Welcome Back to the Tradition's Finest Podcast! Episode 133 - "The Hick from French Lick Episode" includes a discussion of the following sports-related topics: - NCAA: News & Storylines - - NCAA College Basketball: The NCAA has initiated the final steps to expand the men's & women's college basketball tournaments to 76 teams, sources told ESPN Tuesday evening - - The expansion, which has been discussed for well over a year, is on track to be formalized in the upcoming weeks and would begin this coming season - - Sources indicated mid-May as a potential timeframe for an announcement, although there are still steps to take in terms of approvals via various NCAA committees - - Once the contracts are completed, the NCAA also would need approval from various committees, including the men's & women's basketball committees, the men's & women's basketball oversight committees, the Division I cabinet and the Division I board of governors - - The added finances would cover the additional logistics cost for both the men's & women's tournaments - - The primary driver of this expansion hasn't been money, but rather access for at-large bids for power conferences - the expansion has been pushed primarily by power conferences, which have grown throughout the course of the current deal - - The mechnics of the expansion in the men's tournament would include eight (8) additional at-large bids, and what's known now as the First Four, would include eight (8) teams playing four (4) games in Dayton, Ohio, would expand to 12 games played by 24 teams at two sites, one of which was expected to remain in Dayton, and the location of the new site has yet to be determined - - The expansion would lead to an additional eight (8) men's games, meaning the Tuesday & Wednesday of the NCAA Tournament would features 24 of the 76 men's teams, that number now includes eight (8) teams who would have qualified for the traditional bracket that would sqaure off against the eight (8) at-large additions - - The traditional 64-team men's bracket would still begin on Thursday and look much of the same, with the major difference being that more teams would qualify as traditional "at-large" bids, that would have to play earlier than the 64-team bracket. . .Q: What are your thoughts on the NCAA initiating the final steps to expand the men's and women's basketball tournaments to 76 teams?. . .NCAA College Football: "A Sorsby Dilemma:"Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby will take an "immediate indefinite leave of absence" from the football program as he enters a residential treatment program for a gambling addiction, the school announced Monday, as the NCAA is investigating Sorsby's gambling, industry sources told The Athletic - - Sorsby, a fifth-year senior, transferred to Texas Tech in January as one of the most coveted players in the transfer portal after two seasons at Cincinnati - - Following the news, Texas Tech has said that it is committed to supporting Sorsby through his recovery process, but there is no announced timetable for Sorsby's treatment or his return to the Red Raiders - - Industry sources confirmed an ESPN report that Sorsby bet on Indiana football in 2022 while he was a redshirt freshman for the Hoosiers, as his gambling continued since then, according to sources, but the full extent is not yet clear - - Industry sources also informed The Athletic that Sorsby attended Cincinnati Reds' games on repeated occasions and placed live wagers on balls & strikes, with bets ranging anywhere from $2.50 to less than a $1 per pitch - and he placed a significant number of wagers in recent years - as the overwhelming majority were for smaller dollar amounts on various sports, including live bets on UFC matches, which is allowable under NCAA rules as long as the athlete is of legal betting age, primarily because the UFC is not a sport in which the NCAA hosts a sanctioned championship - - Sources who have reviewed the betting data told On3, dating back to 2022, he placed more than $20k wagers and at one point averaged 20 bets per day - - The NCAA is likely to permanently ban Sorsby, or for the QB to be deemed ineligible, pending their investigation - - According to updated NCAA sports betting guidelines passed in 2023, players who bet on games involving their own school face potential permanent loss of eligibility, which also applies if they engaged in activities to influence the outcome or knowingly provide insider information to people involved in sports betting, and also, last October, all three (3) NCAA divisions passed a rule change allowing players and staff to bet on pro sports, but the rule was rescinded a month later when more than two-thirds of Division I schools voted to rescind the change - - Sorsby only has one year of eligibility remaining, and so, if he returns to football but is ruled ineligible by the NCAA, he could choose to enter the NFL Supplemental Draft, which typically takes place in July or August - as former Ohio State QB Terrelle Pryor was selected in the 2011 Supplemental Draft after facing suspension by the NCAA over the Ohio State tattoo/memorabilia scandal. . .Q: What are your thoughts on the news/story surrounding Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby? How do you anticipate this story playing out: will the NCAA allow him to return to Texas Tech for his final year of remaining eligibility? Or will he be deemed ineligible?. . . - NFL - - New England Patriots HC Mike Vrabel and former sideline reporter Dianna Russini were "all over each other," at a secluded bar in New York City six (6) years ago before they were caught holding hands & hugging at an Arizona resort - as depicted in the exclusive new pics obtained by Page Six, the Patriots' coach and NFL reporter were spotted together inside the dimly lit Tribeca Tavern in the early hours of May 2020 - - They sat close to one another while conversing at the bar, and at one point, they appeared to share a kiss - - At the time the pictures were captured, Vrabel was working as the HC of the Tennessee Titans, while Russini was an NFL reporter at ESPN - - And just when you think this story couldn't get any stranger, some new information has come to light: Apparently, following a four-game skid back in 2022, when Vrabel was still the HC of the Titans, Russini made him a Spotify playlist titled "Turnin The Page," as the playlist was an attempt from Russini to help cheer up Vrabel in the midst of a tough stretch of football. . .Let's break it down, shall we?: We have Latto's "Big Energy" sandwiched between two Beyonce tracks, followed by the awful, bro-country anthem "House Party" by Sam Hunt, and a bunch of pop & electronic slip. . .Q: What are your thoughts surrounding the ongoing Mike Vrabel-Dianna Russini scandal?. . .The Minnesota Vikings traded Pro Bowl edge rusher Jonathan Greenard to the Philadelphia Eagles, the teams announced last Friday night - - In return, the Vikings received a third-round pick in 2026 (No.98 overall pick) and another third-rounder in 2027, as the Vikings also sent the No.244 pick in this year's draft to the Eagles - - Greenard, who turns 29 in May, had been seeking a new contract along with a pay raise, and he landed such a deal with the Eagles, signing a four-year, $100 million deal, according to a league source, with $50 million guaranteed - - While the Vikings didn't necessarily want to move Greenard, this outcome provided the team with extra draft capital and more financial flexibility, as well as a runaway for third-year edge rusher Dallas Turner to continue to develop & ascend in the league - - In the aftermath of this move, the Vikings are likely to use at least one of their remaining premium draft picks on the defensive line or the edge rusher position. . .Q: What are your thoughts on the Philadelphia Eagles acquiring edge rusher Jonathan Greenard from the Vikings?. . .2026 NFL Draft Recap & Analysis: The 2026 NFL Draft wasn't short on excitement: QB Ty Simpson to the Rams midway through the first round? Big defensive additions for the Cowboys? A dynamic RB to the Cardinals? Two brothers going to the same secondary? Eight (8) trades on Day 1 and 41 across all three (3) days? - - That was fun!. .Now we take it all in and try to make sense of the picks: Which teams nailed their selections from start to finish, tackling needs, sticking to the board & actively getting better? Which teams found steals in some places but reached in others? And which teams made real head-scratching moves, missing big opportunities to get value or fill a hole on the roster? In this particular segment, JD & Spencer review and analyze some of the most notable picks of the 2026 NFL Draft, provide their individual input regarding some of the most buzzworthy picks across the league: The 2026 NFL Draft began last Thursday in Pittsburgh with the Las Vegas Raiders making former Indiana QB ___________________ the No.1 overall pick - - The New York Jets selected former Texas Tech EDGE ___________________ with the No.2 overall pick - - The Arizona Cardinals selected former Notre Dame RB _____________________ with the No.3 overall pick, while the Tennessee Titans selected former Ohio State WR __________________ with the No.4 pick - - The New York Giants selected former Ohio State LB __________________, while the Kansas City Chiefs completed the trade to move up for the No.6 overall pick, for which they used on former LSU CB _______________________ - - The Washington Commanders selected former Ohio State LB _________________, while the New Orleans Saints selected former Arizona State WR _________________ with the No.8 pick - - The Cleveland Browns completed a trade to move up in the draft, selectin...