March Madness Final Four Preview + Predictions

Nick (00:09.88)
You ready?

Neil (00:10.868)
I'll be where I need to bruh.

Nick (00:12.494)
Let's do it. And then number four, and we're here to talk about it. It is the Height Differential. That's the 660. I am the 410 Nick. Before we get in, quick reminder, if you're watching live or catching this later, subscribe to the Height Differential wherever you listen to pods. If you like the show, rate it and leave your review. It really does help people find it. And also a reminder to follow us on social at Height Differential. It's hard to believe we're already 68 down to four.

And it's a pretty good four.

Neil (00:41.46)
It goes by so quickly. Like, got 64 teams and then a week later, a week and two days later, we're down to four.

Nick (00:51.95)
Well, mean, a week later you're down to 16. It does go very quickly, a lot of games, a lot of ball watching.

Neil (00:54.42)
I dunno, it just goes mess up way.

Neil (01:00.404)
A lot of ball watching.

Nick (01:02.238)
And Thursday and Friday, were the Purdue game with Trey Kaufman's tip in at the buzzer was a really good game. Houston seeing them getting beat at home didn't really play well. And Illinois took advantage of that.

Neil (01:17.916)
I mean, they couldn't shoot. Yeah, they couldn't shoot for anything in that game.

Nick (01:21.944)
The St. John's Duke game, which I didn't get to watch a ton of because I was working the Louisville Kings game. But they led most of the way and then Duke kind of got in a groove late and pulled away and St. John's had a chance to tie it at the buzzer and Darling who had saved the day in the win against Kansas, his shot did not, wasn't even close. Barely, did it graze iron, barely grazed iron. And what else was the highlights of Thursday and Friday?

Neil (01:41.17)
Nah, air-balled.

Maybe, maybe.

Nick (01:50.506)
My best one is...

Neil (01:50.548)
Nothing really. mean, your your Iowa State team that you thought was so great got beat by 14 to Tennessee and.

Nick (01:57.026)
Didn't show up, looked terrible, looked terrible. Couldn't make free throws down the stretch. You're missing, like the loss of Jefferson is gonna look like it caught up with him a little bit, but.

Neil (02:06.443)
I... yeah.

But the surprise team of the tournament, probably the Iowa Hawkeyes, getting the victory on Thursday night over Nebraska and making that Elite Eight appearance.

Nick (02:16.974)
Yeah, trailed most of the game against Nebraska and then all of a in the final minutes they just roll, get up by eight, nine and cruise to victory. Nebraska throws four guys out there and they go football pass over the four defenders for an easy score. But yeah, we've talked about it. Ben McCollum just doesn't lose in tournaments until they finally did against Illinois.

Neil (02:19.07)
You think? You don't argue with me?

Neil (02:29.402)
Yeah.

Neil (02:34.686)
How do you let that happen? I don't know.

Neil (02:42.494)
But if you're Fred Hoyberg, like, it's inexcusable to have four guys out there, down three, under a minute left to play, and you send four guys out there.

Nick (02:52.448)
It's inexcusable on all parts. It's inexcusable on the coaching staff. It's inexcusable on the referees. It's inexcusable.

Neil (03:01.832)
Why is it inexcusable on the referees? You can play with less than five. You can play with less than five. But you can play with less than five. They don't have to tell you.

Nick (03:12.162)
They don't have to tell you. think if they would have noticed it, I think they would have told them. I don't think they did notice it. But it's on the coaching staff. It's on the coaching staff. that laid of a situation. I've seen people run six out there. I've never seen people run four out there, especially in a NCAA tournament Sweet 16 game where you're running on rims a little bit.

Neil (03:23.604)
100%.

Neil (03:40.03)
The game was on the line. not just, it's just not like it happened in the first half, Nick. This was down three with under a minute. Like the most crucial time in the game. I, I, that's, that's, that's, it's something I can't believe it. I would be furious if I was a Nebraska fan.

Nick (03:45.112)
No.

Nick (03:58.318)
Yeah, you would but you also just got your first two wins and NCAA tournament history so Might be a little a little excited about that, but you had an opportunity to play in 19 to get to a lead eight And you didn't take advantage of it

Neil (04:08.798)
Yeah. Yeah.

Nick (04:12.045)
The St. John's lost to Duke Really screwed my bracket up. I needed that one. I was keeping up with the score saw they were up 10 I was alright, let's go and End up Duke rallying to victory and that dig but I will I bracket was so good in the first and second round what 95 96 percentile and then sweet 16 elite 8 I Got the prices, right?

I got the prices right, your bid is over sound. And everything we talked about on the show actually was wrong too. We talked, at least me from what I remember talking about, we got a lot of things wrong. didn't think there was any way that Iowa State would lose to Tennessee. I took a shot on St. John's beating Duke and they clearly could have done it, had a chance.

Neil (04:54.388)
Well, we usually get a lot of things wrong on this show.

Nick (05:08.947)
One very good week for me picking games after having a pretty good week in the first and second round.

Neil (05:13.16)
But when we did our draft, our top five draft or five round draft, we, if I'm correct, we both have two Final Four teams. we not?

Nick (05:22.637)
We do, all four of the final four teams were in our 10 team draft. The highest picked team was Michigan, I picked them at two. Then you picked UConn and Arizona at four and five. And then I picked Illinois at seven. we both got, one of us is gonna win the title.

Neil (05:39.24)
And the hilarious part is, the hilarious part is you drafted Michigan. What was Michigan for you? And you picked Arizona to win the national title, which you could have had them in the draft if you wanted them. Reflips.

Nick (05:52.686)
Right, we both flipped. So in my bracket, I picked Arizona to win it all, they are not on my team, and you picked Michigan to win it all, and they're not on your team.

Neil (05:59.794)
mission. Yeah.

Nick (06:05.769)
I don't know. Nobody, nobody, nobody.

Neil (06:06.58)
All I know is that final form we'll get into it but that final four game Michigan Arizona on Saturday is going to be

Nick (06:12.681)
It is going to be classic. But I think the game that we really need to get into to kind of start is the last one yesterday. Duke, Yukon. This is another one I picked wrong. The way Yukon had been playing the last couple of weeks into the regular season and, you know, kind of dealing with some injuries in the first two games with Silas Demery. I didn't think they really had a chance against Duke. And the first what?

35 minutes 30 35 minutes It was all Duke and after you know, the games on Saturday They were close in the first half I will let a lot of a lot of the way in the first half but going to end Purdue did as well, but the second half Especially the Purdue game Arizona took control late in the in the Illinois game Illinois took control and then just the blowout with Michigan Like you're thinking I just want to see a close game going down the stretch

Neil (06:45.332)
It was all due.

Neil (06:57.108)
you have to do is them seven, six and a half times.

Neil (07:05.159)
Yeah.

Nick (07:12.333)
and it surely did not look like this was going to happen in Duke Yukon. Duke was up 19 in the first half. They were up 17 with 17 minutes to go. They were up 14 with less than 12 minutes to go. And then they were up nine with five minutes to go. the lead is dwindling. It's dwindling, but it's not dwindling at a fast rate.

Neil (07:21.14)
19. Yep.

Neil (07:33.684)
Up 9 with 5 minutes. That's...

It is.

Nick (07:41.326)
Yukon 1 of 18 from 3 to start the game and you get under 2 and Dukes still has a 5 point lead after and Goomba makes 1 of 2 free throws and Caravan who hadn't made a 3 comes down misses, Ball gets an offensive board, sends him to the line on a foul and he makes 1 of 2 and you're like they're really not going to get in this game if they don't start making

Neil (07:41.524)
No.

Nick (08:10.977)
Both free throws.

Neil (08:12.382)
correct.

Nick (08:14.157)
And then Kam Buzer turns it over. He was handling the ball coming off the screen at the top of the key. Turns it over, which kind of opens the gate and Caravan comes down and off the screen hits a three to trim it to one. And now like it's here. And then Kam Buzer had just turned it over calmly, as calm as possible, gets into the lane and just easily flips it in for two to extend the lead back to three.

Neil (08:29.809)
Yeah.

Yes.

Neil (08:42.738)
Yep.

Nick (08:43.585)
Kam Boosers, the guy who has won at every single level, how many times have we heard it? He never loses. He wins championships everywhere he goes. And you're just like, yeah, he turned the ball over there, but he's gonna figure out a way to win this game. And Yukon calls Tom out. Now there's 26 seconds to go after the Kam Booser bucket. And Denmarie on a switch gets Booser on him on the wing, draws a foul, and once again, only hits one or two.

Neil (08:56.094)
Ciao.

Neil (09:11.54)
That's who?

Nick (09:13.079)
So now it's a two point game with 10 seconds to go. They do not call timeout. They inbound the ball, Boozer gets it. Forget who touches it second, but he eventually gets it to Kaden Boozer, who tries to flip it over the defense. All it has to do, I mean, once he passed the ball, if it just clears on the game over, if he just holds it and dribbles like waits until they foul them, the game is pretty much over. But instead they turn it over.

Neil (09:32.102)
It's all...

Neil (09:39.273)
Yeah.

Nick (09:41.441)
Caravan gets the ball like how cool calm and collected were they with the clock running down? like caravan gets the ball finds Mullins for a 35 footer and it just looked like that thing was As it left his hands and everybody goes nuts

Neil (09:52.116)
I mean, they didn't even touch it. Just a a straight swish. Straight swish. Like, you could hear the sound of the swish on the TV. It was pure. but, if you're Duke, 10 seconds off the game, you don't even have to cross half court. Like, you don't need, like, you just, hold on to the ball. They did a good job getting it inbounds, passing it back to the inbounder, who then found, uh, Kaden Boozer in the middle of the floor. Like, they, they did, eh,

everything exactly as they needed to for the first five seconds there. And you don't need to risk, I know the two guys were wide open at the end of the court. You don't need to risk it. Just hold on to the ball. But John Schuy, if look at John Schuy on the sidelines, he's pointing to the other end. Basically telling his guy, they're open, throw it to them. He tried it, it got deflected. I mean, maybe even just try ball fake or something. I don't know, anything than what you did. Just really the smart play.

Nick (10:22.08)
Until then.

Nick (10:44.333)
Well, everything's running a million miles an hour.

Neil (10:47.88)
The smart play, and it's easy to say this now, but the smart play is just to hold onto the ball. Just hold onto it. Just hold it. They're going to foul you. I mean, do we know who had the arrow? So even if they were to tie you up, even if you just held onto the ball and they tried to foul you and the ref calls a tie up, and if Duke had the possession, did you just hold the ball, man? Just hold the ball and you're going to the Final Four.

Nick (10:52.031)
Especially once it got to Kaden Boozu.

Nick (11:10.359)
Well, and look, they're not gonna get a tie up there anyways. They're gonna, like, just a foul puts you at the line.

Neil (11:16.02)
They probably will call a foul, but in case they don't.

Nick (11:18.765)
Just a foul puts you at the line you make to the games over you make three there's a Yeah, you well you make one you can't lose and Unless we start doing this foul stuff where you walk them down and we bring all that to equation which we got into that plenty last week but It's just before that moment I talked about you can't be in one of 18 from three before caribbean hit history. He was 0 for 5

Neil (11:23.89)
You make one. You make one, it's a three point game and... Right.

Nick (11:47.275)
And before Mullins hit history, he was 0 for 4.

Neil (11:49.307)
of the war.

Nick (11:52.312)
So those two guys, finished after starting one for 18, they finished five at 23. So they were four for their last five from three.

But there's just so many ways that Duke can just do one thing and you can't lose. You can't lose. just when you saw that ball get tipped, you're just like, wow, this could really happen. And...

Neil (12:12.798)
It's crazy.

Neil (12:22.854)
And then he pulls one from 50 feet almost. Like, the shot was so deep. Whatever. You know what I mean. Exaggeration.

Nick (12:26.285)
35 35

Dude, 35 foot and it's not even a heave, like it's a spot shot. So I would say he shoots that shot, probably makes it 30 % of the time.

Neil (12:34.844)
It's a set shot, yeah?

Nick (12:45.579)
Maybe a little higher than that?

Neil (12:47.174)
I'd say maybe a little lower than that. I that's deep. I'd say two out of 10. I'd say 20%.

Nick (12:50.509)
You think maybe a little... It's neat. Dude, it ain't like these kids don't practice that all the time.

Neil (12:57.62)
I mean they practice up like half court shots and heaves but I think maybe 30 % of the time. I mean there was no contest on that shot. I mean he had clear view, no hand in his face or anything like that. So maybe he does make it 30 % of the time.

Nick (13:14.305)
No, and look, I give Alex Carabin a lot of credit for just being so calm in that situation. He easily could have took that shot where he was being defended a little closer. And instead he looked to his left and found Mullens and the rest is history. dude, have you, and then this video comes out of John Shire before the game where he's showing his team the way that the Chicago Bulls handle

Neil (13:24.904)
Yeah.

Nick (13:42.314)
and in the game situation where they're up two. basically, Trey Jones of the Bulls is kind of falling out of bounds with the clock winding, and he just takes it and throws it straight up in the air and just lets the clock in. I remember when I was a kid, Magic Johnson doing something like that, where he just kind of flipped it and just let the clock run out while the ball's flying through the air. So the ironic thing is they had just talked about in the game situations and things you can do.

Neil (14:05.788)
Yes.

Nick (14:11.891)
If Kaden Boozer just takes that ball and just throws it straight up in the air and towards the other end

Neil (14:18.016)
I think there would have been enough time for Yukon to grab it and shoot it. was over five seconds. There was over five seconds when he turned it over.

Nick (14:24.845)
But there's nobody down there!

There was nobody down there.

Neil (14:30.184)
Don't wear.

Nick (14:31.413)
at other end it was just dude guys. Yeah, but I'm just saying if you just throw it straight up in the air you're not even trying to get it to your guys.

Neil (14:33.874)
I mean, he tried to throw it

No, correct. If you just throw it straight up in the air, it's gonna come down probably with about two seconds left. So Yukon would still theoretically have a chance at it.

Nick (14:49.645)
But I mean, dude, you look at these numbers, Caravan finished with five points. Five points, three rebounds, three assists. Was, like I said, he's one of six from three. Terrence Reed was their entire team. Had 26 points and nine rebounds. Like they just did not shoot the ball well. And just, I don't know what it is. This Yukon team, what, they're 18 and 0?

Sweet 16 and beyond since 2011 meaning every single time they've made it to the sweet 16 since 2011 they have won a national title and to win that game Four titles and to win three different coaches It's just it's all insanity But to figure out a way to win that game

Neil (15:31.092)
Which is what, four? How many is that? Four? Four titles?

Neil (15:41.8)
It's insanity.

Nick (15:48.99)
Is I don't even understand it. You didn't play your best game. have one player really showed up and then all of sudden at the end of game situations, you make everything you put up except your free throws. They still miss all the free throws.

Neil (16:01.172)
So would you call this more of Yukon came and won it or more of Duke choked it?

Nick (16:09.761)
Duke opened the door, but Yukon wanted it.

Neil (16:13.876)
I mean get this, so in Duke's last four losses, right, including last night, last night they led by 19. The Carolina game they lost earlier this year, they led by 13. The Texas Tech game they lost earlier this year, they led by 17. And then the final four last year against Houston led by 14. There's a pattern going on here. Their last four losses and you're leading by that much in every game? I mean, John Chyre's gotta fix it, you gotta fix it.

Nick (16:33.079)
And.

Nick (16:40.619)
Well-

And we've given him a lot of credit on this show, but at some point when you've got the talent that you're putting together, you gotta find a way to finish it. And when you're up, 17 in the second half.

Neil (16:52.819)
Yeah.

Nick (16:59.637)
you should be able to finish that game. don't care who you're playing. And it's not like Yukon shot the hell out of it to get back in the game. They didn't just start raining threes to get back in the game. It was a slow casual grind where they just were chipping away.

Neil (17:14.354)
some stops and yeah.

Nick (17:16.935)
And I think it dates back even further than that with Shire's teams in Duke in the tournament blowing leads. I don't remember off top of my head who they lost to the year before they lost to Houston in the Final Four.

But if memory serves, I think it was another kind of blown lead in the same situation.

But I don't know, how are Duke fans reacting to this? Because you know how the rest of the country is, they're elated that Duke lost and lost in this manner. Are Duke fans getting tired of their team blowing these leads and figuring out ways to lose games they shouldn't be losing?

Neil (18:02.644)
I mean, I feel like they are. I I don't think it's, maybe they do criticize Shire because of the trend that's going on, but obviously he's a good coach. They get the talent there. They win a bunch of games. They're the number one overall seed. They have a great season. They're back to back ACC, regular season and tournament champions. So they're on the right path, but man, it's just like when the pressure is there, they just, for some reason they fold.

Nick (18:31.437)
Well at some point it becomes a trend.

Neil (18:33.564)
I mean, it's getting that way. Yeah. I'm trying to look up the year before on Duke.

Nick (18:36.255)
And you talked about, yeah keep looking that up, but it happened several times this year. It happened last year when they needed it most. And they've only been to one Final Four in Shire's four years. Did you find it?

Neil (18:51.784)
Yeah, was the final four. I was to go to the final. Was it the regional final? Elite Eight. The magical run of the NC State Wolf Pack. They beat Duke 76-64 in the Elite Eight. And yeah, mean, Duke lost to him in that ACC tournament. But yeah, 76-64. So as a four seed, Duke makes the run to the Elite Eight. All they have to do is beat the 11th seed NC State, but.

Nick (19:04.001)
They lost to him twice, didn't they?

Neil (19:21.074)
The magic that was NC State that year carried them to the Final Four.

Nick (19:26.059)
Well, dude, and you talk about trends, look at the trend the other way. Another team, once they get to the Sweet 16, they never lose. They never lose. 18 and 0 in Sweet 16 and beyond is just an asinine number.

Neil (19:33.876)
Yeah. Yeah.

Neil (19:39.166)
That's... It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous.

Nick (19:44.589)
I looked at it you you cons plus 650 to win the whole thing and Do I think they have the best team with these four absolutely not? Do they think they have the talent to where they can match up and win? Yeah, and When you've got that history, I'm mad at myself. I'm mad at myself for not thinking about that when doing my bracket

Neil (20:00.436)
I mean, I don't think they're as talented as you.

Neil (20:09.202)
Well, they lost the Marquette at end of the year, Nick. Let's be real. They lost the Marquette. They got rolled by St. John's. They got rolled by St. John's again. They lost, you know, like they... They did once, yeah. But... I mean, they struggled a little bit at the end of the year. And I mean, when we talked about... We had that debate of who the last number one seed was gonna be. We were talking about Florida and Yukon. And this was, you know, mid-February. And I was all in on Yukon. And they go out and they start losing games. was like, ugh. And that was a bad pick.

Nick (20:11.84)
Well, I also watched him get rolled by Creighton, and that wasn't very good.

Nick (20:18.326)
They also rode St. John's once.

Neil (20:38.834)
But here they sit again. Danny Harley, man. Give him some credit. He's a psycho. He's a psycho, but...

Nick (20:45.59)
Dude's all up. He is. The man's jacket is halfway off his arm. He's head like, he's not headbutting, he's like leaning his head up against the official.

Neil (20:51.89)
Ha ha ha ha!

Neil (20:57.512)
Wasn't that Roger, was that Roger Ayers?

Nick (20:59.976)
I think it might have been.

Neil (21:01.342)
I look like Roderick. He's got, yeah, he's forehead to forehead. He's not even saying anything to Roderick. He's just put his forehead on his forehead. Like what is going on?

Nick (21:07.382)
Sister!

Nick (21:11.146)
Just from, I mean, from talking to people that in the industry that knows like the SIDs, the sports information directors that's worked with him, just you, you think he's a maniac on the court, working with him as a sports information director, another level of maniac, the dude, he's got one good quality. Well, he's got a lot of good qualities because he's a good basketball coach. He's a Bengals fan. Yeah. And became a Bengals fan just because he liked the uniforms when he was a kid.

Neil (21:27.496)
No, I'm sure. I'm sure.

Neil (21:32.628)
He's a Bengals fan. Yeah, he's one of us.

Nick (21:40.791)
when they played in the freezer bowl in 1982. And just continued his bingo fandom. We saw him be the ruler of the jungle, one of the season openers after they had won their second national title. But one other thing, I don't know, did you see or hear the Duke's radio team call of the last play?

Neil (21:42.324)
I respect that. I have so- I respect that.

Neil (21:52.862)
Yeah.

Neil (22:01.394)
Yeah. Is this when, wait, is this when they wanted a technical file? Yeah. They were just...

Nick (22:05.386)
Yes, but first off they're doing the call and it gets out the end bounds of ball. Kaden Boosers got it. it's tipped. It goes in.

Malakoff Smith is on the court. That should be a technical. That should be a technical. Malakoff Smith was on the court because he was one of the five playing defense.

Neil (22:29.524)
But also the officials blew the whistle as soon as the ball went in because they were gonna go check the time. So the whistle was blown. All 13 guys on that bench could be on the court and there's not gonna be a technical foul. Come on, dude. I mean, I get it. Like you're, you're distraught. You're, no, like you're shocked. You're, you're, no, you're shocked and you're distraught and you're just grasping at anything that you could think of. Try to get your, talk yourself into thinking that what just happened didn't happen.

Nick (22:43.028)
No, that's you! I don't get it. That is so weak. That is so weak.

Nick (22:50.636)
Stop it!

stop it if you flip that and like camp booger hit that shot to go up three and then like

Neil (22:58.184)
No, I'm not saying he's right. It's dumb. It's dumb. But he's just trying to think of anything he can to somehow rationalize that his team can still win the game even though they get it. It's lame. It is lame.

Nick (23:07.829)
Yeah, it's lame!

Nick (23:11.904)
It's lame!

And the dudes on the court, like you're trying to get a dude popped for playing defense and being on the court.

Moron. was the sixth game-winning shot in the final second of Elite Eight. The first one was Bob Heaton of Indiana State against Arkansas. guess that's with Larry Bird's team. I've never heard of Bob Heaton, but he did that in 79. The other five have all been since 1990.

Neil (23:46.676)
Well, we all know Leitner.

Nick (23:48.781)
I'll go ahead and give you this later did it twice He did it in the most famous one ever in the history against UK in 1992 He also did it against Yukon in 1990 and Then obviously Braylon Mullins yesterday. Do you know who the other two are?

Neil (24:03.422)
Did Cameron Mills have one somewhere along the for Kentucky? Or no?

Nick (24:07.274)
It wasn't a game winner, but him and Scott Padgett hit a bunch of big threes in the comeback against Duke in 1998.

Neil (24:13.716)
I remember Patrick Sparks had the one to send it to overtime in the Elite Eight, which they eventually lost. Yeah, I Signal 5.

Nick (24:17.036)
That was against Michigan State. Uh, one of them was against Kentucky. And Luke May went from UNC in 2017 and then Scotty Reynolds did it for Villanova in 2009. So, and we were talking like, where does this rank on some of the biggest, best buzzer beaters in the history of the NCA tournament?

Neil (24:23.444)
Oh, uh, Luke May. Drake's brother. Luke May. Yep, I remember Luke May.

Nick (24:44.372)
Just from everything that led up to it and it's beating Duke. Like I know Carl, we're on a TechStripe today and he's saying it ranked 17th all time in the NCAA tournament history. That's an absolutely ludicrous number.

Neil (24:56.008)
Well, if Carl's an idiot, we all know this. It's Carl. He says a lot of dumb stuff.

Nick (25:01.42)
It doesn't like lightener shot will always be number one

It will always be number one.

Neil (25:07.728)
I don't think so, There's no way that you can put any other shot above Chris Jenkins in the Villanova National Championship game winner. It won them an actual title.

Nick (25:21.069)
If you miss it, you're going to overtime. It's not the make it or lose situation.

Neil (25:26.61)
What are you talking about? Yes it is! It won a national championship! It won the championship! What? I don't care if it was a tie game. It won the championship!

Nick (25:31.052)
And I was like Jay Wright Jay Wright's reaction to that one. It might be the coolest reaction in the history of sports He just watches it go in and just don't even smile just starts walking to shake hands No, it's up there. It's up there

Neil (25:45.377)
He looked like he didn't even care. He didn't even look like he cared.

Neil (25:54.694)
It's number one! It is by far the number one buzzer beater shot in NCAA tournament history. It's the only one I probably that I can remember and I'm pretty sure it's the only one that has actually won a title.

Nick (26:05.964)
What do you mean it's the only one you can remember? thank you.

Neil (26:09.63)
that says won a title. It probably is the only one that is actually won a title.

Nick (26:13.974)
Well Jordan's won a title but it wasn't at the buzzer.

Neil (26:17.78)
This was straight at the buzzer.

Nick (26:19.82)
Key smarts was that at the buzzer

Neil (26:24.98)
That was close, yeah, that was close.

Nick (26:27.798)
And that was the win to title.

Neil (26:29.225)
Yeah.

Nick (26:30.988)
Yeah, some other ones like the tie said he shot always stands out and that what that was a second round game against Missouri But they eventually won the title where he went the length of the court and in like two something Was will always stand out the?

Neil (26:42.953)
Yeah.

The Bryce Drew, I mean I know there was a person, Bryce Drew where they dive on the floor on that perfectly executed play. That was cool. I mean that was because it was an alpha.

Nick (26:52.704)
The Bryce Drew shot, Jalen Sugg. Jalen Sugg shot, friggin' Zaga. Yep.

Neil (26:58.526)
That was Final Four, yeah, the COVID Final Four, yeah.

Nick (27:02.176)
So I think this is top five.

Neil (27:06.608)
I would put, I'm okay with putting it in the top five. Yeah.

Nick (27:10.696)
I think it's top five.

Neil (27:13.172)
And like, what a moment. Like, if you're an 18 year old kid, like Braylon Mullins, like you're an 18 year old kid and you just hit a top five shot in NCAA tournament history. Like the kind of stuff, like he's from Indiana and like, know, Indiana prides themselves on being a basketball state. you know, you picture like the Larry Byrds of the world with their baskets on the barn doors and stuff out on the farm. And, you know, like you practice these moments. You count down in your head, you know, three, two, one, and you shoot that shot in your backyard.

Pretending like you're in the NCAA tournament and this kid just lives it out in his first year.

Nick (27:47.958)
Yeah, yeah, no, it's...

And then there's a picture of everybody reacted to it. It's got Bill Murray's in the picture, the whole Hurley family, his mom's to the shot going in. This is, what looked like it was kind of be really just four games that weren't that great, especially after watching that beat down of Michigan on Tennessee.

Neil (28:03.956)
Hurley's mom dropping some F-bomb. Yeah, that's all I know.

Nick (28:21.42)
And you're just kind of dejected. Like this has kind of been a let down. And then all of a that becomes a game and it becomes one of the most iconic games that we've seen in a long time in the NCAA tournament. And Dan Hurley and Yukon just figure out a way to do it again. The three games in the East Regional, we talked about how loaded this could be a Final Four in itself. Duke wins by five against St. John's. Yukon wins by three against Michigan State. And then Yukon wins by

one over, or UConn wins by one over Duke. It's the only region ever to have three games decided by five points or fewer and then have a game winning shot at the last second to decide who goes on to the final four.

Neil (29:06.612)
I mean, it lived up to the hype, there's no doubt. The East region lived up to the hype that we all expected it to and that we thought it could. And yeah, I mean, the quality of teams and coaches battling it out, was a lot of fun to watch.

Nick (29:23.852)
But I mean, I know we both think Michigan and Arizona is gonna win the whole thing. Like you got Michigan, I got Arizona. Who's, like at this point, was UConn ever gonna lose once they get to this level again?

Neil (29:39.764)
I think they win on Saturday over Illinois, although I keep doubting Illinois and they keep showing up and playing well. But I got UConn to win on Saturday and obviously I've got Michigan to win on Saturday as well. I don't think UConn is as as the Arizonas and Michigan's of this Final Four, so I think they eventually will run out of their magic and lose in the Final.

Nick (29:41.43)
You like that?

Neil (30:07.08)
I don't know, every time I feel like I doubt somebody, they pull.

Nick (30:10.352)
I know I know Like I'm serious. I did not think you can't had a chance against dude Like I thought St. Josh was gonna be there tough game once they figured that out. I was like, alright They're gonna cruise to the the final four and Then yeah, I thought I was right for 30 35 minutes and At that point my bracket was busted anyway, so I didn't care and I I would like to see a close game and We got it

Neil (30:21.426)
Well, they were cruising, Nick. They were cruising.

Nick (30:37.58)
We got it. We did not get it in the game before. As Michigan rolls by 33 over Tennessee, was the largest win in a regional final since Michigan did it in 1989 against Virginia. They won by 37. And that team did go on to win a national title, the beaten PJ Colesimo's Seton Hall Pirates.

Neil (30:41.022)
No.

Nick (31:07.168)
Looked up that roster, didn't remember a single guy, like I didn't recognize a single guy on that Seton Hall team. That was the year that Glenn Rice had 20 plus points in all six games of the tournament. think he's the only player to ever do that. But Yaxle has now done it in three games, was named the regionals most valuable player.

Neil (31:26.44)
He's so good. He's so good.

Nick (31:29.708)
Yeah, Michigan has now won 11 games by 30 points or more. Yeah, I just, what, yeah, and another one for Yaxle. He's the first Michigan player to score at least 23 points in three consecutive games since Joann Howard did it in four straight in 1994. Good on Tennessee, man. Three straight elite eights. Was an up and down season for them. They figured out how to win three games in a row once they got to the tournament.

Rick Barnes can coach, but they were not a match for this Michigan team from the tip.

Neil (32:05.556)
I'm not from the tip. I mean it was they were up. What was it like? around 1918 or somewhere around there and all of a Michigan goes on a 20 run like our 21 it was a 21 run from that point they were down Michigan was down one about midway through the first half and then a 21 run just all but ended it right there

Nick (32:08.076)
I mean...

Nick (32:26.868)
and then just cruise the rest of the way. We've been talking about this since December, January, how Michigan doesn't just beat teams. They put them to bed and just continue to roll. And they're doing this without their backup point guard. Like I thought missing LJ Cason would be a factor for this team. And maybe it still will, but it doesn't look like it right now.

Neil (32:28.604)
Yeah.

Neil (32:38.878)
Poundy. Yeah.

Nick (32:54.924)
But like you said, this game on next Saturday, the late one is gonna be fun to watch. The games on Saturday, Purdue led most of the way in the first half. And this is a game against Arizona where you thought maybe Purdue's experience, they could utilize that and maybe pull off an upset. People forget who the preseason number one team was. It was Purdue.

Neil (33:19.528)
Purdue. They had the preseason player of the year, Braden Smith. had another All-American and Trey Kaufman were in. And yeah, I mean, they had all the hype as they should have.

Yeah, I mean they were alright. I they had an up and down season, mostly ups, but finished what, sixth or seventh in the Big Ten?

Nick (33:34.326)
today.

Nick (33:40.236)
I know about mostly up, see their end of the regular season was, I mean, they finished what six and six in their last 12 games.

Neil (33:47.122)
Yeah, but I mean, sure, but then you run through the Big Ten tournament, you beat Michigan, you run through the Big Ten tournament, you win the Big Ten tournament, you're a two seed, so I mean, it's a good season. It's mostly ups when you're a two seed and you win a Big Ten championship.

Nick (33:49.558)
this. Yeah.

Nick (34:00.33)
Yeah, and that core of Fletcher Lawler and Trey Kaufman and Braden Smith. I mean, what a run for that group. Four NCAA tournaments, three Sweet 16s, two Elite 8s, and a trip to the title game. Their goal, they said at the beginning of the year, was it's win, title, or bust. And just by the time they got to this point of the season, they just weren't at the same level as Michigan and Arizona. Even though they beat Michigan in the Big Ten title game, they weren't at that level really consistently.

Neil (34:25.428)
Just be it.

They were playing some of their best ball down the stretch.

Nick (34:31.254)
They were, but it also took a miracle tip in to get to that game at the buzzer.

Neil (34:36.328)
Very good.

Nick (34:40.236)
But yeah, Arizona went on with a 16 to three run. We just talked about the run that Michigan went on to kind of erase what, Purdue was up by seven points at halftime and they changed that to a six point lead. Del Orso hit a three, Braden Burris hit another one. Braden Smith turned it over and really just down the stretch. It wasn't much of a game. They held Purdue to its second lowest point total of the season.

Neil (34:51.4)
Yeah, that's outscored

Nick (35:07.848)
And Purdue shot just 38 % from the field. Koopeet was amazing and was named their regional.

player of the tournament and he joins Khan, Kanipel, Zion Williamson and Derrick Rose as the only freshman to score 20 plus in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 game in the last 25 years. So, mean, dude, just, just, we've talked about all season how many good freshmen there are and we're gonna see a lot of them in this Final Four.

The other one was Illinois-Iowa. It was a good game. Iowa led most of the way in the first half, but then Illinois' length really just kind of just wore down Iowa. They out-rebounded them 38 to 21 and outscored them 40 to 12 in the paint. It was really just too much for them.

Just, yeah, Bennett starts. just, that dude went from D2, from Northwest Missouri State, to Drake, and got his team to the Elite Eight. That in itself, I think, is pretty dang impressive.

Neil (36:19.454)
Yeah, no. Great story.

Nick (36:21.491)
And Ben McCollum, dude, once he starts getting some dudes, because it was clear that they were out talented and they were out talented in Florida game and figured out a way to win it. But they were out talented, outsized and eventually Illinois was just able to pull away. And the metrics say that Illinois really has been a top five, six, 17 all year. They lost four overtime games.

from February their own foreign in overtime games and made a couple of those flip. They easily could have been on the two line and maybe even mentioned on as that last number one. So really and then they lose the Wisconsin in the big thing tournament which I think brought them down maybe a seed line but a really a really good three seed.

Neil (37:08.894)
Yeah, no, they're a good, very very good team.

Nick (37:12.341)
So, and now we have what two ones, a two and a three. So nobody worse than the four in the final four. Before these past two years, the tournaments, the final four had had at least one team seeded four worst every year dating back to 2010. And in the four tournaments after the COVID shutdown, there was a team seeded eighth or worse in all four of those final fours.

Neil (37:18.654)
Yep.

Nick (37:42.204)
But in the last two, it's just last year was all ones, last year was all ones, and then this year is two ones, a two, and a three. another example of, and look, we talked about this being a little different. Like, Cinderella doesn't have to get to the final four to be a Cinderella. Sometimes you just won one game, you can be a Cinderella. But it's another trending factor where you're not seeing

Neil (37:45.192)
We had what? We had all ones. We have all ones last year. Yeah.

Neil (37:55.879)
Is Cinderella dead?

Nick (38:10.901)
these high seeds in the tournament after

it became pretty commonplace for it to happen.

Nick (38:21.995)
So with all the transfer portal stuff We have three guys in the final four that have played For a competing team in the final four

Nick (38:37.867)
Can you name all three of them?

Neil (38:41.908)
Let's see.

Nick (38:42.261)
The only team that doesn't have one is Arizona. So Arizona does not have anybody on their team that formally competed for one of the remaining Final Four games.

Neil (38:48.745)
Right.

Neil (38:52.788)
Yaxle came from what, Tulane or something like that? UAB. Cadeau came from Carolina.

Nick (38:56.765)
U.I.B.

Nick (39:00.607)
Yup. It's not easy. Like, there's so much movement.

Neil (39:02.692)
I don't know. I don't know if I'm gonna be able to get it.

Nick (39:07.295)
So, Morris Johnson, he's a sophomore, last year he spent his freshman year at Illinois.

Teris Reed, senior, has been at UConn the last two years. He spent his first two years at Michigan. And Kyle Boswell, a senior at Illinois, has been there for two years, spent his first two years at Arizona.

Neil (39:32.852)
It's kinda cool.

Nick (39:35.177)
Yeah, I was looking really hard trying to find somebody in Arizona that had played for one of these teams. No, three out of four.

Neil (39:40.339)
Bye.

Nick (39:47.339)
So I guess getting into Saturday.

Nick (39:56.129)
You've already kind of said, you think Yukon will beat Illinois?

Neil (40:02.812)
Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna go Yukon in this one. I don't know, they've been a good team all year. They struggled, like we said, at the end when they lost to Marquette and lost St. John's twice and all that. But beginning of the year, they were really, really good. They've got the talent. I'm not going against, I mean, when it comes to a Final Four, I'm taking the experience of a Hurley over the inexperience of an Underwood who's not been there before. So give me Yukon in this one.

In a close game though.

Nick (40:35.756)
Dude, if I just look at numbers and the way teams are playing, other than the fact that UConn keeps winning, it's Illinois. UConn has not shot the ball well. They didn't shoot the ball well on Sunday until the final two minutes. But that was kind of our knock on UConn. They haven't been shooting the ball well from perimeter. And they start off the Sunday's game shoot one of 18, end up hitting what four in the last couple of minutes to figure out a way to win.

Neil (40:47.772)
Illinois didn't shoot the ball. Illinois didn't shoot the ball well against, like I say, home.

Neil (41:03.251)
Yeah.

Nick (41:04.574)
Illinois ranks offensively second in the country. They don't turn a ball over. Yeah, that's why they can do that and still win because they don't turn a ball over. They get offensive rebounds. They rank third in the country in offensive rebounding percentages. They don't give the ball away. They give extra shots, which allows you, when you shoot that poorly from three, it makes up for that.

Neil (41:12.68)
Well, they shot 18 % from three the other day, so they better see what's better than that.

Nick (41:33.76)
And that's why they ranked second in the country in offense. They're deep, got it. And then Keith Wogler is just the dude has gone from being somebody that got recruited by what two D1 programs, three D1 programs was ranked in the 200s. And now he's moved his way into being a lottery pick.

But despite all this, I can't pick against Yukon right now.

Neil (42:00.116)
That's a great story.

Nick (42:09.878)
They don't lose! No matter what, they don't lose! And this is gonna be their jinx and probably be the one they lose because I'm finally on board with it.

Neil (42:10.942)
They don't lose. They don't lose.

Nick (42:28.352)
Like if you're 18 and all, who's just like, you can't tell me they ain't gonna go 19 and all.

Neil (42:35.252)
I mean, I wouldn't bet against it.

Nick (42:36.288)
I appreciate you crunching ice in the middle of the pod. Just crunching ice over there.

Neil (42:39.476)
It's not even that loud. It's not even that loud.

Nick (42:46.358)
Would you have some respect for the four or five people that listen to this every week?

Neil (42:49.714)
Not even that loud. It is not loud.

Nick (42:52.043)
it's loud! Apologize to the people.

Neil (42:56.316)
I will not. I will not. I thirsty.

Nick (43:01.878)
Ken Palm also ranks Illinois as the tallest team in their country.

Neil (43:06.417)
They are salty. You got Pages kid on there. Which why is he coming off the bench? Does he come off the bench most all year?

Nick (43:12.3)
They do.

They're deep. Yeah, he's their sixth guy. And like you look at Pasha, like he's good. Like this kid can shoot it. But when he gets on the wing and he takes off and tries to get to the rim, it's like every single time, every single time.

That's going to be a fun game too. Like obviously you get to this level. It's going to be fun. But yeah, we were just talking about as we're watching Michigan just put it on Tennessee yesterday, just how fun this Michigan Arizona game is going to be. And there is a part of you that kind of wishes that they receded when they get to this point, maybe a little bit, but then you're not guaranteed this game. Then maybe it gets taken away. So

Neil (43:37.98)
It's the appetizer to the main course.

Neil (44:01.78)
True.

Nick (44:02.804)
We are gonna see this game, we are guaranteed it. Are you sticking with your Michigan pick?

Neil (44:11.176)
Thousand percent never been more sure of anything in my life after watching them destroy, Tennessee the other yesterday Absolutely, I yaks will have a have his way Give me give me the the Wolverines

Nick (44:26.016)
They've scored 90 points in every game.

Neil (44:29.276)
Every game. Every game.

Nick (44:33.198)
Neil (44:34.526)
Give me the Wolverines.

Nick (44:35.862)
They're the first team to do that through the Elite Eight since UConn did it in 1995.

So there's a little precedent there for figuring out a way to lose after scoring 90 points in the first four games.

But I mean, dude, I picked Arizona in my bracket. I think this game is gonna be incredible. Dude, they've lost two games and both, they could have figured out a way to win both of them. This team is not that far away from being undefeated.

Neil (44:57.142)
I you gotta stick with it, right?

Neil (45:09.352)
Yeah.

Nick (45:10.731)
and

mean, Braden Burris has been one of my favorite guards all year to watch. They've been number one in the AP, what, 19 and 25 polls this season. They've won all their tournament games by at least 12 points.

This is the one thing about Arizona and we've kind of talked about this. They rank 363rd naturally in the amount of three pointers that they shoot. Only 26 % of their shots are from three point land. And just the way that basketball is in this day and age, it's rare. It's just, and to put that in perspective, Alabama leads the country.

Neil (45:55.006)
It's very rare. Yeah.

Nick (46:01.117)
in the percentage of their three point shots or their shots being three pointers. Do you know what their percentage is compared to Arizona's 26?

Neil (46:09.716)
What their actual like what like

Nick (46:11.52)
their percentage of their shots being three-pointers.

Neil (46:17.107)
It's gotta be close to 50ish. We're go like 49%.

Nick (46:21.356)
54 % of Alabama shots are from deep So we're talking about Arizona team that a quarter of their shots a little bit more than a quarter their shots from three But they really just emphasize paint touches. They'll kill you on the glass just like Illinois Me Tommy Lloyd in his first five years He's got two pack 12 titles a big 10 a big 12 title to pack 12 tourney titles a Big 12 title. It's one coach of the year twice

Neil (46:23.092)
you for. Okay.

Nick (46:52.214)
Give me the Wildcats man. They've been up. They've been up top all year and this is a clash of the Titans There's no doubt about it. It's a game. We've been looking forward to all season long

Neil (47:05.588)
just feel like these are type of games where Michigan is at their best. They've absolutely destroyed good teams this year.

Nick (47:14.316)
Well, we watched them lose to Duke in DC.

Neil (47:18.964)
one time.

Nick (47:20.416)
But you just said they show up in big games and then...

Neil (47:22.356)
I mean, yeah, like they went out to that players' era tournament. They went out to the players' era tournament and just hammered Gonzaga by 40. You know, they hammered every team they played out there by a ton. They've lost what, one regular season Big Ten game? this... You win an Elite Eight game, when you win an Elite Eight game by 32, 33 points, like, they're gonna be, they're showing up. Give me the Wolverines and give them to me by...

Nick (47:24.746)
Air Throne is lost twice! We lost to Kansas in Texas Tech!

Nick (47:36.78)
Well, and deal, I already talked about how many times they've won by 30 plus going, yeah, points, I know they kill everybody.

Neil (47:52.548)
Seven.

Nick (47:55.127)
Well, I will, if you want to give me that, I will take it all day. You're giving me seven points?

Neil (47:58.342)
I know you will. I think Michigan wins about seven. I mean I know that's not right but I think that that's what happened.

Nick (48:03.254)
Give me that. No, it's not the spread, but yeah, give me that. If I was good at preparing for this show, I would already know that off the of my head, I do not. It is one and a half, and then Illinois is two and a half point favorites over UConn.

Neil (48:07.486)
What is it? Is one and a half? Was it one and a half I think I saw?

Neil (48:16.21)
Earlier today it was Michigan by 1 and a

Neil (48:26.228)
Alright, so you're Zona and...

Nick (48:28.748)
I'm going Yukon, Zona and then I know I'm picking Connecticut simply because they don't lose because I do think Illinois is a better team. But I'm picking Arizona to beat them. So my whole philosophy just goes out the window and

Neil (48:32.372)
Okay.

Neil (48:48.582)
It does go out the window in that shavie chip, huh? Yeah, I think the winner of Saturday, if it's Arizona or if it's Michigan, I think that's going to be your national champion.

Nick (48:51.382)
Yeah, but I can't.

Nick (48:57.216)
But then again, I'm just like, dude, if Yukon figures out a way to get this title game, are they really gonna lose when they get that far? Cuz they don't, they never lose these games.

Neil (49:04.98)
Thanks.

Nick (49:08.128)
They never lose these games. it doesn't matter who's coaching. You could coach, you can't. You get them to the Sweet 16, they're gonna figure out ways to win. Now don't know if you can get them to the Sweet 16, because Kevin Olly couldn't figure out how to do it after he did it once. But if you can get them to the Sweet 16, they ain't gonna lose.

Neil (49:08.852)
That's true.

Neil (49:17.908)
this coach themselves.

Neil (49:29.757)
Yeah.

Nick (49:34.016)
And there's a lot of talk about Tommy Lloyd to North Carolina. Are they gonna wait? Can you wait that long? The portal opens like the day after the national championship. I don't know, if I'm for him, I'm staying. I get it's North Carolina. You're already at Arizona, one of the more prestigious schools.

It's Illinois' first Final Four since 05 when they lost to North Carolina in the title game. Yep, after the cards beat Pittsnoggle in the Elite Eight.

Neil (50:00.872)
The year that they beat the cards.

Neil (50:07.864)
And they had an epic comeback against Arizona in that elite eight game. Illinois did. They were down, God, they were down like eight in the final minute before D Brown and Luther Head and the rest of the gang decided to start making some shots and getting some stops. And yeah, it was a miracle that they ended up in the final four.

Nick (50:14.388)
Yeah, you're right.

You're right.

Nick (50:26.98)
And Arizona's first Final Four since 2001, which is kind of hard to believe.

Neil (50:31.508)
It's hard to believe.

Nick (50:34.796)
But we're down to four. On the women's side, like all these games kind of late have just kind of all been not very close. Like Duke kept it close with UCLA for about 30 minutes and then UCLA kind of just put it on them at the end of the buzzer. But the rest of these games, the final four in the women's game, is, South Carolina is going to win tonight. It's going to be all number ones. And.

Neil (50:47.377)
wow.

Neil (50:59.572)
TCU's hanging in, they're hanging in right now. Up one, up one 22-21, six minutes to go to lap.

Nick (51:02.433)
What's

Nick (51:06.988)
It's South Carolina probably a clear fourth best of those ones I would say. But I was likely gonna be all ones I would think and even if it's not but just the games next week in the women's Final Four are gonna be great as well. I mean, God.

Neil (51:11.464)
Yes. Yes.

Neil (51:16.692)
Yeah.

Neil (51:23.272)
Fantastic. matches up with who? Do you know who matches up with who? I guess UConn South Carolina. would be UCLA in Texas, I believe is how that works out. Yeah, because UConn's the overall number one, right? South Carolina was the last, they were the fourth one.

Nick (51:29.672)
Nick (51:38.092)
Are you 100 % on that?

Nick (51:44.204)
That's the way it should work.

Yeah, UCLA Texas and UConn would play soccer at Atlanta or TCU.

Neil (51:52.884)
I mean, I was expecting it to be a walk for UConn and UCLA to the title game, and I still expect it to be for UConn, but the way Texas has looked, where they just absolutely destroyed South Carolina in the SEC title and then beat a Michigan team in the Elite Eight by almost 40. mean, yeah, they held Michigan to 41 points tonight. Like, incredible. So Texas is absolutely balling out.

Nick (52:10.219)
Yeah, a team that Louisville just lost to 20 by.

Neil (52:18.612)
And then you look at UCLA and they've been absolutely destroying teams until Duke hung around with them. maybe Texas is better than I thought. UCLA will chink in the armor maybe with that close game they do. That one's gonna be pretty good game. And then you kind of just hammer whoever that is by 20 in the chat.

Nick (52:37.525)
See how early they can make Gino do media once they get to Phoenix. Tell him he's got to show up at 6.30 and the balls are going to be super ball bouncing balls.

Neil (52:41.3)
Thank

Neil (52:49.844)
over inflated balls, 6.30 press conferences. Gino can take a nap. Get him up early, he can take a nap after lunch, he'll be fine.

Nick (52:59.819)
I just love it. The rants, dude. I just love it. And look, when you're Gino, you can do whatever you want because you've now been to 18 of 19 Final Fours, which is, it's just not even real. It's just automatic. But him complaining about them not getting to play close to home when they've played at Albany so many times when they're not even the one seed. Get out of here. Dude, you got to play.

Neil (53:18.024)
Yeah, I mean, feel like, I feel like it's.

Neil (53:26.098)
Not buying that. Yeah, you got no sympathy from me on that.

Nick (53:29.481)
You got to play NC State as a one and Louisville as a one when you're at two in Albany.

Neil (53:34.836)
Yeah, no sympathy for me on the locations of the Elite 8, of the Regionals.

Nick (53:38.707)
Now should there be better ways to do it maybe than having media at 730? Maybe but when you have one regional site you only got so much time.

Neil (53:48.468)
especially when there's games that day. I don't know. No sympathy for me on that. I mean, I just feel like, are there more rants from women's basketball coaches? mean, I feel like there's a lot more than there is on the men's Like UCLA's Cori Close was, she was ranting about having to get up early and do media as well. Coaches just don't like getting up. What I'm gathering is coaches, they don't like getting up early.

Nick (54:08.507)
She's just tired, man.

She's just tired, Would I rather be chilling on the couch watching TV instead of doing this right now? Yeah, probably, but... that alarm goes off at 714.

Neil (54:20.329)
Yeah.

What time do you get up for work in the morning?

Neil (54:27.622)
Okay, so if you had a 730 press conference you probably wouldn't complain about it because you know most normal humans get up and go to work at 730 in the morning. Unless you're basketball coach then it's too early.

Nick (54:38.367)
Well, basketball coaches get up so early, like they're used to it. Basketball coaches don't sleep.

Neil (54:42.49)
What are they crying about? What are Gino and Corey, what are they crying about?

Nick (54:49.589)
Well, do know mainly was crying about the fact that they weren't making any shots to like from three point range like all the games everybody was like two for 16 one for 18 three for 20 like no shots were going in and when you're trying to grow the game and get people to watch it. No look and that's just he's saying that the balls are too inflated. I don't buy it. The referees are testing those balls before they put them in play.

Neil (55:08.488)
What do want me to do, like make the basket bigger?

Nick (55:19.883)
Just those shots weren't going in and look I want the game to grow and I want these games to be great but when there's three teams four teams that are clearly a lot better than the rest of the field and these games are all gonna be 20 30 point games it's not it doesn't create the greatest product and that and when once you get to this point but now next week it's gonna it should be really good games look and when look when we when that 2018 when we had Asia during my Shahans Allen

Neil (55:43.572)
I'm kidding.

Nick (55:49.598)
and we're rolling everybody to get to the final four. You think I was complaining? No, like just get out of our way. And then you get to that final four and it's four number ones, just like it's probably going to be this year. And all of the games were fantastic. It's just the games leading up to it, especially once you get past some of those first round games where you're, you're getting the top level competition against some lower leveled competition. The games don't always, they're not always the best product and

Neil (55:54.982)
No. Nobody was.

Nick (56:19.455)
That's the next step in women's college basketball is it's the parity has gotten better. But now maybe in I own transfer portal separated a little more back to where it was. But this year I think there's three teams that are a lot better than everybody else and maybe four if you include South Carolina too.

Neil (56:37.524)
And that's the way it usually is.

Nick (56:40.532)
It is.

You missed opening day last week.

Neil (56:45.468)
I know.

Nick (56:46.891)
So went down with the big dog Dude we walk into Plum Street Cafe, which is the tradition. It's the Tony Brown family tradition that we have now taken apart Let me let me just tell you we walk in there and There's two Budweiser girls and They're like, hey you take a picture. We'll give you a free Budweiser And we're like we're like where

Neil (56:54.418)
Yeah, great spot. Did you get the, did you get the grilled cheese, get the grilled cheese and chili?

Okay.

Neil (57:13.0)
Are they in the picture with you? Like, did you take a pic? Are they in the picture with you?

Nick (57:17.897)
Nah, was just me and the big dog, his father-in-law Mike. They give us the little white picture frame, you know, that you gotta hold. Which, when there's high differentials, the white picture frame makes it a little challenging because it's hard to get everybody in there. But we pose, we get our free bud. So it was great. And then if you buy another bud, they gave you some gifts. We got some hats, some koozies and stuff like that. Keychain, bottle opener.

Neil (57:22.302)
Did you ask them that?

Neil (57:26.344)
Yeah.

Nick (57:48.32)
So chilling at Plum Street and then we go down the game. it was just William got his first, Tony's son got his first Reds opening day. So it was a great experience for him. Dude was sitting on the second row on the third baseline got a ball thrown to him.

Neil (58:04.446)
What an experience for the little doll.

Nick (58:06.399)
And then he ends the night at Twin Peaks.

Neil (58:09.14)
So you go into Plum Street, so Little Dog, the life of this, how old is Little Dog now, 10? Nine or 10? You get to go into a fantastic establishment like the Plum Street Cafe with some great food. You see some attractive females giving your dad and his friends Budweiser beers, the king of beers. You go to Red's opening day, which is the greatest opening day in all of baseball. You then sit second row, second, it's fine, sit second row.

Nick (58:14.283)
9, 9, 10, I should know.

Nick (58:21.557)
Mm-hmm.

Nick (58:33.397)
should still be the first game, but still should be the first game, but whatever.

Neil (58:38.854)
and get a baseball that you get to take home and then go to Twin Peaks to end your night.

Nick (58:40.459)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. And then we were like, to get one of these waitresses numbers, would you give up the ball? And he's like, I'm nine years old. No, I'm nine years old.

Neil (58:52.82)
Well, you should have asked him to give you the ball and maybe you give up the ball for one of the waitresses. You should have bought it from him. You should have bought it from him.

Nick (58:57.323)
Well not gonna give his ball away. That would be pretty rude. That would be pretty rude. no, one of the greatest responses from a kid that I've ever heard in life. No, I'm nine years old. I don't care about that. Just wait bro. Just wait. It's coming.

Neil (59:13.46)
Cool for him.

Wait about another about what seven eight years

Nick (59:20.483)
It's coming. I don't know about that long. It's coming a little faster than that. It's coming a little faster than that. Yeah, but it's coming a little faster than that. But great opening day. You ran forward so you couldn't partake. We missed a lot of our crew, honestly, that we've had the last couple years.

Neil (59:24.436)
I'm just giving him a lease on it. Until he at least has a car. Until he at least has a car.

Neil (59:36.03)
First one I missed I think.

Neil (59:40.404)
That was the first one I've missed, I think, since we played Yukon up in Albany. We just talked about that game.

Nick (59:44.906)
Well, I'm now, how many in a row now? Five in a row for me. After never being able to go because I was always on the road with women's basketball. In 22, I was able to go after the Final Four because the season started late. And yeah, now I'm on five in a row. But then there's a fight afterwards. We didn't see it. But people rushing a bunch of police officers. I'm glad we didn't get messed up in all that shenanigans.

Neil (01:00:00.264)
Yeah.

Nick (01:00:16.171)
The story I think of the first week has been the ABS.

Neil (01:00:20.435)
Yeah.

Nick (01:00:22.403)
and on Saturday the Reds were kind of on center stage of this whole ABS thing which dude I as somebody who has scored minor league games have been

Neil (01:00:33.266)
Were the Reds on center stage or was CB Buckner on center stage?

Nick (01:00:37.151)
Well, they both were. They both were. But I've kind of had some experience with the ABS because Boundary League has used it to test it the last couple years. They've had a pure ABS system where it's just straight computer and then they have the challenge system which is what they are utilizing. Of the two, I think this is by far the better system. But on Saturday with CB Buckner behind the plate, there were eight challenges. Six of them were overturned.

including back-to-back pitches to Gino Suarez. And one of them was over an inch off the plate.

Neil (01:01:11.668)
How embarrassing is it for CB Buckner, well she's probably been embarrassed the last couple of years because she's got the reputation of being one of the worst umpires in the league, but you ring up a guy on a third strike, give it the ol' ring him up, punch him out, and they're like, hold on, wait a minute, challenge. So then you gotta admit, like, aw crap, alright, ball.

And then you ring them up and punch them out again on the next pitch that was worse than the first one. It was worse than the first one. So you ring them up and punch them out on back to back pitches and you overturn both of them. Idiot. An absolute idiot.

Nick (01:01:37.117)
and the next one and it's over an inch out it's over an inch off the plate

Nick (01:01:51.862)
So you talked about how he's regarded as probably the worst ball strike umpire in the past. Well guess what? Now we got data.

Neil (01:01:57.736)
Yes. Yes.

Neil (01:02:02.844)
And the data probably supports that.

Nick (01:02:05.439)
And look, this is only balls that are, these are balls and strikes that are only challenged. So the ones you miss that don't get challenged, don't go in the system because there's still going to be some of those on Saturday. The Atlanta Braves lost their two challenges in four batters, eight pitches. They lost their two challenges in eight pitches.

Neil (01:02:20.604)
You are so good challenging.

Neil (01:02:26.044)
You all suck at challenging.

Nick (01:02:28.361)
The Drake Baldwin challenged one in the top of the first as the catcher and then Acuna challenged one as the batter and that thing wasn't even close to being a ball. Not even close. So there's a learning process in all of this. Forever.

Neil (01:02:41.246)
Well as a manager, let me ask you this, as a manager, there's gotta be a proper way to tell your players to manage these challenges. Like if it's the first inning and there's nobody on and two out, I'm not challenging anything. I'm not challenging anything in the first five innings unless there's almost basically a runner in scoring position.

Nick (01:02:59.443)
You better be damn sure.

Neil (01:03:00.744)
And you better be even then. I don't even know if it's worth the risk. There has to be some parameters as a manager that you tell your players. You're only challenging under these circumstances. Has to be.

Nick (01:03:11.979)
From listening to kind of what managers have they're kind of I think a lot of them are filling this out early on in the year before they really put together a plan which I don't know if that's the right way to do it or not but that's kind of got the the feel that I've gotten yeah if you if you're allowing your team to lose their two challenges eight pitches in I feel like that's not a good usage of your of your challenges and especially after burning one in the top of the inning the fact that your leadoff batter

Neil (01:03:23.913)
Yeah.

Neil (01:03:34.58)
No.

Nick (01:03:41.693)
in the bottom of the first use is another one. Yeah, I think that's going to be the last time you do that all year, or it should be.

But this is a learning process and I do think this is going to be a good thing for baseball and it's quick. The way they do it. It's. Yeah, it's exciting. The way they do it, it's exciting and it's quick and I think it's going to be good for baseball. But to get back to CB Buck. He is leading it incorrectly called balls and strikes.

Neil (01:03:57.092)
It quick. It gets the fans into it as we saw in Cincinnati. The fans get into it.

Neil (01:04:08.061)
It is go for base.

Yeah.

Nick (01:04:18.057)
with 26.

Neil (01:04:23.058)
And that's just the one game he did this year.

Nick (01:04:25.909)
The second most... Is he only been high? Yeah, he's had to be only behind the plate one game.

Neil (01:04:32.05)
Right, so 26 in one game.

Nick (01:04:34.463)
So this must not be challenges. This is just straight up balls and strikes that you've missed because he didn't get challenged 26 times. this is just, yeah, he's missed according to they've got the box. According to the box, he's missed 26 balls and strikes. The next most is Tripp Gibson and Chris Siegel with 19. Then a couple of dudes got 16 and then there's some with 14 and all the way down to five.

Neil (01:04:42.964)
Not a creative gap, challenge eight.

Nick (01:05:04.819)
Now there's numbers out there, C.B. Buckner, and you the worst.

Neil (01:05:09.874)
I think it's been well known he's been the worst. But now, yeah, the data supports it.

Nick (01:05:18.251)
And before we got it, we gotta talk Gary Woodland, man. And that's why this is the hat that he wore yesterday to win it. He's a Cobra, he's a Puma guy. We all know the story of what he's been battling. It was well documented on the documentary, full swing documentary. And there's been battling demons. And I mean, just absolutely controlled.

Neil (01:05:29.958)
Okay.

Neil (01:05:36.7)
Also, yeah.

Nick (01:05:47.987)
the tournament this weekend. think his numbers were just what he shot. Should have had this ready.

Buddy shot.

don't know, shot 21 under for the tournament. It wasn't really close. They're walking down the fairway on 18. You see Min Woo Lee pumping the crowd up because Gary Woodland's getting ready to knock in a seven footer to win the thing. And he could have four putted and still won it. But Min Woo Lee's pumping the crowd up. He's very emotional in his post game interview as he should be. dude, one thing that really stood out to me is just how he talked about.

how proud he was of himself. But you know, I think we all shy away from being proud of some of the things that we are able to accomplish. And I just think it was, he absolutely should be proud of what he's accomplished because nobody even knows what he's been through. nobody can even understand it. And he was obviously very thankful for his wife and for his kids for helping him get through it.

Neil (01:06:36.112)
as you should be.

Neil (01:06:53.918)
Right.

Nick (01:07:02.749)
and he wouldn't have been able to do it without their assistance, I'm sure.

Neil (01:07:05.076)
Well go ahead and tell him. I there might be people listening that don't know what he's been through. I mean it started with the brain tumor that he had, right?

Nick (01:07:12.947)
Yeah, he had a brain tumor and it was benign so it wasn't cancerous but mean anytime you get a brain tumor it's a scary thing and it was really leading him to have a ton of anxiety to where it was affecting his sleep, he was just having negative thoughts all the time. mean the brain is such a crazy, crazy thing and it was just his mind was just running constantly I think with negative thoughts and like he was gonna die and just

Neil (01:07:20.189)
Right. Yeah.

just

Neil (01:07:31.858)
Yeah. Yeah.

Nick (01:07:42.06)
It's just really kind of scary things that that can happen to you, you know, with with having a brain tumor. And he's been battling it for the for the last couple of years. I think he it's hard for him to have energy to get through these tournaments, I think has been a struggle. But just the perseverance that he had through the whole thing. And he hadn't won since the US Open in 2019 to win this tournament.

I just look, I wanted Ricky to win so or finish in the top five so we can get the Masters. He sucked down the stretch on Friday, figured out a way to get cut. And so it was all it was all Gary Woodland all weekend for me. And was just was really cool to see. And if you haven't seen his post game comments, I suggest all everybody go listen to it because it really is. It's a it's a life lesson for all of us. Like no matter what we're going through, like there's always

grainer pastures on the other side if you just believe in yourself and keep working hard and you gotta and allow the people around you support you because you you gotta have them too. It's impossible to do that kind of stuff by yourself.

Neil (01:08:41.641)
Yeah.

Neil (01:08:48.382)
Yeah, and he seems to have the respect and admiration of all of his peers on tour. Like you said, got Minwoo pumping up the crowd and I like everybody in that locker room that if you weren't in contention, which none of them really were, I he won the tournament by five strokes. I feel like everybody on tour was rooting for him to get this victory. So it's an awesome comeback story. And just like I said, he just seems like a great person for this to happen to.

Nick (01:09:17.789)
No, and he was telling a story about him and JT are real close. I feel like JT is close with everybody on the tour, but him and JT are really close. Do you know how they do feature groups on PGA Tour Live and ESPN +, where they follow them around the whole time? Well, him and JT are on a feature group. So there's cameras everywhere. And JT, think, was just like, well, Gary, man, how have you been doing?

Neil (01:09:23.528)
Just a breath.

Neil (01:09:31.124)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Nick (01:09:45.408)
Gary didn't want to really talk about it with all the boom mics and all the cameras around. And he's like, well, JT, thanks for asking, but I'll tell you. I don't really want to talk about it right now. And the next day, they were playing, or no, the cameras went away because one of the guys they were playing with lost his ball or something. And so they finally did get a little separation. And he told him, he's like, dude, I'm not doing very good.

and was kind of telling him what he was going through. And he said, Jake T. Bokey just next three holes and missed the cut. And he's like, it was kind of on me, I felt like. But, you know, it was important for me that he asked that and I didn't want to lie to him and, you know, kind of had to get that off my chest. it's good on Gary Woodland, And then Masters coming up.

Neil (01:10:20.008)
Hahaha.

Nick (01:10:38.919)
In a couple weeks, we got the Valspar this week. This is Ricky Fallers' last chance to get into the Masters. And now it's not a top five or six that's gonna do it. You gotta win the thing. And the way that his approach shots, we're not approaching on Friday. I'm not very hopeful, but we'll see.

Neil (01:10:54.516)
I saw him approach a body of water on Friday.

Nick (01:10:58.325)
Yeah, and he needed to get a birdie coming in and find it a little bit extreme that's three feet wide. It's not the best way to go about it.

Neil (01:11:05.588)
That was very good. No, it's not.

Nick (01:11:11.051)
So we're always on our phones and there's one fast food chain. There's one fast food chain that is trying to do something about it. look everybody, some people have negative feelings about Chick-fil-A but one thing about Chick-fil-A is no matter which one you go to in the world, you're always gonna get just amazing service. And I don't know what they do because

Neil (01:11:15.442)
Yeah. A digital world. Yeah.

Neil (01:11:22.75)
Okay.

Neil (01:11:37.371)
That's what they're known for.

Nick (01:11:40.659)
You walk into McDonald's and everybody's like, get the hell out of here. I don't know why you're here. We don't want to give you anything. then if when they have to give it to you, just take it and leave. And you go to Chick-fil-A and it's just like.

Neil (01:11:49.394)
Yes, it's so well oiled. I mean it is a well oiled machine at the Chick-fil-A. The drive-through, the tanner service, the drive-through, all of it. Service always top-notch. It's just, it's a machine.

Nick (01:11:55.253)
But how they get... Yes.

Nick (01:12:01.278)
It's incredible. It's no matter. it doesn't matter where you go. Every single one. Nobody's ever not smiling. It's you almost wonder if they're drugged, but maybe we'll see. But so there was one Chick-fil-A in Georgia where the general manager noticed like, dude, everybody when they sit in here and eat, everybody's just on their phones.

Neil (01:12:05.765)
Every single one them. Yes.

Neil (01:12:10.259)
Yes.

Neil (01:12:14.942)
could be. They might be robots. It could be robots.

Yeah.

Nick (01:12:31.531)
And it ain't just millennials, it ain't just kids. It's 60, 70 year olds, it's everybody. Like we all just spend so much time on our damn phones. So he notices this and he's like, I'm gonna try something. I'm gonna put these coupes, these phone coupes on every table. That's a chicken coup, phone coup, whatever you wanna call it. I'm gonna put these on the table and if people...

Neil (01:12:35.132)
No, it's a clear bug.

Neil (01:12:53.982)
Chicken coops.

Nick (01:13:00.383)
We'll put their phones in this table and in this coop while they eat. I'm gonna give them all free ice cream. So you encourages the family members to talk, friends of whoever's eating lunch, eating dinner together, to put their phones away, enjoy some Chick-fil-A and have some conversation. It grew, it's now like, this was started at two stores in Georgia that he owned. I think now it's up to like 200 stores across the nation.

Neil (01:13:08.052)
That's a good deal.

Nick (01:13:30.501)
I what an idea! What?

Neil (01:13:32.828)
It's a no, it's a it's a brilliant idea. Actually, it's an absolutely brilliant idea. And if you were to say, hey, guess which fast food chain is doing this? I mean, the answer is going to be Chick-fil-A. mean, they've got the they've got the the the the hospitality, the good old Southern hospitality closed on traditional values, closed on Sundays type deal. So, yeah. So, you know, they want to get back to that traditional, you know.

Nick (01:13:43.339)
Like it.

Neil (01:13:57.832)
Don't be distracted at dinner. Talk to your family. Talk to your friends. know, you're breaking bread together. Have a conversation. Get off your phone. yeah, it doesn't surprise me that this idea would come up from a company like, or from a franchise like that, but it's an absolute brilliant idea. And their ice cream is pretty good. I'd check for it today for dinner, by the way. But it's a very, very, very good ice cream. We'll soft serve.

Nick (01:14:19.519)
Yeah, yeah, I look, this ain't costing them a ton of money. It's small price they're paying to get friends and family to talk about their days. Get back to the old school where we were. When I was a kid, dude, we sat at the dinner table, all five of us, every single night.

Neil (01:14:39.348)
When we didn't have, when you were a kid, I don't even think phones were around. Well that, you were, it was a Zach Morris phone?

Nick (01:14:43.945)
I got my first phone when I started.

Nick (01:14:48.669)
No, we didn't have enough money to have a cell phone like that. We had the landlines. But I got my first cell phone when I started driving at 16. And that's the number that I still have today.

which is pretty crazy. But yeah, dude, like I'll look back at that. Like I just don't think it happens anymore. And all we would all five sit at the table and actually talk about school and talk about what's going on.

Neil (01:15:06.633)
Yeah.

Neil (01:15:13.865)
Wait.

Well, yeah, but like, we didn't have smartphone. Like, you couldn't just get on your phone back. No, I agree with it. I agree with the concept, but like, it's just so much easier to want to get on your phone now because you can watch whatever, you can watch TV on your phone. You can pull up the newspaper on your phone. You can check all the sports scores you want on your phone. Back when you were a kid, all you could do was play Snake on your little Nokia. Like, like the little thing, you just chase the ball around. Like, that's all you could do.

Nick (01:15:22.955)
Well that's the point of this, Neil! I know we did it!

Nick (01:15:41.887)
right and I did I got good I got so good at snake where it was the entire screen was just snake like I got good at that

Neil (01:15:47.048)
Yeah. Yeah. But like that's all you could do on a phone back then. So like, of course people aren't going to get on their phones as much back then because there wasn't really a thing that you could do on your phone. There was no phones. And then when the phones came out, there also wasn't that much to do. Now your phone is basically like a computer. It's a TV. It's all of it. It is. It is a computer. It's a television. It's computer, a television. It's all of it wrapped into the palm of your hand. So it's more.

Nick (01:15:57.139)
There was no phones, that's why!

Nick (01:16:04.979)
It's not basically a computer! It's not basically a computer! It's a computer!

Neil (01:16:15.558)
accessible, it's more enticing to want to get on your phone now because of all that it can do. But I agree with the concept of...

Nick (01:16:21.163)
But let's make dinner a no cell phone zone.

Neil (01:16:26.162)
So let's make dinner great again. Is that the slogan?

Nick (01:16:28.907)
No, I'll never do any great against Logan's. I will never do any great against Logan's. I had to wear a red hat to be the time out coordinator at football. And I didn't love even having to wear a red hat. No great against.

Neil (01:16:31.27)
Make dinner great again. I'm gonna get you a hat that says make dinner great again.

Neil (01:16:43.38)
I'm getting you a Make Dinner Great Again t-shirt and a hat for you to wear.

Nick (01:16:51.485)
I dude, I get to the point now where I put my phone down and within five seconds I pick it back up. Like I forget that I just put it back down. Like that's how obsessed we are with our phones.

Neil (01:17:01.31)
Well, maybe we need to get you a chicken coop to put in your bedroom or your house.

Nick (01:17:06.035)
I I love the idea and good on Chick-fil-A. I hope this continues to grow. Like it's not gonna grow to other restaurants because I just can't.

Neil (01:17:07.9)
It's a great idea. I agree.

Neil (01:17:13.908)
Well no, well McDonald's can't do it because their ice cream machines are always broken. So you can't even get a free ice cream from them.

Nick (01:17:18.857)
Yeah, they'd have to figure out a way to work. Yeah, you're right.

Neil (01:17:22.42)
You can't get McDonald's, I gotta do it. But I agree with you, it is a good concept. I'm with you. I'm in the greens.

Nick (01:17:26.207)
But good on Chick-fil-A, man.

Nick (01:17:32.127)
We don't have any what would Joe's do's today. I forgot to ask him.

Neil (01:17:37.972)
We'll get one for next week. Oh, next week? We can't record on Monday night next week. We've got a national championship.

Nick (01:17:40.465)
And what?

Yeah, well, and then you got bowling on Tuesday.

Neil (01:17:47.828)
Wednesday.

Nick (01:17:49.471)
So we'll be Wednesday night recording next week.

Nick (01:17:55.82)
So you got Michigan by seven and you've got Connecticut by what?

Neil (01:17:59.208)
Much Kimbasa.

Neil (01:18:06.441)
three.

Nick (01:18:07.755)
Connecticut by one, Arizona by three.

Neil (01:18:13.652)
It's gonna be any buzzer beaters coming this weekend.

Nick (01:18:16.169)
And then, I think they're both gonna be good games. I'm excited.

Neil (01:18:19.892)
But will there be a buzzer beater?

Nick (01:18:24.605)
in all three or just the final four?

Neil (01:18:27.666)
in any of the three.

Nick (01:18:29.459)
It's hard to say no because you want it to happen so bad. So I'm gonna go yes.

Neil (01:18:35.176)
will be a true buzzerbeater, okay?

Nick (01:18:37.291)
Like every, I don't know if you ever watched the women's pre-games with Andrea Carter and all them, they ask this question all the time. Will there be a buzz reader? And they all, have to do the yes or no for all the questions. And every single time they all change. Yes, together. So, but yeah, I'm not going to pick no against a buzzer.

Neil (01:18:53.436)
Okay, alright.

Nick (01:18:57.589)
Final four weekend, it's crazy, it's already down to four. the good thing with the NCAA tournament wrapping up is now baseball's in full swing. So it's not completely sad. Like when the NFL season ends, you got your college basketballs wrapping up. So there's always something there to kinda help you get through the end of the seasons.

Neil (01:19:12.669)
The Reds don't.

Neil (01:19:23.38)
Rides her off to a decent start. They're up three straight wins, three and one on the season.

Nick (01:19:30.559)
How? How have you? Did you do the Reds TV? Did you have to pay for it?

Neil (01:19:35.304)
Yep, 100 bucks.

Nick (01:19:38.303)
And that was, you had to do the same thing with FanDuel last year, right? Okay, so it's really not that big a deal. Now I do think the big deal is if you wanna watch both, you gotta pay the 200 bucks. If you wanna get MLB TV where you get all the games and you wanna get reds, you have to pay the 200 bucks. But.

Neil (01:19:41.428)
for it.

Neil (01:19:45.0)
No, same.

Neil (01:19:50.931)
Watch what both.

Neil (01:19:55.826)
Yeah, I don't need to watch the A's in the Mariners or Braves in-

Nick (01:20:00.042)
I feel you but like with T-Mobile, T-Mobile you get get MLB TV for free. But you don't get the Reds games free because they're local. So I haven't done it yet, but I think if I paid for the Reds, I'd have to switch back and forth accounts which would kind of get annoying.

Neil (01:20:05.406)
Well, look at you.

because they're local.

Neil (01:20:16.627)
No.

Nick (01:20:18.411)
I know. haven't, I haven't, I haven't played with it yet.

Neil (01:20:19.1)
You could buy them under the same account. You could have it under the same account, right? It's all under your MLB account.

Nick (01:20:24.787)
I finally switched to YouTube TV. I made it. I made the switch. I think I was the last remaining one of the last remaining people in the city Louisville with the still dues and direct TV satellite TV. But it's it's over and I called the dude on Sunday morning and I was like, yeah, well, well, was like, yeah, yes. And I'm like, dude, I'm going from like I'm saving like over 100 bucks a month. Like this is not this is an absolute no brainer. And he's like,

Neil (01:20:28.148)
proud of you.

Neil (01:20:42.42)
Was he distraught? You were his last customer? Were you his last customer? His last account?

Nick (01:20:53.781)
Well, you're not, it's all going to be robots and AI. You're not going to get the customer service like this anymore. And I'm just like, look, dude, if it's that bad, if it's that bad, if it's that bad, I can always go back.

Neil (01:20:59.508)
I don't even want to talk to you anymore. The customer service, how many times did you talk to Direct TV customer service?

Nick (01:21:07.537)
once a year because this is I'd have to get 50 up

Neil (01:21:09.31)
Cause you threatened to cancel to get your money? You cause you what? You threatened to cancel to get your rate lower?

Nick (01:21:13.247)
No, I've told them like if you don't take $50 off my bill that I am canceling and they would do it every year. They would take, but I'd have to call because it'd be good for 12 months. So at the end of the 12 months, I'd have to call every single time. Like, hey, you taking this 50 off? Because otherwise I'm gone.

Neil (01:21:24.186)
Yeah

Nick (01:21:30.559)
But we are officially YouTube. We are not sponsored by YouTube TV yet.

Neil (01:21:34.728)
That poor DirectTV customer service rep's looking for a job because he has no more accounts.

Nick (01:21:38.859)
Yeah, poor guy. I did feel bad. was like, yeah, nothing I can do, bro. He's like, I was like, they came out the sports back. It's like 55 bucks. He's like, dude, I think you've got wrong information. I was like, no, I do not. And then he looked it up. It like, oh shit, you're right. Yeah. He's like, they must've just came out with that. I was like, yeah, that's why I'm switching.

Neil (01:21:59.06)
There you go.

Nick (01:22:00.972)
All right Thank everybody for listening reminder subscribe to the height differential. Hi every listen to pods apple spotify youtube music Amazon rate and leave a review follow us on social at height differential It's where you get to see shorts of Neil saying stuff one week and changes his mind three days later And then it gets ticked off that I post it. He's like, I don't believe what I said anymore Why are you just now posting this? Why are you just now posting this?

Neil (01:22:23.09)
You posted something that two weeks old! It was TWO WEEKS OLD, you idiot! It was two weeks old! It was two weeks.

Nick (01:22:29.279)
It was not two weeks old. It was not even close to two weeks old.

Also just quit being John Kerry and flip flopping and we won't have to worry about it. You flip flopper. Next thing we know we're see you parasailing like John Kerry. you remember that picture of him parasailing? During the campaign it was like for some reason that was really a negative thing and looking goofy on a parasail.

Neil (01:22:43.314)
I'm not flip-flopping on Michigan.

Neil (01:22:58.748)
No flip-flopping on this one, I'm all in on the Wolverines. Go Blue.

Nick (01:23:01.971)
I'm glad because a couple weeks ago you're all in on Duke. So I'm glad you finally decided to. And also I just want to thank you for crunching ice. So that was, enjoyed, everybody enjoyed that as well.

Neil (01:23:11.102)
Here, I got one more piece left for you.

Nick (01:23:16.267)
For the 6-6 deal, I'm the 410 Nick. You've been listening to High Differential. We'll talk to you next week after the National Championship game. Yup!