Andy & Ari On3 - Is Hubert Davis FINISHED at North Carolina after NCAA Tourney collapse vs VCU? Is Hubert Davis FINISHED at North Carolina after NCAA Tourney collapse vs VCU? High Point knocks off Wisconsin

Episode Date: March 20, 2026

Join Andy & Ari for a special live stream at 10 am et to recap a jam-packed Thursday in college basketball. With some incredible upsets as High Point knocks off Wisconsin and VCU storms back against North Carolina, Friday's games are sure to provide plenty of headlines. A special LIVE edition of Andy & Ari before Friday's slate of games.   (0:00) On Today's Episode (0:54) Presenting Sponsor (3:05) Intro: Hubert Davis after UNC's Loss (9:24) Ari Joins: What does North Carolina do next? (18:53) The UNC Basketball Job (29:17) High Point knocks off Wisconsin (37:19) Miami OH plays Tennessee (38:56) Texas 79, BYU 71 (40:04) AJ Dybantsa's Talent (45:20) Bucky Ball wins (46:07) Saint Louis dominates Georgia (54:06) Previewing Friday's Slate (55:37) Chuck Norris' Passing (57:29) Conclusion: Enjoy the games!   Send in your questions for Dear Andy & Ari here: [e-mail] [e-mail]   Andy & Ari are live at Culver’s Game Day Hub in Indianapolis on April 4th, capturing the energy, flavor and hometown pride that make this city come alive on game day. They’re bringing you the best moments from a day filled with games, fans and plenty of Fresh Frozen Custard.     Our show is also presented by BetMGM!   If you haven’t signed up for BetMGM yet, use bonus code CFB and you will get up to a $1500 First Bet Offer on your first wager with BetMGM! Here’s how it works:   1. Download the BetMGM app and sign-up using bonus code CFB. 2. Deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game. 3. You will receive up to $1500 in bonus bets if your bet loses! Just make sure you use bonus code CFB when you sign up!   Make this college football season one for the history books. Make it legendary.   See BetMGM.com for Terms. 21+ only. US promotional offers not available in New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (Available in the US). Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-327-5050 (MA), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-981-0023 (PR). First Bet Offer for new customers only. Subject to eligibility requirements. Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 7 days. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel.   Watch our show on YouTube! https://youtube.com/live/f6kCncUNPqc   Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari Wasserman Producer: River Bailey   Interested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On today's episode of Andy Nareon 3 presented by BetMGM, an incredible first day of March madness. North Carolina collapses against VCU. Is this it for Hubert Davis at North Carolina? Meanwhile, high point upsets Wisconsin. Cinderella is not dead, but Cinderella would love if you would schedule her in the regular season as well. Plus, Larry nerd, sloughow sender, whatever you would call Robbie Abbott.

He was unbelievable as St. Louis took belt to ass to Georgia. Can the Billicans hang with number one seed Michigan this weekend? Maybe, maybe? Like we said, Cinderella, I don't know, are they a Cinderella? We'll talk about it all today on Andy and Iron 3 presented by Bed MGM. This show is sponsored by Bed MGM and the Caveter Twins are facing off in BedMGM's Court of Legends game and you can enter Bed MGM's pick a twin to win free to play game for a chance to a share of $2 million in bonus bets.

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Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Don't forget, if you haven't signed up for bed at MGM yet, use the bonus code CFB and get your $1,500 first bet offer today. Welcome to Annie and Ari on 3 presented by BetMGM and what a first day of March madness. I'm in one version of paradise. Ari's in another version of paradise. He's in a casino. What's up, Ari? He can't even hear me. All right, producer river. Cut Ari's shot. He can't even hear me. We are going to go it alone. But that's okay because we have a ton to ton.

talk about. We have North Carolina with an epic collapse up 19, 19 in the second half against VCU, and they lose. And I got to tell you, I was perusing the Inside Carolina message boards last night. Inside Carolina is on three's North Carolina website. It is the best community of North Carolina fans, the most informed community of North Carolina fans. And this group was as mad as any football fan base I've ever seen after one of, you know what those losses look like. One of those losses, one of those kind of late October, early November losses that signal the end. This was as mad as I've seen a fan base in that circumstance. And this is a situation where Hubert Davis has been a pretty contentious subject for most of his tenure.

It's a strange tenure because he goes to the national title game as an eight seed in year one. And part of that trip to the national title game was knocking out Mike Shoshiewski in his final game as Duke's coach in the final four. They also beat Mike Shoshchewski in his final game at Cameron. So you have that, which is sort of, that endears you to the fan base forever. And obviously you're Hubert Davis. You're an all-time great player. But that was the high point of the tenure. It didn't get any better.

There was one good season, the 2023, 2024 season, where they won a regular season ACC championship, and they made the Sweet 16. But three first round exits, and this one was just unbelievable. And it's funny because Ari and I talked about this on the, show on Thursday. We said this is a really fishy line because North Carolina was only a two and a half point favorite in a six 11 game. And normally that's a, you know, two and a half is a is a seven, ten or an eight nine line, not a six 11 line. And watch the first half the game. It's like, oh, well, Vegas didn't know what they were talking about. And then and then you get to the end and

it's so they're going to overtime. Like, well, I guess Vegas got it. Vegas figured it out. But just a crazy situation. Henry Vassar at the end of the game. I know I asked this on Twitter as it happened because Henry Vassar misses the first free throw. They were down to he misses the first free throw and you know you got to miss at that point. You got to miss on purpose. The trick of missing on purpose obviously is you have to hit the rim. If you don't hit the rim, it goes to the other team. He hits the backboard, doesn't hit the rim. Bill Rafter, he, and Grant Hill immediately go, oh, he doesn't know the rule. And I asked it on Twitter, do you think he didn't know the rule?

And is that on Hubert if he doesn't know the rule? I saw the replay. He knew the rule. His instant reaction after the ball didn't hit the rim is, oh, no, I messed up. Now, I'd love to know how much they practice that situation because it is a, it's not the most common end of game situation, but it is an end of game situation. You're probably going to run into once a season, at least. and I don't know if that's something they'd practiced.

And it doesn't matter because you shouldn't be in that situation anyway. But just very frustrating situation for North Carolina. And, you know, it's a tough deal because this is not the season, at least the end of the season that they had expected to have. They thought they were going to be a lot better. And injuries obviously played a big part. And, you know, VASR, probably their second best player, was hurt going into the late season and into the ACC tournament. So they were dealing with that.

But, you know, more importantly, Caleb Wilson was out. And Caleb Wilson, probably a top five NBA draft pick. And a number that'll blow your mind. And this is also a pretty damning statistic for Hubert Davis's tenure. Caleb Wilson, if he is a top five pick, would be the first top five pick from North Carolina in 21 years. Now, obviously, Roy Williams has a lot of that, too. But it is just a shocking thing that they have not had more elite players. And they've had good players, like Armando Baycott was an incredible college player.

But they have not had the elite of the elite. Meanwhile, eight miles away, Duke is getting high draft picks year after year after year after year. They had a number, I mean, they had Cooper Flagg last year, Concanipple last year. Camboozer is going to be a very high draft pick this year. That's just not happening in North Carolina. They have a very interesting situation too because new athletic director coming in and old athletic director still there. President that's been there for two years. It's a very interesting deal.

But Steve Newkirk, the new athletic director who came, has a NASCAR background. He's not officially the AD yet. Bubba Cunningham still officially the AD. But you think Steve Newkirk, would be the one who makes this decision and hopefully that's happened sooner rather than later the fan base apparently off a cliff and they've also got another argument going on and it the thing with north carolina is it's never quite that simple because there's a lot of you've got to keep it in the family and the family's opinions matter they're arguing about where they're what they're going to

do with the arena the dean smith center the dean dome are they going to gut it are they going to going to move it, rebuild it somewhere else. There's a couple potential locations, and it's just a really mess situation. Hi, Ari. Sorry, Andy. March Madness is a very expensive hotel week in Vegas, and lobby internets don't work. So we're here. It's been, what's it been, 25 years since the invention of internet?

and think about all the things that have occurred since that invention. And we still struggle with connectivity, which is the most unbelievable thing. They don't care if you can go live from your room. They care if you can put some money in those slots downstairs. They care if you can hit those tables. They care if you go to the sports book. I went right back to the same exact chair that we did this last year. And I guess, you know, eventually, you know, as we go through the show and they ISO you,

I'll try to get a better shot. But I am sorry that you were put in that position. and I hope that your year without me helped you, but also remind you why you need me. I was doing okay. I was doing okay. And here's the thing. So we're talking about the North Carolina situation.

We're talking about Hubert Davis, who has not lived up to the standard that is set by North Carolina. I mean, this is the blue blood of all blue bloods. They're such a blue blood. They have their own shade of blue. And their fan base is fed up. fed up. I don't know what you said already,

but I'm assuming I'll echo some of it, but let me tell you, watching that here happen in real time felt like watching a war movie. Like the, it was just like people were like in shock. They were screaming. And VCU,

remember, was only a two and a half point underdog. So I think losing the game would have maybe been acceptable. If VCU just shot lights out or they played really well. And they did obviously during that run. in the second half. But for them to come back in a race, what was it,

the largest first half or the largest first round deficit NCAA tournament history? And it was the second largest deficit. I was at the game where the largest deficit got a race. That was the Northern Iowa, Texas A&M game in Oklahoma City a while back. But you know how we always say on the show, there's a look to it like that.

Like losing is one thing. The way that happened, you know, I think you could really make a case really exasperates the issue. And one thing I was, talking about, Ari, is, and I know you've been in Vegas and soaking it all in, but I was cruising the inside Carolina message towards last night and this morning. And it looks to me exactly like what we see when a football fan base is done, is absolutely done. We're the last people who were

defending the coach just drop away. I'm assuming, Andy, that Blue Blood basketball fans, uh, act, behave, expect, and, you know, generally react to games the same exact way Blue Blood Football fans do. Like, I think they're the same people. And I would expect that like a North Carolina basketball fan is as irrational and rational and passionate as an Alabama football fan. So, like, I mean, listen, this is a program that has been built off of consecutive, deep, consistent runs in this tournament. And it felt like you had a chance. to like because like when you're winning by 19 you got to also remember too hey we're beating a two and a half point dog by 19 right now maybe we're finding something here you know we're a five seed we're playing really well I mean the best players out yeah yeah the range of emotion between um we're kind of cruising maybe we have a shot to make a run in this thing to losing to to a you know a mid major is such a violent crash in a 25 minute period and like watching it happen in real time people were in shock. I mean, you have to, obviously, this was clearly the best day of the game of a

really awesome day of basketball. And, you know, I think what the tournament is all about. So if you're a general March madness fan, like you enjoyed that. But I can't imagine the prison chamber that North Carolina fans were in. Yeah. So let's hear from Hubert Davis after the game. And I think this is another reason why North Carolina fans are frustrated is this reaction. And this is this is like a minute and a half of video. And you're going to, like, if you're North Carolina fan, you are slapping your palm to your forehead multiple times. Here's Hubert Davis

after the game. Here you would ask you the same thing. I asked them. Did you sense that your team got a little bit tired there? I did not. I didn't. Right here. Dennis Cox, 99, not the fan of Raleigh. Cuber, why did you go to just a six-man rotation in the second half? Because that was my decision.

In the back? Coach Davis, what is it that we can take that you can take from this game, this experience to help build on going forward in the future. Not really thinking about that right now, just thinking about obviously right in front of me, Seth and Henry, specifically our senior Seth and Elijah, just thinking about them right now. For Scott in the middle. Coach, what did you, generally, what do you think went wrong?

What do you mean? Well, I mean, to go back what Seth said? I mean, you know, just because you miss a shot doesn't mean something's wrong. We had open looks. We had shots at the basket. We had executed plays and we missed eight free throws. And sometimes the ball doesn't go in. What do you mean?

What do you mean? You blew a 19 point lead in the second half. That's what that's what you mean when you're talking about what went. wrong. But yeah, it is frustrating. It's really nice, too. I mean, when you say, what went wrong and you say, what do you mean? I would have been like, well, do you think what happened there was going right? Like, I mean, like, what do you mean what went wrong? You literally just blew a massively to a mid-major on national television with the entire country watching. Well, and then to say you executed everything perfectly, the ball just didn't go in the basket. It's funny because I reread that great Michael

Lewis story, the no stats all-star about Shane Batti the other day. And the whole story, if you've never read it is about how Shane Batier just increased the rest of the players on the on the court when he was on the court specifically because of his defense and it focuses on a game where he's guarding Kobe and he forces Kobe into a shot the end of the story and I'm sorry if I'm spoiling it for you but he forces Kobe into a shot at the end of the game that's like a 19% shot for Kobe from that spot on the floor in that circumstance and Kobe makes it and everybody's just like oh, well, you did everything you were supposed to do. That wasn't this.

Yeah, it was not this. We kind of knew how that story was going to end in. But yeah, no, that wasn't this. That was, would you say meltdown? I think meltdown is appropriate. Again, I was at the other game that eclipsed this in terms of a blown lead. And that was Northern Iowa and Texas A&M in Oklahoma City, which was a situation where a team was up,

a much more athletic team started pressing them. They couldn't handle it. this is this was different this was this was in the flow of the game because the meltdown kind of begins middle of the second half on and then they're in the game with five minutes to go you get closer and closer to the interregulation and remember north carolina had a chance to win it in regulation set trimble makes a great play stealing an inbound pass and if they had like two more seconds left he's laying that up instead of shooting a really tough three but that that's the thing like they should not have been in that situation.

And that's an incredibly frustrating situation for the fans. A trip in the chat asked an interesting question, okay, if UNC moves on, then present three candidates who can take the program back to the final four level. This is complicated because since Dean Smith was the coach, the mandate has been you hire somebody from the family. So Dean Smith gives way to Bill Guthridge, who gives way to Matt Doherty.

Matt Doherty doesn't work out. They push him out. They bring in Roy Williams. He settles things, wins national championships. And then they hire Hubert Davis to replace Roy Williams. And that was criticized at the time because the, like the Hubert Davis first year, remember I said they made it to the national title game, but they also were an eight seed. They also were not a particularly good team throughout that year.

So there were already question marks early on. And the question is, do you go inside the family again, or do you just go outside the family? And I would say you look outside the family. So if I were to give you three candidates, I know like Tommy Lloyd's name is going to come up, the Arizona coach. Now he may be coaching for a long time in this tournament. But Tommy Lloyd's also a West Coast guy, came through Gonzaga with Mark Few. I don't know that he's leaving for North Carolina. Dusty May, Michigan's probably going to make sure they pay him, and he may be winning a national title at Michigan.

Who knows? But some other ones that might think about it, T.J. Osselberger at Iowa State. He's been great there. They obviously would love to keep him, but if North Carolina calls, it's going to be hard to say no. Jay Lucas at Miami had a good first year, was a longtime assistant at Duke. That's one that you might consider. Alex Byington at Vanderbilt's one everywhere he's been. Josh shirts at St. Louis,

and we're going to talk about the Billikins here in a few minutes. These are all guys that have won everywhere they've been, have won at multiple levels, but they didn't play or coach at North Carolina before. And that's okay. Yeah. I mean, I think we're kind of past that at this point. You know, like, I, you know, in general,

and I think this actually goes with football, too, to a certain extent, I do think that the, notion of hiring within or hiring from within the program's tree made a lot of sense because you wanted to get a person that understood the DNA of the place that understood what made it tick was from in a lot of cases the area or at least went to college there and can like really connect with the fan base because he's one of them but I wonder Andy if you know one of the things that's part of the evolution of the sport with NIO on the transfer portal is going to mean that like those things also mean less like we've had this discussion too in in college

football of like places that have typically hired from from within their own like michigan for instance like they didn't go get a michigan man this time and like maybe in a world where rosters are transient and you know you're you're more transactional with your you know roster pickups you just have to go find somebody who did it and i and i and i think that in college basketball When you look at what North Carolina's fans expect, you know, I think that maybe a candidate that jumps out after this year, you know, who knows? Maybe somebody makes a deep run that we're not anticipating and they all of a sudden are one of the candidates. You got to be careful with that too because the portal opens the day after the national championship game. So if you're waiting on somebody who's coaching the final four, you may be up against it.

Now, I will say they got a GM. They're probably already working that angle. But how many proven coaches with final four runs, more than one even on their resume, would be still active? And then two, is North Carolina the type of place that can play bully ball and just take anyone's coach that they want? I don't think they can take just anyone's coach. I think that's changed. You know, I saw Nate Oates name pop up.

I think Alabama would fight really hard to keep Nate Oates if you were. No, but if you're Nate Oates, do you just automatically take it? take that? Not anymore. Sports are so different. Not anymore. I don't think you do that anymore. And so this from Ryan in the chat, you talk about brands not being as important in

college football as 10 years ago. Why not the same with college basketball? I think it is the same. I think the brand matters less than the situation. And right now the situation is they're fighting over what to do with the arena. They still have this push pull about being in the family. They don't recruit like Duke does. and have said, well, we, that philosophically, we're going to be a little bit different.

I don't know if you want to be different. Like you go recruit like Duke. You know, somebody on the message word throughout John Calipari's name. And I'm like, I don't think they'd go for John Calgary. Hey, wait, I mean, that's my horse. That's my horse. That's your guy. That's your guy.

But, you know, would they get somebody who could get that level of talent in there where you are? Because John Calipari, he makes no bones about it. it. He is going to get a bunch of guys who he thinks will be drafted high into the NBA. And he talks about playing for the name on the back of the jersey. He mentioned that the other day. Look, they probably need that sort of elite talent. If they want to be consistently year after year, a team that goes deep in the NCAA tournament. And this was a program that very consistently advanced in the NCAA tournament for a long time. I mean, the Harold the show arsenal team that knocked him out.

That was one in, I can't remember exactly how many years it was, but they advanced at least around two years and years and years and years with the exception of that one loss. So this is not a program that can handle this continually losing in the first round. And he saw it in Kentucky. Speaking of Cal, we saw it at Kentucky where they were ready to throw him out because he couldn't get out of the first round. And it also to put a bow on the question that was asked. We literally just saw in football a coach leave for a better brand.

So like I do wonder, I think that we're in the middle of that change. Like I agree with you. Like things are changing. And if you feel like you have the resources and the ability to win big at a place that's not, you know, the prototypical blue blood, you might have second thoughts. But like it would be interesting just to see North Carolina. pick up the phone and see how NATO's handled that. You know, like I, because I still think that like when you think about iconic, you know,

there are certain brands. Like for instance, we had this discussion about Syracuse earlier in the week. Like Syracuse is one of the, you know, from my lifetime, one of the, you know, premier programs. And they just, you know, USF's coach just told them no. But it's like, I still think that North Carolina might be the LSU of basketball. I think Kentucky's probably more that. But yeah, Kentucky. But yeah, well, then they're Ohio state.

one of the three that I think makes your like lip quiver. Yeah, Kansas is another one. But, but they don't, they haven't performed that way and they haven't recruited that way. And that's, you've got to hire somebody who's going to bring in elite talent. And I think that's the, one other question I have for you. Mm-hmm. You know how we had this discussion about the Big East and like not having NIL competition? If you, and I, maybe this is a terrible example because North Carolina,

is in the middle of a crazy experiment in football. But if you are a place like Duke, and again, maybe Duke's a terrible example, too, because they've just paid almost $4 million or $4 million for Darian Mensa a year ago, that has a power football program, but isn't a power football program that's anticipating, you know, competing for a national championship, do you still feel like that's better than going to a place

that has a blue blood football program? Because I do wonder, like, once this Bill Bealec thing kind of wraps up, which may be imminent. Yeah, maybe if you go back, yeah, you just go back to just funneling all your money into basketball and trying to be the best of basketball. Because I, and I do wonder if there's a correlation between funds allocated to football program and success in basketball. Because like there is, you know, Duke is awesome this year. They're the number one overall seed. So like, you know, there's.

Well, I just brought up made out. Alabama's, this is actually a down year for them, but they're still in the tournament. Yeah. They're expected to advance. We'll see. their second best score is out for. But if I'm a UNC fan, and I know football is king, and trust me,

I think I would, even if I were a North Carolina grad, I think I would rather be good at football than basketball just because I like football better. But I think for most part, if you ask a North Carolina fan, would you rather just be eight and four every year or seven and five in football and be dominant again in basketball? Like that they'll take. It's a basketball school.

So sometimes I wonder if, They are over allocating funds to football programs during this exciting parody-driven time. And it's part of the byproduct of why the basketball programs are suffering more than they have traditionally in the past. It's a good question. And it's something that I would imagine if they were to make a move and you have a coaching search, that's what the people you're talking to are going to ask you is, how much am I fighting Bill Belichick? Because I don't want to fight Bill Belichick.

Yeah. I don't. I don't think you'd have to. I think North Carolina basketball is so important to them. They're not going to make you fight that. But there's no boilerplate answer. There's no boiler plain answer. If you asked an Indiana fan,

would you go back to being a basketball school now? Do you think they would say no? Don't you think they would say no? Yes, they would say no. Because they were in national championships, yeah. Yeah, but I'm saying like Indiana was the premier like basketball first school because there was no bigger disparity. Even Duke's football program had years.

There was no basketball school that had such a dormant power program than Indiana. And they just went out and won the national championship. And I'm not an Indiana person. If you're an Indiana person, right in. But I cannot imagine they had a single basketball season in the history of their program. And maybe it's only older fans that can weigh in on this that even matched five percent of what how awesome. I don't know, if you were around for 1976, which is the last undefeated national basketball champion, which was also Indiana. Yeah.

I think that would be. What do you think was more fun to them? We weren't born yet. What do you think was more fun to them? Like, I guess like if you- I think football because it was so different and new. They were a sensation in football. Yeah.

I think that what they just accomplished in football might be one of the single greatest, like, stories in the history of American sports. Like you're a football school now, Indiana. Welcome to the dark side. And if North Carolina could do that, it might happen. And the thing is North Carolina is actually a really good football state, like a good high school football state.

Yeah, great high school football. it is, but it's a basketball school. It's a blue blood. They got to be better than this. They have to. So we'll see what happens with Hubert Davis. That's going to be a very interesting subplot as we go through the weekend. But we're going to talk about the teams that are still in there.

And VC over North Carolina was one Culver's Butterburger Bracket Buster, say that five times fast. Another one, high point over Wisconsin. Cinderella is not dead, baby. Remember how we're like, I don't think there's going to be. Oh, wait. Not you, me. I don't think there's going to be any 12s over fives. Yep, 12 over five, Butterburger Brackabuster.

We'll see. Can High Point get all the way to Indianapolis, where we will be on April 4th with Culvers at the Game Day Hub in downtown Indy? I don't know. But they are definitely dancing into round two. And what a game. Chase Johnston, number 99. was 0 for 4 on two-point attempts for the entirety of the season.

All he did was hit three-pointers, and all he was doing yesterday was hitting three-pointers. And then he makes the biggest two-point basket in school history, the layup to end the game. What man's wearing number 99? I said it was like Rick Wild Thing Vaughn. It's actually, actually, because of the parable of the lost sheep in the Bible, where the shepherd is one. willing to leave 99 righteous sheep to find the lost sheep. I don't know what you just said. I just think that was electric.

Like when you see a dude wearing 99 who only shoots threes, you're like, this is March, baby. This is March. But like they were insane threes. Yes. Yeah, he needs no time. He needs no space. He's just putting it up.

And the way that he was doing it looks so pure. I don't think that there's anything even remotely close in football to how satisfying a contested, like also confident three that swishes perfectly. Like when he shot it, it was just like, that's going in. Like I do think that like we always talk about in March Madness, how things get off the rails if one dude just shoots his mind out, you know, or gets crazy. But I mean, that was the epitome of that, right? Like just this guy was, I mean, he was pulling up from five feet behind the arc.

Oh, it was incredible. And the, the, the, the, the. beauty of scoring the two-point basket to win it. We've actually got some Chase Johnson sound, and Flynn came and then chimes in their coach about what he's been for them this season. And remember, this guy started at Stetson in lovely to land, Florida. Then he played for Dunk City at Florida Gulf Coast. So this is the end of his career.

He's wrapping up his college career here at High Point. And unbelievable. So Producer River, let's play Chase Johnson talking about making that layup and ruining his perfect only three-point buckets season. I mean, when Rob threw that up, I was just like, I got to put this in the hoop and win this game. I wasn't really thinking whether it was a two or three. I was just trying to put it in and win this game.

Yeah, I mean, Chase, how he's finished the season and just his career. He passed Steph Curry today on all-time three. So that's the kind of player he is. And I think he's top 20 now or he's 21 because Curry, I think, was 22. So he's been an all-conference player two times over. ready before he came here. He was two times all conference in the A son. You know, they played at USC when he was at Florida Gulf Coast and he had 25 points and they won. Like he's been doing this for a long time. And for him, you know, we started to season eight and three and I really got

down to the nitty gritty of what we needed to do because at high point, that's not, that's not good enough for our standard. And with how small we were at the point guard spot, I felt like I kind of mixed up our roster composition and I asked him to take a bench roll because we were a little small starting games. And his willingness to take that role and keep leading and then at the end of the season to be doing what he's doing, I just, again, it speaks to how selfless these guys are. Just an incredible story. And so Flynn came in, by way, also a good story.

He's a young guy, intense, got the name of a secret agent, kind of looks like a secret agent. And he was fired up after this game on behalf of not just High Point, but Miami of a Ohio, who we've talked about their situation, UNC Wilmington. So here's what he said. Now, see, he said it in the on-court interview, and that got a pop. But then he wasn't done. He used his opening statement in the post-game press conference to talk again about

college basketball scheduling. And it's pretty obvious to me that something needs to be done about this non-conference scheduling. High Point in Miami, Ohio are 2 and 0 in Quad 1 games. We couldn't get games. They couldn't get games. Akron couldn't get games. UNCW couldn't get games, Belmont couldn't get games.

We won 22 of our last 23 games, and we didn't move up one spot in the metrics. Not one. We won 22 of our 23. We've won 25 games by double digits. That team right there is a fantastic team. That beat five top 10 teams. If we can get games like this on neutral courts and some home games, I think we'd know who's really the best teams.

I'm proud of these dudes, and we're not just here to win one game. We're here to get to the Sweet 16. So I was a little hard on Charles Barkley yesterday because right after he said, this, Charles said, they ain't giving you home games, buddy. And I was like, that's not really what this discussion is about. It's about, will they play you? Because we went through all those Miami of Ohio emails that Matt Brown foyered. And they were not asking for home games. They were saying, we'll come to you what dates work. And then they would just get ignored. And they're not going to get home games. But there's no, the issue, the bigger issue, and this is what Flynn Kamen was getting at,

is there is no incentive whatsoever for those power schools to play them out of conference. Like it is much better. If you're in the Big 12, if you're in the SEC, if you're in the ACC or the Big East or the Big Ten, you know your conference schedule is going to give you a high net rating. So as long as you win most of your conference games, you're going to make the NCAA tournament. So when you schedule out of conference, you're going to schedule the big high majors. They're going to fill your arena for home and homes. and then you're going to schedule the worst possible low majors

so you don't lose to somebody like this. Well, also, how many of the, do you think that there were like real discussions to like about some of the opponents that they tried to get that are like, well, we don't, high point is going to be really good this year. And we don't want to lose. Oh, yeah. These guys aren't stupid.

Like they know how the portal went. They know what rosters look like. They know who the good coaches are. They're not dumb. Because I do kind of have a hard time sympathizing with a coach who's sitting on the most inclusive postseason tournament on the face of the earth saying then we're not going to know who's the best teams. It's like, no, you just beat Wisconsin.

We're going to know you're going to be, you're in the tournament. You're on your way. But the thing that sucks is that if it does impede their ability to qualify for the tournament, because obviously the bar for mid-majors and low-major, or like lower-situated teams to get into the tournament is just so much higher than it is for a power team. And they have the odds stacked against them from that standpoint. Like you have to go, you know, win 20 of 25 games or 23 of 25 games to get in.

So, you know, I think that like it would be kind of cool. But like the other thing, too, is that like how many programs on high points level are actually, if they were to schedule games against these types of teams all the time, how many of them would just be bad games in October that no one cared about. These are the good teams that made it out of there, but how do you decipher between which ones you should schedule

and which ones you shouldn't? I think it's kind of a tricky thing, especially when everyone's in the tournament anyway. Like, it's not like Miami made the tournament, High Point made the tournament. Yeah, and Miami was mad about having to play in the first four, but they did show in the first four against SMU, hey, they were definitely supposed to be in there.

Now they're playing Tennessee. By the way, River. Pop up here. Are you shitting your pants, dude? Yeah. Miami's going to win today, right? This is the worst thing ever. There's nothing worse in watching your own team playing college basketball

March Madness. There's 11.5 point favorites? It does not matter. 1,000% percent points today. Yeah, I'm looking at Bet MGM right now. 11.5 points. Tennessee is favored against Miami. Ohio. Did we not learn our lesson from SMU?

SMU is a seven and a halfway for Miami of Ohio beaten by 10. Can just Tennessee, like honestly, like I know this is kind of turning into a running bit, but can Tennessee just be have anything? No. No, we can't. It's like of all the teams, if you're blindfolded me instead of all the teams that Tennessee, like, or that Miami would have to play in this spot, like Tennessee would be my guess. You're we are.

Here we are. You know, maybe they'll win. Maybe they'll, maybe they'll just. go out and win. I don't know. But like I when I saw that they were playing Tennessee in the Brackett River, I was, uh, I was here and I was, and I, I, I chuckled thinking at you because it's just like, God, why can't these ball, ball fans have anything? But if they win today, it'll be good.

Exactly. Exactly. Well, I, I am excited to see what happens. You know, High Point plays your guys, Ari, your, your team that you, you've adopted for this March Madness that they're going to have to play Arkansas, going down like a sweet muffin, dude. So, maybe not. Maybe not. We'll see. But let's talk about, you know, we just talked, Tennessee's got to play Miami, Ohio. Let's talk about another SEC team that wears orange because Sailor Joe and Ryan in the chat have been waiting patiently for us to mention Texas beating BYU.

AJ DeBonsa goes off. Might have been the best player in the tournament, but we won't know because he was only in there for one game because Texas clears the board, beats BYU. So they came in through the first four. They had to hit a shot with 1.1 seconds to go to beat NC State in the first four. And then Sean Miller takes the longhorns and beats BYU. And now they are on to round two. Andy, this is going to be a perfect arc to the ending of the show here because I did a,

I'm here in Vegas with two of my best friends in Dallas. One's an A&M fan. One's a Texas fan. They played at the same time yesterday. And I did a two-team parlay, Texas and A&M to both win. And they were both dogs. And that paid out awesome. and then I rolled over the two-team parlay that hit for almost a grand all onto Georgia money line.

So like that, you want to talk about like the arc of buddy. So let's start here. And this is the discussion that we have to have because it also relates to football a little bit too. Yeah. Was A.J. DeBanza a good use of NIL for BYU. I saw this debate raging last night. Yes. I would say yes.

Because part of the problem is they planned for this to be a little more balanced team, but Richie Saunders got hurt, I believe in January. And so that made it where AJ DeBonsa, and if you watch that game last night, you're yelling at the TV anytime he's not shooting. He's like, you're the only one giving them a chance. So shoot the ball. Now he's going to be the number one, number two, maybe number three, but probably one or two pick in the draft.

I don't think it's a waste of money. I think if you go to BYU and show that you can become the number one or number two pick in the draft, you did ball out in the NCAA tournament. All that says to BYU's program and fans is let's do this again. Let's pour resources in. We can keep doing this. And it's proof of concept because what does the player want? The player probably wants to win championships, probably wants to play D.

in the NCAA tournament, yes, but more than anything, the player wants to be a very high NBA draft pick. And if AJ Jabant's experience was good, and he recommends it to other people who are similarly situated, then BYU stands a better chance of getting some of those people. And the odds say, when you have a person like that, you are going to go deeper than the first round.

Yeah. It's sort of our Texas Tech football conversation. Well, there's also this aspect to it that I feel like has been completely lost. and maybe it's different because BYU also has a self-interest in promoting its university for different reasons, for religious reasons.

Yes, their church-owned school, the church wants to promote itself as far and wide as possible, and sports is a great way to do that. How often was BYU's logo on a television this entire basketball season? A lot, a lot. I mean, so like I think that people...

A lot of nationally televised games, yes. He was the conversation on every college basketball show in the entire season. And I understand that it's frustrating. But he's going to identify with BYU for the rest of his life. And he might be awesome in the NBA, probably will be awesome. And I just, I think that like we can't be results oriented too of like, oh, well, they lost in the first round.

So this whole thing was a waste of time. No, BYU was one of the most talked about basketball programs in the country. And maybe if you're like a team that already gets a lot of a lot of run, that's not as important to you. But like for me, I feel like that was money well spent, even though the season was disappointed. I'd say so.

Like you said, more often than not, when you have a player like this, you're not getting balanced in the first round. Yeah. Yeah. No, it happens. I mean,

sometimes you do have a really good player and it doesn't quite like Anthony Edwards at Georgia. I think that, well, their situation was different because I believe that was the pandemic year. But you have situations where it doesn't quite work out the way you'd hope. But again,

if he's the second pick of the draft, the first pick of the draft, the next person who comes along at BYU recruits, probably is going to ask him, what was your experience like? Did you feel like you got what you wanted out of it? And my guess is he's going to say yes. Yeah, no. Congratulations on an awesome season. Sorry to BYU.

Congratulations, horns. Do we want to go to Georgia now? We got a Gonzaga now. Yeah, well, let's know, okay, Texas Gonzaga. And this is, I'm always fascinated by these kind of underachieving power conference teams that have lots of good athletes because if they get hot, they can beat anyone. So Texas Gonzaga might be one of the most interesting games of the weekend. So fascinated to see what happens there.

Sean Miller, by the way, former coach at your alma mater. He is all the way back, baby. I've always liked him. I've always liked him. I will say it is really, really funny to look because I don't buy. into the fishy line, Vegas thing that everyone does. But when I look down at the betting lines yesterday, BYU was a point and a half or two point favorite or two and a half,

something really like less than a three. And I was like, why am I not putting my life savings on BYU? And my Texas friend goes, Texas sucks, but that is the worst, most fisciest line ever. I would not put BW, follow on BYU. And then I was watching the game and I was like, BYU was down by double digits the entire game. Texas A&M did something similar to Santa Clara.

And that was a 10-7 game. And it's like 10-7, 8-9. It just feels like a fairly even. Did you watch the A&M game? Because I unfortunately did watch the entire thing. Yeah. Did I'm not a stats guy. Did they played Santa Clara.

I mean, St. Mary's. St. Mary. Did they shoot the least amount of field goal attempts in the history of basketball? I've never seen so many turnovers in my entire life. And I was just like they weren't even missing shots. They weren't shooting it. That's Bucky Ball, baby. That's Bucky McMillan Ball.

But yeah, congratulations. Go get him, Ags. I yelled that a lot yesterday. Oh, come on, Ags. And I'm sure your A&M friend wanted to punch you. He hates it. And that's why I keep doing it. But this, he's the reason that started.

So, like, I have to give him credit. But every time I saw anybody in the casino wearing Texas stuff, I went, oh, come on, eggs. And they're like, looking at me. They're like, what's wrong with you? Because everybody thinks that I don't know it's gigamags. Everybody thinks I'm just trying to be. And you are.

Yeah, I guess I am. Yeah. All right. Let us move to Sluw Alcender, Kreme Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Nerd. I speak, of course, of Robbie Avala, who is made to be a star in March made to be a star in March. Why are you ducking? What are you worried about? These nicknames are very well known. Now, Larry nerd, we can't use as much. That's not why I'm ducking. Oh, I'm ducking because I lost four figures on this. Oh, that's right.

You rolled it to the money line on. Have you, have you ever heard of the else? Okay. You were betting a Mike White team against a team that is incredibly old and well coached. How many times have you watched an entire day of March Madness in a Vegas sports book? I have never done that before. Okay. Well, you're missing out. It's a dream. It's a dream that comes true sometime. Yeah, that MGM.

Like Culvers, you're our people. And we cannot wait to the final four. Have you read that yet? I missed the first. Yeah, I did. I did read that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Perfect.

But next year, if we're free, you're free, let's link up. Oh, let's get at MGM. You tell us where to go. Andy. you're drinking constantly. I didn't know what planet I was on, but my wife made a dinner reservation with my friend's wives at Mizumi, and we went to a sushi restaurant.

And I was blacked out. And like we just came off this emotional two team parlay hit that wasn't supposed to hit. And you're going to a dinner, and it was the last game that started yesterday. Oh, yeah. So like, have you ever heard of the L. elevator, you know, you bet once and then you take everything and you bet it again and take everything on my way up the elevator. Yeah. And so I wanted to have a game. We wanted to have a game to

put on the table on one of our phones while we were at dinner with our lives. Oh my God. They know what they signed up for. They know what they signed up. Anyway, did St. Louis, I think I might be imagining this because we also drank at dinner. But did St. Louis start the second half on like a 25-0 run? Like, I don't think it was at least 16-0. I can't remember. All I remember is during the middle of the run, Mike White subs out four players. Like, it almost looked like sending in the walk-ons at the end of the game. It wasn't because they play 11 deep.

So it wasn't him sending in the walk-ons, but it felt like it. It felt like the white flag going up with like 16 minutes to go in the game. Yeah. The thing that's great about gambling is that it's supposed to, and it does 99% of the time, enhance your viewing experience. But when you get to a point where you can't even enjoy the game, it's miserable. Like we shut it off.

I was like, there's nothing even to sweat here. This isn't even. St. Louis is awesome. And I give them all the credit in the world. They were a, let me say, they functioned like an older veteran team that knows how to play with each other.

Georgia's got some answers to do. And by the way, I just want you all to know this that are in the chat saying don't bet on Georgia. Guys, I'm a football guy. All right? You show me, you know, Georgia, that Georgia G, I'm, I'm relying on that. Plus, I have some, you know, not reasons not like St. Louis from my past.

So we'll see what happens as it moves forward. But St. Louis is definitely the type of team, the way that they played against Georgia, that could maybe go on a run because they're veteran. They play well together. It looked like everything that they were doing in that game was intentional. I don't know if that was Georgia stinking or they just playing perfect, like perfectly executed basketball. But like they, everything that they wanted to do was working to the perfect. I mean, the 102 points in a tournament game means that things are going right.

Oh, and Robbie Avala, I mean, he's just a surgical passer watching him hit because their cuts are unbelievable. I mean, they're so well coached. Josh Scher's, by the way, there is a, there's an athletic story on Josh Scher's, the coach at St. Louis from when he was the coach at Indiana State. C.J. Moore wrote it is one of the best stories I've ever read. His story is fascinating. He was a kind of a tennis prodigy growing up, psycho dad, quits tennis in high school. Dad throws him out of the house. He ends up dropping out of high school.

Like, you never played high school basketball and somehow manages to be like a D2 starting point guard in basketball at five foot eight. And you saw it like, because I think it was Ali LaForest was doing the game. And Ali LaForest is a former, she was a point guard at Ohio U. So, and she's taller than Josh Scher's. And so he does that and he goes and wins in D2. Like unbelievable story. And just watching these guys the way they play together. And he's talked about how Robbie Avala, who's from Chicago in the suburbs, he was the biggest recruit at Indiana State.

They got him away from northern Iowa. And basically, it was these two decided to ride together. And when Josh Scherz went to St. Louis, Robbie Avala went to. and here's here's Robbie talking about the ride. John Warrow with the Associated Press. This is also for Robbie, and I'm sorry for taking hot, having all the attention on you, but we're used to it. Hey.

Question is two to two right now. What's it mean to have been on this journey with Josh and now to get an NCAA tournament win? What's that mean? You want the truth or you want me to fake it? Which one's better? All right. Yeah, it's been a special time.

You know, our four years together, starting at the United States, was a lot of fun. You know, we built so many, you know, great memories together. You know, so many runs, you know, we did it again, sophomore year, you know, in the NIT. And so to make it to make it to the tournament and not only just make it, but get a win and continue to keep dancing, has, you know, been fun. It's been special. But not only just him, but, you know, this whole entire team, it's been such a special season. And so, you know, I love these guys.

They love me. for as long as we can. I've got a follow-up. Was that the truth? Or do you fake it? I'll let you decide. Robbie Avala made for March. We've been waiting.

When he was in Indiana State and they didn't win the conference tournament had to go to the NIT, it was such a letdown because you wanted to see this guy in the tournament. And now we're seeing him in the tournament and we're going to see him

against a one seed against Michigan. And by the way, Josh Scherz and Dusty May, good buddies. Josh Scher's came through, you know, spent some time at FAU. Dusty May obviously was the head coach at FAU later, but they got to know each other, their pals. This is going to be so much fun to see this game. Michigan's a 12 and a half point favorite on Ben G.m. right now, but that's going to be a fun, fun game in Buffalo on Saturday. Yeah, guys, an absolute unit. There's no, like, there's two people who are units, for sure. You know who the other one is? Who's that?

Hold on, Vamp for me for a second. Well, his name's escaping me. The kicker. The currently here. My guy. The Irish kicker from Florida State who got arrested on spring break yesterday? That's a good segue. No, the actual one that I always joke about.

Bird Auburn. Bird Auburn. Bird Auburn. The former Texas kicker who was at Miami last season. There you go. Okay. Guys, an absolute unit. But yeah, okay.

I know, I can't be able to have. I just, it, it's so fun to watch someone who understands the offense they run so well that they know exactly where everybody's going to be and they can throw those seeing eye passes to cutters. And it's just, it's just beautiful. The Texas fans, by the way, not happy that you brought up bird Auburn's name. He's a unit. You're yucking their yum the day after they beat BYU and the NCAA tournament. So, Ari, we got to get ready for some games today. Producer River will be sweating the vals against Miami of Ohio.

We've also got Kentucky Santa Clara. Some folks in the chat, I'm like, is Mark Pope on the hot seat? If Kentucky loses Santa Clara? Yeah, probably. But if they don't, no. I know the Kentucky fans have been on Mark Pope all season, but this would be real bad if they were to lose to Santa Clara. But that's going to be a fun one. There will be more fun.

I just feel like yesterday was a great, just a great day. Like it started with that TCU Ohio State game, which is exactly what you won an eight, nine game, like comes down, like lead changes in the final minute, comes down to a final shot. We got the 12-5 upset. We haven't even talked. Sienna almost beat Duke. I mean, Sienna was leading Duke by double digits at halftime. And I know like Duke trying to get through. They're trying to get their center pat Nagangma back.

but it may be a bit of a struggle. Nebraska ball. Congratulations to Nebraska ball. They beat Troy first men's basketball tournament win in school history for Nebraska. Leave no doubt. First win in nine tries. So beautiful. They advance and they could keep dancing.

So Fred Hoyberg doing a great job at Nebraska. And before we go, Ari, we do need to say, rest in peace, Chuck Norris. Yeah. Yeah. The legend passed away. Passed at 86. Yeah. What a life. Well, we have to finish with our favorite Chuck Norrisisms. The best Chuck Norris. Like, when did these, these happen like 2006, 2006, 2007. Is that when they, I just remember one day they were all over the place. Yeah. Well, you know, he made a, because like it's, he's before my generation. Uh, like, he's, He was a star, but like the thing that everybody always says is from the end of Dodgeball. Oh, yeah.

He was judge in Dodgeball. And then he gave the thumbs up. And at the end, when Ben Stiller's very overweight, he goes, fucking Chuck Norris like that. And then like, so like people in my generation used to say, but yeah. There were a lot of like Chuck Norris jokes back in the day. Oh, yeah. You know, Chuck Norris can tie his shoes with his feet type of things. Like, you know what I mean?

Chuck Norris doesn't do pushups. He pushes the earth. down. Yeah. Since Chuck Norris was born, Roundhouse Kick-related deaths have increased by 13,000 percent. Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He just stares with him until he gets the information he wants. Yeah.

The flu gets a Chuck Norris shot every year. Chuck North breeze air five times a day. Chuck Norris doesn't worry about high gas prices topical. His vehicles run on a fear. In the beginning, there was nothing. Then Chuck Norris roundhouse kicked nothing and told it to get a job. Chuck Norris makes onions cry. I hope that he enjoyed these as much as we've enjoyed him.

And thank you, Chuck Norris, for years and years of entertainment, for all the movies, for Walker, Texas Ranger. And of course, for that great thumbs up and dodge ball. Rest and peace. Everybody, enjoy the games today. Enjoy the games this weekend. We'll talk to you on Monday.