← Eye On College Basketball
Eye On College Basketball
Three big games, three close endings: Duke-Florida, UNC-Kentucky, UConn-Kansas. ACC on the upswing + Cam Boozer is the NPOY 1 month in
01:05:51
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- [00:00]
Matt Norlander
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- [00:46]
Gary Parish
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- [01:31]
Announcer/Commercial Voice
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- [03:31]
Matt Norlander
Foreign.
- [03:35]
Gary Parish
I am Gary Parish. Welcome back CBS Sports Ion college basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, dodo birds. Leaky Black Matt Norlander is here with me. If you're watching on YouTube, be Brandon Davies. Smash that like button. And if you're one of us, let the world know in the chat and in the comments. And if you haven't yet subscribed to the CBS Sports I Own College Basketball podcast, please do that wherever you subscribe to podcasts like Apple and Spotify. Let's get into it. And buddy, Tuesday night was awesome. UConn over Kansas at Allen Field House North Carolina over Kentucky at Rupp Arena. We're going to get to those, but I do want to start at Cameron Indoor Stadium where we got a fun one on Tuesday. Final score number four Duke 67. Number 15 Florida 66. Duke finish with six seven. I was watching with my little guys. Oh they they really enjoyed that.
- [04:29]
Matt Norlander
I think the 67 thing is like.
- [04:30]
Gary Parish
Long since passed, but they they recognize it in real time. They they they they they.
- [04:36]
Matt Norlander
I very much did not until you just brought it up on the show.
- [04:38]
Gary Parish
They they they seem to enjoy it. The Blue Devils led by as many as 15 points, but trail the final minute. That's when Isaiah Evans came to the rescue, made a three with 21 seconds left, put Duke ahead 67, 66 and then got a deflection on Florida's final attempt to inbound, score and win. Look at Duke. Look at Duke putting a man on the inbound. I guess you can learn from other people's past mistakes. So duke is now 9 and oh with wins over Kansas, Florida, Arkansas and Texas. Duke is three and oh against the SEC one and oh against the Big 12. And I apologize for possibly burying the lead, but Cameron Boozer got 29.6 rebounds, two assists. He was 10 of 21 from the field. Awesome. Again. Norlander, good to see you on this. I guess it's a Wednesday morning. Hit your little button. Let's go Duke. Let's go Duke.
- [05:26]
Matt Norlander
Oh, I got many of them. Okay, so you want that one? Want this one? Let's go. Dude, come on. I figured Wednesday morning that kind of win. Come on Duke. I thought that might be her. Let's go. Yeah, I got all sorts of ones. And you know what, for the most part they played some good defense. Yeah, they did a nice job last night. First time Florida had been in Cameron by the way since December 9th of 98. Duke now leads this all time series 15 4. Yes, these two teams, even though they don't share a conference, have played 19 times over the years. Duke got another one. This, by the way, it could have been the title game matchup last year, as a reminder, did not go that way because of what Houston did to Duke and then what Florida did to Houston. Duke then kind of did to Florida on Tuesday night with Florida not even be able to get off a a shot on turned out to be, I guess the penultimate possession with Boogie Fland. Ironically enough, after being a big time player in the second half, he coughs it up, turns it over and then yes, Malik Brown, who is on the short list of best defenders in college basketball, had a number of good plays. But then the deflection that doesn't even allow Florida a chance at some hope on the last play of the game. Winds up, winds up getting it done there. Isaiah Evans, you know we see this every so often. Guy is cold all night. But you know, they say shooter shoot, I say shooters make. And eventually he did. His eighth three point attempt of the night was his only make. He gets that done. And while Boozer was awesome again, he's had back to back games. Credit to our CBS Sports research team for this stat. He's the first Duke player with back to back games in which he had 25 or more points against ranked teams. Okay. Since J.J. redick in 2006. Yeah, so Boozer was awesome again. He's, he's the best player in the sport right now. I am the, the acting president of the United States Basketball Writers association for this season. Oh, look who's bragging. Parish, pipe down over there. I'm, I'm setting up. I'm setting up. Why?
- [07:30]
Gary Parish
I said who's bragging?
- [07:31]
Matt Norlander
I, I wanted to introduce a new element here for this season and that is a player of the month. You see it in the NFL, see at the NBA you see Player of the month, Rookie of the month, you see it in baseball. Why can't college basketball have a player of the month award? So we are doing that now this year with the USBWA and so we, there's 11 of us on the board sent out the ballots and Boozer before this game we sent out the ballots and he was the first place vote getter I think on nine of the 11 ballots. Just definitively the best player in college basketball through the first month plus of the season. And he, he backed that up with what they did on Tuesday night. But it wasn't just him. Like Patrick Ngongba had maybe his best all around game in a Duke uniform last night and I thought that was, I thought that was critical. He, he had five plus rebounds, five plus assists, five, five plus blocks. He's only the second player in the past 15 years in a Duke uniform to do that. Five more rebounds, five or four dimes and five or more blocks in a game. Mark Williams did it in 2022, so good stuff for, for him there as well. Boozer obviously the overwhelmingly most important player on the floor, but Duke is still undefeated. It still hasn't put everything together and that's a scary thought to think that this is, you know, top three, top four team in the country. Parish and I would certainly argue this team has not had a complete performance yet. It's probably coming. It's not as overwhelmingly loaded and talented like the team a season ago, but Shire is getting it done again. And credit to Florida for making that push. But Duke found a way when it mattered most in the final couple of possessions to get it done.
- [09:04]
Gary Parish
I know it's only December 3rd, so long way to go, but Cameron Boozer is like clearly the national player of the year at this point and there's really not a competition. Like I think we've got a dribble handoff scheduled to publish at some point and it's like at this point in the season who would be the national player of the year? And like if anybody puts anything other than camera loser, it's just raw.
- [09:27]
Matt Norlander
I need to rethink that topic. Other alternatives, we might need to go back to the drawing board there and figure out, like, who who's most likely to catch Boozer or something, because there's really not at this point. Braden Smith's been awesome. I get that. There's been a lot of really good players. Boozer just had. He has the lead with a little bit of distance right now.
- [09:43]
Gary Parish
Could you. I mean, he's averaging 23.6 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.7 steals, one block per game. That does not lead Duke in every statistical category anymore. So we've fallen off that a little bit, I believe, because of the blocks. But clearly, the player of the year at Kinpom, they have a kpo. Y Kinpom. The player of the Year.
- [10:06]
Matt Norlander
Kpo. Let's go.
- [10:07]
Gary Parish
You call it kpoi.
- [10:08]
Matt Norlander
Kpoi. Real ones call it a kpoi.
- [10:10]
Gary Parish
Oh, I didn't realize that they have a KPOI rating over there. I have no idea how they figure it out, but it's 2.366 for Cameron Boozer right now. Second is Joshua Jefferson at Iowa State. Shouts to Joshua Jefferson, 1.567. If you're curious, last season, Cooper Flagg finished at 2.734. Janai Brune was 2.317. So it appears that Cam Boozer right now is somewhere between Cooper Flag and Janai Broom. But, but, but, but. Miles ahead of anybody else in the country. Yes, he would clearly be the best player. He's clearly the best player in the country right now. He would be the national player of the year right now. And I know a lot of people had sort of zeroed in on AJ debons, said Darren Peterson debate for the number one pick in the draft. But as we've talked about before, Cameron Boozer is clearly going to have to be a part of that conversation. He has been excellent. And oh, by the way, congrats to Isaiah Evans on hitting that shot. I mean, that's a big shot and a big moment. He was wide open because everybody went with Cam Boozer. I mean, everybody just went with Cam Boozer and he was just. He just looked up and it's like, man, there is nobody close to me. I guess I'll shoot this. And, hey, you got to make it. But you can argue that Cam Boozer created that moment just as much as anybody else did.
- [11:27]
Matt Norlander
No question about it. By the way, I love when you start referencing data and statistics and you have no idea what it means. I need the Austin Powers. Nerd alert.
- [11:35]
Gary Parish
I need that. Okay, you ready? You ready for this? Explain kpoi. Go ahead. Go ahead. Nerd.
- [11:44]
Matt Norlander
Not the one who invoked it. You invoked it.
- [11:47]
Gary Parish
I have just noticed that people, myself included, we are constantly like talking about wins above replacement and wins above bubble and all these numbers and most people don't have any idea what fact how they like most people have no idea what they mean or how we get how we get to them. We just decided that all these things mean something and I'm not sure they always, always do.
- [12:13]
Matt Norlander
Fair enough. Good win for Duke, to say the least. I will say on Florida, Thomas Hauck, 24 points. He is playing like an all American. Was. You know, flam was good in the second half for sure, but Hauk was the most consistent player on the floor. He is living up to what they wanted him to be. The Gators overall are not. Now, I, I, as I said on HQ last night, I genuinely give Florida credit for pulling itself together and taking the lead at Cameron. But this is a team that lost Florida, lost Arizona on the opening night of the season, got done in by TCU last week, and then couldn't get it done on the road against Duke. The next game is in a week. I'll be there at the Garden. Jimmy V. They'll play Yukon team. Huskies fans, we're getting to your squad in just a minute here, but five and three overall, it is a quality team that was overrated to come into the season. But I, I don't know, I was as, I guess impressed by them in a losing effort as I possibly could be. Like, the, the turnover is. Yeah, that's, that's atrocious. You don't even get the shot off. That's bad. You were limited by Duke, but that's what duked out like. Duke has held every team under its scoring average for the entire season. Florida, 66 points were the lowest they had scored all season. They came into the game averaging 86 a game and they wind up dropping, you know, 20 points below that. So notable on the Duke defensive end, but I thought for them to even maintain their composure and really just dig in, I mean, if you watch that second half, possession by possession by possession by possession, they were, they were chipping away and they eventually got the lead. And then, you know, games can come down to those final two or three possessions, that's exactly what happened here. And if, you know, Flynn takes care of the ball a little bit better, we might have a different story. But they didn't. Duke's the better Team, it comes out with the win.
- [14:09]
Gary Parish
Zevion Lee, 1 of 10 from the field, 1 of 6 from three. So that's eight games, eight starts, and he's shooting 24.7% from the field, 21.1% from three. I don't have any interest in being mean, but like, we can talk about this like adults. He, he was paid a lot of money to transfer to Florida and so far it looks like money poorly spent. Like, forget the numbers. I mean, don't forget the numbers because the numbers are important and they're, they're, they're bad. But just put your eyes on him. He doesn't look like he, he doesn't look like an SEC level guard. I mean, is that too harsh? I don't mean to be harsh, but the numbers are the numbers. And then when you just put your eyes on him, he, he looks like a mid major player trying to be shoehorned into a high major starting lineup with national championship aspirations. And it feels a little bit like, again, I don't mean to be harsh, but it feels a little bit like the aide Mahaney thing. Like you go plug this mid major guard who had done some nice things at that level and he, he probably just belongs at that level. You disagree with any of that?
- [15:16]
Matt Norlander
I think it's a little too harsh in the society. Yeah, like at least bigger, more toned. He's a bigger player than Mahaney was for sure. The shooting is a big issue. He's got, he's got some capabilities to actually, you know, to defend the idea that he would be a starting guard on an SEC school. I think he can actually get there, but I don't think that he's the kind of game changing guard that they're going to need in order to finish atop the SEC to, you know, get a one seed again. And he's not their only issue, but it is, it is stark when you check in eight games into the season. He's 21 from beyond the arc. He's 24.7 shooting from field at this point. He still is distributing it plenty, but defensively there's some limitations there at the high major level. So he is becoming, I think, the biggest target for Florida's 5 and 3 start. There have been some other issues, but I think that's been one of the most glaring for sure. But to be fair, like Florida's been a good. The front court for the most part, I think has lived up to, for the most part, not entirely. It's preseason standing as arguably the best in the country. Really, really good team at getting on the boards and that still maintain that's been the case. They were pretty good overall both ends against Duke. They could have been better, but they certainly weren't lacking in that department. But for everything that Hauk has been able to do, you know, Condon was a preseason first team All American, which I according to the Associated Press voter, that was a way, that was a big overshoot because how because the team's best player. But even still, Condon, who, you know has been dinged up, he was able to to play and get on the floor last night. I think between him, Hanlock and Chin Liu, they can still do collectively a little bit more here. So I'm not, I'm not saying you are putting it all on Lee, but I think he's becoming the primary target for the criticism against the Gators and I think there's a little more room to be spread around for blame.
- [17:03]
Gary Parish
That's fair. Up next, it stays difficult for both teams. Like you said, Florida is often to it plays UConn at the Garden on Tuesday. Duke is at Michigan State on Saturday. Right now, Ken Palm only projects Duke to be projected as an as an underdog. It only projects Duke to be an underdog rather, in three games going forward at Michigan State on Saturday. That's one of them. And just barely at Louisville on January 6th and against Michigan on February 21st in our nation's capital. So it what number did John Shire need to get to to have most wins through the first whatever years of a career? Because he's, he's obviously.
- [17:50]
Matt Norlander
I'm 29, maybe.
- [17:53]
Gary Parish
Yeah, take the over. Take as I'm trying to tell you, to take the over because barring a surprise, it it appears, it appears he's going to get there. Let's move on. As previously noted, Tuesday night was loaded and awesome. We just got through with duke in Florida. UConn 1 at Allen Fieldhouse, UNC won at UK Syracuse upset Tennessee. We're going to get to all of that next. First, let's get a word from our partners. This is Gary parish from the ION college basketball podcast here to remind you that AG1 is the daily health drink that combines your multivitamin, pre and probiotic, superfoods and antioxidants into one simple green scoop. It's one of the easiest and best things you can do to support your body every day. If you listen to the POD regularly, you likely know that during the season I'm constantly traveling, which can take a toll, so my immune system sometimes needs a boost AG1 provides it and it out comes in original citrus berry and tropical. As we approach the new year, it's never too early to take control of your health. But you don't have to wait for January 1st. You can get started today. And right now, AG1 has their best offer ever. If you head to drinkag1.com I that's E Y E. You'll get the welcome kit, a morning person hat, a bottle of vitamin D and K2, an AG1 flavor sampler, and you'll get to try their new sleep supplement AGZ for free, which has been a game changer for my nightly routine. That's drink ag1.com I for $126 in free gifts for new subscribers. There's a reason Chevy trucks are known for their dependability because they show up no matter the weather, push forward no.
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Matt Norlander
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Gary Parish
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Gary Parish
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- [19:35]
Matt Norlander
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Gary Parish
Awards among all the trucks in the J.D. power 2025 U.S. vehicle Dependability Study Awards based on 2022 models. Newer models may be shown. Visit jdpower.com awards for more details. Chevrolet Together, Let's Drive this episode is brought to you by Jack Daniels Jack Daniels and music are made for each other. They share a rhythm in the craft of making something timeless while being a part of legendary natural nights. From backyard jams to sold out arenas, there's a song in every toast. Please drink responsibly. Responsibility.org Jack Daniels and Old Number 7 are registered trademarks. Tennessee Whiskey 40 alcohol by volume Jack Daniel Distillery, Lynchburg, Tennessee before we dive into North Carolina, Kentucky, Josh reminded me this morning that those Spotify year end wraps are happening. Like, you know, they just pop into your phone, I guess.
- [20:24]
Matt Norlander
Yeah. By the way, we appreciate the love. Please send us some. It's December 3rd. Like we can't do this on December 19th. It's just weird to me. Like, year end we have another month to go, but that's just a personal pet peeve.
- [20:35]
Gary Parish
Yeah, like what? What would happen if, like Taylor Swift dropped an album tomorrow?
- [20:38]
Matt Norlander
Exactly. What if we dropped an album tomorrow?
- [20:41]
Gary Parish
What if we dropped an album tomorrow? You think I won't pick up this.
- [20:45]
Matt Norlander
Guitar right here and drop an album on you?
- [20:48]
Gary Parish
So. So if you've got a Spotify rap and it says I own college basketball podcast somewhere in it. Josh is collecting those, I guess. Is Josh collecting those? Is he a collector of those?
- [20:58]
Matt Norlander
I. Josh, you're welcome to hop in real quick if you'd like, before we keep it moving and also use the hashtag. Hashtag more of us, obviously be it on any social media platform. Although I don't think it. We, I don't think the podcast exists anywhere other than Twitter. But regardless if you Instagram, whatever. More of us, the whole deal. Yeah.
- [21:16]
Gary Parish
What do you think your most listened to podcast of the year would be?
- [21:21]
Matt Norlander
That's Dan Patrick show. I'm a near daily listener, so that would be. But I don't listen on Spotify, so. But Dan Patrick show for sure. Those are my guys.
- [21:27]
Gary Parish
That is interesting. But it is interesting what people listen to. Mine would probably be like, I listen to a, a podcast every morning that like updates you on the news.
- [21:34]
Matt Norlander
I'm murder. I'm sure that's what it is.
- [21:36]
Gary Parish
No, no, it's like 10 minutes. It's like, hey, here's everything that's awful that's going on in the world that you need to know about. We can tell you everything you need to know in 10 minutes so that you don't walk through life the rest of the day sounding like an idiot.
- [21:49]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, we got to keep it moving here. But the one that I discovered like a year ago, that's actually pretty good. This one is called Strangers on a Bench. It's some British guy, he walks up to someone on a bench in England and they talk and people just pour out their life stories in 30 minutes. Really, really cool. Random. Just a different. It's once a week and it's my, it's my real change of pace podcast. So give that a go if you haven't.
- [22:09]
Gary Parish
I'd be, I'd be really, I'd be really bothered if somebody came up and just started sitting next to me.
- [22:14]
Matt Norlander
I would actually, I've thought about this. I would, I would willingly do it. I'm assuming he gets as many no's as he does. Yeses, but he gets enough yeses. Really.
- [22:21]
Gary Parish
But you know what though? I, I, I actually can see how that works because people like talking about themselves. If you tried to sit down next to somebody and tell them your life story for 30 minutes, you, they would blow their brains out. But, but people like talking to about themselves. So if you just sit down and be like, so who are you? What's going on? Where are you from? People like to talk about themselves.
- [22:43]
Matt Norlander
I hear you.
- [22:44]
Gary Parish
That's why everybody, that's why Everybody in the world has a podcast.
- [22:47]
Matt Norlander
That's correct. You'll see as charged here, by the way, but we're going 15 years strong. Send us your Spotify wraps. We want to promote the show. Promote you give our thanks for your, for you guys showing us some love. So please be sure to do that and if there's anything interesting along the way with that, we certainly can. We actually did get an interesting note this morning, but I'll see if I can get to that before the end of the show. You might be asked to do another impression. We'll see if your game to do it, but we'll, we'll stave that off for now. We have to get to what happened in Lexington last night. Poll up right now. We'll get to the results in a few here. You know what was the most meaningful outcome of the night and two of the options are Carolina winning or Kentucky losing. So we'll start there. GP to you. What's more significant? UNC going on the road and remaining a one loss team or Kentucky losing another game here and dropping to what, five and three? Where's Kentucky overall? Where's my document?
- [23:42]
Gary Parish
Yeah, five and three.
- [23:42]
Matt Norlander
Five and three overall. What's, what's, what's the bigger deal to you?
- [23:46]
Gary Parish
Kentucky losing at home? Like if North Carolina would have lost 67, 64 at UK, I'd have said, hey man, you're going into Rupp Arena. You know, I'm a building truster. It is what it is. But for UK to already have a third loss in eight games, to still be sitting here with zero good wins, they've got roster problems. It looks like they got chemistry problems, undeniably. They got shooting problems. It's a mess right now. I mean, they spent reportedly $22 million on a basketball team can't shoot. I mean, 22 million. $22 million for a team that shoots 33 from 3, that ain't good spending. And like the Jalen Lowe thing is unfortunate and weird. The Jaden Quaintance thing is just it. You know, he, he looks good sitting on the bench, but he looks better standing on the court and he's not there yet. And so they've got like almost everything that could go wrong with them has gone wrong and the Result is a 5 and 3 record. It doesn't mean that they can't get things turned around. Seasons are long, but the first month of the season, they're right up there as one of the, the more surprising disappointments that, that the sport has.
- [24:54]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, we'll talk Kentucky first. Then we'll get to Carolina. Kentucky has lost seven of its last eight games against ranked teams dating back to last season. This is the worst eight game start to a season since the COVID year. Now that Kentucky team was an outright disaster. 9 and 16 missed the tournament. This team isn't going to do that. You would not think. But regardless. Yeah, not not good whatsoever. They went more than 11 minutes of game time without landing a field goal in the second half. The game actually had 14 lead changes and nine ties. It was a gripping watch, but it was also a rough watch. It actually sprung to mind some of the some of the Caliperi teams that sometimes would have these drafts and have some of these struggles here. 1 of 13 from 3 point range. Obviously the worst performance from beyond the arc by any Pope coach team in Lexington. That is. That is an immediately infamous stat line in Lexington to go 1 of 13. In addition to going more than 11 minutes of game time without a field goal. They also didn't have mode abate in this game as well. So Quaintance hasn't played yet this season low. Who the hell knows when he's coming back from the shoulder deal. Modibate wasn't available as well. So they're they were limited to begin with. You still should win the game, especially with the way Carolina was playing. But yeah, Kentucky is pedestrian from three point range right now. It's not awful. It's just average. Right. And it doesn't get to the line a lot. It's not producing a lot of points. That offense from a year ago when Pope and Kentucky were picking off top 15 opponents and they were just a fun offense to watch that has disappeared almost entirely. And Mark David Cobb was on hand last night. He just had a column go up early on Wednesday morning and on a night when Kentucky had the new football coach in the building introduced him and great vibes there. They bring over the the Oregon coordinator. That's now that's now way way down the list of of pertinent items in Lexington after they got rid of Mark Stoops because Kentucky I was wrong. At least I'm proven to be wrong right now with with you know with where they are at preseason number three. But that one's on me.
- [27:02]
Gary Parish
I was wrong.
- [27:03]
Matt Norlander
Five and three. Gonzaga is going to Nashville to play Kentucky on Friday. We will preview that game on our next podcast. But now that becomes immediately urgent. Gonzaga looked like a top five team in the country before Michigan did what Michigan did. And that might just be a Michigan thing, not a Gonzaga thing. So yes, this is, this is, I said it the last time after the Michigan State loss, but it remains a crisis. And in particular, you know, Pope told me after the Michigan State loss that they had Loyola, Maryland and they had Tennessee Tech and then they had the Thanksgiving break. And in essence he said, you know, the two buy games and a little bit of rest time. This is, this is the critical part of our non conference schedule. And it's not because we have a high quality opponent. It's because we need to. And I'm parent, this is all paraphrasing, but we need to go back to the drawing board, figure out what we can fix, get it right so we know who we can be before we get to SEC play because we can't have a repeat performance like what we put on against Louisville and Michigan State. Well, in some ways it was, in some ways it wasn't. But it's a home loss against a UNC team who's solid but not looked as, you know, as a top 10 quality team. And yes, Pope is under some real heat here for. It's a continuation of what I said after the Michigan State loss, but for the first time in his career and if a loss comes against Gonzag on Friday, then it's going to be who it's Kentucky. That fan base, it'll be sky is falling kind of stuff there. I was surprised Kentucky did not win on Tuesday night. I honestly thought even without Diabate, I thought they'd find a way to get it done. UNC didn't have Seth Trimble. Didn't stop the Tar Heels from getting out there with a win.
- [28:40]
Gary Parish
Yeah, you know, coaches always talk about never getting too high, never getting too low, but that fan base doesn't subscribe to that. They get, they get really high when, when things are good and they get really low when things are bad. And I always appreciative of coaches creating compelling non league schedules, but I mean they look like a team that needs another by game or four right now and they just, they don't have a lot of time to breathe. I mean it's Gonzaga and then North Carolina Central, but then after that it's Indiana and St. John's I mean, so they're in a stretch right now where, you know, they, they've got to get some things fixed very quickly or, or else, you know, they could reasonably look up and you know, they're hovering around.500 or worse. So it's just, I, I think another example of, of, of where we are in the sport Right now, you know, everybody is. Not everybody, but lots of teams are remaking rosters in a matter of, of months, if not weeks, every off season and just throwing money around to try to get talented pieces and then seeing how it fits. And sometimes it works and other times it can be more complicated. And I think for a variety of reasons right now at Kentucky, things are, things are complicated. Like the quaintance thing was always going to be a. He was never going to be available immediately and, and so that is what it is. But the Jalen Lowe thing has really thrown a wrench into everything because I, you know, every time I ask somebody a question about it, I don't hear good things, you know. No, but nobody has great, great answers when I say what's going on there. The things you hear are not, they're not wonderful.
- [30:27]
Matt Norlander
No, it's a, it's a major problem. By the way, both these teams are coming off of, you know, pretty definitive losses again. Their most recent high major result was Michigan State taking them out. Carolina responded beautifully. They of course lost to Sparty on Thanksgiving and then they, they get this win to get to 7 and 1. So UNC has the home win over Kansas in addition to, with the Kentucky win. That's really, really solid stuff. Derek Dixon winds up being the hero, the final minute hero, hits the three on a broken play, makes another big play, I think two possessions later after that and just steps up in a spot where if Seth Turnbull is healthy, Derek Dixon's not on the floor in this game to begin with, you would think, but yes, a, a name that unless you're a diehard Carolina fan, you, you don't know and with good reason. I mean, he's a freshman. He was not, you know, expected to be a top eight guy in the rotation, but here he steps in and I mean, for a short time, you know, at least it's going to make Huber Davis, thinking about how that he splits time with Kai and Evans at the point. We'll see. Now Dixon's a bigger player. I thought that was really impressive. And for UNC, by the way, this was the first win at RUP in almost, almost 18 years to the day. The last time they actually won in RUP was December 1st of 2007 and they had lost eight of their last nine games that were not at home against ranked teams. So they got off the schneide there as well. Good stuff out of, out of Hubert Davis's team. You know, this was, this is a coach who entered the season on, I I think as hot a seat as almost anyone, if not anyone in the country. And this is a. This is a really, really nice way to start. It was a good night for the acc. We'll get to that in a little bit. But Tar Heels, 7 and 1 now you've got a road win on the resume. You're feeling good. Next game is against Georgetown. Then it's some. Then it's some by opponents before the CBS Sports Classic against the Buckeyes later this month. But credit to. Credit to Tar Heels for getting it down. Henry Visa had had himself a really nice game last night as well. And what was. Let's be very honest and blunt about this. This was not a fun watch. You can call it gritty if you'd like, sure. But they were. They were tossing up some bricks here with, with regularity. But Carolina doesn't like you're on the road. Blue blood, game two ranked opponents. Win by one, win by 30, whatever. Just get out of there however you can with the victory and. And get it done. And Carolina did. Congrats to them.
- [32:53]
Gary Parish
Let's get to Alan Fieldhouse. Final score, number five, UConn 61. Number 21, Kansas 56. I believe, based on my research, that is the first time Bill Self has ever lost a game as an underdog at Allen Field House. Heading into last night, Kansas had only been an underdog two times in 22 years at home under Bill Self. It was once to BAYLOR in the 2021 season when the Bears won the national championship.
- [33:22]
Matt Norlander
They weren't a dog at home at all last season. I feel like I talked about this on the show. I could be wrong. I could be wrong about that. There was something that happened last year that, like, snapped. I could be wrong on that.
- [33:31]
Gary Parish
I didn't see one last season. I. I found two. It was 2021 Baylor, 2024 Houston. And they were underdogs in both of those games, but won them both. So Bill Self, they lost the game.
- [33:46]
Matt Norlander
To Houston at home last season. Remember, Houston had that insane comeback, right?
- [33:50]
Gary Parish
Yeah. But they were probably favored in that game.
- [33:53]
Matt Norlander
Okay.
- [33:53]
Gary Parish
I'm saying strictly as an underdog at home.
- [33:56]
Matt Norlander
Got it. Okay. So they were not. So you're saying, sorry, I'm like ripping apart GP stat here. You're saying last season when Kansas hosted Houston and Houston had that insane escape going into that game, Kansas was actually favored to win, which is.
- [34:08]
Gary Parish
I'll need to double check. But at the very least, let's just. Let's put it here.
- [34:14]
Matt Norlander
So what happened was there was a Time now.
- [34:17]
Gary Parish
Kansas was an underdog last night. That is very rare for Bill Self inside Allen Field house and obviously both teams shorthanded. We knew early in the day Darren Peterson would wouldn't play. We found out later that Terrace Reed would not be in uniform for the Huskies. So UConn goes in there, gets a nice performance from Braylon Mullins and Bill Self takes a rare home loss inside Allen Fieldhouse. What'd you make of what you saw from UConn last night?
- [34:46]
Matt Norlander
Okay, we'll start with Yukon, then we'll wrap with with KU. My two biggest takeaways were Braylon Mullins in his second game in a Husky uniform, going for 17 points and showing why the talk about him in the preseason and even in the first few weeks of the season when he wasn't available, when many in that program, but also just in the media, folks like you and me were saying once he's involved, you're going to see that UConn's ceiling is going to be that much higher. You're going to see how much better of a team they can be. You saw that they didn't have terrorist Reed available in this game. And yet UConn's able to go on the road and is able to hold Kansas to its fewest points. That the credit with ESPN with this stat. Its fewest points at home in a non conference game ever under Bill Self, there had never been a game where Kansas was so anemic on offense as it was last night. Credit to Hurley and that staff for that scheme. They obviously helped get that done. The defense showed a big. But Mullins, what he was able to do I thought was key. And then Caravan quite clearly with the way the game was playing out, some stuff in the first half, some stuff in the second half. I think Caravan had what he only had. Maybe did he have 11 last night, but he had some, some. He had one three that I thought was huge. He had a couple of plays where he got to the rim and kept UConn just pushing, pushing Kansas. I thought that was big as well. In addition to solo ball had himself a nice night overall. So the Huskies here with a very challenging non conference schedule, they get their first win ever against Kansas. They're now 1 and 4. They are 12 and they are now 122 in their last 14 non conference home game road games against AP teams, which is just mighty, mighty, mighty impressive. And the fact that they won this game on the road against ku, which is net Peterson, I do want to get to that. But they were 7 of 26 from beyond the arc. They didn't even have a good night shooting. They hit seven triples, but they launched a ton of. They didn't make a ton. Terrace Reed is the team's leader in points, in rebounds and blocks. They don't even have him available, and they get it done. They were able to assert themselves in the paint, which is notable because Padunga had himself a nice enough game. But UConn outscored Kansas by 10 points in the paint, 30 to 20. They outscored him in the bench. They had seven blocks and five steals all around. Really impressive stuff for a Huskies team that, you know gets a week break before it faces Florida next week. And in msg, your thoughts on on Hurley's group. Before we get into the Peterson issue.
- [37:06]
Gary Parish
For Kansas, first, let's set the record straight.
- [37:09]
Matt Norlander
Is that a straight?
- [37:11]
Gary Parish
Kansas was an underdog last season to Houston at home. Okay.
- [37:16]
Matt Norlander
Was accurate. Okay.
- [37:17]
Gary Parish
By one and a half points. And so this is just a lesson for all the young people out there. You can't trust AI. I know it's out there and it looks easy, but if you Google, if, if you Google AI, how many times has Bill Self ever been an underdog at home as the coach at Kansas? It does not mention that Houston game.
- [37:38]
Matt Norlander
By the way, this is why I have that feature turned off on Google. You can turn off that AI auto response. You don't get that nonsense. You don't get lied to.
- [37:44]
Gary Parish
So, yeah, I got lied to and then I lied. I got lied to and then I lied to you.
- [37:49]
Matt Norlander
Yep. Trust Norlander over AI. Let that be the lesson from this show.
- [37:54]
Gary Parish
You see those Diddy pictures, though?
- [37:56]
Matt Norlander
Not a chance.
- [37:57]
Gary Parish
I, I so, like, here's the problem with the world today. We don't know what's real and what is it. I, I got a buddy of mine, he's like, you see those pictures of Diddy? And I'm like, those are AI. They're not even real. He thought they were real. He thought, he thought he was looking at real pictures of Diddy. I was like, those aren't real pictures of Diddy. Those are made up pictures of Diddy. And now they got out here, they got, they got Kansas being a favorite over Houston last season, even though Kansas wasn't very good and Houston was amazing. I don't know what to believe anymore on this Internet.
- [38:24]
Matt Norlander
It could be a problem for the show, by the way.
- [38:26]
Gary Parish
I don't know what to do about this Internet.
- [38:28]
Matt Norlander
Yeah.
- [38:29]
Gary Parish
What do I think of UConn? I think they're Great. What are you talking about?
- [38:33]
Matt Norlander
Where are they right now?
- [38:35]
Gary Parish
I'm sorry, where do you have them ranked fourth. I think I'm having fourth. But I mean you could, you could put them anywhere and justify it and say, yeah, they lost a game at home, but they were missing two of their best players. You know, they're going to be right there at the end. They, I mean, keep in mind, I know Kansas didn't have Darren Peterson, but like Kansas didn't have Darren Peterson in Las Vegas either and went 3, 0 out there.
- [38:58]
Matt Norlander
So he was on the floor last night. I think Kansas would have won. Yeah.
- [39:05]
Gary Parish
I mean, who knows?
- [39:07]
Matt Norlander
Close game. I think Darren Peterson is that good if he's on the floor. I think Kansas beats Yukon last night. If with no Terror Street, I definitely think that would happen.
- [39:13]
Gary Parish
Perhaps, but he wasn't on the floor. And Yukon, they got big shots down the stretch from like he. Mullins already looks like he's in rhythm and you know, ready to go. Like there's not much of a, you know, we got to get him up to speed type stuff. It looks like he's up to speed and, and they're deep. They've got options at multiple options at different positions. They can, they can get real big, they can play smaller. They've got, they've got a, you know, if you told me right now GP I can see the future. And the future involves UConn winning a third national title in a four year span, I'd say, yeah, that, that makes sense. That's not a crazy thing to think. It's. They're. They, they're great. They look, they look great.
- [39:54]
Matt Norlander
I mean, Kansas came into the game averaging 76 and change and UConn held them to 20 under their season average. They had been grabbing 40 boards a night. UConn held Kansas to 32 on the glass. They were. Kansas was averaging 15 assists. It only had eight. So yes, a lot of this was Yukon's doing. And by the way, like, we at least have to mention the fact that Jamar McDowell's take wasn't that great, but. Right. Like even Eric Raiba, who had 12 points, he had a key defensive play near the end. I don't know if that was the design of the draw, but in a spot where they needed a bucket, I, I didn't love that action. Regardless, credit to Yukon for the win. The, the Peterson stuff will hit a. I, I have to believe he's going to play against Missouri on Sunday. Now, Missouri fans, I mean Missouri fans, Kansas fans have settled into Some, a real bed of cynicism here, thinking that he's just between, between Kentucky with Jalen Lowe and Kansas with Darren Peterson. They don't, they don't think their point guards are ever coming back. They think they're done. They think they're done for the year. They've already turned on the X Files, the X Files music and the conspiracy caps, and I think it's all over. I don't think that Bill Self said afterward that Peterson is essentially his chargers at 95. And it was as much his call as it was Peterson's. You know, okay, if he returns from Missouri and he's good to go, great. I understand hamstrings can be a very, they can be a very delicate kind of thing. You don't want to mess with that. But they were hopeful that he would play in Vegas and then he didn't. And then, you know, he's been able to practice and move up and down the floor and he's looked good and he's been doing workouts. So this seems to be the last one. If he doesn't play at Missouri, then this becomes a bigger thing. It will definitely win or lose whatever Kansas says in that game on Sunday. If Darren Peterson is not on the floor for that game, then you're gonna, then the story evolves into something else, into something different because there are. I'm not saying this is the case whatsoever because I don't necessarily believe it at this stage, but there are already plenty of people that think that Peterson is just going to, if he can have any kind of load management situation and not chances, draft stock whatsoever, he's going to take advantage of that. I don't think that's fair to him personally. Let the, Let, let him speak on that when he is asked about it at his next press availability, whenever that comes. But also this is turning into a very competitive race for the number one pick overall. And at a certain point, you sitting out of games is not going to increase your chances of being number one. In fact, it will hurt your chances. So I don't necessarily buy into that angle of a parish, but nevertheless, that discussion point is out there and we'll see if he's able to play in the border war on Sunday. I do, I, I do expect that to be the case. But this, but by him not being on the floor last night, like if it was the tournament, gotta believe he would have played. But it did cost him the game. I, I do believe that if Peterson, for as great as he is, even if he was at 95 instead of 100. Yes. I think Kansas would have won at home against UConn if he was available, but he sat out, and so they took the loss.
- [42:53]
Gary Parish
So it is interesting that Kentucky fans and Kansas fans, at least a portion of them both believe, for whatever reasons, that their point guards are done.
- [43:01]
Matt Norlander
Yes.
- [43:03]
Gary Parish
You know, at Kentucky, you might be right. I don't know. Like, I actually can that one. I'm. I'd be like, okay, maybe I just don't believe it with Darren Peterson. And I'm asking this from an honest place. What reason is there to believe that. That Darren Peterson will not play college basketball? Again, give me a tangible reason to believe that. What is that based on?
- [43:30]
Matt Norlander
I don't know. The only thing that I have that was. That was told to me by one person is if you go back and look at the way that Peterson's high school career played out, the impression that was given off for some was at certain points, certain things had that were, you know, were dictated by what he wanted. And I'm gonna. I'm not even trying to overstate how, you know, how. What he would have been at that level. I'm just saying this has been passed along to me in terms of everything had to be just right with everything there. And so I think there's some little past history with his high school stuff that is connected to this. But I. Again, I don't. I don't subscribe to that, but it is.
- [44:07]
Gary Parish
It sounds to me like something like the sky is falling, and it's just what you start thinking. But you. But when somebody says, why do you think that? What are you basing it on? There's not a. There's not a lot of. There's not a lot of something there. If he didn't want to play college basketball, he didn't have to. All right? He didn't have to enroll at Kansas. He could have done literally anything for the next year and still probably been a top three pick in the draft. But he decided to go to Kansas, enroll, presumably, you know, take classes and stuff. He has already played. I think he's just dealing with a hamstring injury. Like, I will take it at. On a very surface level, I know you say you understand hamstrings are tough, but you don't know it like I know it. I'm a survivor of a torn hamstring. I've survived this. I know what it looks like. I know what it feels like. And the truth is, if you're not a hundred percent at that level, of athleticism. It, it just, you ding it again and now you're out another six weeks, another eight weeks. Perhaps this is because I, I follow an NBA friend. I like literally work for an NBA franchise and talk about it every day. This is just, these are the way hamstrings are handled. And I, I, it, it, it's only like I, I do think it would perhaps be beneficial for like Darren Peterson to just you know, hold his hand up in the air and just say I am going to play. Please stop speculating on this. Like he could do that any day if he wanted to quiet all of this down. I don't know why he, he won't or hasn't. But I, I'm just, I don't believe that Darren Peterson has done it Kansas because it, it logically doesn't make any sense. The, the most, the thing that makes the most sense at KU right now is that he has a hamstring injury and given he is worth hundreds of millions of dollars going forward, they're just being very careful with it. And given that everything in this sport is based on what you do in March is why push it in December? That, that, that makes sense to me.
- [46:15]
Matt Norlander
Yep. Hopefully he's on the floor for the Missouri game upcoming. We had the poll which result meant the most. UConn winning 39%, first place, Kentucky losing 26%, Carolina winning 18% and then Florida being 5 and 3 comes in last at 18%. Let's tour around the rest of the results here from Tuesday. I think after the Big three you got to go to Syracuse. It wins a non conference game against a ranked opponent for the first time since you heard me correct. Syracuse 1A non con game against a ranked opponent for the first time since 2018. That is, that is a major, major win for Red Autry. It was the first non con win at home. I had to double check this.
- [46:57]
Gary Parish
Yes.
- [46:57]
Matt Norlander
Syracuse had not won a non con game at home against a ranked opponent since Villanova in 2013. That was the first season that Syracuse was in the ACC. That's the last time a home cues crowd got to see a team outside of its league come into that building and Q's walk out with the win. 12 years wild. Congrats to Syracuse. I did see him in person at Vegas Players era. They put on some like some truly spirited performances like they pushed and pushed Houston. They re. They gave Kansas a game they rented early against Iowa State before that got to be a runaway. But they go home. Oh and three and then they play another team that just so happened to be a players era. Tennessee takes the trip up and Q's gets the win. I don't know if this will be an NCAA tournament team or not, but on a night where the ACC got some good wins, I'll have more on that in just a second. It's just been a minute since Syracuse fans could really feel good about a real win and they got one finally on Tuesday.
- [47:49]
Gary Parish
That, that was my main takeaway from that. Like, you know, Tennessee has now lost straight. I guess that's concerning on some level. But Syracuse has just been off of the national radar in any sort of meaningful way for a while even. And it's not just all red. I mean, even the last year's a gym. Like I don't have it all right in front of me. But like those last few years with Jim Boeheim were like, they were okay. Or I think it just got disguised a little bit because every once in a while he just pop into a sweet 16 and you'd be like, hey, they were in the Sweet sixteen two years ago. But it got, it got pretty mediocre for a while. And then obviously with Reddit hasn't taken off. And that was just for my entire life. I, I know I reference stuff like this all the time. It's probably an old man thing to do, but like throughout my childhood when I fell in love with this sport like Syracuse is, is a big brand and they're just always there and they haven't been lately. And it was just nice to see them have that moment. Not just that program, but that fan base. Like, you know, they play, they play in a dome, they play home games in a dome. And that place hasn't felt or looked the way it used to feel or look in a little while. Not consistently. So just to have them have that moment last night, that was, that was a nice night for one of college basketball's best brands and they haven't had a lot of nights like that lately.
- [49:12]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, Cues is now five and three. That's the first notable win of the season. They've got, they've got an homage to Jim Boeheim coming up because they play that game at home in the next 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 games, all at home for Syracuse. The loyal faithful there will get to see their team on the schedule upcoming game after game after game. They will not go on the road until January 6. A match against Clemson. You mentioned it. I'll just repeat it. Tennessee has lost back to back games. They lost to Kansas. It was Closed out in Vegas. And then they lose this one. They've got Illinois, another Orange on Orange matchup in Nashville this weekend. So if you're in Nashville, you got Kentucky, Gonzaga Friday, and then Illinois, Tennessee on Saturday. That's a good little back to back there. We'll talk about those games on the Friday pod. How about.
- [50:00]
Gary Parish
What should we mention right here if we haven't already? And I apologize if you did, but like, the ACC did go 6 and 3 against the SEC last night.
- [50:08]
Matt Norlander
We can go there right now if you want. Sure. And we'll. We'll save the Michigan State. Yes, the accident went six and three. I sorted some data, by the way.
- [50:19]
Gary Parish
Oh, look at you. Oh, because it's December now. I guess you can do that now.
- [50:22]
Matt Norlander
Correct. Man, this is, this is when you know. When you know what you're doing, you get behind the machine, get in, sort some data. You ready for this?
- [50:29]
Gary Parish
I guess.
- [50:29]
Matt Norlander
ACC is ahead of the SEC in overall resume strength right now according to Torvik. Wins above bubble. Bada boom, Big 12 is one.
- [50:37]
Gary Parish
Okay, you ready for this?
- [50:38]
Matt Norlander
This is what I love is 3. SEC is 4, and then the biggest is a distant fifth.
- [50:43]
Gary Parish
Okay, explain how wins above bubble is calculated.
- [50:46]
Matt Norlander
I mean, this isn't hard. Do you know what. Do you know what it means and how it's calculated?
- [50:50]
Gary Parish
I say again, do you know what.
- [50:53]
Matt Norlander
Wins above bubble is and what it means and how it's calculated?
- [50:56]
Gary Parish
I know it's a metric that gets referenced all the time, but I think it falls under the category that I was talking about earlier where most people. It's like something that people throw out there. And. But, but, but most people who reference it don't. Don't know what it means. I'm not trying to pop quiz you. I'm. If it comes.
- [51:13]
Matt Norlander
I don't know what wins above bubble means.
- [51:15]
Gary Parish
No, I'm just saying that it's one of those things that I don't think how. What, what makes that number work. I don't think most people understand that. That's what I'm trying to say, but I'm not trying to pop.
- [51:24]
Matt Norlander
It is a formula that determines how well you have played against your schedule versus what the average bubble team would do in a given season in a college basketball universe unto itself.
- [51:37]
Gary Parish
So the main point I was trying to make earlier is there's all of these different numbers out there, and do you subscribe to all of them blindly? Do you just go, well, that's an. Somebody created that formula and it says that this thing is great. So it Must be great.
- [51:51]
Matt Norlander
No, of course not.
- [51:52]
Gary Parish
I know, but people do.
- [51:54]
Matt Norlander
Are you one of those people?
- [51:55]
Gary Parish
I'm not one of those people. I'm a hamstring survivor, but I'm not one of those people.
- [52:01]
Matt Norlander
Okay. I mean, when you start sorting data on November 9, I kind of feel like you're one of those people.
- [52:04]
Gary Parish
I was sorting data on November 4th. I want to be clear.
- [52:08]
Matt Norlander
Exactly. Point is, the ACC is now third. Just based on pure resume strength right now, collectively as a league, it is ahead of the sec. After what it did last night, it leads the ACC SEC challenge. Although the games, which we'll get to in a few here, I think are more in favor of the SEC for night two of that matchup. But, yes, they did get it done. You had teams that were underdogs, that won. Virginia Tech on the road at South Carolina wins an ot. Miami on the road against Mississippi gets it done. Notre Dame at home over Missouri also wins to help the ACC's case overall. So, yes, very, very good gains. It wasn't all good. Oklahoma went and just knocked the snot out of Wake Forest. Game was close. I turned it on. I look up three minutes later and Oklahoma's up 15. What are we doing here? And strange but true. Last night was the first time since 1993 that Oklahoma played a game on the road in the acc. Just wild that they would go that long a power conference team without playing an ACC team in their building. But. But strange but true. But that is the case. Oklahoma was able to beat Wake Forest and get that done. So, yeah, no good gains for the acc. We'll see what they can do here on Wednesday night. But the league collectively, it's funny, we talked about this on Sunday and I'll have more on this in the court report today. The SEC was, you know, a pretty firm third. And it's still, I think overall, you could say the sec, if you want to place them ahead of the acc, if you want to make that case, I still think you can, but it's been a good few days here for that league to get the wins that it's been able to get and. And make a real bump up. Any thoughts on that before? A couple of Big Ten stuff and.
- [53:43]
Gary Parish
Then, well, I mean, you just contrast it. I really do think it was this time last season when the whole. Is the sec, the best conference in the history of men's basketball, like, started to take off and it was because of what they did to the ACC in this event. Wasn't like 2 and 14.
- [54:00]
Matt Norlander
Yes, that's what it was. 2 and 14.
- [54:01]
Gary Parish
Yeah, you're right. So for the ACC to bounce back, like these types of made for television events, like they can help shape narratives because we're all sitting around watching these games like you know, last night was a perfect, like if you've got three screens, turn them all on. If you got six, turn them all on type of night. And you know, these events can, can shape the, the story connected to your league. And so last night was a, a terrific night for the acc. You can argue that, you know, individually Cameron Boozer had the biggest night or As a team, UConn got the biggest win, whatever. But perhaps broadly speaking, who had the best Tuesday night in the sport, The Atlantic Coast Conference. You could reasonably argue.
- [54:44]
Matt Norlander
All right, let's talk two big time results. Michigan State has no issue whatsoever against Iowa, which to me was eye opening. I thought Michigan State would win, but it was, it was a wire to wire like two different teams on two different levels kind of situation. Iowa had not lost a game going in. This was its first real test. MSU is now 8. 0 for the first time since 2015 16. That team started 13 0. And Iowa State, Iowa now has an eight game losing streak against top ten teams. They haven't won one against the top ten squad since the 2022 Big Ten tournament championship game when they beat then number nine, Purdue. Jeremy Fears continues to operate as top three point guard. If you want to put him right there with Braden Smith, I would, I wouldn't argue with you whatsoever right now. Numbers refreshed. Jeremy Fears, 9.4 assists per game. That leads the nation by the way, in assists per game. And on top of 12.3 points, 3.4 boards, he's shooting 42% from 3 point range. He is the, he's not a breakout player because he was, he was a quality player going into this. But I think he is the biggest riser in college basketball in terms of a player who has jumped into that top tier that was not seen in that top tier and probably not a tier below that going into the season. Many reasons why Izzo's team is really, really good again. But Fears is the straw that stirs that drink.
- [56:07]
Gary Parish
No question. And he's going to be in all American conversations just as, not just as, but in part because of, you know, leader, best player on, you know, a, a top 10 team that's got a shot to win a conference championship. I know Purdue and Michigan is getting most of the attention in the Big Ten right now and rightfully so. I Do believe those are the two best teams in the Big Ten. But, but Michigan State's gonna probably be a more meaningful part of that conversation than, than some anticipated. In, in, in the off season they, they, they looked apart and they've, they've stacked multiple good wins so far. Before we look ahead real quick. USC 82, Oregon 77. That was late night Oregon short handed but still year two Eric Musselman in, in Los Angeles off to a, to a terrific start. And remember, just like every other team in the country, they're shorthanded as well because they got a five star freshman who still isn't playing well.
- [57:06]
Matt Norlander
Okay, so a couple things on, on, on, on usc. One, where do you have them right now in your rankings?
- [57:14]
Gary Parish
I moved them up this morning. Let me see exactly where they would be, but they're definitely in there and I think as of this morning would have them up to, let's call it number 24.
- [57:29]
Matt Norlander
Okay. You prepared to have them in your top 10 eventually?
- [57:33]
Gary Parish
Do I think USC will be in the top 10 eventually?
- [57:37]
Matt Norlander
Yeah.
- [57:37]
Gary Parish
I'm not going to rule it out, but I would. If I had to bet a paycheck on it, I'd bet no.
- [57:41]
Matt Norlander
Okay, well here's the deal. So they win this game. They didn't have Rodney Rice either by the way. He was a shoulder issue. He didn't play in the game. And they go and they win it on the road against an Oregon team that oh boy, I thought would be comfortably in the NC tournament conversation. And now the Ducks are 4 and 4. They've lost four in a row. They went on three at players era. But USC wins the Maui event. Now it gets the road win against Oregon without Rodney Rice. You look at that schedule, next game is home against Washington. Then they're at San Diego, Muscleman's Alma mater. That's why they're playing a road game. I love to see that. Home against Washington State, home against utsa, home against Brown. They're probably going to get to the end of 2025 without an L on the schedule. They're probably gonna go 9, 10, 11, 12. They'll go 13, 0 in, in non league play heading into maybe the biggest game of the first weekend of 2026. When they open I, I say open up league play. That's not accurate. They're in the middle of league play right now, but league play in earnest. They'll play at Michigan the first Friday of 2026 that first weekend and that could be the biggest game of that weekend. But I do think there's a very real chance that USC is one of the two or three remaining undefeated teams. There's a chance that Michigan versus USC is an unbeaten matchup a month from now. And the and Michigan could be number one then. And I think if USC gets to that mark GP13.0 by New Year's Eve, with other results coming, I could see you somehow getting them into top 10. So just be just. I'm giving you the heads up.
- [59:10]
Gary Parish
Yeah.
- [59:11]
Matt Norlander
Looking out for you weeks ahead. I understand a lot of people haven't glanced at the USC schedule, but it is setting up for mus's team to not take a scratch until we flip the calendar.
- [59:19]
Gary Parish
Now that's interesting. With the schedule, I'm not certain just being undefeated heading into Michigan would actually get them into the top 10 because it would still be 13 wins, none of which have come against ranked opponents. None of which would have come against.
- [59:37]
Matt Norlander
Currently they might not have a top 50 and they do that, so.
- [59:40]
Gary Parish
Right. Yeah. So I'm not sure it gets into the top 10, but like it could. And either way, they're off to a tremendous start. Eight. Zero through eight games. You want to look ahead before we get out of here real quick? All right, let's do that next. But first, I need one more word from our partners. Black Friday Savings are here at the Home Depot, which means it's time to add new cordless power to your collection. Right now, when you buy a select battery kit from one of our top brands like Ryobi or Milwaukee, you'll get a select tool from that same brand for free. Click into one of our best deals of the season and stock up on tools for all your upcoming projects. Get Black Friday Savings happening now at the Home Depot. Limit 1 per transaction exclusions apply. Full eligible tool list in store and online. What's good, y'? All?
- [60:26]
Matt Norlander
It's Vaughn Miller, Super Bowl MVP Sagmaster, and now your host of Free Range. This is where NFL meets Real Talk.
- [60:34]
Gary Parish
Every week I'm bringing you inside the game.
- [60:37]
Matt Norlander
From locker room stories to league wide headlines. You want football iq, locker room insight.
- [60:42]
Gary Parish
And real conversations with the people shaping the league.
- [60:44]
Matt Norlander
Welcome to Free Range with Von Miller, where nothing is off limits and every down counts. New episodes every Wednesday. Listen and follow Free Range with me, Von Miller, wherever you get.
- [60:55]
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- [61:26]
Gary Parish
Right before we get out of here, let's look ahead to the next couple of nights, which really just means Wednesday night because Thursday night sucks. Wednesday night's cool, though. Let's run through the list of games. You tell me what interests you. 7:00 clock Eastern tonight. Number 22, Indiana at Minnesota. That's another Big Ten opener. It's on the Big Ten Network, 7:15 Eastern. Number 6, Louisville. At number 25, Arkansas. That's on ESPN. 7:15 Eastern. Clemson at number 12, Alabama. ESPNU 9:15 Eastern. Undefeated SMU at number 17, undefeated Vanderbilt. That's on the SEC Network. 9:15 Eastern. NC State at number 20, Auburn. That's on ESPN. What stands out to you quite clearly?
- [62:09]
Matt Norlander
Louisville. Arkansas is the big game of the night. I, I, we talked about this in the off season. I just, we couldn't have put, just take one of last night's games. Take Carolina, Kentucky. I know. Just, just, I'm asking for one of them. Just drop it here. Spread the love out a little is what it is. They did what they did. Whatever. Circle back to that in just a second here. But Vandy SMU 2 8. No teams trying to get to 9 0. SMU has not been 90 since the season in which it had the postseason ban under Larry Brown. They got off to an 180 start. That was a decade ago, by the way. Vandy's last 9 and 0 start came in 07 08. That was the AJ Ogilvy, Shan Foster team. So it's been a minute. One of those teams is guaranteed to get to 9. 0. I'll have my eyes trained on that for sure. That's a really, that's a really nice, really good matchup there. NC State at Auburn also is a game that I'm intrigued by. Auburn has, you know, showed itself. Well, Auburn's also in the midst of NC State wouldn't necessarily qualify for this, but Stephen Pearl in his first season is may well have to face four teams that, that proved to be final four teams or one or two seeds this season. So, you know, he didn't sign up for it, but, but that's what it is. He's got Houston, Michigan, and then Arizona and Purdue are still to come. And by the way, you got NC State and Will Wade coming to town tonight. We'll see what the Wolf Pack can do. After losing two at Maui, the biggest game of the night quite clearly is Louisville at Arkansas. Louisville's yet to take a loss this is the program's best start since 2019-20. They are top five in scoring. Louisville's dropping more than 96 a game. There is a chance if both coaches really let these guys go, like we could have a first and 90 situation. I'd really like to see that. A lot of talent. Mikel Brown Jr. Has been awesome, but he doesn't lead Louisville in scoring. That's Ryan Conwell who's been, who's been really terrific. Arkansas needs to, it needs to get a win here at home in a good spot. The Hogs are 1 in 8 against AP ranked opponents that are in the top 10 under Cal. So he's had a lot of opportunities because of how good the SEC was last season. But only one win. And I don't know if the win at Kentucky was the one when I obviously can't remember which one was the was the one win there. But Arkansas. Let's, let's see the offense show up here. Give us a really entertaining game. That's by far the biggest appeal on, on a solid Wednesday night, but not quite what Tuesday had to offer.
- [64:35]
Gary Parish
Yeah, I mean, here's a testament to how good Louisville is and how good Louisville's been this season. They're three and a half point favorites at Bud Walton Arena. I'm going to ask AI how many times John Calipari has been more than a three point underdog at home in, in his career. See, what, what do you think? What do you think it'll spit out? Probably something. Probably. Yeah, probably. Probably more pictures of Diddy. I'll be like, how many times have John Caliperi been an underdog by three or more points at home in his career? And it did just spit out fake pictures of Diddy. The Internet's wild man. I don't know how much time you spend on it, but it's crazy. I'm aware, I don't know that you really are. So Wednesday night should be fun. Thursday night. Nothing. I mean, I mean, not that's a good night to watch. Season two of Landman streaming now on Paramount plus.
- [65:27]
Matt Norlander
Sure. Before we get out of here, Josh, can we have that, can we have that tweet that got sent this morning? I want to see if Paris is in the mood for this or not. If he's ready for it. So Yukon gets the win. Someone's giving us some love for them. Spotify rap for my reward this year. He said. Back on top. One of us. Okay, this fan. This is a Pat Lenno fan. Pat Lenahan in our top 1% in terms of Spotify listens. For my reward this year, I'd like GP to attempt a husky sound on this morning Pot.
- [65:54]
Gary Parish
A husky sound. I. I don't think with an upper respiratory infection, I can.
- [66:00]
Matt Norlander
Oh, is that what you have?
- [66:02]
Gary Parish
Yeah, it's an upper respiratory infection. I. I've completely recovered from a torn hamstring. Not an issue anymore. But now I'm battling an upper respiratory infection, and, I mean, I'm battling it. I don't think I'm prepared to do a husky impersonation, but I could practice one and pull one off when I feel a little more up to it. I'm going to get Bill Self to release a statement about my attempt to.
- [66:24]
Matt Norlander
Do a husky and just have it in. In Kansas typeface Self directly addressing Paris's inability to provide a husky sound.
- [66:34]
Gary Parish
I want Bill Self. I want Bill Self to release a statement that's on social media that says, gary will not do a husky impersonation today. He has been working his butt off.
- [66:47]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, well, this is. No, I'm. I have this. I have a statement in front of me right now.
- [66:51]
Gary Parish
Okay.
- [66:51]
Matt Norlander
I'm going to replace everything he said about Peterson with gp. Okay? Gary is not going to do the husky impression today. He is very close. He has worked his butt off, but he is still not 100%. He is day to day, end quote.
- [67:04]
Gary Parish
That's right. That's exactly right. Yeah, that. That's. That is. That's my statement as it pertains to my statement.
- [67:12]
Matt Norlander
It's Bill Self statement.
- [67:13]
Gary Parish
I know, but I cosign it. I would. I would retweet it if he would tweet that. I would retweet it because it's the truth. Darren, DP and GP are not. You got to be careful with those initials. That was tough. Darren Peterson and myself, we're both day today. We're both day to day. All right? And we're gonna be back soon. Don't worry, Kansas fans, Darren Peterson is going to play for you again. I believe that. And don't worry, UConn fans, I will. I'll perfect the husty impersonation at some point.
- [67:46]
Matt Norlander
I look forward to it.
- [67:48]
Gary Parish
I do, too.
- [67:49]
Matt Norlander
I very much look forward to it. There we go. There's a little throwback. All right. I think EP and GP going through it, living the same life in 2025. It's.
- [67:59]
Gary Parish
We have a true Parish is on the pod. Thankfully, I'm playing through. I'm playing through my stuff. But let's be honest. Darren Peterson's got more to lose than I did. What do I really have to lose at this point?
- [68:12]
Matt Norlander
That's right.
- [68:14]
Gary Parish
Shouts to Devin Downey. Shout to Chester, South Carolina. Terry Teago is a legend. Huck Larnell. Thank you guys once again for watching listening to the Ion college basketball podcast. If you're not subscribed, please go subscribe anywhere you subscribe to podcasts, Apple, Spotify, there's more of us than there are of them. That should be reflected in the comments. So do that and we will talk to you again real soon. Until then, take care. Paramount podcasts now streaming on Paramount plus. Dearest Eva, I think about you all the time. Once I find you and your daughter, then I will kill you both.
- [69:02]
Matt Norlander
Those words and those threats were absolute psychological terrorism.
- [69:07]
Gary Parish
Surviving 12 years of terror. You be prepared for my arrival. Oh my God.
- [69:14]
Matt Norlander
He found our house and he was coming.
- [69:17]
Gary Parish
My nightmare stalker. The Eva Larue story now streaming on Paramount plus.