John Fanta, MSU Coach Tom Izzo, PMT Spring Break, Hot Seat/Cool Throne And Listener Submitted Mad Online

Summary

Pardon My Take Podcast Summary

Episode: John Fanta, MSU Coach Tom Izzo, PMT Spring Break, Hot Seat/Cool Throne & Listener Submitted Mad Online

Date: March 25, 2026
Hosts: Big Cat, PFT Commenter (Barstool Sports)
Special Guests: John Fanta (College Basketball Analyst), Tom Izzo (Michigan State Head Coach)

---

Episode Overview

This episode of Pardon My Take sees the PMT crew broadcasting from Arizona for "PMT Spring Break," blending irreverent sports talk with vacation vibes and sunburned banter. The show features a deep dive into March Madness, including interviews with college basketball insider John Fanta and Michigan State legend Tom Izzo. The hosts also make time for their beloved segments: "Hot Seat/Cool Throne," a spring training baseball preview, some time zone confusion hijinks, and the listener-driven "Mad Online."

---

Key Segments & Highlights

1. Spring Break in Arizona & Opening Banter

• Spring Break Vibes: The hosts joke about "tit week," military service age limits, and embrace a lighthearted, chaotic spring break energy in Arizona.

  • Memorable Quote (02:31, Hank): "It's tit week."
  • Big Cat (03:14): "That's just the horniness that happens on spring break."

• Diet & Recovery Post-March Madness: Sharing their routines and hangover cures after the opening rounds of the NCAA tournament.

• Restaurant Chat: Debating the militaristic efficiency of the Houston’s restaurant chain and its army-like staff.

---

2. March Madness Rundown & Speculation (05:17-10:00)

• UNC Coach Search: With UNC’s head coach fired, the hosts riff on possible replacements (Brad Stevens, Billy Donovan, Kelvin Sampson, Tony Bennett, Nate Oats).

  • Big Cat (06:29): "It's just very funny—the reality is Brad Stevens for Carolina fans."
  • Hank (07:57): "It feels like [Nate Oats] has been incepting people into anticipating him being the next UNC coach for a while."

• Falling for Ben McCollum:

  • Big Cat (08:13): “I have fallen hard for Ben McCollum...This guy fucking rocks. He just wins everywhere."
  • Discussion of McCollum’s Cinderella Iowa squad of D2 and transfer players.

• Early Sweet 16 Takes:

  • Hank picks Purdue, Arizona, Houston; Big Cat bullish on Illinois; the team's "most kick-ass guys" of the tournament are debated.

---

3. NCAA Tournament "Kick-ass Guys" Draft (10:46-13:35)

A running PMT bit, the guys pick the most “badass” players remaining in March Madness:

• Cohen Carr, Acuff, JoJo Tugler, LeBaron Phylon, Sam Hoiberg, Zuby Ejiofor, with honorable mentions.
  • Big Cat (11:59): "...that's our starting five—well, six names."

---

4. Baseball Season Preview & Fan Purgatory (18:33-27:59)

• Spring Training Begins Early: Discussion of the Netflix-opening Yankees-Giants game and general excitement about baseball's return.

• Team Previews:

  • Nats fans commiserate over a 7-year rebuild ("tank master"), low expectations.
  • Max expects the Phillies to regress but still make the wild card.
  • Red Sox fans tepid, Mets fans hope for a turnaround.
  • Big Cat is bullish on the Cubs: "I think they're the second-best team in the NL."

• Depressing Outlooks: Most teams mired in mediocrity, with few looking forward to the season—except for Big Cat's Cubs optimism.

---

5. Time Zone Confusion Extravaganza (31:10-39:35)

One of the episode’s most memorable bits:
The crew gets hilariously lost in a thick discussion about Arizona’s refusal to observe daylight savings, bouncing from mountain to Pacific time, and how this ruins Zach’s perception of flight duration.

• Max (35:28): "This is—the deodorant all over again."
• PFT & Big Cat repeatedly: “We’re in Pacific time! No, Mountain time! No, Arizona time is…”
• John Fanta (38:45): "We're in a Mountain standard time. Currently we align with Pacific time. But then we don't change. And we have to compensate for all of you that change."
• Big Cat attempts to summarize the answer: “We're Mountain time dressed up as Pacific time.”

---

6. Hot Seat / Cool Throne (41:52-56:07)

• Max’s Hot Seat: Philadelphia 76ers’ bizarre tribute video to a rookie traded away after a year.
  • Max (42:32): "That's crazy to have a fair comeback video for that."
• Max’s Cool Throne: Cannolis and potential tiramisu crawl.
• Hank’s Hot Seat: “Short Kings”—baseball’s new ABS system reveals players have been lying about height.
  • Hank (52:58): "Bo Naylor, who I'm a Bo Naylor fan, was listed at 6 feet...He's 5’9.”
• Hank’s Cool Throne: Luis Suarez loses "biting in sports" crown to Puka Nacua, amid new biting allegations.

---

7. Interview: John Fanta on March Madness (74:49-111:41)

Timestamped separately—see below for detailed summary.

---

8. Interview: Tom Izzo (Michigan State Head Coach) (113:59-142:33)

Timestamped separately—see below for detailed summary.

---

9. Mad Online: Listener Rants & Hot Takes (145:09-150:33)

• Debates about the lasting impact of college coaching transitions (Coach K vs. Jim Boeheim), Shaka Smart at Marquette, and frustrations at bad endgame plays in college basketball.
• Big Cat: "Shaka Smart is the cautionary tale: don’t succeed too much, too early, or everyone expects you to Kemba again."
• Hank: "Don’t be bald by choice, dude...My culture is not your costume!"

---

10. End-of-Episode Chaos

• Predictions for the Sweet 16, lottery ball picks, and some PMT-internal inside jokes ("Love you guys," "bring a new friend in July").

---

Detailed Guest Highlights

---

John Fanta Interview: March Madness Madness (74:49–111:41)

Key Points and Best Moments:

• Big Ten Love:
  • “To have [the Big Ten] not won a championship since 2000, but have six Sweet 16s is a headliner." (75:52)
• Regional Highlights:
  • Waxing poetic about the East region’s coaching matchups: Izzo, Pitino, Hurley, Shire.
  • Illinois-Houston a “bar fight...so tough,” Iowa/Nebraska “the Cinderella no one had."
  • “Nebraska, Iowa are both in the Sweet 16 and both playing each other? That's incredible!" (80:44)
• Darius Acuff, Jr. Hype:
  • “The best player in the tournament right now is Darius Acuff Jr...he is ridiculously gifted.”
• Cinderella Watch:
  • “When Cinderella finally comes out of her casket, we’ll appreciate it even more." (77:55)
• Coach Rumorama:
  • Fanta discusses UNC and Kansas job rumors, recites the classic “make him say no” for Brad Stevens, Billy Donovan.
• Funny Moment:
  • Fanta rails on over-reactions to Kevin Willard jokes and college basketball Twitter: “Can people learn to take a joke?” (92:30)

Notable Quotes:

• Big Cat (84:10): “It’s crazy how this sport works.”
• John Fanta (108:51): “Are you feeling sweet, America? Because you should be. It’s here…This is March! This is why we love the sport..."

---

Tom Izzo Interview: Old School in a New Era (113:59–142:33)

Key Points and Highlights:

• On "Being a Steward of the Game":
  • “The game really doesn't change and that we have a responsibility to the game more than to ourselves or our schools.”
• Adapting to NIL & Transfer Portal:
  • “It's difficult…There's a reason a lot of football and basketball coaches have left. Is it right for the players in the next 70 years?"
• Old School, Right School:
  • "It's not 'old school.' It's 'right school.' It's the way it’s supposed to be." (115:31)
• Coaching with Love and Accountability:
  • “Our job is to hold people accountable to accomplish the goals and dreams they have, not just what I have.”
  • “Great players want to be coached and pushed because great players want to be the best players." (125:03)
• Cohen Carr's Leaping Ability:
  • “He’s the world’s best kid…one of the more powerful dunkers I’ve ever had.” (128:32)
• On NCAA Tournament Bracket Luck:
  • "It’s happened more than its share of times...Duke and Michigan State always drawn together." (130:40)

Fun/Quotable Moments:

• On Dan Hurley’s coaching magic:
  • Big Cat: “Do not let him drink his rage piss before the game. That’s his secret sauce.” (119:20)
• On yelling at players as an Italian:
  • “No matter what I say to you, take it for what I’m saying, not how I’m saying it. Because I love you all."
• On stats:
  • “People throw stats at me, but the only ones I care about are the banners hanging."
  • Big Cat (141:08): "You're 26–9 on two-day turnaround games...That’s a hell of a stat and it speaks to your coaching."
• Promise for another National Title:
  • “If we win another national championship, I just might do something crazy. I’ll bring back [the musical] ‘Izzo Goes to Broadway’—and you guys can be part of it, if you wear white suits!” (141:49)

---

Other Notable Quotes & Banter

• Big Cat: "This episode might have to be submitted to the Podcast Hall of Fame for stupidity." (69:33)
• On recruiting:
  • Big Cat about Providence coach’s joke—“If you question my recruiting, just look at my wife”—“Let’s just say, he can back it up.” (63:17)

---

Memorable Moments & Quotes with Timestamps

• 02:31/Hank: "It's tit week."
• 31:10-39:35: The entire time zone debate—pinnacle of PMT chaos.
• 63:17/Big Cat: "If you ever want to question my recruiting abilities, just look at my wife."
• 115:31/Izzo: "It's not old school. It's right school...The right way has been done for not 20, not 40, 100 years."
• 128:32/Izzo on Cohen Carr: "He's the world's best kid...the most powerful dunker I've ever had."
• 141:08/Big Cat: "You're 26–9 on two-day turnaround games in the NCAA tournament...That's a hell of a stat and it speaks to your coaching."

---

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:00–13:35: Arizona spring break banter, March Madness early discussion, “kick-ass guys” draft
• 18:33–27:59: Baseball preview (Nats, Cubs, Red Sox, Phillies, Mets)
• 31:10–39:35: Time zone confusion bit
• 41:52–56:07: Hot Seat/Cool Throne
• 74:49–111:41: John Fanta Interview
• 113:59–142:33: Tom Izzo Interview
• 145:09–150:33: Mad Online
• End: Predictions, wrap-up

---

Summary Tone & Language

The PMT tone is comedic, irreverent, high-energy, bro-ish, and sports-mad, with lots of digs, bits, and banter. Quotes are presented in the hosts’ original informal, quick-witted language.

---

Listeners’ Takeaways

• Unfiltered sports fandom: The episode is rich in inside jokes, creative segments, and personal fan anguish mixed with celebration.
• College hoops insight: Deep-dive analysis of coaching moves, March Madness storylines, and player spotlights.
• Baseball and banter: Realistic (sometimes bleak) takes on MLB teams, with the exception of Big Cat’s Cubs optimism.
• True-to-life PMT chaos: From time zone debates to weird bets and “tiramisu crawl” ideas, you get the full spring break madness experience.

---

If you missed this episode, expect all the PMT trademarks: wild energy, off-topic tangents, top-shelf college hoops insight, and plenty of laughs.

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. Look, some snacks just show up. Blue diamond almonds and more shows out almonds, cashews and pistachios in bold flavors like honey roasted smokehouse and roasted sea salt. Freshness guaranteed. And clutch in crunch time every bite. Try blue diamond almonds and more. The flavorful nutmegs on today's part of my take presented by DraftKings. It's PMT spring break. We are in the desert, Arizona. Zach, we got to talk about time zones.

[Zach]

I agree.

[Big Cat]

We're going to have to talk about time zones. We're. We have two a twofer for the people. We have John Fannah talking March Madness and then we have coach Tom Izzo on the show. Feels like every single year we have him on right around now because he's every single year he's in the sweet 16. We're going to do Hot seat, Cool throne. We're going to do a little mini baseball preview. Right. Very excited about our teams. Real quick, we have. What are we finishing the show with? Mad Online. Mad Online. So we got a great show for everyone and this episode is sponsored by Better Help. It can be challenging to make time for therapy Better Help. Make scheduling and attending your weekly sessions easy. Because it's all online. You can do phone, video or message chat according to your schedule. With over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform having served over 6 million people globally. And it works with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 for a live session based on over 1.7 million client reviews. If your therapist isn't the right fit, you can switch anytime easily and no extra cost. Prioritize your well being with better help. Visit betterhelp.compmt to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp. H E L p.compmt okay, lets go. Welcome to part of my take presented by DraftKings. The crown is yours. Today is Wednesday, March 23rd 5th and it's PMT Spring Break. Woo. Let's go. Someone take your top off. Yeah. Show your titties.

[Hank]

It's tit week.

[Big Cat]

It's tit week.

[Hank]

That should be actually like that's a. That's a nice addition. We should do boobs to the annual calendar. Tit week.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

First boob. Go Zach. First boob.

[Zach]

First boo. It was definitely movie centric. Or do you mean irl?

[Big Cat]

Yep. Your mom.

[Zach]

Yeah. Thank you. I mean, y. Get the life.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Zach]

Shout out to mothers.

[Hank]

The original.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Original families. The original cream team.

[John Fanta]

Oh.

[Big Cat]

Oh. Pft.

[Hank]

It is.

[Big Cat]

You don't have to say that about his mom.

[Hank]

Heavies.

[Big Cat]

She is. She's. Oh, Jesus Christ, dude.

[Hank]

Zach's mom, she listens to every show. Mrs. Zach, I respect you. Never met you. I'm sure you're a very lovely lady. We're just busting both.

[Big Cat]

That's just the horniness that happens on spring break.

[Zach]

I disavow that mom.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I disavow.

[Hank]

I disavow myself, Zach's mom.

[Big Cat]

But, yeah, we're in Arizona, spring break. How's everyone feeling? I feel like we had a nice day and a half of getting in the sun after March Madness.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I did a 16 hour fast where all I had was a bowl of cereal and a half a turkey sandwich.

[Hank]

That's pretty good. I did a 16 hour slow. I. I went out for wings last night.

[Big Cat]

Nice.

[Hank]

Just to kind of, like, ease my way out. It's my way of easing my way out of the stuff that we've been eating for the past, like, six days.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Is to just do, like. I didn't do a full order of wings. I had, like, eight to ten wings.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Just to kind of like, let me down gently.

[Big Cat]

How's everyone else feeling?

[Max]

I'm great. I know it's spring break, and we want to, like, take it easy, take some time off, but I. I still want to stay focused, so. Last night I went to a very militaristic restaurant, had some good food at. At Houston's.

[Hank]

A good establishment.

[Big Cat]

Great family establishment.

[Max]

Family, family establishment.

[Big Cat]

Super.

[Max]

Super nice. But I. I re. Watched the biz video, and he's just like, great establishment. Very militaristic operation over there.

[Big Cat]

I think that. I think when he said that he just didn't know what a chain was.

[Max]

He just. And I think he just meant it's like, run well.

[Hank]

They have standards and everybody there has, like, good haircuts.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

And everyone follows their assignments and does their job.

[Hank]

They all appear to be under the age of 42 now.

[Max]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. They run a nice, tight ship.

[Max]

Great restaurant, though.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Are we going to. Are we gonna have to. Because that was so the age for service now 30 has been extended to 33 to 42.

[Hank]

It's up to 42 now.

[Big Cat]

We're 41. That felt personal.

[Hank]

It felt very personal.

[Big Cat]

They.

[Hank]

Uncle Sam saw me in big cat's bodies, and they were like, these guys can't.

[Big Cat]

We got to Use these guys.

[Hank]

These guys are meant to wear some artillery.

[Big Cat]

These guys are perfect for the front line to just get mowed down.

[Hank]

Yeah, listen, I will. Listen, I. It's well documented. If you put me behind the seat of an F35, that's. I'm not getting shot down.

[Big Cat]

You'd puke because you're scared of heights.

[Hank]

I'm terrified of heights.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. That part would be a problem.

[Hank]

It's a problem.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Tom Izzo]

All right.

[Big Cat]

So, sports news. What do we got going on? The world. Hubert Davis officially fired R.I.P.

[Hank]

you got to make Brad Stevens say no.

[Big Cat]

You got to call. He is going to say no. Y. But you have to make him say no. I did. See there was a message board I wanted to share with you guys from a Carolina fan. What do you think their fantasy hire is?

[Hank]

Their fantasy hire fantasy.

[Big Cat]

I have right here fantasy and reality.

[Hank]

Okay. They're fantasy hire. I. I don't know that there's that much of a fantasy hire besides like the. The Billy Donovans or the. Or the Brad Stevens of the world.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So you would think that. No fantasies. Kelvin Sampson. Reality is Brad Stevens. That's his person. They said fantasy. Kelvin Sampson reality. Brad Stevens. Luke Murray, my husband wants Tony Bennett, but his style of ball makes me want to claw my eyes out.

[Hank]

Yeah. I don't know that they want Tony Bennett just because he coached up the road in Charlottesville. I don't. I don't think they want him. I. I could see them going after a couple NBA guys. I could see. You know, the funniest heel turn possible would be if J.J. redick took that job.

[Big Cat]

That would be great.

[Hank]

That would be so funny. Not gonna happen, obviously. But.

[Big Cat]

But it's just very funny. The reality is Brad Stevens for Carolina fans. Because this is a job. You know, Hubert Davis was kind of handpicked, succession, all that stuff. This is a job that doesn't come open very often, and it is a true blue blood job. Even. Even if you listen to everything Jay Williams says, which he did. You see that take he had? He's like, if it wasn't for the logo, no one would be talking about unc because it's not really a blue blood. Well, yeah, the logo is pretty important, dude. It's the. It's the logo of a team that's won a ton of national titles and a ton of final fours.

[Hank]

Yeah, it's. It's blue blood.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it is.

[Hank]

It's blue blood.

[Big Cat]

Pretty important. Yeah.

[Hank]

Like, Duke would not be nearly the brand that it was if it wasn't for UNC in that rivalry, it's like they both feed off.

[Big Cat]

If you take away. If you take away the name Duke in the logo, it wouldn't be Duke.

[Hank]

Not at all.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, so it's a good point. But yeah. So I. It's interesting because I do think they could get pretty much anyone they want.

[Hank]

They should be able to. I mean, it should be one of the best jobs in the country.

[Big Cat]

I.

[Hank]

Everyone keeps saying Nate Oats. I think that we should keep that rumor going. I think they're very heavily. And there's. There's mutual interest. I think NATO cultural fit there. NATO is extremely interested in the job. Be interesting to see if he's able to focus on his team this week. Maybe the most important week that they have. But would people be talking about NATO as much for this job if he didn't wear those jackets? They feel like. They feel like Carolina jackets.

[Big Cat]

Carolina blue jackets. Yeah, they.

[Hank]

And like just the. The plaids.

[Big Cat]

It.

[Hank]

It feels like he's been incepting people into anticipating him being the next UNC coach for a while. I don't think he'd be a great fit there. Yeah, I don't know. I feel like Otzelberger is going to be a name that they talk about.

[Big Cat]

I got a name.

[Hank]

I don't know if he wants to go.

[Big Cat]

I've. I'm ashamed to admit that I've fallen in love with this person because they are technically a rival, but I have fallen hard for Ben McCollum.

[Hank]

Yeah, I've fallen hard.

[Big Cat]

I've read a lot of Ben McCollum this last week, last few days after beating Florida. This guy fucking rocks. He just wins everywhere. He also, Iowa is the Cinderella that everyone's been pining for. If you look at Iowa and like, their roster and where these guys started playing college basketball, Bennett Sturts was Northwest Missouri State. They had a Robert Morris, 2 Wyoming, 2 Drake, 1 Northwest Florida State. Like, this is your Cinderella there. This is not a roster of five star recruits of guys who are making $7 million. This is your Cinderella. And Ben McCollum always talking about, like, toughness. And I saw this other thread where it was a coach that basically coached Division 2 and essentially said, we spent our entire time trying to beat their team and no one else. He's like, that's all. It's the hardest nut to crack, the way he's able to manipulate games with pace and the point guard position. And I've fallen hard and fast for Ben McCollum.

[Hank]

I mean, it's a great story.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

With story is great. I think if you're looking at coaches that you have to, you have to call, you got, you got to talk to Dusty.

[Big Cat]

You got to make him say no.

[Hank]

Got to make Dusty may say no.

[Big Cat]

A lot of nos you got to get.

[Hank]

And there's a lot of people that you want to keep in the building too, like you. You can't let them leave if they get there.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Hank]

So if they say yes to visit, then you got to keep them there. Dusty, I think would be a guy that you can't let him le. You can't let him leave without a contract. I think people are talking about Danny Hurley. I think you do have to make Danny Hurley say.

[Big Cat]

Have to make him say no. Yeah. Jay Wright has to be. Has to say no.

[Hank]

Bobby Hurley's probably already, you know, you

[Big Cat]

don't want Kevin Willard to say yes.

[Hank]

No.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Hank]

But you also don't want Kevin Willard to stand up if you say, does anybody object? Right?

[Big Cat]

That's true. That's true. So, yeah, it will be interesting to see what happens. I. What, what are you guys early takes on these games? Because we're gonna, we're here till Saturday, so we'll be recording after the games on Thursday. I'm just juiced up for, for the, for the sweet 16.

[Hank]

I'm juice.

[Big Cat]

I'm ready to go.

[Hank]

I like Purdue. I like Purdue a lot.

[Big Cat]

I like Arkansas Acuff versus Arizona.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

It's going to be incredible.

[Hank]

It's going to be excellent. And then I, I like Houston, but big shocker there. I always like Houston.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. I actually think Illinois can win that game. Shout out Tom Fornelli. He's gonna like that.

[Tom Izzo]

I said this.

[Big Cat]

What else is, what else is going

[Hank]

on in the sports world? I got my most kick ass guys in the tournament.

[Big Cat]

Oh, okay. Go ahead.

[Hank]

Do you want to make our five?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I mean, Cohen cars. My one. Okay.

[Hank]

Cohen car is on the list.

[Big Cat]

It's got to be still in the tournament.

[Hank]

Still in the tournament.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Acuff and Cohen Carr have to be 1, 1, 2, easy.

[Hank]

Okay, I, I nominate JoJo Tugler. Not the best player on the team, but probably the most kick ass player.

[Big Cat]

Yep. What about LeBaron?

[Hank]

Yeah, LeBaron filing.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Yeah. He's kick ass.

[Big Cat]

He's got to be on there.

[Hank]

And then what's his name? Gatoroid. The steroid. The jacked up Florida fan.

[Big Cat]

He's not in the tournament.

[Hank]

I know he got bounced, but I feel like he should be on the tournament. But he'll kick Her. He'll kick her ass.

[Big Cat]

I think we got. Zuby kicks ass. So what is that, four or five? Do we just get five? I think. No, no, no. I think we got to get Sam Hoiberg on there. You gotta have a coach.

[Hank]

Yeah, yeah. Sam Hobby. Okay, that's. That's a great starting point.

[Big Cat]

So I think that might be six, but that doesn't find. That's fine. Just make the graph.

[Hank]

I think we got three point guards.

[Big Cat]

Wait, what was it was.

[John Fanta]

We've.

[Big Cat]

Cohen, Carr, Acuff, Sam Hoiberg, Zubi.

[Hank]

JoJo Tugler.

[Big Cat]

JoJo Tugler. And then there was one other, right. LeBaron. LeBaron. Yeah. Yeah. All right, that's our starting five. And have it be six names.

[Hank]

Yeah, those are the most kick out. I actually think that's a great list.

[Big Cat]

And then maybe underneath, say, did not make the roster. Boozer, would you like to make the

[Max]

case in the Florida guy?

[Tom Izzo]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And the Florida guy. Would you like, like to make the case for Bruiser?

[Max]

I mean, he's the highest draft pick left in. In the tournament.

[Big Cat]

Oh, they've already done the draft.

[Max]

He's going to be the highest draft pick left in the tournament.

[Big Cat]

You don't know that. What about his medicals? What if his medicals aren't great?

[Max]

I think he's the most exciting player. I think we don't.

[Hank]

We don't know that. You said most exciting.

[Big Cat]

You think he's more exciting than he's.

[Hank]

That's what I'm saying about. And I didn't mean it as a slight against the guy. I don't think he's like a big man.

[Max]

It's a different art.

[Hank]

Different art down.

[Big Cat]

He's not more exciting than Darius.

[Max]

This is everyone talks about, you know,

[Hank]

in fact, I would say he's not exciting at all.

[Max]

No, you just don't respect the post game.

[Big Cat]

He's a flash guy.

[Hank]

I'm not a flash guy.

[Big Cat]

No, that's not true. We have.

[Hank]

I mean, Zubi and Hoiberg.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, Hoiberg's gritty as grit. Is he big?

[Hank]

No, no, JoJo, big heart.

[Max]

I respect the post.

[Hank]

I was shocked when I looked it up about. About Tugler because he does play like he's seven feet tall. I think he's like six, seven or six, eight. It's like, you know Dwight Howard. Yeah, very relatable Dwight Howard.

[Tom Izzo]

It is.

[Big Cat]

It's probably the most. Six, seven is probably the most relatable thing across all ages.

[Hank]

Yeah, it does.

[Big Cat]

It's more famous than ishow speed, but He's.

[Hank]

He's one of those guys like. Like Dwight Howard that I. I think he. He just appears to be way taller because he's. He's got the big wingspan, but, yeah, that. That actually shot him up. My most badass guy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Because he's a sinner who's like six, eight.

[Big Cat]

Are you nervous about Duke, Hank?

[Max]

Not St. John's no, no.

[Big Cat]

They're gonna grind you more.

[Max]

Worried about Yukon or Michigan State.

[Big Cat]

St. John's though, they just. They play Patino's so good, man.

[Hank]

Do you trust Shire?

[Big Cat]

It might be the best coach ever, just in terms of having to go as many stops as you go.

[Max]

It is the. The coaching, obviously. It's just. It's just experience like that. There's. That's the biggest experience disparity. But I think it's gonna be a good test for shire.

[Hank]

If there's 13 seconds, who do you trust to get a shot off? Rick Patino?

[Max]

Yeah. Yeah, obviously.

[Big Cat]

And with two seconds to spare. Yeah.

[Hank]

John Shire. Great coach. Good coach.

[Big Cat]

Good coach.

[Hank]

Not great yet.

[Max]

He's young, he's green. This is how you go. Go from green.

[Big Cat]

He's got to go against the big dogs.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Big time. Okay, let's do we want to do a parlay for Thursday night. DraftKings. DraftKings Sportsbook, our wonderful sponsor, DraftKings. Every March, the tournament delivers the unexpected. Bracket break, brackets break, 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. One thing we can tell you. Each round, there'll be a new mystery offer valid for the men's and women's tournament. When you're set to place your bet, just select your mystery token in the bet slip and use cash or DK dollars to lock it in. The tournament is unexpected, but round by round, you're guaranteed an offer. Opt in Today, a draft King Sportsbook. Your mystery reward is waiting. Download DraftKing Sportsbook app now and use code TAKE. That's code TAKE to opt in and claim your mystery re at DraftKingsSportsbook in partnership with DraftKings Sportsbook. The crown is yours. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-Myret 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. 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] details. All right, what's our. What's our play for Thursday night?

[Max]

I like Iowa.

[Big Cat]

Can't really use Illinois and Houston, which sucks.

[Hank]

I like Purdue.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

And a half.

[Big Cat]

So Iowa.

[Max]

A lot of black and gold.

[Big Cat]

Iowa, Purdue. Should I pick the. The late, later game so that we have. We have something to maybe have waiting for us? I think Arizona might kill him. I think Arizona might kill him.

[Hank]

Trust your gut.

[Big Cat]

Okay, we'll do that. Iowa, Purdue, Arizona.

[Hank]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, we feel good about it. No, I don't either.

[Hank]

No.

[Big Cat]

At all.

[Hank]

No.

[Big Cat]

I actually think. I don't like.

[Hank]

Should we just flip all of them? You want to flip all of them?

[Tom Izzo]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

You want to?

[Max]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

All right. Nebraska, Texas, Texas, Arkansas.

[Hank]

Okay. All right.

[John Fanta]

Yes.

[Big Cat]

This will be interesting to see how this works out.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[PFT]

I'm excited for Jack to read this text because I have to send it. Send it to him every time we do it. So I just said Iowa, Purdue, Arizona. Spreads for the parlay. Just kidding. Flip all of them.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

I just felt terrible about. About all of them.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Because I was like, I do think Arizona is significantly better than Arkansas, but then thinking about betting against Acuff. Seven and a half points just makes. Makes me want to puke.

[Hank]

Right. And I think that Purdue is a lot better, obviously a lot more experienced than Texas.

[Big Cat]

But then Sean Miller's awesome coach.

[Hank]

Purdue.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And Sean Miller.

[Hank]

But then Purdue. You. You might have to make Sean Miller say no.

[Big Cat]

Sean Miller in this. In round of 16. You want him to say no? Round of. Round of eight.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

You want him to say, I don't know who this is. I'm not taking this job.

[Hank]

Oh, I did think of one other huge, huge name that they're probably thinking about in Chapel Hill right now. Tom Crane. Yeah, Tom Crane. You have to. I've. From my sources, I'm hearing that Tom Crane is a finalist for the job.

[Big Cat]

Make him say no.

[Hank]

And when they fired Hubert Davis, they did so with the understanding that they had Tom Crane as an option.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I like that a lot. By the way, this weekend, so we have 47 MLB games, 12 NCAA men's games, 20 NCAA women's games, NBA, NHL playoff push, World Cup. I guess there's qualifiers, so.

[Hank]

Yeah, Italy plays against Northern Ireland on Thursday and if they lose, then Italy's out of the World Cup.

[Big Cat]

Okay. UCF, who you're rooting for all day. F1 in action. College baseball and softball conference play. We got a lot of sports coming up this weekend. A lot of meaningful sports. Yeah, Very excited for that. Okay. Should we talk baseball, which is starting on technically Wednesday night?

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So Yankees, Giants. Did I get that right On Netflix.

[Hank]

I knew that.

[Big Cat]

I nailed that.

[Hank]

I knew all that.

[PFT]

The hand is throwing out the first pitch.

[Hank]

What?

[Max]

You heard me like from Super Smash Bros. Close.

[Big Cat]

What is the hand?

[Hank]

What?

[Big Cat]

What did you say? What is the hand?

[PFT]

The hand from when the. The show Wednesday from Netflix is throwing out the first.

[Big Cat]

Got it.

[Hank]

That'll be great.

[Big Cat]

That's awesome.

[Hank]

I love cross. I love integrated cross promotion.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Hell yeah.

[Hank]

It's the best.

[Big Cat]

Hell yes. Okay, so what, what, what do we think about baseball?

[Hank]

It's bad.

[Big Cat]

It's pretty cool.

[Max]

It's back a week and a half early.

[Big Cat]

Yes, I, I've been saying that. Like I can't remember how many. I can't believe how many times I've said this to different people. Be like, the fact that the Cubs have five games in March at Wrigley is bullshit. It just, it feels like it should be next Thursday, not this Thursday.

[Hank]

No, I'm excited for baseball because it does feel like baseball momentum is at an all time high right now. Yeah, it was a great off season for baseball. In fact, a great postseason into a great off season.

[Big Cat]

Yep.

[Hank]

Kind of somewhat dampered by the fact that it seems like the Dodgers is just going to win it all again

[Max]

and there's going to be a lockout

[Hank]

and there's going to be a lockout afterwards. But we can just kind of like forget about all that for a second. I'll let you guys do your, your positive spins and what you're thinking for this year. I'm going into the season. This is going to be a very tough year for me because we're in year seven of rebuild in D.C. with the expectation again being another 90 loss season. Year seven of that now we did overhaul the front office and I think we've got a direction. We traded away all of our good players. CJ Abrams is probably going to be traded away this year. The only thing I have to look forward to this season is James woods just being a monster and getting 35 plus home runs. Yeah, that's the only thing that I'm going to the season looking forward to as a. As a Nats fan. It's a, It's a sad state of affairs when you. You're getting ready to start a long ass summer and those are your expectations. I'm bummed out about that. I want to care about baseball again. I want to be excited about my team in baseball again. It makes the summer so much better. But for seven years, yeah, it's been this dog and yeah. Just kind of. Kind of a bummer going into it.

[Big Cat]

You're kind of the tank master between this and the Wizards.

[Hank]

Seven years. Yeah. Well, I. The difference is I have expectations and I like the Nationals.

[Big Cat]

Right, Right. But like, even still, it does suck going into a season being like they're gonna be dog.

[Hank]

And you know right away there's really nothing you can. I mean, best case scenario, we overachieve in our new manager. We get a Blake managing the team. He's like 32 years old. That's cool. Maybe we overachieve and get 70 wins. Maybe 75. That. That's really the ceiling that I'm looking at this year is 75 wins.

[Big Cat]

And we will do a full baseball preview during our dingers only in July, fourth week. But this is just our personal teams. Zach, what team do you root for?

[Zach]

If I was going to root for MLB baseball team probably had to be the Rays.

[Big Cat]

The race. Okay. Do you follow baseball?

[Zach]

I don't. I don't follow them enough to have a baseball preview.

[Tom Izzo]

Right.

[Zach]

The second. Give us transparency, you know, ever since the roof came off after the storm. Tough look like that's, that's bad energy for the team, but they can persevere. They can push through. Feel good about it.

[Hank]

Tampa strong.

[Zach]

Hopefully strong enough.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

They were actually frisky down the stretch last year. They were flirting with the playoff spot.

[Zach]

We got to get past rotation and like, we gotta, we gotta round third. We gotta get there.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

You ever, you ever call them the devil raised by mistake there?

[Zach]

I will say I did. I love the old Devil Rays logo.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Zach]

It's so good.

[Big Cat]

They wear the throwbacks. It's so awesome.

[Zach]

They start getting into the Purples and the Teals. Oh, man. But I have. I probably slipped up and said that before. Yeah. Post name change.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

By the way, I got. I got some push because we're talking about old stuff. Some pushback about the nostalgia take I had on Monday because people were like, you guys wanted the Larry o' Brien trophy on the court. Yes, we did. But that was Also, less nostalgia. More like, why would they not make the NBA Finals feel special? I did get kind of owned today because someone had a similar nostalgia take and it was just that they missed the like bubble dome domes that used to exist. Like the Indianapolis Colts one, the one in Minneapolis, Houston. No, that wasn't bubble. Like, you know, the actual like big like looks like marshmallows. And I saw it, I was like, I kind of agree with that.

[Hank]

You just like. I think you just like it because it looked like marshmallows.

[John Fanta]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I was like, God damn it. I just got nostalgia takes.

[Hank]

It was the tastiest looking roof, I'll give you that.

[Big Cat]

But it was so funny because it was like someone's like, make the Final Four look like this again. And the only difference was it was just the old Colt Stadium, not Lucas Oil. Yeah, it was just. The only difference was a bubble, though.

[Hank]

The nostalgia, the old courts. I don't give a. About the old.

[Big Cat]

I don't.

[Hank]

I really don't. I know I don't love the new bracket, center court thing. Yeah, I think that you could do that a little bit better. But yeah, I don't give a. About seeing if this game's being.

[Big Cat]

Also you could tell Fresno, California where it's being played because they have the. Where it's being played on the baseline and at the center court. Yeah. Either way, memes Mets, I think they're going to be better than expected. They'll probably start off slow because they have a ton of new guys, but I think they're gonna be really good.

[Hank]

Boba Shack.

[Big Cat]

What's really good? All the new additions say, like, what's. What's a successful season? Over 90 wins and playoffs.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Have to make the playoffs. NLCS, NLCS. LCS. Okay. But fired up. Ton of new pieces. Love that. Yeah. Max,

[PFT]

I think Phillies are regressing. They'll still make the playoffs as a wild card team. They'll sneak in and then lose in the first round.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that was awesome.

[Hank]

You know what if we're doing like what the expectation is the ceiling for your team, the ceiling for the Washington Nationals is the Phillies lose in the first round of the playoffs and Bryce Harper goes home. Sad.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Loser.

[PFT]

You probably were pissed off when Harper at that home run.

[Hank]

Honestly. A little bit, yeah. I. I fell into my Hank feelings a little bit because if we're going to lose the World Baseball Classic, I was really hoping that it was going to be a Bryce Harper strikeout.

[PFT]

It was great. All there was. All the Harper haters were out in full for whatever. We're not talking about World Baseball Classic.

[Hank]

I'm actually the biggest Bryce Harper fan of the world.

[PFT]

No, you're not.

[Zach]

I am.

[Hank]

I love Bryce Harper. When he, when he left D.C. and he said, I can't wait to bring a world championship to Washington, I thought that was the coolest thing that he said. And I was like, oh no, I'm a Philly. I misspoke. I meant to say Phillies. And then we won a championship and he didn't. That was awesome. I love him, Max.

[Max]

Just giving the thumbs up.

[Big Cat]

He's giving a thumbs up. He's, he's, he's, he's not speaking Hank.

[Max]

I'm just really excited to watch my favorite player, Garrett Whitlock Revenge tour gave up the, the game winning RBI in the World Baseball Classic. I mean he's been on the team forever. He's going to really prove himself this year and show the haters that he's, you know, one of the best relievers in baseball. I'm, I, I don't have expectations. High expectations. Like I wish we kept Bregman. I like Bregman a lot today. Yeah, he's, he's the man. I'm happy he's in Chicago at least, but I just feel like the Red Sox ownership does not care about winning as much as just like being under the whatever luxury tax and saving money.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

And probably will make the playoffs.

[Big Cat]

Damn. This was a depressing preview for everyone's teams. I, I think the Cubs are going to be really fucking good. I think they might. I think they're the second best team in the nl so I guess my expectations might be a little too high. But I think they're going to be really, really good. I think they should, they should definitely win the NL Central and be in the nlcs. That would be, that would be my ceiling. I don't know. The Dodgers are just still a monster. I think the Cubs are going to be really good. I was there. I went to the game today, got my first 5050 loss out of the way, was able to see some of the players. My kids got to, My kids got to take a picture with pca. It was pretty awesome. Tons of Cubs are awl. So everyone.

[Max]

He just re signed today, right?

[Big Cat]

He last night.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

So they signed it. It's an interesting deal because he had four years left of control. Were arbitration years. The Cubs are. It's a, I think it's a five year deal starting next year. I love it because he's a, he's the Type of guy you should bet on and like, he's a centerpiece type of player. He obviously still has, has like room to grow. He'd be the first person to say that. But I think he's an awesome player and like superstar potential.

[PFT]

Phillies is a similar thing. Yesterday too, they had, they had Christopher Sanchez under like a very team friendly deal because they, they extended him before he became like Christopher Sanchez now.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[PFT]

And they just like basically were like, you're getting paid. You should be getting paid way more than you are. We're going to extend you a couple more years and like really bump up your average salary.

[Big Cat]

Right. I mean, PCA doesn't have to go to arbitration. He gets this guaranteed money. And the Cubs on the other side, if PCA continues to get better and becomes like an MVP caliber, which he was for 70% of the year last year. But it's, let's say he's an mvp, like one or two MVP voter type of guy. He's on a like great deal for the Cubs, so. Because I think it's like 115 million over five years. So I'm pumped. I'm excited for the and Justin Steel coming back in May is going to be huge.

[Hank]

I, I think that meme should be more excited about the Mets.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. I also have PFD on my side.

[Hank]

I, I got a DM two years ago.

[Big Cat]

PFD had to put on future for the 2026 Mets.

[Hank]

During our whole episode that we dug,

[Big Cat]

PFT said we won't get to 2026. So I'll just place a future on the Mets when we get to 2026.

[Hank]

Oh, so now we got a bet on the Mets. Yeah, I'll do it right now. You're supposed to bet it back in February. Oh, I forgot to bet in February. Is it okay if I bet it now?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, no, it's illegal now.

[Hank]

Okay. I'm going to put a massive one right now. Memes.

[Big Cat]

Shane, you follow a lot of baseball. Were any of these takes. Do you agree with these takes? For the most part, yeah. I think the Mets are super exciting.

[Hank]

I, I disagree with Hank though.

[Zach]

As a Red Sox fan, I'm pretty, I'm pretty pumped. They got Ranger Suarez, they got Sonny Gray.

[Big Cat]

That rotation is going to be one of the best in baseball. Gray has played baseball for a thousand,

[Zach]

but he's still elite.

[Big Cat]

I know, I know.

[Zach]

I think he was just over like

[Hank]

a 3 ra last year.

[Zach]

Like that rotation is going to be so good.

[Big Cat]

It's just funny because I think I remember Sonny Gray when he was an electric rookie and it was athletics. 17 years.

[Zach]

Yeah, it was like 2012 or something like that.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I know it wasn't actually 17 years ago, but it feels like that.

[Zach]

And we got a whole season with Roman Anthony now. Pretty pumped for that. And got Wilson Contreras, Caleb Durbin.

[Hank]

The.

[Zach]

The future's bright, hopefully.

[Big Cat]

Okay. It's good preview. What. What do you.

[PFT]

Those guys.

[Big Cat]

Great preview. It's a great preview. Great preview.

[Hank]

Memes. You should be more optimistic, though.

[Big Cat]

No, I fired up. We just got to see how the. How the team looks with all the new guys.

[PFT]

But the Mets also did lose a lot of guys.

[Hank]

They did. They did.

[Big Cat]

Alonzo on the Orioles.

[Hank]

Orioles might be good this year. Orioles should be good also. I forgot to.

[Big Cat]

Let's not dip too far into an mlb. No, you saying that Orioles comment was dangerous. Yeah. Okay.

[Hank]

But I've got. I've got one more thing. This is. This is actually really in depth. Could change everything I just said about the Nats.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

We finally got an expensive pitching machine. Oh, that's the big. That's the big off season news. Like, yeah, hey, congrats on getting Boba Shet memes. We got a new pitching machine.

[Big Cat]

That reminds me. Bad news for the pitching machine. We want to buy in the office because I found out today because I think what you're talking about. The Cubs have multiple of these.

[Hank]

Most teams do.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. And I asked about it. It's. You have to pay a yearly. Yearly fee, like for the technology. Yeah, that's.

[PFT]

We do that in ice cream money.

[Big Cat]

$75,000 a year, Zach.

[PFT]

I mean, we're spending a lot of money.

[Big Cat]

That's our ice cream budget.

[Hank]

Well, it sounds like we don't touch us out of the ice cream machine now.

[PFT]

No, I'm just saying.

[Zach]

We don't spend 75k on ice cream a year, though.

[Big Cat]

What are we speaking on ice cream a week.

[Hank]

You were in.

[Zach]

You were in. I usually do 2k, 2 cases a week of each flavor.

[Big Cat]

And what is the price?

[Zach]

That's probably about. Probably $150 toppings. Top topping selection that comes out of

[Max]

Minsy pays for that paycheck.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, Mincy's a topping specialist and quite

[Zach]

a few topping companies out there gracious enough to be like, hey, try these toppings out. So we've got some donated toppings as well.

[PFT]

All right, good plug. And if you're.

[Max]

If you're a toppings company and you

[Big Cat]

want to t. You want to top us off, hit us up. Give me some top Zach, this would be a good time to talk to you about your tweet from last night.

[Zach]

Did this happen to you guys, too?

[Big Cat]

No, because we can track how long a flight is.

[John Fanta]

Big.

[Zach]

I go. I. We may have been dancing between a couple of lines, though.

[Max]

I. I did the same thing.

[Hank]

Read the tweet, Zach.

[Big Cat]

Your tweet was. I thought we were 10 minutes from landing three different times on this flight. We got to do something about time zones.

[Zach]

Big. And it was. It was so confusing. Like, the way I don't know if he was dipping in and out of different zones, but it just felt like it kept saying 710 arrival. And for, like, two and a half hours of the flight, I'd look down on my phone. I was like, it's almost 7 to get to 7 10, but. And it just never was. We were. There was a world. We were just gonna be in the air forever. Like, it didn't. I didn't see an end to this flight coming anytime soon.

[Big Cat]

But, Zach, the flight time is, like, three and a half hours also.

[Zach]

Sneaky, sneaky. Big flight. Didn't know it was three and a half.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, kind of all the way out there.

[Zach]

USA Pretty big.

[Big Cat]

But what.

[Max]

What if he dozed off? I've done that before on a flight. You fall asleep, and then you wake up, you check the time. Oh, we're about to land. And then you're like, oh, wait, here's

[Big Cat]

what I'm confused about. Like, an hour into the flight, you switched the time zone. Were you like, oh, we're about to land?

[Zach]

I think we switched it.

[Big Cat]

I don't know.

[Max]

It was on airplane mode. It might not have switched.

[Zach]

I don't know. Well, there was a small nap in. In. In flight. I don't know how long or what time, but also, I'm not quite sure. We switched that, like, an hour in. I think we might have switched if we switched an hour. And we also switched, like, two and a half hours in because the clock jumped.

[Big Cat]

Well, yeah, Mountain time, West coast time, and you went two time zones.

[Zach]

Start Central, go to Mountain, end up West Coast.

[PFT]

Well, then also Arizona, because you go. It's start Central, go to Mountain, go to Arizona. Because Arizona doesn't do daylight savings.

[Zach]

So there is a third switch.

[PFT]

There is a third switch.

[Big Cat]

No, Arizona is just Pacific time, though.

[PFT]

No, it's not.

[Hank]

We have Arizona. We had this debate.

[Big Cat]

Right now, it's.

[PFT]

Right now it's Pacific.

[Hank]

Yeah, but we not going.

[PFT]

We're not in the western time zone. We are in central time zone. Just Arizona.

[Max]

I know there is a mountain time.

[PFT]

Yes.

[Big Cat]

What?

[John Fanta]

Right.

[Big Cat]

We're in. We're in the. We're in Pacific time right now.

[Hank]

We had this conversation football season when talking. I think it was like the Houston Texans record against west coast teams.

[Zach]

And imagine having this kind of confusion at that kind of elevation.

[Max]

Yes.

[Big Cat]

Like.

[Zach]

Yeah, I don't know, man. There's.

[Big Cat]

We're in the Pacific time zone right now. Max.

[PFT]

Correct. But hold on, I need to look at it on a max.

[Big Cat]

Talia's got to be. So she's hitting that 15 second fast forward button right now for sure.

[PFT]

Yes. Arizona is the inverse.

[Big Cat]

Look, it's not something central.

[PFT]

It's mountain. Arizona is mountain time.

[Tom Izzo]

Right.

[PFT]

Because they don't do. Because they don't do daylight savings.

[Big Cat]

Right, Right.

[PFT]

It becomes Pacific time.

[John Fanta]

Right.

[Tom Izzo]

Where.

[Big Cat]

Pack time, but.

[Max]

So that means there is no amount of time. I was right.

[PFT]

But what I said was correct.

[John Fanta]

It was.

[Big Cat]

I understand, but we're switching to mountain

[PFT]

time and then you switch into Arizona. But Arizona is not like.

[Max]

I have a question that might.

[PFT]

But I don't understand what you're not getting here.

[Max]

I have a question that can help explain.

[Big Cat]

I think.

[Max]

I think I understand.

[Hank]

Right now the people from the I Heart Podcast Awards are. Are sending a letter to our lawyers. Can we get that back?

[Max]

Is there.

[Hank]

No, no, listen.

[Tom Izzo]

Let me ask the question. Calm down.

[Big Cat]

Calm down.

[John Fanta]

So bad.

[Big Cat]

I understand that, but I'm just saying. Yes, we're in Pacific time. Right.

[Max]

But we're two hours back right now.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, we're in Pacific time. You keep saying that we go to Arizona. I get the part that we land in Arizona.

[Hank]

All right.

[Big Cat]

But it is Pacific time right now.

[Max]

Is.

[PFT]

But it's.

[Big Cat]

But it is.

[Max]

Is there a time zone?

[Hank]

This is. This is the deodorant all over again.

[Max]

We're two hours or two hours. We're in Arizona. We are currently two hours back from when we live in Chicago.

[Big Cat]

Pacific time zone.

[Max]

Is there a place we could go right now that is one hour back?

[Big Cat]

Yeah. If we just go east. Anywhere East. Right.

[Zach]

Mountain.

[Big Cat]

Mountain.

[Zach]

So we could go both ways for an hour.

[PFT]

We were talking about crossing across. Going across time zone lines.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT]

In America. We have not gone across the Pacific time zone line in America.

[Big Cat]

We're. Right, but we're in the Pacific time zone.

[John Fanta]

Correct.

[PFT]

Because you went into Arizona.

[John Fanta]

Which is what I said.

[Big Cat]

Right. So he went two time zones.

[PFT]

Yes, but it was like.

[Zach]

But we. We flew three time changes.

[John Fanta]

Correct?

[PFT]

Yes, but it's because of Arizona, not the.

[Max]

I think Zach's point is proven.

[Hank]

Three time changes.

[Zach]

So, thoughts on Universal time? What do we think?

[Hank]

Yeah. Yeah, let's do it. Let's do it.

[Big Cat]

When you get like, China has one time zone.

[Hank]

Whatever Big Ben says it is, that's what it is.

[Big Cat]

Just.

[Zach]

Yeah, man.

[Big Cat]

Just.

[Zach]

We'll figure it out.

[Big Cat]

No, we won't.

[Hank]

We. No, we're just hope. We're just hopeless.

[Big Cat]

One of our biggest. One of our biggest struggles on this podcast. It's forever or foe time zones. Remember when we used to.

[Hank]

It goes back to year one.

[Big Cat]

It goes back to go smack that.

[Hank]

I've given up. Given up on time zones.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

I'll never beat them.

[Zach]

But why does it feel like the more we work through this, we're getting further away from knowing what time is going to be?

[Big Cat]

It's just.

[Zach]

At least me personally, I.

[Hank]

We get angry. It just us up time makes us angry.

[Big Cat]

He's not angry.

[PFT]

I'm still really fucking angry.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Which is crazy.

[John Fanta]

I'm right.

[Big Cat]

I know. But what. I am too.

[Max]

Me too.

[Big Cat]

We're all right. I get what you're saying.

[PFT]

Still in the Mountain time zone.

[Big Cat]

We're just nowhere. In Pacific time zone.

[PFT]

No, in America, we are in the Mountain time.

[Tom Izzo]

Right, but we're.

[Big Cat]

We're practicing Pacific time.

[PFT]

Correct. But in America, we are in the mountain time zone.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[PFT]

It's just that Arizona doesn't do daylight saving.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Hank]

In the Mountain time zone.

[Big Cat]

We're not in the Pacific time zone. Right.

[Hank]

We're literally in the Pacific time zone.

[PFT]

Look at any map of American time zones.

[Big Cat]

But they don't. We're Pacific time. You're.

[Hank]

You're a slave to the map, to big map.

[Big Cat]

We're Pacific time.

[PFT]

No, the time is.

[Hank]

Listen, dude. But hey, Max, Rand McNally is not going to fuck you, bro.

[PFT]

I don't know who Rand McNally is.

[Hank]

Clearly we're in the Pacific.

[Big Cat]

What's our sound guy thinking right now? What are you thinking? Are you thinking this is the dumbest thing you've ever listened to? What was your name again? I'm sorry.

[John Fanta]

Adam.

[Big Cat]

Adam, what are you thinking right now?

[John Fanta]

I understand the confusion, but

[Zach]

we just

[John Fanta]

don't believe in changing time.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Max]

What time zone are we in?

[John Fanta]

We're in a Mountain standard time.

[Tom Izzo]

Yes.

[Big Cat]

Currently.

[John Fanta]

Currently we align with Pacific time. But then we don't change.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[John Fanta]

And we have to compensate for all of you that change.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Max]

Point Max.

[Big Cat]

Point Max. But it's still. We're in Pacific time right now.

[PFT]

Yeah.

[Hank]

It's the same time as Pacific time, right?

[PFT]

Yes, it's the same time as I That I will agree with as the profile. Same time as.

[Big Cat]

Should have just said that from the start.

[John Fanta]

Ye. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Why didn't you say that?

[PFT]

That's basically what I said.

[Big Cat]

No, it's not. You said, we're air. We landed in Arizona because.

[Zach]

So we're in Mountain rep. We're in Mountain acknowledging Pacific.

[Big Cat]

Correct.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Zach]

So currently practicing Pacific in Mountain.

[Big Cat]

Yes. Yes. Yeah, we're Mountain time zone. Dressed up as a Pacific time zone.

[Hank]

It's. No, it's Mountain time. We're presenting. Yeah. Yeah, we're presenting Pacific time zone.

[Big Cat]

And we. We respect Arizona's right to choose which time. Of course it wants to be.

[Tom Izzo]

All right.

[Big Cat]

We nailed it.

[John Fanta]

What?

[Big Cat]

Oh, no. You had a.

[Zach]

No, it wasn't. That wasn't going to go anywhere.

[Big Cat]

Okay. Anything else before do Hot Seat, Cool Throne.

[Tom Izzo]

He was.

[John Fanta]

He.

[Big Cat]

I feel like he was about to attack me.

[Hank]

Yeah, he got very angry.

[Big Cat]

I think the problem is I started crying. Laughing, which is never good. That's like a trigger for. It's like a bull seeing red. I don't like.

[PFT]

I don't like that.

[Big Cat]

I don't like that. I couldn't help myself. You got. I wanted you to see the map.

[John Fanta]

I wanted you to see the.

[Big Cat]

Is.

[Zach]

It's the heat.

[Big Cat]

We. When you get. When you, like, have a long day in the heat, you go zero to 60 so fast, everyone gets a little tired.

[PFT]

I go zero to 60 so fast.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that's true. Okay. Yeah. Either way, I don't think we're gonna be able to get one of these pitching machines.

[Hank]

Yeah. Yeah, They're. They're all spoken for a different pitching machine, though. My. My favorite part of that story with the Gnats was like, we are finally at the level where we will spend money on a pitching machine. And it's not for the batters. The first thing we did was we had the pitchers step into the cage against the pitching machines so that our GM could show them their own stuff.

[Big Cat]

What.

[Hank]

So that they could feel good about. Oh, I'm nasty. I'm a nasty pitcher. Look how good my stuff is.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

Which seems like the saddest way to start a season.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[Hank]

It's like, you're. You're good enough, pal.

[Big Cat]

Absolutely. Damn.

[Hank]

Yeah. Again, not. Not great. Things aren't great in our nation's capital.

[Big Cat]

No. Okay, let's do Hot Seat, Cool Throne. It is brought to you by our friends at State Farm. In basketball, the great players don't just go it alone. They have teammates, coaches, and a solid support system behind them. It's Kind of like insurance because let's face it, a lot of us probably aren't great at doing that alone either. And that's where State Farm comes in. State Farm is a teammate, always ready to assist. Help you find the coverage you need and help you recover from the unexpected. From fender benders to storm damage or even just a question about your policy. State Farm is there to help provide and assist when you need it. Through the State Farm mobile app, a network of 19, 000 local agents and online@state farm.com so don't just go to loan. When you need help protecting what matters most. State Farm is there. State Farm with the assist. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability and eligibility vary by state. Were you going to protect me when Max came at me like that? Yeah, he was never.

[Max]

He's Italian. That's what they do.

[PFT]

I just.

[Big Cat]

Your partner.

[PFT]

I just wanted to show you I.

[Big Cat]

You said you're all parked on a bite. Is one thing about Max I had that was. Just started beating my ass over time. So he just started wailing on me and everyone would be like, stop, dude, what are you doing?

[PFT]

We are back in the origin place of the thing.

[Big Cat]

If I. Yeah, that's true. Arizona is a trigger for you as a state. As a place.

[PFT]

I would have beat the.

[Big Cat]

Out of Hank.

[PFT]

I would beat the fuck out of Hank.

[Big Cat]

One thing about you.

[John Fanta]

All right.

[Max]

Anyway. Transitioning. Let's. Let's move on from that. My hot seats. The Philadelphia 76ers. They had a tribute video for Jared McCain.

[Big Cat]

What?

[Max]

Who they traded away mere months ago.

[Big Cat]

You talk about Jerry McGee.

[Max]

They drafted one year ago.

[Big Cat]

Rookie of the year for three months

[Max]

who came back and seemed like he was maybe the most. Philadelphia loved Philadelphia 76 overall time like more than AI. Like the. The reception that he received was. It was heartwarming.

[Hank]

Yeah. I mean he's playing great. I mean how.

[PFT]

It's so Philadelphia can't exist.

[John Fanta]

We get it.

[PFT]

We get in trouble for cheering to.

[John Fanta]

We get in trouble for booing all

[PFT]

of our players and now we're getting in trouble for cheering for players.

[Max]

I did not. I did not put the 76ers fans on my hot today.

[Big Cat]

No.

[Max]

Organization. Organization. The organization.

[Big Cat]

Organization.

[John Fanta]

Oh, yeah.

[PFT]

No, that. That's.

[John Fanta]

That's.

[Big Cat]

That's crazy to have a fair comeback video for that.

[PFT]

Yeah.

[Max]

Trade him in the first place. Didn't make sense. And then to be like, yeah, let's honor this guy.

[PFT]

Up they up they up.

[Max]

They know that 10 minute video

[Hank]

highlights with the Sixers.

[John Fanta]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Jeremy got hurt they did a 10 minute video for a guy.

[PFT]

It's not 10 minutes.

[Big Cat]

We are in a different time zone right now, so you don't know that.

[PFT]

We gotta stop talking about time.

[Hank]

Okay, Max, why?

[Big Cat]

Why?

[Hank]

Why would the front office do that? It feels like it's like to trade them.

[Big Cat]

Why would you do that?

[PFT]

I don't make these decisions. I'm not even on camera for this episode. Can you guys let me. Stop talking to me.

[Hank]

I have a question. I have a question. Max,

[Big Cat]

the video is just gonna look

[PFT]

like you guys just yelling off camera the entire time.

[Hank]

Max, have a question?

[Max]

Who set up the cameras?

[PFT]

I don't sit. When we go on the road. I don't sit on the can. I don't.

[Big Cat]

I'm not on. Why would you do that?

[John Fanta]

I don't. I. I don't know.

[Big Cat]

I also.

[PFT]

I like Jared McCain. I'm happy that Jerry McCain got a warm welcome welcome.

[Big Cat]

Me too.

[John Fanta]

I wish you.

[Hank]

Max. Would you. Would you. Could you see Howie doing something like this?

[PFT]

Probably not.

[Hank]

Well, then why?

[PFT]

Definitely not.

[Hank]

Why. Why don't you have the same anger? Like you don't get as riled up about the. It's almost like you expect the Sixers to screw up.

[PFT]

Yeah, the Sixers are. I want the Sixers season to end. That's where I'm at.

[Hank]

Sound like a super villain.

[John Fanta]

I want it.

[PFT]

I want to be done with this season with the Sixers.

[Big Cat]

You sound like what, the guy from Taken? They're going to end this. Sixers.

[John Fanta]

We're in.

[PFT]

Playing, right?

[Big Cat]

Playing the worst. The worst, worst place to be in. Absolute worst.

[Zach]

Max, didn't. Didn't Jerry McCain drop a diss track on the Sixers after they traded him?

[Big Cat]

Oh, really?

[John Fanta]

He did.

[Hank]

Wow.

[PFT]

There's Zach.

[Hank]

He's so cool.

[PFT]

No matter what, Zach just goes back to twitch streams. Jerry McCain went on a Twitch stream one time and said one line about the.

[Big Cat]

The Sixers and was it mean?

[Zach]

I just felt like a diss track was worth noting.

[PFT]

Was it on a Twitch stream?

[Hank]

That's a fair point.

[Zach]

Was it a live rap? Was it a live verse? Yes. That just speaks to his talent as a musician.

[PFT]

Yes.

[Zach]

Less so. The platform.

[John Fanta]

He said.

[PFT]

He said a line about the Sixers on a twitch stream.

[Hank]

What was. What was the line?

[Big Cat]

I don't. I don't remember. I don't think there's ever something that you can't be like, this person said this on a twitch stream and have it be something good. No one's ever been, like a lot of time, hey, this person Said something on twitching, like, oh, I gotta go check it out. They probably said something really nice about me. No, it's. That's where you drop your disses.

[Hank]

Oh, I've got. I've got the. I've got the official lyric here. So it was during a twitch live stream. McCain danced along to a new track from Plaque Boy Max, which contains the lyric, we better not run into Philly because if we do, gonna get sticky. So that's a Plaque Boy Max.

[Big Cat]

And that's the guy.

[PFT]

Shocker. The Thunder would beat the Sixers if they run into each other.

[Tom Izzo]

And that.

[Big Cat]

That's the guy you gonna get. That's the guy you made a 10 minute video for. Damn good hot seat, Hank. Great hot seat.

[Max]

My cool throwing is cannolis. Oh, favorite Italian dessert.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

Tiger Woods.

[Big Cat]

But I like it.

[Hank]

I like Jeremy Sue.

[Big Cat]

Oh, I mean, dude, we're. Let's just throw this out there because I want to know what the awls think. Would they be interested in us doing a tiramisu crawl this summer where we go, we try tiramisu at seven or eight different restaurants in a row. Our guy Shane wants to do this.

[Hank]

We don't have any meals whatsoever in between. Yeah, just one tiramisu after the other.

[Big Cat]

We could use Vanny.

[Hank]

We could use Vanny for it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Go stop to stop. Would they. Would you. Would people be in on the tiramisu crawl? A video of that sound off in the comments.

[Max]

I feel like this is going to be like, that's baseball thing. Like, that's gotta be. There's got to be so many tiramisu crawls out there.

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah, for sure. We're definitely gonna. There's gonna be like a tiramisu fest that we just missed.

[Max]

And they're gonna be like, mad that we are just jacking their idea.

[Big Cat]

That's baseball.

[Max]

It's got. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And also porn.

[Max]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I love those guys. I actually checked in with them because we're in Scottsdale. I, out of respect, I text him. I was like, hey, just, you know, I'm. I'm on your turf. That's a respectful move. You don't want to. You don't run into someone like randomly on the street and then like their crew comes up on you like that,

[Max]

calls them like, yo, you see. See cats here.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, Right, Exactly.

[Max]

My cool throne. Other cool throne. Tiger woods. Kind of. Kind of hot seat. We were talking.

[Hank]

They were.

[Max]

He played in the TGL finals. We were talking about sad banners the other day. Or funny Banners. And I was hoping that Max. Max's team would win the finals so we could hang up a TGL banner. A Jupiter.

[Big Cat]

Oh, it would have been sick.

[Max]

TGL banner. But they. They lost.

[Hank]

That's the thing about Jupiter. Unlike Saturn, no rings. Yeah, right.

[Big Cat]

Facts. Drops from Jupiter.

[Hank]

That's a good. That's a banger. That's a banger of a song.

[Big Cat]

Such a good song.

[Hank]

So, wait, did Tiger play?

[Max]

Tiger played and they got killed.

[Big Cat]

Why did he come? So, wait, they got to the final without Tiger, and then he. He was like, oh, I gotta play.

[Max]

Well, they've lost the first round of the final, right?

[Big Cat]

But they got. They. They went all the way to the final, right? How many rounds of that is a lot? A lot without Tiger? And then they get to the final. The final final. And Tiger's like, well, they need me now, and I haven't played in forever.

[Max]

They just gearing up for the masses. I was like, let me get some.

[Big Cat]

Some selfish. I hope Tiger realizes he cost the Jupiter. What are they called?

[Max]

Jupiter Links or something?

[Big Cat]

Jupiter Links. A championship. All the Jupiter Links fans out there that have been dying for a championship is this. How many seasons?

[Max]

Two.

[Hank]

And who's on. Who's on Jupiter?

[Big Cat]

Jupiter win last year, Max.

[Max]

Homer, they did not win last year.

[Big Cat]

Okay? So. Yeah, they did. The curse continues.

[Max]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I actually say right now, Jupiter's never gonna win one.

[Max]

Tom Kim, our co worker, Kevin Kisner. Akshay's on there. They kind of have a.

[Big Cat]

You know, and Max.

[Hank]

So they got a super team.

[Max]

Max is the anchor.

[Big Cat]

Max, I'm gonna say right now.

[Max]

He's there every week holding it down.

[Big Cat]

I don't want to speak on behalf of Max, but we're. As representative. Max Homer. We're going to demand a trade. We have to get off Jupiter.

[Max]

This is.

[Big Cat]

We have to get off Jupiter. It's crazy. Can't win with that.

[Hank]

It is. It's crazy that we got Tiger woods and we can't win.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Like, they should rig it for Tiger Woods. If this was live, they would rig it for Tiger.

[Big Cat]

Whose spot did he take?

[Max]

Kisner.

[Big Cat]

And was Kisner playing well?

[Max]

No. I mean, they lost the night before.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Max]

Kizner, like, kind of retired from competitive goal. He just does 4.0.

[Big Cat]

Right. I knew that. But okay, yeah. Tiger got killed.

[Max]

And Kisner was saying, I actually don't

[Big Cat]

even know if Tiger got killed. I don't know how to follow this score sheet.

[Max]

He missed, like, a three for. He missed a bad putt.

[Big Cat]

He did.

[Max]

Yeah.

[Hank]

I'm A Motor City Golf Club Band, myself.

[Max]

Is that a golf club?

[Hank]

I think that's the new team that doesn't have players here.

[Big Cat]

How many teams are there?

[Hank]

Brooks. That's got. They gotta be holding that spot for Brooks, right?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, maybe.

[Max]

They got la, New York, Jupiter, Boston, The Bay.

[Hank]

The Bay, Boston Common.

[Max]

Probably six.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

Atlanta Drive.

[Max]

Atlanta Drive. They are last year's champions.

[Hank]

Who could forget?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I think they went to Magic City, probably.

[Hank]

So we got six teams and then Motor City looks like it's still to come.

[Big Cat]

Motorcycle expansion team.

[Hank]

But my. My bet would be that Brooks might be on that.

[Big Cat]

This is like a fever dream that you guys are talking about right now. So I feel like we're. Video games have become reality.

[Hank]

So the only time I've ever watched what it is. The only time I've ever watched this is when Max Homo celebrated after a fake hole in one. I saw that teammate got it. What?

[Max]

Fake hole in one.

[Hank]

It was a fake hole in one. Why you.

[Big Cat]

Did he get a hole in one?

[Hank]

It was a hole in one that his teammate got, and then he jacked up his teammate in celebration.

[Big Cat]

It's a fake part.

[Hank]

Well, it's. There's no hole.

[Big Cat]

But they got a hole in one.

[Hank]

On a screen.

[Big Cat]

Are you saying Jersey Jerry's hole in one was a fake hole in one?

[Hank]

No, it's real, but there's no hole.

[Max]

So then there was. So Jerry's was fake.

[Hank]

Well, yeah, that's fair.

[Max]

That's fair.

[Hank]

But it still rocks.

[Tom Izzo]

Yeah.

[Hank]

And also, if. Listen, if a professional gets a whole one, a simulator, you should not celebrate. Yeah, that's an act. Like you've been there before.

[Max]

But it sounds like they're on the hunt for a championship.

[Big Cat]

But it also sounds like.

[Max]

It sounds like you haven't really competed.

[Big Cat]

But it also sounds like Jupiter has a team full of not professionals. Kisner and Tiger Woods.

[Hank]

Yeah, it's true.

[Big Cat]

So what are we talking about? That it shouldn't celebrate.

[Hank]

That's true.

[PFT]

I'm just gonna hate this episode.

[Big Cat]

This is. The boys are on spring break. Spring break rocks. All right, we're getting a little loose with it.

[Hank]

Good hot seat. Cool throne. Hank.

[Big Cat]

Good hot seat. Cool throne. Great job.

[Hank]

My hot seat is short. Kings. So baseball is converting to the ABS system, and they're having to measure all the players to see what their strike zone is. And through the official measurements that the players are doing, we've seen that there are a few guys that have taken some liberties with their listed heights in the programs.

[Big Cat]

Ah, smart.

[Hank]

Including Bo Naylor, who I'm a bo. I'm a bow nailer fan. He was listed at six feet.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[Hank]

He's five nine. He's five nine. I'm five nine. I've never, I've never once ever claimed to be.

[PFT]

Well you're listed at 5 9.

[Hank]

Yeah, I'm listed at 5 9. I've never once thought about being. That's a big difference. Five nine to six feet. Your guy Bregman, would it be like

[Big Cat]

five six to five nine?

[Hank]

I'm not. Well first of all, I'm not five six.

[Big Cat]

No, I'm saying that would be like the difference.

[Hank]

I, I am five eight and I say that I'm five nine.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Hank]

That's like me saying I'm, I'm. Yes, five 11. Yeah, yeah, that's a big difference. Bregman was listed at 6ft. He's actually 5 10. Yeah, but that's just like he wanted to be 6ft. Connor Wong was 6 foot 1, he's actually 5 10. And Gavin Lux went from 6 to, to 5 11.

[Big Cat]

Sorry, goes reverse.

[Hank]

Yeah. Or certain. No, 62 to 5 11. So he's shorter. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's 5 11. He was listed at 6.

[Big Cat]

Oh, got it.

[Hank]

So like across the league there's guys that are crossing the six foot line that have just been lying about it the whole time.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Max]

That's fair. You gotta do that.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

You have to try.

[Hank]

Would you ever do that?

[Big Cat]

Absolutely. Gotta try.

[Max]

I'm probably like 5:11. I mean I'm 6ft but probably like 5:11 and a half.

[John Fanta]

Yeah.

[PFT]

5:10 or above your. No, you're 6ft.

[Big Cat]

Well, in spikes. That's true. You gotta remember spikes.

[Hank]

Yeah. If they were wearing the cleats.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

I, all I'm saying, six feet to five' nine is crazy.

[Big Cat]

No, that is nuts.

[Hank]

That's, that's.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, I think five ten and a half. And you're okay with spikes? Yeah.

[Hank]

My other hot seat is Tom Brady. Tom Brady issued an apology yesterday.

[Big Cat]

2.

[Hank]

He's actually issued a couple apologies for this. Did you HEAR the Tim McCarver story?

[Big Cat]

No.

[Hank]

So Tom, you're also not subscribed to Tom Brady's newsletter that he emails to you.

[Big Cat]

He has a newsletter?

[Hank]

Tom Brady's got a newsletter that he puts out dick.

[Big Cat]

Are you subscribed?

[Max]

No, but I've, I knew about it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. Are you shocked that PFT subscribed?

[Max]

He's not subscribed.

[Hank]

I'm not subscribed. But he, he recently, I think like two weeks ago pinned a touching tribute to the recently deceased Tim McCarver.

[Big Cat]

And he had. In his newsletter.

[Hank]

In his newsletter.

[Big Cat]

And Tim McCarver's not dead.

[Hank]

No. Tim McCarthy. Huh?

[Max]

He Florio'd him.

[Hank]

No, Tim McCarver died, like, three years ago.

[Big Cat]

Oh, okay. So you got around to it.

[Hank]

Yeah, he finally got around to it. But it was the. The. The touching tribute made it seem like he just passed away. Just died, like, last week.

[Big Cat]

Okay, but I guess.

[Max]

But it's different for different people, man.

[Big Cat]

That's true.

[Hank]

That's. That's a fair point, Hank. He just had delayed onset grief. I. You know what? With Tom Brady, I could actually see that. Like, anything that happened during his playing career, he never processed any of it.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Outside of football.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Like, Tom Brady probably never processed 911. Yeah, he didn't. He was such a psycho. All he cared about.

[Big Cat]

He probably found out about it, like, two years ago.

[Hank]

Go. Yeah. So this is actually. That would be the spin zone. I would go with if I was Tom Brady. And then my cool throne.

[Max]

Doesn't matter. He was still back up when that happened.

[Hank]

Well, yeah. And then after the game, the next game got delayed by a week, and then after that, that's when Drew Bledsoe got his spleen knocked out. So, like, without Osama bin Laden, there would be no Tom Brady.

[John Fanta]

Maybe.

[Max]

Yeah, good point.

[Hank]

You ever think about that?

[Max]

Shout out.

[Hank]

So wait, what?

[Big Cat]

Shout out. You shout out sama. Did you just shout out sama? No.

[Max]

Shout out.

[Hank]

He should have.

[Max]

Tom Brady.

[Hank]

He should have hooped.

[Max]

That's gonna have to be a quote.

[PFT]

Call.

[Big Cat]

Shout out some. I did not.

[Max]

Shout out.

[Hank]

Yeah. Shout out to who?

[Big Cat]

Brady tv.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Max]

Love you.

[Hank]

Brady's got. He's got all the jokes recently. He's cracking wise. It's fun to see the. The lighter side of Tom. Yeah. Making fun of Jane, Daniel's mom. Tom Brady's never done anything weird with his kids that makes them feel like they're too close. If Jaden's mom did to Jaden what Tom Brady did to his son, everybody would talk about it.

[Big Cat]

This is true.

[Hank]

It'd be a national news story.

[Big Cat]

It's true.

[Hank]

Okay. Anyways, my cool throne is Luis Suarez. The old soccer player that has a biting problem.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Because I think there's a new. There's a new mouth on the block.

[Big Cat]

The puka.

[Hank]

Dipuka. Puka Nakua has been what. What's the word I'm looking for? Accused by a young lady that he bit her thumb and her shoulder, and she filed some sort of a legal filing, and it shows the picture of a bite pattern that allegedly belongs to Puka Nakua. And Puka has hired an attorney who dismissed the conduct as horseplay but admitted that the bite occurred. Oh, they said that. Yes, it left a temporary mark. So this is not a good lawyer. My problem is Pukinaku has hired the worst lawyer in America to defend him against the biting allegations. You don't want. Your lawyer should never step in front of a camera and say, yes, he did the. But in his defense, it's kind of horseplay, like, boys will be boys. Yeah, you need a lawyer. That's just. That's just gonna be like, he didn't do. Next question.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Drew Rosenhaus would never do this. So just keep. Keep an eye on. On Puka. Yeah. Keep an eye on Pooka.

[Big Cat]

That was a weird story. He feels like things are weird.

[Hank]

Things have gotten weird with Puka in the last calendar year.

[Big Cat]

He's starting to get into that zone of, like, I guess we need one of those wide receivers who, like, there's just gonna be a story that pops up, and you're like, yeah, that makes sense.

[Hank]

Yeah, I believe any.

[Big Cat]

Oh, you went on a twitch stream and bit someone.

[Hank]

Yeah. Oh, okay.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Tapuka. Tapuka. That's what he does. All right, my hot seat is all of us, because I got a. A. A tweet that's been in my head for, like, four days. Did you guys see this? The dream job or not? Maybe it's not dream job, but this is from William Galloway. He said. Had dinner at a local establishment last night and was informed that someone on staff was the. The designated TV remote guy to switch between games. No bartending, no waiting tables, just ball one. 10 out of 10 job, 100 tip. That's the best job ever. Right?

[Hank]

A lot of stress.

[Big Cat]

A lot of stress. But also, like, not even someone asks you, like, where. Like, where's the bathroom? You're like, no, dude, I'm ball. Yeah, you got ball. It's.

[Hank]

It's. It's a great job. You got to get it right, though.

[Big Cat]

But, you know, this guy does.

[Hank]

Yes. Zero.

[Big Cat]

You don't do this job without immense pride in this job.

[Hank]

I've actually. I've always been shocked at how frequently I'll be at a bar and. And either. Yeah. Usually the bartender will have no idea how to change the channel. Yeah, like, that's. If I was a bartender, I would. That's the first thing I would do.

[Big Cat]

Right?

[Hank]

Like, day one, I'd be like, give me all the remotes.

[Big Cat]

You Got but the fact that this guy doesn't do any, you know, everyone else like in the back of the kitchen probably hates him too because he just shows up to work and he's like another hard day of just hitting the back button.

[Hank]

You also have to be convict. You have to have conviction in your beliefs because if that's your full time job, you're going to get dragged in 100 different directions by different tables. And you have to be, you have to be firm and be like, this is a better game. Yeah, this one stays on.

[Big Cat]

Yes. My cool throne. I have two. One is ever should go buy the part of my take book on Barnes and Noble.

[Hank]

Yes. Yes. Barnes and Noble.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Barnes Noble going to be a. I think they're doing a discount on there right now.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[Hank]

On Barnes Noble. So if you buy it on Barnes and Noble, you will save some money.

[Big Cat]

Also, selfishly, like I. We've been told that if we can spread out where it gets bought, we have a better chance of being a New York Times bestseller. And I also think that that's something that all awl should strive for too, because then when someone makes fun of you listening to this podcast, Talia, you can be like, well, actually they're New York Times bestsellers.

[Hank]

So it's a pre order sale right now for rewards members starting yesterday. So March 24th through Thursday, March 26th, you get 25 off when you pre order the book. 35 off for premium members. And that includes the ebook and the audiobook as well. And use code pre order 25.

[Big Cat]

Love it.

[Hank]

That's code pre order 25. You get 25 off when you pre order and you get 35 off if you're premium Barnes and Noble member.

[Max]

No offense to our entire audience. What percentage of them are premium Barnes and Nobles?

[Big Cat]

Zero.

[Tom Izzo]

No,

[Max]

it's not.

[Hank]

It's.

[Max]

There's at least one.

[Big Cat]

There's got to be one. Show yourself.

[Max]

One percent. I feel. Feels ambitious.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Yeah, right. I'd say it's gotta be at least two.

[Big Cat]

I would like to get.

[PFT]

No.

[Hank]

2% is high.

[Big Cat]

I'm. I think it's so low. I like, I would be, I'm considering being like, let's invite all the premium Barnes and Noble people to the office. We will be like, we'll have to buy two large pizzas.

[Hank]

Yeah. You know what? Tag memes if you are a Barnes and Noble premium customer. First one, I, I brought a Hank doll with me.

[Big Cat]

First one gets.

[Hank]

Yeah, first one gets the Hank doll.

[Big Cat]

Love that. And then my cool throne is getting horny. At press conferences. Because we had two instances of this.

[Hank]

Hell yeah.

[Big Cat]

First one kind of bet, like, dude, you got to have better timing, better place, everything. The Michigan defensive coordinator flirted with one of the female reporters during a press conference, saying the reporter was the best looking one in the bunch. Okay, this is from the school that brought you Shiron Moore with, saying he's going to kill himself with a butter knife.

[Hank]

You got to rank them.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

That's day one. If you're square, you got to rank them.

[Big Cat]

You got to rank them Finer. Tweet.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And then our guy, Brian Hodgson, who just got the job at Providence the Shock, who is we, we like him. He said, classic line. He said, if you ever want to question my recruiting abilities, just look at my wife, Jordan.

[Hank]

That's a good line.

[Big Cat]

Great.

[Hank]

That's a good line.

[Big Cat]

And also, let's just say he can back it up.

[Hank]

It's also him being like, I don't deserve this.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

So he's like, kind of. He's putting himself down a little bit. It's about. Dudes are allowed to be horny about their wives.

[Big Cat]

Have you seen a picture of them?

[Hank]

What's her name?

[Big Cat]

Jordan and Brian Hodgson.

[Hank]

There's only one Jordan H. In college coaching for me.

[Big Cat]

And I think he's okay with us saying this, but he's right. He's right.

[Zach]

100 correct.

[Big Cat]

He's 100% correct. It might be the most correct this has ever been.

[Hank]

Okay. I'm looking at this guy right here. These guys look.

[Big Cat]

That's very cool.

[Hank]

Oh, yeah. Hey. Hey. Nice work.

[Big Cat]

Very correct. Not saying he's a bad looking guy, but yeah, he's a good recruiter.

[Hank]

No, Brian, you're right. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Good recruiter.

[Hank]

Respectfully, what are you gonna say?

[PFT]

I also agree with him. Like, that does. That does help for like if.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah.

[PFT]

If you can prove that you can recruit well there, you can recruit well

[Hank]

in basketball as well, Brian. Respectfully, I knock out of the park.

[Big Cat]

Hank, what are you saying?

[Max]

I don't know that it proves anything that Max is saying, but I. I like.

[Big Cat]

I agree.

[PFT]

Why not?

[Big Cat]

Guy's got a hot wife that carries.

[Max]

You want to go play for him?

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

No. Yeah. Get closer to his wife.

[PFT]

But he convinced. But he convinced his wife that he

[Big Cat]

was like, worth spending time with. Weird to be like, he convinced her.

[Hank]

I mean, no, like, let's be honest. There is an element of trickery involved.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he did. He definitely did not.

[PFT]

Convince is the right one.

[Hank]

Yeah. No trick.

[Big Cat]

No, he definitely pulled. He pulled a couple quarter out behind his. Behind his ear. He did a little. Got your nose and then boom, got married.

[Hank]

He fooled her. What he did was he was like.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

He's like, hey, hey, I. I know you're not blown away right now, but just hang on. Here's my bank account.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, we're going to be good.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I can really coach ball. Don't worry. I got this.

[Hank]

Trust me. I get better, you're going to love me. Give me. Give me just a month of your time and you will love me.

[Big Cat]

Hear me out. Hear me out for the next seven years.

[Hank]

Yeah. No respect to him.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. No, he's. He's a good coach. An awesome story. Like, he's the rise he's had. He was a. He was NATO's assistant four or five years ago. Then Arkansas State, then South Florida, now Providence. Providence deserves a good coach. Kim English. Are you nervous about him, Max? He's a good coach. The shock.

[PFT]

Every coach in the Big east is a good coach.

[Big Cat]

Well, not Kim English.

[PFT]

I like what. I want the Big east to be great.

[Big Cat]

Doug McDermott.

[PFT]

I want.

[Max]

I know.

[Big Cat]

Gone.

[PFT]

But they had coaching waiting for. Although coaching waiting, not good.

[Big Cat]

Not good.

[PFT]

Not all the time.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, true.

[PFT]

Not all the time.

[Big Cat]

Coaching. Waiting is a hard thing to pull off.

[PFT]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

We just saw Hubert.

[PFT]

That's what I was. That's what I was just referring to.

[Big Cat]

All right, Zach. Hot seat. Cool. Toronto.

[Zach]

My hot seat. This week is going to be. It'll be ballparks. Have you guys seen the atro? The most Mickey Mouse 999 challenge bundles being debuted across America.

[Hank]

It's become too corporate. The start. It started last year a little bit where they're like, we'll do the 999. But it's like fun sized.

[Zach]

Those hot dogs trying to nerf.

[Big Cat]

They're nerfing guys like Deutsch.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Zach]

It's a disservice to guys who came before this commercialized challenge that did put in the work.

[Hank]

It's stolen valor is what it is.

[Big Cat]

Do you know that Deutsch did the 999 challenge last summer in three innings? So it was 993.

[Hank]

That's pretty.

[Big Cat]

It's insane.

[PFT]

I'm going to go once.

[Big Cat]

He did it before a case race. Correct.

[PFT]

I'm going to tell you another story. Do you know that there's somebody in this room who did a 9. 9 challenge, but instead of baseball, Marvel, rival games.

[Big Cat]

What is that? What is that challenge?

[Zach]

Me and my friends were just playing the game one day and we're just like, what if you think we could play this game and also drink nine beers and eat nine hot dogs, one for each game.

[Max]

That sounds like fun.

[Zach]

It was a great time. We did it in the Xbox party.

[Big Cat]

And how. How many. How many hours did it take?

[Zach]

Each game's like 10 minutes, so it's probably like an hour after we didn't.

[Big Cat]

That's pretty good.

[Zach]

We underestimated how. How much shorter a game of our rivals is to an ending of baseball.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Whoa.

[Zach]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Zach, how much longer is it going to be till you're comfortable enough around us to get drunk?

[Zach]

We.

[Big Cat]

I'm.

[Zach]

I just don't drink very often.

[Big Cat]

You say that every weekend. We had some beers.

[Max]

We had some beers at the Airbnb last night.

[Big Cat]

I see you in.

[Zach]

That is true in.

[Big Cat]

In, like, Instagram stories, just whipping it up, whooping it up at the club.

[Zach]

I did go outside recently, but that's not, like, historically a regular thing. I'm gonna have a beer with you guys anytime.

[Big Cat]

We actually did last. Where were. Were you guys there? I don't. You guys might not have been there. Pft. And, Hank, you might not have been there. When we went to the Cubs rooftop, were you with us?

[Hank]

I was not there that night.

[Big Cat]

You weren't there?

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Zach]

I did beer.

[Big Cat]

He got up. He was drinking beers.

[Hank]

You throw up.

[Zach]

I didn't puke, but I did beer at the rooftop.

[Big Cat]

Dudes were like, chug with me, Zach. And he did it multiple times.

[Zach]

That's the thing. People are so kind. They come up to me like, let's have a beer together. And it's like, you have to be in on every one of those beers.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Zach]

You can't say no.

[Hank]

No, Zach, It's.

[Zach]

That's an impossible.

[Big Cat]

You have to. And if people come up to him and ask, he has to say, yes, we're going to.

[Zach]

That happened recently.

[Tom Izzo]

Now.

[Big Cat]

Let's.

[Hank]

Let's cut that part.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Tom Izzo]

All right.

[Zach]

My bad.

[PFT]

Don't say that. That was a really bad thing for you.

[Big Cat]

Keep that in.

[Hank]

No, no. Then just. People make them. Chuck. Cut.

[Tom Izzo]

Cut.

[Hank]

Mean to say it.

[Zach]

I didn't think about the repercussions of saying it. That's correct.

[Big Cat]

But. No, but you should. People should go up and ask if they want to have a drink with you. Have a twisted tea with Zach.

[PFT]

I don't know how. I don't know where.

[Big Cat]

What are we.

[PFT]

What are we doing with this?

[Tom Izzo]

We're keeping it in.

[Hank]

I hit the mic every time he goes outside.

[Big Cat]

He doesn't go out.

[Zach]

The last time I did go out,

[Max]

Though he's gonna go out a lot less.

[PFT]

This will just be an excuse for him not to go.

[Big Cat]

He can learn how to say no.

[Zach]

I'll get there for sure.

[PFT]

He'll never.

[Zach]

Everyone's so nice, though. They're so nice and they do it.

[Big Cat]

Keep this in. It's just part of this. This episode that I don't. We. We might have to submit to the podcast hall of fame for just stupidity. Okay.

[John Fanta]

Please.

[PFT]

Awls.

[Big Cat]

Don't do that.

[PFT]

Don't do that.

[Big Cat]

Don't do that. Zach. And it better be a twisted tea. Our favorite. Would love twisted tea.

[Zach]

You know, Coolthorne. I got two quick ones if that's okay.

[Big Cat]

You. Because you're gonna get a ton of new friends.

[Zach]

We might make a lot of. A lot more friends. I think everybody here. If we just. If we tried to get like 10 more friends this summer, that'd be combined like 70 more friends.

[Big Cat]

10.

[Zach]

I don't know, guys. Apparently I was seeing a thing the other day. People have way more friends than we first thought.

[Hank]

You know what?

[Big Cat]

I think they are social.

[Hank]

I like what I thought so.

[Zach]

But I don't think that's the case anymore.

[Hank]

Everyone on this pocket try to make a new friend.

[Big Cat]

I'll make one new friend.

[Hank]

Man. Is too gonna make a new friend this year for you, Zach.

[Big Cat]

One new.

[Zach]

I'll do one as well.

[Hank]

Okay.

[Big Cat]

Should we all present our new friend after we make them? We maybe have a. Maybe in July we have a new friend show. Well, that would be pretty funny.

[PFT]

This show is insane. This show is insane.

[Hank]

I like it. I like it.

[Big Cat]

Let's. Let's all brought one new friend.

[Hank]

Friend. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

That would be a very funny episode.

[Hank]

He's my buddy.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Hey, this is my pal. I just. You told me get a new friend. I got one new friend. Has to be brand new. Can't try to fake us out and be like, oh, I found this new friend. But really, we find out you went to college with them. Brand new question.

[Zach]

Does it. They have to be IRL friends. Like, say you get a. Okay.

[Hank]

Yeah. Irl. Like you have to know them in the flesh.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[PFT]

Fair.

[Big Cat]

You do. Flesh to flesh. Shaking hands.

[Zach]

Gotcha.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. All right. Everyone's gonna bring one new friend. What day? When are we gonna do that episode? Sometime in July.

[Hank]

After the takeies.

[Big Cat]

After the takeies, we'll do our one new friend episode and we'll all introduce him. Like, hey, here's our guy.

[Tom Izzo]

This is gonna be good.

[Big Cat]

I want to try to find a really cool new friend that I don't you know, some. Someone who could.

[Zach]

What if. Then what if all those guys become friends? That'd be sick if that happens. Then wouldn't we all make 10 friends?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Then we're now the big friend group.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, well, yeah, no, we're gonna make like every friend we bring is gonna be our new friend.

[John Fanta]

So.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, we're gonna automatically just. We just hack the system.

[Hank]

Because if I make a new pretty good that they would get along with all my friends.

[Big Cat]

Right?

[Zach]

That is true.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Zach]

What a group chat.

[Big Cat]

Okay. And you're cool Throne.

[Zach]

Oh, cool. Throwing two quick ones. First one is going to be Levante David. He announced retirement. Just want to say thank you. Levante David, 14 great seasons Buccaneer through and through. Transcends the game. Hopefully if I don't have any say, but future hall of famer, super bowl contributor. Yeah, that was the quick one. Just because like that shot the lot I did, man. I hope you get to spend more time with the family people that you love. Fruits of your labor.

[Big Cat]

Makes some good speech he gave. He got emotional. I mean, 14 years at that position is incredible.

[Hank]

It really is incredible. Great human being, even better football player.

[Big Cat]

Okay. And then,

[Zach]

yeah, I can do the other quick one if you want. I got a Hannah Montana fans. Oh, did you guys see 20th year anniversary of Hannah Montana?

[Big Cat]

No.

[Hank]

No, I didn't.

[Zach]

No fair.

[PFT]

I saw it, Zach. I saw it, Zach. Yeah, well, I didn't watch it, but I haven't seen things. Yeah, I would like to watch it.

[Zach]

Yeah, it looked pretty good. They got musical performances, they got some sit down interviews. I believe Alice Cooper hosts the entire thing. Miley Cyrus quoted saying, Alice Cooper's a little crazy for being such a huge fan because she said she got some money, moved in right next door and then was like, hey, Miley, I didn't know you lived in this neighborhood. Miley Cyrus was like, well, you interviewed me at home like five years ago. You definitely know I lived in this neighborhood.

[PFT]

Yeah, Chef Donnie was also at that interview.

[Big Cat]

Oh, I need a. I need a list of every subject we've hit on this show that is on this episode specifically. I feel like we've been everywhere.

[Hank]

Like if you're Miley Cyrus and a podcaster is paying that much attention to. You gotta be a little creeped out, don't you?

[Zach]

But it's Miley Cyrus, man. Transcends any kind of everything.

[Hank]

I would, I would never.

[Big Cat]

Okay, let's get to our interviews. We got John Fanna, Tom Izzo, pft. You got a couple ads before we do that.

[PFT]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Before we get to the two pack of guests brought to you by our great, great friends over at Reese's, everything happens for a recess. If your brackets are a toast, it might have busted just because you picked wrong. Maybe it busted because you wanted a recess. Everything included, including your busted bracket, happens for a Reese's. No shame in a busted bracket, just more chances for that Reese's. We had so much Reese's last weekend. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. So much recess in the gambling cave. I think I probably had, I would guess like 20 peanut butter cups. It was great. Every single one of them was better than the last. Turn your busted bracket into your shot at Reese's and more. Post your busted bracket. Follow and tag Reese's on Instagram X or tick tock. Use hashtag4reese's sweeps for a chance to score free Reese's. And you get a shot to enjoy those Reese's at the men's or women's final four in championship games. No purchase necessary. Open to only to legal residents of the 48 U.S. and D.C. 18 years or older. Void in Alaska, Hawaii, and we're prohibited by law. Starts 3-19-26 and ends 3-27-26. Includes daily entry period. See official rules at every bracket bus forresus.com pages official for rules on how to enter, prize details, odds and restrictions sponsor the Hershey company. And now, here's John Fanta.

[Big Cat]

Okay, we now welcome on one of our favorite guests, a very, very, very, very, very special guest. Very special time. It is the one, the only John Fanta talking college basketball March madness round one and two complete. Johnny, how we feeling overall? Give us a recap of the first four days of the tournament. Just give us a vibe check how we feel.

[John Fanta]

Well, we're feeling good, Big Cat. And the the biggest theme is the Big Ten right out of the gates as you wear your your Badgers cap. I was thinking of you on Sunday night thinking, why aren't the Badgers one of these six teams that are moving on to the second weekend for Big Cat? Because they, they were certainly talented enough, but they ran into High Point, who almost ran into Arkansas. But for the Big Ten to have not won a championship in men's College Basketball since 2000, to have six of the Sweet 16 is certainly a headliner.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[John Fanta]

Church bells, Godzilla bells. Ring the bells in San Diego. Ring them all the way to Washington, D.C. dylan Darling says, I am not going to let St. John's lose on a Sunday. On a Sunday during Lent. We are finding a way to Win this game. He drives the lane. He calls his own play, which. The name of the play is power. And Rick pitino has empowered St. John's to be good again. Off to the sweet 16. Oh, the east region. Izzo Patino, Hurley Shire. Are you kidding? Shasheski? You know that Mike Shasheski will be sitting courtside somewhere in our nation's capital. If he can find a ticket. Tickets are going for four figures down in our nation's capital. This is going to be massive. A Capital One arena. Cannot wait for it. Illinois and Houston, you've got Illinois, who. They could go international and win a. A bar fight at just about anywhere in Europe with Brad Underwood in his track suit leading the way. And then you got Kelvin Sampson. He could win a bar fight anywhere on the planet with his team because they're tough as hell. I cannot wait for that game. I. I am so excited to see that game. I thought Michigan restored themselves, and they. They look the part of a team that's gonna be very, very difficult to beat. The NCAA's assist King and Braden Smith is alive in this tournament. Are there people out there who are, you know, criticizing the. The Big Dance for the lack of a Cinderella? Yes. And certainly Texas is. Is not one of those. That being said, the game still delivered several amazing moments. There were a lot of. Almost before Iowa shocked us all. Nobody had that in their bingo card that the tournament needed that. They needed that. I did not need that.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[John Fanta]

And I've. I have apologized to Hawkeye fans and Liam Blutman.

[Hank]

Yeah, I saw Liam Blutman's bingo card. He had that on there.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

And you.

[Big Cat]

You call him an idiot. You call him a ball, not a ball.

[Hank]

Knower, you said. Child, please.

[John Fanta]

Yeah, child, please. I did say that. And you know what, though? I am a man of integrity, unlike some of our colleagues. And I admitted I was wrong and apologized for. For being wrong. So, so very sorry. But the tournament still delivers really good moments, and I firmly believe that, you know, we're gonna see, like, the Cinderella. I don't think she's dead forever. I think when she finally comes out of her casket, we'll appreciate it that much more.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[John Fanta]

But we're setting up for really fun action in the second weekend and a couple of games that could just be ridiculous. Sunday in the tournament was the best of four days.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[John Fanta]

Multiple buzzer beaters and some moments that made you say, whoa.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah. No, we are. Our take was, you know, we saw it. There's obviously a lot of people like, oh, we missed the 13 through 16s. Having a shot outside of, you know, Friday night, maybe. It felt it was awesome. And yeah, miss that one pop of like a 14 seed, you know, winning a first round game. But other than that, the tournament's been great. And now we have 16 incredible teams, incredible coaches, and it feels like, I know you can, like, say there's a couple of teams that maybe it'd be a real, real long shot, but there are some really good teams, really good matchups. It feels like anyone can get to this Final Four.

[John Fanta]

Anybody could get to this Final Four. To me, like, the best player in the tournament right now doesn't play for any of the remaining one seats. Doesn't even play for any of the remaining two or three seats.

[Hank]

Yep.

[John Fanta]

To me, the best player in this tournament right now is Darius Acuff Jr. Yep. He is ridiculously gifted and just a total stud. And his ability to change a game, it's special. Guys, he is. I. I think we talked about it a few weeks back. He could go on a kemba, like, run. He reminds me of that with, with. With the level he plays. So, you know, here you have John Caliperi as the underdog again in that. In that checkered red and white jacket, strolling in later this week to take on Arizona. And I think he's got as much of a shot as anybody, even though his team can struggle defensively at times. They got athletes, and those athletes play really good ball. But, you know, look, you're right. We could have. We could have. Michigan's a fitting title team. Purdue is playing the best basketball they've played all season. Any of Duke, UConn, Michigan State or St. John's could come out of the East Region. I wouldn't be surprised. And we haven't even brought up Houston or Illinois. What I can't believe. What I cannot believe is that Nebraska and Iowa are both in the Sweet 16 and both playing each other for the right to go in the Elite Eight.

[Big Cat]

It's incredible.

[John Fanta]

Out of all the things that you look at, what. What is the security situation going to be in that building in Houston between those two fan bases?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it's. It's nuts. I. It's crazy. These teams hate each other for football, and they never have been. Nebraska, never been there. Iowa, it's been a long time. And they look up and they say, oh, man, we have to play each other. Like, this is. I love it, though. It's going to be great because one of those teams is going to the Elite Eight.

[Hank]

I like that. They're playing each other. I'm glad that it's going to be like that, that border. It's going to be that clash between two very similar fan bases and one of them is guaranteed to be in

[John Fanta]

the Elite Eight also. Pft. Could, could we. Could we have at the first media timeout the score be 3 3.

[Hank]

Oh, it'd be perfect. Yeah. Can they figure out how to punt?

[John Fanta]

Yeah, yeah.

[Hank]

Like what's, what would the equivalent be of punting in that game?

[John Fanta]

CBS could do something really funny and roll the. The college football theme music under the first media timeout. If it's like 63 or 3 3. I honestly think you're missing a huge opportunity to have a half court ceremony at some point this game with Kirk Ference on one side of the court and all the Nebraska head football coaches during Kirk Ferenc's tenure on the other side.

[Hank]

Yeah, I mean, to truly honor that, that football vibe there. There should be multiple shot clock violations. A lot of jump balls in the game. Just like playing. You don't want to commit any turnovers necessarily, but if you can commit a Turnover after taking 29 seconds off the clock, not that bad. I wanna. Yeah, it, it should be a great game. And they are exciting teams to watch too. Like they, Nebraska especially, I feel like they play a brand of basketball that is. It's different from Iowa and Nebraska football. What we think of for those schools.

[John Fanta]

And fellas, the, the, the Huskers, you're right. Their style is amazing to watch. It comes from different sources too. Like, you know, it could be Price Sanford on a possession, Biyuktin Shell, the coach's son, you know, the coach's twins are on the team and on their 23rd birthday, they, they come up big and Sam comes up huge with two amazing sequences. But more than anything, you know who the biggest winners are. The first weekend Nebraska fans that fan base showed out. I haven't seen a first weekend site look like that on TV and sound like that in TV in quite some time. They understood the assignment. And for Iowa, Iowa is a refreshing story. You can't. You. How could you dislike this? A bunch of D2 guys that went to Drake, they wanted Drake, they won a tournament game of Drake, then they go to the Big Ten and now they're, They're. They've won two games and they just took out the reigning national champions, which. It's wild to think that since 2007 the defending champion has been unable to make it to the second weekend except for UConn in 2024. That is a crazy note. You. If you're trying to repeat, it's so damn hard to repeat. Only Dan Hurley has been able to do it. And Dan Hurley is still alive, fellas. And he's facing Thomas.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, the. By the way, the Iowa part is. It really is crazy considering how they were going down the stretch in the last month of the season. They did not look good. They were kind of leaking oil as it went down, but they just kept on. I mean they were still kind of rated high in Ken Palm and net rankings. That team was. Ben McCollum's a really good coach. And getting to the Sweet 16 after Fran McCaffrey never be able to do that in 15 years. Being there, it's pretty nuts.

[John Fanta]

It's.

[Big Cat]

It's crazy how this sport works.

[John Fanta]

It is. And it shows you that you can't just pull out your wallet and pay for a sweet 16.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[John Fanta]

Iowa. Iowa did. They don't have the most money in the Big Ten. They don't even have. I don't even think they have top five or six money in the Big Ten. I really don't. So that you got to give them a ton of credit on a night where Bennett Sturts didn't even shoot the ball well. He didn't even have a great game. But Tavion Banks, who started his career at a juco college, you know, and, and Alvaro Forgaris who was at Robert Morris last year. And, and, and look, this just shows you can poach people from the portal. Now it's nine month contracts. That's the tough part for the, for the mid majors and whatnot. But Fulgaris, we love a great story. The young man loses his dad when he was nine years of age and he points to the sky when he hits the shot of his life. That's the stuff of March. It's the stuff that we love in that empathizes with America. And the Iowa Hawkeyes are moving on and there is a Big Ten Conference game in the second weekend. But yeah, you're right. Big Cat like Ben McCollum has won everywhere he's gone. If you can't get behind this story, this is a guy, he wasn't handed everything in his Life. He's only 44. He's won four national championships in Division 2. He was at Northwest Missouri State for 15 years before he gets a look in D1. Think about that. You're winning national championships at D2 and you're turning down jobs, but a lot of guys would have gone to D1. After five years.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[John Fanta]

He spent 50 years, 15 in Division 2 and he's only 44. Could Ben McCollum be the next coaching star if he takes Iowa to the second weekend in year one? Why not? And by the way, I don't, I don't know how you guys feel. I like that he suits up in the, in the book. I love that. I love that.

[Hank]

Yes, that's a great look. So, so speaking of that, John, we have, you know, UNC might become available. Never talk about another man's job, but it seems like they've kind of soured on the relationship there a little bit. Kansas, Bill Self still making up his mind, but he didn't, he didn't seem very committal. Like if I were to just guess based on how he sounded after that loss. And yeah, granted he was getting over a tough loss to St. John's but he didn't sound like a man that was excited to, to get back to work. We could have some big jobs coming available. Would Ben McCollum be a guy that you have to make him say no?

[John Fanta]

Well, you'd have to make him say no. I think that his mindset will be Iowa's. The high major gave me a chance and we just went to a sweet 16. Let's up, let's up the pot of resources that we have. Remember, Ben is an Iowa City native, so he is home. So that's something to consider here. But there's no question that he's going to be contacted. I mean, look, if Kansas contacts you about their vacancy, you have to take the call, you have to talk with them. It's one of the best jobs in the sport and it's the best home court advantage in all the sport. But you know, to me, he's a name to certainly monitor. A name that I would monitor is Mark Byington, who's done a great job now at Vanderbilt. He did a wonderful job at James Madison. And I think that if I was Carolina or Kansas, he would be one of my first calls. I also think Dan Hurley will get a call. I don't think Dan Hurley's going anywhere. I think he loves being in Connecticut. But, but yeah, if you're North Carolina or Kansas, you want to make a splash, you're going to call the guy that's perceived as the, as still the best coach in the sport right now today. So the cycle is going to be fascinating. I mean, to me, when I see when, when, when Carolina loses a 19 point lead to VCU and loses that game, like I instantly just Think of Bubba Cunningham and Carolina. Talk about a. A total nightmare of the last 12 months. Like you won a bunch of press conferences and whatnot. You certainly won one with, with Bill Belichick. But that was about the only thing that you happened to win. And now, you know, you're staring at and having to make another change. And that change is the seismic one because at Carolina, basketball's obviously still king.

[Big Cat]

Right, Right. Yeah, the. That would be interesting. Have you, have you heard of Brad Stevens name? Throw it out there. You gotta call him and make him say no, Right?

[John Fanta]

Yeah, you have to call him and make him say no.

[Big Cat]

Okay, good.

[John Fanta]

I always laugh when these lists first get published because it's like Brad Stevens and Billy Donovan.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[John Fanta]

Yeah, those are the two.

[Big Cat]

He said, yeah, you gotta make him sign up Johnny.

[Hank]

And like you said, if it's Kansas, if you're Brad Stevens, you have to take the call. Yeah, you gotta take the call and then they gotta make you say no.

[Big Cat]

It sounds like you just set yourself up up Kansas and Brad Stevens, according to you are at least discussing the potential of a head coaching vacancy, correct? Yeah.

[John Fanta]

You know, as much as you and I will discuss St. Elmo's cocktail in Indianapolis.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[John Fanta]

And maybe we'll end up meeting there and getting some. Like maybe, maybe Brad Stevens will say, I'll take a charter plane down and entertain the discussion. The play the NBA playoffs. Don't start car for a couple weeks. That this is what happens every single cycle and it's what will happen again. So yes, you've set me up here and, and, and yes, Brad Stevens in North Carolina by having one. One discussion with the agent. You know, we'll back. Would they back up the truck? Yeah, they. Of course they were back the truck. Will it happen? Probably not. You know, keep one eye on Todd Golden. You never know if, if I, I think he's happy at Florida, but, but he's certainly gonna have some appeal in this cycle as well.

[Hank]

Yeah, I. I mean, Brad Stevens does have Indiana ties too. So he knows where St. Elmo's is. I think there's going to be a meeting. I think there might be meeting at the Final Four. Yeah, at the Final Four. Just keep one, Keep your other eye on that one eye on Todd golden, the other eye on the basement at St. Elmo's. And then it is about time for that annual discussion of TJ Otsel Burger too. Like where, where's he gonna go it.

[John Fanta]

Yeah, and I've fallen for that one. That's not happening.

[Hank]

He.

[John Fanta]

He's very Happy at Iowa State. Cyclone fans will get very angry about this, that we're even entertaining the thought. They get very mad all the time at when. Whenever things get. But TJ is. Is happy to be at Iowa State, and I think he will continue forging on now for year six. Six in Ames. He. He's not going anywhere. But of course, his name will be brought up. You get all different kinds of names brought up when things. When things open up. I, like, I kind of want just. Just. Just for a day, just to get Big Cat's reaction. I just want there to be like, well, you know what I did, like, over the weekend, somebody put it out there, I think. No escalators. The UConn fan account said, you know, if. If you're Kentucky and you ever moved on from Mark Pope, you'd have to be looking at a guy who's established in the SEC and has won another school, like John Calipari.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Cal's won the. He's completely won the breakup. That's not even. It's not even close. Through two years. It's. It's. It's going bad for Kentucky.

[John Fanta]

Can I ask you guys a question? Do you have the. The. Sometimes you have to go back to, like. Do you have, like, 25 of those, like, sitting in a pantry?

[Big Cat]

I just have. I have one of our guys make them, so. Yeah, I can make one. You. No problem.

[Hank]

Like, if you're. If you're thinking Jeff Fisher to Kentucky, then we can get that one out within 15 seconds.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. But if you want Cal, it's going to take a couple hours, but I got you. I'll. I'll have it out by the end of the day.

[John Fanta]

I mean, that's. There's just so much there. It's. If you're in Big Blue Nation right now, you're, You're. You're. You're pissed.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah.

[John Fanta]

You have to be. And when people. Someone said, like, over the weekend, oh, you know, well, he's. He's heading in the right direction. Right direction. They spent $22 million on their roster, and they're not one of the last 16 teams in the tournament. They almost lost to Santa Clara. That's. I'm sorry, but when you spend that kind of money, that's not right direction. Also, side note, from the first weekend. Side note. And I'm gonna get you two fired up right now. Can people learn to take a joke?

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Oh, weird. Wait, hold on. Timeout.

[John Fanta]

Timeout.

[Big Cat]

We should timeout. Disclaimer for everyone listening Right. Now, Kevin Willard did attend John Fanta's wedding. Go ahead.

[John Fanta]

People need to learn to take a frickin joke. He said, thank you, Max. There's Max. How many days away from your big party?

[Hank]

Oh, yeah, so, yeah, but Johnny, we, we invited Kevin Willard on Max's bachelor party.

[Big Cat]

Can you get that done?

[Hank]

Can you make the call, please?

[Big Cat]

Please?

[John Fanta]

I will make the call.

[Big Cat]

Just let him know all he needs is a flight. We got him for everything.

[John Fanta]

I will make the call. Yeah, we'll, we'll try to make that happen. I think he'd have a, a wonderful time in Las Vegas. Listen, he was, he, he is a patino guy. He and Mick Cronin are both patina guys who worked for Patino. So, so whether their jokes always land or not is a different story. But of course he's not firing his staff. Come on, people. Like I saw, I saw national analysts be like, I don't like this look. I don't like. Get a grip. He was kidding that they weren't guarding inbounds plays. They weren't guarding you, by the way, Utah State, they gave Arizona a good game, like shout out to the Aggies. Yeah, well, Jared Calhoun, he could be going to Cincinnati fight. You know, I, I wouldn't be surprised one bit. Take a joke. Willard was kidding. He, he, he's not gonna fire people. They have families. He's in year one at Villanova. He's never been like that to do that. Learn some humor, America. Learn some humor.

[Big Cat]

I don't know. It seemed pretty serious to me.

[Hank]

We threatened to fire our staff all the time, Johnny. Yeah. John Memes has been on a pip for the last four years.

[Big Cat]

That's true, John. I don't know.

[Hank]

Speaking of that, John, why don't coaches. How come no teams can inbound the ball anymore?

[John Fanta]

A lot of, a lot of them do not. I, I don't know why, but doing a bunch of games throughout the season, it's amazing to me how often this is an issue.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[John Fanta]

How many times the inbounds pass goes to the backcourt. It go, it go. You know, it's a, it's a, a football heave just to get into the point guard. And sometimes that pass gets contested and I'm not sure. I mean, like, obviously I'm not a coach, but what happened to the CYO stack play?

[Hank]

Good point.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[John Fanta]

I was always either the screener, so the stack play more guys in a single file. One guy juts right and Ghost goes to the opposite block. The other guy juts left and Goes to the baseline sometimes. I was that man and nobody was guarding me. And back in the day, could lace that 15 footer home. The third guy, you wanted to have some girth on you. You are turning around and you are, you know, setting a screen for the fourth guy to bulldoze his way down the lane and go. Go up to the rim.

[Hank]

Yep.

[John Fanta]

I mean, I know it's a tale as old as time, but watching some of these imbalance plays, don't tell me that the bread and butter situation won't work.

[Hank]

Yeah, I agree.

[John Fanta]

Kind of. It's crazy. Like, we know there's scouting, we know there's video, but. But that's been around for decades.

[Hank]

Yeah, there's some. Some decades. Some guys, they looked like they'd never thrown inbounds pass before. Like they were. They were terrified of the moment.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah.

[John Fanta]

I don't understand. And by the way, that's how Kansas lost to St. John's yeah. Like they couldn't inbound the ball against full court pressure.

[Big Cat]

It's March.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Tennessee was the same way. Tennessee survived, but same way Kentucky had a million turnovers. It did feel like there was moments where it was, you know, maybe it was just a coaching disadvantage, but teams were just didn't feel prepared for that moment.

[John Fanta]

And we're talking about hall of Fame coaches. You're talking about Rick Barnes and Bill Sell.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[John Fanta]

So I mean, speaking Willer can break press. Kevin Willard could break a press and he could dance at a wedding too.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, he definitely could. And he wants to fire all of his staff. And it's, it's pretty offensive. It's a position of power, John, that you shouldn't, you shouldn't make jokes like that. I never would do that.

[Hank]

Did you ever feel like he was going to fire all of his groomsmen? Like, like everybody better be. If you're in the crowd, be ready for the call up.

[John Fanta]

You know, it's just. And like a certain colleague of ours, of course had to tweet as the game went final.

[Big Cat]

Sure.

[John Fanta]

He's got plenty of weddings to attend this summer.

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah, yeah. That's a nice burn. Hey, question about your, your Big East. St. John's and Yukon still alive in the same region, which kind of sucks if you ask me. I mean, a third would be cool or fourth would be cool, but I still, I think the tournament. I don't love rematches. How do you, how do you see this going for St. John's Yukon? Have you, have you talked to either guy Patino or Hurley, how like there. I think Hurley doesn't have his best Yukon team, but he's just such a good coach. And St. John's not that it's all gravy, but Patino's done everything he said he was going to do when he got to St. John's yeah, Hurley is

[John Fanta]

Michael Myers right now in that he's just wired differently and you can't put him down. And even though his team did not play well against Furman, they played quite well against ucla. So he's got, he's the Michael Myers this tournament and then it's, it's very simple. But like Rick Patino is the Al Pacino of this tournament. He. He is the he. He is driving the hearse from the west coast to the east coast. And his next potential victim is Duke and John Shire. And look how do I see this? Teams that consistently shoot the three and shoot it well are the ones that give St. John's issues because you can only defend that so well in St. John's they're not a three point shooting team now. Kansas said we're just going to keep daring you to shoot. And they made enough of them to win the game. But they only, they only scored 67 points. They are. They can give Duke problems because size and physicality give Duke issues. And they're going to be able to slow down Cameron Boozer. I really do feel that way. And so then it comes down to Will, I, Will, Isaiah Evans. Well, Kaden Boozer, you know, Foster, we don't know about his status. Can Dame Sar give them some more perimeter shooting? Dante Star is a real X factor for Duke and he was in the win over tcu. But, but how do I see it? I, I see it being a close game because Big Cat and PFT St. John's on prep with a Hall of Fame coach. They're going to be ready to go a one day turnaround for Duke. I'd feel a little bit differently having four or five days, they're going to know everything about Duke. They're going to be ready defensively. If they make enough shots and they get enough shot making from Jos On Sanity and Jackson Oziah Sellers, they're going to have a chance. UConn Michigan State is a boxing match. It could be the best game of the, of. Of the Sweet 16. You have two coaches who just simply refuse to lose and typically they just don't lose in this tournament. Michigan State is playing as well as anybody right now. Jeremy Fears is a beast. They're getting enough Shot making from Cohen. Cars now taking off. How about Cohen Carr?

[Hank]

Yeah.

[John Fanta]

He's more than just a dunker, he's a scorer. Kohler and Cooper inside to me. Can Terrace Reed. Can the big bear. Can the big bear with his honey bucket for UConn hold up? Because he's got to go up against Kohler and Cooper and UConn doesn't have anybody behind Reed that can really will themselves physically. Like Eric Riba's talented, but he's not terroristry and he's not Jackson, Kohler or Carson Cooper. So Reed has to avoid foul trouble. And then. Well, Alex Caravan and Braylon Mullins keep making threes. If they do, it's gonna be very difficult for Yukon to lose. Yeah, These are toss up games. The two of them. DC Is going to be an event on Friday night. That. That's not a double header. That is an event.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah, agreed.

[Hank]

What about Arizona, Arkansas? I can't figure out this game. I. Both teams have looked really good. Arizona, they. They struggled a little bit with Utah State. Things got a little dicey. Then they pulled away, actually made some big threes which we don't really expect from Arizona. And then Arkansas has just played the most entertaining basketball ever. And I love watching Acuff and I hope that he doesn't lose just for the reason that I want to keep watching him in this tournament. But I can't figure out how this matchup plays out. What, what should I be. I be anticipating in that Sweet 16 game?

[John Fanta]

Well, what you should be anticipating is for Arizona, their ability to get to the rim and make it a, a game in the, in the mud. They got to make this dirty. They got to make it physical. They. They got to make it a bit of a football game and say, Arkansas, you're going to play the game on our terms. Terms and we're going to punch you in the face. Like that's how Arizona has to approach this game. They cannot get into a glamour contest. They can't because Arkansas, they've got the king. I'm gonna call them right now. I'm gonna call him the King. Hog.

[Hank]

I love it.

[John Fanta]

King. Darius Acuff Jr. Is King Hog.

[Hank]

King Hog.

[John Fanta]

King Hog. Woo. Pig. A cuff. That's how well he is playing right now. And if you try to get into a. Let's, let's just get into a three point shot making contest. Arizona still bottom 15 in the country, right? How much they rely on the 3. Now Arkansas, they're not going to hit 13 of them, but they went 9 of 16 against High Point, and Acuff had the 36. To me. For Arizona, Jaden Bradley, his ability to defend is very important in this game. And then Koa P and Braden Buries have made winning plays all year. Year. They've made winning plays all season long. Who's better, A Cuff or Malik Thomas? Emily Thomas. Or is it Pete and Buries who are driving the bus? And then for Arkansas, they need Malik Ewan to keep playing well, because you got on the other side. Arizona's got the size. They're going to rebound the basketball. They're going to protect the rim. And that starts with crevice. You can't let mo crevis have 20 and 11. If you let him do that, Arizona's gonna win. In my original bracket, and you guys know I'm a man of integrity. I apologize to Iowa fans.

[Big Cat]

Yep.

[John Fanta]

My original bracket has Arkansas pulling off the upset. Their athletes, their speed King Hog wears the crown and takes Arkansas in the Elite Eight. And he doesn't stop there. He takes them to the Final Four.

[Hank]

I love it. I love it.

[Big Cat]

All right, well, Acuff in the. In the chair in the Final Four would be incredible.

[Hank]

Yeah. Gun to your head, Johnny. Which coach.

[Big Cat]

Which.

[Hank]

Which remaining coach do you trust the most?

[John Fanta]

Real. Real good question.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, real good question.

[Hank]

That's why I asked it.

[Big Cat]

Guns to your head. Oh, I think Memes has a shotgun. Memes has a shotgun.

[John Fanta]

Tom is. Yeah, it's. It's Tom Izzo. Because I never. Here's. Here's why I trust him. It was going to be Izzo or Calvin, Sam. And by the way, I think. I think Houston's going to get to the Final Four. And I think they. If I had to pick right now a team to win the national championship, it's Houston Redemption Tour. I. I just. You know, I think it could be Houston, Michigan in the final. And there's something about the theater for the Houston Cougars coming so close last year. But my answer was Izzo. And my answer is. Is, though, because the guy doesn't get blown out. He doesn't let missed shots impact how his team plays. I want a coach who gets his team in the game in the last three minutes, no matter the opponent. And I don't see UConn blowing out Michigan State. I think it'll be down to the wire. And I think Michigan State can beat anybody in this tournament because they have point guard play. They have two big men, and now Jordan Scott and Cohen Carr and even Cam Ward are supplying enough depth with Michigan State. The question Always is. Do they have enough sources of scoring? This team now does. And Izzo's got a great way about him. And I know that he, you know, I, I get when people are like, well, you know, he's got the title in 2000, but what else, guys? This guy churns out second weekends with teams sometimes that are not qualified to do it every single year. And this team's qualified to make it to Indianapolis. So I, I can't go again. It, you know, Izzo, Hurley, Patino, all being in the same region's tough. But Izzo's track record, as much as Rick did it and had glory years. Remember this about Patino? He hasn't been to a sweet 16 in 11 years. Now, he was out of the sport. He was in Greece. He's an amazing coach. But I also give that answer knowing Michigan State's point guard play something that St. John's does not have. Even UConn. It's been up and down. Inso's got a point guard, he's got two bigs and he's got enough shot making. He. He beat Zion Williamson with this type of team.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah.

[John Fanta]

Come out of this with this type of team. That's why I say Izzo.

[Big Cat]

Okay, so right now on DraftKings sportsbook, which you are a sponsor with Johnny, plus 475 to get Michigan State into the Final Four. So if you want to bet on. If you want to bet on Izzo, I like that that's at East. I mean, that Friday night is going to be just incredible.

[Hank]

It's.

[Big Cat]

The matchups are nuts. It's. It's. It's so great.

[John Fanta]

It's going to be insane. I mean, Wash, I'm seeing the secondary ticket market, and I don't think I've ever seen anything like it for a sweet 16. What a double header. It really, it really will be. It'll be phenomenal. I think Thursday night. I know it's at 10 o' clock at night, but Illinois, Houston, like folks get into the office late Friday morning. I don't know what. Or don't work Friday at all. Yeah, Illinois, Houston down in Houston will be a tremendous game. Illinois's offensive talent is amazing. Wagler, Boswell, Stojakovic, you know, we don't talk about. But here's Paige's, Toyokovic's kid having 20 plus in a tournament game. The Illini are fun. Wisconsin beat them in champagne. But the aligner, Fun, beat him in

[Big Cat]

the Big Ten tournament, too.

[Hank]

What about, what about Michigan? Alabama? That's A lot of people here at Barstool Sports are going to have our eyes on that game. Two Titans, pretty much. Our two co CEOs of the company. Yeah, Dave and Rico. The big two. I mean for all the marbles. You talk about a lot on the line for Rico Bosco. Alabama, I don't know if this style can, can win a tournament. It's fun to watch when it works. And Michigan hasn't really been tested. So who, if you had to to bet, would you be putting your lot with? Dave or with Rico?

[John Fanta]

Dave, get in the car. Take a drive. Take a drive. A nice, a nice ride to the airport because we're gonna fly.

[Big Cat]

Okay.

[John Fanta]

And, and the other one's gonna bus you. Take a nice charter bus with some rolled gold pretzels and that Dasani water that's two days old that will sit in the back of a shell station. I, I'm gonna go with, with Dr. Dave Portnoy on this one because Michigan's length. Here's the thing. Alabama could have a shot in this game because they're top 10 in points. They get off threes. That's a plus. LeBaron Phylon is amazing. There's no question about it. That being said, Alabama doesn't turn people over. They do not turn people over. And Michigan struggle has been in, in the turnover column and Michigan should be able to get to the rim at will against Alabama. Alabama's interior defense is not there. That spells trouble for the Crimson Tide. It spells trouble for Mr. Bosco. Stick one of my favorite cafeteria snacks growing up. And it smells trouble for that Alabama sweatsuit. I think that thing gets put away later this week and I think Dave Portnoy and the Wolverines move on.

[Big Cat]

Okay, I like that. All right, last question. Johnny, it's always great to have you on. Roback? RHOBAC.com promo code take 20% off your first purchase. Q zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts. Roback.com promo code take can you just get us pumped up? Just get us. Give us the old Fanta. Just give us a one Fanta pump up. You know, about, about this weekend coming up.

[John Fanta]

Are you feeling sweet America? Because you should be. It's here. You need two wins. If you're a squad walking into a building this week, two wins to get to Indianapolis where a champion will be crowned. If you're a big Ten fan, you're rejoicing because you've got a conference matchup in this sweet 16. Who had Nebraska, Iowa and the sweet seed 16 nor alone squaring off. But there are four other Big Ten squads in the sweet 16 in the east. In our nation's capital where America will be celebrating its 250th birthday this summer, college basketball will be celebrated at Capital One Arena, Duke and St. John's Patino versus Shire. Coach K will certainly be watching the star power reel. Cameron Boozer on one side, Zooby Dooby Doo on The other for St. John. UConn in Michigan State. Will Hurley or Izzo sleep with their eyes open the night before. You can count on that. Cohen Carr, Jeremy Fears on one side, Alex Caravan, the winningest Husky, the King Husky on the other. Oh, to the right side of the bracket, here comes that checkered jacket of John Calipari in Arkansas looking to pull it off over Zona. Sean Miller wears a cowboy hat now. And Texas, they might be sweating, but they're sweating their way to the second weekend. Braden Smith is the all time assist leader. Could Purdue break through again and have a home Final Four A storyline? We haven't discussed as much, but we should be discussing more. Michigan, they've been amazing. Alabama, so well coached under Mr. Oates. Who will have a better breakfast. Who will bring the muscle, the toughness to that one and then toughness, muscle. They are not an option. They are mandatory when Tennessee and Iowa State meet up. This is the sweet 16. This is March. This is why we love the sport of college basketball. And when the weekend is all said and done, you will look to the calendar and say Easter weekend is actually next weekend. It's final four weekend. And which four teams will emerge into the sunlight and be ready to perform on college basketball. And for that weekend, sports center stage.

[Big Cat]

Oh, you're the best, Johnny. Thank you. We love you, Johnny. You're the best. And hopefully we see you soon. And let's, let's, let's watch some more games. Nothing better.

[John Fanta]

I love you guys. Will I see you in Indianapolis? You will be on site?

[Big Cat]

I think I'll, I'll be there for at least a day. I think we have one live show, so we'll get you on that for sure.

[John Fanta]

See you there. All right, Wait.

[Big Cat]

See you, Johnny.

[Hank]

Bye, Johnny. John Fanta was brought to you by every man. Jack, you're a grown man making better decisions about what you put in your body. Are you paying attention to what goes on your body?

[Big Cat]

Body?

[Hank]

Here's the thing. Use grooming products with harsh chemicals. It's like washing your car with dish soap. Sure, it gets the job done, but you're stripping away the protection, you're doing long term damage. Most guys think they have to choose products that work or products that are better for you. Every Man Jack says that's bs. They're clean, naturally derived formulas have none of the garbage that the other guys use. No parabens, no dyes, no shortcuts that are incredibly effective. Their coconut based body wash cleans while hydrating. Their new 48 hour antiperspirant has unbelievable glide and staying power. I got to get some Everyman Jack. Hank is always talking about how much he loves body wash and how effective Every Man Jack's body wash is. Every Man Jack Clean, effective, made for men. What more could you want? Start your new routine. Find every Man Jack at Walmart, Target, Amazon, Kroger or wherever men's personal care products are sold. Check it out. Every Man Jack and Tom Izzo is also brought to you by Morgan and Morgan. When a coach goes for it on fourth and two at midfield in the first quarter, that's a power move. When you get back to another sweet 16 like Coach Izzo, that's a power move. Just like how hiring Morgan and Morgan is a power move. Morgan Morgan is America's largest injury law firm. They have over 100 offices nationwide, more than a thousand lawyers with over $30 billion recovered for over 500, 000 clients. Morgan Morgan has a proven track record of fighting to get you full and fair compensation. They're all about the power moves. When you move in next door to Miley Cyrus and then pretend like you didn't know that she lived there, that's a power move. Morgan Morgan knows. In Nashville they got a client $10.6 million. In Georgia they got a client 29.5 million. If you're ever injured by the negligence of another, you deserve to be paid. If you're injured, check out Morgan and Morgan. The fee is free unless they win. For more information go to forthepeople.compmt or. Pound law pound 529 from your cell phone. That's f o r the people.compmt or pound law pound 529 from your cell phone. And now here is Tom Izzo.

[Big Cat]

Okay. We now welcome on a very, very, very, very special guest, one of our favorite recurring guests. It feels like it's been a tradition now which you have made it for many, many years. It is coach Tom Izzo from Michigan State. It's a tradition that you get to the sweet 16. You've done it again. 17 sweet 16. We wanted to have you on. I think this Is maybe the third or fourth year in a row that we've had you on. First of all, congratulations to getting back to the sweet 16. I know it's hard to win one tournament game, let alone two. And now you're here.

[Tom Izzo]

How.

[Big Cat]

How are the vibes a day after where you're feeling, you know, hey, we did this again. We've. We've gotten at least one step closer.

[Tom Izzo]

Well, I wish it was a tradition. That means it would automatically happen, and it doesn't automatically happen, as you guys know. But it is pretty thrilling that we have been to 17 of them. I feel blessed, lucky. A lot of good players, a lot of good staff members, a lot of people that help you get here. And you got to have some luck, too. You know, sometimes it's an injury against you, sometimes it's one of your guys. There's a lot of things that go on in these seasons, as you can see around the country right now, and I'm just happy we get to still work, because if we're still working today, that means we're still playing.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

Yeah, that's fair. And. And after the game, you said something that. That caught my eye when you were talking about being a steward of the game. And I feel like we've got, you know, from. From the old school generation. We've got some of you guys that are still sticking around, looking after the game for everybody else, and we appreciate that. But what did you mean when you said that it's important to you to be a steward of the game?

[Tom Izzo]

Well, I mean that the game really doesn't change and that we have a responsibility to the game more than we do to ourselves or schools or even our players. I mean, the game is what's been so valuable all this time. And I just want you to know that when you say old school, it really does hit a sore spot with me. So I can say that to you guys on this station because I know you. It's not old school. It's right school. I don't want to do anything old school. I want to do it the right way. And the right way has been done for not 20 years, not 40 years, 100 years. You know, you hold people accountable. You have, you know, you play for the name on the front, not the back. You know, if we're going to be pro ball, then go pro ball. But right now, we're college, so let's stay college and figure out that, you know, there's nothing wrong with holding people accountable. There's nothing wrong with people playing for the players that played here before. There's nothing wrong with playing for your city and your community and your school. That's old school. You guys are in dial a clue. That's real school. It's right school. It's the way it's supposed to be.

[Big Cat]

It's an awesome message because I think it's interesting to look around the league and see, you know, a lot of the guys that you coached against for many, many years kind of exited stage left when nil and transfer portal ramped up. You, you stayed the course and you've, you've kept on doing like you're showing, hey, I can do it the, you know, from 20 years ago when you had guys stay for four years, I can do it now when guys you know might be gone or transfer after a year. It's really a testament to your coaching ability and like your ability to keep everyone together, which I feel like in the locker room afterwards you got a little emotional and that was the message that everyone here has had a part of it. And that's why. That's what Michigan State basketball means.

[Tom Izzo]

Well, it does. I'm not going to kid you that, you know, I don't know how long you build a sustain something like this because sooner or later, you know, with players leaving and coming all the time, if you don't have a core group and I have a core group, what that'll be like in a year or two, who knows? But it is difficult. It's more difficult. It is a reason a lot of these football coaches and basketball coaches have left because they don't really believe that this is right. Are you ready for this for the players? Not for the coach, not for the school, not for, you know, this. And that is, is it right? You know, is it going to help them in the next 70 years? Because that's really our job. I mean we, we all know that 1% of our guys, 1.2% are going pro, 1.3% of the football players are going pro. So that is a minute number. And yet all the rules seem to be made for that. Those guys are going to make money and do things anyway. So that's my concern is what does money do? What does transferring? What does going places for the wrong reasons? What does that all do for you? But that should be an off season topic for you guys because right now it should be about the incredible games going on.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Tom Izzo]

Yes. The opportunity for us to play in another sweet 16 against either two teams we played Yukon or UCLA and both of them make me nauseous so maybe you're right. I hate the transfer portal. That might be better than talking about those two teams.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[John Fanta]

So.

[Big Cat]

All right, so we have some advanced scouting for you on UConn and UCLA. So UConn and UCLA. We're taping this before they play Yukon. We're good friends with Coach Dan Hurley. What you have to do to stop him is do not let him drink his rage piss before the game. So he has a bottle of urine and he drinks it on the sideline before the game tips off. Don't let him have that. That's his secret sauce.

[Tom Izzo]

Okay, well, I want to know this, because I know both guys. I'm. I'm close with Danny Hurley, you know, I. I really am. He's had some pro offers. I did, and we talked a lot, and I think he does a hell of a job. And Mick Cronin is doing a great job out there there, too. But I want to know who in the hell's going to officiate that game tonight? That's what I want to know. That guy is my hero.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Hank]

Some poor bastard. I think what you have to do is, if it is against Coach Hurley, you gotta. You gotta come out with your own bottle. Just take some. Take some water, a little bit of yellow food coloring in there. And you have to show him, like, hey, what you got? I got one better. And just let him know I'm not here to mess around. We're both drinking piss.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Tom Izzo]

You know, the advantage of being a veteran guy is all the years I've been here and all the 28 times we've gone to the tournament, I've still never shot a shot, guarded anybody, made an assist, made a free throw. So I think Danny and I could drink, eat, and do whatever we want to do. It's probably not going to have any. Any valuable a position on the outcome of the game.

[Hank]

I'd probably disagree with that.

[Big Cat]

Back to back titles. And you.

[Hank]

I. I know that you. Sometimes when your players get amped up during a game, you almost get calmer. And you. You bring them over and you say, hey, I want you to calm down. You. We can't afford to have you get a technical. Let me be the one that costs us the game by getting a technical.

[Tom Izzo]

Very true.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

It's like when you. When other people are around you. You. You know, I. I've seen you on the sidelines. You have a tendency to. To get excited, emotional, as we all do. But I feel like when your players get excited, emotional, you almost get More calm in that moment. Is that true?

[Tom Izzo]

It is true. Because I know that I know where I can push the envelope and where I can't. I don't think a player does, and I don't think referees want to listen to that as much, so. You guys probably evaluated that pretty well. Now you gave away my secrets.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Although that, that shot clock violation at the end of the first half against Louisville that you should have. You should have gotten everyone off the court and been like, hey, you guys don't deserve to play ball. I saw you getting mad. I was equally as mad. You can't have that happen.

[Tom Izzo]

Yeah, there's a lot of things that can't happen. But, you know, as much as I joke about the coaching part, I'm not sure I'd want to be an official in my second life coming back.

[Hank]

No, probably not.

[Big Cat]

You probably will be, though. If there's like, karma is real. You would have to be an official coming back now.

[Tom Izzo]

I'm going to be a football coach. I already decided that. Because, you know, you can grab guys, you can do things, you can yell. Nobody looking right at you, can hide between. Between the hundred players you got down there. You're not right next to the court. Those guys got it made. Those helmet head guys I love.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, but you. I will say this. The. The, the public discourse on you yelling at your players, I think has gone all the way back where people all respect where you're coming from. We had, we had your, your guy, Draymond Green on the show. We sat with him for like an hour and a half. It was awesome. And we talked about this where it was like, look, all these. He. He pointed out, he's like, all these guys who played for Coach Izzo will stand up for Coach Izzo when one of these clips goes viral. Do you think that's the case if. If we didn't think he actually loved us and wanted the best for us? Like, so that, that, that is what. What people miss and that's what they. You know, sometimes I don't want to say the world's gone soft, but you're doing hard coaching. But it comes. He said it comes from a place that he loves you and you have that foundation. Then you can talk to anyone however you want because, you know, it's just honest, truce, back and forth.

[Tom Izzo]

Well, it's. It's a responsibility and it's accountability. I mean, you know, we're not always yelling at people. I mean, I'm Italian, so, you know, you know what it is. But, but the Honest truth is our job is to hold people accountable to accomplish the goals and dreams that they have, not what I just have what they have. And so if you were looking at your own son or daughter, if you had one, or your cousin or whoever, and he was walking across the street and you told him not to do it because he's getting hit by a car, if he did it 10 different times and the car just missed him, would you say, johnny, please don't walk across the street, or would you get after him a little bit because you know that he's doing something that's going to create a problem and it's not going to end well. That's what experience does. You know, I think that's what's helped me. And. And you know what? If you spend a lot of time with your players, I love Draymontese the best. And then they know that, you know, I have meetings with players to let them know. You tell me what you want me to do. You want me to hold you accountable? You want me to let you go? If you want me to let you go, then I'd probably put you in the transfer portal, not me.

[Big Cat]

Right.

[Tom Izzo]

Because, you know, that's just the way it is. I mean, guys gotta. Why would you say, you know, you almost apologize for the world's getting soft. The world is getting soft.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah, you're right.

[Tom Izzo]

So, I mean, but. But to win championships and to be successful, there's no softness to that. You know, I. I had the advantage. You know, I started here with Nick Saban. I know what Nick's like. Bill Belichick used to come here, spend time talking in his camps. I've. I watched the John Thompsons. I talked to Magic Johnson about what Pat Riley was like, you know, I mean, sure, some guys can coach different if they got, you know, 10 McDonald's all Americans or eight all pro guys. But you look at Bill Parson, you look at the good coaches, they do it in different way, but accountability, I think, guys, is the key that we're all striving for.

[Hank]

Yeah. Who's one guy on your team this year that has improved a lot, that has taken this. This style of coaching, the tough love at times, and embraced it and. And approved over his time at the school?

[Tom Izzo]

I actually think I got a lot of guys. I think both of our bigs, Caller and. And Cooper, have improved, but I. I think Jeremy's improved because he's the guy that, you know, you have to go at the most because he's your quarterback. You know, I Always tell him that him and I got a lot in common. You know, if it's on the court, he gets blamed for it. If it's. We lose, I get blamed for it. So we're both getting blamed for things, so we might as well get along and do it the right way. And I've really enjoyed the way our relationship has grown and what. What has happened. It was the same way when I started with Mateen Cleaves, and it's never changed those guys, what I. What I don't think people realize. And Magic said this to me once, great players want to be coached and pushed because great players want to be the best players. So they do. You know, it just sometimes in the high school level now, or, you know, nobody does that because kids will leave, you know, if you don't get a ribbon, you leave. So it's different.

[Hank]

Is that. Is it fair for him to say that. That Michigan State's Point Guardian University?

[Tom Izzo]

Well, we've had a lot of good ones, you know, I mean, I'm sure some other schools have, too, but, you know. You know, the Magic man, of course, you know, I wasn't here then, but, you know, he's one of the greatest of all times. And for me, Mateen Cleaves was the greatest of all times because he embodied everything I believe in. You know, he ran our team. He found how to make guys better.

[Big Cat]

He.

[Tom Izzo]

You talk about a guy who pushed guys, you should be happy. He's not coaching, but he pushed his best friends, and that's why we won a championship, by the way, I went to three Final Fours.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So talking about coaching guys hard. A very funny story this year happened when you yelled at one of your players, Kertang, during a timeout, saying, you know, my mother can guard better than you. You then had your mom in her retirement home, had the picture. They did a Photoshop of her playing defense. Loved it. My question, though, because I'm sure you talked about a lot, would you have said that same thing to Cohen Carr? Because then you would have maybe had a situation where Cohen Carr's dunking on your own mother.

[Tom Izzo]

I had my mother dunking on LeBron, so that's even better. If Cohen couldn't guard, I'd say it, but I said it to people. You know, the difference is guys. My mother turns 100 in May, so she's 99, so it has a little better impact right now.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, you can't guard.

[Tom Izzo]

You know, my mother at 99 can guard better than you, but probably when she was 70, 5. I was telling kids the same thing. You know, you can't guard my mother. I don't look at that as insulting. She's my mother.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Does she still have eligibility left?

[Tom Izzo]

Well, the way the courts work now, probably.

[Big Cat]

Speaking of court code card though, are there ever times where you're like, oh my God, it like almost stop and be like, how did he jump so high? Because he's just, it's awesome watching him play in dunk. And I know that you don't want to get caught up in a moment, but is there, has there been a moment where you're standing on the sideline, you're. You almost like leave your coaching brain and say, holy shit, that was incredible.

[Tom Izzo]

You know, I've got one lucky thing. We probably have 130 practices a year. Then you have another 20 in the summer, whatever it is. So I get to see him 150 times. So the 30 that he's in a game situation, I've seen better dunks, you know, maybe in practice, but I've been blessed. You know, Jason Richardson, Shannon Brown, I've had some great leapers in my day. But Cohen, at 666- you- know, £230, is one of the more powerful dunkers I've ever had. And, and he's such a good kid. I mean, he's just, he's the world's best kid and he's starting to play better and better and better right now. And I really enjoy watching him go, yeah, yeah.

[Hank]

Have you noticed this postseason, I've heard a few coaches talking about it, the difference in the balls. Have the balls been as over inflated as we've been told for the last two years?

[Tom Izzo]

You know, I, I have heard that. I, I don't, I, I, you know, like I said, I don't even get the touch a ball. So I don't know. But we've been shooting it pretty well in the last two games, so right as maybe I should inflate the ones we use during the year.

[Hank]

Yeah, I've just heard a few coaches talking about it. I, I've also noticed that it's coaches that just lost that tend to bring it up.

[Tom Izzo]

So I have heard coaches talking about it too. And there's been years that I, I think, you know, it is amazing that we play with five different balls. You know, we got balls here. We order like 12 balls from every ball company there is so that if you're playing Wisconsin, it's one ball. If you're playing somebody else, Louisville, it's another one. If you know, at least a tournament, they keep them the same. I don't know why we don't do like the NBA, just everybody plays with the same ball and call it a day.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah, I agree.

[Hank]

Make a lot of sense.

[Big Cat]

When the bracket came out, we, we were, we were talking about this on Sunday, Selection Sunday. Do you think that the committee has some type of like, perverse thing where they just want to have Duke in Michigan State in the same region? Because it happens every single year.

[Tom Izzo]

It's happened more than its share of times. I guess that's a compliment, but I don't think so. I, I think I agree with most of you guys, meaning the talking heads that, you know, the east is the toughest. I mean, I'm looking at a game tonight where Kansas is playing St. John's in a four or five game and I'm going, what the hell is that?

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Tom Izzo]

You know, so it's hard to say, but I hope they're right because that means we would get to the Elite Eight and have a chance, you know. Yeah, unfortunately we got a game before that that'll be a lot harder. But when the bracket comes out, you know, I, no, I don't think there's any conspiracies. I just think that, thank God we've been pretty good and they've been great over the last 20 years, so maybe it ends up that way.

[Hank]

Yeah, I mean, just looking at the bracket in the east and just imagining no matter what four teams are in that regional in Washington D.C. you're going to get four all time coaches going at each other. I was just looking at that when that came out and I was, I was getting excited about just, just thinking about the matchups we could get out of it. I got a question for you about, about our good friend John Rothstein and how he always says January, February, Izzo, can we change that up so it's January, February, March, Izzo, wouldn't you rather be known for April than March?

[Tom Izzo]

I don't care what I'm known for. I just want to win another game, man. I want to work in another night, you know, that's all I want to do. I was so excited to come back last night and one of the few times we played on the Thursday, Saturday format. So now today we got to have a team meeting, kind of go over the logistics of the week and a little bit of the film. But I think one of the big things right now is we get a little rest and we get to watch the team will play, we get to Watch them. Strange as it is, though, it's at 8, 8:45 tonight. But I'll stay up and watch that. That'll be good. So I'm. Whatever John wants, Whatever you guys want. I. I just want to be playing in March and April. How's that?

[Hank]

Yeah, I, I want to change it so it's January, February, March, Izzo, and then we sleep in May. That sounds better to me.

[Big Cat]

That does, Yeah. I, I noticed too, in the locker room after you said, you said your players, you know, you guys get us these two, we'll get you the next two. Is it really?

[John Fanta]

You're.

[Big Cat]

When you get into the tournament, you're. You're thinking of it as just week by, like you're not thinking ahead at all. It's just like these next two games in a pocket and then these next two games in the pocket because you've been elite at the, at the second game in these, you know, formats where it's a quick turnaround. Is it, you know, really. Hey, now it's almost a new tournament starts, you know, when you get to D.C. on Friday.

[Tom Izzo]

Well, I stole it from. I heard Mike Krzyzewski once say you got to win the weekend. You know, once you get good and enough that you, you're not just trying to win the first game, you know, like Nebraska, I mean, it was unbelievable setting last night. And you know, when they, the first night when they won their first NCAA game, those are exciting times. But when you win a national championship, then you realize that's. That's all people really care about to a certain extent. So winning a game doesn't matter. You got to win the weekend. And so we won last weekend, now we got to win this weekend. And it gets harder to win the weekends because the teams get better. But that's what it's all about, and that's what we're going to try to do.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

You were saying something about how this team has kind of rejuvenated you a little bit. I don't know if you were saying they made you feel younger or they made you feel like you want to stick around and coach for what, like they extended your career by two years, two seasons? What is it about this team? And is that, is that like an accurate statement or were you, were you just messing around saying that they made you feel too bad?

[Tom Izzo]

You know, a reporter told me that it doesn't seem to matter when it is. My teams look pretty similar. Sometimes a little more talent, sometimes not. But I think we play similar. And I just told him, that's a compliment if he thinks that way. With the team I got in the last couple of years, it does rejuvenate you. You know, listen, it's been tough on coaches. Okay. It's been tough on people. These new rules. Don't kid yourself. And. And everybody's wondering what the hell. My guys have been so good, you know, haven't lost a lot of them. Most of them, I've stayed, and they just make me feel good about the profession I'm in. So I've said often lately, I still love the players. I still love the practices. I still love the job. I just. I don't respect the way the profession is right now, and. But we're partly to blame for that. Yeah, the NCAA is blame, but the coaches aren't to blame. Administrators are to blame. I mean, this probably wasn't handled right. It's got to be fixed, and all I want to do is be part of the solution.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. So going. I actually have a non basketball question for you, because when you said, I'm Italian, I yell, our producer, who's very Italian. We actually have, like, all Italians.

[Hank]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Big Cat]

Oh, yeah. He raises his voice, by the way.

[Hank]

It's at a loss.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah. So that, by the way, that was my scouting report for Mick Cronin. Don't raise your voice at him. Okay, so it's on camera, dude. Don't do it.

[Zach]

All right?

[Big Cat]

So just don't do it. Don't let Hurley drink the piss. Don't let McKronin raise your voice. What is your favorite Italian meal?

[Tom Izzo]

You know, I like lasagna, raviolis. I like all three of those. So, you know, you pick and choose different times. But it's not like I'm eating out a lot, so, you know, it's usually around the office and everything. But, yeah, I like Italian food, but I like steak, too, so I'm. I can go any way you want. The only thing, I don't eat as much as fish, which is the only thing. Good for you. So that solves the problem.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, yeah. Have you. Have you had moments where you've. Because, like I said, we have a lot of Italians in this office, and I've heard them say sometimes where they'll like, people like, don't yell. It's like, hey, I'm not yelling. I'm just Italian. Have you used that before? Where it's like they just. Their voice just goes up and they can't stop themselves.

[Tom Izzo]

I think there's a little truth to that. I think every Nationality has its own way of expressing. You know, sometimes Italians talk with their hands. Other people do other things, you know. But now I tell my players ahead of time, no matter what I say to you, take it for what I'm saying, not how I'm saying it, because I know my own. You know, I got faults too, like everybody else, so I usually preface it every season. Just worry about what's being said, not how it's being said. Because I love you all.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah, that's good.

[Hank]

If you do happen to get into a matchup against Rick Patino, have you thought about wearing the white suit? Fighting fire with fire?

[Tom Izzo]

Rick, let's get in his white suit, man. He's done a hell of a job too. You talk about a guy that's reinvented himself a few times. You know, there's, there's, there's one thing he can do, boy, he can coach. And he's done it at all levels and he's been successful at all levels. And it's going to be an interesting game tonight. Who you guys picking? Let's put you guys on the spot.

[Hank]

I mean, I, I picked Kansas, but then Badooga just got two, two early fouls. So that might not be looking too good right now. But I, I would, I think it would be a good look to have you trying to pull off the white suit. Patino trying to pull off the white suit.

[Big Cat]

It'd be a good.

[Hank]

Yeah, just battle of the titans going after it.

[Tom Izzo]

But you know what the difference is? Patino wears suits. I kind of dress more like you guys, so I'm probably more for you guys.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, we've been saying that. Like, I want to bring back suits. I had that take a couple weeks ago. I think college coaches should bring. Bring back suits. Now. Some of the guys like some of the younger guys. I get it. It would be weird if Todd golden was in a suit, but you got to be. You gotta, you gotta suit up.

[Tom Izzo]

So. So do you think you two should wear suits on the.

[Big Cat]

Absolutely not.

[Tom Izzo]

That's what I'm talking about.

[Hank]

We get stains on them. We're sloppy guys.

[Big Cat]

But hold on. We've never worn suits, so the precedent has never been a suit.

[Tom Izzo]

When everybody's sweating all over me, you know, in a huddle, I'm always looking up at guys. You know, I'm vertically challenged a little bit, so why would I want guys sweating on my nice suit?

[Big Cat]

Maybe bring out the Grinch sweater again. That was an all time look.

[Tom Izzo]

That was campy. He's another piece of work

[Big Cat]

all right, well, coach, we really appreciate your time. Whenever you come on with us, it's so much fun. I got one last question. Roback? Rho bac.com promo code take 20% off your first purchase. Q zips, polos, hoodies, joggers, shorts roback.com promo code take do you look at your own stats ever? Because I have a stat that's pretty impressive, a Tom Izzo stat. Do you ever see them?

[Tom Izzo]

You know what, people throw them at me once in a while and it'll be common for me to say not really. And then everybody says, oh sure, but you know, the only stats I care about are the banners hanging. And even those, I just don't think people are going to look back. You know, they talk about legacies and all that. Hell, people, the greatest players in the world, you know, they're gone in the next week. They forgot about them. So I just worried about, you know, can I have an impact on a game? Can I really have an impact on players that hopefully will last a lifetime? So any other stat, I don't know. You know, I get a lot of them thrown at me when we accomplish something like Bobby Knight's record, you know, and I say, yeah, but you know, I play more conference games than he played. We got more teams now. You know, there's always. Records are not equal to.

[Big Cat]

Yeah, well, here's the stat. I want to throw it at you. You're 26 and nine on two day turnaround games in the NCAA tournament. So that's the second game of, of a weekend and seven of those losses have come to either a number one seed or eventual match national champion. Essentially the stat is you don't lose games you're not supposed to lose. And you, and especially when you're playing the set, you know, the back to back games or, you know, there's a day in between. But that's pretty insane that you're 26 and 9. If you win the first round, you're going to the Sweet 16. If you win that, you know, if you, if you win in the sweet sixteen, you're going to the final four. It's, it's, it's a hell of a stat and it, it speaks your coach because I assume that quick 24 hour turnaround, that's when you got to be elite at coaching.

[Tom Izzo]

Yeah, that's where you got to have a really good staff, really good managers that get all the film together and you got to have cerebral players that can pick up things and like 30 minute film sessions and Walkthroughs and all that. But I guess that would be a stat I'd be proud of. You know, I appreciate that. But all I want to do this week, I want to win the weekend, but I want to really win the first game first, you know, that'll be Friday night.

[Hank]

Coach, I have a request for you. Throw that white suit question out.

[Tom Izzo]

That's.

[Hank]

That's, you know, some Mickey Mouse stuff. If you guys win another national championship, will you bring back the musical Izzo goes to Broadway? Will you get back on the stage?

[Tom Izzo]

If we win another national championship, I just might do something that crazy. I know a guy who could produce it, and we could raise some money for cancer like we did last time. Time I could fly you two guys in, and you guys would be part of the show if you guys wear white suits.

[Hank]

Yep.

[Tom Izzo]

And I'd let you announce behind your little desk there. It'd be a hell of a time. So let's see if we can go for it. We'll all be happy, and I'll look forward to seeing you guys in a couple weeks.

[Big Cat]

Hey, we'll.

[Hank]

We'll do it. I'd be happy to be part of that show.

[Big Cat]

Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, thank you so much, coach. You're the best. And best of luck coming up in the sweet 16.

[Tom Izzo]

Thanks a lot, guys. My son is going to be more happy that I did your show than even me.

[Big Cat]

So I love it.

[Tom Izzo]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

All right. Thanks, coach.

[Hank]

Take care. Coach Izzo is brought to you by our great friends over at Chevy. Football season might be over, but you know how it goes. The minute the big game ends, we're already talking about what's next. Free agency, the draft, who's getting paid, who's grinding. Because for football guys, there's no offseason season. That's exactly why they roll with the Chevy Silverado. Silverado is a truck that shows up every time. Built to haul, built to tow, built to take a beating, but it's smart where it counts. It's got modern truck tech that makes life easy. Big screens, available camera views that help with towing and parking, and a cabin that feels right, whether you're road tripping, going 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.

[Big Cat]

Truck.

[Hank]

Hauling gear, tackling home projects, doing the work that never stops. The grind doesn't take breaks. Neither does Silverado. Check out the current offers. Build your own Chevy [e-mail]. that's chevy.com and coaches. It was also brought to you by American Home Shield for breathtaking buzzer beaters to jaw dropping upsets. Tournament seasons full of ups and downs. But don't let unexpected appliance and home system breakdowns add to the emotional roller coaster. Nothing kills the vibe faster than watching your bracket implode or having your AC unit do the same. Thank goodness American Home Shield steps in like the ultimate bench player for covered home system and appliance issues. I'm gonna go off script with this ad read real quick because I have a story about American Home Shield. The year was 2007. I was visiting a buddy over the winter break. We went out to the bars, went back to his house. Afterwards. I got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. I tried to sit down on the toilet. I sat down on the toilet, shattered the entire toilet tank. Water goes everywhere. Broke all over the floor. Had to tell his parents. Hey, I. I'm drunk and I broke your toilet in the middle of the night. No worries. They had American Home Shield. They hit up American Home Shield, got everything repaired, including all the water damage in the bathroom. No harm, no foul. Shout out American Home Shield for that. They will hook you up. They will cover. There were repair covered items. If they can't repair it, they will replace it. Homeowners insurance is good start, but it's not the whole game plan. Check out American Home Shield. Don't worry. Be warranty. That's that. I just gave you the best testimonial I could ever give to a product. It works. Get 20 off at ahs.compmt and see promo details. See ahs.com contracts for coverage details including service fees, limitations and exclusions.

[Big Cat]

Okay, let's wrap up with MAD Online. Great show. It's been a great show, boys.

[Hank]

Very fun show.

[Big Cat]

Very, very fun. A lot of laughs. Max almost tried to beat me up

[Hank]

because of time zones.

[PFT]

I just wanted you to see the map.

[Hank]

He's just upset. He's just focused on Northern Ireland tomorrow.

[Big Cat]

Is that tomorrow? Oh, yeah, it's tomorrow, dude.

[John Fanta]

What?

[Max]

Jim Boeheim murdered Syracuse basketball with his last year. Slash departure.

[Hank]

Careful, careful. Those words together.

[Max]

Say what you want about Coach K, but at least he chose a worthy Successor.

[Hank]

Yeah, Jerry McNamara. God bless the broken road that led us to him. I feel like he was his destiny.

[Big Cat]

I will say. Okay, I'm gonna say something nice about Coach K. I do think that part of your legacy should be how you leave it to someone else and what it looks like because there are some Guys out there that, like, don't care what happened, you know, they. They almost root against the team. I'm not saying Jim Mayhem did that, but yes, leaving it to someone else and leaving in a good place is definitely part of your legacy. And that part has not been good for Jim Bayheim because Syracuse is. I'm sure it's more complex than what I'm saying right now, but it has been sad to see what's happened with Syracuse hoops.

[Hank]

All right. But. But you could also say, yeah, credit to Coach K, because John Shire so far has, like, not been a bad coach. He's been pretty good.

[Big Cat]

Well, and also Coach K, I will say again, I hate that I'm saying anything nice about Coach K, but he did have a lot, A lot of guys to choose from to be his successor.

[Hank]

And also I would say.

[Big Cat]

And he picked the right. Seemingly the right one.

[Hank]

And. But I would say at Duke you're prime for success, a lot more so than you are at Syracuse because there's more stuff that goes into it than, like, Syracuse has had some nil issues with money.

[Big Cat]

Syracuse is not, not the same program as Duke.

[Hank]

I just, I. Duke was going. No matter who they hired to be the next coach, as long as it wasn't like a complete nobody. They were going to be set up in a position to succeed. And at Syracuse might not necessarily be the same. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

And Syracuse is another one of those schools that has been hurt by the fact that that football is king. And they. They went from a big E school to an ACC school to chase the football dollars. And they're a basketball school. They should be a basketball school. And I want Syracuse to be good at basketball.

[Max]

People still aren't talking about shock smart reaching one sweet 16 with all the resources of Marquette and missing the tournament altogether. The time for changes now, if colic didn't work out, he would have been. He would have nothing to hang his hat on, which is embarrassing. He had one good year ten years ago. For some reason hangs around producing nothing of substance.

[Hank]

I wouldn't say nothing of suck. Like, he's been. It's been disappointing for him.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Someone a Marquette fan pointed out my take on. Because I, I had this take with Rostein, what it was like two weeks ago. And after the Badgers got bounced, they're like, dude, Shaka Smart and Greg Guard have been like the same sweet 16s. Like, how. How the do you explain that? And I was like, like, I root for one of the guys and don't root for the other. That's a pretty good explanation why my. My. My bar for success completely changes.

[Hank]

Yeah, it's pretty. Pretty simple.

[Big Cat]

But, yeah, no, I. It is. It's a. It's a cautionary shocker. Smart is the cautionary tale of don't succeed too much too early, because then everyone's gonna just be like, where's that guy?

[Hank]

He's also the cautionary tale of don't be bald by choice, dude.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Hank]

Like, come on. What the was that?

[Big Cat]

Yeah, it was weird, dude.

[Hank]

Yeah. Like, yeah, okay, we get it. You have hair now, but, like, you don't have to rub it in every. Everyone's face.

[Big Cat]

A lot of hair.

[Hank]

My culture is not your costume.

[Big Cat]

Him and Nick Wright. Yeah, Wright did that.

[Hank]

Good point.

[Big Cat]

We like Nick, right? He's a friend. We got to have Mark on NBA playoffs, but you can't do that. You can't do that to bald guys.

[Hank]

You can't.

[Big Cat]

Like, that's really mean.

[Hank]

There's enough that we have to deal with.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Max]

All right, last one. How many Mo Foen times are we going to see team down three in the final seconds through the Grand Hill, heave pass down the court. I don't know if I've seen one clean catch of the ball all season. Just pass horizontally and take your chance from half court. Ugh.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I mean, I wish that I. Actually, my take is I wish that we would get side out of bounds in college basketball because it would make it more exciting. At the end of games when you have, like, one and a half seconds left, there's just a zero percent chance you're going to get a good shot off. And it would be awesome if you get side out of bounds.

[Hank]

But the. The times that you do get a good shot off, that is kind of. It kind of rocks. I. It seems like 3 1/2 seconds goes a lot further than it used to, though.

[Big Cat]

Like Florida Zavian Lee got down the court. Yeah, that was another one. Ben McCollum. I know that.

[Hank]

I'm just.

[Big Cat]

I. I need to stop glazing him. But the way he. He defended that, it was so perfect. He had a. What? Oh, sorry. I thought you were 11. The. He, like, set up a wall where Xavian Lee almost got disoriented and drove too deep. Yeah. Where a lot of teams will try to guard you from the beginning. He didn't. They didn't. They let Xavian Lee get to half court, but they, like, almost sunk their wall, so it was, like, disorienting where he was driving to. He's fucking good, coach. Man.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

He's the. Iowa is the Cinderella, if you want a Cinderella.

[Hank]

But yeah, I'm saying, though, it feels like 1.5 seconds doesn't go as far as it used to.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Hank]

And 3.5 goes way further than it.

[Big Cat]

3.5 is a full.

[Hank]

It's an eternity.

[Big Cat]

Yeah. Just darling on St. John's yeah. That was a. That was a full possession.

[Hank]

Yeah.

[Big Cat]

I'm excited for hoops. This is going to be a great sweet 16. I la. Last thing before we stop, everyone give your full game predictions for. So we. We bet. What's our parlay again?

[Hank]

Texas.

[Big Cat]

I think Purdue wins. Texas covers. I guess we have to say Nebraska. I think Illinois wins.

[PFT]

And Arkansas.

[Hank]

Arkansas.

[Big Cat]

I think Arizona wins. Arkansas covers. I think. I think Illinois wins. I think Illinois is going to the Final Four.

[Hank]

No, I think Houston. I think Houston. And I think they do it decisively.

[Big Cat]

You think they blow out Illinois?

[Max]

Yeah.

[Hank]

I don't think a blowout. I think.

[John Fanta]

Think.

[Hank]

I think eight. Houston by eight.

[Big Cat]

You're gonna say blow up.

[Hank]

Cougs.

[Max]

Let's go. Cougs. Houston's wagon.

[Big Cat]

Good. Get with Hank. Drop your dick, say blowout.

[Hank]

I think it's eight. I'm not gonna lie. It's eight.

[Max]

Eighteen.

[Big Cat]

Whoa. Hell yes.

[Tom Izzo]

Eighteen.

[Big Cat]

All right. We don't have our lottery ball. You want to do numbers on here? Ready?

[Hank]

I'm gonna do 8.

[Max]

Do 18.

[Zach]

56.

[Big Cat]

4.

[Hank]

Hey, are you doing 18 for the amount of holes that you're gonna play tomorrow?

[Max]

No, I was doing for the Houston, Illinois thing I just talked about. Good coincidence, though.

[Big Cat]

I'm gonna go 23. Adam, you want to guess the number more?

[Hank]

More than 18?

[Big Cat]

Just guess the number. 36. 1 to 152 is a guess. 8.

[Hank]

8.

[Big Cat]

There we go.

[Hank]

Yeah, it doesn't really count.

[John Fanta]

That one.

[PFT]

Sucks to win.

[Hank]

Yeah. I don't care. I don't care.

[Big Cat]

You shouldn't even do it on the road.

[Hank]

I feel. I feel better about my cougars. My prediction. Eight.

[Big Cat]

Yeah.

[Tom Izzo]

Eight.

[Big Cat]

It was eight.

[Hank]

It was eight.

[Big Cat]

It was 8.

[Hank]

All right. Happy birthday to Mike White from the Jets. Sarah just Parker.

[Max]

Survivor Big.

[Hank]

He's amazing.

[Max]

He's in. And survivor drama, he got booted.

[Hank]

New millionaire Pete Crow Armstrong.

[Big Cat]

Yes.

[Hank]

Did you tell him happy birthday when you saw it? I saw him happy. Do you say happy birthday?

[Big Cat]

I said happy birthday, Joel.

[Hank]

Okay. Happy birthday to Pete Crow Armstrong. Yeah. You're rich.

[Big Cat]

He's super rich.

[Hank]

Have fun being rich tomorrow.

[Big Cat]

Pete, the man

[Hank]

that kind of sucks. That, like, your birthday, the day that you get super rich is, like, also your first day of work?

[Big Cat]

Well, no. Thursday's first day of work.

[Hank]

Oh, yeah, good point. Have fun. Yeah.

[Big Cat]

Gets one day to not work.

[Hank]

Love you guys.

[Big Cat]

Sam.

[John Fanta]

Sa.