Latest / NY's Sports Loud Mouth (VIDEO) / March Madness Preview: Who will head to the FINAL FOUR?

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March Madness Preview: Who will head to the FINAL FOUR? · NY's Sports Loud Mouth (VIDEO)

0:00
They're going to have a ton of money to spend.
0:01
Why not putting in one of the top three offensive players in
0:05
the league? We're going to be looking at
0:14
Aaron George and saying that he can't win the big game, Michael
0:17
Jordan said. I played 82 games.
0:20
You don't see the fun doing that?
0:22
A game where you got to go. For four.
0:24
I told you, giant feet Saquon Barkley.
0:27
At this point, say whatever you want.
0:43
He's the best quarterback in the NFL.
0:45
Really. Let's do it.
1:27
You're listening to Jabba and the Mouth.
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March 23rd will be the beginning of a new show, same show, but
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it's going to be a new name. It's going to be called the New
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York's Sports Loudmouth and it's going to be featured with
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Couples will be joining us full time every Mondays and Thursdays
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and and working on the content with us and driving this content
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to the next level. So it has nothing.
3:38
I know everybody's going to ask me what happened to Jabba.
3:40
Nothing happened to Jabba. Jabba is busy right now.
3:43
His son's playing college ball. I'm working on something with
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Jabba that could be something being built in the future.
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But there's a lot going on. So I just want to make that
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announcement. I want people to know that
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there's a lot of opportunity here for where we're going.
3:57
And I want I want to thank all the fans that really have tuned
4:00
in and really appreciated all the work that we put into this.
4:02
So thank you, everybody, and stay tuned.
4:05
A lot of good and big things happening in the very near
4:08
future, including a high school product that we're bringing out
4:11
here on Long Island, New York that people are going to love as
4:13
well. All right, ladies and gentlemen,
4:15
we call this Speedy 6 Pack of the Week.
4:19
Let's have a sixer. Hey, who wants to play Drink the
4:22
Beer? It's time for the Speedy 6 pack
4:25
of the week. All righty.
4:29
So very good on the graphic fish.
4:30
I like that one a lot. With the conference championship
4:33
team will start in the Big East. Saint John's after Yukon blew
4:36
them out during the regular season in the last match up,
4:39
they get their revenge in the conference championship game.
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They blow out Yukon 72 to 52, both Zubi Zubi Ajorfore and
4:47
Bryson Hopkins 18 points each. Yukon had a shot at that one
4:50
seat if they won that game, but they will fall to #2 Saint John
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stays at 5. One of those teams that was kind
4:56
of ranked a little lower than I was expecting, but they stay at
4:59
5:00. They were a fringe team and,
5:01
and, and again, the reason why and now, now fringe team to the
5:04
tournament, but a fringe team in the top five.
5:06
A lot of people thought they could have been a top two, top
5:09
three team. They fell to the top five maybe.
5:12
Now as far as a Big East team, I think they were 18 and 1 or 18
5:15
and 2. They were great in against the
5:18
Big East teams, but not so great against the other teams that
5:21
they were playing against throughout the year.
5:24
But again, Saint John's is going to be a challenging team.
5:26
They could score something they couldn't do last year as as far
5:30
as shooting the three. They could shoot the three and
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they're very well built defensively.
5:34
You know, Rick Pitino preaches defense.
5:36
You saw what they can do against UConn.
5:39
You saw what they can do against Princeton.
5:41
This is a good defensive team. If they could play at a high
5:44
level defensively, why couldn't Saint John's make it to the the
5:47
Elite 8 or maybe in the Final Four, depending on how
5:50
everything falls? We'll have to see.
5:51
They're in a very hard bracket, but it's possible.
5:54
It's possible. I'll hint at it a little later
5:56
at the end of my 6 pack, but maybe it was one of those I was
5:59
probably hit with a worse because of their lack of a non
6:01
conference schedule because the Big East didn't play as many of
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the powerful outside of conference teams as a lot of
6:07
these other conferences. So maybe the committee said
6:09
we're going to keep you at 5:00, but five and four play pretty
6:11
much the same cluster. I think there be a four, but
6:13
nevertheless, let's move on. Fishes team that he used in his
6:16
college shot, Arizona. They also prevent another team
6:19
from being on number one seed. They beat Houston 79 and 74 to
6:22
win the Big 12. Braden Burris and Coopete 21
6:25
points each and Kingston Flemings the top 10.
6:27
Projected NBA pick just eight points in that game.
6:30
Kingston Flemings to me is going to develop as a two in the NBAI
6:35
don't think he's a one. I think he's a 2.
6:36
He's a point guard right now in college basketball and a lot of
6:40
people like this kid. I like his ability to defend and
6:43
score. He still needs to get a shot.
6:45
I, you know, I, who I compared him to Donovan Mitchell.
6:48
I think he's that type of player.
6:50
He came. Remember, Donovan Mitchell came
6:51
into the game, came. He was a defensive player,
6:54
averaged 11 points for Louisville.
6:56
He came into the NBA, developed a shot and defend, developed an
6:59
offensive game. And look at the type of player
7:01
he's becoming. He's become the spider in the
7:03
NBA and one of the more dominant forces offensively in the NBA.
7:08
I'm not surprised Arizona won this game.
7:10
The the question is, is Arizona going to lay up a cold shoulder
7:14
in the tournament as they do every single year?
7:17
This is a team that is high flying, high offensively sound
7:21
every single year, can shoot the three rebound long, lengthy,
7:24
could do everything and and do it at a high level.
7:27
And what what happens early in the tournament?
7:30
They play a team that should not beat them and knocks Arizona out
7:34
very early in the tournament. Can it happen this year?
7:37
Absolutely. I think this is the the most
7:39
wide open tournament it's been, especially with Duke losing 2 of
7:43
their best players. So and Duke was very impressive
7:46
and we'll get into that a little bit in just a few moments on
7:49
what I thought they did in their ACC Championship.
7:52
Yeah, and Houston is a lot of that same identity they were
7:54
last year. Their size may be a little more
7:56
questioned, but they actually did well in this game with that
7:58
just Arizona between the freshman stardom and the depth
8:01
that they have on the on that side of the ball, Definitely
8:03
interesting, but will the experience factor get into them?
8:06
It will be another question. All right, let's go to the one
8:08
seed that actually lucked out because they lost in their
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conference tournament the year the week before, the day before
8:13
that. Florida, they hold on to #1
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despite losing against Vanderbilt, one of my favorite
8:17
teams, Vanderbilt in the semi finals and then Arkansas takes
8:20
down Vanderbilt in the SEC championship.
8:22
Vanderbilt is a five seed. Arkansas with John Calipari in
8:25
the same region as Arizona as a four.
8:28
Arkansas got it kind of got pushed off because of John
8:32
Calipari. I, I I'm not saying Arkansas
8:35
isn't a good program. And John Calipari knows how to
8:38
recruit players. We've seen him do it with
8:39
Kentucky. He was a decent NBA coach.
8:42
He's very well respected around college basketball and the NBA,
8:46
and he's a New York guy. So you root for John Calipari.
8:50
Arkansas went far in the tournament last year.
8:53
I don't think they're going to have that type of year where
8:57
they're just going to surprise people and go all the way to the
8:59
Sweet 16 and maybe the Elite 8 and maybe go to the final.
9:02
I don't think they're that good. The interesting thought here
9:07
with all those teams that you mentioned and, and again, I, I
9:10
look at all the teams that are wide open to maybe going far in
9:13
this tournament. They all have talent on each
9:17
other's teams like Vanderbilt. They're a good team, they're a
9:20
very good team, but can they go into a tournament and take it
9:24
all the way to an Elite 8 or to a Final Four with all the talent
9:29
that's out there and so wide open this tournament is because
9:32
we don't know what Peterson's going to bring to the table in
9:34
in this tournament. He hasn't really shown up week
9:37
in and week out, but this guy is a a dominant player.
9:40
AJ2, another dominant player. BYU is in this tournament.
9:44
They can make a run. So I I mean all these teams that
9:47
you mentioned speedy yeah and, and and again, we'll see how it
9:50
all works out and how everything falls together.
9:53
There's a lot of questions with all these teams that none of
9:55
these teams are flat out going to win this tournament because
9:59
of talent now and they're. Arkansas's in that cluster, too,
10:02
with Arizona and a team we'll get to in a bit.
10:05
I know that I see that you were very high on at the start of the
10:07
year. But yeah, they were definitely
10:08
one that I thought definitely got a boost.
10:09
I thought they were 5 or 16 most of the bracketology I saw before
10:12
that. So they're rewarding for the
10:14
conference where other ones got downplayed.
10:16
Very interesting. All right, let's go to your
10:17
preseason pick in Purdue. They elevate themselves to a two
10:20
seed. They upset Michigan in the Big
10:23
10 tournament to win the Big 10 tournament.
10:25
They were good most of the year. They kind of fell off in
10:27
conference play but got hot right at the end of the year.
10:29
Veteran team Trey Kaufman ran 20 points.
10:31
Omar Cliff, Young big man, Clough, big man 21 points in
10:35
that game. Love Purdue.
10:36
I love Purdue in this tournament, especially where he
10:40
they are in the bracket. I think Purdue can go all the
10:43
way to the Final Four this year. It all depends on how everything
10:45
falls together there. There's going to be a lot of
10:49
impressive teams. I, I said it and Speedy and me
10:52
went on it on the the weekend Crunch this weekend and he asked
10:55
me, we went back and forth, do we think there could be 1/7,
10:58
seven or eight seed to go to the final four?
11:00
Absolutely. Why couldn't there be over?
11:02
Last year was all number ones. I do not believe it's going to
11:05
be all number ones this year. I think it's going to be wide
11:07
open. I think there's going to be some
11:08
surprises in the first couple of rounds.
11:11
And yeah, you're right, Speedy, I, I, I'm still going to ride or
11:14
die with Purdue. I think Purdue can absolutely go
11:16
to the Final Four this year. They have a lengthy team,
11:18
they're very well coached and they can rebound the ball.
11:21
So absolutely. Yeah, they're on the other end
11:23
of that tough gauntlet in the top five.
11:25
That's I think the best top five in that group will get to the
11:27
brackets in a in a in a bit. But that's collectively with
11:30
Arizona and Purdue, that's the top 2 is the best group.
11:33
And I think this is the team you definitely saw at the beginning
11:36
of the year. It's weird to think with both
11:37
Purdue and Arkansas, they're actually much better offensive
11:40
teams than usual and their defenses, which are normally
11:43
their coaches Forte, are actually not bad.
11:45
But. But if you look at the bracket
11:47
and how Purdue has to get and to get into the Elite 8, it's not
11:51
going to be hard. I mean, they have to play BYU
11:54
in, I think in the Sweet 16. That's where is BYU even going
11:59
to make it? Yep, the the three seed in that
12:01
is is Gonzaga, is Gonzaga. And I don't trust Gonzaga this
12:04
year. They've been up and down.
12:06
I they got I think they they were rated higher than they
12:09
should be. I actually agree with that, but
12:11
I still really do like them as a team.
12:12
I but you're right, they probably should have been a four
12:14
seed. There was a lot of teams that
12:15
were fours that probably should have been threes.
12:17
We'll get to that in a bit. All right now we'll go to your
12:19
Duke Blue Devils. They take down Virginia, 4770.
12:22
Very impressive. They win the ACC title.
12:24
Cam Boos are 13 points on his best shooting day, but 8
12:27
rebounds, 8 assists while his brother Kaden 16, five and four.
12:30
Virginia, a team that I thought maybe could have a two seed
12:32
falls to a three seed now. Virginia's going to be
12:35
dangerous. Everybody knows they're going to
12:37
be dangerous. They're very well coached, they
12:39
have a very good defense, but they can score, they can shoot,
12:42
they could do all that. It was very impressive what Duke
12:44
did against them, especially in the fourth quarter, and we got a
12:48
chance to see both boozers. We didn't see the dominance of
12:51
Cam in the game, but we if if they have any chance to win this
12:54
tournament after losing the players that they've lost late
12:57
into the season, Cam is going to have to put up 20 to 25 points
13:00
every single game. If this team expects to be elite
13:03
and to go to the final four and maybe be a championship team.
13:06
But they're going he's going to need his brother.
13:08
He's going to need some of these guys off the bench.
13:10
They still have a lot of depth. Duke has some of the best
13:13
recruit recruited players in all of the country.
13:16
Still, they're dangerous. And I'm going to say this right
13:19
now. Why couldn't Duke go to the
13:21
final four? Even with the the, the missing
13:23
or, or some of the injured players that they have, I think
13:26
Duke still can be elite and, and the way their bracket is set up
13:30
for him, I don't think they're going to maybe have to play
13:35
Kansas in the Sweet 16. Maybe if Peterson actually shows
13:39
up, I would love to see that. I would love to see Peterson
13:42
versus Boozer. That's something that you want
13:44
to see. You can see Duke versus St.
13:45
John's, too. That's true too.
13:47
And, and Petino is going to make sure, I'm sure he has that
13:51
marked. If Petino can get out and get
13:54
into the, what would they call that?
13:56
The 32? Because I think it's 32.
13:58
Yeah, they were. So St.
13:59
John's would play Kansas 32. Yes, and that it would Duke
14:02
playing against the winner TCU. That would be Sweet 16.
14:05
Yeah. So Saint John, the Duke or
14:08
Kansas versus Duke would be in the Sweet 16.
14:09
Yeah. So All right, so I'll finish it
14:12
off with this. Just the seating discrepancies
14:15
that we talked about, it seemed like the Big 10 and the Big 12
14:18
got rewarded more seating wise. Michigan State and Illinois,
14:20
despite early upsets in the conference tournament.
14:23
I know Wes wasn't very happy about Illinois losing against
14:26
Josh Silverberg's Wisconsin Badgers, but they had more
14:29
rewarded teams. Whereas the SEC like Vanderbilt,
14:32
like Kentucky only being a 7 and the ACC.
14:34
A lot of people thought North Carolina should been higher than
14:36
a six and I think Virginia maybe should have been a 2A.
14:39
Little bit of bias there, especially with Duke being the
14:42
ACC number one overall seed. No, North Carolina lost Wilson
14:44
for the rest of the tournament. I mean, that's why when you're
14:48
obviously voting or how they're setting up the bracket, they're
14:52
looking at talent and if they can go far in this tournament
14:55
and how they're going to rate these guys going into the
14:57
tournament. And Wilson is their best player.
14:59
He might not play for the rest of this tournament, maybe later
15:02
in the tournament. Remember, he broke his finger so
15:05
in a shooting hand. So I don't know.
15:08
I, I, I'm not, I'm not going to say they were wrong about giving
15:11
them a six seat. But I will say this for all the
15:14
teams that are sitting here and and where everybody's
15:18
questioning where they're rating rating or they're rating these
15:21
guys or where they're putting these guys just like Florida.
15:24
I'm not surprised Florida is where they are as a number one.
15:27
They won a national championship last year.
15:29
They're very well coached. They have a good they still have
15:31
a good roster. Yes, they they throughout the
15:35
season, they've had a couple of losses that have you shaking
15:37
your head. This is still a very good run
15:40
oil machine and and why couldn't they make it to the final four
15:44
this year or the Sweet 16 and be a challenging team with the
15:47
talent that they have? So it's speedy like you were
15:49
saying. I mean, comparing and
15:50
contrasting what the big 10 is or the the 12 is, what I see is
15:56
the way you're ranked is not going to make a difference when
15:59
you go into this tournament. It's the way you're set up or
16:02
the way you're you're matched up in this tournament.
16:05
It's where it's going to settle who's better or who is going on
16:09
and who's going home. So.
16:10
Yeah, I only brought up North Carolina because I think that
16:12
was the one that got the most backlash.
16:14
I think just because there might be some inside source of Caleb
16:17
Wilson may be returning later. And so all of a sudden you're
16:20
going to make him a higher seed, but you can't do it unless
16:22
there's a guarantee. And I think that's where it's
16:25
kind of weird. I don't know about weird I, I
16:28
just think that with the way they are bringing, because
16:32
there's a lot of teams that they were, there was a lot of crucial
16:35
thoughts that some of these, some of the teams that didn't
16:37
make it should have made it in the tournament and they fell out
16:41
of it because not all of them can make the tournament, Yeah.
16:44
So which actually we'll get to that in a bit.
16:46
We'll get it into the brackets now.
16:47
They're actually, I didn't think that was as bad this year as
16:49
we've seen in previous years. Usually it was like two or three
16:51
that are wrong, but I think it wasn't as bad this time.
16:56
The NCAA Tournament bracket was released with Duke, Arizona,
17:00
Michigan and Florida as #1 seeds.
17:03
UConn, Houston, Purdue and Iowa State made it as #2 seeds.
17:07
The Big East only had two other teams make it make it in.
17:12
Saint John's getting the number 5 seed and Villanova getting the
17:16
number 8 seed. NC State, SMU, Texas, Miami of
17:21
Ohio got in as the last four at the large bids, while teams like
17:28
San Diego State, Auburn and Oklahoma got left out of the
17:32
tournament. Former Auburn coach Bruce Pearl
17:35
believe that Auburn was robbed of a tournament spot, but
17:39
selection committee chair Keith Gill mention that they took SMU
17:45
over Auburn because their best guard, BJ Edwards is expected to
17:50
be healthy for the tournament after missing missing time with
17:55
his ankle injury. As the SEC had the most team
17:59
teams make it to the tournament with 10 while the Big 10 had
18:03
nine and both the PAC 12 and the ACC had eight.
18:10
All right, so I know Speedy, I know you're, you're always into
18:14
the tournaments, me and you go at it every single year and and
18:18
match our brackets and it's really a crapshoot.
18:22
It really is. And we're going to be doing our
18:23
bracket. And if you want to join our
18:24
bracket, our bracketology, we're going to set it up.
18:27
Reach out to Speedy, reach out to one of us.
18:29
You can join our bracketology. We're going to have like a
18:32
bracket competition, somebody maybe we'll put some money on it
18:35
and see who can win. And you know, it's all about
18:38
luck and I guess percentages, whoever wins with by percentage.
18:41
Yeah, there's a there's a lot of luck involved with when Chaz had
18:43
the winning bracket of 2023, when you kind of San Diego State
18:46
made it to the finals. Which was unbelievable.
18:48
Yeah. But when you look at the
18:50
bracket, I mean, it's evenly matched.
18:53
I love that Liu is getting in. I I know they're matched up
18:56
against Arizona and. And a lot of people think that
18:59
that's that's just going to send them, you know, send them home
19:02
early. But LIUII didn't get a chance to
19:05
see him this year. But they have a two really good
19:08
players, one guy that could be a fringe NBA player, a second
19:11
round draft pick. So Liu is a good rebounding
19:15
team, a team that is very good defensively.
19:19
They're matched up against one of the best offensive teams in
19:21
the country. So you're going to see defense
19:23
versus offense. That's going to be fun.
19:25
And by the way, congratulations to Hofstra getting into, I mean,
19:28
they're in the they're one of the fringe teams.
19:30
They're going to be playing, if I'm not mistaken, Alabama, yes,
19:34
they're matched up against Alabama.
19:36
If they beat Alabama, they move on.
19:38
So, and I'll say this about Hofstra, I, I love what Speedy
19:42
Claxton is doing and we should have went there this year,
19:45
Speedy and interviewed Speedy Claxton.
19:47
Speedy Claxton has been one of the faces of Hofstra basketball
19:52
before he went into the NBA and he had his pretty long career as
19:57
an NBA player. But Speedy has really taken that
20:00
team and brought that team to the forefront and has built
20:04
Hofstra basketball back to the to a competitive team and a team
20:08
that can compete in the maybe March Madness for the next
20:13
couple of years. You have to recruit right.
20:15
And he's recruited the right players, the players that the
20:18
fringe players that want to come to Hofstra and play at A at a
20:22
level, maybe in an NBA level, because that's what Speedy is
20:24
trying. To teach here in Long Island,
20:27
New York, in Nassau County. So that's fun to see.
20:31
The fact that we've had a couple, couple of teams make
20:33
this tournament is is really exciting.
20:35
But the one thing that I would say about this tournament, out
20:41
of all the other tournaments, there's no sure thing this year,
20:45
there really isn't if you're a betting man.
20:48
And I know there's Jeff and Snog and all these guys that bet on
20:52
sports all year round. And I know Jeff is betting on
20:57
the tournament as well as probably 90% of Americans and
21:01
probably 75% of the world is betting on this tournament
21:04
because everybody loves basketball nationally.
21:08
I look at and you said Speedy. You think the West is the best?
21:14
Yes, the top five teams collectively are the best in
21:16
that region. I disagree.
21:20
I think the best right now out of the regions and, and, and I,
21:25
I can argue that is the East. You look at teams, there are a
21:29
lot of fringe teams, teams that you're, you're, you're looking
21:33
at, you're going to cut a question, but Michigan State is
21:36
in the East with Tom Izzo. You can never bet against them.
21:40
Duke, even though I'm not a Shire fan, I expect them to be a
21:45
contender this year with the talent that they have.
21:50
UConn, they're, they could be one of my favorites.
21:53
They're A-Team. I, you know, I love their coach,
21:55
Danny Hurley. They're dangerous.
21:57
How about St. John's?
21:59
St. John's could go all the way this
22:01
year. So I just gave you 5 teams.
22:05
You mentioned five teams from the West.
22:07
I think the East is just as good as the West.
22:10
I wouldn't be surprised if the East bracket is better than all
22:14
the brackets because the games are going to be so very close
22:16
and competitive and that's what you want to see in these
22:18
tournaments. I, I think the weakest bracket
22:21
and I'll, I'll say this and I'm looking at the brackets right
22:24
now, the weakest brackets is, is probably the South.
22:27
I agree with that. And who's in the South?
22:33
Nebraska. Jabba's team.
22:34
I mean, they're A4 seat. Yeah, he won't be happy when
22:36
Vanderbilt blows them out. Probably or maybe, hey, you say
22:39
Vanderbilt, but if they if, let's say if they get out of
22:42
that, so Nebraska is matched up against Troy, could Nebraska
22:48
even get out of that Troy game? Because Troy's Troy right now is
22:52
ranked 13th. There are going to be 12 and 13
22:56
teams, fringe teams that can win in round one.
23:01
I think there's more of a chance to that this year than it's ever
23:04
been. I don't.
23:05
I wouldn't be surprised if they're at least two or three 12
23:09
or 13 teams coming out of the first round in this bracket.
23:12
Yep, I have a 12/5 with that Texas Tech Akron one in the in
23:16
the Midwest region because Texas Tech lost their best player.
23:19
And you're right, there's always a 14 three possibility to the
23:22
Ivy League upset with Penn should have been Yale.
23:24
Yale actually choked the Ivy League championship away.
23:27
They were up by 7 under 3 minutes to go and blew it.
23:29
But pen, you never know what that Ivy League upset too and
23:33
the vulnerabilities of some of these three seeds.
23:35
I I mentioned the four and fives, I think collectively are
23:37
bigger clusters this year. Again, I'm not as high on
23:40
Nebraska. I think they've been iffy in
23:42
conference play a little more, but a Kansas could be a high
23:45
point that maybe if they get Peterson actually play could be
23:49
very interesting. I you know, I always love
23:50
Alabama. You always love.
23:53
And Arkansas is interesting. I don't think they should be a
23:56
four seed necessarily. They're big.
23:58
Arkansas is a big team and that's what John Calipari goes
24:02
when he when he's recruiting players, he wants the biggest,
24:04
the strongest guys. They're going to bounce off the
24:06
boards and and do the things, do The Dirty work for him.
24:09
They're not, he's not going to be able to recruit the players
24:11
that he got for Kentucky, but he's going to get enough because
24:14
he's John Calipari just like Pitino.
24:16
Look what Pitino has built over there in Saint John's in such a
24:19
short time. He, he's drawing players that
24:21
want to get into the portal, even if they're older players
24:24
and play for him because Pitino is a winner and Pitino is going
24:27
to get you the NIL money that you need, which he's got.
24:30
That's such a, a great position right now and bringing in that,
24:34
that nil money, which Pitino has bragged about over the last
24:37
couple of last couple of months. So I, I, I think also, and I'll
24:42
look at I'm looking at the South right now.
24:45
There could be a lot of surprise teams.
24:46
One of them is Texas A and I me too.
24:48
Saint Mary's. There's a lot of questions.
24:51
I know we, we were talking to Wes over the weekend and Wes
24:55
like Saint Mary's and and so does Reno Johnny.
24:58
They both love Saint Mary's and Saint Mary's.
25:01
They always get into the tournament.
25:02
They're a lot higher than I thought they should be.
25:05
I, I, I thought Saint Mary's if they were going to be seated,
25:08
maybe a nine seed. I I.
25:10
I was seeing mostly as a nine as well.
25:12
Yeah, I thought they were a nine seed.
25:14
I didn't think they were a seven seed.
25:16
So they they were rated pretty, pretty high by the committee.
25:20
But they're matched up against a team in Texas A&M that is very
25:25
good and they can score, they can do things and it could cause
25:29
a lot of problems on the board. So I, I was very surprised.
25:33
Again, I know everybody has Houston coming out of here.
25:36
Maybe even either there are people that have Houston and
25:40
they're probably have people of Florida coming out of this.
25:42
I'm going to tell you this right now, I wouldn't be surprised if
25:45
a surprise team like Vanderbilt comes out of this or Texas A&M.
25:51
That's literally my elite aid in that region because here's the
25:54
thing that I think is the other trend that goes in the direction
25:56
experienced teams a lot more rather than these flashier
25:59
freshman teams win. Now Fish, I was discussing this
26:02
with you when you were talking about Arizona and that's the
26:04
only thing that hurts against Arizona side is they don't have
26:08
this. The average age is like 19.5
26:10
compared to Texas A and it was actually one of the oldest teams
26:13
in the country. Vanderbilt is another one that's
26:14
like that too. Michigan's an interesting
26:17
combination of veteran and transfer portal type guys that's
26:20
very built like Florida is, as is Purdue, as is Gonzaga.
26:24
A lot of those teams. That's the trend now of what
26:26
wins in college basketball. That's why, yeah, we've talked
26:30
about a lot of these prospects, Darren Peterson, Agent Abanto
26:32
seems like that. It's not a lot of them what wins
26:35
in today's game. I was snake bitten by Florida
26:38
last year. I'll admit it.
26:39
I but they have a philosophy that a lot of teams have adapted
26:42
now this year where you could get veteran transfers to work.
26:46
And a lot of those teams that I listed are really good
26:48
combinations of that. UCLA is another one too.
26:50
That's a very interesting sleeper in that in that region.
26:53
That's why I yeah, maybe the East didn't have the top five
26:55
that I was thinking, but they definitely have, I think the top
26:57
7 when you look at a team like Louisville.
26:59
And you, I'm going to, I'm going to throw you a curveball for all
27:01
your fans out there. If Villanova gets out of the
27:06
first round, I wouldn't be surprised if they upset Arizona.
27:11
I wouldn't even be surprised. I know, I know Fish has Arizona
27:15
going all the way. But Villanova is a good
27:17
defensive team. They're very good.
27:19
And I think they have the size and they have the defense
27:24
advantage against Arizona. Arizona is not.
27:27
And throughout these tournaments over the years, they're not very
27:29
good defensively. They don't know how to stop
27:31
teams, especially when teams can shoot the three and Villanova is
27:35
going to be shooting a lot of threes in that game if they
27:37
match up. Now, Villanova still has Utah
27:39
State. They got to get, they got to get
27:41
out of that, and then Utah State's a good team.
27:43
I've always been following for them a lot.
27:44
They're not a very good. Tournament, but they're a good
27:47
team and they're going to they're going to cause problems
27:49
against Villanova early in the first round.
27:51
But if Villanova gets out of that, don't be surprised if
27:55
Villanova knocks out a knocks off Arizona not because Arizona
27:59
is not a contending team and they're not they're not a
28:02
championship built team. I just think Arizona is a that
28:05
falls apart, falls apart so. I I thought that was the
28:09
narrative too, and I went on my out on my limb and call your
28:11
shop because I'm not risking any money on it.
28:13
But then I watched the Big 12 championship game, Meryl, where
28:16
they were up big on Houston and blew it.
28:20
They'd let Houston come all the way back.
28:23
But how did this young group, and you're right, speed, it's a
28:25
very young group. Two of those guys are going to
28:28
be in the lottery, two of them not 1-2.
28:30
KOA. Pete's going to be a top ten
28:32
pick and so is Buries. If he has a good tournament, I
28:35
think he's probably going to be in like maybe 10 to 15, but I
28:38
think he's a steal. This guy is fantastic
28:41
defensively on the perimeter. He's fantastic with the ball in
28:44
his hands and can create his own shot.
28:46
Him and Pete are doing so much and then they have the senior
28:50
leadership and then they have the big depth.
28:52
They got a 72 centre and they have like 4-3 other bigs that
28:57
they could throw at guys. They could play big, they could
28:59
play small. They have the leadership.
29:01
I I love their route to the to the championship.
29:05
I'm worried about Calipari maybe at the one verse 4 later on in
29:10
that. I would also watch out if
29:12
Wisconsin wins that game. I would also watch out for them
29:14
too. They're a good team.
29:15
Well, I, I just think that I saw a defensive team like Houston
29:21
get smothered by a team that supposedly doesn't have a good,
29:25
good defense, good enough defense to stop someone, be able
29:27
to commit their offense against a good defensive team.
29:29
Because Arizona's offense I think plays against every single
29:33
defense in the country and that's super important.
29:35
They don't need the three. They can shoot the three, but
29:38
they can play inside of the three-point line, which is going
29:42
to be really important in this tournament.
29:45
I'm going to tell you this right now for all the fans out there
29:48
and, and I know everybody listens to us and, and I've been
29:51
listening to this craziness from Fish over the last couple of
29:55
weeks, telling us Arizona, Arizona, Arizona.
29:59
I'm not, I'm not betting on Arizona in any kind of way
30:03
because I have seen this team choke every single tournament,
30:08
every single tournament. They've had so many great
30:10
players, so many great teams over the years.
30:13
You're talking about elite players, NBA players on those
30:16
rosters. And what did they?
30:17
Do they do? I'm not going to bet on it.
30:20
I'm not going to bet on it. I I bet the 20 of it.
30:23
I. Picked the 2017 Arizona.
30:25
I know I remember that. Yep.
30:27
And Lori Markinium is a great NBA player and they've had
30:30
they've had some good NBA players, guys that were elite
30:33
guys, were top draft picks and and they couldn't win the
30:36
tournament. So I and, and honestly, there
30:40
are times that Arizona should have went to the Final Four
30:42
because of the bracket, the way it was set up for them and they
30:45
couldn't even get it. They couldn't even get it to the
30:46
Sweet 16. I forget the year after too.
30:48
Or like they were a four seed and there were more people
30:51
picking them than the top three seeds when DeAndre was there.
30:54
And who did they lose? 2 fish your Buffalo bulls and.
30:57
NATO. Before he took the Alabama job.
30:59
Was like the high point of my fandom for my college ever.
31:04
They were so bad for so long. Errol, they used to run this
31:06
offense. I it was the same play every
31:09
single time down the court. They were ranked I think like
31:12
dead last in football and somewhere near the bottom in
31:16
basketball for most of my time in college at at SUNY Buffalo.
31:20
But the offense they ran, they had a 611 guy from Morocco
31:25
taking threes who was like a statue out there.
31:28
His name was like Yasim the dream.
31:30
It'd be he. So I remember him, and then they
31:33
had a dunker power forward named Bortz who would try to get a
31:37
rebound and dunk it. And he was actually pretty good
31:39
at that big white guy who could jump.
31:41
And then it was a bunch of chuckers and one guy who could
31:44
drab, who can dribble, whose brother actually was pretty good
31:48
on Penn State. Turner Battle was the guy and
31:51
his brother was another Battle. Look at you throw out names.
31:54
Turner Battle. I'm telling you, Turner Battle,
31:56
we we've rooted for these guys like crazy when I was 18, Errol,
32:00
you don't forget those guys names, Niffin.
32:02
Nematundra. If Nathan played for that
32:05
Buffalo team, I would have had a dude big like A.
32:09
Nathan's like a Smurf. There's no way he's playing
32:12
basketball. He's like 5 foot 5 at best.
32:15
I mean, the guy's like a little Smurf.
32:17
Now the real question how? How would these college
32:19
basketball players do if they all had to wear blue Blazers and
32:22
play? That's true, too.
32:23
Could you imagine that? I mean, you could see Nathan,
32:25
like if he was at the NCAA tournament, he's walking,
32:28
somebody gives him a mic, You see him run on.
32:30
He's wearing that polo, like bright red with the blue blazer
32:34
and he's like these camouflage pants.
32:37
And you see Nathan, you can't miss the guy.
32:40
You can't miss him. A 5 foot, 65 foot five guy
32:42
running on a court trying to can I get an interview with you?
32:46
What's your name? Ali Baba over here.
32:50
You know it. Would it would look like Space
32:52
Jam, like he was going up to the Monstars or something like that?
32:56
Ali Baba ANYWAYS, I like, listen, I like Purdue.
33:03
I like Purdue. I, I think I wouldn't be
33:06
surprised if Purdue gets out of the West.
33:08
I, I, I think the way it's set up for them, the only targeted
33:12
team that I would be worried with them is BYU.
33:14
And that's because AJ because AJ is going to play hard.
33:18
He's going to play. He already said he'll play 47
33:20
minutes if he has to. He will play as many minutes as
33:22
he possibly can to help his team win a national championship.
33:26
Are you going to bet against the kid?
33:28
No, I, I'm not going to, I, I don't depend.
33:31
I don't bet against guys that go out there week in and week out
33:34
and play hard. I'll, I'll, I'll say this about
33:37
a JAJ plays harder than Cam and he plays harder than Peterson.
33:45
He wants it now. Does that mean he's better than
33:48
Cam? I don't think he's better than
33:52
Cam. And that's, and people can argue
33:53
with me all they want on social media, think I'm crazy, but look
33:58
what Cam does what how, how he makes his team.
34:01
Everybody had Virginia win in that game.
34:03
Everybody with the, the injuries.
34:05
That's why Carlos Boozer went after, after they won.
34:08
He went on, he went on on the court dancing and and prancing
34:12
around. Because I, I don't think Carlos
34:14
Boozer thought that that Duke was going to win that game.
34:18
And everybody's giving, everybody's giving Shire all the
34:20
credit helps in the game, which is so funny.
34:24
Had nothing to do with Shire. It really had nothing to do with
34:28
it. Jaden was unbelievable.
34:30
But why? Why is it Shire getting credit
34:32
when two of his guys that he would normally play were hurt?
34:35
So he played whoever was left. Oh, great coaching, great job
34:40
putting in the guys that you didn't want to play that
34:43
actually helped you win the tournament.
34:45
Good job by you. Yeah.
34:46
Fish, you brought up the graphic before of the coaching gauntlet
34:49
in that region. I would say John Shire would
34:51
probably be #7 of the top eight teams, I mean.
34:55
There there's a half dozen rated bamers.
34:57
These got to go through Arrow. Did you see, did you see where
35:00
they rated John Shire as the top five elite coaches in the NCAA?
35:05
Where they rated him #1 Where? That's crazy.
35:08
What do you mean God? Whoever made that list that
35:10
might be just as bad as that all time coaches list you did for in
35:14
Like Flynn. Probably shires like daughter or
35:16
something for a school project or maybe or whatever.
35:19
But you realize he's got they've got Danny Hurley is the two
35:22
seed. Izzo is the three seed.
35:25
Speedy they got then they got Self and Kansas and Peterson as
35:29
the four seed. They got Pitino at the five
35:32
seed. I'm telling you they've they got
35:35
Louisville and UCLA Speedy. Tell me the coaches names on
35:38
those two, Pat. Kelsey, who's very good, very
35:40
underrated for a while, built a program that was in poverty for
35:42
a while. Louisville had us all that debt
35:44
and stuff like that. I they're, they're an
35:46
interesting sleeper to watch too.
35:47
And then UCLA is Mick Cronin, who took them to a Final Four or
35:49
five years ago. I'm telling you right now, I'm
35:52
telling you right now the Big East is the best out of all the
35:55
regions. I'm telling you right now,
35:57
you're the best games are coming from the Big East.
35:59
I I think there's something real interesting going to happen with
36:02
the top of the draft. You were mentioning a second
36:04
ago, the Bansa, if he can carry his team to the Sweet 16 because
36:08
they are vastly inferior to the to the Kansas and Duke for those
36:12
other two guys at the top of the draft.
36:14
If he can do that, I think he he locks up the first pick.
36:19
I think he does if he can do it. But if they go one and out, like
36:22
you remember Kevin Durant, he was a great college basketball
36:25
player, but they were one and done when they got to March.
36:28
And did he go first? No, he did not.
36:31
No, he didn't. Two teams, their player no
36:33
slouch either. NC State's a very interesting
36:35
one too, because they were another one that they struggled
36:37
at the end of the year, but they were.
36:38
So they were dropped all the way to an 11.
36:40
They were really good in the top 25 in the AC in the ACC all
36:43
year, too. And they're another team that
36:45
has a lot of experience. Will Wade's a good coach.
36:47
She was there at LSU before a scandal in Texas.
36:50
They have a chip on their shoulder too with all this.
36:52
The stuff that they've gone through with their coaching
36:54
changes too. And you know, Sean Miller after,
36:57
I don't love him taking all the NIL money and stuff like that,
36:59
but he wants to prove himself again.
37:00
I think I think this is the best tournament for number twos.
37:04
I think they're the best number twos the tournament has ever
37:07
had. If you look at it, Houston is a
37:09
#2, right? UConn is a #2 so I'm.
37:13
I'm looking at the number that's on one side.
37:15
Yeah, Purdue. Yeah, Purdue on a.
37:18
Purdue and in Iowa State. And.
37:20
And honestly, in my opinion, the Midwest is the most wide open
37:24
bracket because Michigan did not end the season as strong as you
37:27
would like to see number one seed end of season.
37:30
Then you got Iowa State, who played everyone tough all year
37:33
in that tough Big 12, and then Virginia, which dropped.
37:38
And then after that, that Bama team versus Hofstra, Bama lost
37:43
their second leading scorer. I'm going to talk about it in
37:45
the sports minute. He's in jail.
37:47
He's off the team. That's a problem for Bama.
37:51
And then it's like Texas Tech good, maybe Tennessee, maybe
37:56
Kentucky. Not a great Kentucky team, no.
37:58
They're not good. I think they're losing.
37:59
You know, and then it's like. They haven't picked but since
38:03
since John Calipari. They've been streaky.
38:04
All year you could I, I think IO state, even though I don't think
38:08
they're in the caliber of the other two seeds, I think they
38:11
probably got the easiest path like that.
38:13
That's not a tough like, that's as wide open as it gets.
38:17
I like them more in Houston. You can have a real low seed
38:20
possibly come out over there and it wouldn't surprise me because
38:24
I, I think it's pretty even. I tend to agree with Errol
38:26
though with when you look at the South region as potentially
38:28
having sleepers that could come out of there too.
38:30
I mentioned Vanderbilt already. Clemson's another interesting
38:33
one too, Another tough ACC team. And I mentioned on my call Your
38:36
shot a few weeks ago the trends do not bode well for repeat
38:40
champions outside of UConn because they broke every trend
38:42
imaginable in 2024 when they went back-to-back for a
38:44
defending champion type team. So maybe there is more
38:47
vulnerability to Florida there playing very overconfident and
38:50
they again, they squeaked into a one seed is definitely a
38:53
possibility too. And even some of those other
38:55
teams, Texas A&M we mentioned VCU is another interesting one
38:58
too if Caleb Wilson is hurt. And I think they can make a lot
39:02
of noise to winning their their conference tournament this year
39:04
as well. Always an experienced, well
39:06
coached team with them. Are you going to be surprised if
39:08
Hofstra knocks you off Alabama? I would be only because I really
39:11
like Alabama, but I'm. Taking it bro, I'm taking.
39:14
I'm taking it all right. Why not?
39:16
Why couldn't? I was hoping they were going to
39:18
play Kansas because. Because if they knock off
39:21
Alabama, they would be not. They would be matching up
39:25
against Texas Tech or Akron. And I think they could be both
39:28
those teams too. Could you imagine Hofstra get
39:31
into the Sweet 16? That would be interesting.
39:33
I actually have that Akron upset because of the Texas Tech
39:35
injury. But yeah, that would be well,
39:37
very well earned if they could beat Alabama, who I think of the
39:40
four seeds right now probably look like the highest quality,
39:43
unless you we'll see with Kansas if they can get all their guys.
39:45
Well, like Fish said, losing your your second best scorer to
39:49
to the tournament. Now is Alabama going to put up
39:53
at no points against a team like Hofstra and speedy likes to run
39:56
and gun. He likes to play fast pace.
39:58
I I was reading about Hofstra and what made Hofstra so good
40:01
this year is is the way they they.
40:02
Run up, up and down the court as fast as they do and and they
40:06
play high octane offense. So in this kind of tournament,
40:10
you're going to have to play that high pace, that high pace
40:13
against Alabama, especially Alabama, who's a good scoring
40:15
team. But they always have been and
40:16
they are very fast-paced as well.
40:19
And the question is with them is the same thing that issued them
40:21
in 22 is their their size? Do they have enough of that?
40:24
That's where I started to worry if they played Michigan later,
40:26
because Michigan fish like you were talking about has the size.
40:29
You know, there's questions with the health of of Yaxel.
40:31
He got suffered an ankle injury against Purdue, but that's going
40:35
to be if Alabama survives out of there.
40:37
That's what could be interesting for somebody like Iowa State or
40:39
even on the the bottom of that bracket with Virginia, who I
40:42
really like as they're they say you top 20 offense defensive
40:46
efficiency teams usually win the championship in Virginia, I
40:49
think was one of those ten teams.
40:51
Iowa State was another one that was as was Michigan in that
40:54
region. Arizona obviously was fish.
40:55
I think they were two and one and then Duke, obviously that's
40:58
the number one overall seed is going to be that too.
41:00
Vanderbilt was another one, as was Gonzaga.
41:02
It's. Going to be fun to watch guys.
41:05
We're going to have our bracket. If you want to join our bracket,
41:07
you're more than welcome to. We are.
41:09
We usually do our brackets on Tuesday or Wednesday, probably
41:13
Wednesday this week. It's it's a very busy time for
41:16
all of us. So but we're working on it.
41:19
If you want to join a bracket, Speedy will post it up and and
41:23
you can join a bracket that we need.
41:25
We usually have 10 to 12 teams. Last year we only had eight.
41:28
I think it was something. Yeah, we had the, we had the
41:31
betting guys and our guys, I think really.
41:32
Yeah, I don't think we made it public last year, So we'll make
41:35
it public as well as enter. All of us will enter it.
41:38
And if you guys are interested, we'll definitely post it on all
41:41
the socials. For you, everybody will put $20
41:43
into it and whoever wins, you know, when it comes to points,
41:46
they win themselves, you know, 100 bucks or 100 and 150 bucks.
41:50
I mean, I mean, it's all luck. You don't know how it's going to
41:53
work out. So it you can guess, you can
41:57
predict, but doesn't always happen the way that you predict
41:59
it to be. So that's why March Madness is
42:01
so open and so fun to watch. So stay tuned.
42:04
Anyways, my golf clap of the week.
42:07
This deserves a golf clap. No doubt.
42:10
Golf clap. Golf clap.
42:14
All right, ladies and gentlemen, my golf clap of the week goes to
42:17
Darren Moji as he decided to trade a seventh round pick this
42:22
year in 2026 for Mika Fitzpatrick and then extended
42:26
him to a three-year, $40 million contract to one of the best
42:29
safeties in the league. He flipped this.
42:31
Now, everybody was questioning what they were going to do with
42:33
Justin Fields. Are they going to wave him?
42:36
Are they going to drop him? Well, Darren Moji had some other
42:39
plan. And boy, oh, boy, this was a
42:42
success for both Kansas City and the New York Jets.
42:47
The New York Jets trade Justin Fields.
42:50
Listen to this for next year's Kansas City Chiefs sixth round
42:55
draft pick. So he gained 1/6 for next year
42:58
and in return, The Jets are going to pay 7 million of Justin
43:03
Fields salary this year to trade him to Kansas City to be the
43:06
backup of Patrick Mahomes, which we don't know if you'll be ready
43:09
for the, you know, the beginning of the year.
43:11
Maybe he will, maybe he won't. But Justin Fields will be
43:13
backing up Patrick Mahomes and The Jets get themselves a sixth
43:16
round draft pick after training a seventh.
43:18
Well, 2 sevenths over the last couple of weeks.
43:21
So this is an absolute home run. Think about it.
43:25
The Jets got a sixth round draft pick and only had to pay
43:28
$7,000,000 of Justin Fields money this year for a sixth
43:34
round draft. I mean it, it's a slam dunk.
43:35
It is an absolute slam dunk for Darren and Darren Mochi slowly
43:40
but surely is looking like the GM of the offseason.
43:44
Think about some of the moves that he has made so far this
43:46
year and he's not spending a lot of money, $7,000,000 isn't going
43:50
to burn a hole in the New York Jets pockets.
43:52
And still The Jets have the 4th or the 3rd still most money to
43:57
spend next offseason because three of these guys are going to
44:01
be off the cap next year because they're going to be free agents.
44:05
If they want to bring them back, they can bring them back.
44:07
If they don't, they don't have to.
44:09
And the that's a sitting pretty next year with three first round
44:11
draft picks and not trading, and now next year adding a sixth
44:15
round draft pick in a draft that's better than it is this
44:17
year. So who's better than Taryn Moji?
44:21
So my Golf Club goes to not Kansas City, not Justin Fields,
44:26
not the $7,000,000 they're sending to Kansas City.
44:28
No, it is Darren Moji who it looks like a complete genius
44:33
right now for the New York Jets, for all the fans out there that
44:36
likes to take shots of Aaron, Aaron Rodgers, the whole debacle
44:41
with Aaron Rodgers, even Aaron Glenn this past season.
44:44
The Jets have something cooking and Darren Moji looks like he
44:49
looks like he knows what he's doing.
44:50
So my Golf Club goes to the moocher.
44:53
The moocher. Thank you.
44:56
Thank you for giving us another pick, another success and
44:59
another hole in Speedy's ass. Thank you to all the fans on
45:03
Apple and Spotify following us on on video and audio, all the
45:07
different platforms that were on X Instagram, TikTok, Jabba in
45:11
the mouth. By the way, our show is
45:13
transitioning into the New York, well, New York sports loudmouth,
45:18
which will be next week. We're working on everything on
45:21
the back end. But yeah, it's going to be it's
45:23
same show, but we're going to have Quinton couples joining us
45:26
full time and it's going to be very interesting.
45:29
I can tell you that. Another voice, a lot of
45:31
craziness and Quinton doesn't like losing arguments, so
45:37
that'll be interesting. ANYWAYS, yeah, Speedy, who do we
45:40
have on Thursday? Nothing else.
45:42
I'm sure Nathan will have something planned, something to
45:45
want. Soda's a bitch some, but maybe
45:47
we get want soda on the show. What do you think Speedy?
45:50
I want to do a whopping. What do you think?
45:53
I don't know what Nathan would have to do to do that.
45:56
How about rattling her? Maybe he what?
46:00
Or he is goofy. Well, somebody's goofy, right?
46:03
Could you do that? Like, all right, that's it for a
46:07
show. Good night.
46:09
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