Brick Squad Pod
All things College Sports with Trey, Henry, and GC
Brick Squad Pod
March Madness Weekend 1 and the Sweet 16
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The boys break down the best weekend in sports, and look ahead to sweet 16 matchups. Hubert Davis gets fired for one of the biggest vacancies in college basketball recent history, and its more blue blood coaches competing for a National Title. Who will win it all?
Overview
East: 00:45
South: 20:56
Hubert Davis Gets Fired: 30:40
West: 39:05
Midwest: 50:30
Sweet 16 Projections: 101:59
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back inside the Brick Squad pod. It was a great first weekend of basketball, maybe the best weekend of the year, guys, and we got a lot of stuff to recap. Unfortunately, our audio corrupted for the last episode where we picked our bracket, but maybe that's a good thing because you didn't have to hear some of the atrocity, anyways, that these guys uh beside me, Leo Romano and Giancarlo Donahue picked, but we've got a packed
East Region
SPEAKER_01episode today, looking at all the big games, predicting some of our Sweet 16 favorites, going over who is winning in our bracket pool and everything else around college basketball. It's gonna be a good day, guys, and we got to kick things off, recapping some of the games.
SPEAKER_00Let's do it. You guys want to move down the bracket and just we'll start in the East Region, same sort of order? Yeah, why not? Let's go for it. Alright, so I guess we got to start it off with the one seed, 16 seed, uh, Duke versus Sienna. Normally these games are snoozers, especially when it's the number one overall seed. But Sienna held their own with their five-man lineup. Uh, they I think they subbed one guy in for 10 seconds at the end of the game, but five-man lineup, almost almost beat Duke, had a lead, I think, until four minutes left. Are you guys worried about this Duke team? I know they ended up being TCU in the next round pretty squarely, but is is this a sign of dangers? Does it say something about maybe mid-majors are alright?
SPEAKER_02Mid-majors are definitely better than we thought. How about that? I mean, I told my dad the night before I called him as I was in bed like 1-2 a.m. He's on the West Coast, so we didn't wake him up. And I said, You want to make a quick $5,000? He said, Yeah, why not? I said, put a million dollars on Duke. And I'll tell you what, he didn't. But if he did, you know how stressful that game would have been for me telling him to put a million dollars of our family's income toward Duke, I would have been biting my nails and on the edge of my seat watching that game. But I don't know, the Duke went against TCU, kind of convinces me that they're still one of the favorites left, definitely one of the top five favorites left, but I would argue they're going up against another top five favorite left, at least in my opinion, in St. John's with the basketball that they're playing. Biggie's basketball travels and it's really good, but we'll talk about that later. Going back to Duke, I think that Cameron Boozer hasn't been the best boozer on the court so far through this tournament.
SPEAKER_00I don't think not so far, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I I think that's um a valid thing to say. Henry, I I don't know how you feel about it, but I just think that Cam's brother has been playing a lot better. He's been playing more aggressive. He can kinda come off as a hothead sometimes because of his playing style, but it's good and it works, and Duke's onto the sweet 16 despite that troubling game against Siena, concerning game.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, there's two big things for me from the Duke game. The first is yeah, Siena, they were the first team to play with five guys through the whole contest since I think DePaul in 72 against Indiana State, Larry Bird's Indiana State team. Wow.
SPEAKER_02So they didn't even sub anyone out now in the last one. Wow.
SPEAKER_01I want to say that it was like someone fouled out in the last time. Somebody foul out. They may not sub anyone out. I think so. It was the first time look at it almost 30 years. Or sorry, almost 60 years here. Good gracious, getting up there. But very surprising. And yeah, they they played a good game. I think it showed some holes in Duke, showed that Duke is a Duke is really a young team. And we knew that this region was gonna be tough for Duke, but I think that game really helped them get their mojo back. They stomped TCU. TCU didn't didn't really put up much of a of a fight there. They're going up against a good St. John's team, but I think they're gonna surprise people in the way that they play. Everyone's a little bit doubt, a little bit down and doubting on Duke, but I think they're gonna they're gonna surprise everyone and and cruise through the rest of this division up ahead. We'll see. Now we'll see. Michigan State, Yukon, two teams that are can be pretty solid, but can also fall flat on their face. So we we will certainly we'll certainly have to see. But I want to take take a look back at something else you said, Leo. You said the mid-majors are not dead, and I actually think the opposite is true. This is the second year in a row that we don't have a mid-major in the Sweet 16, or anyone outside of a major conference, anyone outside of a power, if we're throwing the Big East in there, a power four or five conference. There's nobody from the West Coast this year, nobody any it's just those major conferences. Texas is in there as an 11th seed, but that's not that much of a surprise. Maybe if you Texas had one of the fastest-paced offenses, they were a big flyer to make it to the Sweet 16 and a lot of people's brackets with Gonzaga's injuries. So, guys, I I worry about mid-majors a lot. High point, I I told you we love their offense, but they could not play defense. Yeah, they couldn't get stops at all throughout their their run. Yeah. I just don't High Point had a recipe to make a run, scoring points, and maybe that's replicable for some teams, but I just don't see how some of these mid-majors can bounce back. This this year has shown me a lot.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think they were more competitive than I had imagined. I think that's kind of what I was trying to get at in terms of advancing deeper into the tournament. Yeah, I'm on your side there, Henry.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, I I sort of agree. Um, but on the other hand, there's a lot of mid-majors that kept game kept games close. It wasn't just Siena, just trying to think back through a bunch of different teams, but I know Wright State kept it really close with Virginia. High point obviously beat Wisconsin, but they kept it close with Arkansas as well. Um, if they could have gotten a few stops, that game goes the other way. Um Cal Baptist, South Florida.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, why was Cal Baptist a six-point game with a minute 20 left, right?
SPEAKER_00Um yeah, just trying to look around. Don't get me wrong, there's definitely some trouncings, but I mean North Carolina choked their we'll get to their uh their big time choke, but they lost to VCU. Um there's just I think there's a variety of teams that surprise me. Even Miami winning in the first four, um, where I think mid-majors might not be dead, but certainly there are even tiers within the mid-majors where uh teams like it's going to have to be teams like VCU, St. Mary's, like those A-10 teams, perhaps, that are sort of the best of the mid-majors. If anyone's going to make a run in the future, it's going to be them. Um, teams like St. Louis with a different bracket draw, I think, is a team that could make a run. They just had to go up against Michigan. Um, but we'll see. I'm I'm hesitantly saying mid-majors are not dead yet, but they certainly could be dead soon.
SPEAKER_01Well, if you if you throw St. Louis over on that east side as a 7-10 game and they're playing Yukon in the second round, I'd feel like they had a bit of a chance. Certainly. St. Louis honestly kept it close. Yeah, I mean, it was it was close in the first half. Yeah, don't let the 95. The 95-72 is deceiving. St. Louis played a good game, and then Michigan just outplayed them in the second half, and St. Louis's defense really struggled. But, you know, yes, there were close games, guys, but when it comes down to defense, there was a level of defense that was missed by the mid-majors. Well, they couldn't get stops down the stretch. I mean, you don't have height. No height. That's a big thing. The pressure on the ball is not there. They're not getting steals, they're not generating blocks, they're not blocking out. I I know that this is uh tr traditional mid-majors, but teams have made runs like that and improbable runs at that. But it to me, I just I don't see it. They're missing a defensive edge.
SPEAKER_02They are, and that defensive edge that they used to have is now on a Duke, right? Or a North Carolina, what have you. Not necessarily that they are right now, but the point I'm trying to get at is those defensive powerhouses that they had in the mid-majors are now making millions of dollars.
SPEAKER_00Certainly buyers. When you think about like old mid- like mid-majors who have made runs, for the most part, and I'm sure there's a few exceptions, for the most part, it's teams that come out and they're just shooting the lights out from the three-point line. You can think of a million March Madness legends that are just hawking it away from three, Dougie or Jack Golkey. Um, and and that I mean, that's how high point won their game, and that's how Siena kept it close. Ultimately, like most of these uh teams don't have elite defenses, they don't have uh a seven a seven-foot center who can get stops. I mean, we saw that just offensive rebound after offensive rebound for Duke down the stretch. Um I like mid-majors have to be hitting threes at an elite clip to win, and maybe even some of those mid-majors are losing their three-point shooters to bigger schools. But I don't I don't know if the formula is that much different, to be honest, for a mid-major. But anyway, so we'll we'll move it back uh to sort to the games we saw in the first and uh in the first and second round going down this east region, um, TCU beat Ohio State. Um, not like the most fun game, to be honest. Ohio State definitely had a comeback, kept it close, um, and then just had one of the worst uh last shots of all time. Um if you guys have anything that in this top half of the uh region before we get to St. John's, Kansas.
SPEAKER_02No, uh this was the first game of the tournament. I wasn't as dialed in yet, uh, per se. Although it was a very good game, came down to the last shot. Ohio State had to make a huge run in the second half to even get to that point. It was kind of boring game. Game of runs, which a lot of the tournament was, don't get me wrong, but a lot of better runs in a lot of closer games besides this one.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean Yeah, I I think I w there there wasn't too much shocking on this this top side of the bracket here. And yeah, I mean uh some people some people were talking about that St. John's Northern Iowa game potentially being an upset, and I tried to tell people again and again that there was just no chance. There was no chance of that one. And yeah, and we ended up getting a closer game with Kansas Cal Baptists, but boy, Darren Peterson didn't show up. He did not show up in either of his games particularly, and I think it leaves a lot of questions about his stock for the NBA draft as well. St. John's, Kansas, it was a close game. We we predicted here, although our our podcast episode didn't make it live, we thought that might be a really, really strong game. I was hopefully looking forward to a potentially number one, number two pick duel-off between Peterson and Boozer, but instead we'll get the Johnnies, who I think are going to give Duke a different type of run.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, I absolutely agree about uh Darren Peterson. That that'll lead us in nicely to the Kansas St. Johns game. But Darren Peterson, he he leaves a confusing legacy at Kansas, especially even on a team that has a ton of one and duns who've gone on and been uh superstars in the NBA. Darren Peterson doesn't really feel like he added a lot to Kansas. They didn't make it past the first weekend. Um, and his draft stock, like there's a lot of people who are saying maybe Cameron Booz will be drafted ahead of him. Certainly, I think A.J. Devonza will be draft ahead. Even Darius Acuff or someone like that. Acuff's having a fantastic tournament. We'll have to talk about him a little more later. And so, yeah, it definitely raises questions. One, about how much does he care, but two, it if he's not playing at an elite offensive level, he's not providing a ton of value to the team. And he failed to be a superstar scorer throughout this tournament and throughout, honestly, the last month of college basketball.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I was disappointed in him. I was I was so high on him despite all the injuries that he dealt with early on in the season, the sicknesses that he came down with before a few of these games. But yeah, let's talk about that St. John's, Kansas game because I know I had a lot of fun watching that one on I believe it was Sunday night. Henry, what did you make of that game? And do you think St. John's can use the same recipe to beat Duke coming up here on uh Thursday?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean this has been part of the St. John's issue style of play the whole year. Maybe not issues, not the right word, but they have to rely on paint scoring. They didn't shoot the three ball particularly well. They won the paint battle, they out rebounded Kansas, they just did a better job or actually they didn't out-rebound Kansas. I'm looking, I'm looking back here, but it felt like they did. It felt like they did. In the second half, they absolutely did. Getting those second chance point looks and yeah, they went up early and they just control the pace of the game. That's that's they can game manage, and it's a testament to great coaching. I think one thing that I've learned out of this side of the bracket, I'll get to even more in a minute, is is how much coaching matters. But this team relies on their bigs, and it seemed like Kansas didn't have an answer down the stretch. I I was a little bit surprised to see Peterson, you know, not take more just take more initiative at the end of that game and demand the ball to me to be a guy that touches the ball every possession. There there were some times where it just felt like they tried to run an offense and he was just standing in the corner, you know, like we've seen throughout the season. So a little bit surprising for me. But again, what concerns me about St. John's is they haven't proven it against non-conference opponents consistently throughout the year. They didn't win a game against a tournament team outside of conference play, and they're gonna be facing one of the best teams in the country in Duke. It's a different matchup than a Kansas team that's been up and down, that's been bumpy and not shown up throughout throughout parts of the season.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, unfortunately, I sort of have to share the same sort of uh same sort of sentiment as Henry on St. John's. I thought uh to be honest, I thought this was a pretty sloppy game. Uh it wasn't too it wasn't too much fun to watch until it got close at the end. And obviously St. John's uh with a huge buzzer beater at the end uh that layup was it was Dylan Darling, I believe, which is his only bucket of the game. But uh it's his only bucket, I think, of the tournament.
SPEAKER_01They subbed him in. Really? I think or it was his only he he got subbed in for I I don't know if it was foul shooting or something else, but I forget what it was for, but yeah, he had called his own number and coaches like, what?
SPEAKER_02Why?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean i if it works, it works, and they're in the sweet 16 now. But I mean, this was a brutal game to watch throughout uh the field goal percentages. I'm looking at them now and they're confirming that St. John's one shooting 36% from the floor. That's just not a replicable way to win. Luckily, they forced 16 turnovers on Kansas. Um, and can't I'm Kansas was equally sloppy, if not more so, throughout the whole game. But yeah, I mean, for such an anticipated match of Patino versus South, the Big East versus the Big 12, I thought it was kind of a letdown until the last few minutes. Obviously, we get our first March Madness buzzer beater, or at least a game winner buzzer beater. Um But yeah, I don't know. I'm I'm pretty down on St. John's. I think Duke should be able to handle them uh coming into this sweet 16.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you would guess that they would, but I don't know. When we pick later for a second chance bracket, I I might have some other words on St. John's. But yeah, it definitely concerns me because they were up fourteen with eight minutes left, and their poor shooting and poor rebounding just led to almost what was a disaster class of a round of 32 game. Luckily, as you mentioned, GC, Darling was able to be the hero for the Johnnies and storm their way into the sweet 16. So that'll be a fun matchup to watch. But uh let's move down the list. We had Louisville playing South Florida in the first round. It was 8379, was the final, but that game was really decided with 10 minutes to play. South Florida just put on a little flurry of a run toward the end. Michigan State beat the crap out of North Dakota State. But that Louisville-Michigan State game, it was kind of good for what it was worth. It was close early on, looked like it was gonna be a fun game. Michigan State ended up winning that one. Anything from that game that stood out to you guys?
SPEAKER_01I'll I'll start here. I think I picked South Florida to beat Louisville in all of my brackets, and I think what I've learned is to not trust the mid-majors. I I I thought that their offensive pace was gonna be a factor. I thought they played better defense than the other mid-majors. They had better size, more tested. It honestly didn't matter. Louisville shot really well in the first half. You look down at the end of the game, they shot 50% from the field, 52% from three. They were lights out. Isaac McNeely especially hit seven threes in that game. And South Florida shot 15% from three guys, five of 33. They couldn't, they couldn't score. And I thought that was you're they're gonna hang their hat on the offensive side. Their game did not translate like high points did, and they found themselves down 10, just not a hole that they could really dig out of. And Michigan State, you know, it seemed like pretty comfortably was able to win against Louisville there. But yeah, that was that was a little bit more boring of a game. They just kind of stayed in front the whole time. But the other one is is UCLA UConn on this bottom side, the bracket. I of course we we all picked UConn and we all picked UCLA to win. UCLA hung on a little closer against UCF, but then we all picked UCLA to beat UConn in that second round. Didn't trust what UConn had. And I still don't trust it. Yeah, I'm not sure that I trust them that much, but UConn was able to score a lot better than than they have to end some of these games. They outscored UCLA by 11 points in the second half, and they walk out of there with a comfortable 16-point win, just holding holding UCLA to poor shooting from the field, making them shoot more or you know, forcing them to take tough shots all around, running them off the three-point line. And guys, UConn is back in the sweet 16. What I learned, I gotta say, is you trust the good coaches. You trust the guys that have been here that have a good record in March Madness. That's what I did with NATO. It's no one else wanted to go with me, but right now I'm winning our bracket challenge, too. So just gonna throw that out there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. I mean, uh UConn definitely put on, especially towards that second half of the first half, uh, they started to really rev it up. It looked like UCLA was gonna stay in there for a while, and then Caravan had himself a game. Um Career High 27. Career high, really. Yeah. So I mean, Caraban, someone to look out for. On the other side, Michigan State. I mean, Cone Carr had uh maybe like his best game of his career uh at the right time against Louisville. He's probably one of the more inconsistent uh players in college basketball. Well, when he's on, he's about one of the most dynamic players, one of the most fun to watch. Um, so I think this Michigan State Yukon game is gonna be a good one, certainly. Um, but yeah, certainly lower levels of trust um through I think throughout this bracket. All a lot of the uh major C uh teams have been tested, even Yukon against Furman. Furman hung in there a lot longer than most people expected them to.
SPEAKER_01F you baby. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Turn me up paladins.
SPEAKER_01I was with them. So I told you, I told I told I I said they were gonna cover the spread, and and they did. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00So I I will pull my I told you so out with Louisville, South Florida, but but um certainly this is uh we have our one, two, three, and five. Um, a lot of chalk in this bracket. And you know what? That's okay. When you have John Shire, Rick Pettino, Tom Izzo, and Dan Hurley all coaching, and one of them is gonna get to the final four. I think it'll be cinema regardless. We're setting up for a great second weekend of the tournament in the East Region.
SPEAKER_02Oh, it's gonna be a phenomenal second weekend, especially if UConn plays the way they did down the stretch against UCLA. Now, UCLA and the Bruins, I felt like they were able to get stops down the stretch, but they didn't get rebounds. Terrace Reid and Alex Caravan had themselves a game, not only scoring 37 combined, but having seven offensive rebounds, most of them coming in the second half in crucial moments, and that's what kept UCLA from climbing back into it and pulling off the upset.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely right. That bracket, that second weekend might be one of the most most fun there up in that that first east region. But let's take it down to the south where as a group, this was our worst section, I think.
SPEAKER_02Oh, by far, we were perfect through the first day, I think, on this.
SPEAKER_01We actually had a pretty solid, pretty solid first day as well, as you said. But boy, Florida
South Region
SPEAKER_01really let us down. We got to start with Florida. They won by 60 points against Prairie View and then lost on an unbelievable shot from Iowa from the the three from the corner. Forget who who it was that hit the bucket, but I think it was Fulgaris. Yes, but boy, I I didn't expect it from Iowa. They play such a slow pace of offense. But guys, Bennett Sturz is back and he's doing it again. This Iowa team, they might not be fun to watch, they might not be flashy, but they win, and they're in the sweet 16.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm gonna take the reins here. I mean, Florida was my national championship champion, so uh this one hurt hurt a lot. Um, and I think this game, you could you could tell early on when Iowa had a lead, this game wasn't just going to become a Florida blowout at any point. Florida's certainly a team that can go on runs and did did so throughout the game. Um, but early on, they were really struggling to get Haw involved. Even Condon wasn't really doing much um until the second half. Uh Xavier Lee, as bad as that last. Possession was where he he tried to pass it inside with like point four seconds left to a guarded Condon. Um I was able to keep Florida at their own tempo. They were able to slow down Florida. Uh they really didn't respect Florida's shooters, Xavier Lee and Boogie Fland, who haven't been great all year. And although Xavier Lee, I think, had himself a pretty solid game. Um honestly I thought the real winner of this game is Ben McCollum. I think Ben McCollum's really proven that he can coach with the best of them. Todd Golden certainly certainly a c uh coach that is very good at basketball. I didn't realize Todd Golden might be one of the more hated. I didn't even realize he's one of the more hated coaches in college basketball. Maybe it's just because of the national champion but championship, but um he got into it bet with Ben McCollum. It seemed like a lot of people were siding with McCollum. But Bennett Sturts didn't have himself the greatest game either. He went 0 for 9 from three-point land, he had some big shots down the stretch, but it was Tavion Banks, Vulgaris off the bench. They they got they got points from pretty much all like all over the place. Um and yeah, when it came down to it, Florida choked the lead uh that they uh uh the small lead that they had, an excellent play run by Iowa. And uh my bracket is officially busted.
SPEAKER_02It was a very excellent play. I think the Florida head coach, I'm blinking on his name. You just said he came out after the game and said that they wanted to perhaps foul Iowa in that last possession. I can never tell now what is ARC. It's weird statistically. Statistically, like that would have been a lot of people. You don't want to give up the three in retrospect, obviously.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, Notre Dame has tried that and it it always it never works out. So I'm not sure. I don't want to bring that up.
SPEAKER_00Notre Dame could try the smartest play on earth and it might not work out, though.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, tell me about it. Um this game got chippy though. I don't know if you guys were following that storyline, but it it definitely got chippy. I think Fulgaris threw a punch that wasn't noticed in the second half.
SPEAKER_01It looked like there was one official right in front of it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean he also did get completely rocked earlier, so I think that kind of set something off, and usually it is the second guy who gets noticed. But the refs were letting them play, and it was a fun one. And they were still in foul trouble.
SPEAKER_00Even with the refs letting them play, they were still in foul trouble on both sides. Yes. Uh there was like it seemed like everyone had four fouls towards the end of the game. I mean, Chinel Yu, he had he had four fouls like the whole game, it seemed like, and had an absolute nothing burger. Yeah, I mean, just a brutal way to go. And I I don't know if this it plays out like that every time, but I don't know.
SPEAKER_01Sucks. Yeah, well, let's let's take it down to the the Vanderbilt and Nebraska side. Vanderbilt won against McNeese. It was close early, but Vanderbilt's offense really just turned it up there in the second half. No aura. Out of the first weekend. I I'm thank goodness. I'm I'm glad they're they're down. But if you're a Nebraska fan, you are just feeling pure elation after what you've been suffering with football the past 15 years, maybe and more. Boy, guys, I'm gonna be honest, this Nebraska Vanderbilt game was my favorite game in the tournament. It was a fantastic game. If you if you watch this thing in full, I didn't get to watch as many of the Sunday games as I would have liked, but I got to watch all of this Nebraska Vanderbilt. It was back, it was fourth, both teams took a lead. It was loud, it was in Oklahoma City's arena, and Nebraska fans actually set the new decibel record in that arena over Oklahoma City fans in the NBA finals. I think that shows how well they travel, how excited they were, and just the unbelievable shot at the end of this game from Nebraska, and then Vanderbilt. Oh my god. That that shot that I think it was it was Tanner it was Tyler Tanner. Yeah, it was Tanner that hoisted the half court. He kissed the inside of the rim, bounced out, and Vanderbilt goes down. I picked Vanderbilt to win. Nebraska has never won a tournament game, so now they've won two. And how about the Cornhuskers? The Big Ten now is six teams in the Sweet 16, and the Cornhuskers are dancing with a good shot to make the Elite Eight.
SPEAKER_02Oh, a really good shot. I want to go back to the decibel level, and I think that I mean it's been a long time coming, obviously, from Nebraska, but I think the collective gasp of the entire stadium was able to suck that ball out of the net there because that one was halfway down. I don't know if you've seen the pictures, but oh man, imagine if that the overinflated ball. Yeah, that's a huge thing. They switched balls on the last session. I don't think this no, that would have been crazy. I don't think it's been that big of a problem this year, but yeah, that's definitely something that Vanderbilt fans probably want to call attention to. But yeah. It was a fun game. Tanner impressed me, but Nebraska impressed me more. Sanford, I mean, up and down the floor. These guys hustle. Nebraska's a good team, and they got lucky getting Iowa next.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02This is a team that could go to the Elite Eight. I mean, Iowa obviously is great too. They beat Florida, the defending champions, but Nebraska, I I like where they're at right now to make a run and find themselves in Minneapolis.
SPEAKER_00I think we'll get into it in a second, but this this Iowa-Nebraska game, talk about a good rivalry game, something that's going to be off the charts in terms of the fan base who fan bases who show up, the amount of beers that are going to be drink um from Iowa and Nebraska. I I think the real uh winner, especially with these two teams, is the Big Ten. Uh the real winner so far of March Madness. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02Six teams in sixteen. They're still searching for that first national championship title in over 20 years.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01So you're gonna be the last team to make it against Villanova.
SPEAKER_00Michigan made yeah, Michigan made it against Villanova. I don't think Michigan State has made it since then.
SPEAKER_01No.
SPEAKER_00But yeah, I mean they haven't won since Tom Ezo in 2000 with Michigan State, which is just wild to think about. Um but I don't know if it's gonna be Iowa and Nebraska that do it, but the fact that they've made it this far, one of them's gonna be in the lead eight, is certainly not something most people saw coming. Um, but we'll break it, we'll break that down in a second, moving down to the second half.
SPEAKER_01I have one more thing to say about Nebraska here. I think what really impressed me, guys, is they've played a really defensive brand of basketball all season. But when push came to shove at the end of this Vanderbilt game, they got pushed, they were able to score with the best of them.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And this is a team that struggled against teams like Illinois with such a fast offensive pace. There's something in the water for this Nebraska team that is really leveling up in March, and I really like it. The the Iowa game is it's just fascinating. Two defensive teams we'll get into in a sec. But I'm I've just been really impressed.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, this Nebraska team's like a chameleon. I agree. Um moving down to the bottom half of this bracket, we can quickly quickly uh glance over Illinois destroys Penn. They put up one 105. Nothing really special to see there. I saw Penn fans were uh chanting uh we're gonna be your bosses, or something very much.
SPEAKER_01I'm sure there's I I really didn't like that.
SPEAKER_02There's definitely a lot of the most classless moment of the tournament for sure is awarded to Penn and the Quakers fan base. I think they chanted something like uh your work, we're you're gonna work for us someday. Who cares? You're gonna work for us someday. Come on.
SPEAKER_00I'm do better. Not in the season.
SPEAKER_02Do better, Penn.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we're we're all in college here. Let's all get into the season of March.
SPEAKER_02What's gonna be funny too is a few of them are gonna end up working for St. Yeah. You look at it.
SPEAKER_00The second richest man in the world went to U Vi. So I mean, um, but looking down, uh uh St. Mary's once again, St. Mary's loses in the first round.
SPEAKER_01Um I felt really good on that one.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, maybe my best upset pick of the just the same old St. Mary's every single year. It's kind of getting annoying. They're losing they are losing their coach, I believe. Um so we'll see. The the WCC is definitely going to shape up differently next year. I thought AM played a solid game, but it really, I mean, the the story is St. Mary's put up 50 points in an NCAA tournament game. It was it was just and uh Houston destroys Idaho. But the real the real game we want to talk about here in the first round,
Hubert Davis Gets Fired
SPEAKER_00North Carolina VCU. I'm gonna let you start it off, Henry, North Carolina fan. What do you see? And as we speak right now, Hubert Davis has just gotten fired as the UNC basketball coach.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, I'll talk about the game first and then talk about it. We can then bring it back around to Davis.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, tell us, how did you feel up 19 in the second half?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, I've seen teams blow 19 point leads, cough, cough, Notre Dame earlier this year. But I, you know, I picked VCU to win in my brackets. I didn't have any faith in North Carolina, and they it was it was a lose-lose situation for me because they blew a 19-point lead and they looked terrible. They didn't win, so I didn't get the moral victory. There was nothing good about this game. Guys, North Carolina didn't hit a field goal in overtime. In five minutes, they didn't make a basket. Yeah, just like that. And that was that was really frustrating. They they got all their points at the free throw line. VCU made one basket. Yeah. They got the rest of their points. It was maybe the ugliest overtime I think I've watched in a long time. And yeah, it was a close game. VCU, of course, battled back, but Carolina couldn't score without Caleb Wilson. This offense stifled, they couldn't get stops particularly well. VCU just kind of had their way. I think one of the players for VCU, yeah, Hill. Yeah, Terrence Hill Jr. Terrence Hill had a career high 34 points off the bench. Seven threes, guys. No one talked about him at all. I mean, this is a guy came off the bench, six foot three guard, just lit it up for VCU. And I think if they had made a little bit more noise in the second round, it would have been a little bit stronger, but Illinois just uh just kind of stepped up back on their on their throats, and they they didn't have much of a chance there. But yeah, Carolina disappointed me. Was I surprised? Not that much, though.
SPEAKER_02Right? I mean, you said it best, they couldn't make a shot when it mattered most, and I'm looking at it right now. They scored 11 points in the final 942 of regulation and five minutes of overtime. That's nearly 15 minutes of basketball scoring 11 points. I don't care how much you're up at that point, you're really not gonna win a game with that recipe. Now, I don't want to take anything away from how good they looked before they couldn't make anything, they looked unstoppable, looked like they might even be the team to get to the sweet 16. But wow, did VCU storm back and was that impressive? And that's one of your guy Hill you're talking about. That's a that's a goalkeeper right there for you. Exactly. Right? Like it's shooters from these mid-major schools who make a name for themselves. And if they were to keep that game a little bit closer with Illinois, we we'd be talking about him a bit more.
SPEAKER_00No, absolutely. I mean, uh I think UNC and as as we're saying this, uh as I said, they fired their coach, there has to be a reconciliation of what UNC should be. I I mean certainly I'm rooting against UNC. I'm rooting against pretty much every ACC team as a Big Ten fan. UNC really hasn't been all that great since I mean they made a little little run in the NCAA tournament uh last year, but I think it was 2022 when they were in the finals. Is that correct?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so let's let's get into that a little bit with Hubert Davis's resume. Of course, I think he's got two Duke wins, not great over his I think four years of coaching. But that team that made the run, they were an eight-seed, obviously, but it was Roy Williams' team. I mean, Davis was an assistant on that squad, he got promoted. It was basically John Shire taking over Duke's last team under Sheshewski. And I you know, it was of course he beat Coach K in the final four, which was fantastic. A fantasti I mean, just an unbelievable game, Caleb Love heading the shot. But the year after, most of the team returned and they didn't even make the tournament. It was the preseason one. Pre-season one. It was really disappointing. But now Davis is gone, and what do you do? I I was I was just glancing around the internet to see what some of these rumors are. And I'm just gonna get fun, but I'm gonna throw some of these out there, and I don't think some of them are as ridiculous as you might think. The first name up there, Todd Golden, who just lost to Iowa. Now, the reason I'm saying this is there's some controversy around Iowa. Golden's at the top of his craft, and North Carolina has to has to go look for him. North Carolina's objectively a better job than Florida, and this guy's got a great eye for talent. It's it's come on, it's a blue blood. This is a top five job in college basketball.
SPEAKER_00But Florida's certainly a team that's won a lot over the past. They have the NIM.
SPEAKER_01I don't even have a single top 100 recruit on the team that just won the national championship last year. I think Golden with better recruiting, with a bigger program, is gonna have a real chance.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, more money.
SPEAKER_01And then the other, some of the other names, Billy Donovan from the Chicago Bulls. It's another Florida guy. Wouldn't be shocked. Comes back to college basketball. I wouldn't mind him out of Chicago either as a Bulls fan. But of course, Billy Donovan won the national championships with Florida in the early 2000s. Could he make a return to college basketball? We'll see. Nate Oates has floated early as out if North Carolina could lure him away from Alabama. I don't know if they could. He is in a good spot, but Oates has been a guy that just has stepped up throughout his career, and maybe he thinks he can he can do better in the ACC. Tommy Lloyd from Arizona. Again, a lot of these other guys are gonna be that they're floating outside of some of the guys, the first two that I said are still in the tournament, and I don't see them were us hearing anything until they lose.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, because it's not like college football.
SPEAKER_01Right, exactly.
SPEAKER_02We actually have a semi-decent calendar, not as many expectations.
SPEAKER_01But I like those names. It could be a shocking, it could be a shocking name as well. I I I could be an assistant.
SPEAKER_00I have to shout out one post specifically uh I saw on Twitter that went viral. Um only has a thousand likes versus almost a million views. Was Aaron uh Aaron Conrad says, my case for Brad Stevens to UNC. He is coaching in his veins, has been a successful coach and GM, can all of these things. He's a family man. Capitol or Chapel Hill is a place to raise a family, he wins. I think at some point, and I understand UNC is a blue blood, they can get top talent. People are saying ridiculous things. I think we can all agree at least like someone like Brad Stevens, who has been one of the best college coaches, one of the best NDA coaches, one of the best, if not the and these are all like one of the best as a GM. Yeah. I mean, Brad Stevens is one of the most successful man managers, I guess, in the front office and on the court that basketball has seen in the last 30, 40 years.
SPEAKER_02And his son's on the team here, right?
SPEAKER_00Yes. Yeah, Freddie Stevens.
SPEAKER_01Um I mean, here's the thing though, uh you you you discount the Carolina job a little bit, but at the at the end of the day, at the end of the day, it is it is a top five college basketball job, and these things just don't come open. So if somebody's going to make a shocking return to college coaching, they're gonna lure somebody out of the NBA, they're gonna pull someone. I mean, it could be a promoting an assistant, but it also could be a shocking name like that. Or then poaching away somebody like Calipari. I mean, uh he he we saw him go from Kentucky to Arkansas. Not saying he's going to Carolina, but I'm saying somebody like that. Right.
SPEAKER_00I mean, if he already won divorce number one, he could win divorce number two as well.
SPEAKER_01So I don't think they're gonna I'm not saying Cali Perry, but I'm saying a name like that had success somewhere, but then decides they want to take it elsewhere.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, he he he probably won't go, but yeah, it certainly will be interesting.
SPEAKER_01Certainly will end up there. So, yeah, and so then on the bottom side of that bracket, just wrapping it up, we'll have Illinois Houston. It's gonna be an interesting game, offense versus defense, but yeah, uh I think all all of us picked uh picked Illinois and Houston to make it. So Yeah, we got that right.
SPEAKER_02I got Houston as my national champs, by the way, in the bracket. And tell you what, they've looked really good. Hey, they look they've looked really good. They've won both games by 31 points, and their defense, I mean, they haven't played the greatest offenses so far, but AM can shoot, and they they shut them down. So I'm excited about that
West Region
SPEAKER_02one. Well, let's take it up to the West. Yeah, keep it moving. We have the battle for the Ice T Arizona versus Long Island. Yeah, Arizona made made quick work of the fence.
SPEAKER_01One funny post that I saw, guys, was if you put Nicole Jokic on Long Island, could they beat Arizona? It's a fun thought experiment.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01And I I sure think I'm I think they would. I think they would beat it. Could they beat Arizona or win the tournament? Could they could they beat it? Oh well, maybe maybe I forget what we're gonna do. If they could beat Arizona, would they beat Arizona in the fur in the first round?
SPEAKER_00I don't know. Um maybe I would say it has to be like a different sort of archetype player, and not, I mean, I think Jokic is the best player in the NBA, but we'll see. Like maybe like a Giannis.
SPEAKER_0142, 16, and 20 for Jokic game could win them, could could win them. It's certainly possible.
SPEAKER_00I I will give you that.
SPEAKER_01But uh yeah, Arizona cruise past Long Island. They beat Utah State comfortably, a good Utah State team.
SPEAKER_02Yes, and Utah State didn't go away. I I do want to. Did you guys know the story about Finns Up? Did we talk? I don't think we talked about that last week. I found out that it's just a bunch of guys who started going to these Long Island basketball games for fun and just started it on their own.
SPEAKER_00It's like 10 guys.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah. I thought it would definitely be alumni. I don't even think some of them were our alumni. Yeah. If not any of them. I thought that was a pretty cool side story there. Sorry to kind of sway away from the actual basketball, but I thought that was a neat story.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. No, I mean, I don't think Arizona's been a particularly challenge. Uh you taught Utah State kept it close for a little bit, but I think that was mostly closing the gap later on. Um and then Villanova, Utah State. This is my game where I was like, put all of your money on Utah State, and I I was worried for a little second. Yeah, it was closer than you thought. It kept close, and then Villanova did the most Villanova thing possible. Uh it was like a one-point game with two minutes left, and somehow it ended up a 10-point game that just totally blew it down the stretch, bad turnovers. Um and yeah, I mean, Villanova will probably only go up from here as Willard gets to get more of his recruits uh into the program. But yeah, a disappointing performance by them. And then now moving down to what I thought at the very least, rivals Vanderbilt Nebraska for the best game of the tournament, Wisconsin High Point. We get we get our biggest upset of the tournament. Um and yeah, I mean, what are you guys' thoughts? I mean, I I mean I think Wisconsin, the backcourt didn't play nearly as well as they had hoped, and High Point just shot enough threes and kept it close enough uh to make the shot at shots at the end.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think for for High Point, I I love their offense, I love their style of play. I just didn't trust them to play any defense whatsoever, and they didn't play any defense whatsoever. You were right. They still somehow won. Chase Johnson, unbelievable. First two of the year to win them the game, pretty much. Johnson had that heat check shot from half court, just for no reason in the second half. I loved it. That was I was watching this game in class with my buddies all sitting around. We're not paying attention to the lecture. We're all like silently celebrating here for a high point in the Panthers.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I don't think you have to pay attention to lectures in in March, especially when basketball's gonna be.
SPEAKER_01But uh I was gonna say, you know, high point, they won this one. I was I was concerned about them. You know, I didn't pick them to beat Wisconsin in any of my brackets, but I picked Wisconsin to lose in the next round. And you goons in our bracket decided that Wisconsin was gonna beat Arizona. That's it. We make a crazy pick in March Madden.
SPEAKER_00I remember picking Arizona, actually, and you picked Wisconsin. Oh, now if I'm remembering correctly, I guess we'll never know.
SPEAKER_01This is nonsense.
SPEAKER_02We we GC and I, we we did think Wisconsin was gonna not run the table, but make it into the Elite Eight. Um, obviously, we were wrong about that. But how about Mr. Chase Johnston getting his first two-pointer of the season on the game-winning finger roll with 11 seconds left. Give it up for number 99. How about that? I love that number on a basketball player, by the way. I didn't think I would. Look good on him.
SPEAKER_01He's unbelievable. And uh also I think we broke up there for a sec, but yeah, he was fantastic. And also Rob Martin, how about this guy for high point? He scored 30 points in the next game as well against Arkansas. He single-handedly kept them in the game against Arkansas. They really pushed the Razorbacks, guys. If if Arkansas didn't have Acuff, who just calmly scored 36 and got himself a shoe deal while still in college, the first player out of this class to do so for Rebok. If he wasn't there for Arkansas, they would have gotten trounced. And yeah, I was really impressed by high points effort. Of course, they couldn't get any stops. And it finally caught up to them. If they were in a different side of the bracket, maybe they could have gone a little farther against a worse four seed. I think they would have beaten Kansas or beaten maybe a Nebraska or an Alabama. Maybe not Alabama, but maybe in Nebraska. But going up against against another elite offense in Arkansas, they just struggled. And so we're going to have an Arizona Arkansas Sweet 16 matchup, and that might be a chance for a great, a great opportunity to see how good my national champion pick Arizona can be.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Arkansas just cruised past Hawaii. There's not much to say, but that high point game was really strong.
SPEAKER_00100% agree. Um I guess we'll move it down uh down to the bottom half of this region. And the first four, uh, Texas defeated N uh NC State to move past. What we didn't see happening was them beating BYU and Gonzaga on the way to their uh to a suite 16. This is technically the Cinderella, although it it kind of sucks to say Texas is the Cinderella of the bracket. Um one of the highest NIL, if not the highest, in the whole country. But it's ridiculous. But yeah, I mean I didn't wow.
SPEAKER_02I didn't know that. That's that's insane.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they have the highest budget, I think. Highest budget. That's all sports. I don't know if it's basketball. Gotcha. They are paying their guys a lot of money. Yeah. I mean, a lot of that's going to manning.
SPEAKER_00I saw some uh I forget what the exact um stat is, but Sean Miller in the in the second week, or not in the second weekend, in the second game of the first round, it's something crazy. He's like nine and one or something like that. So he underratedly, as much as we like to talk about Mark Few making sweet 16s, Sean Miller might make sweet six sweet sixteens as well. Um but yeah, what were you guys' thoughts? I mean, I was re I was pretty impressed with Debanza regardless. Um 100%. But yeah, I mean Texas is figuring it out down the stretch.
SPEAKER_02I know BYU lost, but I feel like the Banza made an even better case for himself, kind of strengthened his case to be the number one pick, especially with the way Peterson played in the tournament, uh the way Cameron Boozer has been kinda what's the word I'm looking for? Boring. Boring. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. He's been kind of boring, extremely boring. So yeah, Debanza, I mean, this game, it wasn't Texas against BYU, it was Texas against Debanza. And I mean, what more can he do? He went for 35 and 10. Like he he played his heart out and he shot the ball nearly 50%, perfect from the free throw line. And as much as I could go on about him though, we gotta talk more about Texas because Texas is our only double-digit seed into the uh uh uh Suite 16. So they definitely impressed me. And that was one that we uh were kind of split on as a team, uh as a team as a pod, because uh I think we ended up picking Gonzaga. I think both of you had Gonzaga over Texas. I only picked Texas because I was playing with house money. But to be fair to you guys, you did say that you wanted to see Braden Huff back against Texas in order for them to win that second round game. And obviously, without Huff, they did not have the firepower to even beat an 11-seeded Texas team.
SPEAKER_01I think there's two things for Texas that they they really stepped it up in the tournament. I think losing to Ole Miss in the first round of the SEC tournament was a good thing for them. A four-win Ole Miss, uh four conference win Ole Miss team. It was really good for them because they on the defensive end, they really turned it up a notch. And we knew this team coming in. It was Alabama, Texas, and USF, the three fastest offensive paces in the country. This team can score. And the question was going to be how they play defense, but the thing is they just have the personnel to play defense. Matis, the big man, I I'm not going to try to pronounce his last name, but he's a seven-footer. He's been a 15-8 guy throughout the season. And on the defensive end, boy, he is locked down in the paint. And Gonzaga, EK had a fantastic game. I think it was one of his best career games with 25. The rest of the guys couldn't get it done and they didn't shoot the three-ball well enough. Texas forced them, forced them out to take tough threes, and they just defended the paint really well. Purdue's going to have some a tough time, guys, and I would not be shocked if Purdue goes down. In fact, I will be hoping that Purdue goes down. I know Braden Smith broke the assist record, but I cannot wait to see Purdue lose.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, certainly it's a it's a season of what if uh for Gonzaga, especially without Braden Huff. Um I don't know. I mean, uh going down to this bottom half of the bracket, I think Purdue's really clicking at the right time. I think Purdue's been Purdue might be a sneaky national championship, like top five contender right now with the way they're playing. They've buzzsaw through the uh through the Big Ten tournament and they handled their business. Um, wasn't close against Queens, and they were able to just move Miami around. The final score was only a difference of 10 points, but the game was never particularly close against a Miami team that did Missouri in pretty badly.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, Missouri didn't have they didn't have much to show. Yeah. They really didn't. And you're right, Purdue is they're they're clicking at the right time, but going up against Arizona or Arkansas is gonna be really tough. Of course, they have to get through Texas first. That's not gonna be a cakewalk. I think Texas could win, but Arizona or Arkansas might be two two of the best teams in the whole country. And right now, at least, just two of the most dangerous. They've got Purdue's gonna have a really tough time just relying on Braden Smith for everything. Who, of course, he broke the assist record. Congratulations to Braden Smith. I'm gonna clap it up again. You know, I I don't pay my respects to Purdue very much, but I'll pay it here. Beating Bobby Hurley from Duke, of course, almost an unbreakable record. I was watching something today talking about how how unbreakable nearly of a record it is. So congrats to him. Unfortunately, Queens couldn't get it done. Rest in peace, Queens. It was a good run uh for a few minutes. And then for a few minutes. Yeah, Purdue's moving on. Thankfully, we picked them to go to the final four and uh not Wisconsin. So I'm glad about that one. I'm glad that I talked some sense, a little bit of sense into y'all for that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I I appreciate you for that. Um
Midwest Region
SPEAKER_02I guess that takes us to the Midwest region. Michigan St. Louis in the round of 32 might have been a 95-72 final score, but it was a lot closer than that throughout the game. Avila had a great game, his college career comes to an end. Gonna gloss over those first round games because Michigan took care of Howard and St. Louis ran through Georgia, though. I mean, absolutely ran through Georgia. I thought that it could go the other way where this SEC style offense runs through St. Louis, but this ain't football. This is basketball, and St. Louis is etching their name into becoming a basketball school here this year.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, I mean, absolutely is fun. I mean, Rob U Veal is one of the more fun players to root for, and part of what makes him so fun is he doesn't play the like a sort of selfish style where he's getting 30. When they're winning games, especially against this Georgia game, uh against this Georgia team, it's because he's dishing the ball, he's finding the open guy, and he's like sort of a Jokic archetype, uh, which we don't have much of in college basketball. But yeah, like St. Louis did keep it close, uh, certainly. Michigan is just it, they're just simply way more talented. Um yeah, Mara Mara down low played an incredible game. When Mara's not in follow trouble, that Michigan team is is pretty near unstoppable. Um, and so the key is that I think that's the key to being Michigan.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, Lindenborg had a great game, 25 points. Avalo only he only had nine points. He had three field goal, three, he was three of thirteen from the field with only three threes. They shut him down. Michigan has so much size. They're they're only going to be able to get pushed by a team that can compete with them somewhat in size. And I don't know if that's gonna be Alabama. This Michigan team looks really strong, but yeah, I mean, I honestly I the size just it really, really impressed me. They made St. Louis look really, really small.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, size is obviously a big thing, no, no pun intended, but Alabama though.
SPEAKER_00I'm not gonna say pause.
SPEAKER_02Alabama though is quick, and they show that against Texas Tech. Now, both Texas Tech and Alabama, they took care of Hofsha and Akron respectively. Um that game shocked me. I thought it would at least be close. I actually had Texas Tech winning. I didn't need to admit that, but I will. Um that Michigan Alabama game is set up to be a good one because if anything can beat size other than size itself, I think it's speed.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. No, absolutely. I mean, this is definitely a region where there's a lot of trendy upset picks. Um Akron and Hofstra, both, and even Texas Tech over Alabama. Oh, a lot of people had 12 and 13th seed, and both of them handled their business pretty easily in the first round. Yeah, I mean, like you, I was shocked. Uh I mean, Letrell Reitzel uh from Alabama, he put on a clinic early on against uh Texas Tech, and the game was really never close. It was never from the get-go, all Alabama. I'm looking at the 19 threes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01They shot 42 threes, too. I mean, when Alabama gets up early, they scored almost 50 points in the first half, 49 points. It was 49-25 at the end of the first half. That is just unreal. When Alabama can score, we saw them do this, they just uh demolished BYU last year. When they score early in NCAA tournament games, they're almost unbeatable. And when they get pushed, when they get stopped early, that's where they start to falter in some of these close games. But when they get hot like this, they they it's almost like they have a game like this per year in the NCAA tournament where people are doubting them. It's a game they can win, but we're not sure if they're gonna show up. They show up again, testament to NATO. It's making it back to the Sweet 16. I think it's the the third year in a row he's done that, third or fourth year. And yeah, Alabama, everyone doubted them. Aiden Holloway still not playing. He arrested, of course, for uh possession of a lot of weed. So he's he's uh still off the team, but it it hasn't mattered.
SPEAKER_02Phyllon is in this clip about that. Yeah, Big Cat said that yeah, two pounds is a lot of weed, and then some Alabama fan was like, well, when you think about it, you know, the percentage of weed in the world, that's a very small percent. I'm like, come on, man, we're trying to defend this right now. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, I mean, absolutely. Um, so I think I mean the point spread is nine and a half for Michigan that game. I think it could be a lot closer. I I still kind of like Michigan, but uh Alabama certainly when they're on is tough to stop. But moving down the bracket, another team that's tough to stop when they're on, the Tennessee Volunteers. Um, and they've handled their business easily against Miami, um, but also took really took the reins uh from Virginia late, and they're in the Sweet 16 now. How are we feeling about this Tennessee team? I'll kick it off.
SPEAKER_01I again the I didn't have a whole lot of faith in the SEC. I had some faith in the top of the conference. They've gotten four teams into the Sweet 16. Definitely impressed me. It could have been five if Florida handled business, but four out of their ten teams into the Sweet 16, it's pretty darn good, guys. Uh I that's nothing to sneeze at. And yeah, Tennessee, it's another team that when they're hot offensively, they can really get it going. I think Iowa State is going to be tough for them on the defensive side. But yeah, Virginia couldn't score enough points. And disappointing for me, I had Virginia going farther. I was higher on Virginia, but Virginia got down and they haven't shown that ability to come back against teams that actually can really score and put them away. They can come back against teams like Notre Dame, but outside of that, they they have not really shown that that competitive character down the stretch. And Tennessee can play with elite. They've got a lot of guys that can score. Uh Nate Ament, the good freshman. They've got uh a Gillespie in there, and they've just a lot of it's it's a well-rounded team for for Barnes, and I wouldn't be shocked here if Tennessee pulls the upset. This is another one that's sneaky. It's a team that can get hot. When you look down at some of these potential upsets, quote unquote, left, it's gotta be a team that can really score the basketball. Yeah. And Tennessee and Alabama are probably two of the best three or four offenses left in this tournament. The question is always consistency, but Tennessee put on two great games, stomping Miami of Ohio, unfortunately ending their run and uh taking down Virginia.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Tennessee, they ruin most of my brackets here. But one game that I play, this is with my family and my dad and his friends. It's actually a very fun way to look at the tournament. I don't know if you guys have played this way ever, but in a league with my dad and his friends and my family, everyone picks a one-seed, everyone picks a two-seed, a three-seed, a four-seed, all the way down to 16. And for each win, for every seed that you pick, it comes along with a certain number of points. So, for example, if your one seed wins, you get 1.5 every time you win, then 1.75 for your two seed, so on and so forth. And right now, I'm gonna pull up the text right now. I have seven teams left in the suite 16. Or sorry, yeah, in the suite 16. The most you can have because of the seeds that have advanced are eight. And I have seven teams left. It's Michigan is my one seed, Houston is my two. I have those two clashing off in the championship in my bracket, so I figured why not? Michigan State, my three, they play Yukon, right? Arkansas my four, St. John's my five, to upset Duke would be awesome, and Tennessee my six, and then Iowa is my nine seed in this tournament over St. Louis and over TCU and Utah State. Um, so I wanted to share that not only because I'm doing well in that bracket and leading it, but he just wants to toot his own horror. No, no, no. Yes, but it's also a fun way to look at the tournament, and the tournament has not disappointed.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, like it it'll it'll be funny because the top half of this bracket are two of the best offenses in college basketball, and certainly Michigan is an elite defense as well. But this will be an offensive, fast-paced game, I'm sure. Whereas Tennessee, Iowa State, two of the two of the best defenses, honestly, in college basketball, um, both of them have been stalwarts all year. Um but before I talk about Iowa State, I want to talk about I made a mistake earlier. I accidentally said that um Wisconsin High Point and Vanderbilt Nebraska were the two best games of this last weekend. Kentucky Santa Clara, this was a March Madness Annals game. This is one you tell your kids about because although it wasn't technically a buzzer beater winner, an absolute classic to end the game with two seconds left. Alan Graves hits a three, they go up three, and it looks like Santa Clara's all but won the game. Their coach tries to call a timeout. I I've send it called the timeout. I don't think he did. It was as they were inbounding it.
SPEAKER_02He should have gotten it. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Go back and wait. If you watch, he waits, he waits, he waits, and as they're literally about to inbound the ball, that's when he tries to call a timeout. I think it was a little late.
SPEAKER_01It took him a second to get to their official. I'm on the cage.
SPEAKER_02It did, but I still feel like it should have been it's good.
SPEAKER_01It should have been called. He was running towards the official. Yeah, they made the shot. You can see the you can see the light bulb go off in his head, and he runs to the official, tries to call a timeout. But he doesn't do it right away. No.
SPEAKER_02Right. It wasn't right away because he thought that his kids would get back on defense, but obviously the heat of the moment, everyone thought the game was over then. But regardless Owe had other plans.
SPEAKER_00Owe, I mean, even if he Owe still had to hit a somewhere between half court and the three-point line, hits just an incredible shot. Um, probably the shot of the tournament so far, I would say. Absolutely. Sends Kentucky into overtime where they end up getting the win. Just a fun game. It's too bad. Uh, I mean, Kentucky was dominated by Iowa State in that second game. But um, yeah, I think this this certainly will be on one shining moment.
SPEAKER_02Oh, if it isn't, then that that's a big mistake.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Because that was an awesome game. Now, I actually I was watching this game as I was heading over to the student center on Friday, and I had it on my phone while I was walking, so I was a little bit behind, and I heard a scream from a dorm not too far away from me, and another one, and then another one. I'm like, what is going on? And I watched it, I'm like, all right, that was valid. Turns out, though, my phone was ahead of the guys and alumni. So then when I heard their first scream, I stopped in my tracks. I'm like, all right, let me hear their second one. There it is. And then I'm like, okay, wait, three, two, one. Yep, there's the third one. So that was a ton of fun to experience. Not once, not twice, but experience it three times within a span of a minute. And that's definitely uh one shining moment and my favorite game of the tournament thus far.
Sweet 16 Projections
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. So now we have our Sweet 16. We're gonna quickly uh try to run down. We've already kind of given our thoughts on most of these teams, but going back up to the East Region, Duke St. John's and then Michigan State Yukon, who do you guys have winning those games? So do we want to each do we want to go game by game? Or yeah, I say we each pick. Um we'll we'll try to keep it quick.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'll start with Duke St. John's. I I talked about it a little bit earlier when we broke this down, but I like Duke too much. I think St. John's has not faced a team the caliber of Duke really throughout this season. I think they haven't been pushed in a style that Duke plays where it's a smart team, a team that can attack the boards. The word is that Gongba is coming back eventually. I don't know if I haven't seen, I don't think they've released anything on whether or not he's coming back for this game. It'd be nice to have him against Edge of Four down low, who's really been the engine of the St. John's team, but I think Duke's size, Boozer is gonna is gonna give Edge of Four some trouble. I know he's a great defender, but Boozer's very strong, and not as many people watched the Duke TCU game, but they sure bounced back. They looked a lot, a heck of a lot better in that second round and and comfortably won there. A lot of people are picking St. John's, it's trendy, but if Duke wins, I'm feeling really good about winning about three of my three of my bracket challenges. I I made two brackets, one in C ABS, one on ESPN. I had Duke going far in all of them. I need this one, guys.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, as much as I like Duke, I think Rick Patino has the Johnnies ready to make history and get to an elite eight. So my pick is with Jubi, Zubi Ajafar, and the St. John's Johnny's, the big East champs. I have them moving on. So GC, it comes down to you. Are we picking Duke or are we rolling with St. John's as a team?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, I'm a big Duke hater, but in terms of two teams that have a lot of size, um, I I can't say the most fun watches, although certainly Patino versus Duke is always great storyline. I think Duke's just simply more talented. Um, I haven't really been that impressed with St. John's. Um, and certainly they can wear you down, but I just think Duke's more talented. I think uh the Boozers will be able to wear them down. Uh if Isaiah Evans can hit a few shots, Duke moves on. Uh moving down to Michigan State Yukon, I guess I'll start this one off. I got Michigan State. The month is still March, um, and I think I think Michigan State honestly has been impressive. They've gotten great performances from Cone Car. Fierce hasn't had his moment yet, but I'm sure he will, especially against a fiery Yukon team. Um and yeah, unless Caravan's going for going for 30 or at least 25, um, I just think Michigan State has a talent to keep up with Yukon's, and they have they have the edge in Tom Mizo.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Yukon's recipe definitely looks repeatable with Caravan, with Reed. I just don't really trust them particularly that much when it comes down the stretch. Even though they've been here before, I think it's too different of a team. And it's hard to have back-to-back really good games, and it's hard to be also someone who's as talented as Spheres not to have his one shining moment. And since he hasn't had it yet, I also am gonna roll with the Spartans in this one, setting up Shire and Izzo in the Elite Eight.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we'll see, Izzo hasn't been back to the Elite Eight in a while. And you know, I I'm I guess I'm working with house money here. I picked Michigan State to win in the bracket, so I can roll with that. I thought it might have been UCLA. So there's a little bit of a hedge for me there. Even if UCLA didn't win, I still got a chance with Michigan State. I mean, UConn played better than I thought, but I just I I can't pick UConn knowing their limitations offensively. I think Michigan State is too good on defense. They're too consistent, at least scoring. I Yukon's defense might be good, but I I can't trust them in the second half scoring. We've seen them just choke so many games and leave teams hanging around. You can't leave Michigan State hanging around with how explosive they are, how well they work in transition. So I'll take Michigan State as well. And I'll kick off this next one as well. Iowa versus Nebraska. This is maybe not the game we expected. No. Of course, Nebraska's a four seed, but they've never won a tournament game. They've gotten two wins this year. Of course, these fans travel well. It's going to be a packed-out stadium. And for Nebraska, a team with slower pace that relies heavily on defense, this is just a dream matchup against Iowa. You don't have to play Alabama. You don't have to play Duke or Arizona or some of these other super high-powered offenses. You get to play Iowa. This is one of the slow, I think the slowest-paced team left in the tournament. It's still going to be a tight game, but I think Nebraska can do enough. I saw so much again out of the out of them against Vanderbilt and just really impressed with their ability to score. They shot the three ball well. They played good defense inside, and man, Nebraska's been a really fun team for me this year and one of the best stories of the tournament.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, um I'm gonna I'm gonna go Nebraska as well. Honestly, um Henry took the words out of my mouth, so I'm gonna go Nebraska. I I just don't I don't know how repeatable Iowa's success is. I think Nebraska's much more of a chameleon, can sort of fit with any play style. So give me the card cross series.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, now I'm playing with house money here, but I'm gonna triple down like we did for Michigan State. I think Nebraska is the better of the big ten schools here. They're gonna get the win. I think this game, instead of starting with a tip-off, should start with a punt off. How about that? I like that.
SPEAKER_00I mean, yeah, and Houston, however many beers you think you have for these Iowa and Nebraska fans, you don't have enough. It'll be a fun atmosphere at the very least.
SPEAKER_02You don't continuing on with the South region now that we got Nebraska moving on. Illinois plays against Houston. I'm gonna make this quick. I have Houston winning this game. I obviously have Houston winning at all. So as long as Houston is advancing in our bracket, they'll advance uh or in my bracket, they're advancing in this one for me. So do you guys see it the same way, or does you of I come out with the win?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, to me nothing much has changed since the first time we picked it. I still like Houston.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think I I haven't seen enough uh that makes me hesitant about Houston. We worried about their ability to score a little bit in the paint, scoring the two-ball. They're not great at it. But they're going up against an Illinois team that can score the lights out, but can can be a little shaky in close games. Houston doesn't lose in blowouts, they they play close games through and through, and this is the offense versus defense match of the tournament so far. I'm gonna pick the defense. I think that's just it's so important in college basketball. So I'll roll with Houston as well. We can take it up here to Arizona, Arkansas. Arizona was my national championship, champion team. I'd love to pick Arkansas, but I think of course I want to keep rolling with my champion team. Arkansas's been so fun, but Arizona is such a balanced team. And when you look at a team that can make a run where you've got four or five guys that can step up and drop 25 plus, that's Arizona with Burries, with Pete. There's a whole hack. I mean, those are just two of the freshmen, but it's just such a dynamic team. And defensively, they're gonna be a force that Arkansas has not faced so far in the tournament. And Caliperi's just been shaky the past few years in the tournament. They they can win a big game and then lose one. I think Acuff's gonna have to have another 35-point game for them to win.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, there's talent all over the front court for Arizona, so I'm picking the Wildcats to move on as well, especially because Arkansas doesn't play too much defense defense. High Point dropped 88 on them, and Arizona arguably has some even better names than High Point, so not too worried there. And every time that Arizona does let up runs, they are always able to kind of um push back on their own and find ways to win. So Arizona's moving on for me.
SPEAKER_00I'm gonna say, I mean, I know you we're going with Arizona regardless, but it's still the month of March. And I mean, Arkansas will get s 75 points minimum. They haven't not scored 75 since January 10th. Um I think ACUF absolutely can go off. They can still light up the three. And if Arizona is an off night for three, I think it's gonna be hard for them to keep up with uh Arkansas's offense. I'm not obviously I'm not 100% sure on this pick, but I think Arkansas absolutely has uh the ability to pull this off. So give me Arkansas. I think Cal Perry wins wins and uh continues to shove it in Kentucky's face. Um but moving down to Texas Purdue, um I got I got Purdue simple as that. I just think they're more talented, they're so much more experienced, they have great guard play. I don't think Texas can keep up.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they have great guard play and they can also rebound the ball. Kaufman Wren and Oscar Clough are unbelievable. I have Purdue to the final four, so of course I'm gonna have Purdue advancing here as well.
SPEAKER_01Give me Texas. Yeah, of course. I'll take the Longhorns. I've been a Purdue hater all year, and if I can pray on their downhall with house money even, you guys are making this treat too sweet for me. And if you're new to this podcast and you wonder, oh, why does he not like Purdue? It's just the way that they play. It is such a frustrating pace of play. Just the most boring offense, maybe in college basketball. Braden Smith, of course, he's a great player. I'm not gonna deny that, but it is just a frustrating game to watch. When you cheer for Purdue, they let you down consistently when in the biggest moments. So I I'm gonna go for I'm cheering for Texas, but I also think that they can win. They have the size to give them trouble. They play great defense in the paint. And maybe not the best recipe with going up against great guard play. They've struggled this season going up against Alabama among others with good guards. But I I just think that they can I think they can score the ball with Purdue. And this might be a this might be an 83-80 kind of game where Purdue gets the points, but Texas keeps up with them and can pull it out in the end. So I'll pull I'll take that.
SPEAKER_02Down in the Midwest, number one Michigan plays number four Alabama. The last time Michigan was ranked number one and Alabama was ranked number four and played each other. It was January 1st, 2024 in the Rose Bowl. And Michigan won that game. I have Michigan winning this one as well. I don't think as hot as Alabama was, don't think they can keep that up. So I have the Wolverine's advancing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, give me Michigan as well. Um, I just think they're simply more talented and they have the defensive capabilities to slow down Alabama. Um, if Alabama's not off to a hot start, I don't think they're going to be able to come back. So yeah, give me the Wolverines.
SPEAKER_01If it was a different matchup, I might be picking Alabama, but again, I Alabama has proven that they can have these scorching hot games, and then the next one is a struggle to get 75. And just when you're going up against Michigan, it's got to be consistent. There's not enough going for Alabama to give me confidence for them to do it. They're having more guys step up, and it might be closer than we think, but I have enough confidence in Michigan's defense really down the stretch to get enough stops and get the win as well.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and then Tennessee, Iowa State rounds us out in the sweet 16 in the Midwest. I I just don't think Tennessee can keep winning. Uh so I have Iowa State in the cyclones. I actually have Iowa State in the Final Four in my bracket. So I have Iowa State moving on. How do you guys see it?
SPEAKER_00I got I got Tennessee. I think uh Tennessee's beaten. They they just beat a great defensive team in Virginia. I think they could do it again um against Iowa State. I think they have the offensive capabil capabilities to also score against great defensive teams. Um yeah, give me the balls. I think Rick Barnes finally gets it done a little bit more in March and moves on to the lead eight.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think Rick Barnes is he's been he's been very he's been a very good coach for Tennessee the past five-ish years. They've had some really strong teams. This might not be their most talented team. They don't have a Dalton Connect, uh, an elite score leading the way. But GC, as you said, it's a great matchup for him. And the matchup really does, it matters to me a lot. I picked Virginia to win because I thought the the matchup was good for them again, against another defensive team. They've given teams like that problems all year, Virginia, but they got out game plan at their own game plan really against Tennessee. And I've got confidence in Tennessee now as well. I know that I we've been hesitant on the SEC all year, but again, Iowa State, they they win games with huge margins. When it's in close games, they can struggle, and Tennessee can get red hot as well. I just think there's too many weapons for Tennessee, and I Iowa State has not proven March success particularly well over the past few years as well. So I'm gonna go with the experience in coaching in Barnes as well. I think Tennessee can get it done.
SPEAKER_02Alright, let's rapid fire through this Elite Eight, because we've talked about the teams a bunch now. Duke, Michigan State, who wins and why, who wants to start us off?
SPEAKER_00Michigan State, March, is O. No explanation needed. Given Michigan State. They've done it before against the Zion team, they'll do it again now.
SPEAKER_01I'm taking I'm taking Duke to go back to the Final Four. I I'm sticking with the analytics. The analytics say Duke, Arizona, Michigan going to the Final Four. I'm riding with it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, the the analytics do say Duke, but screw the analytics. Give me Michigan State, give me Izzo. It's March. GC, I'm with you. Give me the Spartans going to Indianapolis.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, also we don't the the Henry I told you so picking one seed. I remember when March was madness. March will continue to be madness. Love it. Love Michigan.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I would love for St. John's to win too, but I I just picking smartly analytically, which is what I did this year. I picked too many upsets last year. I had too much fun in my bracket, and I lost all of my challenges. So this year we're doing a little chalky with analytics. Fair enough.
SPEAKER_02Who knows? Maybe one year it's just all one through eight and then one through four, one and twos. Who knows?
SPEAKER_00All right. Now moving down, we had uh Nebraska Houston. Um I think we're probably all on the same page here. Houston's just a more talented team. Um, I think Kelvin Sampson, he gets to Final Fours. I think he does it again.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean they're my national champion. So I sticking with it as well. Yeah, we're gonna triple down on that.
SPEAKER_01I'm glad I picked Houston out of that division. I we'll see what happens against Illinois, but I feel really good that I stuck with Houston.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, especially with Florida out now.
SPEAKER_00Moving uh moving across the bracket, we've got Arizona Purdue. Um I'm gonna start out. I got Purdue. Um I I really like how this Purdue team's playing. Their front courts really developed into something, uh, especially with Clough, even when TKR is not playing great. They have the experience. The March Madness teams always uh win with experience, I think. And uh Purdue's number one example. Give me Purdue.
SPEAKER_01I'll take the Cats. I've got enough confidence in these Arizona Wildcats, picked them to win it all, and I trust them. So they've done it all year. I think this is a team. Had a hot streak, had a lull, getting hot again, and I've got a lot of faith.
SPEAKER_02Do I dare side with GC again? Or do I roll with Henry? Henry, I'm gonna roll with you this time. I think that this is the end of the road for Purdue. Originally I did have Purdue getting to Indianapolis, but I've just seen too many positive things come about for Arizona lately. I think they're the better team. It'll be a very fun game in the Elite Eight, but yeah, the Wildcats win that one. And then down to the Midwest championship, Michigan, Tennessee. I mean, I want to pick Michigan, so I'm going to, but both of y'all picked Tennessee to make it here. So do you still think Tennessee beats Michigan, or is that the end of the road for the Vols?
SPEAKER_01I mean, just uh hedging this one here. Michigan, I think, wins anyway. Whether it's Iowa State, whether it's Tennessee, I don't see either of them having a chance to beat Michigan. It's not it's not the recipe. If Michigan's gonna lose before the final four, it's gonna be against Alabama this weekend.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I got it. So I gotta agree with you, Henry. I'm gonna go Michigan as well. Uh same same reasoning. They're they're more talented, they have way better big men, they have experience. Um give them Michigan.
SPEAKER_01They'd only lose if Alabama shoots the lights out 60% from three. I think that's the only way they go down before the final four.
SPEAKER_00So now we have Michigan State versus Houston on one side, Arizona, Michigan on the other.
SPEAKER_02Wow, Big 12 versus Big Ten.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. We'll start with Michigan State versus Houston. Um I think Houston I think Houston wins this one. Uh as much as I want to pick Michigan State, uh Tom Mizzo, great March coach. I don't know if he's an April coach. Uh Houston's more talented, they have a way better defense. Um, and Michigan State's prone to bad games. I think Houston could give them uh nightmares. Give me so give me Houston.
SPEAKER_02Houston's my national champions.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'll pick Michigan State for the heck of it. I think whoever's coming out of this East Division is gonna be better than whoever's coming out of the South Division, regardless of if if it's St. John's, if it's Yukon, if it's Duke, all the above. I I'm picking them over over the Houston side. I think they're gonna be an extremely battle-tested team. Whoever it is, it's four Hall of Fame coaches left in this division. And I'm going with I'm going with that. I uh it's hard for a team to make the national championship twice. So I don't know that I think Houston's gonna hit a wall in this game.
SPEAKER_00Fair enough. Okay, and now on the other side of the bracket, we have Michigan versus Arizona battled two the two remaining one seeds we have. Um I'm gonna go with Michigan. I'm gonna keep picking against Arizona. I think uh Michigan's a team that I mean these are seen as the top two teams for a long stretch of the year. Um I think Michigan, with all this win, I think that they'll they're going to start figuring it out, um get back into form, maybe into early season form. Um and I think uh they just have they have the better three-point shooting team, which oftentimes Michigan doesn't have. Um and I think three-pointers are gonna uh win win games. So give me the Wolverines.
SPEAKER_01I'll take Arizona. I picked them to win, of course, and I'm riding it out. But not only that, I just I think that they're they're playing good basketball, and they've they're gonna have beaten fantastic teams at this point. They're gonna be battle tested, they're they're gonna be getting better and better. I think there might be one close game, but then there's gonna be one blowout on their road, and they're just gonna they're gonna take this one all the way.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think for the first time since 1985, we'll get a all-conference championship game in Houston and Arizona. Now, that was just a quick that was just a quick Google search. Um, could be mistaken, but it does say here that the last time two teams from the same conference played in the NCAA Division Women's Basketball Tournament championship game was 1985. Women's or men's it was Villanova against Georgetown.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00Sounds right, big East. All right. So now we've got Arizona Houston in the finals.
SPEAKER_02Uh let's start with our two picks because we know that my national champion is Houston and his is Arizona.
SPEAKER_01So Arizona got him in the tournament. They got him in that Big 12 tournament. Fantastic buzzer beater shot to win it. Yeah, what a big game.
SPEAKER_02This would be a fun rematch.
SPEAKER_01It really would. Out of all the rematches that we could have from conferences, this is about as good as it gets.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, certainly I have Arizona getting picked off at multiple points throughout this bracket, but uh they they have continued to survive. Um I think Kelvin Sampson gets it done finally. Um, I they've been waiting for a long time, they've been knocking at the door. Um, and I think finally this is the year Houston breaks the glass ceiling. Um, I mean, in terms of in terms of NIL resources, they're nowhere near some of these top teams. And although we can't have the mid-majors uh winning Houston certainly seems like they're not one of the blue bloods. Um, I'll be rooting for them for sure. But also I think they have a much more experienced uh team. They've been there before. Um and yeah, I mean, I I like this Houston team a lot. I think Flemings is going to be a dog. Um, and and certain, I mean, certainly Arizona has their guys, but I think Burries and Pete have cooled off. I mean, Bradley's certainly an elite player, but gimme Flemings and uh Sharp and Uzon have been I think they cook with the experience. And yeah, give me the cougs. Well, that does it.
SPEAKER_01We've got it, we've got uh yeah, that'll be our our rest of the way pick here.
SPEAKER_00All right, we got Houston now. We still have Michigan from our first one, so we will be claiming that if Michigan wins.
SPEAKER_01Well, we'll see. We've all got different picks right now. Unfortunately, GC's is no longer alive. I'm not trying to throw shots at GC here, but it is it is an unfortunate situation out of the first weekend to have their team. Yep. Well, that's gonna do it for us here at the Brick Squad Pod. It's a great time of year in March. We'll be back next week recapping everyone that has kept it going. And guys, it is just about as sweet as it gets as we get into the Sweet 16.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely as sweet as it gets. And we'd be remiss just quickly to say that our Notre Dame women's basketball team is still dancing, and I'm excited to see against Vanderbilt. Yeah, it's four years in a row, and didn't think that they'd be in that situation given the first couple months of the season. So very proud of Hannah Hidalgo and Neil Ivey and everybody on that hand.
SPEAKER_01Hannah's unbelievable to watch. If you want to tune into women's college basketball, watch Hannah Hidalgo. She plays with a motor unlike any other motor, maybe even in sports. She's one of the most unique players in sports. She's led the country in steals for the past three years. She had eight steals, she almost had a triple-double of steals, 26 points, 13 rebounds, and eight steals against Ohio State. And man, is it good to beat Ohio State in something for Notre Dame. It's great.
SPEAKER_02I'll tell you what though, no one's beaten Yukon.
SPEAKER_01Nope. Notre Dame's gonna run into a wall if they can take down Vandy and Yukon. So, but if making the Elite Eight would be something that to go back to back making the Elite Eight, that'd be sweet for Ivy.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01Well, that'll do it for us here, alongside G D and Leo on Henry, and we will next.