4.3.23 - JR SportBrief Hour 3

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This is the J.R. Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio. March Madness is done. It's over. There's no more March Madness. Of course, we're now in April and the NCAA tournament is done. It's over. The women won LSU. The Lady Tigers, they walked away with a victory on Sunday.

On the men's side, this game just ended about 20 minutes ago. UConn are your national champs on the men's side. UConn just beat San Diego State 76 to 59 to pick up their fifth national championship in program history. Head Coach Dan Hurley, he's the third UConn head coach to help lead the way, especially over the past 20 years.

And now Dan Hurley, UConn last one in 2014. This game, I don't want to say not competitive, but San Diego State, there was no real threat. The most that they led was early in the game only by four points. UConn's largest lead of the game was 17 points.

And just like every other tournament matchup for the Huskies, they just put the clamps on them. 76 to 59, largest lead 17. They beat every opponent by, what was it, 13?

13 points? Yeah, 13 points was in the semi-final game versus Miami and that was their worst performance of the tournament. Yeah, they beat everybody up, man.

They beat everybody up. They beat that Gonzaga team by about 28 points. It just happened to be the largest Elite Eight tournament victory in 30 years. So they did okay this tournament, I think. UConn won each tournament game by double digits.

The closest game was 13 against Miami, as Shep just pointed out. They handled business and congratulations to the Huskies. We're talking about all the parity that now exists in college basketball. UConn is right up there.

I don't expect them to necessarily go anywhere with the so-called Blue Bloods. And it started off early. They were bombing away from three. San Diego at one point went through a stretch of about eight minutes where they did not score at all.

UConn and the Huskies, they were just way, way too much. I want you to hear some of the audio that came from our broadcast here at Westwood One. It started off from three, from all over the damn place. Jordan Hawkins, take a listen to this three from the first half. Hawkins will try a three on the right wing and he'll hit it. Being pushed back by the defense, Hawkins a fadeaway three and UConn with a 26-14 lead.

Hey, it continued on. Tristan Newton didn't want to be missing in action as well. Only a few minutes after that, he decided to knock down his own three in the first half. Trammell three on the left wing, off to the right side. No good rebound into the hands of Andre Jackson Jr. Jackson looks to push, leaving it behind for Newton. Deep three on the right wing.

Got it! Newton with a three, 33-17, the Huskies' largest lead coming up on four to play in the first. Yeah, man, it just, it kept going and going and going as we moved into the second half of the game. Joey Calcaterra, he decided the bombs away from three as well, extending this lead to 15. Clingan, top of the key. Bumped, hand off, Calcaterra three, top of the key, got it. Calcaterra's hit two, they've both been at huge moments in this game. The lead back to 15, 56-41.

And then they kept, they kept running away. This time a layup. Tristan Newton, he's back.

He doesn't just knock down threes, he goes to the cup as well. Newton dribbling through the timeline, under three minutes to play, 10-point UConn lead. Newton with five to shoot around the screen from Sanogo, drives right side of the lane, right into Mensah where he lays it up and in. Really aggressive take by Newton, and he's rewarded with two, 67-55. Yeah.

Well, let's just save us some time here. This is what it sounded like, the final call via Westwood One. Rebound to Hurley for UConn, and how fitting. The coach's son is going to dribble out his dad's championship, 76-59.

Every dog has his day, and this day belongs to the Huskies. UConn has its fifth national championship in school history, 76-59. UConn men's basketball national champions. San Diego State in their first appearance here in a national championship game, they fall. No real expectation for them to even be here at this point or continue on in the tournament the way that they did, but their defense held up, and they gave everybody in San Diego a whole lot to root for.

They saw the enthusiasm at the Padres game over the weekend on Saturday night as they advanced with that big shot by Butler to send them into this championship game, and right now the young men from San Diego State, the Aztecs, they're speaking to the media at their press conference, and so things come to an end for San Diego State. Some of the players here, you can see the exasperation and the thoughts and trying to hold back tears that aren't really being held back. It's a lot. I've been to my share of Final Fours, and it's so big. It's so overwhelming.

This is an atmosphere that none of these young men have ever participated in. I've been in NRG Stadium. I've been at Dallas Cowboys Stadium, and when you get to the end of these games and you just walk out onto the court, and it's just massive, and they get a little bit of a taste of it on Saturday in the Final Four games, and just you're playing in a space that you've never been in before. You have more microphones around.

You have more media. There are concerts, and you go through all of this, and then only one team gets a chance to walk away with a W, and you see the tears and the emotion right now by the Aztecs. Seventh straight mid-major team to lose in a national championship, and they're not the only ones that are basically done. I shared with you last hour that Jim Nantz, just an iconic broadcaster here, whether it happens to be the Masters or March Madness or the NFL, he is stepping away from his responsibilities with the tournament, and so after 37 years calling March Madness and 350-plus games, he's done. Jim Nantz wants to spend more time with his family, and this was his final March Madness call. Over the weekend, he stood up in the stadium, and he got a standing ovation knowing that this was going to be curtains, and I want you to listen to the final call from this game, from CBS, UConn coming out on top of San Diego State. This is the final call that you will ever hear from Jim Nantz at an NCAA championship. They run it out, and it's in the hands of the coach's son. How about that?

Is that appropriate? Don't you know just someday he'll be a coach of his own program? This is becoming a family dynasty, if you will.

And Dutch, what a year he's had to. Pearly and the Huskies have their dreams come true. Yeah, well, I'm sure Jim Nantz will have some, well, there they go, chef.

Here we go. I'm watching in the studio. They're playing one shining moment.

I'm glad I can't hear it. Yeah. Yeah, highlight package, Marquise Noel. Yeah, it's fun. Why do you, I don't want to use the word despise, why are you anti-shining moment? I'm not anti-shining moment. It's just, it's very campy. It's just real, it's real campy. It's a tradition now at this point.

It's all it is, but for me, I'm just like, oh, come on, here we go. And I didn't really feel that way. I did kind of feel that way, but it put a stamp on it. I can't even remember. I was at one of these championship games, Shep. Maybe it was Houston.

It may have been Houston in 2011. And I was on the court. I was on the floor. I watched the game, had great seats. I must have been in like the, like right behind the scorer's table. And the game was over and I went out onto the court and I'm just, they stopped everything.

And they played one shining moment. And I'm saying to myself, this is one of the courteous things I've ever experienced in my life. I'm like, it was just, it was overly manufactured. So I don't, I mean, they could play it.

I'm just, I just want to roll my eyes when they do it. Gotcha, gotcha. See, I think it's refreshing. And I think when you talk about NIL and the transfer portal being what it is today and how it seems more business and brand oriented than ever before, how college kids are now monetizing their game at the amateur level, it does hark us back to a moment where we do remember loving basketball at such an early age. I get that feeling and I'm not, I don't think you do, unfortunately. No, I don't.

No, no, no. I've always looked, I've always looked at NCA basketball as being halfway robbery for the athletes who compete. Not so much anymore though, right?

I'm sorry? Not so much anymore. Well, yeah, not anymore because they can now make money.

But I mean, think about, you know, like sweet memories and dreams of college basketball. It's like, I've just kind of shrugged my shoulders at. I've always kind of been like, what is this? Like, why can't, I was a kid going, why can't they make money? Like, what is this crap? And so now they can make money and good. It doesn't, there is no, there's no nostalgia involved for me when it comes down to, you know, what the championship will look like and hearing one shining moment and the amateurism. It just, it's never, it's never seen fair.

And now it is fair. And now we got a whole bunch of old coaches who are leaving because they don't want to deal with it. As coach Brian Dutcher is the last one here taking questions for San Diego State. His crew has walked off of the stage and Brian Dutcher ain't crying. He a grown man.

Understands life and perspective and what his team was able to accomplish. San Diego State not supposed to be here at all. 855-212-4CBS. It's 855-212-4CBS.

It ain't take long. We got a caller in. Dave is here from San Diego. You're on the JR Sport Reshow. What's up, Dave? JR, I'm keeping my word.

I told you I'd call you no matter what. But you know what, I'm still proud of my aspects to get that far. Yeah, you should, you should be. I mean, what's there to not be proud of them for?

Nobody expect them to be here. No, no, not at all. And I mean, and it just puts the limelight more on us for future.

I think this, like we were talking, our local station was talking today. This is going to bring us more recruits, more of the, you know, I hate to say this, but I'm not a big fan of it. That, you know, the transfer portal, I'm not, I mean, it's helping basketball more than any other sport in this process. Because it, you know, basketball, it takes effect right away. Football, it's, you know, it's a gel. It's, you know, working all programs and all that stuff.

So I'm, you know, cool aspects. I'm proud of you guys. You guys did awesome this year. Just wanted to say my word. No, thank you, Dave.

Appreciate you for calling from San Diego. Yeah, man, you can't, you can't knock San Diego like they beat who was in front of them. I said this a couple of weeks ago and I'm just being honest. I don't care who wins or loses, but some of their competition at the beginning was a little, I don't even know how to say it. Like, who did they beat? They barely beat Charleston. They beat Furman, what they were supposed to do. Everything got real hot when they beat Alabama. And then they played a close one with Creighton and then they played a close one with a buzzer beater against Florida Atlantic. And then they ran into Yukon tonight.

And so it was the complete opposite. When you take a look at the Huskies, you know, everything about this was just like a buzzsaw. And when you look at San Diego State, man, they were barely swinging by. They barely beat the Owls on Saturday. That's not to take away from anything that they accomplished. They still got to the national championship game with little fanfare, with no expectations. And they should be commended for that because when it came down to it, they still won. They put the clamps on teams defensively. They were out there blocking shots and being aggressive. And what they from San Diego just said is 100 percent accurate and correct.

When you put yourself on the map. You won't get some other talent that's now going to pay attention. It's it's not just what happened this season. It was two years ago or three years ago.

Dammit, Covid just flew things the hell on by. But it was three years ago when the season stopped and they were expected to do some damage. It was 10 years ago when Kawhi Leonard is pretty probably the most famous dude to come out of San Diego State. And when you think about all the movement, they're going to be a destination for what is a a large, fresh, growing talent pool of basketball players in California and out west, period.

This is what it is. Everybody ain't going to go play for UCLA. And so San Diego State, when you get this type of exposure, it's it's good for everybody.

Adam Sanogo, 17 points, 10 rebounds tonight for UConn, the double double machine. He spoke to CBS after the game and he said everything is possible. I just want to say, like, anything is possible. You know, just believe in yourself.

You know, make sure you make the right decision. I'll take everything possible. So just believe in yourself. You know, I just want to use this time to thank my teammates, my coaches to believe in me.

If it was not for them, I would not be able to. I just want to take this time to thank my teammates and the coaches. Adam grew up playing soccer. He's from Bamako out in Mali. He had to debate whether or not he even wanted to come over to the United States of America to play basketball. All his all of his his friends pretty much went out to France and he and he was convinced to come over and he played basketball here. And now he's a he's a champion. He's also he's also been observing Ramadan.

And so he's not eating in the daytime. And you've got to give a lot of credit to him for for being the star in the lead here for UConn. UConn walking away with the W. The final score. National championship game.

Seventy six to fifty nine. The UConn Huskies beat the San Diego Aztecs. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio eight five five two one two four CBS. That's eight five five two one two four CBS. We're going to go ahead and we're also going to get a hold of college basketball expert Deshaun Tate. He's out in Houston running around ice press conferences and enjoying what was some amazing basketball.

So we got a lot more to do, a lot more to cover. It's the JR Sport Brief Show CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. I love the show, man. I wanted to say I've enjoyed your show forever and I've gone through some tough times. And your show, I feel like you are my spirit radio personality. I just really enjoy you and I really appreciate it.

And I thank you for your time. Call in now at eight five five two one two four CBS. It's the JR Sport Brief Show on CBS Sports Radio. UConn walks away with the national championship on the men's side as they beat San Diego State 76 to 59. Dan Hurley helping to lead this UConn squad to its fifth national championship. And you think about you think about Coach Hurley here. You go back to his dad, Bob, like one of the few high school coaches to be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame.

We know about his brother Bobby and going to Duke and walking away with championships there. And now Dan can go ahead and put a feather in his cap as well. Eight five five two one two four CBS. That's eight five five two one two four CBS. We got Rob. Rob is calling from Washington, D.C. You're on CBS Sports Radio.

What's up, Rob? I really appreciate your show and appreciate you taking my call. You talk about the portal being a big game changer and I agree. I also wanted your take on the portal reflecting coaching abilities, because I'll tell you, I saw UConn play early in the year and they didn't look nearly as good as they did now. Do you think there's some truth to the excellent job Hurley did as you just talked about having this team gel? I recognize their bench is deep, but can you share what you think about the portal on its reflection on coaching?

Yeah, no, absolutely. I think we are at an interesting point. Thank you, Rob, for calling from D.C. We're at an interesting point in in college sports and college basketball. Everything from NIL deals and that's that's really what it is. It's having the ability to move around from school to school. The portal hasn't been around for what now? More than three, four years at this point. Well, not three or four.

I think maybe 18, 19. And so you have the ability. To say, hey, I'm dealing with an issue and you do have students who will claim a mental problem or mental illness, or they will think about something in the academic space and they leave. And so this is this is akin to it's a free agency almost in a college basketball world. And even if you think about the not the NFL, but if you think about the football side of things as well, Nick Saban is calling out Jimbo Fisher and saying, hey, every single one of the players that you just added.

You basically bought and it's a free market system. And so we have moved into a different space. I've been saying this for months, maybe longer than that. It's not a coincidence that some of the older coaches that we have seen, heard, looked at for year after year after year after year that they're gone. They don't want to deal with this. Coach K is gone. Jim Boeheim is gone. Roy Williams is gone. You know, Rick Pitino, I guess he don't got nothing better to do but try to win back a championship that he had stripped from him.

He's still around. But that that old guard, them dudes are finished. And I don't mind seeing younger coaches come through and make a mark. It's it's fair.

It's a more equitable system for everybody that's involved. We don't have to just shovel a title to Duke and and North Carolina every single year because, OK, well, Coach K is a is a great recruit or I don't know. We can we can start filling in blanks. But X, Y, Z coach Calipari.

Maybe he's finding a way to get you a little bit of dollars underneath the table. And so everything is above board right now. And when everything becomes above board, people get scared.

They become fearful of what's going to happen and the lack of control. All them older coaches that I mentioned, those dudes have come through. They made their money.

They got their accolades. They have their championships. Actually think the March Madness tournament is more exciting when you have different squads and you have different schools that come in. And you have more coaches that can just participate in the wealth of talent that's out there. I've seen the debates as well about expanding the current tournament, like saying that, oh, my God, we got three hundred and fifty plus programs here in Division one basketball and we're only letting in 64 teams. We're only adding another four to that.

We got 68 teams. Well, we need to now extend this to to ninety six and people are talking about whether or not that would be devaluing the conference championship tournaments and also the regular season. And I say to myself, just leave it as is. You know, let's let's reward teams who are out there busting ass. I mean, if you want to adjust it, I wouldn't.

Hey, shut up. What do you think about widening the tournament? You in favor or leave it as is? I think leave it as is. I mean, J.R., you talk about I mean, yes, we had a 16, you know, after you upset Purdue, of course, but that's only the second time that's happened in the history of the tournament.

You already have a situation. Let's just be real about this. This was not a great final. And it wasn't a great final because there's this misconception that there's now parity in college basketball. And that's not the case. It's not the case. You can't doesn't win every single game by 13 points if there's true parity.

And if you increase the tournament, now you have even more domination in round one than you would if there's only 64 teams if you expand it. And J.R., you know, I was thinking about this. You know, Dwayne Wade got into the Hall of Fame and you know who his coach was obviously a Marquette. It was Tom Crean, of course. And Tom Crean in his last season, people don't realize this, he went 1 and 17 in conference play. This guy made a final four at one point. When he has Anthony Edwards, he looks really good. When he doesn't, he looks subpar. Patrick Ewing won the Big East tournament.

Two years later, we know what happened with his record. I mean, he completely faltered off. This is still J.R., comes down to talent.

And correct me if I'm wrong, we can talk about the transfer portal all we want. Adamo Sanogo was the best player in college basketball the last month and it wasn't even close. He was great as a facilitator. He was knocking down threes in the semi-final as if he was Steph Curry reincarnated. Yeah, so like...

Putting a big pause up in the air, too. Yes, and J.R., I mean, he was taking the ball to the basket off one dribble off of shot fakes from corner three. You don't see that from typical 6'10 big men in college basketball. You can talk about coaching all you want, J.R. UConn, by far, had the superior talent. John Calipari had superior talent when he won his lonely national championship back in 2012.

Transfer portal all you want, that's all fine and dandy. You need superior talent to win, whether it's NCAA, whether it's the NBA. UConn had it this year. San Diego State did not.

Yeah, you have to. Yeah, but you still need a coach who can come in and rally up the troops. It does boil down to talent. I think opening up the transfer portal will break up, and has broke up, a lot of the monopoly that we get from the same old schools and the same old coaches.

It's going to be mixed. The other element that's worth discussing is that the students who will be playing college ball, for the most part, they're not going to be one-and-done guys. These are going to be athletes who are going to be sticking around in school for quite a few years. The top prospects of a prospect pool that are going to be moving on to play professional basketball in the NBA is a good amount of folks who are coming over from Europe.

You have other semi-pro leagues like Overtime Elite, where the athletes are getting paid. Some of the dudes in college, it might be to their benefit to stick around like a Drew Timmy in college for as long as possible. I think that's going to help some of the coaches as well. I think over the next, it's not going to be quick. I think it will be maybe 10 years, 15 years that you can really see the full results of it. I think coaches or championships are going to go in bunches. It's going to roll with a player and a particular coach, and you come and play for three or two or three years, however long you can play. And then you move along, and maybe you compete for a championship or two, and it will be another team's chance, and another team, and another team. But I think it's good not to have the same folks winning all the damn time.

Let other people get a piece of the pie. I'm in favor of it. It's the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. 855-212-4CBS.

That's 855-212-4CBS. I'm going to go ahead and get to more of your calls on the other side. We'll get a hold of Deshaun Tate, college basketball expert, rolling around in Houston, Texas. Just saw the victory just like we all did. UConn walking away with another national championship. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio. You're listening to the JR Sport Brief on CBS Sports Radio.

It is the JR Sport Brief Show here with you on CBS Sports Radio. March Madness is done. A national champion has been crowned on the men's side.

UConn beat San Diego State 76-59. In a few minutes, we'll have a conversation with Deshaun Tate of Tate's Takes Hoops. He'll be joining us. He's actually there.

Just walked off of the court covering March Madness in this UConn victory. Before we talk to Deshaun, let's go ahead and hit the phones. 855-212-4CBS. Jason is calling from Cleveland, Ohio. You're on CBS Sports Radio. What's up, Jason? Thanks, Cher.

Hope you and the crew are well. I just want to nominate the point guard from Kansas State for player of the tournament. He had my attention like no other player as far as being dynamic and being like, there's something special going on here. There were a lot of good games, but nothing really said, oh, there's something glowing about this guy, right? Like NBA Jam. This guy has a little bit of...

He's on fire. Yes, sir. I just wanted to throw that in there. And there were a couple of good games, but I think the semis were, you know, better and earlier around.

That's what's great about the tournament. You know, you never know what you're going to get. But remind me of his name and I'm sorry I wasn't prepared, but the point guard from Kansas State. Marquis Noel from Harlem, New York.

That's the man. Yeah, he is. He would have been deserving of the award.

Adama Sanogo walked away with the award having won the championship. He had a double double tonight, 17 points and 10 rebounds. So let's see what happens with Marquis, what chance he gets in some type of NBA summer league.

He's undersized. Let's see what happens. I appreciate you, Jason. Thank you so much. Take care, bro. You as well. Deshaun is joining us, a college basketball expert.

Hey, Deshaun, how are you, man? They appreciate you for having me per usual, man. It's, you know, another one we get to check off of the books. I guess another box that we get to check National Champions, Connecticut Huskies, obviously, and they've done this thing, man, since 99, five different times with three different coaches. We talk about the Blue Blood, North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and all these other ones. I like to think that Connecticut has kind of, you know, etched their foot in that sand to go along with those other ones. Got to give them credit.

They've been dominant all across the board for every single game, as in this tournament has been by double digits of a win for them. So congrats to them and to the Big East. Deshaun Tate is joining us here. The JR Sport Brief Show, CBS Sports Radio.

You are in Houston. You just walked off of the court. What was the atmosphere like during tonight's game? Sometimes the games can get out of hand and that giant stadium can get quiet. What was the atmosphere like for the entire game and then there for the victory?

No, I think it was incredible. You know, I think in this situation, not a lot of people gave San Diego State a chance for obvious reasons. I think because you saw that dominance and not just based off the way they were playing, but some of the size that UConn had. And listen, I mean, it was great to see, you know, a lot of the known former UConn Huskies, alums and things of that nature where you have Emeka Okafor was in the building, Rudy Gay, Kemba Walker, Ray Allen was around as well.

And whenever you can throw, you know, names like that out there. And these are guys that, you know, some of these guys, you know, one of them currently playing in the NBA, guys could be anywhere and everywhere, but it's a tight knit family and you can kind of see that based off the camaraderie that they have kind of put together and established and developed between one another. It's a tight knit community and tight knit family.

And they're having a good time and deservedly so. UConn is the best team in the country. A lot of people had questions about that this year. Anybody could win it. This team is the best. North Carolina started out ranked number one. They didn't even make the NCAA tournament. The only thing that really matters is who finishes number one.

There's not a single McDonald's All-American JR that was participating in this entire Final Four. So yet another year with 0-1 and done winning a national championship, I should tell you something. Deshaun Tate is here with us, CBS Sports Radio. I feel like I hear a little bit of celebrating in the background coming down a tunnel. That's the atmosphere that has been in Houston for the past several days. It's one thing to watch the game from the studio.

We got folks who have listened to the game in their cars and their vehicles tonight. Was it as much of a physical beat down? Was it very noticeable, the size and the physicality of UConn and San Diego State? Did it appear that they walked onto the court and it's just like, okay, they're physically bigger and stronger? Did they bully them? They did. Not only did they have the presence in terms of how notable that they are in terms of UConn as an established program. So that had its own little dominance to it.

But give credit. I mean, some of these other programs, the other three, this is the first time that they've ever been to the Final Four in the history of their entire program. And there was a lot of diehard fans. One of them, Miami, who's traditionally a football program, Florida Atlantic, who I don't even think has had a player play in the NBA, at least for an extensive long-term period of time. And then obviously you have the other one in San Diego State, which we know Kawhi Leonard and maybe one or two here and there. But for the most part, it's the dominance of UConn.

That size between Clingan, who's a seven-footer, he's a freshman, obviously, for Nogo, who's a big man in the middle. They didn't necessarily look like, you know, Golden State Warriors of college basketball to me, per se. But they showed it.

They flexed their muscles. And even in some instances where, you know, it looked like Miami might try and make a, you know, try and storm back and make a run on them in the national semifinal. Or even tonight, you know, the deficit getting, you know, close to, what, five points or something like that. It just seemed like UConn was toying with them, like, okay, time to put the foot back on the gas again. And that's what they did. And guess what? That's what good teams, that's what great teams, that's what great programs do, is you don't let up off the gas.

And if you do a little bit, then you find a way to just, you know, kind of put the foot on the neck and show who's boss. And they did that for not only other reasons shown by example, they're the ones that are standing on the ladders tonight with the scissors in hand and taking the trophy home. Deshaun, we know that college basketball and college athletics is going through a lot of changes right now, transfer portal, NIL, et cetera. What's in store for the future? We know Coach Dan Hurley, he's not going anywhere. You know, you got Dutcher out at San Diego State. What does the future look like for both of these programs, let's say, over the next couple of years?

I think it can be bright. San Diego State being a program that's usually at the top of a very respectable conference in the Mountain West. This gives some hope to some of those mid-major or high-major programs.

If not, I'm sure that, you know, the Florida-Atlantic run certainly does. They've got pretty much just about everybody coming back. San Diego State certainly has, you know, starting four seniors and a junior, still going to have some, you know, rebuilding to do. But yet still, I don't think they'll have too many issues in that particular department with a great coach. Obviously, Miami, some of their guys are coming back and they utilize the transfer portal probably better or more than anybody else, especially when you start looking at their backcourt.

And Nigel Peck getting over a million dollars with the NIL alone as a single player. So I still like to think, you know, people are going to talk, you know, this and that and say, oh, well, you know, it wasn't – it didn't really have the same pizzazz that maybe any of the other Final Fours did in comparison last year with, you know, Kansas and Duke, Carolina and so on and so forth. Who's supposed to be there was there. If you don't like the way it is, get inside of the – get in the ear of some of those coaches who, you know, or some of those players on those rosters that, you know, are, you know, sporting the big name across their chest and not getting there.

Give credit to the ones. It's time to embrace what we have now. A lot of NIL deals, a lot of recruiting, big time differences. Transfer portal is – I remember at one point in time, a couple of years ago, I was having a conversation with Coach K. And at that time, it was around this time of this year, and they marched madness, but there was over right around like 500-something, 600 transfers around this time, just two years ago. Right now, the last time I checked about three days ago, JR, there was over like I think 1,167 transfers.

And that's not even everybody. So that number's pretty much just about doubled. I'm not great at math, but I think that we're going to begin to see more and more of that as we get closer and closer to what I think college basketball's endgame is, and that's to make college basketball what it once was, but yet still doing it in a little bit of a different way. We have a short amount of time here, Deshaun, before we hit the break. I want to get in two quick questions.

You got to hit them fast for me. What are your thoughts on the potential expansion here of the tournament into the future? I'm not in love with it. I think we're good at 68. But nonetheless, you're going to have whoever's number 69 that's going to have gripes about not getting in.

If you move that to over 100, you're going to have a 101st team that's going to feel like they deserve to be in. So I think we're good where we are right now at number 68, but if they're talking about expanding it, that means more college basketball, and you'll never hear a complaint out of me about that. We had an excellent women's game this past Sunday, and I feel a good portion of it was overshadowed, just taking a look at the last 10 seconds of the game, and it extended over into today. Do you feel any of the media attention surrounding Angel and also Kaitlyn kind of took away from this game tonight? Was a lot of attention on that game heading into tonight? There was still a lot of attention on tonight's game, but yet still, I mean, it looks like better brand of basketball.

Let's just call it what it is, the elephant in the room. It appears to be more competitive. It appears to obviously have been more interesting matchups and programs participating, maybe not necessarily Iowa, but even then, yet still, I'd like to think that there was a lot of attention paid towards the girls' game for a very, very good reason. And I love everything about what the women's basketball has been able to do in comparison to the men's to try to put themselves in position to draw a lot of traffic and attention to their brand, because it is well-deserved, and as you can tell, it is the way that they still play the game, the way that it was designed and originated to be played. If you can't love that and embrace that, then you've got a bigger problem on your hands.

It sounds like a personal problem. Hey, Deshaun, I appreciate all of your insight over the past month as we got ready for March Madness. College basketball expert, tell us very quickly, where can we find you online? At T-A-K-E-H-O-P-S. It is where basketball lives.

Go and find it anywhere you find your favorite podcast, and thank you over the course of the last month, JR and CBS. No doubt about it. Of course, nice conversation here. Deshaun Tate, college basketball expert, calling us, taking the time, stepping off of the court to call us from Houston, Texas, home of the national championship this year, where UConn takes its fifth. We're going to hear from more of the players on the other side of the break. We're going to hear from Andrew Reese as well. We've had a damn good weekend of basketball. It's over now.

It's the JR Sport Reshow on CBS Sports Radio. More on the other side. Stay Alive is back for its much-anticipated second season. The team survived a plane crash and a summer stranded in the woods, but winter bites and those girls are hungry.

Plus, there might be a dark force in the wilderness compelling them to do some unsavory things. TBD. Meanwhile, 25 years later, the surviving adult Yellow Jackets are grappling with their past while getting caught up in kidnappings, cults, murders, and parenting moody teenagers. Melanie Linsky and Tawny Cypress star with Christina Ricci and Juliette Lewis. The internet is obsessed, and Rotten Tomatoes declared it 100% fresh. So if you haven't watched Yellow Jackets, it's time. New episodes streaming now only on Showtime.

And now stream Showtime on Paramount+. Odysseys I'm Listening is our commitment to more mental health conversations. Dr. Christine Moutier of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention talks about the daily change of emotions and mental wellness. Yeah, mental health and emotions are extremely dynamic, meaning they change. That's the most remarkable thing, to start to see crisis moments become less and less intense or less frequent. Talk saves lives. For more mental health conversations, visit I'mListening.org.