 Well, you've seen him because you've been watching the Madness CBS College basketball insider. He's also a fan dual partner, John Rothstein. All things college basketball is here today and look, we don't need to get in the details about our brackets that we each have that they're awful, John. But the sweet 16 is a day away. There have been some upsets. It seems like we've got a lot of ones and twos left. What's your biggest takeaway so far in the Madness? Well, I think the biggest takeaway in the Madness is that the heavyweight teams in the NCAA tournament have all remained in the NCAA tournament. This is the first time since 2019 that all four number one seeds have advanced to the second weekend. Then March Madness is also for the Dreamers for obviously the Cinderella's. And that's something that I think really dominates the first two days of the event. But when you get further along in March Madness, if you want to bring people in from the periphery, people who aren't the diehard college basketball fans, you want to have big time matchups. And that's what we have this week. Yeah, John, I usually don't fill my bracket out with my heart. I try to use my brain, but this year Florida duped me and I thought they actually had a chance. They looked good. They showed them flashes. What the hell happened to my Gators? Well, you know, the big thing you have to remember with Florida is that Florida starting center, Michael, Mike, a hand logged in was lost, obviously, with a leg injury in the SEC tournament. That left Florida, obviously, very vulnerable defensively at the five spot, who did Colorado match up with in the round of 64, Florida. And Colorado was anchored by Eddie Lampkin, who has tremendous size at 611, a real broad body. That was something that was exposed against Florida with Colorado being able to establish Lampkin in the post. So a really tough matchup. And also Colorado is a team, even though it started the NCAA tournament in the first four and was firmly on the bubble the final month of the season. There is big time talent on this roster. Cody Williams was a projected lottery pick. Tristan De Silva is somebody who can obviously play at the next level. And KJ Simpson is another player who, again, was having an all American caliber year, but probably didn't get all American caliber recognition because Colorado didn't have the season where it was firmly in the NCAA tournament. I should have asked John before I filled up my brackets. Believe you guys, the more you know about this, the worse you do in your bracket. That's what I thought. So, John, did you have a favorite moment that stood out to you in the first two rounds? Yeah, that's a great question, Shams. I just think that so many unpredictable things not just happen in the NCAA tournament, but also in the conference tournaments that set the table. So there were two moments to me that really stood out in time in terms of the mid major perspective. Yale in the Ivy League tournament title game was losing for 38 minutes against Brown and was fortunate enough after Brown mismultiple free throws to get the game winning basket against Brown to clinch the automatic qualifier to go to the NCAA tournament. Yale then goes and beats Auburn in the round of 64. Then obviously we have to touch on Oakland and Kentucky. Oakland had a star in Jack Gholke make 10 three point shots against Kentucky. Where was Jack Gholke five years ago? He was red-shirting at a Division Two school and he became a player via the transfer portal that wound up being a star in March Madness. Those are two mid major storylines and the storyline with NC State is one thing I want to point out too, just in terms of the totality of it from 30,000 feet. NC State finished the regular season at 17 and 14. The Wolfpack were nowhere near the NCAA tournament discussion. NC State then won five games and five days at the ACC tournament to clinch an automatic qualifier. No team has done that since Kimball Walker and UConn did it at the Big East tournament in 2011. And by winning the ACC tournament and getting the automatic qualifier, Kevin Keats had an automatic provision in his contract that triggered a two-year contract extension. And on top of that, NC State wins two games in the sweet 16. Kevin Keats, regardless of what happens against Marquette, should just forget about spring recruiting and go right to the Amalfi Coast. He has no reason. He's going out on high noon. Wow. Speaking of speaking of NC State, John, they're 11 seed highest seats left in the tournament. Do they have the magic to make a run for the final four behind Big Man DJ Barnes? And I got to ask you also, are we seeing the reemergence of big men in college basketball again? I like him. You know, that's I think the main difference between college basketball and the NBA and, you know, I'm not going to sit here like you guys and act like I watch NBA games. But, you know, you see more back to the basket guys in college basketball like we had in the 90s, DJ Burns, Zach Edie. Obviously, we just talked about Eddie Lampkin. There is more of that. But guys, the big difference for me with NC State has been the insertion of Michael O'Connell into the Wolf Fax lineup. In the NCAA tournament, he's got 14 assists to three turnovers. He has completely recalibrated that team, the rhythm and their flow offensively. And, you know, it's going to be interesting to see how NC State does against Marquette, because you have a traditional back to the basket big in DJ Burns against Osso Aguadaro, who somebody that Chaka Smart has kind of made into a point center. He can bring up the ball. He can be in a situation where he can obviously initiate off. And so it's a unique contrast between those two players. I got an NC State. Oh, I know. Don't don't say that. We want to root for them. So we got to talk a little Zach Eadie. I know his coach is out there, you know, defending him. Two time national player of the year. He's been dominant. However, people keep talking about the fact that his comparison in the NBA is Bobon, who is lovely and wonderful. But I wouldn't necessarily look at Bobon as an NBA comp that a kid is probably hoping to have. So what is it about Eddie that people don't think will translate in the next level? Well, Michelle, you know, the guy that I think Zach Eadie is most reminiscent of in terms of the way that he's playing. And I'm not saying he's exactly going to be like this, but I felt like he has been a version of this player in college basketball is Yao Ming, when you look at obviously the way that he kind of can command such a presence on the floor and so on and so forth. And I think the big thing we've seen about Zach Eadie is that he's gotten significantly better each year that he's been at Purdue. But this is a legacy weekend, not just for Purdue, but for Zach Eadie. I mean, let's think about the totality of his career in the NCAA tournament a couple of years ago in the bubble, Purdue loses to North Texas in a 13-4 upset. Two years ago, Purdue on a team that had Zach Eadie, Travion, Williamson, Jade, and Ivy was a three seed, played a 15 seed. St. Peter's in the sweet 16 lost that game. And then last year, Purdue was on the wrong end of the biggest upset in the history of the NCAA tournament when it lost to Fairleigh Dickinson, a team that remember did not win the Northeast Conference tournament title. Merrimack did, but Merrimack could not go to the NCAA tournament because of a transition rule and then therefore was not able to play in the field. So FDU went to the NCAA tournament by default and beat Purdue. So the Zach Eadie stuff is about legacy. Purdue, you can't really erase what happened against FDU and St. Peter's. But the demons can be exercised by winning two more games and going to a final four for the first time since 1980. You know, one thing I want to bring up, guys, that's interesting. Obviously, Virginia was a team that lost to a 16 seed in 2018 and 2019, came back on the national title. Tony Bennett has texted Matt Painter about using last season's loss as an incubator for a great turnaround. We know that life is not a movie, but if Purdue wins two more games, it will very much feel like Hollywood. Could be a movie. It's crazy. The NCAA is kind of a movie. By the way, is he a first round pick? I mean, is that is that happening or no? Does it matter how he finishes this season or has that already been determined? Are you asking me or you asking your panel? I mean, that's Shoms. I'm not on the NBA draft kind of thought process right now. Get back to me on that. Is he I will get back. I'll report back by tomorrow. He is huge. Yeah, he is he is. He is unlike anything we've seen in college basketball. And guys, he's the he's the first player to win national player of the year, which is a formality year, you know, in a couple of weeks to win national player and back to back year since Ralph Sampson did it at Virginia in the early 1980s. I mean, that's 40 years ago. Seems like a big deal. So, John, to you, which conference has exceeded expectations? It's definitely the ACC Shoms. You know, they've played they performed exceptionally well in the NCAA tournament, but I want to make sure that I make this clear just because the ACC continues to perform well in the NCAA tournament does not mean that it necessarily deserved the volume that maybe other people thought it should have in the NCAA tournament. What I mean by that is this. The ACC now has had five of its 15 teams reach the field in three consecutive NCAA tournaments. And the ACC in those three years is 29 and 11 in the field. But I still feel that this conference is not getting the same type of mileage in terms of NCAA tournament representation that it hopes because it's not getting anything out of Louisville. Who's still looking for a coach out of Syracuse who has not made the NCAA tournament since 2021? When those primary brands are not producing, your league obviously takes a step back. Now, the ACC deserves full credit for what it's done in the bracket. But if you really look at things from the ACC's perspective, Duke in North Carolina were locks. Clemson started out the season well, struggled a bit, was a little shaky in January, and to their credit have recalibrated things earned in the sweet 16. Those are three teams from the ACC. NC State, OK, went to the NCAA tournament because it earned an automatic qualifier. And then Virginia, who was blown out by Colorado State in the first four, was a team that I did not have in my bracket on selection Sunday. I had Seton Hall over Virginia in my final bracket and was Virginia was firmly on the bubble the last month of the season. So the ACC has done really well and should be commended for that. But only three of the five teams were comfortably in. Is there I don't love that we have so many ones and twos left because, you know, when you fill out a bracket like I do, that's not fun. But is there a particular matchup in this next round that you look forward to more than the others? Illinois, Iowa State's a fascinating contrast of styles. Iowa State has been, you know, tremendous defensively this season. It has a point guard and Tame and Lipsy that can really, really control things. When you look at Illinois, Illinois has, I would say, the most potent scoring combination from a wing perspective in the tournament. Terrence Shannon, Jr. and Marcus Delmas combining the average over 55 percent of Illinois's points in the NCAA tournament. That's a really fascinating game. Creighton, Tennessee is also extremely fascinating. And then the game in Los Angeles between Arizona and Clemson is a tremendous contrast and styles. You know, I was fortunate enough to be on the call Sunday for the Clemson-Baler game. And Clemson was able to completely take the air out of the ball against the Baylor team that had scored 54 points in the first half on Friday against Colgate. So that's a unique contrast of styles in Los Angeles between Clemson and Arizona, which will no doubt be in front of a very pro Arizona crowd. John, your brain is a fascinating machine. We're just sitting there going about if we knew anything as much as you know this. That should have happened before that. We should have asked before we did our bracket. We appreciate the time we'll be watching this weekend. Thank you, sir. All right, guys, great video. Appreciate it.