March Madness Mega Preview, Mark Titus Breaking Down The Bracket, USA Loses To Venezuela + Hot Seat/Cool Throne

Summary

Pardon My Take: March Madness Mega Preview with Mark Titus

Episode Date: March 18, 2026
Hosts: Big Cat, PFT Commenter, Hank, Max
Guest: Mark Titus

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Episode Overview

This episode of "Pardon My Take" delivers a massive March Madness preview, with the hosts breaking down the NCAA tournament bracket region by region, offering fun facts for every team, bracket-filling tips, and deep dives into sleepers, Cinderellas, and favorites. College hoops expert Mark Titus joins to analyze the bracket, while the crew celebrates their latest podcast award, debates the fallout from the US losing to Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, and runs through everything you need to know before your bracket locks.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Mood for March Madness (02:40 - 19:00)

• The crew is hyped for a loaded week of sports: March Madness tips-off Thursday, and the World Baseball Classic just wrapped with Venezuela beating USA.
• Big Cat (03:12): "You thought the Bryce Harper home run, that was everything we needed...and then it was followed by Aaron Judge just sucking yet again."
• Ongoing banter about Aaron Judge underperforming in big moments, with all hosts roasting his playoff/theatrical record.

World Baseball Classic Fallout

• Venezuela beats the US 3-2, sparking jokes that the US can no longer call baseball "our pastime."
• The hosts joke about Marlins Man's hat and a viral Venezuelan street video.
• Mark DeRosa's quirky motivational move—getting the SEAL who killed Bin Laden to give a pep talk—is seen as "galaxy brain" but maybe excessive for a semifinal.
  • PFT (07:20): "If that's your semifinals move, who do you bring in when it matters the most?"

NFL Trades Reaction

• Jalen Waddle traded to the Broncos: the hosts like Denver getting aggressive while Bo Nix is on a rookie contract.
• Justin Fields dealt to the Chiefs; discussion whether it's a risky move for his future since failing in Andy Reid's offense is the “end of the road.”
  • Big Cat (13:26): "If you can't do it in Andy Reid's offense, it's over, right?"

March Madness Early Action

• First Four games underway: Howard gets its first-ever NCAA tournament win to wide praise.
  • Big Cat (16:23): "That's why it's cool. [Howard's coach] just got a tournament win... why we love March."
• Criticism of Dick Vitale/Charles Barkley's NIL & transfer portal rants during the broadcast—felt like cranky podcast segments instead of analysis.

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2. Meme & Fact-Packed Bracket Preview

The fun facts and stats segment begins here, with every host assigned a region. Each gives unique tidbits and analysis team-by-team to arm listeners with bracket knowledge and bar trivia.

East Region (20:31 - 49:27)

• Duke (1): Mascot’s origins are French alpine soldiers called the Diables Bleus.
• Cameron Boozer: Was born to provide stem cells for his sick older brother—"All-time brother move." (24:21)
• TCU: Head coach Jamie Dixon's pancreas injury-led retirement and his TV childhood; fact check request for Jamie Dixon’s lost Bud Light commercial (28:01).
• St. John’s: Rick Pitino is not a Kentucky Colonel, contrary to expectations. St. John’s great against the spread.
• Michigan State (7): Izzo’s ridiculous tournament streak (28 years); Jeremy Fears' surreal habit/record of kicking opponents in the crotch.
• UCLA: Network of secret tunnels on campus; largest number of college applications nationally.
• Cal Baptist: No leggings except under dresses, no fraternities, and heavy emphasis on dinner etiquette. (32:59)

Notable Quote

• Big Cat (29:12): "They [St. John's] are covering at a very high clip this year... they don’t really shoot the ball that well, but it doesn’t really matter."

Fun Fact Lightning Round (by Zach)

• Ohio State once elected a cow "Maudine" Homecoming Queen due to voter fraud (45:12).
• Furman’s “lighthouse” is actually a bell tower—you can’t fish the campus lake.

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South Region (49:27 - 61:30)

• Florida (1): Tallest player in college hoops, Olivier Rioux, can put his leg behind his head and likes to draw—his fun fact.
• Lehigh: Home of the guy who invented the escalator and the accidental claim of inventing the Turkey Trot.
• Clemson: Features player "Butta" Johnson; also, classic college 'white guy' names—Chase, Carter, Jake.
• Iowa: Now one of the slowest teams in the nation—huge identity change from Fran McCaffery’s previous up-tempo style.
• Vanderbilt: The Commodores' former shipping wealth; allusions to squandered Vanderbilt family fortune.
• Troy vs. Nebraska: “Father’s respect” game—coach’s sons on both sides; Nebraska features two unrelated players both named Koch.
• UNC: Notable coach Dean Smith sent each former player $200 for a meal after his passing (58:07).

Notable Quote

• Big Cat (58:22): “No chance Coach K does that.”

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West and Midwest Regions (65:00 - 98:40)

• Arizona (1, West): Bryce James aiming to be the family's first NCAA champ.

• Villanova: Multiple campus features named after cookies (Oreo sculpture, etc.), but little firepower for a deep run; Max says they're “grasping at straws.”

• Arkansas: Origin of Razorbacks nickname; campus sidewalks feature the names of every graduate since 1876.

• BYU: Beards, coffee, and premarital sex all banned; >55% of students married by graduation.

• Gonzaga: Fewer than 7,000 undergrads—a "powerhouse" in basketball but small in size.

• Michigan (1, Midwest): Historic Big Ten season (first to win 19 conference games); a “clunky” offense per Titus, but still most talented in region.

• Georgia: Dining hall ranked 13th in the U.S., best of all state schools in the tournament.

• Kentucky: More barrels of bourbon in the state than people.

• Akron: Claims the “most popular female mascot in sports.”

• Alabama: Four players arrested since 2023, including recent star for marijuana possession.

• Hofstra: Story of first baseman hitting a home run while literally shitting his pants; bar Dizzy’s shutdown memory.

Notable Quote

• Hank (86:12): “That’s a lot of weed.” (On Alabama player's arrest with 2+ lbs.)

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3. Mark Titus Joins the Bracket Breakdown (130:35 - 214:05)

Titus on March Madness

• Mark Titus (131:17): “It’s the greatest event in the world… You think your team's going to be in it every year; when you go three years without it, it is agonizing.”
• This year could be another “chalk” tournament—with most top seeds advancing—just like last year.
• Titus (137:59): “I’m anticipating a lot of chalk... what makes the tournament fun is the little guy. But the top teams are just that much better.”

Region-by-Region Analysis

• South: Houston is a slight disappointment but could be peaking; Florida’s success will come down to guard play.
• East: Yukon’s run-heavy offense makes them dangerous against unfamiliar teams; Michigan State’s defense is down, but Izzo's streak is unmatched.
• West: Arizona is the best/healthiest and Titus’ national champion pick. Acuff is a star, but Hawaii could be a sneaky cover.
• Midwest: Michigan’s “historical” Big Ten season noted, but their offense is "clunky"—not a sure thing for a deep run.

Hosts' Final Four Picks

• Titus: Duke, Arizona, Michigan, Houston ("chalk with a wrinkle")
• Big Cat: Arizona, Houston, Iowa State (Final Four fluctuates)
• PFT: Michigan State, Arkansas, Houston, Michigan

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4. Hot Seat / Cool Throne (99:53 - 127:51)

• Big Cat's Hot Seat: Himself, after his viral Ken Rosenthal "get him out of baseball" rant is walked back, plus he mistakenly forgets Blake Griffin's birthday.
• Hank’s Hot Seat: Matt Leinart—USC asked him to unretire his jersey for recruits, and PFT, after the JMU rugby team loses 122-0.
• PFT's Hot Seat: Himself, again—failed at buying a Jerry Garcia guitar at auction; admits coaching abilities are lacking after PMT team lost in a stream.
• PMT wins "Best Sports Podcast Award," which is celebrated in irreverent fashion, including confusion about who gave the award and mock-acceptance by Zach.

Notable Quotes

• PFT (114:06): "First award in show history… just a graphic that says Best Sports Podcast Award. Memes refused to put the name of the company that gave the award out, which I respect."
• Big Cat (119:56): “The amount of quotes you could pull from this podcast of things that we say is insane. We say shit we don’t actually mean all the time.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (by Timestamp)

• [03:12] Big Cat: "Aaron Judge... going to lose some pinstripes over this. I think that’s only fair."
• [07:20] PFT: “If [bringing in bin Laden’s killer] is your semifinals move, who do you bring in when it matters the most?”
• [16:23] Big Cat: "Howard almost choked that away at the end." (On their 1st NCAA tourney win)
• [41:08] Hank: “UCLA gets the most college applications of any school in the country.”
• [45:12] Hank: "In 1926 the school elected a cow named Maudine to be the Homecoming Queen."
• [58:22] Big Cat: "No chance Coach K does that." (On Dean Smith buying every player dinner)
• [66:08] Hank: “Villanova… tradition of naming parts of the campus after cookies. The Oreo.”
• [71:19] Hank: “Beards have been banned [at BYU] since the 1960s. That’s brutal.”
• [78:53] Zach: "Queens is the first school beginning with the letter Q to make the NCAA men’s tournament… Quinnipek had a 25-year head start!"
• [99:58] Big Cat: "No, I’m not apologizing for the jerk part. I’m just apologizing for saying he has to leave baseball." (On Ken Rosenthal remarks)
• [130:43] Mark Titus: "It’s the greatest event in the world... the Buckeyes are back."
• [137:59] Mark Titus: “[Chalk] is frustrating because… what makes the tournament fun… is the little guy… but the top teams are just that much better.”
• [144:21] Big Cat: “17 of the last 18 national champions have either been named Yukon or been a No. 1 seed.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:40 — Opening rundown: March Madness, World Baseball Classic, NFL trades
• 20:31 — East region fun facts start
• 49:27 — South region fun facts start
• 65:00 — West region fun facts start
• 79:07 — Midwest region fun facts start
• 99:53 — Hot Seat/Cool Throne segment
• 130:35 — Mark Titus joins, in-depth bracket breakdown begins
• 214:05 — Closing, numbers game, final shoutouts

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Tone & Language

The episode is dynamic, quick-witted, irreverent, and banter-filled. The hosts never hesitate to roast athletes, themselves, or sports media personalities. Fun stats, tongue-in-cheek facts, and crowd-pleasing trivia drive the bracket preview—often with jabs at rivals, Hall of Fame coaches, and college traditions.

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For Listeners Who Haven't Tuned In

This mega March Madness preview is a perfect guide to the NCAA tournament, mixing sharp bracket advice with hilarious, research-driven fun facts for every program. Whether you're new to college basketball or obsess over every seed line, you'll get trivia, betting angles, and sharp banter to give you an edge at the bar, in your bracket pool, or on social media.

The episode features:

• Regional previews loaded with unique team facts and bar trivia
• Mark Titus’ expert bracket opinions and Final Four picks
• Roasts and riffs on Aaron Judge, March broadcast rants, and bracketology cliches
• Hot takes on NFL and MLB news, with PMT’s signature comic skepticism
• Awards celebration, coaching debates, and running jokes about podcasting, coaching, and email habits

If you need a one-stop shop for your 2026 March Madness fix, this is it—award-winning, informative, endlessly quotable, and very, very fun.

Transcript

[Big Cat]

Hey, pardon my take listeners. You can find every episode on Apple Podcasts and Spotify prime members can listen ad free on Amazon Music.

[PFT Commenter]

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[Hank]

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[Hank]

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[Big Cat]

My Take presented by DraftKings we have our Mega March Madness preview. We're doing fun facts for every team in the bracket. We've got Mark Titus on the show to break down the bracket. Talk about, you know, Cinderella's best teams region by region, getting you ready for all the madness starting on Thursday. We're also going to talk World Baseball Classic USA loses to Venezuela. Jalen Waddle got traded to the Broncos Hot Seat Cool Throne. We won an award and it's all brought to you by our friends at Everyman Jack. You're a grown man making better decisions about what you put in in your body. Are you paying attention to what goes on it? Here's the thing. Using grooming products with harsh chemicals like washing your car with dish soap, sure it gets the job done, but you're stripping away the protection and doing long term damage. Most guys think they have. They have to choose products that work or products that are better for you. Everyman Jack says that's a bs. They're clean, naturally derived formulas have none of the garbage the other guys use. No parabens, no dyes, no shortcuts. And they're incredibly effective. Their coconut based body wash cleans while hydrating. Their new 48 hour antiperspirant has unbelievable glide and staying power. Everyman Jack Clean, effective, made for men. What more could you want? Start your new routine and find every Man Jack at Walmart, Target, Amazon, Kroger or wherever men's personal care products are sold. Okay, let's go Football guy.

[PFT Commenter]

Patino Award

[Big Cat]

welcome to part of my take presented by DraftKings. The crown is yours. Today is Wednesday, March 8th 18th and Team Venezuela has won the World Baseball Classic 3 to 2 over the U.S. congratulations Hank.

[PFT Commenter]

Not so fast Big Cat. Oh, not so fast. Mark derosa. He's saving Cal Raleigh Game two We're gonna have a fresh lineup, so we're not out of this just yet. Venezuela has not punched that ticket, so I trust in Mr. Deroza and all his decision making, but, yeah, that sucked.

[Big Cat]

Socked. Socked. I mean, it was. You thought the Bryce Harper home run. You're like, that's it. Like, we just. That was. That was everything we needed. Captain America did it for us. And then it was followed by Aaron Judge just sucking yet again. And he's going to get. He's going to lose some pinstripes over this. I think that's only fair.

[PFT Commenter]

Never had him.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I mean, it was not. Not great performance. I did see one tweet that said, just like we.

[Hank]

Hold on.

[Big Cat]

I'm going to try to find it. Give the guy credit. I think it was just like, we. We give credit to Paul Skeens for almost joining the military. We should give credit to Aaron Judge for almost making contact tonight. Shout out that guy. Sorry I don't have your Twitter in front of you, but that was a very funny tweet. It was. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, it was. Only when we take out Venezuela, we don't ask for any help from a judge. So next time, sit this guy out. That's a bad. Judge sucked tonight.

[Big Cat]

He sucked.

[PFT Commenter]

He sucked tonight.

[Big Cat]

He sucked. And. Yeah, Hank, floor is yours. I assume you got swept up because the crowd was electric. It was all Venezuela except for Marlin's man, who. I don't know if you guys saw my breaking news, but he. He texted me saying, should I. Should I move my hat a certain way for the troops in the top of the third. I said, yes, definitely. And then he did.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, no, I. I think everybody. Yeah, all the troops saw that. It was a touching moment.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, Hank.

[Hank]

No, I mean, I was. I was ride or die doctor. And I. I got.

[PFT Commenter]

I was.

[Hank]

I was pulling for the boys after that Bryce Harper home run. I did. I mean, Aaron Judge, like, you knew he was striking out, and he did. He's an absolute joke, absolute choke Artist expected nothing else from him, and he delivered nothing. But no, I was.

[PFT Commenter]

I was.

[Hank]

I was pulling for America in that game.

[PFT Commenter]

But you just said that you were pulling for America after Bryce Harper hit the game tying. So, like, from the bottom of the ninth on, you were rooting for team Hard.

[Max]

You just like bad flips. Anything you are rooting for.

[PFT Commenter]

It's March, okay?

[Hank]

I mean, it is March. I like, I'm watching these games for entertainment, like Roman Anthony, Red Sok, everyone else, like, in. In. Now that this is over. I don't root for these guys. So it's like I was watching the game and then when we, you know, that was an exciting moment. Then I was like, I hope we win the red.

[Big Cat]

So the guy who gave up the hit.

[Hank]

Ah, whatever.

[Max]

You didn't even know that.

[PFT Commenter]

The team did feel like it just had a lot of Phillies energy to it.

[Big Cat]

How so?

[PFT Commenter]

You got Bryce in there. You got Schwarber finishing in second place. It's just.

[Max]

You're absolutely right. I was thinking it the entire time watching the game. It was exactly like every Phillies baseball game I've ever seen, except for Bryce at the homer to tie. And I was like, oh, maybe this. Maybe this is different. Maybe there's a little bit of a different vibe.

[Big Cat]

I think Hank's doing some research right now. Hank, what have you found? Hank, come back to us with your findings.

[Hank]

I will.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Okay. Yeah, I can see the Phillies energy.

[PFT Commenter]

Has there ever been a better player that. That sucks more during these primetime moments when it matters most than Aaron Judge?

[Big Cat]

And he's just so tall. So there's so much of them to hate.

[PFT Commenter]

You know, like last year, this. Most recent playoffs, when he hit like one home run.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And we're like, oh, okay, okay. Aaron Judge's clutch now.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And he's like. It just. You know what I mean about the tall thing, though? Like, it's something about him, like where. When he, when he, when he just strikes out over and over, it's just so. You're like, damn, he might just be too tall. I don't know what it is, but his height, when he looks, when he plays that bad, his height, it's just like. It bothers me. It's like, damn, that just doesn't make sense. Like, he feels shorter and maybe like, you know, punching something in the dugout, you'd be like, oh, yeah, that scrappy guy, he really wants it. Instead, it's just like, this is a behemoth, a world beater who can't do shit.

[PFT Commenter]

I. Yeah, I. I did like, how the guys cared, though. Like, oh, they did that. I'll give him that. There was a lot of effort, Mark DeRosa, for. For all his quirks and mismanagement. I mean, getting the guy that killed Osama bin Laden to give a pump up speech, that's. That's an all time, like, galaxy brain move right there. My only problem with that is why, what do you save for the finals? Like, if that's your semifinals move, who do you bring in when it. When it matters the most? I Feel like we just ran out of. Ran out of that next gear because we had the guy that killed bin Laden shot him in the face. I think now we got nobody else.

[Big Cat]

I think it's just Jack Hughes. He's got to have Jack Hughes. We had the hockey jerseys on, by the way. Shout out team Venezuela. They were. I mean, that, that Eduardo Rodriguez, like, going into that game, everyone's like, we should. We should just light him up. He pitched what, four and a third, I think. And I don't know if you guys saw, but before the manager, Omar Lopez said that before the game he had three different big league clubs hit him up being like, do not use our pitchers on back to back nights because they had to use like five relievers against Italy. So he had to do some negotiating. But yeah, I mean, you. You could tell, like the crowd was awesome. It was all Venezuelan, some. Some very attractive Venezuelans and Marlins, man. And it was. I mean, it seemed like the biggest deal. I don't know if you guys saw that TikTok of the guy on the street in Venezuela watching on like a little tiny tv. That was pretty cool. So good for Venezuela. We expect better. And the fact that we just finished second yet again in the World Baseball

[PFT Commenter]

Classic is a joke in our own pastime.

[Big Cat]

I don't.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't think it's our pastime anymore. We got to find a new pastime.

[Big Cat]

Hockey war. War. When we dominate that. Hank, what'd you find?

[Hank]

No, that's on me. That's on me. Hand up.

[Big Cat]

What'd you find?

[Max]

What.

[Big Cat]

What were your findings?

[Max]

He.

[Hank]

That was.

[PFT Commenter]

I didn't. I just.

[Hank]

That, that one. I missed that one.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Whitlock, who gave up the. I mean, Whitlock pitched a lot of innings and pitched well during the World Baseball Classics. You can't like, shit on him totally. But I also. I was locked in. I was locked into the March Madness. By the way, the rollover over is dead. I had the thought this morning, like, what if I just win? What if I have the best March ever? It lasted two games, but I was locked in when the double got hit in the gap. And I, like, I was sitting here with Memes and Shane and Colton and they were like. They're like, oh, shit. And I looked over to the TV after the ball was coming into the infield and I was just like, PCA would have got it. Why the fuck isn't PCA in the game? They're like, that was pca. I was like, fuck. Okay, I've run out of excuses Yeah,

[PFT Commenter]

I, I, I, I gotta put my hand up too, Hank. Just like you, I kind of up before the game, I just, I came into my, my office here, and I just wanted to play Freebird because I hadn't played Freebird all the way through. I've done, like, the riff a little bit a few times, but, like, I was pumped. I wanted to get the juices going. So I sat down in this chair and I was recording me playing Freebird. And then I, I sent the phone, I sent the video to my phone. I, I just didn't turn the sound on to record it. So it was just me, like, rocking out, trying to play, and I thought it was going to pump me up. When I watched it, I felt like I was, I was bad news for the United States. So, like, if I'm gonna, if I'm gonna point a finger at Aaron Judge, I also have to say, like, that's messed up on my part. I basically muted what should be our national anthem. So I apologize to America for that one fully.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

There's a better, better name for that room than an office.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, it's got a desk, a flight simulator. It's your basic office.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it's a regular office.

[Hank]

Guitars.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that's an office that looks like an office.

[PFT Commenter]

I think I've got four guitars and then one double guitar. Wait, one, two, three, five guitars and one double. So, yeah, seven. Pretty much. Seven guitars and a flight simulator.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Other things, real quick, before we start talking, some Brackets, Jalen Waddle traded to the Broncos. They're going all in. This is a year for Bo Nicks. I kind of like this for the Broncos just being like, hey, we have, we have Bo Nicks right now under a rookie deal. Bo Nix is a good quarterback. We don't know if Bo Nix is a quarterback that once you pay him a ton of money, you can skimp everywhere else. Like, take the window and try to win right now.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Or, you know, load up for city, Give him some weapons.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And, and, and the Dolphins is a good move, too. Cause Dolphins are, are they just got to get as many assets as possible.

[PFT Commenter]

The Dolphins have, like, every draft pick and. Yeah, the dog. I think the Broncos wanted to get rid of this year's draft picks. Like, I, I'm pretty sure that they, the Dolphins would have accepted 20, 27 draft picks, but 2027 is going to be a loaded draft. So. Yeah, I, I like it for the, for the Broncos, too. I feel like this is the time that you do it. You got money, you Got cap room, you got a young quarterback. This is when you spend like they, they probably should have been in the super bowl last year. So let's strike while the iron side here.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So the official trade was or sorry the, the official picks the Dolphins have in this year's draft, they have the number 11 pick, the number 30th pick, 43 and then 1, 2, 3, 4, 4 third rounders. So they have, they have seven picks in the first 95 selections. That's pretty good. That's a lot of picks. It's a lot of picks. We also have Justin Fields to the Chiefs. Not really a needle mover. I actually think weirdly, is this a mistake by Justin Fields? Because if he, if Patrick Mahomes doesn't come back and he has to start and it doesn't go well, like if, if you can't do it in Andy Reid's offense, it's over, right?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. I mean you're kind of all out of excuses when it comes to that, right?

[Big Cat]

Like go be the backup in Arizona and be like, well, it was Arizona's fault.

[PFT Commenter]

I feel like I, I wonder how many options he truly did have though.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So. Or I guess it's a trade, right? It was a trade with the jets, so the Jets.

[Big Cat]

Yes, it was trade.

[PFT Commenter]

Now it was a, was it a six round pick?

[Big Cat]

But I feel like he probably, the jets might have done him a solid and told him where he, you know, like, or at least helped him out being like, here's, here's the, here's the deals we have.

[PFT Commenter]

Maybe he can be a tight end.

[Big Cat]

Maybe he could be a tight end. They do need some more.

[PFT Commenter]

I, I think that it's not necessarily the end of the road if you, if you can't play with Andy Reid like Gardner Minshew was there, he's going to find another job. Like there have been other guys that have bounced out. But I guess if it doesn't work out here, I think you can throw out any and all hope of him being like a starting quarterback anywhere. Yeah. If you haven't already. But he is going to get some reps this offseason because Mahomes got injured so late in the season. Right. So I think up until the regular season it's going to be Justin Fields like essentially going out there as QB1. And then once the, once the games actually start, then it's Mahomes. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

By the way, this Texas NC State game has been such a painful watch. It's just, they can't, they can't Put the ball in the hoop. We also had I love that Dicky V's got to call this game very cool moment. I love Dicky V. I think he's one of those guys kind of similar to Al Michaels where it's like they've given me so much as a sports fan that as long as they want to keep going, I'm cool with it. Even if they're not. It's not the same. There was like a 15 minute stretch. I don't know if you guys had sound on where Dickey V and Chuck just didn't even talk about the game. They just decided to talk about Nil, transfer portal, all that stuff for 15 straight minutes. And yeah, I get it. Like there is their one time doing it. I just think, like, if you were an NC State or a Texas fan, you would be, because it wasn't even, they weren't even trying to discuss the game. It was just a straight up podcast they were doing about how ruined college basketball has become.

[PFT Commenter]

So it was, it was a podcast, but it was also like a very bad podcast. Not that I don't like listening to Dicky V and, and Charles Barkley just shoot the about things, but it was like every kind of stone conversation that you've ever had with somebody where you even remotely talk about college basketball, where you're like, nil. I mean, we got to do something. Things are out of control. I'm all in favor of players getting paid, but something's got to change. And then the other guy's like, you know, I, I like to see guys get paid, but I mean, we can't, we can't root for the same guy two years in a row. So we got to do something. And no one ever actually like throws out a solution for it. It was just like two older guys complaining about the current state of college basketball. Yeah, I was happy. I was happy with the, the points in the first game. That was nice. Ton of points. And Howard and umbc.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Shout out Howard. First win in program history in the, in the NCAA tournament. Kenny Blakeney, really cool story. He's been, he, he was, he played at Duke. Went immediately into coaching. Has been coaching for I think like 25 years or so. Took over the Howard job. I think they won four games his first year. Been to the tournament three out of the last four years. Finally wins a game. This is where I, you know, there's sometimes people will debate and say if you're. It's bullshit. The 16 seeds don't get in the actual tournament to get in the plan. I think this is why it's cool. Like, he just got a tournament win. I know it's against another 16 seed, but that's the first tournament win in Howard history, so. And that's. It was a very cool story. You got very emotional at the podium. It's like, why we love March.

[PFT Commenter]

I liked it. There was a ton of sportsmanship from that guy. He was oozing sportsmanship. He was just like, they're such a good team. I'm so happy that we were able to play them. They played a great game, actually. Like, Howard. Howard almost choked that away at the end.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

But, yeah, the. If you. Back to your point about, like, if you're a Texas fan watching this, I don't really think that you have that much room to complete. Like, you're Texas. You should not be in the playing game if you're Texas. So, like, let this be a lesson to you Longhorns, that if. If you're in the playing game, we're liable to throw Charles Barkley at you.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that's fair. That's a fair point. I feel like they just overinflated the balls for the second game. The balls just aren't going the same way. And I'm.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm.

[Big Cat]

I might just be done with totals for the entire tournament because the balls are driving me nuts. They just won't go in the hoop ball.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, one for one and one and one on overs for me. Not a bad start.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I just really need the rollover. All right, so let's kick it to ourselves. We've got our entire bracket. Fun fact preview. Some really good facts make you sound smart. If you're at a bar, if you're hanging out with friends this weekend and you want to be like, hey, I knew this thing about this team. Maybe even get some facts about Big Lloyd. That's a little teaser shout. Zach with his facts. And then we have Mark Titus to break down the entire bracket and give you some tips on filling out your bracket. And let's do it. Okay, before we get to our fun facts, bracket preview, DraftKings DraftKings sportsbook, the number one sportsbook for live bets. Betting is built for March. The tournament is unexpected. Rewards are guaranteed. DraftKings Sportsbook is delivering the most generous rewards in the market, no matter what happens on the court. Because this isn't a tournament you bet and forget. It's one you react to. With DraftKings, the number one sportsbook for live betting, you're not betting what might happen you're betting what's happening? Possession by possession, play by play, Live lines, props. Next play outcomes. As the chaos unfolds, the bracket will break. So don't just watch the unexpected. Bet it new to DraftKings. Bet just $5 to get 200 in bonus bets instantly. Download the DraftKings Sportster Gap now and use code TAKE. That's code TAKE to turn five bucks into 200 in bonus bets instantly in partnership with DraftKings. The crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MYRESET NEW YORK. Call 877-8-HOPE and WHY or text HOPE and WHY Connecticut called 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org on behalf of Boothill Casino in Kansas. Wager tax pass through May apply in Illinois, 21 and over in most states. Void in Ontari one reward per customer. Rewards vary and expire at the end of the final NCAA basketball game each tourney round when offered. See [e-mail] promos for more details. Okay, time, boys. This is actually one of my favorite things we did. We started it last year. We're going to go through the bracket. We've, we've all taken a region. We're going to go through the bracket. We're going to give you fun facts. This is basically the primer for one, people who have not watched college basketball until right now. Two, people are going to be at the bars or parties or wherever you may be this weekend, and you want to just drop a little fact, a little factoid about a school, a team, a player, and you got it in your back pocket. So we're giving you that. And we also have this year Zach facts. So Zach, we're going to go through each region. Then Zach will come over the top. If anything we missed or anything he wants to add on the teams. Pft, you are up first.

[PFT Commenter]

We're going in the East.

[Big Cat]

We're going in the East. You're up first, top left.

[PFT Commenter]

One thing I've noticed this year, it's, it's really just been like recently that America's got their together when it comes to uniform brackets. This is a disaster.

[Big Cat]

Oh, Hank didn't do the right.

[Hank]

I did the East.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, we got double East.

[Big Cat]

Great.

[Max]

Okay, well, so Zach can pick up. Zach can pick up the leftovers.

[PFT Commenter]

We can also do just what part

[Big Cat]

of for Wednesday's show. PFT East, Big Cat South, Max Midwest. Hank west was confusing.

[Hank]

I just miss read it and started. I just. That's that's on me.

[PFT Commenter]

We can just do top of the head, west coast facts.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

For the west, but you know what I'm saying? Like, it feels like this is the first year that we've seen complete uniformity when it comes to the brackets. What regions are in what spot on the brackets that get printed out.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I haven't seen any strays. There's no, like, outlying websites that have the brackets in the wrong spot, so. Great job, America. We finally did it. You okay, Hank?

[Big Cat]

Zach, we're gonna need you on the Midwest.

[PFT Commenter]

Gotta step up.

[Max]

No, no, I'm Midwest.

[Big Cat]

I'm sorry. The West.

[Max]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, no, the West.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. All right.

[Big Cat]

What. What's going through your head right now, Hank?

[Hank]

I just spent a lot of time doing the east, and I'm an idiot.

[Big Cat]

Did you go back and read the text I sent to everyone?

[Hank]

I just read it. I just initially read it as east and then just went. I just didn't go back and reread it. Obviously, we can.

[PFT Commenter]

We can do double East.

[Max]

Okay, well, technically, we got triple East.

[PFT Commenter]

Why don't we do. Can someone do Middle East?

[Big Cat]

We're just. We're heavy on the East. All right.

[PFT Commenter]

Pft, Europe, the Strait of Hormuz. Okay, first off, we have Duke against Sienna.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

1 verse 16. You might be asking yourself. I've seen Duke play in the tournament a lot. I'm very familiar with Duke. Why do they call the Blue Devils? Do you guys know what a Blue Devil is?

[Big Cat]

I assume it was Coach K's nefarious person. He's a Devil. He looks like it. And they're like, hey, we'll just make it blue.

[PFT Commenter]

And the mascot kind of looks a little bit like Coach.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that's what I'm saying.

[PFT Commenter]

But yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

No, a Blue Devil is actually a French Arctic. Not Arctic. A French Alpine soldier known as Diablo Blue. And these guys are the most French dudes that you've ever heard of in your life. They hang out in the French mountains. They are not allowed to say the word red because their rivalry against England.

[Big Cat]

Got it.

[PFT Commenter]

The only time they're allowed to say the word red is when you're referring to the lips of a lover.

[Big Cat]

So you're telling me the Duke is. Is French?

[PFT Commenter]

Very French. Oh, the. The lips of a lover out of 10 or.

[Big Cat]

Can't expect perfect from them.

[PFT Commenter]

Or you can say the word red if you're referring to wine. Okay, so it's the most French thing ever. It's like. It's. It really speaks highly of the lofty expectations you have for yourself if you're naming your school after the French military famous for their many, many victories.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

But then I actually, I went down a little bit of a rabbit hole when it came to Cameron Boozer and the Boozer twins. Yeah. And it's something I actually didn't know about him. I missed this when it came out on espn. Did you know that Cameron Boozer was born to save his older brother's life?

[Big Cat]

I did, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So this is kind of crazy. So his older brother, Kamari Boozer, was born with sickle cell anemia, which, interestingly enough, sickle cell evolved as a trait to. I think it was to protect against malaria. So if you had sickle cell and you got the malaria in your body, it wouldn't bind onto the sickle cells, so it kind of save you from that. But now, modern day, it's not good to have sickle cell and it could be deadly, especially for a kid. So his parents decided that they were going to have. They're going to have kids and they were going to have to give. They were going to have the kids to give the stem cells from the umbilical cord to their already born son to help save his life.

[Big Cat]

Save his life.

[PFT Commenter]

So they did like a bunch of IVF and they found two of the embryos that had that same donor type that could give. And so they carried those, those twins immediately after birth. Camera Boozer, they take this, the stem cells out and save his brother's life.

[Big Cat]

Which is pretty cool. That is very.

[PFT Commenter]

It's a pretty cool story that I. I did not know.

[Big Cat]

Zach. I'm my brother's keeper. Your tattoo, you want to show it?

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

It's a great brother move. A lot of brothers. He literally is brother's keeper. Yeah, great brother.

[PFT Commenter]

All time brother move.

[Zach]

All time elite brother move.

[PFT Commenter]

I have not. I have not given my umbilical cord to anybody. I don't. It could be anywhere for all I know.

[Big Cat]

Bros before. Before life.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, exactly. So the first thing that he did when he was born was save a dude's life.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that's sick.

[PFT Commenter]

Kind of rocks. Okay, Hot seat Tim for that. Now Sienna. Sienna is now Sienna University. They used to be Sienna College.

[Big Cat]

Nice congrats to them.

[PFT Commenter]

But that was a. A 6, 000 or 60, 000 move to change all the signs on your university. From Sienna College to Sienna University, their mascot is Bernie the Saint Bernard. So to my knowledge, this is the very first time that two teams named after Alpine rescue helpers have played each other in the first Round of the NCAA tournament.

[Big Cat]

I'm gonna say guaranteed first time we,

[PFT Commenter]

we will have to double check that. But I'm. I'm pretty sure also Santa's coach is Jerry McNamara.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Who you might remember from legend Syracuse University and the crazy runs that he would go on in March. Great player.

[Big Cat]

And Clem.

[PFT Commenter]

And Clem, you might know him from Clem. Yeah. So that's about all I got for the 1 verse 16.

[Big Cat]

Love that.

[PFT Commenter]

All right, next up we're going to do Ohio State tcu. So the Ohio State University, they're a pretty slow team. They don't get a lot of rebounds, they don't get a lot of steals. So I looked into their, their current roster right now and Bruce Thorton is a player you might remember. You might recognize that name. He just became Ohio State's all time leading scorer. He along the way surpassing players like Mark Titus. And I did also see that Jeffrey Epstein drafted an email referring to Les Wexner and all the gang stuff that they've done together over the years.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

No explanation. Les Wexner. You might know name from being all over buildings in Columbus, Ohio.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

As one of the most prominent donors to the Ohio State University, TCU is obviously. They're the horn frogs.

[Zach]

Not.

[PFT Commenter]

Not actually a frog. They're lizards. They squirt blood out of their eyes. They're led by David Punch and their head coach, Jamie Dixon quit basketball after injuring his pancreas. Oh, so just something a guy representation matters.

[Big Cat]

Hank, have you guys, has anyone here been to tcu?

[PFT Commenter]

I have, yeah. Fort Worth.

[Big Cat]

Have you been to the campus?

[PFT Commenter]

I've been in and around the campus. I haven't spent too much time.

[Big Cat]

I've been in the campus. All inside the campus. It is one of those colleges that is straight out of a magazine. Complete fake life. And I mean fake life in the best possible sense. You walk on that campus and you feel like you're on a movie set.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, it's gorgeous.

[Big Cat]

It's nuts how nice it is.

[PFT Commenter]

It's gorgeous. Pretty expensive to go to school. There's their coach, Jamie Dixon. He was in commercials for Bud Light, Rice Krispies and Volvo and Mattel when he was a kid. I guess his dad was a. A director and put him in a bunch of commercials. I looked everywhere on the Internet to try to find the Jamie Dixon Bud Light TV commercial where apparently he gets dunked on by a woman.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And I can't find it. I. I think he's had it scrubbed from the Internet. I think he's afraid of People finding it. So somebody maybe who's better than me at Internet research, look that up.

[Big Cat]

Jamie Dixon also is an all time. I wish he still wore a suit guy.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah, very much so.

[Big Cat]

He was a great suit wearer when

[PFT Commenter]

he was at pit at Pitt. Yeah. And so he's been. He's been coaching at Pitt and TCU for 23 years. Made the tournament 16 out of those 23 years. Pretty impressive for those two schools.

[Big Cat]

Absolutely.

[PFT Commenter]

So Jamie Dixon, awesome head coach.

[Big Cat]

And Pitt I don't think has made it since he left.

[PFT Commenter]

They might not have.

[Big Cat]

I think they haven't been in a long time.

[PFT Commenter]

Did they have.

[Big Cat]

Was.

[PFT Commenter]

What's his name? Dwan Blair. Was he there with Jamie Dixon?

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

My, my favorite, my favorite pump fake of all time. Sam Young elite. He would get all the way on his tippy toes. Crouser. He had all those guys. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So yeah, Jamie, great coach. But please somebody find me, please find me the, the Bud Light commercial.

[Big Cat]

I agree.

[PFT Commenter]

So then we got St. John's St. John's going up against uni, University of Northern Iowa, obviously. We got Rick Pitino. Coach Pitino at St. John's Friend of the program. Amazing coach, amazing coach. And if you look at what he's done this year, St. John's I believe has the second best record against the spread out of all power conference teams behind only Arkansas.

[Big Cat]

Whoa.

[PFT Commenter]

So they are covering. They are covering at a very high clip this year. They don't really shoot the ball that well, but it doesn't really matter unless they run into a situation where they go up against like that. That Yukon game. Yeah. Where when it looked as ugly as basketball can look fact check myself.

[Big Cat]

Pit went in 2023. That was the only time they've gone without Jamie Dixon.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

Jamie Dixon hasn't been there for 10 years.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

One time.

[PFT Commenter]

But Jamie Dixon goes every awesome coach.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. So also Rick Patino, if you had to, if you had to guess, would you say he is or is not a Kentucky colonel?

[Big Cat]

I would say he is. Well, I would have said he is but based on this question I'm gonna say he's not.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah. No, you read that correctly. I thought that he was. So I would the stat was going to be he is a fellow. He. He's the same rank as us in the Kentucky military. But actually no, we out part of my take out ranks. Rick Patino in the Kentucky, no big deal. You and I, they will suck the life of out of you. They've got the second best defense in the entire tournament. They, they are just kind of a pain in the ass to watch this sales pace. This game feels like it's going to be ugly as correct is this would be your ugly as first round matchup. Which in a way you would think that that would favor the the 12 seed. But I, I think that since St. John's is so used to playing this type of like grinded out game. Yeah, bro, it's not really going to. It's not like you're dragging them into your ocean.

[Max]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

They also live in the ocean.

[Big Cat]

Right?

[PFT Commenter]

All right, so next up we got Kansas, Kansas and Cal Baptist. Kansas. I've talked about this guy before, Florid Badunga. He's one of my favorite players in the country. He was a high school soccer player in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a family friend noticed that he was enormous and was like, hey, I noticed that your son is huge. Would he like to play basketball? And they were like, sure, I guess. I guess he'd like to play basketball. So then he moved to Indiana, which is every Congolese child's dream. And he was like, this is awesome. I get to live in Indiana at Kokomo High School, play soccer there. I watched some of his soccer clips, by the way. He was pretty good. Yeah, he was pretty nasty. He was like a forward. So then he committed to Kansas, which probably you gotta, you gotta ask like, what are we doing at Indiana University? Oh yeah, like the kid moves from Africa to Indiana to play basketball and you can't keep that guy in state. That's not great. So he, he obviously committed to Kansas and Bill Self. And now we've got Kansas, who is playing in the tournament for 36 consecutive years. Example. Not really. Oh, they don't have the longest streak. The streak technically stopped in 2017 because that appearance was retroactively taken away for recruiting violations. But they have, they have played games in the NCAA tournament for 36 consecutive years, which is pretty crazy. Darren Peterson is back to playing almost nearly full minutes of every game and saw that stat hole put this in his blog that he has the third best plus minus in college basketball. So him playing 37 minutes a game when he has that huge plus minus.

[Big Cat]

He's good.

[PFT Commenter]

He's very, very good. Probably means good things for the Jayhawks. And they're going up against Cal Baptist. Unders are 64% in Cal Baptist games. Yeah. So they will also grind it out. It's the first time in the tournament, so congratulations to them. I did look on their website and found out some Interesting facts from their handbook, the Cal Baptist handbook. They don't let girls wear leggings at Cal Baptist.

[Big Cat]

Oh, no.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. It's no legging school.

[Big Cat]

No.

[PFT Commenter]

You are allowed to wear them, I guess, but they have to be under a dress. But no leggings at Cal Baptist. And then I. I was reading, like, the school newspaper, and it. There was an article that said, the next time you're brutally honest with a friend who's wearing an unflattering outfit, let them know that you're simply being honest and truthful. And they would probably rather hear it from you anyway when they're talking about leggings. Okay, So I don't. Yeah, I guess that's a good friend move to be like, hey, you look fat in those leggings.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Because they'd rather hear it from. From you.

[Big Cat]

Seems like a lot of time spent on leggings.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, it's been. Well, it was just not you.

[Big Cat]

Them.

[PFT Commenter]

They. They think about leggings a lot. But I don't. I don't get that logic where it's like, you'd rather hear it from me because I. I'm the protagonist.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

So I'm. I'm telling you because I love you. Anyways, that's leggings at Cal Baptist. Hank, do you have anything else about Cal Baptist?

[Mark Titus]

Let's see.

[Big Cat]

He's got. He's got something.

[PFT Commenter]

It is their first time in the NCL Blade tournament, which is good for them.

[Hank]

There are no Greek organizations at Cal Baptist. Big focus on community life. They have clubs there. This is on their website. Their workshops are offered through Career center with topics such as business dinner etiquette. Which parentheses. Which fork do you use? So if you're. If you're, you know, a high school awl, you're thinking about schools you're not interested in. In, you know, Greek life, Rat life. But you want to maybe take some, like, workshops on.

[Big Cat]

On which fork to use Strong thoughts

[Hank]

on leggings at dinner For. For dinner etiquette. Like, you don't know what dinner etiquette is at a business dinner. Cal Baptist might be this.

[Big Cat]

It's like High Point. High Point. Remember last year we talked about how High Point has the steakhouse you got to eat at once a month?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah. This is good, though. Like, yeah, if you want to. If you want to go to a college that has dinner as a course, that's. It's a good spot to go. How many credits do you get for dinner?

[Big Cat]

I don't know.

[PFT Commenter]

Dinner one. That's probably a 400 level. Course, if you're talking etiquette.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Louisville, we can talk about Louisville, South Florida for a little bit. Fun fact about Louisville, it's the first time this year that Louisville has ever played on the road at Duke in the regular season and also made the NCAA tournament.

[Big Cat]

Oh.

[PFT Commenter]

the end of the year.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

Just a weird quirky stat with the. The way that the schedule has worked out since they joined the ACC back at. When was that? Like two early 2010s? I believe so. Yeah. Louisville, they're going to have a tough task on their hand because South Florida plays with the second highest pace in the nation. They're also number one in, in terms of shots per game and they make a lot of shots too. So this is going to be an up and down, back and forth matchup with Louisville and in South Florida.

[Big Cat]

I like that. Over.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, this is a, this is a big, big time over. They've got a, A big man. Seven footer. Sonata fruit Sonata fru. He shoots.783 for effective shooting percentage. So big man gonna be yamming. And Louisville also makes threes. So this is going to be a great game to bet the over on, I think.

[Big Cat]

Love that.

[PFT Commenter]

Next up we got Michigan State, who does have the longest tournament streak in the country.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

Which is 28 years. It's a great story seeing Izzo just still doing it, still coaching as hard as he ever has. They do have a guy who I love, Jeremy Fears, one of the best point guards in the nation. He has a penis kicking addiction.

[Big Cat]

Big time.

[PFT Commenter]

He is addicted to kicking. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Kicking. Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

He is addicted to kicking dudes in the dick.

[Big Cat]

And he does it in all different directions. Forwards, backwards, sideways.

[PFT Commenter]

Which is why I kind of respect his game. He's like an. He's like a switch kicker.

[Big Cat]

He's like a heat. Heat seeking missile. The bottom. His foot to penises.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, there's, there's the most recent clip I think was against Michigan.

[Mark Titus]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

Where.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he. Backwards.

[PFT Commenter]

He went backwards. So there was a guy that was like, you know, it was almost like he was posting up on the guy from the three point line. And Fears just kicked like a mule.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Up into his dick.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he likes to do it.

[PFT Commenter]

And then I, I did love Izzo's reaction. He was just like, I'm going to eat his lunch. But you know what? I'm looking at some of the guys on Michigan, they do dirty stuff too. I'm not sure their lunch is getting eaten, but I just want Dusty May to know that I'm about to eat his lunch.

[Big Cat]

It actually is kind of an intimidating thing to have to go up against being like, this guy is liable to kick us in the nuts at any moment.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes. But really, you can, you can make a highlight mixtape of. Oh, yeah, like all the dicks that he's kicked.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he's been doing. He's been doing it all. All season.

[PFT Commenter]

So Michigan State, they've been pretty good defensively all season except for the last four games. So since the calendar flipped to izzo, January, February, izzo. Michigan State is 192nd in college hoops.

[Big Cat]

Not good.

[PFT Commenter]

So it's only four games. But they've, they haven't been all against great teams. So we'll see if they can get that straightened out in the tournament. Big Cat, you probably know the answer to this, so I'll just ask the rest of the guys.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you guys know the last time that a big ten school won a national championship in basketball, Men's basketball?

[Big Cat]

Do you know the answer to this, Hank? Anyone? Anyone?

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, this is an appropriate reaction. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

Michigan State.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah. Michigan State in 2000. Yeah. Pretty crazy. That's. That's a very, very long streak for the Big Ten.

[Big Cat]

You could count. Technically, Louisville did vacate theirs against Michigan.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

I don't, I don't technically do it.

[PFT Commenter]

I, I respect. My official record book is the back of Rick Patino's shoulder, which has a Louisville national championship tattoo on it. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Been to a lot of final fours in championship games and just haven't gotten over the hump.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So North Dakota State, they are number nine in the country in terms of steals. They've got 283 steals and per stat hole. They also rarely commit fouls. So kind of weird, a weird combination. They fell at the eighth lowest clip in the entire country, but they get a lot of steals, so. Okay, okay, great job. They've got job, active hands, so look for a lot of steals from North Dakota State. I do think that Michigan State is. This, this feels like it's. This might be a blowout for Izzo and the boys because North Dakota State has played a terrible, terrible schedule this year. And Michigan State is maybe the most battle tested team in the entire country in terms of their schedule. Also, Carson Wentz went to North Dakota State, so that guy. Next up, we got UCLA and UCF bracket busters.

[Big Cat]

UCF, let's go.

[PFT Commenter]

All right, so UCLA, prior to a reporter raising his voice at McCronen, the Bruins were 1 in 5 against top 25 ranked teams. Afterwards, they're 3 and 1. That reporter just woke up a sleeping giant.

[Big Cat]

Wow.

[PFT Commenter]

UCF. Blake Bortles went to UCF. He's a left handed golfer. I thought that's interesting.

[Big Cat]

That is.

[PFT Commenter]

And also they've got a guy named Carmelo Pacheco who is kind of this Chase Johnston type. He. He's taken 114 shots. 106 are three point shots this year. He's also from Harrisonburg, Virginia. I don't know how he got away from JMU, but this kid loves to shoot threes. So yeah, that's what I got at UCF. You have anything on UCF or UCLA, Hank?

[Hank]

I had Blake Portals birdie the number two hole at Ponte Verde Country Club Lagoon Course, March 13, 2026.

[Zach]

That's true.

[Big Cat]

A lot of research.

[Hank]

Mick Cronin's brother is a horse racing gambler and has her Twitter account for it called Fat Bald Guy Racing.

[Big Cat]

Love that.

[Hank]

And UCLA is a network of tunnels connecting most buildings, though accessing them is highly restricted. So.

[Big Cat]

Huh.

[Hank]

Kinda.

[Big Cat]

What are they doing in the tunnel?

[Max]

Yeah, I also have a tunnel fact

[Mark Titus]

for one of my.

[Big Cat]

Oh wow.

[Max]

A little, a little foreshadowing tunnel facts.

[PFT Commenter]

What's going on with that?

[Hank]

Also from the school website. So I feel like this is kind of like when the sign outside says like world's best coffee. It's UCLA gets the most college applications of any school in the country.

[PFT Commenter]

I believe it.

[Big Cat]

I actually believe.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, there's a lot of people in California.

[Big Cat]

There's a lot of people California. It's prestigious. Good weather, good colors.

[Hank]

Do you think that's very. So you don't think any other school claims that? I feel like a lot of state schools could.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, a lot of state schools could. But I feel like UCLA just because of how big California is and how like a lot of California kids just stay in California.

[PFT Commenter]

Right. I'm thinking like maybe a really bad school that maybe a lot of people. Well, no, I guess it would be a good school that people don't get into. Yeah. Like what's a good school in an area filled with dumb people.

[Max]

U.S. news does confirm that UCLA gets the most.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

And second is are all California California, San Diego.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So it's just all the kids in California probably just spray and spray every school.

[PFT Commenter]

I bet UCLA probably has a pretty high clip of like kids that get in and then their parents are like we're not paying for out of out of state tuition at ucla. You're going to community college, you're going to like it. Next up, we got UConn against Furman, Yukon. Did you know in UConn basketball history? So I'm talking about both the men's and the women's in this stat. Do you know the last time, not counting the COVID year, because there was no tournament the last time, not counting the COVID year, where There was no UConn team in the final four, men's and women's.

[Big Cat]

It's got to be like in the 90s.

[PFT Commenter]

It was 2007.

[Big Cat]

Oh.

[PFT Commenter]

But, yeah, before that it was. It went back pretty long. So there's. There's all. But there's always a UConn team in the Final Four. They're also 18 and one as a program in championship games.

[Big Cat]

Well, I was gonna say my favorite UConn stat is. Or one of them is that every time they go to the final Four, they win it all. They don't go for empty trips.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. 18 and 1 overall in national championship games. And the men's side, they've never lost national championship. The. I saw one thing that was like, the math on. I think it's. If you're 55 years old and you went to UConn, then you had like a. A national championship run during your. Your college career there at some point, if you went four years, but they had a gap.

[Big Cat]

2014 to Hurley with Kevin Ollie.

[Hank]

To Hurley.

[PFT Commenter]

Men's and women's.

[Big Cat]

Oh, men's women. Yeah. Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

So if you're. If you're 55 or younger, you went to UConn. You enjoyed. You enjoyed yourself.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

You had a great time. On the Furman side, they've got one really interesting player. He's big man Cooper bowser. He shoots 77, averages 14 from the field. He just yams it. So they're just going to try to work Yukon inside Furman. They've been in the. The tournament a few times the last few years. You might recognize their name. The fun fact about Furman, in terms of notable alumni was Mark Sanford, who went there and then he was banging that chick Olivia Nuzzy, that everyone was like, oh, she's about to write this article about banging rfk. Turns out it was Mark Sanford that she was banging in addition to rfk. Got it pretty much at the same time. Double bang.

[Big Cat]

Mukbang.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep. Also, Mark Sanford quit being governor of South Carolina and said he was going on a hike on the Appalachian Trail, but it turns out he is really in South America the entire time banging his girlfriend.

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah, that's good. That's better than an Appalachian Trail.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Pretty horny guy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Pretty horny State, so. Yeah, we all know. We all know UConn. Yeah. Dan Hurley. He drinks piss before every game. Great head coach.

[Big Cat]

So, Zach and Hank, do you have any good. You. You don't have to do every team, but just any interesting facts that you want to throw in there?

[Hank]

I have a good Ohio State one.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Max]

Zach has a good Yukon one.

[Big Cat]

Okay, great.

[Hank]

In 1926, the school elected a cow named Main to be the homecoming queen. She was an award winning dairy cow. Once produced over 343 pounds of milk and over 28 pounds of butter in a single week.

[PFT Commenter]

That's a good woman.

[Hank]

And the school initially voted for a girl to win, but after the votes were counted, there were more votes cast than students at the school. So since there was fraud, they gave it to Maudine, and the cow is still listed as homecoming queen with all the other girls who have been elected in school history.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, wow.

[Mark Titus]

Wow.

[Hank]

So they once elected a cow homecoming queen.

[Big Cat]

Okay, okay.

[PFT Commenter]

I think Zach has to just do his whole.

[Big Cat]

He keeps saying like, I don't have a good one. That Max is reading it being like, all right, go.

[Zach]

I've got a good UConn one. I guess it's a zero. Zero United States presidents graduated from Yukon.

[Big Cat]

Love that. Yeah. Why don't you just go rip it down? Rapid fire down the.

[Mark Titus]

The.

[Big Cat]

Down the line.

[Zach]

Okay. Furman. You know, upon first glance, you think Furman University has a lighthouse, but it's actually an 88 foot tall bell tower on the lakeside. You also can't fish in that lake. Really highly restricted.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Zach]

Ucf, you know, Knights Pub. Great bar. UCF unfortunately did close down. I was curious. We could just take a quick moment of silence for the Knight's Pub.

[Mark Titus]

Yes.

[Zach]

Thank you so much, guys. Ucla.

[PFT Commenter]

You know what if UCF wins? Open bar at the Knights pub on me on Rosti. Yeah.

[Zach]

That's big of you.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Rossi is going to match. Yeah, Actually, he'll double.

[Zach]

That's huge.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Zach]

UCLA. UCLA is 2198 miles away from Magic City. They may be anti chicken wing and anti women. North.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, wait, wait.

[Big Cat]

So far away?

[PFT Commenter]

Because they're not close to Atlanta.

[Zach]

They're so far away from Magic City,

[Big Cat]

they couldn't get further away they go any further.

[Zach]

Pacific Ocean, North Dakota State. Their school mascot is the Bison. But this is incredibly misleading because North Dakota's bison population pales in comparison to its neighbor, South Dakota, by tens of thousands of bison. North Dakota, roughly 12K. South Dakota, roughly 40,000 bison.

[PFT Commenter]

Wow.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Zach]

Michigan State Tom Izzo was born the same year Albert Einstein died. It's 1955.

[Big Cat]

Whoa. That's a good one.

[Zach]

USF. Most of my boxed wine consumption.

[PFT Commenter]

Where were you?

[Zach]

Moment was a usf.

[Big Cat]

Oh, most of your boxed wine consumption.

[Zach]

Yeah, it was a usf.

[PFT Commenter]

You're a Franzia guy.

[Zach]

Probably barefoot.

[PFT Commenter]

Barefoot box.

[Big Cat]

Oh, man, you're gonna be just fine. Filling in for the Midwest, I can already tell.

[Hank]

Also Tom or the West.

[Big Cat]

Sorry, Tom.

[Hank]

Is those. No, I. I think we're. We're getting caught up. Tom Nizzo's town is famous for bat viewing.

[Big Cat]

Oh, he lives.

[Hank]

He grew up in a mountain. In the mountains.

[Big Cat]

Okay, all right, keep going.

[Zach]

Zach Luba's co coach, Pat Kelsey, in his headshot, he's got Mike McDaniel fit on big glasses. They're also both five foot nine.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, good.

[Zach]

Titans Cal Baptist. A majority of their campus lies under clay ta roofs, which have a fantastic longevity of life. Roughly 40 to 50 years.

[Max]

Really?

[Zach]

Some great curb appeal there. And you just don't see that at scale much with the clay tile roofs.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, Mission style housing.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Zach]

For Kansas. You know, despite the recent narrative that Joan B. Doesn't play, this Kansas alum only missed seven games his entire college career, playing 80% of total games.

[Big Cat]

Wow.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, he did.

[Big Cat]

He played at Kansas City when he was at Kansas.

[PFT Commenter]

He played a lot.

[Zach]

Yeah, 80%.

[PFT Commenter]

So he's very healthy.

[Zach]

Decently healthy. He did hurt his back towards the end, though.

[Max]

Yeah, he was out for.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah. But he got better after that.

[Max]

No,

[Big Cat]

keep going, Zach.

[Zach]

I can do that. Tcu, their first matchup was against Ohio State. They've never won against Ohio State in the men's basketball. They played four times, all in the 1960s though. So TCU due for a win.

[Big Cat]

Yep.

[Zach]

Ohio State. We all know the Buckeye is Ohio State's mascot. The Ohio State Buckeye tree habitat, though, is currently being forced out of Ohio Driven Northern towards Michigan. Their mascot is actively fleeing the state, which is bad energy for the tournament.

[Big Cat]

It really is.

[PFT Commenter]

That is tough.

[Big Cat]

That's good fact.

[PFT Commenter]

Do. Do Ohio State players, do they get Buckeye stickers? And if so, where do they put them?

[Big Cat]

I don't know.

[PFT Commenter]

We should. I'm going to text Titus and see. Yeah, I need to know that.

[Big Cat]

Okay, keep going, Zach.

[Zach]

CNN Starting forward Francis Full Fact seems to be incredibly locked in on basketball and not any off court distractions because he's only got one post on Instagram the last several years. And it's all about basketball. All about basketball and Duke. John Shire, the current Coach of Duke basketball won Glenbrook North High School a State Championship in 2005, averaging 33 1/2 points per game. If a team associated with Shire needs a player averaging that many points to win, Duke stands no chance because their current leading score only averages 22.5. And Cameron Boozer.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Yeah.

[Max]

Bucket.

[Big Cat]

White Mike.

[Hank]

White Mike.

[Big Cat]

All right. Good job, Zach. Way to go. All right. I'm going to rip the South. Here we go. Florida. First up, the 1 seed, Florida. They have the tallest player in the history of college basketball. When he got into a game earlier this year, Oliver Ryu. He's from Montreal. French guy, Olivier Rue. Olivier Rue, tallest player. He also said that he can put his head, his leg behind his head, which is pretty crazy. And he can draw. That was his fun facts on the I got deep onto the Florida fun facts on the roster page. Florida has a player named A.J. brown. Max. And guess what his favorite non basketball player is.

[Max]

AJ Brown.

[Big Cat]

Christian McCaffrey.

[PFT Commenter]

Smart guy.

[Big Cat]

No, actually it is the AJ Brown. He listed it as AJ Brown. Also Isaiah Brown on the team said that if they they. One of the question was if you wanted to. If you had a superpower. A lot of teleportation from the Florida basketball team. Isaiah Brown said Iron Man. Isn't Iron man just a rich guy?

[PFT Commenter]

Iron Man's a rich guy with a cool suit.

[Big Cat]

So that's not even a superpower. That's just being a rich guy.

[PFT Commenter]

He just wants a cool suit.

[Hank]

Smart, smart guy too.

[Big Cat]

So Isaiah Brown maybe maybe think of something different like being invisible or something. All right. They're going up against Lehigh.

[PFT Commenter]

I can't believe Olivier Rue can put his leg behind his head. Isn't that crazy that that should not happened?

[Big Cat]

He didn't have to add and I can draw. No, that was his two facts.

[PFT Commenter]

Like this dude with his. If I saw this dude putting his leg behind his head, I. It would just be an alien. Yeah, I would. I would leave that room.

[Big Cat]

He's two full inches taller than the second tallest guy to ever playing college basketball, Kenny George.

[PFT Commenter]

I just wish that they'd play him more. I love it when that guy gets out there.

[Big Cat]

Lehigh. Lehigh. They have a wrestling, a legendary wrestling stadium called the Snake Pit. Just thought that was cool. My brother in law went to Lehigh also. Jesse Reno invented the escalator in 1891 he went to Lehigh. Not that cool because I think he's just like. He kind of like accidentally invented it. The cool thing about Jesse Reno, his dad was also by the same name. Jesse Reno, his dad Was a general in the Civil War and he was known as a soldier. Soldier, badass.

[PFT Commenter]

That's nice.

[Big Cat]

Died in combat, was a general, fought with the boys.

[PFT Commenter]

That's a good dude.

[Big Cat]

Would always go and fight with the boys, even though he's a general.

[PFT Commenter]

That's a good dude.

[Big Cat]

They're playing Prairie View, so we already know what's gonna happen.

[PFT Commenter]

What'd you mean by Lehigh? The guy accidentally invented the escalator, I think.

[Big Cat]

I. I was reading about it and it's like he kind of invented it, but it's like it wasn't really perfected.

[PFT Commenter]

So maybe. So he's just like an all time lazy guy. Yeah, he was like, this sucks. Taking the stairs.

[Big Cat]

There actually was a moment where I had a interesting dual. Dual stats on LE because they're on online. It claims that Lehigh created. Invented the Turkey Trot. So that would be like the duality of man forcing you to run and the escalator. But turns out the Turkey trot was invented like 50 years earlier in Buffalo. Prairie View. So this game's happening tonight. Prairie View. The only thing I have on Prairie View, they own the longest against the spread. Winning streak currently at 11 games dating back to Valentine's Day. Okay, so maybe you should have bet on them. Maybe not. We don't know what happened.

[PFT Commenter]

If you would bet $1 on Prairie View University on Valentine's Day, as is custom.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right. Clemson, Iowa. Clemson has one of the best names in the entire tournament, But a Johnson is his. His birth name is Ephraim, but he goes by Butter. He's listed as Butter. B, U, T, T, A.

[PFT Commenter]

Love it.

[Big Cat]

They also have probably the whitest white guys possible in terms of names. They have a Chase, Blake, Jake, Carter, and Tretino.

[PFT Commenter]

That's a lacrosse team.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I was just going down. I was like, how the. You can't have a Chase, Blake and Carter.

[PFT Commenter]

Chase, Blake, Carter, Trent and.

[Big Cat]

And Jake.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, that's. That's an AWL team.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. They also have a Nick as well, but still. Chase, Blake, Jake, Carter, Trent. Iowa. Slowest team in. The second slowest team in the. In the tournament. Northern Iowa is the slowest. It's nuts too, because this is. This is actually important thing for people to listen to because if you were tuning in for the first time since last year or the year before, I was 357th in pace under Fran McCaffrey. They were one of the fastest teams. He was 16th in pace. So just be ready. Iowa goes so, so slow. They used to go fast. They are so, so slow. Also, Ben McCollum, their coach. Very good coach. He's from Iowa City. And his claim to fame before he became a really good basketball coach was that he learned all the names of the 99 counties in Iowa in alphabetical order when he was in high school.

[PFT Commenter]

That's like some shit that a guy that finishes fifth in the presidential primary would say.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So that's Ben McCollum.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

By the way, credit to me. I didn't do any. Clemson is a cult. Facts. I think we did that last year.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, but they are a cult.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Oh, for sure. Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt. Turns out Vanderbilt. So the. The name. I was like, why are they the Commodores? Cornelius Vanderbilt was nicknamed the Commodore. Pretty badass nickname. Shipping family. People don't talk enough about the Vanderbilts. Just squandering all their wealth. The Rockefellers are still rich. The Vanderbilts just. They're broke boys.

[Max]

What?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. What happened with that?

[Big Cat]

They just. They just it up.

[PFT Commenter]

What do they invest in?

[Big Cat]

I don't know, but they it up. The Vanderbilts are not wealthy anymore.

[PFT Commenter]

How do you. How do you get wealthy and then become, like a major property owner in Nashville and then not make money?

[Big Cat]

I don't know. Vanderbilt. So like, Rockefellers keep doing it. Vanderbilt's not so much. They're going up against McNeese. McNeese. Amir Khan, you might remember him, the viral boombox trainer from last year. He has made $3.7 million in nil.

[PFT Commenter]

No, no.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, No, I made that up. But it sounded cool, right? That sounded like a cool, fun fact. It's, like, almost believable. Also, for this game, you might want to take the over because Vandy is 10th in the tourney in total free throw attempts, and McNeese is 19th. And Vandy also has the fifth most personal fouls of any tourney team and McNeese ranks 13th. So we might get a lot of clock stoppage free throws.

[PFT Commenter]

The line. Good. I like that.

[Big Cat]

Okay, Troy, Nebraska, big one here. Are you guys ready for a father's respect on the line? So we actually had on Wake Up Barstool today we had Scott Cross, the coach of Troy. And I was doing some research on him. So we're about to talk with Titus about the whole tournament. Fred Hoiberg's son Sam plays a very important part on Nebraska. Turns out Scott Cross's son Austin plays for him. Austin Cross. So I think this has to be like, loser is a bad dad. And I actually proposed this to Scott Cross. He giggled a little bit, but I don't think he loved It. I was like, are you willing to put your reputation as a father on the line in this game? Because we got two coaches sons going up against each other and on top of that, we an assistant coach on Troy. Scott Campbell.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

He's got ginger twins on the team.

[PFT Commenter]

That's crazy. That's a lot of. That's a lot of blood.

[Big Cat]

So he's got Kobe and Cooper Campbell. So there's three. There's three sons from the coaching staff of Troy.

[PFT Commenter]

I think that it should. It maybe not like who's the worst?

[Big Cat]

That.

[PFT Commenter]

Who is the worst? Coach's son's dad.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Just like cloak it a little bit.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, we'll give you that award.

[Big Cat]

Sam Hoiberg is a senior and. And Austin Cross is a freshman. So it's not a little. It's not fair. But I'm. I told Scott Cross when I brought this up, I was like, I'm willing to have it be Scott Campbell's twins because they actually played meaningful minutes. Also just a weird one because I was looking, I was like, there's no way. Nebraska also has twins. They have Cooper and Jacob Coke. Same exact last name. No relation whatsoever.

[PFT Commenter]

That there's two Cokes.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it's crazy.

[PFT Commenter]

That is wild.

[Big Cat]

Two white guys from Iowa named Coke. No relation whatsoever. Both play basketball on the Iowa or on the sorry Nebraska team because I

[PFT Commenter]

think their last name and Iowa be popping. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

No, it's Coke. It's spelled the. The Koch.

[PFT Commenter]

Got it. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Okay. UNC vcu. UNC Caleb Wilson was six best plus minus the nation. He's not gonna be playing. Sucks a lot. UNC Feels like they are just limping into this vcu. I just got famous alums. Jay Pharaoh didn't know that. And also Susan Higgin Higginbottom author and attorney.

[PFT Commenter]

Sounds hot.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it's cool. Last name. What do you got there, Max? What was the thought?

[Max]

That was just thumbs up. Thumbs up fact.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, thumbs up. Also just a fun fact about UNC that I like to share because it shows how cool of a guy Dean Smith was. The legendary coach. When Dean Smith passed away, he had his estate send a letter to every single player and 200 saying, enjoy a dinner on me.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

36, 000 total in money. No chance. Coach K don't does that.

[PFT Commenter]

I think that's an awesome thing.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, very awesome. Also VCU has a guy named Lazar Djokovic, but it's spelled a L a Z a R. I'm just gonna say he's Laser. A Laser and that's a common Serbian name. Serbians are doing names better than us.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Laser Joker. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Illinois. Illinois. Tom Fornelli has complained multiple times that we don't talk about Illinois enough. And that was my fact for Illinois. No, I actually have one. One fact for Illinois. They're. They're the most ethical team in the tournament. And I mean that by. They were actually number one. Offensive efficiency. They're number two now because Purdue beat Michigan on Sunday. But Illinois is dead last in steals and second to last in personal fouls.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

They play it. They play you straight up. They don't. They play it the right way. They're not trying to steal the ball from you.

[PFT Commenter]

I like it. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Let the. Let the best. Let the best team win.

[Big Cat]

They're not trying to foul. They're not trying to steal the ball. We're all like, hey, we're just going to play this game ball and hoop.

[PFT Commenter]

We're all out here trying to make shots.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

We're not going to do anything to you that we wouldn't want you to do to us.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Penn, they got a lot of. A lot of Eastern Europeans. Yeah. On Illinois.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So much so that I. I mistook it and I. I believe I said, Mom. Silovich was on, but they do have so many itches.

[Big Cat]

Yes, they got a lot of itches. Penn. Fran McCaffrey, fifth team. He's taken to the tournament, which is pretty nuts. Lehigh, UNC Greensboro, Siena, Iowa. And. And they have the combo of TJ power and cam thrower. Both shooting over 42% from 3.

[Hank]

Pretty cool.

[PFT Commenter]

Also, respect to the Quaker religion.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

That we don't get enough shine. Representation matters.

[Big Cat]

Penn's gonna get killed. St. Mary's Randy Bennett, coach of St. Mary's third longest tenured coach in the tournament. Only beat out by Mark Few and Tom Izzo. He's only been to one sweet 16, so maybe this year they can. They can get back there. That'd be a nice story.

[Hank]

Also.

[Big Cat]

I just always forget that St. Mary's is 10 miles from Oakland.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I don't know why I always just kind of. In my head, in my. The map in my head, St. Mary's is Southern California.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, no. In my. The map in my head, they are just outside of Perth.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

They're in. They're actually in Australia.

[Big Cat]

Yes. Texas A and M. Bucky ball. Just say buckyball if you're watching the Texas A and M game at a bar. Bucky McMillan, their coach. They play an awesome style. High tempo press Shoot a ton of threes. He calls it systematic chaos. You can call it Bucky ball. It's fun.

[PFT Commenter]

And also credit to you for not saying that Texas A and M is a cult.

[Big Cat]

Thank you. I got the cult.

[PFT Commenter]

Two for two.

[Big Cat]

I got the cult region. And then Houston, Idaho. I had nothing other than Houston's gonna kill him. I'm take Houston first half and full game. Idaho is named the Vandals because they had a team in 1917 that was so good defensively. They vandalized the ball. What? Yeah, they vandalized the other team.

[PFT Commenter]

So they took away the ball.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, graffiti. That's why. All right, Zach, clean me up.

[Zach]

The Iowa first. First official women's basketball Coach appointed in 1902. Shout to women.

[Big Cat]

Oh, okay.

[Zach]

Vanderbilt's located just one and a half miles from the heart of Nashville, making it the closest in proximity to the most bachelorette parties ever.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Zach]

McNeese is 15 and oh this year at home. Thankfully for the other teams in the tournament, McNeese does not have any more home games on the schedule.

[Big Cat]

Yep.

[Zach]

VCU took roughly 30 million bricks to build the VCU campus. It is incredibly clay and sand, heavy masonry.

[Max]

Masterclass for Nebraska. He has Nebraska on the left for the school. And then the fact is. Nebraska.

[Big Cat]

Yeah,

[Max]

I couldn't let you skip that one.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Troy Ways rerouted me, my dad a few times. And as a result, on our road trip to Chicago, we did get to pass by and see Troy.

[Big Cat]

Oh, cool. Yeah, that's pretty awesome.

[PFT Commenter]

Alabama.

[Zach]

We got really rerouted. Our drive was 23 hours. My dad has disavowed ways since.

[Big Cat]

Oh, man.

[Zach]

Deleted it off his phone.

[PFT Commenter]

Great.

[Zach]

One of the funnest times I've ever had in a car, though.

[Mark Titus]

What a ride. Yeah.

[Zach]

Great Texas A and M guy you sell cars with. His name is Jared. Went to Texas A and M. Shout out to Jared.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Respect. And was he good?

[Zach]

Yeah, he's.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Like six, seven. He's probably Hooper.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, I mean, it's selling cars.

[Zach]

Oh. Also good at selling cars. Yes.

[Big Cat]

Nice.

[Zach]

He's a finance office guy.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, yeah. That's where they get you. That's where you get banked.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Insurance.

[Zach]

Same areas. 46 different outdoor benches on campus. Phenomenal amount of seating.

[Big Cat]

That's awesome.

[PFT Commenter]

So many benches.

[Zach]

And then lastly, North Carolina. The hex code for North Carolina's powder blue is pan. Pantone is a hashtag 7b afd4.

[PFT Commenter]

It's a great one.

[Big Cat]

Love that.

[PFT Commenter]

It's an all time one. Hall of fame.

[Big Cat]

Great work. Okay. Before we get to the rest of the brackets and fun facts. DraftKings. Every March tournament delivers the unexpected. Bracket breaks. Upsets happen. Nothing goes exactly as planned this year, DraftKings sportsbook is leaning into the chaos with a mystery reward you'll never see coming. All customers guaranteed rewards every single round. Opt in and boom. A single use mystery promotion drops straight into your account. What is it? That's the fun part. You won't know until it's yours. And whatever it is, it could flip your entire tournament strategy. So one thing we can tell you. Each round, there will be a new mystery offer valid for the men's and women's tournament. Tournament is unexpected, but round by round, you're guaranteed an offer. Opt in today at DraftKings Sportsbook. Your mystery reward is waiting. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app now. Use code TAKE. That's code TAKE. To get opt in and claim your Mystery reward at DraftKingsSportsbook in partnership with DraftKings Sportsbook. The crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MYRESET New York, call 877-8-HOPE and WHY or text HOPE and WHY. Connecticut, call 888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org on behalf of Boothill Casino in Kansas. Wager tax pass through may apply in Illinois, 21 and over in most states. Void. In Ontario, restrictions apply. Bonus bets expire seven days after issuance. For additional terms and responsible gaming resources, see sportsbook.draftkings.com promos Limited time offering. We're gonna do a quick parlay that you can bet with us on the DraftKings sportsbook app. I will go with. I'm gonna go Houston first half minus 13 and a half.

[Hank]

Okay, I'm gonna go Arkansas team total under 87 and a half.

[Big Cat]

I like that.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm gonna go Michigan State minus 16 and a half.

[Big Cat]

Okay, so go bet with us on DraftKings sportsbook. Zach, you wanna do the West? Hank, do you have.

[Hank]

I got the West. We got most of the West.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

Arizona, Bryce James looking to become the first NCAA champion in the family.

[Big Cat]

Yep.

[Hank]

See the clip of him after they won the their conference championship? No, he was in his sweats. Obviously he wasn't playing. But before they took the picture, he ripped off his sweats.

[Big Cat]

Savvy move.

[Hank]

Class classic move. Also, the first live mascot, Tom Easter, accidentally hung himself in 1915.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, what kind of mascot?

[Hank]

I'm assuming a bunny because his name was Tom Easter. I don't really know. I just didn't Know sadly hung himself leading to a tradition of hiring or finding feline mascots until moving to a costume version.

[PFT Commenter]

But that you remember when the Denver the Nuggets mascot hung himself. That was an ugly moment. NBA history.

[Hank]

The campus also used to have a nuclear reactor. So injuries Long island their mascot. Now filling the Shark fins up. They used to be the liu Brooklyn Blackbirds and the LIU Post Pioneers. So there's a little fun facts for when the fins are upping.

[Big Cat]

Yep.

[Hank]

Shocking the world.

[PFT Commenter]

Brooklyn back Blackbirds is actually pretty sick name. Yeah.

[Hank]

Villanova, they have a tradition. Maxwell. Like this one kind of makes sense. They have a tradition of naming parts of the campus after cookies. I. E. The Oreo.

[Max]

Familiar with the Oreo?

[PFT Commenter]

What's the Oreo?

[Max]

I'm. Listen, I'm curious of the other parts of the campus that are named after cookies.

[Big Cat]

Well, you just said the Oreo.

[Max]

Yeah, the. Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

They got back.

[Big Cat]

Did you ever name any of them?

[Max]

I did not.

[Big Cat]

Oh.

[Hank]

They've also had a student athlete or alumni in every single Summer Olympics for over 20 consecutive games.

[Big Cat]

Whoa. That's pretty cool.

[PFT Commenter]

It is very cool.

[Hank]

Utah State. Their head coach, Jared Calhoun is a Bob Huggins disciple. They're very mad about their seating, so they're going to be, you know, chip on their shoulder, top 30 offense, top 50 defense. Thought they're going to be a 6 or 7 seed, so there's someone to look out for. And unlike byu, which is owned and operated by the LDS Church, Utah State is a public university and does not have the same religious requirements for students.

[Big Cat]

Cool.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, this is like the bad boy.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Utah schools, you can have.

[Hank]

You can have Dr. Pepper, Wisconsin. I have Kamari McGee, played for Wisconsin last year, average six points per game, and is probably the greatest basketball player I've ever seen in person. So if he wasn't scoring, like, I think their. Their team is stacked. Yeah, he was that good. And not even that significant of a impact on the team.

[PFT Commenter]

But I mean, how lucky is is High Point that he's not there?

[Max]

Yeah, he's so good.

[Big Cat]

McGee for showing up to the stream.

[Hank]

And they Wisconsin invented modern stem cells.

[Big Cat]

Love that.

[PFT Commenter]

That's kind of cool. Yeah.

[Hank]

High Point. I have. They give free ice cream to their students.

[PFT Commenter]

Yep.

[Hank]

Bad sign for Big Cat.

[Big Cat]

It's fine. Listen, we give free ice cream here to our students.

[Mark Titus]

I know.

[Hank]

I'm saying you're like. It's. It's just. I don't know, it's just a bad. I feel like it's a bad sign.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

You're going up against.

[Max]

You're going up against the cream.

[Big Cat]

I've already talked about it. Yeah. I'm going up against free ice cream school.

[PFT Commenter]

It's cream. Yeah, Cream.

[Hank]

Arkansas.

[PFT Commenter]

They think they could stop. A bad guy with an ice cream cone is a good guy with an ice cream cone.

[Hank]

They had women's basketball before men's. So they had women's basketball. 1910s shout out women in 1923. And they have over three miles of campus sidewalks that are engraved with the names of every graduate since 1876.

[Mark Titus]

Six. That's cool.

[Hank]

Creating one of the largest monuments to alumni in the world called the senior walk.

[Big Cat]

If one of those guys does something

[PFT Commenter]

bad, do they have to. Yeah. Do they dig up the brick?

[Hank]

You got to think since 1876, there's been some.

[Big Cat]

Some bad.

[PFT Commenter]

Some bad guys from Arkansas. No.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Hitler was a razorback.

[PFT Commenter]

Why do they call him Razorbacks?

[Hank]

The team originally had other nicknames, but in 1909 a coach said his players fought like a wild band of Razorback hogs. The name stuck and became one of the most recognizable mascots in college sports.

[Big Cat]

Look at that. You had it right on the rip.

[PFT Commenter]

Hog up.

[Hank]

Way to go, Hawaii.

[Big Cat]

Hog line taking to the hog.

[PFT Commenter]

I do love the hogs.

[Big Cat]

Hawaii.

[Hank]

This. This ties into the. The draftkings parlay we just did. They held their opponents to 75 or fewer points 22 times this season and are 22 and 1 when doing so. So the Arkansas team total on draftkings is 87 and a half. If somehow Hawaii can d up and hold them 75 or fewer. Pretty much a guaranteed win.

[Big Cat]

I like that pick.

[Hank]

And the head coach has a twin brother who's a high end fashion designer.

[Big Cat]

Oh, so that's cool.

[Hank]

Twins and twins not always going to go the same path.

[PFT Commenter]

What? What fashion design?

[Hank]

Just high end.

[PFT Commenter]

Super, super high end. Like we probably wouldn't even know.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm more interested.

[Big Cat]

We don't understand high end fashion.

[PFT Commenter]

Max is cookies.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So you would just like point to like a street lamp. Be like butter. Butter.

[Max]

This for sure has nothing to do with me.

[PFT Commenter]

Would you. You point to your bedroom. That's the cream pie.

[Max]

I never. I never lived on campus.

[Big Cat]

A bench Twinkie.

[Max]

None of these things are accurate. Now we're giving. Now we're giving false facts. You started with fun facts.

[Big Cat]

Now it's false.

[PFT Commenter]

Now you're welcome to. You're exhausted because you're on a diet. And then you see the bank and you're like thin mint.

[Max]

Needle. Needle.

[Mark Titus]

Gang.

[Big Cat]

Oh, man.

[Hank]

Byu. AJ Deep. And I'M gonna that last name up. Brockton legend. Massachusetts.

[PFT Commenter]

Sounds Italian.

[Hank]

Was the Massachusetts Gatorade player as a freshman in high school. Impressive. And then he went to California in high school in Utah, which. Bizarre.

[PFT Commenter]

I. I have a conspiracy theory that I'm. I've been mulling over the last few weeks here. There are so many Mr. Basketballs. There can't possibly be this many Mr. Basketballs out there.

[Hank]

50.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. No, it feels like there's more, right?

[Hank]

Well, it's probably different years and.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. But there's so many Mr. Basketballs.

[Big Cat]

Being Mr. Basketball would be so sick. So sick.

[Hank]

They have hit their first half over in five. Their last six games like that. Something to think about.

[Big Cat]

It's a roll over over.

[Hank]

And beards have been banned since 1960s. That's brutal.

[Big Cat]

The Yankees.

[Hank]

Coffee, tea, alcohol, premarital sex banned.

[PFT Commenter]

What about leggings?

[Big Cat]

But beards is really the bad part.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Roughly one out of every four students on campus is married. Around 55 to 63% of BYU students are married by graduation in some studies. Crazy.

[Big Cat]

I guess credit to BYU like for speaking for the guys in the room. In this room that have beards. Kind of like you.

[Max]

Wait, did you say beards or beers?

[Big Cat]

Beards.

[PFT Commenter]

Hey, what are you saying? Are you using a D or not?

[Hank]

B, E, A, R, D, S. You're saying beards.

[Big Cat]

No, you're saying beards. So for the guys in this room that have beards, like if you ban beards, you don't also have to ban premarital sex. We're not gonna have sex if we have to shave our face.

[Max]

Yeah, no, that would be very good for me.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. A little redundant.

[Max]

I've long said. I've long said if the Yankees tried to sign me right now I wouldn't do it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I've seen a lot of Mormon women. There are. Some of them would qualify as beards.

[Big Cat]

What about. What about gay guys who have fake girlfriends? Are those allowed?

[PFT Commenter]

That's what I was getting at.

[Hank]

I think. I don't follow the. This is a secret lifes with Mormon wives.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

I think like their star just got arrested or some has some crazy conspiracy going on. That's. That's fun.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Fun for the morms.

[PFT Commenter]

Flying over Provo. I've never been there. Flying over. It looks like heaven on earth. It looks like just an incredible place. Like you got the lakes.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

You got the hills. It looks amazing.

[Big Cat]

I was just gonna say I've been there, but I have not.

[PFT Commenter]

I've been to Utah and that's where University of Utah. That's where they have the nuclear reactor, right?

[Big Cat]

You think so?

[PFT Commenter]

Danny Ainge, legend are Utah State, maybe

[Big Cat]

People are very nice. By the way, I was lashing out on the bracket reveal show on Sunday and being like, it's that we got. BYU got a better draw just because it can't play on Sundays. Like, it's religion. And then I had a bunch of BYU fans be like, dude, what's your problem? You're spreading false facts. And I replied to one of them. I was like, yeah, man, I was just lashing out for no reason. I don't really care. And he was like, respect. Love the show. It's like, that was a really nice exchange.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, is that, that is true though, right?

[Hank]

No, they can't.

[Big Cat]

But I was just. Basically, it has nothing to do with Wisconsin seed, but yes, they cannot play on Sunday. Yeah, they've actually gotten screwed over by it more often than not. Like, they've gotten oversee. They've gotten worse seeds because of their restrictions.

[PFT Commenter]

What? How does, like, Kyle Van Noy get around that? Respect?

[Big Cat]

I think it's just a school. They're not allowed to.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, but it's not like a command religion, Correct?

[Big Cat]

Okay, keep going.

[Hank]

Gonzaga has one of the smallest campuses of a basketball powerhouse. Despite their huge basketball reputation, they only have 7, 000 undergraduates.

[Big Cat]

Are they a powerhouse? Has everybody to a Final Four?

[PFT Commenter]

They have not.

[Hank]

They have

[PFT Commenter]

how many?

[Big Cat]

Well, we're doing the fake facts again. Let's do it again so Max sees.

[Max]

No, we're not doing this again. Get, get your jokes in now, boys.

[Hank]

Kennesaw State, maybe a team of destiny.

[Big Cat]

Okay?

[Max]

They stink.

[Hank]

Well, their leading scorer got suspended. He was like, in one of the, the gambling, you know, controversies. He got indicted. But they rallied. They won their Conference USA championship. Team of destiny.

[PFT Commenter]

Max disagrees.

[Max]

I, I, they're leading.

[Hank]

They're leading. They're leading score. Getting suspended and still making the tournament. That's. That's Team of Destiny vibes, is it not? That's like championship dvd.

[Max]

Yeah, that seemed. I just watched that, that championship game because I had the under on, and I was like, this is just the worst basketball I've ever seen before in my life.

[Hank]

Muck it up.

[Big Cat]

But maybe muck it up.

[Hank]

And then Purdue versus Queensland. Purdue. Their campus is home to Hugh Hefner's Playboy DC9 aircraft. What does that look like? PFT. It's a, it's a big plane known as Big Bunny.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Which was used in the 1970s as a luxurious mansion in the sky. It Featured a bedroom with a fur covered bed and was staffed by Playboy. Benny's cool. I don't know why they would want that on campus, but they do.

[PFT Commenter]

That is the second most controversial jet in Big Ten history. The first being the Lolita Express that Les Wexner flew on all the time.

[Hank]

And then for Queens, the Royals. That's their mascot or that's their. Their team name. Makes Sense. They're averaging 85 points per game. They shoot more than 28 threes per game, hitting at a 36% clip. Their coach in college made over 40% of his three point shots in collegiate career. So three point, you know, that's their policy.

[PFT Commenter]

That's their policy.

[Hank]

That's their policy.

[PFT Commenter]

Threes in 3Z.

[Big Cat]

All right, Zach, Any others?

[Zach]

Contrary to popular belief, Purdue University has no relation to Purdue Farms, the poultry company. They do chickens, breasts and chicken tenders. Purdue University does computer science and agriculture.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Zach]

Miami. A Bell danger has not yet confirmed her attendance for the tournament. Kansas State has a double campus. It's 100% more campus than other campuses. Yeah, that's in the metro Atlanta area. Hawaii. My best friend Nick has family in Hawaii, but he decided to go to Florida State.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, that's Hawaii. That's probably the farthest from Magic City.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, Nick respects women.

[Zach]

Yeah, Nick loves women. Respects women. And I think he's a flats guy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Zach]

So Arkansas definitely not Magic City, then maybe Magic's Edge. No.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, you can't. You can't say flats. Only when you go to Magic City.

[Zach]

That's a good point. Arkansas psa. You do need to be worried if your school is playing against Arkansas with a bird theme mascot. Because Arkansas hosts the Duck Calling World Championships every year. Nobody knows birds like Arkansas.

[Big Cat]

Okay, hype.

[Zach]

Never mind. John. John Blackwell on Wisconsin.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. What was. What was the high point? One.

[Big Cat]

That is ice cream.

[Zach]

But I guess to add on to that, theirs is mobile. They have ice cream trucks. So like some of the other schools, stationary. They'll come to you.

[Big Cat]

Yeah,

[Zach]

Villanova just are a quick reminder. Power of the Pope.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Anything about naming things after cookies?

[Zach]

There may be like a Nutter Butter street. I'm not sure.

[Big Cat]

I've never been.

[PFT Commenter]

Not another butter. What is the Oreo, though?

[Mark Titus]

It's like a.

[Max]

It's like a meeting center in the middle. It's not like a meeting center. It's like a little quad area.

[Big Cat]

It's delicious.

[PFT Commenter]

Why do they call it the Oreo? It's a sculpture.

[Max]

There's a sculpture in the. Or like There's a sculpture that kind of looks like an Oreo that's like in the middle.

[Mark Titus]

It's like a little circle.

[Big Cat]

Got it. I don't.

[Mark Titus]

I'll show you a picture.

[Big Cat]

And you're like, I gotta. I gotta name this after a cookie to remember where. What it looks like.

[Max]

See, it looks like an Oreo.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, it's the bean. Yeah, it's. They have. They're being.

[Max]

Yeah, it's just like in the middle of campus.

[Mark Titus]

There's the Oreo.

[Big Cat]

All right, now pull up the Samoa.

[Max]

There's no.

[Mark Titus]

There's no Samoa.

[Big Cat]

All right, keep going, Zach.

[Zach]

Wisconsin's John Blackwell, guard. May he may own a Lamborghini. May not. But on Instagram, he frequently drives one. Oh, it's good for him. He goes fast.

[Big Cat]

Yep.

[Zach]

And I guess we can round it off with welcome Missouri here, Missouri alumni. Brad Pitt is the only Missouri alum in history to marry both Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Nice work.

[Big Cat]

That's really good.

[PFT Commenter]

Good work, Brad.

[Big Cat]

Okay, last region, Max. You're doing a great job, Zach, by the way. Oh, wait, say the Queens one I sent you.

[Zach]

Queens 1 is a good one. Queens is the first school beginning with the letter Q to make the NCAA men's tournament despite giving Quinnipek a 25 year head start. Join division.

[PFT Commenter]

That's pretty good. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

First school. Okay.

[Max]

All right. Midwest, we have Michigan. Michigan, I guess was just the best Big Big Ten team in the history of the Big Ten this year. First team to win 19 conference games. First Big Ten team in 50 years ago, undefeated on the road in conference. This, this is the. The fact that was really shocking. They still would have won the Big Ten outright this year if you only counted games that they won by double digits.

[PFT Commenter]

Wow.

[Big Cat]

But did they lose any games in the conference?

[Max]

They did so Wisconsin.

[Big Cat]

Oh, cool.

[Max]

And they also have a Big Ten record for victories by 40 points or more, which is seven. Seven games they won by 40 points or more. Domination. UMBC. They're playing the winner of UMBC versus Howard. UMBC. This is the first time coming back to the tournament since they upset Uva in a 161 situation. I don't know why I said situation.

[Big Cat]

They were in a situation.

[Max]

Their coach, Jim Ferry came from Liu. Fins up.

[PFT Commenter]

Any famous alumni at Michigan?

[Max]

Dave Portnoy is Larry. I don't even know if Larry Ellison. I. I think he.

[Big Cat]

No, it's his.

[PFT Commenter]

His girlfriend.

[Big Cat]

His girlfriend. Larry Ellison went to Illinois.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, his girlfriend. His girlfriend's like, hey, I'd like to second quarterback. You got A babe.

[Max]

Okay, that's cool. I thought he went there because he gives so much money to them and Tom Brady.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. Kind of a. Kind of a beta move to be like, spend so much money on your girlfriend school.

[Max]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

Although when you're Larry Ellison, it's no different than like for Larry Ellison. It's like your girlfriend saying, hey, can you buy me a new purse? Yeah, can you buy me a new $12 million quarterback? It's probably cheaper.

[PFT Commenter]

Can you give me an Underwood for

[Big Cat]

how much money he has?

[Max]

Yeah, for sure.

[PFT Commenter]

You think Tom Brady's rooting for. For Michigan or does he have a dog in the fight?

[Max]

I feel like he's probably rooting for Michigan.

[PFT Commenter]

You would think. Yeah.

[Max]

Yeah. He never probably should have played more at Michigan. He could hate Michigan.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. You never know.

[Max]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Like a guy like that.

[Max]

Umbc. Kathleen Turner went there. She. She's an actress.

[Big Cat]

Yep. Good for her. I know her.

[Max]

Howard. They won their last game, their last eight games by an average of 25 point. 25 points. They're beating the shit out of teams right now. They have a senior who got a lot of hype last year about maybe entering the transfer portal, but he decided to come back for one more year. And they have a powerhouse of alum from Howard. So many alum from Howard. Kamala Harris, Thurgood Marshall, Chadwick, Chadwick Boseman, Marlon Waynes and ex wife of Zach's so called best player in NBA history, Lala Anthony.

[Big Cat]

We don't. We don't say Kamala Harris's name around here. That might get Jerry o' Connell beat up.

[Max]

Right? That's good. That's a fair point.

[Big Cat]

We're gonna have to talk about that

[Max]

next. We got Georgia. They. Georgia scored 120 points in a game this year. I thought that's cool. That's so many points against Morehead State earlier in the year. Yeah, 120 points is so many points. That had to have been a very fun game. They're starting forward Kanan Catchings is a nephew of WNBA legend Tamika Catchings.

[Big Cat]

Oh, hell yeah. Right?

[Max]

Some notable Georgia alumni is Ryan Seacrest and coach and coach Taylor Kyle Chandler.

[PFT Commenter]

Ah, coach Taylor, Former prospective part of my take, guest Kyle Chandler.

[Hank]

All right, cool.

[Max]

St. Louis, we finally got Kareem Abdul Jabbar. We talked about this. Robbie Avila, leading scorer. I think he's only scoring like 12 points a game, but he's a leading scorer for St. Louis. They have, I think like six guys that average over eight points a game. It's the oldest university west of the Mississippi.

[Big Cat]

Huh.

[Max]

And their mascot is a Billiken. What is a Billiken? You may ask?

[Big Cat]

What is a billiken?

[Max]

I'm glad you asked because I have the answer. It is a mythical good luck figure that is a symbol of things, of things they ought to be, which is lame as hell. That's, that's a horrible.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, it's a bad mascot. So it's like you always, always be wishing for something better.

[Max]

Yeah, they describe it. No, they describe it as a mascot of optimism.

[Big Cat]

What is a Billiken? Mo. What cookie does the Billiken remind you of?

[Mark Titus]

Probably just a chocolate chip cookie.

[Big Cat]

Oh, so you are good at this.

[Max]

That was, that was the most basic answer. And Jenna Fisher went to St. Louis.

[Big Cat]

Nice.

[PFT Commenter]

All right, Pam. It does make sense that it would be the oldest west. The Mississippi.

[Mark Titus]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

Because it's on the Mississippi. So it's like they probably cross and

[Big Cat]

they're like, okay, school right away.

[Max]

That's a good point.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it's a good point.

[Max]

Texas Tech. I was meaning to look up more, but I. All I have for Texas Tech is during finals week. They offer free late night pancakes between 10 midnight.

[Big Cat]

That's it for them. That's a great fact.

[Max]

That's, that's, that's what we got for Texas Tech.

[PFT Commenter]

Used to be in a dry county until pretty recently.

[Max]

Big Cat's assistant. Next we have Akron. And Big Cat's assistant, Dom went to Akron. So he gave me all of these facts.

[PFT Commenter]

I, I, let's not use it say he's, he's Dom. He's a partner.

[Big Cat]

He's a partner.

[Mark Titus]

No, he's.

[Big Cat]

No, I've made him a partner.

[PFT Commenter]

He's a partner.

[Hank]

No, no, that's.

[Big Cat]

I have made Big Cat made me

[PFT Commenter]

partner is what he said.

[Big Cat]

I made Dom a partner.

[Max]

So Dom said that to him. The most notable alumni of Akron is Mark Davis's right hand guy also a partner. Okay, that's not where I mean, he

[Big Cat]

very well could be. That, that sounds like a guy who might be a part.

[PFT Commenter]

A right hand guy for Mark Davis.

[Big Cat]

For an NFL owner.

[PFT Commenter]

I shouldn't have said that. Being a right hand guy, I shouldn't have. No, we got yo so many partners.

[Big Cat]

All right, keep going.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Max]

All right, I'm back. Their mascot is the most popular female mascot at all of sports. That's according to Dom.

[PFT Commenter]

Disagree. And I'm a blue hen guy.

[Max]

There was a big shot made in the, you know, the conference tournament by Shama Scott. He had a big buzzer beater to advance Akron his grandfather is Pastor D. Scott, who is also Trump's pastor.

[Big Cat]

Oh, okay, okay. And then you get political Max.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you have any tweets about that?

[Max]

I have a tweet from the pastor. Had a good call with the potus. We laughed, joked, and talked about several things, including the Akron Zips basketball team going to the dance. Said, I'll watch the game.

[PFT Commenter]

Very cool. Alabama, you think, wait, zero percent chance he watches this game?

[Max]

Yeah, I don't know. Maybe he likes sports. Alabama. I reached out to notable alumni Rico Bosco for some fun facts on Alabama. Unfortunately, he did not answer in time. So I'm just going to go with their second best player was arrested for first degree possession of marijuana. And he is now the fourth player to be arrested on the Alabama men's basketball team since 2023.

[PFT Commenter]

I saw an update to the story this morning. It was about 2 lbs.

[Big Cat]

2.

[PFT Commenter]

2.1 lbs. Not really that much potential. Like, it's. Pot is basically legal right now. I mean, if this was. If this was anywhere else. Let the actually.

[Big Cat]

Pft. I saw a bunch of people because I thought the same thing. But it actually would be illegal in 50 states.

[PFT Commenter]

No, all 50 states, but it's legal.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Having that much would be illegal in all 50.

[PFT Commenter]

That's a lot of weed.

[Big Cat]

It's a lot of. Lot of cush.

[PFT Commenter]

I mean, we did have Alex Caruso on this couch like a month ago, and he's a great friend of ours. I don't. I think that we should be willing to overlook minor marijuana infractions on this show.

[Big Cat]

You're giving NATO permission?

[PFT Commenter]

I'm giving NATO. If he can find a judge in town that will okay it.

[Big Cat]

All right, Keep going, man.

[PFT Commenter]

I think it'd be way funnier if he. If he just kept doing this.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

Next we got Hofstra. I. I personally attended Hofstra for two years. Two other people that also attended Hofstra were Marquis Colston, great wide receiver in the NFL for the Saints, and Bernie

[Big Cat]

Madoff and Stephen Che and Stephen J. Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

Bernie Madoff.

[Max]

Not as good of a guy. Yeah, this is.

[PFT Commenter]

But he made a lot of money, dude.

[Big Cat]

He could pick him.

[PFT Commenter]

He probably had a pretty good life. Like, let's be honest, Bernie Madoff, if you can. If you have the biggest Ponzi scheme in. In the history of the world, a great run. You had a solid 30 years.

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Where it was just eating high off the hog, just loving every day, waking up bright eyed, bushy tailed. They made a movie about you two. Yeah, two movies. Robert De Niro played in the movie.

[Big Cat]

Pretty cool.

[Max]

Yeah. All right. This is the first time that Hofstra has been back in the tourney since 2000 under coach Hank

[PFT Commenter]

the fastest mouse in all Mexico.

[Big Cat]

He's looking for Jay Wright.

[Max]

Jay Wright. Jay Wright was a coach the last time Hofstra made the tournament, but this isn't the last time they won the CIA. They unfortunately won the CAA in 2020, but weren't allowed to go because Covid canceled the tournament. Sucks for Hofstra. It's good that they're back. Shout out Hofstra. Hofstra hoops. A couple other fun facts. In 2016, the first baseman on their baseball team hit a home run against Manhattan College while simultaneously shitting his pants.

[Big Cat]

And also in 20, what was his first base name?

[Max]

This first baseman's name was Max Delnte. Also 2016, there was a very. I just want to shout out. There was a bar named Dizzy. Shout out. Dizzies.

[Big Cat]

Love that.

[Max]

It was a good bar. It unfortunately got shut down also in 2016.

[PFT Commenter]

Or.

[Max]

No, actually, that was in 2015, because there were undercover cops that went in and busted some people underage for being inside of that bar. I happen to be one of those people that were. That were underage and was there the last night of Dizzy's. Sorry about that. For everyone at Dizzy's.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, so you. You got Dizzy's closed down?

[Max]

I was one of. I was one of the culprits, Yes.

[PFT Commenter]

I hate that about you, Max. Yeah, that's my. That's my least favorite thing about you.

[Max]

Sorry. Meme said he's. He'd been to Dizzy Sue.

[PFT Commenter]

You could go there when you're, like, 15.

[Max]

Yeah, that was a thing with Disney's, for sure. Okay. Oh, Tennessee. Tennessee. I got these. These from our good friend Big T. Also alumni of Tennessee. The first one is their point guard, Jacoby Gillespie. His grandfather was a world champion drag racer. It's pretty cool.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I saw one. RuPaul.

[Max]

Yep. And Cade Phillips, who's an injured player for Tennessee, has gone viral on TikTok very recently for being hot. So I guess girls take videos of him while he's playing and says, say, this guy's really hot.

[PFT Commenter]

It's important to have one of those guys.

[Max]

Yeah, it's good to have one of those guys. Next we got Miami of Ohio notable alumni, Big Ben. They are an annoying school that say that they are the original Miami, even though they are obviously not the real

[Big Cat]

Miami, not the one that people think of.

[Max]

But their defense is that Miami, as A school was founded before Florida was even a state.

[PFT Commenter]

There you go. Love and honor.

[Max]

So whatever.

[PFT Commenter]

I have one more fun fact about Miami of Ohio.

[Max]

Yep.

[PFT Commenter]

It's from Mad Dog. She told me this fact. If you're ever at a bar and you see a really hot chick at that bar, she probably went to Miami Ohio.

[Big Cat]

That's.

[Max]

That's a great.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

She swears. She swears that. That's true.

[Big Cat]

Huh.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay, so just something to know, like, if you see if. If you're betting with your friends, like, where do you think she went to school? Miami Ohio. You'll win like 60% of the time.

[Max]

Love that. And apparently they. Miami Ohio also has a very cool bar on their campus, which I guess most. Most of these.

[Big Cat]

Correct.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Has his jersey retired in there?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

SMU has a guy named Boopy Miller. Awesome name. They don't tailgate at smu. They boulevard, which upon further research, looks exactly like a tailgate, but they just do it on a boulevard. And also, Larry Brown remains the only coach to win an NCAA title and an NBA championship. Not the current coach of smu. But a cool fact.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. All. It might be the number one MILF University. Smu.

[Mark Titus]

Love that.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

That's a good fact.

[Max]

I crowdsourced a lot of these. These facts.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

I had. I had a lot of alumni, Barstool alumni, because we're going on the UVA next. CrowdSource this one from alumni. Jake Malasek, who is Barstool employee, works for coach John Gruden. Jakari White has alopecia. And the students have created a kind of a group, a fan group for him. And they call themselves the Jacarmi. And they have a bunch of T shirts and all sit behind the basket. It's a bit. It's a cool thing. It looks like Jacarmi is a great name.

[PFT Commenter]

Does the Alopecia have to do with that?

[Max]

I don't know. This is this.

[PFT Commenter]

I thought it was going to be like, something to do with, like, raising awareness.

[Max]

I did, too, but I'm just. I'm just reading the.

[Mark Titus]

The.

[Max]

The facts that I got.

[PFT Commenter]

Malisek just wanted to include that one.

[Max]

Yeah. They have a freshman, Tys Deritter, who is 22, is a freshman.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Max]

There's a guy, Chance Mallory, who went to high school across the street from the campus. And Ryan Odom is their coach. And he was the coach of UMBC when UMBC beat uva.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Max]

Then we have. They're playing Wright State. They almost blew it in the Horizon League championship, but they Had a sick block to save. Save the game and advance them to the tournament. And they have an underground tunnel, that system that connects 21 of the 22 academic buildings so students don't have to walk in the cold in the winter.

[PFT Commenter]

Which sounds awesome.

[Big Cat]

That is awesome.

[PFT Commenter]

You could probably have some fun in those tunnels.

[Max]

Kentucky, a lot of boring basketball facts. Whatever.

[Big Cat]

That's good. That's a good fact.

[Max]

Yeah, that's fine.

[Big Cat]

We can go.

[Max]

One of. One of the facts I found was John Cal is a John Caliperi stat, which I probably shouldn't even. Shouldn't have even included. Oh, and they have more barrels of bourbon in the state of Kentucky than they do people.

[Big Cat]

Oh, that's cool.

[PFT Commenter]

That's very cool.

[Max]

All right, Santa Clara memes, you actually gave me most of these facts. You want to, you want to. You want to hop in?

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, wait, wait, wait. Read the Calipari stat. That's actually, it's kind of interesting.

[Max]

John Calipari, the longtime coach of the. Of Kentucky, coach a lot of NBA players in his time there. The players under Calipari have a total GDP of 5.8 billion, which is higher than the countries of Astani, Liberia, South Sudan and the US Virgin Islands.

[Big Cat]

Wow, that is.

[PFT Commenter]

That's crazy.

[Max]

That's a crazy stat.

[PFT Commenter]

That.

[Max]

That one was from Quigs. Quick sent me that one. Shout out Quick. Santa Clara. They're playing Santa Clara, which. Oh, wait, no.

[Big Cat]

Oh no.

[Max]

They are playing Santa Clara. This is Memes favorite team in the tournament because they play late at night and hit a lot of overs. First time making the tournament since 1998 when Steve Nash was there. And they have a guy named Sasha Sash who transferred from Nova and I liked him, but he never got any time at Nova.

[PFT Commenter]

Sash, I like herbs and deck too. He is like a old school Pittsburgh football guy that coaches basketball.

[Max]

Then we have Iowa. Safe. Tennessee State. Iowa State. Basically, I just want to talk about Milan Mancialovich because he's the. He might be one of the coolest guys in college basketball. He just absolutely dominates threes. There's a lot of debates going on online right now of who's had the best like three point season in college basketball. And it's between him and Steph Curry. He broke the Iowa State record for most made threes in a season. And he did that while shooting 49.6% from the field, which is. Which is the best three point percentage in the country. He made eight threes in a game four times this year.

[Big Cat]

Damn.

[Max]

Including the Big 12 semi final where they at they did lose Arizona, but he was insane.

[PFT Commenter]

So he is nasty. And I have loved watching him play, but I feel like I might. I might personally be the mom Silovich stopper, because every single time I think I've bet on his point total over five times this year, and it hasn't hit a single one of the times. So I just got to stay away.

[Max]

Yeah, you gotta stay.

[PFT Commenter]

I want to make a promise to all the clones out there. I. I'm staying away from betting Momcilovich points. Any prop, that's you. I'm not gonna touch it.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Last one, Tennessee.

[Max]

Last one, Tennessee State. First time back since 1994. They used to be known as Tennessee A and I and was an NAIA dynasty. They won three consecutive national championships from 57 to 59. And they were the first HBCU to win a national championship in basketball at any level.

[Big Cat]

Okay, good job. Clean us up, Zach.

[Zach]

I got some cleanup for us. Michigan, Michigan. Starting five lineup has a combined 26 syllables in their names. Average at best when it comes to syllables. Georgia University of Georgia has the highest rated dining hall of any state school that's competing in the tournament. They're 13 in the nation.

[Big Cat]

Wow.

[Zach]

Some notable options there. They have personal pizzas, customizable taco bowls and scratch milkshakes.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Zach]

Texas Tech, decent amount of moms. And the parents of class of 2025-2026. Texas Tech Facebook group saying Texas Tech is by far the longest tour they've been on by a long shot.

[Big Cat]

Wow.

[Zach]

Big campus, Akron. You know their mascot is a kangaroo. Fun fact. Kangaroos can walk. Can't walk or jump backwards due to their long feet. Hofstra keeps a presidential debate on him at all times. Only College to have three in a row. 2008, 2012 and 2016. Tennessee campus is located very close to the Tennessee Valley Authority. TVA nuclear assets players are some of the most likely in the tournament to develop adaptations due to the proximity of seven nuclear reactors.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Max]

When I was there during the Hofstra debate, I just wore a microni jersey around camp. Is all week that week the most college stupid college thing of all time.

[PFT Commenter]

That's what I did.

[Big Cat]

I love that. I love that.

[Zach]

I got a Kentucky. My friend Lloyd's dad, Big Lloyd.

[PFT Commenter]

Was that the Kin Bone debate?

[Max]

It was.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, it was.

[Big Cat]

All right.

[Max]

You had to win.

[Big Cat]

Fun fact.

[PFT Commenter]

Ken Bone got famous at hop. Most famous Hobster alumni.

[Max]

I did not attend the debate. You had to win a lottery to actually get inside the building. But there was a bunch of stuff Going around.

[PFT Commenter]

What do you think Kim Bone's doing?

[Big Cat]

Just hanging.

[PFT Commenter]

What's Ken up to? Don't want to know.

[Big Cat]

Hank the Bone zone sold about 10 of those shirts.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, Hank's right. That guy. Don't look too deep into that.

[Big Cat]

I want to hear Big Lloyd.

[Zach]

Oh, I've got. So my fact for Kentucky is my friend Lloyd, his dad, Big Lloyd, of course used to sit in his man cave in the garage and motherfuck Kentucky basketball. I ride with Big Lloyd. So if it's gotta be fuckin Tucky basketball, he also loves Jeff Gordon.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

Love that. Love Big Lloyd.

[Zach]

Santa Clara sits in the. She had big shot Big Lloyd. Love Big Lloyd. Great guy. All time guy, man. Santa Clara sits in the heart of Silicon Valley, or some call it the global hub of technology. So they may have access to tech that other teams just can't touch. And Tennessee State have got their next game is on a Friday against Iowa State. They played on one other Friday this entire season. UT Martin 6855 with the victory currently undefeated on Fridays. So if you're going off days of the week, Tasty State might take it. And then I've got Alabama. Respectively, some of the hottest women I've ever seen on Instagram all go to Alabama.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Big Cat]

On Instagram. Sydney Thomas is you're talking about.

[Zach]

They got. I mean they've got all of them and just hang them in the rafters.

[Big Cat]

She just. Everywhere. She just released her bracket. I love the March Madness official account. Just dropping random brackets. City. Thomas has Alabama.

[Max]

Illinois.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Young. No. Who's the young? Gravy is Young Gravy is that person. He has Wisconsin winning at all.

[Max]

MILF guy.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Huge. Okay, good job, boys. Let's do Hot Seat Cool Throne and then we'll talk some more actual basketball talk with Titus. Okay. Before we get to Hot Seat Cool Throne. Twisted Tea. Twisted Tea is a refreshing hard ice tea made with real Brewed tea and 5% alcohol. Twisted tea is the perfect drink to keep the good times going all day and all season long. Whether you're hanging out at a friend's house, catching a game at the stadium or at the bar, or day drinking with friends, Twisted Tea is there to turn your day up a notch and make a good time a great time. Grab a refreshing twisted Tea today. I'm trying to think of a moment from. We were talking about it in the gambling cave on Thursday. Pft. You and I. The Creighton Oregon game, double overtime from two years ago. That's a moment that could have used a twisted tea. We were, we were a lot of stress.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Could have had a twisted tea.

[PFT Commenter]

A great March moment.

[Big Cat]

Yes, a great March moment. So go get a twisted tea today. Real brewed tea and 5% alcohol. Grab a refreshing twisted tea today. Okay. Hank. Hot seat. Cool throne.

[PFT Commenter]

My hot seat.

[Hank]

I don't know if it's. It's Matt Leinert.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, disagree.

[Hank]

Disagree that it's an embrace debate.

[Big Cat]

I like this.

[Hank]

So he, his, his jersey number 11 is retired at USC, but the school is asking him to unretire his jersey for recruits who wanted it. Leonard said he'll never agree to that. I think it's hot seat. Just because they even ask, like, they're like, oh, he's not good enough. Maybe it was because of his pro career, I'm not sure. But the fact that the school thought it was even a possibility that he would unretire his number kind of means to me, he's on the hot seat. But I could see, I could see it either way.

[PFT Commenter]

So he did clarify this. And he said coach Riley, Lincoln. Riley has not asked him if a specific recruit can wear his number, but he has been asked in the past, and he said the same thing every time.

[Big Cat]

I think that's probably just a logistics thing because there's so many guys on the roster, like, they have to do double numbers anyway. So they're probably like, I wish we hadn't.

[Hank]

But when they're recruiting, you know, if they were a five star and he's like, I need to be number 11.

[Big Cat]

I would be, I'd be like, Matt Leonard. I would say, no, we got to

[PFT Commenter]

start opening up more numbers.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Here's the thing.

[Hank]

But if you're, if you're, if, if it's Wisconsin and you have an opportunity to get a great player as an alumni, don't you want to help your program?

[Big Cat]

I would maybe do. I would maybe say, oh, like, then you're here this time. But he has to be really good. If he's really. If he's not. If he doesn't pan out, I'm never doing it again. You get one shot.

[PFT Commenter]

I think that if your number is retired, your numbers, it's retired.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

The word retired is retired because. What do you mean something?

[Big Cat]

What if. What if number. What if he gives it up to a five star recruit and that recruit wins two Heismans? I agree. Then you're, then you just don't have a number anymore.

[Hank]

But don't you think it's kind of disrespectful to Even ask.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, no, I, I do.

[Hank]

It was like the, if he was like a Hall of Famer in the NFL that they would ask, I think

[Big Cat]

he might actually say yes. I mean, USC is what he has. That's not disrespect to Matt Liner. I love Matt Leiner, but like, he is. USC is his thing. I, I completely back him on saying no.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, he shouldn't be, he should never be asked like you should have. You should have too much, too much decorum to ask Matt Leiner if he's going to un. Retire his number for you.

[Max]

It.

[PFT Commenter]

What about. Is OJ's number still retired?

[Big Cat]

I don't know. Probably Google or.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, it says that. Yeah, number 32.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, let's get that one.

[PFT Commenter]

So get that. You got a perfectly good number 32.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, get that one going. Get that back in the mix.

[PFT Commenter]

That. That's what Matt should counter with. Yeah, yeah, I can't do my number. Best I can offer ZOJ Simpson.

[Hank]

My other hot seat is PFT for a couple reasons.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, a couple reasons.

[Hank]

Did you see what happened to your JMU Dukes rugby team?

[PFT Commenter]

I did not see what happened.

[Big Cat]

Wait, what? Whoa.

[Hank]

They lost to Southern Virginia? 122 to nothing.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, but remember, this could, this could maybe be a tie in second place or something.

[PFT Commenter]

Hang on, let me, let me do a little, a little digging. Where'd you see this?

[Hank]

A few different places.

[PFT Commenter]

Southern Virginia. Which school is that?

[Hank]

It's in Virginia, in the south region.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. You lost 122. Nothing.

[PFT Commenter]

Hey, I need to read about this story here.

[Big Cat]

You're gonna, you gotta do some digging.

[Hank]

They close the match with a 40 point run. Oh, 57, nothing at halftime.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, let me look. Listen, you sprung this on me. I need a chance to read about it.

[Big Cat]

Are you, are you reading?

[PFT Commenter]

I'm reading about it right now. Yeah.

[Hank]

All right, I'll let PFT read and then, and then.

[PFT Commenter]

All right.

[Hank]

Say my other reason.

[PFT Commenter]

It looks. It, it looks to me just by reading the game recap of this, that Southern Virginia might import a lot of players.

[Max]

Southern Virginia is 2 and 6 in the season.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, it looks like they might.

[Big Cat]

Now, are we gonna find another spin zone?

[PFT Commenter]

Are we talking about the same kind of. Oh, well, they lost to. Yeah, Life Universe. Life University is like the best Sevens team also. This is Life University. Yeah. So Life University is a chiropractic university in I think Georgia or Florida, but they have like one of the best rugby teams in the world.

[Max]

How about University of Mary Washington?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, Mary Washington. We played against them A couple times. This is Sevens, by the way.

[Big Cat]

Well, JMU had the flu. I'm looking right now.

[PFT Commenter]

I think it's Sevens Queens College.

[Big Cat]

Everyone on JMU had the flu.

[PFT Commenter]

I need to. I need to do some more research about this. We're going to regroup. We'll be fine.

[Big Cat]

JMU takes precautions with flu on the rise.

[PFT Commenter]

Social distancing.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that was from December 1, 2022.

[Zach]

But that.

[Big Cat]

When was this game played?

[Hank]

A couple weeks ago.

[PFT Commenter]

March 8th.

[Big Cat]

You don't know how long the flu lasts.

[Max]

March 6th.

[PFT Commenter]

Yes. Forever.

[Max]

March 6th, I guess was when this article was written. And then. And then, and then.

[PFT Commenter]

That's for. Listen, that's. That's ancient history. In fact, it's probably going to be good.

[Big Cat]

Has Jam you played another game since?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Look up JMU's schedule here.

[Big Cat]

This could be dangerous because we.

[PFT Commenter]

We're very good in rugby. Just like two years ago.

[Big Cat]

This could be dangerous if they played.

[Hank]

Is it like an nil thing? Do you need to get on and get on the horn?

[PFT Commenter]

I did give them a bunch of money when I was there. When I was there for the football game in the parking lot, they were tailgating. I was like, here's a thousand dollars. Go buy some beer. I don't know if that made it back to facilities.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

And then my other. My other hot seat for PFT was, you know, got a lot of skills, a lot of talents. Coaching basketball. Not one.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, no, I'll agree with that one. When it, I mean, when it comes to rugby. Listen, I built a legacy at jmu. I can't. It's a tough one for them to live up to sometimes. So I'm very aware of the shadow that I. That my talents cast over the program. It's like if your dad's Tiger Woods. Hard to become one of the best golfers in the world. That's why Charlie's so different, special when it comes to my basketball playing ability or my basketball coaching ability. Yeah, I did you guys a big disservice last night. I did. I got out. Coached by Roan big time. No, no excuses on my part now was kind of tough that it was going 15 to 2 and you guys were still committing turnovers and taking twos. Yeah, yeah, we did.

[Hank]

Pros versus Joe's. We were playing former college like all Americans. Tyler Hansboro, the Wisconsin kid we talked about earlier, but Kamari McGee.

[Big Cat]

We.

[Hank]

At one point I. I kind of knew we weren't going to win, but I was like, by the time we get to 15 verse four maybe we have a shot. 15 verse three. We should definitely win. We lost 15. We lost 15 Barstool employees versus three former college basketball players. And it was one of the most demoralizing.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Losses I've ever been a part of.

[Big Cat]

Great stream.

[Hank]

Yeah, I'm sure it's fun to watch.

[Big Cat]

I was having a great time watching. Yeah, I think, I think taking, taking twos when, when we have no one who can shoot was a, Probably a problem. And then. Yeah, I felt like there was not a lot of organization, but that's okay. Those guys are good. They. They're good at basketball.

[PFT Commenter]

We tried to organize, but coaching was, Coaching was pretty pointless last night. I could say anything. I could say anything and you guys would just go out there and just dribble and, and bounce it off your legs in the lane. That's.

[Hank]

Is that not a coaching concern?

[PFT Commenter]

Well, I would, I was screaming, no more dribbling. No more taking the ball into the paint.

[Max]

We could have had a better game plan.

[Big Cat]

I agree.

[Max]

We could have had a better game.

[PFT Commenter]

What would you have done, Max? I tried, I tried to switch team.

[Max]

We had, we were defending each other on offense.

[PFT Commenter]

That, that's a user issue.

[Max]

We, I, I see people, people. We needed less people on offense.

[PFT Commenter]

I was telling people to stay back, and then I was. And then I was telling people to cherry pick too.

[Big Cat]

No, you guys watching at home, I was like, just put five guys on the three point line, extended, five guys underneath the hoop, and then five guys on the offensive side. We're.

[PFT Commenter]

We're trying to implement no dribbles, like 10 guys.

[Max]

I think that's too many guys underneath the hoop, I think. All right, five guys extended, three guys.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, one.

[Max]

One guy in the, Whatever. This is, this is. You know, you could have trapped him,

[Big Cat]

formed a Sunday morning trapping would have been. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

You had so many guys. Oh, I, I tr. Well, funny, funny you mentioned that memes. I tried to do that. I tried to do the.

[Max]

This was so. This was the stupidest idea ever.

[PFT Commenter]

I tried to do the form the circle, the, The Steph Curry NBA Reddit post, and then I, I gave the plan to the guys and Max goes, this is stupid. We're not doing that. And then I said it was stupid. I said, fine, Max, go ahead. And then you guys inbound the ball and turned over and lost the game.

[Max]

Well, it was so, it was so frustrating. Whatever. I was barely even playing because I was the only one who realized that too many people on offense who aren't good at offense is, is a detriment. But for some reason, everyone in this company thinks that they're the hero and that they need to take that shot.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

And it was like. Like, just. Just let. If we just actually try and win this game, we can get out of here. Now.

[Big Cat]

No one has nailed this place better than our good friend Nick Turani, who said that we're just the home of pathetic Titans. That's what we.

[PFT Commenter]

We had a lot of Titans.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. But they were. We have a lot of. We also have a lot of wasted size.

[PFT Commenter]

We have wasted size, but we had a lot of small guys out there, too. And it was the. The most frustrating thing by far was the very last play of the very last game, and we're winning 15. Or we're winning. What was it, six to three at the time? And it was 15 on two, and we're up six to three and we have the ball under the basket. And I'm just. The plan for the last three games has been pass the ball to Deutsch because he was the only guy that could score on the inside, but for some reason, they just wouldn't pass the ball to Deutsch. So Dave White Sox. Dave gets the ball, and on the inbounds play again, it's 15 against two. Throws the ball directly to one of their two guys.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that was tough.

[PFT Commenter]

Who takes it up the court. Then Nikki Smokes takes his shoes off, throws them into the crowd, and we finally get the ball down court and. And get off there with a. A 7 to 3 win. But it was. It was the most frustrating thing I've been. I tried. I. I tried the best that I could. Max, I'm sorry that I. I was not able to put you guys in a good position to win. But you guys weren't listening either. Next on Next time.

[Big Cat]

Next time. We have.

[Max]

That is true. People weren't listening.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, that's fair.

[Big Cat]

Shout out. Kamara McGee. He was awesome.

[Hank]

He was really good.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, Brandon Paul was awesome, too. All of them were awesome.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Hank]

And then my cool throne, Dune Part three.

[PFT Commenter]

What do you mean?

[Zach]

The.

[Hank]

The trailer came out today. Doom Part 2. Probably my favorite movie last five years, Doom Part 3. And then they have. So it's like. It's coming out the same weekend as, like the new Avengers movie. But Dune Part three has some deal with imax where they have the rights to show their movie in all of the IMAX theaters. So the movies come out at the same time. But Doom Part 3 just owns the IMAX, so it's just a power move.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

Okay. When Is it coming out December? Okay. You excited?

[Hank]

How many times you can see it in theaters? Probably two or three, and then I'll probably watch it. I watch Dune 2, like, on every fight.

[PFT Commenter]

Are they doing another one of those popcorn bucket advertisement things? Yeah, the thing that everyone wanted to.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. That's cool.

[Hank]

Yeah, it's exciting.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Pft.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. My. My hot seat is also going to be me. So this is triple hot seat, because I'm a broke boy, apparently, and was not able to buy one of Jim Mercedes guitars. So they all went for sale last week and they all went for like, $5 million.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And it was crazy. Like, I think the. The black Strat from Pink Floyd went for like, 15 million. Jerry Garcia's tiger guitar went for what, like, 11 million?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Derek Trucks played it on Friday and Saturday at the Beacon Theater. It was awesome.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. So I did. When they announced that this auction was going to happen when they're going to sell all of his guitars, I made a note and I was like, okay, back in when this comes up, because I'm going to save up some money and I'm going to buy one of the cheapest ones that goes up for sale. There was not one that was even remotely in my price range to buy. So everybody hit me up and they're like, hey, did you buy anything? I was like, no, no. Ab. Absolutely not. Not even close. I did not even think about buying anything. And the other hot seat is Ryan Whitney.

[Big Cat]

Oh.

[PFT Commenter]

Because Dry Saddle is out for the year, they just announced, which is a tough break. And you know what? Maybe. Maybe this is what they need. Maybe it's like, maybe the Oilers are better without Dry Saddle.

[Max]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So Dry Saddle and Austin Matthews.

[PFT Commenter]

Right.

[Big Cat]

Austin Matthews, I think is out for

[PFT Commenter]

the year, too, for the Leafs. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Big Cat]

I saw that, like, two days ago. That sucks.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. So this tough break from Whitney, I have not. And also kind of tough for us

[Big Cat]

because we don't like, if they're not good. It's not even fun.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. There's no expectations. I mean, it just seems like it's all falling in place for the ABs right now. But, yeah, Whitney had a bad couple days. He said that he was in a. He was in a coffee shop and some kid looked at him and was like, hey, ask. Ask that old man what time it is. Said that to their friend. So Whitney was just the random old man in the coffee shop.

[Big Cat]

Damn.

[PFT Commenter]

And then Dry Settle goes out for the year. I don't know if that means also out for the. For the playoffs.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Probably out for the regular season, at least right now, as he.

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah, Whitney said, Leon out for the rest of the regular season. So no panic. Don't worry. This is all part of the madness that his Oilers have hockey.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

So it might be back.

[PFT Commenter]

It's part of the plan. My cool throne is us as a group.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

We won something.

[Big Cat]

We did it.

[PFT Commenter]

Good job, guys. We won Memes. What award did we win? Best sports podcast.

[Big Cat]

Let's go.

[PFT Commenter]

All right. Love it.

[Big Cat]

First time in 10 years we won an actual award. Who gave it to us?

[PFT Commenter]

So that's a good question, Piquette, because memes put out a graphic show of the graphic. Memes pull that.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I retweeted the graphic. That was the extent of my celebration.

[PFT Commenter]

The graphic was wonderful. It was just a graphic that says best Sports Podcast Award.

[Big Cat]

First award in show history.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And Memes just refused to put the name of the. The company that gave the award out, which I respect. Good job.

[Big Cat]

Great memes.

[Max]

I think.

[PFT Commenter]

I think we've disavowed awards in the past.

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah, we have. We don't.

[PFT Commenter]

We don't really care. I'm shocked that they ended up. So I was thinking about it, like, what's different about this show? Zach.

[Big Cat]

Zach. I feel like, Zach, your award.

[PFT Commenter]

Zach, this is really your award?

[Big Cat]

Yes. Like, I agree.

[PFT Commenter]

We've been doing this shit for nine years, and everyone is like, you guys suck. This podcast is terrible. And then we get Zach on there.

[Big Cat]

We had a plus minus monster.

[PFT Commenter]

I'll bet that there's a. I'll bet this panel.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Is just women, hot bloodies, hot chicks. And they were like, zach, Zach, Zach attack. I'm a Zach fan.

[Big Cat]

Love this guy.

[Zach]

So I'm just in the. I'm just in the ecosystem. This is your guys award.

[Big Cat]

Oh, no, no.

[PFT Commenter]

You are the ecosystem.

[Big Cat]

We literally didn't win an award without you. You can't win an award without Zach.

[PFT Commenter]

Zach, I would like you to give the. Our thank you speech for this award. And now to accept the award. Zach,

[Zach]

part of my take, would like to say thank you for number one sports podcast award. Thank you very much.

[Max]

Wait a minute. There was an award show?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. We get invited to it sometimes. Or have been.

[PFT Commenter]

I think this one was in Austin.

[Max]

Oh, did you guys know about.

[Big Cat]

No, no, Definitely not.

[PFT Commenter]

I think I might have got an email.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. No.

[Max]

Did you know about this?

[Hank]

No.

[Max]

There's like a whole red carpet of people.

[Big Cat]

Doesn't it feel awesome to win an award and just not even know about it? Like, did they announce It. Do we have video of them announcing it? That would rock. There's no way they announced it without us being there. No, no chance.

[PFT Commenter]

Wait, Zach, finish speech.

[Zach]

And today we'd like to un. Disavow awards. To accept. This award may disavow words in the future, but today we're accepting.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Zach]

I would like to say congratulations to everybody on the award.

[PFT Commenter]

So wait. Thank you. Wait, so you just congratulate everybody else?

[Big Cat]

Shane. Yeah.

[Zach]

Your award winners.

[Big Cat]

Shane, can you make a graphic? But make sure you include us talking about Austin and everything in the middle of his speech. I want that as a transcript. Maybe we'll print it out and put it on a poster. Yeah, like the Gettysburg Address.

[PFT Commenter]

I. Listen, I was. I think we were invited to this award ceremony. I can't be sure. I have 40,000 unread emails.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I don't have that. I don't. I actually keep a clean inbox, but I also would 100% just cruise on by this one.

[PFT Commenter]

Your inbox? Zero. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I just open them. I just open every email and then I don't. I don't do anything with.

[Max]

That's awesome.

[PFT Commenter]

40,043.

[Max]

Very jealous of that.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I can't. I actually can't stand having emails that I haven't opened.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, and that's just. Listen, that's just one of my accounts.

[Max]

How many do you have? PFD.

[PFT Commenter]

40,000 and. Oh, 44. I just got another one. 40,044.

[Max]

You just got another thousand?

[PFT Commenter]

No, I just got another email. It was 40,043. Just got another one. And then my other account. 74. 467. Nope. So I'm up above a hundred thousand unread emails. I have a hundred and ten.

[Hank]

859 total.

[Big Cat]

So it just has that number on your iPhone total? That would drive me insane.

[PFT Commenter]

No, that's.

[Hank]

What about text Messages?

[Mark Titus]

Text.

[PFT Commenter]

I got 0.4446.

[Big Cat]

You have text messages unread.

[Hank]

449.

[Big Cat]

How are you guys doing this? I get up, I get mad when I have like an Instagram DM that I haven't looked at.

[PFT Commenter]

4446unread.

[Big Cat]

A little red thing pops up.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Bothers me now. A lot of those are from an old group chat that I had when I lived in Austin, and I just don't have the heart to leave the neighborhood. Group chat because they have hilarious complaints that they. Yeah, like. I'm not backing out of that one.

[Big Cat]

There's no way. What?

[Max]

The request that you don't all look at.

[Big Cat]

No, no, not requests.

[Max]

The prime. Okay, okay, that makes sense.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Look, PFC can verify. I have two, because we've been recording. And zero text message. Two emails. I can't stand it. It drives me nuts. All right. My hot seat. Kind of me. Although we just won an award on Sunday. I. I guess it made a kind of a story. I went. I went a little harder. Ken Rosenthal. I thought it was kind of innocuous. I guess looking back, I was a little harsh in context. It was like, midnight, long day, long weekend. He popped up on the tv. I just went, stream of consciousness. I don't really know him. He could stay in baseball.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

But I think I said, get him out of baseball.

[PFT Commenter]

Hey, listen, I'm so sick of this guy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right, so I. And I had a couple people reach out who know Ken Rosenthal. They're like, dude, you got it wrong. He's a good guy. Like, you know what I hand up? If I got it wrong, I got it wrong. That's my bad. So, Ken Rosenthal, you can stay. I do think it was weird with the brewers thing, but you could say

[PFT Commenter]

I would say that Ken Rosenthal, he's

[Big Cat]

just a jerk is what I said.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I don't even remember because it's so. We do so many pie. I don't even remember saying it. Just popped up on the tv. And then on Monday afternoon, I was like, whoa. Why Is this trending?

[Max]

1.2 million views, this tweet.

[Big Cat]

I don't want to also take credit, but Ken Rosenthal, a lot of people came to your defense and said some really nice things about you. So what? You're welcome.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm gonna actually say that Ken Rosenthal, he does come across as a jerk. Yeah, I will. Yes.

[Big Cat]

But he can stay in baseball. That's where I was.

[PFT Commenter]

Because baseball, if there's any sport out there that needs some jerks, it's baseball. Baseball's always had several jerks. Several. Several prominent jerks that are announcing. And I'll.

[Big Cat]

You know what? I'll do an olive branch. Ken Rosenthal, I saw. I. I think he raises money for als. I've had a family member die from als, so thank you, Ken Rosenthal. There's our olive branch. We can. We can bond over horrific diseases.

[PFT Commenter]

That's nice. But also, like, I'm. I'll agree he is a jerk.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. But he can stay, I think. Yeah. I'm not mistaken. Get him out.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't want him to lose his job.

[Big Cat]

My quote was, ever since. Since that bruising last year, he's Such a loser. Get him out. I don't want him anywhere near me anymore.

[PFT Commenter]

I think that Ken Rosenthal should be allowed to stay in baseball. He might even, hey, why don't we just give him a raise? But also, he's a jerk.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. When you guys, when. When we were doing the show on Sunday, did you guys, any of you in the room, be like, oh, whoa, that was crazy. That's gonna be a big story.

[PFT Commenter]

I just thought it came a little out of nowhere, but I didn't know. But it didn't. Because he was on tv, But I didn't know that. Yeah, I didn't know it was going to get picked up by anybody. Yeah, but no, I'm going to have your back. Don't let them bully you into saying that. He's not.

[Big Cat]

No, I'm not. I'm not apologizing for the jerk part. I'm just apologizing for saying he has to leave baseball.

[Max]

The amount of quotes that you could pull from this podcast of things that

[Big Cat]

we say, it's great.

[Max]

Is insane.

[Big Cat]

It's crazy.

[Max]

We say shit that we don't actually mean all the time.

[Big Cat]

And, and, and Ken Rosal say, you do have some friends. Because I did have, like two guys I trust reach out to me and said, hey, he's a good guy. And it's like, people that I actually respect their opinion, still gonna think he's a jerk, but stays in baseball.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

Congrats to Ken Rosenthal. He's officially staying in baseball according to Pardon my take. Is that fair?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, he can, he can. He can watch.

[Big Cat]

Congrats, buddy.

[PFT Commenter]

I'll let him watch.

[Big Cat]

And that's from an award winning show. It's just so funny because I never know when. When, like, we really. I do think the reason why. Part of the reason why this podcast works is we continue to do it as if no one's listening.

[Max]

Something.

[Big Cat]

And then every now and then we'll say something and be like, people are like, who. Who cares about our opinions? But apparently some people do.

[PFT Commenter]

Now, if it's. If it's because of the Fox Sports thing, because we. We somewhat share airwaves.

[Big Cat]

No, that's nothing to do with it.

[PFT Commenter]

No, I'm just saying that's why it blew up.

[Big Cat]

Oh, maybe. Maybe that even. That didn't even cross my blood. And no one from Fox said anything to me.

[PFT Commenter]

But keep that same energy for when we discuss Tom Brady. Yeah, we've talked about Tom Brady a lot on this show.

[Big Cat]

Or how much we love Greg Olson. Yeah, that's nepotism.

[PFT Commenter]

Probably even a better example. Yeah, I want these, I want these articles coming out when we're talking about how Greg Olson is the best human being on planet Earth. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So I don't. I mean, he, Ken Rosenhal has every right to hate my guts. I think he's a jerk.

[PFT Commenter]

It's a very powerful enemy can stay in baseball.

[Big Cat]

My cool throne is dad Mata, because dad Mata is retiring. Congrats on. On a great career. Thad Mata. How old do you guys think that mod is?

[PFT Commenter]

67,70?

[Big Cat]

That mod is 58 years old. No way. That is the oldest 58 year old of all time.

[PFT Commenter]

Disagree. Jim leland.

[Big Cat]

He's been 50. How old's Jim Leland?

[PFT Commenter]

No, when. Yeah, when he was 15.

[Big Cat]

But I'm saying currently that Motta has been old for like 30 years. It feels like, doesn't it?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And awful announcement. If you want to, if you want to quote, treat this one. Thad mata, oldest, oldest.

[PFT Commenter]

58 year old going, that's pretty nuts.

[Big Cat]

And get out. Get out of here. Thadmada.

[PFT Commenter]

So he. Yeah, he was. Yeah, 1967. First coaching job was in 1990. So he's a young coach.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

He.

[Big Cat]

Doesn't it feel like a guy who's been old? Like when he, when I saw that he retired, like, oh, yeah, that makes sense. Time to. Time to hang him up. And then I saw he was 50, I was like, wait, that doesn't make sense. So congrats, Thad Mata.

[PFT Commenter]

Something tells me he'll be back.

[Big Cat]

We. We don't get a lot of Thads. So what's the other. Is there a famous actor? Thad? No.

[PFT Commenter]

That Castle. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Is that a fictional.

[Max]

That is young.

[Big Cat]

That is young. We don't get a lot of Thads, so we gotta, we gotta enjoy the facts.

[PFT Commenter]

Jazz musician Thad Jones.

[Big Cat]

Oh, nice.

[PFT Commenter]

He is the number one Thad that comes up.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Okay, Zach, my hot seat this week is going to be technology company Nvidia. You guys seen Nvidia in the news?

[PFT Commenter]

I'm familiar with their games.

[Big Cat]

Tell me the stock thing again. Is it nv?

[Zach]

So Nvidia did, I don't know the stock handle off top of my head, but it could be nvda.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I've seen the stock handle because everyone's like, you got to buy this. You got to buy this.

[Zach]

That is a good stock to hold for. That's.

[PFT Commenter]

Nvidia is like financial advice. One of four companies that is doing really well right now. So they're one of the AI companies.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And so their chips are so Good. That we absolutely have to have them and other countries want to buy them. And now we're telling. We've been going back and forth with Nvidia for like the last what, three years. Telling them, okay, yeah, you are going to be allowed to sell to China. No, you're not. Yeah, you will. No, you won't. And then China's like, yeah, we want them. No, we don't. And so they're just kind of like always in limbo. But the stock keeps doing really well.

[Zach]

So they announced a product, DLSS5. So they're essentially bringing AI into video games, animations and graphics. So kind of boxing out guys. Jobs that would have been done by humans are now more getting outsourced. AI not cool. You just hate to see it. Little AI takeover for your head top this afternoon.

[PFT Commenter]

So their chips are AI friendly.

[Zach]

Yeah, they're like launching a product that will do more of the. So essentially what it does is it attributes the visual fidelity, which is like how closely a digital image or asset, like how realistic it looks. And instead of entrusting that to people to do in advance or like we'll just do. We'll just plug and play AI in it.

[Big Cat]

Got it. Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm still skeptical about AI I also

[Big Cat]

still don't understand what you said.

[PFT Commenter]

AI just screw. AI is just. If you ever look at the little thing with the little three stars at the top of the screen after you do like a search on anything, it's always wrong.

[Big Cat]

I think I'm 100% for anytime AI comes up in any type of conversation within just an auto. Oh, yeah, that's interesting.

[Zach]

Fair.

[PFT Commenter]

Got it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, that's fair. Oh yeah. Oh, okay. They're doing that now. Don't know anything about it. Nothing.

[Zach]

Not good.

[Big Cat]

Not. I don't know.

[Zach]

I can't tell you if it's sometimes not good. This could not be good.

[Big Cat]

No clue.

[PFT Commenter]

Why would this one be bad? I just.

[Zach]

It's just like sometimes you gotta get the A slop out of here.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I agree.

[Big Cat]

Okay, your cool turn.

[Zach]

My cool turn this week is Savannah Bananas. Did you guys see Savannah Menashe last series that recently just happened?

[PFT Commenter]

No, I did.

[Zach]

They two of the part. They two of the party animals. But it was cool because it was at the Dome.

[Max]

They two owed the party and the shuckster was there.

[Zach]

Shuckster was there.

[Big Cat]

Shock was there.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, I sent that picture, remember?

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

So I heard from somebody behind the scenes, the shuckster hanging out with the bananas. They were chatting up part of my Take. They were talking about the show.

[Big Cat]

I thought you were doing just a dream sequence.

[PFT Commenter]

I thought I was doing like, fantasy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And I was down with it.

[PFT Commenter]

No, no, that actually happened. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

That's sick.

[Zach]

The Superdome, it's like140,000 seats for the bananas.

[PFT Commenter]

I thought you were talking about the. The other thing with bananas.

[Big Cat]

Dude, I can't wait to watch Shock play Football again.

[PFT Commenter]

Look at this arm. Oh, what a catcher.

[Big Cat]

We got a week one. We're laddering.

[PFT Commenter]

Shucks.

[Big Cat]

Have to.

[Max]

I'm pretty sure I already have an MVP ticket.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[PFT Commenter]

Look at that whip of an arm. I only heard. I heard about the Savannah bandanas today because Jeff D. Lowe cornered me and showed me a. A tick tock of a guy that does a Savannah Bananas podcast. So I guess what I'm saying is I think we're going to be one and done in best podcast awards, because next year, that one.

[Big Cat]

Did you break down the matchups and everything?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah. And listen, I. I could get into it. Listen, I'll leave that to the pros. That's a little bit too heavy for, you know, my intelligence level.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Okay.

[Zach]

I did have a. One more quick one.

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah.

[Zach]

NBA expansion teams.

[Big Cat]

Yes. Seattle and Vegas, I think, sorry.

[Zach]

2029.

[Big Cat]

And then potentially moving Minnesota and Memphis into the East.

[Zach]

A little bit of a shuffle.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So it would be even 16. 16.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay. That would kind of make sense.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Now they're going to give one of these to LeBron, right? Yeah, yeah. LeBron's gonna own maybe both Vegas.

[Big Cat]

Maybe both. What if they just gave him both?

[PFT Commenter]

He could have both. Or maybe they give one to his son. Yeah. But, Yeah, I think LeBron's gonna own the Vegas team. I just hope that they bring back the Sonics.

[Big Cat]

Did you see a story about a college recruiter was like, yeah, it was so hard to recruit Bronnie, I had to call the PR agent to ask for time with the moms. Like, yeah, no, duh, dude. It's. It's LeBron James.

[PFT Commenter]

What do you think?

[Big Cat]

It's not. Not. You're not just rolling up to someone's like, suburban house.

[PFT Commenter]

Can I talk to the father? It's like, I've been able to talk to his dad yet, so don't really have a real beat on what the family's like.

[Big Cat]

I want. I want Seattle to get a team for our guy Spencer.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Get this. Get the Sonics back there.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, let's get him. Let's get them. Okay, let's get to our interview with Mark Titus. We're going to do some more bracket talk. Real deep dive on brackets before we

[PFT Commenter]

get to Mark Titus. He's brought to you by Reese's. Reese's is teaming up with basketball titans to build their brackets brackets that will inevitably bust. But this year, those busts can score you a recess. So pick along with the pros and just know whenever you bust, at least you can win a recess. Will your bracket survive or will it bust for a recess? Get your brackets in early and let's see who's the last one standing and the first to get a recess. Because even busted brackets happen for a recess. So turn your busted bracket into your shot at recess and more. Post your busted bracket tag at Reese's on Instagram, on X, on Tick Tock and use hashtag for a recess sweeps for a chance to score free Reese's and a shot to enjoy those Reese's at the men's or women's final four and the championship game. So no purchase necessary. Open to only legal residents of the 48 US and DC 18 years older. Void in Alaska, Hawaii were prohibited by law. Starts 319, 26, ends 3 27, 26. Includes daily entry period. See official rules at every bracket bus for a recess.com pages/official rules for how to enter the prize details, the odds and the restrictions. Sponsor the Hershey's company. So turn that bucket busted bracket into your shot at Reese's,

[Big Cat]

Okay? We now welcome on a very, very, very special guest. Longtime friend of the program made it in the reel for the PMT 10 year anniversary Instagram slideshow.

[Mark Titus]

I had the. I have. Whoa, my mics.

[Big Cat]

You're good.

[Mark Titus]

Is that good?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. You're good.

[Mark Titus]

Hold on.

[Big Cat]

You're fine.

[Mark Titus]

I'm fine.

[Big Cat]

It's Mark Titus.

[Mark Titus]

What's up, guys? Let me take the headphones off.

[PFT Commenter]

Well, Hank demands that we turn his microphone up. So that's the one that you're. He needs a boost.

[Mark Titus]

I was on, like, the first picture.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, the first picture.

[Mark Titus]

Crazy. Nobody knew it was me at the

[Big Cat]

Indy 500, but I was there.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So. And it's nice because we always joke about it like. Like in the past, texting you this week when you would get hammered with people being like, can you come on my show? Can you come on my show? Was tough to schedule you. Now it's just, hey, let's walk down the hall and do it.

[PFT Commenter]

You could.

[Big Cat]

You can hear my. Mostly sports, mostly hoops. Yak. It's Mark Titus. Double intro.

[Mark Titus]

Double intro. I'm excited to be here. It's the best time of the year. I'm very excited about this. I will selfishly say that it. It doesn't hit me how much the NCAA Tournament means to me. Until my team is out of the NCAA Tournament, I have to watch it with. Without Ohio State participating. Ohio State is back in for the first time in four years. And I was feeling real emotions on Selection Sunday. And we drew Duke. We have to get by TCU first. We have the first game. There are a lot of things I don't like about the draw, but we can get into that later. I just want to say it's the greatest event in the world. And you think your team's going to be in it every year.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

When you go three years in a row without it, without being in it, it is agonizing. The Buckeyes are back. I'm so excited.

[Big Cat]

It's the worst because I went through it a couple years ago, and I think Wisconsin missed, like, two out of three years. And it was just like, what the fuck is this? We're.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Even if you're not making a run, you just want to see your name on the bracket.

[Mark Titus]

I've talked myself into us winning the national championship.

[Big Cat]

I love.

[Mark Titus]

But you just look at every matchup and you're like, well, I mean, if this goes this way, then why can't. You know, why can't we win that game? We win that game, we'll win the next one.

[PFT Commenter]

Could you do two national championships? Could you do Ohio State men's basketball and Ohio State women's ice hockey? Oh, because it is that time of year.

[Mark Titus]

It is that time where we have

[PFT Commenter]

the Big Cat versus Titus women's ice hockey championship.

[Big Cat]

Now, PFT wasn't here for this because we've already had. It's gotten contentious for what The.

[Mark Titus]

We have dueling Dynasty.

[Big Cat]

Saturday. It got contentious when we were talking. We do not have dueling dynasties.

[Mark Titus]

There are two dynasties going on at the.

[Big Cat]

Let me ask you a simple question. Is two championships of dynasty with a pending third question?

[PFT Commenter]

So we. We've been actually, we've had this discussion a part of my take before the. The line is on a dynasty three and five years.

[Big Cat]

Correct. So.

[PFT Commenter]

Or you could do four and seven. Four and seven, I think works, too.

[Big Cat]

Okay, so when you could do 4 and 6.

[PFT Commenter]

4 and 6.

[Big Cat]

Oh, that's what the Badgers have right now.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

So when we win on Sunday, that

[PFT Commenter]

will be 3 and 4. Dynasty.

[Big Cat]

3 and 4. Right now, the Wisconsin Badgers women's hockey team has a dynasty. We've won four out of six.

[PFT Commenter]

You guys are trying to become dynasty breakers.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't know. Can you have, can you have two dynasties going at the exact same time, though?

[Big Cat]

Well, that's what they're trying to do. And again, we would still have four in, in the, in the dynasty. If you're like, oh, Ohio State has a dynasty, you'd look at that like, you know, six, seven year stretch, and Wisconsin would still have more championships in that stretch.

[PFT Commenter]

So it'd be dynasty.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Now, it could be a passing of the torch that's from one dynasty to the next.

[Mark Titus]

I think that's what's happening.

[PFT Commenter]

But to do that, you would have to repeat after getting your dynasty.

[Mark Titus]

I think the Wisconsin programs, like ucla, they, they racked up a bunch of titles. We're the new kid on the block. We are. I mean, they beat us last year, but if you go back and watch controversy, that's just. And we beat him. We've already beat him. This year. We're ranked number one. I, I. Yeah, we'll see what happens.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that's a loser talk.

[PFT Commenter]

But the bracket's awesome. It's so cool to look at.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right, so let's talk about the Ohio. By the way, I can't keep doing this, but whatever. All right, we, you, you. Yes, you. It would be great that you won 3 and 5, and we'd still have 4 and 4 and 7.

[Mark Titus]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

4 and 7 is versus 3 and 5.

[Mark Titus]

But if we have the most recent.

[PFT Commenter]

Sure, that's what I'm saying. Like, if, if Titus would then go on to repeat and win next.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, they'd have to win two in a row.

[PFT Commenter]

If you win next year, then.

[Big Cat]

Correct.

[PFT Commenter]

It's, like, officially passed.

[Big Cat]

I'd be happy with that. I'd be fine with that if they were two in a row. All right, let's talk real quick before we break down the bracket. You've mentioned Ohio State, and I'm in a similar boat. How do we feel about being in the first time slot on Thursday? I absolutely hate it. First.

[Mark Titus]

I. We're the very first game against tcu. I think we're better than tcu, but it is a little bit of a coin flip. And I, I, I, I hate it. I do hate it. Every. I, I'm probably just too pessimistic with my sports teams that I just assume the worst at all times because I've had people try to be optimistic and say, like, this is perfect. You want to be first. You want to win. You want to be the first team in the second round, which, like, yeah, obviously if I could guarantee that we're going to win, that would be great. I don't like the nerves. I don't like that the entire world is going to be watching us and like, if we start out not hitting shots, that could be damaging for the reputation of Ohio State basketball for a very long time. This is the only game on. This is the, the one game everybody's excited about. Yeah, I don't, I don't love it. I don't love it. But you know, having said that, you

[Big Cat]

can't go down like 12 to 2.

[Mark Titus]

We go down 12, 2. That will.

[Big Cat]

The other game hasn't.

[Mark Titus]

If we go down 12, two, you'll be talking about that like eight years from where I'll be like, Ohio State will be a 1 seed. You'll be like, I don't know, man. I just, every time I think Ohio State basketball, I think that one year where you guys, like, you guys start slow, you guys just can't hit shots.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. People are going to forget what happens for the rest of the game, which could be a good thing too. Like if Ohio State loses that first game, by the time the weekend's over, no one is going to remember what happened.

[Mark Titus]

Right. That first eight minutes is huge. We have to.

[Big Cat]

Thursday happens.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

We have to play well in the first eight minutes. But yeah, I, it's. I think we should win. We're a better team. So I'm optimistic about that. And then I'm talking myself into us giving Duke a good game too. But I don't know, I can, I just do like a broad topic thing real quick before we dive into matchups

[Big Cat]

and stuff for you after that.

[Mark Titus]

I, I'm. I'm kind of like, I, I don't know how I'm feeling coming on to the show because I do enjoy talking about the bracket. I love being on the show, obviously. But last year I came and I, and I made the argument that we're probably going to get chalked. That's exactly what happened. Now I'm back this year. It's boring as to be the guy that's like, this is going to be a chalky tournament. I hate that that's where we're at. I want to be. I want to drum up some excitement for the casual college basketball fan. And they in casual college basketball fans love to latch on to the Cinderella's. Never mind like the tiny schools that might go to the sweet 16. It's also like the, the idea that like a seven seed could win the national championship. I think gets people excited. I just. For the second year in a row I don't see that at all. And it's, it's frustrating because I'm, I'm the guy who's supposed to sell this sport. I'm the guy that's been given. I'm like a car dealer, you know, I'm working at a car dealership and the new model of cars we have are just kind of. Boring's not the right word, but it's just. They're just like real reliable, not flashy. And I'm just like. I don't know what else to say. But this thing's not going to break down and it's going to run well. That's about all I got for you guys. I don't really have a lot of flashy bells and whistles. And last year that's exactly what it was. This year I feel like we're headed for the same thing. So I, I don't know.

[Big Cat]

Can I, can I sell you on? Because I've struggled this as it's, it's. Last year was the first time all the top four seeds advanced and so. And if it happens again, it'll be the first time ever in the tournament that back to back years.

[Mark Titus]

All four, four one seeds. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

No.

[Mark Titus]

Oh, the four. All top four.

[Big Cat]

All top four seeds advanced at least the first round last year.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And that could happen again this year. They're all pretty heavy favorites.

[Mark Titus]

We had one double digit seed in the Sweet 16 last year and it was the team coached by John Caliperi. Yeah, that was. Yeah, that was the situation.

[Big Cat]

So the, the sell I'd give to you is that as much as the first. And you never know because that's why we love the tournament. There could be an upset. We're just not seeing the second round like the, the. The. There's so many good teams this year in college basketball. The second round has some like insane matchups that could potentially happen. Which is. That's what I'm trying to sell myself on.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Like if the first round is a bust, guess what the second round will be incredible.

[Mark Titus]

Don't get me wrong, last year's tournament was awesome. It was just the, the. Not a ton of upsets, not a lot of Cinderellas, but yeah, the Final Four time. Final Four. Every game in the Final Four was great. I was very happy with how the tournament shook out last year. But anyway I, I get the same that. That's my like broad topic point is That I, I felt that I've similar feelings going into this tournament that I felt last year, which is that there is a little bit of a divide. Now. Duke has looked susceptible in the ACC tournament despite winning the ACC tournament. It wasn't exactly domination from them. Michigan of course loses to Purdue, which like Purdue, low key dominated them.

[Big Cat]

So that was my big topic question was do we, do we, do we fall victim again? And I'm guilty of this because we, we taped Sunday night show with John Rossi and I was like, I, you know, I love Purdue's draw. The teams that play really well in conference tournament week and we're like, oh, everything's fixed. Purdue was not good down the stretch. They lost five times at Mackie this year they get into the Big Ten tournament, they beat a bad Northwestern team, they beat a flawed Nebraska team where that's a matchup nightmare.

[Mark Titus]

Nebraska's gonna play awful bad. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

UCLA has Billidou and Donovan Dent go out of the game and then they played to their credit a perfect game against Michigan. They were incredible against Michigan, but it feels like we're like, oh yeah, Purdue's because they were the number one team going into the season and was like, yeah, they're fixed. They're good, they're, they're great.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah, I'm with you.

[Big Cat]

And like Arkansas similar where Arkansas's like, oh yeah, this team's incredible. Like nake off is incredible. But they, you know.

[Mark Titus]

Right.

[Big Cat]

Just because they won the SEC title, does that mean like. Oh yeah, they're, they're just peaking at the right time or they just happen to win their tournament.

[Mark Titus]

I do love Purdue's draw, but I agree with what you're saying that like they, they've had some, some very obvious problems throughout the entire season. I don't know if if like a four day stretch erases all those problems, but yeah, I, I think that Michigan losing makes things a little interesting. Arizona, you know, they did win the Big 12. I think the Big 12 is the best conference in the country and they, they won the Big 12 tournament. But they, you know, they, they didn't exactly dominate the Big 12 tournament. So it might feel like those three teams at the top are not there. There isn't a massive gap. But all season there has been a massive gap. It's been those three and the rest. And I think people have wanted to throw Florida in there at different times. They've wanted to throw UConn in there. There is a divide now. Last year I think the gap was bigger. I think the top, the Top four teams in the country versus the rest of the country was a much, much wider gap than what we got this year, but it's a similar feeling. So that's my, that's my 30,000 foot view on this thing, is that Arizona, Michigan and Duke are, in my estimation, they've been head and shoulders better than everybody else all season. So I, with that, I feel like it's going to be kind of chalky because I also feel like even that next tier is way better than like the four and five seeds. And like once you start getting into the fours and fives and sixes, it falls apart a little bit for me. But yeah, I'm anticipating a lot of chalk and I hate that because what makes the tournament fun, I think for a lot of people, is the little guy going on a run.

[PFT Commenter]

You mentioned Dent from ucla. I think he's going to play in the tournament, right?

[Mark Titus]

Yeah, I think so. As far as I know.

[PFT Commenter]

Should be back. What about this? I know we're talking about, you know, the high seeds and how they've kind of separated themselves. UCLA before Mick Cronin asked the reporter if he raised his voice. Adam, which he did, I believe they were one in five against top 25 teams after that moment, three and one against top 25 teams. Did Mick Cronin fix everything?

[Mark Titus]

I think he might have. I think if you, if you were just observing the UCLA season through Mick Crone and clips, you would have assumed they won six games this year. Right. That there were various times where I only, not. Not only did I think he was going to get fired, I thought he wanted to get fired. I thought he was actively. I. It felt like there was a moment in the season where someone told McCrone and what his buyout is if he gets fired. And he was like, oh my God, I should, I should just try to get fired. Yeah, I should just like purposely lose. I should be a dickhead to everybody and just go get my buyout and go to a beach somewhere. But yeah, they have a good team and they have, they have multiple guys who can, can score. Donovan Dent was like a disappointment all year and then he's really turned it on lately. He's got the injury now, obviously, that's, that sucks. But had a triple double in the, the Big Ten tournament, which, like, it's

[PFT Commenter]

so hard to do.

[Mark Titus]

Triple doubles in college basketball are like impossible, insane. Which is really weird because NBA, they happen all the time. There will be like five triple doubles tonight probably.

[Max]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

And in college, every time a guy gets a triple Double. There's a graphic. It's like this is the first time in 23 years, right?

[PFT Commenter]

It was since like 2002, right?

[Mark Titus]

Yeah, yeah.

[Big Cat]

Mick Cronin, by the way, he basically did a Frank Fleming on his own team where like, Frank, if you look at his Twitter, you'd be like, the Mets have not won a game this year.

[Mark Titus]

And right.

[Big Cat]

Look at the standings. You're like, oh, they're two games up.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Mick Cronin, if you just looked at his press conference, like, this is the worst team in college basketball. No, they're pretty. If they, if they can be healthy, they're a sneaky team. By the way, the. I think we should. We, you know, we obviously think about all the teams that the smaller schools, the 12, 13, 14 seed teams that have the upset. That's. It's not crazy. Like, looking back, the, the best teams. And this is my favorite time of the year where everyone has a tweet being like, the national champions going to come from these four teams analytically. Chris Felica, our friend, had a tweet that shocked me. 17 of the last 18 national champions have either been named Yukon or been a number one seed. I didn't realize that. So it's basically Yukon wins with, you know, Kevin Ali or I think they were a 4C with Dan Hurley the first year. Or it's a 1 seed. The only one that, that didn't do it or, or that was outside of this was two seated Villanova in 2016. So the best teams usually.

[PFT Commenter]

Right.

[Big Cat]

So when you fill out your bracket, you're like, I don't want to be chalk. You should probably be chalk.

[Mark Titus]

You should be chalk. Chalk. Chalk makes the most sense.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That one shocked me though. I was like, holy.

[Mark Titus]

Because the thing is too, is like, even if, even if a number one seed goes down, like, I can already see the future here that like I'll just pick Florida because I think they're the weakest one. I'm not even predicting they, that they will. But, but say Florida loses in the second round, then everybody's going to be like, you said this was going to be chalk, you fucking idiot. Like, where, how. How's this chalk If a one seed goes down, if you just wait and you let the dust settle, I'm going to go ahead and guess that the national champion will still be a onesie. Yeah. Like, just because one of them loses, we're still going to get a pretty chalky bracket, I think.

[Big Cat]

Also, by the way, Florida is kind of the reverse of Purdue. Where Florida was the hottest team in the country. Going down the stretch, they lose in pretty convincing fashion to Vanderbilt. And everyone's like, florida stinks now.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah. Florida. If you would have asked. If you would ask people around this office, who's going to win the national championship? A week ago, Right. It felt like 80 would have said, now, now.

[Big Cat]

Florida. Purdue's awesome.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

It's like, maybe we should cool it on the recency bias.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Yeah. What can you tell us about Purdue? Because I think they are America's most hateable team. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Right Outside of Duke.

[PFT Commenter]

I don't know. They're. They've almost just become more Duke than Duke with this iteration of the team. When Braden Smith dove out of bounds, like, into the scorers table and deflected the ball back in, I was like, this is Steve Wojciechowski. This is. This is 1996 Duke University right here.

[Mark Titus]

But the thought has always been about Duke. Duke fans will say that you hate us because we're so successful. And Purdue has been very successful. They've obviously not won a national championship,

[PFT Commenter]

so why put a man on the moon?

[Mark Titus]

Why do we hate Purdue so much? I think it's when they haven't ripped off a run of national titles like Duke has.

[Big Cat]

I think it's the fact that they have three guys that stayed four years, and that's a rarity in college basketball. When you get to learn the guys and you're like, oh, Fletcher Lawyer's still there. And you get to learn. And I like Fletcher Lawyer. But you could. You could see how people would hate him because they're like, fuck, he's still there. Yeah, that. That gets the hate going.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Because it's so rare. You don't have time to hate one and dones.

[Mark Titus]

It's true.

[Big Cat]

You really can't. Like. Like, I hate Duke, and I've started. Just started to really hate Shire and some of the things he's had to say this year. I don't hate Boozer. Like, I can't hate loser. Boozer's awesome. And he's gonna be. And he's not gonna be a problem in a year. Like, he's gonna. Somewhere else.

[Mark Titus]

Even if you do hate booze, even if there's a guy like, Kyle Filipowski's playing for Duke and you're like, finally, a guy I can hate. Then he leaves and the next crop comes in, you're like, that guy's kind of cool, right? Like, the next kid's kind of cool. I got.

[Big Cat]

Okay, I never got my hate up for Cooper Flat.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I wanted to, but it just never came.

[Mark Titus]

But if, if you would have stayed for three more years, I'm sure by the time he graduated, it was still.

[PFT Commenter]

It was satisfying when he lost, but it didn't have that same, like, there was no, like, rosy cheek, Duke kid crying.

[Big Cat]

So that's where Purdue comes in, where Purdue is.

[PFT Commenter]

That gap.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Those guys, they, they, they, they.

[PFT Commenter]

It's a vital part of the college basketball ecosystem.

[Mark Titus]

Right.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

So I, I described Purdue on my show, mostly hoops, like, a month ago, as a suburban a. As an elite suburban a. UT that when they play in these suburbs, AU tournaments, they dominate everybody. And then every so often, like once, once a year or something, there's a state tournament and they got to go into the city and play the city teams.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

And when that happens, it's. It's just a nightmare for them. And that was kind. That's kind of been the story of them for a while, really. But, like, this year in particular, like, that's basically what Purdue was. Is like. Purdue plays good teams. Purdue will play like. Like Nebraska is a great example. I think Nebraska is a good team. Nebraska. Nebraska is not a national title contender. Nebraska is not a serious team that can, that can win a national title. When Purdue plays a team of that caliber, you walk away from that game thinking Purdue might be the greatest college basketball team I've ever seen.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

But then every time Purdue stacks up against one of the actual elite teams, one of the teams that, like, has actual Final Four national title aspirations, just things suddenly, just for whatever reason, go horribly wrong for them. And the offense can't get going. They can't keep guys in front of them. The one exception is Sunday they played against Michigan, and they look good. And finally, the last game that they played of the season, they've looked good. So I have. I have to walk it back a little bit, but that's kind of been the. That's been the thing with Purdue is, like, they're good. They're obviously, they're not a bad team, but, like, they're the preseason number one team. They have the preseason number one player of the year and Braden Smith, and it's been. I mean, even the most delusional Purdue fan will tell you that this year was a disappointment. And still, when the dust settles, your Big Ten tournament championship, you have a two seed and a winnable region. I mean, I think Arizona is the best team in the country, but I think Gonzaga is a good three seed as far as the draw is Concerned. I think byu, if they can get through, like, I would like that. I like Purdue's draw a lot outside of like maybe having to play Missouri and St. Louis, but Purdue fans are going to have a ton of fans there anyway. So I think Purdue, it's been a. It's been an up and down season. I don't think that they're elite. I don't think they're the number one team in the country like we. That they were coming into the season. But yeah, they're in a good spot to. To go. I have them in the lead eight at least.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

Which would be a good year for them.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Should we let. Let's go. Let's go region by region.

[Mark Titus]

All right.

[Big Cat]

Picture thoughts east, do we think it's a little ridiculous that all the graphics are like, look at the. Look at how good these coaches are and they're including John Shire.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah, that's. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

A little premature.

[Mark Titus]

A little premature.

[Big Cat]

You know, Izzo Self, Dan Hurley and

[Mark Titus]

John Shire also, he's a very good

[Big Cat]

coach, but it feels like some of those guys all have national titles also.

[Mark Titus]

I feel like going into this tournament, Dan Hurley hates his team. Maybe that's not true, but I feel like Dan Hurley is like, I don't know about this team. I feel like Bill Self saying the same thing. So, like, yeah, the coaches are great, but it's not like every single one of these coaches has the elite teams that we're accustomed to seeing from them. But yeah, Shire's on the list.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And the one that's I agree with you on UConn has not been overly impressive. The one thing that if you're a Yukon fan, which is probably nice to be able to like fall back on this is Dan Hurley and the action they run on offense is so complex that it does feel like every time they get out of the Big east play, they can fuck teams up and you're like, oh, that's. You're not playing the team that just knows exactly what you're going to run every single time. And it's a lot harder to game plan. So that would be what you're holding in your pocket if you're a Yukon fan. Being like, like, just get us out of Big East. We don't want to play St. John's anymore even though they're in the same region and we'll be able to fuck some of these teams up.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah, that could be. I mean, I don't know. UConn. I've just been sort of waiting for them to Flip the switch all season. It's just not happening. I mean they were good in the non conference, but I. Yukon's. The Yukon is probably the hardest team for me to peg in this tournament. It's just. I really feel like if. If Dan Hurley wasn't coaching, if it wasn't UConn, it would be very, very easy to just think that they're going to lose in the second round. It would be very easy to think that. And what's, what's confusing to me too is that like Dan Hurley does have this reputation is like once the tournament rolls around, he's. He's the best coach in the country and he's gonna, he's gonna obviously go on a deep run. He's made two Sweet 16s in his career. He's been to two Sweet 16s. They won the national championship both times. But like he's not, he's not a guy that is. Is accustomed to getting to Final Fours over and over and over again. So I don't know. I can't make sense of them. I've been waiting for them to flip the switch. They haven't really done it. The Marquette game is like. A lot of people are pointing to St. John's dominating them in the Big east championship. My biggest concern is Marquette because as much as you want to like act like the Biggie, they just kind of get bored with the Big east and they're just waiting for the real games to start. That was a chance to win the Big East. That was a. That was like a trophy was on the line. They're cutting down nets if they win. I guess not. They were playing out Marquette, so they probably weren't. I doubt Marquette would have rolled out the ladders for him. But if they win that game, they're Biggie's champions and they lost. They looked horrible against a very bad Marquette team. So I don't know. I like the pieces are there, the roster looks okay on paper. Their names, you know, it's a coach, you know, it's a uniform, you know, but they just like. They haven't really inspired confidence really at all. Except for there were a couple games that they played a good non conference schedule. You know, they like. I think they won at Kansas. Florida. Right.

[Big Cat]

They. They beat byu. They almost beat Arizona. They beat Illinois. They beat Florida.

[Mark Titus]

Yes.

[Big Cat]

So they had. Yeah, I mean they had a good non conference Marquette game. I guess the only thing I would say is they were. You're right. They should win. They should win the Big east there in that spot. But they were coming off like three pretty emotional wins. You know, the Villanova, the St. John's and then senior Day with, with Seton Hall. But still, they should win that. You're right. And I, I feel like that's this whole bracket other than Duke, like Kansas has been up and down.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Peterson has played, I think seven games in a row where he's, he's logged 28 minutes, so at least that feels a little figured out. St. John's I think they're good, but I, I also have seen like they, they can, I, I, it's not like they have a guy who can just be the go to guy, like catch fire. Right?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Can they shoot? That's the question.

[Mark Titus]

They're better than they were last year, but yeah. I mean, I don't know how you can watch the Yukon gate, not the, not the biggest championship, but the one at Yukon and, and not have that thought bounce around in your head that this could happen at any given time.

[Big Cat]

And Michigan State's kind of similar to where Michigan State's been.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Like they've looked good at times and they've looked really bad at times and, and they're kind of up and down. So it's a lot of brand names that I don't fully trust in this iteration of them.

[PFT Commenter]

If we're doing the, the picture of the coaches in this bracket, why, why are we putting Shire in there? Not Johnny Dawkins? Yeah, Johnny Dawkins won a national championship at Duke.

[Mark Titus]

Good point.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, we should put him on there.

[Mark Titus]

That's, that's a good point.

[Big Cat]

Really good point.

[Mark Titus]

So it's a great point.

[PFT Commenter]

Any, any upsets in the first round that you see? South Florida.

[Mark Titus]

I like South Florida. I like South Florida to be Louisville. I think Louisville has been a big disappointment this year. I think injuries have of. It's a lot of injuries, but it's also a lot of just like they, they shoot threes and don't really have an interior presence and they don't really have much of an identity. Mikel Brown is awesome, but I don't think he's good enough to like single handedly. I mean, I, I don't know. He kind of, he, he can be, but he's not, he's not good enough to, to go into a game and say, let's hope that he single handedly wins this for us. And I like South Florida. I don't know, maybe it's the Bosco effect, but like, he got me watching a lot of South Florida the last few days and and they play hard, and I like them a lot.

[Big Cat]

I kind of. I. I don't know if I'll pick this in my bracket, but I'll probably be betting it at 11 and a half. I do think Northern Iowa is going to be a.

[Mark Titus]

Because it's going to be a gross game.

[Big Cat]

They do the, they. They pack line defense. They're going to make St. John shoot, and they're also going to play in the low 60s, possession wise. And when that happens, it's like, all right, if you. If you're shooting 30%, you know, from the field, it's like, hey, how'd this happen? Why are we in this game? Why is it. Why is it 46, 45 with five minutes left? Yeah, it's like, I, I don't know if they can win because St. John is still significantly better. But those type of teams that just slow it down to a snail's pace always have a shot in the tournament.

[Mark Titus]

There's also the fear that Patino's just going to bench his best player for the entire second half just to prove a point.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Is he having the best. Is he. Is he the happiest coach in America right now? He might be, yeah. I feel like he's having the best because his career was over.

[PFT Commenter]

It's him and. And Coach Cal have, like, kind of turned into happy, go lucky guys in the last couple years.

[Big Cat]

It's crazy to watch.

[Mark Titus]

He.

[Big Cat]

His career was over and then, you know, the grease team and then going to Iona just to try to get back into it, and then having St. John's open up and having it be like, not only is it a New York team, but it's a New York team that was bad for a really long time. So he could be the, you know, the guy who saved them. He might be the happiest drinking beer and. And, you know, it's like, I would imagine all these big St. John's wins have just incredible, you know, dinners after with all his friends at Italian restaurants.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, him and Michael Rapoli going out.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

He might be the happiest coach.

[Mark Titus]

That's a great point. He was done. He was as. Yeah, he was. He actually said he retired over and over. And he's like, I'll never coach again. That's it for me now. Yeah, he's winning the Big east, and

[Big Cat]

he's, like, doing it in a way, too, where it's just. He was built for the biggies. That's where he started all that stuff.

[Mark Titus]

It had to be at St. John. It had to Be like it wouldn't have like if Iowa opened up.

[Big Cat]

No, he can't go.

[Mark Titus]

He's not going to go to Iowa. He's not going to go to Rick

[Big Cat]

Petito coaching like Arizona State.

[Mark Titus]

It was the only job that would have worked out.

[Big Cat]

He had to be going to the Big east and having to almost get into physical altercation with Danny Hurley three times a year. That was the only way that this could all work out. Okay, how about the south in. In Florida, who you said is the weakest one, which I would agree. That's not.

[Mark Titus]

Which is not. It's not. Yeah, it's not a knock on Florida. It's just the other three are so good. Yeah, I, I mean, Houston is. Houston is. I have Houston winning the South. I'll just start right there. But Houston has been like a slight disappointment. But what's funny is like the, the, the narrative around them all season has been that the defense isn't quite as good as what we were expecting. They traded a little bit of offense for defense. They have. Kingston Flemings is going to be a lottery pick. Might be a top five pick leading the way. Use on who's. Who's back. He was on the team last year. If you watched him last year, you'll remember him. Emmanuel Sharp, the. The guy who didn't shoot the ball at the end of the national championship. He's back. One of the best shooters in the country. Those three guys are dudes that can score 20 plus on any given night. All of them, like, they could. They could get 20 out of all three of them on any given night. But in exchange for like having that dynamic on offense, they now like, don't have. They missed Juwan Roberts, where they don't have like a low post presence. They don't really get even though they have three great guards, they don't really get to the rim a ton. They shoot a lot of shots, a lot of floaters. So the offense is good, but it's not like, it's not perfect. There are a lot of like holes still in it. And then with that the defense, the story's been like, the defense isn't Houston defense. It's not like an anaconda that's just fucking slowly crushing you. But having said all that, like, at this point in the season, the defense is kind of becoming that they're, they're kind of locking in on defense. And I think the three guards are so good that I, I'm talking myself into Houston actually. They've spent like the entire season being Like a step below and kind of in that second tier. And Arizona's obviously went to their place, beat them, and then just beat him in the Big 12 championship. And you know, the good news for them is they wouldn't have to play Arizona till the title game. So I like Houston a lot. I, I, Florida is a team that, I mean, we can talk about Florida. Dan. You, you have a future and, and you were probably higher on them at certain points than I've been for sure.

[Big Cat]

And I still am high on them. I just, you know, they, it really comes down. Florida is a pretty simple one where it's like, how is Boogie Flynn and, and Xavian Lee gonna play?

[Max]

Play?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, because their front court is, is probably the best in the country and they have probably the best defender in the country in Chinul. And it's just will their guards and they started to do better. They started to hit threes down the stretch. That Vandy game, I'm hoping that's just an aberration. I think Todd Golden's a really good coach, but yeah, it's, it's fair to say that Florida, we, we forget. You and I have talked about this, Titus last year, just how close Florida was to losing so many times. They almost lost the UConn, they almost lost Texas Tech, they almost lost the national championship tournament.

[Mark Titus]

They were saved by Clayton, which is like, it makes for an all time run, but then you think you see Florida with a 1 seed and you're like, oh yeah, that team last year was so good. I'm gonna, I, I assume it's gonna be the same thing. They don't have Walter Clayton.

[Big Cat]

Walter Clayton saved their ass.

[Mark Titus]

They have a very good team. They do not have a guy that's like just gonna pull magic out of his ass.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I also think Illinois's got a really good draw to the Sweet 16. I like Illinois. Sweet 16, yeah. I don't know how they match up against Houston, but I think Illinois is one of those teams that they also like. This is what I love about the tournament too, is that you spend the last two months just beating the fuck out of each other in conference play. And Illinois is one of those teams that they, I think they're just tired of playing the same teams over and over and getting out of conference is going to be great for them because they do play like a true five out and they can pass every, like their offense is, is electric when it's humming. And I think it's going to cause a lot of problems for teams that haven't seen it where they have been playing against teams that have seen it multiple times.

[Mark Titus]

Bama is always going to. As long as Nate Oates is there, Bama will always be the team you point to as like the, if they can get hot, they're unstoppable team. Illinois has become right there with them. Yeah. Illinois is, you know, if you catch them on the wrong night and they're not hitting, then they look pedestrian. But if the offense is humming and waggler is, is, you know, as good as he has been at times this year. Yeah, I, I like Illinois draw a lot, especially Carolina's hurt. You know, Caleb Wilson's gonna be out. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Leaking. Yeah. And, and then Vandy was the other team in this which I thought was they were underseated or over undersedded.

[Mark Titus]

Under undersedded. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

They should have been a four.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

That's a dangerous team.

[Mark Titus]

Two guards. I can score, man. I, I, I think that's my hesitation with Florida. I just, I mean you said it about flee, but I just, I keep going back to guard play every time. I like when I get excited about teams that can win the national championship, I think, how good are I. They're not bad. They're fine. But like, I mean you saw it with Walter Clayton and even if you don't use Walter Clayton as an example, like go back through. Basically every national champion has like guys that are going to play in the NBA and you could say like they have NBA big guys. That's not exactly true. Not every team has like NBA big guys.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

Like Villanova is a good example. Like they used to just run. They used to just throw like as many guards as they have on the floor. Just say you guys are going to go figure it out. You have like Josh Hart.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

You know one guy that's playing. Yeah. You have like one guy. So like Amari Spellman who plays in the NBA. But like, like, yeah, they're just like guard oriented teams are the ones that excite me and get a big guy

[PFT Commenter]

in foul trouble too.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah, true.

[PFT Commenter]

If that's, if that's the strength of your team and you don't have a guy like Clayton because there were so many times last year where it's like, is Florida in trouble? And then Clayton just gets on fire. It's like, nope, not nearly on. They're not in trouble at all.

[Big Cat]

Get a rebound 5ft from the hoop and then run sprint back to the three point line and throw up a three.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, sure. Cool.

[Mark Titus]

Big guys aren't doing that. So that's that's my hesitation with Florida. I have a healthy respect for the front court and the coaching and the program they have. But. And I love Thomas Hauck. I think he's. He's a stud and he's, he's going to be a first round pick. But yeah, I, so I probably favor like whoever wins the Illinois Houston matchup I think is a good place to look for who will win this thing. But no, Florida had a great year and I'm not overreacting to just the Vandy loss.

[PFT Commenter]

It's.

[Mark Titus]

It's just like they've had turnover problems. The three point shooting has come along. But yeah, I do think that, that they are the weakest one and it's. Yeah, I say that pretty confidently.

[PFT Commenter]

What about, what about Nebraska? Nebraska ball is this the year is Rossing.

[Mark Titus]

They get one win.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Put the, put the card down for.

[Mark Titus]

Did you talk to him about that?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

By the way. Yeah, he's going for what he's doing. One hour.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, one hour. I tried to, I tried to nail him down on the rules. He's a little, he was a little dodgy on the rules. I was like, well, well, if you put the card down, does that mean you can get whatever you want to drink?

[Mark Titus]

Well, this is what I wanted to ask. You know, I don't want a pocket watch or tell a man how to spend his money. But it. Are there too many stipulations to this? Should it be like how would you guys do this if you were, if you were declaring that you're going to pick up the tab?

[Big Cat]

I would.

[Mark Titus]

One hour during a happy hour is what he said. Right?

[PFT Commenter]

I would just say. I would say twisted tease.

[Big Cat]

I would, I would say. So Nebraska. What time is Nebraska play? When do they play?

[PFT Commenter]

They play 11:40. 11:40 in the morning on March 19th.

[Big Cat]

Okay. So on Friday or. No, Thursday.

[PFT Commenter]

Thursday.

[Big Cat]

Oh they wanted. Oh yeah. They wanted the. So yeah, I would probably do. I'd probably just do like two hours right after the game.

[Mark Titus]

Okay. Like go to this bar right now.

[Big Cat]

I've called the owner.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah. Get two hours.

[Big Cat]

Two hours. That would be what I would do.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I wouldn't do like in four months from now.

[Mark Titus]

I feel like that's like that's what he's.

[Big Cat]

You got to strike while the.

[Mark Titus]

I feel like he's going to do a, a Tuesday from 3 to 4pm John Ross Day.

[Big Cat]

No, you have to have a little bit because yeah, I, I did this once and it was almost cost me a lot was with Chase Daniel when We were watching, it was Georgia, Missouri. And I said for some stupid reason during the game, football, I was like, if, if Missouri pulls off this upset, like, I'm gonna do an hour at the biggest bar at Mizzou. And Chase Daniel was like, we'll match. And I started texting with Chase. I was like, how much? What do you think? He's like, like, dude, if, if they win this game, that's going to be like 10 grand. And I was like, what? They didn't end up winning the game. I think we, I think we bought a certain amount of drinks. But yeah, that's when you have to do it, though. You can't just pick a, pick a time. You have to do it right after the win when everyone's celebrating. And then that's the moment. It's like, hey, drinks on John. Right after we won.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, everybody in town goes to that bar at the moment. I did that for JMU after a win a, a football game. And I said, okay, everybody go to Finnegan's Cove. 500 bucks worth of twisted tea. So put a cap on it. 500 bucks on me. It was like during the first week after people went home after finals in the winter. And so there were like four locals there, five guys hammered and they got up, they sent me pictures inside the bar. It was like four people in their mid-40s, like, smoking cigarettes, like, thanks, buddy. Appreciate you, you.

[Mark Titus]

But yeah, I, that's the way to do it. Yeah. Ross didn't do this over the summer when all the students are gone. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

On a Tuesday.

[Max]

Tuesday.

[PFT Commenter]

But you think they're going to be Troy, right?

[Mark Titus]

Sure. I, the Brad. I, I, Yes, I think so. I, I have them beating Troy, but I, I am worried Nebraska is, they peak too soon. The defense is good. The offense has fallen off a cliff. The scoring has become a serious problem for Nebraska. I do think they can beat Troy. I, I don't like them to advance too far in the tournament, but I don't think they need to. I think winning one game, even though they were ranked in the top 10 at one point.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, they were. They were undefeated. They started 16 and 0.

[Mark Titus]

Any other program you get ranked top 10 and then you get to a point where you're just like, man, if we can just win one game in the tournament, I'll be happy. Yeah, you would laugh at them. Nebraska, it's a different story. I think they'd be happy if they just win one game. They've never done it before, so they,

[Big Cat]

they had the back to back games. So they, they dominated us. They beat us by like 30 in Nebraska. Then they followed up with the win against Illinois. So that was like the, the moment.

[Mark Titus]

In December, their first loss was at Michigan. They were down two of their top three scores.

[Big Cat]

Yep.

[Mark Titus]

And they. Did they go to overtime or. They had like a shot at regulation. I remember it was like.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, they. And I also would like to say I. I like Nebraska in the fact that we as a society, we don't get this very often, but it's. College basketball is the one time we do get it. When you have a coach's son, that's actually good.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And I love that. I love that Sam Hoiberg actually is a good player on Nebraska. And it's just something about it. Like you don't get in any other sport at this level, but it can work in college basketball. Like the, you know, Doug McDermott and all that.

[Mark Titus]

He's the best example of a coach's son who's not the best player on his team. But I still love watching him play.

[Big Cat]

He might be the most important.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah. Every other. You're right. Every other coach's son is either like Doug McDermott, who's an all American, or like a guy who should not be getting minutes.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, right. And he's like, the defense is important. Like, he's very, very important for them.

[Mark Titus]

It feels like he makes every open shot.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Before we get back to the show, it's brought to you by our great friends at McDonald's and the Big Arch. It's the most McDonald's McDonald's burger yet. Two quarter pound patties, three slices of cheese, tangy Big Arch sauce. Lettuce, pickles, crispy slivered onions, and it's got a poppy and sesame seed bun. It's everything that you love about McDonald's burgers. Between two buns, the new Big Arch sauce is tangy, it's creamy. It's a perfect pair for the Big Arch burger. What's your favorite Big Arch ingredient? Mine, personally, I'm a pickles man. Love those pickles. The tangy Big Arch sauce is elite as well. How many bites you think it would take to finish a Big Arch? I'm gonna say six bites. It's gonna take me six bites today. Big Arch burgers. Beefy, saucy, cheesy. Did we mention that it's big Order the new Big Arch. It's the most McDonald's McDonald's burger yet. For a limited time. A participating McDonald's for a limited time. While supplies Last. Before we get back to Mark Titus. He's also been brought to you by our great friends at Chevy and the Chevy Silverado. The best truck in the entire world. Football season's over, but you know how it goes. The big game's over, but we're already talking about what's next. We got the draft, we got free agency, we got trades. Who's getting paid? Who's grinding for football? Guys, there's no off season, and that's why we roll with the Chevy Silverado. Silverado is the one truck that shows up every time. It's built to haul, built to tow, built to take a beating, but smart where it counts. It's got modern tech that makes life easier. Big screens, camera views. They help with towing and with parking the cabin. That feels right. Whether you're road tripping, heading to practice, or loading up for the weekend. During the season, it's the MVP of the tailgate. After the season, it turns into your training camp truck hauling gear, tackling home projects, and doing the work that never stops. Because the grind doesn't stop. And neither does the Silverado. Check out the current offers. Build your own chevy [e-mail] chevy.com and now, here's Mark Titus.

[Big Cat]

Okay, Wes.

[PFT Commenter]

Wes, I had one more question about Houston. I was actually. I want you to interpret something for me, Mark, because there's something about Houston basketball. Big Cat knows. I. I just find myself. I. I gravitate towards Houston. I don't. I like watching them play. They do play like a, you know, crazy hard defense, but there's some teams that play awesome defense that are not fun to watch. Houston, for some reason, I find myself just compelled by them every single year. So what is it about Houston? Even though they play this tenacious defense that can be, you know, boring sometimes, what is it that would make them more entertaining than this standard? Just great.

[Mark Titus]

I think it's their relentlessness. They. They get in your ass. Is it because they get in your ass?

[PFT Commenter]

They get in everyone.

[Mark Titus]

They get in everyone's ass like, simultaneously.

[PFT Commenter]

It always, even when they're winning, it looks like they're going to cry from emotions.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Like, everyone on Houston is, like, ready to cry because they're trying so hard all the time to get in everyone's ass.

[Mark Titus]

One of my free bets that I've given out to everybody and I haven't. What's the spread in the Houston the first round game?

[Big Cat]

20 and a 24 and a half. Should be more right now.

[Mark Titus]

One of. One of the most confident bets that I give out every year. Is Houston to cover in the first round? Because to answer your question, they. They get off on just like completely shutting down other offenses. And when. When offenses 23 and a half, when they're going up against these small schools that are completely outmatched, like, Houston just does, like, they'll be up. They'll be up 25 with three minutes left, and they're still playing like the national championships on the line. And that's how they've been historically. And the only reason I'm, like, kind of cautious with this year's team is because this. The. The edge has been turned down from like a ten to like a eight and a half.

[PFT Commenter]

You saw what they did just a little bit byu that second half. Half.

[Mark Titus]

But yeah, it's still there, though. Yeah, they still got that dog. But I think the difference between like, this iteration of Houston and say, like a Virginia when Tony Bennett was there is they played great defense, but at the pack line, like, doesn't. It doesn't have, like, an aggressive feel to it. So that's probably why you like watching Houston.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, the.

[Mark Titus]

Is that they're. It's almost like fun to watch them just completely shut in their ass. Yeah. Getting your ass. You want them to get in your ass.

[PFT Commenter]

It's like watching the old Ravens defenses.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Those were fun to watch. Even though, like, you watch the Browns defense this year and it's like. Like dominant, not fun.

[Big Cat]

And it's. It's not even defense. It's like if I close my eyes and I think about Houston basketball, I think the first image that would come in my head is like four consecutive offensive rebounds and then a big three.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Like where they're like a possession that takes a minute and a half.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And they just keep. They just keep taking shots, missing shots, getting rebounds. And then finally the other team is almost like, so out of gas. They're just.

[PFT Commenter]

Just.

[Big Cat]

All right, now we're gonna hit it.

[Max]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

A stereotypical Virginia defense, the old Tony Bennett 1. Their defensive possessions were shot clock violations, right?

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

Houston's are like. They're just swarming all over the place. You finally, like, get a little bit of a lane to drive. You go drive. And then a dude's just pinning it off the glass and starting a fast break the other way.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, it looks like they.

[Mark Titus]

That's awesome to watch.

[PFT Commenter]

It looks like the way they practice or.

[Mark Titus]

Or.

[PFT Commenter]

I wouldn't be surprised if Kelvin Sampson kept. Scored differently every game. Game where he's also giving out points on, like, his Secret scoreboard for a deflected pass or an offensive rebound.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And then after the game he's like, actually sharp. You were the leading scorer tonight.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Not what.

[PFT Commenter]

Not what. You're reading the stat sheet.

[Big Cat]

Does he. He puts lids on the rims.

[Mark Titus]

He does. Yeah. Yeah, he'll do that

[Big Cat]

move. Okay. West.

[Mark Titus]

West.

[Big Cat]

I actually think the west might be the most fun region in terms of offensive firepower.

[Mark Titus]

Yep.

[Big Cat]

In this region, Arizona is the best one. You would say. I, I have the healthiest right now.

[Mark Titus]

Healthiest. I, I think even if all the teams are healthy, I would still probably. I mean, I'll just. Spoiler. I picked Arizona to win the national championship. I think what excites me about Arizona is they can beat you in so many different ways. They're comfortable playing in a lot of different ways. And the one thing that people might point to is the three point shooting, which is that they don't take a ton of three threes, but they make the threes they take. They have shooters. They have, they have multiple shooters. It's not like, it's not like one guy does all the three point shooting. They have. They have guards that are, I mean, buries is. Is going to be a first round pick. I don't know where Jaden Bradley's mocked. I think he's going to play in the league. They have a great front court. I mean, there are a lot of great front Court. All 41 seeds have great front court. So I don't know if I want to say they're the best in the country, but they have rim protectors. They have guys who can, you know, you could feed the low post and can score. Multiple guys who can. Can score in the low post. They have. They grab every single rebound. Even when they miss, it feels like they get the offensive rebounds. They're dominant in mid range. Yeah. I have loved this Arizona team all year. They played in the best league in the country. They won the regular season outright. They won the Big 12 tournament. I can't say enough great things about Arizona. I mean, the one thing that would give you pause is the whole west coast thing that like west coast teams in this thing have. Haven't won since Arizona did it 97. But I think that's kind of stupid. I think that's kind of fair. I just think that's stupid.

[Big Cat]

What about Tommy Lloyd being a mark few disciple and he can't win the big one?

[Mark Titus]

He can't. He can't get over the hump.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So the whole tree is poisoned.

[Mark Titus]

Could Be.

[Big Cat]

Well, you totally stupid, but I like stupid narrative.

[Mark Titus]

What if we get Tommy Lloyd versus Mark Few in the elite eight?

[Big Cat]

Wouldn't that be something?

[PFT Commenter]

First Final four from our future.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah, someone's going to the first four.

[PFT Commenter]

That'd be crazy.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah, Tommy Lloyd, because I guess, yeah, he does have a little bit of a monkey on his back. The Sweet 16.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, they've had good teams. This is his best team.

[Mark Titus]

At what point does that become a real thing for you, would you say? How many more years can Tommy Lloyd go to the Sweet 16 and lose before you're like, though this guy?

[Big Cat]

Actually, I think it might be this year.

[Mark Titus]

This year's the year.

[Big Cat]

You need one just, you need one, like, really definitive one. And this would be the definitive one because this is, you know, this is the year that they have the best team.

[Mark Titus]

I think. I think this is the best team he's had there.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So, yeah, this would be the, this would be the narrative starting.

[PFT Commenter]

But you're right. We were talking to fan of the other week about Arizona and how weird that the offense can be. Like, what, what do they shoot? 38, 39% from 3, but they just, they refuse to do it.

[Mark Titus]

They're one of the. I, I mean, I'll pull it up right now.

[Big Cat]

3. 62 out of 3. 62 out of 3. 65 in terms of three point attempts based on their total field goal attempts.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So that's third to last in terms of three point mean. Just them taking them.

[Mark Titus]

Right. I think it just, I think it speaks to how good they are getting the ball to the rim. I mean, that's, that's what I, they just don't have. I, I would be worried if they, they, they shot a poor percentage. If they, you know, if they were like St. John's last year and 36. Yeah, 36 is fine.

[PFT Commenter]

It's good. Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

And like I said, or I would be worried too if it was like nobody shoots threes except the one spot up shooter we have, and he's the only guy that shoots like, they have Delorso and Karchenkov and, and buries like all those dudes will shoot threes and, and they're all capable. So. Yeah, I, I like Arizona a lot, but sweet. You have to be licking your lips. The idea of a sweet 16 versus Arizona. Wisconsin. Wisconsin's the Arizona boogeyman.

[Big Cat]

Listen, I'm focused on high point. I also, I, I love acuff, but I've. I've started to talk myself into maybe betting on Hawaii plus 15 and here would be my case. One is that we talked about Cal last year, you know, going to the sweet 16 with what was he?

[Mark Titus]

A 10, 10 seed?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, 10 seed. The last two times that Cal has been a top four seed, they've lost in the first round. They lost to Oakland in 2024 and St. Peter's in 2022. And everyone's going to talk about Hawaii's no help defense, which is probably a bad idea against Acuff, but it actually might not be because Acuff is so good at getting everyone to collapse and then finding his guys if he has no guy. If they basically say, hey, Acuff, we're gonna, we're gonna just say, you're gonna get 30, you're gonna get 35, but you're gonna have to take 20 plus shots to do it. That might be a strategy that works because then guys don't, you know, guys don't get warm if you're not get. If you're not distributing the ball. I don't know. Like, I also would just say for California and great coach, hall of Fame coach, that Oakland game, remember that Oakland game where they were playing a crazy aggressive one, three, one zone. It kind of fucked him up in Cal. Not exactly an in game adjustment guy.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

If Hawaii is like, hey, we're going to zone or we will do the no help defense, is Cal going to make an adjustment or is he going to be like a cuff? You're better than everyone. Go do it.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah, go be great.

[Big Cat]

Right?

[Mark Titus]

That's just his, his timeouts, which every time is just go be great. Yeah. You might not be. You might be onto something again.

[Big Cat]

I don't think they're going to lose. I'm just thinking about taking. Why 15 and a half.

[Mark Titus]

Acuff has been great all season. A cuff. But Arkansas is not. And I think what makes Arkansas good right now is yes, Acuff has been incredible, but that again, that's, that's what he's been that way all year. So, like, that's not the new part. The new part is like Tron Brazil, who is like playing like he. Like, if you, if you only watched him in the SEC tournament, you would assume that he's a top five pick.

[Big Cat]

Made every shot.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

Makes every single shot, blocking shots, long arms, runs to the floor. It's guys like him and Richmond and like DJ Wagner who was a pre. It used to be, it was, it was a number one overall recruit and just, just kind of like a castaway on this team. That's how loaded they are with talent, which I know DJ Wagner like didn't pan out to be what we thought he would be. But just the idea that you have a guy who is the number one overall recruit in a recruiting class and he's just kind of like a throw in for this team is crazy. They're, they're absolutely loaded and I think when they're at their best, it's when the guys around Ako stuff are great. So you might be onto something.

[Big Cat]

But yeah, I don't think why he's gonna win. I'm just trying to make a case because again we started this whole thing by saying it looks like it's gonna be chalk. So the only way you can kind of attack this is like, all right, if you're gonna make a case for anyone, like, where, where is it? And I just think Hawaii is such a, such a well coached team and it's like, yeah, they could maybe hang in.

[Mark Titus]

I was prepared to. I, I said it in the cave before the bracket came out. I, because I, I wanted someone to hold me accountable and my team around me is just like, frankly, they're just not those guys. Like, they just didn'. I got a lot of yes. Been around me.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

I said in the cave. I was like, I, I'm picking Hawaii to win their first round matchup. Whoever they play. Whoever they play. And the reason I'm saying this now is because I don't want to be talked out of it once I see the matchup and then I saw the matchup and I immediately took Arkansas.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, please.

[Mark Titus]

I immediately, immediately took Arkansas. But if Hawaii was playing like Nebraska, I, I, Hawaii is the 13 I'm most excited about. Unfortunately, unfortunately, Arkansas is the 4 I'm most excited about.

[PFT Commenter]

So.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

Tough, tough draw for Hawaii.

[PFT Commenter]

Who is, who's the best player in this side of the bracket?

[Mark Titus]

Is it, it's Auff. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Dan.

[Mark Titus]

I don't know because you start Auff

[PFT Commenter]

is my favorite person to watch.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah, the band, the band's really good. I mean he's going to be the number one pick for a reason and he's really good. It's not even just like potential. He is like that dude right now. That's, that's a great call. Pft. Well, it's a great. I'm not think like if you're asking me who would I draft, it's obviously debacle. Like yeah, he should obviously be the

[Big Cat]

size but Malik renew.

[Mark Titus]

I mean I might have to go. Braden Smith. Yeah, yeah, I might have to Go with the senior leader.

[PFT Commenter]

Smart.

[Big Cat]

So, so can we talk about Wisconsin High Point real quick? Because I've, I've psyched. I've psyched myself in and out. Just tell me I'm not crazy. Like, I, I. There's years where I'm very nervous about Wisconsin, especially the first round. We have one of the best backcourts, if not the best backcourt in the country. And like that.

[PFT Commenter]

We.

[Big Cat]

You talked about guards. Like, we're going to be okay. High Point wants to turn you over. We have Nick Boyd, we have. We have John Blackwell. Like, those guys have been there. I mean, Nick Boyd is like 25. Like, they've been there, done that. They've been in the big moments. It's going to be okay.

[Mark Titus]

I agree with you. I'm not just saying that to make you feel better. Yeah. I think this is a bad matchup for Hyde Point. Excuse me. Yeah. Because they're, They're. They turn people over. But, yeah, I trust your guys.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

I trust Wisconsin.

[Big Cat]

The only thing I'm actually really scared about is that Wisconsin season so far. Like, I think Greg Garden needs to tell the guys, like, actually High Points, like the number two team in the country, and then we'll win.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Because that's what we've just done is just beat all the best teams and then had a USC loss and the Oregon loss, where it's like, what just happened.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So we need to somehow make it be like, High Point is so good.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And they're actually, they. I mean, they have one, I think, like 26 in a row or something. So that's maybe the only thing, you know, being a giant slayer. It's a little different when you have to play a small guy.

[Mark Titus]

Is Winter back? He's going to play.

[Big Cat]

He. Winter's going to play.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

I'm very.

[Big Cat]

And I'm hoping Jacksonicki comes back, too, because he's actually a pretty big piece for defensive rotation.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah, I think he'll be fine. I. For what you said about you guys in big games. I like you against Arkansas, too, to be honest. I. If I hope it is Wisconsin, Arkansas,

[Big Cat]

it'd be an incredible game because I

[Mark Titus]

think, like, Boyd is at his best when, like, the more a cuff scores.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

Against you guys. That's actually. Every time a cuff scores on you, you should actually be happy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

Because, like, that makes Nick Boyd more powerful.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I mean, the, the, the, like, number one. Oh. Boyd is one of those guys who is not to be with. With, like, if you say someone else is Better was the Iowa game when everyone's talking about Bennett Sturts being so incredible, he almost put up a triple double against Iowa. Nick was like, I got. It's me.

[Mark Titus]

He leads the country in this. He just turns to any Wisconsin fanny season. He just says, stand up, please.

[Big Cat]

I actually, I. I asked him to stop doing that. He came in and he, he, he worked out before he got his career high. On Friday, I was like, dude, like, I feel like we're egging him on too much. He's like, nah, nah.

[Mark Titus]

Just constantly.

[Big Cat]

He'll do it after, like a Wisconsin team foul.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

He'll try to bump up this crowd.

[Mark Titus]

He's like the St. Joe's hawk PFD.

[PFT Commenter]

It would just be so nice and nostalgic if we had Coach Cal losing to Wisconsin and then Arizona losing to Wisconsin. It'd make me feel like I'm running 30 years old again.

[Big Cat]

A dreamer. I'm just excited.

[PFT Commenter]

I'm.

[Big Cat]

And I. You probably have this too, Tice, where it's like, when I get in the tournament, it's a mix of excitement, but also, especially in this era of college basketball, it's this fear of, like, is this the last time I'm going to get to watch a team that I've truly loved? Like, I've watched every Wisconsin game. I truly love watching this team.

[Mark Titus]

This is the most fun team since 2015, right?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, probably. Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

Because, like, even Tanje was awesome last year.

[Big Cat]

AJ Store until he was illegally tampered with somewhere in February and the team kind of fell apart. But, yeah, this is probably it because

[Mark Titus]

I think it's unexpected too, for. At least from my perspective. Like, I didn't. I didn't see.

[Big Cat]

I thought they'd be good. I didn't think it'd be this good.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah. Yeah, I didn't. I didn't think you'd have to. And I didn't think both these guards would play so well together. And both of them play like an all American level the entire season.

[Big Cat]

We got great. I mean, rap. Like, that was insane what he did against Michigan.

[PFT Commenter]

What happened this year. Because, like, I know you were down on the team team until the. The Michigan game was really what turned it around. Well, because crazy last couple minutes, we

[Big Cat]

had some bad early losses where, like, we lost to Villanova in. I know it was a. Technically a road game, but it was in Milwaukee. And then we got 30 pieced by Nebraska and we lost the TCU. So, like, it was just. And then we got smoked by Purdue in like, early, early January. So there Was a moment where I think it was like early January where Wisconsin was not a tournament team. And. And especially knowing the schedule we had coming. It's just that we stepped up in that schedule and started just ripping off wins against that Michigan, Illinois, Michigan State run was pretty crazy.

[PFT Commenter]

I do feel like we. We forget in basketball that, like, you know, college sports, it's possible for these guys to get a lot better over the course of the season.

[Big Cat]

Greg Guard said that so many times this year. He's like, teams are not complete in December, but as sports fans, we're idiots and think they are.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. I mean, with a good coach, your starting line can improve so much over the course of the year. Have they messed around with the starting lineup? Is it pretty much the same?

[Big Cat]

No. I mean, there's been Nolan Winters been out for a couple weeks and Janicki was out, but yeah, I mean, it's. We gotta. We got a good group of guys.

[Mark Titus]

You're kind of in a nightmare. In a good way. That makes sense. Nightmare spot where you're looking at the bracket and convincing yourself you could just win this whole thing.

[Big Cat]

Thing.

[Mark Titus]

I think being. Being a team like you have with two guards like that, but you're five seats. You're like, I know this sounds crazy, but. And you just start talking yourself into every single like. Like I'm doing with Ohio State would. But I know that second round we play Duke. That's. That's a long shot.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

But I feel like a five. But you start getting higher than that, it's almost like pressure is on to. If you're like a one or a two or three, you're like, we have. We kind of have to go this a five seed. You're just like, holy. I never. You know what's crazy is a month ago, I never thought we could win the national championship, but now that I'm holding the breath bracket.

[PFT Commenter]

It's right there.

[Mark Titus]

Oh, my God. Right?

[Max]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

There's a path right there.

[Big Cat]

Right?

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

What about this Chase Johnson guy?

[Big Cat]

Shout out. Braden Carrington too, because he's also a part of like, what Wisconsin's done, like coming on.

[Max]

He.

[Big Cat]

He wasn't playing at the beginning of the year much, and he's been lights out.

[PFT Commenter]

So. Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

All these guys you're talking about chasing Johnson.

[PFT Commenter]

Chase Johnson. The guy. The guy.

[Mark Titus]

The.

[PFT Commenter]

The next goalkee.

[Big Cat]

He's 0 for 4 on 2 point field goal attempts and he's like.

[Mark Titus]

That's right. He only shot three. I can't wait to watch this game.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

The only I mean, that would be a tough way to go out to like the next goalkee, because that way you wouldn't even be able to truly appreciate it. Yeah, you just be like, this guy.

[Big Cat]

Well, I'd have to root for him to take. I'd have to root for him to beat Cal as the next goalkee. Another goalkee going.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I just have to immediately pivot again. Now I'm just this guy.

[PFT Commenter]

What do you think about Nova, about the Cats? Max was just saying earlier that he's, he's actually, he's buying stock in the Cats now.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, there's no way that's sweet 16 or boss.

[Mark Titus]

No way.

[PFT Commenter]

He said, boom. He's booming the Cats.

[Mark Titus]

I'm supposed to.

[Big Cat]

Max, are they one of the most uninspiring teams? Your mic.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

All right.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Max has no mic.

[PFT Commenter]

All right, well, Max, to his credit, he's back there by himself.

[Big Cat]

It's funny because Nova beat Wisconsin. Like I said, that was a low point in the Wisconsin season. But Nova, I don't think has beaten a tournament team. No other wins in 2026.

[Mark Titus]

No other wins.

[Big Cat]

It was yet. Max and I would text every time Wisconsin would take down like a Michigan or an Illinois and he'd be like, sick. Thank you. Because this is actually helping us.

[Max]

Hello?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

You got me now.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right.

[Max]

This is the worst as far as talent goes. This is the worst Villanova team post J. Wright, like going into this year, they were supposed to be, they were supposed to be eighth in the Big East. They were getting a ton of production from Bryce Lindsay early on, who was a JMU six man last year, who couldn't really, couldn't really hold up on what, what he was bringing to the table. We have a Caden Lewis who's a freshman, that's a four star freshman coming in. Who's our best player. But like, we don't have the firepower. Like our most important player is a transfer transfer from Penn. Tyler Perkins and Duke Brennan, a big from Grand Canyon last year. We don't have the guys that can like really compete with everyone. We have Kevin Willard, who's done a really good job job with a group of guys that like have over overachieved all year long. And now when you, you lost Matt Hodge, who was the only one who had a little bit of size other than, than Duke Brennan. Like, we're, we're just, we're just kind of grasping at straws to like stay alive and actually compete against the Big Dogs. But we, we're well coached Enough. And we. And we compete well enough that, like, we win the games that we were supposed to win, but we just can't compete with the big dogs.

[Mark Titus]

That's okay.

[Max]

And that's okay. That's year one of a rebuild, so, like, I'm okay with this being year one of a rebuild.

[Mark Titus]

You can't make free throws, and that pisses me off. It pisses me off. The Villanova's not a good.

[Max]

It's crazy, but we made a ton of free throws under Kyle Neptune, so I'll take this trade off 20 times out of 20.

[Mark Titus]

You're, like, the best free throw shooting team forever, and now you're dreadful, horrible.

[Max]

Like, very, very bad. But it. It hasn't cost them any wins yet. There hasn't been any games where it's like, oh, they were winning this game, but we couldn't make free throws at the end, and then we lost. Like, obviously, if you go through, like, the course of a game, it's like, oh, yeah, you lost by this many points. You missed this many free throws. But I'm talking, like, crunch time. It hasn't really. Like, we haven't had that yet.

[Mark Titus]

I wanted Villanova, Ohio State so badly.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh, yeah.

[Mark Titus]

I want you guys. I. That's. That would have been an easy dub for us. In fact, I'm gonna count it. It was an easy dub. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Playing games.

[Mark Titus]

We would have beat Villanova.

[PFT Commenter]

What do you think about that, Max?

[Max]

I don't. I. I can't say. I've watched a ton of Ohio State this year. I don't know. I don't know.

[Mark Titus]

We beat you.

[PFT Commenter]

We just.

[Mark Titus]

I just played it out in my head, and we won. We won by. We won by 12.

[Max]

I'm going into this. This week like, I'm happy that my team is back in the tournament. I have zero expectations.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

Which is a fine, fine spot to be.

[PFT Commenter]

Is there another team out there, like, one that has higher expectations than Nova, that would have free throw shooting as, like, a real problem? Because that. The Duke game the other day, I was thinking that, like, this could come back to bite them right in the.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah, I don't. I don't know. I don't. I haven't looked at the free. I'm trying to think of who that would be.

[Big Cat]

Oh, God.

[Mark Titus]

I think Tennessee's dreadful. From the line. Who else? Yeah, pull up. Pull up. That's a great question. We need to monitor these things because I. I. Free throws are a big deal in March.

[Big Cat]

Huge.

[Mark Titus]

They become a huge deal.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Massive deal.

[Mark Titus]

You got to know who the bad free throw shooting teams are.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Air Force is really bad at free throws.

[PFT Commenter]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

Miami, Florida, 308th. All right. That's not good.

[PFT Commenter]

Very bad.

[Big Cat]

Missouri 304.

[Max]

Oh.

[PFT Commenter]

So that game.

[Big Cat]

North Carolina 315.

[PFT Commenter]

So Miami. Missouri is going to be a slight.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. But icing out. Iowa State 338. I was 67%.

[Mark Titus]

Iowa State can't shoot free throws.

[Big Cat]

That's what I'm reading right now.

[Mark Titus]

But they're like great. What's. What do they shoot from the three point line?

[Big Cat]

I gotta find that as well. But yeah, that would be. Those would be some teams you have to work. Gonzaga. Not great.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Because it really is like when you get to the end of the game and it's just, you know, it's a five point game and you gotta. You gotta make the front end of a 1 and 1. That's where the madness comes in.

[Mark Titus]

Dude. Iowa State. I don't know how I didn't know this till right now. Iowa State is 340th in the country in free throw percentage. They're 12th in the country in three point percentage.

[Big Cat]

That's crazy.

[Mark Titus]

They should back up.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

Take jumps, should shoot threes for free throws.

[Big Cat]

A couple others. Tennessee is 279. There's 69%. Villanova 280. 69. And so those are. Those are some big dogs and get zaggled. Like I said.

[Max]

So that's not even that bad compared to the. You just named so many other teams before Villanova.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, no, Villanova is not. I mean, they're bottom 100.

[Max]

Yeah. They just feel worse because they normally.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

There's that one guy, what's his name in Northwestern, takes jump shots from the foul line.

[Mark Titus]

Martinelli.

[PFT Commenter]

Martinelli. Yeah. More teams should start doing that if

[Big Cat]

you, if you sting best free throws, by the way, because the reverse is obviously true. St. Mary's Vanderbilt, Illinois, Wisconsin. Those are those. All four of those teams are in the top 10 in the country.

[Mark Titus]

There you go.

[Big Cat]

Got assaulted away. All right, last one. Midwest.

[Mark Titus]

Okay. Midwest.

[Big Cat]

I. Can I say that I. Michigan's really good. And again, we just talked about how you can't take the last thing you saw. But we also know, like, it wasn't just Michigan losing to Purdue. They let Wisconsin back in that game when they had us on the ropes. I there. There's some teams in this. In this bracket that are just flamethrowers.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And I do. I think Georgia or St. Louis is gonna be Michigan.

[Zach]

No.

[Big Cat]

But Alabama or Texas Tech could Right.

[Mark Titus]

Yes. Yeah. I mean, Texas Tech JT Toppin goes down. And I think the thought is, like, their season's over. And. And I do think they're. I'm not making the argument they're better without them by any stretch of the imagination, because they're just not. But their season is not over. They still have a ton of dudes that could score. And they still have Christian Anderson, who I assume is going to be fine. He pulled his groin in the. On the slippery glass court.

[PFT Commenter]

Are we done with glass courts for forever now?

[Big Cat]

No, not Max. Did you hit up the person?

[Max]

I will.

[Big Cat]

I really want to get the glass court here.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

That would be so.

[Big Cat]

It would be so.

[Mark Titus]

The glass court was made for this.

[Big Cat]

It was made for this place.

[PFT Commenter]

We could play video games. Games from the second floor.

[Big Cat]

I watched Iowa State or not. I was. It was Arizona State on the court. There's this video that just was in my algorithm. Like they were doing. They had a world map. They had a track. They were just running laps. Like an actual track. Like, there's so much we could do.

[PFT Commenter]

We could do Mario party with ourselves out on the court. Like as the characters.

[Big Cat]

Think about that.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah. That's just.

[Big Cat]

We need the glass court.

[PFT Commenter]

We need.

[Mark Titus]

We have to find a way to get the glass.

[PFT Commenter]

It is sad that we had one guy kind of get a little bit interesting. Injured, and now it's like no more glass quartz with LED screens for anybody.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Feel like this is. This we have. We're at a crossroads as a society. If we just turn our back on this technology right now, we'll regret it.

[Mark Titus]

But what's it going to take? Pft. What if someone dies? Is that what you're waiting for? I mean, someone dying on the glass court.

[PFT Commenter]

Sacrifice is necessary for. For leaps forward in society. Yes.

[Big Cat]

I'm sorry. Someone dying could also be a benefit. Like if we get the glass court and Lucas dies. I think most people would put it.

[Mark Titus]

That's a win. Win.

[PFT Commenter]

Like, people died. The national NASA space program. It was a tragedy. And. And we all wish that didn't happen, but we learned from those mistakes and we went to the moon. Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

Lucas is our Gus Grissom is what you're saying.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Good point.

[PFT Commenter]

Exactly. Yeah, Exactly.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah. So Michigan. I know I'm. I'm wearing an Ohio State hat. I'm a Buckeye. So this is going to come across as me just on Michigan. I. I actually. I want to be as fair as I can. Michigan had a historic Big Ten season. They. They they went 19 and one. Their one loss was Wisconsin at home when Wisconsin Johnson could not miss. And outside of that, like, no team has ever won 19 games in the Big Ten. No team has gone undefeated on the road in the Big Ten since the 76 Hoosiers. There have been a ton of great teams through the, in the Big Ten through the years, and this team was special in that regard. But if you've watched Michigan throughout the year, yes, in November they had that stretch where I was like, this might be the greatest basketball team ever assembled. Where they were just like, they beat Gonzaga by 40. The play that players era run was, was historic shit. But they have had some, some. The dam is cracked at different times. Like Penn State had a shot to beat him at Happy Valley. They had a shot at the buzzer to beat him. If you watch the Big Ten tournament, like, I'm at a point now with Michigan where the offense, like all the metrics say the offense is fine and they're going to be okay. There's something clunky about the offense. There's something about the offense where, like, the guards aren't dynamic. Ellie Cado is capable and he's a guy that like, like, I don't want to say he's not good because then Michigan fans will point to these certain games where he had like 20 something points and they're like, you said he couldn't score. Here you go. But like, there's something about how he gets his points that there's not a. It's. It's got to be like, within the context of like, what he's capable of doing, which is to say he's not like a Nick Boyd or a John Blackwell.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Mark Titus]

That he's not coming off of ball screens and sizing up his guy and taking him off the dribble and hitting step backs. It's got to be like wide open, his. His shoulders are square or he can come off a screen and just get downhill and get to the bucket. It's just like there's, there's a really rigid feel to Michigan's offense right now. And they can get away with it because their size is so overwhelming. But that's what, like, I mean, a lot of people are talking about Michigan's defensive effort against Purdue. What stood out to me more than that was Michigan's offense was like, Purdue is not good defensively. Yeah, they're just. They shouldn't be able to not. They shouldn't be able to stop Michigan. And I just felt like Michigan, like, even when they would score. It just. It was too much effort. It was like Yaxel, like, putting his head down and trying to, like, get to the rim, and then he muscles it up, and then if he doesn't make it, Mara grabs the rebound and lays it in. And yes, you know, you can do that against lesser teams, but what happens when, you know, we get to a final four or whatever? So I still believe in Michigan. I have Michigan winning the Midwest. But there was a stretch there where I think outside voices were saying Michigan is a historic, Is a historically great team. I think Michigan themselves at one point, I think Yaxel said, like, in a press conference one time, he's like, I think we're one of the greatest teams of all time.

[Big Cat]

He's. He's a little bit of a bragger. I like it.

[Mark Titus]

They've fallen off of that, and it's not just because they lost to Purdue. I think it's like, my eye test is telling me that there. There are a little bit of warning signs there, but I think they are head and shoulders better than everybody in the Midwest. Even though there are some exciting teams and there are, like you said, Dan, some flamethrower teams, I still think Michigan wins the Midwest.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

What is the penalty for Aiden Hall Holloway at Alabama? Sit out for 10 minutes.

[Mark Titus]

What is. So I saw that story this morning. I saw what he was arrested for was the. The marijuana. But then the other thing I wanted to. To ask you about. Do you know what? Like the tax stamp, Failure to have a stamp.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

He didn't put a stamp on his marijuana.

[PFT Commenter]

He did not register his illegal drugs with the state government and then pay taxes on.

[Big Cat]

And he has been.

[PFT Commenter]

So it's a great charge if you're a cop. This is the type of stuff you dream.

[Mark Titus]

This is like Al Capone tax evasion. Yeah. That's what got him.

[PFT Commenter]

If you really want to, like, nail somebody, you can always just put the extra stamp tax charge on him. But, yeah, he did not have a stamp on his pound of weed, which is maybe worse than having the weed itself.

[Big Cat]

So he. He was released from jail. He has been charged with a class C felony. That feels big.

[Mark Titus]

I mean, so Nate Oates will suspend them the first. First four minutes. Maybe half, maybe a full half, maybe half.

[Big Cat]

Can he play on Friday? That's all Bosco's just. He's on the phone right now.

[PFT Commenter]

There's. There's got to be a judge in Alabama somewhere that overlooked this for him.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it's. It's crazy, too, that if this were like 20 other states, it would be nothing. You know what I mean?

[Mark Titus]

If he was.

[PFT Commenter]

If he.

[Big Cat]

If he was playing in California.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

What if?

[Big Cat]

What if? Yeah. A pound of weed. That's. I think you're actually allowed to have up to 10 pounds. Illinois, like, any state that has legal weed, but Alabama feels like you can't do that.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. If this is Oregon, he would have a very successful business.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

You'd be like, he'll be like, where's your heroin entrepreneur?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

He's not good enough for it to happen. But something like this happening with like Bama starting quarterback is how weed becomes.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. We figure it out.

[PFT Commenter]

Right, Right. It's like, if there's enough like rain outs or rain delays in college football,

[Big Cat]

I bet you the cops.

[PFT Commenter]

Climate change might be real.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. The cops even probably put it on a scale in his house. It was like, dude, over a pound. We have.

[Mark Titus]

We have to.

[Big Cat]

We have to do this. If you had just been half a pound, we would have been fine.

[Mark Titus]

There probably is a judge somewhere that just like, legalizes all this. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And except for the 21st century, it's high time.

[Big Cat]

Time.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah, it's high time Alabama moves forward as a. I really thought about it before, but now as we're facing a big game against Michigan in the sweet sixteen, I was thinking, what's the big deal with some weed?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I think he's gonna play probably.

[PFT Commenter]

I think so.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah. Nate Oats will find a way.

[PFT Commenter]

Innocent until proven guilty.

[Big Cat]

Someone walked into Nate Oats office and be like, listen, coach, we've dealt with worse.

[Mark Titus]

Isn't that. I mean, your content brain is always on. Dan isn't. Isn't Bama. So I think Holloway being suspended the first two games, they make the Sweet 16. And it's now Bama versus Michigan. It's Bosco versus Dave and NATO. It's like the day before the game announces that Holloway can play.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

That like the best thing. Oh, yeah.

[Big Cat]

By far. By far. Absolutely.

[Mark Titus]

To give Dave that ammo.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

It's gonna be. I mean, not that they need it,

[Big Cat]

those two, but maybe even add in like a Michigan player gets caught for jaywalking and they actually sit him for a half. Michigan men do the right thing thing.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah. It's the ignoring. It's their ninth man. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Ignoring the whole, like, head coach trying to commit suicide with a butter knife in front of the girl he stalked. We just Michigan fans, like, well, he was fired. He was fired at that point. He did all that after.

[PFT Commenter]

There's no longer a Michigan man, their

[Mark Titus]

head basketball coach, who was a member of the. The most famous basketball team they've ever had in the history of that program, punched at another coach.

[Big Cat]

Greg Guard's face.

[Mark Titus]

Wasn't even like, the top five craziest things that happened in that athletic department.

[Big Cat]

No, there's other, like, there's other programs, too, which is like. But I will say this is also coming from a place of jealousy, that if you win a national title in football, I trade it all for you. Give me institutional cash. That's fine. To have the number one team in the country and also win a title, you know, three years ago. Okay, so what's your Final Four?

[Mark Titus]

I, I, I, I. Oh, do you.

[Big Cat]

Oh, Duke in Virginia. Are you, you or, sorry. Virginia Tennessee and Virginia. Tennessee. You can't quit Virginia. You, you famously won a national title.

[Mark Titus]

I won a national title for them in 2019.

[Big Cat]

They actually haven't won a tournament game since then.

[Mark Titus]

Huh. 21. Ohio is 20. And Furman was.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Isn't that crazy?

[Mark Titus]

Wow. Their last tournament game, their last tournament

[Big Cat]

when I leave was when they won their. The national title.

[Mark Titus]

Wow. I didn't know that.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

I can't. I don't know why I can't quit Tennessee. I just, I think that, like, there's the idea that Tennessee can't get it done in March, which, it's true if national championships or final force are what you care about. But, like, they can. They can make sweet 16s. They went to the lead eight last year, did they not? They lost to Houston, I think, in the lead eight. This team isn't as good as last year, but Nate, Amen is. Is awesome. Jacoby Gillespie is awesome. They play great defense. They have a ton of guys that can block shots and grab rebounds. It still feels like a Tennessee team. They have struggled. I don't know what the problem is. I just, like, every time they lose a game, I find myself walking away saying, that's all right. They'll be fine. And I, at some point, I have to just be like, all right, maybe they won't be fine. I just can't. I can't quit them. Having said all that, I do have them just going to the Sweet 16 and losing. But, like, though, if you talk to Big T, which is a bad example, bad representative for Tennessee because they could be the number one team in the country, and he'd think they're going to lose in the first round, but, you know, you would think that, like, Tennessee just has no hope and no players and nothing, Nothing that good is Ever going to happen happen. But I, I like them against Virginia. I think they match up well with Virginia's front court.

[PFT Commenter]

The amount of times Big T is said to me, we're terrible ball club.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah, we're terrible. And I have to talk him into believing that Tennessee is okay. Yeah, I think the SEC was really, really good this year. I just can't quit them. I think they have a lot of losses, but they played a lot of really good teams well.

[Big Cat]

So give us the ch.

[Mark Titus]

I have, I have a chalk Final Four. I have Duke, I have Arizona, I have Michigan. But then I have Houston. Houston. So that's like the one wrinkle. I have Vanderbilt upsetting Florida in the Sweet sixteen.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Mark Titus]

That would be the. And it's not in just because the SEC tournament. It's because when they played the first time in Nashville, Florida won. But I, I, I, I. Between that game and the SEC tournament, I've seen enough to know that like Vanderbilt one is not scared of Florida two. It's like not fluky. What happened in the SEC tournament. I think their guards are so good. I think they can turn over Florida. So if that game happened, I like the idea of Vanderbilt winning that. So that's the. I wanted a little bit of not chalk in my bracket. That's the best I could do, honestly, because I, I really think we're due for another chalky tournament. And if we don't get one this year, when I come back on this couch next year, I promise I'll mix it up a little bit more. But that's where I think college basketball is kind of slowly trending towards.

[PFT Commenter]

So what about. We, We've had one of the playing games already or I guess two of them. NC State, Texas, and then we also had Howard, umbc, but we got smu, Miami the day this show comes out. Okay, so what are the trends for those playing games? It's like every other year, one of the, one of the teams that wins this plan game. Two games, right?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. UCLA going to the Final Four. Was it Notre Dame? No go a couple.

[Mark Titus]

You? Yeah. You still in the final foot. Was. Was VCU maybe. Was that the.

[Big Cat]

Or no, I don't think that was.

[Mark Titus]

Are they the OG plan?

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

But yeah, it does feel like a playing team always takes a little bit of a run.

[PFT Commenter]

I think usually I. Every year I think there's been a team that's won a playing game that wins one game.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And then I think it's like every other year there's a team that goes to the sweet 16 from playing games. So, yeah, hypothetically. Yeah, FDU.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, they did. Yeah, they won a game.

[PFT Commenter]

Hypothetically. We're looking at smu. Know, we're looking at Miami. A lot of people are looking at this game and just, it's going to be a complete referendum on teams like Miami that level, that, that play a. A bad schedule like this could do harm to, to those types of teams in the future.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Where do you see this one going?

[Mark Titus]

I mean, I think SMU is a better team. I do think Miami playing in Dayton helps. I don't love smu, to be honest. And I, I, I've been kind of. I've positioned. I've been positioned in the college basketball landscape as a Miami hater just because I have the audacity to just say, like, they're. They're not one of the best. They're not one of the best teams in the country, but, you know, whatever. I still think they should have been in. I'm fine with them being in. Sounds like you don't like them, but, yeah, when they play, it sounds like you hate them. I expect SMU to win rather easily, but Miami is a team that, like, you know, they've been counted out many times. They've. They've had a lot of close games. I do think that, like, I think they fell into that trap a little bit where they just assume that they're always going to pull these games out and against you, Matt, they, they kind of just made some stupid decisions down the stretch. And even, like, the suitor hit like a really tough shot to tie it late. And even that shot, I was like, man, the balls to take that shot. But I think they got to a point where they just, like, literally thought that, like, we're unbeatable and it's all going to work out for us and maybe they're onto something. So maybe playing in front of the home crowd, I just like, if, if Miami wins against smu, I think they get absolutely destroyed by Tennessee. I think Tennessee will just obliterate them. But, yeah, I give him a puncher's chance against smu.

[Big Cat]

Vc, you're right, is the OG that was, I think, the first year of it. They went to the Final Four. You had La Salle in 2012, 13 go from the First Four to the Sweet 16. You had Tennessee in 2013, 14 go from the First Four to the sweet 16. Syracuse in 17, 18. UCLA, we talked about. So, yeah, it's happened. There's four, five times that a team has won a First Four game and then gone to the Sweet 16. So there's going to be, you know, I think win a game.

[Mark Titus]

If you're look, if you're looking for that candidate, I think it's NC State or in Texas just because like they, they, both of those teams have lost a ton down the stretch. They, they have not looked good, but they have like the individual talent each of those teams have.

[PFT Commenter]

Will Wade, right?

[Mark Titus]

Yeah. Will Wade at NC State. Sean Miller at Texas. I, I think both of those guys, you know, and, and I like the matchups. I like BYU is really good, but has really good talent. But like BYU is, is not exactly a great team and Gonzaga I think is a little overseeded. So if I was, if I, if you're telling me to pick one of the matchups to produce the team that goes to the sweet 16, I would look at the NC State Texas rather than the SMU Miami.

[Big Cat]

Okay, I got one last question. Roback question rhobac.com promo code Take 20% off your first purchase. Q Zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Roback.com promo code Take did you do the little sass or you could say the maybe better known the Leo meme from, what was that movie? The Hollywood movie, Once upon a Time. Did you do that meme when you saw the Ohio State president had to step back down for having a relationship with a Columbus podcaster?

[Mark Titus]

Oh yeah. Were you like, damn, that I accidentally fucked the president? Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

Was that me there but for the grace of God?

[Big Cat]

You were at one point a Columbus based podcaster was.

[Mark Titus]

That's exactly right.

[Big Cat]

So maybe, actually you probably should be a little offended that he didn't try to fuck you.

[Mark Titus]

A lot of people trying to pile on Ohio. Listen, we have a lot of problems and there's a, there's a bigger tie, there's a tie. There's an Ohio State tie to a much bigger scandal than that that, you

[Big Cat]

know, you talk about old. Less.

[Mark Titus]

We might be talking about less that I have a problem.

[PFT Commenter]

I would, oh, less west, the lingerie salesman.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mark Titus]

Say what you want about that. I won't defend it. I, I, I would prefer, I do think the Ohio State leadership pretending like they're not sure how they would go about like taking Les Wexner's name down. Like, like there, there, all these protests are like, we have to take his name off these buildings. And they're like, h, huh?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

How would we, how would you even, like, how, how do you do that?

[Big Cat]

The school that takes the M off every single building For a week every year now.

[Mark Titus]

We can't just take his name down there. So some, like, logistics. We'd have to get a ladder out. We'd have to get, like, probably. I don't know if we have the tools. I don't know if we have the time. That scandal aside, I mean, people are trying to pile on for the president thing. I won. The guy. The guy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

So, like, there's that two. Classy of Ohio State to just nip it in the bud. Like, the second we found out he's a bad guy, you got him out of there. So I thought. I actually everyone, like, when this story came out, people were trying to throw it in my face, and I said. Said this. This is. This is an example of weeding out the. The bad apple.

[Big Cat]

3.

[Mark Titus]

Get them out of there.

[Big Cat]

3. Podcasters are kings in society now.

[Mark Titus]

Podcast.

[Big Cat]

We're a podcast economy. That's what. That's our biggest export.

[Mark Titus]

That's right.

[Big Cat]

Podcasting.

[PFT Commenter]

There was a moment when none of us had sex.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

And now it's actually good for. For the industry. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Winning Grammys.

[PFT Commenter]

Like, I could have. Yeah. Theoretically, we could all be sleeping with any president of any college.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah. Yeah.

[PFT Commenter]

I looked at that. Like, representation matters.

[Mark Titus]

We. We. The. The new president's a woman, right?

[Big Cat]

Oh.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh.

[Big Cat]

I think she like any podcasts.

[PFT Commenter]

Huh.

[Mark Titus]

Interesting.

[Big Cat]

Sorry, Titus, you're the best.

[Hank]

We'll.

[Big Cat]

We'll be with Titus all weekend.

[Mark Titus]

Who'd you guys. I did my picks. I. Who did you guys pick?

[Big Cat]

All right. I don't remember what I did last night, but I'm going to change it. It. Maybe change it.

[PFT Commenter]

I had.

[Mark Titus]

I had. I had Duke. I had Arizona over Duke, by the way, in the championship.

[PFT Commenter]

I had Michigan State. Houston. I think I took Arkansas. And then did I take Michigan?

[Big Cat]

My second. All right. I had originally Duke, Arizona, Houston, and Virginia. I don't know what I was thinking there.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah. Michigan State. Arkansas. Houston. Michigan.

[Big Cat]

I'm going to change mine.

[Mark Titus]

Akron.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Zach McDach. And then. Yeah. And then didn't pick him in bracket busters when we had him. And he's like, no, I don't want to do that. My national champion. I'm gonna. I'm gonna change one. I'm gonna go Iowa State instead of Virginia. Otherwise, I'll keep it. Arizona, Houston, Iowa State. Yeah. I don't know why I was thinking Virginia. I think I was just trying. This is the problem with the brackets. Every year you fill out your bracket and you get to the point where you have all number ones. You're like, can't do this. And then you get. Try. Try to get all tricky with it, and you're just really forcing in. Maybe just go number one.

[PFT Commenter]

Where do you stand on the brackets more? How many do you do?

[Mark Titus]

Do I do one?

[PFT Commenter]

One.

[Mark Titus]

I do one.

[PFT Commenter]

Every pool that you enter.

[Mark Titus]

I think I. I would like to pretend it's like a moral thing. It's not. It's just laziness, I think. I think. I think when I was younger, I did a lot, like, what? I had more time or, like, yeah, I don't know. I would sit down and just like, rip through, like 15 or something. But it kind of come up with a crazy. This is my crazy bracket.

[PFT Commenter]

But if you get asked to participate in like, like a college friend pool or something like that, do you take your bracket and then you, like, have it in your hands in front of you or you just remember every game that you picked?

[Mark Titus]

I would probably remember every game I picked. I would. I would remember everyone.

[Big Cat]

I printed it out, but. Yeah, walk around with it.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah, but you pull it out of

[Big Cat]

my pocket like, oh, I think I do have.

[Mark Titus]

If your buddy was doing a pool and you could submit, like, up to five brackets, would you do. Would you do five brackets? No, I would still probably only do one.

[PFT Commenter]

Five of the same one.

[Mark Titus]

I would do five of the same one.

[Big Cat]

I would do five. I would maybe change, like this national title winner, but I stay consistent because you don't want to root for seven different things. So it's like, I would maybe do the same final four, but then switch the national title.

[Mark Titus]

Yeah. I do like the idea of one the. The crazy bracket. It's like, yeah, when. When the. When the women are like, let's do a crazy picture now.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah.

[Mark Titus]

You know, you take your picture. Let's do a silly one. I like that with the bracket. Let's do a silly bracket.

[Big Cat]

Let's crazy in the final four.

[Mark Titus]

And then at the end of the first round, you're like, why the Did I do a silly bragg. Why did I waste my money on that?

[PFT Commenter]

I. I feel like as a person who's been online as long as you have, Mark, you remember the day when, like, half of all content in the month of March was various brackets, and I feel like we've gotten away from that. I don't see as many content related bra. When did we hit that. That peak? I want to say, like, 2016. We ran out of Barackatology 2017. Yeah. Yeah. Well, what? Kind of busy with the drones. But, Andy, I'll do Your bracket.

[Mark Titus]

We need more brackets. We need. Yeah. To. To. To best condiments. 64 team bracket and everybody vote.

[PFT Commenter]

That was such a simpler time on.

[Mark Titus]

It really was.

[PFT Commenter]

And people get mad like, I can't believe you put mayo over ketchup.

[Big Cat]

What the.

[PFT Commenter]

Unfollowed.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Okay.

[Mark Titus]

All right. Thanks, Mark. See you guys.

[PFT Commenter]

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[Big Cat]

Okay, let's wrap up. It's been a long show, but brackets are here. We're excited. Friday we're gonna have Stanford Steve on the show to talk about Friday's games. So after the madness on Thursday, you'll be able to get your bets ready with Stanford Steve on Friday morning with us and we'll recap everything Thursday day. Let's do numbers.

[PFT Commenter]

23, 68.

[Big Cat]

I'm gonna do 10 for UCF.

[Hank]

We'll do 66.

[Max]

I'm gonna do 56.

[Big Cat]

I think I feel like today's the day. I don't know why.

[Zach]

I'll go 51.

[Big Cat]

Do you want to select two at the same time?

[Max]

No, same time. Oh, you mean two.

[Big Cat]

Oh, can do that.

[Max]

I thought you said two numbers at one number.

[Mark Titus]

Two balls.

[Big Cat]

Yes, two. Two balls can come out.

[Max]

Let's do that.

[Big Cat]

The odds do change.

[Max]

Let's do that. Oh, here are the boys.

[PFT Commenter]

Go, go, go, go, go.

[Zach]

19 champion.

[Big Cat]

18.

[PFT Commenter]

Jack. 88.

[Mark Titus]

69.

[PFT Commenter]

69 for Colton.

[Max]

It changes it a little bit because you don't. We always put the number back in. All right.

[Big Cat]

23, 56. 10. All right, two numbers are coming out. This counts.

[PFT Commenter]

Official.

[Max]

Oh, this is. This is exciting. This is the first time we've ever done this.

[Big Cat]

Very, very.

[Max]

Although it would be a little Mickey Mouse if somebody.

[Big Cat]

Well, not if they win with the first true.

[Mark Titus]

Good point, good point.

[PFT Commenter]

Oh,

[Big Cat]

88. The other one got stuck. Oh, here comes the other one.

[Max]

Here comes the other one.

[Big Cat]

21.

[Max]

21.

[Big Cat]

Nothing.

[PFT Commenter]

Nothing.

[Big Cat]

Oh, 88.

[Max]

88.

[Big Cat]

88. Oh, there you go. That's official. 88. First one on the board. Way to go, Jack.

[PFT Commenter]

All right, Jack.

[Big Cat]

Here we go. Great. Oh, Jack.

[PFT Commenter]

Do you have anything to say? Doesn't like it.

[Mark Titus]

Just Patrick Kane two goals last night.

[PFT Commenter]

That's it. Just. Just.

[Big Cat]

Showtime. Showtime. Pft. Did you forget anyone?

[PFT Commenter]

I said Gaz's birthday. Yeah, you didn't.

[Zach]

Did you forget anyone?

[PFT Commenter]

Birthdays. I wish memes a happy birthday the other day. Thank you.

[Big Cat]

Okay, just making sure.

[PFT Commenter]

Did you.

[Big Cat]

If you forgot anyone.

[PFT Commenter]

It was Jeffy Low's birthday as well. I think yesterday or Sunday wished him a happy birthday. Okay, whose birthday I forget?

[Big Cat]

Monday, Gaz. No, the four time. Five time Blake of the year.

[Max]

Oh no.

[PFT Commenter]

Blake Griffin is Blake Griffin's birthday.

[Big Cat]

Blake Griffin.

[PFT Commenter]

Yeah, yeah.

[Big Cat]

God. 37.

[Hank]

You got to retire.

[Big Cat]

You got to retire, dude.

[Max]

I love. I love how bad you are. It's impossible.

[Big Cat]

And I understand like some celebrities. I don't give a about Blake Griffin is our guy. You have to get Blake Griffin.

[PFT Commenter]

It was last Monday.

[Big Cat]

No, yesterday I was just.

[PFT Commenter]

That's. That's what I get for thinking about gas. Done being nice to gas. Sorry, Gaz. You had a day. I hope it was a great one. By the way, guys. All right. Happy, happy belated to Blake of the year Blake Griffin. Happy also birthday to Brandon Ayuk. Great guy. Where are you? Great guy. He's. He's in. Staying in great shape.

[Big Cat]

What? What?

[PFT Commenter]

Max? Who else?

[Max]

I'm just seeing all these other accounts post about Blake Griffin.

[Big Cat]

There's a lot of Blake Griffin.

[PFT Commenter]

There's a lot of Blake.

[Big Cat]

There's a lot of Blake Griffin.

[Max]

Yesterday courtside Buzz tweeted about it it

[PFT Commenter]

Happy birthday to Blake Griffin. Yeah, you know what, Blake? I'll send you something.

[Big Cat]

There you go. Nice.

[PFT Commenter]

How would you like a Hank dog

[Big Cat]

toy Blake and a pft gnome?

[PFT Commenter]

You got it.

[Big Cat]

We'll throw that in. You got it.

[PFT Commenter]

Love you guys. Sa.