April 6, 2024 • 35 mins
Greg talks to Nick Lorensen of Mid Major Madness about the Final Four games & how big of a week this is for teams not currently playing for laying the foundation for next season & Greg picks & analyzes both Final Four games!
Spreadsheet Link: https://vsin.com/college-basketball/greg-petersons-daily-college-basketball-lines/
Podcast Highlights
4:52-Interview with Nick Lorensen
33:26-Picks & analysis for Alabama vs Connecticut
37:23-Picks & analysis for NC State vs Purdue
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey, welcome him out in Las Vegas because because he
was with myself, Craig Games Peterson now part of the
Recent Family podcast. We've got a great podcast for us.
We'll be joined momentarily by one of our good friends
in Nick Laurrens, and he does great work over at
Mid Major Madness. We're gonna be chatting with him about
just some of the coaching movement that we have been
seeing this far in the offseason. We're gonna be taking
(00:25):
the two Final four games with him, and then in
the final segment, we're gonna get you guys picks in
analysis on both of these Final four games, as we
had some bang shots. It's a pretty straightforward podcast today,
as essentially the hay is in the barn when it
comes to this college basketball season. I'm going to be
deciphering what we get in the Final four and press
making a few slight tweaks based on recent forum for
(00:47):
the national title game. But I mean, this is bringing
to an end the twenty twenty three twenty four season,
so we're certainly gonna be getting in off season mode.
This will be a good primer for that. But at
the same time, we will highlight all four of these
scenes that have happened able to make it to the
Final four with Nick give you guys my picks and analysis.
I was looking at some antlerer markets trying to see
if there might be anything that I don't normally bet
(01:09):
I like in terms of Final four. Really didn't see
a whole lot. I think a little bit of this
as a byproduct of the fact that we do have
two rather lopsided lines when it comes to this game.
As typically when it comes to these games, typically you
don't find a final four where one team is an
eight and a half to a nine point favorite and
the other team is eleven and a half to a
twelve point favorite. Very out of the ordinary, to say
(01:30):
the least. But we're going to be diving in on
what we're going to be seeing this offseason and how
big of a week this is in general out there
in Arizona for these teams, trying to lay the groundwork
for next season as well. We're gonna have the Final Four,
and then we're gonna get you guys those picks for
the Final Four. In the final segment, just a little
bit of a reminder, I will be doing this podcast
every single day throughout the offseason as well, So after
(01:51):
the nets get cut down on Monday, you're gonna get
a fresh podcast on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, every single day.
As our work is never done with regards to College
Bass well, once those nets are cut down, it's all
about trying to be able to work to make you
money for the twenty twenty four to twenty five season
and with narth of fourteen hundred players currently in the
transfer portal, there is no shortage of things to take
(02:12):
a look at. And if you ever do have a
question comment take you what an idea? What I have
you for this podcast? You do have one of Tway's
bio far those in first one is my Twitter slash
X timeline at you d underscoredy one. Keep in mind
letter ZM the mean does that matters? So as per usual,
please send these into the timeline and the other ways.
Find an Apple podcast review. If you rate this podcast
fight Stars, it is very much appreciated them. From there,
you are able to fire in whatever you'd like to
(02:32):
here on this podcast. By that five STARVW, we did
not get in any Twitter slash XS questions today, so
let's welcome him in. Nick Lauren Cindy does great work
over at mid Major Madness taking a look at this
great game that we all know and love. He is
actually out there in the loveliest state of Arizona for
the Final Four. He does great work all twelve months
out of the year taking a look at this game
of college basketball. You much like myself taking a look
(02:54):
at these final four games, but also turning it forward
to the twenty and twenty four to twenty five season
with he's coaching moves with the transfer portal and so
much more. Yuarable fum on Twitter, sizecks at the letter
and his last name Laurenson spelt r E N s
e n all together and then the word sports on
the back half of that, and Nick, it is a pleasure,
my friend. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
It's always great to hop on here. Greg. It's been
a couple of weeks since the last stop on here.
It's probably before the NCAA Tournament. Been so busy. Like
you mentioned, I'm looking forward to next season big in
the transfer portal, digging into that, you have the NCAA
Tournament going on. There's just so much going on. I'm
out in Arizona. Like Greg mentioned, it's raining. I thought
it doesn't rain in thet.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Hey I'm out here in lovely Las Vegas too, And
on Friday I was getting a little bit of drizzled myself,
and it was like in the mid fifties. That was
very strange, to say the least. But fortunately with the
great game of basketball, it is played indoors and not outdoors,
so we don't have to worry about that, And when
we do have to worry about it is potentially some
games getting a little bit out of hand, because I
(03:56):
can't remember last time we had two Final four games
with a spread north of eight, with Purdue got an
eight and a half to a nine point favorite over
NC State Yukon and eleven and a half point favorite
over Alabama. Do you see it the same way that
those out here in love of Las Vegas doing that
we're probably gonna get two relatively lotsided games. Or do
you think that won these teams in Purdue and Yukon
(04:17):
gonna get a little bit of a fight.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Yeah, it would make a lot of sense. You know,
Yukon and Purdue have pretty much been running through this tournament,
dominating teams in the second half. After some fairly close
first halfs the craziest thing. You know, when the final
four was said, I looked at the future, you know, matchups,
what could happen if Yukon and NC State were to win.
The line right now is set at fifteen and a half.
(04:39):
At least it was earlier this week it was set
at fifteen and a half, which is absolutely bizarre for
a national championship game. Those are football type of numbers.
Fifteen and a half points, that's absolutely crazy. But it's
really gonna come down to. This has been the year
of the big once again. It'll be super interesting watching
DJ Burns and Zach Eede face off against each other.
(05:00):
Had an amazing year, two time AP Player of the Year.
I think it's a safe bet to think that he'll
have his way. I was at his press conference earlier
today when he was Player of the Year and NC
State's trying to do some scare tags or whatever. They
walk by the press conference room, Blair and their music
heading out to the gym, so I thought that was
pretty silly. But that will be a super fun one
(05:22):
to watch, and I think Yukon should have its way
with Alabama. Ukons had its way with most teams in
the second half of these NCAA tournament games, so I
think that'll be more lopsided maybe than this NC State
Perdue game. I think that'll be a battle. UNC State's
been giving everyone a battle no one's really expecting to,
especially after some slow starts of recent and then they're
(05:45):
able to just come back. They never give up. They
keep fighting nine straight elimination game wins. I'm a mid
major guy, but I'm gonna say safely, this is probably
the best NCAA torn and best March run I've ever
seen in my life. You're never gonna see something like
this again.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
And I just can't get behind the people trying to say, oh,
NC State is in a cinder row because they're a
power conference team. They needed a bank in three off
of a front end of a one to one miss
from Virginia just a force overtime in their conference tournament.
Forget the NCAA tournament. That's as much of a cin
row run as you get in. As they always say,
(06:20):
a cat has nine lives. They've played nine elimination games
in order to be able to get here, So I mean,
that's about as good of a run as it gets.
And now they have to go up against Purdue, and
there's been a lot of buzz about how Zach Edy
has been getting calls slash non calls with regards to fellows,
what have you. And I do think that that is
going to be a big time difficulty Frensis State truth
(06:41):
be told, not necessarily the world's greatest rebounding team. But
do you think that there's a chance at NC State.
I'm not gonna say like completely contains Zach Edy. I
think that that's certainly here impossible, but to be able
to give a little bit of speed bump in, perhaps
push him off his game just a little.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Bit, yeah, I think so. You know, the calls are
gonna be extra tight. These are the best refs in
college basketball, so they might not be as lenient as
usual as Zach Eatie. There might be fewer and fewer
calls this time around. And the interesting thing about NC
State is they have some depth down low where they
can change out. Everyone wants to talk about DJ Burns
(07:15):
becuse he's the sexy big player who makes nice shots
and has good feet, but they have a couple of
dudes down low who can come in play them hard defensively.
Maybe send him to the line and you never know.
I think NC State's actually a really tough matchup for
this Purdue team. If Purdue would have had Alabama, I
(07:36):
think they would have had their own way. But out
of the two Final four matchups, this is definitely the
one I'm more intrigued in, which I'm happy it's the
earlier game. It's going to get more eyes in my opinion,
being that earlier game.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Yeah, it certainly is going to be in. What else
I think is going to be an interesting dynamic of
this Final four is that we've got a jump shooting
Alabama team that now is to play in a football
stadium against a Yukon team as we very dominant on defense,
and for Alabama, this is a team that they live
and die by the three. They're in the top twenty
nationally in terms of percentage of the field goal attempts
that come from three prit range. And with Yukon and
(08:11):
the way that they've been able to defend, I just
feel like this is gonna be a rough go event
for them. I feel like Alabama would have a little
bit of a better chance even if this were like
a true ro game, just because I do think that
the shooters. I playing out there in a football stadium
where the Ears at a Cardinals play, that's couldn't negatively affect
Alabama more so than any of these other teams in
the Final four.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, that's something we talk about at Queens. You know,
we're a shooting team and we played at Austin pe
with fairly new arena hockey arena and behind the basket
there's a lot of space. So it's a little bit
more difficult for these shooting teams of playing big arenas
like that. And we could see with Alabama tomorrow, Yukon's
had this big game experience and to doublea Final four
team last year won the national title, that defense could
(08:52):
just lock them down. So these big games in these
big arenas, in these big football stadiums definitely benefit the
defensive team more. It's going to be tough for a
jump shooting team like Alabama. They aren't that physical. They're
just going to put up shots, hope for long runs.
I think it might be tough for them in long stretches.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Yep. I do think that it's going to be relatively
rough for them as well. So I'm an agreement on
that front. As Nick Lawrenson. He does tremendous workover at
mid Madejormndez he is joining me right here ONCOUPSAI. If
we do get what we're expecting, which would be the
Purdue versus Yukon national title game, how do you think
that sort of a game would play out?
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Now?
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Like you guys, and maybe we're giving a little bit
of short tript to Alabama lot NC State, But I
do think that it's pretty clear that Purdue versus Yukon,
if they aren't the best two teams in college basketball
this season, they're two of the top three teams that
we've seen in college basketball this season. I do think
that Purdue would be one of those few teams that
would actually match up quite well with Yukon.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
I think it would be an absolute battle, and it
might not be all that high scoring. I'd be super
excited to see that you got clinging against eighty down low.
It's what we've been hoping for all season in college basketball.
That's what we've been hoping for long time. You know,
it's awesome when we have these cinderella teams make a run,
But when you have two teams that are as dominant
as the two these two teams have been all year.
(10:08):
There's no better way to end a season than they
have these two matchup. You know, you have a Yukon
team all year, everyone's like, Oh, they're gonna dominate everyone.
They're gonna dominate their way back in the finals. They're
gonna win another NCAA tournament. And then you have a
Purdue team who's just dominated the regular season the last
couple of years, won the Big Ten, but their knock
has been they haven't been able to win the big games.
(10:30):
Zach Edy. People want to attack Zach Edy. Think he's
not a great big man. He's just tall. He can
do a lot, He's a super impressive player. So they
have a chip on their shoulder prove everyone wrong after
all these years saying that they're just a fraudulent Big
Ten team. Let's see if we can do it. And
then you have Yukon who's trying to do win the
back to back titles, which doesn't happen that much in
(10:52):
any sport. So I think it's gonna be an awesome
defensive game. It's gonna come down to what happens down
low between those two'll be one of the better national
title games we've seen in quite some time. Definitely different
than last.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Year, you have no question about it. And hopefully we
do get that matchup. That is something that you always
want to see as a sports fan. You always want
to see the best two teams. Sometimes you just don't
get that in college basketball. Sometimes you get like an
eight seed in the national title game, which we've seen
twice in the last ten years. Certainly we have a
chance to be able to get on eleven seed in
the national title game. But I do think that Purdue
(11:26):
is just going to be a little bit too much
for NC State and we are going to have ourselves.
Two nice games are going to be going down on Saturday.
But Nick, I know that while you're taking a look
at Saturday pretty much for the year twenty twenty three
twenty four in terms of taking a look at these games,
taking a look at these teams, hey is in the
bar and we've got three games remaining. But I know
that you're already hard at work for the twenty twenty
(11:47):
four to twenty five season as I'm starting to turn
the paid forward to that as well. And what have
you made out of some of these offseason moves that
we have seen thus far, because the transfer portal is
certainly starting to fill up, and a lot of the
coaching moves that were anticipating for the offseason i've quite frankly,
already happened.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Yeah, when you look at it, most of these coaching
changes they've already had, which I think is kind of crazy.
There's something I really like, Like, I love Pat Kelson
to Louisville. I think next year they could be a
top twenty five team. At a time of the season,
I think they could be a six to seven seed
in the NCAA Tournament. That dude's just a winner. We
saw it at Charleston for a long time. I love
(12:23):
Ben McCollum going to Drake. That's been his dream job
for as long as I've known anything about him. It's
just like Josh Shirts. Josh Shirts went there, he was
super He went to Indiana State and he was super impressive.
Now he's at SLEW. Josh shirtz is and he could
win there with a lot of resources in a winnable
league that really hasn't had a team maybe Dayton, who's
(12:46):
been completely dominant over the last couple of years. There's
other like Missouri State hiring Kwonzo Martin again, that's like
a head scratch from me. You know, I think he
can win twenty games, twenty two games, but they aren't
gonna be a dominant force year and in year out.
I feel like it's just like a hey, let's hope
we get a run in Saint Louis. Let's hope we
(13:07):
do something here. Drew Joyce going to do Kane. I
think that was the right hire for them. That's super
exciting for him. There's a chance that could get Brownie James,
who officially entered the transfer portal on Friday, put his
name in the NBA draft as well. I think that
could be super interesting over there. Austin klanch going to UTSA.
I think UTSA might not compete for an American title,
(13:28):
but I feel like they're gonna be a lot better
than they have been in the past. And then in
the transfer portal, you know, it's always turning. There's not
been too many crazy, big moves so far. A lot
of the bigger moves have been guys following their head coaches,
two new gigs such as Rayn Smith from Charleston to Louisville.
We're an interesting point right now. The dead period just started,
(13:50):
the week long dead period, so coaches technically can't talk
to kids. The transfer portal closes in two weeks. A
lot of these kids have to make decisions sometime soon,
so they're kind of said if they want to practice
over the summer. It's a really really interesting time in
college basketball right now. We say we sleep in May,
but we truly never sleep in this beautiful sport.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
No, we truly do not. And and they say that
we sleep in May as well. I'm doing baseball during
the month of Bay as well, so that certainly will
not be myself too. So it really has become an
all twelve months out of the year's sport. And I
do think that it's going to be really interesting to
see how everything plays out in terms of the transfer portal, because,
as I was alluding to, north of fourteen hundred guys
(14:32):
have already entered their name and fewer than fifteen percent
of guys have made their decisions, So a lot of
guys are holding off, and I think rightfully so you
don't want to be making any sort of like a
super rash decision or anything like that. But just how
critical is this week for these scenes that were not
in the final four because you're out there in Arizona.
I know that most coaches, most just coaching stats in general,
(14:55):
are out there. There's a lot of players that are
in the transfer portal that are out there in Arizona.
I feel like this is actually one of the biggest
weeks of the year for the teams that aren't in
the Final four because this week really does lay the
groundwork for getting things wrong with the transfer portal and
just coaches and players getting to know one another and
trying to do for lack of better term, recruiting.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Yeah, there's lots of phone calls, people always stepping aside.
You know, they talk about that during the month of
March and April and offices, but it's even crazier here.
There's meetings everywhere. It's big for coaching staffs. You know,
you build your coaching staff, so you build those relationships
with fellow coaches around the country because everyone's here at
the same time. If you need a true story about
(15:37):
a kid that you're recruiting in the transfer portal, you're
gonna get it more likely in person the true facts
about the kid then over the phone call, because a
lot of the time you know these coaches could be fabricating. Hey,
let's just set them there for whatever. So if you're
there in person, it's just psychology. You're not gonna get
many lies when you're talking to someone man a man,
face to face, especially after some long nights out, which
(16:00):
some of these coaches do. Over this week, it's a
really really important week. It's an awesome week. There's no
week like Final four week when everyone's together and everyone's
enjoying themselves and rallying around our sports. So it's probably
my favorite week of the year. I love the first
two days of March madness, but nothing beats just being
(16:20):
in the same spot with about fifteen hundred other people
who really love the same thing that you do.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Yeah, Ben, it's a much more relaxed atmosphere as well.
You don't have to worry about keeping your head onto
swivel for so many different games going down, and you
have like the NITSBI games that are going down as well.
Now this time of year, we could just start taking
forward to the twenty twenty four to twenty five campaign
and just be able to get a little bit of
a lay of the land there. Nick Lauren said, it
(16:47):
does great work overight, Big Major Mannis is joining to
be right here on CASCAZUPSI. I know you were mentioning
in passing Pat Kelsey him going over to Louisville, that
was one of your favorite hires that you saw. But
are there a few other ones that really catch your eye?
Because I know that you were alluding to this, It
felt like with college basketball right now, we're seeing fewer
and fewer retreads, and we're seeing more guys that were
(17:08):
at like the D two level, These guys that were
at the low D one level being able to rise
up very quickly, and honestly, I think that that's very
good for the sport, and I think that that could
be why I personally have just taken a look at
the coaching Carosel this offseason and there just haven't been
a lot of moves where I said, yeah, this is
a bad move or anything like that, because I feel
like the guys that are getting promoted are guys that
(17:30):
are proven winners. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
I agree. You have a guy like Chris Mack at Charleston.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
That was a good hire.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
I love it. It could be an awesome hire. He
was amazing at Xavier, so we know that he's gonna
go there, he's gonna win, he's gonna get legit players.
But also if they change leagues, if they stay in
the CIA, I think they could be super dominant with him.
I think that it could become the Gonzaga of the East.
But if they move the A ten, I kind of
think there's a chance he could become like another Archie Miller,
(17:56):
and I wouldn't want that to happen. That's an awesome
school that has lots of resources and could make them
a legitimate program. The best thing you can do. I
know everyone's gonna say, let's go to the day A ten.
It's sexy, but to be successful, you got to stay
in the CAA. Let him get his footing again. I
love that you have Chris Holtman, who's another reachre at Higher.
Kind of interesting at the Paul. That's a tough gig,
(18:18):
but he could be a lot more successful than a
lot of people have been there. I mentioned Ben McCollum
earlier at Drake. I think that's a home run Higher.
I think it's just gonna be like Josh Schurtz at
Indiana State. The only difference is Ben McCollum already had
a preconceived love for that Drake program, so he's gonna
drive and drive and drive to make it the best
thing possible. That's a home run higher for that Drake program,
(18:41):
who's already had an amazing last couple of seasons with
Daron Defrees who went to West Virginia. That could be
a good get that Kwanzo Martin hire earlier. Like I mentioned,
I think that's a little head scratching. I think that
he can win twenty games every year, but it's not
gonna get you in a spot to compete for an
at large bid. I think it's hey, hope we win
a couple of games in Saint Louis type of gig.
(19:03):
I like Mike Jones at ODU. He's gonna get them
a lot of really good DMV players. He has those
DMV connections being at Damatha for a couple of years.
Really love that hire. Dave Smart's out of the box
higher at Pacific, who's at Carlton in Canada, which was
one of the powerhouses up there in Canadian college basketball,
and then he went down to Texas Tech and was
(19:24):
an assistant this season, did a really good job. They
need to be out of the box at a place
like Pacific, and I think that's a home run for
a program like that. Rob Lanier is going to get
Rice a lot more wins than they've had in recent history.
Jerry McNamara has all the support up there at the end,
just like karm kind of did, so hopefully he's able
(19:45):
to have that success that Karen had before this season.
So that really intrigues me. Andy Enfield's in the ACC
at SMU. Just wild to say ACC SMU, but I
think that could be good. There must is a guy
that doesn't like to be in a place for too long.
Now he's at USC at a beautiful city. You have
beautiful weather, and it's an awesome place to recruit, and
(20:07):
it's just a big time city for a big time personality.
I think that could be awesome. I love Scott Nagy
going to Southern Illinois. He developed big men like crazy.
I think they could have a proer two in his
time over there. Mentioned Josh Schertz earlier. He has so
much support now being at Saint Louis one of the
better well funded mid major programs in the country. That
(20:31):
could be awesome for them. UIC that's a tough one.
I don't know about Robison coming over from UAB. That'll
be an interesting one because that's just a tough place
to begin with because they want Chicago kids and not
many kids really want to go to UIC. Jeric Calhoun
at Utah State, well, he'd be the next one to
take the stepping stone there, have a good few years
and get a high major job. He was able to
(20:53):
be really successful at Young Sound State, had awesome and
iol initiative there. That'll be a lot of fun. I
mentioned Austin Claunch a little bit earlier. Mark Byrington goes
to Vandy. That'll be a fun style of basketball at
Vanderbilt what he's done the last couple of years at GMU.
I think Danny Sprinkle can win at Washington. David Riley
could win at Washington State in the WCC. He's a
great young coach with a lot of years ahead of him.
(21:15):
Hank Plana at Western Kentucky. He was super successful at
Indian or at Indian Hills at the JUCO level. Let's
see if that can translate to the D one level
at a really strong year in his only year as
an assistant there. Brian or Earl could take William and
Mary to its first NCAA tournament and program mistery one
of the four original schools that never make the NCAA tournament.
(21:36):
That'll be a lot of fun with his vast style
and the CAA. I think they can compete really quick
in his tenure, which is something that just a lot
of min major fans have really been feasting for a
good William and Mary program one to finally make the
NCAA tournament. There's so many awesome hires. There's a couple
of retreads that kind of have my head scratching, but
(21:57):
it's awesome. I love the coaching carosel. I love college,
but I love these couple of weeks where we hear
who's going where. I also love you trgvs hire the
BYU assistant, great defensive coach. When you go to a
place like that, real rugged, you need to play rugged
style of basketball, and I feel like that's what they're
going to do down there in Edinsburg. So I love
(22:18):
the coaching carousel. It's one of my favorite things about
this beautiful sport.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Yeap, it is a tremendous thing. And I want to
get your thought on one other thing as well. How
much in recent years. Do you think that programs coaches
just a little bit of everyone. I've realized, Hey, these players,
these guys are at the Division two Division III level,
you know what they can be able to cut at
the Division one ranks because we saw a lot of
success stories. Jack Goldkie certainly was one of the biggest
(22:42):
one of them. But you even take a look at
see some what they were able to do with Mark
Newman in your number one, I thought that that was
relatively impressive. We've seen more of these C two guys
get hired on this coaching cycle, and I do think
that's a little bit of a wave in the future,
and I think that is very smart for all these
programs that are taking advantage.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Yeah, I think eighties have seen that there's much smaller
of a gap between D two and D one Nowadays,
the top tier D one teams, the ones that make
the lead eight or D two teams that make the
lead eight, the SAX schools, the ODAC schools, I think
that they could win the NEC a lot of Any
of the Lead eight teams could have won the NEC
this year. Any of the D two LEADIA teams could
(23:21):
have won the NEC this year. And they're seeing that, like,
I'm big in the transfer portal right now. I'm digging
every day for Queens. You know, we have guys that
look at JUCO, but I only look at D two
and D one. If you're putting up numbers at D
two and you're an efficient three point shooter, that translates,
that stuff translates. Maybe you won't score the exact same
amount of points, but if you're putting up in a
(23:43):
lower volume, if you're putting up good percentages, there's a
chance you'll be really good. Like Jack Goldkie, that's just
an amazing fine. For years, wherever he was at I
don't remember where was at, he was not putting up
any points. And then he comes into Oakland and it
just shows great camp. He's able to do more with less,
and he's been able to do it for years with
just these random kids. Tray Townsend was a walk on.
(24:07):
Trade Townsend was a walk on for him, and he
just kept bolding up. He had a great freshman year.
He was Player of the Year this year, and now
he's testing draft waters and is in the transfer portal.
I believe there's smaller gap. You could get mediocre D
two players and an amazing coach and who knows what happens,
Who knows what happens. That was pretty much Jack Olkie.
Jack Olkie wasn't lighting the world on fire at the
(24:29):
D two level, but he went to a program that
fit him with a coach that will let him shoot
the three ball. And look, he's a national name now
and everybody loves him.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Yeah. Ben, By the way, he went to Hillsdale College
out there in the great Midwest, So gotta give Hillzale
a little bit of love there. And we always have
to give you a lot of love, Nick, because you
do an amazing job taking a look at this great
game that we all know in love of college basketball.
You're out there in Arizona this week, so love to
get people at home know it's all on that for you,
and now people can fall on on social media other platforms.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Yeah, I'll be at the final four games on Saturday,
the national championship game on Monday, and then time to
just chill out and look at the transfer portal for
the last few weeks before we head into practice. But
I'll be posting over a mid major mannis all the
big transfer stuff that's going on. But it's kind of
at that period, we're heading towards baseball here. You know,
(25:22):
my buckos are playing every day, the Orils are on.
I love baseball, I love basketball. When those two can
mix together and happen at the same time, there's not
much better than that. But you can follow me over
on Twitter at midunder Dash Madness and at end Lawns
and Sports.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Absolutely Nick does such a great job taking a look
at this tremendous game of college basketball that we all
know in love, and it's always great to get them aboard.
A big thanks to Nick for joining me on because
because heems now part of the Vson Family podcasts and
coming in next it is a final four. I get
you guys in my picks at analysis for both of
these big games. Next us we hit some Bankshins and
(26:01):
we're rgo love me Las Vegas. We're gon scussy with myself.
Greg Egs Peterson, now part of the Visa Family podcast.
Was great to be able to get Nick Laurence in
a board. He does an amazing job taking a look
at this great game that we all know and love
of college basketball. He follows it all twelve months out
of the year. Every single time he joins his show.
He lends such good insights and did so once again today,
(26:23):
So big thanks Tonick for joining me in the last segment.
Now it is that time of the podcast. I give
you picks and analysis for both games on this final
four as we hit some bank shots. Most financial establishments
close at a certain time, but not here. It is
time for a sign in total on every game on
today's betting board bank shots. Do you know if that,
(26:43):
as per usual, any changes are made to these plays
will be listened up on my Twitter feed at Gina
arenscore at eighty one and well, we've got two games
on the board. It goes Alabama versus Yukon and NCC
versus Purdue. I did a right up for both of
these just because well we've got three games left in
the seas in these two and then the national title
game for Monday, so might as well write them all up.
(27:04):
But let's start out with six seventy one, six seventy
two on the card. It is Alabama versus Yukon, with
Yukon being a favorite venue. Between eleven and a half to
twelve points tools between one sixty and a half and
one sixty one, and I'm gonna be willing to roll
with Yukon, and the right up pick for this game
is going to be the spread on Yukon. I did
set them as a twelve and a half point favorite.
(27:26):
The reason why I made this right up pick is
because Yukon has played ten NCUBA Tournament games over the
last two NCUBA tournaments. They have won every single one
of these games by at least thirteen points. They have
been an absolute bulldozer. This team is checking all the boxes.
They are a top team in the country in terms
of both points scored and points allowed on a purposession basis.
(27:48):
For Yukon, eleventh in the country terms of points allowed
on a per possession basis, number one in all of
college basketball terms of points scored on a per posession basis,
It's just so hard to slow the team down. As
a matter of fact, Yukon is scoring one point six
points more per one armed possessions away from home than
any other team in all of college basketball, and three
point one points more per one armed possessions went away
(28:08):
from home than Alabama. And I do believe that the
shooters eye of Alabama is going to be thrown off
quite a bit in this game with it being played
out there in the home of the Arizona Cardinals in
a football stadium, because Alabama is a top twenty team
in all of college basketball in terms of percent of
their shots that they take from three point range. Meanwhile,
you've got a Yukon team that, sure they're able to
(28:29):
take some threes. You've got to come someone like a
Cam Spencer that shoots well north of forty four percent
from distance, but at the same time you're able to
pound it down though with Dodovin Klingen, I have no
idea how Grant Nelson is going to try to match
up there, as this Yukon team one of the best
teams in all of college basketball in terms of rebound rate,
and I will say, to the credit of Alabama, they're
actually a top fifty team in the country in terms
(28:49):
of their rebound rate. Got someone like Aaron action Estrado
is able to give you about five boards, four assists
he throws in their double figure amount of points, says
Mark Seriars is really your main man. But I just
don't think that they're gonna be able to hold up there.
And Alex Caravan gets shut such short shrift because we
all talk about don mc kligan the way that he
affects shots. But Caravan is someone that stands north of
six foot seven. He's able to shoot about thirty eight
(29:12):
a half percent from three throwing in their thirteen points
per contest and then triple double machine Tristan Newton gives
you a fifteen points, six assists, nearly seven boards a
steal per contest. It's just so hard to match up
with for an Alabama team that is in the bottom
twenty nationally, turns and points a lot on a per
possession basis in games played away from them. Again, I
do think that playing in the SEC is a little
(29:32):
bit of a byproduct of that, and it's not like
they face off against easy competition. But this is a
unit that they just don't play very good defense at all,
and when Alabama gets down quite big in games. This
is the big reason why I do like the over.
You do notice that they fell a lot. They do
everything he really possible. They do not mind if they
get just blown out by twenty five thirty points. So
(29:53):
I do think that the blow up potential is very big.
They are either gonna win the game outright or they're
just gonna fall on their they are very much an
all or nothing team. With that respect, I do think
that for Alabama they could be able to get a
little bit warm and be able to pop a few
threes in this one. But again, I do think that
early on the Siteline's really going to be throwing them
off Donovan cling in with what he's able to do
(30:15):
down load. Fully recognize that this is a Yukon team
that has been really good on defense. You take a
look at what they've been able to do since the
beginning of the month of March. You've only had one
team really be able to exceed the sixty seven point
plateau on them. That was Saint John's and that just
hair brain crazy game that we saw out there in
Madison Square Garden. But this is a Yukon team that
they're able to get eighty five plus on the regular end.
(30:36):
For this Alabama unit, they have given up north of
eighty five points before their last five games as well.
So it is a situation if something's got to give.
I think that Alabama is going to be looking to
run it, They're going to be looking to gun it,
and they're going to give Yukon so many easy opportunities
to be able to get points, and I think that
that's going to lead to a high scoring game and
another blowout win for Yukon. So my right to pick
that is going to be on Yukon laying the number.
(30:58):
And I did set my total one to sixty five
four and a half, so we're gonna have the over,
and then we are going to go to NC State
versus Purdue. This is six seventy three, six seventy four
with Perdue. In most places a nine point favor you're
seeing one or two straight eight and a halfs out
there as well. Total is mostly one forty six a
half seeing one straight one forty six out there, and
my right up heer is going to be on the under.
(31:18):
I saw by total more around of one forty three
and a half because with Perdue, if you've noticed their
game since the beginning of the month of February, their
last thirteen games, they've been playing at a rate of
about four point two possessions per game, fewer than they
did in their first twenty two to twenty three games
of the season. So they've been looking to wind it
down there. And I was alluding to Alabama in the
(31:38):
previous game and how the shooters eye, how just this
game being played at a football stadium affects them. Produce
the number two team in all of college basketball in
terms of three point twenty percent gin, you have to
have a feeling that that's going to take a little
bit of a drop off they go up against an
NCC team that they're not a dominant team in terms
of being able to guard in the York. They've gotten
much better recently, and I will say a little bit
(31:59):
of that has been some positive variants as well, Like
for anyone that was watching that Marquette game, Marquette was
just breaking open three after open three. But both of
these teams they do a nice job. I'll be able
to guard the perimeter. For Purdue, they're lying upon it's
only shoot right around about thirty one point five thirty
one point six percent from three point inching games played
away from home, so they've been able to do a
(32:20):
rock solid job with that regard. And for nc State,
they are still well outside the top winner in terms
of overall upon its three point shooting percent, but it's
been getting better as the tournament has gone along. I
just fear that they are going to get completely land
based on the glass. You have to go up against
Gian of the Yerzaki. He has given you twelve plus boards,
he's given you multiple blocks, he's given you twenty one
plus points per game. And as much as we love
(32:41):
DJ Burns, he's only hauling in there about four rebounds
per contests. And it's been Mohammed Diara who's been your
main rebound for the seam. Mohammed Diara has done a
solid job. He's been able to log for the team
about seven a half or ce rebounds per game. And
DJ Horn that is our DJ. He's been able to
give you sixteen plus points, shoots it well from three
point range. But friends, I just don't know if they
(33:01):
have the firepower to match up with someone like a
Bradon Smith, who's really been able to step up this
year shooting well north of forty percent three and for Purdue,
all but one of their top eight scorers are shooting
at least thirty five percent from three part inch, so
they really do get it from every one. Smith has
been able to give out some plus six plus rebounds
per game, so he's been rock solid there. Guys like
Trey Coffin Wren have been able to do a solid
(33:21):
job be able to step up in Francis State. Is
someone like a Ben Milverbrooks, who gives you about like
four rebounds per game as relatively solid down low, is
he really going to be able to match up with
some of the depth of Purdue. I do think that
the answer is no. But I've noticed with NC State
they've been looking to slow down their temple a little
bit as well, So I do think that this is
going to be a little bit of a slow slog.
I think that both of these teams once again get
(33:42):
negatively affected by this game being played at a football stadium.
Matters that are shooting as well, which is big reason
why I did write up the under in this spot.
And for Purdue, I do think that they find a
way to be able to get it done. The Sencctate
team has looked completely transformed if you look at the
recent form of the NCC team, much better than well
you saw for the entirety of the season. Like if
we were going off of entire season numbers, ncch should
(34:05):
be north of a twelve point underdog. I set my
number more around a nine and a half. I do
have to respect the run that NC State has been
able to put together. But I do think that it
ends here. I'm gonna be willing to lay it with
Purdue and with my write up, I'm gonna be looking
at the under end. That wraps things up for the
Saturday edition of Because Good Seeps Out part of the
VS and Family and Podcasts. A big thanks to Nick
Lawns and who does great workover at mid Major mannas
(34:25):
he joined me in the last segment. If you do
like fearing from this time podcast Because Good Seeps, you're
able to subscribe wherever your podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify,
sit Try in tune and if you have a question
comment segment idea what I'd be for this podcast? You
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just send these into the timeline. By the way, is
(34:46):
finding an Apple podcast review. If you rate this podcast
five stars, it is very much appreciated them. From there,
you're able to fire in whatever you'd like. You're on
this podcast, vide that five star VP coming at you. Guys,
every single day throughout the year, regular season and off
season with this podcast, so I'll be back with you
want to get them out. Thank you H
Hey, welcome him out in Las Vegas because because he
was with myself, Craig Games Peterson now part of the
Recent Family podcast. We've got a great podcast for us.
We'll be joined momentarily by one of our good friends
in Nick Laurrens, and he does great work over at
Mid Major Madness. We're gonna be chatting with him about
just some of the coaching movement that we have been
seeing this far in the offseason. We're gonna be taking
(00:25):
the two Final four games with him, and then in
the final segment, we're gonna get you guys picks in
analysis on both of these Final four games, as we
had some bang shots. It's a pretty straightforward podcast today,
as essentially the hay is in the barn when it
comes to this college basketball season. I'm going to be
deciphering what we get in the Final four and press
making a few slight tweaks based on recent forum for
(00:47):
the national title game. But I mean, this is bringing
to an end the twenty twenty three twenty four season,
so we're certainly gonna be getting in off season mode.
This will be a good primer for that. But at
the same time, we will highlight all four of these
scenes that have happened able to make it to the
Final four with Nick give you guys my picks and analysis.
I was looking at some antlerer markets trying to see
if there might be anything that I don't normally bet
(01:09):
I like in terms of Final four. Really didn't see
a whole lot. I think a little bit of this
as a byproduct of the fact that we do have
two rather lopsided lines when it comes to this game.
As typically when it comes to these games, typically you
don't find a final four where one team is an
eight and a half to a nine point favorite and
the other team is eleven and a half to a
twelve point favorite. Very out of the ordinary, to say
(01:30):
the least. But we're going to be diving in on
what we're going to be seeing this offseason and how
big of a week this is in general out there
in Arizona for these teams, trying to lay the groundwork
for next season as well. We're gonna have the Final Four,
and then we're gonna get you guys those picks for
the Final Four. In the final segment, just a little
bit of a reminder, I will be doing this podcast
every single day throughout the offseason as well, So after
(01:51):
the nets get cut down on Monday, you're gonna get
a fresh podcast on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, every single day.
As our work is never done with regards to College
Bass well, once those nets are cut down, it's all
about trying to be able to work to make you
money for the twenty twenty four to twenty five season
and with narth of fourteen hundred players currently in the
transfer portal, there is no shortage of things to take
(02:12):
a look at. And if you ever do have a
question comment take you what an idea? What I have
you for this podcast? You do have one of Tway's
bio far those in first one is my Twitter slash
X timeline at you d underscoredy one. Keep in mind
letter ZM the mean does that matters? So as per usual,
please send these into the timeline and the other ways.
Find an Apple podcast review. If you rate this podcast
fight Stars, it is very much appreciated them. From there,
you are able to fire in whatever you'd like to
(02:32):
here on this podcast. By that five STARVW, we did
not get in any Twitter slash XS questions today, so
let's welcome him in. Nick Lauren Cindy does great work
over at mid Major Madness taking a look at this
great game that we all know and love. He is
actually out there in the loveliest state of Arizona for
the Final Four. He does great work all twelve months
out of the year taking a look at this game
of college basketball. You much like myself taking a look
(02:54):
at these final four games, but also turning it forward
to the twenty and twenty four to twenty five season
with he's coaching moves with the transfer portal and so
much more. Yuarable fum on Twitter, sizecks at the letter
and his last name Laurenson spelt r E N s
e n all together and then the word sports on
the back half of that, and Nick, it is a pleasure,
my friend. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
It's always great to hop on here. Greg. It's been
a couple of weeks since the last stop on here.
It's probably before the NCAA Tournament. Been so busy. Like
you mentioned, I'm looking forward to next season big in
the transfer portal, digging into that, you have the NCAA
Tournament going on. There's just so much going on. I'm
out in Arizona. Like Greg mentioned, it's raining. I thought
it doesn't rain in thet.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Hey I'm out here in lovely Las Vegas too, And
on Friday I was getting a little bit of drizzled myself,
and it was like in the mid fifties. That was
very strange, to say the least. But fortunately with the
great game of basketball, it is played indoors and not outdoors,
so we don't have to worry about that, And when
we do have to worry about it is potentially some
games getting a little bit out of hand, because I
(03:56):
can't remember last time we had two Final four games
with a spread north of eight, with Purdue got an
eight and a half to a nine point favorite over
NC State Yukon and eleven and a half point favorite
over Alabama. Do you see it the same way that
those out here in love of Las Vegas doing that
we're probably gonna get two relatively lotsided games. Or do
you think that won these teams in Purdue and Yukon
(04:17):
gonna get a little bit of a fight.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Yeah, it would make a lot of sense. You know,
Yukon and Purdue have pretty much been running through this tournament,
dominating teams in the second half. After some fairly close
first halfs the craziest thing. You know, when the final
four was said, I looked at the future, you know, matchups,
what could happen if Yukon and NC State were to win.
The line right now is set at fifteen and a half.
(04:39):
At least it was earlier this week it was set
at fifteen and a half, which is absolutely bizarre for
a national championship game. Those are football type of numbers.
Fifteen and a half points, that's absolutely crazy. But it's
really gonna come down to. This has been the year
of the big once again. It'll be super interesting watching
DJ Burns and Zach Eede face off against each other.
(05:00):
Had an amazing year, two time AP Player of the Year.
I think it's a safe bet to think that he'll
have his way. I was at his press conference earlier
today when he was Player of the Year and NC
State's trying to do some scare tags or whatever. They
walk by the press conference room, Blair and their music
heading out to the gym, so I thought that was
pretty silly. But that will be a super fun one
(05:22):
to watch, and I think Yukon should have its way
with Alabama. Ukons had its way with most teams in
the second half of these NCAA tournament games, so I
think that'll be more lopsided maybe than this NC State
Perdue game. I think that'll be a battle. UNC State's
been giving everyone a battle no one's really expecting to,
especially after some slow starts of recent and then they're
(05:45):
able to just come back. They never give up. They
keep fighting nine straight elimination game wins. I'm a mid
major guy, but I'm gonna say safely, this is probably
the best NCAA torn and best March run I've ever
seen in my life. You're never gonna see something like
this again.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
And I just can't get behind the people trying to say, oh,
NC State is in a cinder row because they're a
power conference team. They needed a bank in three off
of a front end of a one to one miss
from Virginia just a force overtime in their conference tournament.
Forget the NCAA tournament. That's as much of a cin
row run as you get in. As they always say,
(06:20):
a cat has nine lives. They've played nine elimination games
in order to be able to get here, So I mean,
that's about as good of a run as it gets.
And now they have to go up against Purdue, and
there's been a lot of buzz about how Zach Edy
has been getting calls slash non calls with regards to fellows,
what have you. And I do think that that is
going to be a big time difficulty Frensis State truth
(06:41):
be told, not necessarily the world's greatest rebounding team. But
do you think that there's a chance at NC State.
I'm not gonna say like completely contains Zach Edy. I
think that that's certainly here impossible, but to be able
to give a little bit of speed bump in, perhaps
push him off his game just a little.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Bit, yeah, I think so. You know, the calls are
gonna be extra tight. These are the best refs in
college basketball, so they might not be as lenient as
usual as Zach Eatie. There might be fewer and fewer
calls this time around. And the interesting thing about NC
State is they have some depth down low where they
can change out. Everyone wants to talk about DJ Burns
(07:15):
becuse he's the sexy big player who makes nice shots
and has good feet, but they have a couple of
dudes down low who can come in play them hard defensively.
Maybe send him to the line and you never know.
I think NC State's actually a really tough matchup for
this Purdue team. If Purdue would have had Alabama, I
(07:36):
think they would have had their own way. But out
of the two Final four matchups, this is definitely the
one I'm more intrigued in, which I'm happy it's the
earlier game. It's going to get more eyes in my opinion,
being that earlier game.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
Yeah, it certainly is going to be in. What else
I think is going to be an interesting dynamic of
this Final four is that we've got a jump shooting
Alabama team that now is to play in a football
stadium against a Yukon team as we very dominant on defense,
and for Alabama, this is a team that they live
and die by the three. They're in the top twenty
nationally in terms of percentage of the field goal attempts
that come from three prit range. And with Yukon and
(08:11):
the way that they've been able to defend, I just
feel like this is gonna be a rough go event
for them. I feel like Alabama would have a little
bit of a better chance even if this were like
a true ro game, just because I do think that
the shooters. I playing out there in a football stadium
where the Ears at a Cardinals play, that's couldn't negatively affect
Alabama more so than any of these other teams in
the Final four.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, that's something we talk about at Queens. You know,
we're a shooting team and we played at Austin pe
with fairly new arena hockey arena and behind the basket
there's a lot of space. So it's a little bit
more difficult for these shooting teams of playing big arenas
like that. And we could see with Alabama tomorrow, Yukon's
had this big game experience and to doublea Final four
team last year won the national title, that defense could
(08:52):
just lock them down. So these big games in these
big arenas, in these big football stadiums definitely benefit the
defensive team more. It's going to be tough for a
jump shooting team like Alabama. They aren't that physical. They're
just going to put up shots, hope for long runs.
I think it might be tough for them in long stretches.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
Yep. I do think that it's going to be relatively
rough for them as well. So I'm an agreement on
that front. As Nick Lawrenson. He does tremendous workover at
mid Madejormndez he is joining me right here ONCOUPSAI. If
we do get what we're expecting, which would be the
Purdue versus Yukon national title game, how do you think
that sort of a game would play out?
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Now?
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Like you guys, and maybe we're giving a little bit
of short tript to Alabama lot NC State, But I
do think that it's pretty clear that Purdue versus Yukon,
if they aren't the best two teams in college basketball
this season, they're two of the top three teams that
we've seen in college basketball this season. I do think
that Purdue would be one of those few teams that
would actually match up quite well with Yukon.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
I think it would be an absolute battle, and it
might not be all that high scoring. I'd be super
excited to see that you got clinging against eighty down low.
It's what we've been hoping for all season in college basketball.
That's what we've been hoping for long time. You know,
it's awesome when we have these cinderella teams make a run,
But when you have two teams that are as dominant
as the two these two teams have been all year.
(10:08):
There's no better way to end a season than they
have these two matchup. You know, you have a Yukon
team all year, everyone's like, Oh, they're gonna dominate everyone.
They're gonna dominate their way back in the finals. They're
gonna win another NCAA tournament. And then you have a
Purdue team who's just dominated the regular season the last
couple of years, won the Big Ten, but their knock
has been they haven't been able to win the big games.
(10:30):
Zach Edy. People want to attack Zach Edy. Think he's
not a great big man. He's just tall. He can
do a lot, He's a super impressive player. So they
have a chip on their shoulder prove everyone wrong after
all these years saying that they're just a fraudulent Big
Ten team. Let's see if we can do it. And
then you have Yukon who's trying to do win the
back to back titles, which doesn't happen that much in
(10:52):
any sport. So I think it's gonna be an awesome
defensive game. It's gonna come down to what happens down
low between those two'll be one of the better national
title games we've seen in quite some time. Definitely different
than last.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Year, you have no question about it. And hopefully we
do get that matchup. That is something that you always
want to see as a sports fan. You always want
to see the best two teams. Sometimes you just don't
get that in college basketball. Sometimes you get like an
eight seed in the national title game, which we've seen
twice in the last ten years. Certainly we have a
chance to be able to get on eleven seed in
the national title game. But I do think that Purdue
(11:26):
is just going to be a little bit too much
for NC State and we are going to have ourselves.
Two nice games are going to be going down on Saturday.
But Nick, I know that while you're taking a look
at Saturday pretty much for the year twenty twenty three
twenty four in terms of taking a look at these games,
taking a look at these teams, hey is in the
bar and we've got three games remaining. But I know
that you're already hard at work for the twenty twenty
(11:47):
four to twenty five season as I'm starting to turn
the paid forward to that as well. And what have
you made out of some of these offseason moves that
we have seen thus far, because the transfer portal is
certainly starting to fill up, and a lot of the
coaching moves that were anticipating for the offseason i've quite frankly,
already happened.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Yeah, when you look at it, most of these coaching
changes they've already had, which I think is kind of crazy.
There's something I really like, Like, I love Pat Kelson
to Louisville. I think next year they could be a
top twenty five team. At a time of the season,
I think they could be a six to seven seed
in the NCAA Tournament. That dude's just a winner. We
saw it at Charleston for a long time. I love
(12:23):
Ben McCollum going to Drake. That's been his dream job
for as long as I've known anything about him. It's
just like Josh Shirts. Josh Shirts went there, he was
super He went to Indiana State and he was super impressive.
Now he's at SLEW. Josh shirtz is and he could
win there with a lot of resources in a winnable
league that really hasn't had a team maybe Dayton, who's
(12:46):
been completely dominant over the last couple of years. There's
other like Missouri State hiring Kwonzo Martin again, that's like
a head scratch from me. You know, I think he
can win twenty games, twenty two games, but they aren't
gonna be a dominant force year and in year out.
I feel like it's just like a hey, let's hope
we get a run in Saint Louis. Let's hope we
(13:07):
do something here. Drew Joyce going to do Kane. I
think that was the right hire for them. That's super
exciting for him. There's a chance that could get Brownie James,
who officially entered the transfer portal on Friday, put his
name in the NBA draft as well. I think that
could be super interesting over there. Austin klanch going to UTSA.
I think UTSA might not compete for an American title,
(13:28):
but I feel like they're gonna be a lot better
than they have been in the past. And then in
the transfer portal, you know, it's always turning. There's not
been too many crazy, big moves so far. A lot
of the bigger moves have been guys following their head coaches,
two new gigs such as Rayn Smith from Charleston to Louisville.
We're an interesting point right now. The dead period just started,
(13:50):
the week long dead period, so coaches technically can't talk
to kids. The transfer portal closes in two weeks. A
lot of these kids have to make decisions sometime soon,
so they're kind of said if they want to practice
over the summer. It's a really really interesting time in
college basketball right now. We say we sleep in May,
but we truly never sleep in this beautiful sport.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
No, we truly do not. And and they say that
we sleep in May as well. I'm doing baseball during
the month of Bay as well, so that certainly will
not be myself too. So it really has become an
all twelve months out of the year's sport. And I
do think that it's going to be really interesting to
see how everything plays out in terms of the transfer portal, because,
as I was alluding to, north of fourteen hundred guys
(14:32):
have already entered their name and fewer than fifteen percent
of guys have made their decisions, So a lot of
guys are holding off, and I think rightfully so you
don't want to be making any sort of like a
super rash decision or anything like that. But just how
critical is this week for these scenes that were not
in the final four because you're out there in Arizona.
I know that most coaches, most just coaching stats in general,
(14:55):
are out there. There's a lot of players that are
in the transfer portal that are out there in Arizona.
I feel like this is actually one of the biggest
weeks of the year for the teams that aren't in
the Final four because this week really does lay the
groundwork for getting things wrong with the transfer portal and
just coaches and players getting to know one another and
trying to do for lack of better term, recruiting.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
Yeah, there's lots of phone calls, people always stepping aside.
You know, they talk about that during the month of
March and April and offices, but it's even crazier here.
There's meetings everywhere. It's big for coaching staffs. You know,
you build your coaching staff, so you build those relationships
with fellow coaches around the country because everyone's here at
the same time. If you need a true story about
(15:37):
a kid that you're recruiting in the transfer portal, you're
gonna get it more likely in person the true facts
about the kid then over the phone call, because a
lot of the time you know these coaches could be fabricating. Hey,
let's just set them there for whatever. So if you're
there in person, it's just psychology. You're not gonna get
many lies when you're talking to someone man a man,
face to face, especially after some long nights out, which
(16:00):
some of these coaches do. Over this week, it's a
really really important week. It's an awesome week. There's no
week like Final four week when everyone's together and everyone's
enjoying themselves and rallying around our sports. So it's probably
my favorite week of the year. I love the first
two days of March madness, but nothing beats just being
(16:20):
in the same spot with about fifteen hundred other people
who really love the same thing that you do.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
Yeah, Ben, it's a much more relaxed atmosphere as well.
You don't have to worry about keeping your head onto
swivel for so many different games going down, and you
have like the NITSBI games that are going down as well.
Now this time of year, we could just start taking
forward to the twenty twenty four to twenty five campaign
and just be able to get a little bit of
a lay of the land there. Nick Lauren said, it
(16:47):
does great work overight, Big Major Mannis is joining to
be right here on CASCAZUPSI. I know you were mentioning
in passing Pat Kelsey him going over to Louisville, that
was one of your favorite hires that you saw. But
are there a few other ones that really catch your eye?
Because I know that you were alluding to this, It
felt like with college basketball right now, we're seeing fewer
and fewer retreads, and we're seeing more guys that were
(17:08):
at like the D two level, These guys that were
at the low D one level being able to rise
up very quickly, and honestly, I think that that's very
good for the sport, and I think that that could
be why I personally have just taken a look at
the coaching Carosel this offseason and there just haven't been
a lot of moves where I said, yeah, this is
a bad move or anything like that, because I feel
like the guys that are getting promoted are guys that
(17:30):
are proven winners. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
I agree. You have a guy like Chris Mack at Charleston.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
That was a good hire.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
I love it. It could be an awesome hire. He
was amazing at Xavier, so we know that he's gonna
go there, he's gonna win, he's gonna get legit players.
But also if they change leagues, if they stay in
the CIA, I think they could be super dominant with him.
I think that it could become the Gonzaga of the East.
But if they move the A ten, I kind of
think there's a chance he could become like another Archie Miller,
(17:56):
and I wouldn't want that to happen. That's an awesome
school that has lots of resources and could make them
a legitimate program. The best thing you can do. I
know everyone's gonna say, let's go to the day A ten.
It's sexy, but to be successful, you got to stay
in the CAA. Let him get his footing again. I
love that you have Chris Holtman, who's another reachre at Higher.
Kind of interesting at the Paul. That's a tough gig,
(18:18):
but he could be a lot more successful than a
lot of people have been there. I mentioned Ben McCollum
earlier at Drake. I think that's a home run Higher.
I think it's just gonna be like Josh Schurtz at
Indiana State. The only difference is Ben McCollum already had
a preconceived love for that Drake program, so he's gonna
drive and drive and drive to make it the best
thing possible. That's a home run higher for that Drake program,
(18:41):
who's already had an amazing last couple of seasons with
Daron Defrees who went to West Virginia. That could be
a good get that Kwanzo Martin hire earlier. Like I mentioned,
I think that's a little head scratching. I think that
he can win twenty games every year, but it's not
gonna get you in a spot to compete for an
at large bid. I think it's hey, hope we win
a couple of games in Saint Louis type of gig.
(19:03):
I like Mike Jones at ODU. He's gonna get them
a lot of really good DMV players. He has those
DMV connections being at Damatha for a couple of years.
Really love that hire. Dave Smart's out of the box
higher at Pacific, who's at Carlton in Canada, which was
one of the powerhouses up there in Canadian college basketball,
and then he went down to Texas Tech and was
(19:24):
an assistant this season, did a really good job. They
need to be out of the box at a place
like Pacific, and I think that's a home run for
a program like that. Rob Lanier is going to get
Rice a lot more wins than they've had in recent history.
Jerry McNamara has all the support up there at the end,
just like karm kind of did, so hopefully he's able
(19:45):
to have that success that Karen had before this season.
So that really intrigues me. Andy Enfield's in the ACC
at SMU. Just wild to say ACC SMU, but I
think that could be good. There must is a guy
that doesn't like to be in a place for too long.
Now he's at USC at a beautiful city. You have
beautiful weather, and it's an awesome place to recruit, and
(20:07):
it's just a big time city for a big time personality.
I think that could be awesome. I love Scott Nagy
going to Southern Illinois. He developed big men like crazy.
I think they could have a proer two in his
time over there. Mentioned Josh Schertz earlier. He has so
much support now being at Saint Louis one of the
better well funded mid major programs in the country. That
(20:31):
could be awesome for them. UIC that's a tough one.
I don't know about Robison coming over from UAB. That'll
be an interesting one because that's just a tough place
to begin with because they want Chicago kids and not
many kids really want to go to UIC. Jeric Calhoun
at Utah State, well, he'd be the next one to
take the stepping stone there, have a good few years
and get a high major job. He was able to
(20:53):
be really successful at Young Sound State, had awesome and
iol initiative there. That'll be a lot of fun. I
mentioned Austin Claunch a little bit earlier. Mark Byrington goes
to Vandy. That'll be a fun style of basketball at
Vanderbilt what he's done the last couple of years at GMU.
I think Danny Sprinkle can win at Washington. David Riley
could win at Washington State in the WCC. He's a
great young coach with a lot of years ahead of him.
(21:15):
Hank Plana at Western Kentucky. He was super successful at
Indian or at Indian Hills at the JUCO level. Let's
see if that can translate to the D one level
at a really strong year in his only year as
an assistant there. Brian or Earl could take William and
Mary to its first NCAA tournament and program mistery one
of the four original schools that never make the NCAA tournament.
(21:36):
That'll be a lot of fun with his vast style
and the CAA. I think they can compete really quick
in his tenure, which is something that just a lot
of min major fans have really been feasting for a
good William and Mary program one to finally make the
NCAA tournament. There's so many awesome hires. There's a couple
of retreads that kind of have my head scratching, but
(21:57):
it's awesome. I love the coaching carosel. I love college,
but I love these couple of weeks where we hear
who's going where. I also love you trgvs hire the
BYU assistant, great defensive coach. When you go to a
place like that, real rugged, you need to play rugged
style of basketball, and I feel like that's what they're
going to do down there in Edinsburg. So I love
(22:18):
the coaching carousel. It's one of my favorite things about
this beautiful sport.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
Yeap, it is a tremendous thing. And I want to
get your thought on one other thing as well. How
much in recent years. Do you think that programs coaches
just a little bit of everyone. I've realized, Hey, these players,
these guys are at the Division two Division III level,
you know what they can be able to cut at
the Division one ranks because we saw a lot of
success stories. Jack Goldkie certainly was one of the biggest
(22:42):
one of them. But you even take a look at
see some what they were able to do with Mark
Newman in your number one, I thought that that was
relatively impressive. We've seen more of these C two guys
get hired on this coaching cycle, and I do think
that's a little bit of a wave in the future,
and I think that is very smart for all these
programs that are taking advantage.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Yeah, I think eighties have seen that there's much smaller
of a gap between D two and D one Nowadays,
the top tier D one teams, the ones that make
the lead eight or D two teams that make the
lead eight, the SAX schools, the ODAC schools, I think
that they could win the NEC a lot of Any
of the Lead eight teams could have won the NEC
this year. Any of the D two LEADIA teams could
(23:21):
have won the NEC this year. And they're seeing that, like,
I'm big in the transfer portal right now. I'm digging
every day for Queens. You know, we have guys that
look at JUCO, but I only look at D two
and D one. If you're putting up numbers at D
two and you're an efficient three point shooter, that translates,
that stuff translates. Maybe you won't score the exact same
amount of points, but if you're putting up in a
(23:43):
lower volume, if you're putting up good percentages, there's a
chance you'll be really good. Like Jack Goldkie, that's just
an amazing fine. For years, wherever he was at I
don't remember where was at, he was not putting up
any points. And then he comes into Oakland and it
just shows great camp. He's able to do more with less,
and he's been able to do it for years with
just these random kids. Tray Townsend was a walk on.
(24:07):
Trade Townsend was a walk on for him, and he
just kept bolding up. He had a great freshman year.
He was Player of the Year this year, and now
he's testing draft waters and is in the transfer portal.
I believe there's smaller gap. You could get mediocre D
two players and an amazing coach and who knows what happens,
Who knows what happens. That was pretty much Jack Olkie.
Jack Olkie wasn't lighting the world on fire at the
(24:29):
D two level, but he went to a program that
fit him with a coach that will let him shoot
the three ball. And look, he's a national name now
and everybody loves him.
Speaker 1 (24:38):
Yeah. Ben, By the way, he went to Hillsdale College
out there in the great Midwest, So gotta give Hillzale
a little bit of love there. And we always have
to give you a lot of love, Nick, because you
do an amazing job taking a look at this great
game that we all know in love of college basketball.
You're out there in Arizona this week, so love to
get people at home know it's all on that for you,
and now people can fall on on social media other platforms.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Yeah, I'll be at the final four games on Saturday,
the national championship game on Monday, and then time to
just chill out and look at the transfer portal for
the last few weeks before we head into practice. But
I'll be posting over a mid major mannis all the
big transfer stuff that's going on. But it's kind of
at that period, we're heading towards baseball here. You know,
(25:22):
my buckos are playing every day, the Orils are on.
I love baseball, I love basketball. When those two can
mix together and happen at the same time, there's not
much better than that. But you can follow me over
on Twitter at midunder Dash Madness and at end Lawns
and Sports.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Absolutely Nick does such a great job taking a look
at this tremendous game of college basketball that we all
know in love, and it's always great to get them aboard.
A big thanks to Nick for joining me on because
because heems now part of the Vson Family podcasts and
coming in next it is a final four. I get
you guys in my picks at analysis for both of
these big games. Next us we hit some Bankshins and
(26:01):
we're rgo love me Las Vegas. We're gon scussy with myself.
Greg Egs Peterson, now part of the Visa Family podcast.
Was great to be able to get Nick Laurence in
a board. He does an amazing job taking a look
at this great game that we all know and love
of college basketball. He follows it all twelve months out
of the year. Every single time he joins his show.
He lends such good insights and did so once again today,
(26:23):
So big thanks Tonick for joining me in the last segment.
Now it is that time of the podcast. I give
you picks and analysis for both games on this final
four as we hit some bank shots. Most financial establishments
close at a certain time, but not here. It is
time for a sign in total on every game on
today's betting board bank shots. Do you know if that,
(26:43):
as per usual, any changes are made to these plays
will be listened up on my Twitter feed at Gina
arenscore at eighty one and well, we've got two games
on the board. It goes Alabama versus Yukon and NCC
versus Purdue. I did a right up for both of
these just because well we've got three games left in
the seas in these two and then the national title
game for Monday, so might as well write them all up.
(27:04):
But let's start out with six seventy one, six seventy
two on the card. It is Alabama versus Yukon, with
Yukon being a favorite venue. Between eleven and a half to
twelve points tools between one sixty and a half and
one sixty one, and I'm gonna be willing to roll
with Yukon, and the right up pick for this game
is going to be the spread on Yukon. I did
set them as a twelve and a half point favorite.
(27:26):
The reason why I made this right up pick is
because Yukon has played ten NCUBA Tournament games over the
last two NCUBA tournaments. They have won every single one
of these games by at least thirteen points. They have
been an absolute bulldozer. This team is checking all the boxes.
They are a top team in the country in terms
of both points scored and points allowed on a purposession basis.
(27:48):
For Yukon, eleventh in the country terms of points allowed
on a per possession basis, number one in all of
college basketball terms of points scored on a per posession basis,
It's just so hard to slow the team down. As
a matter of fact, Yukon is scoring one point six
points more per one armed possessions away from home than
any other team in all of college basketball, and three
point one points more per one armed possessions went away
(28:08):
from home than Alabama. And I do believe that the
shooters eye of Alabama is going to be thrown off
quite a bit in this game with it being played
out there in the home of the Arizona Cardinals in
a football stadium, because Alabama is a top twenty team
in all of college basketball in terms of percent of
their shots that they take from three point range. Meanwhile,
you've got a Yukon team that, sure they're able to
(28:29):
take some threes. You've got to come someone like a
Cam Spencer that shoots well north of forty four percent
from distance, but at the same time you're able to
pound it down though with Dodovin Klingen, I have no
idea how Grant Nelson is going to try to match
up there, as this Yukon team one of the best
teams in all of college basketball in terms of rebound rate,
and I will say, to the credit of Alabama, they're
actually a top fifty team in the country in terms
(28:49):
of their rebound rate. Got someone like Aaron action Estrado
is able to give you about five boards, four assists
he throws in their double figure amount of points, says
Mark Seriars is really your main man. But I just
don't think that they're gonna be able to hold up there.
And Alex Caravan gets shut such short shrift because we
all talk about don mc kligan the way that he
affects shots. But Caravan is someone that stands north of
six foot seven. He's able to shoot about thirty eight
(29:12):
a half percent from three throwing in their thirteen points
per contest and then triple double machine Tristan Newton gives
you a fifteen points, six assists, nearly seven boards a
steal per contest. It's just so hard to match up
with for an Alabama team that is in the bottom
twenty nationally, turns and points a lot on a per
possession basis in games played away from them. Again, I
do think that playing in the SEC is a little
(29:32):
bit of a byproduct of that, and it's not like
they face off against easy competition. But this is a
unit that they just don't play very good defense at all,
and when Alabama gets down quite big in games. This
is the big reason why I do like the over.
You do notice that they fell a lot. They do
everything he really possible. They do not mind if they
get just blown out by twenty five thirty points. So
(29:53):
I do think that the blow up potential is very big.
They are either gonna win the game outright or they're
just gonna fall on their they are very much an
all or nothing team. With that respect, I do think
that for Alabama they could be able to get a
little bit warm and be able to pop a few
threes in this one. But again, I do think that
early on the Siteline's really going to be throwing them
off Donovan cling in with what he's able to do
(30:15):
down load. Fully recognize that this is a Yukon team
that has been really good on defense. You take a
look at what they've been able to do since the
beginning of the month of March. You've only had one
team really be able to exceed the sixty seven point
plateau on them. That was Saint John's and that just
hair brain crazy game that we saw out there in
Madison Square Garden. But this is a Yukon team that
they're able to get eighty five plus on the regular end.
(30:36):
For this Alabama unit, they have given up north of
eighty five points before their last five games as well.
So it is a situation if something's got to give.
I think that Alabama is going to be looking to
run it, They're going to be looking to gun it,
and they're going to give Yukon so many easy opportunities
to be able to get points, and I think that
that's going to lead to a high scoring game and
another blowout win for Yukon. So my right to pick
that is going to be on Yukon laying the number.
(30:58):
And I did set my total one to sixty five
four and a half, so we're gonna have the over,
and then we are going to go to NC State
versus Purdue. This is six seventy three, six seventy four
with Perdue. In most places a nine point favor you're
seeing one or two straight eight and a halfs out
there as well. Total is mostly one forty six a
half seeing one straight one forty six out there, and
my right up heer is going to be on the under.
(31:18):
I saw by total more around of one forty three
and a half because with Perdue, if you've noticed their
game since the beginning of the month of February, their
last thirteen games, they've been playing at a rate of
about four point two possessions per game, fewer than they
did in their first twenty two to twenty three games
of the season. So they've been looking to wind it
down there. And I was alluding to Alabama in the
(31:38):
previous game and how the shooters eye, how just this
game being played at a football stadium affects them. Produce
the number two team in all of college basketball in
terms of three point twenty percent gin, you have to
have a feeling that that's going to take a little
bit of a drop off they go up against an
NCC team that they're not a dominant team in terms
of being able to guard in the York. They've gotten
much better recently, and I will say a little bit
(31:59):
of that has been some positive variants as well, Like
for anyone that was watching that Marquette game, Marquette was
just breaking open three after open three. But both of
these teams they do a nice job. I'll be able
to guard the perimeter. For Purdue, they're lying upon it's
only shoot right around about thirty one point five thirty
one point six percent from three point inching games played
away from home, so they've been able to do a
(32:20):
rock solid job with that regard. And for nc State,
they are still well outside the top winner in terms
of overall upon its three point shooting percent, but it's
been getting better as the tournament has gone along. I
just fear that they are going to get completely land
based on the glass. You have to go up against
Gian of the Yerzaki. He has given you twelve plus boards,
he's given you multiple blocks, he's given you twenty one
plus points per game. And as much as we love
(32:41):
DJ Burns, he's only hauling in there about four rebounds
per contests. And it's been Mohammed Diara who's been your
main rebound for the seam. Mohammed Diara has done a
solid job. He's been able to log for the team
about seven a half or ce rebounds per game. And
DJ Horn that is our DJ. He's been able to
give you sixteen plus points, shoots it well from three
point range. But friends, I just don't know if they
(33:01):
have the firepower to match up with someone like a
Bradon Smith, who's really been able to step up this
year shooting well north of forty percent three and for Purdue,
all but one of their top eight scorers are shooting
at least thirty five percent from three part inch, so
they really do get it from every one. Smith has
been able to give out some plus six plus rebounds
per game, so he's been rock solid there. Guys like
Trey Coffin Wren have been able to do a solid
(33:21):
job be able to step up in Francis State. Is
someone like a Ben Milverbrooks, who gives you about like
four rebounds per game as relatively solid down low, is
he really going to be able to match up with
some of the depth of Purdue. I do think that
the answer is no. But I've noticed with NC State
they've been looking to slow down their temple a little
bit as well, So I do think that this is
going to be a little bit of a slow slog.
I think that both of these teams once again get
(33:42):
negatively affected by this game being played at a football stadium.
Matters that are shooting as well, which is big reason
why I did write up the under in this spot.
And for Purdue, I do think that they find a
way to be able to get it done. The Sencctate
team has looked completely transformed if you look at the
recent form of the NCC team, much better than well
you saw for the entirety of the season. Like if
we were going off of entire season numbers, ncch should
(34:05):
be north of a twelve point underdog. I set my
number more around a nine and a half. I do
have to respect the run that NC State has been
able to put together. But I do think that it
ends here. I'm gonna be willing to lay it with
Purdue and with my write up, I'm gonna be looking
at the under end. That wraps things up for the
Saturday edition of Because Good Seeps Out part of the
VS and Family and Podcasts. A big thanks to Nick
Lawns and who does great workover at mid Major mannas
(34:25):
he joined me in the last segment. If you do
like fearing from this time podcast Because Good Seeps, you're
able to subscribe wherever your podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify,
sit Try in tune and if you have a question
comment segment idea what I'd be for this podcast? You
do have one of two ways. We have far those
in first one is my Twitter slash check simeline at
you to a under forty one. Keep in mind largym
they mean does that matter? So as prett usual, please
just send these into the timeline. By the way, is
(34:46):
finding an Apple podcast review. If you rate this podcast
five stars, it is very much appreciated them. From there,
you're able to fire in whatever you'd like. You're on
this podcast, vide that five star VP coming at you. Guys,
every single day throughout the year, regular season and off
season with this podcast, so I'll be back with you
want to get them out. Thank you H
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