The Kevin Sheehan Show - Wentz Speaks

Episode Date: March 14, 2022

Kevin today with a ton of follow up to so much news from over the weekend. Carson Wentz wrote a letter to Colts' fans which included thoughts on his move to Washington. Tom Brady is back, Deshaun Watson won't be charged criminally, Scott Turner got an extension, the NCAA Tournament field is set, and NFL Free Agency is underway. Ben Standig/The Athletic joined the show. Patrick Stevens/Washington Post also was a guest on the show. Thom is back tomorrow!! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Chean Show. Here's Kevin. Two guests on the show today. Ben Standing will be with us, and Patrick Stevens will be with us on the show today.

We'll talk NCAA tournament bracket with Patrick a little bit later on in the show. I do have some thoughts on the bracket before we get to Patrick. And Ben Standing will be on with us talking Washington Free Agency and some other things. Washington commanders related. I do recognize that today's show, with respect to the football stuff, could be dated by the time you listen to it, because free agency for all intents and purposes starts at noon today.

It's the legal tampering period, or whatever they call it. It is the period in which agents and teams can talk and negotiate deals. At 12 noon today, you're going to start hearing all of the news related to free agency. and so Washington could pull off a big deal and this could be already published. Now, we are never, ever afraid of the emergency pod. So that's always in play if they make a big, big signing. Tommy, by the way, will be back with me tomorrow. God, so much has happened between the last time we did a podcast with Cooley and today's show.

I mean, we had Deshaun Watson with no criminal charges. We had the Brady news from last night. We had the Scott Turner extension. We had Carson Wentz speaking about the deal. So I'm going to try to touch on all of these things here in the open. And then we'll get to Ben. And then we will get to Patrick. I do want to say thank you to all of you who have rated and reviewed the show.

Please, those of you who haven't do it. It's really helpful. It's keeping us, you know, really, really strong in terms of, of the perception that advertisers have of the podcast. So that's really nice. Reading some of these reviews on Apple, they're great. This from Zabe fans, so a fan of Zabes. I live in Houston, love the show,

love Tuesday and Thursday, helps me keep connected to D.C. sports teams. Really enjoy the mashups with the old 980 personalities with you and Zabe, you and Galdi. They are great. I appreciate that. From a Duke fan, great podcast, listen to Daily for my Red Ski, I mean Commander's Scoop, as a Duke fan and alum, it's a must listen. Love and Hate are two sides of the same coin, and Coach Kay is living rent-free in Kevin's head. We love slash hate you too, Kevin.

Thank you. That from Chet Gillespie via Apple podcast. That's great from Perk. Awesome Pod. Great show. Been listening for years. Cousins stinks. Yeah, except for the fact that nobody has played the system better than Kirk Cousins, as Minnesota signed him to another extension to lower the cap number for this year. He also got more money and a no trade clause this time. $231 million for Kirk Cousins when next year ends as he got more money. money in the form of an extension. By the way, I predicted that. For those that were predicting

Cousins would be traded, once KOC, Kevin O'Connell became the coach, I knew he was not getting traded. O'Connell took that job because he believes in cousins and there. He's there for at least another two years. My God, his cousins played it well. I tweeted out that nobody's played this system, current system better than cousins. It's true. I also believe that if Washington back in 2015 at the end of that 2015 season, or even during the 2015 season, had been aggressive and said, 20 million a year, 45 to 50 guaranteed five-year deal. I think he would have signed it then. Some of you disagree with me, but I know what the context was. They low-balled him, and that really set the path for, you know, two straight franchise tags and then $84 million with Minnesota

in the first guaranteed, totally guaranteed contract of all time. But during that 2015 season, if they hadn't low-balled them, which was kind of Bruce's move, he really never understood the market and was always looking for a deal. But if they had had the vision and understood, we sign this guy, 20 million a year, 45 to 50 guaranteed, makes him a top 10 paid for right now, but that will look like a bargain two, three years down the road.

But they didn't do it, and that set the course for Kirk to really, become one of the all-time great business stories, if that's the way you'd want to describe it, in the history of modern free agency NFL football. This from DC to KC, been listening to Kevin and Tom since 2011. I'm no longer local, so I'm listening and keeping up with Washington sports

all the way from Kansas City. They still got it. I reminisce the good times being stuck in stop and go traffic on Rockville Pike during their midday show fun times. Thank you, DC2KC. It's very possible that Tom and I were looking out our Rockville Pike studio big window and saw you stuck in traffic. We loved our Rockville studios. Our Rockville Studios at 980, 1801 Rockville Pike. They overlooked Rockville Pike.

We had a big, huge picture window in our main studio. where we did the shows. So we could look out onto Rockville Pike, look out to the Kudoba right across the street on the side street that we were on, but could see all the traffic on Rockville Pike, see all the weather, bad weather coming in, so many times doing that show during the summer months,

sitting there between, you know, during our midday show, seeing like thunderstorms roll in, during the winter, being able to look out and see, you know, the cold weather. All of us really enjoyed those days at 9. 80 when, you know, Zabe and Andy and Doc and coach and Brian and Scotland and C.J. and Scott Jackson and Tommy and I and, you know, everybody's Scotland. It was a great group of guys.

I miss those days too. We all do. I think all of us that were there all together for that long period of time really do miss being with one another every day. Speaking of Tommy, he'll be back on the show tomorrow. Best podcast show, D.C. Sports from Brad Franklin. Brad talking about how much he loves when Tom and Cooley are on and how much he loves Cooley's insight, but also how much he misses the Cooley film breakdowns. Yeah, I mean, look, I, you know, I can't help it. I'd have him doing film breakdowns every other day on this show if he was paying attention, but his life has changed. You know, he's living out in Wyoming, he's hunting, he's fishing, he's building things. He's got two young kids, but you heard him if you listen to the show on Friday, and if you didn't go back and listen to the Friday show,

Cooley was on the show, had thoughts on Carson Wentz, but we'll try to get him. He takes direction from me occasionally. He's not 100% coachable, but he does listen to me, so I'm going to try to get him to do some film breakdowns before the draft. You know, the quarterbacks and probably the inside linebackers, some of the receivers, so we'll try to get him to do that.

Love this show from Cole Carnes. Listen to the podcast every single day. I haven't missed the show since it started back in 2018. Keep up the great work. Kevin and Tom. And a couple of you, this is amazing to me. A couple of you don't know that I'm also doing a radio show. And I appreciate how devoted you are to the podcast.

but from this from Richmond, Steve. I used to live up in the D.C. area. I'm in Richmond, but I'm in D.C. a lot. I listen to your podcast. I think 980 made a big mistake getting rid of you. That was for a year back in 2018. I'm forgetting now.

It was 2018 that I was off. It was the Alex Smith year. So that was the 2018. that I launched this podcast early in that football season, and I was off radio. But I've been back on radio since. They reached back out to me. They rehired me in 2019.

And I've been on radio hosting Morning Drive on 980 solo, which isn't my preference, but solo for now going on, well, 2019, 2020, 2020, 2021. So when you are in your car early in the morning or at home and have a radio nearby, you can listen to the radio show. And somebody mentioned, and I'm looking for this one, I can't find it, I don't know how you have the strength to basically do a three-hour radio show and then do the same thing on your podcast. Well, one of the reasons I have the strength for it, and it doesn't take much strength, seriously. What are we talking about here? I love the podcast because it's different, very different than the radio show, because more times than not, I have Tommy on the show, or I have Cooley on the show.

But when I have guests on the show, I get a lot more time with the guests. And I do make an effort to try to make the podcast a little bit different than the radio show. Sure, when there are A topics like the Monday following a game, you get kind of the same recap of the podcast. the game on the radio show that you do on the podcast. But anyway, appreciate all of the reviews. Keep them coming. It's really big for us. Advertisers appreciate it. How about Tom Brady, man? You know, Brady was at that Manchester U-game. You know, Malcolm Glazer owns that. Also owns the Buccaneers. I think an interesting thing just to keep an eye on as it relates to Brayette. First of all, it's not a surprise.

I don't think that Brady's back. I mean, you know, reading the tea leaves and of the last couple of weeks, I mean, there were comments from him. There were cryptic things from him. And then there was this conversation he was having with Ronaldo. Brady, Brady's a serial competitor. These guys should take more time after the season before they make a decision like this. I think also, and I say this in a positive way, Brady is, narrow. He is singular in focus. What else is he going to do? What else is he going to enjoy if he's not

competing playing football? I also think you always hear from guys when they retire what they miss the most. I'm going to miss the guys the most in being around the guys. And I think it was already becoming a parent that being with wife and young kids, it's great. And I, you know, I enjoyed it and still do enjoy it. But it's not for everybody 24-7. Wouldn't surprise me if the wife said, yeah, this is two months into this. Not working out for me.

Go play football. But here's the interesting thing about the Brady thing. More likely than not, maybe he got this done with Glazer when he was at the Manchester United game. I'm wondering about the relationship between Brady and Ariens. Just wondering about that relationship

and whether or not Ariens is an absolute given coming back. There will be obviously a lot more. I'm glad Brady's back. You know, the NFC quarterback landscape looked like there was a possibility of no Rogers, no Wilson, no Brady, and all you got out of it was no Wilson.

And yet Deshawn Watson could end up in Seattle or Carolina. So the NFC, you know, still strong. And the odds dropped significantly. Tampa went from, I think, plus like 25 to 1 to 15 to 1 on my booking and in other places once that news was announced. I am an NFL fan now as much as I am a Washington fan. That's obviously, as I've been very honest about, has changed in recent years and probably changed even more so with the announcement of the new name. So I'm a big NFL fan. I'm glad Brady's

playing again. I love watching Brady play. Scott Turner got an extension. And a lot of you really believe that the extension is somehow a Carson Wentz tied thing. I don't think it has anything to do with Carson Wentz personally. I think Washington's head coach Ron Rivera really likes Scott Turner. I like Scott Turner, and I know I've been in the minority on that for a while. Going back to his first year, I thought he did a pretty good job. I think he did a pretty good job this year. He's had major limitations at quarterback. He's had lots of injuries, including some key players that were out this year, including his starting quarterback who was out this year. I think Scott Turner is pretty, proven in his two years as the offensive coordinator here that he is a bona fide

starting a bona fide offensive coordinator in the NFL. I do. I like Scott Turner. I have some criticisms of Scott Turner. My main criticism of Scott Turner is I don't think he leveraged the number one strength of Taylor Heineckee last year as much as he could have. I think the athleticism and the running ability of Heineke was his greatest strength, and there wasn't a lot of zone read. Not that we know of, for all we know, there was a lot in there each week, and Heineke just decided not to keep it on the zone read. I don't think there was enough designed run. I don't think there was enough quarterback draw. I don't think there was enough design quarterback run. I don't think there was enough boot, but there was boot in the game. They, you know, bootleg slash quarterback

keeper. The Shanahan's called it QB keeper. You know, when they stretch the ball out on a zone run look and then they keep it and they boot it back to the other side. The quarterback keeps it and then you throw to typically three layers, you know, either a running back or fullback, a tight end or a receiver. Sometimes it's just a tight end and two receivers. Sometimes it's just two layers of options and you also have the option of running it. I didn't think there was enough of that for Heineke specifically. It may be because there wasn't going to be a lot of that for Fitzpatrick, who would have

played the game differently than Heineke. But I like Scott Turner, and I think they like Scott Turner. And I think whether or not they traded for Carson Wentz, it didn't matter that Scott Turner was going to get signed to a contract extension. And the signing of his contract extension extends him through the 2024 season, which would be Ron's fifth and final year. I think Ron really likes Scott Turner and has liked Scott Turner. You know, it's also a bit of a, hey, we're keeping him, we're paying him. Now, if he got a head coaching job, he could leave for it because it would be an upgrade. But, you know, I think there's some concern that Scott Turner would be a sought-after

offensive coordinator if they didn't sign him. So, and maybe a potential head coaching candidate. Look, there was a point there during that four-game winning streak this year where Scott Turner was actually mentioned in a couple of stories about a potential head coach, you know, candidate in this offseason. Then there was Carson Wentz. Carson Wentz spoke and spoke, you know, in a letter to Colts Nation. And this is what he said.

He wrote this note. And this was following, by the way, a very religious message based on a visit to a Christian school in Indiana. And I'm not even going to read that one. You can find that one. That was what came out before this came out yesterday, which I'm going to read to you. And that very religious statement, I couldn't make heads nor tales of. Some of you sent it to me on Twitter and said, see, he doesn't want to be here.

And I'm like, how did you get that out of that? And then some of you said, see, he really wants to be here. I couldn't figure out what the heavy emphasis on. God and religion in the statement to the kid's school that he was speaking to on Friday, I think it was. But here's what he wrote to Colts Nation. Dear Colts Nation, even though my family's time in Indianapolis has been short, we have loved being part of this community. Colts fans embraced us from the moment we arrived and made us feel at home. Hoosier hospitality is incredible. To the entire Colts organization, thank you for the opportunity. Ultimately, the season didn't

and the way we wanted, but I'm grateful for the sacrifices each of you made so we could climb the mountain together. The relationships I formed are what I'll remember the most. The brotherhood that existed in the locker room goes well beyond one team or one season, and I have my teammates to thank for helping to create that culture. I appreciate love and wish nothing but the best for each of you. I'm looking forward to getting to Washington. This organization has a rich history and a roster full of talent. I'm going to do everything I can this offseason to prepare for a special season and I can't wait to see you at FedEx Field this fall. God's plan, eyes fixed on him, signed Carson Wentz. So there you go. That was what he wrote. I think the relationships I formed,

the brotherhood, you know, the culture. Look, when he gets here, And he speaks to the media, and I'm hoping that I'll have a chance to interview him as well. Some tough questions are going to have to be asked of Carson Wentz. You know, some football-related – a lot of football-related questions, no doubt, but some tough questions are going to have to be asked about Carson Wentz. And the biggest being, obviously, why didn't it work out with Frank Reich after one season? why and let's you know then you see what he says and then you follow up with a lot of the stuff that's that's been said bottom line is you know and by the way Ron Rivera's going to have to

answer some of those questions why did you trade for a guy that got traded after one season with the guy that he had the best relationship with wasn't that a red flag are you concerned what were your concerns why you know and I expect you know everybody to focus on the future and the positive. But those questions certainly are questions that need to be asked. By the way, here we go. Here we go on NFL Free Agency. It looks like Mitch Trubisky is going to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Tribesky to Pittsburgh, not the Giants. Pittsburgh. There was going to be a market for Mitch Trubisky. No doubt about it. There was going to be a market for Trubisky. No Washington news yet. So if that breaks during this, we'll talk about it. My interview with Ben Standing, which you're going to hear, was actually recorded earlier

because it was the only time we could do it. So Washington's free agency starts today. Let me just cut to the chase on this, okay? they don't have a lot of cap space after the Wentz deal. Ben will update is specifically on what they have, but I think it's in the $5 to $7 million range somewhere around there. They could restructure some players like Eric Flowers, et cetera. But more likely than not, they don't have a lot of room to make a big splash in free agency.

The needs for me are linebacker. I think you need another tight end. I think you need some depth, certainly in your secondary at corner and at safety. Not all of these things will be addressed in free agency. Some of them, the draft will be used, although they don't have a third rounder this year. I am not so much on board with all that believe that they believe they need a wide receiver. and we'll see on that. My opinion is that they think that Diami Brown is going to be a strong number two

with better quarterback play and in his second year, that they already have a number one in McLorn, and then with Curtis Samuel, that those three guys give them a pretty threatening receiving corps. I think many of you would probably disagree with respect to Diami Brown. round. I think DeAndre Carter is somebody they should sign. I wonder if somebody like Adam Humphreys or Adam Humphreys himself could be signed, but it's not going to surprise me if Washington doesn't sign a receiver and free agency or even draft one, you know, in the early rounds. You know, they have a first and a second and then no third anymore because it went to Indy for Wentz. But I just, I'm not in the

camp of they're desperate for more playmakers and more speed. I mean, I think they are, but I guess I just don't think they're going to do it. I could be totally off on this, totally off on this. But I know that they loved Diami Brown, and I know that they still like Diami Brown. And of course they like Curtis Samuel. They paid him a shitload a year ago. And Terry McCorn's big. Now, if they start getting a sense that they're going to lose Terry McClearn next year, remember, they can always franchise them. There's always a chance they could draft a receiver at 11 overall or in the second round, but maybe a Garrett Wilson or a Drake London or, you know, a Chris Alave or the kid from Arkansas

Berks. Maybe they end up liking one of those guys a lot and like them a lot more than Diami Brown as a number two. I just don't see that. I don't see it being a first round pick, a second round pick or a big splash in free agency. I think linebacker's a possibility. I think a guy down the list, very far down the list, depending on how healthy he is, he is because he had a peck injury late. But a guy like Josie Jewel from Denver is a Rivera kind of player, I think, hard-nosed, high IQ, big-time tackler, big-time playmaker. But he had a peck injury in Denver last year. So I don't know about his availability, but they're going to be looking, obviously, to upgrade the middle linebacker position here in the offseason. And then, you know, you've got some tight ends like a Gerald

Everett, you know, out there or Robert Tonion. I don't know if that's going to be the play, but you've got some tight ends out there. You've got a corner, a veteran corner and a guy like Patrick Peterson who's turning 32, but he's going to be down the list in terms of money demands. You could get him on the cheap. And I'm giving you, guys down the list because of their cap space situation. I don't think there's a big splash coming in free agency. And that's where I want to segue to next, and that is this, that their best deals have been the shorter-term deals, you know, the prove-it deals, the Logan Thomas's, the J.D. McKissix, the Cornelius Lucas's, the Ronald Darby's in 2020, the Leno Jr., who they, you know,

said prove it, he did, and they signed him to an extension. DeAndre Carter, Ricky Seals Jones, David Mayo, Adam Humphreys, Bobby McCain. The big signings, Kendall Fuller is the only one that's really worked out, four years, 40 million. Curtis Samuel, obviously, you know, a bust in year one, not that it's going to be an overall bust. And then William Jackson, you know, difficult so far. We'll see. But, you know, that was big time deal. Ryan Fitzpatrick, a one-year deal for $11 million.

bucks. I don't really count that one. But the Jackson 3 for 42 and the Samuel 3 for 34 and a half where the big deal is done last year. And it really was Leno Jr. and D'And Andre Carter and Bobby McCain and Adam Humphreys and, you know, Ricky Seals Jones that ended up being the guys that produced in the year before, Thomas, McKissick, Lucas, and Darby. McKissick is the one that I know they really want back, but I think there's going to be a market for McKissick. So we'll see. They did resign Troy Apkey so far. more on that to come. So, lastly, before we get to Ben,

conference tournament week and weekend is boring. Nobody cares about it anymore. It's really not what it used to be. I would love to see, you know, what the ratings are on these conference championship games. The sport of college basketball, even though I thought it was a really good season, and there were a couple of games this weekend.

that I enjoyed. I did. I thought that the Creighton Villanova Big East Final the other night was a really interesting game. It was 19 to 18 at halftime. It was like 36-36 with like 10 minutes to go. Villanova won it beating Creighton. Both teams made the tournament. There were some good games, though. I enjoyed Wisconsin-Purdue. I enjoyed Purdue, Iowa in the Big Ten final. I enjoyed Virginia Tex run, big run for the Hokies. But no, Nobody cares. You know, you get to Monday and the field's already out. And like every single conference championship week game, including the championship games, are forgotten. It's irrelevant now. And it's been that way for a while. I'm not, you know, it's not a big reveal on anything.

So let's talk about the tournament field. So first of all, I thought a couple of things. I thought Duke was overseeded at two. I thought Tennessee was underseeded. I thought Tennessee should have been the two, and I thought Duke should have been on the three line. I also felt like Houston was underseated at five, and that Iowa was underseated at five. Virginia Tech underseated at 11. I thought Virginia Tech was into the tournament after their second win. By the way, Virginia Tech won the ACC tournament. Young is a great coach. Really love watching him coach that team. They run. great offensive sets. And don't forget that Mike Jones, the Dematha coach, is on that staff. You know, he made that move. And maybe Mike, if Virginia Tech makes a little bit of a run, we'll get a look, you know, somewhere next year. But I thought Virginia Tech was in, but apparently they needed to win the ACC tournament to get in. We'll ask Patrick about that.

But I thought they were underseeded at 11. And Iowa was underseated at 5, which kind of tells you. you that these conference tournaments didn't mean much to the committee other than, you know, the automatic bids where a team could only get in via automatic bid. Because Iowa is not, at best case is not the 17th best team in the country right now. There's no way. They are rolling. They are impossible to guard. I think they're a possible final four team. But I say that and I understand that Fran McCaffrey, since he's been at Iowa, has never reached the second weekend of the tournament, including with Luca Garza last year. They got beat in the second round by Oregon,

right? I think it was Chris Duarte, who had a huge game, and they lost to Oregon in the second round. Iowa doesn't defend one of their issues, but I'm not sure anybody can score with them right now. They are really prolific offensively. They won the Big Ten tournament. Man, it seems like they haven't lost in a while. In fact, when was the last game Iowa lost? And they hung the 112 in the opener of the Big Ten tournament, which was a tournament record. We talked about that last week.

Iowa has won right now coming into this tournament. Okay, they lost Illinois on the road 74-72, but they have won nine of their last 10 games, averaging roughly about 90 points a game. I like them a lot. I thought they were underseated in this draw. A couple of quick thoughts about matchups. I'm looking forward to seeing Arkansas,

Yukon in a second round game. Two very tough, tough teams. Man, sometimes it really does seem like Danny Hurley's about to become completely unhinged. But man, he's got a tough, hard-nosed team at Yukon. I think they can beat New Mexico State. I think Arkansas can beat a very well-coached and a good team in Vermont. That's a second round game.

I'm looking forward to seeing a Gonzaga, Arkansas, Sweet 16 game out west. In the South region, very much looking forward to a potential Houston, second round game, although I know UAB and Chattanooga are going to be chic upset picks in the first round. But to see Kelvin Sampson face off against Illinois, who remember last year was, you know, a lot of people picked Illinois to get to the final four and even win the title, and they lost to Loyola, Chicago. Loyola, Illinois, excuse me, in the second round of that tournament last year. And Loyola's back, you know, in the field. again loyal as Chicago is, and they play Ohio State, a struggling team out of the Big Ten.

But I'm looking forward to in that South region, a Houston, Illinois second round, and then a potential Nova Tennessee Suite 16 game. I think Tennessee's got a chance to get to the Final Four, but I think Villanova does too. In the east, a couple of interesting potential matchups down at the bottom of that East bracket. I think a Kentucky Purdue Sweet 16 game could be great, but I think Kentucky will have their hands full with San Francisco or Murray State in the second round. And I think Virginia Tech can beat Texas, and then I think Virginia Tech could beat Purdue, too. I really do.

I mean, I've always been on Purdue and I'm a big Matt Painter fan. They just don't guard very well. Also in that bracket, a Baylor-U-CLA suite 16 game would be awesome. Midwest, a Kansas-I-W-W-Suite 16. game would be outstanding. And I see Iowa getting through Richmond and then more likely than not, in my opinion, South Dakota State, who I think could beat Providence. So I'm looking forward to a potential Iowa Kansas game in the Sweet 16. Also, Wisconsin-Auburn would be a spectacular suite 16 game. Auburn hasn't been playing well. Keep an eye on that. There's some people

that like Jacksonville State. Wouldn't surprise me if the USC Miami winner gives Auburn a tough game. This tournament is, you know, some people are going to say that Arizona and Gonzaga in particular, and maybe even Kentucky are playing at a level. Kentucky lost. You know, that was not the SEC final. The SEC final was Tennessee and Texas A&M. Buzz Williams team did not make the tournament. They needed to win against Tennessee in the SEC final yesterday. They did not. Tennessee is playing awfully well. Man, they are big, physical, and good on defense with Rick Barnes. as an outstanding head coach. Those are some of the matchups I'm looking forward to. You know, in terms of snubs, I don't really, there wasn't a lot of griping from the

brackatologists. Again, we'll talk to Patrick later on. I didn't have a problem with Michigan making the field, to be honest with you. I didn't have a problem with Indiana making the field. I guess I was a little bit surprised that Texas A&M wasn't in the field. North Carolina being seated eight, I thought was a bit high, but it just kind of remind you that this tournament is a television show, first and foremost. And if North Carolina can get by Marquette, Baylor, North Carolina would be better than, let's just say, having a nine or a ten seat like San Francisco be seated eighth or ninth, and having Baylor play San Francisco or Murray State. You know, something like that. Never forget that this is a television show.

and the seedings are there to produce some really attractive matchups with the schools that draw eyeballs like North Carolina, like Duke, like now actually, you know, Gonzaga, Kansas, Baylor, Arizona, Nova, Duke, you know, clearly, Kentucky. So I think it's going to be a fun tournament. Tomorrow with Tommy, I'll go through the formula that I go through every year that gives me, the teams that I think will be in the final four. And we'll pick brackets, Tommy and I will, together. He gets very frustrated with that process,

which always makes me happy whenever he gets frustrated. That's a happy thing. All right up next, Ben Standing, right after these words from a few of our sponsors. All right, on the podcast with me, Ben Standing from the Athletic at Ben Standing on Twitter, the Standig Room Only podcast, the 39th ranked podcast,

in the football category on Apple's, you know, hot chart list. Ben is with us because, for all intents and purposes, free agency starts today. So before we get to free agency starting today, there are a couple of quick things I want answers from you on. I spoke a little bit about them in the open, but tell me what you think signing Scott Turner to a contract extension of two additional years, meaning he's now under contract for three more years. What do you think it means with respect to the organization's feelings about Turner?

Yeah, so for what it's worth, it's slightly confusing, but my sense is it was a three-year deal. Now, that would mean that he was technically a free agent, which is why I'm not sure that's accurate. I think he had a contract where the years kind of rolled over, so I'm not exactly sure what to make of of this, but at the same point, obviously there's an extra commitment there to him, it appears. And, you know, look, I think, as you and I have discussed before, I think Scott Turner has done a pretty deep job. I know the ratings don't show that, the category ratings, but look, who says, you know, at quarterback, since he's been here, not to mention the injuries, I think he's been, he's kept them in the mix a lot. The fact that they won seven games last year with

Taylor Heineke, I think says a lot. So, you know, look, I don't know where Scott Turner ranks among the league's best coordinators and things like that. But at the same point, you know, clearly Ron Rivera has trusted him. He gives him a decent amount of power with that offense. And, you know, now they've got a new quarterback with Carson Wentz. And this is going to be Scott Turner's biggest project yet. Yeah, it's his biggest project yet, I guess. It's Ron Rivera's biggest pressure points so far in his coaching tenure.

But I kind of feel like it's not. really tied to Scott Turner. And I said in the open, I think that Scott Turner was going to get this extension regardless, regardless of whether or not they had traded for Wentz. I just think that they like, you know, Scott Turner, that Ron Rivera likes Scott Turner. Your thoughts on that? Yeah, I mean, you know, like I was saying, clearly, you know, Ron Rivera has loyalty in his guys. He has not essentially gotten, he's not changed anything other than, you know, based on retirement or and things like that. So he liked his group, and Scott Turner, he's given a fair amount of autonomy to with his offense, just like he's done with Jack Del Rio, on the other side. And, yeah,

I mean, look, Scott's a confident young man. I think he obviously comes from good stock with North Turner, who's been around the team as well. And, you know, trust for Rivera is obviously huge, and he clearly does seem to have that with him. And look, like I said, anybody who's going to be just negative on Scott Turner. If you're a film breakdown Maven kind of person, I mean, bully for you if you want to tell me he stinks or whatever. But I think he's done a pretty reasonable job considering the hand he's been dull that quarterback, when over two years the best quarterback he's had has been, what, Alex Smith on one leg? So, you know,

I think all things considered, he's done a pretty reasonable job, and, you know, I think Rivera understands that. All right. Where is Washington right now at 1115 a.m. on March 14th, with respect to the salary cap. So my sense was on the sort of back of the napkin math as of the last night was about 6.6 million, and that includes holding money aside for the draft class, about 4.4 million there. Now, since then, they've done two minor deals, re-up Troy Apke and Tyler Larson.

Those are sort of that minimum, so that's not going to do too much. one way or the other you're going to have to have guys on the roster who make that kind of money anyway. So that doesn't change too much. The question is what comes next? They have some restructure possibility that with Eric Flowers being the most obvious. I don't know if I see any

definite guys they could cut to make more space although DeShayzer Everett would be a candidate for sure. But yeah, that's going to be interesting to see what else can they do here to create a little bit more room because of the land

the land in Collins, they don't have a ton of like obvious guys. The number right now you're estimating at... Yeah, about $6.6 million. I double-checked with Brad Spielberger who does salary cap analysis for a pro football focus. That's kind of the number he came up with for me. So, yeah. Okay.

So what do you think they're going to do in free agency? Well, you know, obviously, they've made the huge move already. I've been eyeing Michael Seinfactor and adding a veteran. versus a rookie. It just makes more sense. It's the whole point of up upping that position is to get some more experience on the field at a crucial spot. You know, that's got to be a

vet. I don't, you know, I don't necessarily know about name that I would target. I've mentioned a guy like Anthony Walker from the Browns could be like a reasonably priced options who had over 100 tackle last year with Cleveland. So that's something to consider. I've been saying, I think they're going to add

looked at a running back. Obviously, they want to re-sign J.D. McKithick, but independent of that, I still think they could add another running back because, you know, that best they played last year is when they had a ball control offense, and it's hard for them to sustain that when Gibson is either banged up or fumbling. So I think having another running back would be key that I may not be free agency. That could be the draft, but I think that's something to keep an eye on. And then from there, you know, look, I mean, the Alpsie could probably use another tight end

and outside receiver. I think safety is a spot where if they're going to make a splash, that could be it because there's a bunch of safeties out there this year. So those are sort of the spots to keep an eye on, along with obviously, you know, what about some of their own free agents, Camt Sims, Bobby McCain, Ricky Fields-Jones. In theory, they want to keep a lot of these guys, but we'll see. Yeah, I mean, I talked a little bit about in the open what they've done successfully in the two years.

They've done a lot of short-term deals that are kind of, you know, if you want to describe them this way, prove it. kind of deals. In some cases, they just didn't have to pay anymore, and they were taking flyers, which is also kind of a prove-it thing. And more of those have worked out, you know, the Logan Thomas's and the McKissons and the Lucases and Darby and Leno Jr. and Carter and McCain and Humphreys and David Mayo and R. in Ricky Seals-Jones, I think given the amount of money they have, more likely than not, there isn't a splash signing. Do you agree? Yeah, I mean, on the surface, like the guys who are ranked in the top 15, 20 of any free agent list, I wouldn't be looking at those guys.

Now, there is, of course, creative math. You know, you could have a potential small cap hit this year and move money back into different years. But, yes, I would agree. It doesn't seem likely that that's the case based on where things stand now. They can, of course, as we discussed, you know, create some more room. But without shuffling the debt too much, yeah, I would agree. like some lower cost signings. That's why I mentioned the guy like Walker at linebacker

because he's like further down the list but still a guy that was productive last year. So to me, those are the types of guys to consider. But, you know, like I said, defense wouldn't stun me if they make one significant move linebacker or safety because those are spots where, you know, this defense's got

to shore up. What do you think about their plans as far as wide receiver goes in this off season? So, I mean, before the lens trade, I had heard, I be one spot that they would look to make a bigger move. You know, look, to me, I've said this before, it's not that I'm like anti-receiver.

It just, and obviously in this day and age, you need to invest in that spot because of just the nature of the game and the rules and so on. But, you know, you've already got Terry McCorn, and you're probably going to have to pay him up here this off season. You've already given Curtis Samuel a good deal. If it's me, I kind of roll the dice, I think, with the Army Brown, and Cam Sims, maybe draft, but who is a free. agent, though, maybe draft somebody like the fourth round, and see if that's good enough.

I'm not saying it is, but you can't address every position need in a reasonable way, every offseason, and I just wonder, can you get by with that, hope for the upside? And then, of course, there's always the Adam Humphrey type guys who will be there later in for agency, who you might be able to get on a pretty cheap deal. So at this point, I'm not making a huge splash right off the bat or really even going for any too crazy. By the way, they could also draft the receiver at 11. I mean, that's absolutely something to consider when you look at the big boards where receivers are falling and their own situation. If they don't take quarterback, that's easy a position that they could address.

I actually agree with you. I don't see Washington, it's my belief that they have a lot of confidence that Diami Brown's going to develop into a number two. And that Curtis Samuel, healthy, along with Terry McCorn gives them, you know, a really strong top three receivers with Logan Thomas back as their number one tight end, that they're okay. I think running back is, you know, having a McKissick and having an alternative to Gibson is maybe more important to them. I kind of agree with you. If that's what you're saying, like I got into this this morning with a couple of callers and with Brendan, my producer, it's not going to shock me if they don't add a receiver in free agency other than like resigning D'Andre Carter or maybe an Adam Humphreys and then not drafting a receiver until the fourth round. I mean, they don't have a third round pick, so they've got a first and a second round pick. So drafting a receiver at the earliest

fourth rounder. That's not going to surprise me. I think the fans believe that they are short on playmakers, offensive playmakers. I don't believe that they feel that way. Right, and also I would add that, like, you know, look at the quarterback specifically. Now, obviously, Carson Wentzel, he throws to receivers, but he throws to the tight-end position more than every quarterback in the league in terms of a percentage of his overall pass attempts. He's throwing a tight-ends more than any quarterback in the league since he came in in 2016 except for Lamar Jackson. So to me, that's why I thought Zach Erz could be interesting. He obviously re-ups with Arizona. But with Logan Thomas' situation and knowing they got, you know, like,

lot of inexperienced elsewhere at tight-end. Like, that could be a spot to get. Now, the tight-end market's been kind of picked in already because there's a lot of of franchise tags and Zach Erich and so on. But, like, that could be a spot where maybe, to me, it makes more sense to go that way rather than make the same expenditure at receiver because you, at least in theory, have Diami Brand, who I agree with you. I think they buy into still, which I think they should.

And they have Camp Sims, and then you can kind of get some vets on the cheap. So to me, and again, yeah, Curtis Samuel, in theory, is going to play this year. So, you know, to me, like, that kind of makes more sense. But we'll have to see what options are presented to them multiple. Yeah, there are a couple of guys like Evan Engram, past catching tight end. O.J. Howard, past catching tight end, are out there. Gerald Everett, more of a past catching tight end, really, than overall. So there are some tight ends out there in free agency.

that'll be interesting. On the inside linebacker and running back spot, since you hit on them, give me just your kind of final guesses. Like if they did something in free agency at the running back position, who do you think it would be?

I mean, running back spot, I mean, you know, I remember I'm trying to think who I had on my list the other day. Like a guy like Bill of Lindsay, he played with the Broncos. He's got some starting experience. Like, he's not a guy that you could, I don't think he's looking to be

a bell cow for anybody. So I think a guy like that couldn't make a lot of sense. Yeah, so I think a guy like that, I'm a blanking on who off I kind of had at that spot. As far as linebacker goes, I mean, if Rivera is going to shoot for the moon, you know, Bobby Wagner would be obvious,

but I don't know if they could either A or four and B, he would want to come here or see. Everybody seems to think he's going to take the revenge path and stay in the NFC West. But a guy like that would be like an absolute home run for what Rivera wants out of this position and what he thinks his defense needs. So, yeah, that would be sort of the pie in the sky call there. I'm looking through because I always have to remind you of what you've written

and you always kind of remind me of what I've said. I mean, you reminded me last week of the interview with Rivera and Rivera's quotes about leadership on the position. So I'm looking up your running back. Yeah, you mentioned Philip Lindsay, Darrell Williams, Leonard Fornett, Ronald Jones. Oh, yeah, Ronald Jones is the other one, I think, is it makes some sense, similar situation, right?

I mean, he's been a starter, but probably is not going to get a starter opportunity. He's been effective. He can run between the tackles. You know, there becomes a point where how do you have room for all these players, but at the same time, if they view the ball control aspect as a better way to go, based on how things went last year for both sides of the ball,

then I think that's something to consider. Where do you think Deshawn Watson gets traded? Oh, man, this is a fun one. I'll say Seattle, but to me, I think, I don't know, this is not based on anything. I feel like San Francisco should be really involved. I don't know why they're going to trade Garablo at this point. Now that things have settled because I don't think they're convinced that Tray Lance can go, and they were, you know, one quarter away from the Super Bowl again.

But if you can get to Sean Watson and, you know, give up all the picks, whatever they want, then simultaneously trade Garoppolo to one of these teams that need stuff and then get picks back from that. Like, I think that could be a pretty good move. But anyway, Seattle would be interesting. Carolina is definitely all in, you know, those are being teams for me that I'd be paying attention to. Do you think Phillies in or out? It seems like their reports both ways.

I think they're in. I mean, it sounds to me like a good, you know, a good third of the league is like legit in to some degree. I mean, even hearing stuff like there are teams that you would never have considered before that might be in now, but not once the legal process went the way it did the other day for him. So this could be a wild situation to say the least, and I would think any team that doesn't automatically have Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Aaron Rogers should be looking at this. Thank you for doing this. I appreciate it. Talk soon.

Yeah, man. See it. Ben Standing, everybody. Subscribe to the athletic. read him there. Follow him on Twitter at Ben Standing. Listen to his podcast, Standig Room Only. Let's talk some NCAA tournament with Patrick Stevens next right after these words from a few of our sponsors. March is here in the madness has officially begun. It's time for you to shoot your shot and score big on the nonstop action with MyBooky. Predict winners in each round of the MyBooky bracket contest for a chance to win a Bitcoin, a doodle NFT currently valued at

over $50,000 and over $100,000 more in cash prizes. Whether you're filling out multiple brackets, betting the national championship winner, or simply looking for player and game props, My Bookie has you covered. Sign up today with MyBooky. Use my promo code Kevin D.C. to make your first deposit earning a free entry into the My Bracket contest. Selections for the bracket have officially begun. They close out March 17th at noon before the Thursday games start. So make sure you, sure you get your deposit in now using my promo code, Kevin D.C. to secure that free entry. Bet anything, anytime, anywhere with my bookie. All right, let's talk some NCAA tournament. And let's do it with my friend Patrick Stevens, who, of course, is the Washington Post,

bracketologist. He covers college basketball, covers college sports for the Washington Post. Follow Patrick on Twitter. at D1S course on Twitter. We'll get to your thoughts on some of these matchups and some of these teams, but as far as the selection committee goes, Patrick, we'll get to the seeds here in a moment, but were there any snubs or teams in the field that you don't think should have been? Well, I think in terms of the teams,

I can't say I'm a huge fan of Indiana's profile. It's a team that hadn't really done a whole lot for four months, rallied past the really average Michigan team, got Illinois in an admittedly impressive performance, and then played really well against Iowa and a loss. But overall, you look at a team that had a non-conference strength of schedule more than 300. There's only one team in recent history that even comes close to that.

That's Drake last year, and last year was just weird, right? Like, I mean, how can you possibly, you know, sit there and blame somebody for not being able to play a good schedule in a pandemic when you're just lucky to play a schedule, period? But this year, you know, Indiana did not really go out and challenge itself a whole lot. The three games that it played were basically scheduled for it that were notable. They played, I think it was St. John's in a Gabbitt game, Syracuse in an ACC, Big Ten challenge game, and then Notre Dame in the CrossFit Classic. I just kind of look at that, and I wonder what's going on there. especially when you look at another team that had probably a similar resume coming into the week, maybe a little bit worse, but had a better week in Texas A&M that beat Arkansas, that beat Auburn,

that beat a borderline Florida team, and they find themselves four spots out of the field. So to me, that's the combination of teams that puzzles me the most. I had SMU in the field, Wyoming, not in the field. Those are reversed by the committee. I'm okay with that. I mean, SMU is a good team, not a great team,

not a profile that you look at, and it doesn't overwhelm you, but there's nothing really terrible to it either, where with Wyoming, kind of the same deal, like a team that beat only one other team in the field away from Laramie, and that was Cal State Fullerton.

A lot of quad one and quad two victories, but over teams that you wouldn't necessarily consider to be particularly great, and so I thought they were going to get left out, but good for the Cowboys for getting in. I think that the tournament is better with teams like Wyoming in it than teams like an average Indiana team. The Indiana Texas A&M thing, just a follow-up question on A&M. Buzz Williams left a job at Virginia Tech where he was getting to the tournament basically every year.

And by the way, they've done a nice job Mike Young has. I think he's an excellent coach, actually. And they made a really good run through the ACC tournament and won it without a close game other than the first game, the overtime game against Clemson. It's funny, that game I thought was going to be a problem for them because Clemson was playing very well heading into that tournament. Did Buzz Williams make a mistake leaving Virginia Tech for his alma mater? Not money-wise, but otherwise.

First of all, it's not his alma mater. He actually went to a school called Oklahoma City. Oh, why did I think it was his alma mater? You know, there's a couple coaches that are like that. There are people think that Ed Cooley went to Providence and he went to Stone Hill up. Oh, you know what? His alma mater was Texas A&M Kingsville. Okay.

Yeah, I thought that there was a fit with A&M, but it's A&M Kingsville. I'm looking it up right now. He went to some school, Oklahoma City, but then he went to Texas A&M Kingsville. But for whatever reason, I thought it was the Texas A&M in College Station. So I've been wrong about that for a couple of years. But back to the central question. Back to Buzz. Back to Buck. Okay, you have to understand that Buzz Williams is wired, a dude that's wired a little bit differently. Like, that is a guy that is always thinking that, you know, the shelf life on a coach anywhere is probably like six to eight years. And he's always thinking about what's next. I mean, this is a guy that has made it a habit of having his GA's like FOIA every last coaching contract in the world so that he knows every last little thing that asked for in a negotiation. So, you know, I think at Virginia Tech, the time was not short by any stretch of the imagination,

but I think that's a guy that's always looking to reset the clock a little bit. And Texas A&M, I think, is an ideal place for him in that he can go and be quirky and, you know, have his approach to things. It won't necessarily dominate attention. And in a lot of ways, I think that's a great place for a coach to be, those type of schools where they can just go and coach and okay maybe it's a football school but it's a place where you have probably a little more time to do things and i think a and m is clearly trending upwards here i don't think he made a mistake at all that that's one of those that made

all the sense in the world interesting um because he was on such a role at virginia tech at you know a place that set greenberg for all of his television success and i thought set you know did a nice job and they were always like the bubble team left out of the tournament. But I think he went to one tournament in all of his years there. And that was it. And Buzz Williams had him going to the tournament basically every year down the, you know, down the stretch. So, you know, you mentioned it's funny. And I often think about somebody who is one of my favorite coaches always has been. He's got a very good team, which will lead us into the seating conversation here in a moment. but as always for whatever reason since he left Providence way back in the day, long time ago. He was Gary Williams' assistant at Ohio State and was at George Mason for several years.

But Rick Barnes basically has picked football first schools and had great success. Clemson, Texas, and Tennessee are his jobs over basically the last 25 years. And he has been great in almost every place he's gone, got to a final four with Texas. had a couple of really good teams, I remember at Clemson, but didn't, you know, have the tournament success. But he's at Tennessee. And it's funny about those guys, right? You know, he's made a lot of money.

He's had a lot of success. And yet at the places he coaches, basketball is like a distant second, if not a third to spring football. Yeah. And this thing is, all these guys at that level, right, have pretty healthy. ego. But if you can keep that ego in check, you can do a lot of good for your career, for a program, all that, working at a place with massive resources. Right. I mean, I firmly believe that the three best basketball jobs are not Kansas, Kentucky, and North Carolina. They're Florida, Texas, and Ohio State. Right. Yeah, you know, explain that to people because that's such an easy,

that's such to me an easy thing to understand, but I think it's also something that people don't kind of connect the dots on. Like here's a perfect example. When people started talking in December, well, Maryland can go get Nate Oates, Bruce Pearl. Really? Do you know the resources that Alabama and Auburn have because of their football programs? So that's really what that's what you're talking about. Let me break it down in about the most basic way I pop. possibly. All right, and I'm going to, I'm ballparking the numbers on these football capacities, right? Alabama, Auburn, Ohio State, Texas, Oklahoma. They play in football stadiums of 100,000 people, roughly, give or take, and they sell them out. Maryland, for example, plays in a football stadium of 50,000 and is lucky to sell more than 35,000.

Right. Now, just, now, just imagine that. that's $50 a seat per game times six. More than that. And that's how much more money you have. Yeah. I know. It's funny because until maybe the last couple of years, I never really considered that.

And in part because some of the really good football schools like Alabama and Auburn here recently, okay, or Baylor. Baylor's had some good teams. Don't get me wrong. But it's like they weren't, if you were coaching basketball at those schools, you probably still would have preferred to be in a prominent basketball job. But the money is everything. Look at what Bruce Pearl got in an extension at Auburn.

And he is a guy that you would think would fit in perfectly, you know, in a big city, living in a big city, recruiting in a big city, promoting in a big city, and yet because of the football money, they gave him the $50 million extension. and apparently he's just as happy as a pig and poop living in the sticks of the state of Alabama. And just think about it too. I mean, those sorts of extensions are, I shouldn't say they're chump change for schools like that. But when you have football factories that are basically printing money, and when the television contracts are so heavily based on football, think about this.

You know, and this is something that I was brought up recently, I can't remember who it was that I was reading. It might have been David Teal down in the Richmond Times Dispatch. But we're only 20 years removed from basketball being the bigger portion by a healthy sum of the ACC's television content. And now it's not even close. It's football, football, football that is driving the bus even there. And if we're being completely honest, what I really should be saying is Clemson football, Clemson football, that's driving the bus there. But, you know, if you kind of size it up, not only is there more money at those football factories,

but the other thing that comes into effect there is that if you go 20 and 11 and make the tournament, nobody's going to blink an eye about that. That's fine. Go ahead. Move on to next season. You know, think about, you know, some of the years that you mentioned Rick Barnes earlier. I mean, the tail end of his time at Texas wasn't, the ceiling wasn't particularly. particularly high. And that lasted a good five or six years or so. And I don't want to

disparage what he's done because he obviously has done a great job at Tennessee. But it's not, it's simply not enough of a priority. So you basically get all the benefits, but not nearly as much of the scrutiny as you would at a basketball first place. It's a great gig. It's a great gig. Like if you don't mind not being the number one, like you said, if you don't have the ego or you can put the ego to the side and you don't mind being less important at your university by miles to the football coach and the football program. It's a damn good gig. Rick Barnes has gone to 23 of the last 26 tournaments that were held at Clemson, Texas, and Tennessee. I mean, and by the way, provided nice incremental revenue for the school with that tournament

with those tournament runs, but it's peanuts compared to what the football programs have done in the places he's been? Absolutely, absolutely. Okay. So I use Tennessee as the example. I thought personally they were underseeded. I thought there were a couple of others, including Iowa. Give me the bad seed.

Give me the seedings that you thought were poorly done by the selection committee. A lot of the seedings that were poorly done by the selection committee. poorly done. And you mentioned one. It can be explained partially by the fact that it seems like, aside from the automatic bids, the committee basically called it a day as of about, you know, midnight, Friday morning, you know, like, I mean, that's the real issue there. So I thought Tennessee was on the two line anyway. I have them ahead of Villanova. I had them ahead of Duke. So that one stands out, but I think it's important to realize, and I responded to somebody that was talking about this earlier today.

I think it was Matt Mortlander of CBS that pointed out that he thought it was a serious misseating, having Tennessee as a three, Duke as a two. But the most egregious misseatings aren't the difference between a one and a two or a two and a three. It's when you take a

five and make it a seven, or a six and make it an eight, and suddenly you have a better team that a one or two seat has to deal with in the second round than the otherwise work. I'm thinking about I'm thinking about a Connecticut from 2014 that should have been a five was a seven and winds up winning the national title. That's an extreme example.

But if you're looking for that kind of team this year, I think you could certainly look at like a Boise State getting shifted, I think. I could not quite understand why Boise State was an eight and Colorado State was a six. I know Colorado State beat them twice. Boise State won the regular season. They won the tournament. their profile was at best comparable to Colorado State, and there shouldn't have been that much daylight between those two teams. So that's a team that stands out.

You know, I feel like, you know, Purdue probably could be argued onto the two-line if you wanted to make that case. It's either way. And so, you know, you mentioned Iowa. I kind of felt like because when you look at the number of high-end victories that Iowa has, it's really not as many as you think, but they have, obviously, you know, to humanize, you would have to acknowledge that they're playing really, really well right now and have been really since about the start of February or so.

So I thought five was fair for them, and let's face it, they get put in the same sub-regional as a four-seat in Providence that has lived a very charmed life this season, has gotten extremely fortunate up until now, and they draw South Dakota State, which I think is just an easy 13 over-4 pick to make. South Dakota State shoots 44.9% from three point range. Which think about this. The gap between them and number two in Colgate is the same as the in three-point shooting percentage. Is the same as the gap between Colgate at number two and Akron at number 74?

Here's all you need to know is the 13 is a one and a half point underdog against the four. okay on Thursday at 1240 you know wherever they're playing that game like you said Providence has lived a charmed life and I've watched a lot of Providence and people that are listening to the podcast know because my son played on the high school team that Jared Bynum was on

and we're big Jared Bynum fans but my God they have lived a charmed life this year they're not super explosive offensively and they are a one and a half point favorite in the game over a 13th seat. So Vegas is telling you all you need to know about that one. There are a couple of ones that are really interesting in terms of the matchups, which we'll get to in a moment. What did you think of Carolina being an eight? That was about right. I thought that was about right.

Yeah, I actually, I had it set up on my bracket that they would be an eight, but if Memphis had won the American title game that they would flip, and so they'd be a nine in that case. So I thought that they were right there in that 8-9 territory. You know, I always remind people this is a television show and to get, you know, Carolina potentially into a second round. First of all, Carolina Marquette's a pretty good first round game, but a Carolina Baylor second round game is pretty good. Did Virginia Tech need to win the ACC tournament?

It kind of appears as if they did. Yes, they absolutely did. Did you feel that way going into the tournament? tournament? I thought you told me last week on radio that if they got to the finals, they would be in good shape. I didn't think, I thought they might have a shot if they got to the final. And if you start removing things like, well, you know, maybe Indiana doesn't win a game or two there, or, you know, maybe Wyoming loses to UNLV. Kind of a reminder there of just how many variables are floating around. Like Virginia Tech had everything going for it except high-end victories

coming into the week. They had great metrics, particularly the predictive metrics. They'd played well on the road, but the number of high-end victories they had was not significant. They'd won at Miami. That was about it. And so they did a lot of good work last week. But when you think about it, I'm bringing up their overall team sheet right now, I feel like going into last week and how it would shake out, if they did not have the run that they had last week, okay, their best victory would have been at Miami. Their second best victory would have been at home against Notre Dame

and their third best victory would have been at Maryland. Wow. So, yeah. I mean, they were very impressive doing so. I think they're actually a very well-coached team. I think Young does a really nice job. I actually think in many ways

they're a dangerous team in this tournament, but we'll get to that in a moment because I just wanted to ask you about two more things with respect to seating. wasn't Houston underseated or not? I don't think so. A couple factors there. One, they don't have a ton of victories over teams in the tournament deals.

I mean, they beat Memphis in the league title game, but they don't have much else going for them on that front. And two, they lost a couple guards to injury in December. And so it's kind of hard even to judge what they did in non-conference play, even if it's against teams that didn't turn out to be as good as we might have thought they would have become. I mean, they beat Virginia early. They beat Oregon in the Maui but not Maui tournament. They beat Oklahoma State on a neutral floor.

And then they're basically down Marcus Sasser and Tremon Mark the rest of the season. So when you look at what they did, they basically didn't mess up the rest of the way. They got swept in the regular season by Memphis, split with SMU, the two-point loss in Dallas. But I thought five was fair. I thought they were going to be a really difficult team to feed if they had lost that game yesterday to Memphis. At that point, they finished with the third high, they were number three in the net. I know they are. I know they are.

Yeah. That's amazing. And they're considered barely a top 20 team in the seating. Hey, did you ever think you would see the day where the team that finished second in the ACC has to play a first four game? Well, there in lies the hazards of these bloated conferences. and how the schedule plays out. So you sit there and say, Notre Dame,

they're 15 and 5 in the ACC. How in the world could this have happened? Notre Dame basically drew whatever the reverse of an inside straight is, in terms of luck, maybe it is the inside thing. The six teams that they played twice in league play were the six teams that played on Tuesday in the ACC tournament. They played the bottom six teams twice.

They went 11 and one in those games. But against everybody else, they were four and four in the regular season and then dropped the game to Virginia Tech. You know, in a lot of ways, the best thing that they did all year was actually beat Kentucky because they don't have that victory. It looks like they wouldn't be in the field. But yeah, I would say that it is pretty damning for the ACC to see its second-place team, even if that's a little, you know, even if it's not a balanced schedule to be playing a game in Dayton,

like a, you know, that's the sort of thing that you expect the second-place team maybe in A-10 to have to go do or the Mountain West to have to go do. And in this particular season, beyond Duke, the league really wasn't particularly good. Give me the first round upsets it to you based on, you know, covering the sport all year that you think you're going to look really smart about. Well, let's start with, I'll go Davidson over Michigan State and what really doesn't count as much of an upset at all. Interesting subplot there. Foster lawyer, the former Spartan, has been fabulous for Davidson this season and leads the country in free-trokers.

Wow. I think a team that, you know, we mentioned that Virginia Tech a little bit earlier, I think Texas is ripe for getting picked off. That's a 6-11 game. I'll take South Dakota State right now with its 21-game winning streak, 30 wins on the season, feel like Providence is vulnerable in that game. One other team, I'll mention Chat, New Jersey. which has a big to go against Kofi Covert and Sylvia D'Souza, the former Kansas Jayhog.

And UAB and Houston seems like this sort of game that could get a little out of hand, too. I will throw one deeper one in there. And it's because this team has a habit of playing close games too, and it's probably going to find itself in its share of Kuling Toss. And even though this game is close to campus in Milwaukee, I think Wisconsin is going to have problems with Colgate, another hot shooting team, the second best three-point shooting team in the length. Those are good ones for sure.

I wonder whether or not the, hold on, I wonder whether or not Yale actually has a chance to score against Purdue. I don't think they're very good defensively. And overall, like last year was such a big disappointment, right, with the Big Ten. Do you think that they'll end up with better results this year or worse? Honestly, other than Iowa, there's nobody in that league that I trust to make it out of the first week. That doesn't mean nobody will, besides Iowa. But I see a lot of vulnerability there. I don't think Michigan is very good at all.

I don't think Indiana's particularly good, even though they had a good week last week. I think Ohio State has been playing dreadfully at length. You know, Michigan State is not a vintage Michigan State team. With Rutgers, you know they'll defend and you know they're probably going to struggle to score. So we've already knocked out a lot of the league right there. Wisconsin plays all those close games. You know, with Illinois, it's one of those things where at some point you sort of trust what your eyes tell you, especially in person. And I've seen enough Illinois teams come into College Park in recent years and just find ways to lose.

That it's just, it's sort of instinctual for me to not entirely trust that team. That's not to say that they can't. But it's just one of those, it's just one of those things that, to me, is a little unnerving. about them, that they do have a habit of having more trouble than they should in certain case. Your final four, your national champion, and who's Maryland's basketball coach going to be? Well, I'll answer the last one first, because I have no clue. If you want me to take my best guess, I'll say Maryland's next basketball coach is the head coach of a team that's seated seventh or worse that makes the sweet 60s. But, you know, fun.

Okay. So basically, they're waiting on the tournament to conclude. Flavor of the week is what I'll say is the answer. I'm going to go Gonzaga. Gonzaga in the West. It's an easy call to make there. You know, I look at the east, and there's a lot of different ways this could go, and I'm not sure I fully trust Kentucky, but that's probably the safe pick, although I think it would be oodles of fun to see a Kentucky-Murray steak. game go down to the wire at the second round.

In the Midwest, I think Kansas is the team that's the most trustworthy. There's really not a lot of, you know, blue bloods or teams with extended history. You know, it's not like Providence or Iowa has any sort of, you know, history of deep runs in recent years anyway. Wisconsin plays all those close games. You know, maybe USC has a little bit of spunk in them because I'm not sure I entirely trust Auburn either, but I think USC is going to have problems with Miami in that first round game. And then in the South bracket, I'm going to take Tennessee there.

I really, really like the balls. They are a bit underseated. I actually think that they're going to have a tricky first round game against Longwood. That's a decent team that Griff Aldrich has down in Farmville. But I think Tennessee gets through that. You know, Colorado State, Michigan. You've got one team that you could argue shouldn't be in the field and another that's oversteed. And then you've got a quad with Villanova, Delaware, Ohio State, Loyola, Chicago.

I feel like Tennessee is better than those teams. And I think that they'll, you know, they've already beaten Arizona one. Remember, they played back in the regular season right before Christmas. So that would be a fun rematch in a regional final of the South. And your national champion? National champion. This is honestly something I really haven't spent that much time thinking about later. I'm not going to pick Gonzaga.

I'm not going to pick Gonzaga. I'm not going to pick Gonzaga. So let's roll with Kansas there. I think that's a good Kansas team, maybe not a great Kansas team. But I do think that they are in the most favorable regional possible. And so, you know, I think they might have as good a chance to make it to the final four as anybody else. And that's a pretty good place to start. All right.

Seventh-seated or lower, making a big run in the tournament will equal the flavor of the day. And Damon Evans apparently is looking for some flavor in his life. So we'll watch Seed seven and lower. You know, you've got, I'm trying to look at the bet. Well, Izzo certainly isn't coming here. He's a seven. Chris Holtman at Ohio State. Andy Enfield already signed the extension.

There's some interesting possibilities. I mean, TCU, I mean, that's his alma mater, though. Jamie Dixon, they've been playing really well. They're a nine seed. The Vermont coach is really good. Who knows? Thank you for this, as always. Great work on covering this.

How do you, do you end up at a regional or not? Unfortunately not. So you just sit back and consume it from home and then write accordingly? Yeah, that's not the ideal plan, but that is the plan. I don't think that's a bad plan. I think when you're at a regional, you end up missing a big part of the tournament. I mean, I've done both where I've been at regionals and I feel like the rest of the tournament you're not kind of engaged in as much as you are the regional or the sub-regional

where you're attending, you know, the four games there and then the two on Saturday. I think it's probably the best way to consume the whole thing. But anyway, thanks, as always. Not a problem. Have a good one. Lots of free agent news breaking here as we finish up these recorded interviews with Ben Standig and with Patrick Stevens as we continue to record the podcast. And by the time you listen to it, there will be more news.

but already mentioned Mitch Trubisky to Pittsburgh. Brandon Sheriff headed to Jacksonville. Brandon Sheriff to Jacksonville. Brandon Sheriff was a really good player here. He was. Didn't play enough games. Was injured a lot. Missed a lot of football games here.

But he was Scott McLuhan's first pick in that 2015 draft. McLuhan followed that up with Josh Doxon in 2016, to which Gruden said sometime in 2017, all I got was a wide receiver and a guard. but Brandon Sheriff was a hell of a player and a really good pick, but injured a lot. And the bottom line with Brandon Sheriff, as it was with Kirk Cousins and Trent Williams, they had legitimate assets in all three of those players that could have brought back a lot more than just the compensatory picks they got for cousins and will receive for Sheriff

and the minimal compensation they got from San Francisco for Trent Williams. They should have traded Kirk early before 2017, when they realized he wasn't going to sign here. Should have signed him to a long-term deal at the end of 2015. Should have traded him going into the 2017 season. Should have traded Trent Williams when you had an opportunity to get back a lot more in compensation than you got from San Francisco. And they should have done the same thing with Brandon Sheriff. They really should have traded him. They were not going to win the Super Bowl this year.

Brandon Sheriff wasn't going to be a significant difference between, you know, a 500 team and a Super Bowl contender. And they should have traded them last offseason. It was getting harder once you went down that path. We've learned that here of the franchise tag. But Brandon Sheriff was a good pick, was a good player. They didn't keep them long enough. They didn't win enough with him in part.

Not the winning part, but in part his issue was not available all the time. All right, that's it for the show today. Back tomorrow with Tommy. We'll make our bracket picks region by region. on tomorrow's show.