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This week, join Colin and Kylee in the season finale episode of Check the Net! This episode is full of tournament review, the best stories of the past few weeks, and our Full Court Press segment makes a return!
Creators & Guests
What is Check the Net on Impact 89FM?
Are you a fan of college hoops? Check the Net is a podcast that covers everything about the world of college basketball. Whether it is discussions regarding top teams and weekly rankings, updates on transfer portal and coaching news, or commentary on the latest major stories from around the game, Check the Net has got you covered. The podcast covers both men’s and women’s basketball across all Division I conferences. Check the Net is available through Impact 89FM’s website, as well as via all major audio platforms.
Welcome everyone to the season finale episode of Check the Net Impact 89 FM's College Basketball Podcast. I'm your host, Colin Pierce, and I'm here with my co host, Kylie Tabler.
Kylee Tabler:Hello.
Kylee Tabler:I'm back. So I'm back.
Colin Pearson:She's back. She's not a ghost. It's great.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah.
Colin Pearson:It's really weird that we're at the end of the season. We're at the end of the school year.
Kylee Tabler:We're getting 1 year older.
Colin Pearson:This is our last episode for this school year.
Kylee Tabler:1 year closer to graduation, Colin. Can you believe it?
Colin Pearson:It's so weird. Don't make me think about that. You know what else is weird, though? We are at the 1 year anniversary of checking that.
Kylee Tabler:Oh, my gosh. I'm so sentimental.
Colin Pearson:Wild and crazy and Yeah. Amazing. It's great. It's awesome. So this episode, we wanted to talk about the tournament.
Colin Pearson:We wanna recap that. We wanna talk a little bit about some of the players that are gonna do big things in the NBA, WNBA. We wanna talk about some of the coaching changes. Mhmm. Just any of the big news that's going on right at this end of the season, Mark.
Colin Pearson:And then next fall, we're gonna come right back in. We're gonna go ahead and talk about, you know, conference realignment, which is gonna be insane.
Kylee Tabler:Got me barfing over here.
Colin Pearson:It's gonna be insane, though. I mean, think about, like, Arizona and the big twelve.
Kylee Tabler:The big twelve's
Kylee Tabler:about to
Colin Pearson:go that for a second. Think about Texas and Oklahoma and the SEC.
Kylee Tabler:About to go absolutely brazy.
Colin Pearson:Think about UCLA women's in the big tent.
Kylee Tabler:I mean,
Kylee Tabler:this is
Kylee Tabler:think about any conference realignment in the big tent because I'm still not happy about it. I will never be happy about it. And I've also be
Colin Pearson:a little excited.
Kylee Tabler:And I've also you know, we gotta keep in mind the potential of adding Clemson and FSU to the big 10.
Colin Pearson:And And that may be a conversation this fall as well.
Kylee Tabler:Who knows? Me barf.
Colin Pearson:Who knows? But we're gonna talk about that. We're gonna talk about coaching changes in the fall. We'll talk about transfer portal. We'll talk about the big recruits.
Kylee Tabler:And then
Kylee Tabler:be a lot of stuff happening this summer. We'll be collecting info.
Colin Pearson:This summer is gonna be a crazy time. We might do an episode. We'll see. Probably not.
Kylee Tabler:I feel like it'd be fun if we can all coordinate our schedules and all get up here.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. So no promises, but you guys might have a
Kylee Tabler:A special episode.
Colin Pearson:A notification on your Spotify or Apple Music that, hey, a new Check the Net podcast episode dropped
Kylee Tabler:all of
Colin Pearson:a sudden.
Kylee Tabler:Randomly Sprouts at some point in July. Who knows?
Colin Pearson:Who really knows, folks? Anyways, shall we just get right into it? Talk about the women's basketball tournament?
Kylee Tabler:Yes. Because
Colin Pearson:Kylie, I know you're excited to
Kylee Tabler:talk about this. Excited because a 100%, like, fully, this was this tournament so much better than men's tournament.
Colin Pearson:Yeah.
Kylee Tabler:And I don't think it's even close. I know I definitely also said this exact same thing last year, but it's just factually true. Like, this one was so much more interesting. I I've seen so much stuff. I think Cameron Brink came out and was talking about how people have been saying, I can name 5 women's players.
Kylee Tabler:I can name 5 men's college basketball players. And I'm like And it's so true. It's so true. Like, I could because like, we could because we go to if I attend school, we, like, go to basketball game all the time. I could name Michigan State's entire roster.
Colin Pearson:Yeah.
Kylee Tabler:But that's because we go here.
Colin Pearson:Yes.
Kylee Tabler:But, like, if I was just some random person, I don't think I could name 5. I could name a couple, probably, like, your big names. But, like, for women's wrestle, there's so many prominent players this year. So it's made it even more enjoyable to watch them all go decently and relatively far in the tournament because they all did
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Kylee Tabler:With, like, the exception of a few upsets kinda early on. But I mean, it's just been so much fun to watch this tournament.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. The women's tournament had big names compared to the men's tournament who had Zack Eady. Womp. Womp.
Kylee Tabler:You know?
Colin Pearson:You you talk about the big names on the men's 1st women's side. Women's had so many big names, and it's we're gonna talk about a lot of them. You know? Mhmm. But, like, truly a fun tournament.
Colin Pearson:Not a whole lot of upsets on either side this year
Kylee Tabler:No.
Colin Pearson:Which was really interesting, even when you got towards the finals. But it was just a lot of fun. The women's tournament had some of the best basketball games I've ever watched.
Kylee Tabler:Oh my gosh.
Colin Pearson:Yes. Mhmm. We'll talk about it a little bit later, but also some of the most watched women's basketball games ever Yes. Which was really cool. Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:And, yeah. Let's get right into it with the biggest up upsets and best games. Kylie, you had a few written down.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. I have a couple of the big upsets. The main one, that I do wanna talk about is Middle Tennessee versus Louisville. I did call that one in on my bracket. I don't know if I mentioned it on the livestream.
Colin Pearson:That you did.
Kylee Tabler:I I called it. I was like, listen. Louisville, they had a decent like, a fairly good record. Like, I'm not gonna take that away, but just watching them play, like, I knew, like, just by I don't know if it's intuition or just, like I don't know. Maybe I'm just so smart.
Kylee Tabler:That I was like, there's no way they're making it out of the 1st round of the tournament. I just didn't see that team, like, having it in them. They can this year, they were consistently losing to good competition. So I was like, I and when you get to the tournament, you to be on, like, at your best, and I don't think their best was gonna be good enough to make it out of the first round.
Colin Pearson:So That's that's really true. But they did take down a very impressive Louisville team.
Kylee Tabler:Yes. They
Colin Pearson:did. That's important to know for sure.
Kylee Tabler:Tennessee for sure. I mean, they had a really hard fight and they they pulled it out which was super exciting. The other one I wanna talk about that I was really upset about because it absolutely demolished my bracket was Ohio State losing to Duke legitimately in the 2nd round. And I was like, I
Colin Pearson:That was awesome.
Kylee Tabler:It was great. It was a good upset. Like, I'm not gonna
Colin Pearson:It was it was a good game, you know, But
Kylee Tabler:Great upset.
Colin Pearson:Totally totally understand how you'd be just, like, a little bit surprised by it. You know?
Kylee Tabler:Just because Ohio State has a lot of talent on their team, and then it was just like, nah, man. And I was like, okay. Well, there goes my bracket. I had him in the finals. I'm like, oh.
Kylee Tabler:My friend had them winning in 2 different brackets.
Colin Pearson:Yeah.
Kylee Tabler:And I was like, girl, just so you know, it got they got, you know, demolished early. Yeah. So not fun. JC Sheldon, you will be missed. Good luck in the WNBA.
Colin Pearson:And then Duke had a really tough draw that next round, but they really kinda held UConn pretty They did. Pretty well too. They were it was a surprise for me at least
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:That they held them 5345 for a team like Yukon who is offensively one of the best teams in the country to only score 53 points is It's yeah. It's an impressive defense.
Kylee Tabler:Oh, yeah.
Colin Pearson:You know? And so, kudos kudos to Duke on that one.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. Anything for you, Colin?
Kylee Tabler:I'll
Colin Pearson:be honest. Those were kinda the ones I had picked out as well. Mhmm. I'd say if I had one more, it's probably LSU over UCLA.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. That one shocked me.
Colin Pearson:That one shocked me just a little bit. UCLA didn't impress me as much as LSU did throughout the year. Mhmm. LSU just had a much tougher record and seemed to be playing better against the top teams.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:But LSU also showed a lot of weakness against some of the lower teams.
Kylee Tabler:Right.
Colin Pearson:So I was a little bit worried about them about, them beating UCLA, and then they did and went up against Iowa in
Kylee Tabler:A rematch.
Colin Pearson:One of the best one of the best games of the tournament, truly.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. Watching the, UCLA LSU game, I it was so interesting. I think I'm so quick to call out refereeing. There was a lot of it was very foul heavy on youth on UCLA. Their guards got into foul trouble early, but I was just I don't know.
Kylee Tabler:I think it could've been closer if the disparity was a little more even, for fouls. But, I mean, that is what it is. You know, it's we're not gonna can't go back and change anything now, but it was still a really great game to watch. Came literally down to the wire. Like, it was so much fun.
Kylee Tabler:I could've gone either way in any scenario, but I think the key was their, UCLA's starting few guards fouling out in the Q4.
Colin Pearson:Oh, definitely. You know, you can't you can't foul out that early. And the refs were calling a lot. Don't get me wrong. But they were calling pretty evenly.
Colin Pearson:You know, across the board, they were calling both sides a lot, in my opinion, at least.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:I will say the the big thing the big picture with that was that foul at the end of the game, the offensive foul.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah.
Colin Pearson:The moving pick that was called with about 3 seconds left.
Kylee Tabler:That was, yeah, for Yukon?
Colin Pearson:For Yukon. Sorry. Yes.
Kylee Tabler:That was interesting. I agree with the call. Not because I'm a Yukon hater. Not because I, you know, am an Iowa lover. I watching it back the way that Aliyah Edwards, like, move she moved into it.
Kylee Tabler:She moved her shoulders. It was not lower body whatsoever.
Colin Pearson:It was a foul.
Kylee Tabler:It was upper body moving into it. And, like, crunch time like that And I know she's very experienced. She's a senior. Like, in Cruntella, you you have to go back to your fundamentals.
Colin Pearson:Mhmm.
Kylee Tabler:Because if she would've stayed set, they probably would have been scoring on that play. I mean, just true like, genuinely.
Colin Pearson:And if you're the ref, you know, you're it's a bad it's a bad situation whether you call it or you don't. You know? So you have to call it. You have to make that call. Because if you don't, everyone's gonna look back on that and be like even if Yukon, you know, especially if Yukon made that basket Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:Everyone's looking back on that and going, Yukon shouldn't have won. Right. And so, you know, that
Kylee Tabler:You just you know? And that to me, that was not a that was not a game deciding call.
Colin Pearson:No. Because UConn had a chance at a rebound off
Kylee Tabler:of
Colin Pearson:missed free throw even. Like, UConn had another chance and still did not get it. Yeah. And so
Kylee Tabler:because I know that was a huge, like, controversial thing. A lot of people are upset about it. You like, stuff like that. If you're calling that way the entire game, you have to stick with it. You can't just start letting it go when it's, like, down to the wire and, like, close
Colin Pearson:games like that. Exactly.
Kylee Tabler:Or else you're never gonna be able to referee at a high level again because people are gonna see that and be, like, yeah. No.
Colin Pearson:Exactly. And it is interesting. More people were talking about that on Monday than about the actual national than about the men's national championship that night.
Kylee Tabler:Oh, yeah. Like,
Colin Pearson:way more people were talking about the or even yeah. On Monday, that final 4 game that happened on Friday.
Kylee Tabler:Oh, yeah.
Colin Pearson:It just really interesting to me how the media kinda took over with that as well and kinda
Kylee Tabler:It was made
Colin Pearson:it controversial almost.
Kylee Tabler:Right.
Colin Pearson:But that's psychology, and I'm not. I'm an engineer.
Kylee Tabler:It real. Like, we don't study that. So it's like, I don't know. I just know what I think, and I think it's a fair call. So hate me if you want, but I'm sticking by it.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Kylie, let's talk some teams that kinda over performed in this bracket. Teams that performed a lot better than you thought they would. Mhmm. Kylie, I know you've got, one written down.
Colin Pearson:1 written down.
Kylee Tabler:I have one in mind as well, but I'll I'll just
Colin Pearson:talk about
Kylee Tabler:do you do you wanna speak on the one I have written down?
Colin Pearson:Oh, no. Okay. Go for it.
Kylee Tabler:I had I
Colin Pearson:had a different one.
Kylee Tabler:So Oh, okay. I have Yukon. So I just didn't think that, they were gonna make it past some of the some of the people that they played genuinely. I knew they're gonna make it a few rounds, like, don't get me wrong, but I just didn't think that they were gonna make it past was it USC that they played?
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Wait. Yes. Wait. Yes.
Colin Pearson:Yes. Yeah.
Kylee Tabler:I just didn't think they're gonna make it past, USC genuinely. And so, yeah, in my eyes, they they over performed, which I guess I should never doubt Gino Auriemma in in in crunch time in March. So that's my own fault, on that one, but I definitely just didn't think they're gonna make it out of their side of the bracket and into the final 4. I knew they were probably gonna do well. But, also, it just always worries me with, like, the amount of injuries that team has sustained over the entire year losing.
Kylee Tabler:And they have such a short bench, so I genuinely thought that their short bench was gonna get them into trouble. Because if they were gonna get a foul And it did
Colin Pearson:it in the final 4. Mhmm. But
Kylee Tabler:It didn't, oh, there was another a freeway game it was.
Colin Pearson:Against Duke as well.
Kylee Tabler:Yes. Was it, with KK Arnold? Yes. Arnold had, like, 3 or 4 fouls in the first half. And it's, like, okay.
Kylee Tabler:Well, now you only have 1 or 2 other options on the bench to be able to, like, put her put them in, but they couldn't take her out. So, I mean, they just ran into so many issues in that regard. So that made me worried about their longevity, but they proved me wrong. And I'm happy they did, because I do like watching them play. They're a very fun fundamental team to watch.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. They're gonna be a really interesting one next year.
Kylee Tabler:They're losing a decent amount of people.
Colin Pearson:They are, but it's UConn they recruit, like, insane. Oh, yeah. And Paige Becker is sticking around.
Kylee Tabler:Huge help for them.
Colin Pearson:Huge.
Kylee Tabler:That's that's that's your leader coming back.
Colin Pearson:Not expect that. I'll be completely honest.
Kylee Tabler:I'm happy. I'm happy she she deserves more years of college basketball because of the injuries she sustained that took her out of it. She's such a fun player to watch.
Colin Pearson:Yeah.
Kylee Tabler:She's such an efficient player. Like, she's not this like, she scores, so human, but she's not this big scorer all the time. She's efficient on defense, the boards, assists, and she's just so impactful and fun to watch.
Colin Pearson:Across the court, no matter where she's at, she's
Kylee Tabler:Yes.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Making an impact.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:I'll say my team. I had Oregon State written down. Okay. That's not written down, but just in
Kylee Tabler:my mind. Not at all the one you had in your head.
Colin Pearson:I have a feeling I
Kylee Tabler:You probably know. You
Colin Pearson:probably know.
Kylee Tabler:Yo. Yeah.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Yeah. I had a feeling. Mhmm. Oregon State really surprised me.
Colin Pearson:Mhmm. Particularly with their wins against Nebraska and Notre Dame.
Kylee Tabler:Yes. Notre Dame, especially.
Colin Pearson:Notre Dame, especially, but even Nebraska, like,
Kylee Tabler:I thought Nebraska would make it further than
Colin Pearson:what they did. Oregon State's a 3 seed, you know, but they just they played such a tough season against Pac 12 teams. I wasn't really sure. They they seemed to get a lot of their seating from their strength of schedule rather than from, you know, bigger out of conference wins.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:And so I was a little skeptical, and they proved me wrong. They proved me wrong all day of the week. You know? They they went up and, put 10 points or not put 10 points. Beat Nebraska by 10 points, then proceeded to beat Notre Dame by 5 in what was a what ended up being really great game.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:And then they competed well against South Carolina, which is crazy in the elite day.
Kylee Tabler:Yes.
Colin Pearson:They lost to South Carolina, which really what a what a game anyways, You know? But that's just a team that I didn't expect going as far as they did. They don't have, like, a ton of, like, crazy big names on their team. They don't have Mm-mm. The hype.
Colin Pearson:But they they were good. They were fun to watch.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. No. I agree.
Colin Pearson:It's definitely gonna hurt them next year with conference realignment.
Kylee Tabler:Well,
Colin Pearson:being in the West Coast Conference Yeah. With only Gonzaga as their strength of skill.
Kylee Tabler:They're big. I think her name's Regan Beers is entered the transfer portal.
Colin Pearson:Yes.
Kylee Tabler:So that's gonna hurt them. She's a tough player. I think that'll hurt them a little bit for sure.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. She she has.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. So it'll be interesting to see. Yeah. Colin, I also was thinking about NC State. I just didn't think they were gonna get over, beating Sanford.
Kylee Tabler:And they did. So They they did. Good for them.
Colin Pearson:Really impressive. Yes. Especially, and we'll we'll talk about this in a second, but ending a very, very long and outstanding career by a certain No. Head coach of Stanford.
Kylee Tabler:Gonna get me all sad up in here.
Colin Pearson:We'll we'll get into that in a little bit.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. But, I was just really they were very impressive in the tournament. I knew they were gonna be a a tough team, but I just didn't think they're gonna make it as far as what they did. So yeah. They're fun to watch.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Absolutely. Biggest impact players.
Kylee Tabler:Yes.
Colin Pearson:I know we've talked about a few of these. Caitlin Clark is obviously
Kylee Tabler:I mean, come on.
Colin Pearson:It's hard not to mention her.
Kylee Tabler:It is tough.
Colin Pearson:The the Caitlin Clark effect is known around the country.
Kylee Tabler:Yes. I will say her performance in that national championship game was very interesting. She looked great in the Q1 and then after that, I feel like she was a a non factor.
Colin Pearson:She wasn't a non factor, but she definitely didn't score as much.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. But then, I mean, at the same time though, Iowa wasn't really scoring that much either, like, in general. True.
Colin Pearson:That's true.
Kylee Tabler:So, I think she just, yeah, became much more of a non factor than what she had been previously.
Colin Pearson:See, I just look at the final four game
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:Where she wasn't even the top scorer on Iowa.
Kylee Tabler:No. Her assists are what went crazy.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Her assists went crazy, but I stuck Hannah Stokke in there, who was the top scorer that day for Iowa. Mhmm. Because she was shooting like crazy all tournament. Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:And she was a great backup that, I'll be honest, wasn't completely on my radar. There were a few Iowa players I expected to be the backup, and Hannah Stalky was not one of them. Mhmm. Hannah Stokke is a freshman, I believe. Sophomore.
Colin Pearson:Sophomore? Yeah. So she's got a few more years.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:But she was fun to watch, and very impressive player, definitely adding to the WNBA stock there.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. She she and she will only get better. Yes. She will only get better from here.
Colin Pearson:No question. Even without Caitlin Clark, I think she may be the next leader of that Iowa team.
Kylee Tabler:She probably will. I mean, they're losing almost their entire team. They are. So, I mean, she this is, like, the time where, you know, she she's gonna be able to step in the leadership role and rally and take these girls and say, listen. Like, we we've got a reputation to uphold and quote Abby Lee Miller, and it's time to go out and still rock it in the Big 10.
Kylee Tabler:Because Big 10 is such a tough conference for basketball and my entire team. And it's only getting tougher. Adding in UCLA, USC. Oregon. Oregon.
Kylee Tabler:No. Oregon's entire team's in the transfer portal right now.
Colin Pearson:Oh, never mind.
Kylee Tabler:Their entire team is gone. And the only reason why I know this is because
Colin Pearson:okay.
Kylee Tabler:They were okay. The only reason why I know that is because one of the girls I used to play against what was at Oregon and now she's in the transfer portal. So a lot of people funneled in. So that'll be interesting. But adding in just literally UCLA and USC makes the big 10, like, 20 times more difficult.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. Those are like Those are those are 2 of the top, like, top 10 teams in college basketball in general.
Colin Pearson:Just at all college basketball, men's or women's. UCLA was a 2 seed. USC was a 1 seed.
Kylee Tabler:Like, I mean, come on. You're adding 2 big teams into the big ten. So
Colin Pearson:yeah. The only other team in the big ten who was at that level this year was Ohio State. Yes. And Iowa, but Iowa's losing. Most of the people is what we were talking about.
Kylee Tabler:Yes. So, yeah. So it'll be interesting to see how some teams re recoup in this off season, kinda rebuild, and Definitely. Go from there. Yeah.
Kylee Tabler:Anyone who else you got?
Colin Pearson:Yeah. I got, Camila Cardoza from South Carolina. My girl. She was obviously a big player all tournament. Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:Huge score. I've got Paige Becker's hard not to talk about her.
Kylee Tabler:Talk about her either.
Colin Pearson:Especially coming back from those injuries that she had last year or the year before that. She has really proven herself to be, yet again, one of the best in the country. Yes. And I think that one more year that she's choosing to take in college is going to be a huge help
Kylee Tabler:to Oh, yeah.
Kylee Tabler:She'll be in she'll be a number on overall.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. It's it's hard to argue that unless something crazy happens. You know?
Kylee Tabler:Which I don't know if it will.
Colin Pearson:Let's let's hope not. But
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. I mean, she I mean, like, she's just so good. She's just so good. Like, I can't
Colin Pearson:She is one of those players that sets the momentum for the entire game, not just her team, but the other team as well. Yeah. And if the other team can't compete with that, which most of the time they can't Mhmm. UConn takes over because of Page Backers.
Kylee Tabler:Oh, yeah. A 100%.
Colin Pearson:You know, Iowa could compete with that. That was
Kylee Tabler:Yes. Yes.
Colin Pearson:But even then, it was a 2 point game.
Kylee Tabler:Right. It wasn't this blowout or
Kylee Tabler:Yeah.
Colin Pearson:So Came down to some fouls at the end and some free throws. You know? It didn't come down to,
Kylee Tabler:you know And I think free throws is the reason that UConn lost. They missed so many free throws.
Colin Pearson:They did. And that's that's foundational, but that's also an easy fix.
Kylee Tabler:Right. Not even here's the thing though, is that I don't know if free throws are an easy fix because I think it comes down to, like, your head space a lot of the time. Like, you can practice them as many times as you want, but when you're in that crunch time, in that head space, like, in those close games, you I mean, it's it's you. Like, you have got to take it upon yourself.
Colin Pearson:But now you've been in that headspace. You've been in those close games. And that's that's where you see improvement is. And that's why you see some of these teams, you know, repeating their big runs.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:It's because they've been there before. Yeah. You know, it's harder for a brand new team or a young team to make a long run because they don't know the pressure of being on that stage until they get
Kylee Tabler:there. Which, I mean, you watch a an entirely young, South Carolina team completely made there.
Kylee Tabler:So
Kylee Tabler:maybe maybe that theory doesn't
Colin Pearson:prove true for all teams. Okay? But Yeah. In general Yeah. Yeah.
Colin Pearson:That is a pattern we tend to see. Mhmm. For example, Kentucky on the men's side.
Kylee Tabler:We'll talk about them later. But Yeah. That's
Colin Pearson:that's, that's for a little bit later down the line.
Kylee Tabler:Oh, yeah.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. So that's those are some big Impact players. Kylie, you got any more?
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. I mean, I don't I don't I'm gonna pronounce her name wrong, and I'm so sorry. Is it Azziah? Azziah? Don't know.
Kylee Tabler:Okay. Azziah James from NC State. I'm so sorry if I pronounce it wrong. I'm so sorry. Ballin'.
Kylee Tabler:She balled so good in the tournament. I mean, she let led them to a she essentially led them to a final 4.
Colin Pearson:She is the reason they were in the
Kylee Tabler:final 4. Looked so good throughout the tournament. I mean, she was their biggest impact player. And then I'm gonna take a look at some I keep smacking my face on the mic. That's my own fault, though.
Kylee Tabler:And then I am gonna take a look at some, Impact freshmen for South Carolina.
Colin Pearson:Oh, okay.
Kylee Tabler:Look at Maysha Fulwylie. She has been an an Impact player throughout the entire season. She's so fast, so athletic. Like, she increases the pace of the game, like, insane, like, insane. She was so fun to watch.
Kylee Tabler:Watching her be aggressive, watching her shoot, I mean, it was great. However, I was even more impressed with Tessa Johnson, especially in that national championship game. Just shooting with so much confidence. And as a freshman, that is so impressive.
Colin Pearson:That Jake
Kylee Tabler:Law. Yeah. So good in, in those last few games. You can tell she really gained momentum and felt more comfortable on the court. And I think that she was a huge part of the reason why South Carolina won that game.
Colin Pearson:Absolutely.
Kylee Tabler:So kinda calling, you know, giving props to them. They did a really great job. I mean, their entire team did an amazing job. I mean, Raven Johnson, Bree Hall, having to having to guard, Caitlin Clark is not easy. And they did an amazing job of guarding her.
Kylee Tabler:I mean, I could not have asked, like if I was Dawn Steely, there's nothing more I could have asked from those girls when guarding the best scorer in the country, to be fair. In women's basketball history. Basketball history. Like, it like, you can't ask anymore from them, and they did absolutely amazing. What's super duper fun about this South Carolina team is they have 2 seniors, that are leaving.
Kylee Tabler:Tia Nina Popow's coming back for another year.
Colin Pearson:That's true.
Kylee Tabler:She's a senior, so she's coming back. But I believe that they are retaining the rest of their team. I don't know if Sekima Walker has
Colin Pearson:Oh gosh.
Kylee Tabler:Announced if she's coming back yet or not. Kindly That's right now the only one I Are
Colin Pearson:you claiming we're going back to backs with South Carolina here?
Kylee Tabler:I think there's a good chance. Oh gosh. All all I know is Camila Cardoza is going to the WNBA draft. She will easily easily a top five pick, potentially probably a top 3 pick at after this national championship. Yeah.
Kylee Tabler:So
Colin Pearson:I'd say she's probably 3 or 4.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. She's she's been bouncing between 34.
Kylee Tabler:So
Colin Pearson:It just depends on what team ends up with that pick and
Kylee Tabler:Yes.
Colin Pearson:What they need Yes. Out of a player.
Kylee Tabler:So I cannot wait already for next basketball season.
Colin Pearson:It's gonna be gonna be awesome. Yes. So, let's talk best stories from the tournament. Yeah. So I'm gonna go first, if you don't mind.
Kylee Tabler:Oh, go for it.
Colin Pearson:I wanna talk about some of the viewership because that is, in my opinion, one of the best stories from this tournament.
Kylee Tabler:Yes.
Colin Pearson:Absolutely. And, like, it kinda highlights all of the other stories ish a little bit.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah.
Colin Pearson:But Iowa versus LSU, the elite 8 game, not a final 4 game, you know, the national championship rematch, of course, but an elite 8 game was, at the time, the most watched college basketball women's college basketball game ever with an average of 12,300,000 viewers, which is more than every single NBA game last year except for game 5 of the finals.
Kylee Tabler:That's so funny.
Colin Pearson:Every single regular season college football game except for Ohio State versus Michigan.
Kylee Tabler:Hey, man. Props to we love a good rivalry here in the Midwest.
Colin Pearson:Look. Iowa LSU was a phenomenal game. Mhmm. Truly enhanced the sport, beating records. That that record was topped in the final 4, but I wanna talk about the championship, which compared to the 12,300,000 viewers for Iowa LSU, the national championship game between Iowa and South Carolina topped 18,900,000 viewers
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:Peaked at 24,100,000 viewers for the final 15 minutes.
Kylee Tabler:Yes.
Colin Pearson:And it was the 2nd most watched non Olympic women's sporting event in history, trailing only the 2015 Women's World Cup final between the US and Japan. Yeah. That is insane. Yeah. It's so cool.
Colin Pearson:So cool to
Kylee Tabler:see that. It's great. I mean, women's college basketball is finally getting the recognition it deserves. I mean but you've got some insane players coming out the word work word woodwork. Jeez.
Kylee Tabler:Coming out the woodwork. So
Colin Pearson:I'm just Flipping up on your words, sir. Kinda be good.
Kylee Tabler:It's been a long day. But some phenomenal players coming into the college scene and really making a strong impact, and there's a lot of people that are now realizing that. And I mean, you can give props to so many different players that especially this this WNBA draft class has it's gotta be one of it if one of the, if not the most influential group of women in college basketball ever. Ever. So big props to them for bringing more recognition to the game, and I just really hope that the recognition stays.
Kylee Tabler:I think it will. And And I hope that it carries over to the WNBA as well.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. Definitely gotta hope for that. You know?
Colin Pearson:Mhmm. The one question I have with that, and I didn't write this down, you know, but I wanna note that Caitlin Clark was offered $5,000,000 to join, Ice Cube's 3v3 league with a bunch of top NBA players. It's called the big 3, and it would not affect her ability to play in the WNBA. So she'd be able to do both Yeah. But it would definitely take away from the WNBA's viewership because Caitlin Clark is now competing against the top men's players in the NBA in a 3v3 tournament somewhere in the middle of the summer.
Kylee Tabler:Randomly at some point. Yeah.
Colin Pearson:And she would offer $5,000,000 to do that compared to what her rookie salary would be in the WNBA of, like, 700,000. Yeah. Not even.
Kylee Tabler:Not yeah. That's that's why that's pushing it. Yeah.
Colin Pearson:So the question is whether she'd do it. I don't know. Personal opinion, I don't see why not. Right. You know, worst case scenario, you, you know, you don't play your best because you're playing up against the top NBA players, and you're brand new to the WNBA.
Kylee Tabler:Right.
Colin Pearson:Best case scenario, you go and smoke a bunch of NBA players Yeah. And the Pistons draft you next year.
Kylee Tabler:Real. Oh, no. So true. I think I here's here's the thing. I think the thing with that is she is gonna be under such a close eye if she has that tournament.
Kylee Tabler:Because
Colin Pearson:a lot of pressure with that.
Kylee Tabler:There are so many haters out there who wanna talk about how, random people who oh, I I played 1 year of JV high school basketball and I could be Caitlin Clark. Like, that's that's what I think would be the biggest thing with her maybe steering away from that and wanting to bring the viewership to the WNBA.
Colin Pearson:I can see that for sure.
Kylee Tabler:And I will respect her decision no matter what she decides to do. Good props to her and props to a lot of these women's basketball players. Because I don't know if I could handle hearing comments like that all the time, and then just, you know, everyone's completely discounting my talent constantly.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. I think there's definitely been less discounting after this tournament than after,
Kylee Tabler:you
Colin Pearson:know, last year's tournament. Yeah. Definitely a little bit less discounting, but still lots of it.
Kylee Tabler:Lots of it. And yeah. And I don't know if that's ever gonna stop. I hope it stops at some point and people recognize just how extremely talented women's basketball players are because they are so talented. It is an entirely different game than men's basketball.
Kylee Tabler:In my opinion, it's more fundamental. In my opinion, it's more aggressive.
Colin Pearson:Especially now. It used to be on the men's side, but it's not. It's transitioned out of that.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm. And so Fundamental, aggressive, and based upon this tournament, exciting.
Colin Pearson:Fast paced.
Kylee Tabler:Yes. You
Colin Pearson:know, high scoring sometimes. Yeah. High energy. You know?
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. So It's
Colin Pearson:not just you're tall.
Kylee Tabler:Right. Who
Colin Pearson:who Sorry. That that hit a nerve with Kylie. The look on her face
Kylee Tabler:just changed.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. No. That's so real.
Colin Pearson:Kylie, that's not allowed for your full court press.
Kylee Tabler:It's gonna be. Sorry. I know it is. I'm just kidding. Yeah.
Kylee Tabler:So I'll my story, I was gonna talk about a couple of things, but I think I'm just gonna talk about how, how there's there are so many great story lines in this tournament and how I wished all of them could have worked out. And in the end, not all of them could work out because when it came to the end, it was either you got that perfect season or you
Colin Pearson:got can't repeat.
Kylee Tabler:Can't repeat.
Colin Pearson:Iowa can't win.
Kylee Tabler:Caitlin Clark can't win a national championship or South Carolina can't Complete that perfect season.
Colin Pearson:Paige Beckers can't
Kylee Tabler:can't win a national championship. Yukon can't tack another championship on. Like Yeah. If all of them could have happened simultaneously, I would have been so happy, but they can't. So I'm gonna talk about
Colin Pearson:single elimination tournament, man. Make it double no. I'm just kidding.
Kylee Tabler:Oh my goodness. No. I'm just gonna address how happy I was about the South Carolina, perfect season. Completely their perfect season. It just it just shows how great of a coach John Staley is.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm. And and how much how much she cares about her players. It's very it's very evident listening to her speak, how much she cares about her players, how she lets them be themselves, but how she'll hold them accountable for the culture that they've built at South Carolina. And she will never budge on the culture, which, as you can see, has been producing so many success stories. And her coming in losing 5 starters, I think she lost one of her first men off the bench as well Yep.
Kylee Tabler:All to the WNBA. I loved that starting 5. I loved I loved watching them play.
Kylee Tabler:They
Colin Pearson:were incredibly impressive.
Kylee Tabler:Yes. They were so good. And losing all of them and having to completely bounce back with an entirely new group of people as your starters, it's so impressive being able to coach that. And being able to coach a perfect season, nonetheless, is even more impressive. She is a 109 and 3 in the past 3 years of of basketball.
Colin Pearson:That is absurd.
Kylee Tabler:Yes. Like, she, like, she's that girl. Like, I mean, genuinely. And, I would give literally anything to be coached by her for one day, at least. Even 1 hour, I I would I would do anything.
Kylee Tabler:So big props to her and super exciting to complete that storyline. I would I hope they go back to back. That's all I can say. I hope they go back to back. I hope they're able to do it again this year.
Colin Pearson:It would be crazy. Mhmm. But spotlight's on them now.
Kylee Tabler:Oh, yeah.
Colin Pearson:You know, they had a scare right at the end of the regular season. In this tournament.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. They're conference tournament.
Colin Pearson:During conference tournament, they had to require or rely on
Kylee Tabler:Camila Cardoza.
Colin Pearson:3 point shooting Camila Cardoza for a
Kylee Tabler:The final shot.
Colin Pearson:A buzzer beater 3 pointer, which she made.
Kylee Tabler:Oh, yeah. It's great.
Colin Pearson:But holy cow was it close, miss. No.
Kylee Tabler:It was so close.
Colin Pearson:It quite literally came down to a buzzer beater to keep that perfect season alive.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm. And they did it. And they did it. Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:I also wanna quick mention Tara Van Der Veer, Stanford's coach, who is retiring.
Kylee Tabler:Amazing career.
Colin Pearson:Now the winningest coach in college basketball history, men's or women's. Mhmm. Just crazy. Very impressive.
Kylee Tabler:Just just, you know, an all time great. Like Yeah. Like, really. Impossible to replace
Colin Pearson:for Stanford.
Kylee Tabler:Oh, yeah. Has done really great things Yeah. There. Many championships.
Colin Pearson:I can't say I'm surprised.
Kylee Tabler:No. I get it.
Colin Pearson:Because especially with the move to the ACC Mhmm. You know, that just changes it changes everything. And that's hard to adjust to, when you've been coaching for as long as Tara Van Der Veer has
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm. You
Colin Pearson:know, it's there's a time. And that that time Is now? Is now, I suppose. Very impressive.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Kylee Tabler:I hope she enjoys her retirement. She earned it. She earned it.
Colin Pearson:She will probably be back for broadcasting
Kylee Tabler:the tournament next year.
Colin Pearson:How much do you wanna be back?
Kylee Tabler:I would love to listen to her. Are you kidding? So yeah. Yeah. I'll be excited.
Colin Pearson:So that's awesome.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:Let's switch to the men's side because we have kinda rambled a little bit about the women.
Kylee Tabler:Because it's so exciting and
Colin Pearson:the men's head story. Talk about and the men's really doesn't.
Kylee Tabler:So we're
Colin Pearson:probably gonna spend, like, half the amount of time on the men's side because there's just not as much to talk about. It was a boring tournament. You know, there weren't a whole lot of close games. The ones that there were didn't matter to the final.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:You know? And the final seemed set from the beginning. Let's be honest.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. And I hate it. We I mean, I knew listen. I'm telling you right now. I knew that champion was gonna win.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Anyone who I know you knew Yukon was gonna win. Yeah. I manifested them not, and it didn't work. It backfired on you.
Colin Pearson:It absolutely backfired on me. My bracket was terrible.
Kylee Tabler:Mine was 2. I it's, just a just a second. I beat Colin in brackets again. Not by much. But I did.
Kylee Tabler:My bracket was trash.
Colin Pearson:But You only beat me because Yukon won. If Purdue had won, you would not have beat me.
Kylee Tabler:Correct. But I beat you. So
Colin Pearson:I would just like to comment that means my first, second, 3rd rounds were all better. Oh, yeah. No. It just happened to come down to my final 4 did not end up.
Kylee Tabler:Oh, mine didn't either. I had one final 4 team left.
Colin Pearson:I know you did. And that won. That won it for you. Congratulations.
Kylee Tabler:Yes. Well, because I my half of my final four lost at the same night. I was like, I'm done. Oh, gosh. Yeah.
Kylee Tabler:Because it's when so we just preface, we went to the suite 16 in Detroit.
Colin Pearson:We did.
Kylee Tabler:All 3 of us, actually. Derek's not here, but he was there as well. And then we went with a couple of our friends and,
Colin Pearson:Eli from our live broadcast was there.
Kylee Tabler:Yep. And one of our other friends, Oliver Slay, we we went and, I had to watch Crate and Lose. Yep. So upset. I was so upset.
Colin Pearson:Go Vols.
Kylee Tabler:And then they lost. Go Vols.
Colin Pearson:They won the game I was at. All I'm all I'm gonna say maybe I'm their good luck charm.
Kylee Tabler:Maybe. But I had to watch them lose. And then at the very same time, Houston lost. There were that was 2 of my my final four teams just gone.
Colin Pearson:Really tough.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. Really tough one. That's a tough one. Yeah. But,
Colin Pearson:Iowa State also lost.
Kylee Tabler:Didn't they lose it? Wasn't the no. It was the day before.
Colin Pearson:It was the day before. Yeah. I I had nothing left to cheer for at that point
Kylee Tabler:Yeah.
Colin Pearson:In my bracket. Oh, yeah. I was I was having fun rooting for Tennessee.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. We all picked teams to root for by the magical spinning wheel. I ended up getting Creighton because manifesting was on my side, I guess.
Colin Pearson:Yes.
Kylee Tabler:So I was so happy.
Colin Pearson:I got Tennessee, which I'm perfectly happy about. I would have been happy with Gonzaga too, but it's okay. Tennessee won, so now I have some
Kylee Tabler:Neither one of us got Purdue, and that's all I could hope for.
Colin Pearson:Yeah.
Kylee Tabler:Do you
Colin Pearson:wanna tell the story about the Purdue?
Kylee Tabler:We can tell the story. Yeah.
Colin Pearson:So, Oliver is who got Purdue, our friend Oliver. And so what we did
Kylee Tabler:None of us wanted to wear Purdue.
Colin Pearson:To wear Purdue. None of us were gonna buy a Purdue March Madness shirt. None of us wanted that, you know. We just it's the big ten rival. We we can't stand up.
Colin Pearson:So instead, what Oliver did was we picked up a referee jersey, and Yep. He wore it into the stadium.
Kylee Tabler:He wore it. Yeah.
Colin Pearson:That was great. Yeah. That Yeah. You know, support their best player and
Kylee Tabler:Literally. Call it a day. Call it a day. Before we move on, though, I do have to mention, because I did get a phone call the other day, Brady beat me this year in brackets. Impressive.
Kylee Tabler:And now I have to talk about how I'm crying and sobbing right now because he beat me, and he made me cry. And
Colin Pearson:She's got tears rolling down her face
Kylee Tabler:on the other side of the table. So,
Colin Pearson:She's very sad.
Kylee Tabler:Brady, shout out. I'm coming for you next year. I will be winning. Yep. Next year, we're putting money on it, and I'm winning.
Colin Pearson:So You're putting money on it. Woah.
Kylee Tabler:I will put my entire paycheck on it.
Colin Pearson:Dang.
Kylee Tabler:Not a lot.
Colin Pearson:Can I get in on that?
Kylee Tabler:Are you gonna put your paycheck on it? No. Okay. Then no.
Colin Pearson:I'll I'll take your paycheck if I win not.
Kylee Tabler:No. But so yeah. We talk about biggest upsets and best games.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Let's talk about that. Okay. Because this is definitely our longest segment here
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:For this one. Biggest upset, hard hard to not talk about Oakland, Kentucky.
Kylee Tabler:I called it. I called it. The one upset that I picked one of the upsets I picked the first one, that was the only one that went, and I called it.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. And it was it was a good upset.
Kylee Tabler:Oh, so great. Kentucky can't play defense.
Colin Pearson:Kentucky can't play defense.
Kylee Tabler:Oakland plays great offense.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Oakland Jack Gohlke with
Kylee Tabler:10 plays insane.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Hard to beat that one.
Kylee Tabler:You can't.
Colin Pearson:That that's the one. Another one where
Kylee Tabler:Called that one too, actually.
Colin Pearson:Saint Mary's didn't can't play defense. Grand Canyon, one of the best offenses in the country. I think
Kylee Tabler:we all 3 of us called it.
Colin Pearson:We called that
Kylee Tabler:1 Yeah.
Colin Pearson:In advance as well. Mhmm. Phenomenal game. 1 of 1 of the better games in the first round, actually. One of the closer games, you know, super fun to watch.
Colin Pearson:Another one, Yale Auburn.
Kylee Tabler:Did not call that. You did call that.
Colin Pearson:I didn't. Only Kylie did not. Derek and I both said that this would be a possible one. We brought it up in the podcast last week as ghosts.
Kylee Tabler:Oh, yeah. As ghost ghosts. Yep. Yeah. No.
Kylee Tabler:I did
Colin Pearson:not call it long. Kylie did not call it, but No.
Kylee Tabler:Derek and I did. Did you put it on your bracket? Yes. Did you really?
Colin Pearson:Actually, I think I might have changed it.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. I think you changed it literally last minute because we talked about it.
Colin Pearson:That's right. It's on my initial bracket, though, because I did keep that one separate. Mhmm. It is on my initial bracket, which did better than my final bracket.
Kylee Tabler:Shoulda kept that one.
Colin Pearson:It it also had, Utah State in the final four, though. So
Kylee Tabler:I mean, I had them
Colin Pearson:It didn't do much better.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. I mean It
Colin Pearson:did, I think actually, I think it did almost exactly the same.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. At least it did better than your McNeese bracket.
Colin Pearson:Oh, shush. I don't wanna talk about that. Obviously, the biggest upset alternative was NC State, the 11th seed.
Kylee Tabler:Oh, yes. Just to get the final 4.
Colin Pearson:Insane run that they had.
Kylee Tabler:Bonkers that NC State, Yukon, both men's and women's teams were in the final 4.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. We only had 6 schools represented in the entire final 4.
Kylee Tabler:Insane. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. That was a good one.
Colin Pearson:Gotta love that.
Kylee Tabler:Wish they would've made to the finals. Yeah.
Colin Pearson:That's alright.
Kylee Tabler:We all we all wish.
Colin Pearson:I have 2 nominations for best game. Mhmm. Kylie, you have won.
Kylee Tabler:The only reason why it's best game, it's because that team lost.
Colin Pearson:Go for it.
Kylee Tabler:So I picked Kansas and Gonzaga
Colin Pearson:because It was a great game.
Kylee Tabler:Gonzaga won by 20. And that should have been Samford played in that game.
Kylee Tabler:It should've been Samford played in
Colin Pearson:that game.
Kylee Tabler:The rest absolutely sold that. Because that block, clean. So clean. I was sitting there with my Taco Bell and my Baja Blast, and I was like, you're lying.
Colin Pearson:And that will be a rule change next year. I'm calling it right now.
Kylee Tabler:To be if I'm Samford, I'm knocking on that door saying, uh-uh, because that would've been that's a game changer right there.
Colin Pearson:Yeah.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:I think it will be a rule change next year. Yes. Gotta feel bad for Samford in that one because they they had that.
Kylee Tabler:They had it. They had it. So, Retribution, Kansas losing by 20.
Kylee Tabler:Yes.
Kylee Tabler:To Gonzaga.
Kylee Tabler:Love that.
Kylee Tabler:So and Gonzaga turned up the heat in the turn. Like, they look good. They turned up the heat, looked a lot better than I thought they were going to. So applause to them.
Colin Pearson:My best two games, one of them we'll save the this one for later. But San Diego State, Alabama, Birmingham, you know, a Mountain West American Conference matchup. No one saw that matchup coming, but holy cow, was it a good game.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:San Diego State did end up on top, which good for them. You know, national runners up last year. Yeah. They also took down Yale in the next round. But Alabama Birmingham really showed a lot of strength there.
Colin Pearson:Mhmm. And I would say even more strength than Florida Atlantic did against Northwestern. You know, they both those two teams lost in the 1st round, but I will say the American was still showed out pretty strong in the in those two games Mhmm.
Kylee Tabler:Which is impressive.
Colin Pearson:It's really the best game of the first round, and and arguably the best game of the tournament. Florida versus Colorado is hard to argue against Oh, yeah. Because that game was just high scoring back and forth. Colorado ended up winning it with a little bit of an upset. They were in the first 4.
Colin Pearson:No one expected them to come this far. They won a 102 to a 100 without overtime.
Kylee Tabler:Which is so wack.
Colin Pearson:That game was all offense, no defense.
Kylee Tabler:Yay. Kentucky would have eaten it alive in that game.
Colin Pearson:I don't know if they would have because I don't I didn't see Kentucky scoring like that.
Kylee Tabler:That's some Alabama basketball right there.
Colin Pearson:That is Alabama level basketball. And we'll talk about them in a second.
Kylee Tabler:Yes. We
Colin Pearson:will. But holy cow, is that a good game? Mhmm. Not a whole lot of good games the rest of the tournament, though.
Kylee Tabler:No. Can we talk about how the Mountain West was such a disappointment and how we were hyping them up so hard? My dad texted me and said, I'm never trusting you again about talking about how bragging about the Mountain West. I picked all Mountain West teams, and you've steered me wrong every single time.
Colin Pearson:Look. They had 3 wins in the tournament. That's not terrible. That's not
Kylee Tabler:Not not not what we were expecting. I mean, do we literally were on the Mountain West hype train.
Colin Pearson:They had 6 teams in the tournament.
Kylee Tabler:We were on the Mountain West hype train.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. The Pac 12 had more wins in the tournament than the Wild West.
Kylee Tabler:So wack too. Because what in the
Colin Pearson:world All 4 Pac 12 teams made it
Kylee Tabler:out of the 1st round. Yeah. No.
Colin Pearson:That was not 2 of the no. 1 or 2 of those were first 4. Just 1. Right? I think just one.
Colin Pearson:Just Colorado. No. Oregon.
Kylee Tabler:They were not a first four team.
Colin Pearson:They were not. But they were they were lower seated
Kylee Tabler:and they still won it. An 11. Yeah. Yeah. And I did not have them winning.
Kylee Tabler:So
Colin Pearson:No. They beat South Carolina, though. Like, the Pac 12 wild surprises, they did not make it past the sweet 16. No. But they had a great first time.
Kylee Tabler:Made it farther than I thought.
Colin Pearson:Yep.
Kylee Tabler:So go them.
Colin Pearson:I did a little bit of ranking of conferences. And so, really, I don't think we should be as surprised as we are with this. Mhmm. But ACC was the top conference
Kylee Tabler:out there. Got me rolling my eyes in the back of my head right now.
Colin Pearson:In this tournament Yeah. Big 10 was probably second.
Kylee Tabler:To be fair, I think the Big 10 performed better than I
Colin Pearson:thought they were going to. We had 4 of the 6 teams move on to the 2nd round.
Kylee Tabler:I know.
Colin Pearson:2 of those move on to the elite 8, and 1 in the championship. Like, that's impressive.
Kylee Tabler:A lot better than I thought they were gonna do. I think if Illinois had come up against any other team, I think they would have been I agree. A final 14.
Colin Pearson:Yep. If they didn't have to play Yukon.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. And then get a absolutely dismanned.
Colin Pearson:Same with Northwestern.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. Well, no. Literally. That those poor, like, they're in a poor area. The, like, the area up there was awful.
Kylee Tabler:Like, I would never ever, like, those poor souls, I never would have wanted to be on that side. Iowa State, Yukon, Illinois, like, you're joking.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. You stick all of those and San Diego State
Kylee Tabler:for that better. You stacked that side.
Colin Pearson:Yeah.
Kylee Tabler:Like, come on.
Colin Pearson:And we thought BYU, but Duquesne Duquesne just came out and had fun.
Kylee Tabler:They didn't wanna keep playing, I guess.
Colin Pearson:Whatever, man. Yeah. You know? They're losing their coach now too
Kylee Tabler:Right.
Colin Pearson:To Kentucky.
Kylee Tabler:To Kentucky. That'll be
Colin Pearson:another story,
Kylee Tabler:but That'll be an interesting one.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. So, yeah, that's that's that.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:Teams overperforming. Alabama.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. I
Colin Pearson:agree. Over performed.
Kylee Tabler:Alabama, Clemson.
Colin Pearson:Especially compared to the rest of the SCC Mhmm. Who really they had 8 teams in the tournament, and 5 of those didn't make it out of the 1st
Kylee Tabler:round. Yeah. So they really carry
Colin Pearson:4 of those 5 were higher seats. Yeah. We're talking Auburn. We're talking South Carolina. We're talking, Kentucky.
Colin Pearson:And who was the other one that didn't make it? There was another one.
Kylee Tabler:I don't remember. I don't remember.
Colin Pearson:I'm looking. Hold on.
Kylee Tabler:I get sad looking at my breaks. So Florida. You're really, really upset. Yeah. Florida.
Colin Pearson:Florida didn't make it.
Kylee Tabler:I forgot. I forgot about them.
Colin Pearson:Did anyone expect Texas A&M to be the the one that made it out?
Kylee Tabler:No. No. Never.
Colin Pearson:Not not at all. How about Tennessee? We all expect them. Yes. We we can Yeah.
Colin Pearson:We can give it to them. Same with Alabama. We kind of expected them to do pretty well, but
Kylee Tabler:Yeah.
Kylee Tabler:But
Colin Pearson:We're not gonna comment on the fact that I had Charleston beating them in the 1st round.
Kylee Tabler:I don't think I did. I think I had them losing next though. So Yeah.
Colin Pearson:The entire a ten conference also completely over performed. Duquesne and Dayton both making it to the 2nd round.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm. Good for them.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Pretty awesome. You know?
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. I definitely will put Clemson in the overperforming category because I did not expect I did not expect that matchup to be was that was an elite eight matchup, wasn't it? Yeah. The elite eight matchup to be Alabama and Clemson. That's football.
Kylee Tabler:We're playing basketball right now. What happened? Yeah. What happened to America?
Colin Pearson:Alabama, Clemson, Purdue, Tennessee Yeah. Duke, NC State, and Yukon, Illinois. Just some of
Kylee Tabler:the wackiest matchups. And
Colin Pearson:these were all high seeds, you know, for the most part. For the most part. What?
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. How? How did that happen?
Colin Pearson:But I
Kylee Tabler:don't know. Hey, man. As long as, hey, UNC lost, Arizona lost, like, I'm happy.
Colin Pearson:It's it was weird.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. It was interesting.
Colin Pearson:But yeah. And then, Kylie, you said Purdue on this.
Kylee Tabler:I'm a hater.
Colin Pearson:So They're over performing. I can agree. No. I can totally
Kylee Tabler:agree. Think they did over perform. And then they got to the nanny, and then they completely underperformed. Everyone but Zach Eady underperformed to the max. They've never played worse.
Colin Pearson:Look. They, I'll be honest. I think they had a pretty easy run to the finals.
Kylee Tabler:They did. Besides Tennessee
Colin Pearson:They had to face Utah State, which we know that the Mountain West was not as good as we thought they would be. They dismantled Utah State. Yeah. They had to face Gonzaga. Didn't dismantle them, but
Kylee Tabler:It was a good game for a while. The end, it got away from it got away, but, like
Colin Pearson:Exactly. They struggled against Tennessee.
Kylee Tabler:Which, I mean, Tennessee was one of the top teams in the country.
Kylee Tabler:So
Colin Pearson:But Tennessee had also had 2 tough games right before that.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm. They played
Colin Pearson:Texas and they played Creighton Yeah. In close games, and Purdue hadn't had that. Right. You know? So Purdue had more energy.
Kylee Tabler:Then they had 11 c
Colin Pearson:state. You know? Purdue Purdue got the easy end of that. They did. And,
Kylee Tabler:They did.
Colin Pearson:Their 15 point loss to UConn in the national championship is just
Kylee Tabler:That was great.
Colin Pearson:You know, it what we expected a lot earlier in the tournament.
Kylee Tabler:Yes. No. Completely agree. So, yes, I personally think that they over performed to the maximum level. But I will go into more about Purdue.
Colin Pearson:That's It's
Kylee Tabler:fair on.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. That's for later. Biggest impact players, I put down Dalton Knecht.
Kylee Tabler:Well, obviously From Tennessee. Here's the thing. That's my national player of the year.
Colin Pearson:Truly, I think he deserves it.
Kylee Tabler:He didn't get it, but he deserved it.
Colin Pearson:No. He put that team together for the most part, not from, like, a recruiting standpoint, but, like
Kylee Tabler:On his freaking back all the time.
Colin Pearson:Yes.
Kylee Tabler:Like, he
Colin Pearson:He was top scorer. Drove that shit. He he made the all the momentum for that.
Kylee Tabler:Dynamic power forward. You don't get that all the time.
Colin Pearson:No. So Not at
Kylee Tabler:all. So, I mean
Colin Pearson:Who can shoot threes?
Kylee Tabler:Give him his flowers. Like, he he earned it. Yeah. So yeah. I had DJ Burns for NC State.
Kylee Tabler:My guy. I loved watching
Colin Pearson:him play. No kidding. The rebounding from DJ Burns in particular was just, like, on top of it every single time, even against Purdue.
Kylee Tabler:Like, this is like like, if you wanna show people how to rebound, watch him. Like, he like, that ball is is going to be in his hands one way or another
Colin Pearson:Yep. On the boards. Definitely.
Kylee Tabler:So impressive. He and he honestly just watching him even, like, here's the thing. I watching his post game interview, she just seemed so happy to be there and was just loving every minute of the game. I think he literally said he's, like, I'll stop playing the game when I don't like it anymore. Like, you know, just a just a very, like, easy to root for person in the tournament.
Kylee Tabler:And when you're going up against the villains of Purdue, I mean, come on.
Colin Pearson:But what? The the villains of Purdue, the villains of Duke Literally. Like, I'm sorry. Marquette.
Kylee Tabler:They became America's team when they beat Duke. And as much as I liked
Colin Pearson:Duke's team this
Kylee Tabler:year and they became my favorite team when they beat Marquette. Like like, they really, like as much as I liked Duke's team this year, I would still have a heavy day loss.
Colin Pearson:They started as enemies when they beat Oakland, but, like, they made up for it real quick.
Kylee Tabler:I wish that would not have been a and that was an overtime matchup.
Colin Pearson:It was.
Kylee Tabler:I wish that matchup would not have happened till later.
Colin Pearson:And it Oakland had it.
Kylee Tabler:They had it.
Colin Pearson:They had it. But we don't have to talk about that.
Kylee Tabler:Just our bleeding hearts over here for for Michigan people.
Colin Pearson:Championship, final 4, obviously.
Kylee Tabler:Wait. Those are over.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Let's talk stories because My new thing.
Kylee Tabler:My story
Colin Pearson:is long on this podcast.
Kylee Tabler:My story is gonna be my full court press, so you can go first.
Colin Pearson:Alright. Well, I wanted to talk a little bit about, the transfer portal and the coaching carousel just like Mhmm. How quickly everything's changing. Yeah. Which I guess is a little bit my full court press too.
Kylee Tabler:But it's also early, because the season, like, legitimately just ended.
Colin Pearson:For some of these players, they got into the transfer portal before the national championship game, before the final 4. Oh, yeah. You know, as soon as their team got done with the tournament, they're out of there. And I'm looking at it like this is this feels early. You know?
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Feels early for some of this news.
Kylee Tabler:It's good.
Colin Pearson:The coaching carousel got going, like
Kylee Tabler:Immediately.
Colin Pearson:Literally before the tournament started.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:You know? We had coaches that were like, hey. Next.
Kylee Tabler:You like I mean, you've got, was it Dusty May going to Michigan?
Colin Pearson:Yeah. That was right after the first round. Right.
Kylee Tabler:Right after the last lost,
Colin Pearson:he was like, hey. I'm going to Michigan. Actually, first first, he was like, hey. I'm going to Louisville. And then
Kylee Tabler:Then he saw Louisville and was like, honestly, it might be easier to rebuild Michigan. Yes. So Well,
Colin Pearson:I think you probably got a better offer from Michigan
Kylee Tabler:as well. I'm sure.
Kylee Tabler:Let's be honest. They've got a in my opinion, Michigan basketball has a stronger foundation than or consistently stronger foundation than Louisville.
Kylee Tabler:It's an easier one to rebuild, though. Absolutely. I'm Mhmm. This is
Colin Pearson:Compared to Michigan's 2.
Kylee Tabler:Michigan's really, like, only, like, really, really bad year. They were mid last year.
Colin Pearson:Yeah.
Kylee Tabler:Like, they were there, like, our They were
Colin Pearson:on the edge of the tournament.
Kylee Tabler:Right.
Colin Pearson:You know?
Kylee Tabler:This year, but they'll be I think they're gonna be an interesting and scary ish team to watch in the Big 10, along with Ohio State who just hired their was he an assistant coach? Yes. Was their interim when Yep. They fired their guy. They got hot at the end of the season.
Kylee Tabler:So Very. They just picked up someone else. They just picked up a transfer.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. So the that's all really interesting to me. Kentucky picked up BYU's coach. You know? Arkansas picked
Kylee Tabler:up Calipari.
Colin Pearson:Which is I I think John Calipari picked up Arkansas, not the other way around.
Kylee Tabler:That is true.
Colin Pearson:It does seem like Calipari wanted out, and Kentucky was fully content on keeping him one more year. Mhmm.
Kylee Tabler:I mean, hey. He's got virtually no expectations at Arkansas. Yeah. That is Absolutely none.
Colin Pearson:That is not a program.
Kylee Tabler:Not a
Kylee Tabler:going to Kentucky, I mean, you got high expectations. That is the best. That's a that's a blue blood, quote, unquote.
Colin Pearson:And so I think he'll be able to kinda rebuild his career around Arkansas
Kylee Tabler:team then. Perfectly fine job at Arkansas.
Colin Pearson:He'll be great. Yeah. I also wanna talk about a little bit of the transfer portal, a little bit of the NBA draft. Jared McCain from Duke going into the NBA draft as a freshman.
Kylee Tabler:We're gonna miss you. Yeah. You were so fun to watch this year. Jared McCain, if you were listening.
Colin Pearson:One of the best stories from this tournament.
Kylee Tabler:Absolutely. One of the most here's the thing. You are the most likable guy at Duke.
Colin Pearson:You made me cheer for Duke.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. I never do that. I cheer against Duke.
Colin Pearson:What is that?
Kylee Tabler:Like like, honestly, like, you know and honestly, though, but a lot of guys on Duke this year, I did not. Like, I wasn't a hater of them. Like, I liked them all. Like, they seemed like You
Colin Pearson:didn't have a hatable guy. No. But, like, Jared McCain was a lovable guy.
Kylee Tabler:Right.
Colin Pearson:And that was weird. I've never seen that at Duke. No. And so I appreciate it.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. You know, changing our perspective a little bit. But now it's about to revert back because, you
Kylee Tabler:know Yeah. Real. That's conference game? That is so real.
Colin Pearson:I hate that with a passion. I'm sorry. Duke versus Stanford being a conference game just hurts.
Kylee Tabler:Dude, that's like coast to coast. It hurts so much. So bad.
Colin Pearson:Duke versus SMU being a conference game? What is this?
Kylee Tabler:I don't even wanna listen to that. I I can't do it anymore.
Colin Pearson:Duke versus Boston College being a conference game?
Kylee Tabler:Listen. We we will spend 40 minutes complaining, more than that, complaining about conference realignment.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. That might
Kylee Tabler:be a
Colin Pearson:2 episode thing.
Kylee Tabler:Season. Don't y'all worry. Uh-huh. We'll be back.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. The last one I wanna mention is Indiana State was indeed robbed. They made it to the NIT finals.
Kylee Tabler:And they just barely lost in the relationship. They lost to Seton Hall, also robbed.
Colin Pearson:Also robbed.
Kylee Tabler:Being in the tournament. Yeah.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. That was really tough. I just thought we should bring up the NIT real quick for that. Yeah. Because Indiana State, phenomenal season, should have been in that tournament.
Kylee Tabler:Oh my gosh.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Especially over Virginia. What was that?
Kylee Tabler:I loved the not scoring for, like, an hour of real time.
Colin Pearson:Did did you? Because it was not fun to watch.
Kylee Tabler:I it was hilarious. I'm sitting on my couch. I'm watching it. One of my roommates comes in, and then she, like, goes to shower, comes out, and goes, they still haven't scored yet. And I said, yep.
Kylee Tabler:They still have not scored yet.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Yeah. They are probably not running it back next year, though, because Rabia Vila, their top player is transferring. Their coach is moving.
Kylee Tabler:Come Thomas you.
Colin Pearson:Yeah.
Kylee Tabler:Come Thomas you.
Colin Pearson:If you're listening, we'd love you at Michigan State. We need we need a big guy. Maris Sissoko is in the transfer portal.
Kylee Tabler:Love you. Smart dog for life. We miss we'll miss you. Great guy.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Ravi Avila, please come. Please come to Emma's you.
Kylee Tabler:Please.
Kylee Tabler:We we
Colin Pearson:we could use a big guy.
Kylee Tabler:Hey. I'm just happy we're active in the portal. We were talking about this before we started recording.
Colin Pearson:We were. Yeah.
Kylee Tabler:We're both really happy we're active in the portal.
Colin Pearson:So using the portal may be one of the best things to come out of this season.
Kylee Tabler:It's weird. And I I wanna shout out to all the haters who kept saying that Michigan State should have not should not have been in the tournament. We outperformed 2 big 10 teams, and we won our first game. So
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Shut up. Mississippi State. Come on.
Kylee Tabler:We should have been in like, we had every right to be in the tournament. Anyone who told me that Ohio State should have been in the tournament over Michigan State had me laughing because that was a real argument. And I said,
Colin Pearson:I believe they lost to the first round of the NIT. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Kylee Tabler:I don't remember.
Colin Pearson:Or if if they even went to the NIT. I don't honestly remember.
Kylee Tabler:So I just you got me laughing because you don't know college basketball if you tell me that Ohio State should have been an open Yeah.
Colin Pearson:They lost to Georgia in the NIT.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. So They lost
Colin Pearson:to Georgia.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Kylee Tabler:Yep. Mhmm. So no. Anyways No. Michigan State had every right to win the tournament.
Kylee Tabler:Their performance, I wish it was better, but, hey. You you guys stuck up against
Colin Pearson:a tough North Carolina team.
Kylee Tabler:Right. I know. Like and, like, it happens. I mean, do I think North Carolina was the weakest one seed? I mean, without a doubt.
Kylee Tabler:But, you know, it is what it is. Yeah. We they lost the next game, so retribution.
Colin Pearson:But we just hit 1 hour, so let's go full court press.
Kylee Tabler:Oh, yeah.
Colin Pearson:Let's finish it off.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. Do you want me to do you want me to start?
Colin Pearson:Kylie, go for it.
Kylee Tabler:Purdue lost. Yay. I have never been happier in my entire life. Never been happier to send Zack Edie pack in without a national championship win.
Colin Pearson:On to the g league.
Kylee Tabler:On to the on it onto the g league. So I've never been happier. Well, he played well. I I will never take anything away. He had 37 points.
Kylee Tabler:He had I don't know how many a lot of rebounds. Like, he I mean, whatever. He played fairly well. The rest of his team, however, left that poor guy out to dry And it was bad. Bad.
Kylee Tabler:I think I was talking to someone. I think the second high score was Braden Smith with 12 points.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. I
Kylee Tabler:don't think Foster Lawyer made a bucket.
Colin Pearson:Nope. Like He made, I think, a free throw.
Kylee Tabler:Hello? Like, what are y'all doing? Like, I'm sorry. Like, I get it.
Colin Pearson:This is the national championship.
Kylee Tabler:This is the biggest stage in college basketball. Like, y'all have been saying the like, everyone's been saying the entire year, oh, Purdue, Purdue, Purdue, Purdue, they're gonna win. They're gonna win in blah blah blah. You get there. You finally get there.
Colin Pearson:A one man team is not gonna be the Yukon.
Kylee Tabler:No. No. You get there, and you absolutely get there.
Colin Pearson:On a down day, because that was a Yukon a down day.
Kylee Tabler:Oh, you cut it. Looked not good in that game either, and still pulled out a 15 point win. Like, I listen. I I'm happy, so I can't really, like, complain about anything. But, just very satisfying, to send him out of here without a national championship.
Kylee Tabler:So Yeah. But alright, Collin. Hopefully, yours is not as, like, I don't know, negative as mine, I guess.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. Mine is not. I'm just really excited about the mid majors. Mhmm. Kinda gaining a little bit of recognition here, especially on the men's side.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. You know, you especially in a tournament year like this one, where the bracket really didn't have a lot of upsets or a lot of crazy stuff that happened. You know, seeing the a ten outperform some of the best teams in the SEC and the big twelve. You know, seeing, you know, seeing the a ten and the Horizon League, you know, Oakland.
Kylee Tabler:Let's go Horizon League.
Colin Pearson:Seeing all these teams play really well and have these big players that turn into you know, they they transfer to the higher schools the next year. A lot of them have already entered the transfer portal. The coaches go on moving up in the world. Yeah. But I think it's really cool the way the NCAA tournament's structured, how we still get all of these mid majors, and they get some respect when they win because they do win.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah.
Colin Pearson:And you get the best story lines out of them. You get Oh, yeah. The best players out of them. You know, you really truly there's something special about it, that we don't get in football, that we don't get in Mhmm. Hockey, that we don't get in the pro sports.
Colin Pearson:There's something cool about having all the small teams in it.
Kylee Tabler:Oh, yeah. And then hopefully with a tournament expansion, we'll get more of them.
Colin Pearson:If there's a tournament expansion, I don't think they will. I think they're going for more Power 5.
Kylee Tabler:For what? Exactly. More lame. More more lame. Well,
Colin Pearson:there would probably be more mid major upsets. Let's be honest. True.
Kylee Tabler:True.
Kylee Tabler:But I I would love to see some of these comp mid major conference become 2 bid conferences.
Colin Pearson:Yes. You know, give me the give me 2 bids. Heck, 3 bids in the a 10 this year probably would have been fine with Loyola Chicago's performance.
Kylee Tabler:Oh, yeah.
Colin Pearson:You know, they won the a 10 regular season.
Kylee Tabler:Mhmm.
Colin Pearson:Tied with Dayton. Dayton made the tournament. Duquesne won the a ten bracket, and then went out and beat BYU. Mhmm. You know, just all the unexpectedness there.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. I mean, you see, like, both Drake and Indiana State should have been the tournament. Exactly.
Colin Pearson:And they both proved that. You know, Drake played a great game. They didn't win, but they played a great game.
Kylee Tabler:They could have won.
Colin Pearson:They could have won.
Kylee Tabler:They should have won.
Colin Pearson:Raffing on that one too. But Yeah. All bad. But, you know, you get all of these things. I just really love that.
Colin Pearson:And that, you know, a lot more positive than yours, Kylie. Yeah. But Not that it's competition. But
Kylee Tabler:But I'm just positively a hater. Like, come on.
Colin Pearson:I'm a glass half full kinda guy.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. I'm not. I'm a I'm a I dislike Zac Eady and Perdue kinda gal. But I think But you don't have to that's this is the last
Colin Pearson:episode you have to talk about that
Kylee Tabler:time, like I know. I know. I don't know who they're retaining, but doesn't matter anymore because it's not Zack Eadie.
Colin Pearson:Yeah. And that's that's for next fall.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. That's for us to talk about in, like, 4 or 5 months, Colin.
Colin Pearson:It's crazy.
Kylee Tabler:I know. Well Oh, guys.
Colin Pearson:Shall we close it out?
Kylee Tabler:Yeah. I guess. Alright.
Colin Pearson:Well, thank you guys for joining us on this week's episode. Check the net on Impact 89 FM. Let us know what you think by connecting with the station on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at wdvmand@impact89 FM. I just wanna say from the bottom of our hearts.
Kylee Tabler:Yeah.
Colin Pearson:Thank you to all of our listeners Mhmm. For sticking with us all season. Yeah.
Kylee Tabler:We like to talk, so thank you.
Colin Pearson:It's chaos over here. It's a lot of fun. Mhmm. And we cannot wait to talk about it more next season.
Kylee Tabler:Next season.
Colin Pearson:On Check for That. Thank you guys all.
Kylee Tabler:See y'all.