EP 1 - March Madness

J.D. and the Boys is a sports podcast where they discuss various sports topics. In their first episode, they talk about Michigan and Michigan State basketball, the NIT, and the March Madness bracket. They also discuss their thoughts on the coaches, Juwan Howard and Tom Izzo. They mention that Izzo recently broke a record for the most consecutive NCAA tournament bids. Overall, they express disappointment with Michigan's performance and have mixed opinions on Juwan Howard's coaching. Welcome to the first episode of J.D. and the Boys, I'm J. I'm B. And this is a podcast where we talk about everything sports, eSports, and everything in between. Dan, take it away. Our first episode, we do have one of the boys with us, Young Crage. Hey, yes sir, excited to be here, excited to talk about some of our topics today. Yes, and in this episode, we are going to cover Michigan, Michigan State, the NIT, the official March Madness Bracket, which Michigan didn't make. In that March Madness Bracket, we move into major upsets, sleepers, who our locks are. We all have individual locks, who we all have winning it all. And then at the end of this episode, we're going to make an official bracket that you all can look at and watch and make fun of us. So please bear with us. First episode, we're super pumped to give this to you guys. Give us feedback. We need feedback. With that said, enjoy the show. Let's do it. All right, for our first topic, we're going to be discussing Michigan and the failures because this is a Michigan-based show. So we're going to talk about Michigan, Michigan State, and then we'll get into the rest of March Madness. But gentlemen, Michigan, what did we do wrong? A lot. No, I didn't say a lot. Like, is this one of the... I don't even want to talk about this because it's the NIT, like, I mean, come on. But, I mean, at the same exact time, I now get to watch the entirety of the NCAA tournament without even having to worry, okay? I don't got to worry about any gray hairs. I don't have to worry about just ruining an entire Saturday afternoon because, let's be honest, after watching their terrible play... They were going to get bouncing. You don't want to get angry. Yeah, they were going to get bouncing. Yeah, we kind of discussed this yesterday and Jake was like, yeah, but now you're not going to be nervous. You're just free watching, pick a team, whatever. If they lose, they lose. Yeah, it's kind of freedom, honestly. Can play Call of Duty while we watch now. We don't have to... I remember sitting down last year and I probably... I honestly think that that Tennessee game that we watched last year, that was one of like the most epic, yes, stressful moments of all time. Eli Brooks. Go into that, Jay. What were we doing? Every year we go down to his brother's down at Cedarville University. Wonderful campus, by the way. Best Chick-fil-A around. So we're all sitting around this TV and in this tiny apartment, there's like a military style cot just in the middle of the living room that half of us are laying on. There's like Ohio State year in there because Andrew's roommate, which is Daniel's brother, is in the house, okay? And we're just losing our minds throughout this entire game. And like they went on like a little run at the very end. Yeah, we went on a free throw. Remember? Dude, the legendary hook shot at the very end, at the box. Oh, it was just phenomenal. Yeah, that had to be a top five Michigan game that I've ever watched. So Michigan, true, true. Michigan. Does this ruin our streak of five straight Sweet 16s because we didn't make the tournament? No, I saw the meme almost instantly of the guy pointing to his head thinking outside the box, you can't ruin your run of Sweet 16 hits if you don't make the tournament. Juwan is big brain. But in all seriousness, Creech, how do we feel about Juwan? Personally, I know other people at this table want him shot out of a cannon as soon as possible. I still need to give him a little more time. I want to see how it goes early next year. I think next year, early January, if they're fiddling around with teams they shouldn't be losing to, I'll be ready to see him go. By the way, at our timer of recording, we are actually, it is Tuesday night and Michigan's on. Jay, do you want to tell me what the score is right now? It's halftime and it's 40-42. And believe it or not, yeah, Michigan's losing to Toledo. That's pretty cool. Yeah, so. That's pretty rough. And yet, I'm not even worried about it. Why? Because it's the NIT. We just have it on in the corner. So, any last thoughts on Michigan, gentlemen? I mean, just a downer of a season. I think I saw a stat earlier that said in six-point games or less, Juwan was 1-11 this year. That's just not going to make it to the tournament. That's a failure of a season. I feel like he's burned the program to the ground. I disagree with Krejci. I want him gone, but that's okay. We'll get there. Juwan will lose his job next year. It won't be like Harbaugh, who did turn around. We'll keep it out of football. Yeah, that is why I am a little bit slower to pump the brakes, because that was one of my or our coldest takes was get Harbaugh out of here, because his back was against the wall. He turned it around. I'm hoping Juwan can do the same, but. So, let me ask you this, okay? So, you want Juwan gone, and I'm not too far off, okay, of that take. Um, so, do you think that Juwan's downfall started from when he got there, or do you think there was a flip of the switch in which we saw, because I feel like all of us were relatively excited when Juwan came into the program. Relatively, okay? Relatively excited. Um, was there a certain flip of the switch, and you were like, I want Juwan gone? When he punched Greg Gard. No, let's be honest. I mean, we could call it PEMDAS, and if he was, what if he punched Tom Izzo? PEMDAS, cancel each other out, and now he's back on the track again, okay? So, I think that's what we need to have happen, okay? Not only will that put Tom Izzo out of commission, it'll put him back. Well, isn't Tom retired too, because his son was a senior, and now he's gone? I don't know, Mr. March ain't looking like Mr. March anymore, to be honest. That's a good point. Before we transition into MSU, I'm looking at the NIT bracket right now. Just quick, Jay, Craig, fire off who we think is going to win it, see if you guys have any thoughts. The NIT, I couldn't tell you who's in it. I'll tell you, Rutgers is in one seat, Oklahoma State's one seat, Oregon's in one seat, Clemson's in one seat. Do you want twos? Give me Clemson. I like the, I like the orange seat there. The orange. The old dabble seating. Who we got in some of the, what's some of the low seating? Uh, uh, I mean, they go with lowest four, that's it. That shows how much I know about NIT. You want to take Toledo? Cincinnati's a four, Washington State's a four, um, UAB, Florida. Something also interesting I learned about the NIT is that Michigan's actually hosting the game at Chrysler tonight. Yeah, they play home games. So you could actually, you could have bought tickets for tonight. Yeah. You know what? Give me Eastern Washington by a million. Eastern Washington. I'm betting the house. What is their record? They're 22 and 10, boys. They're 22 and 10. Or Santa Clara. One of those two. 23 and nine. How are they not in the tournament? I'm going to, I'm going to pick Oklahoma State. They win it. They're a one seat. All right. Make it easy. One more thing on this NIT thing. Put yourselves in the shoes of a Michigan player. Would you guys? I would hate it. Want to play? I would hate it. If I was, if I was Dickinson, I'd be irritated all the wazoo. Yeah. Like, I don't know. It'd just be like an awkward spot. I feel like, and I don't know what I would do if I was a player. I guess you've been grinding this whole season. Part of me thinks as just a college student. I just want to be done and go enjoy the rest of my semester. That is a good point. The only thing I can think of is maybe it's a chance to still grow draft stock if you're jet or COVID. That's true. That's true. It depends on which Michigan player you are. But just the general, like, yeah. If you're, if you're last game, you probably keep wanting to play. But if you're Doug McDaniel, you're ready to be done. Yep. Is, is this Dickinson's last year? He's a junior. He might come back. He'll probably be back. I think he's, I don't think he's got the talent right now to really be successful in the NBA if I'm being honest. I don't see him beating out. So, okay. Quick transition. We're going to talk about MSU now. And what about them specifically? Their tournament run? Is that what we want to discuss? And Izzo, what record did Izzo just break? Did he break a record or tie a record? So I think he, if I'm looking at the facts straight, okay. So he held the record for most consecutive NCAA bids for the NCAA tournament. And he held that with Coach K. And he just broke that. Coach K's record. And he now has, with this year, he now has 25 straight bids into the NCAA tournament. For as much as I dislike him and the teams that have been mediocre recently, that's a feat. No. That's an accomplishment. Juwan could never. Juwan could never. Because here we are restarting. So Juwan would have to coach for another 25 straight seasons. And I would no longer be a Michigan fan. Exactly. I mean, one of the things that makes Izzo, and it pains me to say this, an absolutely phenomenal coach, is we were talking about this, about his ability to take criticism over the past few years. You had more info on this there, Craig. So you take it away from, I kind of gave you a softball toss. Yeah. So this topic was brought up on 97-1 the ticket the other day. And I thought it was pretty interesting. Izzo, over the last seven years, I believe they said, has made it out of the tournament, out of the first weekend of the tournament, which is to get to the Sweet 16 once. Which I thought that was pretty surprising. I know they had some early exits and stuff. And that was a team to beat Duke, right? Correct. Yeah, they went to the Final Four, balled out, went on a deep run. But still, only once out of the last seven years. And I know COVID took away a really good team of theirs in 2020. But none of us had any control over that. So if we look at it, once out of the last seven years, I just, Tom's kind of flown under the radar. Hasn't really attracted a ton of- He is dubbed Mr. March. Yep. It's January, February, Izzo. And he hasn't received a lot of flack, in my opinion, for substandard performances in March at a, truly a blue blood university in the sport. And if you flip the script, and you look at, you go to like a Kentucky, if John Calipari was to do this, or Duke, Coach K, when he was still around, or Jay Wright at Villanova when he was the coach. If they were to only get out of the first weekend once in seven years, I feel like they would be getting a ton of heat for that. Well, how's Calipari? Well, last year- Has he been doing good? Last year, they got bounced in the first round, and it's like everybody was going for his throw. Who was that to? Are we talking about MSU or Kentucky? We're talking about Kentucky last year. They got bounced for a shoot. Yeah. Yeah. Well, they got a lot of people. They got Perdue too, didn't they? Perdome? I mean, Perdome. Perdome. The spoiler makers are only for football. They are Perdome and basketball, particularly in March. And we'll get into that. Big ten teams that always struggle, in general. But seriously, MSU fans that are listening to this, give us feedback. How do you feel about Izzo? Has he underperformed? Do you wish he did more? Or are you still January, February, Izzo? We're going to make the Final Four. Also, I know that we might have Michigan State fans listening, so please don't get mad at me when you undeniably believe the fact that they're going to get bounced in the first round against USC. Oh, so let's get into it. Let's get into it. So we're looking at the bracket. We got Jake's first upset, I guess, is going to be Michigan State. So I got a few upsets in here. OK. Because it wouldn't be called March Madness for nothing if we didn't have upsets. So I'll just start off with, OK, Michigan State, USC. Now, I'm not going to go super in-depth because we literally could be here all night. But yes, I have Michigan State getting bounced first round against USC. This is purely going off of, I mean, Michigan State has not won three consecutive games. And this is what we're talking about with Izzo. He's laid a foundation for himself as a fantastic coach. But the fact that he has not won with his guys three consecutive games in a row since the first week of January, or early January. I mean. That's a good point. Like, I mean. And they just laid a huge egg on us. They got bounced early from the Big Ten tournament, OK? They shot terrible that game. Oh, yeah. What other big upsets do I have in here? I would say that, you know, OK, so we always have like those number one seeds. I want to interject real quick. Go ahead. A point against your pick. OK. Just to make you aware, Michigan State plays USC Friday night. OK. They play in Columbus. Well, that's actually really good. That's a home game, essentially, for Spartan. Not that you have to change your pick, but I'm just being the devil's advocate here. Do we know what time that game is? I can do some research right now. I'm going to check it out. The line on that game was MSU by two. So it's very close to a pick-em. Very close to a pick-em. OK. But yeah. That's a good thing. On the travel, though. So the game on Friday is at 12.15. It's a noon game. 12.15. OK. Dead early today. That's 9.15. That is really good. Does that change your pick? Are you still? No, it's January, February, March. We forget about it, though. Nah, Michigan State's buns. Oh, right. Guys, we just had daylight savings time. I mean, that changes so much. I'm still tired. Jared, do you have any upsets real quick? Get back with me here. You do your upsets first. Let me take a little more look at this. OK. I was reading an article. Teams that are low seeds with 30-plus wins that could make a run. I know that's very specific. But I want to hit you with a certain team that we do know their name. And they made a run against the Buckeyes two years ago. Are we talking Oral? We're talking Oral Roberts. Now, their record is 30-4. So they've reached that mark. I saw a stat that those teams in the last five years with 30 wins, because there's not many of them, only have two losses in the first round. They get out of the first round. OK. No, they don't get out of the first round. No, they don't get out of the first weekend. But they get out of the first round. So Oral Roberts is playing Duke. What do we think about Duke? The tournament changed. So I'm going to compare this to this. Iowa last year smoked through the Big Ten tournament. Upset a couple teams. Won the Big Ten tournament. Super hot. What did we think? Final four. Keegan Murray. They can shoot the lights out. What happened? Bounced in the first round. This could be the same exact thing with Duke. Was it not a 12-5 matchup as well last year with Iowa? It might have been. And I didn't even notice it was 12-5, because I want to stay away from the 12-5. That's what everybody talks about. But think about it. Duke has a first-year head coach. He's never coached in March. March Madness. Oral Roberts, that's my pick. So one question. Is that one high-scoring dude that tore up Ohio State, is he still at that school? No. Do you know? No, I do know that. So we're going to get later into this topic, because I have a very interesting bet on Oral Roberts. But looking at the schedule that they've played to get them to those 30 wins, I'm looking through it. OK? They play Texas Southern. They play Utah State. Rogers State. Then I come across a little note on the game between Oral Roberts and Houston. Who's in the NCAA tournament. As a one-team. OK? Do we want to take a guess? What do you think the score was for that game? Oral Roberts probably won by 20. Dan? How long ago was this? So this was end of last year, but still. They played Houston end of last year. They played Houston, OK, in late November. This year or last year? This year. This season. They got beat by Houston. By... How bad? By like 30. They lost by 30. They lost to St. Mary's. Like, I mean, they lost to Utah State by 10. Like... So of their... So they are 30 and 4. Yep. And what were their losses? So we got... That's a lot of wins. Utah State. They've got Houston, St. Mary's, and one other that I cannot... What was their average loss by? Against which team? It was like 10 or more. It was a beat down. OK. So... So Oral Roberts to cover. So Oral Roberts to win. Exactly. High scoring game. I will not be denied by Creech. Oral Roberts is my sleeper. Did you get out on the first day? The first round. Jared? OK, I'm looking at this. Can't take the under on them. The right side of the bracket, the Midwest. 10 state as a 10 seed has some good value to me. They are a very senior led team. And they're playing some really good basketball right now. They just made a pretty crazy run to the... Fantastic comeback. Big 10 championship and just fell short against a really good Purdue team. So I think they can beat Texas A&M. That's kind of a toss up game. And then Texas, I don't know. You never trust... Never bet on Orange. You never bet on Orange. Texas, Tennessee give me the same vibes. You say that, never bet on Orange. But this man picked Clemson to win the NIT. I was different for the NIT. Oh, Texas did, does have back-to-back wins against Kansas. It's still Texas. However, Kansas won the triangle one game. Texas is on the show. And then they were on a neutral court and Texas still beat them. Yes, that doesn't make sense. So going, going off what you... So you think Penn State makes it to the second round? Maybe you pick now. We could pick Penn State. You hear this, people. And it is in Des Moines, Iowa. Okay. Is that closer to... Let's get our geography out right now. At Penn State, Texas, that feels like the same drive to me. Yeah, I'm going to say that's about even. I'm going to do you one better. Oh, hit me. Okay, so yes, Penn State is playing fantastic basketball. And yes, I don't know. Okay, they're looking fantastic. They looked good in the Big Ten tournament. I'm obviously a Michigan fan. I want the Big Ten to succeed in the tournament. Okay. But in my personal bracket, and since I don't have a dog necessarily in this fight, how juicy of a game would it be to see in the second round Texas versus Texas A&M? And I cannot stand Texas. And I want to see Texas A&M walk out and see yet another Texas program be absolutely embarrassed. I want to see the horns down. I want to see the horns down. Watch Colgate win and just ruin everything. Do you guys want to go through each, like the South, Midwest, East, and West, and just kind of like give your locks for what you have? For who is going to make it to the Final Four. So who do you think... Even the Elite Eight. Who do you have in the... We could do like Elite Eight and maybe win a lot of weight down. However you guys want to do it. Okay. So let's start with the South. Okay. Do you have your lock first? So I do have a lock. Okay. And this one, I would say probably for me, this was one of the toughest kind of... This is a loaded bracket. Holy smokes. I mean, you've got Baylor. Okay. You've got Arizona. You got the felons, Alabama. Okay. So you've got all... And Virginia plays great defense. Don't forget... The problem is... Okay. So yes, Virginia plays fantastic defense. Okay. But you have shooters quite literally on Alabama. Okay. So you have... That was not a pun intended. Okay. So you have Virginia that plays a nose to the grind style defense, and you have Alabama that is quick, fast, athletic, and can shoot from anywhere. Okay. Okay. Every time I see you, I can't... I have to gather. R.I.P. R.I.P. Okay. Okay. So... Shooter shoot. Okay. So Virginia. So for my... Do you have Alabama winning that game? So I have Alabama. Okay. Making a pass. First round, second round over Maryland. Okay. So I have Maryland taking on West Virginia, and I have Maryland winning. I have San Diego State actually going over top of Virginia and playing Alabama. So Bama's a lock for the elay day. Okay. So Bama's a lock for the elay day, and then on the other side of that bracket there... Okay. I have... This was a tough one, and I may quite possibly be just obnoxiously wrong on this. I have NC State over the number six, Creighton. Okay. I don't hate that. Okay. I've got Baylor moving on into the second round. I don't... I'm not an expert on Missouri basketball, but I hear just... I don't think any of them are. Okay. Utah State is favored in that game. Okay. I know Utah State is favored, but I just hear nothing but good things coming from Missouri. I mean, I literally have no... Like... I could not be more in the unknown with those two teams. Pretty much. Yeah. It's like, I very much could do well without not watching a single game from either of those two teams. Arizona-Princeton... Galdaron, that's going to be a barn burner. Holy smokes. National champions, Arizona, or tournament champions. I mean, they made a fantastic run. I honestly, last year, I think I had Arizona going and taking the tournament all. But my two locks in the south for the elay date are Alabama at number one, and Arizona at number two, with Alabama moving on to the final four. Let's all hit the south, then. So, great choice. Yep. And I would... I think I'm going to be boring as well and end up with Alabama and Arizona for my locks for the elay date. I think Virginia is really overrated. We talked about Michigan earlier in the show. That rat bag team almost beat Virginia early in the year. I think they play really good defense, but it's really slow and methodical, and they just don't score enough. I think they'll get beat. Watch out, Furman. Yeah, and I don't see anyone touching Arizona or Alabama, I think. I think it'd be smart not to overthink this one. Also, I don't think Baylor's very good. Every time I turn them on, they're losing. So, I think I'm getting bounced. Let me hit you with some tournament knowledge, Joe. Oh, please do. Last two years, who's won the tournament? A Big 12 school. Baylor and Kansas. Let me tell you, Baylor's getting to the elay date again, gentlemen. I don't think so, though. So, Baylor, my lock. And you're right. Bama's making it out, barring legal issues with certain players. I don't know. Nato, it seems like he has complete control over the situation happening down there at Alabama. You guys both said Bama, Arizona. I'm going to say Bama, Baylor. Let's move to the east. I'll start off. Ease. I don't love this bracket, because Tennessee is not the only 10 I see. Let me just say that. They are terrible. Rick Barnes is awful. Michigan was an example. We were not better than Tennessee last year. We still beat them. This is the bracket of just disappointing teams. Take Purdue, Tennessee, Marquette. You can make a team of all tournament buffs that just... This one is the greatest one, because there are so many failures. Someone's got to succeed. Because think of teams that always get upset. Teams that always get upset. Michigan State gets upset more than people consider. Shaka Smart led teams. Marquette. They're in this bracket. I looked at Marquette. Tennessee. There's four teams in this little region that always lose early. To make a lock, I'm going to have to say Purdue. Purdue gets to the second weekend. Did they last year? They got bounced early, I thought. They got them and Michigan, right? Yes. And then they got bounced. They got beat in the Sweet 16 by St. Peters. Purdue gets there for the second straight year. They do their streak. That's my lock for the Elite Eight there. On the bottom, I have no idea. Sadly, Oral Roberts is going to have to lose to Purdue. They're going to beat Tennessee. Well, you're just flat out wrong. The other team, I'm going to say Kansas State. Really? I'm going to do it. How many minutes of Kansas State basketball have you watched this year? I watched a little bit of tournament time last weekend. About 15 minutes. They won your heart. Fair enough. I can't pick Kentucky and I can't pick Michigan. Oh, Kentucky's the only team that gets bounced. Do you guys have a better idea? Go ahead, Jay. You got something, Craig? No, no. Okay, so let me... This is what I have to say about this. I have Purdue being the first real major upset of this tournament. I have them being bounced by Memphis. Okay, because the way that I see it... So, Edie, seven foot four monster. Big ten basketball with big ten refs. He can get away with a lot of the stuff that he's been getting away with. That man shoots so many free throws. But when you get into a tournament like this against defenses and offenses that are specifically looking at you as the one seed and saying, how do we beat you? Okay, if I'm any of these coaches, if I'm the coach of Memphis. Okay, so let's be honest. They're making it past the first round. Okay, they are. I will give credit where credit is due. They are a good team. Okay. Memphis or Purdue? What do you mean? He's giving credit to Purdue. I'm giving credit to Purdue. He's going to beat a 16. Yeah. Okay, so you know, yes, you're making it past the first round. Okay. But in terms of weaknesses, I look at that seven foot four beanstalk with the weird mustache, Zach Edie, and I'm getting him in foul trouble. He could possibly be the player of the year. I understand that. But I think the way to beat that is get him in foul trouble. And I think that with newer refs in this tournament that is not big ten refs, I think that Purdue is going to get bounced early, especially with what I saw in the big ten tournament. Yes, they won, but Penn State came back after a ridiculous deficit and almost won the game. But Penn State honestly just dropped the ball and it looked like they were in a middle school basketball game at my sister's school in the remaining seconds. So I have them being bounced by Memphis. Now, regardless of what I'm going to say later about Oral Roberts, this is my legitimate bracket. Okay. I still think Duke's got some fire in them. Okay. I see them moving past Oral Roberts. And like I said, I don't trust Tennessee. Okay. I don't trust them whatsoever. Everybody for some reason loves the idea of Tennessee. Yeah, cool state basketball program. Nah. Okay. Inferior to Michigan anyways. Okay. So I see them also moving past Tennessee. I have them matching up against Memphis. I see Duke moving on. Which pains me to say, because I also hate Duke. Lots of storylines about that. Moving on to the other side. I know Shaka Smart, he's coach of Marquette, but I also have Duke and Marquette. Now listen. Okay. I guarantee you I'll be wrong on this end of the bracket in the East. Okay. When I looked at this section of the bracket in the East, I literally cried a little bit deep inside. I was sitting at my desk today and I was like, I sat there and I just stared at it. I was like, this is atrocious. But I got to make something. Okay. So I got, I got Duke and Marquette in the Elite Eight and Duke moving on to the Final Four. Hate me. Okay. Great. I was, I was really debating. I've got Duke for mine. I was really debating between Marquette and Kentucky. You have Duke as well. Yeah, I think so. I think so. With the Purdue game, because that's obviously the sexy one up top. Purdue, this game reminds me of last year's bracket where Memphis was also an eight or nine seed. I don't remember which one, but they faced off with the number one overall seed, which was Gonzaga and darn near should have beat them. We were, we were down at Cedarville watching that game together and they were flying around and should have beat Gonzaga. I think they'll get it. I think they'll get it done. And Memphis will beat Purdue. I think Purdue goes down before even the Sweet 16. Amen. Which leaves just like a field of weird teams. If Purdue goes down, I think Duke capitalizes on that. What don't you like about, what don't you like about Duke their game? Well, it seems how they're my upset. I gave my example earlier. They are hot. Everybody's going to think they're going to make the run, just like they thought Iowa last year. They're not as good as people think. What are you talking about? Coach K was an atrocious coach. And once they got him out there, I mean, this is a product of Shire, man. First year coach. Okay. So that's my logic with Duke because I think Purdue is going to get bounced. So you got Duke going. Yep. And then I'm going to go Kentucky. I think we'll just get a classic blue blood in the blue blood battle. I don't know anything on Kentucky, if I'm being 100% honest. After last year's debacle in the tournament, getting bounced early, it kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. They're up for redemption. There's something to be said about that. Honestly, Kentucky and like Kansas and they just kind of like blend together as one. And it's like, I don't really pay attention very much. I'm like, they're probably making the tournament anyways. And they'll probably get bounced early. Yeah. Midwest or West? Let's go Midwest. Midwest. D, what you got? Midwest. I have Houston. I actually have them winning this whole tournament. So not much to say about Houston. I won't give them trouble. I think I would beat Auburn, but Houston is going to win, get to the Elite Eight. They honestly have a pretty easy bracket. Easy bracket. I think Indiana gets to the Sweet 16 to play Houston. That'll be a really good game. It'll be a good game, but I think the Big Ten will show what they always show. Show their cheeks. Houston will make it. I'm the bottom side of that Midwest bracket. I still like that Penn State pick. I don't think they're beating Texas, though. I can't really... So you have them beating Texas A&M? Yes. I can't see Xavier beating Texas. I'm going to do the 1-2 on this one. 1-2, we'll have Houston and Texas. Okay. What, you don't want the toothpaste company Colgate going all the way? No. No? So you mentioned Houston, okay? And Houston is actually the highest favored team to win the NCAA tournament this year. I saw something. As far as like betting on it? In terms of betting on it. So Houston, I actually saw this today. Houston has the odds of plus 550, okay? I'm pretty sure that is the highest odds that any team has ever had as the highest favored team to win the NCAA tournament in history. That's the best chances. Yeah. If I'm not... Plus 550 is not... I saw that on ESPN. Is that the Ken Tom thing? Yeah. Yeah, what's their rating in offense and defense? But for my takes, I mean, I've got Houston all the way to the Elite 8, okay? I feel like Iowa and Auburn is going to be a fan. Have you guys heard of the Elvis-off that is happening between Iowa and Auburn? No. So Iowa... Indulge me. ...has a super fan that dresses like Elvis, okay? And Auburn also... I mean, we're talking like 60s pop artist Elvis, okay? And we're going to have an Elvis-off at this game. And that is literally the only headline that I've seen about this game. Right. That's the only reason why I'm going to watch it. With that said, who's winning that game? I've got Auburn. I've got the 9th seed over the 8th. I've got Houston as a lock. And then I also have Indiana moving past Kent State and then Miami. So I've got a 1 and a 4 in the Elite 8. I've got Xavier moving on, okay? And then... So I'm a little bit flipped from yours, D, okay? So you had Penn State over Texas A&M. And I mentioned this earlier in the show how I think it would be so delicious, okay? We all know that this is scripted, much like the NFL, okay? They're going to make it happen. So it's Texas A&M over Texas, okay? I don't want to see horns down. So I got Houston. And I have Texas A&M, who is a 7th seed. And we talked about this as well, that I don't know the amount of years, but a 7th seed or higher since like 2012... One of those seeds always happens to sneak its way through and make a deep run. And I think that's going to be Texas A&M. Right on. Penn State's going to murk them first round. I'm sorry, my dude. Too elusive. Y'all are going to be crying when... Also, how weird is it to see Penn State in the March Madness bracket? I don't know when. When's the last time they made the tournament? That's a good question. Who you got? Definitely Houston for the top. That's a pretty easy pick. They're athletic, play hard. I don't think anyone's going to... I don't think they're going to have trouble with anybody getting to the Elite 8. Now the bottom is where it gets a little interesting. Iowa State's playing some good ball. I'm kind of tempted to take them to the Elite 8. And I think they might get there because they're going to be playing Penn State in the Sweet 16. And that's a very winnable game. As much as I have been hyping up Penn State this time. You want to know when the last time Penn State made it into the March Madness tournament? Go, Grandpa. Take a wild guess. Was it before... Was it after 2000? 2010-11 season. You know how many times... That's more recent than I thought, but still. I mean, it's 2023. But you know how many times their program has actually made it into the NCAA tournament? So to remind you, Tom Izzo has stamped 25 consecutive straight. Penn State has made it 10 times in program history. And that's why I think Texas A&M is going to win. The bright lights give you too much pressure for them. That's fair. But yeah, so I'm taking Houston, and I think I'm going to go Iowa State. Okay, so that's a big... Hit us with your West. Looking down at the West. Kansas, I haven't officially filled out my full bracket, but I think I'm going to have Kansas go into the final four. So therefore, by logic, they got to be my Elite Eight lock. Looking down at Arkansas-Illinois game is going to be fun. Illinois is also another classic team. They give you the same vibes as Iowa and Purdue. You can never trust them. And they're an orange team, so you know how that works out. UConn's one team in this bracket that I think will definitely make it to the Sweet Sixteen. The Yellow Beetle. The Schnaeper team. No, no, no. We've bat a couple of UConn games this year, and I've watched a little bit of them. And they just dunk it every time they get the ball. They just drive, slash to the rim, and throw it down. Like me in high school. Yeah. They're really fun to watch, so... Give me UConn to give Kansas a little trouble, but Kansas will win. Okay. Then looking at the bottom, Gonzaga. They're not the same Gonzaga. And even when they are supposed to be really good, they never can quite get it done. Northwestern is seventh. But, but, Gonzaga. Five streets, Sweet Sixteens. Yeah. They'll probably get there. But UCLA out of the bottom, I think. They got a lot of experience. Our favorite player, Tiger Campbell. And Tiger Hawkins, the Spaniard. I think they'll be a little much for the lads down in the bottom of that bracket. So, I'm going to keep this one short and sweet. And this one's a little bit interesting. Obviously Kansas, as one of my locks. Okay. I do think, I think it will, like you said, it's going to come down to Kansas and UConn and to whoever makes it. And I think that is going to be one of the all-time games of the tournament that we'll see up until this point. Obviously, we're going to have some upsets. TCU versus Gonzaga. Believe it or not, I don't see Gonzaga making it very far. Okay. Mr. Mustache Boy, Timmy, can only take him so far, in my opinion. I don't think they're going to struggle much with Grand Canyon. Moving into the other side of that bracket, Northwestern. I cannot take Northwestern serious. Okay. They get dominated, they get dominated in football. I just, I can't look at Northwestern and not chuckle to myself a little bit. UCLA. Okay. And I'll get into them in a little bit. Now, I made this bracket at 12 o'clock in the middle of my lunch period. Okay. UCLA is who I have winning the tournament overall. Past couple of years, it's like we look at UCLA and they fly under the radar the entire tournament. And then somehow it gets to like the Elite Eight and they're like, wait, what the heck? These guys are still in tournament? Holy smokes. And they've won here handily. And they make just deep tournament pushes. Okay. I think over the past couple of years, they've been getting the pieces around and looking at this from a standpoint, my final four, I've got Houston, Alabama, two one seeds from the South and the Midwest. I have Alabama actually taking that into the championship rounds. And then I have Duke and UCLA and I have UCLA going over top of Duke because I don't think Duke has what it takes. And I've got UCLA and Alabama in the championship with UCLA taking it all. What about you fellas? What is your... I don't think I'm in my West pick. Let me just holler real quick. Oh yeah, go ahead. Kansas, because there's Bill Self is so good. He doesn't get talked about enough. Bill Self, best coach in basketball right now. They call him Dollar Bill for a reason. Is he the best one? They call him Dollar Bill? He shows off those dollar bills. Bill Self, I never heard that, but I love it. Do we agree? Best coach in college basketball. I mean, you obviously are doing something right if you're getting in the one seed and winning handily. I think in the last 20 years, Kansas has won the conference 18 of 20 times. Yeah, that's a stupid amount. Bill Self always has a good team. He owns that conference. That being said, yeah, I pick Kansas on the bottom. Zags make a run. They're going to beat UCLA. That's gross. I know it is. You don't want to see Drew Tibby? I do want to see him swipe his stash one more time. His headband? Yeah, no, but it's going to happen. I hate to do that to you boys, but I have Kansas coming out. So I have two one seeds on the right side, Midwest and West. Kansas-Houston. Left side, it's ugly, man. It's stinking ugly. I can't pick anyone. All right, give me a second on the East. The South, Baylor. We're going to have another big 12 team. Two big 12 teams in the Final Four. It's a good conference. Notice, I'm not picking a Big Ten team in the Final Four. Why? Because we're trash. I don't want to pick Purdue. I really don't. Pur-don't? Pur-don't for a reason. No. I can't pick Kansas. I was about to say, you're having Kansas stay. I got to pick Purdue, then. I have to. So a Big Ten team is going to make it. With my logic, a Big Ten team has to make it. So that's three one seeds and a three. That's not far off, thinking about it. The last couple years, we've had a one seed in the Final Four more often than not. Better than mine. I got a one, one, a two, and a five. What you got there, Creech? I think I'll have Alabama. Definitely, that's a one. Houston's a one. Kansas is a one. And who are my picks for that? You have Duke. East region. You have Duke and Kentucky. Oh, gosh. I don't want either of them to go, but someone's got to go. Probably Kentucky at the six. So one, one, six. You guys got a lot of faith in Kentucky. I don't. I have them getting bounced in the Sweet Sixteen. Don't go Jake into that. Not even. Second round, they're bounced by Kansas State. We'll look up Kentucky's schedule, see who they lost to. Because they have a lot of losses for a reason. But they're the next topic we want to hit. Well, I gave my overall tournament winner, I think. I think it's going to be UCLA. Houston. And my one, if I had to, so this is my legitimate pick. UCLA, who I think is going to win it all. But if I'm memin, Oral Roberts to the house. What do you got? Oh, I have. Meme pick would be. Hit me with a D. What you got? I got Houston. You're all wise words. Meme pick? Well, you want Kennesaw? Texas Southern, baby. The 16th seed at 14 and 20, who made the tournament run. They have six more losses than they do wins, winning the natty. How about this? If Colgate makes it all the way to the final four, I'm going to brush my teeth for a year. No. I will say, we got two teams directly related to the dentistry profession. We got Colgate and Oral Roberts. So who is the better of the dentist teams? Oral Roberts, 100%. I told my students today that if Oral Roberts makes it to the final four, I'm shaving my head. So that's, you'll see it. All right, Oral Roberts. Do we know, what are they again? They're a bird? Are they a bird? I think so. It's their mascot. They're a golden eagle, I think. Onward, golden eagles. Sister Jeannie should be in there. Oh yeah, where's Loyola Chicago? Snubbed. She's still alive. Oh, she's like a hundred and- She actually went to Loyola tournament. I think Loyola didn't make it. She looked like, if you've ever seen the Indiana Jones, the last crusade, where the guy drinks out of the wrong cup and ages like 150 years, like in two seconds. She looks like that German guy that underwent that. Yeah, they're the golden eagles. You guys want me to hit you with Kentucky's L's, just so I can crap on Kraych's final four. Oh, please do. Uh, this was back in November. They lost to Duquesne. Duquesne is a powerhouse. 77 to 52. Who hasn't lost to Duquesne? 77 to 52 at Rupp Arena. Then they lost to Michigan State in double overtime, but put up a better fight. They lost by 16 to Gonzaga. They beat Michigan. I mean, that's not- That was a game in London. That was a four-point win. They lost to UCLA, 53-63. They lost to Missouri, who's also in the tournament. They lost to Alabama by 20. They lost to South Carolina. They lost to A&M, who's in the tournament. They lost to Kansas. They lost to Arkansas. They lost to Georgia. Someone's got to come out of that bracket of disappointment. Are we just all overthinking it, and Marquette's going to make it? I don't know. That might be our issue. I haven't watched it. I mean, the coach's last name literally is Smart, so. But he's never making a run. Okay, so breaking news. The Michigan Wolverines have defeated Toledo 90 to 80 in the first round. 90 to 80? 90 to 80, and they were- Oh, my gosh. I was going to tell you that. Michigan gave up 80 points to Toledo. Not concerned at all. They were 27-7. Toledo was. I mean, let's be honest. So that moves us to round two. The battle of powerhouse in the conference, I tell you what. That moves us to round two against Vanderbilt or Yale. That is just mouth-watering right there. So I've been meaning to talk to you. So did you guys make your final picks? Dan, you said Houston. Houston. And then who's your meme team? Uh, I'd give it- You said Texas Southern? Oh, yeah, Texas Southern, because they're 14 and 20. Texas? They made the tournament in Michigan. Oh. I think Kansas repeats. Kansas repeats. Who's your meme team, Jared? My meme team is going to be- They play in an actual conference, but it is Northwestern and Boo-Boo-E. Boo-Boo-E. Boo-Boo-E's going to go off. Boo-Boo-E. Player of the tournament. Player of the championship. Oh, that's good. Um, do you guys want to end with us doing an official bracket? An official bracket? Let's do it. That I will fill out as JD and the boys, and we will submit it. I like it. Also, a little reference to our name there. A little reference to the name. What we should do is for our segment, Let Em Cook, we should just create the most disgusting 64-leg parlay for the first round of the tournament. Put five dollars. You know how epic that would be? It'd be a 32-leg parlay because- 32, true. 64 teams. Not a math teacher. Not a math teacher. I don't want to do that, but I love it. I love it. That's content. For the viewers. Legend. Okay, we're going to do one or the other. Gents, do we want to do an official bracket, or do we want to come up with the nastiest parlay as part of our official bracket and just do the parlay? We can do the Let Em Cook segment later on. Let's do an official- Let's do the brackets. Let's do an official bracket. Okay, so everybody look at your brackets. All right, got it. Jersey South. We have, we all agree, Alabama. Alabama. Uh, 8-9 game, it's a pick-em. What do we want? I got Maryland. Go Big Ten. All right, and we'll try to rapid-fire this. Big Ten, Big Ten. Uh, we're going to get balanced by Bama, so let's just say Bama. Uh, San Diego State. Charleston. And Charleston. Who is a 30-win team? Those are one of those upsets. Do we think- I feel like that's a bait. I feel like Charleston's a bait. 12s don't always beat 5s. People will jump on it. 12s don't always beat 5s. San Diego State, we agree? Yep. I agree. Uh, Virginia beats Furman. Yep. Okay, uh, who wins that game? San Diego State, Virginia. I got San Diego State. I got San Diego State. Oh, you guys hate Virginia. I mean, it's just, they're a fantastic team. It's just, they play good defense, but their offense, and their offensive boards. Okay, uh, Creighton, NC State. ACC's down, Jimmy Creighton. I have NC State. You, what, what's your saying? The final pick, NC State, because, because, the great Jimmy V. All right. The cardiac attack. The storylines. Uh, Baylor, we got to pick Baylor. Uh, who wins the NC State-Baylor game? I got Baylor. Oh, Baylor, 100%. Good, you agree? Jimmy V's just out the window. He had his time. He had his time. Uh, Mizzou, Utah State. This was one of your upsets, wasn't it, Matt? I said I had Mizzou. Mizzou. Moving on. Sure, Mizzou. Mizzou. Uh, Arizona. Yep. Princeton. No love for the Ivy School? Uh, no, not this time. Uh, Zona wins again? Yep. Okay, so we got Bama beating San Diego State? Yeah. Oh, yeah. We got Baylor to Arizona. You both said Zona. I like Arizona. I said Arizona, yep. Okay, so official bracket, we got Zona. Bama wins that game? Yep. Okay, so our first team out of the South is Alabama. Uh, Purdue? Yep, I got them moving on. Uh, that beats my mean pick of Texas Southern. Yep. Uh, Memphis FAU. I got Memphis. Florida Atlantic. That is another 30-win team. I still think Memphis is on a hot streak right now. Okay, Memphis. Uh, wins that game, Duke or, or, Duke, Purdue or Memphis? I'm gonna let you say yours, Craig, and yours, Dean. I like Memphis in it personally. I had Memphis in my bracket. All right, Memphis it is in ours. We gotta have upsets somewhere. Duke, Laurel. You guys have Duke. Uh, Tennessee and, uh, Louisiana? I got Tennessee. Yeah, let's just do Tennessee. The jiggle we have after that. Duke beats them? Yep, that's what I have. Duke beats Memphis? Yep. I know you hate it. That's not right. I'm telling you. Okay, I disagree with our official bracket. Uh, Kentucky, Providence? Kentucky. Yep. You can just keep clicking Kentucky. Hold your horse. Stop right there. Kansas State. Not, of course, I'm not so fast. Kansas State wins right here. I'm so fast. Do you have a pencil? Let me stutter eight times before I say that. What teams are playing this tournament again? Of course, it's the land of Michigan State, USC. And this is your, I think MSU at least wins on Friday night because they're in Columbus. Or Friday afternoon. Yep. I, I would go MSU. Or do we just make all the Michigan State listeners mad? Let's start on a good note. Yeah, let's not. Let's hit some more. Marquette wins our first game. MSU, Marquette. Marquette. I can't, yeah. This is still in Columbus. I still don't see Michigan State making it that far. Okay, Marquette. I like it. Kentucky, Kansas State. I got Kansas State. Well, hold on a second. You, you didn't seem so confident. Do you have another take on Marquette, Michigan State? Chakrasmart, Tom Izzo. Both not Mr. Marches. I don't know. Let's go Marquette then. All right. Kansas State, Kentucky. I got Kansas State. I got Kansas State as well. Okay, Kansas State, Marquette. Kansas State. I'm telling you, that's why I'm here. I'd rather go Marquette. Trace, I have Marquette in my bracket as well. Oh my goodness. There's a reason why I don't work for ESPN. Marquette, Duke. I've got Duke in mine. D, what you got? Marquette. I can't stand to see Duke go that far. Oh, but are we doing this just based off of me? If Duke makes it against Marquette, we have to pick Duke. This is all on emotion. It's Duke. Okay, so we have Duke. It's the best way to pick a bracket. Somehow coming out of the east. I don't know, whatever. Houston wins. Iowa or Auburn. War Eagle. It's a gross game. The Elvis off, folks. The Elvis off. I think it's Southern Elvis. Fran McCaffrey. They're off the ref and the other Elvis. And not Iowa Bulldogs. That is going to be a chaotic game. Fran McCaffrey always chokes us. If there was a coach to be thrown out, it's him. Exactly. And those teams will be so beat up by the next day when they play Houston or two days later Houston wins. Yeah. Miami-Drake. Miami-Drake. I think Miami. They had a solid ACC year. I don't know anything about Drake, if I'm being 100% honest. Maybe that's just the one game where it's like nobody knows anything. It's a 5-12, but I don't like 12 again. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, Indiana wins. Kent State, no chance. Agree. Big Ten team makes it to the second day. Miami-Indiana. You guys like Indiana? Yeah. Sweet 16. Now, notice you are saying, we are saying that we have two Big Ten teams in the Sweet 16. That's a lot. Do we want Miami? I think the two Big Ten teams that we do have, who are the two that we have? Purdue and Indiana. Those are the two best teams, so I'd say if we're going to put two in there. Jay, what you think? You like Miami or you like Indiana? I have Miami and Indiana as well. In my personal bracket. Who do you pick between the two of them? I say Indiana, just for the throwbacks. Indiana it is. Just looking at those uniforms. Which, by the way, Tom McQueen is now on ESPN breaking down games. He's really hilarious. I just noticed him last week. Iowa State against an 11-team. Iowa State, easy. Okay. Xavier wins. Yep. Yep. This is where things get hairy. Give me Penn State and the point. I got Penn State, along with Trach. Go for it. Texas wins against the two-faced. Okay, Iowa State, Xavier. I got Xavier. Iowa State. Interesting. What'd you get, D? Big 12. Xavier. Ouch. Actually, I'm going to back up my take. I'm going to go Iowa State on that. Oh, let's go. I'm going to back it up. I'm going to back it up. I'm going to show bracket. Iowa State makes it. Okay. So, going back and looking at past tournaments, Xavier has never really had solid success. Has Iowa State? I just got a gut. Rich tournament. I was about to say. They do? Oh, yeah. Right on. Iowa State is... I'm spreading malts. That means we can't have another upset. So, Texas wins. Yep. Okay. Gross. Kansas. Oh, actually, let's go up there and pick our final for that. Just keep Houston. I mean, Houston. Just keep Houston all the way. Iowa State, Texas. Texas. We all agree. Texas wins that one. Over what? Iowa State. Yes. Texas and Houston. I got Houston. I got Houston. Houston. Calvin Sampson. He's a good coach. He always has the boys ready. Kansas in the bottom. Arkansas or Illinois. The girls game. Go Arkansas. We're skipping over Howard real quick. Howard is done. In two different ways. Michigan is this tournament. St. Mary VCU. That's one of Oral Roberts' loss. I like St. Mary's. I got St. Mary's over at VCU. Okay. UConn. UConn. In the gales. UConn was up to number two early this year in the AP poll. I would like UConn as a four seed to beat any of these other one seeds besides Kansas. Which is why they're in the Kansas bracket. Because Kansas... Who's the overall one seed in Houston? No, Alabama is. Alabama is. The top left is the overall one seed, I think, right? I thought Alabama was three. I think Houston... Someone fact check that. Someone fact check that. Back to the bracket. Kansas beats Arkansas. Kansas beats Arkansas, yep. St. Mary's, UConn. St. Mary's? I got UConn. Sorry, what? St. Mary's or UConn. Oh, UConn. I got Kansas and UConn making it. St. Mary's and UConn. UConn it is. Kansas, UConn? Yep. Kansas? Yes. Craig's, Kansas? Yes. Alabama basketball earns number one overall seed in the 2020 tournament. Okay. TCU... I'm calling Arizona State wins, by the way. But do we have... I could dig that. Let's do it. Do they beat TCU as well? Frankie Collins. Frankie Collins. Okay. Gonzaga? Yep. Gonzaga against Arizona State? Yep. I got Gonzaga moving on. Northwestern? Boobooey, all the way. I got Northwestern moving on. UCLA? UCLA again? Yep. UCLA, Gonzaga? I have UCLA. Just past tournament runs and... I would go UCLA. I would say in terms of... Gonzaga, Gonzaga. Okay, Kansas, UCLA. One, two. What's Gonzaga's coach's name? Mark Few? Mark Few. Yeah. The DUI? He's probably driving drunk right now, so... Hey, he has dogs with him. Okay. You guys hear that before? He was like, sir, you're swimming all over the road. My dogs, they were making a rustle in the back. And that's why... Now he blamed his DUI on his dogs. Do we have the one seed losing here? UCLA? Kansas, I think. Kansas might pick the one at all. I think they're really good. What do you think, Jay? I've already explained. I have UCLA. UCLA it is. I have UCLA. I have UCLA making the run. All right. So we got Bama, Duke. Bama? Bama, yeah. Houston, UCLA. I got Houston. Yeah, Houston. You're overruled here, Jay. Go for it, man. So we got Houston, Bama. In the championship game. Now, this is pending that two of their players don't get arrested. This is a long tournament. They're going to have to go about three weeks without committing a felony. Okay, exactly. Unless they... I'm pretty sure... Did somebody... I think they said that one of the assistant coaches reached out to Ray Lewis. Oh, stop. I'm not even joking. I did hear something about that. Yeah! He reached out to Ray Lewis! I don't know the story, but what a great role model. If anything, just take advice from OJ Simpson. I'm pretty sure he actually wrote a book on how to get away with murder, so... Okay. So, Bama. Our final pick. Houston. I got Houston. I think Houston wins it. Go Bama. So Houston, and what do we want for score for our tiebreaker? Because this is obviously a perfect bracket. We picked three brains, and we have the literal perfect brains. We have the script. Okay, so... Exactly. It was dropped off to me just this morning. Really? Okay. Houston hits 70. What is the score for that one? Where in the 70s is Houston? I... Okay, so in terms of defense and offense, and looking at the weapons each of them, I have 74 Houston, 68 Alabama. No, I would say probably... You're close, but I would go 75, 69. You're right there, but just a little bit off. 75, 69. They're going to win by 4, 70. 4, 70. Thoughts? Sure. Let's be honest. I don't think this bracket's going anywhere, but still. I'm going to press finish bracket. For the boys. And we're going to... We will share this bracket when we share this podcast, so you all can follow along, and please give us feedback. Make fun of us. This is our first podcast. We need your feedback. If you're a Michigan State fan or an Ohio State fan, you have no say, so don't even bother. I'm kidding. Final thoughts, gentlemen, on the first podcast of JV and the boys. Appreciate Krates coming in as a co-host guest. Of course, yeah. It's always good to talk some college basketball with the lads. I think first episode, things just went absolutely fantastic. I'm looking forward to getting into esports and the CDL and... Clearly a heavily favored March Madness day, but the tournament is literally in two days, our time. So we will be into more esports and sports in general, but I think it was good to just hit the tournament today. Next episode, free agency. Okay? Maybe we can all do a darkness retreat. Maybe do Hiawasca like Aaron Rodgers, then go. Who knows? Free agency slash combine slash draft. Love it. Potential. Potential. Not a promise, just potential. But that's going to do it for us. Without any further thoughts. Later boys. Appreciate y'all tuning in to JV and the boys.