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00:00What a night in college basketball we have in store. The Maui Invitational in the opening day
00:11of it really set the stage for what it means now firmly into Feast Week and even the teams that
00:18were upset yesterday or lost the game they should have won as we saw dramatic comebacks in three of
00:24the four out in the Lahaina Civic Center. Those teams now in the losers bracket but still get to
00:31play maybe not for a tournament title but still a couple of marquee wins on the early season
00:37resume. Then there's the players era tournament in Las Vegas as well a deep field there and just
00:45a standalone game in Las Vegas because why not at this time of the year in college basketball.
00:52Number one Kansas and number 11 Duke but the top team in the country Joveneri not the favorites
01:00out in Sin City it's the young blue devils three and a half point favorite taking on KU 148 and a
01:06half is the total. Of course Duke the win over Arizona over the weekend in which Cooper Flag
01:13poured in 24 points. A blue blood battle in Las Vegas what's your favorite play?
01:20Well you're probably looking at that Ben going wait a minute so Kansas is number one in the
01:26country at five and oh playing Duke and they are not the favorite they're actually getting points
01:32and the reality is when you dive into the numbers you know Ken Palm has Duke ranked five spots ahead
01:40of Kansas in a bunch of different categories here Ben and the reason being is listen Kansas
01:48has played a cupcake schedule and we know that we also know that you know we've got a situation
01:56here with Duke just traveled out west last week Ben did they not who'd they be pretty darn good
02:01Arizona team on the road and they're a top five team defensively right now Duke and I think when
02:08you look at a team like this you know they've got the scoring but my goodness can they play
02:14some defense and Kansas I love Kansas from the standpoint of Ben and we always talk about depth
02:20Kansas has got a ton of depth but the problem is Bill Self is using this time of year you know what
02:26Ben to try to figure out what the hell those rotations are going to be when it matters the
02:31most so I you know I get why the market thinks Duke's the better team here and they're laying
02:36points in a neutral place but Duke has already proved they can go out west lock you down
02:42defensively and make the tough shots I think they can do that again here tonight
02:46I it would be Duke or pass for me in this one yeah so listen both teams have played two power
02:53conference programs Kansas has only played one ranked team that was North Carolina in the fog
02:58in game number two of this year in fact the only game for KU that has gone over a number they did
03:05not cover against North Carolina eight point home favorite that game decided in the final minutes
03:10after a crazy rally from UNC Duke has played two power conference programs they lost to Kentucky
03:18they beat Arizona in Tucson Joe both of those games under in very well under Duke's defense
03:27against the best of the best has been maybe one of the most impressive things about this young
03:31Blue Devil squad this season I kind of lean under 148 and a half let's talk players era tournament
03:39in Las Vegas elsewhere on the strip Creighton still in the top 25 despite losing to Nebraska
03:45on Friday three and a half point favorite against San Diego State this a rematch of an elite eight
03:50game from two years ago A&M and Oregon keep an eye on Jackson Shelstad one of the best players
03:56in the Big Ten for the Ducks the Aggies a three and a half point favorite top ten tilt Houston
04:02and Alabama the tie in underdog for the first time this season Notre Dame and Rutgers as well
04:09out in Las Vegas Rutgers lost to Kennesaw State on Sunday how will the young crew for Steve Spiegel
04:17Steve Pichel excuse me respond in Las Vegas yeah now there's some questions and I love
04:23listen Dana Altman and Oregon and you mentioned it there you want to give me a bucket you want
04:30to give me what two and a half three points in this game here and what I think is going to be
04:34a coin flip game I will take Oregon all day long and what should be the battle of all those games
04:40on the board I think that's going to be the biggest one it's going to be a good one A&M
04:45has actually played a rather difficult schedule so shout out to Buzz Williams to book it as such
04:50in the opening three plus weeks of this college basketball season Oregon did beat Oregon State
04:57the bees entered that game unbeaten in Corvallis last week Oregon won by three did not cover as a
05:04six and a half point favorite here are the odds by the way to win the players era tournament title
05:10Houston that slight favorite they take on Alabama today what a game that is going to be tenacious
05:16defense from Calvin Sampson in the coves and a high flying offense out of Alabama Maui
05:23Invitational Tuesday next live right here on the early line on sports grid we get you set for a
05:29huge Tuesday on the hardwood we end out our Maui Invitational preview we'll talk to John Rothstein
05:35in our next segment and we'll talk some NBA cup only five games in the in-season competition
05:41around the association not as robust as we have seen the last few weeks but now let's get to the
05:47Maui Invitational so we saw those fantastic four games yesterday dramatic comebacks in three
05:54of the four three of the four decided by just a single bucket two points to be exact so now you
06:01have the winner's bracket and the loser's bracket well even if you don't have a chance to contend
06:06for the Maui Invitational trophy you can still add a quality win to the early season resume and
06:13have an opportunity tomorrow to add another one let's start with the winners though Michigan
06:19State the only team that comfortably cruised to a victory yesterday the only favorite in fact
06:25to cover they did as a seven and a half point favorite against Colorado they won that game by
06:3116 despite struggling from deep a slight underdog today Joe against Memphis top 15 tilt it's Auburn
06:39and North Carolina both teams dramatic rallies in the second half Auburn down by 16 at the break
06:46against Iowa State Jani Broome the game winning tip in with just a few few excuse me seconds
06:53remaining in regulation North Carolina down by as many as 21 points early in the second half to come
06:59all the way back and beat Dayton by 292 to 90 Auburn the slight favorite they were actually
07:07the favorite of three and a half points yesterday so Iowa State did actually cover
07:12yeah it's the interesting thing here with Memphis and Michigan State to kick it all off here
07:18uh Ben is listen he's always had a tremendous amount of success at this Maui Invitational over
07:25the years why because he knows exactly how to navigate his teams in this spot that was a
07:32wire to wire no-brainer uh lay up against Colorado yesterday now he's got to get these
07:38kids to go up against a Memphis team that just had to lay it all out of line and that's the
07:44question Ben is what does Memphis have left after an emotional overtime win against the defending
07:50two-time national champions here in UConn and don't forget they have a trio of guards Memphis
07:56they are six deep and that's it when it comes to depth Memphis doesn't have any they got six
08:02players that all laid it all out on the court Michigan State however took their time did what
08:08they had to do they'll be ready for blood in this one I think Michigan State rolls Memphis in this
08:13one could we see this game under 153 and a half the Spartans have now flipped to a favorite as
08:20well first half money line for Sparty minus 118 exhaustive and extensive overtime battle for the
08:30Tigers Michigan State was just waiting one out there and handled Colorado by 16 Auburn and North
08:38Carolina that total is up there and both teams played in high scoring games yesterday but Auburn
08:44butters it spread really on the defensive side of the floor 165 and a half might we see that come
08:51down playing day after day it's also part of the beauty of these early non-conference tournaments
08:57Joe because it resembles in a way the NCAA tournament or a conference tournament at the end
09:04of the year you don't often play in back-to-back days in the NCAA tournament but in conference
09:10tourneys you do how do you carry momentum over one day to the next yeah well while you keep
09:16running your game right and what is North Carolina's game it's pace it's tempo it's going to
09:21be running up and down the floor I was shocked that Dayton didn't try to slow that game down
09:26last night Ben I can't believe they got into a track meet with him I don't think Auburn's going
09:32to try to slow him down I think Auburn's going to do what Auburn does I think they are going to try
09:36to go up and down the court with them it feels like there'll be plenty enough possessions and
09:41three-point shooting in this game to in fact look at the over with two teams that have no problem
09:48uh playing in games that can be a track meet and I think this is going to be one of them
09:53yeah that really could be the case I actually would lean under for Connecticut 15 and a half
09:58point favorite and look at a bounce back against Colorado UConn had gone under in every single
10:04game until yesterday against Memphis when things got crazy and if Dan Hurley continues that
10:10passion let's say for this sport maybe it starts on the defensive end of the floor Iowa State eight
10:17and a half point favorite against the Dayton Flyers a tournament team a year ago out of the A-10
10:24this might only be November but this is Feast Week and as we get you set for a gigantic Tuesday
10:34in college basketball who better to join us the answer to that simple question is nobody
10:40than John Rothstein of course with CBS Sports and joining us on behalf of the FanDuel sports boat
10:46John as always we appreciate the time what a Tuesday we have in store two days out from Turkey
10:53in college hoops you know Ben at some point today we all just have to really take a look around
11:00thank God and be thankful for what we have on tap today from a college basketball perspective
11:05I have said it before and I'll say it again other than championship week other than the NCAA
11:10tournament Feast Week is the best week that we have during the college basketball season let's
11:16munch there is no doubt about it and then you look at the games that we have a feast the entirety
11:25of it not appetizers not hors d'oeuvres we're talking a full 11 course meal all throughout
11:33this Tuesday and John it got started yesterday out at the Lahaina Civic Center on a Monday in
11:38the Maui Invitational which sets the stage for this Tuesday quickly on Monday three of the four
11:45games featuring dramatic comebacks over time between Memphis and UConn a rally at the end
11:51between Auburn and Iowa State North Carolina down by as many as 21 early in the second half
11:57comes all the way back to beat Dayton when you look at the Maui Invitational on Monday and what
12:02this mean weeks what this week means excuse me in Lahaina was that one of the best days you've
12:09ever seen in the Maui Invitational it felt like a dramatic day in the NCAA tournament and I think
12:15if we were at a first round site for the NCAA tournament and we saw three of four games finish
12:21in this type of magnitude we would say it would be one of the best day ones in the history of the
12:26NCAA tournament and Ben here's the thing and you know this as well as I do these teams are in quote
12:32unquote a tournament the next couple of days playing for a championship but these teams are
12:37also looking to be in a situation to build their resumes for the NCAA tournament and no team has
12:44taken advantage of that more in the early season than Bruce Pearl and the Auburn Tigers right now
12:51two days before Thanksgiving this is what's on Auburn's resume a road win against Houston at
12:56the Toyota Center a neutral site win against Iowa State in Maui Auburn has two more games in Maui
13:03starting with tonight's semi-final matchup against North Carolina and then on top of that
13:09Auburn is going to play at Duke play Purdue in Birmingham and also play Ohio State in Atlanta
13:15these are the types of opportunities on a potential non-conference schedule that lead to a team being
13:21a one seed in the NCAA tournament and John even if you don't have a shot at the Maui Invitational
13:27title now being in the losers bracket you still have an opportunity for a marquee early season
13:34non-conference victory so let's focus on the two-time reigning NCAA tournament champion
13:41UConn Huskies just their second loss in non-conference play in the last three
13:47seasons what resolve do you think we will see out of Dan Hurley's Huskies today against Colorado
13:53major resolve and I think we even saw major resiliency from you yesterday in a loss coming
14:00back at the end of regulation to force overtime which obviously was spearheaded by solo balls
14:06three-point shot from the right wing look UConn we knew wasn't going to have what it had last season
14:12or the season prior when it ripped through a chainsaw through butter and won back-to-back
14:17national titles the question is would UConn have enough these are the answers that I got on Monday
14:24Taris Reed the Michigan transfer is going to be good enough in the middle but UConn has to get
14:31better guard play in the backcourt Dan Hurley told me a couple of weeks ago he needed St. Mary's
14:37transfer Aiden Mahaney to be somewhere in between what Tristan Newton gave UConn in his first year
14:44during the 22-23 season and what Cam Spencer gave UConn last year when the Huskies went 37-3
14:50and won the national title that to me is the big area concern for the Huskies and UConn right now
14:57albeit in the losers bracket but as we look at the Maui Invitational odds quickly Auburn that
15:03John highlighted already an outstanding resume in the first three or so weeks of this college
15:09basketball season the favorites to win the Maui Invitational now on FanDuel at minus 130. John
15:15let's go to the players era tournament in Las Vegas because it is also a deep and robust field
15:23with many a top 25 tilt in Las Vegas highlighted of course by that top 5 tilt tonight in Sin City
15:30or top 10 tilt rather that being Houston and Alabama is that the game that stands out to you
15:36above the rest without question Ben this is a final four caliber game in Las Vegas tonight and
15:43the thing as a college basketball purist that really frustrates me that we have two final four
15:49games in the same city that will be overlapping the Houston Alabama game and the players are a
15:54festival and also the Duke Kansas game which is going to tip off an hour later this to me is a
16:00disservice to the sport obviously at a time where the sport is very much at the forefront
16:06I know that you've heard me say time and time again college basketball needs more standalone
16:10games I know that's not possible when we have this much inventory but I do know this staggering
16:16these tip-offs if the networks could work together would be better for the sport because Ben you saw
16:22it yesterday when we had that afternoon tip-off on the east coast of UConn in Memphis and it was
16:28the only real game going on there was nothing better it was like the first day of Hanukkah
16:34it really was the first day of Hanukkah in the Lahaina Civic Center one of the great scenes
16:39in college hoops we'll have the MGM grand be the host of the players era festival and then at the
16:45T-Mobile arena just down the strip John in this final minute of this segment a top 15 tilt number
16:5211 Duke and the top team in the country number one Kansas the Blue Devils four and a half point
16:58favorite against KU what are you looking for most John in this top 15 tilt between the Blue Bloods
17:05you know will Duke's defense continue to travel you know when I spent time in Durham in the
17:10preseason John Shire said repeatedly that he felt that this like would be a you know potentially his
17:15best defensive team since he's been at Duke Ben how about this no player on Duke's roster stands
17:21less than six foot five the Blue Devils held Arizona 255 at the McHale Center in Tucson on
17:28Friday Duke's defense I think will be the key in this game I'm keeping a close eye on Common
17:34Malawatch the talented 7'2 freshman against Hunter Dickinson I believe Malawatch the expat in the
17:39long term it is only November it's Feast Week more of the early live next.