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March Madness Bracket Breakdown & Championship Picks · Height Differential

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Give it to me. The bracket has been revealed.
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This is one of the best days of the year and I'm really excited
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to talk about it. It is the height differential.
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That's the 66 deal. I'm the 410 Nick, before we jump
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in, remember if you're watching live or if you're catching us
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later, subscribe to the height differential wherever you listen
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to pods, rate it and leave a review, and then also follow us
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on social at height differential.
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I've been waiting for this show since we started in August.
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This is episode 36 now, which is crazy, but I mean when the
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bracket comes out, it's it's a holiday.
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Is that a top five sports day of the year?
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The whole week is like as a whole.
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As a whole, yeah, I would agree with that.
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I would agree with that. And honestly, like the
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conference tournaments are great too, just to lead up to it.
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But it officially starts on Sunday when they reel the
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bracket. Get all the time to look at it,
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change your picks over and over. And then first, my first thing
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is breaking down the committee's decisions.
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And I will say this year for the most part, I thought they did a
1:17
really good job. And I don't know if that is
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because there was such a separation kind of there at the
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end of the bubble. But last year we had the old
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deal with North Carolina getting in where people didn't really
1:27
think they should have got in. I I don't think there's any
1:30
teams that got left out this year that they're like, Oh no,
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how how do we leave them out of the tournament?
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No what? The RedHawks got in.
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Yeah, that's a whole other story.
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That's that's on my list of things of what I think the
1:43
committee got wrong. But no, I mean, like, it was not
1:47
a great bubble. We talked about, you know, the
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basically 500 Auburn's and Oklahoma's and Indiana's of the
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world that have not been playing good basketball that nobody
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really wants to see in there. But I'm also on the side of I
2:00
don't really want to see Miami of Ohio in there either.
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And guess what? The committee, here's what the
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committee did. They put them in as if you go on
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the seed list, they're the 44th on the seed list, which is the
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very last at large team to get into the tournament.
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See what that tells me? That tells me the committee did
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not want to put them in. The committee knew that they
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didn't deserve to get in. They didn't want to put them in,
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but the committee didn't want to deal with the BS of the media
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and, and, and the public in in all of that.
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They didn't want to deal with with the aftermath of their
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decisions. So they're like the easy choice
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was to just put them in and that's what they did.
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They didn't want to, but they did it because they just felt
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like they had to. But to be fair, that wasn't
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actually the case. They weren't the last team to
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get into the tournament. Based on the seed list, they're
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the lowest at large seed list. That that is true.
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And and what they did, they were they were clearly in and when
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they got down to it and then they'd had the final four, they
2:59
reseeded them. So they actually moved Miami,
3:02
Ohio down. They were in the tournament
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ahead of Smoo, ahead of Texas, but then when they reseeded the
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final four, they moved them down so they they had Miami, OH in
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the. 1st 4 that's. Fine.
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Yeah, the first four. Yeah.
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They had them in, but then when they reseeded, which honestly
3:20
doesn't make a ton of sense to me because if you're saying
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Miami, Ohio is clearly in and then when you reseed them and
3:27
you move them down, then it according to the seed list,
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you're right. Yeah, they were the last team
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in. So why would the last team in?
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I don't know. It's all really doesn't matter
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much. But per the committee, Miami,
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Ohio was the lowest seed at large, but they were not the
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last team to get it, if that makes sense.
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I. Don't know, they put them in the
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first four, which still tells me they don't really want them in
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the tournament, but they feel like they had to put them in and
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then we're just going to watch them get their butts kicked on
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Wednesday by by SMU. Well, and we talked about this
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too. I I think this is this is
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probably the right way to do it. Yeah, this wasn't the right way.
4:05
They can prove. It and you've got a smooth team
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that has really struggled down the stretch and I don't know
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it'll it'll be there by far the best team that Miami Ohio has
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played all year other than Akron is really the only team that's
4:22
close. Yeah, so I don't we've, we've
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talked a ton about a Miami OH on this, on this podcast.
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And I will say that game on Wednesday night might be the
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most viewed 1st 4 game in the history of the NCAA Tournament.
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I mean how far? How far is is Miami of Ohio's
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campus from Dayton, OH? Less than an hour.
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Less than an hour, so it's going to be it's going to be a home
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game for the RedHawks. Right, But and Travis still was
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on. I don't know, I've listened to
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so many pods today, but he was on one of them talking about, I
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mean, they're going to travel and it's going to be a home game
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and, and they're excited about it and they should be.
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Sure, let them get excited. I don't know other other things
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besides besides that that got questioned.
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The committee on was the seating of St.
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John's A5 seed. I mean, make it make sense.
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They're 19 and one in their last twenty.
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They won the regular season and Big East tournament titles.
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They beaten UConn twice, Uconn's A2 and they're sitting there at
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A5. Make it make sense.
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The thing like UConn just has so many more quality wins outside
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of the conference that then Saint John's does.
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They won. They beat BYU.
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They beat Illinois. They beat Kansas.
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They beat Florida. They lost to Marquette.
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They also lost they and they've lost to Creighton too.
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They've they've got a couple bad losses down the stretch.
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If you look at the net, Yukon is 10, Saint John's is 16.
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They're only separated by 6 spots and there there's no way
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in the world that St. John's is A5.
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No, not only not only do you make them A5, you make them A5
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in a region with Duke, Yukon, Michigan State and Kansas.
6:17
Right. Like good Lord.
6:20
No, they they definitely were not rewarded for the way they've
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played the last 20 games. You and you, you won the Big
6:27
East regular season and the conference tournament.
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I think it shows you that the committee really had a lack of
6:33
respect for the Big East this year.
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Yeah, it is down. And that showed like, I don't
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think, like I agree with UConn still being ranked ahead of
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Saint John's because of the quality wins that they have over
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them, but being three seats higher and then you put them in
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the same region. Yeah.
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And then you put them in one overall seat with the number one
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overall seat. Right.
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That's that's the one that really caught my eye.
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The other one was was Vanderbilt.
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I thought they were under seeded as well.
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I thought at at the least they would be a four.
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If you compare Vanderbilt with the teams that actually got
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fours, which is Nebraska, Arkansas, Alabama and Kansas.
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I mean their Nets higher than all of them.
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They have more Q1 wins than all of them and they get to the the
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conference title game and and they're five.
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Those are really my 2 main beefs with with the bracket.
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One other one to me is Florida's a one seed and if they get to
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the lead 8 and they got to play Houston, they're going to be the
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one seed playing Houston and Houston.
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And Houston? As the two.
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Yeah. And we saw this last year with
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Purdue where they had Houston had to beat Purdue.
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I think it was the Sweet 16 last year in Indianapolis when they
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hosted the regional. So I get it.
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These things are hard to it's hard to avoid them completely.
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And you want to give high seeds, you want them to be around so
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they can travel. But Florida happen to play
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Houston in Houston in that League 8 game is is a tough
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reward for being a one seed. Yeah, no, that's, I mean, that's
8:21
we, we remember from our women's basketball days of when
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Louisville women's basketball was a one seed and had to go
8:27
play in Albany, NY against the two seeded UConn, you know, so
8:32
something similar to that. But this is even worse because
8:34
you're actually playing in Houston.
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So yeah, I mean, yeah, they they had to play.
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Florida was probably like you said, like they're the last one
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seed to get the last of the one seeds.
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So they put them in, you know, they they had the most
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disadvantageous spot and Houston happens to be the best of the
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two seeds. So they get that luxury of
8:55
playing in Houston. And if that game does come into
8:58
fruition, Houston going to be looking for a little of revenge
9:01
from last year. So that game is going to have a
9:03
lot of intrigue. Yeah, yeah.
9:06
And then what? What do you think about Purdue
9:08
getting a two seed? I mean they struggled that they
9:11
lost 4 of 6 going into the conference tournament.
9:13
They get hot in the conference tournament.
9:15
They had a great win against Michigan, but they had not been
9:17
playing good ball coming in well.
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They were seven seed in their own conference tournament and
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then here they are in the two line.
9:25
We we taught when we did our draft of teams most likely to
9:29
win the title what, 2 weeks ago? Yeah.
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Neither one of us even picked pretty.
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No, that's still. I mean, after the way they
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played this weekend, I think you would have.
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I mean, if you're picking 10 teams, I think they have to be
9:45
on that list. They might be on at the time.
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At the time, like I was thinking they were probably going to be a
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3 or 4. I was expecting at least a
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three. Probably.
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Probably more on the four line going into the Big 10
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tournament. Yeah.
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And look, we saw last year with the Big 10 tournament, it didn't
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matter at all. Do you remember Michigan seed
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after the tournament? It just made no sense.
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And this year, I don't know if they overcompensated, but the
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Big 10 tournament act obviously didn't make a big deal because
10:19
they moved all the way up to A2 line.
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Now, look, they've got wins over Alabama, Texas Tech, you know,
10:27
outside of that, most of their wins are inside the Big 10, but
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we saw they had some bad losses too down the stretch.
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I I was surprised that they moved up to A2 line.
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Lenardi had them up to A2 before they even had won the Big 10
10:40
championship. I But yeah, if if you're saying,
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is that another one that you're surprised about?
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Yeah. And like, I don't who would have
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been the other two over them? It would have been who's the 9
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on the seed line? It is Michigan State.
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So basically what happened is they won the Big 10 and
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basically flipped over Michigan State, which I, I mean, I can
11:05
see that. Yeah, I can.
11:09
See that like I you're not, you're not going to move
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Illinois or Michigan State, who's 9 and 10.
11:13
I'm not. Moving with Gonzaga, you
11:15
wouldn't have moved. You wouldn't have flip-flopped
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them with Gonzaga. I mean, Gonzaga's 30 and three.
11:22
I know they there's their conference schedule is what it
11:25
is, but. Their their Nets higher.
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Yeah, I don't know they their Nets higher.
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Gonzaga's only has seven quad one wins.
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Purdue has 11, but also Purdue has 8 quad 1 losses and Purdue
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only has two. We're we're kind of just really
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nitpicking because I do think they did a really good job this
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year and that wouldn't, but the St.
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John's and vanity ones were the ones that that shocked me the
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most. And the the biggest thing is St.
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John's and Yukon having three seed lines between them.
11:59
Yeah. And then being in the same
12:01
racket. But I'll tell you what, if I'm
12:04
Duke, I don't want to see St. John's in in the Sweet 16 and
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have to play them that early. That's that's a disservice to
12:12
Duke as your number one overall seed too.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean Duke is the number one
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overall seed. Did not get an easy Rd. that's.
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For sure, no. And we'll get into that.
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But first, I want to like, I just think with the the field,
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Leonardi got 68 of 68, right? Yeah.
12:35
And he's done that before. But I also think it shows how
12:39
kind of clear cut it was. Yeah, how kind of clear cut the
12:42
bubble was. And This is why, before we get
12:47
into what we're going to talk about next, This is why we don't
12:50
need an expansion to what 76 teams is.
12:56
That what they were talking about going to, Yeah.
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I mean, we don't need anything beyond what we have now.
13:00
Wait, look at these at large play insurance that would that
13:02
we would be forced to watch Arizona State, California,
13:06
Oklahoma State, Virginia Tech, Indiana, Oklahoma, Auburn, San
13:10
Diego State, smooth Miami, Ohio and Texas.
13:13
NC State already on it. Yeah, we don't need all.
13:16
That additional four games. We don't need it.
13:20
And then you just get a bunch of sixteens playing each other like
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even more sixteens don't get rewarded for half and and
13:26
getting to play a big time blue blood because you got to play
13:28
another 16 to get there. And we've talked about that over
13:32
and over. Yeah, we're on the same side.
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We're on the same side of that one, yeah.
13:38
So you were starting to talk about that.
13:40
Who do you who do you think what one has been rewarded with the
13:45
easiest path and which one has been handed the the toughest
13:50
path? Oh yeah, I've got, I've got them
13:52
in order here. I've got them in order.
13:54
If we're going to easiest to hardest, Michigan I think just
13:57
has a cakewalk to the Elite 8. I mean that to me, Michigan has
14:01
by far the easiest Rd. down there in the in the Midwest.
14:06
After that, I think Florida's is probably the second easiest.
14:09
I mean, they're going to have to deal with Houston come the Elite
14:12
8, but I don't really see them. Vanderbilt in the Sweet 16 will
14:17
be their only toughest test. And we talked about that right
14:19
before we got on here that you don't think you don't think
14:21
Vandy can do it again. It could, but I just, I think it
14:24
would be really tough to do. Then we get, I mean, the, the,
14:27
the last two, the Duke in Arizona, I went back and forth
14:30
on this. I think Duke is the the third
14:34
easiest or second hardest if you will.
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I mean, like I said, the committee didn't do them any
14:39
favors putting them with UConn as the two, Michigan State as a
14:42
three Kansas. And then Saint John, the red hot
14:44
Saint John's team that they're going to have to end up facing
14:47
in probably the Sweet 16. So that that's just a tough Rd.
14:50
especially with the the quality of coaching of all those teams.
14:53
I mean, we're talking legends of the game here with with with
14:56
those teams, with Pitino and Self and and Izzo and Hurley,
15:02
who's who's relatively new on the scene, but has done, you
15:05
know, remarkable. Yeah.
15:06
Yeah. So I mean that that's going to
15:09
be tough for Duke, but I think, I think Arizona, I picked
15:13
Arizona as the hardest one, as the hardest road to get to get
15:16
through. I mean, you've got Purdue as
15:17
your two seed, who we just talked about struggled at the
15:20
end of the year, but. But you just said you wouldn't
15:22
pickle, no? Yeah, I mean, they came on hot
15:24
in the Big 10 tournament, beat Michigan, won that Big 10 title.
15:29
That's your two. Gonzaga is your three, who I
15:32
think is underrated. They're sitting there 30 and
15:35
three. And then you know, you've got to
15:37
deal with Arkansas, who just won the SEC title in Wisconsin, who
15:41
I think is very underrated this year.
15:44
Nobody's really talked much about Wisconsin, but they're
15:46
they're damn good. And I think, I mean, I have them
15:49
beating Arkansas in the second round and facing Arizona in the
15:52
Sweet 16. So I think with Wisconsin,
15:55
Arkansas, Purdue and Gonzaga sitting there, Arizona's,
15:59
they're going to get tested. Yeah I 100% agree with you on
16:05
the Michigan having the easiest path like their their 5 is a
16:14
Texas Tech team without JT topping that when they had him.
16:18
I think they were a legit final four contender.
16:20
I don't know if they were a national title contender, but a
16:22
legit final four contender. Alabama has great guards, but
16:28
they're not. Going to guard got arrested one
16:30
of their second leading scores. Just got arrested.
16:32
Yeah. Like only team I think that can
16:36
beat Michigan is is Iowa State in that in that whole region.
16:41
You know, I, I don't trust Iowa State.
16:44
I know they're good, but I don't trust them.
16:48
I you've been down on Iowa State all year.
16:52
I trust them and they they can beat Michigan.
16:55
Will I pick them to beat Michigan?
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Probably not. But I the fact that you, I don't
17:00
think Michigan is going to get tested until an Elite 8 game,
17:05
very obvious that that is the easiest path.
17:07
Yeah, it's a cake. I mean they it's an easy road
17:09
for them to get to that Elite 8. I look at the other pass, I like
17:13
everybody keeps talking about Duke's path being the hardest.
17:15
I think it's the second easiest. And I UConn is I don't trust him
17:22
at all right now. I'm not a fan.
17:24
I don't love Michigan State I I think their Sweet 16 game if it
17:29
is St. John's is is their toughest game
17:31
for them to get out of that bracket.
17:33
So that's why I have the Duke's path as the second easiest.
17:38
Then I would go Arizona. I agree with you that whoever
17:42
wins that Wisconsin Arkansas game they they can beat Arizona.
17:46
I don't Arkansas with with Acuff and the rest of their guards
17:52
when Brazil's playing the way he's playing like they they're
17:55
just they they go 7 deep, but they can beat anybody on a given
17:59
night. Wisconsin, they were the first
18:02
team to beat Michigan. They got one of the best back
18:04
courts in the country with Blackwell and and Nick Boyd.
18:07
They're going to have a tough game, I think, with high point
18:09
in the first round. They.
18:12
Will and then I, I don't believe in this Gonzaga team, especially
18:17
if Braden Huff is not back healthy and it doesn't look like
18:20
he's going to be healthy till at least the Sweet 16.
18:24
So even without Richie Saunders, I think maybe because you've got
18:28
the best who I think is the best player in the country.
18:30
I could see BYU still beating them, but I I could see
18:36
Wisconsin, Arkansas and Purdue potentially beating Arizona.
18:42
And but I think the hardest path is Florida and like Nebraska,
18:48
Vanderbilt. I think both can beat them.
18:50
Illinois is the best offense in the country.
18:53
And then you, you know, I'm a fan of Kelvin Sampson and
18:56
Houston in the tournament. I think all of those teams can
18:59
beat them now look as the, as the 4th 1.
19:02
I think you should have the toughest path.
19:04
Do I think you should, like I've already said, do I think you
19:06
should have to go to Houston to beat Houston in the Elite 8 to
19:09
get to the Final Four? I don't know about that.
19:12
But I, I, I, I just think that's, that's a really tough
19:17
path. And if they can get through
19:19
that, then good on them and they're going to have a chance
19:23
to, to win back-to-back. But I to to me the clearest 1 is
19:28
Michigan has the easiest path. Yeah, Yeah.
19:30
There's no question about that. Like I just, I just look at the
19:37
top of that bracket and who are they going to play in the Sweet
19:41
16 out of Texas Tech, Akron, AL and Austra?
19:47
Like I just, I think that's an opportunity for a 12 or 13 to
19:50
get out of there. Yeah.
19:52
I really do. I mean, I it very well could be
19:56
Akron. Yeah, very well as much.
20:00
As you as much as you love Miami, OH.
20:02
I hear you. But I think, I think actually if
20:06
if I were to if if I were to pick, I think Akron does get
20:10
out. I have Akron beating Texas Tech
20:12
on the BRAC. And I and look, I love Christian
20:16
Anderson, he's one of my favorite guards in the country,
20:17
but he, he he slipped and hurt his ankle a little bit on the on
20:22
the court was was a big reason why they they changed the court
20:27
in Kansas City. If he's not healthy, they, I
20:31
mean, I don't know how you overcome.
20:33
There was a point in time where they had two of the top ten
20:35
players in the country. I really believe that.
20:37
And if he's not 100% and you've already lost top and yeah, I, I
20:41
think that's a, a prime spot for, for for an upset.
20:46
What What first round matchup do you look forward to most in the
20:52
East? There's not a lot of great ones
20:56
in the East. I mean, the the one that that I
20:58
think is the most interesting is going to be the hometown team
21:01
here. It's going to be the Louisville
21:02
South Florida game. It's going to, you know, South
21:06
Florida, they've won eleven in a row.
21:08
They just, they came off now winning the American
21:12
Championship. I mean, they're Louisville's
21:14
favored by 5 1/2. It's all going to depend on if
21:17
Michael Brown. Earlier that already moved.
21:19
Yeah, it was 5 1/2 when I checked it before the show.
21:22
It's going to depend on if Michael Brown is healthy.
21:24
You know, if he's healthy, I think Louisville wins this game
21:27
without question. But you know, South Florida,
21:29
like they, they're 8th in the country in scoring.
21:32
They average 87 points a game. Louisville's 20th at 84 points a
21:35
game. So up and down high paced
21:38
offense, it's going to be it's going to be a shootout.
21:41
And those kind of games are fun. But you know, you look around
21:45
the the the rest of the games in this region and there's just not
21:48
really a lot of interesting ones.
21:49
But I think that one, just based on the the way that South
21:52
Florida's been playing, they haven't lost since, I guess they
21:54
haven't lost since January. But just just the style of play
21:58
and the way that they match up with Louisville, it's going to
21:59
be a fun one to watch. Yeah.
22:01
And, and Hodgson's going back to his hometown where his dad had
22:05
dementia and hasn't seen him coach a game.
22:08
He's he's now in his third year as a head coach, came from
22:10
Arkansas State. I think the fact that they do
22:15
like to get up and down play it, it plays in Louisville's favor a
22:18
little bit than somebody who wants to, you know, just kind of
22:22
slow it down. Yeah.
22:23
But the the bottom line is, are they going to hit threes?
22:27
And that's been the fact with Louisville all year.
22:29
But I there, I have not seen one expert on TV pick Louisville to
22:36
win this game. Not a single one, not a single
22:40
one. And look, and if there's games
22:44
like this every year, like PK is going to be motivated.
22:49
They're going to be motivated to get a win here.
22:52
Yeah. And I it's just the question
22:56
marks around Michael Brown is that's if he plays and and they
23:01
hit threes. Like I think the fact that South
23:04
Florida, like I said, like they like to get up and down, I think
23:06
plays in their favor. But if they have a bad shoot
23:10
tonight, you you never know what's going to happen.
23:11
That's just kind of what this Louisville team is at this
23:15
point. Yeah.
23:16
So, but I, I, yeah, if I look at the rest of that region, there's
23:21
really no other game that stands out to me.
23:24
I, I think it's by far the best game in the East and the one I'm
23:27
looking forward to for not for more than obvious reasons for to
23:30
watch him, I guess to stick in the East.
23:35
Who do you have? Your Sweet 16 and then your Lead
23:40
8 Sweet 16? Yeah, I've got Duke.
23:44
Duke advancing Sweet 16, St. John's advancing to the Sweet
23:48
16. Then I would put Michigan State
23:52
to the Sweet 16. That last one's tough.
23:57
If UCLA can play well, they can beat UConn.
24:02
Yeah, they they played well in the Big 10 tournament and made
24:04
it to the semis. I still think UConn is probably
24:06
a little bit better. So I'll I'll stick with with the
24:09
chalk. Also, like Donovan Dent has got
24:11
to be healthy from them. If he if he's not healthy, yeah,
24:14
I which I think he is going to play, but everybody says that
24:18
before the the selection because they don't want it to affect
24:21
their seating. Of course it I just even with
24:25
that being a question mark, I don't I don't know how I could
24:27
go UCLA there, but they are playing better basketball.
24:31
Right now they are playing, yeah, but I've got UConn and
24:33
that's Sweet 16, then Elite 8, we're going to go.
24:39
I think the Johnnies run comes to an end.
24:40
I'm going to go Duke in the Elite 8 with Michigan State as
24:45
that other team, with Duke beating Michigan State to
24:48
advance to the Final Four. So I've this is what the problem
24:53
is with these shows. I've got the same Sweet 16 and
24:56
there's just no way I'm picking Kansas over Saint John's the way
24:59
Saint John's is playing right now.
25:01
And but I I'm going to Johnny's to be Duke.
25:08
I like you got question marks surrounding Caleb Foster and and
25:13
in Juba. Are they going to play and?
25:18
They keep winning without them. I know, but God, I can't just go
25:22
chalk on all of these and. Duke's been the best team all
25:26
year. I mean, hands down, they've been
25:27
the best team all year. Do they?
25:29
They don't want to see St. John's in the Sweet 16.
25:32
I guarantee it. And Equifor is one guy down low
25:36
that can be, he can play big with Boozer like I, I think he
25:41
could, he could provide problems for him.
25:44
I, I don't like you got to pick some upset somewhere and you,
25:47
you and you give me Rick, after their disappointment last year
25:52
where they lost in the second round, He's going to have extra
25:55
motivation. I, I'm, I'm going, I'm going
26:00
Saint John's and UConn in, in the Elite 8 and I'm going Saint
26:05
John's to get to the Final Four. All right, Rick Pitino in the
26:09
Final Four, another team that would be what, his fourth team
26:11
he takes for the Final Four. Which is just that, doesn't he?
26:16
Just wins, yeah. Look, to me, he's in the
26:20
argument as the greatest college coach of all time.
26:23
You have to put him in the argument.
26:24
There's no question about that. The fact that he's done it in so
26:27
many different places, like look, I get it, what Coach K did
26:30
at Duke is incredible, but he did it all at one school.
26:34
Like what he's done, it's just and dude, he wins the Big East,
26:40
so he goes to the podium with the beer.
26:42
I know Kenny, Kenny Klein gave him the beer before he went up
26:45
there. Like he, he's just, I don't
26:49
know, I love the way they're playing right now and they play
26:52
with a lot of confidence. And I don't know, the Duke's
26:56
injuries, I think make could potentially catch up with them.
26:59
And that's where I I think it could happen going to the West.
27:06
What first round game are you looking forward to the most?
27:09
Going to the West all right let's take a look at what I put
27:11
down here in the notes I'm. Proud of you for taking some
27:15
notes. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
27:18
In the West, the Wisconsin versus High Point game is my is
27:23
my most intriguing game Wisconsin favorite I.
27:26
Picked the same one. Did you?
27:28
Yeah, we can't just pick the same one every.
27:30
Time. Well, yeah, we didn't
27:31
collaborate beforehand here. You could have told me that, but
27:34
no. But like High Point, third in
27:36
the country in scoring, they averaged 90 points a game,
27:39
Wisconsin's 35th in scoring there at 83 points a game.
27:42
High Point shoots the ball well for 49% from the field.
27:46
They leave the country and steals at 11 a game.
27:49
But they're playing a Wisconsin team that doesn't turn it over a
27:51
lot. So it's kind of like a little,
27:54
you know, who who's who's going to come out on top with their
27:57
style. Like it's is it the defensive
27:59
high point? Is it going to be the, you know,
28:00
the offense of Wisconsin, Wisconsin's fourth in the
28:02
country and made threes per game.
28:04
So I mean, this is going to just be an absolute high score should
28:07
be a high scoring affair. You know, like we talked about
28:11
Wisconsin's guards with Nick Boyd and and John Blackwell both
28:14
averaging about 20 a game. And then another reason this is
28:18
intriguing. Have you seen this?
28:20
The high point, The guard from high point that just shoots all
28:23
threes. The new Jack Gold key.
28:26
Have you? Heard about this kid?
28:28
Yeah. This Chase Johnston, who's 64 of
28:32
132 from three and O of 4 from 2.
28:37
It's O of 4 from 2. No, but like what?
28:41
Do you think his foot was his foot on the line on those?
28:43
He might have been, he might have been, but no, this game's
28:45
going to be great. Like I said, high points.
28:47
They they score the ball. It's going to be a high scoring
28:51
affair. It's going to be offense,
28:52
offense, offense. I think Wisconsin probably wins,
28:57
but it's going to be a close one.
28:58
It's going to be exciting. So I am going to go different.
29:05
I'm going to Sean Miller Will Wade in the play in.
29:09
It's called playing game. Two guys that back when there
29:13
were no back when there were rules got in trouble.
29:16
Now there's no rules playing each other in the playing game.
29:20
You made me think on the fly. I just, I think it's kind of
29:23
cool to see those two coaches going at it in the play in.
29:27
I'm surprised, honestly, the NC State's in the play in out.
29:29
That was one of the other things that kind of surprised me a
29:32
little bit. Yeah, but they they tanked out
29:35
toward the end of the season. But yeah, I'll, I'll go, I'll
29:38
go. Sean Miller.
29:38
We'll wait all. Right.
29:40
But stick to you. Just give me.
29:41
So stick to your original. If you were to stick with the
29:43
Wisconsin high point, why? Why is that your choice?
29:45
Why would that have been your choice?
29:47
Just their their styles, yeah, and but I mean, it's a lot of
29:51
the same things you said, but I I really, I think Wisconsin's
29:56
backcourt is, is good as anybody in the country and they've
30:00
proven they can beat anybody. This high point team is, is
30:04
their second year in a row being in a tournament after what I
30:08
don't think they had ever been in before before last year.
30:12
So I don't know. They they spent a lot of money
30:15
in NIL too. They're, they're one of the, the
30:18
higher spending, you know, mid conference teams to, to spend
30:23
some money. So I I think it could be an
30:24
interesting game. Yeah.
30:26
No, I'd agree with that, Yeah. What's your Sweet 16?
30:31
We're going to go Arizona versus Wisconsin in the Sweet 16, and I
30:36
think that that's going to be a really good game.
30:38
I can see Wisconsin winning that, but Arizona's, they've
30:41
just been consistently good all year.
30:44
Arizona wins that to go to the Elite 8, and then on the bottom
30:47
side we're going to have Purdue and Gonzaga matching up in the
30:53
Sweet 16. When I've got the Zags, I've got
30:56
Gonzaga winning that one, taking on Arizona in the Elite 8 with
30:59
Arizona advancing to the Final Four.
31:03
Give me Arizona, Arkansas and BYU Purdue.
31:09
BYU. Yeah, they got the best player
31:12
in the country. And brah.
31:14
Well, Gonzaga's missing their best player.
31:16
I mean, they got best player in the country.
31:17
Guess what? That best player in the country
31:19
has lost 11 times this year 11. But like I they could lose to
31:24
Texas or NC State. I don't trust this Gonzaga team
31:28
without Ray enough. I, I just don't OK, I I think it
31:31
sets up for an opera like BYU still proving that they can win
31:35
games without Richie Saunders. I don't love it.
31:38
I don't love it. Honestly don't think I I think
31:41
the BYU loses to the playing winner.
31:44
Which is possible, which is possible, But I just if you give
31:49
me AJ Devante against Gonzaga, I'm going to take him and I
31:53
think he can do it. And like in the Big 12
31:56
tournament, he didn't touch the ball enough at the end of the
31:57
game. And maybe they learned their
32:00
hopefully they learned their lesson from that.
32:04
But and then give me Arizona and Purdue and Arizona to the to the
32:09
Final Four. OK.
32:13
In the South, I guess I'll start since the game that I'm looking
32:18
forward to the most. Yeah.
32:22
North Carolina, VCU. North Carolina obviously is
32:27
playing out without one of the best players in the country in
32:30
Caleb Wilson, which I obviously gives VCU a better chance.
32:38
Yeah, VCU under Phil Martelli Junior, who obviously his dad
32:44
was iconic coach at Saint Joe's, VCU started the season 11 and
32:49
six and two and two in league play.
32:51
They've won 16 and 17 since then, won the ATA 10 tournament
32:56
championship. They weren't going to get in
32:58
unless they won. So I think this in addition to
33:04
be this being something the matchup that I'm looking forward
33:09
to, I also have this as one of my my upsets.
33:12
I've got VCU beaten UNC. Yeah, no, I have that as as
33:17
listed as my upset as well. I don't have it as my most
33:20
intriguing game, but I do have it as my most likely upset in
33:23
that region would be VCU over UNC without Caleb Wilson.
33:27
My most intriguing matchup I have on here is the 710 matchup
33:30
between Saint Mary's and Texas A&M.
33:33
Texas A&M, Buckyball, as they're known, get up and down.
33:38
They know they're with their pace or top 30 pace in the
33:40
country and they're going against the completely opposite
33:43
style. And Saint Mary's who
33:45
deliberately they slow it down and they try to try to slow you
33:48
down and and play a completely different type of game.
33:51
So that was going to be whoever can dictate that that pace and
33:54
that their style and impose their their style of play.
33:57
That's who's going to win. So be interesting to see that
34:00
one. But that's what I got.
34:02
And then I'm not close to all chalk.
34:05
I got Florida Vandy, Illinois Houston, and then I got Florida
34:11
Houston. And then I got Houston getting
34:13
revenge and going to the final floor.
34:14
I'm. Going to shake it up.
34:18
I got Florida, Nebraska with Houston and Illinois.
34:26
It's not much of A shake up. That's like you played.
34:29
But you were expecting me to say.
34:30
You were expecting me to say Vandy?
34:33
Well, you you weren't a big fan of Nebraska two weeks ago when
34:36
we were doing the draft. So I don't know, Vandy played a
34:39
really, really good SEC tournament, but I was not
34:42
impressed with them down the stretch when they went interrupt
34:45
and got absolutely housed by Kentucky.
34:47
But they. Housed Kentucky at Memorial.
34:50
I know that was earlier in the season.
34:52
I think, I think they were playing better ball earlier in
34:55
the season than they than they didn't in late January and
34:59
February. But give me Florida, Nebraska,
35:03
Illinois, Houston, Florida versus Houston and the Cougars
35:09
in in their own backyard. Follow me on that one.
35:11
In their own backyard, Houston to the Final Four.
35:15
So right now you've got Duke, Arizona and and Houston.
35:19
Yeah. And I've got St.
35:21
John's, Arizona and Houston. All right.
35:26
What what match up you looking forward to in the Midwest?
35:30
Well, we've talked about it enough, but the playing game,
35:36
it's not really my most intriguing, but I just want to
35:38
make mention of it. This is the opportunity for
35:39
Miami, OH to prove that they belong.
35:41
So that's why it's intriguing to me because I want to see if they
35:45
actually can, you know, put up or shut up against the Power 14.
35:49
But the other one other than that, give me that Akron versus
35:53
Texas Tech game. Texas Tech without JT Topping
35:58
Christian Anderson, obviously we talked about him hurting himself
36:01
in the in the Big 12 tournament, falling on that plexiglass floor
36:06
or whatever that thing was. But Akron, I mean, they they're
36:09
third or they're ninth in the country and made threes per game
36:13
at 10.9. They're 7th in the country and
36:14
scoring at 88 points per game. I just think their offense, I
36:18
know they're Mac school and you know, I've dogged the Mac and
36:21
all that, but they actually, you know, have at least played other
36:24
Power Four teams this year on like Miami, Ohio.
36:26
So they've been tested. Give me Akron with our offense
36:29
over a unhealthy Texas Tech team to pull that upset.
36:35
And going back to the Miami, Ohio smooth it it is expected
36:39
that BJ Edwards is going to play for for SMU so that would give
36:44
them a boost. They've been about without him
36:46
over the last couple weeks. Mine is the 8-9 game.
36:53
The 8-9 game. Yeah, Saint, Saint Louis and
36:57
Georgia. Everybody loves a good 8-9 game.
37:00
Well, we haven't picked any 8-9 games for for our most
37:03
intriguing game. That's true.
37:05
Obviously Saint Louis has Robbie Avila who what has a million
37:10
nicknames? Kareem Abdul Jabbar, but what
37:13
else does he have? Like a bunch of it's.
37:16
Like he's been in school for like 10 years.
37:18
Yeah, I think he has. What?
37:21
The Billikens ranked 10th in the country in points per game with
37:23
87. They ranked second in the
37:26
country and three-point percentage.
37:29
Georgia ranks 8th in the country with 89.8 points a game.
37:34
This is going to be a race to 95 points really.
37:42
It's going to be up and down Game should be a fun game to
37:44
watch. I mean, Georgia's opponents are
37:48
averaging almost 80 points a game, which ranks 300 and 15th
37:51
in the country. So not going to be.
37:55
And what? And Saint Louis is holding
37:58
opponents to 70 points a game, which is a lot better than what,
38:04
10 points better? But this, this is going to be a
38:07
real up and down game. Should be fun to watch.
38:10
And that's why I picked that as as my most intriguing game of
38:13
the Midwest. What you got for your Sweet 16?
38:20
Well, we talked about Michigan is basically walking their way
38:23
to the Elite 8. So give me Michigan versus Akron
38:27
in the Sweet 16 on the top side with Michigan winning that and
38:30
going to the Elite 8. And then on the bottom side,
38:34
give me a Virginia versus Iowa State, with Virginia moving on
38:40
to the Elite 8 and Michigan over Virginia to go to the Final
38:45
Four. OK.
38:48
I have Michigan and Akron as well, which I don't love that we
38:51
both picked that and then. Alabama could do it.
38:55
I just. If their second leading scorer
38:58
is now arrested, I just. I just look at the the fours and
39:01
the fives there, and they have so many flaws.
39:03
Yeah. And it is why Michigan has such
39:07
an easy path. Yeah.
39:09
And in the bottom I have Tennessee and Iowa State.
39:13
Tennessee. And and then I have Michigan
39:16
playing Iowa State and and Michigan, Michigan going to the
39:19
to the Final Four. OK.
39:23
All right, so you have on your left side, you have Duke and
39:27
Houston. Yeah.
39:30
Who's going to the natty? You're the Duke Blue Devils to
39:34
go to the national championship. And then I'm going.
39:39
And you've got what, St. John's in Houston?
39:41
St. John's in Houston.
39:42
OK. And I, I think this is where I
39:45
think Houston is going back to the national title game.
39:48
OK. And then on the other side, I
39:52
have two ones in Arizona and Michigan.
39:55
I do as well, yeah. And I have Arizona going to the
39:58
title game. God, that's a tough one.
40:02
That's going to be a hell of a game.
40:07
Give me the Michigan Wolverines, give me a rematch from from
40:10
earlier from DC with Michigan and Duke in the title game, and
40:16
give me. Do do the Wolverines get
40:19
revenge? They do.
40:20
I think Michigan wins the national title.
40:23
And I've got Arizona over Houston.
40:26
So our championship game is completely different.
40:28
Our Final Fours are very similar minus St.
40:30
John's, but our championship games are different.
40:34
Yeah, I'm glad we had a little bit of, of differences there.
40:39
But I, I just some of these second round games I think are
40:42
like these 5, four games like the St.
40:44
John's, Kansas, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Nebraska,
40:49
all those games are really intriguing to me.
40:51
And then you've got the other one where I've got Akron playing
40:54
Hofstra. Yeah, the Hofstra wouldn't the
40:58
first one over over Alabama. Yeah, they don't guard and now
41:02
they their second leading scorer is probably not going to play.
41:06
It's true, No. Yeah, well, we, we that was one
41:10
of the the topics that shows the second round matchups.
41:12
And I've got I got a few Saint John's versus Kansas.
41:15
I think in the East is is must watch TV with with Bill's Bill
41:19
South and Rick Pitino going at it.
41:21
I think Saint John's wins that one, but that'll be a good one.
41:24
Vandy, Nebraska is going to be a great game with with the offense
41:28
of both those teams and I've got Nebraska and winning that one.
41:31
And then Arkansas, Wisconsin, a second round match up in the
41:34
West, give me Wisconsin to beat John Calipari.
41:39
And then in the Midwest, the Tennessee Virginia game was my
41:43
second round match up to look at and I've got Virginia winning
41:46
that one. Yeah, like, here's my thing.
41:51
Like some of the teams that are seated lower that I think can
41:55
make a run. Like, I love the way Arkansas
41:59
was playing last week, but I do I think they can get past the
42:02
Sweet 16 and and beat Arizona? No, I just, I don't think they
42:05
can. I, I love the way Vanderbilt's
42:07
playing. Do I think they can beat Florida
42:09
again? I I don't.
42:12
And then I've got Tennessee going to the Elite 8, and that's
42:16
more just because of the way it lines up for.
42:18
That why do you have no love for Virginia?
42:20
What, like, what did Virginia do to you?
42:25
They're sitting there 29 and five and they played.
42:28
They beat the hell out of some teams this year.
42:31
Like they they're a good team. They're better than Tennessee, I
42:35
tell you that. They're better than Iowa State.
42:38
So you have no love for Virginia.
42:40
What do you have? Wright State pulling the upset
42:41
in the first round. Here's Virginia's best wins of
42:44
the year Texas, NC State Louisville, SMU Florida State,
42:52
Ohio State, NC State, Miami, FL So.
42:57
But look at the margin of victories that they're beating
42:59
these teams. But the highest seeded team they
43:01
beat was a six seed Louisville. I guess.
43:07
So to me, they just they haven't proven that they can beat a top
43:13
level team if they if they beat Tennessee, I mean, that's what
43:18
they're around that they beat Louisville.
43:19
That would be their best one of the year.
43:22
And I I think the job that Ryan Odom has done this year is
43:27
phenomenal. Deridor is a beast.
43:29
And I just, I don't think you got to pick some upsets in this
43:33
thing. And sometimes it's more just the
43:36
way everything lays out. Like I didn't expect myself to
43:39
have Tennessee going early date, but I know that I'm not picking
43:44
Tennessee go to the Final Four because it's never happened
43:46
before and it ain't happening with this team.
43:48
No. Anything else that sticks out to
43:52
you? No, nothing.
43:57
Nothing that I think we haven't already discussed on here.
44:00
What about you? Who did you pick in the 8-9
44:02
games? 8-9 games Give me the Buckeyes
44:07
of Ohio State. Give me Clemson insult hates.
44:15
No, do it. Keep going.
44:19
Screw it, give me Saint Louis. And I really I love Kevin
44:26
Willard. Give me Villanova.
44:28
Kevin Willard. Villanova.
44:30
Yeah, I, I picked I picked off all four nines.
44:34
So I've got TCU, Utah State, Iowa and and Saint Louis.
44:42
I mean, another story that everybody's talking about is
44:44
just all the big name coaches in in the East and it is crazy.
44:47
Yeah, we, yeah. I mean, it's, it's the Hall of
44:50
Fame region over there. But and just the amount of good
44:58
freshmen that are that are in this tournament, the injuries
45:01
have played a huge role in this college basketball season.
45:03
I think this tournament would be so much different if JT Taupin
45:07
was healthy, if Ricky Saunders was healthy, if we knew what was
45:12
going on with with Michael Brown, if Braden Huff was
45:15
healthy with with Gonzaga. I mean, obviously Caleb Wilson
45:19
being out. Wilson, Yeah.
45:22
I mean, you just, and then with, with Duke's uncertainty too, I
45:26
mean, both those guys sat out in in the ACC tournament.
45:31
It sounds like in Juba, we'll come back before Foster.
45:35
But dude, you just look at the guys that got hurt, if you put
45:39
them as a starting five, they they can make a run at the final
45:43
four by themselves. That's how much talent we've
45:46
lost in injuries this season. Do you want to run through your
45:52
upsets? I mean, we've talked about a
45:53
few. You want to run through your
45:54
most likely upsets in each region.
45:57
I think, I think you already have them all.
46:02
I've got Hofstra and Akron playing each other in the second
46:04
round. Yeah.
46:06
And then I've got VCU beat North Carolina and then nines don't
46:10
count. No, that's that's all I have in
46:14
the first round. Like I I'm looking at this and
46:16
I'm like, dude, you went way too much talk.
46:18
I I did go Missouri, beat Miami because I think that's going to
46:22
be a pretty even match up. I gave them the nod because
46:24
they're playing in it's in their own backyard in Saint Louis.
46:29
I struggled with Kentucky and Santa Clara, but you just don't
46:33
know what Kentucky team's going to show up.
46:36
Yeah. I did eventually end up going
46:39
Kentucky I just because I think they have too much talent and
46:43
I'll take go away can take the game over at any time.
46:47
But I I went way too much talk and I know the SESEC has more
46:54
teams than anybody in the tournament, but I don't like how
46:57
I'm leaning SEC so much on all these picks.
47:02
And they're not as good as they were last.
47:03
That seems not as not quite as good.
47:05
They were still good, but not quite as good as they were last
47:07
year. I mean, they're the deepest,
47:08
they have the most teams in the bracket.
47:10
The the Big 12 is by far the best league.
47:12
Yeah. But in my Elite 8, I mean what?
47:16
I have three big twelves and, well, just one SEC, but I've got
47:23
a lot of SEC teams winning games prior to that.
47:30
Yeah, I got A&M over Saint Mary's.
47:33
That's a 10 / 7. Not a huge upset, but I've got
47:36
that one. I agree with you on VCU in North
47:39
Carolina, I got the play in winner beating BYU.
47:42
So either NC State or Texas to beat BYU Missouri.
47:46
I got Missouri over Miami. So because it's in Saint Louis,
47:48
like you said in Saint Louis, Akron over Texas Tech, Santa
47:52
Clara over Kentucky is a possibility.
47:54
I don't think it'll happen, but it it's it's on the radar as
47:58
well as high Point in Wisconsin. I think Wisconsin wins, but
48:02
that's one that that I could absolutely see happening is
48:05
that's a 12/5. I mean, there's always a 12/5 in
48:07
there. And Akron, Texas Tech and High
48:10
Point, Wisconsin I think are the two most likely scenarios.
48:15
Yeah, but I, I think the, the, the Miami, Ohio SMU game, man,
48:23
if the RedHawks beat the Mustangs, does that change
48:30
because you've been, you've been off of them?
48:32
Yeah, every single shirt we've done.
48:35
If Don Kohler wants if Don Kohler wants to send me a Miami,
48:38
Ohio T-shirt, I'll wear it on the show.
48:44
And if they beat SMU? Yeah.
48:49
Then they get a chance at Tennessee.
48:54
You just, you never know what you're going to get with
48:55
Tennessee. And Amex been banged up a little
49:01
bit. Will he be healthy?
49:03
I just, I don't know. I would just really like to see
49:07
Miami. OH, take care of business and.
49:11
Oh, we know. Shut you up a little bit.
49:12
We know you shut you up a little bit, dude.
49:16
Let's be real. That what that Thursday or that
49:19
Friday whenever they played UMass?
49:21
Yeah. Because we had talked about it
49:24
so much the week before. Yeah.
49:27
And there was a point where mommy or I was up 11 points,
49:30
looked like it was in the bag. Then all of a sudden UMass just
49:33
starts making a run. Frank Martin's going nuts on the
49:36
sideline, then our techs start blowing up.
49:38
Here come the Minutemen, and it it pretty much it made your day.
49:44
Oh, I was, I was hard cheesing, hard cheese.
49:49
But like, here's here's what, here's here's the opinion of of
49:53
Miami. OH, from Vegas.
49:56
They have lost one game all year.
49:58
They were undefeated. We all be all aware, Well, well
50:01
aware of that. SMU has been struggling big time
50:04
coming down the stretch. This, you know, they barely hold
50:06
on to get in the tournament. They're in this playing game.
50:09
They're a 6 1/2 point favorite over Miami 6 1/2.
50:13
Well, they've been playing without BJ Edwards for a while
50:15
and they're getting him back. That's a big reason why they
50:20
struggle. OK, 6 1/2 point favorite over
50:24
this mighty Miami of Ohio Red Hawk team that everybody thinks
50:27
is so great. Well, I don't think, I don't
50:31
think anybody thinks they're so great.
50:33
I think they think they belong in the tournament.
50:37
They're the very last team on the seed line that is that
50:41
large. So what happens if they lose by
50:43
15? You guys say they did or did not
50:46
belong? No, they belong because they
50:49
were undefeated through 31 games.
50:50
That doesn't mean you belong. You didn't win your conference.
50:53
Didn't you didn't win your conference.
50:55
Tournament. Yes, it does.
50:56
It does. You had a chance to to to prove
50:58
you belonged and you you choked. You won 31 straight games to
51:03
start the season. You choked.
51:04
Would you want to start a precedent where we're keeping
51:07
undefeated teams out that start 30 and O31 and O?
51:10
Yeah, they don't have a three 164th ranked non conference
51:14
schedule. Absolutely.
51:15
They still haven't lost the game they pulled.
51:18
They won every game that was in front of them, every single one
51:20
of them. There are 60 teams that would
51:22
have won every single game in front of them if they had that
51:24
schedule. We've talked about this.
51:26
A million times, I know, but like Oklahoma was they they were
51:31
the first one out, according to the committee.
51:33
Yeah, yes. Like you'd you'd rather Oklahoma
51:37
be in this Dang thing than Miami Ohio Like.
51:41
I just don't. Understand the logic behind
51:43
that. I don't think really any of them
51:45
should be in, but. So just.
51:47
Skip it. Yeah, just stop playing these
51:51
playing games. And your logic that all teams
51:54
are going to now start not playing anybody so they can just
51:57
be undefeated is just so. The blueprint is there, the
52:00
blueprint is there. It's impossible.
52:03
The blueprint's there. Like, you still have to win
52:05
every game. There's no blueprint.
52:07
Like that's why this has happened five times since 1985,
52:13
that a team has gone to their cognitive tournament undefeated
52:16
7 five times. So let's all right, so then
52:18
let's say this, let's say Miami, Ohio, instead of playing the IU
52:24
East and the trendy Illinois's, let's say they replaced those
52:27
two games. Let's say, let's say they
52:29
replaced those two games and they played two other, they
52:35
played two Power Four games. They actually stepped up and
52:37
actually played somebody and they lost.
52:38
Let's say they lose the Michigan State by 15 and earlier in the
52:42
year they lost. I don't know they would have
52:45
lost like let's say Louisville by 15.
52:49
They're undefeated in conference but they've got 2 losses and
52:52
then they lose that first round game in their conference
52:54
tournament. So 3 losses.
52:55
Are they automatically in? Well, you're kind of looking at
53:00
Akron's resume there. But they won their conference
53:03
tournament. Akron would not have been in.
53:05
No, I but I know. And if if Miami, Ohio wins the
53:08
conference tournament, Akron comes in second.
53:11
Akron's not it. Akron probably doesn't get in.
53:16
So you're rewarding them for not playing 2?
53:20
Power 3. Don't get me wrong, it's not
53:22
like Akron went out and played a bunch of Power Fours.
53:27
They played one game. They lost to Purdue by 18
53:29
points. One more than Miami played.
53:34
But with that loss and with the Miami Isle lost, and they also
53:40
lost to Yale and to Troy, But yeah, no, they they wouldn't
53:46
because they wouldn't have got in.
53:48
So you're rewarding them for having a craps for not playing a
53:51
power 14. So there's your blue you're.
53:54
Rewarding them for being. Your blueprint, there's your
53:56
you're. Rewarding them.
53:58
You can't copy the blueprint. You copy the blueprint.
54:02
So do you really think teams are going to now start going out?
54:04
No. I don't think they're going to
54:05
do that because a lot of the other teams, they're not baby,
54:07
they're not, they're not ducking competition, they're ducking the
54:10
smoke. So no, no, like nobody's going
54:14
to do that because it's just stupid for them to do.
54:16
But if Miami, Ohio wants to keep doing it and keep fraudulently
54:20
making their way into this tournament, then I guess they
54:24
can. Well, they're in and.
54:27
Will they play a powerful team next year?
54:29
Yes, yes. And look, you got to go.
54:35
You got to go on the road to do it because nobody's coming to
54:39
your place. Well, that's normal and that's
54:42
normal. Yeah, it's normal, but you're
54:46
not going to get anybody on neutral court unless you play in
54:50
one of these tournaments. And it's really hard to get
54:52
power fours in those tournaments with with mid majors.
54:55
So yeah, they're going to have to go on the road and and play
54:58
an Ohio State or play a Purdue or play somebody like that and
55:01
they might already have it on the schedule.
55:03
Oh, but if they lose, they're not getting the tournament.
55:05
Why would they do that? Why would they do that?
55:07
Because if they lose, they don't get in the tournament.
55:09
Go play the Trinity, Illinois. Go play the IU East and you're
55:13
in. You still got to win all the
55:15
games. It's not hard to beat IU East.
55:19
I know like I, I see what you're saying, Like if you play Purdue
55:23
in this schedule and you're 30 and one, are they are they in
55:27
the tournament? I, no team's ever been left out
55:30
with 30 wins. So maybe, but I don't think it's
55:34
as as much as the guarantee as it was.
55:38
Kind of like we all knew they were getting in on Sunday.
55:42
What was that? That IU, the Indiana State team,
55:45
Josh Church's last year with Robbie Avila was on that team.
55:49
And Conwell. And like, remember, they had,
55:51
they started out the year like gangbusters and they lost in
55:54
their conference tournament. They didn't get in.
55:57
Would you remember what their record was that year since were
55:59
like 3 or 4 years ago. But they had a great season.
56:02
You know, they lost, yeah, they played the NIT, but you know,
56:06
they lost a Power 4 game along the way or two.
56:08
And then when their conference tournament and they were the
56:11
one. See the NIT.
56:13
Yeah, I mean what Miami, Ohio finish what, 92 or 93 and and
56:22
they're behind high point in in the Kenpong, so.
56:28
Well deserved, RedHawks. Good luck.
56:31
But it will be the most watched game in in first four history
56:35
and plus you got Dickie V and Charles Barkley on the call.
56:40
Can be that? They're doing they're doing all
56:42
the first four games, which would be kind of cool.
56:43
Love that, but congratulations. Congratulations to the Miami
56:47
Redhawk women who actually did win their conference tournament
56:51
and rightfully deserved their spot in their NCAA Tournament on
56:54
the women's side. So Congrats to the Lady Red
56:57
Hawks. Speaking of the women, do you
56:59
have do you, have you looked at the women's bracket?
57:02
I peeked at it. I was more busy like after,
57:05
after the selection yesterday, I was busy getting stuff together
57:09
for for us hosting here on Friday or I'm sorry on Saturday.
57:12
So I didn't really get the chance to dive into it too much.
57:15
But I mean, if we're just talking about Louisville
57:18
specifically, I like the way it sets up for, for the cards.
57:21
You know, they they, they start out at home with Vermont and
57:26
then play the winner of Alabama, Rhode Island.
57:29
And then, well, they are in the Fort Worth regional and would
57:33
match up against most likely a Michigan team that I think they
57:35
can beat and then a Texas team, which is, I mean, they're very
57:40
good. But, you know, at least you're
57:41
not on that UConn, UCLA side of things.
57:45
Yeah, that I mean that that's the main thing.
57:47
You want to avoid UConn and UCLA, too.
57:51
But I I do like their draw and they, they got to win some games
57:55
at home and then take their chances in Fort Worth.
57:58
And they I don't think Michigan and and Ken Barnes and Rico
58:04
wants to see Louisville and Coach Walls on the other side.
58:07
No, no. And if, if I mean if you get the
58:12
Elite 8, I'll, I'll take my chances.
58:14
Like whatever, whatever happens, happens.
58:18
How there's controversy on whether UCLA or UConn should be
58:21
the overall number one is beyond me.
58:23
Like, like they're arguing this on TV last night.
58:27
Like UConn is undefeated and their average margin of victory
58:32
is like 20 something points a game.
58:35
Yeah, they're, they're the overall.
58:36
Number he was actually in the 30s, but yeah.
58:38
Yeah, 30. Yeah, it's like 20-30 points
58:40
again. They're killing, yeah.
58:42
And like, like I did it, UCLA is really good, but there's pretty
58:46
obvious to me who the overall number one is.
58:48
Yes. And we'll see.
58:52
I, I I. UCLA is damn good, though.
58:57
I mean, really? Yeah.
58:58
You win your conference championship game.
59:00
You win your conference championship game by over 50
59:02
points. Like it's a good Iowa.
59:04
Team at #2 seed Iowa. He won by 50 points.
59:07
Like, that's getting it done. They're real, real good.
59:11
So no excited for the the Cards game on Saturday.
59:14
Good to good to see them hosting NCAA tournament game.
59:17
Hopefully we can get a good crowd in there.
59:20
Get what 9/10/10 thousand? Was it possible?
59:23
Yeah. Get it popping in there and then
59:26
it'll be a Monday night game if they win on Saturday, right?
59:30
We don't know time yet. I don't know how what they do on
59:32
times on a Monday for the second round.
59:34
I don't know historically if they've started doing.
59:36
Like historically, the Monday. They want to start like early
59:38
afternoon, maybe like a start around 3-4, maybe.
59:42
Yeah, maybe. No, no, we'll see.
59:47
And I guess before we get out of here, talk a little World
59:51
Baseball Classic. Yeah, yeah, you watch last
59:57
night's game. Of course.
1:00:01
We got the benefit of a a ball force called strike three to end
1:00:06
the game. Luckily, there was no challenge.
1:00:08
In the 8th inning as well. And in the 8th inning as well,
1:00:10
luckily, no challenge system in place.
1:00:13
But I mean, just to tell all the Dominican line up to one run, I
1:00:17
mean, it's absolutely incredible.
1:00:19
I mean, Paul schemes did a great job.
1:00:20
And then, you know, everybody else that came in after him for
1:00:23
the Americans pitched really, really well.
1:00:26
Bednar once again get gets in a jam, gets out of it with no
1:00:30
damage. But no, they're excited for the
1:00:35
US. And then Derosa's got some slack
1:00:39
for the way he handled the tiebreaker, but he puts Gunner
1:00:42
Anderson in the in the lineup and he and he goes yard.
1:00:44
Yeah. So he he needs to get some
1:00:47
credit for that. We'll see.
1:00:49
Are these Italians Italians? They were up two earlier
1:00:52
tonight. Since when did the Italians, who
1:00:55
I don't think any of those players are actually born.
1:00:57
All American. It's American Part 2 team.
1:00:59
American. It's American Part 2 team.
1:01:02
How are they? How are they just doing this?
1:01:04
I haven't heard of any of these guys.
1:01:08
America Part 2. Well, you've heard Nerinola,
1:01:10
who's pitching tonight. Yeah, they're up two to one in
1:01:13
the 7th. Yeah, so no, it's just fun to
1:01:19
watch a little baseball before the season get started.
1:01:21
The game tomorrow night will be exciting.
1:01:24
I think it would be more exciting to see him play
1:01:25
Venezuela. But you also, if you beat, if
1:01:29
you play Italy, you get a chance for a little, little revenge.
1:01:33
I think they, I think they take care of business tomorrow night.
1:01:37
And then I guess for our, when we did our draft for the the
1:01:42
tournament, yeah, you had you had Duke.
1:01:45
Yeah. You had Arizona, I believe every
1:01:51
say your squad is Duke, Yukon, Arizona, Michigan State and
1:01:57
Gonzaga. My squad is Michigan, Florida,
1:02:02
Houston, Illinois, Iowa State. So I say we get points by how
1:02:14
far they advance and we'll see who who has the most, who gets
1:02:17
the most points at the end of it looking at that.
1:02:21
I don't love my UConn pick right now, I'll tell you that.
1:02:23
That was right before they lost the market.
1:02:24
That was your second pick dude. That was right before they lost.
1:02:27
Our ordering of picks, so this was two weeks ago, yeah, our
1:02:30
orders of picks was you went Duke, I went Michigan and
1:02:34
Florida, then you went UConn in Arizona.
1:02:37
Arizona was a fifth pick if I get to pick right now.
1:02:41
I'm taking them too. Dude, I might take them one.
1:02:45
I've got them to win the whole game thing.
1:02:47
And then after Arizona at 5:00, I took Houston and Illinois at
1:02:52
six and seven. You took Sparty and Gonzaga at
1:02:56
8-9, and then I took Iowa State at 10.
1:03:00
My team's better. Yeah.
1:03:04
My team's. Better.
1:03:05
But right now, I think you have the advantage right now.
1:03:07
Yeah, I we'll see. Yeah, like I don't.
1:03:11
You have faith in the boys I got.
1:03:12
I got faith in those in those squads.
1:03:15
I don't love your you pond, your Sparty, or your Zags.
1:03:20
You keep doubting Tom Izzo. I don't know why but.
1:03:22
The one thing that I would change is if I could do this
1:03:25
over, I would swap Arizona for Florida.
1:03:28
But I, I, I'll roll with that squad.
1:03:30
I like, I like my squad. OK, we'll see where we end up.
1:03:35
We don't. We don't really have any other
1:03:36
kind of fun stories because I knew we just talked tournament
1:03:39
racket the whole time. We get a What would Joe do next
1:03:43
week? Yeah.
1:03:45
And I'm, I'm kind of shocked like we're already, it's, we're
1:03:48
just over an hour in and we're already done here.
1:03:51
Well, you could talk if you want to talk about Cam Young, talk
1:03:53
about Came Young. What the players did, did he win
1:04:00
the thing or did Obear lose it? Dude, no, like they're debating
1:04:04
that. I don't think TI today that
1:04:06
drive on 18 dude, he's got a gap wedge in on that.
1:04:09
He hit that thing 380 and that's one of the toughest drives in
1:04:13
the game with the water all on the left side.
1:04:17
Good on Cam Young and then Fitzy just hits his a little too far
1:04:20
on 18. Gets in the pine stroll.
1:04:22
Missed them but didn't end up having an 8 footer.
1:04:24
Yeah, you missed the 8 footer. Send it to playoff.
1:04:28
Good on good on JT for playing well after really struggling
1:04:31
last week. Yeah, in in the Arnold Palmer
1:04:34
was good to see him play well. We talked about Rick having to
1:04:38
get a top 10 to secure his spot for the Masters.
1:04:43
He did not do that. He did not have his his best
1:04:45
golf all week tied for 40 seconds.
1:04:47
So now he's got to finish top five at Valero next week to to
1:04:51
get into the Masters. Which is top five?
1:04:53
Going to be a tougher task, yeah, just because there's not
1:04:55
many points for Valero, is there?
1:04:57
Is for the for the players. But dude, that course will eat
1:05:01
you up, man. Like that 1617 and 18 are as
1:05:04
cool holes as finishing holes as there are in golf.
1:05:07
And then that 6 hole where the trees do you like that hole
1:05:10
where they got to hit it under the tree?
1:05:13
Yeah, yeah. But we're getting we're getting
1:05:19
closer to the masters, baby. Like the time of the time
1:05:24
masters. Masters.
1:05:26
It actually, I don't know what this weather is today being 20°
1:05:29
again when it's been in the 60s, seventies all last week.
1:05:32
Yeah, Opening Day baseball and next week there's.
1:05:36
Going to be 20° tomorrow morning.
1:05:38
That's stupid. It was 76 two days ago.
1:05:41
It's the stupidest thing alive. We've I played on Friday, I
1:05:45
played terrible. That's why I mean, that's usual
1:05:48
for you though. I didn't.
1:05:50
My touch around the green was awful.
1:05:51
It usually is on that as well, yeah.
1:05:54
But. So you played.
1:05:56
You played standard Nick Evans golf.
1:06:00
That's normally my strength around the green.
1:06:02
That's how that's how I catch up.
1:06:05
Do you long knockers? Long knockers.
1:06:09
I got a new driver cover. What though?
1:06:13
You already replaced the 10? That was a putter cover that you
1:06:16
got from the PGA. Oh, I love that I got the horse
1:06:18
from my putter cover. Yeah.
1:06:20
What was the driver cover? It was just a Cobra rad speed,
1:06:24
which is what my driver is. It's red, white and blue.
1:06:26
It's patriotic. It's nice, but I always talk
1:06:29
about how it's the tortoise versus the hare playing golf,
1:06:34
and I'm the tortoise. What?
1:06:37
Because I don't hit the ball far so I'm just plucking it down.
1:06:41
1180 down the middle 150 with my 5.
1:06:45
You got yourself a turtle. I got a turtle.
1:06:47
I got a turtle head cover. It was only like 15 bucks.
1:06:50
Where'd you get it from? Online I saw it.
1:06:53
OK. I was like, for 15 bucks it
1:06:55
might be crap but it's actually pretty.
1:06:57
I mean. Does the trick.
1:07:00
Keeps the clubs protected. Keeps the driver protected.
1:07:03
I'm a fan. Where'd you play Friday?
1:07:06
Huh. Where'd you play on Friday?
1:07:08
The club Glen Oaks also, that course just still kicks my ass
1:07:14
even though I play it a million times.
1:07:17
It's not easy. It's not we.
1:07:20
Only played nine like it was. It was also like it was playing
1:07:24
in the British Open, it was so windy.
1:07:26
Yeah, here we are. Yeah, I I had some good shots.
1:07:32
I had, I had some bad shots, but didn't make any putts.
1:07:36
I actually, no, I did actually. I made one putt to save bogey
1:07:39
on. 7 after hitting one I mean. I'm talking like a legit like
1:07:44
10-15 footer, not like talking a 2-3 footer.
1:07:50
Do you count that as making putts?
1:07:52
Like I'm just glad you made 10 footer.
1:07:55
Me too, me too, but excited to get out there.
1:07:58
I dude, I'm excited to record US playing some golf and try to
1:08:05
promote the height differential with us playing golf.
1:08:07
Because the problem with this show is we're basically the same
1:08:13
height on the on the screen and we you showcases playing golf
1:08:19
you you'll actually be able to see that the height differential
1:08:22
is is pretty significant. Yeah, I mean, they can see it in
1:08:27
the the logo. That logo is a legit silhouette
1:08:30
from from my wedding so. But now get this.
1:08:36
Get rid of this cold weather for two days.
1:08:38
Let's go back to warm weather. Start playing some golf.
1:08:41
So it's stupid ass groundhog's fault.
1:08:44
Watch Watch basketball all day Thursday, Friday.
1:08:47
Get to the Yum on Saturday. Cheer on the Cards.
1:08:50
Beat Vermont. Watch Hoops all day Sunday, get
1:08:54
back to the home on Monday, watch them punch their ticket to
1:08:58
the Sweet 16, and let's, let's. You going to hit up the the Joe
1:09:02
Ziegler March Madness party on Saturday after the Cards game?
1:09:07
I believe so, yeah. OK.
1:09:09
After because we do, you know, we don't know what time we'll
1:09:13
play on Saturday, though. Noon, bro.
1:09:16
Oh, we do what? I'm now I'm talking, I'm now I'm
1:09:20
talking. The men will play Sunday,
1:09:22
Saturday too. Oh, he's on the men.
1:09:24
Yeah, yeah, yeah. We don't know.
1:09:26
We won't know what's on the Men play until after Thursday.
1:09:28
But you're right, we were just talking women.
1:09:30
And my fact that my squirrel brain just for some reason went
1:09:34
to the men. I don't know, but I don't know,
1:09:40
ready to watch a lot of hoops, drink some beers, eat some bad
1:09:43
food. So it's it's one of the greatest
1:09:48
times of the year and that's why you go like just.
1:09:54
Oh boy, you just go to sleep with your Airpods in just
1:10:00
listening to that song over and over.
1:10:02
No, I don't. But on Thursday afternoon, when
1:10:05
that song hits, Woof is is It's pretty fun.
1:10:11
It is fun. It's pretty fun and I'm just the
1:10:13
cards are playing early. I'm glad it's not the very.
1:10:15
Who is who is the first game of the day that day?
1:10:17
Who? Who leads us off?
1:10:18
Like who? When we hear that song?
1:10:19
Who? Who we going to see?
1:10:21
Why I don't have it right now. Let's let's look it up.
1:10:33
TCU and Ohio State 12:15 on CBS. The 8.
1:10:42
Nine last year was the 8-9 game last year too. 8-9 it's usually
1:10:45
yeah, yeah, all. Right, well, First off, anybody
1:10:52
who checked in with us live, we, we appreciate you listening.
1:10:59
Remember to subscribe to the height differential, however you
1:11:01
listen to pods, Apple, Spotify, Amazon, YouTube Music, we're
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we're everywhere. You can also visit
1:11:11
heightdifferential.com. Check us out on social at Height
1:11:15
differential. We we're trying, we're trying to
1:11:18
get everywhere. We're doing our best.
1:11:21
But one of the greatest weeks of the year.
1:11:25
We appreciate y'all listening for the 66.
1:11:27
Neil, I am the 410. Nick, this has been the height
1:11:30
differential. We will talk to you next week.
1:11:36
Give it to me if you think BYU is going to win a couple games.
1:11:46
I just I think that bracket is I don't know.
1:11:53
I'm really conflicted on High Point in Wisconsin.
1:11:57
I don't know either, my bracket always sucks.
1:12:01
I watch so much hoops in my bracket always.
1:12:03
Well, The thing is like, you have to do you like you, you,
1:12:06
you feel like you have to pick upsets.
1:12:07
Then you start forcing upsets and then they don't happen.
1:12:10
And then you get pissed it didn't happen, and then you're
1:12:13
fucked. Yes.