00:00All right, put your dancing shoes on, folks, because it's tournament time.
00:04The men's NCAA tournament officially kicks off Thursday.
00:08Who's going to be the Cinderella's?
00:10Who's going to be the frauds?
00:11Who's going to be crown king?
00:13Let's talk March Madness with the host of The Coach's Edge, with JY, James Young.
00:19Coach, appreciate you hopping on with us today.
00:21The first four has already kicked off.
00:25Official tournament starts on Thursday.
00:28Let's get into it, because there's always that random team or teams that become the bell of the ball.
00:34So who are your Cinderella team or teams that you think that we should keep an eye out on, Coach?
00:41Well, it's great to be on with you, as always, brother.
00:44And it is that time of year where Cinderella's reign supreme.
00:48But it's been a little bit different as of late because of the NIL money.
00:53And obviously, you can't really have a sitting middle team like me, State, because what happens?
00:59You make a run.
01:00All of a sudden, the coach is gone.
01:01Players are in the portal.
01:02And everybody's getting that bag.
01:04So where am I looking?
01:05At least for teams that can at least get out of the first round upsets.
01:09Let's start with VCU versus North Carolina.
01:13VCU, obviously, you know, we know this in the Tri-State area.
01:16The job that Phil Martelli Jr., that's the son of the legendary coach Phil Martelli Sr.
01:21knows at St. Joe's in Philly, does a fantastic job.
01:25And they defend like gangbusters.
01:27You look at a team that they're playing in North Carolina, a team without Caleb Wilson,
01:31a team that I think is in an ACC that's not as good as people think they are.
01:37So to me, one of the upsets I'm looking at right there is an upset of VCU taking out North
01:44Carolina.
01:45Another matchup, 11-6, because that always seems to be popular, 11-6, 5-12, is I like South Florida.
01:52Coach Hodgson, I think, already pulled his name out of the Syracuse race.
01:56This guy, they play like they â I remember â who was it?
02:00I think it was Rick Pitino.
02:02Someone said, or Dan Hurley, that Seton Hall plays like they haven't been fed in a week.
02:06And that's the way that South Florida plays.
02:08And they are going to give Louisville all they can handle.
02:12Louisville team that shoots the ball a ton from the three-point line and doesn't defend well.
02:16You lock down a three-point line, which South Florida does well.
02:19I think they could get another upset in the 11-6.
02:22I'm with you, Coach.
02:23Yeah, the portal has definitely ruined having a possible Cinderella because now Cinderella's not wearing glass slippers.
02:31Those are Gucci slippers now, the way these kids are hitting the portal and getting paid.
02:37There's always a yin and the yang.
02:39There's always a Cinderella.
02:39And then there's always some sort of fraud when we talk about the one seeds.
02:44So, which one seed do you feel like has the hardest path to the final four and may get knocked
02:49out early?
02:51Isn't it amazing that Duke is the overall number one seed and they have the hardest bracket out of anybody?
02:58I mean, folks, I just want you to sit down a minute and I want you to just think about
03:02the names I'm going to rattle off in one region.
03:05John Shire, Jamie Dixon, Rick Pitino, Bill Self, you know, Mick Cronin, Tom Izzo, and Dan Hurley.
03:14That guy, you could argue those are eight of like the top 15 coaches in the country and they're all
03:20in one region.
03:21So, Duke's region is the absolute hell of a region.
03:25And when you look at Duke and you see all those guys and you saw Caden Boozer there, but you
03:30didn't see there is Malik Foster.
03:32And I think that is going to be a problem that Foster is not going to play because of the
03:37way that he could defend and shoot the ball.
03:40I think they're going to miss out on him.
03:43And that leads me to Duke being the first one seed to get eliminated.
03:49Oh, not my Dukies, coach.
03:51Come on, man.
03:53Interview over.
03:53Interview over.
03:54Anyone who says Duke's not making it to the Final Four, winning that chip, it's over.
03:58All right, but yeah, when you look at that, when you look at that region, it is going to be
04:03unbearable.
04:04And we'll keep it here in New York right now because we have a lot of St. John's fans and
04:08even Rick Pitino himself were mad that the Johnnies are a five seed and they got to go all the
04:13way out to sunny San Diego.
04:15Every team is going to feel like they were snubbed in some sort of way, coach.
04:20But where do you think that the committee got it wrong other than St. John's and Duke when it came
04:26to the seeding and the regions?
04:29And real quick, before I begin, it's Caleb Foster.
04:32Malik Brown is a backup that got some playing time with the big man from Duke got knocked out.
04:37Listen, there are so many different angles that I could take with, I think, the NCAA messed up.
04:42Number one, I think they're incredibly inconsistent in regard to how they've rewarded teams based on how they've played down
04:49the stretch of the year.
04:51Florida got red hot for non-conference losses, the same as St. John's.
04:57They got a one seed.
04:58Purdue, wildly inconsistent, got hot in the Big Ten tournament.
05:03They were a two seed.
05:04St. John's is the number 10 team ranked in the AP poll, but they're a five seed,
05:10which kind of means that you have them somewhere in 17 to 20 range where it doesn't really add up
05:16if you look at their ranking.
05:18Now, they'll look at the Big East being down, so on and so forth.
05:21But to me, at the end of the day, they're playing really great basketball, and it's become the sum of
05:27the parts.
05:28You can look at Zuby Etchafor and how he has played.
05:30I think those two right there, Darling and Mitchell, are going to be really keys to what we could see.
05:36Darling with his shot-making, but Dylan Mitchell's going to have an interesting matchup here
05:40because I think he is the type of player that could give Cam Boozer fits.
05:45Because of his size and athleticism, I think he can make it a little bit tough for Cam Boozer to
05:50score.
05:50So we know about the seed being five.
05:52We already talked about it.
05:54But how about the fact that there are a team from New York and the East going to San Diego
06:00for two rounds,
06:01and they may have to come back and go all the way back to D.C.
06:04No other team has that kind of travel that they have to do.
06:09But if you know Rick Pitino, he will rally the troops.
06:13He will pull us against the world.
06:16Nobody wants us to be here.
06:19They're sending us out all the way to California.
06:22They don't think we're going to get by Kansas.
06:24And then if we get by Kansas, they don't think we can beat Duke.
06:28Be careful what you wish for.
06:30I feel like the committee did not want a Big East party in the Final Four.
06:34So guess what?
06:35They're going to get a Big East party in the Elite Eight.
06:38Coach, so let's go a little bit deeper in the Coach's Edge.
06:41Who is Coach's Edge validated?
06:44Give us your Final Four.
06:45And, of course, give us your national champ.
06:47Who's going to be crowned king?
06:49As much as I love St. John's and the way they're playing, I think the reverse happens for the Big
06:55East Final.
06:56I think UConn takes out St. John's partially because the game is not at MSG.
07:01It will be in Washington, D.C.
07:03I think Dan Hurley's troops go ahead and they get revenge.
07:07Speaking of revenge, rematch of last year's national championship game between Florida and Houston.
07:13I think Calvin Sampson and his troops take out the Florida Gators.
07:17When you look at that team, that three-guard backcourt of models, Uzon, Emanuel Starr, and Kingston Flemings.
07:23They're inconsistent at times, but I like their makeup, a combination of experience in regards to Uzon and Starr with
07:32the young legs of Kingston Flemings.
07:35Frontcourt, Chris Senac.
07:36Watch out for JoJo Tugler.
07:38He must stay out of foul trouble.
07:40To the West, I have Purdue taking out Arizona.
07:43I am not a Purdue fan.
07:45I will openly admit it.
07:46But what did I talk about?
07:47Teams that slow it down.
07:49Their bottom 150 in pace.
07:51Teams with a dynamic backcourt.
07:52Braden Smith, Fletcher Lawyer.
07:54A team with an experience.
07:55I think they find a way to take out Arizona and Tommy Lloyd's troop in the West.
08:01And then when you look at the last region in the Midwest, I have Michigan coming out of there.
08:06I think they, in my opinion, have the easiest path there.
08:10I know Iowa State is tough.
08:11It will be interesting to see Iowa State even in round two because they can play a Kentucky team.
08:16Let's be honest.
08:17A Kentucky team that can go to the Final Four or they can lose to Santa Clara.
08:21They're kind of like the Forrest Gump of college basketball.
08:25So, Final Four, UConn, Houston, Purdue, Michigan.
08:31I'm sitting here writing down the notes right there.
08:33I just got the edge.
08:35The coach's edge with the J.Y.
08:37Coach, appreciate you hopping on with us today.
08:41Thanks.
08:41Thanks for having me, bro.
08:42We'll do this again.
08:43Let's do a favor.
08:45Let's not wait another year before I come back and talk to you guys at the New York Post.
08:49We'll get you next week, Coach.
08:51We'll get you next.
08:52Don't threaten me with a good time.
08:54We'll get you next week.
08:55Appreciate you.
08:56Appreciate you.
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