After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 1

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Yes it is. And the best time to be after hours is during one of the cool post-seasons that we get to mark every year on the sports calendar. This being the one March Madness, the weekend in which we see 64 go down to 16.

So all the way back to Thursday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, you go 16 games, 16 games, 8 games, 8 games. And just like that, wow, take a breath. It's a blitz. It really is. It's total madness on the court, off the court, on the court, off the court, in the arenas because of the number of games, the number of results, the number of teams that are filtered through, filtered out, eliminated, or who have advanced now. And as the dust settles, it's only 16 remaining. Wowzers. It happens so fast. There's such a build-up to it, but it happens so fast.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Really excited to have you with us. Hope you enjoyed your St. Patrick's Day on Friday, if you do in fact celebrate. I forgot to wear green. I don't generally wear green. It's a color that I don't have a lot of, not a lot of pieces that would scream St. Patrick's Day, but if you missed it, I actually tweeted a picture of my beautiful daffodils.

They have green stems, but really it was more about the vibrant yellow that just went so perfectly with the green. Anyway, so I'd love to have you find us on Twitter, After Hours, CBS, or on my Twitter, ALawRadio, and then also on our Facebook page. I was, I was thinking, I was thinking about a way that we could get you all involved on this particular show.

So we'll think, we'll think a little more, and whether I think out loud or think quietly to myself, I don't do a lot of things quietly to myself, but whether I do or I don't, we'll see what we can throw up there on both of our social sites so that you can weigh in. I am pretty sure, I don't have to ask about the brackets because many of them have exploded. They've disintegrated into smithereens, never to be heard from again, you hope, you think, although there is a record of it. The After Hours bracket challenge, I'll just be perfectly honest, I'm fairly certain my bracket is a total disaster.

I actually prefer it that way, but I haven't looked. So I have no idea whether or not I'm the last in the After Hours bracket challenge, which is a distinct possibility. Jay and I have a friendly wager. I forgot what our wager is.

Oh, baseball. How funny, we're wagering baseball on college basketball, and so we do have a wager. I'm quite certain that he is beating me because he still has his entire Final Four intact, which is really impressive. I don't think I have my entire Final Four intact, but see, I filled out two brackets so I can't actually remember. I tend to take more chances with the family bracket just because it's fun that way. I'd rather have someone else win in the family bracket. So we'll see. Maybe this week I'll take a deep breath and I'll check and see how bad the damage is.

But as I point out, it's more enjoyable with more chaos, is it not? We got to see another 16 seed, a second 16 seed take out a one seed. Going back to 2019, we've now, or no, 2018, well, yes, 2018 was when it happened, if I remember correctly.

Hopefully I got that date right. Now we've seen it, at the very least, we've seen it twice in the span of five years, where a 16 seed has beaten a one. It never happened before in tournament history, but now it's happened twice in five years. We now have a 15 seed standing in the sweet 16. I know it's a lot of numbers, but essentially we have one of the lowest seeds possible that is still alive into the sweet 16 and it's an Ivy League school. If I remember correctly, it's only the fourth seed. That's a 15.

I'm trying not to put all the numbers together because it makes it confusing. A fourth 15 seed, it's only happened four times. There we go.

Boom! It's only happened four times that Amy had to say that phrase and have it come out less awkward. It's only happened four times that a 15 seed has reached the second weekend. It's way too many numbers. I mean, I like numbers. I would consider myself to be a stats nerd in some cases, and I do love history. Very often history is best communicated with the numbers of years or nevers, but in this case there's a lot of numbers and it sounds, well, slightly ridiculous when I'm spitting them all out, not to mention it's harder for you to remember.

I learned that actually when I was at Syracuse as a grad student. The more numbers and facts and figures that you put together, the harder it is for humans who are listening to actually pick up on that, especially on radio because you don't see it. It's different when you see a graphic in front of you and your eyes can compute it as well. It's not the same when you hear the numbers on radio because our brains can only grasp.

Our ear balls only hear so much and our brains can only grasp so much. I just made up a number. Not this time. Ouch.

Producer Dan, I feel like that's a low blow. You're just feeling all excited in there because you know you're kicking my butt in the bracket. You're about to be 2-0 actually when it comes to wagers against me in March Madness. This is what I get. No more.

I like to sit behind the plate, I guess I could say that. For our wager. I mean, let's not get cocky, okay? I don't know. Have you checked out my bracket would be the question because I don't actually know how bad it is. I actually haven't, but I haven't seen you at the bottom, so you're in there.

Oh, you've been looking at the bottom? I gotta see the worst of the worst, so you're not amongst that, so you got a chance. I'm definitely not winning any after hour swag, I'll tell you that much.

I don't know. I mean, my final four is still alive, but my way of getting there has been horrendous. Well, no, that matters though. If you're still 4 for 4 with your last four teams standing, that's huge because the deeper you go in your bracket, the more points you get, so that's amazing. The fact that we only have one top seed left and you still have all of your final four, so you only picked Houston or did you not pick Houston? Oh no, I did. I guess I picked two number ones. I picked Alabama and Houston. Oh yes, I forgot that Bama's still alive.

My fault. I forgot about that. So there's two top seeds that are still remaining, but just the one, the defending champion Kansas is out, which I don't know if that's a huge surprise because it's rare.

It's just, it's almost impossible for a team to repeat, so there is that, and that's across the board in any sport. So Kansas going out was maybe not a huge surprise, although I did expect the Jayhawks to get to the Sweet 16, and then we know about Purdue and the Stunner from Friday nights. We have a lot to get to. Really excited. Coming up at the bottom of the hour following the update, we're gonna head to Denver for a couple of minutes and welcome a new guest of the show, Justin Michael. He is working for DNVR Sports and mostly covers college football, but had the privilege, and he was on his Twitter anyway.

I saw a big, a big smile on his face with his photo. He was living the dream, covering March Madness in Denver at Ball Arena, and so we'll talk to him at the bottom of the hour and get his thoughts on, well at the very least, one game that just finished. It was the last game of the weekend, certainly the last game of the night coming from the Mile High City, and it featured the Gonzaga Bulldogs attempting to reach their eighth consecutive Sweet 16. Watson fires underneath. Timmy low right.

Pump fake goes up. Scores and a foul. Counted for Timmy.

He's got 24. 70-64 Gonzaga. Ball getting it into Hickman.

They're going to trap him. Fires to Bolton and gets it across the timeline. Left baseline. Watson soars to the rim and flushes it, and the lead is nine, the largest of the game. Inside 20 on the shot clock. They back off and just let the ball handler Hickman handle it near mid-court.

Now uses a Timmy screen. Goes to his right. Watson up top trying to get it to the high post left for Timmy.

Drives in low right. Timmy's shot is good. The lead back to five.

75-70. Man, he earned it. He really earned it. He had to work really hard for that shot, and the clock was running down. Drew Timmy rose to the occasion, specifically in the second half. There's all kinds of streaks and numbers and nerd alerts, as I call them, that we could give you for this incredible college basketball player. Yes, the mustache, but that's not even the most impressive thing about him.

Now, I'm not even sure it's the most unique thing about him. 28 points this evening to power the Zags to their eighth straight Sweet 16. They come from behind in this one, so they trailed TCU for a good portion of the game. It was a 13-0 run in which Timmy's name was mentioned every other breath.

In the second half, Dave Pash, Fran Friscilla on the Westwood One NCAA radio network had the call. It was a 13-0 run that featured Timmy as the centerpiece. Something else unique about him that I learned from listening to Westwood One on Sunday night, he has nine consecutive tournament games with at least 20 points. First of all, to play in nine tournament games is really impressive. I know he's an upperclassman, but just that track record and that resume indicates the type of experience that most players do not have on their rosters. Nine straight tournament games with at least 20 points.

In this case, he finishes with 28, and how about this, made his first three-pointer since December. Just a testament to coach and the program he had, man. You know, we got some dogs over here, man, and this whole team just fights no matter what happens. We were down in the first half and we just kept clawing. They hit some big shots and we just fight, man, and that's all we got to do night in and night out.

We beat a really, really, really good TCU team tonight. They are athletic. They're strong. They're quick.

They're smart. They really move the ball extremely well. They're very, very well coached, so it's just a heck of a win and we're just, I mean, I'm ecstatic for these guys. You know, get to another Sweet 16. That's eight in a row, which is just a, I mean, an incredible testament by our program of what we've been able to do these last eight years. So, TCU very athletic and very well conditioned.

They can run you out of the building, but in this case, the way that Gonzaga used its experience and also a variety of options. Now, I know a lot of times it came back to Drew Timmy, but it was also about the other guys. Anton Watson, who was a guest on the show last March.

Malachi Smith heard his name a bunch as well. They really did have to battle in the paint because Mike Miles, who had actually missed a bunch of games. I think it was eight games that he missed during the season. He's back and he's a big man like Timmy, who potentially is headed for the next level. 24 points for a sis, and so he had a really good tournament even though TCU's run ends here.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. 84-81, so a lot of points there. Gonzaga would like to score more rather than fewer points, and I compare that with say Michigan State or Houston, who wants to keep the score real low, but with Gonzaga, they like the free flow because they know they have many options and because they can get Drew Timmy more involved, keep Drew Timmy involved.

If there's a lot of motion, a lot of movement, he's able to get around and find open spaces, and they're able to give him the ball so he can create various shots for himself. Obviously disappointing for TCU, for the Horned Frogs, but certainly a battle against Gonzaga. We lost two years in a row to really good teams, you know. Drew Timmy is great, you know, we really didn't have an answer for him, but you know that's what happens when the other team has one of the best players in the country.

And Miles would know because he's right up there in the conversation. So you've got Gonzaga moving on. That game taking place in Denver, and as I say we'll go to Denver coming up in a few minutes here on After Hours. Another great story coming from the weekend even as we had talked to Keontae George of Baylor, was feeling good about his ankle and feeling like he was getting healthier and that the way the Baylor Bears ended the season with back-to-back losses to Iowa State, one in the regular season, one in the Big 12 Conference Tournament, that that was behind him and that he was going to be able to find his rhythm. And I love Scott Drew, who's the head coach of Baylor, obviously a recent champion. This backcourt of Baylor, considered to be one of the best in the nation, but then matched up against the Creighton Blue Jays and the experience of Creighton I think is a big deal, right. So when you're talking about freshmen versus upperclassmen who can be steady, they may not be as flashy, they may not be as impressive in terms of their ability to create or score or their explosiveness. Keontae George, if he chooses to leave Baylor, is headed for an NBA team likely as a top five draft pick. But what you get when you match up in March Madness with the experience of veteran guards, if they remain poised, if they don't turn the ball over, a lot of times you'll see the freshmen who've not been on the stage before, not always, but you'll see that disparity between talent and experience kind of level out a little bit. Guards who have played for say four, sometimes five years and around the pandemic, we know the athletes were allowed the extra year.

Now the rules have changed obviously with the transfer portal, but such a big deal to have experience in your backcourt that can keep your team steady and can limit mistakes and also making the threes will help. Kulkrenner low right has it blocked by Thamba, gets it back Kulkrenner does, and then fires it back up top. Alexander drives middle of the paint down low right, Kulkrenner gets the layup. Once again Keontae George just got blown by at the top of the key by Trey Alexander. Right corner in the frontcourt, Farabella hits a three and the lead is back to 15 with six minutes to go 74-59 Creighton.

I'm not sure he's been this hot all season and Flagler loses it slips out of it out of his hands. Another mental error a turnover now Nembhard for three left wing and that might be the dagger. Their call there on the Westwood One NCAA radio network Dave Pash with the play-by-play Creighton gets a massive performance from sophomore Gordon Ryan Nembhard, a career high 30 for him and the team as a whole goes 11 of 24 from beyond the arc.

So again when you're talking about guys or gals it doesn't matter you're talking about athletes who are steadier who take care of the ball and then also when you have an inside out option. So that's another critical element of Creighton and how they play is that they do have a guy on the inside called Brenner who can draw a lot of attention and not that different from Purdue right with Zach Edie how hard he worked on Friday night against FDU. The difference with Purdue is that as their guards had wide open threes they weren't going they were missing them they were turning the ball over and so I like the way that Creighton stayed steady. I like the way that Creighton used the inside out game. The Baylor defense clearly was focused on limiting the opportunities and the scoring in the paint and so that created extra opportunities for Nembhard again rising to the occasion with a career high 30 points. It's honestly a feeling you can't describe I was obviously out last year and it was tough for me to watch but I'm just super excited to get back up with my guys this year. Our goal this year was definitely to get back to a game like this and we're super happy we could pull out the win. Keontae George held to just seven points which is well below his average of 16 and so again you're talking about an ankle injury compounded by the strategy of the Creighton defense then in addition to that knowing that they were able to beat Baylor a variety of ways and I just think the inexperience showed a little bit with the Baylor guards. They're a real good team and that's why they're ranked seventh in nation at one point and they won like we lost because we lost they they beat us today. So the Blue Jays with a handy victory against Baylor. Scott Drew and his Bears back-to-back trips to the round of 32 but failing to reach the champions I'm sorry failing to reach the Sweet 16 since they won the championship going back a couple of years ago.

This is really neat for Greg McDermott's crew. You can think of them as a mid-major if you like but they're now part of the Big East and how about the Big East having three teams in the Sweet 16. With all the honestly the economy got a little scary in 2022 and that could continue in 2021.

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It's March and that can mean only one thing. The Madness is here. Not in front of a TV on game day? Listen to every round of NCAA March Madness live from Westwood One free in the Odyssey app. Catch all the biggest moments of the tournament no matter where you are from Cinderella's. A 15 seed will head to the Elite 8. To buzzer beaters Atkinson scores 1.4 seconds left. To champions for the fourth time. Search for NCAA March Madness right here in the Odyssey app to get started. The noise that there was on the outside.

To stay together and to stay process oriented and continue to work for each other and not point a finger at each other. To be in the Sweet 16 it's a pretty remarkable story. Creighton against Princeton is the next round.

Wow. A 6 seed and a 15 seed that survive to the second weekend. Alabama and San Diego State as a one and a five in the top half of the South region. That will take place in Louisville. Fairleigh Dickinson did not last to the Sweet 16 but Florida Atlantic did. A 9 seed against the 4 seed of Tennessee.

That's in the East region which will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York. Then Kansas State and Michigan State. So Kansas State eliminating Kentucky on Sunday while Michigan State as a 7 seed got by the two of Marquette. That one's gonna hurt me I know because I had Marquette I think going to not the Final Four definitely the Elite 8. So that's your East region. Houston and Miami. I actually may have that match up right. Houston and Miami coached by Jim Larranaga.

We learned how to say his name last week. They're from the Midwest and then Pitt. Not Pitt. I don't know why I said Pitt.

Pitt lost to Xavier in in the round of 32 against Texas. So you've got a two and a three at the bottom. A one and a five at the top. So for those of you who go chalk Midwest is closest to the chalk that you're going to get.

A one, a two, a three, and a five. And then in the West which will take place in Las Vegas we talked about Gonzaga as a 3 seed taking on the 2 seed in UCLA. So what a battle there. Two Blue Bloods in college basketball. And then Arkansas taking out the Jayhawks of Kansas. And Arkansas will play UConn who's a 4 seed.

So in that case you're talking about a two, a three, a four, but an eight. So yeah some interesting flavor coming from the various regions. Time to take a deep breath and we'll keep processing. I loved it. Love the fact that it made no sense and the brackets being busted is more the rage than chalk or top seeds or what we expected.

It's not fun if we get everything we expect. A couple of true Cinderella's still dancing which is cool. You can find me on Twitter A Law Radio. Also on our Facebook page after hours with Amy Lawrence just starting a new work week. I was going to get my taxes done over the weekend. I did not do my taxes over the weekend. Don't ask me what I did with my weekend. It wasn't that. Or yard work. Either one of those things. It's cold.

It's actually in the mid-20s with the wind chills all day Sunday so I was not going outside to do yard work and somehow I still didn't get my taxes done. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. She can stay with the dribble in the hands of Tyson Walker with all the four seconds to go. Dribbling at the top. Elbow jumper with five on the shot clock.

It's good for Tyson Walker. He's got 18. 62-55. Spartans by seven with 107 to go. Marquette down nine. Ball taken away. Walker with a steal coasting to the other end for the two-hand flush and the exclamation point for the Spartans.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. I am hesitant to pick Michigan State. Sometimes they can be disappointing on this stage but the Spartans as a seven seed take out the two seed that is Marquette and get Tomizo back to the sweet 16. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. So as I mentioned it will be Madison Square Garden. Quite a stage there for a Hall of Fame coach and his Spartans and actually I learned this just by paying attention over the weekend. Native New Yorker Tyson Walker who's a fourth year player right so we're talking about a lot of veteran experience on that roster. He grew up on Long Island and he came through with a big game almost as though he was determined to reach that next weekend so that he could play in New York and feel like he was home.

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. He was a transfer to Michigan State so he's at Northwestern before that but the idea of playing at the Garden as you can imagine for someone who is from the New York Metro is over the top exciting. There are a bunch of transfers on this roster from Michigan State. Joey Houser who had 14 points he actually played at Marquette so he was facing his previous team which is a big deal but what always impresses me about Michigan State is how hard they play on offense. I'm sorry how hard they play on defense duh the complete opposite.

How much they crash the boards. How very often they are willing to to dig down deep for the hustle plays and sometimes it's about the discipline and the effort and the heart that doesn't show up on a stat sheet and defense is effort it's communication it's energy and boy do we see that with Michigan State in the second half. What a finish against Marquette. Love for the Spartans too and for Tom Izzo after what happened on their campus and how much heart he showed how much empathy and compassion and care he showed for not just the student sect or the student body the students on campus but also for the community.

Remember how often he told us in the wake of the shooting on campus that took place earlier this year that this was his home and that he had been there for so long and that to him East Lansing was something special and he wanted to make sure that the basketball team was part of the healing and so a huge step for them into the Sweet 16. Yeah it's been a long year but really proud of those guys they hung in there. Shaka's got a hell of a team he does a hell of a job we just finally made some plays you know our defense got a little better again we made some plays I'm just happy for our guys. Definitely made some plays down the stretch and as we talked about walker Tyson Walker he's a New Yorker 36 minutes for him 23 points and Tom Izzo is already looking ahead to Walker being home and to getting a few items from Walker in New York.

I tell him two things you get me there I want a cab ride and one of them big slices of pizza so that's what Tyson owes me he can pay for it with his NIL money. Yeah it's new now you don't have to worry about your guys not having any money right so congratulations to Michigan State certainly Shaka Smart and the Marquette Golden Eagles had been on a meteoric rise since he got there and really established the culture and the program but Michigan State out rebounded Marquette and also had fewer turnovers I really was just able to take charge with their physical play and with the way that they battled against every shot right so nothing easy for the Golden Eagles but also just the tenacity and the intensity that comes from your coach he sets the tone. On Twitter after our CBS on our Facebook page too straight ahead we'll head to Denver where Gonzaga just advanced to an eighth straight sweet 16. You can always get us on the phones too 855-212-4227 I say always it's a little bit it's not completely accurate but we're glad to have you with us here's our latest sports update try to be honest all the time.

You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. The beauty about this program is it's not one player that makes this program work it's not five guys it's not ten guys it's the whole program as a whole I mean without coach and the staff leaving in each and every one of us we wouldn't have the confidence to come out here and fight back when we get knocked down. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence the voice of Drew Timmy and oh yeah 23 straight NCAA tournaments for Mark Few and Gonzaga now eight consecutive sweet 16s the last game of what is a frenetic four days some people will finger this as the four best days of the calendar year in sports and a lot of people take off they maybe go to Vegas that's been a tradition now you don't even need to go to Vegas if you want to watch all the games all the big screen TVs really enjoyed it though it's crazy to try to keep up with everything so whoo glad to take a breath it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. We are pleased to welcome Justin Michael of DNVR Sports covering the games at Ball Arena this weekend most recently the Gonzaga win which of course we'll talk about but Justin this was the mile high version of March Madness what was that atmosphere like in Colorado for college hoops? It was awesome I was really pleased with the turnout it helps that you had some established programs with really passionate fan bases getting Creighton was big because you could get the folks from Omaha, Gonzaga obviously travel as well but what I thought was neat was even seeing you know like Grand Canyon University the other day they had the biggest student selection of anybody I'd seen and I think they chartered them out there but the energy in the building was just awesome especially this early in the tournament. Gonzaga just finished off this first weekend of the NCAA tournament and with a 13-0 run in the second half is able to survive TCU what did you see from the Zags in that second half? You know they really just started knocking down open shots was the thing like the first half I kept turning to the people next to me I was like man you don't love this spot if you're TCU because you've just absolutely dominated and you're only up like three four points it just kind of seemed like you were waiting for the other shoe to fall in that second half I mean Timmy took over in the post he's insane his footwork his touch is incredible but really it just kind of came down to knocking down the open shots that they were missing in the first half and putting the pressure on TCU to keep up with them because it's as exciting as TCU is you know most of their offense is just kind of predicated on getting into the paint going hard with Mike Miles but as soon as Gonzaga started hitting those threes you could feel the pressure on TCU and they started jacking up threes themselves they weren't falling for them it really just got TC out of their rhythm and you know I think that's just the difference in experience between these two teams and Gonzaga for what they're like eighth straight sweet 16 they played like they were ready for the moment even when things weren't going well mark view is a fixture a man who has led his team to eight straight sweet 16s for Gonzaga as you've had the chance to work this particular pod there in Denver what are your impressions of him and how he not only relates to his team but relates to the media and fans on this stage yeah he just he's cool I mean during the games he gets a little worked up I guess I was slightly surprised to see that in person his face like me gets really red when he's emotional so I sympathize in that regard everyone knows exactly how we're feeling but you know kind of going back to what I said before just like the composure you know they're missing shots early really playing well but they're just not falling for them you see some coaches panic start calling timeouts trying to change things up he just kind of let his team feel it out and play through it and as it went on like you could just tell that their confidence grew I think it's a coach who really has a firm understanding of his guys and just that they're ready for this you know there's going to be cold stretches in the tournament it always happens I was really impressed with how he handled this moment especially with all the pressure you know everyone talks about mark view and Gonzaga can they win the big game that's crazy to me since like you said they've been to eight straight sweet 16s I was just really impressed how they handled both of these games well as you point out and that's a great note the coach sets the tone for his team especially one who has been there done that and who has all that pressure of one of the greatest coaches never to have won a championship and so that certainly is transposed onto his team and yet they handle it all very well it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio really excited to welcome Justin Michael to the show for the first time he was covering the pod and the games for the NCAA tournament in Denver for DNVR Sports what team or which teams were garnering the most audible most vocal fan support that's a good one I'd probably Creighton and that makes sense just with Omaha and Denver really drivable um this was I thought a good draw for Creighton as a 16 some beatable teams and they played awesome tonight just knocking down everything Gonzaga certainly turned up well tonight uh less so in the first game but I think that probably comes down to them just expecting to be playing on Sunday and even in the second weekend at this point GCU though I got a shout out Grand Canyon only their second NCAA tournament ever and they were into it it was really cool to see I know they're kind of trying to build themselves up as the new you know West Coast program and uh I think they got a bright future it's it really seems like the people are energized well I'm glad you brought up the Blue Jays a nine-point win over the Baylor Bears who are a recent champion have an incredible backcourt with the three guards who really set the tone what impressed you about the way they were able to contain Baylor I think with Creighton you just you wonder if their finesse offense is going to translate against the physicality and athleticism of the team like Baylor and it really did I mean they they had some early turnovers but other than that the offensive execution I thought was really impressive from Creighton Kalkbrenner is is a monster in the post and he really gave NC State fits really though this one was all about Nembhard and just the play he got at point guard I was so impressed with this Creighton team and their shot making if they play the way that they did in this one and they can also handle the physicality defensively down low that's a team that could really get hot and maybe even make a run at the championship and thinking about what's next I know it's not in Denver but the Creighton Blue Jays against the Princeton Tigers not match up probably that many people had in their brackets when they filled them out yeah I don't think uh any of us saw the FDU or Princeton run coming but that's what makes this tournament special and Creighton I I was pretty impressed with how they've matched up especially in that second matchup you know they can always get hot and hit threes I was impressed with their athleticism Creighton will probably be pretty heavily favored in this one wouldn't even surprise me if it it touched double digits just with how good they looked in this one but man this this is what it's all about getting the cinderella's only got one one seed left I can't wait to see how it plays out Justin Michael is with us from Denver it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio I know for my time covering college basketball and being in these arenas the NCAA does a really professional job it seems to run like a well-oiled machine at the various pods and then I also enjoy seeing different people wandering around you never know who you're going to see when it comes to March Madness so just the experience of having these games in the Mile High City well it was especially fun this week because you had the combination of it being St. Patrick's Day so on Friday for the first game like there's all kinds of people decked out in leprechaun costumes and St. Patrick's Day garb like it was stop it was crazy leprechaun costumes for real I think I counted like probably at least five of them I was I was pretty surprised I was like admittedly I'm kind of lame like I don't even think I remembered to wear green thankfully nobody pinched me but I was just like all right these these people are going for it but you should right I mean it's basically a national holiday if you're fortunate enough to be in the building not having to work might as well embrace the energy you know one of the beer capitals of the world people were just having a good time did you spot any green beer on Friday I did um outside there it looked like there was a pre-game thing going on I'm not sure who sponsored it but I was one of those where I was like man I'm really happy to be working this but uh I wish I could be having a green beer with these people out here they seem to be doing it right one of the great things is the access that you have to coaches and players so over the course of yeah over the course of the last couple of days we've mentioned a few Mark Few who is a player one that you had a chance to maybe ask a question of or that you heard from that also really stood out just in handling everything that comes along with being in March Madness I think I gotta go with Timmy just because talking to him after Friday's win over GCU it was just kind of one of those like yeah that was great this was a lot of fun we're gonna enjoy it for 15 minutes and then it's on to a really good TCU team and I'm just always amazed at how these players are able to compartmentalize that way and put the emotion behind them because I mean this is a big deal especially for some of these kids you know you never know how many of these opportunities you're gonna get and it's hard because they they should be able to get to enjoy it for longer than they do but with the turnaround being so so quick they don't really have that moment I've already talked about this a lot so I'm kind of beating a dead horse here but just the composure of Gonzaga and I don't know I don't know if it's just not having to be the one seed and you know maybe having some of that pressure off of their back but it really just felt like they were playing with house money and you could kind of see it against TCU like as tight as that game was they were just kept doing their thing stuck with their game plan kept getting up quality looks eventually they fell it didn't surprise me especially after talking to Timmy you also cover college football it's interesting to me that very often when we're talking about college football the transfer portal comes up and man I feel like the impact in basketball is even more significant the various ways that this tournament once again seems like it's been thrown into a complete jumble where anything can happen yeah totally I mean I think the parody in college basketball right now is as good as it's been this century I mean when you look at the talent of some of these you know three through six seven seeds San Diego State has a five seed Creighton and TCU is six seats like these are teams that are capable of you know competing for final fours and the fact that they're seated that low just kind of shows how much talent there is tough sports I think the transfer portal is huge you see it you know it's a team like Oral Roberts being able to add Connor Vanover true seven footer out of Arkansas that wouldn't have happened 10 years ago and they're able to add him with Max Aidsmith one of the best scorers in the country I think it gives some of these quality you know mid majors and even lower than that an opportunity to you know add some talent from high schools and on top of that we're seeing you know with the COVID year and the fifth year just the experience some of these teams 25 26 years old playing college basketball that's a huge difference between you know 18 and 19 year old freshmen trying to handle the moment before I let you go I see on your Twitter that you posted a photo of just a ginormous smile on your face Justin captioned with living out my childhood dream so what did it mean to you to be there and have the opportunity to cover March Madness oh this is everything I mean I'd wake up every day and I'm I don't I don't know how I get paid to talk about sports for a living it's crazy to me I grew up obsessed with the tournament Colorado State Mountain West especially are things I'm passionate about so that you know get to be there in person it's run by the Mountain West it's just the real you know I I know it's easy to kind of get used to this kind of stuff take it for granted but for me every night it's just like man I can't believe I'm in this building right now well I love the passion that's how I operate I still can't believe after all these years that I get to do what I love every single night so I appreciate that Justin Michael you can find him on Twitter Justin T Michael and he's a sports writer who's living out his dream with March Madness for DNVR sports and catch him covering college football as well it's great to catch up with you thank you so much for a few minutes Justin this is a blast anytime you guys want to talk anything I'm always down thanks for having me on I always consider it a huge compliment when a guest tells us that the show is a blast or an interview is a blast that's good news uh yeah good stuff from Justin and I do appreciate his his guess the overarching kind of theme with Gonzaga which is the pressure but his note that Mark Few very often stays calm cool collected a little bit fired up during the games but that is is what permeates his locker room and permeates his team because it filters down to guys who understand what's expected and the and the burden and the pressure they carry it's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio