← Eye On College Basketball
Eye On College Basketball
Players Era debrief: brackets, crowds + more; Gonzaga vs. Michigan in title game; Duke vs. Arkansas on Thanksgiving
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- [00:00]
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- [01:08]
JP
Payment of $45 for three month plan equivalent to 15 per month required new customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow hacker 35 gigabytes of networks busy taxes and fees extra. See mint mobile.com. Hey there I am Gary Parish. Welcome back CBS Sports. I own College basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, dodo birds and leaky black cow. Boone is here with me. Look at that strong jaw. If you're watching on YouTube be Brandon Davies. Smash that like button. If you haven't yet subscribed to the CBS Sports Island College Basketball podcast, please go do that anywhere you subscribe to podcasts including Apple and Spotify. Let's get into it. I want to start with the players era festival where we have 18 teams just we got 18 teams playing out in Las Vegas in front of. I think what most would agree, lackluster crowds and with a format that most normal people either do not understand or more likely have no interest, just don't care enough to even try to understand the title game either way is tonight Gonzaga Michigan. That should be fun. But a title game of Gonzaga Michigan means that Tennessee just went 20 in the Players Era Festival beat the highest ranked team in the entire event. That was Houston and still couldn't make the championship game because of point differential. UT beat Rutgers by 25 and Houston by three, but Gonzaga beat Alabama by 10 and Maryland by 39, beat Michigan by Sandy, beat, and then Michigan beat San Diego State by 40, Auburn by 30. So it's Gonzaga, Michigan for a million bucks and Tennessee only gets to play for 300,000. Never mind that it's undefeated with a win over the best team in the event. I think that summarizes things. KB do you agree that this is goofy or do you want to argue with me?
- [03:07]
KB
No, of course it's goofy. It makes no sense. I mean, we had Norlander wrote a, an overnight column on cbs sports.com which I think kind of struck to the heart of the situation. Or I think you could argue the debacle, which is like, it is so confusing. It, it really does not make sense. It doesn't award what I believe is, you know, the best teams. And so when you go away from a bracket format, you end up in a situation where Tennessee, which as you noted, arguably had the best win of the week, they beat Houston, they're playing in a third place game despite winning both of their games. You have Iowa State completely missing on a chance to play for money today because of, you know, a late Dylan Mitchell bucket in a St. John's game that was largely inconsequential or running out the clock versus Creighton when maybe they should have run up the score. And like, I guess on one hand I get it, like you're playing and you know the rules. The, the rules are, it is point differential. But this is what happens when you veer away from like tradition, from norms and from like the proven format of playing in a bracket. You get a situation where I think Iowa State fans would argue the, the best team is not playing for the championship in this event. I think Tennessee fans would argue the best team is not playing for the championship in this event. And I don't know if I would argue that necessarily. Like, I think Gonzaga and Michigan have played very well. But you know, when, when you don't get a chance to, to kind of prove yourself and you, it comes down to, you know, a situation where you are determining advancing based off one criteria, which is scoring differential. You end up, end up in a situation where this, where it's confusing, it makes no sense. And on top of that, like the crowds have been lackluster. It has just been kind of a cluster in, in many ways this week.
- [05:09]
JP
JP Yeah, I, I tweeted, I guess a couple of days ago with a clip from Sunday's episode and I think I used the word flourishing like that. The Players Era Festival is flourishing. Why? The Maui Invitational Is is clearly struggling with its worst field, arguably ever. And there was a little pushback. Like, what do you mean flourishing? I'm watching this thing. There's nobody there. What I mean by flourishing is they're getting most of the best programs that they want to come there, and it's making things more difficult for Maui and perhaps impossible or at least deadly for, for, for the battle for Atlantis. So is it flourishing in the sense that, oh man, this is awesome. Look at it. No, I don't like what I see either. But it is, it is collecting the best programs in America and bringing them to Las Vegas for, for a few days. But the format is just goofy. And if you have a tournament where somebody can go undefeated, beat the perceived best team in your event and not play for the championship game, you don't really have a tournament. You just got something that doesn't make sense to any sort of normal thinking person. And what I hate more than this not making sense, because I could actually understand on some level where you go, let's give it a try. I would have told you not to give this a try. Keep in mind none of this is hindsight stuff. I said this on Sunday. I said this is all goofy. And now here we are, the whole world's saying it's goofy. I, I would have told you in the, in the meeting last year when you're planning this that this is goofy. And the reaction you're getting is, is, is the reaction you're going to get. But if you wanted to just give it a try, then, whatever, give it a try. Maybe you're smarter than I am. I, I would like it if they would now at least acknowledge that their, their, their way of doing things is nonsensical to basketball fans. But that's not what they're doing. Right. Norlander had the column overnight from Las Vegas. He's out there. There's a quote from the co. Found one of the co founders, a guy named Seth Berger, and here's the quote. We do something different. So actually you're not just watching the same thing you've been watching every November, just with more teams. We're trying to bring November basketball to more casual fans. So clearly one of the things we have to do is continue educating about why our format is unique and it's exciting. In this format, every shot matters, every basket matters, every minute matters. End quote. That's ridiculous. That's you doubling down on this thing that the whole world is telling you they don't like. Why are you doing that? Like, we're all telling you this doesn't make sense. And it's not just me. It's the like. Do a Twitter search for your format. See what, see what pops up and you're trying and you know what that translates to. No, no, no. You guys just don't get it. Don't understand how exciting this is. You don't understand what you're watching. So we've got to do a better job of making you understand how awesome this idea is. I dare you, I dare you to do this again next year. Bring your exciting format back next year. You'll have the same reaction next year. This is simple. Next year, they say they're going to have 32 teams. I believe them. What's 32 divided by four? Do some math for me. KB8. Well, okay, perfect. Let's do four. 18 tournaments. Four little 18 tournaments. I don't care who's in which one. But it'll look, it'll look the way it's supposed to look. You'll have a bracket and these teams will play each other and the winner will go here and the loser will go here. And we know how that works. We've been doing that, at least in Maui since 1984. That's the way you do it. If you do this event, if you want to have 32 teams. But if you want to keep trying to tell us we just don't understand your exciting format, we don't. We, we're not sophisticated enough to understand how exciting this thing we're watching is. Keep doing that, you'll keep getting the same type of pushback. You could just admit a mistake and correct it. But if you want to double down, well, then you'll get, you'll get. I'll tell, I'm telling you now what you'll get next year. In fairness, they do say also that they are open minded to anything, that everything's on the table, nothing is set in stone. So hopefully they, they, they recognize that this format is not nearly as exciting as people as, as you are trying to tell people. It's just, it's conf. In every way. He thinks it's exciting. It's just confusing. Just something exciting and insert confusing and then you got a better quote.
- [09:29]
KB
Yeah. And you know, I think, I think you've said it well this week, JP I've been, you know, nodding along, agreeing with everything you've said. I don't blame the programs for taking the money.
- [09:40]
JP
Right.
- [09:40]
KB
Like in today's college basketball world, money literally buys talent. And you know, as a Result, it might literally buy wins. Like you need it to survive, you need it to adapt in, in this era. I think my issue is the soullessness that comes with it. Like there, there is no accountability necessarily. Like you have the owners of the event coming out and saying like, hey, you just don't understand the format. You don't, you don't see the vision. And we're like, we're screaming. We've been college basketball fans our whole world, our whole life. And it's, I think the, the product of, you know, private equity meddling in a sport that is built on tradition. It just feels icky, right? You've, you've got the half empty Vegas arenas, the confusing non bracket tournament format. You've got talk of expansion going into next year with 32 teams. All of it comes at the expense of course, of, of, you know, like the, the Maui Invitational, the, the battle for Atlantis, which I think is where I really have a problem. And gp I fell in love with college basketball because it had soul, right? Like I grew up rooting for Oklahoma State because Gallagher IBA was packed under Eddie Sutton, right? I rooted for big personalities like Tony Allen and, and Byron Eton and you know, in front of electrifying crowds, like I stormed the court there. I sweat my buns off there. That kind of energy has not existed in Vegas this week. It doesn't exist elsewhere. You don't get that in the NFL, you don't get that in the NBA. And college basketball is special because of those environments, like the personalities and the traditions. Like that's why this trend bothers me. We've already watched, you know, the allure of money kill things like Bedlam or another major, major rivalries, right? Because of like in, because of nil, because of the lure of money, because of expansion. And now it feels like more traditions could be next. Like I, I think March Madness is sacred, obviously. So I worry of course about that because there's talks of expanding the NCAA tournament bracket. But college basketball special, like not just because of March Madness, right? Like, it's special because the Izone in East Lansing, like the jungle at Auburn, Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, like where James Naismith laid the groundwork for the sport that we love and like strip those things away. You're left with like this hollow, soulless product that we've seen in Vegas where like it is, it is just not the product that I think a lot of college basketball fans want to see. It's not the product that I think we've grown to adore and Love. And, you know, this version of what we've seen this week, I hope it is tweaked. I hope it is perfected. I think there's some good ideas around it. But I think, you know, for a lot of college basketball fans, and for me in particular, like, it creates kind of a conflict about how we feel about the sport and how we feel about, like, the trajectory of where like all of this is going. Exactly.
- [12:51]
JP
First, I just love that you grew up idolizing Tony Allen because, like now I see him every week. You know, he's like, he's in the building every week. So I, I need to, I need to tell him that he needs to, he needs to know that he's, he was properly appreciated as a one time Big 12 Player of the year. That's right. Beyond that, you make good points everywhere. Like, I like you. I don't blame anybody for taking the money. As I'm sitting here, you know, expressing complaints with the format and other aspects of this, I, I don't blame Kelvin Sampson for taking his program to Las Vegas. I don't blame Mark Few for taking his program to Las Las Vegas. They're making real money with the opportunity, opportunity to make more. And when the alternative to that is pay real money to go somewhere else, well, that seems like an easy decision to me. Like Kelvin Sampson quite literally said, we had no choice when presented with this opportunity. We have to go. Have you seen our budget? And I, I think you could probably apply that same quote to most of the programs that are out there. And so it is sensible for everybody to go. My argument is that there's just better ways to do this. And I do think a, a massive miscalculation, perhaps that's too strong of a word. Let's just say miscalculations. Strike the massive. A miscalculation by the event organizers is that if you get a bunch of the best college basketball teams in the country and bring them to Las Vegas, then people will be eager to fill up the arena all day long and watch this stuff. And that's just not the way this works. You ever watch the Thursday, Friday of the NCAA tournament? Unless you've got Duke, Carolina and Greensboro, you're going to end up with some empty arenas. Because here's what most college basketball fans want to do. You ready for this? They want to watch their team. And you know what they want to do after that? Go have a good time. And maybe if you're in Greensboro, it's like, well, what else we going to do besides watch the basketball game that's coming up next. But you are in Las Vegas. There's a million other things to do. And so I, I could just tell you as, as a college basketball fan, if I were traveling to Las Vegas, I'm a Kansas fan. I want to go see the Jayhawks. I better go watch the Jayhawks play. And then just as soon as that game's over, I'm looking at my watch going, you know what? Like, you want to go see what's going on at the pool? You know, like, hey, you know, we could watch this at the sports book and play some blackjack. I'm getting out of there. So it's just. I'll be shocked if you ever, I mean, ever look up and it's like, Players ERA Festival. It's noon on Monday, and we got a top 10 matchup, and it's packed. That's just not what's going to happen. People don't. People want to watch their teams, and they don't want to watch the other teams when given the opportunity to do all of the other things that are in Las Vegas. So it's always going to look about the way it looks. And, and I see some tweets from some people talking about, oh, man, this is good. No, it's not. You're lying to yourself. It might be better than it was last year, but that's like grading on a curve, man. You know, like that, that, that better than it was last year. That just means it doesn't suck as much as it sucked last year. What it, what it's supposed to look like is the way Maui looks every year when, you know, before it, it got put into this situation that it's put in. It's supposed to look like something big's happening. It's supposed to sound like something important is happening. No, it doesn't either. It doesn't check either one of those boxes. You use the word soulless. That makes sense to me. And yeah, the, the format thing, just to circle back to that. You, you better not double down on this. You, you, you go to a bracket. As Nicole Auerbach pointed out on Twitter, there. There is no sport, literally no sport more closely associated with a bracket than college basketball. And you have it. You think you've got the best in season college basketball event, but you don't have a bracket. That, that, that just doesn't make any sense. You need a bracket if you want to have 32 next year. I said this on Sunday. You've got 18 teams this year. You should have taken 16 and had two. 18. 18 tournaments, right? Next year you say you're gonna have 32. Fine with me. I don't care. But, but break it up. Eight teams. Eight teams. Eight teams. 8 teams. You give me four little brackets. Now I got something we can. We can predict. I got something I can map out. I got something where I can say, man, on Wednesday, if this happens and this happens, and this happens and this happens, I can't wait to watch that game. I said on Sunday, I wrote on Tuesday morning, it's impossible to even try to predict who's going to be in the championship game by two. If, if there's a championship game on Wednesday, by Tuesday, I should have a good idea who's going to be in it. No, I woke up Tuesday, no idea who's going to be in this thing. Turns out there's four, five undefeated teams in the Players Air Festival, but only two of them can play for the championship. Iowa State gets completely iced out. It's. It's just every aspect of it is goofy. Congrats on getting a bunch of good teams to come play in your event. But after that, everything you did after that makes no sense to anybody who cares about this stuff. I agree.
- [18:05]
KB
I totally agree. And, and hopefully they will take heed to, you know, know, I think the, the large fan base of, of college basketball fans who have voiced those concerns, who want to see a bracket, who want to see, like, you know, I feel like maybe the ancient Romans created the bracket. Like, it's been proven out for a very, very, very long time. People love to see a bracket, and it makes sense. Like, there's no way to manipulate it in any way. And, you know, I, I think it, it. It is clearly the best format for, for something like this, or at least don't call yourself a tournament. It's not a tournament. It's just not like it's an MTE where you've got games and there are specific criteria. But, you know, I don't think you're getting potentially the best teams playing in the championship game because it is not just a true bracket format.
- [18:54]
JP
And one of the things the co founder said, and then we'll move on to the actual games because they do have some awesome games. It's just going to be played in lackluster environments. But we'll still, we'll still talk about them. But one of the other things the co founder said that I just think just misses the mark is like, you know, if you grow up in basketball, grassroots basketball, and I can speak to this with my youngest son. You know, in competitive baseball, you get very used to point differential, run differential in pool play, deciding where you are then seated in. In a bracket. Well, sure, I guess. But like, you're still always seated in a bracket after pool play. In your event, you're not seated in a bracket, you're seated in a consolation game. You're undefeated and seated in a consolation game, like, so. It's like it doesn't match up. Apples to apples. And beyond that, if you think that the only obstacle for people understanding this is having not grown up in it. I'm at baseball tournaments every weekend where run differential matters. All right? In pool play. Do you know how many Saturday afternoons I got seven parents standing over here confused as they don't know what's going on? They're like, so if these little guys over here win by three, then we're, we're, we play at 10 o' clock tomorrow. Nobody knows anything, all right? They do this every weekend and they're confused every weekend. So, like, stop. This is simple. You don't have to reinvent college basketball, all right? Collect all your money, divvy it out, get all the best teams, but then put them in brackets and let us watch brackets unfold. Anything more than that, you're doing too much. All right? As they say, you're doing too much. Let's move on. We come back, we're actually going to dive into some of these players era matchups because there are some good ones. But first, let's get real quick. A word from our partners.
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- [22:15]
KB
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- [22:26]
JP
Prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher in Hawaii, Alaska and California. And for delivery KB let's forget about the format. Let's forget about the whatever crowds. Let's talk about the matchups because the title game out in Las Vegas tonight, It is number seven, Michigan, against number 12 Gonzaga. It's going to be played at 9:30 Eastern on TNT. And if you. I know Norlander, who, by the way, by the way, can't do a Wednesday podcast because you were up a little late last night in Las Vegas. That's what Wednesday podcasts are. What are you talking about, buddy? You got a lot of Wednesday.
- [23:03]
KB
If I, if I log in and watch you guys early in the morning and your eyes aren't just a little glazed. I mean, look at me.
- [23:11]
JP
Yeah, this is what Wednesday podcasts are supposed to be. You're not supposed to be able to sleep before a Wednesday podcast. So I don't know what this is about. But, but I hope he, I hope he got a nice night. I hope he slept well on a Tuesday in a way that I never do on a Tuesday. All right. But I also appreciate you being here. He will be, I'm assuming, in the arena tonight for Michigan Gonzaga. He's not gonna know this, so we're gonna need to clip this and, and send it to him. He doesn't even know what he's going to be witnessing tonight, and it's primarily because he, he objects to the idea of sorting data over@bartorvic.com until December 1st. I've been sorting data since, like, day two of the season. All right. I mean, I've been in it deep. So of course I last night decided to sort some day, woke up this morning, wiped my eyes off after 45 minutes of sleep, started sorting data immediately. And what you'll find out is if you sort data over@bartorvik.com On a surface level, most people, all they know about tonight's championship game of the Players Air Festival. There's two things they. They know. One, I don't get how anybody got here. They're confused by the format. But two is Michigan's ranked seventh. Gonzaga's ranked 12th. I saw it in the AP poll. Right. What real ones know data sorters over@bartorvic.com is if you remove all the preseason bias, which is something I like to do. What you're watching tonight are the teams that are ranked number one and number two in the country right now. It's a rare number one versus number two matchup between teams ranked that way. If you remove all preseason bias@bartorvic.com get fired up. Put that in a graphic.
- [24:56]
KB
You've been sorting data for the troops.
- [24:58]
JP
GP I. I probably shouldn't. I probably shouldn't criticize the event organizers for making things confusing and then say some stuff like I just said. I get that. I get that. I think I'm adding to it, but these two teams have been playing awesome. I think that's what that illustrates. So it should be fun.
- [25:14]
KB
Yeah, like, we just complained about the format, but, like, hey, this is a pretty good game, right? Like, hey, I don't know how you.
- [25:20]
JP
Got us here, but it's like watching a chef, and it's like, yo, man, I think you're using some weird ingredients, and I don't understand what you're doing, but it tastes good, you know, end result, it tastes good. That's kind of where we're at.
- [25:34]
KB
Yeah, maybe don't do that again. But, like, I like how we got to this point. Right. Gonzaga number one at Ken Palm. If you unsort the data, just look at the raw numbers. They beat Maryland by 39 points on Tuesday. Some of our editors in the Slack channel have have termed Gonzaga Gonzaga Wagon. I'm not sure that's gonna stick, but I'm just gonna throw that into the ether. We'll see. We'll see how it goes. I mean, they have been tremendous this season. No doubt. They've been really good. They're 7 0. They are really kind of in terms of the metrics, you know, top 10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency at Bart Torvik. Top five right now at Ken Palm. Michigan pretty good in their own right. Like this is a team that beat Auburn by 30 points on Tuesday. Of course we talked about the scoring margin very important in this specific players era format. But this Michigan defense now number one in adjusted efficiency margin on defense at Ken Palm. Yaxel Lindeborg, the UAB transfer is playing up to his potential and that was a nice game for him on Tuesday. Roddy Gale, you know the, the veteran guard playing well. This is gonna be an interesting matchup. Like Gonzaga, very, very experienced as someone noted in the comments. Like basically a G league team that's playing in college basketball. They're all super old according to like kinpom data. Second oldest and like in just adjusted experience behind only Indiana. So a bunch of old guys playing some high level basketball. Michigan and Gonzaga for the title game. Like it, it should be good basketball tonight to end this matchup in, in this players era tournament.
- [27:15]
JP
It seems like Gonzaga hit on the recipe that seems to be working these days. Bring back multiple important players. Obviously that's Graham Ek Bradenhoff get into the transfer portal supplement that they did that. Well, if you look at, at just their stats to date, it's like the important guys they brought back are performing the transfer portal. Guys they identified as, as important rotation players have proven to be important rotation players. And it's just a testament also to the everything about that program. Like it's not on cruise control. I think sometimes that's an insult to, to say that about a program like oh man, that thing's on cruise control. It implies nobody's really working anymore. I mean there is no such thing as cruise control in college basketball. Like you got to keep working probably now more than ever. But that program has been established under Mark. Obviously. You know, the origins of, of all of this started pre marking. But then Mark took it to another level and has maintained it despite incredible staff turnover. Most notably losing Tommy Lloyd to Arizona. There are some people and I understood, I understood the thought, at least that thought. There are some people who believed like okay, now Tommy did a lot of the heavy lifting and recruiting. You lose that guy, this is where your program maybe starts to take a turn. Because there are other programs throughout history where when the head coach started losing key assistants, it did start to go the wrong way a little bit. And there were some people who thought that might be Mark's reality at Gonzaga. And I didn't predict it or even agree with it, but I understood where it was coming from. I was like, yeah, you know, it's happened before and it just is not happening here. That program is still as strong as ever. Different, perhaps different, but as strong as ever. And like you said, number one at Ken Palm right now. So sort the data, remove the preseason bias or just look at it. However it's presented to you. The Zags are awesome again. Surprise, surprise.
- [29:24]
KB
Yeah. And like, you know, to the. To the point of, you know, losing Tommy Lloyd, like, this is a program that was built kind of on, like, international appeal, right? Like, they've. They've consistently won with guys from overseas and they've maintained that and maybe even built off of that in. In ways that maybe they weren't previously. And that speaks, I think, to Mark Fu's just consistency, like his consistent greatness as a. As a college coach, like winning in the previous era in college basketball is very impressive. Right. Like we saw John Cal Peri do at a high level. We've seen Bill Self do it a high level. All of those guys are doing it then, now as well. But, you know, to. To do it in two eras in two different ways, different approaches, having to adjust, adapt, and do it on the fly. The way that this Gonzaga program has done it at a truly, truly elite level is. Is just remarkable. And, you know, Mark Few, he needs probably no supporters. He will be a future hall of Famer, but this is a guy whose resume is already astounding, and he may legitimately have one of his most talented and deepest teams he's fielded yet, which over the course of several decades, I think is. Is a remarkable accomplishment given the amount of change in the environment in college basketball we've seen over the last couple years.
- [30:56]
JP
One more on the Players ERA Festival. The third place game. It's Kansas against Tennessee, both teams undefeated out in Las Vegas, but still reduced to the third place game. And that. That. That really does matter monetarily. Like Michigan and Gonzaga are playing for $1 million. The winner will. Will get $1 million. The winner of Tennessee Kansas only gets $300,000. And that was all determined again by point differential. Are you surprised? On one hand, Kansas, you know, had fallen out of the AP poll, was without Darren Peterson and people starting to question where that thing's going to go. And yet here they are, two zero out in Las Vegas. That's one way to look at it. Digging a little deeper. Yeah, but they played Notre Dame and Syracuse, and I think. I think that is what. I think that's what the streets are calling the easiest Players ERA Festival schedule of all time.
- [31:53]
KB
Yeah, many people are saying that computer trickers, some, some are even accusing them of. And I think that might be right. Like this is a Kansas team that like is not playing with Darren Peterson who could be like one of the best players in college basketball. And 20 in the week. Like they, they've done exactly what you would expect to do with the matchups that they've been drawn. It was Notre Dame, it was Syracuse. So yeah, I, I think they've done well considering they've, they've gotten some contributions from Trey White, like Melvin Council has played well. We'll see kind of where this Kansas team falls. I think still probably obviously saying the, the ceiling for this Kansas team has to be with Darren Peterson back. But given his absence, I think they've done well. Tennessee, of course coming in, coming into this game, given their road here, watching Kansas beat Syracuse and Notre Dame and then Tennessee beating Rutgers by 300 points and then beating Houston on Tuesday, they probably are looking at like, hey, how'd you get here? Like what are you doing here? What's, what's a polar, polar bear doing out in Texas? Like this. This Tennessee team has, has clearly like performed better than Kansas this week. But yeah, they are where they are. They're not in the, in the first place game, but they are playing for money. And this is a big, big matchup for Tennessee to again acquit itself, which they to this point in the season have done at a really high level.
- [33:29]
JP
You, you argue Tennessee's been the most impressive team out in Las Vegas because they pounded an inferior opponent and then beat what was perceived to be the best team in the event before it started. And that still only gets you to the third place game. We've discussed that enough. Let's give Maui some love. Title game is 2:30pm Eastern today. It's on ESPN. USC against Arizona State. I have added USC to the top 25 and 1. The Trojans are down number 26. Do you object or can you co sign?
- [34:01]
KB
I co sign. They just missed my power rankings last week and, but they've been on the radar for a bit. They're 60 on the season now beat Seton hall and Boise State in, in Maui. Like we're, we're actively monitoring the Trojans. Like this is, this is a really impressive start to get a chance to again prove themselves. But you know, Rodney Rice, Chad Baker Mazar have been better than expected. I think there was some reasonably high expectations. So yeah, I'm excited to watch this one. Arizona State of Course six and one on the season. Their, their lone loss coming to Gonzaga earlier in the year, which given Gonzaga's play over the last week, not necessarily surprising. But yeah, two teams, like, you know, I think it's a pivotal year for, for Bobby Hurley in the desert. Arizona State gets a good chance against a USC team that is playing really well. And of course the Maui Invitational title game is like just, it's up there in, in terms of like we talked about college basketball traditions. It's got to be up there like pretty close to March Madness. Like, just the, the special nature of, and I know you've been to Maui before, so you can speak to this just like that, that tiny civic center. Just this, just the feel of that. Like just you're, you're not playing for money, right? Like they're, they're not playing for $500,000, a million dollars, but the, the tradition of the Maui Invitational and just the vibes of playing in a tournament that has that type of history and tradition I think is really cool. So I'm excited to watch that.
- [35:35]
JP
Yeah, I mean it's, it's, it's, it's the best. It's the best. Like everything about it. The way it looks on tv, the way it looks in person when I walked in. Excuse me, I'm still sick by the way, if you haven't noticed.
- [35:49]
KB
And Norlander's out here sleeping. I'm just kidding.
- [35:54]
JP
You know what this, his doctor probably says, says, you know what, you shouldn't, you shouldn't be traveling non stop and try to do podcast and television on. No sleep. You should, you should rest a little more. He's probably being smart, if we're being honest. What, what I, what I, what you, what you perceive as lazy? Because that's what I hear. That's what I think I'm hearing. What you perceive as lazy. I would say maybe he's just being smart. Maybe the joke's on me.
- [36:18]
KB
You know, I know he was up at like 2 or 3 in the morning because I saw slack messages. So if he's sleeping, it's absolutely well earned. I doubt he's sleeping, but yes, it's well earned.
- [36:29]
JP
He, he's probably been working all night. He's probably still working American right now. He's probably writing a 70, 000 word story on Felix Akpara, something like that.
- [36:41]
KB
All right, 48 minute read.
- [36:43]
JP
A 48 minute read on something. I don't know what he's writing, but I bet it's four. I bet it takes 48 minutes. To read it. All right. Everything about Maui is the best. I, I said this Sunday, when I walked in that, that little gym for the first time, I felt like I was walking in the way it felt when I walked in Wrigley Field for the first time or when I walked in Fenway for the first time. It's like the, These are, these. I've watched, I've watched things happen in this place every year of my life that I can remember. And now I'm here. Wow. A little bit like walking, like Cameron Indoor. I had that same feeling. Allen Fieldhouse. Every year of my life that I can remember, I've watched something happen in this place. And. And now I'm here. And that's what that little gym is in Maui. And I hope they figure out a way to make it. To make it what it, what it once was. Because what it once was, was a very important thing to the fabric of college basketball. It just was. It, it, it was organic. It wasn't something some billionaires thought of in a boardroom. It was just like, yeah, let's try this and see what happens. And it turned into something that's important to the fabric of college basketball. And it's still here. Evidence being that they're going to give somebody a trophy today, but it's not what it was. And I hope that we can get back there. And if they have to figure out a way to incentivize it and like actually compete dollar for dollar with players era, then I hope that there's a way for them to figure out to do it because I would much rather. You ready for this? I can't wait to watch Michigan Gonzaga tonight. I will. Yeah, I would much rather watch it in that little gym in Hawaii. It would be so much cooler in that little gym in Hawaii than it's going to be in what I assume will be a kind of empty arena in Las Vegas while a million other things are happening in Las Vegas that said usc, like, I guess it shouldn't be a surprise. Like, Musk is really good at this. He was awesome at Nevada, he was awesome at Arkansas. He's probably going to be awesome at usc. I know it. Sometimes it might take a minute, but he's already got what looks like a competent basketball team. And for Bobby Hurley, yeah, he's coaching with real job pressure this year, and so we'll see where it goes. But obviously off to a great start. And if you could, you know, conclude this, this, this week, this, this trip with a Maui Invitational championship, I know it might not be the same one that say Gonzaga won in 2018 when they beat top ranked Duke. You're not beating top ranked Duke to win it. You'd just be beating usc. Unranked usc. But you know that trophy still means something. You'd still walk out of this with just one loss on your resume and you you'd feel pretty good about where you are at this point in the season. So maybe not the best Maui Invitational title game we've ever seen, but still a compelling one for multiple reasons. Let's take one more break and then we'll look ahead to what should be a fun Thanksgiving. There's two really interesting games, one on cbs, America's most watched network, the network of stars. Let's do that next. First, let's get another word from our partners.
- [39:55]
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- [40:25]
State Farm Announcer
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- [40:55]
JP
I do appreciate the concern. In the chat I see somebody say it feels like GP sick 90% of the episodes. I get it. I, I would want you to know I don't feel bad. I don't feel bad. I just I just cough sometimes and lose my air. Sometimes could be great. No, I don't. I didn't say I don't. I didn't say I look great. I said I don't feel bad. Those are two very different things. I know how I look. I very aware how I sound. I just want you to know I'm not struggling. You might be struggling to listen to somebody who sounds sick, but just know that I'm not struggling. I I feel fine. I just cough Sometimes it appears I'm not the best healer. I I, I Got all the. I got all the medicine. I mean, I got, I got. I got a medicine cabinet over here. I'm swigging Dayquil. Like, you know, I'm just sipping on dayquil non stop. It's like a junkie. But I feel. I feel pretty good. I'm gonna get better. It might take till April, but I'm gonna get there. All right?
- [41:55]
KB
Someone said you need to be sipping on some orange. I don't know if that's like a Memphis thing or.
- [42:02]
JP
Well, I mean, in Memphis, it'd be scissorp. Okay, sure, down in Memphis, we sip on scissor. In Memphis, we sip on scissor. But I don't have proper scissor. But I have dayquil. But I have cadets back home. Listen, if I get it back home and I need to get some scissor, I can get it. I've got connects, all right? But right now I'm just reduced to dayquil, and it's clearly not doing everything I needed to do. But I'm gonna get there. I think. Might take till April, but I'm gonna get there. Hey, I can't wait for Thanksgiving. Just, just broadly speaking, I can't wait for Thanksgiving. It's a wonderful holiday. But beyond that, we got North Carolina, Michigan, 4:30 Eastern on Fox. And then this will be a big one. Duke, Arkansas in prime time, 8pm on CBS. It's America's most watched network. It's the network of stars. And it'll be following Cowboys, Chiefs. That's dad Patrick Mahomes and Taylor Swift's boyfriend. Fiance. I should correct myself. Norlander said on Sunday, this will be the most watched regular season college basketball game because it follows Cowboys, Chiefs because it's on America's most watched network. And because if you're a sports fan and you're just sitting around passing out from, you know, eating too much turkey the way Dan Hurley, you know, discussed, then why would you even touch the. Why would you touch your remote control when Duke and Arkansas, that's the Blue Devils and John Caliperi. Why would you even touch your remote control if that's what's about to come on? And don't ever forget who owns the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones. Where is he from? Arkansas. This works perfectly. The. The brilliant people at America's most watched network that put this together, I think they're going to get paid off. Well, I don't agree with everything Norlander says. I don't agree with his sleep schedule, but I think he might be right here. Duke, Arkansas could go down as the most watched college basketball game of this season. You think that's possible?
- [44:05]
KB
I think that's very, very, very possible. We've got, you know, Cowboys, Chiefs, right before that. People will be no doubt sipping, of course, on some orange during this game. And that's possible. People could just keep the game on, be asleep, watch the entirety of Duke, Arkansas and not engage in any way. They will be watching, though.
- [44:26]
JP
GP that's right.
- [44:27]
KB
And I will actively be watching this game. Duke, Arkansas, John Calipari versus John Shire. Cal Perry earlier this week said, like they're preparing for a physical battle versus Duke. I love. Gives me like some football vibes. I love watching football on Thanksgiving. That is absolutely tradition. We love traditions. Duke 7 and oh, on the season, they've got wins over Kansas, over Texas, among others. You know, Duke with Arkansas and Florida over the next week. And Arkansas is like, pretty. I think they've acquitted themselves, like, fairly well this season. They're five and one on the season. Of course, that loan loss being on the road at Michigan State earlier this year, this is like their first kind of real test since that game. They've got Duke, obviously on Thanksgiving. The next week they've got Louisville at home. But yeah, Duke, Arkansas on Thanksgiving. Very much excited to watch this when Cam Boozer, of course, the headliner there, the potential number one pick, and he's playing at a really high level for the Blue Devils and a huge reason why they are off to an undefeated start so far.
- [45:36]
JP
Yeah, you're just gonna have like this incredible audience for the NFL, period. But specifically Cowboys, Chiefs. Like, could you even pick a game? Like, what. What even does better than Cowboys Chiefs? I mean, I'm not a football that like. But like, Cowboys is America's team. That's what I heard. I heard the Cowboys are America's team. And then the Chiefs are like Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey. Like my kid. If you asked my boys if they have a favorite NFL team, they would. They would probably tell you the Chiefs for the same reason millions of kids once upon a time would say, my favorite team's the Chicago Bulls because of my. My kids. Just like somehow Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey became a part of their lives through their iPads. And so you've got that, that draw. I don't know that there's anything bigger you could put on television in, in American sports than like Cowboys, Chiefs, regular season, if we're talking regular season stuff. And then that leads right into Duke. Everybody knows Duke. That's the most recognizable brand in College basketball. And then that's John Caliperi. Everybody knows John Caliperi. And so this is, this is an easy sell. It'll be, it's going to be a monster number and it's kind of neat. Like CBS is the home of college basketball in so many ways because of, of the history of the NCAA tournament, everything about it. Right. But we don't do a lot of prime time games on big CBS in the regular season. Like this is not normal. And so it, because it's not something we do frequently, it's going to feel and seem bigger than it, it otherwise would be and it's going to be massive. I can't wait to get home and, and, and, and, and, and turn to, to WREG News Channel 3 in Memphis and sit down with the family and watch it. It'll be, it's a big day for the network. I can't wait.
- [47:29]
KB
I, I am very much excited. I'm glad to hear that you'll be home for Thanksgiving as well. I hope you get to do some resting, enjoy some family time.
- [47:37]
JP
Yeah.
- [47:37]
KB
Watch some Duke, Arkansas, some, some Chiefs, Cowboys. Should be fun. Maybe once we'll get a Taylor Swift appearance. Like, should be a good Thursday.
- [47:45]
JP
She hasn't been traveling to most road.
- [47:47]
KB
Games, but I've noticed this.
- [47:49]
JP
Yeah, is this, is this. And this is a road game. I believe this one's down at AT T Stadium. So we'll see. You know what? I'm gonna leave it up to her. I don't, I don't think I'm, I don't think I need to make those decisions for her. I'm gonna leave it up to her and her team. But if she's there, I'd be happy to see her. I'm never the person that objects to seeing Taylor Swift on television either during a game or, or outside of a game. I'm happy to see her when, whenever, when everybody, when anybody points a camera at Taylor Swift. I'm happy to see her. She seems like a delightful woman, best I can tell. Hey kb, you're gonna be home for Thanksgiving? You gonna have a good Thanksgiving as well?
- [48:20]
KB
Yeah, yeah. We're gonna go up to Stillwater, so Oklahoma State area, go see some family there, eat some turkey, some ham. Yeah, looking forward to it. You know, we've got five year old, a two year old, so like just, you know, raising kids during the pandemic and then raising them outside the pandemic. I love seeing family, like I've always been a family guy and so, yeah, like having, having Kids being able to share that with. With family over some food, some football, some Duke Arkansas. I mean, it's. It's one of my favorite holidays of the year.
- [48:55]
JP
It's one of. One of the best. Yeah, it'll be a great day. I'll wake up here in New York. I mean, I think I'll wake up here in New York. We'll see.
- [49:04]
KB
God bless you.
- [49:04]
JP
I mean, I guess there's no. I guess nothing's promised, you know, I guess nothing's guaranteed. But I'm assuming I will wake up in New York. I'll look down, this is Broadway right in front of me. So I'll wave at the parade outside of my window. I'll go, hey, parade. Hey there, parade. Good to see you. And I'll go to the airport and I'll fly home and then I'll be with my family, just like with your family. And yeah, we'll settle down, watch Duke Arkansas, sip some day, Quill. You know, it'll be nighttime. Maybe I'll take nyquil at that point. And then we'll wake up Friday and we'll cough through another episode of the I'm College Basketball podcast. It's gonna be amazing. Kb. I appreciate you being here, brother.
- [49:41]
KB
Glad to be here. Good to see you, man.
- [49:43]
JP
Good to see you.
- [49:44]
KB
Hope you get some day claw on you.
- [49:46]
JP
Oh, I'm. I'm seven seconds away from that. Don't even worry about it. Shouts to Devin Doughty. Shout out to Chester. I swear to God, I feel fine. I don't want people worried about me. I just.
- [49:54]
KB
You look great.
- [49:56]
JP
I know I don't look, I. It's been. I don't know that I ever looked great, but I know it's not today. All right. I don't even know if my best day. I looks great, but I know it's not today. But I appreciate you saying it. It's a kind thing to say. Shouts to Devin Downey. Shouts to Chester, S.C. shouts to Terry Teagle. He's a legend. Huck Larnell. Thank you guys once again for watching. Listening to I own College Basketball Podcast. Not subscribed. Please go subscribe anyway. Subscribe to podcasts, Apple, Spotify, more of us than there are of them. That should be reflected in the comments. So do that. We'll talk to you again on Friday. Till then, take care of.
- [50:41]
State Farm Announcer
Paramount podcasts.
- [50:44]
JP
Now streaming on Paramount Plus.
- [50:46]
KB
Brandon was the full package.
- [50:48]
JP
I felt like I met my guy. Stop, stop, Stop talking. God.
- [50:55]
KB
But he's not even close to the.
- [50:57]
JP
Person that I thought he was.
- [50:58]
KB
When you do break up with Brandon, that is when the stalking begins. I just knew something horrific was about to happen.
- [51:05]
JP
I saw the devil in his eyes. We're gonna tell everyone what he did.
- [51:10]
Chevy Truck Announcer
Don't date Brandon.
- [51:11]
JP
Now streaming on Paramount plus.