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- [00:00]
Sam's Club Announcer
It's finally March, and you know what that means. Bracket season, baby. Picture it. You're hosting the big tourney game, you've got your jersey, you're looking good, and now all you need is, well, everything else to host. No sweat though, because you're a Sam's Club member. And one trip you say yes to grabbing everything you need and to getting it all for unbelievably low prices. Plates, cups, tables, chairs, pizza, wings, snacks, sweets, and the ultimate three pointer. A big screen tv. Heck, you could even get it delivered. That's because the play that Sam's Club runs is called yes. And it means getting just what you need and enjoying the perks that come with membership like express delivery bonus points. So even if you don't win your bracket, you'll win best host. Join Sam's Club, the club of yes and on eligible items, terms and fees apply. See samsclub.com yes and for details.
- [00:57]
TurboTax Announcer
It's that time of year again for taxes. We all know the stress of the old way of filing. You send your documents off and then absolute radio silence. You're stuck refreshing your inbox and sending awkward just checking in texts, wondering if they've even started. But with TurboTax Expert full service I know my TurboTax Expert takes taxes fully off my plate and updates me every step of the way so I don't have to worry. That way I can get back to the things that matter to me, like going on vacation in the spring or enjoying the NFL off season. So stop chasing updates. It's time to switch to the modern tax filing Solution with Intuit TurboTax. The best part you can get Experts progress right on your phone while you go about your day. So go for a run or grab a coffee. You'll know your dedicated expert is handling it, looking for every last deduction to get you the best possible outcome and every dollar you deserve. File with confidence. Visit turbotax.com, only available with TurboTax Full Service Experts Real time updates only in
- [01:54]
Boost Mobile / CarGurus / Vanta Announcer
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- [03:02]
Shantelle Jennings
Hello everyone and welcome to no Off Season, presented by Sam's Club. I'm Shantelle Jennings.
- [03:07]
Sabrina Merchant
And I'm Sabrina Merchant.
- [03:08]
Shantelle Jennings
And today on the show, the Sweet 16 is set. We're here to break it all down and preview what is sure to be another very exciting weekend in women's basketball. But first, if you're wondering where Xena and Leija are today, March Madness extends to all of us. Our schedules got a little flipped. Don't worry, you'll find them in your feed tomorrow. And before we dive in, one more programming note. We are going live on YouTube Saturday night after the final Sweet 16 game wraps up. So make sure to head over to our channel and hit that subscribe button so you don't miss it. We know we teased a live stream last week after the CBH deal was inked and it never happened, but I promise this one will. It absolutely will. All right, Sabrina, when it rains, it pours. Yes, we've got the sweet 16 we have to get to, but we also have things happening in the W space. Shocking. Let's talk a little bit about the details that have come out of the now ratified CBA and also start to talk a little bit about free agency. So Sabrina, we recently got a term sheet. What to you stood out from that term sheet?
- [04:09]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, I think the details of how the developmental player spots are going to work was really interesting. We were aware that each team was going to have up to two developmental players on each team and that means that they're not part of the 12 player roster, but they still get to practice and travel with the team. And those are players who we now know have fewer than four years of WNBA service or some minutes limitations. You know, to qualify for those spots, we got their pay, which is about $6,000 per game, $750 weekly stipend. And then the rules that like teams can convert them into fully rostered players at any time, which obviously would mean that they have to waive somebody else so they still stay at that limit of 12. But just interesting how the WNBA is working through these players and really gives the upcoming college players a lot of opportunities to stay in the WNBA that didn't exist before because you think about the incentive that teams had for players who are going to contribute right away, and college players aren't always going to contribute right away. And now you have this situation where you can learn the league, figure out what you need to do to succeed with this coach, with this particular roster. And I think it's just going to allow careers to extend longer because players have a better idea of what they're getting into before they actually have to start playing meaningful WMA minutes.
- [05:28]
Shantelle Jennings
I think you think about a player like Rebecca Gardner or someone who, like, played overseas for so long and then came back to the W and was an impactful player on a roster and sort of like, what does that mean when that player can just be a developmental player on a roster and play overseas potentially, but also, like, get that exposure to WNBA front offices and players and coaches through these reps and practices and just being a part of franchises? It. It feels like. I think there's a lot of wins in this cba, but the developmental player spots, to me, feel like such an important part of moving this league forward and creating a more robust talent pool.
- [06:05]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, and speaking of moving the league forward, I think the facilities and staffing standards that were laid out in the term sheet are really important. Just exactly what type of medical and training personnel each team has to have, and exactly what kind of spaces, you know, like private locker room, meal area, medical treatment area, all of those things that have to be in place by 2028, which does give teams a little bit more Runway to make sure that they're up to par with all of these new requirements, because I guess within a month of the season starting is probably not enough time to get that done, but not in 2027, but in 2028. So I think that's another way that the league is moving forward. We did get the news that the season could be pushed back as late as November 21st in this new collective bargaining agreement, which has a lot of overlap with college football, the NFL, the NBA. I'll see how arena availability works with these teams that share, you know, arenas with their NBA counterparts, and that's going to be an increasing number of them, considering all the expansion teams that are also owned by their NBA teams. So that was kind of interesting because the finals ended on October 10th last year, and November 21st is a lot later than October 10th. So that's going to be interesting to see how much more WMA basketball we get.
- [07:17]
Shantelle Jennings
Yeah, there's a good amount of, I guess, schedule creep going on with this new cba, which you expect as the money Goes up. Also, the expectations for the length of the season, the number of games is also going to go up. And then I think the other thing that stood out was obviously the guaranteed contract numbers that we saw coming out of this. And I think the other thing in this term sheet that I found really interesting was we finally just sort of got a sense of what these rookies are going to make in this 2026 draft class. We got numbers for pick one through the third. The number one pick in this year's draft will make $500,000 just right out of the gates. Again, pretty incredible. That's twice as much, almost as the highest paid player in the WNBA last season. And over the course of her career, we'll make or over the course of that first rookie salary, 500, 520, 572 in year three and then fourth year, if they don't hit that epic raise in the fourth year, which is a possibility, they make 646, which is like 10 times what the number one pick made just a few years ago. So pretty incredible to see these numbers, like written out. Even third rounders in their first year would make 270, which is again, more than what the highest paid player in the WNBA made last season. So it's just wild to see these numbers, like, written out.
- [08:36]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah. Rising tide lifts all boats, Literally every single boat in the WNBA skin race.
- [08:40]
Shantelle Jennings
There's a lot of boats, a lot of boats, a lot of water, a lot of tides, for sure.
- [08:44]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah. So thinking about, you know, the number of guaranteed contracts and these numbers of salaries, like, we have a better understanding of what free agency could look like in this new cap environment. Obviously a lot to get to before we get to free agency. There has to be an expansion draft, There has to be college draft, which is kind of in the middle of free agency. But now that we've been able to see these numbers, you know, how are you thinking about, like, how the, you know, the teams in the WNBA are going to have to approach free agency knowing this new cap situation?
- [09:13]
Shantelle Jennings
I mean, I think everyone is gonna do what they can to put together the most talented roster, which is, you know, they were doing that before. It was just that the amount of money you had was less. I think when we talk about specific players, though, I'm really curious to see like Jackie Young. She seems like there are these players where you have them on rosters, where we've had those, like, you know, the super team rosters, basically, where you have a lot of highly paid players sort of right there at the top highly paid under the previous contract. Now, those will be third round draft picks in the 2026 draft. But like someone like Jackie Young, where she's not the number one option in Las Vegas, like, if she can get number one option money somewhere else and also number one option responsibilities on the floor, like, does that become something she wants to do? And how do teams make that attractive? And as you had mentioned earlier in terms of facilities and stuff, like, everyone's upgrading their facilities. But I am curious to see if those things really, as players have a chance to weigh these options in free agency and look at what is available to players in one franchise versus another that goes far beyond the minimum. Like, how much does that play into a player's decision? I think that could be really, really critical down the stretch here for. For how players think about where they want to be for their next contract.
- [10:30]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, one of the contractual terms that actually really interests me in this new term sheet is that a player cannot be signed and traded and then earn a supermax with their new team. So basically, if you want a supermax contract, which is that 1.4 million dol this season, you have to sign with your current team. And so, like, we've heard the report out of the Las Vegas Review Journal that Asia Wilson plans to resign with Las Vegas for, you know, the 1.4. Because you can't get that type of money anywhere else. Like, you can get the regular max somewhere else, which is that 17% of the cap. So about $1.1 million this year. But it's like, do you want to sacrifice $300,000 in year one of your deal and like potentially more going forward if you sign a longer term deal. That's really interesting to me, like how we've seen star players make big pay sacrifices, like percentage wise in their previous deals. You know, Asia Wilson could have made up to 250,000. She made about 200,000, you know, in the last few years of her Vegas contract. Same with a lot of other races. $50,000 is a big difference compared to $300,000 or like, you know, potentially even more than that if you're settling for less than the submax. So that's, you know, something that I'm very interested in. And then also, like, you can't just stack together as many maximum players. Right, as you were able to in the previous CBA. Right. Because the previous Supermax was about 16% of the cap. Now it's 20%. So just like.
- [11:45]
Shantelle Jennings
Well, and you have to hold 12 players.
- [11:47]
Sabrina Merchant
Exactly. So if you have like three Supermax players that was, you know, 48% of your cap versus 60% of your cap. It's a lot harder to fill out the rest of your roster, you know, if you have that type of, you know, top end talent. So I think the, the extra salaries being given to the top players totally deserved based on their contributions to the teams and how much they drive winning. But it does make this whole exercise a little bit more challenging. And you know, are the players still going to want the supermaxes with their existing teams or they're going to be willing to go out and like just get the big money somewhere else even if it's not as big of money like the Aces are? Such an interesting question because they have all of these veterans who are eligible for the biggest money possible. But then you have a team like, you know, Dallas or Indiana where they have more players on rookie contracts and like, can probably, you know, have a few players under cross control relative to like what they're actually producing for their team. Like Paige Becker is going to be worth a lot more than $500,000 in this current gap, I can tell you that. But it allows you to do more things in free agency if you can, you know, keep Paige at that number and keep number one pick at that number and you know, Matty Siegrist and all the other rookies. So I think this is going to be a very challenging free agency for teams with a lot of veterans and you're going to see the teams that have, you know, more rookies and more players under cost control get to be a little bit more creative and flexible.
- [13:02]
Shantelle Jennings
So I guess thinking of that then if you're, if you're a team like Indiana that has some of these players under rookie scale contracts or a team like Dallas that has more players on those contracts, who are those bigger names that you think might leave their specific teams for and settle for 1.1 million instead of the 1.4? Are there any, any names that jump out to you that are, you know, of the hundred plus free agents this offseason?
- [13:26]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, well, you mentioned Jackie Young who is like forever at the top of my list because I wonder if she wants to be number one option or is just perfectly happy. The best possible sidekick in Vegas mentioned Indiana. Kelsey Mitchell could fit anywhere, literally anywhere. And I realized that she is an awesome partner with Caitlin Clark, but she's been in Indiana her entire career. And yeah, the last few years have been fun, but I'm sure the first six were not super fun. And I Wonder if she wants to try something else. This is a slightly older player, but Jonquil Jones didn't seem to have the best time in New York last year. And I wonder if she could look for something new. I think she's the type of player who fits in again anywhere because she defends the rim and can shoot threes. And there just aren't a lot of players her size that have that combination of skill set. And we're two years removed from her being a Finals mvp. So she's pretty damn good at what she does. I think if someone's trying to make a leap real quick, Jonquil Jones is the type of piece that just completes any roster. So if she decides to move, I know that the endorsement opportunities and all of the trappings playing in a big city were really important to her when she moved from Connecticut to New York. Now the money's gonna kind of come anywhere, right? So is it that important to play in the biggest market possible? I don't know.
- [14:37]
Shantelle Jennings
All right, well, now we have players on board. Board of governors on board. Lawyers are up next. They get to sit in a room and hammer this thing out. Figure out all of the nitty gritty details of what the CBA is going to look like. Since we can't operate an entire WNBA season with just term sheets, that would. That would probably save us some time in free agency. That save everyone some time.
- [14:57]
Sabrina Merchant
It's a lot to read than the 350 page CBA from the last document, but probably not as thorough.
- [15:04]
Shantelle Jennings
Aren't you so excited that on the list of things that you and I are going to get to do over the next month with everything else we need to do, reading a 350 page document is somewhere in there.
- [15:13]
Sabrina Merchant
As long as I can load it on my Kindle.
- [15:15]
Shantelle Jennings
Yeah, here we go. Up next will be the expansion draft sometime thereafter. Free agency, college draft. Those can be a little more slotting in as need be. But this sort of feels like this time with the lawyers in the room feels like where the league can save the most amount of time. They had initially slated like three weeks for this process. Even if they can cut off a few days here, that could be pretty crucial for the league. So so much more to come on free agency in the weeks to come. But for now, why don't we switch gears and take a look at the Sweet 16?
- [15:49]
Sam's Club Announcer
It's finally March and you know what that means. Bracket season, baby. Picture it. You're hosting the big tourney game. You've got your jersey, you're looking good. And now all you need is. Well, everything else to no sweat though, because you're a Sam's Club member. In one trip, you say yes to grabbing everything you need and to getting it all for unbelievably low prices. Plates, cups, tables, chairs, pizza, wings, snacks, sweets and the ultimate three pointer a big screen tv. Heck, you could even get it delivered. That's because the play that Sam's Club runs is called yes. And it means getting just what you need and enjoying the perks that come with membership like express delivery bonus points. So even if you don't win your bracket, you'll win Best host. Join Sam's Club, the club of yes and on eligible items, terms and fees apply. See samsclub.com yes and for details.
- [16:48]
TurboTax Announcer
It's that time of year again for Texas. We all know the stress of the old way of filing. You send your documents off and then absolute radio silence. You're stuck refreshing your inbox and sending awkward just checking in texts, wondering if they've even started. But with TurboTax Expert full service I know my TurboTax Expert takes taxes fully off my plate and updates me every step of the way so I don't have to worry. That way I can get back to the things that matter to me, like going on vacation in the spring or enjoying the NFL off season. So stop chasing up dates. It's time to switch to the modern tax filing Solution with Intuit TurboTax. The best part? You can get Experts progress right on your phone while you go about your day. So go for a run or grab a coffee. You'll know your dedicated expert is handling it, looking for every last deduction to get you the best possible outcome and every dollar you deserve. File with confidence. Visit turbotax.com, only available with TurboTax Full Service Experts real time updates only in
- [17:46]
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- [18:25]
Shantelle Jennings
All right, Sabrina, we have arrived at the Sweet 16. Teams have had two rounds to scout and plan, and strategy might be just as important as talent in this round and so let's get to it. Let's start with the matchups you are most looking forward to in this second weekend of the tournament.
- [18:40]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, you know, we talk about, like, the lack of upsets in round one and round two and how it sort of eliminates the drama of the early part of the tournament. That's what gives us such a good time this weekend. Right. Because we have all of the teams that really matter, all of the teams that we really think have a chance of winning some games basically are still alive right now. And, you know, you and I are both have been poll voters. We've talked about, like, how many top 10 teams really are there. Like, how many, like, top 20 teams really are there. I think we have the right mix in this. You know, Iowa fans may disagree, Ohio State fans may disagree. Ole Miss fans probably have the most to complain about here, but this is a good group, and I'm very excited for what the Sweet 16 is going to look like. I think the region that is most interesting to me to start is probably Sacramento 4, which we have South Carolina and Oklahoma, that rematch of that fun overtime game where Aaliyah Chavez just went absolutely nuts in overtime during the SEC regular season, giving South Carolina their only regular season loss in conference play. And then we've got, you know, the Cinderella of the party, Virginia going up against tcu, which. How much fun did we have watching Virginia this past weekend, like, really gave us all of the madness we could have hoped for, not just in their two games, but in that first four game as well. So, you know, TCU really had to squeak out their game in overtime. Virginia had to win in overtime. I think that has the potential for some real fireworks there, too.
- [19:56]
Shantelle Jennings
Yeah, I'm. I'm curious to see. We have some matchups that we've already seen through conference play. Texas and Kentucky. Texas beat Kentucky during the regular season, and ucla, Minnesota. UCLA beat Minnesota during the regular season. I kind of feel like Kentucky and Minnesota are playing with house money here. Like, they're going up against not only the number one seeds in their region, but it's like, what do we have to lose here? People probably didn't expect us to be here. Minnesota knows. Everyone assumed Ole Miss was going to win. Kentucky knows that West Virginia, as the host, was supposed to win. Like, you're going into this situation where it's like, roll the balls out and let's see what happens. Like, especially with, you know, ucla. I had mentioned their slower start that I saw this weekend, which to me, a little bit worrisome obviously, basketball game is 40 minutes for a reason. And UCLA made sure to use all 40 minutes toward the end of the game. But it's like, you know, Minnesota's got nothing to lose, Kentucky's got nothing to lose. They know that these aren't, they're not supposed to advance past the third round, past the Sweet 16. And so I'm excited to sort of see this fearless version of Minnesota and Kentucky on this stage because I think, you know, is there a possibility that a crazy upset could happen? Yeah, I don't think it's necessarily super possible. I think Texas and UCLA, you know, 99 times out of a hundred are the better team on the floor. But it only has to happen once. Right. It just has to happen that one time. And I think when you see teams play really fearlessly, Virginia being the perfect example, like going into Carver Hawkeye, like, they don't. Iowa does not lose in Carver Hawkeye Arena. That does not happen currently in the
- [21:30]
Sabrina Merchant
second round of the tournaments.
- [21:31]
Shantelle Jennings
Yeah, except in the second round of this tournament and except Minnesota this season. But like, Virginia took care of business. And so I think it's like when you are playing with that level of fearlessness that is sort of where the Cinderella moments can happen. And I don't know, maybe. Maybe we've got some, some crazy things on the docket for the weekend. Probably not, because, you know, both of our brackets have proven otherwise, that we should never pick up sets. But, you know, girl can dream the
- [21:59]
Sabrina Merchant
wrong upsets really is all.
- [22:00]
Shantelle Jennings
It is just the wrong. So true, so true. And I think I know, like, what
- [22:06]
Sabrina Merchant
the atmospheres are going to look like this weekend because, you know, we go from the host sites in weekend one, which Minnesota was awesome, West Virginia was awesome. Really great environments all across the country. Now Fort Worth, I feel like Texas is going to travel very well there and it's going to look like a very Texas heavy crowd, which apologies to Kentucky and whoever wins the Michigan, Louisville game because that might be a tough challenge. But Sacramento is not exactly a women's basketball hotbed. They did have the monarch spheres back. It's not quite Stanford territory. I'm wondering what that scene is going to be like. Is that going to help Minnesota, that it's much closer to ucla, but it's not technically ucla. And how does that factor in? Because I think Virginia almost used the energy of we are the road team in that Iowa game. Whereas, like, how do you capture the energy of a neutral side is always so much more interesting to me because you just never know which direction it's going to go. Like, sometimes they just cheer for good things happening and sometimes it is a very partisan crowd.
- [23:04]
Shantelle Jennings
Well, I think first of all, I think you're underestimating how excited Minnesota fans are to be back in the sweet 16 and how they may travel. I don't know if, I don't know if Sacramento is a sun country destination for the budget airline that flies out of Minnesota. Not sure. But I could see several Minnesota fans showing up there. And it's not like UCLA is a crowd that necessarily travels super well. And so, yeah, I think that one could be very, very interesting. I also think looking at Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, that's a game that I'm fascinated to see. You have two of the most exciting players on the floor between Hannah Hidalgo and Mikayla Blakes maybe going shot for shot here. And I think also just sort of like really again, so surprising that I'm gonna bring up like storylines like really special like coach player relationships like Hannah Hidalgo and Nia Ivey. I think we saw that at the end of the Ohio State game when Hannah finally came out and sort of their hug. And then you have someone like Shea Ralph and Michaela Blakes where Mikayla really believed in this vision of what they could do at Vanderbilt. And now it's really coming to fruition in some ways. And you know, getting one step further into the Elite eight would, would cement her in that way for sure. So I think those games are fascinating. Are there any like matchups on the floor that you think are particularly interesting?
- [24:23]
Sabrina Merchant
Well, I think the Vanderbilt Notre Dame game is a great place to start because you have Hannah Hidalgo, whether she's guarding Mikayla Blakes or Aubrey Galvin. Like, I don't actually know how Notre Dame is going to decide this. I mean, do you want to just disrupt the point guard and sort of like short circuit Vanderbilt's offense from there or take your chances with Hannah on Michaela Blake's? Because you don't. If Mikayla Blake gets 41 points like Jelani Cambridge did, I don't think the rest of Vanderbilt is going to underperform like the rest of Ohio State did. So I do you have to be a little bit more deliberate with how you defend Michaela. So that's, that's one matchup that obviously is really interesting. Not to like go back again to the South Carolina, Oklahoma. Well, but like Aaliyah Chavez and Raven Johnson. Right. The most bedroom point guard in the sec except for maybe Raven Johnson or except for Rory Harmon and this high flying freshman in Aaliyah, like, how does that matchup go after. Again, we've talked about this. Like, South Carolina does not often lose to teams twice in a row. And you can bet that they've had this, like, potential rematch circled on their calendar for as long as ever since they lost that game. So that's a guard matchup that really interests me. And then I think about, like, let's see the Duke LSU game, right? Another rematch from earlier in the season during that ACC SEC challenge. And like, we talk about how Flaje Johnson, Mylesh Fulwiley like to be their best selves on the biggest stages. And how does that guard matchup look against the likes of Tyne Amera, who I think just had an awesome close to the regular season for Duke, and Ashlyn Jackson, who wins that perimeter match? A. I realize I'm mentioning a lot of cards. I apologize. Zena's not on the podcast today, but yeah, those are things that stick out to me.
- [26:00]
Shantelle Jennings
I mean, to go back to the South Carolina, Oklahoma game, like you said, South Carolina losing the way they did in Greenville to Texas during the SEC championship game, like, I have just, like, had my eye on them this whole tournament. Cause it's like, this is not a team that you expect to turn out that way, especially not in those huge moments. Then you think back to that Oklahoma game. They had a really rough third quarter in that game. And then they came out and I think it was overtime was 19 7. Like, obviously Ilia Chavez went off, couldn't miss, was just like hitting shot after shot. But it's like South Carolina, if you play there, you don't have a memory of very many losses. So the ones that you do have stick with you. And I think the ones that stick with you the most are the ones where you think, like, that was so out of character for who we are as a team. And like, when you think of South Carolina, you think showing up in the big moment and showing up specifically in third quarters, like, Dawn Staley's halftime speeches are famous for a reason. Because it's like she refocuses and brings the team together and they come out and just light the floor on fire. And that wasn't the case in that third quarter against Oklahoma. And so I think that game in particular, I would not be surprised if South Carolina wins by 20, because I think it's not just going to be a situation of South Carolina coming out and wanting to make a statement about a Sweet 16 matchup. It's going to be like, I want you to know that what happened during the regular season, with all due respect, was not how that game should have gone. Like, I could very much see that being the energy that South Carolina shows up to and saying, like, please, please go home. Thanks for repping the SEC this far. We've got it from here.
- [27:35]
Sabrina Merchant
It is interesting. Just the conference breakdown real quick before we move on to any other things. You've got the six SEC teams, which I think makes a lot of sense to all of us. Best conference, in my opinion, in the country during the regular season. Even if more hosting slots may have go the Big Ten. You've got, you know, your one big east, your one big 12, only three big 10 teams, which I think was somewhat surprising. You know, Iowa, Ohio State, both losing to ACC teams actually in that round
- [28:03]
Shantelle Jennings
on their home courts. Yep. And then.
- [28:05]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah. And then five ACC teams coming through into the Sweet 16, which we've given the ACC some grief. I am kind of shocked that this is the kind of representation that they have in, you know, this part of the tournament. And, you know, none of them play each other, so it's possible we get to the Elite Eight and, like, there are no ACC teams left, but whereas we're guaranteed, you know, at least 2 secs and a big 10 going through, because those are intra conference rematches. But, yeah, just kudos to that conference for, I guess, taking their time to just build up to this point of the season, because they all look very good right now.
- [28:38]
Shantelle Jennings
I mean, it makes me sort of think about, obviously this determines sort of pan out for the Big east, even though Gino was talking about, like, oh, we play so many different styles and you face really tough competition. And Tony Bozzella had said, you know, if team 7 through 11 sucked in our league, then, you know, all of our. All of our records would look a lot better. But, like, you know, Villanova didn't get out of the first round, so what does it say about the Big East? But it does. It does make me think about the acc and if sort of those tight games where it's like the conference cannibalizes itself in a way, and then we sort of look at them in a different way than the big. The sec, where the top of those conferences are just so, so good. And I think you look at the top of the ACC and you think, like, Duke and North Carolina are very, very good. They're not like UCLA good. You know, let's watch Duke beat ucla, and then I can eat my words. But, like, we'll see how that all goes. But I think It's. It's kind of fascinating to look, you know, what do we learn about a conference in hindsight? And I think, you know, the ACC was really, really strong this year. Speaking, Speaking of the ACC, I'm curious. Obviously the favorites right now are UConn. Is there anything about the UConn North Carolina matchup that intrigues you? I actually wrote the preview on our site for this game and I was surprised to discover that North Carolina is actually going to be the best defense in terms of the points per possession that they've given up this season that UConn has played. And I think obviously a part of that is pace. But like, is there anything that stands out to you about that matchup?
- [30:08]
Sabrina Merchant
I don't know that Carolina can generate good enough shots on every position to make this close with UConn, because understandably, I think you need to be a good defense against UConn just to like, keep the game close. But I really think it's more important that you have good half court possessions because if you let UConn create turnovers and then get out in transition, like, they're just too good and then they can set their full court press and it's just this, you know, domino effect of bad things happening. You know, I think we saw USC succumb to that when they played in non conference and like, Tennessee obviously just got bowled over when they played UConn. I really think it's important that, like, even if you're not necessarily scoring in the half court all the time, that at least you're not making bad decisions. You're not allowing. And I worry a little bit about Carolina's just discipline in that regard. And then also, like, there's just not a good enough free throw shooting team where like, you gotta take advantage of all of your easy opportunities, so to speak, against Yukon. And you know, talked about this with Duke and Maryland and Carolina, like, it just. If you're gonna give away the bunnies, it's. It's not gonna go very well for you against the Huskies.
- [31:10]
Shantelle Jennings
Yeah, it'll be fascinating. I mean, we've got, if I'm counting right, four rematches of the Elite 8 from the regular season. So we' if the, you know, storylines turn on those or not. Some four matchups we haven't seen yet this season, but I think overall, yeah, this probably has a chance to be some really, really good basketball this weekend. Really exhausting basketball on our end, but really, really good basketball for sure.
- [31:35]
Sabrina Merchant
I think a lot easier to keep up with though, just eight games versus the the 32 in the first round.
- [31:40]
Shantelle Jennings
Yeah, yeah. A hundred percent. Eight games in one day. Yeah. No, it'll be a little bit less. And you'll be in Sacramento. I'll be in Fort Worth. We have brought back our favor. Cameron and Grace will be with us through the NCAA tournament. So they will be joining us in Sacramento and Fort Worth. For anyone who has been waiting for those two to rejoin our post season team, I'm sure with bated breath everyone has been waiting. I guess. Last thing before we close this out. Are you feeling like there's any upsets here? I mean I know that it's, you know, we're getting to a point where it is because it is so chalky. What is an upset but any upsets there that you think could happen?
- [32:17]
Sabrina Merchant
So I did pick two. Actually I picked two upsets in our sweet Z predictions that are on the site. And by the way, like Grace and Cameron have already been writing for us this whole last three weeks.
- [32:28]
Shantelle Jennings
That's true.
- [32:28]
Sabrina Merchant
Cam had some great stuff out of Ohio State. Grace had a wonderful story on the fairy godmother Don Staley during the first round of the in stalwart tournament which was just lovely. But yeah, I did pick Louisville to upset Michigan, which is only 3 versus 2, so not a massive thing. And I picked Virginia to beat TCU because I just have very little faith in TCU's offense doing anything beyond Olivia Miles. And if she is just off for whatever reason, that makes everything so much more difficult for the Horned Frogs. So I have those two. I think Notre Dame could make things interesting with Vanderbilt. This is where Notre Dame has just sort of run into a wall every year for the last five tournaments. So it would be hilarious if this was the team that broke through as opposed to the one with Sonya Citron and Olivia Miles and all of the talent that grazed Notre Dame before this year. But yeah, Vanderbilt's a little inexperienced. Obviously. Niel has been to the Sweet 16 multiple. Maybe that's a situation where like just the singular brilliance of Hannah Hidalgo get something done possibly. I realized I'm mentioning a lot of ACC teams. It just sort of happened. There's a lot of ACC teams in this bracket. Like what are we going to do?
- [33:33]
Shantelle Jennings
I love that. I love that. No, the thought that like this could be the Notre Dame team that gets over the sweet 16 hump is not, not what we saw coming. Certainly if you had asked us midway through the season. I have Duke over lsu. Again, not really like upsets here. Three.
- [33:49]
Sabrina Merchant
Right. You know.
- [33:50]
Shantelle Jennings
Yeah. Like, it's not, it's, it's certainly not that. But again, like, I am really curious for these inter conference games where, you know, South Carolina, Oklahoma is less so because Oklahoma beat South Carolina during the regular season. But I'm really curious to see Kentucky, Texas and Minnesota, ucla. Like, I think it wouldn't surprise me either way, like if these are 40 point wins for the favorites or if it's really close because you see the Gophers and the Wildcats coming out and just playing totally fearlessly and what do they have to lose? And the top seed has everything to lose. And so I think especially with the seniors that are on those teams, do they get tight at all if it gets close? Knowing that this is Rory Harmon's last shot, this is this, UCLA's, the whole roster is so senior laden. This is their last shot. Does that sort of create any kind of tightness? And that can be really dangerous when you've got one team that's super tight and the other team that's playing with house money. So I'm really curious to see how all of that shakes out.
- [34:51]
Sabrina Merchant
At the very least, we've given all of these teams a lot of bulletin board material, whether they win or lose because, you know, we've covered all of our bases here, I think.
- [34:59]
Shantelle Jennings
Yeah, terrific. Absolutely terrific.
- [35:02]
Sabrina Merchant
Let's close things out on the other side of this break.
- [35:09]
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- [38:12]
Sabrina Merchant
All right, and now it's time for One More Thing presented by Sam's Club. As we've been talking about March Madness and all of the games that are still happening, the teams whose seasons have ended have not been quiet, and I wanted to highlight one of the coaching hires that took place this past week, which was was Florida hiring Tammy Reese out of the University of Rhode Island. Tammy Reese played at the University of Virginia with Don Staley, great college career, has done really great job at University of Rhode Island. You know they won the Atlantic 10 this year, made the tournament, and now she's going to one of, if not the best conference in college basketball at Florida, a team that, you know, has struggled of late, but has some really interesting young talent with Liv McGill and, you know, Shaquille O' Neal's daughter, who had really nice season for them too. So. So, Chantel, I mean, anything stand out to you at this particular hire or what we can expect out of Florida going forward?
- [39:03]
Shantelle Jennings
Yeah, I'm curious to see what they do here. I saw the photo that Liv was at Tammy Reese's introductory press conference, which I think, you know, obviously the portal hasn't opened up yet. It opens up the day after the national championship game, so a lot can change. We've already seen some players, though, announcing that they intend to go into the portal. We haven't seen that from McGill. And I think if she's the kind of player that if you can keep her in Gainesville and build around her, you've got a really good start. Not to like, bring back a story of mine too much, but earlier, I think today on the site, actually I have a story about Virginia and kind of how Alexis Ohanian's gift to that program last year was basically like pouring lighter fluid on the program. Like, it's great to have Rev share. It's great to have sort of these foundations that are raising money, but if they can get outside donors to give money to the program, it can allow you to do things in the portal, which obviously we saw Virginia do really well last year. But also to retain, like Carla Williams. Virginia's AD talked a lot about attain and retain the roster. And I think that is very much what Tammy Reece needs to do. She needs to retain McGill and she needs to retain other players that want to play at the best conference in the country that want that SEC talent. She has the track record of saying, look, I've done this at the mid major level. I was elite as a player. You know, come and build this with me at Florida. And so, you know, everyone and their mother, if they want to be successful in college basketball, they have to have success in the portal. Like you're even looking at these, you know, number one, number one seeds, they're not there without, maybe some of them are there without their transfer for players. I think UConn might still be the number one overall team without Sarah Williams, but I look at the other, the other teams and they're not going to. Right. And so I think it's just what teams have been able to do. Even the most elite teams in the country, you need the transfer portal. And so it'll be interesting because the other part of this is that Tammy Reese hasn't been able to use the Portal at this level before. So there's other coaches that are in the SEC that it's like, man, old hat. We're back to this. Like whether they have money or don't they know how to operate in that way. Tammy Reese is like coming into this, having not done this at this level. So I'm really curious to see how and if Florida is able to sort of like throw around some money and get some players to Gainesville, how they can put together a roster and sort of use the excitement of, you know, a mid major coach coming into this program to reignite, you know, what they could be.
- [41:24]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, I mean that rising junior duo Liv McGill and Mia O' Neal is like pretty good core to work with. You wonder if Rhys can get some of her Rhode island players to come through and follow her to Florida, see if they want to, you know, compete at the sec. But yeah, usually when we have these coaching situations, like if they're unpleasant, like you worry about players wanting out and potentially making a move. But like you said, seeing Liv at that press conference is a good indicator at the very least that like there is some alignment on board which if Livingill is not a part of Florida next year, like this completely changes the way we're going to talk about the Gators and hopefully that is not the case for Tammy Reese and for the future of that program. But yeah, a lot of coaching changes coming through the pipeline. You know, Kristy Curry just went from Alabama and SEC school to South Florida, USS Nevada, make it higher, you know, out of the California sort of AAU circuit.
- [42:13]
Shantelle Jennings
Sabrinasku's former coach.
- [42:15]
Sabrina Merchant
Oh yeah, that's right.
- [42:16]
Shantelle Jennings
Kelly Sopak.
- [42:17]
Sabrina Merchant
Yeah, that's right.
- [42:20]
Shantelle Jennings
Yeah. To go back to Tammy really quick though, like what I'm also really fascinated with this is like to be in a talent rich area like Florida. Like is there an opportunity for her, for players who maybe did go further away from home to come back, play closer to home, be closer to your family, maybe close out your career closer to your family. If there are players who opted to leave home and play their first three years or two years elsewhere to come back and be at a place that's closer to family. That's maybe a trend that we've sort of seen with some top players over the last few years in the Portal. But yeah, I'm fascinated.
- [42:53]
Sabrina Merchant
It's funny you mentioned that players who grew up in Florida and then played their first part of their college career elsewhere. And the first name that comes to mind is Chloe Kitz, which not suggesting anything, but there are a lot of bigs in South Carolina who she might have to sit on the bench behind next year. So we'll see. But yeah, no, no speculation. No one's in the portal yet. People have announced their intentions. Yes, well, we'll get to that when we get to that. Obviously there's a lot of free agency to come both at the college and the WNBA level, but for now that is all we have for today. Xena and Leija will be up next tomorrow. And don't forget to join us on Saturday night on YouTube for our live reactions after the final Sweet 16 game, probably around 7:30 or 8pm Pacific. But please check the YouTube for more information. And while you're there, please subscribe. Tell your friends to check us out. And while you're at it, drop us a rating. Leave us a comment. We love hearing from you. 5 stars please on behalf of the Athletic and Chantal Jennings, I am Sabrina Merchant. Thank you for listening and we will see you next time.
- [43:50]
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No Off Season is hosted by Zena Kada with Chantelle Jennings, Sabrina Merchant and Leija Clarendon. It's produced by Tanika Burrell. Our executive producer is Andrea B. Scott, Monica Compton is our video editor and Charlie Charles Childers is our social video editor. Our theme music is by Marcus Bagala. Shannon Ryan is managing editor of Women's basketball at the Athletic. Tim McMaster is our director of operations and Jesse Burton is global head of Ceres.
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