The RogNation Experience Podcast Episode #5

The transcription is a conversation between two individuals discussing the March Madness tournament in college basketball. They talk about the structure of the tournament and the surprises and upsets that have occurred so far. They also discuss their predictions for the Sweet 16 round, both in the men's and women's divisions. One person mentions their bracketology score and how they have picked mostly higher-seeded teams to advance. The other person expresses their belief that lower-seeded teams can also pull off upsets and should not be underestimated. All right, everybody. Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the Raj Nation Experience Podcast Episode 5. That's right, people. I'm back again with a new episode. I'm very sorry that it's been a while since I last posted, and I know you guys are probably upset with me that why I was on a hiatus for so long, because to be honest, I was kind of busy here at my media school and I just haven't had time to, you know, do my podcast on the low, you know, with all these assignments they've been giving me. So it's been pretty tough, but now I actually have the time to do an episode this time around, and hopefully I get to do more of this in the future now, you know, after I'm done with this place. So honestly, as always, I am your host, Roger Sanchez-Hall, and today I have a guest with me today. Not Steven, but another person today. His name is Jacob. How you doing, Jacob, man? I'm doing good, Roger. How about you? I'm doing pretty good, man. It's a good way. It's a good month, honestly. So honestly, what we're going to talk about today is, of course, since it is March, today is obviously still March Madness, and as of today, it's obviously the Sweet 16 round for both the men's and women's divisions. So honestly, Jacob, like, what are your thoughts on March Madness so far? I don't know, like, what you've been thinking. I know you're more of a sports guy with me, like, but before we say that, what is March Madness? So clearly, March Madness is a tournament for college basketball. It's basically like a do-or-die tournament, sudden death. You know, you get, like, a whole 68 teams. Usually the first four get, like, the last bracket of the whole tournament. Then it's, like, a round of 64, round of 32, then Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final Four, and then the National Championship game. And obviously, like, once you're out, you're out, and if you're in, you're in. So obviously, it's basically, like, sudden death. You got to win to survive in order to get to the championship and win to get bracket rights for an entire year. So obviously, Jacob, since today is the Sweet 16, I don't know if you were keeping up with it, but what are your thoughts on the whole tournament so far? It's basically the topic of it. It's called March Madness for a reason. It's expect the unexpected. Like, the round of 64 has been quite crazy. Like, who would ever think that Duke, not even Duke, really, what were you trying to say? Aside from Duke. Like, just, like, there's madness to it. Like, whoever thought of Oakland upsetting that team, like, it's been, it's called March Madness for a reason. Like, Duquesne beat BYU, and they were the number 11 seed, and BYU was the sixth seed. And it's been madness ever since for that. Like, Oakland beats Kentucky, and Kentucky has been a really good basketball team for a good while. Like, to name a couple players that were in Kentucky, you have Bam-I-Bio from the Heat, you have Tyler Hero, you have Devin Booker, you have Anthony Davis. There's just a lot. Jermall Murray, Emmanuel Quigley, Julius Randle, just to name a few. Like, it's, and Pat has also been there from the wolves, so. What about the Kentucky players of today? Like, do you think those guys will have a shot in the NBA eventually, or? Yeah, basically they do. Like, you just have to make a name for yourself to try to be the best player in college, so you can try to be the number one pick and go on and make a name for yourself so you could be a big time player. Like, when Tyler Hero was drafted by the Heat, he was young, and that was during the, like, before the pandemic, he was balling. It was actually during the COVID season. He was drafted that same year as Zion and Jermall Murray. Yeah. So, like, honestly, yeah, I'm kind of, like, surprised that Oakland didn't beat Kentucky. Like, that scene kind of surprised me, especially when there was, like, a huge name coming from one player called, named Jack Belty. I don't know if you've seen that guy, but he actually, like, had a record prior to him being eliminated, like, he had, like, the most threes, like, in the, like, first few years of the March Madness. He had, like, a total of 16. But, like, against Kentucky, he shot, like, he made 10 threes, which is pretty insane for a guy who's never really, like, been playing basketball. Like, he never played professionally. Like, not, like, Division I, like, no one really knew of this guy until, like, this whole tournament. So, it was obviously, like, a surprise that people were going for Oakland because they kind of looked like the Cinderella team until they left the North Carolina State, where they kind of, like, ran out of gas, and that's where, like, it all ended. But to me, like, Jack Gopi, he kind of looks like, you know, I don't know if you know, but he kind of looks like Matthew Perry in a way. Like, if you see his face, like, his hair, he kind of has, like, that Norman Osborne type haircut, but, like, face kind of looks like Matthew Perry or, like, Chandler Bing, which is kind of weird because, like, I thought, like, wait, this guy kind of looks familiar. Like, he sure isn't Matthew Perry? Like, was he, is he alive? Like, I know he passed away, but it's kind of weird to see someone that actually looks like him, you know? But, yeah, but unfortunately, they got eliminated, but at least Gopi's in, like, his deals, his endorsements, but I kind of hope he goes big through the NBA because he looks like an astonishing player. Maybe we should go pick him up if he does go for the draft. But if not, you know, it's kind of cool that a guy like him has, like, a story behind him, but it could have been cool for Oakland to win. But speaking of that, I know right now it's a Sweet 16, and there are some teams in the men's division that are actually going hard right now. You know, you got UConn and San Diego State on one side, Illinois and Iowa State. Then you got North Carolina, Alabama, Clemson and Arizona. Then on the other side, it's Tennyson and Creighton, Tennessee, Tennessee, sorry, kind of like screwing up here, but yeah, it was Tennessee and Creighton, Purdue and Gonzaga, Marquette, North Carolina State, Houston, and Duke. So, Jacob, like, what are your thoughts on the Sweet 16 bracket so far? Like, who do you have advancing from that run home? I have UConn going to the next round for the Elite Eight. I have Iowa State beating Illinois. North Carolina beating Bama. Then you will have, I guess, Arizona is going to beat Clemson. Duke, yeah, Duke is going to lose against Houston. Marquette's going to beat NC State. Purdue is going to beat Gonzaga. And then I think Tennessee might beat Creighton, and that's it. I have 420 points based off of my bracketology. So, basically, I am only 60.6% on all my picks for this bracket, even though it sucks. It's my first time doing it on ESPN. Really? Yeah. Usually, I do it on paper and just do it on the selection show and do it like that, but I move on to digital now. So, Kentucky is favored by 10.5 versus San Diego State. And then Iowa State is favored by 1.5 points, so that's going to be kind of a close game, so keep an eye on that. So, UConn or Kentucky? How do you say Kentucky for some reason? Alright, Kentucky versus San Diego State is going to... Or is it like the women's division? Because we're talking about the men's right now. Yeah. So, I have a lot of teams. It's going to be a close game for the majority of them, but it's going to be hit or miss. So, for the women's, it's going to be North Carolina versus Indiana, Oregon State versus Notre Dame, LSU versus UCLA, and then Iowa versus Colorado. And then you have Texas, Gonzaga, NC State versus Sanford, Duke versus UConn, and Baylor versus South Carolina. Yes. So, the Trojans in California. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. So, I think that off of the top, South Carolina is going to beat Indiana. Iowa, which is King Clark, they're going to beat Colorado. LSU beats UCLA. And then Notre Dame wins versus Oregon State. Texas is going to beat Gonzaga. Sanford's going to win versus NC State. Duke is going to lose to UConn. And the Trojans from Southern California are going to beat Baylor in the women's division. You know, I've kind of noticed now that you've told me you're winners, I feel like you've picked the higher ups, the higher seeds to actually advance. I haven't seen a single team that you picked that was lower ranked. You kind of have, let's see, Illinois is on Iowa for some reason. No, you had Iowa on Illinois. I feel like for my bracket, which was already busted, I kind of picked Illinois to win, I believe, to make the Elite Eight, and North Carolina as well. But I feel like you're kind of giving a little low blow to the teams that are lower ranks. I feel like they all put up a fight, in my opinion. I think North Carolina State will probably pull up an upset, even though I picked Marquette to win, but I feel like North Carolina State will actually counter Marquette and actually make the Elite Eight if that game actually happens. I feel like you're kind of low blowing on the teams that, because of their seeding, that means they're going to lose. Because sometimes that's not really the case. Because there have been some times where the higher seed that people were expected to win actually ended up getting defeated early on. So it's kind of weird for you to say, like, oh, I'm going to pick these guys because they're the best team or because they're more influenced. But I feel like you never know, because in March Maddox, anything can happen. There's always that one Cinderella team that actually ends up being a well-known school. I don't know if you saw from last year that Purdue, they lost to Fairlake Dickinson University, and nobody knew who they were, and they were a 16th seed, and they actually beat a top seed of Purdue last year as a first seed. So I feel like, considering the whole tournament, anything can happen. The lower seed kind of going to the finals. But we never know, because we'll have to see and find out once the national championship teams end up making it. But for now, for me, for my predictions, I kind of have UConn making it all the way against Houston in the championship game. In the men's? Yes, in the men's division. I have Purdue winning it all, because they have the easiest schedule. Really? So depending on who wins, I feel like it will be kind of challenging, but ideally, hey, because either Crayton or Tennessee, I think they're kind of more of a huge advantage, maybe. But they'll probably find a way to kind of counter Zach Eaddy, because he has been dominating in the whole series so far for March Maddox, because he's had two double-doubles. One of them was, in the first one, he had like 30 and 20-something rebounds. And to me, I feel like that's kind of dominant, because how you think they'll be able to stop a guy who's very tall, 7'4", a senior, he's got muscle on him, 300 pounds. Do you think a guy like Zach Eaddy is kind of impossible to beat, or do you think there's going to be a way for a school to counter what he can do? What are your thoughts on that? Just try to beat the person, beat the man. Try to double-team him, triple-team him. Try to do what you got to do. You got to go have your bigger men try to gain up on him, because the taller the person you are, the better chances you could try and make the ball inside the basket. It just depends on the height level and size. I think the taller the person has more of the advantage. Yeah, but also with height, it also comes with disadvantages. Tall players, they can be pretty slow. But unless you're physically fit, there won't be much of a problem. People in the NBA, you see guys like Nikola Jokic, he's slow, but he can still use that to his advantage for his weaknesses. He's not like Joel Embiid, for instance, but even guys like Jokic, he has his own top players. He's like a Serbian Magic Johnson in a way, he can pass the ball. If anything, I feel like Zach Edie is kind of like Jokic, but a little more taller, a little more heavier, but he's also a little bit more slower than Jokic, because I feel like you got a guy like Zach Edie, he could be someone beneficial for an NBA team if he gets drafted by a good team that actually knows how to develop a guy like him for his repertoire. Zach Edie is actually one of the players to look at for the Sweet 16 round. He entered the tournament averaging a nation-leading 24.4 points and 11.7 rebounds in over two blocks a game. I'll see what that refers to in the first round he had. In the second round, he had 23.14. He began the first player in the NCAA tournament with three straight games of 20 plus points and three plus blocks since Shaquille O'Neal. With a guy like him, I feel like he's going to be the guy on the radars for all these prospects for teams that are going to be in the lottery draft for the NBA this upcoming summer. I feel like Edie, you will find a way to counter what the opponents have for him, and I feel like Purdue, it might surprise a lot of people even though I feel like I have them in the final four. What do you think Zach Edie should do in order for people to not try to prevent him from using his strengths? Just be him. Just be him. Just do what he always does all the time. Get inside the paint, make the baskets, dunk, go mid-range, and then if he can shoot a three-pointer, then let it fly. I know he hasn't hit a lot of threes. I think he had one triple according to his stats, but you never know. A guy like Edie could surprise anybody, but I do think he will become the SEC player of the year once again because it's kind of expected for him to actually win that award. You never know. It could be anybody else, but so far it's just for Edie. Moving on, for the women's division, I know you've had your brackets, but who do you think could be the winning player of the year for the women's March Madness? I think it's going to be Clayton Clark from Iowa, to be honest. Me too. So far, she has been pretty surprising this year. She broke Pete Maravich's record for the most total points scored by a college player all time. She broke another record not long ago, having the most points in a single season, breaking Kelsey Plum's record. I feel like with a girl like her, I think she'll get more benefit for the WNBA if she does get drafted, if that were to happen. The person who has her, I think there'll be a guarantee, a huge market revenue, must-see TV to watch. Who knows? She has it with the New York Liberty or Indiana Fever. You never know who could get her, depending on who has the first pick. But Caitlin Clark, I do think that she will be dominant in the WNBA if she does in college. But I did hear from some sources that Ice Cube is trying to recruit Caitlin Clark to join the Big Three on a $5 million contract. What do you think about that? Thank goodness. That's not much money, but that's something for Ice Cube of all people to try to get Caitlin Clark to join his league. I don't know if you've heard of the Big League, but it was mostly retired players, people who've played in the NBA and also G League players. But Ice Cube, being a notorious robber, he's well-known. He's got connections. I think if he gets Caitlin Clark to join the Big Three, that could be a huge upbringing for Ice Cube's basketball league. Not many people know about the Big League. It's still pretty small. Some NBA fans watch it, but I feel like if he's trying to do this, then you never know. Maybe he'll get other other college basketball players from the women's division, like Hailey Van Liff, Paige Blackers, Cameron Brink, Angel Reese, and Ginger Watkins. Do you think once Ice Cube gets Caitlin Clark, do you think he'll be able to get the other players who are dominant in women's college basketball? I don't think that Clark is going to try to go to the Big Three, in my honest opinion. Just because she has a really good road ahead of her going into the WNBA, Mob Draft says on ESPN that she might be going to the Indiana Fever, which might bring up some money to all the home games and maybe to the playoffs if they make it. That would be a lot of money for the organization and for her. She could also be going to different teams within her WNBA career. Really? Because I feel like even though the WNBA looks like a promising option for Caitlin Clark to go, at the end of the day, I feel like with Ice Cube, considering he is a billionaire and he's got all these connections, I think he would be able to give Caitlin Clark an offer that the WNBA can't. Because if you don't know, the WNBA, they lose a lot of money every year, $12 million. The WNBA, they're not that good at marketing their players, so I'm not sure how they would be able to market Caitlin Clark like how Ice Cube can. It is Ice Cube. You can't really bet against a guy who's very famous, who was a rapper, got all this stuff. The WNBA, you know, who's their commissioner? What can they do? What can their marketing team be able to do what Ice Cube can't? Especially with a team that does end up getting Caitlin Clark, because whatever they can do, Ice Cube will probably do better. So I think in my opinion, I feel like Caitlin Clark could end up going to the Big 3 and maybe the WNBA may not be able to counter offer what they will give to her that Ice Cube can't do. So that's just my two cents, but you never know. It's up to Caitlin Clark's decision of what she wants to do. So we'll have to see and find out once this whole tournament is over and decide whether she wants to go to the WNBA or be with Ice Cube in the Big 3. Yeah, so my question to you is, who do you have going to the Elite Eight for the women's division? The Elite Eight? Out of South Carolina, Indiana, Oregon State, Notre Dame, Texas, Gonzaga, NC State, Stanford, Iowa, Colorado, LSU, UCLA, USC, Baylor, Kentucky, and Duke. That's kind of tough. I haven't really been watching much of the women's March Madness. I did watch the Iowa game, but not a lot because I did end up falling asleep because I was getting late. But just to answer your question, who I think would advance to the Elite Eight for the women's division, let's see. I would say Iowa advances against Colorado and then I got LSU beating UCLA for the Elite Eight, so it would be Angel Reese versus Kaitlyn Clark. And then for USC and Baylor, I would say South Carolina advances. For UConn and Duke, I would say UConn. NC State against Stanford, I would say Stanford, Texas, and Gonzaga. I would say Gonzaga in overtime. Um, let's see. Maybe a buzzer beater on that? I wouldn't say a buzzer beater. I would say like a go-ahead bucket that would expand the lead up to like four or something. But depending on what happens, I would say Gonzaga in overtime. And for Oregon State and Notre Dame, I would say, hmm, this one's tough. I would say Notre Dame would advance. And for South Carolina, Indiana. Let's see. Let's see. Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, catch a tiger by... I would say Indiana. Indiana. Yeah. First seed, getting eliminated by a fourth seed. Yeah. I would say Indiana. Wow. So they advance to the Elite Eight. That's crazy. Like... Yeah. Just imagine if South Carolina and LSU meet up before the national championship or inside the Final Four. Yeah. That's just a crazy matchup because... Yeah, you got two good players in Clark versus Angel Reese. You got like Kaylin Clark, who's all offense. And Angel Reese, she's more like on defense, but I think she could also score on offense too. I haven't watched much of LSU, but I know she's been very dominant. And obviously LSU, they're already defending champs. So I think they got a lot of stuff on the line because with a team like Iowa, it's going to be a tough matchup amongst the two. But I think if they do meet up in Elite Eight, I think it will be a tight game, but I think LSU will probably come up on top. So you're saying that if LSU goes to the national championship again, are they going to repeat? I would say so. Anything can happen because who can beat LSU? They may not have a perfect record, but if you got a team with Angel Reese, I think it will be a huge win because she's got a lot of stuff on her back. People have targeted her on the way that she taunted players. She did last season where she was smack talking stuff and people kind of hated that. But I think in my opinion, I think it's a good thing because you want to have people taunting your opponents. You kind of want to give that fire to make a huge rivalry because that's how it is in basketball. It's not ticky tacky and all bear hugs and stuff. It's basically war no matter what. But for men and for women, I think what Angel Reese did last year, I hope she does it again. No matter what the fans say, you got to give people what they want. You got to stir up some consequences. Stir up some consequences. Controversy. I think LSU will most likely repeat. It can happen in any tournament. And if not, if I'm wrong, then hopefully there'll be a new winner at the end of the day because it is more tremendous. You got to give people what they want. You can't have your predictable schools winning every time, but it doesn't really happen all the time. Even though I think not many teams repeat in national titles. I know at least in the men's division, the Gators did it in 06 and 07. They're the only team that actually do that. Not even UCLA and they have the most national titles and they have 11. It's kind of crazy that they weren't able to do that for them to have that many titles. Anyways, anything could happen. You never know because we can't really see into the future of what teams advances or loses. It's all we can know is just look on the TV and see what happens in the final quarter or overtime. That's just how it is in sports. The team that you want to win doesn't end up winning and it just ends up being a Cinderella team or another big shot school that's not a mid-major program. Florida was the last team to repeat in the men's from 06 and 07, which is crazy. We haven't had a back-to-back champion since like two decades already, which is crazy. I would say like a decade and a half because 2006 is almost 20 years ago, but it's still not yet. But eventually, give it a few more years. Basically, guys, that is pretty much it for today. That was a huge wrap-up for this episode. Anyways, Jaco, it was an honor for you to come here and be my guest and having a one-on-one discussing March Madness. It was really great having this conversation. Hopefully, we get to do more of this soon if you can, but if not, hopefully sometime when you're available. So anyways, guys, that's it for this episode of the Raj Nation Experience Podcast. I hope you guys had a fun time watching this and tune in for the upcoming episode, which will be coming up soon, hopefully, if I have the time to do it. If I'm not, it doesn't mean that I'm not going to do it anymore. It's just probably something that came up that I just had another delay. But anyways, this is Roger Sanchez Hall signing out, and hopefully, tune in for next time. Peace. Transcribed by https://otter.ai