← Eye On College Basketball
Eye On College Basketball
Zona, U-M + plenty more: CBB has AMAZING depth this season; Kansas beats State but loses Darryn Peterson again; Arkansas, Kentucky land 💪🏼 Ws
01:17:25
Loading summary
Transcript174 lines
- [00:00]
Gary Parrish
Hate shopping for pants. You're not alone. Jack Archer's Jetsetter tech pants are basically the answer to every guy's closet struggles with their customizable fit, wrinkle free fabric sourced from Japan and all day comfort. These pants can take you from work to weekend without missing a beat. Seriously, these might be the only pants you'll ever need. Style them with the Jetsetter tee, legacy button down shirt or the buttery legacy polo sweater and you've got timeless staples to meet your everyday wardrobe needs. Jack Archer is just better. For a limited time, get 15% off using the code getjack@jackarcher.com again, that's promo code getjack@jackarcher dot com for 15% off your entire order.
- [00:40]
Jack Archer Ad Voice
Hate shopping for pants. You're not alone. Jack Archer's jetsetter tech pants are basically the answer to every guy's closet struggles with their customizable fit, wrinkle free fabric sourced from Japan and all day comfort. These pants can take you from work to weekend without missing a beat. Seriously, these might be the only pants you'll ever need. Style them with the Jetsetter tee, legacy button down shirt or the buttery legacy polo sweater and you got timeless staples to meet your everyday wardrobe needs. Jack Archer is just better. For a limited time, get 15% off using the code getjack@jackarcher.com Again, that's promo code getjackarcher.com for 15% off your entire order.
- [01:21]
Dan from Heed the Call
Hey, Dan here from Heed the Call. You know how in football timing is everything? You miss your window by a second and the play's already gone. The holidays are the same way. Everything happens fast and if you're not ready, you're scrambling at the last minute. That's why Amazon prime is the real MVP this season.
- [01:36]
Matt Norlander
With Prime's fast free shipping, you can make those last minute calls look effortless.
- [01:41]
Mark (CBS Sports HQ)
Forgot your secret Santa gift? Need something for that office party?
- [01:44]
Matt Norlander
Prime's got your back, helping you go.
- [01:46]
Mark (CBS Sports HQ)
From oh to all set.
- [01:48]
Matt Norlander
Faster than a two minute drill?
- [01:50]
Dan from Heed the Call
Absolutely, Mark. Because prime isn't just about getting things fast. It's about making sure you never miss your shot. It turns that last minute scramble into a smooth holiday win. So this season, remember, Prime's fast delivery has your back during the holidays. Especially when it's down to the wire and can't wait another minute. Last minute gifts delivered favorite. It's on Prime. Visit Amazon.comprime to shop now.
- [02:27]
Gary Parrish
Hey there. I am Gary Parish. Welcome back CBS Sports. I own college basketball podcasts 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 the like button. And if you haven't yet, subscribe to the CBS Sports 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 at the tip top of the sport where Michigan and Arizona both once again dominated the power conference opponent placed right in front of them. Michigan beat Maryland in Maryland 10183. Arizona beat Alabama in Alabama 96 to 75. And while all of this was going on, I was sitting there paying attention to social media a little bit and I saw Matt Norlander and our buddy Pat 40 going back and forth a little bit, wondering out loud, have we reached a point where it's Michigan, Arizona or the field? I know you push back on that a little bit, but Pat. Pat posed it as a possibility. I respect the great Pat40. He's wonderful on NCAA conference calls. What do you make of what he suggested and how close if we're not there yet, how close are we are to Wondering have those two teams separated from everybody else?
- [03:43]
Matt Norlander
We're a ways away now. 40. I saw this. I was. Yeah, that was on the. I was on the HQ desk on Saturday and his exact verbiage was I want to get this exactly. Has he as he sent it there if I can find it in real time. Because he, he tried to, he tried to preface it before he sent it out there. History is littered with premature November December college basketball pronouncements. But give me Michigan and Arizona and I might give you the field. And then I said, okay, those two teams are loaded. But the field includes undefeated as of now Duke, undefeated as of now Iowa State, a UConn team that looks incredible and its only loss is at home shorthanded to Arizona. You get BYU and Houston a couple of one loss teams that are national championship contenders. So we're going to focus in on the A block here a lot on Michigan and Arizona because we should, because these are the two teams that have claimed to number one status. Arizona is going to hold on to number one in the AP Top 25 when that refreshes on Monday. And Michigan is still the number one team not in every predictive metric. Shouts to the Massey ratings, which I only recently learned GP's even aware of. Massey does not have Michigan number one. Doesn't even have Arizona number one. Massey has Duke at number one. But every other mainstream predictive Metric has Michigan at number one. So those two have not Michigan and Arizona have not separated from the rest of the field. In fact, one of my big takeaways on HQ on Saturday night was we have an extremely deep, overwhelmingly competent field of national championship contenders at this point. That's reflected in where they are in efficiency margins right now. The conversation for number one revolves around two teams. But it's just awesome, awesome, awesome stuff that we can we're now six full weeks into the season and from Arizona to Michigan, Duke was idle this weekend. Iowa State obviously played its most notable recent game against Iowa a few days back, but we saw what UConn did. We're going to get to a lot of these results as we move along with the show. GP the the class of team that is in the conversation as a national championship front runner I think is at least nine deep at this point. And that is a deeper class right now, in my opinion, than we had a year ago. And the SEC was incredible. And really in the past decade.
- [06:05]
Gary Parrish
I agree with you on multiple points that you made one. No, they haven't separated from the field. They are clearly the two teams in my opinion that should be under consideration for having a 1 next to their name in any sort of human ranking. But I don't know that they've separated from certainly the other three teams in the top five, notably undefeated Duke, undefeated Iowa State, and one lost Yukon. Frankly, I'm not sure that full strength Yukon's not the best team in the country. Like you mentioned, there's one computer that says Duke is the best team in the country and Iowa State won at Purdue by a billion. So yeah, I would take those three and like the other 360 and, and, and, and I'd roll with them. But undeniably Michigan and Arizona are operating at an extremely high level and they both had games unfold kind of similarly on Saturday. They were both down at the half and then just bombed them in the second half. Michigan was down 50:45, then outscored Maryland 56:33 in the second half to win by 18. Arizona was down 41:39 at the break, outscored Alabama 57:34. I mean it's almost on the number in the second half to win by 21. Again, the games unfold pretty similarly and the resumes. It all comes down to how you want to digest them. Like I knew when I updated the top 25 and 1 this morning I would get some pushback. I mean we talked about it on Friday.
- [07:40]
Matt Norlander
This what you didn't want to have happen happened and we say that like tongue firmly planted in cheek there. But Michigan gets the win and we're going to talk about each of these games individually, which is overview on this. It gets the win, but it had some struggles early and then it pulls away and gets 100 plus points again. But then Arizona just goes out and puts Bama into the ground in the second half and it's in Bama's backyard. It's a record. Our research team had 30 plus years. Credit to ESPN Stats and Information which brought it out. Arizona is the only team per ESPN stats and info to ever, ever go five ranked victories in its first nine games to start a season. Arizona has now done that. So for every Arizona fan that is really wanting to scream from the downtops, we get it. This is just amazing for college hoops right now that we even that we have a discussion like this and keep it coming GP but we haven't tended to say this on the show, but sometimes other pundits have. They get into this default mode where it's like, are there any great teams in college basketball this season that is not on the table whatsoever? I really think we could have as many as seven or eight great teams this season. Where do you want to dive into first? You want to. Do you want to talk what Arizona did to Bama or what Michigan did to what wound up being a shorthanded Maryland team?
- [09:00]
Gary Parrish
Well, just to continue with thought, as I'm sitting there last night watching this unfold, it really did unfold terribly for me personally, and that is what I was most concerned with. There was a part of me that was like, okay, Maryland, I didn't, I didn't think you had it in you. But not that I'm rooting against anybody, but it does make things easier. You know, if Michigan loses and Arizona wins, nobody's fighting between those two teams after that. So I was like, okay, I'm not rooting against anybody. But you know, if Michigan lost, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for my mentions and. Or if Arizona lost after Michigan wins, it wouldn't be the worst thing for. And just neither one of them happened the way I needed them to happen. So I'm left with trying to pick between undefeated teams that have incredibly impressive bodies of work, but very different bodies of work. One of them's got the best resume. Like, hey, we've beaten more good teams than anybody else in the country. That is Arizona. Although you can nitpick that a little bit, it is true they do have five wins over preseason top 25 teams or five wins over teams that were ranked in the time the game was played. But UConn was down two starters in the game. I don't have Florida or UCLA ranked anymore.
- [10:13]
Matt Norlander
Right.
- [10:13]
Gary Parrish
So two of those five teams aren't ranked in the top 25 and one anymore. And UConn was down two starters. But let me be clear, I'm not here to nitpick anything. They're awesome. I'm just saying if you wanted to discount it a little bit, you could. That's still the best resume in the country, even when somebody like me decides to pick it apart. But then there's Michigan, and they don't have as many great wins, signature wins. But they beat Gonzaga in San Diego State by 40 on neutrals, beat Auburn by 30 on a neutral, beat Villanova by 28 at home, beat Maryland by 18 on the road. They're number one at Ken Palm. Bartorvic, Evan Mia Factor sports the net rating at Ken Palm right now is a point better than what Florida finished with last season when Florida was 36. 4. And your national champions right now Michigan has a net rating better than that, which suggests on some level if Michigan were on a neutral court against anybody today, including Arizona, they would be favored to win the game.
- [11:15]
Josh (Producer, Butler Fan)
Yeah.
- [11:15]
Gary Parrish
What that also suggests, and I'm not trying to get in the weeds here, but if this season's Michigan was on a neutral court with last season's Florida the national champions according to the numbers.
- [11:26]
Matt Norlander
Right now, well, that doesn't exactly line up every season. It would be like a one point spread. Whatever. It wouldn't be much. Keep in mind that because Michigan hasn't played a conference schedule yet, its efficiency should stand to be better than world not guaranteed. It could continue to rise, but if it drifts just a little bit down once, it has more consistent, difficult competition. Keep that in mind as well. But yes, Michigan would be the favorite team against any other team on a neutral floor right now. That's indisputable. And they are. Now you had this in your top 25 and 1 and I didn't realize it was this level. And this will almost certainly change. But as things stand right now, just to give you an idea of where, again, the predictive forecast, Michigan is a comfortable favorite to win the national championship as we sit here on a Sunday night.
- [12:09]
Gary Parrish
Yeah. At plus 450 to win the title right now according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Make every moment more after that it is Arizona and Duke at +1000. So there's a. Or. Or. Yeah, at +1000. And then you've got Iowa State and UConn, I believe, at +1100. So there's a pretty big gap between Michigan and everybody else. Like I wrote in the top 25 and one that doesn't prove that Michigan is better than Arizona or anybody else. It's just data that we're referencing. But this is true. Michigan's the favorite to win the national championship right now. Michigan is number one in most computers right now. And if Michigan were on a neutral court against anybody right now, it would be the favorite. Doesn't mean they got to be number one. Like I wrote. Hey, if you insist, based on body of work, it should be Arizona. I'm not even arguing with you. I hear you. It's fine. But I can make the argument the other way as well. There's no wrong answer here. Somebody on Twitter suggested 1A, 1B. I don't do it like that, but it's fine with me. Arizona, Michigan should be 12 in every human poll at this point in whatever order the human doing it wants it to be.
- [13:20]
Matt Norlander
All right, let's dive into these games. We'll go with the Michigan, Maryland 1, 100, 183. Michigan streak of six consecutive games of 25 plus point margin ends. But guess what? They've. They keep. They keep beating teams by 15 plus at this point. And Michigan outscored on the road. Maryland 56:33 in the second half. After going into the break trailing against the Terps now, Pharrell Payne got injured. He's the. He's the team's leading scorer. Leaves the team in rebounds, leads the teams in blocks, leads the team in field goal percentage. He's the most important player he was on the floor. If he was. If he had never gotten injured. I still think Michigan wins, but Instead of being 1 on 183, maybe it's 95, 87. Who knows? It probably still would have been a Michigan win. But the margin actually does matter. You don't have your best guy on the floor. He goes out. How can that not impact you? When he went out, there was four and change to go in the first half. Maryland was up 1, I believe. And then that kind of. That affected the game. Also affected, you know, another inbound. Really great performance from Yaxel Londonborg. He went for. This was in credit to our research team on this because this was one heck of a stat. His stat line in the game, 29 points, nine assists, eight boards, three blocks, two steals. He's number two right now behind Boozer for National player of the Year and what could develop into another really, really good race. We were treated to that a year ago with flag and broom into the NCAA Tournament. We'll see if it's those two or if we can get some more candidates in the weeks to come. But because Yaxel did what he did 29, nine, eight boards, three blocks, two steals. This is outrageous. Players with at least 28 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, three blocks and two steals in a game in the past 30 years of men's Division 1 college basketball, Yaxel Lindenberg is responsible for two of the five. Two. Those two have come this season. Three other players total have put that up in a game. He has done it twice in the first six weeks of this season. He's been awesome and it was, it was impressive to me to see Michigan get caught in a real fight. The pain, injury happens, but Maryland still give it a push. And then if you watch the second half of that game, it was again Michigan going into complete takeover mode, cracking the century mark again, fourth time in five games, fifth time this season overall to keep its margin ahead when it comes to its efficiency this season. Mighty, mighty impressive. Adai Mara continues to get better. They didn't even need a well rounded overall team effort. Like it's, it's crazy to say, but it is true. Michigan put up 100 points on the road against a high major opponent this weekend and I think it played like a B to a B plus level game. This was not their best effort. This is not Michigan at the peak of their powers. We, we've seen them be better. Really, really good stuff. What, what else from you on the Wolverines before we talk what Arizona did.
- [16:17]
Gary Parrish
Well just on Yaxel real quick and then we'll move on. I was raised on the Metro as you know, but I live in the American so I've been watching Yaxel up close for years and he's just a different player right now. He was always good. That's why Michigan gets into the transfer portal and pays millions of dollars to get him right. He always like had this but he wasn't even the best player in the American last season and now he's in the conversation for best playing player in America. And that's a testament to a lot of different things, I guess first and foremost Yaxel. But to Dusty May and his staff, they identified him quickly, targeted him, prioritized him and clearly has helped developing him, develop him into a player unlike any any type of player he's been before or at least he's an enhanced version of it and he's undeniably one of the, the best players in the country.
- [17:09]
Matt Norlander
Okay. What Arizona did late on Saturday, you know we go through it, it was a really, really enjoyable Saturday. Like yet again really nice matchups and the day I think lived up to expectations and when we get by the time we get to this game which got, which got delayed because Indiana Kentucky went long and so fortunately I was in the green room at hq so I was able to watch it from tip and all that. But you know, if you're, if you're at home and like you know, most people watch the listing and didn't want to go hunting for ESPN news, you might have missed the start of it. Well, it was competitive immediately there but in the second half Arizona enveloped Alabama. The, the offensive, the offensive dominance with The Glass Element GP with Arizona was ridiculous. 22 to 3 in offensive rebounds for Arizona. They ultimately outscored Bama in second chance points 15 to 2. NATO's had immediate and blunt and expected comments afterward about how they just came out of the second half and just kicked him out of the game. They, they had matched their first half total I think in the first 11 minutes and change in the second half. Ultimately Alabama was down better than 25 on rebounding overall. The exact margin if you want to do rebound margin is 52 to 32. Alabama average 95 a game going in finished 20 points below its average there. I did ask you over under 52.13 point attempts in this game. We both took the over. It did hit 58 and also Arizona Brayden Burries. Well that's right what I'm getting to right here. So Braden buries this is every team in this, almost every team in this top 10's got a reason, many reasons to feel like they've really got something special here. And with Arizona it's the fact that you were able to do this and you didn't get buries nearly at what you think he'd be for the first time month of the season. Well against Alabama that's the game he picks to actually have his best game of the season so far. 28 points, seven boards, had a couple of dimes, five of 10 from three point range. I jotted it down at the desk on Saturday. So okay. Burris had 39 points in his first five games. He's had 79 in the past four and now he's in that four game stretch. 19.3 points five and a half rebounds. Really uplifting stuff. I mean like you didn't stop Phylon. He had another really nice game but they didn't have nearly enough overall and Burry's doing what he did. Now we're hitting a point here with Bam or excuse me with Arizona where it went 10 to 26 and three point range. It took 10 more in this game than it averages. Winds up hitting 39 from beyond the arc and Crevis had some good moments co opied with Silent but he'll have, he'll have huge games again. Arizona's just got a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Hey by the way, you need us to step out and hit 10 threes against a top 15 level team and get it done and win by 21 points. We can do that as well. Super scary. This is, this is college basketball's Voltron this season I think. And that's for any child of the eighties listening or tuning in right now. My all time favorite cartoon. They are incredible to this point I am so, so very impressed and I do think by nature I know A week ago this also speaks to how amazing the season has been so far. We've had the debate on who's the best resume. Not always the best team, the best resume and that has been changing with, with, with fluency. Arizona beating Alabama to me vaulted Zona ahead of idle Duke for sure. Now when you look at the strength of those five wins, they've got the best resume in the country and Alabama it was disappointing. Like I know we've we're leaning in a lot on the Wildcats and we should here. Crimson Tide had an opportunity. Vanderbilt has to yet lose a game. But with wins over St. John's in Illinois and they got the Clemson win, getting one more real notable non conference win could have been the statement to say we are the team to beat in the sec. We are going to be the pride of the SEC this season. The SEC is obviously down. They couldn't do it. Bama becomes the third SEC victim at the hands of Arizona following Florida and Auburn.
- [21:03]
Gary Parrish
To me the story was Burry's obviously and not that he scored 28 points because that's not going to be normal. But he took 10 threes and he made half of them and perhaps he won't take 10 and make half but. But will he take 7 and make 40% because if so that that changes Arizona. I mean we celebrated them early in the season for what was it, their first big win. They took two. They took two in the whole game.
- [21:26]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, maybe they, they might have made two. Let me.
- [21:29]
Gary Parrish
It was something like. It was, it was something very low, like almost.
- [21:32]
Matt Norlander
No, you're right. They made two of five against Florida to beat the. The reigning champs on, on the opening night of the season.
- [21:37]
Gary Parrish
Right. And now they got a guy who can make 5 take 10. So he made more than. You get the math. Like that's a diff. That that changes that that creates space. All the normal basketball stuff that you know. Because though Arizona has proven it can be awesome playing mostly inside the arc, there is a chance in a single elimination tournament where you start trading twos for threes and you can get into trouble a little bit and perhaps Burrys is the type of guy that can help offset that a little bit. I'm not expecting him to go for 5 of 10 from 3 every game or perhaps not even any other game the rest of the season. But can he provide that threat from the perimeter consistently? He looks like he can. And, and if he can do that, then Arizona is even better than we thought, you know, three weeks ago. Let me, before we bounce to the next block, just close with this. Up next for Michigan, next Sunday against LaSalle. And then the Wolverines will not play another currently ranked team until Nebraska visits on January 27th. Up next for Arizona, Tuesday against Abilene Christian. And then the Wildcats won't play another currently ranked opponent until BYU on January 26th. So neither one of these teams is playing another ranked team until late January. And even the ranked teams haven't been able to mess around with these teams so far this season. I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but like we could be sitting here for a little while with these two at one and two.
- [23:06]
Matt Norlander
We could, we can put a pin in this and circle back maybe even before we get a 2025. We'll see. But there is a chance. I said this about Michigan specifically on HQ late Saturday, but it's true of Arizona as well. There is a healthy chance, not a great chance, just a healthy chance that Arizona and Michigan could still have zero losses by the time we know who is playing, not by the time the super bowl is played. By the time we know the teams that are going to face off in the Super Bowl.
- [23:35]
Gary Parrish
Not the Chiefs. I know it's not going to be the Chiefs.
- [23:37]
Matt Norlander
It's not going to be the Chiefs. I don't dare to believe, to even think about maybe the possibility that it might remotely be the Bears. I'm not getting there. Trust me.
- [23:44]
Gary Parrish
Well, if you keep getting to play the Browns every Sunday. It might work out for you.
- [23:47]
Matt Norlander
I know. Well, Green baseball, all you need is.
- [23:49]
Gary Parrish
The Browns and a rookie quarterback.
- [23:51]
Matt Norlander
And I think no, no more buy games on the schedule for the Bears. Let me just tell you that right now. No more buy games. Anyway, the point is Arizona and Michigan, with the way the schedule sets up college hoops, weird stuff happens, it's not unthinkable that both of these teams could get to the third or fourth week of January and still not haven't taken a loss. Again. We will talk more about that storyline once it once. Let's let's get a couple weeks down the road and really see what the scenery is in the sport before then.
- [24:18]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, just last thing on Michigan, the number one team in the top 25 and one right now, Kinpom does not project them to be an underdog in any game the rest of the season. That means, based on the current numbers, this is how far ahead they are of everybody. And by the way, I wouldn't even agree with this necessarily, but based on the current numbers, Ken Palm would project them as favorites at Purdue, at Michigan State, at Illinois, at Iowa. They don't have to go to Pinnacle Bank. They should think the Big Ten schedule makers for that. But they do have to go into four, yes, you know, insane places with top 25ish teams if not national championship contenders. And they are projected as favorites in every one of those right now according to KenPom Michigan operating at an extremely high level. Let's move on. Hey, we got an overtime thriller in Raleigh this weekend. Darren Peterson could not complete the game, but oh buddy, Melvin cancel could. He completed the hell out of it. Kansas get to win on the road in overtime. Melvin Council is a KU legend now. We'll get into it next. First, get a word from our partners. This is Gary Parrish from the Ion College Basketball Podcast here to remind you that AG1 is the daily health drink that combines your multivitamin, pre and pro, 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. My immune system sometimes needs a boost. AG1 provides it and it now 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 drink ag1.com I, you'll get the welcome Kit, a morning person hat, a bottle of vitamin D3 plus 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.
- [26:22]
Indeed Ad Voice
Hiring isn't just about finding someone willing to take the job. It's about getting the right person with the right background who can move your business forward and to find candidates who match what you're looking for. Trust Indeed Sponsored Jobs Stop struggling to get your job post even seen on other sites. Give your job the best chance to be seen with Indeed Sponsored Jobs. They help you stand out and hire quality candidates who can drive the results you need. Sponsored Jobs Boost your post for quality candidates so you can reach the exact people you want faster. Join the 1.6 million companies that sponsor their jobs with Indeed. Spend more time interviewing candidates who check all your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results. Now with Indeed Sponsored Jobs and listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves@ Indeed.com listen. Just go to Indeed.com listen right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com listen terms and conditions apply. Hiring do it the Right Way with Indeed.
- [27:28]
Primally Pure Ad Voice
Looking for the perfect gift this holiday season? Make it something they'll actually use and love primly. Pure's limited edition bundles are ready to wrap. Toxin free and intentionally crafted from Tallow Body Butters, a natural deodorant to cozy, festive seasonal scents, these products are made exclusively, for the most part, wonderful time of year. Skip the stress of last minute shopping. These small batch beyond sustainable skincare sets make gifting easy and intentional. Give more than a gift. Give a ritual that nurtures skin, body and mind beyond the season. Get a head start on the season with Primally Pure and bring warmth, wellness and nostalgic joy into your home with non toxic rituals everyone will love.
- [28:15]
Gary Parrish
Final score Kansas 77, NC State 76 N O T Darren Peterson. The five star freshman left the game late in the second half with what was described as hamstring tightness. He never returned. We'll get back to that in a second. First special shouts Melvin Council Jr took 27 shots, made 13 of them, finished with 36 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists he was 9 of 15 from 3. And I don't know if you know this, but he's not even a shooter. I don't know where this came from. Like this doesn't make sense on any level. There's nothing about this that makes sense.
- [28:50]
Matt Norlander
It's college hoops baby. That's why I love it so much. You get, you just, you have guys pop up in unexpected spots to make big time performances. And Melvin Council absolutely qualifies. He is a 29% career three point shooter at the Division 1 level. And going into, going into this game he was 5 of 27 from 3. So you know, at the be, you know, coaching staffs with their teams, they go through practices, they do their video scouts, then they run through, they, you know, they click through every player bio profile, that stuff. I can't say for certain that NC State Will Wade would have said non shooter but they were not highlighting him as a, as a perimeter threat in this game. And he was 5 of 27 from the fee from beyond the arc this season going in goes 9 of 15. Ironically he was 1 of 4 from the foul line. His foul shooting actually kept NC State with a breath of hope near the end of this game. But that aside, he was brilliant. He was necessarily brilliant. I actually thought when you watch this game play out, I actually thought he left maybe two or four more points on the floor. Not even free throw related in this one, but one of the five. Maybe one of the three best performances we've seen so far this season. And downright necessary in order for Kansas to get out of there and split the road trip to the Triangle. Remember they lost against Carolina more than a month ago. Now they get the win here against NC State and in doing so Kansas avoids getting swept by the Triangle schools because of course KU also got dropped by Duke in the Champions Classic.
- [30:28]
Gary Parrish
Yeah, I mean he was like you mentioned, 5 of 27 from 3 coming into the game and then just goes bananas. 9 of 15. North Carolina State had opportunities to win this. Darren Williams had two three point attempts. Like in the final seconds he makes either one of them. Maybe we see Will Previt again. You remember Will Previt?
- [30:50]
Matt Norlander
I do, I do, I do. Anyway, Google, Google it. But I do, I, I do remember. Do you think I had to look.
- [30:57]
Gary Parrish
Up his name But I had a good time last night. I, I was just, look, I was like, man, I want to watch that one more time. I was just sitting around watching. I was just watching court storm warnings last night.
- [31:05]
Matt Norlander
Let me say that was 2012 off top of my head. It was a while back.
- [31:08]
Gary Parrish
I hope he's doing okay. I guess I should have checked.
- [31:10]
Matt Norlander
Probably. He probably should be. Council also had seven boards four dimes in this one. Kansas 70 vs. Unranked competition 1 and 3 vs. Ranked teams this season. NC State over against Power Conference teams 70 against Mid Majors this season. I did think one of those William shots actually was going to fall. I think I thought they were going to win it. And then just a random note here. Kansas, the first time it ever played.
- [31:34]
Gary Parrish
Well, they fell right, right on the floor.
- [31:36]
Matt Norlander
I know. You know, right on the floor it would fall true. The first time these two teams ever played was in 1958. North Carolina State won that and a curse was put upon the program then and there. Kansas has won 14 in a row against NC State including the win over the weekend for. You know, just a quick thought on, on Will Wade's program, you know, we'll. We'll see what this can be in year one. I did think and still leave open the possibility that NC State is going to make the tournament in its first season under Will Wade. But as I alluded to on Friday when I we previewed the show in the final four and one this was going. The loser of this game was going to be at a little bit of an inflection point at this point of the non conference schedule. So NC State is 7 and 4. It's got a home game this week against Texas Southern that it'll win and, and then it's got a game next week against Ole Miss that kind of need to have like they've beaten VCU. They've beaten Boise State. The VC1's at home. Maybe that's a quad two. It's a solid win. But it's not gonna, it's not, it's, it's not a seed line bump as I like to say. And then the Boise State one on a neutral. We'll see what value that one has two and a half months from now. There's gettable games in the acc. There's good opportunities. But relative to the expectations going in and certainly the excitement level, NC State fans are finding themselves just in a somewhat of a familiar spot. Ah, we thought we were gonna have something good. Maybe we don't. Maybe you do. But I didn't think you'd be 7 and 4 by the time you got to mid December. I honestly would have objectively said I think that team can get to 8 and 3. You almost had the eighth win on Saturday. But Again, the William shot, among some other things, just didn't fall through.
- [33:13]
Gary Parrish
All right, let's talk Darren Peterson.
- [33:15]
Matt Norlander
Yep.
- [33:16]
Gary Parrish
I. I felt like you probably picked up on this throughout the episodes in recent weeks when there was this panicky type of discussion around Darren Peterson and is he just going to shut it down? I was like, oh, he's got a hamstring injury. Whenever it's back to 100, I assume he'll play. And that is what happened. But now here we are again. It's a re aggravated hamstring. Said he felt tightness. I'm sure we'll get more updates next time. Bill is in front of a microphone, but this is not good. You know, this is. You rested it, you rehabbed it, you spent hours every day in the training room. You got yourself back to a place you thought you were good to go, and now you can't go. And he'd already missed seven games. Kansas played 11. He's missed seven of them. He could not finish one of those. Just schedule wise, you know, this is. If you got to have this, this is the place to do it. Towson and Davidson are the next two games. Big 12 play doesn't start till January 3rd. That's three weeks from yesterday. First three Big 12 games are UCFTCU, West Virginia. Obviously, nothing to give me in a league like that, but, you know, those are three of, you know, unranked teams home against Iowa State on January 13th. That's a month away. Could he be ready for that? I don't know. Just. I want to ask you a specific question, just your thoughts on watching him clearly sit on the bench and discuss with a trainer like, I've. It's not right. I can't go back in. And now we're left in limbo again. And not just us. I mean, Kansas fans. This is their season. We're gonna, you know, we're gonna have things to talk about. No matter what.
- [34:58]
Matt Norlander
This.
- [34:58]
Gary Parrish
I say this all the time. It's. It goes without saying. So maybe I should stop saying it. But, you know, in basketball, you, college, you. Sometimes you only get one shot at these things. Like in the NBA if Wimby goes down, it's like, man, that sucks. But, you know, he'll be back next year and the spurs will try to do it next year. You get one shot at this with Darren Peterson. And it would be just awful. If we look back on Bill Self's incredible Hall of Fame career and the two most talented dudes he ever had.
- [35:26]
Matt Norlander
Oh, good point, Joe.
- [35:27]
Gary Parrish
OMB couldn't Play in the NCAA tournament. And now here's Darren Peterson limited to just four games so far and he's he gonna be stuck on four for a little while.
- [35:35]
Matt Norlander
It seems like I was thinking about someone else. I'll get to that in just a second. As to this injury, if you're a Kansas fan I would just expect that he would not play against Towson or Davidson. You open the league on the road against UCF Saturday, January 3rd. Hope it can be that that gives you essentially that's three weeks. Three weeks to recover and we don't even know the severity Bill Self which I don't blame him for this as as a Kansas. Kansas fans watching and listening I'm sure rightfully frustrated on it. The media would like more but Bill Self goes to the post game after says I didn't, I didn't talk to the trainer. Well you know that you're going to get asked about Darren the potential number one pick in the draft and do you really. You didn't. You didn't poke your head in and just say we got anything on DP now? He like the way this works sometimes. I'm not saying that Bill handled this way. The way this obviously works sometimes is that coaches if, if they need to mitigate as much as they possibly can immediately in the moment after a game, they're just gonna deflect maybe even fibs sometimes about what they do or don't know. But it was. I couldn't help but chuckle when this happened and itself was like you know I didn't.
- [36:48]
Gary Parrish
Well there was the one year talk.
- [36:50]
Matt Norlander
To the trainer anymore.
- [36:53]
Gary Parrish
John. I can't remember what Kentucky. Which Kentucky player was all the time.
- [36:57]
Matt Norlander
This is. I haven't. Hey what's the. What's the latest status update on your injured player? You know what? I haven't seen him. I haven't talked to him all the time.
- [37:04]
Gary Parrish
All the time with the player but he'd be like yeah you know we just. We got practice in an hour. Hadn't seen him yet. He would, he was. He would always never see somebody before he had to talk about them.
- [37:17]
Matt Norlander
So which is wild which if you're like around program like on a day.
- [37:20]
Gary Parrish
To day like it just defies logic.
- [37:24]
Matt Norlander
Each other all the time.
- [37:25]
Gary Parrish
Yeah. I'm sitting at my house wondering what's going on with Darren Peterson. It defies logic that you wouldn't be the head coach of Darren Peterson and be like hey before I go talk to them but you can. It's just whatever. I don't care.
- [37:35]
Matt Norlander
I Know, I know. So I hopefully he's going to be okay. I don't know if it was more he got spooked versus I really feel something versus the trainer being like, whoa, we went over this, you know, every single week. You tell us you got something, we're not going to chance it. And the interesting part about it is it happened in the midst of an important game against a good opponent when we now know they truly didn't need him. But you think they don't have him on the floor. They're probably losing this game. Now Kansas, big picture. I think Kansas has done really well for itself without Darren Peterson. Like the fact that it is able to maintain a pretty good record, all things considered, is a testament to Self and that staff. I remember talking to Self about Council this past summer because I didn't know a ton about him. He played it, he played at Bonaventure, obviously. And Self's words to me were something along the lines of like, no, I really like the way, I really like the way that he plays and I really think he's got a shot to be like a real kind of guy for us. And I said really? Okay, good deal. And at that point, you know, we'll kind of wait and see. He couldn't have possibly imagine Council would have had the game he had here. But you needed it. Like he was the exact right guy at the exact right time. As for Peterson, I hope this isn't Kyrie Irving. Kyrie Irving and there are a couple parallels here. Blue blood point guard Irving number one pick. Peterson could be Irving had the toe issue his game log for those who are too young to remember it or it's been too long that you've forgotten it. Kyrie Irving played essentially every game up until game eight. He got hurt coincidentally enough in a Duke game against Butler. He returned in March, but He only logged 11 career college games. That Duke team, its best player wound up being Nolan Smith. That Duke team was better than this Kansas team went 32, five, got a one seed, bumped out of the tournament that year by Arizona. If you're a bit of a historian, you'll remember that was that was that really like interesting strong Arizona team but Derrick Williams just was a beast that season as a second year player. But we never got to experience really the Kyrie Irving magnificence that he had as a point guard. And in some ways like Kyrie Irving's reputation and what he was going into college, there are some parallels in terms of Darren Peterson, playmaker, projected potential number one pick in a really solid high school class. And now we just kind of wait and see so we don't have to belabor this conversation. We're obviously going to talk about it again as we get more updates with Peterson. But it's, it is a worrisome sign and hopefully, hopefully this can be something that they can rehab and it never surfaces again. But that the fact that it has happened so soon after and after they took all, all this care. You know, he puts out this video about how much he's dying to play. He wants to play. He would never, he would never, you know, skip out on a game if, if, if it wasn't something that was seriously affecting his health and well being. All that. And then he comes up limp like two and change to go in the game, folks. Not good. We wait and see on any significant update. Personally, I'm not expecting anything of real value this week other than to, for them to announce that he will not play against Towson. Obviously I hope it's not anything remotely worse than that. I want to have an amazing season and see as many of these future lottery picks on the floor as possible. So hopefully at the very latest, we see Peterson back on the floor on January 3rd in the Big 12 opener at UCF.
- [41:06]
Gary Parrish
And I know I've already seen it out there. So it's, it's going to exist and probably enhance over time. Like people speculating about whether now's the time Darren Peterson shuts it down. You don't need to shut down a hamstring injury in December to prepare for a draft in June. All right?
- [41:24]
Matt Norlander
Correct. And if you care about going number one, I actually think it will affect whether you do go number one or not personally, given how good the talent is and the other players that could pass you if they're playing and exceeding the likes of Boozer Dance and anyone else.
- [41:35]
Gary Parrish
I know that the majority of NBA front office executives would like to see Darren Peterson play college basketball. They're, they're, they're not out there hoping he shuts it down. You do not have to. It is funny the people who are out there like according to sources, this, it's always people who never break news. You never ever see them actually break anything. They're always just according to sources, this is thinking about something might happen. They never. So like when you click on these stories, maybe it's a public service announcement. When you click on these Twitter accounts and you see people recklessly speculating on things. Unless you, unless you can name five stories they've actually broken in their lives. Just, just move on. All right. If Darren Peterson gets shut down, I can name you the three people. The three people in this world, one of them will probably break it and it won't be the people who are out there speculating about it right now. So I don't know what he's going to do, but what the only sensible thing to do is everything you were doing before. Rest, rehab. Rest, rehab. And when you get back to where you think you're ready to go, then try it again. There could be a point where this just never works out because it just lingers all season. But the idea that you would work like crazy to come back for a game on December 13, feel something tighten up and say, well, that's it. I'll see y' all later. That just that that doesn't make any sense. Hopefully this rehab goes better than the last one. As always, we'll see. It's time for the weekend whip around. We're going to do that next. We're starting on Nebraska.
- [43:02]
Matt Norlander
Yes, we are.
- [43:02]
Gary Parrish
Undefeated Nebraska first, let's get another word from our partners.
- [43:06]
Matt Norlander
Hey, Ryan Reynolds here wishing you a very happy half off holiday because right now Mint Mobile is offering you the gift of 50 off unlimited. To be clear, that's half price, not half the service. Mint is still premium unlimited wireless for a great price. So that means a half day.
- [43:26]
Gary Parrish
Yeah.
- [43:26]
Matt Norlander
Give it a try@mintmobile.com Switch upfront payment.
- [43:30]
Gary Parrish
Of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required new customer.
- [43:33]
Indeed Ad Voice
Offer for first three months only.
- [43:33]
Gary Parrish
Speed flow after 35 gigabytes of networks, busy taxes and fees extra.
- [43:36]
Mark (CBS Sports HQ)
See mint mobile.com this holiday season, choose gifts that feel thoughtful and practical With Omaha Steaks. Whether you're hosting or gifting, they deliver the world's best steak experience and it makes you look like you planned way ahead. They've got USDA certified tender steaks, juicy burgers, comfort meals and tons more Gifting Omaha Steaks is honestly one of the easiest wins. Everything arrives beautifully packaged, super convenient and the quality is unbelievable. Their filet mignons are some of the most tender I've ever had. And the variety means you can personalize every gift. Plus orders placed by 6pm Eastern ship same day and everything is backed by their 100% guarantee. It's holiday gifting made simple. Save big on gourmet gifts and more holiday favorites with omaha steaks. Visit omaha steaks.com for 50% off site wide during their sizzle all the way sale and for an extra $35 off. Use promo code T Bone at checkout. Terms apply. See site for details. That's OmahaSteaks.com code T Bone.
- [44:38]
Gary Parrish
Final score, Nebraska 83, Illinois 80. Jamarcus Lawrence, a boomerang transfer buried a three with less than a second remaining to break a tie and push the Huskers to 11 0. Josh, I hope I sent it to you. I. I intended to. If you've got it, let's watch. Let's relive it together here. We gotta go down to five. Labor kicks it out. Lawrence for the win. And you can tell it was good right away. Oh, wow. Oh, wow. So that's the television call. The Nebraska radio call was a classic.
- [45:26]
Matt Norlander
You know what? I was. I was almost grabbed. We don't have it, do we? We don't have the radio call.
- [45:31]
Gary Parrish
I don't.
- [45:31]
Matt Norlander
That was.
- [45:33]
Gary Parrish
My dude said, I'm gonna pass out.
- [45:35]
Matt Norlander
I think I might pass out. Oh, man, I wish I had the radio call.
- [45:39]
Gary Parrish
Hey, I turned on CBS Sports HQ yesterday. I just want to see what you were up to. So I'm turning on CBS Sports hq. Nebraska upsets Illinois. Yeah, right. Jamarcus Lawrence, my favorite boomerang transfer, with the three in the final second. And I'm like, okay, let's see what Norlander. Because I tried to talk to Norlander about Nebraska middle of the week, and I was like. As I said, you were like, nebraska's got a chance to win a game of news. I said, I took five minutes trying to get you to say this two days ago.
- [46:05]
Matt Norlander
Two days ago, Illinois. The situation and circumstances have changed. And I didn't say they would. I said, they've got a chance. I didn't actually change at all. I said, they've got a chance now. There might have been more enthusiasm in my voice.
- [46:17]
Gary Parrish
You sounded so enthusiastic on hq, you sitting there talking with Akeem Dermish. You were so excited. Talking to came and I was like, why didn't he get this excited about Nebraska when I tried to talk to him about. I tried to get you excited about Nebraska like four days ago.
- [46:30]
Matt Norlander
I'm excited.
- [46:31]
Gary Parrish
Okay, good.
- [46:31]
Matt Norlander
I'm not as excited as Nebraska fans, but I am. This is top three story in the sport right now. If you want to make it number one, I won't argue with you. 11 0. For the first time in school history, 15 in a row dating back to last season, the longest win streak in the history of Nebraska's men's basketball program is happening right now. They're going to bump up even higher in the AP rankings. When they refresh on Monday and have one of their better rankings in that poll. In recent memory, they have defeated Illinois two times in a row for the first time ever. Ever. Nebraska has done that. I was on my drive into the studio in the first half of this game, so I did not, I did not know or realize in real time that Price Sanford was outscoring Illinois for the first half, which wound up being rather important in the, in the, in the bigger picture of the game. But I overall, with what Nebraska did and you know, the help they got, the way that they are built Rink Mass is a real dude. I mean, he's a, he's a really, really good player. Lawrence is a 3. Sam Hoiberg's a genuinely important player on this roster. Like senior. Yes, coach's son, you know, might be 6ft tall standing on a magazine flat, but they've got a really solid strong starting five. And to go in to Illinois, which is a. I think I said it on, on hq. I do think that Illinois has the talent and the length and the shooting to be a team that if it gets the right draw, you could see Illinois playing in Indianapolis. I'm not saying it's One of the 10 most likely teams, but it definitely has enough there. Nebraska went into their house and they pulled off the win. And the way that play unfolded and then for Lawrence to cash the three. Good on you guys. Good on Nebraska. Good on Nebraska fans. Every season there are just a few teams, whether it's in November or it really takes until December until we start to notice feel good stories. Nebraska is a really feel good story. I mean, how could it not be? Fred Hoiberg is about as unassuming as a coach as you'll find at the high major level. Even the white polo that he was like, it looked like he was getting ready to go. Squeeze in, squeeze in nine before the sunset. You know, all current, current weather aside, just really, really cool, really happy for him. Huskers fans, good on you just bask in this. And I do genuinely think, I thought this win actually signaled something bigger because you've gotten wins over. Okay, Oklahoma, Creighton, we'll get to them before we get out of here. Wisconsin, that's a good home win. But now, like, the losses will come. But I do think Nebraska is going to make the NAA tournament. I think they're going to have enough. I think they're balanced enough on both ends. I think they're actually pretty good with the ball on the offensive end and they, they aren't Too reckless. They've only made the tournament once under Hoiberg. It was a couple of years ago. They didn't win a tournament game, obviously there. I think they get there and what seed? I can't tell you. I don't know. But I think they're going to have enough and they're going to finish in the top half of that league. And yeah, awesome story through the first six weeks of the season.
- [49:36]
Gary Parrish
Let's try this again. Is Nebraska going to win a game for the first time in program history in the 2026 NCAA tournament?
- [49:46]
Matt Norlander
I don't know. I want to believe. Yes.
- [49:50]
Gary Parrish
I don't know how much you know beast.
- [49:52]
Matt Norlander
It's a fickle beast.
- [49:53]
Gary Parrish
I don't know how much you know about podcast, but you don't actually have to know anything.
- [50:04]
Matt Norlander
I'm just not gonna. I'm not gonna be just tossing out hot takes left and right and now I gotta. I gotta be authentic. I gotta tell you what I believe and what I feel. What I feel is that Nebraska losing another NCAA tournament game this season would not shock me in the slightest, given the nature of that tournament. But I would love to see Nebraska get a win. Can I inject real quick? Josh has actually pulled the radio audio. So for the. Anyone who is not, and I don't know Josh, just message us here in our side chat. How long is this? How long is this radio call so I can at least prepare? We're looking at a 10 second call. We're looking at a 30 second call. He says 19 seconds. All right, let's play it. This is, this is the radio call from the Nebraska Radio Network after they got it done in Champaign on Saturday.
- [50:53]
Gary Parrish
Along the baseline, except for Sam out into the timeline. Five seconds to go. Sam drives the ball, kicks it. It is Lawrence, puts it up. Two seconds to go, inbounds play. I'm gonna pass out. The game is over. Nebraska wins it.
- [51:12]
Matt Norlander
That is Kent Pavelka on the call there.
- [51:16]
Gary Parrish
I know he's been there like, he's been there like four decades. So you could do the math on that. But that sound, and I say this with, as a total compliment, it was a perfect radio call, if only. Or at least in part because it sounded like it was from a. A different time. Didn't it sound like, like that was a clip from 1978? Did that sound like that to you?
- [51:39]
Matt Norlander
Sounded like an exorcist. Yes, that. But it also sounded like an exorcism. And it sounded like it was, it was pain transitioning to pure pleasure. Just beautiful. Stuff. I love it.
- [51:55]
Gary Parrish
Okay, calm it down a little bit.
- [51:57]
Matt Norlander
You didn't hear the way he started that.
- [51:58]
Gary Parrish
I don't know, man. You started. I heard it, but you starting to sound a little bit like Sharon Moore to me. You need to calm it down a little bit.
- [52:07]
Matt Norlander
Take it easy over there, okay? You take it easy.
- [52:11]
Gary Parrish
They said this man was texting with only fan models in the middle of a game. And I want to be clear. I don't have any idea if it's true. I just know that's what they say.
- [52:19]
Matt Norlander
What else you got on the Cornhuskers?
- [52:22]
Gary Parrish
I need to set the record straight. I need to correct the record. Okay, I've made a mistake.
- [52:29]
Matt Norlander
I mean, you don't need. This is every show, but go ahead.
- [52:32]
Gary Parrish
I know, but this was. I've got to stop trusting AI. I have. I'm. I. Yeah, I'm telling you, I'm just. I'm confessing to you, okay? I've become too reliant on a high. I just go. I just type something in my computer and whatever it tells me, I just.
- [52:48]
Matt Norlander
How about this? How about the man who coined the term computer tricker? Yeah. Been tricked by the computers.
- [52:54]
Gary Parrish
Like, if this is going to be the way the rest of my life is going to unfold, I don't know. I don't know how much time I got left. I just. I just type things into my computer and it spits it right back out to me in seconds. And I'm like, well, it must be true. It says it's the smartest thing in the world. And so last on Friday's pot, I. As I was explaining to you how awesome Nebraska is, I said, like, you know, can they get the best seed they've ever had? The NCAA tournament best seed they ever had, by the way, is just a six seed. And I almost didn't say it because there was a. It popped into my head, like, I really didn't look this up as much as I just punched it into.
- [53:28]
Matt Norlander
Just deepening the connection and trust between us and our audience right now.
- [53:32]
Gary Parrish
Thank you so much. Multiple Nebraska fans were very eager to tell me that Nebraska once did get a 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. And so I decided to go actually look that up and confirm it. What's funny is one of the people who told me, they were like, it was in 1990. I went to the 1990 tournament. Nebraska ain't in that nowhere. So even you were wrong, buddy. Trying to correct me. It was 1991. The great Danny Nee led Nebraska to the NCAA tournament. They got a three seed. Oh, it was set up. But guess who got their way. Pete Gillen and the Xavier Musketeers. Pete Gillen and the Xavier Musketeers knocked him out of the tournament. So Nebraska did not get its first win in the tournament then still hasn't got one. Oddly, Danny Nee does. Does have a NCAA tournament win. It just.
- [54:24]
Matt Norlander
I could not begin to tell you.
- [54:25]
Gary Parrish
Oh, don't worry, I got it. As long as AI got it. Ohio in 1983.
- [54:32]
Matt Norlander
Okay, okay.
- [54:33]
Gary Parrish
So Danny D. Has won a tournament, the game, but couldn't get it done as a three seed at Nebraska. That's tough. Obviously, Barry Collier did not get it done. Doc Sadler did not get it done. Of course, and the great Tim Miles did not get it done. But hey, I'll say it, I'll say it. I'll say it. I'm gonna look right into the camera and say it. March 2026. That is when Nebraska wins a game in the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history.
- [55:04]
Matt Norlander
I can't wait to be there. I really want to see it. Let's keep it moving here. This is a whip around after all.
- [55:08]
Gary Parrish
Just real quick on one last thing on this. Did you see the Brad Underwood press conference? He benched David Merkavich and then just.
- [55:13]
Matt Norlander
Like, yeah, I mean, I like that Underwood. Underwood is among the coaches that just really has no issue giving you no BS and oppressor. Win, lose or draw, you don't draw on college basketball. And I appreciated what he said.
- [55:24]
Gary Parrish
I did too. I had, I saw some people saying, do you really talk like that about one of your players, man, all these guys are making money. They're all de facto professionals now. They're all also adults. That's one of my pet peeves, you know, talking to kids like that. They're not kids. These are grown men making more money than most people watching this right now. I have no issue with it. Now you got to figure out, how does your player respond to that? You know, how does your locker room respond to that? You know that. But that's a, that's a, that's a coach, player thing ain't got nothing to do with me. I have no issue with Brad Underwood doing what he did and, or saying what he said. You want to go next to Arkansas? Texas?
- [55:59]
Matt Norlander
That first obviously notable game is Saturday. Arkansas wins 93.86. Hogs are 8 and 2. Arkansas had three players with 20 points in a ranked. So for the first time in 20 years, Arkansas had three guys hit 20 points against a ranked team in a win impressive Trevon brazil or travel 24 points, 10 rebounds 2 blocks he had a pump fake on a three that went for a dunk put him up five. There might have been more than four minutes left in the game but when that play happened after coming out of the stoppage I thought Arkansas's game indeed it was Carter Knox three or four from beyond the arc. He had 20. Darius Acuff had 20. Had himself a nice game as well. Texas Tech is 0 and 3 this season against ranked teams is undefeated against unranked competition. J.T. toppin and Christian Anderson combined for 56 but and they looked really good and it was a really enjoyable game. This is a wonderful way to get Saturday rolling. Quite obviously when you're playing a top 20 team maybe on some nights those two are going to be great enough literally great enough to carry you wasn't here not then Brazil with I think maybe he's had some nice moments here and there. This was probably the best game he's had in Arkansas uniform. Really nice win for John Calabreste Brazil.
- [57:09]
Gary Parrish
You remember towards ACL December 2022 and has just never usually ACL is like you could bounce back the next year and if not the next year certainly the next one and he just didn't. He was not the same player for two subsequent years after the torn ACL but right now he's career high 13.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and the Razorbacks are winners of three straights since getting Cameron boozered on Thanksgiving. So I don't just something I noticed as I was filing the top 25 and one this morning. I made a note of it. I didn't get your opinion on it. I didn't pick Arkansas to win the sec. I'm not sure if you asked me right now I would pick Arkansas to win the SEC but In the top 25 of 1 Arkansas is currently the highest rated SEC team. Are we in a situation where John Caliperi could win a title in year.
- [57:58]
Matt Norlander
Two at @ Arkansas we are in that situation. Vanderbilt is yet to play a top 30 opponent so we have to wait and see on that. It could well be Vandy. I'm putting that out that that's a distinct possibility. The SEC looks like it's wide open between Vandy Bama just feels like a team that's going to be able to rattle off like five impressive wins in a row could take a couple losses. We've seen it done there. We'll get to Kentucky before we get out of here, Florida. You know, I'm not going to give up on the Gators, his chances there. I think that Florida has probably played its worst ball of the season, honestly, so it feels wide open. There's even a couple more teams in there that could be factors, but Arkansas is in the thick of it as anyone. There's someone in our chat right now that says Arkansas is the best team in the sec. Could well prove to be true. They obviously have the talent to do so. I thought that was a very important not even a morale boosting win, just an important win for Arkansas, especially after the bumpiness to start Cal's first season. They've avoided that for the most part here and seem to be well positioned as we get ready to flip into league play in.
- [58:53]
Gary Parrish
January. Any concerns about Texas Tech now 73 they got wins over Wake, LSU, losses to Illinois, Purdue, Arkansas. So nothing embarrassing there. But JT Toppin has been great. He has averaging like 22 and a let. Statistically he's a better player than he was last season when he was the Big 12 player of the year in a consensus All American. But the team doesn't look as good and it might be a thing. I mean first off they're just injured, they're banged up and they got limited numbers and blah blah blah blah. But also the the blueprint here was kind of pay top and getting back. Bring back Christian Anderson now get pieces to put around them while Darian Williams goes to NC State. And so far the pieces around them, I don't want to say they're not good enough but they they you know Texas Tech is is down to 36th if you remove preseason bias@bartorvic.com just below seton hall. And this was a team that a lot of people had preseason top.
- [59:50]
Matt Norlander
10. We can keep it moving. I'll put a pin in that. They have Duke next weekend at the Garden, so let's see what plays out with that. We'll obviously have that in the final form one on Friday, but let's just see what they have with one more big notable opponent and that could be top and Boozer. Could be an amazing matchup and battle. Let's keep it moving though. Gonzaga beat UCLA late Saturday. I did stay up till the end of this. Drove home in the first half. Got to watch all the second half here. Gonzaga pulls away. They won. They've beaten UCLA five of the past six times these teams have met. UCLA has lost 10 games in a row on neutral sites. The last time UCLA versus top 10 teams, I should say the last time UCLA beat a top 10 team on a neutral site, the bubble tournament against then one seed Michigan in 2021. Gonzaga. I alluded to this at the top of the show, but for all the things that, you know, Arizona and Michigan fans have to hang their hat on. Iowa State has the best win of the season at Purdue. Yukon, it only has its one loss when it wasn't at full strength. Duke has the player of the year front runner, maybe the best player in the sport right now. Gonzaga has the one glaring wart against Michigan, but it has something no one else has. It has what, eight games against high major so far and it only has one loss to this point. It gets it done again against UCLA. It's 4 and 1 against ranked competition specifically this season. And then something that I think is actually an important development for Gonzaga and his viability in the, in the upper echelon of the sport. Braden huff has had 20 points in three consecutive games. That's never happened in his career. And they've come against, you know, some viable teams in this, in this stretch here. I'm not surprised Gonzaga won. I picked him to win. I think I picked them to cover. I'm not sure if they did or whatever. We'll deal with that on Friday's final four and one. But this was kind of a game that for the most part kind of played out the the way that I thought that it would. And here's Gonzaga. And I know Yukon, rightfully so, is getting a ton of run as right there with all the undefeated teams. Gonzaga's in that class too. I know it got. It got dismembered by Michigan. I was there, I saw it. But right now, Gonzaga at Kenpom is the second team in the country. Yes. I'm not saying I agree with it. I'm just telling you that's what that metric has. Iowa State is 3, Duke is 4, Arizona is 5, Purdue is 6, Uconna 7. Gonzaga only trails Michigan in efficiency margin at this point. Your thoughts on either end of that outcome. Late Saturday in Seattle, Josh put in the.
- [62:09]
Gary Parrish
Chat. The number we used on UCLA Gonzaga was 10. So that's going to be our first push of the season, no matter which way you had it. You know, I went on HQ Saturday afternoon to preview some of the night stuff and was asked about Gonzaga, ucla, specifically about the Zags. And you know, it's sort of a buzzy word in college basketball now, but continuity is a real thing. Graham Ek and Braden Huff, they combined for 46 points last night against UCLA and they're both in their third years in the program at a time where some players barely last one year in a program, so shouldn't be a surprise. Mark has had the Zags operating at the top or at least near the top of the sport for quite literally decades now. And here they are again, ucla. I, you know, I know they're ranked right now, but I don't have them in the top 25 and 1. They're 7 and 3. They've got a loss to Cal. Their best win is at Washington. There's not a lot of substance to the record right now. Donovan Dent, if we were wondering, like, how's that going to translate to the, you know. Yeah, I don't want to say that it sounds disrespectful to New Mexico to act like he was just playing it, you know, East Carolina or something. And I know that sounds disrespectful to East Carolina, so I apologize to everybody. But so far he has not been as good at UCLA as he as he was at New Mexico. And, you know, that's among the reasons maybe UCLA is sitting here at 7 and 3 instead of with something of a somewhat of a better record. Let's go. Purdue 79, Marquette 59. Another blowout victory for the Boilermakers. Oscar Clough, Big transfer portal edition. Matt Painter is a little bit like Pat Kelsey and I think also Dusty May in the sense that they seem to be very intentional in the transfer portal, not going out and just trying to get, you know, the most talented players they could find, but people who fill very specific roles, not just positions, but roles like, okay, he's a big. But does he rim protect or does he rebound? It'd be great if he does both, but we got rim protection. We need a rebounder. Let's grab Oscar Clough then. 9 of 9 from the field in the game, 22 points, 11 rebounds. He's been a terrific pickup for them. And then I think the story on the other side is just this is bad. 5 and 6 and down to 99th at Kenpan. This is not the Marquette program we've grown used to watching under. Shock is smart. We had talked about this approach to the transfer portal, you know, in recent years, and my opinion on it was always it'll, it'll work until it doesn't and event, but eventually you will get caught. And it looks like they've got caught here with a roster that maybe just isn't good enough. I mentioned the 99 at KenPom. Trivia time. When's the last Time Marquette was this low at.
- [65:04]
Matt Norlander
Kenpan. Well, this is the worst start for us to a season in 35 years from Marquette. So the last time they finished 99 or worse. Is that your.
- [65:12]
Gary Parrish
Question? No, because they didn't even finish 99th in this season. I'm like, they, they were just at one point in the season, they were, they were, they were below.
- [65:20]
Matt Norlander
99. Did they get what just last year? Were that that.
- [65:23]
Gary Parrish
Bad? It was March 10 on the morning of March 10.
- [65:27]
Matt Norlander
2016. So Wojo was the coach last.
- [65:31]
Gary Parrish
Season? No, this was very early, I.
- [65:33]
Matt Norlander
Think.
- [65:33]
Gary Parrish
Okay. Yeah, it's March 10, 2016. On that morning, Marquette was a hundred at Kenpom. Finished the season 97th with a 8 and 10 record in the Big East. But right now, 99th. So this is the lowest they've been since they. Since. I'll just keep it simple. This is the lowest Marquette's been in that computer since March 10, 2016. And I, I guess it could get better because the bottom of the Big east maybe isn't that strong. But this is a Marquette team that's got a lot of remaking to do in the off.
- [66:10]
Matt Norlander
Season. It looks like, by the way, Clough 22 and 11 and didn't miss a shot, didn't miss a foul shot, didn't miss a shot from the field. I don't know how many games there'll be in March, but he's going to have just the way that he plays and how they will like he is going to be responsible at least once, if not multiple times when the lights are brightest for getting produced some big wins real quick on Louisville. It destroys Memphis. There's not a lot here, honestly. Like, you're wearing your Metro shirt as you should. This is, this is, this is not the jab. I'm just, I'm. I'm opening up. Up to you. Should Memphis be banned from the final four and one for the rest of the season? Should a band be on the table for your Tigers? They did not show up. They didn't write the word, they didn't wear the right uniforms. It wasn't competitive, honestly. You know, some teams took some losses this weekend where it's kind of like. I don't know about that. The most disappointing one was, and I'm not surprised by it, but no pride, no competition, no Freedom hall, no Memphis State on the unis. Pat Kelsey gets it done. Louisville right there with teams we mentioned on top of the show. Should Memphis be off the final form one? I don't even know if that was a Game worth picking, to be.
- [67:15]
Gary Parrish
Honest. Well, that's the. I mean, I mean we're about to be done with them anyway, right? Because they're going to stop playing other good team. They're going to stop playing good teams. And so then it'll just be a mediocre Memphis team playing a bunch of American teams. So we're done. If you need to hear some Memphis talking, we're gonna have to circle back to Keith Lee and Elliot Perry because there ain't nothing going on with this team that's going to be worthy of, of our time. It's bad. It's bad. Now like Louisville can, you know, Louisville's gonna bomb people like the 18 of 35 from three. Okay, so good luck. Louisville shot 56% for the field, 51 from three, 84 from the free throw line. So yeah, that was, you know, we don't have to spend any more time. We've talked about this enough. Memphis just isn't very good. Yeah, they're going to have to make some. Unless this gets better. They're going to have to make some hard decisions at the end of the season about their most beloved alum in school history. Like this. None of that stuff's fun. I will say the saving grace here is that there's still a scenario if you're a Memphis fan where you just get into your league, you're just better than everybody else in your league and you can still make the NCAA tournament. And then who knows, you played Purdue Type for 33 minutes A couple of weeks ago. But I will say Tulsa, a team I saw at the Veterans Classic, the Naval Academy first week of the season and they looked good. And I think I told you, man, Tulsa looks pretty good. They're now up to I think 73 at Kinpom, which is first in the American. Tulsa would actually be considered, at least according to that metric, the favorite in the American at this point. So once upon a time it was like, well, you see at Memphis how they can do in the non league schedule and then however that goes, they should still win their league. They were picked to win their league. Now they're not, or at least they're not ranked first in their league according to Kinpom. So yeah, things are getting dicey. I wish they'd wore the Memphis State jerseys at least that have been fun to look at for a little.
- [69:11]
Matt Norlander
While. Let's stick in the Commonwealth. Kentucky wins 72, 60 over Indiana in the process. I actually did ask our research team to look this up and it did not come to be. But if Gonzaga is technically not, it's not a team. It's in a power conference. So it's essentially the same thing. But as a technicality, Kentucky did avoid starting 014 against power conference teams for the first time essentially ever. You that look back 100 years and Kentucky had never started. Owen 4 against what would be considered in its respective era, power conference teams prior to that, so many teams were independent. You can't really do it. So they dodged that non Covid specifically. Oh, by the way, with that, Kentucky outscored Indiana 40 to 21 in the second half. It was able to force 18 turnovers for the Hoosiers. It was a very impressive professor professor performance by Kentucky because of Jalen Lowe. I you watch this game from start to finish. I to me. And Diabate was a huge factor as well. No question about it. But if Low is really getting. If he's feeling better with that shoulder, it's interesting. It almost feels like they gave the same one that Lamont Butler was wearing a year ago. It's like, okay, it's your turn. It's your turn to wear this, buddy. If he can get. Continue to get better, he is the difference, I think for Kentucky ceiling. So it's just Indiana. We don't even know if Indiana will be in that subway tournament team. Indiana's, you know, it's, it's, it's bumpy now. Lost 3 or 4. I get all that. But it would have been a cataclysm if you lost the game Kentucky and you know it. So you dodged that. Now you get a week to prepare for St. John's in Atlanta. We'll talk about that later this week on the show. But at the very least, you got this win. It's not even that you got the win. I actually thought the style in which you got it and how you ran away in the second half, I thought that was. I thought that was impressive. You held Indiana at 60. That's the fewest it had in the game so far this season. And between Low and Diabate, I saw some really good stuff. Garrison had a. I think he had the oop. That was just nasty stuff there. Good job out of Kentucky. Quick thoughts on the.
- [71:07]
Gary Parrish
Wildcats. Nobody had a better quality of life win this weekend than Mark Pope. Like winning, you know, beating Alabama in Birmingham. Bigger win, sure. But nobody needed a victory to just change the narrative more than Mark Pope and just Kentucky in general. But specifically Mark this weekend over arrival over a blue blood. And I mean, I've got Kentucky back in the top 25 and one this morning at 26. It's funny. Try to find 26.
- [71:39]
Primally Pure Ad Voice
Teams. It's.
- [71:40]
Matt Norlander
Tough. No, you just say you got them. And I'm thinking, like, really? Yeah, it's.
- [71:45]
Gary Parrish
Okay. Well, here would be the argument. They now have a notable win over a top.
- [71:50]
Matt Norlander
30. Only.
- [71:50]
Gary Parrish
One. Okay, but like, there's some teams that have none. There are some teams that have none of those. And the losses. I know there's four of them, but they're to Louisville, Michigan State, North Carolina, Gonzaga. Those are all teams in the top 15 of the top 25 and 1. So if you haven't lost anybody outside of the top 15, you got to win over a top.
- [72:09]
Matt Norlander
30. You've got LSU in.
- [72:11]
Gary Parrish
There. I took LSU out. They just.
- [72:15]
Matt Norlander
Lost. No, well, but they just won. They beat one loss. SMU over the weekend. Like, I'm just.
- [72:20]
Gary Parrish
Wondering. But they lost to Texas Tech. I. LSU would be the exact type of team like Kentucky that I could put in. I had LSU in here. I had LSU in when it was undefeated. Then it lost to Texas Tech. Bad, I believe. And so I got them out. And then. Yes. Okay, so I got LSU out. This is funny how this all works. I put in.
- [72:41]
Matt Norlander
Smu. Okay, they.
- [72:43]
Gary Parrish
Lost. And then SMU loses to.
- [72:45]
Matt Norlander
Lsu.
- [72:46]
Gary Parrish
Right. And that's where I take out SMU and replace them with Kentucky. But Kentucky, LSU are similar in the sense that they don't have great wins, but the loss is not anything to be embarrassed.
- [72:59]
Matt Norlander
About. What about Georgia? You got Georgia in there. I'd have Georgia ahead of Kentucky. Right.
- [73:02]
Gary Parrish
Now. They're 9.
- [73:03]
Matt Norlander
1. They just beat Cincinnati. I guess they don't have a winner since they don't have a winner. As good. As good as Indiana. But they also have one.
- [73:10]
Gary Parrish
Loss. Yeah, they don't have. I know, but the losses to.
- [73:12]
Matt Norlander
Clemson, by the way, they raid ahead of Kentucky and. And. And non. Predictably. Redhead. Whatever. We don't have to focus it on that. You said they were ranked. It threw me. It threw me because I didn't.
- [73:24]
Gary Parrish
Expect. My larger point was this is how quickly things can change. Like, it's like, oh, my God, what's wrong with Kentucky? And it's like, oh, they just beat Indiana. And now they're probably a top 30 team in the country. I know they want to be top 10, not top 30, but I don't know that anybody needed a victory to just calm things down as much as Kentucky needed one this weekend. They're 26 in the top 25 and 1. Whether you like, whether you like.
- [73:47]
Matt Norlander
It or not it's whatever good physicality. They got Indiana to foul trouble. Wilkerson just had it like the best game of his life and then they even shut him down to a two degree. They didn't get him get more than five three pointers off a Temple. I didn't make five. That was a good job out of them in the sec. Georgia is nine and one good on them. Cincinnati West Miller seed is scorching hot. They couldn't get the win in Atlanta and LSU is 9 and 1 as well so just wanted to acknowledge a couple of one loss teams in the sec. We can wrap up in short order here Friday night. Yukon wins 7163. They're 10 and 1. I would say it was a business like victory in Hartford there. No surprise obviously and Caravan had himself some nice moments. Yukon fans, I know you are basking and just the quality of your team as you should. They look really really strong. There's just not a lot of takeaways off them. We talked about the Huskies plenty last week. Stick it in the biggies though. Creighton loses at home to K State. I don't know what to make a case State. I need like another nine games minimum before I know what the hell to think about Jerome Tane's program. Creighton has lost five games in its first 10 for the first time since 2009. 10. Dana Altman was coaching the team then. They were in the Missouri Valley then. I wonder if this is Greg McDermott's last season. I'm sure he has no idea if it will or won't be, but is it reaching a point where he does not want to go out like this. Sometimes you don't have a say in that in terms of like, you know, as much as you don't want something to be. Athletes deal with this all the time when they're debating.
- [75:06]
Gary Parrish
On. Travis Kelsey is a great.
- [75:08]
Matt Norlander
Example. But then again, literally as we record this podcast, Philip Rivers is on my damn screen playing my age for the Indianapolis Colts. So maybe you do have a say every so often there. But Creighton's not looking. It's not looking so good right now. And then Butler, Providence, two teams of. Of varying quality I suppose. Whatever. 113, 110, double overtime. Although Josh, you can flip on your mic. Josh knows his Bulldogs well. I think we have a season ending injury so get ready to just chime in on that. I think that's broken since we started doing the pod here. It was the second highest combined point total ever in a Big east game. What we saw Saturday at Hinkle the only one that was more was back in 02. Notre Dame and Georgetown played a four overtime game 116111 so how about this? This was a two overtime game with 223 points. They needed four free sessions in O2 to actually set the record. There was the eighth time two teams scored 100 in a Big east game period. Jason Edwards had 32 for Providence. Jalen Sellers had 26. Michael Ajaya 28515 boards. Finley Bizjack had 26 points. 12 of those points came in the overtime session. Our our producer Josh is a BU alum. Floor is yours. Any quick thoughts on on your dogs getting the win and then do we have a what is what is the context and update of this of this injury situation with with admonish.
- [76:32]
Josh (Producer, Butler Fan)
Team? Yeah, it was a blast on on Saturday afternoon for lots of reasons but yeah since 3:48 this afternoon. So just before we went live Jalen Jackson who transfer from Purdue Fort Wayne was was really good there a year ago and had been excellent for Butler so far this season. Dealt with an ankle injury during the summer and after playing the first six six or seven games of the season has been in and out of of the lineup and announced that he won't be playing the rest of the season. Which is a bummer. I'm not sure Butler is a tournament team without him. I. I really thought they had a chance with him but. But we'll see what happens. But a bummer to to not have him the rest of the.
- [77:24]
Matt Norlander
Way. Yeah, that's. That's a. That's a stinger there. Particularly this. Butler had a tournament team under Laval the COVID year. They didn't make it. They have not. Butler fans have not seen their team play in the NCAA tournament since 2018 and now you lose him. You're 8 and 2 overall. Only other thing I have for you GP and then we can wrap if you want. I just want to acknowledge Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State. The Cowboys are knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten pretty damn entertaining game. Xavier Brown and Nigel pack combined for 39. OSU had its chances but credit to Porter Mosers group. They got it done. They pulled away and I thought it's actually really important not just for rivalry's sake but Oklahoma trying to build up an outlarge resume. I actually think that that that win's got some real value there. So I think those are the the most notable results of the weekend. You got anything else?
- [78:05]
Gary Parrish
No. Let's just wrap this up, look ahead. There ain't much to look ahead to over the next two couple days. So we'll be real quick with this. I hope. I always wonder, like, when we start saying this, it's like, all right, we're wrapping up and then somebody looks down if they're watching this later and they're like, yeah, they still got 19 minutes.
- [78:18]
Matt Norlander
Left. Prove them wrong this.
- [78:19]
Gary Parrish
Time. Let's prove them wrong this right. On Monday, zero ranked teams are playing. Good opportunity to catch up on season two of Landman. Streaming exclusively on Paramount. Plus on Tuesday, I'm gonna be in studio CBS Sports Network with Brent Stover, Steve Lapis and Roy Hibbert. We got Florida State at Dayton at 7. 00pm Eastern. Elsewhere, Louisville at Tennessee is a ranked versus ranked matchup. DePaul at St. John's is a big east opener for both. Butler at Yukon, South Carolina at Clemson inside Little John. And then we'll be back on Wednesday morning to talk about whatever we need to talk.
- [78:58]
Matt Norlander
About. Indeed we will. I hope everyone enjoyed this. Apparently we had some good viewership on the live show here and we did run a poll at the start of the show. Who's the better team? That was the question. And you had two options, Arizona or Michigan. In our live audience, 69% said Arizona. More than 2 to 1 return on Arizona over Michigan right now. I just love the fact that we've got both them being incredible and many others sitting at the table with them right now. And as things stand with the way the schedules have been laid out like this should be the state of the game, the state of the sport at the top of it, I would think as we, as we play out over the next two to three weeks at.
- [79:35]
Gary Parrish
Minimum. All right, let's get out of here. Shouts to Devin Downey. Shouts to Chester, South Carolina. Terry Teagle's a legend. Huck Larnell, thank you guys once again for watching and listening to the Ion College Basketball podcast. If you're not subscribed, please go subscribe anywhere you subscribe 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're gonna talk to you again on Wednesday morning. Till then, take.
- [79:59]
Jack Archer Ad Voice
Care. Paramount.
- [80:14]
Gary Parrish
Podcasts if you're the purchasing manager at a manufacturing plant, you know.
- [80:21]
Dan from Heed the Call
Having a trusted partner makes all the.
- [80:23]
Gary Parrish
Difference. That's why hands down, you count on Grainger for auto reordering. With on time restocks, your team will have the cut resistant gloves they need at the start of their shift and you can end your day knowing.
- [80:35]
Dan from Heed the Call
They got safety welding in.
- [80:37]
Gary Parrish
Hand. Call 1-800-granger click granger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it.