<v Speaker 1>Wednesday, March twenty fifth, twenty twenty six, you are listening

<v Speaker 1>to the Daily Dose Sports podcast and I am your host,

<v Speaker 1>Clinton Daily, coming to you from my high city here

<v Speaker 1>in Denver, Colorado, and we are back for another week

<v Speaker 1>of talking sports with a dose of common sense. Hey,

<v Speaker 1>Happy Wednesday to you. I hope you had a great weekend.

<v Speaker 1>I hope you were able to watch a ton of

<v Speaker 1>the NCAA tournament. Hope your week is going well and

<v Speaker 1>that you, your family, your friends are all staying strong

<v Speaker 1>and healthy right now. And Hey, that tournament now has

<v Speaker 1>two rounds completed and our ESPN Bracket Challenge is still

<v Speaker 1>absolutely up for grabs. I'm going to give you the

<v Speaker 1>current standings right now now. I posted these at Daily

<v Speaker 1>Dose Sports yesterday, but I'm gonna give you the top

<v Speaker 1>few spots right now. Engler two is sitting in the

<v Speaker 1>top spot and has Arizona as their champion. Believe England

<v Speaker 1>is a repeat participant in the Daily Dose Bracket Challenge.

<v Speaker 1>Billy Oh is in second. Billy Oh has Houston. Billy

<v Speaker 1>Oh is actually our winner from last year in the

<v Speaker 1>Daily Dose Bracket Challenge. We'll see if he can repeat.

<v Speaker 1>We know repeating is not very easy. Not that Travis

<v Speaker 1>in Tulsa is in third with Arizona. Cool Ray has

<v Speaker 1>Arizona and is tied for fourth with b Haggerty who

<v Speaker 1>has Yukon, and Lulu who has Duke. But the top

<v Speaker 1>ten to twelve places, they're all within like a hundred

<v Speaker 1>points of each other, so there could be a number

<v Speaker 1>of changes. We could see a number of things getting

<v Speaker 1>shaken up in these next few games. Hey, we know

<v Speaker 1>standings in a bracket challenge can flip quickly. We will

<v Speaker 1>keep you up to date on who wins our Daily

<v Speaker 1>Dose bracket challenge. Unfortunately, with the Florida Gators collapse, my

<v Speaker 1>bracket is fully inflames. I think this actually might be

<v Speaker 1>one of the first years that my bracket isn't at

<v Speaker 1>least in the hunt late. I am also currently tied

<v Speaker 1>for fourth place too, but that is all gonna change

<v Speaker 1>very soon because I had the Florida Games winning it all,

<v Speaker 1>and I knew better and I did it anyway, I'm

<v Speaker 1>gonna be at the bottom once those next rounds complete. Hey, today,

<v Speaker 1>in the Dose that Sweet sixteen is now set and

<v Speaker 1>will begin tomorrow night. But it has been a wild

<v Speaker 1>ride to get from sixty eight teams down to sixteen teams.

<v Speaker 1>We're gonna take a look at a few winners and

<v Speaker 1>a few losers from those first few rounds. Plus we

<v Speaker 1>were actually going to give you a brief preview of

<v Speaker 1>what to expect in that sweet sixteen. We have got

<v Speaker 1>eight games coming up, and they are eight games that

<v Speaker 1>could be absolutely wild. But first, we do have a

<v Speaker 1>little bit of sports news to get to and we're

<v Speaker 1>going to talk something that we don't talk very often

<v Speaker 1>here on the Daily Dose. Yes, I'm talking about the WNBA,

<v Speaker 1>because after more than a year of negotiations, that WA

<v Speaker 1>and their players union have agreed to a new CBA

<v Speaker 1>that dramatically reshapes player pay, revenue sharing, and league structure. Okay,

<v Speaker 1>you can all take a breath again. I know you've

<v Speaker 1>been stressed. I know you've been missing sleep. I know

<v Speaker 1>you've been worried about what's going on. But the WNBA

<v Speaker 1>and its player union finally signed the term sheet for

<v Speaker 1>a new CBA last Friday after more than a year

<v Speaker 1>of back and forth. That final deal is a massive

<v Speaker 1>financial lead for the players. Following more than one hundred

<v Speaker 1>hours of negotiations in Manhattan, the league and the WNBA

<v Speaker 1>players association signed a term sheet for a new seven

<v Speaker 1>year agreement that now will head for a formal ratification vote.

<v Speaker 1>The league called it one of the most transformation labor

<v Speaker 1>agreements ever reached in major professional sports, as they have

<v Speaker 1>no sense of history whatsoever. The most obvious change, though,

<v Speaker 1>is going to be the money. Under that new deal,

<v Speaker 1>the WNBA salary structure will look completely different. Starting in

<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty six. The salary cap will jump to seven

<v Speaker 1>million dollars, up from one point five million. Maximum salaries

<v Speaker 1>will start at one point four million and are projected

<v Speaker 1>to exceed two point four million over the course of

<v Speaker 1>the deal. Average salaries go from five hundred and eighty

<v Speaker 1>three thousand dollars and are expected to top one million

<v Speaker 1>by the end of the deal. Minimum salaries will also jump.

<v Speaker 1>They will range from two hundred and seventy k to

<v Speaker 1>three hundred thousand dollars depending on experience. Hey, the WNBA

<v Speaker 1>got a massive new deal. Now let's stop and think

<v Speaker 1>about this. We talked about this recently. The NBA is

<v Speaker 1>discussing expansion. They're talking about putting some new teams out there,

<v Speaker 1>possibly Seattle, possibly Las Vegas. Now as it stands, the

<v Speaker 1>NBA doesn't have enough good players to hold up their

<v Speaker 1>end of the bargain as it is, let alone adding

<v Speaker 1>two more teams. Now they're going to spend more money

<v Speaker 1>because remember, the WNBA doesn't make any money. I know,

<v Speaker 1>we're all acting like this is just great money. Oh,

<v Speaker 1>what a win fall for the players. They finally got

<v Speaker 1>a few people to watch their games. Now the money

<v Speaker 1>goes up. But the fact is the NBA is just

<v Speaker 1>paying for this league to exist. Now they're talking expansion.

<v Speaker 1>Now they're giving more money to the WNBA. Hey, we

<v Speaker 1>might need to start being concerned about the NBA. And

<v Speaker 1>I'm not saying that lightly. I'm not trying to be funny.

<v Speaker 1>The NBA is stretching itself really thin. It has a

<v Speaker 1>group of players that doesn't want to play. It has

<v Speaker 1>a group of coaches and players that are saying they

<v Speaker 1>want less of a schedule, and they don't have the

<v Speaker 1>superstar power that they once did. I know they want

<v Speaker 1>to compare themselves to the nineties. It ain't the nineties

<v Speaker 1>no more. And the WNBA is going to get themselves

<v Speaker 1>in some trouble, mark my words. I believe that is coming.

<v Speaker 1>Not sure that's going to go well. Moving over, to

<v Speaker 1>the NHL, and I know we don't talk a ton

<v Speaker 1>of NHL here. Things aren't exactly going swimmingly in Edmonton

<v Speaker 1>at the moment because the Edmonton Oilers are just barely

<v Speaker 1>above five hundred in their last ten games, although they

<v Speaker 1>still are in second place in that terrible Pacific Division,

<v Speaker 1>and they are now missing their second best player in

<v Speaker 1>Leon Drysidel for the remainder of the season. They say

<v Speaker 1>it is a lower body injury. We know in hockey,

<v Speaker 1>who knows what that is. Could be a neck, could

<v Speaker 1>be an ear, could be an ankle. We have no idea.

<v Speaker 1>But this past Saturday night, the Edmonton Oilers took another

<v Speaker 1>rough one for one, they played the Tampa Bay Lightning.

<v Speaker 1>They lost that game. That was one part of it.

<v Speaker 1>That is bad enough. Then after the game is where

<v Speaker 1>things got a little more interesting when superstar Connor McDavid

<v Speaker 1>met with the media to discuss the loss and he

<v Speaker 1>let a little bit of frustration slip in the Oilers

<v Speaker 1>locker room. Here's what Connor McDavid had to say the

<v Speaker 1>Edmonton Oilers best player when talking about the Tampa Bay Lights.

<v Speaker 1>They've got a great system, They're perfectly coached. They all

<v Speaker 1>know what they're doing all over the ice. It's impressive.

<v Speaker 1>They are a great team. They're extremely well coached, they're

<v Speaker 1>extremely well organized, they're very well rehearsed in everything they do.

<v Speaker 1>Now I know that in Canada you just lost the Olympics.

<v Speaker 1>I know that that was rough in both the men

<v Speaker 1>and the women. But now it looks like you're gonna

<v Speaker 1>lose Connor McDavid because he's one million percent going to

<v Speaker 1>Tampa as soon as his contract expires in three years,

<v Speaker 1>isn't he? Yes, no doubt about it. Book it. You

<v Speaker 1>heard it here first. So the twenty twenty six NCAA

<v Speaker 1>tournament tipped off last week. We had the first four

<v Speaker 1>on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then the tournament really took

<v Speaker 1>off on Thursday and Friday. And in the very first game,

<v Speaker 1>Ohio State versus Texas Christian TCU scraped out a sixty

<v Speaker 1>six to sixty four upset. I mean, it was an

<v Speaker 1>eight versus a nine. Wasn't exactly a huge upset, right. However,

<v Speaker 1>of all the brackets that were filled in on ESPN

<v Speaker 1>millions of brackets, by the way, only thirty nine percent

<v Speaker 1>pick TCU first game up. Thirty nine percent pick TCU

<v Speaker 1>sixty one percent are already having an imperfect bracket. Here's

<v Speaker 1>my question, based on that little statistic, should the Daily

<v Speaker 1>Dose Bracket Challenge start offering I don't know, one million

<v Speaker 1>dollars in our bracket challenge for a perfect bracket? One

<v Speaker 1>million dollars, I mean, does it matter? Should we offer

<v Speaker 1>fifty million dollars if you get a perfect bracket? How

<v Speaker 1>about one billion dollars if you get a perfect bracket?

<v Speaker 1>I don't know. I gotta tell you next year. I

<v Speaker 1>am seriously thinking about the Daily Dose offering one bazillion

<v Speaker 1>dollars next year for a perfect bracket, because I have

<v Speaker 1>to say, I don't know that I'd be that worried.

<v Speaker 1>I think we'd be jug us fine if we offer

<v Speaker 1>a brazilion dollars. How many Brazilians are in a brazilion dollars?

<v Speaker 1>I don't know. But right now, I want to take

<v Speaker 1>a brief look at what we have seen so far

<v Speaker 1>and hand out a few winners and losers through those

<v Speaker 1>first rounds of what it's already been a highly entertaining tournament.

<v Speaker 1>And the first winner I'm going to hand out is

<v Speaker 1>to college basketball fans everywhere, because once again March madness

<v Speaker 1>has been highly entertaining. Through the first fifty two games

<v Speaker 1>of the tournament up to the Sweet sixteen, twenty six

<v Speaker 1>games were decided by ten points or less. Oh and

<v Speaker 1>by the way, we also got a few like all

<v Speaker 1>time moments like Kentucky versus Santa Clara, or Nebraska versus

<v Speaker 1>Vanderbilt or Saint John's versus Kansas that are going to

<v Speaker 1>be played over and over and over for years to come. Hey,

<v Speaker 1>if you love college hoops, once again as usual, the

<v Speaker 1>NCAA Tournament has been absolutely amazing. Okay, but I'm going

<v Speaker 1>to give a loser and I'm going to apologize in

<v Speaker 1>advance because I'm going to be called a sexist, chauvinist,

<v Speaker 1>bigoted scumbag working for the patriarchy. But can anyone please

<v Speaker 1>tell me what Candace Parker or Renee Montgomery or whoever

<v Speaker 1>bring to the table on the College Basketball CBS studio show.

<v Speaker 1>I know Kenny Smith was sick, I get it, and

<v Speaker 1>he's great. Charles Barkley is great, more on him later.

<v Speaker 1>And when they bring in guys like Chris Weber or

<v Speaker 1>Wally Zerbiak and we get some insight as to what

<v Speaker 1>it is actually like to play in this tournament. It's amazing.

<v Speaker 1>But neither Candace nor Renee have played in the men's tournament.

<v Speaker 1>And here's the worst part, and again, call me a chauvinist.

<v Speaker 1>They don't bring any insight. I am not seeing the

<v Speaker 1>women's game bring in a bunch of former men's players

<v Speaker 1>to do their shows. Why don't we have to have this?

<v Speaker 1>Just give me Barkley and Shock already. I don't need this.

<v Speaker 1>I don't need the lack of insight. And you're on

<v Speaker 1>the panel just because I don't know you played once.

<v Speaker 1>Give me players that have played in this men's tournament.

<v Speaker 1>They know what it's like, they've experienced it. I don't

<v Speaker 1>just need someone to fill a seat. And honestly, I'd

<v Speaker 1>rather just have Barkley and Shack in there, so I

<v Speaker 1>won't even waste my breath talking about some of the

<v Speaker 1>officiating in the tournament. It's been very hit or miss,

<v Speaker 1>But I do want to discuss one aspect that is

<v Speaker 1>annoying me in this tournament. Say you're a coach who

<v Speaker 1>has either had to burn timeouts to fix some issues,

<v Speaker 1>you're getting out played, you're getting beaten, whatever, or say

<v Speaker 1>you're just an idiot coach who has poorly managed your timeouts.

<v Speaker 1>For whatever reason, you have been a winner in this tournament.

<v Speaker 1>And I'll explain why. Because currently NCAA officials have what

<v Speaker 1>I would call monitor addiction, and they keep going going

<v Speaker 1>over the score table to look at the replay monitor

<v Speaker 1>to check time or to check the score, or to

<v Speaker 1>check a foul, or to check a possession. And as

<v Speaker 1>annoying as that is, and it's annoying, it is allowing

<v Speaker 1>these teams who have burned their timeouts to just get

<v Speaker 1>extra timeouts because not just one official goes to check

<v Speaker 1>the monitor. All three go stand and check the monitor.

<v Speaker 1>So one looks to the monitor, the other stand around

<v Speaker 1>and I don't know, gossip, eat popcorn, I don't know

<v Speaker 1>what it is the other two are doing. And the

<v Speaker 1>teams are allowed to huddle around their head coach and

<v Speaker 1>get like a quick timeout. And when I say a

<v Speaker 1>quick timeout, I mean like a ten minute timeout. I'm

<v Speaker 1>not sure this is best for the game in any capacity.

<v Speaker 1>If you have mismanaged your timeouts in the tournament, you

<v Speaker 1>are definitely a winner because you're getting like five more

<v Speaker 1>timeouts every single game. You might want to adjust that.

<v Speaker 1>Put one ref on the monitor, put the other two

<v Speaker 1>keeping the teams out on the floor away from their coach.

<v Speaker 1>That might be a little bit better thought out. You know,

<v Speaker 1>when the NCAA tournament expanded from sixty four teams to

<v Speaker 1>sixty eight teams back in twenty eleven, I think most

<v Speaker 1>of us thought the same thing. This is dumb. We

<v Speaker 1>are just trying to shut up the last few teams

<v Speaker 1>that always whine about not getting in. But that first four, honestly,

<v Speaker 1>it's kind of stupid. Two of the games are still

<v Speaker 1>dumb because the two winners then face a number one

<v Speaker 1>seed as the sixteen seed. I don't like that at all.

<v Speaker 1>But the other two games are producing the eleven seeds. Okay, well,

<v Speaker 1>big deal, right, Well, think about this. Since that format

<v Speaker 1>was introduced back in twenty eleven, at least one men's

<v Speaker 1>first four winner has advanced past the first round of

<v Speaker 1>sixty four in every single tournament except nineteen and twenty five,

<v Speaker 1>and six of those teams have made it to the

<v Speaker 1>sweet sixteen, including the Texas Longhorns this year. So that

<v Speaker 1>narrative that the first four is meaningless. I hate to

<v Speaker 1>say it's a loser, because there is a bit of

<v Speaker 1>an advantage to playing in the first four, as weird

<v Speaker 1>as that sounds, but you get those first game butterflies

<v Speaker 1>out of the way, you get a little confidence, you

<v Speaker 1>get a little momentum, and you get a win under

<v Speaker 1>your belt. And then you face a team that has

<v Speaker 1>been going through the motions in practice and getting rusty,

<v Speaker 1>and by the time they shake that rust off, the

<v Speaker 1>game is I don't know, ten minutes old and you're

<v Speaker 1>up by eight. That, my friends, is an advantage, albeit

<v Speaker 1>kind of a weird advantage the first four. Bizarrely, it

<v Speaker 1>does matter, you know. I give this next guy a

<v Speaker 1>lot of winners here on the dose because we need

<v Speaker 1>more sports media members with actual brains in their heads.

<v Speaker 1>And I will say this, we need more of Charles Barkley,

<v Speaker 1>not less. This last week on that lovely CBS panel

<v Speaker 1>that I grapped about earlier, Barkley was asked about how

<v Speaker 1>hard Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo coaches his kids,

<v Speaker 1>because we know Iso will yell them, he will get

<v Speaker 1>after them, and he will sit them down if he

<v Speaker 1>doesn't like their effort. But check out this incredible take

<v Speaker 1>from Chuck on tom Izzo this past week.

<v Speaker 2>The media who don't know anything about sports because they

<v Speaker 2>never played say like, why is he yelling at his player?

<v Speaker 2>That's called coaching, and he cares.

<v Speaker 1>He cares.

<v Speaker 2>And the thing is he said, if you don't want

<v Speaker 2>to be coaching, probably shouldn't come to Michigan State. I

<v Speaker 2>love for the fact that he never bags down. Your

<v Speaker 2>job as a coach is to coach your players. If

<v Speaker 2>their parents and their friends get mad because you getting

<v Speaker 2>yelled at, you get better parents and better friend.

<v Speaker 1>Hey, winner, winner chicken dinner. Look. I know in this

<v Speaker 1>era we just want to hug our kids and we

<v Speaker 1>just want to wrap them in masks and hand sanitizers.

<v Speaker 1>But if you want your kid to actually get better

<v Speaker 1>as a player, then sometimes they're going to need to

<v Speaker 1>be corrected. Sometimes you have to get their attention. Sometimes

<v Speaker 1>you have to find what motive debates them. And tom

<v Speaker 1>Izzo's records speaks for itself. But I mean, look at

<v Speaker 1>some of the top coaches this year in the tournament.

<v Speaker 1>Fred Hoiberg Nebraska, Kelvin Samson, Houston, tj Otzolberger Iowa State,

<v Speaker 1>Rick Pattino, Saint John's Actually coaching kids still works and

<v Speaker 1>Barkley is one hundred percent accurate. If you don't like it,

<v Speaker 1>I'd hate to say, you're just not that bright, but

<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna give a loser, and I'm going to give

<v Speaker 1>it to that Florida Gators squad specifically, but to repeat

<v Speaker 1>champions in general. Hey, it is tough to repeat. You

<v Speaker 1>have a massive target on your back all season. Teams

<v Speaker 1>are gunning for you every single time you take the floor.

<v Speaker 1>In the past twenty years, we have had a repeat

<v Speaker 1>champion just twice, and it has happened just three times

<v Speaker 1>in the past fifty plus years. And honestly, the problem

<v Speaker 1>isn't necessarily the teams involved. Problem is that we look

<v Speaker 1>at these teams like they are the defending champions. But

<v Speaker 1>even when all I don't know five starters return, which

<v Speaker 1>is rare, the team is different. They aren't truly the

<v Speaker 1>defending champions. They are just trying to win the tournament

<v Speaker 1>again too, like the other sixty seven teams are doing

<v Speaker 1>as well. One last winner of the final sixteen teams

<v Speaker 1>remaining in the country, I am going to give a

<v Speaker 1>big winner to a conference by the name of the

<v Speaker 1>Big Ten, because the Big Ten has six teams in

<v Speaker 1>the final sixteen Michigan State, Nebraska, Illinois, Michigan, Purdue, and

<v Speaker 1>Iowa are all still alive. And while we thought the

<v Speaker 1>Big Twelve was going to be the dominant conference in

<v Speaker 1>the postseason, and I mean they've been good. The Big

<v Speaker 1>Twelve has three teams in the Sweet sixteen, but the

<v Speaker 1>Big Ten has gone thirteen and three in the tournament

<v Speaker 1>and they're not done. Hey, the Big Ten is kind

<v Speaker 1>of rolling. I mean they've won the last three college

<v Speaker 1>football championships and now they are tearing it up in

<v Speaker 1>basketball too. Big winner to the Big Ten, and I

<v Speaker 1>will give our final loser to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

<v Speaker 1>And I realize that might seem crazy as we still

<v Speaker 1>have number one seed Duke remaining in the tournament, but

<v Speaker 1>keep in mind, Duke is the last team left from

<v Speaker 1>that acc After getting eight teams into the field, Duke

<v Speaker 1>is now there alone. Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia, SMU,

<v Speaker 1>and Clemson have already been eliminated. So is Duke just

<v Speaker 1>that good? Or could that conference have been down a

<v Speaker 1>bit this year and it could end up coming back

<v Speaker 1>to bite the Blue Devils in the end. I don't know,

<v Speaker 1>but we shall see. Hey. Remember you should be stopping

<v Speaker 1>by Daily Dosports dot com each week to check out

<v Speaker 1>what new things we have going on over there, and

<v Speaker 1>of course this week we have links to our Daily

<v Speaker 1>Dos bracket challenge if you want to see where you stand.

<v Speaker 1>I posted the top ten over there this week. But

<v Speaker 1>we have links to the podcast, we have links to

<v Speaker 1>new articles, we have links to Daily Dose gear. If

<v Speaker 1>you need a sweatshirt, a hoodie, a T shirt, you

<v Speaker 1>can get those over there. And remember you can always

<v Speaker 1>email the podcast at Daily Doosports at gmail dot com.

<v Speaker 1>We do hear from listeners regularly and it is always

<v Speaker 1>good to hear from you, so make sure you stop

<v Speaker 1>by dalodosports dot com. So let's go ahead and break

<v Speaker 1>down that Sweet sixteen that begins tomorrow night. We have

<v Speaker 1>got eight amazing games that I cannot wait for. Taking

<v Speaker 1>up those first four teams that get rolling. Hey, I'm

<v Speaker 1>not sure anyone expected the Texas Longhorns to get this far,

<v Speaker 1>but in that first game tomorrow night, they will be

<v Speaker 1>facing the Purdue boiler Makers after Texas has now rolled

<v Speaker 1>off three wins in a row, and then on the

<v Speaker 1>other side, after beating the fifteen seed Queens on Friday

<v Speaker 1>in a blowout, Purdue scored a seventy nine to sixty

<v Speaker 1>nine win over the seventh seed Miami Hurricanes on Sunday.

<v Speaker 1>And remember, Purdue is facing a former Texas player and

<v Speaker 1>Longhorns assistant in head coach Jay Look, but Texas as

<v Speaker 1>Sean Miller is back in the Sweet sixteen for the

<v Speaker 1>ninth time in fourteen years, and he's now done it

<v Speaker 1>at three different schools Xavier, Arizona, and Texas. Texas has

<v Speaker 1>now been NC State BYU and Gonzaga on the way,

<v Speaker 1>And I'm telling you, Texas feels dangerous. Now. I look

<v Speaker 1>at this Texas versus Purdue matchup and you think, well,

<v Speaker 1>the boiler Makers should roll a number two versus a

<v Speaker 1>number eleven. Oh, but I think this is gonna be

<v Speaker 1>a lot closer than people think. Now, Purdue has that

<v Speaker 1>great backcourt, but they don't have the size that they

<v Speaker 1>used to in that Zach Edy era, and Texas is

<v Speaker 1>going to attack them inside. So what I want to

<v Speaker 1>see in this game who can rebound? That's gonna be big.

<v Speaker 1>I also want to watch who can play defense without fouling.

<v Speaker 1>When Texas defense without fouling, they can play with anyone.

<v Speaker 1>When they can't, they get themselves in trouble and they

<v Speaker 1>will get beat. I'm gonna take Purdue in this first game.

<v Speaker 1>Not gonna feel great about it. I think this is

<v Speaker 1>going to be a very tight game, but I will

<v Speaker 1>take Purdue to get the win. In the number two game,

<v Speaker 1>we get the Iowa Hawkeys, who pulled one of the

<v Speaker 1>biggest upsets so far of the tournament when they outplayed

<v Speaker 1>the number one seeded Florida Gators and head coach Ben McCollum. Hey,

<v Speaker 1>he flat out out coached Florida Gators coach Todd Golden

<v Speaker 1>as the Hawkeys pounded the Gators in a slow, deliberate

<v Speaker 1>rock fight on Sunday evening. Well, this next round might

<v Speaker 1>be a little bit of a tougher matchup, as Iowa

<v Speaker 1>will now face the number four seeded Nebraska Cornhuskers that

<v Speaker 1>play every single possession like their Harison fire. Now, these

<v Speaker 1>two teams did face in the regular season this year

<v Speaker 1>in the Big Ten and they split the series. But

<v Speaker 1>I just think Nebraska is playing at a better level

<v Speaker 1>and I trust their backcourt here a little bit more.

<v Speaker 1>And you know, it's interesting because when I watched Iowa

<v Speaker 1>on Sunday against Florida, I don't even know that Iowa

<v Speaker 1>played that well. I just thought Florida played really, really bad,

<v Speaker 1>Like almost every single player for Florida had the worst

<v Speaker 1>game of their season all on one day, and Iowa

<v Speaker 1>was the beneficiary of that. Not to mention the fact

<v Speaker 1>that Todd Golden, I don't know, had some sort of

<v Speaker 1>a brain lapse during that game. But I want you

<v Speaker 1>to think about this. Nebraska could go from never having

<v Speaker 1>won a game in the tournament to going to the

<v Speaker 1>Elite eight, and I think they're gonna do this. I'm

<v Speaker 1>gonna take Nebraska in game number two. Moving to Game

<v Speaker 1>number three, the Arizona Wildcats have a history of bowing

<v Speaker 1>out early in this tournament, but they might change that

<v Speaker 1>this year because this Arizona team is loaded. After beating

<v Speaker 1>lu and Utah State, the Wildcats will now face John

<v Speaker 1>Calipari's Arkansas Razorbacks. Hey, Calipari might have the best player

<v Speaker 1>in the country in Darius Acuff Junior. However, Arizona has

<v Speaker 1>got an insanely talented freshman in co Opete as well,

<v Speaker 1>and I think Cole Pete has way more help than

<v Speaker 1>Acuff does. Plus we all know John Calipari seems to

<v Speaker 1>get worse. That's the bigger the stakes get. I'm gonna

<v Speaker 1>take Arizona here to take control of this game and win.

<v Speaker 1>I'm not gonna say it's a blowout, but I'm gonna

<v Speaker 1>say that they win easily. So we finish up the

<v Speaker 1>Thursday night games and we are going to get in

<v Speaker 1>the final game a heavyweight slug fight when Houston faces Illinois.

<v Speaker 1>The Houston Cougars cruise their way back into a seventh

<v Speaker 1>straight Sweet sixteen appearance this year, and they will be

<v Speaker 1>at home and playing at the Toyota Center as they

<v Speaker 1>try to get back to the national title game for

<v Speaker 1>the second year in a row. As expected, the Cougars

<v Speaker 1>make quick work of their first two rounds in this

<v Speaker 1>NCAA tournament. They won both games by thirty one points.

<v Speaker 1>They pounded Idaho and then they booked their ticket to

<v Speaker 1>the Sweet sixteen when they smack Texas A and M

<v Speaker 1>as well. Meanwhile, Illinois heads into this matchup with a

<v Speaker 1>twenty six to eight overall record and they finish second

<v Speaker 1>in the Big Ten. But I think this game is

<v Speaker 1>going to be really fun and I think it's the

<v Speaker 1>best game on Thursday Night because we have styles. Houston

<v Speaker 1>has that tenacious defense, Illinois has that high flying offense.

<v Speaker 1>This is strength against strength. Illinois point guard Keaton Wagler

<v Speaker 1>is the fighting a Lion. I's leading scorer. He's averaging

<v Speaker 1>nearly eighteen points a game, and he's really efficient in

<v Speaker 1>his shot selection. He doesn't waste his shots. He shoots

<v Speaker 1>forty five percent from the field as a guard, pretty impressive,

<v Speaker 1>and he shoots forty one percent from three point range,

<v Speaker 1>also impressive. Well, Houston's gonna have to slow him down

<v Speaker 1>if they're gonna win this game. I'm going to give

<v Speaker 1>Houston the advantage playing at home. I think it's going

<v Speaker 1>to be tight, but I think this is going to

<v Speaker 1>be a really fun game. I will take the Cougars

<v Speaker 1>in a close one. Moving over to Friday night, I

<v Speaker 1>think we get a really interesting game in the opening

<v Speaker 1>game when we get those number one Duke Blue Devils

<v Speaker 1>facing the number five Saint John's Red Storm. Now, the

<v Speaker 1>Blue Devils got an opening round scare against Sienna. They

<v Speaker 1>had to scrape out what could have been a historic upset.

<v Speaker 1>But you know, sometimes teams need to win that tip

<v Speaker 1>game because then Duke blew out TCU. Meanwhile the Johnnys

<v Speaker 1>blew out Northern Iowa. But then they had to hit

<v Speaker 1>a buzzer beater to slip past the Kansas Jayhawks in

<v Speaker 1>the round of thirty two. Now, if Duke had both

<v Speaker 1>Patrick Nagamba and Caleb Foster at full health, I would

<v Speaker 1>say this is a win for Duke. But Foster is

<v Speaker 1>still out and Saint John's can be a pain. I

<v Speaker 1>just don't know if Saint John's can shoot the ball

<v Speaker 1>well enough to outscore Duke. I'm gonna give Duke a

<v Speaker 1>close victory here in game number one. On Friday night,

<v Speaker 1>in game number two, we get an interesting one because

<v Speaker 1>after a dominant win for the number one seeded Michigan

<v Speaker 1>Wolverines over Saint Louis to get to the Sweet sixteen,

<v Speaker 1>now they will be facing the number four Alabama Crimson

<v Speaker 1>Tide to try to get to the lad eight. Hey,

<v Speaker 1>I don't know if they can play any defense, but

<v Speaker 1>that Alabama offense is legal. They look ridiculously strong in

<v Speaker 1>their win over Texas Tech on Sunday. They hit nineteen

<v Speaker 1>threes and blue out Tech ninety to sixty five that

<v Speaker 1>tied team. They might be the most dangerous number four

<v Speaker 1>seed in the bracket just because of how they play.

<v Speaker 1>It is full speed ahead, get as many shots up

<v Speaker 1>as you can. They have the number one scoring offense

<v Speaker 1>in the country at nearly ninety two points a game.

<v Speaker 1>But it isn't just scoring. They take good shots. They

<v Speaker 1>take efficient shots, and they are top ten in the

<v Speaker 1>country with their shot efficiency. If Michigan has a weakness,

<v Speaker 1>it is at their guard position, and I think Alabama

<v Speaker 1>could exploit that a little. The Wolverines are going to

<v Speaker 1>have to dominate the paint and they're gonna have to

<v Speaker 1>dominate the glass. If they could hold Alabama under ninety,

<v Speaker 1>I think they're fine, but that's easier said than done.

<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna take Michigan, but I think Alabama is going

<v Speaker 1>to give them all that they want. The next game up,

<v Speaker 1>and this should be a great matchup because we get

<v Speaker 1>two very talented teams and two very talented head coaches

<v Speaker 1>as the Michigan State Spartans will be facing the Connecticut Huskies. Now,

<v Speaker 1>you can't really call this game a rematch, but it

<v Speaker 1>kind of is one because these two teams actually played

<v Speaker 1>back in October in an exhibition and Yukon won that

<v Speaker 1>exhibition seventy six sixty nine. Well, Tom Izzo and Dan

<v Speaker 1>Hurley have actually only faced each other in real, true

<v Speaker 1>competition one time before. That was in the Bahamas back

<v Speaker 1>in twenty twenty one, and Izzo Spartans mounted a comeback

<v Speaker 1>in the late minutes and scraped out a tight win. Now,

<v Speaker 1>Michigan State has an advantage here because they played in

<v Speaker 1>a tougher conference. That Big Ten has been absolutely dominant,

<v Speaker 1>like we talked about earlier, But Hurley now has point

<v Speaker 1>guard silas Den Mury back and healthy, and that is huge.

<v Speaker 1>Michigan State is the nation's best defensive rebounding team by percentage.

<v Speaker 1>They are top ten on the offensive glass as well,

<v Speaker 1>So Yukon, Hey, they better make their shots because they're

<v Speaker 1>not gonna get many second chances in this game. I

<v Speaker 1>think this is a really, really tough game to pick,

<v Speaker 1>and I think it's the best game of Friday Night.

<v Speaker 1>Vegas has Connecticut as a one point five favorite. Uh,

<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna take those points. I'm gonna predict Tom Izzo

<v Speaker 1>and the Michigan State Spartans are going to squeak by

<v Speaker 1>in a crazy close game. And in the final game

<v Speaker 1>of the Sweet sixteen. The Iowa State Cyclones might be

<v Speaker 1>one of the best kept secrets in the country. This

<v Speaker 1>team went twenty nine to seven this season and they

<v Speaker 1>can score some serious points. But they are one of

<v Speaker 1>the best teams in the country and they're going to

<v Speaker 1>be facing the Tennessee Volunteers, who outlasted Virginia in the

<v Speaker 1>second round on Sunday. But I just never trust Volunteers

<v Speaker 1>head coach Rick Barnes in this tournament. And honestly, the

<v Speaker 1>balls were kind of lucky to even get past Virginia.

<v Speaker 1>And while Tennessee is extremely talented, I don't like this

<v Speaker 1>matchup for because, like we saw against Virginia, Tennessee turns

<v Speaker 1>the ball over a lot. You can't do that with

<v Speaker 1>Iowa State or this will get ugly. I am going

<v Speaker 1>to take the Iowa State Cyclones to roll against Tennessee. Hey,

<v Speaker 1>like I've said before, I love the opening rounds of

<v Speaker 1>this tournament just for the sheer quantity of games. There's

<v Speaker 1>just so many. But then I love the Sweet sixteen

<v Speaker 1>and Elite eight because we start to pare down. You

<v Speaker 1>get rid of some of the teams that don't belong,

<v Speaker 1>You weed a few teams out, and now every team

<v Speaker 1>here has won a few games. They are on a roll,

<v Speaker 1>they are getting confident, and now we get to see

<v Speaker 1>who the best of the best, truly is. I can't

<v Speaker 1>wait for the Sweet sixteen and the Elite Eight. Going

<v Speaker 1>to be a lot of fun this week. Hey, next

<v Speaker 1>week on the Dose, of course, we will keep you

<v Speaker 1>up to date on all that is going on in

<v Speaker 1>this NCAA tournament, but we're also going to begin giving

<v Speaker 1>a little attention to the NBA. I am actually chasing

<v Speaker 1>a guest that is looking at the modern NBA in

<v Speaker 1>a way that I can definitely appreciate. So make sure

<v Speaker 1>you're tuning into the Dusk next week and make sure

<v Speaker 1>you let a friend know to do the same. Hen't

<v Speaker 1>want to say thank you to each and every one

<v Speaker 1>of you for listening to the Deli Dose every week.

<v Speaker 1>Thank you for the emails, thank you for the text

<v Speaker 1>thank for the tweets, But more than anything, thank you

<v Speaker 1>for sharing the show, for sharing the videos, and for

<v Speaker 1>sharing the articles with someone that you know we absolutely

<v Speaker 1>love it. We can do that. I say thank you

<v Speaker 1>to JSP. Could not do any of this without you.

<v Speaker 1>I will see you on next Wednesday. Have a great week, everybody,

<v Speaker 1>and enjoy the Sweet sixteen and the Alleitiate this week.

<v Speaker 1>One million dollars