Check the Net on Impact 89FM

This week on Check the Net, Impact 89FM’s College Basketball Podcast, join Eli, Josh, Kylee, Colin, and Porter in spirit as they preview 8 more conferences and make predictions about who may be this year’s conference champions! This week’s episode features the SEC, Big East, American, Big South, Southern, Sun Belt, ASUN, and Ohio Valley conferences!

Creators and Guests

Host
Colin Pearson
Host of the Check The Net Podcast, featuring all things NCAA basketball
EF
Host
Eli Flikkema
JL
Host
Josh Lee
Host
Kylee Tabler
msu jmc’26
PH
Host
Porter Holden

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.

Eli:

Welcome back to Check the Net, Impact '80 nine's men's and women's college basketball podcast. I am your host this week, Eli Flickema, and I am joined today by three other transfers still awaiting NCAA approval, Colin, Kylie, and Josh. Porter, unfortunately, had his waiver denied and will be playing NAIA ball at Lawrence Tech.

Colin:

And there's nothing wrong with that.

Eli:

And the we love that we love that journey for him. That's

Colin:

know, there's a lot lot wrong with Go Blue Devils. Both my parents are alums.

Josh:

No, there's a lot.

Eli:

There's a lot

Josh:

wrong with LTU, and that's that's a personal rivalry with

Kylee:

Oh, how you Josh, say got beef.

Josh:

Got beef with that university, but that's for a different time.

Colin:

Before we

Kylee:

get into

Colin:

it, yeah.

Kylee:

Sister Jean has retired from basketball. I I think we have to cancel the sport forever.

Eli:

And it's our fault.

Kylee:

It is our fault.

Eli:

We took a road trip over winter break last year to watch VCU play at Loyola Chicago.

Kylee:

Well, that was at the express okay, that was at the express reason why we went on the trip.

Eli:

And VCU won, and it was Loyola Chicago's only home loss last

Colin:

It was.

Kylee:

We were there.

Eli:

And we were there. And it clearly pushed Jean over the edge.

Kylee:

My she's a 106?

Eli:

She's 106, and she saw them lose at home once, and that was enough.

Kylee:

Yeah. And that's so valid.

Josh:

It's really rough.

Kylee:

She's seen she'd seen this team through a bunch of changes, through great success, new conference

Colin:

Multiple Final Fours.

Kylee:

Multiple Final just just an icon, honestly. That she's not gonna be out and about this year But I'm hoping that she's watching them from home.

Eli:

Yeah. Yeah.

Kylee:

Yeah,

Colin:

you know she is

Kylee:

oh a 100%

Colin:

fan of the sport

Eli:

Porter would like to communicate that he's here in spirit in really fancy cursive font

Kylee:

Yes, You don't worry. Wow. His his spirit is is going crazy with some of these plays.

Eli:

We we miss you, and we hope you're making all of those layups over at Lawrence Tech.

Colin:

I

Eli:

don't. What's up?

Colin:

I don't. Oh, is Rooting on his downfall. Yes. I'm not rooting up

Josh:

for his downfall, but I am rooting on Lawrence Tech's downfall every chance.

Colin:

Okay. Okay. Fair enough.

Eli:

Let's get into our conferences for today. We're gonna kick it off with our power conference for the day, which is the S e c.

Kylee:

I actually

Colin:

That's a big one.

Kylee:

Very dislike not the women's side. I dislike the men's side so bad. Don't worry But

Eli:

we're starting on the women's side.

Kylee:

Oh, yes. The good side.

Eli:

Our notable women's teams from last year are South Carolina and Texas, who were regular season co champions at fifteen and one. They were also both thirty five and four overall. Say it with me now.

Colin:

30 win

Eli:

teams. 30 win teams.

Kylee:

My bad.

Josh:

My bad too.

Eli:

Lots of tournament teams. South Carolina and Texas both earned one seeds. They also had three LSU, three Oklahoma, four Kentucky, five Ole Miss, five Alabama, five Tennessee, seven Vanderbilt, and nine Mississippi State. And then South Carolina, of course, lost in the national championship game to Yukon, 82 to 59

Kylee:

an ugly game And I was very sad so that makes

Colin:

10 teams from the SCC right correct. Yes, okay doing my math right

Kylee:

yes You can count.

Colin:

I'm proud of

Kylee:

you so glad you can have

Josh:

your time. Would hope you can count

Eli:

Kylie because

Colin:

I am a nightmare.

Kylee:

I I have the absolute most written down because I'm very excited. I mean, I was hyping my pickup a couple weeks ago. Everyone knows how much I love Don Staley at this point. So clearly, there's no surprises here. I'm picking South Carolina.

Kylee:

They lost a lot of they lost some strong players to graduation and the transfer portal. However, they picked up the top scorer in the NCAA last year, Tania Watson, and retained standout players, like, in particular, Chloe Kitts, Raven Johnson, Tessa Johnson, and Joyce Edwards. I think Lotson is going to help with the scoring woes. Again, I spoke about this already, but this is gonna remedy a lot of the some of the weakness that we saw last year, especially against other high powered offenses like Yukon. It just became it became a shootout in that game.

Kylee:

Both very strong defensive teams, and South Carolina was just not making shots. So I think this is def Tessa Johnson's gonna come I mean, Tania Lotz is gonna come in and definitely help with all of that. I So think LSU will be interesting though. Another interesting competitor.

Eli:

But I it's gotta be South Carolina. The Gamecocks have a really exciting non conference schedule this year, including the battle for the real SC against USC in Los Angeles. So that should have them in perfect tuned up form by SEC play. And I also wanted to quickly shout out a couple of SEC teams on the women's side are going on the road to some HBCU gyms and non conference play this year.

Colin:

I did see that.

Eli:

It's very particular. I'd like to shout out South Carolina who's going to Coppin State.

Josh:

Mhmm.

Eli:

And Ole Miss which is visiting Alabama a and m.

Colin:

That's awesome. That's fun. Lot of fun. Look, they say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I'm old.

Eli:

Very old.

Colin:

But I'm I'm being taught that I should never be rooting against Don Staley, and so give me the Gamecocks. We're in South Carolina.

Eli:

We're proud of you, Colin.

Josh:

I know.

Eli:

Yeah. We really really are.

Colin:

We're learning. We're learning.

Eli:

Yeah. Well, you're learning. We learned.

Colin:

That's true. Long ago.

Eli:

Yeah.

Josh:

Yeah. I wanna preface this episode by saying I've had to do last minute research. So a lot of my picks are gonna be the same as some, especially one in particular person on the desk today. But this one I really didn't need a lot of research for. It's South Carolina all the way.

Josh:

There is a reason why there were rumors floating around that Dawn Staley was interested and the Knicks were interested in making her the head coach of the Knicks. There's a reason for that. She's just that good of a head coach. So regardless of who's loading up in the SCC, regardless of coaching talent, if Dawn Staley is coaching the SCC for the South Carolina Gamecocks, I'm gonna pick South Carolina. So Gamecocks to win the SCC.

Eli:

She also plays, like, Major League Cornhole?

Kylee:

Yes. She does? Yeah. She does yeah, professional cornhole.

Josh:

I did not know that.

Eli:

Mhmm. Which is Unreal.

Kylee:

She's just such a baddie. I don't know what to say. Like, she is doing, like, everything, like Yeah. Nothing nothing she's not good at.

Eli:

And now we're gonna introduce a special segment for this episode which we're calling a message from Porter. Our first message from Porter, South Carolina, Dawn Staley, I will never bet against you. This has been a message from Porter.

Kylee:

Beautiful.

Eli:

Thank you very much.

Kylee:

And he knows what's up.

Eli:

And He knows what's up. We're gonna move on to the men's side of the SEC.

Kylee:

This Scott Stang.

Eli:

We had several notable teams last year.

Colin:

Auburn Yeah.

Eli:

Were the regular season champs, fifteen and three, thirty two and six overall. Say it with me now. 30

Colin:

win team.

Eli:

Notably lost to their head coach, Bruce Pearl, like, last No, two days, like, like, a month two hours ago? Yeah. And his son will be taking over as head coach for the upcoming season, so that should be interesting. Florida won the SEC tournament going they were second, fourteen and four in conference, thirty six and four overall. Say it with me now.

Eli:

And besides, Florida and Auburn has one seeds. The other tournament teams were two Alabama, two Tennessee, three Kentucky, four Texas A and M, six Ole Miss, six Missouri, eight Mississippi State, nine Oklahoma, nine Georgia, 10 Vanderbilt, 10 Arkansas, and an 11 seed in the first four Texas.

Kylee:

Lot of teams.

Eli:

Course, Florida defeated Houston in the national championship 65 to 63. Crazy.

Kylee:

Way too many teams. Half of them are like, you can make arguments that they didn't need to be there

Eli:

six of them lost their first games

Kylee:

Yeah, half half the teams lost their first game so proving us right

Colin:

there were also two in the final four but

Kylee:

no that's fine But the ones that lost the first game you can tell me you can't tell me that they belonged in there. No, I can't tell you that. Yeah.

Colin:

You're a 100% correct. Yes.

Eli:

I I'll kick it off, and I'm gonna branch out a little bit and predict that this is Arkansas's breakout year. They have by far the best recruiting class in the conference this year. They headlined by two five stars. They returned the most minutes in the conference, and they nabbed some talented inside guys from Florida State and South Carolina. And I mean, Calipari, he's a good coach.

Eli:

Yeah. Arkansas will be good, and I think they're gonna get over the hump this year. Hopefully, they're gonna lose in the breath though.

Kylee:

So true. I I hate Calipari enough to never pick a team that he coaches. So I'm not picking Arkansas.

Colin:

But okay.

Kylee:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm picking the team that that got rid of them. I'm I'm picking Kentucky.

Colin:

So real.

Kylee:

First of all, I just gotta say, I hate this conference so much. I hate I hate the SEC in about every sport, so it's not really anything new. But I I did have to pull in an expert. I I phoned a friend. I called my brother to to help me make this decision.

Kylee:

If it's if it's a bad one, it's it's his fault, not mine. And then, yeah, we chose Kentucky. So they were turning their top scorer scorer in Otago away, who or who averaged 16.2 points per game. They have a solid, very solid transfer class. They got players from Florida, Alabama, Arizona State, Pitt, Tulane, and Miami of Ohio.

Kylee:

Ohio mentioned. And now that Mark Pope has a year under his belt and a better feel for the conference, after having still a pretty solid year last year, I can see Kentucky winning the SEC caveat regular season.

Eli:

And now, a message from Porter. Kentucky had a fantastic transfer portal. And with Florida and Alabama losing players, Auburn losing their coach, I think the time is ripe for Kentucky to return to the top. This has been a message from Porter.

Colin:

Josh, what do you got?

Josh:

I'm gonna go with the national champions, Florida. I think I think they have such a talented young head coach in Todd Golden. But I think also as much as they lost, it wasn't Walter Clayton Junior, what they lost with that. They added Boogie Fland from Arkansas and they also added Princeton guard, Xavier Lee, two top players in the transfer portal. As much as they lose in Clayton, I mean, he was the star last year.

Josh:

They also have a lot of nice pieces on the roster still, including a redshirt freshman that's seven nine.

Kylee:

Yeah, I was Yeah,

Josh:

oh well he is from Quebec, so I don't I don't know if I'm gonna butcher how to pronounce his name But I'm gonna guess Oliver Rue Olivier Rue.

Eli:

I don't

Josh:

know I don't know if

Eli:

he's disrespect the French

Josh:

I don't know

Eli:

I Don't

Josh:

know if he's gonna be a big portion of or of their offense or what they do But I think between winning a national championship and coming back and bringing in some key players like boogie flan who did play an important part for Arkansas last year He did I just I don't I don't see how they don't at least challenge or they're near or they potentially win the regular season championship.

Kylee:

Yeah. That's fair. I was I was Florida was the other team I was looking at specifically because of their transfers. So I think it's a fair pick.

Colin:

Yeah. I'll I'll give you that. Florida's gonna be very good once again. My one caveat with Florida is that because they won the national championship last year, they are the team to beat, and therefore, I think a lot of teams are going to be extra motivated to beat them.

Kylee:

Yeah.

Colin:

And so in the SEC, where it is pretty level at the top, you're gonna see a lot of teams with just a little bit extra effort against Florida, and I think that'll make the difference. I don't think Florida's gonna win the SEC this year because of that. I also don't think the conference in general is going to be quite as good as last year.

Kylee:

I agree.

Colin:

Certainly not as deep as last year. I will say I like the looks of Vanderbilt. I like the look of Arkansas. I probably would have chosen Auburn if they weren't losing Bruce Pearl. Mhmm.

Colin:

I'm gonna take the Vols. Tennessee, I know big surprise.

Kylee:

So so shocked to my core.

Colin:

I think this is the third year in a row I picked Tennessee.

Eli:

I think you're right.

Kylee:

Yeah.

Colin:

But I really like the look of Jacobi Gillespie transferring in from Maryland. They keep a lot of their star talent other than that. I mean, this is it's a great conference.

Kylee:

Mhmm.

Colin:

And it's gonna be really, really tied up at the top, so I think it's anyone's game. But I like Tennessee.

Eli:

My problem is that Jacobi Gillespie's one memorable highlight from last year is Thank missing a three

Josh:

you. Thank you. That's Yeah. Literally what I

Kylee:

was thinking was that's his because of poor decision making.

Colin:

Yeah. And I think he's learned from that.

Eli:

Let's hope.

Josh:

Yeah. He is under he is under Rick Barnes compared to Kevin Willard. Rick Barnes is definitely gonna Little bit different. Mind sharper. Little bit different.

Kylee:

And truthfully, any one of these teams can a 100% win the conference. Like Alright.

Eli:

In case you haven't guessed by leading off with the SCC, we are very rooted in southern basketball. This episode, gonna be taking off basically every southern d one conference, and we're gonna kick it off with the big south.

Josh:

Woo hoo.

Eli:

Our notable women's teams here, High Point were the champions at thirteen and three in conference, and twenty one and twelve overall. In the tournament, they were in the first four as a 16 seed, and they lost to William and Mary.

Colin:

Yeah. So High Point, after winning their conference last year, returns all freshman team, Dom Nesland, first team all conference player Navea Zavala, picked up a junior guard, Macy Spencer, who played for UNLV last year and was a star for them. They also picked up graduate guard Lexi Fleming, who was the star for Bowling Green for the last five years.

Kylee:

Ohio Mention.

Colin:

I'm taking High Point for the back to back because that transfer class, they are keeping pretty much all of their stars. I mean, there's no one that can compete with High Point on the women's side.

Kylee:

Yep.

Eli:

And the rest of us agree with Colin. Yeah.

Josh:

High Point, because I did no research.

Eli:

And so I didn't trust on you doing it. Porter included? Including Porter.

Kylee:

Including Porter.

Eli:

Yeah. I like the transfer class.

Kylee:

Mhmm.

Eli:

Go High Point.

Josh:

Not a whole lot to

Colin:

talk about there. They look like the only really notable team in this conference, and until they're proven otherwise, I think they are the unanimous pick all around.

Eli:

Hey.

Josh:

Yeah.

Colin:

Waiting for someone to prove us all wrong.

Eli:

I hope that you can win a tournament game this year.

Kylee:

Yeah. Yeah?

Eli:

You got this high point. Speaking of high point, on the men's side, they were also the champions going fourteen and two, twenty nine and six overall, and they were thirteenth seed in the tournament and lost to Purdue.

Kylee:

Oh, I was rooting for them to win.

Eli:

But my my thinking here is that I got a little burned last year by the Akron gambit,

Kylee:

is where

Eli:

you kind of lose all of your players, and then grab as many power conference transfers as you can, and hope they work well together. And it worked out really well for Akron. They made the tournament. So I've picked the Akron gambit favorably before, and I'm not gonna change my tune. With transfers from Clemson, Minnesota, NC State, and Tulane, I'm gonna go with Radford, and wish them luck, because they're gonna need it.

Colin:

So you mentioned the transfers. Radford also has a new head coach, Zach Chu. And Zach Chu has no coaching experience. He was the chief strategist for SMU. Right?

Kylee:

Iconic behavior. The

Colin:

gambit. Not a coach.

Kylee:

We are we are gambiting, and

Colin:

I The

Eli:

gambiting am And

Kylee:

I'm also gambling on some power p five talent, so, you know. It tends to work well in the mid majors. I'm just I'm gonna be upfront for real. The new coach throws a there's a The new coach is not a coach, throws a wrench in things, but I mean, if the talent gels well together, I think it could work. It could be successful.

Colin:

Especially in a conference like the Big South.

Kylee:

Yeah. I do

Josh:

get that. Well, I already made my pick. I was not aware of that until Colin just said it. But yeah, I'll like I said, I did a really poor job researching before this episode and I saw what Eli and Kylie said in Radford. So I'm gonna go with Radford too.

Eli:

And now, a message from Porter. Radford had a really, really good transfer portal for a team from the Big South. With High Point gutted, give me the Highlanders to take the conference. This has been a message from Porter.

Josh:

I gotta make a comment though. I'm loving this, like, Siri Eli voice so far. I know. I'm loving this. I'm trying to get

Eli:

through a little bit of, like, a sad moment in a nature documentary, you know?

Kylee:

You should start, like, reading

Eli:

books. Where they're, like, the mother will never return to the nest. Like, kind of a that.

Josh:

I suppose I said, this I would be I could listen to that all for this entire podcast. Sorry.

Eli:

You saying my regular voice is annoying?

Kylee:

So Wow, Josh.

Eli:

Wow, Josh.

Josh:

Not what I meant, but We're taking your life. I think the end later.

Colin:

Winter break, we need a nature documentary from Eli.

Eli:

I'll put that on the next Rowdy's Christmas album.

Colin:

Yeah.

Kylee:

Lovely. Alright, Colin. Alright. You're fun and different. I have to be a little

Colin:

bit fun. True. Didn't like that Radford doesn't have someone with any coaching experience.

Kylee:

Somewhat you gotta start somewhere.

Colin:

I so they were immediately ruled out for me. High Point also lost literally their entire roster and their coach. Didn't like that one bit. Not picking high point. Usually, I go with teams that return a lot of their players.

Colin:

There was only one team in the conference who returned more than 36% of their minutes from last year.

Eli:

Which is barely more than one third Yeah. For those of us who aren't engineers.

Colin:

And that was USC Upstate who placed second to last last season. Yes.

Kylee:

Wait. So you were picking them. Right?

Colin:

I was

Kylee:

not about to pick

Eli:

them stating it again?

Colin:

No. I think in this case, I have to go to the best coach in the league, Mike Morrell at UNC Asheville. He's led the Bulldogs to 20 win seasons for the last three seasons in a row, and, like, he's just so consistent in the Big South. In a year where the entire rest of the South has been just turned over and, like, you know, shaken for their pocket change, I think UNC Asheville with Mike Morell is gonna be the most steady team there, and easily has this. But that's personal opinion.

Kylee:

I think they're gonna be the most steady team for sure. Have it, that's up for debate. I think that's Early steady very fair They've got they've got that on their side for sure all

Colin:

right well Let's move on.

Eli:

We're moving on to what is in my opinion a pretty fun conference the American which is not the American athletic conference anymore, just the American conference now, right? Yes. Rebrand. Yeah. But the notable women's teams from last year were UTSA, who were the regular season champions at seventeen and one, twenty six and five overall.

Eli:

South Florida won the conference tournaments. They were, after finishing third, thirteen and four, twenty three and eleven overall. And they were a 12 seed in the tournament, and they lost through Tennessee.

Colin:

Yeah. So I'll I'll let you guys go first, actually.

Eli:

Well, my point is a rebuttal to your point, so you kind of have to

Josh:

go.

Colin:

Okay. I'll go first then. Sure. So North Texas stole the star from UTSA, the conference champion last year. They stole Asia Proctor, and they added NAIA All American Megan Nestor.

Colin:

They're building on a second place finish from last year, and frankly, think the North Texas Mean Green's gonna win the American this year. You know, building on that second place finish, they've got Asia Proctor. They've got Megan Nestor. What more can you ask for?

Eli:

Counterpoint. UTSA stole North Texas' Iruna Hardaway, who averaged 10 points, three rebounds, three assists last season. They also returned Edara Udo, who was second on the team in both rebounds and blocks, and add her younger sister Sima Udo for her freshman year. And although it hurts me to not pick South Florida because I love the Bulls, I'm gonna stick with the back to back.

Kylee:

Yeah, I'm with I'm with Eli also because they missed the tournament. They they were poised for UTSA was poised for a tournament appearance. They lost one game in conference, and and they did not see the success they wanted, so I could see that being big motivational factor for the team this year.

Josh:

And what's gonna be a common theme for this episode? Essentially, I'm agreeing with Kylie. Yeah. I'm gonna go with UTSA for all the reasons that she her and Eli said, especially when you miss the tournament and if you're stealing away somebody like one of North Texas's players, I'm gonna assume that UTSA is gonna run the table again.

Eli:

So it seems like we've got two pretty viable options. They finished first and second in the conference last year. Pretty agreeable. But oh, look. Look what time it is.

Eli:

It's time for a message from Porter. USF, they won the tourney last year. I'll bank on that success. This has been a message from Porter.

Colin:

Thanks, Porter.

Josh:

You know Thanks,

Kylee:

Porter. Sound logic. Sound logic.

Eli:

I mean, and I do love South Florida, so I'm with you there.

Colin:

Yep. Alright.

Eli:

On the men's side in the American, Memphis were the regular season champs, sixteen and two, twenty nine and six overall, and they were a five seed in the tournament where they were immediately upset in the first round by Colorado State.

Kylee:

Just wanna note that Colorado State was technically favored in this game as the lower seed. So as a double digit lower seed.

Colin:

Yeah. Interesting.

Eli:

And now everybody will engage in a couple of seconds of wild cheering, which is what Porter would be doing if he was here.

Colin:

Yay. Yay.

Eli:

Go Colorado State. Yeah. Okay.

Colin:

On that note, Memphis attempting a 100% rebuild. Hilarious. Like literally zero returning minutes from last year. They have a lot of good transfers. They're all coming from very different styles of teams in my opinion.

Colin:

You got Doug McDaniel coming from Kansas State, Sincere Parker from McNeese, Tariq Ingram from Ryder. I personally can't trust that. They're just all coming from very different styles of programs.

Kylee:

Mhmm.

Colin:

I really like when a team returns a lot of their minutes. We've got Tulane. They're the only team in the American returning more than half of their minutes from last year. They were fourth place last year. That included a few close wins on the road, especially late in the season.

Colin:

And so I'm looking for them to build off of that. They kinda got their stuff figured out at the very end of the season last year, and I think if they had gotten that figured out a little earlier, they could have been third or second. And frankly, with how much they're returning, I think they're gonna figure that out a lot earlier this season and we'll take it home.

Eli:

It's time for a message from Porter. Memphis is returning zero minutes, literally zero. I'll take Memphis. This has been a message from Porter.

Kylee:

You know, this is some crazy logic and it could work out. It really could

Colin:

work And I hope

Eli:

it does, Porter.

Colin:

I hope it doesn't.

Kylee:

Yeah. Colin, your logic, you're this is a good pick. Like, your logic makes sense.

Colin:

Yeah. I hope Memphis sits in dead last

Kylee:

I think the is a very interesting conference especially with Memphis legitimately doing the entire rebuild because if they weren't I probably would have picked Memphis and I think most of us would have thought yeah It would have been an absolute no brainer I'm I'm rocking with North Texas I actually was doing a lot of research on this conference just because I was like this is a really This is a really interesting time this could be anyone's game honestly

Colin:

open American this year.

Kylee:

Yes, it is and so now North Texas however is bringing in a new coach Daniel Robinson coming over after three years at Cleveland State Where they had two second place finishes in the horizon and a trip to the CBI final last year He brings in Jashawn Stevenson, who was the Horizon League freshman of the year last year, and Dylan Arnett, who is all all Horizon third and defensive team. So brings both of them with him. They have a solid transfer class with players from Iowa State, San Jose San Jose State, UTEP, and some great talent from some other non d one schools. Also, they have incoming freshman Curtis Stinson Junior, who was the 2024 Iowa Gatorade player of the year. Iowa.

Kylee:

So we've got some very crazy interesting talent This is kind of a gamble again because of the new coach new program basically But I think after a second place finishing conference last year I think they can continue to build off of that success just with some new faces.

Colin:

Okay, but every team in this conference would be a gamble.

Kylee:

Yeah, it it really is. There's no safe picks. There isn't. There's no safe

Josh:

I'm glad Kylie did her research because I'm once again, I'm picking what Kylie picks.

Kylee:

I know ball.

Josh:

Yes, so I'm glad you did your research. I'm gonna go with North test North wow. North Texas two. Period.

Eli:

South Florida grabbed Sunbelt champion teammates from Arkansas State and a pretty decent big man from LSU. And just me personally, I've got to pick the Bulls somewhere. So here's hoping they can resurrect their 2023, '24 title chemistry and make another run at it.

Colin:

Well, yeah, we'll see.

Eli:

Go USF. Back to pure Southern basketball in the Southern Conference or the SOCON as it is popularly known. Our notable women's last our notable women's teams from last year were UNC Greensboro. They were the champs at thirteen and one in conference and twenty five and seven overall. They were a non first four sixteen seed and lost to USC in the first round.

Eli:

And I'm gonna pick the back to back. I'm gonna choose UNCG. They add all state first team freshman Leila Minor from Virginia and Paris France native Salamata. And they also add some pretty decent transfers from other mid majors including some bright spots from some bad teams like Indiana State. So I I'm gonna pick in favor with the team that only lost one conference game last year.

Kylee:

Yeah. I I've completely I'm completely on Eli's side with this one. I totally agree.

Josh:

Same. I there's nothing else to be said. I'm gonna agree, especially since, you know, you want you win last season. Bank on that success. Keep it on rolling.

Josh:

I'm gonna follow suit.

Eli:

And now, a message from Porter. UNCG, I always look favorably on mid major champions. This has been a message from Porter.

Colin:

I love Porter's like little one liners. Like every one of these, you could put on a t shirt and you'd sell like three of them, but you could sell them for like $60.

Eli:

These are all like twenty fourteen Instagram post captions.

Kylee:

Yes. They are.

Josh:

Just wait till you get a little further down into one one of Porter's picks that could be sold at a certain college campus for a lot of money.

Eli:

We'll get there.

Kylee:

I can also just imagine like, I can like, let hear him saying these things just straight up. Like, just saying them out loud. I'm just a

Eli:

I'm just a channel

Kylee:

reporter's voice. Exactly. Alright, Colin.

Colin:

Should I go five for five here? No. You know I don't do that. Come on. UNC Greensboro lost way too much talent for me to pick them.

Colin:

I'm taking Eastern Tennessee State. They added Anila Anala? Sorry. Anala. Wow.

Colin:

Sorry, guys. My apologies to Anala Nelson from Austin Pei. She was a three year starter at Austin Pei. Return they also retained a lot of top talent. Megan Downing was on the all defensive conference team.

Colin:

Carmen Richardson was on the all freshman team for the SOCON. So ETSU is my pick. Nice.

Eli:

I like their logo. Yeah. The middle bar of their e is the state of Tennessee, and it's very fun.

Colin:

Yeah. It's it's very well done.

Eli:

Yeah. On the men's side in the SOCON, our regular season champs was UT Chattanooga. They were fifteen and three, twenty nine and nine overall. The conference tournament was won by Wafford after a sixth place finish, ten and eight, nineteen and sixteen overall. They earned a 15 seed and lost to Tennessee.

Eli:

Yeah. And you know what, Collin? I'm I'm with you. I'm gonna pick East Tennessee State. This is the side you were talking about, right?

Eli:

But they they loaded up on three point shooters from North Florida, who was our favorite early season darling last year after knocking off a couple of power conference teams, and Florida A and M, as well as a red shirt freshman transfer from Northwestern. Samford got annihilated roster wise, and Furman and Chattanooga's classes from the transfer portal don't really inspire me. So I'm gonna stick with ETSU.

Colin:

You see, I disagree with that. I like Chattanooga's transfer class. So well, I guess not their transfer class, but they I like the rest their class looks really good.

Kylee:

Right.

Colin:

You know, you'll always see me picking teams that were pretty good last year and missed the tournament on a fluke. The Mocs meet that criteria. They lost a good number of leaders, but they're going to be led by a lot of their seniors this year. Brennan Watkins and Billy Smith both had more than 10 points per game last season, and both are returning. Also, look out for Colin Mulholland, who developed a ton as a freshman last year.

Colin:

Throughout the season, he just got way better. By the end of the season, he was shooting 35% from the arc and he's six ten so you've got a six ten guy shooting 35% from beyond the arc Chen Nougat looks great there

Josh:

I decided to finally go against Kylie on this one on one of our

Kylee:

of your life.

Eli:

Gonna regret this for years.

Josh:

I probably I probably am in the long run. This is where Chad Nougat probably finishes dead last, and I lose points at the end of the season, but Yeah,

Colin:

Josh, why'd you come with me?

Josh:

Because you look like you had done a lot more research compared to Kylie. Kylie? And also and also, let me I don't love when a team banks on three point shooting. We saw it I saw it a lot in the later stages of Michigan basketball when they were they lived and died by the three yeah, and I just don't love that style of basketball I don't think it's a very successful style of basketball

Colin:

because you do die by the three

Josh:

you die by the three alive

Eli:

mean I think of Illinois from last year

Josh:

Yeah, if you live and die by the three. It's just when it's a tie, it's at a high. But when it's when you're struggling, it's not fun. So I'm gonna agree with Colin. I'm gonna go with Chattanooga.

Josh:

Also, because I like I like your reasoning at the start about if they missed on a flute, so I think they'll finally figure it out and get to the tournament.

Kylee:

That's fair. I'm with Eli though. I you know, the yes. The live live live by the three die by the three. Unfortunately, that is the style of basketball that is just becoming the most common today.

Kylee:

I am not a fan of it either. Really I am prefer teams that are gonna be play strong on defense and rebound and just be fundamentally good. But I do think this ETSU team can also do that with the addition of these three point shooters as well. And I just think, yeah, in in this conference, I mean, Sanford, I think would have been they're typically a strong team and a strong program to root for, but I think it's gonna be ETSU this year.

Eli:

Yep. I would also like to quickly congratulate Chattanooga for winning the NIT last year.

Colin:

Yeah.

Kylee:

They did. Period. So Good for them.

Eli:

Shout out Mox. It's now time for a message from Porter. Berman, I like the vibes. This has been a message from Porter.

Kylee:

Beautiful. Nothing more needs to be

Colin:

I I don't think we can add to that.

Josh:

T shirt. Nope.

Eli:

That's a t shirt.

Josh:

No. Yeah.

Eli:

I'm wearing This one like

Colin:

is The next

Eli:

a t shirt.

Josh:

This one is a t shirt, and I think it would be sold a lot on this certain campus.

Eli:

Next one, we're going to the Sunbelt. Our notable women's teams from last year were James Madison, who were the regular season champs at 18 and o Love. And 36 overall. Say it with me now.

Kylee:

30 win

Eli:

team. But they lost in the conference tournament to Arkansas State, who finished second at fifteen and three twenty one and eleven overall Arkansas State was a 15 seed and they lost to Yukon in the first round and JMU was left in the first four out.

Kylee:

Should have put him in two bid two bid Sunbelt? After winning

Eli:

30 games.

Kylee:

Two bid Sunbelt and poor poor Arkansas State had the unfortunate reality of playing

Eli:

Of playing Utah.

Colin:

Yeah, that was rough.

Eli:

On their way to a national champion.

Kylee:

Yes.

Eli:

Which is rough. That's rough. Mhmm. But I mean, it's gotta be James Madison. Yeah.

Eli:

A 30 win team. Yep. They returned their leading scorer, rebounder, three point shooter, free throw shooter, stealer, and blocker. Yep. And that's actually all the same person.

Eli:

It's Peyton McDaniel, who is a beast clearly insane They're pulling in two former teammates from SMU, so they played in the ACC last year And I really really hope that they let being left out of the tournament last year fuel them to a birth

Kylee:

Yeah, because that is annoying going undefeated in conference

Eli:

and then 30 games

Kylee:

yeah, and then winning 30 games And you still don't even get a shot at making the and silly tournament crazy

Colin:

yeah, you can't argue They are incredibly motivated from missing that tournament last year and they will be back. I have James Madison too.

Kylee:

Yeah.

Josh:

Yep. Me too. I Yeah. James Madison. Nowhere to argue, right?

Josh:

No.

Colin:

Like

Josh:

Now, here comes the shirt that we've been talking about.

Eli:

Go ahead. And now, a message from Porter. Three letters, j m u. This has been a message from Porter.

Kylee:

So if y'all wanna talk about like a deal,

Josh:

like So if anybody want

Eli:

it, it's branding

Josh:

If James Madison wants to reach out to Porter, that yeah

Eli:

We facilitate that

Josh:

we can facilitate reach

Colin:

out to the podcast or

Eli:

his agents collectively.

Josh:

Yeah, so it will will take a decent person

Eli:

will take a cut

Colin:

as long as check the net logo goes on the sleeve cuff We're all happy

Kylee:

with it.

Colin:

We are. Mhmm

Kylee:

spread the word about our great podcast.

Eli:

Yeah, Thank you.

Colin:

Yep.

Eli:

On the men's side, really interesting, really interesting Sunbelt last

Kylee:

I hope this happens again.

Eli:

We talked about it extensively. There was a four way tie for first at thirteen and five in conference, which was South Alabama James Madison Arkansas State and Troy and Troy won the conference tournament they earned the conferences loan bid they were a 14 seed and they lost to Kentucky in the first round

Kylee:

yep Unfortunate.

Eli:

But the Red Wolves of Arkansas State returned literally 0% of their minutes from last year, but they are once again doing my favorite thing, the Akron Gambit.

Colin:

I love how we've just coined at the Akron game

Kylee:

it is it's the Akron game it's because what

Colin:

they did last year

Eli:

and actually we're gonna trademark that they're all saying trademark processing

Kylee:

Akron call us

Eli:

and call us t shirts They're reloading with transfers from Florida State and Ole Miss and standouts from Stephen at Boston, Missouri State and the University of San Diego. And the rest of the final four in this conference from last year are deeply uninspiring. So I'm gonna go with Arkansas State.

Kylee:

You gotta go with the with the gamut. I mean, the these gambles tend to work out, like I said earlier in the mid majors They work out especially well. We've seen their failures in the the p five p four p five, but I think that This works here.

Josh:

Yep. I'm gonna agree. We're gonna we're gonna bank on that accurate gambit to work

Eli:

and so we'll Porter so yep We don't even get a fun quip this time

Colin:

no yeah, so I looked at this and Colin you guys already know I'm gonna pick someone different because I don't like the gambit you guys know

Kylee:

it's just because he doesn't I

Colin:

brought that up three times this episode alone I do not like when a team returns 0%

Kylee:

you don't like it because then they're successful

Colin:

it scares me I like

Eli:

it because it's fun and fresh and exciting

Colin:

it's risky and I'm an engineer who deals with statistics and when I can't see how all of your people actually play, it scares me.

Eli:

Remember when we talked about how you're an old dog that can't learn new tricks?

Kylee:

You're doing the thing again. You're doing the thing again. Oh,

Josh:

alright. Well, I mean, I like a team

Colin:

with experience. You guys know that.

Eli:

We do.

Colin:

I see that experience at Old Dominion. They I expect Robert Davis Junior to build on his season last year. I love that they've got seven upperclassmen to lead this team. Coach Mike Jones was a first year head coach last year, and, you know, it was an okay season as far as first seasons go, but he had a four win four game win streak to end the regular season last year. That gives me a lot of confidence that he has it figured out.

Colin:

And in a conference that's so open Clearly. With such a strong upperclassman leadership, I think Old Dominion can really take advantage of that, and Mike Jones can really push his team to the top.

Eli:

Yeah. I mean, I I looked at ODU. I really like how they're built this year, and I think they're going to succeed in the Sunbelt. But I just Can't agree I really feel like

Colin:

Eli just can't agree with me. Mean, like all it is.

Eli:

Yeah. Statistically, if four teams tied for first in a conference, it's likely that one of them is going to win it again the next year. Just like stati mathematically.

Colin:

Which is why it won't happen, because

Eli:

Because when

Colin:

it comes to March, that's never how it goes, Eli.

Eli:

And the Sunbelt is also one of the conferences that's still sort of at like a regular number of colleges actually not really they're at like 14

Colin:

they're at 14

Eli:

which is still less than every power conference so still sort of regular

Kylee:

I just like that Colin saying you love experience But Josh was the one that picked the what team was it last week that had 13 seniors Yeah, no yeah, Colin. Where were you last man? Where were you

Eli:

where were you

Colin:

I did not actually where was they had

Josh:

yeah Yeah, that's why Josh take that yeah exactly that's oh

Eli:

you were

Colin:

at southern believe yeah, that's right

Kylee:

you were we were agreeing with each other That's why

Eli:

yeah, yeah mistake yeah, I know we're Southern already, but let's get coastal with the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Josh:

Yeah. That better than the columns from last year.

Eli:

Thank you.

Kylee:

So true.

Eli:

Our notable women's teams, kind of a JMU situation here with Florida Gulf Coast. They were the champs at 18 and o in conference and 34 overall. Say it with me now.

Kylee:

30 win

Eli:

team. The they did win their conference tournament, and they were a 14 seed, and they lost to Oklahoma in the first round. But I think they were one of our popular upset picks.

Colin:

They were. Yeah.

Kylee:

A potential, yeah.

Eli:

During our bracket reaction show. Mhmm. But I mean

Kylee:

Who's gonna pick against a 31 team? It's a rule. 30 win team rule. They went undefeated in conference last year. They have 30 wins.

Kylee:

They have now known Toledo, Ohioan, Sinai Douglas, so

Colin:

Yep. Porter agrees. Yeah. Transferring from Michigan State.

Kylee:

Yeah. Transferring from Michigan State.

Colin:

Yeah. They they had a good amount of turnover, because they did lose their coach.

Eli:

To the WNBA.

Colin:

To the WNBA. Yes. Mind you. They pulled in former Iowa assistant coach, Reyna Harmon.

Kylee:

Good hire. Great hire.

Colin:

Which is a phenomenal They also pulled in, you know, some good transfers. They kept a good amount of their team, some of the younger players especially. And there's really not a lot of other competition in the ASUN.

Eli:

Mhmm. Not on the women's side.

Colin:

Not on the women's side, at least. It's the ASUN is looking quite rough this year on the women's side, Florida Gulf Coast.

Eli:

Yeah. I I like their portal pickups, and they were able to convince half of their own portal entries to withdraw and return to the team.

Colin:

Which is really impressive for Reyna Harmon.

Eli:

So much. Mhmm. So Yeah. Also, my cousin went there.

Colin:

Nice. Love.

Eli:

So go and GCU.

Josh:

And for reason alone, I'm gonna agree. Thank

Eli:

you, Josh.

Josh:

Because Eli's cousin went there. That's

Eli:

Thank you.

Kylee:

Yep. Yeah. We've got everyone on that one. All five.

Eli:

Shout out to my cousin. Gonna I'm gonna text you this so you listen to it. Yep.

Colin:

Alright, to the men's side.

Eli:

To the men's side, our two teams tied for the regular season championship at fourteen and four in conference were Lipscomb and North Alabama. Lipscomb won the conference tournament. They were given a 14 seed and they lost to Iowa State in the first round.

Colin:

Yeah. So Let's start with Porter. Yeah.

Eli:

Let let's start with a message from Porter. North Alabama just missed last year. This is their year. This has been a message from Porter.

Colin:

I disagree.

Kylee:

Yeah. I do disagree.

Josh:

Yeah. Yeah.

Eli:

Colin, kick us off.

Colin:

Look, I look at Florida Gulf Coast. They've improved every single year under Pat Chambers. They were a close third place finish last season. I think it's about time that they take first again in this conference. Someone call the Dirty Birds.

Colin:

Let them know to get excited. Florida Gulf Coast Eagles are looking really good this year.

Eli:

The who?

Colin:

The Dirty Birds. Their student section.

Eli:

Oh. Oh.

Kylee:

So you're picking FGCU to sweep on the men's the entire conference? Okay.

Colin:

And I think it's gonna be a lot closer on the men's side than the women's. Yeah. But I I like Pat Chambers as a coach, and I like this Florida Gulf Coast team.

Kylee:

I like a good sweep.

Eli:

Just shocked you know what their student section is called.

Josh:

Oh, yeah.

Eli:

I really like the look of Eastern Kentucky's transfers, EKU, especially Amar Knox from Alabama State and Juan Juan Cranford junior from Saint Francis. They finished two games back last year. They were twelve and six in conference, and I just really believe in their ability to close that gap this year, especially with truly so much turnover in the ASN.

Kylee:

Yeah. I'm with I'm with Eli. They have a solid transfer class, and they retained two players that they were averaging about nine and eight points respectively last year. So I'm hopefully, they'll be able to make that jump this year and contribute a bit more. So I'm I'm with Eli.

Josh:

And to keep consistent with my theme for this entire episode, I'm gonna agree with Kylie and Eli.

Eli:

Yay. Yeah.

Josh:

We're going Eastern Kentucky too.

Colin:

Yeah. So here's the thing with that. I don't mind Eastern Kentucky. I was really really really between the Gulf Coast and Eastern Kentucky. Yeah.

Colin:

And Pat Chambers is just the better coach in my mind. And that's the only reason I picked them.

Kylee:

Yeah. And that's very fair.

Eli:

Yeah. I also like their football stadium because it's a giant, just like cement triangle.

Colin:

Yes.

Eli:

Just full of seats. 15,000 people and it's just one giant triangular cement.

Colin:

I believe it seats 20,000.

Josh:

Now I need to

Eli:

see It's really big and it looks hilarious.

Colin:

Yes. Stadium.

Eli:

20 It's

Colin:

thousand. I need

Josh:

to see

Colin:

this And it's just it's the most lopsided stadium you will ever see other than like Can't

Kylee:

even think of another one.

Eli:

Indiana State Stadium doesn't even have like visitor stands on the other side. It's truly just the one stand. Yeah, but it's much smaller I've been there at Otero Hoe real anyway.

Kylee:

Ohio Valley.

Josh:

Yeah speaking

Eli:

of Kentucky and its major bodies of water. We're in the Ohio Valley along the Ohio River to play Ohio basketball

Kylee:

yep

Eli:

Our notable women's teams last year from the OVC, we've got Tennessee Tech. They were the champs at eighteen and two in conference and twenty six and six overall. They had a non play in 16 seed, and they lost to South Carolina in the first round.

Colin:

It's a rough draw.

Kylee:

Yeah. I

Eli:

I'm gonna stick with eighteen and two in conference, which is incredibly impressive. They return Reagan Grimes, who was their leading scorer from last year for her senior year, which is really impressive, especially at an Emmet Major Conference. And they're also returning standout freshman Chloe Larry. They also retain tenth year head coach Kim Rosamond, and fourteenth year assistant coach, and also alum Alison Clarke. Very fun.

Eli:

Yeah. And a message from Porter, mid major champ, give me Tennessee tech. This has been a message from Porter.

Colin:

Thanks Porter.

Eli:

Thanks Porter. No. Okay.

Kylee:

And you know what, Colin?

Josh:

You know what?

Colin:

Yeah. Yeah.

Kylee:

Yeah. Alright.

Eli:

I can't believe you two would betray me like this.

Kylee:

I'm so sorry.

Colin:

Kylie and Josh both agree with me on this one. I'm sorry, Eli. Don't know what you did to them. There was I

Eli:

don't know what you're threatening them with.

Colin:

Yeah. Was

Kylee:

a I'm getting blackmailed for

Colin:

a That was in second place last season, just behind Tennessee Tech.

Eli:

Oh, I'm sure there was.

Colin:

They returned their top three scorers, and they're my pick to win the OVC

Eli:

Pronounce their names.

Colin:

To be able to compete in the tournament in their first year eligible. Sorry, their top three scores. You're saying pronounce their names? Sorry. Ellie Bruggemann, Brooke Coffey, and Grace Fornelli.

Kylee:

The last one

Eli:

You you missed a little there, but I'll give it to you.

Kylee:

Yeah. Did Sorry. A good

Colin:

Gracie. My apologies. But I'm taking Lindenwood. Lindenwood, in their first year eligible down in the St. Louis area, I think the Lindenwood Lions have got what it takes.

Kylee:

Yeah. And I agree, unfortunately. I agree with Colin. Returning a lot of talent after a strong finish last year. First year eligible, we do love when that happens when, you know, they they've been working their butts off in this in this conference for the past few years, and now they can finally, like, reap the benefits of being, like, a good program and a good team.

Colin:

Yeah. We had that with UC San Diego last

Kylee:

Yes. So very excited for for Lindenwood, and I think they'll they'll be able to have a strong finish this year.

Josh:

Yeah. Sadly, I'm I'm still gonna follow my train of agreeing with Kylie, but Yes. This is a new one for I don't or This is the

Colin:

first time you've agreed with me today, Josh.

Kylee:

Yep. So Besides the unanimous ones.

Josh:

Yeah. I appreciate it. Ones. So, yeah. I'm gonna go with Colin.

Josh:

I'm gonna trust the research, especially if you're bringing back all three top scores. Yeah, I think let know what gets it done and Hopefully not a 16 seat that has to go up against the SEC champion.

Kylee:

Yeah, like

Colin:

tenancy Tech was last year kidding

Eli:

I mean everybody loves a tournament debutante obviously, UC San Diego was so fun to watch on the men's and women's side last year, so Definitely. Yeah. I mean, I on some level, I do hope Linden would pull that off. I'll I'll root for Tennessee Tech for the regular season and Linden would for the tournament.

Kylee:

We had a lot of first first time appearances last year in the NCAA tournament. Very fun.

Colin:

Very fun.

Kylee:

And a lot of programs that had their men's and women's teams also playing in the tournament, both of them. So that was also really fun last year.

Eli:

So Yeah. On the men's side in the OVC, Southeastern Missouri were our champs, also known as CMO. They were fifteen and five in conference and twenty one and twelve overall. But Josh, who won the conference tournament?

Josh:

S U E. Rayshawn Taylor and I don't Newcastle. I don't remember the name of their team. I saw you he did. Yeah.

Josh:

Yeah. Something like that.

Eli:

I saw you we did. They finished second thirteen and seven twenty two and twelve overall. They had a non play in 16 seed, and they lost to Houston.

Josh:

That was not fun to watch. I was a little I was very devastated watching that one.

Colin:

Houston

Eli:

So looks very guys, who are we who are we picking for the conference this year?

Josh:

I realized my pick got changed, so you know what? I'll I'll rock with it. I'm gonna even though they lost Rayshawn Taylor, my favorite player in

Eli:

the country, I'll back s I u e not even in the country anymore.

Kylee:

No, not even in the country

Josh:

I'll still back s I u e to do it and if they do this could be the funny This will be the funniest thing it will

Kylee:

one time you branch out

Josh:

whoever whoever changed my pick because initially I was agreeing with Little Rock, But you know what? We're gonna go with SIUE. I'm gonna agree.

Colin:

Yeah. Way to give away my pick.

Kylee:

Speaking of Little Rock, three of us all are on the Little Rock.

Eli:

Speaking of Little Rock.

Colin:

Look, do you want a team that has played together for what seems like forever? No. Look no further than Little Rock, Arkansas.

Kylee:

I want a team that's got all new players.

Colin:

You've you've got KK Robinson, one of the top players from 2023 and 2024 who missed the whole season last year, giving him one extra season of eligibility. So now he's returning this year, but with a twist. Both of his brothers This is and Kason are joining him. In addition, this Little Rock team was strong last year. They had defensive player of the year.

Colin:

They had the

Josh:

first Please pronounce

Colin:

that I apologize in advance swung thought shit. That's okay.

Josh:

You know what that's way better

Eli:

honestly think you nailed it.

Josh:

Yeah, that was way better than I thought

Colin:

and Please contact me if you listen to this episode. Yeah, I said it wrong They also had first team OVC player Jonathan Lawson returning. It's a good team. It is the only team in the country that has three brothers all playing together. Give me the Robinson brothers at Little Rock.

Eli:

Josh, listen, okay? I love SIUE. I do.

Kylee:

Our darling.

Eli:

I miss Rayshawn Taylor.

Josh:

I miss him so much.

Kylee:

You know, he was still there, I'd pick them.

Eli:

Yes. But the sibling angle will always win me over. No. It's what led me to pick Colorado State's women's team last year with the Ronciak sisters, and it'll lead me to the Little Rock men this year, which means I think I have to agree with Collin.

Kylee:

I also unfortunately have to agree with Collin, and it's very sad, but they just Little Rock has too much talent coming back and too much talent including three brothers.

Colin:

Yeah.

Kylee:

So you gotta you gotta go with it.

Eli:

Okay. Buckle in everybody. We've got three sentences in this Woah. In in this segments message from Porter. Simo returned 60% of their minutes last year.

Eli:

I'm sold. Little Rock is better on paper, but they didn't win last year. So we pick the repeat champion. This has been a message from Porter.

Colin:

It's a hot take, but I enough.

Eli:

Picking a mid major champ is usually a pretty safe bet for at least a top half finish in the next year.

Colin:

Yeah. Yeah. Fair enough.

Kylee:

Now it's fun

Colin:

I think that brings us to our final conference and our only one out of the South

Eli:

yeah Non Southern conference this is our only episode with what some would consider two power conferences on the basketball side

Kylee:

The Big East is a basketball power com.

Eli:

And and we're going to the Big East. We're going to the Big East. Our notable women's teams from last year, UConn were regular season champs. 18 and o in conference. Thirty seven and three overall.

Eli:

Say it with me now 30

Colin:

win team

Eli:

if they had never lost we could have had our very first 40 win team on the podcast But that's just something we'll have to aim for this year. I guess

Colin:

yeah, South Carolina was 39 and o they were undefeated yep

Eli:

But our tournament teams were two seeded Yukon and nine seeded Creighton and then Yukon of course defeated South Carolina in the national championship game eighty two to 59

Kylee:

We have both of these teams in this episode. That's crazy.

Josh:

I still don't I still don't understand how they were

Eli:

two seed for women's basketball

Kylee:

No one does

Josh:

I still don't understand why they were two seed no Those of

Colin:

you who listened to our live reaction show that was approximately twenty minutes of discussion

Eli:

Yeah, before was we twenty minutes of us picking Yukon to win the natty because they had been given a two seat.

Josh:

Yeah, was ridiculous.

Kylee:

And even like before we were on air like actually talking about our picks, we were like

Eli:

Lever gasp.

Kylee:

Pacing around the room like shocked and and scared for whoever had to play Yukon for the entirety of the tournament.

Colin:

Yes. And

Eli:

we also talked about that team this episode.

Kylee:

Yes, we did.

Colin:

So yeah.

Eli:

But let let's begin with let's begin with a message from Porter. Creighton, because I'm fun, quirky, and different. Just kidding. Yukon. This has been a message from Porter.

Colin:

Yeah. Thanks, Porter.

Josh:

Little parter.

Kylee:

None of us are picking against Yukon.

Colin:

Did you want me to pick someone else?

Kylee:

There's no content. Yukon

Colin:

because I

Eli:

know that. Yeah,

Colin:

Yukon. It's Yukon. Alright.

Eli:

I mean No one should bet.

Josh:

It's I like philosophy with Don's Daily. Don't bet don't bet against Geno.

Colin:

Very different but you can't good no they're far too good

Kylee:

yeah there's just no one else that has really been able to compete in the Big East with with Yukon specifically like even like Creighton has like good seasons and Creighton's a good women's team, but they're just they're not

Eli:

at I mean like we're at the point where the Big East simply would not be a power conference without Yukon

Kylee:

on the women's side yeah

Eli:

on the women's side at all

Colin:

yeah heck even on the men's side to some degree Off really really quick after the top like three or four

Eli:

yeah, but speaking of the men's side

Kylee:

They're in a bit of it. They're a repair year. I think I think we'll see some more our

Eli:

our regularly season champs on the men's side last year were st. John's eighteen and two in conference and thirty one and five overall say

Kylee:

it with

Colin:

me not sure how team

Kylee:

came out of nowhere actually

Colin:

yeah don't know how break patino put that together

Eli:

but he did our tournament teams were two seed Saint John's seven Marquette eight Yukon, nine Creighton, and an 11 seed first four bid for Xavier. And Saint John's, Yukon, and Creighton all made the round of 32 before losing to Arkansas, Florida, and Auburn, respectively. So just getting totally wiped off the map by the SEC.

Kylee:

Which was unfortunate, unfortunate, and none of us wanted that to happen.

Eli:

Well, I mean, I kind of wanted Florida to be Yukon, but that's neither

Kylee:

Yeah, that one.

Eli:

That's neither here nor there. Yeah. I'm gonna let Josh start.

Colin:

Yeah. Josh, go right on ahead actually.

Josh:

So I was struggling to make this pick because there is one team. There's a couple teams where they look super strong in the Big East that are going to be mentioned here in just a second from at least two people to my right, and then our lovely well, one that's sitting in the producer's seat is gonna name another team. But you know what? I like this coach too much. I know he just brought in a certain transfer.

Josh:

I'm gonna go with the back to back champions in Saint John's and Rick Pitino. I just love that coach. He's Yeah. Thankfully, he's not in the big 10. Otherwise, I would not like him as much.

Josh:

Think

Eli:

That's real.

Josh:

He's such a good coach. I know he brought in Ian Jackson from North Carolina. He's close to home. He's from The Bronx. He literally is going to be playing in New York.

Josh:

They're gonna be playing at Madison Square Garden at least. I looked up 13 times this season. Wow. Dang. They have a good amount of seniors in the group.

Josh:

So I'm gonna go with Rick Pettino and St. John's, and especially to get a win over his son who's at who's coaching at Xavier.

Kylee:

I think that's very fair, and especially since I think from my perspective, and a lot of us probably agree, they had a very disappointing NCAA tournament. Very disappointing.

Colin:

Very Which

Josh:

is that I think Rick you know will use as motive like Rick Patino doesn't struggle in the NCAA tournament He didn't do it at Kentucky. He didn't do it at Louisville

Colin:

They had to go up against John Calipari Arkansas team

Eli:

in the second

Colin:

round in the second round

Josh:

which was

Colin:

who had an insane second half to the season

Kylee:

they

Colin:

get into the tournament.

Eli:

Yeah, it was incredible true It was

Colin:

they turn their season around at the halfway point, and that's the reason they got in at such a low seed. They Mhmm. If they had turned that season around any earlier, they would have been a five.

Eli:

Saint John's should not have had to play Arkansas. No. But I'm so glad they did because that was awesome.

Colin:

Yes. It was one of the best games early in the tournament. Oh, very true. Yeah. Only upset we saw in the round I believe

Eli:

oh I don't remember I don't but I believe you but

Kylee:

honestly I

Colin:

know they were the only double digit team that made it through the first weekend.

Eli:

That's true.

Kylee:

Yes

Eli:

Brief hot take I think we should let Columbia play games at MSG because they're actually on Manhattan

Colin:

I can agree with that. Yeah.

Eli:

So You know what? Yeah. Yeah. Columbia should host Cornell at MSG because I think that'd be fun.

Colin:

That would be. Kylie? Totally get behind that.

Kylee:

Oh, yes. So we already know who I'm picking. I I wore the shirt

Josh:

Do and we know who you're picking?

Kylee:

I mean, if you've listened to this podcast at all for the past almost four years now, I I'm picking Creighton. Big shock to to everybody who Though knows the voice of Omaha, which I didn't even know Creighton was in Omaha until last year,

Josh:

so Jeez.

Kylee:

But I've loved them no matter what and and regardless if they are in Omaha. They have been gutted by graduation. Ron Kalkbrenner, I miss you already. So so people are wondering why would why would you pick them? Just because I'm a I'm a fangirl?

Kylee:

Well, little bit, but also because they their coach went crazy, absolutely crazy in the transfer portal. I mean, they picked up Nick Graves from Charlotte who averaged 17 and a half point and a half points per game. Josh Dixon, Owen Freeman, roommates from Iowa, who averaged 14 Josh Dixon averaged 14.4 points per game and shot 42% from the three. Owen Freeman averaged 16.7 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game. They also picked up Blake Harper from Howard, who averaged 19 and a half points per game and 6.2 rebounds per game while shooting 40% from the three.

Kylee:

And he was MEAC player of the year as a freshman. Wow. And they also picked up Austin Schwartz from Miami, who was a top 50 recruit going into last season. Miami's coach retired partway through the at the beginning of the year last year, right? So they had a very interesting season.

Colin:

Yep. Sure.

Kylee:

So I don't remember. So I'm expecting some also expecting some good things out of him. The Blue Jays are also returning, freshman starter Jackson McAndrew, who had who averaged 7.8 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game. So looking for him to break out this year. They're also returning Jason Green and Isaac Trout who played on all 36 games last year.

Kylee:

I really genuinely think this team has as good of a chance as St. John's and then the team Colin is gonna mention to win the Big East this year. I'm extremely excited, and go Blue Jays.

Eli:

I love Kylie, I love roommates, and I love Creighton.

Josh:

What's Even though

Eli:

I still resent them for leaving the Missouri Valley.

Kylee:

That's okay.

Eli:

Because they were huge cowards and didn't wanna play UNI anymore.

Colin:

That's exactly why they left. Not because That's it. The Big East wanted to pay them

Eli:

No.

Colin:

Not at all. Stupid amounts of money.

Eli:

Saint John's has good transfer numbers on paper, but they're transfers from Idaho State and Stanford. So standing out on those teams is very hard. And especially in a reloaded Big East, I think they're gonna run into some pretty stiff opposition. And obviously, I was never going to pick Connecticut.

Kylee:

Yeah, I know.

Eli:

And now a brief message from Porter. Georgetown won't win. Sorry, dad. Creighton returns two thirds of their minutes and I am all for continuing to make Dan Hurley mad. This has been your last message from Porter.

Kylee:

Yeah. Shout out Creighton for sticking it to Dan Hurley last year after he did the ring celebration.

Josh:

I think it's also important to mention about Creighton is the fact that they have a succession plan coming to fruition soon with I'm gonna let me make sure I have everybody's name correct. But they took Alan Huss from High Point. He's now an assistant on the staff. And when McDermott retires in the next couple years, this was news right after the NCAA tournament, Alan Huss will take over the Blue Jays as the head coach. So I think that really impressive.

Josh:

The fact that they have plan ahead like that. They have the succession plan into place. They have somebody that will be on the staff that can work with some of these younger players, and then eventually will just take over like nothing happened. I think that's very interesting.

Eli:

That's really cool.

Kylee:

Smart. And out of and out of Creighton's five transfers, only two of them are graduating this year exactly returning three of

Colin:

them. I hope and pray msu does something like that

Josh:

I We can talk we can talk about that when we get to that time my personal belief on what will

Eli:

happen I I also think it's really important that we all apologize to Porter's dad for the fact that Georgetown will not win the big east.

Josh:

They won't. Sorry, Porter's

Eli:

Sorry, Porter's dad.

Colin:

I'm so sorry. Yeah. It's rough. And when Georgetown does win the big east,

Josh:

we'll have a big celebration.

Eli:

We'll we'll congratulate Porter's dad.

Colin:

There will be confetti in the studio.

Eli:

Yes. Yes. Colin, I guess we're legally required to give you an opinion.

Kylee:

Are we though? No, really. We can just send it now.

Josh:

We can just cut it now. Look.

Colin:

I personally am expecting a big rebound from the entire Big East this year. You've got some insane transfers into the entire conference. I'm looking for Villanova led by Kevin Willard, who used to be Xavier's head coach. I think Villanova will be back in the tournament this year.

Kylee:

It used to be

Colin:

Maryland's head coach. Sorry.

Kylee:

Wow. They're also a team that could be on the rebound this year.

Josh:

Very true. Rick Pettino's son, Richard Pettino's So head

Colin:

yeah, Villanova, Kevin Willard, I think they're going to be back in the tournament this year. I think you've got UConn, Creighton, and St. John's pretty well secured in there. Maybe Marquette as well. We'll see what happens with them.

Colin:

Yeah. Unfortunately for me, I am completely and morally against picking UConn and St. John's, but in my mind, those two teams look the best. I'm sorry, Creighton. Something is not winning me over there.

Eli:

You just hate You friendship and love and

Kylee:

just don't. You like to hate on me personally.

Colin:

Look, maybe I'm completely crazy,

Kylee:

but This is not crazy.

Colin:

Yukon has been so consistent the past few years. I am picking Yukon. I think I have to go against the grain a little bit, but Yukon, something something is like deep inside of me. Some demon is telling me it's it's the demon on the left shoulder not the angel on the right alright yeah you can is who I'm picking

Kylee:

mean I'm not gonna lie like low key I've been Dan hurley you've got to put out a good season this year like a like a better than a

Eli:

really needs to

Kylee:

yes better than a they were in what seed were they they were an eight better than an eight

Eli:

better than getting swept at Maui

Kylee:

yeah yeah because them being no one was expecting that.

Colin:

Hilarious, and I loved every bit of that. Oh, Yukon doesn't go to

Eli:

multi team events anymore, by the way.

Colin:

Yes. Yeah,

Kylee:

because that was the problem.

Colin:

Yes, and I will be rooting against Yukon all season. Don't get me

Kylee:

wrong. We get to play them in exhibition, but I do think they

Josh:

are. Yeah, unfortunately,

Kylee:

yeah. Don't get to win

Colin:

Team in this conference.

Kylee:

We do get Duke in Arkansas, but we don't get to watch Yukon.

Josh:

Could you imagine that all in one? That's for a different episode, but that would fun.

Kylee:

And Kentucky. Yeah, in Kentucky. We got it, whatever.

Colin:

Anyway What

Kylee:

a schedule. Anyway

Eli:

Should we close it out? That wraps it up for this episode. We'll be getting into some eastern basketball next week, highlighted by the ACC. So that'll be

Kylee:

And the Mac.

Eli:

Macions. Of course,

Colin:

the Mac,

Eli:

where Kylie has done her homework well ahead of time, and I believe has already picked Toledo twice.

Kylee:

Of course, I have.

Eli:

But more details on that later. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Check the Net on Impact eighty nine FM. Let us know what you think by connecting with the station on Facebook, x, or Instagram at w d b m and at Impact eighty nine FM. This is our third full basketball season, and we can't wait for it to begin. In the coming weeks, we'll continue with our conference predictions, which will lead us into the preseason exhibitions.

Eli:

And this season's madness is only just beginning, and we can't wait to talk about it more next week on Check the Net.