KillerFrogs' writers Nick Girimonte and Davis Wilson recap the Big 12 tournament and discuss Oklahoma missing the tournament before taking a closer look at TCU’s first round draw and making a few bracket predictions for all eight Big 12 teams.
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00:00:00 Welcome back to Frog Fever, a Big 12 basketball podcast brought to you by KillerFrogs.com.
00:00:07 My name is Davis Wilson.
00:00:08 With me as always is Nick Germani.
00:00:10 And Nick, we finally have a bracket.
00:00:12 We have a real bracket.
00:00:14 It's Sunday.
00:00:15 The bracket was revealed probably an hour and a half ago.
00:00:17 So this is a fresh action.
00:00:22 We made it.
00:00:23 This is March.
00:00:24 This is March.
00:00:25 Yeah.
00:00:26 I'm salivating over looking at this bracket right now.
00:00:31 TCU has made it after all the doubters.
00:00:34 Big 12 tournament.
00:00:36 Maybe that that win over Oklahoma was a little bit more important than we might have happened
00:00:40 because we saw it happen there.
00:00:42 But absolutely, I'm super excited.
00:00:44 Three straight tourneys is insane.
00:00:46 This is March best time of the year.
00:00:49 I just came from the selection show.
00:00:52 It was all good vibes there.
00:00:54 Yeah, I'm ready to get into it.
00:00:56 Yeah, so we obviously we have our bracket.
00:00:59 We have TCU's matchup.
00:01:03 We have all the Big 12 matchups.
00:01:04 But before we get into that, we should talk a little bit about the Big 12 championship.
00:01:11 Big tournament that finished up, I guess it was yesterday in Kansas City.
00:01:19 Initial reactions, Iowa State looked really good.
00:01:24 I'm not super worried about Houston.
00:01:26 I think that was a bad loss, but they're still very good.
00:01:32 I think it tells you more about Iowa State.
00:01:34 But what are your thoughts on the way that tournament ended up?
00:01:38 And you know, how shocking was that 30 point loss for you?
00:01:43 Yeah, for sure.
00:01:46 We were both in Kansas City.
00:01:47 So I got to see it firsthand, which was exciting.
00:01:51 My first reaction to the tournament was it was all pretty chalked for the most part.
00:01:54 It was a little bit underwhelming in terms of insane games.
00:01:57 Like it was a lot of blowouts and stuff like that.
00:02:00 And what I took from it is that home court advantage matters there.
00:02:03 I mean, those Iowa State fans were at that house and it was Hilton South there.
00:02:08 And Iowa State looked dominant.
00:02:10 You know, there were even arguments that they should have been a one seed knocking up North
00:02:14 Carolina just because of their momentum going into it.
00:02:18 But yeah, they look tough.
00:02:20 Houston looked great, too.
00:02:22 I think Jawan Roberts, you know, that ankle, he may not be 100 percent.
00:02:26 He heard that in the Tech game, which is kind of scary.
00:02:29 But yeah, we saw Houston's weaknesses and we saw their strengths.
00:02:33 They just dominated TCU and Tech on their way to the final with the defense and frustration.
00:02:39 But they showed their offense can go South and when they're not getting stops on defense,
00:02:45 it can be bad for them.
00:02:46 And Iowa State was hitting shots that day.
00:02:48 So props to them.
00:02:50 They were amazing all year.
00:02:53 And I think that gives them a lot more optimism going into the tournament because we didn't
00:02:57 know what they would be away from home.
00:02:59 You know, I thought they would be a little more dependent on home.
00:03:04 I guess it's a little bit of a gray area because when it wasn't home, as I said, like their
00:03:09 fans made it seem like home.
00:03:10 So I'm interested to see what it's going to look like on a real neutral site.
00:03:15 But props to them.
00:03:17 Yeah, like I said, Kansas showed, I think another big takeaway that they injuries are
00:03:24 going to affect them like they got blown out by Cincy.
00:03:28 K State made a little run there.
00:03:29 It was it was a big tournament.
00:03:31 It's always fun.
00:03:32 I don't think this one was anything spectacular with games or anything, but it was great to
00:03:36 be out there and just see what it was all about.
00:03:38 Because that was my first time in KC.
00:03:41 Yeah.
00:03:42 Yeah, they do a good job.
00:03:43 That tournament's a lot of fun.
00:03:44 Yeah, like the Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State fans were packing that thing out.
00:03:51 So the Iowa State beats Houston 69 to 41, just a complete domination.
00:04:00 And they finished fifth in Kim Palm, which is pretty crazy.
00:04:06 They the craziest thing for me as I'm looking here on Kim Palm is they now have the number
00:04:12 one defense in college basketball.
00:04:15 They overtook Houston, Houston's number two now, which is really crazy to me because Houston
00:04:21 was number one, I think, literally every game until the last one.
00:04:26 So I would say it is for real.
00:04:28 And that's a team that is going to I mean, anybody who has to play that team and miss
00:04:36 NCAA NCAA tournament is just as sure as tough.
00:04:41 Yeah, holding a team to 41 in a college basketball game is insane.
00:04:45 And especially against what at that point was the number one team in the country.
00:04:49 And they were kind of firing on all cylinders, Shed was getting that offense going.
00:04:53 But everyone just went cold for Houston.
00:04:55 And that's I think it's credit to the fans and the Iowa State defense because they can
00:04:59 really suffocate a team when they're on point.
00:05:01 And that's exactly what happened.
00:05:03 So there's a I think, taken out of the tourney, I think you have to trust Iowa State more
00:05:10 than Houston at this point, just because they've, they're, you know, you just got to get hot
00:05:14 at the right time.
00:05:15 And right now, Iowa State is hot at the right time for the big 12.
00:05:18 And there's a real argument that they're one of the most fierce teams.
00:05:24 And I think that puts them in the natty conversation for sure.
00:05:26 I think you have to acknowledge that because they just won the best conference in the country.
00:05:31 And they did a pretty, pretty emphatically.
00:05:34 So yeah, definitely a win for the Klusac.
00:05:38 They're the big winner out of that thing.
00:05:40 Yeah, absolutely.
00:05:41 Yeah, just a really, really solid, strong finish to the season for them.
00:05:47 And they're gonna take all that momentum with them.
00:05:49 But looking at this bracket now, eight big 12 teams make the tournament that's tied for
00:05:54 the most in the country with the SEC.
00:05:57 Yeah, what do you want to what do you want to get into here first, because we can look
00:06:01 at some of these matchups, we can look at, you know, maybe some snubs.
00:06:04 What do you want?
00:06:05 What do you want to get into here?
00:06:07 Yeah, I think it just acknowledges that TCU or not TCU, the Bay, the whole big 12 is the
00:06:14 best conference in the nation.
00:06:16 Yes, they were tied with SEC.
00:06:17 But I think the thing that's different is a lot of these teams are probably more dangerous
00:06:24 than SEC teams.
00:06:25 Like I think you'd have your Houston, your Iowa State is 90 contenders, your Baylor's
00:06:28 up there too.
00:06:29 When tennis or when the SEC only had like, Tennessee, maybe Kentucky, you know what I
00:06:36 mean?
00:06:37 But they're, um, yeah, it's, it's definitely a kudos to the big 12.
00:06:42 I think Jamie Dixon was talking about in the press conference how they were being big 12
00:06:46 has been called out for how the way they scheduled games, but it really didn't affect them.
00:06:50 And that's just what people say when you're at the top, like, wait, that's just a sign
00:06:54 that you're winning is you're winning that it's it was a super interesting clip that
00:06:58 he was kind of like, flexing, almost to the press that, you know, they were right in that
00:07:06 it does help you do long-term scheduling a week or non-conference kind of playing the
00:07:12 rankings game because the committee does take into account nets and Ken Palms and all these
00:07:17 different types of things.
00:07:18 So I think it shows that maybe TC will have a similar non-con next year because it didn't
00:07:23 really in other big 12 teams.
00:07:26 But I think the big story here, and we were kind of talking about it recently, I think
00:07:30 you even brought it up a couple of weeks ago is how Oklahoma was, was fading late and it
00:07:36 really became a 50/50 shot, I think, and they were probably I think they're the last team
00:07:42 out or the first team out and yeah, just what a roller coaster ride for them being number
00:07:50 nine in the country coming into the to the conference that first week of the year with
00:07:54 the only lost UNC and just kind of blowing it late and it makes you think of the TCU
00:07:58 fan as with such a good week for bids dealers in college basketball that if they would have
00:08:07 blown that game to OU, we'd be in the spot they were in.
00:08:11 So that just showed how big that was and we can talk about more of a TCU standpoint, but
00:08:15 OU being left out is probably the story of the selection Sunday for me for sure.
00:08:22 Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
00:08:24 It's just they yeah, they've just kind of been they've been like you said fading for
00:08:32 probably about a month now, maybe more than that.
00:08:35 They've just kind of been slowly, gradually kind of falling off.
00:08:39 And yeah, we expressed our concerns about them kind of I mean, for because for a long
00:08:46 time, even when they were losing, the bracket ologies had them in, you know, they weren't
00:08:51 even really in the bubble on the bubble, so we didn't even really talk about them as a
00:08:55 bubble team at all.
00:08:58 And then all of a sudden, they are, you know, eight and 10, they finished eight and 10,
00:09:05 the big 12, which, you know, I think the I think the kind of spot you want to be is nine
00:09:13 and nine.
00:09:14 That's kind of where height where you know, if you get there, you feel like you're going
00:09:17 to be in.
00:09:19 So eight and 10, all of a sudden, you're like, okay, they got to go.
00:09:23 They got to go win one or two games in this big 12 tournament.
00:09:27 They're not healthy.
00:09:28 They don't have their guys.
00:09:29 Although it was weird because Porter Moser after the game was talking about how the guys
00:09:35 were going to be ready this week.
00:09:37 So I, I don't know if he, you know, I don't want to say he was arresting those guys anticipating
00:09:44 a big 12 or an NCAA tournament birth.
00:09:47 But it was weird.
00:09:48 I mean, they didn't have their guys and TCU beat them.
00:09:51 It was it was we'll get into this game later.
00:09:53 But they didn't take care of business down the stretch.
00:09:56 They lost, you know, twice to Texas, the last game of the season was a blowout loss to Texas.
00:10:05 It's just they lost.
00:10:06 I guess if you include that TCU game, they lost four out of their last five games.
00:10:12 And that's just not going to get it done.
00:10:14 And I feel for him because they were probably in 24 hours ago, maybe a little more than
00:10:20 24 hours ago, you'd say they're in and yesterday was a day of a bid Steelers and it was a really
00:10:26 rough day for the bubble.
00:10:28 And so, you know, teams like TCU are really fortunate that they were able to get a win
00:10:33 in the conference tournament, I think.
00:10:36 Yeah, it's definitely a it was a roller coaster week.
00:10:39 And one of emotion for Oklahoma, like you come in feeling pretty confident, you know,
00:10:44 you're an attorney, all of a sudden, you kind of knew Hugh Glean swore as we're out, but
00:10:49 then McCollum gets out.
00:10:51 And yeah, even at the start of the week, the Porter Moser, DePaul rumors, I mean, he shut
00:10:56 those down, like the day after recording the pod.
00:10:59 So that became nothing.
00:11:00 And then that job got taken.
00:11:03 So and then, yeah, you, you have to think in that situation that Moser felt that, oh,
00:11:11 you was safe when they play TCU.
00:11:14 Because if you're playing with stuff on the line, you're putting your players out there
00:11:18 if they are able to play at all.
00:11:21 Yeah, having McCollum, Hugh Glean, Suarez, three of your best players on your team out
00:11:26 in the Big 12 tournament game just shows that, oh, like, we don't really need this one, we
00:11:34 could stay in, you know, let's just get these guys healthy when it matters.
00:11:37 But it turns out, you when not knowing what the best dealers are, yeah, you better feel
00:11:42 as safe as possible.
00:11:44 And even TCU got a little bit of scare and Eman went down there for a second, we thought
00:11:49 it might have been worse than possible.
00:11:50 Thank God he's good.
00:11:51 But yeah, notes taken for next year, I think is you got to finish 500 to make the tourney
00:11:59 that was cut black and white.
00:12:01 You know, you finish 500 you're in you don't you're out.
00:12:05 nonconference schedule doesn't matter as much as people thought it did.
00:12:08 And you can play the system.
00:12:09 And I think that will continue to happen with a lot of the Big 12 teams in nonconference.
00:12:14 And you better, you better never feel safe when it comes down to it.
00:12:18 So yeah, a lot of lessons learned here.
00:12:22 And it's, it's interesting to see how the committee works year after year, because you
00:12:26 know what they value, there's a lot of new analytics coming about.
00:12:29 But it's interesting, because oh, you got, I don't think they got screwed, because they
00:12:36 weren't great good late.
00:12:38 And I don't even think they deserve to be in like, I agree with the committee's decision.
00:12:42 But it shows how much you value metrics, I think, because they had a bad Ken Palm and
00:12:46 they had a bad net.
00:12:48 And that matters when it comes down to it, not just games and not just conferences and
00:12:52 not just I test people look into these metrics, especially nowadays, and you better make sure
00:12:58 that you you plan to, to be successful when it when it comes down to it.
00:13:04 Yeah, yeah, it was like you said, we were there and I got a chance to listen to Porter
00:13:09 Moser after the game.
00:13:11 And I mean, his attitude was like, it's not even a question we're in, like, he didn't
00:13:17 really even entertain the possibility of them being on the bubble.
00:13:20 He was extremely confident.
00:13:22 He said, you know, the team is going to be fully healthy for the first time in a long
00:13:26 time next week when we play any, you know, it's just the way he spoke.
00:13:34 I think I mean, they 100% thought they were going to be in regardless of what happened.
00:13:39 And, you know, in college basketball, conference tournament season, anything can happen.
00:13:45 And I think Oklahoma learned that.
00:13:47 And yeah, it's just, you know, and who knows how severe those injuries that, you know,
00:13:54 Hugh Lee and McCollum had, but obviously, you want to have those guys out there and
00:13:59 what, you know, ultimately ended up being the biggest game of their entire season.
00:14:05 They weren't out there and TCU beat them.
00:14:08 So yeah, they just didn't finish well.
00:14:11 And you can't, you can't really get by like that.
00:14:14 And I feel, you know, I feel for those players and the coaches because they clearly 100%
00:14:22 expected to be in regardless of losing to TCU.
00:14:24 And now they're not in.
00:14:26 And I agree with you.
00:14:27 I don't think they really deserve to be in.
00:14:29 We talked about that a long time ago, that, you know, maybe Oklahoma wasn't as good as
00:14:34 we're all thinking.
00:14:35 And it ended up being the case.
00:14:37 They just didn't have enough to get it done.
00:14:40 Yeah, I think, um, recency matters to the committee a lot too.
00:14:46 You know, who's hot at the right time and who's not.
00:14:47 I was talking to RSSID about that.
00:14:50 And they're like, yeah, like, I believe that they take that into consideration.
00:14:54 So they're of their last seven games or eight games, if you include the TCU game, they were
00:15:02 two and six with only wins to Oklahoma State and Cincinnati at home.
00:15:07 So when you're fading that bad going downhill, like no one wants to see you play because
00:15:14 you know, you're a much different team than you were at the start of the year when you
00:15:17 started out 10 and 0 or whatever it was like that.
00:15:19 So yeah, playing your best ball at the right time matters.
00:15:24 And TCU probably took a hit in this, like if they were to lost that game, because they
00:15:29 hadn't been playing their best ball yet too.
00:15:31 So it was like if TCU didn't win that game, that would be it would be the most nervous
00:15:38 like three days of the year.
00:15:40 And even when they won that game, they're still on Linardi's bubble.
00:15:43 A lot of people are getting on Linardi this past week.
00:15:46 You know, it's fun getting pissed at the bracketologist looking at it, but this is the only thing
00:15:49 that matters.
00:15:50 And yeah, so very interesting things to take away from the bracket.
00:15:56 And you've got to make note for what they look for, especially going into future, future
00:16:00 seasons.
00:16:01 Yeah.
00:16:02 Yeah.
00:16:03 Let's get into this bracket a little bit.
00:16:05 Let's kind of take a look at it dissected a bit.
00:16:07 So eight, eight big 12 teams get in.
00:16:11 Let's see if I can remember off the top of my head.
00:16:13 Houston's a one seed.
00:16:15 Iowa State's a two, Baylor's a three.
00:16:18 What else we have Texas Tech is a six.
00:16:20 BYU's a six.
00:16:24 This is a four and then we're a nine.
00:16:30 Texas is a seven.
00:16:31 I think that's all of them.
00:16:32 I think we can.
00:16:34 So looking at these matchups and I know, you know, obviously this bracket is fresh off
00:16:39 the off the printer.
00:16:40 Yeah.
00:16:41 It's but do you have any of the do you have any matchups that are intriguing to you or
00:16:46 any of these teams on upset watch are, you know, maybe which which of these teams do
00:16:51 you think has the best chance at exploiting the bracket and making a bit of a run?
00:16:56 Do you have any of those observations?
00:17:00 Yeah.
00:17:01 Yeah.
00:17:02 There's a there's a couple teams that are interested.
00:17:04 There's a couple matches that I'm super interested in obviously the TCU one just because we're
00:17:09 we're TCU, a TCU podcast.
00:17:12 But two of them big to me because Texas Tech, NC State I think is big.
00:17:17 You know, NC State's on this crazy hot run and Texan playing good ball too, but they're
00:17:23 probably America's team right now.
00:17:25 NC State.
00:17:26 Yeah.
00:17:27 Yeah.
00:17:28 DJ Horn to they got the DJ there.
00:17:30 But yeah, just it's interesting with these hot teams that aren't good in the regular
00:17:35 season, but are just playing insane right now.
00:17:39 Texas Tech and BYU are running into two of those.
00:17:41 Duquesne when the a 10, you know, Dan brought it, you know, LeBron's old high school coaches
00:17:47 balling over there.
00:17:49 But yeah, so looking at Texas Tech and NC State, how good NC State is right now if they
00:17:56 can carry it over because Tech, they showed that in a big tournament, I didn't think they're
00:18:02 going to be BYU that game, but they handled them pretty easily.
00:18:05 So that game's big and then the BYU Duquesne game is also big.
00:18:10 And then whoever comes out of the Texas, Colorado State, maybe, or Virginia, whoever wins that
00:18:17 playing game is big.
00:18:19 And then I'm interested to see what Kansas is going to look like, because it sounds like
00:18:22 McCullough and Dickinson are going to play in the NCAA tournament, but they could be
00:18:26 rusty.
00:18:27 So I don't know much about Sanford, but if they can, you know, get hot, Kansas could
00:18:32 be vulnerable too.
00:18:33 But the two big games are the two six seeds that I'm looking at Tech and BYU because they're
00:18:37 playing two hot teams who just won their conference.
00:18:41 Yeah.
00:18:42 Yeah, I think so Sanford.
00:18:45 I didn't, I don't know a ton about them.
00:18:46 I read a little bit.
00:18:47 I think they shoot a lot of threes and, you know, have a pretty exciting offense.
00:18:54 And the thing about Kansas is even when they're healthy, they have their problems.
00:18:57 And we've talked about their problems all year.
00:19:00 Obviously you want to have those two guys, McCullough and Dickinson, because it does
00:19:04 raise their ceiling exponentially.
00:19:07 They immediately become one of the most dangerous teams in the country, but they have those
00:19:11 problems and I'm really interested to see, you know, that those, that four 13 matchup,
00:19:18 there's usually a 13, four upset, usually some five, 12 upsets.
00:19:22 I don't think there's any five seed big 12 teams though, but that, you know, that four
00:19:26 13 line things can happen.
00:19:28 And then I will mention this right above them in the bracket is McNeese State with the Sade
00:19:35 Wells.
00:19:36 I think if, if Sade can take care of Gonzaga, Kansas might be having nightmares again about
00:19:44 Sade Wells and, you know, remember remembering what he did to them for TCU and Lawrence last
00:19:50 year.
00:19:52 So that's something to watch.
00:19:54 The thing I'm pretty interested in Baylor at the three in the West region, because the
00:20:00 West, in my opinion, looks to be really gettable.
00:20:04 Like North Carolina is a one seed there and I don't think they're a one seed.
00:20:10 It's interesting because obviously they've been really good all year, but they kind of
00:20:15 fade away late.
00:20:16 They're nine and Ken Palm.
00:20:20 And then Arizona's there at the two, which Arizona's good.
00:20:24 But I think Baylor definitely has a chance to come out of the West.
00:20:29 They have Colgate first and then they'd get New Mexico or Clemson and both those teams,
00:20:35 you know, TCU fans are familiar with Clemson and New Mexico has been an exciting team all
00:20:40 year.
00:20:41 But I think that Baylor could take advantage of kind of what feels to me like a weaker
00:20:46 region.
00:20:49 So that's something to watch as well.
00:20:51 And then obviously we don't know a ton about what's going to happen with Texas because
00:20:54 they don't, we don't have their matchup, but that's a team that could make a run as well.
00:20:58 So there's a lot of fun things to look at in this bracket.
00:21:01 I think, I mean, we finally made it.
00:21:05 It's here.
00:21:06 We have, we just have a bracket to look at.
00:21:07 It's awesome.
00:21:08 Yeah, no, that Baylor.
00:21:09 I like that you brought up that Baylor region because of the top 10 teams there who none
00:21:17 of them won their conference tournament outside of St. Mary's.
00:21:21 Shout out to the Gales.
00:21:22 But Baylor, yeah, Baylor has a path.
00:21:26 I think New Mexico is very capable of beating Clemson in that first region because they're
00:21:31 hot right now, one of the Mountain West.
00:21:33 But yeah, that's a fun game.
00:21:37 And we know Baylor can get hot and be as good as any team in the nation when they're on
00:21:42 point.
00:21:43 They weren't in the NCAA tournament when they played Iowa State.
00:21:48 Like their offense just went flat and that Iowa State defense beat them up, to put it
00:21:53 frank.
00:21:54 But yeah, I mean, tons of good matches.
00:21:55 And obviously we're not mentioning the top seeds because their first round matches aren't
00:21:59 great.
00:22:00 But yeah, I mean, obviously Houston just lost, but Houston's Houston.
00:22:05 Like they're going to make a good run and they get like a Duke at the four and the Elite
00:22:10 Eight or even like a Nebraska and A&M round two.
00:22:12 Those guys are insanely hot right now.
00:22:15 So yeah, I mean, Houston and Iowa State later in the run are obviously the one.
00:22:20 It's just, you can talk about any match and get excited because it's March and just looking
00:22:25 at the scenes and looking at matches and thinking about the moments.
00:22:28 It's awesome.
00:22:29 Yeah, it is awesome.
00:22:32 We can kind of look at the TCU side of things in a second, but do you have a team based
00:22:38 on where they were put, based on who their potential matchups are?
00:22:42 Do you have a team that you like the most to make a final four run?
00:22:47 You know, Houston, Iowa State, Baylor, Kansas.
00:22:51 Do you have a, which of those I guess would be your favorite to get there?
00:22:56 Yeah, I think, God, it's so tough.
00:23:01 I mean, obviously you'd say like Houston just because they're one seed and I think, you
00:23:08 know, they could go on.
00:23:09 But like in terms of sleeper teams.
00:23:11 Yeah, give me a sleeper.
00:23:15 God.
00:23:16 I think, I think if, if BYU could get hot, because I think they're going to beat Duquesne.
00:23:25 They could beat it.
00:23:26 Yeah.
00:23:27 And then Illinois, too.
00:23:28 And you have, God, I don't even have a thing pulled up.
00:23:33 But yeah, and then you, I guess Iowa State's in that region too.
00:23:36 So it's, it's so tough, but I just know that BYU team can get hot.
00:23:40 And I think Duquesne is kind of a favorite matchup for them.
00:23:43 I know they're hot.
00:23:44 I've seen them before, like, it's every game is interesting.
00:23:46 But yeah, I think they'll take care of that Illinois that too.
00:23:50 But I mean, Tech, yeah, that sixth spot, they have a path.
00:23:55 Iowa State, like, at that two line, I think they have a pretty favorable like, I think
00:24:00 Wazoo or Drake both aren't like crazy talented.
00:24:03 So I think they'll be able to take care of that in the second round.
00:24:08 And end up playing maybe BYU, maybe in Illinois, something like that.
00:24:12 But yeah, there's a lot of teams you could talk to Seth when new, but if I had to pick
00:24:17 one, yeah, maybe BYU is that pick.
00:24:19 Yeah, I like that.
00:24:21 Yeah, I like that.
00:24:22 And I like the right on the other side, the Texas Tech, like you said, if they can get
00:24:27 past NC State, which, you know, who knows, because NC State is arguably the hottest team
00:24:32 in the country right now.
00:24:33 They're have a ton of momentum.
00:24:36 They get either Kentucky or Oakland.
00:24:38 And I think they could absolutely beat Kentucky just the way that Kentucky.
00:24:41 Yeah, Kentucky is so hit or miss.
00:24:43 Never really know if Kentucky.
00:24:44 Yeah.
00:24:45 So Tech, also, we'll get into it too.
00:24:48 But I think TC like, yeah, Homer as well.
00:24:53 But I think if obviously you have to go through Purdue, but I think they do somehow pull that
00:24:58 off.
00:24:59 I think there's a there's a path there and kind of a weaker section of the spot.
00:25:03 Yeah, for sure.
00:25:06 We'll make we'll make some predictions later on in the episode, I guess, if if you don't
00:25:11 have anything else, just generally in the Big 12, we can take a quick break and get
00:25:18 a little more specific with TCU stuff.
00:25:20 Yeah, let's do it.
00:25:22 That work for you?
00:25:24 Yeah.
00:25:25 All right.
00:25:26 We'll be back in a sec.
00:25:27 Okay, we're back.
00:25:30 We are going to talk some TCU.
00:25:33 The bracket, the NCAA bracket came out probably two hours ago.
00:25:38 TCU is a nine seed playing against Utah State, an eight seed.
00:25:42 We'll get into that in a second.
00:25:45 But first, let's just do a very brief recap of the Big 12 tournament because they played
00:25:51 two games, went one on one.
00:25:55 And that Oklahoma win, as we said a few minutes ago, ended up being a much bigger win than
00:26:00 it seemed like when it happened, right?
00:26:04 Yeah, no, for sure.
00:26:05 I mean, that game got us into the tournament.
00:26:08 And when you look more specifically that game, you know, when you saw McCallum and Hugh Glenn
00:26:13 Suarez were out in the border, there was a rumor I know he shut him down the day before,
00:26:17 but you still have that kind of distraction going on.
00:26:20 I personally felt pretty good about this game.
00:26:23 And they came out good.
00:26:25 You know that the switch to Chuck in the starting lineup was fire.
00:26:28 He was Chucco marching it up.
00:26:30 You know, slinging it from all ends, getting us off to a hot start.
00:26:33 E-man was a dog.
00:26:35 Like he said it was going to be a dogfight.
00:26:37 He made it a dogfight.
00:26:38 He put up one of his best games of season 26 on 9 and 13.
00:26:43 You know, he was crazy.
00:26:45 Jameer was nice.
00:26:47 You know, I think Jameer's pretty firmly taken that spot as our best guard.
00:26:52 And we can now rely on him going forward.
00:26:55 More than ever, Mike, it was good on D. You know, it was a...
00:26:58 Jacoby is nice on the bench. It was a complete team effort.
00:27:01 Uday, I want to note, is playing some of his best ball of the season.
00:27:04 And Jameer said that he was limping coming into that game and almost didn't even play.
00:27:09 So to get that level of play out of him is huge.
00:27:12 And especially when you look at our matchups, you know,
00:27:15 Utah State's placed there a big, big man.
00:27:16 And you know who's big man in Purdue if we win that.
00:27:20 So Uday is going to be massive for us going into this journey.
00:27:24 And it's awesome seeing him play his best ball and be healthy at this point.
00:27:27 But amazing game. I was stoked about this win.
00:27:32 Just getting that good feeling about the team, which was...
00:27:36 We were down about, you know, at the end of the year, coming off that UCF loss.
00:27:41 I think we played some of our best defense of the year.
00:27:43 Jamie noted in the Big 12 tournament.
00:27:46 Against Houston even, too.
00:27:48 But yeah, that Oklahoma win was awesome and secured our spot for sure.
00:27:53 Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned Jameer because I think he and Uday, like you said,
00:28:01 I think both those guys are starting to be more consistent in how they play.
00:28:07 Like, obviously we had some really great Jameer moments throughout the season,
00:28:11 but I feel like the last couple games, even though there have been some losses,
00:28:15 I think he just seems like he's settling in a little bit, which is huge.
00:28:20 You need a point guard that you can rely on in March.
00:28:25 You just have to have one.
00:28:27 So I think he's kind of settling in and becoming that guy for them.
00:28:31 And yeah, Chuck, getting the start was really electric.
00:28:35 He immediately made an impact.
00:28:40 And I wonder if that's something that Jameer's going to stick with.
00:28:43 Yeah, I asked him that today in the presser.
00:28:45 He said, yeah, he ran that line in because Chuck has been defending
00:28:50 as well as anyone, and he keeps saying that he's just going to put the best five defenders
00:28:55 out there, and Chuck is one of those guys.
00:28:56 So I see it rolling on in the journey for sure.
00:28:59 Yeah, well, that's awesome, then.
00:29:01 I think that's a good decision from Jameer.
00:29:04 And yeah, that was a good game.
00:29:05 It ended up 77 to 70, but really it was--
00:29:09 TCU was in control for a lot of the whole game, really.
00:29:12 Oklahoma made a little bit of a run at the end.
00:29:15 But it never really felt like we were there, and I don't ever--
00:29:19 Yeah.
00:29:20 --ever feel uncomfortable about if TCU was going to hold on.
00:29:23 I was pretty sure that they were going to do enough, and they did.
00:29:28 Yeah.
00:29:29 And it ended up--
00:29:30 I think we kind of--
00:29:31 Yeah, I think we kind of played a little bit like trying to run out the clock a little
00:29:35 bit, like trying not to lose almost, which I didn't love to see because I think you want
00:29:40 to just keep playing your offense and free-flowing.
00:29:43 But that kind of hurt us at the end, making it closer than it was.
00:29:45 But I hope that doesn't become a trend and that we blow some-- we've seen us-- we get
00:29:51 a big lead and then we try to slow it down and not play the way we're supposed to play
00:29:56 as TCU, as the fast-paced team that we are.
00:29:59 And then it bites us in the ass.
00:30:01 So yeah, that was the only downside, really, from that game.
00:30:06 Yeah, that is a good point because TCU is what TCU is.
00:30:10 And when they get-- we've seen it a lot this year, actually, and it's cost them.
00:30:15 We see sometimes when they come out and they are themselves, they score, they run, and
00:30:24 they're making shots.
00:30:25 And then they get this lead and they try to be a different team, and they're just not.
00:30:29 So I don't know if we're going to see a big TCU lead in the tournament.
00:30:34 It's possible.
00:30:35 But if they do get out to a lead, they have to play their brand of basketball, and they
00:30:41 can't try to slow it down because that did almost affect the outcome of the Oklahoma
00:30:47 game.
00:30:48 But Oklahoma had a 1-0 lead, like 30 seconds in, and then never led again.
00:30:52 So TCU was pretty dominant all game.
00:30:57 And like you said, Emmanuel Miller was arguably the best game of the season for him.
00:31:04 I think of Georgetown and a couple others that stick out.
00:31:08 But that was huge, especially now that you know how big that game was.
00:31:15 His performance was just massive.
00:31:16 So big there.
00:31:19 And then we'll talk about the Houston game a little bit.
00:31:24 It was just really, really tough sledding, kind of what you expect when you play Houston.
00:31:31 It didn't bother me a lot because Houston is really good.
00:31:36 And I think that when you don't have them at home, it's a whole different dynamic.
00:31:41 But yeah, obviously TCU didn't look very good.
00:31:45 But I think it was more of a credit to what Houston is able to do to their opponents.
00:31:51 Yeah, before we get into Houston, I do want to add that that Mikey Peavy shot at the end
00:31:57 of the half of the OU game.
00:31:59 Just shout that out.
00:32:00 That was awesome.
00:32:01 You know, he has a bad pass to get it back to three quarter court.
00:32:05 And who knows what it would have looked like if he didn't have that shot, you know, once
00:32:08 you get closer in the end.
00:32:09 So that's probably the play of the tournament.
00:32:11 To be honest, I was fired up after seeing that.
00:32:14 But yeah, going into the Houston game.
00:32:16 It was just bad vibes from the start.
00:32:18 I don't think we had a bucket for 10 minutes.
00:32:22 I was fired up to start the game about five minutes in.
00:32:24 I was like, all right, I've had enough.
00:32:28 But I mean, they were they were getting Yeah, they were missing layups to you know, they
00:32:36 they had like, they had the looks a lot of looks.
00:32:39 Yeah, that's what I mean.
00:32:40 Like when you play against Houston, Houston's defense, we've gone on and on.
00:32:43 They're one of the best in the country, are probably the best in the country.
00:32:48 When you get looks against them, you have to take advantage.
00:32:51 And they had labs, they had threes, they weren't hitting literally anything.
00:32:55 Nobody had a good game.
00:32:56 That's Micah, all right, but that was mostly garbage time anyways.
00:33:01 But yeah, a 15 point loss to Houston.
00:33:04 I think a lot of people were panicking after that game.
00:33:07 But a 15 point loss to Houston is not the end of the world.
00:33:10 And yeah, it just sucked because we had some opportunities that we should have hit on offense.
00:33:16 And it's funny because our defense was good and our offense is bad, like really bad.
00:33:21 And that's been the opposite of what we've had all season.
00:33:23 That's what Jamie was saying today.
00:33:24 He was like, I was actually pleased about the defense against Houston.
00:33:26 We just got to make labs.
00:33:27 It's like, you know, we've worked on layers, we work on hitting open shots.
00:33:31 Like that's what that game came down to.
00:33:33 We weren't making anything.
00:33:34 And especially I want to point out to you guys that I want to see bounce back a lot.
00:33:39 We said Jameer is the best guard, but Avery Anderson and Trey Tennyson, they've been bad
00:33:46 recently.
00:33:47 And they've been really bad.
00:33:48 Yeah, they've been struggling bad.
00:33:51 And they are going to be massive because our guard depth is not big.
00:33:54 Like those guys will get minutes.
00:33:56 And I think Trey has to get minutes, especially because he can stretch the floor of the shooter.
00:34:00 But they have to play better if we want to win games in the tournament.
00:34:03 And it's those two are the biggest guys that I would worry about.
00:34:09 I would say, you know, when we have to when we're getting pressured by guards, because
00:34:14 that's been what's been happening to us and being able to hit threes.
00:34:18 Trey's been so good at throughout the whole year and Avery is a facilitator.
00:34:21 Like those guys will be massive for our success.
00:34:24 And they were bad in both games in the tournament.
00:34:26 So and have been bad, you know, down the stretch in the season.
00:34:29 So I want to see them get better.
00:34:30 But in terms of whole team issues, I don't really put take much out of this game at it,
00:34:37 just missing shots.
00:34:38 And I Eman didn't practice today off that ankle injury.
00:34:42 He said he's going to ramp up noncontact and I obviously expect him to play in the tournament.
00:34:47 But just getting him to be as healthy as possible and then just those two guards playing better
00:34:53 because we're not going to have that bad of a shooting part.
00:34:55 Like we're not going to shoot to 20 and 15 to 53 in another game of season.
00:35:00 So yeah, getting the guards better and getting Eman as healthy as possible, because that's
00:35:04 going to be what drives your offense in the tournament.
00:35:08 Yeah.
00:35:09 Yeah.
00:35:10 I think the one thing you can take away from the one kind of positive is they rebounded
00:35:17 the ball really well against Houston.
00:35:18 And that was a point of emphasis that Jamie made after the Oklahoma game.
00:35:23 He said that if they wanted any chance against Houston, they'd have to rebound.
00:35:27 And they did rebound.
00:35:28 So I guess you can find a positive there.
00:35:32 They just didn't really take advantage of winning on the boards, especially offensive
00:35:39 rebounds.
00:35:40 They got a ton of offensive rebounds just, you know, they couldn't put anything back.
00:35:44 They got no second chance points.
00:35:46 Yeah.
00:35:47 Just kind of a frustrating game.
00:35:48 But there's at least that to look at.
00:35:50 Yeah, I think they had more offensive rebounds than points in the first half, which is insane.
00:35:56 Crazy.
00:35:57 Yeah, they're getting one like every possession.
00:36:00 Yeah.
00:36:01 Have you seen the times for the games yet?
00:36:05 I've not.
00:36:06 I just got them and you're gonna like them.
00:36:09 I think.
00:36:10 What is it?
00:36:11 So on Friday night, you're gonna have a good Friday night.
00:36:13 We have at 855 on TBS is TCU, Utah State.
00:36:17 That's the second to last game of the night.
00:36:19 We're always that we've been that spot against Seaton Hall two years ago and last.
00:36:25 Yeah, so yeah.
00:36:28 So at 855 TCU tips at 905, you're gonna have to do a screen.
00:36:32 We have Grand Canyon, St. Mary's.
00:36:34 Oh, I actually don't like that.
00:36:39 I know.
00:36:40 I want to put my whole heart in it.
00:36:45 I was thinking about actually getting a flight to Indy to get a press pass to that game.
00:36:52 But like, yeah.
00:36:53 Who knows what the gals?
00:36:54 I don't know.
00:36:55 We'll see.
00:36:56 We'll see.
00:36:57 We'll see.
00:36:58 Yeah, that's tough.
00:36:59 Yeah, they got the TBS group.
00:37:01 So it's like Kevin Harlan and Van Gundy on the call, which is pretty cool.
00:37:05 I like that.
00:37:06 Yeah.
00:37:07 I do like the Friday night time because I like when you're able to be safe for the majority
00:37:14 of the first couple games.
00:37:15 Like it would suck if you have the first, you know, morning Thursday game and you're
00:37:19 out like that.
00:37:20 Like you at least get to enjoy the madness for the first couple days.
00:37:24 Pretty safe.
00:37:25 But yeah, no, that happened to me when when we played BYU a couple weeks ago, and it was
00:37:29 BYU St. Mary's, Gonzaga at the same time.
00:37:33 And I was I was going back and forth.
00:37:36 So I guess I'm gonna have to do that again.
00:37:38 But that's a bummer.
00:37:39 Yeah, I'm gonna be locked in Friday night for sure.
00:37:41 We're gonna have to be on on on 100 that night.
00:37:44 Yeah.
00:37:45 But yeah.
00:37:46 I guess looking more.
00:37:47 Yeah, Utah State.
00:37:48 You want to get in there?
00:37:49 Yeah.
00:37:50 Yeah, go for it.
00:37:51 To the game that will be locked in on Friday night.
00:37:58 Utah State, Utah State.
00:38:00 Utah State is a good team.
00:38:04 Every NCAA tournament team is a good team, but they they won the Mountain West regular
00:38:08 season outright.
00:38:10 And this Mountain West has been one of the best Mountain West of all time and a league
00:38:14 that put six teams in the NCAA tournament.
00:38:16 And for Utah State to win that regular season is massive.
00:38:20 They run through great Ozabor, I believe his name is, they're big man.
00:38:27 He's a Montana State transfer.
00:38:28 He's been going crazy.
00:38:30 And so that's what I mean when we're going to need Uday and Eman on point for that game.
00:38:38 But regardless, yeah, Mountain West is a great team or Utah State is a great team, but I
00:38:45 think TCU is should win this game.
00:38:48 Yeah, I know where the nines in and everything, but Utah State's metrics aren't outstanding.
00:38:56 They're 48 in Kenpom and I believe around the same in net.
00:39:02 They are 38 in net actually.
00:39:05 But yeah, it's an interesting team because when you're a Big 12 fan, you don't really
00:39:11 watch a lot of Mountain West and I haven't really watched a lot of Utah State this year.
00:39:15 I just I just have heard of Ozabor as being an outstanding player.
00:39:23 You know, the transfers have been outstanding players for many teams here.
00:39:26 It's one of the stories in college basketball.
00:39:28 So he's the guy I'm worried about.
00:39:29 I know they don't shoot the three that well.
00:39:31 So it's a lot of interior.
00:39:32 I think that can.
00:39:35 That's interesting for what TCU does on defense, because Jamie's kind of tried out a lot of
00:39:39 different things on defense this year, obviously with our struggles, though, just kind of playing
00:39:43 interior more inside out type of stuff could be interesting.
00:39:48 Yeah, and Utah State defends the three really well.
00:39:51 They teach you 29 percent from three against them.
00:39:55 So that's going to be tough.
00:39:57 Just freeing up guys like because TCU, a big narrative with them is that they can't shoot
00:40:02 three, but they were actually first in the Big 12 and three point shooting all year.
00:40:07 So that's been one of the biggest ways that they've been successful on offense throughout
00:40:11 the season.
00:40:12 And with their big man being like missing time and everything, it's been inconsistent
00:40:16 interior scoring.
00:40:18 So getting Eman inside, you know, that they're and getting a looks, you know, the pick and
00:40:25 roll and everything that that's going to be interesting.
00:40:27 But, you know, I'm stoked for this game.
00:40:29 I like that Utah State doesn't force turnovers a lot because that's been a big issue of ours
00:40:35 and their defense isn't exactly elite.
00:40:39 So I think we can have success against this team.
00:40:41 But you definitely worry about that just because of what they've been able to do in the Midwest.
00:40:46 Yeah.
00:40:47 Ken Palm already has it as a two point win for TCU.
00:40:53 It's 80 to 78.
00:40:54 And obviously, you know, that's not the end all be all.
00:40:58 But I would assume probably they're going to go into the game as favorites.
00:41:01 It's hard to know.
00:41:02 But Utah State is a really good home court advantage.
00:41:05 And I think they benefited from that all year long, obviously.
00:41:09 So on the road, they were still good.
00:41:11 But it's just a different, you know, who knows what they're going to do.
00:41:15 You know, when they're not at home, they obviously you said they won the regular season title.
00:41:23 They only won one game in the tournament on a neutral side.
00:41:26 So in the Mountain West tournament, sorry, on a neutral side.
00:41:30 So that could play a factor.
00:41:32 But overall, I do kind of like this draw for TCU, especially when they were, you know,
00:41:38 there are other options at the 8-9 line.
00:41:40 Like I'd rather play them than like a Northwestern probably or even like an FAU.
00:41:47 There's definitely some scarier options because I assumed we were going to be on that 8-9
00:41:55 line.
00:41:56 And I think that Utah State, while they are really good and definitely they're a team
00:42:01 that should be taken seriously, I think it's a decent matchup for TCU.
00:42:05 Yeah, no, for sure.
00:42:08 Yeah, when we were looking at options, I think that, yeah, a lot of teams would have been
00:42:14 better.
00:42:15 I was looking at a lot of 10-7 lines and stuff like that.
00:42:18 And I think Utah State, like an 8 seed is decently high for them, I think.
00:42:25 But yeah, I love the point you brought up about that home court advantage because TCU
00:42:33 has actually had a lot of success on the road this year.
00:42:36 And Jamie's had a lot of success in tournaments and we have this year too, you know, getting
00:42:41 wins in those neutral side type of games.
00:42:44 But yeah, I think that's a huge advantage of an underrated aspect of March is because
00:42:49 you're away from your home court, you're in an uncomfortable situation.
00:42:52 You don't rely on what you've been relying on all season and being playing conference
00:42:57 teams at your house and stuff like that.
00:42:59 When that's the benefit of losing like games at home is that you're not relying on home.
00:43:05 You can play different styles of games, you can play different places, you can be uncomfortable.
00:43:09 That's exactly what's going to happen here.
00:43:11 And I think that TCU is going to take advantage of that and end up coming out of the win.
00:43:17 But yeah, super interesting game.
00:43:20 That's the first game of the line anyways.
00:43:23 And I'm definitely going to do more research on Utah State going into this week to see
00:43:28 exactly what we're going to look for.
00:43:30 But I mean, it was the board averaging 18 and 9.2 on the season shooting 60% from the
00:43:35 field.
00:43:36 That's the guy you want to look for.
00:43:37 Brown and Martinez are nice guards too.
00:43:40 And they're an experienced team that has played some ball together.
00:43:45 Obviously Utah State with Danny Sprinkle.
00:43:47 Danny Sprinkle is the name thrown out for a lot of big time jobs right now.
00:43:52 And he's done an insane job with them too.
00:43:55 Dixon was giving them a lot of compliments at the presser today.
00:43:58 So I'm super interested to see what this game has to happen.
00:44:01 But I mean, the last two seasons, TCU's had success in that first round.
00:44:05 And as a ninth seed, especially a couple of years back when they took care of Seton Hall,
00:44:09 pretty nice.
00:44:10 So I'm confident for this one.
00:44:12 And I'm very interested to see if we win that one, what it's going to look like against
00:44:19 most likely Zach Eaddy and Purdue.
00:44:23 Yeah.
00:44:24 When I saw that, I was pretty excited because obviously Zach Eaddy is insane and one of
00:44:32 the country's best players.
00:44:34 But in terms of one seeds, that's probably, I mean, North Carolina obviously is a weaker
00:44:40 one seed.
00:44:41 But Purdue's one that I don't really hate.
00:44:45 I think that when you look at what TCU had to do in the years prior, like the Arizona
00:44:51 and the Gonzaga, I think maybe TCU has a better chance against Purdue than those teams.
00:45:02 I don't know really why I think that, but Purdue struggles in March like they always
00:45:07 have.
00:45:08 They never really live up to the hype.
00:45:11 And if they can, Uday's going to be big and trying to stop Eaddy if we get there, obviously
00:45:19 this is contingent on them beating Utah State.
00:45:23 But I really don't hate the prospect of having to play Purdue.
00:45:27 I think Purdue is really good.
00:45:30 They're a very deserving one seed, but there's definitely an opportunity there for TCU to
00:45:37 advance farther than they have before.
00:45:41 Yeah.
00:45:42 And those guards showed vulnerability.
00:45:45 They made mistakes against Wisconsin, Braden Smith especially, with that foul down late.
00:45:50 And when Eaddy's gone in foul trouble, they've struggled.
00:45:54 Obviously Purdue's an outstanding team.
00:45:57 It's going to be an insane matchup if we get to play them, but getting Eaddy in foul trouble
00:46:04 is going to be massive.
00:46:05 Uday, like you said, is going to be massive.
00:46:09 Because those guards are better.
00:46:10 Like Smith, Lawyer, Lance Jones, the guy on the portal, he's been amazing.
00:46:14 They're a much more complete team than they were last year when they lost to Fairdick.
00:46:20 And it's going to be an extremely tough task.
00:46:27 But if TCU wins the first game, the vibes are going to be high.
00:46:31 When vibes are high, that Arizona team was amazing too.
00:46:37 We could beat them and we didn't, but we were a call away from beating them.
00:46:42 So it's going to be much, much worse stuff.
00:46:45 And yeah, I mean, Purdue's lost to Ohio State and Wisconsin in the past, I don't know, two
00:46:52 or three weeks.
00:46:53 And they're vulnerable to get beat, I think more than a UConn right now.
00:46:58 So at least we didn't get matched up against them.
00:47:00 And the formula is out there because it's been done before.
00:47:03 And we're a better team than Ohio State or some teams that have beaten them in the past.
00:47:08 So it can be done.
00:47:09 And if you get past them, you have a Gonzaga or a Kansas, probably Kansas a team you've
00:47:19 already over a call away from beating and Gonzaga is not the same team that were last
00:47:24 year.
00:47:25 So obviously I'm looking way too much behind the line, but there's a path if you can get
00:47:29 it done.
00:47:30 And I'm just excited for what March can bring because when you go to March, you believe
00:47:35 in every team's believing in themselves.
00:47:37 And it's just exciting for the prospects of what can happen.
00:47:40 Yeah.
00:47:41 Yeah, I like the I like that Midwest bracket.
00:47:44 There's a lot of really fun teams.
00:47:46 And like that South Carolina Oregon game is a game that's gonna be really good.
00:47:52 There's three big 12 teams in this, you know, just in this side of the section of the bracket
00:47:58 is TCU, it's Kansas and it's Texas.
00:48:00 So that's pretty, that's a pretty fun.
00:48:06 That's a pretty fun region.
00:48:07 And I think in the grand scheme of it all, like you look at it, TCU is capable of beating
00:48:14 a lot of these teams.
00:48:15 So there's there's a lot that, you know, it always depends on which TCU team shows up,
00:48:22 but at their best TCU can beat a lot of these teams, which is pretty exciting.
00:48:26 So yeah, certainly looking forward to it.
00:48:30 This is just the best time of the year.
00:48:32 And yeah, like you said, all these teams think they're gonna all these teams are looking
00:48:35 at their bracket and their region and saying, yeah, this is good.
00:48:39 We can definitely get it.
00:48:41 But I think Utah State is probably thinking they got a nice job with TCU.
00:48:45 Like it's just, it's what's fun about this.
00:48:47 You got to be optimistic as a fan of the time of year.
00:48:49 And that's, that's exactly what we're doing.
00:48:52 Yeah.
00:48:53 Do you want to kind of look in, look into it and make some predictions?
00:48:59 We don't have to pick the whole bracket, but we can highlight some Big 12 stuff, I guess.
00:49:04 And just kind of see where we are.
00:49:07 Yeah, I like very quickly based on gut, fill down a bracket.
00:49:12 So what could be fun is going through each Big 12 team and see how far we have each team
00:49:18 going.
00:49:19 If you want to do that.
00:49:20 Yeah.
00:49:21 So if you want to start off with maybe lower seeds going up, maybe.
00:49:26 Yeah.
00:49:27 Like lower seeds, like as in.
00:49:31 So I guess start with TCU because we're the biggest Big 12 team going, going in.
00:49:36 So where do you have the frogs going?
00:49:39 So I think we already kind of mentioned this.
00:49:44 This is a game that TCU can win.
00:49:46 The first one against Utah State.
00:49:48 And it's also, I mean, it goes without saying, but it's also a game that could lose.
00:49:53 It's a interesting matchup.
00:49:54 I do like TCU here though, just because I think what Utah State is good at doesn't really
00:50:07 affect how TCU plays too much, if that makes sense.
00:50:09 So I think I like that matchup for them.
00:50:12 Now Purdue is known to lose to bad teams or lower seeded teams, but I do think they get
00:50:23 off and they beat the 16 seed and now it's Purdue TCU.
00:50:28 This is where it gets tough.
00:50:29 I mean, probably look, probably it's Purdue.
00:50:32 Yeah.
00:50:33 That's, that's what, I mean, that's the likely thing, but there is a world where TCU just
00:50:40 gets really hot.
00:50:41 The offense gets really hot and they beat Purdue, but I mean, realistically, if we're
00:50:47 going to do this realistically, probably that's where the run ends.
00:50:50 But there's definitely an opportunity for them to beat Purdue.
00:50:55 Yeah, no, I agree in, like got in my head, realistic, my prediction is I think we'd beat
00:51:02 Utah State and then lose to Purdue just because Purdue is, they're a lot more hungry just
00:51:09 based on what happened last year.
00:51:11 And they've been amazing on year TCU has been making since all years are straight up.
00:51:16 And it becomes that, like, I think it's been a successful year if you get a win in the
00:51:21 NCAA tournament, considering the turnover that you've had from years past.
00:51:24 But obviously we can do it, got in my head.
00:51:26 I say we win one, lose out.
00:51:28 That's when it turns into a conversation of taking the next step as a program, because
00:51:33 I think we've been on, like, I'm been a massive fan of what we've been and being able to make
00:51:39 it a three NCAA tournaments just to note has is amazing for what we can put on in the future.
00:51:45 But I think as of right now, it's still a success.
00:51:48 But I think it kind of plateaus of where we've been the past couple years.
00:51:52 And it's probably gonna end up just because of being on that.
00:51:55 Like I would have actually rather seen as being a 10 seed.
00:51:57 I like what the committee showed us love, but going to a Purdue, UConn or Houston specifically
00:52:03 is an insanely tough task.
00:52:05 Obviously can happen, like we said, but yeah, I think TCU is a one win and lose there.
00:52:12 Yeah, the thing to remember, though, and this is, you know, this is just this is no stats.
00:52:20 This is no like analytics or anything, but Purdue struggles in these tournaments.
00:52:24 They rarely look to the hype.
00:52:27 They were hyped up a lot last year as well.
00:52:31 And we all know how their season into last year.
00:52:33 So there's something about it.
00:52:35 Maybe they have the yips in March.
00:52:37 Maybe it's mental.
00:52:38 But just when you look at history, they're a team that does lose when they're not supposed
00:52:45 to.
00:52:46 So maybe you could be that team this year.
00:52:48 Yeah, for sure.
00:52:49 All right.
00:52:50 So what next Texas?
00:52:51 Yeah, Texas, there are seven seeds.
00:52:55 So they're probably next.
00:52:56 Yeah.
00:52:57 Okay.
00:52:58 You go first.
00:52:59 I go first.
00:53:00 I go first.
00:53:01 Yeah.
00:53:02 Yeah, I think I think Virginia and Colorado State are both kind of weak at that 10 spot.
00:53:06 And I think Texas has been hot.
00:53:08 So I think they're gonna win that one.
00:53:10 But I think they're one and done.
00:53:12 They're one win and done team to because I love this Tennessee team.
00:53:17 I think Don connect is probably the most fun player in college basketball right now.
00:53:22 And he's been the fix that Tennessee has been needing.
00:53:26 You know, they've been an offensive or defensive base team that's haven't had that offensive
00:53:31 arc but don't connect giving them and they are a complete team and I love them going
00:53:34 deep and making a run here.
00:53:36 But so that's just because I'm high in Tennessee but Texas is obviously hot as we've been talking
00:53:42 about, you know, they lost Kansas State at the tournament.
00:53:44 That was basically a home game for Kansas State.
00:53:47 So yeah, I see Texas getting a win and losing the second round is what I have right now.
00:53:54 Yeah, I probably agree with you.
00:53:56 I think they beat whoever wins and gets that 10 seed between UVA and Colorado State.
00:54:03 And then you get probably the Rick Barnes revenge game for Tennessee.
00:54:11 I think Tennessee is really good and they probably win this game.
00:54:14 And again, like Texas can win but I will probably agree with you here and say that they're one
00:54:20 and done to Yeah.
00:54:22 All right, which which succeed you want to do first?
00:54:27 You want to go by you?
00:54:30 Yeah, sure.
00:54:32 Yeah.
00:54:33 I think BYU again, as I said before, wins the game against Duquesne.
00:54:38 And then God, I, I think they could very well be Illinois, as my I have my back right now
00:54:46 they're losing Illinois.
00:54:47 So it's a bunch of like, I guess chalk right now.
00:54:49 But I mean, Illinois just won the Big 10 and they have Terrence Shannon running healthy
00:54:55 again.
00:54:56 And that's just a dude that can kill you.
00:54:59 And yeah, so I'm BYU another just one win in that sense.
00:55:06 Just my initial feeling here and I'll change this a million times, but I have a beating
00:55:12 McCain.
00:55:13 For some reason, I like it.
00:55:15 I like the matchup with Illinois and I'll have them just for now I have them beating
00:55:19 Illinois and that would that would result in an Iowa State BYU Big 12 Sweet 16 game.
00:55:27 That's where I probably see their run ending.
00:55:31 We'll get into the Iowa State side of things in a little bit, but I think I would say would
00:55:35 beat them.
00:55:36 And obviously, Illinois is good.
00:55:37 They're really good and they beat BYU but BYU lost to Tech, you know, badly to in their
00:55:45 season, but before that, they were playing really good basketball.
00:55:51 So I think they can beat who is that Illinois and then yeah, I think they could make this
00:56:01 make a Sweet 16 run there.
00:56:03 All right.
00:56:04 I like that take.
00:56:05 All right, Tech's up next.
00:56:07 I think I do.
00:56:08 I love DJ Burns.
00:56:10 They can do it.
00:56:11 But I think when they play a team that they don't know as well and Tech and Tech's been
00:56:15 great at because it's an insane job.
00:56:17 I think Tech gets that win against NC State, but I'm kind of falling in love with this
00:56:22 NC State team.
00:56:23 I've heard this Kentucky team.
00:56:25 I think they're exactly what Cal likes in these crazy freshmen, you know, Reed Shepard,
00:56:30 Antonio Reeves, Rob Dillingham, you know, even Trey Mitchell's out there.
00:56:34 They got Big Z at center.
00:56:36 You know, they got dudes and I've been going to my lead eight in my bracket.
00:56:39 So I just think Tech runs into a high Kentucky team that if they're fine and also there's
00:56:44 like like Cal has has had them doing at times, then they're they're tough out.
00:56:48 So I think Tech's one win and done too.
00:56:50 Yeah, I agree with you there.
00:56:52 I think they they beat NC State.
00:56:55 The run, the magical run for NC State ends.
00:56:58 But I think that Kentucky, there's a world where Kentucky just falls flat and Texas Tech
00:57:02 beats them.
00:57:03 I do like what Kentucky's doing right now.
00:57:05 I think they have a ton of talent.
00:57:08 And yeah, I think they beat Texas Tech.
00:57:11 Yeah.
00:57:12 OK, I have or so what's next, Kansas, Kansas.
00:57:16 I do think Kansas beat Sanford because I think McCullough and Dickinson are back and when
00:57:21 they're healthy, a million times that starting five is one of the best, if not the best in
00:57:26 the country.
00:57:28 But Gonzaga is hot right now.
00:57:31 I know they they they're only losses.
00:57:34 They're only lost since they lost the game.
00:57:38 Their only losses since the Santa Clara lost to like 15 games or to the Gales.
00:57:42 Shout out the Gales.
00:57:44 But they they would probably end up playing each on that second round.
00:57:49 Gonzaga and Kansas.
00:57:51 And I think it's I guess I have Gonzaga moving on to his team.
00:57:54 So I think Kansas is one win and done anyway, which is a huge disappointment for what self
00:57:58 is built in that standard at Kansas.
00:58:00 I just have you know, we've talked about again and again that Kansas, we've been worried
00:58:06 about him.
00:58:07 And Super High and Kansas are here and I think they just fall flat because they don't have
00:58:11 the depth to be able to win lots of games in March.
00:58:15 Yeah, I am.
00:58:17 I'm with you that they're one and done, but I'm getting a little crazy here.
00:58:20 I have you guys make news.
00:58:22 I like McNeese just because it's Shahadi Wells and they're playing really well.
00:58:28 And I have McNeese State beating Kansas in that second round to 16.
00:58:36 I think Shahadi Wells has Kansas's and Bill self number and there's nothing they can do
00:58:40 about it.
00:58:41 So and I think we'll wait like he's a good coach and they have this job to yeah, he's
00:58:47 about to get he's about to get a promotion.
00:58:49 So yeah, it's crazy.
00:58:50 But I think I like I like a little Shahadi Wells Matt magical Cinderella around here
00:58:55 to the sweet 16.
00:58:57 I like that.
00:58:58 All right, Baylor.
00:58:59 I picked New Mexico to upset Clemson to go to the next round and I Baylor beating Colgate
00:59:08 that first one.
00:59:09 I think Baylor beats New Mexico to as we talked about we I like Baylor in that in that round.
00:59:15 I've been losing to Arizona in the sweet 16.
00:59:20 Arizona is my final 14 or one of them in that region.
00:59:23 And so I think Baylor does like what they're supposed to do, I guess, in the three seed
00:59:27 is make the sweet 16 and drop to the two at that point.
00:59:30 But yeah, I think the defense just gets a little laxative, especially with the guards
00:59:35 and Caleb love it at Zona and Omar Balo is going to be a fun matchup with the E-Misi
00:59:40 if that happens in the sweet 16.
00:59:42 So that's right.
00:59:43 Baylor going a little sweet 16 run.
00:59:44 All right, I won't spend too much time on it because I have the exact same thing as
00:59:48 you have them.
00:59:49 I have New Mexico beating Clemson I have Baylor beating New Mexico, although New Mexico is
00:59:54 capable of making a run but I have them beating New Mexico and then losing Arizona.
00:59:59 I like what Arizona has this year.
01:00:01 So I'll do I'll do the same thing as you.
01:00:05 All right, Iowa State.
01:00:08 I would say it's red and high right now.
01:00:10 And I'm drinking the Kool Aid I have Iowa State beating South Dakota State beating you
01:00:17 to Wazoo or Drake whoever comes out of there and then beating Illinois I have in to go
01:00:21 to the elite eight.
01:00:22 I have to lose the Yukon Yukon is my pick to win the natty just it's probably the safest
01:00:27 pick at this point and they're the most match approved team of any team in the nation.
01:00:31 The only one of Yukon Houston and Purdue to win their conference tournament and kind of
01:00:36 leave little doubt as to who the best team in the nation at this point is and I'm just
01:00:39 going to kind of ride the wave with them.
01:00:42 So I think Iowa State makes it an elite eight run which is insane.
01:00:47 Looking at where they were preseason nobody thought they can get to this point.
01:00:51 So an extremely successful season for Iowa State and I think they can have won three
01:00:56 games in the NCAA tournament.
01:00:58 Yeah insane year for also burger just a great job.
01:01:02 I have the same thing happening.
01:01:04 Although I have BYU beating Illinois so I have the I have a big 12 matchup in the sweet
01:01:08 16 which would be super fun for this podcast.
01:01:12 I do have been losing the Yukon and it's a shame because this is like a this is certainly
01:01:17 a final four caliber team if they get the right draw and I think if they get any of
01:01:20 the other three one seeds they have a much better chance at getting into the final four
01:01:29 range and I think they can be Yukon but like you said Yukon is the real deal and I think
01:01:34 they probably they probably meet their meet their maker here with you Yukon and the elite
01:01:40 eight but yeah we have the same season for them regardless.
01:01:44 Yeah it's also tough like I'll be quick but it's a it's a tough draw for them because
01:01:48 they could have been like there was talking with them taking over UNC is that one seed
01:01:51 but to get you caught in their bracket of the two is tough because they're probably
01:01:54 to pick in the final four it's any of the one seat so yeah that's my take on it.
01:01:59 But Houston the last team right.
01:02:00 Yep.
01:02:01 I got them going to the final four losing to Purdue they're kind of chalk but I don't
01:02:09 want to overreact too much about what them losing in the conference tournament because
01:02:13 Juwan Roberts will be more healthy and they've been so dumb all year like I probably would
01:02:18 have picked them to win the natty if it wasn't for the loss against Iowa State but again
01:02:23 not over not overreacting to it too much I think they'd be Nebraska in the second round
01:02:28 and Duke then Kentucky I have and then losing it Purdue in the in the final four just because
01:02:36 it's just so tough to guard Zack Eaddy.
01:02:39 But I love Jamal Shinn I think he's gonna cap like be one of those marshmallow guys
01:02:44 that people gravitate towards and capture the hearts of America so it's gonna be fun
01:02:48 and I am and I'm riding that Houston wave to.
01:02:52 So right now I have I have them I have them in the natty I have them losing the natty
01:02:57 to UConn but I do have them making that run I think they so I have them obviously beating
01:03:05 Longwood I have Wade Taylor in Texas A&M playing them next I think they win that game although
01:03:11 that's an interesting matchup I think they beat Duke that Marquette Houston potential
01:03:15 game would be really cool but I have Houston winning that and then yeah I have them going
01:03:20 all the way and losing in the natty I think that some people are gonna be really cool
01:03:24 on them or cool off on them because of what happened in the Big 12 championship game but
01:03:31 that happens sometimes and I think that's that Kelvin Sampson is the type of coach that
01:03:35 can get his guys going again and I see him making a run I still love this Houston team.
01:03:41 Yeah no but the big takeaway from this pod is brackets here anything can happen we could
01:03:47 have been spot on we could be far off so yeah I'm just excited to get to it we'll have pod
01:03:54 next week hopefully we'll TCSV 16 preview but we'll see but no I'm excited just I'm
01:04:03 just gonna stare at brackets all week pretty much so yeah yeah yeah this is March this
01:04:10 is March we made it yeah that's about all we have thanks for thanks for tuning in we
01:04:16 appreciate it it's been a really fun year and hopefully we have a few more pods in us
01:04:20 yeah come back next week what you know we'll have a pod whatever happens but yeah as always
01:04:26 I'm Davis Wilson that's Nick Germani and we will see you next week peace out.
01:04:33 [Music]