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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is Fox Sports Countdown. We're setting you up for
their sports weekend and covering all the action from the
stadiums to the arenas. This is Fox Sports Countdown, brought
to you my bet MGN, making legendary to the Countdown

(00:23):
starts nine. Lying from the Fox Sports Radio studios. Here's
Brian no, Rich Hornberger and Jared Smith.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Oh what is going on? Happy Saturday to you. Good morning.
Hopball is well and we got a lot going on,
lots going on here this time of year. You got
March Madness right around the corner, got the.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
Conference championships all lined up left and right, and uh, it's.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
A great time of year.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
Man, note doubt, Little World Baseball Classic, NFL News Colore, Kyler,
Murray Lands. We got high jinks in Baltimore with the Ravens,
all that good stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Morning, Good morning Zer and everything good.

Speaker 4 (01:05):
With you guys. Oh things are good.

Speaker 5 (01:08):
It is uh we are we are looking at a
dark sky over the Mission Valley. Y m c A
here as I wait, as I wait for my debut
as a youth basketball coach. Oh boy, it's now listen,
it's it's an interim capacity, but I'm taking this seriously.

(01:29):
I've been doing wind sprints in the parking lot for
a long time here, and so as soon as this
show ends, I'm gonna be running into the gym. I'm
gonna grab my whistle and I'm gonna pull my socks up,
and I'm going to guide the seven under SuperSonics to
victory today, guys, So wish me luck.

Speaker 4 (01:49):
Wish me luck, good luck.

Speaker 6 (01:51):
Definitely a thrill. It's a thrill As someone who coaches
twelve year olds in football last year, it's a It's
a different experience, Brian, because you're I feel like I
want to impart my wisdom on them analytically, and they're
just looking at me like, hey man, just just throw
me the ball, Like, just call the play that's going
to throw me the ball. I don't really care what

(02:12):
your you know, your stupid analytics are talking about here
or whatever. It's fun, though, it's very rewarding, very awarding.

Speaker 3 (02:18):
By the way, I have to know before we, you know,
talk about the action from yesterday in college hoops and
the goofy led court that is no more in the
Big twelve. How did you get roped into this rich show?
You know, it's an interim basis I just picture, I
don't know, a dad is coaching and is a little
sick or a little under the weather. Hey, we need

(02:38):
someone to step in. And Rich is like, I really
don't want Richerre the only guy that.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Can fill it.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
Like what happened just an interim basis, I don't want
to be full time.

Speaker 2 (02:48):
What's the scenario here?

Speaker 5 (02:49):
Well, so, yeah, and you you absolutely nailed it. The
details are a little off, but basically the current coach
is a dad of one of the players on the
team couldn't make it for this weekend for one reason
or another, and so was literally just scanning the gym.

Speaker 4 (03:06):
For a parent to make eye contact with him.

Speaker 5 (03:10):
And I was just like, oh, hey, what's up, Ben,
And he goes, ah, Rich just the man.

Speaker 4 (03:15):
I wanted to talk to.

Speaker 5 (03:17):
And I have this unbelievable knack for saying the word
yes before processing anything else. But literally, I will walk
away from a conversation. I'll be like, I think I
just agreed to go to Dubai and I don't. I'm
not sure I could point to that on a map

(03:37):
right now, you know, Like I'm this, there's a reason
why certain people should not go into those timeshare meetings.
I'm the reason because I'll end up with spending thirty
thousand dollars a year for forty years and then wake
up one day and be like, you know what, I
think I need a lawyer.

Speaker 4 (03:57):
You know, so you I got rope fantastic.

Speaker 6 (04:00):
You're gonna do fantastic.

Speaker 4 (04:01):
Thank you.

Speaker 6 (04:02):
I I already put some money down on the under
seven Super Sonics today to get across the finish line.
You know, I have full faith in the head coach
to draw up the game plan that will lead them
to victory.

Speaker 4 (04:15):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
By the way, uh, you know, as we pivot from
what is it seven and under rich seven and under
to uh these conference tournaments here? What a game last
night between Arizona and Iowa State. There was some that
was some high level basketball. The last four minutes are
just trading shots left and right. Jayden Bradley hits the

(04:37):
game winner at the buzzer, which is a really tough shot.
When he took the shot, I was like, I just said,
that's a tough shot. You know, I don't have time
for anything else, meaning like good luck hitting that one.
And as soon as I said that, Swish and the
Wildcats are moving on in the Big twelve tournament. But
what a game, man, that was an outstanding game. The

(04:58):
final four minutes, that was high level stuff. You know, me,
I'm watching NBA. I can't give up the NBA, and
every now and then these college games it's just like
brick brick, not even close, not even remotely close, you know.
But last night in that game, that was high level
shot making a lot of fun and Arizona pulls it
out and the Iowa State fans they just pan over to.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
Them and they're like, it's over. I mean, just like that,
it's over.

Speaker 3 (05:22):
We hit a three, taman Lipsey hit a three to
tie it up eighty eighty and the next thing you know,
Bradley hits this ridiculous shot at the buzzer and it's over.

Speaker 2 (05:31):
They're like, we just go home. Now, what do we do?
What's our course of action here? It was an outstanding
ending to that game.

Speaker 4 (05:37):
Yeah. I really enjoyed it too, And you know, Arizona.

Speaker 5 (05:41):
Obviously we all get caught up in the final moments
of any game, especially when that ends in such heroic fashion.
But Arizona's offensive efficiency is really what flipped the game
in the second half. They didn't just win a buzzer beater.
They won the efficiency battle, shooting fifty five plus per
seon from the field overall, fifty percent from three, and

(06:03):
in the second and half alone they shot sixty over
sixty two percent from the field and that turned around
the six point deficit. So when you said the shot
creation was impressive by Arizona, your spot on like, they
just found ways to get the open look. They found
ways to make the best decision in the half court

(06:26):
every single possession. And that matters because Iowa State's defensive
identity is built around disruption, Right, They're trying to force
ugly possessions. When the team that they're facing shoots over
sixty percent in the final twenty minutes, I mean that
just goes to show you how talented Arizona can be

(06:46):
when they're playing their best. And I think they played
their absolute best in the second half.

Speaker 4 (06:50):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (06:50):
I was doing some deep diving last night on like
the profile of championship teams and what their average efficiency
margins are, and both Iowa State and Arizona are above
the median of what the average champion has done in
terms of the Ken Palm efficiency margin. Right, it's a
net rating essentially your offensive and defensive margins. They ad

(07:12):
them together and you get a positive. Obviously, all the
good teams are all positive. But the hot for example,
and this is I think this is a historically good
year for the great teams. What do I mean by that?
So over the last twenty years, since two thousand, the
highest highest the max efficiency margin for any NCUBA champion

(07:32):
is a plus thirty seven and a half. You have
four teams right now that are above that margin. Four
teams above that margin heading to the tournament, Duke, Michigan, Arizona,
and Florida. So you have four teams entering this tournament
that have a higher efficiency margin than any other NCUBA
champion over the last twenty years. That's how good the

(07:53):
great teams are this year. And if you're thinking, hey,
I'm gonna take this bracket on Sunday and I'm gonna
put some sin RelA in the championship game, forget about it.
It ain't happening. I think the top eight teams right now,
I would even narrow it down to the top six.
I would draw the line at Iowa State, Duke, Michigan, Arizona, Florida, Houston,
Iowa State, I don't think there's a champion that's gonna

(08:16):
come from outside of that top six. That's how good
these great teams are this year. They are historically good
entering the tournament. Brian, it really is I think a
just a cavern of difference between these good and you know,
slightly above average teams. Right, Typically we get one or
two teams that sneak their way into the final four,

(08:37):
right they are four, they're a five seed, they get hot.
I just I don't know if that's gonna happen this year.
I think that's how good the Dukes, the Michigans, the Arizonas,
the Iowa States, the Floridas are. It's gonna be really
you're gonna have to shoot. For example, Florida shot like
ten per fifteen percent from three yesterday, still almost won
by double digits against the good Kentucky team. Like these

(08:58):
good teams are just so freaking talented, and you saw
it on display last night, like Frasers versus Ali, Iowa
State in Arizona, two of those great teams trading haymakers
down the stretch.

Speaker 3 (09:11):
I agree with you, but it's gonna sound like I
disagree with you.

Speaker 2 (09:16):
In true no fashion, Right, I hear what you're saying.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
But I think what's interesting is it works both ways,
where it's it's gonna be really tough for someone outside
of your top six, top eight Jared to crack the
final four to win it all.

Speaker 2 (09:32):
Like I, it's gonna be incredibly hard to do.

Speaker 3 (09:34):
I don't see anyone outside of that winning it all.
Maybe someone cracks the final four, that's possible. But I
also think it works in reverse two, where even though
those teams that you mentioned have largely separated themselves from
the pack, you still see some things like yesterday, if
you look at Michigan, Michigan barely beats an unranked Ohio
State team and you're like, wait, what's going on here?

Speaker 2 (09:56):
Duke the dookies.

Speaker 3 (09:57):
They barely beat Florida State a couple nights ago. It's
a one point game, you know, and it's like, what's
going on here exactly? So there've been some close calls
from the big boys. So I could certainly see some
of those teams getting upset earlier than we anticipated. But
to your point, it's going to be really tough to
crack that fortress, if you will, with the top six,

(10:19):
top eight teams to even get to the Final four
because they are that good. Another team I want to
put on your radar is sticking with the Big twelve.

Speaker 2 (10:27):
What has happened to Kansas?

Speaker 4 (10:29):
My lord?

Speaker 3 (10:29):
They get rolled by twenty two points against Houston yesterday,
never a ballgame, never even close.

Speaker 2 (10:35):
Think about it wasn't that long ago.

Speaker 3 (10:38):
They're beating the number one Arizona Wildcats at home at
the fog without Darren Peterson.

Speaker 2 (10:44):
And look at them now.

Speaker 3 (10:45):
The Jayhawks are just falling apart, ripping apart at the seams.
And I don't see them as one of those teams
that would have at least a puncher's chance to penetrate
those teams that you talked about, Jared.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
I just don't see it right now.

Speaker 5 (11:00):
Yeah, I agree with you. I feel like I feel
like this is gonna be one of the more.

Speaker 4 (11:06):
Don't get me wrong.

Speaker 5 (11:07):
I do think there can be early round upsets when
you have sixty four teams and you're whittling the field
to thirty two, there's always gonna be upsets.

Speaker 4 (11:15):
But I think once we head into.

Speaker 5 (11:17):
You know, Sweet sixteen territory, once we head into Elite
eight territory, I think this bracket's gonna get awfully chalky,
and I would be frankly shocked if one of these
teams that Girard was pointing out the top four of
the top five falls or falters, unless they're sharing the

(11:39):
same corner of a bracket with one of these other teams,
which the NCAA does not want to do. They want
to make things as competitive as possible. So unless that's
the case, we're gonna we're gonna see a lot of
chalk making it to the final four, and who knows,
maybe that's a good thing for the sport from a
standpoint of viewership. If if your goal like our our,

(12:02):
I think our stated goal at the end of the
college football season, or maybe our stated opinion as a
show at the end of the college football season was
we want to see the best competition facing off against
each other, like I think we've seen. Unfortunately, the group
of five conversation get extinguished, snuffed out over the past

(12:24):
two years. Playoff expansion, additional or I should say additions
to this has not helped, you know, I mean, we've
seen enough and so in that unless unless you have
a situation where you know, a couple of these teams
are bunched together in the same corner of the bracket.

(12:45):
We're going to see a Chockey final for it, and
I'm fine with that. I think that may the best
competition win and let us see the best basketball played
by the best basketball players, played by the best teams
in the most competitive conferences beat up on each in
this tournament. That's kind of what it's all about, is
testing these better teams might and will against each other

(13:07):
to see who's truly the champ.

Speaker 4 (13:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (13:10):
To Brian's point, I mean, you do nothing to you
can't rule anything out in this time of year. I'm
not saying it's impossible that we get, you know, a
George Mason, you know VCU type of run San Diego State,
Florida Atlantic type of run into the final four. It
just I think of the years that I'm seeing, based
off of the margins, that I think that will be

(13:31):
less likely than in prior years. Kansas is one of
those teams ceiling high, floor low. I mean, I think
you know that they have the ability to pull off
an upset of one of these big boys, but I
would say they also have the ability to get bounced
in the first round by a twelve, like if it's
a five to twelve matchup, Like, would you be shocked

(13:51):
if A twelve upsets Kansas to the first I would not.
I think they have a lower floor than maybe some
of these other high major teams. I think the of
of the team of the conferences that I think have
the best chance to put a let's call it a
lower than a four seed in the final four, I

(14:12):
think the SEC's probably the one i'd pick. I'll be honest.
The game last night. You watched the game last night
between Arkansas Oklahoma. This Darius Acuff kid, if he get
if if he turns into a microwave at any point
over the next week or two, Arkansas could could could
make some noise, I think, right, because that's that's what
I look for, Brian, when I look for a team

(14:33):
that has to win, you know, six games over a
three week stretch, it's do you have the guard that
can just absolutely explode? Like do you have a Jerry
McNamara shout out to Sienna, by the way, Jerry McNamara
head coach, first year, you know, going to the tournament
in his second year as the head coach, turning around
in a Siena program that was in the dregs Could
you have a Jerry McNamara that can hit six threes

(14:55):
in the first half of a National Championship game against Kansas? Right, Like,
do you have that kind of player who who could
just explode? I think he's one of them. How about
the other kid who's probably gonna be a number one
pick the Bants. I probably mispronounced the last name from Byu.
Like that's another kid right BYU sitting in that you know,
five six seed range kind of like that's another if

(15:16):
he gets hot, like he could just fill it up
and just really call some problems for one of these
high majors, one of these top ten teams. So you
don't want to rule it out because it's March and
you want the madness. But man, like, it's just I
think it's gonna be tough for someone, for someone not
named Duke Michigan, Arizona, Florida, Houston, Iowa State. Like I'll
take those six teams. I'll even give you four, Like

(15:37):
I'll say Duke Michigan, Arizona, Florida, and I'll give you
the rest of the field. And I feel like I
feel like I've got the odds in my corner.

Speaker 3 (15:45):
I think it's gonna be a fun tournament because yeah,
like you said, a Cuff.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
Junior, Oh my god, he's unbelievable.

Speaker 4 (15:52):
Man, he is.

Speaker 3 (15:52):
And that Arkansas offense, I mean really, that's what's gonna
be so interesting about the tournament is you know these
teams in a one game scenario, Arkansas, you know, like
you get them in one game scenario, or Dabansa in
a one game scenario, it's like, oh my gosh, they
can take down the biggest of the big boys.

Speaker 2 (16:10):
But for those.

Speaker 3 (16:11):
Teams to win four games to get to the Final four,
it's not gonna be easy. But in a one game scenario,
they can take down some giants right there, real fast.
I did want to mention the goofy led court that
is no more Scott the NBA synthetic basketballs where they're
all right, that's dumb, We're done with that. Let's just

(16:31):
get the real basketballs back in here. Sorry, experiment gone wrong.
We're pivoting here. And that's what the Big twelve did.
They had this led court so it lit up underneath
this little surface.

Speaker 2 (16:44):
Players are slipping all over the place.

Speaker 3 (16:46):
And they just said, all right with that, bring in
the wooden court for the final three games. I liken
it to this, all right. Every now and then I
have goofy comparisons. I think this one is spot on.

Speaker 4 (16:57):
You know, the.

Speaker 2 (16:57):
Girls that will get tattoo who's right on their chest? Unnecessary.
That is an area that does not need to be
spruced up, you know what I'm saying. That's like a
basketball floor.

Speaker 3 (17:08):
We don't need led courts, we don't need graphics on
the court.

Speaker 2 (17:13):
Unnecessary. Just bring in the wood. It's fine. You don't
need to reinvent, reinvent the wheel over here, rich.

Speaker 5 (17:19):
Yeah, we're all looking anyways to put it in uh,
to put it in plain words. You go, yeah, it's
it's it's. Uh, it's true. I think to a certain extent,
I agree with you. And then there's a poll. You know,
I'm a dad. I got a ten year old, I
have a seven year old. I love the fact that
they're both into sports. My seven year old way more

(17:40):
into sports than my ten year old, but he's coming around.
And the reason why I like it. I don't care
if they play sports. I honestly I'm into whatever they're into.
So if they're into science, I'll be the Bill Nye
of the the ulda sac. If if my son wanted
to be in ballet, I'd be on the sidelines eating popcorn.

Speaker 4 (17:58):
Like plea a go, you know, like whatever. I don't
know any ballet.

Speaker 5 (18:03):
But the point I'm trying to make is when when uh,
these leagues or these these sports leagues, whether it be
professional or college, they're they're looking to try to entice
the young viewer in some way, which I kind of
feel like, this is what that was. You know, maybe
maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm naive. Maybe this was a

(18:24):
great opportunity for them to like sort of soft launch
something that they could advertise more things by you know,
having an led cord. I don't know, like maybe there
is a bigger capitalistic reasoning behind this, but but it kind.

Speaker 4 (18:40):
Of felt to me like, oh, I get it.

Speaker 5 (18:42):
They're they're trying to make things a little bit more
exciting for the TikTok era that's coming up right now.

Speaker 4 (18:48):
And and I'm.

Speaker 5 (18:49):
Supportive of that because I think sports are important for kids,
and I could understand trying to cast a wider net,
but in practice, putting a slippery court down for some
of the most important games of a basketball player's future
or his season. Yeah, a very well a very good,

(19:10):
well conceived idea, a very poorly executed idea.

Speaker 6 (19:14):
Yeah, definitely for the younger generation, I would be more
in favor of an alt cast. Right they do the
alt cast for for some of the sports, Right, we
get that the Nickelodeon ones. Yeah, let me get the
you know, like, I think that would be a better
way to maybe try to bring in a younger audience.
The irony here is the women's teams played on that
court last week, Like you know, they had the Women's

(19:35):
Big twelve tournament before the men, and the women were
also complaining about it, and I thought that maybe they
should have taken that as the warning and not allowed
the men to. I think there was one or two
injuries that came from it, which I don't know if
those are teams that are gonna be in the tournament
or not, but it just it seemed like it was

(19:55):
kind of overkill. Like, I agree, we need to figure
out ways to bring the younger audience in, but I
think there's better ways to do it than to mess
with the player safety.

Speaker 3 (20:04):
Yeah right, yeah, if you can meet in the middle, fine, yeah,
you know, if guys are slipping all over the place, no, No,
it's a no flag zone.

Speaker 2 (20:11):
All right, We're often running. We've got Rich Hornberger, Penn
State All American, Jared Smith FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian No.

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is Countdown. BETMGM. Make it legendary ball always on the brain.
A lot has changed in one NFL offseason. We'll give
you a couple of examples. Right around the corner. It
is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM.

Speaker 1 (20:52):
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Speaker 7 (21:05):
Steve Gott's here. I have a podcast Empire. It continues
to grow and I have brought it here to iHeart.
I'm also doing a live radio show from three to
five pm Eastern because my wife wanted to kick me
out of the house. It's called ste Gotson Company Live,
which is available in podcast form right when the show
finishes every single day. Some of the biggest names in sports,

(21:29):
a lot of phone.

Speaker 4 (21:30):
Calls I love you on the show. It's one of
my favorites.

Speaker 7 (21:32):
A lot of interaction, guys not taking themselves too seriously.
Those are just some of the things that you can
expect from Stu Gottson Company and Stegotson Company Live. So
listen to Steve Gotson Company Live and our original podcast.
Please subscribe, rate and review Stu Gotson Company and God
Bless Football. Taylor's livelihood depends on it. You do it

(21:55):
today and you can check all of those out on
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Speaker 6 (22:00):
Wherever you get your podcast.

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(22:27):
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BETMGM app All right, So a lot of change going
on in this NFL offseason. The first one I couldn't
believe this. I was like, is this one of those
like fake AI videos. I wasn't sure if this was
real at first, but it is.

Speaker 4 (22:48):
It's real.

Speaker 2 (22:49):
So this is Travis A Chan. That's right, not Travis Etn.

Speaker 3 (22:54):
You might know him, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars, played
college ball at Clemson, right, Travis Etn. Just so we're
on the same page. Turns out that's not how you
pronounce his name at all.

Speaker 8 (23:04):
Listen to this growing up Travis ah Chan, so it'd
be like A H, A and E, and that's how
you always said Travis ah Chang.

Speaker 4 (23:11):
But when I went to.

Speaker 8 (23:12):
College, Uh, I kept telling them telling him in my
name like every day, every day, every day, and like
I've like four weeks, they just couldn't get it. So
I'm like, man, it's Etn, Like is how you see it? Is?

Speaker 2 (23:22):
How you said, wow, whoa, how crazy? That's just mind
blowing right there.

Speaker 3 (23:27):
Truth Like, so, for all these years in the NFL
and going back to Clemson, everyone who said your name
is just mispronouncing it. It's like Devon a Chan the
Dolphins running back, right, that's how you pronounce Travis formerly
known as Etn.

Speaker 2 (23:44):
It's Travis a Chan. That blew my freaking mind. I
love that he just went along with it.

Speaker 3 (23:49):
He's like, yeah, you know, actually, you guys are right,
it's Etn even though it's not.

Speaker 2 (23:53):
But we'll just go with who are these like? Backwoods Clemson?
You know what?

Speaker 6 (23:59):
H and what do you mean?

Speaker 2 (24:01):
Just can't get what are we doing here?

Speaker 6 (24:03):
Come by?

Speaker 4 (24:04):
That's crazy, unbelievable.

Speaker 5 (24:05):
Well, actually I've heard the story told more than once
and by both brothers. But Travis and Jason, the correct
pronunciation of their last name is actually Kelse, so another
another Travis in the NFL at one point just relented
to the the broadcasters and the writers who just couldn't

(24:28):
seem to get it right, and they went by Travis
and Jason Kelcey for the remainder of their career because
people are like, that's not kelse there's an e at
the end, and so it's just it's just sort of
what happened. And you know, you know what's so funny
is we we then like we attached like brands to

(24:50):
like it means the Kelsey brothers, Like I mean, it's
it just said. It's so nothing else sounds right to
you at a certain point.

Speaker 4 (24:57):
And Travis etn to me in my.

Speaker 5 (25:00):
Brain, if his name comes up on you know, Yahoo
or ESPN Fantasy when I'm drafting my team next year,
I'm not gonna be saying Travis h Chan to my
group because they will have no.

Speaker 4 (25:13):
Idea who I'm talking about.

Speaker 5 (25:15):
I'm going to draft Travis Etien, hopefully with a low pick.

Speaker 4 (25:19):
That's why there's high value.

Speaker 9 (25:21):
I yeah, I get where he's coming from about getting
tired of correcting people. One side of my family, the
name is Lemier, although it's spelled like Lemieux, like the
hockey player. But even even going Lemier, because from Rhode Island,
even going to Lemi or to Lemieux, even going to Lemieux,
people will still not be able to say Lemieux. They'll

(25:43):
they'll do like Lemi er so like I mean, not
not Lemere. They'll do like Lemmy Ox or people. People
in this country just do not know how to print,
especially French names, but they really do not know how
to pronounce names. Yeah, you just give up after a while,
like after after like fifteen years or whatever. It's not
worth my I'm.

Speaker 6 (26:01):
Just curious what other names we've been mispronouncing all the
show that the first thing I thought about with called it.

Speaker 5 (26:08):
I've called it died John Mustard for the longest and
nobody can convince me otherwise, gentlemen.

Speaker 6 (26:15):
So yeah, well, pronouncing names is something that especially in
the broadcasting industry. I remember theirs my first gig. Here's
the fun story. My first gig out of college. I
was the PA announcer for the Richard Stockton College soccer
team in uh Pomona, New Jersey, South Jersey. I was
interning in Atlantic at the ESPN Radio Filly in Atlantic

(26:37):
City at the time, and it was unpaid. My first
actual paid job was the PA announcer for this small
D three school And I remember the first time trying
to pronounce the names. I was so nervous. I got
one name wrong, and I remember looking down into the
stands and then and the eyes of the mother was
was staring back at me this angry gaze.

Speaker 2 (26:59):
You're like, he's not quite on the money there.

Speaker 6 (27:02):
She came up after the after the announcement. She's like,
that's not how you pronounced my daughter's name. And if
people take this stuff, it's the it's I mean, it's
your family name. So I understand how important it is.
So we I apologize, Travis. You know, I think hopefully
we pronounce your name right for the rest of your career.

Speaker 3 (27:23):
You know what's funny is if you look at pro
Reference Pro Football Reference, it still has the pronunciation.

Speaker 2 (27:28):
E T N.

Speaker 3 (27:30):
Yeah they have not yet, but yeah, four years in
the NFL, we've been mispronouncing it the whole time. But
I love the end of what he had to say
at his introductory press conference. Now with the Saints, Travis Hn,
here you go.

Speaker 8 (27:44):
I'm very much open to hing Travis Hn again just
being myself. I don't have the correct people here on
how to say my name each and every day, and
I kind of love that, and that's just uh, just
get back to me.

Speaker 3 (27:57):
I love that where it's like, hey, I can be
me again here in New Orleans, like they know what's
going on, they know what time it is it's a
Hn And everybody in New Orleans is like, oh, yeah,
it makes perfect sense. It doesn't look anything like that,
but that's how it's pronounced. Like he's gonna fit in
great there in New Orleans.

Speaker 4 (28:12):
Yeah, that's uh what what?

Speaker 5 (28:14):
What a relief for Travis Hn and what an incredible
pain in the neck for the rest of us?

Speaker 4 (28:19):
So really.

Speaker 6 (28:22):
Really selfish?

Speaker 5 (28:25):
Yeah, I mean, how dare you want to be called
by his actual berths off?

Speaker 4 (28:29):
Oh I can't stand him? Now?

Speaker 6 (28:32):
You think it's a Cajun thing? Do you think maybe
because it's Louisian, right, they have a different dialect, maybe
they have the ability to you know, absorb that type
of name where they do have some pretty unique names
down there.

Speaker 5 (28:43):
Yeah, that's a that was a French territory that we
we bought, you know what I mean? Like that that's
you know, I mean the United States was kind of
parceled off between the Brits and the French, and we
we bought our way all the way to the west coast.
And Louisiana is literally named after a French king, So
so yeah, the French quarter in New Orleans, I mean,

(29:06):
there's there's definitely a heavy French influence down there, So
I bet you, I bet you that conversation was generated
by somebody down there in the Bayou who goes, that's
not how that's pronounced. You are you comfortable with people
mispronouncing your name? And he probably went, oh my god, it.

Speaker 6 (29:27):
Was vindicated after years of being mispronounced. That actually is
one of the wild that like you like during the week, right,
And there's a lot going on in sports this week, right,
NFL four agency and the college basketball and stuff. That
story like really stuck, like stood out like it was.
It was very viral, as they say, and for something
like that to go viral in this culture, it was

(29:50):
a big story this week, and I think it kind
of just speaks to, you know, the culture that we're
in and how people do identify themselves. And it was
an interesting one. It definitely caught my eye this week.

Speaker 4 (29:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (30:00):
And another story as far as the big NFL offseason changes,
how about Kyler Murray signing with the Vikings. It is official,
he signs for the veteran League minimum. Of course, Arizona
owes him just under thirty seven million dollars, so he
signs a deal with the Vikings just over a million bucks, right,
so pretty good signing financially for the Vikings. And I

(30:23):
do love this how the reports are the Vikings aren't
giving up on JJ McCarthy by any stretch. It's like, okay,
all right, yeah, this is the Vikings being in a
relationship and they just went on a date with the
hot secretary. And then someone's like, aren't you in a relationship, Vikings?
And they're like, oh yeah, we're still in a thriving
relationship that has not run its course by any means.

(30:45):
And you're like, okay, all right, like what are we
doing here? And I just don't I don't mean to
be critical all across the board, but I don't know
how Kyler Murray became good in one off season, Like
the positivity with this move, like.

Speaker 2 (30:58):
Oh wow, they got Kyler Murray, Like whoa look at it.
It's like he's you realize this.

Speaker 3 (31:03):
He's thrown twenty six touchdown passes in an NFL season.
That's as high in seven seasons as twenty six touchdown passes.
If you look at his career passer rating, it's ninety
two point two. And just for reference, that's a Skoch
better than Jackson Dart's rookie season, like that's what he's
given you in a seven year clip. And I get

(31:25):
some of the optimism where it's like, hey, justin Jefferson.
Now he asked Kevin O'Connell, look what KOC did with
Sam Darnold, Like, WHOA, let's go. I get some of
the optimism, but man, I think it's going way too
far where people are acting like this is an upper
echelon signing.

Speaker 2 (31:41):
It's just not.

Speaker 3 (31:43):
I'm excited to see what he can do, but I'm
telling you the ceiling isn't as high as some people
think it is here.

Speaker 5 (31:50):
I think with talent, and Kyler Murray has talent, and
I think if you look at his only at his
passing stats and not the full quarterback profile including all
the rushing, you're missing obviously what's so great about Kyler Murray?

Speaker 4 (32:08):
And I do mean.

Speaker 5 (32:09):
Great in the relative term. I mean, do I think
he is a top ten quarterback routinely in the NFL?

Speaker 1 (32:15):
No?

Speaker 4 (32:16):
I do not.

Speaker 5 (32:17):
He's fallen to the middle tier. I would say, just
as many times as he's crested the top ten over
the course of his time in the league. And that
is sort of a swinging pendulum like sometimes he looks
really good. You could argue in games, in two game stretches,
in month long bouts, he looks like a top ten

(32:37):
quarterback and then he'll regress, and that has been the
story of his career. But a quarterback with that level
of talent, with a coach with Kevin O'Connell's level of talent,
where I do think he'll find a way to make
him a system fit with such low downside is the
most important thing. This is the ultimate upside signing. He

(33:02):
is talented, he is cheap, he's relatively durable. He did
have that knee injury a couple of years ago, but
overall he's been on the field more than he's been
away from it. That hasn't been a huge problem for
Kyler Murray. Albeit he's diminutive in size. I think that's
the reason, Brian, why there's so much excitement and interest

(33:23):
over this signing.

Speaker 4 (33:26):
I think it would be revisionist history.

Speaker 5 (33:28):
To go back and say, yeah, Kyler Murray is one
of those quarterbacks who's just been so you know, celestially
great that you know, I mean, this guy is you know,
he's left the planet with his ability no no, no, no,
that's not what this is. It's just an exciting experiment
as a one off to see if one of these

(33:48):
quarterback whisperer coaches like Kevin O'Connell clearly is, can take
this old house and spruce it up a little bit
over the course of an offseason and a season. And
if he doesn't, if they kind of flail and miss, well,
at least they didn't spend a ton of money. You know,
they're only committed what like a million bucks maybe a

(34:11):
little over a million dollars plus maybe some incentives. What
the bigger story here is, Man, did they miss on
JJ McCarthy and that's a really bad thing.

Speaker 6 (34:21):
And also letting Donald walk. I mean you could argue
that too, although I mean we'll see what, you know,
the history books say about that over the next year
or so. Although to be fair, the Seahawks just won
the Super Bowl, so it's hard to really be down
on Donald right now. All the money that they owe
home over the next year, so might might might turn
out to be something that Minnesota doesn't want to be

(34:41):
tied to. I think that's why the GM lost his job.
I think that's why they're going through all this turmoil
right now. I mean, I think it's it's it's roses
for Minnesota. They've got to feel great about getting a
guy like Kyler Murray at such a cheap price. I mean,
the quarterback position in the NFL is know, that is
the most expensive position in sports. So to get a

(35:03):
guy with Murray's upside, even if you don't capture that upside,
it is a low risk, high reward scenario. It's like
banking on a you know, it's like putting a dollar
on the parlay plotter. Like if we lose, all right,
so be it. It's a buck. But if we win, oh,
we get five, six, seven, eight to one payouts, right Like,
It's just it's a low risk, high reward type of situation.

(35:23):
And if anyone can turn Kyler into a star, you know,
back into a star, why not Kevin O'Connell. I mean,
I think that he certainly has the ability to do so.
But yeah, I would say the headline of this story
is less about Kyler Murray and more about JJ McCarty.
I would say it's like seventy thirty in the they're
more down on McCarthy than they are high on Murray.

(35:45):
And the two situation is the same thing, right, Brian,
Like Atlanta just brought into and it's very similar. They
don't really feel that comfortable with Bennex, like, yeah, we
got to bring someone in that maybe can you know,
capture lightning in a bottle and give us some production
because we drafted this kid in the first round, top
ten pick, and he's just not so far panning out
to what we expected. So both McCarthy and Pinex are
both kind of in this limbo category where the expectations

(36:06):
were high, they've not met those expectations, and now you're
bringing in some veteran assistance to try to spurn some production.

Speaker 2 (36:13):
Spurn some production. That's absolutely right.

Speaker 4 (36:16):
I like that.

Speaker 2 (36:16):
It's a good description right there.

Speaker 6 (36:18):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (36:19):
Look, I just if you look at JJ McCarthy, it's
gonna be interesting to see if it sort of plays
this same way out with Kyler Murray. Meaning this there
was really no honeymoon for JJ McCarthy. You remember the
conversation at the beginning was like, Oh, yeah, we're gonna
be patient. We're gonna be patient.

Speaker 4 (36:36):
You know.

Speaker 3 (36:37):
Fans were like, oh, we're gonna be patient. It's like,
you don't know what patient means. Like, if you look
it up in the dictionary, you're like, holy cow, it
does exist in the dictionary. Like, fans are not patient
at all. Organizations are not patient. And so the deal
with JJ McCarthy, who's injured his whole rookie season, played
ten games, looked bad, was banged up.

Speaker 2 (36:56):
We get it.

Speaker 3 (36:57):
But there was no honeymoon. There's no patience. And so
that's what I wonder with Kyler Murray is it is
go time. That's a good supporting cast, it's a good roster,
you get good quarterback play. You could make a run
in the playoffs. Like, that's how talented the roster is.
So if Kyler Murray is inconsistent, good down, like, it's

(37:18):
gonna be pretty fascinating, fascinating to see how it plays out.
Because there was just no time for a honeymoon. There
was no time to all right, you know what you're learning,
the system, you're getting used to your teammates. You know,
it's like, bro, the treadmill is on high right now,
and you've got to jump on and run and get
on board that. That's what every quarterback is expected to

(37:40):
do right now. I just think that, look, man, he's
talented Kyler Murray is he's also very inconsistent, and I
don't know why. We're just like fascinated.

Speaker 2 (37:51):
He's talented.

Speaker 6 (37:52):
It's like, give me.

Speaker 3 (37:53):
Consistency, you know, Like Justin Fields is crazy talented, he's
totally inconsistent, you know. So I want to see if
Kyler can revive his career. He's certainly in a good
place to do that. But you got to see a
lot more consistency than you've seen through seven seasons.

Speaker 2 (38:08):
It's a long time.

Speaker 3 (38:09):
All right, We've got Rich Hornberger, Penn State All American,
Jared Smith FSR betting analyst.

Speaker 2 (38:14):
I'm Brian No. Ready to shoot your shot.

Speaker 3 (38:17):
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(38:37):
hundred k in bonus bets. All right, coming up next
to Parlay Platter, whach have one selection for you. We
pool it together for a greater payout. We'll compare notes next.
That is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by betmgm. It
is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. College hoops fans,
Your next bet during March matchups at betmgm will go

(38:58):
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Speaker 2 (39:11):
Bet mgm is your sportsbook for all of it.

Speaker 3 (39:14):
Enjoy same game parlays, live betting through all your favorite games,
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Speaker 2 (39:22):
Alrighty, let's do this. Check this out ar Lay Flatterer, Okay.

Speaker 3 (39:29):
Flatter which have one selection for you? We pull it
together for a greater payout. Jared, we start with you.

Speaker 2 (39:35):
What do you like?

Speaker 6 (39:37):
Well, Ucla is a big dog today against Produce, so
Produce on my fade list for March. I just I
don't know. I guess there's something about Matt Painter in
this Purdue team that I just don't fully trust. And
UCLA's catching seven and a half today UCLA has already
beaten for dude this season. They were a five and
a half point dog back in January, won the game
by two out in Westwood. Now they're a seven and

(39:59):
a half point dog on a neutral site. I know
it's a much further trip obviously for you, uc LA
than it is for Purdue, but again, don't trust this
Purdue team fully. And Matt Painter two and fifteen against
the spread as a favorite in the Big Ten Tournament,
and that includes yesterday's win and cover against Nebraska. So
we're gonna fade the Painter Boys and Purdue. We're gonna

(40:23):
take UCLA plus seven and a half first leg of
the platter.

Speaker 5 (40:26):
Okay, very good. I'm going to the NBA and I'm
gonna take the Lakers on the money line. So they're
two and a half point dogs at home. They're coming
in hot, winning seven of their last eight, and when
that offense gets rolling with Lebron and Luka pushing tempo.

Speaker 4 (40:44):
They're almost impossible to slow down.

Speaker 5 (40:46):
The whole offense for the Nuggets runs through Nikolojokich and
they've struggled to contain shot creators from perimeter, and that's
what the Lakers are bringing in waves right now. So
if LA wins, the transition game force is jo Kich
the defending space. The Lakers have the momentum and the
star power. I think this is gonna be a w
They lost to the Nuggets within the past two weeks.

Speaker 4 (41:08):
That was a pretty close one. So give me the
Lakers at home.

Speaker 2 (41:12):
I'll look at you choosing this parlay up. Give me
the Ducies. I'll lay the seven and a half. Great
minds by the way, think alike.

Speaker 3 (41:19):
I was on UCLA as well, Jared, so a pivot
to the Dukies. They just obliterated Virginia what a couple
of weeks ago at home. I just don't see this
being completely different. Give me the Duchies minus seven and
a half. They're just way better than UVA.

Speaker 6 (41:35):
Plus six eighty six pretty good, almost seven to one,
not bad at all.

Speaker 2 (41:41):
Oh, what is going on? Happy Saturday to you? Hope
all is well.

Speaker 3 (41:45):
We got a lot of hoops, a lot of hoopskis
today very much looking forward to it. We will get
to a couple of the bigger tournament game matchups here
in just a second. Every time you make a wager
at bet MGM, you earn BETMGM rewards points that can
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MGM rewards points that could be used towards dining, shows

(42:05):
and hotel rooms at over twenty MGM resorts.

Speaker 2 (42:08):
And be sure to.

Speaker 3 (42:08):
Follow BETMGM across all socials at BETMGM. All right, if
we look at the big ten here, how about the Badgers.
Badgers got it done yesterday, outscoring Illinois game, you know,
high scoring game, went into overtime. They outlasted the ALLIONI
and the ALLIONI sucky defense. But hey, the Badgers move on.

(42:29):
They're taking on Michigan today. And how about this man,
Wisconsin plus.

Speaker 2 (42:33):
Twelve and a half. That's a lot of candy right there.
What do you think about this one? Rich Wisconsin can score.

Speaker 3 (42:40):
I don't love their defense at all, and Michigan they
can pound them in that interior. You know, the front
court is really an advantage with Michigan. But what do
you see in this one with the line of twelve
and a half?

Speaker 5 (42:52):
Yeah, I mean, Michigan's so much better now than when
they matched up earlier this season, and Wisconsin was able
to kind of the code against them. But the real
chess match is Michigan's elite defense and how that matches
up against Wisconsin's three point production. Wisconsin, they actually here's

(43:15):
the stat I love this. At fifty two point three
percent of Wisconsin's shots come from three. They are a
modern basketball team. They are analytics driven. You can tell
by the way they play. They are trying to get
a shooter open for his favorite spot beyond the art
to hit a three and look the math maths because

(43:39):
they're converting at thirty five point nine percent of those
shots taken, so they are volume shooters from three. They
make a lot of three pointers. However, Michigan is one
of the most efficient defensive teams in the conference. They
hold teams to about sixty nine points per game, so again,
not an easy nut to crack.

Speaker 4 (43:58):
Here's the bottom line.

Speaker 5 (44:00):
This game may come down to whether or not Michigan
to run shooters off the line. Wisconsin typically gets up
like thirty plus three pointers, so if you're able to
scare them away from the perimeter you refuse to allow
the Badgers to get hot. Then obviously that that twelve
and a half points they're favored by is gonna look

(44:22):
pretty good. But Wisconsin can be dangerous and it's kind
of like a cornered animal is a scary animal. Well badgers.
I don't know if you've seen him in the wild,
but you don't want to push him into a corner.

Speaker 6 (44:35):
Yeah, the game yesterday was nuts. They were down at half,
came back in one down six at half, score forty
eight in the second half. And I think I have
to update this. I was looking at it yesterday because
I was on Wisconsin plus nine yesterday against Illinois, and yeah.

Speaker 4 (44:49):
They hit, they hit.

Speaker 6 (44:50):
They only hit ten threes yesterday, so fit for forty
one from three forty one of their six or six shots.
It's nuts. So they are still because yesterday they did
not hit fifteen threes, but they still won the game.
They are seven and oh this year when hitting fifteen threes,
and the four of those seven wins number two Michigan.

(45:11):
They're only big ten loss this year. Illinois Perdue and
Michigan State and Michigan Illinois Perdue are on the road
on the road fifteen plus threes against top fifteen teams.
I mean, it's remarkable. They have no fear. Here's the
hard part about betting this game. I have no idea
if those threes are going in. Absolutely not. They're gonna

(45:33):
jack them up all day long. That's the only way
to beat Michigan today because Michigan's is gonna own the glass.
Michigan is an absolute beast in the glass. They are
one of those four teams if you missed it at
the top of the show, that are above where the
highest efficiency margin teams have won the national championship over
the last few years, over the last twenty years a
giant sample, they are above that efficiency margin. And it's

(45:56):
not because they're a great shooting team, because that's not
their strength. They are a decent shooting team, right They're
above thirty six percent from three. However, their best three
point shooter, Ljkson forty percent of the year forty percent
on the year, is now out with injury. He's been
out for about a month maybe actually know a little
bit less than that, about two weeks, so we haven't

(46:16):
seen the full effect of that yet. And I think
that's where Michigan scares me a little bit. If they
do get into a three point shooting contest with Wisconsin,
we know who the better team is in that category,
but it's Lendenborg. It's Morris Johnson, Andy Maher, the seven
foot three behemoth like Wisconsin does not have an answer
for that inside. So can Wisconsin pull Michigan away from

(46:40):
the paint and turn this into a shooting contest. If
that's the case, they're live in this game. I have
no idea if those shots are gonna fall. Sometimes they fall,
sometimes they know, Brian right, we saw it yesterday. It
was Kentucky and Florida bricking wide open threes and you're like,
this one has to go in. They brick the last three,
No brick. So it's real. That's the hardest thing to

(47:01):
do with sports, just like predicting in the NFL who's
gonna get the turnovers, So you don't know where the
ball is gonna bounce. Very hard to predict. Right, we say,
live by the three, died by the three. We have
no idea who is going to make those threes. But
if Wisconsin can knock them down, they are a very
live dog in this game.

Speaker 3 (47:16):
Yeah, it reminds me of a couple of things. Wisconsin
reminds me a little bit of the old Jay Wright
Villanova teams where they would shoot a ton of threes.
They'd have four guards out there, and a lot of
times in the tournament they just would clench up and
they couldn't buy a three and they had an early exit.

Speaker 2 (47:33):
And there were other.

Speaker 3 (47:33):
Times as they got more experience, they they're burying those
threes in bigger games, and now they're winning championships, you know. So,
like the disparity that you have with shooting a lot
of threes is really wide and oftentimes hard to predict.
Is this your night, you're just hot or you just
can't buy one. I look at Michigan where you just
mentioned the NFL Jared and my ears perk right up.

(47:56):
But if you compare this matchup Wisconsin and Michigan to
a football game, Michigan has a really good, really reliable.

Speaker 2 (48:05):
Running game, you know what I mean, like it's gonna work.

Speaker 3 (48:09):
And Wisconsin they have a really good passing game. And
there are times where they're kind of like the Ta Dolphins.

Speaker 4 (48:16):
You know.

Speaker 3 (48:16):
There are times when the weather's great and you know,
we're throwing on time with anticipation.

Speaker 2 (48:22):
Man, this looks pretty.

Speaker 3 (48:23):
And then there are other times where it's like, all right,
it's raining sideways, now what That's where I look at Wisconsin,
where they're just they're cold today, and it's like, well,
this passing game, it's just a little off, it's not functioning,
and we're screwed.

Speaker 4 (48:37):
You know.

Speaker 2 (48:37):
So that's really what it comes down to.

Speaker 3 (48:39):
Can Wisconsin hit outside shots, Yes, they've got a chance
to at least make it close. No, they could get
freaking crushed. But that's what the game's gonna come down to.

Speaker 5 (48:50):
It really is, and that's why the margin on the
spread is so wide because there's so much variance there
with these playing styles. Look Michigan on page, they're dominant
compared to Wisconsin in one very key category and that's rebounding.
You know, rebounds per game. Michigan on average as them

(49:11):
by over five. And then you just look at offensive
rebounding rate where Michigan really shines. Thirty almost thirty five
percent of shots that go up when they're on offense,
they're able to come down with. You know, so second
chance possessions for Michigan's the next opportunity to score in

(49:31):
their half court is so much better for Michigan. And
then you throw on top of it that if they're
stealing away those defensive rebounds where Wisconsin could get a
second chance. The second look at three. You know, you
break a three, you come down with it. If you're
the type of team that wants to keep pumping them up,

(49:53):
well you're gonna find the open shooter, maybe kick it
out to the corner you get another look. Well, Michigan
dominates on the boards, and so Wisconsin's edge in this
game is shot quality. They need to consistently find the
best shot. They need to start hitting those shots early
and get Michigan on the ropes. So this is one
of those games where if you're uncomfortable betting it, you know,

(50:15):
right now, while we're talking about it, watch this game.
See if Wisconsin's got some hot shooters, and then maybe
you could get a little bit more cozy with the
idea of taking the Badgers. But if they're not, if
those shots aren't falling for Wisconsin, I mean, this could
be an avalanche in the way of the Wolverines.

Speaker 6 (50:36):
Yeah, and here's here's the rub, because the points look
very enticing. Obviously with Wisconsin, I understand that. Here's the rub.
Michigan's lost one big ten game all year. It was
the Wisconsin. If they can win this game by fifty,
I think they will. Right Like there is in a
narrative to this. You have to remember you're dealing with

(50:57):
eighteen to twenty four year old I mean, I hope
there's no one that old on the team. Maybe there
is an eighteen to let's call it twenty three eighteen
to twenty three year old kids. I guarantee you last
night when they got back. And that's another reason, right,
like the conference tournaments are very intriguing from a big
spread perspective. Brian, Yeah, because there's this element of we

(51:20):
have to play again tomorrow. And I think that's where
the Ohio State game yesterday maybe got away from Michigan
a little bit. Where they were I think a similar
favorite and it you just didn't see that separation. Well,
now there's a light at the end of the tunnel
because there's only one game left they have to play tomorrow,
Whereas yesterday they thought they had to play two more games.

(51:41):
Let's keep a little petrol left in the tank because
we got to play Wisconsin or Illinois tomorrow. Now they
know there's only one game left tomorrow and it's a
revenge game now against Wisconsin. So I do think the
element of if Michigan can name their number today, I
think they will and that's where I would probably stay
off this game from a bet. This game does not

(52:03):
intrigue me too much from a betting perspective, because when
you look back at the odds history, and I just
posted this sheet if you follow me on x at
Jared Smithbetts, I just posted this sheet where it's all
of the prior matchups between the team. Right, there's a
bunch of games today, all of the teams have played
each other before. I like to look at what the
spreads and totals were in those games back in January
and February, maybe early March, and then compare them to

(52:25):
what we are seeing today. Well, if you look at
this Big ten game, right, Wisconsin was an eighteen and
a half point road dog in that game and the
total was one sixty nine and a half. So you're
looking now at today's game and it's obviously shifted dramatically
down to one sixty one. I think the spread's right.
I think right Michigan was an eighteen and a half
point favorite at home. Maybe they're a fifteen point on

(52:49):
a neutral, but I think you give Wisconsin some credit
for winning yesterday in Michigan. Will you know you downgrade
him a little bit for not covering, but that totals
dropped eight points since you know January, which is when
in early January. So I think the market's kind of
telling you that we don't think Wisconsin's gonna explode today.
But I would be I would be very, very hesitant.

(53:11):
I don't really like this game, frankly from a betting perspective.

Speaker 3 (53:14):
Yeah, It's it's almost like a cartoon. You know, you
see the cartoons where someone's just running super fascinatey just
put on the brakes, like like that's how I feel
where I'm like, I'm getting twelve and a half. I'm
almost running to the window, like let's go Badgers, and
I'm like, whoa, I got a bank on threes going in.

Speaker 2 (53:32):
You know, It's like I don't know.

Speaker 3 (53:34):
I'm probably like you, Jared, I probably just like go,
I'm gonna go a different way. I'm gonna go with
a different game or games today. How about Purdue against Ucla.
That's the other Big ten game and interesting matchup here
where if you look at Ucla suffered a big injury yesterday,
so they beat a top ten Michigan state team. Nice
win for the Bruins. They've played a lot better here

(53:56):
down the stretch after some embarrassing losses not that long ago.
But Tyler Billodeau he went down right knee injury. Head
coach Mick Cronin he said it would be a miracle
for him to play in the semi finals here. So
he's listed as doubtful, probably not going to play. That's
a big deal because you think about Kaufman, Wren, you
think about Kluff, the bigs of Purdue. When you lose

(54:18):
one of your bigs, and UCLA did this guy. If
you look at Billidehu what he's done this season, like,
he's averaging almost eighteen points a night and he's on
the shelf right now, that's a big loss for them.
So I think it's gonna have to be the Donovan
Dent show. Donovan Dent has scored at least twenty three
points in two of his last three games. He's been
an assist machine. But it's gonna take Dent playing special

(54:42):
and I think UCLA scoring a good amount of points
to compensate for that loss of Bilodoh.

Speaker 2 (54:48):
That's a big loss for them.

Speaker 4 (54:49):
Yeah, there's no question about it.

Speaker 5 (54:52):
I would say momentum favors UCLA. But Purdue's ceiling is
higher in my opinion, and in UCLA, they enter this
matchup on a four game winning streak heading into the semifinal.
Purdue looks shaky in the regular season and rebounded in

(55:13):
the tournament here. But you know, it's funny thing like
Uncle Moe momentum when when he gets invited to the party.

Speaker 4 (55:21):
It's a variety of things can happen.

Speaker 5 (55:24):
You can become a little too reliant on that, you
can become a little too you know, sure of yourself.
But I do think it matters. And sometimes we even
talk about this with tournament berths. And I'm not talking
about conference tournaments. I'm talking about the dance. You know,
a team that may have struggled in the regular season

(55:44):
or may have played in a conference with a lot
of parody, who goes on a hot run and ends
up winning their conference tournament. They can be live dogs
to start the tourney because all of a sudden, you know, yeah,
have a little bit of momentum in your you know,
a little wind in your sales. So it's kind of

(56:04):
like buyer beware with Purdue right now, I feel like
the Bruins are feeling themselves a little bit and and
that could spell trouble for the boiler Makers.

Speaker 1 (56:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (56:14):
I think that US is a pretty deep team. I
think Williams and Booker, the other two bigs are gonna
I think Booker is really the one Michigan State transfer
had a nice, you know, spark for them off the
bench yesterday. I think will be fine. I think this
is more about Purdue than it is about than.

Speaker 2 (56:32):
It right, Yeah, I think we lost Jared for a second.

Speaker 4 (56:43):
Yeah, I think it was Matt Painter.

Speaker 2 (56:45):
Matt Painter was like, he's coming after our squad and
he got his mic.

Speaker 3 (56:50):
Yeah, Purdue there they I'll pick up where Jared was
leaving off where it's more about Purdue if that's part
of the handicap, and it should be. Yeah, Purdue has
had a rough stretched here where they've lost it. They've
been about a five hundred basketball team over their last
fourteen ish games. Right, that's just not good enough when

(57:11):
you're going seven and seven thereabouts.

Speaker 2 (57:14):
To close it.

Speaker 3 (57:14):
They want a couple of games here in the Big
Ten Tournament, but they have looked rough many times here
rich So that's that's definitely the part of the handicap
that Jared's focused on is, Yeah, Purdue struggles. It makes
sense to look at it from that point of view.

Speaker 2 (57:29):
I get it.

Speaker 5 (57:30):
I don't want to I don't want to pile on
Purdue too bad, because I do think they have talent
and I do think that that to Jared's point, and
and you know, maybe against the point I was just making.
With the momentum that UCLA has on their side, I mean,
they're they're rebounding identity clashes directly with UCLA's ball movement offense.

Speaker 4 (57:55):
You know. So the way I see.

Speaker 5 (57:57):
This game is a little bit of a styles make
fights games perdue. They rank near the top of the
Big Ten in offensive rebounds Ucla. They rely more on
ball movement. They're going to find the open man every
single time. They average sixteen point two assists per game.

Speaker 4 (58:14):
That's a high number.

Speaker 5 (58:15):
So that means this is a team that's going to
throw the round ball around the horn until they find
the guy who's either driving toward the hoop or has
the best, most open look on the perimeter. And so again,
those style clashes can benefit one team or the other.
You know, right now, with momentum, you say, well, advantage UCLA,

(58:37):
but not so fast, because extra possessions through rebounding advantage perdue.
So you just don't know until you know, you got
to see how this game's going to unfold and unfurl.
It's a good matchup, you know What's also interesting as
a side note, when we're setting up the show and

(58:57):
we're kind of just you know, look, we don't write
any of this. This is all extemporaneous. We're just talking
off the top of our heads, but we know what
topics we're going to be heading towards. Having Purdue and
UCLA in a conference tournament as a semi final matchup
is still so strange to my brain. Like I was, like,
you know, it was almost like I hit it. Like

(59:17):
I was walking around the front yard looking for oh,
and there's the Big Ten tournament over there, and I
stepped on a rake. But like, Ucla Purdue, what do
we do it? But yeah, this this should be a
fun matchup because again, stylistically, these are two very different
basketball teams and how they're made up.

Speaker 6 (59:36):
Sorry, guys, Matt Paynter wasn't too happy with my yeah
analysis of his Purdue team. I just feel like this
is a Purdue team that at their core is too
forward driven and not enough guard driven and Smith is
I love. Don't get me wrong, I love Bradon Smith.
I just don't I don't view them as a top
ten team. Maybe I'm wrong. I'm wrong a lot about

(59:58):
these teams. But when I see some of their when
I watch some of their games this year, and I
look at some of their losses, it just seems like
they have this like really volatile way about them that
when they're running bad, they're really bad. I mean, you
look at some of their losses this year and they've
really given up some big numbers to Illinois. Wisconsin had
a big game against them right before the regular season ended.

(01:00:20):
I think if UCLA shooters are on today and Dent
is obviously the big one, I think this is gonna
be a really this is gonna be a fun game.
I think this will be a fun and this would
be a higher scoring game. I would link to the
over probably, but I'll take the points with the UCLA
one of my stronger plays today.

Speaker 2 (01:00:34):
There you go, All right, that's the voice of Jared Smith.

Speaker 3 (01:00:36):
FSR betting analyst Rich Hornberger with US Penn State All American.

Speaker 2 (01:00:40):
I'm probably in no. Be sure to check out the
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Coming up next our guy Seamus McGee. You know he's
all fired up for conference tournaments and March Madness.

Speaker 2 (01:01:08):
Right around the corner. We'll compare notes with Seamus. Coming up.

Speaker 3 (01:01:12):
It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. It
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(01:01:33):
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let's do this, okay, all right, Well, we'll get to

(01:01:57):
Seamus in a second in the meantime pause. Yeah, that's
all right.

Speaker 6 (01:02:05):
I promise we didn't get knocked off the air like
I Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:02:08):
Yeah, Unfortunately we had to pull the emergency brake. We're
going far too fast down the freeway, right.

Speaker 2 (01:02:14):
Yeah, he's getting.

Speaker 6 (01:02:15):
Ready for the Virginia Listen, he's got a big Virginia
game today is his Who's a big game against the dookies. Later?

Speaker 4 (01:02:21):
Hey, I got a quick question for you, guys.

Speaker 5 (01:02:22):
How did you react to the whole Max Crosby saga
this week where he was a raven, then he wasn't
a raven. Then it kind of felt like he was
a pawn in a bigger chess game. And Hendrickson becomes
a raven and Crosby is ready to quote unquote run
it back.

Speaker 4 (01:02:38):
With the Raiders. What was your reaction to all that?

Speaker 2 (01:02:41):
Well? I have many reactions.

Speaker 3 (01:02:44):
And we'll dive back into that in a second here,
but let's dive into this first.

Speaker 4 (01:02:51):
Follow the money, real good money.

Speaker 3 (01:02:53):
All right, Our guy Seamus mgin is with his team
lead of sports trading at bet MGM.

Speaker 2 (01:02:57):
Good morning to you, Seamus.

Speaker 3 (01:02:58):
All right, so give it to us straight here, Uva
against Duke. Now are you How does it break down
for you UVA football compared to UVA basketball, right, because
sometimes there's a difference with certain fans.

Speaker 2 (01:03:12):
How does it break down for you?

Speaker 10 (01:03:15):
Great to be back, as always, guys, It's it's been
a past decade. It's been UVA basketball with the Bennett peak,
Bennett years, a national title, you know, especially after the
upset to UNBC. I mean it was it had to
be the championship that year. But whenever UVA football is

(01:03:37):
even a little bit good, it just feels completely different.

Speaker 5 (01:03:42):
It's I don't.

Speaker 10 (01:03:43):
Know, it's something to be said about it, especially whenever
you can beat Virginia Tech in a football season. But
I mean the basketball what a story this year, first
year for Ryan Odam Hampton Sydney College alumni as long
as as long as yours truly here and twenty nine
wins in his first year. It's great to be back.

Speaker 3 (01:04:02):
What do you think, real fast about the game against Duke?
How do you feel about this one?

Speaker 10 (01:04:07):
I think this will be a better game than what
we saw in Durham. I was texting Jarrett during the game.
It's like this game is just off the rails. Duke
started seven of ten from three. Virginia's a good three
point shooting team. They shot like seven of thirty. I
think for the whole game. I'm excited to see this
game on a neutral course. I think it'll be a
really good test, a really good litmus test, I think

(01:04:28):
for both teams as we go into the tournament.

Speaker 6 (01:04:30):
Is this the first weekend of the year where the
college basketball handle becomes astronomical? I mean, is this really like?
And I know that we've had some steady handle probably
throughout the course of the season. We saw Duke Michigan
a couple weeks ago, and obviously those games get get
the high profile attention. But this being of course the
eve of selection Sunday, you get conference championship you know,

(01:04:53):
actual championship games, you have semi final games. Is this
really where the first day where the college basketball spotlight
is the brightest?

Speaker 10 (01:05:02):
I'd say yesterday with the a lot of semifinals going on,
you definitely see some more high caliber games like that
Arizona game yesterday against Iowa State. That was awesome. You
have a lot of people who haven't really been in
tuned to college basketball. This is the week they really
start to get a glimpse of a right, who am
I gonna like it in my bracket? Who I think is

(01:05:22):
going to make a run. This is when you really
see the handle of the interest pick up.

Speaker 5 (01:05:27):
Yeah, you know, I'm really excited for this tournament. I
ask you this every week because I do think that
based on results and maybe we haven't seen enough come
in and conference tournament play yet. Jamis, is there any
changes in terms of high value future picks in terms
of a championship winner. Has there been any movement on

(01:05:50):
that front in your mind from last week when we
last spoke.

Speaker 10 (01:05:56):
Marginal? If anything, you don't see too many big moves,
like if a team like Wisconsin ends up making a
big run, maybe you see there on get all the shorter.
You see it light in the same boat as well. Arkansas.
I think they're an interesting one this year. They kind
of falling under the radar in my opinion. The team's
been ranked for most of the year, but you don't
really hear a Calipari team talked about as much as

(01:06:19):
I feel like you would have this year. So I'd
say most of the futurement you'll see is pretty marginal.
And then when the bracket comes out, Sunday. That's when
you might see some actual movement when the paths get
very real.

Speaker 3 (01:06:34):
All right, semus So, we got a lot of games
going on here ranked versus ranked, anything else that like
piques your attention the most from a betting perspective.

Speaker 2 (01:06:42):
I'll just throw a couple out here.

Speaker 3 (01:06:44):
Houston at Arizona, well versus Arizona neutral court, No led
by the way, that's a thing of the past.

Speaker 2 (01:06:50):
Here Yukon and Saint John's. How about that one as well?
Where the Johnny's got.

Speaker 3 (01:06:55):
Freaking destroyed the last time and now it's a short
number at two and a half. Anything else on the
board ranked versus rank that piaks your curiosity here?

Speaker 10 (01:07:04):
I mean, this is an awesome slate we got today,
a lot of just great matchups. You know, we touched
on Uva Duke, this, Yutahon Saint John's rivalry this year.
It feels like they've been on a collision course all year.
That's going to be an awesome atmosphere to night at
six point thirty at the Garden Big Twelve Championship. That's
going to be a great game. Even Wisconsin Michigan, it's

(01:07:26):
a very interesting one. Like Wisconsin They're on a big
run right now. Little public dog here seeing a lot
of Wisconsin money come in today against Michigan. It's the
first time I think I've seen it all the year,
Andandy Florid. I mean, it's just a great day for hoops.
But I think I got to go to either that
Yukon Saint John's game or that Arizona Houston game is

(01:07:46):
the two biggest games I think that stick out, And
then obviously I'm biased the UVA Duke Prime time game tonight.

Speaker 6 (01:07:54):
We were talking a little bit earlier about, you know,
the top teams and just how there is a massive separation,
Like the good teams this year are better than even
the national champions were in prior years. There's four teams
that have a higher efficiency march in this year than
any of the prior twenty national champions. Do you see
this being a year where it's chalkier than usual? Do

(01:08:16):
you see anyone outside of maybe the top five or
top six teams in the country that can really crack
that up? Rashlant. I know it's called March madness, but
it feels like this year's Seamus. There are just so
many great teams and not as many good teams, and
that gap is a little wider than I expect. What
do you think look.

Speaker 10 (01:08:35):
At Ken Palm right now. I'm not sure there's a
team outside the top nine in there that can really
win the whole thing. I think the top four to
five are even in a tier of their own. And
maybe this is just the year 're in with the nil.
Maybe the parody at the top is just a little
bit bigger. We're hoping we see a little more upsets

(01:08:56):
than we did the last march manas from a book perspective.
A lot of favorites cash last year and a lot
of homeover's hit last year. So we're hoping maybe we
get a Cinderella story maybe cracking at the top in
the final four this year. But I think it might
be tough.

Speaker 5 (01:09:13):
Yeah, yeah, agreed, Hey, Seame is quick change of gears
here because one of the more notable things while basketball
is reaching a fever pitch on the college hardwood. You
got NFL free agency, plenty of trades to discuss, notably
Kyler Murray becomes a Minnesota Viking. Did you see an
influx of interest in futures on Minnesota? How did that

(01:09:39):
acquisition shift the odds for the Vikings.

Speaker 10 (01:09:44):
It didn't change all that much. It's hard to see
how big the drop off is going to be with
Kyler or JJ Right now. I still think Kyler probably
starts Week one, but I think O'Connell's probably the most
underrated coach in the league. And you see what he
can do for some TV careers in his time in

(01:10:04):
Minnesota and what he can do with you, maybe some
journeyman guys. I still think there might be something left
with Kyler Murray, and I think it's a great spot
for him to be in. So there wasn't too much
futures movement yet. I think the Ravens saw a decent
move with the next Crosby trade, then itself through, but
then they got Trey Hendrickson, so I was like, Okay,

(01:10:26):
maybe the number still sits there, but not a ton
of movement so far with the Vikings.

Speaker 3 (01:10:33):
Okay, Seamus say a seamous special time. Are you going
you know, big game hunting ranked versus ranked? Or are
you going off the radar? You slide devil here? Where
are you taking us today?

Speaker 4 (01:10:45):
So?

Speaker 10 (01:10:45):
I have two but the first one, if you're not
in the player prop state, you won't be able to
best this. I like Gus Yalden of Vermont to score
twenty points. Former Syon, tall guy. He is at a
great year for Vermont in the America East. I like
Vermont to win that game as well, and I think
Gus Shaldon has a really good game. If you are

(01:11:07):
not in a state where you can bet player props,
I go to Howard n C Central in the MEAC game.
I like Howard laying the twelve and a half against
MC Central. This is a great team. This is a
class of the MEAC right here, and I think they'll
be punching their ticket this weekend.

Speaker 2 (01:11:23):
Very nice.

Speaker 3 (01:11:24):
You never let us do the best. Love it all right, man,
have a good day. We'll catch you soon, Bud.

Speaker 10 (01:11:29):
Join the games guys.

Speaker 4 (01:11:31):
You too.

Speaker 3 (01:11:31):
There he is Seamus McGee riding hard for his UVA.
Who's over there, you know, taking a Howard Bison. Yeah,
I love that team Lead of Sports Trading at bet MGM.
That's Seamus's official title. Now, Rich, you did throw out
a question in filibuster fashion.

Speaker 2 (01:11:46):
Which we appreciate. Right to connect with Seamus.

Speaker 3 (01:11:50):
But yeah, this whole Max Crosby drama where the Ravens
they backed out of the trade according to the Raiders.
Some might say they came to their senses. I'll put
it this way. The Ravens signed Max Kross. I'm sorry
they backed out of the trade with Max Crosby. They
signed Trey Hendrickson via free agency. Right, Max Crosby is

(01:12:11):
a baller, Don't get me wrong, But there is no
way Max Crosby is two first round picks better than
Trey Hendrickson. There's just no way. And like Trey hendrick
is not to like poop poop Max. It's just like
Trey Hendrickson is a baller too. Like there is not
that big of a separation. Now, Max is younger, He's
almost three years younger, which absolutely matters here.

Speaker 2 (01:12:34):
But how long if the trade went through? Did you
see Max playing for the Ravens. Do you see him
playing four or five years? I don't know that he
would have been there that whole time. So I just
think for the here and now, the next year or
two or three. I'm totally fine with the Ravens. I'm
a Ravens fan.

Speaker 3 (01:12:51):
I would rather have Hendrickson and two first round picks
than Max Crosby and no two first round picks.

Speaker 2 (01:12:57):
That's the way I see it.

Speaker 4 (01:12:58):
Uh yeah, I agree with that.

Speaker 5 (01:13:00):
I think in terms of first round draft capital, if
you look at it like a lottery ticket, well then
that's probably not the appropriate or apt comparison. It's more like,
you know, you are either promised a a pro bowler,
you know, at at about a forty percent hit rate,

(01:13:23):
or you're gonna get a guy who can, at very
least for the most part, be a starter for you.
Right that that's basically the gamble of drafting in the
first round. That's usually how it goes. There are busts, obviously,
there are always busts. That's the reason why that Pro
Bowl number hovers somewhere just below forty percent for drafting
in the first round. So you're giving up two opportunities

(01:13:44):
for a forty percent chance at drafting a five year
pro bowler, somebody you have under roster control for five years,
to get an aging defensive lineman to come through the doors,
whereas you could part with some cash, have a little
bit more of a cap cash in signing Trey Hendrickson.
I think the Ravens did themselves the right move now

(01:14:05):
in terms of Crosby, when at first blush, when I
heard that he was going to be a Raven.

Speaker 4 (01:14:11):
I thought the ethos fit.

Speaker 5 (01:14:13):
And what I'm trying to say is Max Crosby when
he was drafted by the Raiders and you saw him
come to fruition as a pass rusher with them, it
almost felt like Max Crosby was born to be a Raider.
You're like, oh, yeah, no, that guy just makes sense
as a Raider. I feel very similar about Max Crosby

(01:14:34):
as a Raven. I feel like if he went in there,
he would have had success because not only does the
player match with most defensive systems, but especially with the
Ravens are looking to get done, but also the ethos,
the attitude, like he would look right in a Baltimore
Ravens uniform, and I think they would have had success
with him as well.

Speaker 4 (01:14:54):
But again, when you're talking.

Speaker 5 (01:14:55):
About what you would have had to give given up
to get him versus what they're getting with Trey hendricks In,
I'm way better with signing Trey Hendrickson.

Speaker 4 (01:15:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:15:08):
So here's how I perceived the timeline. So Friday night,
the trade is announced between the Raiders and the Ravens.
At that point in time, Trey Hendrickson was expected to
sign with the Cowboys. That was probably what the consensus
was amongst NFL insiders, and so the Ravens are thinking, Okay,
we're not going to be able to sign Trey Hendrickson,
so we have to pivot to something else. Then on

(01:15:29):
Monday morning, the Cowboys decide that they're going to trade
for Rashan Gary instead, and I think at that point
the Ravens said, wait a minute, so we can actually
get Trey Hendrickson, who is comparable in terms of the production,
and keep both of our first to our next two
first round picks, and that's when they pivoted. The part
that bothers me about this, Brian is just like, why
are they announcing these trades so early? This legal tampering period,

(01:15:50):
which is an oxymoron by the way, is just insane.
And I think it's putting a lot of carts before horses,
where teams are finding out that they're pivoting to other
things before things are official. And I think the culprit
here is this legal tampering period. I'm okay with what
the Ravens did. It was a little bit unethical, but
I'm okay with what they did. It wasn't illegal. It's
just this this this need for the NFL to own

(01:16:13):
all of this time and announce all of these trades
and announce all of these signings so early because they
want to dominate the calendar. It's causing a lot more
problems than it is than it is solutions. So I'm
happy for you know, trade to get in with Baltimore,
but it's it was a weird, weird situation.

Speaker 3 (01:16:30):
I think if they're going to do the legal tampering period,
any verbal agreements are solidified, there's no backing out. We'll
just wait for the new league year and then it's official,
but there's no backing out once you verbally agree that
needs to happen.

Speaker 2 (01:16:43):
It shouldn't be a test balloon.

Speaker 3 (01:16:45):
You know what I mean, Like you have this blockbuster
trade and I don't know, Ravens fans are.

Speaker 2 (01:16:49):
Like, what two first round picks?

Speaker 4 (01:16:51):
What?

Speaker 3 (01:16:51):
And they're like, you know what, Maybe on second thought,
it shouldn't be like that. And the last thing I'll
say very quickly is to your point, Rich, if you
look at these first round picks and the Ravens, what
they've done with their first round picks too. They've been
very good at drafting shrewdly where they got Lamar in
the first round, they got Tyler Linderbaum in the first round.
They have Kyle Hamilton, who is a baller in the

(01:17:12):
first round. Fourteenth overall pick. That's the pick that they
have back now, fourteenth overall. So I think it works
better for the Ravens doing it this way. All right,
We've got rich oron Berger, Penn State All American, Jared
Smith FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian No. Be sure to
check out the new looking features in the BETMGM app.
It's fast and easy access to the sports you love.

(01:17:32):
It's the fastest BETMGM app ever, it's a more personalized
experience with popular picks tailored to you and a new
rewards hub with all of your personalized rewards and new
players can receive up to fifteen hundred dollars back in
bonus bets with bonus code countdown if they don't win
their first bet. That's code countdown in the BETMGM app.
All right, coming up next, prop it up. That's right,

(01:17:53):
the prop betting market. We will compare copious notes. Right
around the corner. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented
by BEDMGM. It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BEDMGM.
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(01:18:14):
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Speaker 2 (01:18:22):
And it is time for the tire Rack play of
the day. Bradley driving on tore looking for the shot.

Speaker 4 (01:18:28):
Drive's right, hang it from their heads?

Speaker 8 (01:18:30):
One and the cats and what Jayden Bradley hang sit
for two cats onto the finals?

Speaker 2 (01:18:38):
What a game?

Speaker 4 (01:18:39):
What a shot?

Speaker 3 (01:18:39):
Compliments of Wildcats Radio Network. Jaden Bradley The uh fallaway
shot fading to his right as he nails it on
the baseline. That was amazing, great final four minutes man,
just shot after shot after shot was going down a
lot of fun.

Speaker 2 (01:18:55):
All right, let's dive into this drop it up player
plays Ah yes, the prop betting market. Jared, I know
you're fired up for this. What do you have for
us today?

Speaker 10 (01:19:09):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (01:19:10):
This is I feel like this is easy, guys. Darius
A cup over twenty three and a half points minus
one oh five odds at that MGN listen. He had
twenty six points on just one mad three when Ole
Miss and Arkansas played back in January. Rebels are playing
their fourth game and four nights. They are the first
ever fifteen seed to make a conference semi final appearance.

(01:19:31):
All Miss has gotta be gassed after beating Bama last night.
They have been going through the ringer. I think a
cup has a big game. Arkansas moves on to the
SEC Final over twenty three and a half points with
a frash.

Speaker 5 (01:19:45):
Okay, I am gonna take Donovan den the under on
his point total today.

Speaker 6 (01:19:52):
Woo.

Speaker 5 (01:19:53):
So sixteen and a half is the number, and it
is a little spicy because he's been on fuego lately.
The average is only about thirteen and a half points
per game. Obviously, he's woken up in the tournament. UCLA
uses him as a playmaker first, not a volume scorer,
so stat lot usually fills up with a lot of

(01:20:14):
assists more than points, and I think against this perdue defense,
we're gonna see a lot more ball movement, more typical
UCLA style of play today. So give me the under
sixteen and a half points for Donovan Dent today against
the boiler Makers.

Speaker 2 (01:20:28):
All right, I'm gonna look at that same game, Rich,
I'm gonna go with Trey Kaufman Ren give me over
eight and a half rebounds for a few reasons.

Speaker 3 (01:20:37):
Tyler billdo with UCLA, Yeah, banged up yesterday. He's probably
gonna miss this game. His head coach Nick Cronin said
it'd be a miracle if he played at this semi finals.
So I don't expect him to go, and that means
Trey Kaufman Wren will be vacuuming up rebounds here. I
look for Purdue to have a big matchup advantage down

(01:20:59):
low and on thet.

Speaker 2 (01:21:00):
The only problem is lost Brian there, Oh Oscar Kluff.

Speaker 3 (01:21:04):
He grabs rebounds here left and right too, So hopefully
Kluff doesn't beat Ren for rebounds.

Speaker 2 (01:21:11):
By the way, side, note it.

Speaker 3 (01:21:13):
Doesn't his initial don't roll off the tongue, you know,
like JFK JSN.

Speaker 2 (01:21:17):
We got t k R.

Speaker 3 (01:21:20):
I don't know, but anyway, I'm still going with TKR
over eight and a half rebounds.

Speaker 2 (01:21:23):
I think he gets there.

Speaker 3 (01:21:24):
We got more hoops previews rolling on next, Oh, what
is going on? Welcome in Happy Saturday to you. You know,
if you like a little rock em sock them with
your hoops. We got a couple of candidates over here,
got a trio of games, So I'm looking at a
couple of games. The totals one thirty seven and a half.
Another game, the totals one forty and a half. Let's

(01:21:47):
just pick one of the three. How about Houston and
Arizona Jared for the Big twelve Crown. We're on a
real court, no goofy led slip and sliding falling all
over the place. We're on a wooden court here, and
we all know Houston's defensive credentials. Arizona favored by two
and a half. The total is one thirty seven and

(01:22:09):
a half. Where you're like, ugh, gross, Arizona's playing in
this game and it's one thirty seven and a half.
That's how good Houston's defense is. Do you like anything
sider total in this one? For the Big twelve Crown here, Jared.

Speaker 6 (01:22:21):
Yeah, I kind of like Arizona a little bit. I
do think they're a team that at their core, I
think they're better than Houston. Like I think Arizona's got
the best players on the floor here. Houston, I think
is a little bit tougher like. I would say they're
a little more battle tested. But I think Arizona to

(01:22:41):
me is a team that can win the national championship.
I don't view Houston in that top tier. I think
they're in the next tier. Now again, Calvin Samson's el
AA coach. This is actually a really good game. Earlier
this year in Houston, Arizona went in the Houston and won,
so you get a little revenge element there. I think
Kingston Flemings is probably the best player on Houston in

(01:23:04):
terms of the upside. Emmanuel Sharp's the most experienced. They
do have a couple bigs that I like. Tuggler has
been around the block, right, He's the more experienced big
on the team. Sinak the freshman, not quite his experience,
but I would say has the size to give Arizona's
lengths some problems. But this is an Arizona team that

(01:23:25):
I think I don't like. Over the last few years,
they haven't really impressed me in terms of their national
championship ability. Of course, last year with Caleb Love and
Brian I know Caleb Love love hate relationship with gayleb
Glove over the years, right, he was their best player
last year, and that's why we didn't love Arizona. They
lost a duke in a great game in the Sweet

(01:23:47):
sixteen last year. This year, I view Arizona in more
high regard. I think Bradley right Big twelve Player of
the Year. I think he has more of the assassin
likeability that Caleb Love maybe didn't. And I love their bigs,
Crevis and the other kid. I'm not even gonna try
to pronounce his last name from Germany, Kartchuk nof. I
apologize to his parents. But this is an Arizona team

(01:24:10):
that I think has the ability to not only win
the national championship, but I think they are a cut above,
just a cut, not a significant gap. But I do
think their players are just slightly better than Houston's players.

Speaker 3 (01:24:23):
Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned the regular season matchup, because
Arizona beat Houston at its own game. You know, Houston
fantastic defensively, But what happened in that regular season game.
Arizona won. It's seventy three to sixty six. But what
happened was Houston committed twelve turnovers. Arizona had nine steals
in that game, and so they were all over passing lanes.

(01:24:46):
They played like Houston in that game. So in this
rematch for the Big Twelve Championship, can Arizona do that again?
I love those matchups where the reputation might not actually
be the reality.

Speaker 4 (01:25:00):
You know, where.

Speaker 3 (01:25:01):
Houston they played great defense. I would expect them to
play good defense tonight against Arizona. But Arizona they don't
have the reputation of like, whoa look out for Arizona defensively,
the Wildcats were just get after you. They don't have
that reputation, but that was the reality in the regular
season matchup. So Rich, That's what I've got my eye

(01:25:23):
on is can Arizona play as good a defense tonight
as they did in that regular season matchup because they're capable,
they just don't have the reputation for doing so.

Speaker 5 (01:25:35):
Yeah, it's uh, what's what's interesting about this game is,
you know, Arizona is one of the highest scoring teams
in the country. They're averaging eighty eight points per game.
I mean, we've all seen it.

Speaker 2 (01:25:49):
Anybody's yep, lost round man Matt Painter again, he wasn't
even talking.

Speaker 6 (01:25:57):
Yeah, yeah, he's he's he's kind of he's kind of
throwing a Wrench in our entire show today. I think
the point I think the point that Rich was trying
to make just about about Houston's ability to rebound and score.
I just there's something about Houston and it seemed and
we've seen this before. I mean, they were a National
championship game last year. Guys like this is this is
a team that I think we hold in high regard.

(01:26:20):
It's not a knock on Houston to say that Arizona's
players are better. I just think there's something about them
that when they get in these championship games, they struggled
to get buckets and that that was what separated Florida
last year. And that's why, as much as I love Florida,
this year, they need to shoot their average from three

(01:26:41):
because Florida does not have the guy last year who
was the supreme bucket getter, Walter Klay. I mean, this
guy was a walking bucket last year. Like Houston doesn't
have that guy either, And I think that's where I
struggle with a team like Houston, where when you look
at a team like Arizona, and we saw it last night,
they needed a bucket late in the game. What happened
It wasn't a great shot. You said it, Jake Bradley

(01:27:02):
was a terrible shot, didn't matter, went in. Like that's
what good bucket getters can do in late game scenarios.
And if it is a late game, tight game scenario
between these two teams, like I would even put Arizona
or Iowa States bucket getters above Houston's. I just think
Houston doesn't have that guy late in the shot clock time,

(01:27:24):
winding down, close game, go get me a bucket. I
just don't know if Houston has that guy where I
think I know, I watched it last night. Arizona does right.

Speaker 2 (01:27:33):
Well, I hear you.

Speaker 3 (01:27:35):
Kingston Flemings is fantastic, and but to your point, I
don't think they have Like Kingston Flemings can get you
a bucket. But when it's just isolation, your shot clock
and game plot going down to the bare nubs, like just.

Speaker 2 (01:27:52):
Make something happen.

Speaker 3 (01:27:54):
Like, yeah, I hear why you would you would favor
Arizona when it comes to that. Houston gets a lot
of quality looks through non isolation, you know what I mean.
They move the ball around, they get a matchup, they
throw a pass where a guy catches it and is
able to cut and create something that way. It's not
so much here you go, dude, five seconds left, just

(01:28:14):
do your thing. That's really not their offense at all.

Speaker 2 (01:28:16):
So I hear you.

Speaker 3 (01:28:17):
How about this too, If we look at another game
where the total is the exact same, Virginia against Duke,
the Duchies are favored by seven and a half. The
total is again one thirty seven and a half. What's interesting.
I don't know if you ever do this, Jared. Where
I'll do this sometimes in college hoops, are certainly in
the NFL, where I'll look at two different games and

(01:28:38):
let's just say the total is the exact same. Would
I rather get in on the total with Houston Arizona
at one thirty seven and a half or Virginia Duke
at one thirty seven and a half, and I'll kind
of play those games out. I don't know any leans
in the Virginia Duke game for you.

Speaker 6 (01:28:56):
Yeah, I think Virginia's gonna shoot it back. And we
talked to Seamus in the last hour about this. I
think Virginia is gonna shoot him better than they did
in that first game. I actually think Duke's been over valued.
I think in this tournament. They're dealing with a very
short bench, and we already know that they've got a
key injury that they've been dealing with pretty much for
the last couple of weeks with Caleb Foster and and
they were banged up yesterday. They were in foul trouble yesterday,

(01:29:19):
and frankly, Clemson played one of their worst games that
I've seen them play in a while. I was on
Clemson last night plus eleven and a half, almost got home.
They lost by twelve. They played a terrible first half,
much better second half, and they were actually within the
number in the final minute, and Duke had a meaningless
offensive rebound put back that that put him at twelve,
and I lost by the whole tough, tough loss for me,
but it was, yeah, it was I've had some Listen,

(01:29:42):
if you bet on college basketball every day, you're gonna
swing back and forth with these bad beats. But I
think when I when I look at this Duke team,
I do think they are as tough as they come.
And and we talked about it. I think it was
two weeks ago when they beat Michigan, maybe it was three.
I was on Michigan in that game. And I thought
Michigan was the tougher, bigger, stronger, faster team because they

(01:30:03):
were older, a little bit wiser, and I thought they
had the talent to match Duke, but Duke out muscled
them in that game. Duke really shook. That was the
game I think when I changed my opinion on Duke
from a team that was plucky and you know, had
the high end talent, but they were super young, and
I didn't know if they had the ability to overcome
an experienced unit that also had the size and the skill,

(01:30:26):
which Michigan obviously is on that level. But when they
overcame that hurdle against Michigan, I was like, Okay, this
team's got some toughness to him that maybe I'm not
giving them credit for now. Virginia, on the other hand,
wants to spread you out and shoot the three. Now,
they don't run a very fast tempo, but they are
one of the highest three point attempt to field goal
attempt teams in the country. So it's another one of
those scenarios where when they played Duke back on the

(01:30:47):
twenty eighth, they could not make a shot from three.
They were seven from thirty five from three and Duke
was twelve from twenty four from three. So when you
have that big of an edge at the three point line,
it's really tough to overcome. I thought Virginia play a
pretty good game at cameraon only turned it over nine times.
They were bullied a little bit on the glass, But
I think this is this game very much. Brian reminds

(01:31:07):
me of the Wisconsin Michigan game. I think if Wisconsin's
threes are falling, they're going to keep it within the
number against Michigan. I think if Virginia's threes are falling,
they will not only keep it within the number against Duke,
but it will asso go over the total. Duke just has
a really good ability to pick out what you do well.
They're kind of remind me defensively the number one defensive
team in the country. In terms of Ken pomp. They
kind of remind me of the peak Patriots with Belichick,

(01:31:29):
like they know what you want to do well and
they're gonna take that away. That's what they did last
night the Clempson That's what they've done during this winning
streak that they've had. I just I don't know if
the threes are going to fall like it's a really
tough thing to predict.

Speaker 3 (01:31:42):
I would go back to that Duke Florida State game.
I loved Florida State's game plan offensively. They were like
the Phoenix Suns seven seconds or less offense. You know,
like if you think about it, makes so much sense.
Duke playing half court defense. Good luck they are defensively,
and Florida State was like, we're just going quick, you know,

(01:32:04):
like we're gonna find a like a makeable shot, a
quality look, and let it freaking fly. Like they were
not interested in just you know, ball movement. Move it,
move it, you know, like, Okay, we're eating up twenty
five seconds of the shot clock and then we take
our opportunity. It's like just move it, like get into
a flow. Let's see some pace offensively, and I thought

(01:32:27):
that was a really really smart game plan, and Florida
State almost knocked them off.

Speaker 2 (01:32:31):
So that's just not what Virginia does, though, Jared. You know,
they go a lot slower now and they speed it
up a little bit then what they used to do
with Bennett over there, but they're not you know, like
the Phoenix Suns what I just said from the seven
seconds or less era.

Speaker 3 (01:32:48):
So I'm interested in that. Man, I didn't realize to
put back yesterday.

Speaker 6 (01:32:53):
Were you watching that game last night?

Speaker 2 (01:32:54):
I was watching It was crazy, is man.

Speaker 3 (01:32:56):
I hate these games where you're like, if you were
on Clemson, You're like, I'm dead, Like I know I'm dead.

Speaker 2 (01:33:01):
Oh, I thought it was.

Speaker 3 (01:33:02):
Over in the first there's this glimmer of hope, like,
wait a minute, we're kind of echin back in this
in garbage time late and then you're covering and it
just so happens where Duke, they could have ran out
their shot clock, but there's probably like ten seconds left,
so like, a screw it, let's just take a shot.

Speaker 2 (01:33:19):
It's off, And they just crashed the glass.

Speaker 3 (01:33:22):
And get a put back and that's Ah, I didn't
realize that's oh they cover.

Speaker 6 (01:33:26):
That's disgusting. It was and I'm not saying listen, these
games are not rigged. I don't think these guys are,
you know, trying to throw games. But I do think
they are aware of the number. I think the coaches
especially are aware of the number. And I think it
matters to the boosters. I mean, if you think that
there wasn't every guy in that or a girl who
you know, I don't want discriminate against sex when it

(01:33:46):
comes to betting on the games. But if you don't
think that every human being in that arena last night
that was betting the game was not aware of the
number in the final minute, I mean it's and I'm
sure that energy seeps in to the bench and maybe
they don't know the exact number it closed because they
don't functually weight a point or two here or there,

(01:34:06):
but they know that they're a favorite by a certain amount.
And I think that probably didn't play a factor in
that final possession, but.

Speaker 4 (01:34:14):
It might have.

Speaker 6 (01:34:14):
It might have if we talk about pat State a
lot on the show. Obviously we got two alums. If
you don't think James Franklin knows the number every week, yeah,
I mean these they are aware of the number because
they know their boosters are betting on the games. And
I think it's it comes down to it, but the
basketball world's very different than the football world because there's

(01:34:35):
so many right, There's so many possessions and it's so
fluid that it's just it's hard to narrow it down
to like one. All that that's the moment where they
knew they were gonna cover. But yeah, I was. I
was dead for a while last night, and we were
alive for a few seconds and then and then we
ended up going back to dead.

Speaker 2 (01:34:51):
By the way, I was, it's funny.

Speaker 3 (01:34:53):
I'll tell you a real fast story and we'll get
into the Johnny's over here, but very quick story.

Speaker 2 (01:34:58):
Yesterday, I was at the gym.

Speaker 3 (01:35:00):
I'm late, just the way that Jay the day played out,
and one of my friends he texted me and he
was like, dude, I'm live betting the under in this
Miami game, Like no one.

Speaker 2 (01:35:10):
Can score, no one can score in.

Speaker 3 (01:35:12):
This game, and and and so I was watching it.
He's like, I'm under fifty eight and a half in
the first half, and it just so happens. It's at
fifty eight with one possession to go right, and so
like Miami turns it over and the other team races

(01:35:33):
down to the other end, and it looked like as
soon as the turnover happened, I'm like, oh, Jay's dead.
You know they're gonna get a layup at the buzzer
and there wasn't enough time. And so the guy pulls
up for a three and I'm like, oh my, unless
he hits this, Jay's good.

Speaker 2 (01:35:48):
Swish like he didn't have time.

Speaker 3 (01:35:50):
For the layup, hit the three and it goes over
the first half line. That was crazy, but the joys
of betting right there. One more to throw at you
real quick. How about Yukon and Sane John's one forty
and a half is the total?

Speaker 2 (01:36:04):
Uh, the Yukon is favored by three and a half.

Speaker 3 (01:36:06):
Now you remember the last time these teams met, Saint
John's little rough to put it mildly, offensively, scored forty points.
The Johnnys did not hit a field goal in the
final seventeen and a half minutes.

Speaker 2 (01:36:21):
Oh god, they didn't have a field goal.

Speaker 6 (01:36:24):
So guess it was on Guess it was on Seaton
Hall plus oh yesterday?

Speaker 4 (01:36:28):
Oh my god? Oh man?

Speaker 3 (01:36:31):
Yeah right, well hey, uh yeah, Seaton Hall battled back
in that one, made it respectable.

Speaker 2 (01:36:36):
But what what do you see in this one?

Speaker 1 (01:36:38):
Though?

Speaker 3 (01:36:38):
Rich Yukon Saint John's the rematch. Saint John's couldn't have
been worse offensively the last time, but it's still it's
a short spread.

Speaker 2 (01:36:45):
Yukon minus three and a half.

Speaker 4 (01:36:47):
Yeah it is.

Speaker 5 (01:36:48):
And uh, you know, this is one of those games
where this is a clash of philosophies in the same
exact lane. Yukon plays one of the slowest tempos in
the common difference. They they intentionally try to play like
ball control offense. Like think about an NFL team or
a college football team with a great run game, where

(01:37:09):
they're just gonna milk the clock. They're gonna take every
single possession in the half court as far as they can.
Saint John's, on the other hand, plays the fastest pace
in the league. So you're gonna have this, you know,
the Johnny's trying to run the court, you're gonna have
Yukon trying to slow it down. I would I would
say though, where I would say the biggest uh fly

(01:37:33):
in the ointment for Yukon is the fact that Saint
John's defense is kind of the exact type of defense
that bothers Yukon. Typically, they defend with length, they aggressively
defend the perimeter. This can disrupt Yukon's offense, which is
predicated in the half court off of motion and and

(01:37:54):
shot creation and ball movement. Like they're they're going to
be stuck. You know, there's not gonna be a lot
of Hey, let's settle back in zone and see what happens,
like Saint John's is in your face the entire game.
So so if if the johnny show up to play,
if this is a game where their defense is is stocked,

(01:38:15):
locked and.

Speaker 4 (01:38:15):
Loaded, it's gould it could be a long day for
the huskis.

Speaker 6 (01:38:19):
Yeah, I kind of lean, I kind of lean Saint
John's here. I do think Patino in these spots or
is interesting. The line's kind of right down the middle
of where we saw the prior to matchups. Right, they
played as as Brian mentioned that that game back in
late February where Saint John's was just they were dreadful
in the second half. You know, that game was you know,

(01:38:39):
Ukon was five and a half point favorite at home.
Total was one forty four and a half. A few
weeks prior to that, Saint John's had a nice win
at home and that game was the Johnny's were basically
a one, one and a half point dog. So now
we're kind of right in the middle, right, We're on
a neutral court, technically neutral court, it's you know, Saint
John's home court. But let's be honest, you can you
know and SG South or you know the store South.

(01:39:02):
I guess for MSG for this Yukon team, So there'll
be tons of Huskies fans in the building. It'll be
a very good atmosphere, probably very you know, a firm
neutral site. And Yukon's about a three point favorite. Totals
dropped a little bit to one forty and a half.
I think Yukon yesterday was they didn't miss yesterday. I
was on the over in the game against Xavier the

(01:39:23):
other night and they were good in that game. And
I just think this Yukon team, when they're at their peak,
they are a very free motion offense. I do like
this Yukon offense a lot when they're hitting their threes,
especially Caravan. But I just something about this Johnny's team
in the garden with Patino. It's got a lot of toughness.
I think I would take the points. I would probably
take the points. I think Yukon's a fade for me

(01:39:45):
in March. I think they're one of the more vulnerable
higher seeds. Not to say they're not a good team,
but I think they're not a team that I trust
in the big moments. So I would say not my
favorite look of the day, but I would probably lean
to the Johnny's catching points in this one.

Speaker 3 (01:39:59):
Okay, hey, all right, we've got Rich Hornberger, Penn State
All American, Jared Smith FSR betting analyst. I'm Brian no
Ready to shoot your shot. Log into your BETMGM account
and make your picks in the five hundred k Pick
them for your chance to win a share of bonus bets.
If you get the most correct predictions, you'll win a
share of one hundred grand in bonus bets. Even better,

(01:40:20):
successfully pick the most teams to cover the spread in
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anything but we'll give you.

Speaker 2 (01:40:38):
Some details coming up.

Speaker 3 (01:40:39):
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Speaker 2 (01:41:01):
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Speaker 2 (01:41:06):
How about we look at the SEC fellas, because it
just means more, just means more. You look at Old Miss,
that's the team that I mentioned going to break where
their record is fifteen and nineteen, and yet they have
not trailed at any point in the SEC tournament. That
should change today against Arkansas, But to this point, it's like,

(01:41:29):
how what run that by me again? Exactly? But yeah,
they've played well.

Speaker 3 (01:41:34):
They didn't trail at all against Alabama's they took they
held on for dear life and beat them by a point.
But they move on and listen, Jared, you talked about it.
Darius Acuff Junior. The guy is a freaking baller. He's fantastic,
outstanding point guard for Cow's Razorbacks, and he's going to
be more than a handful today against Old Miss. And

(01:41:56):
I would expect some offensive fireworks in this one.

Speaker 5 (01:41:59):
Oh, there's no there is absolutely no doubt, you know,
And thinking about Ole Miss completely different from the conversation
we were just having about UCLA heading into their matchup
against Purdue. How they have so much momentum left over
from the end of the regular season. Going into a
game where Purdue is favored over over UCLA, you kind

(01:42:20):
of feel like, oh, maybe some of that regular season
magic will carry over into the tournament. This is the
exact opposite. The Rebels really struggled in the regular season.
They lost twelve of their previous thirteen games before the tournament,
but momentum has arrived. Old Miss has already knocked off Texas,
they knocked off number fifteen Alabama. They reached this semi

(01:42:45):
final game against the Arkansas Razor Pigs, and you know,
it's a classic offense versus defensive matchup. Arkansas averages about
ninety points per game. Old Miss averages around seventy five
and a half. But Ole Miss tends to win with
defense and disruption. They're they're not worried about scoring, they're
not worried about volume. They're just trying to slow your

(01:43:10):
pace down into a halting, defensive grind. And Arkansas wants
to play high tempo. So it is going to be
a really fun matchup between two teams that you know,
you could make the argument just days ago that Arkansas
outclasses ole Miss in every way.

Speaker 4 (01:43:30):
But here here's ole Miss on fire right.

Speaker 6 (01:43:33):
Now, what a fun coaching matchup. Obviously Calip Barry on
one side, legend, but Chris Beard deserves a lot of credit.
I know it was a tough end for him at
Texas right, and then took the twenty twenty three season off,
took over this ole Miss team in twenty twenty four,
an ole Miss team that won twelve games in twenty

(01:43:53):
twenty three. Well, his first season in twenty four, they
were a twenty win team, didn't make the NCAA tournament.
We're kind of right on the bubble, didn't didn't quite
get there. And then last year, of course, made a
really nice run to the sweet sixteen as a sixth
seed beat Iowa State. They had a really good year
last year. I really liked this team. Padula, the senior

(01:44:13):
Virginia Tech transfer, did a really nice job. Now I
don't want to say they're on the bubble because they're
under five hundred, but what they've done to get to
this point is remarkable, and they could steal a bit
from someone for sure. So you have to give again
Chris Beard a lot of credit because they had a
terrible stretch to the season, as Rich alluded to, where

(01:44:35):
they were an eleven and eighteen heading into a game
against Auburn back in late January and then didn't win
a game again until they beat Auburn in late February.
They went basically an entire month, actually closer to six
weeks without a win, and then they lost a couple
of games to Vandy, tough one in overtime at home,
and then lost to South Carolina by a bucket at
home to end the year. And now here they are
in the SEC semifinals. The question is, Brian right, I

(01:44:59):
do like the the guard, the star power I'd say
of this Ole Miss team. Aj Store Wisconsin transfer played
at Kansas last year. He's really found himself a nice home.
Eleak Dea was on that Sweet sixteen team a couple
of years ago, so they've got some experience, they've got
some scoring. The question is how much petrol do they
have left in the tank. After three days in a
row against Texas and Georgia and Alabama, they played seventy

(01:45:20):
four possession games against Georgia and Alabama. Alabama just runs
up and down.

Speaker 4 (01:45:25):
All game long.

Speaker 6 (01:45:26):
Now you're facing this Arkansas team. We know how good
Acuff is, but they also have some size in the
interior and this you know overall, you know, pace of
this Arkansas team just wears you down. So I'm fascinated
to see how they handle it. You know, Oklahoma last
night gave Arkansas hell of a game. They really did,

(01:45:48):
but Arkansas was able to overcome it. I thought, you know,
Oklahoma maybe played a little bit above their number last night.
And when you overcome a game like that where Arkansas
frankly didn't shoot it that well, they've shot it okay,
not that well. I think they'll play better today. I
think they'll win this game today. But the question is
is Old Miss do they have anything left in the tank. Brian,
I'm not sure the answer to that question.

Speaker 3 (01:46:07):
It's a tough one, right because they've played so well,
they've been hot. But you're, like Rich said it before
the tournament, they lost twelve of thirteen, so you're like,
when do they realize, Oh, I just turned into a
toad right here, you know what I mean? Like it
could be today against Arkansas. The one thing, though, it's

(01:46:28):
not like Arkansas plays lockdown defense. So a team like
Old Miss, who's been hot. Arkansas's lack of defense, it
lends itself to maybe Old Miss staying hot offensively and
making it a game potentially on the table. How about
Vanderbilt and Florida. That's the other SEC matchup. We all
know Florida's credentials defensively, especially their front court.

Speaker 2 (01:46:51):
I mean just playing bully ball.

Speaker 3 (01:46:52):
You know, when you look at it's amazing just to
look at the prop bets and chin Yulu, who's the
best rebounder in college basketball. It's at eleven and a half.
You're like, holy cow, eleven and a half. He might
get there.

Speaker 4 (01:47:05):
You know.

Speaker 3 (01:47:05):
It's it's tough with Ginulu, but vanderbilts up against it today.
Florida is just a freight train right now. I just
don't love any piece of Vanderbilt in this matchup. That's
how good the Gators have been down the stretch.

Speaker 5 (01:47:17):
Yeah, Florida's size inside has already proved decisive in their
first meeting, you know, I mean when the team's met
earlier this season, it wasn't the biggest margin of victory,
but Florida consistently attacked the rim, they controlled the rebounding.
Vanderbilt had to rely on perimeter scoring. And we know

(01:47:38):
the story with that. When you're when you're trying to
beat a team or if you're a team that's built
around perimeter scoring, you can you can. You can score
with a team. But you better have a hot night,
you better have a you better have your shooter shooting,
because it can get it could get to be a
long day against the sort of size that that Florida has. Look,

(01:48:00):
if Florida protects the ball, if they avoid foul trouble,
which you know has bit them a couple of times
this season, Vanderbilt will will lose two of its biggest
ways to create scoring.

Speaker 4 (01:48:14):
And I mean, that's the reality of it.

Speaker 5 (01:48:16):
I think Vanderbilt is gonna have to play pickpocket defense.
They're gonna have to generate turnovers, they're gonna have to disrupt,
and I think they're gonna have to draw a fouls.
But if Florida, if their defenders play with their feet
instead of their hands, and if they protect the basketball,
you know, I mean, the Gators feel inevitable at this point.

Speaker 6 (01:48:36):
If Florida shoots their average from three for the rest
of March, they're going to the National Championship. At least
the final four. They're not a great shooting team. They're
about thirty one percent from three this year. Their best
shooter is Xavian Lee and Thomas Hall, and neither of
those guys are really above forty percent. They're actually both
below thirty five. Xavian Lee is an interesting player, played

(01:48:59):
at Princeton, went to the Sweet sixteam with Princeton back
in twenty three. He's got the most experienced. He had
a big three yesterday that really iceed the game for
Florida when Kentucky was making their run. Thomas Haw is
more of a stretch wing player. I think he has
a lot of NBA potential because he can stretch the floor.
But he's only a thirty three percent three point shooter.
He probably needs to you know, hit that average for

(01:49:22):
the season, you know, in in March in order for
Florida to be good. And he did not shoot it
well yesterday, went zero for five from three. Florida was
I don't want to say fortunate to win that game,
because they were they were dominant for you know, in
the paint for pretty much the entire game. But if
they shoot it below their average from three, they're gonna
they're gonna get knocked off at some point by one
of these good teams that has a hot shooting day.

(01:49:42):
That being said, I don't think anyone can hang with
Florida in the paint. I honestly think if they shoot
thirty percent from three for the rest of their campaign,
I don't think anybody can beat them. I just they
are just so big, And the other side of them
missing threes is they're so damn good in the pain
they get all the rebounds, so I don't see. And

(01:50:05):
I feel the same way about Michigan, and the more
I dive into the Michigan Wisconsin game today we'll get
to this in rapid fire, the more I'm kind of
leaning towards the Michigan side. I feel the same way
about Florida today, where I just feel like in these settings, Brian,
where you're playing back to back to back to back
to back, the easier baskets and the tougher teams on
the interior, I lean on those teams more and more because,

(01:50:27):
like you said it, and you put it eloquently, I
like how you put it. It's more of a running game.
It's more certain that you can get these rebounds and
get these easy baskets where the three point shots, you're
playing your third game in three days, the legs just
maybe aren't there. And that's where I take a little
bit of stock away from a team like Wisconsin. I
take a little bit of stock away from a team

(01:50:48):
like Ole Miss because you have to make the shots
and it's a lot harder. They're lower percentage shots. You
might shoot above your average one day, but on average,
you're not going to shoot as well from three as
you from the inside. And you can bank on Florida
having a lot of easy baskets, where I don't feel
that way about Vandy. I don't feel that way about
Ole Miss. I don't feel that way about Wisconsin. So

(01:51:09):
the running game for the Gators, I think is going
to reign supreme here.

Speaker 3 (01:51:13):
Hey man, That's why I like teams like Michigan and
Florida so much is because their front court is so good.
They can play bully ball.

Speaker 2 (01:51:22):
Again.

Speaker 3 (01:51:22):
It's like a running game in football. You just rely
on it it's working, and then on top of it,
if you're hitting threes.

Speaker 2 (01:51:29):
It's like, forget about it. It's a rap.

Speaker 3 (01:51:31):
If you just have those games where, hey, Florida's shooting
a high percentage from three on top of what they
do with their front court. It's it's over same thing
with Michigan. So when they're feeling it from outside and
they're not relying on that, this isn't Wisconsin's offense shooting
fifty three percent of their shots from three, you know
what I mean, Like they just dabble. It's a luxury

(01:51:51):
item with Michigan and Florida shooting threes where they don't
have to shoot a high percentage to win games. They
can just bully you with their front court. So it's
just an added bonus those games that they are shooting
it well from the perimeter. By the way, while we're
kind of like alluding to football, why don't we just
talk football real fast here? How about a couple of
wide receiver nuggets. I love this one so Aj Brown

(01:52:15):
right now, Eagles receiver. There are reports that he's not
gonna be dealt at this time by the Eagles after
serious considerations, are conversations with the Rams and Patriots.

Speaker 2 (01:52:28):
I couldn't believe it.

Speaker 3 (01:52:29):
I got a sports like an alert, right and I
read the alert like the beginning of the description. It
was like Diana Russini reports that the Eagles will not
trade wide receiver AJ Brown at this time after serious conversations,
and it said with the Patriots, and it was like
dot dot dot. I'm like, all right, they got me.
I got to see who the other team is. I'm like,

(01:52:49):
who could it be?

Speaker 2 (01:52:50):
And it's the Rams.

Speaker 3 (01:52:51):
I'm like the what They had serious conversations trading AJ
Brown to the Rams? Bo Benson, I'll give him credit,
our trusted producer is like, I mean, if it's to
sort of drive up the price tag for the Patriots, maybe.

Speaker 2 (01:53:05):
It makes a little bit of sense.

Speaker 3 (01:53:06):
But does it make any sense to you guys that
the Eagles would even entertain the idea of trading AJ
Brown to the Rams, a team that could be right
in their way come playoff time trying to win a championship.
I can't believe they even I mean, everything has a
price tag. If the Rams offered them the world, they'd
have to take it, So I guess it makes some sense,

(01:53:26):
but they would have AJ Brown, DeVante Adams, and Puka Nakua.

Speaker 2 (01:53:31):
That's insanity, right.

Speaker 3 (01:53:33):
I'm just surprised that they were talking to the Rams
about trading AJ Brown.

Speaker 5 (01:53:37):
Yeah, it's it seems it seems kind of crazy, but
at the same token, you know, look, AJ Brown has
been a difficult character in that locker room, and when
we're discussing system fit, like you know, with quarterbacks and
things like that, it's a lot easier to have that

(01:53:58):
conversation because we know how imant personality is at that position.
But then when you get to the receiver room, I
would say, you know, for the most part, it is
a little bit of plug and play. You know, you
get a guy who's comfortable running certain routes against certain defenses.
You get a little chemistry between quarterback and receiver. Most

(01:54:19):
receivers fit in most systems. It only becomes an issue
when they become an issue. You know, We've seen this
so many times, Stefan Diggs in two places now Minnesota,
then the Buffalo Bills. We're seeing it with AJ Brown.
We've seen it multiple times in the past. The DIVA
wide receiver is a trope we often talk about because

(01:54:41):
it's a real thing, and AJ Brown has become a
DIVA wide receiver. So it's the only reason why they
were considering trading to a conference rival in the least bit.

Speaker 6 (01:54:51):
Yeah, I don't know what the Eagles were trying to
get out of it right less need fdemps like he
just doesn't really care about the pick. I don't know
what how many draft picks of the Rams up left
after the McDuffie trade. I think AJ Brown is meant
for Philly. I think he actually fits the personality of
Nick Sirianni very well. I actually think if there's a

(01:55:12):
guy who has as much right you want to match
fire for fire, Brian, I think Sirianni's actually a guy
who can kind of rein in Brown a little bit,
and it just it feels like he's kind of meant
for Philly for a while.

Speaker 3 (01:55:23):
I get it, right, listen, I get both of your
points where Rich is like, hey man, he's difficult. He's
a diva, there's no doubt about it, and he's a
pain in the butt sometimes. So I can understand how
Philly's shopping him. But if you do trade him, then
it's like, oh gosh, we don't have this stud of
a wide receiver on the field anymore. Now of a sudden,
Davonte Smith is our one a guy and this changes

(01:55:45):
our offense completely. So it's a tough scenario for the Eagles.
In AJ Brown, there's no doubt about that. All right,
We've got Rich Orenberger, Penn State All American, Jared Smith
FSR betting analyst, I'm Brian.

Speaker 6 (01:55:57):
Know.

Speaker 3 (01:55:57):
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Speaker 2 (01:56:08):
Again. Just search Fox Sports.

Speaker 3 (01:56:10):
Radio wherever you get your podcasts and you'll find today's
full show. Post it right after we get off the air.
Coming up next, the Moment of Truth rapid Fire. We
each have a bushel of picks for you. We'll just
throw them out super fast, you know, like frisbees.

Speaker 2 (01:56:24):
Like you gotta catch them all. Hopefully they'll all hit
at least mine. All right, that's the next.

Speaker 3 (01:56:30):
It is Fox Sports Radios Countdown presented by BETMGM. It
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Speaker 2 (01:56:37):
College hoops fans.

Speaker 3 (01:56:39):
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Speaker 2 (01:56:48):
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(01:57:12):
producer extraordinaire that is Chris Purfett, and shout out to
our guy Saga. That's right, Saga on digital posting our clips.
Get Fox Sports Radio, follow on X see our smiling faces,
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(01:57:32):
less than ten American minutes. Keep it locked right here
on Fox Sports Radio. All right, we got some picks
to make.

Speaker 2 (01:57:38):
Let's do it.

Speaker 4 (01:57:43):
Rapid fire, all right.

Speaker 2 (01:57:45):
Rich going three to oh.

Speaker 3 (01:57:47):
Last week's on fire right now, took the Irish two weeks.

Speaker 2 (01:57:50):
Ago on the money line plus two twenty five.

Speaker 6 (01:57:53):
Now he's bred hois nice?

Speaker 2 (01:57:55):
Yeah, Jared, we start with you though. Were you taking
us today?

Speaker 6 (01:58:00):
Yeah? That was I'll be honest, Rich, you might we
have to force you to give out dugs. You know,
called the slick rick dog of the week. There So
this Darius A. Cuff prop is there me right in
the face. In the last hour, we gave it out
and prop it up twenty three and a half. It's
up to twenty four and a half now I still
like it. He had twenty six on just one May three,
the last time Arkansas played Whole Miss way back in January.

(01:58:22):
And the Rebels now playing their fourth game in four nights.
Arkansas plays fast. I think a Cuff will shoot better
from three in this game, and I think he'll get
to the twenty five point plateau. So over twenty four
and a half points for Darius A. Cuff Junior, I'll
take UCLA plus seven and a half against Purdue. I
know they are without Tyler Bildeo. He only played ten
minutes yesterday, and I thought UCLA's Biggs did a good

(01:58:43):
job filling the void beating Michigan State outright. And I
do think Michigan or excuse me, Michigan State a very
good team. Perdue also a very good team, but Matt
Painter not good as a favorite two and fifteen against
the spread as a favorite in the Big Den Tournament.
I think Ucla above the key number of seven nice
and snut today against Purdue, and I change my mind.
I said this wasn't a great betting game because of

(01:59:04):
the volatility with Wisconsin and the three point shooting. But
I think Michigan's biggs handled this Badger's team today and
I don't think Wisconsin, after playing overtime yesterday against Illinois,
will have the leg So I will take Michigan minus
twelve and a half against the Badgers.

Speaker 4 (01:59:18):
All right, we got a similarity there.

Speaker 5 (01:59:20):
Let's go to the Big Ten with Michigan over Wisconsin.

Speaker 4 (01:59:24):
I'll give the twelve and a half points there too.

Speaker 5 (01:59:26):
I think Michigan dominates just size advantage. They hold teams
to sixty nine points a game. I like Michigan.

Speaker 4 (01:59:33):
Let's go to the SEC Florida. Their edge is physicality.

Speaker 5 (01:59:37):
They average ten more rebounds per game than Vanderbilt. Possession advantage, Florida.
Give me Florida minus eight and a half and then
back to the Big Ten we go Perdue.

Speaker 4 (01:59:48):
Their advantage is experienced but also rebounding.

Speaker 5 (01:59:51):
They average over ten offensive boards, again creating second chances.
Ucla is really predicated on ball movement. I think that
it's going to be a struggle for them against a
stingy Purdue defense.

Speaker 4 (02:00:05):
I'll take Perdue minus seven and a half.

Speaker 3 (02:00:08):
Okay, let me start it off with Trey Kaufman. When
I'm doubling down, I really like over eight and a
half rebounds today against Ucla. They had a big go down,
so I like Kaufman red to be crashing the glass.
Give me an over here in a game, give me
Houston Arizona over one thirty eight and a half. The

(02:00:28):
reasoning is, I just think when you're playing each day,
it's hard to bring it defensively game in and game out.
So I think just that little bit of you know,
tired legs, it's gonna be hard to defend well all
forty minutes. And you look at how Arizona ended the
game last night against Iowa State, just on fire, hitting

(02:00:48):
shot after shot. I just think it ticks over one
thirty eight and a half. And then for my final act,
I would like to go with a team total. Gimme
Vanderbilt under seventy six and a half against that Florida machine.
I just think they're up against it against Florida today,
so I will take the under seventy six and a
half four Vanderbilt right there. It should be a fun day,

(02:01:12):
very excited for it. Enjoy all the hoops and have
a good one.

Speaker 2 (02:01:15):
We'll see it

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