Brackets Are Here, Jon Rothstein, PMT Death Match + Justin Fields Traded To The Steelers

We're going to talk about that. We have John Rothstein on the show, as is tradition, he is going to break down all the regions. Tell us some fun nuggets. We also have to talk to him about potentially losing friends and a wife and kids over March madness. We sleep in May.

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My bracket's busted, we have our brackets and someone in that committee is a real sick pervert. I actually think it's probably someone that Hank knows because he's been smiling ear to ear since the brackets have been announced. The part of my take region. It wasn't just that they had to put me versus PFT, Wisconsin versus James Madison in the first round, they also put Vermont and Duke in the same quadrant.

Yeah, hank, they just loaded it up.

I just beat you. I'm the best in the office again. I despite the fact that this is perverted and it's sick and it's disgusting. And there's somebody that's listening to part of my take right now in some college. Ivory Tower.

Oh, they're all loving it, some athletic director, and he's silently jacking his dick off, just listening to us in pain, slow strokes. I want that person to know that they're a pervert, but that's actually not the sickest thing they did.

The sickest thing they did was put UVA in. Yeah, that's disgusting UVA. You should be ashamed of yourself.

They probably weren't going to get in. Temple Beat Fau, and then it became a temple. UAB. One of those teams was not going to get in, and the bubble just got smaller and smaller and smaller.

And the loser? The big loser was the Big East, who ended up getting three teams in, which is crazy because of the second ranked UH conference. Some people are saying our friend Frank Fleming is saying that because the BIG is, uh, broadcasted on Fox, and The Mountain West has broadcasted on CBS. What is the tournament broadcast on? Uh, that would be on CBS. Interesting.

Also, we have another theory, Max, could you please share it?

Yeah, you got, Patrick.

Uh, didn't get in. It's bullshit.

Like they, they did this and they did it so that they could have some, some data to show. People. When they complained about bubble teams, right? And they invented a whole new formula, and then they just threw it out the window. When it came time to decide on which teams run, it's it's ridiculous, but it's also very funny that they just created as a distraction, like, Hey, maybe this will shut me, make people shut the fuck up for a while.

Right, and then we'll just put in the teams. So it's a if. Oppenheimer had spent those like four years inventing the atomic bomb. And then Harry Truman just surrenders right afterwards before they drop it like, it's, it's so dumb what they did I do.

They have an explanation. Well, so the here was one, so Matt.

So there's two competing things. Mountain West teams are like, our, our, our, our. Uh, league got seated low, and Big East fans are like, but you got six in and we got three in, it's bullshit. They I think it's Quad one wins is what they're looking at, but that also doesn't make sense because Michigan State had three Quad One wins.

I think Providence had six, so it really was no rhyme or reason. And then you have Duquesne who got an 11 seed, who I'm pretty sure they were, just the committee got lazy. And they're like, whoever wins this game is going to get an 11 seat. There's no reason James Madison shouldn't have gotten an 11 seat like James Madison, better than Duquesne.

They got James Madison got a 12, Duquesne got an 11. It's just crazy. Duquesne got the same seed. Is like, hold on, I got to find it.

It they really. This might be the first year where, like the the arguments about how the bracket, bracketologist, the the committee did, it is all valid. Like it feels like they just kind of winged this thing, yeah, both in seating and who they left out.

Obviously the bubble getting so tight. I, you know, Virginia, that should have just been an easy like. Do we want to watch more?

Okay, yeah, they're competitive games, they haven't.

It's the best. I just went with my balls, I did a ball's first pick and I think I'm going to keep this bracket, I think I'm going to trust.

If there was ever a time you versus Jake, Duke versus Vermont, they are the cat amounts. If you lose to Vermont, you should get a cat.

Have I filled?

I'll pitch you, it's hell for me because.

They fought hard, almost, you know, they beat the refs on Saturday. They played toe to toe with Illinois. Illinois is really good.

They have two guys that just you can't stop. Um, so I was like, feeling excited. I was like, this is a team that I talked about it in January. They have the makings, every, every piece that's needed for a run.

JMU is a problem. They're really fucking good basketball, they score the basketball, they shoot the three, Wisconsin doesn't defend the three.

I'm just hoping that height and scoring down low can work. Uh, but it's a lose lose for me. Because if Wisconsin beats JMU, they're the favorites, they're the five seed. And if we lose, it's like, Ha ha, this one's going to probably hurt.

It won't hurt as bad as 2015, cause nothing will, but it will hurt very, very bad.

It'd be number four on on Wisconsin basketball losses, I think that's.

So it's about 15 minutes away from where the wedding's going to be. It's like the universe lining up for me. I'm going to go there straight from the wedding. It's a black tie wedding, too, it's a Haitian black tie wedding.

And I'm going to go 12 minutes down the road, go to Barclays. That might actually work against us, because if you look at the history of Barstool and the teams that we root for. Breaking hearts. If there's somebody there in person, that person usually loses, right? Maybe not from your perspective as a Patriots fan, but for most, everybody else is like, this does feel like it's going to be. We are underdogs and and we are playing with house money. But it does feel like it will be more heartbreaking for me if I were to be there in person to watch it lose.

I'm going to be streaming me just at People Love to Watch Me Die on streams. The numbers spiking as the game gets worse and worse. And then the like, you know, every 10 minutes, a clip coming out of Happy Pft. Not on mushrooms, but looking like you might be on mushrooms. I haven't said I'm not going to take much.

Okay, so he might be on mushrooms. Happy PFT while everyone just watches me die. Now, the last thing I'll say. In defensive Wisconsin, this will 100 be the trendiest 12 five upset.

Yeah, everyone's going to pick JMU. I was looking at the matchup cause I was like, I'm nervous.

I was looking at Ken Palm, Bart Torvik, trying to find it, texting all my friends who make power ratings. It's going to be a very difficult game, uh, for Wisconsin to win, because I think James Madison is very good. And they were criminally underseeded.

But just gotta, just gotta be taller, just gotta be taller, and AJ store has just got to be awesome. It just happened. You mean, AJ score?

AJ score so and and and Max Klesman has to.

We're playing good ball right now, Jamie's had a lot of time to recover. What?

Cause PFT won't be there. And then you're going to convince yourself that you're going to get revenge for 2015 and then lose to Duke. Which will be the best content case? So, um, I wrote, Wisconsin, Okay, it's really Jamie against the world.

Again, they they did this, someone did this on purpose, someone did this on purpose. I said it on Monday. I was like, I'm not trying to be a narcissist. But remember when we had standalone games, Bears versus Commanders, Bears versus Patriots? Like, someone in in the universe is like, how can we squeeze it out of them and try to break them up via sport?

Thank you.

Yeah, and then on Friday we'll unveil memes pick, and then next Monday much anticipated memes pick, Yeah, next Monday.

I don't even know, I just need to see a ball be bouncing at all times. Yeah, hearing the squeaks, yeah.

And there was just so many crazy games. I mean, the fact that N.C. state that was one of the craziest runs, five games, five days. And to beat Virginia when the Virginia should have fouled on a on a, uh, bank in three pointer and then kind of low-key throttle. N.C. Like they were up that entire game, it was crazy and then we had, like, every tournament had its own weird thing happened.

Kentucky losing in the first round, Tennessee losing in the first.

I mean.

I was going to say that N.C. State to me feels like America's team, or America's Sweetheart, America's sweetheart. Cause DJ Burns can't root against that guy just throwing his ass to people. He looks like escalate, he's he's the new model of an escalate, and he's just mowing people down with his ass.

And then the fact that he's such a silky, smooth passer to watching a big dude that can pass like that is so fun. Uh, N.C. State feels like the team that that most of America's fall in love with. Um, but besides them, who do you, who would you put as like the sentimental favorites? uh, sentimental favorites? Good?

I have Kentucky UNC and Yukon Futures. Kentucky wins their first game and Texas Tech wins their first game. I was just thinking about how I'm just going to watch that game and Patrick Holmes is going to be sitting behind the bench. And just another future gone by.

Patrick He's going to somehow come in and drop 30 as like, God damn it, this guy. Uh, all right. Team of D, or America's Team, America's Sweetheart, America's sweetheart. That's a great. I mean, you usually don't find out until you get that upset, but hmm.

Based off Will Wade McNeice, we also need big sexy Merch for sure. Oh yeah, yeah, I mean.

Yeah, we can, we can workshop something, but I've already we. We need to. We need to make a deal there, yeah.

Yeah, cause their coach, uh, he and and the university mutually agreed to part ways after the season. Yeah, essentially he was fired. But they're like, Hey, you can stick around and you can coach for the tournament.

Then they just won their conference tournament, so he's still their coach, and Dan Munson's a legend coach.

Where is it? Yeah, um, yeah, him. They fired him and he's like, Yeah, I'll keep coaching him for this conference tournament. you're fired. He's like, Okay, can I still coach the team?

Yeah, and they came back, they were down. I was watching that game. They were down like 10 in the second half and came back and won that game. He said afterwards. That.

My life's pretty sweet, so like a guy who's fired being that happy about his life, which I guess is still. To coach basketball, um, it's hard not to root for that guy, by the way. If they, if they win, if they beat Arizona the first round. Is he coaching for his job?

So he got an automatic two-year extension on Saturday night just by winning that game, that's cool. And he was, he was on the hot seat, like they were going to fire him and he just it kicks in and he just got all these bonuses. All right, I'll give you one other team that I think could be the like, Capture America's Heart, Alabama. Uh, Samford, Samford's playing Kansas 13 four.

Kansas has been trending downwards. They've had a lot of injuries. They got bounced quickly in the first round against Cincy in the Big 12 tournament. Samford plays so fast they chuck.

And like, that's the type of team that everyone falls in love with. Just a bunch of like undersized guys who hit threes and played a crazy pace, so Samford could be that team. And Kansas is like, you always got to look, what's the story? Even though Kansas is down? It's like 10 years from now.

If Samford beat Kansas, everyone be like, Wow, remember when Samford beat Kansas, Kansas? They lost to a school.

I love that, I really wish the.

So you guys want to do a quick final four that we can then adjust at a later date? Yes, all right, do you have yours, Hank? okay?

I have Yukon, Arizona, Houston.

It's going to be Yukon, North Carolina, Marquette and Creighton, and everyone's going to be like, why did you leave out half? You know, the entire Big East? Three out of four of the final four teams, our Big East team counterpoint, do you?

Fox Something to think about, shit that's not going to happen, it would be.

No, it's just having a board or having a committee is very useful. So you can be like, No, it's this nebulous entities problem that you got fucked over. There's. There's no one person that, like a St. John's fan, can call up on the phone and be like, Fuck you, yeah.

That's all that's all we want as fans. Like, give me somebody to tell them to fuck off. Yeah, give us a hotline.

Establish an open hotline to add. We should do that for voicemails. Maybe maybe for a Wednesday show. Oh yeah, what are we? what are we? what was?

And then we.

No, no, no. People tweet us that they were mad and we would read them off and they were great. It might just be like, mad online. Yeah, we got to bring that back.

Cause that was great to hear from the fans. When they have, like, they feel like they're hurt. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, um, the the the end of the CBS show.

Like a very dry sandwich. Thank you for your service, you basically served overseas.

Then you have another half, you've had seven cookies, dude, they probably who put?

They brought in the pitcher filled with water and like the metal vase, and it was probably filled to the top too far. When you poured it into your, you know, stemmed glass, it probably spilled a little bit on the on the white tablecloth. That was housing all the craft services. So it was a tough day for everybody.

That fucking one idiot who's been accidentally.

Like, this was the craziest conference tournament week. I'm more mad about the seating, I think they they did some really bad shit with the seating and fucked over some teams. Yeah, in terms of the teams that got left.

They stink.

Yeah, so I feel we're smart, we're sharp, yeah.

Are you going to be a Duke fan? Yeah, I like how you just decided that.

SAD Who do they lose to again? N.C. State? Oh yeah, N.C. State.

Yeah, there's I, just my brain is just melted with basketball. He asked me, Uh, asked me what happened? and I'm just like, Uh, I think I don't know. Well, Max, do you have any other thoughts?

Villanova Oh, how mad would you have been if if Wisconsin had lost at the rest? Oh, it was Zach Eady. Yeah, very mad.

I mean, anyone, who, what? Everyone who roots for a Big 10 team should be thankful that that was the last time we have to watch a Big 10 ref. Crew ref Zach Eady I still think produce a very good team, they're better than they were last year. Um, but it's just maddening watching a seven foot guy get treated like he's a five foot guy and with kid gloves. And every single time he gets touched, there's a whistle, he's barreling over people, it's nuts.

So I was that was that felt really good that.

Like, you wasted all that anger, and you weren't even.

They have three of them, Seaton Hall has more, St. John's has more. Yeah, I thought Michigan State should be in.

And and Max, Um, you were never close to close, Providence wasn't close, what was Providence? Even the last four out, they last four out.

No, they were not last four, they weren't last four out, and they went around further than you in the Biggies tournament, but we were ahead of we.

Actually, I don't know if Providence would have been Quad one.

For the first time in 45 year history, the Big East Conference, a team went over five games over 500 in conference play and did not make the NCAA tournament. That team is Seton Hall. Damn, that's tough, that is tough.

That is very tough. It's just the bubble, the bubble went crazy. It was all those teams just stealing bids, I mean, the eight 10 had every single team being upset.

So, uh, but yeah, we have a bracket and I'm very excited about the bracket. I love my bracket, my bracket is perfect.

Samford, He's Samford's in the elite eight. I think that I think I just I picked some of these teams, cause I want to see these storylines develop like I want to see. Will Wade win two?

And then your entire bracket's going to you guys.

I go with the flow, oh.

Right, right, Max, circle, you circle, circle, and then you fucking weirdo.

And then put a line through it, you gotta be.

I want it to be.

By the way, I mentioned at the top, we are going to talk Justin Fields after John Rothstein got a lot of thoughts on that. He was traded, so we're not.

That's right. N.B.A. great Steph Curry goes from the court to the screen in this comedy mockumentary. That's pure gold. It's got basketball style and epic lie that's bound to come out eventually.

You know what they say, ball, don't lie, but sometimes people do. Don't miss Steph Curry in his first scripted TV role, Mr. Throwback, streaming now only on Peacock. Okay, Hank, who's back of the week? who's back of the week?

Is Black Dick? Oh, okay, good, good, uh. Grady Dick and Anthony Black did a jersey swap at the end of their game on Sunday. That's pretty cool. It's like when Chris Long used to always stand next to Fletcher Cox, so we'd say long Cox. And then one time, Jalen hurts, got there and said, Long, Cox hurts.

That was awesome. Yeah, just guy stuff. yeah, always makes me laugh. Nothing like a good jersey swap.

Um, who's back to Scottie Scheffler?

This guy is good, he's a problem, he is a big problem. Another comeback victory at the Players repeat champion at the Players Fifth Major.

Fifth major Wyndham Clark, uh, had a putt to tie force a playoff, went inside the cup, rolled around, popped back out, did a 180 degree loop came out. I may have bet on Wyndham Clark to win.

That was a tough loss, that was crazy, it was wild. Yeah, it was really close going down the stretch there.

It was like, Brian Harmon Shoffley. Is Shoffley ever going to win anything? He just doesn't like to win? Zander, the only thing Zander does I, I? His name is always at the top of the leaderboard on Saturday.

It's always right next to Patrick Cantlay, it's always like Cantlay Shoffley. I think he's like 0 for 9 and he's been in the final group 9 times. And he's maybe it's 0 for his last night because he's won a couple times but can't break through.

Can't break through tough. What about a Zander? Is it where you're a kid and your name is Alexander, and you decided to go by Zander instead of Alex? I think some kids are named Zander. Yeah, Zander.

Zander is Jimmy Jimmy Tatro in his show. I don't think his name is Alexander. That would be wild you.

I didn't know that you thought just Zander was his name. Yeah, why don't you just go with Alex? Yeah, Alex, that's what I'm saying.

You should. If your name is Alexander and you choose to go by Zander, that tells me all you need to know. He should go by Alex. Till he wins a tournament. Yeah, well, he's won tournaments, no, but he.

He hit a tree. Yeah, he's very clear about that on the.

He said afterwards, he's like, Yeah, I asked him to move and then they just kept on inching closer. The post-match press conference with Max was so funny because they asked him about that situation and he had this like smile on his face and he kept holding himself back. And if I'm running it through the Max Horma truth translator? He wanted to say so badly, like, I wish that it hit the guy like it's his fault for being there.

Yes, he should not have been there, That's his problem, not my problem. You should ask him about that, yeah.

But the video made it look like it just whopped him in the head. And I was. I was hoping that he got hit in the head. But, you know, not bad enough to cause a serious injury, just.

I thought he killed.

There's a part like it hits the thing and then you hear somebody scream, like half a second later. Yeah, that would have been. I just kind of wish that had happened, yeah.

Uh, okay, Pft or Who's back? um, my, who's back of the week?

Is the Titanic? Oh so, I think we pitched this on the show to, Um, uh, Damon John, Okay, and Shark Tank, like five years ago. But it's been my dream to one day recreate the Titanic. And by that, I mean, build the exact same ship again. Have it leave from the same port on the same day of the year, have it sail the exact same route as the original Titanic, and have the exact same number of lifeboats on it. Have tickets cost the same that they did back in the day, the three richest guys in the world on there.

Yeah, adjusted for inflation. And then just see. If you can make it, I guarantee you that would sell out people like thrill seekers out there, there's a bunch of titanic freaks out there.

We saw it with the sub that imploded. Yup, like, people get legit obsessed with the Titanic. I would love to have it be like, like Stowage Class, where it costs like $5 for a ticket, you sell a thousand of those.

And then you have like other like suites up top that costs $250,000, where rich people get to go in. Just recreate it a hundred percent. But there's a, uh, there's an Australian billionaire named Clive Clive Palmer. And he is planning on building the exact Rep replica of the Titanic. And he wants to set sail in 2027. I hope he does it at the same time of year.

Do it, just run the.

Iceberg is not exist, global warming. Uh, Titanic, kind of, kind of a little bit of a bitch made boat when you think about, obviously because it got destroyed, but have you ever seen the pictures of the Titanic? Versus, like a modern day cruise? It's not as big as that. Shit is a fucking joke.

Basil's probably has a boat. Yeah, definitely, Titanic was mid at best, yeah, so they should make this a bigger boat.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying, like, if you remake the Titanic, everyone's going to look at it and be like, that's it. Cause in our heads, we're like, biggest boat.

Uh, okay, my who's?

We know that's big, like we know the NFL is big, the NFL is king. There are people who, just like, we'll never watch a college basketball game, just out of principle. And I saw this one guy tweet You're a sick individual.

If you've been watching College Bash basketball all week, it's like, No, this is the best. But it's always a funny divide. Because you have people who, like, obviously not listeners to this show, but you have people who are just like. This is just another week for them.

It's it's really strange, um, but you know what I mean, I get it, I get into whatever big sport is happening at that time.

When you meet someone who doesn't watch the N.FL, they're like, Oh, yeah, well, I know I will. I watched Super Bowl, yeah, and Rothstein meet people who don't watch college basketball.

They're like, what is going on? But.

The office was going on. But Conference Championship week, you're right, there's a lot of people out there that, like March, met. Like, college basketball does not start until the.

All right, so that that was a segue, cause brother, who's back as Joe Linardi? who's now no longer back, cause it's golf season, Joe Linardi?

I thought I liked this guy, have we had him on? I don't think so. I think, you know what?

Like his.

They didn't, but Joe Linardi on Friday night after making Virginia the winner. Uh, tweeted Danger time for UVA and good night for me. Joe Linardi has to work three weeks a year. And he said Good night at 10 57 during Conference Championship week on Friday night, when there was like six games left. What is up with this guy?

I think I think he hates brackets, yeah, because, he also said.

He had, you know, a couple hours before, uh, the brackets came out, he said. Two hours, actually, two days until golf season. He's just so excited to be done with this stuff. And then he also said, Uh, this is grumpy time for him right now. It was like, right before the brackets come out, he's as grumpy as it gets. What is up with this guy?

Does he not, bro?

And he, he might not even watch the Games this week. I don't know. His job is done like Joe Joe. Linardi's usefulness runs out at.

Your job is to.

It went forever and it was incredible. New Mexico and.

This is your job. It's five days a year that he has to stay up that late.

Yeah, so let's let's normalize other guys. Yeah, I think so. I was thinking about the upcoming college football season.

I think Blake, his line, is going to be, he's going to be a bracketologist for football because nobody's doing that yet. Yeah, it's going to be the first, yeah, as long as the Lunardi's not doing it now.

Yeah, well, it was. It was midnight on the East Coast. This was after he had put Virginia as a win. Yeah, that's tough.

Tough night for real tough. Uh, okay, Jake is still, uh, saving with Titus. We can ask him his who's back? when he gets back here? Uh, let's get to John Rostein.

Talk a little more college basketball. Also got to talk some tweets with John Rostein, cause he's had a bunch recently that have had a say. Huh? Uh? We are brought to you by our friends at Uber Eats.

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Com, where you can check out the Silverado, build your own Silverado online, and learn important details about super crews. Today with Chevy. Thank you to Chevy, our wonderful sponsor. Okay, here he is, John Rothstein.

Okay, we now welcome on a very, very special guest. Recurring guest. It is John Rothstein. You can find him on CBS Sports. You can hear his podcast, College Hoops today. It is a tradition unlike any other.

We have John Rothstein to break down his regions talk brackets, but before we do that. John, how are you feeling after Shaka Smart just outed you for being a serial texter to him on national television? For people who missed? John asked him about Tyler Kolick and whether he'd be playing, and Shaka said Should I answer this now, or should I wait till you text me every single morning? How are you feeling, you know? Hey, look.

So the only way I know how to live life is to go through every life, each and every day. Like I've accomplished nothing. And the way in life to accomplish everything is to wake up each and every day.

So what I mean by that is, you know, I believe it was Salvador Dali who said, Have no fear of protraction, you'll never reach it. We're getting deep and philosophical here on the first question, but why not? We're close. I think the way you have to look at it is. I could never live with myself without like, well, I could have done X, Y or Z to be better.

And I didn't do that. So now I look at things and I say, you know what? I have to always make sure that I'm stretching things out as much as I can, giving my best effort. And if the chips don't fall in your favor, the chips don't fall in your favor. You're never going to be able to be on top of everything, but you can never not give your best effort in life.

As you know, from one of our favorite movies that we share together, one of Celeste Stallone's most underrated movies over the top the world.

You tweeted Problems at home. Been so dialed in that my wife took our six month old girl with her to a work trip on the West Coast. I hope they come back, but if they don't, dying on your sword is worth it. When Uconn St.

John's is 24 hours away at MSG. Remember, life is about choices, so are you single? Is this the, is this the like? Lookout ladies? John Rothstein ready to get back?

I have more TV in the morning, that I'm flying out to Dayton for the first four and then I'm going to another site from there. But she was like, All right, I get it that this is March, every month is March for me, cause I have a job too.

And I have my own career. And she's like, You know what, I'm putting the baby to sleep and I'm sleeping in a different room tonight. Because I don't want to hear about these brackets, I'll watch the game socially, but that's it, and I go, that's fine.

So March season drives a rift. I think, you know, in the house a little bit, like people don't understand that, like, it's a really big deal. That Duquesne hasn't been to the tournament since 77, which is the same year that Star Wars first at theaters. But I have learned this and you guys tell me if I'm wrong, nobody is perfect.

Not even my wife, who I love to pieces. But at the end of the day, you are who you are in life. And at this point, you guys know me well enough. I'm not changing. So if I for years have felt that. The most underrated rivalry was St. John's Yukon, and it was untapped because St.

John's, who didn't make the NCAA tournament, hasn't won an NCAA tournament game since 2000, when Mike Jarvis led. Nor let St. John's over Northern Arizona, and Tucson went Northern Arizona had a very dangerous center named Dan McClintock. I am not going to back down on the fact that I was still waiting to see if St. John's could get the Friday night, the Big East tournament to play. Yukon who again has become a team that is operating on a Cal Who level under Dan Hurley.

Yes, no, hey listen, we have busy seasons.

I don't know if you heard what we said on our show, but we said engagement parties are bullshit, right? A guy should never be like, I can't believe you didn't come to my engagement party. That's point, John.

But then, like, when I started, like, you know, having more opportunities in my career. He's like, Hey, my brother really wants to get in a talk radio. Can we come by and see the station? And it's like a friend of convenience. And you get invited to the wedding and you're happy that you know your pseudo friend is having success. But when are? You're not going to say No, I'm coming, I'm not, I'm going to come to your engagement party instead of going to a final four. When Butler was playing VCU and Yukon was playing Kentucky and Shabazz, Napier and Jeremy Lamb were freshmen at Yukon.

Right, and that friend's name?

I know you, you always like to put names on the on the bracket on the region, so we're just going to hand it to you. You, you drive. We'll. We'll insert ourselves here and there with questions.

And I look at the makeup of the coaches in this region as having such fiery personalities. Dan Hurley's your one seat. T.J. also burgers the two. He looks like he could step in an octagon and fight Ken Shamrock right now.

Brad Underwood, at three, is a coach who keeps a treadmill in the gym at practice. And if a coach and the players aren't playing well, he makes sure they get gets on and obviously hits the treadmill. Duquesne Is Pittsburgh tough at 11, Auburn, one of the toughest teams in the country, one of the hardest playing players in the country. And Katie Johnson. San Diego State is also a very hard playing time for, hard playing team at the five seat.

I see ruthless, hard nose, competitive teams in this region, and I see the region of gladiators led by the coach of the one seat. In my opinion, the favorite in the NCAA tournament, Dan Hurley and Dan Hurley, probably in his own mind, feels like he's a little bit like Russell Crowe and Gladiator in this NCAA tournament. Rather to a famous point guard, son of a famous father. And even though he won a national championship last year, he will have his vengeance in this tournament of the next.

Okay, I like that I like.

Cause I'd love to see the drafts, I'd love to see what was like, Ah, this was so close. But you know, Iowa State doesn't really fit this, or BYU doesn't really make sense here. So was there, was there a name that you were toying with before you came up with? Gladiator?

I almost went with the region of Chutzpah.

So it was almost the region of Chutzpah.

Yeah, that's 20 years or more, that's right. Yeah, uh, all right.

Who do you have coming out of this region?

That's that cat, I think it was.

I also think that, you know, you look at the bottom of this region, you've got the I think, you know. The two three seed is massive, I mean, Iowa State. On Sunday I had forecasted as my fourth number one seed in Illinois is a team that I felt for about a month could be a dark horse final four team. So I'm looking at the scenario at the bottom of that region as being a dynamite, dynamite region here.

Okay, I saw a lot of people online said that I'm not saying this, but I saw a lot of people online saying that. You were a moron. For that. Would you like to defend yourself against those people?

Lazily seeded, because it seems like the committee basically said whoever wins VCU Duquesne, who the 11th seed, VCU would make more sense as 11th seed. Oh shit, we already filled out our whole bracket, we'll just put it in Duquesne when they clearly are the weakest of the 11 seeds resume wise.

And actually, a lot of 12 seeds are at better resumes.

So it almost feels like the 11th seed slots, all just.

Okay, so, um, well, if you haven't, if you haven't read your notifications or your mentions in 2017. Did you ever think that? Maybe there's like a young John Rothstein out there that wakes up every day and tweets at you and is trying to interact with you? In the same way? You're dealing with coaches and they're just pounding their head against the wall, they're just trying to make a name.

Okay, um, anything you know, help to help, you know, younger people achieve their passion, like we've been fortunate enough to do.

He has been out for a number of, uh, a number of games. I'm going to take Florida, Atlantic to beat Northwestern. I talked obviously for a long time about Auburn because I love Auburn and I don't really love the matchup for Yale. But James Jones has a good ball club at Yale. I think Auburn is too deep for that. But my upset in this region is. Duquesne beating BYU in an 11 six.

I think we have to remember this and you guys get this. BYU, for the most part, was a team that it was recruited to play in the West Coast Conference. And now you have a team in Duquesne who just won the Atlantic 10. There is not the conference gap that there probably would be in your normal six 11 when you have a bid stealer. So I'm taking Duquesne right there. But I've got Yukon, Auburn, Illinois, Iowa State in my Sweet 16, the region of Gladiators.

And I've got Yukon over Illinois in the elite eight.

West Region, which is played in Los Angeles, and because it's played in Los Angeles, it should fittingly be called the Region of drama. Now why is it the region of drama? Well, let's look right now who the one seed is North Carolina.

Obviously, two years ago played for a national championship lost. The Kansas had the dramatic season last year where it missed the NCAA tournament. Now it has done a complete one 80. But who is the two seed Arizona? And that means if the seeds holds in southern California and it's a one two? We would have. Caleb Love going up against his former team for the right to go to the final four. That is the region of drama.

Now you look at the other characteristics of this region, you've got drama with New Mexico, a team that had to play well at the Mountain West tournament. After losing the Air Force in, obviously, a very, very brutal loss a couple of weeks ago. You also have drama with St. Mary's Randy Bennett's club starts eight and six.

Then it goes, he wrote. The WCC like a chainsaw through butter, it gets a five seed, it wins the WCC regular season and also tournament titles. St Mary's has not been to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament since 2010. With Omar Samhan, Mickey McConnell, Matthew Dell of A Dover when they beat Richmond and Villanova back-to-back in Providence.

And then you got Tom Izzo in this region as well, who, again, is always, you know, a great quote, always opinionated. He's a very dramatic guy. But the big headline for the region of drama is the potential North Carolina, Arizona Caleb Love against the Tar Heels matchup in the Elite Eight in the West region, therefore, the region of drama. Okay, how much longer do you think Izzo is going to stick around? Oh, I don't see him not coaching.

I don't think Tom Izzo could not coach he, almost, I think Izzo in some ways enjoys the adversity more than the actual success, because the adversity. Then it forces you to have the truly brutal practice the next day and.

And again, life is not obviously a movie, but this would feel like a movie if we have Caleb Love. Against North Carolina, going up against R.J. Davis and Baycott guys. He went to the national championship.

Was that always going?

I just think that it would be compelling, compelling theater if that's the case. I mean, look, both of these teams got to go through really good teams to get to that point. I'll say this, guys, I'm looking at North Carolina and now the game will be played in Charlotte. But whoever North Carolina gets Mississippi State or Michigan state in that round of 32 game, that is a bear of a game to get to the sweet 16..

Now I think America is going to be taking Michigan State in this game because of Tom Izzo. That's what people from the periphery do. I am going with Mississippi State, I am going with Chris Jan's, the dentist who will give you a root canal without the Nova cane when he gets the chance.

Guys, let's look at Chris Jan's here. In the NCAA tournament New Mexico State, he beat Yukon two years ago. last year, got Mississippi State to the NCAA tournament. Lost on the last possession in the first quarter pit. Now he's back. The dentist.

I mean, really good defensive coach.

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We love Kasey Tominaga, another player I think could captivate the country in spurts with his ability to shoot. Nebraska, by the way, has never won an NCAA tournament game, so that's on the line for them. They go against Texas A&M, who has that dynamite backcourt for Buzz Williams with Wade, Taylor IV and Tyrese Radford.

And they can really, really score. That's a dynamite first round game and guys, I'm going to be at that game, you know, doing sidelines in Memphis. We got then Wisconsin the best offensive team of the Gray Guard era, with A..J. Storr against James Madison.

That's going to be a trendy 12-5.

And then you got Duke against Vermont, Duke is duke. I know Kat doesn't want to hear that. We've got Kentucky, the best scoring team of the Calipari era.

And then if you look at the bottom right in the region of firepower, you've got Florida again. They lost their center. Micah handlocked into an injury on Sunday, a leg injury against Auburn. But they're going to probably go on against the winner of Colorado, Boise State, Colorado, a potent offensive team.

And then Marquette's the two Chaka smart as you know, saying on CBS Sports Network that they're planning on Tyler Cole coming back. There is major, major firepower in that region. I have loved Florida's ability to score the ball throughout. Obviously this season, they're a little bit different now up front, without handlocked in.

But you look at the offensive capabilities of the teams in this region, it is exquisite.

I'll take Texas Tech over N.C. State, Kentucky over Oakland. I got Florida playing Marquette. I would take Florida over Marquette. That's a little bit, you know? I'm going to break it open a little bit there, then I'm going to have Kentucky, Florida in the sweet 16 and SEC game.

I'm going to take Wisconsin to beat Duke and then I'm going to take Houston to play Wisconsin and I've got Houston beating Kentucky.

Duquesne like a count, you know? tweeted today Mission accomplished. Duquesne hasn't been to the tournament since 77, so Mission Impossible got accomplished. But yeah, you know, I don't just come up with them and throw it out. Everybody, you know, is like, Oh, I want to tag one.

I want to tag one. It's like, it's not that easy. What about just hand those out? Harrisonburg?

What about that? You like that one? I think that would be Harrisonburg, the Las Vegas of central Virginia.

So there's a lot of tension in this region right now. And I also think, you know, when you look at the One Seeds guys. I think the path for Purdue, and I know you have to take this with a grain of salt because nothing is easy for Purdue in March. I think the path for Purdue is very favorable to at least get to the elite Eight. First two games are at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. You're going to play the winner of Utah State in TCU second.

And then if you win there, your five and your four are Gonzaga, which is the most vulnerable Gonzaga team we've had since 2016.

Then you have Kansas, we've discussed without McCuller, without Dickinson. Potentially. Well, they didn't play in the Big 12 tournament, but they're obviously very wounded. I mean, it's not a great Kansas team. Even if those two players play, I'd be shocked if Purdue doesn't get to the Elite Eight.

I know that's saying a lot concerning the way things have gone in the NCAA tournament and then the bottoms. I'm looking at Creighton being an underrated team. I think they lost early in the Big East Tournament, that changed things. And then also, if Texas wins and Tennessee wins, we could have a game in the round of 32. Rick Barnes against his old school and against his former assistant, Rodney Tarrant.

As we said, brother to a famous point guard, son of a famous coach. Getting his vengeance in this tournament, or the next, becoming the first back-to-back national champion since Florida in 2006 and 2007.

Now, what do I mean by that? If Florida Atlantic won the AAC tournament, we would have seen one bid open up because they are an at-large team. If Dayton won the A10 tournament, we would have seen an at-large bid open up because Dayton was already projected as an at-large team. So that's two bids right there. And then, if N.C. State didn't win the ACC tournament, we would have seen that large bid open up.

And then if Oregon didn't win the Pac-12 tournament, we would have seen that large bid open up. That's four, and then we found out tonight. If New Mexico didn't win the Mountain West Tournament, we would have seen that large bid open up. That's five bids in five spots for other teams where the Big East surely would have been represented. I thought that St.

John's would have been a little bit closer to the cut line. They weren't among the first four out for the selection committee from what we saw earlier tonight. But obviously you have three Big East teams in Creighton, Marquette and Yukon that are all good enough to go to a final four. But the Big East right now, with its lowest number of teams in the NCAA tournament since 1993..

This is an awesome year. Let's do 78 teams. Would Villanova have been in?

Now, if you look at the metrics for both Virginia and Colorado, not too many impressive wins. Virginia beat Florida, won at Clemson, Colorado beat Washington State twice. But they didn't have any quad three or four losses, so the committee really took that into consideration. Now. Texas A&M had a weird resume, had five quad three losses.

But Texas A&M beat Iowa State, who's a two seed, beat Tennessee, who's a two seed, beat Kentucky twice, who's a three seed, and also beat Todd Golden in Florida, who's a seven seed.

John, we haven't had you on since you had the birth of your child. What does fatherhood look like for John Rawson? How's it going?

There is nothing in the world like being a father and having obviously a child and the way it makes you feel complete as a family. But you also feel like you're in a bye game against Matt Lengel and Colgate and they're drilling threes. And there's nothing that you can do, yeah.

So what's your schedule? You're going to Dayton? Do you know where you're going after Dayton?

Then after the games, I'm going to be going to Memphis for the Friday, Sunday. So Friday Sunday is going to be Houston, Longwood, Nebraska, A&M and then Clemson, New Mexico, Baylor, Colgate. And then I'll be back in studio on CBS Sports Network for the Sweet 16 and the Elite 8, and then we'll be at the final four in Phoenix.

Can we get that into someone's head and be like, Hey, let's schedule a game, let's play a game?