Bracket Preview, Upsets, and Final Four Picks with Stanford Steve

Summary

The Ryen Russillo Podcast: Bracket Preview, Upsets, and Final Four Picks with Stanford Steve

Release Date: March 18, 2025

In this engaging episode of The Ryen Russillo Podcast, host Ryen Russillo teams up with Stanford Steve, a seasoned NCAA tournament enthusiast and ESPN contributor, to dissect the upcoming NCAA basketball tournament. Their conversation delves deep into bracket strategies, potential upsets, and Final Four predictions, offering listeners a comprehensive analysis of the tournament's dynamics.

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1. Overview of Top Seeds and Conference Strength

Stanford Steve kicks off the discussion by highlighting the exceptional strength of this year's top seeds. He emphasizes that the combined net ratings of the top five teams are "off the charts," suggesting a highly competitive field.

• Stanford Steve [02:31]: "The combined net rating of these teams is off the charts. You have five teams with a plus 30 net rating."

Ryen concurs, particularly singling out Florida as a favorite due to their depth and consistent performance throughout the season.

• Ryen Russillo [02:31]: "The depth, the wow factor, the multiple guys that can make tough shots and big shots an absolute game changer at the point guards position."

2. Florida Gators: A Dominant Force

A significant portion of the conversation centers on Florida's basketball team. Both hosts praise Florida for their balanced roster, strategic coaching, and ability to dominate opponents, as evidenced by their double-digit victories in the SEC.

• Stanford Steve [03:00]: "They won every game by double digits like it was nuts. So, yeah, as an impressive team as I've seen coming into a tournament in a while."

Ryen elaborates on Florida's strategic advantages, including key players like Clayton Elijah, a transfer with Final Four experience, and Condon's versatile bigs from Australia.

• Ryen Russillo [04:15]: "They have Final Four experience. So, they just have everything. There's really, it's really tough to do in college basketball."

3. Analyzing the West Region and Other Top Seeds

Stanford Steve discusses the competitiveness of the West region, noting that four of the top twelve teams are from this bracket, including St. John's and Texas Tech.

• Stanford Steve [05:27]: "The West region has four of the top twelve. They have St. John's on the other side. We're going to spend time with Texas Tech."

Ryen adds his perspective on Duke's storied presence in the tournament, comparing the current team to memorable past squads and expressing confidence in their potential despite some early tournament disappointments.

• Ryen Russillo [08:42]: "This has been as fun a Duke team as I can remember. Probably going back to Shire's team because they knew it was their last chance."

4. Upset Predictions and Underdog Stories

Both hosts explore the possibility of upsets, particularly focusing on lower-seeded teams like VCU and BYU. They analyze VCU's strong defensive metrics and BYU's offensive prowess, considering their matchups and potential paths through the bracket.

• Stanford Steve [28:48]: "Going with a little 1-16 action VCU, BYU VCU depending on where you see it. They force turnovers on 20% of their opponent's possessions."

Ryen shares his strategy for identifying teams with championship potential, mentioning his list of fourteen contenders at the start of the season, including Wisconsin, Arizona, BYU, and others.

• Ryen Russillo [08:42]: "I had a lot. I started with 14. This region has the most of Any region. I got five Wisconsin's teeter and I think Wisconsin got a brutal draw."

5. Final Four Predictions

As the discussion unfolds, both Ryen and Stanford Steve present their Final Four picks. Ryen opts for a mix of traditional powerhouses and strategically chosen teams based on their performance metrics and potential matchups.

• Ryen Russillo [53:00]: "Final Four. Yeah. All right. Because I'm going against it. I'm gonna go Alabama, Tennessee, St. John's watch out for Missouri. Just watch out. And I'll go Iowa State."

Stanford Steve counters with his selections, emphasizing teams like Michigan State, Florida, Duke, and Tennessee, and ultimately predicting Florida over Duke in the national championship.

• Stanford Steve [53:43]: "I've got Michigan State, Florida, Duke, Tennessee. Florida over Duke."

6. The Role of Conferences and Historical Context

The hosts delve into the impact of conference strength on tournament success, particularly scrutinizing the SEC's performance in recent years compared to the Big East and Big Ten. They discuss how conference dynamics and team preparedness influence bracket outcomes.

• Stanford Steve [42:08]: "The SEC for all of the resources and all of the athletes that you think are just down the street, basketball wise, it's been a really disappointing conference for years."

Ryen counters by highlighting the SEC's current surge, noting their record-breaking bid numbers and overall strength in the tournament.

• Ryen Russillo [46:22]: "They roll in this year with 14 bids, which breaks the Big East record of 11 back in 2011."

7. Betting Strategies and Odds

Towards the episode's conclusion, both hosts touch upon betting strategies, particularly focusing on upsets and the allure of betting on underdogs. They discuss popular betting options like FanDuel and highlight specific betting picks based on their analysis.

• Stanford Steve [28:48]: "I'm going with a little 1-16 action VCU, BYU VCU depending on where you see it."

• Stanford Steve [52:39]: "St. John's to reach the Sweet 16 -175."

8. Audience Engagement and Final Thoughts

In the latter part of the episode, the hosts interact with audience questions and feedback, addressing topics ranging from NBA insights to entertainment queries. While this segment veers into lighter, more humorous territory, it reinforces the podcast's commitment to engaging with its listener base.

• Stanford Steve [54:04]: "You watch 1923? You gotta."

Despite venturing into diverse topics, the episode maintains a clear focus on the NCAA tournament, ensuring that listeners gain valuable insights into their bracket strategies and Final Four predictions.

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Notable Quotes

• Stanford Steve [02:31]: "The combined net rating of these teams is off the charts."
• Ryen Russillo [08:42]: "This has been as fun a Duke team as I can remember."
• Stanford Steve [28:48]: "VCU forces turnovers on 20% of their opponent's possessions."
• Ryen Russillo [46:22]: "They roll in this year with 14 bids, which breaks the Big East record of 11 back in 2011."
• Ryen Russillo [53:00]: "I'm gonna go Alabama, Tennessee, St. John's watch out for Missouri. And I'll go Iowa State."
• Stanford Steve [53:43]: "Florida over Duke."

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Conclusion

This episode of The Ryen Russillo Podcast offers a thorough and insightful analysis of the NCAA tournament landscape. Through the collaborative expertise of Ryen Russillo and Stanford Steve, listeners are equipped with nuanced perspectives on team performances, potential upsets, and strategic bracket placements. Whether you're a seasoned bracketologist or a casual basketball fan, this episode provides valuable takeaways to enhance your tournament experience.

Transcript

[Ryan Russillo]

Foreign.

[Stanford Steve]

For the brackets and everything you're trying to figure out before the NCAA tournament with our guy, Stanford Steve. He is all over this stuff all season long. So we'll talk about Florida being maybe everybody's favorite. Obviously a lot of chalk in the bracket stuff, which actually makes a lot of sense when you look at the power of the top four, maybe even five teams. We'll talk about the SEC bids and what this means for them. We'll get into the Johnny's, of course, so he's got a wild Final Four. We even try to find some upsets for you. So a lot of fun. One hour with Stanford Steve on the tournament and a bonus extended life advice. This episode is brought to you by the Wells Fargo Active Cash Credit Card. This is an ad for the active cash credit card from Wells Fargo. That's a mouthful, but that's because it packs a lot in. Earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases with it, big or small. So whether it's buying tickets to the game with your mom or grabbing a coffee with your dog, earn unlimited 2% cash rewards on purchases made with it. Say it with me. The active cash credit card from Wells Fargo. Learn more@wells Fargo.com ActiveCash terms apply. The brackets are out and we are fired up to talk to Stanford Steve of espn, former road partner. He loves the tournament. He's all over this stuff. So we're just going to run through all of it. What's up, man? Good morning. Good to see you.

[Ryan Russillo]

Good morning. Good afternoon. I don't know where anybody is. First time seeing Wargon. Pleasure to meet you, bud. Ceru. I see the scarves. Oh, nice. So, yeah, that place looks familiar. Wish I could get out there more. My man.

[Stanford Steve]

Hey, man. Invitation's always here.

[Ryan Russillo]

All right, I know.

[Stanford Steve]

Let's. I've got some historical stuff here. You're all over it. I'm not going to pretend I'm a fraud here and say I've been locked in all season, but I did watch a lot of the conference tournament stuff. I was really into it, and then we were texting a bunch about a bunch of different things and obviously kind of locked into the Johnny's as well. All right, so if you're looking at the best number one seed field that we've seen historically in a really long time, you could even argue, I mean, depending on the tracking data of this, the combined net rating of these teams is off the charts. You have five teams with a plus 30 net rating. You know, look, and that's including Tennessee in the 41 seed. So why look, you were texting me about Florida. Now everybody loves Florida. Everybody's picking Florida. I'm picking Florida too. Why Florida? Let's start there.

[Ryan Russillo]

The depth, the wow factor, the multiple guys that can make tough shots and big shots an absolute game changer at the point guards position, which I feel you have to have now when you look at the different styles Ryan you're playing, you know, Houston comes to the Big 12, which I think is one of the toughest, if that was the toughest league in the country. And Kelvin goes like 34 and two in two years and they bring their own brand and they're able to play it, you know. But with Florida I just. Everyone's on the same page, but it's constant, different flow of bodies and, and you know, in the Alabama game it really showed up like they, they had their way. Alabama had senior night a couple weeks ago. Florida just went in there and ran them. And Scott and I, you know, we watch as much as anybody. We got eight screens at tv, we got at work. I'd say probably five. Five are on college and three are on the NBA, you know, on a nightly basis. So we're, we're pretty locked in. But Florida, you know, probably at the beginning of February, you know, Auburn had, was accumulating all these quad one wins, but Florida just went there and beat their brains and like at Florida's gym, which has turned into the new toughest place to play in the country. But I just love how they go about things. There was a great interview that Jeff Goodman did with the trio of guards in the, in the ice tub after the semifinals. And there's no ego. You could tell. They brought up like everyone talks about the top the, you know, Auburn and the top teams all season because they had better starts to the year where I think Florida was still figuring things out. But I mean they got, I mean transfers. I mean Condon's a guy you watch their bigs run the floor. He's from Australia. The kid Hawk was huge against Tennessee with rebounds late. We've talked about Clayton Elijah's a transfer from fau. He has Final four experience. So they just have everything. There's really, it's really. And that's, that's tough to do in college basketball because the way it's rosters are constructed, you could tell coaches make mistakes. And I keep like basketball. It's even shown up even more what coach Saban said from week one this past year. College football, you pay the wrong guy, you're out of Luck and Florida definitely got their guys the right way. So, yeah, them, they're the wow factor. And what they just did in this tournament, like, you just went through all the net numbers and the quad one, like all that sec, they won every game by double digits like it was nuts. So, yeah, as is impressive a team as I've seen coming in a tournament in a while. I mean, UConn obviously last year, but you couldn't, you still had that if factor because of Big East. I think they only got three or four in last year, so there was that. Can they, you know, when they get tested, how are they going to react? They, they did fine. But yeah, Florida doing what they did it deserved. I, I, I kind of think they got screwed with the bracket because they have the toughest region. For sure.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah. If you look at the adjusted ratings here for teams, the west region has four of the top 12. They have St. John's on the other side. Again, we're going to spend time with that Texas Tech. And then of course, my favorite nickname, the Crab Five in Maryland with this. Yeah, look, when I watch them go through Missouri, Alabama, Tennessee. I think the Clayton junior game against Alabama was the one thing where you're like, this guy's just smart about everything. His pace is really good. He's just very in control. Everything seems to be right with him. And it's funny because Patina was talking about trying to keep him with him at St. John's because he had him at Iona. And I think he had said on game day, he's like, we offered him $1,100, 1100 bucks. He's like, yeah, that that might not work if he has an option to go to Florida. But you're right, like Condon, not that he shoots as well as the other guys do, but it's like six of the top seven guys are all a threat from the outside. They kind of remind me a bit of an NBA team of the design of what you would want. You want a big who can run the floor. Hawk is just, he's so, like, versatile for a big guy. Six, nine. You think he's going to hold onto the basketball. He turns and then just drives on everybody. So I was so impressed. Granted, Tennessee ran into foul trouble in the final, but the way they ran away from Alabama in the second half, I know you were probably hoping. Cause maybe it was the Georgia loss, maybe it was the absurd game against Tennessee where they couldn't score, where they shot at, I think like 25% from the floor overall. So when you saw that loss, you're like, well, how the hell am I supposed to get that excited about this team? I know you probably wanted them to lose here in the SEC tournament just for the betting odds. Second. They're second behind Duke on Fanduel, but everyone is on them after just. I don't know how you couldn't watch that week and not be impressed with them.

[Ryan Russillo]

Exactly. And it happens every year, right? I mean, we see it all the time. And then, you know, there's. We'll get into it with these teams that come in, and historically, these teams, like, you know, the Michigan and Wisconsin deal, playing on Sunday with Big Ten title teams playing in that game. Their success in the tournament hasn't been great. You go back, you know, and look at the sec. Auburn wins it last year. They lose to Yale first round. So there's different things. You know, golden, if you really want to dig in, hasn't won a tournament game, but I don't think that'll be a problem in their first game. But, like, we didn't even mention Chiniello, too. Like, that kid. I mean, he's a freak. There was a sequence against Tennessee. He blocks a shot, runs the floor, gets down, like, muffles the catch. But then, like, just underneath the hoop dunks, and it turns into the Vince Carter arm in the rim. It's like, where did this guy come from? And he's a wazoo transfer. Golden was on him. He's from Nigeria, but, yeah, I mean, they just keep coming. They got hand gloating back. He broke his leg last year. I really liked him last year, too, but they just couldn't get it going. Had a tough matchup against Colorado, who had some pros, so, yeah, they got all the goods, it's for sure.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah. And his dad, Ben, NBA vet, journeyman. All right, Duke flag. It sounds like he's ready to go. I mean, as bad as it looks, when I guess you're that young and your ankle goes in that direction, you just recover. So people had said he could have come back if they were in the tournament. We know about the three freshmen, and we know about the guards. I know you're super locked into Duke. It's not going to be a surprise if they win this whole thing, but how do you see their bracket right now?

[Ryan Russillo]

I do a thing, Ryan, where I try and make a list, starting on Valentine's Day, every year, of teams that can win the national title. And this year, I had a lot. Like, I started with 14. And this region has the most of Any region. I got five Wisconsin's teeter and I think Wisconsin got a brutal draw. We could get to that. But Duke, Arizona, byu, Wisconsin, Alabama, I believe all can win a national title. So when it comes down to Duke, I'm a Duke fan. This has been as fun a Duke team as I can remember. Probably going back to Shire's team because they knew it was their last chance and that was a group that played for a while. They weren't perfect but they, they played together and Shire was, was great as the quarterback. But you get spoiled because of all the pros and every K team you watched, you just wanted more. You go to the Zion team, you want it, you know he gets hurt. You wanted more out of R.J. barrett. You know they, they lose a brutal game, they don't even get to a final four. The Tatum team got absolutely screwed. Going to have to play South Carolina in Greenville. I just went there. I brought my daughter to the SEC women's tournament. That South Carolina thing in Greenville is an absolute army of fans. But like Tatum's one of my favorite guys. Obviously you see what he's done. But they got a brutal draw. You go back, Okafor wins it when Jones injustice get it done. So there's been, there's been plenty of teams and then, and then the bank hero team I thought overachieved because you wanted more all year. You saw at the beginning of the year they Beacon Zag in Vegas. He's obviously something that they haven't had with his ball control and in shot making ability. And they get to the final four and they get their hearts ripped out by Carolina. But this team, watching them every single game is as fun a team as I can remember because of the construction. I thought Shire did a great job of getting pieces in the portal. James is just a man at the point guard position. And they tried to get Caleb Foster to be the point guard. He was one of the biggest recruits. He can't do it, can't put the ball in the basket. He's timid around the rim. So James just comes in. He's built like a rock. Guards anybody? Gillis is a kid who I thought was the mainstay Saturday night because they couldn't get a rebound. That was the biggest difference. They were maxed out against Carolina and Maloak is, is awesome to watch. He plays so hard. He's amazing in his size, jumping ability, covering space, switching. But they couldn't get a rebound because they were blocking him out. So Gillis starts the second half and Basically plays the whole second half, and they really control the boards, and that showed the depth. I did say in February they were not going to win a national title without Malik Brown because he's even a better version of Gillis because he's more long on the perimeter. And those switches, guards can't get the shot up offer over him. So I think everybody's going to say it's a cakewalk because no one thinks Baylor and Mississippi State are good. I just think they're super dangerous. Mississippi State plays a weird ball. Hubbard shoots from anywhere. And Baylor. I can't wait to talk to you about Edgecomb. But that dude, he's got. I mean, you want flashes, we got him in plenty of these freshmen. They got it. But Arizona is a team that's scary to me and everyone's picking to lose in the first round. I don't see it. But Arizona played Duke earlier this year in Tucson and Duke beat him. Low scoring game. Weird. And it was right after Duke lost to Kentucky. So I think Arizona benefits from having seen the length, having seen Flag in person. So Arizona is a team that's sneaky there, and that'll be a monster matchup if they get. If we get in the sweet 16. But Duke's best is as good as anyone's. I just think it's kind of a tricky road. And the other thing that drives me nuts is Scott and I got off the air last night and there was already 9 million brackets. 40% had Duke winning it. Like, I don't want any. Like, if I'm not touching bet Duke to bet or anything because of those numbers. And I've seen those numbers go by the wayside when something gets so popular in something as random as the bracket.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah, Malawatch. The fact that he's been playing basketball apparently for four years, and the first time I watched him, I went, okay, but that has to be like a lie. Was there a hoop in the town? Right? I mean, it was the first time he touched a basketball four years ago. And then you'd heard from scouts like that had gone to practices going, this is insane. And then I posted that clip the other night where you get caught in a guard in a switch and he moved his feet and, you know, he blocks the shot and you just go, okay, well, this is why this guy's a lottery pick. Despite all the attention, which is deserved with Flag here, because you kept bringing up Vijay Edgecomb for Baylor and being like, you have to watch him. You have to watch him. I watched a bunch of clips last Night. And I get why you would assume that I would like him so much, because I'm kind of an athlete, movement snob. When you look at the draft prospect stuff, his body control, it's a bit like Jaden. Look, I'm not saying he plays like Jaden Ivey, but Jaden Ivey had moments with the ball in his hands where you went, okay, well, that looks different than almost everybody else. Yeah, and I'll work with that. And he doesn't even on the drives, like, there's some guys. And maybe it's just because I was watching Neil Creighton so much, where I was like, I get that you're supposed to be like this athletic wing who just can kind of get his own. I was like, man, it is, it is. Let's slow down a little bit. Edgecomb on the other side of things, his body control. And when he's deciding to drive, it's, it's just so decisive. There's even some plays where it's like, I can't believe he didn't score on that. So you're, you're right. You're right. Just going through a hundred clips of him last night in Synergy, I was like, this makes sense that Steve would be telling me all year long that I'm going to love this guy.

[Ryan Russillo]

I, I, you know, it's really my new, I think to a lot of people, but when I watch him, the way these guys go by, and not a lot of guys, you can't. I mean, you watch Florida, that's another thing. Like, you guys can't even get the ball over their shoulders when they're under the hoop, like, and it's just getting punched in their face. But with Edgecomb, he doesn't get, like, when he can't get all the way by you, he's long enough to get that ball high enough on the glass, and it's soft enough where he's. A lot of guys, you see, they, I mean, it happened to Queen against Michigan. He gets to the hoop, he's out of control, and it doesn't even hit rim. It just hits backboard. And then the rebounds all messed up because everyone's thinking it's going to hit the rim. But Edgecomb around the rim, I thought is really cool because he's strong enough to, to, to, to, to dunk it on you. But, yeah, I, I just think he's only gonna get better. I mean, shot selection, they were trailing a bunch of games. It's a tough league. Another roster that's different, but Drew is one in this tournament. He's also lost early, but yeah, I, I think Edgecomb's a guy that, that, that's going to keep climbing. I can't wait to see, you know him. Harper is another guy. I have like four games I have of him that I could just send you to. But yeah, it's. It's a super interesting draft class. It really is when you look at it. And then plenty of these guys will be featured in the tournament, which is awesome.

[Stanford Steve]

Okay, let's go over to the South. Auburn's the one seed.

[Ryan Russillo]

Yep.

[Stanford Steve]

Auburn had been the story all season long. Maybe it was really about, okay, Auburn or Duke for the number one overall, they lose three or four to close the season out. They also lost. If you look at the overall seating, the number five team, the number 16, the number 13 team, there's an argument to be made that it's more about their defense slipping since March 1, which isn't a ton of games when Denver Jones got hurt, but he's obviously played in that. In this stretch where they've lost some of this game, some of these games. Again, that was the injury in the Kentucky game. Look, we know national player of the year, we know Pearl. We also know the early exits from all of this stuff. Are people too off of Auburn?

[Ryan Russillo]

I feel like they are now. I, I sent out a tweet after they lost Saturday and I was like, has the number one overall seed ever lost three or four games going into the tournament? I was just asking a question. And then it gets turned. You know what it gets turned into? Oh, you know, why do you hate him? Look at all the Quad One wins, this and that resume, Bill. Blah, blah, blah. I'm like, I wanted to just ask a question. I figured somebody would knew.

[Stanford Steve]

Well, you went to the right place.

[Ryan Russillo]

Yeah, it might be actually my new favorite thing, just to stir people up, which is not hard to do on the old Bird. But no, I. When they have everything, Denver's huge because you'll find him. I think Butler's the same way for the kid at Kentucky. Not great defensively, but at least he could stop the ball. And when you see so many of these teams and how good the point guard plays and now, you know, with Florida, they have multiple guys. Aberdeen's a guy comes in and it could start on any teams. Top 10 point guard in the country plays like 12 minutes a game. Auburn has seen the best. You go through the losses, they go to A and M, they lose a game after they clinch the. The sec, zero effort and that was an A and M game they, that A and M had to have. You know what Buzz does with his teams, getting them all riled up and then you know, Tennessee out muscles them in a 40 minute game. So plenty of like my issue is, you know the other guys. The freshman is, is really, really talented but he gets his shot. Selection is brutal. And Baker Mazaro is a guy that's gotten better every year. I find him tough to root for. I can't trust him. He got thrown out of the Alabama game for, for just a cheap shot.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah, that was ridiculous.

[Ryan Russillo]

And like I go back to the Duke game earlier this year. He keeps rolling around with guys and jump ball situations, just asking for it. And I get it. You know all the NBA great players we talk to always say got to have those guys on your team. I, I get it. But there's a, there's a line where like hey man, we need you. You can't get kicked out of the biggest game of the year. I mean that's their senior day. They're going to celebrate the SEC championship and they lose to their arch rival after going to Alabama and winning. So I trust Bruce Pearl. I really, I think he, I think he's awesome. I love the, the offense that they, he runs a bunch of old school flex stuff that, that's really, really cool. And Broom has really gotten himself better, man. Like I go back, I remember him at Morehead and I'm like he's a transfer guy for sure. And then the way he passes out of double teams is really, really good. You see it with other like Dickinson just gets out muscled at Kansas but Broom really holds his ground and he's added the three pointer to his game. So there is dangerous. I actually really like their draw. People make a big deal because they got to play the winner of Louisville Creighton and the game's going to be in Lexington. But Auburn's got, they're deeper, they're more versatile than those teams. I really like them in the sweet 16. And then I don't know who like the bottom of that thing with UC San Diego and Michigan and A and M and Yale. Like I have no idea who's coming out of that. So I actually really like Auburn's path to the lead 8 not knowing who they're going to face on the bottom.

[Stanford Steve]

Broom hasn't even shot it as well this year as he did last year and still, I mean he just doesn't make his free throws. And we're still talking about the national player of the year at 19 a game. But, yeah, I don't know. I mean, it just feels like when you lose, you need. No one's going to be excited to be like, hey, I love this team that I've loved all year that's now lost this many times in the last couple of weeks of close. Let's stay in that bracket, though.

[Ryan Russillo]

Yeah.

[Stanford Steve]

Just because, you know, Michigan, with their run through the Big Ten, they get UC San Diego, who is actually 115 straight. You could go schedule if you want to, a little bit on that.

[Ryan Russillo]

No doubt.

[Stanford Steve]

You know, Michigan's offense and, you know, people are kind of turning it, too, because it was. If you watch those games, it was such an incredible grind. They get the game winner against Maryland, which you knew as soon as that ball was inbounded, you were like, oh, this is going to be a problem. You weren't with Van Pelt for that, Correct?

[Ryan Russillo]

I was not. I did get the story because his wife's obviously a huge Florida fan. Florida was playing at the same time as Maryland. He was on vacation and said he sequestered himself in a room by himself. And I'm like, that's. Everybody doesn't realize the benefit they got out of that one with not having to be with him for that game. So, yeah, he's. He's all right, though. He's. He's in good spirits.

[Stanford Steve]

He's in good spirits. All right. That was a tough one. That was. Anyway, so here's. Here's what I think is interesting about this, is that you have Michigan on the Auburn side of it, but I don't know. Again, people kind of look at it as, like, specific, as if some of these other grinds aren't as tough. But then it's like, okay, but locationally, they're going out to Denver. I don't know, college kids. I would think with a few days off here, they're going to be able to. To turn it on. But you have Michigan State on the other side, which is really everybody's kind of favorite Big Ten team, where a lot of people have them going to the Final Four. So give us a Michigan State breakdown where we know it's very izoish. They don't shoot it great. They defend like crazy. They've Got one top 20 high school prospect in Booker who doesn't even really play that much, the big kid, but they seem to be a very. I don't want to call it chalky. I guess you could as a two seed, but if somebody's going in another direction, I'VE seen a lot of Michigan State in brackets.

[Ryan Russillo]

Yeah, for sure. And I think it's to what we just talked about of people falling off of Auburn because you know, everybody picks up their viewing once we get to these weeks of the year and Auburn hasn't looked oppressive. I get it. And you're saying how are they the number one overall seed? You got to watch the whole season and they were the most impressive team. Yeah. This one, I think this is the toughest region because the ultimate wild card is Iowa State. They lose Gilbert. Now I will say they played plenty of ball without Gilbert and they played BYU in two games this year. They were my two favorite games of the year because the way the ball went in the hoop, the runs that were made. BYU blows a 21 point lead in Ames. Iowa State comes all the way back. BYU wins in overtime. Talk to Dave Fleming who called the game. He's like, I've never seen two teams more tired at the end of a game. And these they play up and down. But Iowa State is a team where there's a path because Ole Miss is the six. You got the Carolina Phil factor with them playing San Diego State. San Diego State is 11 seated out of the Mountain West. Mountain west teams that are seated 10 or lower in the tournament are 1 in 29 in their last 30 games. So I kind of like Carolina to move on. But Iowa State, I, I, their good is really, really good. But Michigan State, the, the problem is, and I'm, I'm all for this like in picking in your brackets and I mentioned the Duke number and, and Florida's love. Like I'm not picking those teams in my brackets. I want to be different and hopefully you get lucky. So you look at a team like Michigan State who's at the bottom of a one seed Auburn, the issue is you know what you're getting and it's not going to be pretty. And Marquette, this was flipped two years ago. Michigan State was the seven, Marquette was the two and Michigan State beat him. And now it's flip. Marquette's the seven. This year they play a different brand. I actually like their style for March because, because it's so chaotic. They don't have size though. This is ISO's most together team. The guards know their roles. Jace has created a really big spark because when they start them, I think they've lost one game since then and they had a brutal stretch where they played the four toughest teams and, and won them all at the end of the Big Ten schedule. So from a trust factor the history, Izzo, the whole deal. I get it. I don't have any problems with Michigan State, but Iowa State's good is better than Michigan State's. I will say that. It's just a matter of them getting there. And I believe in Otzelberger. He's rumored for every job. Now, supposedly there's a buyout deal, but Iowa State is a team no one is talking about that could come out of that. That whole bracket and go to the Final Four and then the bottom of the top with Michigan. You know, Scott did a thing last night where, you know, they got screwed out of seed because they won the Big Ten. They beat Wisconsin, Maryland and Purdue, and they're seated behind all those teams, and it's like, what are we doing with the committee? Like, you just closing up shop on Friday night, Saturday, like, why are we playing these games? And now you factor going in playing in Denver. You're the team that played the latest game Sunday and they're playing, I believe, Thursday evening in elevation Denver. The whole time, people could, you know, take with that. I think it's real, especially this time of year. I remember Seaton all had to go out there a couple years ago when they won a Big east title and lost in the first round. A and M, they teetered with being on the list earlier in the year. They can't shoot and Yale's really, really good defensively. Everyone's going to love Yale because they beat Auburn last year. Give me the under in that game. Because A and M is just a rebounding machine. But Yale doesn't let you get offensive rebounds. So I again, to your Michigan point. The way they're constructed, I love Dusty May like, like to. To see that situation with five seconds left. No timeout. All right, guys. Hey, here's a call. He makes the free throw. This is what we're doing. And if you go back and watch that spacing of the play and the little twerk that the guard gives before he goes, it gets to 100 miles an hour and then we're. The spacing. That confused Derek Queen where the hell he was. I just thought that's good stuff. I mean, that's a. That's a pressure situation. Game on the line, and your team ready is ready to go and executes better than they did all night. So, yeah, I look at Michigan, I think they go and play. I think they get to Auburn, but I don't love it because of the difference of teams they're going to play. UC San Diego shoots it, but Michigan's Better athletically. And those two bigs, man, Wolf is awesome. No one else is like him. Is a true point for. And you know, Michigan doesn't turn the ball over. They're fine because the size and they've made enough outside shots. But yeah, I always stays the sleeper on the bottom. Michigan, I see playing Auburn.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah. And then remember golden of Florida Atlantic where you're like, oh, that guy looks familiar. Wolf is a first round pick. And you know the funny thing on that 20, I don't know, I haven't done the work.

[Ryan Russillo]

Okay.

[Stanford Steve]

Trey Donaldson on that layup when I watched what Maryland. Hey, look, they're kids. They're freaking out. There's no like mental reset. But the way the game is played, I think everybody expects whether it's tied, whether you're down one, down two, certainly down three, you understand it. But it's like everybody just settles for some three. So I think kids scramble. I mean NBA guys do it on certain place because nobody ever thinks like, oh, this guy's going to go coast to coast with it anymore because just, I don't know. Everybody's.

[Ryan Russillo]

I say go to the rim all the time, man. Yeah, go.

[Stanford Steve]

I mean, unless you're down 3, like Pascal Siakam a couple weeks ago. All right, Houston, 40% from three. They're healthy. Okay. Yep. The LJ Crier part of this, him winning with Baylor in 21 is pretty crazy. I think we're kind of phasing out of some of these dudes. Like this guy's still around, man. So, you know, and sharp 21 a game in the Big 12 tournament here. So it feels like if you're projecting ahead, Houston, Tennessee, if you're going all chalk because it. I don't blame people for kind of going chalky on this because it's just the way it feels. And you know, if you. I love creativity with a bracket, but if you're trying to win your pool, you know, you could, you can be out of this thing real quick if you start getting weird.

[Ryan Russillo]

Yeah.

[Stanford Steve]

So go ahead.

[Ryan Russillo]

A couple things. Being in the picks business, I totally get why people go chalk because as soon as you pick an upset, you hate that school that you picked the upset against. Like, that's just the world.

[Stanford Steve]

You didn't hate them before the pick. Once the pick is out, then you turn hate everybody associated with that program.

[Ryan Russillo]

And you probably picked them in three straight games before that. But no. And you won and no one mentions when you win. So yeah, that's a really fun part. But I'm watching Game day Sunday, and it's. It's Greenberg, Billis, and Jay Williams. It's all ones and twos in the Elite Eight. Like, I just thought it was hilarious. But anyway, I get what they're coming from, and so that's the way I want to deal with it. I'm totally fine, and it's probably a hell of a lot easier.

[Stanford Steve]

Well, yeah, but. But it's like, fine. All right, so fine. Pick Purdue, then. All right, pick Purdue. Kentucky. In your Elite Eight matchup in the Midwest with Kentucky's injuries, like, feel free to. I respect the hell out of you for doing it, but it certainly doesn't feel good when you're attaching a $20 bill to that and handing it into the office pool.

[Ryan Russillo]

Correct. Good job. That's Vandals working well.

[Stanford Steve]

Right? But I guess looking at the Houston part of this in Tennessee on the other side, because I think ultimately I could just kind of get the Elite Eight picks and see if we get anybody that's outside of the one and twos here. I love the way Tennessee plays. You know, classic Rick Barnes team, Wings big everywhere. Again, they were in it with Florida until all of a sudden, you know, looked like they were going to get stomped. And then they come back at it, and then you're looking up at the foul trouble. You're like, okay, all of these dudes are going to foul out for them. I don't know if it's enough offense to keep up with Houston. I actually really hope of all the Elite Eight matchups, I mean, granted, Florida and St. John's we're going to get to the Johnny's here shortly. But. But on from what I've seen, if Houston, Tennessee ends up chalking out, we get that, like, I can't wait for that game. I just wonder if they'll have enough offense.

[Ryan Russillo]

Yeah, totally with you. And these are two teams, Tennessee and Houston. All I wanted was them to have a road to the Final Four. I really did. I love what Sampson brings in to the table. We follow so many Big 12 games, and then we have, you know, Tennessee earlier in the night, but, you know, it's. I love what Rick Barnes has done, too. Like, you go back to all the schools. I mean, you're. You're my age, you know, going to Clemson and his road and the whole deal, the pros that he's got and everyone points to the Final Four, and I'm like, yeah, okay, but there's plenty of Sweet 16 in Elite Eights, and this is why I feel Tennessee's different. They go to Elite 8 last year. Connect plays out of his mind. They don't have Ziegler. Ziegler is their most important guy. There's probably not five more important point guards in the country than Zakai Ziegler. He's healthy. That's your point. He's a fucker, man. He, he, he is in your shit non stop. He's jumping on jump balls with Florida centers in that title game. Like I don't care. We're gonna, we're gonna do this. They have five guys that average double digits. Gainey is played great, great against Florida. My Shaq can guard anybody. Linear has been a great addition. The difference to me is they are better offensively. And I know they had Dalton connect, but there's more, there's more roundedness and you talk about the, the specimens they got. Phillips, the big. I mean, he didn't back down at all. He's only playing 15 minutes, but he gives you something. So again, Houston I love Roberts has gotten better and better. He's going to be healthy. He set out the Big 12 tournament and they won it without him. The crier factor. They're better offensively. Sharp when he's on. I could just. I mean, he and Sampson's battles in game like, it just feels like year after year and game after game. But man, his good is really good. And it's exactly what they need. They need a guy to make shots late in the shot clock because they run, they run stuff and they muck it up a lot. But yeah, this, that's the matchup I see when you look at the bracket. Gonzaga, I get it. I love Fury. But he constantly has talked about when he plays St. Mary's he plays St. Mary's for 25 years. And Randy Bennett, he can't speed him up. He can't ever speed up St. Mary's and they got to dictate to their tempo. So if he can't speed up St. Mary's I don't think he can speed up. Houston, where Zach is dangerous for sure, but I think that's a good. I think all the ones really are better off that they get tested in that second round. But all the teams in the middle, it feels like that's where everybody's picking upsets, but I don't see it. Everyone's picking high pointing. It's Purdue High point. Hasn't played a quad one game in two years. Purdue Painters, great coach McNeese. I watch him. Will Wade, I get it. I think they were better last Year. Clemson has men. They lost the Hunter, Dylan Hunter. That's a huge injury as far as another ball handler, which you want against McNeese, but I still think Clemson has enough. Illinois you can have, but they'll probably make a run because I said that, but they have. It feels like everybody hates to play in defense. Zero.

[Stanford Steve]

I would say, like just jumping in late to the scene as far as the. The momentum or lack thereof. It's like everybody just kind of hates Illinois right now.

[Ryan Russillo]

Well, it's crazy. Their point differential and wins. Ryan is 15. Their point of retail and losses is 15. Like, there you go, right there. You never know what you're going to get. But there is a path for them because Texas and Xavier aren't great. Trey is really, really good. I don't know if he's. Yeah, he's probably the best player in that game when they play. And then Kentucky, I absolutely love. They're one of my favorite teams to watch. What Pope has done offensively and piecing together a roster, a bunch of kids from all over. But if they don't have Butler, they're. They're in trouble. Point guard position because again, he is the ultimate guy that stops the ball for them because they're not good defensively. And they beat Tennessee twice, which makes no sense. And then, you know, going at ucla, Utah State, I don't love. So knowing what I'm going to get with Tennessee and I believe it's different and it's better offensively. I like Tennessee spot and I like their draw. And I'm also rooting for Rick Barnes because I really. I mean, the road he's done and paved, I think is great. And I love the way Tennessee plays. I mean, their strength coach, too, whoever that is, is that guy deserves raises because they have chiseled guys nonstop year after year. It's crazy to see.

[Stanford Steve]

All right, let's talk. Johnny's here. I hate that they're on the Florida side of things. You. And I've been texting about him a lot and it's been, you know, a team that I've enjoyed for the first time in a really long time, at least having expectations for this team. And it was funny because it still felt like the voters were late on it. They weren't really sure we know how bad they are shooting the three. They're almost a little Michigan Statey, but maybe more fun to watch. If you look at some of the profile stuff. They're 343rd in the country out of 364 teams from three. But every single guy that comes in and gets minutes for them serves whatever role it is. And whether it's Louis one night, etcher four the other nights. Kadari, you know, there's just different moments where those three guys in particular can all kind of find a way to get it going. And they are going to work you like they're not going to lose because they, you know, maybe they run into something where maybe it's Florida where they just can't keep up with the shooting part of it, but they're going to make your night. You're going to feel them. It's like the fighter who you may have won the decision, but you're never going to forget the guy that you went up against. And I would expect with Patino and this group and watching them now this closely, that part will always travel. So I think that's the. I almost feel like you like their Final four chances better than I do. And I think it's probably related strictly to just seeing Flora on the one side.

[Ryan Russillo]

Yeah. Yeah. Because I don't ever look at who's on the other side. Like I always look at, you know, path to the lead eight because a lot of times, man, you don't know somebody could get beat. So when you look at St. John's and I've stared at this, Brad, because they're another team. All I wanted was them for a path to the final four. And everyone points to Florida, but I look at, to get the Elite 8 and when you look at that side, I sound crazy. And everyone points to the outside shooting. But they have gotten better with the shooting. But Ryan, I honestly believe they could be when you start that bottom of the bracket, Missouri, Drake, Texas Tech, uncw, Kansas, Arkansas, they could beat those teams without making five threes. They really can't because they, you saw it, they wear on you. And I heard coach Crean talking about Pitino and when he has it right, and even what he said, you know, what he meant was when he has the depth and he has guys contributed and he's not afraid to go to the bench, which he has this year. They've shown that every game the last eight minutes, you're, you're, you're just done. And then I saw there's a quote out there from Mike White, the Georgia coach from early in the year. And it was, it was along the lines of I've never been in a game for 40 minutes where I had to worry about getting the ball over half court so much. And it's true. I mean, you watch what I mean, Creighton was up against it, obviously with their lack of depth, but that eight minute, I mean, it's just a swoon that comes in. You factor in the Garden and whatever. But to your point and what you said, it's going to travel and they just, they get up in you, they rebound like complete animals. It doesn't matter who the size is, they're all about it. And I think Rick's a guy that if they're going to play great defense, the offense will figure itself out. And they're not, they're not going to play one of these bombing teams that shoots the three until they, they get to that Elite eight spot. So I really like their draw. They're in Providence the first two games and then they got to go west, which I get it. But they played in an NBA arena for home games, so I still, I still believe him. Scott and I have gone back and forth on him all year. He wants more offense, I get it. But I watch games and I watch teams deteriorate every single. I mean, I keep going back to that Yukon game in the Garden earlier this year. I mean, that was. They absolutely manhandled that. I hadn't seen that in years with the Yukon team and that was over in the first. They were up 20 in the first half. So they're not going to be afraid of anything. They bring the edge to you and that. That stuff travels. So I'm in on St. John's coming up next.

[Stanford Steve]

No, I was trying to think of a better tease for it, but I have a bunch of numbers to look at. Where the SEC is at historically here. We'll do our final four picks and our upset pick that we both have to get on the record. That's next. The beauty of the tourney, it's the underdogs, the chaos, the stories that make you believe it's why we love college basketball. And now fanduel is turning the excitement up even higher. All through the first two rounds of tournament, bet correctly on the lowest winning seat of the day and you'll win a share of $1 million in bonus bets. Now that's an upset you will not be upset about. Normally we look for the 12 fives, right? So since the field expanded in 1985, 55 upsets by the 12 seeds over the number five five seated team in their region. We had Grand Canyon, we had James Madison last season. We did not have one in 23. So it's not automatic, but it's usually what we look for. But I'm going with a little 116 action VCU, BYU VCU depending on where you see it. Plus two and a half. I've seen it at plus three and a half. It may have changed. If we go based on the model and some of the projection stuff that again, other people are using VCU, we know they force turnovers on 20% of their opponent's possessions. We also know they hold their opponents to the lowest effective field goal percentage in the nation. NVCU Even if you want to go shooting variants here, they are still steady enough, which is what you're looking for from three points from teams to pull off the upset. But this wouldn't be necessarily a massive upset based on the Ken Palm stuff because he has BYU 24th and VCU 30th. So that is the play, even though some people getting a little tasty there with Akron as well. So here's the deal. FanDuel is the best place to bet on the tourney. You can bet on everything from spreads to money lines and team totals, plus so much more. Just visit FanDuel.com Ryan R Y E N to America's number one sportsbook today and back your dog of the day because in March anything can Happen. Must be 21 and older and present in select states or 18 plus and present in D.C. opt in required Winning pre live moneyline wager on lowest seed required each $1 million jackpot to be split equally among all eligible winners. Bonus bets are non withdrawable. Expire seven days after a seat restrictions apply. See [e-mail] gambling problem. Call 1-800- gambler or visit rg-help.com Steve, I'm going to throw some numbers at you here. Okay.

[Ryan Russillo]

Give me math.

[Stanford Steve]

Well, they're not. It's not tricky. This is pretty standard math. So we're the 40th anniversary of the greatest Final Four in the history of the tournament. Big East Feast, the COVID of Sports Illustrated. We had the Johnny's. Unfortunately they had to play Georgetown again. So I enjoyed this Final Four. It's my favorite Final Four until it actually started happening. Yeah. And then you had Memphis before it was. It was Memphis State back then. Yeah. And then Villanova, Georgetown for one of the great upsets in in the history of American sports. So it was a biggie. It's something that you could look back to and you know, I remember like arguing, I think, you know, depending on where you were at, depending what year the biggies felt like the NBA League, no doubt.

[Ryan Russillo]

Right.

[Stanford Steve]

Like I Wouldn't argue with anybody, to be honest with you. But I'm going to be biased because I grew up with it and I loved it. And it's funny, too, because, like, when we started talking about the SEC stuff that Canel used to always lose his mind about, he was like, no one ever used to root for conferences. And I was like, you're 100% wrong. You're sitting next to somebody who, as much as I despise Georgetown or Syracuse, I wanted them to beat the ACC schools once the tournament happened, because I felt like this is cool, like, the best brand of basketball is in the Northeast. And look, a lot of this stuff is cyclical, but. But at that time, like, that's something Big east fans will still remember because it felt ridiculous how much better those teams were for a stretch.

[Ryan Russillo]

I'm so glad you brought it up, because this was a stretch. When we were younger, UConn wasn't a factor there. I mean, they were. They played in the fieldhouse. There's dirt on the floor. Like, they weren't a factor. Yeah. And in Connecticut, you either rooted for Syracuse, Georgetown or St. John's that was it. That was. And I was more towards the New York side. I sided with Georgetown. Plenty of my cousins were St. John's guys. But, like, we were going through. Scott and I were going through the old St. John's rosters. And then this weekend you see Walter Berry in the Garden, like, and then you read, I don't know if you read the story by Quinn on the Athletic where Walter Berry goes up to Lewis in the locker room after the game semi. Like, it's. It's like you talk about full circle stuff and bringing back memories and, and just like, you know, Molly and those guys, like, those teams, they just went at each other. Then you bring up that Final Four and Villanova comes out of nowhere and wins the national title. I remember being heartbroken that night where Georgetown just couldn't get it done against Villanova. But that. That was it, man.

[C]

That.

[Ryan Russillo]

That was all big Monday. I mean, then you had, like, team like Charles Smith was from Bridgeport and he played at pit. Like, there was all these connections where Connecticut had got. Connecticut had guys and you had guys from here, where I am now, in the dmv, all over rosters. And obviously the New York City thing, there's nothing like it. The Rakim, the. The Raim, the. The Big east, the Doc I. I thought was great. Yukon, people hate it because it was during those days when UConn was a doormat. But yeah, see that, that's what's really, really cool about the, the old Johnny stuff. And sorry to get in the way of your ramp, but no, no, that's. I'm totally with. It's so good.

[Stanford Steve]

But I do think that there are some parallels because you still understood like you weren't going to get it every single year. And you know, there's a bit of a carryover, especially when we look at the Big Ten winning back to back national championships in football here where even if I'm, you know, well documented, I'm always arguing for the SEC because of visually what I see and then the draft part of it. But like, look, maybe we are in this transition. You know, these things should be cyclical. And the funny thing is, is the SEC for all of the resources and all of the athletes that you think are just down the street, basketball wise, it's been a really disappointing conference for years. I mean there were some really lean years. You're like, how is it even this bad? And I'm with you. Like there are certain big 12 years. I'm like, this is the best conference in all of college basketball. I don't, you know, I don't even think that's debatable for some of those years. But ultimately it's going to come down to where these teams end up. Because if you go the last three years, the SEC said 22 total bids. If you go expected wins, it was 30. They were at 22 total wins in those three years. I think that's what the number was and it was actually the lowest based on expected wins of any of the power conferences. Well, they roll in this year with 14 bids, which breaks the Big east record of 11 back in 2011. The Big east didn't actually have a great tournament at all that year, but Yukon ends up winning the whole thing. So that kind of can get lost. If you look at the non conference winning percentage for the SEC this year, it's 88.9. I've seen it written that that's the best ever. But I think the ACC in 8384 technically was higher. Where I read somewhere else, none of that really matters. But like in 8384 like NoBo looks, that's lost in the Big East 84, 85 season because UVA was only Final Four team and that was the Georgetown Houston title game. So look, the last champ for the SEC is Kentucky in 2012. I've talked about the expected win part of this. It is clearly a loaded conference. I don't have an issue with non conference. Excuse me, in conference records being below.500 when the shifting of where these conferences is going is so ridiculous that you're like with this expansion. Maybe you'd like to punish the teams for being below.500. The non conference or excuse me, in conference. I got to stop saying non conference. Where do you see? We know what the bid part of this is. But it'll be interesting in a one and done scenario if they end up becoming way below expectations here. Whether it's maybe Bama not playing defense to their standard, Kentucky's guards not being healthy enough. You know, like we already know what's going to happen because I think there is a carryover in the conversation of how just annoyed so many parts of the country are about the football conversation that's dominated for like 15 years.

[Ryan Russillo]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean when you throw those numbers it's not even close. What's more verified. Right. But I always, you know, we talk about coaches all the time. I hate to go back to Rick Barnes but like the criticism he gets, I don't judge a guy on that. You know the tournament is the ultimate, you know, crapshoot. A lot of times the ball goes in the hoop that doesn't ball bounces the wrong way. The reviews with these balls off the hand, whatever. And you already know the army of non SEC people is waiting to throw. They're going to set the record for the most losses in the tournament knowing that only one team in the whole tournament is going to end with a win. So I get it. But when you watch them and a team like Alabama, right. They lead a country in scoring in this conference. 91.1 points per game. And all I've said all year was I thought Alabama needed to get out of the SEC more than anyone to show what they can do. Right. They've given up 90 plus points I think three of the last six games. And you could just tell like I still don't know what their best five is. I really don't when I watch them.

[Stanford Steve]

You know what it's not. It's not phylon highball screen.

[Ryan Russillo]

No.

[Stanford Steve]

Let me do whatever I want. Correct. Drives me crazy. Crazy. I understand he's talented at a big time group but I mean it's got to the ball needs to be back with Sears and some of these tournament possessions where it really matters.

[Ryan Russillo]

Yep. And I, I totally could see, you know, Bill Self getting things together for one game against a flawed Arkansas team. Another thing that I don't understand. Cal brought up that boogie Flan's coming back for the tournament. They're 0 and 5 with Boogie Flan in SEC games when he played. They got better when he didn't play.

[Stanford Steve]

And yeah, I did think that was interesting because I remember I was. He's like, oh, he's back.

[Ryan Russillo]

Okay, I get it. You want another ball handler. Okay. You're going to need that against St. John's if you get there. But you know that Cal's gonna get. If Kansas beats Arkansas, they're going to get piled on. And that's everybody's favorite thing. But when you watch it, as I do, night after night, I just think it's. It's tremendous. The athleticism and the size and then you got like a team like A and M that just doesn't care. They're fearless. They know they're not good shooters, but you better block them out because they're going to get the offensive rebound. They, last I checked, they were like in the three hundreds and three point shooting in the three hundreds and free throw shooting first in offensive rebounding. And it's like, holy cow, there are four seed. How many games did they win? They won 22 games in that conference. Like, there's different methods to the madness. So their good is better than anyone else's good. I firmly believe that. I did say, you know, in February that I, I believed multiple Big Ten teams would be in the lead 8. But when you start looking at the SEC teams, I mean, they all got the high numbers and then it just magnifies things like, all right, there's their road, there's their road. But there's always going to be a team that could come from nowhere, obviously. But the way these teams are built, I feel like it's going to be really hard to knock them off. And I believe they deserve 14 teams and, and they, and they got it and people got to deal with them.

[Stanford Steve]

Now, I really like the point about Alabama getting out of conference play there. Okay, all right, so last thing we're going to do here, 12 fives. We have it all the time. It's everybody's favorite upset. Do you have an upset that's a 125 or do you have a dog that you like that's tasty and it's not even in the 125 category.

[Ryan Russillo]

I do, I have. I'm not sure what the FanDuel Odds, other books. BYU, another team that I put in the category of Alabama. I just want to see them outside of their conference. The way that I don't know how much you've Watched them but the way they they young's done a great job. Their concepts offensively, they spread you shooters couple crazy athletic guys. They're the six in the east. It was around plus 600 to go to the elite eight. I grabbed that. I really like the issue I have with them is their first game. VCU is a really good defensive team. VCU's only played two tournament teams though. But the game's in Denver and we know how BYU travels and then if they win they get Wisconsin. I would think they're in Denver. In Wisconsin just played till Sunday afternoon. So I just look at the path for BYU and a team that I really, really like. But as far as a double digit seed, you know Liberty feels pretty popular right now.

[Stanford Steve]

It should.

[Ryan Russillo]

Yeah. You know who I actually like is North Carolina because they get the draw. I mentioned a number, I mentioned a number about Mountain west teams. One in 29 seated 10 or lower in the last 30 games and then they get the six. Ole Miss, Ole Miss doesn't have any bigs and Carolina doesn't have good bigs. So I kind of like Carolina's draw and then they get there. But you know that's probably a good hefty price probably in the 34 hundreds. But Carolina, I mean one of these teams always makes a run and I sneaky like Xavier in the other play game playing game because they play defense and that, that usually wins this time of year. When you look at teams like Texas and Illinois who are in their path that don't seem as interested. But yeah, that's, that's the 12 fives. I'm not, I mean Colorado State's favored over Memphis. They're the 12. So I do like the Terps to go sweet 16 what's cool out there too. You could parlay team, you know, pass. There was a parlay that was over +150 of Maryland and St. John's going to the Sweet 16. I liked a lot but double digit seeds, I, I look at those playing teams, I, I think they're, when you look at their path, they have enough to get to to win a couple games for sure.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah. St. John's to reach the sweet 16 -175. And as of this morning VCU is getting two points against BYU. Two and a half I believe. I'd have to double check that. So it's two, two and a half against byu. That's a really popular one that I gave out a little bit earlier based on some of my models, you know.

[Ryan Russillo]

Nice.

[Stanford Steve]

Ran it a thousand Times over here.

[Ryan Russillo]

But.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah, I understand what you're saying. Kind of like BYU the next. If they get through that. Yeah. Just because of how. How good they've been. You know, you want to look at the Iowa State games that you pointed to, to close out the season and, you know, whatever. All right, so look, let's finish here.

[Ryan Russillo]

Final Four. Yeah. All right. Because I'm going against it. I'm gonna go Alabama, Tennessee, St. John's watch out for Missouri. Just watch out. And I'll go Iowa State.

[Stanford Steve]

Wow. So you went because you on. That's what your official one is going to be, or is you just freelance right here on the show?

[Ryan Russillo]

No, I've been piecing together and I just realized I don't have one one seed, so. Yeah, we'll go with that.

[Stanford Steve]

Okay. All right. I've got Michigan State, Florida, Duke, Tennessee. Florida over Duke.

[Ryan Russillo]

Okay.

[Stanford Steve]

National championship, which I hope we get to see that game. You are the best. You could check out.

[Ryan Russillo]

Can I have one NBA question?

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah, of course. Floor is yours?

[Ryan Russillo]

We followed Warriors Nuggets last night.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah.

[Ryan Russillo]

Explain.

[Stanford Steve]

Doc Rivers.

[Ryan Russillo]

Doc Rivers theory. I knew you were gonna go there. Good Lord, we can't catch a break.

[Stanford Steve]

I know that was a little frustrating because I was really looking forward to that one. I was so into Philly and Houston.

[Ryan Russillo]

That I. Yeah, we were locked in that. And then Minnesota and Indiana was cra.

[Stanford Steve]

Obie toppin.

[Ryan Russillo]

Just unbelievable. Four, four threes in overtime.

[Stanford Steve]

That was another Doc Rivers game. I mean, it's really. It's. That was three Doc Rivers series games in. In a row. Yeah. Depending who you want to watch there.

[Ryan Russillo]

But no warriors ever wear their white jerseys at home. They're real white jerseys. They never wear them at home.

[Stanford Steve]

You would know better than. I would never pay attention to that stuff. You'll be like. You'll be sitting there watching a game with Steve, and he'll go, oh, Thaddeus Young changed his shoes in the third quarter. And you're like, what are you looking at?

[Ryan Russillo]

And then I have one entertainment question.

[Stanford Steve]

Sure.

[Ryan Russillo]

You watch 1923?

[Stanford Steve]

No.

[Ryan Russillo]

You gotta.

[Stanford Steve]

That's the Harrison Ford one, right? Yes. I watched the pilot on a flight, but I think I was just too immersed in the Yellowstone universe. It was kind of like another Marvel movie where I just. I was like, I need a break from this. Not that I don't respect it. Think it's good.

[Ryan Russillo]

It just.

[Stanford Steve]

I wasn't. I wasn't ready.

[Ryan Russillo]

I think Yellowstone's all the way down at the bottom of all his shows. I have 19, 23 last. Yes.

[Stanford Steve]

I didn't expect this. A Taylor, Sheridan, Stanford, Steve ranking Linus 1.

[Ryan Russillo]

1923 too.

[Stanford Steve]

What about Landman?

[Ryan Russillo]

Better than Yellowstone.

[Stanford Steve]

Early Yellowstone or late Yellowstone?

[Ryan Russillo]

The late overshadowed. The early. That's the problem. So there's just two. I mean they have one season. Nothing happened. Not one thing happened. I think it was three, three or four.

[Stanford Steve]

So it's kind of like a bad non conference loss.

[Ryan Russillo]

Yeah. But 1923 in Spencer's journey from Africa to Bozeman, Montana, it's still going and it's just. I mean you're the history guy but the track like being at Grand Central and the wife telling the guy where, asking he asked where are you going? She's like Bozeman. He's like oh, Montana. And it's like good luck on it. You got like six weeks to get there and then they start in Africa. It's, it, it's just amazing. I think it's so well done. But the history thing I find fascinating. People trying to travel back then, it's nuts.

[Stanford Steve]

A lot of faith, a lot of faith on a destination. Just be like what are you doing? Be like, oh, we have a contact. My great uncle is in Yellowknife. Another shout out to Yellowknife. Speaking of being repetitive, I was going to share this. This feels like more of a Friday feedback. We've had some aggressive tones lately in some of the life advice emails, Steve. So we'll just do this one. It's titled SVP 41 White Male, 500 Meter Row, Personal Best 127.761 235 Thick. So we're dealing with a specimen here. Player. Big biceps, flatty divots and Nick Van Exel combo. That's insane. Scott doesn't like going out and partying on the road, so I hear. He prefers to stay in and text to stay up late, stay up to date on who all is where and what's happening. But he never really wants to be in the mix in person. Just kind of wants to know who is there and keep an eye out on the scene. You know why I know that? Because you've told that story in the podcast about six times. Good luck on your writing career. Wow, that was mean. That feels like more like Friday feedback than it does. I don't think there's a question in there.

[Ryan Russillo]

Feels like this guy's hate listening too. Like if you got a problem with it, you don't like the content, stop listening.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah, I don't know.

[Ryan Russillo]

I don't know.

[Stanford Steve]

I Have. I have good news on the writing career. I just can't share it, that's all. Hey, I'll let this guy know immediately.

[Ryan Russillo]

Yeah, send them back.

[Stanford Steve]

Reply all, you're the best SVP pod once a week. And these guys will be gearing up and you're home for all of the tournament recap stuff. It's lots of fun to, you know, look, it's gonna be. I can't wait for this thing to start. And I love catching up with you guys on TV after it's all done. So I'll talk to you soon.

[Ryan Russillo]

You got it, my man.

[Stanford Steve]

This episode is brought to you by UberEats. UberEats is delivering game day deals because you can't watch eight hours of basketball a day on an empty stomach. From burgers to wings, pizza to chicken sandwiches, whatever you're craving. Uber Eats has deals on all your game day favorites, so you never have to miss a single buzzer beater. Get game day deals on all of your Favorites, only on UberEats. Order now.

[Ryan Russillo]

You want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet.

[Stanford Steve]

What's up?

[D]

I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork.

[Ryan Russillo]

I have every toy you can possibly imagine, and best of all, kids, I am liquid. So now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required.

[Stanford Steve]

Email address, lifeadvice, rrmail.com, ceruti, worgon, and Kyle. Kyle, this is your season. This is your time to shine. What's your schedule like?

[C]

Traveling all over, going to Vegas with Sal on Thursday. And Tate, they're doing the, you know, first round there. It's a true gambling holiday. I just discovered last year, McDonald's All American reached out. Going there, going to New York just south of the crown jewel for a little bit, and then San Antonio for the final four. It's gonna be great.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah. Hey, can you give us a quick recap on the logging history of Poughkeepsie? Because I was looking at a map the other day and I started through it. Yeah, I mean, that must have just been Cedar Central, man.

[C]

Yeah, there's some. There's some sawmills and stuff that they've turned into museums that no one goes to, but. Yeah, Sawmill Plaza, right by where I was born. Yeah, it was a big, big logging community for a while.

[Stanford Steve]

I wonder if there's just, like, a higher level of balance amongst people from the valley, you know, if it's ever been. Yeah, like, oh, that guy's from Poughkeepsie. Has incredible balance. That Kind of makes sense.

[C]

I'm certainly not one of those guys.

[Stanford Steve]

Maybe it skips a generation.

[D]

You just don't know. Yeah, yeah.

[Stanford Steve]

Have you tried. Do you know that you in fact do not have great balance?

[C]

Yes, maybe if you pick up basketball.

[Stanford Steve]

Speaking of, we've got, we've got a basketball query from Australia. People a little upset with Ceruti, but.

[Ryan Russillo]

What else is new?

[D]

Yeah, it's all good.

[Stanford Steve]

Okay, what is pickup basketball? This may be more of a Friday feedback one, but as we said, we're getting a lot of complaints sent to life advice lately. All actually directed. I don't know what's going on with me, but I've been dropping votes in the polls last last few weeks. That's all right. We always finish the season strong. All right. 511, 181 year old female from Melbourne, Australia. 2 oh, 250 bench. I was trying to short this guy squat. 275 deadlift 350 player comp. Terry Rozier. Not so long ago I was considered a decent player. In recent years though, it feels like one of the Monstars has taken my abilities. Unlike scary Terry though, I'm actually still trying to be good. I'm just not anymore. Terror rosier. Not a great pickup for the heat. That one did not quite work out.

[Ryan Russillo]

My question is culture.

[D]

By the way. Tough, tough, tough stretch here for heat culture.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah, but he doesn't fit in. That's the thing is maybe he's not accepting of heat culture.

[D]

Well, I think it goes beyond him.

[Stanford Steve]

But Davion Mitchell seems to accept heat culture so look, we don't make I. You can do whatever you want. I mean everybody's voice is important here. But I, I said after that 23 run that I just don't know that I can make fun of heat culture anymore. But I do think that like in a vacuum even Miami people would be like they put culture on the jersey. Yeah, but again I'm going to refrain.

[D]

Feels like he's got the shark there.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah, yeah, it's an Aussie. The concept of pickup basketball is for to me I don't think we have it down under. The closest equivalent here would probably be various local leagues we have in the suburbs of Melbourne. These are organized competitions however with refs, uniforms, game fees, game schedule, stats recorded, et cetera. I played basketball for over 20 years and I think I have a superficial understanding of pickup. Please help your international audience to understand it a bit better. San Sebastian, they just play pickup. So I don't know, maybe it's a you know where you are.

[C]

Do they lock the gates when league play isn't happening? I gotta. That's how pickup works.

[Ryan Russillo]

Right?

[Stanford Steve]

It's like if I've seen that on Martha's Vineyard, had that like they take the rims out. Yeah, it was never that cold.

[D]

They put a cap over it. Yeah, yeah.

[Stanford Steve]

That's just dirty. Or Covid when they put the bars across it. Yeah, you were really about that. I remember that well, because I think in California you just lasted even longer, you know?

[C]

Yeah.

[Stanford Steve]

And then I actually went and got shots up one night. I was just desperate.

[C]

Pfizer desperate. I'm just kidding.

[Stanford Steve]

No, no. There were no rings, so it was just all simulated. Is that a loser move? I'd allow it. All right, so here are the questions. It sounds like a bunch of guys just rock up to a local court whenever they like and full court scrimmage with anyone and everyone there. But surely there's more to it. I have many questions. Feel free to skim. So let's just try to go through as quick as we possibly can. Are there organized game times? Usually it's the same kind of group. Hey, we play here on Sundays at 10, we play here in the afternoon at 3, we fight with high school kids over who has it because they just vape and then ride scooters. That's a very local thing. Who sets the date and time for the games is just the same time every week. See above. Are there refs? No. Who brings the ball? Someone. Can you go by yourself or do you need a full team? If you're by yourself, how do you form a team? Yes, you can go by yourself. If teams are already playing and people are waiting around, you ask who has next. Ask if you have five. If they do not have five, you join their now five. If there's more than 10 guys, how do subs work? Well, five plays against five, winners stay on. If there's a new five, they replace the losing five. If there are only eight, then the losers would shoot for two. Do you have to pay to play? No. Is it first to 21 wins or something? You just play till everyone gets tired. You play to 11. I never really understood ones and twos, but it seems to be pretty accepted at most places. Especially if people are waiting. Playing at 21, twos and threes would probably make more sense, but I just never really saw it all that much. I'm not really playing that much pickup anymore anyway. But yeah, everyone plays basically until they get tired. There's usually one last Game. And then that's where somebody tears their acl. Are there timeouts? No. How are disputes resolved? They're not good.

[D]

A lot of yelling.

[C]

That was a great faq.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah. Yeah. Usually the most aggressive guy wins the dispute part of it, you know, but I've. I've seen it go on.

[D]

Yeah, it truly is. Like the loudest guy wins the argument and follows and pick up basketball, which does suck.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah, right. Like whoever's the worst ends up getting the call. You know, just stand at the other end, hold the basketball. Wait. You know, Van Pelt used to always scream, respect my call. You know, it's funny with Van Pelt if you go on a road trip with him.

[D]

Such a good line.

[Stanford Steve]

Okay, so we have a parking one here that's a bit. It's more like narcing, what we should call it. All right, nice.

[D]

Yeah.

[Stanford Steve]

I'm addicted to calling the cops, essentially on illegally parking. This is from a while ago. All right. 2863, 220 pounds, bench, 255 hack squat, four plates, haven't deadlifted in years. Player comp, Anthony Bennett. Because I'm Canadian and complete garbage at basketball. Wow. Wow. Anthony Bennett. Catching strays from an international email. Looking for some tough love or vindication for my actions here? Useless. Fun fact. I live in a mid sized Ontario city that neighbors Jamal Murray's hometown, Kitchener. I'm addicted to calling bylaw on people that illegally park. So bylaw, I assume is just, I guess you're calling the cops. Important to provide the backstory to this addiction. So here I go. I'm a rule follower. I live for dumb things like those mentioned in the efficient grocery lane email you had a few months ago. That guy and I would get along so well. I moved to a new house. New house this past summer. I think that makes sense, even though I murdered that sentence. My previous house was a corner lot in a student neighborhood. Said corner was on a steep hill with a one way stop sign. I've attached a street view photo of the corner for reference. I'll say people in general, but more likely students. Constantly parked between the stop sign and my driveway. All right, so just think of a suburban neighborhood, road coming out, stop sign, and then if you take a right, there's maybe 20ft of curb, it's not straight. And then that goes directly into where his driveway is. Right. So everybody kind of following along here. So I already know what this guy's thinking. If he's pulling out, is the car the way. All right, so I'll say People in general. All right, so we talked about students. Where I live, it's illegal to park within 15 meters of a stop sign. It's especially dangerous here as the parked cars in the corner block the view of oncoming traffic coming up the hill while simultaneously forcing turning cars into the oncoming traffic lane. The space available at this corner barely fits a car anyway. So a lot of time the people. A lot of time the front of the cars would be blocking a couple feet of my driveway. Pissed me right off. I worked from home and had my office set up facing the window out to the street. I would spend eight hours a day watching cars park at the school corner and cause near collisions. I eventually discovered my city offered a program where you can file a bylaw complaint online. I decided I'd give it a try. I wanted to see if cars parking at the corner would actually get tickets for parking there. And they sure did. I started filing a complaint every time I saw a car parked there and probably netted my city close to $1,000 in parking ticket revenue. I loved it all.

[D]

Who needs Doge? Am I right?

[Stanford Steve]

This guy's a real earner. I cannot express the gratification I felt when these cars would get ticketed the odd time. I'd even be lucky enough to witness these idiots find the parking ticket on their windshield by licking my chops from my office. I noticed a heavy decline in the number of cars parking at the corner and blocking my driveway over time as well. Fast forward to now. I've been in a new house since June where there is no longer a corner to to call bylaw on for parking criminals. This may be where you think the story ends, but alas, there's more. I have a dog. I walked the guy after work every day and noticed cars parking in similar fashion at a corner in my neighborhood. It was like Batman moving to Chicago and seeing a new bat signal. Call him to duty. I told my girlfriend about this new corner and that I have the urge to call bylaw again whenever I see cars there. She basically told me to stop being such a hardo, turned a blind eye and let people park in peace. I did not follow her advice. I've been calling bylaw on any dog walk where I see cars park park at this new corner. They work fast. A lot of time I see a ticket on the dash of these cars. When I'm on my way back at the end of my walk, I think I'm self aware enough to know I'm being a loser and going way overboard on this But I feel such vindication when justice is served, and I cannot help myself. Please talk some sense into me here. Should I stop my bylaw calls? Should I set a limit to how many I do? Is this totally fine? Do I need that? Sounds like you're addicted to the game.

[C]

Yeah, I. I get. I understood that first thing. And, like, it'll send me into a small road rage when I'm coming up to a corner and there's just cars, and I'm like, wait, how am I supposed to. How can they.

[Stanford Steve]

What.

[C]

What am I supposed to do? There's cars behind me. I'm getting nervous. I understand that. And I guess I understand. I guess I understand. Like, you know, patrolling your block and your corner kind of sucks that you're hitting college kids with bills that they probably don't have a way to pay for. They don't pay them anyways. Yeah, I guess. Yeah. But I think this was a great opportunity for you to kind of introduce yourself back into normal society when you moved, and you're just not ready to do that. So I think it's a little insane. I wish your girlfriend was a little bit more on this rather than just like, wish you wouldn't do that. Like, I wish. I wish she, like, talked a little more sense into you, but maybe she just knows the guy she's dealing with and she's like, this is. We're barking up the wrong tree here. This is a road to nowhere. Yeah. I try to find another passion if I were you. You know, pick up. Watch. Watch your.

[Stanford Steve]

Sure.

[C]

Watch your own driveway, man. I don't. I don't know. I don't love it.

[D]

You know, we talked about this driveway. We talked about this a couple weeks ago. But whenever. And I'm. I'm guilty of this. Like, whenever it be. It comes to driving anything car related, like, we just have no patience. And I feel like I'm a pretty calm person overall, and I'm just not a calm person around a car.

[C]

There's no limits when you're in that car.

[D]

And I don't. And I. The parking thing too.

[C]

Like, that would.

[D]

I get pissed me off. And I. I don't know that I would narc, but I would definitely. It would bother me. But Kyle's right. You had an opportunity, like, to cold turkey, just be like, this is not my life. I'm putting this behind me.

[C]

Nobody knows me here. Right.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah.

[D]

And you just kept. You just kept riding along and you just can't quit it. I. I don't know. I. I just I wouldn't tell anybody this. Like, you know, obviously nobody figures out who you are in the email because, like, nobody's going to like this person. You can't tell this story in public and everyone be like, yeah, dude, that's a great call. Like, everyone's like, dude, what the hell's wrong with you? Like, so. I don't know. I. It's kind of like, I don't think you're harming anyone by keeping it to yourself, but if this becomes public, like, you're going to have some serious issues with, like, people and just relationships and friends because, like, this is a. It's just kind of a loser move.

[Stanford Steve]

Unfortunately, you need to stop. And we're all on your side. When you're thinking about it being your driveway and it happening incessantly. Like, we would be wrong to tell you that you're the here, because none of us are dealing with your driveway situation. Right. So I still don't love that you're on the side of parking. I'm not behind big parking, you know, Is anybody that's lost a lot of parking battles? How many are actually my fault? Probably more than I'd like to admit. But the few that are. I mean, it's a lot like, criticism versus praise. Like, I'm not going to remember the times where I deserve the ticket. I'm not going to remember the times where I deserve the boot. Because really, you deserve. Like, they don't just put boots on cars. Be like, hey, let's screw this guy over. But you see that yellow thing? You're about to run some errands, and you're like, my day has just completely been rattled here, and when you don't have any money, you end up getting the boot. You know, it's like one of those episodes of Atlanta where Donald Glover's trying to flip a phone at a pawn shop, and Darius is like, hey, I can use the money that you got from the pawn shop, and I can, like, triple that. And they go through these series of quests throughout the day. And then Darius gives money to this dog breeder, and then he goes to Glover, and he's like, hey, man. He goes, when he has a pitbull, in a few months, you'll be good to go, right? And Glover's character is like, hey, when you're broke, you're not thinking about, like, your whole point of every day is to avoid being broke. So a lot of it is. Is my fault. But there's. There's just a few in there. There's A few in there where you're just like, I'm getting towed, or what's going on? So I don't. I can never run on a platform of being pro parking, even if you're arguing the revenue part of this. But that was something that was happening very specific to you. Your girlfriend is 100% right. That was a phase in your life. You needed to move past this. You do not now want to become a guy that's just calling the cops. And by the way, like, is there a bigger issue here that the city can respond to your ticket requests this quickly? That's kind of weird. Is that even efficient? Is there some math that we could do where revenue coming in is actually not as great as you think? Because resources are being used for this kind of uber version of giving out parking tickets that you can't stop doing. We understand your origin story here, but you need to evolve. You got to stop doing this.

[C]

I wonder if it's past the point of solving the problem and it's more about screwing over the other guy. Clearly, you felt vindicated when the guy who was wronging you, you'd see him pick that ticket up off his car and, you know, clench his fist. But now you're not even seeing that. You're just on your walk, and you're just like, got another one. And then you're just like, are you just imagining the moment when, like, is it more about screwing over the other guy than doing the right thing? Because I would ask, where does this end? Where does this end? You start showing up at local parks and calling people, calling the cops on dudes, fishing, you know, citizens arrest. Where does it end? If you.

[Ryan Russillo]

If you.

[C]

If this itch can't be scratched by what's going on here.

[D]

So, yeah, next thing you know, you buy a fake badge off Amazon. It's like, who do you think you are, buddy? Like, what's. What do you think this is, right?

[Stanford Steve]

Like, he's at the Army Navy, and he finds some kind of jacket. What is that jacket? Is that jacket say, Cleveland? What. What is that? Yeah, I mean, there was a guy that used to give out tickets in Burlington when I was, like, up there. I mean, again, we just touched on this. It was just mercenaries. Like, it was like Boba Fett in a tow truck, and, like, seven of his cronies just driving around being like, Connecticut plates, mass plates, Jersey plates, them kids, Jordan style, you know? Like, where was the sign? Like, I don't need one. Yeah, Splanes. Yeah.

[C]

Hook her up.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah. There was a Place called Splanes, where they towed so many cars that nobody. Like, people just purposely would be like, I will not get their gas. I think they had to, like, rebrand everything and then put the tow lot somewhere else. Maybe they sold it. I don't even know. But, like, people would just drive by that gas station and be like, I despise you. I remember one time, one of my friends car towed and he showed up and he was like, I don't have the money for the car. He's like, but my clubs are in the back. I was like, what are you asking? He's like, you can keep the car for a week. I don't give a. He's like, I need my golf clubs. I think somebody had to get a 10 spot out of that. But. Yeah, yeah, I. I think you. I think you already know. I think you know, I. I love that your girlfriend is on you about this. It was a phase in your life, and it was a justified phase, but time to move on. All right, this is a simple one, but maybe it isn't. My roommate is broken. 61 185. Dream on. Green, but not mentally ill. O. Hey, man, you don't like.

[D]

Not a good start.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah, Not a great week for Draymond in the cat series of Things.

[Ryan Russillo]

Fair.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah. I mean, I didn't love it. All right, context. 27 year old before the roommates, one of them is unemployed and watches 8 to 10 hours of TV per day in the living room. 8 to 10? What do you think your peak TV hours a day were in your life, Kyle? You. You're. You're going to win this one.

[C]

Peak? Yeah.

[Stanford Steve]

No, no peak. Give me eight to ten. You in the eight to ten range. Be like, I can put together an.

[D]

Eight to ten day, man.

[C]

Are we talking pre or post streaming? Because Sopranos me up in college. Sorry for cursing. I mean, it really. It really got me. And then it was like wire. And I was like, what else does HBO have to offer? And I'm like, we're going down the deadwood path. And John.

[Stanford Steve]

And.

[C]

Yeah, a couple of. No, no, a couple of seasons of Game of Thrones were out at that point. So, I mean, there was a lot.

[Stanford Steve]

Of, you know, but every day putting in that work, punching that time card. Eight to 10 hours. Like, think about it. If he's 27 and he's unemployed, he's not waking up at 8:00am he's not doing the early shift. So let's say, let's give him 10am but there's probably still some yogurt and cereal involved and maybe checking an email, pretending he's being productive. So if you go 10am That's 10. 10 a6p. Yeah.

[C]

I mean we had voted. There was three cigarette smokers in the house of five dudes at the upstairs was going to be a smoking zone. So I didn't even have to leave. You know what I mean? It was just like. I mean the two dudes that lived on the downstairs weren't happy about it, but we were close enough that we just like get over it. So. Yeah, I didn't even have to like take breaks to do that. And you know, as you know, first Sopranos run, you're just like, well, I guess I just have to see what happens next. So. Yeah, I don't know. I. I don't know the number, but it's, it's up there. It's up there.

[Stanford Steve]

Eight to ten. That's a lot. I mean, ten. Think this guy's doing ten.

[C]

Yeah, that's a lot.

[Stanford Steve]

Probably not.

[C]

There was other stuff going on for sure, but I think I recognized we were approaching a problem.

[Stanford Steve]

We didn't have enough good TV in college to put in that kind of work.

[C]

Right.

[D]

Yeah.

[Stanford Steve]

You know, streaming now I, I kind of can understand. I still think it's a little weird when somebody's like, oh, I watched eight episodes of this today. Like did. But if you're back.

[Ryan Russillo]

Right.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah, they're not trying to figure out.

[D]

I think the kids are doing that on YouTube these days too now.

[Stanford Steve]

Rotation. Yeah, that's. That's fair. All right.

[D]

Going on a rabbit hole of stuff.

[Stanford Steve]

First thing he does when he wakes up is turn on a two and a half hour movie. Oh, wow, that's Last of the Mohicans. Fire it up.

[C]

Oh, man.

[D]

Just loads up the Irishman at 9.

[Stanford Steve]

And 9:30am See you guys. All right. He's a good friend, but he's also very stubborn. And one of his favorite things to do is to get angry. This is great. When he is watching something dumb, I like to stir the pot and tell him to change it to something good. This actually happened tonight. He was watching a YouTube video of some amateur skiers. Dude, I know the TV is his and the remote at this point is probably sealed to his palm, but you can't be in charge of something that important, right? Five guys in their late 20s throwing on YouTube ski videos of just regular dudes too.

[C]

That's absurd.

[Stanford Steve]

This isn't some Warren Miller deal.

[D]

Or he's just run out of content. Man.

[Stanford Steve]

He Just we had a buddy named Bob where the quote that blew my mind when he first. Because I think he was in between jobs here for a little while and we're like, what's this guy up to? Like, he finished the Internet last week. Anyway, I tell him to change it to anything else and he snaps and says, my taste for content is awful. I don't know, you guys are putting it in the grind. Maybe a few of you are hitting the gym. You're still trying to map out the weekend. You're watching family trips on YouTube of other people skiing. I think, I think your roommate's wrong here. This doesn't bother me or the roommates much unless there's a big game on. He only relents if he has a 12 leg, 12 leg parlay in the game. He surprisedly hit one of them, but he blacked out and passed out before the last leg hit. So he didn't see it live. Anyways, just curious how you guys would handle a creature like this. Look, I would say, top line, he is not ready. He is not ready. There are a lot of people at 27 that are not ready. I don't know that I was. I was making moves to make it look like I was ready, but I was still in the way society is constructed. Not ready. He is definitely not ready. So the fact that you guys are working and doing all of these things and looking at him being like this, this is a stage in life where you can start to see some real gaps between dudes with the exact same background, known each other since school, the exact same age, the whole deal, same different upbringing dynamic. And there can be this massive gap between mentally where people are despite having the same profile and being the same age. So that's the first thing, is that this is his comfort zone. And he's probably mentally thought, this is some kind of reward. I need a break from everything and this is what I get to do. And I'll be working again soon. The problem is you start doing this too long. Um, it's a bit like being like 40 and then taking a class in college. Like, notes, an essay, a point in conclusion, you know, like, there's just a lot of us, I think, walking around right now, listening to this past a certain age, the idea of having a paper due would just like, forget it. You can keep the check. I'm dropping out. I'm not going to get my masters. I just realized. So that's kind of the first. Like you could sit there and you can talk to him. The fact that he loves to get angry makes it seem like even a bigger waste of time. But I would say internally, like, this is where he's at right now. And you're all right to think that he's wrong, but he's, he's not going to change likely anytime soon. He's going to have to get exhausted of himself before he would listen to anybody else. And as a male, 27, on top of everything else, he's probably not super receptive to any kind of advice that you guys would provide him because then he would point to you and say, oh, you did this two weekends ago and be like, yeah, but I also have a job. I also have a job and don't watch the Brutalist to start my Tuesdays.

[C]

Nice pull with the last little Higgins and Brutalist. That's pretty good. Good job on you with the Irishman security. I think I would attack the surface problems with this. The shit that annoys me. 28 years old, you can still be pretty cut and dry about things. I don't think you have to worry about massaging and the, you know, bringing it up like some of the other emails we get. And it's like, I don't want this to ruin what's going on. How do I approach this? I think you're still roommates, late 20s. You can still just be like, here, this is what's fucked up about what's going on right now. Sorry for cursing again, trying to do that less. But I think like, I would stay away from the, like, what are you doing with your life? Come on, this is embarrassing. More of like, dude, we're not, we're not doing this game with the tv. Like, sorry, you were here first, but like, you haven't got up in six hours, whatever. Like, I think you can still attack those problems head on. Strength in numbers. If there's more than one dude upset about this, like, I don't think you need to dance around it. I don't really have any answers for the, like you said he's not ready. Any of the more existential questions about what he's doing. But, like, I would just attack the stuff that's bothering you right now at this moment in the living room at 6pm when you're home and you, you know, you'd like to watch something and he's, you know, I, I think that stuff you can attack head on. You know, dudes are still young enough that, you know, people move on from these little things. As long as you don't get into the bigger aspects of the whole thing. I would be, I'd be ready to fight about this stuff. I feel like it'll probably just go away. That's all.

[D]

I feel like if he's got somewhat of a brain on his shoulders, like he probably feels like ass and feels like shit and.

[Ryan Russillo]

Yeah, right.

[Stanford Steve]

You know, because there's some part of him that's smart enough to have any self awareness.

[C]

Right.

[D]

And if there isn't, then what?

[Ryan Russillo]

What?

[D]

You, there's no. You're just beating your head against the wall. There's no point in actually like trying to talk any sense into him. So I, I'm gonna go ahead and assume that this guy doesn't feel great about himself. And, you know, I'm sure he doesn't want the current situation he's in. I am with Kyle, like you, there's got to be some control over the tv. If we're talking just like, you know, hours per week and you guys want to watch something in the evening and he's been on, you know, on there since, you know, for six hours or so, like, it feels like we could pass the remote around. But I don't, I just don't think. I think he's got to figure out himself. Like, I just remember, you know, when I, you know, when I was out of the job after the ESPN gig and the thing at Intercom and like, you feel like. You feel like dick doing like kind of enjoying anything. So maybe he's just like more crabby because he can't even feel like he can enjoy anything without you guys kind of judging him. So again, I'm not saying he's in the right or in the wrong, but if he's got any sort of iota of self awareness, he's. He's probably not feeling awesome about himself right now. So I, I would even just try to lift him up. I try to get him out of the house to do stuff. Could you, like, are there activities you could do that aren't TV related?

[Stanford Steve]

Jobs for 10 hours working?

[D]

Yeah, but like, can you, can you play pick up hoops after? I. I don't. Just get him out of the house a little bit. Try to do something different.

[C]

Shout out to, our last buddy just got a job. My, Our last unemployed buddy just got a job yesterday and it was a huge, huge celebration. In the group chat, dudes have to come up with more jokes. He went unconventional. He finished college late and then was like working in some sort of like pseudo weed shop. And we were like, man, I just don't think this is Going to work out well. And of course it didn't. And he was unemployed for a little bit. He just got a big boy job yesterday. And shout out to the last dude in the group. And I hope that happens for this guy, the last dude in the group to get the job. Everyone's going to be super supportive of that. But until then, it does suck when.

[D]

People are new because we had that in the friend group and it's just, you know, guys don't know exactly what they want to do and, you know, other guys are being successful. Ryan, you've talked about this with your friend group like that, to be the guy that's kind of the odd man out like that, it's not easy. That's how, that's how guys get to dark places.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah. And then, you know, look, we're dissecting an email here, so we don't know totally where his head is at. But I just always think it's worth pointing out when somebody is really, really bummed out with their day to day, they can become really. Narcissist isn't the right word here. But you can become even more difficult because you think everybody's kind of supposed to give into your deal. And that's where you're like, all right, it's one thing to be upset. It's one thing, you know, to the point where you actually feel like you're suffering from depression. But now everybody's just supposed to acquiesce to all of your demands, your whims because of what's going on with you. I think if you have a group, there's probably one dude out of the five to get away with anything, get away with any kind of joke. Like maybe he can go at him more than other people could do it. I was never that guy in my group, but there's certain guys that I think of. I'm like, well, he, if he says it, he can get away with it. Like, this dude can always get it. I think you could maybe have that person have some real fun with this and be like, look, here we are. Because I mean, granted, you guys are fighting over the TV because it's five dudes that are all in an apartment together. There's going to be conflict. So. So if you were to say, hey, just kind of house meeting. Think about mapping this out. Five dudes, let's say five hour TV shifts. We're going to map out a schedule. Doug, you are going to have your 5 hour shift stack up. So they're going to be back to back so you're going to graveyard, graveyard shift. So you're in control of the TV. We can do it 9am we can start your shift. We could do 8, 8 to 1 and then you're 1 to 6 and then from 6 on it's going to be Steve and Barry and Kyle and then it's going to come back around. And so like our Monday through Friday, you get two double shifts because you're not working right now. So we're, we're deferring to you. If you have eight to 10 hours a day in control of the TV when everybody comes home from work, you have now you have to give up control. It's not yours. And he's, he's essentially dating the television and he thinks that none of you guys. It's not an open relationship. I was thinking about a swear jar for us because I went back to listen to an episode which I've not done in a really long time, and I was listening to something and I decided I'm just going to put it in the car and listen to the full episode.

[C]

And you turned it off.

[Stanford Steve]

No, I listen, I listen to the whole thing. I don't, I don't. I think at the beginning, anybody that's starting off on air and you just listen to yourself and go, oh my God. Bad. It is funny though, when I listen to myself at times I'm like, yeah, I could see how some people don't like me. But the swearing part, if we get on a roll, I, I actually had a moment as a non parent where I went, that was a lot of swearing. Do you think we could even try to see if we can get through a life advice without swearing? And then maybe there's some kind of punishment.

[C]

Okay. I think I, I'd want to know where you're leading with the punishments because I'm sure I'd probably be the one to fall short.

[Stanford Steve]

But I don't know. I'm not afraid. But the problem is, is like, depends.

[C]

On the topics for you.

[Stanford Steve]

I think F bomb is just really works sometimes.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

How about what, what if we, what if we judge the like the necessity of the actual curse word. Like, did you need to say that there? Because I think that you're right. There are some where it's like, actually that's appropriate. I'm glad you did that. And then there's one where you're like, you, you were reaching there.

[Ryan Russillo]

That sucks.

[D]

And we could rate it on a scale of like 1 to 5.

[Stanford Steve]

I don't want to become a non Swearing podcast. But I would say this one particular episode, helpful exercise.

[Ryan Russillo]

Yeah.

[Stanford Steve]

That I listened to. I went, yeah. I could see. I could see a parent not loving this two or three minute stretch. Got it. So I think Ceruti would be fine. Worgon. If you could dial up the camera here. I was thinking about this. Worgon, have you ever sworn on the pod?

[D]

I don't know. I swear in real life.

[Stanford Steve]

You do?

[Ryan Russillo]

I do.

[Stanford Steve]

That's awesome. Thanks, man.

[D]

Hell yeah. Hell yeah, man.

[Stanford Steve]

All right, buddy. See you Thursday. We should try to come up with a punishment for it. Yeah. But to Cerutty's point again, what if I'm rude? I'm reading all the emails and there's plenty of guys that are swearing the emails. So then maybe. Am I. It has to be a non because I don't want to be sitting here editing the emails on the fly and then deciding we're not going to read any swears because I just think that would be kind of stupid. But maybe there's something in here. Maybe there's some sort of exercise. Loser does what.

[C]

You say. I don't know. I'm sure I'll be doing it, whatever it is.

[Stanford Steve]

So I always like when people do bets like loser has to. Has to work out for a month.

[D]

Pay for dinner, go back to Priscilla.

[C]

I don't think that one works. Yeah, I think that really works.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah, the dinner one. When are you guys scheduled to come out here again?

[D]

I don't know.

[Stanford Steve]

Kyle's like, I live here. See? Good use of swearing. I did FaceTime Kyle twice, though. I was golfing.

[C]

You were super disappointed, but I was. We were. We were trying to speed through the 18 and we just got caught behind some.

[Stanford Steve]

That's all right.

[Ryan Russillo]

Yeah.

[Stanford Steve]

Married to the game. Yeah, I get it. Okay. All right. Open ended. I don't think we have a resolution for this right now. We're not asking for anyone to offer up any bets because I don't even think. Even with the alliance stuff and who's coming last and who's won the whole thing. I think there was a dinner online. Didn't happen. So. Yeah, I blame myself as the leader of this group.

[D]

We're supposed to be taping a YouTube video at some point this week. TBD. Maybe we solicit some. Some ideas from the listeners. We'll read them on that. On that YouTube.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah. So there you go. All right, so Friday, feedback, RR, gmail.com, if you have a couple reasonable ideas there. Yeah. Nobody's going. I'm not going to waffle house for 16 hours or whatever.

[C]

He's not coming to Hollywood either. So just.

[D]

What if we go like a month, A month period, and whoever unnecessarily swears the most has to, like, do a live video on YouTube at some point on, like, a topic of their choosing?

[Stanford Steve]

No, but it has to be somebody else's choose within. Within reason.

[D]

They have to, like, present an argument about something.

[Stanford Steve]

The Berenstein Bears a history. Yeah, you could just go back and read. Although it wouldn't be too hard to read all those books. All right, yeah, we'll work on that. Anyway, thanks for listening to the podcast and we are taping some kind of YouTube thing, I think. I don't know.

[C]

We swear.

[Stanford Steve]

Yeah, I mean, there will be a taping. Will it be within the parameters of when we said we were going to do it? Not likely. So thanks to Wargon, thanks to Kyle, thanks to Ceruti, thanks to Jonathan Prius for making sure we have a video product to go along with the audio when you click on the Spotify tab, so subscribe to the page and the podcast Rider Solo Podcast Ringer Spot.

[Ryan Russillo]

Foreign.

[Stanford Steve]

Must be 21 and older, present in select states For Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 + and present in D.C. gambling problem. Call 1-800- gambler or visit rg-help.com call 888-78977 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit MD gambling help.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gambling helpline ma.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE NY or text HOPE NY in New York.