PMT DB
PMT DB
NCAA Tournament Mega Recap on Duke's Dominance and Coach Cal vs. Rick Pitino
We just mainlined four straight days of basketball, and honestly, our steps per day probably topped out at about 500. This Monday is officially the toughest day of the year because the dopamine of wall-to-wall hoops is ripped away, leaving us staring blankly out the window like Pablo Escobar. The first weekend was suspiciously chalky, and Big Cat has a pretty clear theory on why the traditional March chaos felt a little muted this year.
Big CatNIL and the transfer portal are ruining March Madness upsets.
The biggest culprit that I've seen being blamed is NIL and Transfer Portal. I think that's actually a fair critique because what has happened with a lot of these smaller conference teams is they take a shot on a guy, he's good for a year, and then he gets plucked in the transfer portal. All the Power five schools are basically picking apart all the smaller schools and taking their best players, and then you don't get upsets.
The South and West Regions: Coaching Clinics and "Basketball Schools"
We kicked things off in the South, where Auburn eventually looked like the powerhouse everyone expected, even with Janai Broom having a bit of an off night. The conversation quickly shifted to the eternal debate of what actually constitutes a "basketball school." Max tried to plant his flag for the Big East, while Big Cat had a more surgical breakdown of the SEC's true hoops identity.
MaxThe Big East is for basketball while the SEC is for football
Big East is college basketball. SEC's football... when you're watching SEC basketball fans, you know, you're only thinking in the back of your head... they don't care about this. Like they care about football.
Big CatThe SEC only has two and a half real basketball schools: Kentucky, Florida, and half of Tennessee.
I do agree with this take that the SEC has two and a half basketball schools that I respect. Kentucky, Florida, and half of Tennessee. None of the other—like Auburn's great, Auburn could win the national title—but I don't respect them as a basketball school. That's football. Tennessee is obviously a clear one, I respect their basketball tradition and they do care, but football still is the king there.
In the West, Dusty May continues to prove that his run last year wasn't a fluke. Michigan looks like a completely different team under his leadership, and Big Cat is officially buying all the stock in his tournament preparation.
Big CatDusty May is a premier tournament coach
Dusty May is just a hell of a coach. He said it on our show. He's like, we needed a reset... What have they done since then? They won the Big 10 tournament and now they're in the Sweet 16... I'm putting him in like tournament coach.
Florida and UConn gave us an absolute banger of a game that felt like it belonged in the Final Four. Even though Danny Hurley came away with a loss and a few choice words for the officials, PFT was impressed with how the Huskies stayed in the fight against a Florida team that just seemed to have more weapons.
PFT CommenterDanny Hurley's coaching performance against Florida was elite despite the loss.
Danny Hurley actually coached an awesome game. If you saw Florida play the way that they handled their business, you thought that they were just gonna run UConn outta the gym. The way that UConn took away some of the strengths that Florida had, this was as good a job that Danny Hurley's done coaching.
The East: Maryland’s Madness and the Pitino-Calipari War
If you were looking for the one moment that actually felt like March, it was Maryland versus Colorado State. Derrick Queen’s buzzer-beater was pure theater, even if the "traveling" truthers tried to ruin the fun on Twitter. Big Cat wasn't hearing any of it because the tournament desperately needed that highlight.
Big CatThe officials were right not to call the travel on Maryland's buzzer-beater because the tournament needs madness.
Derrick Queen's buzzer beater that now is being called a travel—and it might've been a travel, but I'm so happy they didn't call it a travel because I wanted to watch a buzzer beater. You can't spend all weekend saying there's no madness and then when there's the one madness that happens, like a travel, you say to call it. It was an awesome shot, a big boy move.
Then we got the main event: John Calipari versus Rick Pitino. It was a nineties-style slugfest where both teams combined to shoot under 10% from three, but the storyline of these two rivals pretending they don't hate each other was peak entertainment. Calipari finally looks like he's back in his element now that he's away from the blue-blood pressure of Lexington.
Big CatJohn Calipari is finally back to his underdog roots
Kentucky made him soft. Now he's going Arkansas... now he's kind of the underdog. 40 minutes himself. He's feeling himself again... he was too luxurious in Lexington for him. Now he's gotta get back to his roots and coach basketball.
While Cal moves on, another tournament mainstay continues to baffle us with his early exits. Big Cat took a look at the numbers for Shaka Smart, and they aren't pretty when it comes to losing to lower seeds.
Big CatShaka Smart is not a good tournament coach
In his last nine NCAA tournament trips, Shaka Smart has been eliminated by a team at least three seed lines worse seven times... Still a good coach but not a good tournament coach right now.
The Midwest: Purdue’s Consistency and the Duke Wagon
Over in the Midwest, Purdue avoided the nightmare of last year by stomping McNeese. While everyone loves to clown Matt Painter for his previous exits, the reality is that he has turned the Boilermakers into a second-weekend staple, and Big Cat thinks it's time he gets a little more respect.
Big CatMatt Painter is now an underrated coach because he consistently gets Purdue to the second weekend.
I think Matt Painter's now underrated because year in and year out, he just consistently has Purdue very good. Matt Painter has been to the Sweet 16 six out of the last eight tournaments. He has won five Big 10 titles. The consistently great coaches get to the Sweet 16 like every other year, and he's doing it.
But the real elephant in the room is Duke. They look like an absolute wagon, and John Shire has them playing at a level that should terrify the rest of the field. Between Spencer Hubbard being the ultimate human victory cigar and the sheer talent on the floor, the guys are starting to see the writing on the wall for the championship.
Big CatDuke will win the national championship.
Who do we got winning all now that we're at the Sweet 16 re-bracket? I don't know, I think it's just gonna be Duke. I think Duke's gonna win it all.
Who’s Back and the Great Hammock Debate
We wrapped things up with a very spirited Who’s Back, including a wild story about Tiger Woods finding love in the Trump family tree—though we are respecting his privacy by talking about it for ten minutes. This led to a heated debate over Tiger’s hammock photo. Big Cat remains a staunch anti-hammock guy, much to the dismay of PFT and Hank.
Big CatHammocks are the most overrated thing in the world.
I have a hammock take: they suck. Most overrated thing in the world. It's thinking about getting out of a hammock—getting out of a hammock sucks. I don't trust them. I get into hammocks and it's a problem.
HankNice furniture does not belong outside
Nice furniture should not be outside... the maintenance is not worth the comfort. It's fucking outdoors.
Finally, PFT brought some "Jim Morrison might be alive" energy to the show, because why wouldn't the leader of The Doors be hiding out in the Midwest five decades later?
PFT CommenterJim Morrison might still be alive and faked his death in 1971.
My other who's back of the week is Jim Morrison, maybe. Oh, he might be alive. Apparently there's a documentary on Apple TV that claims that he's still alive. He says that he did not die in Paris in 1971. They said that he faked his own death and there was never an autopsy done. I think he lives somewhere in the Midwest right now. The liver king might still be alive.
We'll be back on Wednesday to see if Max's dark horse Tennessee pick can actually survive the gauntlet.
MaxTennessee is the best team that nobody is talking about in the tournament.
I picked Tennessee before so I'll stick with Tennessee. I feel like that's the team that has the best shot that no one's talking about.
Try to survive your commute without any noon-tip games to keep you alive.
