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Final Four, NIL, Retired numbers
4 Plays6 days ago
Don and Russ talk about the recent final four in basketball, Numbers being retired at Colardo, Iamaleava wants a new NIL deal at Tennessee. and other news.
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Transcript
Introduction to NCAA Report
00:00:00
Speaker
This is Gateway Sports. Ladies and gentlemen, I've got a couple of questions for you. Do you love college sports as much as I do? Are you always wondering where you can find the latest NCAA reports?
00:00:13
Speaker
Will come to the right place? Welcome, sports fans, to Fuel Sports Presents, the NCAA report with Don Enra. Gee, that sounds kind of interesting..
00:00:29
Speaker
ready to win the game.
00:00:32
Speaker
For the win in the air, it is up and it is good!
00:01:02
Speaker
Look at the air, look at the hang time, look at the flying motion. Look at his head above the rim.
00:01:43
Speaker
to infinity and beyond
00:02:18
Speaker
Call the field stand.
00:02:30
Speaker
You've got to get it done.
00:02:44
Speaker
Pay attention, son. This is for your own good. The moment you've all been waiting for.
Setting the Stage: Weather and College Sports
00:02:49
Speaker
Here they are, your favorite hosts, Don Glenn and Russ Robinson.
00:02:56
Speaker
Hey, welcome back, folks. It's a time for another episode of the NCAA Report with Don and Russ. And as always, I do thank Devin Tynan for his introduction to us.
00:03:07
Speaker
um Just want to let you know that the NCAA Report is... proud as a proud part of the gateway sports network and that gateway sport or yeah gateway sports you will find a plethora of uh podcasts and articles uh covering uh sports all the way from the pros to college and more so check it out at gateway sports.net as always my partner with me russ robinson is here tonight russ how are you doing on this fine day
00:03:44
Speaker
Well, i've just fine. It's beautiful here. We're on the back end of all the storms and the rain that we had here, I guess, about two weeks ago, Dom, about the time we were doing that last show.
00:03:56
Speaker
Yeah, yeah it's been it's been pretty nice here the last couple days, too, finally. So, you know, I just proved spring has sprung. And, you know, now we can get into the spring sports
Florida's Defense and Victory over Auburn
00:04:07
Speaker
eventually.
00:04:07
Speaker
So, ah yeah. and So, Russ, last time we talked, ah the tournament was going on. And we came up with our Final Fours. And, well, as you have been proving, you've been proving pretty good.
00:04:23
Speaker
reliable for the college basketball tournament. You got the winner on that one. um you know, I, I, uh, why I was able to watch that, the final game there. And, um, you know, uh, it's, it's kind of, ah we talked about earlier as odd, the way it ended.
00:04:41
Speaker
on the play that it ended on. But, you know, you you you could see Florida has a – they play a pretty staunch defense. they yeah you know they they They scored when they needed to. They defended when they needed to.
00:04:57
Speaker
And, you know, they ended up getting the job done. Yeah.
Duke's Loss to Houston: Analysis
00:05:02
Speaker
couple things i want to talk about, though, is what do you make of the games leading up to that? And I'm i'm thinking primarily the Houston Duke game.
00:05:10
Speaker
ah What happened to Duke? Yeah, that was that was a some people would have considered that a shock. I guess I did, too. I had Duke in the in the championship game.
00:05:21
Speaker
And it looks like it just kind of, it fell apart on them awful late, didn't it, Don? I mean, wasn't they have a six-point lead with 30 seconds to go, 30-something seconds to go, and then they couldn't get the ball inbound? And it just it was just kind of an incredible breakdown.
00:05:37
Speaker
It snowballed from there. I mean, you know. Yeah, yeah, it sure was. You just didn't see that. At third with Duke with the six-point lead with 30 seconds go, you figure all they had to do was just eat up the clock and they couldn't even get the ball inbound. So you can credit Kelvin Sampson's coaching, his players, and as he said, coaching his players never to give up, play the whole game, and they didn't. They got a break. You don't see that very often against another good team, but it happened. It sure did. Yeah.
Mentorship in Coaching: Florida vs Auburn
00:06:09
Speaker
And then, of ah Florida but taking down um Auburn, which that was that but that was that was a personal win for me. I i agree. I'm happy about that. ah But, you know, I mean, and we talked about that one, too, that being, you know, um mentor versus student in a sense. Mm-hmm. with the two coaches and uh i don't know if maybe bruce pearl po taught him to taught the guy too much what's the coach's name for florida i can't think of his name off top my head who's goldman yeah goldman goldman yeah i i think pearl may have taught him a little too much maybe he came back and yeah yeah yeah he um um you know he's done a really good job all year and and uh
00:06:57
Speaker
I was expecting him to beat Auburn. I just think they were just all ah across the board a better balling team. they They really shut down. They took control in the second half.
00:07:09
Speaker
Yeah. It was a close game for a while, but they took control in the second half. So, yeah. And Todd Golden. Yeah. to gold That's it. Golden. Yeah. Todd Golden. And, you know, he's he's not yet 40. Right.
00:07:22
Speaker
So, he's got a lot of – It would be interesting to see where he takes he goes from here, how he takes it. If Florida starts to be a regular contender year in and year out, it would really be interesting to see.
00:07:35
Speaker
you know when Like you were talking about, you know the way Florida started out or came alive in the second half and took over that Auburn game, you know they tried to do that in the Houston game and they had a pretty decent lead there. In Houston, as you say, the Kelvin Sampson way of just don't ever give up, play all 40 minutes, ah you know they they came back and made that a good ball game.
00:07:59
Speaker
Oh, yeah. so But kudos to Florida. um And now...
NIL Deals: Tennessee's Quarterback Contract
00:08:05
Speaker
May the transfer portal begin. rut. you know Yeah. And it's already it's already gone crazy. Illinois has already lost four
00:08:16
Speaker
three or four guys to the portal two more just declared for the and nba draft and we've already picked up three guys in the portal so yeah it's it's fast and furious you just can't keep up with it on it that's right that's right yeah i know so uh want to switch gears a little bit we'll kind of move back to football here know i sent you some stuff earlier um and first thing i want to get to is this and we'll get well you know out well i'll tell you what actually let's i'll i'll come i'll get away from the that one first we'll go to the transfer portal nil thing uh because um as you know you and i have talked before this this whole nil transfer portal is just a
00:09:07
Speaker
It's a system run amok. I mean, that's the best way I can put it. And now we got the report just a few days ago that in Tennessee, and and you're a little SEC backyard there, their quarterback, Nico Lamaleva, is that how pronounce it?
00:09:26
Speaker
Yes. That sounds right. Okay. He wanted to renegotiate his NIL contract, ah that would push his salary, if you will, to $8 million dollars by the end of his third year at University of Tennessee.
00:09:46
Speaker
who He's already looking at making $4 million, dollars which I find just utterly... inconceivable for a college athlete. I'm sorry.
00:09:58
Speaker
i Yes. I, I, again, and you and I have talked, I don't have a problem with them. So with the, with them paying ah college players or getting them some kind of reimbursement, considering that the universities get tons of money off their names and, and Jersey sales and stuff like that.
00:10:19
Speaker
I don't have any issue with that, but now we're talking paying guys, fit basically fifth round draft choice money. You know, why, why enter the draft? If you're, if you're not going to be in the top couple rounds, cause the university going pay me $5 million. dollars rock Right. Right.
00:10:37
Speaker
You know, well, it's not the university. It's the NIL collective. The collectives. Yeah. ah But still it's the same thing. And, and you know And for this kid, i show well i don't know i don't know what year in school he is. and He's a freshman, maybe a sophomore.
00:10:55
Speaker
He's young. I know that. Yeah. yeah he's Yeah. I think he's a redshirt freshman. Redshirt freshman. Yeah. ah You know, to to sit there and say, you're going to double my NIL. You know, the school really has very little control over what those collectives are going to pay.
00:11:11
Speaker
Right. um You know, I mean, they can they can suggest or whatever, but it's up to the collective what they want to pay that kid. And, you know, and and are there going to be other collectives at other schools that might cater to his eight million dollars?
00:11:27
Speaker
ah Possibly. But, you know, it's just I find it crazy. And, you know, yeah, I'm a dinosaur. I mean, the kids, any of these kids, they're getting a free education, basically.
00:11:41
Speaker
they're getting us They're getting money to to exist while they're in college, and they're treating it like this is the free agent market in the NFL. I just can't tell you how much that really disappoints me for college athletics. What's what's your feeling?
00:11:59
Speaker
Well, I think I'm pretty close to yours. you know I mean, even the coaches don't like it. The fans don't like it. You know, ah You know, the players love it, I guess.
00:12:12
Speaker
ah But, yeah, you know, yeah the transfer portal connecting with the NILs has made all this possible. You know, this kid from Tennessee, he doesn't leave if if the transfer portal is closed.
00:12:25
Speaker
Right. And he can't, you know, he's he's he'd be stuck with the deal he made. So it's a combination all. So, yeah, I think – Most people cheering Tennessee on for doing this.
00:12:38
Speaker
But like you said, it'll be interesting to see if this kid, if someone else submits, gives them what he wants. and you know And then Tennessee, the other thing from the flip side of Tennessee,
00:12:51
Speaker
ah Josh Heupel is a hero now, the Tennessee coach, with the fans and with the media and with and with everyone and with other coaches.
00:13:02
Speaker
But if he can't replace this kid as another quarterback and he goes 6-6 this year, at this will all be all this cheering he's getting be forgotten.
00:13:12
Speaker
oh yeah so So anyway, so yeah it's a big mess. And you and I have go like go back far enough that we don't we don't This is not what we grew up with, what we remember of how right how teams were built and stuff like that. But it's right it's a it's a story now.
00:13:29
Speaker
I guess the best thing that could happen for college football would be if they closed this portal in the spring. You know, they just had a portal open up right after the season then yeah for a while.
00:13:44
Speaker
they was They had to do that, but close the spring portal. Then the coaches would have a little bit more control. as it is now in spring practice, can you imagine – You know, you're afraid to make a kid mad at spring practice because he may just leave on you after spring practice is over with. So, I mean, you know.
00:14:06
Speaker
I'm kind of the other way. i wish they would close the fall portal and leave the spring portal, but cut it down to where it's like, okay.
00:14:17
Speaker
um Because right now, it's as the season ends. I would i would say – If you want to open that portal, open it after the national championship is over. Then open your portal up.
00:14:29
Speaker
Because that gives the kids... and I know people are saying, well, yeah but they can't get matriculated into classes. you know That's a bunch of malarkey. how And they can get into this. And the other thing is...
00:14:42
Speaker
they can transfer, but let them finish their studies or whatever for that year at the university. They're there that are there at, then they transfer in the fall.
00:14:54
Speaker
Or in the summer so that they will be there. Oh, but they're they'll miss out on spring drills. Well, big deal. Your freshmen are going to miss out on spring drills, crying out loud.
00:15:06
Speaker
You know, it's not like these kids have to be there for spring drill because they need the conditioning or whatever. They they they should already be well conditioned in it for college football.
00:15:17
Speaker
Right. yeah that So I'm not buying that whole that whole argument. But yeah, I agree. They need to cut out one of the two. Yeah. And the other thing is, too, to me, is I heard this, and it's there's a and I was trying to look it up real quick while you were talking there, ah but there is a bipartisan commission in Congress. I know ah Ted Cruz and ah Bloomberg are part of it. Cory Booker's a five-man panel.
00:15:48
Speaker
And they are looking at trying to impose some type of restrictions on NIL. Right. Mm hmm. Yeah. Whether they will get that done, which is, you know, which is if you and if you want to be quite honest, that's what the NCAA has been hoping for, because they don't have the guts or the wherewithal to tell these universities and these collectives, you can't do that because, yeah you know, it's like we've seen in the with the Big Ten and the SEC. That's OK, fine. We'll take our 32 teams and go but and form our own league.
00:16:20
Speaker
yeah bro um And i I'm not going to say that's what happened has happened, but you can you can see it happening, or you can see the the whole power four, if you will, sit there and say, hey, we've got a 60-14 league. We don't need the NCAA. Exactly, right.
00:16:40
Speaker
So, um you know, that they've been quite powerless to really do anything. So I think this is, you know, for Congress to finally step up and say we need to do something about this, I think is is ah is a pretty good deal. So but that so that one then the other is the you and I talked about it a little bit before we started the word out of Colorado.
Retiring Numbers: Sanders and Hunter Debate
00:17:05
Speaker
That they're going to retire. The numbers of, uh, Shador Sanders and, uh, Travis Hunter. Um, I, so number two and number 12 will no longer be available at the university of Colorado.
00:17:23
Speaker
you know My only question is, and I don't know if you if you can answer this one or not, is this a big deal or not? I mean, it's universities' right to to to do whatever they want, just like it's any other sports teams' right to cancel or retire numbers or whatnot.
00:17:40
Speaker
Um, but you i guess the question to some people would be, what have they done to deserve their numbers being retired? You know, they didn't, uh, they didn't bring home a, uh, they didn't even bring home a big 12 trophy for crying out loud.
00:17:55
Speaker
Uh, let alone any kind of playoff trophy, you know, so really Yes, chant Sanders. ah Did he? Okay, did I refresh my memory? I forgot who won the Heisman. Did he win the Heisman? The Hunter.
00:18:07
Speaker
Travis, the Hunter kid, the guy that... water Travis Hunter won the Heisman. Okay. Yeah, he won. so so you know as And I guess he's ah he's declared for the and of the NFL draft. So, yeah, I could see retiring his number.
00:18:19
Speaker
ah that would That, to me, would seem appropriate. ah But to retire Shadour's number... Are we doing it because he had a great season we were doing it or are we doing it to keep his dad at Colorado?
00:18:34
Speaker
It could be. it could be. I have a feeling Deion's fingerprints are on this in some way. oh You know, I feel like Colorado's doing all they can to accommodate Deion Sanders to keep him there because I'm sure Deion's going to have opportunities to go elsewhere. What his long-term goal is, if it's to go to the NFL, be an NFL head coach,
00:18:55
Speaker
or if he wants to go to a bigger platform in the college football, you know, someone. so yeah, I think I can see Dion's fingerprints on this. I could also see the school saying, you know, we got our first Heisman Trophy winner.
00:19:10
Speaker
Let's let's do this. It's good publicity. The Sanders kid, that you know, that's he was good, but I'm not sure he was great by any stretch of the imagination. He's a very good college quarterback.
00:19:23
Speaker
So that's why I think Dion's. Fingerprints are on this. You know, we're I'm just guessing, you know, could be wrong about it. But right I feel like this is a this is this is the influence Deion Sanders has on that football program and on the whole university.
00:19:38
Speaker
Yeah, and, you know, I mean, we have seen it, I guess, other places in in certain respects of, you know, anointing. Well, and you you kind of saw it a little bit with Texas this year trying to anoint Arch Manning as the new kid coming in, even though they're not done with the old quarterback yet.
00:19:56
Speaker
Yeah. ah You know, something like that. I mean, you know, so names, I guess a name plays into it. and is it But this is, like i said, I don't know, a lot of people are making a lot about it.
00:20:08
Speaker
um Personally, like I said, you know, it's a school's right to retire any number they want. or honor or enter any number they want for a player, a former player. So, but I, I, yeah I just find it kind of odd that it's making that much headline news, um, in the sport, in the sports realms, as so to speak. So, uh, yeah, go ahead, go ahead. I'm sorry. Well, I'm just saying that's the, uh, impact on the program. He gets a lot of attention brought to the Colorado.
00:20:37
Speaker
So, you know, everything he does gets, gets reported in the national media, you know? Yeah, no doubt. No doubt. Okay. Well, we'll, uh, move along here in a minute after I talk you a little bit about liquid IVs.
Product Spotlight: Liquid IV
00:20:51
Speaker
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00:20:56
Speaker
And on a daily basis, the average loss of water due to dehydration is about 3% to 5%. Obviously, the higher the activity level, the higher level dehydration. If dehydration gets from 8% or 9%, it starts to affect your body. You get feeling like you're thirsty all the time. You're tired.
00:21:11
Speaker
ah The symptoms increase only as you lose more water. And you get to around 15% of your body's water lost through dehydration, you can end up in a hospital. And, you know, I'll tell you, Russ, i've I've actually had that happen to me a couple times where I've ended it up in a hospital through de dehydration. And it ain't fun. I can tell you that. No.
00:21:29
Speaker
You stick a lot of needles in you for that. ah So hydration is a serious issue. Water alone sometimes isn't enough. Couple that with the fact that people only drink about 50% of the recommended daily amount of water for proper hydration and good health.
00:21:42
Speaker
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00:21:53
Speaker
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00:22:11
Speaker
So that means vegans could even drink it. So, you know, it's it's vegan approved. i i've now I've tried liquid IV myself. I've used the electrolyte replacement formula, ah the energy hydration, when I need a little pick-me-up and don't want to drink coffee.
00:22:28
Speaker
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00:22:40
Speaker
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00:22:51
Speaker
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00:23:22
Speaker
I just don't understand that one. But I guess because the air conditioning may be in there. So long flights get you dehydrated. And that causes a jet lag. I didn't know that either. you know And coffee and tea aren't going to help you on a flight like that.
00:23:34
Speaker
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00:24:13
Speaker
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00:24:29
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00:24:42
Speaker
Go to liquidiv.com. Use the code GCS at checkout. So another thing we looked, I saw that hit me kind of strange and we talked about a little bit was, uh, the NCAA tournament, which we just got done talking
Tournament Wins Without Titles: Purdue and Gonzaga
00:24:57
Speaker
about. Not that a few minutes ago, um, they listed the five teams with the most tournament wins that does not have a title.
00:25:07
Speaker
And, you know, I expected some other teams to be there, um, with the, as far as the wins go. um, But they have number one, Purdue, 51 wins, no title.
00:25:20
Speaker
Number two is Gonzaga, 47 wins and no title. Number three is Illinois with 46 wins and no title. Houston, 45, and Oklahoma, 43.
00:25:33
Speaker
You and I talked a little bit before. I am kind of surprised with the Houston. i i you know I've slept since nineteen since the 1980s, so I don't remember everything. um But, you know, it seemed, I think, five slam-a-jam-a. I was surprised that there was not a title in there in that run. You and I talked about Gonzaga the last, well, 15, 20 years, it seems like. They're always around there.
00:25:58
Speaker
They've never won it. ah Purdue. with a long storied history of basketball that they've had that they've never won a title. Like I said, I was surprised the Illinois wi had the whiz kids back in the forties.
00:26:10
Speaker
And we talked, I don't know when the NCAA actually started the, this the, the, the tournament itself. ah And then you youd missed ah mentioned that Oklahoma had some really good teams back in the eighties.
00:26:22
Speaker
And, you know I don't, I don't have the full list in front of me, but you stop and think that, know, You know, a lot of a lot of the schools that we see that we talk about all the time, you know, your Kansas's and UConn's and Tennessee's, teams like that.
00:26:40
Speaker
And I don't think Tennessee's ever has, I don't think they've ever won a national title. No, they haven't. I don't, Kentucky and Florida, the only, in Arkansas, have won national championships in l in the SEC. I think those are the only ones, I believe.
00:26:55
Speaker
yeah So, yeah there's a lot of teams You know, in the SEC, there's a lot of teams have had a storied basketball program, but a lot of them haven't won national championships. So that's the way, you know, i am i was a little surprised. I had heard Purdue had never, I knew Purdue had never won one.
00:27:13
Speaker
I just didn't realize how many victories they had, that they were number one in victories for teams who hadn't won one. Right. Yeah. And Gonzaga's a little recent to me, seems,
00:27:29
Speaker
more of a recent add to that list. Although they've had 47 wins in the NCAA tournament, they've had a lot of good teams, lot of NCAA tournaments. So I wasn't particularly, I was shocked that their wins were up that high.
00:27:42
Speaker
but that they've had they've had such a good run in recent years. So that's what – I didn't know anything about Illinois, Don, that they hadn't won anything. and I remember one year – you'll remember this.
00:27:55
Speaker
I'm sure Illinois went through the their whole schedule undefeated. What, did they get beaten in the Big Ten championship game? They got beaten in Big Ten championship game, and then they made it to the NCAA championship game and got beat by North Carolina.
00:28:11
Speaker
So they lost two games all year. Lost two games entire year. Yeah. yeah I remember that. Yeah. that was bru Was that Bruce Weber? That was Bruce Weber. And then, of course, 85, they made the Final Four out in Seattle and under Lou Henson.
00:28:29
Speaker
And they got beat by Michigan in the semifinal game, which was – there's – ah Google it sometime. There's a lot of questions about the last couple, three seconds of that game.
00:28:44
Speaker
ah But they said that that actually should have been the title game because whoever won that game had to play Boston College and ah it ended up being Michigan. And they just they just wiped the floor of Boston College. It wasn't even a challenge.
00:28:58
Speaker
um yeah I was ali looking up a teams um that haven't made a Final Four. uh, some of the top teams that haven't made a final four and they, they have a BYU has 29 NCAA tournament appearances has never made a final four, but they have made three elite eight, at least three elite eights.
00:29:21
Speaker
Xavier's another one, 28 tournaments and tournaments. Um, doesn't say how many how far they've gone. Missouri is another one. 27 times they've been the tournament with no Final Four.
00:29:35
Speaker
bro they They have at least an Elite Eight, it says. They have three at least three. yeah It doesn't give you the number. It says recently made the Elite Eight in 2009. I'm not sure when this actually was right.
00:29:50
Speaker
ah Tennessee, as we talked about. Yeah, not only do they not have a title, they don't even have a Final Four appearance in 22 times. Now, they do have made the Elite Eight titles.
00:30:02
Speaker
ah The only lead eight they made was in, well, outside of this year, would have been in 2010.
Mega Conferences: Impact on Performance
00:30:08
Speaker
Utah we don't care about Utah State. Creighton's another one, Boston College.
00:30:13
Speaker
Now, wait minute, they had made a final four, I thought. Because I thought they maybe it wasn't Boston College they played that m Michigan played. um But, yeah, some of these other teams, have Arizona State, ah you know, some of these are just kind of lower teams, like UAB. um So, but, yeah, think,
00:30:31
Speaker
So, you know, there's a lot of teams that we consider, you know, good teams that, you know, for whatever reason, either don't get the Final Four or can't make that big game happen. And I think we forget that when you're talking basketball, there's, what, 327 teams NCAA?
00:30:49
Speaker
and the nc doublea And, you know, of course, it's ah it's a lot harder now for some of the I say I think it's a lot harder, I should say, for some of the teams with the mega conferences that have sprouted up now with 18 teams in the Big Ten, 16 in the SEC, ACC's got 17.
00:31:12
Speaker
You know, I think it's a lot harder for some of those teams that are in those leagues that would have been near the top of their conference championship if they'd stayed somewhere else.
00:31:24
Speaker
who You know, ah you look at UCLA, USC, um you know, granted UCLA didn't, did make the most of their tournament or their ah tournament run, but ah I don't know. I mean, has the mega conferences, I guess this is the, this is the question now is has the mega conferences really affected who's,
00:31:49
Speaker
in the tournament anymore. I know we've talked, there's a talk about, and this is one of the other things they talked about with the, with the, we're talking to NIL, you know, with the NIL, with the mega conferences, with the transfer portal, you know,
00:32:02
Speaker
um I guess it's a case, are the rich going to keep getting richer? Sure. I think so. I mean, look at the sec. They had 16 teams.
00:32:16
Speaker
What did i kick why didd they get in, Don? 12, 14 teams, something like that? ah but ah Yeah, i want to say something around 12, yeah. well At least 12, maybe 14 I have gotten.
00:32:29
Speaker
ah yeah you know that's that's brief that's A lot of that has to do with the SEC has money to spend on good coaches and NILs now.
00:32:41
Speaker
Right. They all have a good, and so they can go out and they can go out and buy a good team or get a good team together. The big tens the same way. So yeah, the rich are getting richer off this TV deals and things like that. So yeah, you're exactly right. I think it's ah rich getting richer. So it's going to be harder for teams outside of that, ah those super conference parameters to, I think to make it into the,
00:33:09
Speaker
to the Final Four winning national championship. You mentioned BYU. You mentioned Utah State is having a lot of – didn't realize Utah State had that many appearances. Yeah. But I can't see them.
00:33:21
Speaker
It's going to be harder for them teams to make a run. ah this This year, right there was no Cinderella team. Not really. ah The teams that got there were the top four teams, and the teams that lead eight were – all top teams. I can't think of anyone outside one of the big conferences that got, I don't know, has any guys in the lead eight, um, the lead eight included Tennessee and, um, uh, Alabama from the sec. So i knew on top of the, you know, saw me there's, um see there wasn't a lot of, uh, there were, there was not a Cinderella story in this team in this year. I don't really know there wasn't, uh, you're right. Um,
00:34:07
Speaker
Let's see. I mean, okay, Drake beat Mizzou. Yeah. It looked like somebody thought that might be one. and Then Texas Tech promptly took them apart in the next round. So, I mean. Yeah, the Elite Eight this year was Alabama, Florida, Duke, Texas Tech, Michigan State, Tennessee, Auburn, auburn and Houston.
00:34:29
Speaker
Yeah, none of – the lowest-ranked team or lowest-seeded team was Texas Tech at number three. They were three-seed. That was the lowest seed in the Elite Eight.
00:34:41
Speaker
Yeah, and they're not exactly a Cinderella story. That program's been established for a now. Yeah, exactly. And so that's not really a story. So, yeah, I think the rich are getting richer, and that's that's the way it is. I don't see – yeah I don't see my team making a break.
00:34:59
Speaker
Well, and, you know and I think, Kimmerer, who was talking about it as a former NBA star, and I can't remember who it was now. I watching some little reel, a blurb reel. I think it might have been ESPN.
00:35:13
Speaker
And I'll say that what you've seen now with what's going on with the transfer portal, what's going on with the NIL, is just what you said.
00:35:24
Speaker
You are no longer going to see the Cinderella teams. You might as well. and And it's something I put out a while back is, okay, if this is going to continue, then why don't we just do it this way and um say, take the power four, if you will, or power five in basketball, if you want to include the big East um and There's NCAA Division IA, or Division one and everybody else goes in Division IA, like it used to be.
00:35:57
Speaker
Yeah. You know, because, quite frankly, if if you're going to take... i mean Yeah, Drake is going to get some players in the transfer report. and They're going to get some good players from Division II or Division III.
00:36:12
Speaker
But those are not going to be the same type of players that they're sending to the Kentuckys, the Tennessees, the Missouris, the Illinois, the Michigans, Alabama, Auburn.
00:36:25
Speaker
you know Those schools are going to get, whether it's basketball or football, those schools are going to get the best out of the – the MAC, the Sun Belt, the ACC, or not the ACC, the AAC, I meant to say.
00:36:42
Speaker
They're going to get the best out of those conferences to go to these larger conferences, larger schools. They can't fill those ranks with Division II and Division III and expect to stay relevant.
00:36:54
Speaker
No. And, you know, again, in the NCAA tournament, let's take – I say what Drake's path would have been to the final four. They got past Missouri.
00:37:05
Speaker
Right. And they got walloped by Texas Tech. But if they had not, if they got past Texas Tech, the next step was Arkansas, I think. I think you're right. it was past Once they got past Arkansas, they got to the lead eight and they were playing who, Don?
00:37:21
Speaker
um You know, who did Texas Tech play in the lead eight? Hang on. I'm looking it up right now. played or if Drake would have beaten Texas tech you're saying.
00:37:34
Speaker
Well, if they'd beaten Texas tech, they would have to play Arkansas. they Right. And then if they had got past that, they would have play Florida. Okay. So they just, it's just too much. I mean, that's just too much for a team in a week's time to go up against that many powerhouses expect to win a Cinderella team.
00:37:53
Speaker
So you can see this developing where just it's the elite conferences are going to dominate, you know I believe, from here on out, the way it's set up. so Oh, yeah. and and like said And even some of your lower...
00:38:06
Speaker
teams in the power conference. Now, like the Big Ten, they only got seven teams in, I think, this past on this past tournament out of the 18 in the league, um which, you know, that can be argued here, there, and other places, but quite frankly, none of the other teams deserve to be in. Let's just call it a spade a spade.
00:38:25
Speaker
um But, you know, when you look at a team like, ah say, a Vanderbilt, Or a, I'm trying to think of a comparable Big Ten team, Nebraska.
00:38:40
Speaker
You know, not normally what you consider a basketball powerhouse schools. You know, they're always going to be falling short. And they're going to end up in these 11 seed, 12 seed games where they're going to have to face the the the the five seed starting out and then take the, you know, it's...
00:39:02
Speaker
I guess, i guess you you know like I said, you and I being the old farts around here, you know we seeing and this is why I think um Brad Underwood made the comment he did when they when they beat Iowa in the regular season. anne that I can't think of the kid's name off the top my head, but he theyre um their top player who'd been there all four years.
00:39:26
Speaker
Yeah. Came in, started and stayed and, you know, and he said, this is why you see, this is what makes this kid special. He came in as a freshman and he said, I'm staying with this program.
00:39:40
Speaker
I'm here. This is where I'm playing. You know, because he could have gone other places. He could have gone to Tennessee. He could have gone to an Alabama and been better off probably than where, than what he was at Iowa.
00:39:54
Speaker
But, you know, The days of those kids doing that, it's gone. i mean i just and unless until they get Until either Congress or um the nca gets a handle on this and put something together that brings sanity back, this is what you're going to see. And and you're gonna see and you're seeing it you've already seen it in football.
00:40:21
Speaker
I mean, as we talked about earlier, it is leveled out football big time. When you're talking um this past 12-team playoff where four teams are out of the Big Ten and at least one of them that I know of didn't beat a top 25 team.
00:40:41
Speaker
the And yet, because of their 10-0 record, um they get tossed into the 10-1 record or whatever it was. um you know They get put in in the playoff. and you know they didn' yeah yeah I agree. They didn't deserve to be there.
00:40:58
Speaker
um you know Again, i I'll piss off the SEC fans by saying this. I don't think Alabama deserved to be there either. But by the same token, who else were you going to take? Right. you know The way they had that structured, they had it structured so awkward that you know there was no way you were going to slip down to. and and ah It's a shame, but I think probably you could have made a better case with South Carolina being in the 12-team playoff than you could have Alabama. and They were ranked ah rated or ranked below Alabama. so I think...
00:41:34
Speaker
i think And and there's here's the other thing. South Carolina is not going to see a big influx of players that are top players from other schools.
00:41:46
Speaker
They're going to go to the Oregon's, the Alabama, the Auburn, or maybe not Auburn, but Georgia, um Texas, Ohio State.
00:41:57
Speaker
You know, that's where they're going to go because those are the teams that people see in the playoffs. And, you know, so I think in in not only you making the non-power conference teams a little poorer. You're making some of the power team conference poor conferences. Sure.
00:42:12
Speaker
Yeah. But that's just not... Okay, well, like said, this is kind of the end of football season, so or the end of basketball season, I should say. Football's over.
00:42:23
Speaker
So now we've got looking forward coming up is, I guess we've got we'll be doing some recruiting talk and see what's going on. And next week, or not next week, next time we get together... Mm-hmm.
00:42:34
Speaker
I am, ah we hopefully we'll have with us Brian Smith. He is national recruiting analyst.
00:42:45
Speaker
um So he's going to give us some insights on probably what the what conferences are getting what players. And we'll probably concentrate a little bit more on our particular conferences.
00:42:56
Speaker
nothing Nothing against the ACC and the Big 12, but we'll get those guys in there as well. see where some of the top players are going. And he might have a good answer on some of this transfer portal stuff as well.
00:43:06
Speaker
um I know Illinois has picked up a kit couple of kids from Florida in the transfer portal.
Future Focus: Recruiting and Draft with Brian Smith
00:43:12
Speaker
We've lost a couple of kids. um You know, one of our top three running backs has decided he would rather go in the transfer portal than come back. And I i think that's a little just little bit because he's got one year left and these other kids – I mean, they're really just as good and just as hungry, so I can understand him wanting to get out. but So hopefully that'll help us so get the little more recruiting thing understood. And then, don't know, we probably, by that time, ah the draft will be running around for football. and Football draft first, right?
00:43:47
Speaker
Oh, that comes in May, I think, sometimes. Yeah, that comes in May, so we'll be able to talk a little in a ah college NFL draft, if you will, on that. um And then I think NBA drafts in June, is it?
00:44:02
Speaker
That I'm not sure about. Yeah, I'm not sure myself. I'll have to look that up. So so we'll have some we'll have some some things to report on and talk about. And i'm going to we'll try and bring more guests on. I'm still trying to get somebody on to help us with the NIL and stuff because that's just such a confusing thing to try and and navigate. It just doesn't even –
00:44:24
Speaker
It just blows my mind sometimes when I try to look through it at all.
St. Louis Cardinals: Current Performance
00:44:27
Speaker
but Really? Yeah. it's And this is not an NCAA note, but a little bit of Cardinal business. How impressed are you with the Cardinals lately?
00:44:38
Speaker
Well...
00:44:42
Speaker
I've gone from cautiously optimistic back to pessimistic, to cautiously optimistic to pessimistic. you know And the last two series, they played really well.
00:44:55
Speaker
Well, they won four of six. especially beating Philadelphia in that series. So, yeah, therere um sometimes the pitching looks pretty good. Sometimes the hitting looks pretty good.
00:45:07
Speaker
But the last two series, it seems like they've kind of come together. you know, we'll see if they can keep this up. This is April. so Yeah. You know, yeah this is still April folks. Hang on. Don't get too excited, you know, but I, I, I can say, I was talking with some people and you know, I had to stop and think, okay, they beat Philadelphia twice.
00:45:26
Speaker
They've now beaten Houston twice. And if you, and if you go back to the Pittsburgh series and look at the pictures, they've beaten Paul skeins, Nolan, uh, Aaron Nola, uh, Zach Wheeler,
00:45:44
Speaker
Frambois Valdez, and i think the pitcher they beat today, I can't remember his name, um but he's a again, he's another one of of Houston's better pitchers. um Of course, we we lose to the guys that that we have no clue who they are, but ro you know but they have been playing pretty well. I just was going to get your take on it because ah yeah you know they're yeah We didn't expect much out of this season, so I think any kind of ah of ah positive stuff is always going to be very well received, if you will. so
00:46:17
Speaker
Yeah, you know, it's a young team letting the kids play, at least a lot of them. And, you know, you've got some young pitchers in there that are getting a chance. um So, know, we'll see. kind of see what happens, you know, here. Oh, yeah, no doubt, no doubt.
00:46:34
Speaker
And, you know, and also, with you know, kind of the the other thing, too, is we'll take a look at maybe ah some baseballs, as college baseballs
College Baseball and St. Louis Cardinals Draft
00:46:43
Speaker
going on. and Because that the kind of the
00:46:49
Speaker
college baseball draft, come all these drafts come up within like a month of each other. yeah You know, so we'll we'll take them, maybe take a look at the college baseball draft, see what the Cardinals might be looking for and in whatever colleges they're looking at. Or, um you know, I know a couple of I'm going try and get a couple of people on to help us with that, because I I've been wanting to get out and watch some Illinois games here recently since I've been on on my own personal I.L. with my wrist surgery.
00:47:18
Speaker
Um, so, but, uh, you know, as well, we've still got plenty to talk about. So don't think just because football and basketball is over that, uh, you know, we're done talking about it. Um, and one thing, this one thing Russ and I wanted to do was, uh, you know, kind of expand what we talk about and, uh, go more of a national scale to it if we
Conclusion and Social Media
00:47:37
Speaker
can. And so that's why I want to bring in, uh, Brian Smith the and our next time we get together and, uh,
00:47:43
Speaker
you know, see if we can make sense of all this for you guys. And hopefully we can learn something. You can learn something. And I hate to use the line, but, uh, we can, we hopefully we'll be able to keep you entertained.
00:47:58
Speaker
You know, I don't want to go back and say, how aren't you entertained? and and No, that, that would not be a good line. I don't want the answer to that, but, uh, anyway, so, Hey Russ, uh, where can we look you up if we want to talk to you personally?
00:48:13
Speaker
Well, I'm Russ at Blue Sky, ah yeah on Blue Sky. I'm Uncle Frank on Twitter, FR Robinson, one, nine, five, seven.
00:48:24
Speaker
and And, of course, I float around on Facebook. It's in the Mizzou Facebook group. So that's where most of the time you'll find me. Okay. Well, you can find me and I just put out a podcast. um I'm im i'm going doing a little renovating. We renovated this show a while back and I'm doing a little bit more renovation on mine.
00:48:46
Speaker
ah My other show, which is normally Talking Sports on the Bleachers with Don Glenn, it's ah the I'm putting out the last podcast for that, the right last episode for that podcast.
00:48:58
Speaker
And it's going to be switching to Talking Sports with Uncle Don. Okay. So, well, that that comes when we had the, when um ah Gene was wanting us to put those AI photos out and stuff, and I put a few of them out, and Derek answered, hit me back on X and said, hey, I like this one here. It looks like Uncle Don. I'm like, okay, well, got there we go.
00:49:25
Speaker
yeah. So I'm changing the name to Talking Sports with Uncle Don. And also because ah Pete Geddes, every once in while, he'll announce my show on there on their podcast. And he says, that's a long name. So i'm hopefully I'm shorting it shortening enough for him. um ah but But anyway, so you can find me there. You can also find me still at XTSOTB.GCS.
00:49:52
Speaker
And check out the Refurbished Facebook page, Talking Sports with Uncle Don. Also, don't forget to check out Gateway Sports for other podcasts like the Two for Three with Moose Michaels, the team of rivals with Ron Nuttall, Pete Geddes, and Elliot Dewey.
00:50:08
Speaker
Ron also teams up with Chris Hambleton for At the Park, a look at city soccer. A new show has entered the mix. Rodney, and I hope I get this last name right, Noople, and Tim Van Stratton team up for what they call the stupidest sports show on earth.
00:50:22
Speaker
I have got to listen to that show. I've got to check out out an episode or two. uh and then you could also find um oh that's okay and then um ah there's one other um i don't think it's got any episodes yet um out but there's there's a couple couple others are going to be joining the the fold and then of course there's always the derrick king sports show with the one and only derrick king check out for all the articles russ and i ah put out a few articles here and there. I know Brian Swope's been putting some articles out.
00:50:55
Speaker
So check out all the articles. So until we meet again, i want you to have fun, stay safe, and join us next time when we give you the NCAA Report with Don and Russ.
00:51:10
Speaker
Have a good night, everybody.
00:51:57
Speaker
Bye.