Straight Outta Vegas: 02/17/2018

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radios. Here we go two
hours on the way straight out of Vegas. Steve Cofield,
r J Bell, Boy, oh boy, do we have a
show for you guys tonight. And we've got two wise
guys for the price of one. Brad Powers college specialist,
Steve Ezik professional sport specialists including the NBA. We'll be

(00:24):
talking a little NFL to Johnny man Zoo, a lot
of college basketball, the Vegas All Star Game, et cetera.
Vegas lead tonight is college basketball and overrated, underrated coming
out of the gates in a great comeback, had a
collapse on the other side. I mean, let's tell the
story accurately. Michigan State down twenty seven in the first half,

(00:45):
comes all the way back twenty one with like sixteen left,
they wind up winning outright against the Wildcats on the road.
Sort of yeah, and obviously, Michigan State, I feel is
overrated for a couple of reasons. Number one reason Michigan
State so overrated. I think it's a distract in Michigan
State team, starting with their head coach Tom Iszo, with
everything that's going around surrounding the off court issues that

(01:07):
they're having there, and since that kind of a rose
for Michigan State, they've only covered one time in their
last nine games. But what goes into them being overrated
Michigan State is the fact that they've won ten straight games,
so the market is not adjusting completely for them not
covering spreads because they continue to win it And the
story coming out of this game from Michigan State is

(01:28):
going to be that the Spartans made one of the
biggest comebacks in the history of the Big Ten. Alright,
so hold on a second, hold the phone. As they say,
overrated compared to what great overrated in the betting markets.
That's why they've only Michigan State's only covered one time
in the last nine games. But on the flip side,
I think Michigan State's underrated compared to where the Committee

(01:50):
ranked them last Sunday in the reveal where they had
Michigan State as the three seed, the number eleven team
in the country. There, I thought Michigan State was underrated. Okay,
So we talked about that and we're gonna talk a
little bit more about it. How the Committee is driven
by money oftentimes follow the money, as they said with Watergate.

(02:12):
But Brad you said something I think that might be
a half step too simple. You said, the fact they're
one in nine against the spread the last ten means
they're overrated. I disagree. It means they've been overrated. Right.
So the question is, and I think you've answered it

(02:33):
by saying, Hey, the fact they're winning the games means
that this downgrade the public is not downgrading them in
a significant way, because, yes, some people beat them, you know,
Michigan State, but even if you're bet in college basketball
every day, chances are you've bet Michigan State once maybe
twice in those ten games. It's not like you're betting
them every game. Right, So, yeah, you've got some vague

(02:56):
sense that they've been underperforming a little bit, but they've
been winning the games. So I think what I'm hearing
you say is they've certainly been underrated looking backwards, Michigan
State now looking forwards, probably still overrated because though they
have not been covering the Spartans, they've been winning the games.

(03:16):
Michigan State and minus nine it got bet up and
they win sixty five sixty against Northwestern. Reason it got
that up. Northwestern a team that they were playing was
Shorthand and missing their second best player. They're starting point guards.
So the fact that Michigan State was down seven against
a Shorthand and Northwestern team, at least specifically to this game,
makes Michigan State's performance overrated. And this was not a surprise.

(03:38):
Starting point guard Macintosh got hurt against Rutger's Northwestern melted
down against them. It was thought he might not play.
So this was not a shock, and yet still the
betterst came. What was not a shock that McIntosh did
not play for Northwestern, the point guard for Northwestern, and
yet still r J despite him being questionable. As soon
as he was reported out, this line went up from
seven half to nine. People want to bet on Michigan State,

(04:00):
so they pounded Michigan State all the way up to
almost double digits. So what I hear you guys telling
me digging into the box score is Northwestern was in
a bad spot right with a key player that could
have played. To me, it's always worse if you think
the player might play if they end up not playing,
because you're you, you don't know what to prepare for.

(04:21):
There's that disappointment factor. So the fact Michigan State came
back historically, hey give him credit. The fact they needed
to come back is a sign, probably the strongest sign
in this whole streak that they're under performing. Oh absolutely.
I think also on the road is a double digit
favorite Michigan State against Iowa. They needed a last second

(04:41):
win in that one. There are a couple of coin
flip games away here in their last three games, Michigan
State against Perdue, against Iowa. If they lost those games,
then I think the market would have definitely adjusted on them.
And this was not a road game for Michigan State.
It was in Chicago, but it was at All State
Arena that's forty minutes away from the Northwestern campus. There
was as many Sparty fans as Northwestern fans. What do

(05:02):
you make of that? Is that valid? Forty five minutes
outside of town. It's a it's a weird spot. I've
been out the All State. It is forever away from Chicago. Yeah.
But but I think the question is this, if you
think of it as a spectrum home game on the
far end, road game on the other end, this baby,
at minimum, if it's neutral, is right in the middle,
and it feels like it's probably a little bit towards

(05:24):
Michigan State. So maybe a half a point of home edge,
but if Northwestern were home, it would have been three
and a half or four points at home edge. So
you know, it's four or so points of additional or
let's say an advantage that Northwestern didn't have. Something Michigan
State did not need to overcome was this game being

(05:45):
on the road. So on Friday night show, Bread nailed
Northwestern plus the points. He also recommended was at his
best bet? Was his best bet. I'll be getting to that.
He had a lot of winners. We have a lot
of winners to go through. He recommended Texas play seven
against a fading Oklahoma team suitors minus seven in the
spot they lose outright, not blown away, but seventies seven,
sixty six, and again Tray Young, I'm gonna say an issue,

(06:08):
but they leaned so heavily on him. He is wearing down.
He absolutely is. Oklahoma was favored by seven against Texas
in this game, loses by eleven, so they failed to
meet expectations. That's a blaw eighteen points and we continue
to beat the drum here. Trey Young makes Oklahoma overrated.
Why everyone wants to bet the best player in the country.

(06:29):
He could be possibly the first player since they've been
doing this stats since the assist became part of the
n C double A stats since not in the early eighties,
to lead the country and scoring and assist last ten games.
Let's get this straight, yea, all the great players, Yes,
it would be the first since who since they've been
keeping track of it since he never happened, never happened

(06:51):
leading the country in points and assist, Which speaks to
something we talked about last night right here and straight
out of Vegas is the freshman wall affects most, if
not all, freshman But this freshman Young from Oklahoma. He's
handling the ball and he's the leading score So in

(07:13):
a way, you could say this player, Trey Young, has
more weight on his shoulders than any player in the
last thirty years of college basketball. Right. If he's score,
if he's eating the country and scoring, so he's scoring
more than anybody else, and he's assisting more than anyone else.
That means you're doing more than anybody else. How would
you rate his defense? Uh? Blow average? All right, but

(07:35):
he's still he's not just completely matt adoring it. Right,
He's given some efforts. So if you're putting in max effort, scoring,
max effort, literally in the country assisting, and you're a freshman.
It seems like you are the poster child of the
freshman wall, which is when you get into game twenty
plus these players at nineteen years old, freshmen are not

(07:57):
used to that kind of game count. And we've in
Trey Young in the last five games where has it
affected his play outside perimeter shooting now ten out of
fifty one from three point rags Trey Young, and today
was an outlier. He didn't score a bucket until two
minutes left in the first half, longest route to start
any game this season. Oklahoma loses land seven against Texas

(08:18):
seventy seven sixty six. So one last question on Oklahoma,
who is I'm not gonna call him incompetent, but needs
to get it together more rapidly. The selection committee or
the oddsmakers on Oklahoma. Of course, the selection committee had
them as the sixteenth team in the country when they
released their six team. Obviously, seven is a healthy number

(08:40):
against Texas. So first, let's frame this because we talked
about it last night, but it is something we're probably
going to talk about every show through the selection Sunday,
which is this is a billion dollar business. College basketball
is a billion dollar business and that kind of money matters, right.

(09:02):
A couple of thousand matters to some people, uh, meaning
they'd be corrupt for a couple of thousan or a
couple of thousands certainly matters to me. I wouldn't be
corrupt over it. But take much more than that is
you know the old joke like now we know what's
the price. But here's my question, or I guess here's

(09:23):
the frame. And Fez, you brought this up first on
our podcast. So we do our dream Preview podcast and
you can get that on my Twitter at our Jane
Vegas or up at pregame dot com. Every Wednesday a
m It's release, Brad is their Fez is there? It's
a basketball deep preview dive. You guys have been killing it.

(09:44):
And f as you brought this up, is there's corruption
in this sixteen team? Reveal that the committee did. And
as I dug into it, I saw two instances and
it was the two first games had the teams that
we were talking about. So who is the team that
the committee would most want to have a favorable run

(10:04):
in the tournament? Now, why would the Committee want anyone,
any team to have a favorable run because the further
this team goes, the better the tournament's gonna be. Thus
higher ratings, that's eventually more money. Okay, Oklahoma, right because
you said it last night, Brad Powers is Trey Young
could be the most high profile college basketball player in

(10:26):
the last five years. We could debate it, but he's
right there in that conversation, Agred Cofield, do you agree
with that? All right? So if he gets eliminated in
round two versus he makes it to the final four,
he and Oklahoma, then big difference financially, all right, So
you would think, Okay, if we follow the money, the
committee is gonna worry about Oklahoma, try to protect them.

(10:49):
So what do they do? Put him sixteen in this
week's reveal, even though in your Vegas rankings, Brad, you
had him number alright, so sixteen slots too high on
the other side, and then what we'll do is address
this deeper after the break, You've got Michigan State. I
don't think there's any team in the last twenty years.

(11:12):
I mean, I'm open to ideas that the n c
A would rather have an early exit than Michigan State.
Why because every game they win it's another chance for
the mainstream media to talk about the controversy at the school.
And well, how did Michigan State get treated by the committee?
By the early reveal is in the Vegas Future odds

(11:35):
Michigan State number one, the best chance to win the
n c A number one Michigan State. And where were
they in the reveal? Number eleven so one time plus
sixteen spots on the team obviously they would favor in
theory and minus ten spots for the team they would disfavor.

(11:56):
We just talked about rated teams. We'll get to one
underrated team. Believe it or not, it's a college basketball
power house that's coming up straight at a Vegas Fox
Sports Radio Vega started at a Vegas company Alive from
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(12:17):
com for a free great quote. We're taking a look
at the Saturday action in college basketball. We just went
over over rated teams in Michigan State one, but they're
overrated by the numbers at the books, and Oklahoma is
on a hell of a slide. Overrated as well. Yeah,
one intent against the number for Oklahoma. And here's the
thing with normally with one in ten A t S teams,

(12:38):
I think, oh, there's gonna be some value I'd like
to play on them the next five games. Oklaholmost the rare.
Let's let's explain that. So the concept is because on
one hand, you think, wait a minute, they've only covered
one out of ten. They're bad and and they're underperforming.
But what ends up happening is the market prices change.
Right if no one knew that they that that Oklahoma

(12:59):
law aust or somehow the market didn't care, then you
would keep betting the bad teams. The question is, and
this is physic what pros try to do, and I'd
like to hear your thoughts on how to do it
in college basketball and the NBA. And maybe there's a
difference between the two versus football, which is in football,

(13:20):
I think any streak that gets up three, four or
five games, you know, a team in the middle of
the college football season covers five straight. I think even
more in the NFL because everyone follows any fan follows
every NFL team, Right, if an NFL team covers five straight,
everyone's looking to bet on them. So if you told me,

(13:40):
you know, five straight covers in the NFL forced play
on the sixth game from this team, I'm gonna play
against them. Forced right, not always, but if I was forced,
I would play against him. In college basketball, where is
that point, because I think it's further than five games.
I think if a team covers five straight in college basketball,
forced play, probably play on them because I think the

(14:02):
market's a little slow to figure out that, hey, this
team is better than we thought. That's let's bet them up.
Because so a few people even are gonna know they've
covered five straight. So how do you balance at physic
I think you look at how sexy the team is
to the average better Oklahoma very sexy, Tray Young really exciting.
They remember what he did early in the year. They

(14:22):
forget that there one intent against so but you're you're
talking about ways the bad streaks can be mitigated, which
is a whole other interesting point. Right. Yeah, they Oklahoma's
on a bad streak, but they have the flashiest player
in the country, the leading score the leading assist guy.
They're also a big program, so it mitigates the streak.
But maybe let's keep this as simple as a yes

(14:43):
or no question. Would you agree that a five game
NFL streak is gonna make that team much more expensive
than a five game winning streak in college basketball against
the spread? A five game against spread streets way too expensive. Example,
Kansas City Chiefs started five even though they got way
over raged. So too expensive in the NFL, but not

(15:04):
always in college basketball. Okay, So that my point would be,
and here's the actionable information you can kind of take
forward if you're playing college basketball, is listen, if a
streak gets gigantic, right, we'll probably be talking about Nebraska
here right, how they do today? They play tomorrow, So second,

(15:25):
there we go. You know, I remember that it's tomorrow,
and let's tease ahead. What is Nebraska streak right now?
Sixteen and one against the spread last seventeen? Okay, and
even that team hasn't been expensive, you know, you would think, Okay,
at some point they were seven and one, and then
ten and one in twelve one. They've kept winning. So
in general, be afraid of following NFL A T S streaks.

(15:48):
Don't be afraid to follow college basketball streaks because the
market does not catch up quickly enough. Now that goes
in both directions. If a team's winning, you look to
potentially play on them that fifth, six, seventh game, and
if a team's losing, you look to play against them. Absolutely.
But here's the thing with Oklahoma that's unique. Even though
they're one in ten against the spread the last eleven,

(16:10):
people are still playing on them. Even today, they got
bet up from six to seven against Texas. So here's
where we're not seeing the market overreact. In fact, people
continue to bet the Sooners, And I think that's physics
point about mitigating circumstances with Oklahoma. How big of a
name Trey Young? Is this? As you wake up, Corval,
go to work. Get it together, right, get it together?

(16:32):
R J belis here, Feesli Pratt powers, I'm Steve Cofield.
It straight out of Vegas, all right. Overrated teams, We
covered them, underrated teams. This one is surprising. Kentucky wins
today one laying four four and a half. And you
said it last night, you believe Kentucky is underrated. Yeah,
I thought Kentucky is cheap for for you know, a
lot cheaper than what they normally are, the Kentucky Wildcats.

(16:54):
Because Kentucky coming into today four straight losses. They tried
to avoid their fish straight loss for the time since
nineteen ninety, they had failed to cover five straight games
against the spread. What do they do today? They're laying
a cheap number against Alabama. Four. That means that both
these teams are equal on a neutral floor. I don't
think that was the case, and played out that way,

(17:15):
Kentucky wins by ten, and I'm looking to bet Kentucky
moving forward. I think they continue to be a little
bit cheap and I like a lot what I saw
today from the Wildcats. So let's talk about that quickly,
And I mean quickly. What did you see that you
liked from Kentucky? I saw a little bit a better
effort on the offensive side of the ball, especially rebounding,
And I just saw a better effort. And I thought

(17:36):
lack of effort in some of these games against the
likes of Vanderbilt, questionable motivation in those games. Today I
saw a lot better effort all the way around. Forty
minutes Kentucky laying four four and a half peach Alabama
eight one seventy one. How much do the jabbronies who
do what I do the sports talk guys, do you
think they affect the betting market with a team like Kentucky. Now,
I'm not calling this guy JABBRONI he's God's gift to

(17:57):
radio on Fox Sports Radio. But Clay Travis was what's wrong?
Might lay it on too thick. If Clay is God's gift,
what's calling? Oh? I don't know. I guess not. So
what's better? God or other worldly? Yeah, let's go. He's
got above. Let's say. Here's what I'll preface one of

(18:17):
the one of the things will be doing. Did you
go to Catholic school in Jersey? No, no, is, I
should have known. One of the things. I don't a
lot more to say. I just cut it off there.
I don't want to get us in trouble. One of
the things we're gonna be doing now that the football
season is over and we're so excited, is it's cold

(18:38):
cash versus hot takes. And let me tell you, guys,
if you're listening three stations on Fox National Radio coast
to coast, is you probably like the cold cash more
than the hot takes. Well, so do we. And what
we try to do during the week is we gather
up because Coldfield does over fifteen hours a week of radio,

(18:59):
much of it local here in Vegas, other national stuff
he does. And he's like, he's like the board in
Star Trek is all the information is coming into his
brain and he's sifting through it and finding the hottest
of the hot takes. Will be playing some of those
hot takes, and we'll be given to Vegas verdict on
these hot takes. Are they accurate or is the cold

(19:21):
cat We're gonna splash a little cold cash on the
Are they good enough for Cofield to just steal without
giving credit? Just copy other guys? No, No, you're thinking
of you're thinking of another website, the gambling writer there.
That's a whole different thing. Okay, all right, check my
Twitter feed. Yes, yes, at our Jane Vegas. Do you
wanna now you don't want to, don't want to give
yourself a pop? There? So Clay Travis talking about Kentucky.

(19:43):
He has a big opinion on Kentucky. I don't know
that we necessarily agree. Let's play Clay here talking about
Calipari and the job he's doing this year and his
job overall that he's done over the years at Kentucky.
Is John Calipari officially now? And so people are gonna
say this is crazy and underachiever at Kentucky. He has
been in Kentucky for nearly a decade now. He has

(20:04):
won one national championship. He has been to several final fours.
But the trajectory of the Kentucky basketball program is not
looking good. They may finish around ten in the SEC
this year, which is just driving off the edge of
a cliff. I wonder on some level whether going after all,

(20:26):
the one and Dunnes has finally caught up with John
Calipari because the guys like coach Saschowski at Duke are
now doing the same thing. And if John Calipari doesn't
have better players than everybody else, I think he kind
of gets exposed when it comes to actual coaching. And
there was a lot of talk that John Calipari was
the Nick Saban of college basketball in terms of his dominance.

(20:50):
I think that's laughably absurd. Now, okay, so lot through.
Now I've got someone shaken his head in studio here,
Brad Powers looks like he's ready to explode over this. Okay,
Brad take the floor. Well, that kind of hot take
is why I bet cold hard cash on Kentucky today

(21:10):
and covered because I couldn't disagree with him more Clay
Travis John Calipari has been to six Elite eights in
his first eight seasons. That's not too shabby. That's just
as about as much as anybody else in the country
four or five, hold on, hold on a second, as
much as anyone else in the country. Has anyone matched that.
I don't think anyone has matched that, all right, So yes,

(21:31):
more than anyone than anyone else. And to me, that's
my first takeaway, my first I guess disagreement, which is
the idea that Kentucky has somehow underperformed. Now, if all
we over the span of Kyla Paris tenure, Now, if
all that we value is national titles, oh one, you

(21:55):
can say, hey, coach k has more whatever, but even
how many coaches have and Williams has more? Right, So
there's two coaches with more during this same span. So
he's got the third, He tied for the third. Most
there it sounds like the most Elite eights, if not
tied up minute, you know, at worst. So the idea
that that he's underperformed in general, I think it's objectively

(22:19):
and it's not even a debate, really, right, because you
can say, well, who's done better? Right? And based on
the angle you look at it right, and there's a
bunch of ways you could look at it at. At worst,
Calipari is the third most accomplished coach from the time
he took the Kentucky job on. Does anyone disagree with that?
So being the third worst coach out of three plus

(22:41):
school and obviously he's at Kentucky, so he's being if
he was the tenth or twelve best coach accomplished during
that time, I would say he underperformed third. I don't
think you can say that, so does anyone disagree with that? So?
You know what I think we do, Steve uh we
got our second kind of cold cash spy against Clay here,

(23:01):
and again we love Clay. We love all the Fox people.
I actually genuinely do. There's not one Fox guy I
don't like, but we would. You know what they talk
about is the um that they call it the soft
bigotry of low expectations. Like if you just let someone
say something you disagree with without telling them, hey, I
disagree with you, that means you don't think they can

(23:23):
handle it. I know Clay can handle it. So We're
gonna tell Clay what we think. We're gonna tell Calling
what we think from the Vegas perspective. We've got a
second point on Kentucky coming up in a minute. John Calipari,
Ain't that good? Yeah? Your name, But first, Steve with
the latest a lot of baseball news tonight, guys. The
first full squad workouts happened Monday for most teams, and
tonight the Padres agreed to a deal with free agent

(23:44):
first baseman Eric Cosmer from Kansas City. John Morosia Fox
says it's an eight year contract with an opt out
after five years. Tampa Bay picture Jake Odoresi was reportedly
traded to the Twins. Tampa Bay outfielder and DH Corey
Dickerson doesnated for assignment as the Rays acquired C J.
Crone from the Angels, and the Giants gave lefty reliever

(24:05):
Tony Watson a two year deal. L A hosting NBA
All Star Weekend tonight, The Dunk Contest winner Rookie of
the Year candidate from the Utah Jazz, Donovan Mitchell three
point contest went to the Sons. Devin Booker winning the
Skills Challenge was the net Spencer Dinwoodie. The thirteen finalists
for the Basketball Hall of Fame this year include new
candidates Jason Kidd and Steve Nash. Don't forget Daytona five

(24:27):
hundred on Fox TV tomorrow to thirty Eastern time. NASCAR's
Affinity Race at Daytona today went to Tyler Reddick in
a virtual dead heat over Elliott Sadler in the fifth
overtime golf in l A, Bubba Watson now as a
one stroke lead after his third round sixty five and
h L wins for Pittsburgh and Chicago, and in college
hoops that come back from number two Michigan State, they
won ten straight. They trailed by twenty seven points in

(24:49):
the first half and still one at Northwestern sixty five
to sixty Michigan State with a te to four run
to start the second half in about fifteen minutes span
their number three Villanova one at fourth rank Xavier to
seventy nine. It's Villanova shot from the floor. Kansas beat
West Virginia tonight in the top twenty matchup seventy seven
sixty nine, but losses for number seven Texas Tech, number

(25:12):
ten ranked Auburn. Also for Tennessee Texas A and m
in Oklahoma. Back to you. We have actionable moves on
Villanova and Xavier coming up in less than five. But
we were talking about here on start at a Vegas
Kentucky overrated, underrated. Brad Power says underrated. We played Clay
Travis saying, hey, you know what, Caliparty not having a
great year. Maybe the guy isn't all that he's built

(25:33):
up to be, And that was Clay's tag. We disagree.
And here's the second area we disagree on on Kentucky
is when you say, hey, the one and Dunn's have
caught up to Calipari and Kentucky and maybe they've fallen
off a cliff, Well, what is that metaphor of falling
off a cliff? Meaning it means that they're heading downwards

(25:56):
and there's no stopping it. But isn't by definition shin
one and done means that there's gonna be a whole
new crop of blue chippers next year that could end
up being the best blue chipper crop of any teams
could be Kentucky's next year wouldn't be shocking, would it now?
If it was a second year and then especially a

(26:16):
third year of the freshman failing quote unquote will say,
you know, failing right relative to Kentucky standards. Now we
can start saying it's a trend line, but to me,
the very definition of the whole one and done is
if it's good or bad, you get a fresh shuffle
of the cards coming up not that long and maybe

(26:37):
the beauty of the disappointing season this year for Kentucky
a lot of those players that were going to be
projected top five, top ten draft picks aren't going to
be that way. So there now remains a possibility, Hey,
they're gonna come back for a sophomore season, which we
didn't expect from a lot of these players, and they
still have a great freshman recruiting class. Chances aren't exactly.
One last point on what Clay said, has there ever
been a Nick Saban of college basketball? Is there only

(26:58):
John Wooden? Is there a mod earn era Nick Saban
of college basketball? Or is it impossible to achieve because
you don't go through two layers in the playoffs, you
have to go through freaking six. Yeah, but I think
I think what you're saying is is a false choice.
Cofield in a square chair, And here's why is how
many teams do you have? How many truly competitive teams

(27:20):
are there that can win a college football national title?
The Power five teams let's say, I mean can Kansas,
but let's keep it simple. How many teams can win
an n c A tournament? Probably about the same amount.
In basketball, oh, I think only I think only fifteen
teams come out in any given year. I agree if
you get to. But what I'm saying is, if we say,

(27:40):
in the next ten years, like name the teams that
could possibly win a national title in football in a
national title in basketball, they'd be about the same number.
So however you get there, I would say college basketball
allows for the guys in the mid level they still
have money. You know which, the tops state in Gonzaga
have money, make no mistake about it, But schools like
that Actually it's the only difference. But you're right when

(28:02):
it when it boils down to it, there's probably tended
twelve teams on both sides that really have a chance
to win the national championship. And I would make the
following point as I pondered your point, and it's even
more incorrect as I think about it. Cofield is you
don't all right, but you can get which do I
know which city, like, which geographic region they're in, doesn't matter?

(28:25):
I do, but doesn't matter. I'm never going to which
at all. That's my pre and flew out. You know
a poker player, uh phasic, you might know this story
is this has been about fifteen twenty years now. They
bet him a hundred I can't remember who it was.
They bet him a hundred thousand dollars that he couldn't go.
I think it was Des Moines, Iowa for thirty days.

(28:49):
He had he had to go and stay there for
thirty days. And I think this might have been he
wasn't allowed on the internet or it was pre internet,
like just pre internet and literally like twenty days and
he just left and paid the hundred k. And I
think planes, trains and automobiles they stranded them in Wichita,
I believe correct. You know, actually that was not one
of my favorites. But not at a Texas roadhouse, which

(29:11):
seems like the center of the town. Maybe that helps
you survive fast trying to get a little POV culture.
I am elma J but millionaire. I want to mention
that stick to sports. We're gonna research that it may
have been a good joke. I remember it's a long
shot that first of if you have to ask, it's
not a good joke, think about it. I'm getting old.

(29:32):
I don't remember everything for every movie. But counted me
on the Gonzagas and LS can win. No, I think
you're right in that that there's some um, really elite
Nonpower five schools that can win. So potentially there's five
or six more, you know, outside of the Power five.
And you know, but you could also make the case
of Central Florida has a small chance to or you know, obviously, uh,

(29:57):
way back, I mean Boise back in the day in
football all had a chance at different points. They were
in the top five favorites to win national titles at
various points. But let's forget that. I think it's about
the same amount of teams. But here's my point where
it's even harder in college football, right because if you
make the tournament and any great like imagine Nick Saban

(30:18):
having to be one of the sixty four sixty eight
best teams. Right, that's gonna happen every year no matter
how bad your regular season is, you know, relative to
how good a Nick Saban type basketball team would be
they're gonna make the tournament no matter how bad, and
then they only need to win six games. You lose
two games pretty much, and there was one exception finally

(30:39):
with Georgia in college football, and you're out you lose
that second game. How State might have been the best
team in the country this year, right, we we've litigated
that in football in depth. But they lost one extra
game to Iowa and they had no chance to win it.
But boy or boy eight team tournament, but guys would
have had a heck of a chance. So then me

(31:00):
Saban is even more impressive because it's so much easier
to get eliminated from college football. So I want to
get to a team on the one line in Villanova
just crushing Xavier today. But first, one more underrated team,
and it's a team with a name, but it's a
team that hasn't been healthy. And you've been saying Notre
Dame is moving in the right direction. They and today
they did again. Yeah, Notre Dame hammered Boston College fighting

(31:23):
Irish now one and covered three of their last four games.
As they're getting healthier, they're getting another starter back this week.
That Irish were missing three starters at multiple points this season,
and and just now a week or ten days they
get the preseason a c C Player of the Year
back Notre Dame does and bonds Colson. Here's a team
that now has some light at the end of the tunnel.

(31:44):
If they win their next three games Notre Dame, and
they're gonna be favored to win those three games, then
they'll get to five a c C play And now
they have this possibility of when it or at least
getting to the n C Double. A tournament battle of
number three and four teams in the country. Villanova takes
out number for Xavier seventy nine. They were laying one
and a half. What happened? Why wasn't so easy? Villanova

(32:06):
got healthier, they were missing two starters in this three
game stretch where they lost two games. Villanova and also
Villanova is just is a very bad matchup for Xavier.
That's now ten of the last eleven meetings Villanova's won,
and nine of them by double digits, including by fifteen
plus points in each of the last four. Villanova's just
a bad matchup for Xavier. And this was a home

(32:28):
run spot for Xavier. Today they had gotten blown out
at Villanova by twenty four on January tenth. This was
their game of the year and they got blown out
by Villanova again, and Villanova's only getting healthier. Villanova clear
cut favorite versus any other team to win the title
in my opinion. Okay, so if you could just pick
one team, Steve AzaC and win ten thousand bucks if

(32:50):
they win it, it would be Villanova. Strongly feel that way. Yes,
who's the second best? Well, first, let me ask you
this as as it thinks about that, Brad, who's your
first hand it is Villanova, particularly when they get the
next starter back, Phil booth of one of their captains
who's been missing the last three weeks. He's expected back

(33:10):
in the next week, so no question about it. He
comes back. They're healthy. Villanova the best team, Brad. You
gave us stat last night on Straight out of Vegas
right here that Villanova's defense so statistically is a big,
big drop off. Give a stat again and tell me
why it doesn't concern you. Last five seasons average defensive
rank for Villanova in the top fifteen. This year not
even in the top forty for the Wildcats, but they

(33:32):
make up for it. R j because by far they're
the number one offense in the country. So a team
that I like, and I'm surprised no one's thrown it
out there from a value standpoint, they won today, Brad
nailed in. North Carolina goes on the road at Louisville,
laying one three to seventy six. And this week you
could get in North Carolina national title. Five straight wins
and covers for the tar Heels now, and three of

(33:54):
those were in really bad spots. What they accomplished last week,
North Carolina beating do n See State and a red
Hot and Order Dame team three three games in five
days is an impressive as five days stretch as any
team in college basketball this season. So right now, what's
North Carolina is future title odds anywhere from like twenty
to thirty to one, So shop around. Is their value there?

(34:17):
Oh yeah, there's value. Powers will have a ticket first
thing tomorrow morning. So Fez, we gave you time to
think on it. Who's your second best team? And this
is forget the odds, This is you get to pick
two teams to win the title. If either win, you win.
Who's your second team? Villanova first, I'm embarrassed to say
Villanova's number one, Virginia is number two, even though I

(34:38):
think Virginia is overrated because I know they're going to
get a number one seeds so they own effective. We
have to win five games instead of six because I
know they'll win the first round game. Who's your second team? Brand? Wow,
you have Virginia, but closed closing is is North Carolina.
Michigan State my second team. I'm now rooting for Michigan State.
Screw this selection committee. It's it's German shot in Freud.

(35:01):
You want to get, you want to see the n
S you want to poke me, I'm coming right back
at you. We turn our attention to the NBA on
the way back examination of the calvs trades at the
deadline and their chances in the Eastern Conference. Right here
on straight out of Vegas, Fox Sports Radio, Straight at Vegas,
coming alive from the Geico Fox Sports Radio studio is

(35:23):
great news. There's a quick way you can save money.
Switched the Geiko. Go to Geiko dot com and in
fifteen minutes, you could say fifteen or more on car insurance.
Wrapping up the Saturday slate of big games around the
world of college basketball, Brad Powers physic Or and the
Wise Guy chairs R. J. Bell and Steve Cofield. Kansas
at home wins today seventies seven sixty nine, laying three

(35:46):
against West Virginia. It was not easy. It was a
quirky game, the most misleading final of any game today
for Kansas. And let's break it down. Kansas wins the
game by eight points. They cover a three point spread.
But if a quick question, yeah, I just hear in
your voice, did you bot West Virginia? No? No, no?

(36:06):
Last night? Yeah? I mean were you listening to the
last night show? I mean, well, here here's the thing,
here's here's from there. I was very confusing in my hand.
He keeps one in the chamber in case you pond. Oh,
go ahead, let me let me get you in the
direction here. So can't you you mentioned last night? This

(36:30):
Kansas streak of winning the Big twelve is really important.
People in the Big twelve will tell you, my God,
going into fog Allen and getting the benefit of the
doubt with the officials is really difficult. And today it
was borderline ridiculous. And I think we're talking about two
subjects here, both very valid. One is and we said
it yesterday. Kansas cares about this amazing streak. Every year

(36:55):
the Bill South has been a coach of Kansas, they've
won the regular seat is in Big twelve, not outright
every year, but they either want outright or tied every year.
I mean, it's one of the most amazing under disgusted.
I mean, I know it's discussed, but this is an
amazing streak, right, I mean, I wonder in any other conference,

(37:17):
like in that time period, what's the most number? I mean,
has anyone else even wanted half the time in a
major conference? Not a major conference now, I mean the
West Coast. Yeah, so so one, I think you're gonna
see there one game behind right to Tech. They are
now tied because Tech lost. Okay, so this is it.

(37:38):
They now they're figuring we just now they've got a
game in Tech right coming up. So that's gonna be
a heck of a game. But I can promise you
Kansas is gonna care times ten in that game. Not
the Tech won't. But I think there's that extra motivation.
How about my angle the five verses eight, five verses
eight refere Oh well yeah, let's well that's also not

(37:58):
only the biggest mislead in game, and let's first talk.
While it was miss leading, Kansas was down eight points
with less than four minutes left. The fact that they
closed the game on a nineteen to three and run
makes a miss leading. But maybe the biggest file shot
disparity as far as the free throw attempt line I've
seen in any game this year, Kansas gets thirty five
free throw attempts. Tonight, West Virginia gets to West Virginia

(38:21):
doesn't attack, they don't play hard, not aggressive, the most
aggressive team in college of basketball. So what do you
guys think? Aside from home court at fog Ellen, is
there also something against Huggy Bob Huggins. I don't think
it's something that's like a fiat, like a instructions coming
down from the league office or the n t A office.

(38:44):
But I think it's very possible when you have a
play or coach that is so combustible as Huggins, let's
say Alpha, or however we let's say and let's say
a nice whatever nice words we can use for a
difficult personality, maybe you're gonna have certain referees. I think
it's more about individual referees. You're gonna have certain referees

(39:04):
that just don't like Huggins. And in their minds they're
not thinking I'm doing them wrong. They just rationalize, Hey,
I'm gonna call a I I call close games. And
when you press, when you're pressed Virginia, there's gonna be
a chance that, um, if you want to put it
to Huggins, it's gonna be easy to put it to
Huggins as a referee, absolutely, And you can call, because

(39:25):
West Virginia is so aggressive, you can call, and it's
kind of a judgment call a lot of times when
they get in your face, they call it a file.
But here's another thing. And I know, listen, we Vegas
in general. The sharpest guys in Vegas and physic I
think you would agree with this. And you know the
sharpest guys as well as I do, is they're not
conspiracy guys, right sometimes, but in general it's about the facts, right,

(39:47):
And we're not conspiracy guys, right. So, but we're not
afraid of the truth. Even if it's a conspiracy it
would seem. But some of it is how loosely or
tightly does this referee call? And Brad, have you got
in in? Brad worked for a Phil Steel for what
about seven years, right, and you know you guys at

(40:08):
with with Phil did some deep deep dives on the
college side. Did you get into college basketball referee tendencies?
We did not, okay, because my gut feeling is with
a team like West Virginia, maybe more than any team
in the country, is how inclined or these referees to
call touch fouls, especially outside of the blocks, because man,

(40:31):
oh man, you know that if they're calling them tight,
West Virginia is in trouble. I don't know how you
can bet West Virginia without profound the referee. And that's
why they're very tough to play honor against them in
the n C Double A tournament because you've got referees
they're not used to referee West Virginia style games. Crossover
sports here. West Virginia is the Seattle Seahawks defense of

(40:52):
college basketball. If they call it tight against the Legion
of Boom, the whole game changes. The whole game changes.
Another hour on the way. We're here from Shaquille O'Neal
on the Eastern Conference. Are the Calves a lock to
win it? We're coming to a live from the guy
Go Fox Sports Radio Studios, fifteen minutes could save you

(41:14):
a fifteen or more on curR insurance. Visit geik dot
com for a free great quote Steve go Field, r
J Bell, and we've got two wise guys for the
price of one. Brad Power's College Sports, Steve Ezik Professional Sports,
and man that first hour if you didn't listen, I

(41:36):
think our best hour certainly our best known football hour
and one of our best hours shows what seven months
old and we put the podcast out of the whole
show guys UM Friday Night and Saturday Night and Fox
in their normal weekend channels. And I also tweeted out
at r J in Vegas this hour will be better. Wow,

(41:58):
I like it. I hope Physic's got his NBA. I'll
star game take a lot of angles because it's a
different format that's coming up in less than fifteen. So
let's examine the second half. The trade deadline just went down.
Cleveland Cavaliers make a lot of changes. All the old
guys told to hit the bricks. They're bringing a bunch
of new guys. So where are we now in the
betting market? R J. We're gonna hear from Shack and

(42:18):
a couple of seconds here Shaquille O'Neil on what he
thinks of the trade. But where's the betting market now,
specifically with the Eastern Conference. Yeah, so I think there's
like three or four angles to discuss this Calves current situation,
and you know, watching media this week, this was the
topic in the media first though. The easy one is

(42:40):
objectively what the odds are? So, Steve, why don't you
read those when it comes? And I think it's better
for us to look at to win the East, right,
because Golden State is such a dominant team, and we'll
talk about how dominant they really are from an odds
perspective here before the end of the show. But they're
so dominant, I think if you talk about odds to

(43:01):
win the title, it obscures the truth of what's going
on in the East. So let's look at East odds.
So we've already had changed since the trade deadline. Raptors, Celtics,
Cavaliers were all two to one to win the Eastern Conference.
This was days before the trade deadline. Now it's moved
to Calves even money. Celtics are a plus two eighty,
Raptors are plus four fifty. Yeah to me, and this

(43:26):
is gonna be topic Number one for us is the
market is saying huge upgrade for the Calves. And remember
what's driving that upgrade. One is the perception of how
good the team is now versus before, but also to
really good performances. One was one of the best performances

(43:46):
of the season by any team, dominating the Celtics the
Calves did. And the other was a win on the
road against Okay. See that's a nice win and it
wasn't all that close, So Calves might be the two
best games of the year right after trade. You combine
that with some optimism around the trade itself. The public
believes a big upgrade, as you said, from the plus

(44:09):
two hundred range on the Calves to the even money range.
I would make the point strongly that and in fact
this feels like a hot take, but I don't care.
Here comes I deep breath. I think the Calves have
a worse chance to win the title now than they

(44:30):
did before the trade. Crossfiretime physic will get a chance
in a second, But the slightly more famous Shaquille O'Neal
really likes the Cavaliers. Conference. Hold on a second, Hold
on a second. Here's what we physics, the only guy
to win the Super Contest twice in all the five

(44:51):
I'm known all over the So maybe Shack, but let's
let's not you have physic short shrift. Though, here's Shack
on the Cavaliers. Do they have enough for Golden State?
I don't really think so, because you know, Golden State
juggling out. They got they got four guys, you know,
they got the three Hall of Famers and then you

(45:12):
can't discount Draymond Green. Will they come out of the East, Yes,
they would definitely come out of the East. That there
are uh, substantially better, you know, playing with a lot
more energy. You know, the guys have not really had
a full practice yet, but you see him rotating on
defense and you know, shooting the ball well and playing well.
But are they ready for Golden State? No. Last summer

(45:32):
after they lost to gold said they tried to rebuild
for Golden State, you know, by bringing d Way and
those guys that it didn't work out. You guys are
playing real cool. But these young guys that Lebron got
coming in now they're playing a little bit hungry. That
was Shack on first take. Does that make you more
confident that Shack is all over the Cavaliers r J. Bell. No,
And I'll tell you this, I'm a huge fan of Barkley,

(45:55):
especially when he calms down and we've actually got and
Barkley sound coming up where he talks about playing drunk.
It's a pretty amazing clip. But when he settles down
and just talks basketball, not many guys I want to
hear more in that, right, So he told me, or
he didn't tell me. He told me when I listened
that he thought and this was another segment he did.

(46:18):
I can't remember what show he said. He thought the
Celtics have no chance. Now I disagree, but he goes,
but he thinks Toronto has a much better chance in
the Celtics, and the numbers say in Vegas is Toronto
has a less chance. I take that very seriously. So no,
it doesn't make me like the Calves less cause Shack
likes the Calves. But I think it's so telling that

(46:42):
when something goes from plus two hundred to even money
that in the eyes of even expert basketball guys, it's like,
oh yeah, yeah, Calves got this. Come on, you know,
it's not even a question they're gonna win the East. No,
it's a coin flip right now. In fact, if you
take out the VIG. If you take out the VIG,
it's less than fifty percent. The imputed on the Calves
to make the NBA Finals is less than so to me,

(47:06):
and I think that's too good. So Fez, let me
ask you, because I gave my heart take and I'm
gonna make my case here in a minute. I think
the Caves have less of a chance to win the title.
Agree or disagree strongly disagree because they were so dysfunctional.
Why it was good having you? Oh? No, The problem
with the Calves was Isaiah Thomas was so dysfunctional and

(47:27):
he was not healthy that the team just was not
getting along the terrible chemistry. The players they brought in
are all nice editions, none of them are extra special,
but the chemistry is so much better. You have to
upgrade the Calves. But I agree with you r J
that the upgrade is being way too dramatic at the
betting marketplace. Now you don't agree with me, so I
have to take you out. Is all right? Let's do

(47:50):
this socratically. Keep it simple, though I went simple answers,
don't dodge, okay on paper? How would you rate the
players the Calves lost versus the players the Calves Calves
gained on paper significant upgrade because they didn't lose, and
you're the only they didn't lose anything. Thomas is irrelevant.
Isaiah Thomas, the fifth, the guy who was fifth in

(48:12):
the m v P voting last year, is an irrelevant.
He was great and he was a warrior with the Celtics.
He was a negative for this team. So just getting
rid of Isaiah Thomas made the team better. Well, I mean,
we can always talk about edition by some tin And
it's so funny, right because Brad here, who has been
smart to pipe down about Isaiah for a while, he
was going, oh he's a killions is Brad, I'm imitating?

(48:33):
He was a cancer. He was a cancer. Oh okay,
but but it's kind of the auto lot of guy
from Ladderman. But but here's the thing is, as the
stories have come out and Kofield you kind of mentioned
this on Twitter like how maybe r J was right
about this one. I don't know what you're talking about. Now,

(48:54):
come on, let's be honest. I'm holding what's the recent story.
There's other stories about the Kevin love kerfuffle. That Dwayne
Wade may have been the ringleader on that as much
as everyone thought it was Isaiah to Thomas, Right, so
we don't know. Let's let's agree to something. We don't
know what's going on in these locker rooms. That's a
great point. So this whole premise that, oh addition buys
the traction. We have no idea, but fair enough. But

(49:15):
I do think losing Wade is no big deal at all.
He was too old and he's there. They're no worse
off not having Wade playing. Okay, but Isaiah talk now again,
the theory is this guy gets better as the season progresses,
because it's a spectrum. Right in in early January, he
wasn't even healthy enough to play, and at a certain
point he came back. But the theory is every you know,

(49:38):
day that goes by, he's getting healthier and healthier. Do
we really know what the ceiling is for Isaiah? Let's
say come June one, Like in theory, what all that
matters is post June one, Right, we don't know our
j and that and that's really the key question. Is
he gonna be? Was he gonna be? Because right now
he's about eighty percent If that had happened, they would

(50:00):
have had a higher ceiling. And what don't we agree
that the calves should break in for one second? Why
are you backing down? Because logic is like logic is
like an avalanche's logic. You're you're, it's it's not in
this case, don't back down on the chemistry issue and
Isaiah Thomas's defense. The chemistry issue is still there. But
if I have healthy Isaiah Thomas, I'd rather have him

(50:22):
than George Hill running the point, I don't agree, I
don't agree. I think I think this team in the
off season was built for Lebron Kyrie irrings out. Now
Lebron is one one A, one B, one C one D,
so everyone is the way and facilitate. George Hill is
a better facilitator then Isaiah Thomas cofield. If that's the case,

(50:43):
they have no chance to win it. I mean, Lebron
is no better today than he was. And you know,
I don't know it's in was his third year maybe
comparable to this year, right, so he he improved, the improved,
he got to a certain point and Lebron Lebron captain
proving and now he's a little bit trending down. So
he's he's he's put you're on You're on something. But

(51:04):
that's not what we're discussing right there. To win the title.
What I'm saying, we're talking about the East. What I'm
saying is this, well, no, we're not talking about the East.
We're talking about the East to help frame the conversation,
but the real topic is can the Let me ask
you this if if they went to the Calves right
now and said, um, the you know, some authority from

(51:25):
above and he said you can, I can guarantee you
you're gonna make the finals the Calves Lebron, but I
guarantee you won't win. Will you take the deal? They
did take the deal? What do you mean? Yeah, that
was presented to them. Will you trade Kyrie Irving? As
soon as they made the decision to trade Kyrae got
back what they got. Bactually, you get no chance to win,
even though you know what I should have said it
at the time there were plus two fifty coming out

(51:46):
of the gates, But once you got to look at
this team without a second score Kyrie Irving carried them
in many spots. Without Kyrie Irving, they really don't have
a chance. Okay, so in your theory, then it doesn't.
Anything they do is feudal, like they literally have zero
chance to win the title. No, No, if they had
mortgaged the future, if they'd use that number one pick
they got from the Celtics, the Nets pick, which actually

(52:08):
is going to be you know, eight to ten, if
they had done that, maybe they could have got a
great second option. But they chose not to do it
because they know what's coming with Lebron. It's fifty at
best that he's coming back. If you're six to one,
you're gonna be in what the twelve or so rain
or let me think about it, no, the or so
range to win the title. If you're six to one,

(52:29):
Let's say that they their odds are doubly as good
the Calves as they really should be. Let's say there's
a premium that means the chance of them winning's eight percent.
Do you really think that they're worse than eight percent
to win the title the Calves? Would you? Let would
you give me a so? So my point is and
after the break will go and actually, you know, let

(52:50):
me actually say the point. Actually, Jack the crowd fire,
I needs to take a breath and puff out his
chest a little bit during the break. He knew he
had a losing hand, and he was smart enough to
back a way. But here's the thing we'll say before
the break is I believe that keeping Isaiah and not
making these trades. I'm not saying all the trade. Maybe

(53:10):
they could have made this narrow trade or this narrow trade,
but getting rid of Isaiah decreases their chance to win
the title. And I'll explain why it's coming on next
Straight at Vegas on Fox Sports Radio, Vega Straight at
the Vegas Geico, Fox Sports Radio Studios. What does it
mean when Geico says just fifteen minutes could save your

(53:31):
fifteen cent or Warren Car insurance, It means you probably
should have gone to Geico dot com fifteen minutes ago. Alright, alright, alright, fays,
We're gonna do this quick and tight. I've got a
few questions. Here's the premise. Resetting the premise, I believe
the Calves should be downgraded in their chance to win
a title off their trade deadline moves. And we've already

(53:56):
discussed before Kofield jumped in try to hijack the conversation.
We've got his mic cut right now, not really is one.
How good are the players that they that the Calves
gained versus the Calves given up? And my point would
be that the Calves needed a high variance approach two

(54:22):
making moves at the deadline. Now, what does high variance mean.
It means it's not about like getting the fiftie percent
how of possible results, because if that happens, they're not
gonna win the title. They need a confluence of events
to happen the Calves do in order to win the title,
They've got to get lucky. Just to speak in Layman's terms,
where is the upside with this current team? What you're

(54:44):
gaining with this current team of the Calves is youth.
And I think that's the key here that not enough
people are talking about. I think he says, owner Gilbert
given a big middle finger to Lebron, saying, you know,
we're gonna make a move. It's gonna look like we're
kind of trying to help you win, but we're keeping
that pick. To me, it's total insanity to keep that

(55:07):
that that new Jersey pick. I mean, you could have
potentially gotten a really good player, you know, if that
was thrown into some something who knows what right, but
something else maybe and with Jordan's potentially right from the
Clippers was what I heard, was the rumor. I mean,
how much better? I mean, imagine if they had Jordan
from the Clippers and they had Isaiah Thomas, and we

(55:32):
say there's a thirty percent chance Isaiah Thomas is gonna
be near what he was last season come June, so
near last season, Isaiah Thomas with Jordan's and potentially one
of the other people they added. And again I don't
understand every move in the trade. Where could they have
added just one more guy? Perhaps? Doesn't that team against

(55:56):
the Warriors seem a lot more interesting than this team?
It does? It depends do you want to compare how
likely are they to beat the Warriors or how likely
are they to beat the East? I think picking up
three guys. Once again, what do you think the Calves
goal is When they were making a trade, when they
were deciding what to do, what do you think the
Calves goal is. I think they were looking to get

(56:17):
rid of guys that were working out. I'm asking what
their season goal is for the Calves. This is an
easy answer. They want to be competitive, to be able
to make the finals. You don't believe that. I do,
so you think they're all right, So let me ask
you this question, and and and be careful this I
mean this is this is coast to coast, I mean stage,

(56:39):
I mean, I mean, just be hold on. Here's the question.
Is if uh, some authority came down and said, all right, Cleveland,
you can have a ten percent chance to make the
finals and a ten percent chance to win it, meaning
it's a long shot to make it, but if you
make it, you win it. Or you can have a

(57:00):
fifty percent chance to make the finals and a five
percent chance to win it. What do they take? I
take the fifty and five. I'm sure they would too.
You're insane, really, you are insane. Really, I mean, it's
that is probably the most nonsensical thing I've ever heard
you say. Does anyone else agree with him? Now? I
think what he's trying to get at. No, no, no,

(57:21):
do you agree with him? No? It's insane. But that's
but that's not real life with the Cavalier's. Real life
is Lebron is probably leaving. So they're trying to play
both sides, which means they're not doing it, which means
they're not doing anything like, if you have to one
and have do the other, you're not really doing anything.
But if you don't believe they improved, he does. Kobe

(57:42):
Altman probably believes they improved slightly. The ship was sinking
for Cleveland and they were playing something bad on You're
you're making it a false choice. The choice wasn't this
move or no move. There's a lot of moves they
could have made. Right, It's possible they turned down a
better move that they could have made well for sure,

(58:03):
But I want to go back one more time because
I want to quickly. I want to make sure I
understand what you're saying. You're saying the calves to have
a much better chance to make the finals, would accept
half as much chance to win the finals in order
to improve their chance to make the finals. I think,
if anything, Lebron would rather not. If you ask Lebron,
you can go to the finals and lose or not

(58:27):
go to the finals. That's your only two choices. I'm
not sure he wouldn't go. I'm not sure that he
wouldn't choose not to go, because if you let the
Warriors beat you again, it's gonna start feeling like the
Buffalo Bills I mean it really is. It's like, do
you really think he wants to lose in Uh, let's
be candid with this team. They losing five probably right

(58:48):
against the Warriors. I mean, he's gonna get embarrassed in
front of the world again. Now, I think the only
mitigating thing about Lebron is that streak of going to
the finals is so amazing that he might take the
uh you know, quote unquote, you know, humiliation of a
bad beat against the Warriors in order to keep that
street going. But NBA teams that at the highest level

(59:11):
care about titles. I think once you have one, though,
you're not gonna be compared to the Bills, and you
do it, there's a lot to be said for making
the finals. Maybe I'm in the minority. There, no, no,
you're certainly in the minority. In fact, you're there's probably
I think seven people in the country if we everyone
that would have great. Cavaliers are now even money. Celtics
are plus two eighty raptors or plus four fifty to

(59:33):
win the Eastern Conference. Physic is sticking with his play.
You got down on one to to one on the Cavaliers.
I'm not sticking with it. I'm coming out. No, no,
I'm not bailing. I'm building a portfolio that looks great.
I got Cleveland two to one to win the East.
Now I will take Toronto at more than four to one.

(59:54):
I will take the Raptors, the team that has been
the clear cut class of the East throughout the year.
There at the think about it, Celtics, all this disruption,
they only got four guys back from last year. You've
got all these trades going on, and Cleveland who knows
that the chemistry is gonna come together? And I get
the team with likely that's going to get the number
one seed at four to one. Absolutely, no, I love

(01:00:14):
I love this. I take it back. He's the best,
he's a value player. No no, And just to be clear,
he had the cast before the trade in the two
to one range and now he's taking Toronto. And this
is what professional batters do as the market abbs and flows.
In the stock market, they talk about the random walk
walk of Wall Street, in which there they goes up

(01:00:36):
a couple of steps, it goes down a couple of steps,
But really, if you pull back far enough, it looks
like a straight line up or down whatever direction it's going.
Over an extended period, but it will go up or
down a ton day to day. Fez is taking advantage.
He's always buying low and he's selling high. And Cleveland's
won three in a row and the markets are going crazy.
Everyone's forgetting Toronto's just killed seven straight teams in a row.

(01:00:59):
Last to wrap, I am not saying that Cleveland hasn't
improved in the regular season. I think in the regular
season you might upgrade this team two points. So now
people might say, wait a minute, you're saying they're worse,
but they're better in the regular season. It's a very

(01:01:20):
different season the postseason. Right. Regular seasons about having youth,
regular seasons, about energy regular seasons, about letting Lebron be
the ringleader and everyone else being you know batman and
you know a bunch of Robbins and one Batman. The postseason,
Remember when the Chips were down against Golden State, when

(01:01:42):
Cleveland did win, who took that final shot? Right, that's
what you need in the postseason. Doesn't mean Lebron couldn't
have made it either. It means they had two choices, right.
They don't have two choices now, right, So to me,
here's the paradox. The Calves are better in the regular
season with this team team, I think they're worse in
the playoffs. I think they're especially worse with their chances

(01:02:06):
of beating the the Golden State Warriors. And the fact
of the matter is their odds have improved, and those
odds aren't about regular season odds, it's about the postseason.
I think the market is wrong. That's R J. Bell, Physick,
Brad Powers. I'm Steve Coldfield in the square chair. I
just got put back in the square chair. So I
think squares will walk into the sports books, some of

(01:02:26):
them for the All Star Game and not know that
they've changed the format. Now it should say on the
board team Lebron team stuff. And at that point they're
gonna be like, what's going on here? Is this some
sort of exhibition game? Though? The All Star Game format
has changed? And I've been waiting for weeks to ask
you guys about this. What do you do with a
new format? I tell you this, I watch right, and

(01:02:48):
I probably have a second staground, probably spending of my
time looking at Twitter and looking at the game. Probably
no bets. Physic though, NBA specialist, you've got some clear
thoughts on this All Star Game. Yeah, I love the
format giving us value to the under in this game.
Chris Paul met with the commissioner. Total is three thirty

(01:03:09):
eight right now, three thirty eight. And let me put
this in context. The last two years in the All
Star Game East versus West, they scored about three seventy points.
Prior to that, the two years before it was around
three twenty. Before that it was below three hundred. So
that game has become a joke with no defense whatsoever.

(01:03:30):
And so Chris Paul met with the commissioner. They put
their heads together, well what can we do to make
this a little bit less of a force, and they
came up with, let's pick players have Team Steph against
Team Lebron. And here's what I love, r J. They
did this in football for the Pro Bowl. When they
did it for football, which had become a joke as well,
no defense, they went from scoring a hundred points on
average to scoring sixty the three years after they had

(01:03:52):
this team concept. You're saying the three year or for
years prior to the change, the average total points in
the NFL, how Pro Bowl was about a hunder. And
then for the three years after the change, it went
down to sixty correct, because suddenly it wasn't a joke anymore.
Guys started playing a little defense, not a lot of defense.
I anticipate the same thing's gonna happen in this game.

(01:04:14):
That's why I like the under. I think that is
a brilliant handicap and I think he's right on Sunday
College Basketball Picks and Analysis on the way. But first,
Ralph Irvin with the latest. Well, thank you very much, gentlemen.
You talk about the NBA. It is All Star Weekend
and All Star Saturday Night. Spencer didn when he won
the NBA Skills Challenge. Devin Booker from Phoenix won the

(01:04:35):
three point contest. Meanwhile, Utah's Donovan Mitchell the slam dunk
champion on the top twenty five scoreboard. Upset win for
Baylor over number seven Texas Tech fifty seven South Carolina
stunted number ten Auburn Georgia with the upset of number
eighteen Tennessee two Texas beating an Oklahoma team that shouldn't

(01:04:58):
have been ranked three seventy seven sixty six. The Sooners
have now lost five straight. Online car shopping can be confusing,
not anymore, with true Price from True Car. Now you
can know the exact price you'll pay for your next car.
So it is a true Car to enjoy a more
confident car buying experience. Men's Ski Slope Style Oyston broadened
from Norway, wins the Gold Nick Gepper from the US,

(01:05:20):
though does claim the Silver Marcel Herschel wins the Men's
Giant Slow and Gold Medal and Gentlemen. While the NBA
All Star Game will be Sunday night, we are just
twelve hours away from the start of the Great American
Race the day. The three favorites going in Denny Hamlet
at nine to one, Chase Elliot at eight to one,
and Brad Keselowski your favorite at seven to one. Thank you, Ralph.

(01:05:44):
Starting at Vegas, stik Field, RT Bell and Brad Powers
in the wise Guy's chairs. Okay, Cofield, I'm gonna do
a second hot take straight out of Vegas. I think
the Philadelphia Eagles are in trouble now. Listen, they won
the Super Bowl. It was an amazing win, though I

(01:06:08):
think looking back, we can't forget the Atlanta Falcons. The
first playoff game in the Division round for the Eagles
were inside the nine or inside the ten yard line,
four downs, the score touchdown, they score touchdown, They pretty
much win the game. As in game, you're you're a
master at the end game batting. What were the odds
on that first down play that Atlanta wins? Atlanta was

(01:06:30):
minus won, So they were better than a coin flip
about doesn't take away that the Eagles deserve the title.
It just shows that that there was luck involved. Right
with almost it's very rare a team. If you go back,
you can't find remember Clemson a couple of years ago, right,
what was that against NC State? There was like a

(01:06:51):
forty yard field goal that I vaguely remember that. But
the most teams are gonna face this, right. But here's
the thing. Michael Lombardi, in my opinion, he's with the
Ringer now and he did a lot of work with
Fox back in the day. Lombardi is the greatest football

(01:07:11):
mind in media in my opinion, or at least he's
up there. I think Greg cost is up there also
and some others. But when Lombardi talks, I listen. Anytime
Belichick says, hey, hang out with me, I'm gonna pay
you a couple hundred thousand to talk football. With me.
I probably know some football right. He has taken so
much heat Lombardi on saying that Peterson, coach of the Eagles,

(01:07:36):
was not an NFL level coach. Here's my hot take
that I will back with cold cash, is I think
Peterson let's break coaching up the three buckets. I don't
think these are the perfect three, but I think they're
generally correct in game decisions. And I think Peterson called

(01:07:57):
the greatest game in the history of maybe the NFL
because the stakes were so high, but the history of
the Super Bowl that he was almost perfect. It would
seem in his decisions. As you are a a very
harsh critic of such decisions in general, what did you
think of Peterson? I thought it was a brilliant job,

(01:08:18):
and frankly, he and his team did a brilliant job
all year long. Okay, now that's a little too generic
for me. I'm not sure about the whole brook. You know,
what did he do throughout the season? What was brilliant?
That's what I'm gonna call into question. But let's give
him an a plus end game. Okay. I also think
motivationally to have your franchise quarterback go down, Wentz obviously,

(01:08:40):
and to still keep the team together enough to be
in that Atlanta game too, you know from what you
read now, to coach up folds during that break, you know,
during the bye week leading into the Atlanta game, looking
at what he did with Chip Kelly's offense and put
in some plays that replicated that. I mean, that's just
great motivation. It's great decision making, a plus right as good.

(01:09:03):
I mean, backup quarterback wins the Super Bowl. It doesn't
happen very often, right, But here's the question. The third
part in these buckets of coaching in the NFL is
XS and ohs. I would make the case that Jim
Schwartz on defense is one of the five best defensive coordinators.
Does anyone disagree with that? Alright? Agreement? And I would

(01:09:26):
make the case that in in cofield, you've got the
name on the the quarterback coach better than me. They've
lost now the Eagles to the first two levels of
offensive coaches. Frank raik is gone the offensive coordinator, he's
now the head coach with the Colts. And John d. Filippo,
who is branded he's older, he's thirty nine years old.
But the next little boy genius like Sean McVeigh. He

(01:09:49):
is touted as a potential head coach. He's gone off
to the Vikings as an authentic coordinator. I think the
Filippo is so well regarded. Had the Eagles not made
the run to the super Bowl, I think he's atlay
a head coach right now. But the super Bowl kind
of screwed him from getting those interviews. I think he
would have been a head coach. Wow. But let's just
accept a move to one of the better teams in
the league, Minnesota. If you're gonna be o C somewhere,

(01:10:11):
that's one of the top seven or eight right now.
Right is so both coaches went up one level, and
now what are they filling in? What are the Eagles doing? Oh,
they're saying we might get an offensive coordinator down the road.
We might not. Peterson might just take these responsibilities. First
of all, I'm scared when any head coach, it's a

(01:10:33):
seventy hour week job to start with. You know, if
Belichick is not a coordinator, you probably shouldn't be a coordinator. Right,
Let's start there. It doesn't matter who you are or
there's other ways to do this, right. You look at
McVeigh and I'm not an expert like Cofield is on
this ramp situation, but it seems like McVeigh pretty much said, hey,

(01:10:53):
you can be to the d C. You can pretty
much be the head coach of the defense. You go
over there and do your thing, and I'm gonna kind
of be the head coach of the offense. Which for
a young guy to have the humility to do that,
give McVeigh credit, right, But I don't think Peterson is
doing that. I think Peterson wants to stay head coach
and now he wants to be o C. Well, let's
double back to Lombardi. Where did Lombardi get this idea

(01:11:18):
that Peterson wasn't good as a coach? Was it his
meta game in game decisions? No? How do you even
know what someone thinks in game? Right? You can only
watch and see, well, he's an A plus there. Lombardi
probably wasn't grading that. It wasn't the motivational ability. How
do you even know about that? Lombardi was grading his

(01:11:40):
xs and os is what I think, And if he
was right, and I still think Lombardi was right about it,
it doesn't mean Peterson can't be a super elite head coach.
Because X and knows don't really man or that much.
How much exs and os is Tomlin doing right now?
Is a head coach right head coaches like CEO, you're

(01:12:00):
an executive. Peterson is, it would seem is a great
executive as a head coach. But if he's going to
try to be a coordinator, especially when you lost two
really good offensive minds, I think the weakness Lombardi saw
is going to become a big issue if they don't
get the Eagles an elite coordinator. Normally I would be

(01:12:23):
concerned that their offense would regress. But r J. Remember
Wentz had to work with two new wide receivers, Tory
Smith and Jeffrey Aghilar, the other wide receiver very young,
and they picked up a running back a Shay mid season.
The unity of being together is really going to help
this team, and I think they can overcome the new OC.
Who's the new O C Well, I mean the Doug

(01:12:46):
Peterson calling the place Now I get my guess is
there is a chance that Mike grow could be the OC.
He was the wide receiver coach. He's Al gross son
Al Grow as part of the Parcels family tree. I
don't know if that matters he has in an offensive
coordinator though, since he was at Virginia in two thousand
and eight, Yeah, maybe right, he could end have been great.

(01:13:07):
But what I know is he was the third guy,
and the idea that third guy is as good as
the first guy. And remember, it's not like the Egos
won by some great margin, right is they won a
coin flip game against the Falcons and it was a
coin flip Well, let's call it a sixty game to
the Egos advantage In the Super Bowl, you lose too
great offensive minds, right, And I don't know, maybe great.

(01:13:30):
It's a little strong, too strong offensive minds, I tell
you it. Feel And again it goes back to this
idea to close this topic, that people are always looking
to decide right and wrong so quickly, Oh, Lombardi, you're wrong.
You're an idiot. Lombardi. No, it's it's it. Maybe he
was wrong. I don't know yet, right, I mean, obviously

(01:13:51):
he was wrong about him being a good head coach.
Was he wrong about what he was identified? We don't know.
And I think this is a situation where everyone's so
quick to say, oh, Lombardi was wrong. I think he
might have been right, and I think we might see it.
If Peterson has to focus on X as a post,
I might be with you on an Eagles downgrade. If
the Research and Cowboys bring in Johnny Manzel, well let's

(01:14:14):
talk man'zell. So we've got the odds Will and this
was online Will Manzell beyond an NFL roster Week one
of this season? What's the odds cofield? The no is
minus two fifty and the yes is what plus one eighty? Okay, Now,
you and I do a podcast called Don't bet On It,

(01:14:36):
in which the whole time you and I just debate
in the Socratic method and generally I don't take the
advice because I bet on it. Well, yeah, well that's
that's gonna work out very well for me. I mean
it's even if no one's listened. Luckily a lot R J.
Bell don't bet against me? Well, that's true, that's true. Facts.
I think I even got you a lot of lifetime

(01:14:56):
huh in our bets. Oh, I can stole your money
for that. Yet listen, if I'm getting fat as that
means I'm super selective. Right, So what we talked about
there was obviously a lot of people thought Manzel, no chance.
My point was, Hey, this is a guy that was
a first round talent. Now you might say, oh, maybe
he shouldn't have been in the first round. Okay, maybe

(01:15:16):
a second or third round talent. If this idea of
the you know, the meant the psychological problems or the
biological problems, whatever it is, if it's able to be fixed.
Now he's still that same talent. He's not a backup
at that point. And to me, the wild card is
Jerry Jones. Jerry Jones has obviously watched Donald Trump has

(01:15:37):
obviously watched how much attention you can get by doing
controversial things. How much more would the Dallas Cowboys be
discussed from July to September one an example A without Manzel,
example B with Manzel as the backup. I think the
Cowboys get discussed double as much with Man's and even

(01:16:00):
if they don't keep them untill you know, on the
final roster, it feels like a Jerry Jones moved to me,
I don't I would not bet to know. I'll say
that I'll bet the none it's two fifty. It's like,
if Kaepernick can't make an NFL squad, there's no way
Johnny Manziel is making it we gotta run. But what
you're saying, you actually have that exactly mixed up because

(01:16:23):
Kaepernick was a distraction. So whatever off the field issues
their war with Kaepernick, it was a negative for the
team with Manzel in the ISA Jerry Jones, Manzel being
there would be a positive, so he would actually get bumped.
It wouldn't just be on the field, would be a positive.
Plus the on the field, I think it'd be a
massive distraction for any NFL take It would be, but

(01:16:45):
Jerry Jones is won't accept the distraction in order to
have the Cowboys on on on all the news shows,
all the talk radio shows. I'm betting the know keyword
being weak one on a roster. That's where the value
is for me. Right Sunday game Duke got Clemson, No
Marvin Bagley for the Blue Devils. Will get Brad's take
on what's gonna happen in that Duke came up next

(01:17:06):
straight at a Vegas Fox Sports Radio Vega. It's started
at Vegas, coming alive from the Geico Fox Sports Radio Studios.
That's he's go to say fifteen percent or more on
car insurance with Geico, go to Geico dot com or
call eight seven otto. The only hard part figuring out
which way is easier. Best bet for Sunday best bets

(01:17:29):
down the home stretch, as we like to call it,
last segment, Best bet up in a minute. First, Ohio
State College Basketball taking on Michigan. Ohio State is getting three.
The Wolverines are really good at home. They absolutely are Michigan,
and I'm leaning with the Wolverines here, maus the three
points why great situational edge for Michigan in this one

(01:17:50):
back to back home games, one more day rest than
Ohio State team playing back to back road games off
a very disappointing effort against Penn State the buck guys
and plus Michigan, I think it's just underrated in the
market place. Fourteen and four straight up, twelve and six
against the spread since the earlier lost Ohio State and
you mentioned it at home nearly unbeatable fourteen and one

(01:18:11):
at home this year in Michigan only lost by a
single point against the top five Perdue team. Lean on
the Wolverines minus three. Best bet involves Perdue hosting Penn
State Boilers minus eight. Yeah, Actually, the numbers come down
to seven and a half and best bet on per Due.
And I thought r J mentioned a great point earlier today.
Great handicapping tool here. It's all about buying low, selling high.

(01:18:34):
We'll start with selling high. That's what we're doing with
Penn State off their biggest win of the entire season.
Penn State crushed Ohio State by twenty plus. Penn State
six and one straight up and against the spread their
last seven games. Meanwhile, we're buying low with Perdue. Perdue
one in six against the spread their last seven, three
straight losses for Perdue all coin flip games in the

(01:18:54):
final seconds. They could have very easily won a couple
of those games. The narrative would be different for Purdue.
I like the Boilermaker's minus seven a half best bet
on Sunday. Duke, no Marvin Bagley at Clemson. You have
a side on this one? Are we going total? Well
the word everyone's gonna talk about Marvin Bagley being out.
No One or at least most will not talk about

(01:19:14):
Clemson missing two starters for this game. And that's key.
They're missing two of their three best offensive players. Duke's
missing their leading score in vaguely not being priced in
the total as much as the side here and that
therefore I'm leaning with the under under one fifty two
Duke Clemson Nebraska taking on Illinois Huskers minus the point

(01:19:35):
in a half. But the story with Nebraska is this
amazing against the spread run six teen and one. That's right,
sixteen and one against the spread. Is Nebraska their last
seventeen games. So here's a question. Is we talked about
streaks and how in college basketball you can ride streaks
because people don't catch on to them, especially at streaks

(01:19:57):
as quickly. Feesik you read the mark get as well
as anybody. And by the way, guys, if you want
to start to get a feel for the market, you
can go to pregame dot com, click the game center,
and then within the game center you see the lines
and everything. But there was a tab called the consensus tab.
You can see the bet splits on both the ticket account,
how many bets on each team and the cash on

(01:20:20):
each team. This Nebraska team amazing a TS win streak,
but they've been getting bet against lately. The pros come
in against this team consistently because r J against Nebraska
against Nebraska, because they're evaluating this team. The cornhuskar is
based upon their body of work for the entire year.
They juggled their lineup Nebraska about nine games ago, and

(01:20:41):
this current lineup is better and the pros are not
giving them enough credit for it. So you think the
pros are wrong about not backing or at least betting
against Nebraska in this streak, Oh dead wrong? What do
you think of this game tomorrow? Bred Well, the only
eight t s lost Nebraska in this seventeen game stretch.
Illinois a team that they're laying four at home, one
by one point. Now they're laying one and a half

(01:21:03):
on the road. Still leaning with Nebraska. I'm gonna continue
to ride him on the streak, but not as much
value as I've seen in past games. So this is
the lean not alike, a lean not alike on Nebraska
rapid fire. Since he minus six at home against Wichita Yeah,
Wichita State Cincinnati, I'm leaning with since minus six, first
underdog role the season for Wichita State, but close games
they haven't handled very well. Wichita State three and five,

(01:21:24):
single digit favorite, Cincinnati's handled close games better. Give me
the Bearcats. So we've got a new podcast. Don't bet
on it. I'm already prepping ahead because I never stop.
I'll give you a hot take. We're gonna grade Jason
McIntire Fox Sports Radio in the big lead, said Kirk
Cousins goes to the Browns, Cleveland is a playoff team. Well,
I know, Jason. I can promise you he won't bet

(01:21:45):
me on that one. In fact, I'm gonna call him
tomorrow and give him a good number on that. We'll
see you next Friday at eleven o'clock Pacific, right here,
straight out of Vegas, Fox Sports RADIOA

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