Providence Sound of Silence

Mike and Gus identify conference teams that won as favorites on the road this past week, Seton Hall's fall, Colorado State, and preview the big Kansas-Kentucky battle on Saturday!

Follow us @STheSPodcast on Twitter.  Rate and subscribe to Spreaker, iTunes, Stitcher, and TuneIn Radio!

Subscribe to our YouTube channel:  
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0r14k3YJBdOaT9Lz6RJTEw

Email the show [e-mail]

Episode Transcript

(00:16):
Welcome to the Screen The Screen orCollege Basketball podcast with your hosts, Mike
Randall and Gus Kerns. Welcome inlisteners to the Screen the Screen or College
Basketball podcast where we're always talking everythingcollege hoops. You could have been anywhere
else in the dial, but youchose to be here with us Mike and
Gus, and we appreciate that.Mike, there's a few things that we

(00:36):
had to wait on recording for.I stayed to watch Jelly Walker hit a
three with a few seconds left onthe road against Western Kentucky for the win.
UAB still playing well, one ofthe hottest mid majors and one of
the trendiest names. Yeah, wewere on that early. Don't worry with
our you know, our season teampreview way back in the free season.

(01:00):
What did you have to stay outfor to be a delayed recording because um
free free falling, becauseum free falland Kevin Willard's free fall in free fall.
Uh no, Gus, I stayedup. We'll get into Kevin Willard
at a bitt it, of course, but at how fickle aby about two
weeks after I'm saying no, no, I'm with Kevin Willard. I mean,

(01:23):
how fast. I jump off thatbandwagon four to five. Thank you,
Kevin. I make Saint John justscored again. You didn't. You
didn't put your seat belt when yougot on that fan on the bus there.
You didn't, Gus. They werefavored by two over Marquette. What
planet is that? Look at meback in Shaka. I mean this is
like a bizarro It is a littlebizar world. Yeah, I was betting
the live line on Iowa who gottaken to the woodshed by Purdue. Now

(01:47):
I did correctly take Perdue minus twoand a half, even though the entire
public was on Perdue, which we'llget into, Gus, because sometimes the
public's right. That's one of ourthemes. Public was hammering purdueing this game,
and they were right. I justgot green. Took Iowa plus twelve,
trying to middle the game and towin because they didn't have a good
night. He's trying to make upsomebody. And luckily, because Chris Murray

(02:09):
made a shot there at the end, I was able to get it at
ten. But that was what Iwas doing. But Tom Petty, Kevin
Wellard, we're off and running.But I was very impressed with the Petty
reference, right, there, verynicely played, young man. Do you
want to open with Seaton Hall andyour transfer ticket on the Seaton Hall pirate
bus that you were holding the wholeentire time. What do we got here?

(02:30):
Yeah? My argument is this,Listen, they're very talented, and
I think Willard's okay, don't Idon't think you should be fired, Gus.
It's just now, I don't thinkto me, they like they were
nine and one and I'm like alittle bit of the Empress's clothes here with
Seaton Hall and Bang they lose awayof Providence, no shame there. Bang
they lose at home to Villanova,no shame there. They went at Butler,

(02:50):
Okay, maybe that cooled their baya little bit. Went in ot
at home against Connecticut. Everybody's like, oh, we're good, We're good.
Ken will eleven three, two andtwo in conference and then bang away
to Paul bang Away Marquette Saint John'swent, and then bang by twenty at
home Saint John's and then Marquette byten. What really bothered me, Gus,
is they had the game in SeatonHall, in a separate on campus
venue. It's a great it's agreat venue. By the way, Yes,

(03:14):
I've actually coached at the summer campthere. I have coached in that
exact Jim and then like Willard sayinghe really doesn't like playing there, really
suits Saint John's Kevin, bad jobby you, big guy. These are
your fans. This is you can'tcall your on campus cozy on campus facility
not a great place for us toplay. Guess we're gonna play my We're

(03:34):
gonna play my basement. But youknow it's really not. It's just really
suited to the neighbors. I mean, come on, man, it's just
a bad like you lost and that'sit. Free fallen three and six in
Conference twelve and seven, Kevin Willard, we will not see you in the
NSA torn and barring a miracle.And you can be all mad about your
opponent shooting seventy eight percent from thefree throw line three hundred and fifty third
in the nation. Maybe you canhang your hat on that. But not
doing well for the Pirates. Ithink it's a predictable outcome. I almost

(03:59):
feel like this has been the scriptwith Seaton Hall for almost as long as
we've been doing This podcast is slightlyunder rated beginning of the season, Get
off to a decent start, maybefind themselves ranked, or people are talking
about them dethroning a Butler, orthat one year with Xavier I'm I'm sorry,
Villanova, or that one year withXavier under Chris mack who maybe we'll

(04:23):
get into a little bit later,christ will and then they hit the skids.
Everybody's off the bus again. Andthen they put together a couple of
decent wins at the end and maybeeven win a Big East tournament like they
did that one season, and thenthey might win a game in the tournament
and then we're good. So Iwould I would say they'll probably make the

(04:46):
tournament, play a really competitive firstround game, and then then we're all
set well. To be fair,Gus, their schedule does set up to
have a run at the end ofthe year. Of course it does.
Home to Paul right home, Butler, great way, Xavier. We discussed
them last time, and people'll talkabout them a little bit sooner and Georgetown
home and then create in a way. I mean, it's possible, It's

(05:06):
possible. I yeah, what doyou think? They're twelve and seven,
three and six, So get meto five hundred and the Big East and
get me to twenty one wins.About that, and then you're looking at
the eight nine game. Maybe you'rea ten seed twenty twenty eleven. I
don't think they're gonna make it,but they could. It's a path.
It's path again. They got alockdown on defense, which they haven't been
doing lately, I mean, whichis crazy. I don't understand how that's

(05:29):
not a thing for them. Withtheir length at pretty much every position except
with Aiken at the point guard position, and the rim protection that they offer
with multiple positions, I don't understandwhy they're not one of the more elite
defensive teams inside the Big East.No, absolutely that Tony stub I Field
great job at De Paul. ButGus, you want to be a tournament
team, you can't give him ninetysix to the Paul. I'm sorry,

(05:50):
Like, that's just the little royalthumb almost got a hundred on you.
I mean, you're gonna be adefensive team to Paul's got a hundred.
I mean, what's what's gonna comeon? That is the definition of head
scratch. Ninety six ninety six Jesus, oh baby. But anyway, Gus,
let's move on here. I dowant to make a mention here.
My cousin Brian, who you knowvery well, his son Matthew. Okay,

(06:14):
Matthew has a sports marketing teacher whoevidently loves our podcast. So I
don't know the gentleman's name, butkudos to you, sir, Thank you
for listening. Thank you, professor. Educators are awesome. Matt Semi,
a tech, said he walked inprior to the period and our podcast was
on. He was listening to itin the school. God bless you,
sir, and he's saying, oh, I love these guys really want to
listen to the podcast. Just wishthey would talk about Oregon. So no

(06:39):
problem, sir, thank you forlistening to podcast. I'll be happy to
talk about Oregon, who absolutely gaggedit in a head scratcher at home to
Colorado. Oregon was actually flying high, probably gus. One of the bigger
head scratch was based on their preseasonrankings. Early in the year, lost
semi home to BYU, lost ona new role to Saint Mary's, lost

(07:00):
to Houston, opened a pack twelveplay, losing at home to Arizona State.
That loss looks bad and it's gonnaget worse away at Stanford by three.
Okay, really have struggled, butthey got things right. As Dana
Altman will because he's one of thebest coaches in the country. Got to
a final four, beat Kansas inKansas City, who had Frank Mason when

(07:24):
he didn't have Chris Bouchet. That'sall there is to it. Correct,
beat peppered on, beat Utah,beat Oregon State away, beat UCLA away,
an overtime, fantastic win USC awayback to back, and a belly
to belly beats Ucla and USC home. Washington smacked him around and then blew
a twenty to five lead to Colorado, otherwise known to meg us as the

(07:45):
Big Pillow. Well, when wetalked to Shane Hoffman again during our team
preview series about Oregon, we hadhigh hopes for this team, and Shane
even mentioned that he felt like therecipe for this particular roster was one of
the more talented ones, but onethey would have to figure out with the
coaching staff, and that I kindof wrote them off for a couple of

(08:07):
games this season earlier, and nowthat they're back and they kind of have
some things figured out, I'm kindof back in on the will Richardson train
like we talked about him as beingmaybe I was thinking of him is maybe
like a dark horse All America typeplayer or maybe a player that could be
first team All Pac twelve with someof the UCLA players and maybe one or

(08:31):
two one or two other players fromArizona. But I think that Dana Altman
definitely figures things out and no differenthere. Devon Harmon transferred from Oklahoma is
doing a great job as the leadguard. They're not necessarily distributing, but
just as one of the shotmakers andone of the defenders on the perimeter.
You know, our old friend JacobYoung from Rutgers seems to be finding his

(08:54):
place in his role. And Ithink the biggest thing is their health inside
with Fali Dante, he's finally fullyhealthy and able to play extended minutes.
I think that's also been part oftheir recipe of success as well. And
they always have talent on the wing, whether it be through the transfer portal,
and I think, if I'm notmistaken, I think they haven't really

(09:16):
even accessed They're really talented from bigman freshman that's kind of waiting in the
wings. So Oregon might be evena bigger surprise once he gets into the
full tilts. But yeah, Ikind of forgot about Oregon and was just
like, Okay, we missed onthat one, but maybe we didn't.
Yeah, I think they'll get itright. This was a bad, bad
loss only because they have Oregon stayedat home. Who I think they take

(09:39):
care of business of rivalry game,but I think they take care of business.
And then they have the death trip. Gus. We've talked about Colorado
away, Utah away in forty eighthours. So if they could have gotten
if they could have beaten Colorado,which they should have six and two,
our Oregon state seven and two,split the death trip eight and three,
they'd be looking pretty good. Standat home Cal home at Arizona State,

(10:01):
big clash, and then they havethis run and I'll call this the death
run. If you have death trip, death run they have later in the
year February nineteenth to the twenty sixthat Arizona Home, UCLA Home USC.
That's the thing there, and I'mrooting for them. They're easy to root
for, They're a fun team,they have talent. Can't make their free
throws gout sixty six point four percentthis year, but doing really solid stuff.

(10:24):
Altman always makes them good. Iwant to see them in the tournament.
I think they will get there,but you gotta make you gotta go
to Colorado when you gotta smack themaround, because you can't lose two to
the Buffaloes here and expect to comeaway with a solid season. So,
like Oregon, I appreciate the sportsmarketing teacher Gus listening to us. We
give you a shout out. Letus know, talk to us, send
us a tweet on Twitter at SDSpodcast, we'll send you a t shirt.

(10:46):
Thank you so much for listening.But I wanted to start off with
that. And how about this,We'll just we'll finish up Oregon here.
How about the Ducks in the firstfour. We're okay with that? Oh
yeah, I'll be great. Ohmy god, that's August. You know,
that's that's attractive. I have abias to great coaches, So if
they're in the first four, I'mpicking them. That is my bend.

(11:09):
I put all a bit full ofdisclosers, you guys. I put too
much weight on great coaches. DaneAlman is a great coach. I love
for them to sneak in and noone will pick them. Fantastic. I'll
take them any day of the week. Can I Can I throw out one
more thing Oregon wise, any chancethat you could possibly see a similar scenario
to UCLA last year when they werein the first four. The answer is

(11:31):
yes. Remember U c l A. I believe at half down ten to
Michigan State the first four. Wejust keep that mind. If I if
we went on live on YouTube,we gotta get live on YouTube, by
the way, we go live atYouTube and we sit there at halftime by
the first four game and go,guys, don't worry, UCLA is gonna
make the final four. I mean, like would anybody, but we would
be getting curses in the comments.LLS is my favorite capital, l ol.

(11:56):
Okay, that's all we got.So anything's possible. With Dan Alman,
you'll be fine, but you gottamake your free throws, you gotta
play some more defense, and youcan't blow a twenty to five lead at
home to anyone. Not if you'regoing to be a series team after you
started slow, I think you haveto make that up. That's all I
agreed. I'm back in on Oregonas well, and looking forward to staying
up late and hearing Bill Walton waxpoetically about the conference chance. I know

(12:16):
everybody loves him. I'm in theminority. I can't. I actually hit
me with you, I can't.I mean, he's reading stuff, he's
I can't. Uh, Gus,I want to do a new segment inspired
by last week. Okay, okay, I want to call it faux Truca.
Okay, Favorites on the Road thatcovered. I was thinking about favorites
on Favorites on the Road that didor did not cover. But that's too

(12:39):
long. So our faux Truca okay, segment, terrible name, I know,
give us a better name here.Let us know. I want to
go round because we talked about howhard it is, so I want to
name some teams that had impressive winson the road that covered within conference well
as a favorite and some teams thatdid not, and just get top of
your head reaction. We'll just gothrough them rap fire here. First off,

(13:01):
Belmont takes East of Illinois to theWoodshed. I gave twenty four and
a half. I mean, gus, how many teams can you like twenty
four a half conference game and feelgood? No problem? Belmont covered this
easily twenty five of a half overEastern Illinois. I don't care if they
played US GUS Belmont laying. Thatis still really impressive. They have reached

(13:24):
the landscape within their conference. Andobviously next year when they switch conferences,
that will change and they'll have toredefine themselves. But they've reached the point
inside their conference where they are Gonzagaish, where they can just put up
giant numbers on anybody any night,and then when they run into a slightly

(13:48):
slightly physical and maybe talent wise withinthe same swimming pool, that's where they
run in the trouble I E.Moore head State. So yeah, I
think that they've really placed themselves inthis atmosphere within their landscape where they could
drop ninety on you at a moment'snotice within that conference, but then still

(14:09):
run into problems with those physical teamsthat have not NBA is talent, but
have like, you know, ProfessionalBasketball League talent. Oh, you mean
like Austin Page who I was gettingsixteen with tonight and Belmont won by eight,
So but Eastern Illinois, I meanthirty four drop ninety on them,
thank you very much. Next up, Gus's longwood good. I can't tell,

(14:35):
but go ahead and make your case. Yeah, Longwood. Here in
the Big South Conference GUS six andoh fourteen and five. They've rattled off
seven consecutive wins. They are leadingthe Big South North at six and oh,
two and a half games clear ofCampbell and North Carolina, A and
T, etc. Big wins bythem. On the road against Hampton,

(14:58):
they win by twenty four. Imean, look, it's impressive. They
played Old Dominion away lost by one. Earlier, they played Georgetown that's playing
up. They lost by eight tothem. I know Georgetown's not great,
but still still beat American at home. UMBC. They beat at home by
twenty seven. Are they good?Is want? They may be good,

(15:20):
griffl. They're doing a good job, Longwood. Somebody out of that conference
usually kind of separates themselves, andwe've seen Hampton do that in the past
before and grab that auto bid fromthat conference and then sneak into the sixteen
sixteen game. So and long couldscore a little bit. That's the thing
that I'm liking with them. Theycan score a little bit. And they

(15:41):
also have good defensive numbers with inconference excellent point GUS. They don't turn
the ball over the number one inconference and turnover rate, absolutely can score
and folks believe it or not.Longwood tenth best team this year against the
number at eleven and four, rightahead gusts of the team. You just
watch the uab Blazers at thirteen andfive. So Alongwood, folks, they

(16:03):
like to put points. Give thema look. There are some advantages when
you know where to look. Okay, there's a book I used to read
my kids. You would know it. You just have to know where to
look. I don't know what thatbook is. But Eastern Washington gus on
the road covering five. I don'tlike laying five points. I have found
in my research that underdogs at homegetting five five and a half. It's

(16:27):
a number that just gives me pause. Sometimes it's narrative based. Guys,
like in poker, you go bythe numbers, we also go by field.
Five and a half makes me nervous. Well, not with Eastern Washington
going and playing Idaho State and beatingthem eighty nine sixty three. So just
want to mention them. Eastern Washingtonhere a team that you may want to

(16:47):
watch in the Big Sky. They'reeight, eleven and eight they're five and
three, so they do. They'regoing to get some good numbers here because
only middle the pack. But theirlosses have been to Montana and to Northern
College Colorado. No shame there,no shame. Yeah, they've played some
tough teams. They've played Nevada,Texas State, etc. So they're pretty
battle tested. David Riley doing afantastic job here first year at Eastern Washington.

(17:11):
Nice one on the road against IdahoState, who's horrific. I understand
GUS three and fifteen, one andeight in conference, but when a team
covers by over twenty points when theirfavorite, I thought it's worth a mention.
No, I think it is wortha mention, and I think also
we have to speak to the culturethat is being built. I'll bring up
another team later on the podcast wherea similar transformation is happening and success is

(17:33):
following them as well. But yeah, I think East. Once you can
find that team within those conferences thatmaybe not maybe but definitely or under the
radar, then you kind of getattached to them and then, like any
fan like you, like, that'sthe team you're gonna follow, that's the
box score you're gonna check. That'sthe spread you're gonna check, and Eastern
Washington might be one of those teamsto add to your lists. Really impressive

(17:56):
one. Here we have been Richmondfans. Jacob Gilliard came on the pod
all times a Steels leader. Ibelieve in the NCAA history. I think
he passed it already. For Richmond, they were favored by two and a
half at RHODEI I stayed away fromthis game because I could not figure it
out. Shame on me, Gus. Richmond wins at Rhode Island seventy sixty

(18:18):
three. They cover the number.A lot of things were against Richmond here
man. They are only four andthree in conference. They have lost to
Saint Joe's, they lost away atSaint Louis, they lost Davidson. They
have had some battles, but theyWe won three consecutive A ten road games
at Fordham not easy, Lasalleway andRhode Island, covering in all three of

(18:41):
those games. Prior to a matchupon Saturday, which you knew they may
be looking ahead too. You don'twant to go to war with the Ramps.
Richmond thirteen and seven. We wantto see him in the tournament.
They were robbed last year. Everyonecomes back to get him to the tournament.
Four and three in conference. Therea little hot here. Nice win
at ROADI absolutely nice win at Roadie. And I think the other part that

(19:04):
we can harken back to and reflectback upon is when we talk to the
boys at three bid league, theysaid that I'm not no, I don't
know if I'm sold on this Richmondteam, but I do think that they
were still sold on three teams fromtheir conference getting in. They mentioned how
a VCU would be one of thoseteams they were. They were still in

(19:25):
on Davidson and did not give upon Davidson even when they took those two
losses early and then went on thismiraculous run and got ranked this particular past
week. And then of course youwant to include a couple of other teams
from the A ten as well,but Richmond needs to be included in that
conversation. We love the super Seniorscoming back and they have They have an
interesting recipe where they have a formerstarter coming off the bench and sacrificing minutes

(19:49):
and points for the greater good ofthe team. And I think that's one
of the things that coach Mooney doesa really good job with is like selling
the win over personal. That's thenext one. Could not prove my point
any better. I picked it assoon as I saw it. I love
Missouri State. You love Missouri State. We have talked about the greatness that

(20:11):
is Isaiah Mosley. You talked abouthim. He's flammable. I compared him,
probably not accurately, but you're toonice. Say anything to Jordan Crawford,
Like, but I saw Missouri State. They beat Southern Illinois, they
beat Valpo, they beat Illinois State. Gasp, they won by ten at
loyal As Chicago. You know whatI'm doing. I'm fading him on the

(20:33):
road at Indiana State. Gus thespread five and a half there it is
Indiana State comes in at home reboundingupsets Missouri State. It's just it's hard
to win on the road here.Isaiah Mosley drops twenty five eleven rebounds,
sorry, twelve rebounds, for gothis offensive rebound there three or five from
three. Did a great job.But Indiana State does what they do,

(20:56):
which they get on the board's fortyone boards there they got did a great
job. Overcame seventeen turnovers, shotfourteen of twenty seven from three point range.
Indiana State, a team that cameinto this shooting thirty two point nine
percent from three point range, shootingwell over fifty percent, guts against Missouri
State. Those no end, That'swhat happens. It's hard to win on

(21:18):
the road. Good team, MissouriState, we love them. But Indiana
State gets to win here and coversout right? When's the game out right?
Seventy six every two covers five anda half. And this goes back
to one of our premises that we'vetalked about on the podcast number of different
times. It's just the you know, the cumulative effect of all efforts,
right, Yes, I love thisrole, yes, yeah, where you
know, a team only has acertain number of efforts per season, and

(21:40):
the great teams, the special teams, have a large number of those.
The lesser teams have a smaller numberof those, but they're all there.
Right, So once you burn oneof those efforts, especially a number of
those efforts in a row, guesswhat you're gonna come up short? Like
your team can't keep that level offocus intensity game after game. There needs

(22:03):
to be a dip somewhere for youto have a healthy season. And sometimes
those dips show up in Sometimes thosedips show up like with the spread,
and you're you're nailing it right here. And you can take a look at
Auburn after their huge effort, totake a look at Kentucky after their giant
matchup they go into overtime. Auburn, you know, squeeks one out against

(22:25):
Missouri. You can look at Davidsonafter their streak they get ranked. It's
it's a number of efforts. Soyou almost have to pay attention, just
like you said, Mike to ifa team does get really hot, like
are they going to sustain that orare they going to sustain it at the
level they had been operating at?And it just makes sense if you just
pay attention to sports. That wasgreat. I had nothing to greatness perfectly

(22:48):
well said. You've said it beforeand I love it absolutely. Next line,
Gus, are people even paying attention? I have telled you now we've
said the lines have gotten sharper,but there's been some bizarre ones. Are
killing it on a rave app bythe way, with the Providence game,
So I'll let you handle that onea little bit. But another line that
I saw that made no sense Missourihosting Auburn. I know Auburn is great,

(23:12):
they'd beat Kentucky. Gus, they'reon a fifteen game winning streak.
But Gus, it's hard to winon the road. I mean, if
Auburn won this game by ten,would you be shocked? I mean,
what, who's making this line?Missouri already has showed us that they beat
Alabama at home this year, droppingninety two points. So I'm going to

(23:33):
take the twelve and a half points, no problem, thank you very much.
Auburn wins by one point fifty fivefifty four, low scoring game,
but twelve and a half, Gus, come on, and the SEC is
a lot of points Missouri covers.I think that's way too many points.
Once you get into double digits onthe road at the big conferences, you
have to kind of pay attention toit. And this goes back to another

(23:53):
thing that we've talked about on thepodcast before as well. When that team
achieves that status that they have notsat at before or in a long extended
period amount of time, sometimes thatnext game or those next couple of games
get a little slippery. Yes,take a look at Purdue at Rutgers.

(24:15):
Yes, exact same thing. Happened. Take a look at when Nevada a
few years ago jumped into the rankingsfor the first time. I know that.
I know the Mountain West is likeyou know, it is rough on
the road and there's a challenge everywhere. But each time they snuck in that
season, immediately they took a loss. So sometimes when you're a team that
gets to that status that you havenot sat at before, whoa. You

(24:37):
look around and you're like, whoa, this is what it looks like here
we're all gonna win by one inMissouri. That happens all the time.
I just want to shout out Texashere to keep the Texas fans in our
good graces. We blasted Texas,had some questions about them the whole thing,
but I gotta give them credit hereseventy three fifty at TCO. We
just said how hard it is towin on the road. Yes, they've

(24:59):
now beaten Oklahoma State and TCU afterlosing away at Iowa State and home to
Kansas State. Bad loss, butthey're battling here fifteen to five, five
and three. Maybe if Chris Beardcan get things going with Marcus Carr,
they can make a run here late, But They got some tough games coming
up. They got the Big twelvesec Challenge this weekend. They got Tennessee
at home. That's gonna be afun game right now. Kem Pom has
it at three. That's very friskyto me. Texas Tech, Iowa State

(25:23):
Kansas home. I think I listenat Big twelve, it's just brutal.
But listen, I don't want toif I'm gonna rip them, I want
to be fair nice. Win bytwenty three at TCO. Win's a win.
Texas is just falling prey to theirpreseason ranking bias. Like everybody had
them within the top five. They'renot playing that up to that level currently
are They may be one of thetop thirty teams in the nation, absolutely

(25:45):
and they're playing just like that,but just not a top five team in
the nation. Yeah. When yousee these big teams that have gone on
runs, Gus All, I sayto myself, it goes back to John
Gasaway. You always have him onthe pod and he always writes that article,
when is the last undefeated team gonnalose? When in December? Right?
And I just say to like,you're not going to play great every
game. The last team we sawdo. That was Kentucky with that incredible

(26:07):
team, made it to the Finalfour, played a generational Wisconsin team and
lost a very close game. Sothis next one was idiotic to me,
just idiotic. Arizona, They've wona bunch of games in the road.
They're playing Ucla. UCLA's brought everybodyback, they have Cody Riley back,
made the Final Four last year athome. Why is Arizona favorite? I
have no Arizona is great, Iunderstand that, but this is a great

(26:29):
spot. It was three when itopen. I grabbed it then and got
out of two and a half.Ucla wins by sixteen seventy. I was
gonna say, you're still probably okaywith that. I really liked Arizona going
into this game, but I hadmy like metric beautiful basketball blinders on.
So yeah, I felt I fellprey to it. You were the smarter
man taking a Ucla at home inthat game, for sure. Yeah,

(26:51):
there's another one coming up that Ifell prey too. Don't worry about I
got the same type of team,Davidson. What okay, Jason? See
you okay? Anyway? Uh crateand minus two and a half against Butler,
I thought it was laughable. Cretonis a young team. John Nitawa
I talked to this year. Crantonhas had some good wins. As I
told you early in the year,Guss, I've struggled to handicap Creton.
I've probably lost a significant amount ofmoney on Creton. But may you may

(27:14):
or may not have struggled with Creton. But I've gotten into a bit of
a groove. Here beat Saint John's, beat to Paul at home. There's
still a very young team. They'retotal experience this year one point three two
years average. That's three hundred andeleventh in the nation. So they're going
to have some odd road spots.They got blitzed on the road by Villanova
at Villanova by thirty four. Theylost to Xavier not looking good now by

(27:38):
seven, and they play Butler,which is always tough to play. Gus
lose seventy two fifty five, lostby seventeen. And we always say it
once we start conference play, you'realways gonna run into these exact games where
you know your eyes tell you thatCreton might be a little bit more talented,
the metrics might say they might bea little bit more valued team.

(28:00):
You look at the roster. Theymight be a little bit longer, a
little bit taller, whatever the casemight be. But once you get into
conference, guess what you have togo into, Hankle, And if you're
if you're going in like, guesswhat the chances of you winning at any
of these home venues within conference?With every team well well well scouted.
The Butler result didn't surprise me either. GUS Saturday looks like Creighton hosting Xavier.

(28:26):
Xavier favored by one. Do youhave any thoughts on that game?
I think I think this little segmentis telling us where we should look right
right, just saying, okay,right. Another team, Bradley, the
rebounding machine that is Bradley, winsit Valpo. GUS covers two and a
half as the road favorite in conferenceseventy one fifty six. Bradley a team

(28:48):
that fights that is hard to handicapped. You can't overlook them. When you
know, when you're look in theMissouri Valley, you're looking at other teams
probably ahead of Bradley, Drake LoyalisChicago. But let's keep good mind.
Bradley is frisky. They lost inovertime at Loyalist Chicago. They lost at
home to the aforementioned Missouri State bytwo. They've now beat Drake Away by

(29:10):
eight. That's a solid win.Southern Illinois at home by eight. Valpo.
Now they host Indiana State before playingour good guy a Red Buddy aj
Green and Northern Iowa. Nice winfor Bradley a Valpo on the road.
Not easy, No, definitely noteasy. And Valpo does have one of
the high major transfers that transferred downwith the Wisconsin transfer and Bradley also,

(29:33):
so there you know, they're nopushover at home. And Bradley is doing
a great job of bringing in talentedinternational players, not dissimilar from what's happening
at Arizona and a couple of otherplaces, like we can always refer to
Saint Mary's with their their you know, a connection with Australia. Bradley has

(29:53):
kind of tapped into that a littlebit too, and I think it's it's
reaping dividends. We are connected hereto Kermit b at Old miss really has
been struck by the injury bug,which is really unfair to him. He's
in a world a hurt right now. Unfortunately lost Samford at home Tennessee and
overtime beat Mississippi State. Nice bounceback, but since then lost to Texas

(30:15):
A and M lost at home toAuburn, No shame, Missouri at home
blitz by twenty five Mississippi State away, they'd be Florida at home, thank
you, Mike White. And thenthey lose at home to Arkansas. But
really suffering GUS without senior jarkhl Joinerwho is out for six weeks at with
a back he had a procedure inits back injury. But they are really
struggling and it's a shame too.This is a really good team defensively,

(30:38):
especially just the metrics have dropped offthe chart here in SEC played ten and
ten, two and six in conference, bad loss there to Arkansas. Really
not competitive most of the game.Kermit relies on his guys staying and playing
with older players in a league whereyou're gonna have your Jabari Smith and your

(31:00):
freshman at Kentucky and your other talentedplayers that go to other big SEC schools.
So Kermit relies on those guys hangingaround and being three and four.
Your players experienced, tough, notgoing to get pushed around, have seen
everything before. But when you haveinjuries with that type of roster, and
then you're looking at lesser talent.It always is an equation for It's always

(31:22):
an equation for a struggling season.Yeah, you were in my head about
Navy at Bucknell talking about how muchBucknell is suffering. Bucknell lost by eighteen
at Navy. I just didn't likethe seven and a half. It was
a little high for me. Well, in the end, shouldn't have worried
about it. Navy easily covers atBucknell eighty one sixty through another eighteen point
win. So not only did theywin by eighteen at home out on the

(31:45):
road, they won at home.Rather, they won by eighteen on the
road, something that North Carolina couldnot do to Boston College the other night.
We can get into that a littlebit later. Lost that bet.
But Navy do a nice job therein the Patriot League. Impressive road wins.
Navy now thirteen and seven, sixand three. They had the self
destruction to Army, I mean,just historic destructing. Our buddy Rich DeMarco

(32:09):
called that game. We got toget him on the pot, and he
said it was one of the bestthings he's ever called in his life.
A big comeback from arm I thinkthey're down forty to eighteen something crazy like
that. But Navy, under edto Cell is doing a nice job there.
In the Patriot League, they aresecond behind, of course Colgate.
That Army Navy game, I wasgoing to mention a little bit later,
but we'll just get to it rightnow and just say like, that was

(32:29):
one of the most improbable games thatyou're going to see in any conference,
especially within the Patriot And we'd justlike to say thank you for your service,
yes, and thank you for providingus with an unbelievable basketball experience in
your most recent matchup and an ArmyNavy it's not just football. Great people,
yep, great people producing a great, great game. Not surprised the

(32:50):
next one. Bonnies for everybody.Two and a half at George Mason,
Nope, not gonna happen. Ifeel like George Mason's season and Oregon season
kind of mirror each goods very good. Now gone off to the great start.
Everybody's like, oh, Kaim Englishis a genius, which he is.
He's an unbelievable coach and his maynot end up at George Mason forever

(33:10):
um. But at the same point, then they hit the skids a bit,
yes, and now you know,now we got some shine back on
them, and everybody's back on GeorgeMason. So I feel like Oregon George
Mason. They've been on the sameroller coach your ride this entire season.
It's a frisky it's such a greatcomparison. Well done. Yeah, they
opened against stony Brook, Penn MorganState, Maryland. The Maryland game was
big. Had enjoyed that financially aswell. Then the loss away at James

(33:35):
Madison, you know better than anyway. It's a rivalry game, find no
problem. Yes, I hope,I hope they keep that game moving forward.
That's a great rival, great Robertgame. Yeah, so so you
don't you don't put too much stockin that. And then Washington on a
neutral raises your eyebrow. Nevada losing, not raising your eyebrow, losing by
nineteen raising your eyebrow. South DakotaState semi way, okay, always tough.
And then Alderman You're like, okay, enough, and I mean,

(33:57):
like I can rationalize every game.But lost five in a row, Kim.
But then all of a sudden,bang Navy Georgia. Nice win there
on the road, American Kansas isKansas whatever. George Washington, but now
they have one George Mason, Dayton, Saint Joe's and Saint Bonnie's three games
in a row, but they arehome games, Gus, which makes me
think on Sunday they go to UMass little fishy there, that might be

(34:20):
another one to look at threes,you know what I mean? You know
Rich Kelly part on the right,I know, Okay, I'm just saying
that's just it's a little frisky forme. Kim English on the road.
You know, last time in therow they lost George Washington. Okay,
just something to think about. Iagree, it's great to look at the
entire picture, not just focus onwhat's happened lately. A smu as annoys

(34:40):
me. South Florid stinks. I'vewatched them several times and I try to
get into it because I do liketheir coach. I feel he's he's a
hard working guy, Brian Gregory.But they stink, gusty. Absolutely,
they are the worst team. Okay, Sal Florida the worst team in Division

(35:01):
one college basketball and three point shootingthe worst. They are shooting twenty five
point one percent from beyond the arc. Here comes Snu Smu Jankovic. Okay,
fighting for his job. Here beatMemphis, Okay, big win there
on the road. I thought maybea little bit of let down, no
chance. Seventy four fifty four wasnever close. South Florida stanks. Guys.

(35:22):
Can I make an argument that Iam pretty confident I could go out
in You know, he'll pick upgame and shoot well over twenty five percent
from three? Is that fair?I think you do a blindfold. Twenty
five twenty five percent? I mean, and it's this is the AC.
This isn't big twelve. I mean, you know it's okay, but I
mean you're you're playing, you're playing, Uh, you're playing Tulsa's zone.

(35:42):
Can't get some open shots? Imean, yeah, Tulane at home,
you can't get him in twenty fivepercent. The worst team, folks,
there's your trivia question. Worst teamcollege basketball. They are rough. I
don't know if Brian Gregory's gonna gonnasurvive this, but just a brutal run
for here. There are six andtwelve, one and five in conference.
They're only went at home to UCLF. Figure that one out. I guess
Robert game whatever, I guess.So that one. That's another one that

(36:05):
makes no sense there too. Allright, where we're going next, Mike
A friend of the pod, JohnBecker, and Vermont folks, just want
to let you know Vermont is back. Okay. So if anybody out there
thought like Vermont was off to aslow start or something, that can I
offer one on one highway. Andso I don't think they ever left.
Yeah, they just maybe people ormaybe me Gust was wondering because they didn't
cover a couple of games there.Well, Gus, Vermont now ten and

(36:28):
seven against the number, and theyhave covered stay with me one, two,
three, four, five, six, seven of eight. The only
game they didn't cover was hard forThey won by ten day Fray by fifteen
and a half at home. ButVermont takes stony Brook to the woodshed at
stony Brook eighty to sixty seven.Don't look now, Gus, don't look
now to Gust catamounts fourteen and four, six and zero, and they are

(36:49):
at the top two games clear inthe America East Conference. And we always
since we've been paying attention to Vermonthand coach Becker on the podcast, we've
we'd pay always paid attention to thatstony Brook game, and if you're gonna,
like, you know, stomp onthem at their place with that amount
of you know that with that victory. Oh man, And I'll tell what.

(37:12):
Ryan Davis, Yeah, awesome,He's gonna Player of the Year in
the conference, playing unbelievably well.You know, he's a different player than
the stars they've had in the past, but he is just perfect for their
system. Big that can stretch thefloor, defend at the rim a tiny
bit, and can handle the balla bit. Catamounts first in the conference
in offensive efficiency, first in theconference, affect a field goal percentage,

(37:36):
first in the conference. Three pointshooting, Gus, without looking what do
you think for Mont shooting from threepoint range in conference? Well, if
we were gonna like just do thisexercise, you would think like anything above
thirty six percent would be excellent.Are they at like thirty seven seven?
It starts with a four? Areyou kidding? And it almost starts with
a five. Gust They're shooting fortynine percent from three point ranging conference in

(37:57):
America East play Yeah, six supercentermentinside the arc. I did not know
that. That's amazing, And Gushang on. They're hosting Maine on Saturday,
you want to say sleepy, okay, fine, but it's not with
me. It's gonna open at twentysix. I'm gonna give that right away
and try to grab it as soonas it comes out to you. That
might be a very similar situation towhat we led off with with Belmont.

(38:20):
Two other ones for you, Buddy, Ellen, this was easy. I
grabbed it right away, wrote itup here for sports book Review. Illinois
State getting forward home to Drake Folks. Drake is not last year. Drake
is wonderful. Great coach defrees usa great job. Hen Pills absolutely highlight.
Yeah, they're not the same team, so to hangover still there with
the bets. I mean, theyshould not be laying four on the road

(38:43):
against Illinois State. Roman Penn grittygutty love him. He's not healthy,
Gus. They're up one with aboutthirty seconds off. It throws up an
absolute brick because he shot it fromthe wing. It hit the other side
of the backboard over the rim.I mean, just a shot that is
bizarre from an elite player. He'sheart missed everything. Illinois State can't score
at the buzzer, so they loseby one. Thank you very much for

(39:04):
the four point win. It's justanother one of these games where you look
at it it's on the road thatit's going to be a tough place to
play. This one was an OT. It's Drake's second consecutive OT game.
They won an OT against Northern Iowa. They want an OT against Illinois State,
very very gamy. Now they're hostingLoyal to Chicago at home on Sunday.
That is frisky. They're doing asolid job, don't get me wrong,

(39:27):
but I'm going to fade them inthat spot. Length points to Illinois
State, who always plays them tough, and Ellinois State covers Saluki's And then
I think the last thing to payattention to Drake is you know you you
were leading the charge here. Ithink before any anybody else got on this
particular bandwagon last season, you paidattention to it. And I think you
wrote them to what like six teamsa lot alcohol to put it on Twitter

(39:51):
with every time they want to.I'm gonna say, was that the nice
bourbon every time? It's amazing.And then we got one more, Yeah,
last one. I love this oneas well. I wrote it up
here. I went on the SportsMonument every Tuesday Wednesday I'm on and sure
enough, Georgia Tech getting five athome. L Ol. There's my o

(40:13):
wealth of to day. Florida StateGUS. Florida State comes off the big
win over Duke. They hang abig number on North Florida. They beat
Miami all fired up. Now they'regoing to rote Georgia Tech. George Tech
stanks. They're one in sex andconference pastor, the visor, the whole
thing. Fantastic, Give me five, no problem here. Georgia Tech wins
out right. The visor amazing,he's a great guy. I love the

(40:37):
guy. He's definitely entertaining and unbelievablypositive. Uh. You know, the
ACC is really tough to dissect thisyear and hard to figure out where you're
gonna get make your money and findthose upsets and what you know, vot
is the best player on the floorcurrently in the future. Will you know
Cleveland be better? Yes, sure, But FSCU was relying on a ton

(40:58):
of freshman and when you're on thein that conference, you just never know,
and everybody is so desperate for thatsignature win. Maybe this is one
of those signature wins for Georgia Tech. So yeah, I get this one
as well. Around the Horn.Want to get your thoughts on a couple
of teams, Gus, people cankeep doubting Providence. Providence is good.
They're winning these games without aj Reeves. They have Nate Watson in the middle.
Big does nice things on both sides. Not a great rebound or not

(41:21):
where he should be. Justin andI has done a fantastic job steals blocks.
He's the glue guy for them andJared buying him is so underrated.
You watch a Providence game. AllI've done this year is this hi nice
three. By buying him, that'sa great steal. By buying him,
I want to pass by buying him. I'm like Jay's buying him. Buying
Him's tremendous. Providence. I thinkthey're for real. I want people to
stop doubting him. I will pointout though Gus was talking to the missus

(41:44):
mister Randall about this. Tonight theylost by thirty two at Marquette. Remember
that game blown out no Reeves,then no Reeves now no problem. Games
moved to Sunday at the dunk Okay, the payback game. What do you
think the line is? I thinkafter the you know, near buzzer beater,
by buying them over Xavier on theroad. I think that might they

(42:07):
might be riding high. But here'swhat I'm gonna tell you, and this
is the thing that you have topay attention with Providence. Their metrics are
not something that you're gonna be like, wow, that I didn't think so,
correct, I didn't think about that. But if you look at their
win loss record, that's the finalthing that we're going to pay attention to.
They win these games, they mightnot win them in a metric friendly

(42:28):
way. So I'm gonna say thatthose are still affecting their line and their
betting action. Yep, it isProvidence favored by two over a team that
just beat them by thirty two.It's a stay away from me. I
don't want any part of it.I just want to enjoy it. Correct.
I get it that they think it'sa big Providence bounce back, but

(42:51):
I don't know about that. Imean maybe even I get it. I
just I think it's a very friskygame regardless. Great job, Providence,
Gus LSU strong ass offer is havingstrong ass losses. Okay, LSU fly
and high with a great defense thisyear, Rolling then Bang Home Arkansas,

(43:12):
bang Away Alabama, Bang away Tennesseebounce back against Texas A and M,
but did not cover what do youthink here of LSU sixteen and four four
and foreign conference? So people weretalking about them as a top ten team,
their defense superior number one in thecountry, and defensive adjust the defensive
efficiency. But still you buying themnot without Pinson? Yeah, I mean

(43:32):
that's the reason of the slide lately. And plus Darry's Day is also not
playing healthy. You mentioned how aRoman Penn is playing a little banged up.
He hasn't been healthy in a coupleof games either. So when two
of your three best players are eitherout or playing compromised, yeah, guess
what losses inside the SEC are goingto happen. So once Pinson gets straight

(43:53):
and gets back healthy fully, whichisn't gonna be the first game back,
by the way, that's never theway these things work, then they'll be
okay again. But these losses aregoing to affect their resume, and then
they're going to end up as aneight nine game or maybe a seven seed
that's going to give a two seedan issue in March. So I think
it's interesting from that perspective, andtur Eason is just completely awesome. I

(44:19):
absolutely love what he does on thefloor and the way that he plays in
the effort that he plays with andthe results that he gets. His skill
set is unbelievably unique matched with hiseffort. So he's kind of keeping lsu
afloat while they try to solve thesehealth issues. I'm a number, you
know. I love the metrics andI dive into it. When I find
something, I want to bring itup in the pod. Wisconsin is winning
GUS in a bizarre, bizarre fashion. Defensively, for their defense, they're

(44:44):
not great. They are tenth inthe Big Ten in three point percente aloud,
tenth in the Big Ten and twopoint percente aloud rebounds aren't great,
and they're playing at the third fastesttempo in the Big Ten yet sixteen and
three seven to two in conference.What do you make of the Wisconsin Badgers
doing a bizarro change to their style. I think it speaks to Greg garr

(45:07):
noticing and playing to his strengths.He has greatness on his team and Johnny
Davis, and in order to getJohnny Davis into successful positions on the floor,
they have to play a little highertempo. They want the ball in
his hands as many times as hecan get it in an offensive possession.
So why wouldn't you play up tempoto give him more touches. That makes

(45:29):
sense, But in order to dothat, you are leaving your defensive principles
back in the backseat. Though.Once you decide we're going to go all
in on Johnny Davis and we're goingto try to beat you that way,
then that defensive efficiency number and thatpace number goes out the window. I
think it's really interesting and really givesGreg Garr, you know, a little

(45:52):
feather to put in his cap thathe was able to adjust to this and
not just win it with Wisconsin guys, because I think we can safely say,
like John Davis is not your typicalWisconsin guy, like he's gonna be
an NBA first round pick, andthat those guys usually don't show up at
Wisconsin. I don't know, unlessyou're I don't know Tucker from a bunch

(46:13):
of years ago. Oh wow,well done. Absolutely. I want to
publicly apologize to Shaka. Smart.Shaka has gotten back to his element.
He's done an amazing job at Marquette. They had a rough run there home
UCLA. No shame Xavier Away ConnecticutHome double overtime Creighton Home. But since
then Providence by a zillion, Georgetownto Paul Seaton Hall Nova Away by three

(46:38):
Xavier and Seaton Hall were already saidthey're going to the Dunk. I want
to equate this, Gus to myfirst date with my wife. It was
snowing in November and I didn't know. I just talked to her on the
phone. Was a blind date.And you know, you know, a
single guy lift in okay, andI'm dropping weights on myself. I mean,

(46:59):
whatever I show up. We leftat this in a leather jacket with
a short sleeve shirt in twenty degreewhether it's snowing, miss one, I'm
wearing and Gus, you know me, that's not me, Okay. So
the running joke is I was tryingto be something that I wasn't and luckily
she saw through that. We watchedJJ Reddick and now we're married. But
I think Shaka needed to be whohe is, and who he is is

(47:21):
a motivated guy from a young school, blue collar marquette. Be who you
are, Shaka, and you're killingit. Fifteen and six, seven and
three c in the Dunk on Sundaythat's a great comparison. Thank you,
Shaka Smart. Shaka Smart at Texaswas wearing a leather jacket with a T

(47:42):
shirt in the snow. That's exactlywhat he was. Oh. I hope
people are enjoying the podcast, thepodcast Shock a Smart leather jacket. People
know you know what he's talking about. Gush, you can talk about this.
When Colorado stayed, I'm just gonnasay it's x. They're very attractive

(48:04):
offense. M are we okay withDavid Roddy being like, you could use
that dunk as the icon for collegebasketball, like Jerry West is the icon
for the NBA. Uh perfect thatthat that poster of that dunk. I
mean kudos to the photographers that capturedthat out in Colorado State. That that

(48:29):
dunk. You're just like, wait, whoe hole and and and him midair
cocking it back. That thing isbeautiful. And by the way, it's
okay people, it's okay. We'regiving you permission. You could put David
Roddy on an All America team rightnow. I love it. I love
I know, I know, Iknow it's Colorado State next to his name.

(48:51):
All America. No, go aheadand do it. Just just like
we don't need the second scorer froma big conference. We don't need that
guy in all. David Roddy's playinglike one of the best players in America.
Recognize to show you how good he'splaying. I got a text from
our friend Paul, the Seaton Hallfan. He goes, he goes.

(49:12):
I did a three team parlay tonighttailed you on Colorado State laying points at
home to Nevada. Are they legit? And I right back to about half
hour before the game. Yes,they're legit, but they're gonna be without
Thistlewood and ton Jay tonight. Idon't know if they're going to cover that
number. Sure enough, they finda way to cover my number. I
don't know if our friend Paul inthe parlay, but Colorado State GUS sixteen

(49:34):
and one overall, six and onein the Mount West had a COVID pause
for twenty four days December twelfth,January fourth. Only loss was a last
minute we rescheduled game two days afterthey returned from the COVID pause. They
have to go to San Diego State. Just absurd, and they lost that
game. It was they just saidwe need a game because boys, the
state can't play, So let's justgive you at San Diego State. Okay,

(49:58):
thanks guys, and then they beatNevada, so note Thistle wouldn't ton
Jay in that game? And Iget to Gus use my favorite Twitter gift
the two brands slamming the herd together. That's a great gift. I love
that one. And by the way, can we just call out the Mountain
West like worst schedulers of basketball gamesever? Yep? I mean they had
this issue last year where they weretrying to squeeze in games and it compromised

(50:21):
their own conference. Yep. SoI don't know what they're trying to prove
out there, but I think theymight need to rethink how they're doing things.
Yep. Gus, your turn,brother, You got a couple here
for me? Okay, yeah,sure? How about Miami, Like,
shouldn't we be worried? But inthe best way ever? Like Wong Mgusti
and the well traveled Charlie Moore,that three guard attack seems to be working

(50:43):
really well for coach Larenega. AndI'm kind of a little bit in on
them. I'm in on them tohang around for the second or third spot
in conference, and I'm also inon them to do a little damage in
March, and I think I'm inon them with Larenega like going having this
be one of his last great teamsthat he's going to coach. Yeah.

(51:04):
The thing is because the ACC isdown, quote unquote. People don't think
Miami is good, folks. Boththings are true. The ACC is down
and Miami is good. Both thingsit can be true. Fifteen and five,
seven and two in conference Georgia Techaway on Saturday, could be another
five five and a half are andthen they get a little bit of a

(51:25):
run here n D Virginia down screen, back to through Georgie Tech again,
Wake Forest Away. You get yourpopcorn ready for that. So they got
a run here because they got Dukein the rearview mirror. They got North
Carolina the reverview mirror, Loisville,Chris Mack. I mean they got them
coming up. So I think Miami'sgood, guys. I think the a
SEC is down and Miami is good. That's all. That is the perfect
way to end that little part there. Yes, I agree with both of

(51:46):
those things very strongly. And thenlet's throw it out west a little bit.
How about Seattle, Mike I mean, I think I've never even really
thought about talking about them on thispodcast ever, And who knew. They're
sixteen and four, They're undefeated insidethe whack. Now, the RedHawks next

(52:06):
three games are going to show justhow sustainable this early ish successes may.
They have New Mexico State, alwaysgood, Grand Canyon with their new coach,
always tough, and Sam Houston isfour and one in conference. So
the top three teams in conference arethe RedHawks next three opponents. So we're
going to find out a couple ofthings here. They shoot it over thirty
six percent from three as a team, and a league guard Darien Tramel offers

(52:30):
a very crowded box score each evening. He does a lot of great things
for them offensively and defensively, isone of the leaders in the nation and
steals Seattle. Let's maybe pay attentionto them a little bit out in the
whack. And that's one of theteams that we talked about of getting that
culture correct and really putting a definingchange within your culture and having it result

(52:54):
in massive wins and a great season, one of the greatest, you know,
one of the best seasons they've hadin recent memory. Chris Victor's superior
job in his first year in Seattlewith the RedHawks. Yes, this is
what you need to know. They'refun to watch. They have the fastest
tempo in the whack. Number one, they do not turn the ball over.
They're going to sink back on defense, and not great in the offensive
boards, but eighty one percent fromthe free throw line. So what we're

(53:16):
talking about here is a Seattle teamthat's young, that doesn't have a ton
of experience, but they're well coached. They're undefeated in the whack. And
Gus said it, let's see himgo to Grand Canyon. Let's see how
that ends up. Great, greatball. Yeah, I think that game
would normally for Grand Canyon just belike, you know, a look ahead
game. Now it's legitimately one ofthe biggest games of the season, and

(53:37):
that's an unbelievable change in culture fromfor Seattle. So that's fantastic for the
Whack on the whole. All right, Mike, let's take a look at
the weekend forecast. You know,up here in the Northeast, it looks
like some snow somewhere someday we'll seeFriday evening, Ivy is back just please
that we have IVY offering on Fridayevening and then Akron visits Red Hot Toledo

(54:01):
on Friday as well. Don't saywe didn't warn you about Ryan ronolds stud
averaging twenty points a game, bigleague guard, six four ish, good
shooting numbers. Keep your eye onhim. He will definitely, he definitely
is a candidate for that like MaxAsmis roll where like, hey, who's

(54:24):
the next like mid major guard that'sgonna put up big numbers. Bengo Bango,
We have a candidate for you rightthere in Toledo. Mike. I
feel like Houston might want to becareful visiting you sef this weekend. Maybe
some of those injuries finally catch upwith them on the road in conference,
just like we were talking about.And then you got some quick thoughts on

(54:46):
you know, two of the biggestprograms in the nation Kansas Kentucky this weekend.
Yes, I'll get to that ina minute. I have to say
this. You hit it perfectly,so I will pass to you on that
one. Luke Near, our friendLuke Dear just tweeted us what Luke halftime
score between Sam Fran and Saint Mary's. Sam Fran forty one. Saint Mary's

(55:07):
twenty four up seventeen Gus. SaintMary's drops forty eight in the second half
at San Francisco, comes back towin beat San Francisco seventy two seventy.
Luke, ro, Guys, thisis some Gene Hackman stuff here going on
with Randy Bennett. How did hedo it? Gus? We have to

(55:28):
watch this. They were only threeof nine from three point range. I
can't. I'm trying to look atthe box. Well see how they did
it. I don't even know.I mean, I think they're just put
on a clinic. They were thirteento fourteen from the free throw line,
so that is certainly great. Butthe big man inside, Thias Tasd had
twenty seven points. But in agame here where Tommy Coozy just has twelve,

(55:53):
they beat San Francisco and overcome aseventeen point half time deficit. Boyer
nineteen Shabaz ten. Wow, whata comeback here for the girls. I
let's give a couple of props toLuke. He does a great job with
the acc Degenerates podcast and of courseon his radio show The Best Seat in

(56:15):
the House down in Virginia. He'swhen we chatted earlier in the season,
he was actually on the Saint Mary'steam. He thought the Saint Mary's team
was legit and could do some damage. I wasn't sold. I think,
Luke, you're right. Kudos toyou, man, you were right with
that. With that called no doubt. Quick thoughts here Kentucky, Kansas.
You know Bill self not covering lately. Our friend John who listens it,

(56:39):
just says, does Candice ever coverwhen you pick them? I just I
just want to just want to knowthat their home to Kentucky. They're gonna
be favored by three. It's atough one, man. I'm gonna lean
Kentucky. It is really tough.But self seventeen and two, six and
one in conference only loss has beenTexas Tech. They got him back on
Monday. A really tough call forme. I think Sheeboy could be the

(57:04):
difference inside. I will grab thethree. I don't want to bet against
self. I just think it's gonnabe a wonderful game to watch, a
lot a lot of great games,gonna be a lot of snow here in
the East Coasts. So get yourpopcorn, your hot chocolate ready, Give
me a little Kentucky Kansas. Ithink after shoveling, I think that sounds
like a perfect way to recover fromany sort of ache we might have in
the back or the arms. AndI'll go the complete other way on there,

(57:25):
Mike, I really like this Kansasteam. I think Kentucky might be
still feeling out some of those injuries, whether it be with a wheeler or
tie tie at the guard position,so that could really hurt them there.
And this has two of the bestoffensive rebounders in the country stop end of
sentence and McCormick and Sheebway. Soyou want to see who creates more opportunities

(57:46):
for their teams on the offensive boardswith McCormick and Sheebway. If I was
gonna lean one way, I thinkSheway might get the better of that match
up there. But yeah, I'mgonna go the other way. I'm gonna
say Kansas, and I love Kansasbecause of the wings. I'm wing fan.
A Bogie is playing out of hishead. He's playing legitimately like the
best player in the country, anduh, you know Brown is doing the

(58:07):
same thing on the wing. He'splaying in He's like the most underrated Robin
of all time. Yeah, aBogie needs to be more selfish. He
can take over a game. Wejust saw that. They need him.
I think I think they want himto take the shot, like Jimmy Chipwood
tied all here at the Hoosiers LukeNear. They want him to shoot.
They respect expect him to shoot.They're fine with it. They don't think
he hot. He needs to takemore because he he makes him bet three.

(58:29):
He made big time shot, bigtime shot against that. That that.
Yeah, he's in, he's in. You're watching an NBA player,
Yes, yeah, Um, Mike, where else are people gonna find and
locate your leans, your ideas andthings going on in your basketball mind,
whether it be NBA or college.Fun stuff coming up here, guys for
Fantasy prosum I'm doing four for fourwork, a lot of four four work

(58:51):
as well. Action Network still ofcourse, but I'm going to be hosting
a live on the Betting Pros channelon Tuesdays and Fridays, a live NBA
preview show about twenty minutes. I'llbe live on Twitter around five o'clock,
five to thirty. We'll get thatout for you, and then when March
Madness comes, I'm going to havea series of live videos coming out there
in the Betting Pros channel. Greatguys over Fantasy Pros appreciate the opportunity.

(59:14):
So we got that going on fourfor four great stuff. Got two for
two of my props tonight. Thankyou Matis Thieball for the over two and
a half steals and blocks, youknow, a big fan of that,
Gus. And thank you George Niangfor coming in for Tobias Harris who was
a little under the weather tonight andgetting over eleven and a half combined points
rebounds. It's this so we'll havesome fun stuff coming out, looking forward

(59:35):
to that. But of course,Gus, we'll have screen the screen or
heavy during that entire month as well. Ah yeah, that sounds like a
great idea. We'll try to getsome nice guests that are going to be
intelligent, thoughtful and unique as welead into February and lead to our favorite
time of the year in March.And thank you so much for joining and
be letting us be part of yourcollege basketball lineup and informational you know,

(01:00:00):
ilog, So thank you so muchfor tuning into us and giving us a
shot and letting us keep your companyon a commute here or there, or
maybe with some chores or maybe thisweekend, what's you're shoveling? Who knows?
If you like we're listening to,please, kindness is cool. Give
the podcast to follow at s thes Podcast Efficiency of Keystrokes. Of course,
give mica follow over at Randall Rant. If you like where you're listening

(01:00:21):
to, don't be afraid to leavea kind, nice review on your podcast
Vehicle podcast Consumption, vehicle of choice. Uh. Kindness is always cool and
thank you. Cheers Silantralzia