 What is going on? Happy Tuesday. Happy Tuesday morning afternoon depending on where you're tuning in from My name is Ryan Hammer here with Fandle and we are with the man the myth the legend again John Ross. Welcome back, sir How are you? I'm great brother. How you doing? I'm good I know you're better now after your experiences right before the NCAA tournament the first day game from Albany to New York City But the Albany staff helped you out, right? They helped me out. It was the epitome of brutality Thanks for to Dwayne killings the head coach of Albany shout out to the great Danes for getting me back for the start of Michigan In Colorado State again, you think that things are going to be really really bad You think it's worse than losing a by game and it's the epitome of brutality You don't know anything until you're sitting on a tarmac and you're stranded in your helpless And you can't get to a TV and you can't get back to New York City It's honestly a shame that people don't know who David Roddy is sitting next to you like they It's crazy that people don't know who he is and going into the turn it but it kind of is what it is It's the life we live it is what it is man It is what it is but that problems in the rear of your mirror And now we look forward through the windshield to the sweet 16 and what a sweet 16 it should be. Oh, yeah, precisely It's gonna be awesome. We've got a ton of upsets ton of great story lines out of the tournament I want to start with you out of what you pegged as the region of vulnerability out of the bottom right with Iowa Richmond we go to Midwest the Kansas, right? Let's go to the bottom of the region first I think we talked about how whist go and Auburn like maybe they could get an easy path out But they're not they're probably a weaker of the two and three seats How do we how these teams got out any major things that you saw from the weekend and big takeaways from it? Well, we start in the region of vulnerability, you know, Iowa State's offense is offensive But it's defense is elite, you know, I mean you don't see many teams Able to advance to the sweet 16 when they only average about 56 and a half points per game But Iowa State was able to do that, you know I thought they played an LSU team that again was a team without a compass because we'll wait it said coach was fired Right before the NCAA tournament, then you look at obviously Miami. I liked Miami in this tournament You know, I thought it was a 50-50 game against USC But I thought the guard play of Miami would put them in a situation to potentially advance We saw obviously that guard play shine and you know I am a big fan of the Rocky series and I remember in Rocky 3 when Apollo Creed is trying to get Rocky ready to fight club Or Lang he told him the way to get it back is to go back to the beginning When you look at Miami under Jim Laranega when this program has really had success and had success at the beginning of his tenure They did it by blending quality high school players with transfers And they got away from that the last couple of years and recruited guys like DeWon Huell and Bruce Brown and Lonnie Walker Miami has now gotten back to its original fabric and think about this three sweet 16 appearances for Miami under Laranega 2013-2016-2022 the common trait and the common thread in all of those at least two of the teams top four scores have been transferred That's I think we thought about transfer before the tournament also like across the board have been awesome I think we're really keen to see how they perform in the tournament And I think I was to your point transfer has been a huge season with the COVID year the extra year eligibility have been awesome This game I would say Miami just like you said like they couldn't be two more Maybe not completely opposite teams because I was to realize in a couple guards as well But Miami runs on a fast pace they run the score up and I always they'd like to control the pace and slow the game down Do you think Brock and to entire each hunter? And do you think I would say defense can slow down Miami's offense in the guards. It's a great contrast and styles It's a contrast and styles. I think that's really really fascinating on a number of different levels I mean look I think if they can Miami can get to 60 points They're winning the game and they're playing in the elite eight and then you look at this region And I named it the regional vulnerability for you know a reason Kansas needed everything it had to beat a Creighton team that didn't have Ryan That didn't have obviously Ryan them hard who broke his wrist, you know a couple of weeks ago The big East freshman of the year he needed everything it had to beat Creighton I think Providence has an outstanding chance as good a chance that you can have to get to an elite eight And if they get to an elite eight They're playing either an 11 or a 10 to get to a final four So I think that if the game right now and they're playing with house money And I wrote about that in my daily column today the breakfast buffet. They're playing with house money But I do think that a Providence can get by Kansas, you know, it's gonna have a changing outstanding chance to get to a final four Yeah, and this is probably one of the upset like we talked about the jackrabbit South Dakota state in the first round I know you were on them I was in them most of the country was probably on them for a big upset 13 over four in the first round and after problems took care of business and Absolutely dismantled Richmond and really really took care of business there if they can get past Kansas Like you said like they're gonna be proven some haters wrong Maybe people will still say they're running is relatively easy But if they beat Kansas and go to the final four There's nothing you can say other than Ed Cooley and that team is Deserving and maybe we did overlook them throughout the season a little bit the American dream Ed Cooley What more could you want from this basketball team? And again, you're pacing you're playing Kansas But it's a vulnerable Kansas team in Chicago So I would expect a lot of Providence fans are going to be eating deep this year over the next couple days Exactly, so we'll see what happens that in that region We'll go up to the last game of the weekend errors and probably one of the best if not the best Arizona versus TCU When I thought I was gonna be able to go to sleep early one I don't know about yourself and then TCU made a comeback and all of a sudden I'm watching overtime until 12 31 o'clock in the morning on the East Coast here, but that region looks awesome I think Michigan has proven that their talent Maybe they still have that town and they've revitalized and they're not really an 11 seat They're not playing like one at all after just beating Tennessee and you got four really really good teams Potentially coming out of the south here, right? Yeah I mean I've named this the region of prospects and you looked at the region of prospects and you saw obviously what Hunter Dickinson did against Tennessee You saw what Ben Matherin did against Houston, you know, our six against TCU You know, I've said time and time again that Ben Matherin was going to explode like a volcano in the NCAA tournament and Ben Matherin really made America feel the lava the other night against TCU I mean the shot that he hit to tie the game in regulation at 75 was an all-time NCAA tournament shot But now you don't get really get ready for a sweet 16 game Against Houston. You're getting ready for a fight. So I'm fascinated this to me when I look at, you know The totality of all four regions. This is the best doubleheader in the sweet 16 when you're looking at one site Yeah, 100% I think the Michigan Villanova game is gonna be close to our boy I think it's a five-point spread right now, but Michigan like we said is not playing up to the caliber and 11 11 It's just not 11 versus 2. This is an even game as you can get Villanova, I think experience is carrying them more than anything else They obviously have a good team and Jay right fortune 500 of course But when Ohio State took shots and maybe hit a couple hit a couple jabs of them Villanova kept stretching lead out They never really get let them get too close or take the lead from them And I think that that could propel them far against a team like Arizona with a first-time head coach Your first year head coach a lot of sophomores didn't get a lot of PT last year And then you look at guys like Mitch teams like Michigan and Houston who do have the experience as well How do you think the inexperience from Arizona versus the experience teams don't have to play against in the South? We'll kind of face up there. Well, you know I think that Villanova has an edge in terms of experience just because of Colin Gillespie at the most important position on the floor I don't know if Houston has enough offense to counter Arizona Houston's going to have to make this game Into an ultimate fighting type situation I mean, I think you know, you're gonna have to put this game into the octagon or whatever So I look at the scenario with that and I think, you know Houston's gonna have to generate enough offense are gonna have to have a big game at a Taj anymore who's been incredible But you know, we'll see from there I like Villanova and Arizona to advance and then I think we've got a tremendous tremendous regional final But to me the most intriguing game out of this region is Arizona against Houston because you have a team That's been decimated by injuries, but it's not decimated on hard by any stretch of the imagination Against the team in Arizona that I would say, you know, again has the highest ceiling right now left in the tournament Yep, I guess fair and I guess we'll see how that matches up I think the athletic and versatility of the defensive Houston does match up well against Arizona because we saw like behind Matherin and Christian Coloco like you need physical dominance to compete with them And but we'll see no I don't think any first-time head coach has made to the final four since about 889 or 90 We'll see if Tommy Lloyd in Arizona can do that can be the first in the last 20 or 30 years It will go over to the West to Gonzaga the overall favorite. They had a very good game versus Memphis I think everyone wanted to watch the chat versus Jalen Duran match up Just the athleticism on Memphis Then we get Arkansas Texas second Duke chalked up into this week's team the one through four But I think a lot of people kind of saw that coming for the most part. Who'd we like besides Gonzaga? Let's go. Let's start with a head of Gonzaga in the West Well, Gonzaga, Arkansas an interesting game. I obviously give us the edge to Gonzaga I think Ryan Nemhardt is Andrew Nemhardt's playing at extremely high level right now You saw that against Memphis Texas Tech and Duke Is a fascinating contrast because you've got the older more experienced the tougher team in Texas Tech Against the team that is brimming with five-star prospects and Duke and even though Texas Tech is extremely physical Even though the Texas Tech is extremely older than Duke I'm still taking the Blue Devils in this game because of the emergence of Mark Williams Mark Williams has blocked ten shots in the first two NCAA tournament games that Duke has played He's averaging about fifteen point seven and a half rebounds five blocks to the first two games of the tournament You are looking at somebody again who I think can change the ceiling for the Blue Devils I see a Duke Gonzaga rematch here and again I think that we're gonna see at least for one more round the Mike Shashevski retirement tour take us and look This is really really down the road and I don't know if it's going to happen But there is a chance just based on momentum. I'm not saying it's gonna happen Yeah, if you look at the left side of your bracket We could see in Coach K's final season a Duke North Carolina National semi-final which would be absolutely incredible That like between that and also if they had to play Gonzaga a rematch of the game from earlier in the year and all the Stars of the power and two of the best teams coming into the season if they had to play Gonzaga and then North Carolina I mean and then they end up winning the title of that is something you make a movie about for coach K in his last year But I guess we'll see if that happens I think Texas Tech does poise a really really good matchup against them I think Texas Tech is favorite by one point right now So it's basically even but like you said Mark Williams has been a huge anchor Texas Tech smashing the board has been master for them I think Kevin O'Banner had 12 or 13 rebounds per game in the first couple games But we'll see how that matches up well Arkansas. We like Arkansas. They have played they played two doubles It's to get to where they are. It's obviously gonna be tough against Gonzaga But Eric Musselman two back-to-back sweet 16s We'll see if you can get further than that down to the east like you mentioned North Carolina Then let's talk about the North Carolina Baylor game at first because to me that was my personal favorite game of the weekend Maybe because I was rooting for Baylor and they had the 25 point comeback and I was so excited But it was awesome I think it had everything were there a lot of missed calls or referees and mishaps like that Yes, but I definitely want to hear your thoughts in that game North Carolina Baylor was one of the wilder games that I've seen in the past couple years in the NCAA tournament But again, it goes back to me The same you know theme is you know Brady manic and I know that he got ejected from the game But the change in North Carolina season has occurred when Brady manic has been a guy who has been you know Regular all-ACC caliber player. I mean Ryan think about this this season when North Carolina gets double figure Contributions from Brady manic the Tar Heels are 22 and 4 and then you look at the other side of that region and you have no bigger David and Goliath match up Yeah, Purdue against St. Peter. This is a rematch of the 2011 NCAA tournament when Purdue beat the Peacock's when they were coached by John Donne but Purdue now who is in a final for a bus type scenario and have been really since this team all Decided to come back Purdue's a team that you look at and you see him you say wow They're a team that you know you kind of look at and they say Kentucky's gone Baylor's gone. We know that things are aligned for us to go to a final for this is as good of a chance as Matt Painter has had to go through a final for and they have st. Peter's the darling Cinderella Peacock's of Jersey City, New Jersey out here I mean it was awesome to watch them It's one of the bit one of the better Cinderella's you can I can remember the third 15 seed to go to the sweet 16 second in a row after all Roberts and max ace miss last year to me like st. Peter's with their zone there It's just like with Shaheen. Howie what he has there their system that in a scheme that they have in place They're one of the better Cinderella's I can remember in recent times since teams like VCU Loyola, Florida Gulf Coast Because they're so well set up They're not just riding a hot hand of a max ace miss or something like that to get to where they are Do you think say what is your chances? We've given a percent chance st. Peter's to be Purdue because I think it's it's definitely I'm not doing that because I didn't because I didn't think that st. Peter's gonna win the Mac conference tournaments I'm not doing that. I'm not gonna do that. I look at This now and I'll say this St. Peter's is probably if they win this next game the most unlikely Elite 8 participant in the history of the NCAA tournament Yeah, and I think that's one thing that you know We need to kind of take into consideration because there's been other 15 seeds that have reached the sweet 16 So let's make that clear. I mean last year we saw with oral Roberts But oral Roberts had max ace miss so it had a dynamic score to lean on that was obviously a household name and Florida Gulf Coast in 2013 when in advance as far under Andy Enfield you have to remember It's a lot easier to recruit to Fort Myers, Florida than it is to Jersey City, New Jersey and the limitations That's around st. Peter's so if st. Peter's wins this next game They will be the most like the least likely participant the elite 8 in the history of the NCAA tournament Yeah, I think we I think most of the nation is on st. Peter's side the peacocks think we all want to see it See because no one wants to root against Cinderella no matter your your fan in the brackets I think everyone's on that unless you're a Purdue fan obviously But if you had to choose someone to come out of this bracket, who would you choose out of the east? I would take Purdue That's fair. I would do I mean the UCLA Carolina when I mean look UCLA is a little bit of a forgotten team here. They went to the final four last year nearly beacon zaga They have five starters back. We've got to find out, you know, Jaime Haca's situation and so on and so forth He's dealt with ankle injuries before I mean UCLA Carolina is a all-time You know NCAA tournament game because we're going to have two great brands going against each other in the sweet 16 UCLA is gonna have to do a really really good job obviously on Armando Baycott and Brady Maddox to win this game UCLA is a team though, you know again That was fortunate to beat Akron and then I thought played a really really good final 30 or 35 minutes against St. Mary So we'll see what the Bruins have and score at store here on Friday night in Philadelphia Yeah, and I think Haca's practice a little bit yesterday worked out. So he hopefully he's gonna be okay. I find it Unlikely that he doesn't play if there's any little like if he's if he can play at all He's gonna play I think a hundred percent But I guess we'll see with that but then you know if they say that UCLA their first game against Akron Like you mentioned if you can't win you're in your worst performance You're not going to tournament, but they did and they survived in advance. That was it about they really took care of business But St. Mary's and I think you're right Like I think they're kind of forgotten with the experience and plethora of scores that they have tournament experience from last year Nick Cronin's gonna have them set up if they win this game. That's my pick to come out of the region for the record East I'm gonna take UCLA. I think this UCLA North Carolina game is gonna be awesome Like you said probably one of the better ones Maybe behind like Arizona Houston and a couple of games in the sweet 16 But I'm really really excited and for me, this has been the best region from the start top to bottom They have so many lower seats and high seats all around that are good here. We are with st. Peter's obviously I also am with you I thought mom if I was gonna win that final two before I had Iona so that kind of is what it is Are there any other major storylines from the first weekend that you want to share about you want to share thoughts about anything That you were really really keeping an eye on Yeah, it's interesting, you know, you look and you reflect right now on so many different things You know, I thought that Yukon at late in the season was like a dark horse final for team I thought that was a massive massive upset, you know Chris Jans is gonna be the head coach of Mississippi State whether or not he won that game or not But obviously a great a great moment for him I think that you know and I know People are probably like not really looking forward to the 22 23 season yet But I am but if TCU can keep their nucleus together That's a team that I think will start next season in the top 15 and be a potential contender for a big 12 regular season title great respect For Kelvin Samson and Houston I think that I would say that and I've said this and I've tweeted it and I've said it on television if I could pick one coach To lead a program and to build the program of all resources were equal I would pick Kelvin Samson over any other coach in college basketball And I think you're seeing that more and more and look if they can be A player in this, you know sweet 16 and get to get you know to an elite 8 without Marcus Sasser and Tramon mark. I think it further cements his legacy, you know, it looks at the The job that he's done at Houston that Houston was losing games by 30 and 40 points when he got there There was apathy in the building and he didn't just make Houston a final 14 He didn't just make Houston a high seed in the NCAA tournament in the top 25 team Houston is now a team that's going to the big 12 He's completely changed that program. So yeah, I mean I asked him about this, you know, a couple of months ago if You know, he had given a thought I think he's 66 right now as to when he was going to stop coaching I for one hope he does it for a much longer period of time because I want to see Kelvin Samson again in the big 12 Yeah, and I mean he's 66, but he doesn't act like in a good way I say this because when he took his shirt off and was celebrating the locker room I mean, it looks like he's got 20 more years on him at least right there All I hope he does I pray for him there But they I feel like we're seeing a lot of the coaches the same coaches to be successful What you've seen for a long time, but newer coaches kind of emerged you mentioned Jim Laranega before we've seen bill Self-tube before obviously Kelvin Samson after last year's run and then this year's little even this mini run If they were to lose to Arizona, he's still proven his his success consistently Jay Wright Obviously you go down the line mark few as can consistent with winning even mark Adams could be stepping into that and coach K Yeah, exactly It seems like we're gonna we're seeing that and the big 12 thing is interesting because like I don't think it's next year I think they'll go in the year after if that's correct, right? Yes. Yes. One more year in the American conference, right? So I'm gonna resources if resources were even when they go to the big 12 with the recruiting and the funding that they'll be able to get in The big 12 all Houston's gonna be electric and even next year with all the guys that they return in a couple of a five-star and a four-star recruit They're bringing in this could be a preseason top five top 16 for sure in the country and contend for a national title Next year. I agree with him. I agree with you. And again, like I'm gonna do obviously my 45 I do the Rothstein 45, you know, and I do it every every Monday during the season like and I'm gonna be ready Obviously to have that out, but I'm gonna be changing it every day because you never know with eligibility. What's gonna happen this year? Yeah, that's good point. Another team. I would say he's gonna be really good next year It's creating they're gonna have a lot of guys back you mentioned Ryan Neymar the freshman of the year in the big He's got hurt Arthur Kaluma seems like he could be a really good breakout candidate next year He won't be a guy that probably get strats of this year, but he showed 24 and 12 versus Kansas He was expanding his three ball his outside shot So I think creating is gonna be a team another team because watch out for in the big East I agree with you. And I think that if Ed Cooley didn't have the the year that he's had worrying You know, I think he's been clearly the national coach of the year I think that Greg McDermott would have been the biggest coach of the year with what he's done He's been incredible absolutely incredible. Yeah, that's fair And we'll see how these teams go next year obviously in the coaching carousel and everything's kind of changing But on this bracket, we talked about kind of teams that you like to get out of the final four Do you think it's it is Gonzaga's to lose? I think it is a consensus thing Do you think Gonzaga Wednesday if you had to pick a winner a national title national winner now that we've seen teams play a whole weekend of games Who would you choose? I'm not going away from Arizona because of Ben Matherin I think that Ben Matherin is the player in the tournament and I said that before the tournament And I think you know, he lived up to it against TCU and you know, Arizona again Here's the thing I think that's you know The two things that's difficult and we saw it in the TCU game TCU was good enough to rebound with Arizona and was good enough obviously because Arizona is so physically imposing To be in a situation to negate what they did well and they were also, you know I thought very impressive offensively that they were able to trade blows with them I don't know if Houston is going to be able to get into the 70s and the 80s with Arizona because let's face it You look at the backcourt. You have Jamal shed Kyler Edwards and Tajé Moore Houston to me is going to have to make this an overwhelming physical challenge for Arizona to get anything near the rim And again, I said this, you know, Villanova's had obviously the best culture in college basketball for a long time Houston's 1a they're 1a and I've been in their practices I've been around their program and talking to their staff after they beat Illinois They sent a message to me and they said, you know, look, we won this game in October. We didn't win it today I think that speaks volumes That does that's actually really interesting. I think people we don't like a lot of people don't see the insides like that back October they're training somebody then understand the true cultures and that ties right back into like the same coaches succeed all the time And we're seeing that Jay Wright is a guy like maybe they are under talented compared to a lot of their teams But they still won the biggest they still got a two seed and they're still in the sweet 16 Hopefully gonna go further So you would you take Arizona versus Gonzaga in the finals or is it Arizona versus someone else? I'm staying with Arizona Gonzaga. That's what I said at the start of the tournament Okay, I think that is probably the matchup that we we would all want the top two seeds We saw it last year Gonzaga and Baylor the top two season of tournament But that would be some kind of matchup some next level West Coast matchup big for West Coast basketball Especially after last year with Gonzaga and you say making the final four neither then being able to win the national title It'd be awesome to see a kind of West Coast. I think Mather is awesome as well I think he's gonna be potentially to play the tournament and colloquial has been great as well But this Houston game is gonna be good like you said and I think if Houston could keep them to maybe under 70 They have a chance, but it is gonna be near impossible not impossible But it's gonna be very very tough to do so But Kelvin Samson and the redemption if anyone's gonna do it could probably redemption the Houston redemption it spreads There you go. It does it of course does kidding me But yeah, I think I would roll it's hard to go against Gonzaga at least coming out of the top left I think I want to see Arizona Villanova more than anything and I think whoever comes out of there I would focus my national champion. I'll stick with Nova because of the culture and the experience of I've been on J Right for a while. So that's gonna be my pick is Nova But we will see how that South plays out all the regions because that is gonna be the best one for sure There's those two any lead a game and again a lot would have to happen here But you could you could have another game It would be in the final four between Villanova and Providence and then you could also maybe again the Duke You can have Duke, North Carolina. You could have Duke UCLA. There's a lot of fascinating matchups still left I mean you look at it right now and I think you know, they're Miami, Iowa State and St. Peter's are the only non Heavyweight team that's really remaining. So I think 13 out of the 16 all carry a lot of cash. Yeah Yeah, I think that's fair and I would say that every team on here You know not gonna put say the St. Peter's can't win national title But like you said that there are 13 teams on here that you could very well see Playing in the final four and four national title Which is I think is awesome and and with all the upsets and contentious contended games like TCU Arizona We see that that higher seats are not that far away from everyone else I think everyone is kind of mushed together So it's gonna mold up for a really really good weekend this weekend just like last weekend. Absolutely And then you say Arizona Houston is your favorite game of the weekend before we head out Are there any other like a second and third favorite games you're looking forward to this weekend? Carolina UCLA, I think if you're a college basketball fan is fascinating Kansas Providence for sure I just think there's so much intrigue with you know, the dream season for Ed Cooley in Providence now We've got Duke in Texas Tech. I think those are the ones that I'm really really looking at Yep, I think that's fair. The Duke Texas Tech one is is is awesome It's it's gonna be and I would hope I would imagine that's gonna be Gonzaga coming out But Arkansas never doubted the must-bust and Eric Musselman, but we shall see But John, I appreciate you coming on again. It's always hope you have a great weekend watching all the games Hopefully your picks your pre see your pre turn of the picks Arizona Gonzaga. Maybe it'll maybe it'll all come true I Appreciate spending some time with you again Ryan and four important words to remember we sleep in May. Yes, sir That is correct. All right. We'll catch y'all. Appreciate you turning in. Thanks, buddy. See ya