← Eye On College Basketball
Eye On College Basketball
Tuesday night was drunk: Kansas’ OT comeback vs. TCU, Duke’s comeback vs. L’ville, A&M’s comeback vs. Auburn +& a TTU-Houston 40-minute thriller
01:08:23
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- [00:00]
Narrator/Advertiser
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- [01:26]
Gary Parrish
Hey there, I am Gary Parish. Welcome back CBS Sports. I own College Basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss camel fighting, dodo birds and leaky black. Matt Norlander is here with me. If you're watching on YouTube, be Brandon Davies. Smash a little bit. And if you haven't already subscribed to the I own College Basketball podcast, please go do that wherever you subscribe to podcasts like Apple and Spotify. Let's get into it. I want to start obviously inside Allen Field House where we got what I think is the wildest game of the night. One of the wildest games ever. Final score Kansas 104, TCU 100. It was in overtime and that doesn't even begin to tell the whole story. Here's the story. Best I can remember it, the Jayhawks were down 15 points with 4:59 remaining in regulation. It looked like it looked like they were headed for an 02 start in the Big 12, but they closed regulation on a 21 to 6 run to get the game to overtime after Darren Peterson made three free throws with 1.7 seconds remaining in regulation to create the extra period. Clearly bothered again to some degree by his legs, the five star freshman, he did not play in the overtime. Not even one second. Still. He finished with 32 points in 32 minutes. And Kansas got out of there with a victory. Norlander, I know you watched it. I saw you tweet about it. What did you make of what we saw inside Allen field House last night?
- [02:54]
Matt Norlander
Folks, we are in mid season form in a variety of factors. This is a loaded show. We have to start with Kansas. Parrish looks like he's on two hours of sleep after being in the studio.
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Gary Parrish
4. 4.
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Matt Norlander
I am proud of you for that.
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Gary Parrish
Yeah.
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Matt Norlander
I think he's rocking some sort of new age glasses. I don't think we have time on this show. But he's looking good. He's looking tired. It was an unbelievable tired.
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Gary Parrish
I thought I looked strong. You think I looked tired? I thought I looked strong.
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Matt Norlander
You got a little bit of. A little bit of red eye going on. That's okay though. I'm.
- [03:30]
Gary Parrish
Because. That's. Because I had to sit next to Brent Stover last night. If you could pull up inside college basketball last night, I would encourage you to look at his eyes and then try to figure out what happened to my eyes. Perhaps connected.
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Matt Norlander
Fair enough. Justin.
- [03:44]
Gary Parrish
Actually. Actually don't think it's connected at all, but.
- [03:47]
Matt Norlander
Well, I was gonna roll with you. With you.
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Gary Parrish
His eyes are. His. His eyes are ridiculous. And I gather mine are now too.
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Matt Norlander
They're. Well, yes. And in genuinely beautiful eyes on Stover. I've long held that opinion. Yeah.
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Gary Parrish
Let's start with.
- [04:01]
Matt Norlander
Let's. Let's start with. With Alan Fieldhouse. There's a lot of. A lot of stuff we got to touch on. I'm just gonna say this off the top of the show. There is only one. There is only one building that I trust, and this is the building. How many times. How many times have we seen Kansas in a tight spot, seemingly on its way to a loss, only to find a way to escape? Now, it doesn't happen every time. In fact, a year ago, Houston memorably pulled off an outright stunner. It's been close to. I think that was more later in January, but we're coming up on a year since that happened. But I have seen Kansas dozens of times. There is a voodoo magic inside the walls and halls of Allen Fieldhouse. And it surfaced again. And then everything attached to this game, I mean, this was happening. And we're going to get to the Auburn A and M stuff when. When that was going on when Houston, Texas Tech, just an unexpectedly dramatic. I thought it was a night of college basketball. I thought it was a Top three night of the season. All across the board. The Darren Peterson thing keeps going up. It keeps going up. I talked on HQ about it late last night. I know you talked about an inside college basketball. I don't know what to make of this story. This dude just went off for his career high. He, as he's turning to the bench to ask himself to come out of the game. It leads to a Turnover and, and 14,000 people at the same time screaming. They're down nine by that point. Oh my gosh. At this, at that moment. 82, 73, 225 to go, Kansas turnover. Peterson's motion to bench take me out of the game. You could sense the meltdowns coming around that fan base entirely. TCU should have had this game. Melvin Counsel Jr. Then once again transforms into the spirit of Michael Jordan on the floor. Okay, then Peterson, he's got the, he's got the wraps around his legs. Kansas gets the ball back unexpectedly with a chance, down three. Then Peterson's like, I got one more in me. On the floor. Inexplicably fouled three pressure pack free throws. He hits them all, then does not come back in the game. And then it's Melvin Council time. And in spite of all of this, in spite of, like, he's trying, he's in pain. They can't figure out how to get him in for everything they need. He's off the floor for overtime. Kansas wins anyway. He goes for a career high 32. It was insane. Just a wild, wild scene. Credit to David Warlock. He had this nugget last night. Thirteen teams ever, ever in men's D1 have won a game when they were trailing by at least 15 points with less than five to go in regulation. The all time record is 20. Southeast Louisiana against the Fighting Camels of Campbell. That happened in 22. KU was down 15 here and got it to OT. They win it. TCU has now let wins against Kansas and Michigan right through the fingertips. I, I don't. They lost at home to New Orleans. That team's TCU spooks me out. I don't know what's going on there. Give me everything you got on everything with that Jayhawks win because I think this is now the most fascinating team in college basketball.
- [07:37]
Gary Parrish
It's so good. Like, I, I've never, I don't know that I've ever seen a fan base hate and love a player as much as Kansas fans hate and love Darren Peterson. He drives them crazy. But then he goes out and gets 32 in 32 minutes.
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Matt Norlander
Like, I remember when Kansas fans hated Hunter Dickinson.
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Gary Parrish
That made that. I got that a little bit.
- [07:57]
Matt Norlander
I did too. And. And now there's this. It's just, oh, boy.
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Gary Parrish
I mean, there's a moment last night where I'm like, wow. Well, I guess Kansas really isn't very good for the third straight year under Bill Self. That. That's wild. Didn't anticipate that ever. And they're down 15. It got so lopsided. Here's the truth. Spirit of transparency. We're out on set either live in a halftime and or pre taping a late night show. This is happening at a time where we're focused on other things. So if I'm being completely honest, I did not see the TCU unraveling/KU comeback in real time. This is how bananas it was. We're on set and we're getting ready to do another thing and we're getting shot sheets and at some point somebody on set says, hold up, Kansas one. It was that surprising because it was already like a counting chickens before they hatch thing. KU is 0 and 2 in the Big 12 for the first time ever under Bill Self.
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Matt Norlander
And everyone in the studio didn't trust the building. That's what it sounds like.
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Gary Parrish
It got no, hey, you know me. I'm a building truster. I, I ride. I'm ride or die with buildings, especially Allen Field House.
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Matt Norlander
This is the one building. I'm with you on this one. We're simpatico.
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Gary Parrish
I. I trust other buildings, but I trust this one perhaps the most. Just like you. It was just like we're all watching it and then it's like, okay, the game's over. Let's go do this other thing and then we'll. And then we'll, you know, we'll get the final score when we need the final score. But that game's over. Evidence being the David Warlock tweet. The game's supposed to be over. This doesn't happen. It doesn't happen on Tuesdays in January. It doesn't happen anytime ever. So just bananas. And for them to then close it out without Darren Peterson, like he just doesn't come back into the cave.
- [10:10]
Matt Norlander
They had the thing parish where I. So just because I. I'm guessing you weren't dialed in like you just said you were. So they got to the point and we've hit the point here on these broad. This is not a good thing where they have 80% of the screen on the game and 20% of the screen is a shot of Peterson Sitting on the bench as the game is playing out and Kansas is in a tight spot. We saw that again last night. The fact that he made the shots to send it to OT and then said, I got to be out for the entirety of overtime and they still win anyway.
- [10:35]
Gary Parrish
Well, they like, they, like he was out before that. Then they bring him back in to try to just get. To just take. Hey, I know you're hurting. I know you don't feel right. Can you come off of a ball screen and take a shot? That's what it was. And he was like, yeah, I'll do that. So this is. It's all bananas. You know what? I take that back. It's not bananas. It's actually probably sensible. But it's all unusual. That's the right word. It's unusual. So they're like, can you come back in and come off a ball screen and take a shot? He's like, yeah, I'll give it a go. And he gets fouled. And then, like, give him credit. When he feels like he can play, he's awesome. He just. He doesn't always feel like he can play, but when he feels like he can play, he's awesome. He knocks down the three free throws. That's not easy. How many people would knock down those three free throws in that moment under that set of circumstances? That's hard. So he knocks them down and then never comes back in. And later in the night, I. I happened to be in studio last night. Bridge Stovers are host. His eyes were worse than mine. Go look at it if you don't believe me. And former NBA all star Wally Zerbiak and former NBA coach of the year Avery Johnson. So we got like, you know, the really accomplished guys on that side of the desk, and then me and Stove were over here on this side of the desk. And for whatever it's worth, because I know Kansas fans especially, but also just basketball fans, just sports fans in general, look at this and are like, come on, man. Like, just go play basketball. What are you doing? And Wally, not to. I promise you, I'm not just going to quote Wally every episode of the college basketball podcast. I promise you I'm not. But he was like, I would have played five more years in the NBA if I would have been on a minutes restriction coming off of certain injuries throughout my career. He's like, I'm telling you, I've been on these things. Like, here's the thing that I'm always aware of, and I tried not to ever lose track of I can talk about this stuff and I can talk to people about this stuff, but I never did it, you know, Like, I think that's important to remember. I could talk to a million people about what it's like to put a minutes restriction on somebody and what it's like to play through that. But I've never personally done it. I'm not a basketball player. But Wally, like, that's somebody who's done it, you know, for a long time. And he, he believes in it. And he said when you are on a minutes restriction, like when they tell you things like you're 25 minutes tonight, if you do push past that, you, you do start to feel it. Like your body starts to feel different and it can take a toll. And so they're just being, it appears they're being very careful with what they're doing. I mean, if you're selfish at all and you're running a college basketball program and you somehow get that game to overtime, the guy who is literally responsible for getting it there, you want him on the court. But they're all seemingly on some level in agreement that we're not going to push this past a place where he's either feeling something or we've got a minutes number on it. And so what happened last night happened last night. All's well that ends well. They got the wind. So they're not 0 and 2 in the Big 12. Instead 1 and 1. But just. Yeah, an unusual situation that we all saw unfold last night. And I'm going to say it for the 11th straight time. I hope that's the last time we ever see him not be able to finish a game. But it probably won't be because it is it. It's never the last time. He never finishes a game. He can't finish games. I know.
- [14:05]
Matt Norlander
Well, and he did. But for the second time he played, he was on the floor in the final minute of regulation. So they got that accomplished. We're on the same wavelength, buddy, with the, with the Big 12 stuff. I think it's, I think it's been since either, I think the 80s. The last time KU started 0 and 2 in league play. So they dodged that because they lost on the road at ucf. I thought that was important in the context of all this. By the way, TSU and Kansas have the same record, both 11 and 4, and credit. Trey White played well. Floyd Bendunga had some good spots. We saw what Council did. He also had eight dimes. But Peterson going off for his career high in, in the style, the fashion he did. TCU was like, TCU at one point. Let me bring this up here. What Was their run? 16, 1 18. They had an 181 run in the second half that just jumped them. I mean, they got up 14 on KU. And I'm, I'm guessing, like to a certain extent, that's when you were doing some of your, some of your prep stuff on the desk in the studio with the guys there. But, you know, I was watching that game as I was watching all the other stuff. You know, I had the Kansas one up on the single here TV and then I had the quad box with four more. So I always had eyes on Kansas kind of consistently. But I was also writing, you know, Tuesday nights try and, you know, trudge through getting the court report done. So I'm trying to do that. I had to do multiple HQ hits and I had it just. I hit one point where I was like, damn, this isn't a three point game. Like, TCU is now up double digits. Kansas almost definitely is going to lose this. And for KU to come back, I do wonder if for both of these teams like Kansas, is this just going to be a, it's going to be a roller coaster every week with, with this stuff or for TCU to lose a game like this? How does that affect you? I don't know. I don't know if TCU is a tournament team or not, but this one was even more gettable than the Michigan one. And if it doesn't make the tournament, if we get to selection Sunday and it's, you know, one of the three, four, five teams left out, we're gonna know why that was. That was the case there. If there's anything else you got, if feel free to have at it. There's still so much more to get to. And I know we're on. We are on our own minutes. Restrict. Restriction.
- [16:12]
Gary Parrish
Yes.
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Matt Norlander
Podcast today, so your legs might start to feel cramping up. Gp if you want to move on, we have plenty more to get to.
- [16:19]
Gary Parrish
I'm on a minutes restriction for this show, but like, after this is over, I'm free to. I'm, I'm, I'm just gonna be going all night, so we'll see. We'll see if I start to cramp up or fall asleep at some point. Let's move on. Up next, we'll do the Wednesday whip around. First though, let's get a, a word from our partners. Prime's exclusive wild card playoff game is Saturday night. Jordan Love and the packers take on Caleb Williams and the Bears, not a Prime member. Sign up for a 30 day free trial to stream the game that's gonna be caught for the touchdown. NFC north rivals square off in the latest chapter of the NFL's oldest feud, the packers and Bears and Prime's exclusive wild card playoff game Saturday 7:30pm Eastern. Only on Prime. Sign up for a 30 day free trial today. Restrictions apply. See Amazon.com amazonprime for details. Oh, it's time for the Wednesday whip around. Let's start in the ACC. Final score Duke 84, Louisville 73 no Mikel Brown for the Cardinals. They still led by 12 points at one point, but Duke outscored him 46:26 in the second half at the Yum Kamboozer 27 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists. Another awesome performance from him. What'd you think about the Blue Devils get a nice win on the road?
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Matt Norlander
I think my primary takeaway from the game and I know David Cobb wrote about this. You can read that@cbssports.com in fact Josh, we can toss Cobbs, we can toss this column into the pod description if you want for people to go give that a read. He was on on hand there at the Yum center on Tuesday night. It was the defense in the second half in the flip. I think this was the most important 20 minute half of Duke season so far. Going into this game, Duke had allowed three consecutive opponents to shoot 53 or better for the first time since 2000 February of 2009 and this was pacing for four in a row. Louisville was at 1.35 or so points per possession in the first half and then in the second half Duke kept them under 0.7. The fact that they were under a point for possession Louisville was at the end of the game speaks to the intensity, tenacity, togetherness that Duke had on the defensive end. I haven't talked or texted with Shire. I can guarantee you that staff by far the number one takeaway is how we shut down a very dangerous offense. I know Brown wasn't on the floor. You saw how Conwell came out in that game. You saw that that Louisville team in the first half. It even though this has now played without Brown for five games at this point it looked like it was determined, motivated. Every kind of box checked on how we're gonna play come out and not let the fact that our most talented player not being on the floor is going to affect us from winning this game. Conwell was awesome. Ali Khalifa I think they have three first half triples. They were Just feeling it. Duke was down. And then in the second half everything changes. It's the defense that's the biggest thing. Then it's Caleb Foster having.
- [19:11]
Gary Parrish
Yeah.
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Matt Norlander
Top two, top three game in a Duke uniform. And what's, what's, what's wild. And this speaks, I said this on HQ. This speaks to Boozer's greatness. He goes for 27. He was, let's see what he was 10 of 12 from the field, 27 points, eight boards, four assists, pair of steals. Also did have four turnovers. And it's, I'm not calling it workman like because that's, that's a little too casual. But he is doing things now where we're just like oh yeah, boozer, yeah, 20, 24, eight. Yep, that's what he does. If you watch the game, you saw Evans was key. Evans's defensive step up. And then Foster consistently Gungba got into some foul trouble. That, that was an issue that didn't hold them back. Dame Sar also had some really nice moments in this game. So yeah, duke gets the 14 one. This to me on a very fundamental level. We talked about this on our Tuesday bonus show on, on Sports Network. I don't put Louisville in the national championship contender tier. I just below it. But a game like this is why you're at home. I know you don't have your best player. You are up, you have Duke where you want them and instead they turn the tables on you. They shut you down. And Duke gets out of there not just with a win. Duke gets out of there with an 11 point win. Super impressive by the 141 Blue Devils.
- [20:33]
Gary Parrish
And perhaps that happens no matter what. But I think Michael Brown is the difference in that game. Like if you play him normal minutes, normal health in the yum center. Obviously you have no idea who would win the game. That's the nature of sports. But Louisville would have, I think been favored in that game. With Michael Brown on the court, they were only a one and a half point underdog without him on the court. So. So more than anything that's probably what it comes down to. Or at least that's the biggest factor that played a role in the game. But for Duke that second half on the defensive end, on some level it's a byproduct of something they've emphasized which is being long at every, at every position. Last year they led the nation in average height. You know, throughout the roster this season when I glanced at Ken Palm, they're, they're third. So they're just long everywhere. Intentionally. And you know, eventually that could make, that could make things difficult. Like Ryan Conwell is one of the best shooters in the country, but he didn't shoot it well last night. And that's got something to do with, with the link that, that Duke can run at him on the, on the defensive end. You mentioned Isaiah Evans, 23 points. He's now averaging 22.7 points in the past three games, which has helped Duke get off to a 30 start in the ACC. So this thing is starting to come together. When we did the Island College Basketball Podcast on CBS Sports Network on Tuesday afternoon and we're listing, in addition to the undefeated national championship contenders, five others. This is why I think both of us had Duke on our list. Because regardless of what you think duke is on January 6th or 7th, clearly they've got, if not the best player in the country, one of the best players in the country, and enough interesting pieces around him where it'd be crazy to rule them out as a legitimate national championship contender at some point. If John Shire keeps putting together rosters like this, it's going to happen and it might happen in, in 2026. It might happen in a few months.
- [22:36]
Matt Norlander
Without a doubt, these teams play again before the month's over. Louisville will travel to Duke on January 26th and we'll see. You would think, Slash, hope that, that Brown is back and well back at that point and he's able to play and maybe we can get a good one there. But this Duke, Duke winning on the road. We'll see how it all goes. But this could wind up being a decisive game for the ACC regular season championship. We can keep the tour going because there is so much to get to. What do you want to go to next? The stuff that, that went down in Houston or what?
- [23:06]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, let's move to the Big 12 and we'll stay here for a minute. Final score, Houston 69, Texas Tech 65. Kingston Flemings got 23 points, five assist. He's awesome. As we've talked about before, Houston, that's another one. They look like they were at Jeopardy. In jeopardy rather of losing a big game at home, but somehow some way pulled it out. They're now 14. One loan lost to Tennessee by three. And I remember the numbers from last night. It's somewhere around here. They're like 46 and 1 in their past 47 home games. The loan loss in that stretch is a loss to Texas Tech, but they were able to avoid a second loss to Texas Tech last night. I said on inside College Basketball. And it's got. You know, Then they clipped it and put it on Twitter, so. Oh, hey, pro tip. Don't tweet something like what I tweeted last night until after the game goes final, because then you're just stressed out the whole time. Like, you can't say things on tv. I mean, you can. You can say whatever you want on tv, but. But it's not great to say on tv. If I had to pick one national championship contender right now, I ain't talking about resumes or who would be the one seed right now.
- [24:21]
Matt Norlander
I'm talking about they almost lost the game. Is that what you're saying?
- [24:24]
Gary Parrish
Yes. It was tough. It was. I was stressed, though. I was stressed for two straight hours. I was having a pretty good Tuesday, and then I was like, why did I. Why did I say that and clip it and tweet it? Now I'm just setting myself up, and. And so I was like on tv, looking all smart and stuff. Look at my glasses. They automatically make you look smart. And I was like. I was like, man, I tell you what, If I had to pick one team to win the national championship, right now, it'd probably be the Houston Cougars. I felt great about it, and then they were down, and I was like, jesus Christ. I keep walking right into these things. If it ain't St. John. I thought I. Okay, maybe you can't trust him.
- [25:00]
Matt Norlander
Bennett Sturch, first team All American. And.
- [25:02]
Gary Parrish
Oh, my God, that was the other thing. Stuff to discuss was, no, trust me, that. No, that was in my head, too. All right? So I'm like, all right, I. I've had a St. John's problem basically from day one. All right? Now I got a Bennett's church problem, and now I got a Houston problem. What am I doing? Like, I was starting to go like, what do I need to. Just like, there's sometimes, like. You ever. You ever watch Ryan Clark on. On tv?
- [25:28]
Matt Norlander
I mean, I've seen the man talk on television. I. I understand what you're getting at.
- [25:31]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, there's sometimes where I'm like, yo, man, you just need to, like, just take a. Just take two days and just unplug and stop talking for a minute.
- [25:38]
Matt Norlander
Now that's you.
- [25:38]
Gary Parrish
And now that's you. I felt for different reasons. For obviously different reasons, but I was. Between Bennett starts and Houston, I was having a rough Tuesday night, all right? And so I was like, maybe I'm Ryan Clark. I've been watching Ryan Clark and be like, man, you need to take a deep breath and Relax for a second. And I'm like, well, maybe I'm Ryan. Maybe I'm the new age Ryan Clark for different reasons. But maybe, maybe I'm Ryan Clark for different reasons.
- [26:03]
Matt Norlander
It's like that name. Are we the bodies? Yeah, maybe you do it to yourself.
- [26:06]
Gary Parrish
And then I, I was like. And so I was. I could not be more disappointed in. Bennett starts. We'll get to him. But bro, that was a wide open three at the buzzer. Wide open. Make the shot, man. You know how hard it is get in front of a MacBook. Do you know how hard it is to get in front of a MacBook and say Bennett starts is better than you? I was, I was fighting for Brennan Sturts. And then it's a wide open three pointer. Last night I'm sitting in front of a MacBook talking about Bennett Certs. I'd put in first team all American even ahead of Braden Smith. Wide open three. Just missed it. And then Hughes. So that happened. Then I'm dealing with this Houston thing. I'm like, Jesus Christ. I feel like Ryan Clark, JC Blaster.
- [26:45]
Matt Norlander
Just dropping every 90 seconds. They won the game. You're okay. They got the game.
- [26:51]
Gary Parrish
Thank God.
- [26:53]
Matt Norlander
Sticks on the shot clock turns a one possession game into a two possession game. Made you look good there. We talked about him on the Tuesday network show. Finished 23 points, 5 dimes if you watch the game and credit to Houston in general with its defensive attack. It switches Chris Anderson, seven points in this game, three turnovers. He did have seven dimes and it was a really good game. Compelling game. You mentioned the one loss that was. We mentioned that on our year in review show. That was the game that Toppin got ejected. Grant McCaslin got ejected. Texas Tech still won last year at Houston. The Cougars avenged this. Fleming's played well. Sharp had 17. I thought Kristen Knack actually showed himself well in this kind of spot in a starting spot as well. Harwell left at one point the game due to injury. Only got seven minutes there. So we'll see how much he has affected in the weeks to come. I actually think he for what his role is as a freshman and having talked to Kelvin about him with Harwell and Cenac, those two in particular. He is expecting role allotment to increase significantly as the Big 12 season goes along. Hopefully he's okay. Houston winning with Flemings, that's the story. Flemings is a stud. He is that guy. He is becoming one of the most, most watched players in college basketball. He is the next great Houston Guard. We're getting them down the conveyor belt every single season. Now it's him. He gets to win. Houston wins at home to remain 14 and 1. And on the short list right there with. I saw a little bit of like, we've been sleeping on. Don't. We've been sleeping on Houston, all this stuff. I wrote the column the week of Christmas when they beat Arkansas that said this team is as capable as any team out there. And I meant it when I wrote it and I mean it today. As capable, as viable a national title contender as any team in the sport. Maybe it takes a win like this when there's less football on. College basketball just on a night by night basis is a little more permeating into the general sports consciousness. But 14 1. The only loss by three to a quality Tennessee team on a neutral in Vegas in that game was two heavyweights squaring off here. So big ups for Sampson. Sampson, by the way, in this game, they had like five or six different cutaways to him coming out of timeouts. Was losing his mind.
- [29:08]
Gary Parrish
Yes.
- [29:08]
Matt Norlander
Like, he was as animated in this and he gets like that. I get he's a wonderful coach, but it just seemed that in this game in particular, he was just fired the hell up. Paid off in the end. They won by four.
- [29:20]
Gary Parrish
He's, he's always fired up. Like I was at. I was on the sideline a few years ago for the Veterans Classic. Houston was there. I think they played St. Joe's so it was a walk through the first week of the season against St. Joe's you're like a 20 point favorite. And I'm like, he, he was wild in the, in the. Like, he, he was like you would have thought it was the, like a number one versus number two matchup. Like he, he, he brings the same approach, best I can tell, every single day to every practice, to every game. He's, he's terrific. He is, if not the best, one of the best coaches in the sport right now. And a, in my opinion, should be a future Naismith Memorial hall of Famer. And obviously it makes his candidacy easier to sell if he were to get back to another Final Four or win a national championship. And I think we both agree that he's got a team that's, that's good enough to do it this season. And Flemings, he's just terrific. Like, I had that highlight in studio last night several times, so you just see his things over and over again. And there's one moment where he's in Transition, and it's just like, stop on a dime, pull up, knock down the mid range. Okay, that's a pro thing. Then there's another one where it's like, you know, set a ball, screen Tugler slips, dump it off to him for an easy bucket. Okay, that's a pro thing. He just looks the part, man. He's, he's terrific. And I don't think anybody had any idea that that freshman would perhaps be Houston's best player this season. And everybody thought Houston would be in contention for all of this stuff anyway. It's almost like they got a gift we didn't even really consider could be at the top of the roster. And Kingston Flemings is that he's. He's outstanding. And among the biggest reasons they were able to avoid that second loss of the season last night.
- [31:18]
Narrator/Advertiser
Hey, this is Richard Deitch, the host of the sports media podcast.
- [31:21]
Gary Parrish
If you're interested in what's happening with.
- [31:22]
Narrator/Advertiser
All the places where you consume sports, the sports media podcast has you covered.
- [31:27]
Gary Parrish
I've been turning down interviews all week. Coded copy reached out, Oprah, George Stephanopoulos. So I said no. I was booked on the Ditch podcast before the Taylor Swift phenomenon. I must live up to my responsibility.
- [31:43]
Narrator/Advertiser
Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
- [31:48]
Gary Parrish
Final score, Oklahoma State 87, UCF 76. I bring this up because the Knights got a big win over Kansas over the weekend. Popped into the AP top 25, but then lose to an unranked Oklahoma State team. But an Oklahoma State team that, you know the record 13 and 2 only losses are the top 50 KinPom teams, Oklahoma and Texas Tech. They got wins over two top 45 Kim Pom teams. That's Texas A M and now UCF. I did not move them into the top 25 and one this morning. But, you know, off to a nice start.
- [32:20]
Matt Norlander
Off to a nice start. Best home winning streak. They're at 11 in a row since 2014. That's solid job out of Steve Lutz. He's a quality coach. We saw him at Big 12 media day and super easy coach to talk to. Very much a. A get it guy. Doesn't get offended if, if, say, you know, you. You're selling on his team in the preseason like someone on this podcast might have been doing. And he was like, hey, do what you gotta do. It doesn't bother me. And he just said, look, I'm just telling you, we will not be outside the top 70 this year. Right now, Oklahoma State is at 58 in Ken Palm, but it's rising next One's a toughie. They're at Iowa State this Saturday, but let's check back. Let's circle back in in a couple weeks and let's see if the Cowboys actually have built out a really quality record. Can they get out of January with 4 losses or fewer? If they can, they're obviously going to be in the NCAA tournament picture. If I may, can we swing over to Pennsylvania? Because we were one shot away from leading this podcast with a different story altogether, and that is the genuinely shocking way that Michigan played out against Penn State on Tuesday night. Now again, we just one interesting result after another. In a good way. I felt exhausted. It was like five consecutive hours of ball last night. I felt exhausted by the time all the hoop had been played out and determined. And that was even still before, you know, Nevada wound up losing at home to San Diego State late. With all of that, Michigan gets the win, catches its first close game in like seven weeks. It had defeated its previous. I've got it in the court report. It had defeated its previous 10 opponents by like 34 and change or something like that. On average. On average. And yet here it catches a single possession game. Penn State's final possession was not good. Penn State did this, by the way, without Kaden Mingo available for the game. He's their most talented player. So a really impressive Goa out of it from Penn State. But the final, I, I cannot imagine that's what Mike Rhodes drew up. No way, no how, no shot does that what they wanted. It felt like Freddie Dillian actually lost track of the time. Like he found himself. Like there's like a second to go and I'm 25ft from the hoop. Here's a fade away prayer it doesn't fall. Michigan gets the win, remains undefeated in the number two spot in the AP poll. Thoughts on the game and oh, by the way, we've the first time podcasting here on YouTube since we did that. Michigan is number two in the AP poll. Arizona is number one. They are separated by a single, not a single vote, a single point. Point. It's the closest margin in the AP top 25 at the top of the poll since there was a tie for number one back in the early 1980s. So there's not, not that much separation. What was your takeaway? How much you get to see of. Of the Wolverines escaping their first defeat of the year?
- [34:59]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, obviously you don't want to be in a one possession game with Penn State where a ball's in the air and if it happens to fall through, because any ball in the air, could you take your first loss of the season? Not a good loss. So to get out of there, if you're. Dusty May. I think you're. You're frustrated with perhaps how your team played, but grateful that you've still got a zero in the loss column. And truth is, they probably needed something like this. I don't know if you saw the quote from the previous Michigan game. I. I guess that might have been the usc win by 30. And Dusty was like. And I don't remember the exact words, but the sentiment was like, this is not going to last forever. Like, we're just. We're not going to keep doing this to everybody. And. And you see this at all levels of basketball and really in any sport. Like, there was a moment where Oklahoma City in the NBA look like nobody could beat them. Like, are they going to win? Are they going to win 80 games?
- [35:55]
Matt Norlander
We said this about UConn, and then it just never stopped that season, and. Which famously led to Paris saying, UConn will never lose again.
- [36:02]
Gary Parrish
Yes, yes. And then they. And then they lost three times in Maui for some reason.
- [36:08]
Matt Norlander
Again, just. You do it to yourself.
- [36:10]
Gary Parrish
Why do I do that? Why? Hey, you know what? Why I should just shut up for a second. At what point do I just stop expressing strong opinions and just. Just say, like, no, no, I do not want. Hey, Norlander, what do you think?
- [36:23]
Matt Norlander
Maybe I just listen to this show. Wants muscle gp. That's not. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Filtered. None of it. No, keep it coming.
- [36:33]
Gary Parrish
But. But like. But, like, you notice the pattern? I'm like, I don't know about UConn. I think I love Purdue. And then UConn wins everything. And then I'm like, man, I don't think UConn's ever going to lose again. Then they can't stop losing. And then I'm like, man, I think St. John's is going to be the best in the world, and they stink. And then I'm like, man, Butler, last.
- [36:51]
Matt Norlander
Night, give them credit.
- [36:52]
Gary Parrish
That was nice. That was. I was. I was. I was proud. Except now I've turned on them so much, I don't even feel good when they win.
- [36:58]
Matt Norlander
Okay, now you're rooting against them.
- [36:59]
Gary Parrish
Now I'm like, I hate them so much. It's like, I don't even. I'm not even happy for them. I'm not even happy for me. I hate myself and St. John so much. I can't find pleasure in anything that's happening right Now. So then I move on to Bennett starts. I'm like, oh, I got a new one. This is going to be good. Oh, this is going to be a good one.
- [37:15]
Matt Norlander
You didn't think that one through.
- [37:16]
Gary Parrish
He didn't make the shot. It was wide open, bro. You had three shots. Your team had three shots in the final five seconds. You had a wide open one. Make one. I apologize to Braden Smith. I want to be clear about that. I should not have done that.
- [37:31]
Matt Norlander
More on Braden Smith in today's court report. Let's circle it back to Michigan.
- [37:36]
Gary Parrish
Oh, yeah.
- [37:37]
Matt Norlander
Yeah.
- [37:37]
Gary Parrish
So if you're Dusty, May, I think you don't like the way your team performed. You don't like being in that position against Penn State. But maybe you like being able to wake up today, get back into your gym and be like, hey, all right, guys. You see, this is real life. We don't just beat everybody by 30. You have to show up. I've talked to coaches long enough to know that when you don't want that to happen, but when it does and you can escape without it being a loss that cost you something, you can turn it into a teaching tool. And I imagine that's what's happening at Michigan Day. That close loss over Penn State is turned into a teaching tool where perhaps you got your players attention a little more than maybe you had it two days ago.
- [38:18]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, I think that's the case. And this was a game where, you know, have it on. They're up. Penn State's making close. Okay, five minutes to go. Got to keep eyes on it. And then it turns into a. We really might have something here. And listen, for Penn State to play it that close is a credit to. To the Lions. No, they're not going to be satisfied with it. I get that. But I went on HQ during the day yesterday, and Haley Sutton asked me, so Penn State got any chance. I pulled a gp. I pulled a gp, folks. I was just totally dismissive. I said, I don't think Mike Rhodes is going to see this before the game, but I apologize, Mike, your team has no chance tonight. I was wrong. Had a chance. Not only had a chance, ball was in the air. Everything that preceded it in the. In the eight seconds leading up to that, not good. But they had a chance. They can't get it done. Michigan wins. You know, yaks only had 10 in this game. Kind of dispersed all around. LJ Cason came off the bench to lead the team with 14. We'll see if this is a. Okay, let's get on let's you know now we, now we see what to what GP was just saying. Can we focus here? Wisconsin's next at Washington at Oregon, west coast trip games. After that we'll see Big Ten from Tuesday night. We mentioned Minnesota beats Iowa. You can hit on that again if you want. And I also just want to mention was two nights ago but Nebraska is still undefeated. They went on the road, they knocked off Ohio State. It was another gritty good win. The best story in the sport continues and this week's court report leads on the fact that we still have six undefeated teams on January 7th. Excluding the wonky Covid year which started late and just is different from all the other years. This is the sixth time in the past 30 plus seasons that we've gotten to this point on the calendar with at least six undefeated teams. If you're curious about okay, you get that many undefeated teams into this part of the season, how many of those say win the title or make the final four? You can read the court report later. I did the data dive on that. I do think that having this many at this point just increases the special nature of what we got going on here. Any thoughts? Additional thoughts on Iowa, Minnesota? Obviously Nico Medved off to a good start. 3:1 or anything from Nebraska on Monday night.
- [40:40]
Gary Parrish
I mean the shot was wide open. Bennett Sturts. It was just make like he'll make that nine out of 10 times in in at the NBA combined.
- [40:52]
Matt Norlander
Which is why the game tape always matters more. Oh no.
- [40:58]
Gary Parrish
So that was that. Whatever. On the Minnesota side like the Kate Tyson story is kind of awesome. Like he, he was a, a really nice player at Belmont. He's from North Carolina in this era of college basketball. We talked about this two off seasons ago. Like I held it up as a. How great is another one? There's another one. I was, I was like, hey, how great is this?
- [41:25]
Matt Norlander
He had Kate Tyson as a preseason second team All American.
- [41:28]
Gary Parrish
No, that's not true. I will not be held responsible for things I never said or did. All right? I do enough dumb stuff and say enough ridiculous things. I can't be held responsible for Kay Tyson as an All American. I never said it, but I was like, he's from North Carolina and out of high school. Clearly he wasn't a North Carolina level recruit. He was a Belmont level recruit. So he went to Belmont as you would. He was awesome at Belmont. And this wouldn't happen in different eras, but in this era of nil and revenue sharing and you know, transfer waivers, a North Carolina kid gets to go back home. Hubert David says, man, maybe I didn't recognize what you could be when you were coming out of high school, but I see it now. Come on home, be a Tar Heel. Maybe one day your name will hang up there next to Michael Jordan.
- [42:13]
Matt Norlander
I don't think that's what Hubert Davis told Kate Tyson.
- [42:16]
Gary Parrish
I bet he did. I bet he did.
- [42:18]
Matt Norlander
So you don't want to be held accountable for things that you didn't say, but you want to put words in other people's mouths that they probably didn't say.
- [42:23]
Gary Parrish
That's exactly right. I don't mind that at all. I have no reservations about that at all. I have no reservations about putting words in Hubert Davis's mouth. So back to my made up story. He's talking to Kate Ty. He's like, man, you should come back home, be a Tar Heel. Maybe one day you can be Michael Jordan. He told Kate Tyson, you can be Michael Jordan someday. And so obviously you're not going to turn that down. And I was like, what a nice story. While everybody's like thinking nil and transfer waivers are the worst thing that's ever happened to college athletics. What a nice story. And then it led to like the worst basketball year of Kate Tyson's life. I imagine he couldn't get off the bench and barely did anything. So he had to move again out of North Carolina for the second time. But it's going crazy good at Minnesota. He got 21 points last night. He's been terrific. Tweets now averaging like 21 points, five rebounds, three assists. It didn't work at UNC, but it's working now. And that was a nice win for your nemesis Nico Medved last night.
- [43:20]
Matt Norlander
Yes, five in a row for Nico. And the next two are also at home against USC on Friday and the next Tuesday against Wisconsin. Go. For fans, you've got a chance here to be 5 and 1 in the league. And rest assured, we will have more to talk about Nico Medved's program if indeed they can pull together some more victories. That's. That was a natural fit when he was hired. And it's nice to see that Minnesota is off to some good gains here. Not a projected tournament team necessarily at this stage, but has defeated Indiana. Now you got the Iowa win. Let's see if they can build on more. We have to transition to the SEC. I'm sorry, Auburn fans, we gave you more than 40 minutes before we go to this point. I mean, there's other stuff to talk about in the league. We. I'm sorry we have to start on. Texas A M90, Auburn 88. This game was bat bleep. Just the wild swings. Kansas had it. This was. This was happening as this was. Was going along right beside it there. Auburn blew a 16 point lead on A&M in the second half. Bucky McMillan's group flipped the game with a 30 to 6 run. Then there was a review that in real time. Now I'm writing, I'm watching stuff. Honestly, the review. There were multiple reviews, but the big review in this game tied to the foul shot that felt like it took 12 minutes. Just forever. Can we please improve the process? Auburn nevertheless it gets the opportunity to get the shot off. Point six to go. It falls in. In real time. I thought it was good.
- [45:00]
Gary Parrish
So did I. So did everybody, including the refs.
- [45:03]
Matt Norlander
So did everybody.
- [45:04]
Gary Parrish
The crowd and the crowd. The refs of the crowd and Stephen Pearl. Rule of cool. Let it stand.
- [45:09]
Matt Norlander
I think. I think the officials got it right. I think like it looks like it's just barely honest his fingertips when he lets it go. I think we've got the video before GP chimes in on. On this. Here's. Here's how the game ended. If you're watching on YouTube or if you're listening, this is how A M escaped.
- [45:29]
Gary Parrish
Comes in for the win. Good if it goes. Got it. He got it. Got it.
- [45:35]
Matt Norlander
Unreal.
- [45:44]
Gary Parrish
And making one heck of a call here. No good. No good is the call. And now Stephen Pearl can't now let's throw things. Let's throw things at him. Throw things at the referees.
- [45:57]
Matt Norlander
Celebration for Auburn is replaced with by the celebration for A and M. Plenty of time to separate between those. Stephen Pearl out of his mind. You actually good job out of you, Josh. He's got this. He's got the grab here. You can see on the. On the right you can see the light is lit up on the backboard. Ball is still in Keshawn Murphy's hands. So, so close. But the right call. Auburn loses. It's 9 and 6 with losses to Houston, Michigan, Arizona, Purdue, Georgia. Solid on the road in overtime. That just happened last weekend. And now home to A M by 2 in dramatic fashion. A M is 12 and 3 again to be determined how good or not A M is. But it's 123 team. So there's no team. I wrote this in the corporate report today as well. GP there's no team that has a better buffet of losses than Auburn. The problem is they have six of them, right? So it's nine wins versus six losses. Preseason top 20 team. Stephen Pearl is really living the full spectrum of a head coaching existence here. Your thoughts on the chaos on the planes Tuesday night.
- [47:00]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, I mean, like you in real time, I thought it was good. And then the replays suggest at least, if not prove that it wasn't. I know Stephen was upset, and in the post game, he was asked, like, so what did they tell you? He like, they didn't tell me anything. They just said it's no good. And they got out of there as quickly as they could because the crowd was, like, throwing things. That was a real thing that happened last night. And so, you know, it's. I think Stover had the note last night. This is the worst start through X amount of games for Auburn since something. And you just never want a studio host saying that about your first year. Nor do you want, you know, Matt Norlander saying, like, if the main takeaway through the first, whatever, 15 games of your first year as a head coach is, man, you've had some good losses. You know, that's not what. That's not. That's not the way you want somebody describing the first half of your first season As a Division 1 men's basketball coach, but it is an accurate way to assess what's happened at Auburn. They've been right there in a lot of different positions, and if you could just take a possession here and flip it. A position there and flip it. We're talking about a. A top 15 team instead of a team that, you know is coming off of a loss and has got us a collection of them so far.
- [48:18]
Matt Norlander
This. This image, if you're watching where it's got, I don't know, Stephen Pearl looking at some sort of video iPad. I don't. I. I assume that's an. This woman is an Auburn employee. This look.
- [48:30]
Gary Parrish
No, no, I know what he's doing. He's. He's looking at the iPad. You know what he's saying right there?
- [48:34]
Matt Norlander
I mean, the quote, tweet joke. Possibilities for this. For this shot are endless. What's he saying?
- [48:37]
Gary Parrish
GP he's saying, grock, get that ball out of his hand.
- [48:43]
Matt Norlander
I thought he was saying, I'm the eldest boy. No, the dinner reservation says 6:30. You. We will not wait another 15 minutes.
- [48:53]
Gary Parrish
Grok, get that ball out of his hand, please. And then you look and then you scroll down and the ball's not his hand anymore. Grock's wild, man. You ever see him do that? You know Grok lives down the street from me, right? You know that Grok is Like in.
- [49:12]
Matt Norlander
No. What? I don't know what to do with that statement. I thought we were talking about Auburn losing and heartbreaking.
- [49:16]
Gary Parrish
Oh, no, we've changed. We've changed. The subject is we're now on to Grok.
- [49:20]
Matt Norlander
Grok, you really don't need to be. I mean, I'm so okay with not.
- [49:24]
Gary Parrish
It lives down. It lives 10 minutes from me. Grok is 10 minutes from me. That's a real. Google it. Google it. Google. I'm like, I sound like Kirk Signetti. Google it. All right.
- [49:33]
Matt Norlander
I don't know what you say. You sound like. You sound like the Internet is cooking your brain at this point. Honestly. Down the street from me. Google it.
- [49:43]
Gary Parrish
Google it. I think I'm mixing my Internet companies or something, but you could Google that. It's true. They're polluting the air is what I.
- [49:49]
Matt Norlander
Read somewhere someone in the chat is asking Grok if the image of Steven Pearl lobbying is real. Is this real gp? Does that look like an AI fabricated image to you?
- [50:00]
Gary Parrish
I don't know what's real and what's not anymore. Like, I saw some little blonde girl.
- [50:05]
Matt Norlander
You and Stephen Pearl both. Because Stephen Pearl doesn't know what's real either.
- [50:09]
Gary Parrish
After, I don't know, me and Stephen Pearl just out here, it's 2026, and Stephen Pearl and I are very confused about what we're seeing. I don't know what to believe anymore. I saw some little blonde girl rub it on Tom Brady's back.
- [50:20]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, don't need that.
- [50:22]
Gary Parrish
Was that true or not? Is that a real thing or not?
- [50:24]
Matt Norlander
Bucky McMillan on the post game interview TV could not even hear the studio crowd, the studio crew, because the crowd was yelling and going after the officials and profanity laden rants and all that stuff. Just an insane, insane scene. I mean, the first big weekday of ball in 2026 did not disappoint. We still have more to get to and we're running out of time. Tennessee beats Texas. Longhorns are a non factor in your owner, Sean Miller. Good. Just good for Tennessee to get the wind. No nonsense fashion. But Florida beating Georgia, that was.
- [51:00]
Gary Parrish
Well, hold on, hold on. That. Let's not gloss over this. Texas fired Rick Barnes and he's 5 and 1 against Texas since they fired. Can you imagine firing somebody and then he just comes back and just beats your brains in every day.
- [51:12]
Matt Norlander
Well, I don't know what to tell you. Like, I hear you, but, you know. Oh, I'm not even.
- [51:17]
Gary Parrish
I'm not even saying it was a wrong. I'm not even saying it was wrong. It feels very much for different reasons, but like the. Not to mix sports here and podcasts, but like the John Harbaugh thing in Baltimore.
- [51:26]
Matt Norlander
I thought the same exact thing. Kyle Brandt had a great tweet about this yesterday, though. His exact tweet. I want to, I want to read this to you because I completely agree with the sentiment here. I think we've even talked about it occasionally on the show. This doesn't always apply, but I think philosophically speaking, it's true. He said, I want to bring this up directly what he said because I agreed with it and okay, again, just because another team will quickly hire your coach doesn't mean you shouldn't part ways with him. You handle your own business. Sometimes things just run its course. They ran with Barnes at Texas. We do not, we do not need a reset on the Rick Barnes era.
- [51:58]
Gary Parrish
No, that wasn't.
- [51:59]
Matt Norlander
I was not on a minutes restriction on a Wednesday pod after the balls. Easily handled at home. The longboards. But I get your point.
- [52:08]
Gary Parrish
Not trying, not trying to re litigate the Rick Barnes decision at Texas. Just pointing, pointing out that it must be awesome. Like I, I am lucky. I've never been fired. I'm sure it'll happen someday. I'm sure it'll happen someday. But I, I, I can only imagine what it must be like to have a thing tell you we don't want you here anymore and then come back and just whip their ass every year. That must be amazing. So I'm happy for it.
- [52:34]
Matt Norlander
I agree. By the way, I was so busy last night. The chat ever BB minded, says Sean Miller's press conference was weird when he compared his players to toddlers. There's so much happening. I don't want the context, Sean. That is all I want. Thank you so much for that.
- [52:50]
Gary Parrish
I would love, I would love. This is what we should do. I know we don't have coaches on the Island College basketball podcast. We've decided against that years ago.
- [52:57]
Matt Norlander
At least during season, right?
- [52:59]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, it would be funny. Like if we just get Rick Patino and Sean Miller on and just be like, hey guys, let's just talk about your teams. Talk about your teams to each other. We'll just sit here and be quiet. I'll just sit here and wonder why Bennett starts. Missed that shot and you guys talk about your teams to each other. I bet that would be hilarious.
- [53:17]
Matt Norlander
If you ever. They'll never do it, for obvious reasons, but you, not all coaches. You get some coaches off the record actually talking about their team.
- [53:23]
Gary Parrish
Oh, it's so good.
- [53:25]
Matt Norlander
Larious.
- [53:26]
Gary Parrish
I talked to a coach one time. Was literally on the way to the sweet 16. All right. They were. They had won the round of 64. They had run the round of 32. I reach out to this guy and he's like. And I'm like, so. I don't even know what I was doing. I don't even know why we were talking. And he was like, gp, I can't believe I've got to try to win a sweet 16 with this son of a. And I'm like. I'm like, what? Like, he's like, I can't. He can't. He's terrible. Talking about his point guard. I can't believe I got to go to the elite eight with this guy. And I'm like, you're in the sweet sticks. He just won the last game. But like, sometimes you get these guys talking about the players and they hate them.
- [54:02]
Matt Norlander
GP early. It was Monday. Talked with the coach. Not gonna say who it was. Not even going to indicate this coach right now has a team in his league that is in the. In the. A top three team in their league.
- [54:14]
Gary Parrish
Okay. Right.
- [54:15]
Matt Norlander
Yeah. High major. Could be major. Whoever. So we just. We had. We had checked in. I hadn't checked in in a bit. I'm just checking. How you doing? I was calling about something else. Good start. He goes, no, I am miserable. Yes, I am. It is. It is miserable right now. I said, can you get a hold of your life? It could be way worse than this. So to your point, I was laughing. I was like, I'm not dis. I'm not disregarding like some, like. I get it. You run a locker room, you got 18 to 23 year olds, all sorts of wild stuff can happen. You could be, you know, way, way worse than this right now. But I was calling in thinking I was getting like a good checkup. It's just. It was like he was. Picked up the phone and. And the light on the phone was the only thing that brought up a. Inside of a dark room. And it's like, no, caught me in the middle of misery right now. Coach is gonna be too hilarious. We are running out of time. Florida beat Georgia 92, 77. A good. A good win for the Gators. Just, you know, first talk about former coaches. Mike White goes back to where he once was. Georgia again. To be determined how good or not the Dogs are. They didn't play a good non con schedule. Florida wins. And I don't know if this is good or Not. But they win despite a no show first half from their guards. Fland and Lee were better in the second half for sure, but it continues to be Thomas Hauck all day, every day. Florida gets the dub there. I thought that was a, I thought that was an important result. Genuinely. I thought that was important for Florida moving its arrow in the right direction. We'll see if it can be in that top 10, 12, 15 group consistently. I don't think it's there yet. But you, you couldn't, you couldn't have a home loss and then have any sort of claim to, to being one of the better teams in the sec. I thought that was an important result from Tuesday.
- [56:03]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, this is one of those where it's an unranked team beats a ranked team. So. Ooh, upset on a surface level. But like Florida was nearly a double digit favorite in this game. They're up to 13th and Ken Palm. I got them back into the top 25 and 1. I still get questions about the backcourt, but that was a nice win last night.
- [56:20]
Matt Norlander
Only other ones, I'll bring up Wisconsin. 180, 72. So UCLA's 10 and 5, that was a road trip. They go home for a game against Maryland, then they got to go back and play at Penn State and Ohio State. So let's just keep an eye on The Cronin's team. 10 and 5. They were the one team I omitted. I've got top 10 most disappointing teams at the halfway mark in today's court report. UCLA was my last cut. If I did the top 11, I would have put UCLA on that list. But, but good for Wisconsin. Take care of your business at home. And that was a definitive 40 minute wire to wire win. Good on them. And then San Diego State won at Nevada. I thought that was notable. What, what's not good and who's also on my top 10 disappointing list is Georgetown. Yeah.
- [56:59]
Gary Parrish
Oh, God.
- [57:00]
Matt Norlander
Okay, so Georgetown. Sorry, Hoyas. We gave you plenty of love last season when you started hot and earlier this season started5.01 against Maryland on the road and beat Clemson. They were off to a good start. Since then, Georgetown 4 and 6, including a loss at home to St. John's last last week. And then Tuesday they go to DePaul, they lose 56 to 51 for 23.
- [57:24]
Gary Parrish
3.
- [57:25]
Matt Norlander
That is one of those stat lines where it sticks with your coaching career.
- [57:30]
Gary Parrish
Yes, forever.
- [57:31]
Matt Norlander
One for 20. It's not just one for 23. And all due respect to DePaul, it's one for 23 against DePaul. Georgetown is nine and six. It has careened off the tracks. It's back into relevance. It really is a shame, you know, we're still middle of the season. The Big east is in some ways, you know, from 2 to 11. In some ways, I guess it is open. So, you know, perhaps we'll see one of these teams in the league, turn it around. But it doesn't look like it's going to be Georgetown. That was a notorious second half. No show by the Hoyas there. Had to mention it before we get out of here.
- [58:06]
Gary Parrish
If you're gonna go one to 23 from the field in the second half, you got to do that against Houston.
- [58:12]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, pretty much. That's the only team where it's. No.
- [58:16]
Gary Parrish
And let me be clear, either the Cougars or the Rockets. Doesn't matter. Either one. All right, that's acceptable. 1 of 23 against the Cougars or the Rockets.
- [58:25]
Matt Norlander
Well, actually, I don't think it's defensible against the Rockets. I take exception to that. It's only the Cougars.
- [58:31]
Gary Parrish
The Rockets got linked at all positions. They can. The Rockets can provide some length problems for you. So I would accept 1 of 23 from the second half against the Rockets or the Cougars, but not against the Blue Demons. That is unacceptable behavior. It doesn't. That's. That's one of those things when they hand you a shot sheet in studio and you read it and you're like, well, that doesn't sound real. Double check that, please. Double check that, please. Can you give me a pronunciation on this name? And can you double check that? They really missed 22 of 23 shots? Avery Johnson. I was in studio last night with Coach Avery. He's the best.
- [59:12]
Matt Norlander
Love Avery.
- [59:14]
Gary Parrish
You know what? Everybody should love Avery Johnson.
- [59:17]
Matt Norlander
He's great.
- [59:18]
Gary Parrish
Like, the best. I. I don't just go out of my way to say people are the best, but I'm telling you, if you're impressed, if you've never met Avery Johnson, but all you do is, like, you grew up watching Avery Johnson play, and then you watched him become an NBA coach of the year, and now you've watched him on television and you're like, man, he seemed like a nice guy.
- [59:37]
Narrator/Advertiser
You.
- [59:37]
Gary Parrish
You couldn't be more accurate. Like, the night that. Like, the best. The best of the best. Like you. You. You wonder. You start to question yourself when you spend too much time around Avery Johnson because he just seems like the best. Like, just the best. He's the. Like, his. His name hangs in the rafters of an NBA arena, all right? And yet he's just the most normal man you've ever met in your life and also just the most pleasant. So I was in studio with, with, with him last night, and at some point he raised his hand. He's like, I've been retired for a while, but I think I could have got, I could have got you a couple of buckets in the second half.
- [60:10]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, no question. He could. He could definitely provide that. No doubt.
- [60:14]
Gary Parrish
I think what he actually said. I think, I think what he actually said was me and Wally, because they had their little NBA side of the desk over there last night. So they were, they were over there talking about their pension plans and all that stuff. And I said, and by the way, you should see their pension plans. It's amazing.
- [60:29]
Matt Norlander
I'm sure they're wonderful.
- [60:30]
Gary Parrish
Oh, buddy, man, I never. I mean, I've always thought I should have been a little better at basketball, but it was, it was reemphasized last night when I started.
- [60:39]
Matt Norlander
You never had a chance.
- [60:41]
Gary Parrish
I got into a discussion about pension plans. I'm like, man, Jesus, I should have been a 16 year NBA veteran. I don't know why I didn't do this. So I think what Avery actually said was, me and Wally could have got you two buckets in the second half against DePaul. And I raised my hand, I said, I think I could have got you a couple myself. And they didn't disagree. That was wild. They said, cooley thing's not going so well, unfortunately.
- [61:04]
Matt Norlander
Well, it's not behind the pace for sure.
- [61:08]
Gary Parrish
Like, how about this? How about this? The I own college basketball Twitter account last night tweeted like, hey, what should we open the show with last night? And one of the replies was something about Ed Cooley. And you can go look it up if you want to.
- [61:22]
Matt Norlander
Wild night we had the poll in the chat was what was the wildest part of Tuesday. The options were Kansas, tcu, Houston, Texas Tech, Michigan, Penn State, and Auburn A M. Kansas won the poll, 53, Auburn 24. In second place, Michigan at 16. It was, it was a wild, wonderful Tuesday night. Let's look ahead to Wednesday.
- [61:45]
Gary Parrish
What do we got, GP okay, we had a triple header on CBS Sports Network tonight. I'll be in studio all night with Adam Zucker, Roy Hibbert and Avery Johnson. So that's gonna be a fun. Gotta talk to Roy about his Hoyas. Yeah, he was excited. Last time I saw Roy, he was kind of excited about his Hoyas. I wonder how he's feeling today.
- [62:06]
Matt Norlander
He's got that NBA Pension. I think he's still doing okay.
- [62:09]
Gary Parrish
Man, those pensions are nice, man. Look into that. Look, man, get your, get your. I know you got your little boys. Get them some individual lessons. You know, you might need to put them in individual workouts. Those pensions are my.
- [62:21]
Matt Norlander
My older son had a second game of the season last night. Had to dialed into that right before the 7pm tips. And extremely impressed by the defensive effort. Got to work on the hands, but we got. We got time.
- [62:34]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, yeah. Sounds like a Hoya triple header. Tonight on CBS Sports Network.
- [62:41]
Matt Norlander
Is ever good enough to be recruited and play at Georgetown, I'm gonna be cool with that. Continue.
- [62:47]
Gary Parrish
We'd take it Furman at Chattanooga, followed by St. Louis at VCU. Hey, every once in a while, like, and I mean, like, almost every day, somebody's like, why don't you rank St. Louis some? Oh, well, because I don't think they deserve to be ranked as the basic answer, but looking forward to seeing them tonight. And then Davidson at Loyola Chicago, elsewhere in the sport tonight, number three, Iowa State at Baylor. I know the Cyclones are undefeated, but they have not played against a former draft pick yet.
- [63:16]
Matt Norlander
So over, under. Hold on, hold on. Naji Played what, 17 minutes? Let me look here. We're do the over. Under here.
- [63:21]
Gary Parrish
He played 17 minutes and. And managed to ruin college basketball in those 70 minutes.
- [63:28]
Matt Norlander
Over under 17 and a half minutes for Nashi against Iowa State.
- [63:31]
Gary Parrish
Oh, we got to go over. We got to go over. If you have a former draft pick, you should play him at Hilton, I think. Oh, this is not. Yeah, it's at Baylor. If you have a former draft pick, I think you should play him. If you're. If you have. If you find yourself in a basketball game in January against an undefeated team and you happen to have a former draft pick on your roster, I think you should put him out there. Okay, that's what I would do.
- [63:53]
Matt Norlander
What else we got? You're missing the biggest game so far.
- [63:55]
Gary Parrish
Number four, Yukon is at. Where's Yukon?
- [63:59]
Matt Norlander
Providence. Okay, buddy. Fantas on the call. You kind of. Providence is always a lively affair. Providence coming off the win against St. John's we'll see how the Huskies do in hospital.
- [64:09]
Gary Parrish
Yeah. Dan Hurley could say something to anybody, right?
- [64:13]
Matt Norlander
Anything could happen.
- [64:14]
Gary Parrish
Anything could happen. So we'll keep our eyes on that number 13. This is my favorite one. Number 13, Alabama at number 11. Vanderbilt at Memorial. Number 15, Arkansas at Ole Miss. Down in Oxford, cal at number 23, Virginia. Number 24, SMU at Clemson. What's got your attention out of that? List of games. I imagine it's Alabama at Vandy.
- [64:36]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, Watchability index off the top of my dome for tonight. I'd go Bama, Vandy 1, slew at VCU 2 on our air. That's a really terrific A10 matchup, I'd say ISU, Baylor 3, Arkansas, Mississippi 4. The Rebels are also on my top 10 most disappointing teams to this point in the season. 8 and 6. But you've got a chance to turn it around. Arkansas tonight, Saturday hosting Missouri. We'll see if they can get it done.
- [65:05]
Gary Parrish
We're focused on Miami.
- [65:07]
Matt Norlander
All right.
- [65:07]
Gary Parrish
We're focused on Miami down in Mississippi.
- [65:09]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, I know there's that. That's, that's the Thursday kickoff, right?
- [65:14]
Gary Parrish
Thursday, Thursday, Thursday.
- [65:15]
Matt Norlander
Indiana organs on Friday. It is a great stretch for sports in general. Got all this hoops, Morgan hoops tonight and then Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. All big time football stuff arriving with a bang. Love it.
- [65:31]
Gary Parrish
Oh, it's a bang. So that's tonight, then on Thursday there's nothing really great but Santa Clara is at number eight, Gonzaga. That's kind of interesting, if only because.
- [65:39]
Matt Norlander
Solid team also drawn in, brought in a G league player. So viable, legitimately viable team. I don't know if they came on the road, but it's at least worth peeking in on. That game will tip right after the end of the the Miami Ole Miss.
- [65:53]
Gary Parrish
It's a, it's about time somebody decided to try to use pros to beat Gonzaga in the wcc. I mean, I don't know what took them this long. I would, I would have tried this years ago. Like, it's like at some point it's like we never beat these guys. They never lose. They win the tent champion conference championship every year. What are we going to do about it? Maybe we should try bringing in pros. All right, so Santa Clara does it and now we'll see what happens. Four. No, both teams are in the WCC. Santa Clara 13 and 4. Top 60 at Kim Palm. So you can watch that on Thursday night or just catch up on season two of Landman streaming now on Paramount Plus. Shouts to Deborah Downey. Shouts to Chester, South Carolina. Shouts to Terry Teagle. He's a legend. Shouts to Billy Bob Thornton and Ally Larder and Michelle Randolph, Huck, Lauryn El. 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 to podcast, Apple, Spotify, more of us than there are of them. That should be reflected in the comments. I see Michelle Randolph on TMZ with Glenn Powell. I think she's one of us. All indications point to the idea that she's one of us. So please go see subscribe Leave that message in the comments and we going to talk to you again on Friday morning. Till then, take care. Paramount Podcasts Step into your future with.
- [67:22]
Narrator/Advertiser
An all new series. Star Trek, Starfleet Academy.
- [67:26]
Gary Parrish
Being a cadet means being open to.
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Matt Norlander
The people around you. I've spent my whole life getting away from stuff, letting someone in, that's hard.
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Gary Parrish
I want to be captain. I need to be captain.
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Narrator/Advertiser
Holly Hunter and Paul Giamatti star.
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Gary Parrish
You'll encounter challenges your predecessors never had to imagine.
- [67:46]
Narrator/Advertiser
Starfleet Academy new series streaming January 15th on Paramount.