Mike, how are you, man?
I am doing well. It's taking a breather here before we get going again on Thursday. Hey, you need a little bit of a breather between Sunday and Thursday. And, you know, things keep on rolling here. We got a lot of coaching changes that are obviously taking place.
The transfer portal is kind of crazy that it's open while the tournament is still going on. Are there any coaching changes that really caught your attention so far? Well, I think as a guy that played in the Big Ten, just looking at the three that are coming in currently to the Big Ten with Ben McCollum during the breeze and Nico Medved at Indiana, Iowa, and Minnesota, those are three really good coaches.
And I think it bolsters the overall profile of the league in my opinion. And I just think it's funny as well that those three are the three most recent coaches at Drake. And they're all now coming into the Big Ten. But, yeah, there's still more dominoes to fall.
I think you look and see, okay, well, who gets to save your job? Is it Chris Mack coming from Charleston? Is it, you know, I don't think it'll be Pat Kelsey after what he's done at Louisville. Does Porter Moser move on from Oklahoma and go back to more of the Midwest?
I mean, there's a lot on the table. Obviously, Villanova is still open. Looks like Chris Collins is staying put at Northwestern. But is that a spot for Mick Cronin? If Steve Forbes takes West Virginia, does West Miller get Wake Forest? And then does Mick Cronin go back to Cincinnati? You can't tell. I am more of a coaching carousel guy than I am a transfer portal guy. I think it's just fascinating because I think the carousel is what dictates the transfer portal most times.
Oh, my God. Well, you just when you talk about all the coaches that are moving around, Mike, Mike Lutulip is here with us on the J.R. sport re-show. When you talk about all these coaches that are moving around, let's take a look at somebody who just moved.
A lot of people thought he was done at Kentucky, needed a new place and now in Arkansas. What we just saw with Coach Cal, what should we expect from him and how long should we expect from him to beat it? Yeah, I think it's been really cool to see them make it to the Sweet 16. I think as the season went on and as that team turned the corner specifically, I think they had a lot of fire behind them.
I think they had a lot of motivation to make sure that all the people that were talking and kind of writing off Cal in the middle of the season and writing off that team, that this was kind of the payback and then the payoff for it. So I think it's kind of reinvigorated him in a way. I think he's back to that UMass days where he was a bit of the underdog. I think he feels that in this tournament.
He hasn't felt that in a long time. When you look at all the success he had at Kentucky and the way that kind of fizzled out at the end, I think he's kind of had a bit of a rebirth and he's got the perfect team for it, too. He's got guys that can really go and get a bucket with DJ Wagner and Boogie Fland and Janelle Davis and then you have the bigs that they have in Brazil and Aydou. It's a really good mix of athletes and dogs, quite frankly, that he can just cut loose in a game against St. John's where that is what they do.
They try to get after you. They flip the script on them and I think this is really vindicating for Cal to prove that he can go to a new spot, overhaul a roster and then make it back to a second weekend. Former Fighting Illini guard Mike Letula is here with us on the JR Sport Reshow. Do you expect them to knock off Texas Tech?
I think it's going to be a close one. I think at this point we've seen with the maturation of that Arkansas team with roles being a little bit more defined, getting more out of Nellie Davis as the season has gone on, they are not your average 10 seed. You have a Texas Tech team that has inexperienced guys from the standpoint of being in the NCAA tournament. You flip to the other side and Jonas Aydou was in an Elite 8 last year for Tennessee. You've got Nellie Davis who played in a Final Four for Florida Atlantic.
You've got a lot of guys that have played in this tournament and not as many, I don't think, for Texas Tech. So that's a positive for Arkansas. I think the spread is pretty close in that game, 4.5, 5.5.
That feels about right. I think it's going to be one of the better games of the Sweet 16. Mike, you talk about surprises. There are no surprises here when it comes down to Duke and Auburn and Houston and Florida.
Has that gone to plan as you expected? I think it has. I think when you look at the net rating and efficiency of those four teams specifically, when everybody references the KenPOM database for analytics and how those teams are ranked, those four teams are four of the top eight teams ever in that database going back to 1997. And so all the one seeds, Duke and Auburn are both up there. Duke and Florida are both up there as two of the top four teams in that database since 1997. Auburn I think is fifth or sixth.
Houston is in that seven or eight range. It's unbelievable the power at the top. And then all the two seeds this year would have been one seed last year going off that ranking. So it's amazing and no surprise that we didn't have any of those crazy 15-2, 16-1 upsets. That just wasn't happening this year.
That top is way too dominant. In my opinion, it starts with Duke. Well, you talk about what we expect. You got Duke winning it all?
Is that where you sit, Mike? I do. I just think, forget the lottery picks and Cooper flag and even the counterparts with how good Tyrese Proctor's been and how good Seon James is and Mason Gilson comes off the bench. I look at their mentality and I look at their attention to detail and it never changes from game to game defensively. Everybody's assignment is sound. Everybody gets after the ball. Everybody attacks the glass and they do it every single game. There's no, hey, who are we playing tonight?
There's none of that. And I think that that psyche gives you the best chance I think to win and win consistently in March. And that's a team that I think I trust the most to win six games in this sprint to the NCAA tournament.
Mike Letulip is here with us from the field of 68. You talk about a team that I would say most people did not expect to be here, especially after losing their head coach Mark Pope. BYU, we haven't seen them this far in like 15 years. What are your thoughts on their chances against all that firepower Alabama has? I think, again, and I would almost feel like a broken record saying this, and this is why I think upsets are good early, but you want the big dogs playing in the Sweet 16 and beyond. And I think that's what we have. That BYU-Alabama game could end up being in the 90s.
I firmly believe that. I think that they have just, they showed it in the Big 12. They showed it in big moments in the Big 12, but that BYU team with Richie Sanders, you know, Igor Demmon, the star freshman is probably going to be a top 20 pick in the NBA draft this year. BYU is continuing to build. Kevin Young brings his system over from the Phoenix Suns, and then they're running a lot of NBA concepts, and they're just fun to watch. They are. They fly around. They're a lot more athletic, I think, than you would beg a BYU team to be. They're physical. They're strong, and they play at a really exciting pace.
And not only that, this is a team that is in a Sweet 16 now, can go beyond it, and has the number one player in the country signed to play for them next year. It's unbelievable what's happening in Provo. Mike, as we start to wrap things up, I gotta ask you and get your thoughts. You played.
Man, you out there handling the basketball. A lot of people are making a whole to-do about what took place last night with Derek Queen. I'm watching it. I'm looking at it live. I'm just going, looks normal to me.
I mean, if I had, if my eyes worked in slow motion, then I'd call everything a travel. What are your thoughts on what took place? And then also, there's a lot of eyes now on Queen.
People are going to be paying attention to her. Yeah. Well, what took place, and I was in a firestorm last night on Twitter or X, because I said, I watched it live. I watched the replay. I don't see a travel. And you got a lot of people throwing the rule book at me and saying, well, there's not a gather step in college basketball. I'm of the mindset, and I'm speaking from just the way the game is officiated.
If it is not enforced ever, then it is allowed. And if it's allowed, then there is a gather step in college basketball. So that is, I don't really care what the rules say, because that's not the way it's officiated. When he has that gather step and then takes two steps, that is not a travel.
And so that is, I don't care. Again, you can throw the rules at me, but that's just, it's different the way it's reflected on the court. So I didn't think it was a travel. I'm glad they didn't call that in that moment. They never call that whether it's a big moment or not.
So glad they didn't call that. But Derek Queen, I mean, he's just been fantastic. He's the Big Ten freshman of the year with a freshman lineup in the Big Ten that is probably as good as we've seen in 20 years.
It was that good. So for him to win out there, he's just, he's so multifaceted. He's so talented. He can score with either hand. He's long.
He gets downhill. And he's so, so skilled. So I'm really fascinated to see this Maryland frontcourt with Derek Queen and Julian Reese playing against this Florida frontcourt of Alex Condon and Thomas Howell. We know what the backcourt matchup looks like on both sides, but that frontcourt matchup is going to be absolutely incredible.
I think you're going to you have pros all over the place in that game. And, you know, I had Maryland, as I said, a few weeks ago, I said, I wouldn't be surprised to see them go to a final four. And when I saw the path, I said it may be tough with Florida, but you've got to look at it from Florida's end, too. Florida's got to play Maryland to advance.
So it goes both ways in this tournament. Well, Mike, we discussed this. We saw what took place with Florida and then UConn. And, you know, Dan Hurley after the game saying that, you know, maybe he's been sitting on a little bit too much of a high horse and an ego getting involved.
OK, great. When you don't have players who are now going on to the NBA, what are your thoughts on how things will look next year and the year after? This guy's on the contract for 2030. What do you think the future is going to hold for Hurley and then UConn? I think this is a wake up call for Dan Hurley and UConn. I think when you win two national championships and you return Alex Carabane, you return some pieces from that core, I think you expect it to be kind of set it and forget it.
We're going to get a few pieces in the portal, but we don't want to rock the boat too much. I think he knows with the departure of Cam Spencer and Tristan Newton and Donovan Cling and Steph Castle. He has a lot to replace. That's NBA talent that you're replacing across the board.
And so I just I don't think they did a good enough job of replenishing it. And I thought they maybe thought that the culture would kind of propel them forward. And it's great. I do think UConn has one of the best cultures in college basketball. But to win six in March and get to that national championship, you've got to have pros. You've got to have pros specifically on the wing.
And they just didn't have that this year. So I think it's a look in the mirror type of year for Hurley from a roster construction standpoint. But I'll say this. I think and maybe this is an unpopular opinion. I think he's good for the sport. I really do.
I think there's I don't like the coaches who think they're too cool for school on the sideline. Dan Hurley cares. I don't think any of us can doubt that. And he cares to a to a high degree. And you saw yesterday when he can get into that underdog mode like he was against Florida, they almost knocked him off and probably should have knocked him off.
They have that cold patch of four minutes or so in the second half. So I love what he's doing. I think he's great for the sport.
And I have no doubts that UConn is going to absolutely reload for next year. OK, I will see how that goes and see how he responds to it as well. Hey, Mike, thank you so much for the time. Where can people follow you and all of your work with the field of 68? Yeah.
68 after dark. We do really nightly shows. I'm I'm on there with a with a cast of analysts.
We kind of cycle through, you know, every every night. And then beyond that at Latula underscore Mike on Twitter slash X. And yeah, so I'll give him some begin some thoughts on there.
But that's those are the main places you can find me. Hey, Mike, appreciate it, man. We'll catch you on down the line, OK? Absolutely. Appreciate you guys.
