March 19, 2018 • 31 mins
On the heels of UMBC's upset over #1 seeded Virginia, Clay Travis discusses the biggest sports upsets of all-time & the structure of the NCAA Tournament in general.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the best of out kick the coverage with
Clay Travis on Fox Sports Radio. Well, many of you
out there right now are either a little bit giddy
over the possibility that your team, which you believed in
back of your mind had absolutely no chance to advance
(00:21):
very far into the n C Double A Tournament is
still alive, or many of you are like me, crestfallen
because the team that you believed was good enough to
make a run in the tournament is gone, and it
is likely that no matter which side of that equation
you are on, your bracket is a disaster and looks
(00:43):
like a crime scene with all of the xout teams,
because my god, we have got one of the most
wide open brackets certainly in the history of the n
C Double A Tournament. And that's particularly really the case
if you'll look on the side with the South Region
(01:05):
in it, where everybody has managed to lose that had
any kind of high level success rate predicted when this
tournament began. And so as we come down the stretch,
I believe if you look in the South Region, Kentucky
has basically a layup line to the final four. They're
(01:27):
playing in Atlanta. They will get to go up against
Kansas State, and then they'll get to go up against
the winner of Loyola of Chicago and Nevada, and one
of those two teams, Loyola of Chicago or Nevada, will
be in the Elite eight playing for a chance to
go to the Final four. That's the South region, where
(01:48):
I think the Kentucky Wildcats are in great shape, and
then in the West, which is also pretty wide open
and would be even more wide open if Michigan hadn't
drained the late shot on Saturday night that they did
to eliminate Houston. I'm sorry, Houston Cougar fans, but you've
(02:09):
got Gonzaga going up against who is up there with them,
Florida State. I don't think anybody foresaw that was gonna happen.
One of those teams will be in the Elite eight.
Bottom side, you've got Michigan going up against Texas A
and m who suddenly has gotten hot and UH and
those teams are all in the Sweet sixteen. So there
(02:32):
is a good shot that even in the Final four,
we're gonna see a matchup of something like Kentucky and Michigan,
which I don't think most people would have predicted when
they came into brackets. On the other side, I think
what we got is Villanova, who probably has been the
most impressive team so far in the tournament, going up
against eventually, I believe Duke, who has probably been the
(02:56):
second most impressive team in the tournament. Blue Devils only
have to beat Syracuse, an eleven seed play in winner,
in order to advance to the lead eight. I know
anybody can beat anybody in the n C Double A
tournament if we've seen this year, but Duke seems like
they're in pretty comfy spot there. Nova's got a tough
game against West Virginia that was the late game for
(03:16):
many of you, by the way, not very kind of
the n C Double A Tournament. At least the game
ended up not being close. But why are we starting
a East Coast matchup between West Virginia and Marshall at
nearly ten o'clock Eastern on Sunday night. That doesn't seem
to make very much sense. Uh. And then certainly we'll
(03:37):
see what ends up transpiring perdue as a weekend team
with with injuries Texas Tech. Uh, we'll see so much
to get to as we unpack everything that was in
the n C Double A Tournament. I was fortunate I
was out in Las Vegas and I got to watch
every game on Thursday and Friday, and I got to
(03:59):
be in the in the sports book for the ending
of Virginia and University of Maryland Baltimore County, which is
historic moment. I think that most of us out there
will kind of put into our roster of memorable moments
in sports where we remember where we were when it happened.
(04:22):
Because a hundred and thirty five and oh of number
one's versus number sixteens suddenly became a hundred and thirty
five and one, which leads me to our poll question
UH for the day, which I think is a is
an intriguing one, and I'll ask the crew this, but
I also want your opinion. Eight seven, seven nine nine
(04:46):
six six three six nine. What's the biggest upset you've
seen in your lives? And to me, when I watched
u NBC beat Virginia and that game went five anal,
it became I think one of the top two biggest
upsets that I can remember in my life. Now I'm
(05:08):
thirty eight years old. Some of you listening early this
morning are too young to even remember this, But to me,
the biggest upset I have ever seen in my life
as a sports fan was Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson. Now,
this happened back in If you're my age or older,
you probably have a pretty solid recollection of what Mike
(05:33):
Tyson meant to boxing. He was the last great boxer
in terms of he was for boxing what Tiger Woods
is what has been for golf. There are a lot
of people who didn't care at all about boxing that
when Mike Tyson was about to fight, you stopped everything
you were gonna do and paid attention to Mike Tyson.
(05:55):
Kid Dynamite knocked everybody out, came into the ring in
those leather black shorts. A lot of times the dude
walked into the ring. Everybody now wants to be all
adorned and worked up. They got their robe on, they
got their music plan. Mike Tyson would walk in to
the ring in black leather shorts and black leather lace
(06:19):
up shoes with just a towel with a hole in
the head and he just throw it over his head.
And this dude would walk in and he would knock
people out like nobody's business and you had to be
there at the opening moments of the bell because you
had no idea what might happen. He and then he
(06:41):
went off to prison, and when he came back, he
was never the same thing, but he was still such
a must see guy that he ended up biting the
dudes a year off. Some of you who haven't paid
attention or you're young, need to go back and start
watching the Mike Tyson YouTube's and everything else to see
what you missed, To see some of the punches that
(07:02):
he could deliver, to see how violent and all inspiring
he was in the ring. Well back in I was
eleven years old and Mike Tyson went over to Tokyo
to fight a guy named James Buster Douglas that nobody
had ever heard of before. And it was the middle
(07:22):
of the night fight. I think it was like, I
don't remember the exact time of day, but almost all
of us woke up the next morning and found out
very few people were watching it live. It was the
middle of the night fight. Almost all of us woke
up the next morning and suddenly found out that the
baddest heavyweight champion of all time had lost. And I
(07:48):
still remember how frushed I was to hear that Mike
Tyson lost because he had appeared to be invincible. And
it wasn't just that Mike Tyson lost, it was that
he lost to a guy that nobody had heard of,
and that not only did he lose, he got knocked out,
(08:08):
I believe, in the eighth round. And so when I
saw Virginia lose, I immediately thought to myself, this beat
down is up there with what happened to Mike Tyson
in terms of its shocking nous. And you know what
was interesting about being in the sports book when all
this happened was U NBC. I think most of us thought,
(08:34):
if a sixteen seed ever beats a one seed, it'll
be a tight game. Last second jumper, that's what's going
to eliminate a one seed. But U NBC came roaring
in and one by twenty. And so you can go
find my Twitter feed at Clay Travis top of the line.
You can see the video that I put out on
(08:55):
Periscope in the immediate aftermath of that game from the
Vegas Sports Book, And it was almost like everybody was
stunned over what they had just seen. There wasn't some
sort of mass reaction from people because we had time
to get used to it, but it was just overall
(09:15):
shocking that it had happened. Now, some of you out
there watched my periscopes and some of these videos that
we do. On Wednesday night in my hotel room in Vegas,
I had a couple of different gambling people on with me,
Teddy Covers at Teddy Underscore Covers and Kelly and Vegas
at Kelly and Vegas, both gamblers, and I said that
(09:36):
Teddy as part of that discussion, because we were contemplating
the line being fairly low for Kansas against Penn, I said,
how many years do you think it will take a
one seed to lose to a sixteen seed? And Teddy
Covers set the line with me at twenty years. It
(09:58):
turned out it was two days. Just an absolutely phenomenal
must see weekend of college basketball. And so our poll
question that is up right now for all of you,
and I'm gonna pen it to the top of my page.
You can find it there. I'm pinning it to my
(10:19):
profile right now so all of you can go find
this poll question, what is the bigger upset buster Douglas
over Mike Tyson Back in what I believe was the
biggest upset that I have ever seen in the world
of sports or Maryland Baltimore County. Over u v A,
(10:43):
six thousand of you have voted. I want you to
continue to roll in and punch an equation here. I'm
curious with the Early Morning crew. I put this up
late last night about midnight East Coast, and so far
U m B see over u v A is winning big.
But I'm not sure if that's just a function of
(11:05):
my audience being young. I wonder how many people out
there right now are hearing me talk about Mike Tyson
versus Buster Douglas and you literally were so young you
have no recollection of it. Many of you may not
have even been born. I think there is a tendency
to overrate and overvalue events that have just happened and
(11:29):
not be able to put them in their proper historical context.
This is certainly an issue in the world of serious
facts and figures that goes on right now too. All
you young uns out there think that what's going on
with Donald Trump? Now, You're like, oh my god, we're
all gonna die. This is the most unbelievable time in
(11:50):
the history of our nation, and a lot of you
out there who are older sitting around saying, chill, I
went to war in Vietnam. Kid, I walked around with
the machine gun when Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
Were getting killed in the nineteen sixty eight presidential election
and the cities in America were burning over riots. Donald
(12:13):
Trump ain't nothing. But for people who were born in
n Donald Trump is terrifying. To them. The country seems
so divided. It's important to have a historical context. And
that's the one that I went to. Now, some of
you are older than me, and you're probably sitting around saying,
Mike Tyson, Buster, Douglas Clay, what about u v A
(12:36):
versus shamanad back in too young? Don't remember one of
the biggest upsets that you can remember. And how does
you NBC over you in u v A rank in
that larger context. That's our poll question. I'll open up
the phone lines eight, seven, seven, six, three six nine.
We don't have a single guest scheduled today much to
(13:00):
contemplate and discuss about the weekend that was in the
n C Double A Tournament. And oh, by the way,
I feel your city of Cincinnati. You roll into my
hometown of Nashville. Cincinnati's got a two seed, You're up
over twenty. Xavier's got a one seed, You're up over ten.
Everything is looking great in the Queen City there and
(13:23):
then the rug gets completely pulled out from underneath both teams.
Before all is said and done, Cincinnati with one of
the biggest collapses in the history of the n C
Double A tournament, blowing a twenty two point lead with
eleven minutes to go, and then Xavier storms back and says, hey,
(13:44):
whatever you can do, buddy, we can do as well,
and I believe loses a twelve point lead with about
six minutes to go. Brutal day in Cincinnati, bringing back
all the memories of the Pittsburgh Steelers playoff game in
the Queen's it he who's crushed the most. We've probably
got some voicemails that Jason Martin can run through, but
(14:05):
I'll bring in the crew when we get back. I'll
take your calls biggest upset. Do you agree with me
if you are old enough to remember that Tyson over
losing to Buster Douglas to me, biggest sports updebt upset
of my life. I'm gonna slot U v A against
u NBC in at number two on my list. Be
(14:28):
sure to catch live editions about kick the Coverage with
Clay Travis weekdays at six am Eastern three am Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app.
We're unpacking the weekend that was in the n C
Double A tournament where everybody that was at the top
of the list came crumbling down. It feels like the
brackets are wide open. Kentucky, which ons looked like it
(14:51):
would have to go through Arizona, the University Virginia, and
potentially Cincinnati, all of those teams also adding the University
of Tennessee out of the mix. The South region is
wide open, as is the other side of the bracket
there uh in the in the what is that the
Midwest or whatever? The Gonzaga region, the one that Xavier
(15:14):
just blew it in and the same weekend that Cincinnati
blew it that side of the bracket is also wide open.
Would be even wider open if Michigan had not sunk
the three point basket that they did to beat Houston.
And I'm sorry for all of the Houston Cougar fans
out there that has to be pretty brutal. That's the
west side of the bracket. The South and the West
(15:37):
wide open. The other two brackets, the East kind of
holding somewhat to form. Villanova looks like the best team
in the tournament so far. Duke probably looks like the
second best team in the tournament so far. And I
don't think Duke has got much of a challenge in
the Sweet sixteen now that Syracuse pulled off the big
upset over Michigan State. So Duke like likely to slide
(16:00):
into the Elite eight, maybe to play against Kansas or
potentially will see whether Clemson can continue their run what
a win they had over Auburn. We will discuss all
of that and more as as certainly these games come
closer and closer on Thursday and Friday, but the East
and the Midwest holding somewhat to form. The South region
(16:22):
has fallen apart, and the West region has fallen apart
as well. We will see exactly what ends up transpiring there. Obviously,
I was out in Las Vegas. I was out in
Las Vegas on Thursday and Friday, had an incredible time
hanging out out there. A bunch of different business meetings.
I think we're gonna have some cool Vegas related events
for OutKick coming forward in ten. But I had the
(16:46):
good fortune to be in a sports book when Virginia
lost to Maryland Baltimore County. I believe that what will
be remembered about this tournament long after it is over,
is the u NBC win over U v A. And
I think that's the case because unless your team wins
(17:08):
or advances to the final four, or plays in the
title and loses, most of us do not remember who
wins specific years of the n C Double A tournament.
For instance, if I told you right now, gun into
your head who won the title in was just four
years ago? Does anybody know? No, look, no cheating guys
(17:29):
around the horn right now on out kick. Who won
the twenty four teen National Championship in basketball? Well, I
can tell you, I believe, because it was stripped by
the n C Double A about a month ago when
Louisville won it. Because I remember that for that reason alone.
I think it's weird because I could tell you most
of the champions in the eighties in order, same thing
with the nineties, But once we got to about two thousand,
(17:51):
I don't remember anymore. Year after year. I can tell
you Carolina has won a few, Villanova's won one, like
I can tell you that kind of thing. You can't
tell I think some reason, the way I used to
guys in l A no cheating. Do you guys know
who won four years ago? Kentucky? It wasn't Kentucky. I
can't tell you what I did two weekends ago. But
I think that's true, right, I mean, so the idea here,
(18:14):
what's that was that the duke here when they beat Wisconsin?
I think that was fifteen. I think that would I
think the really good Kentucky team that lost to Wisconsin,
I think that was two thousand and fifteen, but it
might have been two thousand and sixteen. I think it
was two thousand and fifteen though. But but my point
is here, we're all pretty big sports fans on this show.
(18:34):
When I just on the spot say who won the
two thousand fourteen national championship, nobody immediately remembers it. Now,
I can remember a few random years, like and you're
talking about remembering things from the eighties and the nineties,
maybe there was a less going on, Like I remember
Romo Robinson making the free throws to win it for
Michigan with Steve Fisher right like I can. It was
(18:57):
an eight nine h Kansas and Dating Manning. Okay, I
do remember that run too, right. I remember ninety I
believe you and l v uh one and then ninety
one I think was when Duke upset you and LV
in the final four, and then Grant Hill had the
incredible dunk. And I think they want anyway I can
run through some of those years easier, I think because
there was less of a frenzy in my life. But again,
(19:19):
I bet the vast majority of you listening to me
right now when I say who won the title was
just four years ago. I guarantee almost all of you
listening to me right now are just like me. And
you watch that game, you have no idea who won it?
Now we go back by the way, pull it up.
Who won it? You know what? We should have known this, Clay,
because we were both at some other network together covering it,
(19:41):
talking about Yukon's amazing backcourt. Oh that's right Walker, alright,
that was the Kimba Walker year. While I watched all
of that, I watched every bit of that of that happened.
You know that happening. Now, you tell me about it,
and I remember it. My point here is I believe
that in four years, and it won't even take that long.
(20:02):
It might be two years from now. Most of you
out there listening to me right now, the only thing
you will remember about the eighteen n C Double A
Tournament is probably going to be Virginia losing to u NBC. Now,
if your individual team had a particularly memorable experience in
the tournament, either good or bad, that will be probably
(20:25):
your first thought. For instance, I grew up at University
of Tennessee fan that None and her deal with the
Devil that allowed Loyola of Chicago to beat Miami and
now Loyola of Chicago to get the most improbable bounce
that I can remember in the history of the n
C Double A Tournament on a game winning shot to
eliminate Tennessee. I will live with that for the rest
(20:47):
of my life. Because this bracket has come wide open.
I think if Tennessee had just been able to get
a stop on that play, that Tennessee and Kentucky would
probably be playing in the Elite eight for a trip
for the fourth time this season, for a trip to
the Final four. I I really firmly believe that because
I think Tennessee would beat Nevada down in Atlanta. I
(21:10):
think Kentucky is gonna beat Kansas State. I really do.
I will go to my grave believing that if that
nun doesn't trade her soul with the devil to get
two straight wins at the age of ninety eight years old,
that there's no way that ball bounces the way it does.
That woman like, just well, who's the person is that
like the mummy? Who can suck away your soul and
(21:31):
you just die? That's what that old woman did to me.
I think she Benjamin Button me. I think right now,
my wife is like, your hair looks grayer today than
it did yesterday. I'm like, I know, because that old nun,
she Benjamin Button me, she's gonna start getting younger now,
and I'm gonna die in like a year. I know.
That's what happened in that game. That's what happened. But
we have that audio, by the way, I will find
that for you. What were you gonna say? I was
(21:52):
just gonna let you know so you don't get inundated
with the tweets in fourteen that was actually Napier and
both Right, So Kemba Walker was even before that was eleven?
Was that Kimball Walker? God see, I'm getting old. All
those guys run together, right, There's no difference to me
between Kimball Walker and everybody. But anyway, my point on
that is pretty straightforward. I watched all those games, but
(22:14):
I can't even tell you who won. This also ties
in with my larger argument the n C Double A
Tournament is really the only way that we crown a
champion where the end is not as good as the beginning.
I would rather watch the first weekend of the n
C Double A Tournament Thursday, Friday, Saturday Sunday than the
(22:35):
final four. Nowhere else would you hear that. You don't
hear anybody say. You know what, if I had to
choose between watching the a f C and the NFC
championship game and the Super Bowl or wild Card weekend
in the NFL, I love wild Card weekend. Nobody would
make that argument. Now, maybe you make the argument you
like the divisional round because there are more games. I
(22:57):
understand that argument, but infinitely, by infinite numbers, more people
watch the title game in the Super Bowl, and certainly
in the college football playoff, then watch the beginning weekend
of the championship. Right, I think that the n C
Double A tournament is the only sport in America. You
(23:17):
can really say that. Now, j Mart points out, you
know what, the Masters is better than the FedEx Challenge
or whatever the FedEx Cup it's called at the end,
is it still called the FedEx Cup and golf I
don't even know, but it's even But even if you
look at it, not even looking at the FedEx and
that's the championship round. But even if you look at
the majors, the Masters is the most prestigious major. The
(23:38):
p g A Championship is the last one, and it's
also the last one in importance. Yeah, I think that's true.
But you know, all the major's kind of but the
the golf tried to be like, hey, we got this
ten million dollars playoff at the end of the season.
It's a huge deal. Nobody cares. Nobody cares about that
unless you are a diehard golf fan. Nobody out there
(23:58):
is like, you know what, I'd rather watch the card
round in Major League Baseball in the World Series. Even
though again I know people are like everybody's got to
be so counterintuitive nowadays, like, well, sometimes the World Series
is not that entertained. Yeah, I know, but if you
had to choose all of the numbers come in on
the World Series the ratings. I bet more people watch
the n C Double A Tournament in the opening weekend
(24:19):
than watch the title game of the n C Double
A tournament, unless it's just a massive perfect matchup, like
if Duke in Kentucky play in the national title game,
that will be a blockbuster number. But by and large
we don't get a great matchup, and the average and
and by the way, it could also be a total
(24:40):
disaster for for ratings purposes. Imagine if it were like,
what's the worst possible matchup in terms of interest nationwide?
People say they want upsets, but television ratings show us
again and again that what people want is the big
golden brand advancing to play for championships. People say, oh,
(25:00):
I love when the Patriots. No you don't. The numbers
reflect that you want to see the Patriots in the
big games. Oh, I'm sick of the Calves. I don't
want to get No, you don't you want the Calves
and the Warriors stick. No, no, you want the Warriors.
The numbers show that the best way to build an
audience is to have the biggest brands on the biggest
stages for years in a row. So the worst case
(25:23):
scenario probably in terms of interest, people were like, oh,
it's great that Butler made this run to the title game.
Was that who Butler lost to Yukon? Was that the
two thousand lost the Duke? They lost to Duke? Butler
lost a Duke on that shot that Gordon Hayward hit.
Didn't they go to they with the title back to
back years? Game? Didn't? Didn't they? That's right? That was
that Duke game. I remember being Gordon Hayward missed a
(25:46):
runner that would have won the game for Butler, I
believe in two thousand ten or something like that. And
then the next year they went back and I think
they lost to Yukon. I think that was two thousand eleven.
But Butler was a disaster for ratings. But even even
though that one game was pretty good against Duke and
they had a chance, Gordon Hayward had a chance, he
almost banked it in to win the national title was awful.
(26:12):
Final That thing was brutable and Yukon was up big
and it was never close, and all those things were true.
People say they want the underdog to make the run,
but when the underdog actually makes the run, nobody watches.
So the worst case scenario matchup is probably something like
Loyola of Chicago, which nobody like, even though they're in
(26:32):
a big city. Like probably like Loyola of Chicago. I'm
trying to think of the worst possible matchup Loyola of
Chicago against who's on the other side of the bracket,
West Virginia. West Virginia would not bring in a lot
of people. I'm trying to think of who would be
the least desirable, least interesting team from a national perspective
to meet in the in the national title game, and
(26:55):
it would be a huge upset and it would fulfill
every aspect of the ends double A tournament, which is
that that what we buy into that anybody could win
at any point. Texas Tech against Loyola of Chicago maybe
would be the worst matchup you can possibly imagine. That's
what I'm trying to think of right now. Is there
a worst matchup than Loyola of Chicago against Texas Tech.
(27:18):
We got less they I mean they don't even have
Bob Huggins, Like nobody even knows the coach at Texas
Tech Chris Beard. Yeah, Chris Beard. And it's also what
is Texas Tech like the eighth most popular team in
the state of Texas. I mean there's Texas that we're
probably like just lost our affiliate stationed out in lobb
Like they're like, oh, we love this Clay Travis show.
(27:39):
We're gonna be like if you had to rank the
Texas programs in terms of how much people love them
right now, Texas and Texas A and M in college
sports are clearly one in two. Texas is one the biggest.
A and M would I think pretty clearly be two. Um.
I think if you factor in football, given the dominance
(27:59):
that TCU and at least Baylor have had recently, I
think they would have to be up there probably five.
I mean, to be fair, probably slide a minut at
the five spot. But in terms of if you throw
tossed me in the Cowboys and if you toss me
in like the Texas Tech is really low on the
flow chart of move the needle teams in the state
(28:20):
of Texas, and so I think probably the worst matchup
you could have right now with the sixteen teams that
are available, is Texas Tech against Loyola. Now, it would
fill the argument of what everybody says they want. We
want upsets, we want the idea that anybody could win
the title. Okay, all right, congratulations you get Texas Tech
against Loyola. Yeah, I'm not probably not gonna watch that game,
(28:43):
probably gonna find something else to do other than watch
Texas Tech and Loyola. Now I'll watch, but I'm speaking
in general of the American sports fan and ain't moving
the needle. And so it ties in with my argument
that I think the n C Double A Tournament is
the most excited way to crown the champion and also
simultaneously the worst. There's no reason why for playing an
(29:07):
entire season that started in November. Syracuse should season should
still be going, and the University of Virginia season should
be over. That's the truth, right. I don't think anybody
out there would say, hey, you know what, Syracuse really
deserves to still be alive for the championship, and Virginia,
which was the best team throughout the course of the
(29:28):
regular season, doesn't deserve to be there. Now. Granted, when
you'll lose by twenty like Virginia did, and any like
we just got a tip at the last second or
a bucket that rolled in, and you're like, man, we
lost a really close game. Virginia got their ass kicked.
And I think that also factors in with what is
our larger question here, our larger question for the day.
(29:51):
And I was fascinated to see the results on this,
and usually I'm out here like you know what, I
agree with the Outkicked polsters. Last night about midnight, I
put up Buster Douglas versus Mike Tyson or U NBC
versus U v A, which is the bigger upset, and
U NBC was dominating over Buster Douglas. So I said,
(30:13):
all right, let's expand this after consultation in the first
couple of hours of the show. And by the way,
I encourage all of you out there to go listen
to the OutKick podcast, as millions of you are every
single month. Go downloaded, search out out Kick, Go listen
to us. We appreciate it. We're the four biggest upsets
of the past forty years in the world of sports.
(30:36):
I gave you four options. I gave you US Hockey
over USSR in Olympic hockey. I gave you a Buster
Douglas over Mike Tyson. I gave you app State beating
Michigan in the Big House, and u NBC over u
v A. We put this up about an hour ago
(30:57):
on my Twitter feed. At Clay Travel US, you can
go vote. We've got eleven thousand votes in so far.
This is the best of out kick the coverage with
Clay Travis on Fox Sports Radio. Well, many of you
out there right now are either a little bit giddy
over the possibility that your team, which you believed in
back of your mind had absolutely no chance to advance
(00:21):
very far into the n C Double A Tournament is
still alive, or many of you are like me, crestfallen
because the team that you believed was good enough to
make a run in the tournament is gone, and it
is likely that no matter which side of that equation
you are on, your bracket is a disaster and looks
(00:43):
like a crime scene with all of the xout teams,
because my god, we have got one of the most
wide open brackets certainly in the history of the n
C Double A Tournament. And that's particularly really the case
if you'll look on the side with the South Region
(01:05):
in it, where everybody has managed to lose that had
any kind of high level success rate predicted when this
tournament began. And so as we come down the stretch,
I believe if you look in the South Region, Kentucky
has basically a layup line to the final four. They're
(01:27):
playing in Atlanta. They will get to go up against
Kansas State, and then they'll get to go up against
the winner of Loyola of Chicago and Nevada, and one
of those two teams, Loyola of Chicago or Nevada, will
be in the Elite eight playing for a chance to
go to the Final four. That's the South region, where
(01:48):
I think the Kentucky Wildcats are in great shape, and
then in the West, which is also pretty wide open
and would be even more wide open if Michigan hadn't
drained the late shot on Saturday night that they did
to eliminate Houston. I'm sorry, Houston Cougar fans, but you've
(02:09):
got Gonzaga going up against who is up there with them,
Florida State. I don't think anybody foresaw that was gonna happen.
One of those teams will be in the Elite eight.
Bottom side, you've got Michigan going up against Texas A
and m who suddenly has gotten hot and UH and
those teams are all in the Sweet sixteen. So there
(02:32):
is a good shot that even in the Final four,
we're gonna see a matchup of something like Kentucky and Michigan,
which I don't think most people would have predicted when
they came into brackets. On the other side, I think
what we got is Villanova, who probably has been the
most impressive team so far in the tournament, going up
against eventually, I believe Duke, who has probably been the
(02:56):
second most impressive team in the tournament. Blue Devils only
have to beat Syracuse, an eleven seed play in winner,
in order to advance to the lead eight. I know
anybody can beat anybody in the n C Double A
tournament if we've seen this year, but Duke seems like
they're in pretty comfy spot there. Nova's got a tough
game against West Virginia that was the late game for
(03:16):
many of you, by the way, not very kind of
the n C Double A Tournament. At least the game
ended up not being close. But why are we starting
a East Coast matchup between West Virginia and Marshall at
nearly ten o'clock Eastern on Sunday night. That doesn't seem
to make very much sense. Uh. And then certainly we'll
(03:37):
see what ends up transpiring perdue as a weekend team
with with injuries Texas Tech. Uh, we'll see so much
to get to as we unpack everything that was in
the n C Double A Tournament. I was fortunate I
was out in Las Vegas and I got to watch
every game on Thursday and Friday, and I got to
(03:59):
be in the in the sports book for the ending
of Virginia and University of Maryland Baltimore County, which is
historic moment. I think that most of us out there
will kind of put into our roster of memorable moments
in sports where we remember where we were when it happened.
(04:22):
Because a hundred and thirty five and oh of number
one's versus number sixteens suddenly became a hundred and thirty
five and one, which leads me to our poll question
UH for the day, which I think is a is
an intriguing one, and I'll ask the crew this, but
I also want your opinion. Eight seven, seven nine nine
(04:46):
six six three six nine. What's the biggest upset you've
seen in your lives? And to me, when I watched
u NBC beat Virginia and that game went five anal,
it became I think one of the top two biggest
upsets that I can remember in my life. Now I'm
(05:08):
thirty eight years old. Some of you listening early this
morning are too young to even remember this, But to me,
the biggest upset I have ever seen in my life
as a sports fan was Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson. Now,
this happened back in If you're my age or older,
you probably have a pretty solid recollection of what Mike
(05:33):
Tyson meant to boxing. He was the last great boxer
in terms of he was for boxing what Tiger Woods
is what has been for golf. There are a lot
of people who didn't care at all about boxing that
when Mike Tyson was about to fight, you stopped everything
you were gonna do and paid attention to Mike Tyson.
(05:55):
Kid Dynamite knocked everybody out, came into the ring in
those leather black shorts. A lot of times the dude
walked into the ring. Everybody now wants to be all
adorned and worked up. They got their robe on, they
got their music plan. Mike Tyson would walk in to
the ring in black leather shorts and black leather lace
(06:19):
up shoes with just a towel with a hole in
the head and he just throw it over his head.
And this dude would walk in and he would knock
people out like nobody's business and you had to be
there at the opening moments of the bell because you
had no idea what might happen. He and then he
(06:41):
went off to prison, and when he came back, he
was never the same thing, but he was still such
a must see guy that he ended up biting the
dudes a year off. Some of you who haven't paid
attention or you're young, need to go back and start
watching the Mike Tyson YouTube's and everything else to see
what you missed, To see some of the punches that
(07:02):
he could deliver, to see how violent and all inspiring
he was in the ring. Well back in I was
eleven years old and Mike Tyson went over to Tokyo
to fight a guy named James Buster Douglas that nobody
had ever heard of before. And it was the middle
(07:22):
of the night fight. I think it was like, I
don't remember the exact time of day, but almost all
of us woke up the next morning and found out
very few people were watching it live. It was the
middle of the night fight. Almost all of us woke
up the next morning and suddenly found out that the
baddest heavyweight champion of all time had lost. And I
(07:48):
still remember how frushed I was to hear that Mike
Tyson lost because he had appeared to be invincible. And
it wasn't just that Mike Tyson lost, it was that
he lost to a guy that nobody had heard of,
and that not only did he lose, he got knocked out,
(08:08):
I believe, in the eighth round. And so when I
saw Virginia lose, I immediately thought to myself, this beat
down is up there with what happened to Mike Tyson
in terms of its shocking nous. And you know what
was interesting about being in the sports book when all
this happened was U NBC. I think most of us thought,
(08:34):
if a sixteen seed ever beats a one seed, it'll
be a tight game. Last second jumper, that's what's going
to eliminate a one seed. But U NBC came roaring
in and one by twenty. And so you can go
find my Twitter feed at Clay Travis top of the line.
You can see the video that I put out on
(08:55):
Periscope in the immediate aftermath of that game from the
Vegas Sports Book, And it was almost like everybody was
stunned over what they had just seen. There wasn't some
sort of mass reaction from people because we had time
to get used to it, but it was just overall
(09:15):
shocking that it had happened. Now, some of you out
there watched my periscopes and some of these videos that
we do. On Wednesday night in my hotel room in Vegas,
I had a couple of different gambling people on with me,
Teddy Covers at Teddy Underscore Covers and Kelly and Vegas
at Kelly and Vegas, both gamblers, and I said that
(09:36):
Teddy as part of that discussion, because we were contemplating
the line being fairly low for Kansas against Penn, I said,
how many years do you think it will take a
one seed to lose to a sixteen seed? And Teddy
Covers set the line with me at twenty years. It
(09:58):
turned out it was two days. Just an absolutely phenomenal
must see weekend of college basketball. And so our poll
question that is up right now for all of you,
and I'm gonna pen it to the top of my page.
You can find it there. I'm pinning it to my
(10:19):
profile right now so all of you can go find
this poll question, what is the bigger upset buster Douglas
over Mike Tyson Back in what I believe was the
biggest upset that I have ever seen in the world
of sports or Maryland Baltimore County. Over u v A,
(10:43):
six thousand of you have voted. I want you to
continue to roll in and punch an equation here. I'm
curious with the Early Morning crew. I put this up
late last night about midnight East Coast, and so far
U m B see over u v A is winning big.
But I'm not sure if that's just a function of
(11:05):
my audience being young. I wonder how many people out
there right now are hearing me talk about Mike Tyson
versus Buster Douglas and you literally were so young you
have no recollection of it. Many of you may not
have even been born. I think there is a tendency
to overrate and overvalue events that have just happened and
(11:29):
not be able to put them in their proper historical context.
This is certainly an issue in the world of serious
facts and figures that goes on right now too. All
you young uns out there think that what's going on
with Donald Trump? Now, You're like, oh my god, we're
all gonna die. This is the most unbelievable time in
(11:50):
the history of our nation, and a lot of you
out there who are older sitting around saying, chill, I
went to war in Vietnam. Kid, I walked around with
the machine gun when Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
Were getting killed in the nineteen sixty eight presidential election
and the cities in America were burning over riots. Donald
(12:13):
Trump ain't nothing. But for people who were born in
n Donald Trump is terrifying. To them. The country seems
so divided. It's important to have a historical context. And
that's the one that I went to. Now, some of
you are older than me, and you're probably sitting around saying,
Mike Tyson, Buster, Douglas Clay, what about u v A
(12:36):
versus shamanad back in too young? Don't remember one of
the biggest upsets that you can remember. And how does
you NBC over you in u v A rank in
that larger context. That's our poll question. I'll open up
the phone lines eight, seven, seven, six, three six nine.
We don't have a single guest scheduled today much to
(13:00):
contemplate and discuss about the weekend that was in the
n C Double A Tournament. And oh, by the way,
I feel your city of Cincinnati. You roll into my
hometown of Nashville. Cincinnati's got a two seed, You're up
over twenty. Xavier's got a one seed, You're up over ten.
Everything is looking great in the Queen City there and
(13:23):
then the rug gets completely pulled out from underneath both teams.
Before all is said and done, Cincinnati with one of
the biggest collapses in the history of the n C
Double A tournament, blowing a twenty two point lead with
eleven minutes to go, and then Xavier storms back and says, hey,
(13:44):
whatever you can do, buddy, we can do as well,
and I believe loses a twelve point lead with about
six minutes to go. Brutal day in Cincinnati, bringing back
all the memories of the Pittsburgh Steelers playoff game in
the Queen's it he who's crushed the most. We've probably
got some voicemails that Jason Martin can run through, but
(14:05):
I'll bring in the crew when we get back. I'll
take your calls biggest upset. Do you agree with me
if you are old enough to remember that Tyson over
losing to Buster Douglas to me, biggest sports updebt upset
of my life. I'm gonna slot U v A against
u NBC in at number two on my list. Be
(14:28):
sure to catch live editions about kick the Coverage with
Clay Travis weekdays at six am Eastern three am Pacific
on Fox Sports Radio and the I Heart Radio app.
We're unpacking the weekend that was in the n C
Double A tournament where everybody that was at the top
of the list came crumbling down. It feels like the
brackets are wide open. Kentucky, which ons looked like it
(14:51):
would have to go through Arizona, the University Virginia, and
potentially Cincinnati, all of those teams also adding the University
of Tennessee out of the mix. The South region is
wide open, as is the other side of the bracket
there uh in the in the what is that the
Midwest or whatever? The Gonzaga region, the one that Xavier
(15:14):
just blew it in and the same weekend that Cincinnati
blew it that side of the bracket is also wide open.
Would be even wider open if Michigan had not sunk
the three point basket that they did to beat Houston.
And I'm sorry for all of the Houston Cougar fans
out there that has to be pretty brutal. That's the
west side of the bracket. The South and the West
(15:37):
wide open. The other two brackets, the East kind of
holding somewhat to form. Villanova looks like the best team
in the tournament so far. Duke probably looks like the
second best team in the tournament so far. And I
don't think Duke has got much of a challenge in
the Sweet sixteen now that Syracuse pulled off the big
upset over Michigan State. So Duke like likely to slide
(16:00):
into the Elite eight, maybe to play against Kansas or
potentially will see whether Clemson can continue their run what
a win they had over Auburn. We will discuss all
of that and more as as certainly these games come
closer and closer on Thursday and Friday, but the East
and the Midwest holding somewhat to form. The South region
(16:22):
has fallen apart, and the West region has fallen apart
as well. We will see exactly what ends up transpiring there. Obviously,
I was out in Las Vegas. I was out in
Las Vegas on Thursday and Friday, had an incredible time
hanging out out there. A bunch of different business meetings.
I think we're gonna have some cool Vegas related events
for OutKick coming forward in ten. But I had the
(16:46):
good fortune to be in a sports book when Virginia
lost to Maryland Baltimore County. I believe that what will
be remembered about this tournament long after it is over,
is the u NBC win over U v A. And
I think that's the case because unless your team wins
(17:08):
or advances to the final four, or plays in the
title and loses, most of us do not remember who
wins specific years of the n C Double A tournament.
For instance, if I told you right now, gun into
your head who won the title in was just four
years ago? Does anybody know? No, look, no cheating guys
(17:29):
around the horn right now on out kick. Who won
the twenty four teen National Championship in basketball? Well, I
can tell you, I believe, because it was stripped by
the n C Double A about a month ago when
Louisville won it. Because I remember that for that reason alone.
I think it's weird because I could tell you most
of the champions in the eighties in order, same thing
with the nineties, But once we got to about two thousand,
(17:51):
I don't remember anymore. Year after year. I can tell
you Carolina has won a few, Villanova's won one, like
I can tell you that kind of thing. You can't
tell I think some reason, the way I used to
guys in l A no cheating. Do you guys know
who won four years ago? Kentucky? It wasn't Kentucky. I
can't tell you what I did two weekends ago. But
I think that's true, right, I mean, so the idea here,
(18:14):
what's that was that the duke here when they beat Wisconsin?
I think that was fifteen. I think that would I
think the really good Kentucky team that lost to Wisconsin,
I think that was two thousand and fifteen, but it
might have been two thousand and sixteen. I think it
was two thousand and fifteen though. But but my point
is here, we're all pretty big sports fans on this show.
(18:34):
When I just on the spot say who won the
two thousand fourteen national championship, nobody immediately remembers it. Now,
I can remember a few random years, like and you're
talking about remembering things from the eighties and the nineties,
maybe there was a less going on, Like I remember
Romo Robinson making the free throws to win it for
Michigan with Steve Fisher right like I can. It was
(18:57):
an eight nine h Kansas and Dating Manning. Okay, I
do remember that run too, right. I remember ninety I
believe you and l v uh one and then ninety
one I think was when Duke upset you and LV
in the final four, and then Grant Hill had the
incredible dunk. And I think they want anyway I can
run through some of those years easier, I think because
there was less of a frenzy in my life. But again,
(19:19):
I bet the vast majority of you listening to me
right now when I say who won the title was
just four years ago. I guarantee almost all of you
listening to me right now are just like me. And
you watch that game, you have no idea who won it?
Now we go back by the way, pull it up.
Who won it? You know what? We should have known this, Clay,
because we were both at some other network together covering it,
(19:41):
talking about Yukon's amazing backcourt. Oh that's right Walker, alright,
that was the Kimba Walker year. While I watched all
of that, I watched every bit of that of that happened.
You know that happening. Now, you tell me about it,
and I remember it. My point here is I believe
that in four years, and it won't even take that long.
(20:02):
It might be two years from now. Most of you
out there listening to me right now, the only thing
you will remember about the eighteen n C Double A
Tournament is probably going to be Virginia losing to u NBC. Now,
if your individual team had a particularly memorable experience in
the tournament, either good or bad, that will be probably
(20:25):
your first thought. For instance, I grew up at University
of Tennessee fan that None and her deal with the
Devil that allowed Loyola of Chicago to beat Miami and
now Loyola of Chicago to get the most improbable bounce
that I can remember in the history of the n
C Double A Tournament on a game winning shot to
eliminate Tennessee. I will live with that for the rest
(20:47):
of my life. Because this bracket has come wide open.
I think if Tennessee had just been able to get
a stop on that play, that Tennessee and Kentucky would
probably be playing in the Elite eight for a trip
for the fourth time this season, for a trip to
the Final four. I I really firmly believe that because
I think Tennessee would beat Nevada down in Atlanta. I
(21:10):
think Kentucky is gonna beat Kansas State. I really do.
I will go to my grave believing that if that
nun doesn't trade her soul with the devil to get
two straight wins at the age of ninety eight years old,
that there's no way that ball bounces the way it does.
That woman like, just well, who's the person is that
like the mummy? Who can suck away your soul and
(21:31):
you just die? That's what that old woman did to me.
I think she Benjamin Button me. I think right now,
my wife is like, your hair looks grayer today than
it did yesterday. I'm like, I know, because that old nun,
she Benjamin Button me, she's gonna start getting younger now,
and I'm gonna die in like a year. I know.
That's what happened in that game. That's what happened. But
we have that audio, by the way, I will find
that for you. What were you gonna say? I was
(21:52):
just gonna let you know so you don't get inundated
with the tweets in fourteen that was actually Napier and
both Right, So Kemba Walker was even before that was eleven?
Was that Kimball Walker? God see, I'm getting old. All
those guys run together, right, There's no difference to me
between Kimball Walker and everybody. But anyway, my point on
that is pretty straightforward. I watched all those games, but
(22:14):
I can't even tell you who won. This also ties
in with my larger argument the n C Double A
Tournament is really the only way that we crown a
champion where the end is not as good as the beginning.
I would rather watch the first weekend of the n
C Double A Tournament Thursday, Friday, Saturday Sunday than the
(22:35):
final four. Nowhere else would you hear that. You don't
hear anybody say. You know what, if I had to
choose between watching the a f C and the NFC
championship game and the Super Bowl or wild Card weekend
in the NFL, I love wild Card weekend. Nobody would
make that argument. Now, maybe you make the argument you
like the divisional round because there are more games. I
(22:57):
understand that argument, but infinitely, by infinite numbers, more people
watch the title game in the Super Bowl, and certainly
in the college football playoff, then watch the beginning weekend
of the championship. Right, I think that the n C
Double A tournament is the only sport in America. You
(23:17):
can really say that. Now, j Mart points out, you
know what, the Masters is better than the FedEx Challenge
or whatever the FedEx Cup it's called at the end,
is it still called the FedEx Cup and golf I
don't even know, but it's even But even if you
look at it, not even looking at the FedEx and
that's the championship round. But even if you look at
the majors, the Masters is the most prestigious major. The
(23:38):
p g A Championship is the last one, and it's
also the last one in importance. Yeah, I think that's true.
But you know, all the major's kind of but the
the golf tried to be like, hey, we got this
ten million dollars playoff at the end of the season.
It's a huge deal. Nobody cares. Nobody cares about that
unless you are a diehard golf fan. Nobody out there
(23:58):
is like, you know what, I'd rather watch the card
round in Major League Baseball in the World Series. Even
though again I know people are like everybody's got to
be so counterintuitive nowadays, like, well, sometimes the World Series
is not that entertained. Yeah, I know, but if you
had to choose all of the numbers come in on
the World Series the ratings. I bet more people watch
the n C Double A Tournament in the opening weekend
(24:19):
than watch the title game of the n C Double
A tournament, unless it's just a massive perfect matchup, like
if Duke in Kentucky play in the national title game,
that will be a blockbuster number. But by and large
we don't get a great matchup, and the average and
and by the way, it could also be a total
(24:40):
disaster for for ratings purposes. Imagine if it were like,
what's the worst possible matchup in terms of interest nationwide?
People say they want upsets, but television ratings show us
again and again that what people want is the big
golden brand advancing to play for championships. People say, oh,
(25:00):
I love when the Patriots. No you don't. The numbers
reflect that you want to see the Patriots in the
big games. Oh, I'm sick of the Calves. I don't
want to get No, you don't you want the Calves
and the Warriors stick. No, no, you want the Warriors.
The numbers show that the best way to build an
audience is to have the biggest brands on the biggest
stages for years in a row. So the worst case
(25:23):
scenario probably in terms of interest, people were like, oh,
it's great that Butler made this run to the title game.
Was that who Butler lost to Yukon? Was that the
two thousand lost the Duke? They lost to Duke? Butler
lost a Duke on that shot that Gordon Hayward hit.
Didn't they go to they with the title back to
back years? Game? Didn't? Didn't they? That's right? That was
that Duke game. I remember being Gordon Hayward missed a
(25:46):
runner that would have won the game for Butler, I
believe in two thousand ten or something like that. And
then the next year they went back and I think
they lost to Yukon. I think that was two thousand eleven.
But Butler was a disaster for ratings. But even even
though that one game was pretty good against Duke and
they had a chance, Gordon Hayward had a chance, he
almost banked it in to win the national title was awful.
(26:12):
Final That thing was brutable and Yukon was up big
and it was never close, and all those things were true.
People say they want the underdog to make the run,
but when the underdog actually makes the run, nobody watches.
So the worst case scenario matchup is probably something like
Loyola of Chicago, which nobody like, even though they're in
(26:32):
a big city. Like probably like Loyola of Chicago. I'm
trying to think of the worst possible matchup Loyola of
Chicago against who's on the other side of the bracket,
West Virginia. West Virginia would not bring in a lot
of people. I'm trying to think of who would be
the least desirable, least interesting team from a national perspective
to meet in the in the national title game, and
(26:55):
it would be a huge upset and it would fulfill
every aspect of the ends double A tournament, which is
that that what we buy into that anybody could win
at any point. Texas Tech against Loyola of Chicago maybe
would be the worst matchup you can possibly imagine. That's
what I'm trying to think of right now. Is there
a worst matchup than Loyola of Chicago against Texas Tech.
(27:18):
We got less they I mean they don't even have
Bob Huggins, Like nobody even knows the coach at Texas
Tech Chris Beard. Yeah, Chris Beard. And it's also what
is Texas Tech like the eighth most popular team in
the state of Texas. I mean there's Texas that we're
probably like just lost our affiliate stationed out in lobb
Like they're like, oh, we love this Clay Travis show.
(27:39):
We're gonna be like if you had to rank the
Texas programs in terms of how much people love them
right now, Texas and Texas A and M in college
sports are clearly one in two. Texas is one the biggest.
A and M would I think pretty clearly be two. Um.
I think if you factor in football, given the dominance
(27:59):
that TCU and at least Baylor have had recently, I
think they would have to be up there probably five.
I mean, to be fair, probably slide a minut at
the five spot. But in terms of if you throw
tossed me in the Cowboys and if you toss me
in like the Texas Tech is really low on the
flow chart of move the needle teams in the state
(28:20):
of Texas, and so I think probably the worst matchup
you could have right now with the sixteen teams that
are available, is Texas Tech against Loyola. Now, it would
fill the argument of what everybody says they want. We
want upsets, we want the idea that anybody could win
the title. Okay, all right, congratulations you get Texas Tech
against Loyola. Yeah, I'm not probably not gonna watch that game,
(28:43):
probably gonna find something else to do other than watch
Texas Tech and Loyola. Now I'll watch, but I'm speaking
in general of the American sports fan and ain't moving
the needle. And so it ties in with my argument
that I think the n C Double A Tournament is
the most excited way to crown the champion and also
simultaneously the worst. There's no reason why for playing an
(29:07):
entire season that started in November. Syracuse should season should
still be going, and the University of Virginia season should
be over. That's the truth, right. I don't think anybody
out there would say, hey, you know what, Syracuse really
deserves to still be alive for the championship, and Virginia,
which was the best team throughout the course of the
(29:28):
regular season, doesn't deserve to be there. Now. Granted, when
you'll lose by twenty like Virginia did, and any like
we just got a tip at the last second or
a bucket that rolled in, and you're like, man, we
lost a really close game. Virginia got their ass kicked.
And I think that also factors in with what is
our larger question here, our larger question for the day.
(29:51):
And I was fascinated to see the results on this,
and usually I'm out here like you know what, I
agree with the Outkicked polsters. Last night about midnight, I
put up Buster Douglas versus Mike Tyson or U NBC
versus U v A, which is the bigger upset, and
U NBC was dominating over Buster Douglas. So I said,
(30:13):
all right, let's expand this after consultation in the first
couple of hours of the show. And by the way,
I encourage all of you out there to go listen
to the OutKick podcast, as millions of you are every
single month. Go downloaded, search out out Kick, Go listen
to us. We appreciate it. We're the four biggest upsets
of the past forty years in the world of sports.
(30:36):
I gave you four options. I gave you US Hockey
over USSR in Olympic hockey. I gave you a Buster
Douglas over Mike Tyson. I gave you app State beating
Michigan in the Big House, and u NBC over u
v A. We put this up about an hour ago
(30:57):
on my Twitter feed. At Clay Travel US, you can
go vote. We've got eleven thousand votes in so far.
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