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From Pumpkin Spice to Playoffs: Your Guide to a Cozy and Crazy College Cup · The BIG LIFE

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Hey, Big Life listeners, we hope you are just as excited as we are for the near
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playoff season. And our sponsor, Snugglewool, is ready to help us kick off today's
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episode with their top three tips for making the most of offseason upcoming this fall.
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Our first tip is to get festive.
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I can't emphasize this enough. Getting festive is one of my favorite parts of
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the fall and holiday season.
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And I'm pretty sure I just felt the serotonin rushing back to my brain just
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thinking about that holiday decor. more.
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And tip number two for making the most of this holiday season this fall, eat good.
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I know it's officially pumpkin spice season, so why not embrace these fall flavors
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that the season brings or even try some new things.
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And of course, Thanksgiving is all about eating good. And everyone knows the
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real tree is a friend, Friendsgiving.
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And our final and most important tip, get cozy.
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Light those fall scents of candles, sip that hot cocoa, and of course,
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take time to relax in your Snuggable, especially during these colder Michigan months.
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My Snuggable is a must-have, and I'm very picky when it comes to what I consider
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a comfy fit that I can just lounge around in.
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It has to fit a certain way, it has to feel a certain way, and I honestly don't
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It's a hoodie, blanket, and pillow plushie all in one.
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They're so cute with so many different designs, perfectly oversized.
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Just stretchy enough, and of course, super soft.
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Trust me when I say you need to snag one for yourself at plushable.com and be
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sure to use the code THEBIGLIFE for 15% off your snuggable.
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As always, let's soccer on, but also remember to take time to soccer off during this off season.
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Hey everyone, and welcome back to The Big Life. Jordan, we are on the same continent. How are you?
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So much better now. I can feel your presence. I'm just so much happier.
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The world's a bit better. you know days are lighter but no seriously you text
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me when we were going to record and I was so thrown off guard I was like,
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how in the world are you going to record at these hours? You're six hours ahead
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and you're not anymore. We can actually record it in a normal time.
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We've missed you. America has missed you, Sam. You're so sweet.
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You're so sweet. It's wonderful to be back.
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Hasn't really hit me. I'm back. I did have a 25-hour travel day this weekend and jet lag sucks.
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I've been waking up at 4 a.m. because it's like 11 my time.
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So my body's like, you're sleeping in. Wake up. And so it's been rough.
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But guys, let me tell you when I got to go to Target yesterday and I walked up and down every aisle.
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I had my Starbucks, like Sweden's great and everything, but like nothing, nothing hits like home.
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I was going to, was that your number one thing you've missed then is your target?
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I think just like the ability to drive. Honestly, I got in my car.
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My family was worried about me driving because I haven't driven a car in eight months.
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So my dad did get in the car with me and like took me on a driving lesson because
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they were worried. I was going to forget.
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I didn't forget how to drive in case anyone was wondering. So like this afternoon,
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I had some time to myself and like, there's like a couple of songs that have
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like been released over the last eight months.
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And I'm like, this would just kill to be in your car by yourself,
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like screaming along to, and I haven't had that opportunity.
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So stopped at Starbucks, got me a pumpkin spice latte.
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Cause I haven't had a real American pumpkin spice latte this season,
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drove to target screaming my songs in the car.
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And let me tell you, I was like, dang, I'm home. This is fantastic.
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How long are you home for again? I'm home for six weeks. So So preseason in
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Sweden, we'll start our first training is January 9th.
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So I'll fly back like January 5th, January 6th to prevent, you know,
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jet lag, all that fun stuff.
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And so, yeah, it's interesting. It's kind of like one of those,
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like I have six weeks before I know I'll be gone for another year.
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And so fitting as much in as possible and bouncing between here and Iowa and
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like seeing like the list of people, it's like, oh, I have to see this person.
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I have to try to coordinate this. It's a little stressful.
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I'm not going to lie. So it's going to be interesting to be home.
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Oh, yeah. I feel like home, like when you're away for so long,
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it becomes more of like a to-do list. There's a checklist of things you need to get done in that time.
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It's less a vacation, less more of a like, yeah, like a chore. Yeah. Oh.
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But yeah, so you'll have plenty of target runs and time to do all that then. You're six weeks here.
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That's the truth. That's the truth. I went and bought my gym membership today.
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So I did. I broke my cardinal rule and went to the gym today.
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But I didn't actually work out. I didn't work out.
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So day one, check. We'll see how long this lasts. I guarantee you by the end
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of this week, I will be in the gym.
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But that's just a sanity thing. I think also, like we all know,
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like we love our families.
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But when you live at home and you haven't lived at home for six years, it gets interesting.
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So it's gonna be a work in progress oh my
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god six years yeah I can only imagine that's a whole new dynamic but yeah we'll
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have to check in again with you next week see how quickly you break your your
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nice rule you set for yourself here it seems like we're not on a great track
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no so it's not gonna go well but Jordan things going well let's talk about your game this weekend.
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Yes it went very well we were able to beat Western we're still dancing we're
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gonna be heading to North Carolina.
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So we're playing at Duke, but
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we're playing Texas on Friday for the second round of the NCAA tournament.
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So we're really excited about that. We're going to be leaving here Wednesday.
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So right now my brain's a bit foggy because I'm just spending the today and
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tomorrow just taking like four or five exams before we leave.
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Because if we win too, then we play on Sunday, which means we're not getting back Monday.
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So I'm missing that class day as well. And it's just it's a whole it's a
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whole thing it's too late too late in the semester for this really I'm like really
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stressed about it but you know I'd rather rather be playing soccer than
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not so I'm happy about that fair enough I don't know how you feel
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now Jordan but like I felt like especially this time of
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year like you're so mentally and physically tired from soccer seasons like the
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thought of like even paying attention in class like you're not able to like
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lock in like you were in August and so it's like this is when like the mental
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stuff dies and you're just like just chucking through and it gets brutal.
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And then all this scheduling stuff, it's unreal.
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Oh, yeah, we're definitely in survival mode right now. Because when you think
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about too, like we were here, well, six weeks, you know, two months before the
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normal students got here.
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So like this semester, I'm like, it feels so long. It feels so long.
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That's because it is. It's much longer than everyone else has been going through
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all this and, you know, normal student.
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And it is. It's just thinking about when we started this and where I was at
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mentally, it feels like a lifetime ago. and just how many different,
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you know, ups and downs the season has had. It just, it's been mentally very, very draining.
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And at this point, I think I'm definitely in survival mode when it comes to my academics here.
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And we're just, we're trudging through because we can bring that academic weapon
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back like in December, like later, just keep pushing her off.
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Yeah, that's for the NARP semester I'm going to have, you know, the spring semester.
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That's, that's what that's for. you know I'm I'm an
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academic victim right now more than more than
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anything but we're gonna get there unreal unreal
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well you weren't a victim this weekend still dancing you
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know there's 32 teams left of the 333 women's
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college soccer team so 32 left absolutely unreal
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300 end of season and some crazy
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games you know I called out some games I will
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say we predicted the one money upset I said I
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had money on we predicted as there are five upsets this
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weekend in the first round of the NCAA tournament my prediction was
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I did think Cal was going to upset Pepperdine and that did happen
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and then we had a couple other interesting ones Jordan which one was your which
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one stood out to you the most yeah I mean just going with the Big Ten conference
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here Washington versus Utah State you know they 0-0 in regulation Washington
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pulling out with the win and then on the other side of it.
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Rutgers losing to UConn.
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So Washington winning for the Big Ten, Rutgers unfortunately losing.
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Rutgers being the only Big Ten team that got eliminated in the first round.
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So you have nine Big Ten teams still remaining as we go into the,
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you know, out of 32, which is huge.
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That has to be a new record for the Big Ten. I mean, we knew 10 going into the
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first round, but nine being in the round of 32 is absolutely unreal.
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We are tied with the second most conference the
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other one being the sec has nine teams left
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as well so almost 50 of the bracket made
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up between sec and big 10 which is just absolutely unreal
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when you think of it like that and yeah i think
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you are uconn beating rutgers was a huge
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upset that wasn't really one that i had on my radar but riley
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tearing in rutgers probably are with their star forward and
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the big 10 semifinals got a red card for violent conduct just some unfortunate
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loss of temper after a play and when you get a red card for something like that
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that eliminates you for at minimum two games so i'm not even sure what her suspension
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was but at least two as we did not see her we couldn't see her in the first
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round of the NCAA tournament i think that really hurt the redshirt redshirt squad,
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Absolutely. They've been victim of quite some violence this year.
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They should check that out for real.
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Maybe get a team therapist because this is crazy. I mean, did you see the foul?
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Yeah I did so I actually you know being me and the tournament being in St.
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Louis I know the referee crew of that game very well so
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you know after I was watching it on TV I was like wait I know that person
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and that person so to see that game get pretty interesting and pretty heated
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like that I was texting the refs after I was like oh my gosh yeah yeah it was
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it was kind of ruthless I don't think we realized that she was going to be out
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for more than one game the non referees we just saw the red card we knew she's
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going to be out for the rest of that game and the next round,
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the finals of the 10 tournament.
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So we thought she was going to be back for this NCAA tournament.
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And so we're watching the game and seeing her on the bench. I think it took
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us all by surprise a little bit, which makes the upset a little less surprising
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not having her because definitely as someone who's played Rutgers and gone through
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the scouting port, she is a key part of their team.
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So definitely hurt them, but happy to see Washington pull out with the win.
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Especially since we lost to them in the normal conference.
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It makes us feel a little bit better because they're now one of the top 32
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teams in NCAA of course and that win coming in pks and
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they'd be Iowa the first run of the big 10 tournament and be pks
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too so that's two pks for the wins for them in postseason
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which is honestly massive I feel like those are
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hard to replicate because you're on scout for like which side
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you take and different things like that and it's definitely studied about
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like oh this girl shoots her left this girl shoots her right so having double
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wins in pks is honestly extremely impressive yeah yeah
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absolutely as we move forward through these other
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five upsets so three remaining we have california versus
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pepperdine yeah that was the one i predicted i
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know being in the acc this year with california
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being hot with them having a couple really big offensive threats and the
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acc offensive player of the year i knew that that would be a tough game
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and the upset came in overtime so we saw a lot of these
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become down to big moments like pks overtime golden goal
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things and yeah it definitely shows that post season's
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here and you have to find that different level and staying calm
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and staying composed in those massive moments absolutely
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colorado upsetting georgia three to two
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yeah that was one i didn't really have on
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my radar i knew there was even some controversy i saw about colorado making
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the tournament so for them to then make it to the second round upsetting a team
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like georgia who made it to the sweet 16 last year i think that's absolutely
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fantastic for them and that game was you know i was watching on social media
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you know seeing the updates and it was back and fourth.
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I think there was two goals in the first 20 minutes, and it was a battle all
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the way through, so that's a fun one, and definitely shows a lot about Colorado
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to be able to grit that out.
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Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I was going to say the same thing. I saw a lot of controversy
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about them even making the tournament, so the fact that they were able to pull
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it out and win that first round was a huge upset for them, and.
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You know, impressive on their end. So the one we had that like,
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you know, a little bit personal because they knocked us out of the tournament
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last year was BYU losing to Santa Clara.
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So that upset, you know, not going to lie. I was a little happy to see.
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That's fair. That's fair. And I mean, BYU is always a fantastic team.
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There's never anything to discredit
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from them, but from going to the final four last year to then being,
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you know, where they're at this season, I think everyone can say that like that team
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maybe isn't as strong as their team from last year so that was definitely one
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on upset watch and santa clara has had some points to prove we know that they're
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a postseason team you know winning a national championship a couple years ago
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like this is something that they're comfortable in and i think a lot of people
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kind of discredit like familiarity with how to play postseason games and the importance like,
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matters and like it's a whole nother stake of like dealing with pressure and
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playing in games with big moments where your season's on the line and when you
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have familiarity with that like a Santa Clara team does, it will help you with
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being in the postseason more regularly.
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Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think honestly, this NCAA tournament,
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though, we saw a lot more blowouts than I was used to seeing,
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you know, on the other end, we talked about the upsets, but you had a lot of
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high scoring games for the first round of NCAA tournament here that.
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Typically in my time, I haven't seen quite so many.
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Yeah, I agree. There's actually a stat I was reading that really kind of sums
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that up. And I completely agree. It wasn't just a feeling it's statistical.
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So if you take goal differential of every single game from last year's NCAA
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first round, it's plus 73.
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So that's how many, like obviously goals, if you add up, you know,
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goal scored versus goals allowed in every game this year, it was 99.
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So clearly a significant increase in the amount of goals scored in the amount of blowouts.
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So you're absolutely right by that. And I think just team scoring in general,
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there was a lot more potential like mismatches that we saw from those high seeds.
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I mean, I think Mississippi State won 10 to 0 or something crazy like that, maybe eight.
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But, you know, there was a lot of those blowouts, too. And so it'll be interesting
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to see as those teams kind of set up for the future as well.
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Yeah. Yeah. I wonder if that does something, if that game really like helped
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or hurt them moving forward into the second round. If you have so much maybe
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overconfidence, that game didn't really prepare you for what's to come in the
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second round as you face higher level teams.
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So it'd be kind of interesting to see how that plays out and to possibly be
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maybe more upsets as teams weren't prepared going into this.
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I completely agree with that.
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You know, Jordan, I actually have been meaning to ask you, we're talking about
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big moments. We're talking about PK wins.
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We're talking about overtime goals. Like, I remember as someone who's played,
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you know, in a Big Ten championship in three different NCAA tournaments,
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like, there is a different pressure that these games bring.
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Like, how do you or how does Michigan State go about handling this pressure?
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How do you guys talk about the difference that the game matters?
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Yeah, honestly, I think for us, we're in more of a comfortable situation now
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than maybe we would have been because we're used to being the underdog.
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So honestly, for us, this pressure, if anything, I feel like there's less pressure
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on us to perform because we're going into things with really no expectations.
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If anything, we're supposed to lose now, which our games we show up and you
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look at we beat Arkansas, we beat Notre Dame. The teams that we struggled against
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were Oregon and Washington, you know, teams that we were definitely supposed
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to win. If anything, we're supposed to blow out Oregon.
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And we're sitting here and we draw to them. So I think for us,
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the pressure in postseason has become less for us this season as a team because
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we can go back to our original identity of being an underdog.
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Right. That's what this team was built on.
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We spent lots and lots of time sucking at soccer to then turn the program around
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these last couple of years.
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And people discounted us they weren't prepared for
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that and we were always the underdog and this was the first season talked about
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in previous episodes but I think we struggled with that figuring out an identity
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how to actually be someone who's supposed to win and then execute that because
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we're never in that position before so for us really happy with the place we're
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in and really happy to go back to kind of that mentality with it we also like.
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We've learned something every season as we move forward. We have a lot of returners.
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We're a very polished team, old team as we go through this.
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We have a lot of people who have gone through NCAA tournaments,
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whether with Michigan State or on other teams that have transferred into our program.
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I think it says something about that experience because it is so unique and
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it is so different where you lose and you're done.
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You go through conference and for everyone on our team at least,
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Like you go through conference and you pretty much know at a certain point in
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the season, like if you're going to be good enough or not to make the Big Ten tournament.
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And even with that, you know, if you're going to be good enough or not to make
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the NCAA tournament based on your rankings and all that.
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So we always knew there was something else after it. This is the first time
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in your season where you're looking at it being done.
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So I think it definitely does add a sort of pressure and high stakes with it.
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But the biggest thing is not making it bigger than it is, right?
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We've spent however many weeks and however many games going through it being
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soccer players doing all those things to get us to this point to get us to this
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spot to be one of the top 32 teams,
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still playing soccer and then c double a you just
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have to go back and rely on that trust your coaching staff they're going to
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put together a good scout trust your teammates that they're going to come up
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and show up on the day trust yourself that you are capable and you're supposed
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to be here and and really embracing that you know we talked last week about
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like if you say something enough, you start to believe it coming from the outside.
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Right. I think at this point, you really have to start telling yourself that
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you're good enough. You deserve to be here.
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You you are technically you are capable enough and not making the moment bigger
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than it needs to be, because while there is added pressure, you don't want to
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add anything more and make it any bigger than it needs to be from yourself.
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Yeah, I absolutely love that. And I could not agree more. I think these moments really can be a lot.
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And you nailed it right on the head by saying, like, don't make it bigger than
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itself. And you got here for a reason and truly, truly knowing that.
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So Jordan, thinking about people getting here for a reason, we have the round
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of 32 will be played on Friday and the round of 16 will then be played on Sunday
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for like the teams at the same sites.
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So no matter if the homestead gets upset, the games won't move.
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They're all being played at the same sites that you guys start at.
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Leaving this weekend, because I won't talk to you until next week.
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And actually next week is Thanksgiving.
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So what do we have as an Elite Eight? How do we think this weekend's going to go in Jordan's brain?
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Yeah. I mean, for pretty much all of us, we're used to playing Thursday, Sunday.
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So this will be interesting to see how much depth the roster has and how hard
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the Friday games are will definitely impact your performance on Sunday.
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Your bodies will be 24 hours more tired and sore, and you're going to have to
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go deeper into that bench and roster in order to pull out a win on that Sunday game.
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And going back to what you talked about earlier, your question,
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I think that's a huge part of it is trusting your depth on your roster because
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you're definitely going to have to rely on that more.
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So for me, obviously, we got to have the first matchup be MSU versus Iowa in the lead eight.
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So I think personally, MSU, we will upset Texas and then upset Duke as we go
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forward into facing Iowa.
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So hopefully, fingers crossed for two upsets here on our side of the bracket.
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And then, yeah, Iowa beating Georgetown and Virginia Tech upsetting UCLA.
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I don't think they've typically done that great in postseason.
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We saw it last year. I think they just etched out a win in their first round game with a PK.
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Overtime PK, yeah. Overtime PK even.
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So they didn't do great in the first round. I can't imagine it's going to go
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much better for them in the second round versus Virginia Tech.
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And then I have Iowa beating Virginia Tech to play us.
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That first bracket there yeah you know I
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have a hard time like ever writing down anything that isn't rooting
19:49
for you I'm not going to say Michigan State I'm going
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to say you and Iowa at this point too so that maybe that's my personal bias
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maybe I'm wrong we'll find out on Sunday but I agree I can definitely see some
20:01
upsets happening on the Carolina side of the bracket when you got Duke and Texas
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versus MSU that's a game I'm so excited to watch you know Iowa played Texas
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earlier this year And I actually, that was one of the games I was able to catch.
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And that was a dynamic game. It's a defensive game.
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You know, I don't think the ball, I felt like left the middle third of the field
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as it was just a defensive battle both ways.
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And I can see a game with Texas and Texas and MSU being something pretty similar
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to that. And it's just going to be gritty.
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And that'll be a lot of fun. We know Trinity Byers, one of Texas's best players
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out with an ACL. She actually also already signed a pro contract for next year.
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So having her out is a massive, you know, hit against Texas,
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but they do have a player that scored four goals in the first round.
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So there's going to be a lot of powerhouses to stop, but I can't see an MSU upset here.
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And then MSU leaving that bracket alive.
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And yeah, UCLA struggled.
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I kind of cracked a joke. It's like UCLA either loses in the first round or
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wins the entire thing. And you never really know where it's going to come from.
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And, you know, California Baptist, I played huge credit to that program going
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in, you know, fearless and taking it to overtime and then a PK situation for UCLA to get the win.
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I think that's a credit to anyone
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in that situation when you're going up against a powerhouse like UCLA.
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And so I too, you know, I can predict some upsets there. And I think,
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you know, it'd be so fun to get a big 10, big 10 elite eight and a matchup we
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haven't seen already this year.
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Yeah, hopefully that's the way it works out. I think that would just be so incredibly
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perfect for both of us as we move forward there.
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But going forward, bottom left half of that bracket here, I'm going to have
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North Carolina and South Carolina with North Carolina coming out with the win.
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They're going to be at home.
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I don't see Santa Clara really upsetting North Carolina.
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And then I think that South Carolina is going to beat Minnesota as you move
21:43
forward throughout that.
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And North Carolina come out with the win on top to be facing then Florida State.
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I think Florida State, I mean, they're just, they're an absolute powerhouse.
21:51
I think that they have incredible depth and talent in their roster.
21:56
They had, you know, a couple losses this season, which we weren't used to seeing
22:00
from last season, them just being absolutely undefeated throughout the entire thing.
22:05
But the way they performed in the last half of the season, I think they are
22:10
definitely going to be one of those teams that will make it to the Elite Eight
22:14
and probably go all the way to the finals here.
22:18
So I have TCU upsetting Penn State and then losing to Florida State and Florida State winning it.
22:26
So it's really not interesting when our brackets look extremely the same.
22:29
But no, I completely agree with this one too. I do get really excited about
22:32
the idea of having a Florida State, North Carolina Elite Eight.
22:35
And I feel like that's one of those staple matches. You assume it's either gonna
22:39
be in the Final Four or the championship game. And so to get a matchup like
22:43
this in the Elite Eight, I think is going to allow some new faces in that college
22:47
cup, which is more than exciting for me.
22:50
And I think that's a rematch of the ACC Tournament Championship.
22:53
It's a game that's been going on and it's a rivalry. You've got to know between those two squads.
22:58
But I agree. I think we're going to have a Florida State, North Carolina,
23:01
ACC, Elite Eight in that side of the bracket as well.
23:04
Great minds, you know, think alike. So I think then moving forward to the top
23:08
right half, this is where I believe our brackets start to differ a little bit
23:12
as I have South Carolina.
23:16
Yeah south california versus wake forest so
23:20
i think wake forest has been one of those teams
23:23
that absolutely have been dominating this season i definitely see
23:26
them making it to the elite eight and then southern california i
23:30
see them beating out st louis and wisconsin and making it to that elite eight
23:36
then yeah i don't think i think ohio state wake forest will be an interesting
23:40
game to watch but i think wake forest ultimately will come out in the end yeah
23:44
you know once again i I hate to say I agree with you again,
23:46
but I do think that this might be one of what I see is a more predictable bracket.
23:51
You know, if I'm judging the hardness of different ones, this might be one like
23:56
with that USC, you know, beating SLU.
23:58
I do see that happening going out. It's a hard travel trip for SLU.
24:02
They just played a really tough Kansas squad, you know, winning one zero.
24:05
SLU isn't the SLU team that we've seen in years past this year.
24:08
I think we could all agree on that.
24:09
So i do see usc beating slew and
24:12
then yeah i mean that virginia wisconsin game
24:15
could be very exciting i really don't know who i think
24:18
is going to win that i think that one could be my prediction that's an
24:21
overtime pk game i think that one's going to be deadly but
24:24
i think with that one day turnaround and that being such a
24:26
hard game that usc has the edge to leave this bracket
24:29
and then yeah i think wake forest needs their credit
24:32
this year they've had an absolutely remarkable season for a team
24:35
that does not get talked about with the rest of the acc being a
24:38
powerhouse i will say iowa did beat them to zero in non-conference
24:41
so they have shown some weak spots but as of recent they've just been absolutely
24:47
trucking through and i think with their side of the bracket as well and ohio
24:49
state wake forest potentially could bring an upset like i got some eyes i think
24:54
it's a game to watch 100 but i do think wake forest will leave and we'll have
24:59
a usc wake forest battle there.
25:01
Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I had Wisconsin being Virginia and then Ohio State being Auburn.
25:06
So pretty, pretty similar brackets here as we move forward. And with that,
25:10
that Auburn game, Ohio State, that's my game to watch of the week for the for
25:14
the second round for these Friday games.
25:17
And that's a rematch game. They've played each other already this year.
25:20
Auburn winning one zero at Auburn. And so you got to know that that's like Ohio
25:24
State that lost Ohio State's win streak that game.
25:27
And I think that that's probably like, that's the game where Ohio
25:30
State season kind of turned a little bit so I really
25:33
think that that game is going to be like the game of the round
25:35
of 32 to watch like if I were to recommend any game it's going to be that Ohio State
25:38
Auburn game that's very true the other thing with Ohio State is I think they
25:42
rely so heavily on the Dukovic to kind of get the job done for them in there
25:47
and as talented of a player she is her target on her back's growing and growing
25:51
especially for a team you've already played that will be I think really interesting
25:55
to see what Auburn's able to do to kind of shut that down.
25:58
Moving forward to the bottom right half of the bracket now, me and you had, I think,
26:01
two completely different teams as we look at this, but I had Arkansas versus
26:07
California with Arkansas coming out on top and then Stanford beating out UConn
26:12
to then go ahead and make it to the lead eight.
26:15
So I had Stanford versus none other than Notre Dame. So Notre Dame beating out Kentucky.
26:19
And then I had Mississippi State beating Washington with Notre Dame and Stanford
26:24
being those two in that bottom right half of the bracket for me.
26:28
Yeah, so this is where we completely differ. I do have the same teams making
26:31
it through to the Sunday match.
26:33
I do think that it will be a, you know, Arkansas versus Stanford,
26:37
and I do think it'll be Mississippi State versus Notre Dame.
26:41
With that being said, I'm going SEC here. This might be a hot take,
26:44
but Stanford's obviously an extremely talented team.
26:48
Arkansas is a force on offense. We all know it's like Arkansas will score so
26:52
many goals and they don't necessarily care how much is they let in.
26:54
They're just going to keep scoring.
26:55
And I think with that, that might be something that Stanford hasn't seen this
26:59
year, but just a team that plays like Arkansas.
27:02
And I think Arkansas has seen teams that play like Stanford.
27:05
So that's my hot take is just, it's going to be such a different match.
27:08
I think this will be one that if you want to look at a clash of styles,
27:12
this is like the ultimate clash of styles. And I think that'll bring a really interesting game.
27:17
You know, I remember back to last year's elite eight or Stanford played Nebraska.
27:20
And that was kind of a very similar, like disproportionate matchup and just in the style of play.
27:25
And that game went to overtime. So I think that it can really bring a lot out
27:29
of what's going to happen with this.
27:30
And then I have Arkansas winning, especially like with these games being played
27:34
at Arkansas, like they, their fans always show up. They have that home crown
27:38
advantage. I think it's going to go their way.
27:39
And then Mississippi state versus Notre Dame. Once again, this is a clash of
27:43
matchups, but I have to fully believe in the suit, like Cinderella story that
27:47
Mississippi state's having this season.
27:49
And, you know, I will say one of my favorite coaches of all time,
27:51
Drago Serovich, who coached me for three years at Iowa is now at Mississippi state.
27:55
And like, I just fully believe he was there for our Cinderella season in 2020.
27:59
It's like the Drago magic.
28:00
So once again, maybe this is my bias, but I think playing in Starksville,
28:04
that's another very hard place to play at.
28:06
And I think the clash of styles here, like I think Mississippi state has played teams like Notre Dame.
28:10
I don't know that Notre Dame's played anyone as tough and gritty as mississippi state
28:13
and so i think that those matchups will be
28:16
elite i think we'll have an elite eight of an sec sec which is really interesting
28:19
because in my bracket out of the four games that would be played in the elite
28:23
eight three of them are conference versus the same conference matchups big 10
28:27
versus big 10 and acc versus acc and an sec versus sec so i think that could
28:32
bring a super exciting college cup.
28:35
Yeah, that would be really, really exciting. I think, honestly,
28:38
my bias definitely got here with Notre Dame. I'm willing them into the Elite Eight here in a way.
28:43
They're a team that's kind of always been local, been around.
28:46
You hear a lot about them. I don't know much about Mississippi State at all.
28:51
So other than what I've seen and heard throughout this season is they've obviously
28:54
had an incredible season. But we've played Notre Dame several times,
28:58
and I think they're a really talented team. So it'll definitely be interesting.
29:02
I can see those games going either way. I think that was definitely the hardest
29:05
bracket for me to predict there.
29:08
But we'll see. We'll see at the end of the day who's right here as we move forward
29:12
and talk to you guys next week.
29:14
But I'm really hoping for the MSU-Iowa game.
29:18
That would be one for me that would be worth the drive. Like,
29:21
I would go. 100% without a question.
29:24
So, yeah, we'll see what happens. I think it'll be more than exciting.
29:28
And, yeah, I just genuinely can't wait to watch how these games turn out.
29:31
If you guys have brackets, if you guys agree with us, like let us know
29:34
i want to see your brackets i want to know who you have winning i know
29:37
you know we joked about my mom being in a pickleball league last week but
29:39
they did a bracket buster tournament they are all in
29:43
i know my mom was complaining because i believe she went oh and three on
29:46
saturday so not the best prediction for her but overall we want to hear your
29:50
brackets we want to know what you say but jordan i know we're recording this
29:54
on monday it's been an interesting day and a completely other perspective of
29:58
college soccer as the transfer portal opened today and i don't have updated numbers,
30:04
but as of 9 a.m.
30:06
Pacific Standard Time, there was over 700 names of college soccer girls already in the portal.
30:13
Yeah. Yeah. This is something that unfortunately isn't that surprising or shocking.
30:17
The portal has been very saturated as rules and regulations have kept changing
30:21
over the past couple of years with one being the ability to transfer at any point without penalty,
30:27
whereas before you used to have to sit a year for transferring and you had a
30:31
limited number of transfers.
30:33
And then you had the COVID rear, which gave everyone a fifth year of eligibility.
30:38
So you had a lot of grad transfers and you had people who maybe it wasn't worth
30:42
it to transfer for your last year.
30:44
Now, if you have two years of eligibility, you can start a home and kind of
30:46
start a life at another school. So you saw an increase there.
30:50
This year, it was going to be interesting because you got rid of that COVID year.
30:54
So you no longer have really those grad transfers that you were seeing such
30:57
a surplus of this last year. However, you have roster cuts.
31:01
So the 28-person roster cut, a lot of people, unfortunately,
31:04
have already had their end-of-year meetings, have been let go.
31:08
With, I think, the national average, I believe, was 32 on a roster.
31:14
So pretty much everyone's cutting four people on a team. Domino effect throughout it.
31:18
We knew this was coming. It's unfortunate to see with so many girls being either
31:23
unsatisfied in choosing to leave their home or being forced out of it.
31:27
But it's honestly not that shocking just because of the rule changes that have
31:31
happened this year and the professionalism where soccer's going.
31:34
28s is a strict number. There is no getting around it.
31:38
So schools had to cut, make a lot of cuts. And it will be interesting to see
31:42
how this all plays out with people and where the portal is left after all of this.
31:48
You know, I think you had a lot of schools taking in a lot of transfers.
31:52
And now when you have a 28-person roster cap, it'll be interesting to see if
31:55
they maybe recruit less smaller classes to come into college knowing they're
31:59
able to get one or two transfers or if they don't plan on getting any as they
32:03
move throughout this process anymore.
32:04
So what are your thoughts on all of it? I think you just hit my biggest question.
32:08
Like it's a matter of fact that there's going to be people in the portal now,
32:12
but I would have to say like, I'm so thankful it's not me.
32:16
And it has to be one of the scariest times to be in a portal because I don't
32:19
think anyone truly knows how colleges are going to adjust this roster cap happening.
32:24
Are they going to take in transfers? Are they more willing to take in transfers?
32:27
So even if you're a girl that's transferring potentially, not because of a roster
32:30
cut situation, but because you want a new home, this is a scary time to do it
32:35
because no one really knows what it's going to bring.
32:38
And I think that that's just going to be a touch situation overall.
32:41
And, you know, it kind of reminds me of our earlier conversation with Marguerite
32:44
and just in the sense of like.
32:46
You know, they don't really know. And, you know, do you take 28 rosters?
32:50
And even though one girl might like have a season ending injury and like want
32:53
to come back or like, there's so many different perspectives about what might happen.
32:57
And so the unknown has to be so scary. So to see so many people jumping in so
33:02
early, I think it just says a lot about the state of college athletics and college soccer as a whole.
33:07
Yeah, absolutely. I, I am curious as to where.
33:13
People's mindsets are I think you know
33:16
there's two aspects to this there's the emotional aspect and then
33:18
there's the logical aspect I think I rely a lot
33:21
more on like the statistics and looking at things
33:24
and and doing all that and making a decision I
33:27
know I do that because that's why I'm still here and
33:29
I did it redshirt this year you know and we talked about this
33:32
before like the rule changes in the transfer portal was
33:35
a huge part of that decision for me was you know
33:38
and it worked out in the best possible way my knee is doing great I'm
33:41
starting to play minutes and you know get back to where I was and
33:44
I'm happy with my decision in that aspect but before
33:48
I didn't know what was happening and I was considered a red shirt knowing
33:51
Michigan State's roster was going to be full and having to
33:54
possibly enter the portal and transfer and all this stuff my biggest
33:57
concern was how saturated it was going to be and to see
34:00
people who maybe don't need to leave their school or just unhappy
34:03
with the coach or unhappy with their minutes or playing time
34:06
or things along that nature i think in
34:09
the future they're going to need to fight it out a little bit more than maybe
34:12
jump right into the portal the way they have been and i
34:15
think are this year just based on what i've seen and the people who have entered
34:19
prematurely i think a lot of it while it has been forced by coaching staff a
34:24
lot of it you still just have girls jumping in and hoping that they find a school
34:27
and end up in a better spot where with these role changes coming in the way
34:31
college athletics is going i don't think it's going to be true anymore even
34:34
if you are super talented.
34:36
You know, everyone in the portal is going to be at this point, I believe.
34:40
This, like, I think it brings me back, like, I think we're now at a period where
34:45
obviously girls are transferring because of their college experience,
34:47
but I pin a lot of the blame per se on the recruiting process and how we handle
34:53
the recruiting process as athletes.
34:55
I do think there's a lot of education about the recruiting process and how it should work.
35:00
I think that balancing of logic and emotions when you're pinning that on a 16-year-old
35:04
girl to make that decision is hard.
35:06
And so when you're saying like, oh, I got my first D1 offer. I love this school.
35:11
Let's go. Like, I remember, frankly, when I was in my recruiting process,
35:13
like every visit, I would come home and be like, I want to go to Purdue.
35:16
I want to go to Wisconsin. I want to go to Iowa.
35:19
Like you like immediately like, oh, yeah, I'm definitely going here.
35:22
And then I'd go to a new school the next week. I'm definitely going here.
35:24
Like you get so excited, as you should be.
35:27
But because of that, it's really hard to separate that excitement from your future.
35:31
And I think it I don't want to say immaturity. That's a really strong word,
35:35
but I think it does really point out the flaws in our recruiting process and
35:41
make people second guess.
35:42
And so I actually saw a tweet this morning, tweeted by someone I really respect,
35:46
to be frank, it's an Iowa assistant coach.
35:48
And he tweeted, so it begins. If you're a 2026 or 2027, so those recruiting
35:53
ages in high school right now, pay close attention to what's happening.
35:57
Number one, your work is not nearly done by just committing.
36:01
That's just the beginning. And I think that's inherently true.
36:03
I think a lot of people who commit to college kind of see that as like,
36:07
oh, yeah, I did it and not a what's next.
36:10
And because of that, you have girls that potentially hit their highest point
36:13
or where coaches see them and get them to commit and then don't ever thrive.
36:18
You know, coaches recruit on potential, not on where you're at when you're 15, 16 years old.
36:23
And a lot of girls don't live up to that projected potential, I think.
36:27
Number two, do you love soccer or love the idea for playing this for the school you say you do?
36:32
The latter will most likely put you in the portal very quickly and that one really struck home,
36:38
i'll call out iowa for this like i think there's girls there
36:41
that love the idea of being a big 10 athlete and that's fantastic but do you
36:45
love the idea of being an athlete and posting the pictures on instagram and
36:49
getting the gear or do you love being a big 10 athlete and love competing and
36:53
playing soccer and those are two very very different mindsets that i think a
36:57
lot of girls can't separate at 16.
37:00
Yeah. I think that's an interesting point that honestly, I haven't really thought
37:04
a lot about because of where Michigan state was like, nobody was committing
37:08
to Michigan state for the competitive soccer aspect. Cause we didn't have that.
37:14
So that's, that's a really interesting point you bring up and it's,
37:17
it's not a place where I think we really have been in, but I'm sure we are now
37:21
and the recruiting process with that.
37:24
So yeah, I mean, I think there's so many aspects that play a factor into this. I think the.
37:31
Not that coaches are dishonest when they're recruiting you, but no coach is
37:35
going to talk to you and be like, I see you sitting at the bench for four years on arts.
37:39
Like, I don't see you making an impact and I want you to be like,
37:43
you know, they tell you what you want to hear in a certain way and you get to
37:48
college and it's a rude awakening.
37:50
I think especially with the way a lot of these girls have worked,
37:54
they've always been the best person on every team they've ever been on.
37:56
They've never really had to work that hard to gain
38:00
a coach's admiration or trust they've been able to get away
38:03
with a lot because they've always been good enough to do so i think
38:06
when you get to a high level like in the big 10 like you
38:10
rarely have you never not been the best never have you
38:12
ever really been told you're not good enough
38:15
and you get to college and suddenly you're fighting
38:18
for your spot you're fighting for your minutes and they're not
38:21
handed to you anymore you have to fight for it and I
38:24
think a lot of girls they can't handle that they can't handle being
38:28
told they're not good enough at something and and and
38:30
you can go two ways with it you can try to prove them wrong or you
38:33
can prove them right and enter the portal and leave right away and
38:36
you know I think there's a lot of reasons to transfer if you're genuinely not
38:39
happy with the school or program or things like that I think definitely you
38:42
should leave but I do think it's gotten to kind of a breaking point where kids
38:47
are just going to have to fight it out more or you're not going to be happy
38:51
in the portal either because you're not going to find what you're looking for with just.
38:54
There's not as many spots available. It's the sad reality of it.
38:58
Absolutely. So the tweet continues to read number three, some programs develop and work with you.
39:02
As long as you are truly invested in challenge and challenging self and others,
39:06
others don't pay attention to that.
39:08
And I think that's very true. You know, kind of said like coaches are giving you a sales pitch.
39:12
No one's like, I love that. You said like, no one's telling you're going to
39:14
come to the bench. It's a sales pitch. It is a reality. It's their job. They have to do it.
39:19
But as they recruit or as someone in this committing process,
39:22
or frankly, two girls that are in the transfer portal, like you have to have
39:25
your BS meter on, like you have to know when someone's BSing you.
39:29
And like, I feel like most people kind of can get that feeling in their gut,
39:32
you know, like, okay, this sounds too good to be true.
39:34
Like, is this reality? And you have to be able to have those honest conversations with yourself.
39:39
And those are scary ones to have. But I think it's really the truth of the matter
39:43
of like, you might have a coach that as long as you're invested,
39:46
will work with you for four years and like really work to grow you.
39:48
Like, I will say, like, I do think Iowa does a good job of that.
39:51
Like if you are invested to be the best teammate possible, the best person possible,
39:54
they will give that energy back to you to try and develop you.
39:57
But other programs, if you're not that fit in puzzle piece solution,
40:01
then you're thrown out. And you have to be able to look at that and really understand that.
40:05
And so he continues to say, everyone thinks that they will come in and play
40:08
and they ignore the conversations that say it's hard, that it's challenging,
40:12
and that it's a full-time commitment.
40:14
Success looks different for everyone, but if playing time is success for you.
40:18
Either reframe it sooner rather than later, start challenging
40:21
yourself early on because your challenge in college will be
40:24
at the same times other ladies have been investing for
40:27
four years in a very challenging environment and that's
40:30
so true if you don't invest in your challenging and you're
40:33
putting yourself in the hardest environment and know that when you get to college
40:36
you're going against people that have been in college for four years that have
40:39
been in that environment for four years like not only for playtime on your own
40:42
field but who you'd be playing against like understanding that that is a reality
40:46
of the situation i think a lot of girls are naive like you've been playing against
40:48
the other 18 year olds the whole life, the other 15 year olds your whole life.
40:52
When you go into an environment where someone could potentially have been there
40:54
for like, in my case, we had a seventh year, like.
40:58
You know, an 18-year-old isn't going to compare to a 26-year-old in experience,
41:02
veteranship, leadership, you know, all those decisions. So, like,
41:05
I'm not saying there's a way to best prepare you for that, but,
41:07
like, put yourself in the environment where you best can.
41:10
And finally, good luck to those portal players. And I truly hope the priorities
41:13
where you choose at this time around are right.
41:16
So, like, really emphasizing on priorities and why you're entering the portal
41:19
or why you're committing to a school.
41:21
Like, that's what I think athletes really just need to know.
41:25
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I fear that a lot of it is naivety of where they stand
41:33
and just how ruthless this is all going to be.
41:36
I think a lot of people enter the portal thinking that it's going to be similar
41:40
to the recruiting process that they signed up for originally.
41:43
And it's just, it's simply not true. And I think there's a huge amount of naivety to things.
41:48
I think even within certain rosters that are still playing or, you know,
41:53
there's people have to make cuts and the people on
41:56
the bottom somehow still don't think that they're on the
41:58
bottom that you're on the chopping block and it's sad to
42:01
see because it's going to be so heartbreaking and brutal and that reality is
42:05
delivered but yeah I think I don't know what the solution is I think the solution
42:10
was not making a 28 person roster when the national average was 32 I think we
42:15
start there but you know I think that there definitely needs to be some sort
42:19
of reframing around this portal.
42:21
And with the rules that they continue to talk about implementing the fifth year
42:26
eligibility rule, you have the red shirt eligibility rule that they keep doing.
42:31
It's, you know, which is all speculation at this point, whether they pass it
42:34
or not. But if it does, I think a lot more people will be in the portal even than they are now.
42:38
And with that, a lot of people will be left without homes at the end of this.
42:41
So it'll be interesting to see how it all shakes out, who does what,
42:44
how programs change the way they coach because the rules have changed because
42:49
all of this, Michigan State will have to change the way they recruit and the way they coach.
42:54
We can't have nearly as big as a roster.
42:57
And with that, I think, you know, we talked about this Friday-Sunday game here
43:01
for the NCAA tournament.
43:02
Imagine it next year when you only have 28 people deep.
43:06
Everyone's healthy. Out of this 28, you assume three are goalies.
43:10
So 25 field players, you know,
43:13
going Friday-Sunday and just how talented and how deep
43:16
you can go on a bench with such a limited roster space available
43:19
so it'll be interesting yeah i completely agree
43:22
well jordan you're flying on wednesday to north carolina going to play a tough
43:27
texas team you know give the weekend preview what should people watch out for
43:30
and where do you think the game's gonna go yeah i mean obviously i think we're
43:34
gonna win so duh but yeah you know i'm really excited about this i feel.
43:42
Good at peace. You know, it was a nice goodbye to DeMartin as we ended my career there.
43:48
You know, I played my last home game. So now I'm going on the road and hopefully,
43:52
you know, by the time we talk next week, we will have defeated both Texas and
43:56
Duke and we'll be playing Iowa at this time. So yeah, our game, first game is Friday.
44:01
If we win, second game will be Sunday. So check them out. There'll be plenty of teams,
44:06
16 games going on on Friday, and then you'll be
44:09
down to eight on on sunday as we
44:11
kind of hit the end of this ncaa tournament here
44:14
absolutely we got 16 incredible soccer games being played
44:17
on friday college soccer is dwindling down so
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yeah 16 games being played on friday and then eight
44:24
more being played on sunday on
44:27
top of that we have the nwsl championships happening this weekend between orlando
44:30
pride and washington spirit so so much soccer going on all the college games
44:34
will be on espn plus and you know i'm sure cbs or someone has picked up this
44:38
nwsl game i don't know off the top of my head but plenty of information and
44:41
places to find out so as always guys stay tuned in to soccer there's so much
44:45
going on this weekend and soccer on bye guys.