Episode 4 - Who Will Cut Down The Nets in Indy?

The Right Read duo gives insight into the final 4 matchups. Can the Illini continue their success against a gritty and experienced UCONN squad? Possibly the best matchup of the year between Michigan and Arizona? Will the winner between Michigan/Arizona decide who will be cutting down the nets?

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Welcome back, sports fans, athletes, data nerds, and any others tuning in to the fourth episode of the Wright Read Podcast. I am your host, Robert, alongside my lifelong friend, rival, and your other co-host, Troy. We've been deep into breaking down the March Manus tournament the last few weeks, and we'll be focusing this episode on the upcoming Final Four in Indianapolis. So after another great weekend of college basketball, not so much for my Spartans, but definitely so for your Wolverines, let's focus our discussion on what's ahead of us. Four teams playing for a chance to etch their name in history and cut down the nets and be the last team standing. Troy, what team or individual matchups are you most excited for these next few days? Oh man, he had to pull it out. No way, man.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Oh, it's great. I know we we both predicted Michigan uh to get to the final four, um, but we we made it. I I was you know watching that game. I was excited when um Tennessee did knock off Iowa State. Um, I really didn't want to see Iowa State in that in that uh Elite Eight matchup. Um and then we saw what happened when Tennessee went up against Michigan. It was they allowed Michigan to go on, I think it was a 21 to nothing run, uh something along those lines where they just couldn't stop Michigan. And then from that point on, it was the game was over. Um, you know, because I I was nervous in the beginning of that game too for uh Michigan when Adai Mara got it two fouls within the first four minutes. I'm like, dude, this is exactly what Tennessee wanted. Get one of our big guys in foul trouble because they they have the bigs to kind of match our bigs. Um, and then we were like, okay, we're gonna have to knock out some of the red guys as well. Um, and that's exactly what we did to them. We got Akpara um and their backup center in foul trouble as well. I think Akpara came back in and picked up a third foul in the first half, which really just got them off their game plan, I would say, because they didn't they didn't look like he could figure anything out on the floor um after that. But matchup wise, too, you know, going over to the other side, uh UConn, uh down 19 points. Um, it looked like that game was just gonna be over in the first half. Um, and UConn going down 15 um at the half, it's you know, it's Duke. You know, coming back against a team like Duke, um, down 15 and oh. Uh or yeah, they're down 15. I think the record for a team that was up 15 points as the number one seed was like 135 and oh um when they're leading leading by 15 or more at the half. Um and Duke is the one um that's now on that loss category. Um, UConn has that experience. Um, they kind of showed like their grit in that game. Um, where you know, I think Duke kind of showed their age a little bit. I think that's where that experience plays a big part in March in March, where you know the players kind of realized like this could be our my last game, especially at Caravan, and you know, a few of them where it's like, you know, we're gonna we're not going out without a fight. And UConn just scrapped their way back into that game, um, you know, watching that, and then just you know, one of the boozer brothers uh tossing it away, uh, and then Mullins, you know, grabbing it and shooting it in between half court and three-point line, just straight up cash, you know, like nothing but net. Um, I'm not gonna lie, I was like in shock when I saw that. I was like, that just really just happened.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

Um mom's March, right? It's what we what we wait every for every year for.

SPEAKER_00 3:59

That yeah, that that was incredible. Um, and then even just going over to the Illinois side, um I I think we, you know, we were under the impression, you know, that Houston, Illinois game was gonna kind of decide who's probably gonna make it to the Final Four. Um, you know, Iowa didn't have much juice. I mean, they hung in there, but Illinois was just the better team and they're firing all cylinders. Um, they got a great offense and they figured out their defense, which is what makes them even more scary, is that they figured out a defense that works for them because I think that's what plagued them uh throughout the Big Ten season, just not having that defense. Like they could score 90, but they might give up 91 uh because their defense was so poor. But they they figured something out on defense um that made them a problem over there on the South region. Um, you know, matchup matchups wise, I mean, really just had to get through Houston to get to the Final Four. I mean, if I'm gonna be honest with you. Um, so I think they're you know, a true test, another true test after the Houston game would have been, you know, Yukon, and that's kind of where we're sitting at right now. So I I kind of want to start with that game. Um and kind of I want to hear your thoughts um on the Illinois and Yukon game.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Yeah, I I think you know Yukon making it is it seems like they're inevitable in this tournament every year, man. I mean, I think Alex Caravan's record in the NCAA tournament. I mean, I'm doing some quick math here. At one point he was 12-0 because he was on two national title teams. Yep, they they won, I think, two games last year and lost, so that would be 14-1. And now this year they've won four games, so he's 18-1 in the NCA tournament. Definitely there can't, yeah, there can't be a better record of any individual player in the tournament. Dan Hurley gets his guys playing this time of year. They shot the ball terribly against Duke. Yeah, and they won against Duke, a one seed, a phenomenal defensive team. And to me, it's there's no individual on UConn that necessarily stands out. I think Terrace Reed is an absolute force down low, and he is that guy, but it's not like Caravan is anything like honestly, any of the other final four teams have as just either a lights out shooter or just a primary ball handler. They play such complimentary basketball. I think that's what's gotten them to this point. I think that's what Dan Hurley has gotten them to do the last five years, uh, and why they've had so much success. It's interesting because I think Illinois is very similar. Um, I just think that Illinois has these guys that all know how to play their style of basketball. And when they play their style of basketball together, you've mentioned it, you called it out at the very start of this podcast, is like this whole podcast like uh series is they can go all the way, they can beat anybody when they're all playing their game. Uh, great shout out on them figuring out their defense, their length, I think, is something that is hard to prepare for. All their guys, their average height is you know, six, seven, six, eight on all these, even the guards. So to be able to cross out the the passing lanes, to be able to just put a hand up in someone's shoot or face, prevent them from shooting, I think is throwing some of the teams off in the tournament. I know Iowa played them before in in the regular season, and they're two Big Ten teams, so they probably weren't thrown off by that. But like you said, at that point, it just came down to all right, who who guys are better, whose guys are gonna make some shots.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Um I think the thing that we I think we're overlooking it too. Like Illinois and Yukon did play in the beginning of the year this year, um, in November. Um, Yukon did beat Illinois in the beginning of the year. I I didn't even I forgot they even played. Um, you know, I was just thinking about it, but Yukon did edge them in the beginning of the of the year. But I I think Illinois right now is just a different team. I I think, like I said, they figure something out on the defense, and they're playing like really, really good defense. I mean, just to highlight, like Kingston Flemings held him to 11 points. Like, I mean, he's he's dropping 20 a night, you know, on any team. Um, and you know, with them figuring that out, also highlighting, you know, with it being in Indianapolis, I mean, right down the road from um Illinois, um, they're you know, they're gonna have the home home court advantage. I I know that didn't really matter too much in the Houston and Illinois matchup. Yeah, good point. Um, but I think just them, you know, being at home um is gonna be a big advantage to them. Um so like you you have a team that's you know firing right now on all cylinders, um, and then you have a team in Yukon that just knows how to win um at in this time of the year. Um so uh I'll let you continue. I just I had to throw that in there that they did play in November, and I just that just crossed my mind that like this is a rematch. So Illinois for coming for that, coming back for some revenge too. So that might be a little fire under them.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

Yeah, it's always interesting that college basketball in the grand scheme of things, it's a short season, but it also can feel so long. You know, those November, December games that you have, and non-con games or those tournament games early in the year, they matter for sure when you're building that resume for the for the tournament. But the teams are completely different. You know, that you got some a lot of teams have these freshmen coming in nowadays. A lot of teams have these transfers coming in, and it might take a while to gel, take a while to just understand the system that they're in. I you know, on paper, I think this is Illinois's game to lose. Uh but there is something I think about UConn that they just they just know how to win. You know, I I called out Caravan's you know career record in the tournament. Dan Hurley again, as as annoying as that guy is to coach or to watch coach the game. I don't know if you saw him like go up and like chest bump that referee after the um uh the made shot in that elite eight game, and he's just like staring him down like this. I'm like, dude, what like what other coach in any sport is doing that anything like that? And I think his post-game interview tried to downplay it, like, oh, he was like excited for me, and then we were just like on the same team, we're friends or something. I'm like, that doesn't look like it, but yeah, I think there's something with with UConn. I I think you know, Vegas lines favor Illinois by about a point and a half right now, and like I said, I think on paper Illinois is the better team and probably should win. I think Yukon gets it done. I think UConn keeps up their run. I you know, as much as I love my Spartans and think they had their shortcomings this year, that's a hard team to beat. And we did actually make a little bit of a comeback, and we had the lead pretty late in that game, and UConn just found a way, you know, they hit the shots they needed to, they made the stops they needed to. Same thing against Duke as soon as it looked like they were out. I think they were down 19 points at one point. That's one of the like top seven high largest comebacks in tournament history. Yeah, they know how to win, they know how to come back. I think if they can get a lead, they know how to keep the lead. Um, they've only lost a handful of games all year. So I I really do think that if I had to pick like the upset, uh I'm I'm gonna go with UConn over Illinois here.

SPEAKER_00 11:07

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_01 11:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

I I I I can't, you know, blame you for picking the team that just wins. Um, they they find a way to win, they proved against Duke, they've proven it multiple years under Hurley with Caravan. A part of that, you know, he just knows how to win. Um, just to highlight it too. I mean, Terrace Reed, um, he's he's been averaging 22 points, 14 rebounds just in the tournament alone. Like, he's turned into a different monster in the tournament. Um, and he's shooting highly efficient at 60. So, like down low, like it good luck stopping him. You know, like he'll get your big in in foul trouble. And I think that's what Illinois is gonna have to do to him is get him in foul trouble, get him off the court as much as they can because he he's on a tear, um, and he's he's he's caught he's causing havoc down low. Um, so I think Illinois matches well with them just with their bigs that they have. They got um Murkovich, um, which will probably be he'll probably be matching up against Caravan because I think Karavan plays like that that four spot. Yeah, um Eva Sich, uh he's 7'1, so he'll he doesn't have the frame and body type of read. So I well, I'm interested to see how that goes because both of them, like both brothers, are are tall, but super just lengthy and I'll say pretty slim uh compared to Terrace Reed. Terrace Reed's got a big body on him for sure. Um, but I I think Karavan's gonna make um you know Merkovich kind of stretch the floor, um, which he's not gonna be as quick as Caravan. I think he's gonna get his shots, um, which is gonna be kind of scary with Caravan shooting 39% from three. Um, like he he's he's hitting almost 40% of his shots from there. And if he's wide open, I bet you that you know percentage increases quite a bit. So we'll see defensive wise if Illinois can keep up with how UConn plays, because UConn likes to run a lot of motion in their offense. Uh Hurley has their players running all over, you know, zigzagging in between players to get open, um, always to try to find someone an open look, and they do a really good job with that. Um, but you know, in this matchup, I I think, you know, with kind of what I've been highlighting all year with Illinois, um, I think they just cause matchup issues for a lot of teams. Um, and I think that's where I'm leaning to. So I think I disagree on this one. I think I just gotta go. I'm gonna go with Illinois here. Um, I I think they're gonna have a little bit of a home core advantage. Um, I I think they're gonna, you know, it's gonna be, I think it's gonna be close. Um, I think, you know, both matchups are gonna be close. I mean, you you have four teams left now, and you know, they got there for a reason. Um, but I think Illinois, I I think they'll squeak by. I think Waggler is gonna have another big game. He had 25 points in the League Eight. Um, I I think he'll he'll step up as a freshman. I know that sounds crazy, but I think he's pretty composed and you know, we'll we'll show out, and then the big guys, I think they're gonna find a way. I think Illinois's gonna find a way to get Terrace Reed and foul trouble. I I'm guessing, you know, two fouls in that first half, you know, having to pull them for the remaining 10 minutes of that, you know, second or first half just to kind of you know build a cushion, build a league going in the halftime. Um, so I'll I'll go Illinois here um to keep it sweet and simple. Um, you got UConn. It's the like you said, the line's really close. It's pretty much a coin flip type of game. Um, so I I think that wraps up the discussion on that game, and then we can get into my Wolverine's a little bit more with Arizona um and Michigan. Um, so I I guess I'll start here um with with this matchup. Um, this was a matchup I didn't really want Michigan in in the Final Four to have to go against Arizona, just because they are you know one of the most complete teams um in the tournament, the most complete, the best team, I think. Um I think if Michigan, and no excuses whatsoever, um injuries happen, but I think if Kasen was playing, um, I think it just adds another dynamic to Michigan with that with that depth and backup point guard because Arizona luckily was able to stay healthy all season. Um, so they have a full squad, um, a good amount of depth, uh, great guard play. Um, so really I think the biggest matchup that I wanted to highlight with these two teams is Yaxel versus Co-A Pete. Um similar frame, similar body types. Um, I think Coa Pete's more mid-range to the paint type of player. Yaxel kind of can kind of spread the floor a little bit more, but co-pete plays great defense. Um, but that's the one matchup, and then you kind of go to the bigs too. You go with Mara um and Krevos, both Giants. Um, you know, they're I I think uh Adai 7-3. I don't know, Krivos might be right around there, 7-1, 7-2. Um, so two big bodies down low. Um, so that's gonna be a dai just really needs to stay out of foul trouble. Uh, he he's he's got to figure out a way of just eliminating that. Like game in, game out, he's getting two fouls in the first half, and we're having to pull him. Um, and that's really throwing a wrench in you know, Michigan's game plan game plan where they're having to bring Will Cheddar out there, and Will Chella Will Cheddar's bringing nothing to the Michigan team. Like, like I've been I I have, you know, he's been with Michigan for a while. Um, you know, he's he's been with the team for the last few years, uh, played key roles the last few years before this year, but this year it seemed like he just fell off a cliff and he brings absolutely nothing except a body on the floor. Um, so as much as we can keep him off the floor, because it's Arizona's very athletic team. Um, and we're you know, we're we're gonna have to have our best guys out there for uh you know 30 to 35 minutes with very minimal rest. Um the backcourt for Arizona is very very good too. Uh, I think Barry's uh he's freshman. Um I think or Burry's Braden Burries, um he's gonna be you know a first round pick whether he goes or not. I think he's projecting that first round category along with Bradley, who has experience. Both guards are great shooters, can can get find their shot. You know, they can pretty much get a shot wherever they want um with the ball. Um so that you know, the backcourt, I would give the edge to uh Arizona for sure. There, uh the big, you know, I would say a die over Krevos. Um, and then you know, between Yaksel and Coa Pete. Yeah, I would give the slightest of edge to Lendeborg just because he can stretch the floor and hit hit the threes. Um he's he's been shooting through from the three um point um spot a little bit a little bit better. Um he's been hitting it in the tournament uh at a more um consistent uh pace than he has throughout the season. So he's been fine as three-point shot. Um so with this matchup, uh, I'm not gonna go against Michigan as much as I picked Arizona in like all my brackets to beat Michigan. Um I I think they they're gonna come up come out on top um by a very, very slim margin. Like it's gonna come down to a one possession game. Um but I think Michigan's bigs are just gonna have to have a really good game. Um, and they're just gonna have to keep up with Arizona, limit turnovers, stay out of foul trouble. But I think Michigan finds a way to get it down against Arizona. Um, how do you feel about this game?

SPEAKER_01 18:31

Yeah, as much as it it pains me to say. Um I've been talking to you about it for the last month or so, ever since that first matchup between Michigan and Michigan State, the first episode of this podcast, what we kind of kicked this whole thing off with. It would take a perfect game against Michigan to keep it close. I don't know if anyone's perfect game this year can be Michigan. I've seen them beat Alabama in a high pace, high scoring affair where there are just threes fallen and the pace is a hundred points and a half. I've seen them get real ugly with obviously some big 10 teams when they need to against the Iowa. I've seen them kind of look off like when they play Michigan State and then still win by 10 points. Uh they won the best conference in the in the sport this year by the largest margin that we've seen in years. And they didn't just win a lot of close games or have like home court advantage luck or anything. They were absolutely stomping on teams, good teams. And I know Arizona has had just as phenomenal as a season. Um, I just I can't pick against Michigan right now. I've seen them win in so many different ways, and I I think Arizona's strength is knowing how to control the game to make it play it in their way they want to, right? That's their strength. Michigan strength is being able to adjust to however they need the game to be played or however the other team wants to play the game, they're just gonna do it better. Uh, I I think they have every aspect of the game of college basketball completely covered. They have the rim protection, they have the quick guards, they have the shooting guards, they have Yaxel who can guard one through five and shoot it and stretch the floor. They got a bench of guys that can come in and no, they're not gonna be a top 10 draft pick or do anything crazy, but they're gonna come in and fill in a roll. And I mean, like Burnett and Roddy Gale, guys who honestly, like I didn't bat an eye at at the beginning of the year, are just filling in these spots like the best sixth men you've ever seen and seventh men you've ever seen. And I know the LJ Case and injury hurts and it sucks, but Michigan hasn't skipped the beat. I I mean it's just like I I'm sure it's a huge loss, and obviously he'd love to be out there. Everyone else would love to have him out there. I don't think it impacts him. I I think the other guys have completely risen up and and shown up when it when it counts and when they need to. I do think the one large advantage, kind of to speaking to that case in injury, is the backcourt of Arizona. You mentioned it with Burries and Bradley. I think they got the the leadership and seniority, and Bradley, he's been there, he's won tournament games before, and you got the freshman phenomena Burries, and uh, and I do think that those are two of the best guards in the country, a backcourt duo in the country, and they are the tone centers, they are the ones that play into Arizona strength of bringing the game to the control of the speed, the tempo that they want it to play at. They got the bigs, right? Arizona loves feeding the ball inside, they love dominating the offensive and defensive rebounding. But Michigan's gonna stop that. Michigan's got three of the best big men, whether it's defensive, whether it's playing offense, and obviously Mara and Mores are a little bit rougher to stretch the floor, but Yaxel can stretch the floor as good as anybody in college basketball. So I think they neutralize that strength of Arizona's offense and defense pretty well. And then, like I said, I I think any way that Arizona wants to play the game, Michigan's. Going to be ready to play it. And then it's just going to be a grind for 40 minutes. That's one of the more exciting college basketball matchups of the year. Obviously, it's the final four, but just on paper, the matchups that you'll have, the depth of both teams are going to be on the full display. Even if you do get one or two of the starters in foul trouble, neither of those teams are going to skip a beat. I mean, yeah, you'll lose a little something here or there, but they're they're going to be ready to play. They're going to be ready coming off the bench. Um, I I think it's it's going to be a fascinating matchup, and I think it's going to come down to Michigan just knowing how to win when it counts, and Arizona not being able to force Michigan to play down to their level of whatever it is that they want it, whether it's pounding the ball and slide or slowing the tempo down. Um I think Michigan's going to come prepared, ready to stop kind of their traditional attack of cutting. Arizona's a huge cutting team. They're one of the lower three-point percentage attempt teams in the country. And I think we've kind of seen it, and maybe that is the recipe to beat Michigan. Because what I was going to say is I think we've seen teams like Alabama and Wisconsin and these teams that just range 15, 18 threes on Michigan and they still lose. And it's like, well, typically, I mean, I haven't ran the numbers or seen anything shown, but when a team makes that many three-pointers against you, odds are you're probably going to lose. But Michigan just doesn't, you know, because they're like, okay, you can you can make that many threes, but you have to take 40 of them. You have to take 35 of them, and half of those aren't good looks, and we're okay with that because we'll go down on the other end and make a three of our own. I would love if someone has the time, any viewer has the time to watch back Michigan's tournaments, their four games that they've played so far. After the opposing team has made a three-pointer, how many times did Michigan go down and make a three-pointer too? Because as their biggest hater, any if anybody in the world, I get so upset when the other team starts feeling like they're finding a rhythm, they're making threes, they're getting their shots, and here comes Burnett off the bench for Michigan, not doing a damn thing, but then oh, the corner three, and he and he makes, oh, here comes Yaxel on a little pick and pop, but like, oh, surely he's gonna cool off, right? No, then he makes it. And that's what I'm talking about. They're able to prevent other teams from just pulling away or closing the gap. And I think that's gonna be the difference in this one. My my prediction is is a Michigan versus Yukon national championship. Uh, I don't think Yukon is going to be able to challenge Michigan as much as Arizona will be. Um, and I think obviously Michigan will be the best uh team that Yukon will play all year. And I think eventually Michigan's just going to outman them in the way that they have a lot more pieces to work with than Yukon does. Um, so I I fully expect that I've prepared myself for the tough heartbreak of Michigan cutting down the nets. But again, man, as a sports lover, as someone who just loves the game and any game being operated at the highest level, uh if you put a different jersey on this group of Michigan players, I would absolutely love watching that team play basketball. They just do everything right. Uh, I can't imagine you going into your birthday weekend excited as hell to watch these guys. I I don't blame you. It's it's something that you don't see all the time. It's one of the best college seasons we've ever seen, to be honest with you.

SPEAKER_00 25:16

Well, you know what I love love so much about this is you talking about the Wolverines in April in the Final Four, picking them to win it all. Um, but I I think you highlighted something you know that I missed out on that was a really good piece was Arizona, you know, look I looked into it, and Arizona makes about seven threes a game, which is very low. Um, but I think that's what bowed like you mentioned, the three-point, you know, because Michigan's lost three games this year, and one of them was when a Wisconsin team hit 15 threes on them. Michigan's two-point defense is top in in the country. Um, so they like to play that inside game. They like to play, you know, inside the arc. And I think that's where Michigan excels defensive-wise. You know, getting out to the three three-point line when you have Maraz Johnson and Mara in, they just, you know, on we switch. We we switch. All we do is switch. We switch on picks, pick and rolls, we we're switching. So our big guys are tasked to guard their guards pretty much all any game we play. Um, so with a team that doesn't like to make it rain from three um and you know, uh don't hit many threes, I think that's you know, another reason why I lean Michigan is because it's not gonna require our bigs to have to play out as much because our bigs, you know, their strength on defense is down low, obviously. Um and if we're able to not have to have them stay up top as much and they can actually assert their presence down low with a team that wants to score down low, I think it's gonna set us up well on defense. Um, and so like I'm glad you brought that up because that was one of the things I definitely wanted to highlight. I think that's what why you know Michigan has a slight advantage here is because I think they're gonna try to play the game they want to play and realize you know they're playing into Michigan's hands um the way they want to play defense. Um so yeah, so Michigan moving on to national championship. I have it Michigan, Illinois. You you broke you broke down the Michigan Yukon a little bit. So with the Michigan-Illinois matchup, you know, Michigan went to champagne earlier this year, um, got the win by I think it was like 11, 11 points or so, um 11 or 14 right around there. And you know, they had it was closer in the beginning, then they they just you know stepped on Illinois' throw and just took over that game. Um, Merez Johnson playing his old team, you know, he had he just had an extra juice about him, which he needs to really wake up. Um, this the last two, three games have just been horrific from Merez Johnson. Can't make layups, can't score around the rim. Like this is his game where he's got to bounce back and figure it out, um, especially if they make it to the national championship and they're playing Illinois. Like that's your team right there, and you're gonna have to really come out like you did against them the first time around. Um, but it with that matchup, I I would rather see Yukon than Illinois, I think, in the championship game, just because you know, we did play them once already. Um, and I think they're looking a lot better than they did the first time we played them. But I would I'm not picking against Michigan anymore. I I did in my bracket. I it feels sinful to do so. I can't do it. Um, you know, I got a ride with my Wolverines 2026 national champions um ride off in the sunset. With you know, this has been my favorite season. Uh, I tried to, you know, sit down and think about, you know, the 2013 season with Trey Berg, them going all the way. Just nothing compares to this season. Like this season has been such a fun season to watch. The players, you know, their post-game interviews, like this team is just like they love playing with each other. They bring like this type of energy that just radiates on the fans, it feels like. Um, and they've only lost three games. Like, this is if they win the national championship, this Michigan team will be the best Michigan team ever. And I'm putting a stamp on that. You know, Big Ten champs, three losses the whole season, national champs. I'm putting a stamp on it. I know there's a bit debate because the Axel brought it up on a post-game uh interview saying that you know, this is the best Michigan team ever. Um, and then you kind of got to think about Fab Five. Um and I think that's the only comparison you really have is okay, let's compare it to the Fab Five. If Michigan can gut the Nets down on April 6th, this will be the best Michigan basketball team ever, um, which is pretty cool.

SPEAKER_01 29:43

I'll take it a step further. If they do that, I mean, if they have, and maybe they won't, but convincing wins in either of the next two games, I think I've said it on this podcast. I think this could be one of the best college basketball teams ever. They didn't just win the Big Ten. Like I said, they won it by four games. And if you just took the games that they won by double digits in the toughest conference in college basketball this year, they still win the conference. That that doesn't you can't even wrap your head around that. I mean, like it's absolutely it's insane. And I think you look at the the games that they played in this tournament, too. They know they were never going to be challenged by a 16 seed, but they absolutely rinsed them, right? Yeah, they were probably gonna be challenged by St. Louis in the second round matchup, but St. Louis played good and they still rinsed them, you know. And then okay, maybe you know the Tennessee and you know matchup, and they never challenged. If they go on to be Arizona, who is the very hot pick to be like the best game in college basketball, then okay, what else are we gonna say about them? They're on to the national championship. Odds are they're gonna be the favorite if they do get to that point, and they will likely be able to navigate that game the way they have 35 other times this year to win. How do you like you have to start stacking them up with some of the best college basketball teams that have ever come across, at least in the modern era? I'll be honest, dating back to before my time of being born in 1999, I don't know too much about it. Yeah, all that top, I don't know too much about those teams, but in my lifetime, I maybe I'd have to sit down and try to rank some of these college teams and some of the national champions, Villanova comes to mind, Kentucky comes to mind. But man, this Michigan team is just it sucks so bad for me, man. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

I love I love listening to you. Keep it coming. Just I I'm I'm soaking it up because I just have flashbacks of all my high school days with with you guys and Michigan State, like in my ear all the time. Like I was like the lone Michigan fan.

SPEAKER_01 31:50

You were in enemy territory for sure.

SPEAKER_00 31:52

I was the lone Michigan fan, just eating it up, you know, just taking, you know, because Michigan State, you know, I felt like when we were in high school, Michigan State was, you know, I mean, they had the upper hand on Michigan and a lot a lot of the like the two main sports, football and basketball and sure.

SPEAKER_01 32:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

Um, so it feels good now that you know I can hear you just sing a little praise to the Wolverines. Um, but and I think too, kind of what we were talking about with Arizona being like the fate, like a lot of people are picking them, you know, they are you know right up there, Michigan and Arizona be the favorites. If Arizona beats Michigan, Arizona's winning it all. I can uh it doesn't matter who they play, Illinois or Yukon, I would pick Arizona. So really what what I think I'm saying is that matchup between Michigan and Arizona is gonna decide who's gonna win the national championship.

SPEAKER_01 32:37

Um yeah, well, and it matches what we said at the very first episode breaking down the March Madness bracket, right? We had the kind of Ken Palm criteria of top 25 offense, top 25 defense, handful of teams, you know, around a dozen qualified for that. Um, and then when we look at the four that are remaining, the two left that qualify, if it still holds that championship criteria of the last 20-something years, the only two teams left are Michigan and Arizona. So by that logic, yes, that matchup is going to determine the the future national champion of 2026. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:10

Yeah. Well, I I think now we just just watch that game Saturday. Um, it's my birthday Saturday, so I'm just hoping they pull through for you. That's that'll be the best uh birthday present I could ask for right there, but also could just be a heartbreak of a birthday. Um that uh they'll sit with me for a while. So but yeah, no, great, great discussion. I'm excited for the um game on Saturday. I know we'll be in contact and going through that. We got the late game, nine o'clock, um, with Illinois and Yukon kicking off, I think at like 6.09, somewhere around that time.

SPEAKER_01 33:45

But yeah. Yeah, hopefully uh give our viewers a little bit of an easier listen this time uh after some heavy weeks of bracket breakdowns and game recaps and talking player performances and everything. Uh, huge thank you to the audience for engaging with our content, tuning into these discussions every week. As time goes on, uh, we'll shift our content to focus on some more relevant topics. Not everything's gonna be college basketball related, just kind of keep that in mind. We are the right read across all sports, right? So we're gonna be heavy on some some NFL stuff, heavy on fantasy football when it comes that time, doing a lot of prep work and stuff, maybe talking some big headlines and whatnot, um, and everything in in between all of that, right? And if you guys have any topics that you'd like to hear us talk about or debate about, feel free to to let us know because we're we're obviously open to uh adding a topic to here and there. But with that, we will see y'all next week after our college basketball champion has been crowned. Will it be Michigan?

SPEAKER_00 34:42

Hell yeah.