Eye On College Basketball

Latest Episodes:

11/08: Jim Boeheim hates playing Virginia, Cole Anthony unleashes the hype and our five favorite bets for this weekend's games Nov 08, 2019

Show notes

How did Virginia look in its first game after winning a national title? Oh, just Tony Bennett one-upping himself by holding Syracuse to its lowest point total since World War II. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander open on the 48-34 Cavaliers win, then get into Jim Boeheim accusing his conference of taking a "money grab" to schedule UVA-Syracuse to open the season (13:00). After that, the guys chat Cole Anthony (26:00), who did something in UNC's opener that's only been two by two other players (care to guess?) in the past 15 years. And the pod closes with the #FavFive, a picks segment on this quintet of games: Auburn-Davidson, Colorado State-Duke, Baylor-Washington, Texas-Purdue and Boise State-Oregon.

11/06: LIVE from Madison Square Garden, a Champions Classic recap! Nov 06, 2019

Show notes

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander, as promised, give you an immediate-reaction podcast from Madison Square Garden at 2 a.m. in the wake of Duke upsetting Kansas and Kentucky upsetting Michigan State. It's fun, informative, reported out -- and of course just a little bit goofy. We love our listeners. Enjoy!

11/03: Previewing a historic, unprecedented opening night in college basketball: Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 will face off in the same building Nov 04, 2019

Show notes

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander are back with three episodes per week for the entire 2019-20 college basketball season. Excited? Oh, yeah, Here we go: Sunday night episodes BACK. This one opens with some random college hoops talk to loosen the muscles before getting into Champions Classic. Duke-Kansas talk (10:00) and then Michigan State-Kentucky (26:00), as those are by far the two biggest games to open the season Tuesday. From there, some big-picture predictions: Best value bets to win the national title (51:30) and picking the over/under win total (56:00) for 14 of the most prominent teams in the sport.

10/27: The NCAA tries to take a step into the future, but stumbles and throws up on itself a little anyway Oct 30, 2019

Show notes

So, the NCAA is now open to allowing college athletes to "benefit" off their name, image and likeness. But are they, really? What did Tuesday bring us? A statement with no action or specifics on what new NCAA rules would entail. Matt Norlander has good news for why that ultimately won't matter, while Gary Parrish loads up and tears down some of the ridiculousness surrounding what happened Tuesday in Atlanta.

10/22: It's our preseason college basketball rankings spectacular! Oct 22, 2019

Show notes

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander waste little time getting into this week's big news in college hoops: rankings releases. On Sunday, KenPom's list came out. On Monday, the preseason AP poll was released. Tuesday morning brought the unveiling of Norlander's 1-353. The majority of the episode is dedicated to discussing teams, the overrated and underrated ones, and the most disputed. The guys also touch on big news out of Michigan State, as Josh Langford will be out until at least January (4:25) and give thanks and praise for the return of the Border War (46:00) between Kansas and Missouri. Huzzah!

10/16: 2019-20 CBS Preseason All-America selections; the seven college hoops coaches whose jobs are most in danger (non-FBI division) Oct 16, 2019

Show notes

Hosts Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander unveil the 2019-20 CBS Sports preseason All-America teams. Fifteen players from 14 schools, and acknowledgement of the players who DIDN'T make the list but are most likely to wind up to be All-Americans come March. It's a wide-ranging discussion that occupies the first 36 minutes of the podcast. At 37:45, the guys lay out the seven coaches in tight spots heading into the season, and explain why coaches such as Bill Self, Sean Miller, Will Wade and others are in a separate category.

10/09: Mike Krzyzewski tells the NCAA to get its act together; Kansas in horror as Snoop Dogg breaks out the stripper poles Oct 09, 2019

Show notes

The biggest news of the week came Tuesday in Charlotte, where Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said the NCAA was lagging and had acted with its head in the sand for too long when it comes to rule changes and player empowerment. It was a significant statement for K to make. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander open the pod by going over what he said, in addition to what other coaches at ACC Media Day said in support or opposition of Krzyzewski. From there, some ACC predictions and league chatter (16:40) and then an entertaining evaluation of Snoop Dogg's Late Night in the Phog (27:00) performance, resplendent with money guns and acrobatic dancers. Kansas said it didn't know THAT was going to happen. Snoop Dogg replied, "When you pay for Snoop Dogg, you gonna get Snoop Dogg."

10/04: The NCAA is waging a losing fight against paying players for what they empirically deserve Oct 04, 2019

Show notes

It's been a fascinating week of college sports, as California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law SB206, which will allow California college athletes to profit off their name, image and likeness beginning in 2023. College presidents, athletic directors and NCAA president Mark Emmert are scurrying and trying to stop the oncoming wave. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander cover all of what you might have missed, and what to expect next in this critical month of October.

09/24: The NCAA comes hard after Kansas and Bill Self -- and Self is ready to fight back. Here's what to expect Sep 24, 2019

Show notes

The NCAA has formally accused the University of Kansas of five Level I violations. Most of those are connected to the men's basketball program and its head coach, Bill Self. This podcast exclusively discusses the details of the case and lays out the specifics you need to know to better understand what the NCAA is trying to pin on Self. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander also make early predictions on the kinds of punishments Self and KU basketball will ultimately be hit with -- and explain why nothing is going to happen to Kansas for the 2019-20 season.

09/18: Clemson went from just-OK to college football juggernaut in a little over a half-decade. Which college basketball program is set up to do something similar? Sep 19, 2019

Show notes

A fun episode awaits you, as Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander open this one by tossing out theories as to why exactly Duke and Kentucky almost every year for nearly a decade have been the top two recruiting destinations. Beyond the coaches, what are the reasons? From there, Norlander tosses out this question (15:00): Who can do in college hoops what Clemson's done as of late in college football? That is: go from proud-but-underachieving program to competing with UK and Duke in recruiting. After that, the guys get into why more top 100-ish prospects who would academically qualify don't seriously consider playing for an Ivy League program (26:00), touch on Tony Bennett refusing a raise (44:00) and giving back $500,000 to the university. They wrap with the unexpected news of Rick Pitino actually agreeing to $0 in his settlement (53:00) with Louisville.

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