Welcome back to Check the Net Impact 89 FM's men's and women's college basketball podcast. I'm your host, Colin Pearson. I'm joined today by my fellow Twilight fans, Eli Flickama and Kylie Tabler.
Eli:Yeah. Hey.
Kylee:Twilight. We
Colin:are here. It's basketball season. We watch actual games happen.
Kylee:Yay. Yay.
Eli:Yay. We did. We did. We did. We did.
Colin:Basketball. Guys, it's And Twilight. We also watched Twilight. We did also watch Twilight. Educating
Kylee:everyone on Twilight because I'm I've been obsessed with Twilight for
Eli:real long. Seen
Colin:them all. Yeah. And I
Eli:have not. Yeah. It's it's us educating Colin
Colin:on Twilight. That is pretty much
Kylee:what happens. Yeah. I've read the books. Eli's seen
Eli:the movies. Tragically, he thinks he's team Jacob, so we're working
Kylee:on that. Yeah. We're we're trying to fix that. But, you know, Taylor Lautner is Taylor Lautner. So
Eli:So what
Colin:what what should we do? So we talked about basketball, y'all.
Kylee:Yes.
Colin:Alright. Who wants to start with this first game? We had 2 games in Paris.
Eli:I believe they were both your games.
Colin:I believe they were, and I'll talk about them both. I love to talk about these games because these were fun games to watch. First of all, a 2 point game to start off the women's basketball season and the men's basketball season. It was the first game. Double ranked on the AP.
Colin:We did not rank Ole Miss. They were ranked 20th in the AP versus AP 3. Check the net to USC, Southern California, not South Carolina. We'll come to them in a little bit. But USC won 68 to 66.
Colin:Big, big win for them. However, not the most impressive showing.
Eli:Yeah. Honestly, I was flabbergasted a little in front of my TV.
Colin:Yeah. Ole Miss looks really great. They had a huge comeback. USC had a ton of turnovers. Ole Miss almost pulled it off.
Colin:Some foul troubles, some miscommunication at the very end. Mhmm. Specifically, last 20 seconds throwing it to USC, on the inbound. Really kind of fell apart a little bit at that very last second. But, USC also made their last 17 free throws in a row, and I think that's what won them that game.
Eli:Yeah. I mean, definitively, that is what did it. But if if you if they can't figure out their ball control, they will not be winning the big 10.
Colin:Yeah. It was so many turnovers. If they can't know the exact stats. I should've looked that up. But
Eli:I feel like I remember watching Juju Watkins turn it over on consecutive possessions.
Colin:Yeah. Sometime in the first half. Something that she was doing last year. Players. And they can shoot well, but they just were not communicating.
Colin:They were not meshing it out. And, you know, the issue is you've got Kiki Ariof and and Juju Watkins both on this team for USC. Mhmm. 2 star players who were the stars of their team last year. And I think we're about to see another thing like we saw with LSU last year.
Kylee:We were talking about this, like, off pod at some point. Yeah. The battling of 2 stars. How we saw Hailey Van Lyth really take a back seat last year and not and be a a lot of times a non factor really for LSU. And that that could be the case here.
Kylee:And whereas LSU didn't go and make a run like they were projected to preseason with, you know, bringing in all this talent, if they don't kinda figure out how to work together and figure out who's gonna be stepping into what role because that's, like, that's the big thing here. Like, in crunch time, you need to figure out who is going to be getting that ball, like, before the game even starts. Like, they should have, honestly, they should have known that by now. Who was getting the ball in the last play, and they're gonna have to lead the team. And so until they really
Colin:didn't know that.
Kylee:They passed
Colin:accidentally, and it was a big miscommunication, and it honestly looked like a little bit of a mess on the court.
Kylee:Yeah. So they need to figure that out ASAP, or else they're gonna struggle in a very competitive big 10, which honestly, after watching, like, a lot of the big 10 games this weekend and kind of, like, taking in the box scores and stuff, I think it's gonna be a bit more competitive than what I really thought it was gonna be. I agree. So they're gonna have
Eli:to
Kylee:lock in to be able to kind of stay in a chance to win the conference against some of these, like, Midwest teams they're not typically used to playing.
Eli:Yeah. Speaking of our other big ten competition, our other Paris game was AP 17 Check the Net 13 Louisville versus AP 5 Check the Net 6 UCLA. And UCLA won that one by a little bit more, 66 to 59.
Colin:Yeah. Eli, it sounds like you're losing your voice a little bit over there.
Eli:Just a a bit. Colin and I had our 1st MSU women's game yesterday, and we went a little bit too hard in the new student section, perhaps.
Kylee:So true. Yeah.
Colin:It it was kind of a wild game. You know? We'll talk about that one in a little bit.
Eli:We we scored a 107 points.
Colin:Yeah. So we had a lot to cheer for.
Eli:But
Colin:and not a lot of rest.
Eli:But for UCLA, huge game off the bench by Tameha Gardner. She went 5 of 7 from beyond the arc for 15 points plus 7 rebounds, and she played more than one of UCLA's starters.
Colin:Yes.
Eli:So she's gonna be an incredible long range component for the UCLA offense. However, that offense was not efficient in this game at all. They were hovering around 30%, I think, for field goals.
Colin:Yeah. And I part of that goes to show, you know, Louisville was playing some good defense when I was watching that game, but it wasn't, like, absurdly different from anything else they'll see in Big 10 play.
Eli:Right.
Colin:Mhmm. You know? It was good defense, but it was just good. It wasn't, like
Kylee:Great or like
Colin:astounding over the top defense. So Mhmm. You know, if they're struggling against that kinda, you know, mid level defense, you gotta be a little worried about the rest of the season.
Kylee:They lost a big one of their big facilitators last year to, like, graduation. I think I think she just graduated. I don't remember what her name was, but she was their main, like, facilitator, their point guard. And so I think that could is gonna definitely gonna be a factor, but I think they just really gotta shake off, like, the the rust and stuff. Especially coming in and playing this tough competition right off the bat, it really sets the tone
Colin:week in Paris.
Kylee:Right. And, like, it really sets the tone for for the season, especially, like, you know, we saw us set the tone, like, in a huge way last year, in Paris. So I'm hoping that they'll continue to kind of improve as, like, the year goes on. I see Lauren Betts making a huge jump this season in just, like, production and skill all around. I think she'll she's gonna be a huge factor for them, like, winning and being successful.
Eli:I I think our grounding question after this weekend has to be, are the LA schools still brushing off the dust? Are they still getting themselves ready, stretching themselves out? Or is there a serious problem here? Yeah. Yeah.
Eli:Think that question is gonna be answered over the next couple weeks.
Colin:Yeah. I'll be honest. I don't think it's a serious problem. They did both just beat ranked teams, you know, and in tough battles nonetheless.
Kylee:Mhmm.
Colin:So I don't think it's necessarily a serious problem. I do think that they are, you know, having a little bit of a slow start. I think both of them have the talent to be, right, a lot better than what their, current showing is kinda telling us. But I think both of them also have the potential to be a lot worse than we thought.
Kylee:We could really see, like, a a decline in their, like, production, in their, like, success in the big ten because, again, there is gonna be that travel factor a lot of the time.
Colin:The travel factor is huge.
Kylee:The time zones, and you're playing against players that you typically did you weren't playing until postseason last year when your teams were when your team was a lot more polished than what you are now.
Colin:And the good test style of play.
Kylee:We could see some early losses from these 2 LA teams or, like, California teams, I guess.
Eli:They've they've got a couple months to develop, but if these teams don't make large strides, I can see them struggling in the in similar games against Indiana and Maryland.
Colin:Yeah. You wanna talk about some teams that weren't struggling for a little bit? Yes.
Eli:So my my power conference came from last week was AP 13 checked in at 14 Kansas State hosting the Green Bay Phoenix. Yep. And Kansas State ran them out of town 92 to 45.
Kylee:Yes. Yikes.
Eli:Which that is a pretty expected result. I was hoping for more of an 85, 55, 10 point swing either way just to get a glimpse of what Green Bay might look like against Horizon League competition, but I this Kansas State team is gonna make a lot of noise in the big 12.
Colin:Yeah. I think that team's legit. You know, they only allowed 12 points in the first half from Green Bay
Kylee:Wow.
Colin:Which says a lot. Yeah. I do think Green Bay is gonna be fine. Horizon League is not Kansas State. Like, that level of play is very, very different.
Eli:I I think the Horizon League all star team might lose to Kansas State.
Colin:Yes. Yeah. And, you know, that's just kinda how the women's bracket goes usually. There's not a whole lot of talent spread across the small conferences with a few exceptions. You know?
Colin:Gonzaga and Fairfield being 2 meaningful ones. Fairfield.
Eli:You know, we'll get to them.
Colin:But, yeah, I feel like it was kind of an expected result. Mhmm. A little bit more dominant than we were expecting, but nothing too crazy.
Kylee:Yeah. I feel like it's it's kinda common. Yeah. The spreads, like we said, like, it's a lot less competitive outside of big conferences in, like, the women's, like, league. I like, in, like, just, like, women's basketball in general.
Kylee:But let's go to my game that I picked that I didn't even go to because I I had stuff going on. But MSU Oakland, we MSU won a 107 to 42.
Colin:It was kind of absurd.
Kylee:Which is kinda crazy. Colin and Eli can speak to this better because I was not able to make it. I had a prior commitment, but go go green, y'all. I don't know.
Colin:I mean, the big picture is that MSU beat Oakland by more than they beat Wayne State. And Wayne State was
Eli:a girl. Is a d two team.
Colin:Yeah. And not a very good one at that. Wayne State was apparently just a warm up.
Kylee:And this team was coming for the big time. Like, it's crazy.
Colin:This, I think, was just a warm up too. You know, you Eli and I were there. We watched this team put in all freshmen for the entire Q4 and most of the 3rd quarter.
Eli:And several of them got to double digit points. Yeah. Inez Sotelo, I think, scored, like, 12.
Colin:Yeah. And they were just playing the level of play didn't change. Mhmm. You know, we watched the MSU full court press the entire game, which is really awesome, considering so evil.
Kylee:If you can
Colin:a little bit horrendous. Little bit disrespectful when you're up a 1742. Little bit.
Kylee:But I But
Eli:I what we saw
Colin:If you can practice that now, going into big 10 season, you know, getting that full court press down for some of those LA schools or teams. You know, some of those other schools, it's gonna be a big deal.
Eli:I I will say with the freshmen, and we saw a couple more missed threes, a couple more missed defensive moves, things like that. But they really looked good. And despite MS Shumate, for example, struggling from beyond the arc, somewhere where we really expect her to be a big part of this team, incredible performances from MSU, the experienced grads, as well as their freshmen. Julia Auerault played great. She looked incredible all game.
Colin:Yeah. She's looked incredible both games. She's gonna be a really fun player to watch.
Eli:But above all, this team is deep. Yeah. Really deep.
Colin:Yeah. You put in those freshmen. I mean, they put in a few of the freshmen, got into rotations in the Q2, and played literally no different from our seniors and grads. Like, the depth is just all the way down the chart.
Kylee:And this is a new, like, a new thing for, like, m for our MSU team because last year, we had virtually no depth. We had a lot of injuries last year.
Colin:Lot of talent, but a lot of injuries.
Kylee:Yeah. A lot of injuries.
Colin:To come back to.
Kylee:And we only had, like, what, 3 or 4 girls coming off the bench at all. Yeah. So it was really, like, you know, everyone was playing so many minutes a game. And to be able to make sure you could keep fresh legs out there and know that the level of, like, talent is not gonna, like, decline is it's it's huge. It's gonna be huge going forward.
Colin:Yeah. Shall we move on?
Kylee:Whose game is this?
Eli:That's my small conference.
Colin:This is my game. My small conference game. Northern Arizona at New Mexico in the pit. Northern Arizona won it 80 to 78 with a buzzer beater hook shot. Incredible game.
Colin:Shout out to the Mountain West Network for free streaming of women's basketball games. Yes. Really appreciated that for that game because I'm very glad I got the chance to watch it. Both teams looked incredible. The style of play matched up really well between the 2 of them.
Colin:They both played really quick ball. A lot of good defense, a lot of good offense. I think both of these teams have a good chance at winning their conference. I know we picked Northern Arizona. I don't remember if all of us picked New Mexico.
Colin:Feel like at least one of us did.
Kylee:Let's look.
Colin:We can look. Yeah.
Kylee:I'll look.
Colin:Northern Arizona played their hearts out, took home that win, But New Mexico really played a great game too. And, stats wise, everyone was across the board really good. Both these teams are gonna be really fun to watch for the rest of the season. Sounds like no one picked New Mexico, but that's alright, because Northern Arizona won that. And that's you know, we did pick Northern Arizona.
Eli:Kylie Kylie picked AWA.
Kylee:I did not pick Northern Arizona.
Colin:Kylie did not pick Northern Arizona. Yeah. But I think that's a really good telltale sign for the rest of the season with those 2 teams.
Eli:Kylie?
Kylee:My game. I picked Princeton versus Duquesne. Duquesne won 7666. Not the outcome I was expecting, me personally.
Eli:And not the outcome it looked like it was gonna be after 3 quarters.
Colin:No. Absolutely not. Princeton was winning for the majority of that game. Mhmm. There was not a whole lot of back and forth up until the Q4.
Colin:And even then, it wasn't back and forth. It was just Duquesne scored 20 points, and Princeton scored just 4 points in the Q4.
Kylee:That's crazy. You have to be able to finish in crunch time, and, like, you have to be able to keep the momentum going through all 4 quarters. You can't get tired. You can't quit after 3 because, oh, like, we have a significant
Colin:I mean, that's a 16 point flip Yeah. At for a 10 point win. That 4th quarter It it made was a big deal.
Kylee:It made the game, honestly.
Eli:Duquesne and Duquesne did not look like a kind of team that was going to be capable of a Q4 comeback. They returned one starter, Megan McConnell.
Colin:Wow.
Eli:She put up a career high 24 points in this game and contributed 2 steals. And Duquesne played such efficient and, like, aggressive defense during that 4th quarter that Princeton was shut out for 7 full minutes of play. Wow.
Kylee:That's, yeah, that's insane. That that can't happen.
Eli:And they broke that shutout by shooting 2 free throws also.
Kylee:Oh, wow.
Eli:Wasn't a field goal.
Colin:Insane. Wow. Alright. So here's what I'm gonna say there. I think Princeton's fine.
Colin:Yeah. I think some bad luck in that 4th quarter. You know, you didn't play your best game. Whatever. I think if Duquesne can play like that 4th quarter for the rest of the season, now that they know they can for at least a quarter at the end of a game, if you can start, you know, taking what you did in that quarter and applying that to the rest of your season, that's I mean, you might win the a 10 there
Kylee:Mhmm.
Colin:With that kinda play.
Kylee:Yeah. Yeah. Definitely an interesting game. Yeah. We did not pick them to win the a ten, though.
Kylee:No. No.
Eli:In in my game, I picked Toledo versus Marshall, and Toledo escaped 71 Yes. Yes.
Kylee:Yes. Yes. They did.
Eli:But this was the story of how incredibly resilient this Toledo team is with a brand new head coach. So the Toledo culture is alive and well for women's golf.
Kylee:Yes. Yes. Yes.
Colin:But Especially, if you remember, Marshall was really good last year. They did lose their coach.
Eli:Lost their coach.
Colin:They're they were still expected to be a very good team this year, because they had some good recruits, good new coach.
Eli:Toledo, also, the Rockets were down 24 to 8 early in the Q2.
Colin:Wow.
Eli:They stormed all the way back, and Marshall's 3 to send the game to overtime was discounted at the last second on a late traveling call. And our Mac darlings came away with it in front of a home debut crowd of nearly 4,000.
Colin:Yes. Wow. I do think that is more than MSU had.
Eli:I think it was too.
Colin:Fairly certain.
Kylee:We take we take basketball, especially women's basketball, very, very serious in Toledo. Like, I am not even kidding. Like, anytime I'd go to the games, packed a lot of people there. So this makes me happy to see that we're gonna continue to be successful with a new coach.
Colin:And yeah. Yeah. That's exciting.
Eli:Coach Toledo.
Kylee:Go Go Rockets, baby.
Colin:Alright. I want this next one.
Kylee:I don't think you deserve this next one.
Eli:I think it was my second game of the week.
Colin:Alright. I
Kylee:get the but I get the last one.
Colin:Cheers. Fine.
Eli:Our next game was Arkansas versus Check the Net 25th ranked Fairfield, and Fairfield, like, cruised 80 167, y'all.
Kylee:You gotta rank Fairfield. Right. Fairfield.
Eli:Arkansas did not pull off the upset. I mean, really just Fairfield was the favorite, and they won. This should be this should have been an expected result, honestly. We shouldn't even be surprised.
Kylee:Yeah. And you know what? AP poll. Yeah. Get on it.
Kylee:Rank Fairfield.
Eli:That was Fairfield's first ever win over an SEC school. They're going to their ring ceremony later this week, recognizing the MAAC champions from last year at 1 and o. Yes. They held the Razorbacks to 38% from the field, and Arkansas completely failed to involve a lot of their roster despite really good games from senior Izzy Higginbotham and the JUCO transfer Keyesmith, ranked Fairfield.
Colin:I mean, Fairfield took out all of their starters in the Q4. They they were just not in the Q4. Otherwise, they would've won by more. That says a ton.
Kylee:Oh my god. Yes.
Colin:Up by enough in the at the end of the Q3 that you don't put in your starters in the 4th against an SEC
Kylee:score. Still pull out a pretty
Eli:good, like, margin. Yeah.
Colin:And you win by 14. I mean, they were up 4832 at the half. They won despite shooting 2 free throws the entire game. Wow. This, you know, this was not a, oh, Arkansas fouled a bunch, whatnot.
Colin:No. This was a completely clean game that was just one straight up. Fairfield just played better. Also, lot of depth from Fairfield. No player played more than 26 minutes from Fairfield.
Kylee:Wow. That's crazy.
Colin:Which is insane, because you don't see that kind of depth, that mid major levels ever.
Kylee:No. And you're playing 10 minute quarters.
Colin:You barely see that kind of depth at, like, South Carolina.
Kylee:Mhmm.
Colin:Yeah. I
Eli:get especially against an s to know you have a deep enough roster to compete against an SEC school with anybody you have on your bench.
Colin:Literally anybody. Like, their entire bench was in for the last quarter plus some. That it's it was incredible.
Eli:Arkansas's bench on the other hand Yeah. Arkansas only
Colin:has only had 7 players in their rotation. I they technically had 9. 2 of them play for 30 seconds total each, and that was at the very end of the game when they got put in. So, you know, Arkansas had 7 players realistically in their entire rotation. No depth there.
Colin:Mhmm. That's not going to be the best SEC school out there, but they do have that talent. And, you know, that's an SEC school still. That's a big win for Fairfield. I believe Fairfield has another SEC school on their schedule.
Colin:Nice.
Eli:Rank the Stags.
Kylee:Rank them.
Eli:Rank them right now.
Colin:Let's see. Yeah. Not SEC. They play Oklahoma State Oh. Coming up in around a week and a half, and then Wake Forest, late in November.
Colin:They also play Villanova and Saint John's, which will be interesting.
Kylee:Yeah. They'll be the games.
Colin:They've got some fun games coming up on their schedule. That, I think, is when we're gonna start seeing, you know, votes coming in in the AP poll. I
Eli:don't know how
Colin:people see it yet.
Eli:Provisionally, they are the best team in the country.
Kylee:Provisionally. So true.
Eli:They won by more than either of the LA schools or and South Carolina did.
Colin:That is Yeah. Also true.
Kylee:Speaking of South Carolina, I advocated for this game to be added because I am am my mind blown crazy. Like
Colin:Yeah. And, we completely agree.
Kylee:Yeah. So we had number 1 South Carolina facing off against University of Michigan.
Colin:Unranked.
Kylee:Unranked. South Carolina only won 66 to 62. Now Michigan is was receiving AP votes. Yes. So whatever.
Kylee:But only a 4 point margin.
Colin:We knew Michigan would be, you know They're always decent. They're always
Kylee:a tournament team, and they're always, like, middle if they're not, like, up, like, higher in the big ten, they're always, like, at at the very least middle of the big ten.
Colin:But 4 points was double the final.
Eli:This game by 20. Mhmm. Everybody expected them to lose this by 20. Yes.
Colin:Yeah. And they lost it by 4.
Eli:At a neutral site in Vegas.
Kylee:Yeah. Yeah. And they did it. And there's some there's some different factors. I mean, Eli, do you wanna talk about
Eli:Psila swords is the real deal. Michigan's 5 star 5 star freshman.
Kylee:4th ranked recruit in the country.
Eli:Yep. In Ann Arbor now.
Colin:Yeah. That's
Eli:the name you're gonna hear. More than 20 points, I think Yes. Against South Carolina's defense. And in this game, that was 33% of the entire Wolverine score sheet.
Colin:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, she is, you know, one of those next players that you're gonna keep hearing her name because she is the real deal.
Kylee:Extremely talented. Just, you know, going to work on some of these South Carolina players. Now I will say that South Carolina player, Ashlyn Watkins, is returning. She has missed some games, so that brings back a bigger presence inside. They had a great game by Chloe Kits, which is why they won.
Kylee:Yes. She had a double double. Angel I think he had 19 or 20 points, had a double double. She really stepped up for them. But I think having Watkins back as another big presence in the paint is definitely gonna help South Carolina Yes.
Kylee:Going forward. This was just kind of a wow.
Eli:Everybody's still a little rusty.
Kylee:Yeah.
Colin:Yeah.
Eli:The AP top five looked rusty. Mhmm.
Kylee:Yeah. It's gonna take time. It's a new it's it's a new year. It's a new season. There's a lot of new faces in women's college basketball.
Kylee:So Yeah. Everyone's on a learning curve right now.
Colin:Of new faces, a lot of coaches that changed places, a lot of conference realignment. I mean Yeah. Every no one knows exactly what to expect on the women's side. This frankly, I think since I've started following women's basketball, is one of the most, unknown seasons
Kylee:that we see. A lot of changes.
Eli:Because usually women's ball is varied. It's much more predictable than the men's side, and that is not as much the case this year.
Colin:No. Especially not right now after some of the results we've seen.
Eli:Also, Fairfield beat Arkansas.
Kylee:Right. Right.
Eli:Rankum.
Colin:Yeah. But we expected that. Yeah. Yeah.
Kylee:So let's let's We did.
Colin:We expected that, specifically, us 3.
Eli:Let's see if if some of these power teams can figure things out with their upcoming games.
Colin:Yeah. Let's do it. Games for next week. I'm picking number 11, Duke at number 18, Maryland on Sunday. It's a 1 PM kick or, tip-off for the women's.
Colin:I think that's gonna be a fun, you know, ranked ACC versus ranked big 10. Maryland was really good last year. Tournament team, Duke as well. Mhmm. I think it's just gonna be a fun one.
Colin:That's the first time we'll see either of those two teams play any real competition. And so I think that's gonna be another one to, you know, watch and see who who comes out on top. You know? It's gonna be a lot like that Louisville, UCLA game, or the Ole Miss, USC game. It's gonna be a fun one.
Kylee:Yeah. I'm definitely I'm definitely interested to see how like, what Maryland looks like, because they they were okay last year.
Colin:Maryland did have some turnover too. Yeah. Like And so
Kylee:did Duke. Yeah. So it'll be interesting to see.
Eli:And they've got some preseason hype.
Kylee:I know. I'm excited to see Georgia more for Duke play. Yes. So I think that'll be fun.
Colin:Yeah. I'm excited. It'll be a good game. Kylie, what you got?
Kylee:Yes. I have, number 12 Baylor versus Oregon on Sunday at November 10th at 10 o'clock, late late night.
Colin:10 PM game.
Kylee:That would be interesting.
Eli:West Coast basket.
Kylee:Oregon has been getting some hype because of their, like, new recruits coming in, and I think it'll be interesting to see because they lost just about everybody last year. Mass exodus from Oregon.
Colin:Completely new team.
Kylee:Completely new team. Baylor is my favorite to win our conference, so I'm really hoping they they show out, or else I'm gonna be sorely disappointed. Yeah. I'm excited.
Colin:Yeah. Yeah. That would be a good game.
Eli:My game is number 9 NC State versus number 1 South Carolina at a neutral site in Charlotte.
Colin:Yeah. And I almost stole that one from Eli, I'll be honest.
Eli:Which is also Sunday, November 10th. That's tipping off at 3 EST. And, basically, my big questions are, was the Michigan game a fuke?
Kylee:Mhmm.
Eli:Can we depend on the Gamecocks at a neutral site a little closer to home? They still haven't played on a college court yet. Yep. Will the Wolfpack score more than 60 points this time around? Because they scored 58 in the final 4 matchup last year.
Colin:Yes.
Eli:And Yeah. All this and more just after Sunday lunch.
Colin:Yeah. That 3 PM
Kylee:so true.
Colin:I mean, we got a 1 PM, a 3 PM, and a 10 PM.
Kylee:And I'm gonna try to watch
Eli:Lots of great basketball on Sunday.
Colin:Sunday is booked for you guys because what lions are somewhere between there. Right?
Kylee:Dude, I'm
Eli:The NFL, the Lions play at 8:25, their Sunday night football.
Kylee:That lines up so perfectly with gaps in my schedule for the day. Oh my goodness. I've never been happier.
Eli:We that is. Glued to our TVs on Sunday.
Kylee:Yep. Yeah. Basically, working on homework, but also still glued to my TV. Okay. Small conference time.
Kylee:I picked well, I stole a pick. Grand Canyon at Middle Tennessee on Friday, November 8th, 7:30. Will this be released by then?
Colin:Yes. So this game will be over by the time you guys are listening, unfortunately.
Eli:Feel free to comment if we're wrong. Yeah. Yeah.
Colin:Yeah. And for that reason, I'm not making a pick. No. I'm just kidding. Grand Canyon.
Eli:Grand Canyon.
Colin:Yeah. But Middle Tennessee Honestly, I mean top notch USA team They
Kylee:beat has
Colin:a shot.
Kylee:Who was it last year? I forget.
Colin:I don't remember. Mhmm. Yeah.
Eli:I mean, yeah, this is our WAC our consensus WAC favorite at our consensus, the USA favorite.
Kylee:Because they did. Louisville. They beat Louisville last year.
Colin:Yeah. Middle Tennessee was the only tournament upset last year. Yeah. So
Eli:Good game.
Colin:Yeah. My game, I picked Florida Gulf Coast versus Columbia. Florida Gulf Coast just lost their first game. However, I think they can come back against Columbia, a strong strong Ivy League team. That's Monday at 7 PM EST.
Eli:I
Colin:think that's just gonna be a fun one. You know? Mhmm. It'll be a good mid major matchup. Florida Gulf Coast looking like a really strong team, same with Columbia.
Colin:Love some Ivy League.
Kylee:Yeah. FGCU was our consensus pick for the ASUN.
Colin:Yes. And And Columbia is
Eli:our consensus Ivy favorite.
Kylee:For the
Colin:Ivy. So it's gonna be a fun one. Yeah.
Eli:Lot lots of early matchups between our conference favorites, which is really fun to watch.
Colin:It. Yeah. Eli, what you got?
Eli:I've I've also got a game that'll be over, dear listeners, as you're hearing this, which is Rhode Island at Albany Yep. Theoretically.
Colin:Oh, I thought you're I thought the other game. I'm sorry. Continue. We are.
Eli:Happening on fry which is happening Friday night. So that'll be a fun game with an a ten school at Albany who is also one of our conference favorites.
Kylee:Is, yeah, our unanimous America East favorite.
Colin:Right. Go Rams.
Kylee:But, my yeah.
Eli:But we know. We know. My true game of the week is UT, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley at the University of Texas San Antonio, u t r g v at UTSA.
Kylee:That's such a crazy how many letters acronym.
Colin:Are you gonna have?
Eli:There is a lot of capital letters in this game, which is Saturday at 3 PM. But utrgv beat Houston 70 to 68.
Colin:Wow. I'd like to vie a vie.
Eli:In the Fertitta Center for its first power conference win in 21 years.
Colin:Yeah. That's
Kylee:a great win. Awesome.
Eli:Which is a huge win. Incredible for the Vaqueros.
Colin:Yeah. And to take on Houston, nonetheless, Houston's women's team is, you know, pretty strong usually.
Eli:Houston, I think I don't think is any exception. They they had a couple contributors out for injury and also lost somebody to injury during the game. So that definitely contributed to UTRGV. But I would really like to see them also shock the road runners on Saturday.
Colin:Nice. Yeah. That'd be a lot of fun.
Eli:UTRG I don't think they've been t 1 for very long.
Colin:They have not.
Eli:But they transitioned a few
Colin:years ago.
Eli:Barely starting their football team, like, next year. Go go UTRGV Athletics.
Kylee:Yes. Yeah. That's a that's a
Colin:big game, I think. I didn't realize they beat Houston. I didn't even see that.
Eli:It was one of the only small conference over power conference upsets.
Colin:In the women's Yeah. Last week. Yeah. That's a huge upset too.
Kylee:Nice. Okay, friends. Men's basketball.
Eli:Okay, friends. Time for the men.
Kylee:Time for the men's. Time for men.
Colin:Let's do it. Who wants to hop on this first one?
Kylee:I mean no. I'm hopping on the next one because I gotta gloat.
Colin:But yeah. Kylie, you get the next one.
Eli:I'll I'll start it off.
Colin:Go for it, Eli.
Eli:So we had what was supposed to be the highlight the banner game of the week. AP 8 checked in at 11, Baylor at AP 6 checked in at 6 Gonzaga, and Gonzaga won
Kylee:By a lot.
Eli:38 points.
Kylee:By a 100 and
Colin:one to 63.
Eli:I
Colin:Technically, it wasn't even a home game for Gonzaga. It was a neutral site in Spokane, but that's besides the point.
Eli:I caught the first 10 minutes of this game. I saw the bulldog snag that early 10 point lead, and they just never let their foot off the gas.
Colin:Yeah. I went to bed, because that wasn't worth watching. I also watched I think I watched, like, the first, like, 15 minutes before I was, like, Gonzaga's just crushing them. This isn't even fun to watch because Gonzaga I mean, Ryan Nambard only had 6 points, and it I mean, he had 11 assists, but, like, he only had 6 points. He's one of their top players.
Colin:They were just, like, throwing random people in. Breaking off off the bench 14 points in just 16 minutes. Dusty Stromer had 11 off the bench. I mean, they were just you know, to top off the second half, they had a 24 to 4 run.
Kylee:That's crazy.
Colin:It is their biggest margin of victory over top 10 opponent in school history, which doesn't say a ton because they don't play a ton of top 10 opponents.
Eli:Right. But
Colin:But they also have been a top 10 opponent playing top 10 opponents for a long time.
Kylee:Yeah.
Colin:And to beat someone by 38 points, who has ranked just
Eli:2 spot points 10. That's insane.
Colin:I don't know what that means for Baylor. I don't know if they drop completely out of the rankings after the 30th point of decimation. No. I don't think they will.
Kylee:I think Gonzaga needs to be moved up.
Colin:Might be number 2 in the country next week.
Eli:They they should be top 5 for sure.
Kylee:Like, I'm sorry, but, like, I know, like, we all kind of were like, yeah, 6 is a good spot Gonzaga, like, the AP. Right?
Colin:We didn't think they've proven themselves.
Kylee:And this is crazy.
Eli:And they have.
Colin:Like, they've proved themselves, and they have.
Kylee:We severely underestimated how good Gonzaga, like, is gonna be this year and, like Did not see that coming. This is a huge testament to their work in the off season. I mean, last year, though, they reached the sweet 16 when I did not think they were gonna reach the sweet 16.
Colin:They're always a strong team. Always.
Kylee:Yes. Every year, like, I mean, they're gonna be good. They're gonna make the tournament. They're gonna be, like, you know, a relatively high seed.
Colin:We expected them top 10.
Kylee:Yeah. We expected them number 6. They returned a lot of people.
Eli:And it is November. But
Kylee:Oh my gosh.
Eli:That's crazy. Team makes it to March, they are going to be a problem.
Kylee:Oh my gosh. If yeah. For everyone.
Colin:I mean, the only thing
Eli:barring the bars are in this current constituency in this current
Colin:Without injuries Yeah. Without
Eli:assume Gonzaga, the men's basketball team, will make
Kylee:it tonight.
Colin:Even so
Kylee:Gonzaga, the school will make it.
Colin:You know, watching Braden Hop and Dusty Stromer off the bench Yeah. With, like, next to no playing time still shooting crazy things and doing that against the AP 8th ranked opponent. Yeah. Gonzaga will have no problem even with an injury.
Kylee:Got me excited for some for some Zags basketball. Now it's my time to shine. Okay. Because when I tell you when I saw the score of this game, because we were watching breaking dawn Yeah. Part 1, so we didn't watch it, I gloated.
Kylee:I gloated so hard. So I'm talking about Ohio State versus AP ranked 19, check the net, 15, Texas, and Ohio State won, 80 to 72. Now let me tell you something. I know what I'm talking about.
Eli:Yeah.
Kylee:And everyone here was like, no. I don't know. I know they're receiving votes, but, no, I don't know. Proof. I told you they have a much better coach this year that has better connections with their players.
Kylee:They have a they have a good transfer class coming in. They had a lot of people come back. They are contenders. They are big 10 contenders, and I will never let anybody tell me anything different until they prove me otherwise.
Colin:Alright. Fair enough. My comment. Ohio State did look really strong. I will say that.
Colin:But mostly, that game, Ohio State was just better at shooting. Mhmm. Like, they were just making more of their shots. It wasn't, like, an absurd domination one way or the other. You know, no one team had, like, looked better.
Colin:It was just Ohio State was making more of their shots. If Texas cleans that up and that's, you know, that's just a bad night, you know, sometimes. I think that might have just been a fluke. We don't know, obviously. We'll see in a few weeks when they play more games, if they're any better.
Colin:But, like, I think, frankly, good game from both teams. Ohio State obviously came out on top because they shot better and that they were the better team tonight, but that doesn't mean that it's going to go the same way if they play again.
Eli:Texas shot 25% from beyond the arc, and the Buckeyes made 14 3 pointers. Yeah. They the Buckeyes were 14 of 28, 50%.
Colin:And some of that's luck.
Eli:And that's and that is 42 points Yeah. Is what that is. So I I fear we may have overestimated Longhorn Basketball in our Check the Net rankings.
Kylee:I feel like we
Eli:do that. We did we did we thought the AP was doubting them, and maybe we should have just doubted the state of Texas because
Colin:So true.
Eli:As we're about to get into, the whole state didn't do great.
Kylee:But we were right on this one, but we knew we were talking about.
Colin:Yeah. Speaking of the rest of the state, Texas A&M is ranked 13th in the AP poll as of right now. We did not rank them in our rankings. And, we were proven right there because Central Florida, UCF, came in and won 6461. It was a home game for UCF.
Kylee:However, KC and M is ranked 13th.
Colin:13th in the country.
Kylee:Oh, come on.
Colin:And, you know, I don't think UCF is that that good. I just don't think Texas A and M is good at all. Yeah. I love
Kylee:the court
Colin:storming. You know, when UCF stormed the court, loved it. It was great. Incredible. Here's my thing, though.
Colin:UCF is essentially just Darius Johnson. They don't have, like they have one star player and not a whole lot of depth. He had 24 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds. I will also comment both teams had 2 players foul out.
Kylee:Okay. So aggressive it was an aggressive game.
Colin:Very aggressive, very physical game. Either that or some really bad refs. I think it was just aggressive based on the highlights I saw. And so that's an interesting one, especially going into big 12 play versus SEC play. Big 12 plays a lot more aggressive than SEC.
Colin:Yeah. Yeah. And UCF shouldn't have too much of a challenge for that if they can beat Yeah. Texas A&M in that kind of an aggressive style game.
Eli:But, also, the Aggies failed to convert on a lot of the issues that we saw in their exhibition against Houston. Yep. And in the second half, they only made 6 of their 12 free throws, and they lost by 3.
Colin:Yeah. And that's a big deal. Mhmm. I we've seen it for Michigan State before too.
Kylee:It's the city of sort of thing. Started.
Colin:You gotta make your free throws.
Kylee:All I'm saying
Colin:to make free throws.
Kylee:Is that we were all correct in not to rank them. Texas A and M sucks. Get them out the rankings.
Eli:Them immediately.
Kylee:Get them out of here. We don't want them. They don't deserve to be there. Push some teams up. I mean, like, come on.
Eli:Goodbye.
Kylee:There's no reason for them to be there. Didn't they they lost their preseason game too, didn't they? They lost their preseason.
Colin:To Houston.
Kylee:Okay. That's fair. So But whatever. But they lost. Okay.
Eli:That one would've been a result.
Colin:But
Kylee:But they just lost to unranked UCF, because why why would why in the world would UCF ever beat them? Like, that's that's the thing. Yep. And they lost.
Eli:So gone. Yeah.
Kylee:Get them out of the ranking.
Eli:Goodbye.
Colin:Let's move on
Eli:a little bit.
Colin:Small conference games. Woo hoo. Vermont at University of Alabama, Birmingham, UAB. UAB. Fine.
Eli:Wob.
Colin:At the dragons. Vermont won 67 to 62. 5 point game, obviously, a very close game, an away game for Vermont. The strong defense was apparent. Sixty two points.
Colin:UAB only shot 38% in the paint. 0 of 10 from 3 point.
Kylee:Oh.
Colin:They did rebound well. I think if they shoot better, they could be top of the American again like they were last year winning the American Conference championship.
Eli:But 0% from 3 does not win you a conference. Win you anything. That's
Colin:Not at all. And According
Kylee:to Andy Katz, it does.
Eli:I mean, we those
Colin:highlights, some of those were blocked by Vermont even.
Kylee:That's crazy. That's just poor
Colin:played decision making. Great defense.
Eli:That's obviously a number that you'd we won't be seeing in their season statistics. I assume they will eventually make a 3 pointer.
Kylee:What if they don't?
Colin:But I mean, that's a bold assumption.
Eli:Had our doubts about the Blazers, and Vermont's usual defensive clampdown style of basketball worked Yeah. Very clearly.
Colin:Well, it it has been for years.
Eli:And they will continue to be strong America East favorites and tournament regulars as long as they keep doing it.
Colin:Yeah. They're the only school in the country that, like, takes defense to a whole another level and wins with it. Because there are teams that take defense to a whole another level and don't win with it because they can't match it with their offense. Mhmm. Vermont seems to figure it out, and they can actually play defense while winning games.
Eli:Go Catamounts. And they
Colin:are Mhmm. The only team in the country that fan.
Kylee:Yeah. Vermont, our consensus pick for their conference, obviously, and I think none of us picked
Colin:I don't believe any of us picked UAB.
Kylee:Young did. Andy Katz. Andy Katz. We all picked Memphis, which means I'm I'm manifesting UAB's downfall right now. Yeah.
Kylee:For my those
Eli:Aggressively.
Colin:For those of you new listeners,
Kylee:Kylie hates Andy Katz.
Colin:My business hate good ratings. Dislike his picks.
Kylee:His picks are awful. Like, there there's just no foundation against that.
Eli:Are boring media favorites in the other half.
Kylee:Always end up being wrong.
Eli:Like you picked a team out of a hat.
Colin:Yes. Yeah. And so, Like,
Kylee:going for shock factor in, like, small conferences is not gonna make me respect
Eli:it. We get it. You need Twitter likes, but
Kylee:But, like, that's not getting me for real.
Eli:You're boring. Anyway, Kylie.
Kylee:My pick. Yes. I picked Cleveland State versus Michigan after Michigan just squeaked away from Toledo last week. So I really think this is more of a testament to how how good Toledo is gonna be. Now Cleveland State, they're an okay team in the Horizon League for on the men's side.
Kylee:The Michigan won a 101 to 53. So, actually, they got decimated. However, yeah.
Colin:That's Michigan offense right there. That's 2 weeks in a row. That's all offense. In 2 games, including the preseason against Toledo, they have 200 points, I believe. Right?
Colin:Or a 199? A 199. 97. 197. Yes.
Colin:So in 2 games. That is
Eli:crazy. That's a lot.
Kylee:Insane. They're they got they had a transfer this year coming from Yale because, again, new coach, better better transfers, better, you know, recruits coming in. Transfer from Yale, Danny Wolf carried with 19 points and 13 rebounds, so will double. I mean, he's a center. If you can average that every night, that's gonna be a really big deal for them.
Kylee:So
Colin:that's game. That's against the Cleveland State, though, not against the Big 10.
Kylee:Right. Exactly. Almost lost to a Toledo, which, again, I'm gonna take that as a positive for my boys in the map, but you never know.
Eli:I'm really excited to see Michigan's offense in their next two games because they play at Wake Forest and then host TCU.
Kylee:That'll be that'll be interesting.
Colin:Neither of those are, like, you know, power of house schools, and they are power 5.
Eli:But they're and they're not clamped down defense schools. But I think it'll be really interesting to see Michigan play an AC a team playing ACC basketball, and Wake Forest was receiving AP votes Yeah. Just by our collective befuddlement.
Kylee:So weird.
Eli:And then hosting a big 12 team known for their high powered offenses as well.
Colin:Yes. Kinda wish they were up against an SEC school at some point Absolutely. Because I'd love to see the shootout between a Michigan
Kylee:That'd be the Alabama or
Eli:what Tennessee
Kylee:or Tennessee. Alabama would be cool.
Eli:Auburn.
Colin:Yeah. Oh, boo, Auburn. Those those would be so fun to watch. But, you know, we get a big twelve. We get an ACC.
Colin:We'll see where they go with that. My big takeaway is Michigan has offense, which wasn't really much of a surprise.
Kylee:Say, which was a huge difference what they had last year. Because last year, they had virtually 0 offense.
Colin:Yeah. Big difference from last year, not really a surprise.
Kylee:Yeah.
Colin:You you pretty much took Florida Atlantic's high power offensive team and, you know, moved them north.
Kylee:Moved in north, worked out some kinks, got a better coach, and my personal opinion, you got a better coach.
Colin:Yeah. Absolutely. You know?
Kylee:Yep. But I also have my other game that I picked.
Eli:Speaking of Yale.
Kylee:Yeah. Yale versus Quinnipiac. Yale won 88 to 62. Yep. Pretty solidly handled game.
Kylee:Yep. They're gonna be good again.
Eli:The the Quinnipiac Yale trophy, which is a real thing that I'm going to make happen,
Colin:is So is it a real thing yet, or is it a thing you're going
Eli:to for? 3 d printers. It's staying with the Bulldogs, and Yale got 50 rebounds.
Kylee:That's absurd. Yeah. That's actually crazy.
Colin:APD, like, 50.
Eli:50 rebounds and 1 by 26. Yeah. So
Colin:my take with
Eli:that. Season's MAAC champions.
Colin:Yeah. Ivy League's gonna be strong yet again. There's no question in anyone's mind. I think Ivy League should be a 2 bid league finally. It's about time.
Kylee:I see.
Colin:They should've been last year. They probably should've been the year before. Yeah. But they should be.
Kylee:Yep. None of us picked Yale to win, though.
Colin:So None of us picked Yale to win, and they're that good, which says a lot about who we did pick
Kylee:3 big? 3 3 bid? 3 bid? Cornell? 3 bid Ivy?
Colin:Give me Cornell.
Kylee:3 bid Ivy? Yo. Cornell Princeton?
Eli:Yo. I I don't know who said that, but I heard it. I heard you're at Cornell Princeton.
Kylee:Dartmouth? Get out. No. Alright. Alright.
Kylee:I draw the line. Line drawn. Alright. Eli, your game you took Colin's a little broken heart over there.
Eli:Yeah. Kind of yours. But But it's okay. My game was McNeese State at South Dakota State, which is our consensus Southland pick at Kylie's summit pick, and SDSU won 80273. Oh.
Eli:And and Colin weeps, Colin sighs,
Colin:Colin is playing a dramatic about it. Game. I can't be that dramatic.
Eli:But the Cowboys were held to 27% from 3 and 39% from the field despite the fact that and they battled through that. This game was in reach at several points, but I really think I need to see defensive emphasis and defensive efficiency from both teams if I if they're going to win their conference.
Colin:I I will say South Dakota State's in a much harder conference. The Southland is not exactly known for basketball or Big South, whichever one.
Eli:SLC. Southland.
Colin:Yeah. The Southland. I was right. Yeah. McNeese State is much better than most of the Southland teams.
Colin:And so I think they won't have a problem winning their conference still, but they did struggle with rebounding, in that game. They had a interesting lineup with 4 forwards and or one forward and 4 guards. Not sure why we started with a forward and 4 guards.
Eli:Who who was matched up with SDOF center just like one of the guards?
Colin:One of the guards. Yes. I'm not sure why we make nice state decided 4 guards was the play, but that is something that they chose. I think that'll work fine in the Southland. Just
Eli:outscore everyone.
Colin:Yeah. Just outscore. I'm not so sure about that in the tournament. If they're gonna, you know, keep with that 4 cards play, they're not gonna go anywhere in the tournament.
Eli:I mean, that's something you experiment with in an exhibition game, not in your season opener.
Colin:Not in your season opener against a fairly good mid major team like South Dakota State, but it was a 7 point game. South Dakota State, you know, had a lot of fouls, and that was kinda their downfall a little bit, why it stayed close to some degree. South Dakota State also didn't have a lot of depth. Played a lot of the same guys the whole game.
Eli:Which is why 3 of their starters ended up with 4 fouls.
Colin:Exactly. And so, you know, there's a lot of things to consider for both teams there, a lot of things to clean up. But I think it was a good learning opportunity, good opener for both teams.
Eli:Agreed.
Kylee:I heard that.
Colin:We're gonna add one more game to the ones we talked about last week because we've got an upset, and it was a major upset. Upset of the week, so much so that the official March Madness account posted about it, which is actually where I learned about it because I didn't expect anything out of an ace on team like North Florida.
Kylee:Okay.
Colin:Especially not going up against South Carolina.
Kylee:No one picked North Florida either. None of us did.
Colin:No. Gosh. No. Because they were not expected to be good, but they beat South Carolina 7471.
Kylee:That just means the SEC sucks.
Colin:Here's the thing. South Carolina was never going to be the top team in the SEC. We all knew that.
Kylee:But they were decent last year.
Colin:Were decent. They were a 6 seed.
Eli:Yeah.
Colin:You know? They lost their top player, Michi Johnson.
Kylee:Went to Ohio State, by the way. Yeah.
Colin:But there are 4 other starters all came back. They added the MEAC player of the year from last year, and something just didn't fit. Something wasn't working for South Carolina. You know, North Florida still they actually shot worse. They were 42% from the floor versus 46% from South Carolina.
Colin:But they got 13 more shots, mostly off of the offensive glass. Something just wasn't working for South Carolina there. There was some miscommunication somewhere. There was some you know, they weren't working as a team. Whereas North Florida really pulled together and made it happen even with worse shooting, even with, you know, being the smaller team.
Colin:Kudos to North Florida because that shows a lot of depth, a lot of strength. And, frankly, if you can be a power team shooting worse
Kylee:That's actually just crazy. That's just insane.
Colin:Yeah. And maybe we overlooked them. And that's gonna be a fun one to look at later in the season.
Eli:I I will also say besides the 3 SEC losses we just talked about, Mizuho lost to Memphis.
Colin:Mizuho also lost to Memphis. We did not mention that.
Eli:But, yes, the SEC had I think the most any other power conference had was 2 losses, and the SEC had 4.
Colin:Yeah. That's rough. That's really, really rough.
Kylee:The SEC sucks. Say it with me, everybody. The SEC sucks.
Colin:Because because Texas lost A and M. And A and M and
Eli:And South Carolina.
Colin:South Carolina and Zazu. Did anyone else?
Eli:No. Those 4.
Colin:Well, the other ones all played small schools, didn't they?
Eli:I mean, South Carolina played North Florida.
Colin:Okay. Yeah.
Kylee:Like, Texas? Okay. You're playing another power 5.
Colin:I was getting really excited.
Eli:Playing in a power 5.
Colin:Because North Florida and UCF both won on the same night, and South Florida was still playing at that time.
Eli:And it was USF was even with Florida.
Colin:With ranked Florida. Frankly, USF and the American might be a player again this year. They were they won the regular season last year. Should have been a tournament team, probably would have been if there weren't so many, crazy things that happen in conference tournaments. But
Eli:The SEC looks shaky. Really, really rough. And North Florida won the rebounding battle in this game, 43 to 37. And despite shooting less than 50% from the free throw line, 6 of 13 Yeah. They beat they beat an SEC team.
Eli:So they shot less than 50% from the free throw line.
Colin:They shot worse from the floor. They shot worse from 3, and they still came away with this win.
Eli:And held an SEC offense to 70 points.
Kylee:Yeah. Because all the SEC is is offense.
Colin:That's kind of absurd. And
Eli:then And then South Carolina missed their half court lob to tie the game and send it to overtime and lost. Wow.
Kylee:Defense wins games, y'all. That's all I'm saying.
Colin:What's that? What's even defenses?
Kylee:That was, I don't even know what that was. The magic of friendship.
Eli:That's the power of friendship.
Kylee:Yeah. Literally. Like classic upset right there. That is I love it. That
Colin:is March November.
Kylee:All I'm saying is is the SEC, I hope they just lose and lose and lose. And you know what? It's it's starting out great. It it really is. Like, the SEC, lame conference
Colin:You know, we've got more opportunities for that too because Yeah. I believe all of us picked at least 1 SEC team
Eli:We did.
Colin:For our
Eli:our our
Colin:final days. So let's go through those. Collin's cheating.
Eli:Collin is cheating.
Colin:Cheating. I did the same thing last year with the 2 or last week with the 2 parents. Yeah.
Eli:That was also cheating. And repeated cheating.
Colin:Yeah. We we
Kylee:agreed I'm taking the
Eli:last day.
Colin:We we get to you know, and I'm gonna pick the champions classic because it's a series of 2 games.
Kylee:It's just because you got to it first.
Colin:It's in Atlanta. It's on Tuesday. Yeah. I did get to it first.
Eli:Bro's gonna pick all of Maui.
Colin:I did my own.
Kylee:Me. No. I'm gonna pick all of Maui.
Colin:I am not picking all of Maui.
Kylee:Kylie
Colin:not. Get
Eli:into it, Colin. Who who's in the champions classic this week?
Colin:Yeah. We've got MSU versus number 1 in the country, Kansas.
Eli:Guys, I'm so scared.
Colin:I don't know how to feel about this. Come on, Toma. Did pick Kansas as my big 12 champion, and I do think they're gonna crush MSU's hopes a little bit. Listen. I just wanna see a close game.
Kylee:Yeah. I don't know.
Eli:Love to lose this game by, like, 15.
Kylee:Yep. Oh, I was oh, I'm kind of
Colin:more optimistic. You know? I'm good with that. If we can hold close at the half, that'd be great too. If the
Eli:final score of this game is, like, 80 to 67, I will stand up and applaud. We
Kylee:need to rebound. We need to be strong in the paint. We need to hold on to the ball. We we just need to play good basketball. We need to have more scoring.
Kylee:Like, our score gets pretty
Colin:spread out. Before, but but I wanna see it.
Eli:But we looked rusty against Monmouth.
Kylee:Yeah. Which, again, fair, like, fair. It's the first, like, actual season to be back. We'll we'll really see what what they look like tomorrow when they play Niagara.
Colin:I don't know if we will. I think we'll see
Kylee:what we'll
Colin:see when we see Kansas.
Kylee:You will not be present, so you will not see what they look like. I will not be present.
Colin:You're a 100%. Is that right?
Eli:Kylie and I will report back.
Kylee:So, you know Yeah. The hope. Maybe maybe we'll do something. Maybe not. I don't know.
Colin:I'm much more excited about the other game where we have number 23 Kentucky versus number 7 Duke. Kentucky's got that new coach. They've got new talent. They're a completely different style of play. They remember, they stole BYU's old coach.
Colin:BYU was a big 12 style play.
Kylee:You gotta play defense now.
Colin:Yeah. I'm excited to see Kentucky play interesting basketball that's not SEC Basketball in the SEC. I'm curious to see how it goes.
Eli:And Duke's got Cooper flag.
Colin:And Duke is Duke.
Kylee:Duke is Duke has so many people returning.
Colin:So much talent returning. And incoming talent. You know?
Eli:They blew out Maine in their season opener.
Colin:No no surprise there. Right. But, like, Duke is Duke, and they are a good team yet again. And I think, you know, they're a team that's vying for a national championship even to some degree. I mean, it's early to talk about that, but they're definitely in the running.
Kylee:Oh, fully. It's because they have Cooper Flick. Yeah.
Colin:It is. So That's very true. That's on Tuesday as well, Tuesday night, 9 PM, or whenever MSU Kansas gets done, essentially.
Kylee:Yeah.
Colin:You know, and so Kentucky will be a good good matchup with them. Alright, Kylie. What you got?
Kylee:Yes. I have number 11, Auburn, boo, versus number 4, Houston. They were my no. No. I picked them.
Colin:Also boo Houston. Houston.
Kylee:I picked them. Houston?
Eli:Houston. Who?
Kylee:Who? Houston who
Eli:lost to u d UTRGV. That's o.
Kylee:Not that Houston. So I picked Houston to win the big 12. I have high expectations for them. So and I always have low expectations for Auburn because they always lose in crunch time. Yeah.
Kylee:Especially on big stage, I e, tournament. So
Eli:Speaking of Yale.
Kylee:Yeah. Yeah. We've been
Eli:speaking of Yale all night.
Kylee:Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, I, again, I don't really know how this game's gonna go. I mean, Houston pretty handled, Texas A&M pretty well. So, I think it's gonna lean one way, but I also don't wanna make too many, like, predictions.
Colin:Yeah. Because Auburn is not Texas A&M.
Kylee:True. They might be worse.
Eli:Auburn might be okay.
Colin:They they might be better. They might be worse. We really don't know what to expect with Auburn. We haven't seen a lot out of them, and they kinda they do look like a different team than last year.
Eli:Which they need to be.
Colin:And they need to be. To be. So Yeah. My Eli, what you got?
Eli:My game of the week is number 8 Baylor, versus number 16 Arkansas in Dallas.
Kylee:Woo hoo.
Eli:So neutral site game. And that's Saturday night, 7:30 PM EST. And, again, I have questions about my about my game. What happened in Spokane? Yep.
Eli:Is Baylor parenthesis, is Baylor okay?
Colin:They're not.
Eli:But Can Arkansas translate exhibition success, their win over Kansas to ranked results when it really matters?
Colin:Yeah. John Calipari. I mean Yeah. Great coach.
Eli:Yeah. And I
Kylee:want nothing more though for them to then for them to be bad. Exactly.
Eli:And wouldn't it be nice if these teams were still in the same conference? Bring bring back the Southwest Conference. I don't
Colin:really care about that.
Eli:Miss it.
Colin:I I like them being in their own conferences.
Kylee:I don't need more conference realignment in my life. There's been plenty.
Eli:I know. This is why we should go back to the nineties.
Kylee:As okay.
Colin:You always
Kylee:Bring bring back the old big ten, and then I'll
Eli:be handling it. 10 with 11 teams and the little 11 hidden in the logo. It was fun. Yeah.
Colin:I really
Kylee:like it.
Colin:Eli is all for Rutgers versus Purdue back in the 18 nineties, you know, football.
Eli:So true.
Colin:You know?
Eli:I'm I'm all for Princeton winning national championships in football.
Colin:Yeah. Rutgers brings it back.
Eli:Bring it back.
Colin:Said Rutgers Purdue. I met Rutgers Princeton. Sorry, y'all.
Kylee:Yeah.
Colin:I'm it's been a long night.
Kylee:Messing up over there.
Colin:Let's go. Yeah. I've got Western Kentucky at Grand Canyon, Saturday night, 8 PM. Grand Canyon, our consensus pick. Western Kentucky, I don't believe was our consensus pick, but I
Eli:believe They were.
Colin:2 of us picked them at least.
Kylee:No. They were ours. Consensus.
Eli:Not Andy Katz. Andy Katz,
Colin:though. Not Andy Katz. But they were our consensus pick. I do think that's gonna be a fun game. I do pick Grand Canyon there because of the depth.
Colin:But it'll be interesting to see because Western Kentucky does have a lot of new players and a lot of talent on that, Conference USA team. And so could be fun to see, where that ends up.
Kylee:Yeah. I have Akron Saint Mary's on, November 12th. So I know none of us picked Akron, but and the main reason why is because they have a lot of different pieces that need to fit into place for them to be good.
Eli:Some really
Kylee:Like, high caliber talent.
Eli:Touted transfer talent
Colin:Yes. In Akron right now.
Kylee:And so if they can mesh well, I mean, they are gonna be a force to be wrecking with wrecking with in in the Mac. Unfortunately, for me, a Toledo lover. And then playing facing off against Saint Mary's, a very consistently strong team.
Colin:Yeah. That West Coast Conference
Kylee:They're always 2nd to get back up
Colin:in most parts. I believe. Right? I don't know. I believe they're
Kylee:pick the game.
Colin:I'm gonna double check.
Kylee:But, you know, a consistently good Saint Mary's team, so I think it'll be a very, very fun game.
Colin:Yes. They are at Saint Mary's, so that travel distance and, Quite far. Very far.
Kylee:Far from Ohio.
Colin:And so that may also play into effect here. I will also say Akron did lose their 1st game by 5 to Arkansas State, which is interesting.
Kylee:You know, maybe then they're not meshing well. But But who knows?
Eli:You know, it takes They have yet to mesh.
Colin:Yeah. Takes a few games.
Kylee:They're they're getting into it, and
Colin:we'll see. My take
Eli:is UC Irvine at Northern Iowa,
Colin:UNI game.
Eli:Which is Sunday at 2 PM. And that is
Colin:all considered stealing this game, but I knew Eli would just
Eli:Yes. There would Yeah. Things would occur, and they wouldn't be fun for Colin.
Kylee:Yes.
Eli:No. But that is our consensus Big West favorite at Kylie and I's MVC favorite in my hometown team. This is part of you and I's great, incredibly entertaining opening schedule. They destroyed the University of Dubuque in their opening game, which is a d three team. But I think this will be a really, really good game at the McLeod Center.
Eli:I hope and assume that my parents will be there, so we might get pictures.
Colin:Oh. That that should be fun. That'll be fun.
Eli:Love pictures. So yeah.
Kylee:Go Cats. Yeah. That'll be a
Eli:fun game. Mhmm.
Colin:UC Irvine, obviously, a very good team. Our consensus Big
Eli:West pick.
Colin:I would pick Northern Iowa there as well.
Kylee:But you didn't pick them to win their conference?
Colin:But I did not. No.
Kylee:I do think Bradley's better. Hater. Hater. Hater. Hater.
Eli:I imagine agreeing with Andy Katz.
Kylee:Yeah. That's actually that is a crime. Like, honestly, that is a crime, and I think you should quit.
Colin:Well, disrespectful.
Eli:And I think you should leave. I think you should
Colin:just close out the episode of
Kylee:you need to get out. Alright. Colin had hold on.
Colin:The episode.
Kylee:Hold on. 1st, Colin has agreed with Andy Katz on an individual level more than everybody else, and that's horrible. Like, we had these
Colin:picks get the numbers there.
Eli:We'll report back next week.
Kylee:We're next week. We'll report. That's a little bit, like, too much math for me to do right now.
Colin:Fair enough. Yeah.
Kylee:But yeah. So Kyle
Eli:back next week to find out who has the worst opinions.
Colin:Eli had a lot of Oh. Terrible picks as well.
Eli:Excuse you.
Kylee:Mine were mine were not that much. So
Eli:Anyway.
Colin:Alright. Thank you guys for listening to this week's episode of Check the Net on Impact 89 FM. Let us know what you guys think by connecting with the station on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at wdBM and at Impact 89 FM. Reminder that this is our first sec or second. Wow.
Colin:Wow, Colin. Wow. Fumbled the bat. Since I've done
Kylee:this, outro.
Colin:We haven't let Colin host in, like, a month and a half, guys. I'm so sorry, guys. This is our 2nd basketball season. We're excited. We're in the 1st regular season games.
Colin:We're coming up on the in season tournaments, the Maui, the
Kylee:Maui. I think Maui.
Colin:Fun ones. We're coming up on conference play starting, and this season's badness is only just beginning. We cannot wait to talk about more next week on Check the Net. Thank you all for listening.