The Herd with Colin CowherdColin looks at the first weekend of the NCAA men's basketball tournament and why no Cinderella teams advancing to the Sweet 16 is a good thing
Thoughts on UCONN losing to Florida
Guest: Bruce Pearl
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Oh it is a Monday. Sixteen teams left in college basketball, and yeah I got fifteen of them. I don't know what happened to jmax bracket, but Captain Chalk is omn' baby. Oh wow. Yeah, John Calipari did me wrong, Bettino? Uh, you know that was the one I lost on Bill Simmons one hour from now. There's a new Celtic series on HBO Max, which the staff's all into. I'm starting it this week. It's supposed to be great. Colin Wright, Colin wrong. So Jmax spends all year, you know, on this college basketball stuff. I'm a casual, but I've always believed in just the committee mostly gets it right, and well, they've done pretty well, so it's fascinating. The ratings are in for the first weekend viewership for the first day all time high By the way, there are no have nots. It's all power conference teams in the sweet sixteen. So remember the nil. Everybody's terrified with the niil nil is actually actually great for college basketball because it keeps some of the better players in college for another year, like a Zach Edy, and then the big brands can cherry pick mid major teams that nobody watches on television and get better faster. Everybody thought the NIL gonna help the little guy, Maybe now made the rich Richard. Yes, America likes to watch Duke Kentucky, Kansas, Michigan State, Arizona more than Drexel, Lipscomb and Wofford. Who knew but college basketball die hards through years, and they love the sport and that's great, and it probably it's a little bit like, Hey, I bought the iPhone first, or I knew this band before you did, and I know more about college basketball. Those days look like they're over. The mid majors may have an NBA player that Kentucky goes and grabs him, Arizona goes and grabs him, and so the mid majors listen. The rest of us common people don't watch a lot of Missouri Valley basketball. I've never said to my wife, honey, let's go out badally keyante, little Italian romantic dinner. And she turned me and went, now, honey, you let's stay home and watch Murray State. Most people don't watch it. They watch the big brands. And eventually all these upsets they're ratings killers because you end up with McNee state in the next game. So people say a lot of things. I love upsets. People do simple things. They don't watch the next game after an upset. So this is why, by the way, the movies that are flourishing in Hollywood, big stars stay away from politics, action films. Why are the oscars dying too much politics? They don't acknowledge Tom Cruise and they talk about movies nobody watches stay on the big brands. This is not Copenhagen. People don't ride around on bikes all day, have a second lunch, a siesta. We'll get to it tomorrow. We're busy, we're distracted. You gotta give us familiar laundry. And so Duke gets a huge rating. I probably made a mistake in my bracket. My dark horse was number four, Arizona. I don't know how long they're gonna last lucky. Oregon missed a lot of free throws last night. But Duke elicits a feeling. Whatever that feeling is outside of the NFL, baseball, hockey, basketball, college or pro WNBA. Look at the WNBA ratings. Why Caitlin Clark Angel Reese. Angel Reese is a part of that? Now, Caitlin's the bigger part. But there's a there's a there's a villain here, a push and a pull. It's burden magic, it's coastal and And so to me, folks, we're distracted. We got to know the laundry. You got to give us big brands, you know, I mean, we're politics distract us. Movies, options, beaches, mountains, pro sports. Canada doesn't have our labyrinth of college options. They're watching their hockey. That's what they're watching. This weekend, the Dodgers Angels was on and I'm sitting there watching it, and by about the third inning, I'm like, wait a minute, this is back to being an exhibition game at Dodger Stadium. Looked kind of full in the lower section. I thought, this is kind of a weird opening game against intern league play. I don't really get it. And then I remembered some of the starters are playing. We got so many games on TV. You got to give us the big stuff. Mid majors seea big brand, stronger than ever. It's good for college basketball, all right. So the first round of the NFL Draft, I think it's officially like a month away as of today or yesterday. And it's not a particularly strong draft. It's not a great quarterback draft. But the last couple of years there have been an abundance of Michigan Wolverine speaking of big brands in the first round. So this year they got a tight end, a corner, and two defensive tackles could all go in the first round, and the Pittsburgh Steelers could use some of those players. But the Pittsburgh Steelers staff skipped the Michigan Pro Day. That's a big deal. They all skipped it to stay home and interview Aaron Rodgers and try to talk him into becoming a Steeler. And he went and he interviewed, and he left and there's no contract. So and I'll say this, if you do not take quarterback seriously, like Pete Carolyn Seattle, Gino's good enough, not really with that rostery, not Sam How's good enough? Ron Rivera, not really, Mason Rudolph good enough? Not really. This is Pittsburgh's fault. And by the way, I really do wonder what Aaron's thinking because the Steelers offensive line was bad and then they lost their left tackle and Nausee Harris, who came out this weekend and said, yeah, Pittsburgh's offense, it's frustrating, there's no identity. They also lead the league again in defensive spending, and they spend one hundred and fifty million on DK Metcalf. So they have two needy, combustible wide receivers who sort of have the same game bolts want the ball, and they have no quarterback. So I'm sitting there and I'm thinking to myself over the weekend, there's a reason Aaron Rodgers was waiting and waiting. He wanted Minnesota. Excellent offensive coach, superstar wide receiver who doesn't complain much, upgraded their offensive line very well. In free agency. Aaron wanted to go to Minnesota, knew the division closer to Malibu, closer to home. He wanted to go to Minnesota. And what he's doing, He's treating the Steelers like they need him more than he needs them. And Aaron Rodgers is right. I looked it up this morning. Even with California, Texas, He's got a networth probably a three hundred million dollars first ballot Hall of Famer, forty one year old guy with a lot of interests. I've said this before. Minnesota I would have stuck around for Giants was interesting because of the coach and left tackling weapon. I think Pittsburgh is fool's gold for a quarterback. Go as Russell Wilson, it was a mess by the end of the year. Go as Mason Rudolph Old big Ben. It's fools gold. The Steelers are twenty ninth in touchdown passes with a variety of quarterbacks since twenty twenty one. Think about this, that's fewer than the Patriots, the Raiders, and the Bears. I mean, come on, now, we're getting into Carolina categories. So I think Aaron Rodgers, if he signs anywhere, it will be Pittsburgh. But I think there's a reason people wait to take a job offer because they have questions. It could be my kids, it could be your kids, it could be you, It could be Aaron Rodgers. He's sitting around. He's like their offensive lines of mess and they may have just lost their best offensive lineman and their best running back. And I met with a coordinator He's fine, not special. It's a defensive culture, tone, deft offense, and two wide receivers that are talented, but both want the ball and both have proven to be combustible. So in this instance, I think Aaron's on the right side. I think you wanted to go to Minnesota. He would consider San Francisco if the brock Pretty thing didn't work. I think he wants to keep his options out there. I don't think that's necessarily a bad plan. But just to give you sins, Pittsburgh kept all their staff home instead of going to the Michigan Wolverine Pro Day, and they have four first rounders and they could certainly use some help. So that's where we stand today. J mcbill Simmons in one hour, Colin right, Colin wrong. You know, people said there weren't a lot of upsets and it was a boring tournament. But I will say this that I thought, I mean, I guess Arkansas beating Saint John's is an upset, but Arkansas got off to a really bad start this year with Calipari. If it's a new coach, new staff, new players. They played very well at the end of the year, so it's not a huge upset. The SEC is so stacked that Arkansas in the middle of the pack is actually a team capable of getting to the Elite eight.
Yeah, they worried me.
Man, that's a that's a pretty damn good team. I will say, I like your flex to start the show. Fifteen and sixteen Sweet sixteen teams, well done. But Colin your take on the transfer portal?
Nil?
Don't you think it's kind of killed Cinderella. I mean, if you're good at a small school for one year, you're gone. The big guys are gobbling truck. There will not be another Steph Curry in college basketball. That's not happening. The Davidson thing, yeah, the FAU those runs are done.
That's right.
As soon as you're.
Good your game, you can win a game, maybe get lucky in two. But I would argue when I say Cinderella, it's a myth. It never existed. Well, Villanova beat Georgetown, No, that's right in my wheelhouse. They were a tough matchup for Georgetown. Roley Masamino, who I covered in Vegas, told me, he goes, we were We didn't want anything to do with Saint John's. We didn't match up with him. We played them twice in the Big East and they crushed us.
They had a couple of pros on that Villanova team.
That's what I'm saying. That's considered the all time Cinderella role. Masamino told me when I used to host his coach I hosted his coaches show in Vegas, he goes, we love Georgetown. They were physical, We had an NBA center and n Pigney. We could slow it down. I thought I could go to Totoe of John Thompson. We had no fear of Georgetown. Saint John's crushed us. So that's considered all the Villanova Villanova.
Had pro Those are Big East schools. I'm talking like a George Mason. Remember when they made the run of the Final four. Yeah, that ain't happening Visa.
By the way, those things are a Naska sports fan and named three players on George Mason. So that this idea that we watched for for Cinderella. No CBS and TNT CBS has done a great job to sell that mythology, but it's untrue.
And what do we see all weekend?
The McNee State team, they get one win in the tournament, and it was like, oh my gosh, McNee States, their manager, all this stuff, and then poof, it's gone and they're done remembered.
So last week, everybody, everybody was on you see San Diego beating Michigan. So I watched Michigan the week before play you know, big ten games. I'm like, Michigan's got like two seven footers. You see, San Diego is not going to be able to just gonna dump the ball low, dominate the glass. So there'll still be upsets, but there have never been as many. There was a Shaka Smart was at VCU team. Again, you get a hot coach, a hot team, they get kind of a friendly bracket. But this idea that's why we watch. It's not. That's not why we watch. We watched for the Michigans and Dukes and Carolina, and I mean last night I'm watching or in Arizona. By the way, I watched. I watched the entire Yukon Florida game. You know why freak game because it had a bunch of NBA players and great coaches, and it was by the way, I thought Yukon out played them, but then Florida dominates the last three minutes, makes all the big plays. Yeah, but the reason Yukon and Florida was so good and the reason we love college football because Yukon Florida looked a little bit like NBA basketball. You had shot makers and size and physicality. And so again, there are just things we people say, I'm gonna work out, I'm gonna lose twenty pounds. Maybe with ozempic you will, but you never lost it at the gym. People say a lot of things, but they do very predictable things. And we don't watch Missouri Valley Conference basketball and we don't watch March Madness because of that.
We like dominant teams. Who's winning around sports? Boston Celtics absolutely loaded, Philadelphia Eagles stacked team, all like the great teams are dominating right now, You're not really seeing these major upsets in sports at all.
Right now.
All you can hope for if you're a bad franchise the Indiana fever is that you land Caitlin Clark. There you go, Yeah, I mean, that's truly it. Or if you're Oklahoma City. In a small market, you get SG.
But La Dodgers spend the most money win the World Series.
Gates upset with it. This is wrong with sports. Yankees Dodgers went through the roof ratings wise. So the more social platforms we have, the busier we get, the more distracted we get. I mean, I say this about streaming. I watch Netflix. You know the first thing I go to out of the football season, the big dogs. It's done to gets Zulu, HBO, Max will give them love today. I watch stuff on that Apple TV. But it's even with streaming, I just go right to the big brands that I've known forever. That's where I go.
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So the best game in the tournament that I have seen so far is Yukon. Felt like they were the team for about eighty five percent of it. But you know what, Florida hit the big shots late, and that's you're gonna see that in the NBA playoffs, nobody cares until the final three and a half minutes. You got to make the shots Florida did. They're a really good team. But you knew the champs, the back to back champs. You know, to be the champ, you gotta beat them. You know it would be a tough out, super physical team and could have won the game. But so Dan Hurley after walks off the floor and he's dog cussing the referees. He's rough on referees. He's rough during this season, much like Jim Calhoun, rough rough on referees. And he's just saying, we got dog by the refs. But you know what, he's intense. That's who he is. In pro sports, you have an owner, you have every player's a millionaire. Occasionally you'll coach a billionaire. You have big city, aggressive media. They all keep you in check. But a dominant college basketball or football coach, he's the highest paid state employee. Bob Knight, Nick Say, Woody Hayes, Jim Calhoun, Dan Hurley. It's why I said when the Laker job became available, no, no, no, don't take that job. You are a college coach. You're smart enough to be a head coach in the NBA, but your personality is built for college basketball. Steve Kerr, more conciliatory, Eric Spolstra, Dido ty Lou. They're not screamers. You know, they've a couple of those guys that played in the NBA, so you know, I mean Steve Kirk was a fighter as a player, got into the legendary fight with Michael Jordan the punch, but as a as a coach, he yells mostly at officials, not as players. And so I think college sports is very attractive to men who like control. You do not have that in pro sports. Okay, and billionaire owners now they're all billionaires are more impulsive than ever. So good coaches get fired. I mean Carson Wentz goes twenty seven and seven touchdowns to pick Indy and the owners like, yeah, we don't have a backup plan, get rid of him. What that's pro sport. So Tom Thibodau in New York coaches the Knicks. The knock on him is that you know he practices very hard, and you know he plays his starters a lot of minutes. That is viewed in the NBA as not player friendly, but just asking your starters to play a lot. So Dan Hurley is thirteen and one in his last fourteen tournament games. And here's the thing. His players love him. Some have stayed for an extra year. He doesn't really yell at as players, not that I can tell. He yells at the refs. Eh Calhoun yelled at everybody. Hurley yells at the refs. He's good with the media mostly, he's great with his players. Oh, he probably drives the UKON administration nuts. But it makes you uncomfortable. It makes the media really uncomfortable. But it doesn't appear to make his players uncomfortable because their recruiting classes are always ex so that intensity, it's who he is and the players are okay with it, and that two matters most. And here's Hurly after the loss, you.
Know, and list it ended in San Antonio cutting the nets down again, and it was going to end you know, in a real, you know, emotional way from a lot of emotion.
Man.
We're a passionate program. The players play with it. I coach with it. And you've always strained when it's over.
You know what.
And here's my thing. He's authentic about it, like he's like, hey, listen, man, it's like in Hollywood they have these directors. You know, some of the I think it was like Stanley Kuprick, I want sixty eight takes. And there were actors who were like, yeah, I'm not going to work for Stanley Cooper. I'm not going to do that. And then there are directors Woody Allen may add lib a little more and you know that going in. So it's the actor's responsibility to accept it. Do your homework and know what you're walking into if you go play for Dan Hurley. Practice is hard. Coaches hard, it's intense, it's vulable. You have the choice as the athlete. It's up to you. Do your homework, vet the program. It doesn't seem to bother the players. I don't love the outburst. A couple of years ago. People are banging on Tom Mizzel because he yelled a player. Players love Tom Izzoh, they go back for years, decades, tears, they love him. You know, I mean Tom Brady barked at people on the sideline. Know what you're getting into. I don't have to like Bobby Knight touched players. Bobby Knight was on players, Hurley and the players. He just barks at refs. He barks at refs. He's very intense. I can live with it. I don't have to love it, you know, I kind of like the Steve Kerr approach. But Steve Kerr similarly, I mean, he's called out the NBA this year, he's called out officiating this year, He's called out the media before. And I love Steve Kerr, but he's doing on a pro up. But you know what, Steve doesn't do call out players much. It's very similar to Dan Hurley Curly, He's not on the players. When he's barking to a player, he's not screaming at him. He often looks past him. And I don't know if that's because somebody yelled at Hurley, but I think that's probably the case. But I'm going to defend him. Here is this is the program when you watch Yukon. If I had to explain it in one word, I would say intense. I mean when Nick Saban was at Alabama, That's how I would have described it. Yeah, Nick's intense. Nick is barking a lot at revs, at his coaches, at his players, and so you know, players have a choice. Every player today on social media knows the coaches that bark. They know what they're getting into at Yukon and what they're getting into is currently the best college basketball program in the country. He's not grabbing players, he's not throwing stuff at players. I wouldn't defend him. Then J Mack with a.
News, this is the herdline news.
Let's continue the tournament. Rolling colin Maryland, Colorado State was thrilling. The best finish in.
The tournament so far. Take a listen with the Turfs down one eight seconds left.
To the freshman queen who's driving floats.
On the right side.
Of a puzzer Peter, how about that?
The freshman went into the huddle before the final play and said, give me the mfing ball.
By the way, Like, that's awesome.
Why are people getting worked up? That's not a traveling and if it is close, there's gonna get all it there. People are like, don't ruin the moment. When I watch that, I kind of bake it in. That's like a half step too much. Nobody's gonna call the call I saw, I actually saw this weekend. Was I watching o Casey and the Clippers. I was watching him he game this weekend. Somebody walked about four steps and they did it was Yannis? Was it the ball handling with Yannis last week. You know, there's just certain things. First of all, Maryland is a good story, ed a good story, good team, but we were way too heavy on the traveling angle.
Ong.
How about the fun stat that this kid Queen freshman for Baltimore, he played high school ball with Cooper Flag. Can you imagine him and Cooper Flag on the same high school basketball team.
That's ridiculous.
So now Maryland goes up against Florida next Colin, that's a tall order.
Florida didn't look great at times against Yukon. Any early lean in that one.
Well, I think Florida is really good. I think, you know, it's it's funny. I have fifteen of the sixteen teams laft because I went back and forth. The one scratch off on my bracket is I took Oklahoma to beat Yukon. So but when I was watching Yukon and their two games, my take is, man, they just ratchet. They go from intense to hyper intense in the tournament. So I actually think the way Yukon plays benefited Florida going forward. They will not play a team that physical or that well coached, So like like Florida comes out of that and They're like, that may be the best coach team you play and the most physical team you play. So I think Florida is now going to start rolling people.
They're in good shape.
Yeah.
The kid Walter Clayton, I mean he's really good shot maker.
Next story, Colin Staying with the tournament, John Calipari led the Razorbacks. So Tino in the Saint John's Folks is Saturday night. Now, what was a pretty good game.
Calipari was informed that the transfer portal is opening today.
He's got to worry about the Sweet sixteen. Here's Calipari's reaction.
When does it open to the portal? When this Monday? Welcome to my world. So Monday, we're really preparing for a game and we're having individual meetings about are you coming back or you know, if they put their name into portal, they probably don't have an option to come back. But you know, I mean, it's, uh, you care about the kids. At the end of the year, it's all about them. Whatever they choose. You want to go pro, I want to come back, you want to go somewhere else. It's their choice. And I've always been that way, but it's it's getting.
Harder to be that way.
You know, First of all, I supported him for a long time at Kentucky. It drove me nuts when he said, my job is not to win in March, it's to make these kids great pros, to which I would say, can you imagine coaching Ohio State football and saying it's not my job to win the Big Ten or to win bowl games, it's just to make kids pros.
You'd be out of work.
So I didn't buy. I thought that was a little bit of a grift. But I will say this, he may not finish as well as people like, but he is a great program builder and there is an art to it. Now, now he's got a title. If you don't want a second at Kentucky, none of this would have stocked.
He had many chances to win that second.
And it wasn't losing at Kentucky in the tournament. It was losing the first game to like real have nothing.
And he's always had stacked team John Walls.
But he has a great eye for talent. His team's played great defense. Now in that game, nobody could hit a shot. It wasn't that appealing, like nobody could shoot. But to his credit, John Bill's programs and like an urban Meyer, you do not have to wait long, like six weeks and he'll land four elite players. So it's when you look at it. They started really I watched them early in the season and they grew a bit of a mass. But by the end of the year you're like, yeah, that team could win them pretty good.
They got to play Texas Tech next. You know, I love Texas Jack.
Darkhurst and the tournament.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, they got a decent shot at the final four. I'm curious, do you think we'll see any players left in the tournament in the sweet sixteen enter the transfer portal and say I'm out.
I don't want to go to the sweet sixteen. I'm not like playing them.
At that would be surprising to be but we saw kids.
I think there was a.
Texas football player, remember, but ahead of the playoff left because he wanted to enter the portal, like this is your window, right, You've got to enter now where all the spots are going to be gobbled up.
So yeah, I mean, I think this tournament has been too many people complaining there's not upsets, the ratings are good. I mean, I did think I'll tell you one of my takeaways. Vegas don't mess with Vegas. So many games ended right on the line, five point game with a five point spread. I mean, Vegas is so good at this stuff.
Decent, decent.
Final story cut to the NBA. I know we don't pay at a lot of intention to it during March Madness, But Lebron returned Saturday night against the Bulls at home. They miss seven straight games and the Lakers, they got blasted by Chicago, gave up a buck forty six, embarrassing stuff.
Lebron wasn't in top four me.
He did have seventeen points first game back where he is talking about the loss.
A little rusty, little rusty. What else happen to get back on day? I'll just say a day by day. I can't worry about you know, what's happen in the future. But I mean the day.
As a proud Chicago Bulls season ticket holder, I can tell you that's the best they've shot in maybe a decade.
Yeah, Josh Giney looked like all NBA play almost had.
To quadruple double.
Dude.
If Cooper flag goes to you.
Like that, let's start pushing that narrative.
Well, listen, the NBA's got an interesting Boston team, New York team, Bay Area team, Los Angeles team. I'll argue all day long with Simmons. When Dallas is healthy next year, that is an excellent roster.
When is that going to be like February, Well.
Next year, just wait till next year. That team is the best center rotation in the game. They need another play initiator, but Dallas is good. If all that's missing is an interesting team in Chicago.
Remember Zion Williamson landed in like New Orleans and everybody was disappointed. I'm sorry, I'm not going to be thrilled if Cooper Flag goes to play in Charlotte with the.
Sorry Charlotte, but I want to see him in Chicago, of course, I'm sorry.
NBA fans like I need Cooper Flag in a big market on TV a lot. There's a world where he's like an NBA savior college.
Okay, given the political.
Climate, Well, he's a white star.
He only the biggest white star that the NBA has had in decades. Well, I mean and again, like Steve NASA's Canadian Jokic's.
I would say this, the kids doing multiple national commercials and he's got a personality. His game reminds me a little bit of Jason Tatum, where he does everything well.
I don't know, bring the ball up, break It's like, well, no, no.
He does everything well. I don't know if Jason Tatum is great at anything, but he's very good at everything. Cooper Flagg has got a lot of that. But I think more than anything, I mean, this is Zion. If Zion would have kept his weight under controlled and stayed healthy, Zion would be one of the faces of the league. There's no because early numbers were insane. Flag is going if he goes to Chicago, Duke. He's already got major advertisers like this I'm rooting for because we both like the NBA.
The NBA kind of needs Cooper Flag to be a big flag bearer.
If you will.
I mean again, I don't want to make it a white black thing, but there just aren't a lot of good white players in the league.
I know Austin Reeves is great, a lot of Europeans.
But you know, I don't see it as a race thing. I see it as a domestic problem.
I don't see it as a race thing. Are you not seeing all these race faders online?
NBA's too.
Do you understand that I don't pay attention to that. I think we need more great domestic players who were stars in college.
I don't know.
To me, I don't care about anything of it. I need more Duke Carolina guys who star then going to the NBA and like Cooper Flag averaging eighteen is a rookie for Chicago, That's what I want that just and I think, and I've talked about this before, I think the NBA and I love Adam Silver. The load management drives me nuts, and they marginalize college basketball and I'll never get it. Cooper Flag. People just forget how fascinating Zion was as a rookie. I was watching Pelican games and he was giving you like twenty four and ten easily just and then but his torque, the injuries, the weight.
Now there is a world where the Philadelphia seventy six ers Colin get in the mix for that number one pick.
You know they're cratering, they're tanking. Everybody's done.
H Embiide, Maxi, Paul George, and Cooper Flagg would.
Be scary again. Philadelphia not bad for the league. J Mack with the News, Well, that's the news and thanks for stopping by the well. I picked Auburn to win it. I told I told Tom Izzo that right here. Remember last week I said, Tom, I've got Auburn winning it. Bruce Pearl, their coaches around the corner, Colin Wright, Colin Wrong. Bill Simmons has a new series with HBO Max. The staffs ahead of me on this. I'm never first on anything. Okay, so it's not a shot. I'm never first on anything. I'm gonna get to it this week. I got Tuesday and Wednesday night. I'm gonna get through it. But the staff loves it. We'll talk about that next Live in La It's the Hurt.
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Well.
I picked Auburn to win the Natty last week, and I told Tom Mizzo that, and I think I told Mark Few that. And one of the reasons is I like their coach. They got multiple guys that can score, and they have an elite shot maker so they can play from behind. I think there's certain teams in this tournament, Michigan, maybe one Michigan State, maybe one they're very, very good teams. I'm not sure they're built to come from way back. Bruce Pearl, it's already been eleven years at Auburn. He's built a Power four time Coach of the Year. So you know, cala Parti's joking about this Nil portal stuff. He was funny about that. He's like the portal. Oh and it opens today. Four of your five starters are from the portal. So it's obviously something you're comfortable with. You you've been at smaller schools. You know the talent is it one of those things. It drives you nuts, but you know you can You're not gonna complain or do you kind of lean into the portal and all the challenges of it.
Well, Colin great to be with you.
Look, you gotta you gotta adjust to the to the rule changes and the portal and Nil are here. They're here to stay and so you got to find a way to navigate within the framework of that. For me, I don't mind the porto at all, and yet so much of my team are guys that have been here four and five years. That's been the foundation and that's what our coach do is. But if you could add the right pieces at the right time, you could be competitive every year. For me, I typically don't like somebody else's mistakes. I really like guys in a portal that come from mid major or Division two or junior college, guys that are humble and hungry and just want an opportunity. Having you know, worked at it a little bit, now they're ready to play at the high major level.
And that's that's been the secret sauce for Auburn.
So I'd said this in January. I'd watched SEC basketball and I sat on the air twice I said, I don't know if you guys are watching this, but the middle of that conference could be better than everybody else's top. So you know the nil I would argue that a lot of the SEC schools are not in big, rich markets, But yet when I watch SEC basketball, you're all stuck with talent. Is that just the geographic footprint, the high school coaching, the money. Why is the SEC suddenly so deep?
That's a great question, and you hit the nail on the head, Colin. Everybody in the SEC has invested. It just means more. And I said this at the beginning of the season as we were out there in recruiting and we're competing. What was going to make the SEC really special and really deep this year and really difficult to win is that the teams at the bottom of our league are investing very similarly to the teams in the middle and the top of the league.
There's just not that much difference.
And Colin, I think if you looked at well, look at the national champion in football, and the teams that got there at the very end, they were the teams that were committed in the nil area. When I mean committed, you know, twenty million dollar rosters. If you look at this year's Sweet sixteen, I think you'll find very much that is very much the case. I'm happy that the SEC has got seven teams in the Sweet sixteen, not that it needed to validate what we did during the regular season, because what we do did with in the regular season was real. We earned the teams that we got. But I'm glad this many teams advanced that we don't. That way, we don't have to put up with the argument that we were overrated.
You've come into this tournament. I mean for years and years I thought of Auburn as a football school, and I don't anymore. I think of Bruce Pearl. That's the first thing I think of with Auburn. I think of Charles Barkley and Bruce Pearl, and you're that you've done that. So it's interesting.
We are still a we are still a football school, but I also like to say that we're at everything school. You know, we won the national championship in men's golf, our women's golf team with the elite AID, our gymnastics team in ranks. Softball is amazing, and Hugh Freeze, mark my words, is going to get it done in football.
You're gonna make a lot of progress this year. So listen.
I'm glad when you think of Auburn you think of me and Charles that that's a great, great compliment. I just hope that I'm worthy of your picking Auburn to win the whole thing. You realize we got to go through Michigan, Michigan State, all miss and then and then all the other That is still that it's still alive in the sweet sixteen.
You know, I said this earlier. I watched Florida Yukon boy that that was a game, and I said, I think Florida benefited from Yukon's physicality. I don't think they'll play a more physical team the rest of the way. And I liked Florida. They got really hot late. Everybody's got Florida winning. For somebody that knows them well. I watched him yesterday. I thought Yukon out played him for big chunks of that game. Were you shocked that Yukon gave them that much?
Yeah, I was surprised, you know, not, not because coach Curly can't put together a game plan and beat anybody on any given Sunday. It's just that you're right, Yukon was able to match Florida's physicality. And Florida is the most physical team I think in the country, with the deepest and the best guard play. I mean, Clayton is going to be the best guard on the floor almost every single night. He takes the floor, particularly off and then so yes, I was surprised that Florida struggled as much as as as they did with You Come. But look, you CON's a two time national champion, and they were. They played with great pride and and not many people were picking them. I still think right now Florida is playing the best of anybody in the country. I think Duke is uh Is also has demonstrated they played, you know, some great basketball. But look, we just got to see who can who can stay hot, and and and who can man and Manason navigate them one at a time. For Auburn, we've got these two seven footers at Michigan. You are both really skilled and really physical, and and and and they're obviously really really good. And coach May's I mean, he's one of the best young coaches in college basketball. So we'll look, we'll take it one game at a time, but we definitely feel like the.
SEC prepared us for for for to make a run.
You know, it's Judy Brooms obviously played great. It's you've got shot makers that gives you a chance to win a title. I said this earlier. I I think Adam Silver is very good as a commissioner of the NBA. I think he's marginalized college basketball. They thought, you know what, we'll just go to the G League. We don't need college basketball. My take is that is a huge mistake college basketball between the brand's March madness. Also, I think the coaching's better in college basketball than the G League. I would argue, NIL does you a favor that you may be able to keep a kid one more year. And I do feel like the NBA kind of like, nah, we don't need college basketball. I think the ratings prove it.
Did.
Did you always feel that that you were kind of almost there were a rival, the NBA was almost a rival to college basketball.
Yeah, I'm not gonna asked that question. And I don't like to be criticized. I'm not critic company. My grandfather said, we don't have something nice to say, don't say it. But I don't know that the NCAA basketball world and the NBA basketball world at the highest levels have worked that well together either as it relates to developing our gain exposure. In fact, I think in many ways we've been competing, and I think now with the NIL, we are absolutely able to compete with the NBA. Kids would rather are their kids are better off being in their teams and their twenties in college, continuing to develop and being able to be compensated for their value and their worth, versus having to go into the G League and play on a team with a bunch of guys that don't want to be there, and you know, and and and and Russ and development. Look, Colin, it's not how much you make, it's how long you can make it. So what I tell kids, Look, you're gonna get rich when you sign your first contract, but you're not gonna get wealthy until you sign your second and third.
So the question is when.
Is it best for you to go into the league so that when it comes to your second and third contract, your body, your game, your maturity level is ready. I think the quality of NBA basketball will be better and better served if they would stop drafting so much on potential, like like there are there are some great freshmen this year that we're on losing college teams. They're going to draft it really high and they're going to be great players, but they're not ready right now.
So what are you gonna do? Put them out there.
In the NBA where they're not gonna play very good basketball, or stick them in the G league as an eighteen nineteen year old kid.
I don't think right now that system's working. Nil.
Gives those guys a chance to stay in college a little bit, get right and get better, and they'll be better pros for you.
Yeah, And I also think there's such value in the community of a college campus. There's a lot of diversity. You got to go to classes, you don't love, You don't always get your way, but it's a community. College campuses are some of the great times in your life. He's Bruce Pearl Friday. It's Michigan. I like Auburn winning, but this is a good one. Michigan is NBA big, So Bruce, I appreciate it as always. Thank you, and you built a powerhouse. And good luck to you.
Thank you, Colin. We'll talk to you again.
Soon, all right, Bruce Pearl eleven years at Auburn, four time SEC Coach of the Year. See his feeling is more, which is the NBA kind of worked against you. I've said that if my kid was a college basketball player, I'd rather you take some classes, get coached hard in college, not go to the G League. In most of the coaching's hit and miss.
In the G League.
The training staffs are hitt and miss. There's no marketing college players. I've talked to Mark few Aitt Gonzek. College players get treated great and now they get paid great if they're excellent players. So, by the way, I know you're excited about this as a Jets fan, I don't know if you just caught your attention. Jamis Winston signed a two year deal with the Giants.
I'm excited about that. So what does that mean?
Does that mean that they're drafting on quarterback in the first round regardless of who's there or second round? I mean I have to team yes, yes, So who's their head coach next year? Because it's not Brian Dable. Well, there's no way he's surviving with Jamis Winston and or a second one.
Well, especially if you don't have your offensive line right uh. And the Cowboys and the Eagles will have pretty good pass rushes. Jamis throws a lot of arrant balls, so it'll be a turnover plug season.
Now, when does Malik Neighbors?
Have you checked his social media to see if he were his thoughts on this this acquisition, He's like, Aaron Rodgers maybe.
On and we got Jameis Winston. It's like, oh, well it's Colin.
Will go to a big steak dinner right out back, you know like that, That's what this feels like.
For a lot of people. That's wonderful. Let me just say this, the New York Giants and their franchise history had never lost thirteen games. They've now lost thirteen games three times in eight years. And it's just a series of egregiously bad moves. I mean Bill Simmons Next Hour. The reason the Celtics are good Brad Stevens and Danny Yaninges or basketball some Monts. Yeah, they made really good decisions on coaches, really good decisions on draft picks. Danny made really good decisions when to move off stars at the right time.
They could have had more kill fults in the draft. Remember that they were like, now we're gonna We're gonna go back upstairs. Shake this, Jason Tatum gy.
Upstairs is the difference. I mean, I love Andy Reid and Mahomes, but upstairs is the difference between eliminated early and eliminated late. And the Giants have been a mess upstairs for a lot of years. All right, Colin Wright, Colin Wrong. Monday Show Hour two, Next
