Takes

There are 10 to 12 teams with a legitimate chance to win the national title

I really think 10 to 12. ... I don't think it's [the top of the country] ever been better and I don't think it's ever been deeper. ... Michigan can win it all. Duke can win it all. Arizona can certainly win it all. Houston... Texas Tech... Purdue... UConn.

Midweek college basketball is better than the NBA

That's why I love college basketball so much, especially this time of year where every game feels so important... there's nothing like these college basketball games, a midweek game where the crowd and you get true home court advantage. And it feels like there's big, big time stakes.

The current college basketball season is the best in a long time because the top of the rankings is loaded with juggernauts.

This might be the best college basketball season we're having right now in a long, long time. It is so loaded at the top. There are, you go eight deep of teams that feel like they are like juggernauts.

Duke cannot just lose a basketball game; they always have to make it about a larger issue like player safety.

I just love when Duke loses. They can't just lose, they have to make it about something... It has to be something bigger than just basketball. It has to be, you know, teaching kids to become men or unsportsmanlike or this or that or the other. Just lose the fucking game. You lost the game, you choked.

NIL has improved the quality of college basketball by keeping talented players in school longer.

I would make the counter argument for basketball specifically the fact that we have NIL and guys get paid. You have some super, super talented guys playing in college basketball now... some guys who are staying a little bit longer 'cause it's, you know, they can make more money playing college basketball.

Baylor basketball is back following the unprecedented mid-season signing of former first-round NBA pick James Nnaji

Baylor basketball is back. ... Baylor basketball has done a mid-season signing, which I didn't know was even possible. ... they have signed James Nnaji, a former first round pick in the NBA and it has gotten people pretty fired up.

The NCAA Tournament is the most fair tournament in sports

My Hot Seat is Joel Klatt. He said that the NCAA tournament is a joke. ... Most unfair tournament in all sports? It's the most fair.

The 'Players Era' tournament is ruining the tradition of Feast Week college basketball

The players era fucking sucks. There's not even a real tournament... They've taken away and no one's in the stands there. Feast Week used to mean something, man.

The NCAA voting not to expand the tournament is just a way to move the Overton window for next year

They're, they put this out there being like, Hey, we're not gonna do it. Knowing that now it's, it's they moved the Overton window. Where now we're talking about the expansion and next year they're probably gonna let it in.

Alabama is officially a basketball school now

It was an interesting year. It's, we, we got a lot of spoiled Alabama fans... I hate what's going on in, in NCAA sports right now with the, the NIL and the transferring... But, you know, we're a basketball school now.

Houston was uncomfortable not playing from behind in the title game

I think that Houston was uncomfortable not playing from behind. I feel like Houston had had to lead the whole game and they were like, wait, we're, we're usually the ones that are, that are coming back at the last minute.

Will Richard was the real player of the game for Florida in the National Championship

Walter Clayton got player of the tournament player of the Final Four, which he deserved... But Will Richard was the player of the game for this game. And it was him keeping them afloat in the first half with his threes. And then if you look at the final possession, his on-ball defense in the final possession is where like all the timing for Houston got screwed up.

Duke losing is still a bigger story than Florida winning the National Championship

I think the story from this final four though, if we're gonna think back, put yourself in a time machine 10 years from now, Duke, Duke losing it is still the, it still the story of the final four. Yes. That I I will die on that hill.

The 2025 Final Four will be remembered as the Final Four of Chokes

I think it'll be remembered as the, the final four of chokes. [Cooper Flagg] choked. [Kelvin Sampson]... this would've been 800. Brutal.

The Florida championship win means college basketball is alive and well

It turns out that the only thing that we could say after the tournament was over if Duke had won: NIL ruined college basketball. And since Florida won and they didn't have freshmen, it's college basketball alive and well.

Walter Clayton Jr. is so raw that you forget his first name is Walter

Walter Clayton Jr. is so raw, you forget his first name is Walter. [T Black] replied with a bunch of laughing emojis, but that's the facts. He was making shots that you can't really [stop]... he's just doing shit that is on a different level.

Elijah Martin is currently the best dunker in college basketball

Elijah Martin, he might be the best dunker in college basketball right now. That's how I evaluate NBA talent based on how you dunk in college. Elijah Martin, take him one.

Cooper Flagg does not have the clutch gene

I agree with Skip Bayless and Big Cat in that Cooper Flagg probably doesn't have the clutch gene. If I'm drafting number one in the NBA draft and I'm, I don't know, the Utah Jazz, I I would pass on 'em. Yeah, I would. And let whoever is picking after take them. Like, 'cause you're not gonna win with 'em.

Duke's failure to make the championship game is due to their lack of a true point guard

Turns out you need a point guard. An actual point guard. As soon as Houston started putting the pressure on inbounding the ball, [you need] a point guard who can bring the ball up the court... Proctor, a true point guard, being like, 'I got this' as the worst free throw shooter on the court for Duke was absolutely insane. Cost them the game.

Coach K is secretly happy that Duke lost because it protects his legacy

If we had true serum Coach K's happy. He doesn't want the next guy to win a title in his third year... John Scheyer, the, the, the school has not dropped off in terms of a level of basketball. But what Coach K has done to win titles gets magnified even more of. That's really hard to do because John Scheyer couldn't do it with one of the best analytically best teams of all time.

I am an asshole at times, but I won't change my coaching style because it produces historic success

I'm an asshole at times. I mean that's, you know, it's just who I am... I don't wanna change a whole lot of things about the way that I go about my coaching and my fire and my intensity because it has produced historic success at UConn the last couple of years.

Houston is a team of wolves led by a wolf

Houston is just a bunch of wolves, man led by a wolf... the way they get after it, you, you can't prepare for it. It's like a pass rush that just the quarterback is gonna be rattled and it kills, it kills your transition offensive game because it's hard for you to even run on them because getting a defensive rebound feels like survival.

Maryland basketball is currently a stepping stone job.

And here's what sucks for Maryland is that Maryland should not be a stepping stone job. No. Maryland should be a job that a guy should want to stay at for a long time. But as of right now, guess what the reality is? It's a stepping stone job.

College basketball media members are the most out-of-touch group in sports because they blindly defend coaches and don't understand how fans think.

I think college basketball might be the premier sport in terms of guys who cover the sport that don't understand how fans think and also just will defend coaches blindly no matter what.

College basketball is a Ponzi scheme

I was gonna say it's college basketball. A Ponzi scheme. Mm. Because the tournament starts. Just wait. Did not Great Matchups round of 32. Gonna be great. Round of 32's not great, just wait. Good. So sweet 16. Sweet 16 happens. Oh, that sucked. But just wait. This is the best Elite eight you've ever seen. The Elite eight sucks. But just wait. The final four, we're kicking the can down the road.

Houston is the biggest 'Cinderella' of the Final Four

I have Houston one, then I had Florida two... [Houston] because they've never won a national title. They don't have any legacy in basketball outside of Charles Barkley. And obviously what Bruce Pearl's done, I think they would be the second Cinderella. Florida still has, you know, they, they back to back national titles.

I hate that I don't hate this current Duke team

I'm basically landed on the fact that I think my hate for Duke is now just the fact that I don't hate this Duke team. Like, do something to make me hate you. Get to a fight. I hate that I don't hate them. You know what the issue is? That's what's making me mad.

NIL has ruined college basketball

I just NIL ruined college basketball. I don't wanna be a hater, but it it... I just want madness. I don't care if, if the games are good, I wouldn't care. But yeah, the, I want good games.

College basketball should implement a salary ladder to discourage transfers

A freshman gets 50 K from the school. A sophomore gets 75, a junior gets a hundred. If you transfer, you go back to freshman salary. So like, there is a, you could still transfer, you can still do whatever you want, but you don't get to climb the ladder of, of what the school can pay you.

Kevin Willard intentionally criticized Maryland to force his way out to Villanova

Willard was ripping on things to see them get fixed. I tend to look at it as, and I'm not saying I don't think this should have been handled differently, I tend to think of it as he was being critical of all these things to clear a runway for getting out.

Texas Tech deserves all the credit for their win over Arkansas

Texas Tech, incredible fight by them. They deserve all the credit. They willed it... Texas Tech, we deserve that game.

No team in the country beats Alabama when they shoot like they did against BYU

I don't think any team in the country beats Alabama if they're shooting like that. It was absolutely nuts.

I'm officially a 'Crown' (NIT) guy and will be watching it all week

I'm actually jacked up for the Crown... I'm a Crown guy. I'm excited for the Crown.

Dan Hurley being an asshole is good for college basketball

If your job is to talk about sports, I want more Dan Hurleys. I don't want people giving cliche answers. I want guys who have some type of personality that is not just, you know, 'we're gonna do our best out there.' Saying he's bad for the sport is just stupid to me.

Sportsmanship should stop at the Little League level

The sportsmanship stops at Little League. That's really what it is. Like when people are like, oh, you gotta win class. You gotta do the—that shit is not for high level college basketball, high level pro sports. I don't care. I want bad losers. I want people who are, who crash out when they lose.

Annual free agency in college sports is detrimental

I'm pro players getting money, I'm anti-free agency every single year. 'Cause that's just stupid. It doesn't exist in any other sport. So I don't know, there's a lot that's going on, but... I think it's just kind of the new reality.

NIL 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 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.

The 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.

Danny 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 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.

Texas Tech is officially a basketball school

Here's the Texas Tech, maybe a basketball school stat... They have gone to four Sweet 16s over the last seven tournaments with three different coaches. Pretty impressive. To do it with three different coaches in that short of amount of time. That's culture.

Saint Mary's was the worst team I've ever watched and their game against Alabama was boring and terrible.

That was the worst college basketball game I think I've ever seen. It was so bad, like boring and bad to watch. Saint Mary's is the worst team ever, worst team I've ever watched. How was this team a fucking seven seed? They sucked.

Matt 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.

Will Wade being honest about leaving for NC State is better than coaches who lie

I'd rather Will Wade be transparent about it. It's awkward that he took a new job before his team even played in the tournament... I'd rather have the Will Wade where you're just upfront about it than [Darian DeVries] who went from West Virginia to Indiana in The Bahamas in December and had his son sit out the year for a medical redshirt.

The NCAA selection committee accidentally swapped Memphis and Louisville

Memphis, I am choosing to believe this because it is crazy... people are saying that the committee, they accidentally swapped him. Louisville has a better net RPI, KenPom, T-Rank and higher in the ESPN BPI rankings in every category. But Memphis is the higher seeded team. I choose to believe that too because it makes no sense other than they just accidentally messed it up.

North Carolina's inclusion in the tournament is the most egregious committee decision ever

I thought North Carolina, at no point in the season did they look like an NCAA tournament team. They, they, yeah. They, their, their, their highs weren't very high. Their lows were pretty damn low. And I was, I was stunned. I was, in all the years of, you know, that's how the bracket works. It comes out, we, we lose our minds about teams that got in that didn't deserve it. We, we feel bad for the teams that were left out. This is the most egregious example that I've ever seen.

It's disrespectful to make UConn an 8-seed after back-to-back titles

I gotta admit, it's disrespectful that UConn is an 8-seed, Mark, because they won, I don't know if you know this, they won the last two national championships... and now you're just relegating them to an 8. You're throwing 'em out like the trash. Gimme a fucking break.

Dan Hurley is an asshole, but he is important to the college basketball ecosystem

Dan Hurley's an asshole and I think that's fair... Dan Hurley is the heel... I think it's great for the sport if [Duke and Hurley] make it there... I would've been upset if college basketball lost him [to the Lakers].

Cooper Flagg's hype is actually lower than it should be given his dominance

I think Cooper Flagg has had, I, I don't, I, for some reason he, the, the hype is somehow there, but it's also, I feel like it's not as great as it should be for this kid. 'Cause he is unfucking believable. He had an, an insane amount of hype coming in. He's delivered on all of it. He leads Duke in every single category.