00:00I'm excited to jump on the Rude Guest Hotline, bring in our friend, Mr. Joe Rexroad.
00:05A lot of college sports.
00:06You can listen to him on 102.5, the game in Nashville.
00:10Joe, what's up, man?
00:10How you doing?
00:12I'm doing great, guys.
00:13How are you?
00:13Doing good, man.
00:14We're good, man.
00:15What was your favorite game over the weekend?
00:19Well, I mean, you know, the bias of being a few feet from the ball popping in and popping
00:26back out.
00:27I was in Oklahoma City, so the Nebraska-Vanderbilt game, to me, I'd have to go first there.
00:36First of all, I mean, I've seen, you know, I've been covering this tournament going back
00:40to the 90s, so I've seen a lot of home court advantages where, you know, a high seed has
00:46a lot of its fans in a building, and maybe the biggest example, like Michigan State playing
00:51in Detroit in 2009 was pretty amazing at the Final Four.
00:55How was it that game?
00:56I've never seen, yeah, that was, I mean, that Final Four, and you remember, I mean, that
01:01was a pretty overwhelming wave of green, but the red in the building for the two, you know,
01:07the two days that Nebraska played there, I don't think I've seen it where it felt like
01:12being in a, you know, in a college basketball team's home court for a huge game, and man,
01:17they made a difference.
01:18But still, Vanderbilt fights back, Tyler Tanner's just a special talent, and then, of
01:23course, that extra bouncy NCAA ball, you know, goes halfway down and pops out for them.
01:29I mean, that was the ultimate, you know, both sides kind of dropping to the floor, one in
01:35relief and one in agony of just barely losing that game.
01:38What do we make of this storyline that the balls are overinflated?
01:43Because, I mean, the end of that Nebraska-Vandy game was nuts.
01:46You were there.
01:47I mean, is that just like a media creation, or are players and coaches actually discussing
01:52that?
01:53Yeah, no, they aren't.
01:54It's actually been for a few years now.
01:56It's a different ball.
01:57You have to get used to it.
01:59Like, I've said this, like, you go to these sites, and the ball looks like, you know, like
02:04in school, you know, if you're in gym, it's like you get the nice leather ball, but then
02:09there's like the really cheap rubber ones that you don't want to play with, and that's
02:12what these look like.
02:13They're like the light, you know, it's like, and they are, like, I mean, it's pretty consistent
02:19that players, that they think they're a little bit overinflated, and it's just a little
02:23bit different shooting them, too.
02:24So, I mean, most people adjust to it.
02:27You just have to, I mean, this is what it is.
02:30It's not like it's some massive difference, but, I mean, it's pretty, I've heard from
02:34a lot of people about it, so you just have to adjust to it and get used to it.
02:37I mean, obviously, plenty of teams shot the heck out of the basketball this past weekend,
02:41so they were fine.
02:42Yeah, I just think it's weird that you get to this moment, they change up the ball for
02:48players, you know, like, just the familiarity.
02:50I know in the NFL, they had the K-ball.
02:53You always have this ball, then you get in the game, a K-ball with all that damn wax on
02:56it.
02:56Like, it throws off people a little bit, and they should just keep the consistency, I
03:01think, like, all year.
03:03No, I agree.
03:04I mean, and I know, like, different, whatever, different leagues or whatever, that might
03:07be different, but, yeah, it is, it does seem like something that there's been enough discussion
03:12about it that maybe, you know, it's kind of, like, a little different, but it's like the
03:16Big 12 comes out with the, with the wax cord, and it's like, you know what, let's go ahead
03:20and go back to wood, because people are slipping all over this thing.
03:24They're having headaches and everything else.
03:26Tools get concussions just watching the floor.
03:29It was crazy.
03:30Talking with Joe Rexroad here.
03:32You can read all of his work in The Athletic.
03:35You can give him a follow at Joe Rexroad, R-E-X-R-O-D-E.
03:39Listen to him in the mornings down in Nashville.
03:42So, where are you headed this weekend?
03:43Are you headed to one of these regional finals?
03:46Yes, I must say, I'm extremely jealous that I'm not headed your way.
03:52One, because I have a lot of family in the D.C. area, but two, because I think that you
03:56guys have absolutely the cream of the crop.
03:59It's crazy.
03:59Duke St. John's and Michigan State, UConn.
04:03I mean, that's just a fantastic setup.
04:06I will be in Chicago, so looking at Michigan, Alabama, and, you know,
04:11I mean, right now, I'd pick Michigan for sure, but I did watch Alabama last night
04:16without Aiden Holloway, and I'm like, my goodness, if they're going to play and
04:18shoot like this, who's beating them?
04:21And then, of course, you have Tennessee, Iowa State.
04:23You know, Joshua Jefferson, big storyline for Iowa State.
04:27They obviously looked great, overwhelmed Kentucky yesterday.
04:30I think it's a national title contender, and a Michigan-Iowa State Elite Eight
04:34game could be unbelievable if Joshua Jefferson is able to come back and play
04:39for the Cyclones.
04:40Is Bama going to let that kid with all the weed play again?
04:45I mean, as far as I know right now, until there's some sort of step in the case,
04:53which I don't think is happening anytime soon, I don't believe so.
04:57I think he's going to be out.
04:59So, I mean, you never know with, you know, can you expedite something, you know,
05:04and obviously we've become very familiar with college athletics, you know,
05:08home court-friendly judges and all this stuff, but I don't think so.
05:13And, you know, of course, on my brilliant bracket, I immediately picked Hofstra to beat them.
05:18And, you know, that got exposed.
05:23But I must say, like, first of all, they adjusted very well, obviously.
05:28And also, you know, three teams have been in the Sweet 16 four years in a row.
05:33It's Alabama, Tennessee, and Houston.
05:35I mean, you have to be impressed with Nato.
05:37At this time of year, usually, he gets his team playing really well.
05:41Yeah, for sure.
05:42Last year, they let somebody play on the murder investigation.
05:44So, I mean, that's my thing.
05:46That's way more serious than the weed.
05:49So, we thought they were going to play in the first game.
05:53Yeah, I mean, yeah, obviously, they've had a lot of stuff in that program.
05:57So, and, you know, it's like, you know, you hear weed now, and it's like, okay,
06:03does anybody care?
06:04But, I mean, it was a lot.
06:06So, then you get, like, a felony distribution thing.
06:09That's obviously a way different deal.
06:11Two pounds of weed ain't for smoking.
06:13That's for selling.
06:15So, we see the one seed in Florida goes down.
06:19All three of the other ones are still around.
06:21Is there one between Duke, Arizona, and Michigan that you think looks the spottiest?
06:30I mean, I'd have to go with Duke because I just think, you know, Michigan,
06:35Michigan, you know, had some tough stretches, I guess, in the first weekend,
06:39but then really just blew the Billikens off the floor in the second half.
06:43I mean, I still think, you know, it's a very complete team.
06:47I think Arizona's the most complete team.
06:49Just sound all the way around.
06:52I mean, that was my pick to win it.
06:53I'm sticking with that.
06:55I mean, Duke, obviously, just the injuries, right, is the big question.
07:00I mean, Caleb Foster, you know, might be back for the final four.
07:04That's a big loss.
07:05I mean, they miss him.
07:06They got Patrick and Gong were back, and that's a big deal.
07:09But I think that may be the difference this weekend for Duke.
07:14I mean, I just think it should be an amazing game, St. John's and Duke.
07:18I don't know that Duke, without Caleb Foster, gets through two games
07:23with the level of competition they're about to play.
07:26They were a couple plays away from losing to Siena.
07:28And sometimes that happens, and they admit it.
07:30You know, they admit it.
07:31They didn't take them seriously.
07:33And Duke is a young team, so okay.
07:36But even TCU, I mean, I thought Duke had a pretty friendly whistle
07:41for a little stretch there early in the second half
07:43or midway through the second half that put the game.
07:45I just, yeah, right now they're not playing to me at that same level.
07:51And, look, with Cameron Boozer, he's just an incredible player.
07:56The way he thinks the game and just on both ends of the floor,
08:00you could never count them out.
08:02But I just think they certainly look more vulnerable than those other two.
08:05They do.
08:06They seem like they're playing stressed to me.
08:10You know, you see a team of that caliber just fall.
08:13But, like, seeing the Siena game, they look lost.
08:18No doubt.
08:19I mean, no, it was – I mean, it was – and that's the thing.
08:22It's like, obviously, this year, just like last year,
08:25we're talking about Cinderella.
08:27You know, when are we going to get another real Cinderella
08:29and all that stuff?
08:30I mean, you know, we really almost had our third ever 16 beating a one
08:36in this tournament.
08:38So, you know, they were discombobulated in that game for sure.
08:42You know, you've got to get – I mean, Isaiah Evans, I mean,
08:46you've got to get shooting from him.
08:48You've got to be able to, you know, get a little bit more balanced scoring
08:53and things like that.
08:53But, I mean, you know, against that St. John's defense,
08:56that should be a tremendous matchup.
08:59Absolutely.
09:01Talking with our friend Joe Rexroad,
09:02make sure you read all his work in The Athletic.
09:05Joe, one more, and this is about a team that is not playing anymore.
09:09What's going on at Chapel Hill?
09:11I mean, North Carolina's the bluest of blue bloods,
09:14and seems like Hubert Davis might be on his way out,
09:17but they're trying to, like, do it – it doesn't make a lot of sense.
09:21It's like a clandestine campaign down there.
09:24Yeah.
09:24Well, and, you know, really, there's a lot of writing on the wall
09:28that suggests that – I mean, I'm almost to the point
09:32where I'll be surprised if he's their coach next year.
09:34How it comes about and all that, you know,
09:37is it a negotiated step away?
09:40You know, I don't know.
09:41But it seems like the writing's on the wall.
09:45And, you know, obviously you're talking about a guy who, you know,
09:49that initial runaway of the title game, you beat Coach K twice, you know,
09:54in the span of a month and end his tenure and all that.
09:58So, you know, that along with being an all-time great player at UNC
10:02buys you a lot of leeway, but it just hasn't been good.
10:06And it's tough because, look, I mean, you know, Caleb Wilson,
10:11I mean, the injuries killed them.
10:13I think that team really could have made a run.
10:15He's a special player.
10:16But at the same time, you know, when you blow a 19-point lead
10:20in a game like that and you don't – you know, to me, a coaching mistake,
10:25I mean, you have to use your bench a little bit.
10:27I think those guys are absolutely gassed.
10:29And there's just been too many instances like that.
10:32And, like you said, it's North Carolina.
10:35And there are some great coaches out there that they could go land,
10:40probably outside the North Carolina family would be my guess.
10:43And so I think that's what we're going to see.
10:46Any idea who that gets?
10:48I mean, that's got to be a job guys go all out to try to get.
10:52Oh, yeah.
10:53Well, you know, I mean, like what about a guy like Todd Golden?
10:58I mean, there's also talk about Bill Self in Kansas.
11:00He was noncommittal yesterday about, you know,
11:03about whether he's coming back next year.
11:05Todd Golden could be of high interest to both Kansas and North Carolina,
11:10you know, if both those jobs are open.
11:12I love a guy like Josh Schertz at St. Louis.
11:15I'll tell you, you know, I just mentioned Vanderbilt and Nebraska.
11:19I mean, Mark Byington is kind of a rising star, too.
11:23I mean, you know, there's a lot of other possibilities.
11:25But, yeah, I mean, to me, you look at Todd Golden,
11:28obviously terrible finish of the game for his team and for him yesterday
11:33with the pressing, not fouling like they were hoping to.
11:36You give up the open three and then you get nothing in your last possession.
11:39But, obviously, he's a great coach.
11:41Won it all last year.
11:42And I think you start any list with him if you're a blue blood.
11:44But, yeah, that'd be wild to leave Florida for Carolina.
11:47But I think that's a job you do it for.
11:50Hey, Joe, thank you so much for the time, man.
11:52Really appreciate it.
11:54Awesome talking to you guys.
11:55Thanks for having me.
11:55All right.
11:56Joe Rexroad.
11:57Give him a follow at Joe Rexroad.
11:59R-E-X-R-O-D-E.
12:00Good for you guys.
12:00.
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