March 7, 2021 • 44 mins
Bernie Fratto gets you ready for March Madness as Selection Sunday is only a week away! Bernie dives into the significance of The Big Dance for sports and American culture. FSR's Aaron Torres joins Bernie to highlight some of the favorites and preview how the bracket may look. Bernie tells you what dark horse picks professional bettors are looking at for the NCAA tournament. Plus, Mackenzie Rivers joins Bernie to break down how to bet the NBA All-Star Game!
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(01:48):
Good evening, greetings and salutations and thanks for joining us tonight.
It's that time a week again and you've got a
shown a fun chow for you. Tonight, The Beauty of
Sports will come on. It's the greatest reality show and
you can script everything but the ending. And on that note,
welcome back to another award winning edition of straight out
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(02:10):
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We are we are one week away from Selection Sunday,
(02:35):
and so tonight we take a deep dive into this
significance of Selection Sunday and why it means so much
to Americans. And in about fifteen minutes we'll be joined
by Aeron Torris and he'll take us behind the curtain
as to what we can expect as this year's March
Banness will be much different than anyone we've ever had
a chance to watch in terms of protocol scheduling formats.
(02:57):
And we're gonna ponder the unique nature of regular season
schedules this year and how that might affect your bracket.
Later on, after Burning Finley's update will speculate on which
schools might cut down the nets, the long shots, who
the pros have fired on and well that is which
school not named Gonzager or Baylor, which seemed to be
everybody's darling at this time. And of course, as we
(03:21):
close down the show with macin on sports and plenty
of data to twist your Brandon knots. We've got the
NBA All Star Game tomorrow and we'll take a close
look at that. Sports your entertainment. But they're more than that.
They are shared experience. As such, people want to talk
about them. You've come to the right place. We've got
a lot to talk about tonight. This is straight out
of Vegas, the pregame show you always wanted. And as
(03:42):
they say in Dave Winfield, Minnesota, it's gonna be lit. Well,
we are one week into the month of March, and
what does that come? What does that bring to mind?
Will march madness? That's the first thing that comes to
my mind. And we were robbed last year. We were
robbed of all the pomp and circumstance. We were robbed
(04:03):
of an annual American tradition. We were all fired up,
ready to go. But guess what, we'll never know. What
would have happened to San Diego State last year had
their best team maybe ever will never know it would
have happened to Dayton. We'll never know which team of
destiny might have been the team of destiny or the
team of destiny that was supposed to be the team
(04:24):
of destiny, but they weren't if you followed all that.
Sometimes you know what, Sometimes it comes down to that,
sometimes you throw out the numbers and the records. This
last week, there was a lot of chatter about the
miracle and ice team February, but everybody forgets that and
that game against the Russians that was actually before the
(04:45):
gold medal game. Well, the US trailed one to nothing,
two to one, and three to two, and they were
outshot sixteen. They were a team of of destiny. Recently,
this past week, I've heard a lot of radio shows
talking about the eightist college basketball teams of all time,
but no one mentioned Georgetown. There was a period in
(05:08):
Georgetown between two and Night five, three or four years.
They came a whisker of winning three championships in four
years by a total of three points. Now they wanted all.
In eighty four they beat a good Houston team five
Slam of Jamma, and in Night two they took Michael
Jordan's North Carolina team all the way to the final
(05:28):
Buzzer lost sixty three sixty two. And then in eighty
five they were a prohibitive favorite against the seventh seed
Raley mass Amino's Villanova Wildcats lost by two. They were
a team of destiny, but they didn't win, so they
were not a team of destiny to win. We were
robbed of that last year. How about the game in
(05:49):
two thousand and sixteen though, where Chris Jenkins hits the
last minute shot. It's one of those one shining moment highlights.
I'll tell you what you picture that, you Villanova fans,
that needs to be framed and hung on the wall
to love next to the Mona Lisa. Well, we were
robbed of all that last year, and it's more than that, okay,
but not now. It's that time of year March madness,
(06:12):
and for my money, madness seems to be an app
name for the multitudes of of ecstatic fans who will
ripple across America to watch this tournament. In fact, that
goes well beyond the United States. I'm told Italian folks
in Italy spend their nights glue to the TV screen
to watch the American college team's battle. Despite the nine
(06:33):
hour time difference between the United States and Italy. Now,
I think that's cool because I'm Italian. Now you ever
wonder why we're so passionate about sports where we're so
glad they're coming back, especially Mark's badness. Why does someone else,
watching someone else compete at the high level give us
such strong feelings Even when our our team or our
(06:54):
favorite athlete, well, they're on the losing side, we crave
more and despite all the negative emotions, we can't wait
for the next game, the next match, the next n
c A tournament, especially especially if we've taken the time
to wager a shekel or two on the whole affair. See,
we live and die on the ups and downs. It
creates the nervous tension we're addicted to. I've talked about
(07:16):
this before, using baseball as an example. Every fifteen seconds
there is a failure in baseball. The picture fails to
throw a strike, the hitter fails to make contact, the
fielder fails to make a play, the hitter fails to
reach base. The vicious cycle repeats itself for three hours
until someone wins the game. So it teaches us failure
is never final, and you can't reach the promised land
(07:38):
without setback. Nothing exemplifies that more than March Madness. Sixty
eight teams enter, one remains twenty gut wrenching days later.
This whole thing starts in our brain. Our brains contain
mirror neurons, and these brain cells fire when we watch
players that battle on the court, cutting across the defense
(08:01):
with an O look pass, shooting from the three point line,
blocking the shot of another player a big slam duck.
These mirror neurons make us literally feel that we're We
feel what the player is feeling to a milder degree,
of course, but see in fact, our brains are re
enacting internally what we watch. It's as if we are
almost playing the game ourselves. In other words, many fans
(08:25):
are living through the players and teams vicariously, but that's
not enough. We want more. For a lot of us,
athletics have been an integral part of our lives since
elementary school. No matter how far you advanced in your
athletic career, it's usually never enough. So we examine how
our treatment of athletes borders on hero worship, and how
(08:46):
people go from being competitors themselves to become expectators who
project their hopes, their fears, their passions onto those players
that they watch, even feel a kinship and unspoken fellowship
with competitors on stage, people they've never even met. Now,
having a bet on the game heightens the experience, so
(09:06):
it was filling out a bracket, and it enhances the
viewing participation of the event. It feeds our competitive spirit
with all the buzzer beating one and done format that
can turn unknown college kids into larger than life heroes
and celebrated programs into jealous bridesmaids. March madness is abroad
(09:27):
something for everybody. Appeal is anybody who's ever filled out
a bracket for the office pool can attest. Fans feel
as though they're sharing in something bigger than the games,
the infectionousness of the underdog, the agony of defeat, the
soul searching and the one shining moment. And yet, no
matter how faithful their loyalty to their alma maters or
(09:48):
how close they sent to the court, the fanatics always
want to be one step remove, even closer from those
who are actually competing, and this will always be the
primary foil of the average fan. So because only the
athletes in the arena. They're really the only ones that
can truly experience the magic, but balancing the two can
(10:10):
be difficult for you with the most well adjusted spectators.
For some, the thrill is grounded and seeing human outliers
perform athletic feats that few can replicate. For others, nothing
can top the collective high of getting together with your
buddies and rejoining and gathering with one's like minded kinful
and let's not poo poo the David and Goliath aspect
(10:32):
of these games. Everybody roots for an underdog, and with
every underdog victory, you can bet people use it as
fuel for their own lives, their own personal endeavors, athletically
speaking or otherwise. With every buzzer beater, we are reminded
anything is possible with everything. Yet about the hardship of
a player who never gave up in spite of his
(10:54):
long shot outs to just get on the floor, we
are retold that we still are the authors of our
own legacy. Now, in the end, a few things in
life can match the uniqueness of the month long phenomenon
known as March Madness, the lore of the unscripted outcome,
the bragging rights of the winners, the constant reminders to
(11:15):
onlookers that they are witnessing something that is far from ordinary.
It's why we watch, It's why we've always cared, and
that's why we always will. That's why, year in and
year out, except for last year, March madness continues to
justify and elevate its own frenzy. And now given the
(11:36):
advent of legalized betting, that's going to amplify things even further.
It's the essence of the rampant fanaticism, the big dance.
Now we've course have known that here in Las Vegas
for years. In the end, we expect this year there
will be a hundred and forty nine million brackets from
coast to coast, filled out, perhaps as many is four
(12:01):
thousand people descending upon Las Vegas. Maybe not this year
with COVID, but that's a typical year, and a betting
handle that actually now supersedes the Super Bowl. Of course
that it's because it's a three week long tournament. Regardless,
you'll do a bigger handle than you will on the
Super Bowl. So in the end, it's the nationwide appeal,
(12:21):
the fierce ravelries, the bitter defeats, the sensational victories when
it looked like all was lost, the hope for a
better day In the end, March Madness is life. We
were robbed last year, but it's back. By the way,
we still got conference tournaments to look forward to. This week,
(12:42):
some playing games selection Sunday and next Saturday night. I
want to preview it now. Steve Fazik will be in
studio for the entire show, and we will we will
have what we call a March Madness extravagance, and much
like our Super Bowl Eve extravaganzas, we'll talk about prop bets, theories,
how to typically try to find a fade teams that
(13:03):
are not fully motivated like Florida State wasn't today apparently,
and who might have a historic year, And we'll take
a look at overs and unders in the first half
and themes and transitive played out over the years. See
if we can't in one hour next week break down
what will happen when the sixty eight teams are selected
(13:25):
a week from tomorrow. Up next, Aaron Torres is gonna
join us to break down the version COVID version of
the Big Dance. There's a lot of logistical weirdness and
a lot of other things you might not have known
that we're going to talk about that could affect who
you think could win this thing and who might disappoint you.
(13:50):
I'm Bernie Fratto. We're Comedy Alive from the Farmers Insurance
Fox Sports Radio Studios. This is the pregame show you
always wanted, So don't go away. You're listening to straight
up as the Great Birdie Frado. Folks this Valentine's Day,
you know just what to get that special someone because
you know what makes them tick, their favorite bouquet of
(14:10):
roses and a box of chopp roses in ascented, a
teddy Bear roses and a teddy Bear. Yeah, a teddy Bear.
So head on over to pro flowers dot com to
get fresh this Valentine's Day and get fifteen percent off
gifts for your special someone with promo code Crush fifteen.
That's Crush fifteen and pro flowers dot com for off
through February fourteenth. On flowers gifts and more for Valentine's Day,
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see website for details. Adoption of teens from foster care
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Navigating Adoption presented by adopt Us Kids, brought to you
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your children's eyes to see the true magic of a forest.
It's a storybook world for them. You look and see
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We are back on Straight out of Vegas, the pregame
show you Always wanted to Come to You Alive from
(15:41):
the Farmers Insurance Fox Sports Radio Studios called one edit
eight farmers to switch and you could see a bundle
on your auto insurance. All right, it's time. That's welcome.
And a gentleman here him every Saturday night from me
to eleven Pacific year with Arnie Spanier, and he's our
college basketball guru here on the Fox Sports Radio network.
(16:03):
Say hello to Aaron Torus. Aaron, how are you, man? Bernie?
I feel like I feel like I just spoke to you, man.
How you doing well? You're burning the candle at both ends,
so you're bicoastal. So let's dive into this because this
is going to be different than any other March Madness
Big Dance tournament in history. For obvious reasons. They'll select
(16:24):
the field, but then there's a whole lot of hoops
people have to jump through, and for starters share with
folks the COVID protocols and how fragile this thing is
and what happens if somebody tests positive. Well, here there's
good news and bad news. The bad news is is, yes,
we are still in this post COVID world and there
are some weird protocols. Okay, So what everyone needs to
(16:46):
know is that next Sunday, when the selection show comes out,
they will give us our bracket of sixty eight teams,
but then there's also going to be four alternate teams.
So essentially it's a field of sixty eight plus four
were this year, and what's gonna happen is those four
teams will go back to campus and basically beyond stand
by if in the first forty eight hours after selection Sunday,
(17:10):
a team comes down with a bunch of COVID positives,
and so we can get into the dynamics of the bracket.
But the one good thing I would say, well, I'll
do the dynamics of the bracket because I know they're interesting, Bernie,
But if we get past that twenty that forty eight
hour threshold, or excuse me, within that forty eight hour threshold,
and we have to replace the team, they will not
(17:31):
redo the bracket. So if in a worst case scenario,
Michigan as a number one seed UM was not to
be able to participate in the n c A tournament,
whoever was to replace them as the quote unquote number
sixty nine or seventy or seventy one team in the
tournament would slide into their bracket, and for Frank, for frankly,
(17:53):
it's for people like the people who consume this show.
It is so you know the South Point and you
know Westgate and everybody doesn't have to refund bets, uh
and and redo brackets and everything as far as why
they will not redo the brackets. So, yes, you could
see a scenario where Duke is the first team left
out of the tournament and ends up as a number
(18:15):
one seed. Now what I would also say, and I
hope that wasn't too confusing, but I would also say,
let let me jump in real quick, because here's what's
whacky about that. To me, They're they're they're going to assemble,
for lack of a better term, sort of this standby
waitlist and whoever is next up. So, for just for
purposes of this conversation, if McNee State is next up
(18:36):
and the number one seed goes down, I'm not gonna
name a school. I'm not gonna do that. Then you've
got McNee States the number one seed. That is just
complete whackness to me. It is, But it's for the
reason that I just said. It's because in theory, you're
gonna start pulling out that office pool on on Monday.
You're gonna start making your bets Sunday night into Monday,
(18:56):
and if a number one seed goes down, I mean
you would have to redo the entire bracket um to
to to to change things. So it is wacky, it
is bizarre, It is weird. What I would also say
is I actually don't expect any teams to be eliminated
because of COVID. And here's why. The way the n
(19:17):
c A has set it up travel is in such
a way where there will essentially be no uh, there
will be no contact tracing. Players are all have their
own hotel rooms, they're all traveling six ft apart. Uh,
So that is one thing. The other thing and this
is a trip Bernie. The n c A has said
you only need five players to play an n c
(19:38):
A tournament game. So if somebody comes down with COVID
and they're down to five players, the n c A
is still trying them out there, and you better hope
you don't get anybody in follow trouble. So because of that,
I don't think we're going to see too many teams
if any pulled out of this tournament. But if it happens,
it's gonna be wacky. Man. It really is. It is
all right, And before we get into some specific teams,
(19:59):
I'm gonn give you sort of a rapid fire lightning
round of choices as to who might upset Gonzaga or Baylor.
Tell the folks that the entire tournament is going to
be played in Indiana, but various venues, and give us
your quick thoughts on that. Um yeah, No, I'll be
very brief because I know you want to get into
two certain teams. Um. Yeah, the entire tournaments in Indiana.
(20:23):
Everybody flies in either Saturday if they've already been eliminated
from their conference tournament, or if excuse me, if they've
already won their conference tournament. And then everybody also flying
Sunday in the Monday. Um, everybody plays in Indiana in
the greater Indianapolis area. There's gonna be some quirks, like,
for example, Indiana has fallen apart. The University of Indiana,
(20:43):
I you, has fallen apart down the stretch here. They're
gonna be outside looking in on the n c A
tournament unless they make a deep run at the Big
Ten tournament. All while n c A tournament games are
being played on their home floor. So the entire tournament
is in Indianapolis. The schedule is different this year two
to make sure that teams have enough negative tests before
(21:03):
the actual event starts. But yeah, once we get going,
I think it's gonna be high quality basketball, but it's
definitely gonna be totally different than it's ever been. Now
we're talking with Aaron tourists, Fox Sports Radio here and
every Saturday night with Ernie Spaniard. By the way, for
Duke to get in, they're gonna have to replicate what
your two thousand and eleven Yukon Huskies did with Kemba
Walker and win every game for like for for a
(21:27):
different day. All right, let's just set aside Gonzaga and
Baylor there. Everybody's darling for various reasons. Let's do a
little lightning round here. I want to start with Alabama.
I love Nadoates. They can score like two points every game. Uh,
they play a pace that is incredibly difficult to play against.
They've got their number one adjusted defensive efficiency. They launched
(21:49):
threes like thirty a game. Can Alabama come out of
nowhere and win this? I don't believe they can win
the national championship. No, I think they're a really good team.
I think they're playing at a real They played at
an elite level early, they haven't quite been the same.
They haven't been shooting the ball as well. For their credit,
they actually have played pretty good defense. The box scores
might not indicate it because they play it's such a
(22:11):
fast tempo, but they just haven't been the same. And
part of it is they've had injuries. Uh, they're finally
getting healthy now. Maybe I changed my opinion. If they
have a strong run next week in Nashville at the
SEC Tournament, I think they're good. I don't think their
national championship good. All right, how about the defending chance.
Everybody's forgotten that Virginia is actually the defending champ. I mean,
they started really slow, they lost to USF, they got
(22:32):
crushed big in Zaga, but they've been pretty strong in
Quad one, quad two games. Virginia under Tony benn And
have a shot. I don't believe so, And ironically it's
because of the defense. The offense is better this year.
Sam Howser, a transfer from Marquette, has been really good.
Trey Murphy, a transfer from Rice, has been really good.
They got the big guy, Jack Salt, but they don't
(22:53):
get a lot of stops on defense, believe it or not.
So to me, I think there are a solid team.
How to give you win the you can see regular
season title leaving a down year, you're a good team.
I don't believe they can win the national championship though. Alright,
Illinois looks fabulous NBA talent all over the place. Got
it done again today, great inset outside duo, your thoughts,
thousand percent chance they can absolutely win the National Championship,
(23:16):
and they probably right now in Vegas. I believe are
the best value because some of those long shots. I
don't believe they're gonna need. I believe they'll need a
lot of luck for it to happen. I think if
Illinois just goes out and plays their game, they can
play with and beat anybody. Doesn't mean they will, but
I absolutely think they can. I think they all but
clinched the number one seed today. I truly believe those
(23:36):
top four teams Baylor, Gonzaga, Michigan, and Illinois are a
cut above everybody else. Uh and I would not be
surprised at all Illinois wins at all. Let's talk about
Michigan because they were a darling also until they got
smoked by Illinois the other day. But I think that
all goes away when the tournament starts. Can Michigan and
Juana Howard do it? It all went away the other
night when they beat little brother Sparta over there. You know, yeah, yeah, yeah,
(24:00):
they might get in. I think I think so too.
And and you know, listen, you know you obviously know
the markets, know the trends. I mean, I think there's
a potential let down from Michigan tomorrow against Michigan State
in a rematch. I don't know that I would pick
Michigan State, but we saw how emotional Juan Howard and
his team were after winning the conference tournament. It was
(24:21):
an incredible site. But yes, Michigan is a darling. I
think Juwan Howard is a darling. I always say he's
the He's everything. Michigan fans thought they were getting him
Jim Harbaugh when he was hired. Um, I love this team.
You and I have talked about him on the air
off the air. But the thing that I like about
them really quick is they do the things that translate
(24:42):
into the tournament. They rebound the ball really well, they
defend really well, they're not reliant on one guy to
go get him a game. I love this Michigan team. Alright,
wrapping it up with Aaron tourists Sara, and we've got
about thirty seconds, so I'll put the gun to your head.
You can have either Gonzaga or or Baylor or the field,
(25:02):
and who wins it all in your view. I get
Gonzaga and Baylor or the field. Honestly, if I you know, listen,
if I if I was at the betting window, I
would probably take the field because I think Michigan and
Illinois are on that level. But I do still think
it's those two teams tournaments. To lose. Baylor obviously bouncing
back really nicely off of that loss the other day
(25:25):
to Kansas, I would probably take the field, but I
do still think everything runs through Gonzaga and Baylor, and
you're probably gonna have to be one, if not both,
to claim this national championship. Good stuff, Aaron, We'll have
you on again. That is Aaron Taurus, Fox Sports Radio.
Thanks for coming on, Aaron. Appreciate you, Bernie, thank you man.
All right again. You hear Aaron every Saturday night here
(25:45):
with Ernie Spanie from eight to eleven, entertaining the masses
and a worldwide audience. Alright, coming up, we're gonna take
a little bit more deeper dive into who some of
the long shot tournament sleepers are and who the pros
have fired on. And I'll hit six teams that I
think can do it, not saying they will, but you
never know. This is a wacky COVID year. But first, well,
(26:08):
let's go to the man. Well, he's kind of like
the J. J. Watt of his high school. He was
so tough. He'd sacked the quarterback and then he'd go
after their family. It's brand the latest. Yeah, and I
think you're talking about flag football. By the way, Vernie
no NBA on Saturday, because of course the All Star
Game taking place on Sunday, so it was college basketball,
it was UFC. The two biggest stories coming out of
(26:31):
sports on Saturday. And we start with UFC two fifty nine,
Jan Bluhovich reclaiming his light heavyweight title by trouncing Israel
Adisania by unanimous decision. Adisania, the middle late title holder
gagged in his move up a weight class. Amanda Noonez
plowing over o Megan Anderson by submission in the first
round to maintain the featherweight crown, and that was earlier
(26:53):
in the card. In college basketball, fourth rank Illinois downsizes
seventh rank Ohio State seventy three to sixty eight. Io
Dosumu had nineteen points in his return. Twelve ranked Arkansas
extends its SEC winning streak to eleven games after storming
past Texas A and M eight seven eighty. Moses Moody
put up twenty eight points. Meanwhile, North Carolina takes a
(27:16):
power drill to Duke ninety one to seventy three. Is
The Dukeies face plant and fall to eleven and eleven
on the season and their n C Double A tournament
hopes certainly up for grabs. Twenty first rank Virginia finishing
out the a SEC regular season with the title the
number one seed heading into the conference tournament. After finishing
off Louisville six to fifty eight. That's a final score.
(27:39):
The USC Trojans go into Westwood and take down the
u c l A Bruins on the last second three
by taj e d. That final score sixty four to
sixty three. The Bruins have lost three in a row
and the NASCAR Cup Series race is in Las Vegas.
It is on Sunday on Fox TV at three thirty
pm Eastern time. And I only wish Bernie because I
(27:59):
know you're in vague is that you would be driving
the pace car, but you are setting the pace on
this radio program back to you, and that is Brian
the silver Tongue Devil Finley. All right, I can't wait
till next Sunday. In Selection Sunday. We've got a lot
you know that will happen between now and then. But
(28:19):
it's always fun to try to speculate who might knock
off the two teams that clearly are at the top
of the hill right now, Gonzagon, Baylor and nich Listen,
they've passed the test, and earlier in the year Gonzaga
beat some pretty good teams Handley, and they've got possibly
three first round draft choices in that lineup. Mark, you
manages to do it. That came close against North Carolina
(28:41):
a couple of years ago. They can finish the job.
Baylor can finish the job. But as is often the case,
someone comes out of nowhere, or maybe not even necessarily
out of nowhere, because this is his six game Gauntlet
and all it takes is one off game. As coach
Zell said it best, it's survived advanced. I don't think
there's gonna be a situation where Gonzaga he's just gonna
(29:03):
crucy this thing, norwill Baylor. They're gonna have to steal
at least one game. Matter of fact, just quickly down
memory lane and two thousand when coaches a one his
national championship at Michigan State by beating Florida and Teddy Dopey,
a very good college team Mike Miller Jonas haslem. They
(29:23):
almost didn't get out of the Sweet sixteen. They ran
into a very good Iowa State team at the Palace
of Auburn Hills. I covered that game. Iowa State led
by about seven very late in the game, coached by
Larry eu Stacy, that had Jamal Tinsley, Marcus Fizer, and Coachy.
Stacy had a bit of a tough tizzy with the
(29:44):
referees and got like a double technical and everything fell
apart and Michigan State stole that game. So you're gonna
have to steal the game. Now, there are some intriguing,
really long shot teams and Arnie Spaniard talked about this
a couple of weeks that I hadn't heard of this,
but I found out they had a William Hill better
in Nevada way back when when you can get the
(30:04):
Wolverines Michigan Wolverines and hundred twenty five to one made
a thousand dollar wager at Michigan in a hundred five
to one. Well in Michigan six to one, So that
guy's got some pretty good value. Here are three teams
that are real long shots, but you just never know.
Already told you about Villanova and Roley Massimino, and I
don't think anybody thought Jimmy Valvano and eighty three would
(30:27):
beat five Slam of jama Arkansas seventy to one. Eric
Musselman his first year, a fabulous job there. Twenty one
and five, by the way, a great team against the
number two. They're seventeen and seven. They're seventy to one
at William Hill to win their first n c A
since Arkansas, to me, is a very intriguing team that's
(30:47):
quietly playing as well as almost anybody in the entire
country because they're deep. They have nine players at average
twelve minutes and more a game, and they can score
from all five positions on the floor. They have a star.
Now there's stars, a freshman. His name is Moses Moody.
He's a projected lottery pick. He's averaging about seventeen points
a game. But Arkansas has got plenty of balance. They're
(31:09):
not really relying on just one guy. They've got seven
players averaging eight points a game. Can't rule out Arkansas.
West Virginian Bob Huggins, Now, I know they got beat
today there forty one. All all of their losses have
been by less than five points, and they've proved they
can win on the road because they've beat in Texas
(31:30):
and Texas, one at Texas Tech and one at Oklahoma State.
That is a pretty good resume. And the one thing
I've always believed about the big dances you have to
have elite guard play. Your tournament team has to have
elite guard play if you're going to win six games
in a row. Well, they're led by a guy named
Deuce McBride. He's their point guard. By the way. He
(31:53):
makes my awn name team as well. He can shoot
the three, he can handle the rock, and he makes
his free throws at crunched time. West Virginia's other guards
also can fill it up from behind the arc and
they make their free throws. Insert your own two thousand
and eight Memphis John Calipari joke right here, trust me
(32:13):
making free throws down the stretches. Paramount the Houston Cougars Now,
they're currently by the way, they're twenty and one, and
they're currently the largest liability at the West Gate to
win the n c A title because recently they took
a ten thousand dollar bet to win three grand at
thirty to one. They're now twenty one. Houston is kind
of like Villanova, Texas Tech well at one point in Oklahoma,
(32:36):
but they've lost four and a. I don't know what
happened to them. Um, they're capable of making that title run.
What you have to see is where Houston ends up
and where they get placed in terms of their draws.
There's just so much luck involved there is You've got
to you know, you might have a gauntlet that makes
it much tougher than other teams. But if Houston gets
(32:58):
the right draw, they can do it. I'm not saying
they are, but they can do it. They've got a
ton of talent. They're super athletic, and all of their
guys can score, all other guys can handle the ball
and dribble. Plus I actually like Kevin Kelvin Sampson a lot.
I think he's a winner. He wins everywhere he goes.
This would be their third straight conference championship, and we
(33:19):
talked about this a little bit with Aaron Virginia. Everybody
has forgotten because it's been so long. Well, they're the
defending champs and they started very slow. They lost to
USF terrible loss. They got crushed by Gonzaga. But since then,
Tony Ben in his group, while they've they've been very
strong and Quad one in Quad two games. They're not
that super slow down the defensive team that they were
(33:40):
three years ago, two years ago. Can you count Virginie out? No,
I'd be surprised if they wanted Oklahoma had we were
having this conversation ten days ago. By the way, another
fabulous job by Lon Krueger, Hall of Fame coach. Oklahoma
was picked six to finish six in their conference and
they've had a terrific year. They've lost four in a row.
(34:01):
They're scuffling. They don't look to me like they're a contender. Anymore,
but ten days ago I thought they were. Alabama is
a team to watch natos he came over from Buffalo Detroit. Guy,
dude there. I don't know they're I don't know what
they have for breakfast, but their offense is so fun
to watch. They've scored at least a hundred and fifteen
points more than once or at least once this year.
(34:23):
They can score a hundred ninny game. Here's the thing.
Their style of play in their pace is very difficult
to play against. Their number one and adjusted defensive efficiency.
And the other thing about Alabama. They launch thirty threes
a game. They play hard, they play fast, they are
dangerous Alabama. Don't write them off. I just talked about Houston.
(34:44):
Illinois they tell you you talk about NBA talent. The
crushed Michigan the other day. They follow up today with
a very impressive win at Ohio State. Great inside outside duo.
This is what I'll say about Illinois, man, they really
up the part. Great job by Brad Underwood this year. Alright,
Ohio State. I think Chris Holtman is one of the
(35:06):
top coaches in the country. Five straight n C Attorney
bids since coming over from Butler, while States a legit contender.
I don't know if they can win six in a row,
but they are a legit contender. And then last, but
not least, the Michigan Wolverines. They play very hard. Their
team concept is beyond excellent. It's one of the best
(35:27):
in the country. They rebound, they defend, and they've got
plenty of skill and they're very well coached with Joan Howard.
The thing about Michigan, you know, much like Ohio State
in Illinois and some of the other teams I mentioned,
they have kept fast company. They had that quirky situation
a few weeks back where they missed like eleven twelve
days in a row, and then they came back and
(35:47):
thump Wisconsin at Wisconsin in the second half. So there
you have it. Look, this is a wide open tournament.
None of us really know what's going to happen, but
it's going to be fun to watch. Again. Next Saturday night,
we'll have Steve ezikin for the entire show. We'll have
a March Madness extravaganza and speculate on who gets into
the dance, and we'll speculate further on various prop bets
(36:09):
things to look for first half totals and we'll run
the full gamut as as much as we can squeeze
into an hour, and that'll be next Saturday night with
Steve Frezik in studio. Coming up. You know him, you
love him, you can't live without him. It's Mackin on Sports.
Oh yeah, there's another basketball game tomorrow. It's called the
NBA All Star Game, and of course we'll take you
(36:32):
behind the scenes and look at some oddball angles in
that game as well. I'm Bernie Fratto coming to you
live from the Farmer's Insurance Fox Sports Radio Studios. Call
Farmers and you could save a whole lot of something
on auto insurance. This is the pregame show you always wanted,
so don't go away. You're listening to Straight out of Vegas,
(36:55):
one of the best in the business, Bernie Fratto. This
Valentine's Day, you know what to get that special someone
because you know just what makes them tick. So head
on over to pro flowers dot com to get fresh
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gifts for your special someone with promo code crush fifteen.
See website for details. What grows in the forest. Trees. Sure,
(37:17):
No what else grows in the forest, Our imagination, our
sense of wonder, and our family bonds grow too, because
when we disconnect from this and connect with this, we
reconnect with each other. The forest is closer than you think.
Find a forest near you and start exploring. I Discover
(37:38):
the Forest dot Org, brought to you by the United
States Forest Service and the AD Council. Here are back
on straight out of Vegas. Two pregames you always wanted.
I'm Bernie Faddle Company Alive from the Farmer's Insurance Fox
Sports Radio Studios Call Farmers Today for a quote. Right
before I go any further, I want to thank my
(37:58):
broadcast team back in Los Angeles. That would be Silver
Tongue Devil, Brian Familey, the prior of Detroit, Chris Perfett,
and of course Ryan Burr Singer the host co host
along with Baul Benson of the Swing Shift podcast. All Right,
you know what I mean? Love Nick can'tley without them.
We do this segment every week at the end of
the show MacKinnon Sports with Mackenzie Rivers, Mcandie. There will
(38:21):
be an All Star Game in NBA All Star Game
tomorrow in Atlanta. And what I think people have forgotten
is they debuted a new format last year and it's
a very quirky, idiosyncratic format, not like a regular NBA
season game. Refresh everybody's memory as to how they're going
to play this contest tomorrow. Yes, sir, lost and all
(38:41):
the madness last March was how just successful and different
that elam ending was for the All Star Game. And
what the elam ending is is at the very end
of the game, you turn off the clock. And anyone
who's ever played pickup understands this format very well. There's
a target number. Most of us played the twenty one
growing up, eleven ones and twos, but in this case
(39:02):
it's gonna be twenty four points higher than whoever has
the leading score at the end of the third quarter.
And remember, Bernie, this was a tremendous success last year
because we we've been going through All Star Game of
All Star Game that was complete clown shows, no competition.
Three three hundred fifty points scored this fourth quarter last
year with the elim ending actually looked like a real
(39:23):
fourth quarter. Only fifty five points scored in the quarter.
You had defense the entire game. Remember Kyle Lowry took
a charge. There were people complaining about calls. It was
like a real NBA basketball game, only in the fourth
quarter when they turn off the clock and say played
with a certain number. No, it's very true, and you
have to wonder if that effects, for instance, to total tomorrow,
(39:45):
it opened up at three or eight and a half
through and nine it's been steam to three fourteen. You know, Mackenzie,
there's not a lot of defense and you All Star game,
but there will be some competitiveness. I think as you
get towards the end of the game, I've always believed
one of these years and I'm not predicting it at all.
They Aime is gonna go wonder how does this format
affect how you might bet the total. Competition in general
(40:06):
leads to intensity, leads to lower totals. My favorite All
Star game ever was only a hundred eleven to a
hundred and ten. It was that scrappy two thousand one
Allen Iverson led East team that shocked the world and
beat the West with Kobe and Shock and KG and
all of them. And I think we're gonna get that again.
I think we're gonna get a situation where the pride
is gonna come in at the end of the day.
(40:28):
Last year, this total only ended three d and twelve,
and that's with a huge crowd. Ninety four point scored
in the first quarter. Ye huge first half, huge first half,
and we've seen it year after year. This year without
the crowds to kind of rev it up, kind of
have that dunk contest field three point contest feel early
in the game, I think we're gonna get much lower
scoring quarters early, and I think we're gonna again see
(40:51):
a tough, intense fourth quarter. That's why I love the
I love the under. They're begging for under money right now.
It's been three oh seven, three oh eight, now three
fourteen at some places. I'm willing to go on the
other side of that wager. I am willing to bet
the under when it seems like nobody else wants to. Well,
clearly the books are gonna need the under. That's what
it seems like because it's been nothing but over money.
(41:12):
But at halftime, there's gonna be a little thing called
the dunk contest. Now, there isn't gonna be any spud web,
but there isn't gonna be any high profile names. But
Obe Topping who he's what averaging about two minutes a
game for the next But but I love Obie Topping.
I loved him at dating last year and Anfreny Simmons
and cash is Stanley, Well you think, I think you've
(41:33):
got a eight year I on somebody who's Who's probably
a prohibitive favor to win this thing, and there's pretty
good plus money. Yeah, you can still get him a
plus one eight d. I love Obie Topping to go
ahead and take this contest. Someone hit me up on
Twitter today talking about look conspiracy theory. So Robert Covington
is an alumni of HBCU. This All Star Game is
(41:54):
gonna be all about promoting and celebrating the HBCUs we
see in Atlanta and other places. And I'm like, yeah,
that's a good theory, except the shooting the skills competition
is a time to clock race. There's no judges, there's
no reason or input for the conspiracy theory to come through.
With the dunk contest, it's a hundred percent fan crowd
(42:15):
media opinion. Remember when Blake Griffin brought that he jumped
over a kid, Yeah, nobody else got to jump over kid.
He can't jump over a cardboard box. Now, by the way,
we've only got about a minute. I'm having nothing to
do with the dunk contest because it's it's based on
judges and nothing to do with the with the skills contest. However,
(42:35):
there's a prop ed here that's kind of caught my eye.
Kawhi Leonard. He's he's gonna be playing for Team Durant
and Luke is gonna be playing for Team to Lebron.
And there's a prop head to head prop who will
score more points. Currently, Kauai is minus one twenty and
I love Kauai in this prop. He's actually kind of
like the perfect All Star player if you're looking for points,
because he has zero flash about his game. If he
(42:57):
sees an open three, he doesn't do a little dance
or behind the back dribble. He just shoots an open three.
And he's actually cash money in these games. He he
made eight of his first nine three pointers last year.
On the other hand, Luca, he's all about the about
the flash, he's about the ali oops, he's about doing
things to you know, kind of get the crowd involved.
I think he's gonna be a great All Star player.
Throughout his career. But Kauai is the guy, a veteran
(43:20):
that they're gonna keep in the game late in the stretch.
Versus on the other side with Luca on Lebron's team,
he got Chris Paul, Steph Curry, Damian Lillard. I don't
think Luca is gonna be on the court when when
the when, it's when it's crunched time. Therefore, I love
quite to score the more points in this problem. All right, McKenzie,
good stuff. That's gonna do it. For this week's edition,
straight out of Vegas, I'm Bernie Fatter. Next time, Chris Plank,
(43:41):
the man from Oklahoma. He's in for Jason Martin. Keep
it locked right here on Fox Sports Radio. Valentine's Days
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Find a forest near you, and start exploring a Discover
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Forest Service and the AD Council. You're listening to Fox Sports.
(01:48):
Good evening, greetings and salutations and thanks for joining us tonight.
It's that time a week again and you've got a
shown a fun chow for you. Tonight, The Beauty of
Sports will come on. It's the greatest reality show and
you can script everything but the ending. And on that note,
welcome back to another award winning edition of straight out
of Vegas the Weekend adaptation on Bernie Frowner. We're coming
(02:10):
to you live from the Farmers Insurance Fox Sports Radio Studios.
Call one Farmers to switch and you could save on
your auto insurance. What else you gonna do with your
phone for the next few minutes? Look at pictures of
food your friends eight again, call one Farmers for a quote.
We are we are one week away from Selection Sunday,
(02:35):
and so tonight we take a deep dive into this
significance of Selection Sunday and why it means so much
to Americans. And in about fifteen minutes we'll be joined
by Aeron Torris and he'll take us behind the curtain
as to what we can expect as this year's March
Banness will be much different than anyone we've ever had
a chance to watch in terms of protocol scheduling formats.
(02:57):
And we're gonna ponder the unique nature of regular season
schedules this year and how that might affect your bracket.
Later on, after Burning Finley's update will speculate on which
schools might cut down the nets, the long shots, who
the pros have fired on and well that is which
school not named Gonzager or Baylor, which seemed to be
everybody's darling at this time. And of course, as we
(03:21):
close down the show with macin on sports and plenty
of data to twist your Brandon knots. We've got the
NBA All Star Game tomorrow and we'll take a close
look at that. Sports your entertainment. But they're more than that.
They are shared experience. As such, people want to talk
about them. You've come to the right place. We've got
a lot to talk about tonight. This is straight out
of Vegas, the pregame show you always wanted. And as
(03:42):
they say in Dave Winfield, Minnesota, it's gonna be lit. Well,
we are one week into the month of March, and
what does that come? What does that bring to mind?
Will march madness? That's the first thing that comes to
my mind. And we were robbed last year. We were
robbed of all the pomp and circumstance. We were robbed
(04:03):
of an annual American tradition. We were all fired up,
ready to go. But guess what, we'll never know. What
would have happened to San Diego State last year had
their best team maybe ever will never know it would
have happened to Dayton. We'll never know which team of
destiny might have been the team of destiny or the
team of destiny that was supposed to be the team
(04:24):
of destiny, but they weren't if you followed all that.
Sometimes you know what, Sometimes it comes down to that,
sometimes you throw out the numbers and the records. This
last week, there was a lot of chatter about the
miracle and ice team February, but everybody forgets that and
that game against the Russians that was actually before the
(04:45):
gold medal game. Well, the US trailed one to nothing,
two to one, and three to two, and they were
outshot sixteen. They were a team of of destiny. Recently,
this past week, I've heard a lot of radio shows
talking about the eightist college basketball teams of all time,
but no one mentioned Georgetown. There was a period in
(05:08):
Georgetown between two and Night five, three or four years.
They came a whisker of winning three championships in four
years by a total of three points. Now they wanted all.
In eighty four they beat a good Houston team five
Slam of Jamma, and in Night two they took Michael
Jordan's North Carolina team all the way to the final
(05:28):
Buzzer lost sixty three sixty two. And then in eighty
five they were a prohibitive favorite against the seventh seed
Raley mass Amino's Villanova Wildcats lost by two. They were
a team of destiny, but they didn't win, so they
were not a team of destiny to win. We were
robbed of that last year. How about the game in
(05:49):
two thousand and sixteen though, where Chris Jenkins hits the
last minute shot. It's one of those one shining moment highlights.
I'll tell you what you picture that, you Villanova fans,
that needs to be framed and hung on the wall
to love next to the Mona Lisa. Well, we were
robbed of all that last year, and it's more than that, okay,
but not now. It's that time of year March madness,
(06:12):
and for my money, madness seems to be an app
name for the multitudes of of ecstatic fans who will
ripple across America to watch this tournament. In fact, that
goes well beyond the United States. I'm told Italian folks
in Italy spend their nights glue to the TV screen
to watch the American college team's battle. Despite the nine
(06:33):
hour time difference between the United States and Italy. Now,
I think that's cool because I'm Italian. Now you ever
wonder why we're so passionate about sports where we're so
glad they're coming back, especially Mark's badness. Why does someone else,
watching someone else compete at the high level give us
such strong feelings Even when our our team or our
(06:54):
favorite athlete, well, they're on the losing side, we crave
more and despite all the negative emotions, we can't wait
for the next game, the next match, the next n
c A tournament, especially especially if we've taken the time
to wager a shekel or two on the whole affair. See,
we live and die on the ups and downs. It
creates the nervous tension we're addicted to. I've talked about
(07:16):
this before, using baseball as an example. Every fifteen seconds
there is a failure in baseball. The picture fails to
throw a strike, the hitter fails to make contact, the
fielder fails to make a play, the hitter fails to
reach base. The vicious cycle repeats itself for three hours
until someone wins the game. So it teaches us failure
is never final, and you can't reach the promised land
(07:38):
without setback. Nothing exemplifies that more than March Madness. Sixty
eight teams enter, one remains twenty gut wrenching days later.
This whole thing starts in our brain. Our brains contain
mirror neurons, and these brain cells fire when we watch
players that battle on the court, cutting across the defense
(08:01):
with an O look pass, shooting from the three point line,
blocking the shot of another player a big slam duck.
These mirror neurons make us literally feel that we're We
feel what the player is feeling to a milder degree,
of course, but see in fact, our brains are re
enacting internally what we watch. It's as if we are
almost playing the game ourselves. In other words, many fans
(08:25):
are living through the players and teams vicariously, but that's
not enough. We want more. For a lot of us,
athletics have been an integral part of our lives since
elementary school. No matter how far you advanced in your
athletic career, it's usually never enough. So we examine how
our treatment of athletes borders on hero worship, and how
(08:46):
people go from being competitors themselves to become expectators who
project their hopes, their fears, their passions onto those players
that they watch, even feel a kinship and unspoken fellowship
with competitors on stage, people they've never even met. Now,
having a bet on the game heightens the experience, so
(09:06):
it was filling out a bracket, and it enhances the
viewing participation of the event. It feeds our competitive spirit
with all the buzzer beating one and done format that
can turn unknown college kids into larger than life heroes
and celebrated programs into jealous bridesmaids. March madness is abroad
(09:27):
something for everybody. Appeal is anybody who's ever filled out
a bracket for the office pool can attest. Fans feel
as though they're sharing in something bigger than the games,
the infectionousness of the underdog, the agony of defeat, the
soul searching and the one shining moment. And yet, no
matter how faithful their loyalty to their alma maters or
(09:48):
how close they sent to the court, the fanatics always
want to be one step remove, even closer from those
who are actually competing, and this will always be the
primary foil of the average fan. So because only the
athletes in the arena. They're really the only ones that
can truly experience the magic, but balancing the two can
(10:10):
be difficult for you with the most well adjusted spectators.
For some, the thrill is grounded and seeing human outliers
perform athletic feats that few can replicate. For others, nothing
can top the collective high of getting together with your
buddies and rejoining and gathering with one's like minded kinful
and let's not poo poo the David and Goliath aspect
(10:32):
of these games. Everybody roots for an underdog, and with
every underdog victory, you can bet people use it as
fuel for their own lives, their own personal endeavors, athletically
speaking or otherwise. With every buzzer beater, we are reminded
anything is possible with everything. Yet about the hardship of
a player who never gave up in spite of his
(10:54):
long shot outs to just get on the floor, we
are retold that we still are the authors of our
own legacy. Now, in the end, a few things in
life can match the uniqueness of the month long phenomenon
known as March Madness, the lore of the unscripted outcome,
the bragging rights of the winners, the constant reminders to
(11:15):
onlookers that they are witnessing something that is far from ordinary.
It's why we watch, It's why we've always cared, and
that's why we always will. That's why, year in and
year out, except for last year, March madness continues to
justify and elevate its own frenzy. And now given the
(11:36):
advent of legalized betting, that's going to amplify things even further.
It's the essence of the rampant fanaticism, the big dance.
Now we've course have known that here in Las Vegas
for years. In the end, we expect this year there
will be a hundred and forty nine million brackets from
coast to coast, filled out, perhaps as many is four
(12:01):
thousand people descending upon Las Vegas. Maybe not this year
with COVID, but that's a typical year, and a betting
handle that actually now supersedes the Super Bowl. Of course
that it's because it's a three week long tournament. Regardless,
you'll do a bigger handle than you will on the
Super Bowl. So in the end, it's the nationwide appeal,
(12:21):
the fierce ravelries, the bitter defeats, the sensational victories when
it looked like all was lost, the hope for a
better day In the end, March Madness is life. We
were robbed last year, but it's back. By the way,
we still got conference tournaments to look forward to. This week,
(12:42):
some playing games selection Sunday and next Saturday night. I
want to preview it now. Steve Fazik will be in
studio for the entire show, and we will we will
have what we call a March Madness extravagance, and much
like our Super Bowl Eve extravaganzas, we'll talk about prop bets, theories,
how to typically try to find a fade teams that
(13:03):
are not fully motivated like Florida State wasn't today apparently,
and who might have a historic year, And we'll take
a look at overs and unders in the first half
and themes and transitive played out over the years. See
if we can't in one hour next week break down
what will happen when the sixty eight teams are selected
(13:25):
a week from tomorrow. Up next, Aaron Torres is gonna
join us to break down the version COVID version of
the Big Dance. There's a lot of logistical weirdness and
a lot of other things you might not have known
that we're going to talk about that could affect who
you think could win this thing and who might disappoint you.
(13:50):
I'm Bernie Fratto. We're Comedy Alive from the Farmers Insurance
Fox Sports Radio Studios. This is the pregame show you
always wanted, So don't go away. You're listening to straight
up as the Great Birdie Frado. Folks this Valentine's Day,
you know just what to get that special someone because
you know what makes them tick, their favorite bouquet of
(14:10):
roses and a box of chopp roses in ascented, a
teddy Bear roses and a teddy Bear. Yeah, a teddy Bear.
So head on over to pro flowers dot com to
get fresh this Valentine's Day and get fifteen percent off
gifts for your special someone with promo code Crush fifteen.
That's Crush fifteen and pro flowers dot com for off
through February fourteenth. On flowers gifts and more for Valentine's Day,
(14:33):
see website for details. Adoption of teens from foster care
is a topic not enough people know about, and we're
here to change that. I'm April Dinnuity, host of the
new podcast Navigating Adoption, presented by adopt Us Kids. Each
episode brings you compelling, real life adoption stories told by
the families that lived them, with commentary from experts. Visit
adopt us Kids dot org, slash podcast, or subscribe to
(14:56):
Navigating Adoption presented by adopt Us Kids, brought to you
by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration
for Children and Families, and the AD Council. Look to
your children's eyes to see the true magic of a forest.
It's a storybook world for them. You look and see
a tree. They see the wrinkled face of a wizard
with arms outstretched to the sky. They see treasure and pebbles.
(15:19):
They see a windy path that could lead to adventure,
and they see you. They're fearless. Guide. Is this fascinating world?
Find a forest near you and start exploring a Discover
the Forest dot org brought to you by the United
States Forest Service and the AD Council. I'm Bernie Fratto.
We are back on Straight out of Vegas, the pregame
show you Always wanted to Come to You Alive from
(15:41):
the Farmers Insurance Fox Sports Radio Studios called one edit
eight farmers to switch and you could see a bundle
on your auto insurance. All right, it's time. That's welcome.
And a gentleman here him every Saturday night from me
to eleven Pacific year with Arnie Spanier, and he's our
college basketball guru here on the Fox Sports Radio network.
(16:03):
Say hello to Aaron Torus. Aaron, how are you, man? Bernie?
I feel like I feel like I just spoke to you, man.
How you doing well? You're burning the candle at both ends,
so you're bicoastal. So let's dive into this because this
is going to be different than any other March Madness
Big Dance tournament in history. For obvious reasons. They'll select
(16:24):
the field, but then there's a whole lot of hoops
people have to jump through, and for starters share with
folks the COVID protocols and how fragile this thing is
and what happens if somebody tests positive. Well, here there's
good news and bad news. The bad news is is, yes,
we are still in this post COVID world and there
are some weird protocols. Okay, So what everyone needs to
(16:46):
know is that next Sunday, when the selection show comes out,
they will give us our bracket of sixty eight teams,
but then there's also going to be four alternate teams.
So essentially it's a field of sixty eight plus four
were this year, and what's gonna happen is those four
teams will go back to campus and basically beyond stand
by if in the first forty eight hours after selection Sunday,
(17:10):
a team comes down with a bunch of COVID positives,
and so we can get into the dynamics of the bracket.
But the one good thing I would say, well, I'll
do the dynamics of the bracket because I know they're interesting, Bernie,
But if we get past that twenty that forty eight
hour threshold, or excuse me, within that forty eight hour threshold,
and we have to replace the team, they will not
(17:31):
redo the bracket. So if in a worst case scenario,
Michigan as a number one seed UM was not to
be able to participate in the n c A tournament,
whoever was to replace them as the quote unquote number
sixty nine or seventy or seventy one team in the
tournament would slide into their bracket, and for Frank, for frankly,
(17:53):
it's for people like the people who consume this show.
It is so you know the South Point and you
know Westgate and everybody doesn't have to refund bets, uh
and and redo brackets and everything as far as why
they will not redo the brackets. So, yes, you could
see a scenario where Duke is the first team left
out of the tournament and ends up as a number
(18:15):
one seed. Now what I would also say, and I
hope that wasn't too confusing, but I would also say,
let let me jump in real quick, because here's what's
whacky about that. To me, They're they're they're going to assemble,
for lack of a better term, sort of this standby
waitlist and whoever is next up. So, for just for
purposes of this conversation, if McNee State is next up
(18:36):
and the number one seed goes down, I'm not gonna
name a school. I'm not gonna do that. Then you've
got McNee States the number one seed. That is just
complete whackness to me. It is, But it's for the
reason that I just said. It's because in theory, you're
gonna start pulling out that office pool on on Monday.
You're gonna start making your bets Sunday night into Monday,
(18:56):
and if a number one seed goes down, I mean
you would have to redo the entire bracket um to
to to to change things. So it is wacky, it
is bizarre, It is weird. What I would also say
is I actually don't expect any teams to be eliminated
because of COVID. And here's why. The way the n
(19:17):
c A has set it up travel is in such
a way where there will essentially be no uh, there
will be no contact tracing. Players are all have their
own hotel rooms, they're all traveling six ft apart. Uh,
So that is one thing. The other thing and this
is a trip Bernie. The n c A has said
you only need five players to play an n c
(19:38):
A tournament game. So if somebody comes down with COVID
and they're down to five players, the n c A
is still trying them out there, and you better hope
you don't get anybody in follow trouble. So because of that,
I don't think we're going to see too many teams
if any pulled out of this tournament. But if it happens,
it's gonna be wacky. Man. It really is. It is
all right, And before we get into some specific teams,
(19:59):
I'm gonn give you sort of a rapid fire lightning
round of choices as to who might upset Gonzaga or Baylor.
Tell the folks that the entire tournament is going to
be played in Indiana, but various venues, and give us
your quick thoughts on that. Um yeah, No, I'll be
very brief because I know you want to get into
two certain teams. Um. Yeah, the entire tournaments in Indiana.
(20:23):
Everybody flies in either Saturday if they've already been eliminated
from their conference tournament, or if excuse me, if they've
already won their conference tournament. And then everybody also flying
Sunday in the Monday. Um, everybody plays in Indiana in
the greater Indianapolis area. There's gonna be some quirks, like,
for example, Indiana has fallen apart. The University of Indiana,
(20:43):
I you, has fallen apart down the stretch here. They're
gonna be outside looking in on the n c A
tournament unless they make a deep run at the Big
Ten tournament. All while n c A tournament games are
being played on their home floor. So the entire tournament
is in Indianapolis. The schedule is different this year two
to make sure that teams have enough negative tests before
(21:03):
the actual event starts. But yeah, once we get going,
I think it's gonna be high quality basketball, but it's
definitely gonna be totally different than it's ever been. Now
we're talking with Aaron tourists, Fox Sports Radio here and
every Saturday night with Ernie Spaniard. By the way, for
Duke to get in, they're gonna have to replicate what
your two thousand and eleven Yukon Huskies did with Kemba
Walker and win every game for like for for a
(21:27):
different day. All right, let's just set aside Gonzaga and
Baylor there. Everybody's darling for various reasons. Let's do a
little lightning round here. I want to start with Alabama.
I love Nadoates. They can score like two points every game. Uh,
they play a pace that is incredibly difficult to play against.
They've got their number one adjusted defensive efficiency. They launched
(21:49):
threes like thirty a game. Can Alabama come out of
nowhere and win this? I don't believe they can win
the national championship. No, I think they're a really good team.
I think they're playing at a real They played at
an elite level early, they haven't quite been the same.
They haven't been shooting the ball as well. For their credit,
they actually have played pretty good defense. The box scores
might not indicate it because they play it's such a
(22:11):
fast tempo, but they just haven't been the same. And
part of it is they've had injuries. Uh, they're finally
getting healthy now. Maybe I changed my opinion. If they
have a strong run next week in Nashville at the
SEC Tournament, I think they're good. I don't think their
national championship good. All right, how about the defending chance.
Everybody's forgotten that Virginia is actually the defending champ. I mean,
they started really slow, they lost to USF, they got
(22:32):
crushed big in Zaga, but they've been pretty strong in
Quad one, quad two games. Virginia under Tony benn And
have a shot. I don't believe so, And ironically it's
because of the defense. The offense is better this year.
Sam Howser, a transfer from Marquette, has been really good.
Trey Murphy, a transfer from Rice, has been really good.
They got the big guy, Jack Salt, but they don't
(22:53):
get a lot of stops on defense, believe it or not.
So to me, I think there are a solid team.
How to give you win the you can see regular
season title leaving a down year, you're a good team.
I don't believe they can win the national championship though. Alright,
Illinois looks fabulous NBA talent all over the place. Got
it done again today, great inset outside duo, your thoughts,
thousand percent chance they can absolutely win the National Championship,
(23:16):
and they probably right now in Vegas. I believe are
the best value because some of those long shots. I
don't believe they're gonna need. I believe they'll need a
lot of luck for it to happen. I think if
Illinois just goes out and plays their game, they can
play with and beat anybody. Doesn't mean they will, but
I absolutely think they can. I think they all but
clinched the number one seed today. I truly believe those
(23:36):
top four teams Baylor, Gonzaga, Michigan, and Illinois are a
cut above everybody else. Uh and I would not be
surprised at all Illinois wins at all. Let's talk about
Michigan because they were a darling also until they got
smoked by Illinois the other day. But I think that
all goes away when the tournament starts. Can Michigan and
Juana Howard do it? It all went away the other
night when they beat little brother Sparta over there. You know, yeah, yeah, yeah,
(24:00):
they might get in. I think I think so too.
And and you know, listen, you know you obviously know
the markets, know the trends. I mean, I think there's
a potential let down from Michigan tomorrow against Michigan State
in a rematch. I don't know that I would pick
Michigan State, but we saw how emotional Juan Howard and
his team were after winning the conference tournament. It was
(24:21):
an incredible site. But yes, Michigan is a darling. I
think Juwan Howard is a darling. I always say he's
the He's everything. Michigan fans thought they were getting him
Jim Harbaugh when he was hired. Um, I love this team.
You and I have talked about him on the air
off the air. But the thing that I like about
them really quick is they do the things that translate
(24:42):
into the tournament. They rebound the ball really well, they
defend really well, they're not reliant on one guy to
go get him a game. I love this Michigan team. Alright,
wrapping it up with Aaron tourists Sara, and we've got
about thirty seconds, so I'll put the gun to your head.
You can have either Gonzaga or or Baylor or the field,
(25:02):
and who wins it all in your view. I get
Gonzaga and Baylor or the field. Honestly, if I you know, listen,
if I if I was at the betting window, I
would probably take the field because I think Michigan and
Illinois are on that level. But I do still think
it's those two teams tournaments. To lose. Baylor obviously bouncing
back really nicely off of that loss the other day
(25:25):
to Kansas, I would probably take the field, but I
do still think everything runs through Gonzaga and Baylor, and
you're probably gonna have to be one, if not both,
to claim this national championship. Good stuff, Aaron, We'll have
you on again. That is Aaron Taurus, Fox Sports Radio.
Thanks for coming on, Aaron. Appreciate you, Bernie, thank you man.
All right again. You hear Aaron every Saturday night here
(25:45):
with Ernie Spanie from eight to eleven, entertaining the masses
and a worldwide audience. Alright, coming up, we're gonna take
a little bit more deeper dive into who some of
the long shot tournament sleepers are and who the pros
have fired on. And I'll hit six teams that I
think can do it, not saying they will, but you
never know. This is a wacky COVID year. But first, well,
(26:08):
let's go to the man. Well, he's kind of like
the J. J. Watt of his high school. He was
so tough. He'd sacked the quarterback and then he'd go
after their family. It's brand the latest. Yeah, and I
think you're talking about flag football. By the way, Vernie
no NBA on Saturday, because of course the All Star
Game taking place on Sunday, so it was college basketball,
it was UFC. The two biggest stories coming out of
(26:31):
sports on Saturday. And we start with UFC two fifty nine,
Jan Bluhovich reclaiming his light heavyweight title by trouncing Israel
Adisania by unanimous decision. Adisania, the middle late title holder
gagged in his move up a weight class. Amanda Noonez
plowing over o Megan Anderson by submission in the first
round to maintain the featherweight crown, and that was earlier
(26:53):
in the card. In college basketball, fourth rank Illinois downsizes
seventh rank Ohio State seventy three to sixty eight. Io
Dosumu had nineteen points in his return. Twelve ranked Arkansas
extends its SEC winning streak to eleven games after storming
past Texas A and M eight seven eighty. Moses Moody
put up twenty eight points. Meanwhile, North Carolina takes a
(27:16):
power drill to Duke ninety one to seventy three. Is
The Dukeies face plant and fall to eleven and eleven
on the season and their n C Double A tournament
hopes certainly up for grabs. Twenty first rank Virginia finishing
out the a SEC regular season with the title the
number one seed heading into the conference tournament. After finishing
off Louisville six to fifty eight. That's a final score.
(27:39):
The USC Trojans go into Westwood and take down the
u c l A Bruins on the last second three
by taj e d. That final score sixty four to
sixty three. The Bruins have lost three in a row
and the NASCAR Cup Series race is in Las Vegas.
It is on Sunday on Fox TV at three thirty
pm Eastern time. And I only wish Bernie because I
(27:59):
know you're in vague is that you would be driving
the pace car, but you are setting the pace on
this radio program back to you, and that is Brian
the silver Tongue Devil Finley. All right, I can't wait
till next Sunday. In Selection Sunday. We've got a lot
you know that will happen between now and then. But
(28:19):
it's always fun to try to speculate who might knock
off the two teams that clearly are at the top
of the hill right now, Gonzagon, Baylor and nich Listen,
they've passed the test, and earlier in the year Gonzaga
beat some pretty good teams Handley, and they've got possibly
three first round draft choices in that lineup. Mark, you
manages to do it. That came close against North Carolina
(28:41):
a couple of years ago. They can finish the job.
Baylor can finish the job. But as is often the case,
someone comes out of nowhere, or maybe not even necessarily
out of nowhere, because this is his six game Gauntlet
and all it takes is one off game. As coach
Zell said it best, it's survived advanced. I don't think
there's gonna be a situation where Gonzaga he's just gonna
(29:03):
crucy this thing, norwill Baylor. They're gonna have to steal
at least one game. Matter of fact, just quickly down
memory lane and two thousand when coaches a one his
national championship at Michigan State by beating Florida and Teddy Dopey,
a very good college team Mike Miller Jonas haslem. They
(29:23):
almost didn't get out of the Sweet sixteen. They ran
into a very good Iowa State team at the Palace
of Auburn Hills. I covered that game. Iowa State led
by about seven very late in the game, coached by
Larry eu Stacy, that had Jamal Tinsley, Marcus Fizer, and Coachy.
Stacy had a bit of a tough tizzy with the
(29:44):
referees and got like a double technical and everything fell
apart and Michigan State stole that game. So you're gonna
have to steal the game. Now, there are some intriguing,
really long shot teams and Arnie Spaniard talked about this
a couple of weeks that I hadn't heard of this,
but I found out they had a William Hill better
in Nevada way back when when you can get the
(30:04):
Wolverines Michigan Wolverines and hundred twenty five to one made
a thousand dollar wager at Michigan in a hundred five
to one. Well in Michigan six to one, So that
guy's got some pretty good value. Here are three teams
that are real long shots, but you just never know.
Already told you about Villanova and Roley Massimino, and I
don't think anybody thought Jimmy Valvano and eighty three would
(30:27):
beat five Slam of jama Arkansas seventy to one. Eric
Musselman his first year, a fabulous job there. Twenty one
and five, by the way, a great team against the
number two. They're seventeen and seven. They're seventy to one
at William Hill to win their first n c A
since Arkansas, to me, is a very intriguing team that's
(30:47):
quietly playing as well as almost anybody in the entire
country because they're deep. They have nine players at average
twelve minutes and more a game, and they can score
from all five positions on the floor. They have a star.
Now there's stars, a freshman. His name is Moses Moody.
He's a projected lottery pick. He's averaging about seventeen points
a game. But Arkansas has got plenty of balance. They're
(31:09):
not really relying on just one guy. They've got seven
players averaging eight points a game. Can't rule out Arkansas.
West Virginian Bob Huggins, Now, I know they got beat
today there forty one. All all of their losses have
been by less than five points, and they've proved they
can win on the road because they've beat in Texas
(31:30):
and Texas, one at Texas Tech and one at Oklahoma State.
That is a pretty good resume. And the one thing
I've always believed about the big dances you have to
have elite guard play. Your tournament team has to have
elite guard play if you're going to win six games
in a row. Well, they're led by a guy named
Deuce McBride. He's their point guard. By the way. He
(31:53):
makes my awn name team as well. He can shoot
the three, he can handle the rock, and he makes
his free throws at crunched time. West Virginia's other guards
also can fill it up from behind the arc and
they make their free throws. Insert your own two thousand
and eight Memphis John Calipari joke right here, trust me
(32:13):
making free throws down the stretches. Paramount the Houston Cougars Now,
they're currently by the way, they're twenty and one, and
they're currently the largest liability at the West Gate to
win the n c A title because recently they took
a ten thousand dollar bet to win three grand at
thirty to one. They're now twenty one. Houston is kind
of like Villanova, Texas Tech well at one point in Oklahoma,
(32:36):
but they've lost four and a. I don't know what
happened to them. Um, they're capable of making that title run.
What you have to see is where Houston ends up
and where they get placed in terms of their draws.
There's just so much luck involved there is You've got
to you know, you might have a gauntlet that makes
it much tougher than other teams. But if Houston gets
(32:58):
the right draw, they can do it. I'm not saying
they are, but they can do it. They've got a
ton of talent. They're super athletic, and all of their
guys can score, all other guys can handle the ball
and dribble. Plus I actually like Kevin Kelvin Sampson a lot.
I think he's a winner. He wins everywhere he goes.
This would be their third straight conference championship, and we
(33:19):
talked about this a little bit with Aaron Virginia. Everybody
has forgotten because it's been so long. Well, they're the
defending champs and they started very slow. They lost to
USF terrible loss. They got crushed by Gonzaga. But since then,
Tony Ben in his group, while they've they've been very
strong and Quad one in Quad two games. They're not
that super slow down the defensive team that they were
(33:40):
three years ago, two years ago. Can you count Virginie out? No,
I'd be surprised if they wanted Oklahoma had we were
having this conversation ten days ago. By the way, another
fabulous job by Lon Krueger, Hall of Fame coach. Oklahoma
was picked six to finish six in their conference and
they've had a terrific year. They've lost four in a row.
(34:01):
They're scuffling. They don't look to me like they're a contender. Anymore,
but ten days ago I thought they were. Alabama is
a team to watch natos he came over from Buffalo Detroit. Guy,
dude there. I don't know they're I don't know what
they have for breakfast, but their offense is so fun
to watch. They've scored at least a hundred and fifteen
points more than once or at least once this year.
(34:23):
They can score a hundred ninny game. Here's the thing.
Their style of play in their pace is very difficult
to play against. Their number one and adjusted defensive efficiency.
And the other thing about Alabama. They launch thirty threes
a game. They play hard, they play fast, they are
dangerous Alabama. Don't write them off. I just talked about Houston.
(34:44):
Illinois they tell you you talk about NBA talent. The
crushed Michigan the other day. They follow up today with
a very impressive win at Ohio State. Great inside outside duo.
This is what I'll say about Illinois, man, they really
up the part. Great job by Brad Underwood this year. Alright,
Ohio State. I think Chris Holtman is one of the
(35:06):
top coaches in the country. Five straight n C Attorney
bids since coming over from Butler, while States a legit contender.
I don't know if they can win six in a row,
but they are a legit contender. And then last, but
not least, the Michigan Wolverines. They play very hard. Their
team concept is beyond excellent. It's one of the best
(35:27):
in the country. They rebound, they defend, and they've got
plenty of skill and they're very well coached with Joan Howard.
The thing about Michigan, you know, much like Ohio State
in Illinois and some of the other teams I mentioned,
they have kept fast company. They had that quirky situation
a few weeks back where they missed like eleven twelve
days in a row, and then they came back and
(35:47):
thump Wisconsin at Wisconsin in the second half. So there
you have it. Look, this is a wide open tournament.
None of us really know what's going to happen, but
it's going to be fun to watch. Again. Next Saturday night,
we'll have Steve ezikin for the entire show. We'll have
a March Madness extravaganza and speculate on who gets into
the dance, and we'll speculate further on various prop bets
(36:09):
things to look for first half totals and we'll run
the full gamut as as much as we can squeeze
into an hour, and that'll be next Saturday night with
Steve Frezik in studio. Coming up. You know him, you
love him, you can't live without him. It's Mackin on Sports.
Oh yeah, there's another basketball game tomorrow. It's called the
NBA All Star Game, and of course we'll take you
(36:32):
behind the scenes and look at some oddball angles in
that game as well. I'm Bernie Fratto coming to you
live from the Farmer's Insurance Fox Sports Radio Studios. Call
Farmers and you could save a whole lot of something
on auto insurance. This is the pregame show you always wanted,
so don't go away. You're listening to Straight out of Vegas,
(36:55):
one of the best in the business, Bernie Fratto. This
Valentine's Day, you know what to get that special someone
because you know just what makes them tick. So head
on over to pro flowers dot com to get fresh
this Valentine's Day and get off through February fourteenth on
gifts for your special someone with promo code crush fifteen.
See website for details. What grows in the forest. Trees. Sure,
(37:17):
No what else grows in the forest, Our imagination, our
sense of wonder, and our family bonds grow too, because
when we disconnect from this and connect with this, we
reconnect with each other. The forest is closer than you think.
Find a forest near you and start exploring. I Discover
(37:38):
the Forest dot Org, brought to you by the United
States Forest Service and the AD Council. Here are back
on straight out of Vegas. Two pregames you always wanted.
I'm Bernie Faddle Company Alive from the Farmer's Insurance Fox
Sports Radio Studios Call Farmers Today for a quote. Right
before I go any further, I want to thank my
(37:58):
broadcast team back in Los Angeles. That would be Silver
Tongue Devil, Brian Familey, the prior of Detroit, Chris Perfett,
and of course Ryan Burr Singer the host co host
along with Baul Benson of the Swing Shift podcast. All Right,
you know what I mean? Love Nick can'tley without them.
We do this segment every week at the end of
the show MacKinnon Sports with Mackenzie Rivers, Mcandie. There will
(38:21):
be an All Star Game in NBA All Star Game
tomorrow in Atlanta. And what I think people have forgotten
is they debuted a new format last year and it's
a very quirky, idiosyncratic format, not like a regular NBA
season game. Refresh everybody's memory as to how they're going
to play this contest tomorrow. Yes, sir, lost and all
(38:41):
the madness last March was how just successful and different
that elam ending was for the All Star Game. And
what the elam ending is is at the very end
of the game, you turn off the clock. And anyone
who's ever played pickup understands this format very well. There's
a target number. Most of us played the twenty one
growing up, eleven ones and twos, but in this case
(39:02):
it's gonna be twenty four points higher than whoever has
the leading score at the end of the third quarter.
And remember, Bernie, this was a tremendous success last year
because we we've been going through All Star Game of
All Star Game that was complete clown shows, no competition.
Three three hundred fifty points scored this fourth quarter last
year with the elim ending actually looked like a real
(39:23):
fourth quarter. Only fifty five points scored in the quarter.
You had defense the entire game. Remember Kyle Lowry took
a charge. There were people complaining about calls. It was
like a real NBA basketball game, only in the fourth
quarter when they turn off the clock and say played
with a certain number. No, it's very true, and you
have to wonder if that effects, for instance, to total tomorrow,
(39:45):
it opened up at three or eight and a half
through and nine it's been steam to three fourteen. You know, Mackenzie,
there's not a lot of defense and you All Star game,
but there will be some competitiveness. I think as you
get towards the end of the game, I've always believed
one of these years and I'm not predicting it at all.
They Aime is gonna go wonder how does this format
affect how you might bet the total. Competition in general
(40:06):
leads to intensity, leads to lower totals. My favorite All
Star game ever was only a hundred eleven to a
hundred and ten. It was that scrappy two thousand one
Allen Iverson led East team that shocked the world and
beat the West with Kobe and Shock and KG and
all of them. And I think we're gonna get that again.
I think we're gonna get a situation where the pride
is gonna come in at the end of the day.
(40:28):
Last year, this total only ended three d and twelve,
and that's with a huge crowd. Ninety four point scored
in the first quarter. Ye huge first half, huge first half,
and we've seen it year after year. This year without
the crowds to kind of rev it up, kind of
have that dunk contest field three point contest feel early
in the game, I think we're gonna get much lower
scoring quarters early, and I think we're gonna again see
(40:51):
a tough, intense fourth quarter. That's why I love the
I love the under. They're begging for under money right now.
It's been three oh seven, three oh eight, now three
fourteen at some places. I'm willing to go on the
other side of that wager. I am willing to bet
the under when it seems like nobody else wants to. Well,
clearly the books are gonna need the under. That's what
it seems like because it's been nothing but over money.
(41:12):
But at halftime, there's gonna be a little thing called
the dunk contest. Now, there isn't gonna be any spud web,
but there isn't gonna be any high profile names. But
Obe Topping who he's what averaging about two minutes a
game for the next But but I love Obie Topping.
I loved him at dating last year and Anfreny Simmons
and cash is Stanley, Well you think, I think you've
(41:33):
got a eight year I on somebody who's Who's probably
a prohibitive favor to win this thing, and there's pretty
good plus money. Yeah, you can still get him a
plus one eight d. I love Obie Topping to go
ahead and take this contest. Someone hit me up on
Twitter today talking about look conspiracy theory. So Robert Covington
is an alumni of HBCU. This All Star Game is
(41:54):
gonna be all about promoting and celebrating the HBCUs we
see in Atlanta and other places. And I'm like, yeah,
that's a good theory, except the shooting the skills competition
is a time to clock race. There's no judges, there's
no reason or input for the conspiracy theory to come through.
With the dunk contest, it's a hundred percent fan crowd
(42:15):
media opinion. Remember when Blake Griffin brought that he jumped
over a kid, Yeah, nobody else got to jump over kid.
He can't jump over a cardboard box. Now, by the way,
we've only got about a minute. I'm having nothing to
do with the dunk contest because it's it's based on
judges and nothing to do with the with the skills contest. However,
(42:35):
there's a prop ed here that's kind of caught my eye.
Kawhi Leonard. He's he's gonna be playing for Team Durant
and Luke is gonna be playing for Team to Lebron.
And there's a prop head to head prop who will
score more points. Currently, Kauai is minus one twenty and
I love Kauai in this prop. He's actually kind of
like the perfect All Star player if you're looking for points,
because he has zero flash about his game. If he
(42:57):
sees an open three, he doesn't do a little dance
or behind the back dribble. He just shoots an open three.
And he's actually cash money in these games. He he
made eight of his first nine three pointers last year.
On the other hand, Luca, he's all about the about
the flash, he's about the ali oops, he's about doing
things to you know, kind of get the crowd involved.
I think he's gonna be a great All Star player.
Throughout his career. But Kauai is the guy, a veteran
(43:20):
that they're gonna keep in the game late in the stretch.
Versus on the other side with Luca on Lebron's team,
he got Chris Paul, Steph Curry, Damian Lillard. I don't
think Luca is gonna be on the court when when
the when, it's when it's crunched time. Therefore, I love
quite to score the more points in this problem. All right, McKenzie,
good stuff. That's gonna do it. For this week's edition,
straight out of Vegas, I'm Bernie Fatter. Next time, Chris Plank,
(43:41):
the man from Oklahoma. He's in for Jason Martin. Keep
it locked right here on Fox Sports Radio. Valentine's Days
almost here, and you know what that means. It's time done.
Maker blush with fresh blooms and gifts from pro Flowers
this year. Go to pro flowers dot com to use
code crush fifteen to get fifteen person then off through
February four on all the best blooms and gifts. See
(44:03):
website for details. Look for your children's eyes and you
will discover the true magic of a forest. Find a
forest near you and start exploring a Discover the Forest
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Service and the AD Council. Look for your children's eyes
and you will discover the true magic of a forest.
(44:26):
Find a forest near you, and start exploring a Discover
the Forest dot org brought to you by the United
States Forest Service and the AD Council.
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