Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Bracket Breakdown, Path for Iowa State, Iowa & UNI, Dave Ommen on what the committee got wrong

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Bracket Breakdown, Path for Iowa State, Iowa & UNI, Dave Ommen on what the committee got wrong · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:19
Hi, good afternoon. Welcome Miller and Condon as we
0:21
get our week underway here on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
0:25
It's Trent Condon and Ken Miller with you for the next two hours
0:28
to talk sports with you. We appreciate you starting your
0:31
afternoon with us. Wherever you're listing,
0:32
however, you're listing on the iheart app on one of the fine
0:35
affiliates throughout the state of Iowa or on Des Moines sports
0:39
station One O 6.3 KXNO. Here's what's coming up on our
0:44
program at the bottom of the hour.
0:46
Our bracket guy Bracketville dot com Dave Oman will join us.
0:50
We will ask him what he thought the committee, maybe where the
0:54
committee if aired, if indeed he feels that way.
0:57
We'll talk to him about that and pick his brain a little bit as
1:00
we take a closer look inside the brackets with our bracket guy
1:03
Dave omanbracketville.com. Scott Dockerman from The
1:07
Athletic will kick off our number 2.
1:10
We'll get the latest with Scott Dockerman on how he sees the
1:13
bracket unfolding. Rd. an interesting piece about
1:16
West Coast travel, Big 10 teams and what not travelling to the
1:19
West Coast, etcetera. So we'll talk a little bit about
1:22
that and then Bill Seals will join us covers Iowa State for
1:26
cyclonereport.com about 1:25-ish.
1:29
We'll get the bill will get his thoughts on what transpired back
1:33
on Friday and in in the Big 12 tournament and then looking
1:37
forward to the draw that Iowa State has.
1:39
I can say this for Iowa State fans better.
1:41
I hope you got a fresh set of money because those tickets in
1:45
Saint Louis with the teams that are making their way down to
1:47
Saint Louis, seemingly there's four or five.
1:50
No Iowa State travels incredibly well So does Kentucky yes.
1:53
So is Kentucky. Missouri is a right exactly.
1:57
So they're going to be there and be there in mass.
1:59
And I'm guessing that Purdue will bring some fans because
2:03
their their team that's playing exceptional basketball right
2:06
now. But you know, I want to start,
2:08
but we'll get to the bracket in just a second.
2:09
I I can't let this go. What a what a game on Friday
2:12
night, this Arizona Iowa State game in the Big 12 Tournament.
2:15
Game of the Year I. Think so I I am hesitate,
2:19
hesitant because the latest is always the greatest.
2:22
This might be the greatest. Yes.
2:24
It was so entertaining, Del Orso Manchilovich.
2:27
And of course Del Orso the next day doesn't make a freaking 3.
2:30
Of course he gets so I think 4 points in the basketball game.
2:33
That's your guy. You've been on him all year long
2:36
and he was unbelievable in that game.
2:38
That was such high level entertaining basketball.
2:41
It was a you know what? I know it's cliche, but in this
2:44
case it was true. It's a shame that someone team
2:47
had to lose. They both played such good
2:49
basketball and it wasn't just guys that, you know, are fans of
2:54
Iowa State or guys that covers Iowa State or guy that covers
2:58
Iowa State for the state in the state.
3:01
This was national press that were coming to the coming to
3:06
their social media platform and extolling the virtues of that
3:09
basketball game. My God, it was good.
3:11
It was exactly what you're hoping for in a conference
3:14
tournament. In a way, for Iowa State, maybe
3:16
it's not the worst thing to lose that one.
3:18
An extra day arrest. Against the physical Houston
3:20
team you would have been matched up against.
3:22
You showed everybody that you are a contender.
3:24
You showed everybody you can go toe to toe with anybody in the
3:27
country. We knew that.
3:28
But remembering that once again for this squad after the
3:32
downturn that we saw during February and a lot of the
3:34
questions that popped up. Now, one thing that I warned
3:37
myself basically every single year, don't take what you see in
3:41
Kansas City and mean that that is what you're going to see out
3:44
of this Iowa State team come the following games because we've
3:47
seen it happen too often. I tell myself that.
3:50
Yet I sucked right back in. I'm sucked right back in.
3:54
I love the draw. I I love the path to get to an
3:57
Elite 8 for the first time since 2000.
3:59
That Virginia team, though, I've talked about them a ton this
4:01
year. They're good, yeah, but they're
4:03
not great. No, that that is absolutely an
4:05
incredibly winnable game if you get to that point against
4:08
Virginia or whoever comes out there.
4:10
Michigan. That's different animal.
4:12
True, but I don't think they're playing their best basketball
4:14
trend. It doesn't.
4:16
No, absolutely not. That injury is, I mean.
4:19
It's a backup point guard, but it matters.
4:21
It does because he plays a lot of minutes.
4:23
Absolutely. What you do on the defensive
4:26
end, you're going to have a chance against everybody.
4:28
It's going to come down. You can't have a Manchilovich
4:30
over, you know, five points in the game.
4:33
You're going to have to have him go off and you're going to have
4:36
Lipsy make a couple of shot and he only.
4:37
Made a shot in that game, right? You know, he was crazy it.
4:41
Was and it made this huge shot obviously at the time when he
4:43
made it, but he had not had a good day offensively does
4:46
everything. Else so Well, how about Tore?
4:48
You know, it's great to see. It, it really was.
4:50
And it wasn't just he made a couple laps.
4:53
No. He was aggressive, he was
4:56
aggressive. He had that pull up jumper that
4:58
was really good. Those are the kind of things,
5:01
yes. He's not a great offensive
5:03
threat, certainly. Shooting ball.
5:06
But you can't just be a hole. You can't be Jaycee Holloway,
5:09
you can't be that guy that is just not going to shoot.
5:12
Don't worry about him. No, we'll play 5 on 4.
5:15
Stay aggressive and that's what I liked and I thought you saw a
5:17
little bit of bounce out out of him after that on the offensive
5:20
end because there's times that he's looked uncomfortable.
5:23
No, I'd rather play defence. Fragile.
5:25
Yeah. Like he is a black hole and then
5:28
you just can't go there. And getting that out of him, I
5:31
think is another sign that's a good.
5:33
Huge. I mean, he couldn't have guarded
5:34
Bradley any better on either the last two buckets.
5:37
He really couldn't have the last one.
5:39
I mean, come on. But but what what an incredible
5:42
shot to Antich. No, yes, we we were robbed.
5:45
We as sports fans were robbed of overtime in that game.
5:48
But what an incredible finish. I would say got three points for
5:51
the bench play to give him zip. Bateman gave him nothing
5:54
offensively in the game. Heisey had the only bench
5:56
points. Lipsy finished with eight in the
5:58
game. I was 2 for 11.
6:00
Yes, we remember that one. Three because it was incredible.
6:03
But it was Toure, it was Munchilovich, it was Jefferson.
6:05
With the exception of being at the free throw line, which is an
6:08
adventure. But it's more than just him.
6:10
Yeah, this team had seen it all year.
6:15
By the way, Jay Billis, Dan Shulman.
6:20
Really good call, right? I know that there was a lot of
6:23
folks upset that the that the Big 12 guys were not going to be
6:27
on the call, but the A-Team was in there and, and Billus and
6:30
Schulman, they're so good. They are so good.
6:33
So how about the news that we get?
6:35
Was that late Friday night? No, late Thursday night about
6:38
the changing of the floor and going in there now, the floor's
6:42
still ugly. Yeah, Yeah.
6:43
I mean, the floor that they had a year ago.
6:45
Just what are we doing? It makes your head hurt and OK,
6:50
you go from the glass floor to a hideous floor.
6:52
It doesn't change a whole lot. But just doing that for your
6:55
mark to go out there and make that decision.
6:57
Took some balls. Absolutely.
6:59
It was expensive. It was something that they
7:02
wanted to do to kind of differentiate themselves and
7:04
then showing that the Big 12 is different, but they.
7:07
Made a mistake and they realized it.
7:08
Now they should have realized that the week before when the
7:10
women were complaining about it because they got some arrows
7:12
shot at them. Rightly so, because it was just
7:15
as loud the week before. But maybe it was Christian
7:17
Anderson getting hurt when, you know, in a non contact play.
7:21
But he's going to be OK and he's going to play.
7:23
So that that was Friday night. There's been a lot of basketball
7:26
since then. I get it, Duke.
7:27
Virginia was outstanding. It was terrific game.
7:29
I thought Virginia was going to beat him.
7:31
I really and truly did. Of the ones, are they your most
7:36
vulnerable? 1 scene.
7:37
I don't think so. OK.
7:39
I think it's still the last #1 I think it's Florida and Florida.
7:44
They'll get Houston is there, too.
7:45
Right in Houston. Which is stupid.
7:49
I do not have much to be upset about about the bracket.
7:52
In fact, the last two years, last year was North Carolina
7:55
getting in with one Quad One victory.
7:57
What were they, 114 against Quad one?
7:59
Which is just ridiculous. But that was the one gripe and
8:02
he also had Bubba, Bubba Cunningham, remember on the
8:05
committee a year ago, the athletic director.
8:07
And that's why I think it tainted it even more this year
8:10
in terms of selection. I got no problems.
8:12
The one thing I hate, and I know in according to their bracketing
8:16
procedures that it's OK that that happens.
8:19
But a number one seed, don't they need to be protected If you
8:22
earn a number one to have to play a road game, I know it's
8:25
not in Houston's gym. That'll be where the Rockets
8:27
play, but still to have. That it's in their city.
8:30
For there's weird things that happened like Missouri getting
8:33
to play as a 10 seed in Saint Louis.
8:36
I don't love that. We saw it a couple of years
8:38
back. I remember Wisconsin was a six
8:41
seed, Pit was a three. It was in Milwaukee.
8:44
Don't love those kind of things. But for a number one, that's
8:48
probably the one thing that rankled me I think the most.
8:50
I just think that they should be protected.
8:52
If you earn a number one seed, you should be protected.
8:55
I know he can't project all the way forward, but a one versus
8:57
A-22, you know this isn't when George Mason got to play in DC
9:01
against UConn in that Elite 8 game.
9:03
Nobody projected George Mason obviously to do that.
9:06
To be an 11 seed, make that run all the way to lead 8.
9:08
You can't do all of them but A1 and A2 on the same side.
9:11
That was probably my biggest gripe on the bracket.
9:13
Yeah. I mean, I don't know where they
9:15
would have shipped the other ones too.
9:17
If you're going to move Florida around, maybe it would have been
9:18
Houston that got the. Yeah, that's what I would do.
9:20
Even though they were the 5th the top #2 seed, I would have
9:23
shifted them down a spot, put them.
9:25
Put them in six, who was I would say 6 or 7.
9:28
Can't remember this. Anyways, we shall see, but
9:32
again, for those of you going to Saint Louis.
9:35
So do you buy your tickets before you go or do you wait?
9:40
Iowa State was the seven, by the way.
9:41
Seven. Yes, they were the 7.
9:43
Houston. 5 Yukon. Yukon 6, Iowa State 7 and.
9:47
Peru, Yukon got absolutely throttled.
9:49
They did? How about Saint John's?
9:51
Saint John's was embarrassed. Was it like 2 weeks ago?
9:53
Yeah, something like that. Two. 2 1/2.
9:55
Weeks ago, you couldn't. Score no.
9:57
Beat him almost by 30 if memory serves.
9:59
Held him into the 40s, right? I think it was in the 40s but.
10:02
That was Saint John's only loss in the last 20 games.
10:05
It's incredible the way they were.
10:06
Playing. I know the Big East is terrible
10:08
this year and it's really down. However, the team to do that, to
10:12
go through, have one loss, even as ugly as it was 72 to 40 in
10:16
the final in that game against UConn.
10:18
Are you saying you wish you had some Saint John's like your
10:20
partner identified back in November?
10:23
No, no, if you're right. I got them at 17 to.
10:25
One, they're going to get there, by the way.
10:27
Wouldn't that be something? You know what does Northern I
10:31
even want to be there. They showed the cameras.
10:32
They didn't even move. You know the reason behind that.
10:35
That is so unfortunate. Didn't it happen to Drake?
10:39
Didn't it happen to Drake in O 7?
10:41
And and well, it would have been March of 2008.
10:44
I thought that there was cameras at the nap for Emmenecker's team
10:48
and there was a malfunction. OK, same kind of thing, I don't
10:51
remember. But to show EU and I guys all
10:53
sitting there patiently, like they're posing for school
10:56
pictures, you know, hands folded in their laps like they were
10:59
instructed to do, and then to be given bad information as to what
11:03
feed you should be watching. And they're going back to the
11:05
studio. OK, guys, you can react now,
11:08
react in 3-2. And and they said that nothing
11:11
happened because the guys in the studio were anticipating
11:15
they're, you know, they're going to jump out of their chairs.
11:17
They see their name. All right, let's move on.
11:19
Come on. That was so bad.
11:21
I like the Panthers getting 10 1/2.
11:22
You do. They're going to like them.
11:24
Can they win it out right? Sure, sure.
11:28
There's always one, right? There at least 1512 match out.
11:32
There and been more of a late yeah.
11:33
I think the Panthers have a shot there now.
11:35
I know what they're doing that is going to be a Friday game and
11:38
what they're hopefully setting up.
11:40
So we also have to remember when we get to the weekend, it's
11:42
different than it was in the old days when CBS had it alone.
11:45
I hate it. And and they've stretched
11:47
everything out until the evenings.
11:48
There's one game in the day. You get CBS gets a triple
11:52
header, A standalone game, a second standalone game, the
11:56
third game. Then you start to get the
11:57
overlap, but basically they want that first game to be Kansas,
12:00
St. John's.
12:01
I don't think there is a doubt in my mind that is the matchup
12:04
that they. That's what we'll get.
12:05
That will be. The likelihood is that'll be.
12:07
What would the other possibility be?
12:09
Kentucky, Iowa State, that would be another one.
12:12
But overall, when you kind of go through and you look at the
12:14
matchups on Friday, there aren't a ton that say, Oh yeah, we need
12:18
to have on top of it. You know, where the CBS crew is
12:21
going. They're going to the region that
12:24
has Saint John's, Kansas in it. So I think we can already pencil
12:27
that in. Now, if you and I pulls the
12:29
upset, that changes things. If Kansas goes down to Cal
12:32
Baptist, that's going to change things.
12:34
But when they're kind of plotting this thing out, I think
12:37
that's what they have identified.
12:38
That's how they kick off Sunday is with Saint John's and Kansas.
12:42
Would you be OK for that? Sure.
12:45
I mean, no, because I want you and I to win, but if that's what
12:48
we get Pitino against Self, that'd be a great match up.
12:53
Oh my gosh, Kentucky and Iowa State obviously got a little
12:56
tournament history. Anthony Davis, Royce White and
12:59
the best player on the floor and he was right.
13:02
What year was that? And and Royce White drove to the
13:06
drove to the game. I don't think he did.
13:09
I I think it was AI think that was the story.
13:12
He didn't fly with the team and he drove.
13:15
I don't remember where it was. Was it?
13:18
It was Louisville. It seems like it was really
13:21
close to Kentucky's home base of Lexington.
13:24
So I'm going through NCAA. Tournament does ring a bell.
13:28
2013 now it wasn't 13. We're going back way back, you
13:33
know, it couldn't be this far back. 2014. 2014 was da da da.
13:39
They beat North Carolina that year, lost to UConn and the
13:41
Sweet. 16, No, I don't remember then yeah.
13:45
Napa states. Got a shot.
13:46
Yeah, the the bracket certainly set up, I thought incredibly
13:48
well for. Them 2012.
13:50
Try 2012. 2012 jump again. We went the wrong way.
13:54
Yeah, there it is. Beat UConn in the first round,
13:56
lost to Kentucky. 8771 was the final but.
13:59
Where was it played? That game was played at the Yum
14:01
Center in Louisville. Downtown had that role.
14:04
Downtown Louisville A. 20 to two run.
14:07
That was the difference as Iowa State was down 4442 and then 20
14:12
to 2 by the Wildcats at Kentucky.
14:14
Team was loaded. As they normally are, let's talk
14:18
about Iowa. Your thoughts on what the Hawks
14:20
have in front of them. Obviously they catch a break
14:23
with Clemson, losing Carter Welling in the first game.
14:27
I think of the ACC tournament, he blew his knees out for the
14:30
year towards ACL. He's their big.
14:33
Obviously, you know you when you think about Iowa, you hope that
14:36
they don't have to face the team with a dominant dude in the
14:40
middle and Welling's a nice player, but he is now done.
14:44
I love this. I love this draw, at least early
14:46
for the Hawks. I think they can get the first
14:47
one. Your thoughts?
14:48
Absolutely. They're a favorite for a reason.
14:50
Against Clemson, yeah. What is it, 1 1/2?
14:51
Two, it's not very. They're 2 1/2.
14:53
Is it 2 1/2? Now, yeah, 1 1/2 was the opener
14:55
most everywhere and jump very quickly.
14:57
A lot of money quickly on Iowa. Iowa State's Yeah, like 23 and a
15:02
half 24 and. 1/2 I see 24 1/2 right now.
15:04
How about did Panthers get you said 11 and a half, 10 1/2.
15:07
Ten and a half, 10 1/2. All right, so the match up with
15:10
Clemson, did you see much Clemson this this winter?
15:13
I did there, built very, very similar to Iowa.
15:16
They're going to play at a snail space.
15:17
They're going to play about they.
15:18
Play a lot of guys right? They they do, but there's nobody
15:25
that kind of takes the cake, right?
15:27
Their best player, RJ Godfrey. He's like a 6-7 power forward
15:31
type. Do they rely on him as much as I
15:33
would does on stirts or I? Find that hard to believe?
15:36
No, they're more balanced. More balanced than that.
15:39
Their guy that's come in now is Nick Davidson at the center
15:41
position. He's 610.
15:43
He's not very good. Talk about pace.
15:46
I will be no slow. Clemson also slow, 333rd in the
15:49
country in adjusted tempo. So this is going to be a team.
15:52
They're not great offensively, 71st in the country and
15:54
offensive efficiency. You look there at the resume,
15:57
they beat Louisville at home, OK.
16:00
They beat Miami at home, OK, South Carolina, What?
16:05
Was their non con. They beat Cincinnati Georgian
16:10
overtime that's probably their best win in the non com.
16:13
There just isn't a whole lot there now this is a team that
16:15
has made a couple of runs under Brownell.
16:17
He's he's a good coach. They went to Elite 8.
16:19
What? A Duke Paste?
16:21
What did they play Friday night or Saturday?
16:23
Night. But that was Friday night, 7361,
16:27
and Clemson hung around. They covered.
16:28
They did I. Think it was 15.
16:31
That's a great matchup. I don't think there's a better
16:33
8-9 matchup that you could have asked for.
16:35
For the Hawks, yeah, this is about as good of a draw as you
16:38
can hope for. And you look at anything
16:40
analytically, and I know that's predictive and then predictive
16:42
metrics like Iowa more than the results base one.
16:45
But I'm seeing some things up to like 65% chance of winning this
16:49
game, which doesn't happen very often for a ninth seed over a #8
16:54
And then we get to the big one, though.
16:56
We get to Sunday, likely in the evening against the Gators of
17:01
all the teams that they could have played.
17:03
This is all the one season. All the one.
17:05
Yeah, I think Arizona's No, you don't want to play Arizona.
17:09
No, that that team would just physically abuse them.
17:12
Duke I. Mean, I don't think they're the
17:15
most physical team out there. Michigan, obviously.
17:17
Who guards Cam Boozer? Well, no one.
17:19
Yeah, right. It should be known.
17:23
Here's the reason that I think you have to at least give Iowa a
17:27
puncher's chance. Everything has to go well.
17:29
You have to play at a great level.
17:30
And Florida, I, I get it. They were playing as well as
17:33
anybody in the country. Until.
17:35
They won eleven straight and then they got run out of the gym
17:38
by Vanderbilt. Now I was not going to have the
17:39
same kind of game. They're not going to be able to
17:41
play at that kind of pace. But you go through and you look
17:43
at the teams that beat Florida this year, the one thing that
17:46
stood out is they can't shoot. This is not a good three-point
17:50
shooting team, and you need one of those games where Florida
17:52
goes 424 from three and he got a shot because as good as Xavion
17:58
Lee is, and he's fast and he's fun, not a good shooter. 28%
18:01
from three. Boogie Fland he can shoot you
18:04
out of games. You shoot 23% from behind the
18:06
arc. They're big.
18:08
Alex Condon. Yes, we talk about Alex Condon
18:10
often. Every time we talk about Florida
18:12
folks. And he graduate this year.
18:14
He's a junior, he's going to go to the NBA.
18:17
Yes, he's going to be off and he'll be probably a A pick in
18:19
the 20, something like that. A Chittaloo.
18:21
Another big guy that they have inside Thomas Howe is their
18:24
small forward. He's 69.
18:26
This is a huge, huge team, but they can't shoot.
18:31
I don't think that I was going to win.
18:32
In fact, I think they probably get blown out by this Gator team
18:35
because they can do a lot to beat you.
18:37
Their lead on both ends of the floor.
18:39
However, of all the one seeds and even I know we're hoping can
18:42
they drop to a 10 seed that that's I think Iowa has a better
18:45
chance of upsetting Florida than they would Houston.
18:48
I think Houston Trans got a chance to win it all.
18:50
To win it all I do, I think well, give me the comments.
18:53
Conference odds is is DraftKings or somebody got a a conference
18:57
odds? They did before the tournament.
19:00
I don't know if they've updated market.
19:01
Yeah, that's a fun one though. Because I think it's the Big 12.
19:04
The Big 12. I think it's Arizona or Houston.
19:06
Those are my two teams. Region to win team versus field
19:10
winning conference. Here we go.
19:11
Yep, Big 12 probably favored. It is barely plus 195 if you
19:15
want to just bet the Big 12 you get all the teams.
19:17
And then ACC second choice. Big 10 is the second choice,
19:20
2:00 to 1:00. Because of Purdue, the way
19:22
they're playing, maybe. Yeah, that probably helps to get
19:24
the number two seed ACC Next up plus 260, the SEC 6 to 1, Big E
19:30
25 to one. West Coast Conference, 30 to 1.
19:33
No, I'm out. No, no thanks.
19:34
I think it's the Big 12. I think we're going to see.
19:37
Well, who knows? I think Arizona would be my
19:39
choice to to cut down the Nets. Arizona, do you worry about
19:43
Tommy Lloyd? No, I do.
19:45
No, I think he's got, I think, I think his team is, is is too
19:49
good. They're going to overcome him.
19:52
That's fair. Because yes, when he told.
19:54
They've got about talent, they've got really good guard
19:59
play. The Tommy Lloyd flame outs just
20:02
concerned me. You mentioned Clemson a couple
20:03
years ago when they went to the lead eight who they beat the
20:05
Sweet 16. It was Arizona in order to get
20:07
there, the loss to Princeton early in his career.
20:10
Tommy Lloyd, he's got to prove it to me because I love the
20:13
talent on their squad. I love Bradley as a point guard.
20:15
Poet Pete is now coming back. He is coming back and starting
20:19
to play a back at the level we saw back in November.
20:22
When you get that guy buries, you know my thoughts in Della
20:25
Rosso. And boy, did he prove a Friday
20:27
night. It was unbelievable.
20:28
And then didn't show up on Saturday.
20:29
But that's also kind of what you get.
20:32
They got size. They got a.
20:33
Walker off the bench. The one thing for them they're
20:36
not because they don't take a ton of three pointers, they make
20:38
them at a relatively high rate. That's 36%, that's good, that's
20:42
57th in the country. They just don't take many of
20:45
them. And if it's one of those, they
20:47
go to a 12 from behind the arc. That's about it.
20:50
I love Arizona. I don't love Tommy Lloyd.
20:53
Who do you like? Who's your who'd be your team
20:55
right now? And then we'll bring up Fran
20:56
McCaffrey because we've got to bring him up in the opening
20:58
segment. I'm happy for him.
20:59
When I went through my first bracket.
21:02
Of how many? One for now.
21:05
For now, yeah. I mean, I'll be in a bunch of
21:07
bracket pools, but my my first one, my first kind of go through
21:10
and it'll just and change as the week goes on.
21:13
I ended up with Michigan and I was surprised by that.
21:16
The Duke injury concerns, certainly there.
21:18
There aren't many teams that I love outside the top level.
21:21
The one team that when I went off the board, I got a four seat
21:24
in there. You do.
21:26
I got a four seat in there. Well, hang on a second.
21:28
This is this has got my my attention here.
21:31
The four seed that you have, you don't have Kansas.
21:34
If you do, you're wrong. Nebraska.
21:38
You wouldn't take Nebraska. You hate Nebraska, you hate
21:41
Nebraska. I do.
21:43
Alabama is one of their guards got arrested this morning for
21:46
for marijuana possession. So he's questionable for the
21:49
tournament. You're not going to retire in
21:51
Alabama, are you? No, no, it's.
21:57
It's Arkansas. It is Arkansas.
21:59
A cuff is so. He's a great player, Trent, he's
22:01
a great player. And they potentially have a
22:04
match up in the Sweet 16 if they get there.
22:07
Why he's going to be tough. Why?
22:08
He's a really good defensive team.
22:10
They're going to grind things and they're going to make it
22:11
ugly. Wisconsin after that likely,
22:13
though, high point. I think it's a live dog in a 512
22:15
game. Arizona, Arkansas, Sweet 16 and
22:18
a cuff against that Arizona team.
22:21
He can absolutely be that guy that just puts the team on his
22:24
back. He played so well, not just in
22:26
the conference tournament, but what he's done here over the
22:28
last month. They're not a great defensive
22:30
team. That would be the knock against
22:31
the Razorbacks, but that's the one team that I got to that is
22:35
not a #1 or #2. Seed.
22:36
No, I could see that. I could see that.
22:38
But Calipari is not pleased that they got sent to Portland.
22:41
Did you see some of his stuff? He is not happy.
22:43
No way away. Really.
22:44
Right. Somebody's got to move.
22:46
Travel. You've got to travel.
22:47
Yeah. I think Wisconsin fans are
22:49
excited about going out there. Of course not.
22:51
Yes, that's reality. It is.
22:53
Fred McCaffrey. Your thoughts?
22:54
Happy for him. Absolutely.
22:56
It was great to see Fred on the sidelines.
22:59
It was interesting and I watched both the semi final in the
23:01
championship game is he's the same guy that he was last year.
23:05
Remember how checked out he seen?
23:06
Yeah. I did.
23:07
You know what? Hands in the pockets.
23:08
Yeah. I really think the Michigan
23:11
State stare down. I think that changed him because
23:14
even after that, we saw a different frame.
23:16
McCaffrey. Now we can still fly off the
23:17
handle. That's still a part of Fran's
23:19
DNA, and it's going to happen. I think it's something that
23:22
always hurt him because he went from not saying a thing to
23:24
completely losing his mind. But for a guy that was run out
23:29
of town, as he should have been, yeah, Beth gets made the right
23:32
choice. So what did now?
23:34
Did you see Patrick Mccaffrey's tweet?
23:36
Connor was fine. Patrick McCaffrey, Sure.
23:39
I'm sure he's priced well the the one tweet that I saw.
23:41
But he was he did not take a shot.
23:43
Patrick did not at the whole fan base and he made that very clear
23:48
what happened at the end. Who knows?
23:50
Those two boys are idiots, let's be honest.
23:53
No, no, they really are you. You something had to have
23:55
happened to to it's butt hurt. No, you've got, you've got.
24:00
They did. It on third base you think you
24:01
got a trip but. They didn't say that it had to
24:03
do with being the the dad was fired.
24:05
They they have to understand they're in the sport.
24:08
The coaches are hired to be fired.
24:10
They don't. But was the fact, was it the
24:12
fact that Fran came out and said we're not done playing
24:15
basketball of all, we're going to take my team, I'm going to
24:17
take my team to Las Vegas. Remember, he said that they were
24:20
going to the crown and then he was fired and then the season
24:22
was over. I'm just trying to figure out
24:23
what it was. They're whiny, they're petulant.
24:27
They're babies. That's what you get.
24:29
Well. Connor was better on Twitter
24:30
yesterday than he was leading. But he hasn't been.
24:33
No, he hasn't been. I'm just saying he was better
24:35
yesterday than he had been Patrick McCaffrey.
24:38
I mean. Your tech made millions of
24:40
dollars. Made millions of dollars,
24:42
brought Iowa basketball back to respectability.
24:47
He should be celebrated. And if you look around the fan
24:49
base and you look to social media and you talk to any
24:51
Hawkeye fan, I did not find one that was rooting against a pen
24:55
yesterday. They wanted Fram McCaffrey to be
24:57
successful because people move on and people understand what he
25:03
brought to Iowa City. The doldrums of the Licklider
25:07
era cannot be overstated. I don't know, for some younger
25:09
people he maybe even forgot just how bad it got and compared to
25:12
what it once was, it was awful. He brought them back and he
25:17
should be celebrated and he has been celebrated now.
25:20
Will he ever come back? I have no idea.
25:23
I would hope that that would happen.
25:24
I would hope that there could be a celebration for the guy that
25:27
is the all time winningest coach and had a lot of highs.
25:29
Yes, the low sucked losing to that awful Richmond team.
25:33
That's. Hideous.
25:34
That was awful. Absolutely one of the worst
25:37
losses you can have coming out of the heels of the highest
25:39
success that he'd had winning the Big 10 tournament
25:41
championship. However, there's a lot of good
25:44
in there. His sons, though, have made this
25:46
much more difficult than it needed to be.
25:49
It's on his sons. Bran moved on, did a great job,
25:53
got his team to the tournament. I'd love to see that.
25:54
Yeah. I.
25:55
Like the locker room celebration?
25:56
It was fun, it's good for Fran and I think Hawkeye fans as a
26:00
whole. Yeah, I'm with you.
26:01
I'm with you. We'll take a time out.
26:03
We'll come back. We'll be joined by Dave A A
26:07
Hearn. No.
26:08
Oh, Oh, Dave. Omen, omen.
26:10
OMMEN. Dave omenbracketville.com Dave
26:14
omenbracketville.com. We'll check his work.
26:17
Scott Dockerman joins us. So does Bill Seals.
26:19
Trent's going to make some plays before we slide out of here at
26:21
2:00. Miller and Condon, Iowa Sports
26:23
Radio Network. I'm Miller Conklin, welcome
26:30
back. Just past 12:30 on a Monday.
26:32
Our number 2 Scott Doctorman from The Athletic Bill Seals,
26:35
cyclonereport.com, part of rival slash on three media, Dave
26:39
omenbracketville.com. His work is done as the
26:44
committee is unveiled. There's Dave joins us.
26:45
Dave Trenton. Ken, thanks for doing this since
26:49
what about middle of January since we did this on a weekly
26:51
basis, We're grateful to you for joining us during that period of
26:55
time. So when you took a look back,
26:58
did the committee fool you in any way, or were they easier to
27:02
read this year than perhaps previous years?
27:04
Don't, Dave. Well, I don't know about easier
27:08
to read, but I would say that I think this year's committee
27:12
overall did an excellent job putting the bracket together.
27:18
And also in just the way that they explain things on
27:21
questions, I think they were transparent in their decisions,
27:26
which, you know, really is fans of what you kind of hope to see.
27:30
And I think also there has been at least, you know, sometimes
27:35
we've wondered how much games mattered in the conference
27:39
tournaments, particularly when we got to the weekend.
27:42
And I think by all indications, not only with Sunday's bracket
27:46
revealed, but with the information that we got that
27:49
this year's group did in fact take the heart teams resumes up
27:55
until the very last moment when they did release their bracket
27:58
on Sunday evening. Dave, you nailed a lot of the
28:01
matchups and did, I thought, an incredibly good job of putting
28:04
this together. One thing that we learned, I
28:06
think going back to the first reveal when we got the top 16
28:09
and now year #2 where web winds above bubble is one of the more
28:14
important metrics that are out there.
28:16
Take us into it a little bit. The winds above bubble metric
28:19
that is being used, you kind of look through and you look at the
28:21
seed list in the way that it plays out and the selection of
28:24
teams A how important that metric is.
28:27
And secondly, do you like that metric because it feels like
28:30
it's being used just in a second year a whole lot more than
28:33
anything else that we have? Well, we're always in a period
28:38
of adjustments. You know there was the old RPI
28:40
for years and then the net came in which was a more advanced
28:44
metric than the RPI and certainly I think a better
28:47
metric. And then you know we got the
28:49
whole quad system. So it's a continually evolving
28:52
process. What I will say about the the
28:55
winds above bubble is it does, I think at least give an
29:01
indication on how an average team who would be a bubble team
29:06
would perform against that schedule.
29:08
And then can help kind of give you an idea about how teams
29:12
perform against their schedule. A little bit like the strength
29:16
of record metric, but it's done a different way.
29:19
And I'm not enough of a, a math guru to go into all of the, the
29:23
details of, of how the formulas work and, and the within the
29:27
analytics, but I think where things like metrics can help.
29:33
Again, it never should be an end all be all.
29:35
I think it's still important that we have people looking at
29:37
resumes and who did you play and where did you play and who did
29:40
you beat and where did you beat them?
29:42
But it does give some context to how teams are playing and how to
29:46
measure. And particularly when you got
29:48
teams that look very close together and also teams maybe
29:52
that a lot of people don't see very much.
29:55
It gives an indication as to where they might be in relation
29:58
to some of those other bubble teams.
30:00
A little bit above or a little bit below.
30:01
Did the committee get Miami of Ohio correct?
30:06
I think from the standpoint of what they should have done, yes,
30:11
because I think at some point we still have to reward winning.
30:15
And I think going and undefeated in a regular season in any
30:20
conference against your peers is a extremely difficult thing to
30:23
do. And now had the bubble been
30:26
squeezed by four or five spots like it was a few years ago, it
30:30
might have been a tougher call. But I'm glad the committee made
30:33
made that call and I think with their accomplishments they
30:36
earned the right to play in the tournament.
30:39
So Miami of Ohio gets in. There was some miscommunication
30:43
too, because they were last on the seed list.
30:45
A lot of people believe that they were the last team in.
30:47
However, that wasn't the case. I'll fill our listeners in a
30:51
little bit on the scrubbing process, and I know I've seen
30:54
you talk about this a little bit.
30:55
When you're going in and scrubbing the different teams,
30:57
what exactly does that mean? Well, I, I think the first thing
31:01
for people to understand is that selection and seating are two
31:04
different processes that the committee goes through.
31:07
So they're selecting teams and then those teams get placed into
31:11
the field once they're in. Then once all of those teams are
31:15
done or they'll get close to that finish line, they still
31:18
start the process of seeding the upper part of the bracket early.
31:22
And then once it's all together, they'll go back through, you
31:25
know, line by line all the way down through, especially at
31:28
various points. And they will look at teams
31:31
again and they'll make a little adjustments before they put that
31:34
final seed list together. So I think the take away is that
31:38
Miami of Ohio was voted in on a couple of ballots sooner in
31:43
terms of they were going to be in the field.
31:46
But then when they did the full seedless scrub at the end, given
31:51
the fact of their conference schedule, their non conference
31:56
schedule, etcetera, etcetera, they were simply scrubbed down
31:59
towards the bottom of the seed list in terms of where they
32:03
would have been. But that doesn't mean that they
32:05
wouldn't have gotten in that that happens.
32:07
And so they could be in the 1st 4 because that first four is the
32:10
lowest 4 at large teams on the final C list.
32:15
It's not the final four or the first four.
32:18
However you want to do the last four in, it's not the last four
32:21
teams necessarily voted into the field.
32:23
You know, you mentioned that the committee did not or did take
32:28
rather into account the games played on Sunday for the most
32:30
part. And normally we get to Selection
32:33
Sunday. It doesn't matter who wins the
32:34
Big 10 because it seemingly their work has already been
32:37
done. The fact that Purdue ended up on
32:39
the two line, is that proof in your mind that the committee was
32:42
there right till the end? Well, I, I heard in a post
32:46
interview with the this year's committee chair that in fact,
32:51
yes, I mean I believe, and I may be quoting this wrong, but
32:55
Purdue was on the three line and then they made the championship
32:59
game and by winning they basically moved them to the two.
33:03
Now obviously this happened late, but the committee has a
33:05
lot of contingency brackets in play, if you will, to account
33:09
for scenarios. So when they won, they simply
33:13
went with the one of them as a two seed.
33:16
What we'll never know, of course, is would they still have
33:20
been a two had Michigan won that game and or in left and then
33:24
Michigan State would have been the two or did they actually
33:28
have to win or did they not have to win?
33:29
But those are a lot of nuances. I think just the fact that we
33:33
saw a lot of that taken into account is a good thing because
33:38
it does make those games more meaningful for the teams playing
33:41
in them. Dave, let's jump into the local
33:43
teams. Let's start with the Iowa State
33:45
Cyclones, the number two seed in the Midwest.
33:47
You nailed that. You nailed their opening round
33:49
opponent against Tennessee State.
33:50
You also nailed who they play as the seven seed in the round of
33:53
32 with Kentucky there, Saint Louis and then Chicago if they
33:57
get to the Sweet 16. Pretty good path for Iowa State.
34:00
Your thoughts on the Cyclones, where they were and how you
34:03
identify them. The path that they're going to
34:04
have to the second weekend. Well, I think you know, Iowa
34:09
State when they're playing at their best, they're certainly
34:12
one of the handful of the best teams in the country.
34:16
And you know, that Big 12 game with that they had recently was
34:20
just, you know, one of the all time great games as a fan to sit
34:23
there and watch, right? I mean, we could throw that on
34:26
repeat and and and watch a lot of basketball and be just have a
34:30
lot of fun with it. So I think it is a very good
34:32
path for Iowa State. I mean, Saint Louis is close by.
34:34
Chicago's relatively close by for them.
34:38
You know, it you you and I both know and and the listeners all
34:42
know that the tournament is such a different animal because it's
34:45
a one and done. And you know, you have an off
34:49
night, somebody else has a really hot night and all of a
34:51
sudden your season is over really quickly.
34:54
I do think just looking at where they are, definitely have a
34:59
really good chance to get into that Sweet 16 and get to
35:02
Chicago. And then, you know, I think also
35:06
they match up favorably with either Virginia or Tennessee if
35:10
it's one of those two coming out of there.
35:13
And so as I look at it here today, Iowa State would be, you
35:17
know, a team I think could could easily get to that Elite 8 and
35:20
play for a chance to get to the Final Four.
35:22
Let's let's talk about Iowa. They get Clemson coming up on
35:26
Friday. They got a ship to Tampa.
35:28
But the winner of that game, Clemson.
35:29
Iowa and Clemson will be without their big in the middle.
35:32
Who's walling is going to miss the remainder of the years.
35:35
He blew out his knee in the ACC tournament.
35:37
Are your thoughts on the Hawks? Is their match up against
35:40
Clemson? Well, I, you know, just as as
35:43
someone who lives in the area and kind of follows Big 10, Big
35:46
12 basketball, I would like Iowa in this game, particularly as
35:50
you noted with Clemson's situation.
35:54
You know, after that, you know, beating Florida is going to be a
35:57
tough task. Obviously the the Gators until
36:00
they didn't play great in their final SEC game.
36:03
But you know, sometimes after 20 some games against all the same
36:07
opponents you're due for when you're been as hot as they are,
36:11
you're due for an off night. So.
36:13
But I do think Florida, obviously with their size up
36:15
front and with their guards playing better, would be another
36:20
one of the favorites to get to Indianapolis.
36:22
So, you know, hey, it's a one game thing.
36:24
I like Iowa to win their first one.
36:25
And then it'll just come down to, you know, where they can
36:28
control tempo against Florida and then knock down shots.
36:32
I mean, you're going to have to hit some 3 pointers in that
36:34
game. No doubt about it, need Florida
36:36
miss and they've done that a few times throughout the course of
36:38
the year. Finally, the Northern Iowa
36:40
Panthers, they are in once again.
36:42
First time in a decade for Ben Jacobson's squad, they get Saint
36:46
John's now. We saw the Johnnies run rough
36:48
shot over the Big E 19 out of 20 victories for them.
36:53
It's Pitino on one side. You and I though they were giant
36:56
killer a couple of times before. We saw them in the round of 32
36:59
against Kansas, at the win against Texas, couple of well, a
37:02
decade back, the last time they were there with the Jesperson
37:04
half quarter to win that one. Do they got enough here to
37:08
unseat Pitino in Saint John's? Well, I think the one thing you
37:12
always look for in these kind of matchups, right, is can they
37:16
control tempo or what kind of a team are they playing against?
37:20
And St. John's certainly has been
37:23
playing their best basketball in the last month and can be very
37:27
dynamic in creating turnovers and and getting out.
37:30
So it's what it will really come down to is St.
37:32
John's is a is a really good, excellent defensive team.
37:36
Northern Iowa's a defensive team, you know, so you kind of
37:41
expect the game, maybe, you know, in the 60s.
37:43
And then it just comes down to can Northern Iowa rebound and
37:47
keep St. John's off the glass, limit them
37:49
to one shot and then also can they make some shots?
37:52
If they can do that, I think they can stay in the game.
37:55
But obviously Saint John's is playing really well right now.
37:58
So it's it's going to take a a strong effort.
38:01
But you know, those 12, five games, we see that we see that
38:04
all the time. And and from a match up
38:07
standpoint style type. They're both going to want to
38:09
get after it on the defensive. End Last thing for me, Dave, is
38:11
a guy spends as much time trying to figure out this process
38:14
leading up to Selection Sunday. Do you fill out a bracket once
38:17
it comes out, and if so, what? What have you got for a Final
38:21
Four? Well, you know, I kind of gave
38:24
myself the night off last night and a little bit today because
38:28
I've just been, I've stared at so many resumes for the past,
38:30
you know, two to three months, you know, But I think when
38:34
you're looking at the term and I do fill one out for fun because
38:36
it makes it, it makes it fun to follow along.
38:39
I mean, I think right now, you know, Arizona seems to me to
38:43
probably be the most well-rounded, balanced, deepest
38:48
size shooting team. And then, you know, Duke is
38:52
still dealing with some, maybe a couple of missing players.
38:58
You know, Florida's been hot. Michigan is missing a player and
39:01
maybe hasn't been at their best recently.
39:04
So, you know, Arizona would probably be my favorite right
39:07
now out of the gate to to win it all.
39:11
But I think, you know, a couple of other teams, the Big 12 at
39:14
the very top has been really good all year.
39:16
So it would not surprise me to see either Houston or Iowa State
39:20
also make it to Indianapolis and then we'll go from there.
39:25
I like I said, I've got to look a little more detailed to give
39:28
you, but if I had to pick right off the back, I'd probably go
39:32
Duke, Houston, Arizona and then I might even have Iowa State in
39:36
that group as a consideration to get to to Indianapolis.
39:39
Good stuff. Dave Omen, again, thank you.
39:41
What you did for us all season long, Dave, really appreciate
39:44
you do great work. So will you come out with a way
39:46
too early? Look, I know they forced
39:48
Leonardi to do that at ESPN.com. Do you kind of put it on
39:51
mothballs for until basketball season actually starts again or
39:55
when will you get back to your site?
39:58
Well, generally speaking, we've kind of really picked back up in
40:01
October, but we'll see how the year goes.
40:05
I try not to do stuff too early because, you know, there's so
40:09
much change in transition in college basketball now between
40:11
who's going and who's staying. And we don't really have a
40:15
really idea of what rosters are going to look like until maybe
40:19
in May or June, so. But then we'll see how see how
40:22
energetic we feel by the time we get through and celebrate the
40:26
Final Four this year. Good stuff, Dave.
40:28
Thank you. Enjoy the tournament.
40:29
We appreciate what you do for us.
40:30
Thank you, Dave. Thanks for having me, yeah.
40:33
Good to talk to you Dave. Home in bracketville.com.
40:35
Boy, there was a lot of Iowa State love.
40:37
Did you see the selection? What did the whatever ESPN show
40:40
at 6:00? I did not after.
40:42
CBS went off the air. So Jay Williams, Seth Davis,
40:48
Seth Greenberg. Seth Greenberg, Thank you.
40:50
Seth Davis? No, he was on CBS.
40:52
Seth Greenberg, Who else was there?
40:56
Reese Davis was it? Damel Was he breaking news?
41:00
No, no it wasn't. Whoever three out of the four
41:04
had, I was state making it to the final.
41:06
Four. Wow.
41:07
All right. Do you want the ESPN love?
41:10
No, no. Not at all.
41:13
A lot of Arizona love. I think most of them had Arizona
41:15
to win it all. Arizona to win it all.
41:18
You like Houston? I like Houston and Arizona.
41:21
I like the Big 12. I don't like anybody I.
41:24
Think I told you injuries because of Michigan just not
41:26
look good, UConn? You can't bet UConn.
41:29
Florida, it's a 3 point shooting for them.
41:33
We want both. Your back guards are that bad.
41:36
You can't win six straight. I don't think you can.
41:40
Are we missing anybody? Is it more open because we
41:43
talked? OK, let me let me throw this one
41:46
at you. OK.
41:46
We both probably liked this team but had reservations back in I
41:51
don't know when we started to talk about it a little bit maybe
41:53
in some we both kind of liked produce roster.
41:56
Absolutely. And then we they fell off the
41:58
face of the earth and I tried couldn't get out of buy Purdue
42:01
tickets to save my life. Now I'm glad I still got them.
42:05
Are they turning in the right direction?
42:07
They got. Guards, they're not great.
42:09
Defensively. They beat Michigan.
42:12
OK, great. It was a great win.
42:15
Still a team that lost 4 out of 6 down the stretch.
42:18
All the losses they had at home. But they certainly turned it on
42:22
this last week. They did, but they did it
42:25
against Northwestern, Nebraska and entered UCLA team and then
42:31
Michigan the final. That was a great win.
42:34
I don't want to fall victim, OK? Maybe it's just when I will won
42:37
the tournament and what happened to them, OK.
42:40
Then let's go to what do we got for threes?
42:44
Michigan State maybe? OK.
42:47
That would be the one that I'm at least I could find I think, a
42:52
path. Illinois.
42:53
No, not good enough defensively. Zags.
42:55
God no. Virginie.
42:58
No, I don't think so. I like that Virginia team, but
43:02
not to win sixth straight. OK, Arkansas.
43:08
I like it. I like Arkansas.
43:11
They're not very good defensively either.
43:12
Though what's, what's their path?
43:14
So they would take on like, yeah, to play Wisconsin together
43:18
the first weekend. I don't know if Wisconsin's
43:20
going to be there. You think high points got a
43:22
chance to win high? Point.
43:23
High Point came up a lot in that show.
43:25
They spent the most money of any mid major on their roster didn't
43:28
they? Really?
43:29
They have money. How?
43:31
I don't know, Maybe you got something weird.
43:33
What was it? BYU with the cookie money or
43:35
whatever it is like it was a cookie money.
43:36
High High Point has money. So if you like Arkansas, do you
43:41
then think that Arizona's vulnerable?
43:44
Yes, you do, Tommy Lloyd. So if you're mine, is Arizona
43:49
the first one seed to fall by the wayside?
43:52
No, it's Florida. They're losing Iowa, all right.
43:54
My fandoms coming in a little bit too much on that one.
43:56
Tap the brakes there, big fella. Ones going down before the Sweet
44:02
16. You think so?
44:03
Last year we had four ones, all of the the final four was all
44:06
one seeds. So this year it's different.
44:09
About 80% of the time, that's when the one seeds advance to
44:11
the Sweet 16 we're due, OK? But I I can you toss those out
44:17
because of nil? Well.
44:18
That's the other component. I just the way the season is
44:21
played out, the questions with Michigan, they lose the backup
44:24
point guard. They're just not playing at the
44:26
level that we've seen at different points.
44:27
Duke, obviously the injury concerns that they have.
44:29
Arizona. But in Gapo is going to play
44:31
right? I mean the the big.
44:32
That's what they say I. Wouldn't be shocked if he
44:36
doesn't play this weekend. Right, saving for the Sweet 16
44:38
and fed extra week of Health Florida.
44:40
We talked there. There's a lot more warts on this
44:42
team, these top level teams now, but even a couple of weeks ago
44:47
it feels like a different conversation this.
44:50
Season. So if we, if we go back a year,
44:54
I, I think most people had a, a strong opinion that Team X was
45:01
going because for most people, I think it was Duke.
45:03
Duke's a cinch, right? Right.
45:05
Duke or Houston? Yeah, it's, it's, it's probably
45:08
Duke. But if it's not, they're they're
45:09
going to cut down then. I don't have that feel this
45:11
year. I'm with you.
45:13
I think it's much more open that it was within the last month.
45:16
Yes, without it I think, but yeah, I think back the last few
45:19
years and not find a even right or wrong.
45:22
At least you go into the tournament thing and this is the
45:24
team. I don't know would take a break
45:27
come back. We're way late Miller and Con
45:28
than Iowa Sports Radio Network.