Handicapping Friday’s Late Night Tournament Slate

0:00Why have we asked our contractor we found on Angie.com to be our kids' legal guardian? Because he took such good care when redoing our basement that we knew we could trust him to care for our kids. Ballade of them. Should something happen to us? Are you my dad now? No. Sorry. I do basement. Connecting homeowners with skilled pros for over 30 years, Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. And pros for all your home projects at Angie.com. Ring Central's AI receptionist uses voice AI to answer on the first ring, so you'll never miss a call again. In just a few minutes, you can personalize your own AI receptionist to answer questions, route calls, schedule appointments, and even send texts in multiple languages. Plus, it's easy to scale. Create unlimited AI receptionists across any phone system. It's all powered by one reliable platform for effortless AI communications. See for yourself at ringcentral.com. Ring Central. Voice of your business.

1:00If you or someone you know needs help, you're not alone. When things feel overwhelming, support is closer than you think. The ERPO Liaison Program connects individuals and families to trusted behavioral health providers and vital support services in the community, compassion, guidance, resources, all in one place. Don't wait to get the help you deserve. Reach out today at ERPO Liaison Referrals at CO.PG.MD.US. It's ERPO Liaison Referrals at CO.PG.MD.US. ERPO Liaison Program. Here for you. What happens next? A massive trait. Happens here. We actually just signed two players. Hopefully we can get a long-term deal done. Baltimore's Sports Radio. 105-7. The Finn. If you are thinking about it every day, every day, every day, every day, we are talking about it. What I'm talking about? Baltimore's Sports Radio. 105-7. The Finn. Rob Long. Jeremy Khan. Ed Norris. And Joe McRoy.

2:01The Big Bad Morning Show. Weekdays on 105-7. The Finn. The Finn. Red Zone Energy. Real-time reaction. Bad MGM tonight. With Brad Evans and Pat Boyle rolls on. Yes, who's back? Bad MGM tonight. That's who's back. Brad Evans and Pat Boyle. Hug him on back. On number to join the show. I have ADD. Welcome back. On number to join the show is 310-840-4910. That's 310-840-4910. Speaking of our friends at Bad MGM, if they score the most points, you'll score bonus bets for each round of March Matchups. You have the opportunity to predict which team will score the most points.

3:03If you're correct, you'll want to share bonus bets. How to get this offer in 3 easy steps. 1. Enter the March Matchups $500,000. Pick them free to play game. Pick which team you think will score the most points in any round of the tournament. And if the team you selected scores the most points that round, you'll win a share of bonus bets. Alright, we broke down half of the games on Friday before we break down the other half of the games on Friday and give out some picks for your brackets and what not. Brad, let's get an update here really quickly. The first four in Dayton 16 versus 16. The winner will play Florida. It's Prairie View A&M versus Lehigh. They're at the half. What's the score? What have you seen so far? And I go full key, Jackson on it. One. Nellie. We got quite the game right now. 29-27. The fight in CJ McCollum's also known as Lehigh. The Mount Hawks up by just a dos at the half. They had a couple of nice runs. I think it built up at one time at eight point lead. Prairie View A&M fought back and has made this quite a competitive affair.

4:06I remember Prairie View A&M was the lowest seeded Swack tournament team to ever earn an out-large. They were the eight seed in that tournament. I got the automatic birth and represent here in Dayton. And Lehigh, a team that lives on the three really dies by it. So far just three of 13 from distance. Prairie View A&M also is at three. But they've only taken six of those hoys from outside. Feel what percentage right now? Prairie View A&M out shooting. Lehigh, 41% to 35%. A little bit of an advantage for Lehigh at the line. That's why you have an ultra-tie game of the rebounding margin. Only plus two right now for the mountain hawks. So again, 29-27. Lehigh up on Prairie View A&M at the half inside UD Arena. All right, very good, very good. Let's get back to Friday's games now. Let's go to the evening session, Tampa, Florida in the South region.

5:06Number nine seed Iowa. The Hawkeyes, our video producer, Michael Montgomery, proud alum of the Iowa Hawkeyes, taking on the eight seed Clemson Tigers from the ACC. Brad, this one is essentially a pick. From Iowa, a slight favorite in this one. And if you're looking at your bracket here, the winner of this game will most likely get to play the Florida Gators in the second round. I know about you. I was really starting to fall in love with Iowa down the stretch as a team that if they got a six seed, maybe they could do some damage. And then they fell apart. They lose on the road to Penn State. They battled Michigan tight and still lost. They lose the Nebraska in overtime. They beat Maryland in the big 10 tournament. But then they had a very winnable game against Ohio State. And they struggled down the stretch in that one. Clemson, meanwhile, they had a pretty decent finish to the season. They won three in a row, including getting to the ACC semifinals.

6:08And I thought they really could have competed with Duke, missing two of their starting five. But, you know, they got blown out. They were down by 15 to 20 points most that game. They ended up losing by 12. Oh, man, I like Iowa in this one. I really do. I think the big 10 is... I think this is like a conference... Who's coming from the better conference? And I think the big 10 was awesome this year. And also, who's got the best player? Then it starts. That's to me. For two teams that play slow is all hell. Are great transition defense. It's probably going to be the first to 60. Give me the team that's got the guy that can get 20 by himself. And I think you said this earlier this week, Brad. Nobody else might score more than 10 in this entire freaking game. And I think the fact that Carter is welling, if I'm remembering his name correctly, Clemson started center, 20 ACL. That's a big absence for Clemson. That could be the big difference in a game with a lot of miss shots. Some second chance opportunities for the Hawkeyes. Monty, I like your Iowa Hawkeyes in this one to advance to the next round.

7:10Yeah. If you want to like the local food, you want to watch two Galapagos tortoises go toe to toe in a fight. That's exactly what this is. It's got to be ugly. It's going to be hideous. You're going to be like, oh my God. Somebody land a punch. This thing is boring as hell. It will be a rock fight, folks. I think, you know, first of 50, 55, honestly, they win it. Embedded search is going to score half the points right. Well, because that's what he does. He's a certifiable first round, taking the NBA draft. The guy's going to be a 10 year NBA vet. He's going to make it rain early and off to from outside. I was kind of like a Corey Kispert type. So that guy's going to be collecting a paycheck in the next level for a long time. I look at Iowa. They're outside the top 350 under a bit of a column at a Joseph Tipo. Clemson, how much faster? 331 at Joseph Tipo in their last 10 games. Both these teams are susceptible to per-possession basis defensively. You look at Iowa number 350 in the country and an EFG percentage defense.

8:13Clemson at 318. And you might say it's going to be low score. Yeah, because it's all about the tempo. And, you know, Iowa's has got better scoring because of Bennett Sturts. Hawkeye is going to win. It's going to be disgusting. It's going to be hideous. It's going to be puke inducing. Make sure you have multiple bottles of tequila. If you plan to sit and watch all 40 minutes, Michael Montgomery. And you might as well strap on that adult diaper as well. I'm going to go to the bathroom. Because if you see scoring, you don't want to miss it. Because it may not happen ever again. I will wins. I'll even give you a final score. 55 51. Let's go Hawkeyes. Oh, all right. Very good. So our streak continues agreeing on the same winner here in these games. Our brackets again are either going to look really, really good. Well, they're going to look really, really bad. But I think they're going to look good. I think they're going to look good. I like Iowa in this one. All right.

9:14Let's move on. Five versus a 12 seed in the East region, even though it's in San Diego. Seven, 10 p.m. Eastern tip on Friday night. The Johnny's. Rick Patino, St. John. So I think God hosed with getting a five seed. But Brad, you think otherwise. That's where they're at. The Biggies champions. Back to back. Zubie Eger for the Biggies player of the year. 28 and six going up against the winners of Arch Madness. The MVC champs Northern Iowa who went 23 and 12 up to this point, including knocking off UIC in the conference championship game. They won four games in four days. A surprise outfit to get here. But they are a 12 seed. And this spread has moved in Northern Iowa's favor. It's now under 10 points. Brad help me. Help me figure this out. Why? Because I look at St. John's. And this is a clash of the two tempos. Michael Tulip. He kind of likes Northern Iowa. They play about as slow as you humanly can. St. John's over the last two years under Rick Patino.

10:15They've sped things up. But they're still a relentless pressuring defense who rebounds the crap out of the basketball. And Northern Iowa does not get many second chance points at all. I think that's the big difference in this one. Maybe if St. John's has a rough shooting day. We saw what happened against Yukon. They missed like 20 shots in a row. This isn't a Yukon defense, though. I still think they'll be able to get easy buckets inside of second chance opportunities. I think maybe a slow start. I still think St. John's wins this one by double digits. Convince me otherwise if you think so. Yeah, I kind of like what a tool of the selling. And it's all about number of possessions in this game. It's going to be low scoring. Because Northern Iowa is going to dictate that they are the slowest team in the entire tournament. Yes, they're even slower than Iowa folks. What's up with slow basketball in the Hawkeye state, by the way? Everybody plays at a steel space in the NCAA tournament. The Iowa Hawkeyes or in Iowa panthers. But Kurt Warner, you I think we'll be competitive because they don't turn the rocker.

11:17They're only caught up on around 14% of their possessions. St. John's relief thrives off that pressure. The advantage that the Johnny's have though is inside with Zubi. They really get after it on the glass get a lot of second chance opportunities that it's not a strength. Of Northern Iowa though Northern Iowa shooting 41% from beyond the arc in their last 11 games. So they can hang with the great equalizers and those daggers they can plunge overall. So low possession, good three point shooting team. I'm a much better in St. John's. By the way, John is only shooting 28.8% from distance and their last 11 games. Though the Johnny's have an advantage inside. It will be a much tighter affair that people suspect. I think the Johnny's win. But Northern Iowa covers, give me St. John's by six. Okay, all right. So you think it's a little sweaty here. I think it's a little sweaty for the Johnny's. And I know there's a couple of people that have St. John's going all the way to the final four.

12:18So boy, they will be sweating and biting their nails off. If that didn't, didn't Dostor said he thinks that St. John's goes to the final four. The elite eight doesn't he think doesn't need to have them knocking off Duke. I think he made that admission more than half an e-breated. All right. Let's get to UCF and UCLA. The battles of the UCs going at in Philadelphia Friday night 725 PM Eastern tip East region. Again, this is a big one because the winner gets you con who you and I think is both think is a very vulnerable team here. The big news for UCLA. They're star guard Donovan Dent and the star forward Tyler Bilado according to head coach Micronin will be good to go. Donovan Dent exited the S the big 10 semi final loss with an injury. Tyler Bilado did not play in that game either. But Micronin said they're both going to be good to go is more precautionary. I think that's the big difference here. I think UCF is a fraudulent team.

13:19They barely got into this tournament. I think it was more so just because they played in the big 12 and they profited off of being in the best conference in college basketball all season long. And they do have some impressive wins, right? They went on the road and beat BYU by 13. They beat TCU. They beat Texas Tech at home. But that was a long time ago. And I think this team that lost four of their last five games and seven of their last. Let's see. What was it? Seven of their last 11 games. I think that's more indicative of the team we're going to see on Friday night. So I like the Bruins. I like UCLA. Again, I was ripping Micronin weeks ago. I think this team has really started to peak here at the right time. And the fact that there are two best players are healthy. That's all I need to know. I'm picking the Bruins to go on. I totally agree. I think UCF has got a slide of the Gulf of Mexico quite frankly. They're not really good at anything. They're not terrible at anything either. They don't really shoot a whole lot of threes. Only about 31 32% of their shots are coming from beyond the arc.

14:21However, UCLA shoots a lot of threes. And they're damn good at making those threes. Whether it's with daily, whether it's with Dent Sky Clark. And knock those down. Trent Perry's played really well here over the second half of season. Bellado beach inside and outside as a collective in their last 10 games. The Bruins are shooting 37.5% from way downtown. They don't turn the ball over. Yeah, the key here is his Bellado intent. I can they go a full 25 to 35 minutes. I didn't had a calf injury. I hope that doesn't flare up and really start grabbing at him. So as long as he can stab off the injury amp, I'm Bellado. I think it's going to be fine. I mean, I'll make Ronan said it was a mile knee strain. It was a non-contact injury. Looked at how a lot worse on camera than what the official diagnosis was. Thank goodness for him and for that school. But yeah, UCLA number 22 into work over the last 30 days. UCF at number 60. That's all the evidence you need. I think the Bruins win this one.

15:21Someone comfortably eight to 12 points and folks. The Bruins. They're knocking off you contour the round of 32. Wow. All right. There you go. Brian's got UCLA in the sweet 16. I think it's possible. I think it's possible. Even though I'm a big East Apologist. I want to see Dan Hurley and the boys making a deep run. All right. Let's take a short break. When we come back, we'll hit on the remainder of the Friday games, including a very crucial one between Miami and Missouri. Because I think either one of those teams could give Purdue some big fits in the second round. Plus any of those other big seeds on Friday night. Do they have a chance of being upset? We'll get to that. And then our entire crew, our show will reveal our brackets. And we'll tell you who we got the final four. Who we got won in the championship. It's all coming to this. It's the eve of the kickoff. The official beginning of the madness. But we got plenty of first four action that we're keeping you up to date with as well. Don't go anywhere.

16:21We're coming right back. He's Brad Evans. I'm Pat Boyle. This is Ben MGM tonight. I don't want to waste one sports. Cuddled a big wave of free agency. Who are the favorites to make into LA for Super Bowl 61? And who has the most work to do heading into the NFL draft? We're breaking down the big news. And what it means for your team on Westwood One Sports. And toast all for just $6.99. And a new pineapple lemonade sparkler or cooler made with tahini. It's the limited time only swicy menu. Get it delivered in the DQ app. Happy, tastes good. Participation may vary. Why'd I go to the doctor? Working on the farm. My heart kept skipping a beat.

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19:25to trusted behavioral health providers and vital support services in the community. Compassion, guidance, resources, all in one place. Don't wait to get the help you deserve. Reach out today at ERPO Liaison Referrals at CO.PG.MD.US. That's ERPO Liaison Referrals at CO.PG.MD.US. ERPO Liaison Program, here for you. Some places take you away. Some bring you together. Marathon does both. Marathon is Florida's family key with something for everyone. You'll find museums and wildlife refuges, wide open beaches, miles of warm, clear water, and the historic seven-mile bridge. For more about Marathon, visit flak.com slash marathon. Hey guys, this is Matt Norlander, co-host of the Ion College Basketball Podcast with Gary Parrish. We are part of the CBS Sports Podcast Network and College Hoops

20:26is turning toward what's going to be a phenomenal March. So be sure you are tuned into the show. We're going to be publishing at least four shows every week. Follow and listen to Ion College Basketball free on the Odyssey app. Or wherever you get your podcast, March is coming. For more about Marathon, visit flak.com.