March 24, 2025 • 42 mins
Colin looks at the first weekend of the NCAA men's basketball tournament and why no Cinderella teams advancing to the Sweet 16 is a good thing
Thoughts on UCONN losing to Florida
Guest: Bruce Pearl
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Oh it is a Monday. Sixteen teams left in college basketball,
and yeah I got fifteen of them. I don't know
what happened to jmax bracket, but Captain Chalk is omn' baby.
Oh wow. Yeah, John Calipari did me wrong, Bettino? Uh,
(00:46):
you know that was the one I lost on Bill
Simmons one hour from now. There's a new Celtic series
on HBO Max, which the staff's all into. I'm starting
it this week. It's supposed to be great. Colin Wright,
Colin wrong. So Jmax spends all year, you know, on
this college basketball stuff. I'm a casual, but I've always
(01:08):
believed in just the committee mostly gets it right, and well,
they've done pretty well, so it's fascinating. The ratings are
in for the first weekend viewership for the first day
all time high By the way, there are no have nots.
It's all power conference teams in the sweet sixteen. So
(01:28):
remember the nil. Everybody's terrified with the niil nil is
actually actually great for college basketball because it keeps some
of the better players in college for another year, like
a Zach Edy, and then the big brands can cherry
pick mid major teams that nobody watches on television and
(01:51):
get better faster. Everybody thought the NIL gonna help the
little guy, Maybe now made the rich Richard. Yes, America
likes to watch Duke Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan State, Arizona more
than Drexel, Lipscomb and Wofford. Who knew but college basketball
die hards through years, and they love the sport and
(02:12):
that's great, and it probably it's a little bit like, Hey,
I bought the iPhone first, or I knew this band
before you did, and I know more about college basketball.
Those days look like they're over. The mid majors may
have an NBA player that Kentucky goes and grabs him,
Arizona goes and grabs him, and so the mid majors listen.
The rest of us common people don't watch a lot
(02:34):
of Missouri Valley basketball. I've never said to my wife, honey,
let's go out badally keyante, little Italian romantic dinner. And
she turned me and went, now, honey, you let's stay
home and watch Murray State. Most people don't watch it.
They watch the big brands. And eventually all these upsets
they're ratings killers because you end up with McNee state
in the next game. So people say a lot of things.
(02:56):
I love upsets. People do simple things. They don't watch
the next game after an upset. So this is why,
by the way, the movies that are flourishing in Hollywood,
big stars stay away from politics, action films. Why are
the oscars dying too much politics? They don't acknowledge Tom
Cruise and they talk about movies nobody watches stay on
(03:19):
the big brands. This is not Copenhagen. People don't ride
around on bikes all day, have a second lunch, a siesta.
We'll get to it tomorrow. We're busy, we're distracted. You
gotta give us familiar laundry. And so Duke gets a
huge rating. I probably made a mistake in my bracket.
My dark horse was number four, Arizona. I don't know
(03:39):
how long they're gonna last lucky. Oregon missed a lot
of free throws last night. But Duke elicits a feeling.
Whatever that feeling is outside of the NFL, baseball, hockey, basketball,
college or pro WNBA. Look at the WNBA ratings. Why
Caitlin Clark Angel Reese. Angel Reese is a part of that? Now,
(04:02):
Caitlin's the bigger part. But there's a there's a there's
a villain here, a push and a pull. It's burden magic,
it's coastal and And so to me, folks, we're distracted.
We got to know the laundry. You got to give
us big brands, you know, I mean, we're politics distract us. Movies, options, beaches, mountains,
(04:25):
pro sports. Canada doesn't have our labyrinth of college options.
They're watching their hockey. That's what they're watching. This weekend,
the Dodgers Angels was on and I'm sitting there watching it,
and by about the third inning, I'm like, wait a minute,
this is back to being an exhibition game at Dodger Stadium.
Looked kind of full in the lower section. I thought,
this is kind of a weird opening game against intern
(04:46):
league play. I don't really get it. And then I
remembered some of the starters are playing. We got so
many games on TV. You got to give us the
big stuff. Mid majors seea big brand, stronger than ever.
It's good for college basketball, all right. So the first
round of the NFL Draft, I think it's officially like
a month away as of today or yesterday. And it's
(05:09):
not a particularly strong draft. It's not a great quarterback draft.
But the last couple of years there have been an
abundance of Michigan Wolverine speaking of big brands in the
first round. So this year they got a tight end,
a corner, and two defensive tackles could all go in
the first round, and the Pittsburgh Steelers could use some
of those players. But the Pittsburgh Steelers staff skipped the
(05:33):
Michigan Pro Day. That's a big deal. They all skipped
it to stay home and interview Aaron Rodgers and try
to talk him into becoming a Steeler. And he went
and he interviewed, and he left and there's no contract.
So and I'll say this, if you do not take
quarterback seriously, like Pete Carolyn Seattle, Gino's good enough, not
(05:58):
really with that rostery, not Sam How's good enough? Ron Rivera,
not really, Mason Rudolph good enough? Not really. This is
Pittsburgh's fault. And by the way, I really do wonder
what Aaron's thinking because the Steelers offensive line was bad
and then they lost their left tackle and Nausee Harris,
(06:20):
who came out this weekend and said, yeah, Pittsburgh's offense,
it's frustrating, there's no identity. They also lead the league
again in defensive spending, and they spend one hundred and
fifty million on DK Metcalf. So they have two needy,
combustible wide receivers who sort of have the same game
bolts want the ball, and they have no quarterback. So
I'm sitting there and I'm thinking to myself over the weekend,
(06:41):
there's a reason Aaron Rodgers was waiting and waiting. He
wanted Minnesota. Excellent offensive coach, superstar wide receiver who doesn't
complain much, upgraded their offensive line very well. In free agency.
Aaron wanted to go to Minnesota, knew the division closer
to Malibu, closer to home. He wanted to go to Minnesota.
(07:03):
And what he's doing, He's treating the Steelers like they
need him more than he needs them. And Aaron Rodgers
is right. I looked it up this morning. Even with California, Texas,
He's got a networth probably a three hundred million dollars
first ballot Hall of Famer, forty one year old guy
with a lot of interests. I've said this before. Minnesota
I would have stuck around for Giants was interesting because
(07:25):
of the coach and left tackling weapon. I think Pittsburgh
is fool's gold for a quarterback. Go as Russell Wilson,
it was a mess by the end of the year.
Go as Mason Rudolph Old big Ben. It's fools gold.
The Steelers are twenty ninth in touchdown passes with a
variety of quarterbacks since twenty twenty one. Think about this,
that's fewer than the Patriots, the Raiders, and the Bears.
(07:49):
I mean, come on, now, we're getting into Carolina categories.
So I think Aaron Rodgers, if he signs anywhere, it
will be Pittsburgh. But I think there's a reason people
wait to take a job offer because they have questions.
It could be my kids, it could be your kids,
it could be you, It could be Aaron Rodgers. He's
sitting around. He's like their offensive lines of mess and
(08:10):
they may have just lost their best offensive lineman and
their best running back. And I met with a coordinator
He's fine, not special. It's a defensive culture, tone, deft offense,
and two wide receivers that are talented, but both want
the ball and both have proven to be combustible. So
in this instance, I think Aaron's on the right side.
(08:32):
I think you wanted to go to Minnesota. He would
consider San Francisco if the brock Pretty thing didn't work.
I think he wants to keep his options out there.
I don't think that's necessarily a bad plan. But just
to give you sins, Pittsburgh kept all their staff home
instead of going to the Michigan Wolverine Pro Day, and
they have four first rounders and they could certainly use
some help. So that's where we stand today. J mcbill
(08:55):
Simmons in one hour, Colin right, Colin wrong. You know,
people said there weren't a lot of upsets and it
was a boring tournament. But I will say this that
I thought, I mean, I guess Arkansas beating Saint John's
is an upset, but Arkansas got off to a really
bad start this year with Calipari. If it's a new coach,
new staff, new players. They played very well at the
(09:17):
end of the year, so it's not a huge upset.
The SEC is so stacked that Arkansas in the middle
of the pack is actually a team capable of getting
to the Elite eight.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Yeah, they worried me.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
Man, that's a that's a pretty damn good team. I
will say, I like your flex to start the show.
Fifteen and sixteen Sweet sixteen teams, well done. But Colin
your take on the transfer portal?
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Nil?
Speaker 4 (09:38):
Don't you think it's kind of killed Cinderella. I mean,
if you're good at a small school for one year,
you're gone. The big guys are gobbling truck. There will
not be another Steph Curry in college basketball. That's not happening.
The Davidson thing, yeah, the FAU those runs are done.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
As soon as you're.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Good your game, you can win a game, maybe get
lucky in two. But I would argue when I say Cinderella,
it's a myth. It never existed. Well, Villanova beat Georgetown, No,
that's right in my wheelhouse. They were a tough matchup
for Georgetown. Roley Masamino, who I covered in Vegas, told me,
(10:14):
he goes, we were We didn't want anything to do
with Saint John's. We didn't match up with him. We
played them twice in the Big East and they crushed us.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
They had a couple of pros on that Villanova team.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
That's what I'm saying. That's considered the all time Cinderella role.
Masamino told me when I used to host his coach
I hosted his coaches show in Vegas, he goes, we
love Georgetown. They were physical, We had an NBA center
and n Pigney. We could slow it down. I thought
I could go to Totoe of John Thompson. We had
no fear of Georgetown. Saint John's crushed us. So that's
(10:44):
considered all the Villanova Villanova.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Had pro Those are Big East schools. I'm talking like
a George Mason. Remember when they made the run of
the Final four. Yeah, that ain't happening Visa.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
By the way, those things are a Naska sports fan
and named three players on George Mason. So that this
idea that we watched for for Cinderella. No CBS and
TNT CBS has done a great job to sell that mythology,
but it's untrue.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
And what do we see all weekend?
Speaker 4 (11:09):
The McNee State team, they get one win in the tournament,
and it was like, oh my gosh, McNee States, their manager,
all this stuff, and then poof, it's gone and they're
done remembered.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
So last week, everybody, everybody was on you see San
Diego beating Michigan. So I watched Michigan the week before
play you know, big ten games. I'm like, Michigan's got
like two seven footers. You see, San Diego is not
going to be able to just gonna dump the ball low,
dominate the glass. So there'll still be upsets, but there
(11:40):
have never been as many. There was a Shaka Smart
was at VCU team. Again, you get a hot coach,
a hot team, they get kind of a friendly bracket.
But this idea that's why we watch. It's not. That's
not why we watch. We watched for the Michigans and
Dukes and Carolina, and I mean last night I'm watching
or in Arizona. By the way, I watched. I watched
(12:03):
the entire Yukon Florida game. You know why freak game
because it had a bunch of NBA players and great coaches,
and it was by the way, I thought Yukon out
played them, but then Florida dominates the last three minutes,
makes all the big plays. Yeah, but the reason Yukon
and Florida was so good and the reason we love
college football because Yukon Florida looked a little bit like
NBA basketball. You had shot makers and size and physicality.
(12:26):
And so again, there are just things we people say,
I'm gonna work out, I'm gonna lose twenty pounds. Maybe
with ozempic you will, but you never lost it at
the gym. People say a lot of things, but they
do very predictable things. And we don't watch Missouri Valley
Conference basketball and we don't watch March Madness because of that.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
We like dominant teams. Who's winning around sports? Boston Celtics
absolutely loaded, Philadelphia Eagles stacked team, all like the great
teams are dominating right now, You're not really seeing these
major upsets in sports at all.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
Right now.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
All you can hope for if you're a bad franchise
the Indiana fever is that you land Caitlin Clark. There
you go, Yeah, I mean, that's truly it. Or if
you're Oklahoma City. In a small market, you get SG.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
But La Dodgers spend the most money win the World Series.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Gates upset with it. This is wrong with sports. Yankees
Dodgers went through the roof ratings wise. So the more
social platforms we have, the busier we get, the more
distracted we get. I mean, I say this about streaming.
I watch Netflix. You know the first thing I go
to out of the football season, the big dogs. It's
done to gets Zulu, HBO, Max will give them love today.
(13:35):
I watch stuff on that Apple TV. But it's even
with streaming, I just go right to the big brands
that I've known forever. That's where I go.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
So the best game in the tournament that I have
seen so far is Yukon. Felt like they were the
team for about eighty five percent of it. But you
know what, Florida hit the big shots late, and that's
you're gonna see that in the NBA playoffs, nobody cares
until the final three and a half minutes. You got
to make the shots Florida did. They're a really good team.
But you knew the champs, the back to back champs.
(14:16):
You know, to be the champ, you gotta beat them.
You know it would be a tough out, super physical
team and could have won the game. But so Dan
Hurley after walks off the floor and he's dog cussing
the referees. He's rough on referees. He's rough during this season,
much like Jim Calhoun, rough rough on referees. And he's
just saying, we got dog by the refs. But you
(14:37):
know what, he's intense. That's who he is. In pro sports,
you have an owner, you have every player's a millionaire.
Occasionally you'll coach a billionaire. You have big city, aggressive media.
They all keep you in check. But a dominant college
basketball or football coach, he's the highest paid state employee.
(14:58):
Bob Knight, Nick Say, Woody Hayes, Jim Calhoun, Dan Hurley.
It's why I said when the Laker job became available, no, no, no,
don't take that job. You are a college coach. You're
smart enough to be a head coach in the NBA,
but your personality is built for college basketball. Steve Kerr,
(15:20):
more conciliatory, Eric Spolstra, Dido ty Lou. They're not screamers.
You know, they've a couple of those guys that played
in the NBA, so you know, I mean Steve Kirk
was a fighter as a player, got into the legendary
fight with Michael Jordan the punch, but as a as
a coach, he yells mostly at officials, not as players.
(15:41):
And so I think college sports is very attractive to
men who like control. You do not have that in
pro sports. Okay, and billionaire owners now they're all billionaires
are more impulsive than ever. So good coaches get fired.
I mean Carson Wentz goes twenty seven and seven touchdowns
to pick Indy and the owners like, yeah, we don't
(16:02):
have a backup plan, get rid of him. What that's
pro sport. So Tom Thibodau in New York coaches the Knicks.
The knock on him is that you know he practices
very hard, and you know he plays his starters a
lot of minutes. That is viewed in the NBA as
not player friendly, but just asking your starters to play
a lot. So Dan Hurley is thirteen and one in
(16:25):
his last fourteen tournament games. And here's the thing. His
players love him. Some have stayed for an extra year.
He doesn't really yell at as players, not that I
can tell. He yells at the refs. Eh Calhoun yelled
at everybody. Hurley yells at the refs. He's good with
the media mostly, he's great with his players. Oh, he
(16:46):
probably drives the UKON administration nuts. But it makes you uncomfortable.
It makes the media really uncomfortable. But it doesn't appear
to make his players uncomfortable because their recruiting classes are
always ex so that intensity, it's who he is and
the players are okay with it, and that two matters most.
(17:08):
And here's Hurly after the loss, you.
Speaker 6 (17:11):
Know, and list it ended in San Antonio cutting the
nets down again, and it was going to end you know,
in a real, you know, emotional way from a lot
of emotion.
Speaker 5 (17:24):
Man.
Speaker 6 (17:25):
We're a passionate program. The players play with it. I
coach with it. And you've always strained when it's over.
Speaker 5 (17:33):
You know what.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
And here's my thing. He's authentic about it, like he's like, hey, listen, man,
it's like in Hollywood they have these directors. You know,
some of the I think it was like Stanley Kuprick,
I want sixty eight takes. And there were actors who
were like, yeah, I'm not going to work for Stanley Cooper.
I'm not going to do that. And then there are
directors Woody Allen may add lib a little more and
you know that going in. So it's the actor's responsibility
(17:57):
to accept it. Do your homework and know what you're
walking into if you go play for Dan Hurley. Practice
is hard. Coaches hard, it's intense, it's vulable. You have
the choice as the athlete. It's up to you. Do
your homework, vet the program. It doesn't seem to bother
the players. I don't love the outburst. A couple of
(18:20):
years ago. People are banging on Tom Mizzel because he
yelled a player. Players love Tom Izzoh, they go back
for years, decades, tears, they love him. You know, I
mean Tom Brady barked at people on the sideline. Know
what you're getting into. I don't have to like Bobby
Knight touched players. Bobby Knight was on players, Hurley and
(18:40):
the players. He just barks at refs. He barks at refs.
He's very intense. I can live with it. I don't
have to love it, you know, I kind of like
the Steve Kerr approach. But Steve Kerr similarly, I mean,
he's called out the NBA this year, he's called out
officiating this year, He's called out the media before. And
(19:02):
I love Steve Kerr, but he's doing on a pro up.
But you know what, Steve doesn't do call out players much.
It's very similar to Dan Hurley Curly, He's not on
the players. When he's barking to a player, he's not
screaming at him. He often looks past him. And I
don't know if that's because somebody yelled at Hurley, but
I think that's probably the case. But I'm going to
(19:24):
defend him. Here is this is the program when you
watch Yukon. If I had to explain it in one word,
I would say intense. I mean when Nick Saban was
at Alabama, That's how I would have described it. Yeah,
Nick's intense. Nick is barking a lot at revs, at
his coaches, at his players, and so you know, players
(19:46):
have a choice. Every player today on social media knows
the coaches that bark. They know what they're getting into
at Yukon and what they're getting into is currently the
best college basketball program in the country. He's not grabbing players,
he's not throwing stuff at players. I wouldn't defend him.
Then J Mack with a.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
News, this is the herdline news.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
Let's continue the tournament. Rolling colin Maryland, Colorado State was thrilling.
The best finish in.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
The tournament so far. Take a listen with the Turfs
down one eight seconds left.
Speaker 7 (20:21):
To the freshman queen who's driving floats.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
On the right side.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Of a puzzer Peter, how about that?
Speaker 4 (20:31):
The freshman went into the huddle before the final play
and said, give me the mfing ball.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
By the way, Like, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Why are people getting worked up? That's not a traveling
and if it is close, there's gonna get all it there.
People are like, don't ruin the moment. When I watch that,
I kind of bake it in. That's like a half
step too much. Nobody's gonna call the call I saw,
I actually saw this weekend. Was I watching o Casey
(20:58):
and the Clippers. I was watching him he game this weekend.
Somebody walked about four steps and they did it was Yannis?
Was it the ball handling with Yannis last week. You know,
there's just certain things. First of all, Maryland is a
good story, ed a good story, good team, but we
were way too heavy on the traveling angle.
Speaker 6 (21:20):
Ong.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
How about the fun stat that this kid Queen freshman
for Baltimore, he played high school ball with Cooper Flag.
Can you imagine him and Cooper Flag on the same
high school basketball team.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
That's ridiculous.
Speaker 4 (21:30):
So now Maryland goes up against Florida next Colin, that's
a tall order.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Florida didn't look great at times against Yukon. Any early
lean in that one.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Well, I think Florida is really good. I think, you know,
it's it's funny. I have fifteen of the sixteen teams
laft because I went back and forth. The one scratch
off on my bracket is I took Oklahoma to beat Yukon.
So but when I was watching Yukon and their two games,
my take is, man, they just ratchet. They go from
intense to hyper intense in the tournament. So I actually
(22:01):
think the way Yukon plays benefited Florida going forward. They
will not play a team that physical or that well coached,
So like like Florida comes out of that and They're like,
that may be the best coach team you play and
the most physical team you play. So I think Florida
is now going to start rolling people.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
They're in good shape.
Speaker 8 (22:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
The kid Walter Clayton, I mean he's really good shot maker.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
Next story, Colin Staying with the tournament, John Calipari led
the Razorbacks. So Tino in the Saint John's Folks is
Saturday night. Now, what was a pretty good game.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Calipari was informed that the transfer portal is opening today.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
He's got to worry about the Sweet sixteen. Here's Calipari's reaction.
Speaker 8 (22:41):
When does it open to the portal? When this Monday?
Welcome to my world. So Monday, we're really preparing for
a game and we're having individual meetings about are you
coming back or you know, if they put their name
(23:02):
into portal, they probably don't have an option to come back.
But you know, I mean, it's, uh, you care about
the kids. At the end of the year, it's all
about them. Whatever they choose. You want to go pro,
I want to come back, you want to go somewhere else.
It's their choice. And I've always been that way, but
it's it's getting.
Speaker 5 (23:20):
Harder to be that way.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
You know, First of all, I supported him for a
long time at Kentucky. It drove me nuts when he said,
my job is not to win in March, it's to
make these kids great pros, to which I would say,
can you imagine coaching Ohio State football and saying it's
not my job to win the Big Ten or to
win bowl games, it's just to make kids pros.
Speaker 5 (23:41):
You'd be out of work.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
So I didn't buy. I thought that was a little
bit of a grift. But I will say this, he
may not finish as well as people like, but he
is a great program builder and there is an art
to it. Now, now he's got a title. If you
don't want a second at Kentucky, none of this would
have stocked.
Speaker 4 (23:57):
He had many chances to win that second.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
And it wasn't losing at Kentucky in the tournament. It
was losing the first game to like real have nothing.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
And he's always had stacked team John Walls.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
But he has a great eye for talent. His team's
played great defense. Now in that game, nobody could hit
a shot. It wasn't that appealing, like nobody could shoot.
But to his credit, John Bill's programs and like an
urban Meyer, you do not have to wait long, like
six weeks and he'll land four elite players. So it's
when you look at it. They started really I watched
(24:29):
them early in the season and they grew a bit
of a mass. But by the end of the year
you're like, yeah, that team could win them pretty good.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
They got to play Texas Tech next. You know, I
love Texas Jack.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Darkhurst and the tournament.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, they got a decent shot at the
final four. I'm curious, do you think we'll see any
players left in the tournament in the sweet sixteen enter
the transfer portal and say I'm out.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
I don't want to go to the sweet sixteen. I'm
not like playing them.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
At that would be surprising to be but we saw kids.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
I think there was a.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
Texas football player, remember, but ahead of the playoff left
because he wanted to enter the portal, like this is
your window, right, You've got to enter now where all
the spots are going to be gobbled up.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
So yeah, I mean, I think this tournament has been
too many people complaining there's not upsets, the ratings are good.
I mean, I did think I'll tell you one of
my takeaways. Vegas don't mess with Vegas. So many games
ended right on the line, five point game with a
five point spread. I mean, Vegas is so good at
(25:26):
this stuff.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Decent, decent.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
Final story cut to the NBA. I know we don't
pay at a lot of intention to it during March Madness,
But Lebron returned Saturday night against the Bulls at home.
They miss seven straight games and the Lakers, they got
blasted by Chicago, gave up a buck forty six, embarrassing stuff.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Lebron wasn't in top four me.
Speaker 4 (25:44):
He did have seventeen points first game back where he
is talking about the loss.
Speaker 9 (25:49):
A little rusty, little rusty. What else happen to get
back on day? I'll just say a day by day.
I can't worry about you know, what's happen in the future.
But I mean the day.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
As a proud Chicago Bulls season ticket holder, I can
tell you that's the best they've shot in maybe a decade.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Yeah, Josh Giney looked like all NBA play almost had.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
To quadruple double.
Speaker 5 (26:12):
Dude.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
If Cooper flag goes to you.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
Like that, let's start pushing that narrative.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Well, listen, the NBA's got an interesting Boston team, New
York team, Bay Area team, Los Angeles team. I'll argue
all day long with Simmons. When Dallas is healthy next year,
that is an excellent roster.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
When is that going to be like February, Well.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Next year, just wait till next year. That team is
the best center rotation in the game. They need another
play initiator, but Dallas is good. If all that's missing
is an interesting team in Chicago.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Remember Zion Williamson landed in like New Orleans and everybody
was disappointed. I'm sorry, I'm not going to be thrilled
if Cooper Flag goes to play in Charlotte with the.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Sorry Charlotte, but I want to see him in Chicago,
of course, I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (26:59):
NBA fans like I need Cooper Flag in a big
market on TV a lot. There's a world where he's
like an NBA savior college.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
Okay, given the political.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Climate, Well, he's a white star.
Speaker 4 (27:09):
He only the biggest white star that the NBA has
had in decades. Well, I mean and again, like Steve
NASA's Canadian Jokic's.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
I would say this, the kids doing multiple national commercials
and he's got a personality. His game reminds me a
little bit of Jason Tatum, where he does everything well.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
I don't know, bring the ball up, break It's like, well, no, no.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
He does everything well. I don't know if Jason Tatum
is great at anything, but he's very good at everything.
Cooper Flagg has got a lot of that. But I
think more than anything, I mean, this is Zion. If
Zion would have kept his weight under controlled and stayed healthy,
Zion would be one of the faces of the league.
There's no because early numbers were insane. Flag is going
(27:51):
if he goes to Chicago, Duke. He's already got major
advertisers like this I'm rooting for because we both like
the NBA.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
The NBA kind of needs Cooper Flag to be a
big flag bearer.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
If you will.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
I mean again, I don't want to make it a
white black thing, but there just aren't a lot of
good white players in the league.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
I know Austin Reeves is great, a lot of Europeans.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
But you know, I don't see it as a race thing.
I see it as a domestic problem.
Speaker 4 (28:14):
I don't see it as a race thing. Are you
not seeing all these race faders online?
Speaker 5 (28:17):
NBA's too.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Do you understand that I don't pay attention to that.
I think we need more great domestic players who were
stars in college.
Speaker 5 (28:24):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
To me, I don't care about anything of it. I
need more Duke Carolina guys who star then going to
the NBA and like Cooper Flag averaging eighteen is a
rookie for Chicago, That's what I want that just and
I think, and I've talked about this before, I think
the NBA and I love Adam Silver. The load management
drives me nuts, and they marginalize college basketball and I'll
(28:48):
never get it. Cooper Flag. People just forget how fascinating
Zion was as a rookie. I was watching Pelican games
and he was giving you like twenty four and ten
easily just and then but his torque, the injuries, the weight.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
Now there is a world where the Philadelphia seventy six
ers Colin get in the mix for that number one pick.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
You know they're cratering, they're tanking. Everybody's done.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
H Embiide, Maxi, Paul George, and Cooper Flagg would.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Be scary again. Philadelphia not bad for the league. J
Mack with the News, Well, that's the news and thanks
for stopping by the well. I picked Auburn to win it.
I told I told Tom Izzo that right here. Remember
last week I said, Tom, I've got Auburn winning it.
Bruce Pearl, their coaches around the corner, Colin Wright, Colin Wrong.
Bill Simmons has a new series with HBO Max. The
(29:41):
staffs ahead of me on this. I'm never first on anything. Okay,
so it's not a shot. I'm never first on anything.
I'm gonna get to it this week. I got Tuesday
and Wednesday night. I'm gonna get through it. But the
staff loves it. We'll talk about that next Live in
La It's the Hurt.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon Easter not a emphasific.
Speaker 7 (30:00):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 7 (30:14):
We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world. We have a lot of fun talking
about the stories behind the stories in the world of
sports and pop culture, stories that well other shows don't
seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact
that we've been friends for the last twenty years and
still work together. I mean that says something.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Right, So check us out.
Speaker 7 (30:33):
We like to get you involved too, take your phone calls,
chop it up. As they say, I'd say, the most
interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe the most interactive
show on planetar. Be sure to check out Covino and
Rich live on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app
from five to seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific,
And if you miss any of the live show, just
search Covino and Rich wherever you get your podcasts, and
of course on social.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
Media that's Covino and Rich.
Speaker 5 (30:56):
Well.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
I picked Auburn to win the Natty last week, and
I told Tom Mizzo that, and I think I told
Mark Few that. And one of the reasons is I
like their coach. They got multiple guys that can score,
and they have an elite shot maker so they can
play from behind. I think there's certain teams in this tournament, Michigan,
maybe one Michigan State, maybe one they're very, very good teams.
I'm not sure they're built to come from way back.
(31:18):
Bruce Pearl, it's already been eleven years at Auburn. He's
built a Power four time Coach of the Year. So
you know, cala Parti's joking about this Nil portal stuff.
He was funny about that. He's like the portal. Oh
and it opens today. Four of your five starters are
from the portal. So it's obviously something you're comfortable with.
(31:39):
You you've been at smaller schools. You know the talent
is it one of those things. It drives you nuts,
but you know you can You're not gonna complain or
do you kind of lean into the portal and all
the challenges of it.
Speaker 5 (31:52):
Well, Colin great to be with you.
Speaker 10 (31:55):
Look, you gotta you gotta adjust to the to the
rule changes and the portal and Nil are here. They're
here to stay and so you got to find a
way to navigate within the framework of that. For me,
I don't mind the porto at all, and yet so
much of my team are guys that have been here
four and five years. That's been the foundation and that's
what our coach do is. But if you could add
(32:16):
the right pieces at the right time, you could be
competitive every year. For me, I typically don't like somebody
else's mistakes. I really like guys in a portal that
come from mid major or Division two or junior college,
guys that are humble and hungry and just want an opportunity.
Having you know, worked at it a little bit, now
they're ready to play at the high major level.
Speaker 5 (32:37):
And that's that's been the secret sauce for Auburn.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
So I'd said this in January. I'd watched SEC basketball
and I sat on the air twice I said, I
don't know if you guys are watching this, but the
middle of that conference could be better than everybody else's top.
So you know the nil I would argue that a
lot of the SEC schools are not in big, rich markets,
But yet when I watch SEC basketball, you're all stuck
(33:02):
with talent. Is that just the geographic footprint, the high
school coaching, the money. Why is the SEC suddenly so deep?
Speaker 10 (33:10):
That's a great question, and you hit the nail on
the head, Colin. Everybody in the SEC has invested. It
just means more. And I said this at the beginning
of the season as we were out there in recruiting
and we're competing. What was going to make the SEC
really special and really deep this year and really difficult
to win is that the teams at the bottom of
our league are investing very similarly to the teams in
(33:33):
the middle and the top of the league.
Speaker 5 (33:34):
There's just not that much difference.
Speaker 10 (33:36):
And Colin, I think if you looked at well, look
at the national champion in football, and the teams that
got there at the very end, they were the teams
that were committed in the nil area. When I mean committed,
you know, twenty million dollar rosters. If you look at
this year's Sweet sixteen, I think you'll find very much
that is very much the case. I'm happy that the
SEC has got seven teams in the Sweet sixteen, not
(33:58):
that it needed to validate what we did during the
regular season, because what we do did with in the
regular season was real. We earned the teams that we got.
But I'm glad this many teams advanced that we don't.
That way, we don't have to put up with the
argument that we were overrated.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
You've come into this tournament. I mean for years and
years I thought of Auburn as a football school, and
I don't anymore. I think of Bruce Pearl. That's the
first thing I think of with Auburn. I think of
Charles Barkley and Bruce Pearl, and you're that you've done that.
So it's interesting.
Speaker 10 (34:25):
We are still a we are still a football school,
but I also like to say that we're at everything school.
You know, we won the national championship in men's golf,
our women's golf team with the elite AID, our gymnastics
team in ranks. Softball is amazing, and Hugh Freeze, mark
my words, is going to get it done in football.
Speaker 5 (34:42):
You're gonna make a lot of progress this year. So listen.
Speaker 10 (34:44):
I'm glad when you think of Auburn you think of
me and Charles that that's a great, great compliment. I
just hope that I'm worthy of your picking Auburn to
win the whole thing. You realize we got to go
through Michigan, Michigan State, all miss and then and then
all the other That is still that it's still alive
in the sweet sixteen.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
You know, I said this earlier. I watched Florida Yukon
boy that that was a game, and I said, I
think Florida benefited from Yukon's physicality. I don't think they'll
play a more physical team the rest of the way.
And I liked Florida. They got really hot late. Everybody's
got Florida winning. For somebody that knows them well. I
(35:25):
watched him yesterday. I thought Yukon out played him for
big chunks of that game. Were you shocked that Yukon
gave them that much?
Speaker 10 (35:34):
Yeah, I was surprised, you know, not, not because coach
Curly can't put together a game plan and beat anybody
on any given Sunday. It's just that you're right, Yukon
was able to match Florida's physicality. And Florida is the
most physical team I think in the country, with the
deepest and the best guard play. I mean, Clayton is
(35:55):
going to be the best guard on the floor almost
every single night. He takes the floor, particularly off and
then so yes, I was surprised that Florida struggled as
much as as as they did with You Come. But look,
you CON's a two time national champion, and they were.
They played with great pride and and not many people
were picking them. I still think right now Florida is
playing the best of anybody in the country. I think
(36:16):
Duke is uh Is also has demonstrated they played, you know,
some great basketball. But look, we just got to see
who can who can stay hot, and and and who
can man and Manason navigate them one at a time.
For Auburn, we've got these two seven footers at Michigan.
You are both really skilled and really physical, and and
and and they're obviously really really good. And coach May's
(36:37):
I mean, he's one of the best young coaches in
college basketball. So we'll look, we'll take it one game
at a time, but we definitely feel like the.
Speaker 5 (36:44):
SEC prepared us for for for to make a run.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
You know, it's Judy Brooms obviously played great. It's you've
got shot makers that gives you a chance to win
a title. I said this earlier. I I think Adam
Silver is very good as a commissioner of the NBA.
I think he's marginalized college basketball. They thought, you know what,
we'll just go to the G League. We don't need
college basketball. My take is that is a huge mistake
(37:08):
college basketball between the brand's March madness. Also, I think
the coaching's better in college basketball than the G League.
I would argue, NIL does you a favor that you
may be able to keep a kid one more year.
And I do feel like the NBA kind of like, nah,
we don't need college basketball. I think the ratings prove it.
Speaker 5 (37:30):
Did.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
Did you always feel that that you were kind of
almost there were a rival, the NBA was almost a
rival to college basketball.
Speaker 10 (37:39):
Yeah, I'm not gonna asked that question. And I don't
like to be criticized. I'm not critic company. My grandfather said,
we don't have something nice to say, don't say it.
But I don't know that the NCAA basketball world and
the NBA basketball world at the highest levels have worked
that well together either as it relates to developing our
gain exposure. In fact, I think in many ways we've
(38:01):
been competing, and I think now with the NIL, we
are absolutely able to compete with the NBA. Kids would
rather are their kids are better off being in their
teams and their twenties in college, continuing to develop and
being able to be compensated for their value and their worth,
versus having to go into the G League and play
(38:21):
on a team with a bunch of guys that don't
want to be there, and you know, and and and
and Russ and development. Look, Colin, it's not how much
you make, it's how long you can make it. So
what I tell kids, Look, you're gonna get rich when
you sign your first contract, but you're not gonna get
wealthy until you sign your second and third.
Speaker 5 (38:38):
So the question is when.
Speaker 10 (38:39):
Is it best for you to go into the league
so that when it comes to your second and third contract,
your body, your game, your maturity level is ready. I
think the quality of NBA basketball will be better and
better served if they would stop drafting so much on potential,
like like there are there are some great freshmen this
year that we're on losing college teams. They're going to
(39:01):
draft it really high and they're going to be great players,
but they're not ready right now.
Speaker 5 (39:06):
So what are you gonna do? Put them out there.
Speaker 10 (39:07):
In the NBA where they're not gonna play very good basketball,
or stick them in the G league as an eighteen
nineteen year old kid.
Speaker 5 (39:14):
I don't think right now that system's working. Nil.
Speaker 10 (39:18):
Gives those guys a chance to stay in college a
little bit, get right and get better, and they'll be
better pros for you.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
Yeah, And I also think there's such value in the
community of a college campus. There's a lot of diversity.
You got to go to classes, you don't love, You
don't always get your way, but it's a community. College
campuses are some of the great times in your life.
He's Bruce Pearl Friday. It's Michigan. I like Auburn winning,
but this is a good one. Michigan is NBA big,
(39:46):
So Bruce, I appreciate it as always. Thank you, and
you built a powerhouse. And good luck to you.
Speaker 5 (39:52):
Thank you, Colin. We'll talk to you again.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
Soon, all right, Bruce Pearl eleven years at Auburn, four
time SEC Coach of the Year. See his feeling is more,
which is the NBA kind of worked against you. I've
said that if my kid was a college basketball player,
I'd rather you take some classes, get coached hard in college,
not go to the G League. In most of the
coaching's hit and miss.
Speaker 5 (40:13):
In the G League.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
The training staffs are hitt and miss. There's no marketing
college players. I've talked to Mark few Aitt Gonzek. College
players get treated great and now they get paid great
if they're excellent players. So, by the way, I know
you're excited about this as a Jets fan, I don't
know if you just caught your attention. Jamis Winston signed
a two year deal with the Giants.
Speaker 3 (40:35):
I'm excited about that. So what does that mean?
Speaker 4 (40:38):
Does that mean that they're drafting on quarterback in the
first round regardless of who's there or second round? I
mean I have to team yes, yes, So who's their
head coach next year? Because it's not Brian Dable. Well,
there's no way he's surviving with Jamis Winston and or
a second one.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
Well, especially if you don't have your offensive line right uh.
And the Cowboys and the Eagles will have pretty good
pass rushes. Jamis throws a lot of arrant balls, so
it'll be a turnover plug season.
Speaker 3 (41:05):
Now, when does Malik Neighbors?
Speaker 4 (41:06):
Have you checked his social media to see if he
were his thoughts on this this acquisition, He's like, Aaron
Rodgers maybe.
Speaker 3 (41:13):
On and we got Jameis Winston. It's like, oh, well
it's Colin.
Speaker 4 (41:17):
Will go to a big steak dinner right out back,
you know like that, That's what this feels like.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
For a lot of people. That's wonderful. Let me just
say this, the New York Giants and their franchise history
had never lost thirteen games. They've now lost thirteen games
three times in eight years. And it's just a series
of egregiously bad moves. I mean Bill Simmons Next Hour.
The reason the Celtics are good Brad Stevens and Danny
Yaninges or basketball some Monts. Yeah, they made really good
(41:44):
decisions on coaches, really good decisions on draft picks. Danny
made really good decisions when to move off stars at
the right time.
Speaker 3 (41:53):
They could have had more kill fults in the draft.
Remember that they were like, now we're gonna We're gonna
go back upstairs. Shake this, Jason Tatum gy.
Speaker 1 (41:59):
Upstairs is the difference. I mean, I love Andy Reid
and Mahomes, but upstairs is the difference between eliminated early
and eliminated late. And the Giants have been a mess
upstairs for a lot of years. All right, Colin Wright,
Colin Wrong. Monday Show Hour two, Next
Thanks for listening to The Herd podcast. Be sure to
catch us live every weekday on Fox Sports Radio in
noon to three Eastern nine am to noon Pacific. Find
your local station for The Herd at Fox Sports Radio
dot com, or stream us live every day on the
iHeartRadio app by searching Fox Sports Radio or FSR.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You're listening to Fox Sports Radio.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Oh it is a Monday. Sixteen teams left in college basketball,
and yeah I got fifteen of them. I don't know
what happened to jmax bracket, but Captain Chalk is omn' baby.
Oh wow. Yeah, John Calipari did me wrong, Bettino? Uh,
(00:46):
you know that was the one I lost on Bill
Simmons one hour from now. There's a new Celtic series
on HBO Max, which the staff's all into. I'm starting
it this week. It's supposed to be great. Colin Wright,
Colin wrong. So Jmax spends all year, you know, on
this college basketball stuff. I'm a casual, but I've always
(01:08):
believed in just the committee mostly gets it right, and well,
they've done pretty well, so it's fascinating. The ratings are
in for the first weekend viewership for the first day
all time high By the way, there are no have nots.
It's all power conference teams in the sweet sixteen. So
(01:28):
remember the nil. Everybody's terrified with the niil nil is
actually actually great for college basketball because it keeps some
of the better players in college for another year, like
a Zach Edy, and then the big brands can cherry
pick mid major teams that nobody watches on television and
(01:51):
get better faster. Everybody thought the NIL gonna help the
little guy, Maybe now made the rich Richard. Yes, America
likes to watch Duke Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan State, Arizona more
than Drexel, Lipscomb and Wofford. Who knew but college basketball
die hards through years, and they love the sport and
(02:12):
that's great, and it probably it's a little bit like, Hey,
I bought the iPhone first, or I knew this band
before you did, and I know more about college basketball.
Those days look like they're over. The mid majors may
have an NBA player that Kentucky goes and grabs him,
Arizona goes and grabs him, and so the mid majors listen.
The rest of us common people don't watch a lot
(02:34):
of Missouri Valley basketball. I've never said to my wife, honey,
let's go out badally keyante, little Italian romantic dinner. And
she turned me and went, now, honey, you let's stay
home and watch Murray State. Most people don't watch it.
They watch the big brands. And eventually all these upsets
they're ratings killers because you end up with McNee state
in the next game. So people say a lot of things.
(02:56):
I love upsets. People do simple things. They don't watch
the next game after an upset. So this is why,
by the way, the movies that are flourishing in Hollywood,
big stars stay away from politics, action films. Why are
the oscars dying too much politics? They don't acknowledge Tom
Cruise and they talk about movies nobody watches stay on
(03:19):
the big brands. This is not Copenhagen. People don't ride
around on bikes all day, have a second lunch, a siesta.
We'll get to it tomorrow. We're busy, we're distracted. You
gotta give us familiar laundry. And so Duke gets a
huge rating. I probably made a mistake in my bracket.
My dark horse was number four, Arizona. I don't know
(03:39):
how long they're gonna last lucky. Oregon missed a lot
of free throws last night. But Duke elicits a feeling.
Whatever that feeling is outside of the NFL, baseball, hockey, basketball,
college or pro WNBA. Look at the WNBA ratings. Why
Caitlin Clark Angel Reese. Angel Reese is a part of that? Now,
(04:02):
Caitlin's the bigger part. But there's a there's a there's
a villain here, a push and a pull. It's burden magic,
it's coastal and And so to me, folks, we're distracted.
We got to know the laundry. You got to give
us big brands, you know, I mean, we're politics distract us. Movies, options, beaches, mountains,
(04:25):
pro sports. Canada doesn't have our labyrinth of college options.
They're watching their hockey. That's what they're watching. This weekend,
the Dodgers Angels was on and I'm sitting there watching it,
and by about the third inning, I'm like, wait a minute,
this is back to being an exhibition game at Dodger Stadium.
Looked kind of full in the lower section. I thought,
this is kind of a weird opening game against intern
(04:46):
league play. I don't really get it. And then I
remembered some of the starters are playing. We got so
many games on TV. You got to give us the
big stuff. Mid majors seea big brand, stronger than ever.
It's good for college basketball, all right. So the first
round of the NFL Draft, I think it's officially like
a month away as of today or yesterday. And it's
(05:09):
not a particularly strong draft. It's not a great quarterback draft.
But the last couple of years there have been an
abundance of Michigan Wolverine speaking of big brands in the
first round. So this year they got a tight end,
a corner, and two defensive tackles could all go in
the first round, and the Pittsburgh Steelers could use some
of those players. But the Pittsburgh Steelers staff skipped the
(05:33):
Michigan Pro Day. That's a big deal. They all skipped
it to stay home and interview Aaron Rodgers and try
to talk him into becoming a Steeler. And he went
and he interviewed, and he left and there's no contract.
So and I'll say this, if you do not take
quarterback seriously, like Pete Carolyn Seattle, Gino's good enough, not
(05:58):
really with that rostery, not Sam How's good enough? Ron Rivera,
not really, Mason Rudolph good enough? Not really. This is
Pittsburgh's fault. And by the way, I really do wonder
what Aaron's thinking because the Steelers offensive line was bad
and then they lost their left tackle and Nausee Harris,
(06:20):
who came out this weekend and said, yeah, Pittsburgh's offense,
it's frustrating, there's no identity. They also lead the league
again in defensive spending, and they spend one hundred and
fifty million on DK Metcalf. So they have two needy,
combustible wide receivers who sort of have the same game
bolts want the ball, and they have no quarterback. So
I'm sitting there and I'm thinking to myself over the weekend,
(06:41):
there's a reason Aaron Rodgers was waiting and waiting. He
wanted Minnesota. Excellent offensive coach, superstar wide receiver who doesn't
complain much, upgraded their offensive line very well. In free agency.
Aaron wanted to go to Minnesota, knew the division closer
to Malibu, closer to home. He wanted to go to Minnesota.
(07:03):
And what he's doing, He's treating the Steelers like they
need him more than he needs them. And Aaron Rodgers
is right. I looked it up this morning. Even with California, Texas,
He's got a networth probably a three hundred million dollars
first ballot Hall of Famer, forty one year old guy
with a lot of interests. I've said this before. Minnesota
I would have stuck around for Giants was interesting because
(07:25):
of the coach and left tackling weapon. I think Pittsburgh
is fool's gold for a quarterback. Go as Russell Wilson,
it was a mess by the end of the year.
Go as Mason Rudolph Old big Ben. It's fools gold.
The Steelers are twenty ninth in touchdown passes with a
variety of quarterbacks since twenty twenty one. Think about this,
that's fewer than the Patriots, the Raiders, and the Bears.
(07:49):
I mean, come on, now, we're getting into Carolina categories.
So I think Aaron Rodgers, if he signs anywhere, it
will be Pittsburgh. But I think there's a reason people
wait to take a job offer because they have questions.
It could be my kids, it could be your kids,
it could be you, It could be Aaron Rodgers. He's
sitting around. He's like their offensive lines of mess and
(08:10):
they may have just lost their best offensive lineman and
their best running back. And I met with a coordinator
He's fine, not special. It's a defensive culture, tone, deft offense,
and two wide receivers that are talented, but both want
the ball and both have proven to be combustible. So
in this instance, I think Aaron's on the right side.
(08:32):
I think you wanted to go to Minnesota. He would
consider San Francisco if the brock Pretty thing didn't work.
I think he wants to keep his options out there.
I don't think that's necessarily a bad plan. But just
to give you sins, Pittsburgh kept all their staff home
instead of going to the Michigan Wolverine Pro Day, and
they have four first rounders and they could certainly use
some help. So that's where we stand today. J mcbill
(08:55):
Simmons in one hour, Colin right, Colin wrong. You know,
people said there weren't a lot of upsets and it
was a boring tournament. But I will say this that
I thought, I mean, I guess Arkansas beating Saint John's
is an upset, but Arkansas got off to a really
bad start this year with Calipari. If it's a new coach,
new staff, new players. They played very well at the
(09:17):
end of the year, so it's not a huge upset.
The SEC is so stacked that Arkansas in the middle
of the pack is actually a team capable of getting
to the Elite eight.
Speaker 3 (09:26):
Yeah, they worried me.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
Man, that's a that's a pretty damn good team. I
will say, I like your flex to start the show.
Fifteen and sixteen Sweet sixteen teams, well done. But Colin
your take on the transfer portal?
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Nil?
Speaker 4 (09:38):
Don't you think it's kind of killed Cinderella. I mean,
if you're good at a small school for one year,
you're gone. The big guys are gobbling truck. There will
not be another Steph Curry in college basketball. That's not happening.
The Davidson thing, yeah, the FAU those runs are done.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
That's right.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
As soon as you're.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Good your game, you can win a game, maybe get
lucky in two. But I would argue when I say Cinderella,
it's a myth. It never existed. Well, Villanova beat Georgetown, No,
that's right in my wheelhouse. They were a tough matchup
for Georgetown. Roley Masamino, who I covered in Vegas, told me,
(10:14):
he goes, we were We didn't want anything to do
with Saint John's. We didn't match up with him. We
played them twice in the Big East and they crushed us.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
They had a couple of pros on that Villanova team.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
That's what I'm saying. That's considered the all time Cinderella role.
Masamino told me when I used to host his coach
I hosted his coaches show in Vegas, he goes, we
love Georgetown. They were physical, We had an NBA center
and n Pigney. We could slow it down. I thought
I could go to Totoe of John Thompson. We had
no fear of Georgetown. Saint John's crushed us. So that's
(10:44):
considered all the Villanova Villanova.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
Had pro Those are Big East schools. I'm talking like
a George Mason. Remember when they made the run of
the Final four. Yeah, that ain't happening Visa.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
By the way, those things are a Naska sports fan
and named three players on George Mason. So that this
idea that we watched for for Cinderella. No CBS and
TNT CBS has done a great job to sell that mythology,
but it's untrue.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
And what do we see all weekend?
Speaker 4 (11:09):
The McNee State team, they get one win in the tournament,
and it was like, oh my gosh, McNee States, their manager,
all this stuff, and then poof, it's gone and they're
done remembered.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
So last week, everybody, everybody was on you see San
Diego beating Michigan. So I watched Michigan the week before
play you know, big ten games. I'm like, Michigan's got
like two seven footers. You see, San Diego is not
going to be able to just gonna dump the ball low,
dominate the glass. So there'll still be upsets, but there
(11:40):
have never been as many. There was a Shaka Smart
was at VCU team. Again, you get a hot coach,
a hot team, they get kind of a friendly bracket.
But this idea that's why we watch. It's not. That's
not why we watch. We watched for the Michigans and
Dukes and Carolina, and I mean last night I'm watching
or in Arizona. By the way, I watched. I watched
(12:03):
the entire Yukon Florida game. You know why freak game
because it had a bunch of NBA players and great coaches,
and it was by the way, I thought Yukon out
played them, but then Florida dominates the last three minutes,
makes all the big plays. Yeah, but the reason Yukon
and Florida was so good and the reason we love
college football because Yukon Florida looked a little bit like
NBA basketball. You had shot makers and size and physicality.
(12:26):
And so again, there are just things we people say,
I'm gonna work out, I'm gonna lose twenty pounds. Maybe
with ozempic you will, but you never lost it at
the gym. People say a lot of things, but they
do very predictable things. And we don't watch Missouri Valley
Conference basketball and we don't watch March Madness because of that.
Speaker 4 (12:43):
We like dominant teams. Who's winning around sports? Boston Celtics
absolutely loaded, Philadelphia Eagles stacked team, all like the great
teams are dominating right now, You're not really seeing these
major upsets in sports at all.
Speaker 5 (12:57):
Right now.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
All you can hope for if you're a bad franchise
the Indiana fever is that you land Caitlin Clark. There
you go, Yeah, I mean, that's truly it. Or if
you're Oklahoma City. In a small market, you get SG.
Speaker 4 (13:09):
But La Dodgers spend the most money win the World Series.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
Gates upset with it. This is wrong with sports. Yankees
Dodgers went through the roof ratings wise. So the more
social platforms we have, the busier we get, the more
distracted we get. I mean, I say this about streaming.
I watch Netflix. You know the first thing I go
to out of the football season, the big dogs. It's
done to gets Zulu, HBO, Max will give them love today.
(13:35):
I watch stuff on that Apple TV. But it's even
with streaming, I just go right to the big brands
that I've known forever. That's where I go.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon eastern non am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio
FS one and the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
So the best game in the tournament that I have
seen so far is Yukon. Felt like they were the
team for about eighty five percent of it. But you
know what, Florida hit the big shots late, and that's
you're gonna see that in the NBA playoffs, nobody cares
until the final three and a half minutes. You got
to make the shots Florida did. They're a really good team.
But you knew the champs, the back to back champs.
(14:16):
You know, to be the champ, you gotta beat them.
You know it would be a tough out, super physical
team and could have won the game. But so Dan
Hurley after walks off the floor and he's dog cussing
the referees. He's rough on referees. He's rough during this season,
much like Jim Calhoun, rough rough on referees. And he's
just saying, we got dog by the refs. But you
(14:37):
know what, he's intense. That's who he is. In pro sports,
you have an owner, you have every player's a millionaire.
Occasionally you'll coach a billionaire. You have big city, aggressive media.
They all keep you in check. But a dominant college
basketball or football coach, he's the highest paid state employee.
(14:58):
Bob Knight, Nick Say, Woody Hayes, Jim Calhoun, Dan Hurley.
It's why I said when the Laker job became available, no, no, no,
don't take that job. You are a college coach. You're
smart enough to be a head coach in the NBA,
but your personality is built for college basketball. Steve Kerr,
(15:20):
more conciliatory, Eric Spolstra, Dido ty Lou. They're not screamers.
You know, they've a couple of those guys that played
in the NBA, so you know, I mean Steve Kirk
was a fighter as a player, got into the legendary
fight with Michael Jordan the punch, but as a as
a coach, he yells mostly at officials, not as players.
(15:41):
And so I think college sports is very attractive to
men who like control. You do not have that in
pro sports. Okay, and billionaire owners now they're all billionaires
are more impulsive than ever. So good coaches get fired.
I mean Carson Wentz goes twenty seven and seven touchdowns
to pick Indy and the owners like, yeah, we don't
(16:02):
have a backup plan, get rid of him. What that's
pro sport. So Tom Thibodau in New York coaches the Knicks.
The knock on him is that you know he practices
very hard, and you know he plays his starters a
lot of minutes. That is viewed in the NBA as
not player friendly, but just asking your starters to play
a lot. So Dan Hurley is thirteen and one in
(16:25):
his last fourteen tournament games. And here's the thing. His
players love him. Some have stayed for an extra year.
He doesn't really yell at as players, not that I
can tell. He yells at the refs. Eh Calhoun yelled
at everybody. Hurley yells at the refs. He's good with
the media mostly, he's great with his players. Oh, he
(16:46):
probably drives the UKON administration nuts. But it makes you uncomfortable.
It makes the media really uncomfortable. But it doesn't appear
to make his players uncomfortable because their recruiting classes are
always ex so that intensity, it's who he is and
the players are okay with it, and that two matters most.
(17:08):
And here's Hurly after the loss, you.
Speaker 6 (17:11):
Know, and list it ended in San Antonio cutting the
nets down again, and it was going to end you know,
in a real, you know, emotional way from a lot
of emotion.
Speaker 5 (17:24):
Man.
Speaker 6 (17:25):
We're a passionate program. The players play with it. I
coach with it. And you've always strained when it's over.
Speaker 5 (17:33):
You know what.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
And here's my thing. He's authentic about it, like he's like, hey, listen, man,
it's like in Hollywood they have these directors. You know,
some of the I think it was like Stanley Kuprick,
I want sixty eight takes. And there were actors who
were like, yeah, I'm not going to work for Stanley Cooper.
I'm not going to do that. And then there are
directors Woody Allen may add lib a little more and
you know that going in. So it's the actor's responsibility
(17:57):
to accept it. Do your homework and know what you're
walking into if you go play for Dan Hurley. Practice
is hard. Coaches hard, it's intense, it's vulable. You have
the choice as the athlete. It's up to you. Do
your homework, vet the program. It doesn't seem to bother
the players. I don't love the outburst. A couple of
(18:20):
years ago. People are banging on Tom Mizzel because he
yelled a player. Players love Tom Izzoh, they go back
for years, decades, tears, they love him. You know, I
mean Tom Brady barked at people on the sideline. Know
what you're getting into. I don't have to like Bobby
Knight touched players. Bobby Knight was on players, Hurley and
(18:40):
the players. He just barks at refs. He barks at refs.
He's very intense. I can live with it. I don't
have to love it, you know, I kind of like
the Steve Kerr approach. But Steve Kerr similarly, I mean,
he's called out the NBA this year, he's called out
officiating this year, He's called out the media before. And
(19:02):
I love Steve Kerr, but he's doing on a pro up.
But you know what, Steve doesn't do call out players much.
It's very similar to Dan Hurley Curly, He's not on
the players. When he's barking to a player, he's not
screaming at him. He often looks past him. And I
don't know if that's because somebody yelled at Hurley, but
I think that's probably the case. But I'm going to
(19:24):
defend him. Here is this is the program when you
watch Yukon. If I had to explain it in one word,
I would say intense. I mean when Nick Saban was
at Alabama, That's how I would have described it. Yeah,
Nick's intense. Nick is barking a lot at revs, at
his coaches, at his players, and so you know, players
(19:46):
have a choice. Every player today on social media knows
the coaches that bark. They know what they're getting into
at Yukon and what they're getting into is currently the
best college basketball program in the country. He's not grabbing players,
he's not throwing stuff at players. I wouldn't defend him.
Then J Mack with a.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
News, this is the herdline news.
Speaker 4 (20:10):
Let's continue the tournament. Rolling colin Maryland, Colorado State was thrilling.
The best finish in.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
The tournament so far. Take a listen with the Turfs
down one eight seconds left.
Speaker 7 (20:21):
To the freshman queen who's driving floats.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
On the right side.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Of a puzzer Peter, how about that?
Speaker 4 (20:31):
The freshman went into the huddle before the final play
and said, give me the mfing ball.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
By the way, Like, that's awesome.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Why are people getting worked up? That's not a traveling
and if it is close, there's gonna get all it there.
People are like, don't ruin the moment. When I watch that,
I kind of bake it in. That's like a half
step too much. Nobody's gonna call the call I saw,
I actually saw this weekend. Was I watching o Casey
(20:58):
and the Clippers. I was watching him he game this weekend.
Somebody walked about four steps and they did it was Yannis?
Was it the ball handling with Yannis last week. You know,
there's just certain things. First of all, Maryland is a
good story, ed a good story, good team, but we
were way too heavy on the traveling angle.
Speaker 6 (21:20):
Ong.
Speaker 4 (21:20):
How about the fun stat that this kid Queen freshman
for Baltimore, he played high school ball with Cooper Flag.
Can you imagine him and Cooper Flag on the same
high school basketball team.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
That's ridiculous.
Speaker 4 (21:30):
So now Maryland goes up against Florida next Colin, that's
a tall order.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Florida didn't look great at times against Yukon. Any early
lean in that one.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Well, I think Florida is really good. I think, you know,
it's it's funny. I have fifteen of the sixteen teams
laft because I went back and forth. The one scratch
off on my bracket is I took Oklahoma to beat Yukon.
So but when I was watching Yukon and their two games,
my take is, man, they just ratchet. They go from
intense to hyper intense in the tournament. So I actually
(22:01):
think the way Yukon plays benefited Florida going forward. They
will not play a team that physical or that well coached,
So like like Florida comes out of that and They're like,
that may be the best coach team you play and
the most physical team you play. So I think Florida
is now going to start rolling people.
Speaker 3 (22:20):
They're in good shape.
Speaker 8 (22:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
The kid Walter Clayton, I mean he's really good shot maker.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
Next story, Colin Staying with the tournament, John Calipari led
the Razorbacks. So Tino in the Saint John's Folks is
Saturday night. Now, what was a pretty good game.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
Calipari was informed that the transfer portal is opening today.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
He's got to worry about the Sweet sixteen. Here's Calipari's reaction.
Speaker 8 (22:41):
When does it open to the portal? When this Monday?
Welcome to my world. So Monday, we're really preparing for
a game and we're having individual meetings about are you
coming back or you know, if they put their name
(23:02):
into portal, they probably don't have an option to come back.
But you know, I mean, it's, uh, you care about
the kids. At the end of the year, it's all
about them. Whatever they choose. You want to go pro,
I want to come back, you want to go somewhere else.
It's their choice. And I've always been that way, but
it's it's getting.
Speaker 5 (23:20):
Harder to be that way.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
You know, First of all, I supported him for a
long time at Kentucky. It drove me nuts when he said,
my job is not to win in March, it's to
make these kids great pros, to which I would say,
can you imagine coaching Ohio State football and saying it's
not my job to win the Big Ten or to
win bowl games, it's just to make kids pros.
Speaker 5 (23:41):
You'd be out of work.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
So I didn't buy. I thought that was a little
bit of a grift. But I will say this, he
may not finish as well as people like, but he
is a great program builder and there is an art
to it. Now, now he's got a title. If you
don't want a second at Kentucky, none of this would
have stocked.
Speaker 4 (23:57):
He had many chances to win that second.
Speaker 1 (23:59):
And it wasn't losing at Kentucky in the tournament. It
was losing the first game to like real have nothing.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
And he's always had stacked team John Walls.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
But he has a great eye for talent. His team's
played great defense. Now in that game, nobody could hit
a shot. It wasn't that appealing, like nobody could shoot.
But to his credit, John Bill's programs and like an
urban Meyer, you do not have to wait long, like
six weeks and he'll land four elite players. So it's
when you look at it. They started really I watched
(24:29):
them early in the season and they grew a bit
of a mass. But by the end of the year
you're like, yeah, that team could win them pretty good.
Speaker 3 (24:36):
They got to play Texas Tech next. You know, I
love Texas Jack.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Darkhurst and the tournament.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, they got a decent shot at the
final four. I'm curious, do you think we'll see any
players left in the tournament in the sweet sixteen enter
the transfer portal and say I'm out.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
I don't want to go to the sweet sixteen. I'm
not like playing them.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
At that would be surprising to be but we saw kids.
Speaker 3 (24:53):
I think there was a.
Speaker 4 (24:53):
Texas football player, remember, but ahead of the playoff left
because he wanted to enter the portal, like this is
your window, right, You've got to enter now where all
the spots are going to be gobbled up.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
So yeah, I mean, I think this tournament has been
too many people complaining there's not upsets, the ratings are good.
I mean, I did think I'll tell you one of
my takeaways. Vegas don't mess with Vegas. So many games
ended right on the line, five point game with a
five point spread. I mean, Vegas is so good at
(25:26):
this stuff.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Decent, decent.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
Final story cut to the NBA. I know we don't
pay at a lot of intention to it during March Madness,
But Lebron returned Saturday night against the Bulls at home.
They miss seven straight games and the Lakers, they got
blasted by Chicago, gave up a buck forty six, embarrassing stuff.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
Lebron wasn't in top four me.
Speaker 4 (25:44):
He did have seventeen points first game back where he
is talking about the loss.
Speaker 9 (25:49):
A little rusty, little rusty. What else happen to get
back on day? I'll just say a day by day.
I can't worry about you know, what's happen in the future.
But I mean the day.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
As a proud Chicago Bulls season ticket holder, I can
tell you that's the best they've shot in maybe a decade.
Speaker 4 (26:08):
Yeah, Josh Giney looked like all NBA play almost had.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
To quadruple double.
Speaker 5 (26:12):
Dude.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
If Cooper flag goes to you.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
Like that, let's start pushing that narrative.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Well, listen, the NBA's got an interesting Boston team, New
York team, Bay Area team, Los Angeles team. I'll argue
all day long with Simmons. When Dallas is healthy next year,
that is an excellent roster.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
When is that going to be like February, Well.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Next year, just wait till next year. That team is
the best center rotation in the game. They need another
play initiator, but Dallas is good. If all that's missing
is an interesting team in Chicago.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Remember Zion Williamson landed in like New Orleans and everybody
was disappointed. I'm sorry, I'm not going to be thrilled
if Cooper Flag goes to play in Charlotte with the.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
Sorry Charlotte, but I want to see him in Chicago,
of course, I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (26:59):
NBA fans like I need Cooper Flag in a big
market on TV a lot. There's a world where he's
like an NBA savior college.
Speaker 3 (27:06):
Okay, given the political.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Climate, Well, he's a white star.
Speaker 4 (27:09):
He only the biggest white star that the NBA has
had in decades. Well, I mean and again, like Steve
NASA's Canadian Jokic's.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
I would say this, the kids doing multiple national commercials
and he's got a personality. His game reminds me a
little bit of Jason Tatum, where he does everything well.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
I don't know, bring the ball up, break It's like, well, no, no.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
He does everything well. I don't know if Jason Tatum
is great at anything, but he's very good at everything.
Cooper Flagg has got a lot of that. But I
think more than anything, I mean, this is Zion. If
Zion would have kept his weight under controlled and stayed healthy,
Zion would be one of the faces of the league.
There's no because early numbers were insane. Flag is going
(27:51):
if he goes to Chicago, Duke. He's already got major
advertisers like this I'm rooting for because we both like
the NBA.
Speaker 4 (27:58):
The NBA kind of needs Cooper Flag to be a
big flag bearer.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
If you will.
Speaker 4 (28:03):
I mean again, I don't want to make it a
white black thing, but there just aren't a lot of
good white players in the league.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
I know Austin Reeves is great, a lot of Europeans.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
But you know, I don't see it as a race thing.
I see it as a domestic problem.
Speaker 4 (28:14):
I don't see it as a race thing. Are you
not seeing all these race faders online?
Speaker 5 (28:17):
NBA's too.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
Do you understand that I don't pay attention to that.
I think we need more great domestic players who were
stars in college.
Speaker 5 (28:24):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
To me, I don't care about anything of it. I
need more Duke Carolina guys who star then going to
the NBA and like Cooper Flag averaging eighteen is a
rookie for Chicago, That's what I want that just and
I think, and I've talked about this before, I think
the NBA and I love Adam Silver. The load management
drives me nuts, and they marginalize college basketball and I'll
(28:48):
never get it. Cooper Flag. People just forget how fascinating
Zion was as a rookie. I was watching Pelican games
and he was giving you like twenty four and ten
easily just and then but his torque, the injuries, the weight.
Speaker 4 (29:06):
Now there is a world where the Philadelphia seventy six
ers Colin get in the mix for that number one pick.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
You know they're cratering, they're tanking. Everybody's done.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
H Embiide, Maxi, Paul George, and Cooper Flagg would.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
Be scary again. Philadelphia not bad for the league. J
Mack with the News, Well, that's the news and thanks
for stopping by the well. I picked Auburn to win it.
I told I told Tom Izzo that right here. Remember
last week I said, Tom, I've got Auburn winning it.
Bruce Pearl, their coaches around the corner, Colin Wright, Colin Wrong.
Bill Simmons has a new series with HBO Max. The
(29:41):
staffs ahead of me on this. I'm never first on anything. Okay,
so it's not a shot. I'm never first on anything.
I'm gonna get to it this week. I got Tuesday
and Wednesday night. I'm gonna get through it. But the
staff loves it. We'll talk about that next Live in
La It's the Hurt.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd weekdays
and neon Easter not a emphasific.
Speaker 7 (30:00):
Hey, Steve Covino and I'm Rich David and together we're
Covino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You could catch
us weekdays from five to seven pm Eastern two to
four Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the
iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
Why should you listen to Covino and Rich.
Speaker 7 (30:14):
We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on
in the world. We have a lot of fun talking
about the stories behind the stories in the world of
sports and pop culture, stories that well other shows don't
seem to have the time to discuss. And the fact
that we've been friends for the last twenty years and
still work together. I mean that says something.
Speaker 1 (30:31):
Right, So check us out.
Speaker 7 (30:33):
We like to get you involved too, take your phone calls,
chop it up. As they say, I'd say, the most
interactive show on Fox Sports Radio, maybe the most interactive
show on planetar. Be sure to check out Covino and
Rich live on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app
from five to seven pm Eastern two to four Pacific,
And if you miss any of the live show, just
search Covino and Rich wherever you get your podcasts, and
of course on social.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
Media that's Covino and Rich.
Speaker 5 (30:56):
Well.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
I picked Auburn to win the Natty last week, and
I told Tom Mizzo that, and I think I told
Mark Few that. And one of the reasons is I
like their coach. They got multiple guys that can score,
and they have an elite shot maker so they can
play from behind. I think there's certain teams in this tournament, Michigan,
maybe one Michigan State, maybe one they're very, very good teams.
I'm not sure they're built to come from way back.
(31:18):
Bruce Pearl, it's already been eleven years at Auburn. He's
built a Power four time Coach of the Year. So
you know, cala Parti's joking about this Nil portal stuff.
He was funny about that. He's like the portal. Oh
and it opens today. Four of your five starters are
from the portal. So it's obviously something you're comfortable with.
(31:39):
You you've been at smaller schools. You know the talent
is it one of those things. It drives you nuts,
but you know you can You're not gonna complain or
do you kind of lean into the portal and all
the challenges of it.
Speaker 5 (31:52):
Well, Colin great to be with you.
Speaker 10 (31:55):
Look, you gotta you gotta adjust to the to the
rule changes and the portal and Nil are here. They're
here to stay and so you got to find a
way to navigate within the framework of that. For me,
I don't mind the porto at all, and yet so
much of my team are guys that have been here
four and five years. That's been the foundation and that's
what our coach do is. But if you could add
(32:16):
the right pieces at the right time, you could be
competitive every year. For me, I typically don't like somebody
else's mistakes. I really like guys in a portal that
come from mid major or Division two or junior college,
guys that are humble and hungry and just want an opportunity.
Having you know, worked at it a little bit, now
they're ready to play at the high major level.
Speaker 5 (32:37):
And that's that's been the secret sauce for Auburn.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
So I'd said this in January. I'd watched SEC basketball
and I sat on the air twice I said, I
don't know if you guys are watching this, but the
middle of that conference could be better than everybody else's top.
So you know the nil I would argue that a
lot of the SEC schools are not in big, rich markets,
But yet when I watch SEC basketball, you're all stuck
(33:02):
with talent. Is that just the geographic footprint, the high
school coaching, the money. Why is the SEC suddenly so deep?
Speaker 10 (33:10):
That's a great question, and you hit the nail on
the head, Colin. Everybody in the SEC has invested. It
just means more. And I said this at the beginning
of the season as we were out there in recruiting
and we're competing. What was going to make the SEC
really special and really deep this year and really difficult
to win is that the teams at the bottom of
our league are investing very similarly to the teams in
(33:33):
the middle and the top of the league.
Speaker 5 (33:34):
There's just not that much difference.
Speaker 10 (33:36):
And Colin, I think if you looked at well, look
at the national champion in football, and the teams that
got there at the very end, they were the teams
that were committed in the nil area. When I mean committed,
you know, twenty million dollar rosters. If you look at
this year's Sweet sixteen, I think you'll find very much
that is very much the case. I'm happy that the
SEC has got seven teams in the Sweet sixteen, not
(33:58):
that it needed to validate what we did during the
regular season, because what we do did with in the
regular season was real. We earned the teams that we got.
But I'm glad this many teams advanced that we don't.
That way, we don't have to put up with the
argument that we were overrated.
Speaker 1 (34:11):
You've come into this tournament. I mean for years and
years I thought of Auburn as a football school, and
I don't anymore. I think of Bruce Pearl. That's the
first thing I think of with Auburn. I think of
Charles Barkley and Bruce Pearl, and you're that you've done that.
So it's interesting.
Speaker 10 (34:25):
We are still a we are still a football school,
but I also like to say that we're at everything school.
You know, we won the national championship in men's golf,
our women's golf team with the elite AID, our gymnastics
team in ranks. Softball is amazing, and Hugh Freeze, mark
my words, is going to get it done in football.
Speaker 5 (34:42):
You're gonna make a lot of progress this year. So listen.
Speaker 10 (34:44):
I'm glad when you think of Auburn you think of
me and Charles that that's a great, great compliment. I
just hope that I'm worthy of your picking Auburn to
win the whole thing. You realize we got to go
through Michigan, Michigan State, all miss and then and then
all the other That is still that it's still alive
in the sweet sixteen.
Speaker 1 (35:04):
You know, I said this earlier. I watched Florida Yukon
boy that that was a game, and I said, I
think Florida benefited from Yukon's physicality. I don't think they'll
play a more physical team the rest of the way.
And I liked Florida. They got really hot late. Everybody's
got Florida winning. For somebody that knows them well. I
(35:25):
watched him yesterday. I thought Yukon out played him for
big chunks of that game. Were you shocked that Yukon
gave them that much?
Speaker 10 (35:34):
Yeah, I was surprised, you know, not, not because coach
Curly can't put together a game plan and beat anybody
on any given Sunday. It's just that you're right, Yukon
was able to match Florida's physicality. And Florida is the
most physical team I think in the country, with the
deepest and the best guard play. I mean, Clayton is
(35:55):
going to be the best guard on the floor almost
every single night. He takes the floor, particularly off and
then so yes, I was surprised that Florida struggled as
much as as as they did with You Come. But look,
you CON's a two time national champion, and they were.
They played with great pride and and not many people
were picking them. I still think right now Florida is
playing the best of anybody in the country. I think
(36:16):
Duke is uh Is also has demonstrated they played, you know,
some great basketball. But look, we just got to see
who can who can stay hot, and and and who
can man and Manason navigate them one at a time.
For Auburn, we've got these two seven footers at Michigan.
You are both really skilled and really physical, and and
and and they're obviously really really good. And coach May's
(36:37):
I mean, he's one of the best young coaches in
college basketball. So we'll look, we'll take it one game
at a time, but we definitely feel like the.
Speaker 5 (36:44):
SEC prepared us for for for to make a run.
Speaker 1 (36:48):
You know, it's Judy Brooms obviously played great. It's you've
got shot makers that gives you a chance to win
a title. I said this earlier. I I think Adam
Silver is very good as a commissioner of the NBA.
I think he's marginalized college basketball. They thought, you know what,
we'll just go to the G League. We don't need
college basketball. My take is that is a huge mistake
(37:08):
college basketball between the brand's March madness. Also, I think
the coaching's better in college basketball than the G League.
I would argue, NIL does you a favor that you
may be able to keep a kid one more year.
And I do feel like the NBA kind of like, nah,
we don't need college basketball. I think the ratings prove it.
Speaker 5 (37:30):
Did.
Speaker 1 (37:30):
Did you always feel that that you were kind of
almost there were a rival, the NBA was almost a
rival to college basketball.
Speaker 10 (37:39):
Yeah, I'm not gonna asked that question. And I don't
like to be criticized. I'm not critic company. My grandfather said,
we don't have something nice to say, don't say it.
But I don't know that the NCAA basketball world and
the NBA basketball world at the highest levels have worked
that well together either as it relates to developing our
gain exposure. In fact, I think in many ways we've
(38:01):
been competing, and I think now with the NIL, we
are absolutely able to compete with the NBA. Kids would
rather are their kids are better off being in their
teams and their twenties in college, continuing to develop and
being able to be compensated for their value and their worth,
versus having to go into the G League and play
(38:21):
on a team with a bunch of guys that don't
want to be there, and you know, and and and
and Russ and development. Look, Colin, it's not how much
you make, it's how long you can make it. So
what I tell kids, Look, you're gonna get rich when
you sign your first contract, but you're not gonna get
wealthy until you sign your second and third.
Speaker 5 (38:38):
So the question is when.
Speaker 10 (38:39):
Is it best for you to go into the league
so that when it comes to your second and third contract,
your body, your game, your maturity level is ready. I
think the quality of NBA basketball will be better and
better served if they would stop drafting so much on potential,
like like there are there are some great freshmen this
year that we're on losing college teams. They're going to
(39:01):
draft it really high and they're going to be great players,
but they're not ready right now.
Speaker 5 (39:06):
So what are you gonna do? Put them out there.
Speaker 10 (39:07):
In the NBA where they're not gonna play very good basketball,
or stick them in the G league as an eighteen
nineteen year old kid.
Speaker 5 (39:14):
I don't think right now that system's working. Nil.
Speaker 10 (39:18):
Gives those guys a chance to stay in college a
little bit, get right and get better, and they'll be
better pros for you.
Speaker 1 (39:24):
Yeah, And I also think there's such value in the
community of a college campus. There's a lot of diversity.
You got to go to classes, you don't love, You
don't always get your way, but it's a community. College
campuses are some of the great times in your life.
He's Bruce Pearl Friday. It's Michigan. I like Auburn winning,
but this is a good one. Michigan is NBA big,
(39:46):
So Bruce, I appreciate it as always. Thank you, and
you built a powerhouse. And good luck to you.
Speaker 5 (39:52):
Thank you, Colin. We'll talk to you again.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
Soon, all right, Bruce Pearl eleven years at Auburn, four
time SEC Coach of the Year. See his feeling is more,
which is the NBA kind of worked against you. I've
said that if my kid was a college basketball player,
I'd rather you take some classes, get coached hard in college,
not go to the G League. In most of the
coaching's hit and miss.
Speaker 5 (40:13):
In the G League.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
The training staffs are hitt and miss. There's no marketing
college players. I've talked to Mark few Aitt Gonzek. College
players get treated great and now they get paid great
if they're excellent players. So, by the way, I know
you're excited about this as a Jets fan, I don't
know if you just caught your attention. Jamis Winston signed
a two year deal with the Giants.
Speaker 3 (40:35):
I'm excited about that. So what does that mean?
Speaker 4 (40:38):
Does that mean that they're drafting on quarterback in the
first round regardless of who's there or second round? I
mean I have to team yes, yes, So who's their
head coach next year? Because it's not Brian Dable. Well,
there's no way he's surviving with Jamis Winston and or
a second one.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
Well, especially if you don't have your offensive line right uh.
And the Cowboys and the Eagles will have pretty good
pass rushes. Jamis throws a lot of arrant balls, so
it'll be a turnover plug season.
Speaker 3 (41:05):
Now, when does Malik Neighbors?
Speaker 4 (41:06):
Have you checked his social media to see if he
were his thoughts on this this acquisition, He's like, Aaron
Rodgers maybe.
Speaker 3 (41:13):
On and we got Jameis Winston. It's like, oh, well
it's Colin.
Speaker 4 (41:17):
Will go to a big steak dinner right out back,
you know like that, That's what this feels like.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
For a lot of people. That's wonderful. Let me just
say this, the New York Giants and their franchise history
had never lost thirteen games. They've now lost thirteen games
three times in eight years. And it's just a series
of egregiously bad moves. I mean Bill Simmons Next Hour.
The reason the Celtics are good Brad Stevens and Danny
Yaninges or basketball some Monts. Yeah, they made really good
(41:44):
decisions on coaches, really good decisions on draft picks. Danny
made really good decisions when to move off stars at
the right time.
Speaker 3 (41:53):
They could have had more kill fults in the draft.
Remember that they were like, now we're gonna We're gonna
go back upstairs. Shake this, Jason Tatum gy.
Speaker 1 (41:59):
Upstairs is the difference. I mean, I love Andy Reid
and Mahomes, but upstairs is the difference between eliminated early
and eliminated late. And the Giants have been a mess
upstairs for a lot of years. All right, Colin Wright,
Colin Wrong. Monday Show Hour two, Next
Hosts And Creators
Colin Cowherd
Jason McIntyre
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.