Transcript
@NoConfForOldMen: Welcome folks to episode number 77 of the No Conference for Old Men podcast, podcast where three old guys are talking to Houston and Cougars basketball with a bit of Big 12 coverage added in as well and proud members of the gocougs.com network, the undisputed number one Houston Cougars content provider. And we are here today again with all three of the old men, Tom Lidiak, former coach, Bill Walker, former player, and myself, Steve Chang, the analytics guy for this episode. That's going to be our March Madness preview folks. Well, our Cougars had a great finish to warm up for March Madness with a focused win over BYU, then kind of a thrashing of Kansas that was especially satisfying. Only thing that could have made the weekend better was to pull out a win versus Arizona. But hey, we ended up losing a close win, to, i'd say what is likely the best team of the nation. But overall, lots of learnings for the team.
@NoConfForOldMen: I felt the D has ramped up for the tourney. And thankfully, there were no injuries on our team. And now the brackets are formally out. We're the top number two seed and placed in the South region, which more importantly means that we get to play in Houston for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games if we advance. We're also sponsoring a no-confidence for Old Ben Go Cougs bracket on CBSSports.com for the Veer and Cougfans.com board members to participate in and compete with the old men yet again.
@NoConfForOldMen: where, you know just to be honest, our showing wasn't the best last year, especially you, Tom, where I think you came in dead freaking last, buddy. So anyways, so looking forward to fans participating, and we can talk a little bit of trash as well as the weeks go by.
@NoConfForOldMen: So for this big March Madness episode of the pod, we're going to quickly summarize the Big 12 tourney results in the first segment. But then we're going to pivot really quickly into March Madness brackets with specific attention placed on the Cougars South bracket. So why don't we get into it, guys, in dissecting our two wins over BYU, then Kansas, and then the loss to Arizona. Let's each just provide some takeaways from our play and in performance. Then we'll transition to a more free-flowing discussion on the March Madness brackets, going from region to region to highlight interesting matchups, potential upsets, and who we see coming out from each region. And Tom, why don't you kick things off with the coach's perspective on the Big 12 Championships.
Tom Lidiak: Well, the first game, BYU, you kind of figure BYU would be a little bit sluggish because there was just it was their third game in three days. Both teams kind got off this slow start for scoring-wise. I think it was, what, 41-37 at halftime we were down.
Tom Lidiak: We eventually, I think, took the lead with you know about about four minutes left. Big three by Kingston, big three by McCarty. and you know And came out with a hard-fought win.
Tom Lidiak: It's too bad Kevin Young didn't give us credit for the credit for the win. He was talking about Devonza. He should have shot 20 free throws or whatever. and Anyway, so here there's always –
@NoConfForOldMen: Your too thin skin, Tom. Just let it roll off your back.
Tom Lidiak: Oh, well, you know, you know, all the other coaches are, you know, complimentary.
@NoConfForOldMen: It's like it's sour grapes and just... Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Kelvin's always complimentary when, you know, usually when we get beat or whatever and Tommy Lloyd, but anyway, uh, beat them. And that's, and then it was on to, on to Kansas. So enough about the BYU game.
@NoConfForOldMen: keep Keep going. Just, you can summarize all all all your attorney.
Tom Lidiak: Oh, Oh, the game, yeah, that then it was on then it was on to Kansas in front of a de facto home crowd.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah. It was like, but yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And just, you know, what what can you say, held them to 47 points.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: i thought cant i thought I thought Darren Peterson hurt him on offense, hurt him on defense too.
@NoConfForOldMen: It's crazy. Good defense.
Tom Lidiak: he He doesn't play much defense.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: The ball just sticks, you know, when he's in the game. You got him out him out there giving the basketball a headache, pounding it.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And then you've got four guys just looking at him. it was really interesting because when he went to the bench toward the end of the game, the first possession on an offense that he was out, the ball was just – it was just clicking from one side to the other real quick. And then a guy was able to drive the closeout and get up a decent shot. But, you know, give the Cougs credit. just Just a masterful defensive job.
@NoConfForOldMen: Do you think it was our best defensive game of the season?
Tom Lidiak: I think so.
@NoConfForOldMen: think so, right?
Tom Lidiak: Uh, you know, yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And Darren Peterson's play, I think kind of helped it a little bit too, because every time KU guy cut the ball in the perimeter, we were there as soon as he caught it, boom, we're, we're closing out and we were, uh, we were on it.
Tom Lidiak: So yeah. that was just a marvelous defensive effort. And then onto the Arizona game. you know, we got down by what, I think it was, it was 15.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Uh, Kingston had trouble keeping this man in front of them.
@NoConfForOldMen: He did.
Tom Lidiak: They were, they were kind of, they were kind of, yeah, they were picking on them.
@NoConfForOldMen: so Picking on him. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And again, and, uh,
.0Bill Walker: Again, it's like the first game.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yes. Yeah. Over and over again, they would just be hunting him.
Tom Lidiak: and
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: perimeter.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: cause you know, Kelvin mentioned it the other day, I think in one of his interviews is that, you know, uh, so neck never had to play perimeter defense in high school. He was always just guarding the biggest guy, you know, down the block.
Tom Lidiak: But anyway, uh, we, no,
@NoConfForOldMen: But you see him get get yelled at i by Samson during one of the timeouts. And it was it wasn't about guarding, the it was about rebounding down low.
Tom Lidiak: Rebounding. Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, because Koa Pete was kind of abusing him at one point, right?
Tom Lidiak: Yeah. Abusing him.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: But, you know, Kingston goes out. I think we had Milo's and Mercy and E-Man in the backcourt.
Tom Lidiak: And that's when we that's when we started our run. I think we went on a fourteen fourteen over run.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah Yeah, that was a nice run.
Tom Lidiak: And it's because we're getting stops, you know, before that, you know, we, were we weren't, we weren't, uh, you digging into the lead at all because we weren't getting stops.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: You know, you got, you got to get three, four or five stops in a row. If you want to maybe six or even seven in a row, uh, to chip into a 15 point lead. And yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. and Senac played tough during that stretch, right? During that 14-0 run, so.
Tom Lidiak: And then we'll see.
.0Bill Walker: And Sharp was out.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: The backcourt was Yuzan, Flemings, and Mercy.
@NoConfForOldMen: Was he? Was he out? Oh, was...
Tom Lidiak: Okay.
@NoConfForOldMen: It was Fleming's? I thought Fleming's was out and it was...
Tom Lidiak: Fleming's came back in, I think, right before.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: He was out for a little bit of it, but but yeah, anyway.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Anyway, and then I'll leave it.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: I'll get handed over to Bill here in just a second. The two bankers, you know, the two banker the two bankers didn't help either.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: We cut it to one and the shot clock was going down. And I think it was Karchinkov just hoisted like a 22-footer.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
.0Bill Walker: It was.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, that one was ridiculous. i mean, I, the other one.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah. And then
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Burry's was not going for the backboard. That was a straight on.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: That was a straight on Scott.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, it was straight on.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: It was just as bad.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: fair
Tom Lidiak: Yeah. So, you know that's where Bill Russell used to say, nice catch basket. But here's here's the deal. You know, if you're good enough, you're good enough. And, you know, if you're good enough to beat them, then somehow you find it a way to win, even even if they make those two bankers. But it's just Arizona might win the whole thing. They might be the best team in the country.
Tom Lidiak: And then to be that close,
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, we were, we were right there, man.
Tom Lidiak: and and And to have a couple of things go against us and still have a chance to win, I think that just shows how how how how good we are.
@NoConfForOldMen: sir
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: you know So who who knows? You get in the tournament, when know you know who who knows?
@NoConfForOldMen: Get on a good run. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: knows? who knows
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. How about you, Bill? What what were your views from a big 12 tourney?
.0Bill Walker: BYU, I was not pleased early on with our turnovers. 16 for the game, and and I was taking notes while I was watching the game.
.0Bill Walker: It was the first note I wrote down. like, you know what the hell is going on with the with the turnovers?
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: And I believe of those 16, nine were in the first half. It was either nine or ten, but I think it was nine.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: And you know how they –
.0Bill Walker: briefly interview the coaches during, you know, in game during the games and they interviewed Calvin and that that was exactly the only thing he said that he was disappointed that we weren't protecting the ball.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: And so didn't surprise me. Great minds think alike.
Tom Lidiak: So what explains that?
.0Bill Walker: What explains why Kelvin and I were both on board with the turnovers?
Tom Lidiak: know Yes, yes. yeah
.0Bill Walker: Again, Tom, you need to listen. Great minds think alike. Not that difficult to to ascertain.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
.0Bill Walker: Moving on, Sharp sharpe was abysmal from the field in that game. he shot one of nine, one of six from three. And quite honestly, a lot of fans were were all over him, down on him.
.0Bill Walker: and and And yes, he is going to have to provide more offense versus the better teams in the tournament. especially when we go up against probably high-scoring Illinois.
.0Bill Walker: However, and I hope everyone understands, he was assigned to DeBansa in that game. He was assigned to Peterson in the following game. He was assigned to Burries in the in the game after that.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: It's like, you know, he's... he's guarding the number one overall draft pick, the number two overall draft pick, and possibly a third lottery pick.
.0Bill Walker: So, yeah, light lighten up on him a little bit. he He is going to have to step things up offensively, but but i I had no issue because he he expended a ton of energy playing those three.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, you know, turnovers aside in that game, i thought Senac, Tugler, good to see Tugler on the court. Flemings, Mercy, and McCarty played well.
.0Bill Walker: Kansas, I could sum this game up with one number, 8.3. That was Kansas' shooting percentage from the field in the second half, 8.3%.
.0Bill Walker: eight point three percent that That's i mean that's that that's that I mean, that's otherworldly.
@NoConfForOldMen: It's nuts. It is nuts.
Tom Lidiak: You know, and what's it hey wasn't their first bucket on that lazy pass at at around half court that Peterson picked off and dunked.
.0Bill Walker: That that never happens.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Wasn't that their first bucket of the second half? I think it was.
@NoConfForOldMen: It could have been. I mean, it's, uh,
Tom Lidiak: Yeah. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah. yeah Yeah. 25% shooting for the game. I mean, that this was absolute defensive dominance from from start to finish. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: i mean two made I think it was it was either two or three made field goals in the second half. yeah Sharp held Peterson to 3 of 11 from the field, 14 points, and prevented the analysts, unlike in the BYU game, from gushing over Peterson.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: He just... He couldn't do anything for them to to jump all over. Sinek came out firing, drilling threes. He dominated the boards on both ends.
.0Bill Walker: And in fact, Kansas only grabbed one offensive rebound in the first half. I mean, they... that They couldn't shoot and they and they couldn't get after the ball. I mean, it was it was just a great game to watch. You know, Fleming took over in the second half.
.0Bill Walker: Mercy played 24 solid minutes. I'd predicted us to win by nine and some people thought, yeah I know you guys thought it would be a tight game. I said nine because as I said in the previous episode, we're just a better team than Kansas. Obviously, I underestimated how much better.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. here
.0Bill Walker: Arizona, yeah I had Arizona winning 76-70, so i was pretty damn close.
.0Bill Walker: But had it not been, Tom, as you mentioned, for the couple of late shot clock expiring bank shots by Kirchenkov and Burries, we could have easily won that game.
.0Bill Walker: and And I wish we had, I wish I was completely wrong on the pick.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: yeah when when When previewing this game, though, if you recall, I started out by saying, I don't care. Because I thought, if we're playing in this game, we've beaten Kansas, we've secured the two seed in the South, and the game is is completely irrelevant. And and you know from that standpoint, though it was correct. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: the The only other thing I'll say about this game was that Tugler was really, really exceptional.
@NoConfForOldMen: He was, yeah.
.0Bill Walker: 20-10. He had a great game against Arizona and it drew fouls on them.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, I agree. We get, yeah, we get a Tuggler like that in the tourney, you know, sky's the limit, man. So I mean, yeah, go ahead.
Tom Lidiak: And if – a couple of quick things before we move on, Steve and Bill. In that Kansas game, if you recall, the first time we played him at the Fog, every time Sanak would pick and pop, they they they dared him to shoot it, and he he missed them.
Tom Lidiak: They were wide open.
@NoConfForOldMen: Missed him, yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Right.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, they did it again. e self said that.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And he he he made him pay. He made him pay there.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And then going back to JoJo's play lately, Kelvin, I think on his radio show last night, said that what they've done with JoJo is that he's just not strong enough.
Tom Lidiak: against most teams, traditional fives to like, just throw it onto the block. So what they're doing, they're having him short roll, you know, and then, and then he can, you know, he can take it right.
@NoConfForOldMen: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: can take it left. He can spin and and all those other things.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, you could use this quickness.
Tom Lidiak: So,
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah, and that's you know that's that's gonna be that's going to be vital like in this in this tournament because it gives us an extra dimension offensively. Because now now if you want to double-team Kingston, if you want to blitz that pick-and-roll with Kingston or blitz it with Milo's in there, you've got the short roll now.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: I noticed that, sorry, I noticed that Calvin's also been subbing for Tuggler pretty quickly.
@NoConfForOldMen: I mean.
.0Bill Walker: He's bringing bringing in Sockle pretty quickly. and And I like the fact that he's he's putting him on the bench for a little while before he even picks up that first foul.
.0Bill Walker: It's not sending him to the bench early after he commits to. So it's, it's a yeah, it's it's playing out well.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. I mean, and just quickly from an advanced analytics perspective, I'm going to just summarize it looking at all three games. The formula is actually pretty simple. Yet what we've come to expect from a Samson led team, basically turn it up a notch on D stay true to our patient, but balanced offensive philosophy,
@NoConfForOldMen: And though we lost a close one in the end of Arizona, staying the course resulted in an, I'd say overall, more connected D in preparation for the real tournament. i mean, we saw consistently across final three games was intense, more communicative D that really just limited any good looks inside the arc.
@NoConfForOldMen: Now, of course, it helps that Tugler wasn't in foul trouble and he could stay on the court. It's just a different team when he's he's able to kind of patrol the paint. But like the entire season, we still continued to have, i guess I'll call it challenges containing three-point shooters, ending up with three-point percentage D at 40% across three games, which is pretty bad.
@NoConfForOldMen: But we did improve a bit on our other weaknesses this season, and that was on the defensive rebounding side versus both Arizona and BYU. Offensively overall, we finally began to shoot better from three-point range, ending at 41% across three games with contributions basically across the roster, including our bench rotation of Miller and McCarty. So that's great going into March Madness.
@NoConfForOldMen: And as I said before, no injuries, a great distribution of minutes, and it really bodes well heading into the tournament. So why don't we get right into the brackets?
@NoConfForOldMen: As stated, we are the top number two seed and in the South. And number one for the tourney, we've got Duke in the East, Arizona in the West, Michigan and in the Midwest, Florida in our South region,
@NoConfForOldMen: And why don't we start with the South region first, where we're paired with Florida and a tough Illinois at number three, Nebraska at number four. Then if you go five through eight, we've got a sneaky good Vandy, North Carolina, St. Mary's and Clemson.
@NoConfForOldMen: And why don't you guys take it from here and kind of give your a initial thoughts about the South region itself, how tough it is in your your opinion. How do you like our potential matchups? What are some interesting first round games and potential upsets? And then pick kind of who you've got coming out to the final four. And Bill, you can go first with this one.
.0Bill Walker: Steve, you you you mentioned several teams, but you didn't mention one that I've got winning two games. and not in this They're not in this region.
@NoConfForOldMen: Two games, Wisconsin. Are they in? Oh, no, no, no. Okay.
.0Bill Walker: There were three teams across all brackets that I didn't want to see quite some of the teams that I like, aside from of H, having to be matched up against like like Wisconsin, Vandy, who I knew were going to be four or five seeds and and get seeds in that range. So our region, Vandy goes down to McNeese State in the first game. McNeese was one of the three teams.
.0Bill Walker: McNeese is really, really good. they They won their opening game last year.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep. You're picking this year that McNeese is going to upset Vandy?
.0Bill Walker: McNeese is going to upset Vandy, and they're going to beat Nebraska in the second game.
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh, my God. Okay.
.0Bill Walker: McNeese,
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, that that that's a pretty brave couple of picks.
.0Bill Walker: but trust me. Trust me. McNeese is a really, really good team. I I i really don't have much else in the way of first-round upsets. I've got Clemson.
.0Bill Walker: Actually, I think I've got, but i've i think i've I thought I had all three. I had three of four, nine seeds winning, but but now that I'm looking at Clemson, they're in eight, so maybe it's two and two. Florida, Clemson, McNeese, Nebraska winning game one, Carolina winning Illinois.
.0Bill Walker: And as it affects us or applies to us,
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: I think St. Mary's easily takes care of A&M, even in Oklahoma City. St.
@NoConfForOldMen: I think so too. but Everyone's talking about A&M, right?
.0Bill Walker: Mary's.
@NoConfForOldMen: And it's like, it's nuts.
.0Bill Walker: Well, it's, yeah. so St. Mary's st mary's is kind of a a slightly lesser version of us. they They rebound extremely well.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: They protect the ball. They play very good defense.
@NoConfForOldMen: Disciplined, yeah.
.0Bill Walker: St. Mary's, if you leave them open, though, they're they're about a 39% three-point shooting team. so So, you you know, when it comes to us playing them, you've got – make sure you're out on their shooters.
.0Bill Walker: And, but yeah, it's going to two very similar games. St. Mary's is simply more disciplined and they're better than A&M.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: They are going to beat A&M.
@NoConfForOldMen: agree.
.0Bill Walker: Not, not surprisingly, I have us beating Idaho.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
.0Bill Walker: Idaho is idaho's a, Idaho is a, a three point shooting team. They're a, I mean, they've got a bunch of three-point shooters. They're a small team, though. So this should be a game where we go to Tuggler inside. Hopefully, Senac can get get some touches inside as well because they are not a big team. We should be able to dominate them inside.
.0Bill Walker: And just so you know, I've got – what do I – I have us beating – Idaho, 84-57. I have us beating St. Mary's, 67-54. And if and and and if by some stroke of pure luck A&M gets by St. Mary's, I have us beating A&M, 88-69. Like
.0Bill Walker: I said, I've got McNeese winning the second game. I've got him losing to Florida.
@NoConfForOldMen: Wow.
.0Bill Walker: I've got us beating Illinois. And, you
@NoConfForOldMen: Are you, are you worried about that game, Illinois, or match up with Illinois?
.0Bill Walker: yeah you know, they're they're a phenomenal offensive team, and and they're and they're big.
@NoConfForOldMen: Offensive team. Yep.
.0Bill Walker: And their big men are skilled and and can score inside. So, yeah, a little bit, but they're – they're also very beatable.
.0Bill Walker: they They don't play great defense and, uh, you know, that's a game where we'll need sharp, I think, to, uh, to hit shots.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
.0Bill Walker: and And quite honestly, they don't defend all that well. So he will get open shots. I think we outscore them and, and, uh, uh, yeah, I thought we'd be talking about that one next week.
.0Bill Walker: So I didn't particularly preview, preview it, but, uh,
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh, yeah, yeah. i just Don't need a preview. it just I just wanted your your thoughts.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, but but I've got i've got us beating Illinois, and then i hate to do it. I think Florida beats us.
@NoConfForOldMen: ye of little faith. Okay.
.0Bill Walker: and and heres and and And here's what I'm going to say.
@NoConfForOldMen: No, no, that's good. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: The past two years, I've had us winning the whole thing, and we haven't.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: So I'm going to –
@NoConfForOldMen: Reverse jinx.
.0Bill Walker: I'm going to sign myself, even though you guys are in the same boat, I'll take it on as being the jinx.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah okay
.0Bill Walker: And so, whereas nobody wants U of H to win more than I do. and And, and, and I may even really think that we're, we might, uh,
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
.0Bill Walker: I just think that you know one of the reasons we made the run at at Arizona was because their big men got into foul trouble. Florida's got a, and I think we have a little bit of difficulty versus big teams.
.0Bill Walker: Florida's as good across the front line as anybody, and if we get them into foul trouble, then then yeah, I'll change it, but
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: I've just got a bad feeling. And quite honestly, everyone's down on Florida because they they you know they got smoked by Vandy in the SEC semis.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, that's fair. Fair.
@NoConfForOldMen: Handy, yeah.
.0Bill Walker: But Florida was so hot you know coming down the stretch and and you know one one loss, but they're still really good.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay.
.0Bill Walker: So, yeah i yeah, I'm not happy to be making that prediction, but that's it.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: No, no, no. It's logic based. It's logical. And they are a one seed dude.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: So how about you, Tom? What's your take on the South region?
Tom Lidiak: I have Florida advancing over Lehigh or Prairie View to face Clemson. I think Clemson's going to be Iowa. Sorry, Hawkeye fans.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Vanderbilt, McNeese, I have Vandy winning. Nebraska and Troy, I have Troy winning.
@NoConfForOldMen: Wow. Okay.
Tom Lidiak: Uh, Carolina, Carolina VCU. I have VCU winning Illinois over over Penn. That's Fran McCaffrey's team. Now, uh, you can, uh, St.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Mary's a and M. Uh, you know, I went back and forth, but eventually I picked a and M probably going to be wrong on that one.
@NoConfForOldMen: Really?
@NoConfForOldMen: Wow.
.0Bill Walker: you're it it you're You're positioning yourself well, Tom, for a dead last finish again.
@NoConfForOldMen: I don't think that style wins in the tournament. Lucky ball.
Tom Lidiak: Hey, we, uh, that's okay. We have a chance to, if if they do, we have a chance to be, uh, Aggie again, you know,
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And then we beat Idaho. Idaho finished seventh a 10-team conference. So I think, you know, advanced there. Now going to the next round, Florida Clemson, I have Florida. Vandy, Troy, i have Vandy.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
Tom Lidiak: VCU, Illinois, Illinois, A&M, U of H, I have that.
@NoConfForOldMen: hi
Tom Lidiak: And Florida and Vandy, I have Florida winning. Illinois, u of H, U of H winning. So I have us.
@NoConfForOldMen: Elite Eight, rematch.
Tom Lidiak: Yep, yep. And Looking at that Illinois of H matchup, if we get that far, it's going to be in Houston, Toyota Center.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
Tom Lidiak: Bill, you mentioned this, you know, Illinois, they have four Euro players on their team. Five, if you include Pajas, Stojakovic's son.
@NoConfForOldMen: Hmm.
Tom Lidiak: So they have like five Euro league players. You know, historically, the knock on those kind of guys is that very highly skilled, but lacking in toughness. I'm,
Tom Lidiak: that's That gap there is is is shortening. you know But they have theyre they're skilled they're skilled.
Tom Lidiak: They have, what's his name, Wagler, Keaton Wagler.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, yeah, he's great.
Tom Lidiak: They got him... But in the final analysis, I think we're the tougher team and we advance. The Florida Vandy game rematched there from just about a week ago and Florida advances.
Tom Lidiak: So that is my synopsis on the record.
@NoConfForOldMen: Whoa, whoa.
.0Bill Walker: you're forgetting You're forgetting who goes to the final four.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah, who goes to the final four?
Tom Lidiak: It's no-brainer. We do.
Tom Lidiak: Why?
@NoConfForOldMen: Why?
Tom Lidiak: hey or We're, a you know, we we get another shot at them.
.0Bill Walker: cnks God, I hope you're right.
Tom Lidiak: Of course, you know, it's kind of like different teams and all that. But, you know, the way Tuggler's been playing offensively, the way Mercy and McCarty have been coming on, that gives us a little extra boost.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah, I just think just think we're the better team. Overall, we're the better team.
@NoConfForOldMen: All right. Love it. Love it. Yeah, I hope so too. I mean, but when you look at it from an advanced analytics perspective, we actually got the toughest region again this year, tied with the East, according to Kenpom, especially at the top of the seed list, where we have the overall numbers four, five, seven, and 12th best teams, all in our region based on Kenpom. Now, if you look at things from a Bart Torvik perspective, which is actually my my preferred analytics site,
@NoConfForOldMen: you'll find that we're the second toughest one next to the East. But honestly, I can't complain, guys. You've got to beat the top teams along the way to win the championship, and we get to play in our own backyard at the Toyota Center as a two seed. Plus, this year's team is starting to peak defensively, so...
@NoConfForOldMen: You know my perspective is bring it on, man. Just bring it on. And I have to say of the three seeds, we did get the one that I was preferring to avoid in Illinois. I mean, of all the three seeds, I was just hoping they would be placed elsewhere.
@NoConfForOldMen: as you guys both mentioned, great offensive team, though it's interesting. They don't actually shoot great, but they still score a ton from three point range. And that's our biggest weakness on defense.
@NoConfForOldMen: Potentially Vanderbilt versus Nebraska the and UH versus A&M in the second round. And as I kind of mentioned earlier, I'm seeing lots of folks posting about the potential of UH to face A&M again.
@NoConfForOldMen: However, i feel like everyone's just sleeping on St. Mary's because actually think St. Mary's is going to blast A&M. I don't even think it's going be close. I just think they're
Tom Lidiak: hoping hope you're I hope you're right.
.0Bill Walker: I agree with you.
@NoConfForOldMen: they're just a better team. but So, and then, you know, for me, I find, I do expect it to be a UH Florida in a heavyweight rematch in the elite eight, where of course I've got our coups coming through to the final four.
@NoConfForOldMen: I just think that level of hunger and and just the thought of a rematch against Florida is really going to get our staff, you know, super hyper-focused with some uh, surprises on the defensive side.
@NoConfForOldMen: And, you know, as great as Florida was last year, I mean, Clayton was bailing them out, you know, all the time. He's not there anymore folks. And i'll tell you the two guards they've got, mean, they're winning with their bigs.
@NoConfForOldMen: Their guards are not that great even after a whole season. And so I think we, uh, I think we beat them.
.0Bill Walker: Flanders been solid.
@NoConfForOldMen: Uh, Solid, but not great. I mean, they had great backcourt players last year, right? Now, why don't we go to the East region with Duke, where UConn is number two, Michigan State's three, KU is four. And then if when you go five through eight, they've got a feisty St. John's, a Louisville, UCLA, and then Ohio State.
@NoConfForOldMen: Again, just give your initial thoughts and kind of interesting games and pick your winners through there. Tom, why don't you go first with the East?
Tom Lidiak: Okay. Duke advances first round. I have TCE over Ohio State. That's an 8-9 matchup. that should That should be a decent game. St. John's over UNI.
Tom Lidiak: Kansas over Cal Baptist. even But that game and Kansas' history, who knows you know if there's going to be a monumental upset, it could be Cal Baptist.
.0Bill Walker: I watched Cal Baptist.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: That
.0Bill Walker: I watched ke i watch Cal Baptist's championship game.
@NoConfForOldMen: would be funny. Yeah. Oh, wow.
.0Bill Walker: They're not going to beat Kansas.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yep.
Tom Lidiak: Okay. I have South Florida over Louisville in a mild upset. i have michigan I have Michigan State over North Dakota State.
Tom Lidiak: A little tidbit here, I had my wife fill out a bracket, and she put North Dakota over Michigan State. Not North Dakota State, but just North Dakota. I've always said,
Tom Lidiak: I've always said, if you don't put state at the end of your bracket, back when you used to write them in, I said, I'm going to just throw your bracket out, okay?
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah ha It's going to good game.
Tom Lidiak: It's not norton they're the Bison. Okay, UCLA advances over UCF and UConn over Furman. Duke TCU, i should that's going to be a close game, I think.
@NoConfForOldMen: I know.
Tom Lidiak: i think But I think Duke advances.
@NoConfForOldMen: It's a tough second round.
Tom Lidiak: St. John's versus KU. KU is kind of bipolar. If they're not playing at the fog, I still have KU advancing.
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh, you do you have them beating St.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: John's Wow. Okay.
Tom Lidiak: South Florida, Michigan State, Michigan State advances. UCLA, UConn, I have UConn advancing. And then you have a Duke-KU matchup, and I think just Duke blows their drawers off in that game.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: MSU and UConn, I have Michigan State advancing. And then I have the Dukies.
@NoConfForOldMen: The two keys making it. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: The Dukies, I hate to say it, but –
Tom Lidiak: Duke.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay, how about you, Bill, on the East?
.0Bill Walker: Tom, this worries me because i'm I'm pretty well aligned with you for the at the beginning.
Tom Lidiak: That means you're going to tank your bracket.
.0Bill Walker: Duke,
Tom Lidiak: Ha!
.0Bill Walker: that's exactly why I just said I'm worried.
Tom Lidiak: Ha!
.0Bill Walker: That's exactly why I'm worried. Duke, I just didn't know about this this next game. I took TCU, but...
.0Bill Walker: I think that's going to be that's an absolute coin flip. St. John's, Kansas. I've also got South Florida over in Louisville. Michigan State, UCLA, and UConn.
.0Bill Walker: Here's where we're we'll start to diverge a bit, fortunately for me. Duke, Duke winning. St. John's over Kansas.
.0Bill Walker: Michigan State and UConn. because of the fact that the Duke's not healthy right now, I think St. John's, I have St. John's upsetting Duke.
@NoConfForOldMen: Nice.
.0Bill Walker: I have UConn over Michigan State, and I have St.
@NoConfForOldMen: I like it.
.0Bill Walker: John's again beating UConn to go to the Final Four.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay. Wow. So you do have a big, so you do have a big upset.
.0Bill Walker: Well, it's it's a five seed.
@NoConfForOldMen: so
.0Bill Walker: It's a five seed.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: I mean, it's,
@NoConfForOldMen: That's pretty, that's pretty damn good. Five seed to the final four. That's pretty, that's pretty ballsy.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: I like it. I like it. And yep.
.0Bill Walker: I'll tell you what. I've picked two in my life. I've picked two Final Fours exactly right. One was the year that Villanova beat Georgetown, and I had the three Big East teams, Villanova, Georgetown, St. John's, and then Memphis State at the time. Villanova was an eight seed that year it had to play the opening play-in game in Dayton against Dayton.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: And then about – it was about 10 years ago, I had – Kentucky, Duke, Wisconsin, all three were one seeds.
.0Bill Walker: And my fourth was Michigan state who was a five seed and they made it.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: neither year did I end up winning anything or doing much of anything, but, uh, cause I had so many other miserable picks, but, uh,
@NoConfForOldMen: No, I like the pick. I mean, i was I'm of the same opinion as you. I'm high on St. John's. I'm just not as gutsy at picking him. I almost did. And, you know, when I look at it in the East, you know from an analytics for perspective, but also eye test you I think Duke got the toughest region in the East. And Ken Palm has this region tied with the South for toughest, where Bart Torvik has East alone is is the toughest by far, actually.
@NoConfForOldMen: Really just some tricky games where I don't think the matchups are that favorable for Duke as the overall number one seed. So it's really a tough go for them. We talked a little bit about you know the potential to face number nine TCU in the second round. I think that's a tough one. i They've played everyone tough. They played us tough you know this year.
@NoConfForOldMen: And that would be a second round match. Then you potentially get a hot St. John's with Pitino in the Sweet 16 with a week to prepare. yeah that's That's a big wow for me. So when you look at the region as a whole,
@NoConfForOldMen: interesting first round games, OSU and TCU. I do have TCU upsetting OSU, even though that's a toss up. Did you guys see Wally had OSU advancing? I want to say to like the, don't want to say elite eight or final four.
@NoConfForOldMen: It's like, man, this guy is just for a guy that is such a good player. He just does not know college ball.
.0Bill Walker: He's from Ohio.
@NoConfForOldMen: It's like, Oh my God. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: He's from Ohio.
Tom Lidiak: He's he's never Wally's never crazy about us because he's an offensive guy.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: So no surprise.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. I don't.
Tom Lidiak: He loves offense.
@NoConfForOldMen: He is.
Tom Lidiak: He's a guy that scored a bunch of points in college and didn't play lick of defense. So.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: He's just a clown.
@NoConfForOldMen: He is. He really is. Anyways, Louisville, USF, I think that'll be a good good game. UCLA, UCF. I picked UCF, but I have to admit that was more for conference support than my true belief because I think UCLA is a better team.
@NoConfForOldMen: It could surprise a few few folks. Now, potentially Duke TCU, St. John's KU in the second round where I as well have St. John's beating KU. And I actually don't think it will be close. I think St. John's is going to put a beating on KU. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: I agree.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah And Louisville and Michigan State in round two. I think that'll be fun. So great matchups in this region. I almost predicted the Johnnies to upset Duke almost as well, but I chickened out basically.
@NoConfForOldMen: But in the end, I do expect it to be Duke versus UConn in a physical bout in the Elite Eight, where I actually have UConn upsetting Duke to go through to the final four. Now, why don't we jump to the Midwest region with Michigan first?
@NoConfForOldMen: as the number one seed where we've got ISU is number two, UVA number three, Alabama number four, and then five through it, we've got Texas Tech, Tennessee, Kentucky, and UGA. Again, initial thoughts on the region, what you think, and then your final four pick in in the region. Bill, why don't you kick things off here?
.0Bill Walker: I've got a fair amount of chalk here, especially as we get toward the end. Michigan, Michigan to win their opening game. Georgia, this was a complete toss-up for me. Georgia, St. Louis.
.0Bill Walker: But St.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
.0Bill Walker: Louis has lost. that They lost like like four of five or four of six down the stretch.
@NoConfForOldMen: oh did they yeah
Tom Lidiak: they're going They're going down.
.0Bill Walker: ta no i think
@NoConfForOldMen: You're kidding. Wow. that That's also a gutsy pick.
.0Bill Walker: i think Akron, one, Akron's a really good team, and two,
.0Bill Walker: Toppins out, and whether he plays or not, Anderson has the groin injury. So I just don't think Tech's at full strength.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: So I've got Akron winning that game. Alabama, go ahead.
@NoConfForOldMen: hey Hey, Bill, before you go back, I think i I saw it was on Twitter. So it could be all full of shit, right? So i don't know if was accurate or not. But there was a statement that was made that because people are picking Akron over tech, exactly as you mentioned.
@NoConfForOldMen: then what they had stated was, well, if you look at their record this year,
.0Bill Walker: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: they have not won a single game of a Ken Palm top 125 team all season. So take it for what it's worth.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, well, that's okay.
@NoConfForOldMen: I don't know. Okay. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: Alabama winning, Tennessee winning, Virginia winning. here was here i said there were three teams that I didn't want the that that i didn't want teams I liked to face early.
.0Bill Walker: One was Akron, the other obviously McNeese, and here's the third, Santa Clara.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: i like I really like Santa Clara, and I have them.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Me too. So do I.
.0Bill Walker: I think they're going to beat Kentucky. And then I have Iowa State, and then it becomes a bit more. Oh, and I'm sorry. I think I missed. Right now I have Tennessee. – if if Well, there, I, I, it's funny because, uh, Akron actually lost to Miami of Ohio. I think there's zero chance. I think the absolute guaranteed win other than a, a one or a two versus or a three versus a, you know, 16, 15, 14 is SMU taking apart Miami of Ohio.
.0Bill Walker: I think SMU wins that game easily.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: If it's SMU, Tennessee, I'm not sure. I want to wait until that game is played. but if it but But for the sake of this, I have Tennessee winning.
.0Bill Walker: After that, I've got Michigan. I've got Alabama over Akron. If Tennessee wins, I think their defense gives them the win over Virginia.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay.
.0Bill Walker: And Iowa State. And then, like i said, I've got a little more chalk here. Iowa State, Michigan. And I know a ton of people think it's going to be Iowa State, but I think Michigan wins that game.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay. Cool. how How about you, Tom, from a coach's view for the Midwest?
Tom Lidiak: Okay, I got Michigan advancing first round over Howard or UMBC. Like Bill, I have Georgia over St. Louis. I kind of watched St. Louis a little bit before the end of the season, and they were they were they were getting worse.
@NoConfForOldMen: Uh,
Tom Lidiak: The Tech-Akron game, i was tempt just like Bill, I was tempted to pick Akron, but I – I ended up picking Tech. Now, the Alabama-Hoster game is very interesting because of Aiden Holloway's arrest.
Tom Lidiak: Dude had 2.1 pounds of marijuana on him. In Alabama, it's illegal. Plus, they get you with the drug stamp law. Here in Iowa, we have that. So...
Tom Lidiak: if if you don't If you don't have a drug stamp on your illegal drugs, you get arrested for that and charged with that too. Now I looked it up.
@NoConfForOldMen: Interesting.
Tom Lidiak: I asked AI, how many joints could you make out of 2.1 pounds? And it was, it was close to 2000.
@NoConfForOldMen: What is it?
Tom Lidiak: It was close to 2000.
@NoConfForOldMen: Ha ha ha ha
Tom Lidiak: Holy cow. What's he doing? What's he doing with that? Uh, somebody said it was probably an Auburn fan that, that turned to me anyway.
.0Bill Walker: No, he he he's doing it because he was selling it to the Hofstra team.
Tom Lidiak: But it'd be tempting, it you know, I think by the time what they play Thursday, Friday rolls around, he's going to be clear because it goes, it goes to their, the student, you know, the university students board of conduct or whatever.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And, you know, there's no trial yet. So, you know, technically you're innocent until proven guilty. So you yeah.
.0Bill Walker: They're gathering facts.
Tom Lidiak: Yep. I mean, Hey, A guy that gave a gun to a guy that murdered a person in the plane. So marijuana marijuana is just that's that's like spitting on the sidewalk, you know?
@NoConfForOldMen: That's nothing. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Anyway, so Bama advances. I got Tennessee coming through. I think SMU is going to beat the crap out of Miami of Ohio.
.0Bill Walker: Agreed.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah, you got UVA over Wright State. you got I'm like Bill, I got Santa Clara over Kentucky. I'm not i'm not high i'm not high on Kentucky.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yes. So do I. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: And then ISU. So next round, Michigan advances over Georgia, Tech over Bama, UVA over Tennessee. And speaking about UVA, they're they're a totally different style of play with Ryan Odom over Bennett.
@NoConfForOldMen: Tony. Yeah. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: What's his first – I can't remember his first name. Dick is the dad.
.0Bill Walker: Tony, Tony.
@NoConfForOldMen: tony yeah
Tom Lidiak: Tony. I mean, they're you know they're they're athletic, they and they're very, very good offensively.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
Tom Lidiak: Santa Clara, ISU got ISU winning. Michigan over Tech, I got ISU over UVA, and I got Iowa State. a
.0Bill Walker: lot a lot of people agree with you.
@NoConfForOldMen: Iowa State over Michigan.
Tom Lidiak: But here's – but here's But here's the deal.
Tom Lidiak: You know, Iowa State's one of those teams where, you know, fool me once, you know, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me type of thing because they haven't advanced as far as people think they should. you know, they've had some really great regular seasons and then they just peter out, you know, in the in the tournament.
Tom Lidiak: So let's see, Chicago.
@NoConfForOldMen: Where's the Midwest being played again?
Tom Lidiak: Chicago.
@NoConfForOldMen: chi Chicago, I mean, they should have great representation there, though, right?
Tom Lidiak: Oh, yeah. they they'll travel Iowa State will travel anywhere.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: Well, so will Michigan.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah, there yeah you could play in Siberia and Iowa State would have people there, you know.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: michigan michigan Michigan's going to have You remember Chris Webber, Juwan Howard,
@NoConfForOldMen: But what will Michigan travel? and They don't you don't care about basketball.
Tom Lidiak: Where?
@NoConfForOldMen: Michigan.
Tom Lidiak: Who?
@NoConfForOldMen: Michigan doesn't care about basketball.
Tom Lidiak: Michigan?
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: I like Texas.
@NoConfForOldMen: No, no, no. But, but I don't, I don't think, I mean, I don't know if they travel that well for the, the NCAAs. So we'll see.
.0Bill Walker: They'll travel to Chicago.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: Absolutely.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay. I mean, for me from the Midwest, second easiest region, according to Ken Baum and Bart Torvik, I actually can't believe UVA and Bama got three and four seeds. I think they're, uh, overseeded.
@NoConfForOldMen: Interesting games early on for me in the South UGA and St. Louis as well. I am still sticking with St. Louis. I think I've just got a soft spot for kind of the mid majors. I've also got Santa Clara beating Kentucky. That would just be golden.
@NoConfForOldMen: And I just can't wait to see the meltdown of the Kentucky fans. If that actually happens.
.0Bill Walker: If you've got a soft spot for the mid-majors, why aren't you on on my bandwagon and taking McNeese over Vandy and Nebraska?
@NoConfForOldMen: i don't I don't think they're as good as you you think they are. they did They didn't win their regular season, right? They won the tourney, but they didn't win their regular season.
Tom Lidiak: Stephen F. Austin.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Stephen F.
.0Bill Walker: McNeese?
Tom Lidiak: won.
.0Bill Walker: McNeese?
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Yeah, Stephen F. won it.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. So you may think they're really good, but you know Wade's no longer there. So I don't think they're as good. But yeah, we'll see.
Tom Lidiak: They're probably better defensively, though, with weight without Will Wade.
.0Bill Walker: right
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Because they' their ball screen defense, I can't remember they played last year, was awful.
.0Bill Walker: I think McNeese did win the regular season.
@NoConfForOldMen: uh i don't i don't think so yeah it was steven f austin that one uh so it was kind of deemed an upset i mean they they have the biggest they were highlighting they have the biggest nil by far in that conference they didn't win their regular season but they pulled off the win in their tourney
Tom Lidiak: I think it was Stephen F.
@NoConfForOldMen: Anyways, I mean, for round two, I think Tennessee UVA is an interesting one. I've got UVA winning that one. I'm also predicting all chalk here with the Michigan ISU game in the Elite Eight.
@NoConfForOldMen: I almost picked Iowa State, but ended up having Michigan advancing to the Final Four. And now why don't we go to the West region final one with Arizona, where a week Purdue is somehow a number two, which surprised me. The Zags are number three, sneaky good Arkansas at four, and then five through eight, we've got Wisconsin, BYU, Miami and Villanova.
@NoConfForOldMen: And Tom, why don't you go first around your thoughts on the the West region?
Tom Lidiak: Okay, real quick, Arizona advances to play Utah State. Here's one for you, Bill. I got a high point over Wisconsin State.
@NoConfForOldMen: Really? hu
.0Bill Walker: Good.
@NoConfForOldMen: that that's That's a daring one.
.0Bill Walker: but look
@NoConfForOldMen: I haven't watched High Point at all.
.0Bill Walker: with with
@NoConfForOldMen: High
.0Bill Walker: therere They can shoot. they're they're they're a
@NoConfForOldMen: Point, yeah.
.0Bill Walker: They're a very good scoring team. But, Tom, based on your track record, that that that that thrills me to to hear that you're picking high points.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Trivia real quick. Trivia. What, what well-known retired basketball coach played at high point and he played against Kelvin Sampson in college.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
@NoConfForOldMen: I don't know. Barnes?
Tom Lidiak: Tubby Smith.
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh, Toby Smith? Oh, wow.
Tom Lidiak: I'll be Smith played at high point. Yep.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay.
Tom Lidiak: Uh, Kelvin played at, uh, North Carolina, Pembroke and Rick Barnes played. I can't remember which one, but they all, they all play against each other in college.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: Uh, Arky over Hawaii. Hawaii is interesting because they're a no help defense. They don't give help on drives.
Tom Lidiak: And Arkansas has one of the best ISO teams in the country.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, they do.
Tom Lidiak: So we'll see how that, we'll see how that works out. Arkansas might score 200, I've got my good friend, Kevin Young, the wonder kind over whoever comes out of NC State in Texas.
Tom Lidiak: That's kind of like the U of H portal bowl between Terrence and, and Tramone in that game.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: I got Gonzaga over Kennesaw, Miami advances over Missouri. I got Purdue over Queens. Now, Arizona over a really good Utah State team. They just don't have enough firepower. High point, Arky, Arky advances, BYU, Zags, Zags advance, miami over Miami and Purdue, Purdue wins. And then i have Arizona over Arky.
Tom Lidiak: The Zags and Purdue, I have, and I hate to say this, but I have Purdue. Purdue.
.0Bill Walker: No, you've got every single top seed in every game.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: All right.
Tom Lidiak: And then I have Arizona over Purdue.
@NoConfForOldMen: Purdue.
Tom Lidiak: m
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay. Okay. How about you, Bill? with With the West. Wow.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah. Arizona wins their opening game. Utah state beats Villanova. I really like Utah state. I'm going to, according to Tom, I'm going to pick the upset and have Wisconsin beating high points.
.0Bill Walker: Uh, Yeah. Arkansas winning, BYU coming out. I think we'll see.
.0Bill Walker: i don't know if they're – they play tonight, don't they? Did NC State play Texas tonight? Is that the the two eleven s that play tonight?
Tom Lidiak: Yeah, 8.30.
.0Bill Walker: Yeah. I just can't believe with their record that Texas even made a play-in game. But –
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah I know. i was shocked too.
.0Bill Walker: so Anyway, I've got BYU coming out of that. Gonzaga. I've got Purdue. And then just like I'm probably irritating the hell out of all the of H fans by picking Florida, I'm probably not going to send the podcast to any of my NBA classmates from Miami because I have Missouri beating them.
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh,
.0Bill Walker: I think Missouri, I can't think of his name, but they just got there their, their, the player back, uh, guard, he, I mean, really good player. And I, so I flip flopped on this one, but, uh, but yeah, uh, Arizona over Utah state, Arkansas over Wisconsin, uh, Gonzaga over BYU.
.0Bill Walker: And because their defense has been horrific this year, Missouri over Purdue.
@NoConfForOldMen: nice okay okay
.0Bill Walker: Arizona over Arkansas, Gonzaga over Missouri, and Arizona to the Final Four.
.0Bill Walker: yeah And by the way, Arizona for the most part has a cakewalk. That's a really easy region, I think.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah yeah yeah i would I would agree. I mean,
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: And McNeese really isn't that far off from from a lot of others. But
.0Bill Walker: what was I going to say? oh
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah
.0Bill Walker: Yeah, I've got to imagine that everyone that was getting off topic, bring up Bartorvik, but I've got to imagine that everyone who analyzed the regions had to have this one as the weakest
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, it it was. I mean, and it's great for Arizona. I mean, great for our conference. I mean, if you look at the kind of the average rankings in both Bart Torvik and Ken Palm, it was the easiest. but with Bart Torvik by far, I mean, the average for the, the Bart Torvik rankings for that region was 21 versus in the East and the South, it was like a little bit over 15.
@NoConfForOldMen: I mean, that's a huge gap, right.
.0Bill Walker: yeah
@NoConfForOldMen: And so mean, good for Arizona. I mean, they've got some interesting games, even though it's a weak region. I do like some of the matchups. i mean, potentially,
@NoConfForOldMen: you know, Villanova, uh, versus, Utah state is interesting. BYU potentially versus Texas.
@NoConfForOldMen: I think that'll be interesting. Missouri, Miami. So some interesting, isn't Texas BYU.
.0Bill Walker: Texas?
.0Bill Walker: Texas has to play NC State tonight.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, I don't, I don't think NC state wins. I don't think either one's a good team, but but you guys have NC state winning.
.0Bill Walker: Well, I didn't really pick it.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
Tom Lidiak: I've,
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: I just i just think that BYU beats whoever it is. but But if I were picking, I would pick NC State.
@NoConfForOldMen: taste Yeah. I'd like to see a matchup versus UT because I always like to see UT lose to a big 12 team. So there's some wishful thinking on my part. I actually have Villanova you know advancing, so I think Arizona-Villanova will be fun. Wisconsin-Arkansas in round two I think it will be fun. BYU-Zags as well.
@NoConfForOldMen: Because the region is so weak, I am actually predicting an all-Big 12 Elite Eight game with Arizona and BYU. I think BYU has kind of found its legs without Saunders. And then I i see Arizona just breezing to the final four.
@NoConfForOldMen: And so why don't we now jump to your final four and championship participants? Who have you guys got and what's your predictions in the championship game? And Bill, you can you can go first.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah so you've got sorry so you've got Michigan Florida in the finals
.0Bill Walker: Michigan, Florida in Indianapolis and my winner, Florida.
@NoConfForOldMen: oh my God back-to-back championships like they did last time is what you've got okay wow yeah interesting I know I I can't stand golden it's if that happens
.0Bill Walker: Yep. Yes.
Tom Lidiak: I can't stand to see that gap tooth, goofy yeah mother, you know, what, winning another one.
.0Bill Walker: steve i i i Steve, I thought you would be madly in love with Golden because there's probably not a coach that relies as heavily on analytics as he does.
@NoConfForOldMen: a ha
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, yeah he he is very analytics heavy, but I just, you know, the scandal from last year where it got kind of brushed under the rug. And, you know, he was here at USF, right?
Tom Lidiak: I heard
@NoConfForOldMen: You guys know that. And he was a bit of the same personality when he was there.
Tom Lidiak: yeah
@NoConfForOldMen: He was like super arrogant.
Tom Lidiak: heard he uses analytics to select the girlfriends he wants to stalk.
@NoConfForOldMen: Probably. Okay, Tom, how about yours?
@NoConfForOldMen: okay to
.0Bill Walker: Well, steve Steve, don't you do the same?
@NoConfForOldMen: am yeah I'm married. I'm happily married. i know.
.0Bill Walker: Well, yeah, yeah but but
Tom Lidiak: Golden is too.
.0Bill Walker: but my point is, did did analytics play a role in that?
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah if it was available back then, I probably would have, but now it was too to early.
Tom Lidiak: Thank you.
@NoConfForOldMen: Early days. I'm an old man.
.0Bill Walker: You know,
@NoConfForOldMen: Remember, just like you guys. Old man, it was all computers back then.
.0Bill Walker: ad analytics, you know, you got you got two kids, a boy and a girl. I mean, it it sounds like analytics has pretty much dictated your entire life, everything you've done.
@NoConfForOldMen: That's right.
@NoConfForOldMen: but Pretty much. Pretty much. Okay, Tom, what's what's your final four picks?
Tom Lidiak: Duke versus U of H, U of H advances, Arizona and ISU Arizona advances.
@NoConfForOldMen: Nice.
Tom Lidiak: So we have a U of H, Arizona, all big 12 championship.
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh.
@NoConfForOldMen: Rematch.
Tom Lidiak: And sorry to say Arizona sweeps us and they win it all.
@NoConfForOldMen: Love it.
@NoConfForOldMen: What? Are you serious? You actually picked Arizona?
Tom Lidiak: Mm-hmm.
@NoConfForOldMen: Holy cow.
.0Bill Walker: Well, okay, this is good.
@NoConfForOldMen: This is good.
.0Bill Walker: This is good. I usually do terribly in pools. And and i like I said, I've picked U of H twice and they haven't won the championship.
.0Bill Walker: Tom gets everything wrong. So he's so he's a
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: yeah he's picking U of H to lose. So so that that bodes well for us.
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh, my gosh.
.0Bill Walker: So we're looking looking good.
@NoConfForOldMen: Okay.
.0Bill Walker: Looking very good.
@NoConfForOldMen: So... So I've got us versus UConn in Michigan versus Arizona in the final four. I've got us with a nice win over Florida because coach Sampson.
@NoConfForOldMen: Oh, I'm sorry. No, I've got UConn.
.0Bill Walker: So do I, yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Sorry, UConn. I think we own UConn, man, from the American days. And so we'll beat his ass one more time for old time's sake.
@NoConfForOldMen: Then I've got I've actually got Michigan over Arizona in the tightly contested game.
.0Bill Walker: so do i
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, so I was tempted to go all Big 12 like you, Tom.
.0Bill Walker: you know
@NoConfForOldMen: But honestly, part of me, I don't like our chances against Arizona. So I'd rather play Michigan. And so I've got us over Michigan. And I'm not underestimating Michigan here. They are an elite team, great size, and I do love their coach. But I just think with Coach Sampson and kind of his last few years, that sense of urgency for him and our team is the difference in winning this one.
@NoConfForOldMen: and I'll be fully honest, just like, I think just like you guys I'm picking UH, right? Part of it is a bit of a biased view. This is the least confident I've been at picking us to win it in I'd say the last three or four years, right? That we've been, we've been doing this, but, uh, here's hoping this one's, uh, this one's gonna work out.
.0Bill Walker: Hey, one last thing.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
.0Bill Walker: i don't think you mentioned it right away, Steve, but whoever wins the the brackets, assuming they beat us, whoever wins gets to, will be a guest on an upcoming podcast.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. And
.0Bill Walker: we We were supposed to have last year's winner, Bryce.
@NoConfForOldMen: yeah last year we had two. Yeah, we had.
.0Bill Walker: I know Bryce.
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah. and then we had two, two winners. I had, uh, we failed to, to get them on. i'd actually invited them to join us on this one.
.0Bill Walker: yeah yeah both failed on us
@NoConfForOldMen: Uh, both, both paths. Well, one pass Bryce is traveling and then, uh, The other gentlemen didn't respond. And so we'll make sure that we'll make it happen this time.
@NoConfForOldMen: And yeah, and I'm sure there'll be people beating us, all three of us in in the brackets. And so looking forward to it.
Tom Lidiak: And if you're not beating us, yeah, yeah i don't know what to say
@NoConfForOldMen: Yeah, exactly. Okay, guys. So that's it for our 77th episode of the No Converse for Old Man podcast. Hope you all enjoyed it. And again, we'd really appreciate it. Folks would follow, subscribe, or collect our podcast on whatever platform of choice is. We're also available via Dave Campbell's college podcast network as our only basketball centered podcast or at the goku.com YouTube page for those that want to see our ugly mugs. We appreciate the continued support from all. Also, please give us a follow on our Twitter account. No conference for all men. Thank you all again for listening and please be on the lookout next week to download and listen as our sweet 16 episode drops.
@NoConfForOldMen: Take care of everyone.
.0Bill Walker: Go Cougs. I hope I brawn.
@NoConfForOldMen: Go Cougs. Yeah. March Madness, baby.
