March Madness Rundown

Recorded March 22nd, 2026

March Madness doesn’t need constant upsets to be completely unhinged. We’re recording on a Sunday night with the Sweet 16 almost set, and we’re breaking down the games that went from “comfortable favorite” to “why can’t you inbound the ball” in about 30 seconds. We talk the wild finishes, the teams that look scary right now, and the matchup slate we can’t wait to watch, plus a quick check on our Bald Guys on the Bench bracket challenge standings and who still has real point potential.

Then we zoom out to the bigger college basketball conversation: what happens to blue blood traditions in the NIL era and the transfer portal era? We get into the UNC coaching noise, the idea of “keeping it in the family,” and why the old rules don’t fit the new landscape. If you’ve been arguing about one-and-done, roster turnover, and whether coaching still moves the needle for elite recruits, this one’s for you.

We also hit a few side quests we couldn’t ignore: the World Baseball Classic final and baseball’s brutal hot-or-cold reality, a little golf talk as the Houston Open and Masters qualification pressure ramps up, and the classic debate about whether the MLB season is just too long. Press play, ride with us through the takes, and then tell us what you think: who’s your Final Four right now? If you enjoy the show, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review so more sports fans can find us.

#baldguysonthebench #graboneandcrackone #marchmadness #themasters

Transcript

Welcome Back And Crack One

Graham 0:00

Welcome to another episode of the Bald Guys on the Bench podcast with your hosts Graham Cohen and Scott Wasco.

Scott 0:14

What's up everyone, and welcome back to a Sunday night edition of the Bald Guys on the Bench. We got two games still in play. In a few minutes, we'll know who the final two teams are in the Sweet 16. I mean, just looking at it, looks like UConn, looks like Bama. But shit happens. Just ask the Tartales when you're up 19 and lose in overtime. So can't ever count out anything. How you doing?

Graham 0:43

Hey, just uh love and life. It's March Madless. It's finally here.

Scott 0:48

It's it's March what? Mamless?

Graham 0:51

Yeah, you know.

Scott 0:52

What the hell did you just say?

Graham 0:54

I think there's a I said madness. There might be a little uh something wrong with that connection. Yeah. But yes, March madness is in full effect, craziness, work, pretty much it for me. So that's my weekend. How's yours, brother?

Scott 1:14

Well, before we go into weekends, you forgot one of the things we do every week, and that is uh well. What do we do? What do we do? What do we do?

Graham 1:25

You know, it's actually in my hand and it's pretty cold. So let's grab one and crack one and let's get this started.

World Baseball Classic Heartbreak

Scott 1:31

It's about time. I mean, hashtag facts. Jeez. So what? Oh. Minute 30 in. Let's go. There you go, Andy. Uh, but before we even get going, you know, weekend, everything, before we even get into your weekend, my weekend, we left off last week with United States winning, right? Advancing to the championship game in the world baseball classic, and then it was pretty much a snooze fest until it wasn't, and that's when what's his nuts, Bryce Harper, hit that bomb in the eighth inning to tie it up. Facts. And then we lose. But hey, like I told all my buddies that are Phillies fans, and even Jeff, I'm like, you know what? I hate Bryce Harper. I hate it, I've hated him his whole career because he was first with the Nationals. Yeah. After that two run bomb. Because at least it made it exciting, right? Agreed. But Aaron Judge, bro.

Graham 2:41

You know, I've been thinking about this, and that's the one thing with baseball where it's just unlike the other professional sports, it's so easy to go from hot to cold.

Scott 2:56

Uh, you think you're trying to hit a round ball with a round bat with a dude that's throwing it 90 plus miles an hour?

Graham 3:06

Oh, that's Captain Obvious.

Scott 3:10

Dudes that get one hit every four at bats are getting paid uh what? A shit ton.

Graham 3:17

I know, I get it, but it's just like you know, when you have your heavy hitters, the main guys, the main attractions, you're just all the hope is there, and then do to do, do to do, oh for four, how you doing? See you later. Bye-bye. Yeah. Hurts. That's why sometimes it's just like with baseball, it the the argument where it's just like, does the best team always win? Does that comment not mean as much in baseball when it's just like, oh, you could have a bad, you know, you can have a cold streak?

Scott 3:52

You could say yes, you could say no. Right. And the thing, you know, I don't know if we talked about on the show last week, but the Mets rookie, Nolan McLean, got the start, right, in the championship game. Yeah. And the dude has pitched started eight games last year for the Mets. And he's thrown into this spot. Because why? Because Scoobyl, the second best pitcher on the planet, said it was more important for him to go start in a spring training game for the Tigers.

Graham 4:33

What?

Scott 4:34

Yeah, yeah, exactly. McLean wasn't the reason we lost that game. He pitched his dick off. I'm stoked for him. Yeah, he gave up two runs. Whatever. Uh with that lineup, y'all couldn't do shit. I mean, I don't know. The real captain of New York, David Wright, he wouldn't go down like that. Last time he played in the World Baseball Classic, pretty sure he hit a walk-off. That's what real captains in New York do. If Derek Jeter was up in that position, pretty sure Derek Jeter wasn't gonna go 0-4 with three strikeouts. Aaron Judge, sit down. I love to say it because I'm a Mets fan, but Aaron Judge is already in postseason form, and the season hadn't even started yet.

Graham 5:30

Got him. I just, you know, you said all of that so beautifully, and I still can't get over homeboy being like, no, no, no. I don't want to pitch. I want to go down and you know, spring training. Like, that just blows my mind. How as the captain, the manager of the of your team, do you not go to him and be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what did you just say?

Scott 5:54

Yeah. Makes no sense.

Graham 5:58

I mean, does that not hurt his image?

Scott 6:01

It ain't gonna hurt his paycheck when he's a free agent at the end of the year. But but I mean, there's a reason in this world baseball classic there's a pitch count.

Graham 6:12

I get that.

Scott 6:13

But he wasn't, I mean, Skeens is 1A, right?

Graham 6:17

Yeah.

Scott 6:18

Scoobyl's one B. Tomato, tomato. They're the best two pitchers in baseball right now. Right.

Graham 6:28

I just I know that's just unfathomable to me.

Scott 6:33

Yeah, it makes no sense. But anyhow, Graham, how was your weekend?

Graham 6:41

Weekend was good. Uh what did I do? Oh, work. So that was nice. Um, and really just watching March Madness, watching the I wasn't saying watching these upsets, but there really hasn't been that many this year compared to the last few years. Was it last year or the year before where there was like four or five upsets in the first round? Like big upsets.

Scott 7:04

I don't know, but there was nothing huge. I mean, people were like, you know, high point. Well, yeah, was that an upset? But it's not like they were playing a juggernaut, they were playing Wisconsin. And remember, every year there's always a 12 that beats a five.

Graham 7:26

Yeah.

Wild Finishes And Betting Stories

Scott 7:27

And they were 12 beating a five. I mean, granted, Wisconsin did hand Michigan one of their three losses. Okay, but still, you know, not a lot of crazy upsets. We've talked about it. It's nuts. I mean, DraftKings did their promotion. I won on Thursday with high point as a 12-seed winning, and literally Billy won on Friday with I think he took Iowa. They were a nine-seed winning, and they won and split it. Utah State was a nine-seed and one. Right. So not like we've seen in the past. But March Madness kicks off Thursday, watched games at work, watched, you know, Friday, worked a little, worked yesterday, watched last night. I mean, the best games. I mean, I don't know. I don't know what you could even say what were the best games. I mean, last night, Vanderbilt, jeez, the end of that game. Oh, homeboy launches the half-court shot that literally banks and goes halfway in and then bounces out. You know, I mean, Jimmy Crickets. My tar heels Thursday night, you know. Hopefully, you people that listen to the show, we put it out on Instagram. Told you it was a lock. Even when they were up 19, I'm like, God dang, I might have to eat a little crow here. But now homeboys on the hot seat. I don't know what's gonna happen. But you know, weekend was the weekend. It's uh we're preparing. This is crazy to say next Friday, dude, is my daughter's 18th birthday. What? How crazy is that? It's nuts, man. I uh it's insane. Uh but other than that, weekend was good. Got a big package yesterday from Puma. Bunch of new gear, stoked on that. My new irons get here on Tuesday. Oh sad. Dude, cannot wait. Let's go. Uh, but other than that, what we have in the in the podcast bracket 24, 25 people. Yeah. Uh it's super tight, unless your name's Tyler Pricken and you had Villanova in the final four, and you're dead last. But uh, it's pretty tight, obviously, because of not a lot of upsets, you know. Uh Florida losing a night definitely hurt some people, but you know, it's still pretty close. But uh anyhow, jumping in Thursday, high point was the big upset. The dude that scored the game went in basket. I mean, when they flashed it on the screen, I was like, it sounded like at first. They said it was his first two points of the season, and I'm like, wait, what? Did they just homeboy hadn't scored a point all year? And then they came back and they, you know, said it a little differently, where homeboy the only points he had ever made this season were three-point shots, and he had 64. But think about it. You're you you made 64 three-point shots, and you hadn't made a two-pointer.

Graham 10:47

The way that he caught it, too. Just like and almost when I watched it at first, I was like, did he travel?

Scott 10:55

I thought he was gonna miss the layup, dude.

Graham 10:58

I'm like, wait, what? Uh yeah. I it's just you know, crazy games. I how about that Kentucky game? You know, coming back.

Scott 11:09

My boy Owe from the Chargers was no where'd he go? Washington, his younger brother hit that shot. And the crazy thing about that is, dude, it shouldn't have even counted. That's what's nuts. What? It's insane. The team, I forget who were they playing? I don't even know who they were playing. But the after the game was tied up, he was calling time out. Or they were up three, they hit the three with like four seconds left. Yeah, he's running down the court screaming timeout, screaming time out, screaming timeout, and Owe launches it, makes it. Insane. Goes to overtime, game over. I mean, whatever. Uh you can say what you want. I mean, it is what it is, but dude, I mean, other than that, I mean, there weren't a lot of I mean, Duke was down 11 at halftime.

Graham 12:03

I was just about to bring that up.

Scott 12:05

The whole world's freaking out, and I'm like, dude, shut up, dude. There, I mean, relax. Take Duke in the second half line, and you're welcome. Except if you're that dude on DraftKings that bet a bet a thousand dollars on Tiana plus a million, and they offered him a cash out at halftime of nine grand, and dum-dum didn't take it. Like, what do you think is gonna happen?

Graham 12:29

Yeah, right. I mean, yeah, I mean, it's just crazy to know Duke was down 11, and at that moment they were still minus seven for the game, and I'm like doing the math, and I'm like, Yeah, two, three, four. I'm like, what? I I mean, look, I I they weren't playing that great in the first half, and then the second half, they looked better, but it wasn't as much as they looked better as it was, yeah. Hey high point, can you do me a favor and go one for nine in like seven minutes of play? Uh uh that kind of helps. So it's just they've looked okay so far. I mean, I'm not super excited about it.

Scott 13:15

They started off slow. They look they looked slow, they looked tired. Right. And then they didn't. I mean I don't know. It's the first round.

Graham 13:28

No, exactly. Exactly. I mean, their next game in the round of 32 against TCU. I mean, they had it more under control. I mean, a nice little 23-point win, so pretty excited. I I mean, look, next week is next week. Uh what, uh three days from now? They play Friday. St. John's. Yeah. That's gonna be a tough game. But hey, this is the sweet 16. You're not playing bumps, yeah.

Scott 13:57

You're not playing, yeah, exactly. It's so dude, it's it's so funny. Rick Petino, right? St. John's?

Graham 14:07

Yeah.

Scott 14:08

Dude, Andy sent me a text and it was spot on. He was like, dude, Rick Petino looks the same and acts the same as when I was a kid. How the F is he 73 years old? Dude, he ain't wrong.

Graham 14:23

Yo, you know he got that tattoo on his back, right? I mean, my guy's ageless. He got it, he won the national championship with I can't remember who it was. He got a tattoo on his back. Also, I thought you were gonna bring up the stat that I told you last week or however many days ago it was. Rick Bettino's the only coach in all of college basketball that has won a conference title for five different conferences. Is that any good? Uh what? I'm sorry, can you say that one more time? Uh yeah, he won five different conference championships. That is insane. Insane. I mean, if he didn't take those few years off to coach the Celtics, that's right, he did go to Boston. His win total, he'd be right up there with Beheim and you know Shisewski and Beheim's up there in wins. Why do you give me that look? I mean, Bayham's only been coaching for 30 years. All right, fact checking. Fact check here. I am right now. He's definitely top five, for sure. As I say that and I sip more of my beer. Yeah. Oh, dude.

Scott 15:48

Come on, Google or Chat GPT. Nobody cares about the ladies, dude. Come on.

Graham 15:56

What do you that's why you say all-time men's coach? You probably couldn't tell me who the all-time women's coach was.

Scott 16:05

Yeah, somebody in Yukon. That's easy.

Graham 16:09

Yeah, what's his name though? I don't know. Don't care. Put some respect on Gino's name. They're not even giving me a list. It's not even important. Whatever. Oh my god, do I gotta figure everything out?

Scott 16:32

Got him! Anyhow, not really. I mean, this this folks, the guy that says he's gotta figure everything out, is the one that stated to me two nights ago about Paul Schemes and his girlfriend that the hate Graham thinks Livy Dunn that her boobs aren't up to his satisfaction.

Graham 17:01

Whoa! That's first of all. You said they're small. Well, that's a big difference between saying my satisfaction. And side note, I only made that comment because I'm looking at a picture that she's now in the rebooted version of Baywatch.

Scott 17:22

I don't care what she's in.

Graham 17:25

I'm just saying. I mean There's no hate for Livy Dunn. Fox.

Scott 17:34

Alright, I'll I'm gonna I'm gonna give you a little credit here. Saseski's number one, Beheim is number two.

Graham 17:40

Oh okay.

Scott 17:42

Alright, I'll give you a little credit. Dude. Do you know who's up there though? That guy Gonzaga. That's the biggest fraud ever.

Graham 17:52

Well, I mean, when you've had 20 years of winning 25 games every year, what do you expect? Wow. Anyhow. For 10 seconds, let's go down that road. Aren't you still considered a good coach if you take a program for 20 plus years and you average 25 wins out of 32?

Scott 18:14

Yeah, but how many one seeds, two seeds, three seeds have they had, and they've done nothing?

Graham 18:21

I they've made it to the national championship. They haven't won.

Scott 18:24

Yeah, and got bitch-slapped by Carolina.

Graham 18:28

Well, I mean, of course Carolina needed an easy team to beat to get a championship. I'm just saying. Here we go. Here we go.

Scott 18:36

No, but I mean, all joking aside, I mean, credit where credit's due. The guy, they've won a lot of games, right? But it's a system. They play in a shit conference.

Graham 18:48

Yeah.

Scott 18:49

Okay. You know, anybody knows I hate on them all the time because they're odds and facts. All because I bought into them way back when and screwed me, and I'm sure some stupid bracket pool thing.

Graham 19:12

But they ain't good. Yeah, but is there something to be said of at least making it to multiple Sweet 16s?

Scott 19:22

They're a three-seed, Graham. If you think about that, three seed, okay? There's four different Yeah, I got it, I got it. Okay, so what does that make 'em? If you're a three-seed, three times four is what? Twelve. Top 12 team. Are you telling me they're a top 12 team in the country? No chance. No chance.

Graham 19:46

Yeah, but also based on the schedule, do all top teams play top-tier talent? No, they don't. So, I mean, heck, that's what high points coach was trying to say. He's like, hey, if these out-of-conference teams would actually, you know, schedule us, they would have seen how good we really are. I I mean that's why it's with some of these colleges. It's like, great, Miami of Ohio, you went 32 and oh, awesome. High point, you won 28 or however many games that they won. It's just like nowadays with sports, it's just like schools want to protect themselves with who they're playing, and it's just it's so it's bullshit. I mean, isn't the whole point of sports to see how good you are against the best talent? Don't disagree.

Scott 20:33

But I mean, look at Sienna. They were up 11 against Duke, but guess what? Their head coach, he gone. I'll forget where he went, went somewhere today. Oh Sienna.

Graham 20:48

Well, that's I mean if you take a program like that and you do something, oh boom!

Scott 20:58

Not only that, dude. Against Duke, okay, Sienna did not substitute one time. I know.

Graham 21:08

Well, hey, they had to play their best five. They're playing the number one overall seed for 40 minutes.

Scott 21:17

It's insane.

High Point’s Money And March Magic

Graham 21:19

You know, I mean speaking of insane, one thing we didn't bring up when we were talking about high point, you had to fill me in, as did everyone else on the internet, about that school and how much money they have and where they came from. Bro, how do you as a school being like, hey, by the way, y'all want to go to the game? Why don't you charter one of our jets? And by jet I mean like a 737. Pretty good. Yeah. Uh we'll even give you a shuttle to the airport, private or not, who knows? But they get on a big ass jet and they're just like taking pictures or showing it. I'm like, wait, what?

Scott 21:58

Dude, their campus?

Graham 22:00

Has a steakhouse that's part of their student budget for eating. Okay?

Scott 22:09

They have a hibachi thing. And by steakhouse, like a real steakhouse that they want their students to know how to act in a place like that. It's 45 plus a year in North Carolina. I was showing Ava today. I'm like, God dang, wish you could get a scholarship to go there. That'd be sick. I mean, dude, it's it's insane. It's insane. But hey, good for them because I mean they showed up, they played well.

Graham 22:43

And look, this is what college basketball March Madness is all about. I you know what we all look forward to are the unknowns coming out the woodwork and surprising us. That's why I just with this year, it's just like, have the games been exciting? Yes, there hasn't been that many updates, which we've said, but what I was gonna mention earlier, there was a lot of top teams that took it down to the wire. They still held on, so they weren't upset, but there was a few games you're like you you were biting your nails, like uh what's gonna happen now?

Scott 23:21

I gotta quote TP. He texted me this, and I've always thought this. All right. And he and I told you last night, he goes, Is it a hot take that I like the first four rounds of the tournament better than the final four?

Graham 23:35

I when you told me that the other day, I thought about it, marinated it. He ain't wrong.

Scott 23:42

No, he's not wrong. Because the first two rounds to get to the Sweet 16, insane. Right? Super punk. Then you got next weekend, you gotta play two games, Elite Eight and then Final Four. Those games are so intense.

Graham 24:00

Oh, yeah.

Scott 24:01

You know what I mean? I mean, I mean, last year the Final Four was pretty good, but I'm just saying in general, the games come on at noon on the E on the East Coast, and the last game just tipped off at 9 45.

Graham 24:15

Right.

Scott 24:16

Right?

Graham 24:16

I I mean I don't disagree at all. Thanks. I have to wake up at 9 a.m. to watch these games. Jack offs.

Scott 24:27

Dude, everybody that listens to us knows that you're not waking up at 9 a.m. I mean, come on. We all know that.

Graham 24:34

Only for work in the NFL, baby. And the NFL is not even there. Um, when it is though.

Coaching Legends And Program Frauds

Scott 24:43

Yeah, but I mean, jump backwards a little bit. I talked about it for a second, Carolina losing and all the speculation about Hubert Davis getting fired.

Graham 24:55

Dude, I don't like it.

Scott 25:00

You know, that the speculations they're gonna fire him. I mean, his first year he lost in the national championship game. Okay. The guy's had 20 plus wins every season, but his second. The guy beat Duke this year at home with the best player on the court.

Graham 25:19

Caleb gets hurt. Yeah, we had a 19-point lead and lost. That's not his fault.

Scott 25:28

One of the top three players in the country was injured, not on the court.

Graham 25:33

Yeah.

Scott 25:33

And you know, to say, you know, people that know the history of Duke and Carolina, Duke and Carolina only get coaches that are family.

Graham 25:44

Okay. That's the only people they hire. Right. Well, there's nobody there for Carolina right now.

Scott 25:53

There's guys that are that are gonna they're gonna talk to, and an article I read earlier, my dad was telling me about it, and I read it. The North Carolina athletic program spent so much money on who? That guy that wears a hoodie and was it had a shitty program this year? Oh, that guy, Bill Belichick. Oh, yeah. I mean, the player, the people that they're they're talking about, everybody wants Jay Wright. Guess what? Jay Wright left Villanova the same time Roy Williams did, and two years later, Sashewski, why, and IL. They're old school coaches, they don't want to deal with that shit. Right? So if you're going in the family, everybody's talking about Stackhouse. Stackhouse was the head coach at Vanderbilt. Stackhouse ain't ready to take over a top five program in the country. No. It's not. You know, Sean May won the national championship with Carolina. He was an assistant coach.

Graham 27:05

You're gonna turn that over to him?

Scott 27:11

There's not an answer. I mean, the answer is guess what? You keep Hubert Davis, but from what it sounds like, he's not gonna get fired, he's gonna resign. Because Carolina and Duke, they don't fire coaches.

Graham 27:26

Yeah, but because they're all family. I get that, but for being 2026, for being what the landscape of college sports is now, for being what you just mentioned earlier about how a lot of these top coaches have retired now because look, they're old school coaches and they wanted to do things their way. And I mean, look, when college basketball started getting into this one and done, it completely changed how how that league was played. And especially with one and done now, and then on top of it, having NIL and just players transferring every year. I mean, look, credit to Tom Izzo and what he's doing at Michigan State. A lot of his guys are his guys that he recruited as freshmen and that have stayed with him. You know what I mean? I mean, it's not like UConn that's just like, oh, hey, we're just gonna poach. He's like, I'm not even looking at high school kids anymore. So, my point in bringing all this up is as time moves on, how can an organization stick with tradition when the landscape is unrecognizable? And you're also at a point where, you know, I don't want to say has the well dried up when it comes to potential candidates to be at for a head coach for your school and other schools that like to keep it in the in the family, but you're getting to a point now where, as you just mentioned, who's there? Like, who's qualified enough to take the reins?

Scott 29:13

That's what I'm saying. I mean, that's why the guys recruited well. I mean, Caleb Wilson, gonna be a top five pick in the draft, unless he stays, got the number one point guard. The dude got injured.

Graham 29:28

Okay, let me let me ask you this though. And you and I were talking about it the other night, right?

Scott 29:34

And I said you have the number one point guard in the country that is that's going to Carolina next year, 6'4 point guard. Then you have this other dude, and you're like, you said it, and you were like, Scott, nobody's going to Carolina because of Hubert Davis. Right. Back when it was Roy Williams and Chescheski, yeah, they wanted to play for those guys.

Graham 29:58

Exactly.

Scott 29:59

You're going to play at Carolina because it's a top five program in college basketball. You know, it's a blue blood.

Graham 30:10

But and now with the NIL, I think it changed the landscape, especially in college basketball, where it's just like, especially if you think you're good enough to be a one-and-done player, does it really matter what school you go to? As long as you ball out, I don't think these players care if they win a national championship.

Scott 30:35

Ask Homeboy at BYU.

Graham 30:38

Exactly.

Scott 30:41

Ask Homeboy at BYU. I was high, I can't even think of his name.

Graham 30:46

I know you're talking about.

Scott 30:48

Yeah. Gonna be a top five draft pick. I it's it's and it's sad. But then you then you have the argument, okay, that I watched today with Iowa State. Okay, they're up one point at halftime, and then they just dominate the shit out of the second half. Guess who's not playing? Their star player that's injured, Jefferson. Right. So when you hear that, it's like, okay, Hubert Davis. But you know, I I don't know. I I disagree with college basketball versus college football. Programs like Duke, programs like Carolina, they've all those two teams, and I don't even know if I can say anybody else, have always had the integrity of doing the right thing.

Graham 31:45

Right. Yeah, I get you.

Scott 31:47

It's not Kentucky. You know, not even though Kentucky's one of the, you know, story fri programs, they're not they don't do that shit, that's shady. Yeah. You know, uh that's why, yes, I want it to stay with the tradition of keeping somebody in family, but I don't know if it's gonna happen, dude. Uh I mean, I don't know what's gonna happen. But it's weird.

Graham 32:16

Yeah.

Scott 32:17

It's weird, it's a weird scenario. It's a lot of people on the on group threads and shit are going, throw the check at Brad Stevens. Dude, Brad Stevens made his life from butler. Then he went to where? The Celtics and was their head coach, and now he's in their yeah, now he's in their front office.

Graham 32:41

Yeah, he's the president of basketball operations.

Scott 32:44

Why is Homeboy gonna leave a front office job to now go hit the pavement recruiting and end up in bumfuck Oklahoma on a two-lane road having dinner with some six foot six five-star recruit?

Graham 32:59

Yeah. No chance, dude. I I I no chance. It's but I mean, how how will it change? I it's it's not even how will it change, it's just how will it evolve? I I I don't know. I I I I really think it just comes down to like what I was saying. It's just like I think programs are just finally gonna have to realize and they're gonna have to they're gonna have to adapt. You know what I mean? Like, just because you've been doing something for you know for so many years and that's your legacy, like, you know, just because it's your legacy, sometimes, you know, change is necessary. It's it's I I mean, I get why you want to stick with tradition, I get that, but also it's you know, it goes to that saying, do you want to cut off your nose to spite your face?

Scott 33:55

Like hey, well, what I I know going forward, Connecticut just boat raced UCLA. So they're in, they're gonna get bounced next round. I don't even care who they're playing. Take whoever they're playing next round, Connecticut fraud.

Graham 34:18

Um Michigan State. Ooh. Ooh, we got some decent matchups next next couple of days. Shut the front door. What?

Tradition Vs Transfer Portal Reality

UNC Coaching Talk In NIL Era

Scott 34:31

Just responding to I'm just getting ready to throw it out there. We mentioned Iowa State earlier. Okay. Iowa beats the number one seed, Florida. Uh Iowa and Iowa State are in the round of 16 in the same season for the first time ever.

Graham 34:50

Can I get a what? Iowa has never made it to the Sweet 16 in program history. According to the commentators when I was watching TV earlier. Dude, I mean That's insane. Yeah. They were back and forth. I mean, Iowa had that lead for most of the second half.

Scott 35:15

Big big lead. Right?

Graham 35:19

You know, Florida came back, but dude, that final play.

Scott 35:24

To not get a shot off.

Graham 35:26

No, but I'm saying no, Iowa's the final play. The point guard basically ran back to the inbounder and then caught it in stride, ran it up, and then you know, pulled in the defender and then threw it to the guy to hit the three right there. And the the commentator's like, you can't leave the guy open in the corner.

Scott 35:45

You're down two and you leave him wide open. Wow. Or you're up two, sorry.

Graham 35:50

What? Yeah, oh my god. I mean, it was a hell of a game. I it's and that's what you get with the playoffs. You know, yeah, that would have been cool during the regular season, but it's just when stakes are high and everything's on the line, the real ones show up.

Scott 36:10

So Texas, Purdue, and then we got Iowa, Nebraska, Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Houston, which is gonna be a battle. Yeah. Because in my mind, through the first two games, two rounds of the tournament, Illinois has looked as good as anybody.

Graham 36:30

Yeah.

Scott 36:31

I mean, St. John's Duke, that's gonna be a battle. Yeah. Iowa State, Tennessee, Iowa State, Wood Lane, you're welcome. What? I mean, Wood Lane lay the four and a half right now before it goes to more. I mean, I mean, if that challenge from UVA didn't get upheld, that's a different story. Right.

Graham 37:01

I mean, how do you feel about your second or third team against uh looks like Alabama? Michigan, Bama? Yeah. Oh, Woodland.

Scott 37:12

Woodland, dude. Woodland.

Graham 37:15

Yeah, I I dude, I'm I'm excited, I'm really excited for that Illinois Houston game. I like the Arizona-Arkansas game. Dude, Coach Caliperi has those guys playing well. That's gonna be a great game.

Scott 37:29

Um I mean, all the matchups are gonna be good. Yeah, even the Iowa Nebraska.

Graham 37:34

Yeah.

Sweet 16 Matchups And Big Takes

Bracket Challenge Standings Check

Betting Angles And Teams We Trust

Sweet 16 Slate And Picks

Iowa Stuns Florida And Advances

Scott 37:34

I mean, yeah, I don't think I think Purdue's gonna live. I don't know, dude. Texas making the Sweet 16, and they had to play three games to get here. Yeah. Remember, they were in the play-in shit. Yeah. I mean, and beat those frauds, Gonzaga. But I don't know, dude. Uh I mean, who knows? Uh who knows where to go. So shit, we still got one. This game's over. I mean, they're I mean, Texas Tech's getting the wood laid to them. Let's jump real quick onto the bald guys on the bench bracket challenge, real quick, and see what we're doing here. Uh Tyler Carnes is in first place with 510 points. Graham's in second, even though he can't win with 490.

Graham 38:26

Uh who has the most potential to win, though? Who has highest point potential?

Scott 38:33

You're at 1750. You do, until Arizona loses.

Graham 38:38

Yeah, but they ain't losing.

Scott 38:41

Okay.

Graham 38:42

Arizona's winning it all, baby.

Scott 38:45

Kellen's right behind you. He's in fourth place with 1740. Yeah. And he doesn't have a team west of the Mississippi, so history's not is on his side.

Graham 38:57

Hey, curses are meant to be broken. Yeah. I mean, dude, pretty good.

Scott 39:08

Ricky Alz is in set tied for second place, but he lost his champion tonight, Florida, so he got him. Boo! I mean, Jimmy.

Graham 39:20

So something I want to remind you of, because I don't know if you have it written down on a separate sheet of paper or if you were saving it for the end. You wanna wanna mention to the audience that uh the person who's in second place right now actually made us picks?

Scott 39:42

Yeah, that's what adults do. They do things.

Graham 39:44

Oh my god, you were giving me so much shit about it.

Scott 39:48

Well, yeah, because we didn't think you were gonna make your pick.

Graham 39:55

The kid forgets to sign up for master's tickets one time because I thought I did and I I messed up.

Scott 40:02

The kid forgets to sign up for what? The lottery for the tournament that everybody wants to go to, and you were reminded 37,000 times.

Graham 40:13

And I thought I signed up for it.

Scott 40:16

Whoops. And didn't. And didn't. So of course I think you're not gonna make your picks in a free bracket challenge that you can't even win.

Graham 40:28

I I mean The only reason I'm bringing this up, folks, is because the night before, and it was even before, it was like midday, we're talking, Scott and I, and I was saying to him, we're talking about all types of stuff, and I was like, Oh, hey, by the way, do me a favor, don't make me forget. Because like I was watching something, I was like, Don't make me forget. I was like, Because I didn't, I need to make these picks for the bracket. And Scott just goes, Oh, come on, bro, this is bullshit. Son of I'm like, what the hell is going on right now? And he's like, bro, he's like, I was telling everyone you're gonna mess this shit up, and I was waiting to roast the shit out of you on the on the podcast because you weren't gonna make your picks and not been in our little tourney. So, ha! Ha! To everyone of you that doubted me, showing you the middle fingers, birdie's up, brothers.

Scott 41:32

I mean, I'm sorry that I doubted you that much that anybody else that knew you.

Graham 41:40

You you were devastated. Devastated, you were so pissed, you were so ready. Like, there was a textbook. You're telling people, hey, don't say anything to Gramp. Don't say anything to Graham. Let's let him fall on his face, fall on his face.

Scott 41:53

Absolutely, absolutely. I I'll be the first to admit it. I doubted you. I didn't think it was gonna happen. I was dying.

Graham 42:02

Oh, you're like, please, Lord, baby Jesus, please let Graham forget so I can roast him so bad.

Golf Updates And Masters Hopes

Scott 42:08

Yep. But I don't know, man. Uh man uh what else happened this week? I don't know. Uh false happened. Yeah, Valspar. Fitzpatrick got the dub after he didn't last week. Uh we got the Houston coming up this coming week, and our boy needs to top five it, top three it, top two it, or you know what? Just get that dub.

Graham 42:38

Yeah, but is he gonna go back? I mean, it's not back to back because there's still is there's still one more thing before the Masters after that?

Scott 42:45

Yeah, there's one more, but he wouldn't cut off his yeah, yeah. No, I mean unless he wins. The only way he's the cutoff for top fifty is the end of Houston. Yeah. If he wins the next week, he's in. So if he doesn't get in the top fifty at the end of Houston, is he gonna play? He might.

Graham 43:02

He'd have to. Would making top three jump him nine spots? Is it nine or ten?

MLB Season Debate And NBA Shots

Scott 43:10

He was at fifty-nine. It could. But you know, hope was always there. You know? Yeah. Gotta hope for the boys. Uh what else can we talk about? Baseball starts Thursday. I know you're super excited.

Graham 43:30

Yeah, here we go. Um cut 60. Like it it look, I know at the end of the season it all comes down to these one or two games, but these back to backs that you're watching in April, that no one that there's a hundred fans in the stadium watching these games.

Scott 43:48

Like that's because you're talking about the pirates.

Graham 43:51

I'm talking about, dude, who's who's at the Royal Stadium or Wrigley Field on a Wednesday at noon? To watch the game.

Scott 44:00

Opening day?

Graham 44:02

I'm not saying opening day. I'm saying like April 15th or April 29th.

Scott 44:08

A lot more people than are at NBA games because of load management.

Graham 44:12

Oh, shut the f wrong. Just saying. I can prove you wrong.

Scott 44:18

Just saying. I mean you talk about cutting baseball games out, but how about cutting the NBA games out? There's way too many. Same thing.

Graham 44:37

Yeah, I'm right. You could cut out 12, but you could cut out 60. A hundred games. Do you really dude? There's how many games you are delayed by by you know the snow or frost. Like you it's 30 degrees and you're playing baseball in a in April. You could start in June 1st or the end of May. Won't ever happen. I know because the records. I I get it. I'm just saying, like, it's not. I mean, look, are we at that point where hockey's the third sport in this league? It's the third favorite sport. Like, let's just dude.

Scott 45:17

Somebody was talking about I saw a poll thing. Said name a city where that has three of the major sports.

Graham 45:25

On Barstool, I saw this.

Scott 45:28

The penguins are more popular than the Pirates. Yeah.

Graham 45:32

Without a doubt. Yeah, it's pick a major city that has three major sports teams in it, and hockey is the number two sport. Yeah. Or even number one within the U.S. In Vegas, obviously. Yeah, but they only have the one. Yeah, they only well soon be two, but they only have the one team as of right now, but yeah.

Scott 45:52

Oh, oh, I'm sorry, the NFL doesn't play in Vegas, the Raiders. Okay, you must have.

Graham 45:55

I said they have to have three sports teams. Well, you said they only have the one. Yeah, they have Oh, two, sorry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Scott 46:04

But Detroit?

Graham 46:09

Yeah. I wonder what Tigers, Red Wings. Especially right now. I'm wondering by the fan base, like what would be one there? Because I mean, they're pretty loyal, but the Red Wings have I mean, if this was the 90s, it'd be the Red Wings.

Scott 46:24

Oh, duh. Well, I mean, the Pistons.

Graham 46:28

Yeah. Well, yeah, because of the late 80s. Yeah.

Scott 46:33

But the Tigers were blah. Yeah. You know, for a while. I mean, Minnesota.

Graham 46:41

Yeah.

Scott 46:43

Speaking of Minnesota, I don't know if you saw the news, dude. Fucking awful. Dude, so there's this chick that is the Minnesota Wild, I guess, beat reporter that works for NHL.com. And news came out earlier today. It's brutal, dude. Uh Jesse Pierce. Her and three of her children died in a house fire overnight. What? And their dog. Yeah. I guess there was a fire, a house fire in the middle of the night, and all of them died. Brutal.

Graham 47:24

Yeah, it's like when you hear that, you're like, how does that happen?

Scott 47:26

But like That's what my dad said. He's like, how do you not have smoke alarms? And this I'm like, if it's in the middle of the night in a dead sleep.

Graham 47:35

Yeah, that's exactly. If you don't hear that alarm, like because the thing is, it's not the fire is not what gets you. It's the smoke. Right.

Scott 47:44

Yeah. I mean, brutal. That's insane. Brutal. Yeah. Wow.

Graham 47:52

Way to finish off the show with the with the bummer.

Scott 47:57

Uh no, I'm not finishing off like that. Uh as we wrap up, uh, you know, we got we're basically down to 16 teams. I mean, Bama's up 63 to 45.

Graham 48:10

Who do you like? So by the time the next episode comes out, so it'll be between the the Elite Eight will have happened.

Scott 48:20

Well, dude, we'll have the Final Four when the next episode comes out.

Graham 48:25

Yeah. I mean. No, the final four will be after. Because the Elite Eight's on the TV.

Scott 48:32

We will know the final four.

Graham 48:35

Alright. So who you got in your final four?

Scott 48:40

Um, well, I'm liking that Florida lost because I took Illinois in the bracket. Oh, wow. Yeah, I love that. Um, dude, I, you know, as a Michigan person, I obviously want to I'm pulling for Michigan because I had a free $50 bet from the Super Bowl thing. But I think I'm gonna bet on Iowa State. Wow. They impressed they impressed the shit out of me today. Wow. Without their best player on the court. I like that. Yeah. Duke's got a tough, you know, a couple games, dude.

Graham 49:30

Yeah, they gotta beat St. John's and then the winner of the St. John's this week.

Scott 49:36

Then the winner of Yeah, if they get past St. John's, they're going to the Final Four. Michigan State, it are you I mean, dude, if they end up playing if Yukon beats Michigan State and Duke ends up playing Yukon. Write it down, take a picture. I don't give up. But whatever.

Graham 50:02

Wow. Whatever. I knew the blue bleeds deep. Shut up. Family heritage.

Scott 50:11

I don't I don't believe in Arizona, dude. I I just don't. I don't. I don't know why. I don't believe in them. But I mean, who knows? Fair. Who knows? Fair. I I I don't know what it is about Iowa State, dude.

Graham 50:35

I mean, they have a sneaky good program. They've had a sneaky good program for a while. So I mean, look, it all comes down to the you know, having nerves to steal and hitting the shots when you can hit them. So obvious is obvious, but still. Uh, you know, for me, I got the big heavy hitters in the Final Four. I got my Blue Devils, I got Houston, I got my second team, Arizona born, so I got Arizona, and then Michigan. I mean, those are games. I mean, Arizona, Michigan is gonna be a game. Houston, Duke is gonna be a game. Uh, it's I mean, like you said, the games before that are gonna be nice, but any as we like to say, because we're football guys, any given Sunday. We're we're we're at that point. I mean, March Madness, you can say that any given. I mean, obviously there's some games where you're just like, there ain't no way, but like anything can happen.

Scott 51:37

Dude, and I mean, just throwing it out there, Jerry sent me something today, 15 years ago today. Eight-seed Butler upset the one-seed Pittsburgh 71 to 70.

Graham 51:53

Wow. The ending of that game, I'll send it to you when we get off, was so insane. It was mind-boggling.

Scott 52:07

And I didn't remember it until I saw the video, and I'm like, oh my gosh. But anyhow, Graham, get us out of here. Before we get off, just want to give a quick shout-out to Audrey. Uh, talked to her a little earlier, and she's a little down in the dumps, but whatever. She's cool, she's good. And just wanted to give her a little shout out and just say, BB, you're the real G.

Graham 52:35

Love ya. Keep your head up, stay positive. The end. Graham, get us out of here.

Scott 52:43

And final four next week. Your boys' new irons are gonna be here Tuesday. Oh, baby, you gap what I need.

Graham 52:57

You're unbelievable. Scotty Wall, it's always a pleasure doing the podcast with you. Always a great time. Hot chick of the week. I mean, Livy Dunn, might as well. Why not? I just love looking at your face right now. I got love for her. Calm down.

Scott 53:20

Well, I'm just giving you that look because you took my goodnight part. Oh, but there's more. There's more.

Graham 53:29

Well, here, then let me just cut it right there. Scott, it's always a pleasure. And as the best homie always says, boo-bye.

Scott 53:37

Good night, friends. Good night, Livy Dunn. Can you please so Graham will think you're respectable, maybe get a boob job? Wow. Anybody that listens to country music knows about Ella Langley and your boy here, Scotty Waugh, is an Ella fella. And Graham thinks she has small boobs too. On that note, I love you all. Have a great night. Let's go, Fowler. Let's get that dub in Houston.

Graham 54:12

Booba. Oh my God.