PMTPMT DB

Takes

Void
Take Slip·Apr 7, 2025
#PMT-2025-0407-10278
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

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.

Subjective and early in Flagg's career to determine professional 'clutch' ability.
Loss
Take Slip·Mar 31, 2025
#PMT-2025-0331-1616
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Cooper Flagg should opt out of the Final Four to protect his draft stock

If I was Cooper Flagg, I would sit out. Yeah. And don't get hurt. You're gonna be playing against grown ass men. Sit out, opt out, and then just wait to enter the NBA draft and make money

Cooper Flagg did not opt out of the Final Four.
Open
Take Slip·Mar 17, 2025
#PMT-2025-0317-15976
MemesMemes

St. John's is going to win the National Championship

St. John's win it all. I filled out my entire bracket. It's kind of, it's a weird final four... Michigan State. St. John's. BYU. Kentucky.

Pending the 2025 tournament.
Open
Take Slip·Mar 17, 2025
#PMT-2025-0317-15981
HankHank

Alabama will beat Auburn in the National Championship game

In this bracket... I have Bama beating Wisconsin and then Duke on the way to the Final Four... And they're going to beat Auburn to win it all.

Pending the 2025 tournament.
Loss
Take Slip·Dec 28, 2022
#PMT-2022-1228-9581
Big CatBig Cat

Coach K's legacy is tarnished forever because he lost his final game to UNC

And Coach Mike Krzyzewski is dead. R.I.P. Coach dead. You had a hell of a run, but you're dead. His legacy is tarnished forever. It can't get worse than what happened.

Hot TakeCBBScorchingSarcastic
While he did lose his final game to his biggest rival, his legacy (5 titles, 1200+ wins) remains intact to objective observers.
Loss
Take Slip·Jun 8, 2022
#PMT-2022-0608-16712
Big CatBig Cat

Coach John Calipari should receive a 17-year contract extension

Instead of is coach Calipari on the hot seat, it's how many years should we extend him? Because right now, right now, coach Cal has seven lane duck years. You're staring right in the face of it seven years where he does, he might, how can you recruit? Let's get him 10 more years on top of that.

Hot TakeCBBScorchingSarcastic
Calipari did not receive a 17-year extension; he eventually left Kentucky for Arkansas in 2024.
Loss
#PMT-2022-0406-12301
Billy FootballBilly Football

St. Peter's has a chance to become a small-school powerhouse like Gonzaga

I actually think [St. Peter's] have a chance to become like one of these small school powerhouses that ends up like a Gonzaga. Seriously, like they'll make runs with... now that the school has had such an increase in enrollment and increase [in funding].

St. Peter's has not returned to the Elite Eight or achieved anywhere near the sustained dominance of Gonzaga since 2022. Their coach, Shaheen Holloway, also left immediately for Seton Hall.
Open
#PMT-2022-0404-14524
Mark TitusMark Titus

I would bet my life that Duke will not win a national championship in the next 10 years

If Duke wins one title in the next 10 years, you've got to kill yourself... I'll take that bet. I would take the under... I'll bet you our lives. You get 10 years because... John Scheyer, we don't know. He's not proven.

As of 2024, Duke has not won a national championship since the bet was made (2022).
Void
Take Slip·Apr 1, 2022
#PMT-2022-0401-10810
Big CatBig Cat

Coach K's career would be a disappointment if it ends with a loss to UNC

The perfect ending would be if [Coach K] were to lose against his arch rival, UNC. You'd have to say his career would be a disappointment if it ended—legacy tarnished.

Coach K did lose to UNC in his final game, and while fans debated the impact, the broader consensus remains that his career was legendary despite the ending.
Loss
Take Slip·Mar 21, 2022
#PMT-2022-0321-6837
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

The NCAA rigged the Duke vs. Michigan State game for Coach K

I think the fix was in. NCAA rigged. I think that Tom Izzo and Coach K... Coach K has three friends, one the sports information director at Duke that keeps all of the bodies buried in the right locations... Jim Boeheim... and Tom Izzo. They're like the Big Three.

While Duke won, there is no evidence of a rigging conspiracy involving Tom Izzo.
Loss
Take Slip·Mar 16, 2022
#PMT-2022-0316-4631
Mark TitusMark Titus

Houston is a 'fraud' that schedules weak opponents

I hate Houston... I've been calling Houston a fraud for two years. They went to the Final Four last year playing nothing but double digit seeds... They scheduled like a D3 team... Houston loads up on wins on shitty schools.

Houston reached the Elite Eight in 2022, proving they were a top-tier team despite Titus's claims of being a 'fraud'.
Loss
#PMT-2022-0228-8625
Billy FootballBilly Football

I can break Vegas with a specific March Madness hedging spreadsheet

I'm thinking I'm going to take all the favorites from the first round and bet all of them to win the whole thing as a future. And then bet the money line on all of the underdogs so that the money lines pays all the future bets.

The strategy does not account for vig or the reality of odds; it is not a viable way to 'break Vegas' and would almost certainly lose money.
Loss
#PMT-2021-1129-18950
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Gonzaga talent-wise might be the best NCAA basketball team in 30 years

Talent wise, they might be the best NCAA basketball team that I've seen in the last 30 years.

While talented, Gonzaga lost in the Sweet 16 to Arkansas and did not live up to the 'best in 30 years' billing compared to teams like 2012 Kentucky or 2001 Duke.
Loss
Take Slip·Mar 17, 2021
#PMT-2021-0317-8989
Big CatBig Cat

A Gonzaga national title counts as a victory for the Big Ten because of Jalen Suggs

Gonzaga's best player, Jalen Suggs, where's he from? Minnesota. That's a Big Ten win if Gonzaga wins. This is Richard Pitino's fault for not keeping him in state. He's a football player, he's the most Big Ten player that's ever not played in the Big Ten. I am officially a Gonzaga fan because they are part of the Big Ten.

Hot TakeCBBScorchingSarcastic
While Suggs is from Minnesota, Gonzaga is a member of the West Coast Conference. Gonzaga did not win the title anyway.
Void
Take Slip·Dec 11, 2020·Null
#PMT-2020-1211-11716
Big CatBig Cat

Coach K is the biggest front-running fraud of all time

Coach K is the biggest front-running fraud of all time. Not to brag, but we called it. It was a one game. Hank, they lost to Michigan State. They got killed by Illinois. And then Coach K said, we got to reassess and start really thinking about this COVID thing.

This is a subjective character judgment, though Coach K's decision to pause the season after losses was widely criticized as opportunistic.
Void
#PMT-2020-0706-6796
Big CatBig Cat

I will inject myself with coronavirus if they cancel March Madness

Right before 24 hours before they decided there was going to be no March Madness. I said I would inject myself with coronavirus if they cancel March Madness.

They did cancel March Madness, and obviously Big Cat did not follow through.
Loss
Take Slip·Mar 11, 2020
#PMT-2020-0311-3338
Big CatBig Cat

If they cancel March Madness, I will intentionally contract coronavirus the next day

If they cancel March Madness—I'm not talking about playing it with no fans—if they cancel it outright, I will get coronavirus the next day. I do not want to be healthy in a world where March Madness does not exist.

The tournament was canceled on March 12, 2020. Big Cat did not literally contract the virus the next day as a result.
Void
Take Slip·Dec 26, 2019
#PMT-2019-1226-7603
Jon RothsteinJon Rothstein

A VCU home game is more life-altering than a 10-day trip to Europe

Yeah, but you haven't been to a home game at the Siegel Center [VCU]. And I was like, this was peak Shaka [Smart]. This was Travion Graham, Briante Weber. Like, you want to do push-ups on picket fences when they put the press on. So this was kind of my subtle way after we broke up to kind of, like, send, you know, a shot across the bow.

Completely subjective evaluation of life experiences.
Loss
Take Slip·Apr 26, 2019
#PMT-2019-0426-19892
Big CatBig Cat

Duke players only chose the school for the degree, not because of illegal payments

So essentially Marvin Bagley and Zion Williamson were on the open market to be bought, but all of a sudden no one was able to buy them except for—oh, Duke. I figured it out, though... they decided to go for the diploma, a long-term investment, as opposed to a quick infusion of cash.

Hot TakeCBBScorchingSarcastic
The take is satirical; Duke was later implicated in the same investigations and the 'degree' argument is a mocking of NCAA PR.
Void
Take Slip·Apr 1, 2019
#PMT-2019-0401-276
Mark TitusMark Titus

Coach K has entered the 'Paterno phase' of his career where he is no longer actually coaching.

First of all, can we just acknowledge that [Coach K] has entered the Paterno phase of his career where he's just trying not to shit his pants as the game's going on. He's not actually coaching. That's the thing. This season was such a disaster from Duke... How do you have a team full of freshmen get worse as the season goes on?

Subjective and hyperbolic critique of a coaching legend.
Loss
Take Slip·Feb 22, 2019
#PMT-2019-0222-12996
Big CatBig Cat

Duke should fold their basketball program and let everyone go to the NBA

If Zion's going to sit out... what's the point right you're probably not going to win the title now so maybe have cam reddish sit out maybe have rj barrett sit out... and maybe just fold the whole duke program and let everyone else just go to the nba

Duke did not fold their program; they continued to the Elite Eight.
Loss
Take Slip·Feb 22, 2019
#PMT-2019-0222-12999
HankHank

Alex O'Connell is a top five player in the nation

[Coach K] is going to now have two months to get this team with the number two and number three recruit in the nation, Alex O'Connell, top five player in the nation, in my opinion.

Alex O'Connell averaged 4.4 points per game in the 2018-19 season and eventually transferred to Creighton. He was never an All-American or a top 5 player.
Void
#PMT-2019-0213-17008
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Papa John is the new face of Kentucky basketball

I think we should just go with a take that Papa John is now the new face of Kentucky basketball. When I think UK Wildcats, I think shitty pizza.

This is a satirical characterization of the program's association with a controversial figure.
Loss
Take Slip·Jun 22, 2018
#PMT-2018-0622-12595
Big CatBig Cat

Zion Williamson will be a big time bust

Zion Williamson, bust. Big time bust. That guy stinks. He's got no explosiveness. That's what I'm saying because he's got a ton of explosiveness. So if you just say it's not NBA explosiveness, people are like, wow, that guy knows something that we don't know.

Hot TakeCBBScorchingSarcastic
Zion was one of the most explosive players in NBA history when healthy and was the #1 overall pick.
Push
Take Slip·Mar 14, 2018
#PMT-2018-0314-17667
Mark TitusMark Titus

Penn could be the first #16 seed to ever beat a #1 seed

I'm going to say this is the year that a 16 over one happens because why not? ... Penn, Kansas seems to be the one... If Kansas played Penn in a seven-game series, they're obviously going to move on, but it's a one-shot deal.

Kansas beat Penn, but #16 UMBC beat #1 Virginia in this exact tournament, making the 'this is the year' part legendary even if the specific game was wrong.
Loss
Take Slip·Jan 24, 2018
#PMT-2018-0124-1561
Mark TitusMark Titus

Kentucky stinks and might actually miss the NCAA tournament

Kentucky, hot take. Kentucky might miss the tournament. They stink... Kentucky is terrible, and if they continue on this path they're on, they might fall out of the tournament at the last second.

Kentucky not only made the tournament but entered as a #5 seed and reached the Sweet 16.
Void
Take Slip·Nov 17, 2017
#PMT-2017-1117-3572
Big CatBig Cat

Tom Izzo is an overrated basketball coach

I've gotten some flack for starting the Coach Izzo is overrated take that we have. ... Let me tell you guys something. If you're maybe new to the show or if you're not familiar with the biz, this is what's called squatting on a take. The take might not be true yet, but it's going to be true one day. ... Eventually when Tom Izzo is overrated, then I will be the first one to have said it.

This is a recurring satirical bit. Izzo remains a Hall of Fame coach, but Big Cat refuses to vacate the position.
Loss
Take Slip·Sep 27, 2017
#PMT-2017-0927-8264
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

AAU coaches are the real victims in the NCAA scandal because players force them to profit off their likeness

The players are the ones who are victimizing the AAU coaches by putting them in a position to profit off of the players.

The NCAA rules eventually changed to allow NIL, effectively admitting the system was broken, but legally players were never 'victimizing' coaches.
Loss
Take Slip·Mar 27, 2017
#PMT-2017-0327-1924
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

The South Carolina Gamecocks should change their name to just 'The Cox' because Gamecocks is offensive

South Carolina should change its name from the Gamecocks, which is offensive, to just the Cox. Which is not. It's 2017.

The team remains the Gamecocks; the suggestion was entirely satirical.
Void
Take Slip·Mar 27, 2017
#PMT-2017-0327-1929
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Every coach who doesn't win the National Championship should be fired

Every coach that doesn't win the national championship should probably get fired. I agree. It's a failure.

Inherently satirical and not a serious suggestion of athletic department policy.
Loss
Take Slip·Mar 20, 2017·Picks
#PMT-2017-0320-17177
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Bob Huggins will have a heart attack in the finals because of the desert heat

Bob Huggins is going to have a heart attack during the game or at the end of the game. Leave it all out on the court, and they're going to win... And it's in the desert, too. Way too hot for Huggie Bear.

Hot TakeCBBScorchingSarcastic
West Virginia lost in the Sweet 16, and Bob Huggins did not have a heart attack during the 2017 tournament.
Loss
#PMT-2017-0215-16907
PFT CommenterPFT Commenter

Lawrence, Kansas is a great everything-else town, but college sports is on the back burner

I don't think that necessarily [Lawrence is] a bad sports town. I just think that they're a great everything else town. And, you know, they keep it in the right perspective, and college sports is on the back burner.

Hot TakeCBBScorchingSarcastic
Lawrence is widely considered one of the best college sports towns in America, making the claim that sports are on the 'back burner' absurdly incorrect.
Void
Take Slip·Jan 27, 2017
#PMT-2017-0127-15758
Jemele HillJemele Hill

Kentucky basketball fans wouldn't care if Charles Manson were their coach as long as he won titles

I was like, look, let's be real about what [John Calipari's] job is, is to win basketball games and compete for national titles. And I was like, given how the Kentucky fan base is so rabid, they wouldn't care if Charles Manson was their coach as long as he won a title.

This is a subjective assessment of fan psychology and a rhetorical hyperbole.
Loss
Take Slip·Apr 4, 2016
#PMT-2016-0404-18616
Big CatBig Cat

I deserve 75% credit for Villanova's NCAA tournament run

I would say I'm going to give myself like 75 percent credit for Nova's run. I don't know if you want to throw, like, 15 to Raleigh Massimino, another 10 to maybe Jay Wright's, like, suits, but 75% is about right for me.

Hot TakeCBBScorchingSarcastic
He didn't actually play or coach; it's a joke.
Void
Take Slip·Mar 16, 2016
#PMT-2016-0316-1150
Big CatBig Cat

Marshall Plumlee only joined the military to stop people from making fun of him

I don't know if you guys saw, but Plumlee is joining the military after he graduates, which is total bullshit. He's basically saying we can't make fun of him anymore. It's like someone saying they have a disease and you can't make fun of him. I'm pissed that Plumlee took that away from us.