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00:00:00Welcome back to a special edition of the early line on this Monday in-person in
00:00:05studio together reacting to everything we saw on selection Sunday the bracket
00:00:09now released for the 2025 men's NCAA tournament later in the show as well a
00:00:14look at the women's big dances our coach JY James Young will be here with us in
00:00:19our number two let's get back to the one line let's talk that path through the
00:00:23madness and of course hoping to cut down the nets in San Antonio exactly three
00:00:28weeks from this Monday as we look at those number one seeds Auburn the number
00:00:34one overall seed but now the third best price to win a national championship at
00:00:38a five to one number Duke minus 125 to win the East region that would be a
00:00:44final four appearance and plus three ten to cut down the nets your national
00:00:48championship favorites Florida minus 120 to win the West region a gauntlet out
00:00:53there at a four to one prize second best to win a national championship Houston
00:00:57the one CDRS in the Midwest region plus 140 to win that portion of the bracket
00:01:02and a seven to one price to win the national championship our four number
00:01:06one seeds the only four teams around the big dance with a ten to one price or
00:01:10shorter to cut down the next yes and agree as we started off the show with
00:01:14these four seeds here however I've been talking for the past two weeks sometimes
00:01:18I haven't paid enough attention to Florida like I'm late to the party right
00:01:21now made sure I watched the majority of the game yesterday just so I got one
00:01:25last glimpse at Florida before the season ended sensational and score from
00:01:28everywhere inside outside game can play defense can light up on three-point land
00:01:32you have the guard play that you need to secure a championship so for me now
00:01:35looking at Florida four to one price completely makes some sense
00:01:38Auburn of course five to one played the SEC tough battle tested all the way
00:01:41through and yes we talked about maybe a couple downfalls and the season that's
00:01:44okay Houston we know what they're from grit grimy play great defense it's like
00:01:47st. John's times two for me with the ability to make shots and been there
00:01:51done that before they're not afraid to be a one seed question those Duke plus
00:01:54310 price yeah the reason I bring that up is if Cooper flag had played all the
00:01:58way through the ACC tournament and they want it like okay they're ready to go
00:02:01but we talked about this last week like what a golden opportunity for the B guys
00:02:06I should say for Duke to say you know what it's not just Cooper flags team
00:02:10here there's a score 44 points a game and have 17 rebounds and we can't
00:02:13function without them they win the SEC ACC now they have the 310 price but we're
00:02:18led to believe that Cooper flag is coming back right then how many times
00:02:21we've seen this before game number two which they're going to need him of
00:02:24course into game number three and he go the ankles not all there he's giving it
00:02:29his best that's not what we're betting on right now you're betting on the best
00:02:32team with the best players supposed to be healthy at plus 310 a little bit of
00:02:36pause for me on do so let me ask you this question if you are John Shire and
00:02:40a blue devil yes do you hold out Cooper flag until the round of 32 because all
00:02:45indications is he will be ready to go right from the very jump Duke awaits the
00:02:49winner of Wednesday's play in game in Dayton Ohio American University the
00:02:53champions of the Patriot League against the mount mount st. Mary's out of the
00:02:58mat do you wait until the round of 32 or if he is ready to go in the round of 64
00:03:03is Cooper flag play right away the luxury of the one seed right the NFL we
00:03:06talk about it so many times with the biweek who earned that by takeoff well
00:03:09essentially Duke does have a by round number one no disrespect to the team
00:03:13they're playing but Duke is gonna handle him whether or not they have Cooper
00:03:16flag now flag is medically cleared I actually rather him get back out there
00:03:19maybe has this bad game maybe shoots 3 of 12 from the field but you know a
00:03:22coach got the sight lines back feel good can't wait to play the next game but the
00:03:26chance for re-injury is always high because if you re-injure now you're for
00:03:29the round of 32 we get a quality team yeah then the sweet 16 they lead 8 we
00:03:33know how that goes if he's medically cleared to play I would put him out
00:03:36there you're definitely gonna manage his minutes because you don't need all that
00:03:38much minutes from him in round number one but if he's ready to go I play him
00:03:41because I can't have that rust when I need a most man and we do believe that
00:03:45he is going to play in the round of 64 opener for Duke the number one seed in
00:03:49the East region a great weekend in Charlotte for the other guys con
00:03:53Knievel Isaiah evidence one of the talented freshman common Molly watch the
00:03:57big man down low as well and they've got some veteran presence despite the
00:04:01freshman getting most of the headlines there in Durham Tyrese Proctor see on
00:04:06James a lot to like about this Duke team and certainly the odds makers do a plus
00:04:11310 price for John Shire and his Blue Devils both an outright ACC regular
00:04:17season crown and the ACC tournament title even without flag and Malik Brown
00:04:22who his status much more uncertainty RS for the entirety of the NCAA tournament
00:04:27quickly to Auburn it dropped three of their last four games their final two in
00:04:31the regular season got to the semi-finals after earning the double by
00:04:34for the SEC tournament but did not look great against Ole Miss squeaking by the
00:04:38run rebs and of course did not look great in the loss to Tennessee where is
00:04:42your confidence level with this Auburn team that really for most of the year
00:04:46was that national title favor it doesn't shake for me because you're losing a an
00:04:49M quality team that needed to win late you lost to Alabama in overtime you beat
00:04:53Mississippi lost to Tennessee whose quality on a neutral court understand
00:04:56this it's hard to win this amount of games against quality competition on a
00:04:59night-to-night basis but I do take in the fact they are battle-tested they'll
00:05:03be ready for it I don't lose any points with Auburn over the way they ended the
00:05:061616 quad one victories for Bruce Pearl and his Tigers during the 2024 25
00:05:13campaign but now it's about hoisting a national championship trophy Auburn's
00:05:18region piece by piece region by region around the 2025 men's NCAA tournament
00:05:24live right here on this Monday morning on the early line on sports grid we
00:05:28start in the south region which is home to the number one overall seed in the
00:05:32big dance that would be the Auburn Tigers as we just shared they are
00:05:36struggling entering the tournament as they have dropped three of their last
00:05:41four but still based on the overall quality of work in an outstanding and
00:05:45stellar resume all season long Auburn very deserving of that number one overall
00:05:50seed they are the one seed in the south region let's take a look at the bracket
00:05:55up there DRS as you look at the top half of where Auburn is in the south region
00:06:01frankly I don't think the committee did the number one overall seed many many
00:06:04favors up there you see a Louisville team the ACC tournament title runner ups
00:06:10on the eight line seems like they were under seated and undervalued a Creighton
00:06:14team that finished runner up in the Big East tournament a Michigan team that won
00:06:20the Big Ten tourney in Indianapolis and a team that I have been in love with all
00:06:24year the champions out of the Big West a 30 win basketball team and Eric Owens
00:06:29Triton's from UC San Diego to me a difficult path for Auburn at the top of
00:06:34that south region it is but it's doable to me because I take a look and say to
00:06:37myself all right you can start to knock some things down how good is Creighton
00:06:40actually as a team we're gonna find out in that 8-9 battle but also Louisville
00:06:44and the strength of the ACC are we giving them a little bit too much credit
00:06:47for having a great season where not that many teams which included Clemson
00:06:50Louisville and Duke and everybody else in the ACC but understand this too I
00:06:53think you're catching a little bit of break on the bottom of the bracket if
00:06:56you're Auburn because Iowa State was one of those teams I really wanted to
00:06:59measure up by saying great guard play great defense tough conference let me go
00:07:03now we're hearing there are some injury issues with Iowa State which sort of
00:07:06knocks them down a peg for me I love Michigan State I've said this before
00:07:09they are tournament bound and they were a tournament team and what I mean by
00:07:12that is not over relying on a three-point shot great head coach that
00:07:15knows how to get you in and out of timeouts to get the right play call and
00:07:18also playing great defense and if you don't rely on the three-point shot you
00:07:21score inside if your three-point shot goes that hey we only made two well we
00:07:24usually make four a game it's not that big of a deal where you make nine or ten
00:07:27of those yeah so I do think that is an advantage for Auburn because you're not
00:07:31getting a team that's overhyped and over talented on the bottom side you get a
00:07:34clean effort at a Michigan State but for me I look at Auburn's path and say I
00:07:37believe it is doable because again with Michigan how good is Michigan is it the
00:07:41team that we saw running the table in the Big Ten in the championship or is it
00:07:45the same team Ben that we saw doing the regular season beatable on the
00:07:47night-to-night basis we're not downplaying Michigan as a bad basketball
00:07:50team but for me I don't look at Auburn and be like oh no I don't think they can
00:07:53get through the red because I haven't playing Creighton and technically
00:07:56beating Michigan on the way to playing Michigan State in the Elite Eight before
00:08:00the Final Four it's doable for them I don't look at this and say this is a
00:08:03detriment to where they put them from the seed we'll see if the Maiden blue
00:08:05even get past the round of six row for opener just a two and a half point
00:08:09spread against UC San Diego again the champions of the Big West and a really
00:08:14solid basketball team that 413 matchup Michigan could see where Danny Wolf went
00:08:20to college last year in Yale who as a 13 seed upset a four seed out of the SEC
00:08:26last year that was Auburn they now get Texas A&M a seven and a half point
00:08:31spread in favor of the Aggies bottom portion of the South region great 27th
00:08:36consecutive season Michigan State and Tom Izzo they are dancing the longest
00:08:42consecutive streak we've ever seen for a Division One men's head basketball coach
00:08:47Izzo and the Spartans the outright regular season champs in the Big Ten Big
00:08:52Ten are the two seed in the South region now let's talk about Iowa State yeah
00:08:56Donnie we have talked about this team at length really the entirety of the
00:08:59college basketball season but certainly here as we approach the month of March
00:09:03we are both infatuated with the Cyclones I have a national championship ticket
00:09:07from very early in the season on Iowa State but as we said for the clones
00:09:12getting ready for the Big 12 tournament a lot of it would be indicated by this
00:09:16team's health we learned from TJ Altsaberger late last night after we saw
00:09:21Iowa State's draw in the South region their point guard and the Aims native
00:09:25Damon Lipsy expected to be ready to go from the round of 64 and on but one of
00:09:30their other veteran guards in that backcourt Keyshawn Gilbert more than
00:09:33likely to miss the entirety of the big dance it's it's horrible timing here
00:09:37because this is one of those we're even talking about sometimes and some of
00:09:40these teams we're going to talk about getting some injured players back for
00:09:42the run to see what we do I'll like an Arkansas with boogie flan yeah but
00:09:45understand this like Iowa State's a good team but if we are looking at the
00:09:48bottom of the bracket with Michigan State Ben I think it's a clean run to
00:09:50the Elite 8 I do I take a look at them beating Bryant quality team Marquette
00:09:54New Mexico which around the 32 there are no layups right good basketball teams
00:09:58that won a game in the tournament it's not as if you're just gonna run them
00:10:00over but I like that matchup and then let's just say Iowa State's not full
00:10:03tilt and Ole Miss gets them I think Michigan State is better like one versus
00:10:06two in the Elite 8 in this bracket for me makes some sense but if we're looking
00:10:10at it saying from your perspective yeah the number one overall seed Auburn
00:10:13probably looks down and goes you know what I live in a bad idea for you the
00:10:17to seed in the South for me just the way it sets up and again that's just a you
00:10:21know look at Iowa State not being all the way there where you might get the
00:10:24benefit of the doubt now from a team that you thought would might be a
00:10:27tougher test so Auburn should get their Michigan State easier path for me to the
00:10:31Elite 8 and despite the struggles we are as Auburn is still an even money plus
00:10:35100 favorite to win the South region and of course advance to a final for MSU to
00:10:40see the second best number at that plus 490 price Iowa State only a dime behind
00:10:45at a 5 to 1 number a couple of play in first four games in the South region
00:10:51including who Auburn will see in the opening round the champions out of the
00:10:54SWAC Alabama State take on the champions of the NEC st. Francis
00:11:00Pennsylvania that will be our first first four game tomorrow night in Dayton
00:11:05Ohio and Donnie as we have shared North Carolina an opportunity to prove some of
00:11:09the doubters in the haters incorrect perhaps tomorrow night in Dayton as well
00:11:14the heels a three and a half point favorite in their first four matchup
00:11:17against San Diego State and some people look at them like well look at that
00:11:20Carolina's a favorite in round number one in the first floor therefore they
00:11:23should have been in because the smartest man in the room is the odds maker which
00:11:26I tend to agree with but we understand this too sometimes you look at Carolina
00:11:30throughout the regular season not all their quality victories just weren't
00:11:34there when you're stepping up to the table which is what you're gonna need to
00:11:36have once you come to tournament time so this is one of those games in the wall
00:11:39okay if they don't play well against tournament teams they're getting a
00:11:41tournament team they shouldn't win this game on a neutral site but also
00:11:44understand this Carolina's heard it all for a couple weeks here not good enough
00:11:47to be in the tournament not supposed to be there you have a bonehead play at the
00:11:51free-throw line which cost you a chance to go to overtime or even two free
00:11:53throws to win that game outright against Duke we had no questions and nobody
00:11:57would even came in and said Carolina shouldn't be there the chip on the
00:12:00shoulder we can get in that locker room the head coach can say to him nobody
00:12:03expects anything from us here today let's go out and do something which then
00:12:07a victory pigs bricks up a victory and I tell you about this too
00:12:10slingshot effects I talk about you're already in the tournament with a win
00:12:13you're getting on the plane the next day no more of this we shouldn't be here we
00:12:17won we're advancing now we're ready to go the field expanded to a full 68 teams
00:12:22in 2011 the first year of the first four every year we have seen the first four
00:12:27with the exception of 2019 18 that was victorious in the first four also won a
00:12:32game in a round of 64 in fact the last team we saw to even get to the second
00:12:38weekend after a first four victory UCLA as an 11 seed in 2021 the Bruins made it
00:12:44all the way to the final four and to North Carolina's credit again the
00:12:48blemish on the resume is the lack of quality wins one quad one victory 12
00:12:53quad one losses but they knew what they were up against entering the final few
00:12:57weeks of the regular season they entered that regular season finale in Chapel
00:13:01against the Blue Devils on a six-game win streak they had covered in five in
00:13:05a row they knew what they had to do in Charlotte at least to get to the
00:13:07semifinals with the potential of seeing the Blue Devils once again they hammer
00:13:11Notre Dame they hammer Wake Forest in the second half they covered in both so
00:13:15North Carolina outside of the two Duke games has won eight in a row covering in
00:13:20seven of those eight the winner of that game between the Aztecs and the Tar Heels
00:13:26will take on Ole Miss the running rebs under Chris Beard back in a big dance
00:13:30for the first time since 2019 New Mexico Richard Patino champions
00:13:35outright in the Mountain West during the regular season first conference crown
00:13:40for the Lobos in more than a decade that's a fascinating 7-10 split DRS
00:13:45Marquette is really good in the starting five not a lot of depth outside of that
00:13:48New Mexico one of the best point guards in the country and the Mountain West
00:13:52player of the year in Donovan Dent exactly you win with great guard play
00:13:54we're not saying anything about Marquette plays in a better conference we
00:13:57know that but sometimes just look at the names themselves oh I know Marquette
00:14:00I don't know too much about New Mexico New Mexico's a really really good ball
00:14:03club but as we're getting down the list here of the South and saying like what's
00:14:07gonna make the most sense in this point guard play typically wins and if you
00:14:10have great guard play and your conference player of the year is a guard
00:14:13chances are he's not going to be say whoo spotlight too big against Marquette
00:14:17Ben a good post presence as well in Nellie jr. Joseph the champions of the
00:14:23a son they will take on Iowa State in a 314 matchup Brian led by Phil Martelli
00:14:29jr. gets Tom Izzo and the Spartans in the opening round of 64 from the South
00:14:35region to the East region live right here on this Monday morning on the early
00:14:41line on sports grid he is DRS IMP double s we are live in studio together
00:14:45breaking down a bracket for the 2025 men's NCAA tournament Auburn the number
00:14:51one overall see the top team in the South region for the national
00:14:54championship favorites and through the big dance that would be the Duke Blue
00:14:58Devils on the top line in the East region and a minus money favorite to win
00:15:03the East region and represent this portion of the bracket in the final four
00:15:07plus three ten number DRS for the Blue Devils as your national title favorites
00:15:12of course first conversation with Duke who will be there in the opening round
00:15:16Cooper flag who was injured in the quarterfinals in Charlotte last week in
00:15:20the ACC tournament scary ankle injury his status uncertain John Shire telling
00:15:25everybody should be healthy should be ready to go for the round of 64 what's
00:15:29of course is going to be huge for a Duke team booked as those national
00:15:33championship favorites yep and that's the question mark and we don't like
00:15:35question marks when we're handicappers coming into it like you want to lay some
00:15:38cold hard cash down on the Duke Blue Devils you want to make sure one of the
00:15:40best players if not the best player in the country is ready available and on
00:15:44his P's and Q's because there is one thing about having Cooper flag in the
00:15:47lineup it's another if you're saying woo he doesn't look as explosive here
00:15:51because the one thing we understand that first round matchup Duke is going to win
00:15:54regardless if he's there or not but you're going to get a test Mississippi
00:15:57State and Baylor two quality teams that are waiting to take you down round
00:16:01number two and a flag isn't there that's going to be a detriment here and also
00:16:05understand this what happens if we get Cooper flag back and he is 100% are you
00:16:09getting a discount on Duke you like Duke even more because it's hard to believe
00:16:13because the thought process coming in to Ben what happens if Duke had lost Cooper
00:16:17flag which they did and got knocked out before even they played North Carolina
00:16:21they said well flags gonna come back for the tournament
00:16:23whoo but I don't know about that secondary cast at this point like you
00:16:26should actually feel more comfortable with the Duke Blue Devils today even
00:16:30with the flag injury going hey man if he gets in foul trouble or injured again
00:16:33they don't just go up and say well can't win without a big guy out here they
00:16:37showed me a lot of moxie and a lot of heart to do some damage and win that ACC
00:16:40tournament so if flag does come back now you have other guys that weren't used to
00:16:44being the alpha dog in the lineup with Cooper flag they go you know what coop
00:16:47you're off tonight let me handle my business there is a reason of course
00:16:50there is so much notoriety around Cooper flag when you are the projected number
00:16:54one overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft when you're 16 years old of course the
00:17:00headlines are going to follow and Cooper flag is the wooden award favorite but so
00:17:04much depth on this Duke team as we saw on display in Charlotte they've got the
00:17:09veteran presence with a very talented young stars in the freshmen as well all
00:17:14so notable for the Blue Devils Malik Brown who has that injured shoulder one
00:17:18of their veteran presences in the frontcourt his status more uncertain for
00:17:22the 2025 NCAA tournament the other top three seeds that make up the top four in
00:17:28the East region Alabama the two-seat out East Wisconsin the three seed Arizona
00:17:33the number four seed at the top portion of that East region Donnie it's always
00:17:37about laying out the bracket the path through the madness for those top teams
00:17:42how do you view the East region as a test for Duke trying to get to the final
00:17:47four oh it is gonna be a test there's a lot of quality teams and as we said
00:17:49again not understanding the full capabilities of Cooper flag but also
00:17:53we're not I always bring this up it's not best of three like do best of three
00:17:57all the way through you're telling me that if Arizona lines up against Duke
00:17:59and brings her a game they can't take down the Blue Devils absolutely they can
00:18:03we always use that with a little bit of a caveat but even on the opposite side
00:18:06with Alabama I mean just take a look at who they're going through like the
00:18:09second round matchup which could be BYU versus Wisconsin and Alabama let's just
00:18:14say he's taking on st. Mary's at that point just to get by and say now we got
00:18:17to beat st. Mary's and then I have to be BYU or Wisconsin and then I have to get
00:18:22there to take on the Duke Blue Devils so for me this is one of the tougher
00:18:25divisions that you're gonna have let's just say brackets if you're looking at
00:18:28Duke fully healthy yes they should be in your final four because they've shown
00:18:32you every single capability throughout the season they are dominant even if the
00:18:35agency is a little bit down Ben we've talked about this well if it's down
00:18:38they're not winning by five points they're blowing teams away and also
00:18:41beating teams and quality opponents without their best player but for me
00:18:45boy that is a grunt you are going to earn your final four berth because
00:18:49everybody is legitimate particularly in the but we don't even talk about DCU
00:18:52this is a chance to knock off BYU that is a crazy talented bottom of that
00:18:57bracket Ben Duke by the way minus 650 to reach this week 16 that second weekend
00:19:02minus 125 for the Blue Devils to win the East region and get to a final four
00:19:08you see it there that's what the Blue Devils are expected to do Alabama the
00:19:12two-seed second best place at plus 410 Arizona an 8 to 1 number I think the
00:19:17cats are in for it in their 413 matchup against the champions out of the Mac a
00:19:21very talented Akron Zips team led by John Gross one of the more underrated
00:19:26head coaches in college basketball 70 plus years for Akron as a d1 program
00:19:32first-ever time they are back in a big dance for a second straight season
00:19:37Wisconsin is the three-seat an 11 to 1 number you hope the Badgers got all of
00:19:41their poorest shooting out of the way in the Big Ten tournament title game
00:19:44because it's been an offense this year in Madison as good as we've ever seen in
00:19:48the history of that program yeah Tonje I mean look understand this too you look
00:19:52at those some of those final games and these guys are up against it they're not
00:19:56used to playing four games in four days against elite competition you will wear
00:20:00down decompression time to come back cuz let me tell you something
00:20:03BYU Wisconsin round number two oh you like the three-point shot tune in to
00:20:08that one they'll let you shoot it they'll shoot a ton of it and how much
00:20:11fun that's going to be but understand this too as I talked about BC loves a
00:20:14three-point shot as well yeah BYU lets you shoot the three-point shot that is
00:20:17like if you're talking about Donnie cinema TV this is the region for me in
00:20:21the east right now because it's so much fun with the type of games I like to
00:20:25watch that's 611 matchup between BYU who is on a heater right now yes they did
00:20:30drop a game to Houston the semifinals of the big 12 tournament but who amongst
00:20:34us has not lost to the Cougs this year they had won nine straight prior they
00:20:39had covered in all nine including a few very impressive outright victories as an
00:20:44underdog in VCU the champions of the age oh no Olga doing some good stuff led by
00:20:51Ryan Odom a guy of course that understands the madness and what it
00:20:54takes to pull off the upset he was the head coach at UMBC back in 2018 when they
00:21:00beat Virginia just a two-and-a-half point spread in that opening round game
00:21:04another game DRS I find incredibly intriguing is our first game on Friday
00:21:09Mississippi State and Baylor I have told you for the last few weeks I could not
00:21:13wait him for the Bulldogs to get into the big dance I would fade them I was
00:21:17really hoping we'd have a different time a wildly disappointing team this year as
00:21:22well at least based on preseason expectation still a ton of talent for
00:21:26Scott Drew and his Bears it's basically a pick'em right now Mississippi State a
00:21:30slight favorite yeah and you're right about that that's one of those teams
00:21:33where it's we're taking them out of the SEC is that a bump for them or is that
00:21:37well the SEC was really overplayed at this point I'm willing to bet with the
00:21:40amount of teams the SEC got into how much they loved them maybe there is a
00:21:43bump and maybe that is a good matchup but for me I still have Baylor right now
00:21:47in the early pick yeah I would I would lean with you as well if we get st.
00:21:50Mary's and Alabama in a two-set amount of 32 game who a contrast of styles in
00:21:56basketball on the early line that's portion by portion region by region
00:22:01around the 2025 big dance he's Donnie right side I am Ben Stevens we've done
00:22:06the South region with a number one overall seed Auburn is we've done the
00:22:10East region where Duke your national championship favorites reside as well
00:22:14now let's get to the West region where Florida is technically the last number
00:22:19one seed the fourth and final one seed but maybe the hottest team entering the
00:22:24big dance as of this moment winning the SEC tournament in Nashville and looking
00:22:30downright dominant in doing so when you can win the tournament of what has been
00:22:34the gauntlet of a conference all year long in the most highly anticipated SEC
00:22:40men's tourney maybe in recent memory you deserve to be a one seed in the Gators
00:22:45like Duke in the East region a minus money favorite DRS to win the West
00:22:50Florida's playing great basketball as you shared last week getting ready for
00:22:54conference tournament week in Nashville you wanted to pay more attention to this
00:22:58Florida team what did you see throughout the SEC turn I think Shaq said it best
00:23:02sorry Florida just wasn't familiar with your game at this level at this point
00:23:05taping tremendously the style of play they have you watch them like they can
00:23:10beat you any which way possible which for instance BYU comes out we're gonna
00:23:14shoot 30 or 35 three-point shots make 17 well you can't do anything with that
00:23:18they're gonna beat you but BYU comes out makes five three-point shots you beat
00:23:21them because they can't do anything else at that point I look at Florida inside
00:23:25outside game tremendous defense tremendous playing in the toughest
00:23:28conference in the country and winning consistently not only at home but on the
00:23:33road you want to talk about battle-tested it's Florida where I take a
00:23:36look and say how deep of a run they can get to now we'll get to the bottom of
00:23:40the racket and just the bottom of the bracket just a bit but I have them no
00:23:43problems winning game number one probably beating Oklahoma game number
00:23:45two now the Crab 5 is gonna have a tough matchup because it's Florida and that's
00:23:49a great game but for me I can't no longer say to myself or any longer say
00:23:54you know what like let me see more of Florida I've seen enough they've cut
00:23:58down the nets it's no surprise to me and I should have been listening three weeks
00:24:02ago when a lot of people coming on the network on like hey man watch out for
00:24:05fun like yeah they're good it's the SEC it's still Alabama it's still Auburn let
00:24:09me see how Florida plays out and boy did they play it out if you remember your
00:24:12co-host just a couple of weeks ago yeah hey I think there's some value for you
00:24:16know come on all right you know as I thought Tennessee's really good if you
00:24:20look at the one line and the odds to be a number one overall seed I said keep an
00:24:25eye on Florida the Gators at a minus 115 number Florida probably the best pair of
00:24:30wins this year road victories at Alabama and at Auburn and then to win the SEC
00:24:36tournament in doing so this Gators team not just really good in terms of their
00:24:41outright record third best cover team around the country in college basketball
00:24:4626 and 8 against this spread there are going to be some off nights in SEC play
00:24:51the only slip-up for the Gators in the last two months was a road game in
00:24:56Athens against the Georgia team who's a 9 seed in the NCAA tournament outside of
00:25:01that 13 final games Florida victorious in 12 covering in all 12 victories so
00:25:08Florida is the one seed in the West region the two seed you also have a ton
00:25:14of eyeballs for the first time in four decades st. John's won the Big East
00:25:19regular season crown outright for the first time in 25 years since the year
00:25:242000 st. John's won the Big East tournament title now Rick Pitino DRS
00:25:29leads the Red Storm into the NCAA tournament as the two seed out west and
00:25:33the chance for them to actually line up against Arkansas will be absolutely
00:25:37tremendous in the theater behind it will be wonderful to watch with st.
00:25:40John's again one of those teams I talk about with Michigan State they don't
00:25:43need the three-point shot they'll take it and if they make it watch out because
00:25:47they play great defense will turn you over the play at a high tempo which
00:25:50means we're not grinding it out a la Houston which sort of leaves saying you
00:25:54know what we're up four points maybe should be up 16 points but we just don't
00:25:57have enough possessions to actually let the cream rise to the top but also
00:26:00understand this the bottom of that bracket that lines up that three seed
00:26:03Texas Tech I think has the ability to make a run and has enough guns to beat
00:26:08st. John's in the bottom of that bracket but if we're all looking at st. John's
00:26:11very deserving of that number two seed and I think they do have a pretty clear
00:26:15path to the elite eight or sweet 1632 round but once you get past that I sort
00:26:20of look at them and go you know what they have what it takes to actually get
00:26:23by it's not a downgrade on st. John's not a downgrade on the Big East when I
00:26:27look at the bottom of that bracket they got some heavyweights coming for them
00:26:30the most efficient defense in college basketball that will be the Johnny's
00:26:34entering the NCAA tournament and of course their opening round matchup the
00:26:39champions of the Summit League for the first time in program history hide the
00:26:43kids hide the trash cans when Omaha makes their way in to the big dance we
00:26:49will talk more about the West region on the other side of the break DRS because
00:26:53we're coming up on the end of this opening hour but there are so many good
00:26:57teams out in this West region you mentioned the three seed by the way in
00:27:01Texas Tech the odds distinction on Grant McCaslin and his Red Raiders seventh
00:27:06best price to win the national championship at 26 to 1 by far the
00:27:11shortest number for any three seed around the field of 68 we continue
00:27:16breaking down the bracket an hour to come to wait at our number two of a
00:27:20Monday live right here on the early line on SportsGrid as we continue to react to
00:27:24everything we saw after the 2025 men's NCAA tournament bracket was unveiled on
00:27:31a Sunday a special Monday here on TEL live in person in studio together it's
00:27:37Donnie right side and Ben Stevens two more hours to go to continue to make
00:27:41sense of the madness all the way up until 11 a.m. Eastern Time I do have to
00:27:46say though where's your green it's st. Paddy's Day my friend and I know you're
00:27:50not drinking any Guinness tonight the least you could have done is wear some
00:27:54green like myself I don't even know if that's not green it doesn't it's not it
00:27:58is brown and been wearing it brown right now by the way you know threw me off for
00:28:02the show today like the seven and seven we have seven and seven graphics like
00:28:05what do we have we're putting that up now can we do it right now when I do we
00:28:09have to like get really close to each other
00:28:10I would work when you're in studio though you don't need the seven and
00:28:14seven we got to the Bengals big news the blockbuster signings and extensions of
00:28:20Chase and T Higgins a lot of money what do you do we're still breaking down the
00:28:24men's NCAA tournament and here in this second hour you get the scouting report
00:28:29the coaches perspective James Young JY will join us live in studio we'll also
00:28:34look at the women's NCAA tournament in the field of 68 selection Sunday for the
00:28:39women's big dance was last night and well but you want to continue breaking
00:28:43down the West region now hold on before I do that so last night like we had you
00:28:47guys obviously I bracket central last night we're doing it what time was the
00:28:50women's a look in your eye right what time was the women's draw on this 8 p.m.
00:28:54Eastern was it yeah did we pick that up as well we were we I don't want to say
00:29:03anything we did not dive into our focus was the men's NCAA tournament
00:29:07understanding we would have some time on this Monday morning for what should be a
00:29:11great big dance UCLA the champion of the Big Ten the number one overall seed in
00:29:16the women's NCAA tournament a couple of teams on that one line not all that
00:29:21pleased with being a one seat Don's Ali in the Gamecocks the reigning national
00:29:25champs thought they should have been the number one overall seed and he got
00:29:28leaving USC did not like being the final team on the one line a gauntlet for USC
00:29:34in their region and their portion of the bracket in Texas runner-up in the SEC
00:29:40also on that one line plenty to break down and JY will be here just a little
00:29:46bit later on all right let's get to the West region once again for the top team
00:29:50in this portion of the bracket st. John's the two Texas Tech the three
00:29:54again the Red Raiders the shortest place of any three seed at 26 to 1 to win a
00:29:59national championship and how about that four seed in the Maryland Terrapins the
00:30:04RS Maryland a team that based on their starting five very very talented you
00:30:09have the Big Ten freshman of the year as well in Derek Queen when you look around
00:30:14what the Terps have in their opening round take it on Grand Canyon what do
00:30:19you make of the outlook for the Terps in the West region very doable I have been
00:30:22beating Grand Canyon round number one I also have been beating Colorado State
00:30:25who I think is going to beat Memphis as an upset that we always talk about that
00:30:2812-5 matchup but then you're going to run into Florida which you can't hide
00:30:32for a long time though unless you're like the number of feet if you're not
00:30:34the one seed you can't hide multiple times say hey man what an easy run to
00:30:38the final four sooner or later you are going to catch a headway and they will
00:30:41do that however as you're looking to try to progress down and you say all
00:30:45right you can't sitting there as the eight boy
00:30:48they are set up to get both back there Ben I mean this is a back-to-back
00:30:51national championship team that's looking to go back to back to back and
00:30:54they go you're going to get an SEC team right off the bat and congratulations if
00:30:58you win maybe the hottest team in college basketball Florida right off it
00:31:02if you want you kind to succeed and win those first two games how much energy do
00:31:06we even have left in the tank by we do get to the crowd five that they might
00:31:09have to play with Maryland at this point they didn't you got any favors as
00:31:13a sitting champion no doubt we do have some very compelling teams on that
00:31:17eight-line Connecticut yeah Zaga Louisville and a Mississippi State team
00:31:22I think is rather fraudulent but still when you look at UConn they have the
00:31:26March pedigree our two-time reigning national champs still in a hunt for
00:31:30history Dan Hurley's Huskies looking to be the first three-peat winner in men's
00:31:34college hoops since the early 70s when UCLA and John Worden had won seven in a
00:31:39row getting back to 1967 interesting matchup for UConn I think they match up
00:31:44very well against Oklahoma in the opening round four and a half point
00:31:48spread in favor of Connecticut oh you a talented team out of the SEC but really
00:31:53led by an outstanding freshman in Jeremiah fears we often look at the 12
00:31:575 matchup as the upset DRS in terms of an upset not from the gambling odds it's
00:32:03five seed lines lower than your opponent but this would not be an upset based on
00:32:08the odds if CSU is to win one of the hottest teams entering the tournament
00:32:13the champions of the Mountain West tournament title tender straight wins
00:32:18for the Rams led by Nico Medved and they are the 12 seed but they are a two and a
00:32:23half point favorite against Memphis brand recognition is always the
00:32:26difference in these games we talked about it with New Mexico earlier I know
00:32:29Marquette don't really know much about New Mexico same thing with Colorado
00:32:32State taking oh I know Memphis and heard them before and Memphis also worried
00:32:35about them getting back one of their superstar players for the tournament run
00:32:38but I think Colorado State is going to handle their business as at 12 5 and as
00:32:42I said go up against Maryland to see if they can you know what let me just catch
00:32:45that momentum hot at the regular season see if we can pick up some victories but
00:32:48again it's Florida in this division it's Florida in this bracket and I look at
00:32:53them and say you know what it's time to give them a lot of respect because their
00:32:56path isn't easy let's just say to do play UConn yeah second round going
00:32:59against the back-to-back national champions with the best you know what
00:33:02coach in the land at this point so there is something to be desired but
00:33:06that top of the bracket here I still can't be more impressed with the Florida
00:33:10Gators and what they did at the end of the regular season all the way through
00:33:12the SEC championship and say to myself or they're gonna get a tough run from
00:33:16some of these teams which they will but it's Florida for me it really is 12 or
00:33:1913 wins for the Gators including that SEC tournament title covering in all 12
00:33:23victories Colorado State led by their best player in the Clifford who of
00:33:27course was a first for team last year handed a defeat to Virginia has won 10
00:33:32in a row and bring the big dance covering in all 10 wins and when you
00:33:36look at some of the updated metrics like on Bart Torvick calm that you can use
00:33:41your time frame for teams playing their best basketball in the last week two
00:33:45weeks month since the middle of February Colorado State the eighth best team in
00:33:50the country so many great storylines DRS around the West region about Drake the
00:33:56champions of the Missouri Valley led by Ben McCollum a record-setting season 30
00:34:01wins the most in program history for a head coach that was very established at
00:34:06the d2 level North Northwest Missouri State four-time national champ brought
00:34:10most of his players from the Bearcats over the Bulldogs in Des Moines they're
00:34:14the champions out of the MVC led by the MVC player of the year in Bennett
00:34:19skirts that's a great 6 versus 11 matchup with a really good Missouri team
00:34:23who's a six-and-a-half point favorite and it's one of those games that we'll
00:34:26take a look at the common person putting in their bets going you know what I just
00:34:30watch this with Missouri should handle it wait a second Drake is up 31 30 with
00:34:33two minutes to go in the first half what am I missing here you're missing a great
00:34:36basketball team that's not going to fold these are the teams that you figure could
00:34:40be the spoilers and make it to the sweet 16 and still it's because look they get
00:34:44by Missouri then you're gonna say okay well who they have next I'm gonna be
00:34:47Texas Tech yeah and I know a lot of people get upset it's people that watch
00:34:50those mid majors all the way through and say why does it always feel like they
00:34:54have the toughest runs if they want to make it anywhere in the tournament and
00:34:58we always think the conspiracy theories get these teams out so we can have the
00:35:01blue bloods because that makes better television which theoretically I agree
00:35:04with but Drake I'm not gonna be surprised if they beat Missouri I'm
00:35:07really not Drake the slowest tempo in college basketball Mizzou would love to
00:35:11play fast it is a fascinating matchup from just that pace perspective Dennis
00:35:17last year 19 total SEC games including in the conference tourney they lost all
00:35:2319 now they're a six seed in the NCAA tournament a remarkable turnaround and
00:35:28if you're talking storylines and headlines in the West region here we go
00:35:32about that 710 matchup the preseason number one team in the country Kansas
00:35:37disappointing once again in the regular season also the preseason number one last
00:35:41year and the 10 seed in Arkansas Bill self and KU John Calipari and his hogs
00:35:49in a winner of that game more than likely will take on st. John's as the
00:35:53two-seed PRS the bottom portion of the West region from a attention standpoint
00:35:58from a notoriety standpoint doesn't get much better like you're getting value or
00:36:02you say to yourself like hey now's the time to strike Kansas preseason team
00:36:05that we expected to get to the final four maybe even win a championship this
00:36:08point you might get them cheap I got Arkansas beat in Kansas not because I
00:36:11want to see the second round battle I just think I'm trusting the SEC more
00:36:15than other conferences and if I have a coin flip game which I believe I do I'm
00:36:18gonna trust the SEC but come on now Arkansas st. John's man battle the suits
00:36:22out there anger of me beautiful it's gonna be beautiful couple of former
00:36:26Kentucky head coaches Rick Pitino by the way making more history officially last
00:36:30night first ever coach to lead six different programs to the NCAA tournament
00:36:36Houston's the one our fourth and final region to break down around the NCAA
00:36:41tournament we head out to the Midwest where the number one team in this
00:36:45portion of the bracket the two time reigning big 12 champions the Houston
00:36:50Cougars last year not a conference tournament title but this year in Kansas
00:36:54City both an outright regular season crown and a conference tourney title as
00:36:58well for Kelvin Sampson and his Cougs what a turnaround Kelvin Sampson has had
00:37:04for this team in H down seventh consecutive NCAA tournament appearance
00:37:08each of the last five big dances DRS Houston has at least seen the second
00:37:12weekend and a sweet 16 appearance they are the one seed but they have the worst
00:37:17price of any one seed to win a national championship also the longest number for
00:37:22any one seed to even win their region at a plus 140 price the two is Tennessee a
00:37:27plus 370 second best number that shouldn't be overly surprising it's that
00:37:32eight seed in the Gonzaga Bulldogs at a plus 850 number the eight seed has the
00:37:38third best place to reach the final four it's because the metrics look a lot
00:37:42kinder to the Zags than that of the committee's placement on that seed line
00:37:47Gonzaga ninth in the neck eighth in Ken Palm third best number to reach the
00:37:51final four out of the Midwest we did the tough part about this for Houston should
00:37:54they get to the final four sure you take away the odds market says they're
00:37:57supposed to get there but also understanding you get the layup in the
00:38:00first rounds the one seed and then it just turns in the turmoil for that for
00:38:04Houston answer it's because whether or not you get Georgia which has been
00:38:07pointed out already oh yeah they're big winner here they they beat Florida who
00:38:10might be the best team overall in the tournament in round number two and if
00:38:13it's not them it's gonna be the Gonzaga Bulldogs who are battle-tested been to
00:38:17the tournament not surprised by the bright lights and probably saying
00:38:19yourself you know what we don't have all of the oh we're a one seed or a two seed
00:38:24now we have to live up to the outcome of that no you don't now you're right where
00:38:27you see it or where most people thought you always should have been seated and
00:38:29let's just see if you can make a run and if you do get past that and maybe a
00:38:32McNeese gets on a run you have Purdue which has one of the best guards in the
00:38:36country that you have to face before you even get to Tennessee in the elite
00:38:40eight for Houston this is the team that I picked out that said if they are going
00:38:43to earn a final four trip yeah they are going to earn a fire final four tribute
00:38:49and it is a gauntlet last year's national runner-up in Purdue is the
00:38:53four-seat although the Boilers have a very compelling opening round matchup
00:38:57against the husk bus and the champions out of the Big South that would be high
00:39:02point I like a lot of points in that game two very efficient offenses not
00:39:06great defenses on either side the total of 153 and a half as we continue to look
00:39:12around the Midwest region Gonzaga's opener is against Georgia talented team
00:39:17out of the SEC but the Zags should handle that they're a six and a half
00:39:21point favorite an interesting 512 game that will have many an eyeball Clemson
00:39:26an elite eight team from a season ago against a really quality McNeese team
00:39:31the champions of the Southland for a second straight year both years that
00:39:34will Wade has been the head man in Lake Charles that number right now seven and
00:39:40a half points in favor of the Tigers but how competitive is that round of 64 oh I
00:39:44love it I think it's sensational because look at the schedule for McNeese lost
00:39:47Alabama by eight lost the Liberty by four lost the Santa Clara's a decent
00:39:51ballclub by seven lost in Mississippi State is a tournament team by three
00:39:54points you know what that tells me it's like hey we're laying in wait we're
00:39:57hiding we played an easy schedule they tested
00:40:00their self did they win those basketball games though they didn't but that shows
00:40:03you that you just can't go well Clemson's one of the best teams in the
00:40:06ACC they should easily dispatch this team we'll wait is a really good head
00:40:10coach with one of those teams that he built together which he's not gonna be
00:40:13McNeese all that much longer at this point the midnight the majors I should
00:40:16say are gonna come calling but for me I think McNeese pulls off that upset over
00:40:20Clemson I could that's what I'm rooting for when you get into the numbers it
00:40:23doesn't look all that great we have to understand this it's hard to compare now
00:40:26like first like competition right McNeese is the real deal they really are
00:40:29they are really good on the defensive end of the floor which is not something
00:40:32you often see at the mid-major level you might have some talented offenses the
00:40:36pokes can certainly do it a lot of veteran presence on this team as well
00:40:40water Copeland Christian shoemake and of course maybe America's most popular
00:40:44manager in Amir Khan that leads them out the tunnel each and every time last year
00:40:49people look at McNeese DRS in a similar spot 12-5 matchup against Gonzaga the
00:40:54Pope's got ran out the gym they lost that game by more than 20 points hoping
00:40:58for a better result this time around Tennessee is the two-seed 18 and a half
00:41:02point favorite against the champions out of the SoCon that would be Wofford the
00:41:08Terriers back into the big dance for the first time since 2019 bottom portion of
00:41:13that bracket I think there is some opportunity to make a run we talked
00:41:18about Tennessee the two Kentucky is the three they will take on Troy the
00:41:22champions from the Sun Belt first time for the Trojans into the NCAA tournament
00:41:27in their six seasons led by head coach Scott Cross Kentucky doesn't play a lot
00:41:32of defense there are ten and a half point favorite if Kentucky were to get
00:41:35to their round of 32 matchup and take on Illinois a team that is also not known
00:41:41for its defense I'll tell you right now it's a blind bet to the over whatever
00:41:44that total is it would be a blind bet to the over also understanding this it
00:41:47feels like that's the perfect matchup for Illinois at that point for me when I
00:41:50look at Illinois and how they play a basketball game in the Big Ten it's like
00:41:53yeah they can't get out and run but some of those teams like let's just say
00:41:55Michigan State can slow down play good defense and frustrate them Kentucky's
00:41:58not gonna frustrate them they're gonna go up and down the court which again
00:42:01will feed into a higher scoring number for me I have Illinois getting through
00:42:05but also Tennessee I've been beating Wofford I've been beating Utah State
00:42:08there's any Utah State is a legitimate chance to upset UCLA so in that sweet 16
00:42:12matchup Illinois and Tennessee defense versus offense I usually lean towards
00:42:16defense at that point so Tennessee I think they should wind up in the Elite
00:42:19Eight both you and I were pretty high on the Illini and the Boilermakers to make
00:42:23some noise this past weekend in Indianapolis in the Big Ten tournament
00:42:26both incredibly disappointing at certain spots Illinois got ran out of Madison
00:42:31Square Garden by Duke they respond with four quality victories four consecutive
00:42:35covers they get ran out of the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indy by
00:42:39Maryland and BRS of course Illinois awaits the winner of the play-in game
00:42:44the first four matchup of the 11 seeds Texas and Xavier the Longhorn seven quad
00:42:49one victories presented plenty of quad one opportunities in the SEC and now
00:42:54healthy they entered the SEC tournament having dropped seven of their final nine
00:42:58games in the regular season but they get back one of their vocal leaders one of
00:43:02their defensive leaders in Kendall Weaver and they have one of the most
00:43:05talented freshmen in the country in Trey Johnson they take on the Musketeers
00:43:08Wednesday night in Dayton again if I'm looking for a Dayton and we always know
00:43:11the rims a little bit tighter and Dayton a little bit tough you know quick
00:43:14turnaround you know logistics are always tough I lean on the team that had
00:43:17the tougher conference schedule and that's Texas to me by far because if I'm
00:43:21looking at a team that's in the tournament that I think can do some
00:43:23damage or maybe can it's not so much the games that they lost it's more of the
00:43:27games and they win like what's their a level like what is their a plus level
00:43:30game can they handle their business that's where I'm going to go in that
00:43:32game it's Texas bad defeats can kick you out of the big dance but you also want
00:43:36to prove you have the quality of a team capable of knocking off teams are going
00:43:41see now in the NCAA tournament I don't care if you can win a quad three game
00:43:45can you beat the teams in front of you on your march through the madness Texas
00:43:49the two-and-a-half point underdog I already bet the Longhorns on the money
00:43:52line to play a small spoiler on Wednesday night in the other line up
00:43:57next of course with a country focused on college basketball some headlines from
00:44:02around the weekend outside of who made the field of 68 in the men's NCAA
00:44:07a tournament three years for Villanova without seeing the big dance DRS of
00:44:11course some changes are probably going to be made on the main line after a
00:44:15three-year tenure replacing the legend that was Jay Wright Kyle Neptune's time
00:44:20as Nova's head coach has come to a close Neptune fired at the conclusion of
00:44:26Villanova's appearance in the Big East tournament falling in their second game
00:44:29to UConn no real surprises DRS when you're a Villanova team and a program
00:44:35that has failed to go dancing for three consecutive seasons that Neptune gets
00:44:39the axe and also tough shoes to fill overall I mean you're filling in for a
00:44:42Jay Wright multiple-time national champion at a historic program like
00:44:46Villanova when he steps away you're hoping for that extension which means
00:44:49still some of Jay Wright's guys in there get your foot in the door maybe
00:44:52struggling year number one maybe make the tournament maybe don't but
00:44:55everything after that in the landscape of college basketball is on you because
00:45:00this is no longer let me get for recruiting recruiting classes in here to
00:45:04make sure that I understand that everybody's on the same page everybody
00:45:07has the transfer portal you can be horrible one season like the Missouri
00:45:10Tigers in the SEC bring in some transfers new coach change the game here
00:45:14and bang there you go right back in it to the other one that you go but for
00:45:17Villanova you go 17 and 17 18 and 16 and 19 and 14 without making it into a
00:45:22conference tour excuse me raking it to the March Madness dance that's
00:45:25unacceptable but also understand this to better the longer you get away with him
00:45:28well maybe you can turn the corner you're three years down the road four
00:45:31years now kids are going like I don't remember when Villanova was good why
00:45:34would I go to that program as opposed to Jay right go in your living room I'm
00:45:37gonna make the NBA I'm gonna be a great guard you want to win here and go to a
00:45:40great school you come here but you know what I can buy into that buying in the
00:45:43Villanova right now tough sale you start to lose some of that national
00:45:46relevancy that Jay Wright had built with two national championships in 2016 and
00:45:512018 it is a very difficult thing to be the guy after the guy right to be that
00:45:57bridge gap trying to start a new era on the mainline for Villanova did not work
00:46:02out for Kyle Neptune who of course was an assistant under Jay right for a very
00:46:06long time then coached at Fordham in the interim before he was hired at Villanova
00:46:11now over three years ago this year a little bit more difficult to swallow as
00:46:15well he had the nation's leading score in Eric Dixon and still unable to reach
00:46:20the NCAA tournament more coaching changes on Friday in the Big Ten after
00:46:2515 seasons in Iowa City Fran McCaffrey ousted by the Hawkeyes in his final
00:46:33moment TRS in a game where Iowa was getting beat by Illinois in a high
00:46:37scoring affair on Thursday night in Indianapolis Fran as he was often
00:46:44comfortable doing if you will say are often able to do got ejected for losing
00:46:49his cool a little bit embarking at a ref 15 years for Fran McCaffrey 7 NCAA
00:46:55tournament births he is the winningest head coach ever for Hawkeyes men's
00:46:59basketball he did a lot of great things but in the last few years in Iowa City
00:47:04did not work out and it felt as though a change needed to be made been there a
00:47:07long time and expectations for Iowa maybe not national championship level
00:47:12but also something could sell your brand on is every couple years man we're gonna
00:47:15make a run sweet 16 maybe the lead 8 maybe a final 4 maybe a championship
00:47:19game to get over that hump but the thing that always brought Fran down is once
00:47:23you get to the tournament yeah that's great you have the coaching do we have
00:47:26the acumen do we have the players to even get at least in like the round of
00:47:2932 or sweet 16 never really winning those type of games so nobody I don't
00:47:34think anybody looks at these two fires yeah I can't even believe that happened
00:47:36no it's understandable it'll be interesting to see who those next guys
00:47:39are to your point about Fran McCaffrey and the Iowa Hawkeyes a lot of talent in
00:47:43the last half decade Luca Garza Keegan Murray Chris Murray but never a sweet 16
00:47:49appearance in those seven trips to the big dance of course keep an eye on a
00:47:53couple of Iowa guys Aaron DeVries who is now at West Virginia Ben McCollum born
00:47:59in Iowa City the head coach of a very successful Drake team that has risen up
00:48:04the ranks Indiana did not make the NCAA tournament we know Mike Woodson is
00:48:09stepping down after a splendid career for the lifelong Hoosier many names to
00:48:15pay attention to around these programs there was some thought maybe DRS Kevin
00:48:20Willard Maryland's head coach could be in consideration for the Villanova job
00:48:24the Terps said take all that Under Armour money and pay Kevin Willard top
00:48:29ten highest paid coaching college basketball big-time extension ahead of
00:48:33selection Sunday and by the way good coaches out there love openings where
00:48:36they're aging be like maybe my guys in line for this job and if you're a good
00:48:40coach you certainly don't want to leave your university and your university
00:48:43doesn't want you to leave and that means more money in your pocket the
00:48:46minute you are mentioned for another job when you're a good head coach instant
00:48:49payday for the guys congratulations I think James Franklin got a raise with
00:48:52Villanova right exactly job as things happen welcome back to the early line
00:48:58live right here on this Monday morning on sports great the coach joins us live
00:49:02in person in studio as well that is James young day why we were together last
00:49:07night on bracket central selection show reacting to all we saw once the NCAA
00:49:12tournament bracket here in 2025 was released in JY we will continue to do
00:49:17that here on this Monday on TEL we will set the stage for everything that you
00:49:23need to know before you fill out your bracket we will make sense of the
00:49:27madness we will give you round of 64 looks we will talk about the upsets and
00:49:31of course the March through the madness all the way to a final four in San
00:49:35Antonio JY thank you for being here bright and early on this Wednesday
00:49:43I am yeah he looks good by the way coaches get fired at the end of the year
00:49:48not this coach right here's with us all the way through let's go
00:49:51yes we're talking last night yeah Rick Pitino Richard Pitino yes first father
00:49:55son duo ever yeah so when conference coach of the year awards in the same
00:49:59season we're thinking that one of JY's daughters Wow come ahead coach maybe the
00:50:03distinction carries over to the small young family that happened I'll be the
00:50:08that's fine you're our coach of the year though I'll tell you that much all right
00:50:14as we look at the NCAA tournament bracket here for the 2025 big dance our
00:50:1986th ever NCAA tournament there it is in full might be a little small on your
00:50:25screen to read everything but don't worry that's what we are here for JY a
00:50:30lot of takeaways that you can have when you look overall at the bracket whether
00:50:34it was a team that made it that you did not feel it was deserving whether it was
00:50:38a team seated incorrectly either up or down what were some of your main
00:50:42takeaways from last night's selection show I think we talked about it last
00:50:46night Ben is the inconsistency of the tournament committee when are we going
00:50:50that are we going quad one are we going how you play because it seemed like the
00:50:54target move depending who it was right no bigger case North Carolina a team
00:50:59that had the strength of schedule but didn't have the quad one win you know
00:51:03had opportunities numerous times to solidify themselves in the field so when
00:51:08you see them get in the tournament and they use the net I guess for them would
00:51:13be one of the metrics besides the strength of schedule but then you take a
00:51:17look at a team like you know a Boise State right who went and played other
00:51:23teams and won games won games on the road won neutral side games like West
00:51:28Virginia going into Fog Island and getting a win right then you start
00:51:33looking at the other part of it the seating part of it right so Carolina
00:51:38gets in but we're not gonna move Gonzaga off of their line even though their net
00:51:46was in the top ten I just thought it was wildly inconsistent who got in and where
00:51:52teams got seated it is because the thing that Ben and I were talking about coach
00:51:56was it wasn't that if we're upset that UNC got in but the talking points were
00:52:00even coming into the ACC tournament was well look at us Carolina's got to make a
00:52:03run and win that thing or they're going home they need to get to the ACC
00:52:06championship game and still made it in and the expectations when we saw the you
00:52:09know cut the coaches talking about it last night and also the commissioners
00:52:12was like well yeah we're gonna move them off one line and put them back in I just
00:52:16I don't need that information at the end of it give me that information more of it
00:52:19but having said that if we look at the one seeds coach is there a region or a
00:52:23one seed that you feel got over seated on the one line under seated and also
00:52:28which one seed you think has the toughest task here in the tournament
00:52:31well I think first and certainly when you look at it I think the one seeds
00:52:35were right yes right if you look at the totality of what the season was now
00:52:40could you argue should Auburn been the overall one seed losing three in the
00:52:45last four games I think it could have been Duke I think you could have made a
00:52:48case for the fact that they also be I know it was in Cameron but they have a
00:52:51head-to-head with you can look at Florida with the fact that they're
00:52:54playing really let's be honest folks they had the best weekend of anybody in
00:52:58the way that they played you know she's been done them so to me yeah that's the
00:53:02only thing not who got see the one but where are they lying that overall number
00:53:06one seed could be a little bit of an argument when you start looking at like
00:53:11who's in the most danger you gotta look at I'll say this Duke has the easiest
00:53:16path in their top half for the draw I don't believe in Mississippi State or
00:53:19Baylor we better talk about Liberty could pick off Oregon
00:53:23Akron could pick off Arizona all those things are absolutely in play what
00:53:28becomes interesting is is these eight nine matchups Donnie become really
00:53:32really interesting to me Gonzaga we just talked about a team that was not see the
00:53:36properly top of the net they could possibly gives you to the battle because
00:53:40of their experience and the coaching of Mark you you go to the south I look at
00:53:45Ryan Kalkbrenner which Ryan Kalkbrenner do we get if he's that dynamic 7-1
00:53:51center he could give tonight broom trouble and then there's Yukon two-time
00:53:57defending national champions it's not ball it's not McNeely it's everyone else
00:54:03there was talk about after they lost they did not leave New York City I've
00:54:08been breezy talk about this on Edison why this morning they had a two-hour
00:54:11film session to figure it out if you are a team I don't know if you want to
00:54:17see an angry Yukon team because of they if they button it up defensively I make
00:54:21a consistent play out of the veteran guys the caravans right the Johnson's
00:54:26and Dior's they could win a second round game there's been a lot of change of
00:54:30course for this Connecticut roster from the team that just won two consecutive
00:54:34national championships but a couple of pieces as JY just highlighted Alex
00:54:39caravan Hassan Diaro Samson Johnson that have been there as they have won
00:54:43two consecutive titles and of course the same head coach in Dan Hurley will go
00:54:48portion by portion region by region around the NCAA tournament and JY let's
00:54:53start in that South region where the number one overall seed Auburn does
00:54:57reside we talked about the Tigers you talked about their path to representing
00:55:01this region in a final four give us two other teams to know in the South region
00:55:06that you think could make a deep run of a big dance well number one it's Iowa
00:55:10State if they're healthy Ben let's be honest this is a this is a top six to me
00:55:14top 17 in the country if they're healthy well that's the problem yeah if they're
00:55:20healthy that's been a big problem with T.J. Osterberger overall but if you talk
00:55:24about a team to watch out for maybe a little bit of a run how about coach
00:55:28Jones and you know this is a team that did it last year in the SEC in the 13-4
00:55:32game they could do it again and don't be surprised folks if Michigan who
00:55:37struggled to shoot the ball yesterday could UC San Diego pick them up and have
00:55:43a possible 12-13 matchup in the round of 32. Yale last year pulled the upset over
00:55:48the four seed of the SEC in Auburn who's the one seed in that same region the
00:55:53South region this year 10 of the last 14 NCAA tournaments we have seen a 13 seed
00:55:59pick off a four seed in the opening round of 64 Yale a seven and a half
00:56:05point underdog against Buzz Williams and his Aggies from Texas A&M we will
00:56:09continue to break down the bracket live right here on this Monday on the early
00:56:14line how else would you like to spend your Monday after selection Sunday and
00:56:20with three guys on this desk breaking down the bracket live right here on the
00:56:25early line Donnie right side James Young the coach and myself Ben Stevens we
00:56:29continue to go piece by piece region by region around the 2025 men's NCAA
00:56:34tournament a look at the women's big dance later in our third hour as well we
00:56:39started with the South region with a number one overall seed in the NCAA
00:56:43tournament that would be the Auburn Tigers resides now let's go to the east
00:56:47region J.Y. Duke on the top line out east and of course the national championship
00:56:53favorites as well on this Monday morning at plus 310 you said of all four
00:56:59one seeds Duke had the easiest path why well I just look at the fact that
00:57:03Mississippi State overachieved Baylor underachieved we think that Liberty could
00:57:07pick off Oregon and you don't know which Caleb what you're gonna get so right
00:57:11then and there that pathway in the top half of the draw seems to be favorable I
00:57:17would say for Duke and I think they have the easiest of the eight nine match of
00:57:21winners out of the other with the other three when you go to the bottom half of
00:57:26the draw that's what things get interesting you are you can they go to
00:57:29the leading yes I can also lose a piece to you in the very first round Wisconsin
00:57:32oh my god can you make a jump shot please for the love of God make a jump
00:57:36shot because that was atrocious the three of us want to beat you guys in a
00:57:40three-point shootout and Donnie really thinks that he's a shooter out of the
00:57:43room I think it may be better I'm the rebounder but then you look at also the
00:57:47St. Mary's intriguing team and Alabama what do we get out of Alabama team that
00:57:53looked better defensively but the person I focused on last night Grant Nelson
00:57:57which right now so we're gonna get the one that gets in the foul trouble gives
00:58:01you 46 points the ones who have banged up and injured or the one that was an
00:58:05absolute assassin versus Auburn in that game where they won last week coach I
00:58:10want to talk to you about Duke here because let me put you in the coach's
00:58:13seat you got Cooper flag maybe the best team overall in the country with the
00:58:16best player how do you handle a situation around one coach could they
00:58:19come to him hey you know what looks like he's ready to go coach round one you
00:58:22said let me let them play the second game how do you approach Duke in this
00:58:25region well the fact that you only get a one-day turnaround one day of practice
00:58:29if Cooper flag is ready to go I think we play him but I think you're limited in
00:58:33the minutes you do typically most schools will have a bike behind the
00:58:37bench or in the tunnel what I would do if I'm if I'm John Shire I warm him up I
00:58:43let him start I probably play him about eight nine minutes of first half get him
00:58:47to the bench rest him let him use the warm-up of the second half and play
00:58:51another eight to nine minutes of the second half just to get the rust off of
00:58:55them what happens with that ankle is once you stop moving it starts to
00:58:58tighten up so to me loosen him up warm him up play him sit him for the half
00:59:04wrench repeat in the second half Duke an additional day of rest as well they
00:59:08don't play until Friday they will take on the winner of the Wednesday first
00:59:11four game between the 16 seeds that would be American University the
00:59:15champions out of the Patriot League and Mount St. Mary's the Mount the champions
00:59:18of the Mac so if Duke's top half of the East region is favorable JY let's look
00:59:24at the bottom portion of that bracket the two seed is Alabama they can out
00:59:28score anybody in college basketball but because of the tempo the defense can be
00:59:32a little bit shaky we mentioned Wisconsin Big Ten tournament runner-ups
00:59:36an offense that has been lights out this year in Madison the lights were not
00:59:40there yesterday for the Badgers in that Big Ten tourney title game and just a
00:59:44quick update on Grant Nelson he is seeing a knee specialist on this Monday
00:59:49according to Tide head coach Nate Oates the hope is still that he will be ready
00:59:54to go for the round of 64 you've got a Vandy team into the big dance for the
00:59:57first time since 2017 sensational job by Mark Byington in his first year in
01:00:02Nashville and never overlooked st. Mary's led by Randy Bennett and that
01:00:06veteran presence out of Moraga California how do you make sense of the
01:00:10bottom portion of the East region that to that to seven matchups would be
01:00:15fascinating because you want to talk about a contrast of styles if you know
01:00:18what's a run it up shoot as many threes get pace going versus one of the best
01:00:22defensive teams and they they put on clinics offensively and they get the
01:00:28game to be played at their pace but you still look at Wisconsin a team that when
01:00:34they shoot the ball well from three look at their game versus you see like
01:00:37they can absolutely bludgeon you to death since people like and they have
01:00:41the ability to defend and the most important thing with this when you play
01:00:44against Wisconsin when they get the lead then they bleed the clock makes it very
01:00:49hard to come back first in Wisconsin if they have the lead yes absolutely so the
01:00:52Badgers are the three seed they're an 18 and a half point favorite and they're
01:00:56opening round games out of the mud against the Montana Grizzlies the
01:00:59champions out of Big Sky territory last night on the show as we were picking up
01:01:04sets JY going piece by piece throughout this bracket you like VCU in that open
01:01:09around of 64 against BYU quickly why do you like the Rams I just like the way
01:01:13they defend and the fact that they have multiple guys to score against you BYU
01:01:17if you run them off the line they don't knock down threes this is a VCU team
01:01:20that could pick it off if they play their pace just a two and a half point
01:01:23spread that matchup in the round of 64 is Thursday afternoon still plenty to
01:01:29come when our number three comes up next live right here on this Monday on the
01:01:34early line welcome to our number three our third and final live right here in
01:01:40person in studio on a Monday morning on the early line on sports grid he's DRS
01:01:46daddy right side he's JY James Young the coach and I am Ben Stevens we will
01:01:52continue to break down the bracket for the 2025 men's NCAA tournament region by
01:01:57region seed line by seed line the upsets in a path to a national championship in
01:02:03final four appearance it is a three-week run in a tournament known for its chaos
01:02:08defined by its madness our national championship game exactly 21 days from
01:02:13now in San Antonio Texas inside the Alamo Dome so as we get going here in
01:02:19this third and final hour it's not Barry the lead we got to hear from the people
01:02:22yeah a top the NCAA tournament bracket on the one line which of our four number
01:02:28one seeds is gonna be gone from the dance the earliest we had to ask
01:02:33you in faith the public
01:02:40at sports grid on Twitter which number one seed will be the first to be
01:02:45eliminated in the NCAA tournament Auburn the number one overall seed Florida Duke
01:02:51or Houston the Blue Devils at this moment the national championship
01:02:56favorites and guys would you look at this nearly 37% of our fade the public
01:03:01poll think the number one overall seed in the Auburn Tigers are getting got
01:03:06first out of the four teams on the one line the RS you fit in the public yeah I
01:03:11did I faded the public because I'm going with Houston and I'm gonna make my own
01:03:14public poll at this point right now because yes he's a come on we're fading
01:03:18the SEC and when the people going 37% Auburn getting knocked out with one of
01:03:22the best players in the country playing the toughest in the conference that
01:03:25they're gonna slip up against a team they shouldn't slip up against no shot
01:03:28for me I went Houston at 28% so for me I'm not backing the public with this one
01:03:32I'm going against the public I'm taking Houston this one by the way Florida down
01:03:36there 12.9% I mean you would get on that train right now it's running it's running
01:03:40wild boys but here we go here comes the Big East guy right here to tell you that
01:03:45it could be Auburn I think it is Auburn because of the fact that you have to
01:03:49look at the three last four games they have not played well I've talked about
01:03:52you want to get the bad game out of your system what happens when you have a bad
01:03:57week and a half there's a lot that needs to be fixed sometimes your
01:04:00confidence gets shaken even with these are college kids folks their confidence
01:04:04gets shook and you look at a team with Creighton with a great coach with a 7-1
01:04:09center on Ryan Kalkbrenner the four-time defending Big East player of the year like Ben
01:04:12mentioned last night and Patrick Ewing only player to win it four times in a row
01:04:16which is a defensive player sorry defensive player of the year so to me Kalkbrenner is a
01:04:21type of center that could give Jani Broome fits and you do have Ashford
01:04:26capability to knock down shots to me they're the most dangerous team but you
01:04:30still have to knock off the defending national championship you got I think
01:04:34they have a favorable matchup versus Oklahoma what do you get out of Dan Hurley's team
01:04:41that can either lose in the first round or they can make another run it is very
01:04:45interesting to look at the Gators the fourth and final team on line but very
01:04:50deserving of it who has been on an absolute heater the last month and a
01:04:54half of this college basketball campaign of course culminated by an SEC
01:04:58tournament title this weekend in Nashville but they're the final team on
01:05:02the one line they have the least amount of votes in the fade to public poll and
01:05:05they're about a 32 game more than likely is against the team that has won two
01:05:10consecutive national championships of course UConn is now playing at that ilk
01:05:14as of right now or throughout the majority of this season but still when
01:05:19it comes to March when it comes to the tournament no team the last two years
01:05:23has been more dominant nor impressive than Connecticut in fact JY you can make
01:05:28an argument that it's winning a national championship in the last 20 years no
01:05:32team has been more impressive in doing so than what Connecticut has done each
01:05:36of the past two years perfect of course 12 and 0 but also 12 and 0 against the
01:05:41spread all 12 wins by at least 13 points average margin of victory just shy of
01:05:4522 points per game last year a positive point differential of plus 140 they were
01:05:51annihilating teams on their way to a second consecutive national championship
01:05:56but Donnie your pick was the Houston Cougars one seed out of the Midwest there
01:06:01was a couple of questions about this Coogs team when they joined the big 12
01:06:05dominant in the American for the better part of a decade but how would they fare
01:06:09in the big boy conference that is the big 12 well two years in the league two
01:06:14consecutive regular season crowns and a tournament title this weekend in Kansas
01:06:19City as well DRS when you look at the Midwest region why do you think Houston
01:06:23could be susceptible to an early exit because again that the question is right
01:06:27the early exit like I look forward and I say I actually have Houston getting to
01:06:30the final four but if there's a legitimate chance for them to get beat
01:06:33let's just say before the round of the sweet 16 it's game number two Georgia's
01:06:38coming out of the SEC which we know how tough that conference is and correct me
01:06:41if I'm wrong Georgia did knock off Florida who we think might be the best
01:06:43overall team in the tournament case number two if it's not Georgia it's
01:06:47Gonzaga game took right out of the gate at this point I love Houston I love the
01:06:51way they play they're grimy they're fantastic they have shot makers they
01:06:54have guard play they have a great coach who can certainly carry them but I just
01:06:57look at that next matchup after winning round number one is a tough one for me
01:07:01do I think Houston lose it no is there a chance they can yes that's where I went
01:07:05well I think because obviously Gonzaga is dangerous and they have the
01:07:08category and they have their coach so that that makes them very dangerous and
01:07:13to me Houston the worry what Houston has always been not the defensive side
01:07:17of the floor it's the offensive side of floor particularly tight games late
01:07:21where it's just like give it to Marcus that's go get a bucket you know go get
01:07:25it to Jamal said go get a bucket they're different this year with Cryer right
01:07:30what who's on and then to me the difference maker to me has been the play
01:07:35of a manual sharp as of late yes three guards go get a bucket but are you
01:07:40telling me they're not gonna easily roll Gonzaga because Gonzaga is really
01:07:44tight and they can won't be ready to play you see the odds right there Houston
01:07:48of our four number one seeds has the longest price to win a national
01:07:51championship the longest number of any of the one seeds to win their specific
01:07:55region as well and there's good reason for it Gonzaga is the eighth ranked team
01:08:00in Kenpom the ninth best team in the net rankings and on the eight line the Zags
01:08:05have a plus 850 price to win the Midwest region to represent this portion of the
01:08:10bracket in the final four in San Antonio and they are the eighth seed but
01:08:15yet the third best price to win the Midwest region as you see right there
01:08:20and we're talking about the number one seed to get plucked off early doesn't
01:08:23have to be by the end of the opening weekend could just be before everybody
01:08:27else that is on that one line as we've often shared cream rises to the top in a
01:08:32tournament defined by its madness you can pick your opening round upsets you
01:08:36can find those Cinderella runs to get to the second weekend it may be even
01:08:40beyond but often when it comes to winning a national championship it is a
01:08:44number one seed for the last five national title winners a one seed the
01:08:48only one not UConn two years ago when they were on that four line we have seen
01:08:5313 of the last 17 national champions be a one seed as well but the idea that all
01:08:59for number one seeds reach the final weekend and a final four it has only
01:09:03happened once back in the 2008 NCAA tournament in fact DRS we've only seen
01:09:09three of the four one seeds get to the final four just five times since the
01:09:14field expanded in 1985 absolutely and that's always the calling card for how
01:09:17hard it is to win a national championship you might want to take a
01:09:20look at the NBA the NHL or professional football is only one the same plane is
01:09:23you have one bad game you're going home and it's quality competition after
01:09:27quality competition where they don't care about injuries don't care about
01:09:30what you did the day before the matchup styles change on a game-to-game basis
01:09:33it's fantastic because if you are looking at those four teams go yeah they
01:09:37also make the final four we know that doesn't happen guys no I love it that's
01:09:40what the tournament makes it I think depending on 18 to 22 year old kid
01:09:44correct and now with the transfer portal NIL I think it shrinks everything right
01:09:50now there's a shrink everything in regards to the number one seeds there's
01:09:53more propensity for upsets because these low and major teams have more
01:09:58continuity they've been around longer they understand each other so to me
01:10:01madness gets crazier with the NIL and the portal I mean you have teams like
01:10:06Drake that have elevated in a level together following Ben McCollum from
01:10:10Northwest Missouri State where they were a four-time national champ and now
01:10:14playing together in the Missouri Valley Conference having a historic and program
01:10:18record-setting season a 30-win basketball team in that West region we
01:10:23will talk about the West region on the other side of the break to dive deep
01:10:26into this portion of the bracket we'll talk some players to know we'll talk
01:10:30some final four prices we'll do all of that with the coach James young JY on
01:10:35the other side of the break because really when you look up and down the
01:10:39West region so many storylines in a team DRS the public is in love with yeah
01:10:46Florida they expect to be along for the long all in the big dance Donnie is into
01:10:51the game as well we'll talk more about it on the early line up next we welcome
01:10:57you back to this Monday morning live right here on the early line and now a
01:11:00deep dive into the West region and the 2025 men's NCAA tournament and as we
01:11:05said going to break you go up and down this portion of the bracket and there
01:11:09are so many things to know and so many headlines of course that will fill out
01:11:13the conversation you have maybe the most dangerous team in the country in Florida
01:11:17as the one seed in the West region then you have the two time reigning champions
01:11:21as the eighth seed in Yukon you got the champions of the American Memphis you
01:11:26have maybe the hottest team in college basketball winners of ten straight as
01:11:30the 12th seed in Colorado State you've got a very talented Maryland team you've
01:11:34got a Grand Canyon team that has made it to the big dance in four or five years
01:11:37under Bryce drew Missouri in the turnaround year-over-year by Dennis
01:11:42Gates they had zero wins in 19 games at SEC play a year ago now a six seed we
01:11:48talked about Drake Texas Tech is the three seed UNC Wilmington the champions
01:11:53out of a coastal led by a very talented young head coach into ko sittle Kansas
01:11:58the priest he's a number one team against John Calipari in Arkansas in
01:12:03your 710 opening round matchup st. John's and all the notoriety following
01:12:07the Red Storm and Rick Pitino and hi all the trash cans the Omaha Mavericks into
01:12:12the big dance for the first time in program history
01:12:15here why we just laid it all out right there which headline comes to your mind
01:12:19first and foremost that's it that's yeah that's all we got my son with that we
01:12:25could spend the next three hours just talking about this bracket right here
01:12:28but the biggest storyline is profit and to see that I mean did you anybody have
01:12:35it on their bingo card that st. John's was gonna be a two seed I know they're
01:12:40gonna be better after Petito ripped his team last year yeah I didn't expect this
01:12:44but I expect the Kansas females number one in the country getting Zeke Mayo and
01:12:48AJ Storm do I expect them to be 17 absolutely not I expect Arkansas to be a
01:12:5310 no of course not so to me that matchup Pitino versus self or Pitino
01:13:01versus Calipari that is the matchup made of heaven and that's probably gonna be
01:13:08whatever it is because Sunday that's probably be like the Sunday prime time
01:13:13spot they want that game because of the star power on the bench yeah it should
01:13:18be a fun one to watch it play out too and if we do get there that's made for
01:13:21TV action but coach so many times you take a look at yes we think Florida
01:13:24might be the best team in the bracket or st. John's is ultra talented but people
01:13:27like to know about some legitimate upset contenders you take a look at the 12 C
01:13:31Colorado State and the 11 C Drake if I ask you this one question I give you
01:13:34over one and a half victories in the tournament between Colorado State and
01:13:39Drake do they get there or no over I think the second biggest storyline is
01:13:48how many upsets are coming out of this read let's go a Drake team that I think
01:13:52could be seated way higher than 11 they just got the legacy because of Drake and
01:13:56where they are but that team could absolutely Colorado State is hotter than
01:14:00fish grease and while I was with Kevin Walsh yesterday during the Memphis game
01:14:04and they are completely out of control they endanger what's the absolute load
01:14:11but how good he's all over the place we don't know if Tyrese Hunter is gonna
01:14:15play because he missed the championship of the American Colorado State was
01:14:19really hot when it's an H3 games they could get a win and then you look at
01:14:23Maryland versus Grand Canyon experience guys back fosters back this team could
01:14:29pick off Maryland you could see 13 you could see 11 you could see 12 and then
01:14:35you have intriguing 710 matchup and Rick Patel did say this he said we can get to
01:14:40the final four or we can lose in the first round if that game is tight and
01:14:45St. John's has been blowing everybody up can Omaha feel the game ah the Mavs are
01:14:51going to keep it close it's been a historic year for Chris Crutchfield and
01:14:54Omaha in what they have done keep an eye on Markel Sutton for this Omaha team
01:14:59the Summit League player of the year and just for Memphis a really intriguing
01:15:03season for the Tigers not overly dominant in the American despite winning
01:15:07both the regular season crown and the tournament title but after the
01:15:11non-conference slate for Penny Hardaway and his Tigers we thought they were
01:15:14going to run away with it they've got non-conference wins against Missouri the
01:15:18sixth seed in this bracket against the two-time reigning champs in UConn out in
01:15:22Maui they beat Michigan State in Maui they did lose to Auburn in Maui by 14
01:15:27points but they've got non-conference wins against Clemson and Ole Miss as
01:15:32well this is a tried-and-true Memphis team but they've been a little bit
01:15:36helter-skelter Dane Danger has been great to transfer from Illinois P.J.
01:15:40Haggerty in the quarterfinal win for the Tigers over the weekend in AAC tournament
01:15:44action at 42 points one of the best guards in the country in college
01:15:49basketball. J.Y. we're going to talk about the women's tournament on the other
01:15:52side of the break so before we go let's make sure that we give the people a
01:15:56round of 64 upset that you like the most and a national championship pick as well
01:16:02let's talk about round of 64 either best bet or an upset which game are you
01:16:06talking? McNeese State plus the points I think this is a team they were a hot
01:16:13team last year and they got their doors blown off oh no I don't know if it's
01:16:18because of Will Wade I don't know if it's a swagger in his team I don't know
01:16:22if it's the manager but anyway I'm slicing and dicing I like McNeese State plus the
01:16:27points sprinkle in the money line I think they go out and they beat Clemson in the first round.
01:16:31I like it now also coach we're taking a look at the top end of that spectrum
01:16:34how about a disappointing team? Let's get the crystal ball out right now and be like you know what
01:16:38this team based on you whatever criteria you want is going to disappoint you
01:16:42coach who is it? Well I think Oregon is highly over. Yeah. I don't think they're a five seed.
01:16:47Listen Dana Altman wins every year he's done a great job at Oregon for a long
01:16:52time was a great coach over at Creighton before that I just worry that that
01:16:56Liberty team give them problems and I'm gonna look at the Big Ten and it's going
01:17:01to be a tricky game in 413 in high point Purdue. Yeah. Ben and I talked about it
01:17:06last night if high point can protect the ball or they turn over a lot they could
01:17:13spring an upset and if you're Purdue do not get into a track get the ball inside
01:17:18the coffin red. Neither team plays especially fast but both teams very
01:17:22efficient offensively neither all that strong on the defensive side of the
01:17:27floor so we've got a round of 64 upset in McNeese picking off Clemson a team
01:17:32that reached the elite eight a season ago we've got a couple of disappointing
01:17:35teams that could flounder in the big dance. KY you'll be with us in our next
01:17:39segment but as we focus on the men's NCAA tournament one last time with you
01:17:43who's cutting down the nets exactly three weeks from tonight in San Antonio.
01:17:46I like Houston. In fact they have the guard play, they have the coach, they rebound well, they
01:17:51need to run Roberts to get back their guard playing enough scoring to give
01:17:55them the next championship with 7-1 odds. A 7-1 prize for the Houston Cougars the one
01:18:00seed in the Midwest region the back-to-back champions in the regular
01:18:04season out of the Big 12 and a team that in its last five appearances in the NCAA
01:18:08tournament has at least reached the second weekend so the opportunity should
01:18:12be there.