Speaker 1: Check it down man now down now it is geel Alexit.
Speaker 1: There's a number game right here a network Pisa dot com.
Speaker 1: But he should have fruit boastling game. Plus I heart radio.
Speaker 1: Jason con my producer, looking like, hey, wait at the
Speaker 1: show start, Yes, good morning, Hey go catch you off
Speaker 1: guard cat you off guard man? Uh great show today.
Speaker 1: The madness continues. We will have all three three man
Speaker 1: Weavers on the show today, so Matt Cox, Jim Root,
Speaker 1: Kaim McKeon for the better part of an hour actually
Speaker 1: a little more than an hour. Towards the end of
Speaker 1: the show, we will go region by region, bracket by racket,
Speaker 1: and we will do it a t s and just
Speaker 1: in terms of advancing in your pools, upset minded pools,
Speaker 1: whatever kind of pool you're in. So both from a betting,
Speaker 1: individual games and bracket standpoint, with all three man Weavers
Speaker 1: looking forward to that. And then in the first or
Speaker 1: ESPN Sports analytics writer Seth Walder who has carried the
Speaker 1: Giant Killers mantel now for a while at ESPNS, and
Speaker 1: we will start with with him momentarily talking about the
Speaker 1: game's most ripe for Giant Killer upsets. And I think
Speaker 1: I have this right when I say we define giant
Speaker 1: killers by anything that is five seeds or more in separation,
Speaker 1: so eleven verses six, twelve verses five, four, so on.
Speaker 1: That could apply to second round and beyond as well.
Speaker 1: Say if an eight B to one, that kind of thing,
Speaker 1: as long as it separated by five seeds. Good morning
Speaker 1: to you, Seth, Good morning Gil. I think we even
Speaker 1: did this last year without a tournament. Yes, we that's
Speaker 1: exactly right. We did it without a tournament, and we
Speaker 1: did it a week early, sadly, so that's why we
Speaker 1: did it. We had no idea what was about to happen. Uh, Seth.
Speaker 1: Let's define first of all, I don't know if you
Speaker 1: heard the preamble there. Let's define what constitutes a giant
Speaker 1: killer in terms of seeding, and then what are the
Speaker 1: characteristics first of all that that are really essential to
Speaker 1: the profile of a potential giant killer. Yeah, Gil, you
Speaker 1: had it right. It's a five seed differential, so in
Speaker 1: the first round we're looking at anything. An eleventh seed
Speaker 1: or worse in the first round could be classified as
Speaker 1: a giant killer. Basically, the model is the majority of
Speaker 1: the model is our regular basketball power index, so it's
Speaker 1: our our model that you see across ESPN that it
Speaker 1: takes into count efficiencies, opponent adjustments, all of that. But
Speaker 1: then we layer on top of it a bit of
Speaker 1: a style component that's sort of specifically looking for the
Speaker 1: for upsets, and it's it's kind of what you would expect.
Speaker 1: The best things you can do is increased variants. So
Speaker 1: slow paced teams, teams that shoot a lot of threes
Speaker 1: and shoot them, well, all those things give you a
Speaker 1: better chance. You want to you want to increase the
Speaker 1: variants if you're an underdog. But it's sort of looking
Speaker 1: at those style components between the two teams and seeing
Speaker 1: how it might nudge the numbers off that bp I
Speaker 1: rating just just a little bit one way or another.
Speaker 1: All right. So for those who want to see the
Speaker 1: printed piece that that accompanies this, this actually a companies
Speaker 1: the printed piece. It's called Giant Killers Complete upset picks
Speaker 1: for every region in the March Madness Bracket one. Seth
Speaker 1: does it with his colleague John Gasaway, who we have
Speaker 1: who we have had on this show as well over
Speaker 1: there at ESPN plus. Uh So you do this very
Speaker 1: uh very you know, logically, region by region and then
Speaker 1: you break them down into per region, best bet in
Speaker 1: terms of giant killer worth a long look, um, not
Speaker 1: completely ridiculous, and stay away. I love those categories alright,
Speaker 1: So for our purposes here, because the time is of
Speaker 1: the essence, we'll stay away from not completely ridiculous and
Speaker 1: stay away. But let's talk about let's start with the
Speaker 1: East Region. Let's go to the best bet in the
Speaker 1: East Region in terms of a giant killer possibility. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so that's U c l A over B y U.
Speaker 1: If U c l A beat Michigan State in the
Speaker 1: first four, this is actually the Giant Killer's number one
Speaker 1: upset pick overall. It's obviously contingent on that first four matchup,
Speaker 1: but we're giving U c l A a forty one
Speaker 1: percent chance to be B y U if the matchup occurs. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, this is a team U c l A
Speaker 1: who's gonna protect the basketball and probably have a bit
Speaker 1: of an offensive or a bit of a rebounding advantage
Speaker 1: overall in that matchup. So I would expect that they
Speaker 1: would get a couple more shot attempts in this game
Speaker 1: relative to B y U. And you know they're both
Speaker 1: both teams that can shoot the three. Well, they don't
Speaker 1: shoot U c l. A I'm talking about. They don't
Speaker 1: shoot a ton of threes, but they are efficient when
Speaker 1: they do it. So, uh, I think the U c
Speaker 1: l has got a really good shot here. Forty one
Speaker 1: percent is really high. I mean for an eleven six
Speaker 1: as a really high upset, I think if you're filling
Speaker 1: out a bracket, you got to take a really long
Speaker 1: look at U c L. An. Yeah, as you say,
Speaker 1: mccronit's team in a play in game with Michigan State.
Speaker 1: Michigan State over B y U and is one of
Speaker 1: the worth a long looks in the same region. Just
Speaker 1: below that, Yeah, yeah, exactly. And and I want to
Speaker 1: say this about Michigan State. You know, we're not factoring
Speaker 1: in anything about this pause they had in the middle
Speaker 1: of the season. They had three losses right off the
Speaker 1: bat there after after that pause. If you're a believer
Speaker 1: that they sort of figured things out late, maybe we're
Speaker 1: underrating Michigan State. I don't think that's impossible. So I
Speaker 1: think that Michigan State either way, that is definitely a
Speaker 1: potential good upset game for your bracket. All right, And
Speaker 1: a little and a little more percentage on that I
Speaker 1: skipped one. Actually Georgetown also falls into the worth a
Speaker 1: long look category against Colorado at twelve five. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: was kind of surprised here because we're not we're not
Speaker 1: factoring in recency. Obviously Georgetown came on hot at the end.
Speaker 1: But the reality is that what Georgetown did lately, especially
Speaker 1: that blowout win over Craton, that does substantially change what
Speaker 1: we think what we think of them. They they jumped
Speaker 1: up twenty three spots in bp i's rankings over the
Speaker 1: final week of the Sea then, and so we think
Speaker 1: there's we think there's a shot there. I mean, it's not.
Speaker 1: I don't think that you're going to get that performance
Speaker 1: out of them every every night. But that's a solid
Speaker 1: that's a solid number for a twelve five. So we're
Speaker 1: in the East region. UM, and those are again the
Speaker 1: best bet U c l A in terms of a
Speaker 1: giant killer, best bet U c l A over B
Speaker 1: y u, best chance of a giant killer in the
Speaker 1: entire tournament. And then worth a long look Georgetown over
Speaker 1: Colorado at twelve five, and then Michigan State if they
Speaker 1: beat U c l A in the play and over
Speaker 1: B y U. UM. By the way, Abilene Christian fans
Speaker 1: not completely ridiculous Abilene Christian over Texas. Also in that region.
Speaker 1: Let's go to the West. Let's go best bet in
Speaker 1: terms of a giant killer in the West region Staff
Speaker 1: if you could. You know how like every year, by
Speaker 1: the time the tournament happens, by the time the first
Speaker 1: games go on, there's one upset that you're just blocked in.
Speaker 1: You're like, this is just a it's gonna hit. I
Speaker 1: think Coldgate over Arkansas is gonna be that team for me.
Speaker 1: I'm not there yet, but by come Friday, I'll probably
Speaker 1: be certain this one is gonna hit. It's a really
Speaker 1: interesting matchup because Colgate has been super efficient, super efficient.
Speaker 1: You have two high paced, fast paced teams, so not
Speaker 1: normally what we're looking at, and giant Killers. They're super efficient,
Speaker 1: but they've played absolutely no better. I mean they had
Speaker 1: I think with four games in a row against holy Cross,
Speaker 1: so uh, they had played absolutely nobody. But this is
Speaker 1: why you need a model, in my opinion, to handle this,
Speaker 1: because we're putting an opponent adjustment in there, and and
Speaker 1: our model still likes coal Gate. I mean not like
Speaker 1: the net ranking with which Adam in the top ten,
Speaker 1: but we still like cold Gate as a as A
Speaker 1: as a good team, and so we give a thirty
Speaker 1: five percent chance to be Arkansas. They can certainly score.
Speaker 1: I think there is real I mean for a four
Speaker 1: team three this is an incredible number. Uh Cold Gate
Speaker 1: over archanfas here in some sort of pool, you know,
Speaker 1: multiply the seeds. This is an absolutely no brainer to
Speaker 1: pick cold Gate away an upset rewarded pool like that
Speaker 1: would be great. One sixty two. One sixty two is
Speaker 1: the total, by the way, in that game seth um
Speaker 1: Arkansas and coal Gate the three or four team game
Speaker 1: in the West. So that's the best bet in terms
Speaker 1: of a giant killer at West. Thirty five percent chance. Uh,
Speaker 1: not quite of the u c l A u c
Speaker 1: l A B Y you match up in the previous region.
Speaker 1: What about worth a long look in the West. So
Speaker 1: just below coal Gate Arkansas, Yeah, North Texas and Perdue,
Speaker 1: we give it a twenty two upset chance. I mentioned
Speaker 1: at the top taste this is one of those pages
Speaker 1: games you've got two slow teams. It's just about limiting
Speaker 1: the number of possessions. It gives per Due, which is
Speaker 1: obviously the better team here, just gives them fewer chances
Speaker 1: to extend that advantage over North Texas. It means if
Speaker 1: you get a couple of balls, you know, a couple
Speaker 1: of balls bounced right for North Texas, a loose ball here,
Speaker 1: a three point there, maybe they could maybe they could
Speaker 1: turn that and uh. And so that's where we put
Speaker 1: North Texas, giving them a as against Perdue and the
Speaker 1: other one in that region. That is worth a long look.
Speaker 1: You say, is Utah stayed over Texas Tech? You state
Speaker 1: a team that a lot of folks didn't think would
Speaker 1: make the brackets and Texas Tech. You know, it's interesting
Speaker 1: because I've had sort of here on the show. A
Speaker 1: lot of people are like, we love Chris Beard, but
Speaker 1: this isn't his best outfit. Yeah, I think that's right. Yeah, Utah. Stay,
Speaker 1: if you look at our resume numbers, Utah stayed over
Speaker 1: Louisville was a pretty questionable choice, I think by the committee.
Speaker 1: But there's a shot here. I think if we look
Speaker 1: at there, this could be a game where they have
Speaker 1: a rebounding advantage. Uh. They were you know, they were
Speaker 1: sixteenth and offensive reboundary and Texas Tech two four and
Speaker 1: defensive reboundary per ten palms. So I think that's one
Speaker 1: area where they could have it, have an edge, gives
Speaker 1: them a shot. I don't think it's crazy to pick
Speaker 1: this upset. There are a lot of other games that
Speaker 1: are that are worse than this one. So there's a
Speaker 1: chance here, all right. Also in that region, again, just
Speaker 1: to sort of say it not completely ridiculous, Winthrop over
Speaker 1: Villanova's the twelve five. Now, interestingly, by the way, where
Speaker 1: talk at to Seth Walter from ESPN sports analytics writer
Speaker 1: who did this great giant killer's pace with John Gasaway
Speaker 1: in the South which is Baylor's region. If you will,
Speaker 1: there is no best bet in terms of a giant killer,
Speaker 1: and you have one worth a long look. So this
Speaker 1: one is devoid of of what you would call a
Speaker 1: best bet. But what's the worth a long look here?
Speaker 1: If you see Santa Barbara over Creating the twelve five
Speaker 1: and if you are like I mentioned, we don't put
Speaker 1: any factor or in any sort of recency stop here.
Speaker 1: So Creating's lost against Georgetown, whether that happened last game
Speaker 1: or back you know in January, either way sort of
Speaker 1: counting the same. If you're believering in recency, even maybe
Speaker 1: you think the Goucher's have a better shot, you know,
Speaker 1: we give them just a twenty one percent chance. It
Speaker 1: wasn't sort of like a perfect matchup there. Uh, you see,
Speaker 1: Santa Barbara was one of those teams that I was
Speaker 1: looking at before the tournament. Given the right opponent we
Speaker 1: might have, they might have had a higher chance. Creighton,
Speaker 1: you know, is a is a pretty good team that
Speaker 1: absent that last game or absolutely le shop for you
Speaker 1: see Santa Barbara. But this and the West I think
Speaker 1: are going to be a little bit chalkier in terms
Speaker 1: of the regions. This is this is awesome. There's people
Speaker 1: listening right now, Okay, filling out and you're right. The
Speaker 1: upset rewarded pools specifically, uh, this is key not completely
Speaker 1: ridiculous in that region. Also the play in whoever wins
Speaker 1: the play game Wichita State or Drake against USC, so
Speaker 1: in that eleven six the eventual eleven six Wichita State
Speaker 1: incrementally more of an upset chance than Drake, but either
Speaker 1: one of those teams has a not completely ridiculous shot
Speaker 1: according to the Giant Killer's model of taking down number
Speaker 1: six USC with Evan Mobley the Pack twelve player of
Speaker 1: the year. Alright, so if we go to let's see
Speaker 1: here oh, there's more. Not there's more, actually not completely ridiculous.
Speaker 1: Pardon me, Ohio over Virginia Eastern washingtover Kidsas but none
Speaker 1: of those qualifies. The best bet corrects the correct But yeah, no,
Speaker 1: that's that's absolutely right. We're all we're all on the
Speaker 1: low low teams there, all right. So and then in
Speaker 1: the Midwest, we do have a best bet. Uh, I
Speaker 1: like this one, what you got in the Midwest. There's
Speaker 1: a big one, this Syraccus over San Diego State. We
Speaker 1: give it a thirty nine percent chance to hit, So
Speaker 1: it's our best guaranteed matchup. I guess you could say, uh,
Speaker 1: second only to U C. L A. And with Serious,
Speaker 1: it's not it's not some big style factor here. It's
Speaker 1: just a matter of looking at these efficiencies. I mean
Speaker 1: Syraccus is basically we make them the thirty third best
Speaker 1: team in the country going forward. And to put that
Speaker 1: in context, they're an eleventh seed, which is how State
Speaker 1: is also in eleven seed, and we make them in
Speaker 1: the ninety seven best team in the country. So I
Speaker 1: think I think you're getting a really wide range there
Speaker 1: in Serious season is on the strong side. If you
Speaker 1: look at just efficiencies and we adjust for opponent quality,
Speaker 1: we would say that San Diego State was about three
Speaker 1: and a half points per game better than Syracuse. Once
Speaker 1: we've got during the preseason prior, we make it about
Speaker 1: a two point difference between these two teams. So that's
Speaker 1: you know, that's that's how you sort of end up
Speaker 1: in this kind of range. So Syricuse, I think, is
Speaker 1: a really is a really good play. It's just when
Speaker 1: you're factoring in those opponent adjustments, it matters and worth
Speaker 1: a long look. In that same Midwest region, Yeah, Liberty
Speaker 1: over Oklahoma State, this is a fun one. Liberty. They've
Speaker 1: got the offense they you know, they chuck threes up,
Speaker 1: they hit them too. You know, there are two point
Speaker 1: field low percentage, three point field low percenters, free throw shooting,
Speaker 1: ball security, Like, they have the offensive edge in this game.
Speaker 1: So Oklahoma State, no question, they're the better defensive team here.
Speaker 1: But in the thirteen four game, to tell me you're
Speaker 1: getting the team that is you know, normally it's like, well,
Speaker 1: maybe the difference between these two teams is in that large,
Speaker 1: but we're actually getting the better offense here with Liberty,
Speaker 1: and so that to me is really appealing. I certainly
Speaker 1: know like it. On my brackets, I will have liberty
Speaker 1: chance we have them. Beating Oklahoma State should be a
Speaker 1: fun day in a while. Oklahoma State got the raw
Speaker 1: end of the deal. I think most people think on
Speaker 1: these brackets as you write with liberty two point field
Speaker 1: goal percentage, chack three point field goal percentage, check free
Speaker 1: throw shooting, check ball security check um. Also, by the way,
Speaker 1: in that region, not completely ridiculous. More Head stayed over
Speaker 1: West Virginia, Oregon State over Tennessee in the twelve five,
Speaker 1: but those again in a in a lower category, so
Speaker 1: just a review. And again the piece is called Giant
Speaker 1: Killers Complete upset picks for every region in the March
Speaker 1: bat is Bracket one. The best bets in the East
Speaker 1: region you see l A if they can win the
Speaker 1: play in game against Michigan State U C l A
Speaker 1: over b y U and the eleven six would be,
Speaker 1: according to the Giant Killers model, the highest upset chance
Speaker 1: in the whole tournament. Also a best bet in the
Speaker 1: West region col Gate over Arkansas. The model gives it
Speaker 1: thirty five percent chance to do that. And uh. And
Speaker 1: then finally the third one is the one we just discussed. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know in the in the Midwest region Syracuse the
Speaker 1: eleven sixs over San Diego State. That would be, as
Speaker 1: Seth just said, of the guaranteed matchups, the highest percentage
Speaker 1: upset chance per the Giant Killers model. Seth, will you
Speaker 1: update this after the first round and after the second
Speaker 1: round into the sweet sixteen if there's anything applicable. I
Speaker 1: don't know if we'll have a story, but I'll certainly
Speaker 1: probably tweet tweet out what we have going into the
Speaker 1: going into there. Obviously second round you can look at
Speaker 1: it seven two or any sort of crazy, crazy matchup.
Speaker 1: A lot can happen in the second round two, all right,
Speaker 1: and people can find that at Seth Walder W A. L.
Speaker 1: D E. R. Seth, I always appreciated man, love your work.
Speaker 1: Uh and John as well. Thank you for continuing with
Speaker 1: the Giant Killer's mantle over there, Sir Seth Walder. Everybody
Speaker 1: sports analytics writer for ESPN want to go through each
Speaker 1: and every bracket here with a man. We've crew. We're
Speaker 1: gonna breathe them in separately. UM, So here's how we're
Speaker 1: gonna do it. We're gonna have Maddie Cox in first,
Speaker 1: Jim Roots gonna join us in studio. We're gonna add
Speaker 1: Kaim McKay and next after that we're gonna go through
Speaker 1: all of these now A t s and Brackett by Brackett.
Speaker 1: Do we have Matt by the way yet, Jason? Do
Speaker 1: we have Matt? Yes, we do. Matt Cox. Everybody from
Speaker 1: three Man Weave you can check out all their tweets
Speaker 1: are underscore CBB on a daily basis. How are you
Speaker 1: doing once again, Matt? We meet again Gil. Always a pleasure. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the marathon begins, Let's do it. The marathon begins. We
Speaker 1: will put this in podcast form as well. For those
Speaker 1: wondering what are you gonna put this a beating the book,
Speaker 1: we will. Um we were this is a a something
Speaker 1: in the making for a year. We wanted to do
Speaker 1: this last year. Obviously we did not get the opportunity.
Speaker 1: Um before we get in anything. Six referees yesterday. What
Speaker 1: was that story? So the headline was pretty straightforward and
Speaker 1: we were going back and forth thought who's to blame here?
Speaker 1: But basically the kind of the big wigs of the
Speaker 1: instantly refereeing pool, guys like TV Teddy, John Eyres and
Speaker 1: Bob Higgins got to their hotel, their rooms. Apparently we're
Speaker 1: not ready, so that they feared, hey, let's go out
Speaker 1: and get a meal, And sure enough they test deposit
Speaker 1: for COVID. It's not I don't think confirming that's where
Speaker 1: they got COVID, but it's a pretty safe assumption. So
Speaker 1: everyone's saying, how can their freeze be up? So obtuse
Speaker 1: to go out and have a meal given the stringent protocols.
Speaker 1: But I also think there's some blood on the end
Speaker 1: stable as hands. Maybe get the rooms ready to go,
Speaker 1: Like I think we've known about this tournament for a
Speaker 1: few weeks now, a few weeks or months. It wasn't like, oh,
Speaker 1: we need to like accommodate a whole like convention and
Speaker 1: the and the drop of the hat. So yeah, I
Speaker 1: had an odd story. But hopefully this is not a
Speaker 1: bad omen of more such stoppages to come. Yeah, So
Speaker 1: six pm is the deadline today, six pm Eastern for everybody.
Speaker 1: All teams meeting their medical protocols. All teams in the
Speaker 1: pool sixty eight teams. Uh if those are all And
Speaker 1: by the way, Louisville is the first team up in
Speaker 1: case any team does not meet that and can't play
Speaker 1: in the tournament. If it is a one bid conference team,
Speaker 1: then a team from that conference will replace, um, the
Speaker 1: team that's already in. So if someone from the America East.
Speaker 1: By the way, if if if not to pick on
Speaker 1: you know, not to pick on a small conference. But
Speaker 1: if if a automatic bid from a smaller conference America's Northeast,
Speaker 1: so for so on and so forth, they can't go,
Speaker 1: they would be replaced by a team in their particular conference. Okay,
Speaker 1: and by the way, it should be noted that if
Speaker 1: if something happens after six pm, then it's just team
Speaker 1: forfeits and the team playing that team that can't meet
Speaker 1: the medical requirements, they just advance. Right, those are those
Speaker 1: are your ground rules. So okay, Thursday, we have four
Speaker 1: play in games, the first four if you will you
Speaker 1: actually you actually before we even get to the brackets themselves,
Speaker 1: starting with the sixty four, you actually like some bets here?
Speaker 1: At three you had a four of these games, right, yeah?
Speaker 1: I like the action on you mentioned Suny pipercente of
Speaker 1: the of the openers. It's nice that we get some
Speaker 1: some bets off and running here to start. I think
Speaker 1: my favorite of this batch goes I mentioned last night
Speaker 1: Mount St. Mary's spread has been hit pretty hard. It's
Speaker 1: closer to pick at some places after opening plus two
Speaker 1: and a half plus three at some books. I hopped
Speaker 1: in early, so I was endorsing anything at plus two
Speaker 1: or higher. I still think it's worth a hard look.
Speaker 1: This is fits into like the middle of the ven
Speaker 1: diagram between matchup that's favorable and price that's favorable. You
Speaker 1: have a team that's coming off very impressive NACY tournament
Speaker 1: win Mount St. Mary's. They have a little jitterbug named
Speaker 1: Damien Chong quick five eight guy, and the rest of
Speaker 1: their lineup kind of looks like the mon Stars from
Speaker 1: Space Sham. They start six nine six nine six five.
Speaker 1: Really an outlier type of DNA for a mid major
Speaker 1: team should give a lot of problems to Texas Southern
Speaker 1: coach by Johnny Jones, the former l s U head honcho.
Speaker 1: He's a talent vacuum. He's got guys that played at Georgetown,
Speaker 1: Steven F. Austin, oh Michael Marcus Weathers, there best players
Speaker 1: at Oklahoma State, So no shortage of talent for Johnny
Speaker 1: Jones bunch. But they are excessively rim reliance and Mount St.
Speaker 1: Mary's is just a kryptonite matchup with all the size
Speaker 1: and length they have. I think you're getting a good
Speaker 1: price here. Mount St. Mary's best bet of the first
Speaker 1: four bunch for me. Okay um, not the game that
Speaker 1: we're showing there on on the screen. We're talking about
Speaker 1: Mount St. Mary's over Texas Southern in the play and
Speaker 1: game to take on Michigan. All right, Mount Saint Mary's
Speaker 1: one of them. What's the what or the other two?
Speaker 1: So looking at Appalachian State against Norfolk, this is just
Speaker 1: the classics Southern or Sun Belt versus MIAK discrepancy. I
Speaker 1: thought the opening number didn't really account for the the
Speaker 1: chasm between those two caliber of conferences. App States under
Speaker 1: value because they had a couple of cod interruptions this year.
Speaker 1: We saw what they can do when they're at their best.
Speaker 1: Probably four game run through the conference tournament. They win
Speaker 1: two of those in overtime. But they are on fire
Speaker 1: right now and they're shooting the barb really well. Coached
Speaker 1: by Dustin Kern's who's a big endorser embracer of the
Speaker 1: pace in space, you know, analytic driven ball movement where
Speaker 1: you just space it out, you knocked down threes, get
Speaker 1: highly efficient looks. Play Norfolk State plays a lot of
Speaker 1: his own, so I think they can get a lot
Speaker 1: of open threes. Continue that momentum of the hot shooting
Speaker 1: that really carried them through that Sun Belt tournament. Got
Speaker 1: in Michael on Honesty's hit twenty three is the last
Speaker 1: four games he has en Fuego, just one of three
Speaker 1: snipers they have. I think app State's are great, bad here,
Speaker 1: even at the current price of three. Anything about three, though,
Speaker 1: I'd advise staying away. All right, I'll say it this
Speaker 1: wave because I know I'll get tweets. Right. Wait, which
Speaker 1: games did he like? In the playing games? Uh? All
Speaker 1: you have to remember here is Mountaineers Mountaineers in the
Speaker 1: first two exactly Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers simple for that season.
Speaker 1: That's right, Stall Mountaineers Mount St. Mary's over Texas Southern. Uh.
Speaker 1: This is the sixteen seed play in game to play
Speaker 1: Michigan in the East and then Appalachian State, those Mountaineers
Speaker 1: against Norfolk State, the Spartans from the meak Uh. The
Speaker 1: Mountaineers of the Sun Belt, this time playing game to
Speaker 1: take on Gonzaga. Both of those a t app State
Speaker 1: laying three in this one against Norfolk State, and then
Speaker 1: one more of the plans you like as well. Yeah,
Speaker 1: real short and sweethear Drake. The Bulldogs squeaked in thank goodness.
Speaker 1: They thought they were incredibly deserving key factor here as
Speaker 1: they could get Tank Hemp held back arguably their second
Speaker 1: most valuable player down the stretch, a real athlete, a weapon,
Speaker 1: and so much of what they do on both sides
Speaker 1: of the floor. But what I really like Drake here,
Speaker 1: even if he doesn't play or is not effective. The
Speaker 1: Bulldogs are twenty and eight against the spread out of
Speaker 1: conference the last three seasons. I don't like using trends
Speaker 1: big picture that macro as sort of a reason to
Speaker 1: bet on a team, But when you think about why
Speaker 1: Debris use it so much, the complexity and the nuance
Speaker 1: of their offense is very intricate, and I think for
Speaker 1: teams who don't know that as well, like the teams
Speaker 1: in the Missouri Valley do, they tend to have value
Speaker 1: when they're playing unfamiliar foes, which Toast State is going
Speaker 1: to be. You know, I think caught off guard defensively,
Speaker 1: there's so much backscreen or back cutting screening, they're gonna
Speaker 1: take time to figure it out. You can scout all
Speaker 1: week for it, but until you see it on the floor,
Speaker 1: It's a different beast. I could argue Drakes under Valley
Speaker 1: because it teams in the Valley just know their stuff
Speaker 1: so well, and when they get back out of conference
Speaker 1: teams that don't know them as well, that's where I
Speaker 1: think they have big time value. So I would take
Speaker 1: Drake here any spot where they're still a dog. By
Speaker 1: the way, I had Seth Walder on for BSPN earlier,
Speaker 1: he thought that the Wichita State Drake winner had a
Speaker 1: pretty legit shot as a giant killer against USC and
Speaker 1: eleven six. How do you feel about that? Yeah, I've
Speaker 1: been down on USC all season. At some point I
Speaker 1: have to respect what they've done. I mean, they're basically
Speaker 1: crawled into the top fifteen and most of the metrics
Speaker 1: I think top fifteen and Ken pom Uh. They have
Speaker 1: the best player on the floor against pretty much any
Speaker 1: team they play in Evan Mobley an absolute freak of
Speaker 1: an athlete that the things he can do with the
Speaker 1: basketball at seven foot, the way he moves are unfair.
Speaker 1: I don't know how out of these guys are just
Speaker 1: they're being built different these days. I don't understand it,
Speaker 1: but it's an interesting matchup I worry about Drake's lack
Speaker 1: of size if they were advanced against USC. But they
Speaker 1: can play the the X and no chess match. On
Speaker 1: the other end, the way they spread you out, they
Speaker 1: can bring uh. They go this small ball lineup and
Speaker 1: bring Mobile away from the baskets, sort of limiting his
Speaker 1: impact inside. I gets the right lane, but I'm not
Speaker 1: as excited to fade USC, which has not been a
Speaker 1: very profitable strategy this year for me. I should probably
Speaker 1: be fairer to set that was it is not completely ridiculous.
Speaker 1: Category which was his third category? Wasn't his best bet?
Speaker 1: Wasn't worth a long look if you will. As we
Speaker 1: were categorizing them, we'll rehash what his best bets in
Speaker 1: terms of giant killers were as we go through this
Speaker 1: bracket by bracket. We only have a couple of minutes here, Matt,
Speaker 1: so I'll wait to go through the first two brackets
Speaker 1: when Jim gets here and the three of us can
Speaker 1: do it. But I'll rehash some of the questions I
Speaker 1: asked you last night on Primetime Action the Numbers Game.
Speaker 1: Audience didn't hear your your answers to these One easiest
Speaker 1: path for a number one seed is I think Gonzaga
Speaker 1: trying to remove the fact that Zaga is the best
Speaker 1: number one seed for not quite just looking at the
Speaker 1: field of the draw, the two seed, three seat, four
Speaker 1: seed in that region I've already beat, and I think
Speaker 1: they'd beat all three HANDI at Virginia, Iowa and Kansas.
Speaker 1: Talk about Virginia with their COVID issues. Kansas sort of
Speaker 1: in the same boat. Iowa just a brutal matchup for
Speaker 1: the Hawkeyes. I just don't think even if Iowa does
Speaker 1: advanced to relate, which I'm skeptical they will, if they
Speaker 1: catch Gonzaga there in the rematch, I think the Zags
Speaker 1: do exactly what they did in the first one. That
Speaker 1: game played to like twenty points. I think the final
Speaker 1: marginal was closer to ten, but the Zags up twenty
Speaker 1: in the first half. They just let their foot off
Speaker 1: the gas. So I think the Zags are a safe
Speaker 1: safe Betsa's final four and uh, your final four, well,
Speaker 1: we'll get to that. Let me see that the hardest
Speaker 1: or the the most unfair, I'll use that word, but
Speaker 1: sort of the team that got the shaft here is it?
Speaker 1: Oklahoma State as a number four seed? Yeah, I you know,
Speaker 1: I can say that the one seed that has the
Speaker 1: toughest I think path you could argue is Illinois. For
Speaker 1: that reason, you have Oklahoma State lurking in the same
Speaker 1: side of that upper half of the Midwest bracket. Then
Speaker 1: you talk about Loyola, who they could see second round
Speaker 1: of vastly underseate, a team ranked in the top fifteen,
Speaker 1: top ten, and most of the advanced metrics. I think
Speaker 1: whoever comes out of that little pocket um will have
Speaker 1: gone through a gauntlet to get there. The winner of
Speaker 1: that probably takes on Houston. I think we'll actually to
Speaker 1: be in my official final four pick. I've been going
Speaker 1: back and forth between Illinois in Houston the Midwest, but
Speaker 1: I think Houston, because I have an easier draw to
Speaker 1: get to the Elite eight, is the better value pick.
Speaker 1: And you're looking to take a region future ticket, all right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think Illinois probably has the toughest four seed, but
Speaker 1: maybe the easiest two in three that's debatable, but maybe
Speaker 1: that's good. Yeah, West Virginia vulnerable. I agree with that. Yeah, um,
Speaker 1: all right, we'll we'll have Jim Root join us next.
Speaker 1: From three man, we've the three of us, Matt Cox,
Speaker 1: Jim Route, and I we'll start with the West and
Speaker 1: the East. Will go through those two sides of March madness,
Speaker 1: those two regions. We'll do it bracket by bracket, will
Speaker 1: do a t S if there's a t S thoughts,
Speaker 1: will certainly do it as an advanced through the bracket
Speaker 1: as well. The madness is here. Matt Cox kind enough
Speaker 1: to stay with us. From three Man We've again at
Speaker 1: three m W underscore CBB Matt Cox via the magic
Speaker 1: of Skype and Matt. Look who just walked into the studio.
Speaker 1: Also from three Man Weaves just like old times. Man,
Speaker 1: Jim Root, you do, Jim Good. It's good to be
Speaker 1: back in the South Point studio. It's been a while
Speaker 1: for me. This guy. Man, look at this guy. You know, yeah,
Speaker 1: I see the COVID, but but I'm here. I made it.
Speaker 1: You made it. Yeah, so yeah, we couldn't do this
Speaker 1: for a year. I used to come here regularly to
Speaker 1: talk college basketball, the numbers game. Um, and you're getting
Speaker 1: a taste. You've been co hosting shows on Visa and
Speaker 1: how's that going? What's going well? You know, clearly they've
Speaker 1: elevated me, elevated me above Matt and the other two.
Speaker 1: I'm in person. So look, I've taken that extra step, Matthew,
Speaker 1: I think they like me more. I'm sorry, shots fired.
Speaker 1: I went to this whole little thing to get my
Speaker 1: background set up for March Madness ship, and I'm still
Speaker 1: just throwing. You know, you're in the Ivory Tower. I'm
Speaker 1: just looking up and in all of you so we
Speaker 1: can all spire reach the level that you're at right now.
Speaker 1: By the way, you and Kai Kai, who was joining
Speaker 1: us in about a half hour. You guys coming into
Speaker 1: town this week as well, Yeah, Thursday evening. I believe
Speaker 1: it's in our flight lands. We have heard of us
Speaker 1: joining for an annual tradition, and I'm playing on saying
Speaker 1: next week as well. So I'm hoping to weasel my
Speaker 1: way in to Jim's throwing for some studio hits next week,
Speaker 1: depending the offers on the table. For on the table, sir,
Speaker 1: All right, let's do it. You have one for me formally?
Speaker 1: All right, let's start with here's what we'll do. We'll
Speaker 1: do west and east, the three of us, and when
Speaker 1: KaiA comes on in, will tackle both the south and
Speaker 1: the midwest. Let's start this bracket by bracket. Will go
Speaker 1: to the west first, Gonzaga against the winner of Norfolk
Speaker 1: State and Appalachias Date, and again we'll do this a
Speaker 1: T S and brackets. I assume that everybody's going to
Speaker 1: advance Gonzaga past the winner of the Mountaineers of app
Speaker 1: State from the Sun Belt and the Spartans of Norfolk
Speaker 1: State from MIAK that playing game. Do you agree, Jim though,
Speaker 1: with Matt on playing Appalachian State against the number here?
Speaker 1: I do. I think that's probably the side there. It's
Speaker 1: just it's weird to have a Sun Belt team in
Speaker 1: the playing game that that conferences like above playing to
Speaker 1: me in my mind? Yes, so you're with it? Lay
Speaker 1: the three there, yep. Okay, Appalachian Date, Mountaineers, the winner
Speaker 1: of the Gonzaga play in winner game, which we're all
Speaker 1: advancing Gazaga there. Um, we'll play the winner of Oklahoma
Speaker 1: and Missouri the eight nine game in the West Region.
Speaker 1: Oklahoma favored by two points. Here, Jim will start with
Speaker 1: you because this is you know, this is as close
Speaker 1: to that as close but very close to a coin
Speaker 1: flip here, who do you like to advance? Do you
Speaker 1: like the number? I thought you're gonna say you're starting
Speaker 1: with me because it's close to home for me. It's
Speaker 1: alma mater, Miszoo. I'm sorry, yeah, that the Tigers. I'm
Speaker 1: a little nervous about the match up. I think there's
Speaker 1: a coaching edge for Oklahoma here. I thin Kruger's will
Speaker 1: a little better than Klanza, particularly in postseason settings, and
Speaker 1: the matchup, I'm worried. I think picking Pops with Brady Manic,
Speaker 1: they can spread out Miszoo's defense. Jeremiah Tilma not great
Speaker 1: at covering in space like that, and then defensively, Oklahoma
Speaker 1: is going to be a shell and make Miszoo shoot
Speaker 1: over the top. I assume, Matt are you with me there?
Speaker 1: Are you actually gonna back my my alma mater here? No,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna sit next to you guys in rout you
Speaker 1: on because I cannot stand to be in the town
Speaker 1: of Vegas after Missoo loses. So I went to that
Speaker 1: experience when you guys fumbled it against Florida State. So
Speaker 1: don't do that again, please for my own personal morale
Speaker 1: and my experience my return to the desert matchup wise,
Speaker 1: I think you said it. You know, you hit the
Speaker 1: nail on the head. The one thing that Lon Kruger
Speaker 1: always does. He finds mismatches. I call him the mismatch Mastermind.
Speaker 1: But mssour has big guards and they have burstal defenders.
Speaker 1: I don't think that there as exploitable from that angle.
Speaker 1: But if Kruger sees a weakness that you know, develops
Speaker 1: throughout the game, I think he finds it. So yeah,
Speaker 1: Cloak Coaching edge to oh you, I think the price
Speaker 1: is about right. It's clip Coast are close to a
Speaker 1: coin club. I think minus two is a pretty a
Speaker 1: pretty accurate price. So no a t s play here,
Speaker 1: but something for me. Yeah, you're thinking towards Oklahoma. I
Speaker 1: mean maybe there's some like emotional hedge anti bias that
Speaker 1: I'm working with there. So all right, but you're advancing Oklahoma. Yes, okay,
Speaker 1: you hate your alma mater. I'm just kidding, alright. Five
Speaker 1: twelve game in the West. So yesterday on the show,
Speaker 1: I had about, you know, three different instances of people
Speaker 1: liking the Gauchos. Here for an outright upsets you c
Speaker 1: SB the twelve seed of the Gauchos out of the
Speaker 1: Big West Big West Conference Tournament champions against Creighton. Creighton
Speaker 1: got House did the Big East title game against Georgetown.
Speaker 1: Creton is the five seed. Creighton is a six and
Speaker 1: a half point favorite. By the way, that Oklahoma Missouri
Speaker 1: game is actually Saturday, the second day, UM Creton, U C.
Speaker 1: S B, Jim A T s or advanced. Either way,
Speaker 1: How do you want to go here? I'm struggling with
Speaker 1: this one. Ucs B still waiting on some injury news
Speaker 1: here with a jar Sni one of their starting guards.
Speaker 1: He's a double digit score key piece for them. If
Speaker 1: he's in, that'll probably tip me towards UC Santa Barbara.
Speaker 1: Without him, I think maybe that it's getting a little
Speaker 1: too cute trying to back the gauchos here, and I
Speaker 1: would go Creton so lean towards you met so pending
Speaker 1: right now, in other words, pending skill Alexander, Jim Root,
Speaker 1: Matt Cox, both those guys from three Man Weave. It's
Speaker 1: a numbers game at Visa, the sports betting network, Visa
Speaker 1: dot Com, the Visa at foodbost Link game plus. Of
Speaker 1: course I R radio Matt your thoughts on that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it seems like U C. S B. E feels like
Speaker 1: what's happening on the other side of the bracket with
Speaker 1: Villa Nova and went Throp the darling Cinderella is already
Speaker 1: starting to be formed with the Eagles, and I see
Speaker 1: seemed getting the same vibes as you mentioned here with
Speaker 1: the GAU shows. I'm sort of pouring pouring cold water
Speaker 1: on both those. I respect Craton, they don't have the
Speaker 1: same injury issues that Nova does. Like this team is
Speaker 1: just very undervalued right now. I think Steven's a pretty
Speaker 1: accurate price. The early money hit it pretty hard from
Speaker 1: eight and a half down to seven. But I'm not
Speaker 1: going to follow the public party here on u C
Speaker 1: s B. I just respect the Jas too much. I
Speaker 1: think they're making up shots. They defend well too. I
Speaker 1: think it's the thing that's forgotten about this j S team.
Speaker 1: They really defended a lot better down the stretch, and
Speaker 1: you see he's got plenty of talent. But I just
Speaker 1: think seven's too short. Yeah, rounding out that half of
Speaker 1: the of the West region. By the way, when everybody
Speaker 1: at UCSB yesterday it made me worried as well. But
Speaker 1: rounding out the winner of the five twelve creaton UCSB
Speaker 1: game plays, the winner of Virginia and Ohio, the who's
Speaker 1: number four seed out of the a SEC. That's the
Speaker 1: highest seed but they SEC team this year against the
Speaker 1: Bobcats of Ohio MAC tournament champs. They get the thirteen
Speaker 1: s lot. Who's favored by It was eight now it's
Speaker 1: seven and a half. Let's call it actually was ten
Speaker 1: and a half as an open all the way down
Speaker 1: to seven and a half in favor of u v A.
Speaker 1: Another of all all these games, by the way, on Saturday, Jim,
Speaker 1: we'll start with you here again. I'm I'm an Ohio guy.
Speaker 1: I'm a Bobcat. I think that that steamed down from
Speaker 1: that opener of ten and a half, which was crazy
Speaker 1: to me, makes sense. Virginia, we don't even know who
Speaker 1: all is going to be there. They're they're traveling to
Speaker 1: this game on Thursday. There, they're still back home quarantining
Speaker 1: after pulling out of the a SEC tournament. We don't
Speaker 1: know for sure they'll be full strength. And Ohio is
Speaker 1: playing so well right now. They are hitting, hitting their
Speaker 1: stride at the right time. They've got a star at
Speaker 1: point guard. They've got a pretty balanced roster. Matthew, I am,
Speaker 1: I am an Ohio bob kitten. Here are you joining me?
Speaker 1: I missed the number. I don't know why. I guess
Speaker 1: how snooze and are looking up at the ceiling or something.
Speaker 1: But yeah, at this point, got to hit down immediately
Speaker 1: at for the COVID reasons you mentioned. Akin to my
Speaker 1: take with Cranton UCSB, I just think the line's gotten
Speaker 1: a little too short. I'm not looking to buy back
Speaker 1: on Virginia yet. Um, but but I think it's if
Speaker 1: you're looking to play Ohio, which I think is the
Speaker 1: right side, you've missed your price. So I think you
Speaker 1: gotta find other other spots to pick off. Oh I
Speaker 1: can really shoot it, man. They got deep, deep range
Speaker 1: on multiple their guards. Ben vander Plaska is a sort
Speaker 1: of a mismatch in verse four, who could be a
Speaker 1: tricky spot for the who's to defend? So yeah, I
Speaker 1: think the Virginia could be an upset alert here. I
Speaker 1: just think from a betting perspective at seven, it's too low.
Speaker 1: You advancing Ohio and your brackets. I am I'm taking
Speaker 1: Ohio here yet I am going to take Ohio my bracket. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I have to. There you go. That's the classic. I
Speaker 1: won't bet on them, but I'll advance them. Cool, that's
Speaker 1: exactly that's right. Come on, Matt, come on the other side.
Speaker 1: Of the Western Region USC. We talked about this moments
Speaker 1: ago Matt and turns the playing game, which to State
Speaker 1: Drake winner to take on USC. What was your take
Speaker 1: on the Witch Toll State Drake game? Real quick, Matt again,
Speaker 1: Drake Darien rise is offense is tough to prepare for
Speaker 1: if you don't know it, and I think the Missouri
Speaker 1: Valley teams have an edge because they're so familiar with it.
Speaker 1: Drake has always been good against the number of the
Speaker 1: last few years, no matter what. They are especially good
Speaker 1: out of conference against teams that aren't familiar with it.
Speaker 1: I think Drake has a very substantial matchumage, especially with
Speaker 1: Tank hen Toll back in the fold. You're nodding, Jim,
Speaker 1: I'm with him. Yeah, I think he said it. They're
Speaker 1: They're great non conference against the spread twenty and eight
Speaker 1: the last three years, so almost there. They're really tough
Speaker 1: if you're not familiar with them. They remember that playing
Speaker 1: game is on Thursday. This year everything staggered, so the
Speaker 1: four playing games, the first four in if you will
Speaker 1: on Thursday, and then the sixty four starts on a Friday. Uh,
Speaker 1: either of you have Drake or Wichita State. If it
Speaker 1: happens to be Wichita State beating USC. I do not.
Speaker 1: I just USC size worries me. Drake can kind of
Speaker 1: get beat up inside even though they have Darnell Brodie.
Speaker 1: It's it's only one man against the mountains that USC offers.
Speaker 1: So I just I'm not quite confident that without Roman
Speaker 1: pen there that the tray can get into the round
Speaker 1: of thirty two. Yeah. I mean, and Field has been
Speaker 1: really good in the tournament. You look back the last
Speaker 1: few years. I think he's he's I'm looking at numbers right,
Speaker 1: he's four and oh his last four games in March.
Speaker 1: He had that run as a play in UH seed
Speaker 1: a few years back. They this year just that size
Speaker 1: and that a thousands and that talent is so overwhelming.
Speaker 1: I disrespecting them all season. I'm done doing that. I
Speaker 1: think that I think the Trojans can march onto the
Speaker 1: sweet six team to be honest, against a potentially vulnerable
Speaker 1: KU squad there in the second round. It's being both
Speaker 1: teams in advance. Oh what about that KU? Eastern Washington?
Speaker 1: The three four team gave the Eagles out of the
Speaker 1: Big Sky first time in the tournaments. Kansas favored by
Speaker 1: about ten and a half mant Eastern Washington defense not
Speaker 1: always trustworthy, but yeah I am so. I'll say this
Speaker 1: Oral Roberts not always trustworthy defensively, but both teams can
Speaker 1: score the crap out of the ball. And it's a
Speaker 1: very unorthodox offense. They run sort of through a high
Speaker 1: post action, a lot of cutters and shooters off that.
Speaker 1: If k He's not connected on defense, this is a
Speaker 1: game where they can find themselves downtent early just through
Speaker 1: a straight barrage of threes. This will be a cute
Speaker 1: first of fifteen. But for me, I think gil so
Speaker 1: I look out for the books taking some big money
Speaker 1: here on the sharp shooting Eagles to to get up
Speaker 1: early on the Hawks. Yeah, it's it's come down a
Speaker 1: little bit. I'm sort of inclined to hope it gets
Speaker 1: two single digits. In back Kansas. They're coming off COVID
Speaker 1: issues of their own. It sounds like McCormick will be
Speaker 1: able to play, but Jalen Wilson starting forward not traveling
Speaker 1: for them, so they're a little bit shorthanded. I still
Speaker 1: think you can guard them somewhat, and Eastern Washington can't
Speaker 1: stop anybody. I think Kansas can score almost it will here,
Speaker 1: so Kansas advances. You might even play them if it
Speaker 1: gets the single digits here, Okay, a t s that
Speaker 1: is last two in the West. Uh. The seven ten
Speaker 1: game is Oregon VCU. Duck's favored by six last night.
Speaker 1: Check let me update that. And then the two fifteen
Speaker 1: game they'll play the winner. That is the seven ten game.
Speaker 1: The Oregan VCU winner will take on the winner of
Speaker 1: Iowa Grand Canyon. The Antelopes out of the whack Hawkeyes
Speaker 1: favored by more than a couple of touchdowns here fourteen
Speaker 1: and a half, and I think jim on either of those.
Speaker 1: I think Grand Canyon is a really good matchup against Iowa.
Speaker 1: It's they've got the size to at least battle with
Speaker 1: Garza inside. So I'm hoping that ticks back up to fifteen,
Speaker 1: but I will probably end up back in Grand Canyon there,
Speaker 1: but I would advances in the bracket of course. And
Speaker 1: then uh, anything on Oregon VCU. I like Oregon, but
Speaker 1: the numbers too high, so I'll be advancing it but
Speaker 1: not betting it. Advancing Oregon but not betting it. Stame
Speaker 1: with you, man, Yeah, advancing Oregan. I made this read
Speaker 1: minus four. It was actually tempted to take VCU on
Speaker 1: the opener, but it's come down a little bit. I
Speaker 1: trust an Altman. He is phenomenal in the tournament. Kin
Speaker 1: to Jim Beheim and some of these coaches who use
Speaker 1: a myriad of junk defenses to throw wrenches and opposing offenses,
Speaker 1: Altman's a top coach. Prepared for man, especially if they advance.
Speaker 1: I'd be on upsite alert if you're a Hawkeye fan. Um.
Speaker 1: Altman's especially good in the short turnaround spots. Round of
Speaker 1: thirty two, Elite eight we've seen the the last few seasons.
Speaker 1: I think they get past VCU, and they could being
Speaker 1: the Sweet sixteen. They make some shots against the Hawkeyes.
Speaker 1: All right, all those games on Saturday, by the way,
Speaker 1: in the Western Region, all right, let's go to the East,
Speaker 1: the winner of the Western Region, and we'll get your
Speaker 1: final four picks here. Momentarily, winner of the West will
Speaker 1: take on the winner of the East. Michigan is the
Speaker 1: number one seed. Obviously Isaiah livers Um. I don't know.
Speaker 1: Michigan might not have him for the whole weekend here.
Speaker 1: Can they survive to the Sweet sixteen? Will they get
Speaker 1: him back for the Sweet sixteen? They won't have him
Speaker 1: for the weekend. Michigan will take on the winner of
Speaker 1: Mount St. Mary's in Texas Southern the play in game
Speaker 1: for the number sixteen seed. Matt already said he actually
Speaker 1: likes Mount Saint Mary's in the play in game against
Speaker 1: the number You like it, Yeah, I'm with him. I
Speaker 1: took it early two and a half. I think i'd
Speaker 1: still take it a pick because I do think they win.
Speaker 1: They just got some matchup edges and I think a
Speaker 1: coaching advantage there as well. Yeah, straight pick him now
Speaker 1: in that one. Yeah, it's still worth it. Okay, still
Speaker 1: worth it, all right? I assume you have Michigan advancing,
Speaker 1: though I do No. One sixteen on my bracket, and
Speaker 1: now do you either bet? Okay, eight nine games the winner.
Speaker 1: We're assuming Michigan will take on the winner of the
Speaker 1: eight nine game. This is pretty good right year. L
Speaker 1: s U out of the SEC, playing great against the
Speaker 1: Atlantic tin regular season and conference tournament champions, the bodies
Speaker 1: of St. Bonaventure. L s U favored by two is
Speaker 1: what I'm seeing right now? Too is the latest? Yes too?
Speaker 1: So um and this, by the way, still Saturday, you'll
Speaker 1: see someone and a half. Let's call it one and
Speaker 1: a half kid census. Jim thoughts here, I took the
Speaker 1: Bonnies money line. I liked them quite a bit. Mark
Speaker 1: Schmidt is a great game planner, fantastic for the Bonnies.
Speaker 1: He just game planned for a whole week for a
Speaker 1: shock of smart assistant for the ten Championship against ECU,
Speaker 1: and now he's got to do it again. Will Wade
Speaker 1: at L s U a shock of smart assistant as well.
Speaker 1: I think he's he's basically got a bunch of tricks
Speaker 1: up his street sleeve here. The only worry is that
Speaker 1: this is kind of a five man team, and if
Speaker 1: they get in foul trouble at all, they're they're in
Speaker 1: for Their bench is just bad. So they've just got
Speaker 1: to stay in the half court and out of foul trouble. Maddie, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm a Bonnie boy, have been all season. I do
Speaker 1: want to give some crowd to L. S U who
Speaker 1: has played better defensively. Will Waite has those guys defending
Speaker 1: at a higher level than we saw earlier in the year,
Speaker 1: starting to play some man to man and actually weaponize
Speaker 1: the athletes that they have. It's shocking that they've been
Speaker 1: as bad defensively given all the you know, the size
Speaker 1: and the speed at all five positions. But in a
Speaker 1: close sort of toss up pickup game, Jim's right, just
Speaker 1: take the better coach and Mark Smitz as good as
Speaker 1: anyone in the country in terms of X and no
Speaker 1: tactician game planning. All right, all these games we said,
Speaker 1: we decided to do it West East. All these games Saturday.
Speaker 1: By the way, these are the second day of the tournament,
Speaker 1: if you will, um the playing games, notwithstanding five twelve
Speaker 1: in the East, Colorado against Georgetown, Patrick Ewing at Georgetown
Speaker 1: winning the Big East Tournament. Uh, the that's five and
Speaker 1: it's been five the whole time. So Colorado favored by five. Jim,
Speaker 1: I kind of like Georgetown. Yes, I leaned that way.
Speaker 1: It felt a little bit short on the number, but
Speaker 1: I kind of looked at it again. And Colorado away
Speaker 1: from Boulder, where they've just demolished teams at altitude, has
Speaker 1: not been quite as good. Uh. And Georgetown just they're
Speaker 1: playing fantastic you right now. They've kind of figured out
Speaker 1: an identity that they're hitting shots from the perimeter, and
Speaker 1: I think they can score inside here. Despite Colorado having
Speaker 1: some decent interior protection, cute just swahab a beast inside
Speaker 1: for for they Now, are you uh? Are you on
Speaker 1: the on George Town as well? Are you going with
Speaker 1: Colorado A t s and advancing them in your brackets five? Matt?
Speaker 1: I'm going the other way on both. I think the
Speaker 1: concerns about George tommiell score inside or about I looked
Speaker 1: at some of the advanced numbers. Kryle's post defense has
Speaker 1: not been that great this year for a team that
Speaker 1: we think of physical size, you know, flushed up front,
Speaker 1: really have had trouble stopping guys in in the paint.
Speaker 1: I think Calad was just undervalued. I really look at
Speaker 1: what they've done the last month. Blew a lot of
Speaker 1: late leads. Um got up early on a bunch of
Speaker 1: teams if they sided. I took first half ye a
Speaker 1: guilt because I'm warring about the same dynamic playing out here.
Speaker 1: The five feels too high and sort of an ugly game.
Speaker 1: But I did take my three first half on the bumps.
Speaker 1: I need to get out to a hot start. And
Speaker 1: I think this whole Georgetown run sort of like the
Speaker 1: organ State thing. It was cute, it was fun. I'm
Speaker 1: just not by the endo. I think they'd go home early.
Speaker 1: How dare you dare? And I had to offend your
Speaker 1: DC roots there? Later you will fade Maryland, I'm sure
Speaker 1: as well, that's coming up. I actually like the terms.
Speaker 1: We'll get their momentarily. Winner of Colorado Georgetown five twelve
Speaker 1: takes on the winner Florida State, U N and CG
Speaker 1: the University of North Carolina Greensboro, the Spartans out of
Speaker 1: the Southern four thirteen game. Florida State favored by double
Speaker 1: digits here. I'm gonna assume you're gonna advance the seminoles here,
Speaker 1: but what about the number. I'm probably gonna end up
Speaker 1: backing FSU here. I'm kind of waiting to see what
Speaker 1: the number is. But I just think for every mid
Speaker 1: major that gets into the tournament, your nightmare matchup is
Speaker 1: Florida State because you can't do anything against them athletically.
Speaker 1: They're huge, and unc Greensboro's whole edges. They've got a
Speaker 1: point guard as a miller who is like maybe the
Speaker 1: best athlete in the tournament. He has a near fifty
Speaker 1: in vertical. He's an absolute stud. But that advantage is
Speaker 1: completely nullified against Florida state and athleticism that they have,
Speaker 1: so I the only worry for FSDU is turning the
Speaker 1: ball over against pressure. But I still think Florida States
Speaker 1: the play here interesting as it relates to mid majors.
Speaker 1: Matt Yeah, un CG is basically the most athletic and
Speaker 1: tallest team against every team they play up until this point,
Speaker 1: and should mention Floria Satan and gains all of that.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is like a nightmare matchup for U
Speaker 1: n c G. I will absolutely be advancing Florida State.
Speaker 1: From a spread perspective, UNCG is spunky enough to keep
Speaker 1: it close. I don't really see the Doles blowing the
Speaker 1: doors off the Spartans, So that's where I was a
Speaker 1: little bit torn. Can maybe talk me into taking a
Speaker 1: small dabble on on the Spartans here at plus eleven,
Speaker 1: it's pretty high spread, but this is not an upset
Speaker 1: alert for me. Terrible draw here for the for West
Speaker 1: Miller and the Spartans back half of the Eastern Region
Speaker 1: b y U the number six S is gonna take.
Speaker 1: The winner is going to take on the winner of
Speaker 1: the Michigan State u c L A blue blood play
Speaker 1: in game. Steth Walter from ESPN was on earlier on
Speaker 1: the show, his number one giant Killer Model shot was
Speaker 1: you see l A over B y U. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think he's still had Michigan State over view. I fairly
Speaker 1: highly rated as well. That surprised me. I mean, maybe
Speaker 1: you B y u s tempo is not super conducive
Speaker 1: to to not getting upset, But I like B YU here.
Speaker 1: I think Mark Pope is a terrific coach no matter
Speaker 1: who they play. Yeah, I like him either way. Michigan
Speaker 1: State maybe the more dangerous matchup to me. I'm sorry
Speaker 1: sorry to Model there, but I'm rolling with the Cougars there, Matt.
Speaker 1: I think you're a You're a big cougar boy, aren't you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: cougar is blind, doesn't matter who wins this matchup, I think. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think that's that's the reputation just exactly. Yeah, the
Speaker 1: Store and Mormons no affiliation with that with that school.
Speaker 1: But Mark Pope top five coach for me in the country.
Speaker 1: I think he's that good. Um, they can march on
Speaker 1: really far in this wide open region. I think their
Speaker 1: size upfront will bully whoever comes out of this play
Speaker 1: and game win or both U C. L A and
Speaker 1: Michigan State much thinner upfront than they have been in
Speaker 1: years past. Matt, you stayed away from Michigan State U
Speaker 1: c l A. Do you have any conviction on that?
Speaker 1: Not a current number. I took it. In mind, this
Speaker 1: one up to two makes me a little nervous. I
Speaker 1: think it's closer to a coin flip. Okay, b Y,
Speaker 1: you play in game winner, whether it's Michigan State or
Speaker 1: U c l A takes on the winner of the
Speaker 1: three fourteen game Texas Big Twelve Tournament champs against Abilene
Speaker 1: Christian the Wildcats out of the Southland. UH. Texas favored
Speaker 1: by nine. Let's call it eight and a half now,
Speaker 1: Jim will start with you. Abilene Christian live or not?
Speaker 1: I don't think so. It's a little similar to UNC
Speaker 1: Greensboro and Florida State, where Abilene has been all about
Speaker 1: their size and the paint. They're one of the biggest
Speaker 1: post up teams in the entire country, and you can't
Speaker 1: do that against Texas. They're huge inside. So I'll keep
Speaker 1: this one quick. I think Texas kind of blows them out. Okay,
Speaker 1: So against the number two, yeah, I took it. I
Speaker 1: took eight and a half. So Matt. Yeah, Texas just
Speaker 1: takes care of the ball. I think they win pretty
Speaker 1: easily here. Um, Joe Golding is a phenomenal basketball coach.
Speaker 1: What he's done with that program, making the tradition to
Speaker 1: D one now having him as a powerhouse of that conference.
Speaker 1: Very commendable. Brutal matchup drawl though. I mean Texas like
Speaker 1: Florida State, like Tennessee. I think they're all three very
Speaker 1: undervalue teams that played like elite teams at certain spurts
Speaker 1: throughout the season. Um, and there's a bound to start
Speaker 1: playing right back to that with the stakes as high
Speaker 1: as they are now. All right, Um, we're gonna run
Speaker 1: into a break here, So I'm gonna save yukon Maryland
Speaker 1: and Alabama iona for well, let's just tell Alabama I
Speaker 1: OA real quick the two fifteen. Alabama favored by seventeen
Speaker 1: here last I last I checked. You'll advance Alabama against
Speaker 1: Rick Petino's gals. I would imagine any play on the number. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's too high. I'm I'm on the Gayls on the gail.
Speaker 1: I think they can be feisty, they can stop drible
Speaker 1: penetration a little bit, so I'll be Yeah, I took
Speaker 1: my ownA at seventeen and a half. You too, Matt.
Speaker 1: You're nodding, yes, sir, exact same advancing Bama. But I
Speaker 1: think the gals keep it close. Ish okay, I'll save
Speaker 1: you can Maryland for after the break. Get your thoughts
Speaker 1: on who you got in the final four. Take a
Speaker 1: look at some region by region odds as well. Is
Speaker 1: there a bet to be made to win the region?
Speaker 1: We shall see Jim Root, Matt Cox, Kima Keon will
Speaker 1: join us coming up as well. We'll do the other
Speaker 1: two regions right here on the numbers game visa these
Speaker 1: sports betting network is Gal Alexander, Matt Cox and Jim
Speaker 1: Root from three man. We've here kind of me. I'm
Speaker 1: still talking, so he'll be joining us in a minute.
Speaker 1: And big shots still got a full time job, so
Speaker 1: we gotta let him do that. We neglected one game,
Speaker 1: almost timed it perfectly. But the winner of the Alabama
Speaker 1: I own a to fifteen, which you guys both said,
Speaker 1: you like Alabama to advance, but you like the Gales
Speaker 1: of Iona against the number um is the seven ten
Speaker 1: game between Yukon and Maryland. Yukon favored by It was
Speaker 1: two and a half last night looked. I'll update that
Speaker 1: for you. But Yukon Maryland it is three. Let's call
Speaker 1: it now three across the board. How do you feel
Speaker 1: about this? I took Yukon minus too. I'm gonna wish
Speaker 1: I was skyping for this now that I'm I'm sitting
Speaker 1: next to you betting against Maryland. Okay, Ukans got some questions.
Speaker 1: R J Cole is in concussion protocol. He's been awesome
Speaker 1: for them down the stretch, so if he's not back,
Speaker 1: I'm a little concerned about the two. But I'm hoping
Speaker 1: he plays. And I just think Ukans kind of on
Speaker 1: the on the ascendancy right now and book night is
Speaker 1: is too much of a star to bet against in March, Matt,
Speaker 1: I sense that you agree. You know I do. I
Speaker 1: was hyping up your terms earlier. I looked at the
Speaker 1: you know, sort of the zoom in efficiency status that
Speaker 1: bark Torvik offers. Since the Illinois game, Maryland's been a
Speaker 1: top twenty five team. They've played tremendously. Turgent made some
Speaker 1: tweaks to their lineup. They played kind of a five out,
Speaker 1: perimeter oriented type approach. Just a tough draw against Yukon
Speaker 1: that can beat up inside with all their size. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna advance to Yukon with you know, burgrudgingly, because I
Speaker 1: do think Marilan is a team that has a dark
Speaker 1: horse ten a to it. It just got put in really,
Speaker 1: you know, crappy spot in the brackets. So I will
Speaker 1: advance Yukon. I have no bet on this. I think
Speaker 1: it's a pretty accurate spread. All right. We'll save the
Speaker 1: South in the Midwest for when Kai gets here after
Speaker 1: the after the break here, But I wanted to get
Speaker 1: your guys thoughts on these region markets, which are available
Speaker 1: at bet MGM per region. Is there a bet to
Speaker 1: be made? Let's start anywhere you want to go here, Jason,
Speaker 1: Region by region. Um, we'll start with again courtesy of
Speaker 1: bet mg the West gonzag Is region, if you will,
Speaker 1: gonzag is minus one h everybody else a distance. Iowa
Speaker 1: would be the closest, the shortest shot otherwise at plus
Speaker 1: six fifty great eight to one everybody else double digits.
Speaker 1: By the way, if Norfolk State won this or Appalachian
Speaker 1: State won this, like if Norfolk State one, that shouldn't
Speaker 1: we get more than a hundred one? Yeah, it should
Speaker 1: be ten thousand of one ship really should be Jim
Speaker 1: Dye think you like here? Besides, Gonzaga is at all Gonzaga?
Speaker 1: I unfortunately, no, Yeah, I think Gonzaga wins value wise.
Speaker 1: Maybe I could truck and say Creighton plus eight hundred,
Speaker 1: but I just I'm kind of a Gonzaga backer all
Speaker 1: all along. So nothing for me here, Matt Gonzaga, Yeah, Zag,
Speaker 1: especially if it's less than minus two hundred. I saw
Speaker 1: a few bucks had it at minus two thirty, So
Speaker 1: an MGM has given you, I think a fair price there.
Speaker 1: I said, it's the easiest, easiest path for any of
Speaker 1: the one seeds are the best team. I think you'd
Speaker 1: take the Zags and go go forward next Jason, next
Speaker 1: region on this again. These courtesy of bet MGM, proud
Speaker 1: sponsors of this here program. Uh. These are the odds
Speaker 1: to win the East Michigan's if you will Michi and
Speaker 1: plus one seventy five the number one seed. This is
Speaker 1: a little more interesting. Alabama four to one, f s
Speaker 1: U five to one, Texas plus five fifty, UKN eight
Speaker 1: to one, and then everybody else double digits again. Isaiah
Speaker 1: Livers not going to be available here this weekend. How
Speaker 1: do you feel here, Jim, this is the region to
Speaker 1: take a shot. I think Michigan being I think the
Speaker 1: most vulnerable number one without livers. I'm looking at that
Speaker 1: Alabama Florida State tier a little bit, but then even
Speaker 1: further down, I think I won't steal what I think
Speaker 1: that's going to say, but Yukon could could be a
Speaker 1: potential dark course. I just think this is the region
Speaker 1: where you take a swing man. Yeah, I'm gonna probably
Speaker 1: spread my risk across three teams, Florida State, Yukon, m
Speaker 1: B I u uh talk storing Mormons earlier, and I
Speaker 1: think Florida State has a chance to elevate themselves to
Speaker 1: being the clear cut best team in this region. We've
Speaker 1: seen Leonard Hamilton's teams make these types of runs before
Speaker 1: they really have everything clicking. Right now, I think the
Speaker 1: dolls are pretty good bet there at what is that
Speaker 1: plus five D? I actually seen up to a plus
Speaker 1: nine dred some books as well. You you and Seth
Speaker 1: Walder oppo b y U My goodness, all right, let's
Speaker 1: get through these fan well, disrespect Mark Pope by your
Speaker 1: own perilment. That kind of big thinks they're they're ripe
Speaker 1: for giant Sledge. Odds to win the South Baylor even money,
Speaker 1: Ohio State six to one, Texas Tech eight to one,
Speaker 1: everybody else double digits. Jim, I kind of like Baylor
Speaker 1: at plus one hundred. I think I saw Earli there
Speaker 1: like minus one two hundred places. I I still think
Speaker 1: Baylor can get to a gear that other teams can't.
Speaker 1: Not the best Texas Tech outfit here. It's I mean,
Speaker 1: the value is pretty high for well, I guess for
Speaker 1: for a sixth seed, Matt, yeah, all Baylor. I just
Speaker 1: love the narrative that this could be the Big twelve
Speaker 1: verse Big ten. Uh, you know, basically battleground. Baylor could
Speaker 1: potentially has to go through Wisconsin, Perdue, and Ohio State.
Speaker 1: And I'm a big subscribe to the to the narrative
Speaker 1: that the Big twelve is still better than the Big
Speaker 1: ten and we'll play as such tournament real quick. Then.
Speaker 1: Odds to win the Midwest, the Lionized region there plus
Speaker 1: one fifty. Okay State four to one. West Virginia and
Speaker 1: Houston both sixth and one. Everybody else double digits. That's
Speaker 1: that's those are sharp lines. I like to Olcahoma State
Speaker 1: at higher prices, but four to one, isn't isn't entirely valuable.
Speaker 1: I like Houston at that price plus six hundred. Tough
Speaker 1: drawfer Okay state, Matt, Yeah, I love Houston. Easiest draw
Speaker 1: there on the bottom half of the bracket. You avoid
Speaker 1: the Illinois and Oklahoma state barn burner potentially, so yeah,
Speaker 1: I think Houston plus six hundreds in the right plant
Speaker 1: all right, South and Midwest bracket buy bracket. Next the
Speaker 1: numbers game at Vista and these Sports Betting Network with
Speaker 1: three man we've by the way, it's Gill Alexander with
Speaker 1: all the three man we've crew now Matt Cox, Jim Root,
Speaker 1: Kay McKeon joining us as well. Are you doing, kay?
Speaker 1: You good? I'm doing well, Guilt. It's great to see
Speaker 1: old Jim there in the studio. That's uh, that's fun. Yeah,
Speaker 1: guess Jim is really really feels like Jim. You know,
Speaker 1: you feel a little superior to those two guys right now.
Speaker 1: Absolutely definitely beneath me. Unreal. Alright, guys, So in the
Speaker 1: interest of time, by the way, you all, I hate
Speaker 1: to put you on the spot here. Do you have
Speaker 1: any and I who's gonna win the n I T
Speaker 1: do you even know who's in the n I t do.
Speaker 1: I did a little mini preview for it. I kind
Speaker 1: of like Davidson is a value play, but I think
Speaker 1: Slew wins it. St. Louis wins it. But you like
Speaker 1: Davidson is a value play? All right? All right, I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna go around the horn for that. I don't
Speaker 1: think they all right the horn discussion. So in the
Speaker 1: interest of time here, I'm gonna I'm gonna call out
Speaker 1: each bracket here and if there's a definitive a t
Speaker 1: S or upset pick um, anybody feel free to shout
Speaker 1: out here. So let's start Baylor Hartford the one sixteen.
Speaker 1: We're talking to South Region. Now, Baylor favored by good
Speaker 1: Lord twenty six last I look against the Hartford Hawks
Speaker 1: out of the American East, first time out of the
Speaker 1: Americans that they've ever been in the tournament. Um, Baylor
Speaker 1: advances everybody, I would assume. And there's there's no play
Speaker 1: against the Bread, is there? Blood bath? I took Baylor
Speaker 1: twenty five and a half. I think they murder him. Wow. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I agree with Jim. I think it's gonna be just
Speaker 1: a total destruction. Hartford maybe slows it down, only hope. Okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: so we've sweeped here, and Gail I saw Matt Netcap
Speaker 1: tweeted out there's some back and porch sharp action. So
Speaker 1: sounds like we and had to have with some big
Speaker 1: money on the dog here. But yeah, I like the
Speaker 1: favorite lay in the wood across the board, winner of
Speaker 1: the one sixteen plays, the winner of the eight nine
Speaker 1: between Carolina and Wisconsin a CC against a big ten.
Speaker 1: This is a was it two points of favorite of
Speaker 1: the heels? Yeah, it's I don't love the line, but
Speaker 1: I'm taking Carolina to advance. I just don't trust this
Speaker 1: wisconstant team at all. Carolinas who advanced no play against
Speaker 1: the number guys. I'm kind of fighting against Jim here.
Speaker 1: I'm I'm leading Badgers. I wrote this preview up and
Speaker 1: I couldn't really decide gil. Ultimately, I'm gonna go with
Speaker 1: the better guards, and Wisconsin's guards are just extremely better
Speaker 1: than U n C's. UM. They might get killed inside,
Speaker 1: but I'm hoping to swing offense frustrates the UNC. Maybe
Speaker 1: a radic defense somewhat. Matt, I got nothing here complain
Speaker 1: toss up. I wish my colleagues both walking their head
Speaker 1: to head. I love it five twelve Villanova Winthrop Eagles
Speaker 1: out of the Big South. No Colin Gillespie Villanova by
Speaker 1: six might have changed though. Yeah. I gave Matt a
Speaker 1: little guff earlier for the for betting or advancing a
Speaker 1: dog but not betting it. That's kind of what I
Speaker 1: might do here. I think this line is too low,
Speaker 1: but I'm kind of with the the groundswell of opinion
Speaker 1: that is on the Winthrop side. Dancing I got Villanova
Speaker 1: might is six and a half. Can says it. So
Speaker 1: you you're you're taking Winthrop to advance. I am okay,
Speaker 1: guys with them to advance? Anybody else I think so too.
Speaker 1: I think everyone is on Winthrop right in the public
Speaker 1: to ESPN, guys are on Winthrop. I think no Glespie
Speaker 1: really hurts them here. They haven't played a team that
Speaker 1: pressures quite yet like Winthrop does without him in the lineup,
Speaker 1: Mat no play. Just feels like everyone and their mothers
Speaker 1: on Winthrop and six points for Villanova. I don't care
Speaker 1: if Glspie plays or not. He's not playing. It just
Speaker 1: seems disrespectful, so I know bed for me and their mother, Matt,
Speaker 1: I'm with you. Per Due North Texas winner Villanova Winthrop
Speaker 1: takes on the fourth thirteen game, Mean Green of North
Speaker 1: Texas out of Conference USA per Due boiler Maker's favored
Speaker 1: by seven and a half. I think this game is
Speaker 1: too ugly to take the favorite. I would take North Texas.
Speaker 1: If anything, I will probably not bet the side I
Speaker 1: leaned to. It's the under. I think it's just going
Speaker 1: to be a gross, gross, half court game. Matt or Kin, Yeah,
Speaker 1: nuts and strong. I'm leaning to North Texas. I'm leaning
Speaker 1: under Iger Jim. It's gonna be very, very ugly lean
Speaker 1: North Texas lean under, although I see it's been bet
Speaker 1: down a little bit one six, so it could be
Speaker 1: too low for me at this point. Yanks all right.
Speaker 1: Second half of the brackets six eleven Texas Tech Utah
Speaker 1: State uh Steth Walder, again earlier in the show, gave
Speaker 1: Utah State a puncher's chance here. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Speaker 1: favored by five consensus. I'm with him. I I bet
Speaker 1: the under here, but I'm also maybe going to take
Speaker 1: Uta State now that it is five. I saw four
Speaker 1: and a half for a while at five. I like
Speaker 1: the Ikes. It's a great coaching matchup here. Wow, I
Speaker 1: did too. I did to Texas texts gonna have trouble
Speaker 1: scoring inside against this Utah State defense. I I think
Speaker 1: Utah State covers here. I think they might even win
Speaker 1: the game. Mat Yeah, this is one of my best
Speaker 1: bets the first round. I'm glad that Steth came around.
Speaker 1: He missed the boat on the other Utah Morbran based
Speaker 1: program there at you I U, but he got this
Speaker 1: one right. God you love by U. Winner of six
Speaker 1: eleven Texas Tech. UTAs State takes on the winner of
Speaker 1: three four teen game. What a matchup, at least on paper.
Speaker 1: Arkansas Coal Gate one sixty two, I believe is the spread.
Speaker 1: I'll double check on that. Arkansas favored by nine and
Speaker 1: a half over the Raiders from the Patriot League. I
Speaker 1: think the opener was crazy low for the total here,
Speaker 1: and it immediately got that up. That made sense. I
Speaker 1: liked the over, but on the number, I kind of
Speaker 1: in Arkansas. Colgate hasn't played a nonconference game all year.
Speaker 1: I think this is a big step up in competition
Speaker 1: for them. It is one sixty two, but it has
Speaker 1: come down a bit on the spread, so it's nine
Speaker 1: or eight and a half's out there. I think I
Speaker 1: think Arkansas scores a hundred. I think they covered this game.
Speaker 1: Colgate has not played any team close to their caliber.
Speaker 1: Justice Smith is going to crush them in the pain made.
Speaker 1: No colleagues are wrong, coal Gate. It's going to be
Speaker 1: a barnburner back and forth. They can make shots and
Speaker 1: go punch for punch with the with pigs. Joe, I
Speaker 1: like the raid is you're taking the points? Are you
Speaker 1: advancing them in your bracket though? Mr Man, Yeah, I
Speaker 1: guess I have to. I can't be a coal Gate
Speaker 1: stand and so I'll take points in advance. I like
Speaker 1: it all right. Last two Florida votech seven ten in
Speaker 1: the South. Uh, this is as close to a pick
Speaker 1: him as again Virginia Tech major coaching edge. I'm I'm
Speaker 1: taking the Hokies. Yeah, I got nothing here. I'm really
Speaker 1: early in for a toss up in this one. Okeyes,
Speaker 1: for sure. I like Mike Young with time to prepare,
Speaker 1: that's a tough offense to game plan for. I I
Speaker 1: worry from Mike White in that defense. All right, straight
Speaker 1: up pick him on that one. A couple of votes
Speaker 1: for the Hokies right there, and then the winner of
Speaker 1: that seven ten game takes on the winner of a
Speaker 1: House State, Oral Roberts the Golden Eagles out of the summit. Now,
Speaker 1: before I just passed this off, we've we have a
Speaker 1: little bit of Oral Bob love here anecdotally here at Vista.
Speaker 1: What do you think here? I I leaned them for
Speaker 1: the side. I took the over earlier at a lower number.
Speaker 1: I think this is a complete shootout. Neither team can
Speaker 1: stop each other. Both have prolific offenses. So I like
Speaker 1: the over lean towards Oral Bob like the over lean
Speaker 1: towards Oral Roberts. Supposed to the points, but you'll advance
Speaker 1: the House State will Yeah? All right, kay I Coach Jim,
Speaker 1: I think there's gonna be a ton of points. Really
Speaker 1: fun game to watch, Man Max A. Smith. That guy
Speaker 1: is a lightning bolt for for Oral Roberts. One fifty
Speaker 1: six and a half, by the way, the total and Matt, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I love old Bob to go. I just wanted that
Speaker 1: your colleagues haven't seen them play defense, which is where
Speaker 1: they are not always engaged. To put it lightly, so
Speaker 1: this one could be in the hundreds. Apparently. The word
Speaker 1: that I got was Greg Hoops Peterson. As soon as
Speaker 1: you saw the brackets the very first thing he said
Speaker 1: was Oral Roberts for the win. Yeah right, all right,
Speaker 1: there's your South. One more to go. Midwest will get
Speaker 1: to it next. We'll get these guys final four. Uh
Speaker 1: maybe Ellen pushed them to a lead. Eight picks coming
Speaker 1: up as well. Although Jim, you and I are in
Speaker 1: the same boat, brackets are a whole different animal. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm bad at them, terrible at practic pools in the game.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us, everybody. No, we'll do the We'll
Speaker 1: do the Midwest next. What more to get to with
Speaker 1: the three man we've crew, Ki, Jim, Matt coming back
Speaker 1: on the numbers game at Visa. These sports betting that work, Matt,
Speaker 1: Kai and Jim all at once. And Jim, you guys
Speaker 1: do something every day over there at SBR. You should
Speaker 1: let the folks know about that. Yeah, I just want
Speaker 1: to mention Sports Book Review dot Com. We got a
Speaker 1: morning show five days a week at nine, Ames Central,
Speaker 1: seven and Pacific. I just want to get that sneak
Speaker 1: that plug in there. Also, you should be an auctioneer
Speaker 1: every once in a while. Pretty pretty soon it's gonna
Speaker 1: be like five states states and that's the end of
Speaker 1: the Show's a big, a whole segment alright, Midwest Illinois
Speaker 1: Drexel the one sixteen game. Uh the line I full disclosure,
Speaker 1: I have made to want to win it all, so
Speaker 1: I'm a big line I fan here. Um, they're monster
Speaker 1: favorites against Drexel. Obviously north of twenty points. Let's call
Speaker 1: it twenty two and a half. Um Illinois to advance
Speaker 1: any play on the number year. I think Illinois blows
Speaker 1: them out. It's a terrible matchup for Drexel. They can't
Speaker 1: guard pick and roll. Illinois is great at that. Just
Speaker 1: worried about Drexel slowing the game down. We have it
Speaker 1: at twenty three up on the screen as well. Kay,
Speaker 1: is it weird? I kind of lean Drexel. I kind
Speaker 1: of do. I'm not. I'm not taking anything officially here,
Speaker 1: but the Dragons are scrappy. I think they should be
Speaker 1: a fifteen seeds, so they're a little underseated for me.
Speaker 1: By the way, of course, that would be a sixteen
Speaker 1: one game on the screen there at Visa dot Com. Matt,
Speaker 1: Drexel is a paper tiger, Jim. I think you have
Speaker 1: the three shooting stats the last six or so games.
Speaker 1: They've just rode this hot wave of lights out shooting.
Speaker 1: I think ELLINOI blows them out in their last six
Speaker 1: games from deep. That's that's fake. Kai likes that. Kai
Speaker 1: likes the dragons out of the Colonial plus the points.
Speaker 1: It is a little weird, Kuy, but but I respected. Yeah.
Speaker 1: One six winner, we student with the a lie and
Speaker 1: I goes up against the eight nine winner Loyola of Chicago,
Speaker 1: the Ramblers out of the Missouri Valley two point favorites
Speaker 1: over a CC tournament champion George A. Tech. Let's call
Speaker 1: it two and a half now, Jim, Yeah, this is
Speaker 1: a tricky matchup for Loyal I was ready to auto
Speaker 1: advance them against just about anybody, but Georgia Tech plays
Speaker 1: a tricky matchup zone that could make what LOYALA wants
Speaker 1: to do offensively difficult. I'm still going with Loyola. I
Speaker 1: took him at minus two against number and him advancing
Speaker 1: them as well. Right, Yeah, really ugly game, low scoring.
Speaker 1: I think loyal is gonna gonna cover this one, though,
Speaker 1: I think they're gonna advance as well. Um minus two
Speaker 1: and a half. I'm on the Ramblers here first of
Speaker 1: the Oh yeah, my first bat on the board. I
Speaker 1: don't like the matchup Tokyo. I just think poor Moser
Speaker 1: figures it out. Even though Loyala has not seen any
Speaker 1: zone this season whatsoever, it does concern me. I think
Speaker 1: the price is fair. I would take loyal on minus
Speaker 1: two and a half. But consensus on loyal tchicargo right there.
Speaker 1: I'm interesting. I did not expect that five twelve games
Speaker 1: Tennessee and Oregon State Oregon State bid stealer out of
Speaker 1: the pack twelve vols seven and a half point favorites. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I have nothing on this. On the side here, I
Speaker 1: my number leans Tennessee. The Oregan State I think can
Speaker 1: do some tricky zone defenses to mess with the balls.
Speaker 1: But I like the under is what I actually played under.
Speaker 1: I think ugly game. Look at you playing some totals.
Speaker 1: I respect that. What was your number? I see one
Speaker 1: thirty one and a half. I got one thirty two,
Speaker 1: but I would still take one one and a half. Okay,
Speaker 1: uh yeah. John Folgerson's status key he got nailed in
Speaker 1: the face in one of their last games for Tennessee.
Speaker 1: I think the balls are gonna crush Organ State on
Speaker 1: the glass. I actually leaned pretty heavily towards Tennessee. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure, I'm confident to putting money down on it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm surprised it's come down. Go. I think it's minus
Speaker 1: seven and i've boks right now. If I get confirmation
Speaker 1: that forms and is kind of play and it's still seven,
Speaker 1: I'll probably add more. I'm already holding minor State. I
Speaker 1: just think this organ State, you know, magic carpet right
Speaker 1: comes to an end. It's it's over, It's done, alright.
Speaker 1: Five twelve winner gets a couple of magic carpet rides
Speaker 1: it here for you. Five twelve winner will take on
Speaker 1: the winner of Oklahoma State Liberty the four thirteen game
Speaker 1: in the Midwest region. We talked earlier Matt and I
Speaker 1: did Oklahoma State maybe the rawest deal in this entire tournament,
Speaker 1: getting that four seed and getting a matchup let alone
Speaker 1: there if they have to face the balls in the
Speaker 1: second round. Some people think that's tough matchup, but they
Speaker 1: got to take on the Liberty flames out of the
Speaker 1: Atlantic Sun, and Liberty sort of fits all the bills
Speaker 1: of what a giant killer has. Profile wise, Oklahoma State
Speaker 1: is favored by currently seven and a half. This has
Speaker 1: been bet down a lot of money coming in on
Speaker 1: Liberty here. That was men I took. I took nine
Speaker 1: and a half. I like the flames did I do that?
Speaker 1: I can still deal with seven and a half. But
Speaker 1: it's just, yeah, the way they sloat down, the way
Speaker 1: they shoot threes, it's kind of a problematic matchup for
Speaker 1: Oklahoma State. Yeah, not to mention on the other end,
Speaker 1: they're gonna have to turn Oklahoma State into shooters. I
Speaker 1: liked my auds with Liberty plus seven and a half
Speaker 1: there and there in their pack line defense, Matthew, there's
Speaker 1: the Pakiston defense reference. We always got sea. Yeah, the
Speaker 1: pack line didn't. We call that a box in one
Speaker 1: when we were kids. It's a little different, a little different,
Speaker 1: but it's just it's just a just pack in to
Speaker 1: the to the key right the defense. If you're off
Speaker 1: the ball, you're you're really squeezed into right. So if
Speaker 1: your opponent is hitting threes, you're in big trouble with
Speaker 1: a pack line. Yeah, okay, sorry about that, matt Go ahead,
Speaker 1: and this is my my drink for the pack line
Speaker 1: drinking game here. But this is a trip to the
Speaker 1: dentist for Okloma State. I think they advanced, but it
Speaker 1: will not be an easy k qualk, It'll be a
Speaker 1: painful forty minutes for k and the boys. Just to clarify,
Speaker 1: you have Liberty advancing. No, I'm advancing Oklahoma State. I
Speaker 1: think clutch time Kade makes plays all right. Second half
Speaker 1: of the Midwest. Then San Diego State Syracuse six eleven game. Uh,
Speaker 1: the Aztecs favored by three here against Jim Beeheim in
Speaker 1: his thirty five tournament. Yes, it's it's wild. I'm going
Speaker 1: to San Diego State, even though I'm terrified of the
Speaker 1: narrative of Syracuse sneaks in, maybe doesn't deserve it and
Speaker 1: goes on a run. Totally feels that way. I'm just
Speaker 1: glad that I'm backing a coach I really trust here
Speaker 1: in Brian Ducher. If it wasn't somebody that I liked,
Speaker 1: like if this was USC in the spot, I would
Speaker 1: take Syracuse. But I'll ride with the Aztecs. I'm going
Speaker 1: with Beheim. In the voodoo magic that the evil black
Speaker 1: magic he possesses. I think Syracuse could could shoot San
Speaker 1: Diego State out of the gym. So I'll take plus
Speaker 1: three and I'll probably have him advancing too. In my bracket. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Syracuse eight and two against the number last three tournaments,
Speaker 1: covering by averages seven points a game. There's something very
Speaker 1: real to be him in March, and the way that
Speaker 1: zone be fuddles teams that don't know it that well.
Speaker 1: So I like the ques here. You're on an island there.
Speaker 1: That's fine, all right, I'll deal with it. Six eleven
Speaker 1: winner San Diego State Syracuse takes on a whinever the
Speaker 1: three four team game West Virginia and Moorhead State. The
Speaker 1: Eagles out of the Ohio Valley Mountaineers. Not your typical
Speaker 1: Mountaineers team in terms of their profile. Favored by double
Speaker 1: digits here, let's call it twelve and a half. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they're all offense this year ever since Oscar Sheeway transferred.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna back more Head State on the number. Not
Speaker 1: a not a strong lean at all. I just wrote
Speaker 1: this game last night, and I don't feel super strongly
Speaker 1: about it. But I'll advance West Virginia here. I got
Speaker 1: nothing in this game. I really have no feel. I
Speaker 1: think I leaned West Virginia. If I had a gun
Speaker 1: on my head, choose a side, but I'm staying away.
Speaker 1: I kind of like under. I think more actually controls
Speaker 1: the tempo and they keep this to a really slow
Speaker 1: mid sixties possession and game. I think las Vinia has
Speaker 1: troll scoring against the the Eagles defense, so I like
Speaker 1: like the underman nothing on the side one thirty seven
Speaker 1: and a half on that one. By the way, most
Speaker 1: famous graduate of more Head State ever is I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go fil I'm gonna go Phil Sims. Okay Ken seven
Speaker 1: ten games Clemson Rutgers. This is a virtual pick um here,
Speaker 1: but Rutgers actually favored as the ten seed by one
Speaker 1: and a half points. Unless this is the only game
Speaker 1: on in a time slot, don't watch it. It's going
Speaker 1: to be Both defenses are way better than both offenses.
Speaker 1: I'm taking Rutgers just because I like the coaching matchup.
Speaker 1: I like Steve pikeel but they can't make free throws,
Speaker 1: which is making me very nervous and a potentially close game.
Speaker 1: Are leaning Rutgers leaning under I grew Jim, don't watch this.
Speaker 1: Also to the committee ten's favorite over seven, I think
Speaker 1: you messed up a little bit here there. It is, Yeah,
Speaker 1: Ellen's Carlotte Knight. It's nothing profound. I'll be probably tuning
Speaker 1: into another game or talking with you guys during this one.
Speaker 1: Not really interested watching Alright win Clemson. Rutgers takes on
Speaker 1: the two fifteen winner Houston Cleveland State. Houston. Obviously, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna guess everybody advances Houston nineteen and a half now
Speaker 1: twenty and a half point favorites against the vikings of
Speaker 1: Cleveland State at the horizon. Once upon a time, for
Speaker 1: those of a certain age, we remember, Cleveland State is
Speaker 1: controlled chaos. They're back. But you like Houston? Do you
Speaker 1: like it against the number? No, I can't recommend it
Speaker 1: at that high. They're gonna get a million offensive rebounds.
Speaker 1: But Cleveland State is just super feisty. They play really,
Speaker 1: really hard. I think the back door will be open.
Speaker 1: I think Houston destroys them. It's not going to be close,
Speaker 1: reminiscent of Tennessee Right State for from many moons ago.
Speaker 1: In the tournament game, I think it could be a
Speaker 1: thirty point game. I do worry about what Houston. What
Speaker 1: happened to Houston East Carolina another junkie zone team that
Speaker 1: really bothered them. But I'm with Kai, I think the
Speaker 1: potential runout could be in the cards here. By the
Speaker 1: way Cleveland State has been in the tournaments, it's mouse
Speaker 1: mcfatt and I just want to play that out. I'm aware, alright, alright, guys,
Speaker 1: final so it give me your elite eight, Jim Elite eight. Okay.
Speaker 1: So let's see what we'll start. In the West. I've
Speaker 1: got Gonzaga over I can't who whom I going? Remember
Speaker 1: two seats Iowa's right, I should have brought a bracket.
Speaker 1: Gonzaga over Oregon there in that in that region, Gonzaga
Speaker 1: to the final four. Okay, you can keep going with
Speaker 1: the other keep going all right, Alabama over Florida State
Speaker 1: in the in the that region the East, Baylor in
Speaker 1: that region, I don't remember who the two seat is. Okay,
Speaker 1: maybe we should have just done final four. The two
Speaker 1: seat is is Ohio State, Okay, that's who I haven't okay.
Speaker 1: And then Midwest Houston in that one over Oklahoma State,
Speaker 1: and you oh Houston over Oklahoma State, and you have
Speaker 1: Gonzaga winning at all. Oh boy, I'm going Gonzaga over
Speaker 1: Iowa and the West. I really have made a decision here,
Speaker 1: but I'm going to go off the fly and go
Speaker 1: Yukon over Florida State. In the East. I will go
Speaker 1: Baylor over Ohio State. In the South, and Houston as well.
Speaker 1: For me over, let's say Illinois and who wins it all?
Speaker 1: Who wins it all? Gonzaga? Alright, I don't Matt Scott
Speaker 1: gets frisky In the East too, We got Matt, I
Speaker 1: got Zag's Oregon. In the West, I'll copy my boy
Speaker 1: Jimmer there, Florida State, b y U, Florida State advancing
Speaker 1: over the store Mormons in the East, wide open region
Speaker 1: with livers in, you know, sort of under duress. For
Speaker 1: Michigan Baylor, Ohio State, I'm going Schalk. In the South Midwest,
Speaker 1: I have Houston versus eleanor Houston advancing losing to Baylor
Speaker 1: for the inevitable Baylor Gonzaga showdown we've all been waiting for,
Speaker 1: which they should just play a seven game series. By
Speaker 1: the way, that's been my proposal on table for a while.
Speaker 1: The Zags prevail, Zag's prevail Zags all around. Is that
Speaker 1: what we heard here? Yeah, it's we've consensus on attack.
Speaker 1: They're the only one that qualifies for the championship formula
Speaker 1: year after year here on on the show. Guys appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Can't thank you enough. Jim, Jim Root. Let's do it
Speaker 1: again sometime. Absolutely I'm only a call away about fifteen minutes.
Speaker 1: Let me know, Jim Route, Budding Star guys, you're unnoticed.
Speaker 1: Kai McKee and Matt Cox from three Man. We've at
Speaker 1: three m W underscore CBB there you haven't appreciated. You
Speaker 1: put it into podcast form for those who missed it
Speaker 1: on the Beating the Books. I thank you, gentlemen,