Will Cain Country - John Fanta Goes Inside March Madness: Cinderellas, Final Four, and Who Will Win

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

On this edition of The Will Cain Show’s Friday sports episode, Will sits down with FOX Sports College Basketball Broadcaster & Reporter to break down the inside stories from the opening days of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Fanta shares his expertise on which upsets are coming, who he has in his Final Four, and who will cut down the nets in early April. Plus, after Joy Reid made a hallucinatory comment about why she thinks Canada would beat the United States in a war, Will & The Crew break down just how that would go.    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

March Madness, the NCAA tournament. The upsets already day by day coming in. Who are our picks for the final four? And could there be an upset on the stage of warfare? Could Canada take down the United States? It's the Will Cain show, normally streaming live every Monday through Thursday at 12 o'clock Eastern time at Fox News.com on the Fox News YouTube channel and the Fox News Facebook page. This edition of Canaan Sports available by subscribing at Apple or on Spotify.

We're one day into the NCAA tournament, but the upsets have already started to come in. We wanted to go over this today. And today we have Fox College Basketball reporter and analyst John Fanta. John is great. But before we get to John today, let's set the stage for you. Let's give you our final four picks. What's up, fellas, two at A's, Young Established from James and Tinfoil, Pat. Hey, before we get into our final four picks, I feel like I'm taking stupid pills.

I am stupid right now, and I don't know how to explain it. Do you ever go through phases where you're dumb? Like right now. Yeah, what are you doing with the camera there, bud? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, it's a camera that's not even on me. I had to switch. Hold on.

I'm, I'm, I can't, I think I've gotten stupid. Travel lag? Over the last two weeks. No. That's a good thing. I don't have a good excuse. It's, it's, it's, being stupid.

When you think you're being stupid, you actually tend to be, like, smarter. It's like, it's actually you, like, being extremely self-aware and, like, realizing, like, oh, I need growth and this and that. Like, if you always think you're the smartest, then, like, you're probably. So, it's done in Kruger is what you're saying? More or less. Yeah. Like when you're in a room and you feel kind of dumb and then you step into another room and you're like, hey, I'm actually kind of smart.

I know what you're saying. You know what I'm going? If you're always the smartest guy in the room, then you've got real issues. But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about, for example, me calling JFK, JFK Jr. three times in a broadcast talking about the assassination files being released of JFK. social media very much made me aware and the funny thing is

I didn't know I said it three times I'm like nah I didn't say that but then there was a little piece of me it's like yeah you did because you could feel it and I my reasoning for doing it is real like I'm not it is it's so

because RFK Jr has become so prominent on the national stage and in our minds when he first came around you had to force yourself I had to force myself to say the junior part. Do you know what I'm saying? Because you get so used to saying JFK, RFK, I had to force myself to say RFK Jr.

And then it became a verbal habit to say RFK Jr, which was unnatural, but it was a habit. And so when I went back to JFK, I just kept saying JFK Jr., JFK Jr. And everybody's like, it was John F. Kennedy, not his son killed in D. Lee Plaza. I'm like, yeah, I know, but I'm still stupid. I mean, I'm not that kind of stupid, but I am stupid. And I've already done the same thing today in our interview with John Fanta. Like, it's the kind of stupid where I don't, I know it, but I can't access it. Like, I said Drexel instead of Drake.

Like, so Drake upset, had a big upset yesterday over Missouri, which I picked, but I'm talking to John Fanta. I said Drexel. By the way, do you want to know why? I didn't know why I did it. Yesterday, I was in Los Angeles broadcasting, and I was with a bunch of people from the West Coast Bureau, and Jay Wallace, our boss, who listens to this show, was telling me his son looked at, when his son was thinking about going to colleges,

his son looked at Drexel. And in my head, I thought, Drexel, I don't think a lot about Drexel. And then I thought, where is Drexel? And Drexel and Drake are somewhat interchangeable in my brain because I don't know where either of them are. I don't, I mean, do you know where Drexel is? Pennsylvania. I bet you two northeasterers do.

Is it a northeastern school? Somewhere in Pennsylvania, I think. I knew a girl that played soccer there. Couldn't tell you. You don't know two days? No idea. Yeah. That's how my mind works too, though.

And John Fantas said, could you have said Drake, by the way, where Drake is? Do you know where that is? Canada? Just kidding. That's the rapper. It's in Des Moines, Iowa. Yes, it's in Des Moines, Iowa.

Speaking of Canada, Joy Reid went on to Don Lemon Show. Speaking of stupid, okay, this is a different kind of stupid, all right? This is not me making verbal mistakes. This is a different kind of stupid. She said that Canada could beat the United States in a war, and she cited how big it is. This is her evidence, okay? I want to tell you what her evidence was that it's so big that we couldn't occupy it and that two-thirds of it is uninhabited,

so therefore it would make us hard to occupy it, which I'm like, doesn't that make it easier to occupy? Yeah. You just have to occupy the urban centers. Like, yeah. Yeah. Let the forest and ice remain unoccupied.

Like, it's not going to be necessary. Um, and then she cited gun ownership in Canada that there's widespread gun ownership. Mm-hmm. And she compared it to the U.S. So that's a, At best, it's a draw.

Then she, hold on, I'm not done, it gets better. Then she cited, there's 39 million of them. Like, ooh. You know, like there's 325 million of us. Like, what's going to? We got more guns, more people. And then finally, the cherry on top, she cited the war of 1812 and said they burned down the White House

and they could do it again. And we would lose. I'm dead serious. She wasn't even joking. She was serious. She was serious. It was the British, yes, yes. Wrong.

Thank you, Mr. President. And then, Dan, you sent this, because I did look it up. I think this is great. Let's just illustrate how bad of a pick this is. This is a 16 upsetting on one, Canada over the U.S. Okay, this is, this would be a major upset on the world stage. This would be write the history books about it, canonize, lionize, and make the statues of Justin Trudeau,

or whoever the newest liberal leader is of Canada. I haven't memorized his. name yet. So, you know, carve the mountains because here it is, Canada, active military members, 1.9, U.S. active military members, 4.0. These are millions. Per 1,000, per 1,000 people. What do you mean? So it's active military members per 1,000 people. Oh, I thought that was a gross total. No, no, no. So for every 1,000 people, they have 1.9 military members and we have four so it's a 40 to 2 ratio well that doesn't

even tell the story because we have so many more people so quick math even on top of that you have to yeah we're about 21 times bigger 74 for Canada 4,657 tanks for the U.S. Be over in an afternoon. Aircraft Aircraft

U.S. 13,209 Canada 375 Let's just surround them in the air, by the way. That's it. You're done. Subs, 64 U.S. for Canada. And here we go.

Here's the big dogs. Ready to bring in the big dogs? Naval destroyers, 75 U.S., zero Canada. Aircraft carriers to launch all those planes. 11 U.S. Zero Canada. So, joy. Make your pick.

They're going to talk about you in history if you're right. I got to give her that, you know. It's a bold, I mean. It's a bold strategy. Go big. How many Royal Mounties do we have? Yeah, I know. They might beat us on horseback.

That's the only thing. If it's horseback combat, then we're done for, I think. Unless you Texans take up the reins and we're good. Look it up. I bet we have more cavalry. Probably. Cavalry now refers to like helicopter. I bet we could beat them with one state.

Can I just say 11 aircraft carrier seems like way less than I thought we had? Is that right? Yeah, it kind of does. Right? I thought that was a weird number. Because, well, an aircraft carrier in size is like the amount of stuff that goes into that, like you can fight a war with one of them. No, I know, but like I would think we have more than 11 because we have 13,000 aircraft.

Here, while we're doing this, look up China. How many does China have compared? compared Chinese aircraft carriers that could be scary see joy this is the stage we play on we play on the NCAA tournament stage you know versus China we don't go to the NIT over there where Canada is

China apparently has you have it current aircraft carriers yeah all right I just ran anybody in our league on aircraft carriers I don't know um hey by the way before I get too

big for my britches. Here's another mistake I make today. And I know again why I did it. I know what's going on with my brain. I know. I think I'm jamming too much information on a day-to-day basis, minutiaa. And I'm not contextualizing it well enough in my head.

I'm not framing it. So I inexplicably blank on the head coach of the University of Texas basketball, right? Rodney Terry. I blank on it talking to John Fanta. And what name did I come up with? Rodney Pete. Okay.

You laughed him, Foyle. Do you know why Rodney Pete's in my brain right now? Yeah, you guys all ought to know. Do you know this? Oh, yeah. He caught a foul ball. I don't think he took it away from him. At a Dodgers game, Max Muncie goes running off the third base line to catch a foul ball.

He reaches into the stands. And former USC and Detroit Lion and Dallas Cowboy quarterback, Rodney Pete reaches up and steals the foul ball out from Max Muncie. I mean, he robs him. And then Rodney Pete looks at him, like, he totally looks at him like he big-legged him, too. It wasn't like a fan who felt bad about it. He looked at him like, what do you got on me, Max Monty? It's so cool.

Yeah, I got to get my stuff together. I'm too stupid for TV right now. It's all fun. Throwing extras in and you'll be all right. I did a quick, I think that's the issue. I think I got to quit. I think that's the issue. issue. I really do. It is. I'm waking up with a headache. I don't like when you try to quit.

I'm not well-rested. Let me tell you guys a quick story before we get to the NCAA tournament and make our picks. So I get in from California. I've had a couple late nights on these late travels lately. By the way, I was in Ohio, California. Gorgeous. Go back. Take your wife, take your fiance, save up for a long weekend. It's expensive. I was there for a conference. Gorgeous. incredible it reminds you how great california is and what it takes to ruin it like it the biggest indictment of gavin newsome and the leadership of la and san francisco in these places is the natural resources and beauty of california that their policies are running people out of that to move to texas and i love texas it's got nothing on how beautiful california is it's amazing

So I've had a couple late nights So I get in last night My wife and kids are visiting colleges right now They're looking at Georgia and Auburn and Tennessee So I'm alone So it was me and the dogs when I come home At 5.30 Anybody who has dogs knows this sound

Do you guys know that sound In the middle of night? It's about to up to church Saint. Saint's about to puke And I have Because I've had dogs most of my life that sound is an alarm clock you will pop out of bed like that to me your feet and i yell saint because he's done it before and man is he stained some carpet um and it's a stain on the carpet

i can't get it it's really hard to get out and i grab him and i shove him into the bathroom right there because now i've got tile and and he throws up and no harm no foul clean up right but this dog is always doing something, something that is not cool. All right, I go back to bed and at 6.30, so it's about the time I wake up anyway, I hear the same sound.

I'm like, no. And I notice it's not saint. It's Violet. So I yell Violet. Now, Violet never does anything wrong. She always behaves. But Violet is also terrified of discipline, which she never

receives, by the way. Never. never so i yell violet and she takes off running while she's going and i'm like no come here because i'm trying to grab her to get her onto some type of hard surface and she runs down the stairs on carpet and she lets it go on the carpet so now i'm up i'm cleaning carpet i've cleaned up two dog pukes in an in an hour's time in the wee hours of the morning and i can't even say that's why I'm stupid, because it's been longer than just this morning. All right, let's make our final four picks. Let's do it quick, and we'll get to John Fanta,

the man who knows a lot about college of basketball and his analysis. All right, youngest establishment, James, give us your four teams and your national champion. Duke Houston, Florida, Michigan State, and the national championship is Duke over Florida. Got Michigan State in the final four? Yeah, I like them. Wow.

And you, like everybody else, have picked Duke. There's your champion. All right, tinfoil, what do you have? I am taking after you. I have Auburn, Texas Tech, Duke, and Kentucky. I mean he's taking after you as far as being dumb

because I have Texas Tech in the final four. Auburn over Texas Tech, Duke over Kentucky. And Kentucky. Yeah, Duke winning at all. What is Kentucky? What seat are they? they are a three three yeah so you got two three seeds in the final four you know the funny thing is patrick like i've tried that strategy in my brackets before like don't be careful

don't do ones and twos you're you're going to get somebody right you're going to get a five you're going to get something most likely but it's impossible to predict which one you know and i've always busted my brackets trying to go for the home run and trying to pick which one it is. And I hate to be, you know, chalk, but I think guys that go chalk are actually, they do better, mostly in the long run. The key is to pick somebody, like, I think you guys make a mistake picking Duke, like, because now you're too much like everybody else. Yeah. Go ahead, two a days. So I have St. John's, Michigan State, Duke, and Tennessee, and then I have... You got three-twos in there? Is that what that is? Three-two's and a one?

Yep. Um, so I have, and then I have Duke winning it all over St. John's. In our friends of the Will Kane show bracket, Duke is the overwhelming pick. Like, it feels like two-thirds of the guys picked Duke to win it all. All right, my final four. I didn't know that. I didn't know that until, uh, until you see the brackets be released. I had no clue. I know. I know.

You should, though, because it's. populated by a bunch of northeasterners like this this will cane show bracket and they're all going to go Duke because Duke is a northeastern school

why is you can't go so far Duke's in North Carolina all right here we go talking about these mine is you didn't know that Patrick about Duke yeah Duke is not Southern it is

full of Connecticut and New York kids and New Jersey kids yeah my grandfather they're very stuck up to you My final four is Florida, Auburn, Duke, Tennessee. So I have three ones and a two in there.

In the finals, I've got Florida taking on Tennessee. And my national champion, the University of Florida. Okay. And I like it. As everybody's brackets came out, I like where I am. Yeah. I have Florida losing pretty quick in my bracket. you do i have them losing to you i have them losing to yukon in the second round

tim brando said they're weak they peaked too high see too fast well you know what let's ask another college basketball expert today this guy is a rising star he's really good he's really entertaining and he's our guest today to break down march madness it is fox sports college basketball broadcaster and reporter john phanta on the will cane show it is time to take the quiz it's five questions in less than five minutes. We ask people on the streets of New York City to play along.

Let's see how you do. Take the quiz every day at the quiz.com. Then come back here to see how you did. Thank you for taking the quiz. Fox News Audio presents Unsolved with James Patterson. Every crime tells the story,

but some stories are left unfinished. Somebody knows. Real cases, real people. Listen and follow now at foxtruecrime.com. John Fant of Fox Sports College. Oh, here we go. Um, three, two, one. Fox Sports College basketball broadcaster and reporter.

John Fanta joins us now on the Will Cain show. What's up, John? Your favorite time of the year? Here we go, Will. The madness is alive. We already have some double-digit seeds in the NCAA tournament. A couple of an 11th seat already, a 12 seed in McNeese State, pulling off an upset. So we're well underway, my friend.

It's the tournament. anything can happen and that's why it is as strong of a postseason event in American sport it is something special the madness let's review yesterday

before we get into the games coming up through the weekend you mentioned a couple of the upsets all right the two big ones are of course Drexel over Missouri that's the 11 over the 11 over 6 and then you have McNeese over Clemson

is the 12 over the 5 there's always what is it we get What is the average, Sean? Do we get one, two, three, 12 over fives on average? I know we get at least one or two. Well, since 2018, Will, the 11 seeds are 12 and 12 against the six seeds. How about that one? So they're basically 500.

And it was Drake who took down Missouri on Thursday. Drake, I said Drexel. Behind Bennett Sturts. Bennett Sturts, who has been tremendous on the season for a head coach in Ben McCollum, Will, who was coaching at the Division 2 level, won four national championships. This guy's kind of got a modern-day Hoosiers field. They play an old-school style. They slow the game down, but they're really a dangerous team.

So to answer your question, the success rate of the 11s has been very high. The 12s have won a little bit less, but we've had it going now close to two decades where a 12 has beaten the 5, at least 1 12 has beaten the 5. And that street continued on Thursday. How about the McNeese Cowboys out of Lake Charles, Louisiana? This is a school with an undergraduate enrollment that was at about 3,000. it's already close to doubled. And their head coach, Will Wade,

was very transparent with his players, Will, because he's taking the job at NC State. And he told his players last Saturday, I'm talking to NC State. Will, a lot of times when coaches are getting courted by other schools, they shy away from it, they deflect to the media.

It creates a distraction for the bad because the players are then thinking in their heads. What's going on? What's happening? He was clear with this team. But he said, fellas, I love you. I'm, you know, let's keep talking. It's not like you couldn't still play for me, but let's go out and win an NCAA tournament game. They come out and they ran Clemson off the floor. It was a, Clemson ended up coming back with a surge late, but McNeese held Clemson to 13 points in the first half and won that game. So we're going to see more upsets. We're not done. I think there's several other candidates who can pull off the upsets,

not just 11s and 12s, but we've seen 14s, 15s. And even in the last six years, we've seen a pair of 16 seeds, pull it off, those being UNBC over Virginia and Fairleigh Dickinson over Purdue. All right. I picked, by the way, even though I said Drexel, I did pick Drake. Did you have either of these? Did you have McNeese or Drake advancing out of the first round? I did have Drake.

I did have Drake. And I also had, yes, I did not have McNeese because Clemson had gone 27 and 6. And they went 18 and 2 in the ACC. But Will, the Atlantic Coast Conference, you know, the SEC, we know how great it is. The SEC in basketball got 14 teams, the NCAA tournament. Now, some of them have taken some losses here. early on, Texas lost to Xavier, Missouri lost this game to Drake. You know, there have been a couple of games for this league that Arkansas was able to get past Kansas, so they move on.

But there's been a couple of games where this league has taken a couple of hits. But the fact is, that league was the best in college basketball, the best. We always talk about SEC football. In basketball, the league had an even better year in hoops than it did in football. which is unbelievable. The ACC with Duke, Carolina, Clemson, this league just Louisville, Louisville got run off the floor by Creighton, this league has 18 teams now. You know, with schools like NC States and Wake Forest and traditional brands, Will,

they only got four of their 18 in, and they only have two left in the NCAA tournament. that's a league that's been disappointed this season. But I did have one of those upsets, and I've got a couple more here today. I've got Akron knocking off Arizona, the Akron Zips, the Mid-American Champions. I think Lipscomb could give Iowa State a real run for their money. They've got a kid named Jacob Odnosevic, who's an absolute bucket getter. And we could see more than that. We'll see what happens.

One big headline today, Kentucky is in action. And let's see if Kentucky can make an NCAA tournament run. They have a first-year head coach, Mark Pope. They've had an up-and-down season. But that's why John Calipari was eventually out at Kentucky. Because he wasn't winning NCAA tournament games at Kentucky. Left for Arkansas couldn't deal with the stress. What happens now with the Wildcats' new head coach and Coach Pope?

Hey, you brought it up, and I'm going to get it out of the way. You brought up Texas losing to Xavier in the first four. The talk here in Texas is Rodney Pete. I said Rodney Pete. Rodney Terry. Why is his name escaped me? Our coach. Yes, is done.

He'll be fired. Do you have any idea who Texas will be looking at? I mean, I'm assuming whoever their next coach is probably coaching right now still in the NCAA tournament. Well, here's the irony, Will. It's the coach that Rodney coached against who could very well get this job. Sean Miller, the Xavier head coach. So Chris Delcanti, the Texas Athletic Director, two years ago, was contemplating, remember the Chris Beard situation that Rodney takes over as an interim,

was contemplating whether to keep Rodney as head coach or make a hire. Well, Rodney removed that contemplation by taking Texas to the elite eight. Who did they beat in the Sweet 16? Xavier and Sean Miller. Del Conti's top choice was Miller, but he couldn't hire the coach that Rodney just beat to be his next coach, so he kept Terry. Well, now on Wednesday night they meet again, and this time Xavier comes back from 13 down. Honestly, Terry blows the game. He did. And now you're thinking, we're right back to square one. Shaw Miller has had a long coaching career. He's won close to 75% of the games he's coached in.

If you remember, you know, he got caught up in some trouble at Arizona behind the scenes that, you know, between paying players and at a time when that wasn't, you know, that wasn't legal like it basically is now. It's a free game now in college sports. And so he took a gap year and Xavier let him back in. Xavier gave him a shot to return to the sidelines. So we'll see if he's loyal to Xavier or if he does take this Texas job. But I think, you know, I think it's a solid possibility.

More of the Will Cain Show right after this. It is time to take the quiz. It's five questions in less than five minutes. We ask people on the streets of New York City to play along. Let's see how you do. Take the quiz every day at the quiz.com. Then come back here to see how you did. Thank you for taking the quiz.

I'm Janice Dean. Join me every Sunday as I focus on stories of hope and people who are truly rays of sunshine in their community and across the world. Listen and follow now at Fox Newspodcast.com. Well, congratulations to whichever program gets Rodney Terry because if past his prologue, every coach Texas has fired has gone on to have success wherever they've gone after Texas, whether or not that shock is smart, Rick Barnes and Chris Beard at Ole Miss now. I don't know if Terry's going to keep the street going, but, you know, they're on a heater there. A fired Texas coach is doing pretty well wherever they go next. Well said. And you know what? That kind of goes back to the Texas basketball job because we know football's king.

You got to win in football. But in basketball, you know, they just look at it like, hey, we got to win national championships. And I, well, I appreciate the standard. You know, I can appreciate wanting to get after it. But at times it's been a little bit unrealistic because, you know, at a certain point, when you go coach after coach after coach, and then these coaches are having success in their next stops, maybe that's a U issue. Maybe that's somewhere where you've got to say, hey, hey, here's something that we have to look at differently

with what we're doing with our program. But I do think it is a harsh world to, he took the process. program to three straight NCAA tournaments and now he's he's going to to for all intents of purposes get fired that's something right um which of your upset picks john um or the ones that you didn't pick that are already moved on uh so we have mcnees and drake and i don't know if we'll count arkansas 10 over 7 but you're also looking at lipscomb and a couple of others stay which do you think goes the furthest in the tournament which is a sweet 16 level or elite eight a level type of team as it lines up with their competition,

meaning you could see them making their way through the next round or two. Yeah, I think it is Drake. So they play the slowest tempo in the country. You know, it's like watching old school Hoosiers, that movie with Gene Hackman. And they slow the game down. They're very deliberate. It's hard to play against that, Will.

That's frustrating. for another team to have to go up against it. It's hard to simulate it in practice. Defensively, you're trying to create chaos or force a turnover. They don't flinch. They don't flinch. They share the basketball. They're very balanced.

They totally, I mean, they took an SEC team in Missouri that had a really good year. And they made Missouri play their style for 40 minutes. And Missouri only scored 57 points, was stuck in the blender, stuck in the mud, only shot four for 16 from three, and Drake beat him. They wore him down. They have a kid named Tavion Banks who came off the bench, had a really good game, a junior who's at six foot seven, and Sturts, if you haven't seen Bennett Sturts, this junior is amazing. He hit a runner from three-point territory. So what do I mean? He was off one foot and launched a three in their win Thursday night. That's such a weird move to make in today's basketball. I mean, It's gotten more common, but in the college game, it's not very common. And he knocked it down. I think this team could beat Texas Tech. I think it's going to be an absolute battle.

But look for the Drake Bulldogs to potentially make a deeper run out of Des Moines, Iowa, for those who are not familiar. Oh, yes, out of Des Moines, hey, I stayed up late watching Texas Tech. They had their hands full. They didn't look great. I know one of their leading scores is out right now, injured. But, you know, for a three-seed, they did look vulnerable, I'll say, last night. Lived and died by the three and didn't hit it a lot. All right, before I get to your final four picks, John,

tell me about this thing you're doing over at Fox Sports, the college basketball crown tournament, which is on Fox. That's right. A game changer in the college basketball postseason space. Because, well, when you get to around, the final four, there's not enough college basketball on television. And people are still very much into it and want to see a lot of basketball. So Fox Sports has lined up a brand new event in Las Vegas, March 31st to April 6th on FS1 and Fox, semifinals and final on Fox. And it's a 16-team team

event featuring a variety of big brand teams, you know, ranging from Villanova to USC to Nebraska. It's going to be a lot of fun. And I think people will see, you know, what the opportunities are with this event, how much the teams that, you know, did not make the NCAA tournament, now NBA scouts can, you know, head to Las Vegas and you as a player can totally change your draft stock or totally change what people think of you. Georgetown also in the field. Arizona State, Cincinnati.

You announced the teams, John, I think. How are the teams selected for this crown tournament? And like, how does it work with the NIT? Like, is it a competitive bid for these programs? Like, which one do we want to go to, in IT or Crown? So this is part of our partnerships at Fox with the Big Ten, the Big East, and the Big 12. And then from there, there are other at-large bids given out. So, you know, you have some Mountain West in there.

You've got an Atlantic 10 team in George Washington, Tulane as well. So, but it's mainly at the top. Big 10, Big 12, Big East, those conferences are able to get teams into the field. And then from there, we go from there. The idea is, you know, to get those programs who may have shown some potential during the season to have one more opportunity, at least one more opportunity to play on national television. I think there's unlimited possibilities, well, going forward with the college basketball space, you know, with NIL and everything that's happening in the sport,

there's unlimited potential with this event, you know, to look at different ways to grow the game. And that's exactly what it does. College basketball needed something fresh to help itself, I think, around. You know, what would be cool? And I don't know how. I don't know how this would work with television rights, John, but it would be cool if you could bring in teams.

teams that were eliminated from the NCAA tournament, like a big upset. So, you know, Clemson, right? Clemson's all of a sudden out. And they're the highest seat that's lost so far in the first round. It'd be awesome if they could get a then and at-large big, going forward. I know not this year. But, like, you could pick up big programs that suffered big upsets and continue to see if that was a one-off game, go into the Crown tournament, see how it rolls.

And you know what? Never say never. I think that'd be fascinating, too. I wouldn't put anything off the table because I think, you know, what I've loved at Fox Sports working for the company, Will, is they are always looking at ways to explore, to try new things. You know, over the years, it's not just college basketball. It's the field of dreams game in baseball, right? It's big new kickoff. big new kickoff didn't exist about a decade ago and now that's become a mammoth of a show every Saturday morning on Fox we've always find ways to be innovative

you know we just had Tokyo earlier this week with the Dodgers and the Cubs to get the MLB season going those were morning telecasts you know one of which was on Maine Fox to get baseball revved up and baseball will be continuing on in earnest

but I just think that this falls in line with that of, hey, let's do something that can be a game changer in college basketball. And that's what the crown will be. It's 16 team tournament. It's only a week long. All these teams are in Las Vegas. And you're talking about the semifinals on Saturday, April 5th at 1.30 and 4 o'clock. So before the final 4, but on Fox. And then you'll have the championship game Sunday, April 6th, 530 Eastern Time at T-Mobile Arena on Fox. The tournament starts March the 31st and Tuesday, April 1st. Monday, March 31st, Tuesday, April 1st, quadruple headers, four straight games each day on

FS1, more college basketball. It is really cool, and I agree with you about Fox. Always looking for new ways to bring exciting events to sports. All right. All right, John, let's talk about your final four picks here. What do you have here in a couple of weeks? What teams in the final four? So I'm going to go with 30th year head coach at Michigan State, Tom Izzo.

I think that the Spartans get it done. They have been terrific in the Big Ten. They won the Big Ten regular season. They defend. They always defend at a high level. But the evolution of Jace Richardson, the son of the longtime NBAer and Michigan State National Champion, Jason Richardson.

Jace has been tremendous. He's averaged about 18 points per game in the last 10 games. I've got the Spartans. I've got Florida. The Florida Gators, led by Todd Golden, led by an All-American Guard and Walter Clayton. He's been absolutely fantastic. I like Duke.

I've got the Blue Devils. I've got Cooper Flagg, Cooper Mania, and the Blue Devils reaching the Final Four. And I've got the Houston Cougars who won't have to travel far to get to San Antonio. Calvin Sampson and the Cougars get back to the final four behind their gutsy defense and behind L.J. Cryer, Milo's Usanne and Emmanuel Sharp. Okay, and your national champion? I have Florida beating Michigan, Florida beating Michigan State,

and I have Houston knocking off Duke, and I've got the Gators. The Gators of Florida winning their first national title since, Oh, seven. Hey, we have the same national champion pick. I have the Gators, well, this time, over Duke. No, actually, I have them over Tennessee. Yeah, I have Tennessee going over Duke, so I've got them over. I did have a pretty heavy SEC Final Four, but, yeah, Florida as well, and I'm doing well.

Good. That's what I like to hear. Let's keep that, let's keep that Will Cape bracket rolling. It's in third place, which is good stuff. All right, Fox Sports. John Fanta College Basketball Crown Tournament. Don't miss it. He just laid it out for you. He's our college basketball reporter and broadcaster

and his star is absolutely on the rise. He's always great. We're glad to get some time with you today. Thanks, John. Thanks so much, Will. 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 five bucks plus tax.

Available until 11 a.m. at participating McDonald's restaurants. Price excludes flavored iced coffee and delivery. 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 $6.5 million. Visit go.com forward slash TX flood relief to support relief and rebuilding efforts. There you go. I hope you enjoyed that conversation with John Fanta.

Hope you got your bracket in. I hope you have fun. It's one of the most fun times of the year in sports. All right. We'll see you again next time, same time, same place, Spotify, Apple. on the Will Cane show. Listen ad-free with a Fox News podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. And Amazon Prime members, you can listen to this show,

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