Hour 1 - Who Are the Most Vulnerable #1 Seeds?

0:00What's up, it's Dre Mayer Green back for my 14th NBA season and the new season of my podcast, The Dre Mayer Green Show. I'm Filcher Takes, Real Hoop Talk and Big Time Guests. There's no holding back on the court or on the mic. Follow the Dre Mayer Green Show wherever you get your podcast. Go in and to live the thrill of the action. Hey baby, what is going on here? Like a bunch of crazed on. What the hell is going on here? No idea what's going on, but I am excited. Every pick, every play, every game changing moment. This is You Better You Bet. Brought to you by Bed MGM on Westwood One Sports. And it is a great day to be alive on Westwood One Sports.

1:01It's the most wonderful time of the year since half the country still covered in snow. It's okay to sing that. Hi, I'm Chris Mack, Infernic Costos today. On You Better You Bet presented by Bed MGM, Make It Legendary. We are all over Westwood One Sports inside the Westwood One Sports app. Live across North America on Sirius XM channel 375. Hang in with you for the next three hours, getting you ready for the dance, the NCAA tournament we've got so much to talk about. And I heard Nick's show yesterday, most of it anyway. And I thought he did alongside the voice, Tyler Morales, Kenny Anderson, Bill Zimmerman, did a fantastic job breaking down everything region by region. And that's the logical way to do it the day after the brackets come out. And I loved walking through each region, listening to Nick on You Better You Bet yesterday. But we're going to switch up just a little today.

2:04And we're going to categorize things a little differently throughout today's show as we look at the NCAA tournament. We're going to spend some time looking at the powerhouses, the ones and the twos, which ones we trust, which ones we don't. And there are definitely teams on the one and two seed lines that you could easily categorize as, yes, I believe in them. Or no, they are ripe for a fall before the second weekend. We're going to take a look at the Cinderella's. And the way the bracket is set this year, it is really hard to find teams who are, say, an eight seed or worse, who you could see going on a long run in this tournament. Don't forget, before last year's four or one seed's advancing, four previous NCAA tournaments had at least an eight seed or worse going to the final four. Do we see a team like that in this year's field? We'll look at the darlings. Those teams between, say, the three and seven range.

3:06You go, hmm, Fritzky could go on a deep run. We'll look at the players. The names you need to know aside from the usual suspects. Even if you've only been watching college hoops for the last couple of weeks, we will get you ready for all of it. We'll look at the path that's laid out in front of the contenders. Some teams got a better draw than others. A solid bracket put together by the committee. But some teams, they got the path laid out before them. Other teams have got landmines and roadblocks of plenty. And we'll touch on tonight's first four games as well. And tomorrow nights, too. We'll take a look at those. PJ Carly-Samo will join us in the final hour of the show. He'll be calling games alongside Kevin Kugler here on Westwood one in the San Diego pod later this weekend. Our boy Brad Evans, Olas and your. We'll join us, the co-host of Bed MGM tonight. And from gamingjuice.com, he'll be co-hosting Countdown to Tip Off with Nick Costos. This Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern.

4:08He'll join us in about an hour and 15 minutes to give us his perspective on all 60-18s, maybe not all 68. We might not get to all 60-18s. But at least the ones that Brad wants to make sure you know about. I also, in listening to yesterday's show, heard Nick lay out the nostalgia of the NCAA tournament. And before we get to the high five, the biggest stories of the day, right off the top of the show, as I like to do at the beginning of every show here on Westwood one sports, before we get to that, I feel it important for me to get that nostalgia off my chest as well. Because I heard Nick talk about some of his first memories of the NCAA tournament. And I'm just a couple years older than Nicholas. But we have some of those same memories. My first memory of a big march moment is like it is for so many people around our age. It's late-nor, infilly, beating Kentucky.

5:10That is one that I still remember exactly where I was. And how I watched it. Because my mother and I lived in the bottom floor of this duplex. But the living room was massive for some reason. It was the biggest place we'd ever lived in, like 700 square feet or whatever it was. But the living room was massive. And I had this, she let me set up a nerf hoop on one of the walls. And so every weekend, as a kid, while I was watching basketball, whether it be the Jordan Bulls of the 90s against the Knicks, whether it be March Madness, I would sit there and replicate the shots that were being taken. I would dunk up over the back of the couch. I would do all this stupid stuff that kids do when you're watching basketball. And I would try to live out those moments in our living room, of course, that we're playing out in front of me. But late-nor is definitely the first major core memory of March Madness.

6:12And then getting a little older, being in high school, being the guy that ran the bracket pole for a lot of people. And I used to get this little orange envelope with my lunch tickets in it. Yeah, reduced lunch, baby. Let's hear it for the poor kids. I used to get this little orange envelope with my lunch tickets in it at the beginning of every week. And I would use that to hold everybody's money for the bracket pole. And it was just, this is before the internet, kids. Maybe not before the internet, but before smartphones. And so I could not wait for study hall to go down to the library and type in the old www.yahoo or dot AOL or dot ESPN and see what the early scores were as they were playing out. And then get home and just park in front of the TV the rest of the day, those first couple of days of the NCAA tournament. Then nostalgia just washes over you this time of year.

7:15It's why we love the NCAA tournament in March Madness so much. It's why we're going to talk about it all day today here on You Better You Bet 3108404910 to join the conversation 3108404910, a Cinderella you love. A one seed you think is unstoppable. A player that you think carries his team farther than anybody else expects them to go. What do you think 3108404910? You can always jump in the chat on YouTube as well. youtube.com slash at the costos THG KOS TOS. We'll be checking out those comments in just a little bit. We'll be taking your calls as well 3108404910. But as I mentioned, the five biggest stories of the day right off the top. It's time for the high five. Five. They're going to play it out. Bradley. Trying to do it himself. He does. He edits. Those are the moments we live for baby Saturday night.

8:24In the big 12 tournament, Dan Schoelman on the call for ESPN, the Jane Bradley buzzer beater for Arizona over Iowa State. Two teams that you have to really like coming into this tournament. But I think one of them, based on maybe the bracket alone, is bound to go farther than the other. Maybe the team you think may not be, but the bracket, the path laid out in front of these teams, is so incredibly important. And again, I think the committee did a really good job. Maybe a couple of misses here and there. I heard mad dog yesterday losing his mind over St. John's being a five seed. Okay, that's fair, especially in the same region with the team they just spanked a couple nights earlier at the two with Yukon. The bracket has a lot to do with this. And some teams, they've got better paths laid out in front of them than others. Is Iowa State one of those teams?

9:25I don't know, they might face a frisky Santa Clara in the second round. And if they want to go all the way to the final four, they'll have to get through a par-hoss in Michigan, Arizona, what about that path? Talk about frisky, about Utah State, looking to get a little bit of a monkey off their back in the second round. And then you're going to face Arkansas, the round after that. The way that the path lays out for some of these teams. And I just use Arizona and Iowa State as examples after that Jaden Bradley buzzer-beater because it affects so many of these teams and how so many of these regions play out. We'll get into the paths a little bit later in which ones may be easier or more difficult than others. Next, four, it's dropped by fields, and now it looks like Colleen has recovered for

10:26ways to recall from that, and indeed they have. How Michael's on the call on Amazon Prime earlier this year? Justin Fields losing a snap against the Patriots. That's probably not fair because Justin Fields is actually pretty responsible with the football. It is. He makes plays happen with his legs. Okay. But Justin Fields, the Kansas City via trade, is certainly a choice by Brett Vich and the chiefs. It's a decision. I mean, look, you have to have a backup who's capable of starting games, not knowing how my home's his recovery is going to continue through the spring and summer, and whether he's actually going to be ready in week one or not. So you could have done worse than Fields, certainly. But is this the move that if you've got to go with Fields for two or three weeks right

11:27off the top of this season, you're going to feel okay about if you're a chiefs fan? I don't know. It feels to me like another one of those moves that the chiefs make. And in doing so, essentially admit the quiet part out loud, which is. Yeah, we don't know if we're really contenders this year, because if my home's recovery doesn't go well, is Fields going to keep you afloat? We saw him do it for the Steelers a couple of years ago. I will grant him that, but that was with a really strong defense on the other side of the ball, a really good run game. And O.C. who helped him manage things, Arthur Smith, the King of just managing things. If he has to do more in Kansas City, then just turn around and hand it off to Kenneth Walker 20 times the first few weeks of the year. Is that enough for the chiefs to survive if they have to multiple weeks without Patrick

12:32Mahomes? Certainly, certainly a decision. Next. Three. To Perdomal. My God, Mason Miller. Closing out the Dominican Republic. Say what you will about where the pitch landed. No ABS in the WBC. My bad. Sorry. D.R. Fox. With the sound there of the final out of the WBC semi-final. Mason Miller in that 102 mile an hour fastball in all likelihood, not available tonight in the final against Venezuela. And herein lies the rub, the only problem I have with the world baseball classic, the only problem I have because it's been fantastic for two weeks. And it may have peaked the other night in the U.S. D.R. game. I don't know if we'll reach the same level of energy tonight.

13:34The Venezuelan fans brought it last night in Miami. But herein lies the only problem I have with the WBC. And that's that it takes place at a time of year where pitch counts are so limited. Outings are so limited that we're now down to the final. The championship game of the WBC. And we're not quite sure who can pitch in for how long. And there's no schemes. There's no scooble. There's maybe no Mason Miller. I get it. If I were Craig Stamman, the Padres manager, I'd be on the horn to mark the Rosa too saying, I don't know, it'd probably come up with some sort of excuse like Mark. I think you may have been eliminated already. And who knows, Derosa may buy it because I don't know how much he pays attention to that stop. Sorry, Mark. Great dude. He's never going to live that one down. But I would be on the horn to Derosa saying, hey, Mason's not going tonight, right? Because I need him at least 60 times in the next six months.

14:35I'm going to need him to close out every single win. I need him to close out. I need him a lot this summer in San Diego. Please do not roll him back out there tonight. If that's the case, and you don't have the biggest names, the biggest arms in particular on the biggest stage in the final game of the WBC, I don't know if there's a way to fix it. So maybe I'm just sitting here shaking my fist at a cloud that will never actually move out of the way. But it's my only beef. My only beef at the WBC is that we play it at a time of year where we can't have all the big names, at least as far as pitching goes, involved as much as we'd like to have them involved. Don't worry. There's more college hoops coming, but next. Two. Gotcha. Three. Got it. He's on the ground. Now he's got to get back defensively. Luca again sports net LA on the call.

15:38Man, here they come. Here they come. And for everybody that gets tired of hearing about the Lakers, my apologies. I'm sorry, but we got to talk about the Lakers. Six in a row now. They are humming. And not only are they humming, but they're doing it against teams that they're battling in the standings with. They're in that middle pack of the Western conference. Minnesota. Denver on a buzzer beat or the other night. And now Houston last night. And shutting down Durant in the second half of that game as well. The story in the West. Let's let's be clear. I do not want to be one of those people. That ignores the fact that OKC and San Antonio are the two best teams in the West. And that the Thunder are doing their damnedest to hold off Wembee in the spurs right now. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to want to do not want to be one of those talking heads that sits here and talks about how. Well, it's better for the NBA if they have the Lakers in the finals instead of the Thunder or the Spurs.

16:42No, the Thunder and the Spurs are better teams. And it will be more fun to watch against whoever comes out of the East than the Lakers would be. But damn, it's just a little bit more fun when the Lakers are worth talking about and they're worth talking about right now. Again, six wins in a row. And Luca has averaged 38 a game during that run. These are Luca's Lakers now. And whether you like Luca and the way he plays and how much he winds and how much he cries and everything else that comes with Luca. You got to be ready to admit the fact that if the Lakers are the hottest team going into the playoffs in the Western Conference. Then you may get exactly what Adam Silver wants, exactly what the networks want. And you may get the Lakers going on a run to the Western Conference finals and maybe even beyond. I know we got four weeks until the playoffs start. But Luca and the Lakers, they're worth talking about right now. Next. One.

17:42Swing it outside Johnson, six seconds left. Cato, little shaken bait winding down. Wonderful. Oh, yeah. Yaxl, Michigan. Yaxl, Lendaborg with the winner against Wisconsin in the big 10 tournament before they fell to Purdue. Called by Ion Eagle on CBS. This tournament is also as much as it's about your expectations for teams based on their seed line. And as much as it's about the path laid out in front of each team, it's about the players. It's about the names that again, if you're not a hardcore college basketball fan like our guys Tyler and Kenny. If you're not locked in on things in November and December, which is okay. I'm not going to hold that against you. And one of those people who comes to the table in late February, early March and jumps on the college basketball train as it's pulling out of the station towards March madness.

18:46I'm totally cool with that. But these are the names that you will not just learn or have learned over the last couple of weeks, but that will drive their teams toward their eventual destination. And Lendaborg is the one for me that I look at. I go. Michigan was the most dominant team in college basketball for what two and a half months during this regular season, three months. He's the guy getting hot at just the right time with the team who I don't want to say coasted to the finish line. They kind of coasted to the finish line. Saving themselves for the dance. He is the guy I have an eye on now. There are other ones worth talking about. And in about an hour and 20 minutes, we'll dive into some of the names you need to know aside from the usual suspects. Aside from say the boozers and the heats the names that you already know.

19:54Some of the other names you want to keep an eye on as the tournament really gets going. Man, it is so good to be in here today. The Tuesday of the first week of the NCAA tournament. I didn't even mention AJ DeBanza and Darren Peterson. Did you notice that? Was that on purpose? Am I dropping a little breadcrumb for you to follow through the rest of the show? Maybe. Maybe not. But we have got so much college hoops to talk today as we get ready for the first four tonight. And then the official. I don't care what anybody says. The official kick off of the NCAA tournament Thursday, just afternoon. Eastern. It is a glorious time of year. The most wonderful time of the year. I can't promise that'll be the last time I sing today. I can promise that we are going to get you ready for your brackets. If you have not completely filled them out yet. If you still got blank lines that need to be written in. If you've still got question marks, we start to go in on all of it by looking at the power houses.

20:58The ones in the twos. Which ones live up to expectations? And which ones collapse? Maybe not even making it to the second weekend. We do that next right here on You Better You Bet on Westwood One Sports. A great to miss a tournament game because of conflicts. Don't threat. You can listen to every March madness matchup on the Westwood One Sports app. Download it now from your home of the NCAA tournament. Westwood One Sports. At Navy Federal, we're a trusted partner of the military community. And we're here to guide you through these uncertain times. Help you diversify your portfolio and take control of your finances. We offer a 13 month special certificate with a rate more than double the national average. And members can access financial advisors from one of America's best financial advisory firms awarded by USA Today. Learn more at NavyFederal.org slash save more. Navy Federal Credit Union. Our members are the mission. Saving products insured by NCAA investment products are not insured, not obligations of Navy Federal and Navy lose value. It's game day.

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25:05Duke locking up the ACC Tournament Championship the other night on ESPN. Welcome back in to you better you bet. Chris Mack in for Nick Costos today. He will be back tomorrow and for the rest of the week, including Saturday morning when he and Brad Evans will be hosting a special two-hour edition of countdown to tip off. Here on Westwood One Sports inside your Westwood One Sports app live across North America. On serious XM channel 375, Brad will join us in a little less than an hour right around 10-20 am Eastern time 720 Pacific here on Westwood One Sports. Duke, the number one overall seed in this tournament and I told you at the beginning of the show, rather than go through region by region, which Nick did a fantastic job of yesterday. And I'm not going to try to replicate for many reasons, including the fact that you already heard Nick do that yesterday. I thought we would take different perspectives on the tournament today as we get you ready for it.

26:07And yes, we will touch on the first four games in Dayton, tonight and tomorrow night, a little bit later in the show. PJ Carlysemo is going to be calling the games in San Diego this weekend alongside Kevin Kugler. Here on Westwood One, we'll join us in the final hour as well. But I want to take a look at the paths that are laid out in front of some of these teams. The players that you need to know, aside from the big names that you may already know. The darlings, the teams and say that three to six, three to six, three, seven range that you go, okay, if they get hot and things fall the right way, they could see themselves in the final four. The Cinderella's, anybody say eight or worse on the seed line? Because we've seen that happen four out of the last five years and eight seed or worse find their way to the final four. But I want to start with the powerhouses because this feels like based on the bracket and the way we've seen things play out over the last month or so, like a top heavy year.

27:07Like the ones are clearly delineated from everybody else. But I'll include the ones and the twos for the sake of this conversation about the powerhouses. Duke, Arizona, Florida, Michigan, the ones obviously. The twos, Yukon, Purdue, Houston, Iowa State. And which of these teams do we believe in? And we believe they can not just make a run, they can maybe win it all. And which of these teams do we look at and say, no, they are right for a fall, maybe even before the end of the first weekend. And who better to bring in? I heard them chomping at the bait yesterday to talk to Nick about the brackets. And I know they've got more spicy hot takes. Chalula hot takes about what we're going to see play out in the bracket over the next couple of weeks. So our technical director Tyler Morales and our engineer board op Kenny Henderson are both going to chime in here as well.

28:07I want to start though guys with what I believe is a team, a couple of teams really take very seriously. And the region where I believe more in the one and two than any other region as a combined pair is the Midwest. You've got Michigan as the one seed Iowa State as the two seed Michigan has one of the probably two or three hottest players at all of college basketball right now. We heard yaxle lend aboard earlier with the big shot over Wisconsin to move on to the big 10 championship the other night. They're out shooting opponents at the rim by 15% 65 to 50 Iowa State. They're unstoppable when they win the turnover battle, which has been an obstacle for them at times. But they should do against everyone in this region not named Wolverines. Josh Wood Jefferson doing everything. Lipsy handling the pressure on the perimeter. And Montelevich just draining threes at a ridiculous clip. There is no region where I'm more confident to both the one and the two will be in the elite eight Tyler than in the Midwest, which ones and twos are you most believing in going into this thing?

29:18So the ones I believe in that I believe in the most are to me they're pretty obvious it's Arizona Michigan Duke in a floor that I have questions on. I've questioned on those team long term, but we'll get to them to me Arizona's the best team in the country. I've kind of been saying this off the air a few times. They're kind of like a Euro league team like all five guys are professionals some guys play professional in Europe. And now in college basketball you can do that you can have you can take pros and put them on your team. Brain Burries co-IP they're going to be first round picks. It's like if you took a Euro league team and just like dumped them into a college basketball arena like that's what kind of Arizona is. And I know people are worried about Tommy Lloyd his tournament success, which is awful. We can't even we can't go around that's terrible, but I love Arizona to me the best team and Michigan's the second best team. You can't discredit what they did in the non conference. They have seven wins over 40 points like no matter how they finish the season. You have to take that for what it is. So Arizona Michigan and those are the two best teams for me. The other ones see that we have questions on, but we'll talk about that later. I think Arizona's the national champion there. The number one team for me. Arizona a lot of love for the wild cats, Kenny. Are you in the same boat with them?

30:19Yeah, and I think Tyler can attest this. I was I was on Arizona first. I've been saying for over a month. I think Arizona is going to win it at all. It feels like a lot of people have joined the bandwagon, including Tyler. So we're not alone and I'm a little worried, but we'll see how it ends up. I'm not I'm sticking with them. I'm not going to go away from Arizona as trendy as they they have been. But I love that take Chris that you have that you think Michigan and Iowa state are meeting up in the lead eight. That's probably one of my strongest takes of this tournament. I think they're on a collision course in the Midwest to meet in Chicago in the elite eight. And I do think that's the matchup we get, but I'm going to ride with the clones that Iowa state's been a team. I think I said on the show a few months ago or probably a month ago that I think Iowa state's going to make their first final four in program history. I'm not backing off that I think if they get the opportunity against Michigan. I do like Iowa states guard play better than Michigan's. And I think if Montchila Vitch is going to play the way he did against Arizona state and he can't miss. I don't think the clones are going to blow that opportunity to make their first final four. So I'm Arizona and Iowa state of the two top teams that I'm all in on this March.

31:22Imagine the five in the United Center if you get Michigan against Iowa state. Obviously there's a ton of Wolverine alumni in the Chicago land area and Iowa states what a five hour drive away. It would be absolutely incredible to see those two meet up. And I think like you just said there Kenny, they are they are on a collision course. Our executive producer Bill Zimmerman jumping in the chat to chime in on what Bayhimes philosophy. Of course you have to bring up Bayhimes Syracuse guy. Bring up Jim Bayhimes philosophy on the tournament. Yeah. You got to win sort of three little mini 14 tournaments was Bayhimes philosophy, right Bill? Yeah, correct. He says you can't tell your players. All right, we got to go out there and win six games in a row. It's never going to happen. So it's you have a four team tournament that you're playing Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. You know, it's Thursday Sunday, Thursday, Saturday, Friday, Sunday. You just got to win two games. You're playing four teams, one little tournament and you advance to the next weekend. Same thing.

32:22Four team tournament. You got to win two games. Then advance to the next weekend. Four team tournament. You got to win two games. Obviously the competition keeps getting stiffer. But the idea of trying to convince your players that all right, we got to go out there. We have to win six games in a row. It's, he goes, it's tough for like 19, 20 year olds to navigate that way. I feel like Tommy Lloyd and some of these guys that don't have success don't look at it the right way. I think you got to compartmentalize it for your players. Yeah, I think that's a great way to look at it, eating the elephant one bite at a time, right? Like that's, you compartmentalize each weekend into its own little experience. And before you know it, you look up and maybe you're in the final four. And you mentioned Tommy Lloyd. It's why I, Tommy Lloyd is not the only reason I have my concerns about Arizona. And look, it would be really easy to just throw out Yukon and talk about them spiraling the drain since the calendar flipped to March. It would be really easy to maybe talk about Kansas and how they've been questionable all year. The big boy that I have questions about. And it's not just to be contrarian because everybody else is all over them.

33:22And they are, they're crazy talented. I have my worries about Arizona. And it's not just the Tommy Lloyd thing. And yes, they are crazy talented. Tyler, Kenny, you bring up great points. Bradley, Pete, Burries, they can buy, they shoot like 50% from the field combined. They lead the way. But here's my question. And it's question I have for every team, especially those top teams in the big 12. When you get to March, where are the three is going to come from? Where's the perimeter shooting going to come from? That's what wins in March. And there are 67 other teams in this tournament that average more made threes per game than Arizona. That's why I'm out on Arizona as a final 14. And I'll get to how I see them maybe falling a little bit later. But Arizona, they're the big boy that I look at with the most concern, Tyler. Yeah, the team. I disagree with you on Arizona on obviously because I really like them. But Duke is to me as like the one team that I can't get behind right now. And obviously the injuries to Caleb Foster and Patrick Gumbah.

34:24Gumbah should come back, which to me is like the bigger problem for them. They need him back. Yeah. King Booser can do it. Caleb Foster then. But I keep this. So yesterday I was out the nick. I was like Duke's going to win. Duke's going to march to that region. The more and more I think about it, the way they're set up. They have one shooter Isaiah Evans. They have one guy. Cam Booser who dominates the pains. Basically college basketball in the colioca. Like if Booser ever goes in the foul trouble or they're not shooting well to me, they're very vulnerable. I made a we'll talk about this down the line. I kind of made a crazy bet in this region for a team to win the region. But I'll just say right now, Duke's to me is more vulnerable. I think they got put in a bad situation or I completely flipped him yesterday. I thought this was a region they should walk through. Now looking back on it, I don't I think they're going to have a ton of trouble. And there's a ton of teams that match up pretty well with them. And maybe there's a team in red that I really like to beat Duke later on this region. Interesting. I can probably have an idea about who that team is. Kenny, I know Nick waxed poetic about this East region yesterday. And as I was listening to him talk about it, he's right. Like I said, John Roy. Oh, but then you do have those two teams in Kansas and Yukon in particular.

35:27I'm like, come on. Now off year for those two teams, I get it. All the names are there. But I don't see this region being as difficult to march through as maybe some people think it is. Can Duke do it? I don't see this region being as difficult to march through as maybe some people think it is. Can Duke do it? Yeah, I'm starting to think it's just Duke and they're going to like get past the injury issues. Because Gangba should be back. Caleb Foster, like Tyler said, you know, Kate and Boos are stepped up. So how much of these injuries really going to matter for me? It's hard to pick a team because I'm not high on any of these teams. I think Duke is obviously Duke, but there's the injury concern. You look at Yukon. They have not played well down the stretch at all. Michigan State was my pick yesterday on the show. And the more I think about it, the more I hate it. But I like that they're not trendy. I like that nobody's picking them. The only person I saw picked them to go to the final four was Seth Greenberg.

36:28So I mean, I think Michigan State, the way that is oh, I know that he hasn't been the best recently in March. But it's people say January February is oh for a reason. So I think that Michigan State has an outside chance, especially with the draw that they have. We'll talk about draws later. I thought they got a really good draw. And then you look at Kansas and St. John's. That's a potential second round matchup. One of those teams will be gone after the first weekend. So I mean, I look at this East region. It's hard for me to not just say it's going to be Duke. And then I look at Michigan State on the bottom. I would like them in a sweet 16 matchup over Yukon. So for my teams that are vulnerable, Duke and Yukon in this region. And then I was going to mention Purdue and Florida. I think Florida, if their guard place slips up, even as early as the second round matchup. And Bennett Sturts goes for like 35 or 40. I saw John Fanta our guy call someone crazy for this take yesterday. But I'm kind of with them. I think I could upset Purdue or not Purdue Florida in the second round. Yeah, I heard you guys talk about Florida a good bit yesterday.

37:29And Fanta is going to be on the show tomorrow, I believe, right, Bill? So maybe you guys can confront him about this when Nick is back tomorrow. I'm still on Florida. I know that maybe we got a little too hot on them. When they were riding that winning streak and the SEC tournament didn't look great. I think maybe people are putting a little too much weight on the Vandy game. And yes, that is the prescription for beating the Gators, what we saw from Vandy. I don't know if it's necessarily that easy to replicate. Maybe Vandy gets another chance to do so in the sweet 16 where they're lined up to meet each other. But we've got ones and twos we believe in and we've got ones and twos we've got big question marks about. What about the Cinderella's, the teams on the higher seed line say eight or worse. Who do we try to slide that glass slipper on to? Is there anybody that we look at that we think can make a run to the final four from one of those higher seed lines? We'll get into the possible Cinderella's next right here on you better you bet on Westwood one sports.

38:33We are your official home of the NCAA tournament. Listen to every free, every dunk and every buzzer beater. Download the free Westwood one sports app now and catch every second of March that this Westwood one sports. Indeed presents hires you can't afford to get wrong like a warehouse operations manager. Uh, where are the forklifts sold them to expensive we're using scooters now. So you expect us to move a two ton palette on a scooter just lean into it put your back into it people. This is your job for sponsoring cars. This is what happens when you don't sponsor your job on indeed next time get matched with quality candidates with indeed sponsor jobs. Visit indeed.com slash hire now and sponsor your job today. Download to see if you qualify not all customers will qualify transfer fees may apply. No Albert subscription required Albert is not a bank Albert instant loans are issued by finwise bank member FDIC. Not an actual client terms apply Kylie what's wrong. I just got hit with a car repair bill and behind on rent and I feel like I can never save any money.

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40:39Simply free is available to a limited number of taxpayers with age, income, credit and deduction restrictions. See taxlayer.com for eligibility requirements. Some days your brain feels sharp. Other days not so much. Try host defense lions made mushroom mycelium supplements made to boost memory, focus and clarity. There's a reason we call lions made the smart mushroom. Developed by renowned mycologist Paul Stamets and backed by 40 plus years of research their vegan gluten free and grown in Washington state. Visit hostdefense.com for next level clarity. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Hey there I'm Kendra Adachi and my show The Lazy Genius Podcast helps you be a genius about the things that matter and lazy about the things that don't and you get to decide what matters. I'm not here to tell you what to do. I'm here to give you a new way to see. Episodes of The Lazy Genius Podcast are full of compassionate time management tips and permission slips to do what makes sense for you.

41:40New episodes drop every Monday. Follow and listen to The Lazy Genius Podcast on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to You Better You Bet on Westwood One's Boards. It is glorious. Just absolutely glorious. That's a bracket friends. That right there. I'm holding it up for those of you watching on YouTube YouTube.com slash at the costos. If you don't jump in the chat there and give feedback on what we've talked about so far involving the powerhouses, the one and two seeds we either believe in or have reservations about.

42:43That is a bracket. I've got mine filled out and ready to go. Where's yours at for 310 840 4910 310 840 4910 for you to chime in. We're going to get to the Cinderella's in just a moment. This segment sponsored by progressive insurance. Save on commercial auto insurance from progressive. Get a fast quote at progressive commercial dot com. You're going to be in for Nick Costos today here on You Better You Bet Brad Evans of Bet MGM tonight. Going to join us in about 35 minutes or so and PJ Carlisama later in the final hour of the show here as we're live across North America on Serious XM Channel 375. I'm classifying Cinderella's in this instance as anybody as an eight seed or worse because four out of the last five tournaments. We've had an eight seed or worse find their way to the final four last year obviously being the exception with all four one seeds arriving at the final four.

43:43This year feels like it very likely could be an exception as well because the top of the bracket is just so stacked in each region. I'm going to be that guy. I am going to be that doofus that looks at the win loss record and tells you Miami of Ohio can go on a run and maybe I'm the dummy. That's fine. Maybe they'll lose tomorrow and not even get to the official first round of the NCAA tournament. But I don't think so. Second in the nation in two point field goal percentage during the regular season just outside the top 20 in three point field goal percentage during the regular season. And a turnover rate of just 14 and a half percent. I think they can not only beat SMU I think they can beat Rick Barnes and the balls Rick Barnes falling in an early round. No, we've never seen that happen before and I think they could even put a scare in Virginia and maybe even go to the sweet 16 so Miami of Ohio is my Cinderella.

44:47I don't have them go into the final four. I don't have anybody lower than a three seed going to the final four and just one of them. I don't even have anybody lower than a four getting to the sweet 16 or excuse me to the elite eight. But I do have Miami of Ohio going to the sweet 16. I'll bring in Kenny and Tyler again. Who are your Cinderella's Kenny? Do you have any peg that you think could go on a deep run? Well, I do have a number of teams that are like 11 and under that I think are going to win at least a game. I know Tyler's going to touch more on it, but I think South Florida beats a Louisville. I think VCU beats Illinois, but I actually have one eight or lower only going to at least the sweet 16. I have none in the final four or even the lead eight in that team. I kind of hinted at earlier was Iowa. I have them shockingly beating Florida in the second round. I just think that Bennett starts is going to go off and become a March legend. Obviously, they're going to have issues with Florida size, but I think if Florida goes cold from outside,

45:47I think Iowa can easily catch up and I have Iowa going to the sweet 16 play in Vanderbilt. I've heard lots of love for South Florida on the show in the last 24 hours. Tyler, why is that? Yeah, I didn't realize how trendy this was going to be. I came into the show yesterday and was like, I got a take. No one's going to have. No, but apparently everyone loves South Florida as well. This is why I think people like them. Their head coach Brian Hodgson is going to get a power five job next year probably. He's turned, he's turned Arkansas state around. Now one year he's turned to South Florida into a, into a tournament team. They have one of the better big man point guard combinations in the country. Isaiah Nelson is their big. He came from, he came from Arkansas state with Brian Hodgson. He won AAC Player of the Year, AAC Defensive Player of the Year. He was first team on all conferences. He's a monster. And they have a division two transfer West end is who's a combo guard. He scores. I think you have like 17 points of game. So if you have an tournament, you're an underdog team with a really good big in a point guard. Like that's going to help a ton and their coach's really well. And also for Louisville, the who they're playing in the first round.

46:48Like we don't know if Michael Brown's playing. He's by far their best player. He's a top 10 pick in the draft. We don't know if he's playing. And also with him, I don't really like this Louisville team to begin with. I'm going to take me, I'm going to get an 11 C with a good coach team, a good big, a good point guard. And they're super athletic and they play fast too. They're one of the fastest teams in the country. To me, USF's, I think they'll be at Louisville. I already bet them. I think there's a chance they beat Michigan State in the second round as well, which could get a little wild. I have USF going into my sweet 16 maybe lead eight. So USF's team I really like in this in this in this tournament. And here's one team that I haven't heard anyone talk about. This isn't going to make any happy because he loves the team that I think they're going to be. I kind of like high point in the first round against Wisconsin. I understand Wisconsin was playing really well to end the conference tournament. They were there awesome. Their point guard Blackwell and Nick Boyd are phenomenal Nick Boyd has an tournament experience. But high point to me is like, like a almost like a mid major version of Wisconsin. They kind of match up like I'm honestly like almost the same. And the one reason I like high point, they're not good defensively at all.

47:50They're not at all good defensively, but the one thing they do do is they're really good at causing turnovers. And they're really good at defending the three Wisconsin plays like a chaotic brand of basketball sometimes. And they can defend Blackwell and Nick Boyd from going off in three point arc. I like them with ton there. They play it. They play really fast too. And they shoot a ton of threes. So I like high point to keep the game close. I also think Wisconsin is like not a great five seat. I know how they ended the year, but they seem super they seem kind of vulnerable to me. I think they match in high point matches up perfectly. So USF and then high point to win around one, maybe even be the winner of Arkansas, Hawaii. So those are two Sunday relatives that I like. Yeah, I heard Joey Canis drop the South Florida take yesterday on the show as well. Having them all the way to the elite eight, at least having a bet on it given that it's as long a number as it is. Wisconsin high point is definitely one of those five 12s. I think a lot of people will pause before they write in an ink and submit their bracket to whatever polls they're putting it in. I have Wisconsin winning, but you make a great case for how high point can beat Wisconsin Tyler.

48:50And I think if nothing else, the total on that game should be like 170. It should be ridiculous. Whatever it is, we should just take the over because there is going to be a ton of offense in that game. So Wisconsin high point is definitely one. If you're looking for one of those five 12s, Texas tech, Akron. I that's probably those are probably the two on that side of the bracket, the five 12s that I would eye up. I'm not exactly racing to bet Northern Iowa over St. John's. I know Tyler definitely isn't. I'm not betting me over Vandy. I know Kenny isn't some five seed love from each of those two guys there as well. We're breaking it down differently today's bracket. We're rather than going region by region. We're going sort of perspective by perspective for lack of a better way to put it. We broken down the big boys, the powerhouses, the ones and the twos. We broken down the Cinderella's say the eight or worse seeds that we think could make runs. And we've given you some suggestions high point as a 12 seed VCU is an 11 seed.

49:54Kenny, I know you didn't say they were going to beat Illinois. That would be crazy, but they can definitely beat UNC with you on that one. South Florida as an 11 in that East region that many people think is just totally stacked up. Whatever you're doing, it's time to get ready with bed MGM. The Cavanaugh twins are facing off in the court of legends game. And you can enter our pick a twin to win free to play game for a chance to win a share of $2 million in bonus bets. Opt in to pick a twin to win free to play games, select which Cavanaugh twin you think will win the court of legends. One-on-one basketball game hosted at the bank at Bellagio in Vegas. If the twin you select wins the game, you'll win a share of $2 million in bonus bets. Download that bed MGM app today, log in and get ready to make it legendary. Coming up, we talked high seeds, we talked low seeds. What about that mushy middle? The darlings we might have somewhere between say the three and seven seed range. We'll dive into that pool of teams next right here on You Better You Bet on Westwood One Sports.

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