Sweet 16 Friday! D.C. doubleheader totally delivers: Duke/UConn win; Michigan bowls over Bama, Tennessee in 3rd straight E8

Summary

Eye On College Basketball – Sweet 16 Friday! D.C. Doubleheader Delivers: Duke/UConn Win; Michigan Overpowers Bama, Tennessee Reaches 3rd Straight Elite Eight

Date: March 28, 2026
Hosts: Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander

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Episode Overview

On this high-energy Sweet 16 Friday recap, Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander break down an epic NCAA Tournament night headlined by two thrilling games in Washington, D.C. (Duke vs. St. John’s and UConn vs. Michigan State), Michigan’s offensive explosion to reach its first Elite Eight since 2021, and Tennessee’s assertive win despite Iowa State’s injury woes. The CBS crew dives into clutch performances, coaches’ legacies, stats that made history, memorable quotes, and what to watch as the Elite Eight looms.

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Major Segments and Key Insights

1. Duke Outlasts St. John's in Capital Classic (00:59–12:23)

Game Recap:

• Duke survives an early second-half deficit (down by 10) and edges St. John’s 80–75.
• Star Performances:
  • Cameron Boozer (Duke): 22 pts, 10 reb, 3 ast, “one of the most impressive freshmen I’ve ever seen.” (06:02, Parrish)
  • Isaiah Evans (Duke): 25 pts – leading scorer.
  • Caleb Foster (Duke): Returns just 20 days after foot surgery, provides 11 key second-half points off the bench.
  • St. John’s: Dylan Darling’s last-second three-point miss, Reuben Pray’s first-half shooting surge, Zubi Ejiofor’s battle inside.

Notable Moments & Quotes:

• “Shire obviously emotional on the floor afterward… literally seconds after Foster would talk to Tracy [Wolfson] about getting that win.” (02:30, Norlander)
• On Boozer: “He is more reliable, more valuable and better than Cooper Flag was at Duke… The most impressive freshman I’ve ever seen.” (05:25, Parrish)
• “There’s no business this… young man should have been playing in this game. 20 days removed from foot surgery, most players—I think [Shire] said 99.9%—would not have played.” (06:56, Norlander)
• “St. John’s made 13 threes in this game… but they also got owned on the boards. This was the first time in 17 games when St. John’s led by at least 10 that they didn’t win.” (11:10, Parrish)

Stats & Trivia:

• Boozer: 4th freshman ever with 15+ pts, 10+ reb in 3 straight NCAA tourney games.
• Shire: Joins Bob Knight & Dean Smith as only coaches in last 60 years with 3 Elite Eights before age 40.
• St. John’s: Just 4/14 from three in the 2nd half after 9/… in the 1st.

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2. UConn Closes Out Michigan State, Continues NCAA Dominance (17:54–23:37)

Game Recap:

• UConn holds off Michigan State 67–63 after seeing a 19-point lead evaporate.
• Key Huskies:
  • Terrace Reed: 20 pts
  • Alex Karaban: 17 pts, clutch three and free throws down the stretch
  • “Dan Hurley has never lost in the Sweet 16 or later… 17 straight Sweet 16+ victories, the longest streak since 1975.” (18:58, Parrish)

Spartans’ Surge:

• Jeremy Fears and Cohen Carr each have 13 for Michigan State.
• “At one point it was 25–6, but they got it to eight at the break… UConn’s defense showed up in a significant way.” (18:40, Parrish)

Coaching Notes:

• “Izzo got asked afterward about retirement… to no surprise at all, he said… ‘I’ll be coaching basketball next season.’ We may never get there; he’s still operating at the tip top of the sport.” (22:56, Norlander/Parrish)
• “Dan Hurley is now 18–5 in the tournament as a head coach; 2nd best NCAA percentage behind Wooden (min. 20 games).” (18:58/19:25, Parrish)

Quotable Moment:

• “I just felt like UConn had a little more battery in the pack… Caravan’s three, I think it gave them a four-point cushion, was big.” (21:23, Norlander)

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3. Michigan Outguns Alabama in Midwest Shootout (23:37–30:15)

Game Recap:

• Michigan flexes its offensive firepower, winning 90–77 to reach its first Elite Eight since 2021.
• Yaxel Lendenborg (Michigan): 23 pts, 12 reb, 7 ast — “The first player since Larry Bird in ’79 to drop 23, 12 & 7 this deep in the tournament.” (25:13, Norlander)
• “Michigan hit the gear it needed to hit… their balance is as much a weapon as anything else.” (26:34, Norlander)
• LeBaron Phylon (Alabama): 35 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast, continues his lottery-pick rise.

Stats & Records:

• Michigan & Alabama: 27 combined made threes (2nd most ever in an NCAA game), with Alabama attempting a tournament-record 125 threes over three games.
• Michigan averages in tournament: 95.3 pts, 57% FG, 12 threes/game at 47.3%, +14 reb margin.

Notable Quotes:

• “If you miss 70% of your threes, there’s just no scenario where you're going to beat Michigan.” (29:12, Norlander)

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4. Tennessee Seizes Control vs. Undermanned Iowa State (30:15–41:23)

Game Recap:

• Vols win 76–62, dominating the boards (53.3% OREB rate) as Iowa State misses Joshua Jefferson (injury).
• “I hate when teams that are good enough to go all the way lose their best player… Iowa State just could ill afford not to have him on the floor.” (31:27, Parrish)
• “Rick Barnes… earned this. Now he’s in his third straight Elite Eight, fourth for Tennessee all-time – three of those in the last three years.” (35:04, Parrish)
• “Tennessee grabbed 53.3% of its offensive rebounds. For the season, they’re at 45%, unheard of in modern college basketball.” (36:05, Parrish)
• “I do love the Rick Barnes story… years with a reputation for not getting it done in the tournament, now potentially about to take Tennessee to its first Final Four.” (35:06, Norlander)

Players:

• Jacobi Gillespie (Tennessee): 16 pts, clutch play late.
• Felix Okpara & Jalen Carey: Controlled the paint.
• “Vols have NBA talent, physicality and guard play to make things rough for Michigan.” (40:25, Norlander)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Boozer vs. Flagg:
  “Cameron Boozer is a better college player than Cooper Flagg was.” (06:18, Parrish)

• On St. John’s season:
  “Rick was very complimentary… he said in five decades of coaching, never had a team with no arguments or almost fights—that’s just not normal. Said he had a good group of guys.” (12:23, Norlander)

• On Michigan’s balance:
  “Four guys with at least 15 points in a tournament game – that just doesn’t happen, speaks to their balance. Machine.” (26:50, Parrish)

• On Tennessee’s rebounding:
  “Tennessee has owned No. 1 spot in OReb% all season… no single team in the past 15 years matches Tennessee.” (36:05, Parrish)

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Quick Hits & Trends

• Coaching Records:

  • John Shire joins Bob Knight, Dean Smith: only three-time Elite Eight coaches before age 40 in 60 years.
  • Dan Hurley: 17 straight Sweet 16+ wins, never lost in this stage.
  • Rick Barnes: Three of Tennessee’s four Elite Eights are his, all in the last three years.

• Stat Nerd Corner:

  • Michigan: Only team ever to record three straight 90-point, 50/45 FG/3PT shooting games in NCAA Tournament.
  • Alabama (hoisting): 125 attempted threes in three NCAA games—obliterates single-tournament record.

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Key Timestamps

• 00:59–12:23 – Duke vs. St. John’s deep dive; Foster’s return, Boozer’s dominance, Patino’s season, Shire’s record
• 17:54–23:37 – UConn edges Michigan State; Hurley’s streak, Karaban’s clutch, Izzo holding steady
• 23:37–30:15 – Michigan vs. Alabama; Lindenborg’s all-time night, Phylon’s lottery rise, Bama’s 3-point binge
• 30:15–41:23 – Tennessee vs. Iowa State; Vols out-muscle Cyclones, Barnes’s redemption, heartbreaking injury impact
• 49:11–52:10 – Games to Watch (Elite Eight preview); “Sling Game to Watch” = Duke vs. UConn

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Funny/Personal Bits

• Technological Shenanigans:

  • Norlander struggles with a brand new MacBook—“I just walked down 6th Avenue with my MacBook Air and ran into Livvy Dunne, like two ships passing.” (42:12)
  • Parrish reveals he’s bringing restaurant tortilla chips back to his hotel: “Probably about the third best tortilla chip at a Mexican restaurant I’ve ever had.” (53:42)

• “Sling Game to Watch” Segment:

  • The hosts universally pick Duke vs. UConn as the can’t-miss Elite Eight showdown.
  • “Duke vs. UConn. Sunday. Final Four bid on the line. That is your Sling Game to Watch.” (51:25, Parrish)

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Looking Ahead: Elite Eight Matchups (49:38–54:06)

• Saturday:
  • Illinois vs. Iowa – Houston, TBS
  • Arizona vs. Purdue – San Jose, TBS
• Sunday:
  • Michigan vs. Tennessee – Chicago, CBS
  • Duke vs. UConn – Washington, D.C., CBS (Sling Game to Watch)

All Point Spreads: No game picked by fewer than 5.5 points—“That can’t be normal.” (50:45, Parrish)

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Conclusion

A dynamic breakdown of a Sweet 16 round full of memorable comebacks, star freshmen, coaching milestones, wild shooting sprees, and taste of heartbreak for the Cyclones. Parrish and Norlander’s chemistry, stat chops, and irreverent asides again make for a must-listen as the journey to the Final Four barrels on.

Closing words:
“Duke vs. UConn… That is your Sling game to watch.” (51:25, Parrish)

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For listeners who missed all the live hoops action, this episode is your all-in-one guide to Friday's wild results and what to look for with a loaded Elite Eight ahead.

Transcript

[Gary Parrish]

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[Matt Norlander]

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[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, I made of it that the district gave us what we were hoping and that's obviously this Game and Huskies, Spartans, which we'll get to Caleb Foster. I mean we are. This is now becoming a bit of a running theme here in terms of players injured, gridding through it. You know, I wasn't obviously on the, on the, on the pod last night, but come to find out Jordan Pope played with a broken foot. A broken foot and played 33 minutes. Foster wasn't dealing with an outright break, but he, he guts it out. And Shire obviously emotional on the floor afterward with, with Tracy Anderson. Heck of a moment from him there. Just literally seconds after Foster would talk to Tracy about getting that win. Uh, there's so many places to go with this game. It was, uh, an incredible spot. Sweet 16 game and now that Sweet 16 is done, you know, we did have some, you know, some games that weren't ultimately that close, but I just. There were a variety of matchups that were Final Four caliber. This one was obviously to that level. Here. St. John's goes home with a 30 win season and, and, and gets knocked out after having real shots, real hopes, real looks at, at winning this game and, and putting Duke on, on the ropes. John Shire again went to a zone in this game that obviously was effective. I, I understand why they have Darling on the floor at the end of the game. I understand that. I understand unless you're a St. John's fan, you probably didn't know who the hell Reuben Pray was. But he started this game off with the potential to be one of the more unlikely, you know, March heroes this tournament can do. That guy just absolutely goes off for four threes in the first half. It's not a factor down the stretch. Right call, wrong call, that's Patino's call. For the second straight season, St. John's is knocked out of the tournament. And I think there's at least an open question about if the right players were on the bench or not to end the game. Credit to Boozer, who just will not be denied. I, I said this a month ago on hq. I'm sorry. He is, he is more reliable, more valuable and better than Cooper Flag was at Duke. Cooper Flag's a better prospect. Cameron Boozer is better college basketball player. He has been the entire season. It's one damn thing after another with him. He is awesome and he just knows how to will his team to a win. One of the most impressive freshmen I've ever seen in my entire life. He got it done yet again. 22:10, three dimes, three turnovers, a block in 39 minutes on the floor. And yet for all that Boozer did. I think having Foster off The bench log 19 minutes was as important as anything Dame Sar. He leaves this game with only two points but his, his presence on the floor was crucial, particularly on the defensive end. Isaiah Evans arguably was the most impressive and necessary guy on the floor period for Duke. It took everything possible for Duke to get this win by five over St. John's Darling doesn't make the shot from three. He actually looked like he had a shot GP that he, that he hesitated on. Then he repositioned himself. Didn't have it. Barely flicked the rim and there. And that's all she wrote. And it's another Sweet 16 classic. I was just. I was wowed by it. I think it was everything we could possibly ask from these two teams in these. In this game. Zubi gave it about as much as he possibly could. Big time battle between the two best bigs in the in the country. So we're not going to go an hour plus on this. least I hope not. Knock on wood. I could go an hour on this game. This was everything I wanted and I thought that St. John's was really going to tempt putting Duke out of this tournament. When it went on that run early in the second half and it was flying and it was turnover after turnover after turnover. You're seeing Zubi edge of war flying down the court. Duncan got the slow mo replay. We're going to break coming out on CBS and St. John's looks like he's going to pull away. Did not let it happen. Congrats to the Blue Devils on the hard fought and incredible win in the regional semis down in the district on Cameron Boozer.

[Matt Norlander]

You know he was. He's. I'm not going to get. I'll let you handle the Cooper flag Cameron Boozer college debate. I don't want to get.

[Gary Parrish]

I will and it's already done. Cameron Boozer is a better college player than Cooper flag was. Let's keep it moving.

[Matt Norlander]

All right. At Matt Norlander. At Matt Norlander on X. 22.7 of 16 from the field, 8 of 9 from the free throw line. Tonight on March Madness 360 we did the the Naismith award for finalist and the point I made on. There is a point we've made on here a bunch that's over. Cameron Boozer is going to be your national player of the year. He should be everybody's national player of the year. If you give that award to anybody other than him. You're just trying to be different for the sake of being different. He has been, if not the best, certainly one of the few best college basketball players in the country this season. And the fact that he's done it for the the number one overall seed of the NCAA tournament, that should, that should put all the trophies in his trophy case in this game. Like you mentioned, Isaiah Evans, he was a leading scorer, 25 points, 10 of 15 from the field, 4 of 8 from three. But the story, it really was Caleb Foster. We got news earlier today, earlier on Friday that he wasn't on the status report anymore. So that suggested he was going to play. Comes off the bench, only played 19 minutes, 0 points in the second half in the first half but in the second half, 5 of 8 from the field, 11 points. And then I thought that was telling in the post game that John got emotional with Tracy said there's no business this, this young man should have been playing in this game. 20 days removed from foot surgery, most players I think he said 99.9% of players would not have played in this game. And yet his presence alone sparked that team according to everybody in the locker room. And in a time where at different levels of basketball, but certainly at the NBA level and the Division 1 men's basketball level, there's a lot of conversations about, you know, can this guy play? Should he play? Does he really want to play? Does he love it? I mean we've talked about that in the NBA every week and it was a big topic of conversation this season around Darren Peterson at Kansas. And yet here we have the other side of it. This is somebody who nobody thought would play in the sweet 16 when it was announced he needed foot surgery. This was somebody who even a week ago people didn't think we're going to play in this game. John said the first time he's played five on five since foot surgery. When he entered the game tonight, There was no 5 on 5 in advance of this. They threw him out there with nine other dudes and he helped them get that win. He wasn't the biggest reason they got that win but he played a role in it and that was awesome to see.

[Gary Parrish]

All 11 points came in the second half shot 5 of 8 just tournament's incredible congratulations him for on returning. We spoke earlier this week when when Shire said it was an outside chance just coaches don't typically say that kind of stuff unless they've got a particular feeling. Shire might even tell you he didn't know for sure but for him to have gone enough on the record for four days ago showed you There was a real shot but he, no one could have imagined he was going to be that impactful. Good on him. When you combine that with 25 from Evans and then just a couple notes here on, on Boozer and I want to talk St. John's real quick as well. GP Boozer's the fourth freshman ever with at least 15 points, 10 plus rebounds and three straight NCAA tournament games. He's the second freshman with at least 20, 10 and three in a Sweet 16 game. Kevin Love did that in 2008. He's the fifth player in the last 50 years to average at least 20 points, 10 plus rebounds, three plus assists entering the Elite Eight. And he's the first player since a guy named Larry Bird to go at least 15, 10 and 3 in three consecutive tournament games. He's an outright stud and, and his coach is doing well for himself by the way as well. John Shire has now joined Bob Knight. Indeed, Smith is the only coaches to make the elite eight before the age of 40 in the past 60 years. So mighty, mighty, mighty impressive stuff there. St. John's made 13 threes in this game. It was hot early, there was regression after, after the half here got this somewhere. I want to say they only hit four of their shots from beyond the arc in the second half and that was, that was obviously a major, major factor and, and them not being able to, to keep up with the Joneses, their GP and, and not having prey on the floor. I couldn't possibly imagine that was going to be a major case against them, but it, it was and they just couldn't quite hold on to the rope. That's as much about Boozer and Duke and Evans as anything but. Yeah, 4 of 14 from beyond the arc in the second half for St. John's after, after drilling nine in the first half they also got owned on the boards. That was significant. This was the first time in 17 games when St. John's led by at least 10 points in the game that they didn't win the game. And they were also beat by, by Duke in the paint by a margin of 12 points there. So Zubi was obviously understandably very emotional in the post game. These are emotional games, man. I mean these are for a lot of players every single year. It is their final game in college if they do indeed get knocked out. So it's a lot to process in the immediacy of these losses. But I really appreciate Zubi. Dylan Mitchell spoke as well and everything they had to say there just mighty, mighty impressive game. Patino almost had it he really did. And, and what he did overall this season and in back to back years with St. John's is extremely impressive. I know these losses are really, really tough to take, but it comes at the hands of a Duke team that's, and a program that's just rolling. I mean, this is now three straight elite HGP. So the second time in school history that they've gone to three to the eight. They did this from 88 to 92 under K. And they know how to close. I mean, Duke made 14 of its final 18 shots in this game. It went from down 10 with 14, 24 to go to outscoring St. John's 35 to 20 the rest of the way. They just, they know how to win. They've been able to do it. They've had some, some real scares here in this tournament. I understand that. But now that they've got their full roster on the floor, it's not fully healthy. They remain as dangerous as any team in this, in this tournament, and it's extremely impressive. Any last takeaways on either Duke or Johnny's?

[Matt Norlander]

It's all you, but, well, on St. John's Rick was very complimentary of his team afterward while obviously disappointed, but said like in five decades of coaching, he had never had a team where the players never had a argument, there was never an issue, there was never an almost fight. And he's like, that's just not normal. And so I had a good group of guys and they gave me everything they had. And you know, Rick is great in press conferences. Sometimes they go one way, sometimes they go another. This is one where clearly disappointed, but he said all the right things and seemed to have real affection for, for the men in that locker room. As for Duke, just a statement to put out there because it's a graphic. We threw up on March Madness360. That thought was interesting. John Shire, Bob Knight, Dean Smith, they have now all gone to three Elite Eights before the age of 40. Nobody's ever gone to four. John is only 38, so he'll have a chance next season to get to four Elite Eights before the age of 40. And that would put him in a group of one. So as we've stated many times, his career is off to one of the greatest starts in college basketball history, coaching history at the Division 1 level. And now he's one more win away from getting back to a Final Four. As you likely know by now, duke will play UConn on Sunday in D.C. with the winner advancing to the Final Four. And that's because UConn got past Michigan State late Friday. The final score, Huskies 67, Spartans 63. Terrace Reed let all scores with 30 points. Alex Caribbean added 17. Norlander, I'm about to ask you a question and then I'm going to ask him advice. Should I at this point, when I ask you this question and you start talking, hit refresh on my stupid streamyard link because I know that I'm fuzzy, but but I just want the world to know this is a brand new MacBook Air purchased from the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue earlier today. This thing should be working perfectly. I think I just got Internet connection problems. So when you start talking, should I hit refresh and see what happens?

[Gary Parrish]

Oh, first, hold on real quick here. And I don't know what happened to your other computer. I think you spilled soda on it. I don't have that story. But when you did this last night, you had a better connection.

[Matt Norlander]

Oh, I didn't do this last night. You have no idea what last night was about. I'll tell you someday, okay?

[Gary Parrish]

I don't need to know it right now. How about this? We're going to take a break. We're going to go to commercial. You're going to reboot entirely. You're going to log back onto streamyard, see if that does anything. But I will take us out of the break here. I'll talk UConn over Michigan State. We'll get you back in and we'll take it from there, okay? But first, a word from our partners and then I'll be right back after the break. Getting everyone together to watch the game is fun until you realize you're running low on snacks right before halftime. That's why Shipt is there for you on game day. Whether going for that classic spread, chips and dip, or mixing in even a few healthier options, I can and so can you order all the favorites for same day delivery to keep the party going, especially now that March is here. And if that chip bowl is looking suddenly too empty, no stress. Just place another order and it shows up the same day. Shipt makes last minute hosting so much easier. You can get snacks, party supplies, decorations, and more delivered from nearby stores. I'm talking grocery runs from places like Safeway or Albertsons, party decor from Michael's, or even a quick Target order all while you're getting ready for guests. With Shipt, you can order same day delivery on groceries, gifts, and so much more. And shoppers are known for incredible attention to detail and care. Plus, with an annual Shipt membership. You get unlimited orders, zero delivery fees on orders over $35, exclusive deals, and even the option to request your favorite shoppers again. Download the app or [e-mail] that's s h ipt.com do you love your pets?

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[Gary Parrish]

All right, we're absolutely cooking with gas at this point because Josh is also dming me that he can hear the air conditioner coming into my hotel room. What do you want from me? I don't even know if I can turn this thing off. Josh. We might just have to live with it while I'm talking here, buddy. All right, let's get to the other game in the district. Terrific game. UConn wins 67. 63. That's setting up a 1 versus 2. So we got a pair of 1 versus twos in the regional finals. I'll be at the one Saturday here in San Jose and then on Sunday the final, final, final four bid will be determined between the Blue Devils and the Huskies. In this game you saw UConn get 20 out of terrace Reed. You saw caravan go for 17 including a big three late, a couple of big foul shots late. Solo ball emerged after a rocky first weekend. He played well. And on the on the Michigan State side, Jeremy Fears and Cohen car each at 13. Carson Cooper had himself some moments again tried to will this Spartans team to a big time comeback. Couldn't get it done but it was, it was just extremely impressive to see this team not die, not quit. At one point it got down, was down 25 to six to start the game but they got it to eight at the break. Obviously took the lead after the half and unfortunately for for sparty here just 4:16 from beyond the arc, that was an issue. UConn's defense showed up in a significant way. Mighty impressive for them to do that at this point. Here with the Huskies you've got look at this. So they're 16 and one past four tournaments, this one included 16 one in the tournament. Dan Hurley has never lost in the sweet 16 or later to this point. We'll see if he can keep that going in the next round. They have won 17 straight games as a program in the Sweet 16 or later. UConn has. That's the longest streak since the acknowledgment of the Sweet Sixteen's existence in 1975. It technically goes back further beyond that. UCLA would have that streak, but I guess for official record keeping purposes, Yukon has the the most in the modern era, if you will. And, and it's just really impressive. Dan early being 90 is has ever been done at this stage with no loss, that many wins without a loss. And now he is 18 and 5 in the tournament as a head coach. That's the second best winning percentage in the history of of men's college basketball, only behind Wooden with a minimum of 20 games there. So this was a tight watch, a tense watch. It looked like Yukon was going to run away with it. It did not do that. GP I'll send it right back to you for everyone watching you've seen this, but if you're listening, GP is back in the stream and I think you're a little bit clearer. So floor is yours buddy.

[Matt Norlander]

Dan being 90 in the Sweet 16 and beyond is obviously. Are we done here? Is this over?

[Gary Parrish]

What do you mean is this over?

[Matt Norlander]

Like Dan never loses at this point.

[Gary Parrish]

That's, that's for you to decide.

[Matt Norlander]

I guess we might be done here.

[Gary Parrish]

I mean, they're halfway home to a title. But if you think, if you think we're done here, well, then we're done here.

[Matt Norlander]

I mean, I'm just saying are you

[Gary Parrish]

going Yukon may never lose again on me here.

[Matt Norlander]

I think I'm going to circle back to that time where I said UConn might never lose again. What if Yukon never loses again? Have we thought about that? Dan Hurley has never lost going forward in an NCAA tournament. R we done here?

[Gary Parrish]

I mean, it beats Duke. We'll have to, I'll have to seriously engage in that kind of conversation. I, I, in all honesty, Parish, like Michigan State put a big surge on that building, looked and sounded incredible. I just, I was so thrilled that the most hyped region of them all delivered two outstanding games and Michigan State had a chance. But you're looking, if you're watching right now, you're, you're seeing the stat pace that Josh has up here. And unfortunately Michigan State just in aggregate did not the perimeter shooting at all. It was able to get back into the game because it had a real good stretch there where it was mauling Yukon on the boards and it was getting really good second chance opportunities. It was, it was equaling them if not bettering them in the paint. But Yukon got enough of a lead where they were. Both teams played really, really hard. But it just seemed to me down the final two and a half, three minutes of this game and this is something that would drive Vizzo nuts. I just felt like Yukon had a little more battery in the pack, that's all. And it shot just a little bit better. And Caravan, just that three that he hit, I think it gave him a four point cushion, was big. And then he's on the line, you know, he hits both frees and they were just cool. Barely touching the back of the, of the rim, barely making the net move at all. I mean just big time stuff in, in that, in that spot there. So congrats to Huskies fans. That was a really, really good and, and well earned battle Sparty. You know, I know the Big Ten populates half the elite eight now and you're hoping to make it even five out of eight but the fact that you couldn't get it done, no shame in it. And this was a really, really, really good battle here. And Izzo's Group just couldn't quite get it done. He got asked afterward, I guess, about retirement. I don't have the context of the question, but to no surprise at all, he said this on the record to me multiple times, like he's not close. Like, maybe he gets close one, one year, but like this dude is not remotely close to walking away. And he reinforced that and in the immediacy of defeat on Friday night.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, so Jeremy Fears was 5 of 15 from the field. Michigan State 416 from three. Those. If I just told you those two things before we started, you probably would guess which way this was going to go. Still, it came down to the final minute and I did think it was notable that we have watched over the past week Bill Self leave his future up in the air publicly. Kelvin Sampson kind of leave his future up in the air publicly.

[Gary Parrish]

And yet here's Tom real quick on that. Like I have checked in on that. Like I'm told he is not retiring Kelvin Sampson. So just, just for those purposes here, I even doubled back again on that today. He could change his mind, but it's been insisted to me for months that Kelvin Sampson will not be walking away. So.

[Matt Norlander]

But at least publicly at the press conference he was like, yeah, so. And then here's Tom is. I'll say, no, no, no. Like, we don't have to. You don't have to ask me next week. I don't need time to talk to my family. I'm a basketball coach. I'll be coaching basketball next season. So that's good for him and, and obviously good for Michigan State. He said the thing like, if I ever get to the point where I, you know, my, my bosses don't think I. That thing that coaches of a certain age often say, but clearly we're nowhere close to that and we may never get there. You know what? Like, we may never get there. So he's still operating at the tip top of the sport. And yeah, that was a, a Fun Nightcap in D.C. so, all right, let's move to the Midwest region in Chicago. We're going to take the games in the order that they were played. Final score, Michigan 90, Alabama 77. Yaxo Lindenborg was the star. 23 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists in a 13 point victory. So the Wolverines are in the Elite Eight for the first time since 2021. Your thoughts, Norlander.

[Gary Parrish]

How about Bama really putting a scare in. They hit Bama combined to make. Hold on one second. The Michigan and Bama made 27 threes in this game. It's the second most ever in a tournament game. The only one that was more involved. Bama. I was there last year. It was BYU and Bama in the, in the, in this very same round. Sweet 16. Those teams made a combined 31 in a tournament game and Michigan to hit the gear it needed to hit. Yaxel Lindenborg taking over just, you know, across the sport the past couple of nights here, gp, you've seen a lot of stuff from a variety of teams and players that have occupied that top shelf of the of the sport for the majority of the past three or four months, showing up large and that includes first team All American Yaxel Londonborg, who goes for 23 and 12 along with seven assists. He's the first player to hit credit to our research team for this. I think it might have been on the broadcast as well. Last time a player, any player this deep into the tournament or later went for at least 2312, seven in a game. Larry Bird in the final four and 79. A lot of Larry on this podcast and deservedly so. It just gives you an idea of how special this year is in terms of the talent, what we're seeing out of the likes of Boozer and London Borg. Of course, he's also the third player since 2000, joining Carmelo Anthony with at least 2010 and five in a Sweet 16 game or later. That's, that's big's up, big up spot of him. The other player, D. Wade, also in 2003 in that Elite Eight game against Kentucky. I was extremely impressed with Londonborg, impressed with Michigan to be able to, you know, Phylon was going to get his and Phylon was awesome. Like Phylon was going, always going in the lottery. But like you watch him play like this tonight and you're like he has to be in the top 10. How can you not take this guy with a top 10 pick. 35 and 7 and 4. Just one turnover in 39 minutes. You know, they got some good play out of Shirelle and right cell and, and, and they were up what one going into the break. But Lenaber even said on the floor afterward like you know, they dictated it and Michigan got it back to where it wanted it in the second half. Like they played more at their pace overall. Cadou had some condo, had some moments where he was like he was not, he was not taking anyone's stuff whatsoever. And I thought Trey McKinney, who, who has a bright future, provided he is going to stay and return for his sophomore season, I think that is worth this where this is going here. Just really nice flashes out of him and Roddy Gale. So the game didn't wind up and ending as closely as I thought. It was like this between this and Duke and the Johnny's GP. Like we were on fire again for a 2nd street semi final. Like, you know, early card if you will. But Bama wins at 90 to 77, gets on to an elite Michigan. I'm sorry, sorry, Michigan. Thank you. And. And does so with four guys with at least 15 points in a tournament game. Like that just doesn't ha. Like I don't know how often that happens. We have four guys at 15 a piece. Speaks to their balance. Their balance is as much of a weapon as anything else. And oh by the way, a couple more nuggets for you. Michigan now has 34 wins. That's the most in a single season in school history. The first team in the tournament ever with at least 90 points on 50 and 45 shooting. So 50 from the field, 45 from three and three straight games. Team is just loaded, loaded, loaded. And this year's Michigan team in Kansas, back nine years ago in 2017. The only teams in the past three decades with three straight 90 point games in the tournament. They do that. And they had to survive a barrage of threes from Alabama. I was mighty impressed. What were your takeaways from the game?

[Matt Norlander]

Well, you mentioned however many players getting at least I GUESS it was 16 points. I know, you know, but like Arizona had four or six, they got 13 last night. And that had never happened in an NCAA or a Sweet 16 game before. So a lot of this type of stuff bouncing around. It speaks to the quality of the basketball that we're watching. Michigan, like you said, 34 wins. Now that's a school record. The story was the three point line on some level. Like Alabama missed 33. They missed 33 threes, which tied the record for most misses ever in any NCAA tournament game. They were 14 of 47 from three. That's 29.8%. So they took 69 shots and 47 of them came from beyond the ark. That's a 68% launch rate from beyond the ark. On the season they lead the country while taking 54% of their shots from beyond the ark. And in this one it went up to 68 and that's it. And I don't think Nate was completely happy with it like those numbers after the game because he, the way he put it was we need to make better rim decisions. But they were always going to have to take a bunch because scoring against Michigan inside the arc is one of the most difficult things to do in the sport. They're top four I think in two point defensive field goal percentage. So I don't know that you needed to take 47 but you needed to get up there pretty high. And the biggest thing was you couldn't miss 70% of them. And that's what they did. They missed 70% of their three point shots and there's just no scenario where they were going to beat Michigan missing 70% of their three point shots. So Phylon was great. You know down south we, we following all the lottery picks. We could have two lottery picks down in Memphis. We're following them all. And LeBaron Filon is on the, on the watch list for sure. Anything else on Alabama? Go ahead.

[Gary Parrish]

Couple things on get, get this, this Bama stat. So the most three point attempts through the first three games in a tournament, single tournament ever. Bama now has the record. Okay, 2019 Auburn had the record with 98 three point hoists. Okay. This year's Nebraska team actually had 96. Sneaky 96 if you ask me. So the record until Bama which broke it was 98. Alabama shot 125 three pointers in three games. 125. Get a hold of yourselves. Get control of your life. That's, that's just, that's just incredible. You are drunk beyond the arc with that. And Bama for the season on made threes, now has the third most ever. Would have had the second most ever if it couldn't got to gotten to the next round. It made 450 triples this season. That same Auburn team that set the record, previous record for hoists was number two with 454. The Nova team that won it in 2018 had the most made threes in a season with 464. They needed to go all the way to the final game of the tournament in order to achieve that record. And then one more thing on Michigan averages right now averaging in this tournament 95.3 points, shooting 57% from the field, making almost 12 threes a game at a 47.3% clip. And out rebounding opponents by almost 14 per game machine. Like I saw Arizona in person and it feels like that's the best team. And then you see what Michigan doing and it's like how can that not be the best team? You see the efficiency of Illinois and it's like okay, they have now come back to this conversation and then Obviously duke, not at 100%, but it's, it's will to win is as good as any other team that's in this tournament. It's just, it's phenomenal. And with that, yeah, let's move along to the, the other game from, from, from Friday night, which was the, the second game in Chicago. And credit to the balls, let's dive into it. But I just as, as most people listening and watching would agree, I just hate when teams that are good enough to go all the way to a Monday night unexpectedly any injury sucks. I get all that. But I'm talking like you get into the tournament and then you lose your best player. Joshua Jefferson is a gamer and as we look around, as I mentioned before, like one player after another has just been, you know, fighting through injury. C.J. cox at Purdue, another one. Right. And he had to be pretty damn limited if he was not able to get on the floor. Him being not on the floor GP is not the sole reason why Iowa State didn't win. But even laps out on the call like against Tennessee, Iowa State just could ill afford not to have him on the floor. And it was just, it was wounded quite literally. And as a result, it's Tennessee not just with the win, Tennessee with the win by 14. A 76, 62 final.

[Matt Norlander]

Happy for Tennessee, happy for Rick. But yeah, it stinks for tj, for Joshua, for Iowa State and his fans. I, I think, I think the most famous example of legitimate national title contender loses its best player late is probably Kenyon Martin at Cincinnati once upon a time. But we get these Kendall Marshall at Carolina, that's another one that immediately pops in. That's the 2012 one where, I mean, Kentucky was the best team in the country that season. But you know, throw Kendall Marshall on that team and let's see what happens. And so yeah, these always. Because you never get these teams back. You don't get to run it back in college basketball, with few exceptions. And it's just an opportunity ripped away from you. If you're Tennessee, you don't have to apologize for it because you'll be on the wrong side of one of these things at some point too. But it just, it stinks for TJ and stinks for Iowa State. But I do love the Rick Barnes story. This is a man who was a incredibly successful coach at Texas in the Big 12 for a long time.

[Gary Parrish]

Yep.

[Matt Norlander]

And then Baylor started to get on the rise. Texas A and M was getting some recruits. Recruiting had dropped off in the state. That was part of it. But another part of it was seven straight years at Tennessee. He failed to get out of the first weekend and or either make the NCAA Tournament at all. All right. And so in 2015, they pushed him out, and the Tennessee thing was either already lined up or in the works. But he knew he was going to be coaching again in People in Orange.

[Gary Parrish]

Junior Tyndale got fired, and that opened the door for him to get the Tennessee job.

[Matt Norlander]

That's right.

[Gary Parrish]

I know about Donnie Tindall. Go ahead and Google it.

[Matt Norlander]

So if we have this man who is late in his career in terms of age at least, just couldn't get out of the first weekend of the NCAA tournament seven straight years, that is ultimately why the school that he had taken to a Final Four, decided to move on. And now here he is at Tennessee, having spent part of his career with a reputation of just can't get it done in the tournament. And now he has been to four straight Sweet 16s. He's in his third straight Elite Eight, and one more win and he gets Tennessee to the Final Four for the first time in school history. Obviously, there's awesome stuff on the other side of it, too, but if you're a UT fan, like, this is, this is awesome stuff. And given where I live, I'm surrounded by him and happy for him. This is, this is, this is the good stuff. And like, I've known Rick for a long time. I, I, I like him on a personal level. It is nice to see him having the success at this rate, at this level that at such a late point in his career.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah. And as I, and as I understand it, he is also, like, you know, no matter when this run ends, he's not, he's not stepping away either. He's doing well, and I think it was. So we're in the 26 tournament now. I want to say going into the 23 tournament, he was.500 for his career in the tournament, which is wild to think about considering, like, I want to say it was like 26 and 26, 27 and 27, 28 and 28, something like that. Now he's, he's, he's, he's well over that at this point and, and well deserved, well earned. This is the fourth Elite Eight in the history of Tennessee's program. Three of them are with Barnes, and they're all in the past three years now. They haven't broken through to the Final Four. Tennessee has the most tournament wins of any school without a Final Four in its history. This was win 34 in March Madness for the Men's Falls program here, see if they can break that. They're going to have to go through Michigan in order to do so. And Tennesseeo, by the way, has never defeated a one seed and history of its program. But they looked ready to rock, ready to roll in a major, major way. They, they got up, what, 42, 29 in the second half when it was close to the first 20 minutes. They mauled Iowa State. GP what are the percentages here? Actually, let me look, let me bring this up real quick here. I want to. I actually wanted to see what. Not the margin, but the percentage that they had actually gotten it done on the offense. I mean, this is outrageous. Tennessee grabbed 53.3% of its offensive rebounds in this game. Iowa State 23%. False fans know this, but if you had forgotten, Tennessee has owned that number one spot on oh rebound rate on Ken Palm the entire season. Came through and delivered again. For the season, Tennessee is grabbing 45% of its misses, which is just. It just. I mean, come on now, that's, that's absurdly impressive. So impressive that I'm going to check this in real time here. Have we had a team hit 45% in the past 15 years? I'm cycling through it right now. GP no, there's no one. Let's see. West Virginia in, in 15, 16 was at 42%. That's close. Baylor the year before. Yeah, all these teams are at 42. Minnesota in 2012, 13, 43.8. I'm wondering, right. Oh, Old Dominion. Shouts, shouts to Blaine Taylor. His team was at 44.9% back in 2010-11. I want to say that was the ODU team that either lost a Butler a pit in the first round. Point is, I'm not seeing a single team that to this point matches Tennessee's O rebound rate in the history of Ken palm. I've got three more years to cycle through up there it is. Okay. 01 Michigan State. Tom Izzo. So 2000, 2001 Michigan State was a one seed. That team went 28 and five and lost in the final four to Arizona, the most recent Arizona team to make the Final Four. That's the last time there was a team as proficient at getting second chance opportunities as this year's Vols group. I saw this Tennessee team in person in Vegas. They played Houston and it was one of the most physical games I've ever seen in person. Grown man game that if NFL scouts were there, they would have been salivating. They owned Iowa State on the boards And Felix Oxpara and Jalen Carey were possessed in this game tonight. Jacoby Gillespie continues to be that dude and is the kind of dude where I think he has and I gotta sit down and figure this out and we'll do this actually after this weekend when we've got the final four set. I, I think he has played himself onto all American status. I, I don't know if there's a case against it. It's a loaded year for talent though. But after in light of him getting them to an elite eight here, he had 16 points and I didn't shoot well from the field, but he had a dagger three late. That was like. When it went in, it was like, yep, Iowa State's done. They're not winning this. Lipsy gave him a good push there, mom. Shilovich did not have a good game. That was another major factor. But between Gillespie, Akbara Ament who looked, you know, I know he's not 100, but he was looking better in this game. And then carry off the bench, just one thing after another. Congrats balls fans. You're doing a really, really good job here with Barnes as your coach. I know it's a now it's a huge ask like you're a six going against a one. Michigan just went over what Michigan's done here. See if you can break through but no shame whatsoever if you don't to this point. 25 wins, 11 losses, you enter in, you know, with that six next to your name, you're 11 in Ken Palm right now. Oh, by the way and, and I'll tell you what, Wolverines are in for a battle like it is going to be big boy only varsity level ball here. GP on Sunday in Chicago. I understand why that game isn't going to be as potentially as enticing on the face as Duke Yukon. You got, I'm here with the 12 as well. And then we've got this Illinois, Iowa Big Ten battle that, that gets it going with the elite in on Saturday. But telling you Tennessee has the guard play, NBA talent, physicality and the bodies to make that a real rough game doesn't mean Michigan can't win by 15 or 16 points. It can but, but Michigan cannot underestimate Tennessee. Like it's just one of those teams that once you see them in person and you got to deal with the way that they crash the glass. It's a real, real, real problem. My last thing here, that clinch did For Iowa State, 5 of 23 from deep, 21.7% 2nd worst 3 point shooting performance on the season. You combine that with the lackability on the boards and no Jefferson, unfortunately, Alta Burger's team was. Was doomed after a really, really nice season and a well earned two seed.

[Matt Norlander]

Alright, let me tell you how we're gonna do this thing the rest of the way. We're gonna take a break because that's how we get paid.

[Gary Parrish]

All right, Break three.

[Matt Norlander]

I don't know, I lost track.

[Gary Parrish]

Now let's just keep it going. Let's go.

[Matt Norlander]

Hey, hey.

[Gary Parrish]

I don't want a chance. Taking a break and you come back and you're pixelated like one of those channels that you might be trying to watch. That's in college.

[Matt Norlander]

That's not the way it works. That's not the way. That's not the way it works.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay.

[Matt Norlander]

That's not the way it works.

[Gary Parrish]

I feel like it just happened 10 minutes ago, but.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay, if you, if, if you don't mind, I'm gonna take control of this in the spirit of making sure all the bills are paid. And we're gonna get one more. We're getting.

[Gary Parrish]

We're getting rich, right? Man, you.

[Matt Norlander]

I am just. I am taking. This is how rich I'm getting. I'm taking my MacBooks, I'm pouring diet Cokes in them and just walk into fifth Avenue and buying a brand new one. That's how rich.

[Gary Parrish]

I saw the tweet today. You bought it? You bought a MacBook. You saw Libby Dunn. And I needed no other context.

[Matt Norlander]

I'm not even. I'm not joking or like I was just walking down 6th Avenue with my brand new MacBook Air and I was like, oh, there's Libby Dunn. She was walking the other way. We crossed past and it was like two ships passing.

[Gary Parrish]

Was it? Yeah. You sure?

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, yeah. And somebody on Twitter asked. All right, G.P. tell the truth. Who's taller?

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, yeah, tell the truth. I think you got her gymnast. Like, she's probably not over 5 4, right?

[Matt Norlander]

I'm going to Google her before I.

[Gary Parrish]

Well, let's be careful, man.

[Matt Norlander]

I don't think I'm the first person to ever Google Libby Ton. All right, how tall is. I think I need to do a. How tall is Libby Dom?

[Gary Parrish]

All right, how about you do that, Josh?

[Matt Norlander]

I just watched you. I just watched you do. I just watched you do offensive rebounding percentage research in real time.

[Gary Parrish]

In real time. You wish the data off the podcast. You got to do it real time. That's how a pro does it.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah. If you can, if you can, if you can research offensive Rebounding rates in real time. I can look up Libby Dunn's height. She's five foot six.

[Gary Parrish]

Podcast anywhere else, people.

[Matt Norlander]

She's five foot six.

[Gary Parrish]

Not getting this kind of range. You're just not. I can't turn off the ac, by the way. Let me try.

[Matt Norlander]

She's five foot six. There she is. Livy Dunn, five foot six. I saw her little face in person today. She was in. If you want to know, she was in what looked like a business like, pantsuit. She looked like she was in a pantsuit. She looked like she was walking to a meeting.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay?

[Matt Norlander]

And I was just walking. And I was just walking to get a quesadilla. She looked like she was going to a meeting to get rich. And I was just trying to get a quesadilla. Anyway, so here's what we're gonna do, all right? Because you never know when I might just pour another Diet Coke into a MacBook. I need this money. So we're going to take a break. We're going to get a word from our partners. We're going to have money fall on top of us, all right? It's going to look like a strip club in this place. Just money falling on top of us from our partners. And then we're going to come back and I'm going to run you through the schedule. Saturday and Sunday, and then I'm going to ask Norlander the most important question of the night. What is the sling game to watch? Josh, word from our partners.

[Gary Parrish]

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[Matt Norlander]

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[Gary Parrish]

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[Matt Norlander]

Man, that's the first time we see the Landman in a while.

[Gary Parrish]

Indeed. That is. That is correct.

[Matt Norlander]

Usually we go to our partners and it's just my dumb ass sitting there going, I'm just doing this all the time.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, I haven't been that relieved to see Billy Bob Thornton's face and I don't even know how long.

[Matt Norlander]

Man, I love Landman. Season two Streaming now on Paramount plus oh, the chat said I never. I never. Libby Dunn looks. She looked tall to me. She looked tall. I'd have to get back to back with her. We'd have to get back to back.

[Gary Parrish]

It's not gonna happen.

[Matt Norlander]

You don't think Libby Dunn would get back to. I'm not trying to get front to front. I'm trying to get back to back.

[Gary Parrish]

You're not getting back to back. You're not getting front to front. You're not getting side to side. You're not getting toe to toe.

[Matt Norlander]

I acknowledge front to front would be I acknowledge front to front would be crossing a line. I respect Paul Skeens too much for that. All right, I, I admit that would be crossing the line. But back to back, just to see who's taller? I don't think that's. I think that's reasonable. What if I'd have grabbed her and put her back to back with me today on 6th Avenue?

[Gary Parrish]

Well, you wouldn't be doing this podcast right now.

[Matt Norlander]

Probably would have got arrested. Probably would have got a. Probably got. Okay, all right, enough of living.

[Gary Parrish]

Let's get to the next segment as quickly as possible possible.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay, enough about Libby Dunn.

[Gary Parrish]

All right, now it's time for Games to Watch brought to you by Sling. And let me tell you, they came up with a game changing way to watch college basketball. With a one day pass from Sling, get instant access to the men's and women's tournaments. Starting at just $4.99. You can catch all the action on TNT, TBS and more. No overpaying, no over committing. Just tournaments. So crazy they'd be crazy to miss. Visit sling.com to learn more. Sling lets you do that.

[Matt Norlander]

I'm going to run you through the schedule right now. I'm going to give you dates, times, teams, networks and point spreads. And then I'm going to ask Norlander the most important question he will answer in the next 24 hours. What is the Sling game to watch? Here's the schedule. On Saturday, 6:09pm Eastern Illinois, Iowa in Houston on TBS. Illinois minus seven and a half. Saturday, 8:49pm Eastern Arizona, Purdue and San Jose on TBS. Arizona minus six and a half. Then it's Sunday. That's the Lord's Day. 2:15pm Eastern. Michigan, Tennessee and Chicago on CBS. America's most watched network, network of stars. Michigan -7 and a half, 505pm Eastern. I think most people would say this. Let's see if this is the Sling game to watch. Duke, Yukon, NDC on cbs. America's most watched network, network of stars. Duke minus five and a half. Norlander, I'm going to let you pick it. This is up to you, but I will note before I turn it over to you, seven and a half, six and a half. Seven and a half, five and a half. We have four Elite Eight games and no point spreads. Five or lower.

[Gary Parrish]

That can't be normal over under 0.5. Elite Eight games decided by fewer than four points. GP1. I'll say one. I'll say over. Yeah, I'll take the over.

[Matt Norlander]

It's just that's a weird number to land on because it's always like a one possession game and then miss a shot foul. Now it's a five possession game. I mean now it's a five point game, right?

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah. Give us at least. Give us at least one. By the way, Wild day, by the way. I just, I haven't even. I'm. I got TV up here in Tiger Woods. I, I just. That's another deal, right? Totally. It's in the chat. That's crazy. The Sling game to watch.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah, the Sling game to watch.

[Gary Parrish]

Duke versus Yukon, Sunday, final bid for the four on the line on cbs. A one versus a two. You've got John Shire, back to back national players of the year trying to get the back to back final fours. You've got Dan Hurley, who's never lost, ever. And the sweet 16 or beyond, flawless to this point. Alex Caravan, 16 and one in his college career in the NCAA tournament. That is your Sling game to watch. That was the games to watch brought to you by Sling. And remember, check out passes from Sling so you can watch those big games on TNT, TBS and more starting at just $4.99. No overpaying, no over committing. Just tournaments so crazy they'd be crazy to miss. Visit sling.com to learn more. Sling lets you do that?

[Matt Norlander]

Is that a show?

[Gary Parrish]

Are we making more money or is that it?

[Matt Norlander]

Let's get one more work from a partner. No, no, no, buddy. The Straight of Hormuz is still closed. All right? We don't know where this is going.

[Gary Parrish]

It's gonna be a promo for hq, we're not getting paid for that.

[Matt Norlander]

Hey, listen, have you heard about the straight.

[Gary Parrish]

I've heard about it. Remember Suez Canal? Not even close.

[Matt Norlander]

Not even close to the Suez Canal. Hey, we're gonna remember this day when gas prices are $6 a gallon and I'm like, norlander, I tried to get you to get. I was trying to get more money for you in the middle of the night.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, I'm not seeing any of this money.

[Matt Norlander]

I don't know where this money.

[Gary Parrish]

I don't know where this money is.

[Matt Norlander]

Where is this money going?

[Gary Parrish]

Not a single single clue. I. I think that's. It's. Wow. You're 215 on the east Coast. It is that. I tell you what, this west coast clock there's nice. Oh, I.

[Matt Norlander]

Hey, I'm a. I'm a big believer in this. Anytime I've spent more than a few days, like a week at a time on the west coast, sign me up for that. I could. I could a hundred percent live with that schedule.

[Gary Parrish]

Yes, there. There is something to this, that when. When I was at those Sweet 16 games yesterday in my press seat, you could see out up the opposite section and you could see into the. The concourse, and it was still sunlight. Like halfway through the second Sweet 16 game, I was like, this is. This is phenomenal. So I. San Jose, solid spot, solid city.

[Matt Norlander]

I have. I haven't spent much time. Sorry to minute. I don't. I haven't spent much time in San Jose, so. Go ahead, brag on it.

[Gary Parrish]

No, it's. I've liked it so far. And I went to a spot called Luna Kitchen today, big time. It's probably about two miles from my hotel. In fact, I loved the. The tortilla chips so much that they give you. When you said these top three tortilla chip that they give you at a Mexican restaurant I've ever had in my life.

[Matt Norlander]

YouTube. You brought them home with you.

[Gary Parrish]

They were that good.

[Matt Norlander]

You're traveling. You're traveling with tortilla.

[Gary Parrish]

Yeah, I'll have a couple more tonight and then that'll be it. Yeah. And that's basically it. San Jose, good times. Hopefully we get a good one tomorrow. One versus two. Tommy Lloyd, Matt Painter. You either got Tommy Lloyd making his first final four. Painter getting there for the second time in three years. Two very different point guards. Is it Senior veteran point guards, but very different styles. And Jaden Bradley versus Braden Smith. Arizona looks near indestructible, so I'm interested to see if Purdue can find a way to get it Done. I have to imagine they are going to pack the hell out of the paint and try and induce Arizona to take at least 15, 16 three pointers. So very interesting strategy and tactical game. But if Arizona plays to its typical potential man, Purdue is going to need to have an all time night from offense. We'll see if they can get it done. Very much looking forward to it. And we got two one versus Twos. We got a one versus six, we've got a three versus a nine. Illinois and the Fighting align I going up against Iowa and we can wrap here. But I, I just love the idea that there's going to be a Big Ten fan base that is going to be over the moon. Like Tennessee's fan base will get to its first Final Four. That'll be incredible. But we'll see if they can get past Michigan which has been the relatively recently Arizona's fan base. If they get there for the first time in 25 years, that's huge. Purdue just got to experience that. Duke and Yukon, obviously that's in the recent history. It is guaranteed no matter what that in the south regional final, the first game of the Elite Eight, we are going to have a fan base that is flying on cloud nine and will be in well, abundance given the proximity of those campuses to Indianapolis there. So I can't wait for that. Either Underwood gets it done and we've got his whole gambit with the Balkans and getting that done, getting there or Ben McCollum might be the next coach in North Carolina.

[Matt Norlander]

I mean, Ben McCollum wins one more game. He. He gets inducted into the Naismith hall of Fame. This year he wasn't even a finalist. And, and he's not allowed per regulations.

[Gary Parrish]

But I say Iowa roster to the freaking four. Are you kidding me?

[Matt Norlander]

You induct him into the hall of Fame post game. Tracy Wilson does it.

[Gary Parrish]

Tracy Wilson does.

[Matt Norlander]

Tracy Wilson inducts. Inducts Ben McCollum into the Naismith Memorial hall of Fame post game. I mean she won't be there, but you get the point. You get the point. Evan? Who's there? Evan Washburn.

[Gary Parrish]

No, Washburn was in Chicago tonight.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay, then who's in Houston? Is that Lawrence?

[Gary Parrish]

Hold on, let's work it backward.

[Matt Norlander]

Is that Lauren?

[Gary Parrish]

Lawrence Hottie.

[Matt Norlander]

Okay. All right. Lauren. Lauren. Former CBSSports.com video contributor oh man. Back in the day, I was young and I had hair. Lawrence Jahadi was young and she had hair and we do videos together.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay, cool story, Hansel.

[Matt Norlander]

It's a real story. All right. Now, here's the plan. Ben McCollum wins in a lead, a game to go to the final four in year one at Iowa. Lawrence Heidi. And ducks him into the Naismith hall of Fame post game. I feel like that's fair.

[Gary Parrish]

Sure.

[Matt Norlander]

I think it's time. Going out.

[Gary Parrish]

That's a show.

[Matt Norlander]

I think I'm going out.

[Gary Parrish]

Okay. I am not.

[Matt Norlander]

I'm going out.

[Gary Parrish]

I'm three hours behind you. You go out. I'm going to bed. Getting up early. I. I'm going to. I'm gonna. I gotta do it. I'm going to Stanford tomorrow. Never been.

[Matt Norlander]

You've never been to Stanford?

[Gary Parrish]

Never been to Stanford.

[Matt Norlander]

Oh, hold on. This is so funny. I thought you said, I'm going to Stanford, and I was like, how have you never been to Stanford?

[Gary Parrish]

I'm going there Sunday. I'm going to Stanford with an N. I'm in the Bay Area parish. Hold on.

[Matt Norlander]

Are you going to be the one. Are you going to be the one person in the planet who is going to be at Stanford on Saturday and in Stamford on Sunday?

[Gary Parrish]

That's the only human being that will be at Stanford University on Saturday.

[Matt Norlander]

Yeah.

[Gary Parrish]

And then we'll be in Stanford, Connecticut on Sunday. Only one. Right here. This guy right here.

[Matt Norlander]

Look at you.

[Gary Parrish]

Never been. I've heard it's. I've heard it's quite literally the most beautiful college campus in the country. So I don't know when I'll have the opportunity to get back out here and see Stanford. I hope Kyle Smith has it rolling seven months from now and I'm back. But. But in absence of that, I don't want to miss the opportunity. So I'm going to scoot up there, take the Caltran, Caltrain, whatever the thing is called, excited to do it. And I'll get that done, then dip back down here, catch the game, fly home, and then you and I are podcasting in person on Sunday night.

[Matt Norlander]

I'm not really going out. I'm just gonna take my brand new computer and sit right over there and just look out the window and play around. Just go play around on my brand new computer tonight. Learn about it.

[Gary Parrish]

I'm gonna leave that one alone.

[Matt Norlander]

Try to figure out how to get better Internet with my new computer. I don't think it's a computer problem, but you never know. Anyway, we're gonna call that a show. All right, Devin Downey, Chester, S.C. terry Teagle, Legend Huck Larnell. Thank you guys once again for watching and listening to the Ion College basketball Podcast. If you're not subscribed, please go subscribe anywhere you subscribe. Podcast Apple Spotify. There's more of us than there are of them. That should be reflected in the comments. So do that and I'll talk to you again on Saturday night. Till then, take care. Paramount Podcasts

[Gary Parrish]

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