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.

Michigan is already the favorite to win the National Championship again next season.

Michigan I think is right now the favorites to win next season. Tough to win back to back, but he has to hit the portal. He has to be active... which he already is.

Danny Hurley is 18-1 against the spread in his last four NCAA tournaments, which is insane

Danny Hurley remains 18 and one in the last four tournaments against the spread. How insane is that? Furman is the only one that they didn't cover. That was the first round this year.

Elliot Cadeau was missing shots on purpose to pass to Terrace Reed and Axel Lindeberg

That was all part of the game plan that Elliot Cadeau was essentially missing shots on purpose to like missing high on the backboard because [Terrace Reed] was able to clean it up. And that was part of their game plan against Arizona, knowing Arizona has all these big guys. That the second shot was there a lot and you watch it back and you're like, oh yeah, he did do that a few times where it was almost a direct pass to [Reed] off the top of the backboard.

The Final Four should always be played in Indianapolis

The Final Four should always be in Indianapolis. It should be its forever home. They make it such a big event. They care about basketball to a level that it's the only thing that's going on. You could feel it. New Orleans and Indianapolis are the only two... when the Final Four is in Indianapolis, that is the thing. It's the perfect place for it.

Michigan wins 8 out of 10 against UConn, but Monday night might be one of the two

If Michigan and Connecticut play 10 times, I think Michigan wins the game eight out of the 10 times. The question on Monday night is, is tomorrow one of the two? And I think Hurley's good for one of those. And the other is Michigan has a horrid shooting night.

Billy Donovan is the primary target for the North Carolina head coaching opening

The longer this goes, the more you have to think about Billy Donovan. Because it feels like in Chicago, what direction are the Bulls going in? Nowhere... what would it do to college basketball if you walk into Chapel Hill and now you are playing Jon Scheyer? I am on the Donovan hype train. If you're a Carolina donor, you're just gonna be like, we are a basketball school and we just hired a guy who literally has an NCAA tournament win percentage of 85%.

Dusty May will be an NBA head coach within the next 10 years

He's a mastermind. He's got great demeanor for it. He's got a really, really good way about him — his whole philosophy fits the NBA. I do think 10 years from now, Dusty May's gonna be an NBA head coach.

Ben McCollum will be the Iowa head coach for years to come — he's not going anywhere

Anybody who says right now that Ben McCollum is gonna move on — Ben McCollum's an Iowa City guy. I think he's gonna be the Iowa head coach for years to come. He's not gonna jump seat route.

Jon Scheyer will win a National Championship at Duke within the next three years

I hate to let you down and you're gonna hate me for saying this, but I do think Jon Scheyer will win a national championship for the next three years. I think Jon Scheyer's had two really good teams the last couple years.

Bet Arizona moneyline against Michigan in the Final Four

I would like Arizona Money line. It's plus 105 right now... The fact that they're underdogs is crazy to me. Michigan's really, really good. Arizona has looked unstoppable.

Both Final Four games will be decided by five points or fewer

Both [games] are gonna be within five... I think they're both gonna be close games. America's the real winner. That's my take.

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.

UConn will beat Illinois in a very close Final Four game

There's more trust for me in what UConn does... I believe UConn wins a really, really close game.

Arizona will beat Michigan in the Final Four

I favor Arizona. I believe Arizona can frustrate Michigan offensively... My favorite thing about Arizona is they don't care who scores. Whether it's Bradley or breweries... they're both really capable of a tidal wave.

Take the under in Arizona-Michigan — football stadium plus poor three-point shooting teams means a low-scoring game

Both teams get a lot of easy offense off their defense. Who has the bigger spurts in that? And they're not great three-point shooting teams, and now you're going into a football stadium. I think you gotta take the under.

I kinda like Michigan over Arizona despite betting the Arizona moneyline

Michigan is the best team in the country at rim denial and not letting teams score at the rim. They just don't let you do it — they have the size to stop you at the rim. That's where Arizona wants to eat. It's a true best on best and it's kind of like a gamble of which best is gonna win. And I, I think it's gonna be Michigan's... I don't know.

Duke was the best team in the country and should have easily won the tournament

I said on this show a month ago, Duke was the best team in the country and they should easily win the, the NCAA tournament. They were similar to last year's team... I will be front of the line saying, guys, I fucked up. You got it wrong.

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.

Every time UConn goes to the Final Four, they win it all — and this will be their toughest test yet

Every time Yukon goes to the Final Four, they win it all. They've never been to a Final Four they didn't win it all, which is an insane stat. They just go and they take care of business. This will be the toughest one they've had.

UConn can't win the championship

I hope UConn can get it done. I don't think they can win it all.

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.

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.

I will never learn my lesson and will continue to believe in the Houston Cougars for the next four years

If you think this is going to deter me from believing in the Houston Cougars for the next four years, you are sadly mistaken. I will never learn my lesson when it comes to this team.

Arizona is the best team in the country

Arizona just showing that they are probably the best team in the country because they absolutely whooped Arkansas.

Ben McCollum will never leave the Iowa Hawkeyes for another job

I don't think he's going anywhere. He's from Iowa City. He's coached for 15 years in division two... gets his dream job at Iowa. I don't think he's going anywhere.

Kentucky will win a national title before Arkansas - and it's not even close to a sweat yet

My take still alive for another year. Kentucky will win a national title before Arkansas. So that wasn't even close to a sweat. I mean, Arkansas was a Sweet 16, but they got absolutely obliterated.

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.

Houston will win the national championship on their redemption tour

If I had to pick right now a team to win the national championship, it's Houston Redemption tour. I think it could be Houston-Michigan in the final.

Michigan will beat Alabama in the Sweet 16 because Alabama can't defend the interior

I'm gonna go with Dr. Dave Portnoy on this one because Michigan's length - Alabama doesn't turn people over, and Michigan should be able to get to the rim at will against Alabama. Alabama's interior defense is not there. That spells trouble for the Crimson Tide. I think that thing gets put away later this week and I think Dave Portnoy and the Wolverines move on.

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.

The Sweet 16 in Houston won't be a home game for the Cougars because Iowa and Nebraska fans travel too well

Illinois, Nebraska and Iowa have some pretty big fan bases that are all gonna wanna travel, especially Nebraska... I don't think it's gonna be like they're gonna take over the place, but I don't think it's gonna be 80% Houston at this game.

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.

The Big 10 will finally win a national title in basketball this year

I'm proud that Purdue's a Big 10 team... because I just, I'm, I've just switched to, this has gotta be the year that the Big 10 wins the national title. I've gone through all the emotions of coping and now I'm just like, hey, good job, Purdue. Just go, go finish it.

Mark Pope is on the hot seat at Kentucky after this tournament performance

Mark Pope on the hot seat. I think he is. I mean, I think they're gonna bring him back. I think he's safe for this year, but I think he's going into next year. Seat is warm.

Michigan set records for most efficient offense in tournament history through their first two games

Michigan set records for like the most efficient offense in the history of the tournament through two games.

High Point is a very, very good basketball team

I actually think that High Point is a very, very good team. It was no fluke. They're a very good team.

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.

Duke cannot win the national title this year due to injuries and a lack of depth

Duke was not on that list... I took them off the list. They are currently off the list and will not be on the list. And I do not see Duke winning the national title. I really think the depth is gonna really hurt them when you look at this region alone.

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.

Arizona, Houston, UConn, and Michigan are among the 11 teams that can win the national title

The list contains Arizona. Michigan. Houston. Yukon... Illinois is on the list. Kansas is on the list. Iowa State is on the list. Sparty on the list. Wisconsin has been on the list... Purdue because of their road, they are back on the list. I believe that's 11.

Arizona has to reach the Final Four this year to end a long tournament drought

Arizona's sitting at 147th at 73.4% [free throws]. They have to go to the Final Four, guys. They need to have success in this tournament. They need to make Indianapolis. And I believe they will.

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%.