Will Cain Country - Cain On Sports: March Madness Mania

Episode Date: March 22, 2024

Story #1: Can you name all of the College Basketball mascots in the tournament? A Will Cain Show Quiz! Story #2: Sports is changing right underneath our feet. From NIL to sports betting, will it be better or worse? Story #3: FOX Sports College Basketball Commentator John Fanta walks us through his favorites, upsets, and stories to watch in the 2024 NCAA March Madness Tournament. Tell Will what you thought about this podcast by emailing [e-mail]   Subscribe to The Will Cain Show on YouTube here: Watch The Will Cain Show!   Follow Will on Twitter: @WillCain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For a limited time at McDonald's, enjoy the tasty breakfast trio. Your choice of chicken or sausage McMuffin or McGrittles with a hash brown and a small iced coffee for $5.5 plus tax. Available until 11 a.m. at participating McDonald's restaurants. Price excludes flavored iced coffee and delivery. One. Can you name the mask? Scott of every team in the NCAA tournament seated 11 through 16, a Will Kane show quiz. Two, sports is changing right underneath our feet, an earthquake from NIL to transfers to sports betting. Will it be better? I don't know. Will it be worse? I just know sports is changing.

And three, Fox Sports College Basketball broadcaster John Fanta to walk us through his picks, the best picks, long shots, and favorites to win March Madness. It's the Will Cain show on Fox News podcast, Apple, Spotify, and for subscription always on YouTube streaming live Monday through Thursday at 12 o'clock Eastern Time at Fox News.com, the Fox News YouTube channel, and the Fox News Facebook page, always available on podcast or on YouTube via subscription. It is a sports exclusive Friday, March Madness edition, for the Will Cain show.

So let's get to it with story number one. Can we actually, how much do we know about college basketball? Can we even name the mascots of your 11 through 16 seeds in the NCAA tournament? We thought we might have a Will Cain show quiz today and pit me against everyone else on this show, against Young Establishment James Laverty, against Tinfoil Pat. there has been an honor system that we will hold people to, that we will use intelligence service level detection should anyone have cheated or done homework or studied on the mascots of these various programs.

So what we're going to do is going to walk through the regions, four regions in the NCAA tournament bracket, and we're going to go Will versus James twice and Will versus Pat twice to see, can I beat the staff on naming the mascots of your low seeds, your 11 through 16s in the NCAA tournament? Your host today, to a day's Dan. We're ready. And I can't confirm or deny that James has been cheating or not this whole time over here. I mean, I can't see his phone what he's been doing this whole time.

But, you know, if he gets way too many right, then we'll know. I could, I'll give me my phone. You can see what I've been doing. 10 full of Pat's down there in Florida and totally incapable of being held accountable, but James is suspect. At this point, we feel like we've got to know each other. We got James is suspect. All right. I would never get messages.

All right, here we go. I got some music. Yeah, let's get it going. Nice. All right, Will, we're starting with you. Let's start in the East Region. We're going with number 11, Duquesne, which we were talking about a lot. What are, what is Duquesne?

Duquesne. Duquesne in Pittsburgh. Duques sounds like a school that would select a bird, though, not a stealer. I'm, I'm feeling like, like, the Duquesne Blue Jays. But I could be just mix them up with Drake as well. I don't know what Drake is, but those sounds like schools that would pick a bird that's not tough and make it sound tough. So I'm going to go with the Jays, the Duquesne's. Cane J's.

That is incorrect. That is incorrect. They are the Dukes. The Dukes and actually a newer, a newer version of their mascot is now a lion. So that's next. I didn't make any sense.

I know. I have no idea. All right. Royalty connection. Next for James. Number 12, UAB, which may have been mentioned at some point. What do you think, James?

You know, But, I mean, I'm going to go full transparency here. When Patrick said it earlier, I wrote it down. So I think I got to go with another. We could give Patrick one point there. Well, what is it? The dragon. Well, that was wrong.

Well, what is the dragon is the name? They're not the dragons. A flying dragon, a green dragon? No. I'm not giving it to you, buddy. That's a, yeah, it's over. He lost. It's over.

They're the Blazers with Blaze the Dragon. is their mascot. Ah. So the blizzard. Yeah, what mascots, not actual team names. Okay. Oh, it's, oh. We're doing team names.

I just keep saying mascot. Yeah, yeah, team names. We're doing team names. All right. Well, next one. This is kind of an easy one. Number 13, Yale. Bulldogs.

Yep. That's correct. That's an easy one. So you got one point already. That's about it. All right. So we'll go with James. Morehead State.

14th ranked Moorhead State. Bears? Is that your final answer? Yeah. That is incorrect. Morehead State is the Eagles. They are the Eagles with the eagle being named Beaker. Is their actual MESCO?

All right. Number 15, South Dakota State, Will. What do you go with? Number 15, South Dakota State. South Dakota State, I believe, is the Jackrabbits. That is correct. Very good. Will gets two points. Boom. I haven't won the region.

I didn't think anyone would get any of these, so I'm really proud of you. Give him his last one just to see if he can get off the zero. Number 16. Stetson. This one is kind of an easy one if you really think about it. That's a little hint. They're somewhat local. Stetson.

Local. They're in Florida. Think about Stetson. Steelers. That is incorrect. They're the hatters. Think about hats. Stets and Hats.

Yeah, John, named after John B. That's one region for your show's host here. That's all right. Let's go. Next region, me versus tinfoil Pat. All right, Tim Foyle Pat, we get the West region. Let's go with Will. New Mexico.

What is New Mexico? New Mexico are the Lobos. That is correct. Very good. Very good. All right. We have number 12, Grand Kemp. canyon for tinfoil pat

the lobes the lobes well technically I'll give it to you they're the anales that's that's technically not correct well you're not giving it to him you're not giving it to him Patrick what is lobes short for

antelope all right okay wanted to make sure he got it yeah we'll give it to him one to one all right we got Will Charleston number 13 Charleston Hmm. It's a common, I'll give, I'll give hints.

It's a common enough. No, no, no. No, he's halfway into his hint. He's got at least finish that one. It's a common enough college basketball mascot. Actually, this might benefit me. Okay, the Charleston Wildcats. Close, but no cigar.

The Cougars. Charleston Cougars All right, Pat, we got number 14, Colgate is next. What do you got? Oh, crap. I feel like it's a bird. I want to say Cardinals.

That is incorrect. They are the Raiders. They are the Raiders. Still one to one. Yeah, that's right. Okay. All right. Then we got Long Beach State is next.

Number 15. Will. Long Beach State. I should know this. I played them in Water Polo. They were in our like this was Pepperdine played Long Beach. I know Oh, come on, Will. Long Beach State.

I'm somewhere between like, I'll give you the mascot's name. It won't help you. It's LB. Lightning. Yeah, I want help. Elby is the name of the mascot. No, that doesn't do anything. I know. It doesn't. Long Beach State.

They're black and gold. I know that. That won't help you. They're not the Vakeros. I know they're not the Vakeroes. We need an answer. The Long Beach State Lightning. They are the sharks. Long Beach State. Sharks.

Yep. All right. Next up, Patrick, for the last one of the West region. We got Wagner. Wagner is your team. What is the team name? Hmm. I remember so many of them. I could give you a good NFL hint.

There's a player with that last name that played on a team that is this mascot. Oh, come on. Well, that's horrible. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. You can't give him that. Of all the hints, you get me, LB, and you get, him the Seahawks. You basically said, hey, Patrick, it's the Seahawks. I had to help him out a little

bit. Come on. I was going to say Ravens, and then, no, but now. No, I'd probably say Ravens or something, something bird-like. You were going to get Seahawks? Oh, give it to me. I'm going to get a Seahawks. I mean, I would get it now. I've gotten it before. All right, sorry. Well, I screwed up. We need a tiebreaker, though. Do you have a tiebreaker, Dan, for me and Patrick?

What's one to one? Yeah, let's do one from the Midwest region. We can roll it over. Yeah, yeah, let's do one for the Midwest region. We'll move to the next region. Okay. Keep it Will and Patrick here for the next region. Okay. Will and Patrick. This is going to be easy though. Oregon. That's me. Ducks. Let's go.

Yeah. Way too easy. All right. Number 12, McNeese, team that Will likes. Cowboys. That is absolutely correct. All right. Two to two. I told you. All right.

Will, we got number 13. Samford. Samford, not to be mixed up with Stanford. I don't know where Samford is. I don't know their colors. Blue and red. I don't know. The Samford, the Samford and Sons. The Samford.

I'll give you a good hint that you've used this one already. Okay. No, that is my hint. oh oh you the sanford wildcats no oh can i have it can i have it oh you want to pick it up okay go ahead bulldog there you go ding ding ding ding oh we can't give you the point that's all right but that's okay all right um much better next up for patrick we got four number 14 acrin zips ah yeah that's an easy one but i got the ducks that's true all right number 15 st peter's and the here's a hint is the only D1

mascot is this mascot for St. Peter's. There's no other team that has this mascot. Yeah, team name. Team name. This only one.

Only one. The entire country. And this is for the tie. If I don't get this, Patrick wins over me. Yep. I have no idea, but I have a little something

in my head, a little kernel of something that I'm just going to build on. The St. Peter's Nuns. Is that your final answer? I want it to be now That is not even close They're the peacocks I had a nun's hat

For some reason attached to St. Peter's You know like a habit type thing Yeah Um Patrick wins You can give him his last one All right Last one was grambling

Number 16 Grambling Any idea I think I'd have gotten this Grambling Crap I only know them as grambling. Very generic kind of team name.

Rar. Probably go wildcat. Not the only one in the country. Rar. No. It's the tigers. There we go. It is the tigers.

It doesn't count anyways. There are tigers. You still get to win, Patrick. You still get the win. So final me versus Laverty. All right. Laverty. There we go.

South Region. And we'll start with Will. Number 11, NC State. NC State. Wolfpack. that is absolutely correct all right well this one was mentioned

so you might get this one number 12 James Madison that is absolutely correct are you is your mic on establishment James no he turned it off it's okay what was your what was your answer the dukes there we go

the dukes that's absolutely correct I like your mic being off most of the time for the record but you need it on during your answer it may have been my fault but it's fine. It's his fault. Okay, number 13, we're going with Vermont. Will, what is number 13,

Vermont? What is their team name? The catamounts. That is absolutely correct. James, we have number 14, Oakland. This one I did not know at all. We need a guess here, buddy. The athletics.

That is incorrect. They're the golden grizzlies. That makes sense up there. All right. So this is for the win for now. This is for the win. All right. Number 15, Western Kentucky. Western Kentucky for Will.

It's been real fun playing with you there, young establishment. But this one I'm taking to the house. Patrick gets the win, but not in this round. Patrick over Will, Will over James is the lesson. It's the hilltoppers. But actually, technically not really correct. It's big red. they're the big red hilltoppers but yes oh i got it you got it you got it and that will conclude

so will i think is just you know an overall winner patrick said he was going to smoke everybody he barely i'm i'm glad i moderated i'm glad i moderated because i know none absolutely none of these we should have had it also we could expand this like where is this college yep what are its colors i don't know that how we do on any of that stuff in the NCAA tournament bracket. All right, that's fun quiz. How much do you know in your Marsh Madness bracket actually about these teams?

Do you even know their name? Let's get to the Shohei Otani scandal and the way that sports is suffering through an earthquake or leaping forward with ground shaking like a trampoline under its feet with story number two. The story around Shohei Otani, potentially having gambled $4.5 million illegally in California continues to grow. Of course, originally this was blamed on his interpreter with the explanation

being that Shohay Otani was paying off the gambling debts that his interpreter, who makes $300,000 a year, racked up to a bookie. It's hard to understand how any bookie in the country would run a tab of $4.5 million to a guy who makes $300,000 a year. In fact, noted gambler, I believe, and radio host Craig Carton said that that would never happen. There's no bookie that would take that. He also said something fascinating. He said, any degenerate gambler knows that when you go deep into the hole, you start betting on things that you know.

So the explanation that the interpreter or Otani perhaps only ever betted on soccer or NFL or NBA, but not baseball, doesn't quite like the entire story, survive the smell test. will continue to keep up with this story because it could threaten even legal action against baseball's best player. But it got me thinking about the way that sports is changing. This is not separable from the overall embrace of gambling across the sports world. It is all over the place. And you can say that it always has been, but that's not the same thing as seen a gambling at everywhere you go, having it in your phone, in your hand at all moments. This is a

fundamental change in our relationship, not just with sports, but with the athletes themselves inside of sports. Why should we believe they're not gambling? And we continue to get more and more stories of guys who are, Ivan Tony, a guy in the English Premier League as well, similar story, gambling. And it's just one way that sports, and we've talked about it so much on the Wilcane show with NIL, changing college sports, turning this into a semi-pro league. Collectives are now the big focus, you know, collectives are really totally divorced from the idea of name, image, and likeness. It's not sponsorship driven. It's which alumni can pool money together to pay players to come play for their college. Transfers with guys transferring

all over the place. There's a huge story this week. And if you don't keep up with college recruiting or, you know, you may not have heard this. One of the top offensive linemen in the country a year ago came out of the state of Iowa. He committed to Alabama. Alabama. He went and played left tackle for Alabama his freshman year and played. His name's Caden Proctor. When Nick Saban left, Caden Proctor entered the transfer portal and went back home to the place he was always destined to go to be an Iowa Hawkeye. Caden Proctor was an Iowa hawkeye for all of about two minutes. It was actually two months. He was there two months. And he's now announced he's going back in the transfer portal. It looks like he's going

back to Alabama. Kirk Ferrence, the head coach at the University of Iowa, gave a happy talk about, we want the young man to do whatever, but he did come to Iowa for two months and drain us of our limited NIL funds. I don't know how much he got. I don't know how much of the percentage of the total NIL funds of Iowa he took. But what a system to go transfer and transfer back in two months while reaping NIL benefits. Whatever is happening, it is changing the relationship.

we know of for us with sports and sports with its very nature and history. Now, look, I know this can sound old man. I get it. Like, oh, no, it's changing. It's going to be worse. I'm not even sure I'm making the argument that it's going to be worse. But what I'm telling you is, I think we are in the midst of the biggest shakeup of sports, at least in my lifetime. And I don't know what's going to be next. I don't know if it's going to be better. I don't know if it's going to be worse, but it's going to be drastically different. Sports by its very nature is tethered to the past. Obviously, statistically, we cage everything in what happened yesterday, what happened 10 years ago, what happened a generation ago. How do you compare Shoahe Otani to Barry

Bonds? How do we compare Patrick Mahomes to Joe Montana? We constantly We're tethered. We're connected in an important way to the past. Also, personally, we're connected to the past. It's passed down to us by our fathers. It's generation to generation. We understand it through what we're born and raised and the teams we were granted through a birthright.

Like, it's just to act like we live in this vacuum of time and everything can be changed, you know, I don't know if the word would be willy-nilly or just drastically. And it's all going to be for the better. to me reeks of hubris. This is the very nature of the conservative versus the progressive debate, which we tend to think of as political, but it's actually cultural, it's societal. Like the idea of conservatism is that yesterday has some value. Tradition is there for a reason. If something survived thousands, perhaps hundreds of years of human history, by its survival, we should give it some level of deference. We should be like, oh, I wonder why human beings

continue to do things a certain way for a long period of time. Could it be by trial and error? Could it be they had some ancient wisdom? Could it be there with something to it? Or is it always like, those people in the past were stupid? Didn't know anything of what they were talking about. Today we've got it all figured out. And whatever we're doing is better.

And that's the mindset of progressive. Destroy tomorrow, build. Destroy yesterday, build tomorrow. It'll always be better. And all I'm saying is, we don't know which way this is going. You can turn your mic on now for one month. moment young james establishment laverty you can turn your mic on in the pre-show conversation like you voiced the young man's position i'm the old man and you're like everybody always says this

free agency was going to ruin sports you can jump in here if you're still there establishment james this is what you think you think uh it'll all be fine and it may be even better i wouldn't even i wouldn't say better i just think it'll gradually change and i think at the end of the day the fundamentals of sports that people have their teams and they go to a bar and they sit down with their buddies and they watch the games like sure like every now and then they're like oh this guy's making this amount of money but it doesn't really deter you from watching the sport I can't think of and I get it I get it that every generation thinks that the next generation is carrying them to hell in a handbasket I understand that and we always like

the way the things were when we grew up I guess what I'm saying in the end though is like you keep Jimmy in with it. You keep jacking with it in some very fundamental ways. You turn the sports in person into an elitist event that's too expensive for the common man. You carve up the sports rights in so many different ways that you've got to have 10 different subscriptions to watch a team play. You inject it with betting, both from the fan's perspective and the player's perspective. you allow it you know free transfers and college players getting paid and all i'm saying is

you're changing it and you can argue on each and every single one of those that you're changing for the better but i would just say have some humility i don't know that it will be for the better i don't know that it will be worse but i know that we are in my lifetime inside the gears of sports as entertainment we're deep inside the inner workings and we're changing it. We're not messing around on the margins, okay? We're not fine-tuning the watch. We're reinventing it from the inside out.

And if you think that won't change things, ask, ask for somebody like young James, your granddad, for some of us your dad, ask him about boxing in the 70s. You couldn't find a straight heterosexual male in the 1970s who didn't know the heavyweight champion. Who's the heavyweight champion in the world today? I don't know. Is it Anthony Joshua? I don't know. I mean, boxing messed with itself in so many different ways that it's completely irrelevant. Don't think whatever we have today is permanent. That tomorrow is just a bigger and better version of today. And I'm not saying yesterday is always better. I'm just saying to have some humility when you work to rebuild something from the inside out at such a monumental level it's happening right now across the sports lands. game. All right, let's get you set. Now, the tournament's kicked off. Games are kicked off, but that doesn't mean we can't nail down our final four and national champion with an expert. A guy who's covered it all season long. Many of us are just tuned in now. But John Fanta Fox Sports

College Basketball broadcaster has been there all season long, and we'll break it all down with him next on the Will Cain Show. Hey, I'm Trey Gowdy host of the Tregaddy podcast. I hope you will join me every Tuesday and Thursday as we navigate life together and hopefully find ourselves a little bit better on the other side. Listen and follow now at Fox Newspodcast.com. Following Fox's initial donation to the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund, our generous viewers have answered the call to action across all Fox platforms and have helped raise $7 million.

Visit go.com. Forward slash TX flood relief to support relief and rebuilding efforts. This is Jimmy Phala, inviting you to join me for Fox Across America, where we'll discuss every single one of the Democrats' dumb ideas. Just kidding. It's only a three-hour show. Listen live at noon Eastern or get the podcast

at Fox Across America.com. Story number three. Fox Sports College Basketball broadcaster John Fanta's paid attention to the college basketball landscape all season long, and he's here now to help us break down the final four and our national champion. Fox Sports College Basketball broadcaster

John Fanta on here with us on the Will Cain Show. What's up, John? Will. It's madness time, man. It's March. It's fun. It's great to be with you, my friend. Yeah, man. This is the best time of the year for every sports fan, but in particular for a guy like you, covers it college basketball year round. And because of that, you have unique insight for us. Because if we're being honest about the average sports fan, this is when we start watching college basketball. Maybe we watch conference tournaments. Maybe we tune in throughout the season for our, you know, devotion, our devoted, um, university who we love, but we don't watch it at large. We don't see what's going on across the country, but we have you, you here to give us a broader scope of college basketball. So let's start with this, man. Give it to us. Final four. Well, I think that Yukon will be there. They're

the most dominant team in the sport. They're the best offensive team in the sport. Top 12 in defensive efficiency. Donovan Klingan takes everything away at the rim. The sophomore, he's a Bristol, Connecticut kid, Will. He stayed home. He stayed in his home state. to play for the Huskies, who have five national titles since 1999. They've got the best point guard in the country, and Tristan Newton, AP First Team, All-American. Then you go down the line, Pam Spencer, Alex Caraband, their ability to make shots from the perimeter, Stephon Castle, as a defensive player, just a freshman, he'll get drafted in June to the pros, and this is a team that just is complete.

Dan Hurley's done a wonderful job. I like the Huskies. I like Arizona. I've got the Wildcats going on in the Final Four. playing in their home state of Arizona for the final four home court advantage maybe we'll see they brought in caleb loved a transfer from north carolina Arizona could get north Carolina in the elite aid that would be dramatic i like zona i've got houston toughest team in college hoops Kelvin sampson has done an amazing job with the cougars in year one in the big 12 which is the

best conference in college basketball houston is 30 and 4 jamal shed jamal shed learn the name now he is tough as you know what. And then rounding out that final four, I like Tennessee. I've got the volunteers. Rick Barnes makes that elusive final four with the vowels. They've got a score named Dalton Connect from Northern Colorado, totally off the national map, to being the second best player in the country to produce Zach Eney. Connect is the best score in college basketball. Boring, two ones and two-toos. Yukon and Houston at the one season. And Tennessee and Arizona as the two seeds. Don't you want, John, like every one of us filling out brackets, don't you want to,

at the same time, you don't want to do the, you don't want to be the guy that goes scratch. You don't want to be the guy that only does ones and two seeds. And by the way, if I'm being honest, I have three one seeds and a four in my final four. So I didn't want it to, but I didn't want it to be that way, John, because I don't, I know A, it never ends up that way. It actually rarely ends up the way that both you and I have predicted it. And B, it's boring. You don't win your bracket by going chalk.

No, you don't. You got to be different. If there were a team outside the top four, that total wildcard, it's 11 seed, New Mexico. I really like their team with Richard Petino, Rick's son coaching them. Jalen House, Jamal Mashburn, Jr. That might make some basketball fans feel a little bit older, Jamal Mashburn's son. Jalen House is Eddie House's son. that they've got a group that really plays hard, plays well defensively.

They're an 11 scene. Here's why you should pick a wild card, and I'm not following my own words. But 13 straight years that a team seated worse than four, meaning 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 has made the final four. So somebody's going to emerge. I just got to be honest with you, I don't love the middle of the country this year. I just don't think there's a lot of great teams. I will say, Tom Izzo and Michigan State seem to just find their groove during the big dance and an impressive performance against Mississippi State in the opening round.

Yeah, I took Mississippi State. You know, I'm going to run a few other long shots or wild cards through you real quick and just tell me what you think. So I actually also like New Mexico. I have them going pretty far. I like McNee's State a little bit. I like St. Mary's, although they're a five seed. I like St. Mary's.

And I can't remember, I feel like I had one more deep seed that made a good run in my tournament bracket. But it's what we all do. Oh, tell me, so I have Samford beating Kansas, because I don't believe in Kansas. And is it Kansas, would it be Samford McNeese if I have them in the second round? So maybe it's Stanford. Which could very well happen well. So that's why I have McNeese going to the Sweet 16. So what do you think about my long shots?

I love it. And McNeice has a kid named Shahadee Wells, who's one of the best scorers in college basketball. He's a bucket. They have three other guys that are in double figures. Will Wade has done a remarkable job down at McNeice. I mean, they hadn't been in the NCAA tournament over two decades before he now gets there. And in year one, he won't be there long. He's going to get a high major job.

They'll be on the radar at plenty of places with his NCAA violations in the rearview mirror now. But, Will, you can never deny Will's coaching. Will's a heck of a coach. And I really, really like, I really like this team, this McNeese team. And I do find that Gonzaga's overrated. Four weeks ago, they were on the bubble. They beat St. Mary's on the road, but they lost in the WCC tournament. Why does Gonzaga on the five line?

I don't trust his Gonzagot team. Remember they had Drew Timmy last year, that veteran big. They haven't been able to really, they have a kid named Graham Eke, who's been a good player. They have Ryan Nemhart, but they don't have death. They don't have depth. And McNeese does have some depth. As for Sanford, Bucky Ball, Bucky McMillan and Sanford, great story. This is a guy who's just, he's earned everything he's gotten.

And he has developed an offense that is top five in bench points, top 15 in tempo. They run the floor. Kansas is injured. I love those picks in that pot. Let's talk about some of the best stories really quickly. Everyone's talking about Long Beach State. So Dan Monson fired. There's contract not renewed before his conference tournament.

They go on a run when the conference tournament. He's in the NCAA tournament. He says he's coaching for free. He says he's a dead man walking. He's compared himself to George Costanza in Seinfeld. Everyone's talking about that story out of Long Beach. You gave me one or two other of your favorite stories we should watch this tournament. Well, in the last hour, as we're talking, the Long Beach State Athletic Director, Bobby Smytherin, is asking for credit for firing his coach because he feels that it motivated his team.

I love it. Lean in. Yeah, lean in, Bobby. You shouldn't be allowed to watch your team play in person for saying that. I mean, come on, man. Like that, that is, you're taking credit for firing someone who then who's, who's, who. then succeeded for your school? Whatever. Other other stories that I, yeah, other stories that I really like in this tournament. I like James Madison. Mark Byington and James Madison, the Dukes, they can knock off Wisconsin. And I feel that they will. 31 and 3 season, you know, remarkable job that they've done. They had a great college football season. It's a very underrated school in America. So I'm fascinated by that. You go down the line, like, I don't mind Yale.

I think that I'm the Ivy League. They're very balanced. Their top 15 and fewest turnovers per game. I really, really like what Bruce Pearl's done with Auburn. Auburn's got to get through that game. If they do, sometimes the first one's the hardest. Auburn can make the final four. like Bruce Pearl continues to run one of the best programs in America, SEC tournament champions, and to win the Southeastern Conference tournament this year, that's toughness, that's depth. So I'm looking at Bruce Pearl as being somebody that could end up being a star of this tournament

with the job he's done with this program. You know what I'm kind of fascinated by is the college coach that's just a really good college coach. But for some reason, you know, we come to know the. Roy Williams of the world, the Mike Shashefsky's of the world, the John Cheney's of the world, who are institutions and directly tied to their institution. Roy Williams, of course, tied to two now, but that's by his own choice. What I'm fascinated by is the guy who clearly can coach, but has to do it in multiple locations. You know, I've mentioned it this week.

I'm a burned Texas Longhorn fan, but to watch Shaka's smart succeed at Marquette. I mean, the guy can coach. To watch Rick Barnes do it. yet again at Tennessee, the guy can coach. And it didn't go well at Texas, and there could be a lot of reasons for that. But Bruce Pearl is another great example. Like, what is, I don't know if it's his second go around, third go around, but everywhere he's been. And look, Calipari's like this, you know, there are guys like this.

Everywhere they go, you know, success follows. Success follows. You know, I love that point. And I think that it's interesting. to see like a shock of smart going in this tournament. The last time he made the second weekend, this is an interesting story. He has not made the Sweet 16 Will since VCU all the way back 12 years ago. So he's got a lot of pressure on him heading into this tournament.

Cal, all eyes are on Cal, always. Like, when are we not interested in Kentucky and what John Calapari is going to do? He has not made a Sweet 16 since 2019. you got to make it this year. You're going to have two top five draft picks in Reed Shepard. Reed Shepard, his dad was Final Four MVP back in the day for Kentucky. Mom also played in Kentucky. It's a great Kentucky story.

If you haven't seen Reed Shepard play America, you've got to check this kid out. He's a stud. He's got elite field for the game. And then he's got a backcourt made named Rob Dillingham, who is a burst of speed in transition, just a fantastic talent. So I do look at a couple of those big-time coaching names. I think they've got a success has happened in their career. Some of them have a chip on their shoulder heading into this tournament

because I think a lot of people are doubting Cal right now and his ability to win in the tournament. You know who else has a big tournament here? John Shire. You take over for Mike Shoshesky. What's the expectation at Duke will make final fours? Last year, they won a game and then we're out. If they just win one game and get out again, you know what's going to happen.

people are immediately going to say, well, is John Shire the answer to keep Duke basketball going? Well, that's a warning to Kalin-de-Bor taking over for Nick Saban at Alabama. But the thing is, like, let's say Calipari doesn't make the Sweet 16. Let's say Calipari is fired. Like, wherever he goes next, congratulations. You're going to be good. You're about to be good. It's the same thing I'm talking about with Bruce Pearl.

Hey, I saw my producer sent me an interview you did with Bill Murray. I saw the interview with Bill Murray. Here's what I want to know. Intimidating interview. Like I've seen the interviews because you don't know the Bill Murray you're going to get, right? Like, is he into it? Is he not into it? Does he make you sort of the – he has sort of a passive-aggressive style with his comedy sometimes

that I've seen with some guys where it gets tense. You had something going for you, which is his son on the Yukon staff, and he was happy to talk about his son, his family. And you talked mostly about that. really good interview, by the way. Got some personality out of him as well. How intimidated were you to interview Bill Murray? Really not intimidated. So I have always, somebody told me this once when I got ready to sit down with Patrick Ealing for an interview this number of years ago. And someone said, just be a guy, just be a person. Like just be a regular human. They do

not like when you get like and i'm 28 so in all honesty bill's prime came before my time so he wasn't that big a deal to you john phanta a little bit like you know i've watched catty shack i love i love cattie shack i love ghostbusters i love all of bill's hits but you know i love groundhog day uh but you know i wasn't like like it's a little bit before my time so for me it was like the I always say the worst thing that someone can say to you when you request the interview I'm sure you can relate is no if they say no so what we'll move on their loss like if he said no to me I was going to move on with my night but he goes sure he actually asked his son's wife he asked his daughter-in-law am I allowed to do this he actually asked his

daughter-in-law am I allowed to do this because I think he said in the interview that you know he wasn't the best father and it was interesting oh I saw that part yeah like definitely That was interesting to say that he just admitted openly, like, look, I was a celebrity. I'm not the best parent. I kind of appreciated that. He was pretty raw and honest. But you know what? It was almost as if he was avenging some of the early fatherhood trouble now by being

able to watch his son go to the final four. Things that come full circle for him. He was funny. I kind of made, you know, I said, I'm going to Houston bill for the final four. This was last year. I said, what can you recommend? And he said, well, to you, maybe a country fried steak. And I go, you're right.

I'm a country fried steak kind of guy. So I love talking with Bill Murray. No, he didn't say that, John. He did not say that to you. And you messed it up in the interviews. The one thing you messed up, he corrected you, and you haven't even gotten it right here one year later. I understand some people call it a country fried steak.

It's called a chicken fried steak. And the thing is, you're not wrong by calling it a country fried steak, but you're not right either. You know, like you just, you sound like, you sound like, like somebody from the northeast or Cleveland. Welcome back on this show again, calling it a country fried steak. It's a chicken fried steak. I will not get that wrong.

I love his recommendation to you. Go to a fancy steakhouse and ask them if they can chicken fry your steak. It goes over really well. You know, you said something that I totally agree with. Just be a person. Just be a dude. Just be a guy. And then, you know, if they're the same, if they can be a guy, then it's going to go,

it's going to go fine. Sometimes they can't. Sometimes they can't be normal. people. And it is what it is. But so many television interviews or radio or whatever, just they get tense, they become overly TV or they are too scripted. And it's just so it's not a human moment. And you did. You did a good job of making it a human moment. A quick more before we turn back to basketball. You're 28. And yet you've seen not only Caddyshack, but Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day. We had this conversation with some of my producers earlier this week here on

the Will Cain Show. Right of Passage movies. From my age group, Caddyshack was a rite of passage movie. Now, I'm not in the age group that would have seen Caddyshack in the theater, but it was still around a decade later that in college, like everybody's like, oh, we got to sit down and watch Caddyshack. You know, and I'm clearly not old enough to be a godfather in the moment guy either, but I knew enough some 25 years later to be like, oh, yeah, we're supposed to watch Godfather, write a passage movie.

And I was surprised one of my producers is younger than you, but he's seen Caddyshack. So do you think, is that like a ride of passage movie, like a movie that dudes have to see? Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, it came out before my time, but I remember getting to about 11, 12,

but my dad sat me down on the couch, and he had me watch that movie. He had me watch Shawshank Redemption. He had me watch Tommy Boy with Chris Farley. Like, end of story. You had to sit down and watch some of these. caddy shack is a no doubt about it movie that lives on forever it will always be great it will never not be good and the soundtrack for caddy shack Kenny logins extremely underrated so

caddy shack is right up there some of the funniest movies are golf movies they really are golf boxing baseball three best categories for sports movies I think that that's if if Hold on. If we're making them Mount Rushmore, you need four. Golf, baseball, boxing. What's the next best category of? Not football. It doesn't make it.

Did you say football, you think? Well, I mean, I was thinking, like, remember the Titans, Rudy. You know, I was thinking, like, I mean, I laugh at Longest Yard. You know, we are martial. I'm not sure his football. Yeah, those are good movies, but they're not the same. level of the other three movie categories sports categories we just gave i see about basketball basketball diaries um i don't know i've got to find that fourth movie for the mount rushmore

of that fourth sport for mount rush more do you go with a seat biscuit like do you do you get into the horses horse racing that do anything for racing i haven't seen boys in the boat either so i'm super into rowing right now so i got to see boys in the boat um all right let's go back to the tournament with John Fanta. Let's move on from the final four to your national championship. My national championship pick has been mentioned. I gave you my final four. My national championship game. No, I didn't give you my final four. I have three ones and a four, I told you. Those are Houston, North Carolina, Purdue, and Auburn are my final four. And my Auburn analysis was very similar to yours. Like, can they get past Yale? Now, I've seen the statistical stuff on

slow teams like Yale win like 80% of the times over high offense, you know, octane teams like Auburn. But Auburn also plays defense. They're just good across the board. So I do think Auburn gets past Yale. I do think they go on a run. I don't want to be a front runner and pick Yukon. Yet I went with three other number ones.

My championship game is Auburn versus Purdue. Auburn taking it. I'm a big believer in Houston. You point out Houston's one 30 games. McNeese is won 30 games. Madison has won 30 games. Winning 30 games, pretty good marker in college basketball. But Houston has an injury right now, I believe.

I can't remember who it is, but it's a pretty significant injury. And that made me a little worried about Houston combining it with their big loss to Iowa State. But I've been a believer all season in Houston, and I wanted to pick Houston. But my national championship game is Auburn, Purdue, with the champion being Auburn. What's yours? UConn versus Tennessee with the champion being UCon they go back to back for the first time since Florida 0607 As for the Houston injury

It's to Joseph Tugler who's a big He only averaged about three points per game It's no offense at all to him Obviously it's an absence But you know I LJ Cryer and Jamal Shed are two of the best guards in the country And with Calvin Samson You know that Emmanuel Sharpe's going to help him

Juan Roberts, Damien Dunn. They've got enough toughness inside. They don't have a legit center, but they just guard. Like, their versatility defensively makes them such a great team. The loss of Tugler to me, it's not a, a lot of people are like, well, Houston's banged up. Okay, they lost a reserve for the end of the season. Like, Jamal Sheds an All-American and Cryer's one of the best players in the country, too. He's as good as shooter as anybody. Kelvin Samson will tell you, no excuses. No excuses. It's why, over the last five years, Calvin Sampson's won more games than anyone. You know, he really, he's been the winningest coach in the last five years in college basketball,

the guy at Houston. He's made them an absolute juggernaut. But I'm going to go Yukon and Tennessee because I think for the first time, Tennessee actually isn't just defensively oriented. They've got enough scoring. And Will, I've, I'm probably to a fault because I've seen Connecticut so much in the northeast, but I'm just trying to rationalize how they get beat. And that's where March Madness comes in.

The unthinkable becomes reality. But I don't see the Huskies getting picked off. All right, there it is. There's your picks for the next few weeks in college basketball, the best time of the year in sports with Fox Sports College Basketball broadcaster, John Fanta. Thank you so much, John. You were awesome. Glad to have you on the Will Kane show.

Will, any time. Enjoy the madness, everybody. There you go. I hope you enjoyed that conversation with John Fanta. Check him out as he covers college basketball tournament from Brooklyn on. Fox Sports Digital this weekend throughout the NCAA and throughout the NCAA tournament. That's going to do it for me today here on the sports edition of the Will Kane Show. I'll see you

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