EPISODE 3 - March Madness First Weekend Reactions & Look Ahead

The Right Read Podcast gives an in depth recap of the first weekend of March Madness and analysis of Sweet Sixteen matchups... Duke upset? Continued Big Ten dominance? Houston home court advantage enough to beat Illinois? To wrap up the podcast, two different parlays are revealed with the chance to win big.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:11

Welcome back, sports fans, to the Write Read Podcast. We are in our third episode of the show and have loved seeing the support and the debate our takes have caused in the last few episodes. Welcome to any newcomers that might be along for the ride. I am your co-host, Robert, alongside my lifelong friend, rival, and your other co-host Troy. Last week we gave our initial reactions to the March Madness brackets and filled out a live bracket on our right read bracket pool. And after the first weekend of action, that bracket's looking pretty solid in that group. And we're even more excited now to break down the Sweet 16 matchups and recap that first weekend of what seemed like it might not have been some great basketball, but ended up giving us some phenomenal games, some phenomenal storylines. Of course, Troy and I were the first two fan bases to punch their ticket into the Sweet 16 after Michigan took it to St. Louis, uh was not really challenged in that game, and Michigan State was able to hang on and get by Louisville. I think that's a great topic for us to kick off this episode. Troy, what are your initial reaction to the first weekend?

SPEAKER_00 1:15

Yeah, yeah, it's it was it was a fun weekend. Um, definitely as a Michigan, Michigan State fan, um, and even just a Big Ten fan. Um, just throughout the weekend, Big Ten, you know, showed why they're they are one of the powerhouse um conferences. Um, even just going into the Sweet 16, they have six out of the 16 teams um representing the Big Ten, which is about 40% of the Sweet 16 is Big Ten teams. Um, I think it's just to show, you know, too, it's you know, it feels like it's not as chalky, but at the same time, you know, there's not a lot of lower seeds that did advance. Um, a lot of our, you know, you know, predictions were correct. You know, the the top 25 rule is still present with almost all the teams um besides Michigan State taking out Louisville, um, which was one of those dark horse teams that we thought you know might have had a shot, but they were outside of that, you know, top three seed range. Um, but the you know, the average of margin, which uh, you know, I'm kind of excited for you to go through um to kind of dissect um the you know one through four seeds to kind of give more of an impression to the audience of kind of you know what that looked like, you know, this year, even compared to you know years past um on just the dominance of the higher seeds. Um so if you want to go through that um and kind of just give a deep dive of what we have here.

SPEAKER_02 2:34

Yeah. So one thing we talked about uh that you mentioned, Troy, last week is kind of the NIL era, the transfer portal era, strengthening the top programs in the sport. And the the highest seed that we have still alive in the Suite 16 is Texas, uh, right? So they're that 11 seed, power to the play-in game. They made it there. They're probably one of the bigger sports programs in the country. Uh, I think you buy revenue. I think Texas and Texas AM are like one and two in terms of most revenue that they generate, obviously mostly from football, but their whole uh athletic program is just a money-making machine. So and they spend it too, they spend on this basketball team. Uh, so I think that's just kind of what we're gonna start seeing in future tournaments. I I don't think it necessarily means the madness has gone away, but uh what I think it looks like playing out in the games is how that margin of victory plays out for those top programs that are seeded one through four. When we saw this year's results, the average margin of victory for one seed in the very first round was 30 points. The two seeds average margin of victory is 27 points. The three seeds average margin of victory was 20 points, and then four seeds were winning on average by 19 points, and there were no upsets among the top four seeds. Now, you might be thinking, well, of course, they're the best teams, they're playing the lower seeds, so yeah, they're gonna win by a pretty hefty chunk. But if you just look back five years ago, kind of before the dawn of this NIL and transfer portal era really came to fruition, one seeds were still dominating, average margin of victory, 28 points compared to 30 this year. But two seeds, that margin of victory gets cut in half, right? So we have a 27-point margin of victory this year compared to 13 five years ago. Three seeds, kind of the same story. It's 11 points five years ago compared to the 20 points today. And then four seeds has the most noticeable drop where we saw plenty of upsets in years past, a two-point margin of victory average in 2021 compared to that 19 point this year. I think this is just going to be a continuation in future tournaments. Like I said, you're gonna have the teams that not only go get the best players, but they're taking players from these lower seeds the year before. When you have somebody who can shine out and and really go be a star in March Madness and just upset, you know, a whole team by coming out on fire or just has a physical presence that they just took a while to develop or grow into. I think that's what led us to a lot of some of the Cinderella stories in the last 20, 25 years of our lifetime. And now those players are getting plucked up. You know, you got some of these top programs that are willing to pay them, willing to bring them in, coach them up, give them that exposure, that opportunity to really develop at a faster pace. Um, and I think this margin of victory kind of difference is a great way to illustrate what we were seeing in the tournament, and like I said, how things might play out uh kind of moving forward.

SPEAKER_00 5:33

Yeah, and to kind of reiter reiterate that too, it's like, you know, even some of like your Izzos, your Bill Selfs, um, even Cal Perry's, I mean, just the dominant coaches. I I feel like, you know, I mean, you have Dusty May coming from Florida Atlantic, you have these uh Todd Golden coming from Florida, um, just smaller um name coaches that are just coming up and you know evening the playing field a little bit more. Um, with the NIL, um, the transfer portal is just, I mean, team, you know, players are already hitting the transfer portal early. Um, and you know, there Yaxel, for example, you know, said he had a seven to nine million dollar offer from Kentucky. Um, it's literally just like free agency now. Um, and you just have the best players picking and choosing who's gonna throw more money at them. Um, and that's kind of what's separating you know these bigger schools from these smaller schools that used to upset, you know, you know, the one vs. 16 seed, Virginia vs. UMBC. Um, I don't see that happening. Uh I don't see any of these 116, 215s um becoming upsets anymore just because of how top heavy it is um with those schools that have the you know the money to pay these players from the smaller schools um because any of these dominant players want to be on a team that's gonna get recognition, um, that's gonna help their draft stock for the NBA. And and why not come to a school that has, you know, they're gonna make the tournament. Um, you're gonna have extra games you can play and showcase in front of scouts and and you know, against these bigger teams. Um, because I think that's really what separated, you know, Yaxel um was you know, he played at UAB. Okay, you know, he was still projecting first round pick, but he was thinking in his head, you know, I can grab a little bit of money, go to a bigger school, uh, make a bigger name for myself on big bigger stages as well. Um, I mean, you're in the regular season, you know, you're playing in those tournaments in the beginning of the year where you have scouts there and you have bigger teams, and you know, it's it's the beginning of the college um basketball season and and people are tuned in watching those games. Um, so I I think it's just a turn of college basketball. I can't say I'm you know, it's I it's it's working in Michigan's favor. Um, I know Izzo is more of that's that's for sure. I think Izzo's more of your um traditional type of coach and like your Bill self. And you know, I just see these coaches kind of just losing their interest. It's like Nick Saban, you know, I don't want to bring football into this, but you know, I feel like as soon as we went into paying players and the transfer portal being such a big thing, he just was like, I'm out. Like I this is not how what I'm used to. This is not how I want, you know, to I want to recruit players out of high school, I want to build up my own players. Um and these teams, you know, it's it's it's it's change. It's either you jump on board and you're like, it is what it is, I gotta adapt to the transfer portal and just and forking out you know this money for these top players, or you just kind of do what you've been doing, but you're gonna get passed. Um, and yeah, and I and I think that's kind of where we're at with even just like your Kansas is like I don't think Kansas has made uh made it past the second like round of 32 in a in like four years now. I I think it's been uh four years of them not even making it to the Sweet 16, and we're used to Kansas just you know being one of those dominant teams. Uh Kentucky's been lost in the you know just in the mix as well. Um, but I think overall, I think yeah, what you spoke on is just it's just just how it is. Um, you know, it's gonna be you know these dominant victories. Um it's gonna feel chalky. I mean, even our own bracket we did um on our last episode was pretty chalky. Um, it didn't end up being all one seeds because Florida went down um to Iowa. Shout out to the Big Ten. Um, but yeah, it's it's interesting. Um, but uh you know, I think you know it's it I kind of want to highlight the key players as well. Um, just some standouts that we saw um during that first weekend, um, some impact players. Um, and and I see that you have the graphic there. So you want to kind of deep dive into some of the um stats that we have here?

SPEAKER_02 9:39

Yeah, for sure. And I think actually I want to back up and talk about the Nick Saban comment just real quick because I do think it's a really good point. This is gonna be college basketball-oriented podcast, but this is the right read for all sports, right? And I do think there's something to be said. I've heard some speculation online about it's not just that Nick Saban couldn't handle the new era of NIL and paying players and the transferring, it's that he was doing it illegally for so long, and that's how he built his success at Alabama, paying these players to come play for him. And all of a sudden, you will make it legal on the national level. And the Big Ten is dominating college football the last few years since this happened, appears to be dominating college basketball this year. We are still obviously awaiting the result of the um the whole tournament, but six teams in the suite 16, as you mentioned, the odds on favorite, and one of the best basketball teams I've ever seen with my own two eyes is is unfortunately the Michigan Wolverines. We have some really high-end talent. Iowa with an upset of on Florida. All of a sudden, you're starting to see the Big Ten kind of even the playing field in terms of who is the dominant conference. Everyone always talked about the SEC in football. Now it's Indiana, now it's Oregon, now it's Ohio State. Michigan's obviously had their year a couple years ago, and now college basketball, typically the ACC, typically Big 12 still has their top dogs in there, but it's all of a sudden leaning in the Big Ten's favor. Um, so I think it's a great point about Nick Saban. And I think Tom Izzo might not have been the one paying players for so long, but I think he's been able to kind of transform his identity in terms of how he handles his players by just being honest with them and saying, hey, you're here to play basketball, you're here to play for me, you're not here to collect a paycheck, you're not here to increase your exposure to media or any other alternate reasons uh or ulterior motives that you might be playing college basketball for. And it's worked, it's worked for now. Uh, he doesn't have the high-end talent that some other teams have, but I think that was a great point.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

So um and I think too, just to kind of I think it was just a really good topic to kind of speak on. I I think you have these coaches that like to mold their players. You you want it's easier to mold, you know, players come out of high school, they're young, they're learning, you know, the college way. Um, and you know, Izzo rips into his players, he likes to get into them, you know, and and they play gritty for him and they play tough for him. Um, you're bringing in a possibly a junior, senior graduate that's been in college for you know three, four, five years, that you know, they're probably not gonna take it. Like your freshmen, your sophomore that are just gonna get ripped into, like they think they know the game and they've been in the you know in college for multiple years. And I think that's kind of I think that's gonna be Thomas's downfall, uh, if I'm be honest with you. I I think um I would I'd predict two to three more years um of him being in um I mean he's he's getting up there anyway. I think he's 71 um years old, so he's probably only got a few years left anyway, just because of his age. Um, but you know, I think the the young coaches, the coaches that haven't been in college as long, this change isn't really like affecting them. You know, it's just like I you know, helping them. Yeah, I haven't been in the you know, in college sports long enough to like really look at it as like a negative, like some of these tenured coaches that just are stuck in their ways. Uh, I mean, if we're so if we're used to doing something for 20 years and then they change it, it's gonna be kind of tough to adapt and change. Um, but yeah, uh I I think that was a really good point. Um, but I think even like these key players um just kind of go through those and and kind of see, you know, who made a difference in the tournament, who's still in the tournament from these teams. Um, so if you want to deep dive into that, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:31

I I'm also gonna just interject and say Tom Enzo does have a top two recruiting class coming in next year, and so you know he might be on his way out age-wise, but he is still firing on all cylinders and getting players in East Lancing.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

Yeah, we'll have to see if the top two recruiting class compares to the top two transfer portal class. We'll have to see if that uh that's that's a very good point.

SPEAKER_02 13:50

Yeah, we'll we'll see what that looks like. Um, but speaking of Michigan State and someone that Tom is always recruited and been very hard on. First player I want to highlight selfishly is our point guard, our floor general, Jeremy Fierce Jr., who has had 11 assists and 16 assists. Yes, 11 and 16 assists in the first two tournament games. And he really could have had more than 11 in their first round matchup against North Dakota State. He truly is just a pass first kind of point guard. He's probably someone that as a shooter, as a scorer, as a post player, you want to play with him because you know he's gonna take his shots, but he's going to look to get you your shot first.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

You don't want to play against him because he's going for your jobs, and he's also throwing dimes. So uh I don't know how much I want to play against him.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

It's a tough thing, tough thing to go against for sure. Uh going on to I would say probably the moment of March right now. I I guess there's been a couple uh in the last few days, but Otega Owe, a 35-point performance for Kentucky in that first round against Santa Clara and the half court he buzzer beater descended into overtime. Why don't you foul that? Why don't you follow there? I don't get it. Like you gotta follow him, put him on the line. I mean, it it's not it's not anything I'll ever understand. There's there's evidence to support that decision, and especially like I mean, he's a baller, you know, there's always a chance that a baller is gonna make that shot with the game on the line. Speaking of, we'll kind of jump around at this graphic. Tyler Tanner, also another baller, 53 points in the first two games for Vanderbilt. This was one of your dark horse candidates, and Tyler Tanner was very much a part of that. He was this close, about an inch away from that ball going in.

SPEAKER_00 15:34

I don't know how that didn't go in either.

SPEAKER_02 15:36

Yeah, yeah. That I mean, everybody in the stadium, everybody in the arena thought that ball went in. Even the Nebraska coaches, the Nebraska fans, Nebraska players, everyone couldn't believe it when it rimmed out. Um had an absolutely phenomenal performance.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

Like losing that game, but losing, like thinking that could have gone in has to sting even more. Um, that just has to sting even more.

SPEAKER_02 15:58

Like just a I would have had it rather had it be like an air ball, you know, or thrown like five feet into the sands or something.

SPEAKER_00 16:04

Yeah, just the what ifs behind that, like what if that would have gone in? That we're playing we're playing Iowa in the in the sweet 16 instead of Florida. Like, what if we we could be going to the Elite Eight, you know, like it's just that's March, and that's how close you know it comes from just you know moving on and losing, like that that shot right there. And yeah, I did have Vanderbilt as one of my Cinderella teams. I was surprised that you know they did struggle to Nebraska as much as they did, even though they lost by two. I thought they were gonna handle them pretty well because I think we were just discussing that first round matchup for Nebraska versus uh Troy, you know, where you you said you had maybe even Troy penciled in maybe half your brackets. Um, I I think you know it's gonna be cool now, and we'll we'll talk discuss a little bit later. So I'll let you get through the rest of these um performances. But the Big Ten has a matchup in the Sweet 16, um, which is gonna guarantee a spot in the Lee Eight for at least one Big Ten team, which is cool. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:58

Well, just talk about two of the players I highlighted in the West region. I called out the West as the hardest region, and a big reason for that was because I had I believe they had the two best players in the whole tournament, not just from like a production standpoint, but from like an NBA talent perspective. And that's AJ Debanza and then Darius Acuff, and they both showed out. Now, BYU didn't win their first round matchup, but AJ scored 35 points. He looked very much like he solidified in the top three, top five picks. Darius A. Cuff has scored 60 points through his first two games, and he looks like he could get put on an NBA team right now and go get you 20 points in a given night.

SPEAKER_00 17:35

Yeah, he's got he's got the green light from any any area, any spot. It doesn't matter. You miss 10 in a row, take that 11th shot. Like, he's he's that guy. Um, and he's so small, too. Like he he's he reminds me a little bit in their different games, but like size comparison-wise, like Troy Burke, like he's just he's getting you a bucket, he's he's getting you a buck, he's making it happen. Um, and that's what makes Arkansas scary is like when you have that one guy that can just get you a bucket when you need it the most, and Darius Acuff is that is that guy. Um, and I think that's why we both had Arkansas is one of our Cinderella, you know, dark horse teams that could make quite the run. Um, and you know, unfortunately they're running into Arizona, but I I can't even guarantee, you know, that's an Arizona win. Um, as much as I we have them, you know, win it at all. It's gonna be it's gonna be quite the battle. I'm excited for that one.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

Yeah, we got a lot of fantastic matchups that we will get into uh here in just a few minutes. One player I want to highlight that I admittedly did not know who he was coming into the tournament, but has absolutely filled up the stat sheet for what we talked about earlier, the biggest technical underdog still in the Suite 16, the Texas Longhorns. Dalen Swain has just, like I said, filled up the stat sheet. He's not scoring 30 points a game, but he's giving you 10, 5, and 5 every single night. He is making an impact on defense. He's making an impact, sharing the rock with the teammates. He's going up and grabbing the boards when he needs to. It's been very much a Texas team effort. I think that's what it takes for some Cinderella's in some instances, but he's worthy of a shout-out. Another player I wasn't familiar with until their uh championship game and the conference championship was Terrence Hill Jr. for VCU. They obviously had that first round upset of North Carolina, that 11-6 upset that you always have your eyes on. He scored 34 points in that game and he looked very much, and he comes off the bench for them. So he looked very much like uh a high-level scorer and someone who is worthy of having his name called out amongst some of those top performers in the first round. We talked about Tyler Tanner, and I think Emmanuel Sharp for Houston. Houston's a team that I feel like not a lot of people are talking about because you almost expect it from them, right? They're they're gonna go beat these teams down by 20 points if they're not up to their level. We'll get into their matchup with Illinois soon, but Emmanuel Sharp's been very much the veteran uh player that you're looking for to carry you in March. He's put up 16 and 18, just kind of going, getting a bucket, getting the game within a nice, easy like handle, and then kind of backing off and letting everybody else go on. But um any other uh first round performances, second round performances that you want to call out that aren't on here. These aren't obviously exhaustive of all of the great performances because there have been some phenomenal ones, but want to give you a chance to call anyone, other ones out.

SPEAKER_00 20:20

Yeah, I I think there's three of them. Um, and the first one was from the first uh round of 64, um, Terrace Reed, um, him just putting up I think 25 uh plus on both points and rebounds. I think it was 30 points, 27 rebounds. Um, and then kind of going over to just over the weekend the games we had Lipsy uh for Iowa State. Um, I know we were talking about you know that game being relatively close just due to them being without Jefferson and Lipsy goes for 26 points, um, and they just suffocate Kentucky and just pull away in the second half to win by 19. Um, and then I got I got a shout out my boy Yaxel Lendeborg. Um, he had 25 points against St. Louis, and I don't think the score shows how close that game was. Um, every you know run Michigan went on in that first half, St. Louis had a punch um back at them. You know, they're a very quick offense. But Lendeborg realized, like, hey, this is my last uh, this could be my last game in college. Let's turn it up a little bit. And he had a sick poster, just shot well from the three, which he's been struggling um this season on. I think that's the biggest thing. If he can get that shot down consistently, I think Michigan becomes even scarier than they already are. Um, but those are just a few of the honorable mentions um because I don't think near them um those three had like solid first and second game, just one game that made him kind of stand out in advance to the um next round. Um, but you know, I I think um, you know, we mentioned Vanderbilt, uh, we mentioned Arkansas as our dark um horses, you know, our Cinderella teams. I I know you had one that you're speaking highly of, even you know, before the big dance started. Um, kind of leading into um the big Big Ten tournament where we thought maybe they had a shot to win the Big Ten tournament. Then also, you know, even in the NCAA tournament, you know, with their backcourt being with a Blackwell and Boyd. So I guess uh we're uh Wisconsin, um, you know, the the one team the Badgers, man. Yeah, like it could have it could have been uh what would it have been? Wisconsin would have been playing, they could have it could have been playing Arizona, it would have had a knock off my dark horse, Arkansas, but you know, they they went up against a power horse. Um how how do you how you feeling? You feeling uh some type of way about Wisconsin or any anything? Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_02 22:41

I mean Wisconsin, they you know uh they absolutely whooped MSU earlier in the year, right? And not a lot of teams do it, they they lose pretty close games typically. They also beat Michigan, which not many teams have done. I mean, I can count on three fingers how many teams have done that. So very much the high-end talent to take down those top-level teams. So I was fully expecting the the backcourt to just elevate them to at least a win. Good matchup would have been against Arkansas with them, see how Acuff plays against Blackwell and Boyd. But because Wisconsin did give it to Michigan and Michigan State earlier this year, and because they didn't even get out of that first round, Badger fans look away because this is a crying Badger and a perfect illustration of the Wisconsin fan base after that 83-82 loss to high point as a 12 seed, who played very, very well, and notably they played very, very well against Arkansas too. I think that final score ended up growing to like six points or so as that victory, but that was a very down-of-the-wire game. And to your point, Acuff he got his shot at the end. He did whatever he wanted, he looked like he was an NBA guard going against the mid-major team. I'm gonna call it how I see it. Um, so Badger fans, this one is for you. Good job winning in the regular season against both of the the juggernauts and the Big Ten, but we're still dancing, it feels so sweet. And you guys with your little Badger are are crying at home now. So yeah, wanted to just get give that little image out there, the lasting image of the Wisconsin Badgers. I I don't mind the program. Um, there's other programs I hate more, but had to rub it in a little bit for the the two wins against our teams.

SPEAKER_00 24:18

Yeah, yeah. They no hold that uh Wisconsin fans. I'm sorry. I you know, I I'm I'm all over Twitter, and they were just you know constantly rubbing in the face of the Michigan Michigan State fans on on Twitter that they dominate the state of Michigan. So, you know, I can't even make it out of the round of 64. Um, but um I I think I I kind of want to go through the round of 32 games and results kind of leading into our predictions for the Sweet 16 matchups and how each team got to the Sweet 16. Um, so we'll we'll start with the first game uh of the weekend, which was a Saturday game, Michigan versus St. Louis. Um, just you know, it was a dominating effort by the big big guys for Michigan. You had Yaxo, Johnson, and Mar combining for 56 to have Michigan uh move past St. Louis um and on to the Sweet 16, Michigan State um with a gritty win over Louisville. Um Collin Carr with 21 points, Fierce with 16 points um to kind of lead the way over Louisville and onto the Sweet 16. Uh Duke as well. Um they struggled early. Um, I think the score didn't really show how close that game was. So that's back-to-back games where Duke struggled. Um, you know, and it's it started slow, it was back and forth. They pulled away at the end, um, but they did finish, you know, four other five starters did have 10 plus points. So just kind of an even you know keel game with you know all their starters contributing to the game. Uh Houston dominates Texas AM. Um, you know, Sanak, Sharp, and Uzan um combining for 50 points just between them three. Uh Texas riding the momentum. Um, so they did they rode the momentum of beating BYU into defeating Gonzaga. Um, I know you brought up Swain, but Pope had you know 17 in that game to lead Texas, um, Illinois, my um my team that I just for some reason just can't get over. Uh, I just feel like there's a really good team. Darling. Um, you know, they that was also a close one, but they also were leading that whole game. Um, and then they showed improvement on defense. I mean, they held a VCU's team to, you know, in the in the 60s. Um, and they also had Soyakovich coming off the bench with 21 points, so getting some bench contribute contribution um, you know, off the bench. Nebraska um got their first ever NCAA tournament win, but then they're like, why not make it two? Um, so you know, they moved on. Um, they shot 47% from three. Um, so they you know kept that high percentage from three from the first game when Sanford um had seven threes in that first game, didn't quite have seven in the second game, but had enough from you know other players on that team. Uh Arkansas, like you like you just brought up, they won by six, um, but Acuff had 36 points. Um, he's just a bucket getter, gets what he wants when he wants it, whenever he wants it, um, which is what makes Arkansas scary. Um, Iowa State was in, you know, it was a one-point game at halftime. Um, and then pull away and win by 19. Um, they suffocated Kentucky. Um, they were Iowa State was down 12, 12 points in the first you know, few minutes, and then they just turned on a switch and were like, we're playing tough defense. We're making this Kentucky team have to work for their buckets. Um, so they they they made it, they made it on without Jefferson, which is a which is a pretty big win. Um, I'm thinking Jefferson will be healthy um and back for the sweet 16 or at least the lead eight if they move on. Uh Purdue sneaks by my Miami. Um, they had a really poor game. See, this is what makes Purdue scary, kind of like what you highlight, like they can make a deep run, is because Braden Smith literally had eight points or eight turnovers. Um, he shot three of 12. Like you shoot 20 25, you have eight turnovers, and that's your pretty much, I would say, your best player. I mean, he was running for national player of the year at some point. Um, but the leaner, the senior leadership of TKR lawyer carried carried Purdue that day. Uh St. John's. Um, that St. John's Kansas game. I I I don't know if I've seen a game where I'm just like, is either can either team score? Like the first like 10 minutes of the game. Man, they threw up some bricks in that game. That was rough watch. Like, like Kansas could not figure out how to imbounds a ball. Like, they could not figure out how to get the ball in. I'm like, you had to know like this was coming at you. Like, if you watch any of St. John's games, that's just how they play. They full court press you, they make everything tough. Um, and you know, it was they were starting to pull away, but Kansas showed some life. Um, Peterson showed, you know, what he why he's a top three, you know, NBA draft pick. Um, but overall, the 16 turnovers for Kansas was a little bit too much, and St. John's ended up in that buzzer beater layup um to win the game and move on. Uh Tennessee and Virginia was another dog fight. Um, they uh pretty much snuck by uh Virginia. Virginia came back, made a good push. Um, but they got to the line 25 times uh compared to uh Virginia's 11. So those 14 point or 14 uh free throw attempt difference was the difference of the game. So then being more aggressive, getting to the who, getting to the rim, and getting to the line was the difference in that game. Um, and then the big one I kind of wanted to talk on was the Iowa upset over Florida. Like Iowa just kind of dominated that game. Like they were they like Florida threw you know some punches to get back into it at halftime, but then Iowa came out in the second half and was like, You threw some punches at us. Cool. We we're gonna go back up by 10 again. Um, and they were just they were playing well.

SPEAKER_02 29:52

Um, and yeah, that that one was the I I mean, I think no surprise, that's probably the most impressive win of March Manis up to this point, maybe even in the last few years. Last year, we didn't have a one seed lose until they all got matched up against each other in the final four. And the most notable thing about that, and and all the um the post-game shows were talking about it, but it's still something it's hard to wrap my head around. Florida was the number one rebounding margin team in the whole entire country. That was their calling card. They were gonna go get a board, prevent second shots from the opponent, and get second and third shots for themselves. Yep, that's typically a recipe for success in March. That's how Tom Mizzo and Michigan State's teams are typically built. How St. John's and Tennessee have gotten themselves to the sweet 16. Iowa was better than them at that. They I think they were actually even in total rebounds, but the fact that Florida typically like out-rebounded their opponents by 15 and they were dead even with Iowa, who's not necessarily known for being this dominant rebounding team. Hats off to Ben McCollum, to the whole Iowa team for that performance. Probably, like I said, one of the best in the last couple of years. Um, and you know, selfishly, I'm glad we don't have a repeat champion. I'm glad we don't even have to have that on the docket anymore. We get a new champion um and kind of someone else to to claim the crown in college basketball.

SPEAKER_00 31:11

Yeah, I think Iowa just wanted it, wanted it for their coach even more because I heard I saw a video of McCollum and Golden kind of getting into it. I don't I don't know. I saw a video of them yelling back and forth at each other, and I think I think Iowa's just like, dude, we're winning this for our coach. Like, he's going, he's he's dogging it out for us um and going at Golden. But yeah, that was a really good one for Iowa. Um, Arizona, um, they were pulling away, but then Utah gave a really good push at the end where I'm like, oh shoot, like Utah State, are they gonna do this? But no, Arizona just had too much firepower. Um, yukon pull pulls away as well against UCLA, Caravan um with 27 points. I mean, he's he's he's a bucket as well from you know from deep. If he gets hot, that's what makes UConn dangerous. Um, and then to kind of wrap up the night, it was Alabama's dominant victory over Texas Tech, which surprised me quite a bit. I thought that was gonna be relatively close, and I actually thought Texas Tech was gonna win that one. Um, so that that was one of the ones where I was surprised. Um, but when you make 19 three-pointers um in a game, I don't think many teams can beat you if you're hitting 19 threes. Um that's that was a difference. Alabama had 19 and Texas Tech had four three-pointers, like 15 point 15 three-point difference between the two teams is is gonna be what what calls the game, and that's kind of what it did um with a 25-point victory. Um, so I think that leads us into, you know, we broke down the round of 32 leading into the sweet 16 matchups. Um, we'll we'll give our predictions. Um, we'll kind of just go, you know, we'll kind of go through um the east and we'll bounce over to the west, midwest, um, and then the south. So um kind of starting at the top, we have a good matchup. Um, I this this one might be the the best.

SPEAKER_02 33:00

Maybe are there any bad matchups? I mean, uh, you know, we can look across this, maybe Purdue and Texas. I would say exciting because of this.

SPEAKER_00 33:06

I would say exciting. Yeah, I would say exciting matchups. Um, just with you know, the you know, Duke and and St. John's. I mean, I was looking Illinois and Houston being maybe a better matchup, possibly. But with Duke and St. John's, um, Duke's just not the same team right now. Uh they're just simply not, they're not that team that like to me is the number one overall seed. I mean, you gotta give that to Arizona. I would say Duke's give it to Michigan.

SPEAKER_02 33:34

You don't have to be a homer, man. Michigan is definitely the best team in college basketball right now. We can debate about it on another episode, but there is no way that I'm I'm taking anybody over Michigan right now.

SPEAKER_00 33:45

You gotta allow me just to let our let my Wolverine just hide, hide in the corner.

SPEAKER_02 33:49

Let us try to put them in the limelight.

SPEAKER_00 33:52

I don't want, I don't want the spotlight. Well, like Michigan plays better and they just perform better as underdogs. So, like the whole season, everyone predicting us to win it all, everyone Michigan's a favorite. It's like Michigan performs when they're just low-key about it, and they're just like making like beeline seems like we were never like the favorites, we were never even like top five favorites, but we would make it 2013-2018. We made it. So I'm just that's the one thing that kind of makes me a little nervous, and our players for some reason just want to talk too much, and they just gotta just shut up and and just do their thing on the court, really. But um, yeah, so Duke St. John's. Um, I watched both those games. Um, and I I think for this one, I I would go St. John's to upset Duke here. Um, the way St. John's plays defense is just I thought Duke's defense was good until I watched St. John's defense. Like, I don't get me wrong, I didn't watch many St. John's games this year, um but they looked really good against Kansas. I think they're just firing all cylinders, um, you know, coming out of the big east, winning that tournament, smoking Yukon by 20. They used that as momentum into the tournament, and they are still, I mean, as much as they had to win on a buzzer beater against Kansas, like they should have won that game by at least 20 points. It just on the offensive end, they couldn't really get much going, which is the one downfall of St. John's, is if their defense may be good enough to get them a win. Um, but that's kind of where this you know, what are your thoughts on the Duke, you know, St. John's matchup? Because I I I personally would go St. John's here.

SPEAKER_02 35:24

Yeah, it's I I agree with you. I think it's gonna be a fascinating matchup, fascinating game. I think I don't know, man. I I think I gotta go with Duke still. I think there's a reason that they are the number one overall. See, they're not playing like it, but to that point, to the to the point I've been making, they didn't play like it and they still beat TCU by whatever their final margin was 16 points or something. The game wasn't that, it was close, but they pulled away. It's what I talk about with Michigan. It's like what we saw with Arizona and Utah State. Those really good teams are gonna look bad, and they're not ever gonna be in real danger. Now, Florida was a team that they didn't look too good, and I don't think anyone put them in that same tier as some of these other three teams. I think you hit the nail on the head. I think St. John's offense is gonna be the problem in this game. Duke's just not the number one overall seed. They are very much a top three defense. St. John's might be up there, I think Michigan is up there, but like that Duke defense is also not a joke. And I think St. John's earlier in the year, they played Yukon in a game at home in at St. John's, and I think they scored 12 points in the second half. Um, I can fact check myself on that, but they definitely only scored 40 points in that whole entire game. Um, I'm gonna pull it up here, actually. They scored 14 points in an entire half of basketball against Yukon. Yukon is not a very great defensive team, not dominant by any stretch of the imagination. If Duke shuts the water off for St. John's, you could be looking at a 57 to 45 game. And that's gonna sound crazy. That's gonna be my bull take. I think Duke wins comfortably. I do. I think it might be an ugly first half, like 23 to 20, like going into halftime type of stuff, where you can see maybe a St. John's upset, but their offense struggles. I know Kansas was a good defensive team too, but you just see some of the shot selections and not just the shot selections, because in March you're gonna have to take tough shots. It was just the blatant, terrible shots, the bricks, the air balls, the like missed layups, the bad passes, just the unforced.

SPEAKER_00 37:33

So, what you're saying here is let's say you don't, you know, let's say our viewers are on like on the the edge now. I mean, you went Duke, I went Saint John's. Just take the under, I guess. Uh, because this is gonna be a low-scoring game. I can guarantee that both offenses aren't gonna have easy shots, they're not gonna have easy looks. It's gonna be a dogfight type of game. I go St. John's, Rob's gonna go with um Duke. Um, and that leads us into who are they gonna match up with? Are they gonna match up against Michigan State or are they gonna match up with Yukon? Um, I'll let you I'll let you start. Um, from your own perspective, your your team, the Michigan State Wol or Spartans, not the Wolverines. Yeah, whoa, whoa, whoa, there as much as I only want to talk about my Wolverines, um, but you got Michigan State and you got Yukon here. Who do you got in this matchup?

SPEAKER_02 38:24

Yeah, this is interesting because talking about how low scoring of a game that Duke St. John's one might be, um, the over-under set by FanDuel for that game is 142 and a half. So it's actually higher than I would have expected, which is why I think you could make the under. Yeah, you have room to take that under. Interestingly, Michigan State and Yukon, that under over-under set at 135 and a half. So a full seven points lower for this Michigan State and Yukon matchup. This is going to be that low scoring game, too, because Michigan State's offense isn't automatic. I think the defense, when we need to, when we need to clamp up, if we can figure out how to keep Caravan from scoring 27 points and we can contain Reed and maybe get him in foul trouble to get him on the bench in that first half. I think Yukon could also very much have run into some offensive struggles. Um, so just looking at that from the the sports books tells me that this is going to be an ugly game, which most Michigan State games this year are ugly. It's kind of what makes us good. I feel like we drag our opponents down to this like ugly level of basketball, and then we end up kind of like outlasting them in the end. Um I do think that like I wanna I want to ride that momentum of how Michigan State has played. Louisville was very much a good team, maybe without their best player, but we handled it with like caution. You know, we didn't come in and assume, we didn't come in and just assume that we were gonna be given it. Um, and I like to think that that's gonna continue. I like to believe that Izo and the group of guys that he has, they've been together long enough. We've got the senior leadership in the front court that's gonna have the task of taking on Reed. Um, we have Cohen Carr, an athlete, unlike any other in college basketball, that we can put on Caravan to just run around with him, make sure there's no open space, make sure there's no room for him to get a shot off. Um, and and I think that that bodes well from us. UConn's also a pretty bad shooting team, if I recall correctly, three-point and free throw shooting, just as a whole team. Caravan obviously is gonna do his thing, but uh I think it very much could lean in the Spartans' favor. Um, it's a toss-up, it's one of those toss-up games. It's gonna be two great coaches. I like this as one of the best matchups of the Sweet 16. Maybe it's me being a little bit biased, but I'll go with my Spartans. I'll I'll ride them till till we can't ride them no more. Uh, I think this is is uh a game that matches up well for them and they'll that had that momentum and they'll be able to kind of shut the water off when they need to and advance in the Elite Eight.

SPEAKER_00 40:52

Yeah, yeah. I I wonder what the over-under is for fears going for uh a pair of nuts. Um I I I I nobody say nobody say those gritty games where it's just close and it's low score and it might be a frustrating type of game for both teams. Um, I I got fears kicking someone's nuts in that game for sure. Um, you know, but I I think you made a good point with hopefully it's Hurley. Hopefully he just runs up and just whines he probably deserves it most of the time because yeah, that he needs something. That guy is something else. But um, you made a good point with Reed. Um, Reed's a former Wolverine, um, played a played a year at Michigan. Um, you know, he was he was he's a good big, he's he's solid, can get boards. Um, but I saw you know last game when they were playing UCLA, I don't even know who their backup center is. Um, so you kind of think if you yeah, if you guys get Reed on the bench, they don't have a center. Um, so that's that's a big one. Um, so yeah, I I'm gonna go I'll go with Michigan State here as much as I don't want to, as much as I don't want to see you guys move on. Um but yeah, I got I got Michigan State here. Um I I think it's gonna be a gritty game. Um, and you guys like that. That's your that's your type of game. Um, and that's where you guys excel, is like make it gritty. Um, and somehow, you know, is I'll get you guys to just play those games at a high level, and you guys will move on to play um in the League Eight. So that leads us over uh to the west side um of the bracket where we have Arizona, um, presumably the best team in the tournament up there um with Duke and Michigan um against Arkansas. So pretty much Arizona versus Acuff um we have in this matchup. Um I I'll see I'll go first. Um as much as I think Acuff can do what he wants when he wants, um, there's only so much one player can do. Um you gotta because if Arizona decides like we're we're gonna do everything to stop him, who are they gonna go to? Uh I mean they're just not gonna get the same, and yeah, I guess you know you look at these other teams, maybe High Point could have done it, maybe Hawaii could have done it, but they didn't they don't have the talent Arizona has, um, or the athletes that Arizona has. Like Arizona will find a way to limit a cuff. He's not putting up 30 plus points. Uh um, I I think they're gonna limit him, even if he puts up 25. I don't think that's enough to be Arizona. He's gonna have to have like a crazy 49-point game he had against Alabama uh to to win um or have a chance to be Arizona. So I got Arizona uh being Arkansas on this one.

SPEAKER_02 43:36

Yeah, I mean I have to agree. I do think Arizona's probably the one of the best teams. I think it's between them and Michigan. That's that's left at just based on what we've seen. But you know, don't count out some of the supporting casts for Arkansas watching some of their games. Malik Thomas is another guard that they have, and he shoots the three pointer at 42% clip this year. That is very, very good. A cuff is slightly better, and I Obviously, what Acuff does is everything at a very elite level. But Malik Thomas, watching their last game against High Point, he started that game. He was the go-to guy. Acuff was kind of a distraction. And I think Caliperi knows what he's doing when he's got these superstar guards because he's had them for his whole entire career. I think he knows. He's like, that's where the focus is going to be. So who else can I go to to get them hot, to get their momentum going, to force the defense and the opposing team to then shift their attention to the guy who's scorching them in the first half. And that's when I'm going to go back to the best player on the court and just say, hey, go get yourself the last 20 points. And that's exactly what Acuff did. I was also so impressed with um Billy Richmond the third from Arkansas. His defense, he I don't know. Yeah, I don't know if he's much of like a baller in the sense of like Acuff, but that dude is he's stealing balls, he's blocking balls, he is he's guarding you face.

SPEAKER_00 44:57

He's on the floor every time. Yeah, he's on the floor. He's going for that.

SPEAKER_02 45:00

He is just an animal out there, and those are the kind of guys you want. You Arizona's gonna do it, they got a whole team full of them. I I think Arkansas, you know, I don't think they have what it takes to get over the hump, but I think it's gonna be a good game. I'm excited for it. I'll go with Arizona too, um, and see who they match up with in the Texas and Purdue game.

SPEAKER_00 45:20

I think even just uh just to tease kind of the last segment of our podcast that we have right now, it's I I do think it's gonna be relatively close. I know I mentioned Arizona winning, but uh later on um I'll reveal uh a few parlays I put together and the in the spread. I I think Arkansas does cover the spread here. Um, so we'll get into that a little bit later.

SPEAKER_02 45:43

Yeah, well, moving on then into that other matchup in the sweet 16 West region, Texas, that underdog kind of Cinderella story, if you can call it that versus Purdue, big 10 tournament champions. Uh, what are your thoughts on this one? Uh I'm gonna assume we're gonna think that Purdue's the favorite. They probably won't be too challenged, but Texas is on a heater right now.

SPEAKER_00 46:02

Yeah, yeah. It it's that it's something about the number 11 in um in March. Um, the 11, I feel like a 11th seed always does something in the tournament. And this is your 11th seed and your highest remaining seed left in the tournament. Um, they are just you know, they might not have played well in the regular season, but this they've won three games um already. Like if you count the playing game, um so there are you know, they won three so far. Um, but um, I I think this is where their road ends, and and it feels chalky. Like we we're just good at making it chalky sometimes, but we're also you know, we're picking you know who we think's the better team. Um, and Purdue is riding the Big Ten tournament, you know, win um over Michigan and just win in the Big Ten tournament, um, where they had to play four games in four days and beat uh, you know, we can see this how many big, you know, six Big Ten teams remaining still. Like it the Big Ten is no slouch, like they're the Big Ten is was a dominant uh conference, and they won four games in four days to win the Big Ten tournament, and they're riding the wave into this tournament um as well. Um, so I do have Purdue here. I there's no way um Braden Smith you know has eight turnovers, shoots three of twelve. Um, and even when he does, that just shows how well their starting five is where you can get you know a bucket from lawyer, TKR can take take um take it down low and just assert his dominance along with uh Clough as well. So they they just have players, they've all played together for too long. They know this is possibly their last ride together as well. Um, they're not gonna go out with any fight, they're not gonna go out easy at all, and I think Texas is just not a good matchup um with Purdue in this one. So I do have Purdue um beating Texas. Do I think it's gonna be a blowout? I don't, um, but I think Purdue does beat Texas. Um, I'll take 10. Give me like 10, like which is it could 10 could be free throws being the difference at the end of the game, but then you got Purdue, Purdue winning the game.

SPEAKER_02 48:14

Yeah, I I got Purdue too. Keep it simple, keep it short. I think Miami is a better team, Miami, Florida is a better team than Texas, and I think Braden Smith had one of his worst games of the year. Uh, one of the worst games in his whole career, turnover wise, dude. The eight turnovers you called out, and I don't see that happening again. You know, there's there's a reason this dude is the all-time assist leader in in uh college basketball history. I just I see him facilitating, I see TKR and Clough getting their buckets down low. I see Lawyer hitting some free throws and some three-pointers throughout the game. Um, and I I'll pencil Purdue in. They're one of my teams that I think they can go on to win at all. They don't fit that Ken Palm top 25 criteria we talked about. But you know, some of these things are meant, some trends are meant to be broken at some point. But moving on to the Midwest region with your loud and proud, or should I say, like quiet Michigan Wolverines taking on Alabama, who has probably the most high-powered offense in the league. Uh, just given their pace, given their shooting ability, their guard play. Uh, I love to hear how you think this matchup's gonna go.

SPEAKER_00 49:21

Yeah, I I think what Alabama's gonna do, uh, what most teams do that just have perimeter shooters, is they want to play a game that Michigan doesn't want to play. Um, they want to make you take your bigs out and play with five guards, um, or at least four guards and maybe Merez Johnson or Yaxel at the five. Um, that's how Alabama's gonna want Michigan to play, and they're gonna play that way. And Michigan's just gonna have to figure that out really quick. Um, they can't let them hit 19 threes. Um, they can't even let them get 15. You know, they got they really have to defend the three ball well. Um, and that's kind of what scares me a little bit about this game is that Michigan doesn't defend the three well, um, or not even nearly as well as they do the two-point shot. Um, they're the rim protectors don't allow much around the rim, which is you know what made Michigan so good this year is that teams would have tried to attack the paint and they couldn't. Um that was just being like, okay, we're gonna make you shoot threes. But a team like Alabama's like, then give me those threes. They they they live behind a three-point line. Um, so I think I I I see this one. I have Michigan winning this one. I had them in all my brackets winning this game. Um, but it's not one where I'm feeling very comfortable and just like, oh yeah, Michigan. Yeah, like we we can highlight that they're, you know, if not one of the best teams, the best team. Um, Alabama, just the way they shot the ball against Texas Tech, will have to really slow them down behind the three-point line. I have Michigan winning this one. I won't give a spread or anything. I just have Michigan winning this game.

SPEAKER_02 50:57

Yeah, I I agree. I think they'll they'll win it. I think they're one of the teams why I think they're the best is because they can beat in any type of way. Um, I think of the Patriots in the Tom Brady uh era where if you need Tom Brady to score 45 points in a game to beat you, he will. If you're gonna muck it up and and try to play them in a 13 to 10 Super Bowl, he's gonna beat you that way. I guess it's you know, kind of tying into Michigan, obviously, but like that's exactly how this team is. I I can anticipate this game. It's got the highest over-under Vegas odds, by the way, um, by far of any game in the Sweet 16. Like 175 and a half. Um so they're projected probably like a you know 90 to yeah, 90 to 80, 90 to 75 game. I think Michigan will be able to score with Alabama. I don't think Alabama will be able to get stops with Michigan. Uh, I think that'll be the difference. They're not gonna hold them to 50 points. I don't think anyone expects that, but I think there'll be instances where Alabama is settling for threes rather than seeking out their threes. And I think that's gonna be the ultimate difference when Michigan's gonna be able to pick and choose. Hey, we need four points easy down low from uh uh Morez or from Mara, or okay, London Borg are gonna pop out and he's gonna hit a three, or Burnett's gonna go hit a three. That's what they've done all year. I don't anticipate Alabama being uh where that buck stops. So uh Michigan, Pencilden to the Elite Eight, Tennessee, Iowa State. I I like Iowa State a lot. They're one of my like two seeds that I think could go on to win the whole thing. If Jefferson isn't back, that changes things slightly. I still don't care. I think Iowa State is one of the more dominant teams when the opponent isn't up to their level. And I know that sounds pretty obvious and like duh, of course, but they're just suffocating. They are truly just a team that, like St. John's, they will just completely stop you from doing anything you want on offense. And Iowa State has some shooters and they have the guard play that you mentioned earlier with Lipsy. And I think that's gonna be what I would say not the worst matchup, but I think that might be the biggest margin of victory in this sweet 16.

SPEAKER_00 53:05

Yeah, yep, yep, I I agree as well. Um, and I think we're agreeing across the board on a lot of these. Um, but it, you know, just from the eye test from watching this first weekend, I know we didn't, you know, we we watched these games and we saw you know how dominant Iowa State was um in the first game, and then we're like, okay, Jefferson's out there, their best player. Most teams will fold without their best player, but they have Iowa State has an identity um where they're just gonna make things so difficult on you. It doesn't matter if we don't have our best player to score 20 plus points because we don't need it. We're just not gonna let you score much. Um, and yeah, Iowa State's gonna dominate Tennessee. Um this is one where I'm gonna say they're gonna dominate them um and they're gonna win by 20 plus. I I that's my bold prediction. Iowa State's gonna make it look easy um with or without Jefferson. They're gonna make this one a pretty easy and quick game where it's gonna be done with 10 minutes left in the second half. So yeah. Okay, that brings us over um to the South region. Um, we'll we'll start at the top, um, just highlighting the Big Ten. Um, we got a Big Ten, Sweet 16 matchup um with Iowa, Nebraska. These two teams met twice in the regular season, they split. Um, so this is your tiebreaker matchup in the Sweet 16 to advance to the Elite Eight. Um, I I these teams know each other. Uh they know they know each other, they played twice. Uh the victory margin for both teams were pretty close. One of the games went to overtime. Um, Nebraska beat Iowa and overtime by nine, and then Iowa beat um Nebraska by five. It was like 57 to 52 final score. Like, and that's like it's Iowa. I mean, they're they're they're known for their offense, so Nebraska found a way um to slow them down. Um, still lost that game, but I think that's where I'm gonna give the edge to Nebraska in this game. This might be one we disagree on, um, which uh I would love to hear your point, kind of where you're going with this game. But I do have Nebraska winning this one. Uh I I think uh Sanford playing his old team in Iowa. I I think he's just gonna have a little juice to beat his old team. I don't know if there's any bad blood there, probably not, just had to transfer out because he didn't have any eligibility left. Um, I don't know how that works with you know, maybe you know, having to transfer out, but um I think he's gonna light it up again. I think he's gonna have a big game. Um, I could see him going for seven plus threes um again, like he did against Troy. Um, I do think this one's gonna be close. It's gonna be your Big Ten classic dog fight in the tournament, um, without maybe Big Ten officials. So I guess we'll kind of see how that goes when you have two Big Ten teams going at it, how they're gonna call that game. But I do have Nebraska be in Iowa.

SPEAKER_02 55:52

Yeah, yeah. I mean, you called it. This is going to be a point where we differ. I think I would taste this one. I think I look at the same concept I looked at with Purdue and Braden Smith. They're leading player, their uh leading scorer, their kind of do-it-all guy. Bennett Sturts had, for his expectations, a bad game against Florida, against the one seed, against the defending champs as a nine-seed, and Iowa won. That's insane. That that's not just because one man carried them. That's not an A-Cuff 40-point game. That's not Alabama making 19 threes. That's a team win against one of the more dominant teams and obviously the defending champion. I don't anticipate Bennett Sturts having that bad of a game again. I think he had 13 points in that game. I expect a 20 bomb. I think he averages 19 or 20 on the season. So I'm expecting that. I I think Iowa is gonna take take the uh take the sweet 16 matchup here and pencil themselves into the elite A as one of the Big 10 Cinderella dogs of the tournament. Um, and a great story too. Their coach uh coming from D2 just a couple of years ago, bringing a lot of his players with him. Bennett Sturts, obviously not starting as a high prospect and a high program and everything. So great story for them. Uh, battle of the corn here between Iowa and Nebraska. So we'll see who comes out as the corn king. But I do like Iowa. I think I'd pick Iowa um that should go on and beat Nebraska here.

SPEAKER_00 57:24

Yeah, I I I got Hoiberg locking up sturts. Uh, I think he's gonna have another bad game. I got that little Hoyberg. He doesn't do much on the offensive end, but he's just a little pest.

SPEAKER_02 57:33

Um he's that annoying defender. You don't want to get a big thing.

SPEAKER_00 57:35

You know, like I think I just we can't just miss like, yeah, Nebraska just you know, they started 20 and oh. I mean, like this team, and it's like, yeah, maybe they didn't play all the Big Ten dominant teams, but it doesn't matter. The Big Ten up and down was is a pretty solid conference. I mean, you even had um Ohio State who was struggling the beginning of the year, turned out ended up well, um, didn't get past TCU, but we saw you know much of you know hard time they gave Duke in the beginning of the game as well. Um, but I I think Nebraska just knows how to win. Um, you know, they're they're you know, they won a lot of games this year. Um, so I yeah, I this one was one of the ones that I don't even think I would touch in a parlay. Um, I I just I don't think I would touch it in a parlay uh for the audience watching. Um, because it's to me it's a coin coin flip type of game, but I would give the slight edge to Nebraska here, and that leads us into another Big Ten discussion. Feel like all we're doing is talking about Big Ten teams, which is awesome. Yeah, man. Um, in this bracket. So we got my um dark horse, my team I've been raving on um Illinois versus Houston. That's a really, really good matchup, two, three matchup here. Um, with both teams really having convincing wins um, you know, in their first two matchups. Um, more so Houston dominating Texas AM and then Illinois pulling away and just asserting their dominance against VCU. Um don't I I don't know if if I'm certain on this, but I think they're playing in Houston. I I think this game's in Houston.

SPEAKER_02 59:11

Um, which it's it's close to I don't I don't know if it's in the city limits, but it's like 20 miles away from the Houston campus.

SPEAKER_00 59:19

So it's gonna be pretty much a Houston home game. Um very much so you know if you if you ask ask who I think is gonna win this game, I think this is another coin flip type of game. Um and it's gonna be in Houston or near Houston with uh a crowd there. Um so give me Illinois. Um, I'm gonna take Illinois here, don't matter. I'm riding with them. Um, you know, home away, don't matter. Um, Illinois, I think they're finding their groove. Um, it takes like you said, you know, if they win those first two games and they get past VCU, um then they're clicking. And I think they are clicking, and I think what's their Achilles heals is their defense, and I think they figure something out on defense against a really high-scoring VCU team to limit them. Um, and I think that's what's gonna take them over the edge. I think they have more scores than Houston does. I think they have anybody can lead for Illinois. Houston, I mean, you have Flemings, yeah, you have Sharp. Other than that, I mean, I'm not confident anybody else. Um, so I think Illinois with Waggler, Boswell, um, Soyakovich coming off the bench, you know, leading the team. Um, you have the you know, the three big guys that can score. I just think Illinois is uh top to bottom a very good team, very dominant team. Um, and I think they'll beat Houston here.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:43

Yeah, I I think uh I'm going Houston. I'm gonna go with Houston. I think they're kind of like the Iowa State, you know, they're the two seeds that if you put them into a one seed, I wouldn't bat an eye because I I do think they are on that level of the one seeds. And I I think there is something to be said about it being in Houston. I mean, the home court advantage in college basketball is something we know of it just from the crowd, the the loudness, how loud that crowd is. When you go on a run, when you make a stop, that's all gonna be in Houston's favor. By it's gonna be 90% Houston fans there. And that's a team that will rattle Illinois' offense. Now they won't slow, slow them down, or shut them down completely, but they'll rattle them. There will be possessions where Illinois looks out of sort, where they don't know who to go to. While they do have all these scores and they do have a very well-oiled machine in the grand scheme of things, Houston's like Iowa State and St. John's, man, they're disruptive as hell. They will get after it, they will make it ugly, they will make you work for it. I think they have enough in Kingston Flemings, the freshman, and Emmanuel Sharp, the veteran, to get them over that hump. I think they play complimentary basketball. I think they're the perfect embodiment of defense, good defense turns into good offense. Uh, and I think I know I said if Illinois gets to this point, they're hot, they're clicking, and I think they are. I just think they're running into honestly one of the more buzz saws in the tournament. Uh, I don't know if Houston's been challenged too much, but they were challenging the Big 12. And with the exception of Arizona, who took them down, I mean, they are a very well-oiled machine. They went all the way to the championship last year. Kelvin Sampson's a great coach. Uh, give me Houston at home uh against Illinois. Gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:30

Hey, hey, we're hey, we didn't go as yeah, we didn't chalk it up like I think we had five out of the eight of the same pick.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:38

So we did go. We went okay. So just a recap. Um, you know, we differed on the St. John's Duke game. Um, we differed on the Iowa Iowa versus Nebraska and the Illinois versus Houston game. So those are more of where Rob and I are going, kind of differing on. But I think that leads, you know, to like the wrap-up part of our podcast. Um, I threw together a six-leg parlay. Um, you know, today was thinking, okay, each weekend, each you know, weekend, each round, I gotta put some type of money down. Um, so I do want to throw on on the screen uh a six-leg parlay that I did put together uh for you guys. Um, and you know, for the audience, whoever, you know, sees this um and is the first one to comment um on our YouTube video, I will give you a free 10 bucks to put on this parlay that I have. You send a screenshot to me in the DMs um on TikTok, whatever you want to do, but I want to see the 10 bucks I send you on this parlay um because it's it's going to be a winner. Um, so if Rob, if you want to throw that um six-leg parlay on there. Um, so I do overall, I got Purdue. Um, so I think that was one we agreed on where it's you know, we got Purdue money line. I I don't really want to mess with the spread too much. I got Arkansas though, covering. Um, so this is a one, you know, because you could go Arizona money line, it's not going to be as great of the odds as a minus 110. Um, so I was like, okay, let me think about the odds here. I like Arkansas to cover the eight and a half against our Arizona. I like St. John's to cover the six and a half because I have them winning this game, but maybe not as confident as a money line pick here either. Um, so I think six and a half. I I think Airs or St. John just makes the game close. I think they'll just make the game close just because of their defense. Maybe their offense isn't gonna give them enough, but their their defense will, and it'll keep it at least close. It'll keep it a few possession games. So I do have St. John's plus six and a half. Um, and then I do as well here, um, I like the one minus 115 here with Alabama covering the 10 and a half. So they could lose by 10 to Michigan, which is definitely could happen, but that's still covering. Um, so I do have Alabama plus 10 and a half, Michigan State money line against um Yukon plus 112. Um, so pretty much a coin flip there as well, but you got the plus side right there, and then Iowa State minus four and a half, like I said, I think Iowa State's gonna dominate Tennessee um by 20 plus. So, you know, even if you want alternate spread where you can maybe even get higher odds, um, you could play around with that. But I just took what was out there from Vegas. Um, so that's that's plus uh 3,700. Um, so you put$10 down to win 370. Um, so whoever comments first, I will send you 10 bucks just to play this parlay, this six legger, to win 370. Um, and then I did also put together an eight leg parlay um that has even better odds. Um, might be more risky though, obviously, if you're going plus 8,700. Um, so I have pretty Purdue money line, uh, Arizona money line, St. John's at plus 240 over Duke, took Nebraska um over um Iowa. I did take Illinois over Houston, so a few underdogs here, which is making that payout a little heavier. Um, I did take Michigan at minus 580, which I could have sprinkled in the um plus ten and a half before Alabama, which would have made it probably go into the 10,000 um plus 10,000, but play it safe, let's go, Michigan. Um, and then I did pick Michigan State, and to wrap it up, I picked Iowa State um as well. And with that, um it's plus 8,700. So you put 10 bucks down, you win$870. Um, so either one you want to put the$10 on, if you're the first one to comment on our YouTube channel, I will just need you to um DM us on TikTok so I know um who to send the info to. You can send over your Cash App Venmo, however you want the ten dollars, um, and then just send me a screenshot of you playing this because I'll play it with you. We'll we'll we'll go in it together. Um, I'm confident in my picks. Um was pretty close to winning a few parlays over the weekend. Um, the Kentucky shot was the reason I didn't win six hundred dollars. Um, if they would have fouled, that would have been the difference. But really close, you know, don't come for me because you know that's why I'm giving the ten dollars out because it's my money. Um, so you know, you're not losing out anything. Um, but just taking a shot on having some faith in Troy and just you know rolling it out there. Um, as you can see, my balance is in at 169, so it's not doing too well. Um, but yeah, no, so that that's kind of kind of where we're gonna end things. Um, just throw something together, make sure you're the first one to comment it on our um on this YouTube video, and then also reach out on our TikTok as well.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:55

Yeah, appreciate the uh the insights into some of these parlays. I know for sure my strategy for a parlay would go through, pick everything that I think is gonna happen, and make a parlay with the opposite, because that's typically how things work for me. Whenever I get that parlay, I don't even get one leg away like your Kentucky parlay. I'm like, I'm missing the first six and it's done by noon. And I'm like, you know what?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:17

Well, you know, parlays are yeah, you know, I'm not crazy confident in my picks ever if I'm putting 10 bucks down only. Um, you know, you have these guys throwing a hundred dollars down, a thousand dollars down on their parlays, and and they hit these because they're so confident in it. I'm you know, ten dollars, nice little payout. Um, makes watching the games a little more interesting. That's how I do things. My my brackets, I mean, uh we're not they're not doing too bad. I know our write read pod podcast bracket is doing pretty well. Um, but you know, it if I want to watch it get more engaged into the games, I like to throw a little bit of money down, root for certain teams that I just because I'm only rooting for Michigan, really. I could care less about the other teams, but it gives me more incentive to get dialed into these games. Um, to just hope that I can win something out of the weekend. Um, but yeah, make sure, make sure you're the first one to come, and I will send you over 10 bucks for that parlay.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:09

Yeah, go ahead. We'll we'll be posting this one to YouTube. So as you guys see this, you can comment below on the video. Our handles for TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter are right on the bottom of the screen here, too. Any of those platforms that work for you, to send Troy that DM to confirm that you were the first comment, and you'll be able to uh to place the money on the parlay. So I think that's it. I think that'll wrap it up for this episode. Thank you for being patient, for staying with us through all these long episodes. These are some of the best weekends of the year for us. We just absolutely love talking college basketball. March Madness is unlike any other sporting event ever. Um, and so we promise that we'll get some shorter episodes in here, but there's just so much to talk about, so much to unpack, so much good basketball. And before you know it, you're gonna blink and it's over. And we're gonna be waiting six, seven more months for college basketball to start again. And you know, we we just want to soak up as much of it as we can. Yep. So thank you, everybody, uh, for the fans, for the the subscribers, the the community that we're starting to build. Anyone who has anything to say about some of our picks or anything, you want to be a hater, go for it. We we encourage it, we want the dialogue, we want some discussions. So go ahead, shoot us a comment, ask us a question, tear us down, tell us how bad Michigan and Michigan State are, unless you're a Badgers fan because you guys are still knocked out. So maybe I'm not fan of you guys. Yeah, but thank you all. Um, make sure to stay tuned in. We're gonna continue posting weekly episodes. Um, we'll keep the sports content coming, we'll keep the right reads coming, and we'll see y'all next week.