Blue By Ninety - March Madness

Episode Date: March 19, 2021

March Madness is here. The boys preview Michigan’s chances in the tourney, listen to some voicemails and take some jabs at Sparty. Crack a cold one and enjoy the show.

This is the University of Michigan. Touchdown, Michigan! That's the beat of Michigan ball! And they've got one extra pass. And it goes for the win! The three-pointer by Jordan Poole! Down the sideline! People jump!

Touchdown, Wolverines! All right, welcome back to Brew by 90. We're already laughing here. I'm Justin, joined by Jack and Kalen. It's a great day. It's St. Patrick's Day. Happy St. Paddy's Day. Happy St. Paddy's Day day i'm drinking a beer cheers to everybody listening especially with caleb martin our biggest fan biggest fan big shout out it's

like 55 degrees out it was gorgeous today it's just it march madness is here like it doesn't get much better than this this is like when like this is the top time of year in of the whole calendar year right wait can i need to point out the the best thing ever is that march madness is here michigan state is in a play-in game i know people are saying it's part of the tournament it's a play-in game let's be honest and they posted something like we're in the tournament but you're a playing game you're not in the fucking tournament yet that i'm so glad like that's a bottom of the barrel i'm so glad you guys should not be putting anything out there about that i'm so glad this is the way we're starting the show we didn't take more than 30 seconds to start skidding on msu oh i have to man i have to unbelievable but okay

here's the thing about that yes you're right like you are in a play-in game and i think in past years when msu wasn't they would have 100 agreed that the playing games aren't technically in the tournament because i mean whatever five years ago before they had playing games, they wouldn't have been in. They would have been first four out or whatever. So that's amazing. Second of all, they put together that video like they proved all the doubters wrong. They started off as like a top five team. How are they proving doubters wrong?

Because they barely slid in with three wins at the end of the year like they did they prove everybody who believed in them wrong that that's what they did they had it backwards they had it backwards all right yeah that that makes a lot more sense but i was i saw that video like what are you talking about i think uh big cat from barstool put out virginia tech did the same thing i think and like it's like virginia tech did like proved all the doubters wrong we're a 10 seed like what it's like all right that's craziness does anybody else understand like i like i understand like the play-ins that go into a 16 seed, right? But I know some of them are, like, 11 seeds. Do we get what's going on there?

I don't understand that. I agree. Like, shouldn't the obvious last four in be all 16 seeds? 16 seeds, right? Yeah, that's what I would gather from that, but that makes no sense to me. I don't. Well, here's I guess the only way to think about it is that the 12 through 16 seeds are a lot of the auto bids. Right. From the shit conferences.

OK. So like they would technically be worse than like a Michigan State would be or UCLA in a in a major conference so that was that's the only thing that makes sense to me but still it's like if you're the last four in you shouldn't you shouldn't play a six seed you should play a one seed okay I think you're right I'm trying to like read this right now and that's what it that's what it sounds like you're trying to read is gonna we could that's that's a challenge in itself right there but okay yeah that sounds right i i don't like it but it sounds right i'd rather see sparty be a 16 seat and not have any sort of chance of winning but whatever i'll take it as it is. I also loved all the Sparty fans out there that were, like, pissed that Michigan State was the last four in. And they have to play UCLA.

And it's, like, kind of a tough matchup for a last four in. Like, hey, if you don't go fucking under 500 in conference, then you get a better. Might be okay. Yeah. Yeah. But I will say this. It annoys the hell out of me now look i mean annoyed the hell out of me while it was happening but it annoyed the hell out of me now too michigan if michigan wins they're not in you know like i it bugs the crap out of me that michigan had the chance to end that tournament streak in the final game of the season, and they couldn't pull the trigger.

Was I the only one that picked a split for that, or did we all pick that? No, I think I picked 2-0. I think you – I don't know. I was going to say, I feel like it almost brings me back to that, like, Michigan versus Army game, right? Back in – for football back in the fall, it's like, oh, you know, it's going to be a tough game. You know, I think Michigan's going to win. And then that's exactly what happened, and everybody was, like, pissed off about it. But that's what it felt like to me when Michigan lost to Sparty.

But, I mean, you never know. Sparty gets hot at random times. I mean, any time I bet for them to win, they lose. Any time I bet for them to lose, they win. So I'm Michigan lost to Sparty. But, I mean, you never know. Sparty gets hot at random times. I mean, any time I bet for them to win, they lose. Any time I bet for them to lose, they win. So I'm done betting on Sparty. Yeah. I also lost 500 bucks the other day, and I cashed out. So I just want to, you know, build.

Wow. I know. Wow. Well, I only like to bet on college basketball, too. So I don't like – there was no games for, like, four days. So I'm like, I'm just going to cash out. I mean, between that and the stimulus check you're fucking rolling that's what i told kaylin dude i'm balling right now yeah dude i don't know what you're doing there's all this uh premier league soccer going on so i do well on foreign soccer and hockey so

maybe i should have done that i think i saw you could bet cricket somewhere too so we'll get you going i fuck with cricket oh all right all right so all right well um i mean that was a hot hot way to get into things today but i kind of love it so um i i mean i want obviously let's talk about the tournament so you know mU starts off the whole tournament, right? Well, there's like a couple of them for them. So they play at 10 o'clock. 10 o'clock to what I will say. Like, I love it because everyone's annoyed. But what a terrible draw.

First, first four or, you know, last four in whatever play in game Thursday night. They have to play the only decent other play in team. Like every other play in teams, Mount St. Mary, you know, and that play in team, this is prime time for them. Oh, yeah. West coast. I mean, where do they play? I mean, I'm betting UCLA. I don't know what the spread is, but I'd be betting UCLA, UCLA for sure. I think it's an Indy. I think all of them are an Indy, right?

Playing game? Well, I think they might be at Mackey. Because Michigan's playing at Mackey at Purdue's arena. So all in Indiana, I guess. Yeah. Interesting. Yeah. I thought they were all supposed to be in Indianapolis.

Once you get to a certain spot it is but 16 or something there are i think there's four different locations there's indianapolis there's um bloomington i believe indiana are you um mackie and then there's one more but okay let's talk about this actually before we get into like matchups and stuff how about the bubble like it sounds like it's just miserable hunt dick dude calling out the ncaa i love it even big cat got or not big head was marty marty mush got already much yeah somebody give this man a meal that was awful that was like isn't he like seven seven two like that food is not enough he was eating those cooper's cooperstown eggs kaylen you remember those oh my goodness

bounce them on the floor they bounce right back up where you threw them from jesus dude it's a fucking mess do you guys see that there's like a twitter hashtag going around too yeah not like ncaa property i saw livers put something out i didn't somebody said something to check out the hashtag but i haven't looked at it but yeah geo baker did from rutgers i saw bohannon did from iowa so sounds like they kind of got a group together and um so the the basis of it what i I saw was, and this was from Gio Baker, was basically that, you know, if a student goes into a choir, let's say they go into the choir program in college at Michigan, for example, they can record an album, theoretically, sell it to Spotify ory records and make a you know 20 million dollars theoretically and you know but the ncaa technically owns the name image likeness of uh athletes student athletes so i think this obviously has to do with the NLI laws and things that are going into effect here soon.

But I'm sure the NCAA is still going to try to control all that, right? As, you know, these people will be able to make money off it, or these student-athletes will, but I still guarantee the NCAA is going to try and control it some way or or another dude that's what like the ncaa is so fucked like the fact that somebody on music scholarship can profit from an album but the athletes who make you money can't make any money of their own based off their skill or like their um you know fandom or any of that shit like that's that's ridiculous but it's so crazy to me yeah you should just uh i guess if you're an athlete you could start a youtube channel and just blur your face out or something well maybe i was gonna say i remember that one kicker i think was like a kicker from ucf i think he's still pretty popular on social media but he like

got banned like he couldn't play in ncaa think he's still pretty popular on social media, but he like got banned. Like he couldn't play in NCAA cause he had a YouTube channel where he was, I think like making money off of. Yeah. Yes. I guess the only way around it would be to obscure either your name, image or likeness or affiliation with the program in some way. And then,

I mean, then you probably got to hire a lawyer to defend yourself against NCAA, which, you know, good luck. Yeah, they'll send the mafia after you. Right. Right. So it's an interesting dilemma, and I hope they get rid of it because fuck the NCAA, man. Yeah. man yeah so 2023 is when i think that the nli the name image likeness thing nil uh goes into effect for student student athletes so they can theoretically then make money off of themselves

they can do autograph signings they can sell jerseys i think they can do appearances like youtube stuff i'm sure every single one of them it sucks for adrian nunez would probably be making absolute dough tiktok dude he's got like almost a million followers it's crazy i think the cool thing about that is um i wonder if like when you go to like the m den or some shit like you'll be able to get players names on the back of the jersey when you buy them. That would be kind of cool. That would be awesome to be able to or not. But I mean, that'd be pretty fucking sweet if you could. Yeah, I hope we just embrace it.

Right. I hope we totally embrace it and like help athletes, you know, do the right thing with their money and like help them actually set up whatever they want to do instead of like, you know, relegating it to this like weird, obscure thing. Like, yeah, if you want to do autograph signings, you can. But if you're a real Michigan man, then you're just going to play the game. I can 100 percent see that. When can we like set fire to that Michigan man term? I'm ready. i'm ready for that to be gone it's like it's so overdone nobody even knows what it really means like exactly it's fucking ridiculous it's it's a pretentious thing it's it's just like a fucking like we know

how michigan gets all the bad you know bad media from being like oh they think they're better than everybody else that's part of it like you're a Michigan man. Like you're better than everybody. Like, I don't know. That's what I get from it. I don't like it. I think it's an old head term. Let's get rid of it.

Yeah. I also think like it's, it doesn't mean what we really want it to mean, you know, or it doesn't mean to people what it's supposed to mean. Right. Like, I feel like it should be like an internal thing.

Not like, don't want. So I think in general like a michigan man is what it doesn't mean that you have ties to michigan right it means that you like are a stand-up person and you do things the right way some you know for the most part um you you are about the team you're not about the most part like that for the most part take a little dirty play in there be a little shitty you know um but i also think like to be honest like i think juwan howard is an unbelievable individual i think he actually does have a ton of integrity but he's not like he doesn't fit the form of a Michigan man. He does things differently. That was the whole Fab Five mantra was like, we're going to change everything. Right.

I love it. Yeah. I mean, if that could be the Michigan man, like if if Jawan Howard could be the like the picture of what like you look up in a dictionary, Michigan man, Jawan Howard. Boom. I would love it. I'd be all over it. Because, yeah, he's creative. He gets shit done.

He does it the right way. But he's not a boring fucking guy, right? People can get behind him and root for him and enjoy being around his presence, all that shit. I love that. Yeah, I would love for the Michigan man, like, thing to, like, embrace more of the be different type of thing than the, like, be the same as all these old guys from 1902. Yeah. It's not, like, yes, Bo Schembechler was, like, the greatest coach in Michigan history, right? But that was in the 80s, you 70s maybe early i don't even know like it's older shit is what we're saying it was in the 70s right yeah it was a long time ago 70s

yeah but like i mean it was 50 years ago right like i i didn't we don't need to just revert back to just because that was the last time we were like good i mean obviously we were good through the 90s and early 2000s but you know what i mean like it's yeah people just have good memories of that especially the old heads so i think you know i i love that john howard is the new michigan man we're taking we're we're we're gonna take that let's get that rolling i gotta hit a few mish teas we gotta get that there we I love that. We got to hit up UMICHTs. We got to get that rolling. There we go. There we go.

Michigan man. New Michigan man. The modern Michigan man. Get a definition underneath. Oh. I'm not going to put out too much because I don't want anybody to take it, but I like this. I'm pretty excited about it now. All right.

The new Michigan man. Shout out, Alex. The new Michigan man clothing line. I like it. Hell yeah. All right, so let's go into the bracket, right? So let's start, you know, Michigan. I mean, it's not talked about enough.

I know it's gone around on social media a couple times, but Juwan Howard, first person to ever coach a one seed and play as a one seed. Unbelievable. And he's a one seed in his second year which i i am not sure that's been done before so it's incredible it really is incredible i know that mitch like we're on a down slope right now kind of like stuttering into the into the tournament obviously with livers out we can get into that what that means for the team. But it's still, when you look at the whole body of work, it's still really incredible. So, yeah, so Michigan draws Texas Southern and who is the, is it Mount St. Mary's?

That sounds right. St. Mary's in Texas Southern. So they do have the play-in game on Thursday night. So they'll already have a game in them. But I think everyone's looking forward to the next game, which hopefully Michigan can get by that one. But LSU-St. Bonnie's, that's a tough 8-9 matchup. Both those teams are pretty dang good. LSU just played in the

SEC Championship. I'm pretty sure St. Bonnie's won their league. I mean, LSU, they didn't only just play in the SEC Championship. That was a close fucking game, right? I didn't watch until the end, but yeah, it was either a one-point game or Bama won in overtime

and Bama, people were looking at Bama to possibly be a one seed honestly i wouldn't have been shocked if michigan didn't get that one seed and they gave it to bama instead so i mean bama's a tough team and osu played them real fucking close i agree so i mean that is not an easy game for a second-round matchup. I feel like that's got to be – that's the toughest 8-9 matchup by far. Yeah. Well, I mean, actually all the – holy shit. All the 8-9 matchups are pretty damn good. North Carolina, Wisconsin. I mean, UNC's down, but it's North Carolina.

But UNC's hot. UNC's been hot recently. True. And Wisconsin's probably the best nine seed. Oh, for sure. I mean, they have played. I saw something the other day that, like, against non-top four seeds in the tournament, they're, like, 16-0 or something like that.

And all their losses have been to, like, just really good teams. Yeah. Outside of Brad Davidson, I mean, like, just really good teams. Yeah. Outside of Brad Davidson, I mean, they're a pretty disciplined team. They play well. They're all, like, fucking seniors. They're fifth-year seniors. I mean, they're going to be a tough team in March for sure. They have the same team, essentially, as last year.

Yeah. Mine is what's-his-nots, right? Or was that two years ago? The fucking big center. I hated Ethan something. Kaminsky? No, Kaminsky was older. Who's this?

Ethan Happ, I want to say. That's not right. Oh, Happ, you're right. Yeah. They don't have Happ. They have Reavers. Fucking hated that guy. Yeah. And so you do have Alabama as the number two seed in Michigan, you know,

who did beat LSU. They did win the conference. They won regular season i believe and the tourney and the big ten tourney yeah they you know first of all it's just not it's not fair that alabama alabama should not be allowed to be good in basketball too as i know basketball and football fuck them fuck them um and then let's see the three seed is texas i can't say i've watched a single texas game all year have you guys they i watched i tried to watch some texas oklahoma games because i bet on those i don't know texas is a good team man they're good i think they're kind of like hit or miss

sometimes which i'm so i'm kind of shocked that they're a three seed um but i haven't watched enough of texas to know enough about them to speak about them intelligently i'll say that for sure i'm not gonna pretend like i know what's going on because i sound like a fucking idiot yeah i haven't watched them but i looked at some stats and and i mean their stats are pretty solid so i mean i can only assume they're a formidable team and big big 12 is probably the second toughest constant conference behind the big 10 i you'd think right i mean you got texas oklahoma baylor who the fuck else is good in big 12 that's it yeah three good teams three good teams that was that was good no west

virginia dude west virginia is really good oh yeah i always forget west virginia is so fucking close to texas they need to reel in these goddamn conferences texas tech is solid texas tech is good yeah top 25 kansas baby kansas yeah yeah it sounds like texas is a solid defensive-style team. Yeah, that makes sense. And then the four and five seeds are Colorado and Florida State. Haven't watched Colorado all year. Maybe have watched Florida State a couple times.

I think they like to get out and run. Florida State's fucking big, dude. I watched them play Virginia. Blew them the fuck out. I think I bet on Virginia to win that game. It was like 5 versus 12 or 5 versus 17. Virginia fucking sucks. Don't bet on Virginia.

Do not pick Virginia in this tournament for anything. I wouldn't even pick them to win the first game. They looked awful when I watched them play Florida State. They got blown out by like 30. It was incredible. So Florida State's a scary team for sure. And then BYU is the sixth seed, and they hung with Gonzaga a little bit. You know, like Gonzaga came out and pulled away, but they were leading. They were leading Gonzaga for like a significant time in that tourney,

in the conference tournament. I'm excited to see how good Gonzaga really really is i'm that's what i'm excited for i want to see them play uh once i get to a second round who they got how they match up you know if they're really as good as you know they seem they're playing the fucking i don't even know not even mountain west what conference are they in they're playing three other team conference or something. I think it is Mountain West. Or no, I think they're not. It's like MCC or something. Yeah, you're right. Because Mountain West

is one that they move up to. Mountain West is like Boise State. A couple, Idaho. I hope Gonzaga just fucking ran out the gym. I thought it was the WCC. It's the West Coast Conference. Yes, WCC. Washington Community College. Yep, that's who they're playing there you go

it might be better competition there no shit no shit um but i mean so i mean michigan's it's not gonna be an easy sled you know know here's what I say about that though is like there are people oh Michigan got such a draw tough draw or like insert name here like everyone complains that they got a tough draw right every single person you know what guess what it's the freaking tournament good point of the tournament it's the best teams in the country that make it right so like you're gonna have to beat good teams. You're going to have to play good basketball. And then the other thing, too, is in 2018, Michigan had a really tough draw on paper before the tournament started.

And then, all of a sudden, they had probably the easiest Final Four run, you know, out there. They had to play Loyola Chicago in easiest final four run you know out there they had to play loyola chicago in the final four you know so um outside of houston a lot of things happened things changed so um i don't know you just never know what's what's going to happen in the tournament which is fun but you know i would say there are a couple headlines that are that to watch out for here um big 10 two one season two two seats that's pretty damn good yeah pretty damn good out of your top four teams and i think there will be a lot of people that have that pick illinois to win it because illinois i was just gonna say man they're real fucking hot right now. I might pick Illinois. Fuck Illinois and their fans.

Fuck Illinois, but if you're trying to make money, maybe you should try to bet on them. I don't know. It looked so good. And I think in the tournament, if you have a combo of Ayo and Kofi, who's going to stop them? Kobe and Shaq, dude. And then was it Caballero or something, the freshman? Couldn't tell you. Well, they got the, oh, the lefty.

Is it the lefty, 44? Whoever, yeah, like they've got talent outside of Kofi and Io, but, I mean, like those two in their own are fucking incredible talents, and they've got guys outside of that that are really fucking good, too. So, I mean, I don't know. If I had to pick a team right now to win it, I'd probably pick Illinois, as much as I fucking hate them. Yeah, I mean, they're just in a really good position, right?

They're in a really good spot right now. They can just – they can – if you're not going to say they could win, you could definitely say they can go very deep. Like – I think they can go Final Four. I think they'll go Final Four for sure. There's a couple things with Illinois' bracket here, though. A, Sister Jean's going to be in the house,

and Loyola could be their second-round matchup. Loyola's not bad this year, either. They're solid. Pretty solid. And secondly, Oklahoma State. Sorry, go ahead, Kalen. No, sorry. I forgot about Sister Jean.

Sister Jean, dude. She's back. She's 101. 101. That's fucking incredible. Good for her, man. That is crazy. If I'm 101 at a fucking Michigan basketball game, like, I'm living my best life.

That's awesome. Oh, yeah. But, yeah, OK State, Cade Cunningham. basketball game like i'm living my best life that's awesome oh yeah but yeah okay state kate cunningham kate cunningham's a ball gonna be a lottery pick lottery pick and in the tournament we've seen it every single year in the past that not so great teams with one stud they just take over murray state john murray state john morant steph curry back in the day davidson yeah um yeah i think it happened in march man that's what i fucking love about tournament god damn i'm so excited kemba kemba walker cardiac yukon like it happens all the time and so i can see okay state coming in and being real damn good what are they uh what are they seated four seed

five four yeah four seed tennessee's the five there okay oh so you think they could bring a good match up against illinois in that sweet 16 that's gonna be a good sweet that'd be an exciting game that might be one of the more exciting games of the tournament if as long as they can both make it that'll be one of the more exciting games of the tournament if as long as they can both make it that'll be one of the more exciting games of the tournament for sure i agree i agree and then um you know ohio state is is in baylor's uh bracket as well uh ohio state kind of has a cakewalk like they're playing pretty good too i have to admit that like they i they go as long as duanewayne Washington performs like he has, which he's been playing in his mind, they can go pretty damn far.

But, you know, their second round game, they've got Oral Roberts, then Florida or Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech has proven everybody wrong to get to a 10 seed. The three seeded there is Arkansas. The sixth seed is texas tech like they almost have a better ride as a two seed than most one seeds honestly because wisconsin arkansas is not bad texas tech is is very hit or miss i haven't seen arkansas either honestly but dude but yeah i mean yeah, I mean, Ohio state,

if like Dwayne Washington is fucking incredible. He reminds me, he plays a lot like kid Cunningham and that Liddell, whatever. And he's like a four or five center. I don't know where you put them. And they've got some forward. I don't know what his fucking name is,

but he's pretty incredible too. And then the fucking arms, he shoots like 45% from three. I mean, well, how state states got really good very talented team but i feel like they've been playing hit or miss lately like they went on that hot streak and they kind of slowed down but then they made it to the big 10 championship

games i mean it's like depends what ohio state team you're gonna get but i mean they're not a joke either man and those are i think those are some tough games in there i was very confused for a second because you said like this guy is like a four five center and i was like that's how tall he is like how's he playing it's like i must have missed that guy on tv i would say he's he's he's i'd say he's probably built he almost plays like a fucking plays like a forward i mean he can shoot he's not huge like i don't know but he plays the five right talking about liddell yeah yeah he's six ten he's six ten so he shoots yeah i mean he shoots from three pretty well he's five for sure kyle he does not look that tall kyle young is the white tatted

dude he's their full guy who looks like he's from ohio yeah he was out versus michigan yeah yeah concussion or something he got whopped in the head in one of those tourney games and then i mean if you go to the last bracket here that gonzaga's bracket too um i see iowa like i see luca garza being that good dude that takes over. Like, tell me how many teams have, you know, anybody that can guard Luka Garza. He's going to bully people. So, I don't know. Does Kansas have a big dude? Not that I know of. I haven't watched any Kansas this year.

I keep talking about all these teams. I don't think I've watched any basketball except for the big 10. I've definitely watched more basketball just because gambling is legal now in Michigan, but I haven't watched a, Hey, I was up. I cashed out. I'm good. I'm not addicted. I'm not addicted yet.

I'm only addicted if I'm losing. Anyway, I haven't watched a lot of Kansas. So I do not know. I can only imagine they'd have a couple of fucking big guys just because they're Kansas. They're that blue blood. The only blue blood that's fucking doing anything this year.

UNC is fucking a 10 seed or a 9 seed, but they're hot right now. Duke isn't even in the tournament. Kentucky's missed the tournament. That's crazy, man. Some of these schools that traditionally are basketball schools i'm like where the hell they at yeah it is it's been a

weird year been a very very weird year duke didn't even make the damn tournament so it's it's kind of wild um is coach k like done is he gonna maybe i don't know i mean they got i feel like they got hot at the end of the year obviously they had that covid um exposure whatever the hell happened and i i would have given them a shot to win uh the acc tournament man they were they were killing it they made me some made me some money at the end there before they were you know not able to play so all right let's give let's give our final four picks we'll every week you know of the tournament we'll we'll try to see if our our final four picks to get knocked out fuck all right somebody else go first because i haven't filled out a bracket yet i'm

gonna do it last minute i'm gonna pull up the the brackets right now i'll go first um i'm gonna say coming out of the west i'm gonna go with i am gonna go with kansas i think it'll be iowa kansas in the in the elite eight um i think gonzaga is gonna make it there but there i don't think they can keep up i don't know i gonzaga has to prove me wrong until i'm gonna put them in the final four or a national championship they they're one seed every other year and they can't do it so they gotta prove me wrong until i put them in there and once i do it then i'll then i'll believe um no nobody's gonna agree with my west pick no sorry sorry to pick sorry to rip you off but go i'm gonna go out of the south i am gonna go i think i'll go with baylor baylor's pretty damn good i see them

they're they're still playing pretty good basketball ohio state i would go with, but they're too streaky, like you said before. If Dwayne Washington has a bad game, then he's done. And I just don't see any of these other teams making a run. Purdue's not that great of a four seed. Arkansas, I don't think they're that great of a three seed. I don't know. It's tough. Out of the Midwest, I mean, I got to go with Illinois. It's going out of the midwest i mean i gotta go with illinois they it's it's gonna be

the overwhelming pick yeah i i i just don't see houston hasn't played near the level that illinois has of competition or you know they haven't played that well um i would love oklahoma state too but i just think that i think that'll be a great game oklahoma state illinois but i think that illinois will probably wear them down with kofi cobert um and then i would love to say michigan but with livers out i just yeah i just can't say it the way that they're playing right now i i hope i'm wrong like i don't i want to be like holy shit you didn't even pick your own team like i want that to happen obviously um but um this is me i'm sure that the team is listening so this is me like doubting them and they're gonna be like no i'm gonna prove that

guy wrong um juwan's gonna play that tape of justin roe talking shit. Exactly. I'm going to go Florida State. That's what I was kind of thinking, man. I'm kind of with you there. All right. Florida State, Alabama for the lead eight, and then Florida State beats them. So, all right. You got Florida State, Kansas, Baylor. Did you say Baylor out of the south?

Baylor and Illinois. Baylor and of the south? Baylor and Illinois Alright Okay we'll start in the west for me Looking at it I think it'll be Gonzaga But I also Elite 8 pick I think Gonzaga's gonna play Drake

In the Elite 8 What? They're getting one of their best players back They were real hot going into the season Their best player got hurt But he's supposed to be ready for March Madness. So I think Gonzaga and Drake in the Elite Eight, but I do think that

Gonzaga's going to be in the Final Four. And coming out of the East... Drake? He stole my whole fucking flow! Out of the East... Bama. I'll go with Bama out of the East just because you picked Florida State.

Midwest, Illinois, I'm with you there. South? Man, I'm going to go with the eight seed, North Carolina Tar Heels. I think they're hot. They're hot. I'm going to ride that Carolina Tar Heel train. They're going to beat Baylor in the second round, and they're going to go from there. So I'm going Tar Heels, Illinois, Gonzaga, Bama for my final four.

Wow. All right. Yeah. So I'm in this bracket with Jack, your wife, and all these MSU people. Yeah, I know. I've got to make one. So my Final Four is arguably the most generic of all time.

So out of the West, I have Gonzaga. Out of the East, I have Michigan because I need to put them in there for all these state people. Out of the South, I have Baylor. And out of the Midwest, I have Illinois. All for one seed.

Wow. Honestly, it's not a bad bet. Just saying. Man, oh man. That didn't ever happen until like, what, two years ago, three years ago? All four one seeds made it. So, we'll see. It was a while.

I mean. made it. We'll see. It's been a while. That's my bar. He copied my whole fucking flow. That's beautiful. He copied my whole fucking flow. Drake. Drake. That's my bar. Oh, no.

I guess I had to play that for a second. Soulja Boy killer. Oh, my God. No, I mean, I see more kind of upsets happening kind of in that, like, round of 64 and 32 than I do later on. I don't know. That's just me. I mean, you got to pick a couple 512s. Happens every year

you're not wrong that's what you gotta pick a couple 512s you know here here's i've got a bold prediction for everyone's brackets out there more 11 6 upsets will happen than 12 5s this year okay all right it's a weird year let me ask you this let me ask you this do you think that michigan state has is it a disadvantage that they have to play the play-in game or is it an advantage if they obviously if they win that they can get their legs under them, and they get used to it and all that stuff. I think, I mean, shit, man, I don't know. I mean, if they win, I think it's an advantage because they played in the arena already, right? But I don't think it's an advantage that they have to play it, if that makes any sense. I wouldn't bet on them to win that game.

UCLA? I think UCLA's going to take it. What's the line? Do we know? I have no idea. I was wondering earlier. I was freaking out because it was minus two. For MSU. Wow, they're favored. Oh, shit. I mean, it's

the month of Izzo, right? Fucking since when? Alright. Since when? Losers. Alright.

So, okay. So that's the bracket. losers alright so okay so that's the bracket you know if you want to tweet us your your final four or something should we do a bracket challenge I mean Wolverine Corner is doing like the gigantic it's like $10,000

and we literally have to do it tonight and have it done by noon because all the games starting tomorrow with the playing games. Yeah, that's all right. Well, next year. We got it next year. Deal. Deal.

So, all right. Well, you know, that's a bracket. I think let's talk about Michigan now with Isaiah Livers out indefinitely. First and foremost, I think there are a lot of people out there that are like oh could he come back is he playing all this stuff every single thing i've seen says four to six weeks at the minimum so i mean if you want to be irrational and like leave out leave out some hope go ahead but i'd rather set the bar as we're never going to see him again in a Michigan uniform, which saddens the hell out of me.

But I'd rather set that standard. And then if he does somehow miraculously come back, then it's like just, you know, icing on the cake. I mean, it's a stress fracture in his foot, right? Yeah. Not anywhere else in his fucking body, in his foot. He stands on, you have to walk, you have to run down the court. There's no fucking chance he's coming back.

What needs to happen is Brandon Johns needs to step up and play really, really well. Austin Davis needs to be able to step up and play consistent. And Shondy Brown needs to, you know, be able to play consistently. If Shondy Brown can score, I think Michigan will be able to make a little bit of a run. But they need Shondy to be able to score, and they need Brandon Johns to be able to play consistently. If he could, if Shawnee Brown can score, I think Michigan will be able to make a little bit of a run, but they need Shawnee to be able to score and they need Brandon Johnson to be able to score. Yeah.

It's tough. Cause I'm kind of counting on Juwan to get some of these guys who are maybe not quite ready to be ready to be like team leaders. And I don't know. I just, I hope he's got them because if they're not quite there, it's going to be tough. Yeah. I just hope he's got them because if they're not quite there, it's going to be tough. Yeah.

I mean, can we trust in Brandon Johns to come in for five minutes and give a spark? You know, sometimes. That's what I'm saying, yeah. Sometimes. Can't really rely on him. Like, he's got to be able to step up. And can you trust for him to actually give like

now 15 good minutes right like 15 to 20 good minutes that's where it's tough and you also like shaundi no longer is like a spark on the bench that just comes in for five minutes at a time like he's also playing 15 minutes um so it's just it's this tough thing where guys that have not played those extended minutes now have to, and neither of those guys have the versatility like John there. Isaiah livers is Brandon Johns and Shondy put together, right? He has the offensive ability of,

and the guard ability of Shondy, but he also can play defense against a four and rebound and go into the paint sometimes as a Brandon Johns. So it's just like you're not getting both those things on the floor at any given time. That's where I think you struggle. I also think you struggle where the times that Michigan has struggled has not been because of defense. They haven't, like, just given up a ton of points.

It's where their offense goes into, you know, huge droughts. That's tough when you're taking away a guy that's scoring 14 a game, you know, and has that lethal, you know, he's a 40% three-point shooter. So, Brandon Johns has to, to a be able to guard big men he has to be able to go out and shoot that corner three which he has done he has the ability to for sure and shaundi shaundi just like can't ever go one for eight from three like he has to be he has to be you know two for five three for six type of a type of a of a shooter and that's crazy to think right like you're almost asking for perfection from shaundi brown at that point but that's what you kind of need is like when when he's going in usually it's like all

right we need to spark off the bench like we need a guy in there that can make something happen really quick yeah yeah this will be a good test for some of those guys like shaundi who maybe want to you know who or who need to kind of step up if they want to play the next level like this will be his time yeah i think too um it's i think it's the hunter dickinson show i think it is time to see if hunter dickinson is the real deal or not. If people can shut him down, then maybe he's not quite the real deal yet. Obviously, we know he's second-team All-American, Big Ten Freshman of the Year, you know, all this stuff.

But if he really is that dude, he should be able to, especially now in the tournament, be able to come in and just dominate and then also be able to, when in the tournament be able to come in and just dominate and then also be able to when they when teams double kick it you know move it around he almost has to be that like point guard center guy that is able to move it or move the ball around a lot so um i just think this team his team comes and goes with Hunter Dickinson. Now, you have to rely on him for 18 points a game. Well, I think the biggest thing is he needs to stay out of foul trouble. He can't be getting pulled within the first 10 minutes of the game because he's got two fouls in the first half.

I mean, that's the biggest thing. I think it kind of stems from there. But I'd love to see a Mitch McGarry-type March Madness run from Hunter Dickinson. You know, 15, 20 points a game and just kind of take it over. That'd be beautiful. Yeah, I think it's – we'll find out. I mean, if I had to predict anything, I would say, you know, it's obviously going to be situational. And I think Brandon Johns has to come in and play the five behind Hunter.

I think I actually would rather see Austin Davis come in as like the five to eight minute game guy. Because you're going to need, like you said, you need Hunter to be able to stay out of foul trouble. When he does get into foul trouble, Austin Davis, if we run into a big man, he can't guard him. He's not good on the defensive side of the ball. So, yeah, I think you've got to run with Brandon Johns and say, hey, this guy's been here for four years. He's ten times more athletic than Austin Davis. Although I'm an Austin Davis fan fan i think that he gets too

much hate a little bit because he does provide a spark but i mean brandon johns is gonna either make or break it here and i think he got a ride with it yeah hopefully he can step up yeah i'm looking forward to seeing how he does you guys sound so unenthusiastic there i uh it's hard man it's hard to have faith in him when it's kind of inconsistent i mean i love the guy i think he's super talented but you never know what you're gonna get out of him yeah i rely on that guy i also think just the tough thing is is like they haven't played They've only played one game without liver. So it's not like they've been able to get into a rhythm like without him on the floor. You know, I felt like they did kind of in the second half of Ohio State, but it took a long time.

So that's where I'm concerned is like, are they going to be like, oh, shit, Isaiah's out. Like we don't even know where to go with this offense. That's kind of what I'm concerned about. We'll see how it goes. We'll try to do a podcast on maybe Sunday or Monday. After the first game? I think it will be easier during this because all the games are all spread out. I think that's fair.

We'll try to all spread out. So I think, I think that's fair. Yeah. So we'll try to get one out and you know, I will be, we'll be doing a lot of drinking this weekend. I think watching basketball, this again, a lot of games like one of the best time, one of the best weekends of the year. If you're a college sports fan, you let's embrace it. What, what, no matter what happens.

I mean, Michigan being a one seed obviously doesn't happen often right like it's first time in 20 years so um you know it's almost 30 years right so uh you know i think let's embrace it enjoy march madness hopefully here's here's how i say it like don't set yourself up for failure let's take it one weekend at a time all you gotta do there's only half the teams in this bracket get through to the second weekend so take that as a you know

as a as a gift if you can make it to the second weekend there's a lot of upsets out there so let's actually let's end it with this voicemail real quick Caleb shout out Caleb shout out Caleb So let's actually, let's end it with this voicemail real quick. Caleb. Shout out, Caleb. Shout out, Caleb.

Boys, Caleb Martin from Toledo. You guys are fucking awesome, man. Last week was incredible. Thanks for leaving the voicemail up on there. That's bullshit, man. We really appreciate it. I really appreciate it. One question I just had, one of the many questions I have, actually.

I saw, I think it might have been yesterday or today, the board manual came out and was talking about Jim Harbaugh and how next season he doesn't really have a minimum that he has to hit. I think that's fucking bullshit. Personally, I think it should be at least, you know, realistically 10 to 11 wins. I guess that's the best year we've been kind of used to that bullshit. Personally, I think it should be at least, you know, 10 to 11 wins. I guess that's the best year we've been kind of used to that bullshit.

But that's kind of where we're at right now. So I just want to kind of hear you guys' thoughts on what you guys think that means for... Oh, come on, Ro. Ro, frozen.

Well, I think, I don't know. I mean, 10 to 11's kind of tough, man. I mean, if you're putting 11 in there... I personally would be opposed to seeing him sit out the Big Ten tournament. Because at the end of the day, you know, the Big Ten tournament is important and all, but we've already got our one seed locked up, I think. So whether we lose round one of the Big Ten tournamentnament or not, I think we get the 1C locked up. So I personally think we should sit Eli and

get him ready for the big dance so he can make a run and hopefully bring home that natty. But yeah, I just want to give you guys some thoughts on that as well and see what you guys think and what your guys' realistic predictions are for the Big Ten and the National Tournament. March Madness would be good.

So yeah, again, just appreciate you guys for last week. That was bullshit. Looking forward to this week's episode, and go blue. Fuck Ohio, baby. Later, guys. So, Ro, you froze about halfway through that voicemail.

So we're going to need a quick wrap-up of what he said said i heard i heard the harbaugh expectations and i heard the eli a little bit yeah you i mean he called in before the big 10 tournament because we haven't done a podcast since then so it was harbaugh it was harbaugh um you know uh win should he have a win total like he has to hit that or else he's fired and then talking about eli he said he that we should have uh that we should have um sat him in the big 10 tournament which i don't hate it sounds obvious he looked good if he he looked 100 so if he was 100 then i like him going which is what it looked like um obviously it didn't look like he was even wearing

a brace or anything in that second game yeah he looked really good and like he made a couple plays like diving for the ball like he was not holding back on it um we'll wrap up quick with the hardball thing uh listen i i think that ward should give uh something to jim in terms of a win limit or whatever you want to call it behind the scenes. But I don't think, like, he's never going to say that to the public, right? If you say that to the public, you're shooting yourself in the foot. You're putting yourself in a situation that you can't come back from, right? Like, if there was some weird circumstance where Jim does only

win seven games but like I don't know you still think he's the guy or they've made you know they lost their first four and then they like made unbelievable improvements and beat Ohio State like now you're putting yourself in a bad spot so I don't hate Ward for not coming out to the public and saying that i do think there should be something like that in the in you know behind the scenes in those meetings agree or disagree disagree i will i so i agree with i agree with what you said i don't think word should put anything out there i disagree with that there should be something behind the scenes i think what ward should do is he said he should set an expectation in his own head. Don't say anything

to Harbaugh. And I think the expectation should be nine wins. If you can win nine wins, you're good. But I wouldn't say anything to Harbaugh. I'd say let him go, see what he does. And if he doesn't fulfill your expectations that you set for him, you know, ya i i wouldn't i don't know if i'd want to you know put that i don't want to say i don't know if i'd want to put that pressure on harbaugh but he shouldn't need pressure to win nine games he should you know be working and doing shit already to do that yeah i i think saying something to the public, like Jim has to win 20 games or whatever, fucking bullshit. Yeah, that's ridiculous. That's just setting yourself up for failure.

But I do think that he should have a set of goals with Jim, whether that's a certain number of wins or a Big Ten championship, something like that, I think that's more where they're going. And to me, that sounds fair. But yeah, going out in public and being like, I expect us to win college football playoff. That's not helpful. I mean, shit, if you're going to the big 10 championship game you better be undefeated yeah and i'm sure they have those kinds of goals you know behind the scenes where it's like hey like we want to do this that and the other and we expect you to do that right um but if he doesn't hit those markers then there's going to be a very serious discussion right yeah and i think too like i i i see both sides of it right so like

i think i agree with you caitlin like kind of what i said first like you put yourself in a terrible position if you do say it um but i think there's also like this big perception that like we have these goals and expectations and everyone's like yeah the goal is to win the big 10 the goal is to win the national title well there's no repercussions for people that aren't getting to those goals right so like if you're at your job or if you're at school and your expectations are to you know your expectations are to get a job done by uh you know march 21st and you get it done by March 30th, there's usually repercussions. So I don't know. I see both sides of it because it seems like there have been these goals set and we say them, but we don't really, like, Ward doesn't really think it

or he doesn't really hold anybody to it. It's like this off-distance thing that we talk about all the time, but, like it it's like this off distance thing that we talk about all the time but like it's just kind of a thing that's there um so i don't know it's also i think it's there it's not a good position because it's this peculiar situation where jim harbaugh was the home run hire most obvious hire of all time for michigan supposed to come in here and he's dropped the ball at every single step so what do you do in that situation when your home run hire when your best case scenario doesn't work out now what do you do like you're in a position who's gonna succeed jim harbaugh like i don't know like that's like I I mean that's just a ridiculous

thing to ask to ask of somebody too so I don't know yeah no one expects that right that's like that was not what on anybody's radar yeah not to go too far into this conversation but I remember just a few months ago we were saying anybody could succeed Jim Harbaugh and I think you know once they rehired him everybody had to get back on that Harbaugh train so I don't know man it's just the Michigan expectations it's tough I think it's tough for a coach but we're definitely seeing a different Harbaugh than we thought we're going to see after his first two years yeah and I think that like now this year after the whole thing with the uh with the offseason um and coaching and you know seemed like a majority of people wanted harbaugh gone

if there's any drop or screw up or anything in uh in this 2021 i mean is there anybody out there that has more of a hot seat than jim harbaugh i don't think so so it's not going to be fun for him to go through i don't think so all right well your wife just texted me and said will you hurry up the project here i'm hungry she just told me she said i'm hangry better hurry this shit up she texted me too which is hilarious all right goes to show who's really in charge here yeah we all know we all know that yeah yeah we're not letting a sparty run this podcast so she can kind of get the fuck out of here all right sounds good well uh you can follow us at blue by 90 on instagram facebook and twitter at blue by 90 podcast on youtube Facebook, and Twitter at Blue by 90 Podcast on

YouTube. We'll be tweeting, Instagramming, Facebooking all throughout this tournament which will be fun. Michigan Twitter is fun as fuck right now, honestly. It's Michigan against the world. These raids, hopefully, knock on wood, are going to be very

fun. We'll have the memes keep coming out. Alright, thanks for listening and Go Blue!