what I was looking at. They are top 20 in minutes continuity this season. So a group that has played together, been together collectively, knows what that's all about. Texas Tech, you know, they've got guys who were in this spot a year ago. They were a game away from the Final Four. Christian Anderson, he's gonna play. I hope he's fully healthy. That's a guy who I saw quite literally in front of me and alongside me after the press conference, was walking with a slight but noticeable limp after he slipped on that floor at the Big 12 tournament. He is going to play, but is he 100? Is he 90? Is he 75? We don't know. Really fun. 12 over 5 possibility here. This is among my top five. Gotta watch a game, no matter if it lands on Thursday or on Friday. Quite pumped for it, for sure. This is A. Tom McCarthy, Candace Parker, Dan Barner, A.J. ross, Tip 1240 on Friday in Tampa.

[Matt Norlander]

Kind of a weird close to the season. You lose J.T. top and you win three straight. It's like, all right, maybe and then they lose three straight. And so three and three without topping or since the injury. We'll see how it goes. The third game you selected for Friday, it tips at 10:00pm Eastern. It's on TBS. A 215 game in the east location, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Yukon is the two. Furman is the 15. Yukon is a 20 and a half point favorite. Why are you looking forward to this one?

[Gary Parrish]

I didn't want you to steal.

[Matt Norlander]

I wonder, I wonder if it's because you have solo ball fever. Do you have solo ball fever?

[Gary Parrish]

I hope I never have solo ball fever.

[Matt Norlander]

That's tough. That sounds painful. That's a Lance Armstrong situation.

[Gary Parrish]

I, I two reasons why I took this. Well, actually, there's more than two. One, Yukon, 10 o' clock tip on a Friday in Philly. Doesn't UCLA have the. I'm just like UCLA has the earlier tip. Corona can't be happy. I'm sure Hurley's not happy as well.

[Matt Norlander]

Like Cronin can't be happy. You could apply to any situation.

[Gary Parrish]

No, Mick.

[Matt Norlander]

Hey, did you see Mickey sitting by the fireplace enjoying a cigar? Cronin can't be happy. Okay, I get it. Do you see Mick? He's watching the sunset over the ocean. Isn't it beautiful? But he looks mad as hell.

[Gary Parrish]

I could see it. I could definitely see it. Furman. Yukon. What's Yukon looking at? Coming at. Looking like coming off the, coming off the loss to St. John's I also wanted to give you a little bit of. I was, I, I felt bad taking up a lot of the good ones I really wanted. So I was like, you know what? I'll take the Yukon. Furman1. I just want to see late tip. I don't know, there might not be anything here. I want to see how sharp Yukon looks going into the tournament. This is a team that I have going to the final four. And do they show up and just rip Firman apart? You know, Is this a 20 point win? Okay. They beat the team the way they should. Be that the way we're expecting that to happen? I don't know. Furman's a program that just, you know, no one on this team was on that team. But they have pulled off a first round upset. They weren't, they weren't seated as a 15 when they did it. They were a 13. But the coach is still there. So I've just got general intrigue around this. I wanted to, and I also wanted to pick one game that wasn't an 8, 9, 7, 10, 6, 11 or 12. 5 so I go with the. I go with the 152 situation here in Philly on Friday. And who we got on the call here, gp I want to give. I want to let the people know. Philly, this is Andrew Catalon, Steve Lapis and Evan Washburn.

[Matt Norlander]

That's a nice crew. All right. I picked three for Friday as well. Friday list. Mine starts at 1:35. 1:35pm Eastern is on TNT. Dynamite 116 game in the West. Location, San Diego. Arizona is the one. Liu is the 16. The Wildcats are 30 1/2 point favorites. Norlander, 30 1/2 point favorites.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah. Why is this a game? What are we doing here?

[Matt Norlander]

Fins up, man. What are you talking about? Fins up. Put your fins up.

[Gary Parrish]

No shot.

[Matt Norlander]

Put your fins up. Why do you not put your fins up?

[Gary Parrish]

They're not winning the game.

[Matt Norlander]

Like you can still put your fins up.

[Gary Parrish]

No, I won't do it.

[Matt Norlander]

Why do you. Why do you refuse to put your fins up?

[Gary Parrish]

Because. Because they're not winning. They're a 30 point dog. What do you want from me?

[Matt Norlander]

I want your fins up. I want you. I want you to show proper respect. Okay. Okay. There are 30. They're. They're 30 and a half point underdog. But why did you pick this game? I thought you and I together would show our support for the so called little guy. If this makes us.

[Gary Parrish]

Let's move it along. Okay. There we go.

[Matt Norlander]

Fins up. Okay.

[Gary Parrish]

Sure.

[Matt Norlander]

I basically live here. Like Lau is like my. Basically my alma mater at this point. All right.

[Gary Parrish]

I hear you're turning your back on the Johnny's also in the greater area.

[Matt Norlander]

And the Johnny's are my big. Are my. The Johnny's are my main piece. Liu is my side for fins up.

[Gary Parrish]

In the chat right now, the Red

[Matt Norlander]

Storm are my main piece. Liu is my side piece.

[Gary Parrish]

To anyone listening to this at the most inappropriately public spot right now. Whenever you're listening to this at some point Tuesday afternoon evening, if you've for some reason you're behind the pace in the middle of Thursday, you're like, now I got to listen to every show in middle of the grocery store for GP please. You got the earbuds in?

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

Go. Fins up right now. Middle of aisle three. If you're lingering around the oranges, wherever you might be, I need to know if you're doing the StairMaster at your gym. Go. Fins up. No one needs to know. Why nobody else be encouraged right now. As you listen. Let's go.

[Matt Norlander]

Soon as this is over with, I'm a. I'm gonna put a coat on or something. I'm gonna go for a walk. It's St. Patrick's Day. Right out this window. By the way, by the way, can you see the sun setting over the Hudson? That's the sun setting over the Hudson.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay?

[Matt Norlander]

So I'm gonna put on a coat. I'm gonna go outside of St. Patrick's Day. I'm gonna walk around. Don't worry, I ain't. I ain't gonna mark Sanchez myself. All right, I'm gonna keep it between the lines, but I'm gonna walk outside for a minute and I'm gonna walk just like this all the way through New York, through the street. You see a. You see a little short dude with glasses walking around like this tonight. Say, what's up? Give me a fist bump. That's gonna be me. Hey, I was on CBS Sports HQ earlier today.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah.

[Matt Norlander]

And we went through an exercise. Me and Avery Johnson, former NBA Coach of the year. Avery Johnson, goat stuff. We were going through it with a man in Jacqueline and they had an exercise. You've seen something familiar before where they say, hey, 42 of the 46 past national champions have been top five seeds in the NCAA tournament. So let's wipe out everybody who's not a top five seed in the NCAA tournament. Now we're focused on 20 teams. And then it's like, you know, X amount of. X amounts of the past whatevers have won either a conference regular season championship or a conference tournament championship before winning a national championship. So let's eliminate all the teams that that doesn't apply to, and you get rid of them and you dwindle it all down. And it's, it's kind of interesting. The place we got the. There were four schools left and it was Duke, Michigan, Arizona and Florida, the four number one seeds. But then the next one we went to was something along the lines of the past X amount of national champions have taken at least a certain percentage of their field goal attempts from three point range. And so let's remove every team that doesn't do that. And at that point, you removed Arizona because they only take 27% of their field goal attempts from three. That ranks 362nd in the country. And I was asked, okay, GP what do you think of that? And I said, respectfully, I think that's where we're taking it a little too far and trying to manipulate it to get it to a certain place. But because I do think some of the other ones that were referenced was like, X amount of X. Amounts of the past national champions have had at least one first round draft pick in the next draft on the roster. And that's one where I'm like, that does matter. Like you, you got to have pros by the time you get to the Final Four if you're trying to win two more games. I subscribe to that. But the truth is style of play stuff in college basketball, I don't think it matters that much at all. You could play fast, you could play slow. Like Virginia in 2018. Villanova, nearly half of its shots came from three and they won the national championship. Arizona, barely a quarter of their shots come from three and they are a co favorite right now with Duke in Michigan to win the national championship. My point being, I don't think Arizona, I, I wondered early in the season whether Arizona's lack of three point shooting would be the thing that keeps them from winning the national championship. I no longer believe that's a thing. They might not win the national championship, but I, I fundamentally believe a team playing this way can do it. I assume you do as well.

[Gary Parrish]

I do for sure. And that's why I've gotten getting all the way to the title game. Not changing off of that. Don't have them winning, but they very much can. Arizona is the second most popular national championship pick on the CBS Sports app right now. Duke is a comfortable first. As we head into Tuesday night, my

[Matt Norlander]

second Friday game tips at 3:15pm Eastern. It's on TruTV 413. Game in the Midwest location. Tampa. Alabama is the 4. Hofstra is the 13. Alabama is an 11 1/2 point favorite. Norlander, have you ever seen two pounds of weed in person all at the same time?

[Gary Parrish]

I have not. I have not. No. That is not. I've never been in the presence of two pounds of marijuana in person.

[Matt Norlander]

That's a lot.

[Gary Parrish]

It's a ton.

[Matt Norlander]

That's a lot.

[Gary Parrish]

I know when I was in age

[Matt Norlander]

I couldn't even afford two pounds of weed. Like that's what, that's where nil's like really coming in, coming into play. You know, it's not. I'm glad. I am glad. Listen, young man made a poor decision. That goes without saying. Aiden Holloway, of course. But I do like that we finally got to a point where a young man can legally afford to have 2 pounds of marijuana at his home while filling up college basketball arenas all over the country. Imagine if that young man was too poor to even have two pounds of weed. Think about that.

[Gary Parrish]

He's not. And he reportedly Told the agents he was not looking to sell, but he has been hit with a felony charge with intent to sell. Because I guess with that much on one's person or in a residence, that's what they went to. I don't know. We'll see on that. He is not expected to play with Alabama this weekend. We. Let's focus on the matchup because you picked a gp, but I do think that this is. This feels like the most likely situation that would give us a double digit second round matchup. Akron, maybe to beat Texas Tech. Hofstra, maybe to beat Alabama. Hofstra's got Cruz, Davis, Preston, Edmead, who was a stud in that CAA title game. Hofstra has a real chance. And no Aiden, he's the second leading scorer. And like what how they use him, how fast he is on the floor alongside Phylon. I've seen that team up close. Like they are a handful because you cannot contain them. They are blurs on the court now. You lose Holloway, there's a real. There's a real impact there. So in addition to just Hofstra's chances of winning, I think going up naturally by the fact that Bama no longer has Holloway for this game, I. I think just the general appeal here, GP of the game and everything attached to it is also. Is pretty high.

[Matt Norlander]

Mike's muted.

[Gary Parrish]

Gp, I have gp. Might have a little bit of a mic situation. I don't know.

[Matt Norlander]

My mic keeps muting, but I'm not doing it. I don't know what's going on.

[Gary Parrish]

You're good.

[Matt Norlander]

All right.

[Gary Parrish]

I hear you.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay. Okay. Anyway, let's get back to the weed. That's a whole lot of weed. That's why it happened.

[Gary Parrish]

The feds are tapping the phone and. And that's what happened to the mic there.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, Listen, I ain't getting. I ain't got two pounds of weed. I just like it that we finally reached a point. These young men have enough disposable income to just to purchase two pounds of weed because that's. That's not cheap. Just got to figure out a new place to keep it. I guess that's the next step in the learning process. You got to learn that you can't keep a felony amount of weed inside your apartment. Them dude showed up with a search warrant. Not working good.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, this is. This is an instantly, instantly just story. Just unlike anything I can ever remember. I mean, there's weird stuff every year. Let me be clear. But losing your second best player days before the tournament starts. Two pounds of marijuana being in the apartment and catching a felony charge.

[Matt Norlander]

Wow, that's a new one on me. That's a new one on me. My third Friday game. It tips at 9:45pm Eastern on CBS. 413 game in the East. Yes, 413 game in the East. Location San Diego, Kansas is the four. Cal Baptist is the 13. KU is a 14 and a half point favorite. Northlander, I was on Radio Kansas City today and they asked if I could see the Jayhawks making a run. How would you answer that?

[Gary Parrish]

Yes, that's how it actually. Yes.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay, but in radio they're going to want you to say more than that.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay. Yes, I could see them making a run. They have Bill Self as their coach. They have Potentially the number one pick on the roster who has played 28 plus minutes and seven consecutive games for the first time all season. They've got a heck of a player, a self admitted dog in Melvin Council junior Who quite literally barks back at the student section to hype himself up. And I he is in my top five favorite players in college basketball. By the way.

[Matt Norlander]

I do like people who bark. I do enjoy a good bark.

[Gary Parrish]

No doubt. Trey White maybe the most underrated player in the Big 12. There's a lot, there's a lot there. But Dunga's terrific. So can I see them making a run? Yes. That being said, I can't shake the idea that this game could be close late but I might be wish casting this. Cal Baptist is not a super reliable scoring team. It just happens to have another player who might be in near my top five. Dominique Daniels Jr dudes like 510 and is a Hooper's Hooper just an awesome dude to watch play basketball. So this will be must watch stuff as far as I'm concerned. Cal Baptist only has to take the ride down there to San Diego. Kansas obviously hopping on the bird.

[Matt Norlander]

All right, so those are your three games or my three games. For are those my three games or your three games? Those are my three games.

[Gary Parrish]

And by the way like I had Kansas Cal Baptist for a separate segment. I'm changing it up just so you know like we talked about that game. I'm mixing in another game. So I just, I'm just.

[Matt Norlander]

I know but I just want to put this here a because I do think it is one of the games to pay attention to the Darren Peterson story. Seems like it's going to be a forever story until his college basketball career is done and and then we'll keep asking a lot of the same questions. Through the draft process, see what kind of answers we get. But it's Kansas away from home. Kansas in Cal Baps home state. Kansas should still be fine, but team has been all over the place this season. Better without. At least they won more without Peterson than they won with Peterson. I just. The way I actually answered the question was, yes, I could see it, but I'm not predicting it. And I think ultimately we're going to look back on this year and say that the best players didn't play enough together. And so they never got comfortable. Like, how do you play? Like without Darren Peterson? You, you, you play with. Through Melvin. You put the ball in Melvin Kelson's hands. But you remember Big 12 media day when we were sitting back there talking about how is Kansas going to use Darren Peterson? And it felt like put the ball in his hands, give him a ball screen and just let him lead the nation in shots. Usage rate through the roof. And that's a hard thing to do when you're alternating between him being in the lineup and out of the lineup. It's a hard thing to manage from just the locker room perspective, I would imagine. And so it's just, it never got right. I wouldn't rule out anything, but I'm not expecting a Kansas run at this point. All right, couple more things we're going to do when take a break and when we come back, we're going to put two teams on upset alert. Are you ready to put two teams on upset alert?

[Gary Parrish]

Always.

[Matt Norlander]

I am, too. Oh, I live to put teams on upset alert. So, Josh, hit you a little button. Let's get a word from our partners and then come back and somebody's getting put on upset alert. I hope it's not your favorite team. This is Gary Parrish. I have a confession. That confession is that sometimes, yeah, I hit an afternoon wall. Say, in between doing the Ion college basketball podcast and, you know, walking to the broadcast center for a night in studio, I realized I probably didn't get enough rest. I need some caffeine. I want something sweet, but not like some big shit sugary drink. And that's why I'm obsessed with the new fruity rainbow shots from Five Hour Energy. They seriously taste like a handful of classic rainbow candy. Bright, juicy, and fun, but with a caffeine kick built in. It's like caffeine finally got that flavor glow up it always deserved. It was 17 flavors total in the 5 hour energy lineup. There is something for every mood, but this fruity rainbow launch is all about that bold, sweet Fruity Chaos what do I love most? It's the big flavor in that tiny portable two ounce bottle. I can throw it in my bag, keep one in my car, stash it at my desk golf bag. It's no bulky can, no sticky wrappers, no sugar crash. It's a zero sugar treat that's totally sweet tooth approved. So it feels indulgent, but it's actually practical. If you're gonna grab caffeine anyway, it might as well taste like candy. Get Candy Flavored Chaos with fruity rainbow 5 Hour Energy shots available online at 5 Hour Energy.com or Amazon. March is here, and if you've ever followed the tournament, you know one thing, the only predictable thing is the chaos upsets buzzer beaters, Cinderella runs. It's the best kind of unpredictable. And that's exactly why DraftKings Sportsbook, the number one sportsbook for live betting, is built for March. The tournament is unexpected, rewards are guaranteed, and DraftKings Sportsbook is delivering some of the most generous rewards in the market. What I like about DraftKings it is the live betting. With DraftKings, the number one sportsbook for live, you're not betting on what might happen later, you're betting on what's happening right now. While the game unfolds, momentum shifts, big plays, last second drama. You can get in on the action as it happens. And if you're new to DraftKings, it's the perfect time to jump in. Just bet $5 and get 200 in bonus bets instantly. Download the DraftKings sportsbook app now and use code I. That's code I. Eye to turn five bucks into 200 in bonus bets instantly. In partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800- gambler or 1-800-MY-SET NEW YORK Call 877-8-HOPE NY or text Hope NY, CT call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org on behalf of Boot Hill Casino in Kansas. Wager text Pass through May apply in Illinois 21 in most states. Void in Ontario, restrictions apply. Bonus bets expire seven days after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see sportsbook.draftkings.com promos Limited time offer.

[Gary Parrish]

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[Josh]

And.

[Gary Parrish]

And if you're thinking I want even more hoops, you can add an extra pack to your subscription for just $1. Sling offers flexibility. No overpaying, no over committing. Their flexible passes. Subscription lets you watch live college basketball when you want and you can start watching in minutes. It's tournament level excitement. Just tournaments so crazy they'd be crazy to miss. Sling makes it easy to watch the games you want, when you want without locking into a full subscription. Sling lets you do that. Visit sling.com to learn more.

[Matt Norlander]

All right, it's time for the upset alert. The Upset alert. It is sponsored by DraftKings. Stay tuned because you'll hear more about DraftKings and all it has to offer throughout the show. DraftKings, the Crown is yours. All right, Norlander.

[Gary Parrish]

Yep. You first. You first.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay.

[Gary Parrish]

Because I don't want us to have the same one and I have a backup if we have the same one.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay. Okay.

[Gary Parrish]

What do you got?

[Matt Norlander]

I know it's been a rough season. I don't take any pride in doing this.

[Gary Parrish]

Oh, I'm trying to guess what this is going to be. Give me a hint before you say it. Don't give it away.

[Matt Norlander]

I understand it's possible. No job gets harder for a coach in the country than this job. Particularly when you lose to a mid major from a mid major league. But you're not healthy. You haven't been much of the season, Louisville. And you're running into a basketball team that won 26 times a season and has a man that used to guide a power conference school to the NCAA tournament consistently. Perhaps it wasn't properly appreciated in real time, but he bounced around a little bit after that and now he finds himself out in California with third best team from the west coast conference.

[Gary Parrish]

Is this even upset alert?

[Matt Norlander]

Kentucky is listed as a 3 1/2 point favorite.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay.

[Matt Norlander]

Over the Santa clara with a 10

[Gary Parrish]

over a 7 being labeled as an upset in the tournament, generally speaking. But you go ahead and cook.

[Matt Norlander]

I don't give a about your issues. A ten over seven is an upset. A three and a half point underdog winning is an upset. Give me Herb Sendek. Give me Santa Clara. Kentucky, you have been placed on upset alert.

[Gary Parrish]

Do I have even a button for this? Like what would I possibly use for. How about this?

[Matt Norlander]

I'm a Sun Devil. It could be. It could be. Shaka. We can practice like this. It could be. It could be. I go. I go. Kentucky, you're on upset alert.

[Gary Parrish]

And then you go, am I, am I doing this?

[Matt Norlander]

No, I think the other one.

[Gary Parrish]

The other one.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, I think that's it. Okay, let's try again. Let's try again. Give me Herb Cindic. Give me Santa Clara. Kentucky, you're on upset alert. Okay, I think that works.

[Gary Parrish]

Fair enough. I understand it's actually a technically an upset, but 10 over.

[Matt Norlander]

But maybe you should shut your stupid mouth off if you wonder. How about this going forward? How about this moving forward on this podcast? If you understand that what I'm saying is true, don't try to take issue with it. How about that's a new rule for the podcast.

[Gary Parrish]

You can't follow that own rule. It's on a show by show basis. Absolutely not. Okay, I'm going. How about this? Unintentionally, we're putting the entire commonwealth on upset alert.

[Matt Norlander]

Oh no.

[Gary Parrish]

South Florida over Louisville. Oh, very, very trendy. Eleven over six here. But with the uncertainty with Mikel Brown Jr. How effective will he be? Is he going to play? Reminder to everyone listening, the NCAA tournament for the first time this season will put out day before availability reports. So we will know more as we draw closer to that game between these two teams. This is a 1:30 eastern tip on Thursday in Buffalo. Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson, Ali laforce on tnt. So we will get that availability report on Brown on Wednesday. Kelsey's done a good job getting them to back to back tournaments. You've turned the ship around for sure. But now can we get a win? Kelsey's never won in the first round and his head coaching career one lost last year at Louisville. 02 at Charleston, Owen, two at Winthrop. Those are low major jobs. That's a little more difficult. Louisville loves to launch the 3. South Florida is a team we talked a little bit about earlier this week. It's. It's won 25 games this year. Brian Hodgson has done an excellent job in year one at that school. Here's a nugget for you. There are 13 coaches in their first year at their given schools in this year's tournament. 13 out of 68. That is a record for the most ever in a single NCAA tournament. USF is great.

[Matt Norlander]

Let me stop you from there for a second. I actually think there's an explanation for that. In different areas of the sport, you take a job. The signing classes were done in November. You just, you just sort of like left with whatever the guy before you got and whatever you could scramble together at the last minute. So it was much harder to be good in year one. Like I remember Tom Crean getting the Indiana job and it was like, even if he's amazing, this is going to take three years. Like and now you can flip these things pretty quickly because the NIL transfer waivers. I know you know that, but I just think it's worth pointing out there's an explanation for this is the most this has ever happened and it's because you can roster build in one off season in ways that you couldn't previously.

[Gary Parrish]

I think there's a lot to that. And yes, I think that feeds into what's happened here and, and by the way, springing more hope across the country with this. Now this also in some ways gives more athletic directors reason to make a change and that can benefit. And now also, it can also backfire frankly. But when you see 13 guys at varying levels across the country were able to walk in in year one and you get to play on this stage and not have to wait even to year two, that that has a real impact across the country. Isaiah Nelson, American Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, really good player there. He's one of five guys on the South Florida roster averaging at least 11 points this season. Between him and Wes Enos, who can launch it from deep? I do. I'm putting Louisville on an upsell alert. But the hardcore is that just love this tournament every year and have made picks and, and bet against it like they know that there are games every year man where there are just the matchups are released. You hear it on cbs, you see a flash across the screen and by Sunday night it feels like the entire world is picking that game. This is a classic example. It feels like South Florida might be the most popular 5 seed difference for an upset. That's where my line is drawn. And more than any 12 over 5, more than VC over North Carolina, there are some, there are some popular ones there. To me, there's not one that's more commonplace for upset alert here than South Florida over Louisville. It is my pick nonetheless. And that's another game in what I think is the, the strongest TV window is the one that we get going here. We have tcu, Ohio State on cbs. Then we get Troy Nebraska on true tv who's going to get their first tournament win. Then we get this game, South Florida and Louisville and Buffalo and then Portland to finish it off. We get 5 seed Wisconsin versus 12 seed High Point. That's nasty good. Like every single one of those games has real draw, real appeal. I can only hope at least a couple of them finish off real close there. That's a, that's an epic first window to get things rolling on Thursday.

[Matt Norlander]

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[Gary Parrish]

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[Matt Norlander]

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[Gary Parrish]

I gotta go. I gotta go Wednesday because Miami University playing in the first four is the most must see, can't miss game of the opening rounds and then the first round. This, this is a first time thing. I don't know if we'll ever see something like this happen again. The sports watching world is going to tune into this game around 9:15 Eastern. That'll be in the Midwest region on True TV coming out of Dayton, Ohio. Winner gets Tennessee on Friday and here's just a few quickies tied to tied to this game. Miami is the is the first team to ever get in that large bid with 0 quad 1 net wins. You probably realize that. What you might not realize is Miami is only one of five teams in the past 10 seasons to get in that large bid without playing an AP ranked team. There was another one that happened this season, St. Louis also comfortably in the field. Miami is the first Mac team to get in that large since of course Wally was on the squad back in 99. But this team is second in the country in points per game 90.7. It's first in the country in field goal percentage 52.4%. Its effective field goal percentage is 61.2%. That's the most by any team, not any tournament team, any team ever since 2000. Since we turned over to the to this millennium. Technically we did that on 2001. I get, I get you on how the calendar works there people. Miami is one of two teams in this tournament with at least six scores of 10 points a game or more. Queens is the other one but it's the only one that's got seven. So you have that going up against SMU Bupy Miller, outstanding player. In fact, he's one of only three players in the tournament averaging at least 18 points and six assists. The other two are Darius Acuff and Christian Anderson. Real, real dude. The only players in this tournament that have scored more points in their career than Miller of SMU are Thornton at Ohio State, Jerome Pierre at smu, his own teammate, and Graham Ek at Gonzaga. So SMU has the ability, it has the horses. Miami has the shooting. Can the this team beat its first high major opponent of the season? MUST WATCH STUFF. GP's gonna be in studio late on Wednesday. I'll probably hop on here for a good 10 minutes, winner, winner, lose, and talk Miami and see how this game goes for a quick reaction pot. If you want to hop on late Wednesday, we won't go long, it'll just be me, but we'll, I'll talk to it. Whether they keep the story going or whether it ends, we'll give you a quickie pod that you can listen to in real time or have ready for you early Thursday morning before we get the first round going.

[Matt Norlander]

I don't mean to double up, but you're right, that's the game. That's the game Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. And I don't think I've ever said a first four game is the best game to, or the most interesting game or the most. I, you know, I can't wait to see how it goes. Game of the, of the first rounds of the tournament. I don't think I've ever labeled a first four game that. But I think this one applies because Miami has been such a big story this entire season and the more I thought about it, I don't just like the way the committee handled them. I think it's perfect. I think they did exactly what you're supposed to do with Miami Ohio, like going forward, whether it's an official rule or an unofficial rule, here would be my standard. Any team from any conference finishes its regular season undefeated, we're going to put you in that bracket with an at large bid if you need it. Anybody, any league.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, yeah. It should be actual bylaw. If you don't lose a game in the regular season, you play in the national tournament. That's just my opinion.

[Matt Norlander]

I'm fine with that. And I know some people say, well, won't that encourage, you know, an SEC team? Like, hey, good luck, good luck, good luck. Hey, encourage away. If you try to manipulate it and say we're going to schedule to go undefeated, you know what you're going to do have a terrible strength of schedule and not go undefeated. That's what's going to happen to you. So I'm not worried about what it encourages because it'll just encourage coaches to walk right into landmines. If you finish your regular season undefeated, we're going to put you in the bracket as an at large, if you need an at large, no matter what happens to you in your conference tournament. But then we will seed you on your predictives. I think that's totally fair. Completely fair. That's what was done here. I like the way the committee handled Miami Ohio, and now I really do think, I assume SMU fans are rooting against him. Probably. Probably some Auburn fans. But outside of that, the country wants to see Miami Ohio win a game against the Power conference school. I kind of wish it was somebody other than SMU because SMU doesn't sound power conferencing. It ain't been there too long. Like, like, I wish it was like Miami Ohio against Michigan State or like, you know, Michigan State. They're not down here. So, like, if Indiana could have got in, if, frankly, Auburn would have been the dream story, but it didn't fit. But that would have been awesome. But we still get Miami Ohio against the Power Conference school on True TV 9:15 Wednesday night. And that is the game I'm most interested in. I don't know about watching because I'm most interested in watching Darius Acuff and AJ DeBonta, stuff like that. But in terms of. I want to see how it goes. That's the one. Because it. I think it shapes the way these guys are remembered forever. Maybe not on campus, but throughout the country. They're either going to be. Remember that team that went undefeated in the regular season and it was Redhawks and Wally Zerbiak. And then they got to the tournament and people argued whether they should have. And then they beat SMU to go to the round of 64. See, they're going to be that. Or remember that Miami, Miami team that everybody tried to tell you wasn't really that good and they went undefeated in the regular season and people were like, isn't it great? And we're like, yeah, but they didn't play anybody. And then they finally got into the tournament and they put them against SMU and they lost by 12. I mean, it really does shape the way the story is framed. It's a huge game. Huge game for the program, for Travis, for those young men. And yeah, that's. That's the one to. To pay attention to over the first few days. Get in the game with the college

[Gary Parrish]

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[Matt Norlander]

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[Gary Parrish]

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[Matt Norlander]

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[Gary Parrish]

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[Matt Norlander]

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[Gary Parrish]

cash back per month yeah, it's going to be tasty. I got a couple nuggets I want to toss out to the audience, but real quick, just games that we didn't dive into. I just want to know which one of these just has you most interested. I'm gonna just give you a random assortment. You, you pluck one out of the basket. Wisconsin high point of 512. St. John's Northern Iowa 512 UCLA UCF A 710 Miami Missouri A 710. I'm not going to include the teams that are in the first four because we don't know the matchups there obviously. Clemson 89 we didn't get to Nova. Utah State we didn't get to Nova. I, I looked, I think Nova might be the worst performing team efficiency wise of any of the at larges over the past like two months. Maybe there's something like that. It's an 89 but Nova's not been playing well as of late so I'm, I'm interested to see if they reverse that GP or not. Anything else there that we didn't touch on a ton. I know Fournelli wanted some more Illinois pen talk, but we can wait on how that game actually plays out. And Vandy McNeese, like that's another pretty decent one. Which of those interests you the most?

[Matt Norlander]

St. John's Northern Iowa. Because as somebody who just jumped back on the St. John's train, I'm nervous about it because I've seen how these things go. We talk about it in the regular season all the time let down situations. And I don't think we typically think About Round of 64, the NCAA Tournament is let down situation. But think about what St. John's goes from to what St. John's goes to in the Garden. Jam packed. There's Dan Hurley, UConn. I mean that's a, I mean that's a memory forever. And Then they're going to look up at 7 o' clock on Friday night and they're playing Northern Iowa and yet some primetime. But the building ain't going to be popping the way the Garden pops and the opponent's not going to have you turned up the way UConn has you turned up and that, that, that kind of game. Like, I'm real interested to see what St. John's looks like the first eight minutes because that has the recipe in my head of man, they come out, they look sluggish. Northern Iowa just knocked down four threes and you know, they're down 19 to 11 early. Where's this going? I just, I do think let down type of thing can, can carry over from conference tournament title, championship to Round of 64 against the Northern Iowa. And if I were Rick, I'd be, I'd be aware. Not that Rick needs to hear from me what he should be aware of, to be clear. But that's a, that's a scary little place where I've seen teams get caught like that before. They're coming in the tournament and they look unbeatable for us. And then they just suddenly they're down double digits. It's early in the second half and now everything gets tense.

[Gary Parrish]

Team plays slow. Northern Iowa allows the fewest points in the tournament. They want, they want to get to 62 points and, and beat you that way. So that' that'll be an interesting one. And you got the cross country trip. In addition to that, on Wednesday morning, we. They should publish. I, I do this huge hodgepodge of just stats, trends, nuggets. I've done it, I've done this, I think close to 15 years. A lot of the stuff I just update yearly and try and add some new stuff here as well. I'm just gonna give you a few here as we get out the door and then be sure to look for it. If you think it helps you make your bracket, all the better, by all means. I can't promise that it will. But here's a few things about the tournament as we get ready for everything to get going. This is the 87th tournament, if you are curious. There have been 3770 tournament games played in the event's history. The best teams that don't have a national title with good seeds this season, Houston, Purdue, Iowa State, Gonzaga and Illinois. Zero national titles, but they have the best seeds here. Duke is a 1 seed for the 16th time. Carolina has the most with 18. Kentucky, it's the 64th tournament, has the Most of any school in history. Duke has 16 wins against the field. That's the most of any. But Kentucky has the most games against the field. Kentucky played 19 tournament team teams this season. Remember that week six AP poll GP on a reminder, who's in the who was in the top 12 of the week 6?

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, why not?

[Gary Parrish]

Every year since 04 a team in the top 12 of the week 6 AP top 25 went on to win the national title. This is from 12 to 1 back then Alabama, Louisville, BYU, Michigan State, Gonzaga, Houston, Purdue, Yukon, Iowa State, Duke, Michigan. In week six the number one team in the country was Arizona. So one of those 12 teams will win the national title. I agree this is a bit of an infamous stat at this point. No team has ever lost its first conference tournament game and won a national championship. That would see and that would seemingly eliminate these teams with top four seeds. Illinois, Michigan State, Nebraska and Alabama were all one and done in their respective league tournaments. Keep an eye on that. What else can I give you here? Idaho has the longest drought that it snapped last was in the field and 36 years ago. Arizona has the best neutral court and road combined record of any team in the tournament. 16 and 1. Alabama for the second straight year faced the fewest quad four teams. It only had two a year ago only has two this year. Coaches with top four seeds not to have yet made a final four. Tommy Lloyd, TJ Otzelberger, Brad Underwood, Ryan Odom and Fred hoiberg over under 1.5 coaches make the final four from that group.

[Matt Norlander]

GP give me the list more time.

[Gary Parrish]

Underwood, Odom, Hoiberg.

[Matt Norlander]

Would you put a number at 1.5, 1.5. Give it to me again the list.

[Gary Parrish]

These are coaches at a top four seed that I got that as a head coach. I'm just reminding the audience yeah, Tommy Lloyd, Lloyd Otzelberger, Underwood, Odom, hoiberg. Under under 1.5 my bright my bracket has over I've got Arizona and Iowa State there but we'll see. I think the smart play is probably under but we'll see.

[Matt Norlander]

I will say that on a similar note one of the things that came up on HQ was I want to make sure I get it right every it's X number of the past ex national champions. Whatever the number is it's it's pretty large. Either won a conference regular season title or a conference tournament title before winning the national championship. And so I was asked like could you see a team not could you see a team doing you know breaking that trend and the obvious One's Houston didn't win the regular season Big 12 title, didn't win the Big 12 tournament, but is actually my pick to win the national championship. And I think that's one of the trends that's going to go to the wayside because in these big bloated conferences, you're going to have legitimate national championship contenders almost, almost annually that don't win their conference championship or their conference tournament because like, why didn't Houston do it? Because Arizona did, you know. Right. And you could. Both of those teams can win a national championship. And if one of them sweeps the two trophies, well, then you're going to have the other fall into this category. The other one that came up every, you know, X amount of the past ex national champions had the program had been to a final four previously at some point in the history of the program before it actually won a national championship. And that's another one that I just don't think matters that much anymore. Because like, look at Indiana football. If you got the right coach and you got the right resources and you're in pedal for, you can build this thing any. Almost anywhere. Almost anywhere. And so I don't. I care less about program history today than I've ever cared. And it's because of Indiana football and what Indiana football proves you can do in college athletics these days, which is build something great anywhere at the power four level, pretty much regardless of what's

[Gary Parrish]

been built there before to that point, golden hadn't won a tournament game and then he won the title. I think that's true of Hurley, or maybe he had won one and then he won the title. I'll give you a couple more. We promised Josh he could get his final four picks on the show. We're almost done here. Only three years ever. As you're doing your bracket, you're trying to finish it out. Just know this. Since we went to 64 teams in 85, the only years in which the ones, the twos, the threes and the fours all won in the first round. There wasn't a single upset in those lines 2007, 2017 and last year. So could we have a repeat? Sure, maybe. And there's actually been a lot of data out there. I'm going to reference a couple things that I saw here. David Purdom, who covers gambling and betting for ESPN. All five seeds are at least 8 point favorites over 12s for the first time ever. The average spread for the 413s is the largest ever average spread for the 314s is the largest ever. All two seeds are all 20 point favorites for the first time ever and that makes sense with with the portal and what we've seen here. Matthew Winnick does good stuff with basket and review. I'll set all five seeds are power conference teams in Ken Palm's top 25. All 12s are mid major teams in the top 100. And this year if you were a top 25 team and you played a mid major in the top 100 12, 0 average margin plus 19 in those. So we'll see. We need the bracket gods to throw some lightning bolts here. Like I need to see a shocker or two. I think we may have something if we get to this again with the ones, twos, threes and fours all making it to Saturday and Sunday. History says that doesn't happen, but we are now in a new era. Let's just, let's just keep that, keep that in mind there. Just a couple more here for you

[Matt Norlander]

GP

[Gary Parrish]

I'm seeing what I want to give you here. I've got a lot of good ones and a lot of this stuff will obviously be on the site, but I know a lot of people taking their college basketball content through podcast form and aren't necessarily going to to read it. Auburn this year 38th at KenPom, the best team not to get in. Miami 93rd, the lowest ever obviously to make it in period. A top three seed has won the national title in 24 the last 26 tournaments. Two exceptions are both Connecticut and 14. And in 2023 when Yukon was a four and it won it in 12 of the past 14 tournaments, a seven seed or worse has cracked the elite eight. Do we see that again this year? I don't know. We'll see. Houston now has the longest Sweet 16 Sweet 16 streak. GP six years in a row. It was Gonzaga obviously. That streak ended last year. Houston's gone six years in a row. We think it's going to be 7. No other school has longer than a 3 year sweet 16 run, so I'll have plenty more than just this if you want another good one. Forty teams in this year's tournament average at least 80 points. That's the most effort to enter a tournament. The previous record in 1989, 37 of the then 64 teams averaged at least 80. It's incredible stuff. BYU in the tournament for the 33rd time. It has more tournament appearances than any other school without making a Final Four. If this stuff gets your juices flowing, filling out the bracket, check CBS Sports early in the Morning and we'll have a story up there that you can just dive and just swim around in this stuff and help you make your picks before we get out of here. Josh, you are up, buddy. Did not want to get you out without at least sharing with the world your final four and national title pick. So you've had plenty of time to do it. We'll get your picks up on our bracket games as well. That is linked in this pod. That podcast description. No matter how you are taking this podcast, there is a link to that. If you've done it in years past. Go back to the CBS Sports app Bracket games Ion College basketball Challenge. You are auto put back into that pool. Just make your picks and compete against me, Josh and GP Josh, it's all you. What do you got?

[Josh]

First of all, my camera did not show up to the party here. Not in focus. It's been in focus for six straight months. Not in focus now.

[Matt Norlander]

I like it when somebody else has technical difficulties. If I could, if I could mute your mic right now, I would just know that

[Josh]

I, I'll. I'll keep that in mind. Maybe I'll, maybe I'll send you the producer login so you can.

[Matt Norlander]

That's what I need.

[Josh]

Have a little bit of fun.

[Gary Parrish]

Please do not.

[Matt Norlander]

That's what I need. Let me handle this podcast.

[Gary Parrish]

Burns down

[Josh]

final four picks in the East. Duke. I'm pretty comfortable being the only one of the three of us having the team with Cam Boozer and assuming they can get through the first weekend, they should get hopefully a little healthier and I'll, I'll take them. I don't think enough people are talking about Michigan State in that, in that region. In the South. Houston. They've got, they've got it all. I'm right there with you guys in that, in that. In that region. Guard play, experience, coaching defense and the poetic justice of what happened to them last year in the final hours.

[Gary Parrish]

Jinx the Cougars. Just so everyone's a fully. This is not happening. All three of us have Houston going to the final.

[Matt Norlander]

Did you hear they're going to have a home court advantage in the sweet 16 in the elite Eight. Did you hear about that?

[Josh]

I've been hearing about that on our podcast.

[Matt Norlander]

What are you.

[Gary Parrish]

Steve on GP side two straight days. We got. We got some good run on the SV pod. Stanford. Steve took in our show in real time and he agrees with GP. He's. He's, he's pissed about that. He's furious over Missouri in St. Louis. It was genuinely very well, that's nice to know.

[Matt Norlander]

I, I got, I got notes from people. I, I was like, I don't need to hear everybody's opinion. Like, I know the, the nice thing to say is like, you know, everybody's opinion matters. I do not. I've never believed that, like, everybody's opinion does not matter. I don't need to know what most people think. But I did get text, you know, from, from a handful of people whose opinions do matter to me, and they, they were encouraging text that I, I think, I think I'm on the right side of history here. I think, I think I'm on the right side of history with bracketing principles here.

[Gary Parrish]

I'm just less bothered by it than gp. We are not going back into this. I.

[Matt Norlander]

No, no, no, no, we're not.

[Gary Parrish]

Missouri potentially playing in the second round against Purdue. That's atrocious. One, two, whatever.

[Matt Norlander]

And by the way, I can't like the way these clips get clipped, which they're fine like that. Arguing about the clips.

[Gary Parrish]

Here we go.

[Matt Norlander]

No, no, I don't mean that like, I know you can't do an eight minute clip. And I tend to talk in nuanced ways for long periods of time, so I know I make the job very tough. But like the, the clip goes and it's, it's per. Like I stand by everything I said, but then I'm, it's like a thousand Houston fans going, well, don't you know we had in Indianapolis last year. Did you have anything to say about that? Yes. I thought that sucked too. I said it last year. I, I know you can't, you can't put this principle in and expand it all the way out to the, the four seed and the sixth seed and the eight seed. But if you want to keep it very simple, this would be my suggestion. Under no circumstances should the two seed be in what amounts to a home court advantage against a one seed. If it happens to get to the Elite Eight, period. You get that out of the bracket every time. That's what I believe. I'll, I'll, I'll die screaming that one.

[Josh]

My favorite part is that people think it's an anti Houston take. It's not an anti Houston.

[Matt Norlander]

It's not an anti. It doesn't matter who it is. It could be any, any two teams. And I would say it's wrong. I like, it's so funny. I tell, I tell people, anybody who listen. If I could write the NCAA tournament, I would write Kelvin Sampson winning it within a manual sharp buzzer. Beater. Like if I could write the script to this NCAA tournament, that's what I'm writing. I want Houston to win the national championship. I just think it's fundamentally wrong to have a one seed playing a road game in the Elite Eight. And we are on track for that. Doesn't mean we'll get it, but we are on track for that. And I promise you, when it happens, you're going to turn on your TV and everybody's going to say the same things I said Sunday night. Just probably, just probably in shorter amounts of time.

[Gary Parrish]

What's the right half of your bracket, Josh?

[Josh]

In the West, I'm, I'm drinking the Kool Aid. Purdue.

[Gary Parrish]

Wow.

[Josh]

I Saying things like the west has a lot of offensive firepower I think is a great thing for Purdue. And if you're telling me I get three chances for. While Arizona can absolutely win a title, not shooting threes, giving me three chances for them to just get beat so bad at the three point line that they, they stumble, I'll take it because that's the team I just have a hard time envisioning Purdue beating. But okay, we could get all the way to the Elite Eight before that and, or not at all. So Purdue in the west and then in the Midwest. I agree with Norlander that I, I get weird vibes from the Midwest. Not totally could just be a weird bracket, but I ended up going with Iowa State, which is not especially weird. I just think they're, they're really awesome. I think the Elite Eight matchup I want the most is Michigan. Iowa State. That's. That just feels big boy basketball and would be really fun. But think the Cyclones get past Michigan because the thing I haven't been able to gotten to say all year is that I just am pretty uninspired by Michigan's backcourt play and I think it's going to bite him at some point.

[Gary Parrish]

So Duke, Michigan.

[Matt Norlander]

So Duke, Houston, Purdue and Iowa State. What's your title?

[Josh]

That's correct. My title game is Houston over Purdue in the title.

[Matt Norlander]

All right, so we got all three of us and pick Houston to win the national championship. I'm sure that, I'm sure that. I'm sure that. I'm sure that'll work out well. I'm sure that'll work out perfectly.

[Gary Parrish]

That's gonna blow up in our face. Speaking of, Michigan got a FaceTime for we can wrap but literally right as we're about to go, I was like, I, I gotta go. We got a podcast. Michigan's taking the bus to Buffalo. So they're on their way now. And they. Since they didn't fly, they took the bus. They took like a five hour ride or whatever and they're all crammed into this, this rest stop. They just had to. Guys got to go to the bathroom, they want some food. And they, they were west of Erie, Pennsylvania in a loves. And it was Boynton, the Mike Boynton, who, who FaceTime. He just, just. He wanted to say, hey, this is what, this is what one of your one seats is doing. And right behind him I took a screenshot. It's going in the. No context. It's a Dai Mara wearing some goofy dumbass hat in the middle. It's just, it's just hilarious to me that one of the best teams in college basketball is in Erie Pennsylvan. Rating this loves or whatever it is on the side of the road before they got back on it was imagine.

[Matt Norlander]

You imagine you're just like, you know, you're just going to get gas in Erie, Pennsylvania.

[Gary Parrish]

Is that freaking the axel?

[Matt Norlander]

Is that, is that Moranz Johnson and he's just standing over there. Yes, just standing like this.

[Gary Parrish]

He's next to the powerades in the fridge in the back. It's just him staring at everyone.

[Matt Norlander]

There is a story and then we'll get out of here in that. I read Jeff Perlman's Tupac book and there's a story about like this low level college football team. On the day Tupac died, they were coming back to California from somewhere and he was going to Vegas for the Tyson fight and he stopped at it in and out. And this football team has stopped at it in and out. And they're like looking, it's like a bus of football players and they're like, is that, is that Pac? And they run up on him and he's like scared because he's not, you know, after you've been shot a few times, you don't like a bunch of people running up on you. And so there's a whole like, I don't want to say chapter, but like a whole piece of the book about how random it is to just see people in places you don't expect to see them. And I think the Michigan basketball team outside of gas station in Erie, Pennsylvania probably qualifies.

[Gary Parrish]

It's just, it's just incredible. It's incredible. Hope everyone enjoyed this bonus episode. We know there's been a big frenzy for our, for our stuff here. We know you're ready. Tournament gets going here, folks. Less than an hour. So everyone that watched live. We appreciate you. As a reminder here, starting with the Miami game on Wednesday, you are getting recap episodes every single night either live. You want to take that in? By all means, let's do it. And if not, they'll be waiting for you early the next morning. GP and I have different studio schedules and travel schedules so we will have some shows together, but by nature of that we're not waiting to go live at 2:30 in the morning. So we'll have no shortage of guests here and give you an instant reaction and podcast that we we promise you will not be an hour and 25 minutes long. This was your last big one for till the end of the season.

[Matt Norlander]

That's the show. Shout outs to Devin Downey shouts to Chester, South Carolina shouts to Terry Teagle legend Huck Larnell. Thank you guys once again for watching Listening to Eye on College Basketball Podcast. You're not subscribed. Please go subscribe anywhere you subscribe to podcasts Apple and Spotify. There's more of us than there are of them. That should be reflected in the comments. So please do that. We talk to you again real soon. Till then, take care. Paramount Podcasts

[Gary Parrish]

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[Matt Norlander]

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