Takes

The Wisconsin Badgers are going on a miracle run in March

I am all in on the Badgers. They're good... and I'm believing, I'm believing in a miracle March run. I'm usually pretty honest about where my heart is... I'm gonna be unsafe in March. If they keep playing the way they're playing, I'm gonna be emotionally unsafe.

Every Arizona fan is scared to play Wisconsin in the tournament

Every Arizona fan heard you say that and like, Max is the dumbest person ever. He doesn't know ball. Every Arizona fan is scared of Wisconsin. That's a fact... We whooped them twice in the Elite Eight to go to the Final Four.

Tom Izzo is an overrated basketball coach

We just squatted on a take and said, Tom Izzo is overrated. We don't actually believe it now, but just wait. 'cause the conversation's gonna happen. We wanna be the first ones to say it. Now I'm starting to believe it a little bit.

I bet $3,700 on Villanova to win the national championship at 40-1

He, you, I don't know why you keep doing this to me. You just now put $3,700 on Villanova to win the national championship and let's go Cats... That's 150 Gs.

Villanova will lose in the National Championship game this year

Villanova's gonna lose the national championship this year. I was going to say Final Four and then I knew what your joke was going to be. So I said it first.

Bronny James should and likely will come off the bench at USC

I don't think he's gonna start. ... They have the number one recruit in the country [Isaiah Collier] gonna start over him. ... If he's trying to win games, Bronny should come off the bench. And that's not because Bronny's bad, it's because I think that's the best role for everyone on the team.

UConn 'bleeds blue' and is creating its own category beyond traditional Blue Bloods

His thing is like, no, forget the blue blood. You know, we're a program that bleeds blue. Max the bleed blue. So like we're gonna create our own because we've got the five national championships and NBA players for days in the last 20 years. Most of anyone... We don't even wanna be a blue blood. We're our own kind of deal.

UConn is officially basketball royalty and a blue blood

The Connecticut Huskies are officially basketball royalty. Officially they have hemophilia. Five [titles] in 24 years is insane. They are basketball royalty. Five in 24 years is insane... The only other team to do [titles in four consecutive decades], North Carolina.

Villanova should be kicked out of the Blue Bloods to make room for UConn

Welcome to the Blue Blood Club. I think they kick Villanova out, right? And then they move [UConn in].

Dan Hurley is the arrival of the next great era of basketball coaching

Dan Hurley has arrived officially as a coach of the national title. He feels like he's the next era, which I love because Dan Hurley is like a throwback to the next era. He's got that scowl, he's got that anger.

UConn didn't play anyone notable during their 2023 championship run

I think they have to face someone better than a three seed. They didn't play anybody the whole tournament. They didn't play the Alabama. Nova beat real teams.

Jill Biden's White House invitation to Iowa is a classless move

Jill Biden invited LSU and Iowa to the White House. That's fucking bullshit. You cannot do that. Iowa lost. You know what that is? Classless move. Learn how fucking sports work. You point to your finger when you win a ring, you do the John Cena and then you get invited to the White House and the team they lost doesn't. That's how sports work.

UConn is a wagon and their dominance is a foregone conclusion

UConn is a wagon and that might be the kiss of death cuz I'm the minus sign of King and I'm about to lay a brick on Yukon... So it might be a foregone conclusion that Yukon's gonna win this.

San Diego State players struggle with free throws because they are too muscular from living on the beach

My theory on San Diego State... They're both too jacked up. Yeah, because they live on the beach in San Diego. So they're like, I gotta have guns swell when I go outside all the time. They're too strong and they don't have any touch on their fellow shots.

UConn will be officially crowned a 'Blue Blood' if they win the 2023 championship

We're officially crowning Yukon of Blue Blood if they win this championship. Right. Okay. Yes. I think I I don't know how you can argue otherwise they'd have five, they'd have five championships in the last 24 years.

The 'class' debate in women's basketball is actually good for the sport

I actually think this is a win though for women's basketball because seeing all these people upset online, that's just fans upset that their team lost. And if they're upset, their team lost, they cared enough. And that's good for women's basketball because at the end of the day, it's kind of like... how this game works. If you are a sports fan, you are psycho.

UConn will cement themselves as the best program of the last 25 years if they win this title

Going up against the team that will further cement themselves as the best team in the last 25 years. So in terms of multiple winners in the last 25 years, UConn has four. Duke and UNC both have three apiece. This would be UConn's fifth if they could finish the deal.

Nate Oats is officially on the hot seat

I think we have to ask the question, is Nate Oats on the hot seat right now? ... I'm officially putting, putting Nate Oats on my hot seat.

Jerome Tang going into the FAU locker room was the classiest move a coach could make

Jerome Tang stole my heart going into the FAU locker room after the game and coaching him up and telling 'em how proud of him that he was. I just think that's the classiest move a coach could ever make.

UConn's program was a mess academically and behaviorally when I first arrived

I took that job at UConn and like, it was a disaster, man. I mean like, like talent, like the way these guys were, were, were moving on campus at like, academics behavior. It was so far away from like, anything you could win with, it's just everything was a mess.

Miami is the biggest threat to UConn because they have been better in crunch time

How does UConn not win this Final Four? Because they haven't been in a close game yet and Miami has been tremendous in crunch time.

Drew Timmy is the best player on the planet

Drew Timmy has become [the] best fucking player on the planet. Every single time he wants the score, he scores.

Tom Izzo is not overrated

Is Tom Izzo overrated? [PFT: Yeah]. Here's not He's ready to, he's not. He's not. But he, but we did get a little salty Tom Izzo after he said that they had some lucky shots.

UConn might be the best looking team in the tournament so far

UConn might be the best looking team in the tournament so far. Overall start, start to finish every game. They have in complete games, they have dominated their opponents.

The overs are back in March Madness because of the bad publicity regarding shooting

Overs back. Yeah. Overs are back. Because I big brained it. I was like March Madness saw all the bad publicity... they're gonna see all the bad publicity about shot making. They're gonna loosen up these fucking rims.

UCLA will beat Gonzaga in the Sweet 16

I'm going with the Bruins because they're defensively, I think they're in line even without Clark. And to me, as good as Gonzaga is, I don't trust their back court. And I do trust Tiger Campbell.

Miami will upset Houston and make the Final Four

Hot Take Miami can beat them. Ooh. And I'm gonna be the one guy that picks Miami to win... Miami is a bad matchup for Houston... I am going to go out on a limb and pick them. Wow. Because I think I, I don't trust Houston's offense.

John Calipari and Kentucky should part ways

Cal at Kentucky has run its course. It's run its course. I think for both sides it might be best for their best versions of themselves going forward to not be together.

UConn will win the National Championship

My national champion... is the Connecticut Huskies... There was something I saw from Yukon last week and that made me say they could do it. I'm gonna take Yukon.

St. John's will make the NCAA Tournament in Rick Pitino's first year

I think, and we can revisit this a year from now, I think they will have found a way to make the NCAA tournament... I really believe that.

Rick Pitino will get St. John's to a Final Four before he retires

Rick Pitino in the Final Four will happen at some point again before he calls it quits.

University of Virginia is the biggest winner of the weekend despite not playing

Biggest winner of the weekend... University of Virginia. Big time dodged bullet because not only did their loss against Furman not, it wasn't even close to being the biggest upset... but also they're no longer the only 16 seed to go down to a one seed [because of] Purdue and FDU.

Purdue has officially reached rock bottom because there are no 17 seeds to lose to

Purdue now 2021, they lost to a 13 seed... 2022, they lost to a 15 seed... 2023, they lost to a 16 seed... Good news for Purdue. There are no 17 seeds. So it feels like we've reached the bottom.

Without Zach Edey, Purdue wouldn't have even made the NIT

My takeaway was that Zach Edey, without Zach Edey Purdue would not have made the tournament. They probably wouldn't have even made the NIT. Zach Edey was the only one doing anything.

Matt Painter should be fired

Get him out. Yeah. Fire is at third. Do you want me to read again? 13 seed. 15 seed. 16 seed. He's the, he's the bizarro world Tom Izzo.

Ed Cooley will leave Providence for the Georgetown head coaching job

There's growing speculation that Ed Cooley's going jump to Georgetown. So something to monitor. We'll see if he makes that jump within the Big East conference.

John Scheyer lost because he wore a black sweater instead of a gray one

The game was decided well before that, before the boys even stepped on the court because Scheyer wasn't wearing the sweatshirt. They were wearing the same sweaters, different color black... The gray one was way better.

NCAA tournament teams should start resting players in the regular season like the NBA

How it's gonna become more like the NBA where maybe some teams are gonna start realizing that seating doesn't matter that much. Right. In the NCAA tournament, it doesn't start resting your guys the regular season doesn't matter.

Princeton will beat Creighton and advance further in the tournament

I mean I I think if you can, if you can beat a Power five school like Mizzou, Princeton should be able to wipe out a mid-major like Creighton.

UCLA's Max Clark is fine and his ankle injury isn't serious

He literally said he's fine... If he just repeats that he's fine enough. Yeah, it would be fine... I put on my PMT's stethoscope and say that his ankle is very, very swollen. Yeah. And his ankle is very, very badly sprained. Yep. So he probably won't be fine.

Tom Izzo is the most underrated coach because he became so overrated

I think Tom Izzo's underrated. I think he's underrated as a head coach for a while. He, he got so overrated that now he became underrated... I'm gonna be the first person to say it. So when the discussion eventually happens, I was there before all you guys.

Virginia's 2019 National Title was a fluke

Virginia's upset loss to Furman further proves 2019 national title was a fluke... Do they suck? I don't even think their national title counts anymore.

UCLA is America's team because they are the most fun blueblood to root for

I think UCLA is America's team. They're the most fun blueblood to root for. They're kind of scrappy underdogs right now. Not only with their head coach, but also they've lost a lot of players of injuries.

Eric Musselman will be 'Mr. March' if Arkansas beats Kansas

[Eric] Muss is one game away from officially being Mr. March. If he takes down Kansas, I think he's Mr. March because that would be two straight years where he takes down a one seed and he'd go to another Sweet 16.

There is a 'wedgie' conspiracy involving the balls or rims in Des Moines

There's a scandal of foot in March Madness this year in Des Moines... There were five six wedgies today, four of which occurred in the Des Moines, Iowa gym. So either the balls are stickier, the rims are harder. Maybe the balls are a little bit smaller... there's something different this year.

The 2023 Final Four will have no #1 or #2 seeds

It would not shock me if when we get to Houston for the final four, if there's no one and two seeds in the final four.

St. John's has no backup plan if they don't land Rick Pitino

St. John's has no secondary candidate. St. John's knows that in order to restore relevance, it needs Rick Pitino... St. John's has done that through back channels to his representatives. So now it's just a matter of if St. John's can obviously get a deal done.

USC has more talent on their roster than Michigan State

I'll say this much from a personnel perspective, forget the name on the jersey. I see more talent on USC's roster than I do Michigan State's... I think USC doesn't just have a chance to push Michigan State, but could push Marquette in the round of 32.

Alabama will defeat Gonzaga for the 2023 National Championship

I've got Alabama out of the region of opportunity... I've got Gonzaga out of the region of brands and I've got Alabama beating Gonzaga for the national championship.

Oral Roberts will beat Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament

And this is what I'm talking about with the recency bias. Everybody just sees that and they're like, all right, they're hot. They, they've won nine in a row, gimme them. That's the opposite. I don't go with that. I go against that. I try and predict who people are gonna jump on. And I think Duke is a perfect example. I have them losing the Oral Roberts in the first round.