Speaker 1: Check it down Man, Now Down Man Tuesday February Night,
Speaker 1: and Eating the Book Podcast is Gill Alexander. This is
Speaker 1: the ones we've all been waiting for. March Madness covered
Speaker 1: every which way. We'll get to it a t S
Speaker 1: and for you folks who just want to fill out
Speaker 1: a bracket, we'll do it straight up as well with
Speaker 1: Greg Peterson and Adam Stanko. That's coming up. But first,
Speaker 1: as we always do, we started out with the Giant
Speaker 1: Killers segment. This time Seth Walder from ESPN Analytics is
Speaker 1: on the job. That's how we do it. March Madness
Speaker 1: covered with props as well on today's Beating the Book
Speaker 1: Podcast enjoy by Seth Walter, ESPN Analytics writer does such
Speaker 1: a great job. Now, set The real reason that we're
Speaker 1: here with you today and the reason we wanted you
Speaker 1: on and thank you so much for coming on, is
Speaker 1: that you took over the Giant Killers man will over
Speaker 1: at ESPN dot Com. We had Peter keating on for
Speaker 1: so many years talking about it. I know his colleague
Speaker 1: Jordan's Brenner had done it for while. You're on top
Speaker 1: of it as well, and we are here selection Sunday.
Speaker 1: Now we know where the brackets happened, and we know
Speaker 1: what was selected and what brackets yesterday. So let's give
Speaker 1: the giant Killers criteria first, if you would, and then
Speaker 1: delve into who are the best candidates. Absolutely, so we
Speaker 1: look at any team that is five seat lines below
Speaker 1: their opponent, that's a potential giant killer. That's what we're
Speaker 1: looking at. Essentially, we're looking for upset teams, and so
Speaker 1: the idea of the column has always been a quantitative
Speaker 1: first look at which teams are most likely to pull
Speaker 1: off that upset. So when we redesigned this model year ago,
Speaker 1: basically we took b p I, which is our sort
Speaker 1: of standard ESPN prediction tool for college basketball. That's the
Speaker 1: kind of thing where you know, you turn on Sports
Speaker 1: Center it says Duke's got a chance to beat North Carolina.
Speaker 1: That's coming from dp uh. We take that, and then
Speaker 1: my colleague Paul Saban put a sort of twist on
Speaker 1: it where he's essentially looking at the matchup of the
Speaker 1: individual team based on uh sort of opponent adjusted box
Speaker 1: score statistics and how those strengths and weaknesses interact, and
Speaker 1: so that ends up spinning out a number for us
Speaker 1: to look at the upset chance for all of these matchups.
Speaker 1: And this could apply to a first round matchup, correct,
Speaker 1: but also could apply to a subsequent round if say
Speaker 1: at twelve seed advances, And it could happen down the
Speaker 1: road as well, not just the first round possibility for
Speaker 1: for sure. And of course second round you got built
Speaker 1: in you have those you know seven verse two's, you
Speaker 1: know nine verse ones. Those are all potential giant killers.
Speaker 1: Um that will will head at some point. Okay, So
Speaker 1: as we look at the regions as they're currently constructed,
Speaker 1: then what leaps off the page for you based on
Speaker 1: all that, Well, a couple of things. Number one, the
Speaker 1: numbers are lower here for the upsets compared to last year,
Speaker 1: So just across the board, I think we're talking about
Speaker 1: maybe a less easy first round. Last year, we had
Speaker 1: our top upset pick was Loyola Chicago with a forty
Speaker 1: six percent chance to beat Miami. I bring it up
Speaker 1: because I worked out well. But uh, this is this year,
Speaker 1: like our nomber one upset chance is th that's Murray
Speaker 1: State over Marquette h So that's a big difference. I
Speaker 1: think that would have read four or five last year.
Speaker 1: So I think we're talking about there's less obvious upset picks.
Speaker 1: Murray Stavers Marquette is a game. I think even if
Speaker 1: we didn't have it an upset pick, you gotta watch
Speaker 1: that one. I mean, John Moran Marcus Howard should be
Speaker 1: an incredible game. I just think that what the model
Speaker 1: is seeing is that just Murray States two point offense
Speaker 1: from the floor with Morant both in terms as a
Speaker 1: scorer and and with his assists, makes them just an
Speaker 1: incredible threat. Obviously Marquete is the better team, but if
Speaker 1: it falls just right, Murray State definitely a real, real
Speaker 1: chance to win that one. What's interesting about that to
Speaker 1: me isn't you're right, John Morant is must is must viewing,
Speaker 1: and that that's a twelve five matchup in the West
Speaker 1: by the way, between Murray State and Marquette. That's in
Speaker 1: Hartford on Thursday. UM, and we can flash up by
Speaker 1: the way the south point line on that game, if
Speaker 1: you guys would on the screen. But that is a UM.
Speaker 1: What's interesting is I just went through my sort of
Speaker 1: the championship formula of these six criteria that sort of
Speaker 1: worked from year to year, and I was just saying,
Speaker 1: how unsexy the results are this year like, it's such
Speaker 1: a top heavy college basketball season that it was no
Speaker 1: surprise that it would be you know, the Virginia's and
Speaker 1: the Dukes and the Carolinas, Michigan, Michigan States of the world.
Speaker 1: That that that qualify what I was hoping, I guess
Speaker 1: is that we would have chaos at least in the
Speaker 1: first two rounds. And maybe I don't want to read
Speaker 1: into just one comment from you, but if you're saying
Speaker 1: the top giant killer possibilities thirty four percent, oh no,
Speaker 1: maybe not. I think maybe not. And I you know,
Speaker 1: there are definitely some interesting matchups. I think, you know,
Speaker 1: Vermont over Florida State is one that looks really enticing
Speaker 1: to me. St. Mary's over Villano. But but in terms
Speaker 1: of these in terms of yeah, like, of course we're
Speaker 1: gonna have upsets. But I agree with you that it
Speaker 1: may not be that it's a crazy year, uh in
Speaker 1: terms of the upsets. But I also do think that
Speaker 1: it's maybe, you know, maybe it will be a little
Speaker 1: bit more surprising towards the end. I know that our
Speaker 1: numbers are very off from Vegas in terms of in
Speaker 1: terms of duke relative to Virginia and Gonzagas, so maybe
Speaker 1: we get the surprise at the end of this tournament
Speaker 1: rather than the beginning. What did come after Murray State
Speaker 1: in terms of percentage? Was it Villain, Was it Montana
Speaker 1: or St. Mary's. So we have Belmont against Maryland. That's
Speaker 1: not a that's not a guaranteed matchup. I like Vermont
Speaker 1: over Florida States subjectively because I think, you know, Vermont's
Speaker 1: pick strains offensively is shooting free throws. Uh, They're an
Speaker 1: excellent free throw shooting team in Florida State, that they
Speaker 1: have a really good defense. They put their opponents at
Speaker 1: the line an awful lock. So that just seems like
Speaker 1: a sort of one of those situations where the matchup
Speaker 1: might make it just a little bit better. And that game,
Speaker 1: by the way, is also in Hartford, which is you know,
Speaker 1: you know, swort of a home game for Vermont, which
Speaker 1: I think was awfully kind of the committee to put
Speaker 1: the Catamounts in Hartford. Sure is Florida State. By the way,
Speaker 1: for those betting ten point favorites over Vermont at Hartford
Speaker 1: Marquette that we just spoke about four and a half
Speaker 1: point favorites over Murray State. But you're saying Belmont if
Speaker 1: they get by Temple over Maryland is second to the
Speaker 1: Murray State in terms of giant killer percentage. Correct, we've
Speaker 1: got thirty two there for Belmont Temples on the list,
Speaker 1: but they're farther down at if they end up winning
Speaker 1: that first board matchup. Okay, what comes after Belmont? I'm
Speaker 1: just curious. It's interesting that's Vermont then at seven. So
Speaker 1: I think that's where one where we probably have a
Speaker 1: pretty big difference with Vegas on that game. I think
Speaker 1: you said what you say ten ten point uh line? There? Yeah,
Speaker 1: ten point lines and not uh mark, excuse me? Su
Speaker 1: favored by ten? Yes, yeah, I have a few favor
Speaker 1: amount of ten. So that that sounds like to me
Speaker 1: a game where we would likely where the model is
Speaker 1: probably more bullish on Vermont than the biggest line. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but it really is apples and oranges, right, Like, obviously
Speaker 1: this is a this is a market, and yours really
Speaker 1: is about sort of the volatility of results in some respects, right,
Speaker 1: it's sort of h if Vermont can get a certain
Speaker 1: pace going in their game against and so much of
Speaker 1: this is pacing, right absolutely, and so like the game
Speaker 1: and that's that's like a perfect The game after that
Speaker 1: st Mary's in Villanova. I think that that that really
Speaker 1: is what comes into play. It's sort of the range
Speaker 1: of outcomes and we're looking at, well, you know, what's
Speaker 1: the range that St. Mary's wins. It seem like Villanova
Speaker 1: you mentioned right, second round giant killers. We had identified
Speaker 1: before the tournament. Villanova, it's a potential second round giant killer.
Speaker 1: We were thinking of them as a as a seventh
Speaker 1: seed because of the their style which is super slow
Speaker 1: and shooting a lot of three. So there's a ton
Speaker 1: of variants in there. But that helps you as an underdog,
Speaker 1: but that hurts you when you're a favorite. And that's
Speaker 1: the that's the reason why we actually like St. Mary's
Speaker 1: quite a bit against Villanova in the first round, just
Speaker 1: because of that pasting. Like you mentioned talking to Seth
Speaker 1: Walder at Seth Walter. By the way, w A. L. D. E. R.
Speaker 1: From ESPN writes uh and does a great job with
Speaker 1: analytics talking giant killers with him. So Murray State at
Speaker 1: thirty four percent over Marquette, that's a four and a
Speaker 1: half point spread, by the way, for betters out there,
Speaker 1: followed by Belmont if they get by Temple in the
Speaker 1: playing game in Jacksonville. Uh, they will or they will
Speaker 1: then advance to Jacksonville on Thursday take on University of Maryland.
Speaker 1: That'd be a six eleven game that is in the
Speaker 1: East region there and the other ones mentioned against St. Mary's, Vermont,
Speaker 1: Montana's in there. What's it? What's a game seth that
Speaker 1: might surprise folks? That isn't it doesn't register really high
Speaker 1: in your formula. I would say maybe Oregon. Uh, you know, Oregon, Wisconsin.
Speaker 1: We only have a se I'm not sure if that.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that goes contrary to what people but
Speaker 1: people would think, I mean different view. It does because
Speaker 1: the Oregon is at one point favorite based on the
Speaker 1: betting number. Oh my goodness, wow, I had no idea.
Speaker 1: This is like one of those things like the bracket
Speaker 1: comes out and then I just burrow my head in
Speaker 1: my computer for like, uh for hours on. I just
Speaker 1: right of his matchups. I haven't even looked at the
Speaker 1: Vegans line. Um, so that's shocking to me. Just just
Speaker 1: off the top here. That's interesting, And I think it's
Speaker 1: particularly interesting because the one thing when I look at
Speaker 1: with Oregon is I consider our numbers. Do not explicitly
Speaker 1: consider in season injuries and so well, it's not a
Speaker 1: huge effect. Bull Ball played nine games for Oregon this year,
Speaker 1: was obviously their best player, and so if anything, I
Speaker 1: would say we are overrating Oregon by a little bit
Speaker 1: because it the model is an accounting for the fact
Speaker 1: that it doesn't that Oregon doesn't have. So that's that's
Speaker 1: really interesting to me that we would be so down
Speaker 1: on them against Wisconsin, you know, really a defense of
Speaker 1: course Wisconsin. Uh uh in just having that's interesting. I
Speaker 1: actually think it's interesting that you don't look at the
Speaker 1: betting because I think that makes this more valuable to us,
Speaker 1: because betting markets are very influenced by recency and your
Speaker 1: numbers not nearly as much. And I said, so, I
Speaker 1: think that that's an interesting uh difference between them. I
Speaker 1: leave you with this, Seth, because I was making the
Speaker 1: point in the first segment of the show here today
Speaker 1: that I'm not one of these people likes to complain
Speaker 1: because I think the committee did relatively speaking, as long
Speaker 1: as Belmont was in there. Everything else was sort of like,
Speaker 1: you know, quibbles to me. Um. But one of the
Speaker 1: things I did mention was their treatment of the net
Speaker 1: rankings and the fact that you had the n C States,
Speaker 1: NC State, Texas, Clemson Firm in memphisis of the world
Speaker 1: who were in the thirties or forties of net rankings
Speaker 1: didn't get in. But yet Minnesota at sixty one, Arizona
Speaker 1: State at sixty three, St. John's at seventy three, all
Speaker 1: got in. I'm okay with that, but it was sort
Speaker 1: of that based on the methodology, a team's net rankings
Speaker 1: didn't seem to matter, but they were always quoting results
Speaker 1: against teams in net rankings quadrants? Did that bother you
Speaker 1: at all? It bothers me immensely. So you're you're better
Speaker 1: than the man than I. You said you don't like
Speaker 1: to complaining about it. I absolutely like to complain about it.
Speaker 1: The committee's logic here is and I wrote a story
Speaker 1: about this last week. Um, the committee's logic with net
Speaker 1: ranking is, well, it's lacking. I think you know they
Speaker 1: made a big improvement with our from our p I sure,
Speaker 1: but it needs to sort out whether whether it wants
Speaker 1: NET to be a resume metric or a key quality metric.
Speaker 1: And it's using it for different reasons. Right, Like you said,
Speaker 1: they're always sorting, they're always quoting NET to about opponents rankings,
Speaker 1: but then they ignore it for for one team, but
Speaker 1: then sometimes they maybe use it. It's inconsistent and we
Speaker 1: really there's no reason to mush all these numbers together
Speaker 1: in and almost in a really strange way. Uh, and
Speaker 1: then sometimes use it and then sometimes not. I find
Speaker 1: it there are frustrating when we have numbers. If it
Speaker 1: wor up to me, I would just it would just
Speaker 1: be the whole thing. All our large bids and seating
Speaker 1: would be done on a resume basis, you know, whether
Speaker 1: that's a strength of record like we have or something similar.
Speaker 1: I think that's the right approach. I do think that
Speaker 1: they were very pick and choose where they want to
Speaker 1: use that and where they don't, and so, uh it
Speaker 1: does bother me. I think, yeah, it bothers me too.
Speaker 1: I think I was I was trying to be more
Speaker 1: involved than I actually am. Seth when I saying I
Speaker 1: don't like Greensboro. Greensboro is robbed, that's not that's not
Speaker 1: that one. But their strength of record is they really
Speaker 1: deserve to be in their Greensboro is the team up
Speaker 1: that bothered me? Yeah, it should be mentioned like the
Speaker 1: n I t for me this year and I'm completely
Speaker 1: doing this just off the off the cuff here, Seth.
Speaker 1: But the n I T looks pretty stacked as far
Speaker 1: as N I T s go. I know. I was
Speaker 1: thinking that too last night. I was looking at it.
Speaker 1: I was like, Wow, maybe it's just because I'm paying
Speaker 1: attention to all these teams for Giant Killers that end
Speaker 1: up being like bubble teams or we'll miss out if
Speaker 1: they don't win their conference tournament. But I was like, Wow,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of good teams in here, and uh,
Speaker 1: maybe a few of them should be in over St.
Speaker 1: John's or Minnesota. Yeah, and I T gets off tomorrow.
Speaker 1: I got Providence at a pretty big number there, So
Speaker 1: I have a I have never been this excited for
Speaker 1: an n I T as I am with some action
Speaker 1: on it. Seth Walder from ESPN writing for ESPN Analytics. Seth,
Speaker 1: thank you so much, man. We'll have you back on
Speaker 1: again if you're willing. Sounds great, Gil happy to come
Speaker 1: on anytime. Thank you, sir, Seth Walder from ESPN dot
Speaker 1: com Sports analytics writer. Support for today's show has always
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Speaker 1: It's Gil Alexander. This is gonna be fun. It is
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Speaker 1: and Information Network, serious XM, Channel two, O four, Visa
Speaker 1: dot Com, the Visa app, Fubo TV Skill Alexander. Jeff
Speaker 1: Parls is here day two for Jeff in the producer's chair.
Speaker 1: Good morning to Jeffrey, Good morning. I put my mike
Speaker 1: on correctly this time. So good. That's all right. One
Speaker 1: at A two makes you a Hall of Famer in baseball.
Speaker 1: Well done? Uh today. Usually at this point in the
Speaker 1: show we say, oh, here's who's on the show today,
Speaker 1: and we give you a roster of just you know, murderers,
Speaker 1: Row seven Yankees. Not every day, but you know that's
Speaker 1: what we're trying to do. Not today today. It is
Speaker 1: about college basketball, nothing but college basketball. And of course
Speaker 1: our guests are great guests, but they're gonna be with
Speaker 1: us for two hours, very generous with their time and
Speaker 1: their expertise. We're gonna do Brackett by Brackett a t
Speaker 1: S straight up for you. For those who don't even
Speaker 1: betted against the number, just want to fill out brackets,
Speaker 1: well we'll get some insight on that. Sometimes it'll just
Speaker 1: be yeah, just a vance duke that'll that's all it'll take. Uh.
Speaker 1: And we'll do props, a lot of props that are
Speaker 1: out at the West Gate. We'll get Final four picks,
Speaker 1: Championship picks from everybody. Uh, nothing but march madness. Uh.
Speaker 1: We will have Adam Stankle on the phone momentarily to
Speaker 1: help us along in a studio. The Ladies and Gentlemen,
Speaker 1: a absolute encyclopedia of college basketball knowledge. Greg Hoops Peterson,
Speaker 1: good morning to you. Greg, good morning. If you typically
Speaker 1: have the seven Yankees, does that make me the Miracle Mets? Yes,
Speaker 1: your the Miracle Mets. You would be the Miracle Mets.
Speaker 1: That's a good that's good analogy for you. So you
Speaker 1: name of your podcast once again, college Hoops College Betting Overtime.
Speaker 1: When you tell me what it is, College Hoops Overtime
Speaker 1: Betting Midnight Pacific three mm EA s turn every single
Speaker 1: day where I break down every single wide C B
Speaker 1: I C I T A I T n C double
Speaker 1: A tournament. You name it, I'm breaking it down. And
Speaker 1: then also that's gold see heightener, because it is gold.
Speaker 1: Jerry it is, It's called Jerry. It's gold, all right.
Speaker 1: So you how long it was the average length of
Speaker 1: your podcast though, like it's a deep dive, isn't it?
Speaker 1: For the college basketball podcast US, we're gonna be probably
Speaker 1: doing I would say about twenty games a day, so
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a little bit over an hour a
Speaker 1: day at this point. There were times when we had
Speaker 1: those ninety games slates on those Saturdays where it would
Speaker 1: sometimes get to be three and a half four hours. UH,
Speaker 1: since you're doing you know, people thirst for it now
Speaker 1: though they'll they'll take an hour for sure, I too.
Speaker 1: By the way, for those who don't who won't able,
Speaker 1: are not gonna be able to hear every bit of
Speaker 1: this two hour show, we will put it in podcast
Speaker 1: form as well. We'll get Seth Walter from yesterday talking
Speaker 1: about giant killers we're thrown on with this bracket by
Speaker 1: bracket special and we'll put it in podcast for UH
Speaker 1: in form rather. But before we do that, you mentioned
Speaker 1: you do the n I T. Greg, I have a
Speaker 1: vested interest in Providence winning the n I T. They
Speaker 1: take on Arkansas tonight. Daniel Gafford, Arkansas's UH sophomore standout,
Speaker 1: says he's going pro. He's not gonna play in this game.
Speaker 1: Why is this line only six in favor, not that
Speaker 1: I need to cover it, It just need Providence to advance.
Speaker 1: But why only six here without Gafford? That's very confusing
Speaker 1: to me. I think that maybe bookmakers haven't adjusted to
Speaker 1: Gafford being out. That's the only thing I can think of,
Speaker 1: because this said came come up a little bit suddenly,
Speaker 1: and we saw it in the n I T BIS
Speaker 1: you're with. I believe it was Tremezzi Matto sitting out
Speaker 1: for USC. They really didn't adjust the line too much,
Speaker 1: and then USC just look completely awful in the n
Speaker 1: I T. You would have think that people would have
Speaker 1: learned their lesson from that. But it is really confusing
Speaker 1: that Providence is currently only laying five to six points.
Speaker 1: Now we'll see how that goes in I T starts tonight.
Speaker 1: I believe it's ten games if I'm not mistaken. In
Speaker 1: the n I T six tomorrow for the first round
Speaker 1: of the National Invitation Tournament, the Battle for sixty nine
Speaker 1: as we like to call. Yeah, it used to be
Speaker 1: the national championship many years ago. But now, of course
Speaker 1: that's about March Madness. Let's bring him in now. Also
Speaker 1: to help us along here, Adam Stanko, who is the
Speaker 1: host of the Catch and Shoot podcast available We're all
Speaker 1: podcasts are distributed and also doing this n C double
Speaker 1: a tournament quick Hitters thing at poor Pure hoops Media
Speaker 1: where he does a minute and a half minute to
Speaker 1: minute and a half little uh blurb on all sixty
Speaker 1: eight teams, including the playing teams, which we'll get to
Speaker 1: here off the top, which are great. Where can we
Speaker 1: access that, Adam? And good morning to you by the way, Hey, Gil,
Speaker 1: can you hear me? Okay? We can now? Yeah on
Speaker 1: sky there you go. Okay, can we hear them? Okay?
Speaker 1: How are we doing all right? Adam? Where can we
Speaker 1: access the quick hitters? Well, you can access the quick
Speaker 1: hitters um on Apple podcasts or wherever podcasts are found.
Speaker 1: Um and uh just type in pure Hoops quick Hitters.
Speaker 1: You can find them there, every single team in the field.
Speaker 1: You you can be an expert on in one minute.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's pretty much the plan. And then you
Speaker 1: can check them out online at pure hoops media dot com. Okay, there,
Speaker 1: by the way, your audio got good there in the
Speaker 1: last three seconds, so don't move. I think he finally
Speaker 1: correct it there at the end. So let's start with uh,
Speaker 1: let's start with just the overall futures for the for
Speaker 1: the n C Double A tournament. Let's start there. We'll
Speaker 1: do it region by region. We have props on those
Speaker 1: coming up. But as far as the big dance itself, uh,
Speaker 1: no surprise at the top where the value is? Uh?
Speaker 1: Or excuse me? Where who's who's the shortest shot? Now?
Speaker 1: Where the bat value? As we'll determine that if there
Speaker 1: is any momentarily, but these are done MA. We do
Speaker 1: them by as seatings. Here. This is from the Westgate tournament.
Speaker 1: Teams one through four seeds per region. Duke is the
Speaker 1: short shot in the tournament among the number one seeds
Speaker 1: among anybody else there plus two twenty five right now
Speaker 1: current odds to win it all um. And then you
Speaker 1: see Gonzaga second shortest shop this again at the west
Speaker 1: Gate always shop Virginia, North Carolina. The other two number
Speaker 1: one seeds in this tournament are at six to one.
Speaker 1: And then you see all on the screen and we
Speaker 1: do it by seating here two seeds, three season, four seeds.
Speaker 1: You see how it goes down. It goes down pretty quickly,
Speaker 1: literally to the point where you can get into l
Speaker 1: s U still here at six two one which is
Speaker 1: always my point about pre flop futures, Greg, which is
Speaker 1: there's just no value before a season at any of
Speaker 1: these So many times you can wait till now. Like
Speaker 1: college basketball, you can get amazing numbers in February now
Speaker 1: here we are right before the Big Dance. And if
Speaker 1: you believe in a team like I don't know, Texas
Speaker 1: Tech has cut it down now at to and I
Speaker 1: have them at uh to one. But a team like
Speaker 1: l s U, if you believe in them, nothing wrong
Speaker 1: with six one, I guess exactly. For the top two seeds,
Speaker 1: the teams on the one seed line and the two
Speaker 1: seed line, you want to try to fire as quickly
Speaker 1: as possible because Duke to open up the year nine
Speaker 1: to two, they haven't been anything below three to one
Speaker 1: and seemingly eons. But with that said, with just about
Speaker 1: any team that's outside the top eight, you really can
Speaker 1: wait on these futures. And hey, if you're really liking
Speaker 1: one of these teams and you think that it's a
Speaker 1: long shot that they're gonna win the national championship, which
Speaker 1: obviously it's a long shot for any of these teams
Speaker 1: outside of that top eight to be able to win
Speaker 1: the national championship, you are able to get some very
Speaker 1: good prices on things like to win the Final four
Speaker 1: and everything like that as well. So you've got so
Speaker 1: many options in that regard. Let's start with the playing games.
Speaker 1: And by the way, here we are some other five
Speaker 1: through eight seeds. Here are their future prices. So again,
Speaker 1: now they get very long, very quickly. There's a very
Speaker 1: top heavy year in college basketball. But take it seem
Speaker 1: like Buffalo, Buffalo, Adam, sixth seed, eight to one. Some
Speaker 1: people are filling out their brackets a lot of chalk
Speaker 1: when you look at people just anecdotally one one two,
Speaker 1: one on one three. But if there is a seed
Speaker 1: that is longer than those, a lot of people throwing
Speaker 1: Buffalo in eighty two one to win at all any
Speaker 1: value there in your opinion, Adam, uh No, I mean
Speaker 1: I think I think we could see Buffalo. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, win a couple of games in this tournament.
Speaker 1: But uh no, I mean I I think that your
Speaker 1: best bet, if if you are on Buffalo, would be
Speaker 1: you know, you're you're hopeful of a final four run,
Speaker 1: and then you start to hedge against the absolute miracle
Speaker 1: that I can't do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, But I
Speaker 1: do think that. I mean, look, I think Buffalo is
Speaker 1: is much better than the team they were last year,
Speaker 1: and and the team they were last year obviously knocked
Speaker 1: off Arizona and gave Kentucky a challenge in the first half.
Speaker 1: So certainly a team that could win at least two
Speaker 1: games in this tournament. Yeah, I have a Buffalo in
Speaker 1: Texas take get one and one fifteen to one UM,
Speaker 1: not respectively, but the other way around. I think the
Speaker 1: Buffalo is the one fifteen to one in the Texas
Speaker 1: Techas one. But again, yeah, it's not about expecting them
Speaker 1: to win it all is expecting. It's hoping that they
Speaker 1: get into, say the Final four, and then using it
Speaker 1: as a vehicle to earn at that point play in games.
Speaker 1: We'll do the play in games here and we'll go
Speaker 1: to break and we'll start with the East Region after
Speaker 1: the break. Playing games begin tonight. This in Dayton, Ohio
Speaker 1: Fairly Dickinson and Prairie View A and M. This is
Speaker 1: a fight for the sixteen seed and the rights to
Speaker 1: play Gonzaga UH in the first round of the Western Region.
Speaker 1: That game tonight though between Fairly Dickinson, Prairie View A,
Speaker 1: and M three forty pm Pacific six forty pm Eastern
Speaker 1: tip off. Fairly Dickinson two point favorite, Greg, What do
Speaker 1: you think about that? Hey, last time Fairly Dickinson was
Speaker 1: in the n C Double A Tournament, they actually played
Speaker 1: Illinois very tough as a sixteen seed. How would that said?
Speaker 1: Prairie View A and um. This is a squad that
Speaker 1: they are one of the most frequent following teams out
Speaker 1: there in the country. I believe that there was a
Speaker 1: game this year in which they gave up a hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty points in Louisiana Lafayette. Meanwhile, Fairly Dickinson, I'm
Speaker 1: not sure why they got put into a playing game.
Speaker 1: This is a team that choots over forty percent from three.
Speaker 1: They've got a point guard at Darnell Edge. It pours
Speaker 1: in sixteen and nine points per game. Their point guard Jenkins,
Speaker 1: he has an assistant turnover issio greater than two. I
Speaker 1: think the size of Max Holloway and company just gonna
Speaker 1: completely Prairie View A and M live. I think that
Speaker 1: this is a mismatch line. Fairly Dickinson lane two points
Speaker 1: are very easy playing. Wow, Gregg coming out strong. You
Speaker 1: and you you've been high on fairly Dickinson on this show,
Speaker 1: I know pretty consistently. Yes, I have been. I've been
Speaker 1: very high and fairly Dickinson ever since Northeastern Play began.
Speaker 1: Adam Staggle on the phone the Nights Northeast Toney Champs,
Speaker 1: the Panthers of prayer View A and M Swack regular
Speaker 1: season Attorney Champs. Good coaching battle here again for the
Speaker 1: rights play in zag on Thursday night in Salt Lake City.
Speaker 1: What do you think about this? Well? I agree with
Speaker 1: Greg that fairly Dickinson's the better team. But Perie View
Speaker 1: A and M on a roll right now. I mean
Speaker 1: one and one in their last twenty two games. They
Speaker 1: they actually have scored ninety points in five of their
Speaker 1: last twelve. This is a team that likes to just run.
Speaker 1: They play. It's sort of this uh frenetic pace if
Speaker 1: they can UH team made up of almost entirely junior
Speaker 1: college transfers. The issue with them though, is that, I mean,
Speaker 1: both teams are bad defensively. In an n tournament, especially
Speaker 1: a playing game, it's going to be tough to get
Speaker 1: that kind of pace that you want. And and as
Speaker 1: soon as it goes somewhat to a half court game,
Speaker 1: I mean Greg said at Darnell Edge kalle bit of
Speaker 1: they're gonna cause issues. So I think fairly Dickinson with
Speaker 1: was this game. I think it's a little bit closer
Speaker 1: than Greg said. But I do think that um, I
Speaker 1: think prayer of viewing and him is unable to run,
Speaker 1: and so I think we're looking at a game that's
Speaker 1: more five to ten points. But I don't think that
Speaker 1: we're seeing to blow out. I do think FDU wins
Speaker 1: this game, all right. Also tonight in Dayton, Ohio. Right
Speaker 1: after that game, Temple and Belmont much anticipated Belmont with
Speaker 1: their chance to get into the round of sixty four.
Speaker 1: If you will, this is a eleven verses eleven if
Speaker 1: you will, the chance to be the eleventh seed, to
Speaker 1: take all the University of Maryland, the six seeds out
Speaker 1: of the Big ten um and that will be on
Speaker 1: I believe it's on Thursday. Yes, that will be on
Speaker 1: Thursday in Jacksonville. Belmont, the Bruins Ohio Valley regular season champs,
Speaker 1: got some Giant Killers love from Seth Walter yesterday on
Speaker 1: the show. Belmont a three and a half point favorite. Greg,
Speaker 1: I do like Bellmont in this spot. This is a
Speaker 1: team that ranks second among all teams in the field
Speaker 1: and regards to two point shooting percentage. They've got over
Speaker 1: seven guys they're able to shoot over thirty seven for
Speaker 1: some from three. Their point guard Grace and Murphy gives
Speaker 1: out six and a half two point five turnovers. And
Speaker 1: then for Temple, they're just two reliant on their three
Speaker 1: guards Quentin Rose, Nate, Pierre Lewis and shes Alson, all
Speaker 1: very nice players. They combined the average forty nine and
Speaker 1: a half points per game. They could absolutely nothing down low,
Speaker 1: ernest the flock peoples and nine rebounds. But who else
Speaker 1: is gonna be able to step up for the team?
Speaker 1: If this badcourt is even the most remotely cold that
Speaker 1: they can be, it's gonna be really tough. I think
Speaker 1: that Bellmont just has too many pieces. They've got too
Speaker 1: much depth, very able to roll in this one. This
Speaker 1: would be a real disappointment, Adam, if Belmont didn't get
Speaker 1: through here, won't it? Absolutely especially for all the people
Speaker 1: pushing for them. And I I I do, I do
Speaker 1: agree with Greggan's and same logic. I mean, when you
Speaker 1: talk about the fact that Belmont what what usually happens
Speaker 1: with with mid majors. Where they struggle is is going
Speaker 1: up against size and depth the talent of of the
Speaker 1: of the high majors, and in this case I mean
Speaker 1: Belmont taking on Temple. They have the best player in
Speaker 1: the game and Dylan Windler, and uh, they don't have
Speaker 1: a disadvantage size wise. They're not going to be crushed
Speaker 1: down low by any scoring opportunities from from Temple. Obviously
Speaker 1: that backcourt strong. I love fran Dunfie, it's it's his
Speaker 1: swan song. But I agree that Dylan Windler, who Seth
Speaker 1: Greenberg calls a poor man's Doug McDermott, is going to
Speaker 1: be introduced to to the nation. Uh, not in this game,
Speaker 1: but but in their next one. All right, tomorrow night.
Speaker 1: Continuing to play in games, and we'll get to the
Speaker 1: East Region to kick things off after the break. But
Speaker 1: North Carolina Central, the Eagles out of the Mid Eastern
Speaker 1: Athletic Conference, UH Turney amps in that conference take on
Speaker 1: North Dakota State the Bison or Summit League champs. UH
Speaker 1: that is in Dayton tomorrow night as well. Sixteenth seed
Speaker 1: on the line here, a chance to play Duke on
Speaker 1: On at Columbia South Carolina on Friday. Let's throw up
Speaker 1: the line for this one. North Dakota State five point
Speaker 1: favorites here Greg online the points with North Dakota State,
Speaker 1: They've got They really did a great job of thinking
Speaker 1: some three points out there in the Summit League. There
Speaker 1: will bring in a couple of guys off the bench
Speaker 1: are able to help out this team. Dangs You six
Speaker 1: ft seven combo player does a good job shooting in
Speaker 1: the mid thirties from three point range. Tason Ward a
Speaker 1: Night six ft six combo player, and Frenze Central. They
Speaker 1: actually do a good job of being able to rebound.
Speaker 1: They just don't have any backcourt play whatsoever. And that's
Speaker 1: where North Dakota State is going to have this game
Speaker 1: one adam especially on North North Carolina Central. This is
Speaker 1: seen the played in the tournament the last couple of years.
Speaker 1: Lavell Moton Night Stars in the in the coaching ranks
Speaker 1: and um both teams are are are pretty slow, but
Speaker 1: actually North Carolina the Central likes to muck it up offensively.
Speaker 1: They they opponents have really struggled over the last ten
Speaker 1: games to even reach seventy points. And so even though
Speaker 1: North Carolina Central is brutal shooting all right, we're having
Speaker 1: trouble with Adam. We'll move on in there. Yeah, Adam,
Speaker 1: we'll get your audios straightened out. Last playing game tomorrow, Greg,
Speaker 1: Arizona State and St. John's eleven seeds, if you will
Speaker 1: trying to be the eleven seed to take on number
Speaker 1: six Buffalo UH in their region, the Red Storm and
Speaker 1: the Sun Devils. Sun Devil's come in as one and
Speaker 1: a half point favorites in this one chance to play
Speaker 1: Buffalo in Tulsa on Friday. Well, need let's say, if
Speaker 1: Chris Mallens and Bobby Hurley we're playing one on one,
Speaker 1: this line would probably be a reverse. But literally, we
Speaker 1: don't have that here. But that said, I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: with the Arizona stat in this spot. St. John's came
Speaker 1: neck back to earth a little bit with regards to
Speaker 1: the other three point shooting and St. John's one of
Speaker 1: the worst teams with regards the rebound rate in this
Speaker 1: entire field. You take a look at Arizona State. They've
Speaker 1: got a guy in Sailand cheat him at averages twelve
Speaker 1: points over ten rebounds per game, shoots over from three.
Speaker 1: We saw Remy Martin really come out late at the
Speaker 1: point guard spot assists to turn over ratio greater than two.
Speaker 1: I like what he does. Lu Dorc gets a little
Speaker 1: bit loose with the ball, but I think he's going
Speaker 1: to be the most physically imposing team player out there
Speaker 1: on this floor, and with St. John's he just won't
Speaker 1: really have a lot of size shmar Ponds and his player.
Speaker 1: He doesn't necessarily light it up from three. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go with the ariz on a state laying the point
Speaker 1: in half. Um, Greg, My only wish for you is
Speaker 1: that you would have been able to see Chris Mullen
Speaker 1: Bobby Hurley in college, Bobby Hurley on those dude teams.
Speaker 1: They Bobby Hurley playing four Final four's. I think he
Speaker 1: might have. I believe he did. Yeah and uh and
Speaker 1: then uh Chris Mullen with a St. John's team that
Speaker 1: got to the Final four with Walter Barry and Mark Jackson,
Speaker 1: just unbelievable teams and never got there because they always
Speaker 1: had to go up against Georgetown and other juggernauts in
Speaker 1: the Big East. We'll get with Adam back. Will start
Speaker 1: with the Eastern Region. Now that we have the play
Speaker 1: ins decided here or at least analyzed, we will start
Speaker 1: with the East Region and Duke next Bracket by bracket
Speaker 1: March madness all morning long on a Numbers game at Visa.
Speaker 1: Back to a Numbers game with your host Gil Alexander,
Speaker 1: broadcasting live from our Visa in studios in Las Vegas.
Speaker 1: Breaking news has a way of happening right after we
Speaker 1: get off the air here on a Numbers game. Not
Speaker 1: this morning. Jeff Passon reporting that Mike Trout and the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Angels are finalizing a record breaking get ready
Speaker 1: for this, Oh and Bryce Harper Scott boards didn't do
Speaker 1: any good. A record breaking This is for Trout now
Speaker 1: twelve year contract worth more than four hundred and thirty
Speaker 1: million dollars. Let me say that again. Twelve year, four
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty million dollars. The first number there was four.
Speaker 1: That's an average of thirty five point eight three million
Speaker 1: dollars a year. That would be not only the biggest
Speaker 1: contract ever shattering in terms of full amount of money
Speaker 1: four hundred thirty million, a hundred million more than Bryce
Speaker 1: basically right there, but per year average fual salary the
Speaker 1: largest of all time in sports, not just baseball. So
Speaker 1: there it is. Mike Trout a lot of money that
Speaker 1: is a lot of money. Greg Peterson, one day you too,
Speaker 1: we'll have that kind of money. I think by Rayford
Speaker 1: appearing on the show just went up a little bit.
Speaker 1: Let me just say this, if you're Bryce Harper, Seriously,
Speaker 1: if you're Bryce Harper and you waited and waited in
Speaker 1: the way, you're like, I don't care many years I'm
Speaker 1: in Philly. I just want the biggest number. Well, go away,
Speaker 1: thirteen years in Philly for a paltry a pittance of three.
Speaker 1: All right, let's start this East region. Here we go. Listen,
Speaker 1: we don't know who Duke's playing yet, so there's no
Speaker 1: line here. It's Duke against the winner of that n
Speaker 1: C Central North Dakota State game we were just talking
Speaker 1: about in the play in game. This will be in Columbia,
Speaker 1: South Carolina on Friday. But I'm assuming Duke advances. In
Speaker 1: your brackets, Yes, if you take the sixteen seed in
Speaker 1: this spot, do you really have some cones and you're
Speaker 1: gonna go down? Do you think, by the way, this
Speaker 1: is the hardest bracket, the East second hardest. That's a
Speaker 1: little bit of a tough one. I think it's all real, TIV.
Speaker 1: I think that the East Innergards the two seed, probably
Speaker 1: the toughest in Michigan State, though you can make a
Speaker 1: case for Kentucky as well. Okay, um the winner of
Speaker 1: the Duke North Carolina Central North Dakota State game, and
Speaker 1: let's just assume it's Duke, and I assume Adam Stanka
Speaker 1: will advance Duke in his bracket as well. We'll take
Speaker 1: on the winner of the eight nine game between VCU
Speaker 1: Virginia Commonwealth the RAMS seven eight regular season champs this
Speaker 1: year and Central Florida the nine seed and eight this
Speaker 1: year to extremely dangerous mid majors who get pitted against
Speaker 1: each other Friday night in Columbia, South Carolina. Again. The
Speaker 1: winner then gets to play Duke. Probably Greg. We start
Speaker 1: with you u c F a one point favorite, and
Speaker 1: it sounds like Marcus Sevans who got hurt in that
Speaker 1: eight ten tournament. I was talking to an injury expert.
Speaker 1: He said, and I quote, no chance he plays in
Speaker 1: this game. And if that is the case, that's gonna
Speaker 1: hurt for VCU, who already it's the second world three
Speaker 1: point shooting team out there in this tournament, the worst
Speaker 1: three point shooting team all by the way, Duke, you
Speaker 1: University of Central Florida. You've got seven foots taco fall down.
Speaker 1: Though they've got a guy in Tarrell Ellen that's running
Speaker 1: the point guard assisted turnover issio near three shoots early
Speaker 1: for three. B J. Taylor one of the top five
Speaker 1: players in regards to being able to get to the
Speaker 1: free throw line in this tournament. VCU second best defensive
Speaker 1: efficiency in the country. But I will say this with
Speaker 1: regards to Central Florida, when they covered eight out of
Speaker 1: nine games towards that late half stretch of the season,
Speaker 1: they were shooting right around thirty eight to thirty nine
Speaker 1: percent from three of themselves. I think that Central Florida
Speaker 1: has too much firepower, especially with mark AND's Evans at
Speaker 1: the very best being heard. If not out, I gotta
Speaker 1: takes Central Florida. Okay, you've got to. You don't have to.
Speaker 1: What I'm saying here is if if it's not a
Speaker 1: strong play for you, let's make sure we mentioned that
Speaker 1: as well, not as strong as this is a pretty
Speaker 1: strong I do like Central Florida a lot. I've been
Speaker 1: on them for quite a while, all right, that's the
Speaker 1: kind of language I like right there. So it's a
Speaker 1: Taco Zion second round game is what you're looking at here.
Speaker 1: That'll be fun, all right, So this is one point
Speaker 1: sat Greg's got them advancing both straight up and a
Speaker 1: T S in this case. Adam, your thoughts here, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think Central Florida is a much better team than
Speaker 1: uh the v c U is. I mean both are
Speaker 1: strong defensively, Aubrey Dawkins, Johnny Dawkins kids a really good player,
Speaker 1: uh six six junior guard who can who can shoot it?
Speaker 1: B J Taylor obviously, as as Gregg mentioned, so Central
Speaker 1: Florida has offensive pieces. The VCU doesn't. Even if Marcus
Speaker 1: Evans does play, I don't think VCU has the weapons.
Speaker 1: They're also much smaller, and it's not just in comparison
Speaker 1: to Taco Fall who's seven six for those that haven't
Speaker 1: seen him, but you know, Marcus Santa Silva is a
Speaker 1: six seven, two hundred and fifty pound forward from RECU,
Speaker 1: an unusual player who blocked shots and does a lot
Speaker 1: of different things. But size wise, they have no chance.
Speaker 1: And I think UCF is is really confident right now.
Speaker 1: I think I think if this game is now even closed,
Speaker 1: it should even being eight nine much of them, Wow,
Speaker 1: not even close. He says all right, five twelve in
Speaker 1: the East Mississippi State. The five ten this year straight
Speaker 1: up eight quad one wins for the Bulldogs. The number
Speaker 1: twelve seated Liberty Fla names twenty eight and six straight
Speaker 1: up on the year their Atlantic Suntorney champs. They had
Speaker 1: to share the regular season title in the Atlantic Sun.
Speaker 1: First season in the Atlantic Sun for the Liberty Flames
Speaker 1: after twenty seven in the Big South Um which I
Speaker 1: believe they won that tournam in. This is a Friday
Speaker 1: night game in San Jose, Mississippi State. Seven point favorites.
Speaker 1: Great and if you remember that two thousand thirteen Liberty
Speaker 1: team won the worst ever make the n C Double
Speaker 1: A tournament, not so much a case here. Liberty, a
Speaker 1: team that really likes slow, slow games down plays out
Speaker 1: one of the slowest tempos out there in the country.
Speaker 1: Mississippi State. They've got a bunch of explosive guards. Lamar
Speaker 1: peters Porson twelve point shoots over forty some from three.
Speaker 1: They're currently without Nick Wetherspoon, but Quinn Dairy has been
Speaker 1: absolutely sinsational since his brother got suspended. He has been
Speaker 1: doing a great job down low. Now they're not getting
Speaker 1: the versatility out of Eric Coletman, he got moved to
Speaker 1: the bench. Ever since then he has been a completely
Speaker 1: lost cause. In this one, I actually advanced Mississippi State,
Speaker 1: But if I were to play this game on the spread,
Speaker 1: I would take Liberty. They have a gout by the
Speaker 1: name of Georgio Pacheco or t Is. He only averages
Speaker 1: right round eight points per game, but he shoots nearly
Speaker 1: forty eight percent from three when the best three point
Speaker 1: shooters out there in this entire field. And then you've
Speaker 1: got a couple other guys for Liberty that they just
Speaker 1: do a good job of being able to know their role,
Speaker 1: playing sound defense. So I think they're gonna be able
Speaker 1: to hang in this one. I think Mississippi State pulls
Speaker 1: on something like a three four point win. Alright, so
Speaker 1: Mississippi State to advance in your bracket. But Liberty, if
Speaker 1: you played it, would you play it against the number? Oh? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: I actually grabbed the opening number because Liberty was catching
Speaker 1: a lot of points and then that got steamed down.
Speaker 1: Who am I asking would you play it? It's Greg Peterson,
Speaker 1: for God's sakes, Adam. Adam Stanko is here, Adam, your
Speaker 1: thoughts on this game. Uh yeah, I agree once again.
Speaker 1: I mean, in this case, I think we're talking about
Speaker 1: two teams that play well on defensive end, and and
Speaker 1: as Greig points out for Liberty, For Liberty, they like
Speaker 1: to slow you down. They like to move the ball,
Speaker 1: and they're perfectly comfortable playing playing that pace. But those
Speaker 1: Mississippi State, they're fine with playing a game that slowed down.
Speaker 1: Ben how Land is the coach. I mean, from people
Speaker 1: that have forgotten that Ben Holland is at Mississippi State.
Speaker 1: When Mary Witherspoon's an awesome guard will take it over.
Speaker 1: Missisippi they much more talented in the non conference. They
Speaker 1: beat Clemson, they beat Sinsey, they'd be Watford. This is
Speaker 1: a team that's that's really talented. They've been strong all
Speaker 1: year long on the defensive end, and plus they're one
Speaker 1: of the most efficient offensive teams in the country. The
Speaker 1: Mississippi State comfortable playing that so because we won't see
Speaker 1: it necessarily a high score. Missisipi States just too talented.
Speaker 1: Even though Liberty does have Scottie James, a fun, a
Speaker 1: fund major guy to watch. But but I do like
Speaker 1: Mississippi State in this game, although I do think it'll
Speaker 1: be close just because I don't think we're gonna see
Speaker 1: some runaway score here. All right, winner in Mississippi State
Speaker 1: Liberty will take on the winner in San Jose Friday night.
Speaker 1: Also a game between Votech and St. Louis. That's the
Speaker 1: fourth thirteen game winner that takes on the Mississippi State
Speaker 1: Liberty winner. That is vo Tech is live here, Greg.
Speaker 1: There's a good basketball team twenty four and eight this year,
Speaker 1: uh St. Louis. The Billikins were a ten turney champs
Speaker 1: twenty three and twelve votech double digit favorite ten and
Speaker 1: a half points here, and it's gonna be interesting to
Speaker 1: see if Justin Robinson plays in this game or not.
Speaker 1: I think that a lot of hinges on that. From
Speaker 1: what I've been hearing, Justin Robinson should be a go
Speaker 1: for the n c Double A tournament. And with since St. Louis,
Speaker 1: you've got the second worst free throw shooting team in
Speaker 1: the country, only to Manhattan, who we all know to
Speaker 1: college basketball back to the Dark Ages, that is a
Speaker 1: wolf for them. St. Louis has a good job on
Speaker 1: the offensive glass, but I think they carry blacks here
Speaker 1: could be better than Hassan French down low. And then
Speaker 1: when you take a look at Virginia Tech. They're getting
Speaker 1: some good production out of the guards like Nikkia Walker,
Speaker 1: Alexander You've got tie Outlaw being able to ride around three.
Speaker 1: This is a spot where I'm not just laying the
Speaker 1: points with Virginia Tech. I'm gonna advance them in my
Speaker 1: bracket as well, number eleven team in regards to offensive
Speaker 1: efficiency in the country votech Adam not only advancing here,
Speaker 1: I would imagine from you, but also you think might
Speaker 1: uh might give Duke some trouble down the road here
Speaker 1: in the tournament. They could, but I think that in
Speaker 1: order to do so they as great points out They're
Speaker 1: gonna need Justin Robinson. It's unlikely that we're going to
Speaker 1: see him, uh from from the reports that I've seen,
Speaker 1: but if he does play, I mean that that backcourt
Speaker 1: alone between Robinson and Alexander Walker is difficult. And obviously
Speaker 1: black Sheet has been playing at a high level. So
Speaker 1: certainly Virginia Tech I think defensively they're terrific, But in
Speaker 1: order to go deep in this turning in and as
Speaker 1: I always point out, you're going to need uh premier
Speaker 1: point guard and Justin Robinson certainly is that so in
Speaker 1: order for them to hang with with any of the
Speaker 1: big dogs, they're gonna have to get Justin Robertson back.
Speaker 1: But meanwhile, on this game, I mean St. Louis is
Speaker 1: just brutal offensively, a strong defensive team, but just a
Speaker 1: shocking team that even you know made the field. I mean,
Speaker 1: they came into the eight ten tournament losing five of
Speaker 1: their last seven and one four and four days and
Speaker 1: they were even down the same fun Events who by
Speaker 1: fifteen in the first half. So for St. Louis to
Speaker 1: win this game would would be an absolute stunner, or
Speaker 1: to even hang with them, I think. I think Virginia
Speaker 1: Tech on a whole another level than St. Louis. The
Speaker 1: other half of the East bracket, Maryland gonna take on
Speaker 1: the winner of that Belmont Temple game we talked about.
Speaker 1: That's the play in game. Uh So we'll weight on
Speaker 1: that because obviously no line for that one. But the
Speaker 1: winner of Maryland versus Belmont or Temple will take on
Speaker 1: the three four winner L s U and Yale that's
Speaker 1: Jacksonville that's in Jacksonville on Thursday night, as well as
Speaker 1: well as the Maryland game L s U. Out of
Speaker 1: the SEC the eleventh seeded team here overall in the
Speaker 1: tournament by the Committee against the IVY League champ Yale Bulldogs.
Speaker 1: Seven and a half now is the number on l
Speaker 1: s U. This is way down from its open I
Speaker 1: still like the seven and a half greg at seven
Speaker 1: and a half, I still would take Yale, but I
Speaker 1: think that the value is starting to get dried up here.
Speaker 1: I think that LSU was able to win this game
Speaker 1: because they do have that front court. You've got nos Reed,
Speaker 1: a seven footer or with some good versatility, pulls and
Speaker 1: rebound shoots threes. Darius Days same way, a little bit smaller,
Speaker 1: but he's able to do a lot of Cavell Bigbie
Speaker 1: Williams as a manned out low. You've got Javant, a
Speaker 1: smart guy that does a great job out there at
Speaker 1: the guard spot, is able to generate steals. Along with
Speaker 1: Traymont Waters. Water is one of the top five players
Speaker 1: in this fielding guards to generating steals. He shot from
Speaker 1: three point range speeder after the first seven games of
Speaker 1: the season. And then for Yale, you've got a guy
Speaker 1: that's gonna play in the NBA. In my only Blake
Speaker 1: Reynolds pours in eleven points shooting really forty three. I
Speaker 1: think that Yale is gonna be able to hang in
Speaker 1: this one. This is something I see being more or
Speaker 1: less of five to six point game. I would take
Speaker 1: Yale on the spread, but I would take ls Hug
Speaker 1: to advance Adam safe for you. Yeah, yeah, I I
Speaker 1: feel the exact same way. I think this l SU
Speaker 1: team is in obviously in somewhat disarray. I mean when
Speaker 1: you've got a head coaching situation like they're going with
Speaker 1: on with will Wade and trying to figure out what's
Speaker 1: going on with their head coach. I mean that always
Speaker 1: becomes confusing. The talent wise, you know again, point guard
Speaker 1: play is is critical and Tamonta Waters is fantastic. He's
Speaker 1: an NBA player, uh As Gregg points out no as
Speaker 1: reads a fellow NBA players huge recruit um and then
Speaker 1: cavelled Big Bi Williams. I think is an X factor,
Speaker 1: just that size and defensive ability that they have down low.
Speaker 1: The one interesting thing for Yale is that obviously a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago we did see them win a game,
Speaker 1: you know, uh, win a game in the tournament. Um,
Speaker 1: But that's back when they have a Kai Mason. You
Speaker 1: now on Baylor. Lake Reynolds are only player that played
Speaker 1: in that in that game, uh Mi Aoni is a
Speaker 1: fantastic player and he's going to be in the NBA,
Speaker 1: so he's gonna be fun to watch for Yale. And
Speaker 1: George Brunners as a first little guy who's six eight
Speaker 1: point guard in high school. But still Yale is much
Speaker 1: better and different and more athletic than people expect the
Speaker 1: Yale team to be. But they're not as good as
Speaker 1: l s U. So as long as the l s
Speaker 1: U feel somewhat confident in at least their interim head coach, Um,
Speaker 1: I would I would expect that L s U wins
Speaker 1: this game, but but it could be a little uglier
Speaker 1: than they're typically used to me when I took over
Speaker 1: that semifinal game against Princeton late in Yale's win on Saturday,
Speaker 1: on their way after beating Harvard to the IVY League title,
Speaker 1: Louisville is at Minnesota's the seven ten game in the
Speaker 1: East Final two brackets here, uh does Minnissan des Moines?
Speaker 1: On Thursday? Does Minnesota belong in this tournament? Greig? I
Speaker 1: do feel like they did. I think the fact that
Speaker 1: they were able to make a run in the Big
Speaker 1: Ten tournament really allowed them to be in the n
Speaker 1: C Double A Tournament. Then getting that win late in
Speaker 1: the season their home floor against Perduell, so help with that. Said, Minnesota,
Speaker 1: what are you going to get from three point range?
Speaker 1: A mere coffee? Was a little bit better towards the
Speaker 1: end of the year. Gabe Causcher, though he's a hit
Speaker 1: or miss player. I still remember watching a game when
Speaker 1: he played against North Florida and was like, oh, of
Speaker 1: ten from distance. Meanwhile, Louisville, you've got Jordan Awara. He's
Speaker 1: a very good stretch player for this team. Average seventeen points,
Speaker 1: shoots in the mid thirties from three point rains, Christian
Speaker 1: Cunningham assisted turnover ratio of two and a half. He
Speaker 1: does sensational work. Louisville's defense improved throughout the season. I
Speaker 1: think it will be too much in the Battle of Patino's.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take Louisville with Chris mac as a head coach,
Speaker 1: Louisville five point favorites here on the number. What did
Speaker 1: you say, Greg, and you like on the number? I
Speaker 1: like Louisville on the spread, and I like Louisville to advance.
Speaker 1: All right, Rich Petino probably get some help from his
Speaker 1: dad maybe here going up against Louisville. We shall see,
Speaker 1: Adam your thoughts on this one. Yeah, I actually like
Speaker 1: Minnesota and this one. Um. I like the I like
Speaker 1: the front line of Minnesota. Jordan Murphy's one of the
Speaker 1: best players, and you know, best front core players in
Speaker 1: Minnesota's had quite some time. The six sixth senior forward
Speaker 1: is double double machine, so that's automatic. I just don't
Speaker 1: love the offensive firepower of Louisville. Certainly, I love all
Speaker 1: of Chris Max teams. They play so hard, tremendous, defensively,
Speaker 1: efficient on the offensive, and they play at a slow pace.
Speaker 1: And I just think that down low Minnesota is tougher.
Speaker 1: And I think so if this game is the rock fight,
Speaker 1: I'm trusting that the Minnesota front line more than I am.
Speaker 1: Louisville war is a good player, He's expanded his game.
Speaker 1: But I like Minnesota and this one in Louisville, Minnesota
Speaker 1: seven ten game plays the winner of Michigan State and Bradley.
Speaker 1: That's the two fifteen game in the East Bradley the
Speaker 1: Braves Missouri Valley Turney champions Um. This game is in
Speaker 1: Des Moines on Thursday, and of course Michigan State. They
Speaker 1: beat Michigan three times. This has been the biggest quibble
Speaker 1: of the selection committee. They get stuck in a bracket
Speaker 1: with Duke while Michigan gets the Zags. Two out of
Speaker 1: the last three years, Greg Michigan State has lost to
Speaker 1: a double digit seed. Is this a game where they
Speaker 1: do that again? Last time they were do see they
Speaker 1: lost in the first round. I don't think that'll happen.
Speaker 1: I am taking Bradley with the eighteen and half points.
Speaker 1: You've got a guy in Darnell Brown that runs a
Speaker 1: point in average third team points, shoots nearly forty five
Speaker 1: pp for three. Elijah Child's Olmo is actually quite decent,
Speaker 1: but Nick Word is gonna eat them alive. You've got
Speaker 1: Matt McQuaid shooting over forty percent for three. Cash Is
Speaker 1: Winston one of the most spectacular point guards out there
Speaker 1: in college basketball. So take the points. If you're gonna
Speaker 1: bet this game with Bradley, but advanced Michigan State and
Speaker 1: your bracket, you're advancing Michigan State. I gather, Adam, would
Speaker 1: you take the points here? Yeah? I think Michigan State
Speaker 1: is going to destroy Bradley in this in this game,
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, as uh as great points out, I mean,
Speaker 1: nick Lord underneath is just going to be a huge
Speaker 1: problem for Bradley. But it's not just him. I mean
Speaker 1: we know that you know, Kenny Goens is a top
Speaker 1: level defensive uh standout, defends almost every position on the floor.
Speaker 1: They've your kill and the athletes they have guys um
Speaker 1: with who are angry right now. You know, I think
Speaker 1: about about their seat and the fact that they're with
Speaker 1: Duke and not only that, but you know, if Minnesota
Speaker 1: advances like I expect, they also have to play a
Speaker 1: big team in the second round. You talk about State
Speaker 1: struggling with double digit seeds. So I mean, I think
Speaker 1: that this team is angry. They've they've had a bad
Speaker 1: paste in their mouth since since is sort of attaching
Speaker 1: tobacco last year against Syracuse. And I think that Michigan
Speaker 1: State rules. I think they're hungry to play and castus.
Speaker 1: Winston of course, will control Temple tempo of the entire game,
Speaker 1: so I expect this game to be twenty five or
Speaker 1: more from Michigan State. Winner of the East bracket will
Speaker 1: take on the winner of the West will get to
Speaker 1: that next right here in March Madness special on the
Speaker 1: Numbers Game at Visa. Now back to a Numbers game
Speaker 1: with your host, Gil Alexander, broadcasting live from our Visa
Speaker 1: in studios in Las Vegas. By the way, if you're
Speaker 1: looking for help with your office bracket beyond what we're
Speaker 1: giving to you here today with Greg Peterson and Adam Stanko. Um,
Speaker 1: maybe you're heading a Vegas for March Madness. Whatever the case,
Speaker 1: Visas College Basketball Tournament Betting Guide will be packed with
Speaker 1: all the stats and analysis you need to be a winner.
Speaker 1: Bracket advice from Brent Musburger, Matt Human's, Dave Toulie, Steve McKinnon,
Speaker 1: and this gentleman to my right, Greg oops Peterson, along
Speaker 1: with other Visa experts. There's Zion on the cover. If
Speaker 1: the shoe fits, look at Zion. Zion is the greatest
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Speaker 1: and point Spread weekly in a chance to win ten
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Speaker 1: Can't beat that. All the details at Visa dot com
Speaker 1: slash subscribe. Let's get to the West Region with Great
Speaker 1: Peterson at Adam Stanko. It's Gill Alexander Gonzaga against the
Speaker 1: winner of Fairleigh Dickinson Prairie View, A and m SO
Speaker 1: will pass on that. Obviously no line for that game
Speaker 1: in Salt Lake City on Thursday night, but the winner
Speaker 1: of that we'll take on the winner of the eight
Speaker 1: nine game between Syracuse and Baylor, also in Salt Lake
Speaker 1: City on Thursday night. We flashed that up on the screen. Gregg,
Speaker 1: your thoughts on this one. Now, Baylor is a team
Speaker 1: that actually plays a little bit of zone themselves, so
Speaker 1: they're gonna be a little bit better prepared than most
Speaker 1: teams For Syracuse. I do think that highest battle is
Speaker 1: going to be back in this game. Even if he's not, though,
Speaker 1: I think that Syracuse should be able to roll because
Speaker 1: Baylor has her injury issues themselves. McKay mason, you can
Speaker 1: tell it was not right at the end of the year.
Speaker 1: King McClure has been dealing with some injuries as well.
Speaker 1: This is a team that has fallen act Earth ever
Speaker 1: since getting off to that great running late January early February.
Speaker 1: Out there in the Big ten or out there in
Speaker 1: the Big twelve. Because Baylor comes into the n C
Speaker 1: Double A Tournament having lost each of the last four games,
Speaker 1: and I actually do like the way that Buddy Beaheim
Speaker 1: has been able to come off the bench and given
Speaker 1: Syracuse from scoring as well. So I do think that
Speaker 1: Syracuse starting to get some offense outside there. I guess
Speaker 1: you could call it big three, and that is gonna
Speaker 1: be enough to be able with them to victory and
Speaker 1: cover this game, alright. So like Ques two point favorites
Speaker 1: here against Baylor, I think I think everybody has the
Speaker 1: same reaction to Buddy Beheim when he comes in and
Speaker 1: does well, Everyone's like, oh, yeah, there you go. People
Speaker 1: feel good about that. Adam, you want cues here as well. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I like Syracuse. I mean, I think Syracuse has learned
Speaker 1: a little bit to play out without Tais battle, so
Speaker 1: even if they don't have him, uh, that won't be
Speaker 1: too significant. And you guys are dead on him and
Speaker 1: Buddy Beehi, I'm shooting threes. Um, you know, like he's
Speaker 1: Kevin her Um. It's pretty fun to watch there, so
Speaker 1: uh yeah, and Baylor that I think that you cannot
Speaker 1: discount the fact that they lost four straight heading into
Speaker 1: the tournament as great points out Kevin Herder, the winner
Speaker 1: of the Steve Blake never thought this guy would be
Speaker 1: great out of the University of Maryland Award uh for
Speaker 1: the current currently uh the Steve Lake Memorial Award for
Speaker 1: Maryland Turms fans. Alright. Also in the West bracket here,
Speaker 1: this is the game that seth Walder from ESPN Analytics
Speaker 1: yesterday on the show called the biggest percentage of his
Speaker 1: Giant Killers win probability for him for Murray State the Racers,
Speaker 1: which I find a little low by the way. For
Speaker 1: the Racers, who are the twelfth seed here the Ohio
Speaker 1: Valley Conference Tournament champions, of course, led by John Morant,
Speaker 1: who folks A projecting as the number two pick in
Speaker 1: the draft. Now in some mock drafts, they're taking on
Speaker 1: number five Markette Golden Eagles. This game is in Hartford
Speaker 1: on Thursday night. Marquette Gregg a four and a half
Speaker 1: point favorite, and these are the only two players in
Speaker 1: the n c Double A tournament that average over twenty
Speaker 1: four and a half points per game. It's gonna be
Speaker 1: a fun one. But what sets me over the top
Speaker 1: of the Murray State is the fact that they played
Speaker 1: such sound defense. They're in among the top ten teams
Speaker 1: in the country with the guards to two point shooting
Speaker 1: percentage on offense, but then on defense, they were one
Speaker 1: of the best teams that being able to guard the
Speaker 1: arc out there in college basketball. You've obviously got John Morane.
Speaker 1: Parson Overtown says he does get loose with the ball.
Speaker 1: He has five turnovers per game. But we saw Marcus
Speaker 1: Howard he was affected by his risks a little bit
Speaker 1: in that game against St. John's a couple of days ago,
Speaker 1: So I do think that that's a little bit of
Speaker 1: an issue John Morane. I think he's coming into this
Speaker 1: game healthy. He's had a lot of time to rest
Speaker 1: up after that Ohio Valley Conference tournament, and I think
Speaker 1: that Murray State wins this game, alright, So taking them
Speaker 1: on the spread and I'm taking them to advance in
Speaker 1: the five twelves. I'm with you. I got Murray State advancing.
Speaker 1: John Moran will be the best player on the court
Speaker 1: period this game. Adam Stanko from the Catta Shoot podcast.
Speaker 1: You aboard Murray State here, I'm onboard Murray State. It's
Speaker 1: crazy to think that we're talking about two teams that
Speaker 1: you have to love what the committee did here putting
Speaker 1: up guys that can both, you know, go for forty
Speaker 1: points in a game against each other. Just incredible individual
Speaker 1: talents and Howard and and Moran. But Moran is on
Speaker 1: another level, the only guy in in college basketball history
Speaker 1: and ten um. I like Murray State a lot in
Speaker 1: this game. And outside of Marcus Howard, there's just not
Speaker 1: a lot there for Marquette other than the Houser brothers.
Speaker 1: But I'm all over Murray State in this game. The
Speaker 1: only thing I worry about is that everybody's on Murray
Speaker 1: State anecdotally, right, Like, there's certain games here where I
Speaker 1: just worry that everybody is on somebody, you know how
Speaker 1: that usually goes winner of Marquette Murray stayed. By the way,
Speaker 1: we'll take on the winner of the fourth thirteen game
Speaker 1: in the West between Florida State and Vermont. We have
Speaker 1: a Greg Peterson special alert here at Ladies and Gentlemen.
Speaker 1: Florida State seven and seven on the season straight up
Speaker 1: there ten and a half point favorites in this game
Speaker 1: against the Catamounts of Vermont. Vermont the American East regular
Speaker 1: season and tourney champions. This game also in Hartford on
Speaker 1: Thursday night, Vermont was seven and six. They beat U
Speaker 1: NBC in the Americans Championship on Sunday morning. Was a
Speaker 1: Saturday morning, I believe it was. But you've got Leonard
Speaker 1: Hamilton's versus Vermont, Greg in Hartford. Your thoughts, sir, This
Speaker 1: is a classic game where Florida is gonna win the
Speaker 1: game out right, but they're not going to cover this bread.
Speaker 1: That just seems to be the way that Leonard Hamilton's operates, right.
Speaker 1: Florida State has so much size out there guarding the forever.
Speaker 1: You've got so many guys are like six ft seven,
Speaker 1: six ft eight out there. Phil co For seems to
Speaker 1: be coming into his own after you get that three
Speaker 1: to send that Virginia Tech game to overtime, and then
Speaker 1: you have to like what Cross christ Maji is able
Speaker 1: to do downlow. He's obviously got some great size. Terrence
Speaker 1: Man shoots from three. But Vermont, you've got a guy
Speaker 1: and Anthony Lamb. He pours in twenty one points for
Speaker 1: a game. He's able to shoot some threes. And you've
Speaker 1: got a trio of Duncan brothers out there in the
Speaker 1: starting lineup for Vermont. They're not gonna beat themselves. They're
Speaker 1: probably gonna slow this game down. I think Vermont probably
Speaker 1: loses this game by like seven eight points. So I'm
Speaker 1: gonna take Vermont on this bread and I'm gonna take
Speaker 1: Flarida State to advance. It's kind of registered on the
Speaker 1: Giant Killers. Uh on the Giant Killers meter yesterday for
Speaker 1: Seth Walter as well Chance by his numbers for a month.
Speaker 1: I don't see it happening either. Um, But I totally
Speaker 1: I'm on board with what you're saying, Greg Uh. A
Speaker 1: win for f s U, but not a cover. Adam. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this one's tricky because, on one hand, um, I don't
Speaker 1: think that Florida State has the offensive weapons to really
Speaker 1: put up a lot of points in this game. That said,
Speaker 1: Vermont is going to have a ton of issues trying
Speaker 1: to score. I mean, Anthony Lamb is a talented score
Speaker 1: but he does it all as a six six post player. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, playing against America East competition. Great footwork, some
Speaker 1: good moves in the post. That's not gonna work against
Speaker 1: this largest state front line and Kavin Gilly and company.
Speaker 1: So I just think Flarda States loaded US. I think
Speaker 1: they're extremely confident after the Virginia win. So I think
Speaker 1: Florida State rolls through this even though they have some
Speaker 1: shooting lows, offensive putbacks all that. So I would expect
Speaker 1: them to actually win by you know twelve. All right,
Speaker 1: let's sneak in a break here. Mike Trout's gonna count
Speaker 1: his money and during the break again, four hundred thirty
Speaker 1: million dollars twelve years. See you later, Bryce Harbor with
Speaker 1: all your short lived records. We'll get to the second
Speaker 1: part of the West bracket here as we continue going
Speaker 1: through all of them. Will do some props as well
Speaker 1: from the West Gate, whole bunch of that before we
Speaker 1: get to the second half of March Madness. It's all
Speaker 1: on a numbers game. Stick around right here at Visa
Speaker 1: down back to a numbers game with your host Gil Alexander,
Speaker 1: broadcasting live from our Visa in studios in Las Vegas.
Speaker 1: By the way, if you're coming down to Las Vegas
Speaker 1: and the South Point Visas, Brent Musburger will be hosting
Speaker 1: Betting and Buds with Brent. It's Wednesday. It's tomorrow night,
Speaker 1: thirty pm right here at the South Point Hotel Casino
Speaker 1: with Christie Andrews, Vinnie Molly Hullo plus NASCAR driver and
Speaker 1: former Georgetown Hoys basketball player Brendan Gone will be there
Speaker 1: as well. Mike Palm from the d Las Vegas Visas
Speaker 1: team of experts breaking down the teams, the lines, the bracket,
Speaker 1: will take questions. Take the show for broadcast on Visa
Speaker 1: and that tomorrow night. It is free, by the way,
Speaker 1: and there will be one dollar bud wise of brands available.
Speaker 1: I should mention that from five to eight pm in
Speaker 1: the South Points Grand View Lounge. That's tomorrow evening right
Speaker 1: by the Racing Book five thirty pm. Hope to see
Speaker 1: you their final half of the UH or the second
Speaker 1: half I should say, of the West bracket. Buffalo is
Speaker 1: gonna play the winner of that a s U St.
Speaker 1: John's playing game, which we've already covered. The winner of
Speaker 1: that Buffalo game will take on the winner of the
Speaker 1: three four team game, which takes place in Telsa on Friday.
Speaker 1: This is Texas Tech, the number ten overall seed, by
Speaker 1: the way, in this entire bracket, they're the number three
Speaker 1: seed here in the West. They are two touchdown favorites
Speaker 1: over the north of Northern Kentucky, who are the Horizon
Speaker 1: League Tourney champs. I got a future on Texas Tech.
Speaker 1: I'm hoping they advanced you. Bullish on Texas Tech. I
Speaker 1: do like Texas Tech. They've got the number one defensive
Speaker 1: efficiency out there in the country, one of the best
Speaker 1: teams in in guarding the three plane arc as well.
Speaker 1: I am gonna take the two touch shots on this
Speaker 1: rout Northern Kentucky. They've got good six ft eight big
Speaker 1: man Andrew McDonald that shoot from three averages nineteen points
Speaker 1: nine and a free bounce per game. You've got sharp
Speaker 1: that table shoot some threes for this team as well,
Speaker 1: So you've got some good guard play out there for
Speaker 1: Northern Kentucky. They like to really be able to get
Speaker 1: out there. They like to be able to score a
Speaker 1: lot of points, which is a little bit unlike nor
Speaker 1: normal Northern Kentucky teams. But I do like the way
Speaker 1: that Texas techas stepping up. David Moretti has been shooting
Speaker 1: over three, one of the best free throw shooters out
Speaker 1: there in this entire tournament. You've got John Mooney being
Speaker 1: able to step up out there in the back court,
Speaker 1: and then Dreko is a very good job blocker as well.
Speaker 1: I got Texas Tech going all the way to the
Speaker 1: final four. We'll get your guys final four picks coming
Speaker 1: up later on the show. Adam, your thoughts here. The
Speaker 1: Texas Tech's been fantastic. Jared Culver is a lottery pick, uh,
Speaker 1: David Amoretty, as as Greig Gets pointed out, one of
Speaker 1: the best shotters in the country. Matt Mooney is a
Speaker 1: tough kid. This team playing terrific on the defensive and
Speaker 1: and they're rolling offensively, extremely confident and for Northern Kentucky,
Speaker 1: I mean, I just don't love them. They're okay as
Speaker 1: an offense, but really against high level compety and it's
Speaker 1: gonna be no question. So I think we see a
Speaker 1: runaway law runaway victory here for for Texas Day All right,
Speaker 1: Final two first round games in the West. Number seven
Speaker 1: Nevada the Wolfpack darlings in the pre flop futures market
Speaker 1: this year, where they were gotten down a ten to one,
Speaker 1: maybe even single digits the one at one point. Uh
Speaker 1: They're the number seven seed in the West. There two
Speaker 1: point favorites here over the Gators in Florida of the SEC.
Speaker 1: Gators were nineteen and fifteen wolf Pack Mountain West Conference
Speaker 1: regular season champs. This is in Des Moines on Thursday.
Speaker 1: Every Gators game, Gregg seems to go down to the
Speaker 1: final position. It seems like it lead does and I
Speaker 1: do think that Florida is gonna be able to win
Speaker 1: this game. Jen has really been emerging for this team.
Speaker 1: I like the way that they're playing. They rely a
Speaker 1: little bit too much on the three point shop, but
Speaker 1: no a lot coming off the bench being able to
Speaker 1: give it this team some production. I like that Cavon
Speaker 1: Allen one of the best players in the free throw
Speaker 1: line in the country. And Nevada they're just not a
Speaker 1: good three point shooting team. They do a great job
Speaker 1: of not training the ball over, but this is a
Speaker 1: team that they just settled for shots too much. They
Speaker 1: could get to the rim whenever they wanted for a layup,
Speaker 1: but they just choose too. I remember they had that
Speaker 1: run last year. They have the two big comebacks right
Speaker 1: in the first and second round. Nevada. But this is
Speaker 1: a this is a deeper Nevada team this year. Right, Uh,
Speaker 1: They're only about seven deep. This is not a deep
Speaker 1: Nevada team. Well it was five or six last year,
Speaker 1: wasn't it. It was about six deep, I would say
Speaker 1: so relatively speaking anyway, Adam, Yeah, I'm all over Nevada
Speaker 1: and this one. I think the mat has been sort
Speaker 1: of underrated. I almost even think I think underseated. I
Speaker 1: think we sort of forgot about them as teams lost
Speaker 1: four games all year. They they're efficient somehow on the
Speaker 1: offensive end. But I think the biggest strength for Nevada
Speaker 1: is the Musselman squad. Just play so loose and yet
Speaker 1: they have all of this leadership. They're one of the
Speaker 1: oldest teams in the country. The Martin, the Martin brothers
Speaker 1: both seniors. Then Jordan Caroline Jazz Johnson is the JR.
Speaker 1: I just think this team has so much experience and
Speaker 1: they play so loose and free, and that's what enables
Speaker 1: them to to have both success latent games and also
Speaker 1: not to be worried when they're down big. And we
Speaker 1: saw it last year, and I think Florida is just
Speaker 1: average offensively, good defensive team. Different team than we're not
Speaker 1: used to for Florida. But I'm all over and about
Speaker 1: in this one, alright, So difference of opinion there. And finally,
Speaker 1: the winner of the Nevada Florida game will take on
Speaker 1: the two fifteen game. Michigan and the Wolverine is the
Speaker 1: eighth overall seed, two seed here in this region against Montana,
Speaker 1: the Grizzlies Big Sky regular season attorney champs. They were
Speaker 1: twenty six and eight. So rematch up a first round
Speaker 1: game from last year? Is is that right? It was
Speaker 1: a three four team matchup, and I don't think that
Speaker 1: Montana is gonna be able to play the upsite here,
Speaker 1: but they've got a guy, and say you Bridget that
Speaker 1: shoots over fifty, that shoots over from three. Mod Rory
Speaker 1: has really been plugging things up for this team. Divin Dorsey,
Speaker 1: a transfer from Washington's able to hit some threes. So
Speaker 1: I'll take Montana to cover the spread, but I'll take
Speaker 1: Michigan to advance. Alright, twenty seconds here Adam Michigan to advance.
Speaker 1: I'm assuming if you played this, would you play this
Speaker 1: fifteen and a half? Would you stay away? I'd stay away.
Speaker 1: Travis Secure is no outstanding coach at Montana, at mard
Speaker 1: Rury's at Oregon Transfer. But they can't win this game
Speaker 1: because Jamarroico one of their best players. Uh, he was
Speaker 1: injured after hardfall mr his last twelve games the year.
Speaker 1: Just just not as good as a team after a
Speaker 1: co went down. All right, we'll do props from the
Speaker 1: west Gate. We'll take a break on the brackets. Will
Speaker 1: resume with the Midwest and South or South and Midwest
Speaker 1: in that order coming up. But props from the West
Speaker 1: Gate Seatings Conference props. Some interesting stuff. Greg Peterson, Adam Stanko.
Speaker 1: It's Brackett Pealoza right here on a numbers game at
Speaker 1: Visa and stick around right here now live from the
Speaker 1: Visa in studios in the South Point Hotel and Casino.
Speaker 1: It's Gil Alexander Brackett Pellousa this morning on a numbers
Speaker 1: game here at Visa. Nothing but college basketball bracket by Brackett,
Speaker 1: straight up a t s. Greg Peterson, Adams Stanko got
Speaker 1: two more regions to get to we'll get their final
Speaker 1: four picks as well. Greg and I were just talking
Speaker 1: off air. We're saying earlier I have Providence in the
Speaker 1: n I T. By the way, at serious x UP
Speaker 1: Channel two or four, Visa dot Com, Visa have fu
Speaker 1: O TV probably mentioned that, um, we have the playing
Speaker 1: games tonight, but the n I T and in some
Speaker 1: respects is more interesting. I was mentioning, how uh with
Speaker 1: that Providence Arkansas game today, there's no Daniel Gafford. He
Speaker 1: is going pro so he's done so probably in still
Speaker 1: only a six point favorite. Curious. But then we were
Speaker 1: also talking Hofster is like a ten point favorite against
Speaker 1: and excuse me, NC State is a ten point favorite
Speaker 1: against Hofstra, doesn't NC State And it's funny because you
Speaker 1: you countered with Hofstra. We agree like NC States the
Speaker 1: type of team that doesn't show for this, and Hofsted
Speaker 1: the type of team that this means everything to them exactly.
Speaker 1: And then you got Hofter who actually opened up at
Speaker 1: eleven point underdog in far away places. It's just absolutely confusing.
Speaker 1: You got justin ripe form and I have it pours
Speaker 1: in twenty six points per game. Eli Pemberton shot from
Speaker 1: three and with NC State, what are you going to
Speaker 1: get out of this team? After they were talking about oh,
Speaker 1: we don't know what net rankings means and everything like that,
Speaker 1: three or whatever, they ended up in net rankings NC
Speaker 1: State they did so well and it didn't get in
Speaker 1: the big dance net rankings Greg. Again, the committee didn't
Speaker 1: end up really adhering to them in terms of who
Speaker 1: they let in and who they let out. Yet when
Speaker 1: they assessed teams, they brought up with net rankings and
Speaker 1: they said, oh, well, these are the team as you
Speaker 1: beat in Quadrant one based on net rankings. So it
Speaker 1: was this weird thing where where you ended up didn't
Speaker 1: seem to meet as didn't seem to mean as much
Speaker 1: as the results of games against net rankings teams. Total inconsistency. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was just a jumbled up mess. I'm glad I
Speaker 1: wasn't doing as much pray echetology this year because it's like,
Speaker 1: what do you make out of this? Yeah? I think
Speaker 1: they listen overall. Again, I think they did a great
Speaker 1: job once they put Belmont in. I think everything else
Speaker 1: became sort of a secondary, uh nitpicky type of thing.
Speaker 1: But that would be the one inconsistency from an analytic standpoint,
Speaker 1: let us do some props here before we get back
Speaker 1: to the business at hands South and Midwest regions. These
Speaker 1: are from the West Gate. These came out yesterday, and
Speaker 1: I'm curious just obviously you don't have to play all these,
Speaker 1: but if there's anything that sticks out, First of all,
Speaker 1: they did things by conference here over at the West Gate. Uh,
Speaker 1: you see it on the screen right now at Visa
Speaker 1: dot Com Vica. Happened Foobo TV. Uh, every conference pretty
Speaker 1: much A C, A C C, Atlantic ten, Big East,
Speaker 1: Big ten, Big twelve, and Mountain West on your screen
Speaker 1: right now. But on your screen right now. But basically,
Speaker 1: what they did was take um a group of teams
Speaker 1: from or I guess, all the teams from each of
Speaker 1: those conferences that are in the tournament, and they put
Speaker 1: a wind total on them. So the A C C
Speaker 1: most prominently with seven teams, their wind total here is fifteen.
Speaker 1: Obviously they got Duke and Caroline and Virginia among those
Speaker 1: seven teams. Greg, But is anything there on that screen
Speaker 1: anyway that leaps off the page for you. I would
Speaker 1: go under a half a win for the Atlantic Town.
Speaker 1: I don't think the VC is going to be able
Speaker 1: to pull off the upset against Central Florida. I guess
Speaker 1: you wouldn't call it an upset centsor of the eight seat.
Speaker 1: It just feels like an upset to me because I
Speaker 1: think Central Florida is a better team, and then St.
Speaker 1: Louis has absolutely no shot against Virginia Tech in my opinion.
Speaker 1: Adam Stako, who of course also authored not only the
Speaker 1: Catch and Shoot podcast which is the host of, but
Speaker 1: has these hoop quick hitters that are available at pure
Speaker 1: hoops media dot com if you need more information needed,
Speaker 1: sixty eight different videos about a minute minute half long
Speaker 1: on all these teams. Anything on this screen that leads
Speaker 1: off the page for you, Adam, uh No, I think
Speaker 1: fifteen for for the a sec seems a bit much. Um.
Speaker 1: I just think when you add them up in in total, obviously,
Speaker 1: I don't think we're going to see, you know, final
Speaker 1: four runs from from all of these uh ACC teams.
Speaker 1: So I think that's one that that stands out. And
Speaker 1: uh The other one to me is UH is Big East.
Speaker 1: I'm not necessarily in love with the Big East this year. St.
Speaker 1: John's I don't expect to win there. They're playing game Marquette.
Speaker 1: We talked about could lose, which would lead Seton halland
Speaker 1: Villanova to come up with four wins in total. And uh,
Speaker 1: I don't see that happening. So those are the two
Speaker 1: that I would say stand out. Yeah, A C. C.
Speaker 1: Obviously you're you're counting on big runs there to get
Speaker 1: over fifteen if you want. The over for for Duke
Speaker 1: and Carolina and Virginia could happen, but that's what you're
Speaker 1: banking on. Obviously. In that case, let's leif the screen
Speaker 1: because there's more conferences and they do these by seatings
Speaker 1: as well over there at the Westgate. Great job, here's
Speaker 1: some more conferences. Ohio Valley Pack, twelve sec West Coast Conference. Um,
Speaker 1: we got uh, then we have then we have seedings
Speaker 1: after that. So they do it by seeds. They also
Speaker 1: put together the win totals for the four number one seeds,
Speaker 1: number two seeds, number three seeds on down the line.
Speaker 1: For number one it's thirteen by the way, for Duken, Zaga, Carolina,
Speaker 1: and Virginia. Greg anything here with the remainder of the
Speaker 1: conferences or the first three seeds. I think in regards
Speaker 1: to the seeds, I think that I would go over
Speaker 1: town on the number two seeds. I think that the
Speaker 1: two Seeds are gonna have a very good run of things.
Speaker 1: The one night Sea getting knocked off Earlies Michigan, I
Speaker 1: don't think they make it past the first weekend, but
Speaker 1: past that, I do think that we're going to see
Speaker 1: a lot of two seeds be able to make the
Speaker 1: Sweet sixth scene and Elite eight. Two Seeds by the way, Kentucky, Michigan,
Speaker 1: Michigan State, Tennessee. So you go over on that, Greg
Speaker 1: at ten, Yes, Sir Adam anything here. Yeah, I like
Speaker 1: the two seeds as well. But I also I'll tell
Speaker 1: you that the Pact twelve except Origin alone to uh
Speaker 1: to win a couple of games and in this tournament.
Speaker 1: So plus your figure, Arizona State is gonna have a
Speaker 1: really good shot against St. John's. I know everybody's been
Speaker 1: down on the PAC twel, but right now it's it's
Speaker 1: not Washington that the team to look out for. It's
Speaker 1: it's it's Oregan. So I think one and a half
Speaker 1: is certainly doable for the PAC twelve. Westgate also has
Speaker 1: the remainder of the Seeds here on the next screen,
Speaker 1: Seeds four through ten. Anything there, Greg taking a look
Speaker 1: at this one. I think that the number nine seeds
Speaker 1: have a chance to be able to do a little
Speaker 1: bit of something. I've got Washington winning a game, and
Speaker 1: then I also have Central Florida I mentioned a little
Speaker 1: bit earlier, so I would have that as a little
Speaker 1: bit of a push at two. So that means I
Speaker 1: would go under on the number eight seeds. So under
Speaker 1: on eight, push on nine, under on eight, which is
Speaker 1: said at two and a half, that's Mississippi, Syracuse, Utah
Speaker 1: State VCU. Over on the nine seeds too, is the
Speaker 1: number there Baylor, Central Florida, Oklahoma and Washington stanko anything?
Speaker 1: Uh No, I think number seven seeds I I liked
Speaker 1: about a actually know now that I think about it
Speaker 1: about it is probably the only one out of that
Speaker 1: out of that grouping. Um no, there's nothing that I'm
Speaker 1: I'm in love with when we go through some of these, uh,
Speaker 1: some of these all right, let's go to the next one.
Speaker 1: Here again these props from the West Gate, every shop
Speaker 1: putting out props. Now here's where they get pretty interesting
Speaker 1: that these these are all over the place. Total number
Speaker 1: one seeds to reach the final four. Uh, you have
Speaker 1: a will and number one seed win the tournament. Will
Speaker 1: any a C C team? Then they go conference by conference?
Speaker 1: Will a team from each particular conference win the title?
Speaker 1: Will they reach the final four? Um? Then you have
Speaker 1: will any Yeah, there's pretty much all over the place,
Speaker 1: your conference by conference both to win the championship GREG,
Speaker 1: and then you have some other specialty props as well.
Speaker 1: Anything on this screen. I think the prop of oil
Speaker 1: in a CC team win the national championship is so
Speaker 1: interesting because you do have three number one seeds. You've
Speaker 1: got you, You've got Virginia, you've got North Carolina. I
Speaker 1: do think that somewhere a lot of value there with
Speaker 1: the A C C, which it's almost sort of like
Speaker 1: the south Point versus a Field sort of prop, only
Speaker 1: you've now got a prop of those three number one
Speaker 1: seeds versus the field. Well, you seized on one that.
Speaker 1: I like, will any a SEC team win the national Championship?
Speaker 1: We have it right there. It opens at minus one ten.
Speaker 1: I would assume someone would have banged that already on
Speaker 1: the S, and in fact that's the case. That's at
Speaker 1: minus one fifty now in the S. I still think
Speaker 1: that's value though at minus one fifty. I like that
Speaker 1: as well. Um, anything there Adam. Yeah, I'm the same way.
Speaker 1: And in terms of the SEC, I think you have
Speaker 1: to look at the idea that not only two, but
Speaker 1: North Carolina has has the weapons to to make a push.
Speaker 1: And of course we've talked about Virginia people sleeping on
Speaker 1: them and the idea that I really believe that we're
Speaker 1: gonna see Duke Virginia Gonzaga win this thing. And if
Speaker 1: you go with that logic, then you know, hey, it's
Speaker 1: a two and three chance um that you're getting you
Speaker 1: a national champion there. And then I would also say
Speaker 1: for a Big ten team to win the title of
Speaker 1: the no side of that. I I just want to
Speaker 1: see a situation in which we see a Big ten
Speaker 1: national champion this year. So funny that you two hit
Speaker 1: on the ones that I liked about the yes on
Speaker 1: the a SEC and then no on the Big Ten.
Speaker 1: What's that? What does that minus? What's that minus four fifty?
Speaker 1: Does that say there? Minus four fifty? That's that's huge? Right?
Speaker 1: I still think that's a play. And you know, the
Speaker 1: last team that won the title from the Big Ten,
Speaker 1: the Flintstones of Michigan State in two thousand. It's been
Speaker 1: a whild kids, some Mateen Cleaves. All right, we got
Speaker 1: another another page here, another page Mateen Cleaves, one of
Speaker 1: the great names ever. Okay, so this is by specific teams.
Speaker 1: Now Sweet sixteen propositions will certain team, lots of them
Speaker 1: offered here. Get to the sweet sixteen. These are yes
Speaker 1: or no propositions. And then there's a first round proposition
Speaker 1: there at the bottom, which is the largest margin of
Speaker 1: victory in the first round, and that is set. What's
Speaker 1: the number of there, Jeff alf thirty seven and a half.
Speaker 1: So you're betting against the Gonzaga or a Duke or
Speaker 1: ever Virginia. Maybe none of the two seeds just blow
Speaker 1: it out their opponent thirty seven and a half? Would
Speaker 1: you would you bet that one over runner? If I
Speaker 1: had to play it, I actually would go over. Because
Speaker 1: every year in one of these n C Double A
Speaker 1: Tournament games, we say, oh, thirty seven and a half
Speaker 1: is a lot. You've got a couple of up tempo teams.
Speaker 1: Are sixteen seeds Iona, they don't play a whole lot
Speaker 1: of defense. Theyve be playing a little bit better recently.
Speaker 1: But then the winner of Prairie View an M versus
Speaker 1: F to you, that is going to be a game
Speaker 1: in which you get gott Zag the number one team
Speaker 1: and regards the offensive efficiency in the country, that could
Speaker 1: turn into just a blood bath. Well, you make a
Speaker 1: good point, because those spreads could be like the look
Speaker 1: ahead spreads on those I think our thirty or thirty five, respectively,
Speaker 1: So thirty seven and a half not that much more obviously.
Speaker 1: Then Oh, if fairly Dickinson winds up listening to Prairie
Speaker 1: View A and M, I'd be all about that over okay,
Speaker 1: anything on the individual teams here, Adam or on that profitself. Well,
Speaker 1: it's funny that hoops Peederson says that about about get
Speaker 1: Zag at Prairie View A and M. I would I
Speaker 1: would drive to go catch that game because I'd love
Speaker 1: to see just how tired guys on Gazaga would be
Speaker 1: for having, you know, wide open, fast break layups. They say,
Speaker 1: exhaust themselves with the opportunities they'd get. Um. I think
Speaker 1: that Auburn is going to make the Sweet sixteen. I'm
Speaker 1: I'm all about that. Jared Harper is one of the
Speaker 1: premier point guards, so quick, almost impossible to stop. Um
Speaker 1: and the way that Kansas played second half of the year,
Speaker 1: I I just not that impressed. Auburn, to me, um
Speaker 1: is a team that we could certainly see in the
Speaker 1: in the sweet sixteen. What's the yes on that, Jeff,
Speaker 1: right now? For Auburn making the sweet sixteen, that is
Speaker 1: plus one oh five plus money for you. At least
Speaker 1: that was the opener. We'll see if that moved at
Speaker 1: all in Auburn plus one oh five. One more page
Speaker 1: of this, one more page. Let's do one more again.
Speaker 1: He's from the west Gate Tournament wins, and they're all
Speaker 1: kinds of different variations of this tournament wins by teams
Speaker 1: On the left hand side of the screen at Fubo TV,
Speaker 1: Visa appen uh, Visa dot com. You got Gonzaga, Kentucky, Carolina, Virginia, Duke, Michigan,
Speaker 1: Michigan State, and Tennessee. Each of those teams individually, they
Speaker 1: set a number three and a half in the case
Speaker 1: of Gonzaga, for instance, in their region three and a
Speaker 1: half of Virginia where you see, and by the way,
Speaker 1: three and a half for Duke as well everybody else.
Speaker 1: There on the left side, two and a half is
Speaker 1: where it's set the numbers for those teams respectively. And
Speaker 1: then on the right side, by the way, no parlays
Speaker 1: on all this. They stipulate, Uh, these are teams pitted
Speaker 1: against each other, who's going to have the most wins,
Speaker 1: So you have matchups that are created. Duke Virginia, Duke
Speaker 1: Gonzaga on down the line, anything here, Greg, I do
Speaker 1: think that Kentucky will be able to win their matchup
Speaker 1: against Tennessee. I think that Kentucky makes a deeper run.
Speaker 1: And then I do like over two and a half
Speaker 1: wins from Michigan State. I think that this is a
Speaker 1: team that can certainly, at the very least be able
Speaker 1: to make the Elite Eight. I know that they didn't
Speaker 1: get the World's Greatest Job, but it's not like they're
Speaker 1: having to go through murders Row in order to get
Speaker 1: the Elite eight either. So I like Michigan State excellent
Speaker 1: use of murders Row. By the way, Greg, I appreciate that.
Speaker 1: Hey you, Jeff, you liked one hear on the right
Speaker 1: to Buffalo. Yes, I love Buffalo on plus money and
Speaker 1: against Maryland right now that still sits at Buffalo plus
Speaker 1: one ten and Maryland minus one thirty. The Bulls are
Speaker 1: really good. The Bulls are gonna have a favorable matchup
Speaker 1: in that round. Of sixty four and you know what,
Speaker 1: C J. Massenburg and that offense is gonna have a
Speaker 1: real chance to give Texas Texas good defense fits. I
Speaker 1: think Buffalo is a solid bet to get not only
Speaker 1: past around one, but into the sweet sixteen. And Maryland
Speaker 1: Bell Belmont Temple. I'd like the eleven regardless of who
Speaker 1: wins tonight. I still love you Terps, but Belmont could
Speaker 1: beat you, you know, eleven six games, assuming Belmont gets
Speaker 1: past Temple. Adam last thing anything here, well, I really
Speaker 1: like Virginia and Goza, you know, is chalk into into
Speaker 1: the final four. And so that to me is what
Speaker 1: what stands out. Florida State seems to be the only
Speaker 1: team that would terrify me if I was Gonzaga. But um,
Speaker 1: I still think they get by Florida State. But Keen
Speaker 1: Dagen Virginia, I really like their alright South region on
Speaker 1: deck right here, bracket by bracket, Greg Peterson, Adam Stango,
Speaker 1: It's Gill Alexander. It's a numbers game right here at Visa.
Speaker 1: Back to a numbers game with your host, Gil Alexander,
Speaker 1: broadcasting live from our Visa in studios in Las Vegas.
Speaker 1: Off Twitter. This from J t ds A one Gilden,
Speaker 1: you get the memo to wear a jacket for the
Speaker 1: show g Unit Underscore eighty one. That's Greg's Twitter handed
Speaker 1: looking like as though he's going to seal a deal. Sharp.
Speaker 1: I wonder if the afternoon guys will dress up. I
Speaker 1: do not follow fashion trends. I set them, Greg. I'm
Speaker 1: not following you guys with the jackets doing what I
Speaker 1: want to do. But you look great. Man beats the
Speaker 1: wrinkle shirt last week. Yeah, it certainly does. And we've
Speaker 1: got a lot of hair product in right now. I
Speaker 1: like it. A lot of hair products all right. By
Speaker 1: the way, whenever the mic you whenever a big contract
Speaker 1: in baseball happens, people throughout Bobby Bonilla, Um, Bobby Bania
Speaker 1: getting one point one nine million dollars UH still per
Speaker 1: year here and so um. Basically, what you're seeing is
Speaker 1: that after after the length of Mike Trout's contract, which
Speaker 1: is still just ridiculous again fourred thirty million dollars twelve years.
Speaker 1: And again, if you're Bryce Harper, you should be so
Speaker 1: angry at Scott Boris right now. But Bobby Benia will
Speaker 1: get a million plus per year four years after the
Speaker 1: Trout contract completes. So Bobby Benia is still with this
Speaker 1: greatest deferred payment contract ever. Good for him, Jeff, you
Speaker 1: want to say something, No, that's that's that's just my
Speaker 1: my New York Mets doing it in New York Met fashion.
Speaker 1: That's right, well done, Mets. Good for Bobby Benia. Let's
Speaker 1: start with the South region. Now, I think you can
Speaker 1: debate which the toughest region is. I'm gonna go ahead
Speaker 1: and Greg and Adam and say that the South is
Speaker 1: probably the easiest of the regions. I don't think Virginia
Speaker 1: has much of an excuse here there the number one
Speaker 1: seed there, twenty nine and three on the year, number
Speaker 1: two overall seed. But under Tony Bennett, we're gonna throw
Speaker 1: out the game against you, NBC. We're gonna throw out
Speaker 1: all the games against non fifteen, any game against any
Speaker 1: team that's not fifteen or sixteen UM non fifteen sixteen games.
Speaker 1: Tony Bennett four and five straight up in the tournament
Speaker 1: held his teams under sixty points in four of them.
Speaker 1: They're taking on Gardner Webb, the Running Bulldogs. The Big
Speaker 1: South Turney Champs is in Columbia, South Carolina on Friday,
Speaker 1: uh and here are the odds by the way to
Speaker 1: win the South region. We've been throwing those up for
Speaker 1: every region. Here they are Virginia plus one five, Tennessee
Speaker 1: plus two, seventy five, and on down the line per
Speaker 1: two the only other team in single digits here at
Speaker 1: four to one in this region. But Virginia Gardner Webb
Speaker 1: is the matchup the one sixteen. I assume you have Virginia.
Speaker 1: I shouldn't assume it's Virginia, right, can't do that anymore.
Speaker 1: I guess you have them advancing, do you have them covering?
Speaker 1: I have them advancing. But if you saw the opener,
Speaker 1: Gardner Web was catching twenty seven points. That was too many.
Speaker 1: Even at twenty three and a half, it's still a
Speaker 1: couple too many. Gardner Web a decent team at the
Speaker 1: free throw line. They've got a lot of guys are
Speaker 1: able to shoot from three. Now they're gonna be completely
Speaker 1: outdown on Luke glass. You've got guys like Jack Selt,
Speaker 1: Brax and Key. They're gonna be able to eat up
Speaker 1: the glasses. But Gardner Web was the team that's able
Speaker 1: to hit some shots. So I feel like twenty three
Speaker 1: and a half points couple too many. Year Adam, I'll
Speaker 1: stick stay by what I told you today. Any four
Speaker 1: minute stretch, any media time outstretch where Virginia does something poorly,
Speaker 1: I get text for people like, here we go, it's
Speaker 1: Virginia all over again. Uh, this is they have no
Speaker 1: excuses here in this region. None I hear from. I
Speaker 1: hear from the same maybe the same people. I think
Speaker 1: gil we might be on the same text. But I
Speaker 1: think I mean, Gardner Webb, third best team even in
Speaker 1: the Big South, had to run in their tournament. But
Speaker 1: I think Virginia, much like Michigan State, I think they've
Speaker 1: got a bad taste in the amount of course it's
Speaker 1: all they've been thinking about. And the way Tony Bennett
Speaker 1: handled it last year, I think has just really been
Speaker 1: an underrated storyline. So much class and really respect and
Speaker 1: I just thought that was awesome. And you people forget
Speaker 1: DeAndre hundred eedn't play in that game. Braxton Key Alabama transfer.
Speaker 1: They're much more athletic, much better team in terms of
Speaker 1: their offense that if they hit the eighties quite a
Speaker 1: bit this season. So um, I mean not just Virginia
Speaker 1: for this game, but I love Virginia in this tournament.
Speaker 1: I think they just need to get through the hitters
Speaker 1: and the nervousness about the opening round game, and they'll
Speaker 1: be in great shop. I was gonna say, don't let
Speaker 1: this stay close long, because then no, Boydan the sphincter
Speaker 1: tightening as they say. I don't know if they say
Speaker 1: maybe I just said it. Winner of Virginia, Gardner Webb
Speaker 1: takes on the winner of the eight nine game in
Speaker 1: the South Old Miss greg against Oklahoma. Oklahoma nineteen and
Speaker 1: thirteen on the year, one of these sub five hundred
Speaker 1: teams in their conference record. This is also in Colombia
Speaker 1: on Friday night. Oh Miss favored by two. Do you
Speaker 1: think Oklahoma belongs a? And do you think Ole Miss
Speaker 1: is actually an underrated live sort of UH team against
Speaker 1: the Virginia if they advance. I feel like Oklahoma is
Speaker 1: the most over a overseated team out there in this field.
Speaker 1: And I do like Gold Miss in this spot. They've
Speaker 1: got guys in Brie and Tyree and Terence Davis. They
Speaker 1: both do a sensational job of being able to shoot
Speaker 1: from three. Now, the one thing I will say about
Speaker 1: Old Miss, they are one of the worst teams in
Speaker 1: this field in regards to Guardian three point line. I
Speaker 1: actually think they are the worst. But with that said,
Speaker 1: who from Oklahoma is gonna be able to hit threes?
Speaker 1: Brady Mannick is a little bit of an night stretch player,
Speaker 1: but I don't have faith in that bad court of
Speaker 1: Christian James and Jamal b and Emi. I'm gonna be
Speaker 1: taking Old Miss in the spot. I take them to
Speaker 1: win and cover, win, end, cover two points spread. Again,
Speaker 1: it's not necessarily weakness if in this particular matchup that
Speaker 1: three point arc defense. Adam your thoughts here, Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: completely in agreement with Gregg's analysis there. I mean, Oklahoma
Speaker 1: won eight and eleven in the last nine team games.
Speaker 1: This isn't a team that's just frankly very good. They
Speaker 1: haven't been good for quite some time. Great stretch in
Speaker 1: the non conference, but um, you know they stood around
Speaker 1: a lot last year watching Trey Young and those same
Speaker 1: guys that were standing around, that's their team this year.
Speaker 1: And and meanwhile Old Miss has a terrific backcourt as
Speaker 1: as Greg points out, Tyree's a Jersey kit who can
Speaker 1: really light it up Terence Steves DeVante Schuler. So I
Speaker 1: think I'm all about Old Miss in this game. In fact,
Speaker 1: I think they blow him out. Adam. I'm gonna let
Speaker 1: you start with this game because I know how much
Speaker 1: you're in the tank for Oregon right now. This is
Speaker 1: the five twelve game in the South Wisconsin and Oregon.
Speaker 1: It's in San Jose on Friday, Wisconsin. Of course, out
Speaker 1: of the big ten, ethan half leading the way there
Speaker 1: one and a half point favorites. And again I always
Speaker 1: say this in any close Wisconsin game, just foul happy. Really,
Speaker 1: that's the strategy. But you love Oregon. You are so
Speaker 1: bullish on them right now, aren't you, Adam? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think people have totally. They look they were they wrote
Speaker 1: off the pack twelve and and for good reason because
Speaker 1: of of the start of the year and obviously how
Speaker 1: bad things were in December and non conference play. That said,
Speaker 1: Daneelman always figures it out late. He had Bowl Bowl
Speaker 1: who uh was injured just fairly early in the season.
Speaker 1: Lewis King didn't play the first part of the season.
Speaker 1: But now he made a change in his line up
Speaker 1: a guy that people do not know, Francis Akoro, who's
Speaker 1: a defensive freshman six nine guys, pretty athletic, and between
Speaker 1: him and Kenny Wooton, who had a broken jaw earlier
Speaker 1: this year. Uh, those guys. Everyone is now healthy except
Speaker 1: for bow Bowl. And defensively, you can't score on them there.
Speaker 1: They won their last eight games. Teams aren't scoring more
Speaker 1: than I think they're averaging eily seven points a game
Speaker 1: against them. They're in that stretch. Oregon's phenomenal defensively, Peyton Pritchard,
Speaker 1: it's really stepped his game up at the point guard position.
Speaker 1: He played in the Final four. So I think Organ
Speaker 1: is a much better team than than the Wisconsin right now.
Speaker 1: End they're playing in San Jose where they're gonna have
Speaker 1: a lot of home hometown fans. So yes, I'm that
Speaker 1: is true. Those fans will travel to San Jose. Your
Speaker 1: thoughts here. This is a really tough call here, because
Speaker 1: I do feel like Wisconsin has the best true low
Speaker 1: post player in this game. In ethan Half. He fills
Speaker 1: it up, leads a team and points, rebounds, assists, blocks,
Speaker 1: He does a tremendous job in all those aspects. And
Speaker 1: then you've got Oregon. You've got a couple of stretch
Speaker 1: players in Pault White and Louis King, who has mentioned
Speaker 1: a little bit earlier. Payton Pritchard, a guy that started
Speaker 1: in the final four. I just think that guys like
Speaker 1: Dimetric Trice Brad Davison are gonna be able to hit
Speaker 1: enough threes in this game. I know that on the
Speaker 1: organ side, Victor Bailey Junior comes off the bench averages
Speaker 1: right around eight and ap point shoot from three. He's impressive.
Speaker 1: And you do have a little bit of trepidation with
Speaker 1: Wisconsin having to travel to the West Coast for this game.
Speaker 1: Wisconsin certainly did not get any favors there with the geography.
Speaker 1: But I just feel like Ethan Half is gonna be
Speaker 1: able to do just enough to give Wisconsin the win
Speaker 1: and cover in this game. Winner of Wisconsin, Oregon will
Speaker 1: take on the winner of the fourth thirteen game, also
Speaker 1: in San Jose. Friday Night, Kansas State you see Irvine.
Speaker 1: By the way, it's not Friday night, it's Friday Day.
Speaker 1: Kansas State without Dean Wade here, share of the Big
Speaker 1: twelve regular season title for the Wildcats. You see Irvine.
Speaker 1: The ant Eaters were thirty and five this year greg
Speaker 1: Big West Big West rather regular season attorney titles. Did
Speaker 1: the ant Eaters have a legit shot here? The spread
Speaker 1: is four and a half. They're ironically enough playing in
Speaker 1: their home state as well against Kansas State. It is
Speaker 1: a four seed, So certainly the people I made this
Speaker 1: practice did not do Kansas State any favors. But I
Speaker 1: like the way that Kansas State came on during the
Speaker 1: second half of the year when the top teams in
Speaker 1: the country guards to defensive efficiency. Barry Brown Junior trips
Speaker 1: in fifteen and a half points. You've really got Davier
Speaker 1: Sneed being able to be a stretch player that's able
Speaker 1: to hit some three contier dr I'm pretty sure it's
Speaker 1: gonna be out for this game. I and kapped it
Speaker 1: as if he was not going to be playing. But
Speaker 1: you also still have over there at the point guard
Speaker 1: spot became mouse Stokes. He ever is a love and
Speaker 1: a half points. He's been doing a better job of
Speaker 1: shooting threes. I think the Kansas State is gonna be
Speaker 1: a lockdown. And you see Irvine team that let's say
Speaker 1: that they like to play a little bit slower themselves,
Speaker 1: But I think the Kansas State just has a better athletes.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take Kansas State to winn and cover. Adam
Speaker 1: att Nay Smith lives on Twitter. Give me an upset here,
Speaker 1: Adam outright, you see Irvine. Come on, I can't do
Speaker 1: if you told me for sure, team ways out which
Speaker 1: I think there's a good good shot A name for
Speaker 1: you though, and uh for history purposes. Comen Gentald is
Speaker 1: the son of former Factul player the Christian Belt. You
Speaker 1: may remember Washington's all time leaving score. Um. You see,
Speaker 1: Irvine has set some guards that can really shoot. If
Speaker 1: they get hot, they're certainly going to give case stay
Speaker 1: to scare. I just think the defense that the Bruce
Speaker 1: Webber squad plays with is just gonna be too much.
Speaker 1: But look, having good guard play guards that can shoot it,
Speaker 1: he's always going to be uh, you know, and when
Speaker 1: your best player might be out, Um, that might be
Speaker 1: the recipe for an upset. So I'm I'm considering it.
Speaker 1: I'm close, but something is just telling me that I
Speaker 1: don't think you's getting over the humps, despite the fact
Speaker 1: that they've been so hot as of late. All right,
Speaker 1: real quick here, now, let's do rapid fire. Rest of
Speaker 1: this region six, number six Villanova against the number eleven St.
Speaker 1: Mary's Gals. The Gals, of course upsetting Zaga. Zaga is
Speaker 1: not showing for that West Coast UH Conference Tourney title game.
Speaker 1: This is in Hartford on Thursday. Villanova three straight Big
Speaker 1: Eastorney titles, regular season champs, Villanova five and a half
Speaker 1: point favorites. Greg Actually, I'm on Villanova to win and
Speaker 1: cover of this game because St. Mary's has to travel
Speaker 1: from the West coast the East coast. Villanova obviously did
Speaker 1: not end the year well, but you've still got a
Speaker 1: guy in Philip Booth I was able to win two
Speaker 1: national championships for this team. Eric Pascal six foot seven,
Speaker 1: comboy player that shoot threes wake fits on the other side,
Speaker 1: gonna be doing a very good job of being able
Speaker 1: to shoot threes for St. Mary's themselves. In St. Mary's
Speaker 1: a very slow team, but I think that could play
Speaker 1: to the advantage of Villanova because they also like to
Speaker 1: slow down their temple all right, And in the interest
Speaker 1: of time, the winner of that game will take on
Speaker 1: the winner of the number three four teen game between
Speaker 1: Perdue and Old Dominion the Monarch's Adam Conference USA regular
Speaker 1: season and Tourney Chaps, also in Hartford on Thursday. The
Speaker 1: boiler Maker's thirteen point favorites. Yeah, I mean, here's the issue.
Speaker 1: Old Dominion cannot score. So meanwhile, you compare that to
Speaker 1: a guy in Carson Edwards, who has been someone in
Speaker 1: consistent second half of the year but explosive. He's an
Speaker 1: NBA player, Plus the guys who concuted Perdue Produce should
Speaker 1: run away with this one. Old Dominion loves a rock
Speaker 1: fight and Bryant's this son, ye is there is their star.
Speaker 1: In fact, Brian's an assistant coach. But uh, this team
Speaker 1: just is in an offensive slump right now. Everyone's shooting
Speaker 1: poorly from the team and they already learned it on offense.
Speaker 1: I don't know where points are coming from. Promote to use.
Speaker 1: I'm all overdue, Brian Stiff former n i T champion
Speaker 1: Adam Let's never forget are you taking the points with
Speaker 1: Old Dominion. I'm taking Old Dominion to win this game
Speaker 1: out right. That was not the one to sever three
Speaker 1: and shoots over for three. Does your Dickens seven footer
Speaker 1: comes off the bed for Old Dominion? Where are you
Speaker 1: gonna get out of Matt Harmes? He has been so
Speaker 1: wildly and cond this and and then Carson Edwards takes
Speaker 1: the most shot at jemps of any player out there
Speaker 1: in this entire tournament. We've seen him go like seven
Speaker 1: or thirty one from the floor at what Old Dominion
Speaker 1: does top ten team in regards to defensive efficiency. If
Speaker 1: they turn it into Carson Edwards having the thirty shots,
Speaker 1: it plays right into their hands. Greg Peterson calls his
Speaker 1: shot fourteen over three Monarchs over the boiler Makers, ODU
Speaker 1: over per Due out in the South final. Two games
Speaker 1: in the South, number seven Cincinnati, the A. C. Turney
Speaker 1: title champs against Iowa out of the Big Ten. Honestly,
Speaker 1: I watched Iowa up this year. I'm like, how are
Speaker 1: the how are they in this tournament? Three and a
Speaker 1: half I'm sorry, three and a half point favorites? Uh,
Speaker 1: in favor of the Bearcats here in this one. Your
Speaker 1: thoughts here on this game. We're on Cincinnati, you're on
Speaker 1: Cumberland has been averaging rate right around eighteen and a
Speaker 1: half points. Looked terrific against Houston a couple of days ago.
Speaker 1: Shoot three along with Justin Jennifer Trade Scott, a very
Speaker 1: nice combo player that's able to shoot some threes. Give
Speaker 1: this team some blocks. In Iowa, they have good three
Speaker 1: point shooters, but other than Tyler Cook, they're not doing
Speaker 1: a good job downma. All right, Adam Cincinnati as well, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm all over Cincinnati, same reasons you give. In terms
Speaker 1: of the the Iowa team, I don't know if there's
Speaker 1: anything that I really love that they do well. They're
Speaker 1: they're fishing on offense. But but other than that, mccronin's
Speaker 1: team plays tough defensively. Cumberland's tough to stop, and they
Speaker 1: have senior point guards, including Kane Broom, who was top
Speaker 1: ten in the country and scoring when he played at
Speaker 1: Sacred Heart. He transferred has become more of a setup
Speaker 1: guy for this team. I I really like Cincinnati in
Speaker 1: this game, all right, win are of that seven ten
Speaker 1: between Cincinnati and I will take on the winner of
Speaker 1: the two fifteen between Tennessee and Colgate. Colgate actually the
Speaker 1: top rated of the two seats, fifth overall, not in
Speaker 1: Michigan state in this bracket from the committee, Colgate the
Speaker 1: Patriot League Turney title champs. They want to eleven straight
Speaker 1: half the Raiders. This is in Columbus on Friday. Tennessee's
Speaker 1: favored by seven seed and a half. Tennessee's advancing. I
Speaker 1: assume you're taking points with Coga. You can't even take
Speaker 1: the points here. I'm taking the points. You got. His
Speaker 1: revenue skis six ft ten player. He's able to shoot
Speaker 1: well from three for Colgate along with hy Raymond. These
Speaker 1: are two guys are six ft eight or taller, shoot
Speaker 1: over up for three. Jordan Burns very good point guard,
Speaker 1: assistant turnover ratio two For Tennessee. We all know that
Speaker 1: you've got Grant Williams, Jordan Bone, all those guys are
Speaker 1: very efficient. And I think that this could turn into
Speaker 1: an up tempo game, but I think that Colgate has
Speaker 1: an up three point shooting to be able to hang
Speaker 1: in there. All right, Tennessee coming off that blowout loss
Speaker 1: to Auburn in the SEC championship game, and the attorney Adam,
Speaker 1: you take the points here with Colgate or nothing for
Speaker 1: you here, And I I Tennessee is I think shoots tough.
Speaker 1: That's I do. Like evanouscas Uh he is. He's a
Speaker 1: fun player to watch. People are gonna really enjoy seeing
Speaker 1: him play. Matt lingle good coach. They challenge themselves in
Speaker 1: a non conference, but I mean up front, if you
Speaker 1: don't have someone that can get Grant Williams out on
Speaker 1: the low post and forget it, it's gonna be a long,
Speaker 1: long day for you. All right, South Winner will take
Speaker 1: on the Midwest winner will get to that final region.
Speaker 1: Next the numbers game, racketology, racket bolusa, whatever you wanna
Speaker 1: call it. Right here as now, back to a numbers
Speaker 1: game with your host, Gil Alexander, broadcasting live from our
Speaker 1: Visa in Studios in Laws, Vegas. It's back on the
Speaker 1: Numbers game, Sports betting analytics, live actionable sports betting information. Again.
Speaker 1: We'll throw this in podcast for him if you miss
Speaker 1: part of this seth of Walder with his Giant Killers
Speaker 1: analytics on March Madness as well. In there as well,
Speaker 1: I should say Visas All Access subscription package, we should
Speaker 1: mention where you can test your handicapping abilities against other
Speaker 1: subscribers in the third annual Visa Beat the Spread Challenge,
Speaker 1: where you pick all of D one men's basketball tournament
Speaker 1: games against the spread, round by round, beat at your
Speaker 1: fellow point Spread. Weekly subscribers win ten thousand dollars, two
Speaker 1: nights at the South Point Hotel Casino, and a guest
Speaker 1: spot with Brett Musburger My guys in the desert. Once again,
Speaker 1: let me just say this again, he may read a
Speaker 1: man scaping read just while you're on set. No promises,
Speaker 1: but it could happen. Visa dot Com Slash Challenge for
Speaker 1: all the details. Crash Cash prizes of two or fifty
Speaker 1: dollars will be awarded to the top point getter in
Speaker 1: rounds one, two, and three, So not just the grand prize, Greg,
Speaker 1: but also round by round prizes. We like that as well.
Speaker 1: One year subscription I should mention two d forty dollars
Speaker 1: includes our college basketball tournament betting guide that will help
Speaker 1: your handicap up the tournament. Adam Stanko is here, Greg
Speaker 1: Peterson is here. We're gonna try to get through the
Speaker 1: Midwest in uh very efficient fashion. Here. Let us begin
Speaker 1: with the one sixteen game Carolina tar Heels, their seventeen
Speaker 1: number one seed of all time, the third overall seed
Speaker 1: in the tournament itself, by the way, plus one sixty
Speaker 1: to win the Midwest region here per the super book
Speaker 1: at the Westgate. Kentucky's at plus two seventy five, the
Speaker 1: second short shot here in the region. But UNC takes
Speaker 1: on IONA the m A A C tourney titled the
Speaker 1: Gals uh M A A C Tourney Title Champs, I
Speaker 1: should say the Gals Columbus Friday Night between UNC and
Speaker 1: IONA one sixteen, Carolina by twenty four. Greg, Yeah, this
Speaker 1: is not gonna be a gayl for us. When here
Speaker 1: for the Iona Gayles they come in winning ten straight games.
Speaker 1: But with that said, North Carolina, I think it's gonna
Speaker 1: be able to roll on this one. I would take
Speaker 1: the points here with Iona, there's a lot of points.
Speaker 1: But North Carolina has everything working. Cameron John institutes over
Speaker 1: three and this team such a good team in regards
Speaker 1: the rebound rate. See what you did there with a
Speaker 1: Gale Force wins Gray, See what you did there, um
Speaker 1: Adam anything to add here? Kobe White his first round
Speaker 1: pick in the NBA draft. He's turning himself into a
Speaker 1: lottery pick before it's all said and done. I love
Speaker 1: North Carolina in this game. That said, it wouldn't be
Speaker 1: great to see if close and d J Crawford six
Speaker 1: six junior average of eighteen a game, if he turned
Speaker 1: into this year's Harold Arsono and really gave him a run,
Speaker 1: I'd be a lot of fun. Kobe White with the
Speaker 1: strange dribble to the side with five seconds left that
Speaker 1: last possession against un C and the a c C
Speaker 1: semis a guy who makes great decisions. That was an
Speaker 1: odd one there on that final possession very much. So
Speaker 1: winner of that game will take on the winner of
Speaker 1: the eight nine game between Utass State the Midwest excuse me,
Speaker 1: the Mountain West Conference Attorney Title Attorney Champions against you
Speaker 1: dub Out of the Pack twelve regular season Pack twelve
Speaker 1: champs was Washington. No favors. In round two, whoever advances
Speaker 1: here obviously had to take on Carolina this in Columbia
Speaker 1: on Friday six fifty pm Eastern three fifty pm Acific
Speaker 1: tip off for this one. Utah stayed by three. This
Speaker 1: is a tough one because Utah State is one of
Speaker 1: the top five teams in the country with rebound rate.
Speaker 1: Washington not necessarily great on the defensive glass, but what
Speaker 1: Washington has is a leader in steals in the country Matisibel.
Speaker 1: He averages over three point four per game. No other
Speaker 1: player in the country averages three or more. And I
Speaker 1: think that that's gonna allow Washington to win, especially with
Speaker 1: Jayleen Nowell, guy that pours in sixteen points per game
Speaker 1: and shoots over from three. Don't wash it in here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's a little against the grain. Everybody's down on Washington,
Speaker 1: Adam your thoughts. They're down in Washington because Pecto teams
Speaker 1: figured out this zone, but Mike Hopkins, I mean, think
Speaker 1: about what Syracuse does but their zone defense and how
Speaker 1: scary they are when they hit the tournament regardless of
Speaker 1: where they're seated. Washington sort of falls into the same
Speaker 1: camp the teams that saw him late in the year
Speaker 1: at a better shot against them. Title. Doesn't just block
Speaker 1: more than threak shouts the game is great points out.
Speaker 1: I mean, doesn't steal to win the three balls game,
Speaker 1: but he also blocks two shots the game best defense
Speaker 1: player in the country by far, and he reads havoc
Speaker 1: on the top of that zone. If you haven't seen it,
Speaker 1: it's a nightmare. Sam Merrill is a good player. Utah
Speaker 1: State's great offensive team. So it's gonna be an awesome battle. Uh,
Speaker 1: Washington needs to find points from someone. But I do
Speaker 1: like Washington in this game. In a tight one, al right,
Speaker 1: so winner of Well, now we'll go to the next bracket.
Speaker 1: Here it's Auburn in New Mexico State. It's a five
Speaker 1: twelve game here in the Midwest. Auburn just crushed in
Speaker 1: the SEC Attorney. They're the title winners, beating Tennessee big
Speaker 1: time in the title game against the New Mexico State Aggies.
Speaker 1: They are the whack regular season and Turney Champs. Aggies
Speaker 1: were thirty and four this year, Greg Tiger six and
Speaker 1: a half point favorites, and the Eggs are the number
Speaker 1: one team in regards the rebound right in the country.
Speaker 1: And get this, they go thirteen players deep. Thirteen I've
Speaker 1: never seen a rotation that deep. A J. Harris, a
Speaker 1: transfer from Ohio State, is on a just Mascal drive
Speaker 1: at the point guard spot from New Mexico State. Auburn
Speaker 1: is a team that really likes to generate seals and
Speaker 1: they get points from the three point arc. But New
Speaker 1: Mexico a pretty good defensive team themselves, and without they go.
Speaker 1: I think that Auburn is gonna be the team that's
Speaker 1: tired in this game. I'm gonna go with the New
Speaker 1: Mexico State Eggies to win outright and cover to win hours.
Speaker 1: So on the heels of a thirteen four outright cover
Speaker 1: on old Dominion, you go twelve five here with New
Speaker 1: Mexic that was actually a fourteen fourteen three. Pardon me,
Speaker 1: I don't want to mark coming. Don't worry, Okay, we
Speaker 1: do adam real quick on that one. I'm all over Auburn.
Speaker 1: I think New Mexico State's greatest strength, as as Greig
Speaker 1: points out, is that backcourt. But I don't know that
Speaker 1: you're going to find a better backcourt in this tournament
Speaker 1: than Auburn's. Love Jared Harper, Bryce Brown, um o'keke is
Speaker 1: A is a talented player at the wing position, So
Speaker 1: I definitely best defensive player Bruce Pearls ever coached. I'm
Speaker 1: all over Auburn in this. You guys should totally fight
Speaker 1: on that one, all right. I have a feeling this
Speaker 1: is the one that Greg was was talking about right here,
Speaker 1: because he did have a fourteen over three and the
Speaker 1: twelve over five. I am gonna guess that he's got
Speaker 1: a thirteen over four here. It's Kansas criminally overseated here.
Speaker 1: Thirty consecutive appearances in the Big Dance, the most all
Speaker 1: time for the Jayhawks. But they do take on number
Speaker 1: thirteen Northeastern Kansas seven point favorites here, Northeastern, the Huskies
Speaker 1: Colonial Attorney Champs. This is in Salt Lake on Thursday.
Speaker 1: You're taking Northeastern. ARGA, yes, sir, we're taking Northeastern outright.
Speaker 1: They've got so many guys there. But go bombs away
Speaker 1: from three. Donald Gresham great player out there in the
Speaker 1: back court. I like what he's able to do. This
Speaker 1: team doesn't necessarily have great rebounding, but Alex Green is
Speaker 1: like six ft ten two and fifty pounds. He can
Speaker 1: do a good job down low. And Diedrich Lawson is
Speaker 1: having to do everything for Kansas right now, and I
Speaker 1: believe he's actually their top three point shooter. You're just
Speaker 1: getting nothing out of that Kansas backcourt. So correct me
Speaker 1: if I'm wrong your brackets. Then have a new Mexico
Speaker 1: State Northeastern twelve thirteen game in round two. Yes, we do,
Speaker 1: which means we've got double digit seed in the sweet
Speaker 1: six scene. Yeah, so if you and by the way,
Speaker 1: if you're in an upset rewarded pool, that would be
Speaker 1: huge for you to get a twelve and a thirteen
Speaker 1: in there. Again, you get the extra points and an
Speaker 1: upset rewarded pool. Always know the rules of your pool
Speaker 1: for goodness sake, you know if people play pools. Just saying, Adam,
Speaker 1: Kansas North Eastern, I'm not coming close to getting there. Uh.
Speaker 1: I think Vassa Pasica is a really good player out
Speaker 1: of Serbia. Six five kid at Northeastern. They do have
Speaker 1: some shooters, but this team UH mediocre Defensively, they play
Speaker 1: at a slow pace. I know they've been hot in
Speaker 1: their last seventeen. They've lost two games, and both of
Speaker 1: them more close. One was in overtime. That's diedrich Lass
Speaker 1: and I don't know who on on Northeastern is gonna
Speaker 1: have a shout of stopping the kid. Plus Stotson's a
Speaker 1: draft pick as well, Quentin Grimes. I just think there's
Speaker 1: just too much talent, regardless of the fact that it took.
Speaker 1: I mean, Kansas really really struggled, but they struggle with injuries.
Speaker 1: I think they figured some of that out. Mitch Lightfoot
Speaker 1: has been a difference maker form. So I think that
Speaker 1: Kansas wins this game, and I don't. I don't even
Speaker 1: think it's that close. Even though I don't love Kansas,
Speaker 1: I love them against Northeastern. Alright, disagreement here In the
Speaker 1: last couple of Kansas gets a four seed greg and
Speaker 1: they get absolutely murdered by Iowa State in the conference finals.
Speaker 1: They're the big twelve I always take gets a sixth
Speaker 1: seed here the Cyclones and eleven. This year they take
Speaker 1: on Ohio State, another one of these big ten teams.
Speaker 1: That is such a myth. The eleven seed buck Eyes
Speaker 1: Iowa stayed by five and a half and all I
Speaker 1: always say it looks better with cale what'son back in
Speaker 1: the lineup. But with that said, you've got a pair
Speaker 1: of point guards in Nicholas bab And and Hella Burton
Speaker 1: that do a great job. Right was say both these
Speaker 1: guys haven't assisted turn over vertio grade then two Halli
Speaker 1: Burton is able to generate nearly two steals for game.
Speaker 1: He shoot from three like what he's able to do.
Speaker 1: Mariel Shayak, it's cooled down a little bit towards the
Speaker 1: end of the year, but he's a good three point shooter.
Speaker 1: And then with the Ohio State, what where's the three
Speaker 1: point shooting gonna come from outside of C. J. Jackson.
Speaker 1: I just don't see it. Iowa State laying the points
Speaker 1: in advancing This isn't tell us on Friday, Adam, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm all about Iowa State right now. I mean they're
Speaker 1: they're one of the more talented teams in this whole field.
Speaker 1: Of the Shayaks, a Virginia transfer kid out of Ontario
Speaker 1: and Wig Wigginson who moved to the bench. Uh, fantastic kid.
Speaker 1: He's gonna be playing in the pros. Tail and Horton Tucker.
Speaker 1: I mean Iowa State is loaded in in Ohio State,
Speaker 1: I mean great, points it out, I mean returning Caleb
Speaker 1: Western's great. But who else? Who else do you have
Speaker 1: on Ohio State? There's really nothing to be that excited about.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I'm all about Iowa stating this game. They've
Speaker 1: they've figured things out and when they're when they're right,
Speaker 1: they're really good. Winner of that game takes on the
Speaker 1: three fourteen winner Houston, a c regular season champs, ninth
Speaker 1: overall seed in this tournament thirty one and three on
Speaker 1: the year. They take on number fourteen Georgia State, the
Speaker 1: Panthers Sunbelt regular season attorney champs. This is also in
Speaker 1: TELS on Friday. Houston favored by twelve. You some one
Speaker 1: of the best teams that being able to shut down
Speaker 1: the three so far this year. They've got a bunch
Speaker 1: of guys with some versatility. They don't necessarily have ideal
Speaker 1: size though. On Georgia State's biggest kryptunited is that they
Speaker 1: don't do a good job on the glass. All but
Speaker 1: one of Georgia's State's rotation players shoot at least forty
Speaker 1: percent from three. That one guy, DeMarcus DeMarcus Simmons, that
Speaker 1: pours an eight teen points per game. You know what,
Speaker 1: we're gonna take the points where Georgia State, and I
Speaker 1: think Georgia State lights Houston up like a Christmas tree
Speaker 1: for three. We're going to Georgia State. Oh well, right,
Speaker 1: stop it really Georgia State Panthers, baby, who let you
Speaker 1: in here? Really? Are you taking Georgia State out right
Speaker 1: in this game? I tell you, I will give you
Speaker 1: so much credit if this happens, because I think Houston's
Speaker 1: boys were for a run or think where the break
Speaker 1: people's arts. Jane Williams or point guard, he shoots nearly
Speaker 1: from three. They just have so many deadly shooters. Aston
Speaker 1: has not seen a team like this all year. Adam,
Speaker 1: please back me up. You know what, I like hoops
Speaker 1: Feederson a lot in this game. I'm in agreement with him.
Speaker 1: I mean, look, there's some players on Georgia State that
Speaker 1: are transfers. Devan Mitchell's in Alabama transfer. You've got David Wilson,
Speaker 1: a pit transfer. They are not going to be scared
Speaker 1: to play. And by the way, you mentioned to Mark Simmons.
Speaker 1: I mean this is a kid that he's a future
Speaker 1: NBA player. I think, I mean get dunks with both hands.
Speaker 1: Sixth Street Jr. Really gets after. He's been struggling from
Speaker 1: the field lately. But they have some other guys that
Speaker 1: could play, I mean the league. Ben Levy hit a
Speaker 1: game winning three against Alabama. He shot from three at
Speaker 1: the very least. Georgia State is going to challenge Houston,
Speaker 1: and I think Houston could crack and we could see
Speaker 1: Georgia State winning this games. So yeah, I might as
Speaker 1: well say it to Georgia State over Houston. Let's both go. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I will say this, Houston did so show a little, uh,
Speaker 1: little cracks in the armor, if you will this uh
Speaker 1: this past weekend. They're not hitting the threes things the
Speaker 1: free throw line either. Oh my goodness, well that was
Speaker 1: their thing. That's how they lost the tournament last year
Speaker 1: too against Michigan. Couldn't hit free throws down the stretch. Um,
Speaker 1: still give me Houston for God's sakes. Alright, last to
Speaker 1: we'll do them together in an interest of time. Wafford
Speaker 1: Seaton Hall, Congratulations Terriers of Wafford Southern Conference champs. Shooting
Speaker 1: over from three, Fletcher McGhee leading the way. But you
Speaker 1: get to play Seaton Hall, who's who's very hot right
Speaker 1: now going in the tournament, and then if you win,
Speaker 1: you get to blake Kentucky. So no favors here in
Speaker 1: the seven ten game for Wafford, who are three point favorites,
Speaker 1: and then Kentucky Abilene Christian. They'll play the winner of
Speaker 1: that greg I've offered in the spot They've got four
Speaker 1: guys that shoot over from three, including one of the
Speaker 1: best spot up shooters out there in this tournament, and
Speaker 1: Fletcher McGhee, Seaton Hall. Other than Miles Kale and Miles Powell,
Speaker 1: nobody on this team shoots over thirty percent from three.
Speaker 1: That's a big wall. And then Kentucky Apble and Christian.
Speaker 1: Kentucky is gonna win this game. But Able and Christian
Speaker 1: a team now sub five indeed to play seven years
Speaker 1: ago now in the NT double A tournament. I actually
Speaker 1: think that they can cover the spread because they do
Speaker 1: a good job of being able force turnovers. Wildcats, Sapling,
Speaker 1: Attorney Champs, Wafford, Seaton Hall and Kentucky Abilee and Christian
Speaker 1: close it out. Adam Well, I really like Watford as
Speaker 1: a team, It's gonna be fun to see what Offord
Speaker 1: seton Hall because of not just lect from age of
Speaker 1: Miles Powell is a confident player. So seeing two guys
Speaker 1: that shoot from deep love to to jack and and
Speaker 1: then both guys are extremely confident, It's gonna be fun
Speaker 1: to see that matchup between the game Powell. But I
Speaker 1: like Watford. They're playing at high level right now, um
Speaker 1: and they really don't turn the ball over much, So
Speaker 1: I think because of that, I got the Watford and
Speaker 1: then Kentucky all over. Avlene Christian of Kentucky has the
Speaker 1: most future NBA players of any team in in this
Speaker 1: uh in this tournament, and it's really not even close.
Speaker 1: They have a ton of NBA talent and just their
Speaker 1: issue is which lineup works best for of them. I
Speaker 1: think they struggled to figure that out all right, both
Speaker 1: of those games in Jacksonville. On Thursday, we will get
Speaker 1: Greg at Adams Final four Picks. Want to ask him
Speaker 1: about this prop It is a numbers game right here
Speaker 1: at Visa Down back to a numbers game with your
Speaker 1: host Gil Alexander, broadcasting live from our visa in studios
Speaker 1: in Las Vegas. Remember if you're in town for the week.
Speaker 1: Tomorrow Brent Musburger our own here at Visa and he'll
Speaker 1: be hosting Betting and Buds with Brent. That's tomorrow from
Speaker 1: five thirty to six thirty pm at the South Point
Speaker 1: Hotel Casino with Chrissy Andrews, Vinny Moliulo, Nascars, Brendon Gone
Speaker 1: and Mike Palm from the d in Las Vegas, Visas
Speaker 1: team of experts gonna break down the team's lines of
Speaker 1: the bracket. They'll take questions, take the show for broadcast
Speaker 1: on Visa. Should be a whole lot of fun and
Speaker 1: it is free, don't cost you nothing. There'll be one
Speaker 1: dollar Budweiser brands available. I should mention that from five
Speaker 1: to eight pm in the South Points Grand View Lounge.
Speaker 1: It's right by the Racing Book. Hope you'll join us
Speaker 1: Brent Musburger Betting in Buds with Brent tomorrow evening here
Speaker 1: at the south Point. Let me just stay for the
Speaker 1: record in that region in the Midwest, Greg has advancing
Speaker 1: from the first round. Man in New Mexico State the
Speaker 1: twelve seed, Northeastern the thirteen seed, and Georgia State the
Speaker 1: fourteen seed. And you have Georgia State going to the
Speaker 1: sweet sixteen, which means you have to yes, I do.
Speaker 1: I have them advancing over Iowa stating my person over
Speaker 1: Reckon Wow, oh man, good stuff from you out of
Speaker 1: that last one. All right, Before we get to your
Speaker 1: final four picks, I bet a prop at MGM total
Speaker 1: uh some of seeds to make the final four. They
Speaker 1: set it at eleven and a half. I went under,
Speaker 1: which means, you know, if it's a one, one, three, three,
Speaker 1: let's just say I'm eight. I win the bed. The
Speaker 1: only way I get torpedo is if a one of
Speaker 1: the higher seeds gets in there. Seven seeds six years
Speaker 1: in a row, a seven seed or higher has gotten
Speaker 1: into the final four. Tell me the team that is.
Speaker 1: If I'm going to lose that bed at eleven and
Speaker 1: a half, what's the team that's going to torpedo my bed?
Speaker 1: Maybe Florida. They're the one of the cheek teams I
Speaker 1: like because they're really doing a good job and being
Speaker 1: able to hit threes. Both that said, I can see
Speaker 1: that street coming doing and I have all ones and
Speaker 1: twos in my personal final four. I do to see.
Speaker 1: I'm with you, not quite the chaos you have in
Speaker 1: the first two rounds, but chaos and then it normalizes
Speaker 1: exactly come the second weekend, I think in a big way.
Speaker 1: All right, Greg, your final for sir. We've got Virginia
Speaker 1: and they're in the final four, gonna be taking on Kentucky.
Speaker 1: And then on the other half you've got Gonzaga versus
Speaker 1: Michigan State. Wow. So one to one two for you,
Speaker 1: exactly finals, and then you've got Virginia versus Gonzaga and
Speaker 1: Virginia cutting down the net. Virginia Cavillys wah. Who'd you
Speaker 1: hear that? Your national champions? According to Greg Hoops Peterson,
Speaker 1: let all the haters hate, it's over. According to Greg Adam,
Speaker 1: final four and give you your chance. I've got Duke Gonzaga,
Speaker 1: Virginia and Kentucky one one two. Who you got when
Speaker 1: you have the championship game, I've got Gonzaga over Virginia.
Speaker 1: He says it with a sigh. He's so upset. And
Speaker 1: that is that is difficult. And the other teams, by
Speaker 1: the way, if I was to say a Texas Tech,
Speaker 1: I think could could possibly make a Final four running
Speaker 1: Auburn is another team that that also would would scare
Speaker 1: me so I'm not as confident on Gonzaga and Auburn
Speaker 1: as I am with with Virginia and Duke to reach
Speaker 1: the Mono four. Okay, I got a one one one
Speaker 1: in three. Texas Tech is my three getting into the
Speaker 1: final four. But I got Duke beating Carolina in the championship.
Speaker 1: Greg Peterson at g UNIT underscore anyone, yes, sir? All right?
Speaker 1: And at Nay Smith Lives, Adam Stanko. Thank you both
Speaker 1: very much, two very generous hours, Gil, Alexander, Jeff, Pauls, everybody.
Speaker 1: Thank you.