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About this Episode
Chris Mack is IN for Nick Kostos. Chris Mack opens the show with his five top stories of the sports week and shares the picks he would redo in his bracket. Plus, Chris reacts to the Lakers loss to the Pistons last night to snap their losing streak.
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Transcript
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that helps kids truly understand what they're learning,
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or reviewing science concepts.
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IXL delivers personalized interactive practice
that adapts to your child's level and pace.
It's an easy, effective way to support learning
as the school year heads into its final stretch.
Studies show kids who use IXL score higher on tests,
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IXL is used in 96 of the top 100 school districts in the US.
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Good morning, everybody.
Welcome into You Better You Bet.
Chris Mack in for Nick Costos today.
It's still March according to the calendar,
which means there's still madness.
Whether it's of the college basketball variety,
maybe the NBA variety.
We got some of that last night as well.
And of course, the news cycle never stops in the NFL.
So some things to talk about.
Some little bits and news coming out.
Some of them a little bit bigger than others.
Some of them requiring a few more
mathematic gymnastics than others,
but they put the writing on the wall in some places
for some people yesterday.
We'll get into all of it today
and we have got a stacked lineup joining us here.
On You Better You Bet presented by Bed MGM.
Of course, on Westwood One Sports
and in the Westwood One Sports app as well,
live across North America on Series XM Channel 375.
And you want to watch the show?
Sure you do.
Why wouldn't you want to take part in the fun?
In the chat on YouTube, YouTube.com slash at the Costos,
T-H-E, K-O-S, T-O-S, jump in there.
We'll be interacting with you there.
And on the phones at 310-840-4910-310-840-4910,
your thoughts on March Madness.
Cinderella, dead and gone.
It's a power five show now.
Are you bothered by it?
If so, how do you fix it?
That's a massive question.
We could certainly open up to those of you
that have ideas.
Speaking of massive questions,
something was floated out there last week
in regards to the NFL and expanding.
Maybe not in the number of teams,
but in the size of the schedule.
And I think it leads to a very interesting conversation
about just how much football is too much.
Or maybe there's no such thing.
We'll get into that later.
As mentioned, a stacked lineup,
Fran Frascilla, who will be calling the sweet 16
and elite eight games in the South Regional
in Houston, Texas.
We'll join us one hour from now in the final hour of the show.
Dan Bonner of CBS Sports,
Hill Talk Tournament with us as well.
If we got a redo on the brackets,
how would we handle that?
We'll get into it in about 20 minutes here on You Better You Bet.
Again, Chris Mack, Infernic Costos today.
Nick Fridel, Odyssey NBA insider,
will join us in the final hour also right around 1125 AM Eastern
because, well, the Madness was not just limited
to college basketball.
And certainly last night was a heavy NBA schedule.
So let's dive into the five biggest stories of the day
right off the top.
We call it the high five.
Five.
My first one would be that defense is 50% of the game.
I believe I'm the most impactful player defensively
in the league.
Second argument would be, we almost sweat OKC in the season
and we dominated them.
My third argument would be that offense impact
is not just points.
That's Wendy talking about his own MVP case.
Now, he didn't bring it up on Solicited.
He was asked about it in the post game press conference
after the Spurs dusted the heat 136, 111.
And he went for 26, 15 boards and five blocks.
I believe that's the 10th game of the year
where he's had at least 25 points and at least five blocks.
I also believe that's more than the rest of the league
combined this year, 25 and five in that manner.
The man makes a compelling case.
If you're looking for the best all-around player in the league,
he's right there.
He's right there, but he's just that far off.
I love Victor Wembenyama.
And I can't wait to see what the Spurs do in the playoffs.
Don't get me wrong.
And as far as the top three in MVP odds,
what Luca has done for the Lakers over the last few weeks
can't be disputed either.
Big moments, buzzer beaters, dropping massive numbers,
and we'll get to the Lakers more specifically
and they're lost in Detroit in just a moment.
But Shay Gilgis Alexander is still going to win MVP.
You look at the percentages at Kowshi right now.
He's 86%.
86% to win league MVP.
Wembeny is 7%.
That's despite flattening just a little bit
over the last couple of weeks after a little bump
going into the All-Star break.
The point is this, Wembeny is great.
Wembeny is the reason the Spurs are where they are,
despite a talented roster around him.
Wembeny is still going to finish second in MVP voting.
Doesn't take anything away from what he's done.
Doesn't make any of the points he just made,
any of his arguments as to why he should be considered
league MVP away.
They can all be true and it can also be true
that SGA is just more valuable to OKC
and is the single best all around player in the league.
Is he going to drop half a dozen blocks?
Most nights, no.
Is he defensively as good as Wembeny?
Probably not, but he's still very good.
And he's also capable of dropping 40 with his eyes closed.
So SGA will win MVP, but I like this not attitude.
That makes it sound sort of salty.
I like this perspective from Wembeny.
He's put it on over the last month or two,
a little bit more of this killer instinct,
a little bit more of this, hey,
don't forget about me and don't forget about San Antonio.
And I can't wait to see what it produces in a few weeks
when we get to the playoffs.
Next, four.
Come and get Gibson over to the keel.
He dumps it.
Yes.
And a foul on Memphis.
Two great planes.
Come and get God has started.
And then the keel gets helped up by everybody
and look at those smiles.
Thanks to Fandole South for the audio.
The Atlanta Hawks won last night and won big.
Now, it's, it's over Memphis.
I get it.
We're going to pump the brakes here just a little bit,
but are the Hawks frisky?
They're in the six seed now in the east.
They've won 13 of their last 14 and 14 of 16
since the All-Star break.
Now, I get it.
Eight of those are against an assortment of the wizards,
nets, box, maps, two each, in fact, against those teams.
And their only game against a potential playoff team
in this 14 game run was a 22 point loss in Houston.
We go back to the break.
They got a 30 point loss to Miami on the docket as well.
But a 40 point victory is still a 40 point victory,
even if it's over Memphis last night.
And if you ask me right now, if Nikhil Alexander Walker,
who you heard with the finish there,
Jalen Johnson, CJ McCollum, Jonathan Camingo,
were capable of winning four games out of seven
against the Nix or the Celtics, I'd tell you probably not.
But, you know what, if you were to ask me a month ago,
if the Atlanta Hawks had any real shot
of crawling out of their annual spot in the play-in,
I also want to look at your sideways.
But they're 21 and 11 since jettisoning the deadweight
that was Trey Young.
And that has seemingly turned everything around in Atlanta.
Doesn't mean they can go deep in the Eastern conference
playoffs against the likes of, as I mentioned,
the Nix, the Celtics, the pistons, the calves.
Probably not, but they're frisky.
They could be a frisky first round team,
and they're one to keep an eye on
through the final three weeks of the regular season
in Atlanta.
Next.
Three third down, and there it is.
The first catch of the game for Travis Kelsey.
And it picks up a first down for Kansas City.
That was Travis Kelsey recording a reception
in his 119th straight game.
It was week 18 in that meaningless game.
He caught the ball from Chris Oladookin,
not Patrick Mahomes in Las Vegas against the Raiders.
Chris Lewis and Kyle Long on the call on CBS there.
The date for Travis Kelsey is set.
No, no, no, not, not, not that date.
Although you keep up on Instagram and TikTok enough.
TMZ, it sounds like June is it for Kelsey and Taylor Swift
to finally tie the knot.
Apparently they've sent, save the dates out.
Shh, don't tell anybody.
I'm talking about Kelsey's inevitable retirement
from the NFL though.
With the announcement yesterday of a three year
54 million dollar extension that had people go,
what three more years for Kelsey?
How much money until they stopped and read the fine print?
It's really just a one year, 12 million dollar deal
that will get ripped up next June.
With all of that, the writing is on the wall.
Year 14 in Kansas City will be Kelsey's last.
Financially, the way this thing is written up,
it makes it very difficult unless they literally light the thing
on fire next June and Kelsey changes his mind as a newly wed
to the world's biggest pop star that he'd rather go out there
and put his body on the line for a 15th season.
It makes it very difficult to see Kelsey playing beyond this year
in Kansas City.
So get out your red sharpie, find the calendar,
circle the dates.
If you're a massive Travis Kelsey fan,
you want to catch him the last time he comes to town.
You want to see the final few completions
between he and my homes.
It's going to be this season for Travis Kelsey.
They'll get his swan song, maybe not in a year
where the chiefs are legitimate super bowl contenders.
I don't think anyway, but maybe one final ride into the playoffs
with Andy Reed, a few cheeseburgers, Patrick Mahomes
and a reconstructed knee.
May be Kelsey helped spin some magic,
but regardless of how 2026 goes down at Arrowhead,
the writing is on the wall.
This will be Kelsey's last year.
Next, two, Luca against David,
got on the way and it's short and the Lakers
nine game winning streak has ended here in downtown Motown.
No points for LeBron in the first half,
yet the Lakers were right there at the end on the road
in Detroit, had the game in Lucas hands twice
in the last 30 seconds.
It didn't find the final shot magic
that they've been able to spin more often than not
over the last few weeks.
Terrible in bounce pass by LeBron too, by the way.
Was he trying to get it to Luca?
Was he avoiding inbounding to Luca?
Anyway, it was messy.
Go back and see the highlight
and you'll find what I'm talking about.
But the point remains, there's still the hottest team
in the West that doesn't employ the aforementioned
Gilgis Alexander or Webinyama.
And if they stay hot over the final three weeks
of the regular season, nobody, nobody,
least of all the loser that four, five, six race
between Denver, Houston and Minnesota
is going to be excited to see them in the first round.
That's the Lakers, first loss in 10 games.
As for the pistons, this collapse
that so many expected with last Thursday's news
that Cade Cunningham would be out
for an extended period of time, it hasn't materialized yet.
It's only been a few games, I get it.
Maybe it's still lurking out there on the horizon.
But with a five game lead over the Celtics
for the one seed in the East with just 11 to play,
their positioning feels pretty solidified,
pretty secure, atop the Eastern Conference.
And all of a sudden, Danis Jenkins has come out of nowhere,
30 last night, 22 over the weekend against Golden State,
eight assists in each game, wasn't expecting that.
And Jalen Duren is still doing everything,
including Deing up on Luca Doncic,
on the final possession last night.
I don't know, you know how they do.
I was gonna say in the newspaper business,
but newspapers don't really exist anymore.
You know how they do where they always have
an obituary ready for an older celebrity,
just in case something bad happens.
But you can write it up if you want.
I just wouldn't be so quick to be ready to file
that pistons a bit quite yet,
but it still hit them in the second round.
They've got to face the calves
or maybe that frisky hawks team
at some point that I mentioned.
Maybe, maybe it doesn't happen
until they're facing the Celtics or the Knicks
and the Conference Finals.
And maybe by then, Cunningham is back.
And the pistons look like the team
that dominated the league for the first 65 games of the year.
But the collapse doesn't feel like it's coming any time soon.
And I think you can take that obit
and you can just tuck it away in the corner
of your desktop somewhere with all those other files
that litter your desktop.
I'm one of those people.
I just leave everything on the desktop.
It's a mess. I can never find it.
Leave it up in the corner there
because you might not end up having to use it at all.
That collapse may not be coming without Caden Cunningham.
And if they get him back, say, second round
and they survive with Danis Jenkins
doing what he did against the Lakers last night.
Yeah, pistons may not die as many expected
in the wake of the Cunningham news last week.
Finally, next.
One, rebound is swayed.
Six seconds left.
I have to vote the Titus.
Vote the Titus inside.
Plays an end.
Two seconds to go.
In a chitzy, inbound a Grant Foster.
Ty on Grant Foster with a horn.
It's over.
The Texas Longhorns are going to the sweet 16.
That's it for double digit seeds in the sweet 16.
Yeah, Texas with all those big bags of cash.
They're what qualifies for Cinderella this year, I guess.
Ryan Radke on the call on Westwood won over the weekend
as the Longhorns upset Gonzaga.
There were by my count approximately 3,468 columns written
in the last couple of days about the death of Cinderella.
And look, I'm here to tell you, I agree, yes,
it's somewhat disappointing that we don't have a St.
Peters or a fairly Dickinson or an oral Roberts
for the second year in a row in the NCAA tournament.
A team that you know nothing about that fights its way
through a couple of games on the opening weekend
against higher seeds and finds itself in the sweet 16.
That may be a bit disheartening to see nothing but power
five teams in the sweet 16.
But we're also just a bucket or two away from high point
pulling off the inconceivable against Arkansas.
In the ending to that game, Saturday night,
capping off a night where Texas upset Gonzaga, Nebraska
survived that half court eve by Vandy,
was what we're ultimately here for when
it comes to March madness.
Even if the brand names in a lot of these cases are bigger
and more recognizable.
And look, people are going to point out the margin of victory
on average in the first round was ridiculous.
Somewhere around 20 points, if not more than that.
And you can do that if you want.
You can average all the numbers together
and you can ignore the buzzer beaters and point out the routes.
But I'm going to be the shiny, happy person
that focuses on the good that still existed
on the first weekend of the NCAA tournament
and what we may get going forward.
Because look, there are a few events in sports,
aside from the Super Bowl, that bring us all together
watching these moments at the same time.
I'll say for a fact that in a household where my wife
has very little to no interest in sports,
the one time of the year, even
including the Super Bowl, where she is locked in on games
like I am, like my son is, is March madness
because she's filled out a bracket.
She's won a pool before unexpectedly,
despite knowing nothing about the teams.
That's the beauty of this thing.
Nobody knows anything going in to the NCAA tournament.
And we sat there as a family on Sunday
watching Tennessee hold off Virginia,
watching Iowa upset Florida,
watching the St. John's buzzer beater over Kansas.
And as a family, we took in the beauty
that is March madness in the NCAA tournament.
The names yes are more recognizable.
It's Iowa, it's Texas, I get it, it's St. John's.
It's not St. Pete's or oral robberts or fairly Dickinson.
But the moments were just as good.
Cinderella dead, maybe, but the madness still exists.
And that's the beauty of March.
That's the beauty of the NCAA tournament.
Unless of course your brackets are totally busted
as mine are losing half of my final four already.
And it's time for a do-over.
Coming up next here on You Better You Bet presented
by Bet MGM on Westwood One Sports,
Chris Mack in for Nick Costos today.
Coming up next if your brackets are busted like mine,
like many others, and it's time for a do-over.
We will handicap that sweet 16 and tell you what changes
we would make from where our brackets were
just a week ago going into the first round
of the NCAA tournament, a bracket redo.
Do-over next here on You Better You Bet on Westwood One Sports.
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When kids take time to review key concepts
and strengthen their skills before assessments,
it can make all the difference.
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so they walk into every test feeling prepared,
capable and confident.
IXL is an award-winning online learning platform
that helps kids truly understand what they're learning,
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strengthening reading and writing skills
or reviewing science concepts.
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We're going, we're going streaky through the quad.
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We're going streaking through the quad.
We're going to do over our brackets.
Do over.
There was nothing.
When you were a kid playing in the street,
whether it was wiffleball with your friends,
the street hockey, hoops, whatever.
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that nobody could come to an agreement to.
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We're going to try that with the sweet 16
of the NCAA tournament.
Now that 52 teams have been eliminated,
what do we, if we had a second shot at it,
what would we do different from where we were
on this bracket a week ago at this time?
Chris Mack, in for Nick Costos today.
Here on You Better You Bet on Westwood One Sports,
you can always join in.
Try man, what would you redo on your bracket?
If you could get a duo for 310, 840, 4910, 310, 840, 4910.
And we'll go through and talk about this.
We'll pull in Tyler.
We'll pull in Kenny in just a moment, progressive insurance.
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All right, Tyler, Kenny, I want to bring each of you
into this because I have a feeling you're both probably
doing much better than I am.
I've already lost half of my final four, Florida and Gonzaga.
So I could go a million different directions on a bracket redo.
I'd probably start by taking Illinois
and I'd probably stand by my selection
of Arkansas upsetting Arizona, which we'll get a shot at on Thursday night.
But as for regions where I'm not totally dead,
I think the one redo would be to jump on Tyler's St. John's bandwagon
that he started last week and take them to beat Duke
and then get through Michigan State or Yukon in the East.
So in my bracket redo, rather than three ones in a three,
I might have a one Michigan, a three, a four,
and maybe even a five in St. John's.
So I'll let talk about Cinderella, maybe accurate,
but we may still have some madness left here on the second weekend.
Tyler, if you had a bracket redo,
I know you were already on St. John's.
Where else would you look and say,
nah, I screwed that up, I got to fix it.
I mean, we could be saying it's every year with this team.
Like, I mean, I think I would do it again to be honest.
Gonzaga, like that lost it.
I had them going far, I had them going to the elite day
and it seems like the same thing with Mark Fu and his team every year.
Just like they have high hopes and they never reach it.
But this was like a different version of the Gonzaga team
that we've seen in the past.
They were all defense, not the offense wasn't great.
So I thought, oh, maybe this is a different version of Gonzaga.
Maybe since they flipped it around,
this will be the one that works.
And they lost to an awful Texas team.
Like no matter what you say about Texas,
they're not good.
They're exactly six and that point favorite.
Texas lost five out of six heading into the tournament.
So and they just played a first four game before that.
So having Gonzaga go far,
that was probably my one biggest slip up.
And also just like a terms of bracket pools,
like maybe I'm just going to stop picking the upsets
in the first round because we only get in like 10 points
in some of these pools.
And then they just end up losing in the next round anyway,
most likely in the round at 32.
So I think next year just like,
honestly, just trying to take the free points
and just picking all the favorites in every game,
just not predicting upsets in my bracket pool.
But Gonzaga was by far the one I wish I ever did.
Yeah, I yacked all over myself with the Zags as well.
We're probably not the only ones guilty of that.
I do think you have a point.
And again, this conversation has already been beaten
to a bloody pulp over the last couple of days.
I think there is a point to be made about
when we look at our brackets a year from now,
how quick are we going to be to take those mid majors
to get an upset in the first round?
Even if we don't take them through to the sweet 16,
when you look at the results of this year's first round
and so few of those small conference and mid major teams
actually pulling off the upsets
and nothing but power five in the sweet 16,
that definitely needs to be something we tuck away
in the back of our memory banks and save for next year.
Okay, what about you?
I know you were, how far did you take Iowa in your bracket?
You didn't have them beating Florida, right?
Yes, I did.
I was one of those people.
I just, oh my God, I hate you.
Our guys at Crowl did as well.
He kind of helped talk me into it.
Yeah, so that's what I was happy about.
But one thing that I could,
I wish I didn't underestimate Nebraska.
Cause obviously I picked Vanderbilt to go to the final four.
Florida losing early was in part of that.
I thought Vanderbilt, as long as they can get past that first
weekend and then if Florida gets knocked out,
their path is great.
But I underestimated the power of Nebraska,
coming off that first tournament win.
I actually thought that it would be,
that they would come down after that first tournament win.
They just took that momentum and continued to play well
and Tyler Tanner almost made that last shot,
but he didn't, Nebraska's moving on.
So I wish I wouldn't have underestimated Nebraska.
That South region is really messy though.
And up east, I don't know what to do yet.
I keep changing my mind.
I said, yes, I think St. John's is going to beat Duke.
I still don't know.
I'm definitely going to take St. John's plus the points
on Friday night, but I still don't know
who's going to win that region.
Could be anybody at this point.
Yeah, the east feels like a total toss up.
The South that you mentioned is messy.
Three big 10 teams in the four in the South.
I would say if there were another do over,
I could get in this bracket.
I honestly don't know what to think
of the Illinois Houston game.
I'm interested to ask both Dan Bonner and Fran
for Shilla if they have thoughts on that one.
Because Fran's going to be on the call,
obviously, of that game.
But I just, I don't know what Houston.
I had so many doubts about coming into the tournament.
It's why I had them pegged as an early exit to big dummy
that I am, but Tyler Houston looked so dominant
in their two wins on the first weekend.
I don't want to say it's like the regular season didn't exist,
but it's like the last six weeks of the regular season didn't exist.
And maybe we just underestimated the impact
of having to play so many big boys
in the big 12 down the stretch.
Yeah, so this was yesterday's show.
I kind of feel like that was more of an indicator
on Texas A&M because they really didn't plan
about a big day and one big guy and Houston just like
just I've never seen a team dominate the offensive boards
like Houston that they get to say an M.
So I feel like that was more of a Texas A&M,
but I mean, Houston's awesome.
I actually like Illinois in this game, a ton.
I have them in my final four and I picked them in my final four
just for this match, specifically.
And the one reason why I don't think Houston's going to bully
Illinois in the pain like they've done to all these teams.
Illinois is also a spectacular offensive rebound team.
I think they're top five in the country.
So it's always Houston.
So it's going to be they're going to be battling
and Hugh Illinois is like the way better offense.
So to me in the paint, it's like as crazy
as it sounds against Houston, it's kind of identical to me
between Illinois and Houston.
I'm going to and I'll take the better three points
you and team by far probably the best offense in the country
in the Illinois.
So I think they're going to win.
I'm not even been the two and a half.
I'm just taking straight up on the my line
because I think they're going to beat Houston in a fancy league
and go to the final four.
A big 10 elite eight Kenny.
I know that that warms the cockles of Kenneth Henderson's heart.
And a big 10 elite eight in the South region, doesn't it?
Yeah, definitely.
Uh, I wish my badgers were still in it.
But, uh, you know, I'll take the align.
I had the align I go into the elite eight, uh, coming into the tournament.
Now they're my pick to go to the final four.
I'm with Tyler.
I just don't think Houston's going to be able to keep up in this basketball game.
Like Houston's had so many years over the over the years of the tournament
where they can just not keep up in a certain game.
They finally met their match of it.
Like Texas A&M could not score enough to beat Houston.
Illinois can score enough to beat Houston.
And I think they will.
I like Illinois, just like Tyler lot in this game.
Again, friend for Shill is going to be on the call of those South region games
this weekend alongside Spiro Dennis right here on Westwood one.
So we'll talk to him.
Get his insight at the top of the hour in about 26 minutes.
Chris Mackin for Nick Costos here on you better.
You bet today on Westwood one sports as we're streaking through the quad.
Doing a bracket do over.
Am I crazy for looking at Arizona Arkansas still guys?
Is the second biggest spread in the eight sweet 16 games?
It's seven and a half and it's almost three to one to take Arkansas
to upset Arizona outright.
I'm not going that far.
I know Arizona's deep.
You know, you need to show me what they did to L.I.U. and Utah State.
I know Arizona is good, but there's a certain.
We'll talk about soft spots I have.
I have a giant soft spot for John Calapary.
We can get into that in about an hour.
But I also just think the ability of Darius Acuff Jr.
to take over a game in the biggest moments
leaves me wondering how Arizona pulls away in this one
and covers seven and a half.
So I am definitely Tyler on Arkansas plus the seven and a half,
even if I'm not willing to go all the way to the money line.
I mean, I see that you see this game being close.
I mean, that's what Arizona does at this point in the tournament.
Every you with Tommy Lloyd, like they just keep games close.
I mean, Utah State game got a little bit,
I mean, got a little bit dicey there with like five minutes left
but they ended up pulling away.
To me with Arkansas, just like, can they guard anybody on Arizona?
And we saw Darius Acuff and Malik Thomas got absolutely torched
by Rob Martin of high point and they just gave a ton of three points.
I guess that's my worry.
Been saying all year like Arizona has paid basically like a Euro league team.
They got five professionals on the floor and they're all very good.
They all play sound defense and they play fundamental.
Like I think that game could be close.
But I mean, I don't know how Arizona stops these guys.
I guess that's my only concern.
Kenny, I'm letting my heart get ahead of my head here
continuing to pick Arkansas.
But I just don't see this being a runaway for the wild cats.
Yeah, I think the spread is probably too a little too big.
But I think part of the reason why is because Arkansas is going to have
a size issue here.
Trevon, Brazil and Billy Richmond are really going to need to show up
and crash the glass in this game.
If they don't Arizona is going to dominate the inside and they could run away with it.
Now, I don't I'm kind of with Tyler.
I think the Arizona is probably going to cover, but late in the game,
if it's close, Jaden Bradley, best closer in the country.
He's going to close it out for Arizona.
I would be shocked if Zonal loses this game.
Yeah, again, we'll talk about the soft spots we have for certain teams and
programs that are still left in the sweet 16 a little bit later.
Maybe I'm letting, like I said, my heart get ahead of my brain.
In choosing Arkansas to maybe still upset Arizona.
The one that I look at and say, man, that's great.
We've got high seeds.
We've got one four and we've got two six in the Midwest still feels Tyler.
Like we are just barreling towards a Michigan Iowa state meeting in the elite.
A, even if Josh would Jefferson is less than 100% assuming he's even on the
floor for Iowa state.
Oh, absolutely.
It feels like Michigan's, to be honest, it feels like just a Michigan collision
course to the final four.
I don't really know stop me.
I feel like we got fatigue watching these guys play towards the end of the year.
Remember that they won six or seven games by 40 points.
They've been like blowing out teams all season.
I feel like maybe they maybe they got bored and they were just like,
all right, what are the number one C?
Like we don't really have to care as much towards the end of the regular season.
But I think they'll, they'll blitz Iowa state whoever they play.
I guess the rook issue a question is, will they beat Arizona?
Which I'm unsure about.
I think it's just like Michigan state all the way on, even untouched to the final four.
We get ahead of ourselves.
They're Kenny talking Arizona Michigan in the final four.
Does, is that the collision course that we should be talking about?
Yes.
But I do think Michigan Iowa state, if we get that nearly day, it will be a great
game. I don't think I was state with with their one chance to go to the final
four in program history is just going to let Michigan blow them out.
I think it'll be back and forth down to the very end.
I like Michigan a little more.
I do think we get Arizona Michigan, which should be an unreal final four matchup on the
right side of the bracket.
But with that being said, I don't think Michigan's going to cakewalk there.
I do think even the Alabama game, that's a massive spread, but we know how Alabama can
score.
What if Alabama just can't miss might be a great game.
So we'll see, but I think Michigan, their path so far has been easy and people keep thinking
it's easy.
So we'll see.
I think the biggest takeaway is going into next year's tournament when you're filling
out your bracket.
Don't be so quick to take so many mid majors and small conference teams.
That'll be the biggest takeaway going in the next year's filling out of the brackets.
And if you get a bracket redo in the sweet 16, those are some of the angles we like.
We'll talk to Fran Frascilla, he'll be on the Westwood one called the South Regional
this weekend at the top of the hour, Dan Bonner later in the show as well, but the madness
hasn't been limited to just the college variety of basketball.
What up next?
Someone's getting frisky in the Eastern Conference.
Another team surviving the absence of their star so far, while out West, a red hot team
finally lost and someone explicitly laid out their own MVP case last night.
Everything you need to know from what happened in a massive Monday in the NBA last night.
That's next here on You Better You Bet on Westwood One Sports.
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Attention fans of jury duty.
The groundbreaking comedy series is back for season two.
Featuring an all new cast, this installment takes the comedy out of the courthouse and
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Everyone but the new guy is an actor.
Oh yeah, and the company is fake.
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Welcome back to you, better you bet on Westwood one sports.
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YouTube.com slash at the cost of T H E T O S T O S or on the phones 310 840 4910 310 840
490 10 in March, Madness.
At the top of the hour in about 50 minutes for a Cruschilla who will be on the Westwood
one, alongside Spiro Dennis in Huisen on south regional I will in Nebraska illinois
Houston this weekend.
Get his insight into the NCAA tournament.
I mentioned some NFL stuff it's kind of flying under the radar.
We'll get to that in about 35 or 40 minutes or so.
But more breaking, it's not official yet, but more breaking NFL news, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
of scheduled a press conference for 2 p.m. today involving linebacker Lavante David,
no specifics, but all signs point to him announcing his retirement after 14 seasons in Tampa.
That's from Greg Oman of Fox Sports, updating us that Lavante David, it looks like maybe
announcing his retirement from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers later this afternoon.
I talked about an inevitable trap, it's Kelsey retired many years from now, near the top
of the show with him signing that extension in Kansas City.
But Lavante David, another big name core piece, presumably leaving Tampa after the collapse
of the 2025 season in the wake of Mike Evans leaving in free agency.
Here's my hot take for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
You guys ready?
Here's a hot, hot take, spicy, I don't think it's all that crazy though.
Todd Bowles is in his final year as Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach.
Their head coach a year from now, you ready?
Up off the couch, Mike Tomlin, filed that away, put that in your back pocket, March 24th,
2026, Chris Mack filling in for Nick Costos on you better you bet, predicted that Mike
Tomlin would be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach in 2027.
Pop that away and maybe it's a freezing cold take you can call me on a year from now.
But I'm putting it out into the universe, I think it's a possibility.
So it was a pretty wild Monday night in the NBA and perfect coming off the weekend of
college basketball that we had to have so many big names and or big games being played
in the NBA.
The fun Monday night, the spurs, well, the spurs did what the spurs have been doing and
dominated their opponent on the road in Miami, 136, 111, they win by 25.
And Victor Wembenjama, I love the fact that we're getting this out of him lately.
It's not fiery, it's not angry, it's not even passive aggressive.
It's just this swell of confidence and I guess if I were Victor Wembenjama, especially
with the team that he has around him in San Antonio, I would be very confident as well.
But he drops 26 points, 15 boards, five blocks to go with all of it last night against
the heat and then gets asked in the post game press conference to make his case for himself
as MVP.
He doesn't walk away from it, doesn't, you know, sort of demurally decline to answer that
question.
So leave it up to the voters, that's not for me to decide.
No, Wembenjama says, I'll tell you why I'm MVP, hit it again.
My first one would be that defense is 50% of the game.
I believe I'm the most impactful player defensively in the league.
Second argument would be, we almost swept OKC in the season and we dominated them.
My third argument would be that offense impact is not just points.
There you go, like Sam Watterson standing up at the end of law and order to just bury
a defendant, just laying out the case, point by point, oh my god, I just realized how old
I made myself sound too by referencing law and order.
You realize, like, I just age myself by an extra 15 to 20 years by referencing law and
order.
Anyway, Wembenj laid it out pretty clear.
He said, yeah, one, two, three, I should be MVP, he didn't say, you know, he didn't knock
anybody else, but he said, yeah, here's why I should be MVP.
I hope that works for you.
Now it's not going to happen, SGA is going to win MVP and I think SGA rightfully should
be MVP.
Wembenj is a close second though and it's not so much about MVP voting.
It isn't.
For me, it's just more about this attitude and again, attitude makes it sound like it's
a sassy 16-year-old telling her parents how she needs to have the car this Saturday night.
It's not that, it's confidence.
That confidence is scary because we look at inexperienced teams in the NBA and we say, well, they
need to lose one year before they can win.
Heck, we've seen it put into practice with the thunder, right?
I don't think that part of the equation, that calculus even exists in Wembenj's brain.
No, why do we need to lose first?
No.
We're good.
Did I mention we beat OKC three times this year?
The actual OKC?
I mean, he's here to tell you why he thinks they are capable of winning it all, why he thinks
he is the best player in the league.
Not an aggressive way.
No, he's stating the facts.
I can't wait to see what Wembenj does once the playoffs get here.
Now, the question is going to be what happens if the Lakers is the presumptive three seed
roll into the playoffs.
I know they lost last night in Detroit, but if the Lakers roll into the playoffs is the
presumptive three seed against those second seeded spurs in the second round.
They both get through the first round.
They meet in the second round, experienced Lakers, Luca Magic, LeBron knowing his role.
If you smell, what Austin Reeves is cooking against this relatively inexperienced San Antonio
spurs team, that's a hell of a match up in the second round.
I think the spurs win in six, but I think it's a hell of a match up.
And then we really see if that confidence that swelling inside Wembenjama can be proven
against the Lakers team that has been red hot for the last few weeks.
Can they keep that roll up into the playoffs and through the first round still a valid question?
But that may be the best first or second round match up pardon me anywhere in the NBA playoffs.
As for the East, it may be realistic to believe that the pistons are not dying without
Cade Cunningham.
They beat the Lakers last night, and it's not just Jalen Durham standing up and doing
everything.
Again, he was on Luca on that final possession, terrible in bounds by LeBron, but Luca
still got the shot off.
Wasn't a great shot because Durham was right in his face.
And Dennis Jenkins has come out of nowhere.
I don't know if he keeps that up.
If Dennis Jenkins is a name we're talking about once the playoffs start, but if he keeps
dropping 22, 30, night after night, all of a sudden the pistons can survive a first
round series and maybe get Cunningham back for the second round.
That's not something I don't think a lot of people expected.
Thursday morning when that news came out about Cade Cunningham, we all just left the pistons
by the side of the road for dead.
May have been a little too early on that.
And I think there's an agent of chaos in the Eastern Conference in the Atlanta Hawks.
I don't think they can go on a run.
They won 13 out of 14, granted against mostly terrible teams, but they're frisky.
We'll talk to Nick Ferdell, Odyssey NBA insider at 1125 AM Eastern about his thoughts
on a wild Monday night in the NBA coming up next back into the tournament.
Fran Frascilla will be on the Westwood one call of the South Regional alongside Spiro
that is in use in this weekend.
He joins us next here on Westwood One Sports.
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I'm done carrying around bulky drinks and I'm definitely done cleaning melted candy out
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So yeah, I traded them both in for fruity rainbow five hour energy shots.
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Candy can't even compare at this point.
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Attention fans of jury duty.
The groundbreaking comedy series is back for season two featuring an all new cast.
This installment takes the comedy out of the courthouse and into the mountains above
Malibu for an annual company retreat.
The catch?
Everyone but the new guy is an actor.
Oh yeah, and the company is fake.
Get to know all the employees of Rock and Graham's Hot Sauce, a family business with everything
on the line.
Season two arrives with bigger laughs, higher stakes, and the same heart that made the
first season a cultural phenomenon.
And here's the fun part.
You'll be able to try all four flavors of Rock and Graham's Hot Sauce on Amazon.
Jury duty presents company retreat is now streaming on prime video.
Don't miss the feel good comedy everyone's going to be talking about.
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