Andy & Ari On3 - The ALL CHALK Final Four could be incredible

Episode Date: March 31, 2025

Bring home the W with the ultimate tailgate package. The Burger Box from Whataburger is perfect for every occasion. It comes with 10 single or double burgers (with or without cheese), your pick of sauces and all the fixings (which you can customize — did someonesay grilled jalapeños?). Keep it basic or go wild, it’ll be a slam dunk. Order online from April 4-7 and earn double reward points.  Thank you to Gametime for sponsoring today's episode! Planning your college football travel for this season? Gametime has tickets to every game. (And every concert and comedy show.) Download the Gametime App and enter code: STAPLES for $20 off your first purchase, terms apply. Last Minute Tickets, Lowest Prices, Guaranteed.  Busy mornings, late nights, working through lunch—life doesn’t always leave room for a complete, balanced meal. That’s where Huel comes in. This podcast is sponsored by Huel, spelled H-U-E-L, The World’s #1 Complete Nutrition Brand. It’s a complete meal in seconds—just grab, sip, and go. No more skipped meals or unfulfilling snacks. Huel makes it easy with nutrition that fits into your life. And right now, you can try it for FIFTEEN PERCENT off your first purchase of $75 or more with the code STAPLES15 at HUEL.com. Fuel up the easy way with Huel today! huel.com/STAPLES15(0:00-9:34) Intro: The Final Four is Set(9:35-21:15) Frank Reich Hired as Stanford Interim(21:16-23:16) Gametime(23:17-46:48) Colorado's Extension with Deion Sanders(46:49-48:47) Story time with Ari(48:48-49:38) Huel(49:39-1:03:42) Duke vs Houston Preview(1:03:43-1:05:52) Whataburger(1:05:53-1:20:29) Florida vs Auburn Preview(1:20:30-1:22:58) Conclusion The Final Four is set, and it’s all No. 1 seeds. Florida will play Auburn, and Duke will play Houston in San Antonio. Andy and Ari break down how the teams got there. Plus, they predict what will happen in Saturday’s games. Later, Andy and Ari talk Deion Sanders’ new contract at Colorado. Watch us LIVE, M-F at 9:30 am ET on YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/jD0wiITfrs8 Hosts: Andy Staples, Ari WassermanProducer: River BaileyInterested in partnering with the show? Email [e-mail]

Be slightly delayed this Monday morning, but fortunately, we're on the internet. We're not holding up some TV schedule. The final four is set Ari. It is set. We have our matchups Florida and Auburn Duke in Houston headed to San Antonio. We're headed to San Antonio. Thanks for our friends at Whataburger.

We'll be actually broadcasting outside the Alamo Dome within sight of the Alamo Dome on Saturday as you get ready for the for the games. What a graphic. What a day we need to we need to retake that picture because I'm tired of looking at it. I look like a serial killer that ate 28 donuts before I killed somebody but other than that, but maybe that's good for the graphic. But

yeah, I'm happy that you got your fridge fixed or delivered. And I'm just going to talk about it. That was the delay. My fridge died last week. We scheduled the delivery of the new fridge for Saturday when it wouldn't interfere with the show. And then the truck broke down on Saturday, pushing it to today. And here we are. But I have a fridge. It is currently cooling down.

I can't wait. Yeah, and I want to make an announcement because I'm going to be getting a special delivery this week. Anybody who's listened to our show for the past five years has known that I've wanted to buy a Mercedes R129 SL500 from the 90s, early 2000s, and I finally bought one. And it's getting delivered at some point this week from Virginia.

So I cannot be happier. And I just wanted to announce that because I'm just excited and I can't wait. So I got it. And my wife, I told her I bought it. She sent me a text back that said congrats period. So I don't know how that. Not congrats exclamation point. Congrats period.

Yeah. And I also found out that if you have a classic car that you only plan to drive, we know once every few weeks that ensuring it's very cheap. So everything's good. Congrats. But all right, I'm super excited to talk about basketball. I watched a lot of basketball this weekend. Yes, I was out of town for a few days, but I was I was definitely

keeping tabs. And I thought it was very high level basketball and I got to take for you on the rip. And I know we've talked about this on the on the show in the past. But like these games are better without Cinderella. Like I'm sorry, like I know that everybody wants Cinderella. He's gonna disagree with you on that. And yeah, it's funny because I was going to shout out our guy, James Fletcher, the third from on three, our bracketologist, he was exactly right. He called us. We're like all number ones in the, in the final four. What do you, what are you doing? No, that's not going to happen. It's only happened once in 2008. Well,

it happened again. And also I will point out Ari in 2008. We got a buzzer beater in the national championship game. Mario Chalmers for Kansas hitting the buzzer beater. Mario's miracle. Like if that happens, that's fantastic. Is that the lowest point in sports losing in the national title game on a buzzer beater? I know we have second and 26, but like the lowest point in sports losing in the national title game on a buzzer beater. I know we have second and 26 but like the

lowest point is is what happened with Villanova and North Carolina. That's the lowest point. The lowest point is North Carolina hits the shot with however many seconds to go and you're sure you've won and then Chris Jenkins hits the buzzer beater. Yeah. Yeah. Because the buzzer beater. Yeah, yeah. Because the buzzer beater thing is just like you guys were even, you know, and I know losing early on in the tournament on a buzzer beater stinks, but losing on that stage is like if you would have missed or we would have made one more free throw or whatever you it's just terrible. And I

keep losing live bets like that that have no impact on the game. So that's good. But it's a it's very entertaining and I think that the basketball from what I've seen and you know, I went to the to Vegas for the first week and I watched a bunch of the basketball and I thought that the quality of basketball has progressively gotten better every weekend. I watched the Duke Arizona game. I heard that the Houston, Tennessee game might not count, but the other Sweet 16 and Elite games feel like that they're going to feed into a take that I have about Duke later when we talk about Duke. But I watched the Duke Arizona game and it was just highly entertaining action-packed basketball. And like this and the thing that I've noticed too Is that a lot of the overs are hitting and I think that maybe it just feels that way because people are scoring and you know

Things look cleaner when you have high quality teams at the end So I say Duke Duke Florida and Auburn all of them highly skilled and multiple ways to score against you. Now Houston more than usual ways to score, but probably not the same level as the other three in terms of how many different ways they can put up points. trade off. No Cinderella's better basketball now. And I think that, uh, you know, the final four, uh, with basketball is a football final four, you know, the right four teams are in it. And, you know, I always like the thing that I think is cool about the basketball tournament, but also is kind of crappy about it at the same time is that I feel like, again,

limited knowledge, not a great frame of history here, but it's really hard for the best team to actually win this tournament. A lot of times as a team that sketches the breaks or gets hot, like in football the team who wins the national championship is always the best team. Like have we ever, at least in the playoff era, finished a college football season and been like, yeah the best team didn't win. No, it's like, no. It's just the best team always wins. And in basketball it's like the hottest team and I think that Major League Baseball mirrors that a little bit too, because you don't have,

you have 162 games of averages playing out and math is the most important. And you also have best of seven series, which the, you know, Major League Baseball, the NHL and the NBA have over. You determine the entire season, which is a marathon. 162 games, you go through cold streaks, you go through hot streaks, but through 162 games, when you get to game 162, your average is who you are.

And when you get to a seven game series, you could get cold, and that doesn't necessarily, cuz baseball is about getting cold, right? I mean, everybody gets cold at times times and everybody gets hot at times. And I think that it's easier for lower seeded teams and Major League Baseball to get hot at the right time. And because the gap between the best and the worst team in the playoffs is probably you know, how good your pitcher is. And I'm no Major League Baseball expert, but the math doesn't equate from the way that we crown the seeding to how we crown the champion in baseball. Those two things don't jive to me. So like it's uh you know Doug Lamarice is a crazy person but his thing was like you should have 162 games um season and then like the world tour should be like a 32 game series where like everything just bears out uh the right way but you know this is

cool and I think that whoever wins this will unequivocally be the best team. And I think that's what's exciting and they're all really good teams. Your Florida boys had me shook a little bit. The Walter Clayton Jr. shot where he patted in the lane and then dribbled out past the top of the key and hits that three was incredible. I believe that tied it and by the way, fact checking,

Kellen Johnson in the chat, the UNC shot tied it against Villanova. Didn't put them in the league, tied it and then Chris Jenkins broke the tie to win the game with the Buzzerbeater. So, but yeah, that Walter Clayton Jr. shot, because that's one of those like, no, no, no, no, yes, yes, yes, yes. And I was obviously dribbled out from the key and then turned around and just shot it. Yes. Yeah. And I'm surrounded. Like I'm in a obviously I'm a Florida grad. A lot of people I work with live around our Florida grads. And so I'm with a ton of Florida fans, including my son and all his friends who are huge Florida fans, and they were screaming like, no, no, and then just boom. Whoa. Yeah, the thing about that game, and I guess I shouldn't be telling you this as I try to get insurance for a car. But I

was, I was on the way to the airport. And I was on Florida minus what was it six and a half to start the game. Yeah, and then what was it six and a half to start the game Yeah, and then I hit him three and a half to one Um, and then when they were down by 10 with five minutes left, so I'm on the money line Yeah, just to win just trying to get my money back never say die dude. Okay, uh, you know, I was going down with florida either way They got their butts kicked in that game for 35 minutes Like didn't they like I mean, and then they just got, they just went scorched earth mode in the last five minutes.

Yeah. But yes, Florida's awesome. Duke's awesome. Auburn's awesome. Houston's awesome. I think this is going to be great. And I'm super excited that we have the opportunity to go down there and be in the,

be in the vibes of it too. And we're going to watch the games and I'm going to put you on notice right now. I should have listened to Seth Davis when he was on the call, but like, I don't think anybody's beating Duke. So I don't know if that's a good segue to know, or if you want to keep going in the other direction, but that's where I'm at with this. Well, I say, let's put a pin in that for a second. This is I'm excited to talk about those games, but I think, I think the Duke

things are are really interesting conversation, but we actually have some news. So later in the show, we're going to preview both of those Final Four games. But right now, we got to talk a little breaking news. Are you ready? You ready? You ready? Yeah. New head football coach at Stanford. Maybe for this year, maybe forever. Frank Reich has been hired and of course our our on three graphics as rental.

It's a one season agreement. So Frank Reich will do what Jim Grove did at Baylor that one year where he's going to be in the play in place and he's got the, the, he'll take over the existing staff. But Frank Reich, former Colts coach, former Panthers coach, didn't go well with the Panthers, went pretty well with the Colts other than, well, there was the whole Andrew Luck retiring part that made things difficult, but Frank Reich is a, uh, is a pretty accomplished coach and coach and pretty good with quarterbacks. So we'll see how he does in college.

Do you think that this is like a repayment from Andrew Luck? I mean, like, hey, sorry, I messed up your NFL career. Here's another shot. Like, is that what this is? I think that might that may be part of it. I feel a Still guilty. We rekindle things in and you get your fresh start here. How many current acting NFL head coaches would survive if their star quarterback just retired out of nowhere?

Like Andy Reid is fantastic. But yeah, it's like my homes like I don't want to do this anymore. I don't think so, cuz then who are you left? Well, right now it's Carson Wentz, right? Like any reader, we gotta somebody right now. And like the thing that we talked about with like Ryan Day going into the season

about like built up equity in college does not exist in the NFL, right? Like Andy Reid has as much equity in Kansas City as any head coach has probably ever had. Then I feel like if he had two awful seasons, he'd be on the hot seat. Like there's no there's no what have you done for me at all in the NFL. It's always like, what is the last 17 games look like? But Alex Smith is a pretty good quarterback, too. I know he won 13 games and Alex Smith wasn't bad in the NFL.

I know he had injury. Alex Smith under Andy Reid was was awesome. And then you know the what happened after that was it was injuries. It wasn't necessarily Alex Smith's fault. But I like this. I like this higher or this this position because you want to put somebody who has been in charge in tumultuous situations but also as coach at the highest level and might be pretty aligned with the person

who's gonna be making the call. Like I don't know that, you know, did Stanford probably wasn't gonna go out and do better at this point in the calendar, right? Like, I mean, we're in April tomorrow. So, you know, I think this is probably as good as it can get and hopefully, you know, he'll just be like a popular person

in the building that can get vibes back up because I'm assuming their vibes are pretty low right there. Yeah, Vance in the chat. Right is doing this to maintain the buyout money from Tepper. Remember Frank Wright got fired in year one with the Panthers, which was probably a blessed relief because that owner seems very difficult to work for. But yes, he still owed quite a bit of money on that contract and so so they're making very clear this is one year helps with that.

The thing too, that I think is interesting about that is like wasn't the team that he got fired from the worst NFL team in the history of the world? Well, maybe not Brown's teams probably have beaten it in the past. But like there were no good players on that team. Like, what do you want? Like, what do you want? Were there good players on that team? Am I forgetting somebody? They traded away the best player DJ Moore so that they could then trade away all the draft picks that would have allowed them to get more good players

so they could move up and taste, take Bryce Young, who may work out actually, but wasn't working out at that time. But it also wasn't working out because all their capital was gone. They had no, like, rookie season had. They had no players. They're correct. Correct. And they had the fire sale like they'd gotten rid of McCaffrey. They trade McCaffrey the year before. And so yes, it was it was a tough situation for Frank right? Who's had essentially been thrust into a couple tough situations as an NFL head coach, so now is his chance to. Start over as a head coach. Cleanse the palette with a year at Stanford, which is not going to be an easy year because I mean they they just they lost a bunch of guys through the portal. Their best edge rusher. Hit the portal this past weekend like their.

Ashton Daniels who started games at quarterback for them last year. He's at Auburn now like that they've lost a lot of players in the portal. Yeah, it's going to be an easy year. Yeah, and the one year with BYU non-conference game and Notre Dame obviously the one year stint too without the ability to improve your roster is a is a rough go of it. So like, I hope that we can grade his performance with the proper context too, because it's like what's he supposed to do?

Like at this point, like they have the spring portal window, so maybe they can get some guys. But like at this point, you kind of are who you are. So, you know, good luck and Godspeed, you know, well, I gotta say Frank Reich. I really liked him as a coach, you know, when I'd see him interviewed. I used to hate Frank Reich so much because I grew up a Dolphins fan and he was Jim Kelly's backup in Buffalo. And it felt like it didn't matter because like Jim Kelly would get hurt

and then Frank Reich would just come in and beat the Dolphins too. It was very annoying. So he turned out to be a very nice guy, but it's one of those like when you're a kid and you just don't like this guy, it's hard to change that. Yeah. It is kind of funny how your childhood memories

form your opinions of people. I don't like all the people from when I was a kid I didn't like, I don't even really remember. So I didn't, I'm trying to think the people from when I was a kid I didn't like I don't even really remember so I didn't I I'm trying to think like people I hate like I was I was cheering so hard against the Bills because they were obviously the Dolphins AFC East rival when they played that the the game against the the Oilers in the playoffs and the Oilers go up 35 to 3 and Wright brings them back for a 41 38 win in overtime like I was that he just made me so mad that day.

I didn't like Brett Favre as a kid because all the kids that went to school with me, like being in Arizona, the Arizona Cardinals sucked. So all the, all my friends were like Cowboys and Packers fans, cause that was what was cool. And I just had too many friends that were like Packers fans. You know, when you're a kid, you just want your friends' teams to lose. And Brett Favre was awesome at that time.

And now it turns out that it's okay to hate him. So it's actually carried over quite well. I don't know if he's going to be getting any coaching jobs anytime soon. But yeah, that's who I didn't like when I was a kid. Yeah, the Andrew Luck conversation. And so I'm assuming, like, kid. Yeah, the Andrew Luck conversation. And so I'm assuming like this tells us how involved Andrew Luck is. And obviously Stanford is without an AD right now.

Bernard Muir isn't officially done yet, but he's done. So this is definitely Andrew Luck doing this. So we're getting more data on a GM being in control of a college football program, which is again, this is the first time we're seeing this and whether it works or not. Yeah, and also too, like the thing that's interesting about this whole angle is that like Andrew Luck, if in charge and while in charge has tentacles in the NFL and has relationships, you know, it's like I don't know how many other places like if Andrew Luck wasn't there would stand would he even consider going to Stanford?

No, I mean, I don't even think they would think of the name. Do you think you'd even like like, yeah, okay, I'll go to Stanford for a year. Yeah, it makes sense. But but no, I mean that I don't even think the connection gets made like this is a situation where. He had, I mean he coached Andrew Luck for a year. And then Andrew Luck shockingly retires and it basically

Andrew Luck retiring probably torpedoed Frank Reich's head coaching career and I think Andrew Luck probably understands that and and this is. This is him giving him another shot. Yeah, I ruined your NFL career. Why don't you come to Stanford that's already behind the eight ball and just like do your best good luck like you should go be the offensive coordinator for somebody who's already established and just go through rehab. That way I don't know. This is going to be tough.

Rental is. Is a tough look fun though. It'll be fun though, because two places in the ACC now where we're seeing an NFL mind take over. Against Colin and you and I have had this discussion with regard to Bill Belichick in North Carolina. I don't think necessarily just because people have been in the discussion with regard to Bill Belichick in North Carolina. I don't think

necessarily just because people have been in the NFL or even with with Bill Belichick, who's the best NFL coach of all time, that they just come in and coach circles around the college coaches when the college coaches have better players than them. Right, it would be really funny if right just like did everything that Belichick did. Yeah. You talk about like him Belichick cheating off of Jed Fisch's paper.

Wouldn't it be funny if like Frank Reich just turned in Belichick's paper, didn't even cheat off of it just all the things. Amazing. He doesn't have. I mean, yes, everything that he can everything that he can't like Belichick did yeah and Belichick also his Contributions to North Carolina are probably gonna be I Think probably even in his mind I think he probably feels like he's gonna be able to coach circles around people but like how he it You know accumulates talent and builds that roster is gonna be

Right, you know his main contribution to that. And I don't know that Ryke has that opportunity. I mean, maybe a little one if you count the spring window, but the spring window is gonna be dry as hell, isn't it? It is, especially for a team like Stanford. Now, you will probably have an opportunity to get some guys who are leaving Power Conference programs because they're not winning starting jobs.

So if you can do it wisely, you may be able to get some guys. You can plug in and play. Uh, you mentioned Belichick Saturday, November 8th in Chapel Hill, Frank Reich versus bill Belichick, a matchup we've seen before in the NFL. Yeah. Looking forward to it. Uh, it was funny. Right.

Was the OC by the way, on the Philly special Eagles. So I'm sure Belichick's gonna try to have something for him. Oh, nice connection there. I didn't know that. Mm-hmm. Yeah, this is gonna be fun. It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out. You know, we have talked about this job.

What Frank Reich is doing here is not the job we've talked about. We're talking about whoever it is that is Stanford's coach in 2026 and beyond, whether Stanford can get its. Alums involved really get the money going. It could be a good job, but we'll see. And Frank Reich is going to try to try to hold it together for a year. Yeah, we'll see how he does.

I'm excited to watch. And I'm excited to see NFL matchups. Oh, yeah. Because Bill Belichick is a coach in college. I know. Are we taking that for granted now? That Bill Belichick is working on his coach. Right. Frank Reich was coaching coaching NFL team two years ago,

and now he's a college head coach rented for a year. That's unbelievable. Yeah, college rentals is going to be an interesting concept. Ari. We're going to San Antonio. We already know that if you want to go to San Antonio if your team is in the final four or you just want to see some great basketball,

because this is, this all chalk Final Four thing, team, as Ari pointed out, is going to be high level, high quality games. So if you want to go to San Antonio, get yourself on the Game Time app, download it, hit that GT Picks feature to get the best deals relative to the market. Listen, the good seats, they're not cheap cheap because these are good games. So a session on

Saturday, you're talking about maybe 500 bucks for a sideline view type seat. But you're going to see some you get two games. No, actually, you get two games. Yes. I want to go. I want to go. Well, maybe we'll hit the game. We could hit the game time out after our show. Yeah. And see what it is. Yeah. Now I've already used my code. I used my code when we bought Taylor Swift tickets, but because you only do it on your first purchase, but you, if you have not made your first purchase or producer hasn't made his first purchase. Oh, you have producer river. We'll, we'll, we'll make sure he may have done it.

He's producer rivers. Yeah. Use the code staples for $20 off your first purchase terms apply, of course, but that's best deal going and game time. We'll make sure you do get the best deal that hit that GT picks button. As you look at your tickets and you will find the best deal. And it doesn't have to be the final four. It could be a comedy show. I already saw David Spade and Shane

Dillis not long ago. I did whoever you want to see when I went to San Antonio to to look up final four tickets. There's a jelly roll show coming to San Antonio like I would love to see jelly rolling concert. It'd be incredible more than that one song. Is he like have a jelly roll? Yeah, dude. He's got like 30 bangers. Oh 30 Oh, yeah, okay. I love the game time that use code staples when you go see jelly roll or the final four $20 off your first purchase terms apply

alright, alright Let's let's stay in the world of college football coaching for a minute well, we're gonna have our previews of the world of college football coaching for a minute. Well, we're gonna have our previews of Florida Auburn and Duke Houston later in the show. But you have a theory that you wanna walk out to me. And we didn't get a chance to talk about Dion and his contract extension on Friday.

I put out a video, you wrote a column, but it happened after Friday's show. So we have not really had a chance to address it on the show. Five year, $54 million extension, shockingly $10 million more than he made in his entire career as an NFL player, which is an example of how much salaries have changed in the NFL, but also wow, because he was the best cornerback for most of that time. But Ari, what did this say to you?

Yeah, okay. Um, I wrote a column about this when it happened the day of and I wanted to say thank you for going live alone a few times while I was dealing with some family stuff. So I really appreciate that. You did a great job and I was listening along and it felt good. I almost heckled you at one point. You should have. Yeah, I should have just been like, ah, you're an idiot.

No, this is, no. When I'm saying that Coach Prime's still a bargain and you're like, you want to see me do math live on the show? I did. Go back and watch that Coach Prime video because I explained to you just based on the ticket sales why he's paying for himself. But go ahead, Art.

Yeah, the funniest thing about that was like, that video could have been 40 seconds, but you did a really good job of explaining it because like, how dare you tell people how the sausage is made? No, no, no. But like, if you don't understand that, like you did a really good job of laying out like, I mean, I think that from Colorado standpoint, it's unequivocally been a success. Now, like on this show, we do a lot of talking about football

and how good they can be, but from their investment standpoint, like that's not even a discussion, right? Like that's, they are making money hand over fist on this whole thing. So here's my theory. And I don't know if I'm gonna be right on this. I've been wrong about Dion the entire way. But I wrote a column on Saturday that's not my theory,

which is if you were not bought into Dion Sanders yet, now's the time to do it because he has the benefit of time and proof of concept. I think that what he did at Colorado last year was incredibly impressive. And granted, I know that he had Chidor Sanders and Travis Hunter on the team. And that goes a long way in the Big 12

in helping you win games. But that kind of makes me feel like even more hopeful that if you think that the two players that they had there were the whole thing, that he could get those guys back and has a five-star freshman on the roster right now at the quarterback position. But here's my theory. So when he took over at Colorado, I

think that Dion Sanders is a look good, feel good person. Can we agree on that? You know, the diamond turf shoes, the gold chain, the gold whistle, you know, like he is just like some blender sunglasses that he has a glass cleats the way he played the game. He's a flashy individual. That's a fair thing. Right. Yeah. And I think that Dion Sanders coming into this job was probably very fearful. And maybe that's not the right word, because he's a confident man, but very on guard, not suck

really bad, either of the first two years, right? Like, I mean, the way that he flipped the roster, he did everything in his power to make a at least functional football team. In year one, I thought they were functional. The bottom fell out a little bit, but of course it did because they didn't have the roster year two. I would say that they were good. With me still.

But now that he's already proven, and I think that, you know, there were a lot of people out there that have doubted his ability to coach, let alone roster, all the other stuff, but like Saturday's coaching. Like I would say that Colorado was a very well-coached team last year. And I don't know if you agree with that, but I thought that they were really fun to watch. And better, better coach than the previous year, yes. Yes. And I thought that, and even with the Sean Lewis stuff in year one, there were a lot of things like, okay, well, he can't handle his coordinators and all this stuff. No, I thought he did a really, really good job last year of when Colorado played. I thought they were well coached. So now that you know that Deion Sanders isn't just a clown show, or that it isn't a money grab or an experiment or even daddy ball which are all theories that we've discussed in the past and that he isn't

ready to jump ship from Colorado which I thought was proven when he went and got Julian Lewis and now signs this extension and I know that coaches can still leave after signing extensions I know that this isn't just like he's gonna be there for five years no matter what but if he doesn't have that need to show that he's a good coach or to show that Colorado isn't going to stink and he actually can build it the right way in the sustainable way. I think that it's possible with this extension and the proof of concept that he's already shown that he and his staff might alter how they go about building their roster. Like if he is actually planning on being there for four or five more years, if you think that Travis Hunter and uh Shadoor were the reason they were good, I don't know that you can go get another Travis Hunter, but he is certainly capable in the high school ranks to load this roster in a way where they could run

the big 12 for the next five years in the discussion of. Who's going to take over the big 12 now that Oklahoma and Texas are gone, I think Colorado is specifically situated in a way where they can we can expect them to get the types of talent that other coaches can't get consistently fair enough so fair and I also think there's a Dion standard we can expect them to get the types of talent that other coaches can't get consistently. Fair enough? So I don't know. Fair, and I also think there's a Deion Sanders.

Like we've talked about the Nick Saban discount back in the day. We had a discussion with Steve Wilfong about, does Georgia get a discount based on the way it puts players in the NFL? I don't think there are a lot of discounts left. I think there might be a Deion Sanders discount because he can put you in line to kind of make,

if you become a superstar at Colorado, he can make you whole by his very presence through what the schools and the athletic writers call quote unquote legitimate NIL. Like you're gonna wind up in a KFC commercial. You're gonna wind up in all, like you saw how many commercials Travis Hunter was in. Like you're gonna wind up in those sorts of situations

by proximity to Dion in a way that you don't have by proximity to Ryan Day or proximity to Kirby Smart. So without the need to flip the roster, because I don't know if this is blasphemous, but if Colorado is not as good as they were last year, I think that's OK. We're not in like Dion. Yeah, they've earned a downish year.

Now, I don't think you can't go back to 1 and 11. But if they're 6 and 6 this year, I don't think people are going to feel like the bottom is falling out. If they were 6 and 6 last year, people would have been like, okay, this sucks. The experience is over. The fact that they were pushing for the playoff in November kind of gives you an idea that

Colorado not only can but should make the playoff during the course of this extension at some point. Now, the question is, if he turns on the high school stuff and starts bringing in five top 100 players a year, which isn't asking that much. I don't need, he doesn't need to go out recruit Georgia, but he, if he starts bringing in guys. There are not going to be many schools that get five top 100 players a year.

How many schools can you count that have signed a five star prospect in each of the last two classes? I bet you Colorado is maybe one of 12. Right. Right. We need to do that research. That sounds like a column for you, but like if you've done that. And you haven't 100% dedicated yourself. To the high school ranks and you

have the benefit of time right now, which by the way, might not have been the case a year or two ago. My theory is that I think we could see Colorado alter the way that it feels it needs to build its roster. And that might mean that they don't have an amazing year in this year or even the following year, but by year three, if he does this for two years, Colorado is going to make the playoff and maybe win playoff games. Like I really do think that this, that I'm like almost back to where I was when he got hired, which is

Dion Sanders is dangerous and Dion Sanders is going to decide how dangerous his team is because I don't know what you think about this, but if he sticks with the portal plan, because I've always been high school, high school, high school, high school, and I don't know if there's been a single program, maybe outside of Florida State, despite getting jobs by the CFP committee on this that has shown that you can win a national championship or make a deep playoff run being this portal heavy. Like we haven't seen it yet. We've seen teams improve. We've seen teams be very good, but we haven't seen truly great teams do that. The best teams are the ones that have done really well in both. And I think that that doesn't mean that Colorado does not continue to portal the hell out of things.

But if he can just move 30 percent over to high school. And build this roster with some sustainability and some players that are going gonna be on the team for four years or three years, and then go get really exciting pieces in the portal. Like, Caden Salter's a great piece, right? Like, they can go get Jordan. Caden Salter is an example to me of, he's not looking at this as a rebuilding year. He's saying, we got Julian Lewis.

I don't know that Julian Lewis is ready to play right now, but this guy is super experienced, has won a lot of games. So let's win some games until Julian Lewis is ready. Yeah, so to boil it down, the theory is now that he's been successful his first two years, people know that the investment has paid off financially for the university. And that like he has actually done a pretty good job of literally coaching. Maybe he will change his recruiting

philosophy. Like, because if he starts doing that, and he starts weaponizing high school the way that I've been like screaming about for three years, I still think that there is a second gear. I admitted that I was wrong about what he was doing. Obviously, there's nobody, there's no Colorado doubter on earth that can look into the camera right now and say they didn't do an amazing job last year. Like everything that I said was wrong. But like I haven't completely given up on the notion that like the most famous coach in the world, or at least in the sport, shouldn't be recruiting high schools more.

And if he has time to build it right, and that built up equity of, hey, look what we've done, he might do it. And if he does, Colorado is so dangerous. Now Colorado is dangerous right now in the sense that they could portal their way to a playoff team at some point in the next few years.

But if you think I think Colorado could be the favorite to win the Big 12 three years in a row, four years in a row, five years in a row if he starts right now, then it might take two years, but I think they could get to that point. I think he he can make them the most talented team in the Big 12 by virtue of what we we've been talking. Do you agree with me about the high school stuff or do you think I'm just like clinging on to an old idea? Well, John in the check says he has like 50% high school this year. What are we doing?

We're talking about the class of 2025. No, he doesn't. He signed 14 high school players. If you want a comparison, Texas signed 25, Georgia signed 28, Alabama 21, Ohio State 26, Michigan 24. Now Oregon only signed 19. So it's. Yeah, but also too, like maybe even. Moving toward that. The percentages aren't even like you. Thank you for backing me up on that,

but I think the percentages maybe not even as important as. Well, if you get like Carmine McLean and Jordan Seaton and Juju Lewis, then you could. I mean he's has he signed a five-star player every single year, even while he's at Jackson State? Julian Lewis is not a five-star industry player. Yeah. He went to four stars at the end, but. But the point remains, has he signed a elite

level prospect that was either a five-star or on the cusp of being a five-star every single year he's been a coach? I think that he has, right? Even at Jackson State with Jack. I don't know about. Oh yeah. I mean, Travis Hunter year one. I don't remember if year two at Jackson State he did. I can't remember. Um, but the point is, is what if he does that with four dudes over a three year period? I might've been saying go all in on high school. I think it would be great if he did, but if he even if he goes 30% more over and gets four Jordan Seatons in a year,

in the big 12 that makes you nasty and then supplement it with the portal the way that he's been doing. Like I actually think that Colorado could win a national title. Yeah it makes a national title. I don't know about national title, but it makes it what you just described. Would make you the most talented team, the Big 12. Now you still got it. You got to be deeper to compete with the Georges and the Alabamas in the Ohio States of the world. Let me let me make sure I clarify though Andy I Don't think he could win the national title if he signed three or four Jordan Seatons a year

Although I think they would be very good and have a chance. Oh, you could yeah, you could get close I legitimately think that if he hits the cocktail, right? And I don't know what the percentage is or what you think the percentage should be and I would be open to hearing what you Think that he in theory could win a national title of Colorado, and I would be open to hearing what you think, that he in theory could win a national title at Colorado. Like I don't think that Colorado's ceiling as a program with Deion Sanders is winning the big 12 and a first round exit in the playoff. I think their ceiling is a deep run if he can situate the roster based on who he is and how he recruits. the roster based on who he is and how he recruits. We'll find out. We will find out. But I am excited to see what he can do. Because we saw it with Sridhar and with

Travis Hunter, we saw the Louis luggage. Now he's shopping on Poshmark for some other, you know, luxury brands, but also trying to get the luxury brands that are not yet hot. That would be the ones from high school. That would be your Jordan Seaton's and your Juju Lewis's. What's Juju Lewis though, if he like hits though, is that an Hermes bag? He's exactly, exactly.

It's a Birkin bag. So. Louis Vuitton is kind of fake luxury, isn't it? Right. There are more expensive and like Ohio State is Hermes. Georgia is Hermes. Yeah. right? Right. There's there are more expensive and and like Ohio State is Hermes. Georgia is Hermes. Yeah, I I know I know

these brands because of my wife and like II feel like there is a second gear at Colorado that he has an opportunity to hit if he wants to like I think that that This is what I've always thought. I think Colorado can go as far as Dion Sanders and wants it to like. I think it's completely up to him and

I don't know there's a lot of coaches in college football that you could say that about. I think you're exactly right. I think you're exactly right. Crazy theory, right? Like do you think it's possible that they change it or do you think I'm just crazy?

I don't think they're going to change it wholesale. I don't think they're going to suddenly wholesale. I don't think they're gonna suddenly start recruiting exactly the way Georgia recruits. I also don't know that they can because they're not gonna have that level of money. But here's the thing. Do you think they're even gonna try to recruit high schools more now?

I think they're gonna have to. They're gonna try to win Ari. So they're gonna do what they have to do to win. And if that means- This is the same thing that we've been arguing about though. Are you buying a house to live in or are you flipping it? Ari, I know you want him to do it a certain way. Yeah.

He's not going to do it the way you want him to do it. But now that he wants to live in the house, you want to build it the right way. I bought this car, right? I could go get a new paint job and new rims and reupholster the thing, not touch the engine and probably flip it for 1200 or 1500 bucks profit.

But I wanna have the car for the rest of my life. So what do I do? I just, he signed an extension, like we're not flipping the house anymore. I thought he was flipping it, we're not flipping it anymore. Ari, he's not gonna do it the way you want. He's gonna do it his way. I know. It'll be right or wrong. He's going to do it.

Still do it his way at the high school level. Like his way is no kidding. That's what we're talking about. It's just, it's just a few more per year. Just go be Dion in a high school hallway with a five star player. Please just do it like five five do it seven times a year. Get four of them. You'll win the big 12 every year. Like am I nuts? Isn't it that simple? If you think that they did this with two players last year, which they didn't, their receivers were awesome and their lines played a lot better. You act like you act like Lejante Wester. I don't come out of the portal last year and play awesome. Like I don't. I don't I know Wester was awesome. I think Wester you could make a case was just as good of a receiver in terms of consistency and production as Travis. And the other thing is like the guys the guys they got out of the portal on the edge were awesome. One of them

didn't even get to play that much he He got hurt. And now he's gone to Texas A&M because he flashed when he was there. Like they did a good job out of the portal. I don't think you're ever. Have you ever stood behind somebody? Let me talk for a second. Okay. I'm excited. I'm excited. I know you are. I don't think you're going to see the wholesale flips I don't think you're going to see the wholesale flips anymore of the roster. I think that's done. It's going to be a much calmer situation for Colorado. That probably lends itself to a little more high school recruiting, not feeling like you have those immediate needs.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. So, um, it, but it's not going to be as wholesale as you want. If, if he was going to go visit high schools. Over and over, he would have already done it like. You're going to have to accept that he's going to do it the way he wants to do it. Who does it? The way advanced asks every single team

that's won the national title. My Kirby smart Ryan Day Nick Saban did. Like a lot of people. Last thing I'm going to say, have you ever stood behind somebody at the self checkout, at the grocery store and like watch them fumble around and mess it up and you like know exactly, this is it.

You know that feeling where you feel like I know exactly how to weigh your grades. Are you saying Dion is the guy at the self check. You're saying Deon's writing a check in the express lane is what you're saying. No, I'm saying I have a feeling of like, when I'm behind the person at the self checkout who's struggling.

And like, I know exactly how things would go if they did it that way. Like, I feel that way about Colorado where it's like, they're doing a great job. They're not holding up the line, but they're struggling with one item that I know how to ring out. And I'm telling them how to ring it out.

And like, everybody's like, they're not gonna ring it out that way. And it's like, my way is right, right? Like don't argue with me about whether he's gonna do it. This is not your way. Yeah, no. You can't like Nick Saban's way or Ryan Day's way. Ryan Day's way.

You know, every single coach that can walk into a hallway and blow the socks off of the entire student body that way. Like isn't that like I sometimes feel like I'm taking crazy pills because you're like he's not going to do it your way. But Andy, I just want you to agree with me that my way or that way is the right way. I've said it a million times. I don't have to keep saying it. I know it is. He's not going to do it though. way or that way is the right

way. I've said it a million times. I don't have why I have to keep saying it. I know it is okay. He's not going to do it though. He why why it's it drives me insane. Why because he doesn't want to Ari. It does it drives me insane because

like I feel like people think I'm a D on hater and I'm actually the biggest Deon fan. Like I'm the one who's like Deon, you're right there man. Go make a team playoff right there. The biggest Deon fan who just compared him to the guy at the self check out who doesn't know how to use a self check out. No, I'm saying I'm that feeling that I have. I'm not calling him the person.

I'm saying I have the feeling of like, I can fix this. And I feel like I'm telling you in the chat what how close they are to being awesome every year and every single person person is like oh it's like come on like do you not see what I see here like it's right there just go do that little thing that little adjustment and you could be awesome every year. But people don't do that. People don't do that. Like what have I said about Lincoln Riley for years? Just call somebody who works at Georgia,

ask them how they practice and then just do that. Is he gonna do that? No, he's not gonna do that. The man's number one qualification for being a head coach to begin with was his stardom and he's not weaponizing it fully and it drives me crazy. But like again I was wrong last year so maybe he'll win a national title without doing it this way. I don't know he's awesome. I hope he does and I hope he brings up the checkout the self-checkout thing when he does. But like listen to me and like somebody from a fan site will clip the first part

they're not going to clip this part because it doesn't fit the likes on Twitter He's awesome. He is so awesome. It's awesome to watch but Colorado is a thing He did it like he freaking did it Andy Like I didn't think he would be able to I thought he would be awesome at the beginning Then I thought he would suck because he was doing it this way. And then he was still awesome. Now imagine if he just takes that last 20% step, which I know he knows is important. Don't act like it's not important.

He knows it's important. If he just does it, they'll be awesome. They will be awesome. That's my take. Thank you, Ari. I'm passionate about it. I'm glad it gets you excited. I'm glad it gets you pumped. I'm glad it gets you pumped up.

And I agree with you. You know what? The self-checkout line probably was bad. You know when your daughter is running around the house and you can see how she's going to fall before she falls and you can't stop it? That's how I feel. I love the certainty. I love the certainty with people who are clearly better than us at this, but that's OK. But I used to think that Colorado would fail if he didn't do it and I was wrong about that. I don't think Colorado is going to fail. I think that they have a really, really high ceiling and I think their ceiling isn't. If you did like tears of ceilings, maybe

should do that this year. Programs who have the highest ceilings. I think Colorado with Dion. Is in the highest here one in the chat already the problem is everybody believes they have the answers and know how to do everything right. The truth is I am the only person with all the answers.

That's right one so I've never done it. Now we're going to ask one what to do. I've never done it before. I've just watched everybody Juan what to do. I've never done it before. I've just watched everybody else who has done it do it that way. It's like I don't know how to build an engine, but I know that certain companies know how to do it the best. Spoken like a man who just has a very old engine coming his way. It's a very, very good engine, by the way. 41,000 miles on that thing, and it was one of the best Mercedes engines of all time.

Had it checked up in Norfolk, Virginia. We're we're hunting dude. I did all the things that you told me to do. I did all the things that that. Mackenzie's husband who yeah, we can tell the people that we can see from our sales department. Her husband is a big car guy so I don't know.

We were having a sales meeting and or text string string. And I was like sorry I was dealing with this. We were having a sales meeting or text string, and I was like, sorry, I was dealing with this. I told everybody I'm trying to buy a classic car. I was distracted. And she goes, do you want my husband's help? He collects classic cars. And I've been waterboarding this guy with text messages

for like the last 10 days, two weeks. And he's been helping me. I've been sending him the car facts. I sent him the videos and he's like, yeah dude, buy it. It's awesome. I was like, all right, bro. Thanks Mackenzie. We appreciate it.

We appreciate Ari. Tell everybody about the car. I gotta go grab something real quick. Okay. I wish I could like send River a text. I'm gonna send you a text River of the actual car, but it's a pretty sweet looking ride. I don't know where Andy went.

But like this is the dream come true for me. I've wanted this car since Liar Liar came out since I was a kid. And I've been looking and scoping and I finally found one in the right price range that is basically, I bought it from a collector, it's been taken care of, it's gonna be awesome. And I'm gonna take pictures of it.

I think I'm gonna take photography, River, with it. And I'm gonna try to like, you know, take cool pictures and stuff. My hope here, River, is that Andy left because he's so enraged by my Colorado talk. What's your opinion? I don't know. Are you with me? Yeah, yeah, I mean, I'm on board with it.

He's just gotta go do it. He's not with you. I hear you talking behind my back. Also, classic cars are not from the pre-1940s. Every classic car, I think the actual... The cutoff for the license plate in the Santa Florida is 25 years old. So you're about there.

What I was doing was getting this bottle of Hewlett Black Edition, because I gotta tell you about 35 grams of protein, seven grams of fiber, 27 vitamins and minerals, complete nutrition in a bottle right here. The world's number one complete nutrition. You drink one of these in the morning when you're busy, you don't have time to cook breakfast,

it's gonna get you through to lunch. You take this to work, because you don't have time to cook breakfast, it's going to get you through to lunch. You take this to work because you don't have time to make lunch. Maybe your schedule is so packed, you just, all you can do is grab and drink. It's going to get you to dinner. It's amazing. Hewlett's number one complete nutrition in the world. Use the code STAPLES15 to get 15% off your first purchase of $75 or more plus a free gift, which if it's the same one I got, it is the Hewlett t-shirt, which is the greatest workout t-shirt of all time.

So go to hewlett.com, code staples 15, 15% off your first purchase of $75 or more. Ari, let us now transport our minds to San Antonio. Actually, before we do that, Matthew asked a question. Ari is it the liar liar car? It is indeed the liar liar car. Yeah, so for I said this plate, I sent a picture to River. I'm going to do a vanity plate

with that has the same exact license plate that he had in liar liar, which is just a bunch of numbers and letters. No one's gonna know. That's it right there. Isn't she pretty? Beautiful.

All right, let us transport our minds back to San Antonio, which is where the basketball teams from Florida, Auburn, Duke and Houston are headed. We need to make our predictions on these games. We've seen the Lions now. We've seen the Lions to win the national championship. Duke is almost an even money favorite to win the national championship. Cause I've been refreshing my page plus one Oh five as of this morning. Oh, I'm just so you know, we're going to be on high alert this entire weekend because I'm going to, I'm going to'm going to I'm going to hammer that that's because I think it's going to happen. So which is a good segue to maybe the Duke. Let's start

with Duke Houston. Let us start with Duke Houston because this is one of those things where I watched Duke against Alabama on Saturday and Alabama is a really good team. Like we watched Alabama just torch BYU with a NCAA record number of three-pointers for a game. And then Duke just little boyed Alabama. Like just, it's like, you know, putting your hand on the guy's head and he just swings and nothing happens. Because Duke has so many ways to beat you.

And that's the scary part about Duke. It feels like no matter who they play, whether they're playing Houston first, if they beat Houston, they're gonna play Florida or Auburn, but no matter who they play, they've got more firepower than anybody else. Okay, so here's my take, prisoner of the moment take. And I tweeted about it the other night.

You might've already seen it, so this won't surprise you. But I feel like as a person with limited historical background on basketball, like when you were talking about that Villanova shot, I remember it happening, but I wouldn't have been able to recall it on my own. I gamble on the games. I watch the games, but I don't retain it. But I feel like Duke this year is maybe the best college basketball team I've ever seen.

And I know that there will be people who are like, yeah, well, last year's team was awesome and teams that had five future NBA players on it. I'm not saying it is the best team. I'm saying from my experience watching college basketball, I don't think I've ever seen a more functional college team. It is it is among the most talented, like purely talented, kind of the pieces all fit together, right? Like that's, you're not being a prisoner of the moment saying that there there is a reason though, examples of teams that were

were maybe more talented. But this is in the conversation. that we're maybe more talented, but this is in the conversation. College basketball to me, and maybe it's because I bet incessantly on like mid-majors in January that play on Tuesday night on channels that aren't national, but college basketball to me is like sloppy and frantic a lot. It feels like chickens with their heads cut off a lot of the times. I don't know if you get this feeling when you're watching it because I watch a lot of NBA, you know, especially even the Elite eight game between Houston and Tennessee. Now, Houston dominated that game, but there was a period where Houston shots weren't falling either and it was just miserable to watch. Like nobody could do anything right. You've got unforced turnovers and weird mistakes

and clanks all the time. And I feel like college basketball looks so much different from the NBA when you compare college football to the NFL. Like, college football at the highest level, I feel like looks and resembles more of what you would see on Sundays than college basketball does for the NBA.

Maybe it's because the NBA, just if you make it, you're just everybody makes every shot they shoot. I don't know what it is. But the NBA people don't miss open shots and they sometimes throw bad passes but rarely. Yeah, but also too, I feel like in the NBA they run more offensive sets. Like I feel like in college basketball, all the sets look the same. And like the team that wins is usually the one that scores the most sloppy buckets and transition and all

these things. And I'll say that like everything that Duke does feels intentional. It feels like they run offensive sets. They are in control. They play like an NBA team to me. And they look like they look like an NBA team because they've got these guys that are they would be, you know, traditional big men in college basketball and other places. Like Cooper flag is six nine. He's taller than Houston's post. Most of Houston's post players. Like when Houston's got our snow in the game, who's six six now he's really long but he's 6-6. Juan Roberts is their best post player 6-8.

Cooper flag is taller than both of them, but he can also handle the ball, break a press, do all of the thing like run your offense through him. And that's a huge difference. Conca nipple 6-7 and can do all of those things. Is it a 91% free throw shooter? Yeah. About Nipple, because I love his last name, and I've been saying it a lot. Connipple.

You know, like, so is he an NBA guy? Like, is he gonna play in the league for a long time? Or is he, is he like the classic great college player? No, he's gonna play in the NBA. He's a freshman. He's going to be a lottery pick. Yeah, okay. Because he, like everybody talks about Cooper Flag. That kid is insanely good. Like I know that Duke is like, aren't they like six, seven and taller at every position? Isn't that like the thing with them? Like they're shortest

starter six, six. Yeah. So like they're just like a hard team to defend or to match up with because they're just so huge. But I feel like Cooper Flag when he's playing, if he is, when he gets going, or if he's gonna take a shot, I feel like the man doesn't miss. It doesn't feel like you're watching college basketball when you're watching Duke. And Duke was playing Alabama,

a team that I saw shoot like 99% from three two nights ago. They know that maybe they ended up winning the game. If you watched my preview video, you know why Alabama couldn't hit threes because BYU is small. They went under every ball screen. Duke doesn't have to go under ball screens.

They're just coming out on the perimeter and putting a hand on your face. Alabama also too missed. I mean, they took a ton of threes from far away. They had open looks. I just think it's hard to shoot that well in two games in a row, especially when you're playing against a team that's physical, which is why I loved the under in that game. And then I also, but they made a very good team who can score 90 points against just about anybody in college basketball look like they had no shot. But to me, if they're even money to win the national championship, that's probably not great odds, considering they've got to beat two one seeds on the way to it.

But I just do not see a team beating them this year and I really and like the thing too is like prisoner of the moment or not. Like a lot of people disagreed and like Ralph Russo said, you know you and see once had a team with three Hall of Famers and two of them were upper classmen. I'm sure that was like one of the Jordan teams like I get like there's probably teams that have had more like recognizable NBA names on it than this, but I'm saying from my experience watching college basketball,

again, which isn't as extensive, which maybe a lot of people in this chat, I've never watched a team and just go, that team is not losing. Like they're just too good. Well, and so my life, the question is how does Houston beat them if it is to happen?

And it's gotta be partly what we saw against Tennessee, where they just locked them down. Kelvin Sampson basically told them to trust themselves when they were getting run to because what Tennessee does is they'll run you through the picket fence of offball screens where it's like if you're trying to defend a guy who doesn't have the ball, you're chasing him and it's like, boom, boom, boom, like Sideshow Bob with the rakes on the Simpsons like and so. Kelvin Sampson is like you guys are all old and they really Houston is a super old team.

You know what you're doing trust yourselves and they did and they locked Tennessee down they are going to have to play such good defense against this Duke team because they are going to be physically overmatched at almost every position. I don't even know if this is like the Duke thing, Andy, but like, I feel like they finished like seven alley-oops a half, because their offensive set was so perfectly ran that there's somebody just flying to the basket uncontested. Like I just I feel like they are so well coached on top of the talent, which makes it crazy because like I watched a lot of college basketball during the Coach K years, they obviously had a lot of great teams, but it's like Duke isn't supposed to be this deep and talented and good and well coached like two years after losing the greatest coach of all time. Like that'd be like if Alabama had like an historically talented run with seven first round draft picks on their team like next year. Like it's not supposed to go this way and I know that Duke is like a made man

in college basketball but holy crap man like they are so good. They are so good. And if Houston doesn't have a great shooting night like they need LJ Cryer to get hot, they need him to be hot like he wasn't thinking zag a game that Duke's going to do that to everybody and and I I can listen if Duke wins this game and they're going to play Florida Auburn I can probably I'll probably say the same thing about Florida and Auburn which by the way have more offensive options than Houston does and you're right this is just a really talented Duke team and it's it's probably kind of boring to say, you think that the Duke's gonna win the national title or you think Duke's gonna win this game

and move to the national title game. But the only regret that I have is that I didn't watch Duke play at all during the regular season to realize what they were. So I could have bet them to win it before this thing started. Like, won't they like eight to one at one point? Like I wish I could have gotten eight to one. It would have been really early because once ACC play hit,

it was obvious what this team was. I think the pre-tournament odds, I think the pre-tournament odds were 8-1. Was it? Okay. Which is like way less than most teams. I mean, winning the tournament is hard, but I wish I was sitting on an 8-1 ticket now because I'm gonna have a even money ticket here

by the end of the day once it pops up on my site. I think they're gonna, I I think they're going to, I don't know. And then the hardest part about picking against Duke is that you can see the options if this guy does it. Like, if Cooper Flags not hot and Kniepel hits a bunch of shots, or if neither of them are hitting, they just go inside to Malawak.

Like, they have so many different ways to kill you. How many times has Duke played the opponent's style of basketball? Like they can play any style they want. That's the scary part. It's just hard to to to make them play your game. I don't know. Again, you're listening to a college basketball preview from somebody who, you know, is just checking in right now. But like it's just

they're awesome and I think they're going to win and I think they're going to win fairly comfortably. I will take Duke to cover in this one as well. They're a four and a half point favorite. I just I think Houston as good as they are offensively compared to recent Kelvin Sampson teams, I just don't know that they're going to be able to to get it. Although there's a like this is a there's a lot of karma going on, you know, or just Kismet going on. This is remember, Kelvin Sampson gets fired from Indiana for something that's not against the rules anymore. He goes to San

Antonio where his buddy Greg Popovich is coaching the Spurs and does the sort of like the football coaches do with Nick Saban. Like he does the Greg Popovich analyst thing and then spends more time in the NBA as an assistant comes back and has really just revolutionized this Houston program. They're gonna be here almost every year, but I just think they're about to run into a buzzsaw. You know what I think is interesting about Sampson, Andy, and just college basketball in general, but it seems like all the coaches who get fired for breaking the old rules, or all the coaches who were perceived to be cheaters

that have come back into the sport are all just, oh, look who they without their back in the deep in the tournament again. And it's like, how many disgraced coaches in college football? I mean, a lot of times when you're a disgraced coach in college football, you never go back. It's so much harder to be in the postseason at the same level because the NCAA tournament is so much more open to smaller schools. But Calvin Sampson is elite like he's got him among the elite but also like Rick Patino like one of the greatest coaches of all time like a lot of like who's the the coach we're talking about. When I was in

Vegas, who's will Wade will Wade. That's right like that's they're just good coaches like maybe they were just maybe I don't know. They were they were cheating at the time. And Kelvin Sampson used his time away very wisely. I mean, so the play that won them the sweet 16 game, the inbound play is one when he was an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks. He took from Scott Skiles, who was the coach at the time, who would run it for Luke Ridenour. So like he definitely used that time away very wisely and came back a much better coach and they are. That was a great play wasn't it? That was really that was the thing of beauty. I mean and it's funny because the announcers immediately like oh yeah everybody forgets the the inbounder but you never think to do that like why doesn't everybody run that? It's unbelievable yeah. So to have an uncontested lay-in in that moment

because the play was designed so perfectly. You only talk about coaching and what it's like to put your team in a position to win a basketball game. That was like exhibit A of like perfectness. Is that a word? Yeah, this is a weekend of really good coaching matchups. You just talked about John Shire.

Kelvin Sampson is obviously elite. Let's move on to the other game. But first, I had to talk about our friends at water burger. You want to bring home the W? Well, guess what? If you order online April 4th through the seventh double points, you will definitely bring home the W the water burger. Tailgate box, 10 burgers, fixins your choice. Ari, I was going through the fixin's list.

I like the grilled jalapenos. Now you can do both of these. How about this one, you ready? Grilled jalapenos and avocado. That's a word we don't use enough, fixin's. Fixin's, I hate it when people who aren't from the South try to use it. Whataburger's born in Texas now all over the South,

they can use it all they want. So, I'm telling you, you can customize this burger box, 10 burgers with or without cheese, whatever fixins you wanna have in there, you can do that. Also, get a Whatabwings pack that's 72 boneless bites, your choice of sauce and a family box of french fries. Oh my goodness. It's beautiful.

That's how you bring home the W. What's your take on the avocado topping for burgers? Like you're in? It's brilliant. Brilliant. Because what a burger has mushroom Swiss, I mean you can make it your way, which is great. Trust me. We're going to be talking about the mushroom Swiss burger all week.

So that that tomorrow they would like everyone who talks about what a burger to very much emphasize the mushroom Swiss burger. So get ready for that as well. But are we going to be able to pop down from the truck on Saturday and, you know, take a, we're going to have the water burger food truck on Saturday. That's what I'm saying. Are we going to pop pop down I am requesting that we get to talk to their executive chef because I want to know how they come up with all this stuff like it is awesome awesome so we'll be live in San Antonio on Saturday thanks to what a burger you can bring home the w

while you watch these games order online online April 4th through 7th, so Friday through Sunday. Double points from order burger. You want to know what Saturday through Monday bad at math, bad at bad at dates, bad at math, added a lot of that. But not an analysis Andy.

If I ever get fired from on three or I'm not in journalism anymore, I think I would be absolutely awesome at being not a chef but one of the psychopaths in a fast food room who comes up with a new way to do something like you know like you know Domino's recently released this stuff for the first time with Parmesan cheese. Yeah. I could come up with that and like everybody's like whoever came with the KFC double down, like I know, no buns, just two pieces of fried chicken

with more meat inside. What if they locked you and me in a room for 10 hours and said, Ari and Andy. Fast food think tank? Fast food think tank. Don't you think that by the time we were done, that we would have come up with some crazy stuff? like how is no fast food place had a pizza burger? Are you have to what?

This is a perfect thing for Friday show. Ari and Andy's fast food think tank. Like. Two pieces of pizza flipped upside down with a burger in the middle like how like. Yeah. Two pieces of pizza flipped upside down with a burger in the middle. Like how, like, yeah. Uh, all right. Here we go.

We are headed to San Antonio. So are two sec foes, Florida and Auburn who have played this year. They played in Auburn, Florida won that game by nine. It was a, it was a game where Auburn jumped out to a big lead. But by the end of the first half, Florida had a big lead and then Florida wrote it on to a win. But these two teams, we were just talking about Duke with all the different ways they can beat you. Both of these teams have many, many different ways to beat you. We talked about Walter Clayton Jr. earlier in the show. Walter Clayton Junior, Florida's point guard, just, you know, cojones the size of the entire city of San Antonio that the

step back, it wasn't even a step back. It was a dribble all the way out. Step back three that probably won them the game against Texas tech. Then Auburn, their best player is Jani Broom, who's kind of a classic back to the basket post player. Ari, I screamed when I saw the replay of Jani Broom, who's kind of a classic back to the basket post player Ari I screamed when I saw the replay of Jani Broom's injury on Sunday.

Yeah, I thought he dislocated his elbow. I thought he was done. I was like, OK, well, there's not much time left, so Auburn may be able to win this game, but if they have to play Florida without Jani Broom, they're done. And then Jani Broom is back in the

game with six minutes to go shooting free throws the ice can happy to see him back. Yeah, so I did the elevator challenge this week and we talked about the elevator challenge, but I was sending you in River my plays over the weekend and the kid got hot. OK, he got hot. Starting with the Florida Money Line in the middle of the second half for three to one. And then we compounded with Duke in the under and then yesterday morning. I was right on the first game

So I rolled all of that into Michigan State plus five and a half last night And I got to tell you that was painful because I'm back to zero And I really felt like Michigan State had the back door open the entire second half and missed every single big three that could have swung the game. Like every time they had an open look when they were down nine or down seven and they shot the three.

Yeah, Auburn never really let them back. Never. And you thought, cause Michigan State would get it to about nine, but Auburn would never let them back in. And part of it, like when Jani Broom comes in and does the Willis-Reed thing, that just pumped everybody up. But I thought Tehad Pettiford played really well this weekend.

He's kind of the spark, the one that if he just goes off. I'm not sure how Auburn loses. And you go back to the first Florida Auburn game. Like, Pettiford had a pretty good game. You know, Broom had a good game. I think I want to say 19 and 11 in that game. Chad Baker Mazar had a decent game. It wasn't like Auburn did anything wrong there.

Florida just hit a lot. I believe they hit 13 threes in that game. And so I think that's where if they can contest some Florida shots, make it where Florida's missing from the outside, force Florida to run the offense inside because Auburn is bigger inside so that, know your Alice Condon's you know you're Ruben Chinelleu who does a lot of the dirty work for Florida but gets a lot of kind of clean up baskets you take those away I think our words got a really good chance in this game yeah I mean I thought that the thing that is

starting to become apparent as this tournament goes on are the teams that are very physical and you know in shape are the teams that are very physical and you know, in shape are the ones that are advancing here. And I thought that Texas Tech against Florida was very much controlling the game physically. And then Florida got really hot at the end. And what was it? Like a 15 to 2 run or something to close the game out, something crazy like that. You know, Auburn, I thought, beat the crap out of Michigan State from a physical standpoint.

They were the first to lose balls. Which is hard to do against a Tom Izzo team. Dylan Cardwell did a really good job. He's their big post guy, 6'11", 255. And also, I don't know, and this is where Duke, I think, runs into some some issues the issues Duke my run into because we talk about Houston being old as hell, but Auburn Auburn's old as hell too. Yeah, Florida's pretty old as well, but Auburn's really old, but it's the coaches that have done a really good job

of getting their ultra talented rosters to play like they're the underdog, you know, and I know and I'm not talking about like psychoanalysis like pregame who's the underdog coach speak I'm talking about playing like if you don't get that loose ball, you're gonna lose. And there are not a lot of teams that do that. And you know, Texas Tech, as we know, missed a lot of the front ends of the one on ones that cost them the game. I think they could have won had they made some of those

free throws. And you know, somebody in the chat here correcting the O's an 18 to four run in three minutes. Like Florida just exploded offensively. And sometimes that happens. But you missed those front end to one and ones. And that, I mean, that's the whole point of committing those fouls, fouls seven, eight, nine. Like you want them to miss the front end of the one and one.

So you're stealing possessions. But I'm actually kind of surprised to see Auburn a dog here. And I know that Florida came into this as one of me. We're talking about two of the best teams in the sport coming into this. Yeah. But from a physicality standpoint, I was not impressed with Florida for the first 35 minutes of that game. And again, maybe I'm just like too much into the bet and not so much into the game.

But like I was watching it and I was just like, how is Florida getting manhandled by tech? And Texas is a really good team, too. Like, I know they were only three seed, but like I was watching it and I was just like, how is Florida getting manhandled by tech and Texas Texas is a really good team too. Like I know they were a lowly three seed, but like, you know, Right. They were three seed in the big 12. They were big, a big 12 team that had beaten Houston, which is, yeah. Yeah. They're a great team too. So it's like, that's the thing too. It's not like there were any, you know, 11 seeds that were pushing these teams around everybody in the tournament, you know, the last weekend was a really, really good basketball team, but I was

just so much more impressed with Auburn's physicality over the weekend. Um, and now I think river pointed out to that Auburn had a really good presence. I, it'll be interesting to see how San Antonio shakes out, but, you know, you have to Auburn's showing out in San Antonio. Now I, I, and look where I live, I know, I know some people who are headed that way to root for Florida but my guess is Auburn will be the loudest most passionate group there Houston will too. I mean because they're just a short drive away

But in this game, I would think that the Auburn crowd will probably be a little little bit bigger Well, I was watching while I was watching the Florida Tech game it felt like every time tech scored the the stadium exploded and every time Florida scored it wasn't nearly as loud. And I was like, wow, Texas Tech is like out doing floor. This is San Francisco. That was a tough trip for both schools. Yeah, but then when Florida went on their run, Florida fans went insanely loud. So maybe I was hard to tell like how the fan,

but like which which of these teams, Florida has a larger fan base on Auburn, right? It's a bigger size. Yeah, it's a bigger school. So, but I will say, there's so many variables with Florida and Auburn because they have so many different ways to beat you. Mudkip plays in the chat, you know. He says Florida hasn't had a complete game this tournament and they're still winning. They beat Auburn without Elijah Martin, which is true. Just need Connen to play better and Connen to rumor both injured. That's also true. Alice Connen, who's Florida's most important post player.

Defensively, he's the straw that serves the drink for them, but they also run a lot of their offense through him. He's really important. He rolled also run a lot of their offense through him. He's really important. He rolled his ankle a couple of games ago, but I think he looked okay in the Elite Eight game. And then Broome, obviously the elbow thing, and Broome also has an ankle.

So I think that's, it's gonna be big, but there are guys who are sort of X factors in here. I mentioned Tahad Pettiford before. He's the lefty freshman guard for Auburn, who's just, I mean mean when he goes off he goes off and then Thomas how for Florida who's a he's a big but he he can step out and shoot the three he's not necessarily your big bruiser inside he's going to play a little more finesse game

as a 6-9 guy but he's a he's a really interesting to he's at Florida because he was a giant Tim Tebow fan, growing up in Pennsylvania. It was like the second Florida offered he was on it. He's like, no, Tim Tebow is my favorite athlete of all time. And which is wild to think that like a basketball player from Pennsylvania is there because of Tim Tebow. But there you go. Both teams have these X Factor guys and you don't know which one of them is going to go off. I think we can we can feel safe that Walter Clayton Jr. is going

to do some really good stuff for Florida and that Jani Broom is going to be a load inside that Florida is going to have to deal with for all rooms. If if brooms, excuse me, elbow was dislocated. Would he have been able to come back in the game? Or is the fact that he came back in the game. Well, it hyper extended it. I mean, you saw it hyper extend. I'm not a doctor, but you saw that. But no, he's like, and he said he's gonna be able to play

and you saw him hit threes. You saw him get rebounds after the injury. It looked scary, but he, I guess he got lucky, you know, in that situation where he did not get hurt so bad that he couldn't keep playing. But can I have a minor criticism of Florida's basketball uniforms? By all means, they're all perfect, but drop the F on the shorts and put the Gator on it. Like what are we doing? That's that's my that's my design take for the day.

Like is there a reason why they have the app on there. I'm with you because it's the it's the newer f it's the italicized f and the top go kind of harkens back well notice the block of now they put the block up on there. Because these are like bernard maxwell era throwbacks. And I don't have a problem with that. I don't have a problem with Rep and Vernon Maxwell and Dwayne Chinsis and all those guys. I mean, we don't do a lot of logo talks, but Florida has one of the best logos in college athletics, right?

I like the Block F better than the Italicized F. Big fan of that. The Block F used to be the 50 yard line logo, and I want that back. Neither of them can hold a candle to the Gator, to me. That's a great logo. That's a great logo. It's it's a great logo and I mean, native species like they're all over town.

So yeah, and you want to Auburn's pretty classic, you know, Auburn's pretty classic as well. I love the Auburn call God thing. I love that they got the they got a hand signal and everything like I'm so excited about this game. I think these two teams are going to, they're both great. They can both win the national title in the right circumstances. It's a hard game to pick.

I'm going to go Auburn here just from a physicality standpoint. Like I just, I was really impressed with how they played against Michigan state and Michigan state, you know, as a team that, uh, you know, they have a coach that has that team ready. I mean, say what you want about Tom is, oh, that guy has his team ready for the tournament games every single year, no matter how they did.

And I thought Auburn outclassed them. Bruce Pearls, a more experienced coach, somebody who's been on this stage before. Like I think Auburn is going to get it done. So basically we gotta pick him here. It's two and a half points bread. At the risk of being called a homer. Give me the Gators.

Because I don't think that physicality is going to make as big of a difference as you think because they've seen this before. I know. They've seen this level of physicality. They've played Tennessee three times. Like they know how it feels to play against a very physical team.

So I don't think that will be their downfall. Florida loses because shots aren't going down. That's really it. So you got the Tigers, give me the Gators. And by the way, we did official picks and I think I'm 1-0. So don't let the kid get hot is all I'm going to say. And if you don't know what the elevator challenge is, because I saw people

you start with a bet, then if you win, you take your winnings and you double your bet until you get to like four or five floors up and then you can cash out. And that's what I was trying to do over the weekend. I got to floor four and I was going to pay for a quarter of my Michigan State. Michigan State. Over on you. Yeah. And Michigan State lost by the hook.

So, you know, it happens and that's part of the way it goes. But you know what, if we're going into baseball season, OK, and like I like baseball season, I've got a fantasy team. There is no game more boring to bet on. I'll do it. You know, I'm going to do it. But like NCAA tournament basketball might be the most fun sport. So you got, you got to go big. We only have three games left. And I'm super excited to get down there. And Andy, I don't know is what,

what's going on with you. Cause you don't like to bet like me, but you got to throw some shekels out there. We're going to be watching these games together on Saturday. So you probably pull that off. Yeah, I'll put it in for you. But I want you to put in enough money where you're sweating. I don't want you to be like, I don't care. I want you to sweat with me. I want all sweating women's games yesterday.

50 cents. That's there's my unit right there. I just throw, I'm just gonna throw quarters at Ari the entire night. I want you to bet enough where your wife would be disappointed if you lost. My wife's always disappointed in me, so it's definitely new.

Ari. Big day. Big day on the show tomorrow. We were scheduled to be joined by Penn State football coach James Franklin. You any questions for him? I got a few. Can't wait. He might have some questions for us. That's like the trademark of his press conferences. He'll just stop and start asking reporters questions.

I wonder if he'll do that to us. One time I got into a question back and forth with James Franklin at a media day. You know the tables of the media day? Oh yeah. Yeah. After they would come off the podium They would sit at the table for an hour and I went back and forth with him about recruiting for like 15 questions And it was somewhat contentious even though it wasn't intended to be and then somebody from a Penn State Website wrote a column about how I was an asshole. This was in 2015. I wonder if James Franklin remembers it Let's it's interesting too because people don't always understand those back and forths. Like there was an early in the YouTube era,

there was one when Ian Rappaport, who's now at the NFL network was covering Alabama for the Birmingham News. He and Nick Saban engaged in a back and forth over, I want to say it was over signing. And Ian was not being hostile and neither was Nick Saban. But people who don't understand Nick Saban sense of humor, thought he was like Saban was messing with Ian Ian was

messing with Saban back. And people went berserk. They're like, I can't believe Nick Saban would talk to somebody like that. He's so disrespectful. And then of course, the other side, he can't talk coach Saban like that. And's so disrespectful. And then of course the other side, he can't talk coach saving like that. And meanwhile, those two are just laughing the entire way. Um, yeah, like I feel like in the art of reporting that responses and back and forth are like lost. It's like, not just a sound bite.

It's how does the coach react to your question? Which is a pretty important thing. So it wasn't, I don't even remember what it was about. And I wasn't being antagonistic at all, but I'll never forget that. And then I called the reporter who wrote the story the day later and that got contentious. I'm gonna have to look this up now.

I gotta find this exchange before we talk to James Franklin. But yeah, I was red faced screaming at him. Yeah. All right. Well, now I'm even more excited. We'll talk to you tomorrow.