Takes

Michigan was definitively the better team in the National Championship and it never felt like UConn was in danger of winning.

Michigan was the better team. We all saw it. It never felt like [the game] was in danger. Like the only moment that I was like, oh, UConn might have a chance, was when there was like maybe five and a half minutes left and Mullens missed that three to cut it to four.

UConn will win the Women's National Championship

I trust Geno [Auriemma] in this scenario. I think Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd are that good and I believe they cut the nets down.

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.

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.

Dusty May is going to be coveted by major programs after going to the Final Four with two different teams

Dusty May has gone to the Final Four with two teams in the last two different teams in the last four years. Pretty damn impressive. If any other big jobs open up, I feel like he's a guy that you'd call.

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.

I knew Illinois was a special team after we scrimmaged Florida

We scrimmaged Florida and, and I, I, I knew right then, I said, okay, we can be, we can be pretty good. Because I knew we had something then in Keaton [Knueppel] that I didn't know before being a freshman... I always thought we had a chance to be pretty good.

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.

UNC is one of the true blue blood jobs in college basketball

This is a job that doesn't come open very often. And it is a true blue blood job... It is the logo of a team that's won a ton of national titles and a ton of Final Fours. It is literally one of the blue bloods.

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.

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.

Never bet an under in a Hawaii game

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

The St. John's vs. Northern Iowa first-round matchup will be ugly as shit

You and I, they will suck the life of out of you. They've got the second best defense in the entire tournament. They, they are just kind of a pain in the ass to watch snails pace. This game feels like it's gonna be ugly as shit.

Houston will easily cover against Idaho and kill them in the first round

Houston, Idaho. I had nothing other than Houston's gonna kill him. I'm gonna take Houston first half and full game.

Betting Houston -13.5 in the first half against Idaho

I'm gonna go Houston first half minus 13 and a half.

Betting Arkansas team total under 87.5

I'm gonna go Arkansas team total under 87 and a half.

Betting Michigan State -16.5

I'm gonna go Michigan State minus 16 and a half.

The selection committee did a great job and correctly left out Oklahoma and Auburn

The selection committee has done their job, by the way, credits to selection committee. There was really no issues whatsoever... the first two out were Oklahoma and Auburn and they deserve to be out. Yeah, the bubble, the bubble sucked this year. Maybe an all time bad bubble.

A 'Civil Conflict' second-round matchup between UCF and UConn is a real possibility

If [UCLA] doesn't come back and UCF wins and UConn wins, we got a civil conflict. We got a civil conflict in the second round. That's what I'm looking at.

Wisconsin will beat High Point because High Point hasn't played anyone and has a poor defense

Wisconsin going up against High Point. I was initially nervous and I've calmed down... they have literally played not a, they didn't play a single quad one team. They played two quad, two teams. They lost to both of them. And their defense isn't very good... I trust my guys.

My Early Final Four: Duke, Arizona, Houston, and Virginia

I'm gonna go with Duke, Arizona, Houston, Virginia. Duke obviously winning the whole thing.

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.

Trey McKenney will be an NBA player

McKenney is a kid we're gonna see playing the NBA. That's really not much of a comedown when you think of it. He's one of those superstars.

The 8/9 seed line is the worst possible spot in the NCAA tournament bracket

I saw someone saying that like it was novel and being like, wow, I've, I've just found this crazy thing. You don't wanna be on the eight nine line. No you don't. Nine line eight line is terrible.

College basketball has five absolutely dominant teams this year

We have five, you could even maybe go to six, just absolutely dominant teams. Michigan, UConn, Duke, Arizona, and Florida that are playing at such an insane level.

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.

I have bet on Florida (19-1), UConn (15-1), and Wisconsin (150-1) to win the national championship

I did make some future bets. I tweeted out when I made them. But I bet Florida 19 to one, Yukon 15 to one and the Badgers at 150 to one.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Duke is the only team in the country top-5 in both offensive and defensive efficiency

I have figured Duke to win it all. There's a reason I picked that. Number one, any time a team is top five in offensive and defensive efficiency, they got a great chance to win. Duke's the only team in the country that's top five by Ken Pomeroy in efficiency in both areas.

Auburn felt like a special team early in the season after competing physically with Houston.

We had to play an an incredibly well coached, hard playing Houston team where we were gonna find out whether we were gonna be physical and tough enough... once we were able to beat Houston or at least be on compete with 'em, we felt like this team had a chance to be pretty special.

The 2025 Final Four features the four most deserving and dominant teams in the country.

I don't think you can name a fifth team that this year deserves to be playing for the national championship more than the four teams that are, are alive. And there's something really, really good about that.

USC will win the right side of the bracket in 'The Crown'

I think Villanova, USC on the right side of the bracket would be fascinating. Must Bus has his team ready to go. I think. I think USC on the right side, they're gonna come out of this right side of the bracket. I just like the way that they're playing.

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.

Teams are 1-7 in their next game after winning on a buzzer beater in the NCAA Tournament

Teams in the last 10 years are one in seven after a buzzer beater in the NCAA tournament in their next game. One in seven. Numbers never lie.

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.

Tom Izzo is the God of March

Tom Izzo now 16th Sweet 16... His expected wins are 27.6. He has 39 wins... that's an 11.4 difference. The next closest on this chart is Cal with six wins above expected. Tom Izzo very good tournament coach.

Duke 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.

McNeese State dominated Clemson despite the close final score

McNeese State I think leads the, leads the storyboard because what a day for Will Wade... and gives us a classic 12 5 upset where I know it looks like a two point game, but they were dominating Clemson for, for the majority of the game.

Take Colorado State to upset Memphis

I still think, you know, as a player, like I said, I, I have Maryland advancing anyway. I would just take the 12 here. So you have your 12 5.

The UConn vs Oklahoma game will go over 147.5 points

I'm gonna take the over in this game and here's why. UConn and Oklahoma are both elite free throw shooting teams... we're gonna get a lot of trips to the line. And these, both these teams know how to make their free throws... I love the over here.

UNC will beat Ole Miss because the matchup favors the Tar Heels' lacks of bigs

Carolina, you watch them and the biggest jarring thing, they don't have any bigs that are like pros... But Ole Miss doesn't have any bigs really either. So I love the matchup for Carolina here and yeah, it's probably a conference pride deal.

The New Mexico vs Marquette game will be a high-scoring over

New Mexico Marquette... I think both those teams are gonna try to get up and down... I'm just expecting the pace to be so out of control that we can get to 75 possessions each side.

The 2025 National Champion will be a 1 or 2 seed

I think the national champion is in that group [of 11 teams meeting KenPom criteria]... I have a really good feeling that it was gonna be a one or a two. 'Cause if you watched all season, it just felt like these teams are just way better than everybody else. I feel that way this year for the first time since 2015. I have that same feeling again.

The NCAA Tournament bracket reveal is the best non-sporting sporting event of the year

I actually think that this is the best non-sporting, sporting event of the year. I think that bracket reveal is the best sporting event that does not actually contain sports of the year. Oh, it's, it's incredible.

Michigan has turned the corner and is a dangerous team after winning the Big 10 tournament

Michigan obviously beat Wisconsin Big 10 title today. Dusty May called it correctly. He was like, our team needs a reset. They got their reset and then they won the big 10 tournament and they looked really good doing it. So maybe they've turned the corner and gotten that reset they needed.

Don't get cute with brackets this year; the one seeds are historically dominant

This is the year that don't be afraid to just do chalk. Only four teams since 2000 have entered the tournament [with a] plus 35 net rating... this year, four teams have 35 net rating or higher. Wow. So that's insane. Yeah. Like that, that just shows you that the one seeds this year are playing at such a high level and are so dominant... don't be afraid to just go chalk.