Eye On College Basketball

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12/31: Surprise podcast! Steve Alford was fired, so now UCLA is ringing in 2019 without a head coach Dec 31, 2018

Show notes

Early Monday morning, UCLA fired Steve Alford midway through his sixth season. That called for an emergency podcast from Parrish and Norlander. The guys start on the news, then discuss the problems with the expectations of what the UCLA job is (and isn't). From there, there go deep into the candidate pool (20:40) and lay out a lot of names. Then, it's time to preview some good games this week. In order: Marquettte-St. John's (38:02), Nebraska-Maryland (40:40), Texas Tech-West Virginia (43:35), Oklahoma-Kansas (45:20) and Minnesota-Wisconsin (47:35).

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12/30: UCLA lost to Liberty. Bruins are now 7-6. Is Steve Alford going to get fired before the season ends? Dec 31, 2018

Show notes

UCLA fell 73-58 (!) at home (!!) to Liberty (!!!!) on Saturday. Bruins coach Steve Alford does not seem long for that job now. Parrish and Norlander open on that and go back in time to the reactions from multiple media members in 2013, when Alford was hired by UCLA. Then they get into who could replace Alford in 2019 (20:10) before moving on to the dumpster fire that is the Pac-12 (35:05), which looks to be a two-bid league ... if that. Elsewhere, Kentucky rounded closer to its best form by beating Louisville (44:15) and St. John's (51:30) got jobbed in a loss against Seton Hall.

12/28: College basketball 2018 Year in Review Dec 28, 2018

Show notes

When you take into account everything of consequence that happened in 2018, it's not that hard to make the argument that the sport won't see another year like this any time soon. Vacated national titles, federal convictions, a 98-year-old nun becoming the biggest thing in sports, a 16 beating a 1, Zion Williamson, scandals, a change in how the sport is operated. Big year.

So GP and Norlander get to that, but first open with Kentucky at Louisville, the game of the weekend in college basketball. From there, they run down six more games of note (15:45), including Nevada-Utah, Davidson-UNC, Wisconsin-Western Kentucky and Belmont-Purdue. Then it's on to St. John's (21:25) and it's big game in the Big East opener at Seton Hall. But for the bulk of the discussion on this pod, it's a look back at 2018 (30:20).

12/26: The 2018-19 Almost-Midseason Awards, including updated picks for who will win the national title Dec 26, 2018

Show notes

Today's day-after-Christmas podcast opens with some holiday cheer (well, sort of!), then gets to Parrish and Norlander's top-three picks for National Player of the Year (6:15) as conference play is set to begin in earnest in the coming week. Then it's Coach of the Year nominees (14:45), followed by the biggest surprises in college hoops (19:50) through November and December. As for disappointments (30:55), Parrish has a laundry list, while Norlander's pick is outside the box. The guys close with their updated national title picks (38:20), both of which have changed from who they took in the preseason.

12/24: Who should be No. 1: Tennessee, Duke, Michigan -- or someone else? Plus, a full recap of a headline-making CBS Sports Classic Dec 24, 2018

Show notes

A fun audio stuffing stocker of sorts for our loyal listeners, as Parrish and Norlander didn't let the weekend wrap before getting a good episode in to look back at the weekend and reflect on what went down in Chicago. The guys open -- briefly! -- on deep dish pizza before getting to Kansas' loss at Arizona State (4:20) and how that opens up a debate over who should be No. 1. Additionally, there's Kentucky (14:40) and its statement win over UNC ... and the issue now nagging at Roy Williams' heels (24:10). Ohio State (30:45) has Chris Holtmann one win away from the best start of his career, while UCLA has Steve Alford (35:05) and his job status beyond this season very much in doubt. Merry Christmas from us to you, and thank you for being loyal to the podcast.

12/21: Duke-Texas Tech reaction, Kevin Keatts' great start at NC State, and a big preview of the CBS Sports Classic Dec 21, 2018

Show notes

This Friday episode of the Eye on College Basketball Podcast opens with Duke's comeback win on a quality Texas Tech team that showed some ways in how the Blue Devils can, and eventually may, be defeated. From there, the guys get into NC State's 10-1 start (9:45) after it beat No. 7 Auburn, preview Ohio State-UCLA (20:50) and Kentucky-UNC (24:10) in this Saturday's big CBS Sports Classic, and wrap with Kansas' tricky road test at Arizona State (29:50).

12/19: Penny Hardaway and Rick Barnes already don't like each other; Duke-Texas Tech preview; Buffalo's awesome 11-0 start Dec 19, 2018

Show notes

The Memphis-Tennessee rivalry is back on in a huge way, with Penny Hardaway telling Rick Barnes to "get the f--- out of here." Parrish and Norlander open on all that fire, with Norlander pointing out why this could ultimately be a bad thing. From there, the guys get to talking 11-0 Buffalo (20:25), which won at Syracuse on Tuesday night. Wednesday's most critical game (29:30) could wind up being UCLA at Cincinnati. The fellas wrap by previewing Duke vs. Texas Tech (35:45), a top-tier matchup playing out on Thursday night at MSG,

12/16: Kansas is No. 1 but doesn't look like it; Gonzaga's hopes for a 1 seed aren't lost; will Big Blue Nation forgive Rick Pitino? Dec 17, 2018

Show notes

Kansas is 9-0 and ranked No. 1. But the Jayhawks haven’t looked so great much of the season. Is this team overrated? Norlander and GP open on that, then get to Gonzaga (7:45), which lost its second straight on Saturday. Elsewhere, Indiana (18:06) provided the best ending of the weekend. Not good: the Pac-12 (23:27), which is now neck-and-neck with the American Athletic Conference in competing with the worst of the seven biggest leagues in college hoops. And if you missed it, Kentucky (34:02) honored its 1993 Final Four team, coached by Rick Pitino, on Saturday at Rupp Arena. But Pitino was not in attendance, despite John Calipari inviting him.

12/14: Is Kentucky slipping under John Calipari? And a huge weekend awaits with loads of great games Dec 14, 2018

Show notes

Quade Green has transferred out of Kentucky. Are the Wildcats losing a bit of their grip -- or is Calipari losing his touch? Parrish and Norlander start there, then give Crossroads Classic preview (14:24), as Notre Dame-Purdue and Butler-Indiana play on Saturday on CBS. There are loads of good games this weekend, including UNC-Gonzaga (19:00) and Nova-Kansas (24:05). Plus, Norlander tips you on teams on upset watch (29:33), in addition to a brief Sunday preview of games (39:15).

12/12: Villanova is cracking; the Big East is open to expansion chatter; Mark Few takes aim at Mark Emmert Dec 12, 2018

Show notes

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander open this episode by discussing Villanova's worst nonconference performance since 2013, with a focus on the drama surrounding freshman point guard Jahvon Quinerly. From there, the guys discuss Norlander's report about the Big East having been approach by multiple schools about expansion (20:02) and Mark Few's reiterated criticism of NCAA president Mark Emmert (29:03).

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