March 5, 2025 • 23 mins
Sean Brace and Ryan "BEEF" Coyle catch you up with all the latest in #CollegeBasketball. Blue Devils or Blue Ghosts? Duke hoops somehow flying under the radar? And more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Number one on your car radio preset hand then new
and improved Diehard Radio app w YES and WD two
seven three D, Philadelpia, Ice, Fox Sports Radio, The Gambler and.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
A good evening Let's go college basketball catch up show.
Jan Breys, Ryan Beefcoyle coming to you via the Gambler
stream talking all things college hoops. The madness is upon us.
I'm rocking a cowboy hat, go a and m Aggies
take down number one overall, Auburn.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
We'll talk a little bit about that. Of course, plenty
to discuss beef. How you Ben.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
March is here? Baby. It feels good. We said last
week we kind of got the little hit, the little
appetizer at it. And Saturday was a hell of a day,
Tennessee buzzer Beater. A lot to talk about. Conference tournaments
are are in swing. Lennix on some belt, getting some
wager and done on of these mid major low majors conferences.
It feels good to be back.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Yeah, we do.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
We do have conference tournament action happening. Of course, final
game for a lot of teams regular season in Villanova
this evening Tonight's final game, then the Big East Tournament
coming up here.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
It's it's exciting.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Of course, we all know the madness is right upon
right around the corner, but Conference tournament week is a.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Lot of fun as well.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Hopefully we get a lot of upsets to make our
jobs a little bit more interesting.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
But we'll see. Because these big time.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Conferences are going to be locked and loaded delivering. I
saw Big ten could be potentially putting eleven teams in.
The SEC is going to be potentially putting thirteen teams in,
So I don't know what that's going to do to
conference tournament play. I think we're gonna have to go
through it once and then see if there is something
that because I just don't know if teams are going
(01:50):
to be Look, they're not going to go into it
trying to lose. I'm not sitting here saying that, but
I don't know if a team like Auburn would be
heartbroken if they don't pull off the SEC championship, you
know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
I think it might be and they're better off to.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Again, they're not going to lose on purpose, so don't
miss construe what I'm saying. But a team like Auburn,
they are good enough to win it all have been
the best team all season, if they get a little
bit of a breather before the real madness kicks in,
I think they'd be okay with that.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
Yeah, I've said that in the past in regards to
like the Big Twelve tournament with like a team like
Kansas is like all right, Kansas has shown their dominants
throughout the regular season. How good that they could be.
You know, would they mind losing in the quarterfinals and
getting some extra rest before the actual tournament. I don't
really think so. The thing I would kind of push
back on though, if for Auburn's case, like Auburn has
(02:42):
the chance to go down as like a top five
college basketball team of all time this year, if they'd
run through, win the SEC regular season, win the SEC tournament,
and then go win the NCAA tournament, finished the year
with two losses, the most quad one wins ever since
has been recorded, and win arguably the toughest conference that
we've ever seen from the bottom in the regular season
and the postseason. That could be one of the more
(03:04):
historic seasons ever. So I certainly think they're going to
take a push for it, but also at the same time,
it's not do or die in a lot of these situations.
It's gonna be nice to hold up the trophy, but
a lot of these teams, I think would you wouldn't
mind the extra day of rest, wouldn't mind the extra
days kind of off their feet as they're not going
through the rest of that gauntlet off the SEC tournament.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
You also forgot the Mali Imdational champions.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Yeah, yeah, Mali as well. I mean they four big
ones kind of owned a bunch of great wins as well,
like they bet they beat Houston earlier in the year
on a neutral too. You look at the resume top
to bottom and the way that they've dominated games as well,
like going to Kentucky this past weekend win for the
first time I think I saw since nineteen eighty six,
(03:49):
and to do it about double digit points, like just
a historic, historic season for Auburn. And you know you
can get all three of those championships. That's a big
accomplishment for sure. And to the there as well.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
No, you're right about that all right.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
As far as where we stand right here, the title
of this fine program that we put out on social media,
Blue Devils or Blue Ghosts like that Duke Coop somehow
flying under the radar. Now, before people get all been
out of shape on that one, I do believe deep
(04:24):
down inside that they're not getting enough attention. Are they
under the radar? No, but they are not getting enough attention.
And I just bring this up.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
I talked about this earlier today.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Beef where if you look at a comparison to go League,
the League, Duke Blue Devils are the Yankees to MLB,
are the Lakers to the NBA, the Dallas Cowboys to
the NFL. And when these teams are good, everything just stops.
And I haven't got the feeling for Duke this year.
(04:53):
This is an incredible team. Auburn is awesome. Duke for
my money right there with them as far as the athleticism, talent,
the positions that they all play, of course, led by
the best basketball player in the game.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Cooper Flag.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I just think that Duke should be getting a little
bit more of a bump when it comes to national championship,
when it just comes to bringing more eyeballs to the
damn sport.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Let's just starting in there like this is here's what
I would say.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
I think Zion's team got ten times the attention that
this team is getting right now. Zion's team deserved it
as well, but this one deserves a little bit more
of a bump.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Do you agree?
Speaker 4 (05:35):
Yeah. I was listening to you earlier when you were
talking about that, and I couldn't agree more. And I
think I even tweeted it out like maybe it was
over the summer or in the in the early fall.
I was like, I think this team is going to
rival the Zion team in terms of excitement and just publicity.
And I one hundred percent agree with you that the overall,
the overall hype and the overall publicity just has not
(05:56):
been there for this Duke team. I think it it
largely has to do with their games and literally everyone
being a blowout. You can contribute to that to like, well,
while wouldn't teams, why wouldn't people want to watch them be?
You know, as good as they are dominate? You look
back the last time that they played a ranked team
on their schedule, and I know that they had a
few like potential ranked games coming up with like Illinois
(06:18):
North Carolina at one point. The last time they played
a ranked team was Auburn. The Auburn game which they
wound up winning. That was at Cameron and Door. But
that was back in like December. Like I remember watching
that in my parents' basement when I still lived at home.
That's how long ago that was. And I've been out
of there for two almost a little over two months now,
and that's how long ago that was. So they haven't
(06:39):
really played anyone, but they whoever they have played, they've
been dominating. So I think that kind of goes in
and hand there. But it is pretty wild considering Cooper
Flag is considered, you know, generational type of prospect as well.
The team might not have the exact glitz and glamour
the excitement of the Zion teams because that was Zion, RJ.
Barrett and Cameronish three, you know, top recruits in that class.
(07:01):
So maybe not the overall hype and excitement of them,
But I do think this is a better team and
a team more equipped to go in the national title,
especially in the season.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Look, I've listed the reasons why they're not getting some
of the attention, and it starts and ends with the conference.
It's really down across the board, and the one team
that is significant or a little bit of a challenge
did beat him and Clemson. Other than that, I think
that that is working against them. They are lumping these
teams up though, and that's where I just got to say, like, man,
they're making it really easy from the betting perspective. You
(07:33):
don't second guess like nineteen points spread yesterday, then think
twice about that game and they ended up winning by
thirty three. And oh, by the way, it's what they've
done for the last four or five games out beating
up and taking out the opponents that don't belong on
the floor, which is going to come in use in
about two weeks beef, because I feel like that they
have the mentality, they have the jets, and they're going
(07:55):
to cruise straight to an Elite eight and we'll see
what happens from there.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Like it's it's so.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Funny because they're the second favorite here, so I'm not
saying anything.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
They're gonna be the number two overall ones see in
the tournament, so I'm not saying anything that is shocking.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
But like I said, man, you know, I understand the
conferences down but when it comes to Duke and and
and packing that punch just for eyeballs on the sport
and beating up on pones, you got some highlight plays.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
You know, it just.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Feels like they should be talked about more, leading Sports
Center off more, just a little bit more attention at
this point in time. But again we'll see a lot
of people are saying, hey, look, Auburn is the real deal.
Auburn deserves the eyeballs that Duke's getting right now. I
think Duke is right there with them. With that being said,
Auburn is in action this evening. I feel like there
(08:47):
could be an upset now.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Is there more along the lines if I'm.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Hopeful, of course, But I do believe that Texas A
and M home court tough place to go in and
play Auburn battle tested coming off one of their worst outings.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
They still ended up winning by thirty was ridiculous. I
just felt like this was the spot to take a shot.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Out Lived dangerously opened up nice start, fourteen to eight
advantage for text A and M. We are a couple
of minutes into the first half. But be if your
thoughts on the game itself were the eight and M
at Live Dogs in your.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Mind, I still wind up taking Auburn. I took him
at five and a half this morning. I wound up
getting on them three and a half a little bit
right before tip off. But is this scenario where it's like,
all right, you look at Auburn, they already have everything
locked up. They're the SEC champion outright after Alabama lost
(09:38):
on Saturday to Tennessee. They're gonna be a number one seed.
They're gonna be the number one seed obviously in the
SEC tournament. So they don't really have as much motivation
to play for unless it kind of goes back to
what I was saying at the beginning, where they're playing
for history, like to be one of the historic teams,
one of the great teams. And if you are a
team that is a historic team, team with that mindset,
it's not like you don't push this game off like, oh,
(09:59):
we are already want it, like we're good, Like no,
we're gonna go out there continue to kick some masks
like we've been doing all seasons. So I think that's
kind of the mindset for Auburn. But you look at
A and M. Like I was a big proponent of
them at the beginning of the season, they've been on
a downhill slide for four straight losses. Kind of a
I'm not gonna say it's a must win because if
they lose this games, not like they're not going to
the tournament, but you want to get some momentum back
(10:20):
on your side going into to March. They have LSU
on Saturday. That should be a win. LSU one of,
if not the worst team in the SEC. You can
debate them with South Carolina, but a M. I think
they need some you know, motivation going into the the end,
momentum going into the SEC tournament and the NCAA tournament,
so you know, a big spot for them. There obviously
a chance to take down number one. You don't get
(10:43):
that in your building every single day, so certainly see
where your mindset is in the circumstances. But it's just like,
this is an Auburn team that has looked unstoppable at times,
and you know, I'm not gonna get afraid by a
trip to Texas A and M. I'll take them three
and a half, four and a half, five and a half,
whatever you got the number at all.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Right, We're gonna talk a little bit about the conference
tournaments that are currently get in progress, but I do
want to hit on some bigger picture stuff because again,
in one week, these numbers are going to be sliced
in half, if not more for a lot of these
teams as far as futures are concerned. So there's no
better time than right now, in the final week of
the regular season, and even then, so maybe the value
(11:19):
is gone on a lot of these teams. But if
I was to ask you down the board, if I
was to remove some of the top name teams from Duke, Auburn, Houston,
let's get rid of Florida, Who's great ats this year?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Tennessee just with a huge victory over Alabama. Where are
we at right now?
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Let's go twenty five in below, twenty five to one
in below, We'll start with Saint John's. You go Michigan
State at twenty eight, Missouri, A and M Wisconsin, Kentucky, Texas, Tech.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Arizona, and Maryland.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Is there a team out of that bunch that you
feel like should be worthwhile? And if somebody wanted to
take a little bit of a flyer on a bigger
number here, which one would you recommend.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
I'm not going to go to bat for any team
to win the national title exactly, but if you do
want to take a long shot, it's one that I
put in yesterday actually with Texas Tech to go to
the final four at plus six fifty. It looks like
they're forty to one right now to win the title.
But they're a damn good squad. Another team battle tested
in the Big twelve. The only team since November I
(12:22):
believe it was to beat Houston, and they did that
at Houston as well. They just went to five Allen Fieldhouse.
And we've talked about many times how this is a
fraudull in Kansas team, a Kansas team that isn't probably
gonna do much damage in the tournament, if any damage,
but still nobody goes there ever and wins. They find
a way to go into that environment, a very very
battle tested team. Kind of funny at the beginning of
(12:44):
the year they lost to Saint Joe's, who has been
a bit of a excuse me, a bit of a
disappointment in the Atlantic ten according to what the standards
are going into the year. But Texas Tech is a
really good squad. Grant mccaslan, I think is one of
the more underrated coaches in the country. Being at Texas Tech,
I could see him being a guy that gets looked
at for the Texas job. As well if that opens
(13:05):
up with Rodney Terry, but this is Texas Tech team,
go with your your hat that you got on. He
kind of matches there. Plus six to fifty to make
the final fourth.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Let's move off of that.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
When you were finishing on what Texas, what were you saying,
Texas Tech Final four.
Speaker 4 (13:23):
At Texas Tech plus six to fifty to make the
final four?
Speaker 3 (13:27):
All right, let's move off of that. All right, next
question I got for you, and then we'll look at
some of the futures here.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
The other number one seed. Where are you at with
this one? What should we be on the lookout for?
It felt like if Bama was able to win on
the road in Tennessee, that they were going to get
the other number one seed. I think Houston, Duke and
of course Auburn are locked in at the threes. That's
the other three number one spots, the fourth one up
(13:56):
for grabs.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Who's in play here? In your mind?
Speaker 4 (13:59):
Yeah, I think Michigan State's still getting floated in there.
But I do think it's gonna at the end of
the day come down to one of those three sec
schools with Alabama, with Tennessee and then with Florida. I
think it could have a lot to do with who
does damage in the SEC tournament. Like if one of Alabama,
Tennessee or Florida goes on a run there to win
the SEC tournament, I think that they might have the
(14:21):
upper hand. Alabama and Florida, I believe, actually played tomorrow
night on Wednesday night, so that one could have a
lot to say with that as well, whoever wins that game,
and then there's game Saturday obviously as well to end
up the weekend. But I think it's in play there
for those three teams. It just I feel like you
have to reward one of those SEC teams with that
fourth over a team like a Michigan State who's played
(14:43):
a still been playing decently amount of ranked teams, but
not through the gauntlet of these SEC schools, which has
been basically every single night it's been like a quad
one or Quad two game.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah, Michigan State deserves a ton of credit going on
the road and beating Maryland the way to they did
regardless doesn't matter, still lose up as a win, and
then beating Wisconsin, who's number eleven in the country, so
they are playing really well. The one concern I have
about Michigan State is and I know defense plays and
don't doubt Zough in March and all that, But if
(15:15):
Michigan State was the face off against Alabama, which.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Way are you going?
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Because Alabama can go out there and drop one hundred,
can Michigan State do enough unders.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
To slow them down?
Speaker 4 (15:31):
That's my exact take on Alabama and Michigan State. It's
like Alabama They're going to run into a team that
Alabama is still going to dictate the pace of play.
Like even this past weekend against Tennessee, if the score
was still seventy nine to seventy eight or whatever the
final was, like it still was in favor of Alabama's pace.
Tennessee just was making some shots. Michigan State they I
(15:53):
don't think that they can play at that level like
Michigan State. My stat further going into that Michigan or
excuv the Wisconsin game this weekend. You know when they
hold teams under sixty points, like that's their goal, keep
it in that rock fight type range. Maybe if it
gets into the sixty five so seventies, they could so win.
But if you're gonna make them go out there and
go shot for shot for you, that's where they're going
to struggle at the end of the day. Jase Richardson
(16:13):
has been awesome over the past month. They've been looking
a little bit better as some shooters. But it's not
that they can't make shots. It's like they just don't
take them. They take like twelve to fifteen threes per game,
and in today's college basketball, and that's just going to
be a dying strategy at the end. Like Texas Tech
this weekend at Kansas shot forty one three pointers, like
they're just playing like a completely different sport at some times.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
In Michigan State, all right, yeah, look, I think there
are a lot of teams out there that could do
some damage, especially on the offense side.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
We'll see Michigan. I'm not gonna are Michigan State.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
I'm not going to doubt them because all the reasons
we said, but at this point in time where we
have to rank and judge and go buy vibes.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
And feels, at this point, we'll see. I do want
to bring up something that did break in the A
and M game. Broom left the game to a shoulder injury. Tweaked.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
It seems like he's going to be okay, but I
don't think he's gonna return.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
So that's a big blow.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Although Auburn is so deep and didn't get anything from
him last weekend and essentially they ended up winning by
twenty five plus points, so who knows.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Yeah, And he's mosted a couple of games as well.
That's something that while they've been talking for the National
Player of the Year race, that's been one of the
points of discussion. It's like, take Jani Broom off of Auburn,
how good is Auburn? So take Cooper Flag off a Duke?
How good is Duke?
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Still?
Speaker 4 (17:31):
If that could kind of sway your voter as well.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
That award was crazy because from where we were at,
you know, in the swing of it, and.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
I always felt like the number was never right.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
I didn't feel like Cooper Flag needed to be a
slam dunk as much as he was a few weeks ago.
And then I didn't feel like that he should have
been favored even like two weeks ago, that the number
he was, even though it was relatively a little bit less,
And then it flipped.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Over and it went way.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
It seemed way too too much in favor of Broom,
and here we are now snapping the fingers.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Flag has twenty eight points. Another blowout.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Broom plays poorly, you know, and people are trying to
go the other way. It's just crazy to been paying
attention to the movement as far as that award is concerned.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Yeah, last night was I mean, I've obviously watched Duke
throughout the season, but last night was like the actual
first time I sat down watched the tip off to
the completion of the game, and it's just like, even
in a blot like that, you see every single possession
how much Cooper Flag impacts the game, rebounding, passing, scoring,
They double team him in the paint, he makes the
right pass. Like he's just such a great overall basketball player.
(18:42):
He doesn't have like that one like super special trade.
I think that look at obviously he's like a super athlete.
That might be something that you could point to, but
just like as an overall basketball player, for a kid
that's supposed to be still a senior in high school,
for having such an advanced and mature game at this
stage is pretty insane to me. I would probably lean
towards him for Player of the Year. If if I
(19:03):
had to make a pick or a vote.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
I totally agree with you there, all right, Be've talked
to me a little bit about what the conference tournament
schedule it's looking like.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Again, we have to wait.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Until essentially Saturday, March fifteenth for the ACC to get going,
the American East, Sunday for American A Sun all that
that gets going this week or the fifteenth. Excuse me,
so we got some time until we get there. Actually,
I apologize I got my dates wrong here from it,
those are the championship game dates. ACC starts on the eleventh.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
American schedule schedule from heat check College Basketball on Twitter.
They have the whole thing laid out like every single
day that there's game. So as of right now, on
Tuesday night, we've had Atlantic Sun, Sunbelt, Horizon, Patriot League
have all played thus far. Tomorrow we get a handful
of tournaments starting up. We don't get during the day,
(20:01):
I believe until Thursday. But Thursday at noon you should
get some games on your TV. Sorry, at one o'clock
is when the Missouri Valley starts on Thursday afternoon, so
you'll get games throughout the day then. But this week
is a lot of the mid major conference low major
conferences still as we still have regular season games for
some of those high majors, But like the Missouri Valley
(20:23):
that's a really fun conference tournament all the time. Northern Iowould,
Drake Bradley, those are kind of your big players there.
The Ohio Valley Conference, that'll be your first ticket actually
punched on Saturday night, that is Post Duke North Carolina,
So that'll be the first official ticket punch to the tournament.
The Atlantic Sun you got your championship for that on Sunday,
the Big South, you got your championship for that on Sunday.
(20:45):
Arch Madness as well. Missouri Valley you have that on
Sunday too, So you got a bunch of tickets gonna
be punched. By the end of this weekend, we'll start
to see, you know, teams fill out that field of
sixty eight. So a really excited weekend coming up. And
then next week you kind of hit this full steam head.
On Tuesday is when the big boys start playing their
conference tournaments. You got the Big Twelve starting on Tuesday,
(21:06):
and then Wednesday you go to the Big East Accs
on Tuesday as well, So wall to wall college basketball.
I think it would be cool if we even did
like you were saying, like a meet up and watch
the games and do like a live stream or something
throughout the day for some of those.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Yeah, we need to because there's a lot of action
coming down our way and still a lot of games
to be played. We got a lot of games in
progress at this point in time. Again College Basketball catch
Up Show. We will be of course recapping it all
this week on the Gambler Daily Ticket three to six
pm before we.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Get out of here.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Though, as far as what you have your eyes on
down the last week of the regular season, where were
you looking right now, Beef?
Speaker 4 (21:50):
I think one of the big questions is one of
the ones you kind of already asked with the who
is going to get that final one seed? But also
with the bubble like this to say it's a state
that has said a lot this time year, but it's
a weak bubble, but still they got to put the
teams in the field, teams like Arkansas, teams like Georgia's
teams like Texas, Ohio State, Nebraska, Xavier. Who's going to
(22:12):
win these last couple of games to give them some
momentum heading into conference tournament week and push them into
the tournament? Does a team like Texas A and M
who has been was in the top ten just a
couple of weeks ago and now has lost four in
a row. Can they figure it out? I kind of
want to see over these next few nights who's looking
their best heading into conference tournament. I think you could
look at teams like Saint John's, like the momentum that
they've had recently has been awesome. A team like Vanderbilt
(22:35):
that I'm really high on. They've won back to back
big games on the weekend the past two weekends, pretty
big wagers from masaw. I'm a big Vanderbilt fan from
here on out. But teams like those, like some teams
are playing for their season. Do these teams want to
go to the tournament or some of these teams kind
of ready to mail it in? I think you can
kind of tell that just by watching the body language
(22:56):
of some of these squads going forward on the rest
of the weekend and in the conference format.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Play excellent stuff, beef can't wait, We'll be all over
it on the Gambler, and great breakdowns across the board.
Still plenty of action to go here this week before
we really dive into some of the conference, tournament names
and games, and of course seating, which is a really
important path. All that, but the wagers that we will
(23:20):
be looking at as far as the tournament. Once we
get the bracket in front of us, it's gonna be
a lot of fun to breakdown as well.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Beef always a pleasure to serve.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Make sure everyone if you missed anything at Foxpho Gambler
dot com.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
We'll be back later this week because.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
It's now time to shine for all things college basketball.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
If you can wager on it, we're talking about it.
It's the Gambler
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Speaker 2 (00:10):
A good evening Let's go college basketball catch up show.
Jan Breys, Ryan Beefcoyle coming to you via the Gambler
stream talking all things college hoops. The madness is upon us.
I'm rocking a cowboy hat, go a and m Aggies
take down number one overall, Auburn.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
We'll talk a little bit about that. Of course, plenty
to discuss beef. How you Ben.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
March is here? Baby. It feels good. We said last
week we kind of got the little hit, the little
appetizer at it. And Saturday was a hell of a day,
Tennessee buzzer Beater. A lot to talk about. Conference tournaments
are are in swing. Lennix on some belt, getting some
wager and done on of these mid major low majors conferences.
It feels good to be back.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
Yeah, we do.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
We do have conference tournament action happening. Of course, final
game for a lot of teams regular season in Villanova
this evening Tonight's final game, then the Big East Tournament
coming up here.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
It's it's exciting.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Of course, we all know the madness is right upon
right around the corner, but Conference tournament week is a.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Lot of fun as well.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Hopefully we get a lot of upsets to make our
jobs a little bit more interesting.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
But we'll see. Because these big time.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Conferences are going to be locked and loaded delivering. I
saw Big ten could be potentially putting eleven teams in.
The SEC is going to be potentially putting thirteen teams in,
So I don't know what that's going to do to
conference tournament play. I think we're gonna have to go
through it once and then see if there is something
that because I just don't know if teams are going
(01:50):
to be Look, they're not going to go into it
trying to lose. I'm not sitting here saying that, but
I don't know if a team like Auburn would be
heartbroken if they don't pull off the SEC championship, you
know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
I think it might be and they're better off to.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Again, they're not going to lose on purpose, so don't
miss construe what I'm saying. But a team like Auburn,
they are good enough to win it all have been
the best team all season, if they get a little
bit of a breather before the real madness kicks in,
I think they'd be okay with that.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
Yeah, I've said that in the past in regards to
like the Big Twelve tournament with like a team like
Kansas is like all right, Kansas has shown their dominants
throughout the regular season. How good that they could be.
You know, would they mind losing in the quarterfinals and
getting some extra rest before the actual tournament. I don't
really think so. The thing I would kind of push
back on though, if for Auburn's case, like Auburn has
(02:42):
the chance to go down as like a top five
college basketball team of all time this year, if they'd
run through, win the SEC regular season, win the SEC tournament,
and then go win the NCAA tournament, finished the year
with two losses, the most quad one wins ever since
has been recorded, and win arguably the toughest conference that
we've ever seen from the bottom in the regular season
and the postseason. That could be one of the more
(03:04):
historic seasons ever. So I certainly think they're going to
take a push for it, but also at the same time,
it's not do or die in a lot of these situations.
It's gonna be nice to hold up the trophy, but
a lot of these teams, I think would you wouldn't
mind the extra day of rest, wouldn't mind the extra
days kind of off their feet as they're not going
through the rest of that gauntlet off the SEC tournament.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
You also forgot the Mali Imdational champions.
Speaker 4 (03:29):
Yeah, yeah, Mali as well. I mean they four big
ones kind of owned a bunch of great wins as well,
like they bet they beat Houston earlier in the year
on a neutral too. You look at the resume top
to bottom and the way that they've dominated games as well,
like going to Kentucky this past weekend win for the
first time I think I saw since nineteen eighty six,
(03:49):
and to do it about double digit points, like just
a historic, historic season for Auburn. And you know you
can get all three of those championships. That's a big
accomplishment for sure. And to the there as well.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
No, you're right about that all right.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
As far as where we stand right here, the title
of this fine program that we put out on social media,
Blue Devils or Blue Ghosts like that Duke Coop somehow
flying under the radar. Now, before people get all been
out of shape on that one, I do believe deep
(04:24):
down inside that they're not getting enough attention. Are they
under the radar? No, but they are not getting enough attention.
And I just bring this up.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
I talked about this earlier today.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Beef where if you look at a comparison to go League,
the League, Duke Blue Devils are the Yankees to MLB,
are the Lakers to the NBA, the Dallas Cowboys to
the NFL. And when these teams are good, everything just stops.
And I haven't got the feeling for Duke this year.
(04:53):
This is an incredible team. Auburn is awesome. Duke for
my money right there with them as far as the athleticism, talent,
the positions that they all play, of course, led by
the best basketball player in the game.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Cooper Flag.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I just think that Duke should be getting a little
bit more of a bump when it comes to national championship,
when it just comes to bringing more eyeballs to the
damn sport.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Let's just starting in there like this is here's what
I would say.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
I think Zion's team got ten times the attention that
this team is getting right now. Zion's team deserved it
as well, but this one deserves a little bit more
of a bump.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Do you agree?
Speaker 4 (05:35):
Yeah. I was listening to you earlier when you were
talking about that, and I couldn't agree more. And I
think I even tweeted it out like maybe it was
over the summer or in the in the early fall.
I was like, I think this team is going to
rival the Zion team in terms of excitement and just publicity.
And I one hundred percent agree with you that the overall,
the overall hype and the overall publicity just has not
(05:56):
been there for this Duke team. I think it it
largely has to do with their games and literally everyone
being a blowout. You can contribute to that to like, well,
while wouldn't teams, why wouldn't people want to watch them be?
You know, as good as they are dominate? You look
back the last time that they played a ranked team
on their schedule, and I know that they had a
few like potential ranked games coming up with like Illinois
(06:18):
North Carolina at one point. The last time they played
a ranked team was Auburn. The Auburn game which they
wound up winning. That was at Cameron and Door. But
that was back in like December. Like I remember watching
that in my parents' basement when I still lived at home.
That's how long ago that was. And I've been out
of there for two almost a little over two months now,
and that's how long ago that was. So they haven't
(06:39):
really played anyone, but they whoever they have played, they've
been dominating. So I think that kind of goes in
and hand there. But it is pretty wild considering Cooper
Flag is considered, you know, generational type of prospect as well.
The team might not have the exact glitz and glamour
the excitement of the Zion teams because that was Zion, RJ.
Barrett and Cameronish three, you know, top recruits in that class.
(07:01):
So maybe not the overall hype and excitement of them,
But I do think this is a better team and
a team more equipped to go in the national title,
especially in the season.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Look, I've listed the reasons why they're not getting some
of the attention, and it starts and ends with the conference.
It's really down across the board, and the one team
that is significant or a little bit of a challenge
did beat him and Clemson. Other than that, I think
that that is working against them. They are lumping these
teams up though, and that's where I just got to say, like, man,
they're making it really easy from the betting perspective. You
(07:33):
don't second guess like nineteen points spread yesterday, then think
twice about that game and they ended up winning by
thirty three. And oh, by the way, it's what they've
done for the last four or five games out beating
up and taking out the opponents that don't belong on
the floor, which is going to come in use in
about two weeks beef, because I feel like that they
have the mentality, they have the jets, and they're going
(07:55):
to cruise straight to an Elite eight and we'll see
what happens from there.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Like it's it's so.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Funny because they're the second favorite here, so I'm not
saying anything.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
They're gonna be the number two overall ones see in
the tournament, so I'm not saying anything that is shocking.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
But like I said, man, you know, I understand the
conferences down but when it comes to Duke and and
and packing that punch just for eyeballs on the sport
and beating up on pones, you got some highlight plays.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
You know, it just.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Feels like they should be talked about more, leading Sports
Center off more, just a little bit more attention at
this point in time. But again we'll see a lot
of people are saying, hey, look, Auburn is the real deal.
Auburn deserves the eyeballs that Duke's getting right now. I
think Duke is right there with them. With that being said,
Auburn is in action this evening. I feel like there
(08:47):
could be an upset now.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Is there more along the lines if I'm.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Hopeful, of course, But I do believe that Texas A
and M home court tough place to go in and
play Auburn battle tested coming off one of their worst outings.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
They still ended up winning by thirty was ridiculous. I
just felt like this was the spot to take a shot.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Out Lived dangerously opened up nice start, fourteen to eight
advantage for text A and M. We are a couple
of minutes into the first half. But be if your
thoughts on the game itself were the eight and M
at Live Dogs in your.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
Mind, I still wind up taking Auburn. I took him
at five and a half this morning. I wound up
getting on them three and a half a little bit
right before tip off. But is this scenario where it's like,
all right, you look at Auburn, they already have everything
locked up. They're the SEC champion outright after Alabama lost
(09:38):
on Saturday to Tennessee. They're gonna be a number one seed.
They're gonna be the number one seed obviously in the
SEC tournament. So they don't really have as much motivation
to play for unless it kind of goes back to
what I was saying at the beginning, where they're playing
for history, like to be one of the historic teams,
one of the great teams. And if you are a
team that is a historic team, team with that mindset,
it's not like you don't push this game off like, oh,
(09:59):
we are already want it, like we're good, Like no,
we're gonna go out there continue to kick some masks
like we've been doing all seasons. So I think that's
kind of the mindset for Auburn. But you look at
A and M. Like I was a big proponent of
them at the beginning of the season, they've been on
a downhill slide for four straight losses. Kind of a
I'm not gonna say it's a must win because if
they lose this games, not like they're not going to
the tournament, but you want to get some momentum back
(10:20):
on your side going into to March. They have LSU
on Saturday. That should be a win. LSU one of,
if not the worst team in the SEC. You can
debate them with South Carolina, but a M. I think
they need some you know, motivation going into the the end,
momentum going into the SEC tournament and the NCAA tournament,
so you know, a big spot for them. There obviously
a chance to take down number one. You don't get
(10:43):
that in your building every single day, so certainly see
where your mindset is in the circumstances. But it's just like,
this is an Auburn team that has looked unstoppable at times,
and you know, I'm not gonna get afraid by a
trip to Texas A and M. I'll take them three
and a half, four and a half, five and a half,
whatever you got the number at all.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Right, We're gonna talk a little bit about the conference
tournaments that are currently get in progress, but I do
want to hit on some bigger picture stuff because again,
in one week, these numbers are going to be sliced
in half, if not more for a lot of these
teams as far as futures are concerned. So there's no
better time than right now, in the final week of
the regular season, and even then, so maybe the value
(11:19):
is gone on a lot of these teams. But if
I was to ask you down the board, if I
was to remove some of the top name teams from Duke, Auburn, Houston,
let's get rid of Florida, Who's great ats this year?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Tennessee just with a huge victory over Alabama. Where are
we at right now?
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Let's go twenty five in below, twenty five to one
in below, We'll start with Saint John's. You go Michigan
State at twenty eight, Missouri, A and M Wisconsin, Kentucky, Texas, Tech.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
Arizona, and Maryland.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Is there a team out of that bunch that you
feel like should be worthwhile? And if somebody wanted to
take a little bit of a flyer on a bigger
number here, which one would you recommend.
Speaker 4 (12:00):
I'm not going to go to bat for any team
to win the national title exactly, but if you do
want to take a long shot, it's one that I
put in yesterday actually with Texas Tech to go to
the final four at plus six fifty. It looks like
they're forty to one right now to win the title.
But they're a damn good squad. Another team battle tested
in the Big twelve. The only team since November I
(12:22):
believe it was to beat Houston, and they did that
at Houston as well. They just went to five Allen Fieldhouse.
And we've talked about many times how this is a
fraudull in Kansas team, a Kansas team that isn't probably
gonna do much damage in the tournament, if any damage,
but still nobody goes there ever and wins. They find
a way to go into that environment, a very very
battle tested team. Kind of funny at the beginning of
(12:44):
the year they lost to Saint Joe's, who has been
a bit of a excuse me, a bit of a
disappointment in the Atlantic ten according to what the standards
are going into the year. But Texas Tech is a
really good squad. Grant mccaslan, I think is one of
the more underrated coaches in the country. Being at Texas Tech,
I could see him being a guy that gets looked
at for the Texas job. As well if that opens
(13:05):
up with Rodney Terry, but this is Texas Tech team,
go with your your hat that you got on. He
kind of matches there. Plus six to fifty to make
the final fourth.
Speaker 3 (13:17):
Let's move off of that.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
When you were finishing on what Texas, what were you saying,
Texas Tech Final four.
Speaker 4 (13:23):
At Texas Tech plus six to fifty to make the
final four?
Speaker 3 (13:27):
All right, let's move off of that. All right, next
question I got for you, and then we'll look at
some of the futures here.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
The other number one seed. Where are you at with
this one? What should we be on the lookout for?
It felt like if Bama was able to win on
the road in Tennessee, that they were going to get
the other number one seed. I think Houston, Duke and
of course Auburn are locked in at the threes. That's
the other three number one spots, the fourth one up
(13:56):
for grabs.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
Who's in play here? In your mind?
Speaker 4 (13:59):
Yeah, I think Michigan State's still getting floated in there.
But I do think it's gonna at the end of
the day come down to one of those three sec
schools with Alabama, with Tennessee and then with Florida. I
think it could have a lot to do with who
does damage in the SEC tournament. Like if one of Alabama,
Tennessee or Florida goes on a run there to win
the SEC tournament, I think that they might have the
(14:21):
upper hand. Alabama and Florida, I believe, actually played tomorrow
night on Wednesday night, so that one could have a
lot to say with that as well, whoever wins that game,
and then there's game Saturday obviously as well to end
up the weekend. But I think it's in play there
for those three teams. It just I feel like you
have to reward one of those SEC teams with that
fourth over a team like a Michigan State who's played
(14:43):
a still been playing decently amount of ranked teams, but
not through the gauntlet of these SEC schools, which has
been basically every single night it's been like a quad
one or Quad two game.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
Yeah, Michigan State deserves a ton of credit going on
the road and beating Maryland the way to they did
regardless doesn't matter, still lose up as a win, and
then beating Wisconsin, who's number eleven in the country, so
they are playing really well. The one concern I have
about Michigan State is and I know defense plays and
don't doubt Zough in March and all that, But if
(15:15):
Michigan State was the face off against Alabama, which.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
Way are you going?
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Because Alabama can go out there and drop one hundred,
can Michigan State do enough unders.
Speaker 3 (15:27):
To slow them down?
Speaker 4 (15:31):
That's my exact take on Alabama and Michigan State. It's
like Alabama They're going to run into a team that
Alabama is still going to dictate the pace of play.
Like even this past weekend against Tennessee, if the score
was still seventy nine to seventy eight or whatever the
final was, like it still was in favor of Alabama's pace.
Tennessee just was making some shots. Michigan State they I
(15:53):
don't think that they can play at that level like
Michigan State. My stat further going into that Michigan or
excuv the Wisconsin game this weekend. You know when they
hold teams under sixty points, like that's their goal, keep
it in that rock fight type range. Maybe if it
gets into the sixty five so seventies, they could so win.
But if you're gonna make them go out there and
go shot for shot for you, that's where they're going
to struggle at the end of the day. Jase Richardson
(16:13):
has been awesome over the past month. They've been looking
a little bit better as some shooters. But it's not
that they can't make shots. It's like they just don't
take them. They take like twelve to fifteen threes per game,
and in today's college basketball, and that's just going to
be a dying strategy at the end. Like Texas Tech
this weekend at Kansas shot forty one three pointers, like
they're just playing like a completely different sport at some times.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
In Michigan State, all right, yeah, look, I think there
are a lot of teams out there that could do
some damage, especially on the offense side.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
We'll see Michigan. I'm not gonna are Michigan State.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
I'm not going to doubt them because all the reasons
we said, but at this point in time where we
have to rank and judge and go buy vibes.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
And feels, at this point, we'll see. I do want
to bring up something that did break in the A
and M game. Broom left the game to a shoulder injury. Tweaked.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
It seems like he's going to be okay, but I
don't think he's gonna return.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
So that's a big blow.
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Although Auburn is so deep and didn't get anything from
him last weekend and essentially they ended up winning by
twenty five plus points, so who knows.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Yeah, And he's mosted a couple of games as well.
That's something that while they've been talking for the National
Player of the Year race, that's been one of the
points of discussion. It's like, take Jani Broom off of Auburn,
how good is Auburn? So take Cooper Flag off a Duke?
How good is Duke?
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Still?
Speaker 4 (17:31):
If that could kind of sway your voter as well.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
That award was crazy because from where we were at,
you know, in the swing of it, and.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
I always felt like the number was never right.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
I didn't feel like Cooper Flag needed to be a
slam dunk as much as he was a few weeks ago.
And then I didn't feel like that he should have
been favored even like two weeks ago, that the number
he was, even though it was relatively a little bit less,
And then it flipped.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Over and it went way.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
It seemed way too too much in favor of Broom,
and here we are now snapping the fingers.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
Flag has twenty eight points. Another blowout.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Broom plays poorly, you know, and people are trying to
go the other way. It's just crazy to been paying
attention to the movement as far as that award is concerned.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Yeah, last night was I mean, I've obviously watched Duke
throughout the season, but last night was like the actual
first time I sat down watched the tip off to
the completion of the game, and it's just like, even
in a blot like that, you see every single possession
how much Cooper Flag impacts the game, rebounding, passing, scoring,
They double team him in the paint, he makes the
right pass. Like he's just such a great overall basketball player.
(18:42):
He doesn't have like that one like super special trade.
I think that look at obviously he's like a super athlete.
That might be something that you could point to, but
just like as an overall basketball player, for a kid
that's supposed to be still a senior in high school,
for having such an advanced and mature game at this
stage is pretty insane to me. I would probably lean
towards him for Player of the Year. If if I
(19:03):
had to make a pick or a vote.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
I totally agree with you there, all right, Be've talked
to me a little bit about what the conference tournament
schedule it's looking like.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Again, we have to wait.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Until essentially Saturday, March fifteenth for the ACC to get going,
the American East, Sunday for American A Sun all that
that gets going this week or the fifteenth. Excuse me,
so we got some time until we get there. Actually,
I apologize I got my dates wrong here from it,
those are the championship game dates. ACC starts on the eleventh.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
American schedule schedule from heat check College Basketball on Twitter.
They have the whole thing laid out like every single
day that there's game. So as of right now, on
Tuesday night, we've had Atlantic Sun, Sunbelt, Horizon, Patriot League
have all played thus far. Tomorrow we get a handful
of tournaments starting up. We don't get during the day,
(20:01):
I believe until Thursday. But Thursday at noon you should
get some games on your TV. Sorry, at one o'clock
is when the Missouri Valley starts on Thursday afternoon, so
you'll get games throughout the day then. But this week
is a lot of the mid major conference low major
conferences still as we still have regular season games for
some of those high majors, But like the Missouri Valley
(20:23):
that's a really fun conference tournament all the time. Northern Iowould,
Drake Bradley, those are kind of your big players there.
The Ohio Valley Conference, that'll be your first ticket actually
punched on Saturday night, that is Post Duke North Carolina,
So that'll be the first official ticket punch to the tournament.
The Atlantic Sun you got your championship for that on Sunday,
the Big South, you got your championship for that on Sunday.
(20:45):
Arch Madness as well. Missouri Valley you have that on
Sunday too, So you got a bunch of tickets gonna
be punched. By the end of this weekend, we'll start
to see, you know, teams fill out that field of
sixty eight. So a really excited weekend coming up. And
then next week you kind of hit this full steam head.
On Tuesday is when the big boys start playing their
conference tournaments. You got the Big Twelve starting on Tuesday,
(21:06):
and then Wednesday you go to the Big East Accs
on Tuesday as well, So wall to wall college basketball.
I think it would be cool if we even did
like you were saying, like a meet up and watch
the games and do like a live stream or something
throughout the day for some of those.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Yeah, we need to because there's a lot of action
coming down our way and still a lot of games
to be played. We got a lot of games in
progress at this point in time. Again College Basketball catch
Up Show. We will be of course recapping it all
this week on the Gambler Daily Ticket three to six
pm before we.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Get out of here.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
Though, as far as what you have your eyes on
down the last week of the regular season, where were
you looking right now, Beef?
Speaker 4 (21:50):
I think one of the big questions is one of
the ones you kind of already asked with the who
is going to get that final one seed? But also
with the bubble like this to say it's a state
that has said a lot this time year, but it's
a weak bubble, but still they got to put the
teams in the field, teams like Arkansas, teams like Georgia's
teams like Texas, Ohio State, Nebraska, Xavier. Who's going to
(22:12):
win these last couple of games to give them some
momentum heading into conference tournament week and push them into
the tournament? Does a team like Texas A and M
who has been was in the top ten just a
couple of weeks ago and now has lost four in
a row. Can they figure it out? I kind of
want to see over these next few nights who's looking
their best heading into conference tournament. I think you could
look at teams like Saint John's, like the momentum that
they've had recently has been awesome. A team like Vanderbilt
(22:35):
that I'm really high on. They've won back to back
big games on the weekend the past two weekends, pretty
big wagers from masaw. I'm a big Vanderbilt fan from
here on out. But teams like those, like some teams
are playing for their season. Do these teams want to
go to the tournament or some of these teams kind
of ready to mail it in? I think you can
kind of tell that just by watching the body language
(22:56):
of some of these squads going forward on the rest
of the weekend and in the conference format.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
Play excellent stuff, beef can't wait, We'll be all over
it on the Gambler, and great breakdowns across the board.
Still plenty of action to go here this week before
we really dive into some of the conference, tournament names
and games, and of course seating, which is a really
important path. All that, but the wagers that we will
(23:20):
be looking at as far as the tournament. Once we
get the bracket in front of us, it's gonna be
a lot of fun to breakdown as well.
Speaker 3 (23:25):
Beef always a pleasure to serve.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Make sure everyone if you missed anything at Foxpho Gambler
dot com.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
We'll be back later this week because.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
It's now time to shine for all things college basketball.
Speaker 1 (23:37):
If you can wager on it, we're talking about it.
It's the Gambler
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Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.