So Ryan asked me to intro the show today, more than happy to do so. Not my first rodeo. Uh So, our little peak behind the curtain here as to what our recording schedule was, because, Kay, you had the last tip of the night, which started on time, a minor miracle in and of itself, of the game even started
at eight thirty. Crazy, But we because it was an eight to thirty tip, you know, the game's not gonna get over till at least eight thirty or ten thirty or later in some cases, we were planning because of that. They won, they're gonna play again today, and by another minor miracle, they will play again today. But we were gonna record last night, and we were planning on as soon as it looks like Kansas is going to win,
we're just we're gonna go. Maybe we'll record the back half of the show first and then do the recap once the game's actually over, you know, do it a little out of order.
You know, we've done this before. This is not the first time. There's been many Kansas teams where they've been up fifteen early in the second half of their first Big twelve tournament game. And we said all right, let's pull the trigger. We'll preview the matchup, and then we'll go back later recap the game. I'll switch around the
order of the show, and you'll never know. The people listening will never know that we arrogantly started that podcast halfway through Kansas's game because we knew they were going to win.
Yes, there are mechanisms in place for this exact scenario, and Kansas goes up sixty one forty eight. I believe it was in Ryan and Cam and I are texting, Hey, let's go in about five ten minutes at most, and then you know, we get to that moment and we're like, okay, let's go, Probably about time to roll. And then UCF puts up three fingers in the air representing the amount of points they were scoring per shot and said, hold on, boys, wait a minute, and made it a game. And not
only that, took a lead. And so I sat in my living room with my laptop and Mike ready to go for about thirty minutes to see what was going to happen, and we mercifully decided to record at ten am the morning the next morning, which is where we
come to you now from. As ten am Thursday morning, as Ku has somehow escaped the UCF Nights in what was a truly remarkable basketball game, one that maybe should not have been as close as no as it was, and maybe a game that was so close that you could have had this podcast like six hours earlier, but not so much.
Yeah, that's exactly what happened. I had AirPods in when Kansas was up thirteen, ready to go, expecting Landon to call me and we start, and then a few minutes later, whenever they went up like seventy seven, seventy three, with four and a half minutes left, we were like, all right, it's later than we thought, but here's the final push.
And once again the air pods went in and as the three fingered salute that you just referenced went up again, and it was like, okay, nope, they had there were fourteen of those, by the way, on the night nights night man ahaha nights. Whatever pun intended. But the end result was still what we were expecting it to be,
which is a narrow, narrow victory over UCF. This is going to be a shorter than normal itp You'll still get your normal recap, but there really just isn't enough information in the other games segment to fill up a regular amount because many of the top twenty five teams have not played in their conference tournament yet. And then we'll preview Kansas and Arizona, second matchup in five days. This time it is from a quote unquote neutral site.
So a Landa, You're winning, your your perseverance, your the purple heart of ITP, whatever that award is. You are persevering through a allergy ridden, sore throat and early morning show to get the people the Kansas UCF Round three recap. You should be extremely proud of yourself. Take a bow.
Ser oh, I will, I will. That purple heart means just as much as the normal ones. Very very happy to be here. Thank you for the award. It means in a lot. It's an honor.
This is ITP. Good morning, I'm Ryan.
Excellent morning, I'm Landed Fields and Landon.
As you know, and as I've said on this podcast, this this is not my style. My wife works overnight. We are the stay up until three am on the off night's household. Ten am to me feels like this is before God gets up. So I don't know how you are just steam rolling through functioning. Cam has already been awake for hours like a normal person, going to the gym and doing work stuff and all that. I don't know how you psychos do this in your day to day life.
I mean, I've I've had an irregular schedule for a long time. I get up at about eight every morning, and currently I'm jobless, so I could technically get up whenever, and I still got up at eight today.
Yeah, that's that's insane. I haven't gotten up at eight o'clock in more than two years. That's true. That's a really true story.
You don't, actually I don't. I personally don't like sleeping in past like nine thirty or so. Like, it makes me makes me a little grumpy.
You feel like you waste the day, right, It all changes whenever your day like an oar, how sold? My day is basically yours, but just add five hours to everything. You may lunch out on the letting up.
Until two or three am. Pretty racy.
Yeah, I get that you eat lunch at eleven. Lunchtime in our house is between three and four, like dinner times around elevel. Everything just delayed. So I love these Kansas eight thirty nine o'clock games. These are cool. Bring these on. These are basically right after dinner sort of games. I work until about nine o'clock at night, so I come home and the Jayhawks are on. I think that's cool, and I got my wish because we're gonna get another one,
this one with Arizona. But first, let's recap Kansas and ucfay number six. They're six, right, number six, Kansas ninety eight, number fourteen fourteen, UCF ninety four in overtime. Okay, I'm sure we'll read the game story, but let's go ahead and answer the elephant in the room. Are we in
survive and advance mode? And the new new Testament Hawks are one to zero or our alarm bells going off all over the place that they needed overtime and ninety eight points to get past the third worst statistical team in the Big Twelve in the regular season.
I'm a big believer that two things can be true. I think two things can be true at the same time.
I think played well.
They did play well, and they shot the ball very well. In that typical k you didn't really defend well. But also, holy craft, UCF was not missing kind of fashion. Yeah, yeah, I think I think both is very much the answer. It is when in advance, especially when you've had the year that Kansas has had. By their standards, this is not a good year at all, so you'll take any
postseason win you get. At the same time, the fact that it took overtime in ninety eight points to get by UCF is not exactly what you're hoping for either.
I think that the glass half full perspective that I'm choosing to cling to is that is the second straight game where a matchup has been in doubt with about five to six minutes left. It's been about a coin flip game on the scoreboard, and we've seen them close it out. This is something that they struggled with all year. I know the last two matchups have come. One of them was at home. One of them was as good of an home venue as you can have without actually
being at home. So it's not like they're doing this in hostile road environments. But that's part of the draw. Kansas is going to play Arizona tonight in the Big Twelve Tournament, in a game that's currently a two point spread. It's projects to be very close, and Kansas should have a massive crowd advantage. That is part of it. It's not Allen Fieldhouse, but use those things to your advantage. But this is the second game in a row that we've seen them fight through some mistakes and find ways
to get it done. And that's what the Kansas teams of old would do. I'm a little concerned that you are scheduled to play as many as four games and four days if all goes as planned, and you put five extra minutes on some already very tired legs on the first night. The last night was the matchup where I think all of us were hoping that would be the game where Dickinson, Adams and Mayo would be resting
with six minutes left. And we've also on the show over the years talked about how rest is kind of overrated. These guys are in great shape. Forty minutes back to back days really isn't the huge ask that some people would think it is because they are in such great shape. But starting in overtime, whenever you are trying to make a run and play two, three, four games in as many days to raise your seed, that is a tough beginning, not an optimal start, I would say even if it is survive in advance.
Yeah, fully agree there for sure. Yeah, I don't know that the rest here will directly impact how they impact how they play.
But yeah, at the same time, surely didn't slow UCF down playing a second game in two days.
Yeah, absolutely not. But yeah, like you said, though, it would have been awesome if you could have just started a little rest early for Hunter and Duan and kJ and Z can just let those guys ride the bench. Maybe Dewan should have ridden the bench anyway, I don't know.
Like the more I think about that now that I've said that out loud, like, are we feeling differently about the matchup with Arizona if Hunter Dickinson plays thirty one minutes instead of forty?
Like?
Is that making us say, like, who, who's rested? You're ready to go? I don't know. The more I think no, But what.
It implies is that they handled UCF and then play when UCF comemfortably I think makes you feel better about the matchup tonight against Arizona.
But they did not handle UCF comfortably because they picked a great time to instead play their wildest game in recent memory. That game was fun, not looking it was a lot of fun shot making uh and and two and also throw in the element of two. Very unserious in a lot of ways, basketball teams that just could not stop shooting each other in the foot and themselves
for that matter. UCF shoots the ball like the feistiest eleven seed we've ever seen in the tournament, and they turn it over like a fourth grade wreck team at the YMCA does.
Like.
There were so many moments.
Where that cost them arguably the game.
It absolutely cost them the game. Yes, when UCF had all of the momentum at one point, looking to build off of what was already a three point lead, Keishawn Hall in the midst of a brilliant I just flat out chucks the ball at his coach on the sideline. It's like, what are you doing?
There is one in transition to that I think would have tied the game or taken the lead for UCF. Yep.
Yeah, And the color commentators, I think King McClure was the was the one who he was losing his mind watching UCF be so careless with the ball. And then on the other end you had kJ Adams step on the line with three seconds left and just it was it was a very unserious game.
I tried Dwan Harris's senior year. It was an ode to him in the Natty a few years ago.
You know, yep. Yeah, it was in the in the worst possible moments, stepping on the line and giving away a possession, and much like that game, it didn't ultimately doom his team. I tried to write all sorts of a game story so you can tell me what happened. It's it's kind of a mess. This little blurb is getting longer and longer by the game, just because I don't know how to summarize this in less than like two hundred words.
Yeah, I mean I did. We did kind of loosely touch on a lot of this that the Kansas they led sixty one forty eight. It was. It was a pretty back and forth close game the whole night. KU does take a thirteen point lead with thirteen minutes left. It looked like, oh yeah, here we go. Time to
close this out. And then as I said, everyone on you u s you have held up three fingers simultaneously indicating what was about to happen, and they made a lot of shots, they rowed back, they took their first lead to the game with a fourteen oher run, which, as we've talked about to some extent, the last fifteen minutes of this game were kind of insane. Neither team
could pull away from each other. KU led by three with twenty seconds left before allowing a game tying make with I think like fourteen seconds on the clock, and then after dodging a bullet following another turnover on their final possession of regulation, they finally put away fourteenth best team in the Big Twelve in overtime, a team they beat by fifty one points earlier in the season. Mind you, that is on the road, ye. And also I can't is it Musa Musa Chiam or something like that his
last names JOm. Yeah, missed a floater that like, I've hit in games before and I'm not that tall.
That would have all night. He misses that shot.
Yeah, Yeah, he was very good in the game.
He's nasty player.
Yeah misses. The most crucial of them result was a four point overtime win. They gets them into the quarterfinal round of the Big Twelve and a date with Arizona yet again.
So if you're doing math here, Kansas beat UCF three times by combining fifty nine points this year, which if you had been told at the be end of the year, you would have said, yep, that makes sense. They probably stepped on them. Allen beat them my double digits in Orlando and had a nice, comfortable win in the Big twelve tournament, and that is not what happened, because they beat them by fifty one, four and four in those three games. The fifty one point game, I believe, was
the day of the blizzard. Here in Kansas City, where our other are. Our only other option was watching Carson Wentz put up zero points against the Broncos at the same time.
Which I did. At the same time, I had KUUCF on my laptop while Chiefs Broncos was I was watching with the roommates on the TV.
That's amazing that you didn't give up on Chiefs Broncos after like a quarter. I watched two drives of Carson Wentz and said, nope, I think this is funny enough. Jayhawks are are getting the focus. And I also wound up missing some of that game because I was shoveling to three feet not really but a lot of snow that was on our driveway at the time.
It wasn't not three feet.
It was it was plenty. It was at least one foot. Bill self now has a winning record against Johnny Dawkins.
That's cool.
Uh, It's ok. He went from zero to two to three and two real fast. It's like Johnny Dawkins is like one of those pitchers that has a guy on the ropes and then ope, he suddenly lost command of the zone and now it's three to two. What is he doing?
Which is also kind of a metaphor for what happened in this game.
Yeah, yeah, really everybody lost control of everything. It was. It was a very entertaining basketball game though, Like you know, that's one of those things that like I saw KU fans just being miserable, all caps rage, unhappy, talking about how this is the worst team in forty years, stuff like that. If you watched last night's game and you weren't having fun, then sports just might not be your thing. Sometimes.
In your case, as a Kansas fan, almost all of the time, relative to other teams fan bases, your team wins. That was an entertaining game with almost two hundred points, and all year the complaint has been about how bad Kansas's offense is. Look, they can never buy a basket, they can never look good and organized. Well, then they go score ninety eight and Twitter still stumps through it because of other things like that was a fun game. It's a fun time of year. If you're not having
fun watching that sort of game. That's not to say that there's not frustrating moments that you can't throw your hands up in the airbelt. But overall, that was as fun of a game as Kansas has played in quite a while.
Oh, fully agree that game was remarkably fun to watch. And I know, you know, we have grown. We're not neutral by any stretch, we're Kansas fans, but we've ticked slightly toward neutral over the last few years. So we watched maybe a little more objectively quote unquote, not that there's anything wrong with watching subjects.
Definitely hanging on every shot like it like it's going to decide the fate of how good our day is. Less than we used to. Not to say that's that other people that really are completely emotionally invested are doing it. Give me a fan however you want to be a fan, But I just don't understand how watching that game, at the end of it, you thought, Man, that sucked. Let's never do that again, because that seemed to be what people said on Twitter, and I don't get it.
Yeah, and especially with the season KU's had, Yeah, I think it'd make a lot of sense to enjoy a really fun, up and down, fast paced basketball game where the ball was going in the basket pretty endlessly.
Do you know the last time Kansas won an overtime game? That's their first overtime win since what.
The last one that comes to mind is the Texas tech Ochia Bajie game.
Or d are there are two since then? There is one later that year and one very early the next year. Those are the two.
What was the one very early the next season?
That's gonna be a very very hard one for you to remember because I had forgotten about it and it is a random game. So they beat Texas in overtime on ABAJI and David McCormick's today.
Is it the Wisconsin That's Atlantis game?
That's it. That's the last time they wanted overtime the Bobby Pettiford, Yes, yes, on Thanksgiving morning at like ten thirty. That is that is the last time they won an overtime since then. Two overtime games, both losses, both at Bramwoch.
Wow.
So they haven't won an overtime in a while. And they used to be just a automatic freight train whenever you gave Bill self five extra minutes or in the Texas Tech game that that brilliant game ten extra minutes. Yeah, it's been it's been quite a while. I did not expect us to lead off with AJ Store, but I think we're gonna lead off with aj Storre.
Yeah after Yeah, it was brilliant.
It was brilliant. Biggest storyline from this game was Store going off for a random nineteen points on seven four eleven shooting. He was three for five from three. That makes him four for six from two. He played twenty seven minutes. That is the most he's played in a game all year. He did foul out in overtime. Because as all things go with AJ Store, there are still negatives. Uh,
A lot of people are calling him Malik Store. Some people are also calling him remy Store or are we just are we tapping the brakes there and saying that this is just another fluky outing. I'm very curious what your thoughts here are because I think you've been the most pessimistic on Store. We both agreed after the Arizona a little four minute stint in the last game he should not play unless Kansas doesn't have enough bodies. But
then he goes out and plays. He looks great, he looks competent, he looks faster, He plays a big game, and I can't believe I'm saying this. Kansas loses this game, potentially comfortably if aj Store doesn't hit at least double digits.
You are correct. Look, I'm only a man. I can only control my thoughts so much. When I saw aj Storre hit his third three of the night, did I think this is just like Malik Newman Remy did this once. Yeah, of course I thought that, And that would be insane if that becomes the case. I think though, the thing would be is that those two guys led their teams to Big twelve championships in the tournament, and they both went to a final four, and the obviously Remy's case,
they won. So yeah, if Agstore continues to do this and he averages like fifteen a game for the next like seven games and to like Annalyite eight or final four appearance or something, then yeah, absolutely that's h's that's a third guy in your wheelhouse of guys that were not really anything until Game one of the Big Twelve tournament and then they became the best player on the team in a lot of ways. So we'll see a lot of way to go. Ajus Store has had a
couple games where he has a good this year. They've been few and far between. I'm more inclined to think it's that, but I hope not. I hope he's brilliant. If he's really really good tonight, then yeah, I think I think Malik's Store remy Store watches is fully on.
If he's great again, I don't have a lot of confidence it will happen, because a lot of it still felt fluky. He's you know, he's shot twenty three percent on threes all year in conference play, and then he made three of them in one game, and to be fair, they were all nothing but net. It's not like he was getting crazy lucky roles or anything. He had a great game, had a couple transition buckets, which has worked.
I think Kansas probably needs him most. That's what we thought he'd be the best on the team at is scoring downhill, but he played really well. If I don't know, if you remember last year in the Big Ten Tournament, he was a stud That entire run for Wisconsin scored sixteen, thirty, twenty and twenty four in Wisconsin's four games last Big Ten Tournament. So he has come alive on the stage
before and overall. It was from a human from a humanity perspective watching the locker room interview, seeing him smile and seeing his teammates pumping him up and saying I think it was David Quoit that said we saw yesterday in practice he played like a killer. We knew that he was going to play like this. He's had a frustrating I can't even imagine how frustrated he must be about how his season has gone. It was great to see him smile and play a game like this after
putting in all the work all year. Yeah, it'd be great. I'm with you, though, He's got to play a couple more games like this in March to really get on that. Oh. This really is the third piece of that trifecta that is Newman and and and Remy and what people forget Remy Martin wasn't twenty points a game every game of the NCAA's Remy made one shot against Villanova in the Final four, and Remy I believe, only had like six
or eight points in the Miami game. Like you just remember, he came alive when they needed him in the Creighton, in the UNC and the Prominence games. If aj storre comes alive and.
He had he had a very good Big twelve tournament.
He did. He had a killer Big twelve tournament, especially in that Texas Tech game to win it. But yes, if he comes alive and rescues them when they need him to multiple times, which he did in this game, undoubtedly Kansas gets off to a great start, they blow the lead, they need a spark, and suddenly Store is the guy playing the clutch overtime minutes. Because in one game he's earned himself into bill selves trust circle. That's the that's the way to go. It was good to see.
I don't think quick quick note here, which I do think is good little forgotten. I kind of thought this was the case. I made sure to double check. Malik Newman still averaged like thirteen points a game in conference play.
Yes he was.
He was like a trash can or anything. He was just frustrating.
He was, he was, He was horrendous in non conference that year, and then started to play a lot better around the game five or six mark of the Big twelve season and then went nuclear in March. Yes, you're right, and Remy was completely invisible in all of conference play until the league title. The league tournament started, and obviously Store had the TCU game and that is it. And yes, I don't think the threes are super sustainable. That's not
what I'm looking for, Stuart. If you're counting on him making three threes a night to be productive, that's not gonna happen. What Kansas needs, especially gainst Arizona another game that projects to be pretty high scoring, two good offenses. They need to get Store a couple of baskets at
the rim. If he can provide that six to ten points mostly coming from the rim drop Fouler two, that is what Kansas needs the most, especially with kJ and Hunter on presumably quite tired legs and Zeke Mayo being brilliant but not giving you anything at the rem Yeah.
Correct, Yeah, it was. It was awesome to see aj actually put one together. Hey, hopefully he continues.
It was surprising to see Store play well. Certainly not as surprising to see Hunter Dickinson play well. His tear since the Utah trip continued. And I thought it was really impressive for Dickinson in this game, considering how well UCF did in the first half throwing double teams at him. They frustrated him, and then he came out and found another way to impact the game, and that got everything unlocked for him going forth.
Yeah, I think he was one for six in the first half. It was bad, it was really bad, three points, and then he figured it out in the second half. He finished with twenty three points, thirteen rebounds, three assists, a couple steals in a career high thirty nine minutes, nine and eighteen from the floor. So started one for six finishes.
What is that?
Eight for twelve really good? With three threes and three for four from behind the arc. That's a very This normally happens against Kansas moment when when the white center, who is like a twenty five percent three point shooters, baries three. We've seen Dickinson do this before, but it has been a long time. He's certainly been anything but consistent behind the arc, but he made three in this game. He made four in all of conference.
Play, as he was so thing that would happen to Kansas, though the white twenty five year old seven foot center doing that is is yeah, that's true. That's so Kansas.
It hurts. Flora Badunga also had a good first half. He had six and six in eleven minutes, but Dicketson carried Kansas in the big moments. He made a lot of big shots for once, the I am well endowed made a lot of sense for the first time in a minute because he showed off his gigantic balls many times.
And the whole really, the whole bench backed it up. The whole bench was like, yep, he sure does.
I missed that? They did? They all do it?
Oh yeah, at least aj Store and Rickie's pass more we were We're doing the exact same gesture after Dickinson made a three, So it must be his stick. But since the Utah trip, Dickinson had sixteen and eleven and twenty one minutes against Oklahoma State, the thirty two and thirteen against Colorado, eighteen and nine against Tech, seventeen and twelve in a physical slug fest against Houston, then goes for thirty three and ten against Arizona on Senior Day
and then the UCF game. As you said, clearly, UCF's defensive strategy was any time that he is not just has the ball, but is getting ready to be thrown the ball, they slam him with two bodies and make him pass out of it. And to his credit, he did. He had a couple of great passes to kJ who would have had a dunk and he couldn't handle it because that's just not a situation that Ku super used to running this year. And then Dickinson, the guy who hasn't made threes all year, he needed to make those
to open up the floor. He did, and that opened up the paint a lot more for him to go to work in the second half. Truly, just a fantastic last few weeks for him. Kansas would be completely totally and entirely boned if it wasn't for him, And I've noticed that the noise on Twitter about him being soft about all that has silenced quite a bit. It'd also be nice if he got a good whistle. No one
got a good whistle in this game. The refs were the refs, but Dickenson probably could be on the free throw line six to eight more times a game than he is, just because rests are like, oh, that's probably a foul, but you know what, he's taller than everybody else, so we'll just call it even.
Yeah, I mean there always has been a little bit of that, but yeah, fully concur on the post Utah Hunter, Dickinson has been absolutely brilliant. He's playing with a lot of a lot of energy. As much as we've hated to use that word specifically for various reasons, but he has, he really has, and he has shown a different level of fight and tenacity he's always kind of had, but he's really let it kind of fly in the last
few games. And it also helps when you're averaging like whatever he is, and he's had you know, two thirty point games and you know, twenty three thirteen and three assists and three for four from three in the Big twelve tournament opener.
So I mean, just so taken for granted, I think such a he's a twenty and ten every night guy. He really is. He's a twenty and ten guy more nights than he's not. And this game was awesome because he found so many other ways to impact the game. Besides just his typical hook shot, and it opened the door for the threes because Kay made twelve of them. When Dickinson started to make them, suddenly everything became open and the basket became the size of a hula hoop
for some of these guys. We saw Zeke Mayo have a great night. David Kit made the one that really made the crowd pop, and AJ Store was good too. They were twelve for twenty seven from three. That's forty four percent. The other hand of this equation, as UCF was fourteen to thirty three, which is forty two percent. Both teams shot the ball very well. Are we just
kind of calling this a wash out? Both teams made shots in a in a building where it seems like, more often than not, Kansas does not make shots.
Uh yeah, I'd be more inclined to just say that two you just two really hot teams. There were some defensive falling asleeps. I mean there always are, and UCF has been an absolutely abominable defensive team all season. They've given up huge numbers all conference play. Yeah, I mean, Kansas has had some weird perimeter defense all year. And AJ Store, for as good as he was, You could see him completely lose guys on the perimeter more than once.
It did happen, So I mean it happens, it happens, But yeah, I think for the most part, these were two teams that were just feeling on both ends, and you could tell.
And Zeke Mayo was feeling it from the start too. He hit the two early threes and played very strong throughout the game. He led Kansas with twenty four points on just eleven shots, which is super super efficient. Six for eleven from the floor, five for seven from three feels like Zeke Mayo is five for seven from three every other game at this point. He also had the other nights correct, Yeah, it's one of the other. He also had eight rebounds and was seven for eight at
the free throw line. A very complete game, Zeke, minus the not putting his hands up in Jordan Ivy Curry's face whenever he's launching a game tying three in the closing seconds. Considering that Ryland Griffin and David Quit combined to score five points in thirty four minutes and we're one for ten from the floor, Griffin was especially horrific. Mayo shot making was critical. We don't really have anything
to say about Zeke, I don't think. Just continues to make shots now at forty one percent on the year from three and almost forty four percent against Big twelve opponents. Griffin's been pretty disappointing. Dude's made like twenty five percent of his shots in the last month of the season. Like it's a really really big sample size that he hasn't made anything and he's getting open looks. As long as either Mayo or Griffin is making shots, I think
Kansas is okay. But when Griffin's gonna go oh four, Zeke has to go five for seven in this case, he did. I don't know if he can do it every night.
Yeah, I mean, it's it's a nice start to see him, you know, leave the confines of allen Field House too, you know, not allen Field House but the next closest thing you're gonna get for Kansas. But nonetheless, like you know, leaves the building where he's shot well, really only building where he's shot well this year consistently, And he left and he had an absolutely crazy night from Beyond the Arc. So that's good and it's encouraging if you're looking for
signs for the future. For the Jayhawks. Can they make a run, can they knock some people off? If Zeke Mao can can be an elite shooter in neutral courts, then yeah, they absolutely can because they can score a lot of points. If he's scoring a lot of points, yeah, he was really really good and his ability to get to the free throw line again is crucial. I think that's something that he should try to do more. Try
to drive to the cup a little bit. I know he's been very not that good from inside the arc, but I would still if I was Zeke Mayo and I was Bill Self, I would continue to try to tell Zeke, hey, try to draw some contact inside, take the ball to the cup. You can do that. Try to try to get your way to the free throw line, because he's a very good free throw shooter.
We were on that from the start. We said Bill self went out and he got himself some really good free throw shooters. This year and the transfer portal, headlined by Zeke Mayo and kJ Adams, has been a lot better than he was last year. He was really the only weak free throw shooter on amongst the attorneys and the free throw's Kansas was nails at the free throw line,
closing this out like they made. I think they only missed the one shot and that was the Mayo which could have set up the TM game tying floater, but it didn't hurt him. So really really good at the free throw line on a court where you know, let's talk about the court here because watch Okay. My question was what did you think of the court? And that's your answer. It's a Louis Vuitton bag. It's an abomination.
It's a Louis Vuitton bag is a really good comp I don't think I've heard that yet. It's really really bad. How did it make it through like what must have been five or six or seven levels of boards and committees and approval and all this kind of stuff to get on to the T Mobile Center, Like what happened here?
I want to know what it looks like in person, because we were on the road this week, so I watched some of the first round games on an iPad screen and it didn't look that bad. My thought was, Oh, this really isn't as bad as people were making it sound. And then yesterday we get home and I I turned on the TV, and the bigger the screen, the worst it looks like the case eight Paler game was horrible. Uh, it just blends into the team wearing the white jerseys.
It literally blends in with their with the font on their jerseys. Like it took my eyes adjusting to do, uh to get Kansas's cursive font, you know, the the and also UCF has it going on with the uniforms. The name on the back of the jersey is nice and big. That was very helpful. Kansas is was not. And the XII x I I x i I all over the place. Yeah, that was That was terrible.
I also myself just staring at x I I x I I x I I because I'm so baffled by it all the time that I'm like actively just looking at that rather than actually watching basketball occasionally.
Yeah, it's terrible, and I predict it's it's not a thing we see next year.
I agree, it better not be.
It's really bad. Something we will not see next year is kJ Adams, even though he's been playing well, So I'm not sure that's a bad thing. I believe we have the only two guys we still have left to talk about are kJ In the one. As fate would have it, kJ was much better than to one.
In this case he was kJ finished with fifteen points, seven rebounds, and five assists, three steals, three blocks in a team high and career high forty minutes. He was six for eleven from the floor. He did also step on the line in what was a tie game with three seconds left after Bill Selp drew up a play the play of the game for him. But hey, you can't have it all. But caj Adams continues to be both the guy that does the little things and the
guy that does the big things very very well. Also, since the Utah trip, he has been unabashadly brilliant and that's what he was here.
Yes, yes, continue to get and I you know what, I'll wear him at this point. Every time kJ plays well, people tweet at Rock Chalk Blog and say, hey, you dogged him all year. I will continue to bang the drum that this is a very different player. He's scoring thirteen to fifteen points a night. It feels like which is if we've always said kJ has to rebound or
score in recent memory, he's doing both. And look how much better Kansas has been there four and two in their last six games, with narrow losses to the two best in the conference being the two else they've been so much better, and it starts with kJ. I will make an amendment to my original note there that says Bill self drop up the final play of the game
for him, which he has done before. He said after the game that this was a play that was supposed to go to Hunter, but he was double teamed and they left kJ and isolation, so he took it and the guards couldn't get open. I think that was much more of a our guards can't get open than it was. Bill self said, Hey, guys, make sure that kJ and kJ alone touches this ball. But you kind of saw that coming, didn't you. Whenever you saw kJ creeping towards the basket, you figured it was either gonna be a
step on the line or a block shot. Like I didn't have a lot of confidence, so that.
Was We definitely have seen block shot more than once.
So right, But he was really good, and there were several examples in this game where you saw he's always been the energy guy. He's always been the energy guy. The difference is in the most recent few games, his energy producing plays are resulting in points on the scoreboard. A big dunk that gets everybody all amped up and forces a timeout right the dive on the play on the floor for a loose ball that forces a and you don't get possession. That's great, that wins Bill seals hearts.
But that's the sort of places he was making before. And now it's a big rebound that leads to a fast break, a big tip out. We saw that a couple of times where he used his athleticism, his vertical to jump above everybody else and tip the ball back to save a possession for Kansas or a couple of buckets. Those are the energy plays that we're seeing now from kJ They're putting points and rebounds in the score book, and that's why it feels like he's been so much
more impactful. He's averaged fourteen points a game whenever he used to average eight all season. Six more points a game goes a long long way for an offense that just needs a little bit extra help. He's been brilliant, truly.
Yeah, I don't really have too much to add to that. He's been sensational. It would have been awesome to have this guy all season. Someone argue that you have, I would disagree, but he has been completely brilliant. And yeah, he's putting the ball in the basket. He's getting big offensive rebounds, he's getting huge defensive rebounds like you know, and also that you're gonna add five assists, three steals, and three blocks like you can play on any team
in the country. Man like he's been. Yeah, he's been that good in the last month or so.
He cannot shoot. And in order to play this many minutes and not hold your team back, you have to be able to contribute in other ways, scoring and rebounding the ball. You have to draw fouls, which I believe kJ has done better than anyone on the team in the last few weeks. That's something he never used to do. He's drawing contact and scoring at the line. It feels like he's the first one into that seven to ten
points range for Kansas more nights than not. He's beginning the games with energy, which I know the last couple of years have had a problem getting off two slow starts. kJ has helped prevent that quite a bit recently. Yeah, he is doing the things that don't show up in the stat book per se, but they also kind of are now and that's the difference the last player we haven't talked about. Dewan Harris had the worst night of probably of any of the major players for Kansas.
Here.
Six points and seven assists is good, five rebounds is also fine. Four turnovers and five foul is not. In thirty six minutes, I thought Kansas looked a lot fasterter after he was forced to sit. He was just two for eight from the floor. Several painful turnovers, trying to force feed the post in moments wherever you really did not want to turnover. I believe twelve of Kansas's sixteen turnovers came in the second half in overtime in this game. It really didn't start off as a turnover fest, but
man was that second half for rough at times. Wait until Bill self learns that he does not, by rule, have to play Dewan Harris every second that he's allowed to play him.
I think he's going to learn that in about November of this year. Yeah.
Yeah, And look, Dawan is fine. He's he's We just saw him have a nine point nine assist, one turnover game against Zona a week ago, and so whenever he plays well, Kansas is really good. But whenever he's not, he's kind of like kJ in the sense that if he's making the mistakes, he doesn't typically make a lot of mistakes. But whenever he makes mistakes, he doesn't usually make up for it with enough big plays where you notice it. He's not going to score you those nineteen
points to offset his four turnovers. That's what kJ has done recently, and that's what Jwan has not. And the downside is you really don't have anybody who can run the point. Diggie Quoite really cannot run the show. He's not a true facilitating point guard. And Zeke Mayo you obviously don't want being the primary point guard. You want him in catch and shoot opportunities. So I don't think they have much of a choice. A lot of the time they have to ride or die with the one.
More often than not, you're gonna ride and it's gonna work out fine. But there are moments like this wherever it's he was really hurting him in a lot of ways in the second half, which.
Is weird for a guy that still had six, seven and five Like that is all totally fine, but yeah, it really is the like it's what it always is. It's the two for eight. It's either not looking to score or just kind of inability. Again, in this game, that doesn't show up so much because mostly everyone else was able to score at least the guys that you needed to score did and then you got also a brilliant night from aj Store, and so it's a wash.
But most nights it hasn't been that. And again I agree with you, I don't know how much you can count on aj Store going for you know, eighteen a game here in the Big twelfth Tournament and going forward, I find that to be rather unlikely. So you still need something from Dewan Harris and hey, seven assists, you'll take it every night. But I still think it's gotta be a lot better than two for eight.
I'm trying to figure out what I think of UCF, and part of me watches them and cannot believe that they are not one of the fifteen best teams in the country with how they shoot the ball, with how fast they play. They have two absolute wagons on that team. Keyshawn Hall was the second leading scorer in the conference, and then they also have Darius Johnson who averaged like what did he average? He averaged like sixteen a night too,
didn't he like both of these. Yeah, he averaged seventeen points a game, like they have and Ivy Curry is one of the best shooters in the conference. And then they have a seven foot two hybrid free who can make threes. Like they have a really good roster in a lot of ways, and they just cannot stop shooting the ball over and they're horrendous on the defensive end.
Like they feel like a team that they finished one game better than Kansas State overall, and the eye test, they are so so, so so much better than Kansas State. I don't know how this team lost sixteen games.
Well, it's mostly because they give up about eighty points a night.
They don't defend, and as Kansas hung what ninety nine, ninety eight, and ninety one on them?
Yeah, the elite offensive team Kansas, right, Yeah, And I.
Would guess those are Kansas's three best offensive games of the year if you don't count, like Howard, I don't know, Like, no, they very well might be. That are those the only three times KU has hit ninety Let's take a look real fast. We have this thing called the internet. K you scored ninety two against North Carolina, so they've hit ninety four times this.
Year, three of them again North Carolina, right.
Probably missing the tournament unless they've won multiple times by the time you've listened to this podcast. North Carolina, Kansas forty five percent from the floor, forty four percent from three, seventy eight percent the line, plus nine on the glass and sixteen turnovers. All of that was good until that part and landon you and I normally stopped the recording
to break this show up into two segments. I'm saying we just ride right through with it today because whenever it's just a two man show, it's much easier to sync up all that audio. And I don't think the rest of the podcast is going to take very long.
Hey, let's do it. What could go wrong?
Let's roll right into Big twelve games. So Big twelve games, we really just have the three to recap here. The first day of the Big twelve Tournament resulted in Oklahoma State mercifully dying, TCU hilariously laying down and losing to Colorado. And then what Arizona State got dispatched quickly by Kansas State because Bobby Hurley is the is just really bad.
Did you know that Bobby Hurley has never won an NCAA tournament game at Arizona State, and that he has one winning season, not just conference playing, one winning overall season since COVID.
Oh, that's bad. That's like get fired tomorrow bad.
Right, It's it's horrendous. And they keep bringing him back simply because he is one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, and he's a name and he's a character, but he's a horrible basketball coach. Like Patrick Cowing was a great basketball player, doesn't mean you have to keep him as a coach forever and ever and always.
Not even Georgetown knew that.
Which Georgetown. Georgetown's had a really sad week for a couple of different reasons. We'll touch on that. And then yeah, then there was UCF beating Utah and what was a close game. So we were in a Southwest Oklahoma casino, Southeast I'm on the other end of the state, Southeast Oklahoma casino, and I watched the first half after we had gotten there. We're driving back from Louisiana to Kansas City, so we stopped there for the night. I watched the first half of Utah UCF. I'm like, oh, this is
pretty good. We got out of the casino for a little bit, and I come back up an hour later and UCF has beaten them by like fifteen points. So that all the Utah revenge hype for Kansas that died hard.
But hey, we'll take ninety eight for the third time against UCF.
And the Utah game would have been probably about a similar scoring window, but it would have been each team had twenty five less points, so it would have been much worse. Enjoy this one, all right. Here is the Big Twelve Wednesday games, beginning with number five Iowa State seventy six Cincinnati fifty six Land. And you'll have to sit down before I tell you this. Iowa State played well in Kansas City.
Whoa, whoa. I have in fact seen that every year of my life pretty much, except for that one year where they had three total wins.
The Cyclones two wins, sir, they were two and twenty.
I am sorry. I did add thirty three percent of their wins to the Cyclones. They are now twenty one and three against the spread in their last twenty four Big Twelve Tournament games. Just in case he wanted to win free money in this tournament, Cam Joshua Jefferson. He scored nineteen points, but tam and Lipsey tweaked his groin and is questionable for Thursday versus BYU, which is about to tip for us hearing about forty minutes. Is it eleven or eleven thirty? Tip?
It's eleven thirty.
Yeah.
In this podcast, you'll probably be able to download this rider around the time that game starts. Iowa State's a wagon in the Big twelve. I know BYUS the hottest team in this tournament. I think you're crazy if you put United States currency against Iowa State winning in this tournament. But there is somebody who's typically on this podcast that does pretty crazy things with the United States currency, So I'm sure he's riding or dying with BYU. It would not surprise me.
Big Trevin Nel Guy cam.
Is number sixteen, Colorado sixty seven, number eight West Virginia sixty wouldn't we that the what if the Buffaloes win the Big twelve tournament scenario is forty percent of the way to fruition.
And all they have to do next is beat Houston.
Yeah, as which exactly one count them one Big twelve team has done since President's Day of last year.
I count them one points.
Yeah, yeah in overtime. Yeah, pretty wild.
The Buffs they forced fifteen Mountain your turnovers. They earned the right to get tea bagged by Houston here later this afternoon. Ran right, But hey, Colorado, you get wins over TCU, you get wins over West Virginia. West Virginia, kick them out, man, you can't lose the sixteen seed Colorado in your first tournament game, and like, hold your head high going into March.
So they are a ten seed right now per Joe Lonardi. And they're a ten seed on a couple of the other brackets I've seen. I think Bracket Matrix had them as a high ten seed. But every year we see a team that enters champ Week around that low nine high ten mark. They lose really early to a team they have no business losing to on paper in a conference tournament, and they get past. Oklahoma won last night, so did Texas. There's two bubble teams. What if North Carolina beats do here in a couple.
Of days, right, what if North Carolina wins today?
Correct? Yes, then what happens. I'm gonna say, I don't need West Virginia in the tournament. I'm way more interested in seeing teams that are playing better late in the year. And West virgin Jinia in their last fifteen games is six and nine. Like, this isn't a team I need to see enter and then get baptized by seven seed you know whoever in their first Yeah, well that's because that way because Kansas v. Westn Virginia went so well earlier this year. I don't need West Virginia in the dance.
I don't And like Tad Boyle Kansas Sky they start oh in thirteen, that's the markings of a coach that I think they've had a horrible year. But whenever you have you go from oh to thirteen and you go three and four in your last few games, and then you win a couple in kansasity winning record Colorado in their last nine games, Clearly those guys are still playing hard for their coach. That's the guy I wouldn't mind bringing back, as opposed to Bobby Hurley, who.
Know, yeah, I would agree. And then lastly, here uh North seven, Baylor seventy number ten, K State fifty six as K State's season mercifully ends nineteen for VJ. Edgecombe, another eighteen for Jade none beiloted by seventeen and a half. Never really particularly interesting case State. They finished sixteen and seventeen in year three of Jerome Tang in year three and probably hopefully should be the final year of Jerome Tang. Ryan, you want to talk about Cam's bet slip.
Yes, let's talk about Cam's bettslip. Speaking of money, Jerome Tang has eighteen million reasons why he will be the basketball coach at Kansas State next year. And that's pretty crazy because if Kansas State can fork over two million bucks for Coleman Hawkins to score six points against Baylor in the season ending loss, I don't know, they might be able to come up with a few more mills to get Jerome Tang out of there because he is awful.
You get all those veterinarians and farmers to pony up, so here is here. It is camps and farmers, no shade.
We do, absolutely we do. I don't know if they can pony up the money for Jerome Tang to get a different coach, because don't know who they're getting that it's necessarily much better, But I know it's not. I know Jerome Tang's not your answer. This team was too talented to be this bad. So Cam, I really didn't get that to give this the attention it deserved because I was in the car so much this week. But Cam sends Landon and I the daily Cam's bet slip
and this comes through on Wednesday morning. No, it was Tuesday morning, and so here are here are Cam's picks on Tuesday. Do you know what I'm talking about? Let me see if I can pull up this.
Text, because it is so I usually mostly ignore them.
Oh no, see, I am. I am glued to them because they are just so what do you mean, how are you not glued to them? They are fantastic? Here it is here, it is here, it is so. This text comes in at eight to eleven in the morning on Tuesday, Cam's getting ready for the first day of Champ Week. Cam bets on Kansas State minus five and a half against Arizona State. They win by four. Cam bets on TCU minus one and a half to beat to beat Colorado. They lose straight up.
In fairness to him, that was the correct bet. And I don't know.
Tc literally lost to that same team like three days prior, but point taken. They were better. Yes, Cam bets on Utah minus two and a half to beat UCF. They lose straight up. Cam bets on Oklahoma State plus six and a half against Cincinnati they lose by twenty. And Cam bets on underdog Saint Mary's who will talk about plus three and a half against Gonzaga. They lose straight up and by nine or whatever. It is hard to
go five and oh and pick them. It's harder to go oh and five because you should theoretically have an advantage picking better basketball teams. When you go oh and five, whenever you take five swings and you miss five times, it is really really hard to do. And that's why sports betting is tough. Sad scenes for Cam's betslip.
Well, at least he will definitely learn his lesson and not bet on all of the ACC games today.
I can't wait to hear how he talks about. Okay, guys, I bet on Duke all Spread minus twenty eight against Wake Forest and they win twenty five. It's like, Cam, why did you touch that game?
I really think Stanford Cal is something going on today.
That's that's the You gotta love Cam. Without Cam, the shows definitely have less degenerate energy.
Oh today today is way too normal and button plus Ryan and I are both in weird circumstances where his wife is sleeping and I have a slightly sore throat, so, like you know, it's a little more muted even than normal without CAM.
But maybe these other games will fire us up, because in other games in the SEC, I was driving through parts of Arkansas and we got to a sports bar for lunch, and Arkansas was blowing the doors off of lowly South Carolina. They were up like eighteen at halftime, and then I checked the score at a gas station about an hour later, and they are holding on for
dear life. Up too late in a lose this and you are definitely missing the tournament game, John Cala Perry, did you see what happened when the kid intentionally missed the free throw up three? And so our saw's up three with like two seconds left, and the free throw shooter can he makes his first one, they're up three. He obviously makes the second one, and you go up four. In the games over, he misses it on purpose, and everybody on Arkansas looks confused, like, why the hell did
you miss that? And Cali Perry after the game, said oh, yeah, I told him to do that, and they were like, well why, and he's like, well, you know, you just the odds of making the shot or so it was. It was pretty clear it's Covin for his kid. But if that doesn't sum up Arkansas not knowing what to do in clutch moments, uh, they survived South Carolina Cam may or may not been speaking of Cam's betting interest.
He was a little disappointed that they did not win by more than just two points or maybe it was four in the end, whatever it was. I know, I know it was not enough for Cam. Don't don't know why Arkansas did get this done. But man like they're they're gonna be put in someone's bracket on Selection Sunday and freaking Clark Kellogg is gonna say that this is a nasty sleeper team that no one wants to draw
on the selection show, and they don't. They're going to lose in the first round to a mid major when they have eighty five percent of the brackets picking them till we get out of that game.
That yes, correct, That feels they extremely right.
So disappointing. Also in that tournament, Texas beat Vanderbilt. They are still probably on the outside looking in, but this helps they get a great shot at A and M tonight. That would really help Mississippi State, Claubard horrible LSU and Oklahoma suddenly winning winners of third in a row. I know it's very disappointing because they are very likely going to get in the dance now thanks to their non conference strength of schedule. But they beat Georgia, They've won
three in a row. Porter Mos, you're coming up clutch, maybe on the verge of his first NCAA berth at Ou.
In the ACC North Carolina, they ruled by Notre Dame by twenty. To get a win, they need to beat Wake Forest later today. They are a six point favorite in that game, which would set up a quarterfinal game between North Carolina and Duke. Without two wins the next two days, they are probably out. I think that also they're close. Their name is still North Carolina. If they handle Wake and lose close to Duke or something, I think they'd be right there in that last four and
next four out conversation, depending on what else breaks. But if you beat Duke, I think you're almost certainly in at that point because that would be a heck of a win. If you lose to Duke. It's very much a conversation you need help.
Yeah, and the tournament committee is obviously just dying to give North Carolina reason again. And this is somebody trying to get rid of the family pet. And they just keep accidentally leaving the door open over and over like they are just giving you every single opportunity. They can just beat Duke one out of three times and I guess we'll put you in. It's basically what they're saying. They haven't really come close either time. I did ask Cam if we can get a Cam's bet slip of
the day, and he says he's on it. Hence the ding you just heard. Because I need to know who to pick in that North Carolina versus Wake four and whatever Camp picks, I will do the opposite because I'm sure Cam will have money on one of the sides. And I don't even have the other acc games in here because I couldn't even tell you played. I think SMU beat Syracuse late at night, I think, so, I don't know who else is there.
Cal is playing Stanford.
That's right, Yeah, what a what a thrilling all time ACC matchup that is between cal and Stanford.
Oh that was that was last night. Stanford won.
Oh so okay by five. Stanford gets plastered by someone today in the WCC. Here's the part. So my wife has been sleeping. I'm trying to stay relatively subdued. This is gonna be the part where I struggle because I hate this game and I hate these teams. Gonzaga beat number nineteen Saint Mary's. They won the WCC Tournament. That's their eleventh championship in the last thirteen years. They should just rename this the Gonzaga Tournament. They're in the NCAAs,
as they should be. They are a top twelve Ken Palm team that is going to get like an eight seed shades of Loyola all over again. But let's talk about Saint Mary's because the Gaels absolutely positively suck ass. And I have a drop on this show that I normally push, and I'm gonna push it just for you. Saint Mary's. You suck. You're terrible.
I know that.
If you look at Saint Mary's record, you see twenty eight and five. But oh my gosh, what fools goal that is Saint Mary's been mocked as a five seed when their best non conference win is Nebraska, who's not even close. They're not even in the first ten teams that are out. Did you know that Arizona State, who we were just dunking on unloved Bobby Hurley. They beat Saint Mary's this year.
That's a tough seat for the Gaels.
Saint Mary's should be a playing team at best. And this game, this impossible game. Saint Mary's was oh for sixteen shooting threes. That is zero percent if you need help with the math. And by the way, Gonzaga was one for fifteen. That makes these teams that combined two for thirty one shooting the three ball.
Yeah, that's really bad. Saint Mary's. If they are a five or a six or whatever, they end up being the pick the upset there, folks. That'll be a real juicy one.
I think it happened last year, didn't it. Were they the ones that drew James Madison or was that Wisconsin? Saint Mary's was a five last year. Saint Mary's was a five last year and they lost to a twelve. I don't remember which one it was, but it was a Grand Canyon. Is Grand Canyon or James Madison. One of them beat Wisconsin and one of them beat Saint Mary's.
I believe it was Grand Canyon.
There you go, it was the tie on Grand Foster's. Yes, it's an easy it's easy money. Twelve always beats a five, and that's because Saint Mary's is always a five. I do have Cam's bet slip, but there is no acc action, so we don't have any help than that. He did pick BYU as an underdog. I told you that he was gonna yasy. We were talking yesterday. You are a witness in this group chat about how you should never ever ever bet against Iowa State in this tournament. And
you might be right. Cam might be right, and b why you may win by five hundred points, But it's kind of like bet against the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. If you did it, you were correct. But why would you bet United States currency on something that very very rarely happens, which is the Chiefs not playing well in the playoffs. Same with Iowa State in this tournament. Game, don't bet against it.
He also took ole miss money line. I know they're playing Arkansas, but why why are you touching that game.
Which, yeah, what's old miss is probably a four or five point favorite in this game, I'm guessing.
Fun fact back to the WCC real quick fun fact about that George W. Bush was in office the last time in the team not named Saint Marys or Gonzaga won that tournament.
That's wild. That is a wild stat and you know it's because it's pretty amazing. We've had only two winners there when they have to go through such long, daunting paths to get to the championship of that event.
Mh. They have to win one whole basketball game to make the finals.
Whoever the hell the nine seed was in that tournament, I don't remember who it was. I got all the way to the to the Semis and law to Saint Mary's and that was I think I think it's Pepperdine. Actually it was one of the Pea schools. Yeah, and they made like a nice run and that was as close as it gets. In the Northeast Conference, which I'm
pretty sure we never talked about on the show. Typically State, Ye, Saint Francis beat Central Connecticut State and guys, look, I know i I'm the boy who cried wolf when it comes to saying it's the worst basketball game that's ever been played. This is this is the this is unbelievable. The final score was forty six to forty three in like the second half, not in the first half. That was the score of the game. That is eighty nine points to decide an NCAA bit and Landon. I think
both of them got to go to guantanam Obey. I don't think we can put these teams in. I think that the Furman Wafford game that was brilliant went to overtime. I think that we should give Furman, who lost that game, this spot because Central Connecticut State was like twenty seven and five and everyone was like, oh, they had crushed everyone all year and they just played their worst game. No, playing your worst game is different than this. If you can't beat you can't get out of the mid forties.
I don't want any tiers shed for your tournament lack of status.
Uh yeah, I agree. It is like, that's gotta be Auburn and sixteen seed.
Right, automatic playing team that will lose to another sixteen seed in that game. That is the five o'clock on Tuesday in the Dayton Tip. Yes, horrible, don't need this, And you are very vehemently against the auto bid deciding the league winner by or the auto birth, like you don't want the you don't want the tournament champion to get the auto bid in the conference. And I'm assuming games like this really good argument on your behalf.
Yeah, I've come to the realization that most of these teams regular seasons are meaningless in comparison, like in reference to the tournament. So I'm a big irregular season title should declare the auto birth because that's it means the season actually means something rather than putting it all on the line one game at a time. That is fun, and I understand that they'll never do that because it's way more fun and cool.
And I think that you'd have teams just sit out of the conference tournament if that was the case, Like if you had like a TENNC that had no chance and there was no break. I wonder if that's like the if that's the trump card to making sure that everybody does in fact play and put up that effort in champ week.
Or maybe a happy medium between these things. Some conferences do this, like the MAC does this. Maybe not every team in the conference makes the conference tournament, you actually have to be good enough to get there. That could also be a solution to the problem.
That's an IVY League thing too, where they only let four teams play in the in the conference title game or in the conference tournament.
Yeah. Yeah, it doesn't have to be that drastic. Maybe, but yeah maybe depending on conference size, only you know, the top half or whatever make it.
And closing out with did DePaul win, yes, for the second time in a row. Did Paul somehow beat Georgetown for the third time this year? I believe what I said on the last show is if you lose to de Paul twice in a season, you should have to tie center blocks on your ankles and jump into.
A river the Potomac, specifically.
The Potomac because it's in DC. That's where Georgetown is, right. Yeah, I don't know what the next step is if you lose to him three times, because the ball has three has five Big East wins this year, five in the last two seasons, and three of them are against Georgetown and Georgetown. By the way, Georgetown is not Saint Francis. Georgetown has a history, Georgetown has championships. Georgetown has tradition, and yet they're this, I mean, good lord, yeah.
I think at this point this is like Patrick Ewing has to like hold a press conference where he declares his loyalty to Syracuse or something.
Just anything, but and Georgetown fans would welcome that. By the way, they're pretty over this.
Well, yeah they should be. You can't lose it to Paul in three years. We think Kansas has a rough former national champion prick Ewing's alma mater, Georgetown loss of DePaul three times in a year.
Yeah, yeah, this is the equivalent of like, uh freakin Danny Manning being the Kansas coach and so you like you don't want to be in them being this bad. You like you have respect for him because like of what he's done, but he also is the worst coach in the history of ever.
And they have to do something y at Arizona State there you go.
Yeah, but at least Arizona State that don't have ties to Bobby Hurley, they could get rid of him at any given point. Awkward situation for Georgetown for sure, But you can't lose to Paul three times. That has to prompt change. No ranked teams lost since the last show that will definitely change the next podcast because there's a lot of them are playing each other now and no ASCARC beat today because we need a short podcast. So
now straight into the preview. All right, So number six Kansas number three Arizona in the Big twelve quarterfinals on Thursday at eight thirty pm. The good news about this game being so late is this podcast has several more hours of shelf life than it would if they were
playing in their old one pm window. This this is also the first time that Kansas wore were blue jerseys in the Big twelve tournament since you were seven, Land and it was the two thousand and eight title game of this tournament when they beat Texas on their way to winning the Natty. Thirty six straight times Kansas has played in this tournament, they've been the higher seeded team, and they've had some luck there, right, They've been like a three seed and instead of playing the two, they
got to play the ten one year. But I mean that just speaks on behalf of their dominance. That is truly one of the wildest stats I've ever researched. Thirty six straight games that they've played in this tournament, spanning seventeen years and they have been the higher seeded team every time they've taken the floor.
Yeah, that really is wild and really the big question here since we just watched this, we just previewed this matchup. Will Kansas be wearing the blues a second time tomorrow? What do you think?
Ryan so Cam likes Kansas to win by one eighty three, eighty two, which is not good for your chances as a Kansas fan if you hear that. But I I was the one who I think was the most confident in this matchup. I don't think that Arizona is is. I think Arizona is far and away the worst of the top five teams in the Big twelve this year. I think you look at BYU, Iowa State, Houston, and Tech, I think it's very obvious that they're the worst. They
are very lucky to get to fourteen and six. They had the Caleb lo of buzzer beat or that would get you the thirteen and seven. They had the BYU awful call, like they're a couple of they should be twelve and eight, and then they're then they're like the then they're right there with Kansas. But like, here's the thing I'm gonna buy in a little bit to the Kansas has tired legs angle. I don't like how the line has moved from a near pick to Arizona by two and a half. It's moved the way of Arizona.
The sharp money is on the Wildcats for pick them's sake, because you and I are tied for last place. So I am going to zig where I assume you will zag, and I will pick Arizona to beat Kansas in a game that comes down to the wire. I will take the same score Cam does eighty three eighty two, but I'll take the other team winning. And it's not that I don't think Kansas is better, and it's not that I don't think they'll have a home court advantage. They do.
I don't like after watching UCF get so many quality looks against Kansas, I don't like thinking of what Arizona who is in a lot of ways, just a better, more clean version of Arizona of UCF, A much better version of them. They can shoot well, they shoot the free throw very well, and they protect the ball pretty well. Now, the good news for Kansas in this matchup, Arizona's the worst team in the Big twelve when it comes to forcing turnovers. So all those turnover woes Kansas has. They
only had five against Zona in the first game. That should be better and that should help Kansas. But I'm gonna pick the team with the fresh legs and that's Arizona. But I think it's really close and absolutely this is a game Kansas can win. This is the most important game in Kansas's season. If you win it, you probably find your way back to near five seed status.
I you have pretty correctly. I will take Kansas to win the game. I think it also will be high scoring. Give me Kansas like eighty four to seventy nine. I think it's pretty close. This also, Caleb Love also smacks of the type of player that absolutely could average twenty a night in this tournament and win three games or something. But I don't know if Arizona is good enough to do that. He also smacks like the kind of guy that and his team is. I agree the type of
team there. They are a little overseeded here, they kind of out kick their coverage a little bit this year in conference play. They are a solid team for sure. I think Kansas is gonna play with a little momentum. You know, I don't know how much the tire legs are gonna come into it. Maybe they maybe it will more than I'm thinking. Arizona is rested. But I think I think Kansas is playing. They're probably out playing Arizona over the last few games.
Oh, they definitely are. Yeah, Arizona's like four and six in their last ten or something like that.
So I'll take the Jayhawks here to dance on at least one more day and we'll see who they play tomorrow. But I think they're gonna I think they'll get it. I'll take the Hawks, you know, in a fun game.
Other games. Number twelve Iowa State versus Number seventeen BYU. I am not gonna pick against the Cyclones. I know, in my original like Big twelve tournament picks, I did take BYU getting to the semis. But after thinking about it, like it's Iowa State and Kansas City, that should not be an oversight. I'll take the Cyclones, and if I'm wrong, I will not feel bad.
Agree.
Colorado versus Number two Houston. It's been a fun, real ride for the Buffs. They've gotten a couple of complimentary nights in Kansas City, But I think that this is where it ends.
Yes, I think Houston sits on Colorado.
And Baylor versus number nine Texas Tech. Here is where I will pick the upset that to try to get back with you picking Kansas. I think Baylor beats Tech. I think Baylor is nasty, talented and it's just a matter of time before they put it all together. I think this is their signature win.
I think Tech is pretty far and away the second best team in the conference, and they are flirting with the two seeds. So give me the Red Raiders.
Here we go with other games. Four in the SEC, a few in the ACC, and a few in the Big East. Arkansas versus All and as Cam likes ole miss money Line, I agree. I'm not trusting the Hogs at this point. Same Texas versus number fourteen Texas A and M. You said on the last show that you liked the winner of Texas v. Vandy to beat A and M. Do you still.
Yes? Actually, I think Texas is gonna make a real case here. I'm gonna give them the long Horns the win.
I will not. I think that Rodney Terry will happen and Buzz Williams is three times the coach he is. Give me the Aggies at not home. It's in Nashville. It's a fun place. Mississippi State versus number twenty one Missouri, two teams going in opposite directions. Aggies are surging, Tigers are slumping. I will trust reluctantly one more time Missou
to get a win in this tournament. Same and then Oklahoma, who's as hot as anyone in the conference right now, is playing number fifteen Kentucky, who can't stop a cold. Is this where Porter's run ins? I man, I think it is. I'm not trusting Porter, and I think Kentucky by winning this game will put Oklahoma legitimately as on the bubble as a team can be.
I'm gonna take Oklahoma.
Wow, Okay, if they in here there's no doubt, then I'll give it to him. Then you've gone from six to twelve an SEC play to eight and twelve. And I know that's not a great record, but eight and twelve is probably a tournament team in the worst team and in the best conference we've ever seen, considering they were four and twelve. Then you get to eight eight out of twenty, that's probably enough I'll give I'll tip, I'll give them their flowers if they win this. North
Carolina going for a tournament berth against wake Forest. I will say they do, and it sets up ESPN's dream.
Matchup You and c by a decent amount.
Stanford versus Number thirteen Louisville. The Duke official Twitter page went out and complained about Pat Kelsey winning ACZ Coach the Year over John Shire. They are wrong and Pat Kelsey's the national Coach of the Year. He'll get a win against Stanford.
Also, this matchup just happened in Louisville beat him by twenty. I don't think he'll be buying that much.
But Louisville wins SMU versus number ten Clemson. I think this is the closest of the three ACC powers, but it's still the favorite. Give me the Tigers yep. Butler versus number six Saint John's heavy favorite. Will all go with Rick Patino squad YEP number twenty five Marquette. They are the lower seated team here taking on Xavier. I I feel like I've lost so many pick up points with with Shaka recently. I don't know. I'll go with them one more time.
Gross, I'm gonna go Xavier and that will put that That's bad news for a lot of bubble teams because that probably puts Xavior in.
Yeah, they are right there, especially then you're talking about West Virginia. West Virginia is a big Marquette fan. To night de Paul versus Creighton, this feels like we're DePaul's run ins and Creyton gets a gift of a game here.
I agree.
And then Villanova versus that's not right, Villanova versus Yukon. That is an entertaining matchup. I will you know what the clock says, it's March. I guess that means it's time to bet on Danny Hurley.
Yeah, I agree.
Clocks don't say what time of year it is.
It's almost decided. You got your.
Calendars that yeah, yeah, gross. Okay, So here is the plan. If Kansas beats Arizona, Landon is probably out. He's a game time decision, but trending on the wrong side of questionable because of illness. So it'll probably be Cam and I recording later on tonight and getting a show that will drop early Friday morning. We are going to If Kansas wins, you can you'll wake up the next day to a show that will continue to be a thing. If they lose, you won't hear from us till after
you have a bracket. But if they win, we'll talk to you tomorrow and land and rest that voice. You're gonna need it. With the five hundredth show spectacular coming up. This is four ninety six, We're almost there.
Yeah, I can only imagine what's gonna happen round to thirty two loss when a show five hundred happens.
Hey, you know what, all this time we've I've been excited like they might win enough big twelve tournament games where the round of sixty four will be the five hundredth show and oh no, not the first Bill loss in the first round in twenty years. But yeah, we'll see ITP five hundred coming up in a couple weeks. Good job persevering and getting this knocked out at a weird time. I gotta go to work. You gotta rest your boy. This is ITP.
I'm Ryan Landrath, I'm Landon Fields.
All right, Well, we'll see what happens. More basketball the night and more IP very soon.
Fun time of a year. It's going to be a blast, See you guys tomorrow maybe