Takes

Michigan was the best team all year — outside of Duke, who would have won the championship by a lot

They were the best team. They were the best team all year outside of Duke. 'Cause that actually was my other big takeaway — Duke just completely, Duke beat this Michigan team a month and a half ago.

Duke would have won the National Championship by 50 points if they had reached the final.

I think if Duke plays in the championship game, they win by 50. Easily. That was a wasted opportunity.

College basketball is now 'pay to win' and that's unsustainable

It's a pay to win tournament. Like basketball is ruined. Unsustainable. Yeah, that's the new word that I keep hearing.

Duke's failure to use a true point guard the last two years was arrogance — they thought they were better than basketball

The arrogance of Duke the last two years being like, you know what? We don't need a true point guard. We don't need a guy who we can trust, who can get his shot off the dribble, who can bring, who can break a press, who can in those big moments calm down the offense. They thought they could — they were better than basketball.

Illinois is being massively disrespected — the UConn-Illinois game is just as much a de facto national championship game as Arizona-Michigan

I wanna push back on something that's the narrative that's going around right now that the national championship is the late game on Saturday night. I think that's so disrespectful to UConn and Illinois — two teams that absolutely can win this whole thing.

The loss to UConn belongs on the Mount Rushmore of bad Duke losses in the last five years

This choke makes the Mount Rushmore of bad Duke losses in the last five years, but barely... 2022 Final four. They lost in Coach K's retirement game... 2023 fuck they lost in the second round by 13 points... 2024 they lost in the Elite eight to NC State... and this year they lost first one seed to lose by in a game where they led by 19 points.

This Duke choke was the Godfather 2 of Duke losses — the sequel was even better than last year

A lot of times the sequel is not as good as the original. This sequel was so much better. This was Godfather Two. Last year you're like, how could it get better? It got better. Duke, thank you — you somehow made a way to make it even better. And that's almost impossible to do.

Duke losing has the highest universal approval rating of anything in sports

Duke losing is number one on that list across the board. I think Duke losing is number one.

Jon Scheyer should not be allowed to wear the Blue Devil logo until he wins a championship

Scheyer needs to take the D off of his sweatsuit. Off of his chest. He should not be allowed to wear that patch. He's gotta earn it back. Win a championship, then you can wear the Blue Devil logo on your chest.

Duke has been cursed since they beat Wisconsin in the 2015 championship

Is there a chance that that, that Duke has a Wisconsin curse... They haven't won a title since they beat Wisconsin in 2015... I listed all those guys... it feels like it's a brewing of a curse.

Jon Scheyer might be on the hot seat after another tournament failure

Jon Scheyer might be on the hot seat. I don't know how you don't call a timeout. It's the time. I don't know how you don't like, that's like day, literally day one of camp is like, all right, let's run some, some out of bounds end of game situations.

Rick Barnes is currently a very underrated coach in college basketball

I actually think that Rick Barnes is, he's proven that he's a great, great coach... I think Rick Barnes, he's, I think he's actually, he's gotten to the point where he's a very underrated coach in college basketball.

It is not a flex for a 23-year-old college player to complain about a freshman guarding them

[Axel] Lindenberg was incredible today... he does do this thing where he like, did you see that after the Bamba game where he was like, I can't believe they put a freshman on me... you're like 24 years old dude. Like, you're gonna have someone younger than you. It's real. It's actually not that much of a flex to be like a 23-year-old playing college basketball player and he'd be like, I can't believe they put this freshman.

Iowa fans are the happiest fan base of any team that lost in the Elite Eight

If you're an Iowa fan, Iowa's gotta be the the happiest fan base that lost in Elite Eight. Right. Of of course. Yeah. 'cause that's a, that's a team that did not have a ton of talent. And Ben McCollum got 'em so far.

Stealing the ball in basketball is unethical and against the gentleman's code

I actually, I don't know if you know this, but I called you before the tournament the most ethical hoops team in the entire tournament because you guys don't steal the ball a ton and you also don't foul a ton, so you just play straight up. That's ethical. A lot of teams are trying to steal — stealing the ball is actually against the gentleman's code of the game of basketball. Dr. James Naismith would not appreciate that. You guys do it in an ethical way. You just play good hoops.

Hating Duke will never fall out of style

Duke needs to be hateable forever. Who is the Athletic? This is bullshit. Don't who wrote this? You want them to be forever. It will never not be cool. It's always been cool.

Nate Oats would not be a great fit at UNC

I don't think he'd be a great fit there. Would people be talking about Nate Oats as much for this job if he didn't wear those jackets? They feel like Carolina jackets. It feels like he's been accepting people into anticipating him being the next UNC coach for a while.

I've fallen hard and fast for Ben McCollum - he's a rock star coach

I've fallen hard and fast for Ben McCollum. He just wins everywhere. Ben McCollum always talking about toughness. I've fallen hard. I've read a lot of Ben McCollum this last week after beating Florida. This guy fucking rocks.

Darius Acuff Jr. is currently the best player in the NCAA tournament

To me, the best player in this tournament right now is Darius Acuff Jr. He is ridiculously gifted and just a total stud and his ability to change a game, it's special. He reminds me of [Kemba Walker] with the level he plays.

Great players want to be coached and pushed because they want to be the best

What I don't think people realize, and Magic [Johnson] said this to me once: great players want to be coached and pushed because great players want to be the best players. So they do. You know, it just sometimes in the high school level now, nobody does that because kids will leave.

Kevin Willard's joke about firing his staff was funny and shouldn't have been taken seriously

It was such a clear joke and people, I couldn't believe... There were people who actually thought he was being serious. I thought it was a funny joke. And then we had the people trying to cover for themselves being like, well, even if it was a joke, that's not a joke you make. Imagine if you're an assistant and you hear your boss say that.

The lack of Cinderellas in the tournament isn't due to NIL but because big teams are more efficient and physical

Todd Golden had a very good point... part of the reason why there's less upsets is teams are just getting way more efficient in scoring at the rim and becoming almost like raising their floor and becoming upset proof in the fact that you get really big dudes... and absolutely hammer the boards. And when you do that against smaller schools, you're not gonna like, how do big schools lose the small schools is like three point variance.

Tom Izzo is underrated because modern ring culture ignores how hard it is to consistently reach the Sweet 16

I know we're very ring culture oriented and he's only won one. This tournament is so fucking hard. Every single year they have at least a chance. It's crazy. Like they just go to Sweet Sixteens and then the tournament kind of starts for Izzo... 17 of them is insane. Tom Izzo is somehow underrated I think because the whole entire world has changed.

John Calipari has officially won the breakup with Kentucky

Do we think that there has ever been a bigger 'won the breakup' more than Cal in Kentucky right now? ... Cal is living the best life. He has gone to back-to-back Sweet Sixteens and Kentucky is in a complete crisis with Mark Pope. It couldn't have gone worse in the first two years for this breakup.

Nate Oats needs to teach his players to never let the police look through their phones

Let the Aden Holloway situation be a reminder to everybody that you don't have to let the police look through your phone. I actually point the finger at Nate Oats for this, because Nate Oats, you gotta do a better job of explaining the first through fifth amendments to your players. Given the history that you've had... day one you should have a, get the guys from Morgan & Morgan to come in and be like, 'Do not talk to the police if you're in trouble. Shut the fuck up.'

Every major college coaching opening should start by calling Brad Stevens and making him say no

You gotta make him say no. You gotta call Brad Stevens and make him say no. I will personally never stop saying that. He probably wakes up every morning and says no. Voicemail just says, 'Thank you so much for the consideration, but it's gonna be a no.' It would be shocking if he ever took another college job.

Fouling when up by two points late in a game is a terrible strategy

Todd Golden said in the press conference they were trying to foul up two... That's insane. Foul up two's crazy. You know how crazy he is? Steven Che thinks it's a good idea. Fouling up two does not make any sense... Play defense! How about that? The, that my groundbreaking end of game scenario that I would coach in that situation would be: play defense.

I am done believing in Wisconsin basketball because they always rip my guts out in the tournament

I think the only lesson I've learned is like, I need to just stop believing. Because this has also become a thing where the Badgers haven't been to the Sweet 16 in like nine years... every year that we keep going is another year that I'm just reminded how close I was in 2015. I will never get back there. It just won't happen like every other team.

Greg Gard deserves criticism but should not be fired as Wisconsin's head coach

I trust Greg Gard, but yeah, you have to throw some criticism to him... But I do not think he should be fired. And I don't think making an irrational... I think he does a pretty damn good job with everything that he's given.

Illinois is the most ethical team in the NCAA tournament because they do not foul or steal

Illinois, the most ethical team in the tournament... They do not foul and they do not steal the ball. That was another wire to wire winner where they, if you're an Illinois fan, that's, that's the Illinois... that's a deep run Illinois.

Never bet an under in a Hawaii game

If Jake's listening, do not bet on any under in a Hawaii game.

The NCAA selection committee was lazy and stupid for putting St. John's and UConn in the same region

I absolutely hate the committee for doing what they did and putting St. John's and Yukon in the same region. There's three big East teams in the, in the whole thing and they put the desk two in the same region. That's just stupid to me. And it seems lazy and I I don't like it. The tournament is not for rematches.

Arkansas freshman Acuff is a more advanced offensive college player than Allen Iverson was at Georgetown

Acuff, I look at him and I, I watch him. He's, he's the best offensive player in the country. And I, I'll say like he's a better college player than Allen Iverson was right now. Freshman year at Georgetown, Iverson, Acuff's more advanced offensively. He's a better shooter... and just athletically his build, he doesn't get knocked around.

Betting first-half unders is the best strategy for the early rounds of the NCAA tournament

I have a theory about the first tournament games... I look at first half unders just because of their in arenas. The crowds aren't great. The shooting backdrops are different... it's been really good, but it's, I wouldn't say like it's been above 65%.

Villanova is a better basketball program than Maryland

Villanova just a better, a better basketball program... People of Villanova do not care about Maryland. Max is your bad. And the people of Maryland are, are obsessed with every single thing that Kevin Willard does.

Duke got screwed with their seeding as the number one overall seed

Duke kind of got fucked a little bit. As the number one overall, none of the best kill everyone. That's what I'm saying. Like if the, if the one knock that you have against the committee is that they kind of fucked over Duke. Like you did a great job committee credit to me.

Darius Acuff is my favorite player in the tournament and I'd take him #1 overall in the NBA Draft

My favorite player in the entire tournament is Darius Acuff and the Arkansas and the way he plays. I would be a bad NBA GM if they let me be an NBA GM. Take him one-one because I fucking love him. He is a fucking killer.

Vandy got screwed by the committee with a 5-seed after winning the SEC

Vandy got screwed. If you wanna say teams that got seeds screwed, Vandy got screwed because Vandy is a very good team... they just won the SEC and got a five seed... I think they're probably a four.

Nebraska should have been dropped from the 4-seed line in favor of Vandy

If you had to [drop a 4-seed out], probably Nebraska... Vandy just did a little bit more in the SEC tournament by beating Florida and Tennessee.

The South Region is the 'Region of Pressure'

This is the region of pressure. Now why is this the region of pressure? There's pressure on Florida to win a national championship... pressure on Nebraska to win an NCAA tournament game for the first time ever.

The West Region is the 'Region of Floor Generals'

The west region is the region of floor generals. And look at the point guards in this region. Jayden Bradley at Arizona, John Blackwell and Nick Boyd... Darius Acuff at Arkansas... Braden Smith at Purdue.

Conference tournaments are bad for top teams because they don't improve your seeding and lead to unnecessary fatigue

I'm kind of done with the conference tournaments. Like they just fuck you. It doesn't make your seed better and you end up being more tired today. If you have to play four games, you're just gonna get screwed.

The ACC tournament belongs in Greensboro and it's not the same anywhere else

I grew up loving the ACC tournament. I don't love it anymore because it's not in Greensboro. The ACC is a North Carolina League. It's a tobacco league. Put it back in Greensboro.

Duke's Cameron Boozer is comparable to Cooper Flagg because of his innate ability to read the game

Cameron, the bigger of the two [twins]... I like to compare him to Cooper Flagg because he never forces the game to come to him. He just has that innate ability to read and it's time to post up, it's time to cut, it's time to make a three.

Miami (Ohio) deserves a tournament bid for finishing 31-0, regardless of schedule

Miami, Ohio is so simple to me in that they should a hundred percent be in now that they've run the table and won. They're 31 and oh and they won every conference game. If you win every game in your conference and your 31 and oh on the last weekend of regular season, you should be in, no matter what happens in the conference tournament.

It would be a shock and the biggest disappointment ever if Duke doesn't win the title

If they [Duke] don't win it this year, it would be a shock. I think it'll be the biggest disappointment since last year. Every single year is the biggest disappointment.

The Michigan loss to Duke was not that bad

I actually walked away being like, I don't think that was that bad of a loss for Michigan. And the fact that they shot absolute dog shit. And if they just shoot a little bit better, they probably win that game.

Mick Cronin screaming at a reporter is great for the college basketball brand

I fucking love Mick Cronin... But I, we've had this take, whether it be with Danny Hurley or any coach that freaks out, this is what college basketball is, is the best at. Is these guys are the most maladjusted adults possible.

Darren Peterson lacks the 'killer instinct' and engagement required of a top-tier prospect

My number one indicator would be like, this guy does not seem to like basketball... I've most people that are this talented outta sport at times they seem like they've got that passion, that fire, like a competitiveness. And I haven't seen it at all from [Peterson].

The NIL situation at Kansas shows you can't just throw money at a roster and expect the pieces to fit

It's nice to know that you can't just throw money at like a roster and expect it to be awesome and have every piece fit... You gotta have guys who actually wanna play, who wanna buy in. And Kansas still could go very far... but it is nice to know that you have to actually like get culture.