Eye On College Basketball

Latest Episodes:

Kansas ends Baylor's unbeaten season; Iowa-Ohio State; Big Ten; bubble reaction galore as we turn to March (College Basketball 02/28) Mar 01, 2021

Show notes

If you are hoping for a certain something, you will need to wait just a little longer. The final episode of February is smash-loaded with so much great college hoops talk and some absurd tangents peppered throughout. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander open with Baylor’s undefeated season coming to an end. Someone’s getting pizza! The guys pivot to Iowa-Ohio State (21:30) and Iowa having a 2 seed-level resume, with Ohio State also sharing a spot on the 2 line now. An extensive and informative whiparound (33:00) that touches on just about every single bubble team with a game on Saturday and Sunday. The listener reviews are something else too, and those wrap the show right around the 64-minute mark. Here's Norlander's column on Kansas ending Baylor's unbeaten season:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/baylor-is-unbeaten-no-more-and-now-the-question-becomes-will-bears-be-able-to-return-to-their-dominant-form/

NCAA Tournament bracket backup plans, Michigan State is now IN THE FIELD, Final Four + 1 weekend preview (College Basketball 02/26) Feb 26, 2021

Show notes

The NCAA has revealed (most) of its plans for bracket contingencies for the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Matt Norlander and Gary Parrish open with a detailed synopsis of what you need to know and offer up a few more tweaks the NCAA should have ultimately decided to go with. The second segment is tied to Michigan State (18:15) now vaulting itself into the field thanks to its win over Ohio State on Thursday. Plus, Michigan beat Iowa in a top-10 affair, and at this point three of the four No. 1 seeds are locked up. The Final Four + 1 (31:00) has Norlander disrespecting the Drews, Parrish disrespecting a Mountain West team and -- get this -- these two disagreeing on every game this weekend. Shouts to David Lighty! Shouts to remote mines in the caves. Let's go.

Baylor looks shaggy, and a bunch of Big 12 thoughts. Plus: lining up the blue blood at-large case: Duke vs. MSU (College Basketball 02/24) Feb 24, 2021

Show notes

Baylor flirted with the biggest upset loss of the season Tuesday night before pulling away from 2-17 Iowa State. The guys open on that, then get into everything tied to Big 12 (12:00) from Monday and Tuesday, including results and the restructuring of the league schedule. There's a lot to get to. At the 33-minute mark, disagreement on which team has the better at-large resume right now, Duke or Michigan State. Norlander still believes both will miss the NCAA Tournament.

Michigan-Ohio State might've been game of the season; Duke is ALIVE; weekend's biggest wins, worst losses (College Basketball 02/21) Feb 22, 2021

Show notes

Michigan’s win at Ohio State on Sunday might have been the most enjoyable game so far this season. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander obviously open with that and share their thoughts on both teams and whether Michigan is right there with Gonzaga and Baylor. Then: uh-oh. Duke’s not dead yet. The Blue Devils (20:50) got their best win of the season by hanging on vs. Virginia. Let’s objectively evaluate the resume and determine their chances of dancing. The weekend whiparound begins at the 35-minute mark with some entertaining takeaways and commentary, and then our listener mailbag closes the show as it does every Sunday (55:00). As teased on the show, here is Norlander’s column on Michigan-Ohio State: https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/as-the-ncaa-tournament-looms-ahead-michigan-vs-ohio-state-arrived-at-perfect-time-for-college-basketball/

Wichita State enters the chat, March Madness will have fans, weekend picks and previews (College Basketball 02/19) Feb 19, 2021

Show notes

Wichita State’s home win Thursday night over top-10 Houston was good enough to finally catapult the Shockers into the NCAA Tournament conversation. Parrish and Norlander disagree at this point about if they should be in, though. Another Q: Should Isaac Brown be promoted from interim to full-time head coach, or is an NCAA Tournament appearance necessary to make that jump? After that, the guys touch on Friday’s notable news: The NCAA allowing for 25% capacity in all NCAA Tournament venues this season (14:45). From there, the curious cases of Belmont and Winthrop (22:15) and why the selection committee should give them more slack this season. You can read Norlander’s story on this below as well. The pod wraps, as it does every Friday, with the Final Four + 1 (31:15). Norlander shouts out a number of listeners who came through with that Arkansas Sweet 16 stat, so stick around!

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/court-report-selection-committee-chair-mitch-barnhart-explains-new-ncaa-tournament-bracketing-process/

Did Duke's Jalen Johnson opt out or quit? Does it matter? Plus: Ayo Dosunmu is magnificent and BC fires Jim Christian (College Basketball 02/17) Feb 17, 2021

Show notes

Illinois’ Ayo Dosunmu is college basketball’s premier closer at this point, or so one high-major coach who texted Norlander said. The pod opens on the Illini before getting to the most controversial story of the week, Jalen Johnson leaving Duke (11:30). GP and Norlander make some time to talk about Florida State and Arkansas (24:00) working their way into the top two spots in their respective conference races and then ask the important question: Who would you rather have an edible with, Leonard Hamilton or Eric Musselman? The pod closes on Boston College (40:00) deciding to fire Jim Christian in the middle of February. What’s the point? And is it a better job than, say, Penn State, which also will have to fill an opening in the next 6-8 weeks?

Welcome back, Michigan; bracket reveal thoughts; the three biggest overachievers from preseason; weekend whiparound (02/14) Feb 15, 2021

Show notes

We are now under a month away from the Selection Sunday’s bracket reveal. Strap in! Our Sunday evening ep opens with Michigan’s come-from-behind beatdown on Wisconsin. The selection committee said Michigan had the No. 3 profile on Saturday morning, and the guys agree. Segment No. 2 (11:30) focuses on Ohio State, Oklahoma and Alabama, three current top 10 teams that were not projected by any stretch to be in this spot back in November. All three won this weekend. The weekend whiparound (22:15) touches on Illinois, Creighton, Virginia,, Arkansas, Iowa, Loyola Chicago-Drake, UConn, VCU and more. Our Sunday night mailbag (40:00) includes the latest grammar grievance from the guys! Here’s Norlander’s weekend takeaways piece as well:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/college-basketball-scores-weekend-takeaways-bracket-facts-big-wins-ayo-vs-luka-creightons-statement/

Pac-12 trying to be a five-bid league; Duke trying to lock up No. 1 status NEXT season; jam-packed weekend preview, picks (02/12) Feb 12, 2021

Show notes

One of the more enjoyable episodes this season, we do think. The guys start with an array of thoughts on the Pac-12 … but there is an off-the-rails discussion mixed in, so be prepared. OK, maybe a couple. And then GP’s thoughts on why Duke could be the No. 1 team next preseason (29:00) with a good Trivia Time! tossed in. A lengthy, entertaining weekend preview starts right around the 36:30 mark. As promised on the pod, here are links to Parrish’s column and Norlander’s Court Report. Read as ya listen:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/duke-will-rise-again-and-it-all-starts-with-the-recruiting-class-the-blue-devils-are-expected-to-enroll/

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/court-report-cameron-krutwigs-harmonica-has-loyola-chicago-humming-along-as-it-tunes-up-for-run-at-big-dance/

Chris Beard's epic ejection; North Carolina's maskless fiasco; why Duke won't suck next season; 2021 NCAA tourney latest (College Basketball 02/10) Feb 10, 2021

Show notes

Should UNC have had to forfeit its home game Tuesday vs. Miami in light of video surfacing showing players partying without masks? No. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander get into why. Then the guys touch on one of the bigger stories of the offseason (13:00) that went absolutely nowhere this season. What is it? Listen to find out. And about Duke and Kentucky (27:00), which lost again on Tuesday night — do we think these teams will be able to regain their top-10 form next season? For one, yes. For the other, not so much. And finally, Chris Beard (37:00) and his epic end-of-game meltdown from Tuesday night. Would you believe that’s Beard’s first technical foul at Texas Tech? At the end of the pod, Norlander shares some news on the NCAA Tournament. Here’s the story about it, which includes the TV schedule for the 2021 Big Dance. You can read more here:

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/ncaa-tournament-2021-march-madness-tv-schedule-tip-off-times-and-selection-sunday-announced/

Kansas unworthy of being ranked for first time in 10-plus years; Texas, UNC, Duke, Iowa and more weekend reactions (College Basketball 02/07) Feb 07, 2021

Show notes

Our Sunday evening podcast was recorded in the early afternoon, before the Super Bowl. The guys open with Kansas’ fifth loss in seven games. Hard to justify ranking KU at this point. They then turn to Texas and Alabama (14:00) losing as road favorites and get into those games. The always-lively weekend whiparound (29:00) touches on essentially every outcome of note — UNC over Duke, USC over UCLA, Illinois over Wisconsin, the quagmire in the A-10, but with an emphasis on Iowa losing for the fourth time in five games and being swept by Indiana. As always, the end of the Sunday ep gets into some listener reviews (52:00), including a story about someone running into GP for a change!

Here’s Norlander’s column from Saturday night, easy to read as you listen to the show.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/uncs-win-at-duke-delivers-excitement-even-without-rankings-or-fans-in-the-sports-best-rivalry/

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